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ARB Newsclips for July 11, 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

With cap and trade in doubt, key questions go unanswered.
Assemblyman Brian Jones leaned in to the microphone with a tight
smile. It was May, and legislators conducting a hearing were
frustrated that the California Air Resources Board was not more
forthcoming about aspects of the cap and trade program it runs
for the state.
http://www.recordnet.com/article/20160710/NEWS/160719986 .

Under pressure, state to propose cap-and-trade changes.
California regulators tomorrow will issue proposed revisions to
the state's cap-and-trade program for greenhouse gases intended
to extend the market through 2030 and resolve oversupply issues.
The adjustments to the program are significant. They would set a
new 2030 emissions target; set up new linkages to other markets…
http://www.eenews.net/climatewire/2016/07/11/stories/1060040045 

Low carbon prices make for 'muddled' policies. The price of
carbon in market systems designed to curb pollution has fallen so
low, it may not be doing much. The credits auctioned in the U.S.
Northeast as part of the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, for
example, sold for 40 percent less in June than in December.
"Climate policy has been muddled and messy,"…
http://www.eenews.net/climatewire/2016/07/11/stories/1060039992 


CLIMATE CHANGE

Global Cloud Coverage Shifting in Ominous Sign of Climate Change.
We didn’t know enough about clouds until now. What a new study
reveals is bad news. When politicians talk of climate
“uncertainty,” they're often casting doubt on things that are
well understood: Warming is happening, and humans are
responsible. When scientists talk about climate uncertainty,
they're usually talking about the clouds. Clouds are tricky
because they do two things at once.
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-07-11/global-cloud-coverage-shifting-in-ominous-sign-of-climate-change

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/energy-environment/wp/2016/07/11/the-worlds-clouds-are-in-different-places-than-they-were-30-years-ago/

http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2016/07/11/485314321/climate-change-may-already-be-shifting-clouds-toward-the-poles

https://insideclimatenews.org/news/09072016/clouds-patterns-could-contribute-global-warming-climate


Food shortages and sea level rise US voters' top climate change
concerns. Survey of Guardian readers appalled at lack of climate
discussion in 2016 campaign finds food and water shortages viewed
as most pressing consequence. Diminishing food and water security
and ruinous sea level rise are the leading climate change
concerns of a section of the American electorate that is aghast
at the lack of discussion of global warming…
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/jul/11/climate-change-voices-of-america-voters?CMP=twt_a-environment_b-gdneco&utm_source=Inside+Climate+News&utm_campaign=524840a119-Today_s_Climate12_10_2014&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_29c928ffb5-524840a119-327747457


Refiners back bill to stop social cost of carbon calculation. A
refining trade group today put its weight behind legislation
introduced last week that would block agencies from taking into
account carbon dioxide emissions' long-term economic damage. In a
letter today…
http://www.eenews.net/greenwire/2016/07/11/stories/1060040064

ALISO CANYON

Latest Aliso Canyon gas leak highlights SoCalGas’ need for better
communication. To borrow a line from the classic movie “Cool Hand
Luke,” SoCalGas has logged another “failure to communicate”
moment. The company has had another gas leak at its big
Aliso Canyon storage field above Porter Ranch but did not
think it was a big enough deal that community residents needed to
be notified.
http://www.dailynews.com/article/20160710/NEWS/160719981 

DROUGHT

Los Angeles Looks for Extra Water Down Its Alleys. Of the roughly
300,000 acres in the city of Los Angeles, more than 2,000 are
alleyways that cut through city blocks. And because they’re
mostly paved, they do little to capture one of the city’s most
prized resources: water. Following the examples set by Chicago,
Seattle and other cities, Los Angeles is working to transform
these narrow spaces into networks of green alleys.
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/07/12/science/climate-change-alley-ways-water.html?rref=collection/sectioncollection/earth&action=click&contentCollection=earth®ion=stream&module=stream_unit&version=latest&contentPlacement=1&pgtype=sectionfront&utm_source=Inside+Climate+News&utm_campaign=524840a119-Today_s_Climate12_10_2014&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_29c928ffb5-524840a119-327747457&_r=0


California water-bill fight is percolating again on Capitol Hill.
California water will retake the Capitol Hill stage in coming
days, with compromise nowhere in sight. Deep into a largely arid
legislative season, lawmakers will again reflect on the state’s
drought as early as Monday and wrangle over efforts to address
it.
http://www.fresnobee.com/news/politics-government/article88497212.html#storylink=cpy


Authorities eye fire risk from trees weakened by drought,
insects. As the California drought has taken hold over five
years, broad swaths of a rusty red have grown in forests around
the state – the pallor of millions of trees withering from thirst
and succumbing to beetle infestations. Patches of the dead and
dying pines have dotted parts of the rural Upvalley…
http://napavalleyregister.com/news/local/authorities-eye-fire-risk-from-trees-weakened-by-drought-insects/article_83d6943b-c752-5f68-b888-98353500b5b6.html


California Drought Update: There’s Good News, And Bad. When it
comes to California's ongoing drought, there's good news and bad
news. While the level of statewide drought has been decreasing
over the past year, La Niña predictions suggest California could
be in for more dryness in the near future. The latest numbers
from the U.S. Drought Monitor show less drought throughout…
http://www.kpbs.org/news/2016/jul/04/california-drought-update-theres-good-news-and-bad/

Local crops doing well despite drought. Although four years of
drought certainly affected water supply and agriculture acreage,
most local crops have done well, according to counties' 2014 crop
reports, as well as a report published by Eric Houk, a professor
at the College of Agriculture at Chico State. Houk conducted
research with a grant provided by California State University
Agricultural Research Institute.
http://www.appeal-democrat.com/news/local-crops-doing-well-despite-drought/article_61acad5c-4722-11e6-bf9c-97c822982539.html


More lawns becoming drought-tolerant. After multiple drought
years, many Californians converted their lawns to more
water-wise, native and low- maintenance landscaping — mostly with
success, they report. Marysville and Yuba City both have
landscaping following the trend, in collaboration with other
agencies. "After a full year, we consider it a huge success,"…
http://www.appeal-democrat.com/news/more-lawns-becoming-drought-tolerant/article_380a584c-4721-11e6-ad1c-5f96a2a5ec2d.html


CALIFORNIA DROUGHT, MARINE HEAT MORE LIKELY WITH WARMING. A
persistent wash of warm waters off the West Coast, which caused
wildlife die-offs and blocked drought-quenching storms from
reaching California last year, was caused by the happenstance
interplay of natural ocean cycles, research findings published
Monday show. The findings also suggested that while the drought
and the blob…
http://www.bonnercountydailybee.com/article/20160711/AP/307119972


DROUGHT: Experts: Why California should be stingy with water.
Sure, Northern California rains replenished many reservoirs, but
the drought’s not over yet. Water suppliers are loosening
water-use restrictions and reporting they’ll have enough water to
meet demand for the next three years. But is that a good idea in
the midst of ongoing drought?
http://www.pe.com/articles/water-807802-conservation-state.html 

Amazon's driest wet season ever signals high wildfire risk. The
Amazon forests of South America are facing a potentially fierce
fire season due to extreme drought conditions courtesy of the
2015-16 El Niño, according to scientists. The El Niño climate
pattern -- the impacts of which contributed to Indonesia's
devastating fire season last fall and brought some much-needed
rain to drought-stricken California…
http://www.eenews.net/climatewire/2016/07/11/stories/1060040040 

Most states, utilities see carbon regulation as inevitable. 
Electric utilities have not stopped working through scenarios for
complying with U.S. EPA's Clean Power Plan should it survive
legal challenges, in the view of Michael Tubman, director of
outreach at the Center for Climate and Energy Solutions. "They
want to make sure that whatever their plans are make sense over
the long term," he said. Each Monday, Power Plays previews
upcoming moves on the way to Clean Power Plan compliance and
recaps the…
http://www.eenews.net/interactive/clean_power_plan/column_posts/1060040032


VW RECALL

Volkswagen repays European loans early amid diesel fallout.
Volkswagen says it has decided to repay early a pair of loans
from the European Investment Bank totaling 975 million euros
(nearly $1.1 billion) as the company grapples with fallout from
its diesel-emissions scandal. Volkswagen said Monday that the
loans were approved at the end of 2014. In an emailed response to
a query about the repayment…
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/E/EU_GERMANY_VOLKSWAGEN?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT


German Government Not Fining VW Group AT ALL For Diesel Emissions
Cheating Scandal… As the ongoing Volkswagen diesel emissions
cheating scandal has continued playing itself out, many observers
have commented that, when one takes into account the wide-scale
nature of corruption in the German auto industry, it doesn’t seem
likely that the company will face any real repercussions within
Germany itself.
https://cleantechnica.com/2016/07/11/german-government-not-fining-vw-group-diesel-emissions-cheating-scandal/


GREEN ENERGY

The best way to teach adults to save energy might be through
their children. It’s hard to get people to change their habits,
even when doing so could have lasting benefits for the
environment. But a team of scientists may have just found a way
to hack it when it comes to helping families develop better
energy-saving practices at home. The trick, according to them, is
to have children help deliver the message.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/energy-environment/wp/2016/07/11/the-best-way-to-teach-adults-to-save-energy-might-be-through-their-children/


Hawaii nonprofits want input on offshore wind farm proposals.
Hawaii nonprofit organizations are calling on federal officials
to include members of the public in plans to build floating wind
turbines off Hawaii’s shores before they move forward with the
projects.
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2016/jul/11/hawaii-nonprofits-want-input-on-offshore-wind-farm/


OPINIONS

The Exxon shakedown. The goal is to silence opposition to the
climate change industrial complex. Liberal attorneys general from
17 states have put a big red bullseye on the chest of big oil.
Their bizarre claim is that for years energy companies
fraudulently covered up their knowledge that greenhouse gases
from fossil fuels cause catastrophic climate change.
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2016/jul/10/the-exxon-shakedown-over-climate-change/


Another Inconvenient Truth: It’s Hard to Agree How to Fight
Climate Change.
By just about any measure, the movement to battle climate change
has grown so large that the truths of Al Gore’s decade-old movie
now seem more mainstream than inconvenient. In Paris in December,
195 nations agreed to reduce greenhouse gases. In the United
States, 70 percent of Americans say that climate change is real.

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/07/12/science/climate-change-alley-ways-water.html?rref=collection/sectioncollection/earth&action=click&contentCollection=earth®ion=stream&module=stream_unit&version=latest&contentPlacement=1&pgtype=sectionfront&utm_source=Inside+Climate+News&utm_campaign=524840a119-Today_s_Climate12_10_2014&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_29c928ffb5-524840a119-327747457&_r=0


Oakland rejects coal terminal, sets example on climate change.
Two weeks ago, the Oakland City Council unanimously voted to ban
the handling and storage of coal in the city, quashing a proposal
to build what could have been the largest coal export facility in
California. It was a remarkable display of leadership and
foresight: Council members put the health and safety of their
residents above the arguments of coal…
http://www.sacbee.com/opinion/op-ed/soapbox/article88835157.html#storylink=cpy


Uncertainty undermines state’s cap-and-trade program. Gov. Jerry
Brown, stymied in the Legislature, will attempt to extend the
state’s crackdown on carbon emissions into the next decade by
decree. Last week, Brown’s Air Resources Board dispatched a memo
declaring that it would unveil a draft of new regulations next
Tuesday, extending its troubled cap-and-trade program and other
elements of the campaign beyond 2020.
http://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/news/2016/jul/08/carbon-california-cap-trade/


Speculators would make cap-and-trade carbon plan volatile. In
addition to leaving Gov. Jerry Brown’s high-speed rail project
flat, AB 32’s underperforming cap-and-trade system is now being
blamed for failing to fund his laudable 10-year goal of 1.5
million electric vehicles (Perspective, “Lofty clean-car goals
face cloudy future,” June 27).
The Achilles’ heel of cap-and-trade systems seems to be the
presence…
http://www.sanluisobispo.com/opinion/letters-to-the-editor/article88741302.html#storylink=cpy


7 Factors Show Why Wind & Solar Are The 1st Choices. Discussions
of electrical generation technologies frequently fall into the
trap of considering a single factor. One way this occurs is with
advocates of a specific legacy technology pointing out a single
downside of wind or solar generation as if it’s a gotcha. This is
equally true of wind and solar advocates who point at
single-factor issues with nuclear or coal…
https://cleantechnica.com/2016/07/11/7-factors-show-wind-solar-1st-choices/


There’s More to Drought-Proofing Than Water Mandates. Extreme
mandates aren’t the only way to achieve water savings. The Water
Authority has worked to increase water-use efficiency statewide
and to ensure a diverse, drought-proof supply of water. As the
regional water supplier, the San Diego County Water Authority is
responsible for providing reliable, long-term water supplies to
support the region’s 3.3 million people and its $222 billion
economy, rain or shine.
http://www.voiceofsandiego.org/topics/opinion/theres-drought-proofing-water-mandates/


Our View: Conservation should be a lifestyle. Californians seem
to be adopting conservation as a lifestyle, and that's
encouraging. It's also necessary. As the state, particularly the
southern portion, didn't get the full benefit of El Nino this
past winter and spring, drought conditions persist in much of
California. If you've lived here for any length of time, you know
that drought is a fairly regular occurrence in our state.
http://www.desertdispatch.com/article/20160710/OPINION/160719994


BLOGS

If China Is So Committed To Renewable Energy, Why Are So Many New
Coal Plants Being Built? It seems like a contradiction: a country
claiming that they are committed to improving its air quality,
who has put up more windmills, solar panels, and hydropower dams
than anywhere else in the world, as well as issuing piles of
forward-thinking environmental policies, that is still building
large amounts of brand new coal-fired power plants.
http://www.forbes.com/sites/wadeshepard/2016/07/08/if-china-is-so-committed-to-renewable-energy-why-are-so-many-new-coal-plants-being-built/#140513b865f7


Your Niche Kitchen Appliances Might Be Polluting Your Home.
•Ozone is a main ingredient in smog, and can harm people with
lung disease and asthma.
•A California EPA report warns niche home appliances might emit
unhealthy levels of ozone. •The appliances included face
steamers, fruit and vegetable washers, and laundry water
treatment systems. •Some air purifiers have been linked to
unhealthy ozone levels in past investigations.
https://www.buzzfeed.com/dinograndoni/niche-appliances-might-be-polluting?utm_term=.hmWpl1jbv#.sxOAv1jl9





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