newsclips--Newsclips 3 September 2010.

Posted: 03 Sep 2010 10:59:12 California Air Resources Board News Clips for September 3, 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 32What Would Proposition 23 Cost Us? In its August 30 edition, TheTribune gave space to Pismo Beach City Councilman Ed Waage tolist his reasons why California?s Global Warming Solutions Act,AB 32, should be suspended by the oil industry-supported ballotinitiative known as Proposition 23 (?Boosteconomy by voting for Proposition 23?). Posted.http://calcoastnews.com/2010/09/what-would-proposition-23-cost-us/CLIMATE CHANGE/GHG?SInland Business Leaders Want Greenhouse-Gas Cuts Suspended.Riverside County Supervisor Jeff Stone, joined by local businessleaders, urged voters Thursday to support the suspension ofCalifornia's greenhouse gas law. The 2006 law, known as AB 32,requires that the state reduce emissions to 1990 levels by 2020.Opponents of the law say the enormous investments needed tocomply with AB 32 will kill jobs and burden local businesses.Posted.http://www.pe.com/localnews/stories/PE_News_Local_D_prop03.b2dc9.htmlKoch Firm Donates $1 Million To Campaign To Suspend ClimateChange Law. A company headed by oil billionaires Charles andDavid Koch have contributed $1 million to the campaign torollback the state's landmark climate change law. Filings withthe California Secretary of the State show that Flint HillsResources, a wholly owned subsidiary of oil conglomerate KochIndustries Inc., made the contribution to the Yes on 23 Committeeon Thursday. Tesoro Co., a San Antonio-based oil refiner, alsocontributed $1 million to the pro-Proposition 23 committee onThursday. Posted.http://www.sacbee.com/2010/09/03/3003630/koch-firm-donates-1-million-to.html#ixzz0yU9iHCUvU.S. Affirms 17% Climate Target; Envoys Cite Progress on `GreenFund'. The U.S. failure to pass cap-and- trade legislation won?tchange its target for 2020 to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions byroughly 17 percent, climate negotiator Todd Stern said today. TheHouse approved a bill last year to set limits on carbon dioxidelinked to global warming and create a market in pollutionallowances. The bill, supported by President Barack Obama,stalled in the Senate. Posted.http://www.bloomberg.com/news/print/2010-09-03/u-s-affirms-17-climate-target-envoys-cite-progress-on-green-fund-.htmlOPINION: Next In Combating Climate Change. We?ve all heard thatsomething needs to be done about global warming but may havewondered what concrete steps were being taken. How do we reducegreenhouse gases and turn down the heat? California became aleader in climate change policy when it passed the Global WarmingSolutions Act of 2006, which called for a reduction of greenhousegases back to 1990 levels by the year 2020 and 80 percent below1990 levels by 2050. Posted.http://www.santamariatimes.com/news/opinion/editorial/commentary/article_2ce43fda-b723-11df-8779-001cc4c03286.html?print=1OPINION: Hicks: We'd Rather Not Let The Facts Get In The Way Of AGood Opinion. This just in -- and it's a biggie: Someone with apublic stance on a controversial issue has changed his mind.Danish political scientist and statistician Bjorn Lomborg -- asupposedly famous (no, really) skeptic of climate change -- hasreversed his position that any climate change that was reallyhappening wasn't worth the effort to combat. Posted.http://www.mercurynews.com/entertainment/ci_15975464http://content.usatoday.com/communities/sciencefair/post/2010/09/bjorn-lomborg-climate-changes-mind/1AIR POLLUTIONTexas Coal Plant?s 50,000 Air Pollution Violations Lead to LegalChallenge. Action Taken After Texas Agency Ignores Problem andFails to Act. More than 50,000 air pollution violations at themassive Martin Lake coal-fired power plant led the Sierra Club,represented by Earthjustice and Environmental Integrity Project,to file a lawsuit today in federal court against plant ownerLuminant (formerly TXU). Posted.http://yubanet.com/usa/Texas-Coal-Plant-s-50-000-Air-Pollution-Violations-Lead-to-Legal-Challenge.phpSCAG Rejects Air Pollution Reduction Targets. The SouthernCalifornia Association of Governments on Thursday rejectedstronger greenhouse gas emission reduction targets recommended bythe state's clean air agency. The standards set by the CaliforniaAir Resources Board aimed to help reduce air pollution. The boardrequested that greenhouse gas emissions from vehicles be reducedby 6 percent by 2020 and by 13 percent by 2035. Posted.http://www.contracostatimes.com/california/ci_15977584?nclick_check=1http://www.vcstar.com/news/2010/sep/02/builders-environmentalists-split-on-decision-on/http://www.mercurynews.com/breaking-news/ci_15975758?nclick_check=1http://www.businessweek.com/ap/financialnews/D9I0GNK81.htmValley Businesses to Foot Bill for $29 Million Ozone Fine.Businesses across the Central Valley can expect higher fees fromthe San Joaquin Valley Air Pollution Control District because ofa violation of an ozone standard. The violation of the one-hourozone standard was recorded last week due to a spike inback-to-school traffic, triple-digit temperatures and smoke fromarea fires. As a result, the Central Valley is on the hook for a$29 million fine this year and every year until the standard ismet. Posted.http://www.turnto23.com/south_county/24863281/detail.htmlhttp://www.turnto23.com/news/24856550/detail.html GREEN/ENERGYSolar Projects Still Sorting Out Tortoises' Fate. BrightSourceEnergy Co. has pounded hundreds of wooden surveyor stakes intothe earth in northeast San Bernardino County while awaiting finaldecisions from state and federal agencies on whether to turn 5.6square miles of public land into a solar energy plant. Posted.http://www.pe.com/localnews/stories/PE_News_Local_D_solar03.4df0585.htmlTIRE CHECKCalifornia Now Requires Tire Pressure Checks. Californiaautomobile service providers are now required to check tirepressures for every vehicle being maintained or repaired at theirfacility. The regulation, issued by the California Air ResourcesBoard, applies to auto maintenance/repair providers but not toauto parts distributers/retailers, auto body/paint facilities,auto glass installers or wreckers/dismantlers. It went intoeffect September 1, 2010. Posted.http://www.autoserviceworld.com/issues/story.aspx?aid=1000384293EDITORIAL: The EPA's New Gas-Mileage Labels Are Good but NotPerfect. THE ENVIRONMENTAL Protection Agency is asking forcomments on its proposed new gas mileage stickers for automobiles-- so here's ours. On the whole, both of the agency's twosuggested alternative stickers represent much-needed improvementover current fuel-economy labeling. They more clearly andbrightly inform consumers of exactly how much fuel the variousmodels can be expected to consume, how much greenhouse gases theycan be expected to emit and how they perform in comparison tosimilar models. Posted.http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/09/02/AR2010090204526.htmlFUELS Chicken Waste As Fuel Source Gets Initial OK. A private company'splan to use chicken waste to power an energy generation projectsouth of the city of Sonoma cleared a preliminary hurdleThursday. In a 10-minute special meeting, the Sonoma County Boardof Supervisors gave its consent to financing the project through$35 million in state-issued bonds. Posted.http://www.pressdemocrat.com/article/20100902/ARTICLES/100909859/1350?Title=Chicken-waste-as-fuel-source-gets-initial-OKMISCELLANEOUSScientist's Firing After 36 Years Fuels 'PC' Debate at UCLA. Alongtime professor at UCLA, told that he would not be rehiredbecause his "research is not aligned with the academic mission"of his department, says he's being fired after 36 years at theprestigious school because his scientific beliefs are"politically incorrect." But UCLA says Dr. James Enstrom'spolitics have nothing to do with its decision. Posted.http://www.foxnews.com/us/2010/08/31/pc-professors-firing-fueling-exhaustive-debate/BLOGS Up In The Air...In An All-Electric Plane. The electric Cri-Criairplane was airborne Thursday ? for all of seven minutes. The4-engine aircraft, from Airbus parent corporation EADS, is thefirst of its kind. Its maiden flight took place at Le Bourgetairport near Paris. The flight was smooth, the company said, andquiet. The plane has lithium batteries and four electric propmotors that don?t emit carbon dioxide like standard aircraft.Posted.http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/greenspace/2010/09/cri-cri-electric-plane.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+GreenspaceEnvironmentBlog+%28Greenspace%29Another Item for Climate Panel?s To-Do List. A committee convenedby the InterAcademy Council, the association of the world?sleading national science academies, delivered a long to-do listto the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change on Monday,including steps ranging from limiting the term and policyrecommendations of its leadership to fostering more transparencyin its machinations and being more careful to describe thescience determining the strength, or weakness, of particularconclusions. Posted.http://dotearth.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/09/03/another-item-for-climate-panels-to-do-list/?pagemode=print
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