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ARB Newsclips for December 21, 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.

AIR POLLUTION

Iran closes capital's schools due to air pollution. High air
pollution has forced Iranian authorities to close all schools and
kindergartens in the capital for two days beginning Sunday,
saying the pollution had reached dangerous levels. Iranian state
television said on Saturday that a government committee had
ordered the schools' closure because of the "polluted and
unhealthy" weather.
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/M/ML_IRAN_AIR_POLLUTION?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT


OTHER RELATED STORIES
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2015/12/20/world/middleeast/ap-ml-iran-air-pollution.html


Porter Ranch gas leak dampens local businesses. It’s a Sunday
afternoon and the NFL season is in high gear. But Wines of the
World in Porter Ranch, a popular spot for locals to pick up
football party supplies, is quiet. No customers are dropping by.
A pall has settled over the tony North San Fernando Valley
community as a massive leak…
http://www.dailynews.com/environment-and-nature/20151220/porter-ranch-gas-leak-dampens-local-businesses?source=most_viewed


CLIMATE CHANGE

Obama vetoes anti-climate change measures passed by Congress.
President Barack Obama has vetoed two measures that would have
blocked steps that his administration is taking to address
climate change. One would have nullified carbon pollution
standards set by the Environmental Protection Agency. The second
would have voided a set of national standards designed to reduce
the amount of greenhouse gas pollution from existing power
plants.
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_OBAMA_CLIMATE?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT
 

OTHER RELATED STORIES
http://www.usnews.com/news/politics/articles/2015-12-19/obama-vetoes-anti-climate-change-measures-passed-by-congress


To Achieve Paris Climate Goals, U.S. Will Need New Laws. The
climate agreement reached in Paris last weekend has been hailed
as a landmark in the global effort to reduce greenhouse gas
emissions, and it could well turn out to be one. But the accord’s
lofty goals won’t be achieved without large corporations making
big changes.
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/12/20/business/energy-environment/to-achieve-paris-climate-goals-us-will-need-new-laws.html?ref=energy-environment&_r=1


Republicans grope for way to kill Paris climate agreement.
Republicans are running out of ways to undermine the Obama
administration's commitments as part of the Paris climate
agreement. GOP lawmakers acknowledge that they won't get a vote
on the international accord, which they vehemently oppose.
http://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/263780-gop-gropes-for-way-to-kill-paris-climate-deal


Climate change warming world's lakes at alarming rate. Many
lakes, especially in the cold regions, lose winter ice faster,
while others are no more blanketed by clouds, thus, being
directly exposed to solar heat. A recent large-scale study
sampled over 200 lakes from all continents to help bring the
point home: world's lakes are warming faster than the oceans or
surface temperature due to climate change.
http://thevillagessuntimes.com/2015/12/21/climate-change-warming-worlds-lakes-at-alarming-rate/


Carbon capture projects get $160M federal infusion. The omnibus
spending bill that Congress approved last week directs $160
million to boost demonstration projects aimed at commercializing
technology to capture and reuse carbon emissions from power
plants -- the most prominent of which is the now-$6.5 billion
Kemper County Energy Facility in Mississippi.
http://www.eenews.net/energywire/2015/12/21/stories/1060029815 

DROUGHT

California Wants to Store Water for Farmers, but Struggles Over
How to Do It. Californians suffering through the fourth year of a
punishing drought have a new worry. With fierce storms predicted
for the winter, they are bracing for floods by stockpiling
sandbags and rushing to buy insurance. Yet those who need water
the most, farmers, are in a poor position to take advantage of
any deluge.
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/12/22/science/california-wants-to-store-water-for-farmers-but-struggles-over-how-to-do-it.html


California regulators to propose water conservation changes.
State regulators say they're proposing changes to water
conservation requirements as they anticipate a possible fifth
year of drought. The State Water Resources Control Board this
week is expected to release the draft changes to the mandate that
requires communities statewide to conserve by 25 percent.
California is in its driest four-year span on record.
http://www.insidebayarea.com/california/ci_29292136/california-regulators-propose-water-conservation-changes


Drought dries up livelihoods for farm workers. California's
ongoing drought is also drying up livelihoods for the state's
thousands of agricultural workers. "The drought has all of
California's attention," said Maria Echaveste, a law professor at
the University of California, Berkeley.
http://www.eenews.net/greenwire/2015/12/21/stories/1060029839 

FUELS

Survey: Gas prices still falling as crude oil costs nosedive. The
price of gasoline nationwide keeps dropping. Industry analyst
Trilby Lundberg said Sunday that the average price of regular gas
fell 4 cents in the past two weeks, to $2.06 per gallon. That’s
the lowest price since April 2009. But the price-tracking website
GasBuddy.com says the average has dropped to $1.99 per gallon…
https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/survey-gas-prices-still-falling-as-crude-oil-costs-nosedive/2015/12/20/1bbe1aba-a77c-11e5-b596-113f59ee069a_story.html


Oil Prices Slump to 11-Year Lows in Asia and Europe. Oil prices
hit 11-year lows in Asia and Europe on Monday, as a glut of crude
on world markets and the recent global climate accord continue to
depress fossil-fuel prices. Brent crude oil, the international
benchmark, was trading at $36.50 per barrel in late European
trading. Analysts say there is little to restrain continued price
declines in the near term.
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/12/22/business/energy-environment/oil-prices-opec.html


Survey: California gas prices still falling as crude oil costs
nosedive. The price of gasoline nationwide keeps dropping. 
Industry analyst Trilby Lundberg said Sunday that the average
price of regular gas fell 4 cents in the past two weeks, to $2.06
per gallon. That's the lowest price since April 2009. 
http://www.insidebayarea.com/traffic/ci_29292152/survey-california-gas-prices-still-falling-crude-oil


VEHICLES

US regulators slap BMW with $40M fine for safety violations. U.S.
safety regulators have slapped German automaker BMW AG with a $40
million penalty for moving too slowly to fix Mini brand cars that
failed federal crash tests. The National Highway Traffic Safety
Administration also said Monday BMW failed to send the agency
accurate recall information.
http://www.sacbee.com/news/business/article50894720.html#storylink=cpy


Electric cars await jump-start in New Jersey. Ask Art Vatsky
about his electric car, and he'll tell you about his smooth,
quiet commute from Teaneck to the Bronx, the $100 he saves each
month bypassing the gas pumps and everything about its engine.
But he'll also tell you about its drawbacks: the limited range
and lack of charging stations in New Jersey and elsewhere.
http://www.sacbee.com/news/business/technology/article50648145.html#storylink=cpy


India’s first Electric Vehicle Expo to be held in Delhi. The
country’s first ever Electric Vehicle Expo is set to be
inaugurated by Shri Nitin Gadkari, Union Minister of Road
Transport and Highways on December 24, 2015. The Expo comes at a
time when the country is looking at a paradigm shift in the way
city residents commute in order to bring down dangerous levels of
pollution.
http://overdrive.in/news/indias-first-electric-vehicle-expo-to-be-held-in-delhi/


VW RECALL

Volkswagen Considers Rotation of Key Executives. Car maker
undergoing massive management restructuring in the wake of
emissions crisis. Volkswagen AG is considering implementing a
mandatory rotation of key executives in its engine-development
groups across the company’s main brands, another indication that
the car maker is growing certain that a culture of tolerance…
http://www.wsj.com/articles/volkswagen-considers-rotation-of-key-executives-1450628225?mod=pls_whats_news_us_business_f


Volkswagen hires compensation expert to handle 'Dieselgate'
claims. Volkswagen is bringing in an expert to handle the claims
process in relation to the emissions-cheating scandal that broke
earlier this year. More than 500 lawsuits from owners of the
affected cars have been filed against Volkswagen after news broke
that the German automaker had been installing software to cheat
emissions testing.
http://www.nydailynews.com/autos/news/vw-hires-compensation-expert-handle-dieselgate-claims-article-1.2472602


VW Gets More Time To Figure Out TDI Diesel Emission Update. It's
been just over three months since the U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency (EPA) first revealed that Volkswagen diesel
cars were equipped with "defeat device" software that allowed
them to cheat emissions tests. But U.S. owners of the 482,000
2009 through 2015 models equipped with EA189 2.0-liter
four-cylinder engines…
http://www.greencarreports.com/news/1101500_vw-gets-more-time-to-figure-out-tdi-diesel-emission-update


GREEN ENERGY

Wind Power Continues Steady Growth Across The U.S. The U.S. wind
power industry is celebrating after reaching a new milestone in
November: 70 gigawatts (GW) of generating capacity. "That's
enough to power about 19 million homes," says Michael Goggin,
senior director of research at the American Wind Energy
Association (AWEA).
http://www.capradio.org/news/npr/story?storyid=460527376 

Experts predict renewable investment boom as Congress renews tax
credits. The U.S. solar and wind power industries will mark the
holidays with heightened spirits after receiving multiyear
extensions of their coveted renewable energy tax credits from a
divided Congress. On Friday, the House and Senate agreed by
significant margins to grant extensions to the 30 percent
investment tax credit (ITC)…
http://www.eenews.net/climatewire/2015/12/21/stories/1060029809 

Climate change scientists exchange verbal punches over
all-renewable energy solution. A fault line developed in the
climate science community last week, as outspoken climate
scientist Naomi Oreskes called James Hansen, the former NASA
scientist and climate change activist, a "climate denier." At the
epicenter of the disagreement is energy policy.
http://www.eenews.net/climatewire/2015/12/21/stories/1060029818 

MISCELLANEOUS

California lieutenant governor orders environmental review of
nuclear plant. 
California's lieutenant governor on Friday directed the State
Lands Commission to draw up a plan for a thorough environmental
review of PG&E's Diablo Canyon power plant, the state's last
operational nuclear power plant. 
http://www.reuters.com/article/us-california-nuclearpower-lease-idUSKBN0U201T20151219


OPINIONS

Britain's long transition from coal holds lessons for China:
Kemp. Britain’s last deep coal mine closed on Friday, bringing
the curtain down on an industry that once employed more than 1
million miners at over 3,000 collieries. Coal helped Britain
become the first modern industrial power, fuelling her factories,
steel works, ships and railways in the 19th century, when the
country became famous as the workshop of the world (“Energy
transitions”, Smil, 2010).
http://www.reuters.com/article/us-britain-coal-kemp-idUSKBN0U405J20151221


Businessman touts electric bikes used in Europe, China [The
Island Packet (Hilton Head Island, S.C.)]. Take a quick glance at
the bicycles on display at Adam Solar Rides in Bridgeville, and
they look like ordinary two-wheelers. They're not. The bikes, it
turns out, are electric bikes (also known as e-bikes), which are
booming in popularity in Europe and China, where they're held in
high regard for their low impact on the environment.
http://www.bloomberg.com/research/markets/news/article.asp?docKey=600-201512211247KRTRIB__BUSNEWS_52930_27129-1


Pollution and climate change. The most immediate threat to the
earth is not climate change, but the destruction of the
ecosystem. Economic growth has not only caused environmental
disasters through mining and deforestation. It has also fueled an
exponential increase in the amount of waste and effluent that are
poisoning the soil and rapidly killing the oceans, mother of all
lives.
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/12/21/opinion/letters-to-the-editor.html


The ideological causes of smog. Re “Beijing issues a second ‘red
alert’ on pollution” (Dec. 17): The article reminds me of the
first time I went to that city 51 years ago. Back then the
students in my institute used “Dickensian fog” and “London smog”
as a metaphor for the awful conditions created by capitalism. Now
that London has relatively clean air (but is still capitalist)…
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/12/21/opinion/letters-to-the-editor.html


Close SoCalGas' facility in Aliso Canyon – eventually. As the
natural gas leak in Aliso Canyon continues into its 10th week,
its deleterious effects keep growing. Some 1,700 families in
nearby Porter Ranch, sickened by the smell, have been moved away
to temporary housing, and 1,000 households more have applied for
relocation.
http://www.latimes.com/opinion/editorials/la-ed-adv-porter-ranch-gas-leak-20151219-story.html

There is a downside to cheap oil. Really.  Oil prices have fallen
dramatically to the mid-$30s on the New York Mercantile Exchange
from more than $105 per barrel in 2014. Such extraordinarily low
prices are affecting global stock markets, big oil exporters and
consumers worldwide. How can we explain this crash and where are
oil prices headed?
http://www.latimes.com/opinion/op-ed/la-oe-1221-yetiv-oil-price-explainer-20151221-story.html


Don't let terrorism take away our focus from climate change. To
the editor: Your fine articles on the Paris climate-change deal
reported the successes and also the very serious shortcomings of
the conference on global warming. ("Climate change activists are
just warming up," Dec. 15).
http://www.latimes.com/opinion/readersreact/la-le-1219-saturday-climate-change-terrorism-20151219-story.html


Four ways to gear up on climate change. This state is a national
model for environmental action. But anyone who drives during rush
hour knows that Californians are a long way from the finish line
on climate change. Californians drive 330 billion miles per year,
the vast majority on gasoline and diesel engines whose exhaust
generates about 40 percent of the state’s contribution to global
warming.
http://www.sacbee.com/opinion/editorials/article50538305.html#storylink=cpy


They'll always have Paris, but not much else. The hope of Jerry
Brown and his predecessor as governor, Arnold Schwarzenegger,
that the U.N.’s Paris Climate Summit, which they attended,
actually would achieve something always was illusory. It’s part
of the hope from Assembly Bill 32, the Global Warming Solutions
Act of 2006, which promised a California dream of not only…
http://www.ocregister.com/articles/summit-696708-california-paris.html


Letters: Practice what you preach on climate. Re: “Rally urges
action on climate change” [Irvine World News, Dec. 3]: One
hundred “activists” drove their automobiles to the Irvine
Spectrum Center to “combat climate change.” Said Garden Grove
Mayor Bao Nguyen, “Corporations seeking more profit are
destroying the environment all across the globe.”
http://www.ocregister.com/articles/news-696736-climate-hair.html


BLOGS

Quoted: Should Volkswagen ‘cure the air, not the cars’? “A giant
sum of money thus will be wasted in attempting to fix cars that
cannot all be fixed, and where the fix may be worse than the
problem if the cars are crushed well before the end of their
useful lives.” — from a letter to the California Air Resources
Board last week signed by Elon Musk, Jeff Skoll and others,
urging the agency to “show leadership”…
http://www.siliconbeat.com/2015/12/21/quoted-303/  
ExxonMobil, Peabody Coal Lobbying for Bill Preventing Climate
Change Accounting in US Trade Deals. The day before global
leaders and diplomats passed a climate change deal in Paris at
the United Nations climate summit, the U.S. House of
Representatives -- in a 256-158 vote -- authorized the final text
of a bill that has a provision preventing climate change to be
accounted for in all U.S. trade deals going forward.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/steve-horn/exxonmobil-peabody-coal-l_b_8851220.html


Limiting Global Warming Will be Hard, But Hardly Impossible. COP
21's ambitious goals are a call to overcoming the lack of
imagination and entrenched groupthink that keep us from seeing
and seizing the opportunities at hand. or decades, researchers
have been sounding the alarm on climate change: it’s happening,
we’re causing it, it’s bad.
http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/guest-blog/limiting-global-warming-will-be-hard-but-hardly-impossible/


The Art of a Climate Deal. The Paris conference on climate change
was quite the cliffhanger. Even till the last minute, we were
left wondering: Will Paris be another Copenhagen, where,
famously, the deal had unravelled? Officials worked late into the
wee hours, well past the official deadline, to cobble together a
document on which 196 nations could put their signatures.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/bhaskar-chakravorti/the-art-of-a-climate-deal_b_8853584.html




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