California's states rights battle against the Bush administration over global warming was free to move forward in federal court Friday, after the Environmental Protection Agency issued its long delayed justification for blocking the state's 2002 law curbing greenhouse emissions from cars and trucks. Stephen Johnson, administrator of the federal EPA, had written to Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger in December that he would refuse to grant a waiver of the Clean Air Act, normally a routine action, allowing the state to enact its own curbs on carbon dioxide and other planet-warming gases. But the agency had postponed publishing its written justification in the federal register, thus stalling the court case brought by 19 states and seven environmental groups. CC Times 3/01/08
Some "first steps" in cleaning the air wafting from the Port of Oakland into West Oakland were announced Monday when the Bay Area Air Quality District awarded $3.4 million to two programs that reduce diesel fumes at the port. One program involves installing electric power hookups at two berths at the port so that ships can turn off their diesel engines while unloading cargo. The second involves retrofitting 75 trucks that regularly drive in and out of the port with filters to collect diesel particulates from exhaust pipes. CC Times 3/04/08
Feinstein, who heads the Appropriations subcommittee that handles the EPA budget, held a hearing on the proposed budget Tuesday that quickly became a debate about California's bid to enforce tough emissions standards on vehicles. Johnson announced in December he would turn down the state's request for a waiver from the Clean Air Act to enforce its own standards -- which 16 other states want to adopt -- and on Friday he released a 47-page rationale for his decision. CC Times 3/05/08
The Environmental Protection Agency justified blocking California from cracking down on auto emissions by saying Friday that global warming is not unique to the state. The long-awaited analysis drew angry ridicule from environmentalists and officials in California and some of the dozen-plus other states that also want to implement the greenhouse gas emissions reductions sought by California. SF Chronicle 3/01/08
Traffic accidents cost Americans more than $164 billion a year, which is between two and three times as much as traffic congestion, according to a report released Wednesday by AAA. While many motorists tend to focus on fuel prices, commute times and delays, collisions are much more expensive than the $67.6 billion cost of congestion, the report said. CC Times 3/06/08
A crackdown on cheats who evade tolls by illegally using FasTrak lanes on Bay Area bridges is coming soon to your local toll booth. A regional bridge toll agency approved plans Wednesday for traffic officers to ticket drivers who use FasTrak lanes without transponders, collection agencies to hound them and agreements with other states to help penalize those with out-of-state license plates. CC Times 3/06/08
Nevada companies shipped 4 percent more goods out of the country in 2007 from a year earlier, totaling a record $5.7 billion in exports, a federal report released this week shows. While Nevada's exports pale in comparison with other states including California and New York, it marks the fifth straight year of increases, officials said, with Switzerland continuing as the leading destination primarily for gold mined in Nevada. Reno Gazette Journal 3/07/08
The California Air Resources Board (CARB) is formulating regulations that could affect the more than 1.5 million trucks and buses in use on California's roads, highways and farms. Given the millions of consumer and industrial goods and products delivered via truck each day in the state, these regulations threaten to have a profound, negative impact on the business community. What CARB is proposing to adopt are the nation's most stringent new emissions regulations that could also be the most costly and far-reaching rule that business has yet to face. CalChamber 3/07/08
Mayor Gavin Newsom signed into law Thursday a measure that he said will guarantee San Francisco's taxi fleet is converted to low-emission vehicles by 2011. SF Chronicle 3/07/08
The Bay Area's top seven transit agencies help prevent more than 2 million metric tons of greenhouse gases and save 251 million gallons of oil each year, according to a new report by a consumer-rights group. The California Public Interest Research Group, or CalPIRG, said its report - along with news Thursday that the cost of oil hit a record high of nearly $106 a barrel - should encourage more people to park their cars and hop on a bus or train. SF Chronicle 3/07/08
With the economy tumbling and ridership flattening, BART is facing a bleak financial picture next year, officials with the regional transit system warned Thursday. SF Chronicle 2/28/08
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