air quality

VX News shares this editorial from Naava CEO Aki Soudunsaari, on the value and benefits of bringing natural elements indoors through biophilic design.

Led by the South Coast Air Quality Management District, the Joint Electric Truck Scaling Initiative (JETSI) project will deploy 100 trucks manufactured by Daimler and Volvo, and will be operated by NFI Industries and Schneider on freight corridors serving the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, as well as distribution centers across Southern California. From the ACT Expo last week, VX news excerpts, the announcement of the largest deployment of battery-electric drayage trucks across California.

With Shelter-in-Place the law statewide in response to the Coronavirus and California’s economy all but shuttered, major highways have been emptied and California’s air quality has never been better. VXNews, to better appreciate the significance of the aforementioned and to honor Earth Day 50, spoke with Mary Nichols, Chair of the California Air Resources Board (CARB), on the effects & long-time implications of the transition to remote work on air quality.

CARB Chair Mary Nichols explains the potential impact of the Volkswagen settlement for electric transportation, as well as how the national leadership vacuum on climate change is affecting California's international partnerships.

The California Air Resources Board’s most recent quarterly cap-and-trade auction was the first to result in only a fraction of available permits sold. Detractors used the weak auction results to highlight the program’s uncertain future, whereas advocates touted the state’s success in cutting carbon emissions quicker than expected. To CARB Chair Mary Nichols, who has overseen the leadership of the program since its inception, the auction showed that industries were keeping a lid on carbon emissions rather than buying permits to emit more. Nichols speaks to ongoing efforts to extend California’s carbon cap-and-trade system, and to expand the model to other states. Nichols also addresses the historic enforcement action and settlement with Volkswagen, which CARB led on negotiating.