Cal-fed settlement with Fiat Chrysler over alleged illegal ‘defeat-device-software’ use reached

The below Jan. 10, 2019 news release is from the California Environmental Protection Agency Air Resources Board. California Attorney General Xavier Becerra and the California Air Resources Board (CARB), together with the United States Department of Justice and Environmental Protection Agency, announced today [Jan. 10, 2019] a joint settlement valued at more than $500 million with Fiat Chrysler … Read more

100k-year cycles, temperature swings and GHG rises: What does it all mean?

The last ice age, according to what I have learned, ended approximately 11,000 years ago. An ice age, eh? I can only imagine what living during this time must have been like. Ice ages come and go, and with the in-between times known as the Interglacial periods, they lasted some 100,000 years, data show. There is evidence … Read more

Environmental change: Implications for humans going forward

In the mid-1980s when I was doing Master’s thesis work, I obtained a Cal Poly college catalog for the years 1984-’86. My research was all about the program I enrolled in when I attended said university located in San Luis Obispo in California, between Sept. 1973 and Mar. 1976 – Engineering Technology. Interestingly, and quite … Read more

Greenhouse-gases reduction: A work in progress

Much painstaking work has been initiated to limit fossil-fuel burning so as to reduce the concentration of atmospheric greenhouse gases and therefore prevent any further related fallout. A complete moratorium on the burning of fossil fuels is the ideal. Being that this is not likely to happen anytime soon, it is, however, important to keep … Read more

New report summarizes what the IPCC 1.5°C special report means for cities

The below Dec. 10, 2018 press release is from C40 Cities. The science is clear: we have to act now to prevent catastrophic climate change…and cities offer a unique opportunity to limit global temperature rise. These are some of the key findings of the Summary for Urban Policymakers of the IPCC [Intergovernmental Panel on Climate … Read more

At long last, a curbing-air-pollutant-emissions-and-greenhouse-gases focus

For the longest time, it has seemed like, air pollution and emissions of greenhouse gases were thought of in different contexts. Air pollution is thought of as being associated with poisons (toxic chemicals, toxicants or chemical pollutants) and haze in – or discoloration of – the air and poor – and damage to – health, hospitalizations and … Read more

No place like home for the holidays – ’tis the season

As to how many Americans have traveled, are or will be traveling throughout the holiday and dare I call it the end-of-year crush, I haven’t a clue. I’ve heard reports – I mean, who hasn’t? One-hundred-million; 105 million; 110 million; a-hundred-fifteen million, really it’s anyone’s guess. So, picture if you can 110 million traveling Americans. … Read more

Electric vehicles seeing increasing market share of all new vehicles sold

In 2016, the transportation sector for the first time since 1978 contributed the most emissions. So, in terms of new vehicle purchases, how is the world responding? In America as of Oct. 2018, the number of electric vehicles purchased reached 1 million, according to the Electric Drive Transportation Association (EDTA). “In less than a decade, … Read more