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ARB Newsclips for August 15, 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

Carbon-capping bill makes it through key committee. A bill to
extend California's economywide carbon cap through 2030 passed a
key committee last week. S.B. 32, by state Sen. Fran Pavley (D),
passed the Assembly Appropriations Committee on Thursday by an
11-4 party-line vote, sending it to the Assembly floor. The bill
would authorize the state Air Resources Board to write
regulations to lower emissions to 40 percent below 1990 levels by
2030.
http://www.eenews.net/climatewire/stories/1060041591/search?keyword=california


AIR POLLUTION

California Inc.: Seeking cleaner air for SoCal, battling Pokémon.
Clean air: Thursday is the deadline for the public to submit
comments on a plan to use more incentives, and fewer regulations,
to control Southern California air pollution. The
industry-friendly proposal by the South Coast Air Quality
Management District would rely on finding billions in incentive
funds to encourage people…
http://www.latimes.com/business/lazarus/la-fi-lazarus-newsletter-california-inc-20160815-snap-story.html


Students join project to track air quality in Yakima Valley.
Students embark on a three-year project to study wood-smoke
pollution in the Lower Yakima Valley, where winter air quality
can suffer. The battle against air pollution in the Yakima
Valley, where air quality in winter months can sometimes be as
bad as in traffic-choked Seattle, is about to get reinforcements
in the form of students.
http://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/environment/students-join-project-to-track-air-quality-in-yakima-valley/


Pollution makes air in parts of California dangerous to breathe.
In the West, extreme heat, combined with thick smoke from
wildfires and air pollution from millions of cars, is making the
air in some places dangerous to breathe. Back in the 80s, thick
hazy smog was as much a part of the Los Angeles skyline as the
Hollywood sign.
http://www.cbsnews.com/news/pollution-makes-air-in-parts-of-california-dangerous-to-breathe/


Yale study: Wildfires will expose millions of Americans to air
pollution.  A surge in major wildfire events in the western
United States as a consequence of climate change will expose tens
of millions of Americans to high levels of air pollution in the
coming decades, according to a new Yale University-led study
conducted with collaborators from Harvard.
http://www.ctpost.com/living/article/Yale-study-Wildfires-will-expose-millions-of-9143396.php


CLIMATE CHANGE

Before it got too overheated, America wasn't that split by global
warming, but now tempers are rising with the temperatures.
Tempers are rising in America, along with the temperatures. Two
decades ago, the issue of climate change wasn't as contentious.
The leading U.S. Senate proponent of taking action on global
warming was Republican John McCain. George W. Bush wasn't as
zealous on the issue as his Democratic…
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_DIVIDED_AMERICA_CLIMATE?SITE=INKEN&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT


OTHER RELATED STORIES
https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/divided-america-global-warming-polarizes-more-than-abortion/2016/08/12/a0801952-609e-11e6-84c1-6d27287896b5_story.html


What The Oil Industry Wants In A California Climate Change Deal.
The oil industry’s lead advocate at the California Capitol says
the industry supports Governor Jerry Brown’s effort to extend the
state’s fight against climate change – but only with some
significant changes. In an interview with Capital Public Radio,
Western States Petroleum Association (WSPA) President Cathy
Reheis-Boyd says the oil industry…
http://www.capradio.org/articles/2016/08/15/what-the-oil-industry-wants-in-a-california-climate-change-deal


We have almost certainly blown a key climate goal, and it may
have been impossible from the start. The United Nations climate
change conference held last year in Paris had the aim of tackling
future climate change. After the deadlocks and weak measures that
arose at previous meetings, such as Copenhagen in 2009, the Paris
summit was different.
http://www.businessinsider.com/we-have-almost-certainly-blown-a-key-climate-goal-2016-8


As Earth warms, Americans more polarized than ever on climate.
Just as scientists are warning that our planet's climate is set
to overshoot critical thresholds, Americans have become more
divided than ever along partisan lines over global warming. The
Earth is hotter than ever this year, and so is the debate over
climate change. Average temperatures are rising at unexpectedly
high rates…
http://www.csmonitor.com/Environment/2016/0815/As-Earth-warms-Americans-more-polarized-than-ever-on-climate


U.S. states agreed to keep Exxon climate-deception probe secret:
here's why. As far back as the 1970s, Exxon conducted research
that confirmed the occurrence of climate change—and that burning
fossil fuels is a major contributor to it. But the company—now
ExxonMobil—largely kept that research under wraps, while funding
campaigns that denied the science of climate change for decades.
http://www.greencarreports.com/news/1105537_u-s-states-agreed-to-keep-exxon-climate-deception-probe-secret-heres-why


Climate urgency: we've locked in more global warming than people
realize. Today’s carbon pollution will have climate consequences
for centuries to come. We’re in the midst of a critical decade.
While most people accept the reality of human-caused global
warming, we tend not to view it as an urgent issue or high
priority. That lack of immediate concern may in part stem from a
lack of understanding that today’s pollution …
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/climate-consensus-97-per-cent/2016/aug/15/climate-urgency-weve-locked-in-more-global-warming-than-people-realize

DROUGHT

Wet winter didn’t finish drought. Area’s lakes, rivers benefited
greatly from rain, but they’re still not normal, experts warn.
Northern California benefited from a wet winter, but some experts
say there's a long way to go until the state bounces back from
the past several years of drought. "For Northern California,
because we had a lot more precipitation over the winter, the
drought conditions were somewhat alleviated…
http://www.appeal-democrat.com/news/wet-winter-didn-t-finish-drought/article_b083e7ba-61e9-11e6-a204-7bdcf18e4635.html


Why the heck isn’t drought-stricken California measuring water?
If there’s any hope of preventing California from shriveling into
a parched wasteland, the state will have to figure out some
simple things first. Namely, how much water it has and where it’s
all going. Shockingly, California isn’t tracking much of its
water.
http://grist.org/climate-energy/why-the-heck-isnt-drought-stricken-california-measuring-water/


DIESEL ACTIVITIES

Waiting on truck emissions mandates. When it comes to federal
rules, the final standards expected this week for heavy-duty
trucks are a big deal. Any day now, the Obama administration is
set to roll out its rule stipulating what kind of gas mileage
heavy-duty trucks must get and how much pollution they can spew.
And the administration estimates those new benchmarks will cut
emissions…
http://www.politico.com/tipsheets/morning-transportation/2016/08/waiting-on-truck-emissions-mandates-215873#ixzz4HQuKYRP2


Big trucks brace for new fuel efficiency standards. The Obama
administration is tackling greenhouse gas emissions from trucks
this week in one of its last regulatory actions on climate
change. U.S. EPA and the National Highway Traffic Safety
Administration are expected to release their greenhouse gas
emissions and fuel efficiency standards for medium- and
heavy-duty engines and vehicles for model years 2018 through
2027.
http://www.eenews.net/climatewire/stories/1060041592/search?keyword=california


FUELS

China’s Coal-Market Reforms Fuel Rebound in Prices. Benchmark
prices for thermal coal in both Asia and Europe have climbed by
more than a third since April. One of the world’s most maligned
commodities is staging a comeback. Coal prices have soared this
summer, after new mining restrictions curbed production in China,
the world’s biggest producer and consumer.
http://www.wsj.com/articles/chinas-coal-market-reforms-fuel-rebound-in-prices-1470654404


VEHICLES

After emissions scandal, buyouts loom for Napa owners of
Volkswagen diesels. Volkswagen preached the gospel of
clean-burning diesel automobiles, and Ken Graham was among the
truest of believers.  A test driver for the company’s vehicles,
the Napa man was only too glad to take delivery of a 2013 Jetta
SportWagen equipped with a 2-liter, four-cylinder engine running
on diesel instead of gasoline.
http://napavalleyregister.com/news/local/after-emissions-scandal-buyouts-loom-for-napa-owners-of-volkswagen/article_47ef74d8-14f0-5e81-99f1-27ec7bfa0678.html


California may beef up electric vehicle mandate. California
lawmaker to introduce legislation requiring 15 percent of all new
vehicles be zero emission by 2025 as state aims to ramp up
climate change efforts. With the extension of California's
landmark climate change law stalled, a legislative plan is
emerging to significantly up the ante on California's commitment
to electric vehicles…
http://www.usnews.com/news/business/articles/2016-08-12/apnewsbreak-california-may-beef-up-electric-vehicle-mandate


Elon Musk slams CA air board over credits for zero-emissions
vehicles. Elon Musk2Stiffed, as he sees it, by bureaucratic
incompetence, Elon Musk took the California Air Resources Board
to task for the way it handles zero-emissions vehicle (ZEV)
credits — at a moment when Musk’s plans for success require a
huge leap forward in business expansion. “The California Air
Resources Board is being incredibly weak in its application of
ZEV credits,”…
http://calwatchdog.com/2016/08/15/elon-musk-slams-ca-air-board-credits-zero-emissions-vehicles/


California Bill Calls For 15 Percent of All Vehicles Sold to be
Emissions-Free by 2025. California’s climate change law is in
limbo resulting in a proposed bill that will require 15 percent
of all new vehicles sold in the state to be emissions-free within
a decade. Los Angeles Assembly woman Autumn Burke said she will
introduce the bill this week and told the Associated Press that
it will ramp up pressure on automakers.
http://www.hybridcars.com/california-bill-calls-for-15-percent-of-all-vehicles-sold-to-be-emissions-free-by-2025/


Australia's AAA will test emissions of top 30 cars; government
won't, it says. The Volkswagen diesel scandal has placed greater
scrutiny on laboratory emissions testing of new cars pretty much
around the world. Over the year since the news of VW's use of
illegal "defeat device" software first broke, other carmakers
have come forward to confess errors or outright cheating in their
own emission and fuel-economy tests.
http://www.greencarreports.com/news/1105552_australias-aaa-will-test-emissions-of-top-30-cars-government-wont-it-says


EVs could replace 90% of cars — study. Almost 90 percent of cars
on the road today could be replaced with low-cost electric
vehicles, said a study from Massachusetts Institute of Technology
researchers published today in the journal Nature Energy.
Low-cost EVs available on the market, like the Nissan Leaf, can
only travel an average of 90 miles between charges.
http://www.eenews.net/greenwire/2016/08/15/stories/1060041609 

GREEN ENERGY

SunEdison Shareholders Lose Fight for Say in Bankruptcy.
Solar-power developer is ‘hopelessly insolvent,’ with debts
outweighing assets by $1 billion to $2.5 billion. Shareholders
won’t get an official voice in the bankruptcy of SunEdison Inc.
because the company is “hopelessly insolvent,” with debts
outweighing assets by at least $1 billion, a bankruptcy judge has
ruled.
http://www.wsj.com/articles/sunedison-shareholders-lose-fight-for-say-in-bankruptcy-1471004122


More cities, counties choosing green energy sources.  Advocates
of using more renewable energy are fueling expansion of community
choice aggregation programs. Lauded as a leader in plugging homes
and businesses into solar and wind farms, the state requires
utility companies get at least a third of their energy from
renewable sources by 2020 and half by 2030.
http://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/news/2016/aug/14/cca-california-community-choice-aggregation/?st


OPINIONS

California’s Cow Police. Progressives find a new climate-change
villain to regulate. First they came after the oil producers,
then manufacturers, and now they’re coming for the cows. Having
mandated emissions reductions from fossil fuels, California’s
relentless progressives are seeking to curb the natural gas
emanating from dairy farms. The California Air Resources Board
has pumped out regulations to cut the state’s greenhouse gas
emissions…
http://www.wsj.com/articles/californias-cow-police-1471042850 

The Cure for Wage Stagnation.  A plethora of studies from around
the world agree: Lower corporate tax rates equal higher wages.
The populist anger of this election cycle stems, at least in
part, from consistently bad economic news. While the overall U.S.
economy has been inching forward, most peoples’ lives have barely
been improving at all. The average hourly wage for manufacturing
workers was $20.83 in June 2006, in current dollars, according to
Bureau of Labor Statistics data.
http://www.wsj.com/articles/the-cure-for-wage-stagnation-1471210831


Green activist: Climate change is World War III. Climate change
is not "like" a third world war. It is World War III and "we are
losing," the head of a prominent environmental activist group
said Monday. "World War III is well and truly underway," said
Bill McKibben, founder of the climate activist group 350.org.
"And we are losing."
http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/green-activist-climate-change-is-world-war-iii/article/2599345

Elon Musk seeks more California gold.  Mary Nichols, chairwoman
of the California Air Resources Board, looked up from her
cellphone to answer a simple question: What did she think of what
Elon Musk had said the other day? Simple, yes, and a little bit
loaded. On an earnings call with investors the week before, Musk,
the billionaire founder and chief executive officer of Tesla
Motors…
http://www.sacbee.com/opinion/opn-columns-blogs/dan-morain/article95492597.html#storylink=cpy


Editorial: Legislature should stop playing politics and pass
climate change bill. As the California Legislature begins its
annual race to adjournment at the end of this month, one of the
key pieces of legislation hanging in the balance is an extension
of the state's historic climate change law. The bill in play is
SB 32, authored by Sen. Fran Pavley, D-Agoura Hills, who also was
the author of the precedent-setting AB 32…
http://www.vcstar.com/opinion/editorials/editorial-legislature-should-stop-playing-politics-and-pass-climate-change-bill-39ced319-7404-0d69-e-390043761.html?d=mobile


BLOGS

Auto Industry Needs To Make It Easier To Shop for Electric Cars –
See How. Electric Vehicles (EVs) are cleaner, greener and more
fun to drive. Different mileage ranges, prices and car types
abound with about 30-plug in electric sports cars, SUVs, and now
available from Chevrolet, Nissan, BMW, Ford, Tesla, and many
other automakers.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/gina-coplonnewfield/auto-industry-needs-to-ma_b_11526082.html


A win-win for farmers and slowing climate change. Climate change
is already transforming agriculture in Washington. To help
farmers deal with climate change, Bill Pan, a Washington State
University professor of crop and soil sciences, is talking to
them about ways to both adapt to changes and slow them down. “We
want to work with growers to adapt their cropping systems to the
inevitable climate changes…
https://news.wsu.edu/2016/08/15/win-win-farmers-slowing-climate-change/


What the New NASA 'Hot Spot' Study Tells Us About Methane Leaks.
Look up in New Mexico and on most days you’ll see the
unmistakable blue skies that make the Southwest so unique. But
there’s also something ominous hovering over the Four Corners
that a naked eye can’t detect:  A 2,500-square mile cloud of
methane, the highest concentration of the heat-trapping pollution
anywhere in the United States.
http://blogs.edf.org/energyexchange/2016/08/15/what-the-new-nasa-hot-spot-study-tells-us-about-methane-leaks/




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