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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.