Watchdog Report: Fed’s Billions in Emergency Repo Loans to Wall Street Didn’t Go Away in June; They Just Went Dark - Pam Martens -The U.S. Senate Banking Committee, the House Financial Services Committee, and the U.S. mainstream business media now thoroughly qualify as the dumb tourists snapping photos of the raging bull statue on Wall Street as the Wall Street banks loot the country for the second time in a decade.Last Thursday the Financial Stability Oversight Council (pronounced F-SOC) released its 2020 Annual Report. Those tend to be tediously boring reports that tell one nothing meaningful about the true state of the Wall Street mega banks, so we just got around to perusing the document yesterday. Mixed in with the typical snooze-worthy minutiae was a bombshell that made us sit up straight in our chair. Those cumulative repo loans totaling more than $9 trillion to the trading houses on Wall Street that the Fed had been making from September 17 of 2019 – months before the onset of COVID-19 anywhere in the world – didn’t actually stop in July as the daily data from the Fed made it seem. The New York Fed simply went dark and stopped reporting how many billions of dollars a week it was funneling to miscreant mega banks on Wall Street as food pantry lines grew by miles across the U.S. and 3.3 million small businesses were forced to shutter.F-SOC was created as an agency under the Treasury Department when the toothless Dodd-Frank financial reform legislation was passed in 2010. Each major federal regulator of banks sits on F-SOC with the Treasury Secretary acting as the permanent Chair. F-SOC defines its mission as follows: “The Council is charged with identifying risks to the financial stability of the United States; promoting market discipline; and responding to emerging risks to the stability of the United States’ financial system.”As for F-SOC “promoting market discipline” – this is the second time in a decade that the Federal Reserve has pumped trillions of dollars into the Wall Street mega banks without any oversight from Congress. The last time around, from 2007 to 2010, the Fed secretly pumped $29 trillion in cumulative loans to bail out the hubris of Wall Street’s obscenely paid CEOs and traders. (The audit of the Fed’s secret loans by the Government Accountability Office (GAO) reported $16.1 trillion, but it omitted several Fed bailout programs.)Before the Fed went dark this time around on its repo loans, we had tallied up more than $9 trillion in cumulative loans by March of this year. The New York Fed was reporting these repo loans daily on a page of its website from September 2019 through early July of this year. Then it began to report zeros on a daily basis for the amount of the repo loans, giving the obvious impression to reporters and market watchers that the markets had stabilized and the banks were in fine shape.Now we find out from F-SOC’s Annual Report that these repo loans never did stop. The smoking gun paragraph reads as follows: “Primary dealer cash borrowing in the repo market, including borrowing from FRBNY’s temporary open market operations, stood at $2.5 trillion as of September 30, 2020….”
Fedspeak Cheat Sheet: What Fed Officials Said Before Their December Meeting – WSJ - Federal Reserve officials have been hesitant to give credence to market speculation that they will boost the stimulus they are giving to the economy via changes in their bond-buying program, as many of them have said renewed fiscal aid is what the economy really needs. Some Fed officials also have said they see no need now to change the central bank’s support for the economy. With the interest-rate-setting Federal Open Market Committee preparing to meet Dec. 15-16, here is a sampling of what Fed officials have said since their last gathering in November.
- Chairman Jerome Powell (voter) Dec. 1, Senate Banking Committee testimony: “We are committed to using our full range of tools to support the economy and to help assure that the recovery from this difficult period will be as robust as possible on behalf of communities, families and businesses across the country.”
- Vice Chairman Richard Clarida (voter) Nov. 16, virtual: “We’re buying a lot of Treasurys, we’re buying $80 billion a month, that’s comparable to the pace of QE2…These are big programs, the mortgage program is also quite, quite substantial.”
Seven High Frequency Indicators for the Economy -- These indicators are mostly for travel and entertainment. It will interesting to watch these sectors recover as the vaccine is distributed. The TSA is providing daily travel numbers. This data shows the seven day average of daily total traveler throughput from the TSA for 2019 (Blue) and 2020 (Red). This data is as of December 6th. The seven day average is down 65.5% from last year (34.5% of last year). The second graph shows the 7 day average of the year-over-year change in diners as tabulated by OpenTable for the US and several selected cities. This data is updated through December 5, 2020. Note that this data is for "only the restaurants that have chosen to reopen in a given market". Since some restaurants have not reopened, the actual year-over-year decline is worse than shown. This data shows domestic box office for each week (red) and the maximum and minimum for the previous four years. Data is from BoxOfficeMojo through December 3rd. Movie ticket sales have picked up slightly over the last couple of months, and were at $16 million last week (compared to usually around $200 million per week). This graph shows the seasonal pattern for the hotel occupancy rate using the four week average.This data is through November 28th. Hotel occupancy is currently down 28.5% year-over-year. Since there is a seasonal pattern to the occupancy rate, we can track the year-over-year change in occupancy to look for any improvement. This table shows the year-over-year change since the week ending Sept 19, 2020: This graph, based on weekly data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA), shows gasoline supplied compared to the same week last year of . At one point, gasoline supplied was off almost 50% YoY. As of November 27th, gasoline supplied was off about 11.7% YoY (about 88.3% of last year). This graph is from Apple mobility. From Apple: "This data is generated by counting the number of requests made to Apple Maps for directions in select countries/regions, sub-regions, and cities." There is also some great data on mobility from the Dallas Fed Mobility and Engagement Index.
This data is through December 5th for the United States and several selected cities. The graph is the running 7 day average to remove the impact of weekends. According to the Apple data directions requests, public transit in the 7 day average for the US is at 46% of the January level. It is at 33% in Chicago, and 52% in Houston - and declining recently (the bump down and up was due to Thanksgiving). Here is some interesting data on New York subway usage (HT BR). This data is through Friday, December 4th. "Data updates weekly from the MTA’s public turnstile data, usually on Saturday mornings".
Q4 GDP Forecasts: Uncertainty - Economic activity in the fourth quarter is dependent on the impact of the pandemic. With the number of new cases per day of COVID approaching 200,000, hospitalizations at record levels (over 100,000), and deaths per day at new record highs, it is likely that economic activity will slow in December. Most of the slowdown will be related to individuals being more cautious, and some will be related to government actions. For example, from the AP: Most of California to enter sweeping new virus lockdown. Economic activity was solid in October, and that would suggest PCE growth of close to 6% in Q4, even if November and December see no month-over-month growth. No one expects a lockdown like at the end of March and in April, but it is possible that activity slowed in November and will decline in December. The high level of uncertainty over the next few months makes forecasting extremely difficult. The automated approaches (below) do not capture this uncertainty. From Goldman Sachs: We left our Q4 GDP tracking estimate unchanged at +3.2% (qoq ar) [Dec 2 estimate] From Merrill Lynch: We continue to track 33.1% for 3Q GDP and 6.0% for 4Q GDP. [Dec 4 estimate] From the NY Fed Nowcasting Report: The New York Fed Staff Nowcast stands at 2.5% for 2020:Q4 and 5.9% for 2021:Q1. [Dec 4 estimate] And from the Altanta Fed: GDPNow: The GDPNow model estimate for real GDP growth (seasonally adjusted annual rate) in thefourth quarter of 2020 is 11.2 percent on December 4, up from 11.1 percent on December 1. [Dec 4 estimate] It is also important to note that GDP is reported at a seasonally adjusted annual rate (SAAR). A 3.3% annualized increase in Q4 GDP (close to Goldman's forecast), is about 0.8% QoQ, and would leave real GDP down about 2.7% from Q4 2019. The following graph illustrates this decline.
U.S. Recovery Will Cool Further Before Getting Vaccine Boost, WSJ Survey Shows – WSJ - The U.S. economic recovery is likely to slow further before the impact of expected approvals of Covid-19 vaccines makes itself felt in the second quarter of 2021, a new Wall Street Journal survey shows. In the latest monthly survey of business and academic economists, forecasters slashed their projections for economic growth and job creation in the first quarter, amid a surge in coronavirus cases. A number of economists said they expect coronavirus caseloads to remain high in the first quarter of 2021 because vaccines will take time to be distributed across the U.S. “Real-time data point to a slow entry into 2021 with the health situation worsening, employment softening and spending moderating,” said Gregory Daco, chief U.S. economist at Oxford Economics. On average, economists expect the economy to expand at a 1.9% annual rate from January to March, down from 3.3% growth in November’s survey. Economists forecast the labor market will add just under 295,000 new jobs a month in the first quarter, down from over 440,000 a month in the November survey. But economists overwhelmingly expect the potential rollout of coronavirus vaccines will be a boon for the economy in the second quarter, with 62.5% of those surveyed expecting it to add more than 0.5 percentage point to the annualized growth rate in the April-to-June period. More than 90% expect the rollout of coronavirus vaccines will cause hiring to accelerate in the second quarter. Less than half said they expect hiring to accelerate in the first quarter because of the shots. “The warmer weather next spring, along with fresh optimism that the nightmare of Covid-19 is ending, should produce a burst in consumer and business spending in the second quarter,” said Bernard Baumohl, chief global economist at the Economic Outlook Group. As a result, economists now expect the annualized pace of gross domestic product growth will top 4% in the second and third quarters of next year. On average, they see 4.2% growth in the second quarter, up from 3.6% in last month’s survey, and 4.3% in the third quarter, compared with an earlier forecast of 3.6%.
Feds Admit $2.3 Trillion In Improper Payments --Since 2004, twenty large federal agencies have admitted to disbursing an astonishing $2.25 trillion in improper payments. Last year, these improper payments totaled $175 billion – that’s about $15 billion per month, $500 million per day, and $1 million a minute. But what exactly is an improper payment? Federal law defines the term as “payments made by the government to the wrong person, in the wrong amount, or for the wrong reason." When people or companies receive incorrect payments, it erodes trust and hinders the government’s ability to finance everything from defense to health care. Recently, auditors at OpenTheBooks.com published a 24-page oversight report analyzing why, how, and where federal agencies wasted our tax dollars last year. Here are the top 10 takeaways regarding improper and mistaken payments by the 20 largest federal agencies in 2019:
- 1. Total Mistakes: $175 billion in estimated improper payments reported by the 20 largest federal agencies, averaging $14.6 billion per month – Total (FY2004-FY2019): $2.25 trillion.
- 2. Worst Programs - $121 billion (approximately 69 percent) in improper payments occurred within three program areas – Medicaid, Medicare, and Earned Income Tax Credit.
- 3. Claw Back – only $21.1 billion of the $175 billion improper payments during 2019 was recaptured — that’s only 14 cents on every dollar misspent. Five-year total: $103.6 billion recaptured/ $747.7 billion improperly spent
- 4. Biggest Offenders: [see infographic]
- 5. Dead people: $871.9 million in mistaken payments were made to dead people. Medicaid, social security payments, federal retirement annuity payouts (pensions), and even farm subsidies were sent to dead recipients. Root cause: failure to verify death. Four-year total: $2.8 billion
- 6. Ancient Americans: Six million Social Security numbers are active for people aged 112+; however, only 40 people in the world are known to be older than 112 years of age.
- 7. Worst Upward Trend: Medicaid and Medicare improper payments soared from $64 billion (2012) to $88.6 billion (2017), and, in 2019, to $103.6 billion. Five-year total: $456 billion
- 8. Best Turnaround: In 2018, the Education Department overpaid $6 billion to college students receiving PELL grants and student loans. In 2019, improper payments were reduced to $1.1 billion – an 85-percent reduction.
- 9. Improper Income Redistribution: $17.4 billion in improper payments by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) within the Earned Income Tax Credit program. 25-percent of all payments were improper. Five-year total: $84.35 billion
- 10. Purchasing Power: What can $175 billion buy? Last year, the federal government wasted the equivalent of a full year of all federal salaries, perks, and pension benefits for every employee of the federal executive agencies. A stunning example of institutionalized incompetence.
House to vote Wednesday on a weeklong stopgap to avoid government shutdown The House is expected to vote Wednesday on a stopgap measure to avert a government shutdown after current funding expires this Friday, an acknowledgment that negotiators need more time to reach a longer-term deal. Democratic aides confirmed Monday that the stopgap is expected to last through Dec. 18. House Democratic leaders initially hoped to wrap up work on an all-encompassing spending package, coronavirus economic relief and an annual defense policy bill by Friday and send members home in time to quarantine for two weeks before spending Christmas with their families. Senators were less optimistic last week about getting all that work done so quickly. “Will we do it by the ninth? I’d like [to] but probably not. There’s some challenges that have got to be dealt with,” Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Richard Shelby (R-Ala.) said last Wednesday. House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) pushed back a day later, insisting that "if we think it will not get done, it will not get done." In the end, House Democrats are now acknowledging that negotiators will need more time. Hoyer expressed frustration on Monday that progress is moving slowly on a spending package and coronavirus relief. “Not getting a deal is not on the table,” he told reporters in the Capitol.
NDAA underscores GOP differences with Trump on defense Congress is poised to send President Trump an annual defense bill that breaks with him on policy after policy. The National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) includes a requirement to strip Confederate names from military bases in three years, and excludes a repeal of a tech liability shield — two clear losses for Trump. It separately takes aim at everything from Trump’s troop withdrawals in Germany and Afghanistan to his relationship with Turkey to even his signature border wall. Taken as a whole, the bill Congress will vote on in the coming week reflects broad frustration with Trump as his presidency comes to an end, including from Republicans who don’t often publicly break with the president. “The politicization of our military that has occurred under this administration has encouraged the Armed Services Committee to take its duly recognized responsibility to be a check on the administration as well as our responsibilities for oversight of the military” seriously, Rep. Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.), who sponsored language blocking a Germany drawdown, told The Hill in an interview when asked about the compromise bill’s inclusion of several Trump rebukes. Trump has threatened to veto the NDAA over the tech and Confederate names fights. The House is slated to vote on the bill Tuesday, and the Senate is expected to take it up shortly after that. While Republicans have been reluctant to publicly challenge Trump during his presidency, the few notable times they have were on defense and foreign policy. Five of Trump’s eight vetoes so far have been on foreign policy issues — the war in Yemen, arms sales to Saudi Arabia and tensions with Iran — though lawmakers were unable to override his vetoes. House Democrats are predicting Congress would override his NDAA veto, with House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) telling Bloomberg News in an interview that the lower chamber has the votes to override him. Senate Republicans, though, have said they do not know if the requisite two-thirds of the chamber would be willing to override a veto. Apart from the two issues provoking the veto showdown, the 4,500-page compromise, known as a conference report, is littered throughout with provisions challenging Trump on several fronts. The language on Confederate-named bases was sparked by this summer’s racial justice protests, but that’s not the only thing in the compromise bill related to the protests. The bill would require federal authorities to “visibly display” identifying information when responding to protests after heavy criticism of the Trump administration deploying unmarked law enforcement officers against demonstrators. The NDAA also includes restrictions on the Pentagon program that transfers military-grade equipment sent to local police departments, though it is the Senate’s more narrow restrictions that were approved over stronger language sought by Democrats. Trump’s moves to withdraw troops around the globe were also targeted in the bill, which would block drawdowns in Germany and Afghanistan until the Pentagon sends Congress assessments on the effects withdrawing troops would have. The NDAA also includes a modest rebuke of Trump’s use of Pentagon funding on his southern border wall. The compromise includes House-passed language capping emergency military construction spending at $100 million annually for domestic projects. Trump has not backed down from his veto threat. His recent threats also turned his ire to Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman James Inhofe (R-Okla.), who has been a staunch Trump loyalist on everything but this year’s defense bill..
House approves defense policy bill despite Trump veto threat - The House easily approved the annual defense policy bill Tuesday, defying President Trump’s repeated veto threats.The bill was approved in a 335-78 vote. That's above the two-thirds vote needed to override a veto, but some Republicans could switch their vote if it comes to overriding the president.Overall, 140 Republicans voted "yes" and 37 Democrats voted "no" on Tuesday, with Democratic Rep. Eliot Engel (N.Y.) voting present.The bipartisan approval of the $740 billion National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) will leave supporters hoping the support is strong enough to dissuade Trump from following through with his veto threat.But Trump has so far not backed down from the fight as some of his staunchest allies in Congress cheer him on. And even though many Republicans voted for the bill Tuesday, it’s unclear if they would vote against Trump after a veto and hand him the first override of his presidency.The NDAA, which has become law 59 years in a row, is considered must-pass because it authorizes dozens of special pay and bonuses for service members as well as military construction projects and training programs.“This bipartisan policy bill has been signed into law for 59 consecutive years. Let’s urge the president to show respect to the work of the bicameral, bipartisan Congress and for the sacrifice of our military,” Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said Tuesday ahead of the vote.Trump has threatened to veto the NDAA over two separate issues.First, the bill would require the Pentagon to rename within three years Confederate-named military bases and other property and set up a commission to plan how to carry out those changes.Trump argues that changing the names “desecrates” the bases, but lawmakers in both parties see the change as past due as the military and the nation grapple with racism and the legacy of slavery.The president is also threatening to veto the bill because it does not include a repeal of Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, a 1996 law that gives online platforms liability protection for content posted by third parties while allowing them to make good faith content moderation efforts.Trump, who became fixated on Section 230 after Twitter started adding corrective labels to his unsubstantiated posts alleging widespread voter fraud, demanded late in the negotiations that Congress add a repeal of the decades-old statute to the NDAA. But lawmakers on both sides of the aisle argue the NDAA is not the place to address a tech issue that has little if anything to do with national security.In addition to the two main issues provoking the veto threat, the NDAA rebukes Trump in several areas.It would block troop withdrawals in Afghanistan and Germany until the Pentagon assesses the effect of any drawdown, require sanctions on Turkey for its purchase of a Russian missile defense system and put an annual cap on emergency military construction funding after Trump used billions to build his border wall, among other breaks with the White House.
Lawmakers face hurdles to COVID relief deal --Negotiators in the House and Senate are racing to finish a massive end-of-year deal to fund the government and provide help to workers and families struggling through a worsening pandemic.Last-minute sticking points are threatening to push the talks into the weekend or next week and may scuttle an agreement all together despite momentum for a deal that has been building since last week.Congress is expected to pass a one-week stopgap measure as soon as Wednesday to keep the government funded through Dec. 18. Without such action, the government could shut down on Saturday.“The time is now the problem on all of this,” said Sen. Roy Blunt (R-Mo.), a member of Senate GOP leadership. Leadership hopes to stick long-stalled coronavirus relief onto the mammoth funding bill. They’re juggling that with votes on a defense bill President Trump has threatened to veto and a long-shot effort to block a $23 billion arms sale to the United Arab Emirates. It’s not just a desire to get home for Christmas that makes members want to reach a deal soon.Rising coronavirus case numbers, hospitalizations and deaths, while underscoring the need for a relief measure, are also creating risks for those gathered at the Capitol. “Not getting a deal is not an option,” said House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.). “We have got to come together and have some give and take. But not getting a deal done is not on the table from my perspective.” Both Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) say they want the big deal, but differences on aid to local governments and McConnell’s demand for broad liability protections are among the outstanding issues to be resolved.McConnell, speaking from the Senate floor on Monday, urged Democrats to cut a deal on coronavirus on areas where there is agreement, including vaccine funding and more small-business aid. “We have seen some hopeful signs of engagement from our Democratic colleagues, but we have no reason to think the underlying disagreements about policy are going to evaporate overnight. ... We just need both sides to finally do what members of Congress do when they're serious ... drop the all-or-nothing tactics,” he said. Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) fired back that “our efforts to pass another emergency relief bill through the Senate have been stalled until now for one reason — the Republican leader has refused to compromise.”Congress is facing pressure for a few reasons. Some states and cities are reinstating lockdown measures as cases rise, which would further hurt the economy, and a slew of programs created under the March CARES Act are set to expire in a matter of weeks. While late-in-the-game squabbling over major legislation is practically an annual holiday tradition at the Capitol, lawmakers are even more eager to get out of Washington given the COVID-19 anxieties. Of the 35 members of the House and Senate who have tested positive for COVID-19 since March — excluding several who had presumed cases or tested positive for antibodies — about 40 percent have been in the last month alone.
Warren signals concerns about bipartisan coronavirus framework - Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) signaled concerns on Monday about the framework of a bipartisan coronavirus relief package, the latest sign of skepticism from progressives in both chambers. Warren, speaking to reporters in the Capitol, stressed that there isn't even legislative text on the bicameral framework, but raised red flags over several areas including a GOP push for protections from coronavirus lawsuits. "There's no agreement yet. I am very worried that the dollar amount is too low, people need help. Folks who’ve been getting an extra $600 of unemployment relief are barely making it. Cutting that in half, does not make their lives easier," she told reporters. Warren also said she is "very worried about where the liability provisions land" in ongoing negotiations. A bipartisan, bicameral group of lawmakers unveiled a $908 billion framework last week, which they are currently ironing out behind closed doors as they try to draft text for their proposal. The bill includes, among other provisions, $160 billion for states and cities — a top priority for Democrats — $180 billion for unemployment insurance and $288 billion for more small business assistance through the Paycheck Protection Program. But members of the group haven't yet finalized language on protections from coronavirus-related lawsuits, a serious sticking point to any agreement, and are still trying to iron out the language on more state and local funding, which garners strong pushback from. Neither the bipartisan proposal nor a separate GOP-backed one from Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) includes a second round of direct assistance to taxpayers. The March CARES Act provided a $1,200 check for individuals who make up to $75,000. The lack of a second round of payments has drawn pushback from fellow progressives including Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) and Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.). Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.), a potential 2024 Republican presidential contender, also urged President Trump over the weekend to veto any bill that does not include another round of direct payments.
Mnuchin Defends Coronavirus-Relief Loan to Troubled Trucking Firm YRC – WSJ —Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin defended the government’s decision to lend $700 million in coronavirus-relief funds to trucking firm YRC Worldwide Inc., telling a congressional oversight panel Thursday that taxpayers will profit from the loan. Members of the bipartisan Congressional Oversight Commission, the watchdog group monitoring Treasury loan programs, have questioned how the Overland Park, Kan.-based firm was able to qualify for government aid despite its precarious financial position before the pandemic. Mr. Mnuchin acknowledged the loan was risky and said he was under pressure from lawmakers to extend credit to struggling firms, even if it meant losing money. “If my bank had been underwriting this loan, we would not be making this loan,” said Mr. Mnuchin, who served as chairman of OneWest Bank before joining the Trump administration. “That doesn’t mean I don't think we’re secured and we’ll get our money back.” YRC, one of the nation’s largest trucking companies, qualified for the aid through a $17 billion loan program for firms deemed critical to maintaining national security. The Treasury Department has said it made the national-security decision based on a recommendation and guidance from then-Defense Secretary Mark Esper. YRC carries 68% of the Defense Department’s less-than-truckload shipments, in which cargo from shippers is combined in a single trailer, and it is the leading transportation provider to the Department of Homeland Security and U.S. Customs and Border Protection, the Treasury Department said in a Sept. 4 letter to the commission. Mr. Mnuchin said the government had expected to take losses on the loan, but said the economy had rebounded more quickly than expected, as had the company’s fortunes. “I’m actually quite proud of the fact that we did YRC,” he said. “It saved lots and lots and lots of jobs. I’ve received calls from the company, from truckers, from other people who appreciate this.” He said “whoever is Treasury secretary” next year should consider selling the loan and recovering the profits to taxpayers.
COVID-19 relief should extend CARES Act work-sharing provisions - EPI Blog - With over a million new unemployment claims still being filed each week, job growth slowing, and millions of workers about to lose emergency jobless benefits created through the CARES Act in March, it is imperative that Congress enact another COVID-19 emergency relief package as quickly as possible. In addition to key provisions such as aid to state and local governments and extending the emergency benefits for unemployed workers, Congress should also extend innovative provisions that helped prevent workers from being laid off in the first place—specifically the CARES Act’s federal subsidies for work-sharing. Work-sharing provides a way for many businesses to cope with a drop in consumer demand without having to lay off staff. Under work-sharing, workers’ hours are reduced and they receive partial unemployment insurance (UI) benefits to make up a portion of their lost wages. For example, if a business anticipated having to lay off five workers, they might instead cut in half the hours of 10 staff—achieving the same reduction in total work hours—and those 10 workers would all receive partial unemployment benefits from the state to make up some of their lost income. By keeping workers on the job, work-sharing mitigates the impact of joblessness and reduces unemployment peaks in downturns. Now that coronavirus vaccines appear to be on the horizon, maintaining a connection between more workers and their employers for the first part of next year makes even more sense. As the pandemic is brought under control and regular consumer demand picks up, companies with work-sharing programs won’t have to go through a process of recruiting, hiring, and training new staff; they will be able to quickly ramp back up simply by restoring participants in work-sharing to full time. Although work-sharing has not historically been widely used in the United States, Figure A shows that it is fairly common in other parts of the world. In Belgium, the country with the highest take-up rate, work-sharing participants equaled about 5.6% of employment in 2009, a huge cushioning of Belgian families and businesses from the impact of the Great Recession. For comparison, if the U.S. had the same take-up rate of work-sharing as Belgium, roughly 2 million jobs might have been preserved in 2009.i Figure A also shows that in 10 other countries, work sharing equaled 1% to 4% of employment in 2009—five to 20 times larger than usage in the U.S.
White House Makes Offer to Democrats of $916 Billion Covid-19 Relief Bill – WSJ —The Trump administration made a $916 billion coronavirus relief offer to Democrats, opening yet another front in the multi-track effort to reach an agreement in talks that rank-and-file lawmakers have been leading in the final weeks of the year. The proposal, announced in a brief statement by Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, came after Democrats rejected an effort by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R., Ky.) to narrow the scope of a coronavirus relief bill by excluding aid for hard-hit state and local governments prioritized by Democrats and liability protections sought by Republicans. At the same time, the White House is pushing Republicans to include a new round of direct payments of $600 per person in the emerging package, according to people familiar with the discussions, reviving prospects for checks to households in this round of aid. Those direct checks were included in the White House’s offer to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D., Calif.), House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R., Calif.) told reporters Tuesday. The White House offer didn’t include the $300 per week in unemployment insurance that a bipartisan group had coalesced around, according to aides from both parties. Mr. Mnuchin said he had reviewed the proposal with President Trump, Mr. McCarthy and Mr. McConnell. Mrs. Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D., N.Y.) reacted coolly to the fresh offer, highlighting its sharp cut in proposed spending on jobless benefits. In a joint statement, they said the proposal marked progress, but “must not be allowed to obstruct the bipartisan Congressional talks that are underway.” Mr. McConnell hasn’t commented on the administration’s latest offer. The re-engagement from the White House and back-and-forth between party leaders complicated a delicate effort from a small group of lawmakers to finalize the details of their own $908 billion compromise effort. Congress and the White House have for months failed to put together a fifth coronavirus aid package, prompting an informal set of Republicans and Democrats to try to craft their own bill in recent weeks.
'Unacceptable': Democrats reject new White House proposal that would slash weekly unemployment benefits in exchange for one-time $600 stimulus checks - Democrats are rejecting a White House proposal to fund new $600 stimulus checks by slashing money for the unemployed. On Tuesday evening, US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin proposed a new $916 billion COVID-19 stimulus package that would offer aid to state and local governments in exchange for "robust liability protections" for businesses, protecting them from employee lawsuits over the spread of COVID-19 in the workplace.Mnuchin's proposal, welcomed by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, also includes money for a new round of $600 stimulus checks — the funds coming, in part, by slashing a proposed $300-a-week boost in unemployment benefits. "That is unacceptable," House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said in a joint statement. The Democratic lawmakers noted that a bipartisan stimulus package calls for providing $180 billion in new funding for unemployment insurance, a figure that would be slashed to $40 billion under the White House offer. A $3 trillion stimulus package passed by House Democrats in May calls for $1,200 stimulus checks. "While it is progress that Leader McConnell has signed off on a $916 billion offer that is based off of the bipartisan framework, the president's proposal must not be allowed to obstruct the bipartisan congressional talks that are underway," they said.
Unemployment claims hit highest level in months: Millions more jobs will be lost if Congress doesn’t act -- EPI Blog by Heidi Shierholz --Another 1.3 million people applied for UI benefits last week, including 853,000 people who applied for regular state UI and 428,000 who applied for Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA). The 1.3 million who applied for UI last week was an increase of 276,000 from the prior week, bringing initial claims back to their highest point since September. Further, last week’s increase was not just due to week-to-week volatility in the data. The four-week moving average of total initial claims is now at its highest point since October. In other words, layoffs appear to be rising, consistent with the resurgent virus. And, last week was the 38th straight week total initial claims were greater than the worst week of the Great Recession. (If that comparison is restricted to regular state claims—because we didn’t have PUA in the Great Recession—initial claims last week were greater than the second-worst week of the Great Recession.)Most states provide 26 weeks (six months) of regular benefits, but this crisis has gone on for nearly nine months. That means many workers have exhausted their regular state UI benefits. In the most recent data, the four-week moving average of continuing claims for regular state UI dropped by 260,000 (note: the weekly number increased, but that was likely due to week-to-week volatility in the data).For now, after an individual exhausts regular state benefits, they can move onto Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation (PEUC), which is an additional 13 weeks of regular state UI. However, PEUC is set to expire on December 26 (as is PUA—more on these expirations below).In the latest data available for PEUC (the week ending November 21), PEUC ticked down by 36,000. How did this happen, with so many people exhausting regular state UI and needing to get on PEUC? Many of the roughly 2 million workers who were on UI before the recession began, or who are in states with less than the standard 26 weeks of regular state benefits, are now exhausting PEUC benefits, at the same time others are taking it up. More than 1.5 million workers had exhausted PEUC by the end of October, and that figure will be substantially higher now (see column C43 in form ETA 5159 for PEUC here).In some states, if workers exhaust PEUC, they can get on yet another program, Extended Benefits (EB). However, in the latest data, just 615,000 workers were on EB. That’s far less than half of those who have exhausted PEUC. Most are left with nothing.
The Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey continues to show weaker levels of hires than before the recession hit: Any hope for a quick recovery is off the table unless Congress acts now -EPI Blog - Last week, the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reported that, as of the middle of November, the economy was still 9.8 million jobs below where it was in February and job growth slowed considerably in November. Today’s BLS Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS) reports little change in October, a clear and confirming sign that the recovery is not charging ahead. In fact, hiring and job openings are below where they were before the recession hit, which makes it impossible to recover anytime soon, when we have such a massive hole to fill in the labor market.In October, job openings rose mildly (6.5 to 6.7 million) while hires softening slightly (5.9 to 5.8 million). Separations increased (4.8 to 5.1 million), largely due to an unfortunate increase in layoffs (1.4 to 1.6 million). On the whole, the U.S. economy is seeing a significantly slower pace of hiring than we experienced in May or June—hiring is roughly where it was before the recession, which is a big problem given that we have only recovered just over half of the job losses from this spring. And job openings are now substantially below where they were before the recession began (6.7 million at the end of October, compared to 7.1 million on average in the year prior to the recession). And today’s data release only covers through October, so it doesn’t even capture November’s slowdown in job growth. With hiring and job openings at these levels, the economy is facing a long slow recovery, unless Congress acts.One of the most striking indicators from today’s report is the job seekers ratio, that is, the ratio of unemployed workers (averaged for mid-October and mid-November) to job openings (at the end of October). On average, there were 10.9 million unemployed workers while there were only 6.7 million job openings. This translates into a job seeker ratio of about 1.6 unemployed workers to every job opening. Another way to think about this: for every 16 workers who were officially counted as unemployed, there were only available jobs for 10 of them. That means, no matter what they did, there were no jobs for 4.2 million unemployed workers. And this misses the fact that many more weren’t counted among the unemployed. The economic pain remains widespread with over 26 million workers hurt by the coronavirus downturn. Without congressional action to stimulate the economy, we are facing a slow, painful recovery. As winter approaches and many families face eviction and hunger as well as growing COIVD-19 cases, the incoming Biden administration will be facing a mounting, not waning, crisis. We cannot wait: Congress must take immediate action to provide relief to all of those unemployed workers who have no hope for employment and are desperately trying to make ends meet.
Senate Averts Shutdown as Covid-Aid Talks Continue – WSJ —The Senate passed a stopgap measure to fund the government for one week, giving lawmakers more time to negotiate a long-sought coronavirus-relief agreement and wrap up a broader spending package. President Trump signed the measure into law Friday night. Approval of the short-term spending bill sets up a sprint to resolve a set of difficult issues before Congress in a matter of days. In the coronavirus talks, a bipartisan group of lawmakers has struggled to close out a proposal because of disagreements on how to craft liability protections for businesses, schools, and health-care providers who face coronavirus-related lawsuits. The negotiations on the liability issue among the rank-and-file members has prompted Senate Republicans to push for excluding the issue from the current bill entirely, dropping a demand that any relief bill must include it. In return, Republicans are insisting that the bill also exclude aid for state and local governments, a measure championed by Democrats. Democrats have so far rejected the trade. They maintain the bill must include aid for state and local governments whose finances have suffered during the pandemic.Lawmakers are expected to pair any coronavirus-relief agreement with a spending package covering the rest of the federal fiscal year. On top of trying to meet the funding deadline for next week, Congress also faces the expiration of several unemployment and other relief programs implemented earlier this year. While talks are set to continue on liability provisions this weekend, Senate Republican leadership is reviewing other parts of the agreement, according to a person familiar with the talks. Lawmakers have agreed to other elements of the bipartisan framework, including adding $300 a week to state unemployment benefits for four months, providing $300 billion in aid to small businesses, and sending $35 billion for health-care providers. The short-term patch extends funding through Dec. 18. The Senate passed the extension Friday afternoon after Sens. Bernie Sanders (I., Vt.) and Josh Hawley (R., Mo.) dropped their objections to quickly proceeding to the government funding bill. The pair has sought a vote on sending another set of $1,200 direct checks to many Americans. Senate Majority Whip John Thune (R., S.D.) said Congress could possibly approve another round of direct checks if it doesn’t provide new funding for state and local governments. “I think in lieu of state and local government payments, I’ve said this before, I could see you, you know, dropping individual payments in the package,” he said. “And you wouldn’t be able to get as much as they’re talking about but it would still be a pretty significant direct payment to people out there.” But Sen. Joe Manchin (D., W.Va.) said that the bipartisan negotiators didn’t want to pull state and local aid and liability protections out of their effort. “We’re still working, nothing is coming out,” he said.
McConnell rejects bipartisan Covid relief plan while House adjourns until next week - Few signs of progress toward a coronavirus relief deal emerged Thursday as Congress inches closer to letting millions of Americans fall deeper into financial peril. They will have to wait longer for Washington to figure out how to help them. After votes Thursday, House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md., told representatives the chamber would adjourn until at least Tuesday pending an agreement on pandemic aid and full-year government funding. The House's move to end work for the week came as Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell's staff informed congressional leadership offices that Senate Republicans likely would not support a $908 billion bipartisan proposal, according to NBC News. Politico first reported the Kentucky Republican's plan to brush aside the plan, which members of his caucus have helped to craft. Congressional leaders continue to stress the importance of approving a rescue package in the coming days to prevent about 12 million Americans from losing unemployment benefits and stop families across the country from getting tossed out of their homes. Despite a flurry of activity to try to reach a deal, lawmakers still have not resolved disputes that have driven months of failure to respond to a once-in-a-century health and economic crisis. It remains unclear what kind of package could garner the support of both the GOP-controlled Senate and Democratic-held House. On Thursday, Democrats again endorsed the bipartisan talks. Those discussions, however, still have not yielded legislation as lawmakers finalize provisions related to state and local government relief and GOP-backed legal immunity for businesses. NBC News reported that the group agreed Thursday afternoon on how to distribute $160 billion in state and local funds, but has not resolved questions about legal immunity. Speaking on the Senate floor Thursday, Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., described the bipartisan negotiations as "the only real game in town" to craft a bill that could get through a divided Congress. He contended McConnell has tried to trip up those talks in favor of a plan that includes only policies Republicans support.McConnell targeted Democrats on Thursday for what he called efforts to delay new relief. He has backed more narrow legislation of about $500 billion, which would be based around Paycheck Protection Program small business loans. It would not include additional federal unemployment benefits or direct payments.
Schumer calls on Biden to bypass Congress and forgive $50K in student loans per person -Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) continues to urge President-elect Joe Biden to make cancelling some student debt a priority once he takes office next year, telling reporters this week that the incoming president could forgive as much as “$50,000 of debt the first day” he assumes power.“We have come to the conclusion that President Biden can undo this debt, can forgive $50,000 of debt the first day he becomes president,” he said outside his office in Manhattan on Monday, according to CNBC. “You don’t need Congress. All you need is the flick of a pen.” The comment comes several months after senate leader introduced a plan alongside Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) calling on whoever won this year's presidential election to use their authority to cancel up to $50,000 in student loan debt for all borrowers with federal loans.In an op-ed published last week co-authored by both senators, they maintain that, “Broad cancellation of student debt would give tens of millions of Americans $200 to $300 more to spend and save each month.”Over 40 million people across the country are estimated to owe hundreds of millions of dollars in loans. If Biden were to move forward the senators’ proposal and forgive up to $50,000 in student loan for borrowers next year, the student loan debts owed by more than 75 percent of the country’s borrowers would be erased.At the time Warren and Schumer announced the proposal in September, the Massachusetts Democrat argued the measure would “give a boost” to the nation’s economy as it grapples with the ongoing pandemic. Schumer also highlighted the wealth gap between minorities and white Americans in his comments on Monday, according to Fox News, while pushing for Biden to cancel student loan debt. “The Federal Reserve says this would be a huge shot in the arm to the economy,” Schumer reportedly said."College should be a ladder up but student debt makes it an anchor down. For far too many students and graduate students, some years out of school, student loans and federal student loans are becoming a forever burden," the senate leader also said on Monday, according to the news outlet. Biden has previously supported cancelling $10,000 of student loan debt by way of legislation. However, he hasn't yet indicated support for cancelling as much as $50,000 in student loan debt for borrowers, nor doing so through executive action.
JPMorgan gives recovery policy recommendations to Biden team - JPMorgan Chase & Co. has shared policy recommendations for economic recovery, including calls for further stimulus, with key members of President-elect Joe Biden’s transition team, The Hill has confirmed. The JPMorgan Chase PolicyCenter, a year-old policy shop headed by former Obama adviser Heather Higginbottom, compiled the list of recommendations based on an analysis of anonymized data from its clients, which it says are good, real-time indicators of how the economy is faring. Parts of Biden's transition team have actively reached out to ask for the proposals as well. CNBC first reported the story. In arguing for further stimulus and reinstating expanded unemployment insurance, for example, the document points to the fact that the payments were used up quickly, especially by low-income households. Economists often look to whether economic support is spent, which stimulates the economy, rather than being stashed aside for later. The report also noted that after $600 in extra weekly unemployment payments from March’s CARES Act expired at the end of July, spending dropped quickly among the unemployed. “While the unemployed roughly doubled their liquid savings over the four-month period between March and July 2020, they spent two-thirds of the accumulated savings in August alone,” the paper noted. Higginbottom says the bank's data gave unique insights into how the extra unemployment and its expiration affected families during the crisis. “What our research shows is that the families needed it, they saved it, they have been rapidly spending it down, and without it they’re in dire trouble,” she said. The policy list also endorsed long-term recommendations for helping people create financial buffers, such as special retirement-like accounts for rainy days and baby bonds, a policy Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) championed in his presidential run. The policy paper homed in on African American and Hispanic communities as particularly vulnerable and called for affordable housing and homeownership programs for underserved communities. It called for extending forbearance on student loans during the COVID-19 crisis but not forgiving them, as advocates such as Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) have called on Biden to do through executive order, and restoring small-business relief.
Biden eyes infrastructure package to help economic, climate goals --The Biden administration is eyeing a major infrastructure package as a way to boost the economy and advance its climate priorities, with lawmakers on both sides of the aisle eager for progress after four years of fits and starts under President Trump. Democrats and Republicans alike agree that the nation’s crumbling roads and bridges are badly in need of repairs, but those bipartisan sentiments weren’t enough to get a trillion dollar spending bill across the finish line during the Trump administration.The coronavirus pandemic, however, has created an opening for large spending bills, and infrastructure proponents are hoping there will be momentum for legislation early next year to help the faltering economy.While such legislation would aim to fund typical road and bridge projects, Democrats are likely to push for bigger investments in clean energy, transit, broadband and more that were laid out in Biden’s campaign proposals.But those ambitions could be hamstrung by the GOP’s renewed interest in battling the deficit, particularly if Democrats eye a transportation bill as a form of fiscal stimulus.“Now it’s time to either raise the user fee or deficit spend, and if you’re opposed to both, there’s no place to go,” said Beth Osborne, director of Transportation For America, a group that advocates for more transit funding. Here are three areas to watch on transportation and infrastructure in 2021.
Matt Taibbi criticizes Biden's top picks for administration posts | TheHill (video) Journalist Matt Taibbi criticized President-elect Joe Biden's picks for top administration posts, arguing the former vice president was choosing officials who are likely to back moderate policies instead of more progressive ones.“They’re just trying to preempt any criticism of these picks by saying, ‘Do you have a problem with women? Do you have a problem with minorities?’” Taibbi said in a Hill.TV interview. “It’s a rehash of the same strategy that the Clinton Democrats have had for a while now, which is to try to disguise a lunge rightward or towards corporate donors by making themselves in the language of social progressivism.”“They’re not going to reform themselves because they think it might lose voters,” Taibbi added. “They’d rather lose and stay in their cushy Washington lobby jobs than win by taking a new approach that would cut out the donors.”Taibbi singled out Biden's nomination of Neera Tanden to lead the Office of Management and Budget, arguing it sends a clear message that his administration isn’t interested in shifting toward social progressivism.Tanden has also come under harsh criticism from the right, with some Senate Republicans indicating she will have a difficult if not impossible road to confirmation.
McCain, Kristol battle over Tanden nomination - Conservative pundit Meghan McCain slammed fellow conservative Bill Kristol for praising President-elect Joe Biden's pick for the director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB). Biden is reportedly set to nominate Neera Tanden to the post of OMB director. Tanden currently serves as head of the Center for American Progress, a left-leaning think tank and political action group. "Serious conservatives, responsible moderates, and hard-headed liberals should want a tough-minded OMB head," Kristol said on Monday. "OMB is where Cabinet secretaries' ill-considered projects go to die, where programs are evaluated, where trade-offs are made. Neera Tanden is the right person for the job." McCain, who was been critical of Biden as he ran for president, snapped at Kristol for embracing the idea of a liberal being nominated to head the agency responsible for balancing the administration's budget. "Please don't insult me and say as a serious conservative I should be supporting the head of the hard-left advocacy group Center for American Progress," McCain said. "Intellectually dishonest and craven on your part Bill." Kristol, a longtime conservative journalist and author, is a key member of the Never-Trump movement in the Republican Party. McCain, the daughter of the late Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), serves as a co-host on ABC's "The View" and often offers the program a right-of-center perspective during discussions. Biden, in addressing the nation several times since being projected as the winner of the presidential election, has promised to unify the country and work as hard for citizens who voted against him as those who did not.
Biden to pick retired Gen. Lloyd Austin to be next Defense secretary - President-elect Joe Biden will nominate retired Army Gen. Lloyd Austin to serve as secretary of Defense, a source familiar with the process confirmed. Austin would be the first Black Defense secretary in the United States. He previously served as the first Black chief of U.S. Central Command from 2013 to 2016. Politico first reported Austin’s selection. Biden has been under pressure to nominate a Black defense secretary, with Black leaders arguing he was falling short on diversity in his Cabinet as top positions filled up. Two other of the so-called “Big Four” Cabinet heads Biden has chosen are white: Antony Blinken as secretary of State and Janet Yellen as Treasury secretary. With the Defense secretary chosen, only the attorney general Cabinet position remains open among the Big Four. Spokespeople for Biden’s transition did not immediately respond to requests for comment from The Hill, but representatives for Biden's transition team and Austin declined to comment to Politico. Biden had said earlier Monday he would name his Pentagon nominee by Friday. Michele Flournoy, who served as under secretary of Defense for policy, had initially been seen as a lock to be Biden’s Defense secretary, but the competition heated up the longer he went without naming his choice. Flournoy would have been the first female Defense secretary. But in addition facing pressure to choose a Black nominee, Biden heard from a slew of progressives staunchly opposed to Flournoy. Among other concerns, progressives cited her split with Biden to support a troop surge in Afghanistan during the Obama administration, her alleged support for selling weapons to the Saudis until relatively recently, her board position at defense contractor Booz Allen Hamilton and her co-founding of strategic risk consulting firm WestExec Advisors, which counted defense contractors among its clients. Blinken is WestExec’s other co-founder, and several other members of the incoming administration also have WestExec ties. Austin does not come without his own baggage. He also serves on a defense contractor board, Raytheon. While serving as Central Command chief in 2015, Austin was shredded by lawmakers during a hearing over a failed $500 million program to train moderate Syrian opposition fighters to battle ISIS that only produced “four or five” fighters. Perhaps most significantly, he has not been retired from the military for as long as the law requires a Defense secretary to be. The law mandates a seven-year cooling off period, and Austin retired in 2016. Congress could pass a waiver for Austin like it did with former Defense Secretary James Mattis in 2017. But several lawmakers said at the time Mattis was a unique situation, as he was one of the military’s most respected leaders who lawmakers hoped would rein in President Trump’s most dangerous impulses.
Biden unveils health team with Becerra, Murthy, Walensky in top roles President-elect Joe Biden officially unveiled his health team early Monday, naming California Attorney General Xavier Becerra (D) as secretary of Health and Human Services. Vivek Murthy was selected to return to his role as surgeon general, and Rochelle Walensky was picked as director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Biden also announced that Anthony Fauci, the nation’s leading infectious diseases expert, will remain as director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. The top health officials will be responsible for guiding the country through the coronavirus pandemic, which has infected tens of millions of people across the globe, killed more than 280,000 Americans and ravaged the economy. Biden similarly announced members of his intended national security and economic teams in recent weeks. Becerra and Murthy will each need to be confirmed by the Senate. “This trusted and accomplished team of leaders will bring the highest level of integrity, scientific rigor, and crisis-management experience to one of the toughest challenges America has ever faced — getting the pandemic under control so that the American people can get back to work, back to their lives, and back to their loved ones,” Biden said in a statement. “This team of world-class medical experts and public servants will be ready on day one to mobilize every resource of the federal government to expand testing and masking, oversee the safe, equitable, and free distribution of treatments and vaccines, re-open schools and businesses safely, lower prescription drug and other health costs and expand affordable health care to all Americans, and rally the country and restore the belief that there is nothing beyond America's capacity if we do it together,” Biden added. He is expected to introduce the members of his health team at an event on Tuesday. Becerra served 12 terms in the House representing Los Angeles. Since being elected California attorney general in 2016, he has been among the most aggressive state attorneys general in suing the Trump administration over immigration measures and health care and environmental rollbacks. Becerra is the second Latino named to a high-profile Cabinet position by Biden. He will be tasked with leading a sprawling agency that is responsible for managing the response to the coronavirus pandemic, which has already killed more than 280,000 people in the U.S. The Department of Health and Human Services will also be responsible for overseeing the distribution of a coronavirus vaccine in the coming months. Murthy, who was surgeon general from 2014 to 2017, had expected to play a key role in the Biden administration. He has advised Biden for months on the coronavirus pandemic, which was a central focus of Biden’s successful presidential campaign. Murthy said in a tweet Monday morning that he plans to be a "voice for science" in this "moment of crisis." Walensky, chief of infectious diseases at Massachusetts General Hospital, recently completed a study in partnership with Yale University looking at the efficacy rates of the coronavirus vaccines on a general population. She will be a leading player in the rollout of a coronavirus vaccine, which is expected to begin in the coming weeks and extend well into next year. The vaccine is not expected to be available to the general U.S. population until spring. Biden said last week that he planned to offer Fauci the role of chief medical adviser on his coronavirus team. Fauci, who has served as director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases since 1984, said on NBC’s “Today” that he accepted the offer “right on the spot."
Trump Administration Is Planting Loyalists in Biden Transition Meetings - The New York Times — Loyalists to President Trump have blocked transition meetings at some government agencies and are sitting in on discussions at other agencies between career civil servants and President-elect Joseph R. Biden Jr.’s transition teams, sometimes chilling conversations, several federal officials said. At the Environmental Protection Agency, political appointees have joined virtually every discussion between career staff members and Mr. Biden’s team, monitoring conversations on climate change, scientific research and other topics. At the State Department such drop-ins are happening on what Trump appointees define as an as-needed basis. On Tuesday Mr. Biden’s transition team was allowed for the first time into the National Security Agency, but at the United States Agency for Global Media, parent of Voice of America, the Trump-appointed leader is refusing to cooperate with the Biden transition team, two agency officials confirmed. Presidential transition experts said the presence of political officials at agency handoff meetings was not unheard-of and could even be seen as helpful. President George W. Bush, for example, worked closely in late 2008 with Barack Obama’s incoming team to help calm volatile financial markets. But against a backdrop of Mr. Trump’s refusal to concede election defeat, the actions of Trump appointees appeared to be a pernicious effort to slow the transition, some experts said. “The norm is that the political people are not involved in the nuts and bolts of this,” said Michael E. Herz, a professor of administrative law at the Cardozo School of Law at Yeshiva University. He called the Trump administration’s apparent determination to micromanage the transition process by overseeing meetings part of its broader plan to “milk their authority as long as they can and disrupt the new administration as much as they can.” Under the Presidential Transition Act, career employees play the primary role in managing the agency transitions, largely because they bring an institutional knowledge about the government functions and have been viewed as unpolitical stewards of the agencies they serve. No clear rules or guidelines, however, detail how the process should unfold. During the handoff from Mr. Obama’s administration to Mr. Trump, for example, political officials were explicitly disinvited from transition meetings, said Thomas A. Burke, who served as E.P.A. science adviser in the Obama administration at the time. “To me, that’s the equivalent of having the opposing coach sitting in the room as you’re developing your team’s strategy,” he said. Myron Ebell, a senior fellow at the Competitive Enterprise Institute who led the Trump administration’s transition for the E.P.A., agreed that Mr. Obama’s political appointees were not present but said he would have liked to meet with them. Regardless, he said, meetings were held in an open-plan office space. “I assumed that everything we said and the people we were talking to was open to the political people there,” Mr. Ebell said. “And they never said ‘we cleaned the room and it has no microphones in it.’”
Dianne Feinstein 'struggling' with cognitive decline: report — Sen. Dianne Feinstein, the oldest member of the Senate at age 87 and the most senior Democrat on its powerful Judiciary Committee, is “seriously struggling” with cognitive decline, a new report says. People familiar with the California lawmaker’s situation told the New Yorker on Wednesday that Feinstein’s short-term memory has grown so poor that she “often forgets she has been briefed on a topic, accusing her staff of failing to do so just after they have.” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) has had several “painful” discussions with Feinstein about stepping aside, but the octogenarian reportedly soon forgets about their talks, forcing Schumer to confront her again, one source said. “It was like Groundhog Day, but with the pain fresh each time,” the source said. Overtures were also reportedly made to Feinstein’s billionaire husband, Richard C. Blum. Grumblings over Feinstein’s performance have grown increasingly loud, leading to her decision to step down last month as ranking member of the elite Judiciary Committee. Pundits were unhappy with Feinstein’s handling of the confirmation of President Trump’s most recent Supreme Court nominee, Amy Coney Barrett. The lawmaker bungled several questions and then caused a furor when she concluded Barrett’s hearings by hugging Judiciary Committee Chairman Lindsey Graham (R-SC) and praising him for “one of the best set of hearings that I have participated in.” Schumer was reportedly so concerned about Feinstein’s performance that he “installed a trusted former aide, Max Young, to ’embed’ in the Judiciary Committee to make sure the hearings didn’t go off the rails,” the New Yorker reported.
US slaps 15% anti-dumping tariffs on Korean oil pipelines - The US has decided to impose anti-dumping duties on South Korean oil pipelines of up to 15 percent. According to the Korea International Trade Association on Sunday, the US Department of Commerce recently made a final ruling at an annual review of anti-dumping duties on Korea oil pipelines to levy tariffs between 9.33 percent and 15.07 percent. Compared to last year’s figure, which stood at 22.7 percent to 38.87 percent, the tariffs have been slashed by more than half. The US Department of Commerce adjusts anti-dumping tariffs annually. By company, the tariff on pipelines from Nexteel comes to 15.07 percent, while for products made by SeAH Steel it reaches 9.33 percent. For products made by the remaining 30 companies, the tariff stands at 11.6 percent. The tariff cut came after the Court of International Trade in January ordered Washington to readjust its earlier duties, following complaints from Korean steelmakers. To justify earlier duties, the US Department of Commerce cited “particular market situation” regulations, which allow for high tariff rates on goods from countries where export prices are believed to have deviated from those of the domestic market. Korean pipeline exports to the US were valued at $350 million in 2018.
Exclusive-Trump administration moves forward with $1 billion Moroccan arms deal (Reuters) - President Donald Trump’s administration moved forward with $1 billion in sales of drones and precision-guided weapons to Morocco on Friday, sending a notice to Congress about the potential deals, according to sources familiar with the notification. The deal includes four MQ-9B SeaGuardian drones made by privately-held General Atomics, and Hellfire, Paveway and JDAM precision-guided munitions made by Lockheed Martin, Raytheon and Boeing, the sources said. Reuters was first to report on Thursday that Washington was negotiating the sale and would notify Congress shortly. News of the deal came as the White House announced an agreement brokered with U.S. help for Morocco to normalize relations with Israel. Earlier this year the U.S. offered stealthy F-35 jet fighters to the United Arab Emirates in a side deal to the U.S.-brokered agreement between the United Arab Emirates and Israel to normalize relations. Congress is notified about major international weapons deals and given the opportunity to review them before they go through. Under U.S. weapons export law, members of Congress can attempt to block such sales by offering resolutions of disapproval, but sources said that was not expected in this case.
DHS to begin accepting new DACA applications following court order -The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced on Monday that it will be accepting new applications for the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program after a judge ordered the Trump administration to restore the program on Friday, CNN reports. According to a release on the DHS website, first-time DACA requests will now be accepted along with renewals. One-year grants of extended action and employment authorization will be expanded to two years. Despite complying with the order issued by Judge Nicholas Garaufis, DHS indicated it may appeal the decision. “DHS will comply with Judge Garaufis’ order while it remains in effect, but DHS may seek relief from the order,” read the release. Garaufis’s order on Friday backed up a ruling he made in November that stated new DACA rules made by acting Secretary Chad Wolf were invalid. Garaufis found that Wolf, though serving in an acting capacity as head of DHS, was not legally serving as Homeland Security Secretary. As CNN notes, the Trump administration unsuccessfully attempted to end DACA in 2017 when the Supreme Court blocked the action. Soon after the Supreme Court’s ruling, Wolf said the DHS would not longer be accepting new applications and shortened renewals to one year. The order on Friday called for the DHS to publicly make it clear that it was accepting new applications. Around 1 million adults and teens will now be eligible to apply to DACA. About 640,000 people are currently enrolled in the program. Before the judge's ruling, President-elect Joe Biden had promised to fully restore DACA upon assuming office in January. Biden announced that he was picking Alejandro Mayorkas as his nominee to lead the DHS. Mayorkas previously served as director of United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) and deputy director of DHS.
DHS Investigated For Spying On Citizens Using Cell Data From Mobile Advertising -The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is launching an inspector general investigation into whether federal agencies surveilled Americans via their cell phone data without a warrant. While this sounds like nothing new, it involved federal agents buying access to a large commercial database.According to a letter the DHS sent to Congressional leaders last week and obtained by The Wall Street Journal:The department’s inspector general told five Democratic senators that his office would initiate an audit "to determine if the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and its components have developed, updated, and adhered to policies related to cell-phone surveillance devices," according to a letter sent last week to Capitol Hill and shared with The Wall Street Journal. Putting aside the dubiousness of a major federal agency mounting an "objective" probe of one of its own internal departments over violations of Constitutional rights, the episode shows the US government has done little in the way of reform after the Edward Snowden NSA revelations of 2013. Of course, there were few that believed subsequent empty "promises" of politicians to curtail illegal domestic spying in the first place.In this newest case the investigation will focus on US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and its alleged use of of commercially-available phone tracking data to snoop on the whereabouts of individuals. Congressional inquiries started when it was first revealed the CBP payed up to $500,000 to private company for access to a commercial database which has "location data mined from applications on millions of Americans' mobile phones."The company at the center of the probe is a government contractor named Venntel which sources its data from mobile advertising to create "100 percent commercially available data".Last Wednesday a group of Senators led by Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) and Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass) issued a statement which said the following: If federal agencies are tracking American citizens without warrants, the public deserves answers and accountability, I won’t accept anything less than a thorough and swift inspector general investigation that sheds light on CBP’s phone location data surveillance program."CBP is not above the law and it should not be able to buy its way around the Fourth Amendment," the senators said in the letter addressed to Inspector General Joseph Cuffari.
Google Monopolizes Ad Markets Through Conduct Lawmakers Prohibit in Other Electronic Trading Markets -The United States and many other countries are investigating Google for violating domestic competition laws. Right now the U.S. Department of Justice is grabbing the most headlines with its decision to file formal antitrust charges against Google for monopolizing the search and search advertising markets. But the Department, U.S. states, and foreign governments continue to investigate the company for its dominance of online display advertising markets.My new paper “Why Google Dominates Advertising Markets,” supported by INET and publishing today in the Stanford Technology Law Review, analyzes the structure of advertising markets, why Google dominates them, and what can be done.In a nutshell the case is simple: Online ads are traded on centralized electronic trading venues and Google maintains an iron grip on this vast market by engaging in conduct that lawmakers routinely prohibit in other electronic trading markets.At the heart of the story is an industry in the midst of transformational change. Ads used to be bought and sold by Mad-Men types over two-martini lunches off Madison Avenue. Today, about 85% of all online display ads in the U.S. are bought and sold electronically and at high-speed through centralized trading venues, which the industry calls “exchanges.” The shift to electronic trading started in 2004, the same year the New York Stock Exchange migrated from a floor-based exchange to electronic trading.The parallels between Wall Street and advertising do not end there. To buy a share of Tesla on the NYSE, one has to go through a broker. Advertising markets also have middlemen and, in contrast to the world of Mad Men, middle women. To buy ad space on The Washington Post from Google’s advertising exchange, an advertiser like Proctor & Gamble has to go through a middleman, called a trading desk or demand-side software (DSP). A publisher like The Washington Post also goes through a middleman to sell on exchanges. The software that publishers go through is called an ad server. The network of market transactions looks rather like this: Google dominates at each and every step in this set of markets. The giant concern is that Google operates the largest advertising exchange, the largest sell-side middleman that publishers use, as well as the largest buy-side middlemen that advertisers use. More often than not, for any given transaction on its exchange, Google also sits on both sides—the sell-side and the buy-side. The equivalent in the U.S. would be if the firm that operated the NYSE also owned and operated Goldman Sachs—with no formal rules to prevent conflicts of interest management.
US Federal Trade Commission sues Facebook over monopolistic acquisitions and anticompetitive practices - The Federal Trade Commission (FTC), with the support of 48 US states and districts, sued the social media monopoly Facebook on Wednesday, charging it with suppressing competition and violating antitrust laws. In a 53-page “complaint for injunctive and other equitable relief,” the FTC brought the lawsuit in the US District Court for Washington, DC against Facebook with the backing of 46 states and the District of Columbia and Guam. The lawsuit says that Facebook has “maintained its monopoly position by buying up companies that present competitive threats and by imposing restrictive policies that unjustifiably hinder actual or potential rivals that Facebook does not or cannot acquire.” The aim of the lawsuit is to seek a permanent injunction by the court that would require Facebook to “unwind” its asset acquisitions by means of alleged monopolistic practices—including Instagram and WhatsApp—and to both prohibit Facebook from imposing anticompetitive conditions on software developers in the future and require the company to seek government approval for any future mergers or acquisitions. Facebook responded to the antitrust action with a lengthy Newsroom statement by Jennifer Newstead, Vice President and General Counsel. Newstead points out that both acquisitions of Instagram and WhatsApp were reviewed and approved by US regulatory bodies at the time. “The FTC conducted an in-depth ‘Second Request’ of the Instagram transaction in 2012 before voting unanimously to clear it. The European Commission reviewed the WhatsApp transaction in 2014 and found no risk of harm to competition in any potential market,” she writes. Newstead adds defiantly, “Now, many years later, with seemingly no regard for settled law or the consequences to innovation and investment, the agency is saying it got it wrong and wants a do-over. In addition to being revisionist history, this is simply not how the antitrust laws are supposed to work.” The FTC action against Facebook comes seven weeks after the US Department of Justice (DoJ) launched an antitrust lawsuit against Google in the same district court. The DoJ complaint stated that Google (and its parent organization Alphabet, Inc.) engaged in “unlawfully maintaining monopolies in the markets for general search services, search advertising, and general search text advertising in the United States through anticompetitive and exclusionary practices.” The suit also follows by eight weeks the publication by the House of Representatives antitrust subcommittee report on the business practices of Apple, Amazon, Facebook and Google. This report stated that the big tech companies “that once were scrappy, underdog startups that challenged the status quo have become the kinds of monopolies we last saw in the era of oil barons and railroad tycoons.”
14 Fort Hood Officers And Soldiers Fired For Violence On Base - On Tuesday, the US Army announced that it had either fired or suspended 14 officers and enlisted soldiers at Fort Hood, Texas, for acts of violence or harassment carried out on base.Fort Hood is the notorious military base where dozens of soldiers have died from unnatural causes in the past year, including 20-year-old Vanessa Guillen, who was murdered at the base by a fellow soldier and had allegedly reported sexual harassment in her unit prior to her disappearance.Along with the suspensions and firings, the Army has also ordered policy changes to address failures of leadership that contributed to a widespread pattern of violence, including murder, sexual assault, and harassment at the base.Army Secretary Ryan McCarthy fired three top commanders and suspended two others pending a further investigation. He also ordered a separate investigation into staffing and procedures at the base’s Criminal Investigation Command unit, which is responsible for investigating crimes on Fort Hood, according to the Associated Press.In the past year, at least 25 soldiers stationed at Fort Hood have died from suicide, homicide, or some type of tragic accident. McCarthy said that an independent panel found that leadership at the base has overlooked and disregarded credible threats of various types of abuse that took place at the base. McCarthy also ordered the Army to change its policy in regards to the protocol for dealing with missing soldiers. Currently, there is no standard procedure for making sure that missing soldiers are safe and accounted for, which is something the Army is promising to change. Among the high ranking figures fired is Army Maj. Gen. Scott Efflandt, who was left in charge of the base earlier this year when Guillen was killed, Col. Ralph Overland, the 3rd Cavalry Regiment commander, and his Command Sgt. Maj. Bradley Knapp.
Social Security Administration is preparing to bar 500,000 Americans from getting benefits -Over the weekend, the Social Security Administration (SSA) sent the Trump administration’s Office of Management and Budget (OMB) a proposal that — if similar to a version leaked earlier this year — will bar Social Security benefits from hundreds of thousands of Americans. The document that leaked suggests the proposal could ultimately prevent as many as 500,000 Americans from receiving benefits. Whether SSA can slip this through the regulatory process before President-elect Joe Biden’s inauguration may depend on whether SSA and OMB respect the formal regulatory process. If implemented, the regulation should be undone by the Biden administration or overruled by Congress. SSA’s proposal, as described in press reports, would make it harder for older workers to receive Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) benefits. By law (not regulation), SSA is required to consider age, education and work experience when determining whether a person meets the statutory definition of disability. That is, reflecting congressional intent, the current rules acknowledge that older workers (for example, workers in their 50s) will have more difficulty in adjusting to occupational requirements in the national economy following the onset of a serious disability. SSA’s proposed new regulation would likely undo these rules to a large extent, making it harder for older workers to qualify. I expect the SSA to use a lot of misdirection and fiction to sell this proposal. The effort will likely center on the buzzword “modernization.” The agency will suggest that the “modern” economy provides many jobs that even a displaced and disabled older worker can do. But the issue is really not complicated. In a study published in the Journal of Disability Policy Studies this year, I conclusively show severe health problems are widespread among not only SSDI recipients but also among applicants denied SSDI. The widespread health problems among SSDI applicants lead to very limited participation in the modern economy. About 73 percent of denied applicants have little to no earnings (less than $100 a month). Labor market success is even less common among those who are awarded SSDI. Further, labor market success, while still uncommon, is more likely among younger SSDI applicants and beneficiaries. Hence the need to take account of older age as reflected in the law and current SSDI rules. In short, SSA’s proposal to tighten SSDI benefits fails to even advance past a very basic question about the suggested policy: What is the point? Looking at recent or modern data, the current system routinely denies benefits to older individuals with serious health problems and diminished prospects in the modern economy. Amplifying these outcomes by trying to get even more denials is not a rational policy approach.
The pandemic and the normalization of death - The United States is in the midst of one of the most intense periods of mass death in the nation’s history. More than 16,000 people have died from the coronavirus in the course of just one week, an average of 2,300 every day. By way of comparison, during the 1918 “Spanish flu” pandemic, some 675,000 people in the US lost their lives over two years, an average of less than 1,000 people every day. In 1995, at the height of the horrific AIDS epidemic, 41,000 people died in a single year, amounting to approximately 112 people per day, or 1/20th the current rate of death. Within the next few days, the total death toll from the coronavirus will surpass 300,000, or nearly one out of every 1,000 people in the entire country. The coronavirus is now the leading cause of death in the United States, surpassing heart disease and cancer. Under conditions in which this level of death occurs day after day, week after week, month after month, the official response is to minimize the catastrophe that is unfolding. Death has been “normalized.” In the media, the death toll is reported every day. There is even, from time to time, reference to some particularly ghastly incident, such as the death of both parents or the wiping out of a family. But the subject is dropped, and the newscast moves on to the next item. There is no acknowledgment that this unmitigated catastrophe requires a massive and immediate response. There is no attempt to examine who is dying, where and under what conditions. Trump, the fascistic would-be dictator in the White House, has treated the deaths as of no significance— “virtually nobody” is affected, as he put it earlier this year. The entire policy of the Trump administration has been based on preventing any coordinated response to stop the spread of illness and death. As for President-elect Joe Biden, he casually observed last week that “we’re likely to lose another 250,000 people dead between now and January.” He presented this massive death toll as if it were an unavoidable cosmic event, requiring no immediate action. There was no demand for emergency action to prevent this forecast from being realized. The normalization of death arises from the decision, rooted in class interests, to treat “economic health” and “human life” as comparable phenomena, with the former prioritized over the latter. Once the legitimacy of the comparison and prioritization is accepted—as it is by the political establishment, the oligarchs and the media—mass death is viewed as unavoidable.
Trump taps Conway, Chao to government posts in waning days of administration--President Trump on Tuesday tapped former aide Kellyanne Conway and Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao to government jobs in the final days of his administration. The White House said in a press release that Conway will be appointed to the board of visitors of the U.S. Air Force Academy, and Chao, who is also married to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), will be a member of the board of trustees of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.Lynn Friess, the spouse of major Republican donor Foster Friess, will also be a member of the board of trustees at the Kennedy Center, and Matt Schlapp, chairman of the American Conservative Union, is being appointed to the Library of Congress trust fund board.The appointments were announced in a press release that included 26 appointments to government postings at places such as the National Cancer Advisory Board and Puerto Rico’s Financial Oversight and Management Board, among others.The Tuesday announcement marked the second time in as many weeks that the White House announced government jobs for allies. The White House also released a number of other appointments last week that included the appointment of Pamella DeVos, Education Secretary Betsy DeVos’s sister-in-law, to the Kennedy Center board of trustees.
Senate gears up for battle over Barr's new special counsel — Attorney General William Barr is setting the stage for a Senate brawl on his way out the door with the appointment of U.S. Attorney John Durham to serve as special counsel well beyond the end of the Trump administration. The fight over Durham, the federal prosecutor probing the origins of the 2016 Russia investigation, will be in full force once President-elect Joe Biden nominates his pick for attorney general. Senate Republicans say Biden’s nominee to lead the Justice Department should promise not to terminate Durham, who has been investigating whether the Obama administration improperly targeted the Trump campaign in 2016 when the FBI looked into allegations of collusion between the campaign and Russian officials. Republicans on the Senate Judiciary Committee, which will hold hearings for Biden’s attorney general pick, want a pledge that the nominee will not interfere with Durham’s work. “I think John Durham’s investigation is very important, and any attorney general who would impede that investigation or who would obstruct justice shouldn’t be confirmed,” said Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), a member of the Judiciary panel. A special counsel can only be fired by the attorney general for a stated reason such as misconduct, dereliction of duty, incapacity, conflict of interest or violating department policies.
Michigan secretary of state says armed protesters gathered outside her home -- Dozens of armed people gathered outside Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson's home over the weekend "shouting obscenities" and threatening violence in an effort to overturn the presidential election results in the state, she said Sunday. Benson and her 4-year-old son had just finished decorating their home for Christmas and were about to watch "How the Grinch Stole Christmas" when the group arrived, she said in a statement. "The demands made outside my home were unambiguous, loud and threatening," she said. "They targeted me in my role as Michigan's Chief Election Officer. "Through threats of violence, intimidation and bullying, the armed people outside my home and their political allies seek to undermine and silence the will and voices of every voter in this state, no matter who they voted for," she said. Gabriel Sterling, a top Republican elections official in Georgia, said last week that President Donald Trump's repeated false claims that the election was stolen from him had led to death threats, intimidation and harassment. Saying the claims have to stop, Sterling called on Trump to "step up" and condemn the threats. But Trump returned to Georgia on Saturday and repeated the baseless assertions. Michigan's State Board of Canvassers certified the election results for President-elect Joe Biden on Nov. 23. An NBC News projection showed that he defeated Trump by more than 150,000 votes. Trump and his allies made baseless allegations about irregularities and discrepancies in Detroit's vote tallies and called on the Legislature to name Trump electors, despite Biden's victory. Trump and other Republicans have also filed nine lawsuits in Michigan, alleging fraud and other irregularities. As of last week, most of the suits had been withdrawn or denied. In one case, a judge described the allegations as "inadmissible hearsay within hearsay."
Giuliani has tested positive for coronavirus, Trump says -- Rudy Giuliani, who has led President Trump's legal challenges to try to overturn the election, has tested positive for the coronavirus, the president said Sunday. Giuliani was admitted to Medstar Georgetown University Hospital in Washington, D.C. on Sunday, according to multiple reports. However, additional details about his condition were not immediately available. He tweeted Sunday evening that he "getting great care and feeling good. "Recovering quickly and keeping up with everything," he said.Giuliani is the latest member of Trump's inner circle to contract the virus. Trump himself was infected and spent several days in the hospital in early October, and his chief of staff, multiple senior advisers, his press secretary, his campaign manager and his oldest son have all tested positive since.The former New York City mayor is 76, putting him at a higher risk for serious complications from the virus.Giuliani's diagnosis comes roughly two weeks after Andrew Giuliani, who works in the White House, tested positive for the coronavirus. He held a lengthy, indoor, maskless press conference in late November with, among others, Trump campaign adviser Boris Epshteyn, who tested positive for COVID-19 shortly thereafter.But the former New York City mayor opted not to quarantine in the time since as he serves as the lead lawyer for Trump in his unsuccessful bid to undermine the election results.Instead, Giuliani has been traveling to battleground states and appearing at campaign events where he and some GOP lawmakers have levied allegations of voter fraud and argued that President-elect Joe Biden's victory is invalid. Giuliani has been to Michigan, Pennsylvania and Arizona in the past two weeks alone.
Arizona legislature shuts down after Giuliani tests positive for coronavirus The two chambers of the Arizona state legislature will suspend their work this week after former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani tested positive for the coronavirus less than a week after spending hours testifying in front of Republican legislators in a futile bid to overturn the state’s election results. Spokespeople for the state House and Senate confirmed to The Hill Sunday that the two chambers would cancel their planned meetings this week because of concerns over the spread of the coronavirus. President Trump tweeted that Giuliani tested positive for the virus Sunday, and reports said he is receiving treatment at a Washington-area hospital. Giuliani, Trump’s lead legal strategist in a series of cases the president has lost in court, has traveled to several states in recent days to testify — not under oath — about alleged election irregularities for which he has not offered evidence. In Arizona, Giuliani spent almost ten hours with Republican legislators at a Phoenix hotel on Monday. He appeared without a mask, and at one point he even asked a fellow witness to remove her mask while he was sitting less than six feet away. At least nine state lawmakers and two members of Congress — Reps. Paul Gosar (R) and Andy Biggs (R) — attended the session, according to the Arizona Republic. The members posed for a group photograph tweeted out by the Arizona Republican Party, without a mask in sight.
A Resolving Picture --Kunstler -Much as Chief Justice John Roberts would like to be the finger down the Deep State’s throat to trigger the up-chucking of Mr. Trump from the nation’s gullet, it looks like he won’t get his chance in the new 6-3 disposition of the US Supreme Court. So far, it is Justice Samuel Alito in the lead, preparing a landing zone for the President’s case against the state of Pennsylvania in its shabby-ass attempt to stuff its ballot boxes with iffy mail-in votes. I believe that case is going to be heard, and Justice Robert’s position will be moot.The problem over in PA is that its Act 77 bill passed before the election by the state legislature to expand absentee balloting (i.e., mail-in voting) did not comply with the PA state constitution, and required a constitutional amendment, which never happened. Could be pretty cut-and-dried. While the SCOTUS is thought to be reluctant to intervene in state constitutional issues, a case involving federal elections may prove an exception. And then there are other issues with the states of Georgia, Michigan, Wisconsin, Nevada, and Arizona. A lot of electoral votes there.The virtual takeover of US elections by the Dominion vote tabulation company was a stealth operation probably enabled by the connivance of scores of elected officials at both the federal and state levels — senators, congressmen, governors, and on down. It’s been going on for years due to the secrecy of the op and the complacency of the public, with a little help from the Democratic Party’s friends in the news media. Did money change hands? Potential criminal violations abound. What on earth was Canada-based Dominion, with its grotty Smartmatic software — connected to Venezuela and to George Soros’s would-be world-changing Open Society Foundation, and very possibly to China’s ruling party — doing in charge of counting our votes? Perhaps serving something other than America’s national interest. We’ll soon find out in a way that will make a lot of heads explode.
Trump personally asked Pa. GOP House Speaker for help changing election results: report --President Trump has more than once personally called the Speaker of Pennsylvania's House of Representatives as part of his efforts to stop the state's electors from backing Joe Biden following the president-elect's victory in the Keystone State last month. The Washington Post reported Monday evening that Trump called Speaker Bryan Cutler (R), urging him to intervene and take some action to "fix" state law that prevents lawmakers from intervening and replacing electors selected by the voters to cast the state's electoral votes. A spokesman for the Speaker confirmed the president's call to the Post. The Trump campaign did not immediately return a request for comment from The Hill, and the White House declined to comment on the story. “The president said, ‘I’m hearing about all these issues in Philadelphia, and these issues with your law,’” Cutler spokesman Michael Straub told the Post, stating that the president went on to ask, “What can we do to fix it?” His efforts took the form of two phone calls to Cutler over the past seven days, the Post reported. The president has made similar overtures to lawmakers in Michigan as well as to Georgia's governor, Brian Kemp (R). Trump's efforts also come as his legal team has filed numerous suits to block the certification of Pennsylvania's election results, which were most recently dismissed by the state Supreme Court. Attorneys for the president are also working in the hopes of overturning results in Georgia, Michigan and other states, though they have yet to see any success. Critics who point out that claims of widespread voter fraud have yet to be substantiated say Trump is trying to undermine the will of the voters.
One Third Of US States Have Now Joined Texas SCOTUS Bid To Overturn Election - A total of seventeen US states filed a brief at the US Supreme Court on Wednesday in support of Texas's bid to overturn the election results. First it was Louisiana, then late on Tuesday Eric Schmitt, the Attorney General for Missouri, announced he will join Texas in the battle to Supreme Court. “Election integrity is central to our republic,” said in a tweet Schmitt. “And I will defend it at every turn. As I have in other cases – I will help lead the effort in support of Texas’ #SCOTUS filing today. Missouri is in the fight.”
Eighteen state governments urge Supreme Court to overturn Biden victory - In an extraordinary scene of political warfare, a total of 44 of the 50 states have filed briefs with the US Supreme Court arguing for and against honoring the results of the 2020 presidential election won by Democrat Joe Biden over President Donald Trump. Only six states did not file briefs by the 3 p.m. Thursday deadline set by the high court. The state of Texas filed the first brief Monday, directed against four “battleground” states won by Biden over Trump: Georgia, Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin. The brief asked the Supreme Court to overturn the results of the vote in those four states and to refer the appointment of electors to the state legislatures, which are Republican-controlled in each state. The Supreme Court is being asked to suppress the votes of nearly 20 million people in the four states. The effect would be to shift 62 electoral votes from Biden to Trump and reverse the overall result in the Electoral College. Instead of Biden defeating Trump by 306 to 232, a margin that Trump termed a landslide when he achieved it in 2016, Trump would be victorious by a somewhat smaller margin, 294 to 244. Seventeen states with Republican attorneys general have joined in an amicus brief supporting the Texas suit, including Florida, Indiana, Missouri and Tennessee. The combined population of the 18 pro-Trump states, all carried by him in the presidential election, is 107 million people. Another pro-Trump amicus brief was filed by 106 Republican members of the House of Representatives. Half of the entire Republican caucus is thus calling on the Supreme Court to overturn the result of an election in which they won their own seats. Apparently, voters are to be allowed to elect Republicans to Congress, but not to put a Democrat in the White House. The states of Georgia, Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin all filed rebuttal briefs by the 3 p.m. Thursday deadline set by the Supreme Court, harshly criticizing the Texas suit and calling on the high court to flatly reject it. An amicus brief was filed by the District of Columbia, which was joined by 20 states, including California, New York, Illinois, Massachusetts, North Carolina and Virginia. The combined population of the 24 states and the District of Columbia, all of which voted for Biden except North Carolina, is nearly 190 million people. Separate briefs were filed by Republican attorneys-general in Arizona and Ohio, generally defending the outcome of the election in their own states—one carried by Biden, the other by Trump—but side-stepping the broader issues. These two states have a combined population of 19 million.
Supreme Court deals reality check to Trump's post-election legal fight | TheHill The Supreme Court on Tuesday dealt a reality check to President Trump’s far-fetched bid to overturn his election loss through the courts, just hours after he implored the justices to clear a path toward his second term despite having lost the race by more than 7 million votes. To court watchers, it came as no surprise to see the justices deny an emergency bid by Trump-allied Pennsylvania Republicans to nullify President-elect Joe Biden’s certified victory in the Keystone State — a state Biden won by more than 81,000 ballots. For Trump, however, the justices’ defiance of his plea prompted a now-familiar refrain amid his series of disappointing post-election court fights, with Trump downplaying the significance of the loss while reassuring supporters that his increasingly desperate legal campaign would ultimately secure his reelection. “This was not my case as has been so incorrectly reported,” Trump wrote on Twitter of the case brought by his GOP allies in Pennsylvania. “The case that everyone has been waiting for is the State’s case with Texas and numerous others joining.” On Wednesday afternoon Trump asked the Supreme Court for permission to intervene in the audacious petition filed yesterday by Texas. The suit seeks to invalidate the election results from Pennsylvania, Georgia, Michigan and Wisconsin, key battleground states that Biden won on his way to reaching 306 electoral votes. But election law experts who accurately predicted the Pennsylvania Republicans’ emergency application would be rejected by the Supreme Court said the Texas case will suffer a similar fate. Similarly, legal experts expect that even if the Supreme Court were to agree to take up a forthcoming appeal petition from the Pennsylvania Republicans who were rebuffed Tuesday, the justices almost certainly will not intervene before the electors vote to finalize Biden’s victory next week. According to some legal scholars, it became clear in the days after the Nov. 3 vote that the Trump campaign lacked the kind of claims and evidence needed for a court to overturn the result of the 2020 presidential race. “Since then, all that has happened is that the claims have gotten more outlandish, the better lawyers have fled the campaign, and judges of all stripes — federal and state, whether appointed by Democrats or Republicans, including Trump appointees — have administered the formal death rites to this attempt,” By some estimates, the campaign and its allies have lost or withdrawn in more than 50 rounds in state and federal court and prevailed in only one case, a narrow win that affected only a tiny sliver of mail ballots in Pennsylvania. Trump’s legal team has tried to airbrush its abysmal win-loss record by portraying the lower court defeats as part of a broader plan to reach the Supreme Court. But the Trump legal team’s strategy of resetting expectations and building hopes around the justices was severely undercut by the justices’ move on Tuesday. And if experts’ predictions are borne out, the Supreme Court — also known as the United States’s court of “last resort” — will represent a kind of terminus that no amount of rhetorical goal post-moving can budge.
U.S. Supreme Court rejects Texas lawsuit and Trump bid to undo election loss (Reuters) -The U.S. Supreme Court on Friday brought an abrupt end to a long-shot lawsuit filed by Texas and backed by President Donald Trump seeking to throw out voting results in four states, dealing him a crushing setback in his quest to undo his election loss to President-elect Joe Biden. The justices in a brief order rejected the bid by Texas to file the extraordinary challenge targeting Georgia, Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin directly with the Supreme Court, as is allowed in some instances of litigation between states under a legal doctrine called “original jurisdiction.” The order said Texas did not have legal standing to bring the claim. “Texas has not demonstrated a judicially cognizable interest in the manner in which another state conducts its elections,” the court said in the unsigned order. Two of the court’s conservatives, Justice Samuel Alito and Justice Clarence Thomas, said they would have allowed Texas to sue but would not have blocked the four states from finalizing their election results. The case was filed on Tuesday by the Republican attorney general of Texas, a Trump ally, against Georgia, Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. The Republican president on Wednesday filed a motion to intervene and become a plaintiff. The four states in a filing with the court on Thursday asked the justices to reject the lawsuit, which they said had no factual or legal grounds.
Giuliani says Trump team 'not finished' after Supreme Court defeat - Rudy Giuliani, President Trump’s personal attorney, indicated the president’s legal team will continue filing lawsuits to subvert the election results even after the Supreme Court shot down an effort to overturn the vote counts in four swing states. The vow comes after the high court dismissed a suit led by Texas, which was backed by 17 other states and 126 House Republicans, to overturn the election results in Georgia, Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin — four key states that secured President-elect Joe Biden's win. The Supreme Court said Texas lacked the legal right to litigate over how other states conduct their elections, but Giuliani indicated Trump could bring his complaints back to lower courts. “The case wasn’t rejected on the merits, the case was rejected on standing. So the answer to that is to bring the case now to the district court by the president, by some of the electors, alleging some of the same facts where there would be standing,” he said in a Friday interview on Newsmax. “There’s nothing that prevents us from filing these cases immediately in the district court in which the president of course would have standing, some of the electors would have standing in that their constitutional rights have been violated,” he added. “We’re not finished,” he concluded. "Believe me.” The remarks follow the most significant legal setback the GOP legal campaign has suffered since the election. Trump and his allies in state governments across the country have pushed a litany of lawsuits based on spurious claims that widespread voter fraud and irregularities cost the president the election. However, virtually all of them have been dismissed for lack of evidence or standing. Giuliani has been in the center of the effort, making high-profile appearances in front of lawmakers in battleground states such as Michigan, though he has failed to sway any state to subvert the election results. Following the flood of legal defeats, Trump has refocused his efforts on pressing state lawmakers to replace Biden electors with those who support the president and urging members of Congress to decline to certify the election results in January. Further legal challenges are unlikely to succeed in lower courts given the rulings that have already been handed down, and Trump’s team faces a shrinking timeline, with members of the Electoral College meeting Monday to certify the election results.
Top White House trade adviser violated Hatch Act, watchdog finds - The Office of Special Counsel (OSC), the federal government’s internal watchdog, on Monday accused President Trump’s top trade adviser of repeatedly flouting a ban on executive branch employees using their office for political purposes. Peter Navarro, the White House director of trade and manufacturing policy, violated the Hatch Act by criticizing President-elect Joe Biden and advocating for Trump’s reelection while speaking in his capacity as a top administration official, according to an OSC report released Monday. The Hatch Act bars executive branch employees from campaigning or engaging in political activity in anything but their personal capacity. The OSC cited six media interviews leading up to the election and a handful of tweets in which Navarro made explicitly political comments while also discussing policy on behalf of the president. Navarro was also warned twice before several of the violating comments, the OSC said. “Dr. Navarro’s violations of the Hatch Act were knowing and willful,” the OSC wrote. “Dr. Navarro’s attempt to influence voters in the 2020 presidential election, while speaking as a representative of their government, is just what the Hatch Act is intended to prevent.” Most of Navarro’s alleged violations of the Hatch Act involve baselessly accusing Biden of being subservient to the Chinese government and pushing manufacturing jobs out of the U.S. He also claimed Biden’s economic policies would destroy the U.S. economy and bashed Vice President-elect Kamala Harris as a “mouthpiece” who should not be taken seriously. Navarro’s conduct was the subject of an October complaint from Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, a nonprofit watchdog group. Navarro is the latest of several Trump administration officials to be reprimanded or investigated for violating the Hatch Act, including Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, Education Secretary Betsy DeVos and former White House counselor Kellyanne Conway
Hunter Biden Reveals He Is Facing Tax Fraud Investigation - In a surprise move, Hunter Biden, the controversial son of former Vice President Joe Biden whose business dealings in China and Ukraine were exposed in a series of stunning exposes in the runup to the Nov. 3 election, has just revealed that he is under federal investigation for potential tax-related malfeasance. Investigators are said to have been examining multiple financial crimes involving Hunter, including whether he and/or his associates violated tax and money laundering laws in business dealings in foreign countries, principally China. Some of those transactions involved individuals whom the FBI believed could pose counterintelligence concerns. Notably, the probe was disclosed five days before Joe Biden is widely expected to be confirmed as the next president by the Electoral College - barring something totally unexpected. Hunter Biden said in a statement: “I learned yesterday for the first time that the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Delaware advised my legal counsel, also yesterday, that they are investigating my tax affairs.” “I take this matter very seriously but I am confident that a professional and objective review of these matters will demonstrate that I handled my affairs legally and appropriately, including with the benefit of professional tax advisors." This is the first time the investigation has been disclosed to the public, suggesting that Hunter is trying to "get out in front of the story in an effort to control the narrative.
Hunter Biden tax probe examining Chinese business dealings (AP) — The Justice Department is investigating the finances of President-elect Joe Biden’s son, including scrutinizing some of his Chinese business dealings and other transactions, a person familiar with the matter told The Associated Press on Wednesday. The revelations put a renewed spotlight on questions about Hunter Biden’s financial history, which dogged his father’s successful White House campaign and were a frequent target of President Donald Trump and his allies. They also come at a politically delicate time for the president-elect, who is weighing his choice to lead an agency that is actively investigating his son. The tax investigation was launched in 2018, the year before the elder Biden announced his candidacy for president. Hunter Biden confirmed the existence of the investigation on Wednesday, saying he learned about it for the first time the previous day. It isn’t clear which entities or business dealings might be tied up in the probe, though the person with knowledge of the matter said at least some of focus was on his past work in China. Federal investigators served a round of subpoenas on Tuesday, including one for Hunter Biden, according to another person familiar with the investigation. Investigators did not reach out until recently because of Justice Department practice against taking overt investigative actions in the run-up to an election, one of the people said. The people familiar with the investigation insisted on anonymity to discuss an ongoing probe. Hunter Biden has a history of international affairs and business dealings in a number of countries. Trump and his allies have accused him of profiting off his political connections, and have also raised unsubstantiated charges of corruption related to his work in Ukraine at the time his father was vice president and leading the Obama administration’s dealings with the Eastern European nation. Biden is actively assembling his Cabinet, but is yet to name a nominee to lead the Justice Department. That person could ultimately have oversight of the investigation into the new president’s son if it is still ongoing when Biden is sworn in on Jan. 20.
Trump Pursues Appointing Special Counsel to Probe Election, Hunter Biden – WSJ -President Trump has expressed interest in pursuing the appointment of a special counsel to investigate allegations of fraud in the November elections and issues related to Hunter Biden, according to people familiar with the matter.In recent days, the president has directed advisers to look for people who could serve in such a position, one of the people said, as lawsuits and other efforts by Mr. Trump and his campaign to reverse the election results founder. White House officials and allies of the president on Capitol Hill and elsewhere have also pushed for the appointment of a special counsel, another person familiar with the discussions said. White House chief of staff Mark Meadows has told people that the president is interested in pursuing a special counsel to investigate election fraud and wants to act quickly, one of the people said. Senior White House officials have also discussed the possibility of pursuing a special counsel to investigate Hunter Biden, expressing frustration over Attorney General William Barr’s handling of investigations into Mr. Biden’s business and financial dealings and concern that the incoming administration of Joe Biden could seek to shut down any probes into Mr. Biden’s son, Hunter, an administration official said. The White House declined to comment. A spokeswoman for Mr. Barr declined to comment. A spokesman for the Biden transition team declined to comment. Joe Biden isn’t implicated in the investigations into Hunter Biden, according to people familiar with the matter. Mr. Trump has expressed rising frustration with his attorney general in recent months, privately and publicly, according to aides, as efforts by the president and his supporters to overturn the election have repeatedly failed. On Friday, the Supreme Court rejected a suit by Texas’s attorney general to void 20 million votes in four key states. It’s the latest in dozens of losses in federal and state courts in suits alleging irregularities to override President-elect Joe Biden’s victory. Mr. Barr’s announcement that the Justice Department hadn’t found evidence of widespread election fraud that would reverse Mr. Biden’s victory infuriated the president, the aides said, and Mr. Trump has openly accused the Justice Department of being involved in the election fraud he has alleged. A federal agency in charge of election security and organizations representing top election officials around the country have also deemed the election free from tampering. Mr. Trump, in a meeting Friday, fumed about a Wall Street Journal report that Mr. Barr knew of an existing federal investigation into Hunter Biden before the election but worked to keep it from being publicly disclosed, a person familiar with the conversation said. In the meeting, Mr. Trump contemplated firing Mr. Barr, people familiar with the conversation said, adding that it is not clear whether Mr. Trump intends to follow through. Aides and allies have for months urged the president not to fire Mr. Barr. For his part, the attorney general has told associates that he intends to stay on the job unless he is dismissed.
Investigation of His Son Is Likely to Hang Over Biden as He Takes Office - The New York Times -- Unless the Trump Justice Department clears Hunter Biden, the new president will confront the prospect of his own administration handling an inquiry that could expose his son to criminal prosecution. — The newly disclosed federal tax investigation into his son will test President-elect Joseph R. Biden Jr.’s stated commitment to independent law enforcement while leaving him in a no-win situation that could prove distracting at best and politically and legally perilous at worst. Unless President Trump’s Justice Department clears Hunter Biden of wrongdoing before leaving office, the new president will confront the prospect of his own newly installed administration deciding how or whether to proceed with an inquiry that could expose his son to criminal prosecution. Already some Republicans are demanding a special counsel be appointed to insulate the case from political influence. On the campaign trail, Mr. Biden excoriated Mr. Trump’s efforts to use the F.B.I. and Justice Department to go after his enemies and go easy on his friends, vowing to restore a measure of autonomy for law enforcement if he won the election. News of the investigation into Hunter Biden now focuses even more attention on the incoming president’s choice for attorney general, and it will inevitably raise questions if he appoints someone perceived as a political ally rather than someone seen as more independent of the White House. “That should not be investigated by someone appointed by the president any more than if one of his cabinet members is accused of something or his national security adviser,” said Richard W. Painter, a former ethics counsel to President George W. Bush who became a leading critic of Mr. Trump and switched parties. Mr. Painter said Mr. Biden should establish a permanent special counsel to handle politically sensitive cases and restore faith that the Justice Department is not simply a tool of the president. “This is the opportunity for the incoming president and attorney general, whoever he chooses, to say this is exactly why we need an office of special counsel,” he said. The president-elect has made no comment since Hunter Biden disclosed on Wednesday that he had been informed about the investigation being conducted by the U.S. attorney in Delaware beyond a statement issued by his staff expressing support for his son. His office had no further comment on Thursday on how he would handle the matter once he becomes president.
The YouTube Ban Is Un-American, Wrong, And Will Backfire: Taibbi - Start with the headline: Supporting the 2020 U.S. Election. YouTube in its company blog can’t even say, “Banning Election Conspiracy Theories.” They have to employ the Orwellian language of politicians — Healthy Forests, Clear Skies, “Supported” Elections — because Google and YouTube are now political actors, who can’t speak plainly any more than a drunk can walk in a straight line. The company wrote Wednesday: Yesterday was the safe-harbor deadline for the U.S. Presidential election and enough states have certified their election results to determine a President-elect. Given that, we will start removing any piece of content uploaded today (or anytime after) that misleads people by alleging that widespread fraud or errors changed the outcome of the 2020 U.S. Presidential election... For example, we will remove videos claiming that a Presidential candidate won the election due to widespread software glitches or counting errors. This announcement came down at roughly the same time Hunter Biden was announcing that his “tax affairs” were under investigation by the U.S. Attorney in Delaware. Part of that investigation concerned whether or not he had violated tax and money laundering laws in, as CNN put it, “foreign countries, principally China.” Information suggestive of money-laundering and tax issues in China and other countries was in the cache of emails reported in the New York Post story blocked by Twitter and Facebook. That news was denounced as Russian disinformation by virtually everyone in “reputable” media, who often dismissed the story with an aristocratic snort, a la Christiane Amanpour: That tale was not Russian disinformation, however, and Biden’s announcement this week strongly suggests Twitter and Facebook suppressed a real story of legitimate public interest just before a presidential election. How important was that Hunter Biden story? That’s debatable, but the fact that tech companies blocked it, and professional journalists gleefully lied about it, has a direct bearing on YouTube’s decision now to bar Trumpist freakouts over the election results.
Trump mulling extravagant White House exit to upstage Biden inauguration: report - President Trump is reportedly considering an elaborate departure from the White House to counterprogram President-elect Joe Biden’s inauguration in January, according to Axios, which cited sources familiar with the talks of the Trump event. The reported discussions follow reports that the president plans to announce a 2024 presidential bid during the Biden inauguration. The tentative plan would involve Trump departing on Marine One before flying to his primary residence of Florida for a 2024 campaign rally, the publication said. But a White House spokesperson denied the claims. “Anonymous sources who claim to know what the President is or is not considering have no idea,” White House spokesman Judd Deere told Axios. “When President Trump has an announcement about his plans for Jan. 20 he will let you know.”
Melania Trump unveils new White House tennis pavilion -- Melania Trump is unveiling a new tennis pavilion at the White House, months after she faced backlash for highlighting the project during the coronavirus pandemic. “I am pleased to announce the completion of the Tennis Pavilion on the White House grounds," the first lady said Monday in a statement. Thanking the "talented craftsmen" and "generous supporters of the White House" who made the area possible, Trump said, “It is my hope that this private space will function as both a place of leisure and gathering for future First Families.” Planning for the refurbished courts and a new building, along with the Grandchildren's Garden, began in 2018. But critics slammed Trump after she tweeted a series of photos earlier this year about its development. Alongside a snapshot of her sporting a construction hardhat, Trump tweeted she was "excited to share the progress of the Tennis Pavilion" back in March. Critics called the tennis tweet insensitive during a time when the world was dealing with COVID-19. Trump later appeared to fire back at the criticism, tweeting, "I encourage everyone who chooses to be negative & question my work at the @WhiteHouse to take time and contribute something good & productive in their own communities."
Ivanka Trump shares photo of father on Mount Rushmore | TheHill --Ivanka Trump is sharing a photo of President Trump that shows him smiling alongside the past commanders in chief depicted on Mount Rushmore.Trump's 39-year-old daughter, a White House senior adviser, tweeted the photo on Monday. The snapshot appeared similar to one the president had tweeted in August, when he denied a New York Times report that the White House had reached out to South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem (R) about adding his face to Mount Rushmore. Trump wrote it was "never suggested," although "based on all of the many things accomplished during the first 3 1/2 years, perhaps more than any other Presidency, sounds like a good idea to me!"
Ivanka and Jared Bought A $31.8 Million “Billionaire Bunker” Property --Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner have spent $31.8 million on a property that sits on a private Miami island known as the “Billionaire’s Bunker.” The area is known as Indian Creek Island and it is a private, guarded and gated community that is known as one of the most secure places in Florida. The island has a 13-man police force for just a few dozen residences. Taxes are reportedly $472,764 every year. According to Page Six, the couple purchased Lot 4, which was owned by Julio Iglesias. The sale closes on Dec. 17, and it appears that they have just purchased a plot of land.The land is about 1.84 acres with 200 feet of private waterfront. The couple still needs to build the house on the property, and it is currently unclear if they will be building an actual bunker on the property, that just seems to be the neighborhood’s nickname.Indian Creek Island is also the home of Jared’s younger brother, Joshua, who purchased a $22 million home on the island earlier this year. The island is just over an hour from Trump’s infamous Mar-a-Lago resort. A source told Page Six that, “The Kushners have been looking to purchase property in Florida for quite some time, and will also maintain their home in New York.” Famous past and present residents of the island included Victoria’s Secret model Adriana Lima, Spanish singer Julio Iglesias, his son Enrique Iglesias, co-founder of hotels.com Robert Diener, billionaire Parvez Ashraf Lahiri and his son Irfan Lahiri, hedge fund billionaire and Sears CEO Edward Lampert, retired football coach Don Shula, Charles Bartlett Johnson, Chinese American billionaires, the Rennie family, James Rennie, Rennie Family Trust 2009, billionaire Jeffery Soffer, billionaire investor Carl Icahn, and former Philadelphia Eagles owner and billionaire art collector Norman Braman, Beyoncé and Jay-Z, pro golfer Raymond Floyd, coach Rick Pitino, U.S. Senator George Smathers, Sheik Mohammed al Fassi, television host Don Francisco, co-founder of Calvin Klein and Coal and Oil Executive, Barry Schwartz, radio magnate Raúl Alarcón, coal and oil executive, heiress and philanthropist Suzie Linden, Gardner Cowles Jr., Arthur I. Appleton, President of Appleton Electric Company and founder of the Appleton Museum of Art and Bridlewood Farm, and his wife Martha O’Driscoll a former Hollywood actress.
In Georgia Senate runoffs, banks go all in for Republicans — In about a month, the eyes of the nation will be on the state of Georgia and two runoff elections that will decide which party controls the U.S. Senate. With a lot riding on the outcome, banks are not staying on the sidelines. The banking trade lobby is traditionally cautious about declaring support for candidates in congressional races, but industry groups do strategically pick certain races to focus on — typically to back incumbents who have advanced the sector's causes. In the case of the Georgia runoffs, banking trade groups at the state and national levels have been somewhat conspicuous in supporting the two Republican incumbents, David Perdue and Kelly Loeffler. The American Bankers Association and the Georgia Bankers Association, notably, teamed up on a $1 million ad buy for Perdue, a member of the Senate Banking Committee. It's the largest financial contribution by the ABA for a single Senate candidate. “Both of them were incredibly active and helpful to us as we were navigating with our members the Paycheck Protection Program, how to get that thing rolled out and managed," Georgia Bankers Association CEO Joe Brannen said of the two GOP candidates. "Both of them were very receptive to questions that bankers had, customers had, getting help with the administration and getting answers to questions. And generally helping to smooth over what was a very difficult process.” But some analysts said banks, like other Georgia election watchers, see the two runoffs as having wider-reaching implications. “The prospect of unified Democratic control of Congress presents an existential threat to financial institutions, particularly banks that are already operating at very thin margins, and the burden of regulations and policy changes are going to hurt profitability and further lead to consolidation,” After Democrat Joe Biden won the presidency and with Republicans needing one of the two Georgia seats to retain Senate control, the runoffs will determine if Democrats can aggressively pursue a policy agenda or the government will remain divided. "Having a Republican Senate serves the banks' interests well," "If [Republicans] keep the Senate … it makes it easier for them to stop re-regulation of the economy.” Both the Independent Community Bankers of America and the Georgia banker group have contributed to the runoff campaigns of Perdue and Loeffler, who are running against Democrats Jon Ossoff and the Rev. Raphael Warnock, respectively. . In political campaigns, business sectors often support a divided-government outcome, which makes it hard for policymakers to bring about disruptive changes to the law. “With a divided government, typically you won’t see as radical changes in one direction or another, or kind of the whipsaw effect of changes in new regulations and things like that,” “I think it will help preserve the status quo on a number of issues in not having some of the more challenging policies that have been advanced, things like postal banking, new regulations.”
Bankers & Traders Deemed "Essential", Will Receive Priority Access For COVID Vaccines - Just like they were deemed 'essential' during the lockdown, 'financial services' employees - a vague, all-encompassing designation that includes everyone from bank tellers to traders and IBD analysts - are expected to be deemed "essential" by the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, or ACIP, the agency that will ultimately decide who gets priority access to the COVID vaccines.Before COVID, the ACIP was a sleepy organization that determined esoteric standards and handled oversight of approving new vaccines. DHS has defined essential workers as 'those who conduct a range of operations and services that are typically essential to continue critical infrastructure operations.' But as for what those professions are, exactly - well, that's entirely up to the ACIP.The DHS has defined financial services workers as "essential" because they help keep the money flowing, financing trade and investment and everything else. Without them, the Fed might need to resort to direct capital injections.That includes everyone from bank tellers, to the traders and analysts and even back office workers who keep America's banks running.Even if progressives like AOC and her fellows in 'the Squad' try to put a stop to this, arguing that bankers and analysts and traders don't deserve priority over more 'oppressed' classes, states and local governments might have final discretion over who actually gets the vaccine, meaning that a major kerfuffle at the federal level might not actually stop Gov. Cuomo from quietly ensuring that his pals on Wall Street get the vaccines they need.
Last-minute push for CARES Act extensions -It could be an anxious week for credit unions. This is the last full week both chambers of Congress are expected to be in Washington and a host of matters relevant to the industry remain unresolved. The House is scheduled to wrap up its business by the end of this week, with the Senate staying on until Dec. 18, though there has been talk that House members could stick around longer. Whatever happens, credit union groups are pushing hard in the short time remaining for an extension of provisions from the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Stimulus Act that would lengthen changes to the National Credit Union Administration’s Central Liquidity Facility beyond the end of this year. That's not the only issue where the clock is ticking. A provision related to troubled debt restructuring also expires at year-end. If the TDR provision is allowed to lapse then it could become harder for credit unions to work with members who might be struggling financially due to the economic fallout from the coronavirus. "But there’s another provision of the CARES Act that doesn’t expire that allows for borrower-initiated forbearance and foreclosure moratoriums on loans that are sol to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac," Ryan Donovan, chief advocacy officer at the Credit Union National Association, said in an interview Friday. "That doesn’t expire until the end of the emergency declaration [and] creates a situation where if the TDR provision expires, loans sold into the secondary market could have different treatments than loans held in portfolio, and that could present a great deal of confusion and frustration … for credit unions." Donovan and other industry watchers remain confident that CLF and TDR provisions can be extended before the end of the year, even if those actions don’t happen this week. Still, one key credit union issue made it across the finish line with time to spare. The National Defense Authorization Act for 2021 survived the conference process without a component allowing banks similar low- or no-rent access to military installations that credit unions have. An earlier version of the NDAA passed by the Senate did not include that provision. The final bill must still be passed in both chambers and be signed into law by the president.
BankThink PPP left many small businesses behind. Next stimulus cannot do the same - As legislators debate another coronavirus relief package, they must include three components: one stimulus directed toward small businesses, another for individuals and a third that makes bank regulation part of the solution, rather than part of the problem. If these components are part of a new stimulus package, small businesses still standing will have a fighting chance. Many small-business owners foresee the oncoming train of lockdowns in the winter months as the COVID-19 pandemic continues to increase. However, there is renewed hope that life can return to normalcy by the end of next summer as several vaccination options are expected to be distributed in the coming months. The only problem is that many small businesses will have shuttered by then. The situation is all the more tragic since big-box retailers and ecommerce giants such as Amazon, Google, Walmart, Costco and Target have actually thrived in the pandemic while many storefront smaller competitors were forced into government shutdowns. Small businesses need a rescue package tailored specifically to them to survive. It would possess similarities to the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) in that it could be administered by the U.S. Small Business Administration, but would be hyperfocused on those small companies in dire need of aid. Rather than the PPP’s $10 million limit in forgivable lending, the cap could be set $1 million. Further, rather than cover nearly every business, a new program could apply to specific industries such as retail, personal services, fitness centers, restaurants, transportation and tour services, entertainment and the like. These businesses could apply for loans based on a three-month average of 2019 expenses to get help going again. The loan amount could be forgiven based on every dollar spent for buying new supplies, repair costs, opening expenses, and 50% of all salaries and benefits for workers earning less than $100,000 annually who are rehired or continue to be employed, and 75% for any new hires. Expenses toward forgiveness could be claimed from either July 1, 2021, or the time of reopening, whichever comes first, until the end of 2021. Like the PPP, banks and other providers could serve as intermediaries. The SBA could pay a 3% fee on loans up to the first $500,000, and 1.5% on amounts up to the second $500,000. Rather than have this be a footrace due to limited appropriations, any compliant applications tendered during the period should be funded. This hyperfocused relief program could be offered in addition to current proposals for a modified PPP to push the economy through the winter recession. For individuals, the next stimulus package could include enhanced unemployment payments. As of last week, lawmakers were considering a package to provide an additional $300 per week unemployment stimulus, compared to the additional $600 per week previously offered through July. The reality is for several months, those who are truly in need of the funds have been getting zero extra dollars, which can’t continue if Congress wants to restore the U.S. economy quickly. Finally, with regard to the role of the banks, the next package could enable financial institutions to take a greater part in the solution. The loan forbearance provisions in the first stimulus package could be extended throughout 2021.
House passes AML reforms with veto-proof majority — The House of Representatives voted overwhelmingly to finalize reforms to the nation’s anti-money-laundering framework, moving the legislation supported by banks one step closer to the finish line.The defense reauthorization package includes a measure requiring new businesses to report their beneficial owners directly to the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network. Currently, the burden rests on banks to verify the identities of their customers and crack down on the use of anonymous shell companies.“Advancing this AML legislation will bring the nation closer to locking global criminals out of the U.S. banking system by unmasking anonymous shell companies and modernizing the process for detecting illicit behavior,” said Greg Baer, president and CEO of the Bank Policy Institute. Notably, the defense spending bill passed the House Tuesday night with a veto-proof majority of 335-78, despite threats from President Donald Trump to axe the bill over its lack of restrictions — unrelated to the AML measure — for social media companies. However, the bill would have to clear the Senate by a similar margin to override any majority. The Senate could vote on the package as early as this week. The push to include AML legislation in the military spending bill was led in large part by Rep. Carolyn B. Maloney, D-N.Y., who hailed the decision from lawmakers to add reforms from the Corporate Transparency Act — a bill passed by the House in October 2019 — to the defense bill. “The Corporate Transparency Act is the most important anti-money laundering and anti-corruption bill in 20 years, and it will make our country substantially safer,” Maloney said in a press release. “Anonymous shell companies have become the vehicle of choice for terrorist financing, money laundering, and organized crime — and unfortunately, the U.S. is one of the easiest places in the world to set up these shell companies.” The package also included a new program intended to incentivize whistleblowers to report violations of the nation’s anti-money-laundering laws. Tipsters who approach the Treasury Department with information that leads to enforcement activity under the Bank Secrecy Act will be eligible to receive up to 30% of the resulting monetary penalty.
Senate sends veto-proof AML reforms to White House - — The Senate voted overwhelmingly Friday in favor of reforms to the nation’s anti-money-laundering framework, sending the industry-backed measure to President Trump’s desk with a veto-proof majority. The Senate voted 84-13 to approve the National Defense Authorization Act, which includes an amendment that would require businesses to report their true owners to the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network at the point of incorporation. The legislation would spare banks the burden of reporting their customers’ owners to Fincen. “The global law enforcement and national security community will reap enormous benefits from anti-money-laundering policy that stops bad actors from using shell companies to shepherd crime across international borders,” Greg Baer, president and CEO of the Bank Policy Institute, said in a press release. The Senate vote comes after the House passed the defense spending bill 335-78. Trump has threatened to veto the legislation over its lack of restrictions for social media companies, but it garnered more than the two-thirds majority needed in each chamber for an override. “These anti-money-laundering and corporate transparency reforms were long overdue," said Sen. Sherrod Brown of, the top Democrat on the Senate banking Committee. “I hope my Republican colleagues who voted for this bill stand up to President Trump’s threatened veto and vote to override it if necessary so that our federal, state and local officials will finally have the modern tools they need to protect our communities and bring these criminals to justice.” The inclusion of the beneficial ownership amendment in the bill was in large part a push by Rep. Carolyn Maloney, D-N.Y., to crack down on anonymous shell companies after the 9/11 attacks in 2001. While the banking industry supported the reforms the AML reporting regime, the National Federation of Independent Business lobbied heavily against the legislation, saying it would put unnecessary burdens on small businesses. “This legislation would burden small businesses with 12.2 million new initial paperwork hours at a cost of $531 million, something small business employers simply cannot afford as they deal with the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic,” Kevin Kuhlman, vice president of federal government relations at the federation, said in a press release.
Waters calls on Biden to reverse Trump's deregulatory actions— House Financial Services Committee Chairwoman Maxine Waters, D-Calif., sent a 45-page letter to President-elect Joe Biden calling on him to “immediately reverse” deregulatory actions taken by the Trump administration and to implement steps addressing the coronavirus pandemic. “I urge your leadership at the Department of the Treasury and your regulatory appointees to immediately take action to restore and enhance regulatory safeguards that put consumers, investors and taxpayers first, and ensures the financial system is better prepared for unexpected events,” Waters wrote. Waters called on Biden to fire Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Director Kathy Kraninger, revamp the CFPB’s payday lending and debt collection rules, and restore the agency's fair lending and equal opportunity office. The House member also said Biden should fire FHFA Director Mark Calabria, halt plans for the mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to exit conservatorship, and rescind the new FHFA capital rule. Waters also urged the Biden administration to rescind the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency’s Community Reinvestment Act rule and issue a new rule to strengthen the anti-redlining law. Aside from the laundry list of rules that Waters is pressing the Biden administration to reverse through executive action, Waters also issued a number of recommendations of ways the incoming administration can respond to the coronavirus pandemic. Waters criticized Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin’s request for the Federal Reserve to close down Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act emergency lending facilities and return unused funds to the Treasury Department. “If Treasury tries to make unused funds unavailable to your administration and the Fed going forward, it is vital that your administration quickly reverse any unlawful action by the Trump Administration while utilizing and deploying whatever funds remain available to minimize job losses and stimulate the economy,” Waters wrote. Waters also called on the Biden administration to forgive up to $50,000 in student loan debt until the economy can recover and to immediately suspend the collection of debts owed by consumers to the federal government until after the pandemic ends.
Fed's exam ratings system needs upgrade, Quarles says — Federal Reserve Vice Chairman for Supervision Randal Quarles on Friday called for an overhaul of bank supervisory ratings, arguing that more transparency about the process of scoring an institutions safety and soundness would make the Fed’s oversight more effective. “There is broad agreement that ratings are a beneficial, even necessary, part of bank supervision,” he said at a virtual event held jointly by the Fed, Harvard University and the University of Pennsylvania. “Yet we have very few studies or other empirical support for this conclusion.” Like the other federal bank regulators, the Fed uses a confidential ratings system known as Camels to assign a combined safety and soundness score to a bank as well as ratings for five performance areas: capital adequacy, assets, management capability, earnings, liquidity and sensitivity to market risk. The Fed scores most bank holding companies through its so-called RFI system, which stands for risk management, financial condition and impact, but larger bank parents are subject to the “large financial institution" ratings system introduced in 2018. Quarles said that the Fed could do more to make its ratings frameworks “reliably consistent and predictable for all banks.” “Banks could benefit because they would be better positioned to anticipate supervisory feedback and understand what steps they need to take to improve their ratings,” he said. “Supervisors can benefit by being grounded in more predictable criteria.” Quarles said he has specifically directed Fed staff to look into the qualitative elements of the Fed’s ratings frameworks, whether the Fed could be more clear about how it weights the qualitative and quantitative factors in its ratings, and the overall effectiveness of the Fed’s new LFI ratings. “Even if we were to make no changes to our ratings frameworks, going through the process of assessing this calibration will surely provide a valuable learning experience,” Quarles said. “It would also increase our conviction in the legitimacy of our ratings frameworks and our confidence as a prudential supervisor.” Quarles also said he wants to do a deep dive into how bank ratings vary by examiner. He suggested that ratings could be affected by the specific point time that an exam has been conducted, and that a better approach may be to apply "the scrutiny of multiple parties with a range of perspectives and experiences” instead of a single examiner. He also proposed that the Fed look into whether examiners should have to review banks’ compliance with certain regulations, like the Fed’s liquidity risk management standards, and factor such evaluations into a rating. The Fed should also urge examiners and economists to conduct more empirical analysis around supervisory ratings, Quarles said.
GOP lawmakers push back on Federal Reserve's climate risk efforts --A group of 47 Republican lawmakers raised concerns to the Federal Reserve about its steps to mitigate or prepare for the financial impacts of climate change. The letter, spearheaded by Rep. Andy Barr (R-Ky.) said the U.S. central bank should be cautious in deciding whether to implement climate change “stress tests” on banks, because of the potential impacts on the oil and gas industries. “Introducing climate change scenarios into stress tests could accelerate the ill-advised pattern of 'de-banking' legally operating businesses in industries, such as coal and oil and gas,” it said. “Politicizing access to capital and choking off funding to industries that millions of Americans rely on is unacceptable, especially in times of economic and financial uncertainty.” Stress tests are analyses aimed at ascertaining whether banks have enough capital to withstand a potential recession. The lawmakers also raised issues with the methodology and data that would be used in climate change scenarios during these tests. They additionally expressed concern about the Fed's decision to request to join a group of government banks that collaborate on managing the financial risks from climate change. “We urge you not to join the [Network for Greening the Financial System ] NGFS without first making public commitments to only accept and implement in the U.S. recommendations that are in the best interest of our domestic financial system, would not disproportionately disadvantage U.S. banks compared to their European competitors and would not have harmful impacts on the customers those banks serve,” they wrote. Fed Vice Chairman for Supervision Randal Quarles told the Senate Banking Committee that the bank has sought membership on the NFGS. And asked in February whether he would institute a climate stress test during a House hearing, Fed Chairman Jerome Powell said he would look at a test being done by the Bank of England.
Brooklyn federal financial-crime unit steps on Manhattan turf - Brooklyn-based federal prosecutors will staff a new task force to investigate and charge corporations and individuals who use the U.S. banking system to launder money, setting up a bigger role in white-collar cases that have historically been dominated by their Manhattan counterparts. Acting Brooklyn U.S. Attorney Seth DuCharme announced the Bank Integrity Task Force in an internal memo sent last month to staffers in the Eastern District of New York. DuCharme said recent investigations show that criminals around the world are using U.S. banks to launder trillions of dollars, including those tied to narcotics trafficking or terrorist financing. He vowed the new unit would seize or force the forfeiture of bank accounts, property and other assets derived from wrongdoing. Such prosecutions have historically been the purview of federal prosecutors across the river in the Manhattan U.S. Attorney's office, but the Brooklyn office has increased its profile in major financial-crimes cases in recent years, winning the convictions in 2017 of two former officials of FIFA, international soccer's governing body, who accepted millions of dollars in bribes from sports-marketing companies and laundered the money through U.S. banks and financial institutions. "As you know, the office has long successfully investigated and prosecuted the most sought-after money launderers in the world, and the individuals and companies behind the largest and most sophisticated corporate fraud schemes ever uncovered," DuCharme said in the Nov. 19 memo. "In addition, our asset forfeiture recoveries have consistently ranked among the nation's highest." A recent proposal that would require investment advisers, including hedge funds and private equity firms, to adopt effective anti-money-laundering policies under the U.S. Bank Secrecy Act may create more work for the task force, DuCharme said. He also noted that banks' expansion into cryptocurrency could lead to increased money-laundering activity. The task force will be led by veteran prosecutor David Pitluck and will also work in tandem with the Justice Department's Money Laundering and Asset Recovery Section, its Office of International Affairs and the Federal Bureau of Investigation, DuCharme said.
What’s in Your Wallet? A Credit Card that Profits from the Rape of Children? -- Pam Martens --The New York Times columnist and two-time Pulitzer winner, Nicholas Kristof, has managed to do in one column what Canada, the U.S. Department of Justice, Visa and Mastercard have failed to do: send a strong message that profiting from the rape of children will result in dire consequences. At 7:06 a.m. on Friday, Kristof Tweeted this: “I’ve spent the last few months reporting this piece about Pornhub. What most people don’t realize is that it’s infested with rape videos. I talked to child trafficking survivors whose rape videos the company had distributed and monetized. Unconscionable.” “Unconscionable” is a peculiar word to use given the breadth of Kristof’s article. If monetizing the rape of children isn’t criminal in the U.S. and Canada, we’re living in a sicker era than any of us have imagined. (Pornhub, a video website accessible on the internet, is owned by the Canadian porn conglomerate, MindGeek.) Kristof’s article makes an overwhelming case against Pornhub with first-hand accounts from underage victims and evidence like the following, which, hopefully, the legal department of the New York Times has provided to law enforcement: “I came across many videos on Pornhub that were recordings of assaults on unconscious women and girls. The rapists would open the eyelids of the victims and touch their eyeballs to show that they were nonresponsive. “Pornhub profited this fall from a video of a naked woman being tortured by a gang of men in China. It is monetizing video compilations with titles like “Screaming Teen,” “Degraded Teen” and “Extreme Choking.” Look at a choking video and it may suggest also searching for “She Can’t Breathe.” Equally amoral and sickening, Kristof says that Pornhub has an algorithm that offers users suggestions on how to search for videos of interest. Some of its search suggestions include “young tiny teen,” “extra small petite teen,” “tiny Asian teen” or “young girl,” according to Kristof. One day after the article appeared online at the Times, hedge fund manager Bill Ackman, who has 180,000 Twitter followers, Tweeted a link to the article with this appeal: “In your mind replace the victims with your daughter or son. We could fix this problem by making it illegal for porn sites to allow content to be posted before review by a monitor, and ages and consents of participants validated.” Sorry Ackman, but Pornhub’s entrenched business model is to profit from this content while issuing preposterous public denials. In response to the well-documented Times article, Pornhub told Reuters: “Any assertion that we allow CSAM (child sexual abuse material) is irresponsible and flagrantly untrue.”
Citigroup offers first hint of price tag for risk overhaul - Citigroup’s expenses are going to rise in 2021, and its overhaul of risk management and internal control systems will be the primary culprit, Chief Financial Officer Mark Mason warned investors Wednesday. Speaking at an industry conference, Mason offered a first glimpse at how much the global bank will spend to fix long-standing risk and compliance issues that led this fall to a pair of federal enforcement actions and a $400 million civil money penalty. While he did not give a dollar figure, he did say that noninterest expenses are likely to be “up a couple percent in 2021 tied to the transformation investments.” If full-year expenses come in at $42.5 billion for 2020, as some analysts project, then a 2% increase would push full-year 2021 expenses well above $43 billion. “So, [it’s an] important effort,” Mason said during a question-and-answer session at the virtual Goldman Sachs U.S. Financial Services Conference. “[The] management team [is] fully committed to it. I think we’re making good headway in terms of scoping out the plans that we intend to execute against.” Noninterest expenses are likely to be “up a couple percent in 2021 tied to the transformation investments,” Citigroup CFO Mark Mason says in describing the company's overhaul of risk management and internal controls, which is a multiyear project.Until now, Citi executives have been silent on the cost and timeline of the overhaul, except to say the bank has spent about $1 billion this year to enhance infrastructure, risk and controls. They have been more open about what the multiyear project will entail. Last month, Chief Administrative Officer Karen Peetz outlined a plan that includes the creation of a “transformation oversight committee” led by Chairman John Dugan and a steering committee led by incoming CEO Jane Fraser as well as efforts to simplify certain business operations to reduce the number of technology platforms while tweaking internal culture to increase accountability.The $2.2 trillion-asset company, which has struggled with risk management and internal controls issues in the past, caught regulators’ attention once again when it accidentally paid $900 million in August to creditors of the cosmetics company Revlon. The bank went to court Wednesday to try to recover more than $500 million that hasn’t been returned by some of the creditors.Mason said the increase in expenses related to risk management will pay off. “It is a transformation. It is an investment,” he said. “And I think it’s an important point that I continue to highlight because as an investment we do expect a payback on [it]. We do expect to have a more efficient organization on the other side of this.”
Bank error in your favor- Citi’s fight to reclaim $900 million - The market had just opened in New York when Arokia Raj knew he had a problem. A contractor in India for Citigroup’s Citibank retail business, Raj had been the “checker” on a periodic interest payment to a group of Revlon Inc. creditors, with the bank acting as administrative agent on the loan. Suddenly he realized that Citi had instead sent some of those creditors the full remaining principal. “Bad news,” his supervisor told the head of North American loan operations by chat on Aug. 12. It was, in fact, $900 million of bad news. Raj will testify this week by videoconference in federal court in Manhattan as Citibank goes to trial to recover the more than $500 million it still hasn’t gotten back from the defendants, asset managers including Brigade Capital Management, HPS Investment Partners and Symphony Asset Management. Unless there’s a last-minute settlement, the trial — over one of the biggest banking errors in recent memory — will be closely watched on Wall Street, and its outcome could have a significant impact on the industry. Representatives for Brigade and Symphony declined to comment on the case. A representative for HPS didn’t immediately provide comment outside of business hours. Citibank argues that because the funds were its own, not Revlon’s, and were transferred in error, they must be returned. To Revlon creditors already locked in a bitter fight with the cosmetics giant over its restructuring earlier in the year, the money satisfied a debt, and they should be allowed to keep it. Citibank has “a pretty strong case,” said Eric Talley, a professor of corporate law at Columbia Law School, but it’s “not so crystal clear that it doesn’t involve a little bit of risk.” The outcome will likely hinge on the creditors’ contention that they got what they were entitled to, he said. If they prevail, Talley said, it could be “a shot across the bow” of the big commercial banks, signaling that they won’t be able to get courts “to ride to the rescue to salvage an error that you committed because of poor internal controls.” Read More: Revlon to Avoid Bankruptcy Filing Upon Completing Debt Deal Meanwhile Citi, which has had to explain the embarrassing error to the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency and the Federal Reserve, already has “a little bit of a black eye,” Talley said. Even if the bank wins, he said, “it would be an overshoot for Citibank to pop the champagne corks and say we’re vindicated after all.” Citigroup said it would do better. “As previously stated, we take pride in the role that we play as a global leader in financial services and recognize that an operational error of this nature is unacceptable,” the company said in a statement. “We look forward to presenting our case in court.”
The SEC Has a Graph of the Wall Street Short-Term Loan Market that Blew Up: It Needs a Surgeon General Warning Before Viewing -- Pam MartensIf you suffer from chronic nightmares, experience migraine headaches from stress, or have anger management issues when confronted with abject stupidity, you probably want to avoid looking at the above graph that the Securities and Exchange Commission has created to show how one of the most critical financial markets in the United States functions. Or perhaps we should say, why it’s incapable of functioning when it’s most needed. The market is Wall Street’s Short-Term Funding Market which includes its integral repurchase agreement (repo) market. The repo market blew up in 2008 during the last financial crisis and required a Fed bailout. It blew up again on September 17, 2019 for reasons that have yet to be credibly explained and required at least $9 trillion in cumulative emergency loans from the Federal Reserve over the next six months. As wereported yesterday, the Fed appears to still be propping up that market while not reporting those Fed loans to the American people. The SEC’s graph above is part of a report the SEC released in October titled “U.S. Credit Markets Interconnectedness and the Effects of the COVID-19 Economic Shock.” The report makes no mention of the fact that the repo market blew up on September 17, 2019 – months before there was a COVID-19 case reported anywhere in the world. Everything in the SEC’s report is framed around the idea that the COVID-19 pandemic caused all of the dislocations in the repo and related short-term funding markets. (For an in-depth look at the actual events as they unfolded beginning on September 17, 2019, see our archive of articles on this topic.)The SEC report describes the repo loan market as follows: “The approximately $4 trillion repo market provides secured, short-term, marked-to-market funding against various forms of securities collateral. The collateral from several short- and long-term funding markets and participants connects the repo market to the rest of the financial system. The repo market is a critical source of liquidity and, accordingly, essential to the ongoing operations of various market participants, including market makers in virtually all sectors of the capital markets.“A repo contract in essence offers an interest-bearing cash loan against securities collateral, but the contract can also be structured to borrow securities…[…] The SEC admits in its report that the following can happen when there is high leverage at hedge funds: “Collateral valuation affects the functioning of the repo market. Under normal market conditions, collateral securities are subject to relatively low and stable haircuts. Low levels of haircuts may enable repo borrowers such as hedge funds to assume significant leverage. Under less stable market conditions, the risk profile of collateral securities increases as holders of the collateral face greater uncertainty regarding the price at which they can liquidate the collateral if the borrower defaults. To protect themselves from potential losses, repo lenders may demand more substantial haircuts. This, in turn, could force repo borrowers to sell some of their positions in securities to reduce funding needs. In a feedback loop, such forced sales can exert additional pressure on collateral valuation as prices of securities decline further and lead to further increases in collateral haircuts.” The SEC report also goes into the incestuous relationship between the mega Wall Street banks that finance and execute the monster trades for the biggest hedge funds. This is known as “Prime Brokerage.”
Two cryptocurrency firms seek OCC approval to charter trust banks— Two cryptocurrency firms filed applications for bank charters with the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency this week, becoming the latest digital currency companies to try their hands at the banking system. The two companies — Paxos and BitPay — each filed applications to become national trust banks supervised by the OCC. Unlike many banks, national trusts do not require federal deposit insurance, though an institution can seek to accept deposits depending on its business model. Paxos, a New York-based partner of PayPal that runs the cryptocurrency exchange iBit, announced its application in a blog post Dec. 9, when it described a national trust charter as the most efficient means for the company to realize its mission of enabling “the movement of any asset, any time, in a trustworthy way.” “The national charter was designed expressly to allow banks to conduct business across state lines more easily. This flexibility allows a young company like Paxos to focus resources on building great products,” According to Paxos’s application filed with the OCC, the prospective bank would start by performing “only certain activities that are currently conducted by Paxos’s New York state-chartered trust company and supervised by the [New York Department of Financial Services], including custody services.” But the application also noted that “other activities conducted by Paxos affiliates may be migrated to Paxos National Trust over time based on operational, financial and legal considerations.” BitPay’s bank application to the OCC —first reported by The Block— described the company’s business model as a payments company akin to “traditional merchant processor in the fiat currency context, except that BitPay processes cryptocurrency payments and not fiat currency payments.” If approved, the company would open a national trust bank in Georgia that operates largely as a cryptocurrency custodian. “[The bank] will be acting in a fiduciary capacity for its merchant customers to ensure that they can provide crypto pricing quoted to their shoppers at the best available exchange rate, as well as cryptocurrency payouts to a business’s recipients,” according to the application submitted to the OCC. BitPay also said in its application that it did not intend to apply for federal deposit insurance.
FDIC board to consider brokered deposit, ILC rules at public meeting— The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.'s board will meet Tuesday to consider two final rules in the closing weeks of the Trump administration: one overhauling brokered deposit regulations and another on standards for industrial bank parents. While the agency’s brokered deposit rule has broadly been characterized as regulatory relief, some bankers fear the FDIC’s willingness to grant more industrial bank charters could spell trouble for the industry. Banks and many third-party deposit-gathering services have urged the FDIC for years to update its definition of brokered deposits, which has largely been unchanged for decades. Under current law, banks failing to meet the "well capitalized" benchmark are restricted from accepting brokered deposits. The FDIC’s proposed framework, released in December 2019, would narrow the definition of “deposit brokers” and introduce an application process for some businesses to receive exemptions under the statue’s “primary purpose clause.” The FDIC is also expected to clarify its stance on decades of informal guidance that have explained the agency's opinion about specific deposit-gathering businesses. Meanwhile, the FDIC released a proposed rulemaking in March to update, clarify and codify the agency’s process for considering applications for industrial banks, also known as industrial loan companies. The proposed rule introduced a set of conditions for ILC parents, including special capital and liquidity requirements. The ILC charter has sparked controversy for years and opposition from traditional banks in part because nontraditional bank owners such as fintech firms and retailers can legally own industrial banks. The day after the rule was proposed, the FDIC announced it had approved a pair of industrial bank applications for the first time in over a decade: one for Square, the small-business payments company, and the other to Nelnet, a servicer of student loans.
New CBA chair's wish list for the Biden administration — The coronavirus pandemic catapulted banks to the forefront of economic relief efforts, and the industry's success in facilitating financial support for consumers and small businesses has made 2020 in some ways a banner year for banking. But the hardest work may be yet to come, says the chair of the Consumer Bankers Association. “We know the Biden administration has said they're expecting a dark winter,” said Christine Channels, the head of community banking and client protection at Bank of America, who took the reins of the CBA board in October. “There's a lot of positive news around the vaccines — and certainly, we're excited about that — but we know that people need access to more money. We know that small businesses are needing access to this money.” In a wide-ranging interview, Channels touted the performance of CBA members in delivering aid to small businesses through the Paycheck Protection Program. Thirteen of the 15 top PPP lenders are part of the trade organization, including BofA. “It's been a very tumultuous year for all of us, but we're really proud of the way the banks’ response has been here to help not just our consumers, but the overall country.”Although the deadline has passed for the Small Business Administration to approve new PPP loans, some small-business advocates in Congress want to authorize another round of PPP in a future stimulus package. And many in the industry want policymakers to take further steps to simplify the process for small-business borrowers requesting loan forgiveness in the PPP. Channels said bankers hope President-elect Joe Biden's administration will focus on PPP forgiveness after taking office in January. "If the Biden administration were to adjust the forgiveness process for those small businesses, it would make a significant impact," she said. "The CBA has been advocating that for businesses with $150,000 or less in loans, that they simplify that process for those small businesses so that it’s not a burden on them." Weighing in on the banking policy environment, Channels said the industry is committed to modernizing the Community Reinvestment Act but is urging regulators to develop a consistent CRA reform framework across all agencies. She also expressed hope that regulators will be cautious about approving bank charters for fintech firms whose investment in their compliance programs do not equal that of banks. “We’ve got a lot of innovation happening among new fintechs and other companies coming forward, and banks are evolving and innovating,” Channels said. “And I think it’s important that the rules by which we operate, the oversight that we have, continues to be strong.” “It’s important that we don’t lose that as a whole if we’re bringing in new businesses like fintech that aren’t investing in those same practices and don’t have that same level of oversight,” Channels added, “so that at the end of the day, the consumer is the one that is protected and can trust in a strong system.” The following is from a conversation with Channels that has been edited for length and clarity.
Supreme Court hints FHFA's Calabria could keep job after all — Ever since the Supreme Court agreed to hear a case challenging the consitutionality of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, many observers have expected the justices ultimately to rule that a president should be able to fire a sitting FHFA director at will. But comments by some of the justices during oral arguments Wednesday hinted that the court may stop short of such a decision. At issue is whether the powers afforded to Senate-confirmed directors such as FHFA chief Mark Calabria, who can only be fired for cause and do not answer to a board, are unconstitutional. Plaintiffs in the case argue the agency erred in its controversial step ordering Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to sweep most of their profits into the U.S. Treasury, because the FHFA's leadership structure is illegal. But justices signaled that that constitutionality question may be moot because the "net worth sweep" was implemented by former acting FHFA Director Ed DeMarco, who lacked Senate confirmation and therefore any protection from presidential firings. “If we agree with you … that the only relevant action was one taken by the acting director, would we have any reason to address the question whether the restriction on the removal of a confirmed director is unconstitutional?” Justice Stephen Breyer asked Hashim Mooppan, deputy assistant attorney general at the Justice Department. The high court on Wednesday heard arguments in Collins v. Mnuchin, a case brought by shareholders of Fannie and Freddie who argue that the 2012 profit sweep agreement between the FHFA and Treasury violates the law. Specifically, they say the provision in the 2008 law establishing the FHFA, saying a president can only fire the director for cause, was unconstitutional. The case resembles one the Supreme Court decided this summer in which the justices ruled that the president has the authority to remove the director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau at will. Because the leadership structure of the two agencies resemble each other, many experts said it would be difficult for the FHFA to avoid a similar fate. While that ruling eliminated the so-called for-cause provision in the Dodd-Frank Act, which created the CFPB, it kept the rest of the law and the agency intact, meaning there was no impact on the agency’s past nine years of rulemakings, decisions and enforcement actions. But several justices indicated that the circumstances were different enough in the FHFA case to distinguish it from Seila Law v. CFPB, in part because DeMarco hadn't been Senate-confirmed.
CFPB finalizes overhaul of mortgage underwriting rules— The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau on Thursday issued two final rules revising the definition of “qualified mortgages” that the bureau said would promote access to credit and transition the mortgage market away from a regulatory exemption given to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. The CFPB finalized one rule establishing a new general QM standard, which was unchanged from a June proposal. It adopted a pricing threshold to determine if loans can avoid liability under ability-to-repay requirements, replacing the current debt-to-income limit of 43%. The final QM rule would give lenders relief for loans capped at 150 basis points above the prime rate. “Through this General QM Final Rule, we are working to create an appropriate, more flexible General QM loan definition,” said CFPB Director Kathy Kraninger in a press release. “Our final rule’s price-based approach strikes the best balance between assessing consumers’ ability to repay and promoting access to responsible, affordable mortgage credit.” The bureau said that it determined that a loan’s price is a strong indicator of a borrower’s ability to repay and is a “more holistic and flexible measure” than DTI alone. The rule is sure to please many in the housing market who have seen the 43% DTI limit as too restrictive. But some critics worry the CFPB’s final QM rule would have the effect of pushing up housing prices.Bloomberg NewsThe rule is sure to please many in the housing market who have seen the 43% DTI limit as too restrictive. Many loans have been able to avoid that cap because it doesn't apply to mortgages backed by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, meaning they can be riskier and still attain QM status. But that exemption is due to expire next year, resulting in several loans guaranteed by the mortgage giants no longer being in compliance. But some critics worry the CFPB’s final QM rule would have the effect of pushing up housing prices. “It’s a huge victory for the housing lobby because it eases credit limitations that were put in place in 2013 that helped fuel a massive house price boom that we are still in the middle of, and this eases credit even further,” said Ed Pinto, resident fellow and director of the American Enterprise Institute’s Housing Center. “It will potentially, over time, lead to more upward pressure on home prices and will make housing even more out of reach for low-income homebuyers, creating a further problem with the supply-demand imbalance.” The 2010 Dodd-Frank Act requires that loans meet certain standards including a borrowers' ability to repay a loan at the time of origination in order to receive QM status. The general QM final rule was created, in part, to replace a temporary exemption granted in 2014 to Fannie and Freddie to help the housing market recover from the last financial crisis. The rule provides higher pricing thresholds for smaller loans, certain manufactured housing loans and subordinate-lien transactions. It also retains underwriting requirements for certain product features and limits on points and fees. In the second final rule, the CFPB detailed how a loan can automatically gain QM status if a lender holds on to it for a while. Loans can earn the "seasoned" QM label if they are on the lender's balance for at least three years.
A Biden CFPB could put pressure on mortgage servicers - Mortgage servicing could face increased scrutiny early next year as the incoming Biden administration and some states are expected to take a harder line with lenders that fail to work with borrowers hurt by the pandemic. In April, the first round of forbearance plans granted through the Coronavirus, Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act will expire. The deadline to request new plans will come even sooner. But even though the percentage of mortgages in forbearance has tailed off since June, concerns are mounting that some borrowers will be unable to resume mortgage payments when their plans end. "When forbearances start to come to an end, the government is going to press for ways for servicers not to foreclose,” said Jeff Naimon, a partner at the Buckley law firm, who represents servicers. President-elect Joe Biden could influence servicing policy if he moves quickly to replace Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Director Kathy Kraninger, who is is widely expected either to resign or be fired by Biden in January. It is not yet known whom the Biden team will pick to succeed to Kraninger or exactly how the CFPB will compel servicers to help borrowers. But the transition has appointed well-known consumer advocates to its CFPB review team, including Leandra English, a former CFPB official in the Obama administration, and California financial services regulator Manny Alvarez. Servicers that do not work with borrowers on loss mitigation strategies could face enforcement actions and fines under a new acting CFPB director who is likely to focus on aiding consumers during the pandemic, observers said. The administration's mortgage servicing policy could also be affected by steps Congress takes on a new stimulus plan. “It’s no secret that the Biden administration has an overall focus on helping the consumer, that’s a known policy platform and there’s a question of how quickly that can be enacted,” said Matt Komos, vice president of research and consulting at the credit bureau TransUnion. “That’s the big question mark — what’s going to happen to the consumer and will there be more stimulus?” The Biden administration also is expected to push for the Federal Housing Finance Agency and the Federal Housing Administration to further extend forbearances to aid struggling homeowners. Meanwhile, several states are expected to work closely with a new acting CFPB director in coordinating actions and monitoring servicers as they have since the 2008 financial crisis. States that have created their own "mini-CFPB" agencies — such as California, Pennsylvania and New Jersey — could be particularly focused on the pandemic's effects on homeowners.
Mr. Cooper, two other servicers settle past claims with government - On the same day that Mr. Cooper announced a settlement with state and federal authorities over its servicing practices, the Dallas company and two other lenders reached separate agreements with the Justice Department regarding bankrupt borrowers. Mr. Cooper agreed to pay out over $91 million to consumers and state and federal regulators in order to settle allegations of misconduct in its servicing practices dating as far back as 2011. The charges cover problems with loan modifications, foreclosures and mortgage insurance policy cancellations. The complaints were first raised in a pair of examinations conducted by a consortium of state regulators in 2014, when the Dallas company was operating under the Nationstar name. In 2018, the servicer was acquired by WMIH, which renamed it Mr. Cooper. In agreeing to the settlement, Mr. Cooper did not admit any wrongdoing or to violating applicable laws. The charges were brought by the CFPB, the attorneys general from all 50 states and mortgage regulators from 48 states plus the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. The only state mortgage regulators not listed were Colorado and New York. Mortgage regulators from the Empire State participated in the 2014 multistate origination and servicing examinations that led to the complaint against Nationstar and settled with the company separately in 2018. Colorado's regulatory scheme and oversight differs from many other states and the mortgage regulators there were not involved in this case, a spokesperson said. "Multistate supervision and enforcement actions like today's exemplify the power of states working together to regulate financial services, protect consumers and local economies," said John Ryan, president and CEO of the Conference of State Bank Supervisors. "States working together and with their federal counterparts is the future of industry oversight." The bank supervisor group said it worked with the American Association of Residential Mortgage Regulators on the state enforcement portion of the case. According to the settlement, $62.6 million in consumer remediation was completed prior to the agreement. That included payments to consumers affected by issues related to the company's loan modification, private mortgage insurance cancelation, escrow and loss mitigation practices. That amount also included violations cited in the origination examination, such as charging impermissible fees. An additional $15.6 million will be paid to consumers affected by Nationstar's loan mod, escrow and foreclosure practices. Another $6.4 million will go to borrowers who had been harmed by servicing transfer and property preservation practices, which involved loans that were transferred to Nationstar between 2011 and 2017. Part of that $6.4 million will cover properties that were erroneously declared vacant, for which the company had the locks changed. Mr. Cooper will also pay $1.5 million in a CFPB consent judgment, $1.2 million to the states for an administrative penalty and costs, plus $3.9 million in attorney's fees.
MBA Survey: "Share of Mortgage Loans in Forbearance Increases to 5.54%" - Note: This is as of November 29th. From the MBA: Share of Mortgage Loans in Forbearance Remains Flat at 5.54%: The Mortgage Bankers Association's (MBA) latest Forbearance and Call Volume Survey revealed that the total number of loans now in forbearance remained unchanged relative to the prior week at 5.54% as of November 29, 2020. According to MBA's estimate, 2.8 million homeowners are in forbearance plans. .. “After two weeks of increases, the share of loans in forbearance was unchanged for the week that included Thanksgiving. A small decline in forbearances for GSE loans was offset by increases for Ginnie Mae and portfolio loans," said Mike Fratantoni, MBA's Senior Vice President and Chief Economist. "While new forbearance requests declined for the week, exits slowed to a new low for the series." Added Fratantoni, "The job market data for November showed an economic recovery that was slowing in response to the latest surge in COVID-19 cases. It is not surprising to see the rate of forbearance exits slow, as households that needed forbearance assistance in October may be in even greater need now." ... By stage, 19.81% of total loans in forbearance are in the initial forbearance plan stage, while 77.90% are in a forbearance extension. The remaining 2.29% are forbearance re-entries. 
This graph shows the percent of portfolio in forbearance by investor type over time. Most of the increase was in late March and early April, and has been trending down for the last few months. The MBA notes: "Total weekly forbearance requests as a percent of servicing portfolio volume (#) decreased relative to the prior week: from 0.11% to 0.08%."
Black Knight: Number of Homeowners in COVID-19-Related Forbearance Plans Decreased Slightly, New Starts Increased Note: Both Black Knight and the MBA (Mortgage Bankers Association) are putting out weekly estimates of mortgages in forbearance.This data is as of December 8th. From Black Knight: New Forbearance Starts Increase as Overall Volumes See First Monthly Rise Since Early June In the past week, our McDash Flash Forbearance Tracker found that forbearance volumes in the U.S. edged lower (-12,000), including an improvement of 13,000 among portfolio/PLS loans in forbearance and 2,000 among GSE loans. These improvements were partially offset by a rise of 3,000 among FHA/VA forbearance plans. As of Dec. 8, 5.2% (2.75 million) of all mortgages were in active forbearance, including 3.5% of GSE loans, 9.3% of FHA/VA loans, and 5.1% of PLS/portfolio loans....Despite the marginal weekly improvement, forbearance volumes are now up 21,000 month-over-month, marking the first monthly increase since the onset of the recovery in late May/early June. This increase is due in part to limited forbearance expiration activity in November, which has resulted in reduced forbearance removal activity in early December compared to previous months.More noticeably – and potentially concerning – is the fact that forbearance plan starts have begun to trend upward. There were more than 40,000 first-time starts over the past week, representing homeowners who had not yet been in a COVID-19 forbearance plan, the highest such number of first-time starts since the beginning of September.The increase suggests that rising COVID-19 case rates and measures undertaken to try to control the spread may be contributing to an increased need for forbearance assistance. New starts are now up 19% over the past two weeks, while overall starts (including restarts) are up 5% over the same period..
Black Knight Mortgage Monitor for October: "2020 On Pace to See More than 9 Million Refinance Transactions" -- Black Knight released their Mortgage Monitor report for October today. According to Black Knight, 6.44% of mortgages were delinquent in October, down from 6.66% of mortgages in September, and up from 3.39% in October 2019. Black Knight also reported that 0.33% of mortgages were in the foreclosure process, down from 0.48% a year ago. This gives a total of 6.77% delinquent or in foreclosure. Press Release: 2020 On Pace to See More than 9 Million Refinance Transactions; 82% of Refinancing Borrowers Not Retained: This month, the company looked into Q3 2020 mortgage originations – with a focus on refinance lending – and mortgage servicers’ success in retaining the business of refinancing homeowners. As Black Knight Data & Analytics President Ben Graboske explained, while Q3 2020 quarterly origination volumes broke records across the board, retention rates have suffered amid the surge of lending activity. “As our rate lock data had suggested last month, Q3 2020 originations hit record highs in purchase, refinance and overall lending as record-low mortgage rates and a delay to the normal spring home-buying season spurred both the purchase and refinance markets,” said Graboske. “Some 2.7 million homeowners refinanced their first-lien mortgages in the third quarter, bringing the total through September 2020 to 6.4 million. What’s more, consolidated rate lock data from Black Knight’s Compass Analytics and Optimal Blue divisions suggests that number could climb above 9 million by year’s end. And, with rates continuing to sit at record lows, refinance incentive remains at historic highs. As of the last week of November, 19.4 million 30-year mortgage holders could likely both qualify for and benefit from a refinance.Here is a graph from the Mortgage Monitor that shows first lien refinance activity. From Black Knight:
• Through the first three quarters of the year, some 6.4 million homeowners have refinanced their primary mortgage, with that number on pace to climb above 9 million by the end of the year
• While cash-out activity has ridden the wave higher, cash-outs only made up 27% of Q3 refinance lending, the lowest such share in seven years
• The average cash-out amount fell to $51,600 (from $63,000 in Q2), pushing the volume of equity withdrawn in Q3 to down $37 billion, the lowest such equity withdrawal volume since Q2 2019
• This suggests cashing out equity was a distant second priority to borrowers locking in record low rates as their primary driver to refinance.
• Delinquencies improved in October, falling to 6.44%, their lowest level since March
• Despite five consecutive months of improvement, there are still nearly 2X as many delinquent mortgages (+1.6 million/+91%) as there were entering 2020
• Serious delinquencies (90+ Days) improved in October as well, but volumes remain at more than 5x (+1.8M) their pre-pandemic levels
• Though COVID-19 case rates are rising across the country, new delinquencies remain below the three-month average and have been unaffected by these surges, at least for now
There is much more in the mortgage monitor.
CoreLogic: 1.6 Million Homes with Negative Equity in Q3 2020 -- From CoreLogic: Home Equity Reaches Record Highs: Homeowners Gained Over $1 Trillion in Equity in Q3 2020, CoreLogic Reports: CoreLogic® ... today released the Home Equity Report for the third quarter of 2020. The report shows U.S. homeowners with mortgages (which account for roughly 63% of all properties) have seen equity increase by 10.8% year over year, representing a collective equity gain of $1 trillion, and an average gain of $17,000 per homeowner, since the third quarter of 2019. This marks the largest average equity gain since the first quarter of 2014. Despite the economic impact of the pandemic, home prices soared throughout the summer and fall. Appreciation reached its highest level since 2014 in the third quarter of 2020 as prospective homebuyers continued to compete for the low supply of homes on the market, pushing home equity to record levels. Equity gains are likely to persist over the next several months as strong home-purchase demand is expected to remain high and continue pushing prices up. However, the CoreLogic HPI Forecast shows home prices slowing over the next 12 months as new home construction and more existing for-sale homes ease supply pressures. This could moderate the pace of both home price growth and equity gains. Negative equity, also referred to as underwater or upside down, applies to borrowers who owe more on their mortgages than their homes are currently worth. As of the third quarter of 2020, negative equity share, and the quarter-over-quarter and year-over-year changes, were as follows:• Quarterly change: From the second quarter of 2020 to the third quarter of 2020, the total number of mortgaged homes in negative equity decreased by 6.9% to 1.6 million homes or 3% of all mortgaged properties.
• Annual change: In the third quarter of 2019, 2 million homes, or 3.7% of all mortgaged properties, were in negative equity. This number decreased by 18.3%, or 370,000 properties, in the third quarter of 2020 to 1.6 million mortgaged properties in negative equity.
• National aggregate value: The national aggregate value of negative equity was approximately $283.3 billion at the end of the third quarter of 2020. This is down quarter over quarter by approximately $2.2 billion, or 0.8%, from $285.5 billion in the second quarter of 2020, and down year over year by approximately $21.4 billion, or 7%, from $304.7 billion in the third quarter of 2019.
This graph from CoreLogic compares Q3 to Q2 2020 equity distribution by LTV. There are still quite a few properties with LTV over 125%. But most homeowners have a significant amount of equity. This is a very different picture than at the start of the housing bust when many homeowners had little equity.
MBA: Mortgage Applications Decrease in Latest Weekly Survey --From the MBA: Mortgage Applications Decrease in Latest MBA Weekly Survey— Mortgage applications decreased 1.2 percent from one week earlier, according to data from the Mortgage Bankers Association’s (MBA) Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey for the week ending December 4, 2020. The previo us week’s results included an adjustment for the Thanksgiving holiday.... The Refinance Index increased 2 percent from the previous week and was 89 percent higher than the same week one year ago. The seasonally adjusted Purchase Index decreased 5 percent from one week earlier. The unadjusted Purchase Index increased 29 percentcompared with the previous week and was 22 percent higher than the same week one year ago. “Refinance activity increased last week in response to mortgage rates for 30-year, 15-year, and FHA loans hitting their lowest levels in MBA’s survey. The increase in refinance applications was driven by FHA and VA refinances, while conventional activity fell slightly. The ongoing refinance wave has continued through the fall, with activity last week up 89 percent from a year ago,” said Joel Kan, MBA’s Associate Vice President of Economic and Industry Forecasting. “The purchase market is also poised to finish 2020 on a strong note. Applications fell slightly last week but were around 3 percent higher than the two weeks leading up to Thanksgiving. Reversing the recent trend, there was also a shift in the composition of purchase applications, with an increase in government loans pushing the average loan balance lower.”..The average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages with conforming loan balances ($510,400 or less) decreased to a survey low of 2.90 percent from 2.92 percent, with points increasing to 0.35 from 0.31 (including the origination fee) for 80 percent loan-to-value ratio (LTV) loans. The first graph shows the refinance index since 1990.
NMHC: Rent Payment Tracker Shows Households Paying Rent Decreased 7.8% YoY in Early December - From the NMHC: NMHC Rent Payment Tracker Finds 75.4 Percent of Apartment Households Paid Rent as of December 6: The National Multifamily Housing Council (NMHC)’s Rent Payment Tracker found 75.4 percent of apartment households made a full or partial rent payment by December 6 in its survey of 11.5 million units of professionally managed apartment units across the country. This is a 7.8 percentage point, or 894,864 household decrease from the share who paid rent through December 6, 2019 and compares to 80.4 percent that had paid by November 6, 2020. It should be noted that December 5th and 6th fell on a weekend in 2020 and therefore may not be a direct comparison to last year’s figures. These data encompass a wide variety of market-rate rental properties across the United States, which can vary by size, type and average rental price. "While the initial rent collection figures for the first week of December are concerning, only a full month's results will paint a complete picture. However, it should not come as a surprise that a rising number of households are struggling to make ends meet. As the nation enters a winter with increasing COVID-19 case levels and even greater economic distress – as indicated by last week’s disquieting employment report - it is only a matter of time before both renters and housing providers reach the end of their resources,” This graph from the NMHC Rent Payment Tracker shows the percent of household making full or partial rent payments by the 6th of the month. This is mostly for large, professionally managed properties. The second graph shows full month payments through November. This shows a decline in rent payments year-over-year, and somewhat more of a decline over the last several months. CR Note: There are some timing issues month to month, but rent payments appear to be declining, and December is off to a slow start.
Millions of Tenants ‘Headed for Absolute Disaster’ After New Year, Owing Average of Nearly $6,000 in Rent and Utilities - Without a coronavirus relief package centered on helping working families who have lost jobs and watched their savings dwindle amid the pandemic, millions of people are “headed for absolute disaster,” one observer said Monday as Moody’s Analytics reported that 12 million renters are expected to owe an average of $5,850 in back rent and utilities after the new year.The financial firm reported that $70 billion could be owed to landlords in January, after a federal moratorium on evictions—put in place in September by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, in the absence of any action from the Republican-led Senate aimed at helping working people—expires on December 31.“Renters will owe up to $70 billion in back rent when eviction moratorium expires, more than they can possibly pay… Congress must extend the moratorium and provide rent relief now.”—Diane Yentel, National Low Income Housing Coalition. According to the Washington Post, many landlords have begun filing paperwork to evict struggling tenants already and others have joined renters in appealing to Congress for significant unemployment benefits and another round of $1,200 direct payments to Americans.Separately from Moody’s, the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia reported in October that 1.3 million households that have faced unemployment during the pandemic owed an average of $5,400 in back payments to landlords and utilities. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, 29% of Black renters and 17% of Latino renters are behind in payments, and 21% of families with children have been pushed into debt.Some families have been forced to begin selling their belongings since the Republican-led Senate allowed weekly unemployment benefits of $600 expire in July, according to the Post. Lawmakers on Monday were negotiating a new aid package after a bipartisan group of senators introduced a$908 billion bill last week.According to Post reporter Jeff Stein, the package currently includes a $300 weekly payment which would be offered only from January to April, with no retroactive payments to help families who owe rent and other payments from recent months. The package includes $25 billion for rental housing assistance—far less than what’s expected to be owed by families in January and only half of what the House Democrats’ HEROES Act includes for low-income renters—and a proposal by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) did not include anything for struggling renters.“This is like a Charles Dickens novel,” Mark Wolfe, executive director of the National Energy Assistance Directors’ Association, told the Post. “It’s an evolving story of how people at the bottom are suffering.”
San Francisco Rents Plunge 35% As Exodus Continues --The median rent for a studio apartment in San Francisco plunged 35% in November from a year earlier, to $2,100, while costs for one-bedrooms slumped 27% to $2,716, according to Bloomberg, citing a new report from Realtor.com. Declining rents is more confirmation of the exodus from the Bay Area(as we've noted: here & here) as remote working allows city dwellers to leave the metro area for suburbs, Lake Tahoe, and elsewhere. Danielle Hale, Realtor.com's chief economist, said San Francisco-based technology "companies have been among the most flexible with allowing people to work remotely, and a lot of workers are taking advantage of that." Hale expects rents in the Bay Area to eventually recover, though it depends on how quickly people return to the office. But with Contra Costa, San Francisco, and Santa Clara counties, all recording the most COVID-19 cases since the start of the pandemic - tech workers returning to offices might not be happening anytime soon. As the work from home future marches on - companies are already scaling back on office space. Real estate firm CBRE said San Francisco's office vacancy rate has doubled this year to 8.3%, resulting in office rents dropping by at least 9%. According to Bloomberg, Pinterest Inc. paid a $90 million penalty to terminate a lease at an office building in the downtown area because it wanted to "rethink where future employees could be based." Other companies like Hewlett Packard Enterprise Co. and Charles Schwab Corp. are leaving California for lower-cost states. With major corporations also packing up their bags, this means workers will do the same, and continue to pressure rents in the Bay Area.
Home Ownership Rate: 67.2% in Q3 -- The Census Bureau has now released its latest quarterly report with data through Q3. The seasonally adjusted rate for Q3 is 67.2 percent, up from Q2 2020. The nonseasonally adjusted Q3 number is 67.4 percent, down from the Q2 2020 67.9 percent figure. Over the last decade, the general trend has been consistent: The rate of homeownership continued to struggle. The recent recession as a result of the COVID-19 global pandemic has caused a massive, but brief, jump in homeownership due to grossly reduced spending.Here's an excerpt from the press release: Due to the coronavirus pandemic (COVID-19), data collection operations for the CPS/HVS were affected during the third quarter of 2020, as in-person interviews were only allowed for portions of the sample In July (41 percent), August (53 percent), and September (100 percent). The remaining interviews were conducted over the telephone. If the Field Representative was unable to get contact information on the sample unit, the unit was made a Type A noninterview (no one home, refusal, etc). We are unable to determine the extent to which this data collection change affected our estimates. See the FAQ for more information.National vacancy rates in the third quarter 2020 were 6.4 percent for rental housing and 0.9 percent for homeowner housing. The rental vacancy rate of 6.4 percent was 0.4 percentage points lower than the rate in the third quarter 2019 (6.8 percent) and 0.7 percentage points higher than the rate in the second quarter 2020 (5.7 percent). The homeowner vacancy rate of 0.9 percent was 0.5 percentage points lower than the rate in the third quarter 2019 (1.4 percent) and virtually unchanged from the rate in the second quarter 2020 (0.9 percent).The homeownership rate of 67.4 percent was 2.6 percentage points higher than the rate in the third quarter 2019 (64.8 percent) and not statistically different from the rate in the second quarter 2020 (67.9 percent).The Census Bureau has been tracking the nonseasonally adjusted data since 1965. Their seasonally adjusted version only goes back to 1980. Here is a snapshot of the nonseasonally adjusted series with a 4-quarter moving average to highlight the trend.
Toll Brothers Says Housing Market "Strongest In 30 Years" As Wealthy Buy McMansions In Suburbs - Luxury home builder Toll Brothers' Chief Executive Officer Douglas Yearley said in the company's earnings statement this week that the housing market is one of the "strongest" in decades. "We are currently experiencing the strongest housing market I have seen in my 30 years at Toll Brothers and we continue to increase prices in nearly all of our communities as we focus on driving profitability and managing growth," Yearley said. He spoke of record-low interest rates, limited housing supply, a "renewed appreciation for the home as a sanctuary," and remote working that has pushed home buyers into more luxurious homes as reasons for the market's strength. "The work-from-home phenomenon is also enabling more buyers to live where they want," he said. As wealthy folks, many of whom have been unscathed by the virus-induced recession, are fleeing metro areas for rural communities, have been responsible for the surge in luxury homebuying. Bloomberg notes demand for million-dollar homes is accelerating faster than any other tier in the housing market this year. October mortgage applications for homes priced above $766k soared 59%, the largest gain for all segments measured by the Mortgage Bankers Association. For the $150,000 to $300,000, the increase was roughly 13%.
Leading Index for Commercial Real Estate Decreased in November -From Dodge Data Analytics: Dodge Momentum Index Steps Lower in November: The Dodge Momentum Index fell 2.6% in November to 123.3 (2000=100) from the revised October reading of 126.5. The Momentum Index, issued by Dodge Data & Analytics, is a monthly measure of the first (or initial) report for nonresidential building projects in planning, which have been shown to lead construction spending for nonresidential buildings by a full year. The institutional component of the Momentum Index fell 4.4%, while the commercial component lost 1.6%. Since the expiration of support programs in the CARES Act, the economy has struggled to maintain traction and in its wake planning for nonresidential building projects has slowed. As the next wave of COVID-19 infections quickly approaches economic growth and job gains will ease further. Additionally, uncertainty over the potential for further federal stimulus has significantly complicated the recovery and will continue to negatively impact nonresidential building throughout the planning and construction processes. This graph shows the Dodge Momentum Index since 2002. The index was at 123.3 in November, down from 126.5 in October. According to Dodge, this index leads "construction spending for nonresidential buildings by a full year". This index suggests a decline in Commercial Real Estate construction through most of 2021.
Hotels: Occupancy Rate Declined 37.9% Year-over-year -From HotelNewsNow.com: STR: US hotel results for week ending 5 December: U.S. weekly hotel occupancy increased slightly from the previous week, according to the latest data from STR through 5 December. 29 November through 5 December 2020 (percentage change from comparable week in 2019):
• Occupancy: 37.4% (-37.9%)
• Average daily rate (ADR): US$86.21 (-33.1%)
• Revenue per available room (RevPAR): US$32.23 (-58.4%)
With slightly higher demand after Thanksgiving, occupancy improved after several weeks of lowering levels. With a tougher year-over-year comparable, however, the country’s RevPAR decline was its worst since late June.Since there is a seasonal pattern to the occupancy rate - see graph below - we can track the year-over-year change in occupancy to look for any improvement. This table shows the year-over-year change since the week ending Sept 19, 2020:This suggests no improvement over the last 3 months. The following graph shows the seasonal pattern for the hotel occupancy rate using the four week average. The red line is for 2020, dash light blue is 2019, blue is the median, and black is for 2009 (the worst year since the Great Depression for hotels - before 2020).Seasonally we'd expect the occupancy rate to decline into the new year. .
82% Of Americans Say They Couldn't Afford $500 Emergency Thanks To COVID-19 -- A recent survey of 2,000 Americans carried out by "innovation consultancy" Highland took a close look at how personal finances and spending habits have changed since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, which crushed the US economy and has triggered a protracted downturn around the world. With the US labor market adding just 245K new jobs last month, a sign that the sharp rebound from the chaos of March has already run its course, and millions of Americans waiting on more stimulus from Washington, the share of people living check to check has expanded rapidly. Even before the pandemic, a staggering percentage of Americans didn't have enough cash on hand for an unexpected hardship of $400. But what's even worse for America's consumption-driven economy is that a solid majority of Americans have reduced spending, some dramatically, as pandemic has made socialization difficult. According to the survey, 63% have cut back on spending since the start of the pandemic. Asked for their reasons, respondents cited the need to be more cautious with their finances (60%), experiencing a reduced salary or income (49%), and staying home more often (40%). For those who have cut back, 64% say they are spending less on dining out or takeout, 61% have reduced spending on entertainment such as concerts or movies, while 55% are buying less apparel and 52% are spending less on travel. It is interesting to note that 21% of respondents say they have been spending more since the pandemic. Of those respondents, 51% say they are buying more food or groceries, and 50% are buying more household supplies.After the unemployment rate spiked to more than 14% in April, Americans continue to be wary about their job security and income. According to respondents, more than a quarter feel they do not currently have a stable income, and 63% say they have been living paycheck to paycheck since the pandemic. Millennials appear to be the hardest hit demographic as 64% say they are living paycheck to paycheck.
BLS: CPI increased 0.2% in November, Core CPI Increased 0.2% - From the BLS: The Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) increased 0.2 percent in November on a seasonally adjusted basis after being unchanged in October, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Over the last 12 months, the all items index increased 1.2 percent before seasonal adjustment.... The index for all items less food and energy increased 0.2 percent in November after being unchanged the prior month. The indexes for lodging away from home, household furnishings and operations, recreation, apparel, airline fares, and motor vehicle insurance all increased in November. The indexes for used cars and trucks, medical care, and new vehicles all declined over the month. The all items index rose 1.2 percent for the 12 months ending November, the same increase as for the period ending October. The index for all items less food and energy rose 1.6 percent over the last 12 months, also the same increase as the period ending October. The food index rose 3.7 percent over the last 12 months, while the energy index fell 9.4 percent. Overall inflation was slightly higher than expectations in November. I'll post a graph later today after the Cleveland Fed releases the median and trimmed-mean CPI.
Cleveland Fed: Key Measures Show Inflation Softened in November --The Cleveland Fed released the median CPI and the trimmed-mean CPI this morning: According to the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland, the median Consumer Price Index rose 0.1% November. The 16% trimmed-mean Consumer Price Index rose 0.1% in November. "The median CPI and 16% trimmed-mean CPI are measures of core inflation calculated by the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland based on data released in the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ (BLS) monthly CPI report". Note: The Cleveland Fed released the median CPI details for November here. Car and Truck rentals and Lodging away from home increased sharply in November.This graph shows the year-over-year change for these four key measures of inflation. On a year-over-year basis, the median CPI rose 2.3%, the trimmed-mean CPI rose 2.1%, and the CPI less food and energy rose 1.6%. Core PCE is for October and increased 1.4% year-over-year. Overall inflation will not be a concern during the crisis.
Consumer Price Index: November Core at 1.65% - The Bureau of Labor Statistics released the November Consumer Price Index data this morning. The year-over-year non-seasonally adjusted Headline CPI came in at 1.17%, down incrementally from 1.18% the previous month. Year-over-year Core CPI (ex Food and Energy) came in at 1.65%, up from 1.61% the previous month and below the Fed's 2% PCE target.Here is the introduction from the BLS summary, which leads with the seasonally adjusted monthly data: The Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) increased 0.2 percent in November on a seasonally adjusted basis after being unchanged in October, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Over the last 12 months, the all items index increased 1.2 percent before seasonal adjustment.The seasonally adjusted increase in the all items index was broad-based, with no component accounting for more than a quarter of the increase. The food index declined in November, as a decrease in the food at home index more than offset a small increase in the food away from home index. The index for energy rose in November, as increases in indexes for natural gas and electricity more than offset a decline in the index for gasoline.The index for all items less food and energy increased 0.2 percent in November after being unchanged the prior month. The indexes for lodging away from home, household furnishings and operations, recreation, apparel, airline fares, and motor vehicle insurance all increased in November. The indexes for used cars and trucks, medical care, and new vehicles all declined over the month.The all items index rose 1.2 percent for the 12 months ending November, the same increase as for the period ending October. The index for all items less food and energy rose 1.6 percent over the last 12 months, also the same increase as the period ending October. The food index rose 3.7 percent over the last 12 months, while the energy index fell 9.4 percent. Read moreInvesting.com was looking for a 0.1% MoM change in seasonally adjusted Headline CPI and a 0.2% in Core CPI. Year-over-year forecasts were 1.1% for Headline and 1.6% for Core. The first chart is an overlay of Headline CPI and Core CPI (the latter excludes Food and Energy) since the turn of the century. The highlighted two percent level is the Federal Reserve's Core inflation target for the CPI's cousin index, the BEA's Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) price index.
November Producer Price Index: Core Final Demand Up 0.1% MoM - This morning's release of the November Producer Price Index (PPI) for Final Demand was at 0.1% month-over-month seasonally adjusted, down from a 0.3% increase last month. It is at 0.8% year-over-year, up from 0.5% last month, on a non-seasonally adjusted basis. Core Final Demand (less food and energy) came in at 0.1% MoM, unchanged from the previous month and is up 1.4% YoY NSA. Investing.com MoM consensus forecasts were for 0.2% headline and 0.2% core.Here is the summary of the news release on Final Demand:The Producer Price Index for final demand advanced 0.1 percent in November, seasonally adjusted, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Final demand prices rose 0.3 percent in October and 0.4 percent in September. (See table A.) On an unadjusted basis, the final demand index increased 0.8 percent for the 12 months ended in November, the largest advance since moving up 1.1 percent for the 12 months ended in February.In November, the rise in the final demand index can be traced to a 0.4-percent increase in prices for final demand goods. The index for final demand services was unchanged.The index for final demand less foods, energy, and trade services advanced 0.1 percent in November, the seventh consecutive increase. For the 12 months ended in November, prices for final demand less foods, energy, and trade services moved up 0.9 percent, the largest rise since a 1.0-percent increase for the 12 months ended in March. More… The BLS shifted its focus to its new "Final Demand" series in 2014, a shift we support. However, the data for these series are only constructed back to November 2009 for Headline and April 2010 for Core. Since our focus is on longer-term trends, we continue to track the legacy Producer Price Index for Finished Goods, which the BLS also includes in their monthly updates. As this (older) overlay illustrates, the Final Demand and Finished Goods indexes are highly correlated.
Weekly Initial Unemployment Claims increased sharply to 853,000 - The DOL reported: In the week ending December 5, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 853,000, an increase of 137,000 from the previous week's revised level. The previous week's level was revised up by 4,000 from 712,000 to 716,000. The 4-week moving average was 776,000, an increase of 35,500 from the previous week's revised average. The previous week's average was revised up by 1,000 from 739,500 to 740,500. This does not include the 427,609 initial claims for Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) that was up from 288,234 the previous week. The following graph shows the 4-week moving average of weekly claims since 1971.The dashed line on the graph is the current 4-week average. The four-week average of weekly unemployment claims increased to 776,000. The previous week was revised up. The second graph shows seasonally adjust continued claims since 1967 (lags initial by one week). At the worst of the Great Recession, continued claims peaked at 6.635 million, but then steadily declined. Continued claims increased to 5,757,000 (SA) from 5,527,000 (SA) last week and will likely stay at a high level until the crisis abates. Note: There are an additional 8,555,763 receiving Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) that decreased from 8,869,502 the previous week (there are questions about these numbers). This is a special program for business owners, self-employed, independent contractors or gig workers not receiving other unemployment insurance. An additional 4,532,876 are receiving Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation (PEUC) that decreased from 4,569,016 the previous week. These last two programs are set to expire on December 26th. This was higher than expected.
BLS: Job Openings "Little Changed" at 6.7 Million in October --From the BLS: Job Openings and Labor Turnover Summary: The number of job openings was little changed at 6.7 million on the last business day of October, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Hires were little changed at 5.8 million while total separations increased to 5.1 million. Within separations, the quits rate was unchanged at 2.2 percent while the layoffs and discharges rate increased to 1.2 percent. The following graph shows job openings (yellow line), hires (dark blue), Layoff, Discharges and other (red column), and Quits (light blue column) from the JOLTS.This series started in December 2000.Note: The difference between JOLTS hires and separations is similar to the CES (payroll survey) net jobs headline numbers. This report is for October, the most recent employment report was for November. Note that hires (dark blue) and total separations (red and light blue columns stacked) are usually pretty close each month. This is a measure of labor market turnover. When the blue line is above the two stacked columns, the economy is adding net jobs - when it is below the columns, the economy is losing jobs.The huge spikes in layoffs and discharges in March and April 2020 are labeled, but off the chart to better show the usual data.Jobs openings increased in October to 6.652 million from 6.494 million in September.The number of job openings (yellow) were down 9.0% year-over-year.Quits were down 10% year-over-year. These are voluntary separations. (see light blue columns at bottom of graph for trend for "quits").Job openings were little changed in September, and are down YoY - and quits are down sharply YoY.
U.S. Job Openings Slipped in Early December – WSJ -The number of job openings in the U.S. edged down slightly in the first week of December, a sign of a softening labor market amid an upsurge in coronavirus infections and ebbing fiscal support for households.There were an average of 10.7 million job openings posted each day on online sites across the U.S. this month, down slightly from November’s 10.9 million, according to data from job-search site ZipRecruiter shared with The Wall Street Journal.The figures are the latest signs that the economic recovery under way since the spring is cooling. Job growth slowed markedly in November from the month before, the Labor Department reported Friday. Employers added 245,000 jobs last month, down from 610,000 in October, the Labor Department said. One measure of hiring—the share of LinkedIn members who added a new employer to their profiles, indexed to the monthly average in 2015-2016—rose 0.8% in November, compared with October. The index jumped 18.1% from September to October.“I’m worried about a temporary stall or backslide as we move into December and January,” said Guy Berger, LinkedIn’s principal economist. He cited a “triple whammy” of factors weighing on the labor market: fading fiscal support for households, spiraling coronavirus cases, and new restrictions on business and households to control the spread of infection. “It’s really a question of how much businesses are feeling a crunch and adjusting head count versus ‘I see a light at the end of the tunnel so I’m willing to keep the hiring pipeline open even in these tough winter months,’”. The U.S. seven-day moving average of new Covid-19 cases surpassed 200,000 for the first time on Monday, according to a Wall Street Journal analysis of Johns Hopkins data—three times the rate at the peak of the summer surge. More than 104,000 people were hospitalized with the disease as of Tuesday, according to the Covid Tracking Project, surpassing the peaks of previous surges in April and July. The country is now averaging 2,200 deaths a day, close to the peak reached in the pandemic’s early months. “How disruptive this latest surge is—that’s hard to say exactly, but clearly it’s going to be,” said Josh Wright, chief economist at Wrightside Advisors, noting that companies in many industries have learned to operate with minimal in-person interaction since the spring. “But we’ve seen a preview of this, we know which direction it points in and we know it’s not the right one.” Hiring for lower-wage jobs, such as those in restaurants, is likely to be more vulnerable than higher-wage work to a drop in activity driven by the virus and related business restrictions, said Mr. Wright.
Business and Related Restrictions Appear to Curb COVID-19 Fatality Growth, But Some Do Not - Policymakers face the unenviable task of trading off the benefits of restrictions that can slow the spread of COVID-19 against their economic costs. A growing body of research aims to aid the decision making by relating a variety of policies to COVID-19 cases and fatalities. For example, Dehning et al. (2020) report evidence that social distancing measures, school closures, and retail closures slowed the growth of cases in Germany. Hsaing et al. (2020) examine large-scale policy interventions such as travel bans, lockdowns, and gathering limits in an international setting. They report substantial declines in COVID-19 case growth when these policies are in effect.In the US, state and county policies varied widely, as did the growth in fatalities due to COVID-19. This column examines US business policies to help shed light on which policies save more lives. Stay-at-home orders, mandatory mask requirements, beach and park closures, restaurant closures, and high-risk (Level 2) business closures most consistently predict lower fatality growth four to six weeks ahead. Closures of low- and medium-risk businesses do not appear effective and, despite their costs, may even be counterproductive.
Sixth worker dies from COVID-19 at FCA’s Warren Truck plant - At least one more worker from the paint shop at FCA’s Warren Truck Assembly Plant (WTAP) north of Detroit has died of COVID-19, according to reports from workers. This is at least the sixth death from the virus at WTAP, following four deaths by April and that of newly hired Temporary Part Time (TPT) worker Stevie Brown last month, making WTAP the deadliest plant among the Detroit Three’s factories in the US during the pandemic, based on the limited data on workers’ deaths available. At least one worker at the adjacent Warren Stamping Plant also succumbed to COVID-19 in the spring. Both the worker who died most recently, Stephanie Weems, and Stevie Brown worked in WTAP’s paint department. According to workers, from late September to November eight teams with six to eight workers each had been sent home from WTAP to quarantine. Weems’ death is a tragedy, a worker at WTAP told the WSWS Autoworker Newsletter. “It could have been prevented. The factories ought to be shut down and workers compensated for lost time until we get this virus under control.” Further details about Stephanie are as yet unknown, along with the status of the other employees who worked with Stevie in the blackout area of the paint shop, where freshly painted vehicles are sent to cure before being re-introduced to the assembly line. The deaths of Stephanie Weems and Stevie Brown have not been reported by the company nor the union, but they are a clear indication that the pandemic is out of control in the plants. FCA is determined to keep the public, and most importantly, its thousands of employees in the dark about the extent of the outbreak raging through its factories. Spiraling outbreaks have been revealed in recent weeks at FCA’sSterling Heights Assembly Plant, where one worker, Mark Bianchi, also died, and Sterling Stamping, both just a few miles north of WTAP. Over 20 cases each were also reported at General Motors’ Fort Wayne, Indiana, and Wentzville, Missouri, plants last week.
Employers debate whether to require COVID-19 vaccine for workers Companies will soon face a tough decision about whether to require their employees to get vaccinated for COVID-19 as a condition for returning to work.New polling shows that nearly 60 percent of Americans said they would get the vaccine, up from 50 percent in September but still far below the amount needed to fuel a robust economic recovery.Employers believe they are on firm legal ground to mandate vaccinations, but that doesn't mean enforcement won't be without its challenges, particularly given the backlash in some parts of the country to mask mandates and smaller groups opposed to vaccinations of any kind.“Companies can require it, yes, but they may bump up against legal limits. COVID is such uncharted territory that as we see employers acting, as we see others acting, more edges in the law are being articulated,” said Allison Hoffman, University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School professor.Some business groups are starting to get out in front of the issue by voicing public support for vaccination requirements.Jay Timmons, CEO of the National Association of Manufacturers, stressed that the vaccine is needed to protect essential personnel, including manufacturing workers, and that his group would back member companies implementing vaccination requirements.“While there are likely legal concerns with blanket mandates, if any of our members believed that a requirement at their company was the right thing to do, we would certainly support that within the bounds of the law. Because America's future depends on folks rolling up our sleeves in a new way,” Timmons told The Hill.The legal limits that employers could run up against are related to the American Disabilities Act (ADA) and Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which allow for employee vaccination exemptions under certain health and religious reasons.The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) in March said an employer covered by the ADA and Title VII can’t compel all of its employees to take a vaccine.“The Commission continues to closely monitor the developments of a COVID-19 vaccine and is actively evaluating how a potential vaccine would interact with employers’ obligations under the Americans with Disabilities Act, Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, and the other laws the Commission enforces,” Christina Saah Nazer, an EEOC spokeswoman, told The Hill.
'No Vaccine, No Work' - Employers Discuss Making COVID Immunity Mandatory For Workers - Public opinion polls from the past couple of weeks appear to show a growing number of Americans are planning to get the coronavirus vaccine, even as Dr. Fauci hinted that the UK's decision to grant emergency approval to Pfizer's mRNA vaccine might have been somewhat "rushed". A recent Goldman research note intended for its institutional clients showed as much, citing polling numbers from YouGov. With hospitalizations surging to record levels and California once again heading into lockdown, millions of Americans would probably gladly take the vaccine just to feel a sense that the pandemic is "over", even though the duration of that immunity is still not very well understood, and some "conspiracy-minded" skeptics have raised question about the headline efficacy numbers.But as the US and UK prepare to start delivering the first jabs in a week, industries are jockeying to try and get their workers designated as "essential" so they can have faster access to the vaccine (for many, profits are ultimately on the line).Even though many Americans believe it's morally reprehensible to fire someone for refusing to take a vaccine, some companies and industry groups are planning to require workers to be vaccinated as a precondition for returning to work. Maybe they think taking such a public stand might help them secure supplies for their vaccines more quickly.Whatever the reason, even for white collar workers who have been comfortably ensconced in their homes/apartments for the last nine months, the subtext is pretty clear: no vaccine, no work.
To avoid 'the unimaginable,' officials weigh new restrictions as COVID-19 cases and deaths surge = The third peak of COVID-19 outbreaks in the U.S. continues to surpass previous records, recording over 175,600 new COVID-19 cases and over 1,100 COVID-19-related fatalities on Sunday, CNBC reports today based on Johns Hopkins data. Other sources of national aggregated data report closer to just over 173,000 new cases, but documents a 15 percent increase in new cases over the past two weeks. Deaths and hospitalizations are rising nationally as well, as the country approaches two weeks since Thanksgiving. Regardless, the past month has recorded over 4.9 million new COVID-19 cases in the U.S. alone. In response, states have reimposed stay-at-home measures and stricter lockdowns in an attempt to curb virus transmission. “The unimaginable thing, that no one wants to see happen, that when you have such a strain on the beds, and on the personnel, the health-care personnel, that you are going to deprive people from the kind of care they need ... We don’t want to go there,” Fauci said to CNN reporters on Friday. “If it requires doing more drastic things, or draconian things, like maybe some temporary shutdowns in some areas, I think some areas of the country are thinking about that.” Promising vaccine news is a silver lining, with officials forecasting that if the Pfizer vaccine is approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), first rounds of vaccination can begin on Friday. With high volumes of travelers recorded at airports over the Thanksgiving holiday, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has discouraged traveling ahead of upcoming winter holidays.
Articles of impeachment filed against GOP Ohio governor over coronavirus orders -A group of Ohio Republicans has officially filed articles of impeachment against Gov. Mike DeWine (R) in response to his coronavirus orders. GOP state Rep. John Becker of Clermont County led a group including fellow Republican state Reps. Nino Vitale, Candice Keller and Paul Zeltwanger in filing 12 articles of impeachment against DeWine, calling it an "effort to restore the rule of law." The allegations claim DeWine’s administration implemented unconstitutional orders in response to the pandemic. In a statement shared with local news outlets, Becker's office blasted DeWine, alleging "mismanagement, malfeasance, misfeasance, abuse of power, and other crimes include, but are not limited to, meddling in the conduct of a presidential primary election, arbitrarily closing and placing curfews on certain businesses, while allowing other businesses to remain open." The group of state Republican lawmakers argues that DeWine violated Ohioans' civil liberties by issuing a stay-at-home order and requiring them to wear masks. They have argued that the face covering rule “promotes fear, turns neighbors against neighbors, and contracts the economy by making people fearful to leave their homes.” The lawmakers first threatened the articles of impeachment in August, announcing they were being drafted. A majority of the Ohio House of Representatives would need to approve the resolution, and then two-thirds of the Ohio Senate would have to vote to convict the governor.
California’s new COVID-19 restrictions place burden on workers and small business owners - New COVID-19 restrictions across several California counties began Sunday night, with more coming into effect over the next several days. Democratic Governor Gavin Newsom tied the measures to the proportion of Intensive Care Unit (ICU) beds available in several broad regions. The stay-at-home order places the entire burden of the pandemic on workers and small business owners, closing outdoor restaurants and restricting retail shops’ capacity without any financial compensation, while allowing major sources of transmission like large workplaces and factories to remain open for generating profits. While many schools in the state have moved to online instruction, part of the governor’s guidance is that schools that have reopened to in-person instruction will not be closed. In fifty-two of the fifty-eight counties in California, the pandemic is categorized as “widespread,” meaning that there are high positivity rates for COVID-19 tests and large numbers of cases per capita. Only 339,811 Californians live in counties where the virus is not widespread in a state of 40,129,160 people. California is now the worst-hit state in the United States, according to Johns Hopkins University, with well over 1.3 million cases as of Monday. New cases have increased by 84 percent in California in the past two weeks. The number of deaths in California has now nearly 20,000, with many cases likely uncounted. Los Angeles county broke single day infection records on Thursday, Friday and Saturday. Sunday saw over 28,000 new COVID-19 cases, the highest recorded in a single day. Nearly one in ten Californians who are tested are positive. The new guidelines and restrictions suggest that residents refrain from holding out-of-household gatherings. Dining at restaurants, whether outdoor or indoor, is now prohibited, while outdoor religious services are exempt from restrictions. Film and television productions are also exempt. Retailers are allowed to conduct their business at 20 percent capacity as long as safety protocols are followed. Outdoor recreation facilities are allowed to remain open, as well as outdoor gym and fitness classes, while playgrounds will be off-limits for children. None of these new restrictions will have any meaningful impact on the spread of the disease throughout factories, schools and many offices. In fact, childcare, pre-kindergarten and K-12 schools that are conducting in-person instruction will remain open, regardless of the lack of intensive care beds.
Coronavirus outbreak at Amazon warehouse in Troutdale, Oregon exceeds 100 infections - As of the end of November, more than 100 infections have been reported in a major coronavirus outbreak at an Amazon warehouse in Troutdale, Oregon. The outbreak at the PDX9 Fulfillment Center, an 855,000-square-foot building, is still considered “active.” Oregon’s health authorities reported last week that since the start of the pandemic, there have been 61 deaths and 11,139 cases associated with workplace outbreaks in Oregon. The outbreak at Amazon’s Troutdale warehouse is the fourth largest in the state. The largest three are at prison complexes: the Snake River Correctional Institution in Ontario (550 cases); the Eastern Oregon Correctional Institution in Pendleton (520 cases); and the Oregon State Correctional Institution in Salem (192 cases). The PDX9 warehouse was, even before the coronavirus pandemic, among the most dangerous of all Amazon’s notoriously unsafe workplaces. According to Amazon’s own records, which were analyzed at the end of last year by thePortland Mercury newspaper, “26 out of every 100 workers at PDX9 sustained an injury in 2018.” This is the same warehouse where management is forcing workers to sign a broad “non-disclosure agreement,” which was the subject of a report last week in the Willamette Week newspaper. While Amazon’s practice of forcing workers to sign such agreements dates back many years and is not limited to the PDX9 warehouse, these agreements take on a new dimension in the context of the coronavirus pandemic.Throughout the pandemic, Amazon management has sought to conceal the extent of infections in order to lull workers into a false sense of security. When workers demanded specific information regarding their workplaces, management insisted that the data was protected by privacy laws and refused to make it available. Spontaneous walkouts and sickouts over the spring and summer were frequently triggered by workers’ independent discovery of a case that had been covered up by management.
Religion and COVID: at odds? -- Two weeks ago, the Supreme Court ruled against New York’s most recent COVID-19-related restrictions on houses of worship, a win for religious freedom. But was it also a loss for public health? The tensions between religious freedom and public health were high at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic and are on the rise yet again as we enter the holiday season. COVID-19 made church as we know it difficult, if not impossible. As Massachusetts prepared to lift the COVID-19 lockdown in May, over 250 pastors urged the governor to include churches in the first phase of reopening. Some clergy argued that religious organizations are essential businesses and should be opened quickly. (The governor did honor this and included churches in phase one.) “Churches are absolutely essential,” said Clay Myatt, a pastor in Brockton, Massachusetts. “We offer community, justice, and, perhaps above all, hope during crisis.” Plus, we have a constitutional right to religious expression. (To this end, some churches have deliberately defied gathering restrictions.) Stay-at-home orders – though justified as states sought to protect their residents’ health – seemed at odds with the freedom to worship. Religious freedom and public health don’t have to be in conflict, but they may require a bit of give and take. Unfortunately, there is risk associated with in-person activities like religious services. Large indoor gatheringsare perfect for spreading COVID-19 and there are many examples of outbreaks in churches that ignored the warnings. But the risk of infection is not insurmountable. If religious leaders care for their congregants’ spiritual and emotional health, it’s fair to say they care for their physical health, too. R. Steven Warner, another Brockton pastor, agreed, arguing that caring for our physical health is biblical, or required. Taking extra precautions during the pandemic is just another way to do that. In the long term, however, virtual church is not sustainable. Separation from our spiritual homes takes asignificant toll, not mention the constitutional concerns. As we approach the holiday season full of religious celebrations, how do we balance both religious freedom and the public’s health? In a word, cooperation. In another, compromise. Religious leaders must prioritize the health of their congregations with stringent cleaning and safety protocols. Full compliance with COVID-19 guidelines will respect the value of religious expression while still protecting the congregation’s health. At the same time, public health and government leaders must prioritize the spiritual health of their communities by keeping churches open when possible. Initial stay-at-home orders were justified and necessary but many would have viewed any further delay to reopening churches as a violation of constitutional rights. Future shutdowns will likely be viewed the same way. Local leaders would be remiss to ignore this; there is a clear need for spiritual connection during these difficult times.
Stop government attack on COVID-19 whistleblower Rebekah Jones! - The Socialist Equality Party condemns the fascistic police raid on the home of data scientist Rebekah Jones, which came in response to her work exposing the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic in Florida and in schools across the US. Florida state police barged into Jones’ home Monday with guns aimed at her and her family. They seized her phone, computer and several hard drives, preventing her from continuing to publish data on COVID-19 outbreaks. After the raid Jones tweeted: "They pointed a gun in my face. They pointed guns at my kids... This was DeSantis. He sent the gestapo." Jones tweeted Friday that she has learned that Circuit Judge Joshua Hawkes was appointed by Florida’s Republican Governor Ron DeSantis in September, and one of his first acts as a judge was to sign the search warrant that led to the seizure of her technology. DeSantis is among the most prominent backers of US President Donald Trump, who has spearheaded the ruling class policy of “herd immunity” through the opening of non-essential businesses and schools. Jones told CNN that flash drives seized by the police contained proof that Florida officials “were lying in January about things like internal reports and notices from the CDC,” as well as “evidence of illegal activities by the state.” This brazen act of suppression of the rights to free speech and access to information must be opposed! The working class in the US and internationally must come to the defense of Jones and all whistleblowers, and fight for the full transparency and reporting of all data on COVID-19! A former employee at the Florida Department of Health, Jones is among the most prominent data scientists in the US. Using advanced geographic information system (GIS) technology, Jones helped create Florida’s COVID-19 dashboard to carefully track the spread of the pandemic in the state. Shortly thereafter, she was fired in May for refusing to manipulate data to support DeSantis’ escalating back-to-work and back-to-school campaigns. After being fired from her position, Jones went on to help create and oversee Florida COVID Action and The COVID Monitor, the most comprehensive databases for tracking COVID-19 infections and deaths in Florida and in K-12 schools across the US, respectively. Jones was targeted due to her role with these projects, and for being an outspoken critic of DeSantis and Trump. She has consistently warned against the reckless policy of reopening schools amid the raging pandemic. The specific allegation made against Jones that led to Monday’s police raid was that she was responsible for an email being sent to Florida’s Department of Health employees imploring them to “speak up before another 17,000 people are dead,” which Jones denies having sent. She asserts that, in part, officials seized her devices to determine what contacts she has within the Department of Health, who will in turn likely be victimized in the near future.
Polarized Pandemic Response and Covid-19 Connectedness Across US States -Balancing the trade-off between strict public health measures and economic activity has been the key concern for governments since the Covid-19 outbreak. While strict measures impose high economic costs, they may play an important role in containing the spread of the virus, and consequently in preventing a more prolonged and costly reduction in economic activity (Furman 2020, Odendahl and Springford 2020). In the case of the US, the federal government showed a lax response to the pandemic, focusing on the economic impact rather than the rapidly increasing cases of Covid-19 and the death toll. The resulting public debate politicised the federal and state-level public health policies and led to the formation of demarcation lines across the party lines in a year of presidential elections. In a new paper (Akovali and Yilmaz 2020), we study the substantial differences in state-level responses leading to a wide variation in the new Covid-19 case trajectories across the country. Our work adds to the recent literature by demonstrating the close association between government policy and community mobility responses to the pandemic and the trajectories of new Covid-19 cases as well as their connectedness/spillovers across the US. This column studies Covid-19 infections and their connectedness across US states. It finds that states with lax government policy and community mobility response had higher case growth trajectories and generated connectedness of Covid-19 cases to other states. Further, states with Republican governors tend to have higher connectedness of Covid-19 cases among themselves and generate net connectedness to states with Democratic governors.
The unseen plight of undocumented workers in the US during the pandemic -- Making up nearly 6 percent of the American workforce, undocumented workers fuel industries like agriculture, manufacturing, meatpacking and animal husbandry, as well as the broader service industry, which includes food services, building and outdoor maintenance, and construction. Across the United States, more than 2.5 million farm workers and almost 2 million food service workers are undocumented immigrants, constituting almost half of all farm workers in the United States and almost a quarter of food service work. Undocumented workers provide up to 30 percent of the labor in the service industry in California. Despite the “essential” label tacked onto these industries during the pandemic, the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration has refused to require or enforce any kind of COVID-19 safety measures for workers. COVID-19 has ripped through the agricultural industry and its “essential” workers. Research by Purdue University estimates that more than 145,000 farm workers have tested positive for COVID-19. This number, while staggering, does not include temporary laborers as well as those who could not be tested—most likely undocumented workers. The Immokalee Region of southern Florida, a region known for its significant immigrant population and year-round tomato growing, reported more than 1,000 COVID-19 cases in October. At a watermelon farm in Florida’s Alachua County, 90 of the farm’s 100 workers tested positive for the disease over the course of a month. According to a recent study from UC Berkeley, farm workers in California have contracted coronavirus at nearly three times the rate of other workers. In the San Joaquin Valley of Central California, one of the most productive agricultural regions in the world and by far the most active in the US, one county reported almost 28,000 cases and 522 deaths, with rates growing astronomically between August and December. More than 1,180 agricultural workers in Santa Barbara County have tested positive, revealing only a fraction of the actual scale of the spread. Like in agriculture, meatpacking workers and others in food production have a significantly increased risk for contracting the virus. California’s Central Valley also set another US record with the largest outbreak from a single farm when 400 employees tested positive at a poultry farm in Merced County. In Los Angeles, the Farmer John meatpacking plant, the largest such facility in the state, racked up tens of thousands of dollars in wrist slap fines for unsafe conditions which resulted in more than 300 employees contracting COVID-19 during the month of November alone. All told, eight percent of all COVID-19 cases in the US so far can be linked to meatpacking plants. When there is an outbreak at a farm or packing house, these “essential” workers are unable to physically distance at work and also at home due to cramped living quarters. As these cases develop, it becomes a distinct possibility that half if not the majority of workers at a given facility will contract the virus.
‘Existential Peril’: Mass Transit Faces Huge Service Cuts Across U.S. - NY Times - In Boston, transit officials warned of ending weekend service on the commuter rail and shutting down the city’s ferries. In Washington, weekend and late-night metro service would be eliminated and 19 of the system’s 91 stations would close. In Atlanta, 70 of the city’s 110 bus routes have already been suspended, a move that could become permanent. And in New York City, home to the largest mass transportation system in North America, transit officials have unveiled a plan that could slash subway service by 40 percent and cut commuter rail service in half. Across the United States, public transportation systems are confronting an extraordinary financial crisis set off by the pandemic, which has starved transit agencies of huge amounts of revenue and threatens to cripple service for years. The profound cuts agencies are contemplating could hobble the recoveries of major cities from New York to Los Angeles and San Francisco, where reliable transit is a lifeblood of the local economies. Trains and buses carry the office workers, shoppers and tourists who will help revive stores, restaurants, cultural attractions, hotels and other key businesses that have been battered by the outbreak. The financial collapse of transportation agencies would especially hurt minority and low-income riders who tend to be among the biggest users of subways and buses. For months, transit officials around the country have pleaded for help from the federal government, but with no new lifeline forthcoming and many systems facing December deadlines to balance their budgets, agencies have started to outline doomsday service plans that would take effect next year. ImageIn Washington, weekend and late-night metro service would be eliminated and 19 of the system’s 91 stations would close without an infusion of federal aid, officials said. A glimmer of hope emerged in recent days, when a bipartisan group of lawmakers in Congress proposed $15 billion for public transit agencies as part of a $908 billion framework for a pandemic-relief package. But it has yet to be endorsed by Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the Republican majority leader, who has proposed a smaller stimulus plan that contains no financing for public transit.
Kansas, Missouri need help with utility bills in pandemic | The Kansas City Star - Utilities such as Evergy did the right thing when they stopped disconnecting people from electrical service for overdue accounts at the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic. However, while that disconnection moratorium ended in July, the public health crisis did not. Now the spread of COVID-19 is exponential and unyielding throughout Kansas and Missouri, while families in each state struggle to pay their bills because of the corresponding economic crisis. As community transmission rages, monopoly utilities must again do the right thing by reinstating a moratorium on utility disconnections and reconnecting utilities to ensure no family goes without heat, electricity or water until the pandemic is under control. If utility CEOs do not act soon, Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly and Missouri Gov. Mike Parson should. This is not just the right thing to do for families and businesses that are suffering through no fault of their own; research published by Duke University found that utility shutoff moratoriums contributed to a reduction in the spread of the virus. This is commonsense policy that will save lives. We know customers are hurting because monopoly utilities have filed reports with state regulators in Kansas and Missouri detailing the pain. More than 68,000 Evergy customers are on special payment plans to keep the lights on, while another 31,537 residential customers have had their power involuntarily disconnected. Payment plans are helpful and have kept utilities on for many, but these measures are inadequate when confronting the enormity of the public health and economic crisis today.
LG&E requests rate hike to fund upgrades, critics say its the wrong time — Louisville Gas & Electric says a rate increase will help them continue work that reduces power outage times, among other things, but consumer advocates are questioning the need and the timing. In a filing with Kentucky's Public Service Commission, which can either approve or deny the request, the LG&E has asked for an electricity rate increase of 11.81%, or $11.74 on the average monthly electric bill, and a gas rate increase of 9.37%, or $6.17 on the average monthly gas bill. Advertisement The utility hopes to raise $161.1 million for a variety of investments, including the kind of infrastructure upgrades that have already reduced power outage times by 20% over the past decade, said Natasha Collins, an LG&E spokesperson. "We've done things like put in new wires, replace old wooden poles with steel poles, put in new circuit breakers, new equipment in substations and also invest in automated equipment that helps us to pinpoint the location of an outage, isolate that outage and restore service to the rest of the customers," she said. The money would also pay for new electric car charging stations, she said. If approved, the rate increase could take effect in mid-2021. Consumer advocates worry the economic effects of the COVID-19 pandemic will still be hurting many LG&E customers. "It hits particularly low and fixed income seniors harder than it hits some who have more ability to absorb the changes," said Tom Fitzgerald, director of the Kentucky Resources Council. "We literally have folks who are already deciding 'Do I buy my medicine or do I pay my electric bills?'"
General manager: TVA credit will help Natchez Trace EPA stave off rate hikes “for as long as possible” | Chickasaw Journal -- Natchez Trace EPA will use a recent credit from the Tennessee Valley Authority to stave off any future rate increases to the co-op’s 15,000-plus members for as long as possible, Natchez Trace EPA General Manager Shawn Edmondson said this week.The credit to Natchez Trace represents 2.5 percent of wholesale power costs -- the cost of power that TVA sells to Natchez Trace -- for 12 months beginning in October, 2020. The credit will also help the EPA offset any potential drop in power sales due to the Covid-19 pandemic, he said.“Our commercial sales are down about 10 percent, while our residential sales have held steady since everyone’s at the house.“The big drop in commercial sales is due to everything being shut down. April was one of the one of lowest months we ever had in terms of sales. Overall, I’ve never seen this big a drop in sales, and I’ve been here 22 years,” Edmondson said.He said receipt of the credit should mean customers will not see a rate hike for “probably a couple normal years, but it might be less if thing stay slow,” he said.The EPA’s last rate hike was in 2019 for 1.5 percent.“Being in rural Mississippi and having stagnant growth is something we face every year, but it’s been compounded this year due to the shutdowns from the coronavirus,” the general manager said.Natchez Trace EPA is a member-owned electrical cooperative headquartered in Houston with district offices in Calhoun City and Eupora. It provides electrical service to about 15,823 members in parts of Calhoun, Chickasaw, Clay, Grenada, Pontotoc, Webster and Yalobusha counties.
Food prices, waste rise as food insecurity affects tens of millions in the US - The COVID-19 pandemic has caused significant disruption to the food supply chain in the United States. Farmers who lost their markets have been forced to let millions of pounds of food waste even as tens of millions of workers suffer from food insecurity. In 2019, 35 million Americans suffered from food insecurity. Two-thirds were able to obtain enough food to eat through food assistance programs or altered eating patterns, while one-third suffered from a reduction in food intake. Researchers from Northwestern University believe that the number of food insecure households has more than doubled this year, affecting 23 percent of all American households. Households with children have seen this rise to 29.5 percent. This immense food crisis for the working class has been caused by sudden job loss, the refusal of the United States government to provide sufficient financial aid during the pandemic and a significant increase in food prices. The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) has reported an average inflation of four percent for food items in 2020, double the 20-year average. Throughout the year, food prices were incredibly volatile. The consumer price index (CPI) for food rose by 2.7 percent in April alone—the largest one month jump since February 1974—and the cost of groceries rose by 5.6 percent between June and July according to Food Business News. The cost of dairy products collapsed by 17.4 percent from January to May before soaring back up by 24.5 percent in June. The collapse in price was accompanied by millions of gallons of milk being dumped every day by dairy farmers who could not find markets, all while millions went hungry. The USDA expects 2020 to close with a price increase for fresh vegetables between two and three percent, while the price increase for meat products will average between seven and eight percent. The rise in food prices places an incredible burden upon working class families who were already suffering before the pandemic. The bottom 20 percent on American households spent an average of $4,400 on food in 2019, totaling 36 percent of their income. With the Congressional Research Service finding that more than half of households making less than $75,000 a year experienced some loss of income this year, these price increases in food will have a considerable impact. However, while prices for consumers rose considerably, the prices that farmers received did not.
Bureau of Prisons defends treatment of Ghislaine Maxwell after her lawyers' objections -Lawyers for the Federal Bureau of Prisons defended the treatment of Jeffrey Epstein's alleged madame, Ghislaine Maxwell, in a letter to a U.S. district judge on Monday after Maxwell's lawyer complained that jail officials were being invasive in their surveillance methods.The letter, obtained by NBC News, claims that Maxwell is eating under a normal prison meal schedule and has access to numerous recreational activities including use of a computer and TV. She is also allowed to make up to eight hours of social calls on the phone per month.The response from the prison bureau comes in response to a letter sent to Judge Alison Nathan in late November alleging that Maxwell is frequently subject to invasive searches and awoken every 15 minutes at night as a suicide precaution. "Despite non-stop in-cell camera surveillance Ms. Maxwell's sleep is disrupted every 15 minutes when she is awakened by a flashlight to ascertain whether she is breathing," her attorney wrote at the time. Maxwell is accused of facilitating the abuse of underage girls by the late financier Jeffrey Epstein, who died in what authorities ruled a suicide in his Manhattan jail cell last year while awaiting charges for sex trafficking. Prosecutors have charged two guards with falsifying records to hide their failures to monitor Epstein prior to his death. Maxwell's attorneys argue that she has never shown to be at risk of suicide and should not be subject to monitoring.
Ghislaine Maxwell to offer $30M bail, admit she's married: reports -- Ghislaine Maxwell will propose a nearly $30 million bail package in hopes of getting sprung from a Brooklyn lockup — and will finally admit she’s a married woman, according to reports.The accused Jeffrey Epstein madam is expected to go to court in the coming days in a bid to be freed before Christmas, the Telegraph first reported.Roughly $25 million of the hefty package will be backed by Maxwell’s rumored husband, tech CEO Scott Borgerson — whose identity the British heiressrefused to reveal at an initial bail hearing over the summer.The upcoming bail application will be the first time Maxwell will publicly acknowledge she is married,ABC News reported.Friends told the Telegraph that Borgerson is devastated that Maxwell has remained jailed at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn since her July arrest on sex abuse charges.Some $5 million of the bail amount will come from Maxwell’s brothers, Kevin and Ian Maxwell.The 58-year-old daughter of disgraced media titan Robert Maxwell will request to be let out on house arrest and will agree to wear an electronic monitoring bracelet, the Telegraph said.She will also waive her rights to seek extradition from the UK and France, where she holds citizenship in addition to the US, ABC News reported.At the July hearing, Manhattan federal Judge Alison Nathan refused to release Maxwell on $5 million bail and home confinement after prosecutors argued that she was purposely cagey about her finances.Maxwell’s lawyers revealed they were ready to ask for bail a second time in a Nov. 25 letter, court papers show. They requested a closed-door hearing to keep secret the identities of the co-signers of the bond, saying “they are legitimately afraid if their identities become public, they will be subjected to the same relentless media scrutiny and threats that Ms. Maxwell has experienced for more than a year.”
Supreme Court denies review of school transgender bathroom policy - The Supreme Court on Monday declined to take up a challenge by Oregon parents to public school policies allowing transgender students to use bathrooms that match their gender identity. By declining to hear the case, the justices preserved a federal appeals court’s decision to permit transgender students to use the bathrooms and locker rooms associated with their gender identity instead of their sex assigned at birth. Parents brought the case against the Dallas School District in Oregon in 2017 after a transgender student was permitted to use the boys’ bathrooms and locker room at the high school. The parents alleged that the district’s permission for transgender students to use the bathrooms and locker rooms aligned with their gender identity violated the privacy and constitutional rights of other students. A lower court initially refused to strike down the school district’s policy, prompting the parents to appeal to the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which affirmed the lower court ruling. “The District’s directive interferes with parents’ rights to direct the upbringing of their children, schoolchildren’s rights to bodily privacy, parents’ and children’s free exercise of religion, and children’s rights to be free from hostile educational environments under Title IX,” the parents said in their petition for appeal. The Supreme Court's denial of review on Monday means the Oregon parents' petition for appeal failed to gain support from at least four justices.
New York City workers condemn mayor’s plan to reopen schools Monday - Anger is rising among educators and other workers in New York City over the decision of Democratic Mayor Bill de Blasio to reopen schools in the largest school district in the US on Monday. The schools were closed on November 19 because the citywide rolling seven-day average positivity rate among people tested for COVID-19 was above three percent, the cutoff initially agreed to by de Blasio and the United Federation of Teachers (UFT). Cases of those infected with the virus have increased nearly 70 percent in the last two weeks. On November 29, the mayor reneged on the agreement to adhere to the three percent threshold, announcing that primary schools would reopen on December 7. The UFT, without consulting its membership, has supported the mayor’s decision wholeheartedly. As a result, 195,000 students from pre-K to 5th grade are eligible to return to in-person class Monday.De Blasio made his decision after a ferocious pro-reopening media campaign spearheaded by the New York Times, various protests by upper-middle-class parents, and intense behind-the-scenes pressure from New York’s Governor Andrew Cuomo and other Democratic Party politicians, who are as beholden to Wall Street as Trump and the Republicans. Cuomo himself has relaxed requirements for schools to close across New York state in counties with high positivity rates. Millions of working class New Yorkers understand the danger of opening schools. Only 30 percent of eligible students have returned to in-person class since September, in what amounts to a de facto boycott of face-to-face learning in public schools. New York City teachers have circulated a petition calling for the closing of schools, which reads in part: We have been sold out by our Union president without a clear explanation or rationale that makes sense. We believe that closing schools is the only way to keep our teachers and their families safe during this time where people are continuing to gather for the holidays. We are asking that you please take our lives and health into consideration and reopen schools after the holidays when the rates have dropped, and it is safe to do so.
Reopening of New York City schools threatens massive spread of COVID-19 -The COVID-19 pandemic is raging out of control across the United States. Over the past week, 1,442,516 people have tested positive and 16,068 have died. The number of hospitalized COVID-19 patients now stands at 102,148, pushing healthcare workers beyond their capacity as forecasts project the situation to become ever direr in the coming weeks and months.Amid this catastrophe, New York City public schools reopened Monday for pre-K to 5th grade, bringing together as many as 200,000 students and staff in confined, poorly ventilated classrooms across the city. Less than three weeks after New York City’s Democratic Mayor Bill de Blasio was compelled to close schools when the citywide test positivity rate surpassed three percent, he has unilaterally reopened them, despite the citywide test positivity rate now exceeding five percent and daily new cases having increased nearly 70 percent in the last two weeks. The United Federation of Teachers (UFT) has again played the pivotal role in reopening schools. After facilitating the agreement to reopen schools in September, the union bemoaned the fact that they were closed last month and then approvingly retweeted de Blasio’s declaration that they would reopen this week. UFT President Michael Mulgrew parrots the line advanced by the foremost advocate of reopening schools, the New York Times, which wrote Monday, “While the road ahead will be rocky, top public health officials in the city expressed confidence that public schools would remain islands of relative safety.”Nowhere do the Democrats, the UFT, the Times, the rest of the corporate media or any of the unprincipled public health officials they bring forward cite any evidence to substantiate their claim that schools are somehow safe havens where COVID-19 miraculously cannot spread. The reality is that schools have long been recognized by epidemiologists as major centers in viral transmission, and COVID-19 is no exception. The effects of this policy will be disastrous. Countless teachers, education workers, students and parents will needlessly become infected and die in the coming weeks, while the spread of the pandemic will deepen throughout the region and beyond. Further, the precedent set by the largest school district in the US is accelerating school reopening plans in other major Democratic Party-led cities, including Chicago, Los Angeles, Oakland and Washington D.C., among others.
Kass: Kids Are "Casualties Of War" In The Chicago Teachers Union's Power-Play To Keep Schools Closed - Why don’t we make this a “teaching moment” for parents who want real choice?And for the great public schoolteachers who might be intimidated by those union leaders who are fighting to keep schools closed?Some of those teachers send their kids to private schools in Chicago where teachers are in the classroom. They would rather stay quiet. I don’t blame them.The science does not support closed schools. Dr. Anthony Fauci and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Dr. Robert Redfield say that kids should be in school with proper precautions.Most teachers want to teach in person. They’ve dedicated their lives to being educators. And they know, perhaps more than most of us, how closing schools hurts young people emotionally, socially and academically.And many parents also want their children in school, not falling behind, trying to learn on a laptop. Chicago’s mayor and other Democratic elected officials know this, but they’re intimidated by the power of the CTU leadership.Before I go any further, please remember I’m not anti-teacher. My wife is a teacher. One of our sons is a teacher.Don’t twist my words to suggest otherwise. Teachers perform the most important job in the country. Yet many good teachers are, as I said, intimidated by union bosses. And the political actors tremble because teachers union bosses are their political bosses now. I decided to reach out to a man who knows how this works and invited him to be a guest on “The Chicago Way” podcast: Paul Vallas, the former CEO of the Chicago Public Schools. He has been putting pressure on the union and the politicians to open up the schools. (transcript follows)
Ohio schools set new record for most coronavirus cases reported in a week - – As Ohio continues to ride its largest wave of the coronavirus pandemic, schools in the state reported their largest weekly increase in COVID-19 cases on Thursday. The Ohio Department of Health on Thursday reported 5,166 new cases of COVID-19 among K-12 students and staff members, eclipsing the previous weekly record of 4,717 set on Nov. 19. The total number of students and staff who have tested positive this school year is now 28,218. Before Thursday’s record increase, week-to-week increases of COVID-19 in school communities had been trending down, with increases of 4,709 and 3,750 in the past two weeks. As of last Thursday, 364 of Ohio’s 609 public school districts were in a hybrid or fully remote learning model or were closed all week, according to the Ohio Department of Education. 185 were fully remote, including the state’s largest school district, Columbus City Schools, and the large urban districts of Cleveland, Cincinnati, Toledo and Akron. Case data is reported to ODH on Sundays to be published on Thursdays, so cases published Thursday reflect last week. (See more information on the data in the dropdown below). Schools report cases among students and staff to ODH on Tuesdays, and ODH releases numbers on Thursdays at 2 p.m. However, the numbers a school reports to ODH may not be as recent as Tuesday. “A report of COVID-19 should not be interpreted as an indicator that a school district or school isn’t following proper procedures—school cases can be a reflection of the overall situation in the broader community,” the state’s dashboard of cases notes. 17,143 (61%) of Ohio’s school cases are students and 11,075 (39%) are staff members, which include teachers, administrators, coaches and support staff. 1,387 Ohio schools have reported at least one coronavirus case this school year, an increase of 31 since last week. That is half of the 2,773 schools, districts, private schools, vocational schools, preschools and other non-college institutions the state tracks. Thirty-six schools have reported at least 100 cases and 127 schools have reported at least 50. Cincinnati Public Schools, a district of more than 36,000 students, leads the state with 486 cases. Five Columbus area school districts are in the top 10, including three in the top five.
Alabama loses two more educators to COVID-19 -- Two more beloved educators in the Montgomery, Alabama school district have died of COVID-19. Morris Lewis Pitts, a devoted grandfather and custodian at Jefferson Davis High School, passed away November 25. Dr. Ennis McCorvey, an assistant principal of Lee High School who inspired students and teachers alike, succumbed to the virus November 29, adding to the state’s grim death toll of at least 3,638 people. On November 21, two Hoover City educator deaths were reported. “Every day, Mr. Pitts was at our school to pick up his granddaughter,” a Montgomery teacher recalled to the World Socialist Web Site. “He’d work a full day at the high school, then come and get his granddaughter. Everybody knew him as the man who comes and waits for his baby. He came to parent-teacher conferences or called and asked about her grades. He was the involved parent we all wish for, and he was not a parent but a grandparent. He’d say, ‘She’s a wonderful child, but I’ve still got to be involved.’ He was an amazing person. He would lend a hand to help anybody; he’d give the shirt off his back.” Dr. Ennis McCorvey Dr. McCorvey’s death has likewise traumatized his coworkers and friends. “People were crying, crying in front of their students,” said the teacher. “Students were crying. Graduates of the school said, ‘He helped me, he told me I was going to make it.’ He touched everybody, every school, people in the community, fraternity members, church members. Teachers are still having a hard time; they can’t believe he’s gone. “He helped me. I had a student who didn’t want to do any work. That young man just refused to take a test. Principal McCorvey said to me, ‘Give him another chance. I don’t care if it’s four or five chances, you cannot give him the option to fail!’ Still this young man said he wouldn’t take the test. He was just rebelling. McCorvey pulled his chair up and said, ‘Young man, you can do this, show them how smart you are. Just do this.’ And he did it. He helped the worst-behaved kids, he pushed them and showed them how great they are.” The day following Dr. McCorvey’s death, the district belatedly announced that it would end face-to-face instruction districtwide beginning December 7 through January 11. Even this half-measure quickly brought the ire of Republican Governor Kay Ivey. She has repeatedly vowed not to shut businesses, endorsing the Business Council of Alabama’s (BCA) “Keep Alabama Open” campaign. The BCA is made up of the top financial interests in the state, including the Alabama Automotive Manufacturers Association, US Steel, Honda, JP Morgan Chase, and other banks and large businesses.
Teacher walkout forces closure of Toronto-area school hit by COVID-19 outbreak - An elementary school in a heavily working-class Toronto neighbourhood was forced to close last Thursday following a teacher walkout triggered by a massive COVID-19 outbreak. Mass testing at Thorncliffe Park Public School, undertaken to locate asymptomatic carriers of the virus, had found 26 cases among staff and students. Public health authorities initially refused to close the school, following directives from Ontario’s hard-right Conservative government, which is determined to keep schools open so parents can go to work and generate profits for big business. After 19 positive tests were confirmed, 348 students and 27 of the school’s 30 teachers were ordered to isolate at home. Even so, Toronto Public Health officials insisted that the cases were acquired outside the walls of the school. When the confirmed case count rose to 26 on Thursday, the three remaining teachers walked off the job, effectively forcing Toronto Public Health to order the school closed. The pilot program of voluntary testing for those who are not showing symptoms was recently rolled out at schools in hard-hit neighbourhoods across the province. It has so far included hotspots in Ottawa, Toronto and the badly affected Peel Region in Toronto’s western suburbs.Provincial Education Minister Stephen Lecce, who has led the reckless school reopening drive of the Doug Ford-led provincial government, defended the refusal to close Thorncliffe Park Public School. “Ninety-nine percent of Ontario students are COVID-free,” he cynically declared. Lecce also pointed to the high community positive test rate of 16 percent, compared to the 4 percent found at the school, to claim that the Thorncliffe Park outbreak was not due to in-school transmission. Journalists felt compelled to point out the obvious, that the high positive test rate in the community was a result of greater testing among symptomatic individuals and those with whom they have been in close contact. Furthermore, high transmission in the broader community only underscores the criminality of keeping schools open while cases of the virus skyrocket all around.
Over 2,200 students at Columbia University threaten tuition strike amid economic crisis - Students at Columbia University in New York City have launched plans for a tuition strike demanding decreased tuition and increased financial aid in 2021. The petition announcing the strike has grown to over 2,200 student pledges. Columbia University is one of the most expensive universities in the country, costing over $60,000 a year, has one of the largest university endowments in the country, currently at $11.26 billion, and is one of the largest private landowners in New York City. Columbia recently reported an increase of $310 million to their endowment from returns in the university’s stock portfolio this year.Meanwhile, students face a dire economic situation as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, which is beginning to rage uncontrolled once again in New York City, under Democratic Party leadership. The current threat of tuition strike follows a strike in April by Columbia University graduate workersdemanding the university sufficiently address the impact of the pandemic on their lives, scholarship and research.The strike campaign, which extends to the Columbia-affiliated schools of Barnard College and Teachers College, was initiated by the Columbia University-Barnard College chapter of the Young Democratic Socialists of America (YDSA).The primary demands of the tuition strike call for a reduction of the total cost of attendance by at least 10 percent and an increase of financial aid by at least 10 percent. Other listed demands include ending university expansion in West Harlem, defunding Columbia’s Public Safety security force, divesting from fossil fuels and from companies tied to human rights violations, protections for international students, and granting union recognition for student workers to bargain for improved compensation and benefits.
Opposition erupts at San Diego State University following decision to cancel spring break -At a meeting of the San Diego State University (SDSU) Senate on December 1, the university president pushed for an impromptu vote on a decision to cancel the one-week spring break holiday for students in April. Since the vote a little over a week ago, university administrators have faced a backlash from students. An online petition to reverse the decision has gathered more than 14,000 signatures, almost half of the school’s 30,000 student population, in only a few days. A significant number of faculty members have also voiced their opposition to the move, which will increase workloads for both students and teachers. The university has replaced the usual week-long spring break with a handful of “rest and recovery” days, which will amount to a few three-day weekends spaced throughout the semester. The decision has been made on public health grounds, with the stated aim of discouraging student gatherings and travel that might occur during a five-day recess. In a letter to SDSU officials, San Diego Public Health Officer Dr. Wilma Wooten called for “avoiding the 9-day class gap” as a “proactive approach to protect our communities from preventable outbreaks.” “The extended, traditional break encourages travel for students,” Wooten sated, “increasing their risk of exposure when flying or driving across states, putting their families and the SDSU community upon arrival, at higher risk of contracting the virus.” There is no question that discouraging travel and gatherings is absolutely necessary to prevent the spread of the virus. The pandemic is in an extremely dangerous phase, with new cases and deaths at record levels. However, the university’s decision is riven with hypocrisy. The university administration, acting in conjunction with the Democratic Party which controls the state government, has created the conditions for the spread of the virus while providing students with no resources to cope with the stress of school and work amidst a public health emergency. Anger among SDSU students has been building since the spring of this year, as the pandemic was first emerging. The university gave students mere days to move out of campus housing and levied heavy fines against them for extension requests. Then, in the fall, SDSU encouraged thousands of students to move into the dorms, offering single and combined dorms with up to four students in one small room. The reckless policy led to more than 700 COVID-19 cases among students within the first month of reopening. By November, the total number of cases among students since the start of fall instruction reached more than 1,700. As students began testing positive in large numbers, the university put hundreds of students into “isolation dorms” without more than 10 minutes to pack-up after staff in hazmat suits arrived at their doors.
Plans by University of Colorado at Boulder to cut 50 tenured jobs evoke opposition - The University of Colorado at Boulder’s College of Arts and Sciences dean, James White, ostensibly in reaction to the $69 million revenue reduction last spring, has floated a plan to eliminate 50 tenured positions and replace them with 25 adjuncts. The action immediately faced a backlash from students, faculty and staff on the campus. One day later, in an effort to head off an explosion, the dean claimed that the numbers were only hypothetical.In an interview Thursday, White stated, “Cutting is hard but growing back intelligently can be even harder.” Echoing the words of former Chicago Democratic Mayor Rahm Emanuel who infamously said, “Never let a good crisis go to waste,” White stated menacingly, “Never waste a good pandemic.” In other words, cuts to tenured staff were long planned by the administration, which was waiting for the right moment to implement them. The proposed cuts were in line with the trend throughout much of academia where relatively secure tenure and tenure-track jobs are being replaced by essentially low-pay contractor jobs, entailing increased workloads.The dean made clear that the proposed destruction of tenured jobs and their replacement by non-tenured and/or temporary positions would be permanent. White stated, “We must envision the College of Arts and Sciences of the future, five to 50 years from now,” adding that the university would be “better able to withstand the inevitable economic downturns and better able to invest in great new ideas.”He stated bluntly, “The fact that our budget is mostly devoted to salaries means that when we must cut our spending, reducing salary costs is the only large lever we have to pull.” There is no talk of cutting salaries of top administrators, who eat up a disproportionate share of the budget. According to publicly available information, as of FY 2019, White made $303,400, which has risen by around $8,000 since then. In FY 2019 the school spent $7.24 million in a buy-out of UCB football coach Mike MacIntrye, with a base salary being $575,000 in FY 2019 excluding supplemental salary, bonuses, and incentives. The add-ons, the Denver Business Journal noted, amount to “hundreds of thousands or even millions in additional pay.” For FY 2019–2020, the UCB athletics director, who leads the most profitable football program in the state, was paid $850,000 along the same lines.
R.I.P The University, b. 1088, d. 2020, of Covid - Lambert Strether - I just read a very saddening story in the Wall Street Journal: “Hit by Covid-19, Colleges Do the Unthinkable and Cut Tenure.” The headline is a bit deceptive; the real issue is not doing away with tenure, but changing the governance structure of the university to a corporate model, where the administrators run the institution, with the President as CEO, and faculty are at-will employees. The first university as we know it was founded in Bologna, Italy in 1088; theUniversità di Bologna still exists today, so institutionally it must have something going for it; 2020 – 1088 = 932 years, a little shy of the Roman Empire’s lifespan. But all that is solid melts into air. Freedom to tell the truth was built on the foundation of academic freedom, meaning in practice that the faculty governed itself — including hiring and firing and the curriculum — while the administration took care of the buildings and grounds, One way of looking at academic freedom is that you get to be a whistleblower all the time, with little consequence outside academic politics[1]. The life of the whistle in the corporate world, where all are slaves to profit, is very different. Again, an ideal, I know. Which brings me to the Wall Street Journal article. Faced with a financial shortfall caused by Covid, here is what Kenneth Macur, President of Medaille College, did:Dr. Macur saw what he considered an opportunity: With the approval of the board of trustees, he suspended the faculty handbook by invoking an “act of god” clause embedded in it. He laid off several professors, cut the homeland security and health information management programs, rescinded the lifelong job security of tenure and rewrote the faculty handbook, rules that had governed the school for decades. In other words, the President of a university became the CEO of an institution we don’t yet have a name for. (A diploma mill?) Putting aside for now castigating the trusting fool who put let that “Act of God” clause slip by, Macur has turned the faculty into employees at will. He’s also taken over control of the curriculum by eliminating entire schools. Macur, in short, eliminated any institutional basis for academic freedom. You will note also that Macur did not cut his own salary, or slash the administration[2].The Journal goes on: Dr. Macur and presidents of struggling colleges around the country are reacting to the pandemic by unilaterally cutting programs, firing professors and gutting tenure, all once-unthinkable changes. Schools employed about 150,000 fewer workers in September than they did a year earlier, before the pandemic, according to the Labor Department. That’s a decline of nearly 10%. Along the way, they are changing the centuries-old higher education power structure.The changes upset the “shared governance” model for running universities that has roots in Medieval Europe. It holds that a board of trustees has final say on how a school is run but largely delegates academic issues to administrators and faculty who share power.This setup, and the job protection of tenure, promote a need for consensus and deliberation that is one reason why universities often endure for centuries
Public Health Workers In Kansas Walk Away Over Pressure From Pandemic Politics - In July, Nick Baldetti resigned as director of the Reno County Health Department in Kansas. But it wasn't the 80-hour workweeks that drove him to quit, it was the hostile political environment and threats to Baldetti's family. "I had the local police watching my house because my family was home and I was not," said Baldetti, who also served as the department's health officer. "There was a period of time that I had escorts to and from work." Baldetti spent years preparing to deal with a public health crisis like the COVID-19 pandemic. He never imagined that when the moment arrived, he would encounter such antagonism for simply doing his job. "By the end of the day, you just felt like you were on an island by yourself," he said. "Whatever decision I made, 50% of people were going to be upset because it was too 'restrictive' and the other 50% were going to be upset because it wasn't restrictive enough." Baldetti's story isn't unique. The pressure of dealing with the pandemic and the politics surrounding it has triggered an exodus of public health workers in Kansas. In the nine months since the state's first documented coronavirus infection, 27 county health officials have left their posts. Some retired, but others resigned or were fired. The same pressures are thinning the ranks of local public health officials across the country. Many are leaving because they've been physically threatened or "politically scapegoated" for doing their jobs, Lori Freeman, chief executive of the National Association of County and City Health Officials, told NPR. Gianfranco Pezzino recently announced that after 14 years as the health officer of the Shawnee County Health Department, he would step down at the end of the year. A doctor and public health researcher, Pezzino said months of battling county commissioners over how to contain the coronavirus had worn him out. "I'm tired emotionally, I'm tired physically," Pezzino said. "I don't think I have the energy ... to do another year like this." The amount of misinformation spread on social media — much of it emanating from the White House — politicized the nation's response to the pandemic, Pezzino said. "If there had been a unified message coming down from the federal government to the state and local levels," he said, "it would have been much easier for everybody."
COVID-19 becomes the leading cause of death in the US -- Since the week ending November 22, the seven-day total number of deaths related to COVID-19 has exceeded 11,000 in the United States. This makes it the leading cause of death three weeks running, surpassing heart disease, which claims approximately 10,700 people each week. February 29, 2020 marked the first death in the US from COVID-19. On that date, a Washington state man in his 50s with underlying health conditions succumbed to the viral infection. Nine months later, the US death toll is rapidly approaching 290,000. According to current projections based on estimates by the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME), the death toll will surpass half a million by March 1—that is, by the one-year anniversary of the first reported death. This means the US will see another 215,000 people die from the virus in less than three months—an average rate of 17,900 deaths per week for the next 12 weeks. If the rolling out of vaccines is factored in, as of April 1 the projected death toll will have declined by only 10,000. In what is being described by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) as a historic public health crisis, the vaccine is not the Hollywood scenario of the cavalry come to the rescue that it is being made out to be in the media. In fact, as the Washington Post reported Sunday: “Federal officials have slashed the amount of coronavirus vaccine they plan to ship to states in December because of constraints on supply. … Instead of the delivery of 300 million or so doses of vaccine immediately after emergency-use approval and before the end of 2020 as the Trump administration had originally promised, current plans call for availability of around a tenth of that, or 35 million doses.” Aside from apt comparisons to World War II and the Civil War, which took their toll over several years, only the annual deaths from heart disease and cancer, which in 2019 stood at 655,381 and 599,274, respectively, exceed death from COVID-19. However, unlike heart disease and cancer, COVID-19 deaths are easily preventable. The implementation of lockdowns and strict public health measures accompanied by full income protection for those workers affected, the allocation of vast resources to expand and improve the health care infrastructure and provide adequate personal protective equipment, and the provision of high-speed internet access to all students will immediately break the transmission chains and drive down the numbers to levels where contact tracing and isolation measures can be nationally instituted to bring the pandemic under
COVID-19: persistent symptoms in one third of cases --Since its appearance in early 2020, COVID-19 has been unpredictable for both physicians and affected individuals given the variety and duration of its symptoms. Notably, it appears to have the potential to cause an unusually long-lasting illness, and the term "long COVID" describes the disease in people who continue to report symptoms several weeks following the infection. To better understand this phenomenon, a team of physicians and epidemiologists from the University of Geneva (UNIGE) the University Hospitals of Geneva (HUG) and the General Health Directorate of the State of Geneva followed nearly 700 people who tested positive for SARS-COV2 but did not require hospitalisation. Six weeks after diagnosis, 33% of them still reported suffering from fatigue, loss of smell or taste, shortness of breath or cough. These results, which can be seen in the Annals of Internal Medicine, call for better communication, particularly with patients and with the physicians who follow them, and for ongoing messages to the general public, reminding them that SARS-CoV-2 infection is not trivial. Even if in just a few months medical and scientific knowledge about SARS-COV2 has considerably improved, several aspects of this disease remain unknown. In particular, many people are wondering about the evolution and long-term consequences of this novel virus. "As soon as the pandemic arrived in our country, we were confronted with these questions," reports Professor Idris Guessous, Chief Physician of the Division of Primary Care at HUG, who directed this work. "In March, the COVICARE program was set up to offer remote monitoring to patients who can be followed on an outpatient basis, when this follow-up could not be carried out by the primary care physician. This has enabled us to better understand the evolution of the disease in people who generally suffer neither from specific risk factors nor from a serious form of the disease."
Healthcare workers 7 times as likely to have severe COVID-19 as other workers --Healthcare workers are 7 times as likely to have severe COVID-19 infection as those with other types of 'non-essential' jobs, finds research focusing on the first UK-wide lockdown and published online in the journal Occupational & Environmental Medicine. And those with jobs in the social care and transport sectors are twice as likely to do so, emphasising the need to ensure that essential (key) workers are adequately protected against the infection, say the researchers. Few studies have looked at the differences in the risk of developing severe COVID-19 infection between different groups of workers. While it's known that those working in healthcare roles are at heightened risk, it's not clear what the risks might be for those working in other sectors. The researchers therefore compared the risk of developing severe COVID-19 infection in essential and non-essential workers, drawing on linked data from the UK Biobank study (2006-10), COVID-19 test results from Public Health England, and recorded deaths for the period 16 March to 26 July 2020. The UK Biobank is a long term study tracking the factors potentially influencing the development of disease in around half a million middle and older age adults. Severe infection was defined as a positive test result for SARS-CoV-2, the virus responsible for COVID-19, while in hospital, or death attributable to the virus. The study included 120,075 employees aged 49-64. Of these, 35,127 (29%) were classified as essential workers: healthcare (9%); social care and education (11%); 'other' to include police and those working in transport and food preparation (9%) Those of Black and Asian ethnicities comprised nearly 3% each of the total. They were more likely to be essential workers, as were women.
Comparison of coronavirus antibody tests revealed too optimistic claims --A study by University of Tartu researchers indicates that the sensitivity of tests used to detect viral antibodies in a blood sample may differ significantly. The combination of several tests may give the best result. At the onset of COVID-19 symptoms, first, the nasopharyngeal swab is taken to verify the presence of the virus. But if the aim is to determine whether an asymptomatic person has been in contact with the virus or, vice versa, to know which acute disease the person recently suffered from, a test detecting antibodies in a blood sample comes helpful. Antibodies are produced in the human body as a counteraction to viral proteins to prevent the virus from replicating and spreading in the body. Usually, it takes a couple of weeks after infection for the antibodies to emerge. Different parts of the virus induce the development of different antibodies. In the case of coronavirus, for instance, there can be antibodies against the spike protein of the virus, against the proteins of the receptor binding domains as well as against the nucleocapsid. Different types of antibodies are produced, but the IgG antibodies stay in the body for the longest. "When we ever suffer from a disease, usually the IgG antibodies are the ones to stay in our body," explained Epp Sepp, Senior Research Fellow in Medical Microbiology at the University of Tartu, one of the authors of the article published in Plos One.
Pfizer says supply chain challenges contributed to slashed target for COVID-19 vaccine doses in 2020 (Reuters) - Challenges in Pfizer Inc’s supply chain for the raw materials used in its COVID-19 vaccine played a role in its decision to slash its 2020 production target, a Pfizer spokeswoman told Reuters. Pfizer has said in recent weeks that it anticipates producing 50 million doses of its COVID-19 vaccine this year. That is down from an earlier target of 100 million doses. Pfizer’s vaccine relies on a two dose regimen, meaning 50 million doses is enough to inoculate 25 million people. A company spokeswoman said the “scale-up of the raw material supply chain took longer than expected.” She also cited later-than-expected results from Pfizer’s clinical trial as a reason for the smaller number of doses expected to be produced by the end of 2020. The spokeswoman added that the modifications to Pfizer’s production lines are now complete and finished doses are being made at a rapid pace. The Wall Street Journal was the first to report the news. It reported that an unnamed person directly involved in the development of the Pfizer vaccine said “some early batches of the raw materials failed to meet the standards,” which caused production delays. Pfizer applied in November for emergency authorization for its COVID-19 vaccine from U.S. regulators. U.S. officials said they expect its vaccine to get regulatory clearance this month. The U.S. government expects its first allocation of the vaccine to include 6.4 million doses, with more to follow. Regulators in the U.K. have already authorized Pfizer’s vaccine for use in that country.
Trump’s promised flood of vaccines not happening - — Federal officials have slashed the amount of coronavirus vaccine they plan to ship to states in December because of constraints on supply, sending local officials into a scramble to adjust vaccination plans and highlighting how early promises of a vast stockpile before the end of 2020 have fallen short. Instead of the delivery of 300 million or so doses of vaccine immediately after emergency-use approval and before the end of 2020 as the Trump administration had originally promised, current plans call for availability of around a tenth of that, or 35 to 40 million doses. Two vaccines, from manufacturers Pfizer and Moderna, which both use a novel form of mRNA to help trigger immune response, are on the verge of winning Food and Drug Administration clearance this month. Approval would cap an unprecedented sprint by government and drug companies to develop, test and manufacture a defense against the worst pandemic in a century – part of the Operation Warp Speed initiative that promised six companies advance purchase orders totaling $9.3 billion. As planning accelerated for distributing supplies, the government began to further lower expectations. To make sure supplies don’t run out and leave some people only partially immunized, the government said it would stagger deliveries to ensure that states have enough supply for the second shot, required 21 days later for the Pfizer vaccine, which is expected to be first to gain approval. Lower-than-anticipated allocations have caused widespread confusion and concern in states, which are beginning to grasp the level of vaccine scarcity they will confront in the early going of the massive vaccination campaign. “I come from a family of seven siblings, and best practice was always to have seven of everything being given out,” said Joe Sullivan, a senior health adviser in Oregon, which is expecting about 35,000 doses in the initial wave from Pfizer. Maine, meanwhile, saw its allotment fall from a previous estimate of 36,000 to just 12,675 doses, officials in the state said. “This is far less than what is needed for Maine and proportionally for other states as well,” Gov. Janet Mills, a Democrat, said at a news conference this past week. The gap reflects the disconnect between President Trump’s campaign promises, as well as the optimistic estimates from some drug companies, and scientific and manufacturing realities. The drop-off is a product of manufacturing problems, bottlenecks in the supply of raw materials and other hurdles in ramping up clinical-trial production of 5 liters of protein-based vaccine at a time to commercial-scale fermentation of 2,000-liter batches, the companies and the Trump administration said. “There were a couple of our vaccine candidates that took significantly longer, in terms of failed batches, in terms of not having the purity we sought,”
First in line for Covid vaccine? Some US health care workers say no - They can move to front of the line for a COVID-19 vaccine if they want, but some US health care workers are skeptical about taking a vaccine that was developed in record time—even as the pandemic rages on. Some want more time, despite assurances from experts that they trust the vaccine vetting process carried out by the US Food and Drug Administration. "I think I would take the vaccine later on, but right now I am a little leery of it," nurse Yolanda Dodson, 55, told AFP. Dodson works at the Montefiore Hospital in New York City and spent the spring in the heart of the deadly fight against the virus. Vaccine studies so far "look promising but I don't think there is enough data yet," Dodson said. "We have to be grateful to those who are willing to subject themselves to take that risk" to participate in the studies, she said. "It is a very personal decision." Diana Torres is a nurse at a Manhattan hospital who saw several of her co-workers die of the novel coronavirus this spring. She is particularly suspicious of vaccines rushed for approval under the Trump administration, which she says has handled the entire pandemic like "some sort of joke." "This is a vaccine that was developed in less than a year and approved under the same administration and government agencies that allowed the virus to spread like a wildfire," Torres said. "They didn't have enough time and people to study the vaccine," she said. "This time around I will pass and watch how it unfolds." Data from clinical trials have shown that two vaccines—one developed by Pfizer and BioNtech, the other by Moderna and the US National Institutes of Health—are about 95 percent effective. Normally the FDA requires six months of follow up, but if no adverse reactions appear in the first two months, it is rare to see anything in the next four—and the raging pandemic has altered the risk-benefit calculations. There were 44,000 volunteers in the Pfizer trial, and 30,000 in Moderna's, and the data was firewalled from the companies and analyzed by experts free from political pressure. Fellow nurses commenting on Torres's Facebook page seemed just as skeptical. "They failed miserably with PPE (personal protective equipment) and testing and now they want you to be guinea pigs for the vaccine," one friend wrote. Such reservations are common among the 20 million health care workers in the United States —the country hardest hit by the pandemic with more than 272,000 deaths. "There are a lot of people who feel we don't have enough data yet," he said. And yet many of the same people are saying "'I'm going to get this (vaccine), but I'm going to wait for a while.'" This reticence "could end up being a really big problem," Plescia said, especially since hospitals will likely be unable to compel their employees to take the shots.
University Of Pittsburgh Medical Center Won't Require Staff To Take COVID-19 Vaccine Due To 'General Uncertainty' - The University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC) won't require its health care employees to take the upcoming COVID-19 vaccine, which the medical provider expects to begin offering as soon as this month, according to PennLive. The reason are several-fold, according to UPMC medical director of infection prevention and epidemiology, Dr. Graham Snyder. For starters, general uncertainty over the vaccine. And while the $21 billion nonprofit organization (which employs 89,000 people) has a mandatory flu vaccination policy, it's "based on decades of experience with the influenza vaccine," according to Snyder. But there’s no comparable data for a COVID-19 vaccine, or on whether a mandate is the best way to get large numbers of people to become vaccinated, Snyder said on Tuesday. The first COVID-19 vaccine, from Pfizer, is expected to soon receive emergency approval. A second vaccine, from Moderna, is also expected to soon receive emergency approval. Distribution of at least one vaccine is expected to begin this month. Snyder said UPMC is “very excited about the preliminary information we have about how safe the vaccine is and how it will work.” Still, he said UPMC will conduct its own review of the vaccines before injecting any of its employees. –PennLive "Until we learn more and build our own experience with this vaccine, plus, until we see the uptake of vaccine in our communities, and have an understanding about the role that vaccination has in ending this pandemic, it’s not the right thing to make it mandatory," said Snyder - who added that UPMC's independent review won't slow down their plans to distribute the vaxx. On Tuesday, UPMC outlined their plans for receiving and distributing shots of the vaccine - while planning to launch an information campaign 'to persuade the public to get vaccinated' - despite their own hesitance over the jab. Perhaps it has something to do with several UPMC employees having participated in vaccine trials, only to report fever, fatigue or arm pain, with some needing to take a day or two off from work. According to Snyder, this is "a normal and healthy immune response."Employees who are at the highest risk of exposure to the virus will be offered a vaccine first, along with high-risk residents of long term care facilities. After that, those over 65 years-old with comorbidities can get vaccinated. "We are optimistic we will be able to provide vaccines for frontline health care workers who wish to receive it before the end of January," said Snyder.
Wall Street and finance workers could get COVID vaccines before most Americans --Frontline bank employees could get a shot in the arm in the coming months.Tellers and other consumer-facing bank workers could jump ahead of most Americans for coronavirus inoculations, after vaccines receive widely anticipated emergency-use authorization from the Food and Drug Administration, potentially putting those financial-industry workers in line ahead of those 65 and older, other adults with medical issues and the rest of the U.S. population.The American Bankers Association, which represents community banks, said it has asked the CDC to designate a narrow slice of the financial-services industry as “essential workers,” mainly adhering to guidelines issued by the Department of Homeland Security. The ABA said it is specifically asking for vaccine prioritization of bank tellers and employees of rural banking branches. “From the start of the pandemic ABA members have prioritized the health and safety of their customers and employees. In our conversations with public health agencies, ABA has advocated that among bank employees already deemed ‘essential’ by the government, those that come in contact with the public every day, such as tellers, should be considered for the CDC’s Phase 1b along with essential workers in other industries. The CDC has already designated health-care workers and residents of long-term-care facilities for Phase 1a.” A vaccine will for several months remain a distant hope for millions, as major Western nations, including the U.S. and the countries of Europe and the European Union, have struck deals with drug manufacturers for COVID-19 vaccines, with initial supplies likely to be extremely limited at a time when cases of the deadly infection are spiking in many parts of the U.S.
‘Everyone’s going to get that’: Americans to be issued Covid-19 ‘VACCINE CARDS’ to track doses - As both Covid-19 vaccines waiting to be approved in the US require two doses, Americans will be given a ‘vaccine card’ to keep track of them, nonprofits working with the government on the program told reporters. “Everyone will be issued a written card that they can put in their wallet that will tell them what they had and when their next dose is due,” Dr. Kelly Moore, associate director of the Immunization Action Coalition, told CNN on Thursday. Let’s do the simple, easy thing first. Everyone’s going to get that. The IAC is a nonprofit working with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to promote vaccinations since 1994. Moore added that many places will ask patients to volunteer their cell phone number, so they can get a text when their next dose is due. Every vaccine administered will be reported to the state immunization registry, so the clinics can check in the database whether the patients have received their shots. They will also be reported to the CDC, according to Claire Hannan of the Association of Immunization Managers, another nonprofit working with the health authorities. The cards were part of the Covid-19 ‘vaccination kits’ depicted in photos released on Wednesday by the Pentagon, which has been tasked by the Trump administration with distributing the vaccines across the US. The existence of vaccination cards to be issued to everyone and databases to keep track of them has caused some unease among Americans, with some speculating that it is yet another step in the crackdown on civil liberties under the guise of fighting the pandemic. Others wondered why a vaccine card is fine but voter ID is not – or the other way around.
Race heats up for workers getting early access to COVID-19 vaccine - Business groups from various industries are ramping up efforts to get their workers near the front of the line for the COVID-19 vaccine now that distribution plans are taking shape. While there’s widespread agreement that health care and other front-line workers should be the first recipients, the competition for the second and third tiers has business leaders making their case to the state-level agencies that will largely be responsible for deciding who comes next. Manufacturers, airlines, banks and the food industry are all pushing for their workers to receive the vaccine sooner rather than later. A Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) recommended that health workers and residents of long-term care facilities should be the first recipients as part of “phase 1a” and has discussed making sure essential workers are prioritized in “phase 1b.” The list of essential workers published by the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) during the pandemic included medical and health care, telecommunications, information technology systems, defense, food and agriculture, transportation and logistics, energy, water and wastewater, and law enforcement. Public health officials are optimistic that states won’t deviate much from the ACIP recommendations. Still, there is concern that some states could differ in terms of distribution. . Beyond health care and other front-line workers, states will likely vary in terms of which essential workers get the vaccine. For example, public transportation workers may be prioritized in New York but not Iowa, while food packing plant workers may be prioritized in South Dakota but not in Northeastern states. “You got to let data drive that. I’ve always argued that this has got to be a risk-based decision,” said Georges Benjamin, executive director of the American Public Health Association. “I think if we use risk as a defining element, we can make some rational decisions around who gets it at what point. That coupled with the fact that tragically, we still have some vaccine hesitancy, I think we should be OK.” Consumer packaged goods manufacturers are included in CISA’s list of essential workers, and the industry’s advocacy group, the Consumer Brands Association, is pushing for its workers to be prioritized in phase 1b. “The industry needs state health departments to provide distribution clarity, consistent with federal guidance, to avoid hiccups and get essential workers vaccinated as quickly as possible. We’re already seeing a 10 percent absentee rate as a result of COVID, and to keep facilities running at maximum capacity, timely vaccination of our essential workers is paramount,” Airlines for America, which represents major U.S. carriers, is urging the Trump administration and states to prioritize front-line commercial aviation employees. “The safety and wellbeing of passengers and crew has been — and continues to be — the top priority of U.S. airlines. Throughout this health crisis, U.S. airlines have provided essential services such as transporting medical personnel and shipping critical supplies, which will include vaccine distribution as soon as they receive approval,” a spokesman for the trade group said. The American Bankers Association (ABA), which advocates for banks like JPMorgan Chase, Wells Fargo and Bank of America, also has workers on the essential list and wants to see them prioritized by states. Health care workers are likely to receive the vaccine at their place of employment once it’s available. For other industries, it could get complicated to ensure someone receiving the vaccine is an essential worker. “For essential workers, they’re at work and will have to do the vaccination at the workplace, that’s one way to validate it. I think people will be innovative,” Plescia said states are likely to wait and see whether there’s a huge rush to be near the front of the line given how many Americans are still skeptical about taking the vaccine. “I suspect states will try to see how big of a problem that turns out to be,” he said. “I’m anticipating people are going to be a little reticent to begin with to get the vaccine and let other people go first.”
Demand for COVID Vaccines Expected to Get Heated — And Fast --Americans have made no secret of their skepticism of COVID-19 vaccines this year, with fears of political interference and a “warp speed” timeline blunting confidence in the shots. As recently as September, nearly half of U.S. adults said they didn’t intend to be inoculated. But with two promising vaccines primed for release, likely within weeks, experts in ethics and immunization behavior say they expect attitudes to shift quickly from widespread hesitancy to urgent, even heated demand. “People talk about the anti-vaccine people being able to kind of squelch uptake. I don’t see that happening,” Dr. Paul Offit, a vaccinologist with Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, told viewers of a recent JAMA Network webinar. “This, to me, is more like the Beanie Baby phenomenon. The attractiveness of a limited edition.” Reports that vaccines produced by drugmakers Pfizer and BioNTech and Moderna appear to be safe and effective, along with the deliberate emphasis on science-based guidance from the incoming Biden administration, are likely to reverse uncertainty in a big way, said Arthur Caplan, director of the division of medical ethics at New York University School of Medicine.“I think that’s going to flip the trust issue,” he said.The shift is already apparent. A new poll by the Pew Research Center found that by the end of November 60% of Americans said they would get a vaccine for the coronavirus. This month, even as a federal advisory group met to hash out guidelines for vaccine distribution, a long list of advocacy groups — from those representing home-based health workers and community health centers to patients with kidney disease — were lobbying state and federal officials in hopes their constituents would be prioritized for the first scarce doses. “As we get closer to the vaccine being a reality, there’s a lot of jockeying, to be sure,” said Katie Smith Sloan, chief executive of LeadingAge, a nonprofit organization pushing for staff and patients at long-term care centers to be included in the highest-priority category. “There will be people who will say, ‘I will wait a little bit more for safety data,” Limaye said.But those doubts likely will recede once the vaccines are approved for use and begin to circulate broadly, said Offit, who sits on the FDA advisory panel set to review the requests for emergency authorization Pfizer and Moderna have submitted.He predicted demand for the COVID vaccines could rival the clamor that occurred in 2004, when production problems caused a severe shortage of flu shots just as influenza season began. That led to long lines, rationed doses and ethical debates over distribution.
Jilani discusses Brazil and why some should be paid to get vaccine - Journalist Zaid Jilani discussed Brazil’s vaccination payment program on Monday and how a similar approach could influence more Americans to get inoculated against COVID-19. During an appearance on Hill.TV’s “Rising,” Jilani detailed Brazil’s Bolsa Familia program, in which poor families receive financial aid for participating in prosocial behavior like getting their children vaccinations or sending them to school. He commented on how this could help the U.S.’s upcoming COVID-19 vaccination effort to entice people to get immunized with money in order for the country to reach herd immunity. He noted that the current strategy of having former presidents Barack Obama and George W. Bush get vaccinated on camera is “fine.” “But we might need to go the extra step here and actually get people, particularly in a down economy, a financial incentive to do this as well,” he said. “We know that the more money you get into the hands of working class people, lower-income people, the more money they’re spending on basic goods and the better it is for the economy,” he added. “So it seems like a win-win here to do something similar here in the United States.”
Why Paying People To Get the Coronavirus Vaccine Won’t Work - The first COVID-19 vaccine to gain emergency use authorization in the U.S. could roll out within days, as Pfizer and BioNTech’s candidate was endorsed by an external advisory panel to the Food and Drug Administration on Dec. 10. Two days earlier, an internal FDA panel endorsed the vaccine. These were the last required steps before the FDA authorizes the vaccine, which will soon be administered to health care workers across the country. But while health care workers, who will be first to receive the vaccine, appear eager to get the shot, others are not so convinced. In fact, recent studies indicate that many Americans do not plan to get a COVID-19 vaccine, even if one is available at no cost. If levels of vaccination are not robust, it will take longer to reach herd immunity, or widespread protection within a population. In response to these concerns, several people have suggested that the government should provide a monetary incentive to COVID-19 vaccination. In summer and early fall of 2020, several surveys indicated that the number of Americans planning to get vaccinated against COVID-19 was lower than desirable. Experts estimate that achieving herd immunity require anywhere from 67% to 85% of Americans to be vaccinated. A recent survey by the Pew Research Center showed that only 60% of American were considering getting a COVID-19 vaccine. If vaccination rates are indeed low once vaccines become available on a large scale, it will take the U.S. longer to curb the pandemic. Moreover, many Americans expressing COVID-19 vaccine mistrust are part of are members of racial minorities, which are precisely among the groups hit the hardest by the pandemic. The idea of monetary incentives seems straightforward: Pay people to get vaccinated. One of the earliest proponents, economist Robert Litan, called the idea an “adult version of the doctor handing out candy to children.” Litan suggested that the government should pay US$1,000 to each person who receives a COVID-19 vaccine. His idea has since been endorsed by prominent commentators. These include economist Gregory Mankiw and politician John Delaney, who suggested that the incentive should be increased to $1,500. First, we have no actual behavioral studies in this area – as opposed to the case of smoking cessation rewards. Similarly, as the proponents of vaccination rewards admit, there is no data on how to set the appropriate reward.Second, the proposal might backfire. People who already do not trust vaccines may consider the mere availability of payment as confirmation that vaccination is especially risky or undesirable. And people or organizations interested in promoting disinformation about vaccines may portray payment originating from the government as “proof” of deep-state or hidden agendas associated with vaccination. If people perceive the monetary incentive in this way, that could contribute to increased vaccine hesitancy – precisely the opposite of what it is intended to do.Third, we worry about the socioeconomic underpinnings of this proposal. An amount close to $1,000 is supposed to prompt a person to change attitudes toward vaccination. In practice, this means that richer individuals, who might not be moved by $1,000, can just ignore the reward. Poorer people, however, are expected to change their behaviors in exchange for money. This is a paternalistic approach that does not help build trust in the government and public health authorities among poorer communities.
Pfizer chairman: We’re not sure if someone can transmit virus after vaccination -- Pfizer chairman Albert Bourla told Dateline host Lester Holt that the pharmaceutical company was “not certain” if the vaccine prevented the coronavirus from being transmitted, saying, “This is something that needs to be examined.” In a prime-time special titled “Race for a Vaccine” set to air Thursday, Holt questioned Bourla and other individuals involved in the development and distribution of the medicine. In November, Pfizer announced that its vaccine candidate had been shown to be more than 90 percent effective at preventing COVID-19 and has applied for emergency use authorization from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The U.K. became the first country to approve Pfizer’s vaccine this week with the first round of immunizations expected to roll out next week. In a list of interview highlights released before the special, Holt asked Bourla, “Even though I’ve had the protection, am I still able to transmit it to other people?” “I think this is something that needs to be examined. We are not certain about that right now with what we know,” Bourla responded. Though Pfizer’s vaccine has shown promising results, challenges have surfaced when it comes to distributing and administering it. The vaccine must be delivered and stored in extreme sub-zero temperatures, which has heightened the demand for dry ice. Once the vaccine is kept at normal refrigeration temperatures, it must be used within four or five days or be discarded. The vaccine is administered in two doses spaced a few weeks apart. Government health officials have said that if the vaccine is approved, the first round of immunizations could be available for health care workers and high-risk individuals before the end of the year. Moderna and AstraZeneca have announced their own vaccine candidates to be highly effective at preventing the coronavirus as well with Moderna applying for emergency use authorization from the FDA.
Coronavirus live updates: CDC scientist says she was ordered to destroy email; Pfizer's vaccine authorization could be imminent -- Pfizer's coronavirus vaccine candidate stood poised to become the first to earn U.S. Food and Drug Administration emergency authorization, possibly as soon as today. The 17-member independent Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee is meeting now to review and discuss data from Pfizer and German startup BioNTech on their vaccine, then vote on whether the FDA should authorize it.The companies are requesting an “emergency use authorization,” shy of a full approval. While they have compiled as much short-term safety and effectiveness data as is typical with any vaccine, the process has been compressed. But corners, FDA says, have not been cut.The U.S. reported more than 3,000 COVID-19 deaths for the first time Wednesday, a single-day toll worse than 9/11. The Johns Hopkins University data dashboard reported 3,124 deaths, breaking a record of 2,885 set just last week. New infections are also booming, and across the nation hospitals are running out of beds, promptingstay-at-home orders in some places and mask mandates in 38 states. Other news you need to know today:
- A CDC scientist told a House committee that she was ordered to destroy an email regarding attempts by political appointees to interfere with the publication of weekly CDC reports.
- The European Union agency responsible for approving vaccines said it has been the subject of a cyberattack. The European Medicines Agency said it "swiftly launched an investigation" but provided no details.
- The number of people applying for unemployment aid jumped last week to 853,000, the most since September. Before the coronavirus paralyzed the economy in March, weekly jobless claims typically numbered only about 225,000.
- Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam has imposed an overnight curfew, starting at 12:01 a.m. Monday. The midnight-5 a.m. curfew will go into effect for everyone who is not commuting to and from work. Northam is calling it a "modified" stay-at-home order.
‘95% Effective’ May Not Mean What You Think It Means - --People in the United States, along with people in all of the rest of the world, are eager for a vaccine that provides immunity to the Covid-19 virus. Drug manufacturers, with a market of tens of billions of injections to sell into, are eager to roll one off the production line. Both groups are highly incentivized to get a vaccine into distribution quickly.Let’s look at the revenue side first. Here, for example, is what the three leading vaccine candidates are projected to cost in the UK according to a recent Sky News piece: In two years the earth is projected to hold 8 billion people, and most leading vaccine candidates require at least two doses. Let’s be conservative: If Moderna, say, sold its Covid vaccine to 1 billion people at ₤28 (about $37) per dose, the revenue stream from those sales would turn into real money fast — $74 billion in revenue at retail prices in less than two years.And that’s for capturing less than a sixth of the global market. A vaccine manufacturer that captures a third of that market would swim in wealth till the climate crisis took us all.For comparison, consider Moderna’s recent revenue profile. For the last few years, Moderna income has run between $60 and $200 million per year. Revenue for just the last quarter, however, jumped to $158 million. Moderna is clearly set for a windfall.Needless to say, something like $100 billion or more in revenue would more than cover the cost of Covid vaccine development, so why the high price retail prices? One can only guess. About effectiveness, much is claimed. From the same Sky News article:The UK has become the first country in the world to approve the Pfizer/BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine for use.The government says the jab [vaccine], which has been given the green light by independent health regulator MHRA, will be rolled out across the UK from early next week.Studies have shown the jab is 95% effective and works in all age groups. [emphasis added]Moderna claims similar effectiveness — 94% — for its own vaccine candidate. But what does effectiveness mean?To a lay person, a phrase like “95% effective” means one of two things: either that she or he, upon exposure to the virus, is protected 95% of the time, or that 95% of the people who take the vaccine are protected 100% of the time.And this is where the mutual eagerness of the two highly motivated groups — the public; the profiteers — intersect. The public wants to hear “95% effectiveness” and think it knows what those words means. The drug companies want the same thing as the public; it wants the public to think it knows what those words mean.But in the world of drug advertising, the word “effective” does not mean what you think it means. The other way to look at effectiveness is this: Based on the numbers released from phase 3 trials, the Pfizer vaccine is 95% effective, but 1% of the time. In the same way, the Moderna vaccine is 94% effective, but 2% of the time.
POLL-More women than men in U.S. nervous about fast rollout of COVID vaccine, and that’s a problem (Reuters) - American women, who traditionally make most of the healthcare decisions in their families, are more wary than men of the new, rapidly developed COVID-19 vaccines, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll, presenting a potential challenge to efforts to immunize the public. The Dec. 2-8 national opinion survey showed that 35% of women said they were “not very” or “not at all” interested in getting a vaccine, an increase of 9 points from a similar poll conducted in May when vaccines were still being developed. Some 55% of women said they were “very” or “somewhat” interested in getting vaccinated, a drop of about 6 percentage points in the same time span. Meanwhile, 68% of men said they would get vaccinated, which is unchanged from May. Overall, 61% of Americans said in December that they are open to getting vaccinated - a 4 point decline since the May poll. The latest survey also recorded a sharp drop in the number of parents willing to give their children the vaccine - 53% versus 62% in May. Convincing women to accept the vaccine will be critical for slowing the spread of the novel coronavirus because mothers tend to be the ones who make doctor’s appointments and keep up with immunizations, said Rupali Limaye, director of behavioral and implementation science at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. “Women just tend to be more careful. They tend to do a lot more reading,” Limaye said, so assuring them that no shortcuts were taken in the vaccine approval process will be crucial. Mothers make about 80 percent of health care decisions for their children and are more likely to be the caregivers when a child falls ill, according to the U.S. Department of Labor. And a 2018 World Health Organization study found that by empowering Southeast Asian women and improving their access to medical information, child vaccine coverage and health outcomes improved. Among women who said in the Reuters/Ipsos survey they were not interested in the vaccine, 60% said they were “nervous about getting vaccinated right away with a new vaccine that has been approved so quickly.” And 48% of those disinterested women said “the risks of taking a new vaccine outweigh any benefits.” Another 38% said they were not interested in the vaccine because they do not trust the companies making them and 27% said they do not think a vaccine will adequately protect them.
Two in U.K. Suffer Allergic Reaction to Pfizer’s Covid-19 Vaccine - WSJ—Two of the first people vaccinated in the U.K. on Tuesday with the Pfizer Inc. - BioNTech SE shot had an allergic reaction following the injection, the country’s medical regulator said, prompting it to issue new guidance warning those with a history of significant allergic reactions against having the inoculation. A third person was reported to have had a possible allergic reaction, the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency said Wednesday, adding that all of those affected recovered after treatment. It couldn’t be determined what they were allergic to or where they were located, but both those who suffered an allergic reaction or anaphylaxis carried adrenaline autoinjectors to deal with their allergies. It isn’t always the active agent in vaccines that triggers allergic reactions but inactive ingredients used, for example, to stabilize and preserve the vaccine. The two people who had the allergic reaction work for the National Health Service, the country’s state-run health system, and are part of the first tranche to receive the vaccine on Tuesday in line with front-line staff having initial access, including those with existing health conditions.The U.K. is the first Western country to authorize a Covid-19 vaccine and on Tuesday began its vaccination program with priority recipients including health-care staff, people over 80 years old and residents and staff in nursing homes. The NHS said thousands of people received the shot on the first day of the rollout.
UK issues anaphylaxis warning on Pfizer vaccine after adverse reactions | Reuters (Reuters) - Britain’s medicine regulator said anyone with a history of anaphylaxis to a medicine or food should not get the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine, giving fuller guidance on an earlier allergy warning about the shot. Starting with the elderly and frontline workers, Britain began mass vaccinating its population on Tuesday, part of a global drive that poses one of the biggest logistical challenges in peacetime history. The Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) said there had been two reports of anaphylaxis and one report of a possible allergic reaction since rollout began. “Any person with a history of anaphylaxis to a vaccine, medicine or food should not receive the Pfizer BioNTech vaccine,” MHRA Chief Executive June Raine said in a statement. “Most people will not get anaphylaxis and the benefits in protecting people against COVID-19 outweigh the risks... You can be completely confident that this vaccine has met the MHRA’s robust standards of safety, quality and effectiveness.” Anaphylaxis is an overreaction of the body’s immune system, which the National Health Service describes as severe and sometimes life-threatening.
Once hospitalized, Black patients with COVID-19 have lower risk of death than white --While multiple research studies show that Black and Hispanic patients are more likely to test positive for COVID-19, a team of investigators at NYU Langone Health has found that once hospitalized, Black patients (after controlling for other serious health conditions and neighborhood income) were less likely to have severe illness, die, or be discharged to hospice compared to White patients. The study -- recently published online in JAMA Network Open - is, according to its authors, one of the first to examine the impact of comorbid conditions and neighborhood socioeconomic status (SES) on outcomes for Black, Hispanic and Asian patients hospitalized for COVID-19. Findings indicate that Black and Hispanic populations are not inherently more susceptible to poor COVID-19 outcomes compared to other groups, and that once hospitalized, their outcomes are equal to or better than their White counterparts. "We know that Black and Hispanic populations account for a disproportionate share of COVID-19-related deaths relative to their population size in New York and major cities across the country," says Gbenga Ogedegbe, MD, MPH, Dr. Adolph and Margaret Berger Professor of Medicine and Population Health at NYU Langone Health, and the study's lead author. "We were, however, surprised to find that Black and Hispanic patients were no more likely to be hospitalized across NYU Langone than White patients, which means we need to look at other structural factors at play that are negatively affecting outcomes in these communities. These factors include poor housing conditions, unequal access to health care, differential employment opportunities, and poverty--and they must be addressed," says Ogedegbe, who is also director of NYU Langone's Institute for Excellence in Health Equity.
COVID-19 may also invade the central nervous system, cause neurological illnesses - - COVID-19 is known primarily as a respiratory disease, with symptoms that include cough, shortness of breath, and, in severe cases, acute respiratory distress syndrome and pneumonia. Now, researchers from Cleveland Clinic's Department of Biomedical Engineering note in a recent review that infection with the coronavirus may also affect the central nervous system and cause corresponding neurological disorders, including ischemic stroke, encephalitis, encephalopathy and epileptic seizures. According to the review--published in Cells and authored by Chaitali Ghosh, PhD, and Aneesha Achar--the symptoms of COVID-19-related neurological manifestations include dizziness, headache, a loss of consciousness and ataxia (loss of balance and muscle control). he coronavirus gains access to the body by attaching to a specific receptor most abundantly found on cells that line many organs and tissues throughout the respiratory system, called the ACE2 (angiotensin-converting enzyme 2) receptor. ACE2 can be found less abundantly on cells in other areas of the body--including the heart, esophagus, kidneys and bladder--which increases the chances of viral infection, including through the central nervous system. As reported in the review, the coronavirus may enter the central nervous system either through a porous bone in the nasal cavity (which causes the loss of smell and/or taste commonly experienced with COVID-19), or through the body's circulatory system, subsequently crossing the blood-brain barrier. "Ordinarily, the blood-brain barrier allows nutrients to reach the brain while protecting it from circulating toxins or pathogens that could cause infections," Dr. Ghosh said. "However, the exact mechanisms underlying COVID-19-associated neurological disorders remain unknown. Such viral infectivity could alter blood-brain barrier function, which may influence disease progression."
Husband of Colorado governor taken to hospital for COVID-19 -The husband of Colorado Gov. Jared Polis (D) was admitted to the hospital on Sunday after he and Polis both tested positive for COVID-19 late last month. The governor’s office said in a Monday statement that Colorado's first gentleman Marlon Reis was “admitted to the hospital following shortness of breath and a worsening cough.” Reis “has normal oxygen saturation, is in good spirits, and looks forward to returning home soon,” according to the statement. He has not required supplemental oxygen, and he has received dexamethasone for inflammation, as well the drug remdesivir. Polis has continued to not experience any symptoms since the couple announced that they both tested positive for COVID-19 on Nov. 28. “The First Gentleman and Governor appreciate all of the kind words and support they have received during this time and continue to urge all Coloradans to do their part to slow the spread of this virus,” Polis’s office said. “That means wearing a mask in public, staying six feet from others, avoiding large gatherings, and washing your hands regularly.” Polis first shared on Sunday that he personally took his husband to the hospital.
102-year-old woman beats COVID-19 twice - A 102-year-old woman living in New York has contracted the coronavirus — and beaten it — twice. Angelina Friedman, who survived the 1918 Spanish Flu and cancer, first tested positive for COVID-19 in March. During her first bout with the disease she had a relatively mild experience. "She was never really symptomatic the first time around," her daughter Joanne Merola told NBC. "The worst symptom she had was a fever that lasted maybe 10 days." Upon contracting the virus a second time in October, shortly before her birthday, she got seriously ill. "She had a cough, she was lethargic, she had a fever again," Merola said of her mother's second diagnosis. "The first time you wouldn't know she was sick." The centenarian is now nearly deaf and has lost most of her vision, but is recovering well and feeling like her old self again, Merola said. "My mom has been through so much in her life," Merola said of her mother's experience. "You just can't give up. You have to fight. My mother's got the will to stay alive as I've never seen before."
Coronavirus cases break records daily in California and L.A. - California and Los Angeles County continued to break COVID-19 pandemic records on a startling scale as much of the state was headed to a new stay-at-home order.The deterioration is even worse than some of the projections released this week.On Saturday, officials announced that Southern California and the San Joaquin Valley would join several counties in the San Francisco Bay Area in implementinga new stay-at-home order beginning Sunday night, with hospitals’ available intensive care unit capacity reaching critically low levels.L.A. County has broken single-day coronavirus case records in four of the last five days this week. On Saturday, at least 9,218 cases were reported, according to preliminary numbers compiled in The Times’ independent tally, exceeding a record set Friday, when 8,562 cases were reported. The single-day record was also broken Thursday, when 7,713 cases were reported.The numbers mean that coronavirus cases in L.A. County are increasing at a pace that’s even more dire than what officials had forecast earlier in the week. On Tuesday, The Times reported that L.A. County officials projected the region would be seeing 9,000 cases a day by the middle to end of the week of Dec. 7. The county crossed that threshold Saturday.L.A. County is now averaging nearly 7,000 new coronavirus cases a day over the last week — more than quadruple the pace from a month ago, when the county averaged about 1,500 new coronavirus cases a day in the week that ended Nov. 5. With at least 43 new COVID-19 deaths recorded in Saturday, L.A. County is now averaging 38 deaths a day, a pace not seen since late July, during the region’s previous peak.
The Latest: Virginia sees 2nd day of record COVID-19 cases — Virginia is reporting a record number of coronavirus cases in the state for the second straight day. Virginia reported 3,880 cases on Sunday morning. That compares to Saturday’s total of 3,793. Virginia has reported a total number of 255,053 virus cases. The state’s health department reports there have been 4,200 total deaths from the virus in Virginia. The state reported a 10.6% positivity rate, up from 10% on Saturday. The Virginia Hospital and Healthcare Association says there are 1,490 people hospitalized in the state with confirmed cases of the virus. Of them, 395 were in intensive care.
US Reports Record COVID Hospitalizations, 20K+ Patients In ICU- Live Updates - Not only did US hospitalizations reach yet another new record on Sunday, the number of patients across the US in the ICU has topped 20K for the first time. DHHS chief Alex Azar took to ABC's "This Week" with George Stephanopoulos on Sunday to tell Americans that FDA emergency approval of a vaccine could arrive 'within days', while also moving up the timeline, saying any American who wants a COVID vaccine could get one by the start of the second quarter. Previously, federal public health officials and 'Operation Warp Speed' had targeted the beginning of Q3 as the time when the vast majority of Americans would at least have access to a vaccine. Let's not forget: Pfizer has already sown doubts about these timelines and targets by slashing its 2021 year-end delivery target by 50%. A video of DoubleLine's Jeff Gundlach expressing skepticism about the vaccine's efficacy has been making the rounds on Twitter. But while severel "listen to the science" types took Gundlach to task for warning that the virus's mutations could ultimately make it more difficult to eradicate, the NFL has just delivered an important reminder that there are different strains of the virus - and some are appreciably deadlier than others.In the US, the COVID-19 numbers are still rising as temperatures continue to fall; Winter looms in the Western hemisphere, and the US has been confirming new COVID-19 cases at a rate of more than 200k/day for the last four days. Hospitalizations climbed north of 101K, a new record, while the 7-day average for daily fatalities hit a new post-springtime high of 2,123, according to the COVID Tracking Project.
U.S. Breaks Record for Most Deaths in a Week - The United States has recorded its most coronavirus-related deaths over a weeklong period, as a brutal surge gathers speed across the country.With a seven-day average of 2,249 deaths, the country broke the previous mark of 2,232 set on April 17 in the early weeks of the pandemic. Seven-day averages can provide a more accurate picture of the virus’s progression than daily death counts, which can fluctuate and disguise the broader trend line.The United States is approaching 300,000 total deaths, with nearly 283,000 recorded, according to a New York Times database. The nation is averaging nearly 200,000 cases per day, an increase of 15 percent from the average two weeks earlier, and has recorded over than 15 million total cases.Much has changed since the previous peak in April. The coronavirus is no longer concentrated in big urban areas like New York City and now envelops much of the country, including rural areas that had avoided it for several months.Many of the hardest-hit counties on a per person basis are now in the Midwest. North Dakota, where one in every 10 residents has contracted the virus, has the highest total reported cases by population, followed closely by South Dakota, Iowa, Wisconsin and Nebraska.The latest wave to hit the United States has hospitalized record numbers. Each day since Dec. 2, more than 100,000 Covid-19 patients were in hospitals. That far surpasses the number of people hospitalized during the peaks spring and summer, which at their worst had nearly 60,000 Americans in the hospital daily.The new peak also comes as the nation prepares for holiday celebrations, and as colder temperatures may push people to congregate indoors. Infectious-disease experts have warned that trends in the United States, which reported a record 2,885 deaths on Wednesday, could continue to worsen over the next several weeks.Against the warnings of public health officials, millions of Americans traveled over the Thanksgiving holiday, stoking fears that another wave of travel could accompany this month’s celebrations even as the pandemic rages.And even without traveling far, gatherings between people from different households pose a risk.“These are going to be perfect scenarios for replication of the virus,”
CDC forecasts up to 19,500 deaths from COVID-19 in week ending Dec. 26 --The U.S. set yet another record for new cases and fatalities in a single day from the coronavirus illness COVID-19, and the nation’s leading public health agency said there could be up to 19,500 deaths in the week ended Dec. 26.The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said forecasts for deaths over the next four weeks that it received from 37 modeling groups created a so-called national ensemble forecast that predicts 303,000 to 329,000 COVID-19 deaths in the four-week period. An ensemble forecast combines each of the independently developed forecasts into one aggregate forecast to improve prediction over the next four weeks.“The state- and territory-level ensemble forecasts predict that over the next 4 weeks, the number of newly reported deaths per week will likely increase in 23 jurisdictions,” the CDC said. President-elect Joe Biden said he plans to urge Americans to wear a face mask in public for 100 daysafter his inauguration in January. “On the first day I’m inaugurated, I’m going to ask the public for 100 days to mask. Just 100 days to mask — not forever, just 100 days. And I think we’ll see a significant reduction” in the virus, Biden told CNN’s Jake Tapper in an interview. The moves mark a stark contrast to the pandemic approach of presidential incumbent Donald Trump, who has played down the gravity of the crisis throughout, pooh-poohed the wearing of face masks to the point that many of his supporters continue to refuse to do so, said the virus would just disappear, and belittled Fauci. The Transportation Security Administration screened more than 1 million passengers at airports on at least four days during the Thanksgiving period, the Associated Press reported. Vehicle travel was 20% lower than a year ago but peaked on Thanksgiving Day at just 5% less than in 2019, according to an analysis conducted by StreetLightData for the Associated Press.“People were less willing to change their behavior than any other day during the pandemic,” Laura Schewel, founder of StreetLight Data, told the AP.If only a small percentage of those travelers were asymptomatically infected, it could mean hundreds of thousands of additional infections moving from one community to another, Dr. Cindy Friedman, a CDC official, said this week in a press briefing.
Fauci: Christmas could be worse than Thanksgiving for COVID-19 spread -Top infectious diseases expert Anthony Fauci said Monday that Christmas could be worse than Thanksgiving for COVID-19 spread. “My concerns John [Berman] are the same thing of the concerns that I had about Thanksgiving, only this may be even more compounded because it’s a longer holiday,” he said on CNN's “New Day.”Fauci noted that Thanksgiving celebrations tend to be shorter as people return to work the following week, but Christmas leads into New Year’s.“I think it can be even more of a challenge than what we saw with Thanksgiving,” Fauci said. “So I hope that people realize that and understand that as difficult as this is, nobody wants to modify, if not, essentially shut down, their holiday season.” “But we’re at a very critical time in this country right now,” he added. “We’ve got to not walk away from the facts and the data. This is tough going for all of us.”Coronavirus cases and hospitalizations have spiked in the past week, withalmost 228,000 new COVID-19 cases being reported on Friday — the most in a single day since the beginning of the pandemic. As of Sunday, 101,487 COVID-19 patients were hospitalized across the country, with 20,145 in the intensive care unit and 7,094 on ventilators, according toThe COVID Tracking Project. The first five days in December also each saw more than 2,000 coronavirus-related deaths and a combined more than 1 million new COVID-19 cases. Health experts warn that the current statistics do not include the expected spikes caused by Thanksgiving gatherings yet. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention cautioned a week before Thanksgiving for people not to travel or gather with people outside of their households. But still, millions traveled by plane on the days before and after the holiday, with the Sunday after seeing the most air travelersin the U.S. since March.
Agents raid home of ousted Florida health scientist who accused state of manipulating data --Florida state police raided a home on Monday belonging to a scientist who created the state’s COVID-19 data dashboard but was fired for what she says was her refusal to “manipulate data.” Agents from the Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE) entered Rebekah Jones’s home with guns raised and confiscated computer equipment, the Tallahassee Democrat reported.Jones tweeted a video of the incident, writing, “At 8:30 am this morning, state police came into my house and took all my hardware and tech. They were serving a warrant on my computer after DOH [Department of Health] filed a complaint. They pointed a gun in my face. They pointed guns at my kids.” FDLE spokeswoman Gretl Plessinger told the newspaper that Jones ignored door knocks and verbal notifications to serve a legal search warrant. Jones's husband and two children were in her home upstairs when the agents made their way in."FDLE began an investigation November 10, 2020, after receiving a complaint from the Department of Health regarding unauthorized access to a Department of Health messaging system which is part of an emergency alert system, to be used for emergencies only," said Plessinger in a statement confirming the seizure of Jones’s equipment.Jones stated that she has no knowledge of how to hack into computer systems.An unidentified subject reportedly accessed the system and sent out a group text that read, "It's time to speak up before another 17,000 people are dead. You know this is wrong. You don't have to be a part of this. Be a hero. Speak out before it's too late." According to the most recent data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Florida has surpassed 19,000 deaths due to the coronavirus. Last week, Florida became the third state in the U.S. to surpass 1 million cases. An FDLE investigator said the source of the text was determined through an IP address associated with Jones's Comcast account.In a another tweet, Jones said, "They took my phone and the computer I use every day to post the case numbers in Florida, and school cases for the entire country. They took evidence of corruption at the state level. They claimed it was about a security breach. This was DeSantis. He sent the gestapo."
December 7 COVID-19 Test Results; Record 7-Day Deaths, Record Hospitalizations - \The US is now averaging over 1 million tests per day. Based on the experience of other countries, for adequate test-and-trace (and isolation) to reduce infections, the percent positive needs to be well under 5% (probably close to 1%), so the US still needs to increase the number of tests per day significantly (or take actions to push down the number of new infections). There were 1,566,574 test results reported over the last 24 hours. There were 180,193 positive tests. Over 15,000 US deaths have been reported so far in December. See the graph on US Daily Deaths here. This data is from the COVID Tracking Project.The percent positive over the last 24 hours was 11.5% (red line is 7 day average). The percent positive is calculated by dividing positive results by the sum of negative and positive results (I don't include pending). And check out COVID Exit Strategy to see how each state is doing. The second graph shows the 7 day average of positive tests reported and daily hospitalizations. Note that there were very few tests available in March and April, and many cases were missed, so the hospitalizations was higher relative to the 7-day average of positive tests in July.
• Record Hospitalizations (Over 102,000)
• Record 7 Day Average Cases
• Record 7 Day Average Deaths
Texas judge dies of COVID-19 days before runoff election -A Texas woman who’d been a frontrunner for a municipal court judgeship has reportedly died Monday of coronavirus — five days before the runoff election that would have determined the winner. Lillian Blancas, a 47-year-old attorney and part-time magistrate judge in El Paso County, had been seeking a full-time municipal judgeship, the El Paso Times reported. Blancas had finished first in the Nov. 3 election, but a runoff was required because none of the three candidates surpassed 50 percent of the vote, according to the report. “I am just in shock,” one of her challengers, private defense attorney Enrique Holguin, told the newspaper. “She was my friend. She wasn’t my political opponent,” he said. Holguin said that members of the legal community held a prayer group for Blancas last week. “We in the legal community knew she was not doing well for a while,” said Holguin, who is also an associate judge. In addition to her part-time criminal law judgeship, Blancas had her own law firm. She was born in El Paso, went to the University of Texas at El Paso and received her law degree from Texas Tech University School of Law, the report said.
Arizona sets daily record with over 12K more coronavirus cases –- Arizona on Dec. 8 set a new daily record with over 12,300 additional known coronavirus cases as the number of hospitalized patients approached levels similar to the peak of last summer’s surge. The Department of Health Services reported 12,314 additional known cases, eclipsing the previous record of 10,322 cases set Dec. 1 when officials said that day’s report was inflated by delayed reporting over the Thanksgiving holiday weekend.Arizona’s case total increased to 378,157. The state also reported 23 additional deaths, increasing that total to 6,973. “Arizona does not have control of this virus,” Phoenix Mayor Kate Gallego said on a Twitter post that included advice to review routines, stay home if possible and to wear a mask whenever out. Department officials did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the record case report, but they previously warned that Thanksgiving gatherings of more than one household would increase the virus’ already strong spread during the fall surge. The state reported 1,567 additional known cases and no deaths on Monday, a day when reports typically are reduced due to weekend reporting delays, but the state reported over 5,000 additional known cases on five of the previous six days. The state’s seven-day rolling average continued to climb in the past two weeks as have the rolling averages for daily deaths and daily COVID-19 testing positivity, a measure of community transmission. The daily case average rose from 3,630 on Nov. 23 to 5,575 on Monday while the daily deaths average increased from 23.1 to 44.4 and the positivity average rose from 18.5% to 28.9%, according to data from Johns Hopkins University and The COVID Tracking Project. That is nearly six times the benchmark suggested by the World Health Organization of 5%.Arizona’s COVID-19-related hospitalizations as of Monday increased to 3,517, approaching the peak of approximately 3,500 in mid-July, according to the state’s coronavirus dashboard.
Ohio COVID-19 cases surpass 500K as state breaks more grim records = Ohio surpassed 500,000 COVID-19 cases on Tuesday —meaning one of every 23 Ohioans has contracted the virus — while setting a new high for confirmed daily infections. Ohio's seven-day average positive rate on coronavirus tests also clicked up to 16% after standing at 2.7% in late September. More: December COVID-19 deaths on pace to eclipse November tally Clearing a weeks-long backlog of thousands of positive test results, Ohio health officials reported an artificially inflated total of 25,721 COVID-19 infections on Tuesday, to push the pandemic case total to 510,018. But excluding around 13,000 backdated tests added to the daily total, Ohio also appeared to set a new one-day record for confirmed and probable coronavirus infections of 12,000 or more. State health officials said they did not have an exact number. The state also added 81 fatalities to Ohio's exploding death toll — now numbering 674 in December alone, with total deaths at 7,103 a day short of the pandemic hitting the nine-month mark in Ohio. The daily case number was inflated after the state decided to clear and count a backlog of about 13,000 positive results from less-reliable, rapid antigen tests dating to Nov. 1, state officials said. Subtracting that number from the 25,000 cases reported Tuesday means 12,000 or more cases were counted in the typical reporting, higher than the previous one-day record of confirmed and probable cases of 11,885 on Nov. 23. The total of confirmed infections on Tuesday totaled a record 11,728, with the number of probable cases attributed to Tuesday not broken out. In line with one-time federal recommendations, state and local health officials had been manually verifying positive antigen tests that were accompanied by either virus symptoms or known contact with an infected person. However, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention dropped its recommendation to verify antigen positives in August. The state now has opted to follow that guideline due to an unmanageable workload accompanying increased use of antigen tests — with reported positives doubling to about 700 a day — amid the spike in COVID-19 cases. Ohio also reported around 557 hospitalizations on Tuesday to increase the current virus patients in hospitals statewide to 5,181, an increase of 40% over the past three weeks.
- US total infections: 14,949,299*
- US average last 7 days: 201,154
- US total deaths: 283,703
- US average last 7 days: 2,237
*I suspect that the real number is about 21 million, or about 6% of the total US population. Let’s start with the really bad news. The average daily rate of new infections in the US in the past week is the highest it has ever been, at 61 per 100,000 population, or roughly 1 in every 2,000 people in the US every single day. Average daily deaths also hit a new high at 0.7 per 100,000, or 1 in every 70,000 people daily: Because deaths lag confirmed infections by roughly 2 weeks, and infections now are almost 50% higher than they were 2 weeks ago, that means we should expect the death rate to climb to over 1 per 100,000 (or over 3,000 people) daily before Christmas. In the past two months, 25 States have seen their rates of infection increase by 40 per 100,000 (or an *increase* of 1 in every 2,500 people) per day. The 7 worst States, with infection rates of 80 per 100,000 people per day or worse, are shown in the graph below: In addition to those, AZ, AR, AL, CA, CT, DE, Fl, GA, KY, LA, MA, MS, NH, NJ, NY, PA, TN, and WV have all seen increases of 40 per 100,000 or more. In the closest there is to “good” news, it’s pretty clear that there is still a “pain threshold” where panic sets in, people change their behavior, and the infection rate goes down. Below are the graphs of the 13 States - most dramatically including North Dakota - where the past several weeks have seen significant downturns in infections: In North Dakota and Iowa, the rate of new infections has declined by 50%. There are also still 3 States - Hawaii, Maine, and Vermont - plus Puerto Rico, where the pandemic is still reasonably under control. I also show the Canadian province of Ontario for comparison: Finally, treatment outcomes appear to be continuing to improve. The below graph shows the rates of both infections (dimmed) and deaths (bold) for the early disaster of NY, the summer poster child for out-of-control spread AZ, and the recent calamity of ND:
Boise, Idaho health district meeting canceled by police after armed protesters threaten board members’ homes – At the insistence of the Boise, Idaho police chief and mayor, the Central District Health (CDH) board shut down its meeting Tuesday night before it could vote on a new public health order imposing limited COVID-19 restrictions. Roughly 600 anti-mask protesters had gathered outside the barricaded office building to oppose any measures to curtail the spread of the coronavirus, while separate groups of protesters, some carrying weapons, threatened the homes of board members.While it did not appear that anyone inside the building where the members were meeting was in physical danger—dozens of police had surrounded the building—police insisted that the meeting be called off in the interests of “public safety.” After it was announced that the meeting would be canceled, the crowd packing the parking lot erupted in cheers.The decision to cancel the meeting came shortly after Diana Lachiondo, the Ada County representative on the health board, informed her fellow board members and attending physicians that she had to leave because protesters outside her home were threatening her family.“My twelve-year-old son is home by himself right now and there are protesters banging outside the door,” an emotional Lachiondo said. “I’m going to go home and make sure he’s okay.”In a Twitter thread posted Wednesday morning, Lachiondo said that “armed protestors once again assembled outside my home: yelling, banging, firing air horns, amplifying sound clips from Scarface, accusing me of tyranny and cowering inside… And as many of you saw last night, my son called me in tears at the beginning of the meeting.”In addition to Lachiondo’s home, protesters descended on the homes of at least two other board members, including Dr. Ted Epperly. Dr. Epperly also reported that the protests were “not under control at my house.”On Wednesday morning, it was reported that less than seven miles from the CDH building, fascists vandalized an Anne Frank Memorial located at the Wassmuth Center for Human Rights, defacing the memorial with Nazi stickers featuring swastikas and declaring, “We are everywhere.” The vandalism is believed to have occurred early Tuesday morning, the day of the canceled CDH meeting.
California Sees Record 30K+ New COVID Cases; Fauci Says US Won't Return To Normal Until Mid-2021: Live Updates - After warning that normality might not return until the middle of next year, Dr. Fauci said Wednesday that people should continue to practice social distancing and mask-wearing well into next year, even as vaccines are rolled out. Though, in a slightly more pessimistic note, Dr. Fauci claimed that a large chunk of the population may never change its behavior - at least not without the cooperation of our political leaders. The good doctor added that states and cities can expect more guidance under a Biden regime. In other new, Chicago is expecting to provide thousands of coronavirus vax doses this month and is aiming to offer the vaccine free of charge to all adult residents in 2021, city officials said Wednesday, After Pfizer Inc. and Moderna Inc. receive federal approvals and city gets guidance from an immunization advisory committee, Chicago can move forward with its vaccine rollout plan. California reported 30.85K new cases Wednesday, topping the record of 30,075 set over the weekend. The average rate of positive tests over 14 days reached 8.8%, the highest since the spring.China's Sinopharm has finally received approval from the first international regulator in the UAE. A UAE analysis of interim trial data provided by Sinopharm prompted the agency to announce that the vaccine is 86% effective. Many African and South American countries have pinned their hopes on the Sinopharm vaccine, which China hopes to distribute widely in the developing as part of the WHO's "Covax" program, and in keeping with President Xi's promise to provide vaccines to badly hurt states, part of China's work to "take responsibility" for what happened. However, at the same time, the CCP is spreading conspiracy theories about the virus's origins, claiming it actually started outside China. Circling back to the UAE, the tiny gulf state's health authorities said Sinopharm's product is 86% effective. The analysis also shows “99% seroconversion rate of neutralizing antibody" and "100% effectiveness in preventing moderate and severe cases of the disease”, while showing "no safety concerns".
New York State Assembly Introduces Bill Mandating COVID-19 Vaccine - New Yorkers will no longer have to decide if they will receive a COVID-19 vaccine if a bill calling for a mandatory vaccine gets approved. New York State Assemblywoman Linda Rosenthal, a Democrat who represents New York’s 67th Assembly District, quietly introduced a bill on Dec. 4 that would require “COVID-19 vaccine to be administered in accordance with the department of health’s COVID-19 vaccination administration program and mandates vaccination in certain situations.” Every New Yorker, except those medically exempt, are required to receive the vaccine if the state’s vaccination efforts do not achieve “sufficient immunity from COVID-19.” Rosenthal told WGRZ-TV the bill was “a protective health measure” that would “ensure that our residents are safe and protected against further spread.” But in an event where not enough people get vaccinated to reach herd immunity, “the department of health of the state can then say that we need people to get the vaccination.” Rosenthal explained that an estimated 75 percent to 80 percent of the population would need to be vaccinated in order to achieve herd immunity.
US sets new record with over 3,000 COVID deaths in a single day - The United States set a new record for coronavirus deaths in a single day on Wednesday, with more than 3,000 people dying from the virus, a daunting toll as its spread only worsens. The U.S. recorded 3,054 deaths from the coronavirus on Wednesday, according to The COVID Tracking Project, beating the previous record from the spring, which was 2,769 deaths on May 7. Deaths lag behind cases and hospitalizations, which have been spiking for weeks, and now the death toll is setting records too. The spread of the virus shows no signs of slowing down in the short term as winter weather sets in and more activity moves indoors, where the virus spreads more easily. There are more than 106,000 people in the hospital with the coronavirus, according to The COVID Tracking Project, also a record. The country is averaging a staggering total of more than 200,000 new cases every day. There is hope from vaccines on the horizon, but they likely will not be widely available until sometime in the spring, meaning there are still several brutal months of the pandemic to go. Health experts are urging the public to step up precautions for a few more months until people are vaccinated. Those precautions include wearing a mask, avoiding indoor gatherings and places such as bars where maskless people spread the virus, staying six feet away from others, and washing your hands. Still, COVID-19 fatigue has set in among some people after months of the virus. Many governors have not closed down indoor dining and bars despite the rampant spread of the virus across the country. Congress has been deadlocked for months on additional economic relief, which would ease the burden on businesses that have to close or limit activities and help slow the spread of the virus. Cases are still on a steep upward trajectory, meaning the situation is likely to only get worse. Travel and gatherings around the holidays can also fuel the spread of the virus. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is advising people that the safest option is not to travel.
Analysis: As Covid-19 deaths hit a numbing record, 'our hearts and our minds block out the enormity of it' – CNN -Imagine that 15 passenger jets full of Covid-19 patients crashed today, all across the United States, and killed everyone on board. Because that's what happened minus the airplanes. 3,124 deaths from coronavirus were reported across the US on Wednesday, according to Johns Hopkins' tally, making this the highest single day reporting of daily new deaths since the pandemic began.At this rate, the official death toll in the US will surpass 300,000 this weekend."We're living through the worst-case scenario for this pandemic," said Alexis Madrigal, the co-founder of the Covid Tracking Project. "And we probably still do not know how bad it actually has been over the past couple weeks." He noted that cases continue to rise and "hospitalizations remain extremely high."Multiple news outlets noted that Wednesday's coronavirus death toll surpassed the toll on 9/11. "The Rachel Maddow Show" led with this graphic, also factoring in the 1906 San Francisco earthquake and fire: I feel it. You probably do, too. The numbness of these ever-increasing numbers. President-elect Joe Biden talked about this feeling on Tuesday. Every day is a slew of statistics, a barrage of broken records. "Our hearts and our minds block out the enormity of it," grief expert David Kessler told me on last Sunday's "Reliable Sources." That's how humans are wired -- to cope, to adjust, to adapt. So it helps to acknowledge the numbness and talk about it. Talk about the consequences. As Bryan Walsh wrote last month for Axios, "the psychic numbing that sets in around mass death saps us of our empathy for victims and discourages us from making the sacrifices needed to control the pandemic." He said it also "hampers our ability to prepare for other rare but potentially catastrophic risks down the road."Kessler said that "grief must be witnessed," but so many Covid-19 deaths are happening out of sight. And "even if you could see what we see," in hospital wards, "I think it's not psychologically possible for people to grasp the enormity of this," Dr. Esther Choo said on the program. "And yet we need people to absorb enough of the tragedy that it actually drives their behavior so that we can get to the other end of the pandemic."
Hospitals near capacity as U.S. sees record COVID-19 cases and deaths - Hospitals are filling up, coronavirus cases continue to break records, and the vaccine may be too late for too many. The White House Coronavirus Task Force now says the current supply of the vaccine "will not substantially reduce viral spread, hospitalizations, or fatalities" until "100 million Americans" are immunized, "which will take until the late spring." Until then, they say behavior must change. According to Bloomberg, \80% of U.S. counties saw even more people traveling this Thanksgiving than last year. This is what the Thanksgiving surge looks like. "People are on ventilators, people dying. It doesn't end, and there's no way for health care workers to really decompress" said Dr. Scott Samlan, an emergency room doctor in Hammond, Indiana. Deaths are sharply increasing. Dr. Barbara Ferrer, Los Angeles County's public health director, choked up as she said, "Over 8,000 people who were beloved members of their families are not coming back." More than one-third of all Americans live near hospitals that are critically short of intensive care unit beds, according to the New York Times. California has more than 11,000 people hospitalized and over 30,000 new cases — both all-time records, the state reported. COVID-19 has also taken a disproportionate toll on Latinos due to jobs in agriculture, construction and meatpacking. In Los Angeles, their infection rate is double that of whites. "Latinos are overrepresented in essential industries, and so being in these occupations, we often have to go to work," said Jeffrey Reynoso, executive director of the Latino Coalition for a Healthy California. Meanwhile, in Idaho, a meeting on mask mandates was canceled after one health official had this to say: "My 12-year-old son is home by himself right now, and there are protesters banging outside the door. I'm going to go home and make sure he's OK," said Ada County Commissioner Diana Lachiondo. And in Florida, 41-year-old Rose Felipe finally left the hospital. Her own battle with the coronavirus lasted nine months.
December 9 COVID-19 Test Results; Record 7-Day Cases, Hospitalizations, Over 3,000 Deaths --The US is now averaging over 1 million tests per day. Based on the experience of other countries, for adequate test-and-trace (and isolation) to reduce infections, the percent positive needs to be well under 5% (probably close to 1%), so the US still needs to increase the number of tests per day significantly (or take actions to push down the number of new infections).There were 1,454,192 test results reported over the last 24 hours.There were 209,822 positive tests. Over 21,000 US deaths have been reported so far in December. See the graph on US Daily Deaths here. This data is from the COVID Tracking Project.
The percent positive over the last 24 hours was 14.4% (red line is 7 day average). The percent positive is calculated by dividing positive results by the sum of negative and positive results (I don't include pending).And check out COVID Exit Strategy to see how each state is doing. The second graph shows the 7 day average of positive tests reported and daily hospitalizations. Note that there were very few tests available in March and April, and many cases were missed, so the hospitalizations was higher relative to the 7-day average of positive tests in July.
• Record Hospitalizations (Over 106,000)
• Record 7 Day Average Cases
• Record 7 Day Average Deaths
Georgia sets new single-day record for COVID-19 with over 6k new cases — Georgia has hit another record high for daily new confirmed cases of COVID-19. The Georgia Department of Public Health reported 6,126 new cases on Thursday. The last single-day case record was 5,023 on Dec. 4. Before that, the record high was 4,782 on July 24.The 7-day moving average was 4,148.4. On Wednesday, Georgia health officials said confirmed cases have increase 62% in just the last seven days. The latest White House Coronavirus Task Force report was released Wednesday. Channel 2′s Richard Elliot learned from the report that Georgia is doing better than most states, but that doesn’t mean much. The report says the increase in positive cases indicates “ongoing, aggressive community spread” of the virus. It’s recommended that anyone over 65 stay at home, and those under 40 who attended a Thanksgiving gathering to assume they have the virus. Ninety-six counties in Georgia are currently in the “red zone” including Fulton, Cobb, Gwinnett, Cherokee, Clayton and Forsyth.
Record COVID-19 Cases Reported as Total Surpasses 100K - San Diego County News Center - A record 2,867 COVID-19 cases were reported Dec. 10, bringing the region’s overall total to 102,466, the County Health and Human Services Agency announced today. The new one-day total eclipses the previous record set on Dec. 4 when 2,287 cases were reported. “The extremely high number of cases shows that San Diegans are not following the guidance we’ve given. Protect yourself and others. The virus is everywhere,” said Wilma Wooten, M.D., M.P.H., County public health officer. “Staying at home with people from your own household is a must. People should not be out in public unless it is absolutely necessary.” Wooten reiterated San Diegans should not be having gatherings of any size since they are prohibited by the Regional Stay Home Order and are contributing to the spread of the virus. If you’re out and about and notice that a business is not following the health guidance, report them by calling (858) 694-2900 or emailingSafeReopeningComplianceTeam@sdcounty.ca.gov.
L.A. County in ‘uncharted territory’ as COVID-19 cases explode to single-day record with more than 13,000 --Los Angeles County broke the record for COVID-19 cases reported in a single day once again on Friday with 13,815 new infections, the latest sign that the current surge of cases is not slowing down any time soon. The total number of cases reported in the county has now surpassed the 500,000-mark, hitting 501,635 infections on Friday. Less than two weeks into December, the county has already recorded more coronavirus cases than in any other month. The surge in cases is causing hospitals to become full and some intensive care units to reach capacity. As of Friday, there were 3,624 people hospitalized with COVID-19 across the county — 23% of those patients are in intensive care units and 15% are on ventilators, Los Angeles County Public Health Director Barbara Ferrer said during Friday’s media briefing “This is alarming to all of us, given there are only around 2,100 ICU adult beds across all of our county hospitals,” she noted, “and many of those beds are essential for all of the patients that need care for other illnesses.” The number of coronavirus-related hospitalizations in L.A. County has doubled since Thanksgiving and quadrupled in the last month, when there were 942 coronavirus-infected patients in area hospitals. “We’re in uncharted territory at this point,” Ferrer said. “We’re seeing daily numbers of cases and hospitalizations that we’ve not experienced and, frankly, did not anticipate. Our intensive care unit bed capacity continues to drop. We’re on a very dangerous track.” The county also reported 50 additional coronavirus-related fatalities, bringing the county’s total number of deaths to 8,199. So far this month, the county has seen an average of 49 people die per day from COVID-19, beating July’s daily death of 42 fatalities per day. So unless L.A. County’s average daily deaths begins to drop, December is on track to become the county’s deadliest month of the pandemic. To illustrate the magnitude of the current surge, Ferrer said the number of average daily deaths a month ago was 18. Two weeks ago, it was 30, and this week, it was 51. Health officials predict the county could see an average of 80 deaths per day in two weeks’ time. They fear the situation will only get worse as more people who may have been infected during the Thanksgiving holiday become sick.
More US counties than ever are reporting record Covid-19 deaths — As the US breaks grim record after grim record, regularly hitting new highs for daily cases of Covid-19, it’s difficult to conceive of the scale of human loss. On Dec. 9, the country reported more than 3,000 deaths in a single day, surpassing the death toll of 9/11, as Centers for Disease Control and Prevention director Robert Redfield pointed out. The true toll of the pandemic can still feel curiously distant, especially for those who haven’t been directly impacted by a Covid-19 death. But that group is getting smaller. While the US epidemic was first concentrated in large cities, by now it has reached every nook and cranny of the nation—and more and more Americans are experiencing the loss of life first-hand. On Dec. 10, the US broke a record among records: 1,030 counties reported their highest-ever daily death toll, according to a Quartz analysis of data from The New York Times. That record has been broken weekly since the middle of October. Back then, about 500 of the country’s more than 3,000 counties set daily records for deaths. (That includes counties in territories like Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands.) Since then, the figure has doubled. In other words, a third of the country’s locales are currently experiencing more death than at any other point in the pandemic. Covid-19’s effects are being felt in communities large and small. The peak on Dec. 10 includes Stonewall, Texas, with a population of 1,350, and Los Angeles, California with a population of 10 million. That could have implications for pandemic response, including the public’s willingness to get a Covid-19 vaccine. For Americans living in cities like New York, the reality of the pandemic has been obvious since March, when round-the-clock sirens and nightly cheers for healthcare workers made the virus’s impact tangible even for those who escaped infection. That first-hand experience may have made it easier for people there to accept public health measures like social distancing and mandatory masks. If seeing is believing, a lot more Americans are about to become believers.
Richard Hinch: New Hampshire's House speaker dies from Covid-19 - New Hampshire Speaker of the House Richard "Dick" Hinch died from Covid-19, the state attorney general's office announced. Attorney General Gordon MacDonald's office said in a statement Thursday that the state's chief medical examiner, Dr. Jennie V. Duval, had determined the Republican's death Wednesday was due to the disease caused by the coronavirus. Hinch was 71. "During this difficult time, the family has requested that their privacy continue to be respected," the statement read. The late Republican speaker had been elected to the post on December 2. He previously served as New Hampshire's House Republican leader from 2018 to 2020 and as House majority leader from 2015 to 2018.
U.S. readies COVID-19 vaccine rollout as death toll climbs (Reuters) -Health authorities, shipping services and hospitals, expecting imminent federal regulatory approval of the first COVID-19 vaccine in the United States, put final plans in place on Friday to launch a mass-inoculation campaign of unparalleled dimension. Last-minute preparations for the vaccine rollout came as the U.S. death toll from the coronavirus pandemic approached 300,000 to date, capping weeks of ominously surging infections and hospitalizations that have strained healthcare systems to their limits. Another 2,902 U.S. deaths were reported on Thursday, a day after a record 3,253, a pace projected to continue over the next two to three months even as distribution of available vaccine supplies ramps up. The process could start as soon as Monday. Moving with unprecedented speed, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on Friday was on the cusp of approving emergency use of the coronavirus vaccine developed by Pfizer Inc with its German partner BioNTech. “The FDA informed Pfizer that they do intend to proceed towards an authorization for their vaccine,” Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar told ABC News on Friday. “We will work with Pfizer to get that shipped out so we could be seeing people getting vaccinated Monday or Tuesday,” Azar said.
South Carolina coronavirus cases reach daily record with more than 3,000 — One week ago, South Carolina announced its highest number of new cases of COVID-19. Friday, we eclipse that number by more than 700. A total of 3,217 confirmed and probable cases of COVID-19 were announced Friday and 47 additional South Carolinians have died because of this virus, DHEC reported. “South Carolina, like many other states, is currently experiencing a worsening of this pandemic,” said Dr. Brannon Traxler, DHEC interim public health director. “While the arriving vaccine is the light at the end of the tunnel, it will be months before there is enough vaccine available for everyone. It is incumbent upon all of us to continue to take actions aimed at saving lives.” COVID-19 in South Carolina, North Carolina, Georgia: Tracking cases, deaths and latest restrictions State public health officials are calling on all South Carolinians to continue to act to reduce the spread of COVID-19 by taking small steps that make a big difference, “No one else should have to die at the hands of this silent killer,” said Dr. Linda Bell, state epidemiologist. “It is within all of our powers to stop COVID-19. As we each wait patiently for our turn to receive the COVID-19 vaccines, let’s keep doing our part by wearing our masks and practicing social distancing.” In addition to following public health safety precautions, DHEC continues to urge South Carolinians to answer the call. If DHEC calls, be open and honest with case investigators and contact monitors and follow their guidance. DHEC says the information provided through these calls helps the public health staff take actions to slow the spread of COVID-19 in communities.
NC reports record new covid cases in one day as curfew begins North Carolina’s health department reported 7,540 new coronavirus cases Friday, shattering the state’s previous record for daily cases of 6,495, which was reported on Wednesday. The surge in cases comes two weeks after Thanksgiving, illustrating the impact of holiday gatherings, said Dr. Mandy Cohen, secretary of the N.C. Department of Health and Human Services, in a statement. “Having more than 7,500 cases is staggering and alarming,” Cohen said. As cases and hospitalizations rise, Gov. Roy Cooper called for a new modified stay-at-home order that goes into effect Friday at 5 p.m. The order requires people to stay at home between the hours of 10 p.m. and 5 a.m unless they are traveling to or from work or traveling to obtain essential goods or services, such as food, fuel, medical care. Businesses are required to close by 10 p.m. unless they are selling those essential goods, and all on-site alcohol consumption sales is required to end by 9 p.m. The new order will last until at least Jan. 8. Also Friday, N.C. Supreme Court Chief Justice Cheri Beasley ordered all in-person, non-essential court activity to stop for 30 days, according to a memorandum to courts statewide. Hospitalizations continued to climb, with the state reporting 2,514 people hospitalized, an increase of 70 from Thursday. NC DHHS reported 5,752 deaths, an increase of 38 from yesterday.
Coronavirus: US sets single-day record with more than 230,000 new Covid cases — as it happened --The US reported more than 230,000 coronavirus cases on Friday, a record for a single day, while hospitalisations reached another peak, at more than 108,000. States reported a further 232,105 infections, up from 215,669 on Thursday, according to Covid Tracking Project data. That soared past the previous one-day record of 224,878 on December 4. The US added 1.44m cases over the past week, a record for a seven-day period and averaging out at a rate of 206,443 new infections a day. California alone contributed 35,468 of those new positive cases, setting a daily record in the process. A further 2,749 deaths were attributed to coronavirus by states. That was down from 3,115 on Thursday and a record 3,206 on Wednesday, according to upwardly revised figures from Covid Tracking Project. Over the past week, states have attributed 16,653 deaths to coronavirus, a record for a seven-day period that works out to an average of 2,379 a day. Since the start of the pandemic, the country has tallied 287,058 fatalities. Covid Tracking Project said on Friday it had changed its source metric for deaths in Colorado that, alongside an adjustment to fatalities in Washington state, may have been among factors contributing to the recently revised numbers. The number of people currently in US hospitals with coronavirus rose to 108,044 from 107,258 on Thursday. As hospitalisations in the Midwest ease back from peaks, states in the south and west of the US are now reporting record levels of patients. California, Georgia, Maryland, Nevada, North Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia were among those to set new highs on Friday.
US reaches record daily toll of 3,309 coronavirus deaths -The U.S. has reached a record 3,309 daily coronavirus deaths, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.The deaths reported Friday exceeded by 6% the previous high of 3,124 deaths reported Wednesday.The U.S. also reached a record daily confirmed infections at 231,775, according to a tally by Johns Hopkins University. That’s nearly 4,000 more than the previous high on Dec. 4.The increases come as millions of doses of the COVID-19 vaccine developed by Pfizer start rolling into hospitals on Monday. The first vaccines will go to hospital staff and other health care professionals. The U.S. leads the world in confirmed cases at 15.9 million and deaths at more than 296,000. The coronavirus has caused more than 1.6 million global deaths.
Medical System Cracking: New Rochelle Nurses Strike Over Unsafe Staffing Levels; Washington State Warns of Potential for “Catastrophic Loss of Medical Care” -We’ve warned from early on in the Covid crisis that the driver of decisions to lock down or not would be driven by the level of distress in hospitals. While that call has been shown to be correct, officials have tended to be behind the curve on how quickly infections could accelerate and how that would in short order translate into near or actual crisis conditions in hospitals.So here we are, in December, with the Thanksgiving infection spike proving to be generally worse than anticipated (our IM Doc reports that in his rural area, the uptick hit early and has oddly abated but his hospital is severely overloaded) and worse sure to be on the way after the Christmas-New Year holidays.Let’s remember other boundary conditions:Better techniques mean as of now, mortality rates for Covid are lower than in the spring wave. That will become less and less true if hospitals are choked and patients are denied care or are treated on a suboptimal timetable. Recall that at the worst of the spring wave, much of Italy was engaging in triage, with elderly patients turned away. It’s pretty much baked in that hard hit areas, the aged and others with co-morbidities, like obesity or pre-existing pulmonary conditions, will not be treated. How long this lasts in over-stretched hospitals and how many people are affected is to be determined.And as readers know, overtaxed hospitals also mean that at-risk patients will put off all but unavoidable treatments (we’ve had cancer patients tell us they’ve been postponing visits) and in a worse-case scenario, emergency care will be compromised, as confirmed by the New Rochelle example we’ll get to soon. Recall that in the worst of the spring peak, many New York City hospitals had over 24 hour waits in ERs. Parallel infection peaks produce system-wide overload. In the spring, regions that suffered high infection levels could still tap extra capacity elsewhere, by hiring more traveling nurses and shuttling patients to other hospitals in state. Those pressure valves are no longer available. Visiting nurses are already getting $8000 a weeks. Extra beds are scarce and becoming scarcer. The US has only itself to blame. As the Kaiser Family Foundation reported in the spring The U.S. Has Fewer Physicians and Hospital Beds Per Capita Than Italy and Other Countries Overwhelmed by COVID-19: Compared to Italy and Spain, two countries in which hospitals have already been overwhelmed by an influx of COVID-19 patients, the U.S. has fewer practicing physicians per capita – 2.6 per 1,000 people, compared to 4.0 in Italy and 3.9 in Spain – but more licensed nurses. While the U.S. has a higher number of total hospital employees than most comparable countries, nearly half of that workforce is comprised of non-clinical staff who are not directly involved in delivering care. Germany has 8 hospital beds per 1000, and even the less wealthy Czech Republic has 6.6.Doctors and nurses are already withdrawing support due to exhaustion, health concerns, and opposition to poor patient care. We’re set to see more accounts like these in the coming months. Kaiser Health News has a story today about a Harborview Medical Center in Seattle, affiliated with the University of Washington. It has substantially reorganized its activities to combat Covid, such as offloading more non-care tasks to non-medical workers and restricting visitors to protect patients and employees, yet is contending with staff burnout due to duration of the crisis with no end in sight. Key sections:
US enters brutal stretch of pandemic, even with approaching vaccines - The United States is entering an even more brutal stretch of the pandemic, with deaths now exceeding 3,000 people every day, but there is a light at the end of the tunnel from a vaccine. The promise of a vaccine sets up a diverging reality, where in the short term the pandemic is getting even worse, but there is reassurance that it will not last forever. Public health experts are therefore urging the public to double down on precautions to get through the toughest phase for a few months until the vaccine is widely available. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Director Robert Redfield issued a stark warning about the coming weeks on Thursday. “We are in the timeframe now that probably for the next 60 to 90 days we're going to have more deaths per day than we had at 9/11 or we had at Pearl Harbor,” Redfield said during an event hosted by the Council on Foreign Relations. The U.S. is at record-breaking levels of more than 200,000 new cases every day and more than 100,000 people in the hospital. And the situation is only getting worse, especially as the surge from Thanksgiving gatherings starts to show up. Despite this worsening crisis, President Trump has been largely silent on the spread of the coronavirus, except to tout progress on a vaccine. He has not consistently urged the public to take precautions in the short term or announced major new steps to slow the spread until a vaccine is widely available. Governors have also had a fractured response, with some announcing new measures even as others largely resist restrictions amid the surge. Only 15 states have closed bars, for example, one of the main sources of spread of the virus, according to a tracker from the Kaiser Family Foundation. Congress has been deadlocked for months on additional economic aid, which could help these businesses financially while they close for public health reasons. Experts are urging the public to step up precautions like wearing a mask and avoiding indoor gatherings, even in private homes if people from multiple households are mixing together. The CDC is encouraging people not to travel for the holidays this month as well, given that travel is likely to lead to a further spike. “This is going to be, I think, a brutal time for us,” Redfield said. “As I said I think it will be the most challenging time in the history of our nation from a public health perspective. And I want the public to really understand that despite what I said, that's not written in stone if people really would embrace the strategies that we've asked.” He added people should “not to let their guard down, just because they're around family members who come to celebrate a holiday.”
COVID-19 infections spread rapidly as officials race to distribute vaccine - The number of coronavirus infections is spreading at an alarming rate across the nation as the U.S. government gears up to distribute its first rounds of an approved coronavirus vaccine. The United States added 1 million coronavirus infections in just four days, bringing the cumulative total of cases to over 16 million on Saturday, according to data from Johns Hopkins University. The country has recorded over 215,000 cases each day since Tuesday, Dec. 8. In addition, there were 3,309 new deaths on Friday alone, passing the previous record of 3,054 deaths set on Wednesday. Areas concentrated in Southern California, Arizona, Indiana, Illinois, Pennsylvania, Tennessee and Rhode Island are just some of the states that have seen a substantial increase in coronavirus cases over a 14-day period and have remained elevated, according to The New York Times coronavirus heat map. Experts have long warned that cases would surge in the winter months as the colder weather forces people to spend more time indoors. The increase in cases comes a little over two weeks after the Thanksgiving holiday when, despite warnings from government health officials and local leaders, many Americans traveled before or on the day to attend gatherings. But amid surging infections, the federal government is racing to provide inoculation and slow the spread. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on Friday granted emergency use authorization for Pfizer and BioNTech’s COVID-19 vaccine. The go-ahead was granted after federal panel of outside experts voted to move forward with Pfizer's candidate. In an emergency session on Saturday, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices voted to recommend the vaccine for people aged 16 and older. CDC Director Robert Redfield is expected to approve the recommendation later this weekend, the last step needed before shots can be administered. Following approval from Redfield, the first doses of the vaccine will be distributed starting early this week. Gen. Gustave Perna, the head of President Trump's Operation Warp Speed on Saturday said that the 145 distribution sites will receive doses on Monday, another 425 sites on Tuesday and 66 sites will get the vaccine on Wednesday. First in line for the vaccine are heath care workers, long-term care staff and residents and other priority groups. Yet even when the vaccine reaches the broader public, it will take some time for vaccinations to impact the spread of the virus.
December 12 COVID-19 Test Results; Record 7-Day Cases, Record Hospitalizations --The US is now averaging well over 1 million tests per day. Based on the experience of other countries, for adequate test-and-trace (and isolation) to reduce infections, the percent positive needs to be under 5% (probably close to 1%), so the US has far too many daily cases - and percent positive - to do effective test-and-trace.There were 1,497,861 test results reported over the last 24 hours.There were 223,365 positive tests.Almost 30,000 US deaths have been reported so far in December. See the graph on US Daily Deaths here. This data is from the COVID Tracking Project.The percent positive over the last 24 hours was 14.9% (red line is 7 day average). The percent positive is calculated by dividing positive results by the sum of negative and positive results (I don't include pending).And check out COVID Exit Strategy to see how each state is doing. The second graph shows the 7 day average of positive tests reported and daily hospitalizations.Note that there were very few tests available in March and April, and many cases were missed, so the hospitalizations was higher relative to the 7-day average of positive tests in July.• Record Hospitalizations (Over 108,000)
• Record 7 Day Average Cases
• Tied Yesterday for record 7 Day Average Deaths
VERIFY: Comparing total deaths from 2020 to 2019, 2018 - According to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University, more than 280,000 Americans have died due to COVID-19. But some people dispute whether those deaths were caused by COVID-19, or if those people might have died anyway, but happened to have it. Since the elderly and people with coexisting medical conditions are most likely to suffer severe symptoms from COVID-19 or die, viewers who ask the question often wonder if the deceased’s age or health was more to blame than the coronavirus. If the numbers of total deaths from 2020, 2019, and 2018 are similar, that would mean COVID-19 has not had as much of an impact as many scientists and politicians claim. If the number for 2020 is significantly higher, the difference would largely be explained by the coronavirus. Our source for this information is the Centers for Disease Control. In its weekly flu report, it includes a dataset that lists the number of deaths from all causes each week going back more than seven years. So far this year, the CDC reports that 2,877,601 people have died. At the same point in 2018, the number was 2,606,928, and in 2019, it was 2,614,950. The number of deaths to this point in 2020 is at least 260,000 greater than either of the past two years. But that number is an underestimate because the CDC publishes data based on the number of death certificates it has received. Since it can take a couple of weeks for all death certificates to be recorded, the numbers for the last two weeks, at least, will increase as time goes by. If the last two weeks produce a similar number of deaths as the weeks before, the margin to this point will actually be close to 310,000. Another way to see the effect of COVID-19 is that more people have died already this year than did in the entirety of either 2018 or 2019. There were 2,831,836 deaths in all of 2018 and 2,845,793 in all of 2019. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the population of the United States has increased by .48-.73 percent over the last five years. The increase in deaths to this point in 2020 is 10%, far outpacing population growth. Therefore, we can verify that the number of deaths from all causes is up in 2020 compared to years past.
COVID-19 outbreak at mink farm in Canada infects 8 people - Eight people have been infected by a COVID-19 outbreak on a mink farm in Canada, health officials said.The cluster was detected at the farm in Fraser Valley, east of Vancouver, Canadian outlet CBC reported.The infected farm operators and staffers are self-isolating along with their close contacts, according to the Fraser Health Authority.It’s unclear how the virus was transmitted, but some mink are being sent to the National Center for Foreign Animal Disease in Winnipeg for testing, the outlet reported.The outbreak comes after some 17 million minks were slaughtered in Denmark over fears of COVID-19 transmission.The World Health Organization said the minks there contracted the illness after exposure to infected humans. “Minks can act as a reservoir of [COVID-19] passing the virus between them, and pose a risk for virus spill-over from mink to humans,” the agency said. In the US, there have also been reports of mink outbreaks, including in Utah, Wisconsin and Michigan. The US Department of Agriculture said mink farms in Utah had endured “deaths in numbers they’d never seen before” as a result of the virus, Science reported.
Snow Leopards Are the Latest Cats to Get the Coronavirus New York Times Snow leopards at the Louisville Zoo are the latest animals to be infected with the coronavirus.One female cat, NeeCee, has tested positive and two males, Kimti and Meru, are presumed positive, based on tests at a regional veterinary diagnostic center that must be confirmed at a national lab.The cats are all showing minor symptoms of coughing and wheezing, much like the tigers and lions at the Bronx Zoo thattested positive back in April. The New York cats recovered without difficulty and the Kentucky zoo expects the snow leopards will do the same.Domestic cats, dogs and mink have also been infected with the virus, which causes Covid-19 in people. Domestic cats and mink can transmit it to other animals. Mink are the only animals so far known to get severely ill and are the only animals known to transmit the virus back to humans.Denmark ordered up to 17 million mink killed because of worries about mutations in the virus affecting potential vaccine efficacy. Those fears have not been substantiated, but numerous scientists have supported the move because a parallel pandemic in mink risks more mutation and more transmission back to humans and perhaps other animals.So far there are no documented cases of dogs or cats passing the virus to humans. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention offers recommendations for dealing with pets if owners become infected, and the Department of Agriculture has guidelines for mink farmers.The tests for the virus in animals are not the same as those done for humans and can only be done at specialized labs that do not test people. The Louisville zoo sent fecal samples to the University of Illinois Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory, which did initial tests showing all three snow leopards to be positive. Samples were then forwarded to the National Veterinary Services Laboratories in Ames, Iowa, which confirmed the positive result for the female snow leopard. Confirmation was pending for the two male cats.
The Latest: U.K. gears up for huge vaccination plan watched by the world - — Shipments of the coronavirus vaccine developed by American drugmaker Pfizer and Germany’s BioNTech were delivered Sunday in the U.K. in super-cold containers, two days before it goes public in an immunization program that is being closely watched around the world. Around 800,000 doses of the vaccine were expected to be in place for the start of the immunization program on Tuesday, a day that Health Secretary Matt Hancock has reportedly dubbed as “V-Day,” a nod to triumphs in World War II. “To know that they are here, and we are amongst the first in the country to actually receive the vaccine and therefore the first in the world, is just amazing,” said Louise Coughlan, joint chief pharmacist at Croydon Health Services NHS Trust, just south of London.“I’m so proud,” she said after the trust, which runs Croydon University Hospital, took delivery of the vaccine. Last week, the U.K. became the first country to authorize the Pfizer-BioNtech vaccine for emergency use. In trials, the vaccine was shown to have around 95 percent efficacy. Vaccinations will be administered starting Tuesday at around 50 hospital hubs in England. Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland will also begin their vaccination rollouts the same day.
Ex-Pfizer Exec Demands EU Halt COVID-19 Vaccine Studies Over 'Indefinite Infertility' And Other Health Concerns -- Former Pfizer vice president and scientific director Dr. Michael Yeadon and German lung specialist and parliamentarian Dr. Wolfgang Wodarg have filed an urgent application with the European Medicine Agency calling for the immediate suspension of all SARS-CoV-2 vaccine studies - particularly the BioNtech/Pfizer study on BNT162b (EudraCT number 2020-002641-42). Yeadon and Wodarg say the studies should be halted until a design study is available which addresses a host of serious safety concerns expressed by a growing body of renowned scientists who are skeptical of how quickly the vaccines are being developed, according to Germany's 2020 News. On the one hand, the petitioners demand that, due to the known lack of accuracy of the PCR test in a serious study, a so-called Sanger sequencing must be used. This is the only way to make reliable statements on the effectiveness of a vaccine against Covid-19. On the basis of the many different PCR tests of highly varying quality, neither the risk of disease nor a possible vaccine benefit can be determined with the necessary certainty, which is why testing the vaccine on humans is unethical per se. -2020 News The pair also point to concerns raised in previous studies involving other coronaviruses - including (via 2020 News):
- The formation of so-called “non-neutralizing antibodies” can lead to an exaggerated immune reaction, especially when the test person is confronted with the real, “wild” virus after vaccination. This so-called antibody-dependent amplification, ADE, has long been known from experiments with corona vaccines in cats, for example. In the course of these studies all cats that initially tolerated the vaccination well died after catching the wild virus.
- The vaccinations are expected to produce antibodies against spike proteins of SARS-CoV-2. However, spike proteins also contain syncytin-homologous proteins, which are essential for the formation of the placenta in mammals such as humans. It must be absolutely ruled out that a vaccine against SARS-CoV-2 could trigger an immune reaction against syncytin-1, as otherwise infertility of indefinite duration could result in vaccinated women.
- The mRNA vaccines from BioNTech/Pfizer contain polyethylene glycol (PEG). 70% of people develop antibodies against this substance – this means that many people can develop allergic, potentially fatal reactions to the vaccination.
- The much too short duration of the study does not allow a realistic estimation of the late effects. As in the narcolepsy cases after the swine flu vaccination, millions of healthy people would be exposed to an unacceptable risk if an emergency approval were to be granted and the possibility of observing the late effects of the vaccination were to follow. Nevertheless, BioNTech/Pfizer apparently submitted an application for emergency approval on December 1, 2020.
Russia Warns Citizens Not To Drink Alcohol For Six Weeks After COVID-19 Vaccine -Russians are being asked to make the ultimate sacrifice; no drinking alcohol for six weeks after taking the country's COVID-19 vaccine. In a statement to state-owned Tass, Deputy Prime Minister Tatyana Golikova said that Russians will need to take heightened precautions during the 42 days that the 'Sputnik V' coronavirus vaccine requires to reach maximum effectiveness. "[Russians] will have to refrain from visiting crowded places, wear face masks, use sanitizers, minimize contacts and refrain from drinking alcohol or taking immunosuppressant drugs," she said. And as the New York Post notes, the head of Russia's consumer safety watchdog, Anna Popova, echoed Golikova's statement in the Moscow Times - saying "It’s a strain on the body. If we want to stay healthy and have a strong immune response, don’t drink alcohol." Russian health officials say the Sputnik V vaccine is over 90 percent effective, but reports say medical workers who have taken the shot have come down with COVID-19. Russian President Vladimir Putin has reportedly refused to take it. Western experts have expressed skepticism at the speed at which the purported vaccine was developed and Russia hasn’t provided any data to back up its claims for the shot. -New York Post Over 42,000 have died in Russia from COVID-19 out of a total recorded 2.4 million infections.
Japan Covid cases reach daily record as 'third wave' hits -- Japan has reported a record daily number of coronavirus cases, prompting health experts to urge people not to travel in the run-up to the New Year holidays. The country reported 2,811 new infections on Wednesday, as well as a record 555 people with serious Covid symptoms, the Kyodo news agency said. Record daily case numbers were seen in six of the country’s 47 prefectures, including the popular tourist destinations of Kyoto and Kagoshima, a city in the far south-west. Japan’s Self-Defence Forces (SDF) sent nurses to Asahikawa, a city of 330,000 on the northern island of Hokkaido, where overstretched local health services are battling outbreaks at two hospitals and a facility for people with disabilities. Osaka prefecture, the second most-affected region after Tokyo, has also requested medical personnel from the armed forces. Tokyo reported 572 new infections on Wednesday – its second-highest daily figure since the pandemic began – following a record 584 infections on Saturday. The capital, the worst-hit region in Japan with a total of almost 45,000 cases, is due to host the Olympic Games in just over six months’ time, with test events scheduled to resume as early as the first week of March. The nationwide surge, which experts are describing as a third wave, has prompted calls for the government to suspend its Go To Travel programme, a heavily subsidised scheme to encourage tourism to support regional economies during the pandemic. While Sapporo – the biggest city in Hokkaido and host of the Olympic marathon events next summer – and Osaka have been withdrawn from the campaign, the government has resisted pressure to suspend it in other parts of the country. The potential for even bigger rises in daily cases number could increase towards the end of the year, when many Japanese return to their home towns to spend New Year with their families.
Canadian Health Ministry Exploring "Immunity Passports", Vaccine "Tracking And Surveillance" - The Health Minister of Ontario in Canada has stoked controversy by suggesting that people who do not take the coronavirus vaccine will face restrictions on where they can travel and spend time. When asked by reporters about how the government intends to go about convincing people to get the vaccine, Health Minister Christine Elliott warned that those who refuse it will face difficulties reintegrating into society. “That’s their choice, this is not going to be a mandatory campaign. It will be voluntary,” Elliot said, but adding that “There may be some restrictions that may be placed on people that don’t have vaccines for travel purposes, to be able to go to theatres and other places.” When another reporter asked if the government would be introducing ‘immunity passports’, or proof of vaccination cards, Elliot said “Yes, because that’s going to be really important for people to have for travel purposes, perhaps for work purposes, for going to theatres or cinemas or any other places where people will be in closer physical contact.” Following up on Elliot’s comments, The Toronto Sun spoke to her press secretary, who confirmed that the government is exploring several options for vaccine “tracking and surveillance.”“This includes exploring developing tech-based solutions while also providing for alternative options to ensure equitable access to any potential ‘immunity passport,’” Alexandra Hilkene said.Sun reporter Brian Lilley notes “That phrase will set off alarm bells and it should, not just for anti-vaxxers, but for anyone who is concerned about Charter rights and governments running roughshod over them.”Ontario Chief Medical Officer of Health Dr. David Williams has also said that a COVID-19 vaccine may be required for “freedom to move around”.
Anti-Chinese campaign casts doubt over vaccinations as second COVID-19 wave batters Brazil - Brazil is seeing a rapid surge in COVID-19 infections and deaths following the complete abandonment by federal and local governments of any restraint on economic activity. Even with summer approaching, the back-to-work drive has brought the average daily death toll to 600, a two-month high. Daily new infections stand at 40,000, and six Brazilian states are close to a health care system collapse, with more than 80 percent of COVID-19-dedicated ICUs occupied, and hospital beds filled with patients being treated for diseases that had been neglected and aggravated during eight months of the pandemic. At the same time, plans for mass vaccinations over the next year are being systematically undermined by the conflict that is gripping the Brazilian ruling class and drawing lines between the government of fascistic President Jair Bolsonaro and the Congressional opposition led by the Workers Party (PT) over Brazil’s attitude towards the US-led imperialist offensive against China. Since his presidential campaign in 2018, Bolsonaro has sought to exploit the impact of Chinese industrial imports and investments in Brazil to make a nationalist appeal epitomized by the slogan “China is not buying from Brazil, it is buying Brazil.” At the beginning of 2020, with barely a year in office, Bolsonaro solidarized himself with the reactionary anti-Chinese campaign of US President Donald Trump, who blamed the Chinese government for the pandemic and promoted fraudulent claims originating in far-right circles that the pandemic was part of a deliberate Chinese plan to undermine the US. Bolsonaro is now working to impede the use by federal and local authorities of the Chinese-developed CoronaVac vaccine which has just ended phase-three clinical trials conducted in Brazil by one of the country’s leading vaccine research facilities, the São Paulo-based Butantan Institute. The Butantan Institute is part of the São Paulo state Health Department and is one of the two main infectious diseases centers in the country, together with the federal Oswaldo Cruz Foundation (Fiocruz), based in Rio de Janeiro. The institute produces 75 percent of the vaccines used by the Health Ministry in annual vaccination campaigns. As Brazil emerged as an epicenter of the worldwide COVID-19 pandemic, Butantan partnered with the Beijing-based Sinovac Life Science biotechnology company to conduct clinical trials in Brazil and secure the rights and an initial capacity to produce 100 million doses of the CoronaVac vaccine a year. Phase-two trials of the vaccine in Brazil have produced promising results, with 97 percent of participants developing antibodies. Emergency use of the vaccine for health care and other essential workers has already been carried out in China, with hundreds of thousands vaccinated. Chile, Turkey and Indonesia are also conducting trials of the vaccine. The CoronaVac vaccine has also already proved to be safe, although those results are hardly surprising, given the traditional approach taken by Sinovac. CoronaVac has nonetheless been vilified by Bolsonaro, solely because of its Chinese origin, with the president casting a shadow over the whole scientific community in China, as well as those involved in the Brazilian trials.
South Korea reports record 950 cases in COVID-19 'emergency' (Reuters) - South Korea reported a record 950 daily coronavirus cases on Saturday, exceeding the late February peak of 909, with the president calling the country’s third wave of COVID-19 an “emergency”. The South Korean authorities warned they may tighten social-distancing restrictions to their strictest level but held off for now. Of the Friday cases reported by the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA), 928 were locally transmitted and 22 were imported, bringing the total to 41,736 infections with 578 deaths. More than 70% the domestically transmitted cases were from Seoul and its neighbouring areas, where about half of the nation’s 52 million people live. “This is indeed an emergency situation,” said President Moon Jae-in, ordering the mobilisation of police, military personnel and public medical doctors in an effort to curb the further spread of the coronavirus, chiefly driven by small, widespread clusters..
Covid: Record deaths in Germany and Russia - BBC News - Germany is facing calls for a second lockdown before Christmas after recording 585 deaths and 29,875 new infections in one day - the highest numbers since the pandemic began. "We have to act urgently. We have to do more than was previously planned," warned Economy Minister Peter Altmaier. Russia and Ukraine also reported record numbers of fatalities on Friday. However, the latest excess death statistics have cast doubt on the numbers announced in Russian updates. Germany has been under partial lockdown since early November, shutting bars, restaurants and entertainment venues, and a relaxation had been planned over Christmas. But the rise in infections has increasingly alarmed top officials, with Lothar Wieler, head of Germany's public healthy body, the Robert Koch Institute (RKI), describing the situation as "extremely fragile". Chancellor Angela Merkel made an impassioned speech in the Bundestag (parliament) this week calling for tighter measures, saying that "500 deaths a day is unacceptable". Russia's pandemic task force says 613 deaths were recorded in the past 24 hours, bringing the total since the pandemic began to 45,893. Moscow and St Petersburg were worst hit. However, official data about "excess" deaths - those above expected levels - has called this total into question. There were nearly 50,000 more "excess" deaths in October 2020 than in the same month last year. Official health figures were less than a third of that, but only count deaths listed by a post mortem examination as having coronavirus as the main cause.
Australia to launch vaccines on its own timetable - Australia will launch Covid-19 vaccines on its own schedule next year as it has successfully contained the virus, Prime Minister Scott Morrison said on Friday, allowing it to monitor the rollout of programmes in the UK and US. Speaking after a national cabinet meeting, Mr Morrison said Australia’s successful suppression of the virus meant it had more time to assess the decision on the best science. “There’s a difference between what’s happening here in Australia and what’s happening overseas,” he said. “Overseas, vaccination is the only thing they’ve got… Because of the hard work done by Australians here… Australia is not in that situation.” Mr Morrison said data sharing from other countries on the vaccines will inform Australia’s next steps. “We want to ensure that Australians have full confidence, absolute full confidence that when it gets the tick, they can get the jab,” he said. Earlier on Friday, it was announced that Australia had purchased an extra 20m doses of the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine, taking the total number of doses to 53.8m in 2021, enough to cover the entire population. It also secured a further 11m doses of the Novavax vaccine, taking the number of doses to 51m. The country has managed to contain outbreaks of coronavirus on its shores and strict quarantine regulations have limited the spread from arriving passengers. Mr Morrison reiterated that returning Australian citizens will be given priority for the limited quarantine quota. Almost 39,000 Australians are still trying to fly home as the pandemic situation remains grave in many countries, he said, adding that nearly 46,000 people have returned since September.
Listen to the birds: illegal diet pill DNP might kill you on the long run -Weight loss appears as a holy grail in our modern societies. DNP (2,4-dinitrophenol), a molecule decreasing the efficiency at which food is converted to cellular energy, was discovered in the early 1930s to be an efficient chemical treatment to promote weight loss in humans. Due to acute toxic effects and the death of several users, DNP was rapidly withdrawn from the market and not used for decades. Yet, DNP has re-emerged over the last decade for human usage through its illegal selling on Internet, leading to several death cases and the recent conviction of an online seller. A global alert was issued by INTERPOL in 2015. A new study led by Dr Stier at the CNRS/University of Strasbourg, France, used captive zebra finches to investigate the impact of a long-term (> 4 years) DNP treatment on key hallmarks of cellular ageing and lifespan."The birds, which are a widely used avian model not displaying age-related obesity, were treated with a dose of DNP per kilo which was well within the range of what is used illegally by humans. The dose had no short-term deleterious effects and only mildly increased the metabolism of these birds," says Dr François Criscuolo, who is a CNRS researcher in Strasbourg. "While DNP-treated birds were looking healthy, demonstrated similar physical performances than control animals, and were not displaying physiological signs of premature ageing, this new study reveals that the lifespan of the birds was actually reduced by 20% (~ 1 year). This would be equivalent to a reduction of approximately 15 years in human life, which should provide a serious warning signal to both current and prospective users, as well as to scientists investigating its use as a medicine," adds Dr Stier.
Several U.S. populations and regions exposed to high arsenic concentrations in drinking water - A new national study of public water systems found that arsenic levels were not uniform across the U.S., even after implementation of the latest national regulatory standard. In the first study to assess differences in public drinking water arsenic exposures by geographic subgroups, researchers at Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health confirmed there are inequalities in drinking water arsenic exposure across certain sociodemographic subgroups and over time. Community water systems reliant on groundwater, serving smaller populations located in the Southwest, and Hispanic communities were more likely to continue exceeding the national maximum containment level, raising environmental justice concerns. The findings are published online inEnvironmental Health Perspectives."This research has important implications for public health efforts aimed at reducing arsenic exposure levels, and for advancing environmental justice," said Anne Nigra, PhD, postdoctoral research fellow in environmental health sciences, and first author. "Systematic studies of inequalities in public drinking water exposures have been lacking until now. These findings identify communities in immediate need of additional protective public health measures."'Our objective was to identify subgroups whose public water arsenic concentrations remained above 10 μg/L after the new maximum arsenic contaminant levels were implemented and, therefore, at disproportionate risk of arsenic-related adverse health outcomes such as cardiovascular disease, related cancers, and adverse birth outcomes," said Ana Navas-Acien, PhD, Professor of Environmental Health Sciences and senior author.Arsenic is a highly toxic human carcinogen and water contaminant present in many aquifers in the United States. Earlier research by the Columbia research team showed that reducing the MCL from 50 to 10 μg/L prevented an estimated 200-900 cancer cases per year.
EPA overrides scientists' calls for tougher pollutant limit -The Trump administration on Monday made final its decision to leave limits for a deadly kind of air pollutant unchanged, overriding scientific findings that tougher standards could save tens of thousands of lives yearly.Environmental groups and many scientists have condemned the decision, slated to be among the final actions of an administration that targeted most proposed and many existing health and environmental protections as a burden to businesses. In the coal state of West Virginia, officials welcomed Monday’s announcement by Environmental Protection Agency administrator Andrew Wheeler, who was a lobbyist for coal immediately before coming to the Trump EPA.The tougher air standards called for by many scientists in and out of the federal government “could have been a huge blow to the coal industry,” Douglas Buffington, West Virginia’s senior deputy attorney general, told reporters.Wheeler’s decision leaves unchanged limits for what is broadly called “fine particulate matter” – the tiny bits of soot we breathe in unseen from tailpipes, wildfires, factory and power plant smokestacks, and other sources.EPA scientists have estimated exposure at current limits causes the early deaths of tens of thousands of Americans annually from heart disease and lung cancer, as well as causing other health problems.“Their callous disregard for the lives of people and imperiled wildlife, just to save the nation’s biggest fossil fuel polluters a few bucks, is sickening,” Robert Ukeiley, a senior attorney at the Center for Biological Diversity advocacy group, said of the EPA’s move.Wheeler on Monday said the country’s levels for the invisible, deadly pollutant were better than the global average. Environmental groups promised a legal challenge to Monday’s action, which makes official a decision earlier announced by Wheeler. The decision was part of a five-year review of limits required under the Clean Air Act.
Trump EPA Disregards Link Between Soot Pollution and COVID Deaths - U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) administrator and former coal lobbyist Andrew Wheeler acted Monday to lock in status quo industrial soot pollution limits for another five years, disregarding the emerging scientific link between air pollution and numerous health harms, including increased COVID-19 death rates.Ultrafine industrial soot, known as PM2.5, is especially harmful to human health because the particles, 1/30 the width of a human hair, can enter into the lungs and bloodstream. Public health experts and environmental justice advocates slammed the move. Industrial pollution like PM2.5 is heavily concentrated in poor communities and communities of color, and the status quo is "an artificially high standard that is supportive of industry," Bridgette Murray, who lives in Houston's Pleasantville neighborhood, near a massive shipping channel, several petrochemical plants, and heavy truck traffic, told The Washington Post.Prior to the coronavirus pandemic, EPA scientists found strengthening PM2.5 standards could save more than 10,000 American lives per year. "This flies in the face of good science and good public health. It is outrageous," Dominique Browning, co-founder and the head of Moms Clean Air Force, told the Post. "It just basically sends a message of not caring about people." The coal industry cheered the move. President-elect Biden could reassess and strengthen the standards after taking office.As reported by The Associated Press: The tougher air standards called for by many scientists in and out of the federal government "could have been a huge blow to the coal industry," Douglas Buffington, West Virginia's senior deputy attorney general, told reporters.Wheeler's decision leaves unchanged limits for what is broadly called "fine particulate matter" – the tiny bits of soot we breathe in unseen from tailpipes, wildfires, factory and power plant smokestacks, and other sources.EPA scientists have estimated exposure at current limits causes the early deaths of tens of thousands of Americans annually from heart disease and lung cancer, as well as causing other health problems."Their callous disregard for the lives of people and imperiled wildlife, just to save the nation's biggest fossil fuel polluters a few bucks, is sickening," Robert Ukeiley, a senior attorney at the Center for Biological Diversity advocacy group, said of the EPA's move.
Hundreds sickened by mystery illness in southern India -Hundreds have been hospitalized and at least one death reported as an unidentified illness has spread through Andhra Pradesh, India. According to The Associated Press, the Press Trust of India news agency reported on Sunday that a hospitalized 45-year-old man died after exhibiting symptoms similar to epilepsy and nausea. Symptoms that have been observed so far include nausea, anxiety and loss of consciousness, reports the AP. The illness was first detected on Saturday in the city of Eluru. The patients who have fallen ill with the mystery illness have tested negative for the coronavirus and other viral diseases that could explain their symptoms. Officials have yet to determine the cause of the illness. Water samples have not shown any signs of contamination and not all the patients exhibiting symptoms were linked to the municipal water supply. A team of experts was sent to the region by the federal government on Monday to investigate the illness. The Times of India reported that most of the patients were in their 20s and 30s, though there were some children under the age of 12 as well. According to the newspaper, “Organochlorine pesticides” are now believed to be the most likely cause of the sudden illness. According to the newspaper, these chemicals are mostly used in anti-mosquito fogging. When asked about the possibility of the chemical being responsible an Indian government official told the Times, “Mostly yes, but we are waiting for the laboratory report [for confirmation].” The AP notes that Andhra Pradesh is among the states in India that have also been hardest hit by the coronavirus pandemic, with more than 800,000 confirmed cases.
Glyphosate can create biomarkers predicting disease in future generations - Exposure to the widely used weed-killer glyphosate makes genetic changes to rats that can be linked to increased disease in their grandchildren and great-grandchildren, a new study has found.The study provides evidence that glyphosate-induced changes to sperm from exposed rats could be used as biomarkers for determining propensity in subsequent generations for prostate and kidney diseases as well as obesity and incurring multiple diseases at once. In fact, by the time third- and fourth-generation rats whose predecessors had been exposed to the chemical were middle-aged, 90% had one or more of these health problems, a dramatically higher rate than the control group.While limited in scope, the study, which tested generational groups of around 50 rats each, provides a proof of concept that could lead to a new medical diagnostic tool, said Michael Skinner, the corresponding author on the study published in the journal Epigenetics on Dec. 9."While we can't fix what's wrong in the individual who is exposed, we can potentially use this to diagnose if someone has a higher chance of getting kidney or prostate disease later in life, and then prescribe a therapeutic or lifestyle change to help mitigate or prevent the disease," said Skinner, a professor of biological sciences at Washington State University.This study follows a 2019 paper in Scientific Reports in which Skinner's lab demonstrated the ability of glyphosate to promote the transgenerational inheritance of disease in mice. Glyphosate is widely used in agriculture and common in the human food supply. Previous research has indicated that the chemical has limited toxicology for those that ingest it since it has a short half-life and breaks down in the body quickly. However, Skinner's research and other animal studies have provided evidence that health effects from glyphosate and other chemicals can be inherited by subsequent generations.
Honey bees fend off giant hornets with animal dung, U of G researchers discover -- U of G researchers have discovered honeybees in Vietnam collect and apply spots of animal dung around hive entrances to deter deadly nest raids by an Asian hornet (Vespa soror) whose North American cousins have been dubbed "murder hornets."This finding is also the first to document the use of tools by honeybees.An invasive species in North America that came originally from Asia, giant hornets are almost as long as a golf tee and pack about seven times as much venom in a single sting as an ordinary honeybee. Murder hornets (V. mandarinia) were discovered in 2019 in British Columbia and Washington. The arrival of the venomous insect to North America has raised concerns about human safety as well as threats to local honeybees and ecosystems. "Giant hornets are the biggest wasps that threaten honeybees. They are one of their most significant predators," The hornets raid the nests, killing the bees and carrying away larvae and pupae to feed their own developing brood.The researchers found that honeybees have developed a pre-emptive defence by collecting animal dung and applying it to hive entrances. She said unlike their Asian counterparts, honeybees in Canada lack similar defences. That means North American beekeepers would have to rely on destroying the hornets' nests, or hope that climate or other factors will limit the hornets' spread. The researchers gathered dung from water buffalo, chickens, pigs and cows, and placed it in mounds near an apiary. By the end of the day, some 150 bees had visited the piles, particularly collecting more odoriferous manure of pigs and chickens. The team marked individual bees to identify them at their hives. Minutes later, they recorded videos of the marked bees applying the material at nest entrances. The hornets spent less than half as much time at nest entrances with moderate to heavy dung spotting as they did at hives with few spots, and they spent only one-tenth as much time chewing at the hive entrances to get at the bees' brood. They were also less likely to launch mass attacks on the more heavily spotted hives. The researchers are unsure just what deters the hornets, although they suspect the insects are repelled by the smell of the dung. Dung may also mask odours emitted by the bees.
143 Million Mammals Lost in Australia Wildfires, New Report Finds - (videos) A new report about Australia's wildlife loss following the 2019-2020 wildfires reveals a staggering number. The sobering findings, calculated by the World Wildlife Fund (WWF)-Australia, determined that 143 million native mammals were likely killed, including more than 61,000 koalas.Ten scientists and researchers worked on the labor-intensive report, factoring in limitations for concluding total numbers. However, an estimated three billion animals were affected by the fires, including 2.46 billion reptiles.In the report's forward, WWF-Australia Chief Executive Dermot O'Gorman declared that the fires were "one of the worst wildlife disasters in modern history."Of the 143 million mammals, it's estimated that the wildfires killed about one million wombats, five million kangaroos and wallabies, five million bats, 39 million possums and gliders and 50 million native mice and rats,The Guardian reported.The loss of Australia's endemic mammals is particularly stark since the country is the only place where they're naturally found.Also lost were about five-and-a-half million lesser-known but equally important Australian mammals such as bettongs (or rat kangaroos), bandicoots, quokkas and potoroos.The koala toll has been especially difficult. O'Gorman wrote in the report, "That is a devastating number for a species that was already sliding towards extinction in eastern Australia. We cannot afford to lose koalas on our watch."Last month Australian Environment Minister Sussan Ley decried "a serious lack of data about where [koala] populations actually are," and called for a national census of the marsupial.In New South Wales, a parliamentary inquiry found that koalas would be extinct by 2050 without intervention to save their habitat.Proposed solutions to increase koala numbers involve protecting koala corridors and banning logging in old-growth forests, but the severity of recent fires and the threat of future disasters due to climate change impede saving the species. However, a countrywide koala census is scheduled for next year.
Tiny Pygmy Possum Found After Fears Bushfires Wiped Out Species -Last year, hundreds of millions of animals were killed in the massive bushfires that spread across Australia and nearby islands. Now, for the first time since the fires, researchers have found a little pygmy possum on Kangaroo Island.The little animal was feared to be wiped out after the devastating fires last year. Little pygmy possums live in Tasmania and small patches of SA and Victoria, which were ravaged by fires that destroyed the local habitat. Fauna ecologist Pat Hodgens said the discovery was made on the west of the South Australian island. “There’s only really been 113 formal records of the species [ever on Kangaroo Island]. So certainly not very common and, obviously, the summer bushfires burnt through much of that habitat that species had, but we were certainly hopeful that we would find them,” he said. Hodgens said the little pygmy possum was a difficult species to find and study because they are so small. The one that was found recently on the island weighs just 7 grams. In fact, this species is known as the world’s smallest possum. Hodgens said his team is working hard to survey the area for surviving animals, “to try to do everything we can to protect them to ensure that they hang around during this pretty critical time”. The team has had other successes in their studies as well. In addition to the pygmy possum, they have also found 20 other wild species still living on the island including a bibrons toadlet, a southern brown bandicoot, and a tammar wallaby.However, researchers are still very worried about the animals that they haven’t been able to find.“We don’t know a lot about that species because it is pretty rare around the island and also fairly susceptible to the wildfire events. Even with all fauna survey efforts and camera trapping that we’re doing, we’re still yet to locate an individual swamp rat,” he said.Sadly, researchers estimate that over a billion animals perished in the wildfires, with many others facing grave circumstances after their habitat was destroyed.The damage caused by these fires is actually many times greater than the highly publicized fires in the Amazon late in the summer of 2019. In fact, the Amazon is just one of many regions all over the earth that have been burning over the past year.
House Passes Big Cat Public Safety Act to Prevent the Next ‘Tiger King’ -The U.S. House of Representatives voted Thursday to ban the keeping of big cats as pets, after the Netflix documentary series Tiger King drew renewed attention to the issue this spring.H.R. 1380, or the Big Cat Public Safety Act, passed the House 272 to 114, CBS News reported. Specifically, it limits who is permitted to breed, sell, buy, transport or own large felines like lions, tigers and leopards. "Animals like tigers, lions, leopards, and pumas should not be exposed to miserable conditions so many of them in our country currently face," Democratic Illinois Rep. Mike Quigley, who introduced the bill, said in astatement. "By passing the Big Cat Public Safety Act we are one step closer to ensuring these animals are treated humanely and to keeping the public safe from dangerous big cats. It is my hope that the Senate will quickly bring this bill to the floor so we can get it signed into law before the year ends."
Severe Wildfires Are Devastating the California Condor -In 1967, the California condor was placed on the federal endangered species list. But over the past five decades, with the help of captive breeding and rehabilitation organizations, the population has grown from 20 to almost 500 birds. Today, only 340 of those are free-flying across the west; the rest are in captivity. Condor rehabilitations programs typically help release young captive birds into the wild in September, provide a clean and untainted food source for the flock, collect their blood samples, and track the birds across California, Oregon, Northern Arizona, and Southern Utah during the summers. But this year, these states all had particularly devastating wildfires seasons. Some 3.2 million acres burned just in California; both the LNU Lightning Complex and the CZU Lightning Complex fires cracked the top 10 most destructive fires in the state’s history. Arizona also hadthree of its biggest wildfires in 2020. Nationwide, there were over 3,500 more wildfires compared to 2019. After an unprecedented fire season, condor experts are evaluating how increasingly aggressive fires could jeopardize their rehabilitation efforts.The Dolan Fire ended up consuming 124,924 acres of Los Padres National Forest and killed 11 condors, 10 percent of the Big Sur flock. (Ultimately, the Ventana team released 17 condors this year in California.) Ventana biologists later found birds with hot gas burns on their feet, like the skin had melted away as the fire passed underneath their bellies. The fire also destroyed Ventana’s condor research facility and release site infrastructure. The pens where the birds are sometimes kept became mangled ruins of chain link fences. The lab facility for the wildlife biologists was flattened. Livestreaming cameras melted, and burned trees fell, blocking the only road to the facility. And it’s not only happening in California. Earlier in the summer, 700 miles away from Big Sur, near the Grand Canyon, the condor program manager at the Peregrine Fund, Tim Hauck, also set off to check on a chick who had been caught in the Pine Hollow Fire. The fire had passed over the cave where the chick had been residing. Hauck hiked for hours, off-trail through a rough, scorched desert in 106-degree heat, before he caught a glimpse of the three-month-old, alive and being fed by its parents. “The chick likely retreated to the back of the cave where it would be the safest.” Hauck said. “And while it probably got very hot as the fire passed over, the chick was able to survive and the parents came back.”
Black Vultures Menace Pennsylvania Town - A town in southeastern Pennsylvania is facing an unusual infestation. Black vultures are settling on roofs and trees, defecating profusely and causing thousands of dollars in property damage. The vultures have been seen in Marietta, Pennsylvania before, but this year the problem has become more extreme, local resident John Enterline told the LNP Dec. 3. "This is the worst year," Enterline told the paper. "There are many more of them."The vultures are a problem for residents for two reasons. First, they poop everywhere, turning the trees they roost on white. Second, they like to tear at roof shingles and rubber roofing. Enterline said he had paid several thousand dollars to repair his roof after the vultures settled there."They have a fetish with rubber," Bob Schutsky of the Lancaster County Bird Club told LNP, "but it's not well understood." Yet while black vultures are a menace to Marietta homeowners, they are also a conservation success story. A federal law passed in 1918 protected them from being shot for feathers, and the banning of DDT and other pesticides protected them from the ill-effects of these chemicals. Between 1966 and 2014, their population increased, according to The Cornell Lab of Ornithology. Their range has also expanded, most likely because of an increase in roadkill and temperature changes caused by the climate crisis.They also were not always perceived negatively. In the 1800s, they were seen as helpful scavengers and allowed to feast on the outskirts of meat markets in the southeastern U.S. Now, black vultures retain their protection, which means they can only be killed with a federal permit, the New York Daily News explained. Marietta has not sought a lethal solution yet. Instead, residents try to harass thebirds by banging pots and pans or lighting fireworks. Homeowners can also apply for permission to display a taxidermied black vulture, which tends to scare away live birds, but they can cost hundreds of dollars. The vultures tend to prefer warmer roosting sites in winter that keep them safe from predators and close to food, which is likely why they settle on Marietta's roofs."They are attracted to these roofs, especially during this time of year ... attracted to the warmth of artificial structures, especially black covered roofs,"
Scientists solve mystery of mass coho salmon deaths. The killer? A chemical from car tires --When officials in Seattle spent millions of dollars restoring the creeks along Puget Sound — tending to the vegetation, making the stream beds less muddy, building better homes for fish — they were thrilled to see coho salmon reappear. But when it rained, more than half, sometimes all, of the coho in a creek would suffer a sudden death. These mysterious die-offs — an alarming phenomenon that has been reported from Northern California to British Columbia — have stumped biologists and toxicologists for decades. Numerous tests ruled out pesticides, disease and other possible causes, such as hot temperatures and low dissolved oxygen. Now, after 20 years of investigation, researchers in Washington state, San Francisco and Los Angeles say they have found the culprit: a very poisonous yet little-known chemical related to a preservative used in car tires. The chemical is just one of a vast number of contaminants that washes off roads whenever it rains. This giant soup of pollutants, which includes trillions of microplastics, rushes down drains and into creeks and ultimately into the sea. “We pretty much figured out that anywhere there’s a road and people are driving their car, little bits of tire end up coming off your tire and end up in the stormwater that flows off that road,” said Ed Kolodziej, an environmental engineer and chemist at the University of Washington (Tacoma/Seattle), whose lab led a study that was published Thursday in the journal Science. “We were able to get all the way down to this one highly toxic chemical — something that kills large fish quickly and we think is probably found on every single busy road in the world.” Peter Moyle, a longtime salmon expert and emeritus professor at UC Davis, recalled the four small streams in San Francisco Bay that once had coho. He has been following the Puget Sound research, which he is also not affiliated with, and now wonders whether all the roads and major freeways that crossed these creeks contributed to their disappearance decades ago, despite all the restoration efforts.
The Great Barrier Reef Is Now Officially in ‘Critical’ Condition - The Great Barrier Reef’s condition was given the worst possible rating this week, as a UNESCO advisory body named climate change as its single greatest threat. The International Union for Conservation of Nature’s (IUCN) 2020 Conservation Outlook report, which assesses the condition of World Heritage-listed natural sites, found that "a number of values" that had placed the Great Barrier Reef on the World Heritage list had deteriorated—prompting them to change its rating from "significant concern" to "critical".Much of the damage reportedly occurred in the past four years, as the result of a number of mass bleaching events as well as the direct impacts of human behaviour and infrastructure projects. "There has been a further dramatic decline as a result of the 2016, 2017 and 2020 coral bleaching events," the report said. "Some of the activities causing a threat to the values of the site can be influenced by the management authorities, such as fishing and coastal development. The report further noted that "other pressures cannot be addressed at the site level, such as climate change, which is recognised as the greatest threat." Four other Australian world heritage sites, including the Blue Mountains, the Gondwana rainforests and the Ningaloo Coast, were also found to have deteriorated. Climate change was found to be a threat to 69 percent of the country’s world heritage sites—more than double the global trend of 33 percent. In the case of the Blue Mountains and the Gondwana rainforests, Australia’s 2019/20 “Black Summer” bushfire season was found to be the main contributing factor. Those blazes affected more than 80 percent of the Blue Mountains world heritage area and more than 50 percent of the Gondwana rainforests. But it’s the findings in relation to the Great Barrier Reef in particular that have scientists feeling “surprised and shocked”—even though the existential threat facing the natural wonder is well-documented.
Coral Reefs Are Still Growing Atolls Despite Sea Level Rise - Sea level rise caused by the climate crisis is considered a major threat to low-lying Pacific atolls. Despite this, however, some of these islands are actually growing. Now, a recent study published in Geophysical Research Letters Nov. 20 has figured out why. The coral reefsthat give these islands their structure are continuing to produce sediment. "The big picture with this is the modern day coral reef can build an island even though the sea level is rising," study coauthor and University of Auckland senior lecturer Dr. Murray Ford told Stuff. Atolls are islands situated on top of rings of coral, with a lagoon in the center. Past studies have indicated that several of these islands have actually been growing, despite the threat of rising sea levels. A 2018 analysis of 30 Pacific and Indian Ocean atolls including 709 islands found that none of the atolls had lost land area in the preceding decades and that 88.6 percent of the islands had either increased their size or stayed the same. To understand what was going on, Ford and his team focused on Jeh Island in the Marshall Islands, where sea levels have risen by 0.3 inches a year since 1993. They used aerial photographs to confirm that the island had increased in size by 13 percent between 1943 and 2015. In fact, sediment had actually caused two separate islands to merge and a spit at the island's western end to grow longer, Stuff explaine The researchers also used radiocarbon dating to confirm that much of the new sediment was deposited after 1950. This is an important finding, because scientists had previously been unsure if the islands were increasing in size because of new material or recycled reef pieces. "This is the first time we can see the islands form, and we can say the stuff making that island is modern ... so it must be coming from the reef around the island," Ford told CNN. "It's entirely the skeletons of the reef and the organisms that live on it."
550 Groups Ask Biden to Solve Plastic Pollution Crisis With Eight Executive Actions - Center for Biological Diversity - — A coalition of more than 550 community and conservation organizations today released its Presidential Plastics Action Plan, urging President-elect Joe Biden to take eight key executive actions to solve the plastic pollution crisis.These include a moratorium on new plastic production facilities, using federal purchasing power to curb single-use plastics, tightening up regulation of the petrochemical industry, ending fossil fuel subsidies and protecting environmental justice communities from pollution.The plan responds to the plastic industry’s aggressive expansion of facilities using the country’s oversupply of fracked gas to make throwaway plastic that fills our oceans, landfills and landscapes. Petrochemical-plastic projects harm frontline communities with toxic air and water pollution and worsen the climate crisis.“President-elect Biden can begin solving the plastic pollution crisis in his first days in office without any help from Congress,” said Julie Teel Simmonds, a senior attorney at the Center for Biological Diversity. “Implementing this historic plan would protect vulnerable frontline communities and marine life while addressing a key driver of climate change. It’s time to rein in the fossil fuel industry’s insidious plans to keep fracking for plastic and polluting poor communities here and around the world.”The Presidential Plastics Action Plan includes detailed steps Biden can take as part of eight priority actions:
- Use the purchasing power of the federal government to eliminate single-use plastic items and replace them with reusable products;
- Suspend and deny permits for new or expanded plastic production facilities, associated infrastructure projects, and exports;
- Make corporate polluters pay and reject false solutions;
- Advance environmental justice in petrochemical corridors;
- Update existing federal regulations using the best available science and technology to curtail pollution from plastic facilities;
- Stop subsidizing plastic producers;
- Join international efforts to address the global plastic pollution crisis through new and strengthened multilateral agreements;
- Reduce and mitigate the impacts of abandoned, discarded and lost fishing gear.
“There is nothing common-sense about increasing cancer rates, sterility, or developmental issues in poor communities of color just for plastic. I support the Presidential Plastics Action Plan because plastic is not worth the sacrifice,” said Yvette Arellano with Fenceline Watch. “My state of Texas leads the country in rates of uninsured people yet is home to the largest petrochemical complex; more plastic will only benefit one of those. Instead let’s reinvest in healthcare, healthy jobs, education, and ending a global pandemic.”
More than 200 000 lightning strikes cause damage and outages across Mackay region, Australia -More than 200 000 lightning strikes were recorded across Queensland's Mackay region from Tuesday afternoon, December 8, 2020, to December 9, according to Ergon Energy, resulting in power outages and equipment damage.Ergon Energy spokeswoman Emma Oliveri said that Mackay and nearby areas in a 100 km (62 miles) radius recorded more than 76 400 lightning strikes. Moranbah had 35 000 bolts, while Airlie Beach clocked up 30 000. Talkback caller John Emms, from Schumanns Road in Eungella, told ABC, "That's the best storm I've ever seen, continuous lightning and thunder." He added, "Better than a night artillery barrage, and I've been in one of those before today." ", "I don't scare too easily but it gave us a bit of a shock." In Glenden, more than 65 000 strikes were recorded in the town's Central Highlands, where the storms caused damage to substation equipment and succeeding power outages.
Powerful Nor'easter knocks out power to more than 250 000 in New England, U.S. (video) More than 250 000 customers were left without power in New England as the season's first Nor'easter rolled through the northeast U.S. over the weekend, December 5 and 6. Strong winds and heavy snow hit several areas, with inland Maine, Massachusetts, and New Hampshire receiving more than 0.3 m (1 foot) of snow.Maine felt the brunt of the storm as more than 230 000 customers were affected at some point this weekend, the Central Maine Power reported. Workers reported damage from fallen trees and limbs, hampering repairs, the company added.According to poweroutage.us, as of Monday morning, December 7, more than 83 000 people are still affected by outages in Maine.The highest snowfall total recorded was 0.5 m (1.5 feet) in Carrabassett Valley, Maine- a town of fewer than 1 000 residents. In Cape Cod, peak wind gusts reached more than 117 km/h (73 mph). On Saturday, the National Weather Service (NWS) warned that the combination of strong winds and heavy snowfall from the powerful storm would result in dangerous travel conditions and whiteout visibilities."A lot of the storms' precipitation initially fell as heavy rain but it quickly changed to snow once the cold air ushered in behind it. Strong winds accompanied the heavy, wet snow that fell,"said meteorologist Derek Van Dam."Not an ideal situation considering the treacherous conditions that have been left in the storms' wake." He continued, "This nor'easter was a significant snow, wind, and rain event but could have been debilitating if temperatures were just a few degrees cooler at the start of the storm."
Extremely rare tornado hits Trieste as historic supercell barells through the North Adriatic Sea - An intense supercell storm barrelled through the North Adriatic Sea on Monday, December 7, 2020, generating a rare tornado that hit the city of Trieste in Italy, and damaging hail across the Slovenian coast.A historic supercell storm produced a rare tornado that struck the Italian city of Trieste on Monday, December 7."Call it rare, historic, or whatever possible, [but] the event is extremely rare," SWE wrote."Let us repeat, it is December 7th, a winter month, and the Adriatic Sea and the city of Trieste are located in central Europe. And the area experienced an intense supercell and a tornado." "This was a very rare and probably a historic event for the region. To receive a supercell storm during the winter month of December is very uncommon for this part of Europe. And to top this, the storm also developed a tornado that rolled into the city of Trieste."
Unusually large tornado hits Sakaka, Saudi Arabia - one of the largest ever documented in the country (video) A massive tornado formed on the outskirts of Sakaka in Al Jawf, Saudi Arabia, on Saturday, December 5, 2020. Meteorologists said it was unusually big for the region and one of the largest tornadoes ever documented in the country. The incredible tornado occurred in the middle of the desert and reached an uninhabited area, according to Metsul Meteorologia. "Weather radars captured the storm supercell responsible for the tornado in Al-Jawf Province in northern Saudi Arabia," it stated. The storm system also brought heavy rain and hail. The meteorological authority added that among the affected regions wereTabuk, Hail, Al-Qassim, and parts of Madinah, Riyadh. Wind speeds were between 16 and 40 km/h (10 and 25 mph), while waves on the Red Sea reached up to 2 m (6.5 feet). The tornado was unusually large for the region, according to local reports. It covered a small territory and moved very slowly. No injuries were reported, but authorities advised residents to stay indoors as the region is experiencing unpredictable weather conditions. Abdullah Al-Misnad, professor of Climate Change and Department of Geography at the University of Casim, noted that it was one of the biggest tornadoes ever recorded in the region. "The tornado, which formed southeast of Al-Jawf is one of the largest hurricanes that has been documented with pictures in Saudi Arabia," Al-Misnad stated.
Ship Returning To Japan After Losing Record Number Of Containers While Crossing The Pacific -- The owners and managers of the containership that lost a record number of containers overboard as it sailed across the Pacific Ocean towards Long Beach have provided an update on the status of the vessel as it now heads for Japan. The update revised down the number of containers either lost or damaged from the original estimate of 1,900, to now 1,816 units, of which now 64 are believed to be Dangerous Goods containers. The vessel continues to proceed to the Port of Kobe, Japan with an estimated arrival of December 7 or 8. The ONE Apus suffered the incident after encountering severe weather on Monday, November 30, during its voyage from Yantian, China to Long Beach, California. The vessel was approximately 1,600 nautical miles northwest of Hawaii at the time. The ONE Apus is a 14,000 TEU containership built in 2019 measuring 364-meters in length and sailing under the Japanese flag. The vessel is operated by Japan’s Ocean Network Express on the Far East Pacific 2 (FP2) Service. “The priority remains on getting the vessel and crew safely to port. Once berthed, it’s expected to take some time to offload the dislodged containers that remain on board. Then, a thorough assessment will be made on the exact number and type of containers that have been lost or damaged,” the update said. Today’s update from Chidori Ship Holding LLC and NYK Shipmanagement Pte Ltd, the owner and manager, respectively, provides some additional details about the incident and what will happen moving forward. The update said weather at the time was reported as wind force 4 on the Beaufort Wind Scale, corresponding to 13-18 mph winds, with north-westerly seas of 5 to 6 meters and a “long high swell”. Weather maps around the time of the incident, however, show significant wave heights of up to 16 meters associated with the low pressure system. “A notification was sent to the JRCC in Honolulu and Guam with maritime navigational warnings subsequently broadcast. We are continuing to liaise with the JRCC in Honolulu, who have advised that there have not been sightings of any containers as yet,” the update said. It’s becoming more and more clear that this is likely the worst weather-related container loss in history.
Death toll climbs to 24, over 555 000 homes affected in southern Thailand's worst floods in 50 years -The death toll from southern Thailand's worst flood in 50 years has risen to 24 as of Sunday, December 6, 2020. About 180 000 houses have been flooded, with Nakhon Si Thammarat the worst-hit province.The region has been lashed by heavy rains brought by the southern monsoon over the Gulf of Thailand since November 25.According to the Disaster Prevention and Mitigation Department, flooding has claimed more lives, including a woman who drowned in Phrasaeng District of Surat Thani, and two women who also suffered the same fate in Sathing Phra District of Songkhla.More than 555 000 houses have been flooded, with Nakhon Si Thammarat the hardest-hit province, where 19 fatalities and 180 000 flooded homes were reported. Many farmlands and residential areas in Trang province remain underwater as of Monday, a consequence of a heavy flood spilling downriver from Nakhon Si Thammarat. #Thailand #KE #น้ําท่วมpic.twitter.com/KiRMmcTq5fThe disaster department added that while the situation eased, more floods were reported in Surat Thani, Trang, and Songkhla, despite water levels slowly receding in other provinces.Weather forecasts showed that there would be less rain along the Gulf coast on Monday, December 7, but up to 60 percent more rains are expected for the rest of the week.
Venice Floods After New Barrier Fails to Activate - Flood waters swamped Venice's iconic Saint Mark's Square on Tuesday, despite the implementation of a barrier system that was supposed to protect the city from the flooding events that are getting more frequent because of the climate crisis.The water level rose to a high of 4.5 feet above sea level in the afternoon, AFP reported. This swamped St. Mark's Square, the lowest point in the city at only about three feet above sea level, as well as its historic basilica."The situation is terrible, we're under water in a dramatic way," the church's head procurator Carlo Alberto Tesserin told Italian media, as The Guardian reported.The flooding came despite the fact that the city had finally installed a system of retractable flood barriers called MOSE. However, the system failed to activate because of a mistaken weather forecast.MOSE is designed to close its barriers before high tides of 1.3 meters (approximately 4.3 feet). However, Tuesday's tide was only predicted to rise to 1.2 meters (approximately 3.9 feet), instead of the 4.5 feet it eventually reached."The situation is really bad as we weren't expecting it," Matteo Secchi, head of the activist group Venessia.com, told The Guardian. "It's frustrating as we thought that with Mose this kind of thing wouldn't happen any more, but instead we're back to square one. It's the same old problem."The higher than expected tide was also driven inward by stronger winds than predicted, according to The Associated Press. "Unfortunately, the weather is freer than us. It does what it wants,"
Two months' worth of rain in few hours floods Iran, killing 7 people - Heavy rains from December 5 to 7, 2020, have triggered more flooding in Iran, further worsening the situation in eight provinces already affected by inundations in late November. Up to 160 mm (6 inches) of rain fell in just a few hours-- equivalent to two months' worth of rain-- killing at least seven people. In Dashestan in Bushehr Province, severe flooding occurred after 160 mm (6 inches) of rain fell in a few hours. The amount of rain is equivalent to twice the average for the month of December. Other counties also badly affected were Deylam and Genaveh. Over the past few days, at least seven people lost their lives in rain-related incidents. In Bushehr, one person was swept away by flash floods, while another person was killed by a collapsed building. Five people lost their lives in a landslide that buried several vehicles in Hormozgan Province. This was the second bout of flooding in Iran in just two weeks. In late November, heavy downpours flooded the provinces of Ilam, Bushehr, Khuzestan, Fars, Boyer-Ahmad, Golestan, Qazvin, Kohgiluyeh, and Lorestan. The Iranian Red Crescent Society has deployed 125 relief teams to vulnerable sites, warning that more heavy rains are expected for the country.
At least 18 dead after heavy rains cause severe flooding in DRC - Heavy rainfall in the Democratic Republic of Congo during early December has caused deadly flooding in Mbanza-Ngungu, leaving at least 18 fatalities.On December 1, at least 13 deaths were reported after overnight heavy rains triggered floods. A day after, December 2, five more fatalities were confirmed, bringing the death toll to 18. The casualties were mostly children.Among the areas affected were Zanga and Nsona Nkulu in the Noki and Disengomoka Districts. Several houses were also damaged, including three houses that completely collapsed.According to local reports, provincial minster of interior Nestor Mandiangu visited the affected site to assist the victims' families and help with the burial.Heavy rains have been battering the country for days, with up to 69 mm (3 inches) of rain recorded in a three-hour period to December 7 in the capital Kinshasa.
Major winter storm buries parts of Alps under more than 3 m (10 feet) of snow, Europe - (videos)A major winter storm that started affecting parts of Europe on Friday, December 4, 2020, has dumped more than 3 m (9.8 feet) of snow in parts of Italy and Austria by the end of December 6 and more than 770 mm (30 inches) of rain in the town of Barcis in northern Italy. The snow is still falling, with up to 80 cm (2.6 feet) more expected in the Dolomites, Italy, and Carinthia and Osttirol, Austria on Tuesday, December 8. Before the event is over, some parts of the Alps might end up under more than 5 m (16.4 feet) of snow.The general pattern over the North Atlantic and Europe has changed as we entered the much more dynamic weather lately, Marko Korosec of the Severe Weather Europe said. "A very deep upper trough/low has emerged into southwestern Europe while a persistent upper-level ridge is placed across western Russia and eastern Europe," Korosec explained."In between, a powerful southerly jet stream is advecting high moisture towards the north. A significantly warmer air mass is being pumped from the Mediterranean into Central Europe and the Alps. While at the surface, a deep secondary low is emerging over Italy.""This has introduced a textbook scenario for extreme rainfall and snowfall for the Alpine region, precisely across northeast Italy, south Austria and northwest Slovenia."A combination of excessive rainfall, snow melting, and snowfall at higher altitudes could lead to damaging flooding and avalanches in the region, Korosec said Friday, December 6. Sadly for the region, Korosec was spot on.Most of the snow fell on Sunday, December 6, bringing widespread disruption and travel chaos, with flooding at lower levels and power lines down in places.Italy's Ministry of the Interior reported on December 6 that the regions of Veneto, Friuli Venezia Giulia, Emilia-Romagna, Piemonte, Lombardy, and Tuscany were all severely affected, with 2 fatalities already reported in Lombardy and Basilicata.Fire service reported 2 500 interventions from December 5 to 7, with most of them in Veneto (1 000), followed by 300 in Emilia-Romagna. The worst of the flooding took place along the Panaro river in Modena Province of Emilia-Romagna region. Residents of Nonantola were reportedly affected particularly bad -- with 175 people rescued from the flooding. In total, 364 people in the region were evacuated.
Cold snap brings unseasonal snow to parts of southeast Australia - Unseasonal snow has fallen in Victoria, New South Wales, and Tasmania on December 7, 2020, as the Australian states are gripped by a cold snap after half of the continent sweltered through arecord heatwave. According to the Bureau of Meteorology, (BOM), the snow was caused by a cold air mass moving across the country's southeast.In Victoria, ski resort Mt. Buller was engulfed by snow as flurries descended on slopes. The resort's marketing manager, David Clark, described the scenery as "magical.""Snow at this time of year is not unheard of," he told NCA NewsWire. "It probably snows a couple of times throughout summer each year. But to have it in December, so close to Christmas, was really nice."According to the BOM, the cold front reinforced wintry conditions across the state, forecasting showers, small hail, and snow across the ranges until Tuesday, December 8. BOM meteorologist Matthew Thomas a cold air mass moving across southeast Australia is to blame for the unusually wintry weather.Although in the middle of summer, temperatures are expected to drop between 5 and 8 °C (41 and 46.4 °F) inland and up to 10 °C (50 °F) about the coast.In New South Wales, snow is also forecast for the alpine region, along with some thunderstorms in the northeast and southeast of the state."Yes, it is summer, but there is snow on the forecast for the alpine region," stated BOM NSW.
November 2020 was warmest recorded, EU program says - The world just recorded the warmest November on record, according to a European Union climate organization. Data analyzed by the Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S) shows that November was more than 0.1 degree celsius hotter than Novembers in 2016 and 2019, which were previously considered the warmest. In a statement, the service described this as a “clear margin.”The data also showed this past November was about 0.8 degrees celsius warmer than the average temperature of Novembers 1981 through 2010.In November 2020, places with “substantially higher than average temperatures” included parts of the U.S., South America, southern Africa, eastern Antarctica and most of Australia."These records are consistent with the long-term warming trend of the global climate,” said C3S director Carlo Buontempo in a statement. “All policy-makers who prioritise mitigating climate risks should see these records as alarm bells and consider more seriously than ever how to best comply with the international commitments set out in the 2015 Paris Agreement”, he added. The finding follows a preliminary projection from the United Nations’ World Meteorological Organization which said that 2020 was slated to be the second-warmest year on record based on data from January to October. mThe UN group found that during that period, the average global temperature for 2020 was about 1.2 degrees Celsius higher than the baseline temperature for the years 1850 through 1900.
Climate Crisis: World Experiences Hottest November on Record in 2020 --The world experienced the hottest November on record in 2020, while Europe has had its warmest fall weather in history, the Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S) said in a monthly report on Monday.C3S' analysis of surface and air temperatures found that the month was 0.8 degrees Celsius (1.44 degrees Fahrenheit) warmer than the 30-year average of 1981-2010. This November also broke the previous record by more than 0.1 C, set in 2016.The data showed temperatures in the boreal fall (September-November) in Europe were 1.9 C above the 1981-2010 norm, and 0.4 C higher than the average temperature for 2006, the previous warmest fall.The average temperature in November in Europe was 2.2 C above that in Novembers of the 1981-2010 reference period and the joint second-highest on record. The highest was in November 2015, at 2.4 C. "These records are consistent with the long-term warming trend of the global climate," said C3S director Carlo Buontempo."All policymakers who prioritize mitigating climate risks should see these records as alarm bells," he added. Earth is seeing an increase in the frequency and strength of extreme weather events as human activities such as the burning of fossil fuels contribute to a rise in average global temperatures. The changing climate has resulted in devastating wildfires and led to ever more violent tropical storms in many regions of the world. The five hottest years in history have all come since 2015. A landmark deal struck in that year, the Paris Agreement, aims to limit temperature rises to "well below" 2 C (3.6 F) above pre-industrial levels. Currently, the Earth is seeing just over 1 C of warming.
2020 L.A. air quality: Southern California pollution analysis - Los Angeles Times -The year began with Los Angeles enjoying a 21-day stretch of smog-free days that overlapped with the start of coronavirus stay-at-home orders, fueling hopes that dramatic cuts in driving would at least clean the air. That turned out to be wishful thinking. The year 2020 will instead go down as one of Southern California’s smoggiest in decades. Once the air-cleansing March weather went away, the region plunged into a late spring and summer with intense heat waves that contributed to the worst ozone pollution readings and highest number of bad air days since the mid-1990s. Smog hit abnormally high levels throughout the region, from inland areas to the coast. By fall, the state had experienced the worst and most widespread bout of health-damaging wildfire smoke on record. In all, this year there were 157 bad air days for ozone pollution — the invisible, lung-searing gas in smog — across the vast, coast-to-mountains basin spanning Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside and San Bernardino counties. That’s the most days above the federal health standard since 1997. “There’s no sugarcoating it, this was a really, really bad ozone year,” said Philip Fine, a deputy executive officer for the South Coast Air Quality Management District. The region has also had more than 30 bad air days for fine-particle pollution, or soot. Those numbers were boosted by a pall of smoke from local wildfires and blowing in from conflagrations up and down the West Coast. More bad air days are likely before the year’s end due to cool, pollution-trapping weather that concentrates soot near the ground. The exceptionally poor air quality adds to a years-long trend of faltering progress reducing ozone, which triggers asthma attacks and other health problems. At the same time it has increased pressure on regulators to rein in ports, oil refineries and other big polluters and put the nation’s smoggiest region on a path to clean its air to federal health standards. Scientists are working to understand the influence of climate change, wildfires, vehicle emissions and lesser-known pollution sources such as the fumes released by disinfectants and other consumer products. They said the pandemic gave them an unparalleled natural experiment, showing what happens when you drastically curtail one source of pollution. What became evident is that decades of regulations have cut passenger vehicle emissions so dramatically that they are no longer California’s dominant source of smog-forming pollution. “We learned unambiguously that if you just take half the cars off the road, that cleans up the CO2 quite a lot, but CO2 doesn’t contribute to smog,”
Bond Fire in California burned more than 7,000 acres and more fire warnings are ahead - A fast-moving wildfire that began late Wednesday in Southern California is 50% contained as of Sunday morning, a slight increase from the day earlier, according to the Orange County Fire Authority.The Bond Fire has burned 7,375 acres, destroyed 28 structures, damaged 19 others and caused thousands to evacuate since it began in Orange County's Silverado Canyon, according to CalFire.Mandatory evacuations are still in place in Silverado Canyon, Black Star and the adjacent Baker Canyon, Williams Canyon and Modjeska Canyon, according to the Orange County Sheriff's Department. At least 25,000 residents were initially evacuated due to the fire and two firefighters have been injured battling the blaze.The fire rapidly spread early Thursday with much of California under extreme fire warnings, as hurricane-force winds, a dry landscape and scorching temperatures set the stage for blazes.Milder wind conditions overnight allowed firefighters to construct and reinforce fire lines to increase the containment of the fire by 10% from Saturday, according to CalFire. But the fire's threat is not over. The coming days are expected to be dry, with low humidity and the potential for gusty winds, CalFire said. Moderate Santa Ana winds -- the name for the area's strong, hot winds that can dry vegetation and further spread wildfires -- are expected to return Monday and Tuesday, bringing a red flag warning that goes into effect Monday morning, CalFire said. This year's extreme conditions have tested the limits of fire authorities, who have now battled five of the six largest wildfires in California state history, and for the millions of residents who have endured them. California's wildfire season typically runs from July through November. But officials warn that thecurrent weather pattern is the spitting image of the weather that helped fuel the wildfires that scorched millions of acres this summer and are urging residents to stay vigilant over the coming days.
Arctic wildfires linked to warming temperatures: NOAA -- Wildfires in the arctic are linked to warming temperatures there, according to a new report from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). NOAA’s new 2020 update to its Arctic Report Card said the “extreme” fires in Russia’s Sakha Republic “coincided with unparalleled warm air temperatures and record snow loss.”Increasing air temperature over the past 41 years is a factor contributing to “more favorable” conditions for fires, the report said. Scientists have repeatedly linked climate change to extreme weather events. The new report noted that this year’s annual land surface air temperature in the region was the second highest recorded since at least 1900. The new NOAA report also said sea ice loss this year was particularly high, with the end of summer sea ice extent reaching the second-lowest level recorded during the past 42 years. It said that changes due to sea ice loss are “challenging” traditional ways of life for coastal indigenous communities and the loss of sea ice cover may be linked to weather shifts.The report follows recent news showing that the planet in general is reaching warmer temperatures.The United Nations’s World Meteorological Organization recently projected that 2020 will be among the three hottest years recorded globally. It also said the years 2015 through 2020 are expected to be the six warmest on record.
Ships make record number of sailings through Arctic in 2020 (Reuters) - Ships sailing through the Arctic region’s busiest lane along the Siberian coast made the highest number of trips on record this year as a quicker-than-expected melting of ice enabled more traffic, data showed. The Arctic has warmed at least twice as quickly as the rest of the world over the last three decades and shipping activity has picked up. Analysis by the Centre for High North Logistics (CHNL) at Norway’s Nord University Business School showed there were 62 transits through the Northern Sea Route in the period to Dec. 9, versus 37 for the whole of 2019. “This year is considered to be the highest number of the full transit voyages,” Sergey Balmasov with CHNL told Reuters. “We see favorable ice conditions in this navigation season as one of the reasons for the growth.” The number of ships using the route rose to 331 vessels in the year to date, versus 277 for the whole of 2019, CHNL data showed. The trade is driven by commodities producers – mainly in Russia, China and Canada – sending iron ore, oil, liquefied natural gas (LNG) and other fuels through Arctic waters. The United Nations shipping agency last month approved a ban on the use of heavy fuel oil (HFO) in the Arctic, but the move was criticised by green groups which said loopholes would allow many vessels to keep sailing without enough regulatory control over the region’s fragile ecosystem. Environmentalists say HFO produces higher emissions of harmful pollutants, including sulphur oxide, nitrogen oxides, and black carbon. “The region has seen comparatively little shipping traffic compared to other regions of the world, and the necessary environmental regulation to minimise the impact of increased shipping in the region is incomplete,” said Sian Prior, lead advisor at the Clean Arctic Alliance. “Increased shipping will increase the risk of oil spills in the Arctic, but the remoteness and lack of infrastructure will make responding to an oil spill very challenging, if possible at all.”
Long-duration C7.4 solar flare produces asymmetric full halo CME, impact expected on December 9 - A long-duration solar flare measuring C7.4 at its peak erupted from Active Region 2790 -- positioned in Earth-striking zone -- at 16:32 UTC on December 7, 2020. The event started at 15:46, peaked at 16:32, and ended at 17:33 UTC. An asymmetric full halo coronal mass ejection (CME) was produced, with a likely Earth-directed component arriving on December 9.The flare was associated with an approximately 9 degree long, N-S aligned disappearing solar filament that bisected the southern extremity of the region's magnetic neutral line.Additionally, the flare was associated with a 180 sfu Tenflare at 16:43 UTC. There was also some minor coronal dimming, post-flare coronal looping, and an EIT wave observed in GOES/SUVI 195A imagery."A consensus of model runs suggest speeds between 830 - 880 km/s, and arrival in the latter half of December 9," SWPC forecasters said at 00:30 UTC on December 8.A G1 - Minor geomagnetic storm watch is in effect for December 9, G3 - Strong for December 10, and G2 - Moderate for December 11, SWPC said at 15:06 UTC today.Potential Impacts: Area of impact primarily poleward of 50 degrees Geomagnetic Latitude.Induced Currents - Power system voltage irregularities possible, false alarms may be triggered on some protection devices.Spacecraft - Systems may experience surface charging; increased drag on low Earth-orbit satellites and orientation problems may occur.Navigation - Intermittent satellite navigation (GPS) problems, including loss-of-lock and increased range error may occur.Radio - HF (high frequency) radio may be intermittent.Aurora - Aurora may be seen as low as Pennsylvania to Iowa to Oregon.
World carbon dioxide emissions drop 7% in pandemic-hit 2020 -A locked-down pandemic-struck world cut its carbon dioxide emissions this year by 7%, the biggest drop ever, new preliminary figures show. The Global Carbon Project, an authoritative group of dozens of international scientists who track emissions, calculated that the world will have put 37 billion U.S. tons (34 billion metric tons) of carbon Scientists say this drop is chiefly because people are staying home, traveling less by car and plane, and that emissions are expected to jump back up after the pandemic ends. Ground transportation makes up about one-fifth of emissions of carbon dioxide, the chief man-made heat-trapping gas. “Of course, lockdown is absolutely not the way to tackle climate change,” said study co-author Corinne LeQuere, a climate scientist at the University of East Anglia. The same group of scientists months ago predicted emission drops of 4% to 7%, depending on the progression of COVID-19. A second coronavirus wave and continued travel reductions pushed the decrease to 7%, LeQuere said. Emissions dropped 12% in the United States and 11% in Europe, but only 1.7% in China. That’s because China had an earlier lockdown with less of a second wave. Also China’s emissions are more industrial based than other countries and its industry was less affected than transportation, LeQuere said. The calculations — based on reports detailing energy use, industrial production and daily mobility counts — were praised as accurate by outside scientists. Even with the drop in 2020, the world on average put 1,185 tons (1,075 metric tons) of carbon dioxide into the air every second. Final figures for 2019 published in the same study show that from 2018 to 2019 emissions of the main man-made heat-trapping gas increased only 0.1%, much smaller than annual jumps of around 3% a decade or two ago. Even with emissions expected to rise after the pandemic, scientists are wondering if 2019 be the peak of carbon pollution, LeQuere said. “We are certainly very close to an emissions peak, if we can keep the global community together,” said United Nations Development Director Achim Steiner.
Sixth Carbon Budget – UK Climate Change Committee - (pdf reports) The Sixth Carbon Budget report is based on an extensive programme of analysis, consultation and consideration by the Committee and its staff, building on the evidence published last year for our Net Zero advice. In support of the advice in this report, we have also produced:
- A Methodology Report, setting out the evidence and methodology behind the scenarios.
- A Policy Report, setting out the changes to policy that could drive the changes necessary particularly over the 2020s.
- All the charts and data behind the report, as well as a separate dataset for the Sixth Carbon Budget scenarios, which sets out more details and data on the pathways than can be included in this report.
- A public Call for Evidence, several new research projects, three expert advisory groups and deep dives into the roles of local authorities and businesses.
An underperforming Exxon Mobil faces a new climate threat: Activist investors - Exxon Mobil could become the most interesting target of a combined attack from activist hedge funds and long-term impact investors focused on sustainability and carbon emissions. A newly formed activist investor group, Engine No. 1, announced plans on Monday to seek four board seats at the oil and gas giant, and underlying the effort are both short-term and long-term goals to change the way Exxon approaches the energy business at a time of rapid transition forced by climate change. The activist firm — which includes founders from successful activist hedge funds including Partner Fund Management and JANA Partners — thinks the time is ripe for an overhaul of Exxon's management. The market stats cited in its letter to Exxon's board highlight a significant drop in operating performance and "dramatic" decline in Exxon's stock value in recent years as many investors have lost faith in the company. Total shareholder return, including dividends, over the last 10 years has been negative 20%, versus 277% for the S&P 500. Its total shareholder return for the prior 3-, 5- and 10-year periods trailed energy peers, as well. One sign of how much Wall Street is shying away from Exxon Mobil: a lack of analysts recommending the company. "Despite the Company's dramatic decline in value, as of last week only 14% of sell-side analysts covering the company rated it as a "buy," the letter noted. Activists see opportunity in short-term value creation for a company that has been depressed by factors including poor capital spending decisions during a cyclical downturn. Institutional investors, including pension funds, also see an opportunity to get an oil company that has ignored climate change engagement efforts to finally pay attention. And the big three index fund companies — BlackRock, Vanguard and State Street Global Advisors — represent many individual investors who are increasingly worried about what may be a threatened Exxon Mobil dividend. Engine No. 1 already received the backing of California pension giant CALSTRS, which invests on behalf of the state's teachers. CalSTRS chief investment officer Chris Ailman told CNBC on Monday that the pension fund is becoming more of an activist shareholder after previous work his pension fund has done with the Climate Action 100+ coalition to engage with Exxon has not worked. "With Exxon it has been very unsuccessful, sadly, trying to get their attention, change their behavior," Ailman said. "This company is just throwing money after projects that are not going to be successful. ... When I think about Exxon, it has been focused in on drilling every last molecule of carbon. They need to wake up and realize the future is different."
SCIENCE: Climate racism is real. Researchers found it in U.S. cities -- Thursday, December 10, 2020 -- Lower-income residents and people of color are more likely to live in the hottest neighborhoods in cities across the country, putting them at greater risk of heat-related illnesses and death. A trio of studies presented yesterday at the American Geophysical Union's annual fall meeting underscored that sobering point. "Disparities in urban heat exposure as a direct result of urban planning and design, environmental racism, and the policies such as redlining ... do in fact exist," said Angel Hsu, an environmental policy expert at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, and lead author of one of the studies. "And now we have the evidence and the quantitative data to show that these patterns are not isolated to case studies or ad hoc anecdotal evidence, but actually they're widespread, pervasive and consistent." The perils of city heat are well known. Urban centers are often significantly hotter than surrounding rural areas — by as much as several degrees in some cases. It's a phenomenon known as the "urban heat island effect." There are a variety of causes, not always the same ones from one city to the next. But it's often a combination of less vegetation and denser populations, with closely set buildings and lots of dark surfaces that help trap heat. That can mean different neighborhoods within the same city may be hotter than others. Now, research increasingly suggests that residents of the hottest neighborhoods are often predominantly lower-income people and people of color. Hsu's study looked at 175 cities across the U.S., each with a population of more than 250,000. It compared urban summer heat and demographic data in each city, including race and ethnicity, age, and income. In 97% of these cities, people of color were likely to live in hotter neighborhoods than white residents. On average, they were exposed to temperatures a full degree Celsius higher, or nearly 2 degrees Fahrenheit. In 94% of these cities, a similar trend held true for households living below the poverty line. A second study, looking at data from more than 400 counties across the U.S., came to similar conclusions. The researchers found that the lowest-income residents were exposed to significantly higher temperatures than the highest-income residents in 80% of the counties analyzed. When income was held equal, they found that people of color were still exposed to higher temperatures than white residents in more than half the counties.
U.S. green groups say honeymoon is over, turn up heat on Biden -(Reuters) -U.S. environmental groups that poured money and effort behind Democrat Joe Biden's successful run for president are shifting to a new more adversarial role now that he has been elected, launching a pressure campaign to make sure he delivers on his promises to fight climate change. The dynamic reflects a return to influence for environmental advocacy groups after four years in which they were shut out by the administration of President Donald Trump, a climate skeptic who crafted policies to maximize U.S. fossil fuel development with the help of industry. While Biden united a range of groups from youth activists to labor unions behind his presidential campaign, he has already become the target of some green groups for considering cabinet picks with ties to fossil fuels. He will be under constant pressure in office to move fast on his environmental agenda - potentially more than ex-President Barack Obama was during his tenure. "The honeymoon ended at the altar when the networks pronounced Biden president-elect," said Jamie Henn, director of environmental group 350.org's Fossil Free Media, which opposes the fossil fuel industry. "It's Biden's call if he wants that pressure with him or against him." Biden has acknowledged the role played by advocates as he prepares his administration. He said on CNN last week that advocacy groups are "pushing for more and more and more of what they want. That's their job." Nat Keohane, senior vice president for climate at the Environmental Defense Action Fund and a former special assistant to Obama, said Biden could face even more scrutiny than Obama, who was regularly criticized by green groups for not acting urgently enough on climate. The reason, he said, is that worsening climate events of recent years such as wildfires and hurricanes have spawned a new, more aware and aggressive generation of climate activists. "There wasn't the same breadth of voices in the U.S. environmental movement as there is now, and climate wasn't as high on the agenda," he said.
Climate Coalition Talking Points Prop Up Brian Deese - Last week’s announcement of Brian Deese as the next director of the National Economic Council marked one of the first major setbacks for progressives in the battle over the composition of Joe Biden’s new administration. As far back as July, progressive and environmental groups launched a concerted campaign to keep high-ranking BlackRock officials like Deese, who ran the firm’s global sustainability desk, out of the Biden administration. In recent weeks, those same groups trained their focus on Deese specifically, who was being floated as a likely pick for NEC director throughout November. Opponents staged protests and pushed to keep him out of that role, to no avail. They had good reason to oppose his appointment. During his time in the Obama administration, Deese lobbied on behalf of financial deregulation and austerian policies, for cutting social services and against raising corporate taxes. On climate, he co-signed the fracking boom that led to the massive expansion in oil and gas production under Obama, going so far as to support controversial oil drilling in Alaska and fracking on public land, something even Biden, who’s been vocal in his support of fracking, won’t touch. In his time at BlackRock, Deese oversaw what has been widely pilloried as a greenwashing campaign, running BlackRock’s environmental, social, and governance investment strategy, which puts out a lot of nice press releases about environmental commitments, but has proven to be a formidable enemy of divestment and hasn’t even offloaded all investments in coal or made commitments not to fund new fossil fuel infrastructure that have become standard for large American banks.Yet, upon Thursday’s announcement, legacy environmental organizations were circulating messaging points to member groups and allies defending Deese’s record, and whipping support for him.
TRANSITION: Needed for Biden EPA: 'Political valor,' 'smelling salts' -- Tuesday, December 8, 2020 -- Former EPA Regional Administrator Judith Enck recently spoke with her old staffers for a postelection celebration of EPA's golden anniversary. She came away with a dour forecast. "The new administrator is going to have to arrive with a 55-gallon drum of smelling salts to bring the agency back to life," said Enck, who oversaw the New York-based Region 2 during the Obama administration and is now president of Beyond Plastics. "This was a very challenging four years for environmental professionals," she said. "And a bunch left." President-elect Joe Biden has big ideas for EPA. But to execute them, his administrator will first face an unsexy, bureaucratic slog to get the agency back to full strength. Those considerations are shaping the transition team's search as well as progressives' outside pressure campaigns. Biden is expected to announce his EPA pick in the next two weeks. Rejuvenating federal morale and rebuilding scientific capacity top the agenda in every corner of the Democratic Party. The Trump administration has moved to restrict the types of research EPA can use for regulations, and an exodus of federal scientists has left hundreds of top science positions vacant. The need to reverse those trends is a point of agreement for activist and establishment Democrats trying to shape EPA's future.Also high on Democrats' agenda is environmental justice — but this issue is where the left-center consensus begins to break down. Biden has promised to prioritize communities of color and vulnerable populations. His plans call for 40% of climate funding to reach disadvantaged communities and for prioritizing environmental justice in permitting decisions. That mandate means the next EPA administrator needs firsthand experience with people who live on the fence line of polluting industrial areas, activists say. They point to California's cap-and-trade regime as an example of climate policy that keeps pollution in poor Black and Latino neighborhoods.
EPA: GOP playbook to complicate a Mary Nichols nomination -- Tuesday, December 8, 2020 -- Mary Nichols is a favorite to win the nomination to lead President-elect Joe Biden's EPA. Of the current top contenders for the post, she also could face the toughest path to Senate confirmation.While any nominee to lead EPA would be controversial among conservatives on Capitol Hill, Nichols' record of favoring an aggressive regulatory approach to curbing emissions is expected to especially rankle Senate Republicans. Further, Nichols' ties to California, which has some of the most stringent and politically polarizing environmental standards in the country, could provide a road map for Republicans to undercut her standing during the confirmation process (Climatewire, Oct. 15). "California's command and control culture is not the answer for our country," Sen. John Barrasso (R-Wyo.) — the outgoing chairman of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee that will convene confirmation hearings for Biden's EPA administrator nominee — said in a statement to E&E News."The EPA needs leaders dedicated to protecting America's air, water, and communities," Barrasso, who is expected to remain a member of the committee, continued, "not runaway regulations, mandates, and more federal dictates." As chair of the California Air Resources Board (CARB) — the state's main air pollution regulator — Nichols was directly involved in developing tougher tailpipe pollution rules for passenger cars and implementing an aggressive, first-in-the-nation policy to phase out diesel trucks by 2045.Currently, she is overseeing the early stages of drafting regulations to achieve 100% electric car sales in the state by 2035 following a directive from California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D).Nichols declined to comment for this story when reached by E&E News, but she has told theAssociated Press and The New York Times she would accept the EPA administrator job if offered by Biden.If Nichols is ultimately nominated to lead EPA, it's likely she would face scrutiny — and not only for her role in crafting a few specific environmental policies.She'd also undoubtedly be challenged on whether she believes that every other major environmental regulation in the state should be applied at the national level (Climatewire, Aug. 27).Critics point to California as an over-regulated, top-down bastion that is making it impossible for people to live and work. All the while, they say, California's Democratic-controlled government can't even manage wildfires or prevent mass rolling blackouts.
Trump EPA Issues Last-Minute Rule Making it Harder for Biden to Address Climate and Pollution - With President Donald Trump's first term soon coming to an end, the Environmental Protection Agency on Wednesday finalized a rule that critics are calling a last-minute attempt to "sabotage" future efforts by President-elect Joe Biden's incoming administration to tackle the intertwined climate and pollution crises.Capping off nearly four years of Trump and members of his administration working to roll back over 100environmental and public health protections in the service of corporate polluters, the new rule changes how the EPA calculates the costs and benefits of new policies on air pollution under the Clean Air Act.The new requirements, as the Washington Post reports, "instruct the agency to weigh all the economic costs of curbing an air pollutant but disregard many of the incidental benefits that arise, such as illnesses and deaths avoided by a potential regulation. In other words, if reducing emissions from power plants also saves tens of thousands of lives each year by cutting soot, those 'co-benefits' should be not be counted." Former coal lobbyist and current EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler announced the finalization during a virtual event with the Heritage Foundation, saying, "thanks to President Trump's leadership, we are ensuring that future rulemakings under the Clean Air Act are transparent, fair, and consistent with EPA governing statutes."Environmental and public health advocates pushed back against Wheeler's framing, blasting the rule as not only yet another piece of the outgoing administration's deregulatory agenda but also a blatant attempt to hamstring Biden, who ran on a promise to deliver environmental and climate justice."For four years, this administration has waged war on public health by kowtowing to polluters," Environmental Working Group president Ken Cook said of Trump's first term. "Now, on the way out the door, this amounts to sabotaging the efforts of the incoming administration to protect Americans from dirty air." "It will literally be a breath of fresh air to soon have a president and an EPA working each day to make Americans and the planet healthier and safe," he added of Biden's planned January 20 inauguration. "But Administrator Wheeler and President Trump are hellbent on making that job as difficult as possible."
Most states are below their greenhouse gas reduction goals: report - A new analysis issued by the Environmental Defense Fund reveals that U.S. states and territories are underperforming on their climate goals. The study, released Tuesday, looked at emissions data from the Rhodium Group from 25 states and Puerto Rico, all of which individually committed to the Paris Climate goals, which would require greenhouse gas emissions to be limited enough to prevent global temperatures from rising past an additional 1.5 degrees Celsius. The target evaluated set for each state would require them to cumulatively reduce emissions by about 45 percent to reach a goal consistent with the Paris Agreement. States are broadly off track; collectively, they are projected to reduce emissions by 11 percent from 2010 levels, well below the 45 percent needed to reach their original goal by 2030.Researchers emphasize that strong public policy is critical to states meeting their climate goals. “State leaders need to build on the momentum they created by setting climate targets, publicly acknowledge their current emissions gaps, and take policy action to achieve the cumulative reductions consistent with achieving their targets,” the report read. Enforceable caps on carbon emissions are a key example in how to reduce sector, source and economy-based emissions. Investment in clean energy and technology, as well as a potential pollution tax, are also recommended approaches. “This analysis sends a clear signal to governors and state lawmakers: making a climate commitment is only the starting point – not the finish line,” Pam Kiely, the senior director for Regulatory Strategy at EDF, said. The findings come at a crucial time for climate change policy in the U.S., particularly on the federal level. President Trump’s executive order removing the U.S. from the Paris Climate Agreement became official on Nov. 4, and his administration has rolled back other key environmental protections. At the same time, President-elect Joe Biden has pledged to rejoin the Paris Agreement, but Kiely notes that local and state governments still play a larger role in reducing emissions. “Even under a new president with a meaningful climate agenda, state policies are essential for securing significant and immediate reductions in climate-warming pollution that can reduce long-term climate damages,” she said. “It’s also time for states that haven’t made a climate commitment to join the effort to reduce pollution and safeguard our health, economy and ecosystems. With a vanishing window to take transformative action, state leaders have to put their foot on the pedal today.”
Banks Keep Funneling Billions Into Polluting Energy Projects - Almost five years after countries signed the landmark Paris Agreement on climate change, financial institutions are still providing billions of dollars to companies extracting and burning the earth’s most-polluting resources. Since the start of 2016, banks extended more than $1.6 trillion of loans and underwriting services to fossil-fuel companies planning and developing oil, gas and coal projects, according to a joint report by 18 climate organizations published on Thursday. The top three — Citigroup Inc., Bank of America Corp. and JPMorgan Chase & Co. — lent and underwrote a combined $295 billion. The findings are based on the banks and investors linked to companies involved in 12 energy projects, so they underestimate the global scale of the funding for fossil fuels. The total amount is closer to $3.7 trillion when including all types of corporate emitters, data compiled by Bloomberg show. Together, the 12 projects spotlighted in the report have the potential to produce at least 175 gigatons of additional CO2 emissions, according to the report, which was coordinated by German climate group Urgewald. That’s almost 75% of the remaining carbon budget, which is required to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celcius, according to researchers at Climate Analytics. “Instead of adopting a rigorous approach that would prevent the expansion of fossil fuels and facilitate their phase-out, global banks are refusing to break with the fatal growth trend of fossil extraction,” U.S. banks led the funding of domestic projects such as the oil drilling and fracking in the Permian Basin, which covers parts of Texas and New Mexico. Bank of America lent more than $54 billion to companies involved in the basin during the past five years, the research shows. In China, the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China has plowed more than $14 billion into the country’s coal industry. Fossil fuels also are receiving interest from fund managers. As of August, Vanguard Group held more than $65 billion worth of shares and bonds of companies linked to projects in the Permian Basin. BlackRock Inc., the world’s largest asset manager, held about $110 billion in bonds and shares of companies involved in the projects featured in the report. Public bodies aren’t perfect, either. The World Bank Group has provided more than $12 billion of loans, guarantees, equity investment and technical assistance to fossil-fuel projects since the Paris agreement, according to the report. For example, the World Bank is providing $80 million in Mozambique for technical assistance to help develop oil and gas fields, including funds which went to a law firm acting on behalf of Exxon Mobil Corp. in 2018.
United Airlines turns to CO2 removal technology to offset emissions - United Airlines is turning to technology that aims to capture carbon dioxide from the air and store it underground to help offset its carbon emissions completely by 2050, a change from offset programs the airline industry and others have traditionally leaned on to reduce their footprints. The Chicago-based airline on Thursday said it is making a multimillion dollar investment in a carbon-capture joint venture of Occidental Petroleum subsidiary and private equity firm Rusheen Capital Management. The company is developing a carbon capture plant in the Permian Basin in Texas. While the coronavirus pandemic has decimated air travel around the world, airlines usually generate around 2% of global carbon emissions. Carriers have used biofuels and carbon offsets, which are purchased in exchange for conserving forests and other projects. "It may feel good in the short term but the math just doesn't come close to adding up," United's CEO, Scott Kirby, said of carbon offsets on a call with reporters Wednesday. "The only way we can truly make a dent in the levels of atmospheric carbon is through direct air capture and sequestration."
- Electric utilities have a legal obligation to plan for climate change and its impacts under public utility and state tort laws, and could face liability if they fail to do so, according to a new report from the Environmental Defense Fund and the Sabin Center for Climate Change Law at Columbia Law School.
- Electric utilities "should be reorienting risk assessment and management efforts" to address "increasingly knowable climate change impacts," according to Michael Panfil, EDF's director of federal energy policy and an author of the report.
- The use of tort law, which covers harm related to civil claims, could provide "another legal mechanism for reforming local electricity distribution," according to Ari Peskoe, director of Harvard University's Electricity Law Initiative. But he said "the best approach" remains using the utility regulatory commissions to ensure utilities are prepared for climate change.
Panfil acknowledges that the report's conclusion is "novel," but also says "the novelty is one that doesn't depart from core legal obligations and longstanding understandings of our legal system." "To the extent there are obligations and requirements that entities avoid harm [and] reasonably consider risk, climate change should be no different," Panfil said. Public utility law "obligates electric utilities to meet, among other things, prudent investment, safe and adequate service, and reliability standards," and tort law requires electric utilities to "avoid foreseeable harm when performing acts that could injure others, EDF's report says. A. The group concluded that now includes climate change, as the consequences "become ever-more pronounced and pervasive." Addressing that risk will require utilities to utilize a two-stage planning process, said Panfil, including completing a climate vulnerability assessment, and then developing a climate resilience plan to reduce the risk to vulnerable assets. But is it true that utilities are legally required to plan for climate change? Experts say this isn't clear. "The devil is in the details," said Jonathan Adler, director of the Coleman P. Burke Center for Environmental Law at Case Western Reserve University School of Law. According to Adler, the answer is "maybe." "I think the real question is what sorts of specific harms are alleged to be reasonably foreseeable consequences of the utilities' conduct (and which conduct we're talking about)," Adler said in an email. "I think this is more difficult in the climate context than some others, though the increase in climate-related litigation means this is something utilities should pay attention to, even if I'm not convinced their obligations are as great as EDF might suggest."
Commercial buildings have gotten larger in the United States, with implications for energy -- Commercial buildings have gotten larger in the United States as their floorspace continues to grow faster than the number of commercial buildings, according to preliminary results from the U.S. Energy Information Administration’s (EIA) 2018 Commercial Buildings Energy Consumption Survey (CBECS). CBECS estimates that 5.9 million U.S. commercial buildings contained a total of 97 billion square feet as of 2018. The number of commercial buildings increased by 6%, and commercial square footage increased by 11% since the CBECS was last conducted in 2012. Lodging, health care, and public order and safety buildings saw significant growth in building stock between 2000 and 2018. More than one-third of the 2018 building stock in these categories was constructed after 2000. These buildings tend to be larger than the average commercial building in the United States, which contributed to the increase in commercial floorspace relative to commercial building stock. Building types that are more likely to be occupied more often, such as lodging, health care, and public order and safety, tend to be newer than building types that are less likely to be in constant use throughout the year, like religious worship, education, and vacant buildings. More heating and cooling is required for buildings with longer operating hours. According to CBECS data for 2012, a building that was used for 80 hours a week consumed 86,300 British thermal units per square foot per year, while a building that was used for all 168 hours in a week consumed 126,200 British thermal units per square foot per year.EIA's CBECS is the only nationally representative data collection for building characteristics and energy use for commercial buildings in the United States. The preliminary 2018 CBECS data, released on November 18, includes information on building counts, square footage, building activity, year of construction, and census region and division. EIA expects to publish more detailed building characteristic data in summer 2021, and in 2022 EIA will publish energy consumption and expenditure data based on information collected on respondents’ utility bills.
California was the largest net electricity importer of any state in 2019 - Today in Energy - (EIA) Electricity routinely flows between the Lower 48 states and, to a lesser extent, between the United States and Canada and Mexico. Electricity generation exceeds electricity consumption in 25 states, and excess electricity is transmitted across state lines—almost 10% of U.S. electricity generation is traded among states. In 2019, California’s net electricity imports were the largest in the country at 70.8 million megawatthours (MWh), or 25% of the state’s total electricity supply. Pennsylvania’s electricity exports were the largest of any state in 2019, at 70.5 million MWh, or 24% of total supply. California utilities partly own and import power from several power plants in Arizona and Utah. In addition, California’s electricity imports include hydroelectric power from the Pacific Northwest, largely across high-voltage transmission lines running from Oregon to the Los Angeles area. Pennsylvania’s electricity generation was the third-largest in the nation, behind those of Texas and Florida. Natural gas-fired and nuclear power plants produced the majority of Pennsylvania’s in-state electricity in 2019, at 43% and 36%, respectively. Pennsylvania ranks second in the nation, after Illinois, in nuclear power generating capacity. Although Ohio is in the top 10 states for electricity generation, it was the second-largest electricity importer in 2019. Ohio’s large population, heavily industrial economy, and wide seasonal temperature variation create high electricity demand, which at times exceeds in-state generation. The U.S. Energy Information Administration’s (EIA) State Electricity Profiles provide data on interstate electricity trade and international imports and exports. EIA calculates net interstate electricity trade by subtracting total reported retail electricity sales, direct use, international exports, and estimated line losses from the total electricity supply. In 2019, electricity exports from Vermont accounted for the largest share of its total electricity supply. Electricity flows from Canada into Vermont and continues on to other states, such as Massachusetts. States that imported the majority of their total electricity supply tended to be smaller, more population-dense states such as Massachusetts. Conversely, states that exported the majority of their total electricity supply tended to be geographically large, low-population density states such as Wyoming.Four of the five largest exporters, by percentage of total supply, produced more than half of their in-state electricity from coal, ranging from 51% in Montana to 91% in West Virginia. Wyoming is the nation’s largest coal-producing state; West Virginia, Montana, and North Dakota are also major coal producers. Renewables were the second-largest source after coal in Wyoming, West Virginia, North Dakota, and Montana. Nearly all (99%) of Vermont’s in-state electricity generation in 2019 came from renewable sources, largely from hydropower.
17 tribes awarded federal grants to support energy sovereignty — Seventeen federally recognized American Indian tribes, Alaska Native entities and tribal energy organizations will share in $1.55 million in grant funding from the federal government. The Department of the Interior’s Bureau of Indian Affairs, via the Office of Indian Energy and Economic Development, announced the grants last week. The Tribal Energy Development Capacity program will go toward bolstering tribes’ managerial and institutional capacity to develop energy resources, as well as develop the organizational and business structures to manage those projects, according to a statement. Tribes can use the grant funding to create energy regulations, conduct feasibility studies on the formation of tribal utility authorities and develop various legal infrastructure for their energy resources. “Tribal Energy Development Capacity grants support a tribe’s ‘energy sovereignty,’ that is, to use its resources for its needs, to have the ability to do so effectively, and to ensure such resources will be maintained into the future,” Mark Cruz, the deputy assistant secretary of Indian Affairs for Policy and Economic Development, said in a statement. As previously reported, eligible projects for the funding include establishing tribal business charters with a focus on energy resource development, implementing a secured transactions code, performing feasibility studies on forming a tribal utility authority and developing tribal energy regulations. Regulatory projects could include creating tribal regulations for the leasing of surface and subsurface land for energy development and enacting ordinances related to regulating and developing energy resources.
We've reached a 'turning point' on the electrification of vehicles, Nissan executive says - A "turning point" has been reached when it comes to the electrification of vehicles, according to the chief operating officer of Nissan, with the Japanese automotive giant "ready to address that opportunity everywhere in the world."Speaking to CNBC's "Squawk Box Europe" on Tuesday, Ashwani Gupta explained the shift to electric vehicles had been driven by customers and enabled by infrastructure and government support.The rise in the number of electric vehicles used by consumers has indeed been quite rapid over the past decade. According to figures from the International Energy Agency, globally, there were around 17,000 electric cars on the road in 2010. Last year, that figure had risen to 7.2 million, with 47% of these located in China.The comments from Nissan's Gupta come as authorities around the world look to ramp up the number of electric vehicles on roads in an attempt to tackle air pollution and move away from the internal combustion engine. The U.K., for example, has announced plans to stop selling new diesel and petrol (gasoline) cars and vans from 2030. Elsewhere, Denmark has proposed a phase-out of new diesel and petrol car sales in 2030 while Norway wants all new light vans and passenger cars sold to be zero emission by the year 2025. "We do believe that moving forward, with the support, with the infrastructure … electrification will be highly valued by the customer," Gupta added, stating that Nissan was "prepared" for the U.K.'s 2030 roadmap. Gupta's mention of infrastructure is important, as it will play a crucial role when it comes to alleviating concerns over "range anxiety" — the idea that electric vehicles aren't able to undertake long journeys without losing power and getting stranded.Around the world, efforts are being made to boost the number of charging options for electric vehicles. Norway, a world leader when it comes to the adoption of electric vehicles, is now home to more than 10,000 public charging points, according to the Norwegian Electric Vehicle Association, while the U.K.'s first forecourt dedicated to charging electric vehicles opened for business this week.
Some Cadillac dealerships choose not to invest for EV future — About 150 Cadillac dealers are choosing to take buyouts from General Motors Co. rather than invest thousands to support electric vehicles, the Wall Street Journal reported Friday. Cadillac's 880 U.S. dealers were told in September they needed to invest $200,000 to transition dealerships for coming electric vehicles. The dealer network had until Nov. 30 to make the decision if they wanted to take a buyout. About 17% of Cadillac dealers took the buyout offer, the Journal reported Friday citing anonymous sources. Cadillac, GM's flagship electric brand, is aiming to sell more vehicles powered by electricity than by fossil fuels by the end of the decade. The electric Lyriq crossover will kick off the transition for the luxury brand, arriving in the first quarter of 2022, nine months ahead of schedule. "Cadillac will have a very exciting and comprehensive EV portfolio moving forward as demonstrated by the initial reveal of the LYRIQ," Rory Harvey, vice president, Cadillac sales, service and marketing, said in a statement. "This forward product offering needs to be combined with exceptional customer experience. The future dealer requirements are a logical and necessary next step on our path towards electrification to ensure our dealers are prepared to provide customers an exceptional experience. We see Cadillac’s dealer network as a business advantage, and they will remain a critical part of the retail and relationship chain with customers.” Many of the buyouts offered ranged from $300,000 to $500,000, the Automotive News reported first in November. Most of the dealers opting for the buyout are smaller-volume operations. There are still discussions taking place with some dealers, but Cadillac spokesman Michael Albano said: "We hope to wrapped up by the end of the year." David Butler, chairman of the Cadillac National Dealer Council and executive manager at four Cadillac dealers, says the organization approached GM about the transition to electric vehicles. “We said you have 900 Cadillac dealers, some of whom are in more rural areas that may not share the vision with you,” Butler said..
The curse of 'white oil': electric vehicles' dirty secret -Electrifying transport has become a top priority in the move to a lower-carbon future. In Europe, car travel accounts for around 12% of all the continent’s carbon emissions. To keep in line with the Paris agreement, emissions from cars and vans will need to drop by more than a third (37.5%) by 2030. The EU has set an ambitious goal of reducing overall greenhouse gas emissions by 55% by the same date. To that end, Brussels and individual member states are pouring millions of euros into incentivising car owners to switch to electric.Some countries are going even further, proposing to ban sales of diesel and petrol vehicles in the near future (as early as 2025 in the case of Norway). If all goes to plan, European electric vehicle ownership could jump from around 2m today to 40m by 2030.Lithium is key to this energy transition. Lithium-ion batteries are used to power electric cars, as well as to store grid-scale electricity. (They are also used in smartphones and laptops.) But Europe has a problem. At present, almost every ounce of battery-grade lithium is imported. More than half (55%) of global lithium production last year originated in just one country: Australia. Other principal suppliers, such as Chile (23%), China (10%) and Argentina (8%), are equally far-flung.Lithium deposits have been discovered in Austria, Serbia and Finland, but it is in Portugal that Europe’s largest lithium hopes lie. The Portuguese government is preparing to offer licences for lithium mining to international companies in a bid to exploit its “white oil” reserves. Sourcing lithium in its own back yard not only offers Europe simpler logistics and lower prices, but fewer transport-related emissions. It also promises Europe security of supply – an issue given greater urgency by the coronavirus pandemic’s disruption of global trade.Even before the pandemic, alarm was mounting about sourcing lithium. Dr Thea Riofrancos, a political economist at Providence College in Rhode Island, pointed to growing trade protectionism and the recent US-China trade spat. (And that was before the trade row between China and Australia.) Whatever worries EU policymakers might have had before the pandemic, she said, “now they must be a million times higher”. The urgency in getting a lithium supply has unleashed a mining boom, and the race for “white oil” threatens to cause damage to the natural environment wherever it is found. But because they are helping to drive down emissions, the mining companies have EU environmental policy on their side.
Trump administration argues against refiners' biofuel petition (Reuters) - The Trump administration has argued against a petition from oil refiners asking the U.S. Supreme Court to review a lower court decision that undermined the legitimacy of the Environmental Protection Agency’s biofuel waiver program. Department of Justice officials said the court should not review the case as it does not conflict with any other Supreme Court or appeals court decision, according to the brief submitted on Dec. 8. The officials argued that the court could review the decision after a similar case is completed in the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals. Under U.S. law, refiners must blend billions of gallons of biofuels into their fuel, or buy credits from those that do. Small refiners can apply for exemptions to the requirements if they prove the obligations would cause them financial harm. At issue is a January decision by the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals that ruled that waivers granted to small refineries after 2010 should only be approved as extensions. Because most recipients of waivers in recent years have not continuously received them year after year, the decision threatened to upend the waiver program. Oil refiners petitioned the Supreme Court to review the decision in September. A coalition of U.S. biofuel groups has since announced, on Tuesday, it had filed a brief with the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals challenging the Trump administration’s decision in 2019 to grant 31 oil refineries exemptions from U.S. biofuel blending obligations. “Those pending D.C. Circuit proceedings provide an additional reason to deny the petition in this case. If the D.C. Circuit parts ways with the Tenth Circuit on the question presented, this Court can consider whether that conflict warrants further review,” the DOJ brief said. The biofuel industry has called for the EPA to apply the Tenth Circuit Court ruling broadly, but the agency has yet to do so and is still contemplating pending petitions for the 2019 and 2020 compliance years. “The Tenth Circuit got it right the first time, and now refiners need to accept the reality that they must comply with the law,” said Geoff Cooper, president of the Renewable Fuels Association. “It’s time to move on.” Meanwhile, the American Fuel and Petrochemical Manufacturers trade group said the Supreme Court has enough information to review the case now and should not delay.
Owner of Allentown biofuel company sentenced to prison in green energy scheme - - The owner of an Allentown biofuel company who pleaded guilty to a conspiracy to fraudulently claim green energy subsidies was sentenced to prison and ordered to repay the government more than $10 million. Ralph Tommaso, 51, of Warren, New Jersey, and business partner Dave Dunham Jr. were indicted in 2015 on charges they conspired to defraud the government and other businesses in a scheme to claim credits for producing renewable diesel and heating fuel from used cooking oil. U.S. District Judge Jeffrey Schmehl sentenced Tommaso to one year and one day in federal prison and ordered him to pay $10.2 million in restitution. Tommaso’s attorney, Nathan Andrisani, said his client had no comment. Schmehl suspended Tommaso’s sentence until May 7, when he will be required to report to prison. Tomasso pleaded guilty to a single count of conspiracy in 2017 and testified in a trial last year where Dunham was convicted of 54 counts including conspiracy, wire fraud, false tax filings and obstruction. Dunham, 40, of Hanover Township, Northampton County, was sentenced in August to seven years in prison and also ordered to pay $10.2 million in restitution.
As the Livestock Industry Touts Manure-to-Energy Projects, Environmentalists Cry ‘Greenwashing’ - When the world’s largest pork producer and a major public utility announced they would team up to turn hog manure from North Carolina swine farms into energy, they billed their new partnership as a win-win for both the companies and the climate. With a $500 million commitment and a recently minted joint venture called Align RNG, Smithfield Foods and Dominion Energy set out to capture the methane emitted from giant hog manure “lagoons,” convert it into biogas—what the industries dub “renewable natural gas”—and inject that biogas into pipelines to heat homes and buildings. The partnership, the companies said, would create the biggest manure-to-energy project in North Carolina, a state with the potential to become the largest producer of livestock biogas in the country. At the same time, the project would help the companies meet their goals of reducing climate-warming emissions, they said. Similar alliances are emerging around the country as the livestock industry comes under increasingly critical scrutiny for its greenhouse gas emissions, and utilities and power companies attempt to meet climate-related commitments. To name only two recent examples, Duke Energy announced in July that it will collaborate with dairy farmers in the Southeast. In September, Chevron announced a project with California Biogas and the state’s dairy farmers.But as utilities, oil companies and livestock companies pitch biogas as an emissions-reducing solution, critics say it simply locks in systems that allow two highly polluting industries to continue unchecked and without truly tackling their climate impact. These industrial farms, like oil and gas infrastructure, are disproportionately located in lower income and minority communities, where pollution plagues waterways, air and quality of life.“It’s absolute greenwashing,” said Sherri White-Williamson, environmental justice policy director with the North Carolina Conservation Network. “If you think about it, there’s nothing renewable about biogas, because in order to make it, you have to grow the hogs in large quantities in huge facilities.”She added, “It only continues to ingrain that system.”Biogas development is creating a new revenue stream for the livestock industry, potentially spurring big operators to expand and add more animals to their inventories. In dairy powerhouse Wisconsin, and in California, the country’s largest dairy state, there’s evidence that such expansion is alreadyhappening. At the same time, biogas supports the construction of new natural gas infrastructure, much of it with public funding.
With closing date set for MIRA trash plant, Connecticut looks for a long-term solution - Hartford Courant --The agency that runs the regional trash-to-energy plant in Hartford has set June 30, 2022 as a target date to stop burning garbage and truck the waste instead to out-of-state landfills.Materials Innovation and Recycling Authority President Tom Kirk said Monday that he does not see costs to MIRA’s 51 member communities changing significantly after the conversion to a transfer station, but that will depend on the price of transportation and capacity of out-of-state landfills. Garbage is to be trucked to landfills in states that include Ohio, Pennsylvania and New York. Rock-bottom energy prices and the refusal of state and municipal leaders to fund upgrades to the electrical plant prompted agency leaders’ decision in May to start the conversion.Built in the 1940s, the mighty turbines that generate electricity from burning up to 720,000 tons of garbage each year have undergone major repairs since catastrophic failures in November 2017. Still, Kirk said, “the plant is old and tired and in need of a capital infusion,” so significant repairs in the future would not make sense and the conversion would accelerate if another breakdown happens.
New England energy storage advocates say FERC ruling is a setback for industry - A decision by federal regulators to throw out a rule that has helped emerging technologies gain a foothold on New England’s electric grid will put the region’s energy storage industry in jeopardy, according to advocates. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission last week ordered New England’s grid operator to end a rule that has allowed new bidders in its capacity market to lock in their prices for up to seven years. The annual capacity auction is meant to ensure the region will have enough electricity to meet peak demand three years in the future. Developers bid resources, often yet to be built, into an auction, and those accepted are paid to be available to meet demand. The rule has allowed owners of new resources to avoid potential fluctuations in future auctions. That means the developer has a guaranteed revenue stream, something that can help them gain investor confidence when they’re trying to capitalize the project. For example, in the most recent capacity market auction (for capacity supplied in 2023/2024), the clearing price in the auction was $2 per kilowatt per month. If a battery developer received an obligation to supply 5 megawatts of capacity to the market and selected the price lock, it would be guaranteed $120,000 a year for up to seven years, regardless of the clearing price in the following six auctions. Several groups, led by the New England Power Generators Association, asked the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to overturn the rule. (The association’s members include fossil and renewable developers.) They said the rule suppresses prices in the market and hurts competition. ISO-New England has said the rule is no longer clearly necessary, given that it was enacted to address a capacity shortage that’s been mitigated. On Thursday, FERC agreed, saying the rule distorts prices and is no longer needed to attract new entrants into the market. The decision comes as states in New England and other regional transmission organizations reconsider their future in the markets as they move toward a cleaner energy mix.
Critical metals supply: Industry and government just couldn't be that shortsighted, could they? - In 2009 I had an email exchange with a reader in the computer industry in which he contended that the supply of two key metals in the electronics and solar energy industries, gallium and indium, just couldn't be as precarious as I was claiming. I bring this up because the European Commission put out a white paper earlier this year about the need for a plan to secure adequate supplies of critical metals including gallium and indium. This concern arises, in part, because these metals and several others are central in the manufacture of ubiquitous devices such as cellphones and renewable energy equipment such as solar cells. In 2009 my reader made the following case which I summarized in a piece I wrote at the time: He insists that indium simply can't be that scarce because—get this—there is indium in billions of electronic devices including cellphones and computer screens, in fact, in nearly everything that has a flat-screen display associated with it. This is curious logic. It says that because we are using a resource ubiquitously and at an exponentially increasing rate, it must be plentiful... I realized later that what this computer professional actually meant was that the corporate and government planners charged with thinking about resource supply issues couldn't possibly have made a colossal blunder which would lead to a catastrophic shortage of key metals in the electronics industry. He presumed, I think, that such an outcome was simply out of the question given the competence and intelligence of the people in his industry. Now we are 11 years on and the alarm bells are going off. I'm NOT predicting that we will anytime soon run out of indium or gallium or niobium, tantalum, germanium, scandium and the many other key metals that are now on the critical list drawn up by the Europeans. But as longtime readers know, we don't have to run out of something in order for it to become scarce and prohibitively expensive. We only need to see a situation where supply plateaus or even starts to decline for prices to shoot up far beyond what manufacturers can afford and still make a profit.
Chinese steel mills seek more US coking coal deals - Chinese steel producers are keen to buy more US coking coal to replace Australian cargoes blocked by import curbs, giving the first significant boost to this trade flow since China imposed retaliatory tariffs on US coal in 2018. US coal producer Arch Resources will ship 300,000t of high-volatile A coal from its Leer mine in West Virginia to China under a one-year contract to a buyer, possibly a northeast China steel mill. "This particular buyer did test out a cargo of Leer coal previously, and they found it quite suitable," a Beijing-based trader said. "Either way, they do not have any other appropriate alternatives at present." The Argus Australian premium low-volatile coking coal index has a coke strength relativity (CSR) specification of 67-70 CSR, higher than other origins that makes it the preferred coal for Chinese mills. But Chinese mills were verbally told to stop importing Australian coal in early October. Market participants at first expected the curbs would ease when China's import quotas reset in 2021, but fob basis prices have since tumbled as outlooks softened for Australian coal. Discussions are possibly under way with Chinese buyers for Oak Grove premium hard coking coal with February and March laycans. Chinese importers are also buying US and Canadian coal in spot deals. Arch's spot volumes were also likely fully sold out until April. "What the Chinese need is a high CSR replacement for Australian coking coal to be blended with low CSR domestic coal, making Leer positive since it has a CSR of more than 65," The Leer coal has a CSR of 67-68, 32-33pc volatile matter, 7-8pc ash and 1.0-1.1pc sulphur. The higher sulphur content of Leer coal has made it unattractive for many buyers in China because it would not pass customs pollutant inspections standards at most ports, a trader said. But northeast China ports are generally less strict with sulphur content of cargoes, so the buyer is unlikely to face any major hurdles in importing this coal, the trader said.
Justice family's coal company agrees to settlement to reduce water pollution, help fund river trail preservation - Environmental groups on Thursday filed a pollution settlement with a coal company owned by Gov. Jim Justice’s family. If approved by the federal court, the company would comply with selenium discharge limits and pay $270,000 to the West Virginia Land Trust. The agreement proposal comes four months after a federal judge found the company liable for selenium pollution discharged into waters near the Red Fox Surface Mine, in McDowell County. According to the agreement filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of West Virginia, Bluestone Coal Corp. would provide the Ohio Valley Environmental Coalition, the West Virginia Highlands Conservancy, Appalachian Voices and the Sierra Club with quarterly progress reports monitoring pollutant discharge permit compliance. Bluestone also would pay a $30,000 civil penalty to the U.S. Treasury and pay $270,000 to the West Virginia Land Trust, a statewide conservationist nonprofit, to help fund development of a new water trail along the Tug River. The company also would comply with selenium effluent limits at an outlet that has been out of compliance within 12 months of the agreement’s approval. Thursday’s agreement stemmed from a lawsuit the environmental groups filed in August 2019 under the citizen suit provisions of the Clean Water Act and Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act. In a July ruling, Senior U.S. District Judge David A. Faber found Bluestone liable for 60 violations of its monthly average limit for selenium and 78 violations of its daily maximum limit for selenium. Faber noted that Bluestone was liable for 3,033 days of Clean Water Act violations, since each violation of a monthly average limit is treated as a violation for every day in the month in which the violation occurred, rather than as a single violation for that month. High selenium concentrations can be toxic to animals and humans. Faber rejected Bluestone’s request to dismiss the lawsuit. The company unsuccessfully argued that a 2016 agreement that Southern Coal Corp. reached with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency precluded environmental groups from filing the lawsuit over selenium pollution. Southern Coal also is owned by the Justice family.
A Coal Company Owned by This Billionaire Governor Has Pledged to Stop Breaking Pollution Laws — A coal company owned by West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice pledged to stop violating water pollution rules at a large strip-mining site in the state, according to a settlement filed Thursday in federal court with local and national environmental groups.By agreeing to come into compliance within a year, Justice’s Bluestone Coal Corp. will avoid the harshest financial penalties that could have been levied — the maximum potential federal fines were nearly $170 million.The company agreed to pay $30,000 in new penalties, and the settlement document noted that it had already paid $414,500 in water pollution fines for violations at the same mine site, under the terms of a 2016 deal the Justice family’s coal operations made with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.The new settlement, which needs court approval, resolves a suit filed by the Sierra Club and other groups in August 2019, alleging excess discharges of selenium, which can be toxic to fish and other aquatic life, at Bluestone’s Red Fox Mine.As part of the deal, Bluestone also will pay $270,000 to the West Virginia Land Trust, a conservation group. The money will be used to buy land for a newly proposed trail along the Tug Fork River in southern West Virginia, to provide local residents with new economic and recreational opportunities.“This proposed settlement will hold the company to account for its selenium pollution and helps fund an environmental project that benefits the Tug River,”said Karan Ireland, the West Virginia Sierra Club’s senior campaign representative.A lawyer for Bluestone Coal had no immediate comment on the settlement, which was signed by the governor’s son, Jay Justice, who is also the company’s president.
With mega-emitters closed, coal's 'cleaner fleet' persists -- Wednesday, December 9, 2020 -- - At first glance, 2020 looks to be another big year for coal retirements. The 9.4 gigawatts of coal capacity shut down this year is the fourth-highest annual total since 2009, federal figures show. But dig a little deeper, and it becomes apparent that the 36 retirees this year were relatively small emitters. The 385 million tons of cTotal coal emissions will still be down this year. American coal plants were already running less, and the COVID-19 pandemic pushed even more to the sidelines. Yet coal generation could arbon dioxide generated between 2010 and 2019 by units retiring this year is the smallest such figure since 2017, according to an E&E News review of federal data. rebound in 2021, when the economy is expected to recover and an anticipated uptick in gas prices could prompt power companies to switch on their old coal stations. The dynamic highlights the role gas prices play in determining American coal consumption and carbon dioxide output. It also points to the role coal retirements have played in greening the U.S. economy in recent years. American coal capacity fell 25% between 2010 and 2019, with emissions from coal plants declining by 46%. Emissions reductions from retirements have been supercharged in the last two years from the shutdown of some of America's largest coal plants. But that trend did not extend to 2020. The largest emitters retired this year were part of partial shutdowns at larger facilities rather than plantwide closures. Whether 2020 represents an anomaly remains to be seen, but industry observers say it has important implications for U.S. climate policy. Few super-emitters are slated to shut down in full between now and 2025.
HEC report says Indiana lagging in coal ash pollution prevention | IER Indiana Environmental Reporter - Fourteen of Indiana’s 15 coal ash sites have left groundwater unfit for human consumption, according to a new report by the Hoosier Environmental Council. And unlike other states dealing with residue from coal-burning power plants, Indiana is taking few steps to stop pollutants from coal ash ponds from seeping further into the water system.“The contrast with other states is stark,” said Dr. Indra Frank, the council’s director of environmental health and water policy and co-author of the report. In North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia, Florida, Tennessee and Georgia, coal ash is being removed from leaking disposal sites in floodplains and either recycled or taken to lined landfills on higher ground, she said.“These other states show just how feasible this is,” Frank said. “In fact, in North Carolina and South Carolina, this process has already been completed for millions of tons of coal ash. Yet in Indiana, the state has started approving plans to leave coal ash in the floodplain and contaminating groundwater.” Frank said resulting pollution threatens Indiana’s major rivers and Lake Michigan because most of the coal ash in the state is currently sitting in the floodplain. Coal ash is what is left over after burning coal for electricity. The burning process concentrates the heavy metals in coal, such as arsenic, lead and mercury, making the ash a potentially hazardous substance. Indiana has more coal ash than any other state, with 13 unlined ponds in floodplains. Utility plants need to have a source of cooling water in order to run. This has led to coal ash ponds being located near or next to Lake Michigan, the White and Ohio rivers, as well as every major waterway in the state. In 2015, the Environmental Protection Agency released the first ever federal rules regarding coal ash handling called the Coal Combustion Residuals Rule. This rule required ground water monitoring at all coal ash sites. Ground water monitoring results released in 2018 showed 14 of 15 sites in Indiana “exceed drinking water limits for molybdenum and lithium, 12 for boron, 11 for arsenic, 10 for sulfate, six for cobalt, four each for antimony and radium and two each for lead, selenium and thallium. The maximum concentrations detected often exceeded drinking water standards by many-fold,” according to the HEC report.
Court rejects Trump challenge of DTE agreement to retire 3 coal plants | Utility Dive A district court on Thursday rejected the Trump administration's challenge to a settlement agreement between DTE Energy and Sierra Club that led to the utility committing to retire three coal-fired plants.Following years of litigation, the Sierra Club in May filed a settlement agreement with DTE requiring the utility to retire the plants as well as provide funding for bus electrification and local environmental projects. But weeks later, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency formally objected to the agreement, arguing the settlement encroached on its authority under the Clean Air Act (CAA). Thursday's order from the Southern Division of the Eastern U.S. District Court of Michigan rejected EPA's argument, ruling the agreement constituted a private settlement, not a consent decree that the court should be involved in.Thursday's ruling wraps up a decade of litigation between DTE, the U.S. government and the Sierra Club. DTE was accused of violating the CAA under the Obama administration in 2010, and the district court allowed Sierra Club to intervene. After years of litigation, the U.S. Department of Justice filed a consent decree settling the 2010 enforcement filing. The consent decree required the utility to reduce emissions at the three coal plants, pay a $1.8 million civil penalty and replace municipal buses with lower emissions buses. But the Sierra Club reached a more aggressive agreement with the utility. It required the utility to fund $2 million in local environmental projects, improving energy efficiency at a public recreation center, electrifying city buses and retiring the offending plants. DTE agreed to both settlements, saying its agreement with Sierra Club was intended in part to "foster improved relations with Sierra Club and to provide benefits to a valued local community," along with resolving claims in the case. But following Sierra Club's settlement, the U.S. government filed with the Michigan court, accusing the Sierra Club of "compel[ling] a consent decree on their own terms." Sierra Club argued its agreement was a separate, private settlement, and attorneys called the government's objection to the settlement "unconscionable." Ultimately, the court sided with Sierra Club. "[N]either the United States' interests nor any of the terms of the consent decree are eroded or jeopardized as a consequence of the Separate Agreement," Judge Bernard Friedman wrote. Further, he found the agreement "accomplishes an enormous environmental benefit that is fully consistent with the goals of the CAA."
As government spending is cut to the bone, Wyoming is spending millions to promote coal. Will it pay off? --The bad news came on Nov. 16. Gov. Mark Gordon handed down $500 million in additional reductions across nearly every department that day. Funding for public services and K-12 education budgets shrunk by double digit percentages. For weeks, state agencies had been bracing for another round of budget cuts to drop. But two lines on Wyoming’s budget came out relatively unscathed from the austerity measures. They included a pair of programs aimed at saving the state’s struggling coal industry: a “clean coal marketing program” and an effort to sue the state of Washington for blocking a coal export terminal. The governor proposed funding both at or near pre-pandemic levels. It’s true, the total $3.45 million allocation for these pair of initiatives represents only a small fraction of a percent of the state’s overall budget. In comparison, the Department of Health will likely be reduced by $135.7 million. The University of Wyoming’s general fund budget could be cut by $62.5 million, according to the governor’s budget proposal. But the lack of cuts to coal underscores just how committed the state is in its fight to reverse the misfortunes of the state’s traditional industry, even amid an economic downturn partially driven by coal’s decline. Renny MacKay, a senior policy adviser to Gordon, defended the governor’s decision. Funding for the state’s coal programs was evaluated on similar criteria to other aspects of the budget: namely, the impact a reduction in funding would have, versus the potential payoff of keeping that line item in the budget, he said. Tourism funding, for example, was also left largely intact in the most recent round of budget reductions, MacKay noted. “Some of these programs don’t create revenue in the same way that coal does, but they create jobs and are very important to state and local economies,” MacKay said. “Those are the types of programs that will help us restart the economy after COVID-19.”
Ukrainian uranium mines shut down amidst protest wave, threatening radioactive contamination - Three uranium mines have been shut down in the Kirovohrad region of central Ukraine over disputed payments between the state nuclear energy company Energoatom and the state-owned enterprise operating the mine, Eastern Mining and Processing. As a result of the alleged nonpayment, approximately 5,000 miners have been placed on unpaid leave. They are still owed approximately $5 million in months of back pay. The shuttering of the mines could also lead to an ecological catastrophe if the mines lose power and water pumps fail to operate, creating a toxic mixture of radioactive uranium-contaminated groundwater that could spread throughout the vast river systems of central Ukraine. Eastern Mining and Processing maintains that the government nuclear energy monopoly still owes it approximately $5 million to keep mining operations running and pay workers. Energoatom has, for its part, disputed the company’s allegations, stating that it had already paid $92.5 million to the company, according to the terms of an agreement signed last year. As a state-owned monopoly, Energoatom is the country’s only buyer of uranium. The uranium is converted into nuclear fuel in Russia and then sent back for use in Ukraine’s nuclear power plants. Ukraine produced 801 tons of uranium last year, according to the World Nuclear Association. Since the destruction of the Soviet Union in 1991, Ukraine’s mines, which during the Soviet Union employed hundreds of thousands and provided dependable jobs, have been left to deteriorate into extremely dangerous conditions. Agreed upon contracts are routinely violated by management, and workers in both the private and public sectors can go months without pay. According to the Independent Miners Union of Ukraine, the situation has deteriorated to such a point that miners working at state-owned mines are now owed over $60 million in unpaid wages.
Arizona utility increases its share of nuclear power plant (AP) — An Arizona public utility is increasing its ownership share in the Palo Verde Nuclear Generating Station located west of Phoenix. The Salt River Project announced that its board has approved the purchase of part of Public Service Co. of New Mexico’s ownership along with some transmission assets for about $70 million plus the unspecified cost of the plant’s associated nuclear fuel inventory. When the deal is completed, SRP’s ownership share will be about 20% of the plant’s total capacity, up from 17.5%, SRP said in a statement. SRP said its purchase of 114 megawatts of Palo Verde’s output from PNM will increase access to “safe, reliable and zero-carbon emitting energy” needed to serve increasing customer demand. According to SRP, the practice is attractive economically because it would have cost much more to build a new generating facility, as it has long planned to do. The purchase of most of the power is expected to be completed in January 2023, followed by the remainder in 2024. The three-reactor plant is located about 50 miles (80 kilometers) west of downtown Phoenix.
Lawmaker calls for repeal of nuclear surcharges | The Blade — A Richland County lawmaker on Tuesday argued that the General Assembly should pass his bill to outright repeal consumer surcharges to bail out two struggling nuclear power plants instead of embracing a temporary delay “kicking the can down the road.”“Are these charges needed to simply keep the lights on? Absolutely not ...,” Rep. Mark Romanchuk (R., Ontario) said during a tele-town hall hosted by AARP Ohio, an opponent of the bailout law, House Bill 6.“The fact is these plants are no longer needed,” he said. “They're very old. They've run their useful life, and this is simply money that is being charged on people's electric bills to benefit the owners of these plants.” House Bill 6 is at the center of an alleged $61 million scheme characterized by federal investigators as the largest bribery scandal in Ohio history.Former House Speaker Larry Householder (R., Glenford) faces a federal racketeering charge that he led a scheme to disguise “dark money” from Akron-based FirstEnergy Corp. and related entities. The money was used to help elect representatives loyal to Mr. Householder in 2018 and helped elect him speaker in 2019.The scheme continued to then pass House Bill 6 and kill a subsequent effort to ask voters to repeal the law. Among other things, the law promises $1 billion over seven years to Energy Harbor, the post-bankruptcy successor to FirstEnergy Solutions, to subsidize the operation of the Davis-Besse nuclear plant near Oak Harbor and the Perry plant east of Cleveland.Two other alleged participants in the scheme — lobbyist and former Ohio Republican Party Chairman Matt Borges and powerful Columbus lobbyist Neil Clark — have also pleaded not guilty. But two others — political consultant Jeff Longstreth and lobbyist Juan Cespedes — have entered guilty pleas and are cooperating with the investigation. Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost said he personally believes others will yet be charged. He has filed a civil racketeering lawsuit that, among other things, seeks to stop the nuclear surcharges from taking effect as scheduled in January.
Ohioans must know | Toledo Blade - The latest twist in the investigation of the unseemly activities leading to the passage of the state’s nuclear bailout came with the resignation of Samuel Randazzo, Chairman of the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio. The bailout had merits without the schemes allegedly put into motion to aid its passage.Now, it seems those schemes included criminal activity — two guilty pleas have followed from indictments against several of those charged.Mr. Randazzo resigned after the FBI searched his home — that happened just after the federal guilty pleas. There are no charges pending against Mr. Randazzo. The only charge that can be made against him is that he followed in the footsteps of PUCO tradition by being a patsy of industry, rather than its watchdog. This investigation must be followed to a conclusion aimed at rooting out corruption in state government. Ohioans must know exactly what transpired in the passage of the bailout bill, House Bill 6, a move which before 2019 was declared dead on arrival in the General Assembly. Only when then — Speaker Larry Householder became involved was the proposal resurrected like some Frankenstein, not by a mad doctor but by political chicanery. Mr. Householder now faces federal charges in an investigation of a bribery and racketeering scheme tied to the bill. The allegations against Mr. Householder involve the transfer of campaign funds to loyalists from a nonprofit called Generation Now.Once the investigation is concluded, authorities and the courts should release the evidence, including documents in the case and grand jury transcripts, to public review. The public’s right to know should take precedence over the secrecy of the grand jury system.Then legislators and election regulators must act to stymie schemes utilizing campaign funds as political perks. The easy transfer of campaign monies must be subject to scrutiny and public review.The issue does not rest with criminal convictions alone — that is not enough. The pattern and process of corruption must be rooted out to prevent future wrongdoing. Even before crimes were charged, something tawdry and wrong about the nuclear bailout was evident — it all too easily went from nonstarter to the next great idea.Tighter campaign finance laws and monitoring of potential shenanigans involving passing around those monies to other candidates should be implemented. Simply:
- ●Follow the investigation wherever it leads, prosecute criminal charges vigorously.
- ●Release the evidence to the public.
- ●Legislators and regulators must take steps to prevent future schemes of corruption tied to moving big money moving from one campaign fund to those of various politicians.
The people of Ohio deserve no less.
How a longtime critic of clean energy became Ohio’s top utility regulator - One year into his first term, Ohio’s top utility regulator, Samuel Randazzo, has signaled that winning approval to build and operate wind and solar projects in the state could be even more difficult in the future. At the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio and the Ohio Power Siting Board, which Randazzo also chairs, recent decisions have blocked a new solar development and imposed new restrictions on wind energy — moves consistent with Randazzo’s longtime criticism of renewables as a registered lobbyist and lawyer representing heavy industry before the utilities commission. Also, the commission is now defending Ohio’s decision to subsidize coal and nuclear power plants in a filing before the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission — an about-face from its stance in 2017 opposing a federal bailout of old coal and nuclear plants. Gov. Mike DeWine’s 2019 appointment of Randazzo, a veteran energy lawyer and lobbyist, followed a rapid and opaque approval process that overlooked two of Randazzo’s ongoing small consulting companies, both of which have done business with FirstEnergy subsidiary FirstEnergy Solutions, (now Energy Harbor), federal bankruptcy records show. Randazzo declined an interview request to comment on the companies or to elucidate what he sees as the PUCO’s mission. Ohio Consumers’ Counsel Bruce Weston, the state’s voice for residential utility consumers, has been pushing to reform the nomination process for the PUCO, noting that the majority of commission members are either former employees of power companies or have represented them. And while Randazzo has not always been at odds with consumer advocates, his long opposition to renewable energy is making its mark in Ohio regulatory decisions. Randazzo told state lawmakers during his 2019 confirmation hearing that as a commissioner he would have no view for or against any particular technology — despite a pattern of publicly criticizing renewable energy. As chair of the Public Utilities Commission, he testified before lawmakers last year on Ohio House Bill 6, which authorized subsidies for nuclear and coal generation but basically gutted the state’s renewable energy and energy efficiency standards. His comments stressed the cost of the standards but not their benefits. In his introduction to the February 2018 report on Ohio utility rate plans prepared for the Industrial Energy Users-Ohio, Randazzo characterized renewable energy as unreliable and government mandates as a waste of money.
Governor was warned of would-be regulator's ties to utility (AP) — Gov. Mike DeWine disregarded cries of alarm in early 2019 from consumer and environmental advocates, concerns echoed in a previously undisclosed last-minute plea from GOP insiders, when he was selecting the state’s top utility regulator — a man now under scrutiny as a wide-ranging bribery and corruption investigation roils Ohio. Nearly two years later, the Republican governor continues to defend his choice of Samuel Randazzo as the powerful chair of the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio, and many of those early critics insist it was a mistake to disregard their concerns. “We understood that he had worked for manufacturing companies; we also understood that he had done work for FirstEnergy,” DeWine said this week in an interview with Associated Press reporters. “Those were all things that we knew. He was picked because of his expertise and vast knowledge in this area. So that’s pretty much what we knew, so there was no secret.” Randazzo, 71, had deep business ties with the state’s largest electric utility and had long been hostile to the development of wind and solar power, making him unsuitable for the role, critics warned early on. In mid-November, FBI agents searched Randazzo’s home in Columbus. The utility, FirstEnergy Corp., revealed several days later in a quarterly report that it was investigating a payment of about $4 million that top executives made to the consulting firm of an Ohio government official meeting Randazzo’s description. DeWine said this week that Randazzo did not disclose, and the governor did not know of, the FirstEnergy consulting payment until the company reported it to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. FirstEnergy’s quarterly report said it had not determined if the funds “were for the purposes represented within the consulting agreement.” The first-term governor’s latest comments are largely in line with his initial reaction to FBI interest in Randazzo. A day after federal agents searched Randazzo’s home Nov. 16, DeWine told reporters: “I hired him. I think he’s a good person. If there’s evidence to the contrary, we’ll act accordingly.”
Canfield woman appointed to Ohio’s Advisory Council on Oil and Gas - (WKBN) – A Canfield woman has been appointed by Governor Mike DeWine to serve on the state’s Technical Advisory Council on Oil and Gas. Jackie Stewart will begin her term Nov. 9 and will serve until Jan. 31, 2023. The role of the council is to review and make recommendations regarding mandatory pooling requests, variance requests and to advise on matters pertaining to oil and gas production, drilling, plugging and exploration. According to the Ohio Department of Natural Resources, the eight-member council includes three members that must represent independent oil and gas producers operating and producing primarily in Ohio, three members must represent oil or gas producers having substantial production in Ohio and at least one other state, one member must represent the public, and one member must represent persons having landowner royalty interests in oil and gas production. The council holds quarterly meetings.
The Climate Aspect of Plastics (and Other Nasty Tidbits of the Cycle) - While the oil patch has been involved in petrochemicals for years, the expansion of plastics production could present a major problem going forward. Shell Oil has under construction a massive cracking facility in western Pennsylvania. Cracking is the process that turns wet gas derived from unconventional fracked wells into a feedstock for plastic pellet production. The pellets are then turned into anything made from plastic these days. ExxonMobil for years has been debating a plant across the river in Belmont, Ohio, for the same purpose. Several other chemical companies have announced plans in the Ohio River Valley for similar facilities. Shell has proposed a pipeline called ASH, the Appalachian Storage Hub, to collect this wet gas from different areas in the Marcellus and Utica shale formation to be used as a feedstock for plastic production. Down in Cancer Alley in Louisiana, expansion is occurring there with Formosa taking over a sugarcane field to construct a cracking facility as was reported on NBC National News. This is where the climate consequences of continued use of plastics comes into play. There has been a number floated around that I have never seen anybody debate or shoot down, that it takes 1,000 new unconventional gas wells to supply one of these new cracking facilities. This will lead to the expansion of fracking in different areas, not only in the Marcellus Shale and the Utica Shale formations the area I am most familiar with and where most of my data comes from, but also in the Permian Basin in order to supply the new facilities along the Gulf Coast. Increased fracking leads to increased methane production and increased contamination in groundwater. In the case of the Formosa facility in Louisiana, a decrease in the productivity of agricultural lands. More health problems within communities living near these facilities will be experienced both from the fracked wells and also emissions near and downwind of these cracking facilities as they will be releasing a good bit of pollutants into the air, and more greenhouse gas emissions.
Pa. shale gas permitting continues to fall in November - Permits for shale gas wells in Pennsylvania dropped 57% year over year in November, according to the latest state data, continuing a decline in the state's drilling activity that began in April after the bust in the oil markets. November's 17% decline from October's numbers was led by a drop-off in permitting activity in the wet gas counties of Greene and Washington, south of Pittsburgh. Washington County issued just two new drilling permits, to Range Resources Corp. and EQT Corp., an 89% decline from November 2019, according to the Department of Environmental Protection's database Dec. 7. The state's top five producers — EQT, Range, Cabot Oil & Gas Corp., Chesapeake Energy Corp. and Southwestern Energy Co. — pulled 56% of the state's November permits, while publicly traded operators accounted for 78% of the month's permits. While gas prices at the benchmark Henry Hub hovered near $3/MMBtu for the coming winter most of this year, they collapsed in November, losing roughly 50 cents/MMBtu as storage levels stayed high and demand was capped by warmer-than-normal weather. The state's public operators have been skeptical that the $3/MMBtu mark for 2021 futures prices could be sustained and kept telling investors they would stick with drilling plans that kept production flat. "We think a maintenance program is appropriate at this stage," Cabot Chairman, President and CEO Dan Dinges told analysts on the company's Oct. 30 third-quarter earnings conference call. "Right now, the early winter season … there is still a couple of hundred Bcf over comparison between this year's storage levels and the five-year average and last year's storage levels. … So, I think that from our perspective, and looking at what's prudent for the health of Cabot and this industry, that we are better served to stick with a maintenance capital program."
Review of shale gas well at Edgar Thomson steel mill site suspended -The state Department of Environmental Protection has suspended its review of a proposal to drill a deep shale gas well on U.S. Steel Corp.’s Edgar Thomson steel mill property along the Monongahela River in East Pittsburgh and North Versailles. Consideration of the required permits was halted by the DEP because Merrion Oil & Gas has failed to obtain local zoning permits for the project that was first proposed in 2017. The controversial well project, which the Pittsburgh-based steelmaker intends to use to provide a dedicated, low-cost supply of natural gas to its Mon Valley Works mills, is opposed by some residents and environmental organizations because of safety and health concerns. According to the DEP permit applications, the project would disturb 13.4 acres for construction of an unconventional gas well pad, two access roads, five freshwater storage tanks, a 2,770-foot natural gas pipeline and a 2,990-foot freshwater pipeline. Merrion, a company headquartered in New Mexico, was informed of the DEP’s decision to suspend the permit review process in a Dec. 8 letter from Scott Perry, DEP deputy secretary for the Office of Oil and Gas Management. In the letter, Mr. Perry wrote the department was suspending its review “unless and until Merrion obtains zoning approval from the appropriate governmental entity to construct and operate the facility.” The company’s plans show it could drill up to 18 wells on one pad within the 145-year-old steel mill’s industrial footprint. Each well would have been approximately 6,700 feet deep with horizontal laterals in the Marcellus shale formation extending out almost two miles under residential areas of Mon Valley communities.
Transco urges court to dismiss nuns' religious freedom lawsuit over pipeline - Transcontinental Gas Pipe Line Company (Transco) is urging a federal judge in Pennsylvania to toss a lawsuit by Catholic nuns who say the company should pay them damages for defiling the sacred nature of their property in eastern Pennsylvania with a natural gas pipeline it built there. Transco, a unit of Williams Cos Inc, asked the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania on Wednesday to dismiss claims by the Adorers of the Blood of Christ, a religious order whose sisters say that the building of a section of the Atlantic Sunrise Pipeline on their land in Lancaster County violates their religious practice under the Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA). To read the full story on Westlaw Today, click here: bit.ly/2W2HquD
Fracking Sites Tied to Increased Heart Failure Hospitalizations - Living near hydraulic fracturing is associated with increased risk of hospitalization in people with heart failure (HF), a new study from Pennsylvania suggests.The link was strongest among those with more severe heart failure but patients with either HF phenotype showed this association of increased risk with exposure to fracking activities, according to the investigators, led by Tara P. McAlexander, PhD, MPH, Drexel University Dornsife School of Public Health in Philadelphia."Our understanding has expanded well beyond the famous Harvard Six Cities study to know that it's not just a short-term uptick in air pollution that's going to send someone to the hospital a couple days later," said McAlexander interview, referring to the study conducted from the mid-1970s through 1991. "We know that people who live in these environments and are exposed for long periods of time may have long-term detrimental effects." Although questions remain about specific mechanisms and how best to assess exposure, the evidence is mounting in a way that is consistent with the biologic hypotheses of how fracking would adversely affect health, McAlexander said. "We have many studies now on adverse pregnancy and birth outcomes, and that's just the tip of the iceberg." Pennsylvania is a hot spot for fracking, also known as unconventional natural gas development (UNGD), with more than 12,000 wells drilled in the Marcellus shale since 2004. The shale extends from upstate New York in the north to northeastern Kentucky and Tennessee in the south and covers about 72,000 square miles. Last year, Pennsylvania pledged $3 million to study clusters of rare pediatric cancers and asthma near fracking operations. A recent grand jury report concluded government officials failed to protect residents from the health effects of fracking. Fracking involves a cascade of activities that can trigger neural circuitry, sympathetic activation, and inflammation — all well-known pathways that potentiate heart failure, said Sanjay Rajagopalan, MD, who has researched the health effects of air pollution for two decades and was not involved with the study. "If you think about it, it's like environmental perturbation on steroids in some ways where they are pulling the trigger from a variety of different ways: noise, air pollution, social displacement, psychosocial impacts, economic disparities. So it's not at all surprising that they saw an association," said Rajagopalan, chief of cardiovascular medicine, University Hospitals Harrington Heart & Vascular Institute, and director of the Case Western Cardiovascular Research Institute in Cleveland, Ohio.
Trump admin wants Supreme Court to take pipeline battle -- Friday, December 11, 2020 -- The Trump administration is calling for the Supreme Court to weigh in on whether the developers of the PennEast natural gas pipeline had the right to seize state-controlled land to build their project in New Jersey.
Fears for safety and climate surround LNG export terminal planned on the Delaware - Plans for a new half-billion-dollar liquefied natural gas export terminal on the Delaware River in South Jersey could be greenlighted by the Delaware River Basin Commission on Wednesday. But opponents say they will challenge the LNG project in federal court, and they’ve gained the support of Hollywood stars like Leonardo DeCaprio and Mark Ruffalo, along with climate leaders like Bill McKibben. One of the people planning to testify at the hearing is Vanessa Keegan, who lives in the small Gloucester County community of Gibbstown. Keegan and her boyfriend, who have three sons between them and work in the restaurant industry, saved up enough to buy their home just a few blocks away from the planned export terminal more than a year ago. She learned about the terminal from a neighbor. “We’re killing our planet. That’s the big existential thing,” said Keegan, who since the pandemic quit her job so she could help with remote learning for her 3-year-old son and 10-year-old niece. “But me personally, you are putting my family in danger. If an accident happens with [liquefied natural gas], we don’t get to show up the next day and say, ‘Look, I told you so.’ We won’t be here. My neighbors won’t be here. This neighborhood will not be here. That’s terrifying.” Pennsylvania’s shale gas is so abundant and cheap right now, producers need to find new markets overseas. The developer of the project, Delaware River Partners, a subsidiary of New Fortress Energy, wants to build the export terminal on the site of a former DuPont dynamite manufacturing plant. The overall plan would ship gas from Pennsylvania’s Marcellus Shale to a new liquefaction plant in Bradford County, where refrigeration units would chill it to negative-260 degrees Fahrenheit to turn it into a liquid. The part of the plan that scares a lot of people like Keegan is the transport. LNG would be shipped 200 miles south down the I-95 corridor by truck and/or rail through some of the most densely populated areas of the East Coast to Gibbstown. Trucks or rail cars full of flammable liquefied natural gas would roll about a block and a half away from Keegan’s home. The company secured a special permit from the federal Pipeline Hazardous Material Safety Administration to move the LNG by rail. The permit allows two 100-car trains to transport the gas each day. It’s the longest permitted LNG rail route in the country because, until recently, using trains to transport LNG required that rarely issued special permit.
Wrong place, wrong time for LNG terminal | Philadelphia Inquirer Editorial - The Delaware River Basin Commission appears ready to green light a liquefied natural gas (LNG) export terminal at a deep-water port in Gibbstown, N.J., resuming what environmental advocates call a less-than-transparent process. The proposed facility would operate on a PCB-contaminated site that was formerly used for manufacturing explosives. Fracked gas produced near Scranton would be transported by rail or truck through densely populated parts of the Philadelphia region to Gibbstown, then loaded on ships bound for markets abroad. Approval would be a win for the developer New Fortress Energy, which has been linked to President Donald Trump, and for the fossil fuel industry — at a time when the destructive impacts of climate change have never been more apparent. A yes vote also clears the way for construction of a second dock to help serve either 300 tanker trucks, or two trains each carrying as much as three million gallons of super-cooled LNG, that would arrive at Gibbstown daily from upstate Pennsylvania. Supporters of the project dismiss fears of so-called ”bomb trains” as overblown, and cite projections of 300 construction jobs and as many as 150 permanent jobs in Gibbstown. Another 500 construction and 50 permanent jobs could be created by an LNG facility being built in Wyalusing, Pa. The Trump administration backs fracking and exporting natural gas, and issued a special permit for a Wyalusing-Gibbstown rail route, and has encouraged the use of specialized rail cars nationally as alternatives to pipelines. Other supporters point out the importance of natural gas in the economy of Pennsylvania, currently the second-biggest producing state in a country facing a glut of the fuel.But more than 100 local, regional, and national advocacy groups, as well as some elected officials in the four states, have questioned the project. A letter issued last week by the Natural Resources Defense Council raised concerns that dredging a 45-acre area of the river to construct the second dock would disperse legacy pollutants, including potentially carcinogenic PCBs, into the water.The Delaware Riverkeeper Network also released a letter from 26 Pennsylvania elected officials, including members of the state legislature and Philadelphia City Council, urging the commission to reject the project because the proposed train route would carry hazardous cargo daily through densely populated neighborhoods, including Black and brown communities. The election of Biden represents an inflection point in this country, especially for climate change and the environment. We can begin to undo the damage of decades — especially heightened in the last four years — and begin to rewrite our reliance on fossil fuels. A yes vote on this project would keep us in the past. The Gibbstown LNG terminal should be voted down.
Enviros fight to take LNG battle to federal court - Environmentalists were dismayed by the Delaware River Basin Commission’s approval on Wednesday of a plan to build New Jersey’s first liquefied natural gas export terminal but they say the fight isn’t over yet. Opponents are now vowing to appeal the vote in federal court while asking state and federal agencies to take another look at some permits that have already been issued and hoping that other still-needed permits won’t be granted. But absent a court injunction soon, it’s not clear whether environmental groups will be able to stop the start of construction of a dock at Gibbstown in Gloucester County, where LNG from Pennsylvania would be loaded on to ocean-going tankers. New Jersey State Geologist Jeff Hoffman, representing Gov. Phil Murphy on the commission, joined Pennsylvania, Delaware and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in voting to approve the plan. New York abstained after its representative, Ken Kosinski, unsuccessfully proposed that the commission delay a decision pending an analysis of the project’s effects on water quality and climate change. The vote approved a resolution concluding that dock construction would not “substantially” impair or conflict with the commission’s responsibility for maintaining water quality in the river now or in the future. The decision of DRBC, an interstate water regulator, to give its final go-ahead for construction was a major blow for environmental groups who gathered more than 100,000 signatures from all four basin states calling on the agency to reject the project. The plan by Delaware River Partners, a unit of New Fortress Energy, would ship super-cooled natural gas from a planned liquefaction plant in northern Pennsylvania via truck or train some 175 miles to the Gibbstown port, which is being built on the site of a former DuPont munitions factory.
ENERGY TRANSITIONS: Battle reignites over first East Coast gas bans -- Tuesday, December 8, 2020 -- Massachusetts officials are reviving what would be the East Coast's first ban on natural gas in buildings, months after the state attorney general struck it down.
Natural gas-fired generation has increased in most U.S. regions since 2015 - Natural gas-fired generation has generally increased in most U.S. regions since 2015, according to data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration’s (EIA) Power Plant Operations Report. Annual electricity generation from natural gas power plants in the United States increased by 31% in the Northeast region, by 20% in the Central region, and by 17% in the South region between 2015 and 2019. In the West region of the continental United States, electric power generation from natural gas power plants remained relatively flat during the same period. Through November 2020, the Central, South, and Northeast regions have generated similar amounts of electricity from natural gas power plants. Of these regions, the Central region, which includes three independent system operators, had the largest seasonal summer peak in natural gas-fired generation, reaching 53 million megawatthours (MWh) for the month of July 2020, which is 37% more than the 2015 summer peak month. Growing natural gas-fired generation reflects an increase in natural gas-fired generating capacity. Between 2015 and 2019, nearly 35 gigawatts (GW) of net summer capacity entered service, according to EIA’s latest Electric Power Annual, which was an 11% increase during that five-year period. Most of this new natural gas-fired capacity was added in the Northeast region, particularly in the PJM Interconnection. The largest increases in U.S. natural gas-fired generation have occurred in the Central and Northeast regions, near the natural gas production area in Appalachia in states such as Ohio, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia. Relatively low natural gas prices have made it more economical to generate electricity using natural gas instead of coal. This trend has been most pronounced in regions with competition between coal and natural gas generators, particularly in the Midcontinent Independent System Operator's (MISO) area in the Central region and the PJM Interconnection in the Northeast region. When natural gas and coal are similarly priced on a cost-per-energy-content basis, most natural gas-fired generators can produce electricity more efficiently than coal-fired generators, providing an economic advantage in electricity markets.In the West region, growth in natural gas-fired generation declined 1% between 2015 and 2019. Natural gas-fired generation over that period in California declined 30 million MWh (29%), offsetting the combined growth of 28 million MWh in natural gas-fired generation from the Northwest and Southwest subregions.
Harrison County (West Virginia) Commission to consider extension of agreement with developer of proposed natural gas-fired power plant -- The Harrison County Commission on Wednesday will consider an extension of an option to purchase property at the site of a proposed natural gas-fired power plant in Harrison County. In addition, commissioners will consider proposals for construction oversight on the general services annex project and an interest-free loan request from a municipality for a water project. An option to purchase property that would allow ESC Harrison County Power to purchase property at the proposed site of the approximately 550-megawatt natural gas-fired Harrison County Power Plant, a joint project of Energy Solutions Consortium and Caithness Energy, is set to expire at the end of the calendar year. The terms of the option are laid out in two separate agreements — one between the Harrison County Commission and the Harrison County Development Authority, and the other between the development authority and Energy Solutions Consortium Harrison County Power LLC.
Federal regulators are rewriting environmental rules so a massive pipeline can be built across West Virginia -Last month, a federal appeals court blocked one of the key permits for construction of a massive natural gas pipeline that cuts through West Virginia and that industry officials and their political allies in the state are desperate to see completed.The 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals found that environmental groups are likely to prevail in a case arguing federal and state regulators wrongly approved the Mountain Valley Pipeline through a streamlined review process for which the project isn’t eligible.If this sounds familiar, it is. A strikingly similar thing happened two years ago.In October 2018, the same appeals court blocked the same $5.4 billion pipeline because the developer’s plan to temporarily dam four West Virginia rivers didn’t meet special restrictions that state regulators had put on the streamlined approval process.But rather than pausing or rethinking the project at the time, the state Department of Environmental Protection rewrote its construction standards so that the pipeline would qualify.After their most recent court loss, West Virginia officials are once again rewriting their restrictions to help pave the way for the pipeline to qualify for that streamlined permitting process.“Here we go again,” citizen group lawyer Derek Teaney wrote in frustration in the latest of a series of legal challenges to the government agencies that have bent environmental standards for the pipeline.When it is built, the Mountain Valley Pipeline, known as MVP, will transport natural gas from Wetzel County, near West Virginia’s Northern Panhandle, to Pittsylvania County, Virginia, crossing 200 miles in West Virginia and 100 miles in Virginia. The project is one of several large transmission pipelines in the works across Appalachia, part of the rush to market natural gas from drilling and production in the Marcellus Shale formation.Political leaders and business boosters in West Virginia have been big supporters of such projects, hoping that the rise of natural gas would replace jobs and tax revenues lost as the coal industry declines. But some state residents worry that West Virginia’s drive to encourage gas comes with the same environmental costs as its historic dependence on coal. So far, the promise that natural gas would bring an economic renaissance to West Virginia has not come true.
US natural gas futures slide over 6pc on milder weather, higher output -- US natural gas futures dropped more than 6% to a two-month low on Monday, weighed down by forecasts for warmer-than-usual weather that could result in lower heating demand over the next two weeks amid a steady rise in production. Front-month gas futures for January delivery fell 16.9 cents, or 6.6%, to settle at $2.406 per million British thermal units. The contract touched its lowest since Oct. 2 at $2.381 earlier in the session. "The weather outlook for the rest of December is forecasted to be above normal and there is very little buy-side interest in the market," said Robert DiDona of Energy Ventures Analysis, adding "the other major bearish market driver is total net supply." "When you combine the warmer than normal weather outlook for the rest of December, resilient production estimates and elevated storage levels you find little room for upside for the next two weeks which results in little to no bid-side interest from market participant." Data provider Refinitiv estimated 321 heating degree days (HDDs) over the next two weeks in the Lower 48 US states, well below the 30-year average of 422. HDDs measure the number of degrees a day's average temperature is below 65 degrees Fahrenheit (18 degrees Celsius). The measure is used to estimate demand to heat homes and businesses. Refinitiv said output in the Lower 48 averaged 90.9 billion cubic feet per day (bcfd) so far in December. That compares with a seven-month high of 91.0 bcfd in November 2020. "In the absence of some bullish weather forecasts, this market may need to price in some further expansion in the supply surplus that has stretched considerably in recent weeks." advisory firm Ritterbusch and Associates said in a note. Despite mild December forecasts, Refinitiv predicted demand, including exports, would rise to an average of 117.8 billion cubic feet per day (bcfd) this week from 113.4 bcfd in the prior week. The amount of gas flowing to US LNG export plants, meanwhile, rose to an average of 10.4 bcfd so far in December, which would top November's 9.8-bcfd record.
Natural Gas Futures Slip Again and ‘Widow-Maker’ Flips Negative as Traders Losing Hope in Winter WeatherEven with a brief cold blast sneaking back into the December forecast, natural gas futures moved lower again on Tuesday. With a key spread flipping to negative, traders appeared to have closed the book on winter with weeks to go before the first verse of Auld Lang Syne is sung. The January Nymex contract settled at $2.399, off seventh-tenths of a cent day/day. February fell 1.1 cents to $2.422. Spot gas prices were mixed Tuesday but most market hubs posted small changes day to day. NGI’s Spot Gas National Avg. slipped 2.0 cents to $2.385. The price action in the cash market may be temporary as milder weather is on tap for later this week, with potential downside possibly spilling over to the Nymex futures curve. Mobius Risk Group said even with little risk of having “too much gas” at the end of winter, the speculative community remained considerably long and traders looking to exit positions could drive prices lower. The latest Commodity Futures Trading Commission data showed the market as of Dec. 1 was 10,000 lots longer than it was the prior week and well above what would be deemed “equilibrium.” Weather continues to “drive the bus,” according to Mobius, at least until storage inventory numbers show a weather-adjusted tightness which cannot be ignored, “or until the blow torch of a winter eases up.” NatGasWeather said the overnight and latest midday weather data failed to trend meaningfully colder for the coming 15 days, with only a brief period Dec. 14-15 being close to cold enough to satisfy. What continues to make the coming pattern “emphatically bearish,” according to the forecaster, is the back end of the 15-day forecast remains solidly warmer than normal over vast stretches of the United States.
US natgas futures up near 2pc on record LNG exports, rising demand - US natural gas futures rose almost 2% on Wednesday from a 10-week low in the prior session, lifted by record liquefied natural gas (LNG) exports and forecasts for a slight increase in heating demand next week. That move higher came despite forecasts confirming earlier calls for the weather to remain warmer than normal through late December. Front-month gas futures rose 4.3 cents, or 1.8%, to settle at $2.442 per million British thermal units. On Tuesday, the contract closed at its lowest since Sept. 28 for a second day in a row. Even though it's only December, gas traders said mild weather over the past month caused the 2021 March-April spread to switch from backwardation to an unusual contango, a sign that some in the market have already given up on this winter. Data provider Refinitiv said output in the Lower 48 US states averaged 90.8 billion cubic feet per day (bcfd) so far in December. That compares with a seven-month high of 91.0 bcfd in November 2020 and an all-time monthly high of 95.4 bcfd in November 2019. Despite mild December forecasts, Refinitiv projected demand, including exports, would rise from 118.4 bcfd this week to 119.9 bcfd next week due to the usual seasonal cooling of the weather. The amount of gas flowing to US LNG export plants, meanwhile, rose to an average of 10.8 bcfd so far in December, which would top November's 9.8-bcfd record. That increase comes as the third train at Cheniere Energy Inc's Corpus Christi plant in Texas prepares to enter commercial service and as rising prices in Europe and Asia prompt buyers to purchase more US gas.
US working natural gas volumes in underground storage fall 91 Bcf: EIA | S&P Global Platts — US natural gas storage volumes fell at a higher rate for the week ended Dec. 4 than most of the market expected, while the remaining Henry Hub winter strip and the summer strip both jumped by an average of 10 cents following the weekly estimate. Storage inventories decreased by 91 Bcf to 3.848 Tcf the US Energy Information Administration reported Dec. 10. The withdrawal was much higher than an S&P Global Platts survey of analysts calling for a 78 Bcf pull. Responses to the survey ranged from a 65 to a 95 Bcf withdrawal. This was also stronger than the 57 Bcf draw reported during the same week last year as well as the five-year average withdrawal of 61 Bcf, according to EIA data. Storage volumes now stand 309 Bcf, or 8.7%, more than the 3.539 Tcf a year earlier and 260 Bcf, or 7.2%, above five-year average of 3.588 Tcf. The NYMEX Henry Hub January contract jumped 12 cents to $2.57/MMBtu in trading following the release of the weekly storage report at 10:30 am ET. The remaining winter strip, February and March, added 11 cents to average $2.68/MMBtu, an increase of 15 cents from one a week earlier, but still well below the $3/MMBtu averaged during most of October. Natural gas prices remained soft entering into the EIA report, with the prompt-month January contract remaining below $2.50/MMBtu. Moreover, the winter premium has been completely removed from the NYMEX curve, as the March/April spread went negative this week. This is the earliest this spread has turned negative since the 2015 heating season. Bullish sentiment has eroded for more than a month now as very mild temperatures in November and a string of bearish EIA storage surprises dramatically reduced end-March stockout concerns. After the EIA report, natural gas prices jumped, with the January contract up roughly 12 cents day on day near $2.56/MMBtu. The rally was not just confined to the prompt contract. Summer 2021 prices also jumped between 10-12 cents/MMBtu following the report. The week in progress has tightened as colder temperatures boosted residential and commercial demand by nearly 4 Bcf/d on the week, according to S&P Global Platts Analytics. Moreover, increased electric space heating loads and lower wind output caused thermal loads to increase on the week, propelling gas-fired power generation 1.5 Bcf/d higher. Stronger US demand was met with production shifting 800 MMcf/d lower on the week. Lower production was met with a 700 MMcf/d rise in net Canadian imports. Platts Analytics' supply and demand model currently forecasts a 125 Bcf withdrawal for the week ending Dec. 11, which would shrink the surplus versus the five-year average by an additional 20 Bcf as cooler temperatures spike US-level demand week over week.
US natgas futures jump over 4pc on big storage draw - US natural gas futures jumped over 4% on Thursday on a bigger-than-expected storage draw and forecasts for cooler weather and higher than anticipated heating demand over the next two weeks. The US Energy Information Administration said utilities pulled 91 billion cubic feet (bcf) of gas from storage during the week ended Dec. 4. Analysts said that big draw was likely due to record liquefied natural gas (LNG) exports and a small decline in output last week. That was higher than the 83-bcf decline analysts forecast in a Reuters poll and compares with a decrease of 57 bcf during the same week last year and a five-year (2015-19) average withdrawal of 61 bcf. Front-month gas futures rose 11.1 cents, or 4.5%, to settle at $2.553 per million British thermal units. That was the biggest daily percentage increase since Oct. 29. Data provider Refinitiv said output in the Lower 48 US states averaged 90.8 billion cubic feet per day so far in December. That compares with a seven-month high of 91.0 bcfd in November 2020 and an all-time monthly high of 95.4 bcfd in November 2019. Even though the weather is expected to remain milder than normal into late December, the latest forecasts called for slightly cooler temperatures over the next two weeks. That prompted Refinitiv to project demand, including exports, would rise more than previously expected to 120.4 bcfd next week from 118.6 bcfd this week. The amount of gas flowing to US LNG export plants, meanwhile, rose to an average of 10.8 bcfd so far in December, which would top November's 9.8-bcfd record.
Natural Gas Futures Notch Third Straight Gain on Chillier Weather Outlook -- It was a struggle, but natural gas bulls emerged victorious in sending natural gas futures higher on Friday to close out a volatile week. Given the tighter supply/demand balance, the more convincing cold outlook for the coming week lifted the January Nymex futures contract 3.8 cents to $2.591. February settled at $2.603, up 3.3 cents day/day. Cash prices also strengthened, with NGI’s Spot Gas National Avg. climbing 13.5 cents to $2.565. After recent weather model runs indicated the coming week could be colder than previously forecast, bulls attempted to ride the momentum from the latest government storage report. The Energy Information Administration (EIA) reported a larger-than-expected 91 Bcf withdrawal from storage inventories during the week ending Dec. 4. The draw was several Bcf above the median of major surveys and a whopping 90 Bcf more than what was pulled from storage during Thanksgiving week. Analysts at The Schork Group “are of the strong opinion” that the 91 Bcf draw was a function of a “true-up” to the prior week’s abnormally small 1 Bcf pull. The Schork team noted that the winter withdrawal season has gotten off to a slow start across much of the Lower 48. The South Central region pulled a leading 32 Bcf out of storage that included 25 Bcf out of nonsalt facilities and 7 Bcf out of salts, according to EIA. The 7 Bcf draw from salts follows three straight injections and was the first pull since Nov. 6, The Schork Group said. The Midwest isn’t faring much better when it comes to reducing the massive storage overhang in the region.
Enbridge plans to seek dismissal of Gov. Whitmers order --Enbridge Energy plans to ask a federal judge to dismiss Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s order to shut down the controversial oil and natural gas liquids pipeline, Line 5.“Enbridge is advancing its case in federal court and continues to vigorously defend the validity of the Line 5 easement in the Straits of Mackinac and its right to operate the pipeline,” said Enbridge spokesman Ryan Duffy in a statement.The filing this week is essentially a notice to the judge and the state that it will seek a dismissal of Whitmer’s move to revoke Line 5′s easement to operate the pipeline in the Straits of Mackinac.As of right now, the Canadian company has until May 2021 to stop the flow of oil and natural gas through the line. Whitmer announced the shutdown of the line in November following a review by the Michigan Department of Natural Resources of Enbridge’s compliance with the easement.A portion of the 645-mile pipeline, which travels from Wisconsin to Ontario, across both Michigan peninsulas, runs through the Straits of Mackinac. Built in 1953, the line has been met with continued controversy and calls for its shutdown for years. Enbridge argues in a court filing that the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA), not the state, oversee and regulate the pipelines throughout the U.S., and the organization has said the pipelines are “fit for service.” Enbridge argues in its motion, the state is trying to improperly take over PHMSA’s regulatory role. But PHMSA “is the sole entity responsible for regulating pipeline safety uniformly, and thus expressly preempted states from imposing their own safety regulations,” the filing said.Whitmer’s office did not immediately return a request for comment. Enbridge had already filed an injunction asking a federal judge to block Whitmer’s order to shutdown the line. In a response statement to that filing, Whitmer said the legal challenge, “brazenly defies the people of Michigan and their right to protect the Great Lakes from a catastrophic oil spill.”Despite the ongoing litigation, Enbridge is still working to replace part of the line and house that section in a multi-use tunnel buried under the bedrock of the straits, which is the subject of other ongoing litigation.
Army Corps of Engineers takes comment on Line 5 tunnel proposal -The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers held a public comment period Monday as part of a review of Enbridge Energy’s permit for a tunnel to house a replacement section of the Line 5 pipeline beneath the Straits of Mackinac. As part of the process, the Army Corps will determine whether an additional environmental impact review of the project is necessary. According to the Corps, the governor’s recent announcement that she's revoking the easement for Line 5 has not terminated either state or federal reviews of the tunnel project. Whitney Gravelle is an attorney for the Bay Mills Indian Community. “Given the risks and harm to species, economy, wetlands, economy, cultural resources and most importantly Tribal Treaty rights which are the supreme law of the land, Line 5 is a pipeline that should be decommissioned as quickly as possible and a tunnel project that should not be granted a permit,” says Gravelle. Michael Alaimo is with the Michigan Chamber of Commerce, which supports the project. “The Great Lakes tunnel project will play a vital role in the process of job creation and energy security for years and decades to come. We strongly support its construction,” he says. In a statement, an Enbridge Energy spokesman said the public hearing "shows the process for approving our application with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) is moving forward in a timely manner. We support a thorough, robust regulatory process and believe a diversity of viewpoints and perspectives are important, and we welcome the wide-ranging public input that is part of the hearing." The public comment period for the application will end on December 17.
As Enbridge fights for Line 5, Indigenous activists block Line 3 construction in Minnesota - Gov. Gretchen Whitmer last month ordered Canadian oil company Enbridge’s easement with the state to be revoked, giving Enbridge until May to shut down its controversial Line 5 pipeline in the Mackinac Straits. Enbridge responded in full force with a lawsuit against the state. The outcome of that lawsuit, which will likely end up in the Michigan Supreme Court, could have far-reaching implications for states’ authority to regulate the oil pipelines within their borders. Meanwhile, in Minnesota, a parallel battle rages on. Like Line 5, Enbridge’s Line 3 pipeline has long been at the center of controversy and criticism — particularly by Indigenous peoples whose treaty-protected land and rights could be threatened by a pipeline rupture. Fervent activism and protest from tribal members and other “water protectors” came to a head Friday, when Anishinaabe people physically blocked construction of the replacement Line 3 pipeline at the shores of the Mississippi River. Enbridge received permitting approval from the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) last week and immediately started construction then. Opponents of the project filed a lawsuit challenging the action that same day. Line 3 snakes across Minnesota and converges with Line 5 in Northeast Wisconsin as part of Enbridge’s U.S. Mainline System. Both paths of the original pipeline and the replacement pipeline cross numerous tribal lands. Continuing efforts to block Enbridge machines in the area include tribal members performing Anishinaabe cultural practices like praying, smudging and making tobacco ties to demonstrate their treaty rights in the area. The lawsuit against the new Line 3, filed with the Court of Appeals Monday evening, raises concerns over MPCA’s consideration of climate and tribal impacts, as well as risks to the state’s wetlands and water quality. Petitioners of the suit included the Red Lake Band of Chippewa, the White Earth Band of Ojibwe, the Sierra Club, Friends of the Headwaters and Honor the Earth. “Some big questions need to be asked: What if the Appeals Court sides against Enbridge in the legal cases before it? What if the new Biden administration squashes this pipeline? What is Enbridge’s plan if its workforce gets coronavirus?”
Enbridge says it can keep COVID-19 at bay during Line 3 construction, but some worry project could drive cases in rural Minnesota As Enbridge Energy begins construction of the Line 3 oil pipeline across northern Minnesota, opponents of the project have asked Gov. Tim Walz to halt its progress due to the possibility that an influx of thousands of workers could spread COVID-19 in hard-hit rural areas. Enbridge and labor unions working on the $2.6 billion project contend they’re taking necessary precautions to keep COVID-19 at bay, recently putting out an updated plan for limiting spread of the disease, and the Walz administration has long held that construction personnel are essential workers, allowing the industry to operate through the pandemic. But the request for a halt in building Line 3 — made by environmental advocacy groups along with several tribal governments and some health professionals — has touched off a debate over the safety of moving ahead with one of the state’s biggest projects, one larger than the construction of the $1 billion U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis. Enbridge says the Line 3 project will create about 4,000 jobs over the course of construction, with about half of those positions being filled by local workers. The 36-inch pipeline will run 337 miles through northern Minnesota, ending at a terminal in Superior, Wisc. Enbridge spokeswoman Juli Kellner said about 1,600 people are already working on construction of Line 3, and Enbridge expects its workforce to ramp up over time and hit a peak near the end of January, according to documents the company filed with the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission (PUC). Pipeline opponents have said a rush of workers living in close quarters throughout the region could accelerate COVID-19 spread and strain the health care system in regions that have already been pummeled by the pandemic. Line 3 will cross parts of 13 counties in northern Minnesota, ten of which were above the statewide average for cases per 10,000 residents in mid-November, which is the most recent data available from the state. Several of those 13 pipeline counties have seen a large spike in deaths in November and early December. Hubbard County, for instance, had four deaths between March and Oct. 29, but had reported 31 total deaths through Sunday. Aitkin County had reported just two deaths by Oct. 29 but had reported 30 total deaths through Sunday.
Regulators vote against a stay on Enbridge pipeline with construction underway - State regulators declined Friday to grant a stay on construction of Enbridge's new pipeline across northern Minnesota, leaving little recourse to stop work on the $2.6 billion project while court appeals of key approvals and permits are pending. "Operation of the existing Line 3 is more likely to cause harm than construction of the project," said Minnesota Public Utilities Commissioner Valerie Means, explaining her vote against the stay. "The commission has determined that replacing an old, aging pipeline is the safest option for protecting the environment and Minnesota communities." The move came on a day when about 1,000 workers were ending the first week of work and protesters gathered at two work sites. A pair of protesters camped out in trees in Aitkin County and dozens gathered at a job site near Cloquet to disagree with that sentiment as the legal means of stopping the pipeline are now in the hands of the slow-moving Court of Appeals. It could be several weeks at a minimum before the court could intervene in the project and months before the case is decided. "The PUC's predictable actions today again demonstrate that the regulatory process in Minnesota is brazenly pro-oil industry," said Indigenous activist Winona LaDuke, who joined several other self-described "water protectors" near a planned Mississippi River pipeline crossing on Friday. "Without a stay, Line 3 would be constructed before the court could determine if the PUC broke the law, making the case moot." One of the protesters who climbed a tree set to be cleared to make way for the pipeline, 22-year-old Liam DelMain of Minneapolis, said: "I am here, putting my body on the line, because I have been left with no other choices." The commission issued its final approvals for the Line 3 replacement project earlier this year — and a final construction OK earlier this week after key permits were approved last month. The project had been winding its way through the regulatory process for nearly six years. The vote Friday was at the behest of the Red Lake Band of Chippewa and White Earth Band of Ojibwe. Enbridge began construction on the Minnesota portion of the pipeline this week after receiving its final permit on Monday. The portions in Canada, North Dakota and Wisconsin are already built. Already, about 1,000 workers have reported to job sites along the 340-mile route across northern Minnesota, and 1,000 more are expected to start work next week.
Indigenous-Led Water Protectors Take Direct Action Against Minnesota Tar Sands Pipeline -- Indigenous-led water protectors on Friday engaged in multiple direct actions against Enbridge's highly controversial Line 3 tar sands pipeline in Minnesota, on the same day that state regulators denied a request from two tribes to stop the Canadian company from proceeding with the project. Water protectors blocked pipeline traffic and climbed and occupied trees as part of Friday's actions. Urging other Indigenous peoples and allies to "take a stand," the Anishinaabe activists at one of the protests told other Native Americans that "your ancestors are here too." "Take a moment to speak to her, our Mother Earth is crying out for the warriors to rise again," they said. "Strong hearts to the front!" In a statement, Line 3 Media Collective said that the pipeline "violates the treaty rights of Anishinaabe peoples by endangering critical natural resources in the 1854, 1855, and 1867 treaty areas, where the Ojibwe have the right to hunt, fish, gather medicinal plants, harvest wild rice, and preserve sacred sites." BREAKING: Two water protectors in trees block Enbridge from constructing a Line 3 drill pad under the Mississippi R… https://t.co/hr9raw4X0b "The state of Minnesota does not have the consent of many tribes that will be impacted by construction and spills," the group added. "Last week, the Red Lake Band of Chippewa and the White Earth Band petitioned the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission to pause its approval of Line 3 construction while challenges to the permits are considered by the Minnesota Court of Appeals." On Friday, the MPUC voted 4-1 to reject the tribes' request. According to The Washington Post,the commissioners said that further delays would hurt workers who had traveled to northern Minnesota. They also cited Democratic Gov. Tim Walz's designation of the project as "critical" during the coronavirus pandemic. On Thursday, the Minnesota Chippewa Tribe (MCT) appealed directly to Walz: Indian people have lived along the lakes, rivers, and streams of northern Minnesota since time immemorial. The people of the MCT have flourished in the area for centuries due to the careful conservation of our resources. Clean water and unpolluted land capable of providing sustenance is essential to our survival... [and] Line 3 poses an existential threat to our well-being. The vote and the water protectors' latest act of resistance come just two days after construction began on the$2.9 billion, 1,100-mile extension. According to Indigenous-led environmental group Honor the Earth, the pipeline will have the daily capacity to transport 760,000 barrels of tar sands oil — known as the world's dirtiest fuel — from Alberta, Canada to a port in Superior, Wisconsin. Stop Line 3 says the pipeline will run "through untouched wetlands and the treaty territory of Anishinaabe peoples." "We have the right to practice our treaty rights," stressed Gitchigumi Scout member Taysha Martineau, one of the Indigenous leaders at the Friday action. "We ask you to bear witness and protect our right to do so."
Enbridge holds virtual event as Minnesota Line 3 replacement project gets underway — Enbridge staff and supporters took a virtual victory lap Thursday, Dec. 10, as construction on Line 3 gets underway in Minnesota.In a digital construction kick-off event, elected officials and Enbridge leadership spoke about their excitement in getting the work started and the expected impact on the economy. The event comes after Enbridge received the last of its needed permits last month after about six years of review and legal work.Enbridge's project will build a new oil pipeline to replace the current Line 3, which was installed in the 1960s. Currently, the existing pipeline is operating at half capacity because of its age and condition.Unlike the existing pipeline's 34-inch diameter, the new Line 3 will be 36 inches. More than 1,000 miles long, the new pipeline will carry an average of 760,000 barrels of oil per day from Edmonton, Alberta to Superior, Wis., where a terminal is located. In Minnesota, 337 miles of pipeline will be installed."The Line 3 replacement project is a safety driven project and it's the largest in our history, spanning over 1,000 miles on both sides of the U.S.-Canada border," Leo Golden, vice president of the Line 3 replacement project, said during Thursday's event. "Almost 700 miles of the pipeline are already in service and operating safely. We're about to take that experience and build on our success as we start construction in Minnesota."
Protesters hang on as construction continues on Line 3 pipeline project | MPR News -- Liam Delmain has been living in a tree above the construction zone for the Line 3 pipeline for a week. “I’m hanging in there,” they said, and they are, literally. Their home is platform suspended in a poplar tree dozens of feet off the ground, on an easement about a quarter mile from where the pipeline is supposed to pass underneath the Mississippi River. The easement consists of land running east to west, which has been stripped of its trees and brush, save for the stand where Delmain’s and another activist’s platforms hang. Heavy machinery operators toil beneath during the daylight hours, laying down matting for a drill that will push the pipeline under the river. “The machines are really, really loud. There’s beeping and big engines and motors, and scraping and crashing. I hear trunks snapping and chainsaws. The sonic landscape feels really violent,” Delmain said. “I take a deep sigh of relief every evening when all the machines leave and I can just sit in peace.” Other activists calling themselves water protectors are camped just across the easement. They keep Delmain company by talking and singing with them, but can’t approach the tree without an escort from police. Others chain themselves to construction equipment and trespass to attempt to disrupt construction. “It’s weird when I sit in my sleeping bag all day and my friends on the ground are running onto sites and people are doing lockdowns and protests … it’s a little isolating,” they said. Delmain, who uses they, them pronouns, grew up on the shores of Lake Superior, and so they feel connected to Minnesota’s waterways, especially the Mississippi River. They spent 100 days paddling the river in college, a crucial experience in building their views on climate activism. Occupying a tree was a way to put their body on the line for the health of others. “This pipeline project is really just a continuation of colonial violence and genocide against Indigenous peoples,” Delmain said. Tree sitting is not their first entry into action around Line 3 and climate change activism. Delmain participated in campaigns to block the pipeline through the regulatory process, and watched those efforts fail to halt the project. “We can stop this pipeline, we will stop this pipeline and this is how we’re going to do it.”
Enbridge sets high bar to build pipelines as big projects get riskier - Enbridge Inc. says it will need to be paid a higher “risk premium” to undertake major, capital intensive crude oil pipelines in future. Enbridge chief executive officer Al Monaco told investors during a conference call Tuesday that it has become more difficult to build major oil pipelines, which are “bigger, longer-lead-time, high-capital-intensity projects,” as governments transition towards less carbon-intensive forms of energy. “We’ve been doing this for a little while now, we’ve got to include an additional risk premium to account for those risks,” Monaco said. Monaco’s remarks on risk premiums come as Calgary-based Enbridge, North America’s largest pipeline company, disclosed that expected costs for the final segment of the Line 3 pipeline replacement would rise from a previous target of US$2.9 billion, to account for expensive winter construction and to comply with COVID-19 regulations. The company recently began work on Line 3 in Minnesota after receiving long-awaited state and federal permits.The total cost of the 370,000-barrel per day Alberta-to-Wisconsin project had been pegged at $9 billion, or US$6.7 billion, but the Minnesota portion has been delayed, with new costs expected to be unveiled by the first quarter of 2021. Enbridge expects the pipeline to ship first oil by the fourth quarter of 2021.In addition to Line 3, Enbridge is dealing with challenges on plans to replace its Line 5 pipeline through Michigan, where Governor Gretchen Whitmer has served the company notice that her office is pulling a critical easement for an existing pipeline in the state.Enbridge is preparing to fight the cancellation of the easement in court and has previously won legal battles to shut down the line, which supplies most of Michigan’s propane demand and sends light oil to refineries in Southern Ontario.While Enbridge consistently encounters challenges building new oil pipelines, the company sees natural gas as a key source of growth. “Natural gas has a very long runway for electric generation in North America. Coal is being phased out and the growth in intermittent renewables requires a complementary fuel source,” said Bill Yardley, Enbridge’s executive vice-president and president of gas transmission.
Fifth worker dies from his injuries after Aug. 21 pipeline explosion in Corpus Christi's inner harbor — One of the men who was involved in a barge and pipeline explosion in Corpus Christi back in August has now died from his injuries. 3News learned Monday that Jose Coca has died at the San Antonio Military Medical Center. The Galveston man becomes the fifth victim of the Aug. 21 explosion, which happened in the inner harbor at the Port of Corpus Christi when the Waymon Boyd Barge, owned by Orion Marine, struck a leaking underwater natural gas pipeline and sparked an explosion. "Tragically and unfortunately, Mr. Coca was badly burned and he put up a courageous, long battle in the burn unit in San Antonio, but unfortunately he passed away fairly recently. So it increased the number of deaths from this incident from four to five," said Attorney Chris Leavitt of the Buzbee Law Firm in Houston. Leavitt's firm represents three survivors of that explosion. His firm is also working with the families of Mr. Coca and the two other men killed during that port incident. He said the case has run into a few delays. "There's still a discovery process that all the parties would need to go through to figure out exactly what happened and why it happened," Leavitt said. "Obviously COVID delays things a little bit."
Abandoned Oil Wells Leak Untold Methane From Gulf Floor - More than 30,000 abandoned oil and gas wells litter the floor of the Gulf of Mexico in federal waters, the vast majority of those permanently — with many likely leaking methane and other pollutants in perpetuity, the Environmental Health Network reports.The 28,232 permanently abandoned or decommissioned wells on the floor of the Gulf should be permanently plugged and capped when they are decommissioned.Federal oversight is inadequate, however, and the state of wells after they are decommissioned or abandoned is not monitored.In addition to methane, a greenhouse gas 84 times more potent at trapping heat than carbon dioxide over a 20 year period, abandoned oil and gas wells spew benzene, nitrogen oxides, carbon dioxide, and other pollutants. For a deeper dive: Environmental Health News
Texas Oil Regulator Barred From Waiving Environmental Rules - Texas’s main oil regulator has been prohibited from waiving environmental rules and fees, measures adopted to help drillers cope with the pandemic-driven slump in crude prices. The decision by a state judge means that the Railroad Commission of Texas will not be able to enforce a series of emergency rule-waivers announced in May. District Court Judge Jan Soifer faulted the agency for failing to give the public adequate forewarning, according to a ruling handed down on Thursday. Soifer’s order will remain in effect until a suit by accountability watchdog Public Citizen is heard, or the regulator posts proper notice, the judge said. The Public Citizen case is set to be heard in May. At a May 5 meeting, the Railroad Commission passed rules that waived fees, extended deadlines for environmental clean-ups and expanded the types of locations where companies could store crude. Public Citizen said the suspension of such rules was unlawful and amounted to a “handout to the oil and gas industry” at the expense of public health and safety. Chairman Wayne Christian said at the May meeting that the regulatory relief was designed to help operators through an unprecedented collapse in oil prices. He thanked operators for suggesting what rules needed to be changed. The commission “does not agree with the court’s order and has filed a notice of appeal,” it said in a statement. All actions taken at the May 5 meeting “were approved in accordance with the open meetings act, state and federal law, and Commission rules.”
Bottleneck Blues - Traffic At The Panama Canal And Its Impacts On LNG Economics - On the 8th of October, the LNG carrier Golar Penguin loaded a cargo for RWE at the Freeport LNG terminal in Texas. Five days later, on October 13, the vessel was sitting just north of Panama. But then, the ship abruptly changed direction on the 14th and headed towards the Cape of Good Hope to deliver to the Far East. The reason for the diversion was that the vessel did not have a passage booked in the new locks of the Panama Canal and would have had to wait approximately nine days for its turn to transit, before heading across the Pacific Ocean to Asia. Since then, as queues of LNGCs for Panama Canal transits, both northbound (ballast) and southbound (laden) have developed, more ships have opted for the longer route. In today’s blog, we look at the delays that have developed surrounding the Panama Canal and the implications that its operations hold for global LNG trade. The 2016 expansion of the Panama Canal to accommodate larger vessels with larger beams and greater drafts was a big deal for LNG shippers looking to lower the per-unit costs of delivering to Asia (more on the economics in a bit). But as increasing shipments seek to traverse the canal, wait times have increased and led to a bottleneck that not only affects existing traffic but presents a challenge for future projects hoping to minimize costs in a highly competitive global LNG market. The delays currently being experienced for voyages to Asia via the Panama Canal route were much less of a problem over the summer when shut-ins of U.S. LNG production (see Sultans of Swing) reduced the waiting time for LNG carriers wishing to pass in either direction. However, all first-wave LNG production facilities, with the exception of Corpus Christi Train 3, are now operational, resulting in nameplate production capacity of over 60 MMtpa from the Lower 48 states, or roughly a sixth of the current world production capacity. In November, the U.S. sent out a record number of cargoes — and that number will likely be surpassed this month. Given the determination of project sponsors aiming to develop a second wave of U.S. Gulf Coast LNG export schemes, what constraints and costs will the Panama Canal impose on these projects, and just as importantly, what advantage might the projects under development on the west coast of North America enjoy over their rivals? We’ll get to answering that shortly, but first some historical background on the Canal usage and scheduling.
Permian Highway Start-Up Sending Natural Gas to Gulf Coast - Kinder Morgan Inc.’s hotly contested Permian Highway Pipeline (PHP) is fully operational, moving associated gas volumes through a 430-mile pipeline from Waha in West Texas to Katy, outside of Houston, with connections to the Gulf Coast and Mexico markets. PHP was mechanically complete on Nov. 1, and the 2.1 Bcf/d conduit is expected to be fully in service in the early first quarter of 2021.The pipeline is Kinder’s second out of the Permian. Gulf Coast Express went into service in September 2019. A third Permian pipeline was in the works before the Covid-19 pandemic and the historic oil market downturn dramatically altered the energy landscape.On the company’s third quarter 2020 earnings call, CEO Steven Kean said that although associated gas production in the Permian is expected to remain slow given the weak oil price environment, PHP’s in-service would not be to the detriment of Kinder’s other gas systems in the basin since most of the existing takeaway is under reservation, fee-based contracts.RBN Energy LLC analyst Jason Ferguson said Permian production has generally recovered from the dip it experienced this summer after theunprecedented decline in oil prices, hovering in the 11.5-12.0 Bcf/d range “for some time.”Meanwhile, Permian outflows to the Midcontinent plunged last week as PHP ramped up. That trend, he told NGI, would likely continue through next year as PHP continues to ramp up and Whistler Pipeline comes online.Cash markets on Monday appeared to be pricing in the pipeline in-service, which occurred as winter weather remained absent from forecasts. Waha next-day gas was trading around $2.150/MMBtu, off less than 10 cents from Friday’s level, according to NGI’s midday price data. By comparison, other Texas market hubs were trading between 10.0 and 20.0 cents lower day/day.Kinder was able to bring PHP online slightly ahead of its adjusted schedule despite having to reroute a small portion of the pipeline around a river crossing. The pipeline has been plagued with litigation since it was launched, with the ongoing legal battles cited in management’s decision to push back the targeted startup to early 2021, from this past October.
US Land Permitting Collapses in November, Driven by Permian, Haynesville - Lower 48 oil and natural gas permitting during November plunged by nearly one-third month/month, with activity in the Permian Basin and Haynesville Shale sharply down, according to Evercore ISI. Evercore analysts led by James West compile a monthly review of federal and state permitting. According to the data, exploration and production (E&P) companies requested 32% fewer permits during November than in October. “The U.S. permit count contracted to 1,028,” off by 493 month/month, “which is the lowest monthly result in our dataset going back to 2006,” West said. Permian permitting fell by 35% from October, with large-cap E&Ps approved for only 67 wells, down 63%. Haynesville requests overall fell by 42%. Within the Lower 48 oil formations, 877 permits were approved in November, down by one-third from October. Most of the approvals for oil permits were for the Permian, Bakken and Eagle Ford shales. While the Permian continued to lead the way, there were 310 permits approved, off by 170 from October. The energy majors were awarded only eight oil permits in the Permian during November, down 67% month/month, while the small- to mid-cap E&Ps gained approval for 77, up by 5%. Of the 310 permits given a thumb’s up, 52% were for Texas development. Meanwhile, approved Bakken oil permits fell by 33% from October to 49. Eagle Ford permitting was down 12% to 99. On the natural gas side, E&P permitting also edged lower in November, down by 31% from October. Despite the decline, the gassy Haynesville overall remained 20% above the trough in May, according to Evercore. “Environmental agencies approved 151 permits in gas formations” last month, down 51% from October, with Haynesville permits at 59, down by 43%. Overall, private E&Ps submitted 39 permits to drill in the Haynesville, which was 30% lower than in October. In the Marcellus Shale, E&Ps were awarded 64 permits, 30% fewer than in October, with 75% awarded to public E&Ps. The sister Utica Shale saw its gas permit count inch up 4% month/month to 28. Year-to-date (YTD) through November, overall oil and gas permitting fell year/year by 66% to 17,487, according to Evercore. Eighty-nine percent of the total was to develop oil prospects. The biggest decline YTD has been in the Powder River Basin, “where only 643 permits have been granted,” which is 97% lower than for the first 11 months of 2019. Meanwhile, Permian permitting YTD contracted by 39% year/year to 5,662. Activity mostly decelerated in the heart of the Texas formation, off 47%. There was stronger oil permitting in New Mexico, up 14% year/year to 2,003.
Ring Drilling First Permian Horizontal in 10 Months, but Executive Upheaval Drawing Concerns - Permian Basin producer Ring Energy Inc. said Thursday it has begun drilling its first horizontal well in 10 months on the Northwest Shelf leasehold in West Texas, a positive sign in what is proving to be a year of upheaval for the company. The Badger 709 B No. 6XH oil San Andres well in Yoakum County is to be 1.5 miles long, drilled to a vertical depth of 5,000 feet. “After drilling the Badger No. 6XH, the drilling rig will move to another horizontal San Andres location currently under construction with plans to drill another well after the new year,” said CEO Paul D. McKinney, who took the helm in September. “These wells will be paid for out of cash surplus currently on hand. “We have added more to our hedge position for 2021. It is important during volatile markets like these to protect our future cash flows and strengthen our balance sheet. We intend to allocate the majority of our future cash flow to paying down debt with the remainder being invested in capital projects that maintain or improve our daily production and create additional liquidity.” However, there are concerns by major shareholders about the direction of the Midland, TX-based independent, which was formed in 2012. McKinney, who also was named chairman three months ago, succeeded longtime CEO Kelly Hoffman, who helped guide Ring through a turbulent period this year. McKinney most recently was CEO of SandRidge Energy Inc., where he worked for 11 months before resigning a year ago. One month after McKinney’s appointment, co-founder Stanley McCabe and President David Fowler also resigned. Meanwhile, Thomas Mitchell, John A. Crum and Richard E. Harris in September were appointed to the board. Then last month, Stephen D. Brooks was promoted to executive vice president of Land, Legal, Human Resources and Marketing, assuming roles previously held by Matt Garner. Following the transition, Garner plans to “explore new professional opportunities,” management said.The turnover has drawn the scrutiny of major investors. Houston-based American Resources Inc. and SK Energy LLC, the investment vehicle of Simon Kukes, said at the start of this month they were “very concerned” with some of the board’s actions. SK and American Resources now are urging shareholders to “withhold votes on all members” of the board in the upcoming election.
North Face turns back on West Texas oil and gas company - Innovex Downhole Solutions says it was recently denied an order of jackets by The North Face, a popular outdoor recreation company because they are in the oil and gas business. “I was surprised but not surprised if that makes sense,” Innovex CEO Adam Anderson said. Innovex is based in Houston and has nearly 100 workers in the Permian Basin. Each year, the company gets a Christmas gift for its employees. This year, it was supposed to be a North Face jacket with an Innovex logo, a company Innovex has ordered gear from in the past. The company providing the jackets said The North Face doesn’t want to support the oil and gas industry in the same way they’d reject the porn industry or tobacco industry. “They told us we did not meet their brand standards,” Anderson said. “We were separately informed that what that really meant is was that we were an oil and gas company.”
Oilfield services sector lost 91,680 jobs due to coronavirus - report (Reuters) - The U.S. oilfield services sector lost 91,680 jobs due to pandemic-related oil demand destruction, according to a monthly a report compiled and published by trade group Petroleum Equipment & Services Association (PESA) on Tuesday. Demand for drilling services sank after oil prices collapsed earlier this year, pushing several oilfield services firms to file for bankruptcy, incur heavy losses and cut jobs. Easing of virus-related restrictions, however, has led to a rebound in demand for fuel and related products. Oilfield sector employment rose 0.4% in November as companies sought to balance increasing oil and gas production with the uncertainty caused by a surge in COVID-19 cases, which has led to renewed lockdowns and reduced demand, the report said. Employment rose slightly for a third straight month, with the sector adding an estimated 2,665 jobs in November, compared with 5,091 in October and 1,498 jobs in September, according to preliminary data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics and PESA analysis. However, it was down to 665,836 jobs in November compared to 747,446 a year earlier, a decline of 10.9%. The jobs lost represent annual wages of about $10.3 billion. Within the sector, companies providing support services for oil and gas extraction saw the most job losses during the pandemic at 77,810, 85% of the sector’s total job losses, PESA’s analysis found.
November Showed More Job Gains for U.S. OFS Sector, but Uncertainty Still Prevails - Oilfield equipment and services jobs in the United States climbed slightly in November for the third month in a row, but it’s still a tough slog with pandemic-related job losses down by nearly 92,000, according to a new analysis. The Petroleum Equipment & Services Association (PESA) said the domestic oilfield services (OFS) and equipment sectors added an estimated 2,665 jobs in November, according to preliminary data by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). Estimated job losses related to energy demand destruction from Covid-19 “now total 91,680,” according to PESA. “OFS employment is down 81,610 jobs since November 2019.” Listen to the most-recent episode of our podcast NGI’s Hub and Flow via: The BLS data showed the OFS sector gained 1,498 jobs in September and added 5,091 jobs in October, said PESA researchers. “OFS sector employment has increased by approximately 9,254 jobs over the past three months, according to preliminary BLS data, after losing 100,934 due to the pandemic.” PESA represents more than 500,000 people who work in the U.S. OFS and oilfield equipment sectors. Using BLS data, PESA, in consultation with researchers from the Hobby School of Public Affairs at the University of Houston, estimated OFS sector jobs in the United States declined by 12.5% from February to November, or from 757,516 to 665,836. “Losses were heaviest in April, totaling 58,738 jobs — the largest one-month total since at least 2013,” according to researchers. OFS employment in November was down year/year by almost 11%, from 747,446 jobs to 665,836. The jobs lost represented annual wages of $10.3 billion, PESA noted. “Job losses were heaviest among companies providing support services for oil and gas extraction,” researchers said. “This portion of the OFS sector has cut 77,810 jobs during the pandemic,” or 85% of the total job losses primarily because of Covid-19’s impacts. Even with the reported job growth, there are concerns as more lockdowns have begun related to the pandemic. “During November, OFS employment rose 0.4% as operators worked to balance “increasing oil and gas production with the uncertainty caused by the surge in Covid-19 cases, which are causing renewed lockdowns and reduced demand,” according to the PESA team. A report issued earlier this month on Texas energy employment trends by the Texas Independent Producers & Royalty Owners Association (TIPRO) noted other issues that the energy industry is facing. The market destruction caused by the pandemic “has driven a large number of the baby boomer generation out of the industry, many of which will not return, thus expediting the ‘great crew change’ that was already underway,”
Bedrock industry hopes to rebound from ‘absolutely awful’ 2020 — The year 2020 has been the worst in recent memory for the state’s oil and gas industry, the head of the state’s Petroleum Alliance said Tuesday. Brook Simmons, president of oil and gas trade association, said there were currently 13 active rigs, which is actually up from eight or nine earlier this year. However, that’s significantly down from the 148 operating in 2018. “It is absolutely awful,” Simmons said. “It’s awful for Oklahoma’s bedrock industry and the underpinning of the bulk of state economic activity and the tens of thousands of jobs that have been lost in Oklahoma just this year.” Simmons said the last time Oklahoma had eight or nine active rigs was a century ago. He described 2020 as a historic bust even for an industry that is prone to cyclical highs and lows. “It is the worst in recent memory, and you’ve had people live through the bust in the 1980s,” Simmons said. “They cannot remember it being as bad as this.” In an email, State Treasurer Randy McDaniel said gross production tax collections are down more than 50% from last year. He said natural gas prices are down over 35% and oil prices are down 30% since November 2018. The number of active rigs dropped 90% during the same time from a high of 148 to 13, he said. The industry, meanwhile, has shed over 20,000 jobs in the past two years. “The pandemic continues to be a major challenge for both the health and financial well-being of Oklahomans,” he said. “However, we remain encouraged by the overall strength of the state’s economy during these difficult times.” The industry generates a lot of secondary activity like retail consumption and business in hotels and restaurants. The unemployment data sources probably underestimate the extent of the jobs lost. These figures don’t capture the employment losses in closely tied secondary industries like wastewater disposal and construction, All the federal COVID-19 relief flowing into the state, meanwhile, serves as a medicinal narcotic, helping dull and mask the pain from the most recent bust, he said. “Things could get better and still worse,” Evans said. “You could get improving oil and gas, but at the same time as the medicines wear off, we could feel the pain of the contraction a little more acutely.” He said the year has been “remarkably challenging” for the industry. “It was challenging before the pandemic, but the pandemic just almost made it unprecedented,” he said. He said Oklahoma’s current bust cycle happened in two waves. Before the COVID-19 struck, new drilling had already dropped by at least 60%. Then the pandemic struck and jet fuel demand collapsed along with petro chemical production. Both areas were fueling new oil demand. “It’s really prompted a conversation about what the life cycle of oil demand is,” Evans said. “Will we have peak oil demand sooner than we expected? The thought was before the pandemic we would use more oil every year through 2030-2035, then we would use less oil every year.”
US Rig Count Surges Higher on Gains in Both Oil, Natural Gas Drilling -- Notable increases in both oil and natural gas drilling sent the U.S. rig count surging 15 units higher to 338 during the week ending Friday (Dec. 11), according to figures from oilfield services provider Baker Hughes Co. (BKR). The United States added 12 oil-directed rigs along with four natural gas-directed, partially offset by a decline of one miscellaneous unit. The domestic count ended the week 461 rigs behind its year-ago total of 799, according to the BKR numbers, which are based on data provided in part by Enverus Drillinginfo.Land drilling increased by 15 week/week, while the Gulf of Mexico held steady at 13 rigs. Horizontal rigs surged higher by 17, offsetting the departure of one directional unit and one vertical unit.The Canadian rig count climbed nine units to 111 for the week, with the addition of 12 oil-directed rigs offsetting a three-rig decline in natural gas drilling. The Canadian count finished 42 units shy of its year-ago tally of 153.The combined North American count ended the week at 449, versus 952 a year ago.Among major plays, the Permian Basin added four rigs during the week, while the Eagle Ford Shale added three and the Marcellus Shale added two. The Denver-Julesburg Niobrara, Granite Wash and Utica Shale each added one rig week/week, while one rig departed in the Cana Woodford, according to BKR.Broken down by state, Texas led with an additional six rigs for the week, upping its total to 155, versus 400 a year ago. Wyoming added four rigs week/week, while Pennsylvania added two. New Mexico, Ohio and Oklahoma each added one rig to their respective tallies.While the drilling count increased for the week, a recent analysis from Evercore ISI shows Lower 48 oil and natural gas permitting during Novemberplunged by nearly one-third month/month, with activity in the Permian and Haynesville Shale sharply down.Evercore analysts led by James West compile a monthly review of federal and state permitting. According to the data, exploration and production companies requested 32% fewer permits during November than in October. “The U.S. permit count contracted to 1,028,” off by 493 month/month, “which is the lowest monthly result in our dataset going back to 2006,” West said.
Can New Mexico Field Enough Inspectors to Curb Its Massive Methane Leaks? - The oil fields of the Permian Basin in southeast New Mexico are quieter since the COVID-19 pandemic hit. But that hasn’t made the job any easier for oil field inspectors. Co-published by the Santa Fe Reporter As a staff manager and inspector with the New Mexico Oil Conservation Division (OCD), Gilbert Cordero spends his days driving a truck around a region larger than Connecticut, checking for leaks in the tens of thousands of oil and gas wells, connecting pipes and storage tanks. Monica Kuehling, an OCD compliance officer in the opposite corner of the state, inspects wells in the San Juan Basin in northwestern New Mexico. She and the other site inspectors often visit between 20 and 50 well sites a day. Although sometimes, inspectors get to just one.Kuehling has a 4½ hour drive to some wells in her area, and thanks to distances and bad roads, she tries to hit every well every three years. Cordero and Kuehling are two of OCD’s 10 inspectors—responsible for checking on more than 52,000 operational oil and gas wells in New Mexico. Their inspections are key to protecting the health of residents and to monitoring the leaks causing massive methane plumes over the San Juan and Permian basins. They’re also important to ambitious plans by Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from the state’s oil and gas industry, which make up more than half the state’s total. But at a time when inspections and monitoring should be increasing and becoming more stringent, inspection numbers keep falling short and the number of new wells keeps rising. Furthermore, OCD’s parent, the Energy, Minerals and Natural Resources Department, proposed a 20% cut in funding for the division in the upcoming fiscal year. And even at full capacity, inspectors alone can’t tighten the lid on the oil and gas industry’s impact on climate change.
Boulder County commissioners approve stricter oil and gas development regulations . Future oil and gas well pads in unincorporated parts of Boulder County would generally have to be set back at least 2,500 feet from any residential dwelling, school or licensed child care facility, under updated oil and gas development regulations county commissioners unanimously voted to approve Thursday. That 2,500-setback requirement would also generally apply to the distances well pads would be allowed to be situated from work places in light industrial, general industrial, commercial, business and transitional zoning districts, under the new regulations. Setbacks also would be required from public recreational trails and trailheads owned by the county or any city or town within the county. In no case could the setbacks be smaller than a minimum of 2,000 feet, Kim Sanchez, deputy director of Boulder County’s Community Planning and Permitting Department, told the commissioners. And, depending on the wells’ locations and other factors spelled out in the regulations, the Board of County Commissioners could require even greater setbacks than 2,500 feet, Sanchez said. The new setback requirements are one aspect of a comprehensive set of updates to Boulder County’s well-permitting rules, requirements, restrictions and conditions that have been in place since March 2017. A county moratorium on accepting and processing new oil and gas development and seismic testing is in place through Dec. 31 while the updated regulations were under review. Commissioners are scheduled to consider formal adoption of the comprehensive package of updated regulations on Tuesday, when they vote on a resolution that’s expected to be on the agenda for the board’s business meeting that day. If, as expected, the board approves that resolution, the updated regulations would take effect immediately, county staff said Thursday night.
Energy payments to states in US West plummet in 2020 (AP) — Payments to states in the U.S. West have plummeted for oil, natural gas and coal extracted from U.S. lands after low crude prices and the pandemic slowed drilling and mining in many areas in 2020, according to federal data. Nationwide, payments to states for drilling on public lands and in U.S. waters were down by $630 million, or about 26%, in fiscal year 2020 compared to the previous year, revenue data released by the U.S. Department of Interior on Friday shows. New Mexico suffered the biggest fiscal hit, with U.S. government disbursals for energy production dropping about 40% to $707 million in 2020, the data shows. That compares with almost $1.2 billion in 2019. Private energy companies pay the federal government for the right to drill for fossil fuels on public lands and in U.S. waters. They also pay royalties based on how much oil or gas they produce. The money is split between the U.S government and the state where the drilling occurred. That proved highly lucrative as drilling in the U.S. West boomed in recent years and the payments helped boost state coffers used to pay for schools, roads and other services. As revenues dropped, states that depend heavily on money from energy production, including Wyoming and New Mexico, have grappled with major budget shortfalls. Wyoming Gov. Mark Gordon last month asked lawmakers to slash $500 million in response to weak revenue from coal, oil and natural gas. Wyoming saw its payments under the government’s revenue sharing arrangement decline almost 30% in 2020 to $457 million, compared to $641 million in 2019. North Dakota, Colorado, Utah, California and Montana also saw double-digit percentage drops in revenue. Several Gulf Coast states experienced revenues increases in 2020.
OIL AND GAS: Biden could swing these 5 pipeline battles -- Wednesday, December 9, 2020 -- Some of the most consequential energy decisions facing President-elect Joe Biden are about pipelines. From Montana to Virginia, his administration will be deciding whether to greenlight large projects or press the eject button.
U.S. nets $46,000 on Trump's California oil, gas drilling auction (Reuters) -U.S. taxpayers netted less than $50,000 on Thursday in bids for oil and gas leases in California as the Trump administration held the first federal drilling auction since 2012 in the Democratic and environmentally minded state. The auction for drilling rights on seven parcels covering 4,100 acres (16.6 square kilometers) generated $46,148.64, according to results on the auction site EnergyNet. The average price per acre was $11, far below the nearly $330-an-acre average price federal lease sales have generated throughout the Trump administration, according to data compiled by green group Center for Western Priorities. The parcel with the highest per-acre price of $27 was sold to Standard Oil Company LLC, the U.S. Bureau of Land Management said in a statement. Other winning bidders were not disclosed. Leasing is a key part of President Donald Trump’s agenda to increase fossil fuel development, but many sale results have been lackluster this year as the coronavirus pandemic has slammed energy demand and prices. In a statement, BLM said up to 10 new wells could be developed on the parcels. Asked to evaluate the sale, a BLM California spokeswoman, Serena Baker, said lessees must also pay annual rent and royalties on any oil and gas produced. “America’s free markets will help determine if energy development on public lands is feasible,” Baker said in an email. The auction in the waning days of Trump’s administration represents yet another clash between his pro-fossil fuel agenda and the Golden State’s efforts to combat climate change.Chevron tanker ship spills light cycle oil in Santa Monica Bay (Reuters) - Chevron Corp reported on Tuesday that the Mississippi Voyager oil tanker spilled light cycle oil in the Santa Monica Bay, California, as per a regulatory filing. The spill “has been stopped but is not contained,” the company reported in the fling to the California Emergency Management Agency.
Kinder Morgan Pipeline Spills up to 42,000 Gallons of Gasoline Into California Drainage Canal -A Kinder Morgan pipeline leaked tens of thousands of gallons of gasoline into a waterway in Walnut Creek, California, prompting concerns from residents worried about the company's safety record.Locals are mistrustful of the company after a 2004 explosion on the same line killed five construction workers and injured four others, the San Francisco Chronicle pointed out. In this case, area residents say they saw Kinder Morgan respond to the spill before they were informed of what was happening."They scared quite a few people on this street and no one was saying anything," Matt Dooling told the San Francisco Chronicle. "This happened right where the 2004 explosion happened, so when they say that it's not dangerous, we don't really believe them."The story began Nov. 20 when company officials first noticed a pressure drop on part of the pipeline that runs between Concord and San Jose, The Mercury News reported. They shut down portions of the pipeline at the time, but then a worker reported the smell and appearance of gas in a drainage canal Dec. 2."We immediately shut down the pipeline and isolated the area," Kinder Morgan spokeswoman Melissa Ruiz told The Mercury News. Dooling told the San Francisco Chronicle that he observed Kinder Morgan workers examining the canal Dec. 2 while walking with his daughter, but that he and other neighbors were not given an explanation until days later.Officials first thought the two incidents were not connected, but later determined that tree roots had wrapped around the pipeline, causing it to crack and gasoline to leak out. The gasoline had then travelled about a mile and a half downstream to the canal. It moved along a gravel bed beneath the canal's concrete bottom. All told, an estimated 31,500 to 42,000 gallons of gasoline leaked out, CBS SF reported.The incident has prompted an investigation and cleanup operation involving multiple agencies. There are no reports that wildlife has been harmed, but crews continue to observe local animals.
EPA Can’t Claw Back Names of ‘Happy Hour’ Oil Lobbyists — The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency cannot claw back documents it disclosed by mistake revealing the names of oil lobbyists who planned a chummy “happy hour” outing with EPA officials, a federal judge has ruled. In a decision issued late Tuesday night, U.S. Magistrate Judge Joseph Spero found the EPA failed to show unveiling names and email addresses of lobbyists posed the kind of privacy or safety risk that would justify ordering the documents be returned. The EPA argued that disclosing those details could make the lobbyists targets of harassment by the media or “individual actors.” Spero found no evidence that unmasking other lobbyists’ names in FOIA-requested documents led to the kind of harassment that the EPA feared. He further surmised that oil lobbyists probably know how to handle being contacted by the press, should the disclosure spark media interest. “It is not clear why the government affairs professionals at issue would be unaccustomed to handling a press inquiry or incapable of declining to comment if they so chose,” Spero wrote in his 14-page ruling. Spero’s decision resolved the final dispute in a lawsuit filed by the Sierra Club in 2018 over the EPA’s failure to disclose requested communications records for about 15 EPA employees, including senior officials, intergovernmental relations staff and the executive assistant to former EPA administrator Scott Pruitt.
Federal appeals court rejects Trump administration permit for offshore oil project in Arctic Alaska - A federal appeals court panel on Monday ruled that the Trump administration violated environmental requirements when it issued conditional approval of Hilcorp’s Liberty oil drilling project in federal Arctic waters off Alaska in 2018. The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management “acted arbitrarily and capriciously by failing to quantify the emissions resulting from foreign oil consumption,” or at least by properly explaining its failure to do so, a three-judge panel of the U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals said in the decision. The panel also found that the agency relied on a “flawed and unlawful” biological opinion from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service that in part lacked information about impacts on polar bears, the decision said. Hilcorp has proposed building a 9-acre artificial island in the Beaufort Sea, several miles east of Prudhoe Bay, to drill for oil. Officials have said the site could yield peak production of about 70,000 barrels of oil daily. Kara Moriarty, head of the Alaska Oil and Gas Association that includes Hilcorp as a member, called the court’s decision “disappointing.” “(The project) will have to go back to BOEM to be reworked, adding delay and uncertainty, at a time when Alaska could use as many projects on the books as possible to get us back to some type of economic recovery,” Moriarty said. If the project does not move forward under President-elect Joe Biden, the oil industry could possibly sue to advance the project, said Moriarty said. Biden’s campaign website says he will halt new oil and gas permits on federal lands, starting on his first day in office.
Court Rejects Trump's Arctic Drilling Proposal in 'Huge Victory for Polar Bears and Our Climate' - Climate action advocates and wildlife defenders celebrated Monday after the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit rejected the Trump administration's approval of Liberty, a proposed offshore oil-drilling project in federal Arctic waters that opponents warned would endanger local communities, animals, and the environment. "This is a huge victory for polar bears and our climate," declared Kristen Monsell, oceans legal director at the Center for Biological Diversity, in a statement. "This project was a disaster waiting to happen that should never have been approved. I'm thrilled the court saw through the Trump administration's attempt to push this project through without carefully studying its risks." Marcie Keever, legal director at Friends of the Earth, similarly applauded the ruling, saying that "thankfully, the court put the health of our children and our planet over oil company profits." Both groups joined with fellow advocacy organizations Defenders of Wildlife, Greenpeace, and Pacific Environment for a lawsuit challenging the Hilcorp Alaska project, which was approved in 2018. The energy company planned to construct an artificial island, wells, and a pipeline along the Alaska coast in the Beaufort Sea. Jeremy Lieb, an attorney at the nonprofit law organization Earthjustice, which represented the advocacy groups, praised the court for rejecting the administration's "inaccurate and misleading analysis of this project's impact to the climate." The court determined that the administration hadn't properly considered Liberty's climate impacts as required by the National Environmental Policy Act, specifically taking issue with an economic model claiming the project would benefit the climate. "In the face of a worsening climate crisis, the federal government should not be in the business of approving irresponsible offshore oil development in the Arctic," Lieb said. "The world cannot afford to develop new oil prospects anywhere, but especially in the Arctic where warming is already taking such a significant toll." Research has shown that the Arctic is warming faster than the rest of the world, which has devastating effects on its human and animal inhabitants — including caribou, polar bears, reindeer, and walruses — and the planet more broadly. As one expert put it last year: "What happens in the Arctic does not stay in the Arctic."
Despite risks to polar bears, Trump pushes ahead with oil exploration in Arctic | TheHill --The Trump administration is pushing ahead to greenlight oil exploration in the Arctic, allowing companies to use seismic testing that will disturb polar bears in their dens. The proposal, if finalized, would allow the oil exploration technique in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to begin as soon as Jan. 21 — the day after President-elect Joe Biden takes office. There are roughly 900 southern Beaufort Sea polar bears left in the Arctic. “On the way out, the Trump administration is still pandering to its oil industry cronies and jamming through an unpopular push to drill in Arctic National Wildlife Refuge,” Robert Dewey, vice president for government relations at Defenders of Wildlife said in a statement, warning that “polar bear dens are hard to pinpoint in the snowy Arctic.” The Fish and Wildlife Service proposal would allow “harassment” of polar bears, determining that seismic testing would disturb wildlife in the area, “causing disruption of behavioral patterns, including, but not limited to, migration, breathing, nursing, breeding, feeding, or sheltering.” The late-filed notice gives the Trump administration little time to take comment and finalize the process before the Biden administration enters, requiring a much-hastened pace over a process that typically lasts several months at a minimum. “Do they have the ability to rush this out the door? Probably. But is it legal or easily defensible in court? I highly doubt it,” said Aaron Weiss, deputy director of the Center for Western Priorities, a public lands watchdog group. The announcement follows an unusual move by the government to open its own study on the risks to polar bears to public comment. Experts said it’s highly unusual for any branch of the Interior Department to post one scientific study for comment rather than a body of peer-reviewed research that accompanies a policy decision. “What it looks like to me is they’re giving industry the opportunity to negate the study,” Andrew Rosenberg, director of the Center for Science and Democracy at the Union of Concerned Scientists, said when the study was first opened for comment in February.
Democrats question legality of speedy Arctic refuge oil lease sales --Three Democratic lawmakers are raising legal questions about the rapid timeline the Trump administration is using to advance oil and gas development at a wildlife refuge in the Arctic. The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) stated in a federal register notice that was published Monday that it must receive bids for land leases by Dec. 31, though they won’t be opened until Jan. 6. In a letter to Interior Secretary David Bernhardt, whose department oversees the BLM, Democratic Reps. Raúl Grijalva (Ariz.), Jared Huffman (Calif.) and Alan Lowenthal (Calif.) argued that requiring bids 23 days after the notice of sale likely goes against the bureau's regulations. They noted that a regulation requires the notice to be published 30 days before the sale date. “BLM appears to be pretending to adhere to the regulation by waiting until January 6, 2021, to open the bids, but simply saying that is the date of ‘the lease sale’ defies common sense and almost certainly violates the regulation,” they wrote. The bureau announced the Jan. 6 sale date for leases at the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) in a statement last week, but the Dec, 31 date was first announced in the new notice of sale. The lawmakers also criticized the fact that the notice asking for bids was released before the end of a period during which the administration is asking for input as to which tracts of land should be sold. “Publishing the Notice of Sale prior to the deadline for comments makes it clear that this call for comments was purely for show, although at least that is an accurate reflection of the amount of value this administration places on public input,” they wrote. In response, a BLM spokesperson said in a statement that “all comments and nominations regarding the lease tracts to be offered will be considered” and that the agency can “withdraw tracts from leasing after nominations and comments are received.” The spokesperson also said that bids will only be accepted between Dec. 21 and 31, after the call for nominations closes, and that the department is “one step closer to fulfilling our Congressionally mandated obligation to hold a lease sale in the Coastal Plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.”
Bahamas could be held liable in Us for oil spill -- ACTIVISTS from the Only One conservation platform are calling on Prime Minister Dr Hubert Minnis to put a stop to proposed oil exploration, saying The Bahamas can be made liable in US courts should some form of spillage occur. The Only One platform was founded in 2019 by Blue Sphere Foundation, Lonely Whale, and SeaLegacy organisations. It is committed to harnessing the power of media and technology to create and amplify stories that inspire action to protect the ocean, the planet, and each other. The organisation erected an e-billboard on a boat which patrolled a beach in Miami recently which reads: “Stop oil drilling in The Bahamas. Sign the petition at stopbahamasoildrilling.com.” The website has a statement on the proposed oil exploration by Bahamas Petroleum Company, pushing viewers to sign the petition with a message for Dr Minnis. “We are at a pivotal point in Bahamian history,” the statement read. “The Bahamas Petroleum Company (BPC) has announced its intention to begin offshore oil drilling in our pristine waters in a matter of months. Prime Minister Hubert Minnis has one last chance to protect our nation’s economy and precious natural resources from the devastating ravages of oil pollution before it is too late. “We ask you to join us in this urgent petition asking the prime minister to cancel all existing oil exploration licenses, reject all proposed renewals and impose a permanent ban on fossil fuel exploration anywhere within our maritime borders.” The statement noted that this is the 10th anniversary of the Deepwater Horizon disaster, which dumped nearly 200 million gallons of oil into the Gulf of Mexico, fouled 16,000 miles of coastline along five US states, utterly destroyed fisheries and caused an unprecedented and as yet untold level of damage to marine life. “The Deepwater Horizon rig was an exploratory well, just like the one BPC intends to drill,” said the statement. “Even a partial repeat of that disaster would devastate our tourism, commercial fishing, diving, and marine recreation industries. Tourism alone generates 50 percent of our gross domestic product, while these other industries are vital to the survival of many far-flung communities. Simply put, drilling threatens our very way of life.”
Oil Trading Giant Admits Paying Latin America Bribes-- For years, the world’s largest oil trading firm has maintained that it has “zero tolerance” for corruption. Now Vitol Inc. has admitted that it was paying bribes through a network of shell companies and sham contracts. As recently as July 2020, while publicly repeating those assurances, Vitol was bribing government officials in Ecuador and Mexico. In Brazil, a Vitol executive delivered cash to traders at Petroleo Brasileiro SA in exchange for the “gold number” -- the price at which Vitol should bid to win tenders from the Brazilian state oil company. The revelations, from a deferred prosecution agreement between Vitol Group’s U.S. unit and the Department of Justice, are part of Brazil‘s so-called Carwash bribery scandal, that’s described by the Petrobras chief as “an MBA in corruption.” They are a setback for all commodity traders, undermining efforts to cast off a reputation for malfeasance that’s dogged the industry since the days of Marc Rich, the pioneer who spent two decades as a fugitive from American justice. “The risk traders are taking in being compromised in such scandals is enormous,” said Jean-Francois Lambert, a consultant and former trade finance banker. “Bad behaviors are simply not tolerated anymore and such wrongdoings are bound to be exposed sooner or later.” Agreeing to pay just over $160 million to regulators in the U.S. and Brazil, Vitol admitted to having bribed government officials for more than a decade, between 2005 and 2020, DOJ documents show. “We understand the seriousness of this matter and are pleased it has been resolved,” said Russell Hardy, Vitol’s chief executive officer. “We will continue to enhance our procedures and controls.” The company paid more than $8 million in bribes to Petrobras executives between 2005 and 2014, according to the DOJ documents. In exchange, officials from the Brazilian oil company gave the trading house valuable information about its tenders, including the price of the highest bid from competitors. That meant Vitol could bid for Petrobras’s oil products at exactly the price that it knew would win. Within the trading house, this was referred to as the “gold number,” according to the DOJ documents. In internal emails between the Vitol traders, information from the Petrobras officials was marked “PRIVATE AND CONFIDENTIAL_PLEASE”, according to a separate order from the Commodity Futures Trading Commission. Petrobras has said it is the victim of crimes unveiled by the Carwash probe and is cooperating with investigations.
Biggest Iranian Flotilla Yet En Route to Venezuela With Fuel -Iran is sending its biggest fleet yet of tankers to Venezuela in defiance of U.S. sanctions to help the isolated nation weather a crippling fuel shortage, according to people with knowledge of the matter. Some of the flotilla of about 10 Iranian vessels will also help export Venezuelan crude after discharging fuel, the people said, asking not to be named because the transaction is not public. The Nicolas Maduro regime is widening its reliance on Iran as an ally of last resort after even Russia and China have avoided challenging the U.S. ban on trade with Venezuela. The country’s fuel crunch follows decades of mismanagement, corruption and under-investment at state-owned Petroleos de Venezuela since the time of Maduro’s late mentor and predecessor, Hugo Chavez. Inside The Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) Summit Maduro and Iranian President Hassan Rouhani during a summit in Margarita, Venezuela, in 2016.Photographer: Carlos Becerra/Bloomberg The country that was once a top supplier of crude to the U.S. and boasted one of the lowest domestic gasoline prices in the world, now can barely produce any fuel. The last Iranian fuel shipments sent in early October on three vessels are running out, threatening steeper nationwide shortages with hours-long queues at gas stations. The current fleet under sail is about double the size of the one that first startled international observers in May, crossing a Caribbean Sea patrolled by the U.S. Navy, to be greeted by Maduro himself upon arrival. “We’re watching what Iran is doing and making sure that other shippers, insurers, ship owners, ship captains realize they must stay away from that trade,” Elliott Abrams, the U.S. special representative for Iran and Venezuela, said in September. Several vessels that transported fuel to Venezuela earlier this year, including Fortune and Horse, turned off their satellite signal at least ten days ago, according to Bloomberg tanker-tracking data. Turning off transponders is a commonly used method by ships hoping to avoid detection. In other instances of Iranian aid to Venezuela, ship names were painted over and changed to obscure the vessel’s registration. Venezuela Defies U.S. Sanctions With First Iranian Oil Import The oil ministry in Tehran declined to comment on the matter. Messages sent to several officials at PDVSA, as Venezuela’s state oil company is known, weren’t immediately answered.
Maersk Drilling Wins North Sea Contract - OMV (Norge) has awarded Maersk Drilling a one-well contract for the Maersk Integrator low-emission jack-up rig, Maersk reported Monday in a written statement emailed to Rigzone. The rig will drill one exploration well in the Ommandawn prospect in Production License 970 offshore Norway, the drilling contractor noted. It pointed out the contract will likely commence in the middle of 2021 and run for an estimated 52 days. According to Maersk, the firm contract value for the ultra-harsh environment CJ70 XLE jack-up is approximately US$14.3 million. It explained the estimate includes mobilization but excludes integrated services provided and potential performance bonuses. The company added the contract includes an option to add approximately 28 days of well testing. Maersk also stated the rig is undergoing upgrades to combine the use of hybrid power with low levels of nitrogen oxides (NOx) emissions, adding data intelligence to further cut energy consumption and carbon dioxide emissions. The firm pointed out the contract’s performance bonus schemes focus on rewarding reduced fuel consumption and NOx emissions during drilling operations. “The contract further shows the commercial value of our low-emission upgrades,” continued Kelstrup. “By reducing fuel consumption, CO2 emissions and NOx emissions we are not only making contributions towards reaching emissions targets, but also create value for our customer under the incentive schemes established in Norway.” The Maersk Integrator is designed to operate year-round in the North Sea in up to 492 feet (150 meters) of water and drill to 40,000 feet (12,192 meters), Maersk Drilling’s website states.
Jadestone slammed for underestimating oil spill off WA - The oil spill occurred in mid-September when a hose assembly which transported crude from the Stag platform to a tanker became loose causing oil to pour into the ocean. When the hose became detached the pumps should have automatically shut off crude. However, according to an investigation by the national regulator this mechanism failed and instead oil continued to flow through the unsecured hose. It was the Master of the offtake tanker who first observed "traces of oil around his vessel" and notified workers on the Stag platform. Jadestone then implemented its oil pollution emergency plan which included sending a helicopter to estimate the size of the spill. At the time, Jadestone said it was under 80 litres of oil spilled and did not need to be reported to the national regulator, though it did so in any case. Soon after the spill became public, workers aboard the facility told Energy News that the spill was "much bigger" than the company's estimate and closer to 10,000 litres. The National Offshore Petroleum Safety and Environmental Management Authority (NOPSEMA) carried out an investigation of Jadestone's paperwork. It did not visit the Stag facility. On Monday this week, over a month after the spill, NOPSEMA published its findings and slapped the company with six orders to bring the facility, policies, workforce, and plans up to scratch. It estimated that anywhere between 151 litres to 1288 litres of oil was spilled during the event. At most, this would be about eight barrels of oil. Jadestone was not fined for its oil spill but will be if it does not take action to abide by the directions. NOPSEMA measured the size of the spill using an internationally agreed methodology called the Bonn Agreement Oil Appearance Code. This uses aerial and surveillance information to measure the size of the spill. However, skeptics say there are too many unknowns to be sure of the size of the spill. Today, Local WA Greens member of Parliament Robin Chapple said the regulator needed to play a "more proactive role" and prosecute the operator. "The problem here is that NOPSEMA got involved after the event," Chapple said. "Others witnessed the event and their claims would indicate that it was a larger spill… however because the lack of NOPSEMA oversight and the fact that they only deal with the matter after an event has occurred we will never know the true extent of this and future spills." Chapple also raised concerns that if the spill was light crude, it would have dispersed further and may not have been measurable by the time the spill was noticed or the helicopter was launched. The general rule of spills is that the lighter the oil, the thinner the spread. Light crude also tends to weather faster from high wind, heat, and waves.
Iraq to Get China Bailout via Oil Supply Deal- Iraq is poised to sign a multibillion-dollar contract with China ZhenHua Oil Co., a bailout from Beijing for the cash-strapped government which will receive money upfront in exchange for long-term oil supplies. The deal is the latest example of China, via state-controlled trading companies and banks, lending to struggling oil producers such as Angola, Venezuela and Ecuador, with repayment in the form of oil barrels rather than cash. The crash in oil demand and prices has hammered Iraq’s budget, and the government has been struggling to pay salaries. The Iraqi agency in charge of petroleum exports, SOMO, picked ZhenHua, according to people familiar with the matter. Iraq’s cabinet must still approve the deal, according to one of the people. Cabinet spokesman Hassan Nadhim said on Tuesday the offers were being studied and would go to the prime minister for approval. Under the terms of a letter SOMO sent to oil traders last month, the winning bidder will buy 4 million barrels a month, or about 130,000 a day. They will pay upfront for one year of supply, which at current prices would bring in more than $2 billion, according to Bloomberg calculations. The deal runs for five years in total -- but the upfront payment is only for one year. The deal attracted widespread interest among the top names of the oil-trading industry, according to the people. The deadline for the tender was extended from late November to allow market participants more time to bid. ZhenHua Oil didn’t reply to an email seeking comment that was sent to its headquarters in Beijing after normal business hours. All major producers have taken a hit from this year’s coronavirus-triggered crash in oil. But Iraq, where crude accounts for almost all government revenue, is in a worse position than most. Its gross domestic product will contract 12% this year, more that of any other OPEC member under a production quota, according to International Monetary Fund forecasts. The government is struggling to pay teachers and civil servants, many of who have taken to the streets in recent months to protest.
OPEC Wrangle Puts UAE’s Ambitions on Display Just days before a high-stakes OPEC meeting to support an oil market ravaged by coronavirus, the United Arab Emirates’ state oil company told the world it planned to spend $122 billion to boost production capacity.That set the stage for a standoff at a meeting of the cartel this week. A compromise was struck but ambitious plans to maximize energy wealth may keep stirring tension—in particular with its largest neighbor Saudi Arabia.The UAE’s reinvigorated pursuit of petrodollars plays into a wider shift in the dynamic between Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Sheikh Mohammed Bin Zayed and Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman over who in the region holds sway on the international stage.For years, the two countries moved in lockstep on both oil and foreign policy, yet they have diverged in recent months on both. They split over the war in Yemen, then the UAE asserted itself with its landmark deal with Israel in September. They also have their differences over efforts to ostracize Qatar, with a U.S. brokered deal to end the rift including only Saudi Arabia. It’s in that context that the UAE went as far as to signal last month it might consider a future outside OPEC. And while the deal reached on Thursday allowed for a show of unity, it will come up again for review in January, meaning the drama could be replayed in 2021 as the cartel charts a path out of the pandemic.“The UAE is increasingly willing to act in its own direct national interests, and where that doesn’t align with Saudi Arabia it’s confident and willing to go it alone,” said Neil Quilliam, associate fellow in the Middle East and North Africa program at the Chatham House think tank. The UAE is OPEC’s third-largest oil producer and holds about 6% of global crude reserves. At the heart of the UAE’s tensions with the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries are state-run producer Abu Dhabi National Oil Co.’s plans for growth.
Saudis Raise Crude Prices To Asia For First Time In 4 Months After OPEC+ Deal - Just day after OPEC+ reached an agreement to ease production curbs (in order to keep UAE happy) but assess production levels monthly in order to ensure that oil prices don't slide after reaching an 8 month high on covid vaccine optimism, Saudi Arabia raised oil pricing for customers on Sunday for its main market of Asia. The increase, the biggest in five months, indicates the world's largest oil exporter is confident global - or at least Asian - energy demand is strong enough to absorb the modest increase in output from OPEC+ members next month and that markets will remain tight even with parts of Europe and the U.S. in lockdown. Saudi state producer Aramco raised pricing for Arab Light crude for Asia by 80 cents a barrel to 30 cents above the benchmark from a 50 cent discount the previous month. The price increase comes after price cuts from the Saudis in September, October and December as virus cases surged, sending oil demand sliding and depressing Brent prices. Still, the hike is less than half consensus expectations: Aramco had been expected to increase pricing for the grade by 65 cents, according to a Bloomberg survey of seven traders and refiners. Aramco also increased pricing for light crude grades to the Mediterranean region but kept them unchanged for northwest Europe. Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia lowered pricing for all grades to the U.S. to the lowest since May as Saudi exports to the U.S. have plummeted this year. The price increase comes as Brent rose 2.2% last week to $49.25 a barrel, its highest level since early March, although the price remains down about down about 25% this year.
Oil sheds 1% as coronavirus resurgence sparks demand concerns -- Oil prices slipped on Monday as the positive impact from COVID-19 vaccine news and an OPEC+ deal on oil production cuts was undermined by surging coronavirus cases and heightened tensions between the United States and China. Brent crude fell 46 cents to settle at $48.79 per barrel, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude settled 50 cents, or 1.08%, lower at $45.76 per barrel. Both oil contracts gained around 2% last week after OPEC+, comprising of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and its allies, agreed to increase output slightly from January but continue the bulk of existing supply curbs. "The beginning of this week is like the morning hangover following a good night out that went a bit too far," "With the OPEC deal in the bag, now traders looked back at fundamentals, demand and supply, and they were forced to come back to earth as things are not looking good in the short-term." Prices also were under pressure after Reuters exclusively reported that the United States was preparing to impose sanctions on at least a dozen Chinese officials over their alleged role in Beijing's disqualification of elected opposition legislators in Hong Kong. Rising tensions between the United States and China, the world's top oil consumers, have weighed repeatedly on the market in recent years. Meanwhile, a surge in coronavirus cases globally has forced a series of renewed lockdowns, including strict new measures in the U.S. state of California and in Germany and South Korea. U.S. gasoline consumption fell during the Thanksgiving holiday week to the lowest in more than 20 years, OPIS said, as lockdowns weighed on fuel consumption. Elsewhere, Iran has instructed its oil ministry to prepare installations for the production and sale of crude oil at full capacity within three months, state media said on Sunday. "Adding to the pressure on oil prices is the potential Iranian increase to production in three months," said Edward Moya, senior market analyst at OANDA. "Iran is optimistic the U.S. will ease restrictions if they return back to the 2015 nuclear deal."
Oil Prices End Winning Streak -- Oil snapped a three-day streak of gains alongside a broader market selloff as near-term demand risks from a resurgent pandemic clouded optimism surrounding a future vaccine rollout. Futures fell 1.1% in New York as equities weakened, with rising Covid-19 cases threatening to strike another blow to demand as the world awaits a widely available vaccine. Prices were under pressure earlier in the session amid supply concerns after Iran said it’s preparing to raise exports in a sign the country expects the U.S. to ease some sanctions under a Joe Biden presidency. “Until or unless we get that vaccine, the growth story remains important for demand,” said Rob Haworth, senior investment strategist at U.S. Bank Wealth Management. “We’re seeing in the broader market as well, there are questions around when will we reopen, when do we get significant vaccines, when do we get some easing of social distancing restrictions and therefore more mobility and rising demand.” Crude’s outlook is now heavily dependent on how quickly Covid-19 vaccines can be rolled out, with indications most Americans will be able to get one by the second quarter of next year. While toughening restrictions to curb the spread of the virus remain a near-term headwind, there are some signs of resilience in fuel consumption. U.S. gasoline demand increased last week, though that’s compared to a slow Thanksgiving week, data from GasBuddy showed. “Mobility around the world has been a lot stickier despite this ramp up of the second wave,” said Vikas Dwivedi, a global energy strategist for Macquarie Group Ltd in Houston. “It’s down, but it’s not down anywhere near where you would think given how bad the second wave has been in certain parts of Europe and the U.S.” Crude prices are also finding support from a robust demand picture in Asia, with the latest exports jump in China showing an economic rebound appears to be on track. The strength in Asian demand led Saudi Arabia to raise oil pricing to the region, pointing to the kingdom’s confidence that consumption is strong enough there to absorb next month’s small supply boost agreed last week under OPEC+. West Texas Intermediate for January delivery fell 50 cents to settle at $45.76 a barrel. Brent for February lost 46 cents to end the session at $48.79 a barrel. The worsening coronavirus situation ahead of a widespread vaccine rollout continues to limit any substantial price gains in the near term.
Oil Fluctuates with Demand and Vaccines in Focus -- Oil swung between gains and losses as the market weighed the outlook for demand as coronavirus vaccines begin. Futures in New York traded below $46 a barrel, driven by fluctuations in the dollar and equities. The U.K. issued its first Covid-19 vaccinations on Tuesday and there are signs that European demand is recovering after a renewed wave of lockdowns in the winter. Poland’s road use, for example, has climbed sharply since the start of last month. WTI prices have been capped in the mid $40s since OPEC+ agreed on a slow return of production last week. The United Arab Emirates will provide Asian buyers with a little more crude next month after the deal. Oil is still near a nine-month high after surging last month amid optimism over vaccine breakthroughs and its trajectory over the next few months will depend on how quickly Covid-19 drugs can be deployed. In the near-term there are still ominous signs from the virus -- the U.S. is now seeing hospitalizations rise by almost 2,000 a day and is averaging around as many deaths as during Covid-19’s first surge in April. France is poised to miss a goal to end its lockdown next week. “We are confident that the weak demand will soon move back into the market’s focus,” said Eugen Weinberg, head of commodities research at Commerzbank AG. “The latest price rise has been driven by speculation.” Prices West Texas Intermediate for January delivery fell 14 cents to $45.62 a barrel at 10:30 a.m. in London. Brent for February settlement dropped 15 cents to $48.64. The oil futures curve, meanwhile, is signaling a slight increase in negative sentiment. Brent’s prompt timespread has moved back into contango -- where near-dated prices are cheaper than later-dated ones -- after surging last week. While toughening restrictions to curb the spread of the virus remain a near-term headwind in Europe and the U.S., the recovery in Asia appears to be accelerating.
Oil steady as COVID-19 cases, lockdowns dampen vaccination news (Reuters) -Oil prices were little changed on Tuesday as the most populous U.S. state tightened its pandemic lockdown through Christmas and COVID-19 cases surged in the United States and Europe, counteracting optimism that arose over vaccine advancements. Brent crude futures settled at $48.84 a barrel, gaining 5 cents. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures settled 16 cents lower at $45.60 a barrel. “There’s been this back-and-forth between being concerned about the lockdowns for the next few weeks and the expectations for a vaccine coming sooner than anyone had anticipated, which is giving us support,” said Phil Flynn, senior analyst at Price Futures Group in Chicago. Oil prices were buoyed after the world’s first fully-tested COVID-19 vaccine shot was administered to a grandmother in Britain, but investors quickly returned their focus to ebbing fuel demand caused by the pandemic. A sharp rise in coronavirus cases globally has led to a string of renewed lockdowns, including strict measures in California, Germany and South Korea. Investors were also closely watching U.S. lawmakers’ efforts to approve a new economic stimulus package needed to drive jobs growth and energy demand, and Friday was eyed as a possible deadline to avoid a government shutdown. The OPEC+ group of oil producers is likely to hold their next meeting on Jan. 4, after agreeing last week to raise oil output by 500,000 barrels per day (bpd) next month. U.S. crude oil production is expected to fall by 910,000 bpd in 2020 to 11.34 million bpd, the U.S. Energy Information Administration said, a bigger decline than its previous forecast for a drop of 860,000 bpd. Both crude benchmarks eased in post-settlement trade after industry data from the American Petroleum Institute showed U.S. oil inventories rose sharply across the board last week, with crude stocks jumping by 1.14 million barrels, contrary to analyst forecasts in a Reuters poll for a 1.4 million-barrel draw.
WTI Tanks After Massive Crude, Product Builds; Gasoline Demand Slump -- Oil prices shrugged off major product inventory builds (reported by API) to move higher overnight with WTI back above $46 after two tiny Iraqi oil wells were attacked and markets globally rose on the prospect of additional U.S. stimulus. Obviously, demand, or the lack of it, remains the prime driver of sentiment, balances and prices, and bloated inventories remain a drag on market recovery, and this is not unique to U.S. markets. DOE:
- Crude +15.189mm (-700k exp) - biggest build since April
- Cushing 01.364mm
- Gasoline +4.221mm - biggest build since April
- Distillates +5.222mm - biggest build since May
In a shocking print, the DOE data showed a massive 15.189mm barrel crude build last week, with both Gasoline and Distillates also seeing major builds... Source: Bloomberg US Crude Production was unchanged last week... WTI traded around $46.00 ahead of the official DOE data and tumbled on the huge build...
Oil steadies despite massive build in U.S. crude stocks (Reuters) -Oil prices settled little changed on Wednesday as investors weighed an unexpected jump in U.S. crude stockpiles against optimism that a fast rollout of a coronavirus vaccine would fuel a recovery in global oil demand. Prices fell 1% early in the session as data showed U.S. crude inventories rose by 15.2 million barrels to 503.2 million barrels last week, according to the Energy Information Administration, compared with analysts’ expectations in a Reuters poll for a 1.4 million-barrel drop. [EIA/S] U.S. net imports of crude oil rose by 2.7 million barrels per day last week, the biggest increase on record, as exports plunged. [EIA/S] However, the advent of mass inoculations in the United Kingdom and the prospect of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approving a coronavirus vaccine in the United States pushed markets higher following the report. Brent crude rose 2 cents to settle at $48.86 a barrel. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude fell 8 cents, or 0.2%, to settle at $45.52 a barrel. “The market is definitely in a state of shock, but overall this is looking like a fluke report and the market can detect brighter days ahead,”. A panel of outside advisers will vote on Thursday on whether to recommend the FDA issue an emergency authorization for the use of the vaccine developed by Pfizer Inc and German partner BioNTech SE. Britain began mass vaccinations on Tuesday. Expectations that others will soon follow helped offset fears about a sharp rise in coronavirus cases globally that has led to new restrictions on movements around the world, reducing demand for transportation fuel. U.S. gasoline and distillate stockpiles were markedly higher last week as refineries boosted output. “The significant increase in gasoline and distillate inventories is likely a result of lower oil demand post the Thanksgiving holiday, as well as additional stay at home measures across country,”
U.S. oil prices settle lower after the biggest weekly supply rise since April, but prospects for vaccine rollout limits loss - Oil futures ended on a mixed note Wednesday, with global prices up slightly but U.S. benchmark crude posting a loss on the back of the biggest weekly increase in domestic crude supplies since April that was seen as due to a possible to "one-off" rise in imports.The likelihood that a COVID-19 vaccine will soon be rolled out in the U.S. also helped to ease worries surrounding energy demand, limiting downside moves for oil prices.The Energy Information Administration reported Wednesday that U.S. crude inventories rose (link) by 15.2 million barrels for the week ended Dec. 4. That was the largest weekly climb since April, when the EIA reported a weekly rise of 19.2 million barrels (link) -- the biggest weekly rise on record -- for the week ended April 10. Analysts polled by S&P Global Platts, on average, expected to see a weekly decline of 700,000 barrels. The American Petroleum Institute on Tuesday (link) reported a 1.1 million-barrel rise. "Even though the EIA report shows a large inventory build, a more detailed review tells that the increase in inventory was primarily due to an abnormal increase in imports," Total net petroleum imports, the difference between exports and imports, rose to about 4.6 million barrels a day, from 1.9 million barrels per day a week earlier, the EIA reported. "Since the market is more focused on the fundamentals of supply and demand, it generally disregards one-off imbalances caused due to trade shipments," . "A sustained increase in net imports would be problematic, but a one-time event has no bearings on market fundamentals." "Reasons for crude-oil build could be as simple as cargoes from the thanksgiving week just being delayed and accounted for last week," he said.Against that backdrop, West Texas Intermediate crude for January delivery fell 8 cents, or 0.2%, to settle at $45.52 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. That was the lowest front-month contract finish since Dec. 2, according to Dow Jones Market Data.Oil futures had turned lower after the significant weekly rise in crude supplies reported by the EIA. "In the decade we have been trading the energy markets, we have never seen this much of a miss from the expectations." "Given how this inventory build has joined the ranks of the one the largest witnessed in 2020, fears are likely to jump over COVID-19 sapping demand for fuel," "Gasoline supplies climbed by 4.2 million barrels, while distillate stockpiles were up by 5.2 million barrels, EIA data showed. The S&P Global Platts survey had forecast supply increases of 2.2 million barrels for gasoline and 1.2 million barrels for distillates.On Nymex Wednesday, January gasoline tacked on 1.6% to $1.2759 a gallon, but January heating oil fell nearly 0.6% to $1.3989 a gallon.
Brent rises above $50/bbl for first time since March on vaccine optimism (Reuters) - Oil prices climbed nearly 3% on Thursday, with Brent surging above $50 a barrel for the first time since early March, fueled by hopes of a faster demand recovery as countries start to roll out COVID-19 vaccines. The bullish sentiment offset a large increase in U.S. crude inventories that showed there was still ample supply available. Britain began vaccinations this week and the United States could start inoculations as soon as this weekend. Canada on Wednesday approved its first vaccine and said initial shots would be delivered starting next week. Brent crude rose $1.39, or 2.8%, to settle at $50.25 a barrel, gaining for a third day. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude rose $1.26, or 2.8%, to settle at $46.78 a barrel. Both benchmarks reached their highest levels since March, with the contracts posting session highs of $51.06 a barrel and $47.74 a barrel, respectively. However, their relative strength indexes showed both had moved into overbought territory. Investors shrugged off Wednesday’s weekly report on U.S. oil inventories that showed a massive 15.2 million-barrel rise in crude stocks. Analysts had expected a 1.4 million-barrel drop. [EIA/S] “It is not every day that the market ignores weekly builds of U.S. crude inventories,” said Bjornar Tonhaugen, Rystad Energy’s head of oil markets. “Fast-tracking vaccinations is raising hopes that oil demand will benefit quicker and the North American markets are major consumers.”
Oil Prices Do the Remarkable | Rigzone -- Oil in London climbed above $50 a barrel for the first time since the pandemic ground the global economy to a halt in a remarkable rally that few predicted would happen this soon. Global benchmark futures surged 2.8% Thursday, reaching a nine-month high. The rebound represents a startling turnaround for a market that was brought to its knees earlier this year by an unprecedented loss of demand. With places to store unused oil running out, OPEC and its partners collaborated to stanch outflows and stabilize markets while the world awaited a vaccine. Announcements last month from Pfizer Inc. and others that safe vaccines could be rolled out by spring boosted the outlook for global consumption. Asia is continuing to lead the rebound in physical demand amid robust purchasing by China’s private refiners. The U.S. dollar also weakened, which raised the appeal for commodities priced in the currency and helped thrust Brent past $50. “I am a bit surprised that it happened now,” “I have been advocating $50+ Brent, but I thought that would happen after we see inventories and demand look better.” It’s possible the market is getting ahead of itself though, with key technical indicators signaling benchmarks are overbought and U.S. inventories recently piling higher. U.S. inventories expanded a whopping 15.2 million barrels last week in the biggest build in government data going back to 1982, with the exception of one week in April. At the same time, domestic gasoline demand is the lowest it has been for this time of year since 1997, Energy Information Administration data show. And it will be months before the vaccine is distributed widely enough to fully reopen the economy. Still, supply and demand dynamics have drastically improved from just a few months ago. Inventories are drawing down globally, and there are signs the market is handling increased output better than initially anticipated. “The distinct FOMO-type shift in financial market sentiment is supported by a global physical market that is absorbing barrels at a more robust-than-consensus pace,” RBC analysts including Helima Croft and Michael Tran said in a report. “Asia refinery runs remain firm, global floating storage levels are being dismantled at a vigorous pace and European mobility is accelerating amid loosening regional lockdowns.” West Texas Intermediate for January delivery rose $1.26 to settle at $46.78 a barrel. Brent for February settlement increased $1.39 to end the session at $50.25 a barrel. Both of the benchmarks are at the highest level since early March. In addition to the recent surge in the price for near-term contracts, the swift reshaping along oil’s forward curve underscores the confidence in a long-term recovery. The curve is now trading in a structure known as backwardation that makes it profitable to roll contracts from one month to the next, which is also attracting a rush of new flows to the market.
Oil pulls back amid New York coronavirus curbs, gains for a 6th week - (Reuters) -Oil prices settled lower on Friday, as demand worries due to new coronavirus-related restrictions on business in New York overshadowed progress toward vaccination programs. Brent futures settled down 28 cents, or 0.6% at $49.97 a barrel. The contract rose above $51 a barrel on Thursday to an early-March high. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude fell 21 cents, or 0.5%, to $46.57, having risen almost 3% in the previous session. “Restrictions in New York are weighing on prices,” said Bob Yawger, director of energy futures for Mizuho in New York. On Thursday, funds had placed net long bets as Brent topped $50 a barrel. “As we approach the close, the speculator community is reluctant to go home with a net long position,” he said. Governor Andrew Cuomo ordered New York City restaurants to suspend indoor dining effective Monday, amid an uptick in cases. [L1N2IR1QA] For the week, Brent was up 1.5% and WTI was up less than 1%. That was the sixth consecutive week of gains for the first time since June. Promising vaccine trials have helped lift some gloom over record increases in the number of coronavirus infections and deaths around the world, and Cuomo sounded a note of optimism, saying he expected 170,000 doses of Pfizer’s vaccine to be in New York by Sunday or Monday. Britain began inoculations this week and the United States could start vaccinations as early as the coming weekend, while Canada on Wednesday approved its first vaccine with initial shots due from next week. Outside advisers for the U.S. Food and Drug Administration have voted to endorse emergency use of Pfizer’s vaccine, paving the way for the agency to authorise its use in a nation where COVID-19 has killed more than 285,000.
Oil ends lower, but notches a weekly gain, lifted by vaccine optimism - Oil futures ended lower on Friday, but notched a weekly gain as investors took their cue from progress on the rollout of COVID-19 vaccines which may help the economic recovery. Signs of resilient demand in Asia and elsewhere also helped underpin prices, analysts said. Overall, the fundamental backdrop for the oil market is "mixed with ominous coronavirus trends being offset by vaccine optimism, while faltering economic growth statistics are being shrugged off with continued high hopes for stimulus," said analysts in the latest Sevens Report Research newsletter. West Texas Intermediate crude for January delivery fell by 21 cents, or nearly 0.5%, to settle at $46.57 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. February Brent crude lost 28 cents, or 0.6%, at $49.97 a barrel on ICE Futures Europe, settling below the key level of $50 after breaching it this week for the first time since March. WTI registered a 0.7% weekly rise though, while Brent tacked on 1.5%. Both benchmarks on Thursday marked their highest front-month contract settlements since March 4, according to FactSet data. Read:Natural-gas prices look to end the year higher for the first time since 2016 (link) The market reaction earlier this week to the largest weekly rise in U.S. crude inventories since April -- and the second largest rise on record -- was particularly impressive, said Michael Tran, commodity analyst at RBC Capital Markets, in a note. "To say that the market shrugged off the bearish data release is a massive understatement. The distinct FOMO type shift in financial market sentiment is supported by a global physical market that is absorbing barrels at a more robust than consensus pace," he said. Oil is building on sharp November gains, attributed largely to progress toward COVID-19 vaccines, which outweighed worries over the potential hit to demand from a surge in cases in the U.S. and Europe. The vaccine developed by Pfizer Inc. (PFE) and BioNTech SE (BNTX) was rolled out in the U.K. earlier this week, while the U.S. Food and Drug Administration was seen moving toward emergency authorization (link) of the vaccine after an advisory panel voted (link) that benefits of the drug outweighed the risk. Tran said the physical market remained resilient, with Asian refinery runs remaining firm and global floating storage falling quickly as European mobility indicators accelerate in response to loosened lockdowns.
Iran Says Nuclear Scientist Was Assassinated Using Satellite-Controlled Gun - Iranian nuclear scientist and military researcher Mohsen Fakhrizadeh was assassinated using sophisticated electronic equipment controlled via satellite link, the semi-official Mehr news agency reported. Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, who was killed in a gun and car bomb attack on the outskirts of Tehran on Nov. 27, was driving on a highway east of the capital when the weapon "zoomed in" on him "using artificial intelligence," Mehr said on Sunday, quoting Commodore Ali Fadavi, deputy commander of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. As General Ramezan Sharif, IRGC spokesman added, "the assassination of a scientist on the street with a satellite device can not undermine our security." According to Bloomberg, various accounts of the assassination have emerged since the incident. While early news reports said he was caught in a gunfight between his bodyguards, others said that in a scene seemingly inspired by Breaking Bad, he was fired at by a remote-controlled machine gun mounted on a pick-up truck operated by someone who later fled the country. Last week the secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, Ali Shamkhani, said a remotely controlled weapon was used in the ambush that claimed the scientist’s life. The operation was "very complicated" and didn’t require human presence on the site at the time of the attack. The incident is the second targeted killing of a high-ranking Iranian official since January, when outgoing U.S. President Donald Trump ordered a drone strike on General Qassem Soleimani. Iranian officials have accused Israel of masterminding Fakhrizadeh’s assassination. Iranian media reported that the remains of the weapon that killed him, which was recovered from the scene, indicated that it originated from the Israeli military. In response, Israeli Intelligence Minister Eli Cohen said his government had no idea who killed Fakhrizadeh, but added that whoever did made the world a safer place because the Iranian physicist took “an active part in creating a nuclear weapon.” Iran has denied trying to militarize its nuclear research, saying it’s purely civilian in purpose.
US B-52 bombers threaten Iran for second time in three weeks -For the second time in three weeks, Washington has sent a pair of B-52 heavy bombers to the Persian Gulf in a provocative threat of military aggression against Iran. The two B-52H Stratofortress bombers carried out a 36-hour round-trip flight from Barksdale Air Force Base in Louisiana. The previous deployment of the bombers, which are capable of carrying both nuclear and conventional weapons, was from Minot Air Force Base in North Dakota, meaning that both B-52 wings of the US Air Force Global Strike Command have conducted rehearsals for airstrikes against Iran. The deployments of the same massive warplanes that were used to devastate Vietnam half a century ago have been conducted in the context of mounting war threats and provocations against Iran from both the Trump administration in Washington and its closest ally in the region, the Israeli government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. On November 12, Trump convened a White House meeting of his national security cabinet to discuss a proposal for bombing Natanz, Iran’s main nuclear facility. Top aides, including Vice President Mike Pence and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, reportedly talked the president out of an act that would represent a world historic war crime, potentially killing thousands, while sickening many more. This was followed by Pompeo’s extraordinary tour of the Middle East, which he preceded by telling a State Department press conference that he was committed to a “smooth transition” to a second Trump administration, making it clear that his foreign policy operations are directed at furthering the US president’s bid to overturn the results of the November elections. Pompeo’s trip, which included extensive talks with Netanyahu and a semi-secret flight by himself and the Israeli prime minister to Saudi Arabia for talks with de facto Saudi ruler Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, was directed entirely against what he repeatedly described as the “malign influence” of Iran. Within four days of this meeting, on November 27, Israel’s spy agency, Mossad, carried out the assassination of Iran’s top scientist, nuclear physicist Mohsen Fakhrizadeh. This criminal provocation rivaled that of the US at the beginning of this year with the drone missile murder of top Iranian leader Qassem Suleimani after he had arrived at Baghdad International Airport for an official state visit. It is inconceivable that such an assassination would be ordered without the full support of Washington and preparations for an overwhelming military response to any Iranian retaliation. Indeed, within hours of the murder of Fakhrizadeh, the USS Nimitz aircraft carrier strike group sailed into the Persian Gulf in a highly unusual back-to-back deployment in the region by warships that had been scheduled to return to their US homeport. The US Navy has announced that the length of the latest deployment is indefinite.
Chinese Consumer Prices Show First Annual Decline Since 2009 – WSJ - China’s consumer prices dropped for the first time in over a decade in November, though economists say the decrease doesn’t signal faltering demand in the world’s second-largest economy. The fall was driven by volatile food prices, including the continued retreat of pork prices as supply recovers from the ravages of African swine fever. Other economic indicators have shown a continued recovery from Covid-19 shocks. China’s consumer-price index in November was down 0.5% from a year earlier, the National Bureau of Statistics said Wednesday, after a 0.5% rise in October. It was the first negative reading since October 2009. Economists polled by The Wall Street Journal had forecast November’s CPI would come in flat. The statistics bureau said food prices, down 2.0% from a year earlier, weighed heavily on November’s headline CPI. In October, food prices were up 2.2% from a year earlier. Among foods, pork—the main source of protein in the Chinese diet—extended its decline, down 12.5% in November after October’s 2.8% drop. Outbreaks of African swine fever, a highly contagious virus fatal to pigs but not harmful to humans, reduced the country’s hog population by about half in 2019, causing pork prices to more than double. This year pork prices have been volatile, but they are trending lower as increased imports—not just of pork but of meats such as beef and lamb as well—make up for the domestic shortfall. “November’s CPI decline was driven by pork prices and should be short-lived, which won’t be counted as deflation,” said Xing Zhaopeng, an economist at ANZ.
Stage lights go off after Seoul orders shutdown - As the Seoul capital has gone into a partial lockdown and Korea has decided to raise distancing regulations for the metropolitan area, the lights have gone out at performing art stages and cinemas across the city. With the South Korean government announcing the Level 2.5 distancing, the second highest notch in the country’s five-tier COVID-19 scheme, performing arts venues will have to leave the two thirds of audience seats empty from Tuesday. The tight limitations on the audience capacity of performing arts shows will likely lead to cancellation or postponement of many shows, as it would be difficult to create profit under such measures. The Seoul government on Friday announced the shutdown of stores, theaters and other facilities after 9 p.m. from Saturday, while reducing public transportation service by 30 percent. The new measure also called for a complete closure of state-funded theaters across Seoul, regardless of the hours. Following the announcement, the Seoul Metropolitan Musical Theater said it will halt its run of “Little Women” at the Sejong Center in central Seoul from Saturday to Dec. 18. A reopening of the show has not been set yet.
World Food Program Director: 270 Million People Now "Marching Toward Starvation" In Wake of COVID-19 - According to the head of the World Food Program (WFP), the amount of people around the world now on the brink of starvation has doubled due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the resulting economic effects of government reactions to the virus.Director of the WFP, David Beasley, who previously warned that the “cure” for the COVID-19 pandemic should not be worse than the disease, told the United Nations General Assembly on Friday that 270 million people are now “marching towards starvation” in wake of the economic effects of the pandemic.“As I had warned the United Nations Security council back in April, that if we’re not careful the cure could be worse than the disease because of the economic ripple effect – if we don’t handle economic disruptions, supply chain disruptions, ect. …” Beasley told the council.“As we predicted back in April, the number of people that were going to be marching toward the brink of starvation had already risen from 80 million to 135 million the last four years, primarily because of man made conflict,” the director went on, adding:“But because of COVID it’s now spiking from 135 million people – not going to bed hungry now, [but] literally marching towards starvation – to 270 million people.”Beasley expressed a bleak outlook for 2021 as he believes next year is going to be “catastrophic based on what we’re seeing at this stage of the game.”He said that “because we’ve spent $19 trillion, that money may not, and will not most likely be available for 2021” as economic contractions out pace the need to supply a lifeline to those starving.In April, Beasley pointed to an already deepening starvation crisis happening in conflict torn nations such as Yemen. He would warn that the world is “facing a perfect storm” with the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic and that if “funding shortfalls and disruptions to trade” could not be avoided “we could be facing multiple famines of biblical proportions within a short few months.”The WFP director’s shocking warning was sounded just prior to alarm bells raised by the WHO’s special envoy on COVID-19, Dr. David Nabarro, who cautioned that national lockdowns should be avoided as a primary response to COVID-19 as they have the consequence of “making poor people an awful lot poorer.”“Lockdowns just have one consequence that you must never, ever belittle, and that is making poor people an awful lot poorer,” Nabarro said in October.
Covid is accelerating a quiet technology revolution in Africa - It is no secret, by now, that Covid-19 has accelerated digitalisation across many industries. But while much attention has been given to the boost the pandemic has given to ecommerce in developed markets, hardly any has been given to the even more profound impact coronavirus has had in frontier markets. In Africa, that most frontier of continents in terms of economic power, the effect has been quietly revolutionary. Below the Mediterranean, Africa’s 1.3bn people are transacting digitally at an unprecedented rate, forever reshaping the continent’s technology sector. This happened to the point where the world’s best developed consumer mobile market is now Kenya. Across the continent, these shifts are being driven by growth companies, while governments simply watch on. And it is happening at an amazing pace. Because of the fact that 80 per cent of African spend is still on essential goods and services, the sectors seeing the most tech “disruption” are those serving consumers’ basic requirements for food, energy, and health. In Nigeria, Africa’s biggest economy, logistics tech provider Kobo, which provides a tech platform to match shippers and truck operators to confirm, finance and complete long haul trips, has doubled the value of trips on its platform to close to $200m annually since lockdown. In Kenya, a smaller tech vendor called Copia is delivering essential products to rural households for as low as $1 per delivery using its sourcing and delivery system together with rural distribution points, providing a service that larger delivery firms simply cannot fulfil at that price. Phone financing operator M-KOPA, meanwhile, has increased revenue 50 per cent through Covid to an annualised $100m run-rate, by financing business phones for vendors now having to transact everything via mobile. Also in Kenya, Africa’s largest agricultural marketplace Twiga Foods aggregates overnight demand via mobile from thousands of roadside stallholders who line east Africa’s main roads, and delivers them higher quality produce each day directly, while taking advantage of lockdowns to expand to serve consumers directly. From its base in Ghana and now operating its own pharmacies across Africa, mPharma is solving the endemic problem of counterfeit and overpriced medication by sourcing and distributing reliable medicine through its own digital supply chain, allowing cost-effective treatment for chronic diseases for the first time in the continent’s history. A fast-growing group of companies including M-KOPA, Kobo, Green Light Planet, d light and Twiga are already generating $100m+ of volume, often after only a few years of operation. Finally, in mobile payments, companies from South Africa’s DPO to Lagos-based Paystack have been acquired for $200-300m each in cash in recent months, off the back of sharp increases in volume and revenue in a continental market that remains wide open for technology penetration.
Canadian authorities covering up workplace COVID-19 outbreaks to justify keeping economy and schools open -Canada’s Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland claimed in her fiscal update speech last week that authorities have learned how to “keep most of our economy … operating safely, even while the virus is still circulating in our communities.” This is a lie. COVID-19 is running rampant in workplaces and schools. The ruling elite and their political hirelings are concealing this fact because they are adamant that nothing be allowed to get in the way of raking in profits amid a raging pandemic. The reckless back-to-work campaign spearheaded by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s Liberal government and provincial governments of all political stripes, and supported by the corporatist trade unions, has led to a surge in workplace COVID-19 infections and deaths, especially among low income, highly-exploited industrial and logistics workers. Those working in manual labour jobs without the option of working from home are catching COVID-19 while at work at alarming rates. In Quebec, workplaces now account for 40 percent of all infections, and these figures, which come from the government’s Institut national de santé publique, do not include infections at schools, hospitals and long-term care facilities. In mid-October, the provincial government agency in charge of occupational health and safety ordered a COVID-19 “inspection blitz,” but the public health institute’s data show that this has utterly failed to arrest the growth in workplace infections. For 11 consecutive weeks, ending only last week when there was a small decline, the number of workplace outbreaks rose to a new high. Ontario’s Peel Region, which neighbours Metro Toronto and includes the largely working-class cities of Mississauga, Brampton and Caledon, is one of Canada’s largest warehouse and distribution hubs. Businesses in the region employ many immigrants and members of multigenerational households. Peel Region has the highest cumulative rate of COVID-19 cases in Ontario, at a staggering 1,200 cases per 100,000 people. As of December 1, there had been 116 total workplace outbreaks, more than the number that have occurred in long-term care homes and schools combined. Peel Region’s Medical Officer of Health, Dr. Lawrence Loh, acknowledged that the surge in workplace infections is linked to the fact that many workers are so poorly paid they have no choice but to go to work, even when they display COVID-19 symptoms. “In protecting workers, we know that the absence of worker protections and paid sick leave does result in outbreaks because, people will show up because they’re choosing between their livelihood and their lives,” he remarked.
Canada Warns Conspiracy Theorists Could Burn 5G Towers, Claiming Link To Virus - A conspiracy theory linking 5G to the coronavirus has spread like wildfire this year. In April, numerous 5G towers were set on fire by folks in Britain who believed that radiation from the towers was contributing to the spread of COVID-19. Now Canada's intelligence service has warned in a new confidential report, seen by Global News, that violent extremists could be ready to attack 5G wireless communication towers. "As companies begin 5G infrastructure construction in earnest, extremists from across the IMV extremist landscape could engage in acts of arson and vandalism against that infrastructure," Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) wrote in the report. The confidential report comes amid a wave of COVID-19 disinformation swirling around internet forums that suggest 5G technology could spread the virus. "Given the extraordinary effect the COVID-19 pandemic has created on the lives of individuals across the world, CSIS is mindful that certain threat actors, across multiple threat landscapes, may seek to take advantage to advance their own interests," CSIS spokesperson John Townsend said.Global News lists some of the most most popular COVID-19/5G conspiracy theories: Perhaps the most elaborate asserts that 5G was designed by governments to depopulate the world, and is part of a broader conspiracy theory called Agenda 21 that imagines the United Nations is trying to establish a new world order.None have any scientific validity, but white supremacists, neo-Nazis and anarchists have all adopted COVID-19 conspiracy theories to varying degrees, while the anti-vaxxer movement has promoted the notion that 5G is responsible for spreading COVID-19.CSIS said physical opposition to 5G wireless communication towers is significantly less when compared to other countries in Europe. However, it said "Canadian-based online communities" were pumping 5G conspiracy and far-right extremist groups were attempting to "capitalize on '5G hysteria.'" CSIS noted there had been a handful of incidents in the country of cellphone towers being damaged. The most significant attack was in Laval, Quebec, in April, where one tower was torched and sustained one million dollars in damage. In early May, at least six towers were torched in Montreal.
European Central Bank set to provide further market boost - The European Central Bank is expected to announce a further boost for financial markets by adding an additional €500 billion to the €1.35 trillion financial asset purchasing program it initiated in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, when its governing council meets on Thursday. On the same day, European leaders will start a series of virtual meetings to try to gain agreement on a €750 billion European Union fund aimed at providing assistance to governments that have been hardest hit by the pandemic. The fund was approved in principle earlier this year, but its operation has been held up because of disputes with the increasingly authoritarian governments of Poland and Hungary over its disbursement. The EU majority has said the provision of funds must be tied to respect for the rule of law. One of the aims of the increased ECB financial asset purchases is to raise the price of government bonds, thereby lowering the interest rates that governments have to pay to finance their borrowing programs, as well as providing a further boost to financial and equity markets. The crucial importance of the ECB program was highlighted back in March when it was developing its response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Incoming ECB president Christine Lagarde remarked at a press conference that it was not the job of the central bank to close the gap between the yield on the bonds of the stronger and weaker members of the eurozone. Her remarks prompted a major sell-off of Italian government bonds and a 17 percent fall in the country’s stock market. Lagarde gave a television interview in which she pulled back from her previous remarks. At the same time, according to a report in the Wall Street Journal earlier this month, the ECB’s chief economist Philip Lane “made dozens of private calls to banks and private investors,” to provide reassurances that the ECB was ready to buy Italian bonds if necessary. The calls, which involved major hedge funds and banks, such as BlackRock, Deutsche Bank and Goldman Sachs, were a significant departure from what is considered the normal practice of only delivering information to market participants at the same time. Whatever the content of the discussions, they were followed by a major initiative six days later when the ECB unveiled a €750 billion asset purchasing program which it upscaled to €1.35 trillion in June.
Poland & Hungary Accept German Proposal On $2.2 Trillion EU Stimulus - Germany has mediated a way through the blocked 1.8 trillion euros ($2.18 trillion) EU budget and coronavirus relief package proposal that Poland and Hungary were jointly blocking due to clauses linking the funds with rule of law and conditioned but vaguely defined democratic standards. While some member states remain skeptical, the two countries are said to have preliminarily accepted it. Thursday's European Council summit is set to take up the matter. One official with knowledge of the negotiations told Reuters that "We are preliminarily in agreement but there is some pressure...the aim is to have this done before the EU summit (on Thursday)." And Polish Deputy Prime Minister Jaroslaw Gowin confirmed an agreement had been reached with Germany - enough to drop the veto threat, saying, "For now we have agreement between Warsaw, Budapest and Berlin." He further told reporters in Warsaw on Wednesday, "I believe this agreement will also include the 24 remaining European capitals." Gowin further said in reference to Poland’s ruling United Right coalition: "I cast aside the choice, veto or death...The alternative for the United Right government would be early elections which would not serve Poland well during a pandemic." Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban also indicated there was a "good chance" a deal will be firmed up by end of this week. While precise details as to where the compromise came to facilitate the breakthrough remain unknown, Warsaw is hinting it's willing to allow conditionality language that is precise enough to not be used as political weapon for Brussels to impose its will from afar. According to Reuters: Poland’s government spokesman Piotr Muller said on Wednesday that Warsaw wanted any mention of the mechanism in the EU budget deal to be "clear". He did not specify the demands further. "I don’t want to divulge our negotiation strategy, but the mechanism on conditionality has to be included in such a way that is clear," Muller told Polish state television TVP. "If it’s not clear, we won’t have a compromise."
UK government forces schools to stay open as infections continue to surge The Conservative government ended its one-month national lockdown last week with the sole aim of boosting the economy before Christmas, placing countless lives in danger. Unlike the first lockdown earlier in the year, the most recent excluded schools, with predictably disastrous consequences for the spread of COVID-19. Now the government is using special powers contained in the Coronavirus Act 2020 to prevent schools from taking action to mitigate the dangers. Since the start of the September term, the infection rate among secondary school pupils, aged 11-16, has soared 50-fold. One in 10 pupils of all ages are off school—and one in five secondary school pupils—either because they themselves are a confirmed or suspected case of COVID-19 or because they have been a potential contact of a positive case. The government’s propaganda line, supported by the Labour Party, that schools are “COVID secure”, is in tatters. In a damning report, Independent Sage, a group of scientists who have criticised aspects of the government’s COVID-19 response, have called for “urgent action” on outbreaks in schools. The group’s chair, former government chief scientific adviser Professor Sir David King, warned that the risk facing families was heightened by the prospect of multiple generations of families coming together over five days this Christmas under the government’s relaxed restrictions. The report cited new figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) which compared the infection rates among 11 to 16-year-olds on September 1, just before schools reopened, versus November 21. It showed a staggering increase from 0.04 percent at the start of the school year to 2.16 percent—54 times higher over a 12-week period. The rate of positivity actually peaked at 2.28 percent on November 16 and 17. There are also currently 1,225 people in the 6-17 age bracket in hospital due to COVID-19.
Meet the Censored: Abigail Shrier - Matt Taibbi - Abigail Shrier of the Wall Street Journal has been in the middle of two major international news stories in the last year. One involves transgender issues. The other, the subject of this article, is about censorship. The history of campaigns to suppress books in pre-Internet America is not littered with successes. Techniques ran the gamut, from school systems pulling The Catcher in the Rye, Catch-22, and Toni Morrisson’s Song of Solomon, to parent-led campaigns against individual schools teaching The Color Purple, to libraries removing A Clockwork Orange, to the U.S. Postal Service declaring For Whom the Bell Tolls “un-mailable,” to the firing of a teacher who assigned One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, to dozens of other episodes. Most such efforts failed. The typical narrative involved a local conservative or religious group arrayed against national publishers and distributors, although there were instances of campaigns instigated from the other political direction (e.g. calls to ban or boycott books like To Kill a Mockingbird and American Psycho for offensive portrayals of women and minorities). These efforts however were usually opposed by a consensus of intellectuals in politics, media, and academia, all of whom tended to be institutionally committed to speech rights. The increasingly concentrated nature of digital media, combined with changing attitudes within the intellectual class, has reversed the geography of speech controversies. Campaigns against books now begin at universities, newsrooms, and the offices of companies like Amazon and Google, and have success; anti-censorship campaigns tend to be disorganized and poorly funded, and fail. No book exemplifies these new dynamics more than Shrier’s Irreversible Damage: The Transgender Craze Seducing Our Daughters. The book grew out of a news phenomenon that began to be reported years ago: a seeming surge in young girls seeking gender affirmation therapy. In Britain, the National Health Service reported a 4000% rise in such cases, prompting the government to order an investigation into “why this is and what are the long-term impacts.” There were similar reports in other countries, with Sweden’s health officials reporting a 1500% rise, and doctors in the U.S. reporting a four-fold rise in girls receiving transition surgery in 2016 and 2017.
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