State Air Board Criticizes Southern California Smog Regulators Over Adoption of Industry-Backed Rules
The state Air Resources Board has criticized Southern California smog regulators for adopting industry-backed regulations to control emissions from the region's largest facilities, saying they may violate state law and will harm people's health. - Los Angeles Times
Battle Over Dominion Coal-Ash Ponds Heads to State Water Board This Week
After months of contentious debate, a state regulatory board will decide this week whether to allow Dominion Virginia Power to divert water from coal-ash ponds into a nearby creek after treating that water to remove pollutants. - Washington Post
Company Behind Methane Leak Is Ordered to Offset the Climate Damage
California Gov. Jerry Brown ordered Southern California Gas Co. to pay for a mitigation program to offset damage to the world's climate from a massive methane leak at an underground natural gas storage facility in Los Angeles. - InsideClimate News
El Niño Heat Peaks, But Impacts Still to Come
It looks like this El Niño — which will rank among the strongest on record — has passed its peak in terms of tropical ocean temperatures, but it’s not going away anytime soon. In fact, the biggest El Niño impacts on the U.S., like rain and snow for California, are probably still to come. - Climate Central
'Flaring' Wastes 3.5% of World's Natural Gas
The United States has the greatest number of flares, but Russia leads the world in the total volume of flared natural gas. In 2012, the 143 billion cubic metres of gas flared led to the emission of more than 350 million tonnes of carbon dioxide, around 10% of the annual emissions of European Union member states. - Nature