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ARB Newsclips for January 3, 2017. 

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

Low-income families join solar revolution with help of California
NGO. If you were to make a list of the poorest areas in Los
Angeles, somewhere on that list would be Bertha Dortch's
neighbourhood in Inglewood. The 68-year-old is on a fixed income,
but she's chosen to take in her great-granddaughter and two
foster children. On hot days, she faces difficult choices — does
she keep the house cool, or buy groceries?
http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/solar-panels-low-income-california-1.3917318

Gasoline prices rise as Ontario's cap-and-trade takes effect.
Ontario motorists are paying more for gas now that the provincial
government's cap-and-trade program is in place, with one expert
warning prices will keep climbing throughout 2017. The province
estimates its cap-and-trade program, which is designed to curb
carbon emissions in the province, will drive the price of
gasoline up 4.3 cents per litre.
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/ontario-gas-prices-1.3918571?utm_source=Inside+Climate+News&utm_campaign=b10a6f9618-Today_s_Climate12_10_2014&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_29c928ffb5-b10a6f9618-327747457


AIR POLLUTION

EPA finalizes major rollback in NO2 monitoring. U.S. EPA has
substantially scaled back its original plan for tracking
vehicle-related emissions of nitrogen dioxide, a regulatory
retreat welcomed by state air regulators and industry advocates
but hotly opposed by environmental and public health groups.
Under a final rule published in Friday's Federal Register, the
agency is dropping a requirement for installation of dozens of
"near-road" nitrogen dioxide (NO2)…
http://www.eenews.net/greenwire/2017/01/03/stories/1060047758 

'Pollyanna' air chief unbowed after Hill fights, lawsuits. U.S.
EPA air chief Janet McCabe didn’t discuss President-elect Donald
Trump during a recent interview but offered advice to the
incoming administration. Photo courtesy of C-SPAN. U.S. EPA air
chief Janet McCabe sees marathon oral arguments on the Clean
Power Plan in federal court last fall as a high point of her
seven years in the Obama administration. On that September day,
McCabe and her EPA colleagues sat…
http://www.eenews.net/greenwire/2017/01/03/stories/1060047726 

EPA, enviros near settling long Alaska soot fight.  U.S. EPA and
environmentalists are on the verge of settling their latest legal
skirmish over the pace of efforts to clear the sooty air plaguing
the Fairbanks, Alaska, area. By April 28, EPA officials would
either declare the area in compliance with the 24-hour standard
for fine particles or downgrade its nonattainment status from
"moderate" to "serious" under a proposed consent decree to a
lawsuit brought last fall by…
http://www.eenews.net/greenwire/2017/01/03/stories/1060047728 

CLIMATE CHANGE

Can Carbon Capture Technology Prosper Under Trump? Can one of the
most promising — and troubled — technologies for fighting global
warming survive during the administration of Donald J. Trump? The
technology, carbon capture, involves pulling carbon dioxide out
of smokestacks and industrial processes before the
climate-altering gas can make its way into the atmosphere.
http://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/02/science/donald-trump-carbon-capture-clean-coal.html?partner=rss&emc=rss&utm_source=Inside+Climate+News&utm_campaign=b10a6f9618-Today_s_Climate12_10_2014&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_29c928ffb5-b10a6f9618-327747457&_r=0


Weak Federal Powers Could Limit Trump’s Climate-Policy Rollback.
With Donald J. Trump about to take control of the White House, it
would seem a dark time for the renewable energy industry. After
all, Mr. Trump has mocked the science of global warming as a
Chinese hoax, threatened to kill a global deal on climate change
and promised to restore the coal industry to its former glory.
http://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/02/science/donald-trump-global-warming.html?_r=0

France delivers 2050 climate plan to UN. France has become the
fifth major economy to outline plans to radically cut greenhouse
gas emissions by mid-century in a submission sent to the UN last
week. It details how the country will meet a 2030 goal to cut
emissions 40% on 1990 levels and 75% by 2050, requiring “major
changes” to the country’s economy. “Investment needs are massive
and the recasting of production and consumption patterns is
essential,” it says.
http://www.climatechangenews.com/2017/01/03/france-targets-consumption-patterns-in-2050-climate-plan/?utm_source=Inside+Climate+News&utm_campaign=b10a6f9618-Today_s_Climate12_10_2014&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_29c928ffb5-b10a6f9618-327747457


San Diego Is ‘All In’ on Climate Change—And The World’s Noticing.
San Diego and its Republican Mayor is working hard to become the
San Fran of Southern California.  Mayor Faulconer will be
spending $130 million to change the energy usage of this city. 
He wants it to be a green mecca.  For that all he has to do is
look at Spain—they became the most green nation in the
world—including a 25% unemployment rate…
http://www.capoliticalreview.com/capoliticalnewsandviews/san-diego-is-all-in-on-climate-change-and-the-worlds-noticing/


Climate change in 2016: the good, the bad, and the ugly. 2016
wasn’t all bad news for the climate, but it was ugly toward the
end. This past year had so many stories involving human-caused
climate change – it will be forever in our memories. Here is a
summary of some of the high points, from my perspective. When I
say “high points” I don’t necessarily mean good. Some of these
high points are bad and some are downright ugly.
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/climate-consensus-97-per-cent/2017/jan/02/climate-change-in-2016-the-good-the-bad-and-the-ugly


The Climate Change Debate: Black People Are Being Left Out and
That Can Be Deadly. A lack of diversity in the green movement is
leaving people of color out of the discussion, even though
climate and environmental disasters disproportionately affect our
communities. When Bloomberg Media convened an invitation-only
forum of notables on “The Future of Climate Change” during the
first weekday of the Democratic National Convention in
Philadelphia last summer…
http://www.theroot.com/articles/culture/2017/01/the-climate-change-debate-black-people-are-being-left-out-and-that-can-be-deadly/


Warming could bring Calif. 3 more strong storms per year. If the
globe continues to warm at its current pace, California can
expect to be hit with an average of three more extreme rainstorms
per year, according to new research from the Massachusetts
Institute of Technology. MIT scientists used new methods to
analyze the atmospheric conditions that led to dangerous
precipitation events like the one…
http://www.eenews.net/greenwire/2017/01/03/stories/1060047760

Climate change a bull's-eye in the era of all-Republican rule.
The Republican climate agenda begins today. With the opening of
the 115th Congress, the GOP is poised to begin altering the
nation's direction on greenhouse gases across the economy, from
electricity and transportation to trade and foreign policy.
Republican measures once seen as symbolic provocations against a
liberal president are now considered mainstream policy.
http://www.eenews.net/climatewire/2017/01/03/stories/1060047703 

DROUGHT

Side effect of California's drought: More climate pollution.
Droughts are already getting longer and more severe because of
human-caused climate change in the American Southwest and around
the world. But the drought-climate connection goes both ways:
California's prolonged dry spell has also made climate change a
little bit worse. Between 2011 and 2014, during the height of the
drought…
http://www.desertsun.com/story/news/environment/2017/01/03/side-effect-californias-drought-more-climate-pollution/95875684/


California snowpack measures low, but big storms coming.
Surveyors plunged a pole into the Sierra Nevada snowpack on
Tuesday and took the first manual measurement of the wet season,
finding water content was about half of normal as California
flirts with a possible sixth year of drought. Surveyors took the
reading at 6,000 feet near Lake Tahoe as major cold and windy
storms were expected to dump...
http://www.palmbeachpost.com/news/national/california-snowpack-measures-low-but-big-storms-coming/TG9WeGRgjguX1w6f2xrLjJ/
 

VEHICLES

South Korea Halts Some Nissan, BMW Sales in Emissions Probe (1).
South Korea banned the sale of 10 models built by Nissan Motor
Co., BMW AG and Volkswagen AG’s Porsche after an investigation
found the automakers fabricated documents related to emission
tests. The three manufacturers were slapped with total fines of
7.17 billion won ($5.9 million), which apply to 4,523 vehicles,
and the certifications given for these models have been
withdrawn…
http://washpost.bloomberg.com/Story?docId=1376-OJ57TC6TTDS301-48LNL3MPHPT1O11MEQQPJOAM8C


GREEN ACTIVITIES

Zambia Energy Regulator Cuts Fuel Prices After President’s Call.
Zambia’s Energy Regulation Board cut fuel prices after President
Edgar Lungu said this weekend he expected it to do so even as
Brent crude climbed 13 percent last month. Gasoline prices will
fall by 8.8 percent to 13.7 kwacha ($1.26) per liter, while
diesel will drop 6 percent to 10.72 kwacha per liter, the
regulator told reporters Tuesday in Lusaka, the capital.
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-01-03/zambia-energy-regulator-cuts-fuel-prices-after-president-s-call

Stocks jump at start of 2017 as energy firms and banks climb.
U.S. stock indexes are jumping at the start of the first trading
day of 2017. Energy companies are climbing with the price of oil,
while banks are advancing thanks to a bump in interest rates.
Those two sectors were the best-performing parts of the market in
2016. The Dow Jones industrial average leaped 122 points, or
0.6%, to 19,884 as of 10 a.m. Eastern time.
http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-markets-20170103-story.html


MISCELLANEOUS

NASA Chief Scientist Ellen Stofan Leaves Agency For Other
'Adventures'. Ellen Stofan, NASA's chief scientist, has left the
space agency for other "adventures." Stofan is believed to have
left her post before Christmas last month. Slash Gear reported
that Stofan first announced her plan to leave during a National
Academies' Space Studies Board symposium in California last
December. She admitted that she was leaving in two weeks.
http://www.universityherald.com/articles/58184/20170102/nasa-chief-scientist-ellen-stofan-leaves-agency-adventures.htm


2016: The changing narratives of China’s environmental story.
Although it appears that China’s environmental script is repeated
year after year, some inherent narratives could be shifting, says
chinadialogue's Ma Tianjie. As 2016 comes to an end, for
observers of China’s environment, the year may leave them with a
single impression: that the story is stuck on a loop, repeating
itself again and again.
http://www.eco-business.com/opinion/2016-the-changing-narratives-of-chinas-environmental-story/


OPINIONS

What Rex Tillerson's Exxon Mobil track record tells us. Rex
Tillerson, President-elect Donald Trump’s choice to lead the
State Department, has spent 41 years at the oil and gas company
Exxon Mobil.  He rose through its ranks to CEO, but he was so
cloistered in its corporate culture that he could not appreciate
the decline of an outdated business model. As a case study for
MBA students, that’s perhaps instructive; as a biography of the
nominee to be secretary of State, that’s frightening.
http://www.latimes.com/opinion/op-ed/ 

A cap-and-trade scheme in disguise. While the American people
said loud and clear on Nov. 8 that they were ready for new
leadership and a new America, the frantic pace at which hundreds
of new regulations have been issued by the Obama administration
should be alarming for Americans as we approach the end of
President Obama's term.
http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/a-cap-and-trade-scheme-in-disguise/article/2610632


Is California doing right when it comes to energy costs? Ontario
isn’t the only place that is being hit with over the top
electricity prices, California has the highest power rates in
North America. Many low-income families must decide to buy food
or stay cool , similar to Ontario when many families were cut off
during the summer and fall because they could no longer afford
the price of keeping the lights on. 
http://saultonline.com/2017/01/is-california-doing-right-when-it-comes-to-energy-costs/

BLOGS

Minneapolis's citizen-centric approach to climate action. With
average winter temperatures of just over 15 degrees Fahrenheit,
you might think Minneapolis could use a little warming. But even
this metropolis is feeling the effects of a changing climate —
primarily in the form of increased flooding and extreme heat and
humidity. In July, the National Weather Service issued an
excessive heat warning for much of Minnesota, with temperatures
forecasted to reach anywhere from 105 to 110 degrees.
https://www.greenbiz.com/article/minneapoliss-citizen-centric-approach-climate-action


What States Are In A Drought? California Rain, Snowfall Could
Help Recover From Long Dry Spell [MAP] After years of drought
that brought devastating wildfires and forced municipalities to
consider alternative approaches to water use in California,
incoming storms were expected to bring several feet of snow to
the Sierra Nevada mountain range. The snowfall, which could
provide some much needed relief this week will come on the heels
of weeks of
wet…http://www.ibtimes.com/what-states-are-drought-california-rain-snowfall-could-help-recover-long-dry-spell-2468860





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