California Construction Trucking Association (CCTA)

This sounds icky

California Air Resources Board staff has posted a new Low Carbon Fuel Standard internal pathway for biomethane produced from the high solids anaerobic digestion (dry fermentation) of organic (food and green) wastes. Do you want this stuff in your fuel tank? More information has been posted to the LCFS website: www.arb.ca.gov/fuels/lcfs/2a2b/2a-2b-apps.htm .

“Crucify them” EPA exec goes to Sierra Club

What a shocker.  Ex-EPA Region 6 Administrator Al Armendariz, of “crucify” fame, is headed to Sierra Club’s “Beyond Coal” campaign, the group announced. Armendariz will begin mid-July as senior campaign representative for the organization’s Beyond Coal campaign, focusing on moving Texas, Oklahoma and Arkansas away from coal-fired power and toward wind and solar power.

We don’t need his services in California as we already abandoned coal for power years ago and even natural gas this past April. Check out www.calcontrk.org/news/.

Oregon State fires climate skeptic professor

Nicholas Drapela, an Oregon State University faculty member and vocal critic of climate change, was fired without notice or explanation from his job.  Shades of Jim Enstrom’s story, hmm? On May 29, Drapela received a call in his office from the department chair, who read him a prepared statement and informed Drapela that he would need to return his office key.  The university did not inform Drapela why he was being fired. His requests for such an explanation have all been denied, raising speculation that we was fired due to his view that climate change is not a man-made phenomenon. Drapela, who had been teaching at OSU for ten years, has published numerous textbooks in his field. In 2004, he received the Loyd F. Carter award for being an outstanding and inspirational teacher. The school newspaper also noted he has a 4.3 rating (5 point scale) on RateMyProfessor.com.

Another “green fuel” scam surfaces

In June, a federal jury convicted Rodney R. Hailey, age 33, of Perry Hall, Maryland, of wire fraud, money laundering and a violation of the Clean Air Act, in connection with a scheme in which he sold $9 million in renewable fuel credits which he falsely claimed were produced by his company, Clean Green Fuel, LLC.  He could be sentenced to a total of 484 years.  The scam started when Hailey sold bogus renewable identification numbers (RINs) to oil companies satisfy their federal EPA renewable fuel requirements. All oil companies that market petroleum in the U.S. are required to produce a given quantity of renewable fuel or to purchase credits (RINs).  Sounds like CARB’s “carbon credits” under their cap-n-trade scheme? Between March 2009 and December 2010, Hailey sold over 35 million RINs (representing 23 million gallons of bio-diesel fuel), but, in fact, he did not have a facility capable of producing bio-diesel fuel.  Hailey used the money to buy BMWs, Mercedes Benz’, a Rolls Royce Phantom, a Lamborghini, Ferrari, Maserati as well as real estate and jewelry. The government hopes to sell his goodies, but they will auction them off, so there may be some bargains available soon.