What's New List Serve Post Display

ARB Newsclips for December 7, 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

Australia PM rejects carbon pricing, fuels divisions with power
generators. Australia's center-right Prime Minister Malcolm
Turnbull on Wednesday ruled out introducing carbon pricing on
emissions from the country's power generators after a backlash
from within his own party. Turnbull told reporters in Sydney the
government would "not be imposing a carbon tax" or "an emissions
trading scheme"…
http://www.reuters.com/article/us-australia-politics-climatechange-idUSKBN13W0JY
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2016/dec/07/australia-malcolm-turnbull-rules-out-carbon-tax-or-emissions-trading
 

AIR POLLUTION

L.A. Supervisor Kuehl appointed to air quality board, ending GOP
control of smog rules. he Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors
appointed liberal Democrat Sheila Kuehl to replace conservative
Republican Michael D. Antonovich on Southern California’s air
quality board Tuesday, ending GOP control over the panel and
potentially shifting it back toward stricter regulation of
polluters.
http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-air-board-kuehl-20161206-story.html


London mayor to double funding to tackle air pollution.
Campaigners hail announcement that funding for air quality
measures will rise to £875m over the next five years.
Campaigners, health charities and neighborhood groups have
welcomed plans by the London mayor, Sadiq Khan, to more than
double funding to clean up the capital’s dirty air.
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2016/dec/07/london-mayor-double-funding-tackle-air-pollution


Maricopa County offers 200 free residential fireplace retrofits
to reduce Phoenix air pollution. County officials have agreed to
set aside an initial $300,000 to begin the program in a bid to
improve Valley air quality during the winter months.  A wood fire
or chimney may be cozy during winter, but the smoke billowing
into the air can hurt children with asthma, people with
respiratory problems and the elderly.
http://www.azcentral.com/story/news/local/phoenix/2016/12/06/maricopa-county-offers-free-residential-fireplace-retrofits-to-reduce-pollution/95044088/


Utah receives $6 million boost from EPA to reduce air pollution. 
An infusion of $6 million in new federal funding will help Utah's
efforts to reduce pollution, including the replacement of
emissions-belching school buses and installation of anti-idling
technology. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency awarded
grants to the Utah Department of Environmental Quality that will
pay for retrofitting vehicles…
http://www.deseretnews.com/article/865668709/Utah-receives-6-million-boost-from-EPA-to-reduce-air-pollution.html


CLIMATE CHANGE

Spread by trade and climate, bugs butcher America's forests. In a
towering forest of centuries-old eastern hemlocks, it's easy to
miss one of the tree's nemeses. No larger than a speck of pepper,
the Hemlock woolly adelgid spends its life on the underside of
needles sucking sap, eventually killing the tree. The bug is one
in an expanding army of insects draining the life out of forests
from New England to the West Coast. Aided by global trade, a
warming climate…
http://www.sfgate.com/news/science/article/Spread-by-trade-and-climate-bugs-butcher-10779351.php


The Weather Channel blasts Breitbart: Climate change is real.
File this away in the "2016 just keeps getting weirder" file. On
Tuesday the Weather Channel — you know the place you go to see
how likely it is you’ll have to shovel your driveway — attacked
Breitbart News for a post last week that denied the existence of
climate change.
http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/onpolitics/2016/12/06/weather-channel-breitbart-climate-change-real/95056496/


When Permafrost Melts, What Happens to All That Stored Carbon?
The Arctic’s frozen ground contains large stores of organic
carbon that have been locked in the permafrost for thousands of
years. As global temperatures rise, that permafrost is starting
to melt, raising concerns about the impact on the climate as
organic carbon becomes exposed.
http://www.enn.com/climate/article/50183

Note to Breitbart: Earth Is Not Cooling, Climate Change Is Real
and Please Stop Using Our Video to Mislead Americans. Global
warming is not expected to end anytime soon, despite what
Breitbart.com wrote in an article published last week. Though we
would prefer to focus on our usual coverage of weather and
climate science, in this case we felt it important to add our two
cents — especially because a video clip from weather.com… 
https://weather.com/news/news/breitbart-misleads-americans-climate-change?cm_ven=T_WX_CD_120616_2
 

Trump Softens His Climate Image with Gore Meeting. Gore said his
conversation with the president-elect was “productive” and
“extremely interesting”. President-elect Donald Trump’s meeting
with Al Gore yesterday could soften his image on climate change a
week after he claimed to have an open mind about man-made
warming, according to some observers.
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/trump-softens-his-climate-image-with-gore-meeting/


Indonesia targets catastrophic wildfires, climate change with
historic move to protect peatlands.  Indonesia's president Joko
Widodo announced today a landmark moratorium, which bans all
activities that damage the hydrological functions of peatlands -
the world's largest terrestrial soil carbon stock. The move is
expected to slash greenhouse gas emissions and prevent disastrous
peat fires that have plagued the Southeast Asian nation in recent
years.
http://reliefweb.int/report/indonesia/indonesia-targets-catastrophic-wildfires-climate-change-historic-move-protect


UK slashes number of Foreign Office climate change staff. Cuts
made to workforce at home and overseas despite ministers saying
climate diplomacy should be a top priority. The UK has cut the
number of Foreign Office staff working on climate change, despite
ministers arguing the issue should be a top foreign policy
priority. The Liberal Democrats said it was “appalling” and sent
“the wrong signals” to the world…
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2016/dec/07/uk-slashes-number-of-foreign-office-climate-change-staff?utm_source=Inside+Climate+News&utm_campaign=520390f9e6-Today_s_Climate12_10_2014&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_29c928ffb5-520390f9e6-327747457


Arctic Sea Ice Sees Strange Cold Season Retreat. The Arctic is
missing a chunk of sea ice the size of Mexico. While fall ushers
in the season of sea ice growth, November saw a brief retreat
that was virtually unprecedented in nearly 40 years of satellite
records, according to data released Tuesday by the National Snow
and Ice Data Center. That dip helped November set a record low
for sea ice area — the seventh month to do so this year, also a
record.
http://www.climatecentral.org/news/arctic-sea-ice-sees-strange-retreat-20940?utm_source=Inside+Climate+News&utm_campaign=520390f9e6-Today_s_Climate12_10_2014&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_29c928ffb5-520390f9e6-327747457


Gore, McCarthy avoid the 'T' word in climate chat. Gina McCarthy,
U.S. EPA administrator, had a cheeky greeting for former Vice
President Al Gore yesterday: "You've been busy." Gore, a powerful
advocate for policies tackling climate change, met with
President-elect Donald Trump and his daughter Ivanka Trump on
Monday to talk about global warming.
http://www.eenews.net/climatewire/stories/1060046765 

DROUGHT

Zimbabwe imported more than 300,000 tonnes of maize in 2016 after
drought – Mugabe. Zimbabwe imported more than 300,000 tonnes of
maize in 2016 to plug a shortfall caused by a devastating drought
in one of the continent's poorest countries, President Robert
Mugabe said on Tuesday. The El Nino-induced drought that hit
southern Africa has been particularly bad for Zimbabwe, whose
economy is in the grips of severe cash shortages…
http://www.reuters.com/article/zimbabwe-drought-idUSJ8N1DI014 

Last-minute push for California drought legislation creates
friction between Feinstein and Boxer. House Republican leaders
and California’s senior senator announced Monday a new attempt to
pass legislation that would increase water deliveries to San
Joaquin Valley agribusiness and Southern California. The 90-page
proposal was added to a water infrastructure bill that Congress
is expected to vote on this week before adjourning for the rest
of the year.
http://www.latimes.com/politics/la-me-drought-bill-20161205-story.html


California water savings 19.5 percent in October, drought easing
in parts of the state. A wet start to the rainy season boosted
the water conservation effort of urban Californians to 19.5
percent in October, climbing above last month’s totals but less
than the 22.3 percent savings realized last year, the state water
board reported Tuesday. Southern California cut back 15.7
percent, less than the state average and a four percent drop from
September.
http://www.sgvtribune.com/general-news/20161206/california-water-savings-195-percent-in-october-drought-easing-in-parts-of-the-state


Latest compromise drought relief bill receives praise,
opposition. A growers’ group asserts that the latest attempt at a
compromise solution in Congress to California’s drought is a good
first step toward providing more reliable water for farms.
Leaders from the Senate and House of Representatives reached
agreement on a water resources bill that includes language easing
some restrictions on pumping…
http://www.capitalpress.com/California/20161207/latest-compromise-drought-relief-bill-receives-praise-opposition


DIESEL ACTIVITIES

The California Air Resources Board awards funding to the City of
Porterville to deploy 10 GreenPower buses and charging
infrastructure. GreenPower Motor Company Inc. (TSX VENTURE: GPV)
(OTCQB: GPVRF) ("GreenPower" or the "Company") announced today
that the California Air Resources Board ("CARB") has awarded $9.5
million to the City of Porterville to deploy 10 GreenPower EV350
40-foot zero-emission all-electric transit buses on all nine
Porterville Transit routes, and to install the charging
infrastructure including 11 charging stations.
http://www.marketwired.com/press-release/california-air-resources-board-awards-funding-city-porterville-deploy-10-greenpower-tsx-venture-gpv-2181438.htm


FUELS

Trump seeks more oil drilling; in Calif., that's not so easy.
President-elect Donald Trump pledged to increase oil and gas
drilling and "unleash an energy revolution." If he wants to do it
in California, he'll hit obstacles that could take years to
surmount, experts said. Drilling both offshore and on federal
land requires crafting a detailed plan and surviving
environmental reviews. And in the Golden State, there's a major
political hurdle. 
http://www.eenews.net/energywire/2016/12/07/stories/1060046782 

VEHICLES

Electric cars unlikely to stand in the way of oil: IEA. Oil
prices are expected to remain volatile through 2017 as the demand
for oil slows to less than half of today's growth rate out
through 2020, according to the International Energy Agency (IEA),
even as U.S. data show gasoline consumption at a record high this
year. Last month, the Paris-based IEA issued its latest World
Energy Outlook. Yesterday…
http://www.eenews.net/energywire/2016/12/07/stories/1060046766 

BMW Claims High Battery Costs Will Hamper Electric Car Sales For
Years. BMW is none too optimistic about the electric car future.
“We’ve learned that people aren’t prepared to pay a higher price
for an electric vehicle,” BMW Chief Financial Officer Friedrich
Eichiner told reporters in Lisbon last week. “I don’t see some
kind of disruptive element coming from electric cars that would
prompt sales to go up quickly in the next five to six years.”
http://gas2.org/2016/12/06/bmw-claims-high-battery-costs-will-hamper-electric-car-sales-years/


MISCELLANEOUS

California EPA says settled with Apple on hazardous waste claims.
The California Environmental Protection Agency on Tuesday said
Apple Inc agreed to pay $450,000 to settle state claims that it
had mishandled hazardous electronic waste at facilities in
Silicon Valley. Apple also agreed to increase inspections to
settle allegations about facilities in Cupertino and Sunnyvale,
the Agency's Department of Toxic Substances Control said.
http://www.reuters.com/article/us-apple-waste-violations-idUSKBN13V2HS


OPINIONS

Obama's Climate Rules Are Safer Than They Seem. Those who support
aggressive action to reduce greenhouse gases fear that the Donald
Trump administration will undo all or most of President Barack
Obama's climate change initiatives. But those fears are probably
unwarranted. A good guess, based on a close look at the
regulations that matter most, is that the Obama administration’s
work on climate…
https://www.bloomberg.com/view/articles/2016-12-07/obama-s-climate-rules-are-safer-than-they-seem


Why Quebec (and Ontario) will get an unfair break on Trudeau’s
carbon tax, while other provinces pay double. Consider it the
curious incident of the dog that didn’t bark, federal-provincial
edition. In October, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced a
new national carbon tax: the most significant federal intrusion
into provincial jurisdiction in decades.
http://business.financialpost.com/fp-comment/why-quebec-and-ontario-will-get-an-unfair-break-on-trudeaus-carbon-tax-while-other-provinces-pay-double




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