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ARB Newsclips for April 21, 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

Bay Area refineries must buy ‘fence line’ air pollution monitors.
Regulators on Wednesday ordered the Bay Area’s five oil
refineries to track and report air pollution on the edge of their
properties and regularly update officials on the different types
of petroleum they use. The Bay Area Air Quality Management
District approved rules designed to protect people living near
the refineries…
http://www.sfgate.com/business/article/Bay-Area-refineries-must-buy-fence-line-air-7276661.php

http://www.santacruzsentinel.com/article/zz/20160420/NEWS/160429414


State senate president fires back at air board's GOP majority.
New legislation would allow state to veto AQMD smokestack
emissions plan and add board members. Board recently fired
longtime director to be more "business friendly".  A California
legislative committee will consider a bill today by state Senate
leader Kevin DeLeon, D-Los Angeles…
http://www.pe.com/articles/bill-800524-veto-emissions.html 

CLIMATE CHANGE

Paris climate agreement on track for early start. As many as 170
countries are expected to sign the Paris Agreement on climate
change Friday in a symbolic triumph for a landmark deal that once
seemed unlikely but now appears on track to enter into force
years ahead of schedule. U.N. officials say the signing ceremony
Friday will set a record for international diplomacy…
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/UN_CLIMATE_AGREEMENT?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT

The Paris climate deal at a glance. Four months after negotiating
a global climate agreement in Paris, government officials are
coming to New York on Friday to sign the pact in a ceremony at
the United Nations. Here are some of the key elements of the
Paris deal, which is the first agreement requiring all countries
to join the fight against global warming.
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/UN_CLIMATE_AGREEMENT_GLANCE?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT


Study: Warming giving US type of weather we prefer _ for now. 
Global warming has mostly made the weather more pleasant for
Americans over the last 40 years, which may explain why much of
the public doesn't rank climate change as big a threat as do
scientists and the rest of the world, a new study suggests. But
that perceived benefit of global warming - mostly milder winters…
http://customwire.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_SCI_BETTER_WEATHER?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&utm_source=Inside+Climate+News&utm_campaign=bf95fd3f57-Today_s_Climate12_10_2014&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_29c928ffb5-bf95fd3f57-327747457


U.N. members fear U.S. 'sabotage' of Obama's climate commitments.
There are concerns at the United Nations about apparent attempts
inside the United States to "sabotage" President Barack Obama's
commitments to reducing greenhouse gas emissions, the head of the
U.N. General Assembly said on Wednesday.
http://www.reuters.com/article/us-un-climatechange-idUSKCN0XH2SF?utm_source=Inside+Climate+News&utm_campaign=bf95fd3f57-Today_s_Climate12_10_2014&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_29c928ffb5-bf95fd3f57-327747457


Leaders Roll Up Sleeves on Climate, but Experts Say Plans Don’t
Pack a Wallop. An airport hangar outside Paris shook with cheers,
toasts and foot-stomping in December as diplomats ushered a
landmark climate agreement into existence. On Friday morning,
world leaders will gather again at the United Nations for a grand
ceremony to sign the document. But can they deliver on their
promises to fight global warming?
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/04/22/science/united-nations-paris-climate-change-document.html


Think tank calls on V.I. prosecutor to pull ‘unlawful’
climate-change subpoena. The Competitive Enterprise Institute on
Wednesday called on the Virgin Islands attorney general to
withdraw his subpoena into its climate-change work, calling the
probe a “political ploy” designed to “punish” the free-market
group for its climate-change dissent.
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2016/apr/20/free-market-group-calls-vi-prosecutor-pull-unlawfu/?utm_source=Inside+Climate+News&utm_campaign=bf95fd3f57-Today_s_Climate12_10_2014&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_29c928ffb5-bf95fd3f57-327747457


Global warming has made the weather better for most in U.S. --
but don't get used to it, study says. Since Americans first heard
the term global warming in the 1970s, the weather has actually
improved for most people living in the U.S. But it won't always
be that way, according to a new study. Research shows Americans
typically — and perhaps unsurprisingly — like warmer winters and
dislike hot…
http://www.latimes.com/science/sciencenow/la-sci-sn-climate-change-weather-america-20160420-story.html

http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2016/apr/20/climate-change-weather-changes-us-study

Can The U.S. And China Keep Their Climate Pledges? On Friday,
most of the world's governments are set to sign the most sweeping
climate agreement in history. Their signatures will codify
promises they made in Paris last December to reduce emissions of
greenhouse gases. The two largest sources of those gases are the
U.S. and China.
http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2016/04/21/474690936/can-the-u-s-and-china-keep-their-climate-pledges


Corporations Move to Curb Global Warming. CEOs and investors hail
the Paris Agreement as the start of a new era to combat climate
change. The deal 195 nations finalized in December in Paris may
be the most important climate agreement ever reached, but pockets
of corporate leaders, financial regulators and money managers
remember it for another reason: a shift in how the business
community views global warming.
http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/corporations-move-to-curb-global-warming/



Study reveals greater climate impacts of 2C temperature rise.
Analysis of difference between 1.5C and 2C of warming finds extra
0.5C would mean longer heatwaves, greater droughts and threats to
crops and coral reefs. A difference of half a degree centigrade
may be barely noticeable day to day, but the difference between
1.5C and 2C of global warming is a shift into a new…
http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2016/apr/21/study-reveals-greater-climate-impacts-of-2c-temperature-rise-heatwaves


Kerry, world leaders head to New York to sign climate deal. Most
of the countries that agreed to last year's landmark Paris
climate deal will converge on New York tomorrow to officially
endorse it. Officials from more than 150 nations are expected to
be on hand when the agreement opens for signatures at U.N.
headquarters in Manhattan.
http://www.eenews.net/climatewire/2016/04/21/stories/1060035984 

DROUGHT

Extreme And Exceptional Drought Decline In California. The U.S.
Drought Monitor says extreme and exceptional drought was reduced
slightly in California last week and, for the first time since
the week of July 2013, there is no exceptional drought in Nevada.

"Little or no precipitation fell on the areas of dryness and
drought in the Far West from the southeastern fringes of
Washington…
http://www.capradio.org/articles/2016/04/21/extreme-and-exceptional-drought-decline-in-california/


VEHICLES

Japan's Mitsubishi Motors finds falsified fuel mileage tests.
Mitsubishi Motors Corp., the Japanese automaker tarnished by a
massive recall cover-up 15 years ago, owned up to another scandal
Wednesday, saying employees had intentionally falsified fuel
mileage data for several vehicle models. The inaccurate tests by
the Tokyo-based automaker involved 157,000 of its own-brand eK
wagon and eK Space light passenger cars…
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/A/AS_JAPAN_MITSUBISHI_MOTORS_FALSE_DATA?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT


VW RECALL

Judge: VW owners can pick buybacks, fixes in emissions deal. An
agreement will give consumers who bought nearly 600,000
Volkswagen vehicles rigged to cheat on emissions tests the option
of having the automaker buy back the cars or fix them, a judge
said Thursday. Senior U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer did not
give details on how much car owners would be paid but said the
deal between Volkswagen, the U.S. government and private lawyers
would include "substantial compensation."
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_VOLKSWAGEN_EMISSIONS?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT


OTHER RELATED STORIES
http://www.reuters.com/article/us-volkswagen-emissions-idUSKCN0XI24G
http://www.wsj.com/articles/volkswagen-reaches-deal-with-u-s-authorities-over-diesel-emissions-scandal-1461252731

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-04-21/vw-reaches-u-s-deal-to-get-diesel-cheat-cars-off-the-road

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/04/22/business/international/volkswagen-emissions-settlement.html?_r=0

http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/cars/2016/04/21/volkswagen-emissions-hearing/83332794/

http://www.voanews.com/content/volkswagen-to-buy-back-cars-pay-1-billion-in-emissions-cheating-case/3295139.html

http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2016/04/21/475110775/what-will-volkswagen-do-for-its-diesel-customers?sc=nd

http://www.upi.com/Business_News/2016/04/21/Volkswagen-reaches-deal-to-get-480k-emissions-cheating-cars-off-roads/5671461253083/


Time's up: Volkswagen must explain how it'll make 600,000 rigged
cars comply with clean air laws. Time is up for Volkswagen to
meet a federal judge's deadline to detail how it will make nearly
600,000 diesel cars rigged to cheat on emissions tests comply
with clean air laws. Senior U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer
said he wanted to know the timing of the fix and any planned
payments to vehicle owners by a court hearing set for Thursday.
http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-0422-volkswagen-diesel-fix-20160421-story.html


Volkswagen: Why a Deal Over Emissions Won’t End the Drama. An
agreement with the U.S. authorities should bring Volkswagen
investors a measure of relief. It is a shame that progress on
cost-cutting looks as distant as ever. Enter Mitsubishi
stage-left, exit Volkswagen stage-right? As shares in the
Japanese car maker tanked in response to an admission it had
falsified fuel-economy data…
http://www.wsj.com/articles/volkswagen-why-a-deal-over-emissions-wont-end-the-drama-1461164953


Reports say Volkswagen has agreed to buy back 500,000 cars — see
if your car may be eligible. Reports say that Volkswagen has
agreed to buy back 500,000 cars affected by the emissions
scandal. Eligible for the buyback are 2.0-liter diesel vehicles,
including the Jetta sedan, the Golf compact and the Audi A3 sold
since 2009.
http://www.businessinsider.com/vw-agreed-buy-back-500000-cars-volkswagen-2016-4


Volkswagen may buy back 500,000 illegally polluting cars, report
says. Volkswagen may buy back more than 500,000 illegally
polluting cars in the U.S., Reuters reported Wednesday. The news
agency’s report follows one from German newspaper Die Welt that
the automaker may offer $5,000 to settle with owners of affected
cars.
http://www.greencarreports.com/news/1103521_volkswagen-may-buy-back-500000-illegally-polluting-cars-report-says

http://www.theguardian.com/business/2016/apr/20/volkswagen-emissions-scandal-us-government-deal


Volkswagen to spend $1 billion to compensate U.S. car owners in
diesel cheating scandal. Volkswagen, the U.S. government and
private lawyers have reached a deal for the automaker to spend
just over $1 billion to compensate owners of about 600,000
diesel-powered cars that cheat on emissions tests, according to a
person briefed on the matter. The “deal in principle” includes a
maximum amount of spending…
http://www.dailybreeze.com/business/20160420/volkswagen-to-spend-1-billion-to-compensate-us-car-owners-in-diesel-cheating-scandal


VW fooled state DMVs too, prompting calls for tougher air tests.
Each year, millions of American motorists trudge to state
inspection stations to make sure their vehicles aren’t violating
pollution limits. At least, that’s what they think they’re doing.
As the emissions-cheating scandal involving Volkswagen AG
demonstrates, the tests may not be all they are cracked up to
be.
http://www.autonews.com/article/20160420/OEM11/160429993/vw-fooled-state-dmvs-too-prompting-calls-for-tougher-air-tests

http://www.autonews.com/article/20160420/OEM11/160429993/vw-fooled-state-dmvs-too-prompting-calls-for-tougher-air-tests


Volkswagen Might Pay Every U.S. Diesel Owner $5,000 to Avoid a
Trial. On the eve of a key U.S. deadline for a diesel emissions
fix, Volkswagen has reportedly agreed to pay all American owners
of afflicted TDI models $5,000 each. The deal, reported by
Germany’s Die Welt newspaper, would allow the automaker to avoid
going to trial this summer, according to Automotive News.
http://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/2016/04/volkswagen-might-pay-every-diesel-owner-5000-to-avoid-a-trial/

http://jalopnik.com/volkswagen-will-pay-5000-to-customers-affected-by-dies-1772110979


HIGH-SPEED RAIL

Bullet train agency is expected to go forward with business plan
despite widespread criticism. The state high-speed rail authority
is poised to adopt a new business plan at a board meeting
Thursday, despite concerns voiced by lawmakers, regional
officials and independent experts.
http://www.latimes.com/local/california/la-me-bullet-comments-20160421-story.html


GREEN ENERGY

Once fast-growing solar company SunEdison files for bankruptcy.
SunEdison Inc (SUNE.N), once the fastest-growing U.S. renewable
energy company, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on
Thursday as years of debt-fueled acquisitions proved
unsustainable. In its bankruptcy filing, the company said it had
assets of $20.7 billion and liabilities of $16.1 billion as of
Sept. 30.
http://www.reuters.com/article/us-sunedison-inc-bankruptcy-idUSKCN0XI1TC



An Unlikely Alliance Is Born in the Battle Over Solar Power.  An
unlikely partnership between utilities and solar companies was
born this week in New York, where both industries are seeking to
shape policies that dictate how owners of rooftop panels are
compensated for electricity they supply to the grid. In a
proposal to regulators this week, the two groups collaborated on
an alternative to the existing policy…
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-04-20/in-battle-over-solar-power-unlikely-alliance-born-in-new-york
 

Cost of solar energy falls every time the sun rises. Installing
solar panels on your roof is not just for tree-hugging
environmentalists. The increasing ease of the process and the
financial returns have made going solar practically mainstream.
Washingtonians are embracing solar power in a big way. In the
District, residential solar installations have tripled since
2011, said Chelsea Barnes with EQ Research.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/realestate/cost-of-solar-energy-falls-every-time-the-sun-rises/2016/04/20/5126e4ac-d4e0-11e5-9823-02b905009f99_story.html


Senate Passes Legislation Tailored to a Modern Energy Landscape.
The Senate on Wednesday passed the first broad energy bill since
the George W. Bush administration, a bipartisan measure to better
align the nation’s oil, gas and electricity systems with the
changing ways that power is produced in the United States. The
bill, approved 85 to 12, united Republicans and Democrats around
a traditionally divisive issue — energy policy…
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/04/21/us/politics/senate-passes-broad-bill-to-modernize-energy-infrastructure.html?_r=1&utm_source=Inside+Climate+News&utm_campaign=bf95fd3f57-Today_s_Climate12_10_2014&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_29c928ffb5-bf95fd3f57-327747457


This Solar Power Plant Can Run All Night. Crescent Dunes looks
and sounds a bit like an invention lifted from a science fiction
novel. Deep in the Nevada desert more than 10,000 mirrors—each
the size of a highway billboard—neatly encircle a giant 640-foot
tower. It looks like it might be used to communicate with aliens
in deep space. But the engineers and financiers behind the
facility…
http://time.com/4291347/crescent-dunes-solar-power-plant/ 

Congress tells EPA biomass is carbon neutral. Now what?  Two
amendments tucked inside the bipartisan energy bill that passed
the Senate yesterday are elevating the question of whether
biomass is a renewable energy source on par with wind and solar
in the eyes of federal policy.
http://www.eenews.net/climatewire/2016/04/21/stories/1060036007 

MISCELLANEOUS

Governor approves money to clean shuttered Exide battery
recycler. California’s governor has made nearly $180 million
available to find and clean up lead contamination in southeast
Los Angeles County. Gov. Jerry Brown signed the plan Wednesday to
remove toxic soil and other contamination from thousands of
homes, schools and parks near the former Exide Technologies
plant.
http://www.ocregister.com/articles/state-712942-plant-exide.html


OPINIONS

Cap-and-trade revenue should go to fix our Valley air. This week,
the Legislature is assessing how to spend $3.1 billion that came
into state coffers from farmers, truckers, factories, and other
businesses that employ workers throughout the Central Valley. But
the proposals so far just look like more pork-barrel spending at
the expense of hardworking Californians.
http://www.fresnobee.com/opinion/readers-opinion/article72656652.html#storylink=cpy


Climate change is real, but Paris treaty won't fix it: Column.
World leaders will disembark from carbon-spewing jets in New York
on Earth Day this Friday to sign the Paris climate treaty, the
world’s costliest-ever accord. No doubt, American presidential
candidates will use the spectacle to make hay. In line with
President Obama, Hillary Clinton believes the treaty is a
“historic step forward” against “one of the greatest challenges”
of our age, while Bernie Sanders argues it “goes nowhere near far
enough.”
http://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2016/04/21/climate-change-real-paris-treaty-costly-few-benefits-research-green-energy-column/83292440/


BLOGS

Mitsubishi Scandal Isn’t Like Volkswagen’s, Stocks Show. Shares
from major car manufacturers weren't dragged down by Mitsubishi,
unlike what happened with Volkswagen last September. Shares of
Mitsubishi Motors were battered Wednesday when the Japanese car
manufacturer admitted to manipulating fuel-economy data,
mirroring the plunge…
http://blogs.wsj.com/moneybeat/2016/04/20/mitsubishi-scandal-isnt-like-volkswagens-stocks-show/




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