Kick-off campaign for policy reform proposal for publicly-funded science
July 29, 2010
Dear Friends and colleagues,
As you are all aware, the levels of unrest in the U.S. are reaching unprecedented levels. The conflict of visions between big government and what remains of our free enterprise system is fast approaching the point of no return. One of the most significant aspects of our cultural malaise is the destruction wrought by environmental regulatory policies. In less than 50 years environmentalism has extended its tentacles into every area of our economy and left us with a litany of disasters ranging from the banning of DDT to the fraud of human-induced climate change. Although scientists and others have been fighting the pseudo-science fueling environmentalism for over 25 years, our efforts until the Climategate scandal have only managed to slow the environmental juggernaut, not reverse it. However, with the scandal of Climategate, an unprecedented opportunity for reform has presented itself.
AB 32 News Updates
July 29, 2010
- Utility Companies "Just Exhausted" After Defeat on Climate Bill
- Climate Change Plan Collapses in Senate
- Reid to Roll Out Spill-Focused Energy Package on July 26, 2010 Minus Res
- Carbon Capture Still Pricey For China, Survival of the Fattest
- Four Ways to Kill a Climate Bill
- Study Estimates That States Together Could Cut Emissions By 27%
- U.N. Body Probes Cases of Paying Greenhouse Gas Emitters
- Which Then Produce More, Regional and State Interests May
- The Right and The Climate, Climate Law Adds Jobs To State Payroll
OOIDA sues California over interstate commerce
July 28, 2010
The Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association, along with the NRA and The Calguns Foundation, filed a lawsuit today against the state of California seeking to repeal a law they say violates a federal protection of interstate commerce.
The suit alleging illegal regulation of interstate commerce was filed in the U.S. District Court Eastern District of California Sacramento Division by OOIDA; OOIDA Members Erik Royce and Brandon Elias, both of California; Folsom Shooting Club Inc.; The Calguns Foundation Inc.; and the National Rifle Association Inc.
LAO Conducts Analysis of the Cost Impact of AB32
May 24, 2010
The non-partisan Legislative Analyst’s Office (LAO) conducted a qualitative analysis of the costs of AB 32 at the request of Assembly Member Logue. Attached is their analysis. Specifically, the LAO found:
ARTBA Continues Push to Oppose Diversion of Transportation Revenues in Climate Legislation
May 24, 2010
ARTBA participated in a group press call today (5-19-10) with over a dozen different media representatives to explain the reaction of the transportation sector to the American Power Act (APA), which would divert transportation system revenues from the federal Highway Trust Fund (HTF).
Obama to Order Fuel Efficiency Standards for Heavy-Duty Trucks
May 24, 2010
President Obama plans to announce Friday that he will direct federal agencies to set policies that would for the first time increase fuel efficiency standards for medium- and heavy-duty trucks, Bloomberg reported.
The rules would take effect beginning in 2017, Bloomberg said, citing an administration official who spoke on condition of anonymity.
CARB Expands Voucher Incentive Program
May 24, 2010
The CARB has approved changes to its existing $28 million Voucher Incentive Program to make funding available to a larger variety of trucks. The program, which is part of the Carl Moyer air quality program, is a diesel on-road voucher program that helps small independent truck owners get a cleaner-running truck.
Arguing global warming with Arnold
April 13, 2010
We recently offered tips on "What to say to a warmer" for when Al Gore or a fellow global warming alarmist comes to dinner. This week, we suggest: "What to say to a warmist named Schwarzenegger," in case the Terminator drops by.
EPA choking freedom
April 13, 2010
"The powers delegated by the proposed Constitution to the Federal Government, are few and defined." –
James Madison
We've previously suggested what to say to a global warming zealot (www.ocregister.com/articles/ -234092--.html), and even what to say to California's warmist-in-chief, Arnold Schwarzenegger (www.ocregister.com/opinion/ -236562--.html).
Unfortunately, the ultimate discussion on global warming may require talking to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. If you thought zealots and celebrities-turned-politicians could be difficult to persuade, you ain't seen nothin' yet.
Cultivating Climate Change Curiosity
April 9, 2010
Always be inquisitive about science. As Will Rogers said, “Everyone is ignorant; just on different subjects.” Even an individual with a Ph.D. in science does not know everything in science.
The reason why you need to be curious and questioning about science is that there is a lot of false science being generated because of politics. This false science is backed by billions of dollars in special interests. Unfortunately, this false science is being spread by television, newspapers and magazines. It is also spread by those who benefit financially from the false science. Sadly, many Americans do not question science as to whether it is true or false, thereby making it much easier for false science to control lives and cause the loss of individual freedoms.
What's the Next 'Global Warming'?
April 8, 2010
Herewith I propose a contest to invent the next panic.
So global warming is dead, nailed into its coffin one devastating disclosure, defection and re-evaluation at a time. Which means that pretty soon we're going to need another apocalyptic scare to take its place.
As recently as October, the Guardian reported that scientists at Cambridge had "concluded that the Arctic is now melting at such a rate that it will be largely ice free within ten years." This was supposedly due to global warming. It brought with it the usual lamentations for the grandchildren.
Another California Dream A La La Land climate law ignores economic reality
April 8, 2010
WSJ - Opinion
California originates many ideas that roll across the country, for better or, lately, for worse. Now it has a global-warming law with no real name, just this: AB32. Last month, the California Air Resource Board (CARB) proclaimed in a report that AB32 would grow 10,000 jobs. This was widely cheered as good news. That's true only if you also repeal basic market economics and the state's current business indicators.
Air board panel's report on AB 32: Key points from initial review and more
March 24, 2010
By Chris Reed
UPDATE, 1:28 P.M.: There is a big disconnect between CARB's original press release and the L.A. Times' story on this and the documents they were allegedly based on. The report does not, repeat, does not predict economic growth as a result of AB 32. It is not rosey:
AB 32 is likely to raise fuel and energy prices, and these price increases will be reflected in higher prices of consumer goods.
Climategate (& CARBgate) Was and Is an Academic Disaster Waiting to Happen
March 18, 2010
By Peter Berkowitz, WSJ, 3-13-10
Last fall, emails revealed that scientists at the Climatic Research Unit at the University of East Anglia in England and colleagues in the U.S. and around the globe deliberately distorted data to support dire global warming scenarios and sought to block scholars with a different view from getting published. What does this scandal say about the general intellectual habits and norms at our universities?
We’re so Good at Medical Studies That Most of Them Are Wrong
March 18, 2010
By John Timmer, Ars Technica 3-3-10
It’s possible to get the mental equivalent of whiplash from the latest medical findings, as risk factors are identified one year and exonerated the next. According to a panel at the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) that spoke in San Diego, February 20, this isn’t a failure of medical research; it’s a failure of statistics, and one that is becoming more common in fields ranging from genomics to astronomy.
Global Warmers Swing Back at Skeptics
March 17, 2010
Walter Williams - OC Register, Syndicated Columnist
Stephen Dinan's Washington Times article "Climate Scientist to Fight Back at Skeptics," [March 5] tells of a forthcoming campaign that one global warmer said needs to be "an outlandishly aggressively partisan approach" to gut the credibility of skeptics. "Climate scientists at the National Academy of Sciences say they are tired of 'being treated like political pawns' and need to fight back ..." Part of their strategy is to form a nonprofit organization and use donations to run newspaper ads to criticize critics. Stanford professor and environmentalist Paul Erlich, in one of the e-mails obtained by the Washington Times said, "Most of our colleagues don't seem to grasp that we're not in a gentlepersons' debate, we're in a street fight against well-funded, merciless enemies who play by entirely different rules."
Hmmm……..Why is Del Norte County the Unhealthiest in California!
March 17, 2010
Betty Plowman, CDTOA Membership Services Director
First, I must say that when I awarded myself my PhD from my “School of Hard Knocks” last year, I was somewhat unaware of the tremendous amount of time and studying it would take to not only get but to retain. With my newfound degree in tow at this stage of life, I find myself constantly wanting to learn more about subjects I previously had absolutely no interest in.
Settled Science – My You Know What!
March 16, 2010
Lee Brown, CDTOA Executive Director
The “quiet” Science Symposium held by the California Air Resources Board (CARB) on February 26 exposed many things for sure. Ironically, it appears that the “truth in science” has little meaning to the media because the environmentalists “claim” that the sky is falling, the planet will soon be uninhabitable and diesel emmissions causes every imaginable disease, is all but settled - right - wrong!
Climate scientists withdraw journal claims of rising sea levels
February 22, 2010
Study claimed in 2009 that sea levels would rise by up to 82cm by the end of century – but the report's author now says true estimate is still unknown
Scientists have been forced to withdraw a study on projected sea level rise due to global warming after finding mistakes that undermined the findings.
CARB Fines 3 Trucking Companies $43,000
February 22 , 2010
The California Air Resources Board (CARB) has penalized three state trucking companies a total of $43,000 for diesel truck reporting violations.
On Feb. 17, CARB announced it had fined Golden State Lumber $20,000 for failing to emissions test trucks for compliance with state standards during 2007 and 2008. The fines are typically $500/truck/year even if the trucks test clean.
Texas challenges EPA's global warming findings
February 18 , 2010
The state of Texas on Tuesday February 16, became the first state to challenge the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA’s) irresponsible finding that gases blamed for global warming threaten public health. Also note that the Pacific Legal Foundation (PLF) filed a similar suit on February 5.
Gov. Rick Perry and other Texas officials said the federal finding is based on flawed science and would harm the state's economy.
Va. challenges EPA stance on climate change; Cuccinelli shifting state's approach to global warming
February 18 , 2010
Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli turned up the heat on global warming yesterday.
On behalf of the state, Cuccinelli filed a petition asking the federal Environmental Protection Agency to reconsider its December finding that global warming poses a threat to people.
Cuccinelli also filed a petition with the federal appeals court in Washington seeking a court review of the EPA finding.
Arizona Quits Western Cap-And-Trade Market;
Utah Mulls Similar Move
February 13 , 2010
By Cassandra Sweet, Wall Street Journal, February 13, 2010
SAN FRANCISCO - (Dow Jones) - Days after Arizona pulled out of a western cap- and-trade market, Utah lawmakers were considering a proposal Friday, February 12, to follow suit, potentially weakening the fledgling regional carbon market.
In an executive order signed last week, Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer, a Republican, rescinded the state's agreement to participate in the Western Climate Initiative cap-and-trade market, scheduled to start Jan. 1, 2012, citing concerns about the economy and the program's costs. On Friday, a Utah House panel passed a resolution asking the state's governor to do the same thing.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
February 11 , 2010
Enforcement of Regulations Will be Postponed.
ARB gives relief to off-road construction equipment owners
SACRAMENTO: Air Resources Board Executive Officer James N.Goldstene issued the following statement today: "Over the last several years, the construction industry has felt the sting of the faltering economy with reduced activity and idled off-road equipment. This has made it difficult for contractors to pay for required clean-air upgrades to their fleets. Along with this reduced construction activity has been a corresponding reduction in construction emissions".
Utah House Approves Resolution Calling for Feds to Stop Environmental Policies Based a Fraudulent Science
February 12 , 2010
SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — The Utah House has passed a resolution questioning the science behind global warming and calling for federal officials to stop policies aimed at reducing carbon dioxide emissions.
The measure passed 56-17 on Tuesday and now goes to the state Senate.
Arrogance in the Air
February 1 , 2010
By Lee DeCovnick - American Thinker
Self-righteousness and an unbridled lust for control over the lives of 307 million Americans are the hallmarks of environmental laws in America.
If the environmental activists and the Washington bureaucrats who write these regulations are wrong on such basic issues as to the major sources of air pollution, standards of effective mitigation, and the civil and criminal prosecution of air pollution offenders, wouldn't you think that would be headline news?
Climate Zealots Purge Science of Facts
January 19, 2010
Thomas Sowell, OC Register, 12-23-09
Science is one of the great achievements of the human mind and the biggest reason why we live not only longer but more vigorously in our old age, in addition to all the ways in which it provides us with things that make life easier and more enjoyable.
Dr, Kilburn at USC Keck School of Medicine Writes to Governor About His Scientific Concerns
December 31, 2009
Cap and Trade in Practice How to get paid for laying off workers
December 22, 2009
Printed in The Wall Street Journal 12-17-09, page 11
The world's carboncrats were beavering away in “Do-No-pehaggen” on a vast new global cap-and-trade scheme that President Obama wants the U.S. to join. But before we do, maybe Americans should understand how this already works in practice. Union workers, take note.
Federal EPA State Compliance PM Rule
December 21, 2009
Timelines and Potential Sanctions
Without speculating on how much flexibility the state is willing to provide in the State Implementation Plan (SIP), here is some basic information. The 4/25/2007 Federal Register contained the Final PM Rule. It established an effective date for nonattainment areas of April 5, 2005 and provided a 5-year attainment date with an additional 5-year extension. So the latest attainment date appears to be April 5, 2015 with attainment based on air quality data from 2012, 2013, and 2014.
New California Data Shows Construction Industry Below State Diesel Emissions Target Level
December 17, 2009
California Air Resources Board Inventory Shows Need to Rethink New “Retrofit” Requirements as Industry, Economy Combine to Cut Current and Forecast Emissions
Contractors and other operators of off-road diesel equipment will exceed ambitious new emissions targets set by California officials according to new state figures released last week by the Associated General Contractors of America. New data from the California Air Resources Board indicates there is no need to impose costly new “diesel retrofit” rules forcing contractors to purchase new equipment before 2014, the association noted.
Latest Corrected CARB Press Release Notes These Clarifications Concerning the Truck and Bus Rule
The note emailed on Thursday, December 10, 2009 misstated the early reporting date for the Truck and Bus regulation.
The first reporting deadline will be in a few months from now on March 31, 2010. Fleets that need to report by March 31, 2010 include the following:
California’s Dump Truck Owners Association Letter to Governor
December 17, 2009
Request for Investigation into Serious Misconduct by the California Air Resources Board and Immediate Suspension of All Impacted Diesel Regulations
Dear Governor Schwarzenegger,
On behalf of the members of the California Dump Truck Owners Association (CDTOA) we are writing to identify our urgent and grave concerns about certain serious misconduct by Board Members and staff of the California Air Resources Board (CARB). As you may already be aware, new facts have recently come to light that certainly evidence potential scientific fraud and a resulting cover-up within CARB that has not only
California’s diesel rule gets renewed scrutiny
December 17, 2009
When Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger traveled to Copenhagen to tout his record battling global warming, at home a very different story developed. He told his top air-quality regulators to change – and, critics fear, potentially weaken -- a premier regulation curbing diesel soot.
The paradox was not apparent in Denmark: The governor, his popularity at a record low in California, didn’t mention the setback involving a nationally watched regulation governing a million trucks and school buses.
EPA Certifies 2010 Engines From Volvo, Mack Trucks
December 17, 2009
Transport Topics November 23,2009
Federal and California environmental regulators have certified 2010 engines of AB Volvo’s two North American brands - Volvo and Mack - the companies said Nov. 16. They are the first engine manufacturers to gain official approval.
Volvo Trucks North America and Mack Trucks Inc., both of Greensboro, N.C., said the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the California Air Resources Board (CARB) certified 11-and 13-liter engines (D11 & D13) for each original equipment manufacturer. Approval of their 16-liter power plants is expected early next year. All heavy-duty Volvo and Mack engines use selective catalytic reduction technology to meet the 2010 emissions standards.
AB 32 Suspension
December 8, 2009
By Dan Logue - California State Assemblyman representing the 3rd Assembly District
hen Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger signed AB32 [assembly bill 32] in 2006, California's unemployment rate was a modest 4.8%. This past Friday we learned that it now stands at 12.5%.
AB32 requires a massive reordering of our state's economy and massive tax increases to pay for these shifts. It includes a provision for it to be suspended if our state faces economic hardships, and that time has come.
DELTS Construction Company Writes CARB a Letter To Suspend All Diesel Regulations
December 6, 2009
Via Email
Re: Suspend All Diesel Regulations
I am writing as a businessman of some 45 years in California requesting you to suspend all CARB diesel regulations until misconduct and malfeasance in the development of these mandates are properly investigated and it is determined how such official misconduct have resulted in inapporopriate regulatory actions and policy making. Over the past 2 years I have strongly recommended that CARB examine its conduct in the affairs of diesel regulation writing and have been ignored.
Still shameful / Air board’s response to scandal is appalling
December 4, 2009
Beginning with two editorials in late December 2008, this editorial page repeatedly has criticized the California Air Resources Board for its headline-hunting decision to adopt unprecedentedly sweeping and costly diesel-emission rules at its meeting earlier that month. Soon after that meeting, we had confirmed that Hien Tran – lead author and coordinator of the study justifying the rules – lied about having a Ph.D. in statistics from the University of California Davis.
Time to clear the air and breathe
December 4, 2009
Breathe. For most of us, the air in our cities is the cleanest in our lifetimes. As a 15-year member of both the California Air Resources Board (CARB) and San Diego County Air Pollution Control District, I am proud of that fact and equally passionate about further improvement. But a pending state regulation to reduce diesel engine emissions carries an unpleasant odor, tainted by a falsified credential and information held secretly by staff and board members.
Rigging a Climate 'Consensus'
About those emails and 'peer review.'
December 3, 2009
The climatologists at the center of the leaked email and document scandal have taken the line that it is all much ado about nothing. Yes, the wording of their messages was unfortunate, but they insist this in no way undermines the underlying science. They're ignoring the damage they've done to public confidence in the arbiters of climate science.
Air Regulator Wants California Diesel Rule Suspended
December 3, 2009
A member of the California Air Resources Board (CARB) wants to suspend new diesel emissions rules for trucks and buses after learning that a researcher whose work contributed to the rules falsified his credentials.
The researcher, Hien Tran, compiled research on health effects of soot. Air regulators considered the report when adopting the landmark pollution standards in December 2008.
Suspend Diesel Rule, Critics Urge
Roberts: Researcher’s lie compromises study
December 3, 2009
SACRAMENTO — The state Air Resources Board is under mounting pressure from within its own ranks to suspend a regulation that forces diesel truck owners to gradually replace older rigs that spew toxic soot.
Beyond the possible economic harm to industry, critics of this toughest-in-the-nation rule are convinced that its validity has been compromised by revelations that the lead researcher, who crafted a persuasive study of diesel’s damaging health effects, exaggerated his academic credentials.
ARB’s diesel rule-making deeply flawed, member says
December 3, 2009
A year ago, on the eve of approving a landmark regulation curbing diesel soot from a million trucks and school buses, there was a sharp, behind-the-scenes discussion at the Air Resources Board.
Top ARB officials, including the executive director and the chairwoman of the board, learned by the night of Dec. 10, 2008, that the project leader of a crucial study on diesel pollution-related fatalities had falsified his credentials, claiming he had a Ph.D. Actually, he didn’t.
CARB Fraud - Climate-Gate, See all the similarities
December 2, 2009
CARB Steals Name and Look of Driving Toward a Clean California (DTCC)
They create the ersatz website: "Driving Towards a Cleaner Future"!
December 2, 2009
Remember our DTCC "Driving Toward a Cleaner California", CARB apparently wants to purposely confuse industry/truckers to believe that our lobbying efforts against CARB's on-road regulations is now supporting it.
NEW UPDATE - 12/2/09
CARB Scrambles to Reschedule Economic Impact Workshop Scheduled for December 3rd
The CARB Staff is scheduled to present their voodoo findings from this meeting to the full board on December 9 & 10
December 1, 2009
The CARB staff wants the transportation industry to comment on its interestingly worded premise, that an “economic recovery is going to increase emissions”, instead of dealing with the 30-percent plus reductions in emissions that have come from the Great American Recession and California Construction Depression.
PLF (Pacific Legal Foundation) Lawsuit Updates
December 1, 2009
We wanted to provide everyone with the following PLF lawsuit update. As you know, CDTOA (CA Dump Truck Owners Assoc.) is a plaintiff in the Brown v. Adams case, which was filed by the Pacific Legal Foundation (PLF) on June 18, 2009 (community.pacificlegal.org/Document.Doc?id=305).
This case challenges the legality of the appointment and reappointment of nine members of the CARB Scientific Review Panel (SRP) on Toxic Air Contaminants (TAC). The SRP was responsible for identifying diesel exhaust as a TAC, which is the core underpinning of today’s draconian CARB Truck and Bus Rule as well as the Off-road Diesel Engine Rule.
Suspend AB 32
December 1, 2009
I have taken historic steps to put suspending AB 32 on the ballot for November 2010.
I believe, to the recent revelations concerning the doctoring of facts concerning Hadley Institute the global hub on Global warming and the recent revelations to the costs of implementing A B 32 I feel we cannot afford to wait to put the suspending of A B 32 on the ballot in 2012.
Dr. Telles Written Complaint submitted to CARB staff for the record
November 24, 2009
ARB responded to our Public Records Act request with the attached document, which is Dr. Telles’ formal complaint along with 11 exhibits.
Read more »
The balancing act: Looking at the tip of the iceberg at CARB
May 21, 2009 - Posted November 24, 2009
On April 9, 2009 Hien Thanh Tran accepted a voluntary demotion from his position as Air Resources Supervisor 1 and manager of the Health and Ecosystems Assessment Section, a position that paid over $100,000 annually to an Air Pollution Specialist at a salary of approximately $30,000 less. In addition Tran was suspended by the California Air Resources Board for a period of 60 days, a significant punishment, but for what?
Read more »
Hacked E-Mails Heat Up Climate Dispute
November 23, 2009
Computer hackers have broken into a server at a well-respected climate change research center in Britain and posted hundreds of private e-mails and documents online — stoking debate over whether some scientists have overstated the case for man-made climate change.
Read more »
The air board’s shame / Staff never revealed internal scandal before crucial vote
November 22, 2009
On Dec. 12, 2008, the California Air Resources Board unanimously approved groundbreaking new rules governing diesel emissions. Members rejected complaints from the trucking industry about their heavy cost and from some academics who said CARB grossly exaggerated the health risk posed by the emissions.
Lies Tarnish Air Boards Credibility
November 20, 2009
It's not the lie, it's the cover up that'll get you.
How many times does this wisdom have to be pounded into the heads of bureaucrats?
CARB Board Member Telles Submits Formal Statement Concerning CARB Employee Fraud & Cover-up
November 20, 2009
Dr. Telles' complete nine-minute statement concerning Tran fraud and subsequent CARB Board Chair and management staff cover-up can be found at the following location: 4:34:00 - 4:44:00
Protesting truckers snarl traffic on 710 Freeway and in downtown L.A.
November 17, 2009
Blasting their horns while driving past City Hall, more than 400 big-rig drivers try to draw attention to new environmental rules that they say threaten their livelihoods.
Hundreds of protesting truck drivers slowed traffic Friday on the 710 Freeway and blasted their horns while driving past Los Angeles City Hall to draw attention to new environmental rules they say threaten their livelihoods.
"We all want to go green," said Sofia Quinones of the National Port Drivers Assn., which represents thousands of independent truckers. "But the devil is in the details."
Brown: California is over-regulated
November 17, 2009
SAN FRANCISCO (Legal Newsline)-Sounding more like a Libertarian than a Democrat, California Attorney General Jerry Brown on Wednesday said the state's regulatory framework "burdens" businesses and the courts.
Speaking to Legal Newsline, Brown decried over-regulation and the abundance of laws on California's books. In the interview, he said the state has reached a point when legislating, in some instances, has become counterproductive.
Assemblyman Niello Leads Effort To Request Delay In Diesel Regulations
October 14, 2009
SACRAMENTO - Assemblyman Roger Niello has led a bi-partisan group of legislators to send a letter to the California Air Resources Board (CARB) requesting a temporary suspension of on and off-road diesel regulations that have taken effect within the last year.
CalEPA - Nominees for Appointment to the Scientific Review Panel on Toxic Air Contaminants
October 1, 2009
EPA letter to President Mark G. Yudof, Office of the President University of California
Dear President Yudof:
The purpose of this letter is to inform you that the terms of three members the Scientific Review Panel on Toxic Air Contaminants (Scientific Review Panel) have expired, and, pursuant to Health and Safety Code section 39670, subdivision (b)(4), the California Environmental Protection Agency (Cal/EPA) requests that the University of California Office of the Presidents (UCOP) submit a pool of nominees to fill these positions.
Toxic diesel emission rules eased
July 23, 2009
Lawmakers delay strict new standards targeting companie
SACRAMENTO — Under legislative orders, state air-quality regulators are preparing to grant the besieged construction industry a temporary reprieve from tough directives aimed at reducing toxic diesel emissions. The delay, which specifically targets companies forced to park equipment and idle workers to stay afloat, will be taken up when the California Air Resources Board meets tomorrow in San Diego.
Read more »
Two CSUS Professors Release Scathing Report on the Costs of AB 32
July 14, 2009
On July 13, a study which will not doubt be controversial concerning AB 32’s cost affects, just on small California businesses was released. Apparently when the program is fully implemented, California families will be facing increased annual costs of $3,857. The analysis of the scoping plan was led by two professors from California State University Sacramento – Sanjay Varshney, Dean of the College of Business Administration, and Dennis Tootelian, Ph.D. Professors of Marketing Director, Center for Small Business. Below is an overview of the studies findings
Read more »
EPA erred in figuring Cerritos' cancer risk
July 11, 2009
The EPA calculated the area’s cancer risk at about 1,200 in 1 million. It’s actually 1 in 2 million. Agency used 1989 data for a plant that's really in Santa Fe Springs.
The city of Cerritos is used to raking in awards and distinctions. Named an All-America City in 2008 and a Tree City USA for 11 consecutive years, Cerritos bills itself as an oasis in an urban desert. A fountain adjacent to City Hall belches up clean, chlorinated water to the delight of area children, who romp in their bathing suits in the sun reflected off the city's award-winning, titanium-clad library.
Senate bill would release AQMD air permits stalled by court ruling
July 7, 2009
Local agencies are backing a state senate bill that would release South Coast Air Quality Management District permits for businesses and public services now on hold because of a 2008 court ruling.
In November, Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Ann I. Jones struck down two AQMD policies, one allowing the issuance of credits to power plants and another regarding its credit-tracking system.
EPA's Game of Global Warming Hide-and-Seek
July 3, 2009
Creators Syndicate – The Obama administration doesn't want to hear inconvenient truths about global warming. And they don't want you to hear them, either. As Democrats rush on Friday to pass a $4 trillion, thousand-page "cap and trade" bill that no one has read, environmental bureaucrats are stifling voices that threaten their political agenda.
Environment Groups Find Less Support on Court
July 3, 2009
WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court heard five environmental law cases in the term that ended Monday, and environmental groups lost every time. It was, said Richard J. Lazarus, a director of the Supreme Court Institute at Georgetown University Law Center, “the worst term ever” for environmental interests.
Most CARB science-panel members have overstayed their terms of office, charges PLF lawsuit
Science-panel members "aren’t regulators for life," says PLF attorney; elected officials charged with appointing must stop neglecting their oversight of this CARB regulatory panel, so there will be potential for new blood and fresh perspectives.
June 18, 2009
Sacramento, CA; Most members of the scientific panel for the California Air Resources Board are serving beyond the legal limit on their terms of office, and a court should order that proper nomination and appointment of replacements take place. So argues a lawsuit filed today by Pacific Legal Foundation attorneys, representing various businesses that are subject to CARB regulations.
Read more »
Senate Rejects Granting State Air Board Broad Authority to Raise Fees/Taxes
Posted June 11, 2009
June 5, 2009
 |
A bipartisan vote of the Senate this week stopped California Chamber of Commerce-opposed legislation that would have increased costs and discouraged job growth by granting the California Air Resources Board (ARB) broad authority to implement unlimited fees and taxes with little or no oversight.
Read more »
Cooling Down With Global-Warming Data
June 10, 2009
U.S. and world temperature records are compromised by monitoring station errors
If fighting global warming may cost the economy $9.6 trillion and more than one million lost jobs by 2035, as the Heritage Foundation forecasts, it’d be a good idea to be sure there’s a sound basis before making such a massive sacrifice.
Read more »
Governor Schwarzenegger Issues Executive Order to Reduce State Spending
June 9, 2009
Taking immediate action to reduce spending as the state faces a $24.3 billion deficit, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger today signed Executive Order S-09-09 to eliminate funding for contracts entered into by state agencies and departments after March 1, 2009 for all goods and services excluding those necessary for public safety and to prohibit entering into any new contracts.
California Air Resource Board's Part in our Economic Collapse
June 8, 2009
Letter sent to Governor Schwarzenegger from Delta Construction Company, Inc
The current economic condition in California is exacerbated by government taxes and over regulations. I wrote to you on November 25, 2008 (entitled " Outcome of California air Resource Board's Regulations") about this small businessman's views of the resultant consequences.
Treasurer Lockyer Announces Kickoff of Loan Program to Help California Truckers Comply with New Diesel Emissions Regulations
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 19, 2009
SACRAMENTO – State Treasurer Bill Lockyer today announced the kickoff of a $48 million loan guarantee program to help California truckers comply with new diesel emissions regulations. The program is a partnership with the California Air Resources Board (ARB).
Dodgy science strangles industry
BY LOIS HENRY, Californian staff writer
March 14, 2009
We are about to cripple California’s trucking and construction industries for absolutely no good reason.
If I really believed the California Air Resources Board’s draconian new diesel emissions standards would save thousands of lives a year, I might say, sorry guys, you gotta suck it up for the greater good.
Air board's shame It won't review work of discredited scientist
San Diego Union Tribune
March 14, 2009
For years, critics joked that the White House of George W. Bush was encased in a massive bubble that kept out all discomfitting information. Now that Bush has exited, this bubble has found a new home at 1001 I Street in Sacramento, headquarters of the California Air Resources Board.
Everyone Hates Ethanol
WSJ
March 16, 2009
These days, it's routine for businesses to fail, get rescued by the government, and then continue to fail. But ethanol, which survives only because of its iron lung of subsidies, mandates and high powered lobbyists, is a special case. Naturally, the industry is demanding even more government life support.
ARB Chair's Seminar Series:
Thursday, March 19, 2009 3:30 pm PDT
LIVE WEBCAST
March 12, 2009
“Presentation is Now Available!”
“Two Billion Cars! (Is it Sustainable?)”
LAO 2009-10 Budget Critical of CARB's Rules Cost to Caltrans
More Cost–Effective Approach Needed To Meet Air Quality Regulations
March 4 , 2009
Caltrans’ budget includes about $63 million from SHA in 2009–10 to retrofit and replace many of the vehicles and equipment in its fleet in order to meet four different sets of state air quality regulations. About $54 million of this total would be provided on a one–time basis.
Interesting On-and Off-road CARB Rules Updates
March 4 , 2009
AB 8xx (ABX2 8) part of the "Economic Recovery Bill" was overwhelmingly approved by the Legislature as part of the state budget package passed on February 18, as explained in a February 26 press release by author Assemblyman Brian Nestande
SB 295, press release by California Senator Bob Dutton
LA's New Low Carbon Diet:
What AB 32 Means for Los Angeles
DeNeve Auditorium - Friday, March 6, 2009
March 4 , 2009
Now that the California Air Resources Board (CARB) has adopted the Scoping Plan for implementing AB 32, the California Global Warming Solutions Act, we in Southern California are at a critical point in determining how businesses, government agencies, and community organizations will respond.
“Key Legislative Members Ask CARB to Postpone On-and Off- Road Diesel Engine Rules”
February 26 , 2009
Chuck DeVore, Assemblyman, 70th District, Lou Correa, Senator, 34th District and Mike Villines, Assembly Republican Leader, asked the California Air Resource Board to temporarily suspend the On-Road Diesel Vehicle Regulations in a letter dated February 17, 2009.
CARB says wood smoke is a serious threat to public health
January 23, 2009
SACRAMENTO: Today, the Air Resources Board heard the results of several studies that show smoke from wood fires aggravates lung and heart disease and increases the number of hospital admissions.
"Today's report to the Board underscores the need for air districts throughout the state to curtail fireplace burning when air quality is suffering," said ARB Chairman Mary Nichols. "This starkly illustrates our need to continue reducing particulate matter emissions."
CIAQC is Contacted by Governor's Office re: CARB Off-Road Regulation
January 23, 2009
On December 21st, CIAQC’s Executive Director, Mike Lewis received an email from the Governor’s office asking the question about the Off-Road Regulation – what is more important to the construction industry – moving the regulation back a year or dropping the interim compliance dates?
DTCC Meets and Agrees to Continue Coalition Efforts
January 23, 2009
On January 9th Board Members of the DTCC met and agreed to continue to be proactive regarding the On-road Truck & Bus Rule. Below are the action items the Coalition is following up with:
Local Truckers Say No to Regulations
Truck companies throughout Bakersfield met Wednesday, calling on the Air Resources Board to consider the economy before voting to regulate diesel replacement by the year 2010. Members of the Driving Toward a Cleaner California coalition say the move would cost at least $5.5 billion at a time when there is little to no access to funds. They say the regulations could force many businesses to close their doors.
Truckers Protest Proposed Air Quality Restrictions
December 3, 2008, Bakersfield KGET Channel 17
The California Air Resources Board is set to vote in about two weeks on a rule that would require bus and truck operators to replace or retrofit diesel engines with cleaner burning alternatives.
Representatives from local trucking companies are asking the air board to modify the proposed rule because of the tough economic times.
The truckers want the board to delay rolling out the regulations in full and allow exemptions for specific trucks with high mileage.
Truckers: Proposed air regulations unaffordable
If California's Air Resources Board has its way and adopts strict new regulations to reduce emissions from diesel trucks, Bakersfield truck driver Jim Ehoff says it'll spell doom for an already depressed trucking industry.
"It's going to put a lot of people out of business. If you don't need a trucking company, you're not going to need a driver," said Ehoff.
Trucking group asks CARB to delay on-road rule
A coalition of nearly 100 California companies is asking the state’s Air Resources Board to delay approval of its proposed diesel truck retrofit rule.
Members of Driving Toward a Cleaner California say that delaying the rule will protect truck owners, grocers, contractors and other businesses, which already are fighting a recessed economy.
Local Truckers Say Not So Fast To New Emissions Regulations
BAKERSFIELD, Calif. -- As California continues to lead the nation in fighting pollution, local truckers said Wednesday afternoon that one proposed idea could hurt their business.
The California Air Resources Board's (ARB) proposal would require all diesel trucks and busses in the state to be replaced or retrofitted in 2010 to meet tougher pollution standards, standards above and beyond the federal Environmental Protection Agency.
Truckers say it is a proposal that could cost them.
"They proposed an aggressive plan to reduce emissions which we are in favor of doing, but we believe our proposal, the DTCC (Driving Toward a Cleaner California) proposal, is a much more flexible plan at less cost to consumers and to carriers." said Danny Mairs, President and CEO of Cox Petroleum Transport.
Cost of diesel retrofit troubles truck owners
Faced with the costly prospect of coming up with thousands of dollars for new equipment in a shaky economy, trucking companies are trying to stave off new regulations on diesel emissions.
The California Air Resources Board is scheduled to vote on Dec. 11 whether to phase in a program to force trucks to be retrofitted with controls to reduce much of the dangerous soot air pollution produced by diesel engines.
The owners of trucking companies - many of which own only a few trucks and have limited access to capital - say they won't be able to secure financing in this economy to afford the retrofits, or buy new trucks if the equipment doesn't do the job.
Political push on the diesel rule
The final political push has begun over the new diesel rule, which by 2010 will force truckers and bus owners to begin buying clean-running rigs or retrofitting their equipment with more pollution controls.
An industry coalition called Driving Toward a Cleaner California will ask the state to consider the current economic situation and adopt a rule that cleans the air without seriously harming the goods movement sector.
ARB seeks cleaner technology
ONTARIO - As consumers tighten their belts and businesses reduce inventories, trucking companies in the Inland Empire are feeling the economic pinch.
Valerie Liese, president of Jack Jones Trucking in Ontario, says things might get worse if the state's Air Resource Board approves a plan that requires heavy-duty diesel trucks and buses to be replaced or retrofitted with cleaner technology.
Next week the California Air Resources Board will convene in Sacramento to discuss a rule requiring heavy duty trucks to install diesel exhaust filters on their rigs starting in 2010, said Karen Caesar, public information officer for the board.
Another California clean up
LTL carriers get ready for statewide clean trucks plan
LTL carriers and shippers in California are bracing for a one-two regulatory punch that could raise shipping costs in the Golden State and have repercussions for the rest of the country.
State-sanctioned clean air regulations set to take effect within the next two years could cost trucking companies and shippers millions of dollars upfront, and not just in California.
Central Valley Business Times: Truckers warn of shakeout over CARB rule
A California truckers’ group warns there will be widespread business failures in their industry if the California Air Resources Board approves a tougher rule for emissions from diesel engines.
CARB is set to vote in three weeks on the rule that could see virtually every diesel truck and bus operating in California having their engines replaced or retrofitted with air pollution control devices starting in 2010.
The trucking industry says the upgrading and replacement will cost $5.5 billion “at a time when there is little to no access to capital to finance engine retrofits or replacements.”
Financial Market Turmoil Stymies Carriers Seeking to Acquire Equipment, Businesses
Despite passage of a $700 billion aid package intended to shore up depleted capital of large and small institutions, the near-collapse of U.S. financial markets is making it tougher for carriers to buy or lease equipment, and will force a reduction in the use of debt to pay for mergers and acquisitions.
"We had such a long run on easy credit that it's difficult to come to terms with the fact that the times have changed," said Edward Testa, vice president of sales for Greystone Equipment Finance Corp. in Burlington, Mass. "A few years ago, lenders were standing in line to give money to almost any business for almost any reason and for almost any terms. Those days are gone."
Revised CARB Truck Rule Ignites New Stakeholder Disputes
Environmentalists will press the California air board to further revise a controversial proposed rule to reduce pollution from heavy-duty diesel trucks, arguing that recent changes -- including exemptions for certain older agricultural trucks -- should be eliminated.
Meanwhile, a trucking industry coalition maintains the board largely ignored an alternative proposal to the rule it submitted earlier this year, which the truckers argue would net significant emission reductions at substantially lower costs to their businesses.
Supervisors oppose new diesel law
A new rule package that will force owners of diesel engines to upgrade their motors to improve California air quality has excited the ire of the county supervisors.
Supervisors on Tuesday unanimously approved sending a letter to the California Air Resources Board to say they oppose the state's In-Use On-Road Diesel Vehicle regulation.
The regulation would affect trucks, buses and other vehicles operating in California. It would require older vehicles and equipment be replaced, or retrofitted with a new, cleaner-burning engine, or particulate trapping devices, beginning January 1, 2011. The cost of the particulate-trapping devices alone could be very expensive in some cases.
Weak economy could hurt anti-pollution rules plans
Crucial pieces of California’s efforts to curb pollution from diesel-powered vehicles – everything from school buses to big-rigs to delivery vans – include providing financial help to vehicle owners to install the costly, soot-trapping cannisters on their engines. But as the economy tightens and credit is more difficult to get, forking over $5,000 to $25,000 for a trap or a few thousand dollars to streamline a vehicle is no easy chore and is likely to get a lot harder, trucking industry experts say.
The Air Resources Board which is writing the new regulations believes the economic impact of putting them into effect is offset by public health-care savings for pollution-related illnesses.
For environmentalists, the dispute over money is merely the latest skirmish in the fight over the diesel regulations engineered by the industry in its attempt to block or weaken the rules.
Truck Owners, Drivers Air Emission Complaints
As state air regulators get set to vote next month on sweeping regulations to reduce diesel emissions from big-rig trucks, major fleet owners and truck operators are stepping up their campaign to postpone the deadlines, citing the recent financial crisis.
Late last month, the California Air Resources Board released its final version of the rules that it said would prevent 9,400 premature deaths. In-state and out-of-state owners of an estimated 900,000 trucks would be required to install diesel exhaust filters on their rigs starting in 2010 and replacing older diesel engines over a 10-year span from 2012 through 2022.
Agency staff estimated it would cost truck owners $5 billion to make the transition to cleaner-burning diesel engines, but also said that about $1 billion in state funds would be made available to help out truck owners who can’t afford conversion costs. But that’s not enough for truck and fleet operators. They say the financial crisis has made it nearly impossible to get loans for diesel filters or for new big rigs, which typically start at $100,000.
CARB releases draft of new regulations
Two draft regulations made available today for public comment by the California Air Resources Board (CARB) will require fleets that operate in the state to begin installing diesel exhaust filters in 2010. In addition, the rules would also require fleets to retrofit their vehicles with more environmentally-friendly engines and install fuel efficient tires and aerodynamic devices.
The first regulation regards rulemaking for the use of on-road vehicles, while the second regulation focuses on heavy-duty vehicle greenhouse gas reduction.
US: California announces new pollution regulations for heavy trucks
By Glenn Brooks, October 27, 2008, Automotive World
More than 900,000 heavy trucks are to be affected by tough new anti-pollution laws that have been announced in draft form by California.
The California Air Resources Board has announced its latest draft version of two anti-pollution regulations for heavy trucks operating in the state. The first is for diesel exhaust filter retrofits, while the second will require the use of EPA SmartWay-approved equipment.
If signed into law, the latest draft regulations will mean exhaust filters must be fitted to heavy trucks from 2010, upgrades to be completed by 2014. According to the Truckinginfo.com portal, owners must also turn over engines older than the 2010 equivalent according to a staggered implementation schedule between 2012 and 2022.
Calif. air regulators target big-rig pollution
LOS ANGELES (AP) - California's Air Resources board released draft rules on Friday aimed at curbing pollution from the more than 1 million trucks that shuttle goods along state roads.
The air board will vote Dec. 11 on whether to adopt two rules, which would address diesel emissions that contribute to asthma, cancer and heart disease.
The first would force California trucks and big rigs crossing the state to install filters or upgrade their engines to reduce particulate pollution, while the second would require the use of existing technology to reduce greenhouse gases. The rules are scheduled to take effect 2010.
Diesel truck transport from the ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles and the state's agricultural industry in the San Joaquin Valley is the second largest source of nitrogen oxide emissions and toxic particulates.
State proposes strict air rules for big rigs
By Jim Downing, October 25, 2008, The Sacramento Bee
State officials on Friday released a toughest-in-the-nation plan to cut emissions of air pollutants from the roughly 1 million heavy-duty diesel trucks that travel California's roads.
The rules proposed by the state Air Resources Board would require older big rigs to be fitted with particle-trapping exhaust filters by 2014 and low-emission engines by 2020. In addition, aerodynamic fairings and low-rolling-resistance tires would be required on long-haul trucks to improve fuel efficiency.
The changes would help California meet air-quality standards set by federal regulators, as well as the state's own greenhouse-gas targets.
Saturday News Briefs: Opposition mounts to tougher diesel rules
A group that claims to represent California truck owners, grocers, retailers and others says proposed air pollution control rules for diesel-powered big rigs would cost too much, especially as the state struggles in a recession.
The California Air Resources Control Board’s proposed rule – set to be heard this December – would impact the almost 1 million trucks and buses used to transport goods and people on California’s roads, highways and farms.
“The proposed regulation comes in the midst of the worldwide credit freeze and national recession. Many companies -- in particular, small companies and owner-operators – will be forced to dispose of equipment and assets before their useful life has been completed and purchase new equipment before it would otherwise be required,” says the group dubbed Driving Toward a Cleaner California.
Cleaner diesels proposed
The California Air Resources Board on Friday announced a plan aimed at significantly reducing diesel emissions from more than 1 million big rigs that operate statewide, most of which haul goods in and out of the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach.
Under the proposed requirements, set to take effect in 2010, truckers would be required to install diesel exhaust filters on their big rigs, with a deadline to upgrade all vehicles by 2014. Drivers would also have to replace truck engines or purchase new rigs meeting 2010 federal emissions standards during a gradual implementation schedule from 2012 to 2022.
New California rules target big-rig pollution
The draft measures from the state Air Resources Board would affect more than 1 million heavy-duty diesel trucks. They are scheduled to take effect in 2010.
California's Air Resources Board on Friday released long-awaited draft rules to clean up big-rig pollution that can aggravate asthma, cancer and heart disease.
The statewide rules, which are scheduled to take effect in 2010, would apply to more than 1 million heavy-duty diesel trucks, many of which transport merchandise from the ports of L.A. and Long Beach.
Voice: Worrying about new regulation
My family’s small trucking company, Calexico Freight Lines, has been in business since 1970. Through hard work and fortunate business opportunities, we have been hauling goods for our customers, including the world’s leading baked goods supplier, throughout California, Arizona and Mexico.
But today’s record high diesel prices and unstable economy forced us to add a fuel surcharge to our rates, as many trucking companies have had to do. Since then, we have lost over half of our business to a trucking company based in Mexico.
CARB to vote on stiff rules Dec. 11
California will vote Dec. 11 on new regulations that will start with a phased-in schedule requiring diesel engine exhaust retrofits in 2010 and engine replacement in 2012 for trucks doing business in California.
The state Air Resources Board will have its draft proposal online Oct. 24, said Erik White, who heads CARB’s heavy diesel in-use strategies branch.
“This is the only way the state can meet the cleaner federal standards established,” White said.
The proposals will affect anyone who operates or sells a truck within the state borders, regardless of residency. All diesel trucks with a gross vehicle weight of more than 14,000 pounds and all diesel shuttle buses are affected, as are federal fleets, and privately and publicly owned school buses.
Christian Science Monitor: California Eyes Going ‘Green’ Despite Slump
Although A New Climate Plan Would Boost Utility Bills, Some Predict It Will Stimulate The Economy.
California moved ahead this week with plans to slash greenhouse-gas emissions to 1990 levels by 2020 and foster a green economy, even as some business groups questioned the costs in difficult economic times.
The California Air Resources Board (CARB) released Wednesday final details of its so-called “Scoping Plan,” that spells out ways to reduce its greenhouse-gas emissions to meet the requirements of the state’s landmark Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006.
The plan combines market-based regulatory approaches, voluntary measures, and fees. Key new measures include reducing leakage of harmful air conditioning and refrigeration gases, expanding commercial recycling programs, and establishing greenhouse-reduction targets for local governments.
Are emissions-reducing strategies working?
According to a study published in Regulation & Governance, emissions-reducing programs and legislation are not working on a macro level because most fleets do not have the financial resources or motivation to “green” their trucks.
“In the absence of direct regulatory mandates requiring trucking companies to scrap or upgrade older diesel engines, social and political pressures have been insufficient to induce state or national trucking associations to take up that cause,” the report stated. “On the contrary, the trucking associations are lobbying against California’s proposed phase-out regulation for old engines.”
“Compliance costs, regulation and environmental performance: Controlling truck emissions in the U.S.,” authored by Dorothy Thornton and Robert A. Kagan of the University of California at Berkeley and Neil Gunningham of Australian National University, contends that being in a highly competitive market such as trucking makes it difficult for small firms to afford the cost of the best available compliance technologies, while forcing it through legislation might put them out of business.
2,000 diesel trucks built before 1989 banned at L.A., Long Beach ports
The ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach formally launched a $1.6 billion initiative on Wednesday aimed at reducing diesel truck emissions by 80 percent within five years.
The first phase of the Clean Trucks Program immediately bans about 2,000 diesel trucks built before 1989 - an estimated 10 percent of the rigs that haul goods to and from the nation's busiest port complex.
L.A., Long Beach ports inaugurate new anti-smog plan
A landmark pollution-control program at the nation's busiest port complex was launched Wednesday with an immediate ban on 2,000 of the region's diesel-spewing big rigs and few reports of backups or unusual delays in the flow of cargo.
An estimated 95% of the trucks lining up for the starting 8 a.m. shift at the adjacent ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach had stickers on their windshields and doors indicating that they were in compliance with new rules restricting access to the gateway for 40% of the nation's imported goods. Trucks without stickers were turned away.
Against a backdrop of cargo ships docked beside massive cranes, Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and Long Beach Mayor Bob Foster held a news conference to inaugurate the Clean Truck Program forged by environmentalists, drivers, shippers, community leaders and the ports during two years of contentious debates and legal challenges.
California Air Resources Board Diesel Regulation Causing Confusion
Recent news stories underscore ongoing confusion surrounding proposed diesel regulation
SACRAMENTO -- Owners of California’s diesel trucks and buses are working with the California Air Resources Board (ARB) on an alternative proposal to the Board’s proposed on-road diesel truck and bus replacement regulation, but there is widespread confusion surrounding the scope, cost and many other implications of the regulation. This confusion is highlighted in this recent television news clip.
The regulation, now set to be heard by the ARB in December, would require every diesel truck and bus operating in California today – which according to the ARB includes all “those transiting California roadways from other states and countries”– to be replaced or retrofitted. The proposed start date for this regulation would be 2010.
ARB will consider the heavy-duty diesel regulation at its December 2008 hearing
SACRAMENTO - A few media outlets have recently run stories wrongly stating that the Air Resources Board has canceled the promulgation of a new proposed regulation aimed at cleaning up the 400,000 plus diesel trucks driving along California roadways. This is completely false. The Air Resources Board is currently set to vote on this extremely important proposed public health regulation at its December hearing in Sacramento. We are currently calling media outlets to determine where they received their false information, and also demanding corrections.
The Air Resources Board is a department of the California Environmental Protection Agency. ARB's mission is to promote and protect public health, welfare, and ecological resources through effective reduction of air pollutants while recognizing and considering effects on the economy. The ARB oversees all air pollution control efforts in California to attain and maintain health based air quality standards.
Money, health at center of fight over diesel rules
They have been overshadowed by the state budget free-fall and California’s greenhouse gas emissions law, but looming regulations to curb diesel soot from a million trucks and school buses are certain to have enormous public health and financial impacts here while serving as a national model.
The financial impact alone could be far greater than the planned multibillion-dollar market structure of the better-known greenhouse gas law.
State Board Puts Emission Proposal in Slow Lane
Faced with mounting opposition from truckers, farmers and other industry groups, the California Air Resources Board has pushed back consideration of a landmark regulation to reduce diesel emissions from more than 300,000 trucks and buses traveling the state’s roads and highways.
The proposed regulation is designed to prevent thousands of premature deaths and more than $1 billion in health problems associated with diesel exhaust by converting all trucks to cleaner-burning engines by 2020. It would require truck and bus fleet operators to start installing diesel filters in 2010 and then begin replacing the diesel engines entirely to newer, less-polluting models. When implemented over the next 12 years, it is estimated it will cost business about $5 billion.
Los Angeles port, truckers group head for court
The nation's busiest port complex and the largest trucking association are expected to face off in federal court today to resolve a vexing question:
Who would suffer more from the landmark clean trucks program set to begin Oct. 1: the trucking industry or residents affected by toxic diesel emissions? The answer could determine whether the program will launch on time -- and whether massive expansion projects will proceed at the Los Angeles-Long Beach port complex, already the gateway for 40% of the nation's imported goods.
Diesel controls could hurt truckers
My father started PDM Transportation almost 20 years ago. Coming from Mexico, he knew that with hard work he would be able to build a dream for our family. His hard work allowed me to attend local schools and go to college at Mt. SAC. Today, along with other members of my family, I help run the business.
Because of father's commitment and the hard work of my family, we now have a fleet of 20 trucks and employ 20 drivers and six clerical employees. We work hard to keep our trucks in good condition and have these trucks smog tested every year, as required by law, to ensure that they are in compliance with California air regulations.
Ruling Due on Truck Ban
A federal judge will decide Monday whether to block employment provisions built into the Clean Trucks Program adopted by the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach before the plan takes effect on Oct. 1.
The American Trucking Association filed a federal lawsuit in July, hoping to block the ports' requirement that trucking companies must obtain "concession contracts" to access port terminals.
Daniel Weintraub: For builders, clean-air rules' timing is tough
Mike Shaw didn't want to be caught by surprise when the state starting cracking down on diesel engines. He owned more than 100 of them – powering the scrapers, graders and bulldozers that are the backbone of his San Diego construction business. So he paid close attention when the state's air pollution regulators wrote new rules requiring the owners of diesel-powered equipment to clean up their fleets. And as he thinned the oldest, dirtiest engines from his stock, Shaw thought he was well on his way to satisfying the state's requirements.
Then he ran the numbers. The state's calculator showed that he still was not even close.
"I'm overwhelmed," Shaw said recently. "I'm humbled by this."
Hybrid trucks hit road to deliver wine
A Napa wine trucking company backed by wine mogul Jess Jackson took delivery Tuesday of two first-of-their-kind hybrid trucks expected to substantially reduce emissions and diesel fuel use.
VinLux Fine Wine Transport, a joint venture between the Jackson Family Wines and Biagi Brothers wine trucking company, said it expects its two new Peterbilt hybrids to be at least 30 percent more fuel efficient than similar vehicles.
With diesel fuel costs around $5 a gallon in California, the cost savings to VinLux are expected to be substantial.
"If you're in the trucking business, you're looking for every way you can to save," said Tom Tunt, president of VinLux, which opened in February.
Trucking industry finds fault with state's air pollution plan
Proposed state regulations that would reduce harmful pollutants are drawing criticism from Southern California's trucking and logistics industries and other business interests.
The Legislature passed AB 32, also called the Global Warming Solutions Act, in 2006, and state officials hope to enact some of its measures by November. The goal is to roll back greenhouse gas emissions in California to 1990 levels by 2020.
CARB wants to require 2007 engine standards for many trucks by 2012
California’s latest proposed regulation would cost billions in engine retrofits and replacements, but a variety of compliance options appear to show that the state’s environmental board has acknowledged at least some of the difficulties that would pose for the vast majority of small fleet operations that dominate trucking.
CARB plans webcast Thursday for proposed on-road truck emission rule
Drivers wanting to watch discussion of California’s new emission standards for existing diesel trucks can fire up their computers and watch a Webcast Thursday, July 31.
Trucking companies worried over new air quality regulations
Heavy-duty trucks are the next target of the Air Resources Board
Trucking companies already battling fast-rising diesel costs are gearing up for much-stricter regulations to improve air quality in the state. But company executives say the Air Resources Board requirements come at a steep price, possibly costing them their trucking operations.
Green Rules Force Small Truckers into the Red
In a move opposed by many small trucking businesses, the California Air Resources Board has proposed new regulations in an effort to curb diesel emissions from trucks.
The agency says it is taking the action to reduce the 9,000 annual deaths attributed to poor air quality in the state. But Indian American truck owners, who make up about one-third of the industry in California, say the regulations, which require costly upgrades and replacements, will force many smaller trucking companies to shut down.
Daljeet Singh, owner-operator of Khalsa Trucking in Bakersfield, Calif., told India-West he would be forced to shut his one-man operation down if forced to replace his 1992 truck.
Lean year continues for California home builders
Halfway through 2008, California home builders remain on track for one of their least productive years in decades, the California Building Industry said.
The builder trade group believes its members will start about 72,000 homes, condos and apartments this year. The California Construction Industry Research Board is only slightly more optimistic, forecasting about 77,600 residential starts.
Daniel Weintraub: Tiny businesses becoming engine for new economy
Claudia Viek thinks Servio Gomez is at the heart of the new economy.
A native of El Salvador who once sold oranges at the end of a Los Angeles freeway offramp, Gomez worked in a San Francisco frame shop and then, with dreams of being his own boss, opened a store of his own. It flopped, but that was just the start of his story.
Gomez didn't quit. He enrolled in a business-planning course given by a local nonprofit, pulled together a few bucks and started over on Valencia Street in San Francisco's Mission District. This time his store survived and grew. Gomez has opened a second frame shop that his brother runs and two coffeehouses, one in the Mission and another in Bayview.
Adding to burden
Dems' plans turning business climate darker
For years, state Democratic leaders have dismissed complaints about a hostile business climate. They point to the huge, long-term growth of California's economy since World War II and assert that this is such a great place to live with such a talented work force that businesses will put up with a lot to stay here.
This argument may be partly true with two of California's most successful industries – the movie-TV business in Hollywood and high-tech companies in Silicon Valley. But for the economy in general, any claim that the state is somehow immune to competition is ludicrous.
Air regulations, fuel, insurance all boost cost of business
Tom Brown, owner of the Sierra Pacific West engineering and contracting firm, says the California Air Resources Board regulations that will take effect next year may cost his business $55 million.
Brown, who took part in a recent roundtable discussion on the health of the real estate and construction industry along with other Daily Transcript Top Influentials, said as soon as April 2009, his and countless other firms will be required to make an emission accounting for every stationary piece of motorized equipment all the way down to a 25 horsepower generator.
"By 2010 we need to start retrofitting the entire fleet and we've got 145 pieces of equipment," said Brown.
Dan Walters: State risks its economy on global warming fight
Given California's infinite diversity and its maddeningly diffused governmental apparatus, it's rare for the state's politicians to undertake a comprehensive and expansive change of public policy.
The decades-long stalemate on water, the state's perpetual budget crisis and the failure of Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's health care plan are merely three examples of the political system's chronic inability to act decisively and effectively.
Air board's ambitious plan to battle warming
San Francisco Chronicle
Sacramento -- California's air board, for years an obscure state agency, will take center stage this week when it unveils a blueprint for the nation's most aggressive fight against global warming that is expected to affect every resident, industry and government agency in the state in the coming decade.
The far-reaching plan, which comes 18 months after Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger signed landmark legislation to curb greenhouse emissions by one-third by 2020, is likely to encourage consumers to use energy-efficient lightbulbs and replace gas-guzzling cars with fuel-sipping hybrids. It could require industry to reduce pollution or pay fees based on the amount of carbon they release.
DTCC Calls On Air Resources Board To Factor in Economic Environment, Record Gas Prices In Development Of Newest Trucking, Construction & Farming Regulation
Sacramento, CA – As gas prices continue to rise and following today’s announcement that California’s unemployment rate has skyrocketed up to 6.8 percent, the Driving Toward a Cleaner California Coalition called on the California Air Resources Board (CARB) to consider the state’s faltering economic environment as it develops the newest in a long line of regulations impacting construction, trucking, farming and other economic sectors.
“Construction contractors, truck owners and farmers are among the first Californians who have been impacted by the downturn in our economy, the rise in fuel prices and increases in the cost of goods that we have all experienced over the past year. As the economy continues to falter and the jobless rate rises at near-record levels, regulators in Sacramento continue to put into place new and costly regulations on these very same sectors,” said Mike Lewis, Senior Vice President of the Construction Industry Air Quality Coalition (CIAQC), representing tens of thousands of contractors who employ 850,000 carpenters, cement masons, truck drivers, operating engineers and laborers in California.
California Truckers, Farmers, Construction Contractors, Business and Community Leaders Form “Driving Toward a Cleaner California” Coalition
Coalition’s goal is to craft an alternative proposal that will result in the cleanest fleets in the world and keep California’s economy moving forward
Sacramento, CA – Truck owners, farmers, construction contractors and other business and community leaders today announced the formation of “Driving Toward a Cleaner California” (DTCC), a coalition committed to working with the California Air Resources Board (ARB) to craft a sensible truck and bus replacement rule that both cleans the air and keeps California’s economy moving forward.
The recently proposed on-road diesel truck and bus replacement rule – set to be voted on by the ARB this October – would impact the more than 1.5 million trucks and buses used to transport goods and people on California’s roads, highways and farms. Starting in 2010, this proposal would require every diesel truck and bus operating in California today –according to the ARB this includes “those transiting California roadways from other states and countries,”– to be replaced or retrofitted. Given the millions of goods and products delivered via truck each day in the state, these regulations could have a profound, negative impact on state’s economy and competitiveness.
State Republicans seek to roll back curbs on greenhouse gas emissions
They hope to use their leverage over the state budget to change policies implemented by Democrats and the governor.
SACRAMENTO — California has a huge deficit, a looming cash crisis, an angry public and pressure to raise taxes -- and in this dismal state of affairs, the state's minority Republicans see opportunity.
GOP lawmakers hope to use their leverage over the state budget, which cannot pass without some of their votes, to roll back landmark policies implemented by Democrats and the governor. Among them are curbs on greenhouse gas emissions, regulations banning the dirtiest diesel engines and rules dictating when employers must provide lunch breaks for workers.
None of those laws has any direct connection to the state budget; changing them will do nothing to close California's $15.2-billion deficit. And the Democrats who control the Legislature already have rejected Republican proposals to delay or eliminate the laws through the regular legislative process.
School districts tense over new ARB's diesel rules
For hundreds of California school districts already facing profound budget problems, the proposed diesel-soot regulations from the Air Resources Board couldn't come at a worse time: The ARB is pondering a new rule that would require schools to buy new buses-they average about $150,000 each--or retrofit older ones at $20,000 or more per vehicle.
The strapped districts also are crying foul over what they see as a betrayal by the ARB. The original diesel rule excluded school buses; the latest version of the rule includes them. The ARB, conducting hearings around the state, is expected to make a final decision in October in Fresno.
"We're in a crisis," said Stephen Rhoads of the School Transportation Coalition, which represents school districts. "The rule says if you can't put diesel traps on the buses, you've got to replace them. It says replace the engine, but you can't replace the engine on these old buses, you've got to replace the bus."
School buses may be parked
State air restrictions leave districts with few options
Cuts keep coming at the Cottonwood Union School District.
A shrinking budget has meant teachers and aides have been laid off. Now some of the district's buses may be given a pink slip because of stricter air pollution restrictions by the state.
"It's shameful that they would come to the schools at this time," said Jill Loftus, the district's director of transportation.
Along with companies that use big rigs -- such as concrete mixers, dump trucks and tractor-trailers -- to drive their business, school districts could have to replace or retrofit their diesel-burning buses over the next five years depending on how old they are.
During a pair of meetings and an hour-long discussion of school buses Monday at the Shasta County Board of Supervisors chambers, state air officials said the decision would result in less pollution and improved health. Without the restrictions, the state Air Resources Board predicts 11,000 premature deaths because of foul air.
Clean air isn’t cheap, but it’s worth the cost
Our view: It’s strange to see school officials complaining about a push to improve kids’ health.
School budgets are tight, and costly mandates from Sacramento are about as welcome as a staph outbreak in the boys locker room.
But it's strange to see school officials grousing about rules aimed at improving students' health.
Transportation managers from north state districts did just that Monday at a meeting in Redding of the California Air Resources Board, complaining that required retrofits of diesel buses will further drain school budgets. A $20,000 overhaul, one pointed out, equals half a teacher's salary.
Tighter diesel emission plan concerns truckers
Commercial trucker Tito Mena drives a rig that’ll probably be illegal to operate within a few years.
If California Air Resource Board officials in October vote to adopt stricter emission rules for most heavy-duty diesel-fueled trucks and buses, Mena will be forced to comply.
That probably means buying a new rig, which could cost him $150,000. Worse, if the truck he owns now is illegal to run in California, will anybody want to buy it?
CARB diesel emission rule too costly
As a Californian, the second-generation owner of a trucking company in the East Bay with more than 60 employees, and as a parent, I, too, want to do my part to help clean the air that all our families breathe. For the past several years, California's trucking industry has worked closely with the state Legislature and the California Air Resources Board (CARB) to find practical, realistic ways to clean up diesel trucks, and to accomplish that goal without putting an undue burden on California's businesses and consumers.
Associated Press: Housing Bust Takes Toll On Contractors, Economy
Robert Lindsey was not surprised by new data last week that showed new home sales have fallen more than 40 percent from their peak almost three years ago. He can tell from his company's bank account.
"We're literally losing money every month," said Lindsey, general manager of Signature Drywall Inc., in Sacramento, which installs drywall in new homes and apartments in the Sacramento and San Francisco areas.
In 2005, the firm raked in some $30 million in sales. Last year, sales were less than half that, and this year Lindsey hopes he can make $8 million.
"It's kind of like bleeding to death," he said.
Washington Times: Diesel Risks Mostly Hot Air?
If you were strapped for cash and lived in North Dakota, would you spend money on hurricane insurance? That would be as foolish as the recent actions of the California Air Resources Board (CARB), part of the California Environmental Protection Agency. As part of its mandate to ensure good air quality in the state — a laudable goal — CARB has begun a program to reduce diesel exhaust emissions from freight moving along California's trade corridors, including its seaports (which require huge amounts of truck traffic to transport arriving and departing containers).
Soaring Fuel Prices Take a Withering Toll on Truckers
By Louis Uchitelle, May 27, 2008, New York Times
As his logging business expanded in the pine and hardwood forests of eastern Georgia, Jesse Hendley got into trucking. He scraped together the cash gradually to acquire seven tractor-trailers so that he could not only sell timber to mills in the south, but also charge the mills for delivery.
Today, though, all seven rigs are parked. The soaring price of diesel fuel — over $4.50 a gallon from $2.50 a year ago — has stripped the profit from hauling.
Keep on truckin'? Long haulers yield to diesel prices
Their massive vehicles' low mpg weighs down the bottom line, spurring cultural and technological shifts.
If you think gas is expensive, be thankful you're not a trucker. Filling up their 18-wheel, 80,000-pound leviathans can cost more than $1,300 these days.
Because of short supply, the price of diesel has gone up more than twice as much as gasoline in the last year, reaching a U.S. all-time high this week of an average of $4.33 a gallon. With little hope of a near-term decline -- oil futures rose $2.17 to settle at a record $126.29 a barrel Friday -- the run-up is causing panic and prompting radical cultural and technological shifts in the struggling trucking industry.
State air board takes aim at diesel pollution
State air pollution regulators Monday proposed rules that would require the owners of some 300,000 trucks to install soot filters or replace dirty engines.
The rules would cost the trucking industry billions of dollars but save thousands of lives, the California Air Resources Board says.
"Trucks are one of the biggest, if not the biggest, sources of diesel pollution in the state," said Tony Brasil, an air board section manager who oversaw the rule development.
A trucking industry representative said she fears the proposal will force many truckers out of business.
Elk Grove wants a refund after hybrid-bus fires
The once-vaunted hybrid gasoline-electric buses that powered the early days of Elk Grove's transit service are languishing in a city corporation yard over city concerns about buses catching fire.
The city reportedly is demanding that manufacturers refund much of the $10 million it spent on 21 buses, most of which were on hand to launch Elk Grove's e-tran service in January 2005.
Capitol Weekly: A reminder to all: Truckers want clean air, too
Over the past several years the California trucking industry has worked closely with both the Legislature and the California Air Resources Board (ARB) to find practical and realistic ways to clean up diesel trucks without putting an undue burden on the businesses in this state.
For example, in 2006 the trucking industry transitioned to a new ultra-low sulfur diesel fuel and has worked with the ARB on rules to curb truck idling. In addition, we supported legislation that would have banned the registration of any truck equipped with a partially or fully mechanical engine made before 1994, in order to remove some of the dirtiest and most polluting engines from the road.
Pain beyond the pump: Gas near $4 a gallon raises costs for businesses
OWNERS PASS ON THEIR ADDED EXPENSES
If the cost of a fill-up at the gas station makes you gasp, you ain't seen nothing yet. High pump prices are just the beginning of the four-dollar-gas fallout.
In Silicon Valley, flowers, pizzas and taxi rides to the airport are going to cost more. So will hay for horses and limousines to the prom.
Never has so much depended on the price of gasoline as the effects of four-dollar gas trickle down.
Capitol Weekly: New clean-air rules for trucks set off battle between enviros, industry
As the nation focuses on greenhouse gas regulations set into motion by landmark legislation in 2006, state regulators are set to pass a less-publicized, wide-reaching rule on emissions from diesel busses and trucks that business groups say could cost billions of dollars to implement.
Environmentalists hailed the state Air Resources Board after its staff released a draft of the new regulations earlier this year—the first such rules in the nation.
But following a public hearing last Friday, the regulations were modified in the wake of howls of protest from business groups—a move that immediately kindled environmentalists' suspicions.
Fresno Bee: Fresno doctor on state air board
Cardiologist John Telles replaces Fresno County Supervisor Judy Case
SACRAMENTO -- Gov. Schwarzenegger on Wednesday named Fresno cardiologist John Telles to represent the Valley on the California Air Resources Board, an influential agency that sets statewide pollution and greenhouse gas regulations.
Telles, a 59-year-old Democrat, replaces Fresno County Supervisor Judy Case. Case, a Republican, was ousted earlier this year by the Democratic-controlled state Senate over accusations by environmentalists that she catered to agriculture interests.
Associated Press: Food Costs Rising Fastest In 17 Years
Food Costs Rising At Fast Clip, Squeezing Poor, Forcing Food Vendors To Explain Higher Prices
NEW YORK -- Steve Tarpin can bake a graham cracker crust in his sleep, but explaining why the price for his Key lime pies went from $20 to $25 required mastering a thornier topic: global economics.
He recently wrote a letter to his customers and posted it near the cash register listing the factors -- dairy prices driven higher by conglomerates buying up milk supplies, heat waves in Europe and California, demand from emerging markets and the weak dollar.
Los Angeles Times: Key Air Board Member Linked To Car, Oil Firms
Daniel Sperling is an arbiter of auto emissions, and his institute got millions from such companies.
When the state Air Resources Board met two weeks ago for an important vote, one member -- Daniel Sperling -- took center stage.
NPR: Rising Fuel Prices Drive Truckers Off the Road
Diesel fuel is selling for an average of $4 per gallon nationwide, about 20 percent more than the cost of a gallon of gasoline. On Tuesday, truck drivers across the nation parked their rigs to protest high fuel prices.
California emissions grants deadline is April 1
Applications must be submitted to the California Air Resources Board by April 11 to qualify for the latest round of funding to retrofit or replace trucks to reduce emissions.
Grants also are available to reduce idling and emissions from refrigerated trailers.
Hydrogen Car Prospects Sputter
Even California, which wants to lead the U.S. in green technology, can't seem to will technology to evolve fast enough. At least, that was the conclusion last week when California regulators confronted the stark reality that the state won't be able to strong arm manufacturers into making as many hydrogen-fueled cars by 2014 as regulators had once hoped.
Perkins: New diesel engine rules could cripple agriculture
Farmers, like most other Californians, are concerned about the economy, but they've got one more item to worry them: diesel regulations. New diesel rules are going to swamp California farmers with unbearable costs.
California's Air Resources Board has been developing a labyrinth of oppressive regulations for diesel engines that has snared some parts of our economy and now is about to engulf trucking and agriculture. As now proposed, these rules would cost billions of dollars and put many truckers and farmers out of business.
Associated Press: Calif. regulators may change direction on zero-emission vehicles
SACRAMENTO—Vehicles that run on batteries or hydrogen could take even longer to show up in America's showrooms under changes being considered by the state Air Resources Board.
California air regulators on Thursday are scheduled to vote on a proposal that would reduce the number of zero-emission vehicles automakers must produce in California and 10 other states by 2014.
State air board may slash zero-emission mandate
Hoping to buy an emission-free vehicle in the next few years? Finding one might soon get much tougher.
California's Air Resources Board will vote today on whether to cut, by nearly two-thirds, the number of electric-battery and hydrogen fuel-cell vehicles that major carmakers must sell here over the next decade.
Diesel regulations put pinch on businesses
LANCASTER - State regulators' efforts to cut diesel emissions, a major contributor of health and smog problems, is also putting the squeeze on businesses who say new regulations will cost them billions and drive many of them to either stop operating or to leave California.
Raley's takes clean-exhaust diesels for a spin
Decals that reflect the cleaner-burning technology on Raley's grocery trucks are installed on their cabs Monday. Johnson Matthey, the company behind the technology, has about 50 demonstration vehicles on the roads, the firm says.
Redding Record Searchlight: 120 people get engines registered
About 120 farmers and ranchers in Tehama County had registered their
standing diesel-burning equipment by a March 1 deadline under new state air
pollution controls.
KSEE News: Who will pay to clean the air?
The California Air Resources Board tackles the air pollution problems of the
Central Valley often.
CARB asks public for input on diesel enforcement regs
Uniformed enforcement officers from the California Air Resources Board and the California Highway Patrol inspected 151,586 heavy-duty diesel vehicles from 1998 to 2006, writing citations for nearly $2.5 million in fines. Read more »
Forbes: Solutions
For 40 years, the California Air Resources Board has instituted precedent-setting air pollution regulations and programs that have been adopted by other agencies across the country and the world. One of the unsung heroes in helping us achieve our clean goals while promoting economic development has been California's business community.
Diesel cost is heavy load for truck drivers
After 32 years as an independent trucker, Bud Smith of Ventura would like to move on.
If only he could.
Oakland Port to take up diesel emissions
Commissioners of the Port of Oakland will consider a set of goals today that are intended to reduce diesel emissions in West Oakland by 85 percent over the next 12 years.
The plan includes a road map for raising $520 million over several years. Approximately $350 million would come from per-container fees that would be assessed on ocean carriers along with matching government funds. The remaining $170 million would come from bonds approved by California voters in November 2006.
New EPA rules target diesel train and ship emissions
Diesel-powered ships and trains must cut soot emissions by as much as 90% by 2030, under regulations signed Friday by U.S. Environmental Protection Agency administrator Stephen Johnson.
"Today EPA is fitting another important piece into the clean diesel puzzle by cleaning emissions from our trains and boats," Johnson said by telephone from the Port of Houston, where he made the announcement. "This will help America's economic workhorse become its environmental workhorse as well."
L.A. backs cargo fee as part of port clean-air effort
The Los Angeles City Council backed the first phase of Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa's clean-truck program Wednesday, imposing a cargo fee that will raise roughly $800 million to buy new and alternative-fuel trucks for haulers operating at the Port of Los Angeles.
L.A. approves two-thirds of Clean Trucks Program
A progressive ban on older big rigs entering the Port of Los Angeles and a corresponding cargo fee aimed at generating $1.6 billion to pay for cleaner-burning trucks were approved Wednesday by the Los Angeles City Council.
California proposes a global-warming fee on businesses
In the first such program in California, and perhaps the United States, Bay Area air pollution regulators are proposing to charge an annual fee to thousands of businesses based on the amount of greenhouse gases they emit.
VTA: Zero-emissions bus runs super clean, but super pricey
The experiment sounded so grand three years ago: The Valley Transportation Authority and Samtrans would test three buses that run on hydrogen fuel cells, emit no smog-inducing pollutants and help keep the valley's air clean.
Green, yes. But a new report from the VTA says the $18 million state-mandated pilot project costs too much green - and raises troubling questions about whether the program should continue.
Grocery bills jump – no end in sight
You aren't imagining things – food prices really are shooting up.
And the reasons why aren't going to disappear anytime soon, including prosperity in China and India and the record-high cost of oil.
