MARITIME * Diesel emissions down drastically at L.A., Long Beach ports. http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-trucks2-2009oct02,0,1371606.story A program to cut diesel emissions at the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach by phasing out older cargo trucks is ahead of schedule, and has delivered cleaner air to neighborhoods once enveloped by fumes, the mayors said Thursday * Clean Trucks Program at L.A. and Long Beach ports has reduced air pollution. http://www.dailynews.com/news/ci_13463078#<http://www.dailynews.com/news/ci_13463078> The Clean Trucks Program at the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach has been so successful in removing old polluting diesel trucks that it is on track to reduce truck emissions by 80 percent in 2010, two years ahead of schedule VEHICLES * 'Green' standards catching on with large vehicle fleets in Seattle area http://seattle.bizjournals.com/seattle/stories/2009/10/05/story9.html?t=printable The Evergreen Fleets program is patterned on the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Green Building Rating System, which certifies the energy efficiency of buildings. It ranks participants on a five-point scale for steps taken to curb emissions by fleets of vehicles operated by private companies and government agencies. "If all of the fleets in the Puget Sound region became four- or five-star, it could reduce a half a million metric tons of CO2 a year," said Evergreen Fleets Project Director Lesley Stanton. The program, a collaboration between the Puget Sound Clean Air Agency and the Puget Sound Clean Cities Coalition, targets fleets because half of the greenhouse gases released in the Puget Sound region are from vehicle operations, and a "substantial portion" of those gases are from public and private fleets, Stanton said. <<'Green' standards catching on with large vehicle fleets in Seattle area - Puget Sound Business Journal (Seattle).htm>> * France launches 'battle of the electric car' http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20091001/sc_afp/franceautoenvironmentelectricsector France launched the "battle of the electric car" Thursday as it unveiled plans to invest 1.5 billion euros on infrastructure for the two million electric and hybrid cars it wants on the road by 2020... The project covers everything from industrial research, making batteries, producing clean cars and building a nation-wide network of battery-charging stations... Currently only a few thousand of the 30 million cars on French roads are electric or hybrid vehicles, so building up that number to two million will require major investment... Electric vehicles were the star of the Frankfurt auto show but experts predict that cars will roll on a variety of power sources for quite a while. AIR TOXICS * Chemical found in air outside 15 schools http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/environment/2009-09-30-toxic-chemicals-school-air_N.htm?loc=interstitialskip Outside 15 schools in eight states, government regulators have found elevated levels of a substance that - in a more potent form - was also used as a chemical weapon during World War I... The chemical that once was weaponized, acrolein, can exacerbate asthma and irritate the eyes and throat. It is a byproduct of burning gasoline, wood and cigarettes, but the EPA has not yet determined the specific sources for the elevated levels it found at each school. EPA spokesman Brendan Gilfillan said the initial readings show "more must be done to reduce the amount of acrolein the American people, especially children, are exposed to." CLIMATE * EPA moves to regulate smokestack greenhouse gases http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20091001/ap_on_go_ca_st_pe/us_epa_greenhouse_gases Proposed regulations would require power plants, factories and refineries to reduce greenhouse gases by installing the best available technology and improving energy efficiency whenever a facility is significantly changed or built... These large sources are responsible for 70 percent of the greenhouse gas emissions - mainly carbon dioxide from burning fossil fuels - that are released in the U.S., the EPA said... The EPA's announcement came hours after Senate Democrats unveiled legislation that would set limits on the amount of greenhouse gases from large industrial sources. The Senate bill, unlike the House-passed version, preserves the EPA's authority to regulate under the Clean Air Act. * EPA moves to regulate new smokestack controls. http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=113374443 The Obama administration recently proposed new rules for cutting greenhouse gas emissions from cars. Now it's proposing to reduce heat-trapping pollution from power plants and other large facilities. * Mystery of Rainier survey marker melts away http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2009977050_rainiershrinking01m.html Though it's now clear the marker didn't melt out of the ice, Race and other climbers say Rainier is undoubtedly showing the effects of warmer weather. All its glaciers are receding, and vast swaths of bare rock have appeared in places where no one had seen them before. Cremated human remains scattered over the decades are melting out on the broad summit snowfield, along with old beer cans and prayer flags. "I think crazy stuff is going to start popping out," said Race, who has climbed the mountain 149 times. "There's a lot of missing people on Mount Rainier." Below Camp Muir, where climbers often spend the night on their way to the top, an immense rock island has emerged from the snow. "Last summer, there was a big crack opening on the summit itself," said Mike Gauthier, former lead climbing ranger for Mount Rainier National Park. "I've never seen that before." * First Darwin, now global warming reaches Galapagos http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20091001/sc_nm/us_climate_galapagos Climate change could endanger the unique wildlife of the Galapagos Islands, and scientists are trying to figure out how to protect vulnerable species such as blue-footed boobies and Galapagos Penguins. * Former U.N. chief launches anthem for climate change http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20091001/lf_nm_life/us_music_un The collaborative single features a wide range of celebrities ranging from British singer Lily Allen, Duran Duran frontman Simon Le Bon and singer/activist Bob Geldof to Oscar-winning French actress Marion Cotillard and Nobel Peace laureate Desmond Tutu... Former UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan described the single, which can be downloaded for free on the internet, as a "global musical petition." Every download will count as a unique digital petition with people adding their names to demand world leaders reach an "ambitious, fair and global" deal in Copenhagen, he said. Over 1.3 million people have already signed up for the campaign. * Wetter is more costly than drier. http://greeninc.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/10/01/wetter-is-more-costly-than-drier-bank-says/ If changes in the climate create a wetter world, the cost will be higher than if it dried things out, a World Bank study finds. RENEWABLE ENERGY * Predicting volatile wind, sun. http://online.wsj.com/article/SB125443333547957485.html For more than a century, producing power has been a matter of flipping a switch. Need more electricity? Fire up some fuel. Things won't be that easy in a world that gets much of its energy from renewable sources, which come and go at nature's whim <<Predicting Volatile Wind, Sun - WSJ_com.htm>> NOTE: If the hyperlink to the article fails, contact Consuelo Davis. Consuelo Davis Communications Dept. Puget Sound Clean Air Agency 206-689-4074 consueloD@pscleanair.org Bill Smith Senior Environmental Specialist City of Tacoma Solid Waste Management 3510 S. Mullen Street Tacoma, WA 98409 253-593-7719 Phone 253-591-5547 Fax