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newsclips -- ARB Newsclips for July 12, 2016
Posted: 12 Jul 2016 15:56:12
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 Why are the world’s cap-and-trade markets struggling to keep prices up? The cost of sending a ton of greenhouse gas emissions into the air isn’t what it used to be, at least not in the handful of markets that are putting a price on climate change. Similar to California’s weak May auction for carbon credits, the world’s two other greenhouse gas cap-and-trade markets are notching falling prices this year. One in Europe is still adjusting to a glut of emission allowances it handed out before the recent recession drove down energy use. http://www.sacbee.com/news/local/environment/article88972202.html RGGI should be 'trading-ready' with other states – report. The nine-state Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative should leave the door open to trading carbon allowances with other states under the Clean Power Plan, according to a report from consultants at the Analysis Group Inc. Paul Hibbard, a co-author of the paper, said RGGI states would benefit from lower costs under a broader trading system… http://www.eenews.net/climatewire/2016/07/12/stories/1060040094 AIR POLLUTION EU set to impose stricter air pollution limits. Plans for tighter national caps on the levels of dangerous air pollutants in EU member states have moved a step closer to fruition, after a compromise deal was passed by the European Parliament's Environment Committee (ENVI) and member states. The ENVI today voted in favour of a new deal on the National Emissions Ceiling Directive (NECD), which aims to cut the number of premature deaths from air pollution by around half across member states by 2030 by setting limits on the emissions of several hazardous pollutants, including sulphur dioxide, nitrogen oxides and fine particulates. http://www.businessgreen.com/bg/news/2464570/eu-set-to-impose-stricter-air-pollution-limits CLIMATE CHANGE California governor looks to extend climate-change efforts. California Gov. Jerry Brown has launched a campaign to extend some of the most ambitious climate-change programs in the country and ensure his environmental legacy when he leaves office in two years. The centerpiece of the push is a cap-and-trade program that aims to reduce the use of fossil fuels by forcing manufacturers… http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_JERRY_BROWN_CLIMATE_CHANGE?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT Trump's denial of climate science at odds with world leaders. If elected president, Donald Trump would be the only head of state in the world to contend that climate change is a hoax, according to a study. The Sierra Club compiled public statements from the leaders of the 195 nations recognized by the State Department. An advance copy of the group's report… http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_CAMPAIGN_2016_TRUMP_CLIMATE_CHANGE?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT Adviser says EPA undecided whether to finish model carbon trading rule. One of U.S. EPA's top legal advisers said yesterday the agency has not decided whether to finalize a model rule for carbon trading that states could use under the Clean Power Plan. "At this point, we still have not made a decision, given the pendency of the stay, what our next step is going to be… http://www.eenews.net/energywire/2016/07/12/stories/1060040095 Figueres' rivals for secretary-general ring in on climate change. Former U.N. climate chief Christiana Figueres isn't the only contender for secretary-general who has already made climate change a central theme of her vision for the United Nations' future. The Costa Rican diplomat and Paris climate deal architect last week joined the 11 candidates already angling for the United Nations' top job… http://www.eenews.net/climatewire/2016/07/12/stories/1060040093 DROUGHT 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 of warm water were the result of the natural whims of the weather, climate change could make such events more likely and intense in the future. To a small extent, it’s already doing so. http://ww2.kqed.org/science/2016/07/11/california-drought-marine-heat-more-likely-with-warming/ El Nino-Hit Southern Africa Seeks $2.7 Billion in Drought Aid. Southern African countries will start an appeal for $2.7 billion to cope with the effects of the region’s worst drought in more than three decades that’s left 23 million people in urgent need of humanitarian assistance. http://washpost.bloomberg.com/Story?docId=1376-OA6YZ26JTSEB01-5JE7B1STSEV946C4QM8HHMEV7B VOLKSWAGEN Volkswagen’s Diesel Fix Increases NOx Emissions, Euro Consumer Group Says. Volkswagen received some good news and some bad news regarding its tainted Dieselgate scandal. The good news: Germany won’t fine the automaker for its cheating diesel device. The bad news: A consumer group in Europe says VW’s technical software fix spews out 25 percent more NOx after the removal of the defeat-device software. NOx (nitrogen oxide) is a family of poisonous gases formed when fuel is burned at high temperatures. http://www.hybridcars.com/volkswagens-diesel-fix-increases-nox-emissions-euro-consumer-group-says/ FUELS Why Obama’s top scientist just called keeping fossil fuels in the ground ‘unrealistic’. White House science adviser John Holdren’s comment Monday that it was “unrealistic” to halt fossil fuel extraction altogether in the U.S. may have seemed like stating the obvious. But it has further highlighted the tensions that exist even among top American policy makers and environmental advocates concerned about curbing the rate of climate change. Bernie Sanders and his followers, influential green movement leaders like Bill McKibben and powerful organizations like the Sierra Club, have been pushing a “keep it in the ground” approach. For these advocates, a future strongly dependent on wind, solar and batteries can’t come fast enough. And they have led campaigns not only to oppose fracking for natural gas but also to block — successfully — the Keystone XL pipeline. https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/energy-environment/wp/2016/07/12/why-obamas-top-scientist-just-called-keeping-fossil-fuels-in-the-ground-unrealistic/ Biofuels compliance credits rally amid battle over U.S. mandates. Prices in the niche market for biofuels compliance credits jumped to three-year highs on Monday as traders fretted about supplies because of higher U.S. government mandates to increase the use of biofuels next year. Trading in the opaque market for Renewable Identification Numbers (RIN) - the paper credits that can be bought… http://www.reuters.com/article/usa-biofuels-credits-idUSL1N19X1GW Could Obama’s signature fuel efficiency standards stall? The Obama administration’s fuel efficiency standards for passenger cars and light trucks are about to undergo a major reassessment — something that could end up unraveling one of the president’s signature achievements. After weeks of wrangling, the Environmental Protection Agency and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration are ready to release a report about the economic… https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/obamas-signature-fuel-efficiency-standards-could-stall/2016/07/11/2d08513c-4777-11e6-bdb9-701687974517_story.html Future of Natural Gas Hinges on Stanching Methane Leaks. In the energy business, natural gas is supposed to be one of the good guys — the cleaner-burning fossil fuel that can help wean the world from dirty coal during the transition to a low-carbon future. But when natural gas escapes unburned, as it often does during production and distribution, it is a big troublemaker. http://www.nytimes.com/2016/07/12/business/energy-environment/future-of-natural-gas-hinges-on-stanching-methane-leaks.html?partner=rss&emc=rss&_r=1&utm_source=Inside+Climate+News&utm_campaign=ecc70cc10f-Today_s_Climate12_10_2014&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_29c928ffb5-ecc70cc10f-327747457 Renewable fuels industry urges Californian lawmakers to back low carbon fuel standard. Around 60 producers and providers of clean fuels – ranging from electricity to biofuels – signed a joint letter urging state policymakers to sustain California’s low carbon fuel policy. The industry leaders say the tool is a “critical” part of the plan to reduce California’s greenhouse gases and that it is already driving in-state investment. http://biofuels-news.com/display_news/10730/Renewable_fuels_industry_urges_Californian_lawmakers_to_back_low_carbon_fuel_standard/ Republican platform declares coal is clean. The Republican platform committee met in Cleveland the week before the Republican National Convention to hammer out the party’s policies in a Trump era. Not to be outdone by Democrats, who approved the party’s strongest platform language yet on climate change this weekend, Republicans have gone as far as possible in the other direction — by endorsing coal as clean. http://grist.org/election-2016/republican-platform-declares-coal-is-clean/?utm_source=Inside+Climate+News&utm_campaign=ecc70cc10f-Today_s_Climate12_10_2014&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_29c928ffb5-ecc70cc10f-327747457 For one buyer, LNG must compete with 'other clean energy'. The world is full of expensive liquefied natural gas, but there's a market for LNG if it comes cheap from reliable suppliers, according to a representative for a potential buyer who drew a hard line on the conditions that markets will bear. Speaking for PetroChina International (America) Inc., a subsidiary of the state-owned China National Petroleum Corp. http://www.eenews.net/energywire/2016/07/12/stories/1060040110 GREEN ENERGY Hawaii's popular rooftop solar incentives winding down. Hawaii is a national leader in rooftop solar power, but despite the state's ambitious goal of using only renewable energy by 2045, people are being shut out of solar incentive programs because of limits set by the state. http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_ROOFTOP_SOLAR?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT Cutting the cable: Kangaroo Island eyes switch to 100% renewable energy. Australia’s third-biggest island could combine wind, solar, PV and battery storage to fuel own electricity needs – and set a blueprint. Kangaroo Island is one of the great icons of Australian tourism. As Andrew Boardman, the chief executive of the Kangaroo Island council, says: “You can’t buy a name like that.” https://www.theguardian.com/sustainable-business/2016/jul/11/cutting-the-cable-kangaroo-island-eyes-switch-to-100-renewable-energy MISCELLANEOUS Southern California gets a big, fat $0 from Feds for freight, road improvements. Southern California transportation agencies were shocked Monday to learn they were getting zero dollars from the federal Department of Transportation in the first round of a newly approved freight-movement grant program. Instead, the DOT gave out $759 million for 18 projects from Seattle to Louisiana but nothing for projects… http://www.dailynews.com/general-news/20160711/southern-california-gets-a-big-fat-0-from-feds-for-freight-road-improvements California is in a drought emergency. Visit www.SaveOurH2O.org for water conservation tips.