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newsclips -- ARB Newsclips for January 26, 2016

Posted: 26 Jan 2016 14:47:19

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.

ALISO CANYON

California Well Leaking Methane Ordered Sealed by Air Quality
Agency.
State regulators ordered Southern California Gas Co. to
permanently close and seal the well adjacent to the Porter Ranch
neighborhood of Los Angeles that’s spewing methane and sickening
local residents. They also called for enhanced air-quality
monitoring in the vicinity and an independent study of potential
health effects from the well’s emissions. 
http://insideclimatenews.org/news/25012016/california-well-leaking-methane-ordered-sealed-air-quality-agency-aliso-canyon-porter-ranch?utm_source=Inside+Climate+News&utm_campaign=6c07a2a935-InsideClimate_News12_10_2014&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_29c928ffb5-6c07a2a935-327749509


California gas leak spotlights shoddy regulation of aging storage
wells.
Long before a natural gas storage well sprung a disastrous leak
near Los Angeles, California, utilities and national industry
groups were raising alarms about the danger of aging underground
storage infrastructure. The leaking well's owner, Southern
California Gas Co, warned state utility regulators in 2014 of
"major failures" without a rate hike to pay for comprehensive
inspections of 229 storage wells.
http://www.reuters.com/article/losangeles-gas-leak-regulation-idUSL2N15A1MG


CLIMATE CHANGE

California official urges insurers to divest from coal.
California Insurance Commissioner Dave Jones is urging insurers
to voluntarily divest from thermal coal, citing the risks of
climate change and the danger of losses on assets backing
policyholder obligations. Jones, who oversees the sixth-largest
insurance marketplace in the world, is the first U.S. state
regulator of the industry to call for the divestment of such
assets, the California Department of Insurance said Monday in a
statement. The commissioner is also requiring insurers to
annually disclose their carbon-based investments, including
holdings in oil, gas and coal.
http://www.ocregister.com/articles/insurers-701381-insurance-investments.html


Goal on energy for all must be met ahead of 2030 deadline: CEO.
Giving everyone on the planet access to electricity and other
modern energy can and must be achieved earlier than a target date
of 2030, because it is vital both to improve people's lives and
curb climate change, said the official leading the push. Rachel
Kyte, who took over this month as CEO of the Sustainable Energy
for All (SE4All) initiative set up by the U.N. secretary-general,
said the numbers are now being crunched to work out how soon the
goal of universal access could be met.
http://www.reuters.com/article/us-development-goals-energy-idUSKCN0V41LA?feedType=RSS&feedName=environmentNews


Greens press for tougher action on methane.
Environmentalists are warning the Obama administration about a
gap between its goals to reduce methane emissions from the oil
and gas sector and potential reductions that proposed regulations
will actually achieve. That "emissions gap" is about 75 million
metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent, said the Boston-based
Clean Air Task Force in a new analysis, which surveyed a suite of
proposed and final methane-related rules.
http://www.eenews.net/greenwire/2016/01/26/stories/1060031177 

DROUGHT

‘Connecting the Drops’ water forum to highlight collaborative
efforts in Santa Cruz County.
Don’t let El Nino’s recent rains fool you. California is still in
a drought. The last four years have been the driest on record in
the state, and experts say it will take time to recover. In Santa
Cruz County, where there are 12 different water agencies and
districts and water supply is dealt with in piecemeal ways
sometimes, officials have found that working together on regional
solutions is the best approach.
http://www.santacruzsentinel.com/general-news/20160125/connecting-the-drops-water-forum-to-highlight-collaborative-efforts-in-santa-cruz-county


FUELS

How Caltrans is studying a pay-per-mile program that could
replace the gas tax.
Desperate to grow funds for fixing crumbling roads, Caltrans has
begun the first pilot study in the state that would assess
motorists by the number of miles driven instead of them paying
gasoline taxes at the pump. Caltrans is looking for 5,000
volunteers to take the California Road Charge challenge and allow
the tracking of time spent on highways or miles traveled per
car.
http://www.pasadenastarnews.com/general-news/20160125/how-caltrans-is-studying-a-pay-per-mile-program-that-could-replace-the-gas-tax


VEHICLES

New Central Valley Program Pays To Help Cars Pass Smog.
Many older cars that fail California smog testing are still on
the road spewing pollution. A new program pays for repairs so
hundreds of drivers in the Central Valley can pass the emissions
tests and register their vehicles. 500 cars line up for emission
testing at the San Joaquin County Fairgrounds in Stockton. Many 
are not registered with the DMV because they failed a smog test.
http://www.capradio.org/articles/2016/01/26/new-central-valley-program-pays-to-help-cars-pass-smog/


When Electric-Car Incentives Return: British Columbia Case
Study.
Christmas came in April last year for plug-in electric vehicle
proponents in British Columbia, Canada, when the provincial
government reinstated its Clean Energy Vehicle purchase-incentive
program. Purchase rebates for B.C. buyers of plug-in electric
vehicles had ended in February 2014, when the program's funding
allocated was depleted. It wasn't funded anew until April 2015.
http://www.greencarreports.com/news/1102023_when-electric-car-incentives-return-british-columbia-case-study


VW RECALL

Volkswagen's emissions cheating was an 'open secret,' report
says.
Since the dieselgate scandal broke in September, Volkswagen
executives and representatives have appeared publicly shocked and
genuinely dismayed with the revelation that the then-largest
global automaker had cheated emissions regulations with over 11
million diesel-powered models worldwide. Turns out, however, it
might have been an open secret all along.
http://mashable.com/2016/01/26/volkswagen-emissions-open-secret/#V8TQPOGYoSqG


GREEN ENERGY

San Diego Mulls Whether To Let City, Not Utility, Buy Alternative
Energy.
San Diego is the largest city in the country to commit to using
only renewable energy, a goal that political parties,
environmentalists and business groups hope to meet over the next
20 years. That's right. There is broad consensus to reach this
environmentally ambitious plan.
http://www.capradio.org/news/npr/story?storyid=464323475 

MISCELLANEOUS

Bill Nye wants NASCAR to switch to electric cars.
Scientist Bill Nye is encouraging NASCAR to switch to
all-electric cars, calling on the auto racing league to look to
"the future rather than the past." NASCAR could help address
climate change by converting "all of our racecars to electricity
— right now — and show the public exactly what electrons can do,"
wrote Nye, known popularly as "Bill Nye, the Science Guy," in an
op-ed on the Aeon website.
http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/267023-bill-nye-wants-nascar-to-switch-to-electric-cars




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

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