• We can’t afford to wait. We have to act on these issues now. Our projections show continued growth in population and vehicle miles traveled, which will affect air quality for years to come.
• Mary Nichols, the chairman of the California Air Resources Board • Discussing why new ‘Clean Car’ regulations are necessary. California’s new bill, which would require vehicles to cut down on pollutants by 75 percent, would start in 2015, and the rules would tighten further by 2025. This could be a step in the right direction for such a smog-ridden state, but opponents say that it would hurt consumers and car manufacturers, claiming it raises the price of a new vehicle by $3,200. The new standards could inspire other states to follow suit. source

• Al Gore: He’s not happy with Obama. President Obama has recently halted regulations that would curb “smog-creating emissions until at least 2013“. According to Gore, the “result of the White House’s action will be increased medical bills for seniors with lung disease, more children developing asthma, and the continued degradation of our air quality.” He also likened Obama to George W. Bush, a seemingly low blow. source

• dirty death Cremation has long been one of the two mainstream methods of corpse disposal. The burnings are not necessarily eco-friendly, though, releasing carbon into the air and using up a fair share of energy to turn a body to ash.
• clean death? Jeff Miller, a California state assemblyman, proposes allowing people to have their remains liquefied, a new process that uses 1/10th the energy of cremation. We can’t help but think this is going to hurt his political career. source

(via John Ness)

• 61.4% of Californians saw through the ploy and voted against the proposition
• 38.6% of Californians didn’t, or personally work for the oil industry source

• 17% goal for emissions cuts by 2020 – good luck source

• 62 trillion e-mails have been sent by spammers, at 0.3 grams of CO2 a piece; spam spam spam spam spam spam spam source

• It’d be a pretty good joke if it wasn’t true. The California Air Resources Board thinks that dark-colored cars have to work harder to stay cool, which means higher emissions. They’re looking to set a standard for 20% solar reflectivity by 2016, which black cars can’t pull off. So, if you’re in California, you may not be able to car that’s the same color as your soul in a few years. Sorry about that. source

• He is not going to say by 2020 I’m going to reduce emissions by 30%. He’ll have a revolution on his hands. He has to do it step by step.
• Rajendra Pachauri • Head of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), on the domestic pressures Barack Obama faces on climate cuts. Obama has called for 80% carbon cuts by 2050, but 2020 might be too soon for pushing through such a policy. • source