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newsclips -- ARB Newsclips for December 11, 2015.

Posted: 11 Dec 2015 14:00:05
ARB Newsclips for December 11, 2015. 

This is a service of the California Air Resources Board’s Office
of Communications.  You may need to sign in or register with
individual websites to view some of the following news articles.

CAP AND TRADE

RGGI navigates the risks of expanding its carbon market.
Participants in the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative are
worried that their carbon trading system could experience growing
pains from linking with other states under U.S. EPA's Clean Power
Plan. The nine-state Northeast cap-and-trade program requested
comments from stakeholders about how it might fit in with other
potential trading markets…
http://www.eenews.net/climatewire/2015/12/11/stories/1060029373 

AIR POLLUTION

China's capital to increase smog monitoring after 'red alert'.
China's capital will step up air quality monitoring, a senior
city official said, after recent severe pollution prompted
authorities to issue a first smog "red alert". Rapid industrial
growth and car ownership have led to surging levels of air
pollution in major urban areas…
http://www.reuters.com/article/us-china-pollution-idUSKBN0TU1E920151211#UDrUbYHrA6PuRw6e.99


A view of Paris from a hot air balloon: putting pollution on the
climate agenda. Beijing may hit headlines, but European cities
such as Paris also regularly exceed safe limits for pollutants
such as NO2, with impacts on health and climate change. John
Vidal takes to the skies to get a clearer picture. The air
quality is officially “good”, 400ft above Paris in a balloon at
rush hour.
http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2015/dec/10/view-paris-from-hot-air-balloon-putting-pollution-on-climate-agenda


European Commission takes Poland to court over poor air quality.
The European Commission has decided to take Poland to court over
its failure to address its poor air quality, the EU's executive
said on Thursday. The use of coal and, sometimes, garbage to heat
houses makes Poland's air the most polluted in Europe, according
to local government data.
http://www.reuters.com/article/us-eu-poland-environment-idUSKBN0TT1RF20151210#1DC3sBOtjleFSWqg.99


China Faces Balancing Act in Slowing Business to Reduce
Pollution. Beijing’s pollution red alert highlights the country’s
dilemma of sacrificing economic activity to clamp down on
pollution. As Chinese authorities lifted Beijing’s “red alert” on
smog, businesses were assessing the impact of 2½ days of
pollution shutdown and grappling with the prospect of more.
http://www.wsj.com/articles/china-faces-balancing-act-in-slowing-business-to-reduce-pollution-1449747175


430,000 Deaths Per Year In Europe Due To Long-Term Exposure To
Air Pollution. A new report from the European Environment Agency
has revealed that long-term exposure to common air pollution is
responsible for over 430,000 deaths a year in Europe, according
to recent reports. It was found by the researchers involved that
most urban-living people in Europe are exposed to levels of air
pollution that are known…
http://cleantechnica.com/2015/12/11/430000-deaths-per-year-in-europe-due-to-long-term-exposure-to-air-pollution/


CLIMATE CHANGE


Plants may not battle climate change as much as previously
thought. Plants might not be quite the climate change combatants
scientists have thought they were. A new study in Nature Climate
Change suggests that plant growth will have a harder time keeping
up with increases in global carbon emissions than previously
thought. That means that plants will be taking less carbon out of
the atmosphere…
http://www.eenews.net/climatewire/2015/12/11/stories/1060029374 

Climate change may boost groundwater supply in tropical nations –
study. The United Nations' leading scientific body, the
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), has long
projected tropical nations would be hit hard by climate change.
Increased temperatures, rising seas, stronger hurricanes and
typhoons, and longer droughts are all threats.
http://www.eenews.net/climatewire/2015/12/11/stories/1060029368 

Residents of historic Va. island may become the first U.S.
climate 'refugees'. For Tangier Island, Va., lifelong resident
Claudia Parks, climate change is a direct threat to her golf
cart. As flooding and erosion have worsened on the Chesapeake Bay
island in recent decades, the tour director with a broad smile
avoids certain saturated roads at least 15 times in the spring
and fall during tidal events on her regular work route.
http://www.eenews.net/climatewire/2015/12/11/stories/1060029371 


UN CLIMATE TALKS

How Paris may succeed where Copenhagen failed. The final Friday
night of the United Nations' climate talks in Copenhagen six
years ago saw the process in disarray. No one knew where the text
of an agreement was or if there was even a text. Delegations were
angry because they felt the Danish presidency was limiting their
access to information and mismanaging the process.
http://www.eenews.net/greenwire/2015/12/11/stories/1060029405 

Global climate deal in sight though finance, timing gaps remain.
The chairman of global climate talks in Paris said on Thursday
negotiators were on the cusp of an agreement, despite persistent
differences on key issues dividing rich and developing countries
in nearly two weeks of talks.
http://www.reuters.com/article/us-climatechange-summit-deal-idUSKBN0TT1HI20151211#TF3lPCSLIhqDtObI.99


French Foreign Minister says never been better momentum to get
climate deal. French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said on
Friday there had never been a better time to get an ambitious,
global climate deal and the responsibility was on national
governments to make necessary compromises. "All the conditions
are in place to have a universal, ambitious final deal," he told
reporters.
http://www.reuters.com/article/us-climatechange-summit-fabius-idUSKBN0TU2D320151211#LwxAGp7exBUghdIV.99


Climate draft puts temperature limit out of reach: scientists. A
deal to slow climate change being thrashed out in Paris fails to
map out steep enough cuts in carbon dioxide emissions to limit
global warming to the target of at least "well below" 2 degrees
Celsius (3.6 Fahrenheit), scientists said on Friday. Negotiations
on the draft agreement to curb greenhouse gas emissions…
http://www.reuters.com/article/us-climatechange-summit-emissions-idUSKBN0TU21E20151211#8BTlwKuml4wpFB4c.99


Red lines, condoms and the Arc de Triomphe: Climate activists
step up protests. 
From storming the Arc de Triomphe in central Paris to handing out
condoms to bureaucrats in the suburbs, climate change activists
stepped up public stunts on Friday in a last-ditch bid to get
negotiators to agree a powerful accord.
http://www.reuters.com/article/us-climatechange-summit-protests-idUSKBN0TU21V20151211#DgT1iLHw5X4SUzAe.99
 

Global climate talks stumble near finish line, Fabius optimistic.
Efforts to craft a global accord to combat climate change
stumbled on Friday with China and many other nations refusing to
yield ground, forcing host France to extend the U.N. summit by a
day to overcome stubborn divisions. Despite the delay, many
expressed hope the 195 nations meeting in Paris would grasp the
strongest agreement…
http://www.reuters.com/article/climatechange-summit-idUSKBN0TU0KA20151211#bzEW1Fj8LEbMlMV8.99


Compromises Make Global Climate Deal More Possible. New draft
shows breakthrough on emissions cuts, but developing countries
remain at odds with EU, U.S. on other issues. Nations moved
closer to a global climate deal that has eluded them for more
than 20 years, as compromise emerged on some of the most
controversial issues facing negotiators at a summit here, even as
other problems remain unresolved.
http://www.wsj.com/articles/developing-nations-hesitant-to-embrace-global-warming-limits-1449768622?mod=WSJ_article_EditorsPicks_1


Billions in climate aid pledges have ‘wild west’ accounting.
There’s a lot of money in climate financing. Six years ago, rich
nations pledged that by 2020 they would provide $100 billion a
year in aid, loans and private money to help poorer nations cope
with climate change and wean themselves off fossil fuels.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/europe/billions-in-climate-aid-pledges-have-wild-west-accounting/2015/12/11/7454626a-a00b-11e5-9ad2-568d814bbf3b_story.html


Key to Success of Climate Pact Will Be Its Signals to Global
Markets. As diplomats here work through the final points of a
sweeping new climate change accord, experts said the ultimate
measure of success of the agreement will be whether it sends a
clear signal to global financial investors that they should move
money away from fossil fuels and toward clean-energy sources such
as wind and solar power.
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/12/11/world/europe/key-to-success-of-climate-pact-will-be-its-signals-to-global-markets.html?_r=0


'Finishing Line' in Sight at Paris Climate Summit. Negotiators
hope to reveal a final draft of an accord shortly, but
disagreements remain. The end is in sight at the U.N. climate
summit in Paris, but there's still a long night ahead for
negotiators who have spent the past two weeks working to achieve
an international first: a worldwide agreement to cut greenhouse
gas emissions…
http://www.usnews.com/news/articles/2015/12/11/finishing-line-in-sight-at-paris-climate-summit

Amid disputes, critical Paris climate talks continue for an extra
day. High-stakes climate talks outside Paris are dragging into an
extra day as diplomats try to overcome disagreements over how —
or even whether — to share the costs of fighting climate change
and shift to clean energy on a global scale.
http://www.pasadenastarnews.com/environment-and-nature/20151211/amid-disputes-critical-paris-climate-talks-continue-for-an-extra-day



More time for Paris climate change negotiations. With a historic,
planetwide pact on the line, hundreds of diplomats in Paris are
preparing to extend the U.N. climate change conference into
Saturday. The deadline to reach consensus on a climate deal was
supposed to be midnight Friday.
http://www.scpr.org/news/2015/12/11/56193/more-time-for-paris-climate-change-negotiations/

Climate talks move toward overtime to deal with a few tough
issues. Climate change talks have gone into the final stretch,
and despite early optimism about completing a global accord
early, it now seems the negotiations will need a pair of elastic
pants. For the second night in a row, diplomats jousted over
phrases well past midnight, this time over a shortened but
still-contentious 27-page draft text.
http://www.eenews.net/climatewire/2015/12/11/stories/1060029376 

Excluding Shipping Emissions from COP Deal Makes 2°C Limit Close
to Impossible. The dropping of international aviation and
shipping emissions from the draft Paris climate agreement
published this afternoon has fatally undermined the prospects of
keeping global warming below 2°C, green NGOs Seas At Risk and
Transport & Environment (T&E) have said.
http://www.marinelink.com/news/impossible-emissions402095.aspx 

DROUGHT

Northwest storms ease drought worries; mudslide risks remain.
Fierce storms in the Pacific Northwest sent rivers bursting from
their banks, spilled boulders and trees into a major highway and
spawned a rare tornado that snapped power poles and battered
homes. They've also had one positive effect — easing drought
concerns after an unusually dry summer.
http://www.sfgate.com/news/us/article/Wild-Northwest-weather-eases-drought-worries-6691072.php


GOP blames Feinstein for blocking drought bill for farmers. House
Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy and several other California
Republicans blamed California Sen. Dianne Feinstein for blocking
progress on legislation to bring more water to California's farm
belt amid a severe and lengthy drought. Republicans have been
hoping to add the bill to the omnibus spending legislation that
Congress is aiming to pass before the holidays.
http://www.sacbee.com/news/state/california/article49246285.html#storylink=cpy

http://www.pe.com/articles/washington-789010-california-drought.html

http://www.eenews.net/greenwire/2015/12/11/stories/1060029406 

Angry California Republicans call drought bill dead for the year.
Angry California Republicans threw in the towel late Thursday,
conceding that a California water bill that had divided the state
was dead for the year. In a remarkably acrimonious ending to
negotiations that once seemed close to bearing fruit, GOP House
members acknowledged the bill’s failure…
http://www.miamiherald.com/news/nation-world/national/article49172085.html#storylink=cpy


California Farmers Could Learn Drought Lessons From Israel.
California produces half the nation’s fruits, nuts and
vegetables. Now that the state is headed into its fifth year of
drought, it’s looking at more water-efficient ways to grow food.
California may be able to learn some lessons from Israel. The
arid country averages less than 25 inches of rain a year and
still produces almost all of its food.
http://www.capradio.org/articles/2015/12/11/california-farmers-could-learn-drought-lessons-from-israel/

http://www.usnews.com/news/us/articles/2015/12/11/wild-northwest-weather-eases-drought-worries


Global market, not drought, snips California-grown flower
production in Rose Parade. Four years of severe drought haven’t
withered supplies of California-grown flowers on Rose Parade
floats. That can be blamed on the global economy. Simply put,
float builders source everything from roses to orchids from
growers across the globe.
http://www.sgvtribune.com/lifestyle/20151211/global-market-not-drought-snips-california-grown-flower-production-in-rose-parade


Drought forces Pismo Beach to issue building moratorium. The city
of Pismo Beach recently issued a tiered building moratorium aimed
to conserve water during the state’s historic drought. The first
tier is effective immediately — the city will not issue new
building permits. Planning and building permits already in the
pipeline will move forward and new planning applications will be
accepted.
http://www.pacbiztimes.com/2015/12/11/drought-forces-pismo-beach-to-issue-building-moratorium/#sthash.KYYsFDlc.dpuf


DIESEL ACTIVITIES


EPA offers grants to replace, upgrade diesel school buses. School
districts and transportation companies will split some $7 million
from U.S. EPA to replace or refurbish about 375 older
diesel-powered school buses, the agency announced today. Funded
through the Diesel Emissions Reduction Act (DERA), the program
will provide rebates ranging from $15,000 to $25,000 to replace
school buses with engines from model year 2006 or earlier, EPA
said in a news release.
http://www.eenews.net/greenwire/2015/12/11/stories/1060029394 

FUELS

Oil eyes 11-year low as IEA warns of worse glut, U.S. stays warm.
Oil prices extended their freefall on Friday, flirting with
11-year lows, after the International Energy Agency (IEA) warned
that global oversupply of crude could worsen next year. Brent and
U.S. crude's West Texas Intermediate (WTI) futures fell as much
as 5 percent on the day and 12 percent on the week as mild
pre-winter weather and a plummeting U.S. stock market added to
the toll on oil prices.
http://www.reuters.com/article/us-global-oil-idUSKBN0TU02C20151211#m0OI3t08LiHCawZg.99


Brazil antitrust body assesses Black River sugar mills purchase.
Brazil's antitrust regulator CADE is evaluating a request made by
U.S.-based Black River Asset Management LLC to approve an
acquisition of two local sugar mills, documents seen by Reuters
on Friday showed. The request sent to CADE indicates that Black
River, controlled by U.S. commodity trader Cargill, and Antonio
Ruette Agroindustrial Ltda have agreed on terms for the mills'
sale…
http://www.reuters.com/article/brazil-sugar-blackriver-idUSL8N13X44120151211#rJVRXTug1kA0xwlZ.99


VEHICLES

In smog-choked China, drivers check out electric cars. The heavy
smog shrouding Beijing this week has proved to be a boon for
China's nascent electric car market, with some dealers saying
inquiries about all-electric models are up by almost a tenth.
Beijing issued a first 3-day pollution "red alert" on Monday, and
set out measures to combat the hazardous smog…
http://www.reuters.com/article/us-china-pollution-autos-idUSKBN0TT08K20151211#psBVEXJzhZsPkGJP.97



VOLKSWAGEN RECALL

VW Brand Sales Set to Drop for First Time in More Than a Decade.
Volkswagen AG’s deliveries of its namesake brand are set to
decline for the first time in 11 years as customers turn away
from Golf hatchbacks and Passat sedans tainted by the scandal
over diesel emissions cheating. Sales fell 4.5 percent through
November to 5.34 million vehicles…
http://washpost.bloomberg.com/Story?docId=1376-NZ730R6JIJV501-152S90N7P92EO83OHN86NDNF52


Volkswagen’s World-Wide Sales Fall on Declines in U.S., South
America. Sales declined 15% in the U.S. in November, despite
overall buoyant demand for new cars. Volkswagen AG ’s world-wide
sales shrank in November, hurt by steep declines in the U.S. and
South America, illustrating the commercial impact of its
emissions-cheating scandal.
http://www.wsj.com/articles/volkswagen-sales-fall-showing-commercial-strain-of-emissions-scandal-1449845910


VW Says Emissions Cheating Was Not a One-Time Error. The chairman
of Volkswagen said on Thursday that the decision by employees to
cheat on emissions tests was made more than a decade ago, after
they realized they could not meet United States clean air
standards legally.
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/12/11/business/international/vw-emissions-scandal.html
http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/cars/2015/12/10/volkswagen-emissions-scandal-investigation/77082362/


Volkswagen Chairman Says Emissions Cheating Sprang From 'Chain Of
Errors'. Volkswagen's emissions cheating scandal was the result
of a "chain of errors," Chairman Hans Dieter Pötsch said
Thursday, admitting that the fault extends to the company as a
whole, rather than a handful of rogue engineers. The company
continues to maintain that only a small group of people were
actively involved…
http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2015/12/10/459195558/volkswagen-chairman-says-emissions-cheating-sprang-from-chain-of-errors


GREEN ENERGY

IKEA to buy 1-2 wind farms to boost renewable energy output. IKEA
Group, the world's biggest furniture retailer, will buy at least
one or two wind farms in its current fiscal year as it aims to
reach by 2020 a target to produce, from renewable sources, as
much electricity as it consumes.
http://www.reuters.com/article/ikea-energy-renewables-idUSS3N12500720151210#eSl5LMD4UJbwxf4P.99


California and Germany, Opposites With a Common Energy Goal. One
is a European country known as “the powerhouse of Europe” that
struggles against soggy winters and seemingly endless gray skies.
The other is a digitally driven American state, known as “the
Golden State,” for its abundant sunshine and year-round growing
season. One is determined to lead an energy transformation
through carefully drafted laws…
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/12/11/world/europe/california-and-germany-opposites-with-a-common-energy-goal.html


Critics bash PG&E for plan to raise fee on green energy. Utility
company PG&E has filed papers to raise its exit fee for customers
transferring to local green energy programs, in some cases as
much as doubling the price, a new report says. The San Francisco
Chronicle reports that last month the utility quietly filed
papers to raise its Power Charge Indifference Adjustment…
http://www.bizjournals.com/sanfrancisco/blog/real-estate/2015/12/pg-e-eyes-raising-fee-on-green-energy-solar-wind.html

Wind energy is a key climate change solution. To curb climate
risks, we must cut emissions and deploy low-carbon energy sources
like wind. When we think about climate change, it’s easy to focus
on reducing emissions in order to maintain a healthy global
temperature. But any real progress has to be complemented by a
significant increase in clean and renewable energy.
http://www.theguardian.com/environment/climate-consensus-97-per-cent/2015/dec/10/wind-energy-is-a-key-climate-change-solution

To store renewable electricity, utilities turn to pumped water.
Utilities from Spain to China are increasingly relying on pumped
storage hydroelectricity – first used in the 1890s – to overcome
the intermittent nature of wind and solar power. In the past
decade, wind energy production has soared in Spain, rising from 6
percent of the country’s electricity generation in 2004 to about
20 percent today.
http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Making-a-difference/Change-Agent/2015/1210/To-store-renewable-electricity-utilities-turn-to-pumped-water


Duke Energy Renewables and Green Charge Networks Partner to
Increase Savings for Commercial Solar Customers. Duke Energy
Renewables is increasing savings for commercial solar customers
through an alliance with Green Charge Networks, the country's
largest provider of commercial energy storage for retail,
industrial and government customers. The agreement provides these
customers with "solar firming…
http://www.azocleantech.com/news.aspx?newsID=22847  

Texas scientists look to save, transport renewable energy. Texas
scientists and universities are looking at how to capture, store
and transmit energy from their growing wind and solar energy
market to the state grid. Intermittent power given by wind
turbines or solar panels doesn't make for the constant energy the
electric grid needs…
http://www.eenews.net/energywire/2015/12/11/stories/1060029332 

OPINIONS

Coming clean on corruption’s links to pollution.  A common link
lies in VW’s emissions cheating and the air-quality alerts in
China, India, and Indonesia. Arrogant dishonesty can lead to
pollution. As VW now admits, leaders must learn to act with
humility. Rarely does the leader of a country or corporation link
character virtue with air pollution.
http://www.csmonitor.com/Commentary/the-monitors-view/2015/1210/Coming-clean-on-corruption-s-links-to-pollution


It's time to end the ethanol mandate. The Environmental
Protection Agency recently set the marker for how much ethanol
will have to be blended in your car's gasoline next year. There
are two takeaways from this: It could have been worse, and we
absolutely have to do away with the whole charade. Setting
government requirements for ethanol is simply an…
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/opinion/editorials/ct-ethanol-epa-fuel-mandate-renewables-20151211-story.html


BLOGS

U.S. EPA approves the sale of the new 2016 BMW X5 diesel. The EPA
and California Air Resources Board approved the sale of the new
2016 BMW X5 diesel. Last month, the Spartanburg plant decided to
put a temporary hold on the BMW X5 xDrive35d production for the
American market. American customers who have ordered a BMW X5
xDrive35d were advised by U.S. dealers to expect a delay.
http://www.bmwblog.com/2015/12/11/u-s-epa-approves-the-sale-of-the-new-2016-bmw-diesel-x5/


Guest post: Cellulosic ethanol holds promise, but can we get it
right? This post was written by Loni Kemp, who has been a
consultant to NRDC for seven years. She works on agriculture,
energy and conservation policy for nonprofits, foundations and
government. Previously she was at the Minnesota Project for 29
years. She is the author of the NRDC report, "Cellulosic Ethanol
from Corn Stover: Can We Get It Right?"
http://switchboard.nrdc.org/blogs/slyutse/guest_post_can_we_get_it_right.html


Rainforest: Up to Half the Global Warming Solution. As climate
negotiators in Paris struggle to agree on how to avoid the
catastrophic consequences of global warming, a big part of the
solution is hiding in plain sight: trees, specifically the trees
of the rainforest. Conserving tropical rainforest isn't just
about protecting spectacular wildlife and unparalleled
biodiversity, though that's reason enough.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/brett-byers/rainforest-up-to-half-the-global-warming-solution_b_8760622.html


The Destination Is 100 Percent Renewable Energy for All. When it
comes to prosperity, humans seldom care about the environment.
But our planet would not have it and there's evidence at hand:
the ten hottest years on record have all occurred since 1998. The
year 2014 keeps the highest mark now and it's all but guaranteed
already that 2015 will claim the infamous title.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/martin-kaiser/the-destination-is-100-pe_b_8784114.html


NSF grant to enhance ‘grass to gas’ biofuel technology.
University of Massachusetts Amherst computational chemist Scott
Auerbach has been awarded a three-year, $330,000 grant from the
National Science Foundation to improve basic understanding and
optimize the process of producing fuels such as gasoline from
plant biomass instead of from petroleum.
http://www.agprofessional.com/news/nsf-grant-enhance-%E2%80%98grass-gas%E2%80%99-biofuel-technology




California is in a drought emergency.
Visit www.SaveOurH2O.org for water conservation tips.

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