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newsclips -- ARB Newsclips for January 13, 2016.
Posted: 13 Jan 2016 14:16:07
ARB Newsclips for January 13, 2016. 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 Calif. energy producers split on cap and trade's appropriateness. Some California energy companies are pushing back on the state's plan to use its cap-and-trade program as the main tool for compliance with U.S. EPA's Clean Power Plan. In public comments filed in response to the state's plan to demonstrate that its power plant emissions will meet EPA's emissions targets… http://www.eenews.net/energywire/2016/01/13/stories/1060030521 CLIMATE CHANGE Researchers: Small Colorado glacier could melt in 20 years. A small glacier in the mountains west of Boulder, Colorado, could disappear in about 20 years because of regional climate warming and drought, and similar thawing could be underway elsewhere in Colorado's high country, researchers said Tuesday. A severe drought and high temperatures in the early 2000s caused a rapid loss of ice… http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_MELTING_COLORADO_GLACIER?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT In pitiful animal die-offs across the globe — from antelopes to bees to seabirds — climate change may be culprit. On the chilly shores of Alaska’s Prince William Sound, tens of thousands of battered bird carcasses are washing up. The birds, all members of a species known as the common murre, appear to have starved to death, wildlife officials said Tuesday. https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2016/01/13/how-climate-change-could-be-contributing-to-animal-die-offs/ Drivers may pay for next step in fight against climate change. U.S. drivers may soon see a new expense at some gas pumps: the cost of taking the global-warming fight on the road. New York and four other states are exploring ways to put a price on the air pollution spewing from cars, trucks, trains and other vehicles -- the source of more than a third of greenhouse- gas emissions in the northeastern U.S. http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/sns-wp-blm-autos-climate-ab051cf8-b93f-11e5-85cd-5ad59bc19432-20160112-story.html Cutting diesel pollution puts climate change target at risk, says VW UK chief. Boss of carmaker that cheated on tests of toxic NOx emissions downplays impact of scandal and says diesel vehicles needed to reduce CO2 levels. Taking too many diesel cars off the road because they have been blamed for Europe’s air pollution problems would risk the industry missing its climate change targets, the boss of Volkswagen UK has warned. http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2016/jan/13/cutting-diesel-pollution-puts-climate-change-target-at-risk-says-vw-uk-chief 2015 was hottest year on record. Last year was the hottest year on record for the planet, according to a new report from the organization Berkeley Earth. For the first time in recorded history, the Earth's temperature is clearly more than 1.8 degrees Fahrenheit above the 1850-1900 average. 2015 was approximately 0.2 degrees F hotter than 2014, which had tied with 2005 and 2010 as the previous hottest years, the report says. http://www.centralvalleybusinesstimes.com/stories/001/?ID=29776 Amber Rudd promises new climate plan by the end of 2016. Plan will give full details of government's new policy approach, Rudd tells business leaders. The UK's new emissions reduction plan is expected to arrive at "the end of the year", energy and climate change secretary Amber Rudd told business leaders yesterday. http://www.businessgreen.com/bg/news/2441681/amber-rudd-promises-new-climate-plan-by-the-end-of-2016 IMF calls for carbon levy on ships and planes. The International Monetary Fund is calling for a carbon tax on aviation and shipping2 to help deliver global climate goals. A charge of US$30 a tonne on carbon dioxide embedded in international transport fuels could have raised US$25 billion in 2014, the influential Washington DC-based body estimates. http://www.climatechangenews.com/2016/01/12/imf-carbon-tax-on-aviation-and-shipping/ Obama leans forward on climate, calls to revamp coal. President Obama tied climate change to soaring economic hope rather than damaging catastrophes in his final State of the Union address, delivered to a nation that remains gripped with partisan rancor over the basis for climbing temperatures. He only indirectly mentioned the global agreement… http://www.eenews.net/climatewire/2016/01/13/stories/1060030535 IMF calls for pricing carbon in wake of global climate deal. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) wants the world to respond to a landmark new climate change agreement by pricing carbon emissions. In a report released this week, the global finance organization argued that the most efficient way for countries to make good on the carbon reductions… http://www.eenews.net/climatewire/2016/01/13/stories/1060030516 New research sees CO2 savings in next-generation biofuels. Cellulosic biofuels can reduce greenhouse gas emissions -- but not as much as ecologists have predicted. For the first time, researchers have combined economic and ecological modeling to estimate the emissions savings from increasing production of second-generation biofuels… http://www.eenews.net/climatewire/2016/01/13/stories/1060030513 Melting icebergs may be helping to trap carbon. In a surprising discovery, researchers have found that nutrient-rich waters shed by large melting icebergs give rise to phytoplankton blooms that help to store millions of metric tons of carbon every year. Phytoplankton blooms are green in color because they are made of algae that contain chlorophyll and are able to photosynthesize. http://www.eenews.net/climatewire/2016/01/13/stories/1060030518 Soil on stones reveals climate change secrets. Deposits of soil gathered by stones and rocks over thousands of years may reveal more about past climate than scientists have been able to extract until now, new research finds. A study published this week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences yielded 120,000 years of climate history… http://www.eenews.net/climatewire/2016/01/13/stories/1060030536 FUELS Crude Falls Below $30 a Barrel for the First Time in 12 Years. Oil dropped below $30 a barrel in New York for the first time in 12 years on concern that turmoil in China’s markets will curb fuel demand. West Texas Intermediate crude tumbled to the lowest since December 2003. Concerns that China’s economic growth may slow has soured investors on the prospects for a quick recovery, turning hedge funds the least bullish in five years. http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-01-12/wti-oil-falls-below-30-for-first-time-since-dec-2003 Methane leak from broken Porter Ranch gas well slows. The amount of methane leaking from the broken Southern California Gas Co. well above Porter Ranch has been steadily decreasing, a new state air sampling shows. The levels are now 60 percent below a peak level in late November, according to a posting on the California Air Resources Board website. http://www.bloomberg.com/research/markets/news/article.asp?docKey=600-201601122118KRTRIB__BUSNEWS_61581_39819-1 State senator aims to prevent another Porter Ranch gas leak. State Sen. Fran Pavley announced Monday that she plans to introduce bills that would put on hold using old gas wells for production at the Aliso Canyon storage facility and streamline state agencies' efforts to remedy natural gas leaks. The proposals are part of a package of bills Pavley, D-Agoura Hills, intends to introduce… http://www.bloomberg.com/research/markets/news/article.asp?docKey=600-201601122118KRTRIB__BUSNEWS_21412_38671-1 L.A. County supervisors want report on proposed legislation in response to Porter Ranch gas leak. Angered by state agencies that have "gone to sleep" and "turned a blind eye" in response to a massive natural gas leak above Porter Ranch, the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday requested a report from the county's CEO on proposed state legislation to ramp up reaction. http://www.bloomberg.com/research/markets/news/article.asp?docKey=600-201601130917KRTRIB__BUSNEWS_53946_46088-1 Oil dips below $30 a barrel, lowest level in 12 years. The relentless slide in oil prices, which hit 12-year lows Tuesday, is having only mixed results in helping California drivers save at the gas pump, analysts said. Gasoline prices in the state have fallen from peaks reached last July. But because of California’s unique gasoline market… http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-oil-prices-20160112-story.html Report on 2015 Torrance ExxonMobil refinery blast to be unveiled. A blast at a California refinery could have been much worse if debris from the explosion had pierced a nearby tank holding tens of thousands of pounds of a toxic acid, according to an independent federal agency charged with investigating industrial chemical accidents. http://www.dailynews.com/general-news/20160113/report-on-2015-torrance-exxonmobil-refinery-blast-to-be-unveiled VEHICLE BAIC Predicts 35-Fold Surge in Electric Car Sales on State Push. BAIC Group, the automaker owned by the Beijing municipal government, may boost its electric-vehicle sales by as much as 35-fold by 2020, helped by government incentives and investments in charging infrastructure, according to a senior executive. The automaker’s EV sales may more than double to 55,000 units this year from 20,000 last year… http://washpost.bloomberg.com/Story?docId=1376-O0VE686TTDST01-3707CLJK70N7RTGQHFT1COQMLT VW RECALL VW Meeting With EPA on Diesel Emissions Ends After an Hour. Volkswagen AG Chief Executive Matthias Mueller met with EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy for about an hour Wednesday, as the German carmaker discussed revamped proposals to overcome a diesel emissions-cheating scandal. Mueller pulled out from the EPA courtyard in a black Audi sedan without commenting on the meeting. http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-01-13/vw-meeting-with-epa-on-diesel-emissions-scandal-lasts-an-hour VW CEO Faces Crucial Meeting After California Board Rejects Fix. Volkswagen AG Chief Executive Officer Matthias Muellerfaces a crucial meeting Wednesday with U.S. regulators to discuss ways out of the emissions-cheating crisis, a day after the California Air Resources Board rejected its initial proposed engine fix. http://washpost.bloomberg.com/Story?docId=1376-O0UR7BSYF02701-2IOM6LKJCDJ3D8J6HDS2VSDOUP Environmental Agencies Reject VW's Plan For Recall Over Emissions. The California Air Resources Board has rejected Volkswagen's plan to recall cars with 2-liter diesel engines that trick emissions tests, saying the company's plan is incomplete. The Environmental Protection Agency says it concurs. The move comes one week after the EPA filed a civil complaint against VW in federal court over… http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2016/01/12/462805477/environmental-agencies-reject-vws-plan-for-recall-over-emissions?sc=tw California Just Rejected VW's Plan to Fix Its 2-Liter Engines. Watchdog’s scathing language shows how big VW’s problem has become. Matthias Müller’s trip to the U.S. just went from bad to worse. The California Air Resources Board late Tuesday said it had rejected Volkswagen’s proposed fix for bringing its 2-liter diesel engines into line with emission limits. http://fortune.com/2016/01/13/california-just-rejected-vws-plan-to-fix-its-2-liter-engines/ California Rejects VW Diesel Fix Plan: 'Gaps,' 'Lacks Detail'. It seems owners of Volkswagen diesel cars equipped with illegal "defeat device" software will have to wait longer for a recall to update their cars. The plan submitted by VW in November to modify its 2.0-liter four-cylinder TDI diesel models has been rejected by the regulatory agencies that must approve those fixes. http://www.greencarreports.com/news/1101854_california-rejects-vw-diesel-fix-plan-gaps-lacks-detail GREEN ENERGY Wind Energy Companies Grab Solar Contracts in India’s Auctions. Two wind energy companies in India have bagged solar projects worth a more than a quarter of the total capacity on offer from the country’s largest auction to date. Wind power producer Mytrah Energy Ltd. won a contract for 327 megawatts of solar capacity in the southern state of Telangana, which issued a tender in April 2015 for as much as 2,000 megawatts. http://washpost.bloomberg.com/Story?docId=1376-O0W05B6S972F01-7BLHO11AR2LACB1FN4KI5M8LDP Development Bank of Japan to Create $423 Million Wind Power Fund. The Development Bank of Japan and Japan Wind Development Co. will create the nation’s first fund for wind power, the companies announced on Wednesday. The companies aim to introduce the 50 billion yen ($423 million) joint fund in April, according to a statement. http://washpost.bloomberg.com/Story?docId=1376-O0VQEC6S972801-0AP76S541EJNKR7M6LOJVG6HNO Enel Green Power enters German renewables market. Enel Green Power has taken its first step into the German renewable energy market by buying a 78.6 percent stake in Bavaria-based Erdwärme Oberland GmbH, the Italian company said on Wednesday. "This acquisition is very significant because it opens the door for Enel Green Power to a major, stable renewable energy market such as Germany… http://af.reuters.com/article/energyOilNews/idAFI6N0WS00A20160113 MISCELLANEOUS Democrats vs. Democrats: Assembly moderates face challenges. In a sign of growing tension among California Democrats, at least two Assembly incumbents face unusual intraparty election challenges this year as liberal and moderate interests compete for leverage over environmental policy in a Legislature the party firmly controls. http://www.sacbee.com/news/politics-government/capitol-alert/article54362740.html#storylink=cpy OPINIONS LA county official: The disastrous gas leak in LA is a 'mini Chernobyl'. It's been a staggering 81 days and counting since a natural gas well in a quiet, hilly town in northern Los Angeles began uncontrollably spewing hundreds of millions of pounds of methane — a potent greenhouse gas — into the sky. California Gov. Jerry Brown declared a state of emergency there on January 6, 2016. http://www.businessinsider.com/methane-gas-leak-chernobyl-los-angeles-porter-ranch-2016-1 BLOGS A Massive Solar Power Plant Is Taking Shape in the Sahara Desert. Construction for the first phase of Morocco’s Noor 1 power plant is nearing completion. Once complete in 2020, the solar farm will be the largest of its kind in the world. But even now, the plant’s half-million solar mirrors are already visible from space. There’s no question that solar power is the future, an energy trend that’s fueling the development of massive solar farms in such places as California…. http://gizmodo.com/watch-a-massive-solar-power-plant-take-shape-in-the-sah-1752261396 Why grasslands can bring in the green for growers. Next week, hundreds of ranchers, landowners, land trusts, and environmental groups will gather in Stockton, California, for the California Rangeland Conservation Coalition’s annual summit. The event isn’t new, but the enthusiasm from attendees is unprecedented and palpable. http://blogs.edf.org/growingreturns/2016/01/13/why-grasslands-can-bring-in-the-green-for-growers/?utm_source=Robert&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=cm California is in a drought emergency. Visit www.SaveOurH2O.org for water conservation tips.