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newsclips -- ARB Newsclips for December 19, 2016.
Posted: 19 Dec 2016 14:22:25
ARB Newsclips for December 19, 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 Gov. Inslee proposes carbon tax, with most revenue to fund schools. Gov. Jay Inslee will try to convince lawmakers in the upcoming session to do something voters wouldn’t last month — approve a new tax on carbon emissions from fossil fuels. The Democrat is proposing a tax of $25 per metric ton of carbon emissions starting in 2018 as part of a two-year budget plan that seeks more than $4 billion in new revenue… http://www.peninsuladailynews.com/news/gov-inslee-proposes-carbon-tax-with-most-revenue-to-fund-schools/# EPA re-releases carbon trading guidance — but no final rules. U.S. EPA today made public its work to date on guidance for states to use carbon trading to meet greenhouse gas standards for the power sector — but the agency stopped short of issuing final rules. EPA originally meant to finalize the model trading rules, although President-elect Donald Trump has sworn to eliminate the underlying regulation, the Clean Power Plan. http://www.eenews.net/greenwire/2016/12/19/stories/1060047426 AIR POLLUTION Advanced Black Lung Cases Surge In Appalachia. Across Appalachia, coal miners are suffering from the most serious form of the deadly mining disease black lung in numbers more than 10 times what federal regulators report, an NPR investigation has found. The government, through the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, reported 99 cases of "complicated" black lung, or progressive massive fibrosis, throughout the country the last five years. http://www.npr.org/2016/12/15/505577680/advanced-black-lung-cases-surge-in-appalachia?utm_source=Inside+Climate+News&utm_campaign=d495fbc3f5-Today_s_Climate12_10_2014&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_29c928ffb5-d495fbc3f5-327747457 CLIMATE CHANGE EU Brandishes Climate Credentials Amid Doubts Over Trump’s Aims. As U.S. President-elect Donald Trump pledges to bolster industries blamed for global warming, the European Union is forging ahead with legislation meant to increase the cost of the dirtiest forms of energy. Environment ministers from the EU are due to meet in Brussels on Monday for deliberations over tighter emission caps on power plants and factories… https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-12-19/eu-brandishes-climate-credentials-amid-doubts-over-trump-s-aims Trump Rejects Climate Change, but Mar-a-Lago Could Be Lost to the Sea. Floridians in Palm Beach spend millions to deal with rising seas. Donald Trump shelled out $409,759 for property taxes in 2016 on Mar-a-Lago, his oceanfront club above billionaire’s row in Palm Beach, Fla. Some of those tax dollars will go toward combating the ravages of climate change, a phenomenon the president-elect has dismissed as a hoax. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-12-16/trump-rejects-climate-change-but-mar-a-lago-could-be-lost-to-the-sea?utm_source=Inside+Climate+News&utm_campaign=d495fbc3f5-Today_s_Climate12_10_2014&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_29c928ffb5-d495fbc3f5-327747457 Scientists confirm that warm ocean water is melting the biggest glacier in East Antarctica. Scientists at institutions in the United States and Australia on Friday published a set of unprecedented ocean observations near the largest glacier of the largest ice sheet in the world: Totten glacier, East Antarctica. And the result was a troubling confirmation of what scientists already feared — Totten is melting from below. https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/energy-environment/wp/2016/12/16/warm-ocean-water-is-slamming-into-and-melting-the-biggest-glacier-in-east-antarctica/?utm_campaign=3d1320bdf6-Today_s_Climate12_10_2014&utm_medium=email&utm_source=Inside Climate News&utm_term=.7d2bef74983d Polar Bears’ Path to Decline Runs Through Alaskan Village. The bears that come here are climate refugees, on land because the sea ice they rely on for hunting seals is receding. Come fall, polar bears are everywhere around this Arctic village, dozing on sand spits, roughhousing in the shallows, padding down the beach with cubs in tow and attracting hundreds of tourists who travel long distances to see them. http://www.nytimes.com/2016/12/18/science/polar-bears-global-warming.html?utm_source=Inside+Climate+News&utm_campaign=3d1320bdf6-Today_s_Climate12_10_2014&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_29c928ffb5-3d1320bdf6-327747457&_r=0 Atmospheric rivers fueled by climate change could decimate wild oysters in San Francisco Bay. Climate change could supercharge the powerful storms often hailed for bringing drought-busting rains to California. The storms, called atmospheric rivers, are long stretches of water vapor that travel from the tropics up to the West Coast of the U.S. In California, they can deliver up to half of the state’s annual precipitation in just a couple of weeks. But too much water at once can be a bad thing. http://www.latimes.com/science/sciencenow/la-sci-sn-atmospheric-rivers-oysters-20161215-story.html EPA stops work on climate rule compliance program. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) stopped work Monday on writing an optional program that states could use to comply with the climate change rule for power plants. Janet McCabe, the EPA’s top air regulator, announced the decision in a blog post, along with the draft, incomplete compliance plans and related documents. http://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/311032-epa-stops-work-on-climate-rule-compliance-option Centrica has donated to US climate change-denying thinktank. Company owned by Centrica gave $20,000 to TPPF, praised by new US energy secretary for opposing ‘hysteria of global warming’. British Gas’s parent company, Centrica, has given tens of thousands of dollars to a US thinktank that denies climate change and is backed by Donald Trump’s energy secretary. https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2016/dec/16/centrica-has-donated-to-us-climate-change-denying-thinktank?utm_source=Inside+Climate+News&utm_campaign=d495fbc3f5-Today_s_Climate12_10_2014&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_29c928ffb5-d495fbc3f5-327747457 Green Climate Fund misses 2016 target as US donation in doubt. Board celebrates approval of projects worth $1.3bn at meeting in Samoa, but falls short of $2.5bn goal and delays key policy decisions. The Green Climate Fund board approved eight funding proposals worth US$315 million as a meeting in Samoa concluded on Friday. It brings the total allocated by the UN’s flagship climate finance initiative in 2016 to $1.3 billion, far short of a $2.5bn aspirational goal. http://www.climatechangenews.com/2016/12/16/green-climate-fund-misses-2016-target-as-us-donation-in-doubt/?utm_source=Inside+Climate+News&utm_campaign=d495fbc3f5-Today_s_Climate12_10_2014&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_29c928ffb5-d495fbc3f5-327747457 Independence group urges Brown to sign Paris Agreement. Californians distressed by the presidential victory of Donald Trump are hoping the state's leadership on climate change will provide an avenue to assert independence from the federal government. The California National Party, a group working on "peaceful and lawful independence," is urging Gov. Jerry Brown (D) to sign the U.N. agreement on climate change… http://www.eenews.net/climatewire/2016/12/19/stories/1060047393 A fight about climate change — but not emissions. The Standing Rock Sioux Tribe and its supporters captivated a nation this year with their protests against the Dakota Access oil pipeline. Their victorious faces beamed from the front pages of newspapers around the country the day after the Obama administration halted construction of the project. http://www.eenews.net/climatewire/2016/12/19/stories/1060047391 FUELS U.S. Forest Service grants Colorado exception to roadless rule, again, for expansion of coal mining. The U.S. Forest Service has finalized an exception for Colorado in the nation’s rule for protecting last-remaining roadless forests: allowing expansion of a coal mine that cuts beneath pristine woods near Paonia in the North Fork Valley. That decision enabling construction of temporary roads and drilling pads on 19,700 acres… http://www.denverpost.com/2016/12/18/us-forest-service-roadless-rule-coal-mining-expansion/ VEHICLES BlueCalifornia Bringing Electric Carsharing Service to Los Angeles. A French company is expanding its global reach by bringing electric carsharing to Los Angeles. Bolloré Group received backing Monday from the Los Angeles City Council to bring its BlueCalifornia subsidiary to LA. It’s the second U.S. city to bring the electric carsharing service to the metro area, following Indianapolis and its BlueIndy program. http://www.hybridcars.com/bluecalifornia-bringing-electric-carsharing-service-to-los-angeles/ VW RECALL Report: Volkswagen Settlement Over 3-Liter Vehicles Could Add $1B To “Dieselgate” Tab. Volkswagen has already agreed to pay $15 billon to settle a large portion of its “dieselgate” scandal, so what’s another 1 billion? That figure could reportedly be added to the carmaker’s tab as part of a settlement concerning so-called “defective devices” on thousands of 3-liter vehicles not covered by the company’s earlier settlement with federal regulators. https://consumerist.com/2016/12/19/report-volkswagen-settlement-over-3-liter-vehicles-could-add-1b-to-dieselgate-tab/ GREEN ENERGY California to Regulate Energy Use of Desktop Computers and Monitors. Computers, long a symbol of the digital age, are now moving into a more earth-friendly future: California’s state energy agency voted unanimously Wednesday to approve new regulations for energy efficiency in desktop computers and monitors. The rules, passed by the agency, the California Energy Commission, are the country’s first attempt… http://www.nytimes.com/2016/12/15/science/california-new-computer-energy-rules.html?mabReward=CTM&recp=0&moduleDetail=recommendations-0&action=click&contentCollection=U.S.®ion=Footer&module=WhatsNext&version=WhatsNext&contentID=WhatsNext&src=recg&pgtype=article&_r=0 Solar PV became carbon neutral in 2011 — study. That's when the global solar photovoltaic industry likely became a net winner for the planet, at least in greenhouse gas emission reductions and overall energy use, according to a study. The analysis, published this month in Nature Communications, fits into a body of research about clean energy technologies that produce zero or few emissions… http://www.eenews.net/greenwire/2016/12/19/stories/1060047420 Engineers want to turn mine into renewable energy project. Engineers in New York's Adirondack Mountains are proposing a novel approach to resuscitating an abandoned mine: converting the old mine shafts into a hydropower station. Millions of gallons of groundwater has inundated the old pit in the town of Mineville over the years, leading engineers to envision 100 turbines running half a mile underground. http://www.eenews.net/greenwire/2016/12/19/stories/1060047409 MISCELLANEOUS Exxon probes may figure in Tillerson Senate hearings for top diplomat job. Donald Trump isn't the only person headed to the U.S. government's executive branch saddled by legal issues. As the president-elect tapped ExxonMobil CEO Rex Tillerson as the chief U.S. diplomat, a judge issued a ruling that could help decide the outcome of state investigations into the energy giant's statements on climate change and the firm's accounting disclosures. http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/2016/12/18/exxon-probes-may-figure-tillerson-senate-hearings-top-diplomat-job/95380806/ OPINIONS The electoral college is thwarting our ability to battle global warming. Who (you might ask) is David Brearley? Brearley plays a critical, and entirely accidental, role in climate change because of his position as the chair of the Committee on Postponed Parts within the Constitutional Convention of 1787. While drafting the U.S. Constitution, the convention left several “sticky questions” to Brearley’s Committee, such as the manner by which U.S. presidents would be elected. https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/energy-environment/wp/2016/12/19/the-electoral-college-is-thwarting-our-ability-to-battle-global-warming/?tid=pm_business_pop&utm_term=.fc2fc412013a With State pick, Mass. politicians see an opportunity to probe ExxonMobil on climate change. When he faced off with ExxonMobil chief executive Rex Tillerson 6½ years ago, Edward J. Markey seized on the walruses, to great effect. Then chairman of a House subcommittee investigating the BP oil spill, Markey highlighted the sloppiness of four oil companies’ spill response plans — nearly identical reports produced by the same consultant… http://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2016/12/19/massachusetts-politicians-environmental-groups-target-exxonmobil-climate-change/x635GI8xBNIQGdpRZlrabP/story.html?utm_source=Inside+Climate+News&utm_campaign=3d1320bdf6-Today_s_Climate12_10_2014&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_29c928ffb5-3d1320bdf6-327747457 BLOGS Mayors Vow Not to Let Feds Trump Their Climate Change Fight. As the new administration likely backs away from Obama's commitment to reduce greenhouse gases, mayors are stepping up their efforts. Since the November election, several big-city U.S. mayors have sent President-elect Donald Trump and many congressional Republicans a message on climate change: You won't stop our fight. http://www.governing.com/topics/transportation-infrastructure/gov-climate-change-trump-mayors.html California is in a drought emergency. Visit www.SaveOurH2O.org for water conservation tips.