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newsclips -- ARB Newsclips for March 12, 2014
Posted: 12 Mar 2014 15:37:15
ARB Newsclips for March 12, 2014. 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 Russia Considers Domestic Carbon Market in Global Warming Fight. Russia is considering a domestic carbon market to cut greenhouse-gas emissions and may start providing poorer nations with cash to cope with global warming, according to the country’s climate negotiator. “We would like to elaborate our domestic market and eventually make it link into other markets,” Oleg Shamanov said in an interview today in Bonn, where United Nations-led climate talks are being held this week. Posted. http://www.businessweek.com/news/2014-03-12/russia-considers-domestic-carbon-market-in-global-warming-fight What is the Social Cost of Carbon Emissions? Pt. 1. UMass Amherst Economics Professor and Director at the Political Economy Research Institute (PERI), James Boyce, gives a cost-benefit analysis of carbon emissions on human society. Posted. https://www.umass.edu/researchnext/what-social-cost-carbon-emissions-pt-1 China carbon tax in doubt as air pollution takes centre stage. China is reconsidering plans for a carbon tax as local air pollution trumps concerns over climate change and some rich nations back away from imposing a tax on greenhouse gas emissions, a top official said. Premier Li Keqiang last week declared war on pollution, which is expected to speed up the process of turning China's limited environmental levy into a full-blown tax targeting the nation's major polluters. Posted. http://in.reuters.com/article/2014/03/12/china-parliament-carbon-idINL3N0M92LG20140312 AIR RESOURCES BOARD CARB Stresses ILUC Update is Preliminary. California Air Resources Board (CARB) staff spent four hours on Tuesday afternoon detailing reviews made of Indirect Land Use Change (iLUC) models and analysis for the state’s Low Carbon Fuel Standard (LCFS), strongly stressing that their results are preliminary. “This is a work in progress,” said Air Resources Engineer Anil Prabhu as he began his power point presentation detailing the history of the iLUC analysis used by the agency…Posted. http://domesticfuel.com/2014/03/12/carb-stresses-iluc-update-is-preliminary/ IG questions EPA stimulus spending on train refurbishing in California. Under a program established in 2005, EPA officials gave $8,888,888 in stimulus funds to the California Air Resources Board (CARB) to refurbish eight switchyard locomotives. CARB had found that most of the pollution from railroads came from engines that worked exclusively in switch yards, and the grant was an attempt to create cleaner engines that would cut down on air pollution. In fact, officials hoped the overhauls would cut emissions of some toxic particulates by as much as 90 percent. Posted. http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2014/mar/11/ig-questions-epa-stimulus-spending-on-train-refurb/#ixzz2vm01fVIV AIR POLLUTION Court rejects industry challenge on clean air. A federal appeals court has turned aside an industry effort to weaken compliance requirements for environmental standards that reduce soot pollution from power plants. The Utility Air Regulatory Group had challenged as too burdensome compliance regulations covering fossil-fuel-fired steam generating plants built between 1971 and 1978. Posted. http://www.vcstar.com/news/2014/mar/11/court-rejects-industry-challenge-on-clean-air/#ixzz2vlSfu56W New super-warming and ozone-depleting gases discovered on the rise. Flying under the radar of scientific detection until now, four ozone-depleting gases are raising concern over enforcement of and legal loopholes within the Montreal Protocol, an international treaty designed to phase out emissions of such man-made substances. While two of the gases appear to be decreasing, the other two are increasing in abundance and showing an accelerating trend…Posted. http://www.eenews.net/climatewire/stories/1059995955/print BY SUBSCRIPTION ONLY House subcommittees wrestle with carbon capture, storage technologies. Two House Science, Space and Technology subcommittees grappled again today with the technology underpinning a controversial U.S. EPA power plant regulation aimed at curbing emissions of heat-trapping carbon dioxide. At issue: Is technology for capturing, transporting and storing CO2 emissions ready for commercial prime time? Republicans on the Energy and Environment subpanels and industry witnesses questioned the technology that EPA uses to justify requiring industry to meet its proposal for new power plants. Posted. http://www.eenews.net/greenwire/stories/1059996024/print BY SUBSCRIPTION ONLY CLIMATE CHANGE NASA Study Projects Higher Temperatures Despite Recent Slowdown in Global Warming. Global temperatures will likely continue to rise in coming decades on track with higher estimates, despite a recent slowdown in the rate of global warming, according to a new study from a National Aeronautics and Space Administration scientist. The study sought to reconcile different estimates for the Earth's climate sensitivity, or how temperatures change in response to changes in the atmosphere. Posted. http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-03-12/nasa-study-projects-higher-temperatures-despite-recent-slowdown-in-global-warming.html Why don't climate change adaptation strategies include population growth? While developed nations are largely responsible for global warming, the burden of climate change is often placed on the shoulders of the world's poorest countries -- where, research shows, population growth can exacerbate vulnerability. Yet despite this clear link, population-related susceptibility is rarely included in climate change adaptation efforts, according to experts. Posted. http://www.eenews.net/climatewire/stories/1059995985/print BY SUBSCRIPTION ONLY 3rd major warning on possible El Niño weather event. Commodities traders and farmers have been alerted to the coming about of the El Niño weather phenomenon, which could influence food and energy markets that are already hurting from extreme weather in much of the world. El Niño is a warming of Pacific Ocean temperatures that happens naturally every few years but can lead to droughts in some countries while floods can occur in other regions. Australia's Bureau of Meteorology said yesterday that the tropical Pacific subsurface had "warmed substantially" during the last couple of weeks…Posted. http://www.eenews.net/climatewire/stories/1059995951/print BY SUBSCRIPTION ONLY DROUGHT California drought to drive up food prices in the long term. With 2013 the driest year on record and 2014 possibly worse, the devastation of California's drought is trickling down to crops, fields, farmers markets, grocery stores -- and the kitchen table. While it's too early to tell precisely how much the drought will push up household grocery bills, economists say consumers can expect to pay more for food later this year because fewer acres of land are being planted and crop yields are shrinking. Posted. http://www.insidebayarea.com/business/ci_25322583/farm-fork-california-drought-drive-up-food-prices FUELS Spike in gas prices hits home for local drivers. Susan Bennett of Santa Rosa said she blew it by pumping $4 a gallon gas into her Toyota Prius on Tuesday at a Chevron station on Airport Boulevard. “I didn't look at it,” she said, referring to the price of $4.09 per gallon of regular. The hybrid Prius was telling her it would run out of fuel in a mile, she said. “I had to go to the nearest station.” Posted. http://www.pressdemocrat.com/article/20140311/articles/140319906 Calif.'s pioneering low-carbon fuels rule could see multiple changes. California's landmark law requiring lower-carbon fuels is poised for a rewrite. Advisers to the state's Air Resources Board yesterday detailed proposed revisions to the low-carbon fuel standard (LCFS), a first-in-the-nation regulation. Potential changes include allowing oil companies to earn program credits for making refinery upgrades that shrink greenhouse gas pollution. Posted. http://www.eenews.net/climatewire/stories/1059995992 BY SUBSCRIPTION ONLY China sticks with coal gasification to curb smog despite potentially big rise in CO2 emissions. While experts worldwide have opened fire on China's move to produce natural gas from coal, Chinese policymakers appear to be standing pat on their decision. During a recent press conference in Beijing, Wu Xiaoqing, vice minister of China's Ministry of Environmental Protection, told reporters that "central and western China are rich in coal and have a bigger environmental capacity…Posted. http://www.eenews.net/climatewire/stories/1059995991/print BY SUBSCRIPTION ONLY Can Kemper become the first US power plant to use 'clean coal'? The massive block of steel towers and pipes rises out of the morning fog like a sci-fi fantasy. But this coal-fired power plant could help save the climate, or at least that's the hope of the Obama administration. The plant in east-central Mississippi was repeatedly invoked by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to justify sweeping new climate change rules. Posted. http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2014/mar/12/kemper-us-power-plant-coal-carbon GREEN ENERGY Solar on sale, almost anywhere. You can buy it from your financial planner, at home improvement stores, shopping-mall kiosks, while buying a house or a car, online or by phone. Rooftop solar is for sale seemingly everywhere, as no-money-down lease agreements allow more and more homeowner to undercut utility electricity prices. Posted. http://www.utsandiego.com/news/2014/mar/12/solarcity-best-buy-partner/ Agricultural economists see rural power systems based on biomass. Millions of tons of farm wastes could fuel a new kind of electricity generation and delivery system that would cater to rural areas where the prospect of building long transmission systems is economically difficult, new research by agricultural economists in Missouri and Illinois suggests. Such a power grid would rely on biomass-fueled generators that can be built at relatively low cost and be linked to end-users via regional distribution grids…Posted. http://www.eenews.net/climatewire/stories/1059995962/print BY SUBSCRIPTION ONLY Vestas passes GE to regain title as biggest wind turbine maker. Denmark's Vestas Wind Systems A/S is once again the undisputed top turbine manufacturer in the world, according to a report by Make Consulting. The Danish company had 13.2 percent of the market share in 2013, down from 14.6 percent the year before, Make said. General Electric Co., which some studies had listed as having surpassed Vestas in 2012, fell to No. 6 with a market share of 4.9 percent from 13.7 percent a year earlier. Posted. http://www.eenews.net/climatewire/stories/1059995943/print BY SUBSCRIPTION ONLY MISCELLANEOUS Farm-to-Table Living Takes Root. In many American suburbs, outward signs of life are limited to the blue glow of television screens flickering behind energy-efficient windows. But in a subdivision of this bedroom community outside Phoenix, amid precision-cut lawns and Craftsman-style homes, lambs caper in common green areas, chickens scratch in a citrus grove and residents roam rows of heirloom vegetables to see what might be good for dinner. Posted. http://www.nytimes.com/2014/03/12/dining/farm-to-table-living-takes-root.html?hpw&rref=dining&action=click&module=Search®ion=searchResults%230&version=&url=http%3A%2F%2Fquery.nytimes.com%2Fsearch%2Fsitesearch%2F%3Faction%3Dclick%26region%3DMasthead%26pgtype%3DHomepage%26module%3DSearchSubmit%26contentCollection%3DHomepage%26t%3Dqry299%23%2Fgreen%2Benergy%2F24hours%2F Wish you could fertilize crops with pee? Urine luck. “When are you going to start bringing pee out to the farm?” Jay Bailey, a local farmer, asked Abe Noe-Hays when they ran into each other at the hardware store in Battleboro, Vt. “Um, how about now? Noe-Hays had just teamed up with Kim Nace to form the Rich Earth Institute, an organization that separates out pee to use as fertilizer for local farms — ”peecycling” to those in the know. Posted. http://grist.org/food/wish-you-could-fertilize-crops-with-pee-urine-luck/ OPINION Exploiting California’s Drought. The San Joaquin Valley in California can be stunningly beautiful: On a visit two weeks ago, I saw billions of pink almond blossoms peaking, with the Sierra Nevada towering over all. It can also be a hideous place, the air choked with microparticles of unpleasant origins (dried cow dung, sprayed chemicals, blowing over-fertilized soil), its cities like Fresno and Bakersfield sprawling incoherently and its small towns suffering from poverty, populated by immigrants from places as near as Baja, Mexico, and as far as Punjab, India. Posted. http://www.nytimes.com/2014/03/12/opinion/exploiting-californias-drought.html?action=click&module=Search®ion=searchResults%230&version=&url=http%3A%2F%2Fquery.nytimes.com%2Fsearch%2Fsitesearch%2F%3Faction%3Dclick%26region%3DMasthead%26pgtype%3DHomepage%26module%3DSearchSubmit%26contentCollection%3DHomepage%26t%3Dqry299%23%2Fclimate%2Bchange%2F24hours%2F&_r=0 Editorial: Carbon tax not best way to offset cap-and-trade gas price volatility. The weather is warming up and so are gas prices. Drivers seem to be putting more miles on their vehicles, which is part of the reason prices are quickly jumping, up 28 cents a gallon statewide from a month ago. In Santa Cruz County, the average price of a gallon of gasoline this month is $3.78, up 22 cents from last month. The average for Northern California is higher, at $3.84. Posted. http://www.santacruzsentinel.com/opinion/ci_25322907/editorial-carbon-tax-not-best-way-offset-cap BLOGS Freedom From Driving. Americans are catching on to the joys of not driving. The American Public Transportation Association announced on Monday that more people used buses, trains and subways in 2013 than in any year since 1956. More than 10.65 billion passenger trips were taken last year — enough to surpass even the ridership during the latest recession, when gas prices rose to $5 a gallon. Posted. http://takingnote.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/03/11/freedom-from-driving/?action=click&module=Search®ion=searchResults%230&version=&url=http%3A%2F%2Fquery.nytimes.com%2Fsearch%2Fsitesearch%2F%3Faction%3Dclick%26region%3DMasthead%26pgtype%3DHomepage%26module%3DSearchSubmit%26contentCollection%3DHomepage%26t%3Dqry299%23%2Femissions%2F24hours%2F BYD gets order for 1,200 electric buses from Dalian, China. The good news is that the BYD electric buses slated for service in the China city of Dalian will easily be able to go from the factory to the streets on a single charge. Dalian has put an order in for a whopping 1,200 BYD electric buses, which are said to have a single-charge range of about 155 miles. BYD will deliver 600 buses this year and another 600 in 2015. Posted. http://green.autoblog.com/2014/03/12/byd-gets-order-for-1200-electric-buses-from-dalian-china/ Americans taking public transit at highest rate in 57 years. I don't like public transportation. It's a completely irrational dislike, I'll admit, and is largely due to the fact that I'm a control freak. It's the reason I like living in Detroit, rather than New York, Chicago, London, Paris or any other city with a sprawling transit system - I have to drive everywhere. Posted. http://www.autoblog.com/2014/03/11/americans-taking-public-transit-highest-rate-57-years/ BMW i8 customer demand exceeding planned production; improved fuel consumption. Series production of the BMW i8 plug-in hybrid (earlier post) begins in April, with delivery of the first customer cars to start in June 2014, beginning with the main European markets. Customers have already been able to place pre-orders for the BMW i8 in all major markets since autumn 2013; BMW says that demand for the BMW i8 is already exceeding the planned production volume during ramp-up. Posted. http://www.greencarcongress.com/2014/03/20140311-i8.html Four reasons why the fight against climate change is likely to fail. Democrats in the Senate stayed up all night talking about the perils of climate change. But while there's hope that technology, changing consumer and business practices or new policies could finally turn the tide and slow or reverse climate change, there are also good reasons to think those efforts will fail. Posted. http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2014/03/11/four-reasons-why-the-fight-against-climate-change-is-likely-to-fail-2/ California is in a drought emergency. Visit www.SaveOurH2O.org for water conservation tips.