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newsclips -- ARB Newsclips for February 22, 2016.

Posted: 22 Feb 2016 14:08:00
ARB Newsclips for February 22, 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.

AIR POLLUTION

China's smoggy capital to double air monitoring stations. China's
smoggy capital will almost double the number of air monitoring
stations to give a better idea about the true state of the city's
air quality, Xinhua state news agency said on Monday. An extra 30
stations will be added to the 35 already in operation in places
like schools…
http://af.reuters.com/article/energyOilNews/idAFL3N1613DX

Beijing to Raise Threshold on Red Alerts for Smog. The first red
alert over air pollution in the Chinese capital almost brought
this city to a standstill in December, with schools shut,
construction halted and driving restricted. Now, in a swift
policy shift, Beijing plans to issue a red alert based on higher
thresholds, despite government pledges to better address the
toxic air.
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/02/23/world/asia/beijing-smog-alerts.html?smtyp=cur&_r=0


295,000 US deaths may be prevented by 2030 with cuts to
greenhouse gas. New paper finds that Americans who would
otherwise die from lung cancer, heart attacks or respiratory
diseases would be saved by reduction in air pollution. America’s
international climate obligations carry a significant public
health benefit, with new research finding that about 295,000
premature deaths could be prevented in the country by 2030…
http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2016/feb/22/us-deaths-greenhouse-gas-295000-emission-cuts-climate-change

The silent killer in your home: Scented candles and air
fresheners 'are adding to pollution that kills 40,000 people a
year in UK'.  Lives are being put at risk from air pollution
inside homes caused by everything from boiler fumes to air
fresheners and scented candles, it has been claimed. The warning
comes from a joint study by the Royal College of Physicians and
the Royal College of Pediatrics and Child Health to be published
this week.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3457368/Air-fresheners-scented-candles-blame-pollution-home-kills-40-000-year.html#ixzz40vc5Cnbm


India's smog levels now surpass China's – study. When expats
complain about toxic smog in China, the reply is often, "Wait
until you go to India." That reply has long been viewed as
self-comforting in China, where face masks to ward off the smog
in places like Beijing are commonplace. Now a study released
today by Greenpeace shows that in 2015, the average Indian
citizen for the first time…
http://www.eenews.net/climatewire/2016/02/22/stories/1060032731

ALISO CANYON

The Aliso Canyon gas leak has been plugged; now what?  The well
failure at Southern California Gas Co.'s huge Aliso Canyon
storage facility is evoking the worst of energy fears:
snuffed-out pilot lights, rolling blackouts and a system too
unreliable for the modern age. Now that the utility has plugged
the leak that began Oct. 23, fouling the air with natural gas and
methane…
http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-aliso-canyon-reliability-20160222-story.html


Los Angeles to immediately hire ‘petroleum administrator’ to
oversee oil and gas production. The Los Angeles City Council
instructed city staffers today to immediately hire a petroleum
administrator position on a full- time basis to oversee all oil
and gas production activity in the city. The move comes in the
wake of the gas leak near Porter Ranch and complaints by South
Los Angeles...
http://www.dailynews.com/business/20160217/los-angeles-to-immediately-hire-petroleum-administrator-to-oversee-oil-and-gas-production


SoCalGas fights against reporting amount of massive Porter Ranch
gas leak. The Southern California Gas Co. is fighting potential
state rules that would require it to report how much methane it
lost in the catastrophic leak that spewed greenhouse gases into
the air above Porter Ranch. In a filing with the state Public
Utilities Commission last week, an attorney representing the Gas
Co…
http://www.pasadenastarnews.com/environment-and-nature/20160221/socalgas-fights-against-reporting-amount-of-massive-porter-ranch-gas-leak


CLIMATE CHANGE

Science confirms it: Denial of climate change is all about the
politics. Dozens of surveys and studies have attempted to figure
out which factors most heavily influence individuals’ beliefs
about climate change and their support for climate-friendly
policies. But because there have been so many published recently,
scientists argue that it’s been difficult to keep up with the
overall trends these studies have been revealing.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/energy-environment/wp/2016/02/22/science-confirms-it-denial-of-climate-change-is-all-about-the-politics/


Rainforests May Store Less Carbon As Climate Changes. Humans
appear to be delivering one-two punches to tropical rainforests,
with new research projecting that climate change will reshape how
the ecosystems recover following logging. Scientists simulated
how different trees in tropical rainforests will respond to
prolonged droughts triggered by climate change…
http://www.climatecentral.org/news/tropical-forests-store-less-carbon-climate-changes-20052?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+climatecentral%2FdjOO+Climate+Central+-+Full+Feed


Why Science Teachers Are Struggling With Climate Change. Many
middle and high school science teachers are getting climate
change wrong. That's according to the results of a new, national
teacher survey backed by the National Center for Science
Education and published in the journal Science. Before we get to
those results, a quick, climate science refresher is in order.
http://www.npr.org/sections/ed/2016/02/19/467206769/why-science-teachers-are-struggling-with-climate-change

After the stay: Where all 50 states stand. Eighteen states
challenging the legality of U.S. EPA's Clean Power Plan have
halted planning discussions following the Supreme Court decision
to stay the regulation, according to a review by E&E staff. Of
the 47 states affected by the rule, nine are weighing whether to
stop preparing or perhaps slow down now that they may have an
extra year and a half to work out plans.
http://www.eenews.net/climatewire/2016/02/22/stories/1060032728 

American GHG production rose 0.9% in 2014 – EPA. Total U.S.
greenhouse gas emissions increased 0.9 percent between 2013 and
2014, according to a draft U.S. EPA inventory published today. In
2014, greenhouse gas emissions were 6,872.6 million metric tons
of carbon dioxide equivalent, EPA found. Since 1990, the nation's
greenhouse gas emissions have increased 7.7 percent…
http://www.eenews.net/greenwire/2016/02/22/stories/1060032752 

Who will be the next U.N. climate chief? Christiana Figueres'
announcement that she will step down this summer as head of the
U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change has sparked
speculation about who might fill her shoes and help set the Paris
climate agreement in motion. The coming months will see countries
nominate potential replacements for Figueres, to be vetted…
http://www.eenews.net/climatewire/2016/02/22/stories/1060032730 

DROUGHT

A dry future weighs heavy on California agriculture. Something’s
got to give in Central Valley farming. The only question is what.
On a hot summer afternoon, California farmer Chris Hurd barrels
down a country road through the Central Valley city of Firebaugh,
his dog Frank riding in the truck bed. He lurches to a stop in
front of Oro Loma Elementary School, which was built in the 1950s
to accommodate an influx of farmers’ and farmworkers’ children.
http://www.hcn.org/issues/48.3/a-dry-future-weighs-heavy-on-california-agriculture


FUELS

Sacramento-area gas prices fall to lowest level since late 2008.
Sacramento-area gasoline prices fell another 3 cents over the
past week to an average $2.08 a gallon, the lowest level since
the recessionary period of late 2008. On Monday, national fuel
price tracker GasBuddy.com said the current average retail price
of gas in the area was nearly 36 cents lower than one month ago.
http://www.sacbee.com/news/business/article61759077.html#storylink=cpy


BLM leasing plan ignores fracking's impact -- enviros
Environmental lawyers are urging a federal court to block the
Obama administration from moving forward on an oil and gas
leasing plan in central California until the Bureau of Land
Management reviews the environmental impacts more closely.
http://www.eenews.net/energywire/2016/02/22/stories/1060032685 

VEHICLES

LG Chem to supply batteries for Chrysler's minivan. South Korea's
LG Chem said on Monday it will supply electric vehicle batteries
to Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV from late this year and that the
orders were worth hundreds of millions of dollars. LG Chem said
it will produce batteries for the plug-in hybrid version of
Chrysler Pacifica minivans at its factory in Michigan.
http://www.reuters.com/article/lg-chem-chrysler-idUSL3N161089?feedType=RSS&feedName=marketsNews


Mercedes To Make Executives Drive Plug-In Hybrids Or Electric
Cars. As Mercedes-Benz launches a barrage of plug-in electric
cars, parent company Daimler is getting executives to practice
what they preach. In the near future, executives at Daimler's
headquarters in Stuttgart, Germany, will be required to choose
either electric cars or plug-in hybrids as their company cars.
http://www.greencarreports.com/news/1102471_mercedes-to-make-executives-drive-plug-in-hybrids-or-electric-cars


Volkswagen Teases Affordable Compact Crossover SUV Concept For
Geneva. Volkswagen has released some limited shots of a
concept-vehicle debut for the upcoming 2016 Geneva Motor Show.
The concept is almost certainly a refined version of the
Golf-sized crossover utility vehicle…
http://www.greencarreports.com/news/1102467_volkswagen-teases-affordable-compact-crossover-suv-concept-for-geneva


VW RECALL

VW May Be Forced to Clean the Air Its Diesel Cars Polluted.
Volkswagen AG may have to do more than fix half-a-million cars
implicated in an emissions-cheating scandal: It also could be
forced to undo the environmental damage. Environmental and
consumer groups are pushing the federal government to consider a
long list of possible reparations, from a VW-funded program to
build the infrastructure to power electric cars to high fines to
cleaning up five times…
http://washpost.bloomberg.com/Story?docId=1376-O2GJ3F6JTSEF01-0JFSUCD6VKKIH0JDP9DCVA9AL1


HIGH-SPEED RAIL

Change in bullet train construction plans will delay rail line's
arrival in Southern California. Facing high construction costs
and political opposition in Southern California, the state has
decided to build the first 250-mile section of the California
bullet train from the Kern County line to San Jose instead of
Fresno to Burbank. The reversal by the California High-Speed Rail
Authority would delay…
http://www.latimes.com/local/california/la-me-bullet-train-route-20160219-story.html


Bullet train to start in north, but plan calls for $2 billion for
LA region. Computer-generated image of what California's
high-speed train could look like.  While construction of the
controversial San Francisco to Los Angeles bullet train project
won't start in Southern California as previously envisioned, a
revised schedule does include $2 billion for local rail
improvements.
http://www.scpr.org/news/2016/02/22/57773/bullet-train-to-start-in-north-but-plan-calls-for/


LUMBER LIQUIDATORS

CDC: Elevated cancer risk in Lumber Liquidators laminate
flooring. Certain types of laminate flooring made by Lumber
Liquidators (LL) have a greater risk of causing cancer or other
health problems than previously believed, U.S. health regulators
said Monday. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said
Monday that exposure to formaldehyde in the flooring was greater
than…
http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/2016/02/22/lumber-liquidators-cancer-risk-cdc/80724770/


Lumber Liquidators shares sink as revised CDC report indicates it
underestimated cancer risk from exposure to certain flooring.
Lumber Liquidators' stock plunged Monday as the Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention now says people exposed to certain
types of the company's laminate flooring were three times more
likely to get cancer than the agency previously predicted.
http://www.usnews.com/news/us/articles/2016-02-22/lumber-liquidators-falls-in-premarket-on-revised-cdc-report


“Lumber Liquidators” update- VIDEO. Anderson Cooper gives an
update on the 60 Minutes report "Lumber Liquidators," about how
the leading hardwood retailer in the country sold Chinese-made
laminate flooring that did not meet U.S. health and safety
standards.
http://www.cbsnews.com/videos/lumber-liquidators-update-2/ 

GREEN ENERGY

Gamesa to issue new shares for wind venture with Siemens. Spanish
wind turbines maker Gamesa plans to issue new shares to German
industrial group Siemens to merge their wind power interests into
a new company, two sources with knowledge of the matter said on
Monday. But Siemens wants to avoid making a full takeover offer
for Gamesa and so they plan…
http://af.reuters.com/article/energyOilNews/idAFL8N1612IT 

U.S. Solar Surged 17% in 2015 Led by Demand for Rooftop Power.
Solar power developers added a record 7.3 gigawatts of capacity
in the U.S. last year, up 17 percent from 2014 and surpassing
natural gas installations for the first time. Residential
installations climbed 66 percent, the fastest- growing segment,
and accounted for 29 percent of all photovoltaic systems…
http://washpost.bloomberg.com/Story?docId=1376-O2T2PCSYF01U01-7MB5QUKI9LH50C81IBD8BT3PUV

http://www.eenews.net/climatewire/2016/02/22/stories/1060032723 

OPINIONS

Those Bubbles in Your Soda May Someday Help Save the Planet.
Climeworks AG is not the first company to figure out how to suck
carbon dioxide out of the air. It may become the first to make
money from it at an industrial scale. The Swiss company plans to
remove 1,000 metric tons a year of the greenhouse gas from the
atmosphere when its first commercial plant starts…
http://washpost.bloomberg.com/Story?docId=1376-O2N5C86JTSEU01-0DF1G45TNO30EJML5FPUT7EK35


The country with the worst air pollution is not the one you’re
thinking of. It’s a never-ending debate in Asia -- whose air
quality is worse, China’s or India’s? A new study by Greenpeace
released Monday is trying to answer that question. Analysts
looked at NASA satellite images and found that measurements of
particulate matter…
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/worldviews/wp/2016/02/22/which-county-has-worse-air-china-or-india/


Dan Walters: Big issues still dog fast train. The low-speed
effort to build a high-speed rail system is switching tracks
again. The previous “business plan” envisioned initially linking
the San Joaquin Valley – where preliminary construction is
already underway – to Los Angeles. A revised version, released
last week, shifts to first connecting the valley with the San
Francisco Bay Area…
http://www.sacbee.com/news/politics-government/dan-walters/article61510942.html#storylink=cpy


High-speed rail detour is smart, if tricky politically. For all
of the lawsuits, delays and debate over California’s high-speed
rail project, truly getting it rolling has always come down to a
tug-of-war between the laws of politics and the laws of
engineering. For now, the laws of engineering seem to have the
upper hand. The California High-Speed Rail Authority last week
released a new business plan…
http://www.sacbee.com/opinion/editorials/article61457937.html#storylink=cpy


New carbon fee makes sense. Re “Governor sees political potential
for carbon tax in California” (The Buzz, Feb. 17): Gov. Jerry
Brown’s idea of a revenue neutral carbon fee is a great idea.
With gasoline prices so low, a revenue-neutral carbon fee would
barely get gasoline prices back up to what they were. And the
money from this fee would go back to citizens, so it is not a tax
at all.
http://www.sacbee.com/opinion/letters-to-the-editor/article61456412.html#storylink=cpy


Good news for thirsty state. The rainfall across Southern
California last week only slightly alleviated the record drought,
but was welcome nonetheless. The same can be said of a new
federal drought-relief bill, S.2533, introduced this month by the
state's senior U.S. senator, Democrat Dianne Feinstein. “This
bill won't be everything for everyone,” she explained in a
statement.
http://www.ocregister.com/articles/bill-365558-ocprint-water-california.html


BLOGS

Why Lumber Liquidators Stock Is Tanking. Lumber Liquidators
Holdings Inc.'s LL -16.73% stock is taking another beating
Monday. Its shares fell more than 20% to $11.23 Monday after a
division of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said
that some of the firm’s laminate flooring have greater risks of
cancer associated with exposure to them than the agency had
originally told the public.
http://blogs.wsj.com/moneybeat/2016/02/22/why-lumber-liquidators-stock-is-tanking/


With Clean Power Plan paused, EPA should consider biomass
developments.  While many believe the Supreme Court’s decision to
stop President Obama’s Clean Power Plan was a blow to meeting
carbon emission standards, a window may have opened for a new
form of biomass as a cost-effective, viable option to reach
sustainability goals.
http://thehill.com/blogs/congress-blog/energy-environment/270039-with-clean-power-plan-paused-epa-should-consider


CA Legislature Wrestles With How Best to Invest Climate Funds. 
As the California legislative session revs up, several committees
have been holding oversight hearings on the state’s cap-and-trade
system. Last week, the Senate Environmental Quality and the
Select Committee on Climate Change and AB 32 Implementation held
a joint hearing…
http://cal.streetsblog.org/2016/02/19/ca-legislature-wrestles-with-how-best-to-invest-climate-funds/
 

Sea level is now rising at its fastest rate in nearly 3,000
years. Sea level rise is one of the most worrisome and visible
ramifications of global warming. New research published on Monday
shows the startling present-day impacts of global warming-related
sea level rise. It also demonstrates the potential for the
situation to get much, much worse if emissions of global warming
pollutants are not curtailed.
http://mashable.com/2016/02/22/manmade-sea-level-rise-flooding/#N6tMJRfMXiqX




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

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