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ARB Newsclips for December 21, 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

In China, dangerous air pollution causes schools and highways to
close for days. The dense smog that has smothered much of China
for five days may soon finally clear, weather forecasters and
state media said Wednesday, giving relief to hundreds of millions
of people breathing dangerously polluted air and struggling under
the government’s emergency measures.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/kidspost/in-china-dangerous-air-pollution-causes-schools-and-highways-to-close-for-days/2016/12/21/0ccf5816-c792-11e6-85b5-76616a33048d_story.html?utm_term=.ec7281e2f0b3

http://nypost.com/2016/12/21/smog-refugees-flee-chinas-toxic-pollution/


Methane rule may be immune to early legislative strike. A recent
analysis raises questions about whether a suite of U.S. EPA rules
targeting methane emissions from new and heavily modified oil and
gas operations may be insulated from early legislative attacks in
the next Congress. Staffers at the Congressional Research Service
project that agency final rules submitted to lawmakers on or
after June 13… http://www.eenews.net/greenwire/stories/1060047527


CLIMATE CHANGE

North Pole to warm to near melting point this week: 50 degrees
above normal. It's happening again: The temperature at the North
Pole is projected to spike to around the melting point, or 32
degrees Fahrenheit, on Wednesday into Thursday, despite the
complete lack of sunshine that far north in December. Such
temperatures would be about 50 degrees above average for this
time of year…
http://mashable.com/2016/12/20/north-pole-to-warm-to-near-melting-point-this-week/#s.4w4AaI4Pqc


Donald Trump, climate change denier, questions State Department
about environmental spending. Officials from the
President-elect's transition team are gathering information
following his pledge to 'cancel all wasteful climate change
spending'. Donald Trump’s presidential transition team has asked
US State Department officials to disclose how much money it
provides each year to international environmental groups.
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/donald-trump-climate-change-denier-state-department-environmental-spending-questions-a7488281.html


GOP climate leader cuts emissions, except from cars.
Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker is a rarity among Republicans.
He believes in climate change, and he's doing something about it.
Baker released a proposal last week to curb greenhouse gas
emissions by 7.2 percent of 1990 levels in four years. The plan
calls on power plants to curtail emissions, on the state
government to upgrade its vehicle fleet…
http://www.eenews.net/climatewire/2016/12/21/stories/1060047520 

El Niño and climate change blamed for Zika spread. The
combination of climate change and last year's El Niño phenomenon
likely created the perfect playground for the Zika virus to
spread rapidly across South America, a new study finds. Both the
Zika virus and the mosquitoes that carry it have been present in
different parts of the world for a while. But several factors,
including specific climatic conditions…
http://www.eenews.net/climatewire/2016/12/21/stories/1060047509 

2016 to be hottest year on record. Government scientists are
confident that 2016 will be the hottest year on record. While
temperature data for December still have to be accounted for, the
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration published a
report noting that the year has been 1.69 degrees Fahrenheit
hotter than the average for the century of 57.2 degrees.
September and October were the second- and third-warmest months
that have been recorded since 1880.
http://www.eenews.net/climatewire/2016/12/21/stories/1060047489

DIESEL ACTIVITIES

Trump stance on EPA's truck emissions strategy a mystery. In
unveiling a long-term plan to curb heavy-duty truck pollution,
U.S. EPA officials today didn't mention the biggest question mark
surrounding that initiative: the incoming administration of
President-elect Donald Trump. Under the agency's strategy, it
will take about two years of technical study just to get to the
point of issuing proposed…
http://www.eenews.net/eenewspm/stories/1060047499/search?keyword=california


FUELS

Dirtier than tar sands: California’s crude oil secret. Lawyers
are gearing up for a courtroom battle over some of the most
carbon intensive supplies in the world. The oil extracted from
San Ardo field in Monterey County, California, is known in the
trade as “heavy”. It “has the consistency of ketchup”, as Chevron
expressed it in legal papers. The company injects steam in the
well to soften it up and get the crude…
http://www.climatechangenews.com/2016/12/21/dirtier-than-tar-sands-californias-crude-oil-secret/


VEHICLES

Forget Hatchimals: This Year, Your Child Needs a Mini-Tesla.
That's right. Partnering with the electric car pioneer, Radio
Flyer has made a battery-charged envy-enhancer for your child's
playground. A collaboration between Radio Flyer and Elon Musk’s
auto company, the Tesla Model S for Kids arrives tricked out with
a few bite-size bells and peewee whistles, as befits a luxury car
aimed at people who, sounding out the phrase, may pronounce it
"loo-ex-yoo-ree car."
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-12-20/tesla-for-kids-a-video-review-of-the-radio-flyer-electric-car


VW RECALL

VW agrees to fix, buy back more polluting U.S. diesel vehicles. 
Volkswagen AG (VOWG_p.DE) has agreed to a $1 billion settlement
to fix or buy back another 80,000 polluting diesel vehicles sold
in the United States as the German automaker on Tuesday took new
steps to put its emissions cheating scandal behind it. The
settlement deal covered luxury VW, Audi and Porsche vehicles with
3.0-liter engines, meaning Volkswagen has now agreed to spend as
much as…
http://www.reuters.com/article/us-volkswagen-emissions-idUSKBN1492EN


Volkswagen agrees to sell 35,000 new EVs in Calif. by 2025.
California showed how much further it will go than the federal
government to promote clean vehicles yesterday in a series of
special investments it plans to require of Volkswagen AG as part
of a settlement over its cheating of emissions tests.
http://www.eenews.net/climatewire/2016/12/21/stories/1060047519 

Volkswagen agrees to sell 35,000 new EVs in Calif. by 2025.
California showed how much further it will go than the federal
government to promote clean vehicles yesterday in a series of
special investments it plans to require of Volkswagen AG as part
of a settlement over its cheating of emissions tests. Volkswagen
has agreed to introduce three new electric vehicle models in
California and sell 35,000 of them by 2025…
http://www.eenews.net/climatewire/2016/12/21/stories/1060047519

GREEN ENERGY

Why is corporate America picking wind power over solar? Google,
Microsoft, Dow Chemical and other big companies are buying five
times more wind than solar electricity in the race to hit
ambitious emissions targets. Businesses are buying more wind and
solar electricity than ever before to help lower their carbon
footprint in offices, stores and factories.
https://www.theguardian.com/sustainable-business/2016/dec/21/solar-wind-energy-renewables-google-microsoft-amazon


OPINIONS

Air pollution issue goes beyond Paramount. For years, residents
in Paramount, a small, working-class city in southeast Los
Angeles County, have been complaining about unhealthful emissions
from nearby metal-processing facilities. Their complaining hasn’t
done a lot of good as multiple governmental agencies struggled
with finding solutions to the nagging issue that hasn’t gone
away.
http://www.dailynews.com/opinion/20161220/air-pollution-issue-goes-beyond-paramount


BLOGS

Why Pennsylvania is moving forward to reduce methane pollution.
Recently the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection
(DEP) took  an important first step to implement new requirements
aimed at reducing methane emissions from new oil and gas
operations. Methane is the main component of natural gas – 51% of
Pennsylvania households depend on it to fuel their homes.
http://blogs.edf.org/energyexchange/2016/12/21/why-pennsylvania-is-moving-forward-to-reduce-methane-pollution/





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