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newsclips -- Newsclips for March 18, 2011. Posted: 18 Mar 2011 12:40:58
Newsclips for March 18, 2011. California Air Resources Board News Clips for March 18, 2011. 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 For Radiation, the Alarm Bells Are Boxes. Anaheim, Calif. — The radiation monitor works unobtrusively here on a tiny strip of fenced-off land just behind a schoolyard on a dead-end street. The machine that regularly sniffs the air, measuring whether radioactive fallout from Japan has reached Southern California, is a gray box, about three feet high and two feet wide. The most remarkable thing is how unremarkable it is. A few other machines are perched atop black metal grates, constantly measuring the air pollution that is a fact of life here. The black dots on the filter are a reminder that the Southern California air is never quite pure. Posted. http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/18/us/18california.html?partner=rss&emc=rss&pagewanted=print Bakersfield Station Monitors Radiation. As many Americans brace for the first measurable radiation expected to arrive in U.S. air space from Japan on Friday, more than 120 radiation measurement stations across the United States will monitor the strength of the invisible invasion. One of those stations is located on a rooftop right here in Bakersfield -- though the exact location cannot be disclosed in the interest of security. There are a total of 11 stations in California, including in places such as Fresno and Anaheim. Posted. http://www.bakersfield.com/news/local/x233128907/Bakersfield-station-monitors-radiation Radioactive Particles Arriving In The Bay Area, But Pose No Risk, Say Scientists And Health Officials. While public health officials anxiously downplayed fears Thursday that a plume from Japan's crippled nuclear reactors was descending on California, scientists at UC Berkeley declared they were already detecting radioactive particles from 5,000 miles across the ocean. The differing accounts illustrated the confusion on the fallout from Japan's crisis as contamination continued to spew from the damaged power plants, but scientists and public health experts were united on one front: Whatever radiation may drift to California and the West Coast will be too minuscule to pose any health risks here. Posted. http://www.mercurynews.com/science/ci_17637607?nclick_check=1 A Pollution Concern from Heating Oils. Last month’s anti-smoking legislation may have irritated some Local readers, but environmentalists say that another pollutant continues to fill the air. An interactive map of New York City’s “dirty buildings” on the Environmental Defense Fund Web site shows over 9,000 red and yellow dots spanning Manhattan, charting real locations of the city’s sludge-burning buildings. Posted. http://eastvillage.thelocal.nytimes.com/2011/03/18/a-pollution-concern-from-heating-oils/?scp=3&sq=air%20pollution&st=cse CLIMATE CHANGE Crises In Japan, Gulf, Thwart US Energy Accord. Washington (AP) - On the road to a national energy policy, President Barack Obama just can't catch a break. First, worries over coal-burning plants' role in global warming prompted Obama and other Democrats to look more favorably on offshore oil and gas exploration. Last year's BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico ended that abruptly. Posted. http://www.vcstar.com/news/2011/mar/18/crises-in-japan-gulf-thwart-us-energy-accord/ http://www.fresnobee.com/search_results?q=climate+change&sort=pubsys_pubobj_publish_dt+desc IPCC, EPA Overestimate Greenhouse Gas Levels From Septic Tanks, Says Study. At the bottom of layers of household scum and sludge, a biological process in septic tanks releases about 0.1 metric tons of greenhouse gases per year, according to a recent study. The good news is that this figure is about half the amount estimated by both the United Nations' Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and U.S. EPA. This means that septic tanks, receptacles that collect sewage from households not connected to a municipal systems -- 20 percent of the households in the United States -- are responsible for less greenhouse gas emissions than previously accounted. Posted. http://www.eenews.net/climatewire/print/2011/03/18/8 'Mega' Heat Waves To Become More Frequent -- A deadly heat wave that struck Europe last summer was the most severe scorcher to hit the region in the past 500 years, according to a new study that suggests such "mega-heat waves" will become more common by the end of the century. The heat wave, which began in July 2010 and endured through mid-August, broke longstanding temperature records across almost half of Europe. Average weekly temperatures were 18 degrees Fahrenheit above normal in a 772,000-square-mile swatch of Eastern Europe and western Russia, according to research published yesterday in the journal Science. Posted. http://www.eenews.net/climatewire/print/2011/03/18/10 Cutbacks On Nuclear Could Spike Global Warming Levels. If major countries with ambitious nuclear development plans abandon them amid the turmoil in Japan, their efforts may have an unintended consequence. Global warming will intensify if China, a leading carbon emitter, drops the world's most ambitious nuclear power building program and Germany shuts down its nuclear power plants. Before the tsunami hit Japan last Friday, the country ranked as world's fifth biggest carbon emitter. Now it does not have much choice but to burn more gas and coal to replace its low-carbon reactors. Posted. http://www.eenews.net/climatewire/print/2011/03/18/11 A New Kind Of Currency. A professional forester who died 25 years ago would not recognize the words and concepts that are the new currency in the woods. In addition to selling timber from their lands, foresters now can be rewarded for being better stewards of the land and for adding carbon inventory to their forests. Carbon credits appear to be the Next Big Thing. For the North American Temperate Rainforest – which includes the entire Oregon and Washington coastal forest – carbon credits represent a new income stream that’s based on plant biology and is prodded by global warming and climate change. Posted. http://www.eastoregonian.com/news/northwest/fate_of_our_forest/a-new-kind-of-currency/article_174f3024-50e0-11e0-a9df-001cc4c03286.html?mode=print FUELS Google Backs Biofuels, via CoolPlanetBiofuels. Google Ventures has made its first biofuels investment. On Thursday afternoon, the venture arm of the search giant announced it has invested in a startup called CoolPlanetBioFuels, which makes what the company calls “negative carbon fuels.” CoolPlanetBiofuels has also raised funding from another group of well-known strategic investors recently: Energy Technology Ventures, which is made up of GE, NRG Energy and ConocoPhillips. Out of all Google Venture’s investments, biofuels seem like the farthest from the company’s core business. Posted. http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/03/17/idUS370391007820110317 Most Japanese Airports Have Fuel Supplies For 10 Days – IATA. Airlines Friday were urged to use fuel supplies in Japan efficiently as stocks at some airports fell to 10 days' worth of supply. The International Air Transport Association said it was too early to assess the long-term impact of the Japanese earthquake and tsunami on the global air transport industry, but it was coordinating actions among airlines to maximize fuel supplies in Japan and briefing carriers and officials on rationing if shortages arise. IATA, which represents 93% of scheduled international traffic and 230 airlines, suggested planes carry sufficient fuel for both legs of journeys, avoiding the need to refuel in Japan. Posted. http://online.wsj.com/article/BT-CO-20110318-705072.html Greater Danger Lies in Spent Fuel Than in Reactors. Years of procrastination in deciding on long-term disposal of highly radioactive fuel rods from nuclear reactors are now coming back to haunt Japanese authorities as they try to control fires and explosions at the stricken Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station. Some countries have tried to limit the number of spent fuel rods that accumulate at nuclear power plants: Germany stores them in costly casks, for example, while China sends them to a desert storage compound in the western province of Gansu. Posted. http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/18/world/asia/18spent.html?_r=1&src=twrhp&pagewanted=print U.S. Nuclear Plants Store More Spent Fuel Than Japan's, Experts Say. Washington -- U.S. nuclear plants use the same sort of pools to cool spent nuclear-fuel rods as the ones now in danger of spewing radiation at Japan's Fukushima Daiichi plant, only the U.S. pools hold much more nuclear material. That's raising the question of whether more spent fuel should be taken out of the pools at U.S. power plants to reduce risks. Posted. http://www.modbee.com/2011/03/17/1603769/us-nuclear-plants-store-more-spent.html GREEN ENERGY Report Urges Calif. To Go Slow On New Worker Training Programs For Green Jobs. California's market for jobs in the energy efficiency sector will remain tight through 2020 despite carbon-cutting regulations and a projected $11 billion in investments, according to a new state-backed report from the University of California, Berkeley. Rather than funding training programs for new workers, California should spend its funds on getting existing workers up to par for installing distributed generation systems, home energy retrofits and other demand-reducing technologies. Posted. http://www.eenews.net/climatewire/print/2011/03/18/9 First-Ever Major Tidal Power Station To Be Installed Off Scottish Coast. An array of 10 underwater turbines will be installed in a channel between two Scottish islands to provide 10 megawatts of electricity, enough to power 10,000 homes. The two islands, Islay and Jura, are well-known for their malt whiskey production. The station will provide electricity for the distilleries, plus more than enough power for all the homes on the islands. The installations, which resemble traditional wind turbines, will be placed in an area with one of the strongest and most reliable currents in U.K. waters. The flow of the water runs at almost 6.7 mph. Posted. http://www.eenews.net/climatewire/print/2011/03/18/13 VEHICLES Those Yellow Car-Pool Stickers Are Going Bye-Bye. Dear Honk: I am wondering if the yellow car-pool stickers for hybrid cars are really going to be useless after July 1? It seems counterproductive to put 85,000 cars back into the regular lanes and increase congestion and pollution. Is there any chance of an extension? – Sandy Flanagan, Huntington Beach. A. About as much chance as Honk retiring before he hits 80. Not much (kids' college expenses, Mrs. Honk's "dream house,'' etc). Unless state Legislators quickly extend the deadline – and Honk sniffed around and didn't see any signs of that – then, yes, the solo drivers in those stickered hybrids must move into the regular lanes with the rest of us. Posted. http://www.ocregister.com/common/printer/view.php?db=ocregister&id=292613 OPINION EDITORIAL: Ending The Global-Warming Argument. Leftist Resort To The Courts Is Sign Of Desperation. Leftists are rushing to the judiciary as a refuge against efforts to undermine their global-warming tax schemes. In the current economic environment, the idea of massive hikes in the price of gasoline and other sources of energy has become radioactive. In response, the attorneys general of California, Connecticut, Iowa, New York, Rhode Island and Vermont are hoping activist judges will enact policies that elected, accountable representatives are increasingly afraid to touch. Posted. http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2011/mar/17/ending-the-global-warming-argument/print/ There's No Such Thing As Truly Safe Nuclear Power. Nuclear power was beginning to look like a panacea - a way to lessen our dependence on oil, make our energy supply more self-sufficient and significantly mitigate global warming, all at the same time. Now it looks more like a bargain with the devil. Posted. http://www.recordnet.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20110317/A_OPINION0608/103170315&cid=sitesearch BLOGS Delay in Coal Pollution Rules Took Toll in Lives. A tough new pollution standard for power plants proposed this week by the Environmental Protection Agency will cost utilities at least $10 billion, and several companies have already signaled that they will close aging coal plants rather than upgrade to meet the new standards. Posted. http://green.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/03/18/delay-in-coal-pollution-rules-took-toll-in-lives/ Oil Industry to Form Safety Group. American companies involved in offshore oil drilling are moving to set up a safety institute modeled on those established by foreign oil companies and the nuclear power and chemical industries, the American Petroleum Institute said on Thursday. Posted. http://green.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/03/17/oil-industry-to-form-safety-group/ House Republicans: More Spending On Coal, Oil, Gas. On what planet are House Republicans living? The one on which NASA is telling us that the polar ice caps are melting at a much faster rate that we thought, or the one on which it makes sense for the GOP point-man on energy, Rep. Fred Upton (R-Mich.), to say this, as he did Wednesday: Spending, even for laudable goals like energy efficiency or developing affordable alternative energy sources and technologies, needs to be scrutinized for effectiveness....In other areas, I believe the budget is inappropriately cheap, and this is especially the case with regard to fossil fuels. Posted. http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/post-partisan/post/house-republicans-more-money-for-coal-oil-gas/2011/03/04/AB9D2dm_blog.html California Gas Prices Stall Below $4, But For How Long? In California, the seemingly endless rise of the most expensive gasoline in the U.S. outside of Hawaii finally came to an end overnight. The average price of a gallon of regular gasoline in the state dropped 0.1 cent to $3.96, according to the AAA Fuel Gauge Report. But some Californians may well be wondering this: Where isn't it $4 a gallon? In Santa Barbara, Santa Maria and Lompoc, the state's most expensive gasoline is selling for an average of $4.02 a gallon, up 0.2 cent overnight and 1.9 cent higher than a week ago, said the AAA. Posted. http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/money_co/2011/03/california-gas-prices-finally-stall-below-4-but-for-how-long.html Clean Air Act Phobia. It’s a sad state of affairs when members on both sides of the aisle in Congress seem to think it is a good idea to attack the Clean Air Act – the landmark law that Richard Nixon signed and George H. W. Bush strengthened. Yet the hits on the Clean Air Act just keep on coming in this Congress in spite of the Act’s incredible record of cutting deaths and illness caused by air pollution – a record that has earned the strong support of the American people and the admiration of others around the world. Clean Air Act phobia appears to be a strangely contagious disease that keeps showing up in members’ pronouncements and draft bills – a disease impervious to information and common sense. Posted. http://switchboard.nrdc.org/blogs/dhawkins/clean_air_act_phobia.html