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ARB Newsclips for December 1, 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

Cap-and-trade will cost Ontarians $8B in first years with minimal
greenhouse gas reductions: auditor. Ontario’s cap-and-trade
program will cost the province’s consumers and businesses $8
billion dollars in its first years of operation to get minimal
greenhouse gas reductions, the auditor general said Wednesday.
http://news.nationalpost.com/news/canada/canadian-politics/cap-and-trade-will-cost-ontarians-8b-in-first-years-with-minimal-greenhouse-gas-reductions-auditor

http://www.torontosun.com/2016/11/30/ontarios-cap-and-trade-plan-will-cost-consumers-8-billion-and-lead-to-minimal-greenhouse-gas-reductions

https://www.thestar.com/news/queenspark/2016/11/30/bonnie-lysyk-raises-cap-and-trade-questions.html


AIR POLLUTION

London mayor issues air pollution alert for 1st time. London's
mayor has issued air quality alerts across the capital for the
first time because of high pollution levels. The alerts are being
displayed Thursday at 2,500 bus stop and river pier information
signs and at the entrances of all 270 subway stations. Dozens of
signs next to the busiest main roads into London instruct drivers
to switch engines off when stationary to reduce emissions.
http://www.bigstory.ap.org/article/f439379034a84b2c8e64106793b00852/london-mayor-issues-air-pollution-alert-1st-time
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2016/12/01/world/europe/ap-eu-britain-air-pollution.html?_r=0
 

Guidance fails to sway states opposed to EPA ozone standard.
States suing to block U.S. EPA's latest ground-level ozone
standard take a dim view of recently revised "exceptional events"
guidance that the agency has touted as one route to meeting the
more rigorous air quality threshold, according to a new court
submission. The revised guidance "is no substitute" for an
achievable national ambient air quality standard…
http://www.eenews.net/greenwire/2016/11/30/stories/1060046413 

CLIMATE CHANGE

Britain’s Wine Production Could Be Boosted by Climate Change.
Higher temperatures could turn areas from England’s Essex to
Scotland’s Edinburgh into ideal wine-producing regions, study
says. This blessed plot, this earth, this realm, this...bountiful
terroir? Britain’s changing climate could help turn the country
into a “major wine producer” by the turn of the century,
according to new research from University College London.
http://www.wsj.com/articles/britains-wine-production-could-be-boosted-by-climate-change-1480619748


Tornado Swarms Are on the Rise—But Don’t Blame Climate Change.
Global warming isn’t in doubt, but scientists are stumped about
increasingly violent storms. Tornadoes kill more people when they
occur in "outbreaks," storm systems that spin out more than a
half dozen or so funnels in a limited time and area. Such
twisters killed 49 people in 2015, and almost 80 percent of
tornado fatalities from 1972 to 2010 occurred during outbreaks.
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-12-01/tornado-swarms-are-on-the-rise-but-don-t-blame-climate-change


Dairy cow flatulence targeted in fight against global warming. 
California is taking its fight against global warming to the
farm. The nation’s leading agricultural state is now targeting
greenhouse gases produced by dairy cows and other livestock.
Despite strong opposition from farmers, Gov. Jerry Brown signed
legislation in September that for the first time regulates
heat-trapping gases from livestock operations and landfills.
http://nypost.com/2016/11/30/dairy-cow-flatulence-targeted-in-fight-against-global-warming/


Bloomberg optimistic at start of climate change summit. Former
New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg says that even if
President-elect Donald Trump pulls the United States back from
the climate goals pledged a year ago in Paris, action by major
American cities can continue advancing toward those goals.
Bloomberg and the mayors of dozens of the world's largest cities
were gathering this week at the C40 Mayors Summit in Mexico City…
http://www.foxnews.com/world/2016/12/01/bloomberg-optimistic-at-start-climate-change-summit.html


Medieval Cold Snap That Caused Famine And Death Reveals Danger Of
Climate Change. One decade in the 15th century was the most
miserable, bitterly cold winter for hundreds of years, causing
famine and disease across Europe, an international group of
researchers has found. Using multiple lines of evidence from
different scientific disciplines, the scientists have managed to
reconstruct this ancient climate change …
http://www.forbes.com/sites/kristinakillgrove/2016/12/01/medieval-cold-snap-that-caused-famine-and-death-reveals-danger-of-climate-change/?commentId=comment_blogAndPostId%2Fblog%2Fcomment%2F3710-3411-675#74431b9845f7

US businesses push against Trump's attempts to dismiss climate
change.  Environmentally friendly groups at Companies vs Climate
Change said they will work to make sure Trump won’t undo all the
progress the country has made. From his claim that global warming
was a gigantic hoax masterminded by China to his promise to pull
the United States out of the landmark Paris agreement…
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2016/dec/01/climate-change-donald-trump-us-companies


Groups sketch out steps to hold businesses accountable on
climate. With a White House that's potentially unfriendly to
climate policies, the task of holding the largest contributors of
greenhouse gas emissions accountable might fall on state and
local actors. Companies like Exxon Mobil Corp., which is
currently being investigated for allegedly misleading the public
about the science of climate change…
http://www.eenews.net/climatewire/2016/12/01/stories/1060046478 

FUELS

EPA to keep strict gas mileage standards in place. The Obama
administration has decided not to change government fuel economy
requirements that force automakers to significantly increase the
efficiency of new cars and trucks. The decision announced
Wednesday follows a mandatory review of the standards established
in 2012, when gas averaged $3.60 a gallon and small cars and
hybrids were gaining favor.
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_GAS_MILEAGE_STANDARDS?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT


Exxon Louisiana refinery poorly maintained, environmentalists
say. A Louisiana environmental group said on Tuesday that
ExxonMobil Corp's Baton Rouge, Louisiana, refinery, where four
workers were burned in a November 22 fire, has been poorly
maintained for years. The Louisiana Bucket Brigade, which works
to improve safety and reduce pollution from refineries and
chemical plants in the state…
http://www.reuters.com/article/us-refinery-operations-exxon-batonrouge-idUSKBN13P06W


Obama admin, challengers to battle over BLM rule's future.
Published: Thursday, December 1, 2016 The Obama administration
and its critics will square off next month over the Bureau of
Land Management's new rule for slashing methane emissions from
the oil and gas industry. The U.S. District Court for the
District of Wyoming announced yesterday that BLM and its industry
and state challengers will have a chance to make their cases for
and against the rule on Jan. 6.
http://www.eenews.net/energywire/2016/12/01/stories/1060046448 

VEHICLES

China hikes tax on imported luxury cars. Chinese buyers of
eye-poppingly expensive luxury cars will have to pay extra under
Beijing's latest effort to rein in ostentatious spending. The
communist government has added a 10 percent import tax, effective
Thursday, on "super-luxury vehicles" priced above 1.3 million
yuan ($190,000). The Finance Ministry said it is aimed at
encouraging "rational consumption" and curbing energy use and
emissions.
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/A/AS_CHINA_LUXURY_CAR_TAX?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT


GREEN ENERGY

EU: on track to meet 2020 targets on renewables, emissions. The
European Environment Agency says EU members "are collectively
well on their way" to meeting 2020 targets on renewables, energy
efficiency and greenhouse gas emissions. The Copenhagen-based
agency says that despite a slight energy consumption increase in
2015, the bloc in recent years had lowered its energy consumption
and was increasingly using renewable energy.
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/E/EU_EUROPE_ENERGY?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT


Shell studies green energy deals to prepare for future after oil.
Royal Dutch Shell, the world's second-biggest publicly listed oil
company, is studying acquisitions in the green energy sector, its
CEO told Reuters, as it bows to shareholder demands for a
strategy beyond fossil fuels. Shell, which has a market value of
$200 billion, produces two percent of the world's oil and gas but
rapid technological change coupled… 
http://www.reuters.com/article/us-shell-strategy-renewables-idUSKBN13P1QF


Kasich no fan of proposal weakening clean-energy standards.  A
proposal that critics say would weaken the clean-energy standards
has won approval from an Ohio House panel, but Gov. John Kasich
said the measure may send the wrong message about the state.
However, he stopped short of saying whether he would veto the
bill. House Bill 554 was voted out of the House Public Utilities
Committee today.
http://www.dispatch.com/content/stories/business/2016/11/30/kasich-no-fan-of-proposal-weakening-clean-energy-standards.html


Enviros criticize Europe's sustainability plan for wood energy.
Under the European Union's 2030 renewable energy package released
yesterday, efforts to ensure the burning of biomass for energy is
in line with climate and energy goals saw minor strengthening,
but the proposal mostly fell flat, advocates said. Biomass, along
with biofuels and biogas, has emerged as the most widely used
form of renewable…
http://www.eenews.net/climatewire/2016/12/01/stories/1060046462 

MISCELLANEOUS

Obama stays busy on environmental front in final weeks. Citing
fears of a Donald Trump presidency, environmental groups are
urging President Barack Obama to stay busy in his final weeks. He
is listening. With his days in office numbered, Obama has pushed
ahead with several executive actions aimed at protecting the
nation's land, air and water, even as he acknowledges his
successor may try to undo the work before the ink is dry.
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_OBAMA_ENVIRONMENT?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT


OPINIONS

Mayors could override Trump on the Paris climate accord — here's
how. President-elect Donald Trump can try to slow down
environmental progress in the US, but he can't reverse it
altogether. In a recent op-ed, former New York City mayor Michael
Bloomberg suggested that Donald Trump won't succeed in keeping
the US from acting on climate change. That’s because city
officials have long been the ones driving the country’s…
http://www.businessinsider.com/mayors-could-override-trump-on-paris-accord-2016-11


How Much Damage Can Trump Actually Do to the Environment? It
depends partly on how much interest he has in the nitty-gritty of
governance. And that’s good news for the planet. he queue of
activists, interest groups, and ordinary people wringing their
hands over what a President Donald Trump might do in office is
long, and environmentalists are at the front of the line. Trump
has issued threats and taken stands that are cause for alarm.
http://www.vanityfair.com/news/2016/12/how-much-can-trump-ruin-the-environment




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