Department of Water Resources
A daily compilation of significant news articles and comment
January 27, 2009
5. Agencies, Programs, People –
Climate change has a firm grip
Researchers say that even if nations can get carbon dioxide levels under control, it would take 1,000 years or longer for the climate changes already triggered to be reversed.
Emissions rule waiver expected this spring
San Francisco Chronicle
California scores vindication, environmental win
Associated Press
Climate change has a firm grip
Researchers say that even if nations can get carbon dioxide levels under control, it would take 1,000 years or longer for the climate changes already triggered to be reversed.
By Thomas H. Maugh II
Even if by some miracle the nations of the world could bring carbon dioxide levels back to those of the pre-industrial era, it would still take 1,000 years or longer for the climate changes already triggered to be reversed, scientists said Monday.
The gas already here and the heat that has been absorbed by the ocean will exert their effects for centuries, according to an analysis published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
Over the long haul, the warming will melt the polar icecaps more than had previously been estimated, raising ocean levels substantially, the report said.
And changes in rainfall patterns will bring droughts to the American Southwest, southern Europe, northern Africa and
"People have imagined that if we stopped emitting carbon dioxide, the climate would go back to normal in 100 years, 200 years," lead author Susan Solomon, a senior scientist at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, said in a telephone news conference. "That's not true."
The changes will persist until at least the year 3000, said Solomon, who conducted the study with colleagues in
Scientists familiar with the report said it emphasized the need for immediate action to control emissions.
"As a climate scientist, this was my intuition," said geoscientist Jonathan T. Overpeck of the
Kevin Trenberth, head of climate analysis at the
"The policy relevance is clear: We need to act sooner, even if there is some doubt about exactly what will happen, because by the time the public and policymakers really realize the changes are here, it is far too late to do anything about it," Trenberth said.
The report came as President Obama ordered the Environmental Protection Agency to consider allowing states the right to enact auto emission standards stricter than federal rules.
Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton also is expected to appoint a new envoy for climate change to bolster the administration's credentials in environmental policy.
The slowness with which ocean water circulates is central to the new findings. Carbon dioxide is primarily removed from the atmosphere through absorption into seawater, an incredibly slow process because of the time it takes for surface water saturated with the gas to be replaced by deeper water that can further absorb carbon dioxide.
That gas accounts for about half of the global warming caused by greenhouse gases, but the other gases are removed from the atmosphere more quickly. Thus, the long-term influence of carbon dioxide will have the greatest effect on climate change, the report said.
Moreover, heat absorbed by the ocean is released slowly, and will continue to contribute to global warming even if the concentration of greenhouse gases should decline, the authors said.
Solomon said in a statement that absorption of carbon dioxide and release of heat -- one acting to cool the Earth and the other to warm it -- would "work against each other to keep temperatures almost constant for more than 1,000 years."
Geoscientist Jorge L. Sarmiento of
The study looked particularly at ocean levels and rainfall. The team found that by thermal expansion of ocean water alone, sea levels will rise from 1.3 to 3.2 feet if carbon dioxide climbs from the current level of 385 parts per million to 600 parts per million, and twice that if it peaks at 1,000 parts per million.
Melting of the icecaps could increase sea levels even more, inundating low-lying islands and continental shorelines, but the effects are too uncertain to quantify, Solomon said.
Reductions in rainfall would also last centuries, the report said, decreasing drinking water supplies, increasing fire frequency and devastating dry-season farming of wheat and maize.#
http://www.latimes.com/news/la-sci-warming27-2009jan27,0,567795.story?track=ntothtml
Emissions rule waiver expected this spring
San Francisco Chronicle – 1/27/09
(01-27) 04:00 PST
The move is expected this spring.
The regulation would have the single largest impact on the state's ambitious goal to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 30 percent by 2020 under the landmark legislation AB32.
Delayed by the Bush administration since 2005, the rule would require automakers to produce vehicles that cut greenhouse gas emissions by 30 percent by 2016, resulting in an average vehicle fuel-efficiency of 35.7 miles per gallon - far higher than the current federal standard of 27.5 mpg for cars and 22.3 mpg for SUVs and light trucks.
The rule would have wide-ranging impact on the types of cars, minivans, SUVs and trucks that consumers will see in
President Obama ordered his environmental officials on Monday to immediately review
"The president's action is a great victory for
Automobile manufacturers, who have been lobbying heavily against the federal waiver, declined to criticize Obama's decision but argued that a nationwide standard is a better approach than allowing individual states to have separate vehicle-emissions standards.
"We are ready to work with the administration on developing a national approach," said Dave McCurdy, president and CEO of the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers. The organization represents 11 manufacturers, including Ford, General Motors, Chrysler, Mazda and
Environmental groups applauded the president's decision.
"What a difference an election makes," said Bernadette De Chiaro, a lobbyist for Environment California, a lobby group. "For the past eight years,
Linda Adams, secretary of
Adams and state air board officials said they believe automakers should be able to meet the requirements of the new rule for this year's vehicles because automakers were alerted that the 2009-model engines would come under the new regulation within 45 days if a federal waiver were granted.
In addition, state officials believe most automakers have begun using many of the technologies that would make vehicles more fuel efficient, placing them on track to meet the requirements of the new rule.
Automakers would be required to annually report emissions figures on their vehicles to be sold in
Edward B. Cohen, vice president of governmental and industry relations for Honda, said that if the new standards are adopted, "every single component of the vehicle is going to have to be examined to make sure the vehicle is more fuel-efficient." That will mean continued technological improvements on car engines as well as using lighter-weight steel, he said.
But state officials said automakers already have begun to use proven technologies to improve fuel efficiency. For example, the Honda Odyssey minivan's engine shuts down certain cylinders when cruising at high speeds on freeways, and Volkswagen's smaller, gas-sipping engines compensate for lower power by adding a turbo-charge, said Stanley Young, a spokesman for the state air board.
And while adding more hybrids and electric vehicles to the fleet would certainly help, automakers should be able to meet the requirements of the new regulation mostly by adopting smaller design changes in traditional, gas-powered automobiles, Young said.
But consumers are likely to have to pay higher prices on new vehicles, and dealers might not carry some automobiles in
"You can mandate the manufacturer to make them, but you can't mandate that consumers buy them," he said.
Welch said
"There's nothing stopping someone from
But state officials said the state's emissions rule would simply encourage automakers to innovate.
"This will result in better-engineered cars that use off-the-shelf technologies that are already available to get the reductions in emissions," Young said.
Cutting state's vehicle emissions
How
New vehicles sold in
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/01/26/MNLP15HBN8.DTL&feed=rss.bayarea
California scores vindication, environmental win
Associated Press – 1/26/09
·
He also gave a public shout-out to the
"
"Instead of serving as a partner,
Obama's announcement on his seventh day in office delighted
"For too long,
Because
But the state must first get a waiver from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. California was granted about 50 such waivers — and never denied — before seeking a waiver in 2005 to implement a landmark state law that would force automakers to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 30 percent in new cars and light trucks by 2016.
The auto regulations were to have been a major part of California's first-in-the-nation global warming law that aims to reduce greenhouse gases economy-wide by 25 percent — to 1990 levels — by 2020. Air regulators are counting on the auto emission reductions to meet about 18 percent of the state's proposed reductions.
If
That sparked outrage, investigations and lawsuits from
Boxer said Obama's order was "a vindication for common sense."
"We need to mobilize for energy independence. We need to mobilize to fight global warming," Boxer said at a news conference in
Although Obama's directive to his new EPA administrator Lisa Jackson — who began her first week on the job Monday — doesn't amount to giving the state the waiver, California officials were confident that would be the eventual outcome.
"It was a controversial decision by Steven Johnson.
"What a difference a week makes," Pavley said.
The improvements must equate to a fleetwide 35.7 miles per gallon in 2016 (cars are higher but larger trucks pull the figure down) and 42.5 miles per gallon in 2020. Those numbers are more aggressive than national fuel economy standards adopted by the federal government and relied upon by Johnson when he denied the
Carmakers also opposed granting the waiver, contending they would face billions of dollars in new costs to meet the rules. In a statement released Monday, the National Association of Manufacturers said allowing
Mary Nichols, chairwoman of the California Air Resources Board, said car manufacturers are already meeting the 2010 standards.
"They just have to sell us cars that they are already making," Nichols said.
Schwarzenegger, who in a letter last week had asked Obama to revisit the matter, said he suggested the federal government adopt
"It would be great to actually do this nationwide so car that manufacturers don't just have two standards but that they only have one," Schwarzenegger said.
Scott Gerber, spokesman for California Attorney General Jerry Brown, said Monday that once EPA takes action to reconsider the waiver denial, the state would ask the court to set the lawsuit aside.
According to the California Air Resources Board,
http://www.mercurynews.com/breakingnews/ci_11558729?source=rss
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