newsclips--Newsclips 26. August 2010.

Posted: 26 Aug 2010 10:41:36 California Air Resources Board News Clips for August 26, 2010. This is a service of the California Air Resources Board?s Officeof Communications. You may need to sign in or register withindividual websites to view some of the following news articles.AB 32Business Owners, Leaders Back Prop. 23. Local community leadersand small business owners said Wednesday that Central Coastcommerce and government would be devastated if Proposition 23does not pass in the November election. The proposition wouldsuspend Assembly Bill 32, a comprehensive greenhouse gasreduction program, until the state?s unemployment reaches andremains at 5.5 percent for at least four quarters. Posted.http://www.santamariatimes.com/news/local/govt-and-politics/article_65f23098-b0d9-11df-8a40-001cc4c002e0.html?print=1CLIMATE CHANGE/GHG?SIn Alaska, Doubts About Climate Change Rise With a NewPolitician. Alaska's cliffhanger primary is poised to propel aclimate skeptic toward the U.S. Senate, observers say, likelybolstering the number of nominations achieved by conservativecandidates who challenge manmade global warming. Republican JoeMiller, a former judge with a Yale law degree, showcased Sen.Lisa Murkowski's past support for climate legislation, amongother things, before slipping by her at the voting stationsTuesday to capture a 1,900 vote lead with several thousandabsentee ballots still being counted. Posted.http://www.nytimes.com/cwire/2010/08/26/26climatewire-in-alaska-doubts-about-climate-change-rise-w-72310.html?pagewanted=printFUELSOpinion: ARB On Ethanol: Science Shows Greenhouse Gases Linked ToLand-Use Changes. In a recent article, the California EthanolVehicle Coalition stated that the Air Resources Board is clingingto ?discredited? theories on the impact on global land usechanges associated with the production of corn-based ethanol foruse in transportation fuels. This is not true. The scienceclearly and unequivocally supports the fact that there aregreenhouse gas emissions associated with land use changesresulting from the growing of corn to produce fuel. Posted.http://www.capitolweekly.net/article.php?_c=z34h9zbyjkte2q&xid=z34gbk55lc98ug&done=.z34h9zbyjlie2q#ENERGYBig California Solar Energy Push Moves Forward. California'slong-awaited boom in solar power plant construction took a majorstep forward Wednesday when state regulators approved the firstin a string of projects that will soon blanket thousands of acresof desert with mirrors harnessing the energy of the sun. TheCalifornia Energy Commission unanimously approved the BeaconSolar Energy Project, which a Florida company plans to build onthe Mojave Desert's western edge. Posted.http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/08/26/BUPV1F396C.DTL&type=printablehttp://www.eenews.net/Greenwire/print/2010/08/26/4http://green.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/08/25/california-approves-first-u-s-thermal-solar-plant/?pagemode=printBill Would Delay Labels For Calif's TV Rules. Sacramento,Calif.?A labeling requirement related to the nation's firstenergy-efficiency standards for televisions would be delayed bysix months if Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger signs a bill approved bythe California Senate. The bill sent to his desk Wednesday wouldpush back the deadline for manufacturers to post details aboutthe energy use of their TVs to July 2011 from January. Posted.http://www.mercurynews.com/breaking-news/ci_15897474?nclick_check=1DIESELSCorning To Hike Filter-Making Capacity In Germany. Corning Inc.said Thursday it will spend $44 million to increase its capacityfor making light-duty filters in Kaiserslautern, Germany. Theexpansion is expected to begin in the second half of 2011.Thecompany said tighter restrictions on emissions are driving demandfor filters for diesel engines. The company said more than halfthe passenger cars in Europe are diesel and will be equipped witha filter by 2011. The filters are designed to remove sootparticles from diesel vehicle exhaust. Posted.http://www.businessweek.com/ap/financialnews/D9HR7PS80.htmMISCELLANEOUSEPA Rules Will Bar Ships From Discharging Sewage Near CaliforniaCoast. EPA officials say the new rules taking effect next yearprohibit cruise and cargo ships from releasing about 20 milliongallons of sewage into coastal waters every year. New federalregulations will bar cruise vessels and large commercial shipsfrom discharging sewage within three miles of California'scoastline, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announcedWednesday. Posted.http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-cruise-sewage-20100826,0,5777712,print.storyhttp://green.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/08/25/keeping-ship-sewage-from-the-california-coast/Bacteria Seem To Be Doing A Good Cleanup Job In Gulf. Datacollected months ago show populations of carbon-eating bacteriarising in parts of a plume of oil. Now, in the area where thebugs were collected, scientists 'do not see detectable oil.' Asefforts continue to clean the oil that gushed from the blown-outwell in the Gulf of Mexico, a team of scientists has found thatnature's microbial helpers are hard at work too ? and doing abetter job than researchers had expected. Posted.http://www.latimes.com/news/science/la-sci-oil-bacteria-20100825,0,1182073,print.storyProp 26 Pits Corporate Interest ?Goliaths? Against PublicInterest ?David?s?. Putting a white hat on a November ballotmeasure funded almost exclusively by big oil, tobacco, andalcohol companies is no easy task, but the Yes on Proposition 26campaign found a way. If approved by voters, the measure wouldmake it much tougher for state or local government to collectindustry-specific mitigation fees on business activities thatcause harm to the environment or public health. Posted.http://www.californiaprogressreport.com/site/?q=print/8098Improving Infrastructure in CA vs. Green At All Costs.California?s public transportation system has made for ripecomedic fodder for many years. Particularly in SouthernCalifornia, the transit system is a joke on wheels. Over the lastyear, however, state leaders have been working to obtain fundingfor a high speed rail project to run the length of the state. OnNovember 23, Governor Schwarzenegger?s Office informed the publicthat he, alongside California?s two Democratic senators, sent aletter to President Obama in an attempt to speed the process ofobtaining federal funding for the transit project. Posted.http://caivn.org/print/7196AIR QUALITYAir Quality Takes A Costly Hit On 110-Degree Day. This week'ssudden heat wave, along with back-to-school traffic, has causedan ozone spike that air officials had been hoping to avoid thissummer -- and as a result, Valley businesses will owe a $29million dirty-air penalty next year. The air monitor in Parlieron Tuesday measured 141 parts per billion of ozone, well abovethe federal one-hour threshold of 125 ppb and the Valley'shighest reading of the summer. Posted.http://www.fresnobee.com/2010/08/25/v-print/2054190/another-triple-digit-day-today.htmlBLOGSSan Francisco Shares Its Long List of Green Vendors. In 2005, theCity of San Francisco instituted strict purchasing standardsrequiring municipal departments to buy products that met certainenvironmental, health and toxicity guidelines. Now the city hasput online the database it has developed over the past five yearsto serve as a resource for other cities as well as for corporatepurchasing agents and consumers. Called the SF Approved List, theWeb site lists more than 1,000 products, like bathroomdisinfectants and computer keyboard cleaners, that do not emitgreenhouse gases. Posted.http://green.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/08/26/san-francisco-shares-vetted-list-of-green-vendors/?pagemode=printGlobal Warming: Can The San Bernardino Flying Squirrel Be Saved?Environmentalists have petitioned the U.S. Fish and WildlifeService to list the San Bernardino flying squirrel, a nocturnalglider native to Southern California mountains, as an endangeredspecies, threatened by climate change. The petition, filedTuesday by the Tucson-based Center for Biological Diversity,opens a new front in an effort to combat global warming throughthe Endangered Species Act. Posted.http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/greenspace/2010/08/global-warming-san-bernardino-flying-squirrel.htmlClean Energy Investors, Google Fight Prop. 23. The battle for thefuture of California?s landmark climate legislation, AB32, isheating up, with clean energy investors and venture capitalstepping in to combat this November?s Proposition 23 ballotinitiative. Proposition 23, whose primary backers include oilcompanies Valero and Tesoro (and now, the Adam Smith Foundationof Jefferson City, MO,) aims to ?suspend? AB32 by making enactioncontingent on a sustained and unrealistic 5.5% unemployment ratein California.http://www.triplepundit.com/2010/08/clean-energy-investors-google-fight-prop-23/
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