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newsclips -- ARB Newsclips for October 10, 2016.
Posted: 10 Oct 2016 15:06:18
ARB Newsclips for October 10, 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 Khan Cites ‘Health Emergency’ as he Ramps up Air Pollution Fight. London Mayor Sadiq Khan proposed to accelerate existing plans to fight air pollution in order to tackle what he called a “health emergency” that kills thousands in the U.K. capital every year. Khan proposed introducing a year from now an emissions surcharge in central London to supplement the existing congestion... http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-10-10/khan-cites-health-emergency-as-he-ramps-up-air-pollution-fight After criticism, SoCal air board adds more regulatory teeth to smog-reduction plan. Southern California air quality officials released a proposal Friday to give more regulatory teeth to a smog-reduction plan that has faced criticism for its voluntary, industry-friendly approach. The South Coast Air Quality Management District has revised a plan, originally released in June… http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-aqmd-regulations-20161007-snap-story.html London’s black communities disproportionately exposed to air pollution – study. Black, African and Caribbean people are exposed to higher illegal nitrogen dioxide levels than the percentage of the population they account for. Black communities in London are disproportionately more likely to breathe illegal levels of air pollution than white and Asian ones… https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2016/oct/10/londons-black-communities-disproportionately-exposed-to-air-pollution-study Global summit to strike deal on phase-out of HFCs. Meeting in Rwanda seeks amendment to Montreal protocol to eliminate manufacture of the chemicals used in fridges, air conditioners and inhalers. Governments will address the law of unintended consequences when they meet this week to revise a global treaty and try to eliminate the use of a group of greenhouse gases used in fridges, inhalers … https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2016/oct/10/global-summit-to-strike-deal-on-phase-out-of-hfcs https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/world-leaders-try-to-ban-another-greenhouse-gas/ EPA will revisit refinery regs. U.S. EPA will reconsider five parts of its latest oil refinery emissions regulations following complaints from industry and environmental groups that the agency failed to provide an adequate public comment period. The agency had formally issued the revised regulations last December. http://www.eenews.net/greenwire/2016/10/10/stories/1060044047 CLIMATE CHANGE EU Climate Laws Helped Lead to Brexit, Environment Lobbyist Says. The European Union rules on 2020 climate and energy goals helped feed the negative sentiment that led to a decision by British voters to leave the bloc, according to environmental lobbyist Bryony Worthington. “The European 2008 package, without realizing that, contributed to and fostered some of the conditions… http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-10-10/eu-climate-laws-helped-lead-to-brexit-environment-lobbyist-says BHP Billiton expects to thrive in a lower carbon emissions world. With the Paris climate accord set to come into force within weeks, top global miner BHP Billiton said it still expects its copper, oil and gas, iron ore and coal businesses to thrive in a world with lower carbon emissions. The company, which favors a price on carbon, last year was one of the first mining companies to spell out the impact of climate risks… http://www.reuters.com/article/us-bhp-billiton-climatechange-idUSKCN12A16X Time for a carbon tax? A former Bush official says yes. Putting a price on carbon emissions remains a divisive topic in the USA, even as polls indicate considerable public support for actions to address climate change. Voters in Washington state may show the way Nov. 8 when they decide on a referendum that would assess a carbon tax on coal, oil and natural gas… http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/columnist/2016/10/09/time-carbon-tax-former-bush-official-says-yes/91736254/ Climate Change Blamed for Half of Increased Forest Fire Danger. Forest fires are burning longer and stronger across the western United States, lighting up the landscape with alarming frequency. Residents are forced to flee, homes are incinerated, wildlife habitats are destroyed, lives are lost. Last year, the Forest Service spent more than half its annual budget fighting fires. http://www.nytimes.com/2016/10/11/science/climate-change-forest-fires.html?_r=0 Did climate change bring us Hurricane Matthew? Hard to say. But it makes storm surges worse. The question accompanies every extreme weather event these days: Was it caused by climate change? The answer, scientists usually say, is that tracing a single event to climate change is difficult. A better question may be whether climate change played a role. http://www.latimes.com/nation/la-na-hurricane-matthew-climate-change-20161007-snap-htmlstory.html Could Washington pave the way for carbon taxes? Washington residents will have the chance to vote on a carbon tax at the polls this November. The proposed tax, which is the first of its kind in the nation, could set a precedent for how other states handle greenhouse gas emissions. Washington state is seeking to curb carbon emissions by posing a ballot initiative to voters… http://www.csmonitor.com/Environment/2016/1009/Could-Washington-pave-the-way-for-carbon-taxes Study: Climate Change May Benefit California Oysters, But There's A Catch. UC Davis researchers examined how oysters may fair under climate change. In a study, published in the journal Functional Ecology, they found that native oysters can tolerate extreme temperatures – and can even grow faster, provided they have food. But warmer temperatures also benefit their predators, the oyster drill, a predatory snail. http://www.capradio.org/articles/2016/10/10/study-climate-change-may-benefit-california-oysters,-but-theres-a-catch/ Scant mention of climate at U.S. president debate. With the U.S. military assisting with hurricane response, Greenpeace frustrated by lack of focus. With the U.S. military responding to hurricane damage, an advocacy group called foul after neither U.S. presidential candidate heeded climate change. At least 19 people in the United States and more than 900 people in Haiti were left dead in the wake of Hurricane Matthew… http://www.upi.com/Business_News/Energy-Industry/2016/10/10/Scant-mention-of-climate-at-US-president-debate/8711476091335/ https://insideclimatenews.org/news/10102016/presidential-debate-town-hall-donald-trump-hillary-clinton-climate-change-global-warming http://ens-newswire.com/2016/10/10/88228/ DROUGHT Grass Warfare in L.A. Some well-intentioned Angelenos traded grass for gravel on their front lawns. It got ugly. “We thought we were doing the right thing to save water,” Staci Terrace Goldfarb, a Southern California homeowner, said late last winter. “I hate looking at it.” It had been a little more than a year since Goldfarb had the small, semicircular lawn in front of her 1960… https://www.bloomberg.com/features/2016-turf-terminators-grass-war/ SF Bay ecosystem collapsing as rivers diverted, scientists report. Evidence of what scientists are calling the planet’s Sixth Mass Extinction is appearing in San Francisco Bay and its estuary, the largest on the Pacific Coast of North and South America, according to a major new study. So little water is flowing from the rivers that feed the estuary, which includes the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta, Suisun Marsh and the bay… http://www.sfgate.com/news/article/SF-Bay-ecosystem-collapsing-as-rivers-diverted-9953776.php More water in California reservoirs, but drought persists. California’s major reservoirs are holding 69 percent more water than a year ago, the U.S. government announced Friday, but regulators warned that drought conditions continue to plague the state. In its annual inventory of water in storage, the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation said the six key reservoirs owned by the federal government’s… http://www.sacbee.com/news/state/california/water-and-drought/article106703567.html#storylink=cpy FUELS Natural gas is 'cul-de-sac'. Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton hit a sour note with some environmentalists last night when she referred to natural gas as a "bridge to more renewable fuels" while laying out her energy policy. Climate activists said Clinton's answer to the penultimate question in the contentious town-hall-style presidential debate should have focused on phasing out fossil fuels… http://www.eenews.net/greenwire/2016/10/10/stories/1060044059 VEHICLES GM opens its arms to VW's diesel refugees. Redesigned engines for Equinox, Cruze almost ready. General Motors' push to target disenfranchised Volkswagen diesel owners is gaining power as versions of the Chevrolet Equinox and Cruze with a newly designed 1.6-liter diesel engine edge closer to market. GM powertrain chief Dan Nicholson believes the company has a good shot at attracting VW owners… http://www.autonews.com/article/20161009/RETAIL01/310109970/gm-opens-its-arms-to-vws-diesel-refugees Ford used Convergent Science advanced modeling tool for EcoBlue diesel. The global automaker Ford used the combustion modelling tool CONVERGE CFD software package from Convergent Science for the development of its new EcoBlue range of high-efficiency diesel engines. Dr. Werner Willems, Ford technical specialist for combustion systems… http://www.greencarcongress.com/2016/10/20161010-converge.html VW RECALL VW CEO Mueller had no knowledge of diesel scandal: Bild am Sonntag. Volkswagen (VOWG_p.DE) Chief Executive Matthias Mueller had no knowledge of the carmaker's diesel emissions cheating scandal, Germany's Bild am Sonntag newspaper said, citing a report by Jones Day, the lawfirm tasked with investigating the scandal. Mueller found out about Volkswagen's emissions cheating software on Sept. 18, 2015… http://www.reuters.com/article/us-volkswagen-emissions-mueller-idUSKCN1290C1 GREEN ENERGY World got cannier at using energy last year – IEA. Global energy efficiency, or the amount of gross domestic product squeezed from a given unit of energy, improved by 1.8 percent last year, the International Energy Agency said in a report on Monday. Measures to improve energy efficiency include car fuel economy standards, lighting technologies and building standards. http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-iea-energy-efficiency-idUKKCN12A0T1 OPINIONS There’s no oxygen left in this campaign for a debate about carbon. It’s becoming more and more clear what role climate and energy issues are going to play in this presidential campaign — a minor one at best. On the one hand, it’s a slight improvement upon the campaign of 2012, in that the subject of our warming planet is now actually coming up peripherally in presidential debates. https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/energy-environment/wp/2016/10/10/theres-no-oxygen-left-in-this-campaign-to-talk-about-carbon/?utm_term=.d520bcf0134c Canada’s Trudeau Steps Up on Climate Change. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau of Canada promised to make climate change a priority when he campaigned for office last year. This week he made progress on that promise with a plan to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by putting a price on carbon. http://www.nytimes.com/2016/10/07/opinion/canadas-trudeau-steps-up-on-climate-change.html Commentary: Going green is good for the economy, air quality. I am running to represent the 37th state Senate District because I know that the challenges California faces require thoughtful solutions. I am a scientist and an educator specializing in architectural engineering and psychology. I know that reducing greenhouse gas emissions is good for our environment, health and economy, and creates good jobs. http://www.latimes.com/socal/daily-pilot/opinion/tn-dpt-me-1009-commentary1-20161008-story.html San Francisco to state on water-use cutbacks: How low can we go? Do you think you could reduce your water use by 40 percent? What if we asked for even more than that? This is the type of rationing we can expect during a severe drought if a new proposal from the State Water Resources Control Board is implemented. The San Francisco Public Utilities Commission is the retail water provider… http://www.sfchronicle.com/opinion/article/San-Francisco-to-state-on-water-use-cutbacks-How-9940351.php Taxpayers need protection from flooding during the drought. As California continues to experience drought concerns, most of us are probably not thinking about flooding. Yet, the high cost of flooding in our country is something that every taxpayer, sooner or later, will be forced to address. Already in 2016, 20 major flooding disasters have been declared, exceeding $10 billion in estimated costs. http://www.ocregister.com/articles/flooding-731598-most-cost.html Washington Voters to Decide on Nation's First Carbon Tax. But not everyone is in favor—including the Washington State Tree Fruit Association. Washington lawmakers have tried and failed in recent years to make polluters pay for their carbon emissions to fight climate change. Now, voters will get to decide. An initiative on the November ballot asks voters whether the state should impose the nation’s first direct carbon tax.. http://fortune.com/2016/10/09/washington-voters-carbon-tax/ Get ready to say farewell to a lot of electric cars. We are nearing the beginning of what I'm calling the "second great electric-car extinction." The first extinction happened after the financial crisis, when numerous electric-vehicle startups went bankrupt and vanished. Since then, the EV market has been dominated by the single significant survivor, Tesla, and by the experiments of the major automakers. http://www.businessinsider.com/electric-car-sales-decline-2016-10 Will California Go Way of Honolulu/Taken to the Cleaners by Special Interests for Trains. The Big Dig cost about $20 billion more than planned in Boston and took a dozen extra years to be built. In Honolulu the cost of their light rail is already 40% ABOVE the estimated cost—will totally run out of money before it hits the downtown area. The California High Speed Rail is not going to get another dime from the State or Feds… http://www.capoliticalreview.com/capoliticalnewsandviews/will-california-go-way-of-honolulutaken-to-the-cleaners-by-special-interests-for-trains/ BLOGS Climate-change hopes meet urban reality. Hopes of averting climate change are being pitted against urban reality. Enough countries have finally just ratified last year’s United Nations Paris Accord to make it stick. The real battle, though, will be fought by cities, which account for 75 percent of greenhouse-gas emissions. Success depends on overcoming bureaucracy, constrained budgets and ignorance. http://blogs.reuters.com/breakingviews/2016/10/10/climate-change-hopes-meet-urban-reality/ Air Pollution Is Yet Another Issue That Disproportionately Impacts Minority And Low-Income Communities. First responders are trained to give people immediate life-saving care and get people out of dangerous situations. When a patient is suffering an asthma attack that’s caused by air pollution in their community, we can administer drugs to calm the attack, but we know it is only a temporary fix. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/air-pollution-minority-communities_us_57fa6cd6e4b0b6a4303324c8 Diesel Cars Blamed as WHO Warns About Air Pollution. The World Health Organization (WHO) warns that 92 percent of the world’s population lives in areas of high air pollution. Many cities in Europe have pledged to phase out diesel cars - and there’s hope that sales of electric vehicles could take over as battery life improves. The British capital is one of the most heavily polluted cities in Europe… http://www.voanews.com/a/diesel-cars-air-pollution/3543886.html Snowdonia mountains face being downgraded to hills due to rising sea levels. Mountains face being downgraded to mere hills because of rising sea levels. Summits in peril include the most westerly mountain in Snowdonia, Mynydd Graig Goch which is a mere eight inches above the 2,000ft limit, and Tal y Fan near Conwy which is six inches above the limit. http://www.dailypost.co.uk/news/north-wales-news/snowdonia-mountains-face-being-downgraded-12002908 Global demand for energy will peak in 2030: WEC. Global primary energy demand growth will slow and per capita energy demand will peak before 2030: World Energy Council. Global energy use per capita will peak in 2030 due to new technology and stricter government policies, but demand for electricity will double by 2060, the World Energy Council predicted on Monday. http://aa.com.tr/en/economy/global-demand-for-energy-will-peak-in-2030-wec/662015 Indigenous Groups Are Way Ahead Of Everyone Else At Protecting Forests. And they are turning the Dakota Access protests into a worldwide environmental movement. By the time three federal government agencies issued their joint statement halting construction of the Dakota Access pipeline on September 9, there were some 5,000 protesters on site in Cannon Ball, North Dakota challenging the project. http://www.motherjones.com/environment/2016/10/how-dakota-access-pipeline-protests-launched-global-movement Why world leaders are meeting to discuss hydrofluorocarbons. IN 1985 a gaping hole was found in the ozone layer above Antarctica. Two years later leaders from around the world signed the Montreal Protocol, a treaty to phase out the substances causing it, known as chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), which were used in refrigeration and as propellants in products such as hairsprays and deodorants. Scientists had discovered more than a decade earlier that CFCs release chlorine… http://www.economist.com/blogs/economist-explains/2016/10/economist-explains-4 Carbon offsets = Real reductions? Insights about the Clean Development Mechanism from firms that opted-out. There is increasing use of opt-in regulation to encourage environmental protection at minimal cost to economic growth, particularly in developing countries. But, how do we determine which programs are effective? Are carbon credits more than hot air? There is increasing use of opt-in regulation to encourage environmental protection at minimal cost to economic growth… http://fbe.unimelb.edu.au/exchange/edition3/carbon-offsets-real-reductions California is in a drought emergency. Visit www.SaveOurH2O.org for water conservation tips.