The Fed Has a Problem: Yields Have Doubled on the 10-Year Treasury in Six Months, Despite the Fed Buying $400 Billion in Treasury Securities - The chart above reminded us of what happened in the London Whale saga at JPMorgan Chase. The London derivatives traders at JPMorgan Chase were making such huge bets in a specific credit index that they effectively became the market with no escape route to unwind their losing trades. The bank had, insanely, used customer deposits to make those wild bets and ended up losing at least $6.2 billion.Since August 6 of last year, the Fed has purchased $400 billion of U.S. Treasury notes and bonds. Despite that massive amount of propping up the market, the yield on the 10-year Treasury has more than doubled, from half of one percent to a yield of 1.05 percent at 7:30 a.m. this morning. That means that all of those billions of dollars in Treasuries that the Fed bought at lower yields are now trading at losses.On September 16 of last year, one day before the repo market blew up and forced the Fed to intervene for the first time since the Wall Street crash of 2008, the Fed authorized the New York Fed to release a statement indicating that it would continue to purchase Treasury securities at a rate of “approximately $80 billion per month” but would also be allowed to purchase “additional amounts…as needed to sustain smooth functioning of markets for these securities.”That statement should be interpreted as “the Fed will do whatever it takes to push interest rates down to prevent the trillions of dollars in derivative bets at the mega banks from blowing up, taking down the banks, and forcing an even greater expansion of the Fed’s balance sheet from bank bailouts.”On August 5 of last year, the Fed’s balance sheet stood at $6.99 trillion. As of January 20 of this year, it had grown to $7.463 billion, with the bulk of that coming from its purchases of Treasury securities. On January 30, 2008, before the Wall Street crash, the Fed’s balance sheet had been $906 billion and had been growing at a modest pace over the prior two decades. But in just the past 13 years, the Fed’s balance sheet has multiplied by more than 8 times. Is that really sustainable? Last March we reported the following: “According to the U.S. Treasury, as of February 29, 2020, there was $16.9 trillion in marketable U.S. Treasury securities outstanding. Of that amount, at the end of February, the Federal Reserve held $2.47 trillion or 14.6 percent – making it, by far, the largest single holder of U.S. Treasuries anywhere in the world.” As of December 31, 2020, there was $20.98 trillion in marketable U.S. Treasury securities outstanding. According to the Fed’s H.4.1 for January 20, 2021, the Fed owns $4.74 trillion of those or 22.6 percent. This is not a good trend and both Treasury yields and the prices of bank stocks are starting to reflect misgivings.
10Y Yield Tumbles Below 1.00% As Liquidations Lash Stocks - As the short-squeeze malarkey accelerates this morning... Funds are being forced to liquidate their longs to cover losses/margin... And that is weighing on the broad market... Which has put a bid under bonds, sending the 10Y yield back below 1.00%... And the dollar is bid as overseas positions are unwound and repatriated... It seems that all the cheering over soaring heavily-shorted stocks has an ugly unintended consequence after all. We are sure the regulators will be looking into this now. Graphs Source: Bloomberg
PCE Price Index: December Headline & Core - The BEA's Personal Income and Outlays for December was published this morning by the Bureau of Economic Analysis. The latest Headline PCE price index was up 0.43% month-over-month (MoM) and is up 1.28% year-over-year (YoY). Core PCE is below the Fed's 2% target rate. The adjacent thumbnail gives us a close-up of the trend in YoY Core PCE since January 2012. The first string of red data points highlights the 12 consecutive months when Core PCE hovered in a narrow range around its interim low. The second string highlights the lower range from late 2014 through 2015. Core PCE shifted higher in 2016 with a decline in 2017, 2019, and 2020. The first chart below shows the monthly year-over-year change in the personal consumption expenditures (PCE) price index since 2000. Also included is an overlay of the Core PCE (less Food and Energy) price index, which is Fed's preferred indicator for gauging inflation. The two percent benchmark is the Fed's conventional target for core inflation. Most recently, the Fed reviewed their monetary policy strategy and longer-term goals and released a statement, mentioning its federal mandate to promote "maximum employment, stable prices, and moderate long-term interest rates". They also confirmed their commitment to using the two percent benchmark as a lower limit:The Committee reaffirms its judgment that inflation at the rate of 2 percent, as measured by the annual change in the price index for personal consumption expenditures, is most consistent over the longer run with the Federal Reserve's statutory mandate. The Committee judges that longer-term inflation expectations that are well anchored at 2 percent foster price stability and moderate long-term interest rates and enhance the Committee's ability to promote maximum employment in the face of significant economic disturbances. In order to anchor longer-term inflation expectations at this level, the Committee seeks to achieve inflation that averages 2 percent over time, and therefore judges that, following periods when inflation has been running persistently below 2 percent, appropriate monetary policy will likely aim to achieve inflation moderately above 2 percent for some time." Read the August 2020 statement here. The index data is shown to two decimal points to highlight the change more accurately. It may seem trivial to focus such detail on numbers that will be revised again next month (the three previous months are subject to revision and the annual revision reaches back three years). But core PCE is such a key measure of inflation for the Federal Reserve that precision seems warranted.For a long-term perspective, here are the same two metrics spanning five decades.
Chicago Fed: "Index points to an uptick in economic growth in December" - "Index points to an uptick in economic growth in December." That is the headline for this morning's release of the Chicago Fed's National Activity Index, and here is the opening paragraph from the report: Led by improvements in production-related indicators, the Chicago Fed National Activity Index (CFNAI) increased to +0.52 in December from +0.31 in November. Three of the four broad categories of indicators used to construct the index made positive contributions in December, but three categories decreased from November. The index’s three-month moving average, CFNAI-MA3, ticked up to +0.61 in December from +0.59 in November. [Download report] The Chicago Fed's National Activity Index (CFNAI) is a monthly indicator designed to gauge overall economic activity and related inflationary pressure. It is a composite of 85 monthly indicators as explained in this background PDF file on the Chicago Fed's website. The index is constructed so a zero value for the index indicates that the national economy is expanding at its historical trend rate of growth. Negative values indicate below-average growth, and positive values indicate above-average growth. The first chart below shows the recent behavior of the index since 2007. The red dots show the indicator itself, which is quite noisy, together with the 3-month moving average (CFNAI-MA3), which is more useful as an indicator of the actual trend for coincident economic activity.
OECD Weekly Tracker of Economic Activity - Menzie Chinn - Real time estimates of GDP based on Google Trends and machine learning for OECD and G-20 countries,here. Here’s the current US GDP nowcast: Technical discussion here. VoxEU post here. Notice that there is an implied decline in January. It’s interesting to compare the nowcasts coming from “bean counting” approaches (GDPNow, NY Fed Nowcast, IHS MarkIt nee Macroeconomic Advisers) vs. this big data approach. The levels are calculated by adding on the nowcasted growth rates to latest available GDP estimate. Figure 1: GDP as reported (black), implied IHS Markit (red), GDPNow (blue), NY Fed (green), OECD Weekly Economic Tracker (orange), all in billions of Ch.2012$, SAAR. Source: BEA, 2020Q3 3rd release, IHS-Markit (1/25), Atlanta Fed (1/21), NY Fed (1/22), OECD weekly economic tracker (as of 1/24), and author’s calculations.
Business Cycle Indicators as of January 26th - Menzie Chinn - New information coming out on Friday, employment in a week and a half. For now: Figure 1: Nonfarm payroll employment (dark blue), Bloomberg consensus for January as of 1/26 (blue square), industrial production (red), personal income excluding transfers in Ch.2012$ (green), manufacturing and trade sales in Ch.2012$ (black), and monthly GDP in Ch.2012$ (pink), all log normalized to 2020M02=0. Source: BLS, Federal Reserve, BEA, via FRED, IHS Markit (nee Macroeconomic Advisers) (1/4/2021 release), NBER, and author’s calculations.
BEA: Real GDP increased at 4.0% Annualized Rate in Q4 --From the BEA: Gross Domestic Product, Fourth Quarter and Year 2020 (Advance Estimate) Real gross domestic product (GDP) increased at an annual rate of 4.0 percent in the fourth quarter of 2020, according to the "advance" estimate released by the Bureau of Economic Analysis. In the third quarter, real GDP increased 33.4 percent. ...The increase in real GDP reflected increases in exports, nonresidential fixed investment, personal consumption expenditures (PCE), residential fixed investment, and private inventory investment that were partly offset by decreases in state and local government spending and federal government spending. Imports, which are a subtraction in the calculation of GDP, increased.The advance Q4 GDP report, with 4.0% annualized growth, was at expectations.
U.S. Economy Shrank in 2020 Despite Fourth-Quarter Growth – WSJ - The U.S. economy shrank in 2020 for the first time since the financial crisis, but grew rapidly in the fourth quarter and is forecast to continue recovering following its worst year since the 1940s. A strong rebound in the second half of 2020 wasn’t enough to overcome the economic shock created by the pandemic earlier in the year. Measured year-over-year, the economy contracted 3.5% last year, the largest decline since just after World War II and the first since 2009 in the wake of the financial crisis. Measured from the fourth quarter to the same quarter a year earlier the economy shrank 2.5%. Fourth-quarter U.S. gross domestic product—the value of all goods and services produced across the economy, adjusted for seasonality and inflation—grew at a 4% annual rate, the Commerce Department said on Thursday. That joined a record 33.4% annual rate of growth in the third quarter to further reduce losses from earlier in the pandemic. Economists project that growth will pick up this year once the pandemic is under control, though the coronavirus remains a threat to the global economy. “We still have a ways to go, but it’s positive,” Beth Ann Bovino, U.S. chief economist at S&P Global Ratings, said of U.S. growth. “It’s a slow heal,” she added, pointing to still-hurting parts of the economy such as in-person services businesses and energy production. Consumer spending, which accounts for more than two-thirds of U.S. economic output, slowed to a 2.5% seasonally adjusted annual rate in the holiday quarter, down from a 41% rebound in the third quarter, as consumers pulled back from shopping amid high coronavirus infection rates and business closures in some regions. Overall spending on goods declined in the fourth quarter. And spending on durable goods—products designed to last at least three years such as furniture and washing machines—was flat, following increased spending in the prior quarter as households purchased home entertainment, fitness and office supplies as they worked from home. Continued strength in corporate and residential housing investment, however, has helped set the economy up “for what could be a really good 2021,” said James Knightley, an economist at ING Financial Markets LLC. He said stimulus checks from the December coronavirus-aid package, the prospect of additional government aid this year, high household savings and vaccination programs point to a continued recovery. “There’s basically a wall of money being thrown at the economy,” Mr. Knightley said.
A Few Comments on Q4 GDP and Investment; Worst Year Since WWII Drawdown --Earlier from the BEA: Gross Domestic Product, 4th Quarter and Year 2020 (Advance Estimate) Real gross domestic product (GDP) increased at an annual rate of 4.0 percent in the fourth quarter of 2020, according to the "advance" estimate released by the Bureau of Economic Analysis. In the third quarter, real GDP increased 33.4 percent. Real GDP was down 3.5% in 2020 from 2019. This was the worst year since 1946 (WWII drawdown). And other than WWII drawdown, this was the worst year since the Great Depression.On a Q4-over-Q4 basis, GDP was down 2.5%.This graph shows the percent decline in real GDP from the previous peak (currently the previous peak was in Q4 2019).This graph is through Q4 2020, and real GDP is currently off 2.5% from the previous peak.The advance Q4 GDP report, at 4.0% annualized, was close to expectations.Personal consumption expenditures (PCE) increased at a 2.5% annualized rate in Q4, down from 41.0% increase in Q3.The second graph below shows the contribution to GDP from residential investment, equipment and software, and nonresidential structures (3 quarter trailing average). This is important to follow because residential investment tends to lead the economy, equipment and software is generally coincident, and nonresidential structure investment trails the economy.In the graph, red is residential, green is equipment and software, and blue is investment in non-residential structures. So the usual pattern - both into and out of recessions is - red, green, blue.Of course - with the sudden economic stop due to COVID-19 - the usual pattern doesn't apply.The dashed gray line is the contribution from the change in private inventories.Residential investment (RI) increased at a 33.5% annual rate in Q4. Equipment investment increased at a 24.9 annual rate, and investment in non-residential structures increased at a 3.0% annual rate (after getting crushed over the previous year)..The contribution to Q4 GDP from investment in private inventories was 1.0 percentage points. On a 3 quarter trailing average basis, RI (red) is up solidly, equipment (green) is also up solidly, and nonresidential structures (blue) is down sharply.The second graph shows residential investment as a percent of GDP.Residential Investment as a percent of GDP increased in Q4. Note: Residential investment (RI) includes new single family structures, multifamily structures, home improvement, broker's commissions, and a few minor categories.The third graph shows non-residential investment in structures, equipment and "intellectual property products". Investment in non-residential structures declined in Q4 as a percent GDP, and will probably be weak for some time (hotel occupancy is low, office and mall vacancy rates are rising).
GDP Forecasts: Q1 and 2021 --Some forecasters are increasing their 2021 forecasts significantly, and see possible further upside. However, there is ongoing concern about the pandemic, and the impact of the COVID variants. From Merrrill Lynch on 2021: We have become increasingly convinced of the prospects for exceptional growth this year. We came into the year with an above-consensus forecast of 4.5% which was boosted to 5.0% upon the earlier passage of stimulus. As we have been warning, we are now taking another leap forward and forecasting 6.0% growth this year [Jan 29 estimate] From Goldman Sachs on 2021: [O]ur 2021 growth forecast—which currently stands 2½pp above consensus at +6.6% on a full-year basis ... there are significant upside risks as well. [Jan 29 estimate] From the NY Fed Nowcasting Report: The New York Fed Staff Nowcast stands at 6.5% for 2021:Q1. [Jan 29 estimate]And from the Altanta Fed: GDPNow: The initial GDPNow model estimate for real GDP growth (seasonally adjusted annual rate) in thefirst quarter of 2021 is 5.2 percent on January 29. [Jan 29 estimate]
The COVID recession is over -- James Hamilton - The Bureau of Economic Analysis announced today that seasonally adjusted U.S. real GDP grew at a 4.0% annual rate in the fourth quarter. That’s well above the 3.1% average growth that the U.S. experienced over 1947-2019, and follows a 28.8% logarithmic annual growth rate seen in Q3. Real GDP growth at an annual rate, 1947:Q2-2020:Q4, with the 1947-2019 historical average (3.1%) in blue. Calculated as 400 times the difference in the natural log of GDP from the previous quarter. These numbers bring the Econbrowser recession indicator index down to 0.0% for Q3. As we’ve done every quarter for the last 15 years, the number posted today (0.0%) is an assessment of the situation of the economy in the previous quarter (namely 2020:Q3). According to our algorithm, there is zero probability that the Q3 observation of +28.8% could be viewed as continuation of the recession that began at the start of 2020; the recession is unambiguously over. For this reason, in the figures I report from now on I will end the shaded region for this recession with the 2020:Q2 observation. The Business Cycle Dating Committee of the National Bureau of Economic Research has not yet made that call, though I believe they eventually will. If there is a downturn in 2021, the mechanical algorithm that we have been using for 15 years would label it as a separate recession. GDP-based recession indicator index. The plotted value for each date is based solely on the GDP numbers that were publicly available as of one quarter after the indicated date, with 2020:Q3 the last date shown on the graph. With the exception of the the end of the 2020 recession, shaded regions represent the NBER’s dates for recessions, which dates were not used in any way in constructing the index. The indicated end to the 2020 recession comes from the algorithm described in Chauvet and Hamilton (2005). None of this should be taken to suggest that the economy has fully recovered from events of 2020. Economists have always followed the convention that recessions end when recovery begins (as opposed to when recovery is complete). The figure below plots the level of real GDP (again in logarithmic units) rather than the growth rate. Despite the positive growth in Q3 and Q4, the level of real GDP in 2020:Q4 was still 2.5% lower than it had been in 2019:Q4. Even if we were to continue to experience the strong 4.0% annualized growth rate of 2020:Q4 for every quarter in 2021, that would only increase the level of GDP by 1% each quarter, and wouldn’t bring us back to the 2019:Q4 level until the third quarter of 2021.
Seven High Frequency Indicators for the Economy These indicators are mostly for travel and entertainment. The TSA is providing daily travel numbers. This data shows the seven day average of daily total traveler throughput from the TSA for 2019-2020 (Blue) and 2020-2021 (Red). The dashed line is the percent of last year for the seven day average. This data is as of January 24th. The seven day average is down 64.5% from last year (35.5% of last year). (Dashed line) 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 January 23, 2021. This data is "a sample of restaurants on the OpenTable network across all channels: online reservations, phone reservations, and walk-ins. For year-over-year comparisons by day, we compare to the same day of the week from the same week in the previous year." 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. Dining picked up during the holidays. Note that dining is generally lower in the northern states - Illinois, Pennsylvania, and New York. Note that California dining is off sharply with the orders to close. This data shows domestic box office for each week (red) and the maximum and minimum for the years 2016 through 2019. Blue is 2020 and Red is 2021. The data is from BoxOfficeMojo through January 21st. Movie ticket sales were at $12 million last week (compared to usually around $200 million per week at this time of year). This graph shows the seasonal pattern for the hotel occupancy rate using the four week average. This data is through January 16th. Hotel occupancy is currently down 31.8% year-over-year. This graph, based on weekly data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA), shows gasoline supplied compared to the same week of 2019. Blue is for 2020. At one point, gasoline supplied was off almost 50% YoY. Red is for 2021. As of January 15th, gasoline supplied was off about 8.5% (about 91.5% of the same week in 2019). 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." This is just a general guide - people that regularly commute probably don't ask for directions. There is also some great data on mobility from the Dallas Fed Mobility and Engagement Index. This data is through January 24th for the United States and several selected cities. According to the Apple data directions requests, public transit in the 7 day average for the US is at 47% of the January 2020 level. It is at 35% in Chicago, and 53% in Houston - and mostly moving sideways. Here is some interesting data on New York subway usage (HT BR). This graph is from Todd W Schneider. This is daily data since early 2020. This data is through Friday, January 22nd. Schneider has graphs for each borough, and links to all the data sources.
Biden officials hold call with bipartisan group of senators on coronavirus relief plan - Officials in President Biden’s administration on Sunday held a call with a bipartisan group of senators to discuss the White House’s proposed $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief package. Several senators confirmed their participation in the call, with a couple of Democratic senators describing the conversation as “productive.” Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) categorized the discussion as “refreshing” and and said it was “long overdue” to have the White House “fully engaged in addressing this pandemic with a focus on science and federal leadership.” “In the spirit of unity that we saw on the West Front of the Capitol on Wednesday, the Senate must come together on a bipartisan basis and provide the resources the American people need to survive this pandemic and this lengthy financial hardship,” he said. Sen. Angus King (I-Maine) said in a tweet that the call centered around “policy solutions,” adding that was ”notable in itself.” “Let's keep working together to speed vaccine distribution and support Americans during this pandemic,” he posted. Brian Deese, the National Economic Council Director, hosted the private Zoom call that 16 senators, eight from each party, were invited to attend, according to reports from CNN and The Washington Post. Senators on the call reportedly requested that relief be targeted to those who need it most and called for vaccine distribution to be the top priority. Lawmakers from the upper chamber probed White House officials on the call, which lasted more than an hour, about where stimulus money is essential, what the justification is for some high spending and whether the proposed $1,400 direct checks could be tailored more toward those in need, several people involved told the Post and CNN. Louisa Terrell, the White House director of legislative affairs, and Jeff Zients, the White House’s COVID-19 response coordinator, also joined the call reportedly organized by Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.). The White House did not immediately return a request for comment. Before the call, Deese told reporters he wanted to emphasize to the senators that “we’re at a precarious moment for the virus and the economy,” noting that “decisive action” is needed to avoid “falling into a very serious economic hole,” according to the Post. The $1.9 trillion plan also includes an extension of emergency unemployment benefits past mid-March and raising the federal minimum wage to $15 per hour, in addition to the direct checks. Several Republicans have criticized the Biden administration’s plan as too expensive, with GOP senators specifically expressing concern about the minimum wage increase on the call, two people familiar told the Post. Several Republicans have suggested Biden and the Democrats may have more luck passing individual pieces of the relief bill rather than the comprehensive package. “The president wants to extend unemployment benefits if people are still unemployed, that is certainly something we would look at. We were of the view last time that states needed help, some rescue for states and localities that may have suffered a reduction in their revenues. That's appropriate, but the total figure is pretty shocking, if you will,” Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah) said Sunday morning. But a person on the call told CNN the White House still seeks to move forward with the $1.9 trillion package instead of dividing parts of it into smaller bills.
Collins: Minimum wage increase should be separate from COVID-19 relief package - Sen. Susan Collins (Maine), a key Republican moderate, said Monday that President Biden and Democratic lawmakers should set aside a proposal to increase the minimum wage from a new COVID-19 relief proposal. She was one of more than a dozen senators who participated on a conference call with National Economic Council Director Brian Deese on Sunday to discuss President Biden’s $1.9 trillion relief plan. Biden's proposed package would increase the federal minimum wage to $15 an hour, more than doubling the current rate of $7.25 an hour. Collins, a leader of the bipartisan group, said Monday that she supports raising the minimum wage but says it should be done separately from the new proposed COVID-19 relief package. “This package should focus solely on the persistent pandemic. It should not be used as the vehicle for a wish list that certain Democrats have. Now, that’s not to say that I don’t think there should be an increase in the minimum wage. There should be. But that should be considered separately so we can debate what the right amount,” she said. She said raising the minimum wage “has nothing to do with COVID.” Collins said she doesn’t have a particular figure in mind for the appropriate total cost of the next relief package but she cautioned the package's price tag “is a big question.” She argued that as much as $1.8 trillion in unspent funds might be left over from the five coronavirus relief bills signed into law last year and could be reallocated for a new package.
Democrats working on legislation to provide $3,000 payments per child amid pandemic-- House Democrats are working on legislation proposed by President Joe Biden to expand the existing child tax credit, directing the IRS to send recurring monthly payments to American families, a source familiar with the matter confirmed to CNN.In one draft of the proposal, the IRS would deposit checks worth $300 every month per child younger than 6 and $250 every month per child age 6 to 17. This would give parents $3,000 per year for each child between the ages of 6 to 17, and $3,600 per child under age 6.The changes would last for a year, but lawmakers would then push to make them permanent, another Democratic aide said.The source also confirmed to CNN that House Ways and Means Committee Chair Richard Neal of Massachusetts is directly involved in the effort to write the expansion of the child tax credit, as well as House Appropriations Committee Chair Rosa DeLauro of Connecticut and Rep. Suzan DelBene, Democrat of Washington.The drafting of the proposed legislation was first reported by The Washington Post.Eligibility for the benefit, similar to the stimulus checks, would be based on family income for the prior tax year and be phased out at a certain income amount, the Post reported.A White House official didn't respond to CNN's request for comment.Biden has previously said he wants to expand the child tax credit and last week he unveiled a $1.9 trillion proposal that would do so for one year. He also called for making it fully refundable to allow more households to claim it. Currently, 27 million children live in low-income families who receive a partial or no tax credit because they earn too little, according to the left-leaning Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. A one-year expansion would cost about $120 billion, according to the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, a non-partisan fiscal watchdog.
1.3 million people applied for unemployment insurance last week: Policymakers must pass crucial relief and recovery measures -EPI -This morning the Department of Labor (DOL) released the first official economic data collected during the Biden presidency—initial unemployment insurance claims from last week, (well, half of last week was in the Biden presidency). What it shows is that Biden inherited an extremely weak labor market.Another 1.3 million people applied for unemployment insurance (UI) benefits last week, including 847,000 people who applied for regular state UI and 427,000 who applied for Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA). The 1.3 million who applied for UI last week was a decrease of 87,000 from the prior week, but the four-week moving average of total initial claims ticked up by 45,000. The four-week moving average of total initial claims has risen back to roughly where it was in mid-October.Last week was the 45th 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 still greater than the second-worst week of the Great Recession.) I should note that throughout this post I use seasonally adjusted data where I can, but for comparisons to the Great Recession I use not-seasonally-adjusted data, since DOL’s improved seasonal adjustments aren’t available before the week ending August 29, 2020.Most states provide just 26 weeks of regular benefits, meaning many workers are exhausting their regular state UI benefits. In the most recent data (the week ending January 16), continuing claims for regular state benefits dropped by 203,000. After a worker exhausts regular state benefits, they can move onto Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation (PEUC), which is an additional 24 weeks of regular state UI (theDecember COVID-19 relief bill increased the number of weeks of PEUC eligibility by 11, from 13 to 24).In the most recent data available for PEUC, the week ending January 9th, PEUC claims rose by 837,000. This increase partially reversed the prior week’s drop, which was due to the temporary lapse in pandemic UI programs before Trump signed the December COVID-19 relief bill. But we can expect them to continue to rise further in coming weeks. Over 3.5 million people had exhausted the original 13 weeks of PEUC by the end of December (see column C43 in form ETA 5159 for PEUC here). These workers are eligible for the additional 11 weeks, but they need to recertify. PEUC numbers will continue to swell as this occurs.Continuing claims for PUA increased by 1.6 million in the latest data, the week ending January 9th. The large jump in PUA almost fully reverses the prior week’s drop, which was also due to the temporary lapse described above. The December bill extended the total weeks of PUA eligibility by 11, from 39 to 50 weeks. As workers who exhausted PUA before the extensions were signed get back on PUA, we can expect the PUA numbers to swell further.The 11-week extensions of PEUC and PUA just kick the can down the road—they are not long enough. Congress must pass further extensions before mid-March, or millions will exhaust benefits at that time, when the virus is still rampant and the labor market is still weak.
Biden signs executive orders on stimulus checks, food stamps and minimum wage - — President Joe Biden signed two executive orders on Friday, one of which would increase federal food assistance and streamline the delivery of stimulus checks, as the president attempts to stabilize the economy without congressional assistance amid the fallout from the coronavirus pandemic."We have to act now," Mr. Biden said in remarks before he signed the orders. "We cannot, will not, let people go hungry."Mr. Biden has proposed a $1.9 trillion relief plan to Congress, but it is unclear whether it will garner enough Republican support to pass on a bipartisan basis. Until Congress is able to pass another relief bill, Mr. Biden's actions are intended as stopgap measures to stabilize the economy.Some Republicans have questioned whether there is still a need for a second, larger relief bill after Congress passed a $900 billion bill in December. But in his remarks on Friday, Mr. Biden said that the most recent relief bill was just a "downpayment.""We need more action, and we need to move fast," Mr. Biden said. "We're in a national emergency. We need to act like we're in a national emergency. So we've got to move with everything we've got."In the first order, Mr. Biden asks the U.S. Department of Agriculture to allow states to increase Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits — commonly known as food stamps — by 15%. Congress recently passed a $1 trillion relief bill that boosted the maximum SNAP benefit by 15%, but that did not help the 40% of SNAP recipients who were already at the maximum benefit. Mr. Biden's order tells the USDA to "consider issuing new guidance that would allow states to increase SNAP emergency allotments for those who need it most," according to a fact sheet provided by the White House, which would mean that an additional 12 million people get enhanced benefits.The order would also increase Pandemic-EBT, an electronic debit card program for students who would have qualified for free or reduced-price meals at school. Mr. Biden is directing the USDA to "consider issuing new guidance increasing P-EBT benefits by approximately 15% to accurately reflect the costs of missing meals and make it easier for households to claim benefits." According to the White House, this could provide a family with three children an additional $100 in support per month. Under the order, the USDA would also reassess the Thrifty Food Plan, the basis for determining SNAP benefits. According to the fact sheet from the White House, the plan "is out of date with the economic realities most struggling households face when trying to buy and prepare healthy food."
Rural U.S. states get larger share of PPP loans in latest round - Small businesses in Nebraska, Oklahoma and other rural states have been the most successful at getting federal pandemic relief in the $284 billion round of aid that opened this month, buoyed by a new rule that authorizes loans to many farms that didn’t qualify before. Measured by their share of the nation’s small-business payroll, four states, also including North Dakota and Wyoming, got more than twice their share of Paycheck Protection Program loans, based on an analysis of data from Jan. 11 to Jan. 24 released by the Small Business Administration this week. It’s still early days, and there’s evidence of pent-up demand across the country. Lenders and applicants say the process is simpler but slower than last year. Overall, $35 billion of forgivable loans were approved in the first two weeks of the January rollout, a fraction of the $349 billion disbursed in the first 13 days of the program last April. The latest PPP funding included rules aimed at fixing the program’s flaws: Restaurants can draw more debt and applications are more deeply scrutinized for fraud. One change benefited many small farmers and ranchers shut out last year. The Nebraska Farm Bureau, the largest member of the American Farm Bureau, and other agricultural groups successfully lobbied Congress to allow farm owners without paid employees to get aid even if they didn’t earn a net profit. The special rule for farmers was the result of a bipartisan effort led by Rep. Ron Kind, a Wisconsin Democrat. “We are helping folks that could’ve used the help before but didn’t qualify,” said John Hansen, president of the Nebraska Farmers Union, which represents over 4,000 family farms and ranches. “The SBA is glad that newly eligible audiences are speaking with their lenders to participate in the Paycheck Protection Program to secure funding that keeps their workforce employed and on payroll during the pandemic,” the agency said in a statement. The main goal of the PPP was to help business owners retain their employees. For the self-employed, aid was meant to replace earnings they relied on to pay themselves, meaning if the business hadn’t made a net profit in 2019, they weren’t eligible for aid. The new rules enable unprofitable non-employer farms and ranches to access the program, but exclude other self-employed in the same financial situation, such as barbers. The industry category that includes agriculture, forestry, fishing and hunting represented 15% of PPP loans so far in 2021, compared with 3% last year, SBA data shows. By dollar volume, the sector has been approved for 3.5% of PPP funding, compared with 1.6% in 2020.
McConnell, Heavily Funded by Wall Street, Is Blocking Seating of Democrats as Senate Committee Chairs -- Nine days ago we cautiously reported that Senator Sherrod Brown, a Democrat from Ohio who holds a critical view of Wall Street’s serial bent toward fraudulent activities, was set to take the Chairmanship of the Senate Banking Committee. This would endow Brown with the power to set the agenda for hearings, call witnesses and put them under oath, and issue subpoenas. We wrote this at the time:“We get the feeling that Senator Brown took the very wise and preemptive step of getting mainstream media to announce his Chairmanship yesterday because he clearly understood that Wall Street’s mega banks would be fighting behind the scenes in an effort to prevent him from advancing to Chair.”With the addition of the two new Democratic Senators from Georgia’s special runoff (Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff) and Vice President Kamala Harris as the tie-breaker vote, Democrats now control the Senate and the chairmanship of each of the Senate Committees should have swiftly moved to a Democrat.Instead, we learned from last night’s evening news that Senator Mitch McConnell, a Republican from Kentucky who is the outgoing Senate Majority Leader, is threatening to use the filibuster to stop passage of the Organizing Resolution, which is required in order to seat the new Senate Committee chairs.Senator Sheldon Whitehouse, a Democrat from Rhode Island and an expert on the dark money that has corrupted Washington, appeared last evening on the MSNBC news program, All In With Chris Hayes, to explain what McConnell was up to. (A YouTube video of that interview appears below.)Senator Brian Schatz, Democrat of Hawaii, Tweeted that the move by McConnell was “wacky,” adding that “We won the Senate. We get the gavels.”Former U.S. Labor Secretary, Robert Reich, Tweeted that “The filibuster was popularized in the Jim Crow era by Southerners who wanted to prevent the Northern majority from passing legislation in favor of civil rights for Black citizens. Abolish it.” Senator Chris Murphy, Democrat of Connecticut, noted in a Tweet that “…after Mitch McConnell changed the Senate rules at a blistering pace during his 6 years in charge, he is threatening to filibuster the Senate’s organizing resolution unless the Democratic majority agrees to never change the rules again.”This is a sampling of the fat donations that McConnell’s campaign committee and Leadership PAC received from big Wall Street firms in the 2019-2020 election cycle: Blackstone Group, $124,193; Apollo Global Management, $98,547; KKR, $80,978; JPMorgan Chase, $62,867; Goldman Sachs, $61,179; Bank of America (parent of Merrill Lynch), $40,634.
What is to be done with the Senate ? -What are we going to do about Mitch McConnell and his enabler Jim Manchin ? McConnell is blocking the establishment of committees for the 117th Senate. This means that the committees with Republican Chairs and Republican majorities will exist and operate in the Senate with a Democratic majority. He demands that Democrats promise not to eliminate the filibuster before he ends the filibuster of the resolution setting up the 117th Senate.One simple solution is to introduce bills on the floor. This is what McConnell did with his bill to repeal and replace the ACA. McConnell objecting to contempt for regular order is, quite possibly, absurd enough to be mocked even by very serious centrists. The point is that McConnell can block the establishment of committees, but he can only make committees important if the Democrats allow him to.So far, this might work for a while (motions to confirm straight to the floor as many have proposed for example). But the Democratic caucus will not allow Schumer to replace committees with himself (the Republican caucus didn’t let McConnell get away with it either). The problem is that Senators want the power that comes from serving on committees. Especially those who will be chairpersons if McConnell is convinced or nuked will not accept bills being written in Schumer’s office. What do do about the caucus ?The Democratic caucus can do what it pleases with or without McConnell. It can establish committees of the caucus. t can have Senators chair those committees. Those committees can (Constitutionally) do most things which senate committees do, except there won’t be any Republicans on those committees. Schumer can bring to the floor bills drafted by committees of the Democratic caucus. If the Republicans refuse to play ball with the Democrats, the Democrats can leave them alone.It remains true that Republicans can filibuster the bills when they get to the floor, but committees only matter if Schumer allows them to matter and he only has to delegate power to other Democrats.McConnell will (correctly) note that this is an outrageous break from the traditions of the Senate. The Democrats can reply (in chorus) that they are eager to go to committee meetings as soon as McConnell ceases to filibuster the resolution setting up committees.
McConnell: Power-sharing deal can proceed after Manchin, Sinema back filibuster - Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) indicated on Monday night that a power-sharing deal could move forward after two Democrats reiterated they would not nix the 60-vote legislative filibuster. "Today two Democratic Senators publicly confirmed they will not vote to end the legislative filibuster. They agree with President Biden’s and my view that no Senate majority should destroy the right of future minorities of both parties to help shape legislation," McConnell said in a statement. "The legislative filibuster was a key part of the foundation beneath the Senate’s last 50-50 power-sharing agreement in 2001. With these assurances, I look forward to moving ahead with a power-sharing agreement modeled on that precedent," McConnell added. The GOP leader's remarks effectively ends the days-long impasse over how to organize an evenly split 50-50 Senate, where Democrats hold the majority because Vice President Harris can break a tie. Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) immediately declared victory. "We’re glad Senator McConnell threw in the towel and gave up on his ridiculous demand. We look forward to organizing the Senate under Democratic control and start getting big, bold things done for the American people," said Justin Goodman, a spokesman for Schumer. McConnell's comments come after Sens. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) and Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.) reiterated on Monday that they oppose nixing the 60-vote legislative filibuster. "I do not support doing away with the filibuster under any condition. It's not who I am," Manchin told reporters. Sinema's office also reiterated on Monday that she is still not supportive of nixing the filibuster after The Washington Post incorrectly suggested that she might be open to getting rid of the 60-vote hurdle. Sinema is "against eliminating the filibuster, and she is not open to changing her mind about eliminating the filibuster," a spokesperson told the Post.
Trudeau and Biden to strengthen Canada-US military alliance and trade-war bloc - On Friday, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau became the first foreign leader to speak with US President Joe Biden. The readouts of the call released by both sides, together with a flurry of commentary in the bourgeois press prior to and after Biden’s inauguration, underscore that Ottawa and Washington plan to expand their global military-strategic partnership so as to more aggressively challenge their great-power rivals, above all Russia and China. The White House noted that the call focused on “the strategic importance of the U.S.-Canada relationship and reinvigorating our bilateral cooperation.” Trudeau’s office stressed America and Canada’s “shared values and interests on the global stage,” and announced a plan for the two leaders to meet again in a month’s time to expand “the deep and enduring friendship between Canada and the United States.” Behind this, North America’s twin imperialist powers are preparing a dramatic intensification of their economic and military collaboration, an expansion of trade war measures, and an acceleration of preparations for military conflict with their great power rivals. The main form these policies will take is a concerted push, particularly on the part of the Canadian ruling elite, for a “North America First” agenda. The “North America First” slogan is aimed above all at Russia and China, who are seen as direct competitors and strategic threats by Ottawa and Washington. Military strategists and defence experts have long been discussing the need to modernize the North American Aerospace Defence Command (NORAD), a bilateral Cold War-era mechanism uniting Canadian and US military forces. A key element in NORAD modernization is Canada’s integration into Washington’s ballistic missile defence shield and the deployment of new nuclear-capable missiles, steps whose logic is to place both countries on a course toward waging a “winnable” nuclear war with Beijing or Moscow. These plans were discussed by Trudeau and Biden. “The Prime Minister and President agreed to expand cooperation on continental defence and in the Arctic, including the need to modernize NORAD, and discussed their Foreign Affairs and National Defence ministers and secretaries of State and Defense meeting at the earliest opportunity,” stated the Trudeau government’s release on the bilateral call.
Biden administration warns China over Taiwan, as US carrier enters South China Sea - The newly-installed Biden administration is rapidly demonstrating that its stance toward China will be just as aggressive as that of the Trump administration. The White House is also continuing the Trump administration’s confrontational military actions, with the aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt and its strike group entering the South China Sea on Saturday. The strike group included a guided-missile cruiser USS Bunker Hill, and two Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyers, the USS Russell and USS John Finn, While the US military described the operation as “routine,” the only aspect that is “routine” is the increasing frequency of such exercises under the Obama and Trump administrations, including “freedom of navigation operations” (FONOPs) inside the 12-nautical mile territorial limit around Chinese-occupied islets in the South China Sea. The FONOPs increased from two or three annually in the final years of the Obama administration to as many as 10 under Trump. Strike group commander Rear Admiral Doug Verissimo declared: “It’s great to be in the South China Sea again, conducting routine operations, promoting freedom of the seas, and reassuring allies and partners.” While it is not clear whether a warship will this time enter territorial waters claimed by China, the very presence of a US carrier strike group close to the Chinese mainland and sensitive naval bases on Hainan Island is provocative. While the USS Theodore Roosevelt strike group entered the South China Sea, the US State Department criticised the Chinese military for flying its aircraft through the southwestern air defence identification zone (ADIZ) declared by Taiwan. In a statement issued on Saturday, US spokesman Ned Price expressed “concern” at the pattern of Chinese attempts “to intimidate its neighbors, including Taiwan” and warned “our commitment to Taiwan is rock-solid.” While a number of countries have established ADIZs, they are not part of territorial air spaces, have no standing in international law and are based on tacit agreement between countries. Indeed, when China declared its own ADIZ in the East China Sea in 2013, the US declared that it would not recognise the zone and deliberately flew warplanes through the area without making any identifications. The latest US condemnation, which has been featured in the US and international press, is designed to demonstrate that the Biden administration will continue Trump’s closer support for, and contact with, Taiwan. The US continued to arm Taiwan and oppose any forcible Chinese takeover of the island when it established diplomatic relations with China in 1979. At the same time, however, Washington tacitly accepted the “One China policy,” acknowledging Beijing as the legitimate ruler of all China, including Taiwan.
UN agency reports China surpassed US in foreign direct investments in 2020 - A United Nations trade agency reported that China surpassed the U.S. as the largest recipient of foreign direct investments (FDI) in 2020. The UN Conference on Trade and Developments (UNCTAD) concluded that China became the largest FDI receiver last year over the U.S., with flows increasing by 4 percent to $163 billion, $163 billion, Bloomberg News reported. Most countries saw decreases due to the coronavirus pandemic, including the U.S., which saw its flow drop by 49 percent to $134 billion, according to UNCTAD’s Investment Trends Monitor. The U.S.’s decrease was seen in wholesale trade, financial services and manufacturing. China’s return to positive GDP growth and targeted investment facilitation program assisted in the country’s FDI levels, the agency noted in a release. Globally, flows fell by 42 percent to $859 billion due to the coronavirus pandemic, compared to $1.5 trillion in 2019. The global foreign direct investment reached its lowest level since the 1990s, including 30 percent lower than investments after the 2008-2009 financial crisis. North American flows dropped by 46 percent to $166 billion, but Europe saw declines of about 66 percent to negative $4 billion. The decreases were found to be concentrated in developed countries, where flows dropped 69 percent. Meanwhile, developing countries accounted for 72 percent of the global FDI, the highest percentage recorded. FDI is expected to stay shaky during 2021 as the coronavirus pandemic continues to impact the world. “The effects of the pandemic on investment will linger,” James Zhan, the director of UNCTAD’s investment division, said in the release. “Investors are likely to remain cautious in committing capital to new overseas productive assets.”
Is Biden Going To Blow Reentering The Iran Nuclear Deal? -Barkley Rosser - I certainly hope not, but it is not out of the question. There is a serious split within the new Biden administration over how to approach getting the US back into the JCPOA nuclear deal with Iran, which, just for the record, the US withdrew from even though it was the US that had violated it by not fully withdrawing economic sanctions against Iran, a decision made during the Obama administration that negotiated the deal, while Iran was not in violation and continued to adhere to it for quite some time after the US withdrew to condemnation by the other parties to the deal, which included western European nations as well as Russia and China. Throughout the campaign Biden expressed an intention to get back into the agreement. But some of his foreign policy appointees have raised conditions for doing so that might delay or even block doing so, with such a delay dangerous because in June there will be a presidential election in Iran where most are forecasting that current President Rouhani, who negotiated the deal and supports the US reentering will be replaced by a hardliner who may well simply oppose the deal. There is a not very large window for doing this. It is pretty obvious that this looks like extending the nuclear START with Russia: it should simply be done without demanding special favors or actions from Iran, just START is likely to be extended as is, with Putin apparently accepting Biden’s offer for a simple five-year extension. But then, Russia is much more powerful than Iran is.Who wants to hold things up? Apparently Biden’s incoming SecState Blinken and his National Security Adviser, Jake Sullivan. Both want Iran to get itself back into obeying the accord before the US makes any moves to lower economic sanctions. On top of that, Sullivan wants Iran to agree to additions to the agreement to limit its ballistic missile program, items never in the original deal, even if it has been a source of anger by regional allies opposed to the deal like Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and Israel. The latter would certainly delay any resumption of the deal past the June election and outright kill it, while the former very likely would. It looks pretty obvious that the US needs to offer some sort of simultaneity of reducing sanctions as Iran moves to end the uranium enrichment activities it started up after the US withdrew.
Janet Yellen Confirmed By Senate, Becoming First Woman To Head Treasury - The Senate quickly confirmed Janet Yellen to be Treasury secretary on Monday, days after she won unanimous backing from both Democrats and Republicans on the Senate Finance Committee.Yellen will be the first woman to lead the Treasury Department and will spearhead the Biden administration's response to the coronavirus recession. The Senate confirmed her with an 84-15 vote.At her confirmation hearing last week, Yellen urged lawmakers to "act big" in response to the pandemic, which has killed more than 400,000 Americans and put millions of people out of work. President Biden has proposed a $1.9 trillion rescue package, which includes $1,400 relief payments for most Americans, extended unemployment benefits and substantial aid to cash-strapped state and local governments. A labor economist by training, Yellen chaired the Federal Reserve from 2014 to 2018. She also led the Council of Economic Advisers in the Clinton administration.
Ten Months after Stepping Down as Fed Chair, Janet Yellen Became Part of the “Leadership” Team for Forums Tied to the Chinese Communist Party Pam Martens - Haven’t we learned anything about properly vetting people for the highest offices in the U.S. government? Former Fed Chair and Treasury Secretary nominee Janet Yellen has failed to report the details of millions of dollars in fees that she earned in 2018, the year she stepped down as Fed Chair, as she went on a whirlwind of speaking engagements in foreign cities around the world. Yellen’s “leadership” role with the Bloomberg New Economy Forums which had the “active participation and support” of an organization openly tied to the Chinese Communist Party, raises further serious red flags. And yet, Yellen sailed through her Senate Finance Committee confirmation hearing this past week, gaining a favorable vote of 26-0. A full Senate vote to confirm Yellen as Treasury Secretary is expected to occur tomorrow.What Yellen did disclose on her Office of Government Ethics financial disclosure formshowed that in 2019 and 2020 she made a cash haul of more than $7 million in speaking fees, the majority of which came from Wall Street trading houses, mega banks and hedge funds. Yellen stepped down as Chair of the Fed on February 3, 2018. Over the next 10 months, in addition to her foreign gigs, Yellen also appeared at numerous stateside paid engagements for Wall Street firms like JPMorgan Chase, Morgan Stanley, and Jefferies. She has failed to make public the transcripts of her speeches at these events or the specific amounts she was paid. After the news broke of Yellen’s $7 million haul, Senior Reporter Jesse Eisinger of ProPublica Tweeted: “Deeply troubling two-fisted money grab from banks by Janet Yellen. This is corruption, but isn’t called that because it’s so quotidian.” Eisinger also noted: “Sure, Yellen might think she can make independent decisions once in office. But how arrogant is it to imagine that money corrupts everyone but you?” Many of the banks Yellen accepted cash windfalls from were regulated by the Fed prior to her departure. These banks are also recidivist lawbreakers. JPMorgan Chase has been charged with, and admitted to, five criminal felony counts brought by the U.S. Department of Justice while it was being supervised by the Fed. The public deserves to know how much Yellen received from JPMorgan Chase in the year after she left the Fed. Citigroup, a smaller bank than JPMorgan Chase, paid Yellen over $990,000 in 2019 and 2020, according to her financial disclosure form. Citigroup received the largest Fed bailout in global banking history following the Wall Street crash of 2008. We have learned that Yellen didn’t even come clean with the abbreviated information she did provide to the Office of Government Ethics. For example, Yellen was a speaker at the Bloomberg New Economy Forum in Singapore in 2018; appeared virtually at the event in 2020; and was a member of its Advisory Board. The Office of Government Ethics asks nominees to list “Employment Agreements and Arrangements.” There is no mention of her role on the Advisory Board of the Bloomberg New Economy Forum or any speaking fees she may have collected to speak at its 2018 and 2020 events. (Considering that Yellen charged the Texas Christian University $135,000 to speak in March of 2019, it seems highly unlikely Yellen would travel 9600 miles to Singapore for a billionaire’s event on a pro bono basis.)
Who’s Who in Biden’s Corporate Cabinet | Left Voice - President Biden has finally completed his dream team. After the shocking assault on the Capitol by right-wing extremists and fascist organizations, many establishment politicians, large corporations, and military officials have fallen behind the Biden-Harris administration, and many want to go “back to normal.” With Democrats in control of the House and Senate for the first time since 2008, Biden has chosen to fill his cabinet with a wide-ranging assortment of neoliberal establishment capitalists of every race, gender, and creed. Biden’s cabinet reflects a commitment to the corporate and imperialist interests of America, snubbing the progressive wing that funneled most of the grassroots energy and anger from the summer’s uprising into campaigning for him. He shows only a face-value commitment to the BLM protests demands: his cabinet has diversity in gender, race, and religion, but no diversity in politics. They are committed to protecting U.S. hegemony and big-business class interests. The coming days will be full of his nominees getting confirmed by the Democrat controlled House and Senate. With a corporate cabinet full of Democrat establishment rehashes from the Obama years, Biden is promising to go back to the normalcy that brought Trump to power four years ago. We’ve created a short list highlighting what you should know about each new cabinet member. There is a lot more to say about each of these corporate shills, but we’ve compiled some of the most relevant information here.
Biden Signs Order Boosting Federal Spending On US Products -- President Biden signed his much-previewed 'Buy American' executive order on Monday, which will boost federal agencies' purchases of US products. The order will direct agencies to acquire more goods and services from US manufacturers and workers, using nearly $600 billion at their disposal for such contracts." "I don’t buy for one second that the vitality of American manufacturing is a thing of the past,” Biden said before signing the order. "We are going to use taxpayers money to rebuild America." According to Bloomberg, the policy will also make it more difficult to obtain waivers to buy products from overseasusing what the new administration described as loopholes which allowed the skirting of existing requirements. Further, the EO establishes a new position within the White House Office of Management and Budget which will oversee the changes, and will force agencies seeking waviers to pust them on a public website where US companies can view them for the purpose of competitive bids.Biden’s order also directs a federal panel to finalize changes within six months that would tighten standards defining American-made products to ensure they are manufactured with a higher percentage of U.S. components and labor, officials said. –Bloomberg As we reported last week, every day of President Biden's 10-day sprint out the gate is supposed to have a "theme". Thursday's was fighting the coronavirus pandemic. Friday's was economic/racial inequality. Now, as Nancy Pelosi and the rest of Biden's Congressional allies continue with their push to (retroactively) impeach President Trump, President Biden is outright stealing one of his predecessors' most popular ideas. Like Trump before him, Biden is signing a "Made in America" executive order to increase the amount of federal spending that goes to American companies.
Buy American: Biden More Protectionist Than Trump? -- Although the rest of the world breathed a sigh of relief that the isolationist Donald Trump has literally departed the White House with little fanfare, the question remains: How much of an improvement will Biden be for international economic relations? A new article makes me question whether he will be much of an improvement since Biden is indicating more "Buy American" provisos for government procurement are in store to shore up US industry during these challenging times: President Joe Biden will take steps Monday to encourage the federal government to buy more American-made products, a move the new administration argues will protect U.S. jobs and juice an economy severely hobbled by the deadly coronavirus pandemic.Biden, who pushed a $700 billion Buy American campaign as a candidate for president, is set to sign an executive order that will advance several policies to boost the federal government’s purchase of U.S.-manufactured goods and services, administration officials said Sunday.Federal law requires government agencies to give preference to American firms when possible, but critics say those requirements haven't always been implemented consistently or effectively. Some have not been substantially updated since the 1950s.The federal government spends nearly $600 billion a year on contracts, which is money the administration says can spur a revitalization of the nation’s industrial strength and create new markets for new technologies.To that end, Biden’s order will increase the domestic content threshold, which is the amount of a product that must be made in the U.S. before it can be purchased by the federal government. Trump has tried to implement something similar, although it had some loopholes still that Biden is currently trying to close: Shortly after taking office in 2017, President Donald Trump issued a series of executive orders that were intended to strengthen rules requiring federal agencies to buy U.S.-made goods when possible. But critics argued that effort fell short, partly because of Trump’s failure to adequately enforce the rules. The order that Biden will sign is expected to include a clear timeline for updating domestic content requirements and a process for reducing unnecessary waivers, which the administration argues would fundamentally change how the program operates. Oof! Is Biden even more protectionist than Trump? That won't be such a good signal to open with in terms of repairing strained relationships with other countries. Remember also that the United States is a signatory to the WTO's Government Procurement Agreement (GPA) that was intended to limit these shenanigans encouraging the purchase of own-country goods and services, and would therefore be subject to litigation by other signatories. Indeed, the Trump administration considered pulling out of the GPA for the purpose of introducing more "Buy American" policies: It remains to be seen how Biden will tiptoe around the United States' WTO GPA commitments without offending other member countries. Still, the question remains: Is Biden really going to be more internationalist in outlook than Trump? This episode gives us reasons to doubt whether Biden's actions will match his rhetoric (which is admittedly better to listen to).
CBP stops border wall construction after Biden executive order - Customs and Border Protection (CBP) confirmed on Wednesday that construction of the wall at the southern border has been suspended -- a week after President Bidensigned an executive order halting President Donald Trump’s signature border security project."CBP, in coordination with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, has suspended wall construction projects except for activities that are safety related," CBP said in a statement. "All projects are in compliance with the President’s Proclamation." Biden signed the order on Inauguration Day last week ordering a "pause" by no later than seven days after it was signed, so there could be assessments of the legality of the funding, contracting methods, as well as the consequences of stopping the projects.Trump had made construction of the wall his main 2016 campaign promise, and in 2020 promised to build 450 miles by the end of the year -- something hisadministration accomplished. But the wall was highly controversial. While many Republicans and officials at the border said it was a necessary part of a comprehensive border strategy, immigration activists and Democrats -- including Biden -- said it was ineffective and inhumane.
Biden expected to sign executive order to expand US refugee program - President Joe Biden is expected to sign an executive order that would set up his goal of admitting tens of thousands more refugees to the United States, according to two administration officials.Though White House officials discussed having President Biden sign a round of immigration-related executive orders Friday, it now appears likely those will be pushed until next week, two officials told CNN.Under former President Donald Trump, the US refugee admissions program was largely decimated following years of low arrivals, including a cap of 15,000 in fiscal year 2021 - dramatically lower from the country's historically high admissions caps. There are always plenty of reasons to take advantage of Sam’s Club’s curbside Pickup, from the stores’ enormous selection to the great member prices.The refugee cap, which dictates how many refugees may be admitted to the US, must be approved by the President. But where the cap was often been viewed as a goal to be reached, the actual number of refugees admitted fell dramatically under the Trump administration.During the campaign, Biden pledged to increase refugee admissions nearly tenfold, to an annual cap of 125,000. The President is expected to take executive actions on immigration as soon as Friday, according to a draft calendar sent to administration allies.While it's unclear when Biden intends to reach the levels he committed to, the expected executive order would serve as guiding principles establishing a tone of opening up back up to refugees and setting a list of required reports due back between 30-120 days, according to a Homeland Security official.White House officials have made clear their intent to bolster the program. Over the weekend, Esther Olavarria, deputy director of the Domestic Policy Council for immigration, said Biden's upcoming executive actions would "restore the refugee admissions program and enables the US to return to its historic role as a leader and protection for refugees." Friday also marked two years of a Trump-era policy that required non-Mexican migrants seeking asylum to wait in Mexico until their court date in the United States. The orders build upon the actions already taken in Biden's first hours as president and cement the administration's vision for migration and border processing.
Biden immigration executive orders delayed, as bipartisan bill begins to take shape on Hill - The White House is delaying the signing of a number of immigration-related executive orders that would rescind a number of Trump-era policies, Fox News has learned -- just as a potential bipartisan immigration bill is beginning to take shape on the Hill. President Biden was expected to sign a number of immigration-related orders on Friday, including one that would establish a task force to reunify families separated at the border, and another to increase refugee admissions. Biden has previously said he wants to increase the annual refugee intake from 15,000 to 125,000. But while the timeline was never confirmed by the White House, Fox News has learned some or all of these orders may be pushed to next week. White House officials did not explain what caused the change in timelines. The orders will come on the back of a slew of orders related to immigration signed by Biden since entering the White House last week. He has reversed the Trump-era travel bans, and strengthened the Obama-era Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program that granted protection from deportation for illegal immigrants brought to the country as children. He also signed an order pausing the construction of the wall at the southern border, something that went into effect on Wednesday. Separately, his Department of Homeland Security has issued an order suspending deportations for 100 days -- but that is being challenged by a Texas lawsuit.
Biden administration renews agreement with Mexico and Guatemala to crack down on migrant workers -- The promises of US President Joseph Biden to reverse Trump’s fascistic migration policies have quickly been exposed, as the Democratic Party administration doubles down on the war on immigrants and asylum seekers. Even as Biden was signing his migration plan minutes after the presidential inauguration, his transitional team was encouraging the crackdown on a caravan of 8,000 migrants and refugees escaping hurricane-devastated Honduras at the hands of Guatemalan and Mexican troops and police. “Those in the region should not believe anyone peddling the lie that our border will be open to everyone next month,” declared the Biden team to the media, letting the regional authorities know that they should follow the same policy imposed under Trump. Amid a devastating pandemic and after surviving hurricanes that destroyed their homes, schools, clinics and entire towns, many children escaping the worst humanitarian crisis in the country’s history were left “injured” or “with psychological trauma” from the attacks by the Guatemalan security forces, as reported by UNICEF officials. Describing the scenes of horror, a migrant with small children said to Deutche Welle, “All the cops let loose running after the Hondurans. We ran and sheltered in a house. They helped us so that the children would not get beaten up.” The repression marks a continuation of the agreement for rounding up and summarily deporting migrants and refugees reached after the Trump administration threatened to impose oppressive trade tariffs against the impoverished countries of Central America and Mexico. Ever since, the vast majority of detentions of US-bound migrants has occurred in Guatemala and Mexico. On Friday, after two days of beatings by the Guatemalan security forces had dissolved the caravan, and as smaller groups of refugees were being intercepted in Mexico, Biden held his first official call with Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, focusing on migration. The readout of the call indicates that Biden discussed “reversing the previous administration’s draconian immigration policies,” including addressing the root causes of migration, “increasing resettlement capacity,” and improving processing of asylum requests. “The two leaders agreed to work closely to stem the flow of irregular migration to Mexico and the United States,” it adds. That same day, the announcement of the actual details was left to the US ambassador in Guatemala, William Popp, who met with the Mexican ambassador in Guatemala, Romeo Ruiz and the Guatemalan foreign minister Pedro Bolo. In a joint press conference, Popp, a Trump-appointee, said that “there is a renewed effort to keep the border safe during the COVID-19 emergency” under Biden. “Regarding any intention to form a caravan, our message is clear,” he added, “our border remains closed for those who try to enter illegally… Any migrants who cross the US border irregularly will be returned immediately as a matter of national health security.”
Biden to expand Affordable Care Act enrollment amid COVID-19 in new executive order - President Joe Biden will tackle the issue of health care Thursday with two executive actions aimed at expanding enrollment for the Affordable Care Act amid the COVID-19 pandemic, and addressing reproductive health, according to the White House.The actions continue a series of executive moves by Biden in his first week in office, setting an ambitious tone for his administration on a number of policy areas.On Thursday, Biden is expected to sign an executive order that will open a special enrollment period amid the pandemic that has already claimed the lives of nearly 430,000 Americans, according to a fact sheet outlining Biden's planned actions.Through the executive order, the Department of Health and Human Service is expected to open a three-month enrollment period from Feb. 15 to May 15, on Healthcare.gov, allowing more Americans to sign up for health care as COVID-19 continues to engulf the country."Reliable and affordable access to health insurance doesn't just benefit families' health; it is a critical source of economic security and peace of mind for all," the administration argued in the fact sheet.The executive action will seek to strengthen the Affordable Care Act Biden hopes to expand during his administration, as well as Medicaid, by asking agencies to "re-examine" their current policies that could undermine protections and access to care. The action would be the president's first step to follow through on his 2020 campaign pledge to expand the Affordable Care Act in order to provide health care to all Americans as a "right, not a privilege." Biden will also address the issue of reproductive health in a presidential memorandum Thursday, rescinding the "Mexico City Policy," often referred to as the global gag rule, which was expanded under President Donald Trump and which blocks U.S. funding to international non-profits that provide counseling or referrals for abortion.
Biden To Expand Obamacare, Eliminate Trump-Era Abortion Policy : NPR - President Biden will sign two executive actions Thursday that are designed to expand access to reproductive health care and health insurance through the Affordable Care Act and Medicaid. The president's memorandum instructs the Department of Health and Human Services to open a special enrollment period for the Affordable Care Act through HealthCare.gov, the federally run health insurance marketplace. The enrollment period will run Feb. 15 to May 15, giving Americans who have lost their employer-based health insurance due to the pandemic an opportunity to sign up for coverage. "For President Biden, this is personal," a news release read. "As we continue to battle COVID-19, it is even more critical that Americans have meaningful access to affordable care." Biden will also order federal agencies to reexamine current policies that may undermine the Affordable Care Act and the health insurance exchanges created under it. He'll also request a review of policies that could make it more difficult for Americans to enroll in Medicaid. His second order aims "to protect and expand access to comprehensive reproductive health care" by rescinding the Mexico City Policy, also known as the "global gag rule." This policy, reinstated and expanded by the Trump administration, bars international nongovernmental organizations that provide abortion counseling or referrals from receiving U.S. funding. Biden's executive actions will undo some of the Trump administration's efforts to undermine the ACA. Last November, the Trump administration and several Republican-led states argued at the U.S. Supreme Court that the program should be voided, which would have eliminated popular elements of the law such as protections for those with preexisting conditions. The Supreme Court will hear a case that could decide the legality of work requirements for Medicaid recipients. The Trump administration granted waivers to allow work requirements for Medicaid to 12 states, though not all have been granted, and some have been blocked in lower courts. Biden is reversing course and directing federal agencies to reconsider those work requirement rules. He is also asking agencies to review policies that undermined protections for people with preexisting conditions, including COVID-19 related complications.
Catholic bishops slam Biden’s 'grievous' executive order funding overseas abortion providers - Roman Catholic bishops are condemning President Biden's decision to reverse a policy that blocks funding for overseas abortion providers, calling a recent executive order on the issue "incompatible with Catholic teaching." "It is grievous that one of President Biden’s first official acts actively promotes the destruction of human lives in developing nations," read the statement from Archbishop Joseph F. Naumann, chairman of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Committee on Pro-Life Activities. "This Executive Order is antithetical to reason, violates human dignity, and is incompatible with Catholic teaching. We and our brother bishops strongly oppose this action. We urge the President to use his office for good, prioritizing the most vulnerable, including unborn children." The statement was also penned by Bishop David J. Malloy who serves as chairman of the Committee on International Justice and Peace.
Biden says nothing can change the trajectory of the Covid pandemic over the next several months - President Joe Biden has painted a bleak picture of the nation's coronavirus outbreak in his first few days in office, warning that it will take months to turn around the pandemic's trajectory and that fatalities are expected to dramatically rise over the next few weeks. "A lot of America is hurting. The virus is surging. We're 400,000 dead expected to reach well over 600,000," Biden said on Friday before signing two executive orders designed to reduce hunger and bolster workers' rights amid the pandemic. The U.S. surpassed 400,000 total Covid-19 deaths on Tuesday, with a quarter of those coming over the previous 36 days, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University. On Biden's first full day as president on Thursday, he told reporters following a meeting with his Covid-19 advisors, including Dr. Anthony Fauci, that the nation would likely top 500,000 Covid-19 deaths in February. Biden warned on Friday that as the outbreak continues, "there's nothing we can do to change the trajectory of the pandemic in the next several months." The president has repeatedly warned that the situation is likely to worsen before it improves. While it wasn't immediately made clear what projections Biden was referencing, one key projection from Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation estimates that the U.S. could reach 600,000 Covid-19 deaths by March if states were to ease social distancing mandates. However, the model's current projections show Covid-19 deaths plateauing just above 560,000 Covid-19 deaths by late April. A spokesperson for the Biden administration was not immediately available for comment regarding the president's projections. The United States has reported a decline in Covid-19 cases in recent days, a glimmer of hope following a surge since the fall and through the winter holiday season. The U.S. is reporting an average of roughly 187,593 new Covid-19 cases daily, a 22% decline compared with a week ago, according to a CNBC analysis of Johns Hopkins data. However, the nation is still "in a very serious situation," Fauci said during his first White House press briefing appearance under the new administration on Thursday, noting the country's high death toll and strained hospital capacity. Fauci said that the daily number of cases, based on a weekly average, appears to be plateauing and turning around. It's possible that the dip could still be because of a reduced reporting following the holidays, he added. "When we see that, we think it's real," Fauci said. Biden's warnings come as the country races to administer 100 million Covid-19 vaccine shots within the first 100 days in his administration. The nation's vaccine rollout has been slow to start, though health experts have said that Biden's 100 million shots goal is doable. The pace of vaccinations have picked up over the last week. The U.S. has administered 1.6 million Covid-19 vaccines between Thursday and Friday, according to recent data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, suggesting that 100 million shots in 100 days would be a feasible goal if that daily count continues.
Fauci: Joe Biden's 100 million COVID-19 shots pledge means doses, not people - President Biden’s pledge to distribute 100 million shots of COVID-19 vaccines in his first 100 days in office does not mean 100 million Americans will be vaccinated during that time, Dr. Anthony Fauci admitted Sunday.That volume of vaccinates will only see around 67 million people fully inoculated, because both current vaccines require two shots, he said on CBS’s “Face the Nation.”“Let me clarify that because there was a little bit of an understanding. What we’re talking about is 100 million shots in individuals,” the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases director said.“At the end of a hundred days, you’re going to have some people who will have gotten both shots, and some will still be on their first shots,” Fauci added.Fauci had been confronted with a previous interview in which he told CBS: “You know, the goal that’s been set, which I believe is entirely achievable, is to have a 100 million people vaccinated in the first 100 days.”When asked at the time whether that meant “both vaccines” he had replied, “Primary and boost, yes.”Biden’s “100 million” goal has already come under fire for aiming too low — with data showing the country was already distributing more than 1 million shots a day when he took office.When asked last week why he didn’t aim higher, he snapped at a reporter: “Come on, gimme a break, man! It’s a good start.”The CDC said it had administered more than 20 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines in the US as of Saturday.20 million more have been distributed, the agency said.
Biden To Ban Travelers From South Africa After Fauci Flip-Flops On 'Deadliness' Of New Strains - Just two days after unleashing his latest immigration Executive Order, easing border restrictions and removing President Trump's travel ban from so-called "majority Muslim" countries, President Biden will impose a ban on most non-U.S. citizens entering the country who have recently been in South Africa starting Saturday in a bid to contain the spread of a new variant of COVID-19, U.S. public health officials told Reuters.. Additionally, Biden on Monday is also reimposing an entry ban on nearly all non-U.S. travelers who have been in Brazil, the United Kingdom, Ireland and 26 countries in Europe that allow travel across open borders, said the sources, who requested anonymity because the plans have not yet been made public. Notably, Reuters points out that the South African variant, also known as the 501Y.V2 variant, is 50% more infectious and has been detected in at least 20 countries. CDC officials said they would be open to adding additional countries to the list if needed. The South African variant has not yet been found in the United States but at least 20 U.S. states have detected a UK variant known as B.1.1.7. Current vaccines appear effective against the UK mutations.
Biden's order terminates federal private prison contracts. Here's what that means. - President Joe Biden on Tuesday signed an executive order that will phase out the Department of Justice’s use of private prisons.The action is part of the administration’s effort to address racial inequity in the country and make good on Biden’s campaign promises to Black Americans — who were integral to securing his presidential win.The order directs the Justice Department to decline to renew contracts with privately-operated, for-profit prisons. This effort began under the Obama administration and was championed by then-DeputyAttorney General Sally Yates. The policy was quickly axed by the Trump administration in 2017. Now, scholars are taking a deeper look at the restored policy, and questioning its overall impact on racial inequity."When it comes to private prisons, the impact of this order is going to be slight to none," said John Pfaff, a professor of law at the Fordham University School of Law. "This is not about shrinking the footprint of the federal prison system, it’s just about transferring people to public facilities. Biden is telling an executive agency under his control what kind of contracts they can enter, that’s a core executive function of Biden’s."Still states can still choose "who to write contracts with," Pfaff said. "In practice, this will end up being more symbolic and will have little impact on any issue of racial justice and the system. The symbolism carries the very real risk of making us blind to the nearly identical incentives of the public prison sector, and the public side is so much vaster in scope."Few details have been released about the order scaling back private prison use, but the initial Obama-era policy focused on about a dozen privately-run facilities. The federal Bureau of Prisons said then that approximately 195,000 people were incarcerated in the bureau's or private-contract facilities. Today, there are nearly 152,000 people incarcerated federally, with 14,000 housed at privately-managed facilities, according to The Associated Press.
Biden faces scrutiny over his reliance on executive orders - President Joe Biden and aides showed touches of prickliness Thursday over growing scrutiny of the new president’s heavy reliance on executive orders in his first days in office.The president in just over a week has already signed more than three dozen executive orders and directives aimed at addressing the coronavirus pandemic as well as a gamut of other issues including environmental regulations, immigration policies and racial justice.Biden has also sought to use the orders to erase foundational policy initiatives by former President Donald Trump, such as halting construction of the U.S.-Mexico border wall and reversing a Trump-era Pentagon policy that largely barred transgender people from serving in the military.Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell said Thursday that Biden’s early reliance on executive action is at odds with the Democrat’s pledge as a candidate to be a consensus builder. The New York Times editorial board on Thursday ran an opinion piece headlined “Ease up on the Executive Actions, Joe.”Biden, for his part, on Thursday framed his latest executive actions as an effort to “undo the damage Trump has done” by fiat rather than “initiating any new law.” During a brief exchange with reporters in the Oval Office after signing two more executive orders, he noted he was working simultaneously to push his $1.9 trillion COVID aid package through Congress. After being asked by a reporter if he was open to splitting up the relief package, the president responded: “No one requires me to do anything.” Earlier in the day, White House communications director Kate Bedingfield bristled at the criticism of Biden’s executive orders in a series of tweets, adding, “Of course we are also pursuing our agenda through legislation. It’s why we are working so hard to get the American Rescue Plan passed, for starters.”
Republicans who cheered Trump's executive orders now grumble about 'record number' from Biden - Over the past week, a growing number of Republicans began sounding the alarm about the number and content of executive orders being issued by President Biden.“The first week in office, what has Joe Biden done? He’s signed an executive order ending the Keystone pipeline, destroying 11,000 jobs,” Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, said in a Tuesday interview on Fox News.“The scale of Joe Biden’s executive orders and their impact on Americans is stark,” Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., said last week.Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., blasted Biden for issuing “more executive fiats than anyone in such a short period of time, ever. More than Obama, more than Trump, more than anyone. Second, these aren’t just normal executive fiats, this is literally going down the wish list of the far left and checking all of them off.” Biden has in fact been on a record-setting pace for executive orders, signing more than 40 of them in his first week in office. Most, however, were written to overturn those of his predecessor, Donald Trump. They have included an end to the travel ban from some majority-Muslim countries, a reversal in Trump’s immigrant enforcement policies, the rejoining of the Paris climate accord, the cancellation of the permit for the Keystone XL pipeline and an end to the policy of prohibiting transgender people from serving in the U.S. military. After years of complaints that former President Barack Obama had used executive orders as an end run around a deadlocked Congress, Republicans were silent when Trump did the same thing. Not surprisingly, the pace of Trump’s executive orders increased after Democrats retook control of the House of Representatives, thereby blocking his prospects for passing legislation. By the time his term ended, Trump had signed 220 executive orders in a single term. Obama, by comparison, signed 276 over his two terms. From a historical perspective, both pale in comparison to the 3,721 issued by Franklin D. Roosevelt in his 12 years in office, though the nature of the orders, and the debate over whether they were better left to Congress to legislate, has also changed over time. Roosevelt’s most consequential initiatives, including Social Security and most New Deal programs, were enacted by legislation.
Bedingfield slams NY Times' editorial on Biden's executive orders -President Joe Biden on Tuesday signed an executive order that will phase out the Department of Justice’s use of private prisons.The action is part of the administration’s effort to address racial inequity in the country and make good on Biden’s campaign promises to Black Americans — who were integral to securing his presidential win.The order directs the Justice Department to decline to renew contracts with privately-operated, for-profit prisons. This effort began under the Obama administration and was championed by then-DeputyAttorney General Sally Yates. The policy was quickly axed by the Trump administration in 2017. Now, scholars are taking a deeper look at the restored policy, and questioning its overall impact on racial inequity."When it comes to private prisons, the impact of this order is going to be slight to none," said John Pfaff, a professor of law at the Fordham University School of Law. "This is not about shrinking the footprint of the federal prison system, it’s just about transferring people to public facilities. Biden is telling an executive agency under his control what kind of contracts they can enter, that’s a core executive function of Biden’s."Still states can still choose "who to write contracts with," Pfaff said. "In practice, this will end up being more symbolic and will have little impact on any issue of racial justice and the system. The symbolism carries the very real risk of making us blind to the nearly identical incentives of the public prison sector, and the public side is so much vaster in scope."Few details have been released about the order scaling back private prison use, but the initial Obama-era policy focused on about a dozen privately-run facilities. The federal Bureau of Prisons said then that approximately 195,000 people were incarcerated in the bureau's or private-contract facilities. Today, there are nearly 152,000 people incarcerated federally, with 14,000 housed at privately-managed facilities, according to The Associated Press.
Lawmakers move to oust extremists from military - Lawmakers are taking matters into their own hands to prevent white supremacists and other extremists from joining and remaining in the military. Following the deadly Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol — and the subsequent revelation that nearly 1 in 5 people charged in connection with the riot have some form of military background — Congress plans to insert language into this year’s National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) to address extremism at the Pentagon and other federal agencies. “The attack on our Capitol was an insurrection fueled in large part by groups that espouse the same extreme white supremacists’ views – groups that actively recruit veterans and from the ranks of our military,” Rep. Anthony Brown (D-Md.) said in a statement to The Hill. “We must recommit ourselves to rooting these beliefs out of our ranks, protecting our servicemembers from radicalization and ensuring all Americans feel safe serving the country we all love,” he added. Concerns about extremists in the ranks were thrust into the national spotlight after the Jan. 6 insurrection. At least 27 of the more than 140 individuals charged in the attack have served or are currently serving in the U.S. military. The Department of Defense (DOD) has struggled with how best to root out white nationalists and extremists among its soldiers, sailors and airmen. A defense official told The Hill that of the 143 notifications of investigation the Pentagon received from the FBI last year of former and current military members, 68 concerned domestic extremism cases. The official stressed that the vast majority were former military, many with unfavorable discharge records. Still, roughly one-third of active-duty service members said they had “personally witnessed examples of white nationalism or ideological-driven racism within the ranks in recent months,” according to a 2019 poll conducted by the Military Times and the Syracuse University Institute for Veterans and Military Families. “We know that some groups actively attempt to recruit our personnel into their cause, or actually encourage their members to join the military for purpose of acquiring skills and experience,” a senior Defense official told reporters earlier this month.
Rights Advocates Alarmed by US Spy Agency’s Purchase of Warrantless Phone Location Data -Digital rights advocates reacted with alarm to a report published Friday detailing how Defense Intelligence Agency analysts in recent years bought databases of U.S. smartphone location data without first obtaining warrants.The Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) is part of the Department of Defense and is tasked with informing military and civilian policymakers about the activities and intentions of foreign governments and nonstate actors.The new revelation, first reported by the New York Times, initially came in the form of DIA responses to questions from Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) regarding the agency’s warrantless purchase of commercial location data generated by phones both inside and outside of the United States.Wyden asked the DIA to clarify its interpretation of Carpenter v. United States, a 2018 U.S. Supreme Court decision barring law enforcement agencies from requesting personal location information from a cellphone company without first obtaining a search warrant from a judge. “DIA does not construe the Carpenter decision to require a judicial warrant endorsing purchase or use of commercially-available data for intelligence purposes,” the agency replied, implicitly acknowledging its exploitation of an apparent loophole in the case that DIA believes permits its warrantless acquisition of location data from third-party brokers.Last September it was revealed that the U.S. military was purchasing device location data from apps—including a Muslim prayer app used by tens of millions of people around the world—and using it for counterterrorism purposes. “The military industrial complex and the surveillance state have always had a cozy relationship with tech,” Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) said at the time. “Buying bulk data in order to profile Muslims is par for the course for them—and is absolutely sickening. It should be illegal!”
Tulsi Gabbard: Domestic-Terrorism Bill Is "A Targeting Of Almost Half Of The Country" -- Tulsi Gabbard, the former Democratic representative from Hawaii, on Friday expressed concern that a proposed measure to combat domestic terrorism could be used to undermine civil liberties. Gabbard’s comments came during an appearance on Fox News Primetime when host Brian Kilmeade asked her if she was “surprised they’re pushing forward with this extra surveillance on would-be domestic terror.” “It’s so dangerous as you guys have been talking about, this is an issue that all Democrats, Republicans, independents, Libertarians should be extremely concerned about, especially because we don’t have to guess about where this goes or how this ends,” Gabbard said.She continued:“When you have people like former CIA Director John Brennan openly talking about how he’s spoken with or heard from appointees and nominees in the Biden administration who are already starting to look across our country for these types of movements similar to the insurgencies they’ve seen overseas, that in his words, he says make up this unholy alliance of religious extremists, racists, bigots, he lists a few others and at the end, even libertarians.” She said her concern lies in how officials will define the characteristics they are searching for in potential threats.“What characteristics are we looking for as we are building this profile of a potential extremist, what are we talking about? Religious extremists, are we talking about Christians, evangelical Christians, what is a religious extremist? Is it somebody who is pro-life? Where do you take this?” Gabbard said. She said the proposed legislation could create “a very dangerous undermining of our civil liberties, our freedoms in our Constitution, and a targeting of almost half of the country.”
Proud Boys Leader Was 'Prolific' FBI Snitch: Court Docs - While US officials claim that 'far-right extremism' is one of the largest threats facing America, the leader of the group most commonly singled out as an example - the Proud Boys - was a 'prolific' informant for federal and local law enforcement, according to Reuters, citing a 2014 federal court proceeding. Enrique Tarrio repeatedly worked undercover for investigators following a 2012 arrest, court documents reveal. Curiously, Tarrio was ordered to stay away from Washington D.C. one day before the January 6 Capitol riot after he was arrested on vandalism and weapons charges - upon a request by government prosecutors that he be prohibited from attending. At least five Proud Boys members were charged as part of the riot. In the 2014 hearing, a federal prosecutor, an FBI agent and Tarrio's attorney describe his undercover work - noting that the Proud Boys leader helped authorities prosecute over a dozen people in various cases involving drugs, gambling and human smuggling, accoding to Reuters. In a Tuesday interview with Reuters, Tarrio denied working undercover or cooperating in cases. "I don't know any of this," he said, adding "I don't recall any of this." Law-enforcement officials and the court transcript contradict Tarrio’s denial. In a statement to Reuters, the former federal prosecutor in Tarrio’s case, Vanessa Singh Johannes, confirmed that “he cooperated with local and federal law enforcement, to aid in the prosecution of those running other, separate criminal enterprises, ranging from running marijuana grow houses in Miami to operating pharmaceutical fraud schemes.” The records uncovered by Reuters are startling because they show that a leader of a far-right group now under intense scrutiny by law enforcement was previously an active collaborator with criminal investigators. –Reuters During Tarrio's 2014 hearing, both the prosecutor and Tarrio's defense attorney asked for a reduced prison sentence after pleading guilty in a fraud case related to the relabeling and sale of stolen diabetes test kits. In requesting leniency for Tarrio and two co-defendants, the prosecutor noted that Tarrio's information had resulted in the prosecution of 13 people on federal charges in two separate cases, and helped local authorities investigate a gambling ring.
The Bidens were reportedly left waiting outside the White House on Inauguration Day because Trump sent the staff home - Joe and Jill Biden may have been waiting to enter the White House for longer than necessary on Inauguration Day because there was a lack of staff there to greet them.In a break from White House protocol, the new President and First Lady were left standing in front of closed doors as they took photos outside of their new residence for the first time on Wednesday.The Trumps "sent the butlers home when they left so there would be no-one to help the Bidens when they arrived," a well-placed official not associated with the Biden administration told The National Journal.Chief usher Timothy Harleth was also fired by the Trumps before they left on Wednesday morning, the publication reports. White House press secretary Jen Psak later confirmed that Harleth's exit occurred "before we walked in the door."Biden's entrance was a complete contrast to Trump's first visit to the White House on his Inauguration day four years prior.On January 20, 2017, Donald and Melania Trump were greeted by former president Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama, who posed for the photos with the couple before they entered the building together through open doors.
Trump establishes 'Office of the Former President' in Florida Former President Trump on Monday established an official post-presidency office in Palm Beach County, Fla., setting up a vehicle for future public appearances and statements. "The Office of the Former President" will manage Trump's correspondence, public statements, appearance and official activities, according to a press release from the office. "President Trump will always and forever be a champion for the American People," the release said. The title of the office could fuel speculation that Trump may not run for president again in 2024, something he and his advisers have not definitively weighed in on. Trump has been publicly silent since leaving the White House last week for his Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach. He has been banned from Twitter and suspended from other major social media platforms in the wake of the Capitol riot on Jan. 6. The president briefly spoke to a Washington Examiner reporter at his golf club a few days after leaving office, though he did not make extensive comments about his future plans. Trump is expected to reside in Florida, and he is surrounded by a handful of loyal aides. Allies have said Trump is eyeing supporting primary challenges against Republicans who he feels wronged him following his election defeat, such as Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp (R) and House Republican Conference Chairwoman Liz Cheney (Wyo.), who was one of 10 Republicans to vote to impeach Trump earlier this month.
Marjorie Taylor Greene touts Trump call amid growing backlash - Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) said Saturday that she spoke with former President Trump as she faces growing bipartisan criticism over past social media posts in which she expressed support for violence against Democrats. A spokesperson for Trump did not offer a comment about the conversation with Greene.The call comes as a growing chorus of lawmakers on both sides of the aisle rebukes Greene after internet sleuths and journalists uncovered a trove of social media remarks showing the Georgia Republican indicating support for comments that advocated for the deaths of top Democrats.Among the social media posts that have come under scrutiny are a 2018 message in which Greene said that the “stage is being set” in response to a post calling for the assassinations of former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and former President Obama. Greene in January 2019 also allegedly liked a Facebook comment that stated “a bullet to the head would be quicker” to remove Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) from office.Prior to the newly resurfaced comments, Greene had already drawn scrutiny for past offensive remarks about Muslims and Jews and for supporting the QAnon conspiracy theory, which posits that Democrats are part of a Satanic sex trafficking ring.However, pressure on House Republicans to find some kind of punishment for the most recently uncovered comments reached a boiling point this week.Democrats and outside groups have called on GOP leadership to take any one of an array of options, from stripping her of her committee assignments to backing a resolution to expel her from Congress. Expelling a member from the House requires a two-thirds majority vote, an unlikely scenario given Democrats’ narrow majority. However, even some in the GOP have expressed alarm at her remarks.
Sen. Rand Paul says Chief Justice Roberts won’t take Trump impeach trial - As Democrats plunge ahead with a post-term impeachment trial of President Donald Trump, a key question remains: Will Chief Justice Roberts take the case? Republican Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky says he won’t — making the exercise “a fake, partisan impeachment,” the lawmaker told Fox News’ Sean Hannity Friday. Paul claimed Roberts has “privately said he’s not supposed to come unless it’s an impeachment of the president.” According to the US Constitution, “when the President of the United States is tried, the Chief Justice shall preside” — a requirement not made for any other impeachment case. As lawmakers debated the legitimacy of impeachment, the Biden administration continued to keep its distance from the issue. “Congress is going to do what Congress does,” Ashley Etienne, Vice President Kamala Harris’ communications director, told MSNBC Saturday. One thing Trump enemies in Congress appear to be doing is grasping at straws — even reaching back to a post-Civil War amendment. Several Dems have floated the idea of punishing Trump with the 14th Amendment’s rule that shuts those who “engaged in insurrection or rebellion” out of elective office.
Leahy, not Roberts, to preside over impeachment trial - Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts will not preside over former President Trump’s Senate impeachment trial, which is scheduled to begin in earnest on Feb. 8. Instead, Senate President Pro Tempore Patrick Leahy (Vt.), the most senior member of the Senate Democratic Conference, will preside over the trial. Leahy on Monday confirmed he would wield the gavel and promised to administer “impartial justice.” “The president pro tempore has historically presided over Senate impeachment trials of non-presidents. When presiding over an impeachment trial, the president pro tempore takes an additional special oath to do impartial justice according to the Constitution and its laws. It is an oath that I take extraordinarily seriously,” he said in a statement. Leahy vowed he would “not waver from my constitutional and sworn obligations to administer the trial with fairness, in accordance with the Constitution and the laws.” A spokesman for Leahy said the decision on presiding over the trial is up to Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.). “Leaders have been negotiating all process issues about the trial, and all along we have deferred to them for any announcements about this and all other process matters,” the aide said. Republican critics say this creates a conflict of interest because Leahy voted in February to convict Trump on two articles of impeachment. Some have also argued the Senate should not be impeaching a former president, and that only Roberts should be presiding. “There’s only one constitutional process for impeachment and it is of the president, not a president,” said Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.). “It requires the chief justice to preside.” Hawley joined House Republicans in challenging the Electoral College vote tally in Pennsylvania and Arizona. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) also joined House Republicans in challenging the results in those states.
Biden says Trump's impeachment trial 'has to happen' -- President Biden said Monday that former President Trump’s second impeachment trial “has to happen” despite the potential disruptions of his agenda and his Cabinet members’ confirmations. “I think it has to happen,” Biden told a CNN reporter during a brief interview in the West Wing, which came as House Democrats were formally delivering their impeachment article against Trump to the Senate. The president told CNN he recognized that a Senate impeachment trial, which is set to begin Feb. 8, could impact the timeline for his legislative plans and Cabinet nominees but said there would be “a worse effect if it didn’t happen.”Biden said he does not expect 17 Republican senators to vote to convict the former president, which would be necessary to get to a two-thirds majority, adding that the trial might have had different results if Trump had more time left in his term."The Senate has changed since I was there, but it hasn't changed that much," Biden reportedly said.Trump earlier this month became the first president to be impeached twice after being accused of inciting rioters who stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6 in an attempt to stop Congress from certifying Biden’s election win.
Schumer: Impeachment trial will be quick, doesn't need a lot of witnesses Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) said on Monday night that former President Trump's impeachment trial will be "relatively" quick, indicating that he didn't think many witnesses are needed. "The trial will be done in a way that is fair but ... relatively quickly," Schumer told MSNBC's Rachel Maddow, his first national TV interview since becoming Senate majority leader. The Senate took a first step toward the eventual impeachment trial on Monday when the House impeachment managers walked the article to the Senate floor. On Tuesday senators will be sworn in as jurors. Under a deal worked out by Schumer and Senate GOP Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) on the pre-trial process, the impeachment trial will start during the week of Feb. 8. But the impeachment managers and Senate Democrats have been tight-lipped about how long they think a trial needs to last or if they need to call witnesses. Trump's first impeachment trial lasted 21 days, though senators have said they don't expect the second trial will last as long. "I don't think there's a need for a whole lot of witnesses," Schumer told MSNBC, adding that he expected the trial to be "fair" but that Democrats would "not let the Republicans be dilatory." Schumer added that no decision had been made on whether or not there would be witnesses. In the 2020 trial, Democrats pushed for additional witnesses, a request blocked by Republicans, but they've argued that they aren't needed now because the riots played out in real time in public. The House made history earlier this month when it voted to impeach Trump for a second time, making him the first president in U.S. history to be impeached twice. The article charged him for high crimes and misdemeanors for “willfully inciting violence against the Government of the United States.”
Just five GOP senators vote Trump impeachment trial is constitutional - The Senate sent a strong signal Tuesday that there are not nearly enough votes to convict President Trump in an impeachment trial when only five GOP senators rejected an effort by Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) to declare the looming trial unconstitutional. The Senate voted 55-45 to set aside Paul's motion, with all but five GOP senators siding with Paul. GOP Sens. Mitt Romney (Utah), Ben Sasse (Neb.), Susan Collins (Maine), Lisa Murkowski (Alaska) and Pat Toomey (Pa.) voted with Democrats to table Paul's point of order. The vote is the clearest sign yet that Trump is heading toward a second acquittal and offers an early insight into which Republicans are lining up behind an argument that his second impeachment trial isn't constitutional. Sen. John Thune (S.D.), the No. 2 GOP senator, said he thought the vote was "indicative" of where Republicans are but it doesn't "bind" them into voting a particular way on conviction. Sen. Rob Portman (R-Ohio), who voted against tabling Paul's effort, said he didn't think the vote was about whether or not the trial was constitutional but if there should be a discussion. The vote effectively pigeonholed Paul. Portman added that he thought Tuesday's vote and the eventual question of acquittal or conviction are a "totally different issue." Trump will be the first president to undergo a trial after leaving office, but the Senate previously held an impeachment trial for a Cabinet official after they left office. Paul, speaking ahead of the vote, warned that he wanted to force his colleagues to go on the record. "If we are going to put every politician in jail, are we going to impeach every politician who has used the words 'fight' figuratively in a speech? Shame," he said, accusing Democrats of being "deranged by their hatred" of Trump.
Sen. Patrick Leahy returns home after being hospitalized - Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), who is set to preside over the impeachment trial of former President Trump, was briefly taken to the hospital Tuesday before being released, his office said in a statement. Leahy, 80, “was not feeling well” in his Capitol office and was examined by the attending physician, said David Carle, a spokesperson for the Vermont senator. Leahy later left the hospital to return home. “Out of an abundance of caution, the Attending Physician recommended that he be taken to a local hospital for observation, where he is now, and where he is being evaluated,” Carle said. "After getting test results back, and after a thorough examination, Senator Leahy is now home," Carle added in a subsequent statement later Tuesday. "He looks forward to getting back to work." Leahy’s hospitalization came hours after he was sworn in to preside over the Senate’s impeachment trial. The proceedings are expected to begin the week of Feb. 8. Leahy, the Senate president pro tempore, is constitutionally the second-highest-ranking official in the upper chamber behind Vice President Harris, who is the president of the Senate under Article I. He is third in line in the order of presidential succession after Harris and Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.). The Vermont lawmaker was first elected to the Senate in 1974. He is the only sitting senator to have served during the Ford administration and one of only two to have served during the Carter administration. Leahy will oversee Trump’s impeachment trial next month in lieu of Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts, who chose not to preside over the trial because Trump is no longer in office.
Did Trump know what was about to happen Jan. 6? Democracy’s future depends on the stories told of the past. They must be told from facts. We have important facts about the Jan. 6. insurrectionists Donald Trump incited to invade the Capitol. Some told an FBI informant that they intended to kill Mike Pence and Nancy Pelosi. They reportedly came within 60 seconds of finding Pence. That close call should compel robust criminal investigations — not only to hold accountable all those who entered the Capitol but also to tell us exactly what Trump knew when he gave his speech that morning inciting the rioters. The facts already known do not cast Trump in a good light.Consider the context: Trump’s increasing desperation on Jan. 6 as the walls closed in on his prospects for holding power.
- More than 60 courts had rejected Trump’s unfounded legal attempts to overturn the election.
- On Jan. 2, Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger had refused, in an hourlong phone call, to knuckle under to Trump’s pleas to alter the Georgia vote count.
- On Jan. 3, Trump was stopped from replacing then-acting Attorney General Jeffrey Rosen with Jeffrey Clark, an assistant attorney general working with Trump to overturn Georgia’s election. A threat from the rest of the Justice Department leadership team to resign en masse forced Trump to back down.
- On Jan. 5, the U.S. attorney in Georgia resigned rather than collaborate in Trump’s attempts to overturn a state election result affirmed in three recounts.
These facts — along with Trump’s Jan. 6 speech in which he told supporters, “If you don’t fight like hell, you’re not going to have a country anymore,” “You’ll never take back our country with weakness” and “When you catch somebody in a fraud, you’re allowed to go by very different rules” — ought to be evidence enough, we think, to convict him in his imminent impeachment trial.What is already known to prosecutors is likely also sufficient to indict Trump for his willful efforts to deny Americans’ civil rights by subverting our democracy.But more is needed.
Senate is playing the dangerous game with the 14th Amendment - After a vote suggesting that about half of the Senate has constitutional or prudential concerns over the trial of former President Trump, members are discussing censure as an alternative. I previously supported a censure resolution, but this is censure with a twist. Senator Tim Kaine would add yet another controversy to an array of constitutional issues by electorally barring Trump under the 14th Amendment. With the snap impeachment and a retroactive Senate trial, the country needs another constitutional controversy like Wall Street needs another Reddit stock tip. Censure is not mentioned in the Constitution because it is a resolution with the view of Congress. Such a statement could allow for bipartisan condemnation. It is also now seen as a type of shadow impeachment. A Senate trial could work to the advantage of Trump if it ends in acquittal. For the first time ever, the House used a snap impeachment and sent the Senate no record to support its article. As before, the Senate can refuse to call witnesses and vote on the record or lack thereof, meaning a brief trial and about half of the Senate rejecting the case. It has led some members back to censure as the effective substitute for conviction. Part of the controversy of this snap impeachment is using a trial solely for electoral disbarment. The Constitution refers to the trial as to decide on whether to remove “the president” and so that leads some of us to doubt any retroactive trial, while disbarment is an optional punishment for after removal. The Constitution limits the power of the Senate in impeachment trials to “removal from office, and disqualification to hold and enjoy any office of honor, trust, or profit under the United States.” Retroactive trials remain a close issue even for most scholars who have reached conclusions on either side. Now Kaine and others suggest the Senate can avoid the need for the trial but achieve the same result by a majority vote on censure. At issue is the 14th Amendment section that bars people from holding office if they “have engaged in insurrection or rebellion” or “given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof.”
Palm Beach reviewing Trump's residency at Mar-a-Lago - The town of Palm Beach, Fla., confirmed to The Hill on Friday that it's performing a legal review of former President Trump's residency at Mar-a-Lago after suggesting that it might do so in December. "Our town attorney is reviewing the agreement and the laws surrounding it," Palm Beach Town Manager Kirk Blouin told The Hill. Trump relocated to his Florida club on the morning of Jan. 20 after leaving office, before President Biden was sworn in. The former president's decision to make Mar-a-Lago his permanent residence could be a violation of rules set forward in a previous agreement with the town when he decided to convert the private residence into a club in 1993. Among those conditions were that club members, including Trump, could only spend a maximum of seven consecutive days and no more than three weeks a year at the premises, CNN reports. Blouin told the Miami Herald last month that the town was unaware of Trump's intent to permanently reside at his Palm Beach club, but that it would "address the matter appropriately" if need be.
Facebook CEO Zuckerberg says company will “depoliticize” its News Feed - In a fourth quarter financial earnings call with investors on Wednesday, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg said that the social media platform was preparing to implement measures to permanently depoliticize the Facebook News Feed of billions of users around the world each day. Zuckerberg, Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg and CFO Dave Wehner also discussed during the call the fact that the company beat analysts’ predictions and increased revenue over last year by 33 percent between October and December, taking in $28.1 billion. A transcript of the call has been published online by The Motley Fool. After reporting that Facebook has 2.6 billion daily active users and 200 million business users, he went on to review “communities” on the platform. He said that Facebook had helped users “find and participate in communities that are meaningful to them” and that 600 million people are “now members of a group on Facebook that they consider to be meaningful in their lives.” Zuckerberg reported that the company had taken down more than one million groups during 2020 that “break our rules against things like violence or hate speech.” He then acknowledged that Facebook had also shut down groups “that we may not want to encourage people to join even if they don’t violate our policies,” and, for example, he said, “we stopped recommending civic and political groups in the U.S. ahead of the elections.”He went on to say that Facebook had been working “for a while to turn down the temperature and discourage divisive conversation and communities.” Zuckerberg then arrived at the crux of his point with the investors, saying, “Now, along these same lines, we’re also currently considering steps that we can take to reduce the amount of political content in News Feed as well. We’re still working through exactly the best ways to do this.”
Apollo CEO Leon Black to resign; probe finds $158M in Epstein payments - Apollo Global Management Chief Executive Leon Black is stepping down following the results of an independent investigation into his relationship with Jeffrey Epstein, the firm said on Monday.The report found larger than previously known payments from Black to the disgraced financier, though it said that the payments were for legitimate financial and tax-planning services. Epstein was arrested in 2019 on suspicion of trafficking dozens of underage girls as young as 14 in the early 2000s, before dying while in federal prison. "Chairman and CEO Leon Black has informed the Board of Directors that he will retire as CEO effective on or before July 31, 2021 consistent with best-in-class governance practices," Apollo said in a statement, adding that co-founder Marc Rowan would take over as CEO, while Black would remain as chairman. Apollo, founded in 1990, is an investment firm that buys and lends to companies. Some of its recent acquisitions include photo retailers Snapfish and Shutterfly, and, throughout the pandemic, it invested in companies like Expedia and Airbnb. The firm manages more than $440 billion in assets and employs more than 1,600 employees, including 500 investment professionals, working from 15 global offices. The review, conducted by the law firm Dechert, found Black had paid $158 million to Epstein from 2012 to 2017 for a "variety of issues related to trust and estate planning, tax, philanthropy, and the operation of the Family Office." Epstein was listed as the sole director of Black's family foundation for more than a decade, his name appearing on tax filings even after Epstein pleaded guilty in 2008 to soliciting prostitution from a teenage girl.
Why Apollo’s Palace Coup Against Leon Black and Further Disclosures on Jeffrey Epstein Are Not Reassuring -Yves Smith -- Private equity giant Apollo has been in damage control mode ever since the New York Times broke the story in October that the firm’s co founder and CEO Leon Black had paid at least $50 million and perhaps as much as $75 million in fees to convicted serial child rapist Jeffrey Epstein, long after Epstein had become a pariah. Some public pension funds, the first being the Pennsylvania Public School Employees’ Retirement System, said they would not be making new commitments to Apollo had ‘splained itself; we understand other funds gave similar messages to Apollo privately. In other words, Apollo had to offer a plausible rationale for Black had been up to or get him out of the picture.Apollo then launched the usual whitewash, um, internal investigation, even though Black was apparently not convinced of its necessity. The firm announced the findings and its actions on Monday. Even though the intent of these exercises is to put the matter to bed, anyone with an operating brain cell will not be satisfied. The fact that the monies Black paid to Epstein were more than twice as large as the previous high estimate is eye-catching: according to the New York Times, $158 million in fees, plus $30 million in loans, only $10 million of which had been repaid.2The denouement, that Black is leaving his CEO post sometime before his birthday in July, but will remain chairman, reportedly came after what the Grey Lady depicted as a “brief power struggle over the weekend.” Black will also donate $200 million from his family’s funds to women’s programs. The shock value of the magnitude of the payments to Black may succeed in diverting press and investor eyes from the real scandal here: what was Black paying for? And was Apollo implicated? Bear with me, because the supposedly reassuring excerpts from the report by law firm Dechert actually suggest that Apollo was involved too.
Do Apollo's Ties To Jeffrey Epstein Run Deeper Than Leon Black? - By now, most people know that Leon Black has stepped down as CEO of Apollo Global Management after ties to paedophile Jeffrey Epstein, including paying the late Epstein $158 million for "tax advice". We documented the details of Black's departure in this piece, out earlier this week.Now the question becomes: how deep does the rabbit hole continue to go?Edwin Dorsey, founder of The Bear Cave newsletter, posted an epic Tweet thread (you can follow Dorsey here) back in December 2020 that - if accurate - shows that more Epstein-related bombs could soon be going off."John J. Hannan, Apollo’s cofounder and senior partner, donated $166k to Epstein in 1999. Hannan also replaced Epstein on the Black Foundation Board in 2013," he notes.Dorsey also notes: "Marc Rowan, another Apollo co-founder that worked at Drexel in the 1980s, met with Epstein in his townhouse in 2015." Further, he points out that "one of Epstein’s defense attorneys, Gerald Lefcourt, also represented Drexel. Yet another tie between the two entities."Beller's name also shows up in a subpoena: Dorsey concludes: "If Harry Beller, Epstein’s longtime notary/accountant, worked closely with Black, Rowan, or Hannan this would take the story to a whole new level. My guess is there is much more that has not been reported yet."
Ghislaine Maxwell Tries To Get Charges Dropped By Claiming Jury Is Too White - Lawyers for accused child sex trafficker Ghislaine Maxwell tried to get the charges against the Jeffrey Epstein confidante dropped by claiming the federal grand jury that indicted her was too white. Yes, really.The grand jury was empaneled in White Plains, New York instead of Manhattan due to COVID restrictions, but lawyers said this meant non-whites were underrepresented.“The fact that Ms. Maxwell herself is neither black nor Hispanic does not deprive her of standing to raise this challenge,” Maxwell’s lawyers wrote.“The Constitution requires that a grand jury be drawn from “a fair cross-section of the community.”They also claimed that the jury was hastily convened so as to secure Maxwell’s arrest on the anniversary of Jeffrey Epstein’s indictment.“The use of a White Plains jury resulted in the systematic under-representation of black and Hispanic persons from the jury-selection process, in violation of Ms. Maxwell’s Sixth Amendment right,” lawyers wrote.The ‘woke’ defense was one of a dozen claims made by lawyers in an effort to get the charges against the British socialite who was Epstein’s girlfriend dismissed.
Judge orders video of Patriots owner in massage parlor be destroyed -- A judge ordered the video that allegedly shows New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft paying a massage parlor for sex to be destroyed. U.S. District Judge Rodolfo A. Ruiz II issued a ruling on Friday that the videos of Kraft and other customers at the parlor be eliminated after it was determined that police obtained the footage unlawfully, the South Florida Sun Sentinel reported. Kraft’s attorneys had pushed for the destruction of the tapes, saying Kraft worried the video showing him nude would be shared online.
Growing warnings of a Wall Street bubble - As Wall Street climbs to new record highs on the belief that massive support from the Fed will continue virtually indefinitely, there are warnings from some within the financial oligarchy that the bubble is heading for a collapse. The year began with a note from long-time financial investor Jeremy Grantham that Wall Street was heading into the final stages of a bubble as exemplified by the “market craziness” that has seen Tesla shares rocket by more than 700 percent since last March. This warning has been joined by others. The head of the hedge fund Baupost Group, Seth Klarman, sent a letter to clients earlier this month, cited by the Financial Times(FT), in which he noted that, under the policies of governments and central banks to provide continuous stimulus to the markets, risk had “simply vanished.” Klarman engages in what is known as value investing where some assessment is attempted to be made of a company’s underlying financial structure, the nature of its assets and its profitability as the basis for making decisions. Like other asset management firms who pursue this strategy, Baupost underperformed the rest of the market in 2020 in conditions where shares are being purchased simply because they are rising. As an example, he cited, as others have, the rise of Tesla. The shares in the “barely profitable” electric carmaker had risen “seemingly beyond all reason” making its founder Elon Musk the richest man in the world. The flooding of the market with cash from the Fed had made it impossible to judge the underlying state of the real economy. “With so much stimulus being deployed, trying to figure out if the economy is in recession is like trying to assess if you have a fever after you just took a large dose of aspirin. But as with frogs in water that is slowly being heated to a boil, investors are being conditioned not to recognise the danger,” he wrote. The biggest problem with “unprecedented and sustained government interventions is that risks to capital become masked even as they mount.” He noted that, in their search for yield, investors were moving into ever riskier sections of the market, including below investment-grade junk bonds. While the Fed’s measures had helped sustain the economy, they had resulted in two dangerous ideas: “that fiscal deficits don’t matter, and no matter how much debt is outstanding, we can effortlessly, safely, and reliably pile on more.”
Historic Mania in SPACs, IPOs. Huge Fees for Wall Street Banks. Mega Paydays for Insiders. Disdain for Valuations. Blind Faith that “This Time It’s Different” - Wolf Richter: The business of SPACs is setting stunning records. A SPAC (special-purpose acquisition company) is a “blank-check company” with no business activity that raises funds from investors via an IPO and will then attempt to use those funds to buy a startup company. For the startup company, getting acquired by a SPAC is an alternative to an IPO. There are fewer disclosures to make, compared to a standard IPO. For Wall Street, there are huge fees to be made. And insiders, including those that start the SPACs, make tons of money. So all the building blocks are in place. In 2020, an all-time record of $83 billion were raised by SPACs, six times as much as in 2019 ($13.6 billion), according to SPAC Insider’s data. This $83 billion was more than all of the funds that SPACs had raised in all prior years combined, according to Dealogic, and it blew by the $78 billion raised by standard IPOs in 2020, such as Airbnb’s IPO. Everyone and their dog was starting SPACs, from former Speaker of the House Paul Ryan to former NBA star Shaquille O’Neal, going after the hottest stories at the minute.And in 2021, the SPAC mania accelerated further. “If you don’t have your own SPAC, you’re nobody,” Peter Atwater, founder of Financial Insyghts, told the Wall Street Journal. In the first three weeks of 2021, there have already been 67 SPACs, raising a total of $19 billion, more than in the entire year of 2019: A special mix of market exuberance, blind confidence that this exuberance will last forever, and a total disdain for valuations are required to create this kind of situation.To see just how far this mania in SPACs has exploded this year, we can look at the dollars raised per week on average. Turns out, in 2021, $6.4 billion have been raised per week, compared to $1.6 billion per week in 2020. This is where we are so far: There are currently 287 SPACs, sitting on roughly $90 billion in cash, that are now trying to chase down startups in the hottest sectors of the moment, from anything-EVs to telehealth. Stocks after they have gone public have skyrocketed since the March lows. The Renaissance IPO ETF [IPO], which tracks the Renaissance IPO Index, which includes the largest 80% of IPOs over the past two years, has soared by nearly 240% since March 18, totally blowing by and leaving in the dust the S&P 500 Index, which has soared 72% since the March low. This spike in the IPO index comes after it had spent the prior five years roughly on the same trajectory as the S&P 500 Index (data via YCharts): Banks have now reported their fourth quarter results, including the fees they earned from SPACs and IPOs. In 2020, the top six in equity underwriting fees – Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, JPMorgan, Bank of America, Citigroup, and Jefferies – earned $14.1 billion in fees from SPACs and IPOs, according to the Wall Street Journal, up 89% from 2019: So everyone is getting rich off this mania in SPACs and IPOs and is having a grand old time. And after everyone has gotten rich off the mania, and extracted fees and unloaded shares and had all the fun, there is then another thing: In prior manias of this type, the aftermath has been very unkind to investors that had made it all possible by buying these shares with that mix of exuberance, blind confidence that this exuberance will last forever, and a total disdain for valuations. Ah yes, this time it’s different, everyone is saying again – another sign that the zoo has gone nuts.
This short seller just got a $2.75 billion bailout - Hedge fund giants Steve Cohen and Ken Griffin are joining forces to bail out a fellow trader whose positions in runaway stocks like GameStop have been getting hammered. Griffin’s Citadel and Cohen’s Point72 Asset Management are investing a combined $2.75 billion into Melvin Capital Management, which has seen its recent bets on stock declines thwarted by a small army of investors with get-rich-quick dreams. The fund, run by ex-Cohen lieutenant Gabe Plotkin, is down 30 percent, the Wall Street Journal reported. The bailout comes as retail investors swarm online forums like Reddit board “wallstreetbets” to push each other to invest in cheap stocks with short positions against them using no-fee trading sites like Robinhood. GameStop, which Plotkin has been betting against, had a short interest of 102 percent of its outstanding shares on Friday, making it a prime target for sending a stock higher through what’s known as a short squeeze. Shares in GameStop soared roughly 178 percent between Thursday’s close and early trading Monday as investors sought to squeeze short sellers like Plotkin and Andrew Left, who complained last week of being threatened over his predictions that the stock would fall. “He was short in a market that no longer allows people to stay short,” complained one hedgie. “Today, you take a position after doing the work then some guys on Reddit use their phones to buy penny stocks and you end up with your face ripped off. It’s nuts.”“I’ve known Gabe Plotkin since 2006 and he is an exceptional investor and leader,” said Cohen, who will add $750 million to his existing investment in the fund. “We are pleased to have the opportunity to invest additional capital and take a non-controlling revenue share in Melvin Capital.”
SEC Chair Jay Clayton Left Markets in the Biggest Mess Since 1929 -- By Pam Martens --Jay Clayton is the man who served for almost all of the four years of the Trump administration as Chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission; who attempted a failed coup to take over as the top criminal prosecutor in Manhattan; and who had represented 8 out of 10 of the mega Wall Street banks in the three years prior to arriving at the SEC. Clayton came to the SEC as a law partner at Sullivan & Cromwell where he had worked for more than two decades. Sullivan & Cromwell is a law firm that has been serving Wall Street’s interests since the birth of Wall Street. Below we describe the condition in which Clayton has left what used to be considered the most respected markets in the world.
- Bitcoin: Bitcoin is a cryptocurrency backed by nothing more substantial than air. In early July 2019, economist Nouriel Roubini sized up Bitcoin as follows on Bloomberg News: “Crypto currencies are not even currencies. They’re a joke…The price of Bitcoin has fallen in a week by how much – 30 percent. It goes up 20 percent one day, collapses the next. It is not a means of payment, nobody, not even this blockchain conference, accepts Bitcoin for paying for conference fees cause you can do only five transactions per second with Bitcoin. With the Visa system you can do 25,000 transactions per second…Crypto’s nonsense. It’s a failure. Nobody’s using it for any transactions. It’s trading one sh*tcoin for another sh*tcoin. That’s the entire trading or currency in the space where’s there’s price manipulation, spoofing, wash trading, pump and dumping, frontrunning. It’s just a big criminal scam and nothing else.” Just five months after Roubini called Bitcoin a “big criminal scam and nothing else,” the largest futures exchange in the world, the CME Group headquartered in Chicago, announced that it would begin trading options on its Bitcoin futures contracts.
- Pump and Dump Schemes: Just like 1929, stocks are being pumped and dumped as the SEC looks away. Back in ’29, Wall Street firms secretly paid prominent newspaper columnists to hype the stock they wanted to pump and dump. Those payments were revealed in the U.S. Senate Banking hearings that took an in-depth look at the corrupt structure of Wall Street following the 1929 crash that ushered in the Great Depression. Today, while there are also likely to be secretly paid newspaper pundits, the real pump and dump action has moved to message boards. You can see how this is playing out in the share price of GameStop, which had a closing price of $16.08 three months ago while closing at $147.98 yesterday – an 820 percent increase based on the manipulations of people on message boards who don’t use their real names. For all the public knows, these could be sophisticated market insiders not a hapless crowd of bored millennials, as they are often described.
- Dark Pools: The same mega Wall Street banks that blew themselves up in 2008 are today operating what effectively amounts to their own internal stock exchanges with no real-time visibility on whether they are trading stocks at honest prices. Even crazier, the SEC is allowing the mega Wall Street banks to trade the shares of their own bank – in the dark. We cannot fathom how this could be legal under any rational interpretation of securities laws.
- SPACs: Instead of Wall Street bringing Initial Public Offerings (IPOs) of profitable companies with critical products or services that will boost America’s competitive standing on the global stage, we’re getting SPACs (Special-Purpose Acquisition Companies). Investors are being asked to buy a pig-in-a-poke and they’re actually doing this hand over fist. SPACs are also known as “blank check companies” because at the time of the IPO, the SPAC is simply raising oodles of cash to make a future acquisition of an existing company.
- The End Game: When this market eventually blows up, and it will, we will be looking at another lost decade of opportunity to build the U.S. economy into a Twenty-First Century economy capable of effectively competing with the rest of the world. The question is, just how many lost decades can America afford.
GameStop Shares: 5-Count Felon JPMorgan Could Have Made Upwards of $174 Million Yesterday - Pam Martens --According to JPMorgan Chase’s 13F filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, it moved from a net short position in GameStop shares as of December 31, 2019 to a big long position as of September 30, 2020, the date of its last 13F filing. As of the end of the third quarter of last year, JPMorgan Chase was long (owned) 368,196 shares of GameStop versus a put (short position) on a meager 19,300 shares.At the close of trading on September 30, 2020, GameStop was a $10.20 stock, making JPMorgan’s long position worth $3.8 million. At the intraday high yesterday, GameStop was a $483 stock. If JPMorgan had sold at the top, it would have made approximately $174 million on its long position versus where it was trading four months earlier.We’re dismissing what happened to the put that JPMorgan held on 19,300 shares of GameStop for this reason: JPMorgan Chase just happens to be one of Melvin Capital’s Prime Brokers, the hedge fund making news because it was bleeding badly from its short position in GameStop. Melvin Capital’s other Prime Brokers include Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley and National Financial Services, according to Melvin Capital’s Form ADV filing with the SEC. A Prime Broker typically provides hedge funds with one or more of the following services: trade financing, securities lending so hedge funds can take short positions, trade executions, and serving as custodian of securities.JPMorgan is not just the Prime Broker to Melvin Capital. It services a large number of other hedge funds. That gives JPMorgan the ability to see which way trades are moving. One can assume that when JPMorgan saw its hedge fund clients closing out their short positions on GameStop in a panic, it exited its own put position before yesterday. It may have even purchased more shares of GameStop as it saw the runup in the share price occurring and had an insider’s view of exactly how short its own hedge fund customers were and how much more stock they had to buy to fully close out their positions.The mainstream media narrative is that a bunch of amateur traders on a Reddit message board, r/WallStreetBets, wanted to take down evil hedge funds, like Melvin Capital, that were shorting the stock of GameStop (making bets it would decline in price) so these egalitarian activists set out to pump up the stock price.There are a lot of problems with this narrative. For starters, the trading platform that a lot of the traders at WallStreetBets uses is called Robinhood, a private company whose investors include private equity firms and – wait for it – hedge funds. Robinhood provides commission-free trading to the WallStreetBets’ crowd but then sells those trades to – wait for it – hedge funds. So just as JPMorgan gains market advantage by seeing what its hedge fund customers are doing, these hedge funds gain market advantage by seeing what Robinhood’s customers are doing.It’s not a big leap to question if hedge funds might have invented Robinhood in order to trade against the dumb money.There is also a problem with the mainstream narrative based on the comments at Reddit’s WallStreetBets, which we perused this past week. While some comments clearly suggest a rookie’s knowledge of trading trategies, other comments are highly sophisticated, suggesting people who have studied for the Series 7 exam and hold trading licenses.And as we reported yesterday, the typical suspects on Wall Street – JPMorgan Chase, Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley and others – have been trading tens of thousands of shares of GameStop in their own Dark Pools – quasi stock exchanges that the SEC allows these firms to operate in the dark inside the bowels of their firms. In the case of JPMorgan, it has two Dark Pools, JPM-X and JPB-X, that are both trading the shares of GameStop, raising the question as to whether it’s making a two-sided market in the stock — a situation ripe for manipulation.
GameStop: Will the Real Keith Gill Please Stand Up -- By Pam Martens: The Wall Street Journal has an article up naming Keith Gill as the fellow that started the GameStop mania at WallStreetBets. The article says that Gill “until recently worked in marketing for Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Co.” According to FINRA’s BrokerCheck, a Keith Patrick Gill, employed at a subsidiary of Massachusetts Mutual, MML Investor Services, has held trading licenses since 2012 and got his Series 7 stock trading license in 2016. On November 1, 2016, FINRA shows that Gill received his Series 24 Principal’s license, making him eligible to supervise other licensed brokers. FINRA also shows that Gill has worked for three trading houses since 2012. Could there be two Keith Gills working for MassMutual? Yes there could. But it would certainly behoove the Wall Street Journal reporters to revisit their reporting. If the guy who started the GameStop mania has passed a multitude of trading exams showing his knowledge of exactly what constitutes market manipulation, this is a whole new ballgame.
Coronavirus and Banking: Evaluating Policy Options for Avoiding a Financial Crisis -The Covid-19 pandemic will leave deep scars across the globe, particularly in the euro area. Given that the health of banking systems is inextricably tied to the performance of the underlying economies, the non-performing loans (NPLs) of banks are an important issue. What are the policy options to safeguard the integrity and functionality of the banking system? And what are the criteria defining the desired response? This column will address these questions in the context of the EU.What makes the identification of a suitable policy response particularly difficult is the strong reliance on banks and the apparent ‘overbanking’ in Europe (Pagano et al. 2014). At the national level, banking markets are highly concentrated, and many institutions are considered too-big-to-fail. The structurally low profitability of European banking makes this even more of a concern.Policy responses should take these structural issues into consideration. In particular, the policy actions should neither reinforce the substantial reliance on banks, nor perpetuate a ‘legacy banking’ architecture that is nation-centric and prone to a ‘doom-loop’ between the fiscal state of national governments and the state of the banking system. The extent to which financial markets could play a more prominent role should also be considered. In this column, we discuss and evaluate a variety of policy options that are considered in the current debate on how to deal with potential problems of the European banking sector, amplified by the Covid-19 crisis.2 The evaluation is based on a set of criteria that, in our view, capture the effectiveness and credibility of a proper policy response.
Fed undecided on bank dividend cap in second quarter— The Federal Reserve will consider the pace of coronavirus vaccinations with other factors to decide if a cap on bank dividends and share repurchases will remain in place next quarter, Chair Jerome Powell said Wednesday. Between June and December, banks could not repurchase shares and had to limit dividends to what they paid out in the second quarter of 2020. Those restrictions were eased starting this month, following midcycle stress tests, with dividends and buybacks capped at an amount based on 2020 income. But the Fed remains undecided on whether to lift its restrictions entirely for the second quarter of this year, said Powell, speaking at a news conference after a meeting of the Federal Open Market Committee. “We haven't made a decision about whether to continue them in the second quarter or not,” he said. “We're going to look at the whole range of information, including economic activity, banking activity, the success in vaccination — all of those things will go into our assessment of what the right answer is to that question.” Powell said he has been "pleased" with the central bank's approach to setting and rolling back restrictions on what banks pay their investors during pandemic. “Let's remember that the banks that are subject to the stress tests have taken very, very large loss reserves, and also increased their capital. They actually have higher capital ratios now than they had at the beginning of the pandemic,” he said. Powell added that so far banks have not experienced “the kinds of defaults that we all were concerned about in the early months of the pandemic.” “It's just not materializing, so they're having to reverse some of their loss reserves, actually,” he said.
Will Biden, Democrats renew push to tax big banks- As Democrats regain power in Washington, a tax that banks successfully opposed throughout the Obama administration is poised to get another look. The tax, which President Biden endorsed during last year’s campaign, would be paid by financial firms with more than $50 billion of assets, and the proceeds would be used to help close gaps in the federal budget. The amount that specific banks owe would likely be calculated using a formula meant to discourage them from becoming overleveraged. The outlines of this idea first emerged 12 years ago as a way to pay for the costs of the massive federal bank bailout. In the years since, its rationale has morphed, but it has never gained traction in Congress thanks in part to fierce opposition from industry lobbyists. This time could be different, largely because Democrats control both houses of Congress and may be able to pass key legislation with a bare majority in the Senate. They could use a tax on large banks to help pay for Biden’s ambitious government response to curb the spread of the coronavirus and stimulate an economic recovery. “Given the historic profits that the largest financial institutions in the country are pocketing in the middle of a pandemic that is wiping out Main Street Americans, the politics of a leverage tax are going to change pretty substantially,” predicted Dennis Kelleher, president and CEO of the advocacy group Better Markets. Several financial industry lobbying groups declined to comment for this article, perhaps wary of antagonizing the Biden administration at a time when the tax proposal remains little more than a vague campaign pledge. Tax plans that specifically target large financial institutions date back to the federal law that authorized the 2008 bank bailouts. That statute required the president to submit a legislative proposal that would recoup from the financial industry an amount equal to the program’s budgetary shortfall. This provision was intended to bolster political support for an unpopular bailout fund. But President Barack Obama’s proposed fee, which would have applied to firms with at least $50 billion of assets, failed to attract enough support on Capitol Hill to be included in the Dodd-Frank Act. Dodd-Frank ultimately passed the Senate by a 60-39 vote that went largely along party lines.
How Democrats could gain control of FDIC’s agenda — The sudden shift to a Democratic-backed regulatory agenda could affect policies of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. even though a Trump appointee still leads the agency, observers said. Under the Biden administration, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and Office of the Comptroller of the Currency are already halting Trump-era rules and taking a tougher approach to supervising companies, following the departure of Trump-appointed principals. At the FDIC, Chair Jelena McWilliams' term lasts until mid-2023. But, as a Republican, she could soon find herself in the minority on the FDIC board. Under a little-noticed provision of the agency's bylaws, any two members of the board — which includes the heads of the CFPB and OCC — could bring a matter up for consideration, according to experts. "If the comptroller or director of the CFPB wanted to take a significant regulatory action, their staff could certainly prepare that action even if the FDIC staff isn't working on it,” said Michael Krimminger, senior counsel at Cleary Gottlieb and former general counsel of the FDIC. Some analysts have speculated that McWilliams, who advocated for regulatory relief under the Trump administration, may tailor her approach to reach bipartisan compromises with Democratic board members. Yet others suggest a more partisan battle for control of the agency could emerge, with Martin Gruenberg — the former Democratic FDIC chair who still has a board seat — or the Biden appointees able to grab more power to unwind Trump-era FDIC rules. "I don't think it is unique to Marty," said Better Markets CEO Dennis Kelleher, referring to Gruenberg, who has had the longest tenure on the FDIC board in the agency's history. Kelleher added, "Three of the five positions are going to be committed to the Biden philosophy and agenda for banking regulation and supervision." The board is currently made up of McWilliams, Gruenberg, acting CFPB Director Dave Uejio and acting Comptroller of the Currency Blake Paulson. A fifth seat reserved for another in-house FDIC director is vacant. Since the FDIC chair typically sets the agency's agenda, analysts have had muted expectations for policy shifts at the FDIC at least until McWilliams’ term is to expire in June 2023. But under the “special meetings” clause of the FDIC’s bylaws, any two members of the board can submit a written request to the agency's executive secretary for the FDIC's board to convene — with or without the support of the FDIC chair. \
Biden’s banking picks shouldn’t expect Yellen treatment — Anyone witness to the recent hyperpartisan environment might take note of the Senate's confirmation of Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen. Most Republicans backed her nomination in an overwhelming show of support. Compare that to the Senate's vote on President Trump's former Secretary Steven Mnuchin four years ago, when he drew the backing of only one Democrat, Joe Manchin of West Virginia, and was confirmed by a razor-thin margin. The 84-15 vote for Yellen — following her relatively cordial nomination hearing — has made some analysts wonder if Congress might take a more bipartisan approach to confirming and overseeing President Biden's banking regulators. “What I think you'll see is Republicans giving a pass to nominees where that is the politically feasible thing to do, and then picking a handful of figures on the much more progressive side to really hammer in confirmation hearings over their plans for the agency to which they've been nominated,” said Travis Norton, an attorney with Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck. Over the past four years, Democrats on the two banking committees in Congress focused on being a thorn in the side of Trump administration regulators. Many observers believe the GOP, now in the minority in both chambers, will take a similar tack with Biden's appointees. Republicans will be led by Rep. Patrick McHenry of North Carolina on the House Financial Services Committee and Sen. Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania on the Senate Banking Committee. “The sub-cabinet appointees and the regulators are the ones that formulate and implement the financial services policy for the administration, that’s where the rubber meets the road,” said a financial services lobbyist who spoke on the condition of anonymity. “And that’s where you will likely have more contentious hearings.” Still, Yellen was confirmed 84-15 less than a week after a confirmation hearing before the Senate Finance Committee that was virtually free from contentious exchanges. Yellen has long had support from both sides of the aisle after having previously been confirmed and served as head of the Federal Reserve. “We had a good working relationship while you were at the Fed and I look forward to developing and continuing that good working relationship as we move forward,” former Senate Banking Committee Chair Mike Crapo, R-Idaho, said at the hearing.
OCC halts publication of 'fair access' rule — The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency will pause the publication of a controversial final rule that would have punished large banks for cutting off services to films in politically unpopular industries. “Pausing publication of the rule in the Federal Register will allow the next confirmed Comptroller of the Currency to review the final rule and the public comments the OCC received, as part of an orderly transition,” the OCC said in a press release.The agency’s so-called fair access rule, introduced by the then-acting Comptroller Brian Brooks in late November and finalized in the closing hours of the Trump administration, would have prohibited national banks with more than $100 billion of assets from denying financial services to any firm without a “documented failure to meet quantitative, risk-based standards,” according to the rule. The move was seen as a response, in part, to some banks’ decisions to curtail lending to gun manufacturers and energy firms seen as contributing to global warming. Brooks, however, had argued the rule’s effect would be far-reaching, extending, for example, to family planning organizations such as Planned Parenthood. Banks and their advocates called the proposal arbitrary, capricious and legally dubious, though the plan was applauded by some industries whose members have struggled to access financial services from banks in recent years. All in all, the proposal received more than 35,000 comments from the public — 4,200 in support, and 31,290 opposed.The rule was finalized on Brooks’ last day in office, though policy analysts saw a number of avenues for the Biden administration to halt the rule from going into effect in April. President Biden has not yet named his nominee to head the OCC, though some news outlets have reported that that Michael Barr, an Obama-era Treasury official, is the front-runner. The agency said in an email that the move to "pause publication of the rule was an independent decision by the OCC."
Biden's OCC expected to chart new course for fintechs, crypto, AML -- The Biden administration is closing in on its nomination for chair of the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, a job with a dramatically higher profile given the maturation of challenger banks, cryptocurrency and security risks.The short list includes Michael Barr and Mehrsa Baradaran, with Barr considered the favorite while Baradaran is preferred by the Democratic Party's liberal wing. Barr is dean of the University of Michigan's public policy school, and served in the Treasury Department under Presidents Bill Clinton and Barack Obama. Baradaran teaches at the University of California, Irvine Law School and is an expert on the racial gap in financial services.Biden's earlier financial services regulatory picks include Rohit Chopra to head the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and Gary Gensler to head the Securities and Exchange Commission. The Senate has confirmed Janet Yellen as Treasury secretary.The OCC nomination will come as companies active in the payments industry, such as Square, Stripe and Walmart, nudge closer to traditional banking. At the same time, cryptocurrency and blockchain projects abound, necessitating a new slate of regulations and protections against money laundering. And the ability of the OCC to implement policy itself is also in flux, as it considers licenses for fintechs and payment companies"The coming years will be more interesting for the OCC," said Robert Hockett, a law professor at Cornell University. "New banking platforms and associated forms of fintech are forcing new regulatory decisions, and the OCC will be taking the lead role in all of that deciding."The OCC recently allowed banks to process stablecoin payments, a move that could make it easier for banks to partner with emerging projects such as the Facebook-affiliated Diem stablecoin (formerly Libra).The crypto-friendly stance was tied to Brian Brooks, the former acting head of the OCC in the Trump administration. Brooks stepped down in January.Brooks, the former chief legal officer at Coinbase, promoted cryptocurrency during his term. In July 2020 the OCC permitted banks to hold cryptocurrency assets, and in Septemb the OCC pushed further, allowing banks to hold cryptocurrency on behalf of clients. Brooks was also tied to the OCC's "fair access" rule, which is designed to make it harder for financial institutions to bar customers based on political opposition. The fate of that rule is in play with the change in OCC leadership.
NCUA’s derivatives rule could be boon for large credit unions - Only a handful of the nation’s largest credit unions dabble in derivatives, but proposed changes from the National Credit Union Administration could give federally chartered institutions another tool to manage interest rate risk. The NCUA board approved the proposed revisions to the rule in October and can take final action any time now that the 60-day comment period has ended. An NCUA spokesman would only say that further action on the rule is pending, and a specific timeline on the issue is unclear. Newly announced NCUA Chairman Todd Harper now has control over when the issue gets placed on the agency’s agenda. Only 23 federal credit unions had active derivative contracts, according to an October statement from current NCUA Chairman Rodney Hood. The agency’s revisions are widely expected to be taken advantage of by larger institutions. Credit unions with assets of $500 million or more make up only about 12% of the industry but hold about 81% of total assets. Broader use of derivatives could widen the gap between large and small shops. But John Hecht, managing director with Artisan Advisors, said credit unions of any size should be pleased to have another avenue to change the underlying interest rate characteristics of a pool of loans or deposit products. “It’s powerful,” he said. “For most financial institutions, net interest income comprises the majority of their earnings, and using derivatives to reduce balance sheet interest rate sensitivity can minimize earnings at risk when used effectively.” Hecht said that because interest rate changes are outside the control of the credit union, it only makes sense for them to look to derivatives as a way to manage risk without having to impact members or otherwise engage in large balance sheet transactions. And credit unions seem to agree. The NCUA received 18 comment letters on the proposed rule, including one from SchoolsFirst Federal Credit Union in Santa Ana, Calif., the nation’s fifth-largest credit union, according to NCUA data. Francisco Nebot, CFO for the $22.6 billion-asset company, said it sees value in the use of derivatives as a hedging strategy for loan pipeline management for all loans — not just mortgages. “Derivatives permit the reduction of risk associated with duration that may also occur in non-mortgage lending, including consumer-based lending. In these congruent scenarios, derivatives are an effective risk management tool,” Nebot wrote. Many of the other commenters were generally supportive of the proposed language and welcomed the more flexible, principles-based approach. The institutions emphasized the need for credit unions to have the ability to use hedging tools to better manage rate risks, which would also help strengthen liquidity and capital positions.
California to regulate early-wage access firms under landmark agreements -- Five companies in the early-wage access industry have reached landmark agreements with California regulators that will govern their operations in the nation’s largest state. The voluntary pacts give the firms, which to date have been largely unregulated, greater certainty about their ability to offer products to the state’s nearly 40 million residents. In exchange, the companies agreed to allow regular examinations, share quarterly data with the regulators and abide by certain limits on their pricing. The deals do not force any changes to the firms’ existing revenue models. “These first-of-their-kind agreements reflect the type of balanced approach and oversight we strive to provide,” Manny Alvarez, the commissioner of the California Department of Financial Protection and Innovation, said in a press release Wednesday. The department plans to ue the data it gathers from the five companies to help inform the development of a regulatory scheme for the entire, fast-growing industry. The agreements come more than a year after the demise of California legislation that aimed to achieve the same purpose. The five companies that signed the deals have business models that vary substantially, and some of those approaches have proven more controversial than others. Three of the firms offer their products in partnership with employers under deals in which workers agree to have their prepaid wages deducted from their next regular paychecks. The other two firms offer their services directly to consumers under arrangements that have sparked greater opposition because they bear a closer resemblance to payday loans, though typically at a much lower cost.
New NCUA chief faces hard sell on consumer protection - After years as a staffer and then a board member, Todd Harper finally has the gavel at the National Credit Union Administration. As expected, President Joe Biden this week elevated Harper, a Democrat, to the chairmanship. He replaces Rodney Hood, who will continue to serve as a board member alongside Vice Chairman Kyle Hauptman, both Republicans. NCUA Chairman Todd HarperPhoto courtesy of NCUAAs chairman, Harper will have the power to determine which issues make the agenda for agency board meetings, but he’ll hardly have a free pass to push any pet projects. As the panel’s only Democrat, he faces the possibility of being outvoted by the other two board members. In the Q&A below, he discusses how he plans to manage that, which topics might come before the board, where his priorities for the industry lie and more. Responses have been edited for length and clarity.
What will incoming CFPB chief do with $570 million consumer aid fund? - As Democrats take control of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, observers are questioning how a new director will tap a multimillion-dollar fund to direct more relief to consumers.At the end of September, the agency had amassed $576 million in its civil penalty fund — a 6% increase from a year earlier — after collecting over $34 million in fines from companies during the fiscal year.Former CFPB Director Kathy Kraninger touted efforts to provide redress from the fund for consumers harmed by companies that could not pay hefty amounts. Yet some experts hope the agency under Rohit Chopra, if confirmed to be President Biden's CFPB director, will be more aggressive.The Trump administration's attempts to use the fund as a lifeline faced challenges over the difficulty in finding harmed consumers and concerns about the optics of the consumer bureau spending federal resources. It also is unclear how much Kraninger tapped the fund for financial education efforts, because the bureau’s financial statements do not list any money from the fund going to education last year."Even though the CFPB under ... Kraninger had identified education as a priority, there’s a lot more engagement to be done, particularly in the aftermath of the pandemic and the need to support vulnerable populations,” said Quyen Truong, a partner at Stroock & Stroock & Levan and a former assistant CFPB director and deputy general counsel. The fund grew steadily during the Trump administration, suggesting that the agency was not fully expending its resources. The fund had $542.9 million at the end of the 2019 fiscal year, up from $522.7 million in 2018, according to the CFPB's financial statements.Though GOP officials are typically more cautious than Democrats about using up federal coffers, some observers point out that the agency's use of the fund is limited only to certain activities.“It is a huge amount of money,” said Allyson Baker, chair of the financial services practice at Venable. “There is a very narrow set of prescriptions of what the money can be used for.”Under Kraninger, the CFPB tapped the fund to pay $11.4 million to consumers in 2020 and $119.8 million in 2019. Between the 2013 and 2018 fiscal years, during which the CFPB was mostly led by Richard Cordray, an Obama appointee, the CFPB used the fund to return $551.8 to consumers, the financial statements show.Some Republican lawmakers, concerned that the fund gives the agency too much latitude to spend federal money, had urged Kraninger to return the unused balance to the U.S. Treasury. However, that is not allowed under the Dodd-Frank Act. The civil penalty fund can only be used for two purposes: to compensate consumers who have been harmed or for consumer education and financial literacy programs. Fines and penalties issued against wrongdoers for violations of consumer financial laws are deposited into the fund. “There is a lot of confusion about the penalty fund,” said Lucy Morris, a partner at Hudson Cook and a former CFPB deputy enforcement director. “It is not a slush fund. It can only be used for two purposes and the bureau largely uses it to provide relief to consumers who otherwise wouldn’t get it.”
New CFPB boss vows to get tough on military lending, pandemic relief laws - The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's new leader is vowing to move quickly to penalize mortgage servicers, banks and other financial companies that have failed to provide relief to military veterans and others during the pandemic. The bureau will expedite enforcement investigations tied to the Military Lending Act and Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act to ensure that the industry “gets the message that violations of law during this time of need will not be tolerated,” acting Director Dave Uejio wrote in a blog post Thursday. Helping consumers who are suffering financially from the coronavirus pandemic is one of the CFPB's top priorities, along with enforcement of fair lending laws and identifying unlawful conduct that disproportionately harms communities of color and other vulnerable populations, he said. “The CFPB will take aggressive action to ensure that regulated companies follow the law and meet their obligations to assist consumers during the COVID-19 pandemic,” Uejio said. “In some cases, penalties may be necessary.” Uejio reiterated that the CFPB, as part of its attention to matters of racial equity, will focus on banks that only took applications for the Paycheck Protection Program from preexisting customers; such decisions have had a "disproportionate negative impact" on minority-owned businesses, in the eyes of some critics. “The country is in the middle of a long overdue conversation about race, and as we all know, practices and policies of the financial services industry have both caused and exacerbated racial inequality,” Uejio said. The CFPB, under the new Biden administration, is breaking from recent policy tied to the Military Lending Act. Three years ago, the Trump administration refused to supervise banks and financial firms for compliance with the MLA, claiming that further legislation was necessary. The Department of Defense and roughly 30 military and veterans groups opposed the Republican position on the act, which imposes a 36% annual percentage interest rate cap for active-duty military members and their dependents.
Biden calls on HUD to examine Trump-era changes to fair housing rules - President Biden signed an executive action on Tuesday directing the Department of Housing and Urban Development to examine the impact of the Trump administration’s changes to fair housing rules. It also calls on HUD to develop guidelines that promote racial equity in homeownership. The decree asks HUD to assess the effects of the Trump Administration’s termination of the Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing rule in July 2020. The Obama-era rule, enacted in 2015, provided a guide and benchmarks for local jurisdictions on how to comply with the Fair Housing Act. Trump’s HUD secretary, Ben Carson, said the AFFH rule burdened municipalities with complications and unnecessary costs. By revoking the rule, the Trump administration replaced the tracking of fair housing data metrics with verbal confirmation from local governments on whether they are following it. Large banks opposed the Trump administration’s change, asserting it would spur increased discrimination. However, small banks supported the changes, stating they would cut down false claims and lessen paperwork. Biden’s executive order also calls on HUD to examine the Trump administration’s disparate impact rule, enacted in September 2020, which fair housing advocates claim increases difficulty in proving discrimination in the housing industry. The order also reinforced the administration’s previous statements on promoting racial equity in homeownership. “Only by recognizing and acknowledging our nation's history of housing discrimination can we begin to lift the barriers to safe, accessible, and affordable housing,” acting HUD secretary Matthew Ammon said in a press release. “With this executive order, President Biden is taking meaningful action to advance racial equity in housing and expand opportunity for all.” Housing equity will be a top priority for the incoming head of HUD, Marcia Fudge — expected to be sworn in on Jan. 28 — as well as the organization’s chief of staff, Jenn Jones. Biden’s order — part of a larger effort to build equity and inclusivity across races and the LGBTQ+ community — has already garnered support from fair housing advocates, such as the Center for Responsible Lending.
Fannie Mae: Mortgage Serious Delinquency Rate Decreased in December - Fannie Mae reported that the Single-Family Serious Delinquency decreased to 2.87% in December, from 2.96% in November. The serious delinquency rate is up from 0.66% in December 2019. These are mortgage loans that are "three monthly payments or more past due or in foreclosure". The Fannie Mae serious delinquency rate peaked in February 2010 at 5.59%. By vintage, for loans made in 2004 or earlier (2% of portfolio), 5.88% are seriously delinquent (up from 5.87% in November). For loans made in 2005 through 2008 (2% of portfolio), 9.98% are seriously delinquent (down from 10.00%), For recent loans, originated in 2009 through 2018 (95% of portfolio), 2.39% are seriously delinquent (down from 2.48%). So Fannie is still working through a few poor performing loans from the bubble years. Mortgages in forbearance are counted as delinquent in this monthly report, but they will not be reported to the credit bureaus.This is very different from the increase in delinquencies following the housing bubble. Lending standards have been fairly solid over the last decade, and most of these homeowners have equity in their homes - and they will be able to restructure their loans once they are employed.
Freddie Mac: Mortgage Serious Delinquency Rate decreased in November - Freddie Mac reported that the Single-Family serious delinquency rate in December was 2.64%, down from 2.75% in November. Freddie's rate is up from 0.63% in December 2019. Freddie's serious delinquency rate peaked in February 2010 at 4.20%. These are mortgage loans that are "three monthly payments or more past due or in foreclosure". Mortgages in forbearance are being counted as delinquent in this monthly report, but they will not be reported to the credit bureaus. This is very different from the increase in delinquencies following the housing bubble. Lending standards have been fairly solid over the last decade, and most of these homeowners have equity in their homes - and they will be able to restructure their loans once (if) they are employed. Also - for multifamily - delinquencies were at 0.16%, unchanged from 0.16% in November, and up double from 0.08% in December 2019.
MBA Survey: "Share of Mortgage Loans in Forbearance Increases Slightly to 5.38%" -- Note: This is as of January 17th. From the MBA: Share of Mortgage Loans in Forbearance Increases Slightly to 5.38%: The Mortgage Bankers Association’s (MBA) latest Forbearance and Call Volume Survey revealed that the total number of loans now in forbearance increased slightly from 5.37% of servicers’ portfolio volume in the prior week to 5.38% as of January 17, 2021. According to MBA’s estimate, 2.7 million homeowners are in forbearance plans. ... The small increase in the share of loans in forbearance was led by a gain in the portfolio/PLS loan segment. The good news is that the forbearance numbers for GSE loans continues to decline more consistently, as these borrowers typically have stronger credit and more stable employment,” said Mike Fratantoni, MBA’s Senior Vice President and Chief Economist. “The rate of exits from forbearance slowed in the prior week, while the rate of new forbearance requests remained steady at a low level.” Fratantoni added, “The latest housing market data show strong momentum entering 2021, with both the pace of home sales and new construction booming. We expect that this strong market could benefit homeowners who need to sell their home, as record-low inventory is causing for-sale homes to go under contract quickly and is pushing up home prices.”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 generally been trending down. The MBA notes: "Weekly forbearance requests as a percent of servicing portfolio volume (#) remained flat relative to the previous two weeks at 0.07 percent."
Black Knight: Number of Homeowners in COVID-19-Related Forbearance Plans 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 January 26th.From Black Knight: Another Week of Low Forbearance Plan Exits; GSES Outperforming Other Investor Classes in Terms of Recovery New data released today from our McDash Flash Forbearance Tracker shows that forbearance plans rose by 20,000 this week, continuing a trend of rising numbers late in calendar months. Exits remain muted, with only 41,000 borrowers leaving their plans this week. This means the week ranks among the lowest three weeks in terms of exits since the recovery began last summer. With a couple more days remaining in the month, there is modest opportunity for volume improvement next week – some 172,000 forbearance plans are set to expire at the end of the month. The GSEs have the best scenario on their hands in terms of improvement among investor classes. There was a decline of 4,000 active GSE plans, and the rate of improvement among GSE-held mortgages continues to significantly outpace other investor classes. GSE forbearances are now down 4% month-over-month, roughly four times the rate of decline seen among FHA/VA loans (down 1%) and portfolio-held and privately securitized forbearances (down 1.3%). The decline seen among GSE loans in forbearance (4,000) was tempered by an increase of 9,000 FHA/VA forbearance plans and an increase of 15,000 portfolio/private plans.As this week marks yet another round of muted improvement and limited removals it will be worth it to continue to monitor the situation closely. We will have another weekly look at the national forbearance data published on this blog next Friday, Feb. 5. The number of loans in forbearance has moved mostly sideways for the last few months.
MBA: Mortgage Applications Decrease in Latest Weekly Survey -From the MBA: Mortgage Applications Decrease in Latest MBA Weekly Survey Mortgage applications decreased 4.1 percent from one week earlier, according to data from the Mortgage Bankers Association’s (MBA) Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey for the week ending January 22, 2021.... The Refinance Index decreased 5 percent from the previous week and was 83 percent higher than the same week one year ago. The seasonally adjusted Purchase Index decreased 4 percent from one week earlier. The unadjusted Purchase Index increased 3 percent compared with the previous week and was 16 percent higher than the same week one year ago.“Mortgage rates were mixed last week, with the 30-year fixed rate rising to its highest level since November 2020 at 2.95 percent, and all other rates in the survey posting a decline. In a sign that borrowers are increasingly more sensitive to higher rates, large declines in government purchase applications and refinance applications pulled overall activity lower. The refinance index has now declined for two straight weeks, but is still 83 percent higher than last year,” said Joel Kan, MBA’s Associate Vice President of Economic and Industry Forecasting. “Purchase applications also decreased last week, but the impressive trend of year-over-year growth since the second half of 2020 has continued in early 2021. Activity was up 16 percent from a year ago, and the average purchase loan amount hit another record high of $395,200. Since hitting a recent low in April 2020, the average purchase loan amount has steadily risen – in line with the accelerating home-price appreciation occurring in most of the country because of strong demand and extremely low inventory levels.”...The average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages with conforming loan balances ($510,400 or less) increased to 2.95 percent from 2.92 percent, with points decreasing to 0.32 from 0.37 (including the origination fee) for 80 percent loan-to-value ratio (LTV) loans.’
NMHC: Rent Payment Tracker Shows Households Paying Rent Decreased 2.5% YoY - From the NMHC: NMHC Rent Payment Tracker Finds 88.6 Percent of Apartment Households Paid Rent as of January 20: The National Multifamily Housing Council (NMHC)’s Rent Payment Tracker found 88.6 percent of apartment households made a full or partial rent payment by January 20 in its survey of 11.6 million units of professionally managed apartment units across the country. This is a 2.5 percentage point, or 294,224 household decrease from the share who paid rent through January 20, 2020 and compares to 89.8 percent that had paid by December 20, 2020. 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 there is light at the end of the tunnel with the rollout of vaccines, the country and the multifamily industry continue to face steep challenges,” said Doug Bibby, NMHC President,. “The recently passed COVID relief package included $25 billion in desperately needed rental assistance as well as expanded unemployment insurance. Now, it is critical that those funds reach those in need as quickly and efficiently as possible. “What's more, it is clear that is only a down payment on the financial support that will be necessary to make apartment residents and owners and operators whole - Moody's Analytics has estimated that back rent debt had reached $70 billion by the end of 2020 alone. This graph from the NMHC Rent Payment Tracker shows the percent of household making full or partial rent payments by the 6th (light color) and 20th (dark color) of the month.This is mostly for large, professionally managed properties.
Record Low Mortgage Rates; Loans Taking 2 Months to Close - From Jann Swanson at MortgageNewsDaily: Loans Still Taking 2 Months to Close as Refi Demand Stays Strong: The interest rates on 30-year fixed rate mortgages originated in December reached an all-time low in ICE Mortgage Technology's (formerly Ellie Mae's) records, an average of 2.93 percent and a 4-basis point decline from the November rate. ... The time to close all loans increased to 58 days from 55 days in November with purchase loans, at 56 days compared to 49 days, accounting for all the increase. The refinance timeline remained at 59 days. [Today's Most Prevalent Rates For Top Tier Scenarios 30YR FIXED - 2.78%] This graph from Mortgage News Daily shows mortgage rates since January 2011. Mortgage rates are essentially at record lows. This graph is interactive, and you could view mortgage rates back to the mid-1980s - click here for interactive graph.
FHFA House Price Index: Up 1.0% in November, Another All-Time High - The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) has released its U.S. House Price Index (HPI) for November . Here is the opening of the press release: – House prices rose nationwide in November, up 1.0 percent from the previous month, according to the latest Federal Housing Finance Agency House Price Index (FHFA HPI®). House prices rose 11.0 percent from November 2019 to November 2020. The previously reported 1.5 percent price change for October 2020 remained unchanged. For the nine census divisions, seasonally adjusted monthly house price changes from October 2020 to November 2020 ranged from +0.3 percent in the West South Central division to +1.6 percent in the Pacific division. The 12-month changes ranged from +8.7 percent in the West South Central division to +14.0 percent in the Mountain division. “House prices have risen by at least one percent for six consecutive months,” said Dr. Lynn Fisher, FHFA’s Deputy Director of the Division of Research and Statistics. “The acceleration has been slowing but annual gains now outpace the prior housing boom. Current conditions can be explained by fundamentals, including low rates and tight housing supply, which have been intensified by the pandemic.” The chart below illustrates the monthly HPI series, which is not adjusted for inflation, along with a real (inflation-adjusted) series using the Consumer Price Index: All Items Less Shelter.
Case-Shiller: National House Price Index increased 9.5% year-over-year in November --S&P/Case-Shiller released the monthly Home Price Indices for November ("November" is a 3 month average of September, October and November prices).This release includes prices for 20 individual cities, two composite indices (for 10 cities and 20 cities) and the monthly National index.From S&P: S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller Index Shows Annual Home Price Gains Climbed to 9.5% in November The S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller U.S. National Home Price NSA Index, covering all nine U.S. census divisions, reported a 9.5% annual gain in November, up from 8.4% in the previous month. The 10-City Composite annual increase came in at 8.8%, up from 7.6% in the previous month. The 20-City Composite posted a 9.1% year-over-year gain, up from 8.0% in the previous month.Phoenix, Seattle and San Diego continued to report the highest year-over-year gains among the 19 cities (excluding Detroit) in November. Phoenix led the way with a 13.8% year-over-year price increase, followed by Seattle with a 12.7% increase and San Diego with a 12.3% increase. All 19 cities reported higher price increases in the year ending November 2020 versus the year ending October 2020....The U.S. National Index posted a 1.1% month-over-month increase, while the 10-City and 20-City Composites both posted increases of 1.2% and 1.1% respectively, before seasonal adjustment in November. After seasonal adjustment, the U.S. National Index posted a month-over-month increase of 1.4%, while the 10-City and 20-City Composites both posted increases of 1.4%. In November, all 19 cities (excluding Detroit) reported increases before and after seasonal adjustment. “The housing market’s strength was once again broadly-based: all 19 cities for which we have November data rose, and all 19 gained more in the 12 months ended in November than they had gained in the 12 months ended in October. The first graph shows the nominal seasonally adjusted Composite 10, Composite 20 and National indices (the Composite 20 was started in January 2000). The Composite 10 index is up 1.4% in November (SA) from October. The Composite 20 index is up 1.4% (SA) in November. The National index is 26% above the bubble peak (SA), and up 1.4% (SA) in November. The National index is up 70% from the post-bubble low set in December 2011 (SA). The second graph shows the Year over year change in all three indices. Note: According to the data, prices increased in 19 cities month-over-month seasonally adjusted. Price increases were above expectations.
Zillow Case-Shiller House Price Forecast: "Gathering Speed", 10.3% YoY in December - The Case-Shiller house price indexes for November were released today. Zillow forecasts Case-Shiller a month early, and I like to check the Zillow forecasts since they have been pretty close. From Matthew Speakman at Zillow: November Case-Shiller Results & December Forecast: Gathering Speed: Growth in home prices continued to climb in November, gathering speed before the end of the year and setting the stage for a full out sprint in 2021....Buoyed by record-low mortgage rates, which continued to plumb new depths back in November, a wave of eager would-be homebuyers poured into the market, further stoking the competition for homes that has been red-hot since the late spring. Homes flew off the market as a result and prices shot upward at their fastest pace in years. Even as the pandemic accelerated its rapid spread across the country, this fervent market competition has shown few, if any, signs of cooling and is unlikely in the near future. Combined, annual growth in home prices should continue its sharp upward trajectory in the months to come.Monthly growth in December as reported by Case-Shiller is expected to slow slightly from [November] in all three main indices, while annual growth is expected to accelerate across the board. S&P Dow Jones Indices is expected to release data for the December S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller Indices on Tuesday, February 23.
The Zillow forecast is for the year-over-year change for the Case-Shiller National index to be at 10.3% in December, up from 9.5% in November. The Zillow forecast is for the 20-City index to be up 9.8% YoY in December from 8.9% in November, and for the 10-City index to increase to be up 9.5% YoY compared to 8.4% YoY in November.
New Home Sales increase to 842,000 Annual Rate in December; Sales up 18.8% in 2020 --The Census Bureau reports New Home Sales in December were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate (SAAR) of 842 thousand. The previous three months were revised down sharply. Sales of new single-family houses in December 2020 were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 842,000, according to estimates released jointly today by the U.S. Census Bureau and the Department of Housing and Urban Development. This is 1.6 percen above the revised November rate of 829,000 and is 15.2 percent above the December 2019 estimate of 731,000.An estimated 811,000 new homes were sold in 2020. This is 18.8 percent above the 2019 figure of 683,000..The first graph shows New Home Sales vs. recessions since 1963. The dashed line is the current sales rate.The last seven months saw the highest sales rates since 2006. This was strong year-over-year growth.The second graph shows New Home Months of Supply. The months of supply increased in December to 4.3 months from 4.2 months in November.The all time record high was 12.1 months of supply in January 2009. The all time record low is 3.5 months, most recently in September 2020. This is at the low end of the normal range (about 4 to 6 months supply is normal)."The seasonally-adjusted estimate of new houses for sale at the end of December was 302,000. This represents a supply of 4.3 months at the current sales rate." Starting in 1973 the Census Bureau broke inventory down into three categories: Not Started, Under Construction, and Completed.The third graph shows the three categories of inventory starting in 1973.The inventory of completed homes for sale is low, and the combined total of completed and under construction is a little lower than normal.The last graph shows sales NSA (monthly sales, not seasonally adjusted annual rate).In December 2020 (red column), 55 thousand new homes were sold (NSA). Last year, 49 thousand homes were sold in December.The all time high for December was 87 thousand in 2005, and the all time low for December was 23 thousand in 2010.This was at expectations and sales in the three previous months were revised down slightly, combined.
A few Comments on December New Home Sales –McBride - New home sales for December were reported at 842,000 on a seasonally adjusted annual rate basis (SAAR). Sales for the previous three months were revised down slightly, combined. Annual sales in 2020 were at 811,000, up 18.8% from 683,000 annual sales in 2019, and the best year for new home sales since 2006.This was at consensus expectations for December, and well above analysts forecasts for 2020. Clearly low mortgages rates, low existing home supply, and favorable demographics (something Iwrote about many times over the last decade). A surging stock market have probably helped new home sales too.Another factor in the strong headline sales rate, over the last the second half of 2020, was the delay in the selling season. Usually the strongest sales are in the March to June time frame, but this year the strongest sales months were later in the year - so the usual seasonal factors boosted sales in late Summer and Fall. Earlier: New Home Sales increase to 842,000 Annual Rate in December; Sales up 18.8% in 2020. This graph shows new home sales for 2019 and 2020 by month (Seasonally Adjusted Annual Rate).The year-over-year comparison will be easy in early 2021 - especially in March, April and May.However, sales will likely be down year-over-year in August through October - since the selling season was delayed in 2020. And on inventory: note that completed inventory is near record lows, but inventory under construction has been increasing.
NAR: Pending Home Sales Decrease 0.3% in December -- From the NAR: Pending Home Sales Inch Back 0.3% in December Despite dropping slightly in the last month of 2020, the latest pending home sales registered as the highest ever recorded in the month of December, according to the National Association of Realtors®. The decrease marks the fourth consecutive month of month-over-month declines. While contract transitions fell in one of the four major U.S. regions, activity climbed or remained flat in the three other areas. Compared to a year ago, all four regions witnessed double-digit gains in pending home sales transactions.The Pending Home Sales Index (PHSI),a forward-looking indicator of home sales based on contract signings, waned 0.3% to 125.5 in December. Year-over-year, contract signings jumped 21.4%. An index of 100 is equal to the level of contract activity in 2001....The Northeast PHSI rose 3.1% to 112.0 in December, a 22.1% increase from a year ago. In the Midwest, the index fell 3.6% to 111.7 last month, up 13.9% from December 2019. Pending home sales in the South increased 0.1% to an index of 150.6 in December, up 26.6% from December 2019. The index in the West was unchanged in December, remaining at 111.3, which is up 18.9% from a year ago. This was slightly above expectations for this index. Note: Contract signings usually lead sales by about 45 to 60 days, so this would usually be for closed sales in January and February.
Hotels: Occupancy Rate Declined 30.6% Year-over-year --From CoStar: STR: US Hotel Occupancy Flat From Previous Week: U.S. weekly hotel occupancy remained flat from the previous week, according to STR‘s latest data through 23 January.
17-23 January 2021 (percentage change from comparable week in 2020):
• Occupancy: 40.0% (-30.6%)
• Average daily rate (ADR): US$90.13 (-28.1%)
• Revenue per available room (RevPAR): US$36.07 (-50.1%)
The following graph shows the seasonal pattern for the hotel occupancy rate using the four week average.The red line is for 2021, black is 2020, blue is the median, and dashed light blue is for 2009 (the worst year since the Great Depression for hotels prior to 2020). Even when occupancy increases to 2009 levels, hotels will still be hurting.Seasonally we'd expect that business travel would start to pick up in the new year, but there will probably not be much pickup early in 2021.
Personal Income increased 0.6% in December, Spending decreased 0.2% -- The BEA released the Personal Income and Outlays report for December: Personal income increased $116.6 billion (0.6 percent) in December according to estimates released today by the Bureau of Economic Analysis. Disposable personal income (DPI) increased $111.6 billion (0.6 percent) and personal consumption expenditures (PCE) decreased $27.9 billion (0.2 percent). Real DPI increased 0.2 percent in December and Real PCE decreased 0.6 percent. The PCE price index increased 0.4 percent. Excluding food and energy, the PCE price index increased 0.3 percent . The increase in personal income was above expectations, and the decrease in PCE was also above expectations The December PCE price index increased 1.3 percent year-over-year and the December PCE price index, excluding food and energy, increased 1.5 percent year-over-year. The following graph shows real Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) since January 2019 through December 2020 (2012 dollars).
Real personal spending declines in December, while income rises; not quite enough to start a “double-dip” recession -- This morning’s report on personal income and spending for December reversed the pattern we have seen all during the second half of 2020. After rebounding strongly for 6 months, real personal spending (blue in the graph below) declined for the month by -0.2%, and is 3.6% below its February peak. Meanwhile real personal income (red), which has generally declined since April, rose 0.6%, and remains 1.3% higher than it was in February just before the pandemic hit: The continued strength in income compared with prior to the pandemic has everything to do with the emergency stimulus Congress put in place early on after the pandemic hit. This has greatly ameliorated the privation which would otherwise have occurred.Further, real personal income excluding transfer payments (I.e., payments from the government like food stamps and unemployment insurance) is one of the four coincident indicators which the NBER makes use of in determining if the economy is expanding or not. This also declined -0.2% in December, the second monthly decline in a row after increasing in the 6 prior months. In the below graph I show that (blue) together with jobs (red), real retail sales (green), and industrial production (gold) for the year 2020:All four of these data points have been deteriorating since strong rebounds in May and June. Two (sales and income) were negative in November, and payrolls also went negative in December. Because industrial production is the King of Coincident Indicators, however, I doubt the NBER will mark a renewed recession beginning in either month. Still, *if* production rolls over, and the other three decline further in January, that might mean the start of a “double-dip.” But because I expect the pandemic to be brought somewhat under control by spring sometime, I further suspect that it won’t be enough to qualify as a renewed recession.
Real Disposable Income Per Capita in December - With the release of this morning's report on December Personal Incomes and Outlays, we can now take a closer look at"Real" Disposable Personal Income Per Capita. At two decimal places, the nominal 0.60% month-over-month change in disposable income is cut to 0.18% when we adjust for inflation. This is an increase from last month's -1.50% nominal and -1.51% real decreases last month. The year-over-year metrics are 4.12% nominal and 2.81% real.Post-recession, the trend was one of steady growth, but generally flattened out in late 2015 with increases in 2012 and 2013. As a result of the CARES Act and the COVID pandemic, a major spike is seen in April 2020. The first chart shows both the nominal per capita disposable income and the real (inflation-adjusted) equivalent since 2000. This indicator was significantly disrupted by the bizarre but predictable oscillation caused by 2012 year-end tax strategies in expectation of tax hikes in 2013 and more recently, by the CARES Act stimulus. The BEA uses the average dollar value in 2012 for inflation adjustment. But the 2012 peg is arbitrary and unintuitive. For a more natural comparison, let's compare the nominal and real growth in per-capita disposable income since 2000. Nominal disposable income is up 104.6% since then. But the real purchasing power of those dollars is up 41.0%.
Consumer Confidence Improves in January- The headline number of 89.3 was an increase from the final reading of 87.1 for December. This was slightly above theInvesting.com consensus of 89.0. “Consumers’ appraisal of present-day conditions weakened further in January, with COVID-19 still the major suppressor,” said Lynn Franco, Senior Director of Economic Indicators at The Conference Board. “Consumers’ expectations for the economy and jobs, however, advanced further, suggesting that consumers foresee conditions improving in the not-too-distant future. In addition, the percent of consumers who said they intend to purchase a home in the next six months improved, suggesting that the pace of home sales should remain robust in early 2021.” Read more The chart below is another attempt to evaluate the historical context for this index as a coincident indicator of the economy. Toward this end, we have highlighted recessions and included GDP. The regression through the index data shows the long-term trend and highlights the extreme volatility of this indicator. Statisticians may assign little significance to a regression through this sort of data. But the slope resembles the regression trend for real GDP shown below, and it is a more revealing gauge of relative confidence than the 1985 level of 100 that the Conference Board cites as a point of reference.
Gasoline Volume Sales Down 11.5% Since Before Recession --The Department of Energy's Energy Information Administration (EIA) monthly data on volume sales is several weeks old when it released. The latest numbers, through mid-November, are now available. Gasoline prices and increases in fuel efficiency are important factors, but there are also some significant demographic and cultural dynamics in this data series.Because the sales data are highly volatile with some obvious seasonality, we've added a 12-month moving average (MA) to give a clearer indication of the long-term trends. The latest 12-month MA is 14% below its all-time high set in August 2005 and has surpassed its -8.6% low set in August 2014 after the last recessionThe next chart includes an overlay of real monthly retail gasoline prices, all grades and formulations, adjusted for inflation using the Consumer Price Index (the red line). We've shortened the timeline to start with EIA price series, which dates from August 1990. The retail prices are updated weekly, so the price series is the more current of the two.
DOT: Vehicle Miles Driven decreased 10.3% year-over-year in November - The Department of Transportation (DOT) reported:Travel on all roads and streets changed by -11.1% (-28.9 billion vehicle miles) for November 2020 as compared with November 2019. Travel for the month is estimated to be 231.6 billion vehicle miles. The seasonally adjusted vehicle miles traveled for November 2020 is 244.8 billion miles, a -10.3% (-28.2 billion vehicle miles) decline from November 2019. It also represents -0.7% decline (-1.6 billion vehicle miles) compared with October 2020. Cumulative Travel for 2020 changed by -13.7% (-410.0 billion vehicle miles). The cumulative estimate for the year is 2,583.1 billion vehicle miles of travel. This graph shows the rolling 12 month total vehicle miles driven to remove the seasonal factors. Miles driven declined during the great recession, and the rolling 12 months stayed below the previous peak for a record 85 months. Miles driven declined sharply in March, and really collapsed in April. This graph shows the YoY change in vehicle miles driven. Miles driven have rebounded, but are still down 10.3% YoY (seasonally adjusted).
Durable-Goods Demand Eased in December – WSJ —Growth in demand for long-lasting manufactured goods slowed in December, as the overall economic recovery lost momentum at the end of last year. New orders for durable goods—products designed to last at least three years—increased 0.2% to a seasonally adjusted $245.3 billion in December compared with November, the Commerce Department reported Wednesday. That was the eighth straight month of gains, although the increase was the smallest since last August. Economists surveyed by The Wall Street Journal expected new orders to increase 0.8% in December, after an upwardly revised 1.2% rise the previous month. New orders for nondefense capital goods excluding aircraft—or so-called core capital-goods orders, a closely watched proxy for business investment—increased 0.6% in December from the previous month, to $71.8 billion. The gain was also smaller than in recent months. Despite slower December growth in new orders, economists said the report reflected positive trends for the U.S. manufacturing industry and business investment. “The bigger story is the continued strong gains in core orders, which underlines that the recovery in business equipment investment—which looks set to rise above its pre-pandemic level in the fourth quarter—still has plenty of momentum,” Michael Pearce, senior U.S. economist at Capital Economics, said in a research note. New orders for transportation equipment weighed on last month, falling 1%. Orders for commercial aircraft and parts dropped sharply, driven primarily by a decline in net orders at Boeing Co. , according to economists. Boeing on Wednesday reported its biggest-ever annual loss and said it took a large financial hit on its new 777X jetliner, as the company faces continuing challenges because of the coronavirus pandemic. Excluding transportation, a category that can be particularly volatile, overall durable-goods orders increased 0.7%. The overall rise in durable-goods orders last month is the latest in a string of data that have pointed to resilience for U.S. manufacturing and increased activity at factories amid the pandemic. For example, data firm IHS Markit said last week that its index of U.S. manufacturing activity rose in early January to its highest level in more than a decade.
Dallas Fed: "Texas Manufacturing Expansion Moderates" in January -From the Dallas Fed: Texas Manufacturing Expansion Moderates: Texas factory activity continued to expand in January, albeit at a markedly slower pace, according to business executives responding to the Texas Manufacturing Outlook Survey. The production index, a key measure of state manufacturing conditions, fell from 26.8 to 4.6, indicating a sharp deceleration in output growth. Other measures of manufacturing activity also point to more muted growth this month. The new orders index dropped 13 points to 6.3, and the growth rate of orders index fell from 15.9 to 5.9. The capacity utilization index declined 10 points to 9.2, and the shipments index fell from 23.4 to 13.5. Perceptions of broader business conditions continued to improve in January. The general business activity index remained positive but edged down from 10.5 to 7.0. The company outlook index also stayed in positive territory but retreated, from 18.2 to 10.3. Uncertainty regarding companies’ outlooks continued to rise; the index increased six points to 19.3. Labor market measures indicated slightly slower growth in employment and a continued increase in work hours. The employment index came in at 16.6, down from 20.9 but still indicative of increased head counts.
Richmond Fed Manufacturing Shows Growth in January Despite Decline - Fifth District manufacturing activity showed growth in January, according to the most recent survey from the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond. The composite index fell to 14 in January from 15 in December and indicates expansion.The complete data series behind today's Richmond Fed manufacturing report, which dates from November 1993, is available here.Here is a snapshot of the complete Richmond Fed Manufacturing Composite series. Here is an excerpt from the latest Richmond Fed manufacturing overview: The Fifth District manufacturing sector showed signs of growth in January, according to the most recent survey from the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond. The composite index fell from 19 in December to 14 in January but remained in expansionary territory, as did all three of its component indexes—shipments, new orders, and employment. Manufacturers reported lengthening vendor lead times, as this index rose to 39, its highest reading since January 1996. Overall, manufacturers were optimistic that conditions would continue to improve in the coming months. Link to ReportHere is a somewhat closer look at the index since the turn of the century.
Kansas City Fed Survey: Continued Improvement in January - The latest index came in at 17, up 3 from last month's 14, which indicates expansion in January. The future outlook increased to 24 this month from 17. Here is a snapshot of the complete Kansas City Fed Manufacturing Survey.Quarterly data for this indicator dates back to 1995, but monthly data is only available from 2001.Here is an excerpt from the latest report:. – The Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City released the January Manufacturing Survey today. According to Chad Wilkerson, vice president and economist at the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City, the survey revealed that Tenth District manufacturing activity increased at a faster pace in January compared to a month ago and was similar to year ago levels. Expectations for future activity rose further.“Regional factories reported more growth in January,” said Wilkerson. “COVID-19 vaccination is a key factor in manufacturers’ overall business outlook for 2021, but with less impact on hiring and capital spending in the near-term.” [Full report here]Here is a snapshot of the complete Kansas City Fed Manufacturing Survey.
Chicago PMI Jumped in January -The Chicago Business Barometer, also known as the Chicago Purchasing Manager's Index, is similar to the national ISM Manufacturing indicator but at a regional level and is seen by many as an indicator of the larger US economy. It is a composite diffusion indicator, made up of production, new orders, order backlogs, employment, and supplier deliveries compiled through surveys. Values above 50.0 indicate expanding manufacturing activity.The latest Chicago Purchasing Manager's Index, or the Chicago Business Barometer, jumped to 63.8 in January from 58.7 in December, which is in expansion territory. Values above 50.0 indicate expanding manufacturing activity.Here is an excerpt from the press release:The Chicago Business BarometerTM, produced with MNI, rose 5.1 points to 63.8 in January. The index now stands at the highest level since July 2018, boosted by a pick-up in activity at the beginning of 2021.Among the main five indicators, Production saw the largest monthly gain, followed by New Orders. Employment recorded the biggest decline. [Source] Let's take a look at the Chicago PMI since its inception.
Weekly Initial Unemployment Claims decreased to 847,000 --The DOL reported: In the week ending January 23, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 847,000, a decrease of 67,000 from the previous week's revised level. The previous week's level was revised up by 14,000 from 900,000 to 914,000. The 4-week moving average was 868,000, an increase of 16,250 from the previous week's revised average. The previous week's average was revised up by 3,750 from 848,000 to 851,750. This does not include the 426,856 initial claims for Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) that was down from 447,328 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 868,000. 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.Regular state continued claims decreased to 4,771,000 (SA) from 4,974,000 (SA) the previous week and will likely stay at a high level until the crisis abates. Note: There are an additional 7,334,193 receiving Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) that increased from 5,707,397 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.
BLS: December Unemployment rates down in 19 States, Higher in 12 States - From the BLS: Regional and State Employment and Unemployment Summary: Unemployment rates were lower in December in 19 states, higher in 12 states and the District of Columbia, and stable in 19 states, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Forty-five states and the District had jobless rate increases from a year earlier, one state had a decrease, and four states had little or no change. The national unemployment rate, 6.7 percent, was unchanged over the month but was 3.1 percentage points higher than in December 2019. In December 2020, nonfarm payroll employment increased in 15 states, decreased in 11 states, and was essentially unchanged in 24 states and the District of Columbia. Over the year, nonfarm payroll employment decreased in 48 states and the District and was essentially unchanged in 2 states. ... Hawaii and Nevada had the highest unemployment rates in December, 9.3 percent and 9.2 percent, respectively. Nebraska and South Dakota had the lowest rates, 3.0 percent each. Hawaii and Nevada are being impacted by the lack of tourism.
Delta Air Lines To Activate 400 Pilots By Summer Amid Travel Rebound Expectation -Delta Air Lines plans to activate 400 full-time pilots by this summer, reflecting vaccine optimism could lead to a rebound in air travel, according to a company memo, seen by Reuters. John Laughter, senior vice president of flight operations, told employees last week that the company is positioning itself for recovery. "We saw an opportunity to build back additional pilot staffing in advance of summer 2022 by bringing 400 affected pilots back to active flying status by this summer," he said. Laughter continued, "This is well ahead of when we originally estimated we would be able to convert pilots back to full flying status and is possible because of the PSP aid and available training capacity starting in March and April.""We're cautiously optimistic that demand will increase as vaccinations roll out across the world, and we look forward to restoring all affected pilots back to full flying status as the recovery continues," he added.Laughter expects average cash burn could be around $10-$15 million per day in the first quarter as customer demand will remain depressed. The upbeat comments come as Delta experienced the largest ever annual loss of $12 billion in 2020. The airline hopes to return to profitability in the second half of 2021 as vaccines may give people more confidence to travel on planes. "We are encouraged that Delta has begun recalling pilots that the pandemic has sidelined," the Air Line Pilots Association said in a statement."As career-long stakeholders, pilots want to see Delta back where it was before the virus exploded, at the top of the industry," the union added. Despite the optimistic outlook, Delta shares were down more than 2% this afternoon as traders became spooked by new air travel restrictions in the US to mitigate the virus' spread.
California officials confirm over $11 billion in unemployment fraud during pandemic - California officials confirmed on Monday that over $11 billion in unemployment benefits paid amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic involved fraud. The state paid at least $11.4 billion, which is approximately 10 percent of benefits paid during the pandemic, in funds that involved fraud, the California Employment Development Department confirmed to The Hill. Seventeen percent of the rest of total benefits paid are under investigation. “There is no sugarcoating the reality,” California Labor Secretary Julie Su aid during a press conference Monday, the Los Angeles Times reported. “California has not had sufficient security measures in place to prevent this level of fraud, and criminals took advantage of the situation." The state has paid $114 billion in unemployment benefits since the start of the pandemic last March, with officials processing approximately 19 million claims. Officials warned that many of the 17 percent of claims under investigation could also involve fraud. Su on Monday said that the Trump administration did not provide adequate guidance and resources to California amid the pandemic, as swaths of businesses were forced to close under health orders. She said that almost all of the fraudulent claims were filed through a federal program that provides unemployment benefits to the self-employed, independent contractors and others. “We now know that as millions of Californians applied for help, international and national criminal rings were at work behind the scenes working relentlessly to steal unemployment benefits using sophisticated methods of identity theft,” Su said, according to the Times. California’s Employment Development Department announced last month that it was freezing 1.4 million unemployment claims to verify identities. The Department has hired a contractor to verify the identities of claimants, ID.me. The contractor has found that 35 percent of unemployment applications nationwide had fraud concerns. The state is also grappling with a backlog of unemployment claims amid the pandemic, which totaled 916,000 claims as of last week.
Audit Finds 4 Million Californians May Have To Repay COVID Jobless Benefits - In September, the Joint Legislative Audit Committee ordered State Auditor Elaine Howle to conduct an in-depth audit into EDD following a tidal wave of abuse reports. One of the most notable abuses was rapper Fontrell Antonio Baines, 31, who fraudulently collected $1.2 million in EDD claims. He even detailed the EDD scam in a rap video. State lawmakers had criticized the agency for massive backlogs that delayed claims, along with its failure to prevent widespread fraud. "Although it would be unreasonable to have expected a flawless response to such a historical event, EDD's inefficient processes and lack of advanced planning led to significant delays in its payment of [unemployment insurance] claims," Howle's letter said, which was addressed to the governor and lawmakers. Howle found at least half of the claims submitted online to EDD could not automatically process between March and September and were processed manually. "As a result, hundreds of thousands of claimants waited longer than 21 days — EDD's measure of how quickly it should process a claim — to receive their first benefit payments," Howle said. "EDD has begun to modify its practices and processes to increase the rate at which it automatically processes online claims, but the automation it has gained during the pandemic is not fully sustainable."As the backlog soared during the pandemic and internal chaos at EDD erupted, the agency relaxed eligibility rules to speed up claims distribution. This may have resulted in millions of people who shouldn't have received claims or were overpaid. Now EDD is deciding how these folks will repay the jobless benefits they got during the pandemic.
12 dead and over 750 workers infected at Southern California ports - As COVID-19 continues to break record numbers of infections and mounting death tolls in California, dock workers, shipbuilding and logistics workers at the busy ports in Southern Californian have been particularly hard hit in recent weeks. Currently nearly 700 workers have contracted the virus in Los Angeles and Long Beach ports, with another 60 workers infected at the NASSCO shipyard in San Diego. Since the beginning of the year, over 35,000 confirmed cases have been reported in California every day, with Los Angeles alone seeing over 10,000 daily infections. A dozen longshore workers have died so far this year. Eugene Seroka, executive director of the Los Angeles port, told the Los Angeles Timesthat nearly 1,800 dock workers are currently not working either due to self-isolation because of limited contact tracing or awaiting test results. Many are staying at home out of fear of contracting the virus. “We’ve got more cargo than we do skilled labor,” Seroka said. The high numbers of cases at the ports have been the direct result of indifference to the health of port workers. Union representatives of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) have cynically claimed that port executives have been failing to report widespread outbreaks to county health officials all while keeping workers on the job. Only one of the 12 terminals in Los Angeles has officially declared a virus outbreak of just 15 workers, despite the hundreds who are reporting infections. In reality, the ILWU and the Pacific Maritime Association are colluding to keep workers on the job.
After government intervention to keep it open, hundreds of infections went unreported at Illinois meatpacking plant - At least 137 COVID-19 cases at the Rochelle Foods meatpacking plant went unreported after state and federal government officials intervened to countermand a local lockdown order, according to an investigative report published last week in USA Today. Although meatpacking plants have served as a key vector for the spread of the virus, particularly into rural areas of the country, information about the extent of the virus in the industry has been released only piecemeal, at the discretion of companies and management at individual sites. However, according to available reports compiled by the Midwest Center for Investigative Reporting, which contributed to last week's report, at least 45,000 meatpacking workers have been infected and 240 have died. Rochelle Foods, a subsidiary of Hormel, employs approximately 900 workers at the plant in Rochelle, Illinois. The Ogle County Health Department intervened to shut down production at the facility on April 20. On May 1, by which time 123 workers were confirmed infected, state and federal officials intervened, convening a conference call with the Ogle County health director, lawyers for Rochelle Foods and several political appointees from the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), and a representative of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), high-level officials from the Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH), and the office of Democratic Governor Jay Robert “J. B.” Pritzker’s office. According to the report, Ogle County Health Department (OCHD) Director Kyle Aumun was told by USDA officials that he had no authority to investigate or shut down production at the plant, citing Trump’s April 28 executive order invoking the Defense Production Act that forced meatpacking and food-processing facilities to keep operating in the midst of a pandemic. After the conference call had concluded, Auman recalled feeling “very manipulated.” "Rochelle Foods reopened on May 4 and, since then, no coronavirus cases have been publicly reported," the report continues. "But behind closed doors, the county health department has been fighting coronavirus outbreaks at Rochelle Foods ever since." A second outbreak occurred in the fall, and "By mid-September, at least 137 COVID-19 cases had been reported at the plant in Rochelle." The current number of infections is likely higher, according to the report. Rochelle Foods management even intervened to prevent local health officials from publicly announcing COVID-19 testing at the plant, on the grounds that it would give the company "bad publicity." “We essentially had to leave Rochelle Foods alone,” Aumun told reporters. “They were using the act to keep people working, not to protect public health.”
COVID-19 Has Exposed the Fragility of Our Food System—Here’s How We Can Localize It --The U.S. was once a haven for small-scale, family farmers. Today, food giants have gobbled up most of those family farms, creating the monstrous and unsustainable food industry known as Big Ag. The extent to which this massive, industrialized, global food system falls short became especially unmistakable in 2020. The current food system is “fraying.” It relies on the horrendoustreatment of laborers, a wasteful allocation of resources, worldwide environmental devastation—and in a pinch, can quickly devolve into near-collapse of the entire system, as evidenced by the delays, shortages and pressure during the COVID-19 pandemic, and the deepening hunger crisisin America. Among the many necessary systemic changes 2020 has illuminated is the need to majorly restructure the way we cultivate and access food in our communities.Faced with the shortcomings of the current food systems, food producers across the Pacific Northwest have been innovating ways to reestablish locally sourced, regional food systems. In the process of localizing the food supply chain, they aim to establish food security for their communities, create local jobs and support the surrounding ecosystems.During a free, online event called Festival of What Works, which took place in November 2020, entrepreneurs from an array of backgrounds shared their success stories to demonstrate how it is possible to build and scale local food production across geography as well as institutions and create more food-secure communities. The festival was a project of a newly launched eco-trust network called Salmon Nation. It gathered a collection of voices from various cultures and focuses, to showcase solution-oriented projects from Northern California through Alaska (a region called “Salmon Nation” by many of the area’s Indigenous people) that offer place-based responses to the current political, economic and climate realities. Here are three examples of localized food projects successfully challenging the current system—all of which lend themselves to replication in other areas.
Flying Blind by James Howard Kunstler - Events are in the driver’s seat now, not personalities. Gil Scott-Heron was right way back in the day when he said, “the revolution will not be televised.” Only what he called “revolution” turns out to be collapse, led by the disintegrating news business, so that the people of this land are flying blind into a maelstrom of hardship. Everything is going south at once here, and you probably don’t know it. If you think we’re headed into a transhuman nirvana of continuous tech-assisted orgasm, social equity, and guaranteed basic income, you are going to be disappointed. Our actual destination is a neo-medieval time-out from all the techno-dazzle of recent decades. It’s not as bad as you might think. The human project will continue at a lower pitch, probably for a good long while, but minus most of the comforts and conveniences we’re used to, and with very different social arrangements. You can waste your energy hand-wringing and wailing over all this, or summon the fortitude to go where history is taking us and make something of it. The old economy is wrecked. Many Americans already know this because they’ve lost their businesses and their livelihoods. What used to be there isn’t coming back. But there will always be ways to make yourself useful providing things and services that other people need, just not within the crumbling armature of the economy we’re leaving behind. There will be a lot of debris left in the way to overcome, especially the crap we’ve smeared all over the landscape. One business you can begin to organize right now is a salvage industry, sorting out the reusable components of all that crap — the steel I-beams, the aluminum trusses and sashes, plate glass, concrete blocks, copper and PVC pipe, and dimensional lumber. A lot of this stuff we just won’t be making anymore, certainly not at the former scale. Think of all the shopping malls to be disassembled. Growing food and getting it to markets is the most critical activity. Poor Bill Gates, addled by his fortune, has bought up something like a quarter-million acres of farmland. His grandiosity prompts him to believe he can organize farming on the super-giant scale — Walmart for corn and turnips. Nothing could be further from the real coming trend: a reduction of scale and scope of farming and of the distribution supply lines that serve it. Poor Bill doesn’t seem to realize that the oil-and-gas-based “inputs” (fertilizers, pesticides) won’t be there for him, nor will the million-dollar diesel-powered combines. Nor the trucking industry. He could do more good for mankind getting into the mule business. The transition between the old giant agri-biz model of farming and the emergent system of small-scaled farms based on human and animal labor will be arduous and disorderly in the early going. A lot of people will miss a lot of meals, and you know what that means. Working on a farm will be one way to make sure you get enough to eat. But also consider all the businesses that have to be created from scratch on the local level to serve the logistics of farming. You are already seeing many food products unavailable in the supermarkets. That will become more distressingly obvious in the disorders of 2021. When food deliveries to the supermarkets get really spotty, the farmers’ markets will not just be for schmoozing over lattes and almond croissants.
Cuomo implicated in 'criminal corruption scandal' over nursing home coronavirus deaths: Stefanik -- Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y., said Friday that New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo. was implicated in a "criminal corruption scandal" over his state's reported undercounting of nursing home COVID-19 deaths. In an interview on "The Story," Stefanik said New York lawmakers needed to hold Cuomo accountable for what the state's attorney general has alleged was a significant underreporting of the death count of New Yorkers in nursing homes. Cuomo, D., defended his policy as following federal guidelines at the time, but officials have said those guidelines mandated strict standards for nursing homes to accept coronavirus-positive patients. "This is the governor who has pointed fingers at everyone. He's pointed fingers at President Trump. He's pointed fingers at the seniors themselves, at the nursing homes, basically blaming everyone but himself," Stefanik said.Stefanik also blasted the media and CNN in particular for its coverage of Cuomo, whose brother Chris Cuomo is a primetime anchor and conducted numerous, friendly interviews with the governor when the pandemic first struck. "It is a disgrace that CNN allows Chris Cuomo to just invite his brother and do those ridiculous fawning interviews. It’s an embarrassment now to the media," she said.
White House: DOJ would lead potential N.Y. nursing home probe - — Any federal investigation into New York’s COVID nursing home deaths will be led by the Department of Justice, the White House said Friday. White House press secretary Jen Psaki declined to weigh in Friday on a scathing report in which New York Attorney General James accused the Cuomo administration of underreporting deaths at elder care facilities during the pandemic. “I have seen those reports. I would say any investigation, I would point you to the Department of Justice,” Psaki said. James’ report, which also found many long-term care sites failed to adequately protect residents from coronavirus, prompted state Health Commissioner Howard Zucker to release long-sought data detailing how many seniors died in nursing homes and after being transferred to hospitals. Hours after the AG’s report, Zucker said in a statement that an ongoing audit shows the true total number of deaths connected to nursing homes is 12,743, not the 8,700 the state had been reporting on its website. The change in reporting does not impact the state’s overall death toll, which stood at 34,742 as of Wednesday. The comment from the White House comes months after the Department of Justice requested information from New York and other Democratic-led states about nursing home deaths. Under the Trump administration, the feds claimed the probe was part of the first step in determining whether to open a formal investigation under the Civil Rights of Institutionalized Persons Act. At the time, Cuomo called the probe “political.”
Cuomo: NYC Indoor Dining Can Return Valentine’s Day (25% Cap); Limited Weddings OK in March – New York City restaurants can reopen indoor dining at 25 percent capacity on Valentine's Day, one of the busiest dining days of the year, provided current downward trends in positivity and hospitalization rates continue, Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced Friday. He also announced that wedding receptions of up to 50 percent or 150 people will be permitted in New York starting March 15, provided all guests are tested and local health officials approve. The state is developing an app that would list guests' names once they have been tested; rapid tests are the suggested means. That reopening step for weddings was born out of the success the governor says the state saw byallowing fans to attend two Buffalo Bills home playoff games earlier this month with strict testing and contact tracing rules. He believes that rapid pre-testing will be the key to eventually reopening more venues, including Broadway and baseball stadiums, before vaccination reaches critical mass. Both highly anticipated announcements come two days after Cuomo hinted of more reopening measures in the near future when he declared "the holiday surge is over" as he lifted most of the state's micro-cluster zone restrictions.
Vaccination Chaos Fuels Push to Recall Gavin Newsom - 01/29Since October, Newsom has touted his administration’s readiness to vaccinate the state’s 40 million residents, while repeatedly assuring them that “hope is on the horizon.” He has vowed that California would lead the nation with a fair and efficient system of delivering vaccines. Instead, the situation has devolved into chaos and confusion, as vulnerable older people, teachers and others in essential industries scramble to find a vaccine appointment — often without help or direction from state or local officials. Newsom, who emerged as an early leader in the pandemic when he issued the nation’s first statewide stay-at-home order, is desperately trying to turn the situation around — and political strategists say he must do so quickly because his political future depends on it. He is facing a Republican-driven effort to recall him from office, with supporters gaining momentum from the vaccine problems. Even some in his Democratic base are beginning to question his leadership. “This is not going well. You just cannot have these kinds of disparities we’re seeing all over California. The governor has got to get control of this vaccination effort,” said Los Angeles-based Democratic strategist Garry South, who ran the gubernatorial campaigns of former Democratic Gov. Gray Davis, recalled by voters in 2003 and replaced by Republican Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger. “If the vaccination process is not carried out smoothly and efficiently, a lot of voters will blame him, regardless of whether it’s actually his fault or not,” South said. “People did not blame Gray Davis for starting the electricity crisis, but they did blame him for failing to solve the problem.” Recall organizers have until March 17 to gather the roughly 1.5 million valid signatures needed to put the question before voters. As of Jan. 6, the California secretary of state’s office had received nearly 724,000 signatures.
Missouri residents confront growing joblessness, hunger, evictions - As throughout the United States, the coronavirus pandemic is ravaging the population of the state of Missouri. Hunger, unemployment and homelessness reached record levels in 2020, while the total wealth of US billionaires soared by over $1 trillion in the first nine months of the year. The already threadbare social welfare system in the state is leaving thousands of people unable to receive needed assistance. Food banks have been relying on CARES Act funds to be able to purchase food to serve their communities. For example, Douglass Community Services in Hannibal—a city in northeastern Missouri that was the boyhood home of famed author Mark Twain—received its last CARES Act check at the start of November. That month they were able to purchase about $7,000 worth of food, only enough to feed area residents for one month. The food bank supplies individuals with three to five days of food at a time. Stacey Nicholas, Douglass Community Services community outreach initiatives director, said that they have been forced to rely upon local donations. “We rely on those local funders because the heart of it is, we can’t wait for someone in Washington D.C. or Jefferson City to come to northeast Missouri and save us. We have to save ourselves.” Indeed, help from the federal government is paltry. The recently passed $900 billion coronavirus relief package will do little to address growing hunger in the United States. America is experiencing the worst levels of hunger since 1998, when the Census Bureau began compiling data about household food insecurity. Missouri’s hunger statistics are damning. One in six children doesn’t get enough to eat each day, and over 1 million residents got help from a food bank or food pantry in 2019. The St. Louis Area Foodbank has distributed over 40 million meals since March 16, and reported a 46 percent increase in requests for assistance in 2020. President and CEO of the food bank Meredith Knopp said that the organization conducted surveys that showed that 70 percent of people utilizing the food bank in 2020 were seeking help for the first time. Kansas City food bank Harvesters has reported a 40 percent increase in need this year.
"Greatest Rise In Inequality Ever": The Last 6 Months Saw Sharpest Rise In US Poverty In Half-Century - A new poverty estimate seeking to analyze the nationwide impact of government relief measures which expired just at the end of last month has found that the latter half of 2020 marked the sharpest rise in the US poverty rate since the 1960s. The study released Monday and presented in Bloomberg finds that the poverty rate increased by 2.4% during the second half of 2020, following last spring and early summer COVID-19 rolling lockdowns in various parts of the country.This amounts to an additional 8 million Americans being considered newly poor, nearly double the highest annual increase in poverty in over a half-century.The study authors - economists Bruce Meyer of the University of Chicago, and James Sullivan of the University of Notre Dame - further found that Black Americans were among the hardest hit, and more that twice as likely to fall below the poverty line as White Americans.According to Bloomberg's summary of the results, "The researchers found that the stimulus checks the federal government issued in the spring helped forestall the poverty rate from rising even faster." Bloomberg recalls further that "In late December, $900 billion in addition federal relief aid was passed, and President Joe Biden is asking Congress for an additional $1.9 trillion in stimulus."The US trend of the past six months is also echoed more broadly in global data showing COVID-fueled poverty across much of the world.
COVID Lockdown Policies Will Disproportionately Hit Black Americans For Decades, New Study Finds -- "Follow the science" exclaimed every virtue-signaling talking head as left-leaning authorities/officials clamped down on Americans' rights nationwide... "wear a mask", "shelter at home", "no comingling", "slow the spread", "think of the children", "save grandma" were the cries as the virus refused to pay attention to state and local authories' orders to behave as the "scientist" textbooks claimed. And, as cases rose, and hospitalizations rose, and deaths rose, so did the tyrannical trouncing of the economy sending unemployment rates to record highs and crushing GDP growth to record lows. Now, here we sit, hunkered down in many blue states still, unable to discern exactly what 'science' it is that is driving officials' decision. Along those lines, it seems like a good idea to point out that a new peer reviewed study out of Stanford is questioning the effectiveness of lockdowns and stay-at-home orders (which it calls NPIs, or non-pharmaceutical interventions) to combat Covid-19. The study's lead author is an associate professor in the Department of Medicine at Stanford. "The study did not find evidence to support that NPIs were effective in preventing the spread," according to Outkick, who published the report. The study, co-authored by Dr. Eran Bendavid, Professor John P.A. Ioannidis, Christopher Oh, and Jay Bhattacharya, studied the effects of NPIs in 10 different countries, including England, France, Germany and Italy. And, when all was said and done, it concluded that: “In summary, we fail to find strong evidence supporting a role for more restrictive NPIs in the control of COVID in early 2020." In fact, the study found “no clear, significant beneficial effect of more restrictive NPIs on case growth in any country.”
Two dead after 26-year-old mother jumps off Tennessee overpass holding infant -- A ghastly event that took place in the early morning hours of Monday, January 4 just north of Jackson, Tennessee, highlights the degree of social misery and despair that has overtaken untold numbers of the world’s population amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Around 12:30 a.m. local time, callers from the gas station northeast of Jackson, in the western part of the state, informed 911 dispatchers that a woman had just tried to crash her car into a gas pump. Then, calls came in from witnesses saying the woman exited the vehicle carrying a child and proceeded to walk to the edge of the nearby overpass before disappearing from sight. The woman and child’s fate were confirmed minutes later, when a truck driver moving westbound on Interstate 40 called 911 reporting something had hit his truck. When the authorities responded to the scene, they found two people dead on the roadway. The woman callers reported seeing has been identified as Tonisha Lashay Barker. She was 26. The child was later identified by relatives as her 21-month-old son, Jonathan Jones. In a statement the day of the incident County Sheriff John Mehr said, “It’s heartbreaking to have that situation this morning, especially when someone loses their life. It’s hard on everybody, especially the driver of the vehicle. It’s just a bad situation that we hate to ever receive.” Commenting on the investigation, MCSO Public Information Officer Tom Maples said Barker “evidently chose to jump off with the child in her hands.” Barker’s grandmother told local Memphis TV station WREG that Barker was depressed in the period leading up to the incident on the highway overpass. Barker, a 2018 science graduate from Tennessee State University, had recently lost her job at a state COVID-19 testing site in December.
Antifa Trashes Tacoma After Viral Video Of Cop Driving Through Crowd - Antifa anarchists in Tacoma, Washington set fires and vandalized buildings on Sunday after a video of a police officer plowing through a crowd of illegal street racers went viral over the weekend.Videos of the mayhem were all over Twitter Sunday night, as hundreds of people took to the streets near the incident - damaging at least two police cars and forcing several city buildings to be evacuated, according to the NY Post.An unlawful assembly was declared around 9:20 p.m. Sunday night. Protesters assembled outside of the Pierre County Jail, chanting "Free them all!"
Missouri bill would allow deadly force against demonstrators (AP) — A Missouri senator on Monday pitched a bill that would allow the use of deadly force against protesters on private property and give immunity to people who run over demonstrators blocking traffic. The proposal is one of several that follow sometimes violent protests in Missouri last summer over the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis police custody, including demonstrations that blocked traffic on busy roads in the St. Louis area. “To think that your right to protest enables you the right to stop traffic and literally stop people's ability to move about freely in this nation is a gross misunderstanding of our constitutional rights,” bill sponsor Sen. Rick Brattin said during the Monday hearing.
8-year-old in Oklahoma expelled after telling another girl she had a crush on her - An 8-year-old Oklahoma girl was expelled from her Christian school after telling a classmate she had a crush on her, her mother told local media. “My daughter was crying, saying, ‘Does God still love me?” Delanie Shelton, of Owasso, Okla., told Tulsa-based KOKI. Shelton’s daughter, Chloe, was a student at Rejoice Christian Schools, according to the outlet – at least until recently. School policy prohibits boyfriend and girlfriend relationships in general and administrators told the station they were following the student handbook. Shelton told KOKI that her daughter Chloe’s vice principal sat her down and said “the Bible says you can only marry a man and have children with a man.” Shelton said she later the told the vice principal that she thought it would be “OK for girls to like girls” and that the administrator then “looked shocked and appalled.” Rejoice did not immediately respond to a Fox News request for comment. The school was founded in 1992 on faith-based principles, according to its website. It is one of the largest Christian schools in the greater Tulsa area.
Chicago Teachers Union votes to defy district's reopening plans over coronavirus concern -The Chicago Teachers Union (CTU) voted to defy Chicago Public Schools’ (CPS) reopening plans for teachers and staff due to coronavirus concerns, the union announced on Sunday. The teachers union for the nation’s third-largest school district decided to allow all educators to conduct work remotely starting on Monday, the day that kindergarten through eighth grade staff was expected to return in person. The CTU reported that 86 percent of its 25,000 members participated in the electronic vote on Thursday, Friday and Saturday. Seventy-one percent of voting members decided to deny the district’s current plan to come back to in-person learning.“So what does this mean?” a CTU release read. “It means the overwhelming majority of you have chosen safety. CPS did everything possible to divide us by instilling fear through threats of retaliation, but you still chose unity, solidarity and to collectively act as one.”The Chicago Sun-Times labeled the vote as “unusually close for CTU labor actions” noting that 94 percent of voting members in 2019 decided to strike. The Chicago district’s officials sent a letter to families on Sunday in response to the vote, saying the return date for teachers will be delayed until Wednesday to allow for more time for negotiations and to avoid “risking disruption to student learning.” They noted they hoped to reach a deal with the union "as soon as possible” and the Feb. 1 return date for students remains in place.“We now agree on far more than we disagree, but our discussions remain ongoing, and additional time is needed to reach a resolution,” the letter obtained by The Hill read. The teachers union and CPS have been feuding over the district’s plan to require most teachers and staff to work in-person for weeks. Under the plan, staff and teachers were supposed to return on Monday, with the K-8 students having the option of in-person learning starting on Feb. 1.CPS previously instructed most of its pre-kindergarten and special education staff to return to schools earlier this month, with students going back Jan. 11. But the district reported that 49 percent of those who said they’d return for the Jan. 11 start date have, amounting to 19 percent of the student populations. In their letter, the officials said pre-K and special education staff will be expected to keep reporting in-person to work, despite the delay for other staff. The district has already blocked remote work and stopped paying a few dozen of these teachers who previously did not return to in-person work.
Chicago Teachers Vote To 'Strike' Against In-Person Instruction Over COVID-19 Fears -The Chicago Teachers Union announced on Sunday that its members voted to defy an order to return to in-person instruction on Monday, citing concerns over COVID-19. Officials with Chicago Public Schools (CPS) have made clear that refusing to return when ordered would be tantamount to an illegal strike.CPS, the nation's third-largest district, ordered roughly 10,000 K-8 teachers and other staffers to return to school on Monday, while roughly 70,000 students are expected to show up for part-time in-person classes on February 1 - when CPS says they still expect K-8 teachers to appear in-person. There has been no return date set for high school students.The teachers union says that the reopening plan fails to take the health of teachers into account, and has called on the district to allow them to continue teaching from home."Here you have the most lethal health emergency that we’ve had in 100 years, and there is so little guidance that everyone is doing different things," said Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers last week, adding that a national strategy "costs money, it requires good management, and it requires working together."According to the union, vaccinations will need to be more widespread and different metrics to measure infections will need to be instituted."There’s no doubt we all want to return to in-person instruction. The issue is CPS’ current unpreparedness for a return to in-person instruction, and the clear and present danger that poses to the health of our families and school communities," the union said in a statement, according to Fox News.The two sides have been negotiating for months and talks continued after the result of the vote was announced in the hopes of reaching a deal.CPS officials said Sunday that they had agreed to delay the teachers’ return for two days to give the sides more time to negotiate. But they said K-8 teachers would still be expected to resume in-person instruction on Feb. 1."We now agree on far more than we disagree, but our discussions remain ongoing, and additional time is needed to reach a resolution," the district’s CEO, Janice Jackson, said in a statement.School officials have argued that remote learning isn’t working for all students, including many low income and Black and Latino students who make up the majority of the district. The district’s safety plan includes thousands of air purifiers, more cleaning and a voluntary testing program. -Fox News
Overwhelming opposition among Chicago educators to deadly school reopenings - In the face of threats that taking collective action to prevent deadly school reopenings would constitute an “illegal strike,” Chicago educators voted overwhelmingly to approve a union resolution to continue teaching remotely. In response, Chicago Public Schools (CPS) CEO Janice Jackson was forced to announce Sunday that the return of K-8 educators would be delayed to Wednesday at the earliest. Despite this temporary delay in the full reopening of schools, Chicago educators must not have any illusions that the Chicago Teachers Union (CTU) is fighting in their interests. Behind the scenes, Chicago’s Democratic Mayor Lori Lightfoot and CPS officials are working furiously to hammer out a deal with the CTU on the resumption of in-person learning, as they have done in over 60 negotiating sessions throughout the fall that led to the situation today. Support for the resolution among Chicago’s 25,000 educators was overwhelming, with a 71 percent margin in favor. Those voting represented 86 percent of the total membership. The high degree of support for the resolution and the district’s move to delay shows the real relationship of forces in the city, and both CPS and CTU are interested in avoiding a confrontation that could quickly get out of the union’s control and raise demands far beyond those it has been negotiating. Both CPS and the CTU have undoubtedly followed the recent establishment of the Chicago Educators Rank-and-File Safety Committee, which is spearheading the fight to unite educators with the broader working class to close all schools and nonessential workplaces. Our committee is completely independent of the unions and the capitalist parties, and is demanding that the financial elite pay for educators, nonessential workers and their families to stay home safely until the pandemic is contained. Educators and other workers throughout Chicago are overwhelmingly opposed to the reopening of schools and other businesses by the Lightfoot administration and Illinois’ billionaire Democratic Governor J.B. Pritzker. Just 3,200 students, or about half of the roughly 6,000 Pre-K and special education cluster program students whose parents opted them in for in-person learning, have actually showed up to school buildings, according to CPS attendance figures. This represents only 19 percent of all such students.
US educators confront Democrats and the unions in battle to close schools and save lives - In its first week in office, the Biden administration has begun to fulfill its pledge to reopen the majority of schools across the United States during the worst stage of the pandemic. Officially, there have now been 25,861,597 infections and 431,392 deaths from COVID-19 in the US alone, with a seven-day moving average of 3,182 people dying every day.Biden’s reckless plan to reopen schools has the full support of Democratic Party politicians in every major city, as well as their backers in the American Federation of Teachers (AFT), the National Education Association (NEA), and their state and local affiliates, including so-called “progressive” locals such as the Chicago Teachers Union (CTU), United Teachers Los Angeles (UTLA) and others. The CTU is being presented by the corporate media as oppositional, despite only taking a strike vote three weeks after allowing schools to reopen. The union has accepted the return to classrooms of pre-K and special education teachers and students, which continued Monday despite the massive 71 percent vote in support of a strike. They have engaged in over 60 secret negotiations with Chicago Public Schools (CPS) officials and are desperately trying to reach a deal by Wednesday, when CPS is demanding that K-8 teachers return to classrooms before thousands more students return next Monday.Democratic Party officials decided to back away from their threat to lock teachers out on Monday for an “illegal strike” and are in engaged in frenzied talks with the union to find some way to package a return-to-school deal before Wednesday.At the union’s Monday morning press conference, CTU President Jesse Sharkey stated, “We want to get a safe reopening agreement, that’s the goal. No one wants to be locked out of their classroom in the middle of a pandemic.” CTU Vice President State Davis Gates seconded this, stating, “We are working to get an agreement.” After New York City’s Democratic Mayor Bill de Blasio and the United Federation of Teachers (UFT) set the precedent last fall in reopening the largest school district in the country, Democrats have reached agreements with teachers unions to reopen schools in Houston, Boston, Baltimore, Washington D.C., Detroit, Salt Lake City, Michigan, Washington, Oregon, California, and numerous other cities and states.
Chicago educators to remain teaching remotely on Wednesday - World Chicago educators will remain teaching remotely starting Wednesday, as Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot backed off from threats to retaliate against teachers for refusing to report to school buildings this week. While Lightfoot’s tactical retreat is due to the overwhelming hostility to the city’s plan to aggressively push forward to reopen schools and other businesses in the midst of a still raging pandemic, her administration is only buying time while it works with the Chicago Teachers Union (CTU) to get an agreement for the return of teachers and tens of thousands of students to schools on February 1. As prospects for a Wednesday deal dwindled, Chicago Public Schools (CPS) officials announced to parents of Pre-K and special education cluster program students that they should not bring their children to school on Wednesday. These 3,200 students, as well as some 3,800 educators, have been in schools since January 11. While clearly on the back foot, the city administration has remained intransigent about reopening schools next Monday. At a Tuesday evening press conference, Lightfoot told reporters CPS would “not expect them to violate the directive of their union.” She also waved off questions about what the city might do if teachers continue to refuse to report to school buildings, saying, “I don’t want to speculate.” At the press conference and in a letter to parents, Lightfoot detailed new plans from what the district describes as a new “comprehensive plan” to address teacher concerns. The new plan is barely an improvement over the current reopening protocols, which have already produced over 64 positive cases of COVID-19, even with the small numbers of students and staff in attendance. In response to charges of inadequate testing of staff, as well as lack of concern over community spread, CPS is now offering to test school-based workers twice a month instead of just once and is now offering free monthly tests just to students in the 10 zip codes where COVID-19 positivity rates are highest. The district is also now claiming it will prioritize vaccinations for educators working in Chicago neighborhoods with the highest positivity rates, an almost meaningless promise given the low supplies of the vaccine. Even though vaccination of teachers—while returning students can still infect one another and their families—will do little to prevent the spread of the virus in working class communities, Chicago has been receiving only 34,000 doses of vaccine per week and has roughly 660,000 “essential” workers in the same vaccination priority group as teachers. Indeed, the Chicago Department of Public Health (CDPH) canceled a number of vaccine appointments made by teachers due to confusion over the ramshackle and ad hoc signup system.
Negotiations stall in Chicago amid nationwide campaign to open schools -For the past month, the nationwide, bipartisan effort to force a return to in-person learning has centered on the country’s third largest school district, Chicago Public Schools (CPS). The resistance of rank-and-file educators in the city has inspired educators and huge sections of workers across the US and globally. Every effort is being made by the political establishment and the bourgeois media to vilify Chicago educators and wear down their opposition, to pave the way for mass school reopenings at the most dangerous stage of the pandemic in the interests of corporate profits. On January 4, CPS began a “phased” reopening of schools with the cooperation of the Chicago Teachers Union (CTU). The CTU has reported that there have already been over 150 infections in Chicago schools since schools began reopening. On Thursday, it was reported that Marshall High School custodian and SEIU Local 73 member Marcus Young died from COVID-19. Only last week did the union finally take a vote to stop the deadly return to buildings and keep learning remote, which won overwhelming support among teachers and parents.The CTU and CPS have been stalled in negotiations for the past week, attempting to reach an agreement that the union feels they can sell to their members. CPS CEO Janice Jackson made public statements throughout the week indicating her expectation that some 71,000 K-8 students will return to buildings on Monday, February 1, as the district has long planned. In response, parents and students are organizing a student sick out on Monday, refusing to send children back into dangerous buildings.Late Friday evening, Chicago’s Democratic Mayor Lori Lightfoot held a press conference to announce that no deal had been reached with the CTU. The union also issued a statement declaring negotiations had fallen apart.In her brief remarks, Lightfoot said that a deal is within reach. She commented, “We need to get it done,” and added that teachers “need to be there” in buildings on Monday. Lightfoot pledged to take action if teachers do not report to buildings on Monday, but did not elaborate.The CTU continues to advocate a phased reopening of schools, but on a more extended timeline, in which teachers should first be vaccinated. This unscientific position will not adequately protect educators or other CPS staff, and places students, their families and the wider community at enormous risk of further infections and deaths.
Pennsylvania educators oppose statewide reopening of K-8 schools --The Pennsylvania Educators Rank-and-File Safety Committee wholeheartedly supports the ongoing resistance of Chicago educators to the demands of Chicago’s Democratic Mayor Lori Lightfoot and Chicago Public Schools (CPS) to force 10,000 educators and 71,000 K-8 students into unsafe buildings by February 1. Chicago educators voted by 71 percent not to return for in-person instruction and to strike if the district retaliated against teachers defying orders. However, the Chicago Teachers Union (CTU) has conspired against the teachers, allowing a phased-in return of Pre-K and Special Education teachers and punitively isolating “locked-out” teachers who refused to enter buildings. The CTU is engaged in frenzied negotiations to push through a reopening of schools in line with the policies of the Democratic Party in Illinois and nationwide.This fight is our fight and the fight of educators everywhere. There is no “safe” return to school when the pandemic is totally out of control and has entered a new and deadlier phase. Resistance is growing to these homicidal policies, both nationally and internationally, including in Democratic Party-controlled Montgomery, Alabama where teachers this week conducted asickout fighting for the right to teach fully remotely.Under Pennsylvania’s Democratic Governor Tom Wolf, state guidelines mandating virtual instruction under conditions of “substantial” viral spread have been left entirely at the discretion of a patchwork of 500 local school districts’ administrations. Now even the toothless state recommendations have been swept away. Starting on January 25, all districts are encouraged to return elementary school students to in-person learning regardless of the level of community spread, fully in line with the Biden administration’s directive to reopen K-8 schools nationally within his first 100 days in office.
‘We’re Not Controlling It in Our Schools’: Covid Safety Lapses Abound Across US - Computer science teacher Suzy Lebo saw Covid-19 dangers frequently in her Indiana high school: classes with about 30 students sitting less than 18 inches apart. Students crowding teachers in hallways. Students and staff members taking off their masks around others. “I’m concerned,” said Lebo, who teaches at Avon High School in the Indianapolis suburbs. “We’re not controlling the virus in our county. We’re not controlling it in our state. And we’re not controlling it in our schools.”President Joe Biden’s Covid response proposes $130 billion to improve school safety, offers federal guidance for making schools safer and improves workplace protections to safeguard teachers and other workers from Covid. This comes after many school districts and states holding in-person classes have ignored recommendations from public health officials or written their own questionable safety rules — creating a tinderbox where Covid can sicken and kill.A KHN analysis of federal and state Occupational Safety and Health Administration data found more than 780 Covid-related complaints covering more than 2,000 public and private K-12 schools. But those pleas for help likely represent only a small portion of the problems, because a federal loophole prevents public school employees from lodging them in 24 states without their own OSHA agencies or federally approved programs for local and state employees. Still, the complaints filed provide a window into the safety lapses: Employees reported sick children coming to school, maskless students and teachers less than 6 feet apart, and administrators minimizing the dangers of the virus and punishing teachers who spoke out.KHN also found that practices contradicting safety experts’ advice are codified into the patchwork of Covid rules put out by states and districts. For instance, about half of states don’t require masks for all students — including 11 that have exempted schoolchildren of various ages from mandatory masks, with New Hampshire excluding all K-12 students. Districts can craft stricter rules than their states but often don’t.“The response to the virus has been politicized,” said Dr. Chandy John, an expert in pediatric infectious diseases at the Indiana University School of Medicine. “There’s a willingness to ignore data and facts and go with whatever you’re hearing from the internet or from political leaders who don’t have any scientific knowledge.”But even with Biden’s rollout of new school safety steps, struggles over balancing the need for education with Covid safety are sure to continue, since it will be months before the nationwide vaccine rollout reaches all school staff members, and the shots haven’t yet been approved for kids.Meanwhile, the scope of Covid in schools remains unknown. Biden’s order calls for tracking it on the federal level, which wasn’t happening. States haven’t collected uniform data either. The Covid Monitor, a project launched by volunteers and public health researchers, has counted more than 505,000 cases in K-12 schools — more than a quarter of them among staffers. Although kids are less likely than adults to become seriously ill, recent research suggests they can spread the virus even if asymptomatic. The American Federation of Teachers estimates Covid-19 has killed at least 325 school employees, though it’s unclear whether they caught it at school.
Surge of Student Suicides Pushes Las Vegas Schools to Reopen - The reminders of pandemic-driven suffering among students in Clark County, Nev., have come in droves. Since schools shut their doors in March, an early-warning system that monitors students’ mental health episodes has sent more than 3,100 alerts to district officials, raising alarms about suicidal thoughts, possible self-harm or cries for care. By December, 18 students had taken their own lives. The spate of student suicides in and around Las Vegas has pushed the Clark County district, the nation’s fifth largest, toward bringing students back as quickly as possible. This month, the school board gave the green light to phase in the return of some elementary school grades and groups of struggling students even as greater Las Vegas continues to post huge numbers of coronavirus cases and deaths. Superintendents across the nation are weighing the benefit of in-person education against the cost of public health, watching teachers and staff become sick and, in some cases, die, but also seeing the psychological and academic toll that school closings are having on children nearly a year in. The risk of student suicides has quietly stirred many district leaders, leading some, like the state superintendent in Arizona, to cite that fear in public pleas to help mitigate the virus’s spread. In Clark County, it forced the superintendent’s hand. “When we started to see the uptick in children taking their lives, we knew it wasn’t just the Covid numbers we need to look at anymore,” said Jesus Jara, the Clark County superintendent. “We have to find a way to put our hands on our kids, to see them, to look at them. They’ve got to start seeing some movement, some hope.” Adolescent suicide during the pandemic cannot conclusively be linked to school closures; national data on suicides in 2020 have yet to be compiled. One study from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention showed that the percentage of youth emergency room visits that were for mental health reasons had risen during the pandemic. The actual number of those visits fell, though researchers noted that many people were avoiding hospitals that were dealing with the crush of coronavirus patients. And a compilation of emergency calls in more than 40 states among all age groups showed increased numbers related to mental health.
Montgomery, Alabama school district reneges on pledge to switch to remote learning - Within 24 hours of the announcement by Montgomery Public Schools (MPS) that schools would go all-virtual, the district—long under the thumb of business interests—began backpedaling. On Monday, dozens of Montgomery Public Schools educators in Alabama staged a sickout in response to the horrific news that four of their colleagues passed away from COVID-19 the previous week, all within 48 hours. Utah school teacher Emily Johnson protests with other teachers at the Utah State Capitol, Friday, Aug. 7, 2020, in Salt Lake City. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer) The most recent deaths of educators across the state include MPS administrator and football coach Dwayne Berry on January 19, Capitol Heights Middle School physical education teacher Lushers Lane on January 20, and Park Crossing High School coach DeCarlos Perkins on January 20. On January 21, Booker T. Washington Magnet High School piano teacher Leslye Ames passed. In Birmingham, Derrick Johnson, 43, a coach and special education teacher, passed away January 10. In response to Monday’s sickout, the school district quickly called a press conference. Superintendent Ann Roy Moore then announced that teachers would be allowed to teach remotely until a vaccine was more widely available. “Starting February 1, 2021, all MPS students will resume a virtual learning schedule,” she told reporters. “MPS employees, during that time, will work remotely.” Indicating that she was talking out of both sides of her mouth, however, Moore added that MPS’ 4,500 employees would “receive information about their work schedules from their direct supervisors.” It turned out on Tuesday that the “work schedules” involved teachers reporting to their classrooms one day a week, a measure which also required paraprofessionals to report alongside their assigned teachers. Additionally, all teachers are required to come to school for half a day on Wednesdays for faculty meetings. According to guidelines, any teacher who fails to report to their classroom on their scheduled day must record that day as an absence, along with a note stating, “no sub needed.” They must still provide “reinforcement activities” for the children to do from home.
It's time to support science-based sex ed - Biden's nominee for assistant secretary of health at HHS, Dr. Rachel Levine, is historic. If confirmed by the Senate, Dr. Levine will become the highest-ranking openly transgender government official in U.S. history. As one of the key officials tackling the COVID-19 pandemic, she will have her hands full as she works to roll back harmful Trump-era health policies.Among the Herculean tasks she faces is rebuilding sex education. Currently only 30 states require any sex education at all. Of those states that do, policies vary widely regarding what critical information should be included. Incredibly, only 17 states require that the program content be medically accurate. Only 20 require providing information on contraception.Our children deserve better. In November, the citizens of Washington State voted to make sexuality education mandatory throughout the state, granting a parental “opt-out” allowance — far preferable to the “opt-in” rules that require parental permission before such subjects can be taught.We need the content of sexuality education programs to follow science and evidence, not ideological agendas. That would be a big departure from the Trump administration, which radically reshaped the Teen Pregnancy Prevention (TPP) program, a national grant program that provides funding to organizations working to prevent teen pregnancy. Trump officials imposed an abstinence-only-until-marriage (AOUM) agenda which isn’t effective at preventing teen pregnancy and ignores the needs of LGTBQ+ youth. The Biden administration can and should restore support for comprehensive sexuality education (CSE), an approach that goes beyond abstinence and safe sex to include discussion of sexual orientation, gender identification, and other health and sexuality topics. While CSE also teaches that abstinence is the best method for avoiding sexually transmitted infections (STIs) and unintended pregnancy, it does not assume that everyone will be abstinent until married. It helps young people navigate inconsistent cultural messages about sexuality and gender and encourages them to develop positive views of themselves and their relationships and health. It seeks to instill confidence, dignity, and respect for oneself.
Reopening of Boston colleges threatens escalation of COVID-19 crisis - In the state of Massachusetts the average number of daily COVID-19 cases is trending near 5,000. Not a single day has passed since November in which new daily case numbers have been below those seen during the highest peaks of the first April surge. Despite the harrowing state of the pandemic in the state and throughout the country, colleges and universities in Boston and the surrounding area are pushing to reopen schools for in-person learning in the 2021 semester. The impact of college reopenings will have a devastating impact on the region. In particular, Boston comprises 10 percent of the state’s total population and more than a third of the state’s total college enrollment. Remarkably, even schools considered the apogee of scientific work and study, such as Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), are pushing to bring back more students than last semester. A Northeastern University statement announces: “The university is now open. Students are on campus, classes are in session, residence halls are occupied, and business offices are open.” At Boston College (BC), classes resumed January 28. The university will continue as it did last semester with “symptomatic and targeted asymptomatic testing for all BC community members throughout the second semester.” Boston University (BU), which has experienced a spike in the on-campus positive test rate for COVID-19 in recent weeks, is expecting more students to return to campus this semester than in the fall. These reopenings come despite the fact that there is no way for schools to operate safely for in-person learning under the current conditions. The lessons of the fall semester, along with all the recent scientific evidence, demonstrate that reopening schools will lead to a sharp increase in community spread, hospitalizations and death.
Thousands died at a nursing home chain. Its CEO got a $5 million bonus -- As COVID-19 took a deadly toll among residents of Genesis Healthcare facilities, the financially troubled company gave CEO George Hager Jr. a $5.2 million "retention payment." At the helm of the large U.S. nursing home chain during a pandemic that has killed more than 1,500 of its residents and threatens to push it into bankruptcy, Hager received the bonus in late October. He then resigned from the for-profit company, where he had served as chief executive for 17 years, less than three months later, earlier this month. Nursing homes account for a sizable portion of the more than 419,000 U.S. COVID-19deaths, and outbreaks at Genesis facilities caught the attention of lawmakers over the summer. "More than 1,500 Americans have died and many more have been infected at facilities owned by your company, with at least 187 of your facilities reporting cases of the coronavirus," members of a House panel looking into the impact of COVID wrote Hager in June. The toll at Genesis reportedly nearly doubled in the second half of 2020, with 14,352 confirmed cases among its residents and 2,812 deaths as of December 20, according to the Washington Post. An analysis of Medicare data by the news outlet found almost all of Genesis' nursing homes running short on personal protective equipment up until late November, after the company's board had signed off on Hager's bonus. In a regulatory filing in November, the company said its first report of a positive case of COVID-19 in one of its facilities occurred on March 16, 2020. Since then, 266 of its 360 nursing facilities and assisted living communities had reported positive cases among patients and residents, the filing stated. More than 70% of those cases occurred in five states — Connecticut, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey and Pennsylvania — with those facilities representing 45% of its beds. Genesis operates in 24 states.
New Report From Rep. Katie Porter Reveals How Big Pharma Pursues ‘Killer Profits’ at the Expense of Americans’ Health - Rep. Katie Porter on Friday published a damning report revealing the devastating effects of Big Pharma mergers and acquisitions on U.S. healthcare, and recommending steps Congress should take to enact “comprehensive, urgent reform” of an integral part of a broken healthcare system.The report, entitled Killer Profits: How Big Pharma Takeovers Destroy Innovation and Harm Patients, begins by noting that “in just 10 years, the number of large, international pharmaceutical companies decreased six-fold, from 60 to only 10.”While pharmaceutical executives often attempt to portray such consolidation as a means to increase operational efficiency, the report states that “digging a level deeper ‘exposes a troubling industry-wide trend of billions of dollars of corporate resources going toward acquiring other pharmaceutical corporations with patent-protected blockbuster drugs instead of putting those resources toward’ discovery of new drugs.”Merger and acquisition (M&A) deals are often executed to “boost stock prices,” to “stop competitors,” and to “acquire an innovative blockbuster drug with an enormous prospective revenue stream.”“Instead of spending on innovation, Big Pharma is hoarding its money for salaries and dividends,” the report says, “all while swallowing smaller companies, thus making the marketplace far less competitive.”The report calls M&As “just the tip of the iceberg of pharmaceutical companies’ anti-competitive, profit-driven behaviors”:Pharmaceutical companies often claim that lowering the prices of prescription drugs in the United States would devastate innovation. Yet, as prices have skyrocketed over the last few decades, these same companies’ investment in research and development have failed to match this same pace. Instead, they’ve dedicated more and more of their funds to enrich shareholders or to purchase other companies to eliminate competition.“In 2018, the year that [former President] Donald Trump’s tax giveaway to the wealthy went into effect, 12 of the biggest pharmaceutical companies spent more money on stock buybacks than on research and development,” the report notes.Some key findings from the report:
- Big pharmaceutical companies are not responsible for most major breakthroughs in new drugs. Rather, innovation is driven in small firms, which are often spun off of taxpayer-funded academic research. These small labs are then purchased by giant firms after they’ve assumed the risk needed to develop a blockbuster drug;
- Instead of producing lifesaving drugs for diseases with few or no cures, large pharmaceutical companies often focus on small, incremental changes to existing drugs in order to kill off generic threats to their government-granted monopoly patents; and
- Mergers in the pharmaceutical industry have had an overall negative effect on innovation, taking what little competition existed in the industry and completely destroying it.
“Competition is central to capitalism,” Porter said in a press release introducing the report. “As our report shows, Big Pharma has little incentive to invest in new, critically needed drugs. Instead, pharmaceutical giants are free to devote their resources to acquiring smaller companies that might otherwise force them to compete.” “Lives are on the line; it’s clear the federal government needs to reform how it evaluates healthcare mergers and patent abuses,” Porter added.
Houston, Texas hospital remains locked over financial dispute, putting hundreds of patients at risk - The Heights Hospital in Houston, Texas, remains locked, with the situation still unresolved after the hospital was closed without warning last Monday. The closure is the result of a financial dispute over a loan payment between the owner of the hospital, AMD Global and Arbitra Capital Partners LLC, as well as the non-payment of maintenance, repair, and property insurance. Dr. John Thomas, an internal medicine specialist who is affiliated with the Heights Hospital, told the WSWS that all the locks were changed over the weekend when the medical facility is typically closed, with staff only finding out on Monday. Dr. Thomas stated that Dr. Felicity Mack was treating “quite a few” COVID-19 patients at the hospital before it was shut down, and that around 100 coronavirus tests were being performed at the hospital per day. According to Dr. Thomas, hospital staff were only allowed to go in briefly on Tuesday and take personal belongings before the hospital was locked again. When asked about patient records Dr. Thomas stated “they are all locked up. We were allowed to get personal belongings.” Dr. Thomas stated bluntly that the lockout was not only immoral, but illegal: “It is illegal. We have a duty to the patients to provide 30 days’ notice. And they broke that law. It is called patient abandonment; we have to give 30-days’ notice.” “The reason behind this is purely financial. The company who took control of this hospital does not care, does not care about their wellbeing. It is completely unacceptable to deny people healthcare. Its 100 percent money driven. They don’t care about anyone else, they don't care about the laws, about doing the right thing.” When asked about the impact of the lockout on patients he stated that not transferring patients’ records would mean that treatment details, medication records, and other data is effectively lost and that diagnostics on patients would have to be redone as patients typically don’t remember the minute details of their treatment. Additionally, patients would have to find new doctors and a place to get treated, all delaying potentially vital medical treatment.
State-By-State Breakdown Of 897 US Hospitals At Risk Of Closing -- More than 500 rural hospitals in the U.S. were at immediate risk of closure before the COVID-19 pandemic because of financial losses and lack of reserves to maintain operations, according to a report from the Center for Healthcare Quality and Payment Reform. Nearly every state had at least one rural hospital at immediate risk of closure before the pandemic. In 22 states, 25 percent or more of rural hospitals were at immediate risk, according to the report. The hospitals identified as being at immediate risk of closure had a cumulative negative total margin over the most recent three-year period, and their financial situation has likely deteriorated because of the pandemic. Across the U.S., more than 800 hospitals - 40 percent of all rural hospitals in the country - are either at immediate or high risk of closure. The more than 300 hospitals at high risk closure either have low financial reserves or high dependence on nonpatient service revenues such as local taxes or state subsidies, according to the report. Here are the number and percentage of rural hospitals at risk of closing in each state as of January 2021 based on the CHQPR analysis:
Former Ohio state health director reportedly considering Senate bid - Amy Acton, the former director of the Ohio Department of Health who was responsible for leading the state's early response to the coronavirus outbreak, is reportedly considering a run for U.S. Senate. Cleveland.com reported Tuesday that Acton, a Democrat, is considering running to succeed Sen. Rob Portman (R), who announced on Monday he would not be seeking reelection in 2022. Acton resigned from her position as head of the Ohio Department of Health last June, soon after Gov. Mike DeWine’s (R) decision to loosen coronavirus restrictions, Cleveland.com noted. Acton later served as an adviser to DeWine before stepping down in August. Four Democratic sources close to the matter told Cleveland.com that high-level discussions have begun to take place regarding an Acton Senate campaign. The decision is reportedly not related to Portman's move to retire. “She’s a political novice. She has a history of heroic action, reaching across the aisle and she has the perfect profile for today’s political climate,” one Ohio Democratic consultant told the outlet. “She is a problem-solving woman, Democrat, who worked for a Republican governor.” Sources highlighted her high approval ratings, noting that they were above 60 percent while she served as state health director — higher than most public officials. Acton was lauded for her work during the early stages of the coronavirus pandemic in Ohio, often joining DeWine during his daily press briefings. Her frank manner and her advocacy for mitigation measures earned her praise and popularity in the public. However, she also drew scrutiny early on in the pandemic for saying that 100,000 people in the state were infected with the coronavirus. She later said she was "guesstimating." Some members of the GOP-controlled state legislature also criticized her and some protesters picketed her home in anger over coronavirus restrictions. BuzzFeed reported this week that Acton is among several Democrats that progressive activists have courted as potential Senate candidates in Ohio. "Part of what makes her interesting is she’s not partisan," Christopher Celeste, son of former Ohio Gov. Dick Celeste (D), told Cleveland.com. "For Ohio, I think it would be interesting to send someone who doesn’t begin with this ingrained partisan loyalty and who, therefore, may be able to be part of a solution that isn’t just straight down the party line.”
New study shows COVID-19 could hide in your brain and reactivate down the road— A new study shows coronavirus may actually hide in the brain, where it could reactivate down the road. While there is still much to learn about COVID-19, researchers at Georgia State University have studied why symptoms widely vary with those infected with the virus. Lead researcher Dr. Mukesh Kumar, an associate professor in the Department of Biology, said they’ve learned through studying mice for months, COVID-19 may clear the lungs, but not necessarily the body. “(The) brain is one of the organs where viruses like to hide. We know that because there is no immune response. So viruses like to go to a place and hide where they can be safe,” said Kumar. “It’s hard for a virus to hide in your lungs. It’s much easier for the virus to hide in your central nervous system,” said Kumar. Signs of this are evident with loss of taste and smell common in people infected with COVID-19. That is an attack on the central nervous system through the brain. The GSU team monitored the diverse symptoms in the mice and noted brain infection mostly caused their death, not lung infection. They believe this can also be true in certain human cases. Kumar mentioned a large percentage of people who recover do have some sort of brain dysfunction. Researchers agree our organs are well equipped to fight the infection, but once it reaches the brain, Dr. Kumar stated, “even if you test negative, that does not necessarily mean that you have completely cleared the virus.” When the virus reaches the brain it can cause low level inflammation and even make people more susceptible to brain diseases like auto-immune disease and Parkinson’s. Kumar emphasized how crucial it is to wear a mask and cover your nose to protect from having the virus enter there and go directly into your brain. GSU researchers say there is plenty of work ahead of them since there’s still a lot to learn about coronavirus.
COVID Linked To Mental Illness, Brain Disorders According To Oxford Analysis - One-third of people who have had COVID-19 suffer some type of neurological or psychiatric disorder within six months of testing positive for the virus, with one-in-eight receiving their first such diagnosis over the same period, according to anew analysis from the department of psychiatry at Oxford which looked at health records from 236,379 patients. The analysis, which has yet to be peer-reviewed, compared COVID-19 survivors to a group diagnosed with influenza, and another cohort diagnosed with respiratory tract infections between January 20 and December 13, 2020, according to The Guardian. Led by Oxford's Dr. Max Taquet, the analysis accounted for known risk factors such as age, sex, race, underlying physical and mental conditions and socio-economic deprivation. It builds upon prior research from Taquet which revealed that nearly20% of those with COVID-19 are diagnosed with a psychiatric disorder within three months of testing positive, with 5.8% of those being their first such diagnosis.Taquet's new analysis also found that brain disorders were more likely in patients who required hospitalization.That said, COVID and its ensuing lockdowns have been tough on everyone - with the American Psychiatric Association (APA) reporting last June that there's been an increase in psychiatric disorders during the pandemic. Early on in the outbreak, both the New York Times and Washington Post noted a rise in anxiety and depression - with one-third of Americans showing signs by late May.
If you haven’t been double-masking, research says to start now - Almost since the beginning of the pandemic, experts have told the public about the importance of three things: washing your hands, maintaining a social or physical distance of at least six feet and wearing a mask. Now, researchers say that doubling up on the last step is key as COVID-19 cases and deaths surge in Georgia and around the nation. “It has been backed up by research that two masks are, in fact, better than one,” CBS Denver’s medical director Dr. Dave Hnida told CBSN Denver. “Specifically what we’re saying is that two masks may actually equal the protection you would get from N-95 masks, which is considered the best mask there is short of a complete respirator-type unit.” He added that using two masks creates “an obstacle course for the viral particle to make its way from the air into your nose and throat and then into your lungs.” That notion has been backed up by other experts including one in virus transmission at Virginia Tech, Linsey Marr. She told the New York Times that “if you combine multiple layers, you start achieving pretty high efficiencies” of preventing the virus from coming through and leaving the airways. Research published in the journal Med, which Marr was part of, noted people can either wear a cloth mask snuggly over the top of a surgical mask, with the latter acting as a filter and the former providing another layer of filtration, or wear a three-layer mask with outer layers made of a flexible, tightly woven fabric that can fit the face well. The middle layer on this mask would be a non-woven, high-efficiency filter material akin to that of a vacuum bag. But a three-layer mask — which the World Health Organization has said should be the make-up of fabric masks — is different from wearing three different masks in an effort to triple mask and increase protection against the coronavirus. Doing that could cause more harm than good.
Yale doctor explains how dangerous, more contagious COVID-19 variant strains are (video)— New variant strains of COVID-19 are showing to be extremely contagious. A Yale doctor spells out in numbers just how dangerously contagious these new variants are. He stresses that this is something that people really need to grasp. “It’s why epidemiologists and health officials are so nervous about more transmissible strains and the reason is that when you hear 50 percent more transmissible, you think that 50 percent more people will become infected,” Dr. F. Perry Wilson, Yale Medicine and Researcher at Yale School of Medicine. But Dr. Wilson says that is not true. He says with this variant, one person infects 50 percent more people, then those people infect 50 percent more people — it spreads exponentially. He gives an example with our current coronavirus strain with ten cycles of spreading with mask and distancing. “That infection will only grow from 1,000 to about 2,500 after ten cycles, which is maybe two to three months of spread,” he explains. Now he describes virus spread from 1,000 people with the 50 percent more contagious strain. “After ten cycles, you’re up to 55,000 cases, so instead of 2,500 new cases, 55,000 new cases, even at the same mortality rate, you’re talking twenty-fold higher number of deaths. So that’s why this is so scary and something we all need to focus on to beat quickly.”
California may have highly contagious homegrown COVID-19 strain -- Scientists in California believe there is a homegrown coronavirus strain in the state that could be responsible for the dramatic rise in cases, a report said Sunday. Two separate research groups have discovered the apparent California strain while looking for the new variant that is believed to have come from the United Kingdom, according to the Los Angeles Times.. The supposed California strain is in the same “family tree” as the UK strain and could be behind the state’s spread over the past few months, the paper said. One of the labs that discovered the strain, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, said it amounted to 24 percent of about 4,500 viral samples gathered throughout California in the last weeks of 2020. Another analysis found that 25 percent of 332 samples taken in Northern California were of the new strain. “There was a homegrown variant under our noses,” Dr. Charles Chiu, a laboratory medicine specialist at University of California, San Francisco, told the newspaper. Chiu said they only found the strain when searching for the UK variant. Dr. Eric Vail, a pathologist at Cedars Sinai, said the strain could be responsible for doubling the state’s death toll in the space of less than three months. “It probably helped to accelerate the number of cases around the holiday season,” Vail said. “But human behavior is the predominant factor in the spread of a virus, and the fact that it happened when the weather became colder and in the midst of the holidays when people gather is not an accident.”
New COVID Strain B.1.1.7 Discovered in U.S.: What We Know - A new variant of the coronavirus believed to spread more easily has forced the United Kingdom into another lockdown and been detected in at least 33 countries, including the United States. Many of the U.S. cases have no known travel history — meaning the strain is spreading throughout communities. The variant, known as B.1.1.7, is not expected to be resistant to the vaccines rolled out in December, though scientists are racing to learn more about the mutation — and where it has already spread. Below is a primer for the public-health and political ramifications of the concerning development. The B.1.1.7 (U.K.) strain has been found in at least 21 U.S. states.The first U.S. cases of B.1.1.7. were identified in Colorado on December 29. On December 31, Florida health officials confirmed that a man in his 20s with no history of traveling had tested positive for the new COVID strain. These infections were shortly followed by California officials reporting six cases within the state: two in the same household in the Big Bear area east of Los Angeles and four in San Diego County. (One of the two Big Bear patients had contact with a person who returned from the U.K.) On January 4 and 5, New York and Georgia reported B.1.1.7. cases in patients with no travel history.As of January 21, multiple cases of the strain have been detected in 14 states, including Florida, California, New York, Colorado, Minnesota, Georgia, Indiana, Texas, Maryland, Pennsylvania, New Mexico, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and Tennessee. Single cases have been detected in seven other states. Previously, the Centers for Disease Control has warned that the U.K. variant may already be spreading within the United States, because there is still ongoing travel between the nations and because scientists have not sequenced the genetic coding of the vast majority of cases. And on January 3, former FDA commissioner Scott Gottlieb warned that the new strain could account for the majority of new cases in the U.S. by March. The variation found in the U.K., also known as “VUI – 202012/01” was first identified there in mid-September, according to the World Health Organization. Its mutations have occurred on the genetic material that controls the spike protein, which allows COVID and other similar viruses to penetrate host cells, causing infection. According to the U.K.’s chief scientific adviser, Patrick Vallance, there are 23 changes in the virus’s genetic material, an unusually large number that appears to be helping it spread more quickly. British officials have now estimated that the strain is as much as 70 percent more transmissible — a number that is based on modeling, but not yet confirmed in lab experiments. Though there is no evidence to-date that the strain causes a more intense illness or leads to a higher fatality rate, faster transmission does mean more cases, which can lead to a higher hospitalization rate. In the Atlantic, sociologist Zeynep Tufecki cites the work of Adam Kucharski, a professor at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, to explain why an increase in transmissibility is such an alarming development: Kucharski compares a 50 percent increase in virus lethality to a 50 percent increase in virus transmissibility. Take a virus reproduction rate of about 1.1 and an infection fatality risk of 0.8 percent and imagine 10,000 active infections—a plausible scenario for many European cities, as Kucharski notes. As things stand, with those numbers, we’d expect 129 deaths in a month. If the fatality rate increased by 50 percent, that would lead to 193 deaths. In contrast, a 50 percent increase in transmissibility would lead to a whopping 978 deaths in just one month—assuming, in both scenarios, a six-day infection-generation time.
Mutant Coronaviruses Threaten To Undermine Vaccines - COVID-19 vaccines seem to be effective against two extra-contagious versions of the coronavirus, according to new lab results released on Monday. But experts see trouble ahead as the virus, which is mutating faster than scientists expected, could threaten to overcome vaccines. Moderna reported that its two-shot vaccine was still effective against two new variants, or mutated forms of the coronavirus, the B.1.1.7 one first seen in the United Kingdom and the B.1.351 one first found in South Africa. The study used blood samples from vaccinated people, showing that they still produced a “neutralizing” amount of antibodies when exposed to the variants of the virus in a test tube — sufficient to block infections. The news followed similar results from Pfizer and BioNTech, which last week announced that their vaccine successfully blocked the B.1.1.7 variant.But the new data is also concerning. Moderna reported a “six-fold reduction” in its vaccine’s antibody levels against the B.1.351 variant, supporting similar findings announced by South African scientists last week. While that’s still sufficient to block the virus, it’s a troubling signal that vaccinated immune systems may not be as good at identifying newer versions of the virus. Moderna is preemptively testing a third booster shot of its vaccine against the B.1.351 variant and an updated version of the vaccine designed specifically to fight it. Pfizer and BioNTech have seen similar reductions in antibody levels in response to this variant, according to theNew York Times.Moderna stated that the emergence of new strains and their ability to potentially thwart vaccines should be “a call to action.”“It looks like it does diminish more so the efficacy of the vaccine,” Anthony Fauci, chief of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said Sunday on CBS’s Face the Nation. However, he said, the surprisingly effective Pfizer and Moderna vaccines — which both offer around 95% protection — give some “cushion” for the shots to still create enough antibodies to protect people.
Moderna Vaccine Not Effective Against "Mutant" South African COVID Strain, But Works With UK Variant -- Moderna's latest trial data includes some good news...and some bad news. The good news is that the biotech company's original COVID jab is effective against two mutations of SARS-CoV-2 which were first isolated in the UK and South Africa, respectively. The bad news is that, at least when it comes to the South African variant, Moderna's jab is much less effective than scientists had expected. That's a bad sign, because it suggests the vaccines might not perform as well, particularly in elderly patients, or that the immunity they provide might not last as long, as various strains of the virus continue to mutate. However, perhaps due to the optimistic tone of the press release, investors took the news as a positive and bid Moderna shares higher. Here's some more details from the FT:Laboratory tests show Moderna’s Covid-19 jab still works against the variant named 501.V2, which emerged in South Africa, and B.1.1.7, which was first discovered in the UK, the company said. But it warned that the neutralising antibody response to 501.V2 was sixfold lower than to the original variant, raising concerns that immunity to it may wane significantly, particularly in older people.Moderna has launched a series of trials intended to test its vaccine's efficacy against several different mutant strains.But don't worry, because even though Moderna's CEO acknowledges that this is an extremely serious situation and the company is preparing for the worst-case scenario, everything is going to be okay.
Moderna develops new vaccine to tackle mutant Covid strain-- Moderna is launching a trial of a new Covid-19 vaccine to tackle the coronavirus strain that has emerged in South Africa after warning that its existing jab was less effective at tackling the new variant. Laboratory tests show Moderna’s Covid-19 vaccine still works against the variant named 501.V2, which first emerged in South Africa, and B.1.1.7, which was first discovered in the UK, the company said. But it warned that its shot produced only one-sixth of the antibodies in response to the South Africa variant than for the original virus. This has raised concerns that the immunity to the new strain offered by the company’s original jab may wane significantly — particularly in older people. Stéphane Bancel, Moderna chief executive, said the company was preparing for a “worst-case scenario”, even though he had “zero concerns” about the vaccine’s efficacy in the coming months. “If something needs to be done in the summer, we'll do something, but we cannot be late,” he told the Financial Times. “We don’t want the virus to win, we want the human race to win.” Moderna is one of the leading makers of coronavirus vaccines, alongside rivals from BioNTech/Pfizer and Oxford university/AstraZeneca. Its vaccine is being used in the US, which bought 200m doses and funded the company with up to $4.1bn, while the EU has ordered 160m doses. The UK has ordered 17m doses, which are due to start arriving in the spring. Merck, one of the world’s leading vaccine makers, is ending its Covid-19 vaccine development after its two candidates failed to elicit immune responses as strong as those created by shots that are already available. The European Commission has piled pressure on AstraZeneca over its planned cut to first-quarter vaccine dose deliveries to the EU. AstraZeneca has said there is no “scheduled delay” to shipments of its vaccines, but warned that “initial volumes” would be lower than anticipated because of reduced yields at a manufacturing site in the EU supply chain. Emergency talks between the two sides were due to take place on Monday night. Stella Kyriakides, the EU’s health commissioner, said AstraZeneca’s proposed new supply schedule was “not acceptable”, adding that the company’s explanations for the problems had “not been satisfactory”. New variants pose a potential problem to pharma companies that have developed vaccines. Moderna hopes that, by preparing for a potential booster shot now, it will be ready by the autumn if needed. Its messenger RNA technology can be quickly adapted for new variants. If needed, the booster would be given to people who had already received the Moderna vaccine.
New Variants of the Virus that Causes COVID-19 | CDC - Viruses constantly change through mutation, and new variants of a virus are expected to occur over time. Sometimes new variants emerge and disappear. Other times, new variants emerge and persist. Multiple variants of the virus that causes COVID-19 have been documented in the United States and globally during this pandemic. The virus that causes COVID-19 is a type of coronavirus, a large family of viruses. Coronaviruses are named for the crown-like spikes on their surfaces. Scientists monitor changes in the virus, including changes to the spikes on the surface of the virus. These studies, including genetic analyses of the virus, are helping scientists understand how changes to the virus might affect how it spreads and what happens to people who are infected with it. Multiple variants of the virus that causes COVID-19 are circulating globally:
- The United Kingdom (UK) identified a variant called B.1.1.7 with a large number of mutations in the fall of 2020. This variant spreads more easily and quickly than other variants. In January 2021, experts in the UK reported that this variant may be associated with an increased risk of death compared to other variant viruses, but more studies are needed to confirm this finding. It has since been detected in many countries around the world. This variant was first detected in the US at the end of December 2020.
- In South Africa, another variant called B.1.351 emerged independently of B.1.1.7. Originally detected in early October 2020, B.1.351 shares some mutations with B.1.1.7. Cases caused by this variant have been reported in the US at the end of January 2021.
- In Brazil, a variant called P.1 emerged that was first identified in travelers from Brazil, who were tested during routine screening at an airport in Japan, in early January. This variant contains a set of additional mutations that may affect its ability to be recognized by antibodies. This variant was first detected in the US at the end of January 2021.
These variants seem to spread more easily and quickly than other variants, which may lead to more cases of COVID-19. An increase in the number of cases will put more strain on health care resources, lead to more hospitalizations, and potentially more deaths. So far, studies suggest that antibodies generated through vaccination with currently authorized vaccines recognize these variants. This is being closely investigated and more studies are underway.
COVID-19 variants will soon outnumber cases of original strain, Fauci says - Dr. Anthony Fauci said Friday that new variants of the coronavirus that were initially found in the United Kingdom, South Africa and Brazil — and have since been identified in the United States — are expected to persist and eventually outnumber cases of the earlier strain of the virus. "We will continue to see the evolution of mutants," Fauci, the nation's leading infectious diseases expert, said at a news briefing Friday. The variant first identified in the U.K. has now been found in 29 U.S. states, according to Dr. Rochelle Walensky, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Highly contagious variants first identified in South Africa and Brazil have also been found stateside. Fauci said vaccinating "as many people as we can, as quickly as we can," is the best defense against new variants. "The virus has a playing field to mutate," he said, explaining that the virus cannot mutate if it is not given the chance to replicate. "The virus will continue to mutate and will mutate for its own selective advantage," he said. If COVID-19 is prevalent in a community, it is only a matter of time before the virus mutates as it is given ample "opportunity to adapt."A newly identified strain of the coronavirus prevalent in Southern California could be behind the drastic spike in cases in the region. A study released on January 18 found that more than a third of recent COVID-19 patients at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles were infected with the strain, according to a release summarizing its findings. "The fact is that when you have a virus that has ability to transmit more efficiently than the wild type in the community, sooner or later by pure viral dynamics itself it will become more dominant than the wild type," Fauci said.
The Most Worrying Mutations in Five Emerging Coronavirus Variants - Scientific American - When the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 burst upon the world last winter, scientists knew it was bad. But they also thought it was stable. Coronaviruses do not mutate as readily as the viruses that cause the flu, hepatitis or AIDS, for instance—thanks in part to a molecular “proofreading” system that SARS-CoV-2 and its kin use to prevent damaging genetic errors when replicating.Researchers were only partly right. The virus is indeed bad—but it is not so stable after all. SARS-CoV-2 has been acquiring minor random mutations ever since it jumped from animals to humans. These mutations can take the form of single-letter typos in the viral genetic code or deletions or insertions of longer stretches. When they occur, most mutations either kill the virus or cause no change in its structure or behavior. But in recent months, several new variants of the original virus (also called the wild type) have been spotted that appear to cause major changes in the way the pathogen acts, including alterations to its contagiousness. These viral versions have seemingly popped up in rapid succession in different geographical regions, such as the U.K., South Africa and Brazil, and in some cases have outcompeted the existing variants. Although improved surveillance and sequencing efforts might partly explain why these variants are appearing now, some repetition in their patterns suggest the mutations are not random. Here are five of the most prominent variants, listed in the order that researchers first spotted them. This roster identifies where each variant was first seen and gives the technical name or names scientists use to identify it. (Naming variants has caused some confusion because different research teams employ different systems. This list uses onebased on the ancestral lineage of each variant, but some variants still have more than one name). The entries also highlight important mutations in each variant—denoted by letters and numbers that indicate their position in the sequence of the viral genome—and describe what scientists know or suspect about what those changes do.
- The 20A.EU1 variant, first identified in Spain, contains a mutation called A222V on the viral spike protein. The spike is a component of SARS-CoV-2 that binds to a receptor on human cells called ACE2, and this attachment helps the virus get inside those cells and infect them. The spike protein is also the part of the pathogen that is targeted by human antibodies when they fight back against the infection. In lab tests, human antibodies were slightly less effective at neutralizing viruses with the A222V mutation. Over the course of several months, the 20A.EU1 variant became the dominant one in Europe. Epidemiologists never saw any evidence that it was more transmissible than the original, however. Researchers believe that when Europe began lifting travel restrictions last summer, the variant that was dominant in Spain spread across the continent.
- Scientists in the U.K. had been watching the B.1.1.7 variant for some time before announcing in December that it might be at least 50 percent more transmissible than the original form. That announcement was based on epidemiological data that showed the virus rapidly spreading throughout the nation. And it led to international travel bans and stronger lockdown measures in the U.K. The B.1.1.7 variant contains 17 mutations, including several in the spike protein. One of them, N501Y, has been found to help the virus bind more tightly to the ACE2 cellular receptor. It is unclear, however, whether the variant’s enhanced contagiousness comes from N501Y alone or also involves some combination of other spike protein mutations.
- The B.1.351 variant appeared around the same time as B.1.1.7, and it spread quickly in South Africa to become the dominant version in that country. Like its European counterpart, B.1.351 contains the N501Y mutation, although evidence seems to suggest the two variants arose independently. But scientists are more concerned about another mutation called E484K that appears in the South African version. The genetic change may help the virus evade the immune system and vaccines. Late this month researchers in South Africa released a preprint study (research that has not yet been peer-reviewed) showing that an antibody-containing serum from COVID patients was considerably less effective at neutralizing this variant. And in another preliminary preprint posted on January 26, scientists reported they put B.1.351 into serum taken from people who had been vaccinated with either the Pfizer or Moderna vaccine. They found antibodies in that serum showed reduced neutralizing activity against the mutant, compared with their activity against the original virus.
- In January researchers reported they had detected two new variants in Brazil, both descendants of a somewhat older common ancestor variant. Although they share mutations with other newly discovered versions, they appear to have arisen independently of those variants. Of the two, researchers are currently more concerned about P.1. That variant contains more mutations than P.2 (though both have E484K), and it has already been seen in Japan and other countries. Although it is possible that P.1 accumulated its mutations in an immunocompromised individual, genetics researcher Emma Hodcroft of the University of Bern in Switzerland says that it might be more difficult to pinpoint the time and place when this variant first arose because Brazil does not sequence nearly as many viral samples as the U.K.
With new vaccines, US racing against coronavirus mutations - A new coronavirus vaccine from Johnson & Johnson appears to be another promising tool in the fight against COVID-19, but the U.S. is racing against problematic virus mutations that could throw a wrench into the system. Johnson & Johnson on Friday announced its vaccine candidate offered strong protection against severe COVID-19 and prevented hospitalization and death, which could provide a major boost to the country's overwhelmed health system. The company is expected to file for emergency use authorization with the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) next week, potentially giving the U.S. a third vaccination to use against the virus. Vaccine experts praised the results, and cautioned against comparing them head-to-head with the current Moderna and Pfizer vaccines already in use. "The goal of this vaccine, it's to keep you out of the hospital, keep you out of the ICU and keep you out of the morgue. Obviously it's not fun having a mild infection, but it's not a burden to the health care system," said Paul Offit, director of the Vaccine Education Center at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. Anthony Fauci, the country's top infectious diseases expert, said during a White House briefing Friday that the Johnson & Johnson results had "important potential and real implications." "This is a single-shot vaccine in which you start to see efficacy anywhere from seven to 10 days following the first and only shot," Fauci said. "It is very, very good with regard to cold chain requirements ... it is inexpensive and the company is capable of making doses in the billions." Experts say the best way to prevent further mutations and more potentially dangerous variants is for people to get vaccinated as quickly as possible, because more immune people means less chance for the virus to spread and evolve. With its relatively easy storage requirements and ease of administration, the Johnson & Johnson vaccine could be a real help, if it is given to enough people fast enough. But its efficacy was limited against different strains, dropping from 72 percent in the U.S. to 66 percent in Latin America, all the way down to 57 percent in South Africa, where a new coronavirus variant is prevalent. The gap in efficacy is important. Novavax, a Maryland-based vaccine manufacturer, said Thursday that its vaccine was nearly 90 percent effective in the U.K. but just 49 percent effective in South Africa. The company is still gathering data in clinical trials though, and is not ready to file for authorization. Vaccines can be updated to specifically address that variant, and mRNA vaccines — which include the Pfizer and Moderna products — are particularly suitable for updating. However, the process for rolling out an updated vaccine or even a booster can take time, a valuable commodity in the middle of a raging pandemic. There would need to be more clinical trials and regulatory approval.
J&J Vaccine Provides Strong Shield Against Severe Covid -- Johnson & Johnson’s one-shot vaccine generated strong protection against Covid-19 in a large, late-stage trial, raising hopes that it can rapidly reshape a stumbling immunization campaign.In a study of more than 43,000 people, the vaccine prevented 66% of moderate to severe cases of Covid-19, according to a company statement Friday. And it was particularly effective at stopping severe disease, preventing 85% of severe infections and 100% of hospitalizations and deaths.“If you can prevent severe disease in a high percentage of individuals, that will alleviate so much of the stress and human suffering” of the pandemic, said Anthony Fauci, the top U.S. infectious-disease official, at a briefing on the results with company and government officials.Based on the result, J&J plans to file with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for an emergency-use authorization next week. The drug giant’s top scientist said this month he expects a clearance in March, and that it would have product ready to ship then. The company didn’t specify how much of the vaccine would be available immediately, though it reaffirmed that the U.S. would receive 100 million doses by the end of June.
Germany says AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine isn’t for people 65 and older -Germany’s vaccine commission said AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 vaccine should not be used on people 65 and older due to “insufficient data” on its efficacy.The Standing Vaccine Commission said the shot, which is being developed with the University of Oxford, should only be used on people ages 18 to 64 “based on available data.”“There is currently insufficient data to assess the efficacy of the vaccine for persons aged 65 years and older,” the panel of scientific experts said.The recommendation follows confusion earlier this week over the efficacy of AstraZeneca’s jab in adults over 65.Two German newspapers, citing government sources, said the shot was found to be as low as 8 percent effective in seniors — which the UK-based company said was “completely incorrect,” German broadcaster Deutsch Welle reportedTuesday.“In November, we published data in The Lancet demonstrating that older adults showed strong immune responses to the vaccine, with 100% of older adults generating spike-specific antibodies after the second dose,” AstraZeneca’s spokesperson said. The startling statistic was also rebutted by the German Health Ministry, which suggested the leaks mixed up the 8 percent figure.“At first glance, it appears that two things have been confused in the reports: About 8% of the subjects in the AstraZeneca efficacy study were between 56 and 69 years of age, and only 3 to 4% were over 70 years of age,” a spokesperson said. “However, this does not infer an efficacy of only 8% in the elderly.” The European Medicines Agency is expected to decide whether to approve AstraZeneca’s vaccine on Friday.
Oxford Pledged to Donate Covid Vaccine Rights, Then Sold Them, Thanks to Bill Gates - In a business driven by profit, vaccines have a problem. They’re not very profitable — at least not without government subsidies. Pharma companies favor expensive medicines that must be taken repeatedly and generate revenue for years or decades. Vaccines are often given only once or twice. In many parts of the world, established vaccines cost a few dollars per dose or less. Last year only four companies were making vaccines for the U.S. market, down from more than 20 in the 1970s. As recently as Feb. 11, Dr. Anthony Fauci, the government’s top infectious disease expert, complained that no major drug company had committed to “step up” to make a coronavirus vaccine, calling the situation “very difficult and frustrating.”Oxford University surprised and pleased advocates of overhauling the vaccine business in April by promising to donate the rights to its promising coronavirus vaccine to any drugmaker.The idea was to provide medicines preventing or treating COVID-19 at a low cost or free of charge, the British university said. That made sense to people seeking change. The coronavirus was raging. Many agreed that traditional vaccine development, characterized by long lead times, manufacturing monopolies and weak investment, was broken.A few weeks later, Oxford—urged on by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation—reversed course. It signed an exclusive vaccine deal with AstraZeneca that gave the pharmaceutical giant sole rights and no guarantee of low prices—with the less-publicized potential for Oxford to eventually make millions from the deal and win plenty of prestige.Other companies working on coronavirus vaccines have followed the same line, collecting billions in government grants, hoarding patents, revealing as little as possible about their deals—and planning to charge up to $37 a dose for potentially hundreds of millions of shots. Even as governments shower money on an industry that has not made vaccines a priority in the past, critics say, failure to alter the basic model means drug industry executives and their shareholders will get rich with no assurance that future vaccines will be inexpensively available to all.
New COVID-19 variant B.1.1.7 identified at the University of Michigan - As of January 25, there have been six cases of a new COVID-19 variant, B.1.1.7, identified in Washtenaw County, Michigan. Of those cases, five have been associated with the University of Michigan Ann Arbor (UMich) campus. The Washtenaw County Health Department (WCHD) and the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (MDHHS) announced on January 16 that the variant was discovered in a local woman, who had recently traveled to the United Kingdom. On January 21, two other individuals who had been in close contact with the woman initially infected were also diagnosed with the B.1.1.7 strain. All three women were associated with the university. By January 23, the MDHHS identified two more cases of the variant in individuals associated with the university and an additional case in the Wayne County area. “B.1.1.7 spreads more easily between people, but there has been no indication that it affects the clinical outcomes or disease severity compared to the SARS-CoV-2 virus that has been circulating across the United States for months,” according to the January 23 MDHHS briefing. Contrary to the latest information from MDHHS, however, a document covering a study by the New and Emerging Respiratory Virus Threats Advisory Group (NERVTAG) in the UK from January 21 said that “there is a realistic probability that infection with B.1.1.7 is associated with an increased risk of death compared to infection with non-VOC (non-variant of concern).” Additionally, UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson acknowledged on Twitter January 22 that the new strain “may also be associated with a higher degree of mortality.” A Sunday announcement by GoBlue.com, the university’s news site, said that the school’s Athletic Department would immediately cease activity for up to 14 days, in compliance with an MDHHS mandate relating to the B.1.1.7 variant. “The (MDHHS) is mandating a more aggressive strategy for this B.1.1.7 variant, which exceeds current program efforts designed around the standard form of the virus,” the article read. It specified that individuals infected with the new strain on campus had been diagnosed by the Athletic Department’s own facilities.
More contagious Brazilian variant of coronavirus found in US for first time - A more contagious variant of coronavirus first discovered in Brazil has been found in the United States for the first time. The case of the variant, known as P.1, was found in a Minnesota resident who had recently traveled to Brazil, the state's health department said. The variant was detected through random testing that the state performs to monitor for new variants. “We know that even as we work hard to defeat COVID-19, the virus continues to evolve as all viruses do," said Minnesota Health Commissioner Jan Malcolm. "That’s yet another reason why we want to limit COVID-19 transmission – the fewer people who get COVID-19, the fewer opportunities the virus has to evolve. “The good news is that we can slow the spread of this variant and all COVID-19 variants by using the tried-and-true prevention methods of wearing masks, keeping social distance, staying home when sick, and getting tested when appropriate,” Malcolm added. In addition to the Brazilian variants, new strains first discovered in the United Kingdom and South Africa are also posing concern. The Brazilian variant is similar to the South African one, which has provoked some concern that the vaccines could be less effective against it. Moderna said Monday that its studies showed that the vaccine is still effective against the South African variant, though levels of neutralizing antibodies were six times lower. Still, the antibody levels were still above the level to offer protection, the company said.
Coronavirus dashboard for January 25: a vaccination race against time vs. the new mutations - First things first: the most ominous thing I’ve read about the new coronavirus mutations comes from Dr. Eric Fiegl-Ding, who says, quite bluntly, “We need to switch to KN95, KF94, or European FFP2 masks ASAP. The new B117 COVID 19 is just too contagious. Cloth isn’t enough anymore folks.” Everyone needs to take heed of that advice. There’s also evidence that the B117 variant infects people with much higher viral loads (I.e., copies of the virus at the outset), increasing the fatality rate significantly for older people. In the meantime, here is where we stand. Total confirmed infections: 25,127,000 (I suspect the true number, including cases that were never tested, is closer to 33 million, or 1 in 10 Americans) 7 day average for last week: 170,032 (down from 249,168 peak on Jan 11) Total deaths: 419,217 7 day average for last week: 3,088 (down from 3,355 peak on Jan 13) Here are the 7 day averages for infections, hospitalizations, and deaths per capita graphically (note separate scales): There really isn’t a meaningful lag between confirmed infections and hospitalizations, indicating people are waiting till they are quite sick before getting tested. Deaths still lag both infections and hospitalizations. Crossing my fingers that we have hit the winter peak for all three metrics already, but very worried about the B117 variant, since most experts think it will become the dominant strain in the US by March - and because it is so much more infections, that means yet another spike. Now here is the vaccination data: Total vaccinations: 20,537,900 7 day average for last week: 1,179,830 (new high) Here is the average graphically, per capita: The good news is that the rate of vaccination has continued to increase, and already surpasses Biden’s 1 million per day goal. But in order to get everyone vaccinated by the end of 2021, we need to see that rise to over 2 million per day. And in order to get older people vaccinated before the new mutations cause a big spike in deaths, we probably need to see that rise to over 3 million per day in the next 45 days.
Nevada sees record number of COVID-19 deaths - Workers throughout the state of Nevada and city of Las Vegas have been extremely hard hit by the escalating coronavirus pandemic as it sweeps through the West of the United States. The policy of herd immunity is being deliberately cultivated as casinos, logistics and other industries have continued to operate as normal with little to no protections in place to stop the spread of the virus. In the last week and a half, Nevada has set single-day records for COVID-19 deaths three times, with 62 and 63 people succumbing to the virus on January 14 and 15, respectively, and then again on January 19, when 71 people died. By contrast, there were 83 deaths in the state in the entire month of June when the state began a limited reopening of nonessential businesses. The three-day death toll this month was more than half the number of deaths for the month of July when the reopening began in earnest. There were 311 coronavirus deaths two weeks ago, setting a weekly record for Nevada. Previously, the highest number of deaths recording in a week was for the week ending December 19, when there were 231 deaths. Test positivity rates decreased recently, from 21.6 percent to 19.8 percent, to much fanfare from the establishment media. However, the recent rates were still orders of magnitude higher than the September test positivity rate of 6.2 percent. It was also only two weeks ago that state health officials declared COVID-19 the leading cause of death for the month of December, when the pandemic claimed 981 lives. The total number of deaths due to COVID-19 in December was 981 and the January figure stands at 886, with another week still to go. With a population of over 3.1 million, Nevada has had 270,006 cumulative cases of COVID-19. The 14-day average of new cases stands at 1,783 and there were 1,549 hospitalizations on January 22. Thus far, the state has seen a total of 4,027 deaths from COVID-19. Out of 1,050 intensive care unit beds available, 73 percent are currently occupied; of the 762 beds that are occupied, 418 are due to COVID-19. Democratic Governor Steve Sisolak’s response to these grisly numbers has been to continue the economic “pause” instituted in September until the middle of February, which is also when the state plans to reopen schools for in-person instruction. The “pause” simply limits the size of public gatherings to 50 persons and the occupancy rates of (most) businesses to 25 percent. In other words, putting a hold on conventions and limiting attendance at gyms, but doing little to stop the spread of the virus at crowded, poorly ventilated casinos.
NY Nursing Home Deaths May Have Been 50% Higher Than Reported, AG’s Office Says – New York may have undercounted COVID-19 deaths among nursing home residents by thousands, the state attorney general charged in a report Thursday that dealt a blow to Gov. Andrew Cuomo's oft-repeated claims that his state is doing better than others in protecting its most vulnerable. The 76-page report found an undercount of more than 50%, backing up the findings of an Associated Press investigation last year that focused on the fact that New York is one of the only states in the nation that count residents who died on nursing home property and not those who later died in hospitals. Such an undercount would mean the state's current official tally of 8,711 nursing home deaths to the virus is actually more than 13,000, boosting New York from No. 6 to highest in the nation. “While we cannot bring back the individuals we lost to this crisis, this report seeks to offer transparency that the public deserves,” Attorney General Letitia James said in a statement. The report from a fellow Democratic official undercut Cuomo's frequent argument that the criticism of his handling of the virus in nursing homes was part of a political “blame game," and it was a vindication for thousands of families who believed their loved ones were being omitted from counts to advance the governor's image as a pandemic hero.
Covid-19: Many ICU staff in England report symptoms of PTSD, severe depression, or anxiety, study reports BMJ - Nearly half of intensive care unit (ICU) and anaesthetic staff surveyed for a study reported symptoms consistent with a probable diagnosis of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), severe depression, anxiety, or problem drinking.1 The preprint, produced by researchers at King’s College London, aimed to get a picture of the rates of probable mental health disorders in ICU and anaesthetic staff in six English hospitals during June and July 2020. It found that while over half reported good wellbeing, many showed signs of mental health problems. The authors said that during the covid-19 pandemic, ICU staff have “faced a particularly challenging time” because of the high mortality among ICU patients with covid-19. “Difficulty in communication and providing adequate end-of-life support to patients and their next of kin, because of visiting restrictions, has been a specific stressor for all staff working in ICU,” they said. The researchers asked volunteers to complete an anonymised survey of questions regarding depression, anxiety symptoms, symptoms of PTSD, wellbeing, and alcohol use. Just over 700 staff members completed the surveys, including 291 doctors (41%), 344 nurses (48.5%), and 74 other healthcare staff (10.4%). The preprint said that over half (58.8%) of participants reported good wellbeing on the Warwick Edinburgh Mental Wellbeing Scale (n=418, 58.8%). However, 45.4% (n=322) met the threshold for probable clinical significance on at least one of the following measures: severe depression (6.3%), PTSD (39.5%), severe anxiety (11.3%), or problem drinking (7.2%). The study also reported that 13.4% of respondents reported having thoughts that they would be better off dead, or of hurting themselves several days or more frequently in the two weeks before completing the survey. Nurses were more likely to report these thoughts than other healthcare staff (19.2% v 7.6% for doctors and 9.5% for clinical staff.)
January 26 COVID-19 Test Results and Vaccinations; January Now Deadliest Month -Note: Bloomberg has great data on vaccinations. "Vaccinations in the U.S. began Dec. 14 with health-care workers, and so far 23.5 million shots have been given, according to a state-by-state tally by Bloomberg and data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. In the last week, an average of 1.25 million doses per day were administered."Also check out the graphs at COVID-19 Vaccine Projections The site has several interactive graphs related to US COVID vaccinations including a breakdown of how many have had one shot, and how many have had both shots. It is possible the 7-day average cases has peaked. Stay safe! I'm looking forward to not posting this data in a few months. The US is now averaging close to 2 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 1.7 million test results reported over the last 24 hours.There were 144 thousand positive tests.Almost 79,000 US deaths have been reported so far in January surpassing December as the deadliest month. 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 8.4% (red line is 7 day average). The percent positive is calculated by dividing positive results by total tests (including pending). And check out COVID Act Now to see how each state is doing. (updated link to new site) The second graph shows the 7 day average of positive tests reported and daily hospitalizations.It is possible cases and hospitalizations have peaked, but are declining from a very high level.
As many as 1/3 of Americans could have COVID-19 immunity -As many as one-third of Americans could already have some immunity to COVID-19, a Post analysis of publicly available data shows. The figure is a combination of those who’ve had the virus — assuming they are offered some level of immunity — and people who’ve received at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine. That total is nearly 110 million Americans — or 33.2 percent of the population — with some protection against the virus. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates the total number of infections to be much higher than confirmed cases and has projected the actual infection count to be closer to 83.1 millionbetween February and December 2020. Add that to the 5,622,068 infections recorded by the COVID Tracking Project between January 1 and Thursday, plus the 21,698,606 people who the CDC says has received at least one dose of the vaccine to get to 109,892,726 Americans, minus those who’ve died or are currently hospitalized. The CDC has said those who’ve had the virus are afforded some level of natural immunity — though it’s not clear how long it lasts. When it comes to the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines, which are both being distributed across the US, some immunity is reached following the first of two doses.Pfizer reported their vaccine is roughly 52 percent effective after one dose, according to data published in the New England Journal of Medicine last December. Moderna’s is even better — in a document submitted to the Food and Drug Administration, the drugmaker found their inoculation provided 80.2 percent protection after a single dose. However, both of the vaccines are far more effectiveat warding off the virus after two doses with Pfizer reporting a 95 percent effectiveness rate after both doses and Moderna showing a 94.1 percent rate,according to the CDC. The Post’s analysis accounted for the number of people who died from the virus and those who are currently hospitalized. It did not account for any overlap from those who’ve received the vaccine after previously recovering from the virus or those who currently have the bug but aren’t in the hospital. Overall, the US is seeing cases trending downward in 41 states after a troubling holiday surge that saw a dramatic spike in infections in states across the country, according to data from the COVID Tracking Project.
First known US cases of the South African COVID-19 variant have been found in South Carolina - The South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control (DHEC) announced Thursday the detection of two cases associated with the SARS-CoV-2 variant that first emerged recently in South Africa. These are the first two cases of this variant in the United States.South Carolina public health officials said they were notified late Wednesday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention of a South Carolina sample that was tested at LabCorp and determined to be the B.1.351 variant originally identified in South Africa. Also, DHEC's Public Health Laboratory tested samples on Jan. 25 and Wednesday identified a separate case of the same variant.Since June 2020, DHEC's Public Health Laboratory has been performing tests of random samples in order to identify any instances of the variant viruses.Watch the full news conference below:DHEC’s Public Health Laboratory will continue to conduct this important sampling to identify any other changes in the virus.DHEC said experts agree that existing vaccines work to protect us from this variant, even if we don’t know precisely how effective they are.At this time, there’s no evidence to suggest that the B.1.351 variant causes more severe illness, DHEC said.“The arrival of the SARS-CoV-2 variant in our state is an important reminder to all South Carolinians that the fight against this deadly virus is far from over,” said Dr. Brannon Traxler, DHEC Interim Public Health Director. “While more COVID-19 vaccines are on the way, supplies are still limited. Every one of us must recommit to the fight by recognizing that we are all on the front lines now.
January 27 COVID-19 Test Results and Vaccinations --The reason I'm posting COVID data is this matters for the economy. From the FOMC statement today: "The path of the economy will depend significantly on the course of the virus, including progress on vaccinations."It appears the 7-day average cases has peaked. Stay safe! I'm looking forward to not posting this data soon. Note: Bloomberg has great data on vaccinations. "Vaccinations in the U.S. began Dec. 14 with health-care workers, and so far 25.6 million shots have been given, according to a state-by-state tally by Bloomberg and data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. In the last week, an average of 1.21 million doses per day were administered."Also check out the graphs at COVID-19 Vaccine Projections The site has several interactive graphs related to US COVID vaccinations including a breakdown of how many have had one shot, and how many have had both shots. The US is now averaging close to 2 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 1,627,862 test results reported over the last 24 hours. There were 151,675 positive tests. Almost 83,000 US deaths have been reported so far in January, surpassing December as the deadliest month. 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 9.3% (red line is 7 day average). The percent positive is calculated by dividing positive results by total tests (including pending). And check out COVID Act Now to see how each state is doing. (updated link to new site) The second graph shows the 7 day average of positive tests reported and daily hospitalizations. It seems likely cases and hospitalizations have peaked, but are declining from a very high level.
New Jersey records first US death from UK COVID strain - One person in New Jersey has died from the highly contagious UK strain of COVID-19 — marking the first known US death from the new virus variant, state health officials said. The unidentified person had “significant underlying health conditions” and no history of international travel before succumbing to the illness Wednesday, according to State Health Commissioner Judith Persichilli.“It’s more important than ever with the variant to continue to mask up, social distance, stay home when you’re sick,” Persichilli said during a press conference Wednesday.A total of eight cases of the UK virus strain have been reported in the state, including one person who traveled internationally, according to Persichilli and other health officials.The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has begun ramping up testing for all new variants of the virus, said Eddy Bresnitz, a COVID-19 adviser for New Jersey. No other details, including age and location of the person who died, were reported as of Thursday.
The New COVID Strains Are Now in These 29 States - Over the past week, medical experts' worst fears have been realized when two additional new strains of the coronavirus were discovered on U.S. soil. These highly transmissible COVID variants have been causing more trouble than previous mutations in their countries of origin. A new strain found in the U.K. (B.1.1.7) spread so easily and quickly, it forced the country into another lockdown; a South African strain has researchers worried that it could affect vaccine efficacy (B.1.351); and a variant that emerged in Brazil (P.1) may partially evade treatments, too. As of Jan. 28, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has confirmed that all three of these strains have made their way into the United States. The U.K. strain has been spreading in the U.S. the longest, since the end of December, with 315 cases detected so far. As a result, the CDC predicts that—combined with it being 50 percent more transmissible than the previous dominant strain—it will become the dominant variant in the U.S. by March. As for the South African and Brazilian strains, only a few cases of each have been found in the country so far—but those numbers are likely to grow. Read on to find out how many cases of the new strains have been found in your state so far, according to the CDC's data as of Jan. 28. (Note: If your state isn't included, no new variants have been reported there yet.) And if you're worried about the new strains, If You Have These 4 Symptoms, You Might Have the New COVID Strain.
New cases of South Africa coronavirus variant found in Maryland -- Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan (R) announced Saturday that the state has detected its first coronavirus case caused by the variant first identified in South Africa.Hogan said the variant’s presence was confirmed by the Maryland Department of Health in consultation with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The case involves an adult living in the Baltimore metro region who has not traveled internationally, raising the prospects of community transmission of the mutated virus. “State health officials are closely monitoring the B.1.351 variant of SARS-CoV-2 in the state,” said Hogan. “We strongly encourage Marylanders to practice extra caution to limit the additional risk of transmission associated with this variant. Please continue to practice standard public health and safety measures, including mask wearing, regular hand washing, and physical distancing.” Health officials have raised the alarm over the spread of the variant. While there is insufficient evidence to suggest that the South African variant causes more severe illness, it does appear to be more contagious and resistant to some vaccines. The first case of the South Africa variant to be detected in the U.S. was found in South Carolina on Thursday.Both Pfizer and Moderna have assured the public that their vaccines are effective against the mutation. Experts have said the spread of the South Africa variant and other mutations found in Brazil and the United Kingdom only underscores the need for widespread vaccination so the possibility of the virus mutating as it spreads is reduced.
Mexico's president tests positive for COVID-19 - Mexico’s President Andrés Manuel López Obrador announced Sunday that he has tested positive for COVID-19. “I regret to inform you that I am infected with COVID-19,” López Obrador tweeted. “The symptoms are mild but I am already under medical treatment. As always, I am optimistic. We will all move forward." López Obrador confirmed that he will continue working following the diagnosis, including taking a call with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday about obtaining doses of the Russian Sputnik V COVID-19 vaccine. The vaccine has not been approved for use in Mexico, according to The Associated Press. The country has been distributing the Pfizer vaccine. A slate of world leaders has tested positive for COVID-19 amid the ongoing pandemic, including former President Trump, U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson, Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro and Monaco’s Prince Albert II. Mexico has reported a surge in COVID-19 cases throughout the fall and winter, with over 1.7 million coronavirus cases across the country. Mexico reported 20,057 COVID-19 cases on Saturday, as well as 1,470 fatalities.
New Zealand identifies first community spread of COVID-19 since November -- New Zealand identified its first community spread case of COVID-19 since November on Sunday after a 56-year-old woman tested positive for the coronavirus strain that is thought to have originated in South Africa.Officials announced that the woman had tested positive for COVID-19 after leaving her two-week mandatory isolation following her return to the country from Europe on Dec. 30 for work. Before leaving the quarantine facility in Auckland, the woman had twice tested negative for the virus, COVID-19 response minister Chris Hipkins said, according to Reuters. Authorities said they think the woman contracted the more contagious strain from a fellow person at the isolation facility. Hipkins said officials were examining whether the virus could have spread through the ventilation and air conditioning systems. Officials found 15 close contacts of the woman, and the closest contacts, her husband and hairdresser, had tested negative. The test results from the rest of the contacts were expected to come back on Monday, The Guardian reported. New Zealand last documented a COVID-19 community transmission in November, Reuters reported citing the Health Ministry website.
Israel to close its only major airport in bid to slow coronavirus spread -Israel will close its sole major airport for one week in an effort to combat the spread of the coronavirus and stymie new variants that are cropping up.The Washington Post reports that Israel’s cabinet agreed on Sunday to stop all incoming and outgoing from Ben Gurion International Airport until at least the end of January. Cargo flights, medical evacuations and “firefighting flights” will be exempted from the rule.“No nation has done what we are about to do — we are hermetically sealing the country,” said Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. “We do this to prevent the entry of the virus mutations and to ensure that we progress quickly with our vaccination campaign.”The rule will extend to Jewish immigrants traveling to the country under the Law of Return, the Post reports.The more infectious U.K. variant of the coronavirus has been detected in Israel, the Post reports, contributing to Israel’s decision to seal itself off from the world. Another new strain has been discovered that is thought to have originated in South Africa.The Post notes Israel has excelled in administering doses of the Pfizer coronavirus vaccine, with 27 percent of its population receiving the first dose. However, the country has received international condemnation for refusing to provide vaccines to Palestinians in its occupied territories “Nothing can justify today’s reality in parts of the West Bank, where people on one side of the street are receiving vaccines, while those on the other do not, based on whether they’re Jewish or Palestinian,” said Israel and Palestine director at Human Rights Watch (HRW) Omar Shakir in a statement. “Everyone in the same territory should have equitable access to the vaccine, regardless of their ethnicity.” Palestinian leaders have stated that they do not have the funds to pay for coronavirus vaccines. Israeli Health Minister Yuli Edelstein has said that Israel is not responsible for providing vaccines to Palestinians, but acknowledged it would be within Israel’s interests to do so. However, Edelstein stated that any vaccines provided to Palestine would come after Israel’s population had been vaccinated.
COVID strain in South Africa shows huge resistance to antibodies from original virus - — The race to vaccinate people against COVID-19 has been made even more urgent by the emergency of new, more contagious variants of thecoronavirus. CBS News got rare access to a lab in South Africa studying one of themore worrying new strains of the virus, which appears to have at least some resistance to the antibodies that vaccines create in the human body to fend off the bug.Virus hunters in the high-risk biohazard lab in Durban are hot on the trail of the mutant strain spreading at breakneck speed across South Africa. The virus has mutated to attach itself more easily to human cells, making the disease no more deadly, but helping it spread a lot more easily."We do believe that we are going through a new pandemic with this variant that not only transmits much faster, but that also potentially has less neutralization," genetic scientist Tulio de Oliveira tells CBS News. De Oliveira discovered the new variant after observing a dramatic uptick in infections in November. His colleagues in the highly secured lab have developed a live culture of the strain to speed up their research. Alex Sigal is a senior researcher at the Africa Health Research Institute and at Germany's Max Planck Institute for Infection Biology. He says the new strain discovered in South Africa appears to have the ability to reduce the effectiveness of antibodies in people infected with the original version of the virus significantly. "Ten-fold would be conservative," he tells CBS News, but "you can also have complete knock-out," meaning a person's natural defenses to the original strain of the virus could prove useless against the variant in South Africa. That means those infected in the first wave could have little protection from the new strain, and even more troubling, it could render some of the vaccines less effective."It's clear that we've underestimated this virus," he says. "On the other hand, the evidence is not there yet that vaccines will be affected, and certainly people should keep vaccinating because that's the solution to this pandemic."
New COVID-19 variants fuelling Africa’s second wave | WHO | Regional Office for Africa - COVID-19 cases and deaths are surging in Africa as new, more contagious variants of the virus spread to additional countries. Over 175 000 new COVID-19 cases and more than 6200 deaths were reported in Africa in the last week while infections rose by 50% on the continent between 29 December 2020 and 25 January 2021 when compared with the previous four weeks. In the past week, there has been a small dip in cases in South Africa, but 22 countries continue to see their case numbers surge. Deaths rose two-fold in the same four-week period, with over 15 000 concentrated in 10 mainly southern and northern African nations. The 501Y.V2 variant, first identified in South Africa, is predominant and powering record case numbers in South Africa and the sub-region. It has been found in Botswana, Ghana, Kenya, Comoros, Zambia and in 24 non-African nations. “The variant which was first detected in South Africa has spread quickly beyond Africa and so what’s keeping me awake at night right now is that it’s very likely circulating in a number of African countries,” said Dr Matshidiso Moeti, the World Health Organization (WHO) Regional Director for Africa. The variant that was initially detected in the United Kingdom has been found in The Gambia and Nigeria. Further research is needed to determine whether the new strain causes more severe illness. WHO is working to track and tackle new variants by helping countries build and boost the complex genomic surveillance capacities needed to detect and respond to new variants, shipping samples to sequencing laboratories and providing supplies and technical guidance. With the Africa Centres of Disease Control and Prevention, WHO helped set up a COVID-19 genomic sequencing laboratory network with laboratories in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, The Gambia, Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, Senegal, South Africa and Uganda. WHO calls on all countries to ship at least 20 samples to sequencing laboratories every month to help map the fast-evolving situation and best target responses at all levels.
Swedish health agency investigates after 1,000 people receive Moderna vaccine kept at too low a temperature Around 1,000 Swedes have received Moderna Covid-19 shots that were kept too cold while being transported, the company in charge of deliveries, Apoteket AB, said on Friday. A total of 2,100 doses of the US-made vaccine that were kept too cold in transit have been delivered to the regions of Gävleborg, Halland, Värmland, Dalarna, and Östergötland, a government spokesperson said. The Swedish Public Health Agency has said there is no risk to those given the Moderna vaccine, but it has halted the rollout and is investigating whether keeping doses too cold may affect the vaccine’s efficacy. “We apologize for what happened and consider it an accident,” said the deputy health chief of the Gävleborg region, Tina Mansson Söderlund, who also pledged to investigate the incident.The government’s top epidemiologist, Anders Tegnell, told newspaper Dagens Nyheter that an initial assessment of the situation was that those who received the affected doses are in no danger. “Unfortunately, the supplier has made a mistake and delivered the vaccine far too cold, ie at the same level as it would have done with Pfizer’s vaccine,” he explained. “The modern vaccine is not made to be moved so cold.”
Spain sees record rise in cases – as it happened -- Spain has recorded a record number of weekend cases, logging 93,822 infections between Friday and Monday, and 767 deaths. The latest statistics, published by the health ministry on Monday, make the last weekend the worst of the entire pandemic in terms of new cases. The number of cases of the virus per 100,ooo people over the past 14 days rose from 829 on Friday to 885 on Monday. Fernando Simón, Spain’s health emergencies chief, said the country’s intensive care units were being stretched to their limits and called on people to step up preventative measures. He also said the surge in cases could be traced back to the festive period, which runs until 6 January in Spain. “It’s been 20 days since Christmas and we’ve seen a very sharp rise since the end of the year,” he said. “Transmission doesn’t just suddenly cut off. We will probably also see that the descent following this peak will be far slower.” To date, Spain has recorded 2,593,382 cases and 56,208 deaths. It has so far administered 1,237,593 doses of the vaccine to its population of almost 47 million people. France on Monday reported 4,240 new infections, compared with 18,436 on Sunday and 3,736 last Monday. The number of people in intensive care rose above the 3,000 for the first time since 9 December, Reuters reports. France’s finance minister, Bruno Le Maire, said on Bloomberg Television nothing had been decided in regard to a new, third lockdown, emphasising that France will struggle to reach its 2021 target of 6% economic growth if another general lockdown is imposed. The last lockdown was lifted on 15 December, in light of patients being treated in intensive care staying below 3,000.
Spain's COVID-19 deaths surge to April levels - Spain’s COVID-19 deaths on Tuesday surged to levels unseen since mid-April, with the Health Ministry reporting 591 related fatalities. The country also reported 36,435 new infections. That is down from late last week but 2,144 above the same figure reported last Tuesday. In the last two weeks, more than 420,000 people have tested positive for the disease in Spain. This record-breaking infection rate has brought thousands of people to hospitals. At the moment, 30,815 people are being treated for COVID-19 in hospitals – nearly three times more people than a month ago. Now, 24% of all Spain’s hospital beds and 41% of all intensive care units are being used by COVID-19 patients. In Valencia, six out of every 10 intensive care units are dedicated to treating the infectious disease. Health authorities have decided against a full lockdown, instead opting for target measures like curfews, mobility restrictions and closing bars and restaurants. Schools remain open nationwide. However, in La Linea de la Concepcion – Spain’s border city with Gibraltar – around 90% of parents have refused to send their children to school since the Christmas holidays came to an end. In the city, more than one out of every 50 people have been infected in the past two weeks, and residents fear the UK variant is running rampant. Parents are asking for online classes until contagion drops, but local authorities say not only are schools safe, but parents have a legal responsibility to send their children for learning. Spain has also confirmed 267 infections of the highly-contagious UK variant. Chief epidemiologist Fernando Simon said it could become the dominant strain in Spain in the next four to six weeks.
Massive coronavirus outbreak at Airbus plant in Hamburg, Germany - The Airbus plant in Hamburg has become a coronavirus hotspot. A total of 21 workers at the aircraft manufacturer have been infected with COVID-19. As a result, 500 workers on an entire shift have been sent into quarantine. The outbreak at Airbus shows once again that workers are completely on their own when it comes to the high health risks to which they are exposed. The company, the authorities and the trade unions and their works council representatives owe their allegiance to the bank accounts of the shareholders rather than the lives and health of the workforce. Around 12,000 people work at Airbus in Hamburg. There was no press release announcing the infection and quarantine of an entire shift at the Hanseatic city’s largest employer, neither from the company nor the IG Metall union, which dominates the works council, nor by the Hamburg health authorities. It was only after the tabloid Bild reported the incident that the Hamburg health authority and Airbus Group felt compelled to confirm the outbreak to the Deutsche Presseagentur (dpa). The origin of the cases is still under investigation, Airbus told dpa. The employees had been working in two neighbouring halls and using common break rooms, where the virus was believed to have spread. Whether it was a highly contagious strain of the virus that has greater and more dangerous effects in the workforce, the health authority would not be able to say until the middle of the week at the earliest, it said.
Germany excludes elderly from AstraZeneca Covid vaccine recommendation - While the vaccine appears to work as well as other shots, there was insufficient information on its effectiveness for people over 65 years old, said the group Germany cast doubt on the effectiveness of AstraZeneca Plc’s Covid-19 shot for the elderly in a move that could perpetuate the European Union’s vaccine supply shortages. The country’s immunization commission recommended that the drugmaker’s inoculation be authorized only for people between the ages of 18 and 64, according to a draft assessment released Thursday by the German health ministry. While the vaccine appears to work as well as other shots, there was insufficient information on its effectiveness for people over 65 years old, said the group, which evaluates vaccines for the German government. Although the German panel’s recommendations aren’t legally binding, they’re the basis for state and federal vaccination guidelines. The German assessment comes a day before the European Medicines Agency is expected to clear the shot. “The latest analyses of clinical trial data for the AstraZeneca/Oxford Covid-19 vaccine support efficacy in the over 65 years age group," the drugmaker said in a statement. “We await a regulatory decision on the vaccine by the EMA in the coming days." The EU has struggled to scale up its vaccine program, with the U.K. administering three times as many doses per capita as the most advanced country on the continent, Denmark. The bloc has purchased as many as 400 million doses of AstraZeneca’s vaccine and is in a dispute with the company over delivery delays. After mounting pressure in recent days, AstraZeneca has agreed to publish its vaccine contract with the EU, according to a person with knowledge of the situation, who asked not to be identified because the decision is private. The step was first reported by the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, which also said AstraZeneca Chief Executive Officer Pascal Soriot pledged that the company would deliver more vaccine to EU member states as early as February. The paper cited people familiar with a conversation between the company management and the EU. Stefan De Keersmaecker, health-policy spokesperson at the European Commission, declined to confirm the report. EU discussions with Astra are continuing, he said, adding that “we need clear agreement on quick deliveries" and aren’t there yet. AstraZeneca declined to comment on the article.
Carlos Slim, Latin America's richest man, hospitalized with COVID-19 - Latin America’s richest man, Carlos Slim, has been hospitalized with COVID-19, his family has revealed.The Mexican telecoms magnate — who turned 81 on Thursday — was taken to the National Institute of Nutrition, a public health center in Mexico City, on Monday, one of his sons, Carlos Slim Domit,tweeted.The businessman — whose family is worth more than $58 billion, according to Forbes — sought monitoring and “timely treatment” despite “making very good progress” with “minor symptoms,” the son insisted.He had remained hospitalized until at least Wednesday, when his spokesman, Arturo Elias, said Slim remained there “for analysis and monitoring,” but was “doing very, very well.”Slim and his family, who control mobile telecom giant America Movil, are 23rd in Forbes’ real-time list of wealthiest billionaires, easily the richest in Mexico and the rest of Latin America.As of Thursday, Mexico had registered more than 1.8 million COVID-19 cases, with more than 153,000 deaths — the world’s fourth-highest fatality toll after the United States, Brazil and India, Johns Hopkins University data shows. Mexico President Andrés Manuel López Obrador announced Sunday that he was among many who had tested positive for the coronavirus.
Air pollution linked to higher risk of irreversible sight loss - Small increases in air pollution are linked to an increased risk of irreversible sight loss from age-related macular degeneration (AMD), a large UK study has found. Previous work had already found a link between dirty air and glaucoma and a link to cataracts is suspected. The scientists said the eyes have a particularly high flow of blood, potentially making them very vulnerable to the damage caused by tiny particles that are breathed in and then flow around the body.The study is the first to assess the connection between air pollution and both diagnoses of AMD that the patients said they had been given, and measurements of harmful changes in the retina. It found a small increase in exposure to tiny pollution particles raised the risk of AMD by 8%, while small changes in larger pollution particles and nitrogen dioxide were linked to a 12% higher risk of adverse retinal changes. The biggest risk factors for AMD are genetics and poor physical health issues, such as smoking and obesity. But as lifestyles become healthier, the impact of air pollution will become more important, the researchers said, and, unlike genetics, levels dirty air can be reduced with the right policies.Air pollution is being linked to an increasingly wide range of diseases, and the World Health Organization says 90% of the world population live with dirty air. A global review in 2019 concluded that air pollution may be damaging every organ in the human body, as inhaled particles travel around the body and cause inflammation.“There is an enormously high flow of blood [to the retina] and we think that as a consequence of that the distribution of pollutants is greater to the eye than to other places,” said Prof Paul Foster, at University College London, UK, and who was part of the study team. “Proportionately, air pollution is going to become a bigger risk factor as other risk factors are brought under control.” “It’s important to keep things in context – people shouldn’t be looking outside their door and thinking: ‘I can’t go out because it is polluted out there’,” he said. “The study gives people information that they can use to alter their lifestyle choices. For example, it may be another reason why we might consider going for an electric car, instead of buying a diesel.”
Forever Chemicals Are Widespread in U.S. Drinking Water - Scientific American - Many Americans fill up a glass of water from their faucet without worrying whether it might be dangerous. But the crisis of lead-tainted water in Flint, Mich., showed that safe, potable tap water is not a given in this country. Now a study from the Environmental Working Group (EWG), a nonprofit advocacy organization, reveals a widespread problem: the drinking water of a majority of Americans likely contains “forever chemicals.” These compounds may take hundreds, or even thousands, of years to break down in the environment. They can also persist in the human body, potentially causing health problems. A handful of states have set about trying to address these contaminants, which are scientifically known as perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs). But no federal limits have been set on the concentration of the chemicals in water, as they have for other pollutants such as benzene, uranium and arsenic. With a new presidential administration coming into office this week, experts say the federal government finally needs to remedy that oversight. “The PFAS pollution crisis is a public health emergency,” wrote Scott Faber, EWG’s senior vice president for government affairs, in a recent public statement. Of the more than 9,000 known PFAS compounds, 600 are currently used in the U.S. in countless products, including firefighting foam, cookware, cosmetics, carpet treatments and even dental floss. Scientists call PFASs “forever chemicals” because their chemistry keeps them from breaking down under typical environmental conditions. “One of the unique features of PFAS compounds is the carbon-fluorine bond,” explains David Andrews, a senior scientist at EWG. “That bond is incredibly strong.” Ultimately this means that if PFASs enter the environment, they build up. These chemicals can linger on geologic time scales, explains Chris Higgins, a civil and environmental engineer at the Colorado School of Mines. Because of their widespread use, release and disposal over the decades, PFASs show up virtually everywhere: in soil, surface water, the atmosphere, the deep ocean—and even the human body. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Web site says that the agency has found PFASs in the blood of nearly everyone it has tested for them, “indicating widespread exposure to these PFAS in the U.S. population.” Scientists have found links between a number of the chemicals and many health concerns—including kidney and testicular cancer, thyroid disease, liver damage, developmental toxicity, ulcerative colitis, high cholesterol, pregnancy-induced preeclampsia and hypertension, and immune dysfunction.
The latest story of toxic deceit and delay: PFAS - Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances for PFAS—a group of persistent toxic chemicals often referred to as "forever chemicals"—are everywhere. Don't take my word for it. Here is a list posted on the site of the U.S. Environmental Protection (EPA) agency:
- Food packaged in PFAS-containing materials, processed with equipment that used PFAS, or grown in PFAS-contaminated soil or water.
- Commercial household products, including stain- and water-repellent fabrics, nonstick products (e.g., Teflon), polishes, waxes, paints, cleaning products, and fire-fighting foams (a major source of groundwater contamination at airports and military bases where firefighting training occurs).
- Workplace, including production facilities or industries (e.g., chrome plating, electronics manufacturing or oil recovery) that use PFAS.
- Drinking water, typically localized and associated with a specific facility (e.g., manufacturer, landfill, wastewater treatment plant, firefighter training facility).
- Living organisms, including fish, animals and humans, where PFAS have the ability to build up and persist over time
PFAS are even found in animals in Antarctica. Here is a list of health effects again provided by the EPA:
- Infant birth weights
- Effects on the immune system
- Cancer (for PFOA)
- Thyroid hormone disruption (for PFOS).
PFOA and PFOS are specific kinds of PFAS. Perhaps of most interest right now because of the ongoing pandemic are the deleterious effects of these chemicals on the immune system including reducing the effectiveness of vaccines. And, perhaps the most important thing you need to know about PFAS is thatscientists keep reducing their estimates of what is a safe exposure as more data accumulates.PFAS have been around since the 1950s. So, how did these dangerous chemicals—which don't break down in the environment—escape the notice of regulatory officials for so long? The answer is all too familiar and echoes similar trajectories for such toxic legacies as unleaded gasoline, glyphosate, chlorofluorocarbons, and bisphenol A. A 2018 piece by a renown public health researcher in Environmental Health details the long and sordid history of repression of scientific knowledge about PFAS and a dangerous irony about the way we assess risk from such substances. Let me highlight just a few of his main points:
Biden executive order enhances independence of federal scientists from political appointees | Federal News Network - President Joe Biden signed a presidential memorandum Wednesday to prevent political appointees from interfering with the work of career federal scientists. The memo, in addition to raising the profile of senior career officials at scientific agencies, seeks to increase transparency around agency research and regulations, and to make federal data sets more accessible to researchers and the public. It also directs agencies to review their websites for content created since the start of the Trump administration and update content that is “inconsistent with the principles set forth in this memorandum.” Biden said in the signing ceremony the measure would “protect our world-class scientists from political interference and ensure they can think, research, and speak freely and directly to me, the vice president and the American people.” The memo also addresses some of the frustrations groups representing federal scientists have expressed during the Trump presidency. In a 2018 survey of 63,000 federal scientific experts led by the Union of Concerned Scientists, 20% identified the White House or political appointees at their agency as a top barrier to science-based decision-making. Half of the respondents said more generally that “political interests” hindered their work. “For the last four years, we’ve seen science deliberately and repeatedly excluded from federal policymaking,” Andrew Rosenberg, the director of the UCS Center for Science and Democracy, said in a statement. Biden’s executive action, by contrast, he called an “encouraging start.” “We need a new direction — and with today’s executive actions, President Biden and his team are acknowledging the important role that science should play in solving the very real problems we face,” Rosenberg said.
Georgia nitrogen deaths: Leak kills six at Gainesville poultry plant - A leak of liquid nitrogen at a poultry plant in the US state of Georgia has killed six people. Officials say 12 others were hospitalised following Thursday's incident at the Foundation Food Group plant in the city of Gainesville. Several firefighters who were called to the scene were among those treated. Georgia is a leading poultry-producing state and Gainesville is at the centre of the industry. Thousands of people work in the city's processing plants. The cause of Thursday's leak at the plant, formerly known as Prime Pak Foods, is being investigated. Zach Brackett, Hall County Fire Department Chief, said emergency services were called to the scene at 10:12 local time (17:12 GMT) to a report of people with burns. Chief Brackett said on arrival they found a "large contingent of employees" who had evacuated the plant, including some experiencing "medical emergencies". In total 130 people were taken for to a local church for medical evaluation following the incident. Five people were found dead at the scene and one died after being taken to hospital, officials said. Beth Downs, a spokeswoman for Northeast Georgia Medical Center, said three of those taken to hospital were in a critical condition. A number of the injured, including three fire officials who complained of breathing difficulties, were later discharged.A representative for Foundation Food Group said a preliminary investigation suggested a nitrogen line had ruptured inside the facility in what he described as a "tragic accident". Those who died included maintenance, supervisory and management team members, spokesman Nicholas Ancrum said.
Invasive tawny crazy ants have an intense craving for calcium – with implications for their spread in the US --Tawny crazy ants (Nylanderia fulva) —named for their fast, erratic movements—can blanket the ground by the millions. Originating in South America and now established in parts of the southern U.S., theyharm other insects, asphyxiate chickens and even short-circuit electronics in homes. Crazy ants are liquid feeders that consume nectar from plants—and honeydew (or secretions) from certain insects. Ants crave these sugary resources, which boost their colony growth, enabling them to outcompete native species and ultimately spread. The nutritional content of nectar and honeydew vary widely, however, depending on the nutrients available in a particular ecosystem. There are 25 chemical elements required to build life—too much or too little of one may cause disease. So far, ecologists only really know about the importance of macronutrients, like nitrogen and phosphorus, that are abundant in living tissue. My team wanted to learn more about what micronutrients might be important to crazy ants.We conducted a fertilization experiment at the University of Houston's Coastal Center and were able to demonstrate that the abundance of tawny crazy ants decreased 24% where there was more potassium and 45% where there was more sodium and potassium.What greatly surprised our team was the discovery that ants were 13% more abundant in areas where there was more calcium—even in areas that had more sodium and potassium. This finding, published in the journal Ecology, could have big implications for the continued spread of crazy ants.Ours is the first study showing calcium is important to an invasive ant, which is somewhat surprising given ants don't have bones. It turns out, though, calcium is important in their egg production, larval development andphysiological regulation.If the spread of crazy ants continues north, the calcium-rich limestone bedrock of the lower U.S. Midwest may provide ideal conditions for populations to explode. Farmlands may be at risk because calcium is found in many fertilizers. Additionally, cities often have more calcium than surrounding areas, thanks to heavy cement use, limestone quarrying and destruction of buildings. Tawny crazy ants not only are a major threat to the biodiversity and conservation of ecosystems but also cost the U.S. billions of dollars in damage annually.
Massive locust swarms attack Saudi Arabia, bigger invasion ongoing in the Horn of Africa --Massive locust swarms have invaded Saudi Arabia while a bigger and deadlier attack is ongoing in the Horn of Africa, which is set to descend on large parts of Ethiopia and Kenya, the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) warned Sunday, January 24, 2021.In Saudi Arabia, locust swarms hit areas along the coast from Jizan to Lith, extending nearly to Duba on the north coast. Control operations are in progress, particularly against second instar hopper groups and a few bands.Footages on social media show the insects blanketing the skies, highways, and wide fields. Meanwhile, FAO warned Sunday that dry weather conditions across the Horn of Africa region are expected to facilitate locust swarms, making the invasion in Kenya bigger and deadlier. About 15 out of 47 counties in Kenya have been affected so far. "As conditions remain dry in some areas, the swarms are expected to disperse throughout southern and northern Ethiopia as well as north-central Kenya," FAO wrote in its latest report. "Any rainfall that occurs in the coming weeks will cause swarms to mature and lay eggs that will hatch and give rise to hopper bands during February and March." Agriculture Minister Peter Munya said in a news conference that while Kenya is well-prepared to battle the second invasion, the threat is far from over. "The [East African] country is under the second invasion by desert locusts which entered from Ethiopia and Somalia. To date, 15 counties have reported desert locust invasion." Kenya has deployed 9 surveillance and sprayer aircraft and 21 vehicles mounted with sprayers for ground control operations. Three more aircraft are on standby.
Cicada Mania Begins This Spring; Hungry Americans May Be Eating Insects - Billions of cicadas, tiny winged insects that have spent nearly two decades underground, are set to emerge this year across the easter half of the U.S, according to Newsweek. Periodical cicadas — unlike annual cicadas — emerge every 17 or so years — and that cycle of reemerging is this spring. A map created by Newsweek/Statista, citing data from Cicada Mania, shows the states where Brood 10 cicadas will emerge from the ground after a 17-year-long sleep. The critters were last seen in 2004. From May to June, cicadas will be seen in Virginia, North Carolina, Georgia, Tennessee, Kentucky, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, and Ohio. Mid-Atlantic and Northeast states will also see billions of bugs. Cicadas are very distinguished by their muscular bodies, broadheads, clear wings, and massive eyes. The insects are harmless to humans but are considered a nuisance. According to National Graphic, cicadas — like most insects — are a good protein source and have about the same amount per pound as red meat. Billions of tiny insects could be an incredible source of protein for struggling Americans this year as food insecurity has become a problem for tens of millions of folks. We noted, the food industry is set to take a giant leap forward towards sustainability, with the world's largest insect food processing plant expected to be built in central Illinois.
Victoria drenched by a month's worth of rain in 12 hours while historic rains hit NSW, Australia -- Parts of Victoria, Australia, have seen a month's worth of rain in 12 hours into Friday, January 29, 2021, while New South Wales was hit by historic rainfall, and is set for further heavy downpours and damaging winds, with severe thunderstorm warning in place.Many locations, not only in Melbourne but also right across western and central Victoria had a month's worth of rain in less than six to 12 hours, said Dean Narramore from the Bureau of Meteorology (BOM), as the state "copped a drenching in the last 24 hours."Melbourne metro recorded 40 mm (1.6 inches) in just four hours, almost hitting the average January rain of 47 mm (1.8 inches).In a 24-hour period to Friday morning, widespread rainfall totals of 20 to 40 mm (0.8 to 1.6 inches) were recorded across the state's western region, while totals of 60 to 70 mm (2.4 to 2.7 inches) were recorded in the upper Avoca and Wimmera catchments.The deluge resulted in inundations, prompting state emergency services to rescue trapped people. Most of the rescues were stranded drivers and passengers in their vehicles.Almost 100 State Emergency Services (SES) units responded to more than 600 emergency calls in the past 24 hours, most of which were due to leaking roofs and flood damage. “We know flash flooding comes up out of nowhere, so we can’t plan for where it may impact," In NSW, the BOM recorded 98 mm (3.8 inches) of rain in a 24 hour period in Condobolin-- a quarter of the town's yearly rainfall average of 424 mm (16.7 inches). Temora in the Riverina registered 56 mm (2.2 inches), which was the highest daily fall in a decade. Other parts of the state also received significant rainfall amounts.
Storm Hortense hits Mallorca with wind gusts up to 170 km/h (105 mph), Spain - Storm Hortense left a trail of destruction after it made landfall in Mallorca, Spain on January 23, 2021. Significant damage was reported across the island and at least 2 people were injured. Aemet reported a gust of 130 km/h (81 mph) at Son Sant Airport, which broke a record set in February 1996 at 118 km/h (74 mph). In the Tramuntana Mountains, a gust of 144 km/h (90 mph) was registered at the Alfabia weather station, though gusts elsewhere reached 170 km/h (105 mph). According to Spanish media, 26 roads in Mallorca were closed to due landslides and a number of downed trees. Emergency Services and Police said they were saturated with calls for help, the majority of them from Calvia, Llucmajor, Manacor, and Palma.Severe damage was reported in Palma, the Majorca Daily Bulletin reports. The entire ledge of a 3-story building collapsed in Carrer de Pere Dezcallar I Net, crushing a nearby parked car. The winds lifted to roof off a car in Poligono Can Valero, injuring a passer-by as it flew through the air. In addition, fallen trees blocked the streets in Son Rapinya and Can Pastilla and strong winds lifted a massive tarpaulin off a building site in Carrer de la Dragonera. A Calvia Police Officer was hit in the back by a metal plate from a construction site in El Toro and had to be taken to hospital and an old mill in Son Pelat that was renovated by Pedro Cirer just over a year ago collapsed during the storm, destroying a car.
At least 12 killed after Tropical Cyclone "Eloise" makes landfall near Beira, Mozambique - (videos) Tropical Cyclone "Eloise" made landfall just south of the port city of Beira, Mozambique early Saturday morning (LT), January 23, 2021.
- At least 13 people have been killed since the storm formed - 1 in Madagascar, 9 in Mozambique, and 3 in Zimbabwe.
- The storm peaked shortly before making landfall in Mozambique with 1-minute sustained winds of 165 km/h (105 mph), making it a Category 2 equivalent hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson hurricane wind scale.
- It left a trail of destruction in Beira, Manica, and Quelimane. The same area that was hit by the highly destructive Tropical Cyclone "Idai" in 2019, which left more than 1 300 people dead, many more missing, and over 100 000 displaced.
- Eloise moved inland after making landfall, bringing heavy rains to southern Zimbabwe, northern South Africa, and far eastern Botswana.
At least 9 people have been killed in Mozambique -- all of them in the worst-hit port city of Beira (population 500 000). Most of the deaths were caused by falling trees. Severe flooding and damage were also reported in the districts of Buzi and Nhamatanda, where thousands of hectares of farmland were flooded. In their first detailed report issued on January 24, Mozambique’s National Institute for Disaster Risk Management and Reduction (INGD) said Eloise had injured 12 people and displaced 6 859. 1 069 homes were destroyed, 3 434 partially destroyed and 1 500 flooded. 136 755 ha (337 928 acres) of crops were damaged, 11 hospitals were damaged, 9 schools destroyed and 17 others damaged.At least three people were swept away in eastern Zimbabwe when they tried to cross flooded rivers, Reuters reports.Eloise has dissipated by Sunday, January 24, and its remnants are now slowly moving over the Zimbabwe-Botswana-South Africa border region. The threat of more severe flooding remains throughout the region.
Deadly flooding and landslides hit Santa Catarina after half a month's worth of rain falls in 6 hours, Brazil - Flooding and landslides killed at least two people in Santa Catarina, Brazil, after 104 mm (4 inches) of rain fell in a six-hour period on Sunday, January 25, 2021. This is equivalent to half a month's worth of January rain.Heavy rainfall has been lashing Florianopolis in Santa Catarina since January 21. More downpours hit the state in the following days, with almost 40 mm (1.6 inches) in a 1-hour period on Sunday.According to the Civil Defense, 86 mm (3.4 inches) of rain fell in a 3-hour period while up to 104 mm (4 inches) of rain fell in just six hours-- this was equivalent to more than half the average rainfall for the state for the month of January, which is 195 mm (7.6 inches).Floodwaters and landslide debris blocked roads, as well as other parts of the city. The fire service evacuated 70 people in the Lagoa da Conceicao neighborhood after embankments of a sewage treatment pond collapsed, resulting in at least 35 homes damaged. Two people died after flooding caused a wall to collapse in the region of Saco Grande. The victims were identified as mother and daughter.Over the past few days, the Civil Defense has reported rain-related incidents in 31 municipalities of Santa Catarina. More than 2 000 people have been affected by flooding in Guabiruba, Itajai Valley, where around 240 houses were damaged and 30 people were evacuated.
Containership-Bound For California Loses 750 Containers Due To "Rough Seas" --It’s happened again. Hundreds of containers carrying goods such as furniture, fitness equipment and electronics have fallen overboard from a California-bound ship. This time it was the Maersk Essen en route from Xiamen, China, to the Port of Los Angeles last Saturday when, according to the ocean carrier, the container ship experienced a “rough sea encounter.” The Danish-flagged Essen, with a capacity of 13,100 twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs), sails on Maersk’s TP6 Asia-U.S. West Coast service. The Essen “experienced heavy seas during her North Pacific crossing,” Maersk said, “resulting in the loss of approximately 750 containers overboard.” “All crewmembers are safe and a detailed cargo assessment is ongoing while the vessel continues on her journey,” Maersk said in its brief media release issued Wednesday. It had been unclear when the Maersk Essen would berth at the Port of LA. Some reports had it arriving as early as Friday, but San Pedro Bay is filled with container ships waiting to berth and port congestion apparently is worsening. The Los Angeles Times reported that 45 vessels were anchored outside the ports of LA and Long Beach on Tuesday. That’s up double digits from the 32 at anchor a week earlier. Maersk has now reported that the Essen has changed course and is sailing for the Port of Lazaro Cardenas in Mexico, with an estimated arrival date of Jan. 29 “for cargo survey, port operations and initial repair.” Regardless where the Maersk Essen berths, it likely could be weeks before it is known what was inside the 750 containers that went overboard — as well as the dozens of others that could have been damaged on deck. FreightWaves, however, has visibility to what the Maersk Essen was carrying when it sailed from Xiamen. According to to FreightWaves’ SONAR data, the Essen was carrying more than 4,000 TEUs of furniture. Also on board were nearly 850 TEUs of footwear and some 170 TEUs of electronics. Other listed products included tires totaling 150 TEUs and 79 TEUs of kitchenware. Fitness equipment at 82 TEUs does not include 52 TEUs of “smart treadmill[s] with auto incline.”
Biggest Windstorm to Batter Yosemite in 25 Years Topples Two Sequoias --California's iconic Yosemite National Park will remain closed until at least Saturday, Jan. 30 after a windstorm caused millions of dollars of damage in the park and toppled two giant sequoias.The storm that struck Yosemite also battered most of California beginning Monday, Jan. 18, The Associated Press reported. It toppled trees and power lines. Around 300,000 homes and businesses lost power from the storm directly, while tens of thousands of people had their power shut off by utilities to prevent wildfires.Yosemite spokesman Scott Gediman told The Sacramento Bee that the storm was the biggest he had observed in his 25 years of working for the park, in terms of both wind speed and damage caused.Yosemite originally said it would reopen Tuesday, Jan. 26, but announced Monday it would delay its reopening until at least Saturday."Park staff continue to work toward restoring safe conditions after last week's Mono wind event," the park tweeted.The storm hit Yosemite the night of Jan. 18, The Associated Press reported. The winds knocked over hundreds of trees in the park, according to The Sacramento Bee. The fallen trees included two giant sequoias from the lower grove of Yosemite's Mariposa Grove of Giant Sequoias, Gediman said. Fallen trees in the lower grove also crushed a boardwalk and bathroom that had been added during a $40 million restoration completed in 2018. All told, Gediman estimated that damage to vehicles, employee homes and facilities was in the millions of dollars.
Large tornado hits Fultondale, causing significant damage, Alabama (videos) At least one person has been killed and more than 20 injured after a large tornado ripped through Fultondale, Alabama, U.S. at around 22:30 CST on January 25, 2021 (05:30 UTC, January 26), causing significant material damage and downing trees. The tornado was described by the NWS as 'large and extremely dangerous.' 'The search and rescue mission was still in progress early Tuesday morning (LT). "We do have possible fatalities, can not confirm the number yet. We still have search and rescue crews out working," Assistant Fire Chief Justin McKenzie said at around 03:30 CST, January 26.McKenzie also confirmed earlier Tuesday morning there were 'many injuries or deaths at this time,' according to the WBRC.Authorities confirmed several structures on Walker Chapel Road were damaged, including a Hampton Inn, Comfort Inn and Suites, a Chili’s restaurant and possibly an Outback Steakhouse.There are also reports of damage to homes in the Fultondale area, and serious damage at the intersection of North Pine Hill Road and Carson Road.A roof of Hildale Baptist Church on Sunhill Road in Center Point was also damaged.At least 5 people have been hospitalized, with injuries ranging from minor to severe, Fultondale Police Chief said. 17 people were reportedly rushed to the hospital and 11 treated on scene. First responders urged the public to avoid the Fultondale and Center Point areas to allow them to safely continue their operations.
Large EF-3 tornado leaves a trail of destruction in Fultondale, Alabama (videos) The tornado that struck Fultondale (population 9 000), Alabama at around 22:30 CST on January 25, 2021 (05:30 UTC, January 26), has been given a preliminary rating of EF-3 with peak winds around 240 km/h (150 mph). The tornado left significant material damage, 1 person dead and more than 30 injured.The EF-3 damage was focused near Lykes Blvd to New Castle Rd, NWS Birmingham said. "We will continue to review, but don't anticipate a change in rating."The tornado left a 14-year old person dead and more than 30 injured. It had a path length of 15 km (9.5 miles) and a maximum width of 457 m (500 yards). See our initial report, here.The teenager was killed and several of his family members critically injured when the tornado blew a tree onto their home, the police said."They were doing what they were supposed to be doing," Fultondale Police Chief D.P. Smith said.Pieces of buildings, furniture, appliances and trees were strewn about and vehicles ended up in awkward positions as if a child had flung his collection of Matchbox cars into the air, CBS News said. One car landed upside down against some tree branches on a large pile of debris. Fultondale also caught the tail end of an EF-4 tornado that moved across Alabama from Tuscaloosa to northern Jefferson County on April 27, 2011, killing 65 people and injuring 1 500. The damage path was more than 130 km (80 miles) long.
480,000 people killed by extreme weather in last 20 years, analysis shows --Almost half a million people have died in natural disasters linked to extreme weather events in the last 20 years, according to a new assessment of the direct threat posed to humanity by climate change. The mortality burden of climate-related catastrophes such as storms, flooding and heatwaves is overwhelmingly borne by developing countries.At the start of the Climate Adaptation Summit, held virtually this year due to the pandemic, the think tank Germanwatch calculated that these disasters have cost the global economy a staggering $2.56 trillion this century.An analysis of more than 11,000 extreme weather events showed nearly 480,000 fatalities since 2000, with Puerto Rico, Myanmar and Haiti the worst hit areas, it said. Under the 2015 Paris climate deal, wealthier nations are supposed to provide $100 billion every year to help poorer states mitigate temperature rises and adapt to the changing climate.But recent research suggests the true amount of funding available to developing countries for climate action is vastly lower.Germanwatch's Global Climate Index examined the impact of two decades of extreme weather events, particularly the 2019 storm season, which produced hurricanes and cyclones that devastated parts of the Caribbean, east Africa and south Asia."This shows that poor vulnerable countries face particularly great challenges in dealing with the consequences of extreme weather events," said co-author David Eckstein. "They urgently need financial and technical assistance."
Multiple storms impacting U.S. with winter weather from coast to coast - Multiple winter storms will impact much of the U.S. with winter weather over the next few days, the National Weather Service (NWS) warns.
- One storm is producing heavy snow from the Midwest into the Great Lakes and Northeast with a wintry mix in the Mid-Atlantic.
- Another cold system will move through the Four Corners region with heavy mountain snow.
- Finally, a major winter storm will strike California with excessive rain and heavy mountain snow.
Multiple systems across the United States are producing impactful precipitation and will continue to do so over the next few days, NWS forecaster Campbell said. The leading low pressure system is lifting through the Mississippi and Tennessee Valleys. Lines of thunderstorms are tracking ahead of the cold front within the warm sector over the Gulf states, Tennessee Valley, and parts of the Southeast and southern Mid-Atlantic. Periods of moderate to heavy rainfall may lead to excessive rainfall and/or localized flash flooding conditions for parts of the eastern Tennessee Valley and Central Appalachians through Tuesday morning (LT), January 26. Multiple winter storms will impact much of the U.S. with winter weather over the next few days, the National Weather Service (NWS) warns. One storm is producing heavy snow from the Midwest into the Great Lakes and Northeast with a wintry mix in the Mid-Atlantic. Another cold system will move through the Four Corners region with heavy mountain snow. Finally, a major winter storm will strike California with excessive rain and heavy mountain snow. Multiple systems across the United States are producing impactful precipitation and will continue to do so over the next few days, NWS forecaster Campbell said. The leading low pressure system is lifting through the Mississippi and Tennessee Valleys. Lines of thunderstorms are tracking ahead of the cold front within the warm sector over the Gulf states, Tennessee Valley, and parts of the Southeast and southern Mid-Atlantic. Periods of moderate to heavy rainfall may lead to excessive rainfall and/or localized flash flooding conditions for parts of the eastern Tennessee Valley and Central Appalachians through Tuesday morning (LT), January 26. Freezing rain/sleet may be present from northern Missouri to the northern Mid-Atlantic/southern Northeast and lead to accumulations of up to 13 mm (0.50 inches). The highest accumulations will likely occur in the higher terrain of eastern West Virginia, western Virginia, western Maryland, and southwest Pennsylvania. Consequently, travel may quickly become hazardous. Snow is expected on the northern periphery of the precipitation shield over the Ohio Valley, Great Lakes, and Northeast. This system will continue moving east through Wednesday, January 27 before moving offshore. Over 30 cm (1 foot) of snow could fall across southeast Nebraska and southwest Iowa, this includes Lincoln and Omaha, Nebraska. Numerous Winter Weather Advisories and Winter Storm Warnings have been issued for the impacted regions. Scattered to widespread snow is falling across parts of Arizona, Utah, and parts of the Southwest as a low pressure system tracks through the Great Basin. The higher elevations will likely have heavy snow with this system, possibly yielding a foot or more of accumulations. Travel through this part of the country may be hazardous. Light snow can be expected from the central Plains to the lower Ohio Valley. Moderate snowfall amounts up to 150 mm (6 inches) will be possible Wednesday night, January 27 across the southern Appalachians.
More than 330 000 customers without power as major winter storm hits California --A strong frontal system -- Category 3 atmospheric river -- impacting California and parts of Nevada through Thursday, January 28, 2021, is bringing gusty winds, very heavy rain, and mountain snow, in some parts extreme. Whiteout/blizzard conditions and heavy snow in the Sierra Nevada may cause road closures and travel delays. Extreme avalanche danger is expected across Central Sierra Nevada Mountains from Wednesday, January 27 through Friday, January 29. Additionally, flash flooding and debris flows are possible across parts of central and southern California. Over the next three days, as much as 250 - 380 mm (10 to 15 inches) of rain could fall along the central California coast roughly between Monterey and Santa Barbara. This amount of rain in a 72-hour period is very rare for this region, with an annual exceedance probability of only 2%. Another significant storm is expected to reach the region early next week! Excessive heavy lower elevation rain is expected to bring dangerous flash flood risk to coastal California into Wednesday, January 27, NWS warns. Meanwhile, extreme snowfall amounts are expected across the Sierra Nevada through Thursday. As a result of strong winds, more than 330 000 customers in California are without power, as of 09:00 UTC on January 27, and the number keeps rising. Several major highways were already closed on Tuesday and evacuation orders triggered in San Mateo County in anticipation of heavy rain. Authorities warned that the 34 800 ha (86 000 acres) of land burned around the Santa Cruz Mountains in the fall of 2020 by the massive CZU Lightning Complex fire is especially vulnerable. Burn scars left by the Dolan fire, which destroyed over 48 560 ha (120 000 acres) nearby, are also vulnerable. The soil is now weak without vegetation to hold it in place and at heightened risk for debris flows and mudslides, the LA Times reports.
'Atmospheric River' Causes Disastrous Flooding, Mudslides in California - Exceptionally heavy rain caused debris flows and flash flooding that damaged as many as two dozen homes and buildings in California's Salinas Valley on Wednesday.In Paso Robles, unhoused people living in the Salinas Riverbed are especially in danger and local officials were working to alert them to the potential 20-25-foot rise in water levels. The heavy rains produced by an atmospheric river also caused flooding and knocked out power for thousands in the Bay Area and the threat of landslides and debris flows remains across the state after the state's record-smashing 2020 wildfireseason.The landslides are an example of the compound disasters made more frequent as human caused climate change makes wildfires more extreme and extreme precipitation more frequent.As reported by KPIX: The heavy rain triggered a mudslide in the River Road area near the Salinas River and Highway 101 south of Salinas. KSBW reported an estimated 50 large animals that were stuck in mud that had to be rescued. The Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Monterey County confirmed Wednesday afternoon that it had taken in 41 animals for shelter due to people having to evacuate the area. As of Wednesday afternoon, SPCA Monterey County had taken in nine dogs, 14 cats, 17 horses and a donkey for residents who did not have anywhere else to take the animals.Anyone in the county who needs assistance with sheltering animals is asked to call the organization at (831) 373-2631 during day hours and (831) 264-5424 at night.River Road has been closed by the California Highway Patrol from Chualar River Road north to Parker Canyon Road due to flooding and mud.MCRFD working with local property owners on damage assessment In the River Rd area. Thank you to all the local ranc… https://t.co/7PgkagcJsV The weather service said its tracking has the Big Sur coastline as the 'bullseye' for the storm front that has been intensified by the moisture from an atmospheric river."Our local in-house model is showing extensive storm totals in the Big Sur hills in excess of 20 inches with a bullseye amount in excess of 31 inches," the weather service said.
Des Moines breaks single-day snowfall record set in 1895, Iowa - Des Moines in Iowa set a new single-day snowfall record on Monday, January 25, 2021, after the city recorded up to 26.2 cm (10.3 inches), breaking the previous record of 25.4 cm (10 inches) set in 1895.Snow started falling Monday noon in central Iowa and continued into Tuesday morning, creating hazardous travel conditions across the state.The weather also disrupted flights into and out of Des Moines International Airport, while many school districts were prompted to dismiss or cancel classes. By the end of Monday, the city registered 26.2 cm (10.3 inches) of snow, according to the National Weather Service (NWS). It smashed the record for January 25, previously set when 25.4 cm (10 inches) of snow fell 126 years ago, in 1895.Between Monday morning to Tuesday noon, the Iowa State Patrol responded to 147 crashes, eight of which resulted in injured passengers. Crews also responded to 45 stalled vehicles. By Tuesday noon, 32.8 cm (12.9 inches) of snow had fallen in the airport, marking the 12thhighest two-day snow total in the city's history and snowiest storm in Des Moines since a blizzard dumped 39.4 cm (15.5 inches) over December 8 to 9 in 2009. NWS meteorologist Taylor Nicolaisen told the Associated Press that it's not common for the region to get more than a foot of snow from a single storm, adding that it has been decades since some cities had this much snow.
Joe Biden executive orders: a new goal to triple protected lands and ocean waters - Biden took the next leap in pursuing his climate agenda Wednesday, signing the latest in a spate of environment-focused executive orders. One of the most ambitious goals buried in the order he put forward is to conserve nearly a third of US land and ocean waters by 2030. Currently, only 12 percent of the country’s land and 26 percent of its oceans are protected, according to a 2018 report by the Center for American Progress. This was achieved byslowly expanding protected areas over the past few decades — until former President Trump took office. In his first year, his administration dramatically shrank two Utah monuments, Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante — the largest removal of federal land from protection in US history, according to the New York Times. Now the Biden administration will have to quickly reverse course to meet the new goal. The “30 by 30” target is based on scientific recommendations for addressing the rapid loss of biodiversity and using natural ecosystems to fight climate change. The biodiversity crisis may still be invisible to many people, but it has had profound effects. One recent study found that North America has lost over a quarter of its bird population since 1970. And biodiversity isn’t just for birdwatchers, it also underpins the health of the ecosystems that sustain agriculture and many other essential activities.Advocates of the 30 by 30 target, who’ve been pushing for it for several years, say addressing our various planetary crises requires this kind of bold action. “30 by 30 is rising to the level of ambition we need to see,” Greg Zimmerman, director at Protect 30x30, told Vox.In the same executive order today, Biden announced a pause on new leases for oil and gas drilling on federal lands — a shift that could free up more land for conservation. And that is only one of many tools the administration might use to fulfill the new goal. Here’s a quick rundown of the science behind 30 by 30 and how it might become reality.The target of 30 by 30 is ambitious, but it is actually only a step toward an aggressive new approach to conservation scientists say is needed to limit the biodiversity crisis and climate change. Under the pressures of population growth, increasing consumption, habitat destruction, and rising temperatures, species have been disappearing alarmingly fast: going extinct at 100 to 1,000 times the normal rate seen over the past millions of years. In a major May 2019 biodiversity report, the UN warned that 1 million species are at risk of extinction across the world. The “sixth mass extinction” is in fact set to accelerate, a study published in PNAS one month later confirmed.
A large number of gray whales are starving and dying in the eastern North Pacific - It's mid-January 2021, and the first gray whales from the eastern North Pacific population have started to arrive in the breeding lagoons in Baja California, Mexico. Since the start of their southbound migration from their high latitude feeding grounds, several sightings of emaciated gray whales have already been reported along their migration route. This has raised concern among scientists that the unusual mortality event (UME, an unexpected phenomenon during which a significant number of a marine mammal population dies), that started in January 2019, and which so far has resulted in 378 confirmed gray whale deaths, and possibly many more unrecorded, is entering its third year. Gray whales undertake annual migrations between feeding grounds in the Bering, Chukchi, and Arctic Seas, and breeding grounds from the Southern California Bight to lagoons along the Pacific coast of Baja California, Mexico. During the summer feeding season, between May and October, the whales build up large amount of energy reserves, mainly in the form of blubber, to support the energetic costs of migration and while residing on the breeding grounds. Sufficient energy reserves is crucial for the reproduction and survival of gray whales, which do not feed during the migration and breeding season. In 2017, Dr. Fredrik Christiansen from the Dept. of Zoology at Aarhus University, and Professor Lars Bejder from the University of Hawai'i at Manoa, joined LSIESP to study the body condition of gray whales with the use of drone photogrammetry. The technique involves measuring thebody length and width of gray whales from vertical photographs taken by drones above the whales, from which a measure of relative body condition (or fatness) of individual whales can be obtained. Already in the second year of sampling, the researchers found a marked decline in the body condition of juvenile and adult gray whales visiting Laguna San Ignacio. The decline was also visible in 2019, at the start of the current UME. The decline in body condition also coincided with a drop in the number of mother-calf pairs sighted in Laguna San Ignacio, which indicated a reduction in the reproductive rate of female gray whales. A similar UME occurred in 1999-2000, when 651 gray whales were recorded dead along the west coast of North America. During that two-year event, the gray whale population declined with about 25% from about 21,000 animals in 1998 to about 16,000 in 2002. It is yet unknown what effects the current UME is having on the eastern North Pacific population.
Oceanic Shark Populations Dropped 71% Since 1970 - Scientists have known for decades that individual shark species are declining, but a new study drawing on 57 global datasets underscores just how dramatically worldwide populations have collapsed in the past half century.More fromSea-Doo Maker Seeks Growth Beyond Fan Base After Pandemic BoomNippon Life to Make Portfolio Carbon Neutral, Kyodo SaysOil-State Republicans Say White House Rebuffed MeetingBiden Revokes Oil Drilling Permits for Additional ReviewGlobally, the abundance of oceanic sharks and rays dropped more than 70% between 1970 and 2018, according to a study published Wednesday in the journal Nature.And 24 of the 31 species of sharks and rays are threatened with extinction, while three species — oceanic whitetip sharks, scalloped hammerhead sharks and great hammerhead sharks — are considered critically endangered.“The last 50 years have been pretty devastating for global shark populations,” said Nathan Pacoureau, a biologist at Simon Fraser University in Canada and a co-author of the study.Sometimes sharks are intentionally caught by fishing fleets, but more often they are reeled in incidentally as “ bycatch," in the course of fishing for other species such as tuna and swordfish.Sharks and rays are both fish with skeletons made of cartilage, not bone. In contrast to most other kinds of fish, they generally take several years to reach sexual maturity, and they produce fewer offspring.“In terms of timing, they reproduce more like mammals – and that makes them especially vulnerable,” said Pacoureau. “Their populations cannot replenish as quickly as many other kinds of fish.”The number of fishing vessels trolling the open ocean has risen steeply since the 1950s, as engine power expanded ships' range. And while climate change and pollution also imperil shark survival, increased fishing pressure is the greatest threat for every oceanic shark species.“When you remove top predators of the ocean, it impacts every part of the marine food web,” said Stuart Pimm, an ecologist at Duke University, who was not involved in the study. “Sharks are like the lions, tigers and bears of the ocean world, and they help keep the rest of the ecosystem in balance.”
Shark and Ray Populations Declining Rapidly, Scientists Call for Urgent Fishing Limits - An alarming new study reports that the global population of sharks and rays has declined 71 percent since 1970. The crash, due to overfishing, underscores the need for international policymakers to reverse the species' impending collapse.Published in Nature, the study is one of the first global assessments of its kind, The New York Times reported. But the results may not capture the full extent of the loss, scientists warn. Due to incomplete data and growth in the fishing industry, before the study began, shark and ray numbers are most likely lower than reported."The decline isn't stopping, which is a problem," Nathan Pacoureau, a researcher at Simon Fraser University in Canada and the lead author of the study told The Guardian. "Everything in our oceans is so depleted now."While oil and gas drilling and the increasing impacts of the climate crisis are threatening the species, increased overfishing is the main cause for the drastic population reduction, The Guardian reported.Often depleting stocks faster than a species can restock itself, fishing has increased drastically since 1970, pushing more than half of the 31 oceanic shark species onto the endangered or critically endangered list by the International Union for Conservation of Nature, The Guardian reported.Sharks and rays, which are often killed for their meat, fins and oil, are often caught accidentally by fishermen,The New York Times noted. But catching sharks and rays doesn't have to be an "inevitable" part of commercial fishing. We have volumes of scientific studies now about how you might avoid catching sharks to begin with, and certainly a lot about the best practices for releasing the shark safely and making sure it survives," Sonja Fordham, an author of the study and the president of Shark Advocates International told The New York Times. "It matters, for example, how long a shark struggles on the line, so fishermen should monitor their lines regularly. They should avoid shark hot spots and use shark-friendly gear that allows the creatures to break free while keeping tuna and swordfish on the line."
The Atlantic Ocean Is Getting Wider, Scientists Think They Know Why - The Atlantic Ocean is getting wider and, after a uniquely ambitious expedition, scientists finally think they know why. The reason? An upwelling of matter from much deeper below Earth's crust than is usually observed."This was completely unexpected," Dr. Kate Rychert from the University of Southampton said in a press release. "It has broad implications for our understanding of Earth's evolution and habitability."Rychert is a coauthor on a Nature study published Wednesday that details the new findings, which provide a new window into how plate tectonics work beneath the world's second largest ocean. Scientists have long known that the tectonic plates beneath North and South America are moving apart from those beneath Africa and Asia, widening the Atlantic Ocean at a rate of about 1.5 inches a year, Business Insider explained. This is happening at the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, an undersea mountain range that separates the North American and South American plates on the Western side from the Eurasian and African plates to the East. But, until recently, scientists were not sure how.That's because plates tend to move as gravity pulls the denser parts of plates into Earth, the press release explained. But the Atlantic Ocean is not surrounded by dense plates. Instead, the researchers discovered that material from Earth's mantle is swelling up beneath the ridge and pushing the plates apart from below. What's more, this material is coming from depths of more than 600 kilometers (approximately 371 miles). Usually, upwellings of this sort are much shallower, originating from depths of 60 kilometers (approximately 37 miles.). When they are deeper in origin, they tend to occur in more isolated areas. "Upwelling from the lower to the upper mantle and all the way up to the surface is typically associated with localized places on Earth, such as Iceland, Hawaii and Yellowstone, and not with mid-ocean ridges,"
Large sinkholes still opening one month after destructive M6.4 earthquake in Petrinja, Croatia - --One month after the most powerful earthquake in the history of Croatia -- M6.4 in Petrinja on December 29, 2020 -- large sinkholes are still opening near the epicenter.Numerous sinkholes have opened up in the village of Mečenčani, located about 25 km (15 miles) from the epicenter, after the earthquake struck on December 29. Thousands of aftershocks were registered after the quake, with new ones still being detected every day.Some of the holes are several meters wide, with the largest up to 30 m (100 feet) and more. The largest hole is about 15 m (50 feet) deep, but most of the holes are filled with water, making depth estimates difficult.The existing holes are still growing, displacing residents, and new ones are still opening in the area every day.Some of the growing holes are so close to homes, there are fears some of them might get swallowed in.According to locals, holes started appearing 2 days before the mainshock, but their number rapidly increased on December 29.10 days after the quake there were 15 holes in the village, with at least another 15 nearby. Experts said sinkholes in this karst region would open up eventually even without the quake.
Over 68 earthquakes recorded near Rotorua, New Zealand -More than 68 shakes have been recorded near Rotorua, New Zealand, since 18:47 UTC on January 24, 2021 (07:47 LT on January 25), with magnitudes up to 4.9 and depth of 5 km (3 miles), according to GeoNet.More than 5 200 people reported feeling the tremors on the GeoNet website, with a residentdescribing one shake as the biggest. "[It was] the biggest I have felt in years. I am still shaking." Another resident also said, "The biggest one went so long I didn't think it would end,"The first quake had a magnitude of 4.5 located 20 km (12 miles) east of Rotorua at a depth of 4 km (2.5 miles). It was then followed by an M4.9 aftershock in the same area, at a depth of 5 km (3 miles), as well as several more tremblors.Bay of Plenty Civil Defence stated in a post on social media that a lot of people reported swaying, but "at this stage, we are not aware of any damage.""Some things are still being checked as a precaution, especially because they were such shallow quakes."GeoNet wrote that the earthquakes looked like a swarm, which they often experience in the area. "We've recorded over 68 events since 18:47 UTC on Sunday (07:47 LT on Monday)."The last swarm with quakes of this size within the caldera was in July 2004 located just north near Lake Rotoehu and before that in 1998, just to the south of today’s sequence."
Significant eruption at Merapi volcano, ash to 12.2 km (40 000 feet) a.s.l., Indonesia - A significant eruption took place at the Indonesian Merapi volcano at 06:40 UTC on January 27, 2021. The Aviation Color Code was raised to Red. Due to the meteorological cloud, ash estimate to 12.2 km (40 000 feet) above sea level was based on the IR temperature. Ash cloud is moving NNW, the Darwin VAAC reports. Multiple ground reports warned of a significant eruption, the center added. In addition, volcanic ash below 7.3 km (24 000 feet) a.s.l. is expected to move NE. The volcano produced at least 14 pyroclastic flows today, with a maximum distance of 1.5 km (0.93 miles). This time, pyroclastic flows were observed on the southwest flanks of the volcano, reaching Krasak and Boyong rivers. As a result, ashfall was reported in several villages in Tamansari District, Boyolali Regency, and Boyolali City.BPPTKG reported that the '2021 lava dome' continued to emerge just below Merapi’s SW rim from January 8 to 14, producing a total of 128 incandescent lava avalanches that traveled as far as 900 m (3 000 feet) down the Krasak River drainage on the SW flank. A comparison of photos taken on January 7 and 14 showed that the morphological changes in the summit area were attributed to the emergence of new lava domes. The 2021 dome volume was an estimated 46 766 m3 (1.6 million feet3) on January 14, with a growth rate of about 8 500 m3 (300 000 feet3) per day.
Eruption at La Soufriere remains effusive, lava dome continues growing, St. Vincent and the Grenadines - The eruption at La Soufriere volcano remains effusive, however, that could change given the historical activity at the volcano, UWI-SRC director Dr. Erouscilla Joseph said. At the moment, the eruption is localized close to the crater itself, but the volcano does have the potential for more powerful activity, and residents in the hazard areas should be vigilant.The University of the West Indies Seismic Research Centre (UWI-SRC), the official source for information on earthquakes and volcanoes in the English-speaking Caribbean, is urging the people of St Vincent living with the potential risks from the ongoing eruption to listen to official sources, familiarise themselves with emergency protocols, and be prepared -- if necessary -- to evacuate. "Magma is gently oozing out through a vent and forming a dome," said Joseph."The possibility of this type of eruption going from effusive to explosive does exist. This volcano can show both types of eruptions. At this time, based on the information we have, the definitive timeline of this happening, or if it will happen at all, cannot be answered."The alert level remains at Orange. People living in areas close to the volcano should expect strong sulfur smells for several days to weeks, depending on changes in wind direction.The National Emergency Management Organization (NEMO) continues to appeal to the public to desist from visiting the volcano, especially going into the crater, since doing so is extremely dangerous.The latest estimated dimension of the new dome, as of January 27 -- length 428 m (1 300 feet), width 217 m (712 feet), height 80 m (262 feet), the total estimated volume is 4.45 million m3(157.2 million feet3). On January 16, the height of the dome was 90 m (295 feet), length 350 m (1 150 feet), and width 160 m (525 feet).
Flames observed at Kilauea volcano, lava erupting from vents on NW side of Halemaʻumaʻu crater, Hawaii - Eruptive activity is ongoing at Hawaii's Kilauea volcano, with lava erupting from a vent on the northwest side of the crater. As of January 25, 2021, the lake was around 205 m (673 feet) deep, while SO2 emission rates remain elevated. The volcano is currently on Alert Level Watch alert level and Aviation Color Code Orange.From January 23, the sulfur dioxide emission rate measurements are about 2 200 t/d, which is lower than the emission rates from the pre-2018 lava lake of 3 000 to 6 500 t/d.Seismicity is elevated but stable, with steadily elevated tremblors and a few minor quakes, according to the U.S. Geological Survey's (USGS) update released on Tuesday, January 26.Geodetic monitors show that the upper part of the East Rift Zone contracted, while the summit deflated. No seismic or deformation data are present to indicate that additional magma is moving into either of the volcano's rift zones.SO2 and H2S emissions from Puʻu ʻŌʻō were below detection levels when measured on January 7.Meanwhile, a low fountaining from the west vent supplies the lava pouring into the lake within the Halemaʻumaʻu lava crater."At the moment effusion rates correlate, positively, with Uwe tilt and RSAM activity; higher (inflationary) tilt and RSAM values, greater lava effusion," wrote USGS.Flames have been observed numerous times at the western fissure in Halema‘uma‘u."We are not sure what the combusting gas is, but flames were observed numerous times in Halema‘uma‘u during the early 1900s lava lake." High levels of volcanic gas, rockfalls, explosions, and volcanic glass particles are the main hazards of concern. Huge amounts of volcanic gas, primarily water vapor (H2O), carbon dioxide (CO2), and sulfur dioxide (SO2)—are continuously emitted during eruptions of Kilauea.As SO2 is spewed from the summit, it will react in the atmosphere with oxygen, sunlight, moisture, and other gases and particles, and will convert to fine particles within hours or days.The particles scatter sunlight and cause the visible haze that has been observed downwind of the volcano known as volcanic smog or vog, during previous summit eruptions.
Researchers investigate what happens if 'perfect solar storm' hits Earth - In a new study published in Space Weather journal, researchers investigated what might happen if a 'perfect' coronal mass ejection (CME) hit the Earth. Using state‐of‐the‐art computer models to simulate the worst-case solar storm, the team found that the event could be 10 times stronger than previously thought.For years, scientists have been wondering what's the worst the Sun could do.In 2014, a study by Bruce Tsurutani from NASA JPL and Gurbax Lakhina from the Indian Institute of Geomagnetism introduced a perfect interplanetary coronal mass ejection, stating that it could generate a magnetic storm with intensity greater than the Carrington storm.The Carrington Event was the largest geomagnetic storm on record, which produced auroral displays as far south as the tropics.The study found that the interplanetary shock would arrive at Earth within 12 hours, giving emergency managers a short period of time to prepare as the storm eventually hits the magnetosphere at 45 times the local speed of sound. "It would be fast, leaving the Sun around 3 000 km/s and aimed directly at Earth. Moreover, it would follow another CME, which would clear the path in front of it, allowing the storm cloud to hit Earth with maximum force," wrote the researchers. In response to the shock, a geomagnetic storm around twice as powerful as the 1859 Carrington storm would happen. "None of this if fantasy," Dr. Tony Phillips of SpaceWeather.com notes, "The Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) has observed CMEs leaving the sun at speeds up to 3 000 km/s. And there are many documented cases of one CME clearing the way for another." A new study in 2020 led by physicist Dan Welling of the University of Texas at Arlington took a new look at Tsurutani and Lakhina's perfect CME and came up with fresh conclusions. The team discovered that geomagnetic disturbances in response to a worst-case solar storm could be 10 times more powerful than what the previous study had calculated, especially at latitudes above 45 to 50 degrees.Welling stated that the findings "exceed values observed during many past extreme events, including the March 1989 storm that brought down the Hydro-Quebec power grid in eastern Canada; the May 1921 railroad storm; and the Carrington Event itself."
World’s Ice Is Melting 65 Percent Faster Than in 1990s ---The rate of worldwide ice loss has increased by more than 60 percent in the past three decades, a study published in The Cryosphere on Monday found."The ice sheets are now following the worst-case climate warming scenarios set out by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change," Dr. Thomas Slater, study lead author and research fellow at Leeds' Center for Polar Observation and Modeling, said in a University of Leeds press release. "Sea-level rise on this scale will have very serious impacts on coastal communities this century."Previous studies have used satellite data to assess ice loss from individual sources, such as polar ice caps,The Guardian explained. However, this is the first one to consider all sources of ice loss. The study found that the world lost around 31 trillion U.S. tons between 1994 and 2017. During that time, the rate of ice loss also increased 65 percent, from 0.9 trillion U.S. tons a year to 1.4 trillion U.S. tons a year. Ice loss from ice sheetsin Antarctica and Greenland largely contributed to that number, the press release stated. The paper also broke down which sources had lost the most ice in total terms between 1994 and 2017. Amounts are approximate and in U.S. tons:
- Arctic sea ice: 8.4 trillion
- Antarctic ice shelves: 7.2 trillion
- Mountain glaciers: 6.7 trillion
- Greenland ice sheet: 4.2 trillion
- Antarctic ice sheet: 2.8 trillion
- Southern Ocean sea ice: one trillion
The study also examined the leading cause of ice melt for each source, according to the press release. For Arctic sea ice and mountain glaciers, rising atmospheric temperatures have driven melting. For the Antarctic ice sheet, rising ocean temperatures have been the main cause. And for the Greenland ice sheet and Antarctic ice shelves, melting has been increased by a combination of the two. All told, melting from Antarctica, Greenland and mountain glaciers have increased sea levels by around 34.6 millimeters, the study found. While this might not sound like a lot, every centimeter of sea level rise puts around a million people in low-lying areas at risk of being flooded out of their homes, the press release said. Moreover, sea level rise isn't the only threat from melting ice.
Wind-Blown Dust Is Causing Greenland’s Ice to Melt Faster - As the world's ice sheets melt at an increasing rate, researchers are looking for explanations beyond just a hotter climate. A recent study found one answer may lie in the dust.Published on Monday in Nature Communications, the study found that phosphorus, a mineral found in dust, is a key nutrient for an extensive glacier algae bloom on Greenland's ice sheet, known as the "dark zone." As the algae grow, the ice becomes darker, decreasing its ability to reflect sunlight and causing the ice to melt faster and sea levels to rise."It's important to understand the controls on algal growth because of their role in ice sheet darkening," Dr. Jenine McCutcheon, who led the study published in Nature Communications, told the University of Leeds. "Although algal blooms can cover up to 78 percent of the bare ice surfaces in the Dark Zone, their abundance and size can vary greatly over time," Dr. McCutcheon added.Since 2000, the dark zone's melting season has "progressively started earlier and lasted longer," according to the University of Leeds. Glacier algal blooms are responsible for up to 13 percent of surface melting in this region, the study noted.But until recently little was known about how these algal blooms developed.Researchers found that phosphorus can cause the photosynthesis rate of the ice algae to improve significantly, McCutcheon said, according to the University of Leeds.Although researchers examined dust sourced from local rock, they warned that dust can be transported thousands of miles by the wind."As dryland areas in northerly latitudes become even drier under climate change, we can expect to see more dust transported and deposited on the Greenland Ice Sheet, further fueling algal blooms," Researchers are also asking how these algal blooms will grow and darken in a warming climate. "In 2019 our glaciers and ice sheets [are] already being darkened by dust, soot, and ash from our industrial world, which provides the perfect home for algae to flourish," Alexandre Anesio, a professor in Arctic biogeochemistry from Aarhus University, who was not affiliated with the University of Leeds study, told The Guardian. "As the organisms reproduce, they melt even more snow, which in turn allows them to proliferate again. So it's like a cycle. A very bad one."
Earth's Ice Loss Reflects Worst-Case Scenario, New Study Finds - Earth's ice is melting 57 percent faster than in the 1990s and the world has lost more than 28 trillion tons of ice since 1994, research published Monday in The Cryosphere shows."It was a surprise to see such a large increase in just 30 years," said Thomas Slater, a study co-author. There have been huge efforts to study ice loss research in individual regions of the world, allowing the researchers to combine data to assess ice loss worldwide. Their findings show that Arctic ice is disappearing the fastest, with 7.6 trillion tons melting between 1994 to 2017. The report also found land ice melt alone contributed to a global average sea level rise of 3.5 centimeters. However, land ice is only a small portion of the world's ice. Sea ice shelves, which float on water, are disappearing quickly. If they collapse, the land ice (glaciers) some sea ice shelves hold in place would be released and could accelerate sea level rise for centuries.As reported by The Guardian:The greatest quantities of ice were lost from floating ice in the polar regions, raising the risk of afeedback mechanism known as albedo loss. White ice reflects solar radiation back into space – the albedo effect – but when floating sea ice melts it uncovers dark water which absorbs more heat, speeding up the warming further in a feedback loop.Glaciers showed the next biggest loss of ice volume, with more than 6tn tonnes lost between 1994 and 2017, about a quarter of global ice loss over the period. The shrinking of glaciers threatens to cause both flooding and water shortages in some regions, because as large volumes melt they can overwhelm downstream areas, then shrunken glaciers produce less of the steady water flow needed for agriculture.Inès Otosaka, report co-author and a PhD researcher at the University of Leeds centre for polar observation and modelling, said: "As well as contributing to global mean sea level rise, mountain glaciers are also critical as a freshwater resource for local communities. The retreat of glaciers around the world is therefore of crucial importance, at both local and global scales."
Greta Thunberg's Message to World Leaders at Davos Summit - My name is Greta Thunberg and I'm not here to make deals. You see, I don't belong to any financial interest or political party. So I can't bargain or negotiate. I am only here to once again remind you of the emergency we're in. The crisis that you and your predecessors have created and inflicted upon us. The crisis that you continue to ignore. I am here to remind you of the promises that you have made to your children and grandchildren. And to tell you that we are not willing to compromise on the very minimum safety levels that still remain. The climate and ecological crisis can unfortunately no longer be solved within today's systems. According to the current best available science that is no longer an opinion; that's a fact. We need to keep this in mind as countries, businesses and investors now rush forward to present their new so-called "ambitious" climate targets and commitments. The longer we avoid this uncomfortable truth, and the longer we pretend we can solve the climate - and ecological emergency — without treating it like a crisis — the more precious time we will lose. And this is time we do not have. Today, we hear leaders and nations all over the world speak of an "existential climate emergency". But instead of taking the immediate action you would in any emergency, they set up vague, insufficient, hypothetical targets way into the future, like "net-zero 2050." Targets based on loopholes and incomplete numbers. Targets that equal surrender. It's like waking up in the middle of the night, seeing your house on fire, then deciding to wait 10, 20 or 30 years before you call the fire department while labeling those trying to wake people up alarmists. [...] Because you still say one thing, and then do the complete opposite. You speak of saving nature, while locking in policies of further destruction for decades to come. You promise to not let future generations down, while creating new loopholes, failing to connect the dots, building your so called "pledges" on the cheating tactics that got us into this mess in the first place. If the commitments of lowering all our emissions by 70, 68 or even 55 percent by 2030 actually meant they aim to reduce them by those figures then that would be a great start. But that is unfortunately not the case. And since the level of public awareness continues to be so low our leaders can still get away with almost anything. No one is held accountable. It's like a game. Whoever is best at packaging and selling their message wins. As it is now, we can have as many summits and meetings as we want, but unless we treat the climate and ecological crisis like a crisis, no sufficient changes will be achieved. What we need — to begin with — is to implement annual binding carbon budgets based on the current best available science. Right now more than ever we are desperate for hope. But what is hope? For me hope is not more empty assurances that everything will be alright, that things are being taken care of and we do not need to worry. For me, hope is the feeling that keeps you going, even though all odds may be against you. For me hope comes from action not just words. For me, hope is telling it like it is. No matter how difficult or uncomfortable that may be. And again, I'm not here to tell you what to do. After all, safeguarding the future living conditions and preserving life on earth as we know it is voluntary. The choice is yours to make. But I can assure you this. You can't negotiate with physics. And your children and grandchildren will hold you accountable for the choices that you make. How's that for a deal?
Kerry on climate talks: 'I regret that my country has been absent' U.S. climate envoy John Kerry told the United Nations on Monday that he regrets America’s absence from the fight against climate change during the previous administration. “Three years ago scientists gave us a stark warning. They said we have 12 years within which to avoid the worst consequences of climate change. Now we have nine years left and I regret that my country has been absent for three of those years,” Kerry said at the United Nations Climate Adaptation Summit. Kerry’s speech was one of his first official acts since President Biden named him a special envoy on climate and follows the president signing an executive order to recommit the U.S. to the Paris climate accord. “We're proud to be back. We come back, I want you to know, with humility for the absence of the last four years, and we'll do everything in our power to make up for it,” Kerry said. “President Biden has made fighting climate change a top priority of his administration. We have a president now, thank God, who leads, tells the truth and is seized by this issue.” Biden has pledged to put the U.S. on a path to reach net-zero emissions by 2050. But one of his first steps will be sorting out a new goal under the Paris agreement, a so-called nationally determined contribution (NDC). “We have already launched our work to prepare a new U.S. nationally determined contribution that meets the urgency of the challenge and we aim to announce our NDC as soon as practicable,” Kerry said, adding that the U.S. would also be upping its global financing to help other countries address climate change.
As Kerry Touts U.S. Climate Diplomacy, Biden Is Urged to End Dirty Energy Subsidies - While President Joe Biden's top climate envoy John Kerry told world leaders at a virtual climate summit that the U.S. will fulfill its commitment to provide financial support to developing countries as they grapple with the deadly consequences of a warming planet, campaigners are urging the U.S. to follow the lead of European Union officials who on Monday pledged to stop subsidizing fossil fuels and instead invest in a just transition toward clean energy."Ending government support for fossil fuels is a no-brainer," Laurie van der Burg of Oil Change International said Monday in a statement responding to the EU's newly stated commitment to phasing out dirty energy subsidies and helping to fund a global push toward renewable energy. "Globally, governments are still propping up fossil fuels with huge sums of public money, behavior that is incompatible with keeping global warming below 1.5ºC."Oil Change International's Collin Rees said that "today's commitment by the EU to end overseas investment in oil, gas, and coal projects is yet another indication that the fossil fuel era is over. As a new administration takes power in Washington, this is a powerful signal that clean energy is ascendant and that the EU stands willing to work with President Biden and others to end all finance for dirty energy."Noting that Biden "has committed to end fossil fuel subsidies and dirty energy finance," van der Burg pointed out that the UK in December "announced an end to their overseas public finance for fossil fuel."According to van der Burg, "This creates a powerful opportunity for the EU, UK, and U.S. to collaborate to finally end government-backed finance for oil, gas, and coal ahead of the UK-hosted UN climate summit in November."Rees argued that "Biden should act boldly on his campaign commitments to end finance for dirty energy projects." "By building on past commitments to end coal finance and extending this to oil and gas," Rees added, "Biden can join the EU and UK in transforming international finance to address the challenges of the next century, not prop up the remnants of the last century's infrastructure."
Pentagon declares climate change a 'national security issue' - The Pentagon will now consider climate change when planning war games and will incorporate the issue into its future National Defense Strategy, according to a Wednesday announcement. “There is little about what the [Defense] Department does to defend the American people that is not affected by climate change. It is a national security issue, and we must treat it as such,” Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said in a statement. “The Department will immediately take appropriate policy actions to prioritize climate change considerations in our activities and risk assessments, to mitigate this driver of insecurity.” Austin announced the change after President Biden earlier on Wednesday signed a series of executive orders aimed at addressing the climate crisis. The shift means the Department of Defense (DOD) will now “include the security implications of climate change in our risk analyses, strategy development, and planning guidance,” according to Austin. “As a leader in the interagency, the Department of Defense will also support incorporating climate risk analysis into modeling, simulation, wargaming, analysis, and the next National Defense Strategy. And by changing how we approach our own carbon footprint, the Department can also be a platform for positive change, spurring the development of climate-friendly technologies at scale,” he said. The Pentagon since 2010 has acknowledged that climate change could pose a threat to where the military operates and its roles and missions. Heavy downpours, drought, rising temperature and sea level, and repeated, raging forest fires affect the military not only at home but extending to abroad as they can have significant geopolitical impacts. The DOD has spent hundreds of millions of dollars to help bases prevent or repair climate-related damage, including Tyndall Air Force Base, Fla., which was damaged by Hurricane Michael in 2018, and Offutt Air Force Base, Neb., which flooded in 2019. Under former President Trump, who repeatedly indicated he thought climate change is a "hoax," Pentagon officials have had to tiptoe around the issue as the president routinely dismissed the scientific consensus that the phenomenon is real and caused by human activity.
The Biden climate plan, Part 2: Preparation for war - As Biden has assembled his new administration, he devoted Wednesday, January 27, to unveiling his plans to fight climate change, with former Secretary of State John Kerry as his “climate envoy” and former EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy as the top White House adviser on climate change.The record of these two leaders of the Biden climate policy demonstrates both the insincerity of the new administration’s appeal to widespread popular concerns over global warming and the alignment of its policies with the worldwide interests of American imperialism.McCarthy was head of the EPA during the worst pollution event in recent history, the systematic poisoning of the population of Flint, Michigan in the lead-in-water scandal that came to light in 2015. The federal EPA shared responsibility with state and local officials for covering up the profit-driven decisions that produced this catastrophe, leading to the deaths of dozens of people and the poisoning of tens of thousands, including many children who may suffer lifelong consequences. As for Kerry, the former senator, presidential candidate and secretary of state, he has so many crimes in the service of American imperialism on his dossier that it would take another article of this length just to list them all. Suffice it to say that he has supported all the American wars in the Middle East, including the 2003 invasion of Iraq, the US attack on Libya in 2011, and the ongoing interventions in Syria and Yemen, as well as the war in Afghanistan, now more than 20 years old.His selection as climate envoy is a declaration by Biden that US efforts in relation to environmental issues will be driven, first and foremost, by the geopolitical needs of American imperialism, and particularly its predatory aims for the subjugation of China and Russia, which Washington regards as its two biggest military and security rivals.
Schumer calls for Biden to declare climate emergency - Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) said on Monday night that President Biden should consider declaring an emergency when it comes to the climate. "It might be a good idea for President Biden to call a climate emergency," Schumer told MSNBC's Rachel Maddow. Schumer appeared to be referencing Biden making a national emergency declaration, with the Senate leader noting that former President Trump used it for the border wall. "He can do many, many things under the emergency powers ... that he could do without legislation," Schumer added about what authority Biden would have if he used his emergency powers. "Trump used this emergency for a stupid wall, which wasn't an emergency. But if there ever was an emergency, climate is one," Schumer added. Declaring a national emergency would give Biden more leeway on combating climate change, including being able to direct additional funding. Schumer's suggestion is what many Republicans feared would happen the next time a Democrat was in the White House after Trump used the emergency declaration to get more funding for the border wall in the face of congressional opposition. "If today, the national emergency is border security ... tomorrow the national emergency might be climate change," Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) told CNBC in 2019. Schumer's push comes as the president has already issued climate-related executive orders including rejoining the Paris climate agreement. The Washington Post reported on Monday night that he'll also impose a moratorium this week on new federal oil and gas leases. But Democrats have pledged to make climate change a top priority as they have control of both chambers in Congress and the White House for the first time in roughly a decade. Though legislation typically needs 60 votes to clear the Senate, Schumer told MSNBC that Democrats were also studying ways that they could include climate change legislation and parts of Biden's Build Back Better plan under reconciliation. The budget tactic allows some spending-related bills to pass the Senate with only a simple majority. But Democrats are limited in how frequently they could use it. Schumer noted that the first reconciliation bill was likely to go toward coronavirus relief because Democrats want to move quickly and Biden's $1.9 trillion relief proposal has gotten GOP pushback.
Schumer Wants Biden to Bypass Congress on Climate | Rigzone -- Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer called for President Joe Biden to declare a climate emergency, a controversial move that would give the new administration sweeping authority to circumvent Congress to combat global warming. Declaring a climate emergency could unlock new powers for Biden, including the ability to redirect funding for clean energy projects, shut down crude oil exports, suspend offshore drilling and curtail the movement of fossil fuels on pipelines, trains, and ships. Former President Donald Trump used the tactic in February 2019 to divert billions of dollars to start construction on the wall along the southern border after Congress refused to appropriate the funding. “Now, Trump used this emergency for a stupid wall, which wasn’t an emergency,” Schumer said in an interview with MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow that aired on Monday night. “But if there ever was an emergency climate is one. So I would suggest that they explore looking at climate as an emergency, which would give them more flexibility.” Any such move would almost certainly face court challenges -- just as Trump’s wall funding maneuver did. In July 2019, the Supreme Court cleared his administration’s plan to use disputed Pentagon funds to construct more than 100 miles of fencing along the Mexican border. Schumer also said he thought his party could advance major parts of a climate agenda -- even a ban on conventional, gas-powered cars -- through budget reconciliation, a process that allows easier passage of some tax and spending legislation on a simple majority vote. Republicans used the process in 2017 to mandate the sale of Arctic drilling rights. The Senate is now divided 50-50, with Vice President Kamala Harris giving the Democrats a tie-breaking vote. That makes it difficult to enact sweeping new programs through traditional legislation. On most major bills, Democratic leaders will have to navigate around moderates in their own party -- including Senator Joe Manchin of coal-rich West Virginia -- and lure 60 votes including some Republicans to overcome a filibuster. Schumer emphasized that Democrats could use reconciliation to enact a ban on the manufacture of internal combustion engines powered by oil- and plant-based fuels. He has previously said that if Democrats won control of the Senate he would put an ambitious $454 billion plan on the floor to remove gas-powered vehicles from American roads by 2040.
‘We Need to Be Bold,’ Biden Says, Taking the First Steps in a Major Shift in Climate Policy - The sweeping executive orders that President Joe Biden signed on Wednesday will not, by themselves, cut greenhouse gas emissions. He will have to forge consensus in a closely divided Congress, sparring with both progressives and fossil fuel industry advocates to set the nation on course to net-zero carbon pollution by mid-century. But the package of measures signal that even as his new administration grapples with Covid-19 and economic crisis, Biden aims to follow through on his campaign pledge to integrate climate change into decision-making across the federal government. And the orders underscore how dramatic a reversal will be needed to regain the ground lost after the Trump administration’s four years of ignoring the scientific imperative to cut carbon emissions. “This is not a time for small measures,” said Biden. “We need to be bold.”Where former President Donald Trump’s team dismissed the notion that climate was a national security threat, Biden is seeking to quantify the extent of the danger, ordering the first ever National Intelligence Estimate on the security implications of climate change. Where the Trump administration abandoned the U.S. drive for more efficient vehicles, Biden wants to accelerate, with the federal government buying enough clean cars to jump-start the market and create jobs. Where the Trump administration removed protections from vast swaths of land, turning national monuments into fair game for industry, Biden set a national goal of conserving at least 30 percent of the nation’s lands and oceans by 2030. And where the Trump administration sought to loosen all restraints on oil and gas production, Biden is calling for an indefinite halt of new leasing on federal land and waters, as a precursor to ending the dependence of the United States on fossil fuels. Perhaps most striking, Biden, in Wednesday’s executive orders, elevated racial justice and scientific integrity as two pillars of his climate program. It was an implicit condemnation of Trump regulatory rollbacks, of their outsized impact on communities of color and of the former administration’s sidelining of mainstream science.
Biden to place environmental justice at center of sweeping climate plan - President Biden made tackling America’s persistent racial and economic disparities a central part of his plan to combat climate change Wednesday, prioritizing environmental justice for the first time in a generation. As part of an unprecedented push to cut the nation’s greenhouse gas emissions and create new jobs as the United States shifts toward cleaner energy, Biden directed agencies across the federal government to invest in low-income and minority communities that have traditionally borne the brunt of pollution. “Lifting up these communities makes us all stronger as a nation and increases the health of everybody,” Biden said. Biden signed an executive order establishing a White House interagency council on environmental justice, create an office of health and climate equity at the Health and Human Services Department, and form a separate environmental justice office at the Justice Department. The order also directs the government to spend 40 percent of its sustainability investments on disadvantaged communities. “It’s hard,” the president said, referring to communities that are just a fenceline away from polluting facilities. “The hard-hit areas like Cancer Alley in Louisiana, or the Route 9 Corridor in the state of Delaware. That’s why we’re going to work to make sure that they receive 40 percent of the benefits of key federal investments in clean energy, clean water and wastewater infrastructure.” Cathleen Kelly, a fellow who focuses on energy and environment at the Center for American Progress, a liberal think tank, called the actions “a historic commitment.” “The executive order will help to lay out a clear path to implementing President Biden’s climate and justice commitments,” Kelly said. “It will get the gears turning in each agency across the federal government. With Biden in the White House and the current leaders we have in Congress, this year represents an unprecedented opportunity to have executive and legislative action.”
Biden pitching a much vaster climate plan than Obama ever attempted - President Joe Biden is launching his sweeping assault on climate change with a much larger army of allies than Barack Obama had 12 years ago — a coalition that ranges from labor unions, anti-fracking activists and racial justice advocates to leaders of Wall Street, the auto industry and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. But Biden also faces a challenge: holding together this teeming coalition, with its many competing agendas, long enough to break the logjam in Congress that doomed Obama’s efforts to force his policy changes through Congress. He’s also pitching a much vaster climate plan than Obama ever attempted, with calls for trillions of dollars in new spending along with efforts to make combating global warming a prime mission for the entire executive branch. “That big of a tent requires a big bank account, and that really to me is more of the question — how much money are they going to be willing to commit to this?” said Phil Smith, spokesperson for the United Mine Workers of America labor union. ”How much money is Congress going to be willing to let them commit to this?”The factions pushing to influence Biden’s agenda also have far different priorities — including Bernie Sanders-supporting green groups that want to ban all oil and gas drilling, automakers anticipating new markets for electric cars and fossil fuel companies that hope U.S. climate action will leave room for them to continue to produce the oil and gas whose production had boomed under the previous three presidents. Biden drew a sharp line between his plan to fight climate change and the Trump administration, which rolled back regulations, denigrated the science and turned its back on the global efforts to rein in the greenhouse gases pumping up the Earth’s temperatures. Wednesday’s flurry of executive orders have their roots in the policies he rolled out during the campaign and the pledge to make climate change policy one of the administration's top priorities.
Sen. Joe Manchin will determine how much President Biden can achieve on climate - The Washington Post --He’s a coal country native, born to a family of mining town mayors. As West Virginia governor, he sued the Environmental Protection Agency. He has scuttled efforts to regulate greenhouse gas emissions, criticized the Paris climate agreement and famously shot a copy of a cap-and-trade carbon proposal full of lead.Now the fate of the most ambitious climate agenda ever proposed by an American president rests in his hands.Sen. Joe Manchin III, who is set to become chairman of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, is a conservative Democrat from one of the reddest states in the country. In a Senate split 50-50, Manchin is also a crucial swing vote on contentious legislation, defining the limits of what President Biden and the Democrats can accomplish. Over the weekend, he led a bipartisan, bicameral group of lawmakers in talks with the White House over its proposed $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief package.But perhaps few of Biden’s priorities will be as polarizing as the environment. The president ran on a $2 trillion plan to transition the U.S. economy toward renewable-energy sources and cut the planet-warming pollution that comes from oil, gas and coal. Biden has framed his proposal as a jobs plan, but the fossil fuel industry — including coal companies — warns of economic fallout: lost jobs and tax revenue and higher consumer costs.Manchin has already said he doesn’t support eliminating the filibuster as a way to enable Democrats to pass bills without Republican votes. If Democrats are to fight climate change, he wants them to do it the old fashioned way — his way. That means deals forged through compromise, the gears of government greased by long-standing relationships and the occasional Mason jar of moonshine served during negotiations.“I want to work with them and hear all different sides of it, from the environmental to the industrial base,” Manchin said in a recent interview.But the physics of greenhouse gases accumulating in the atmosphere are nonnegotiable. Scientists say nations need to dramatically cut emissions to avoidcatastrophic warming that would come with its own economic toll: devastating fires and floods, water scarcity, displacement, disease, and death.
The Battle Lines Are Forming in Biden’s Climate Push - — As President Biden prepares on Wednesday to open an ambitious effort to confront climate change, powerful and surprising forces are arrayed at his back. Automakers are coming to accept that much higher fuel economy standards are their future; large oil and gas companies have said some curbs on greenhouse pollution lifted by former President Donald J. Trump should be reimposed; shareholders are demanding corporations acknowledge and prepare for a warmer, more volatile future, and a youth movement is driving the Democratic Party to go big to confront the issue. But what may well stand in the president’s way is political intransigence from senators from fossil-fuel states in both parties. An evenly divided Senate has given enormous power to any single senator, and one in particular, Joe Manchin III of West Virginia, who will lead the Senate Energy Committee and who came to the Senate as a defender of his state’s coal industry. Without a doubt, signals from the planet itself are lending urgency to the cause. Last year was the hottest year on record, capping the hottest decade on record. Already, scientists say the irreversible effects of climate change have started to sweep across the globe, from record wildfires in California and Australia to rising sea levels, widespread droughts and stronger storms. “President Biden has called climate change the No. 1 issue facing humanity,” Gov. Jay Inslee of Washington said. “He understands all too well that meeting this test requires nothing less than a full-scale mobilization of American government, business, and society.” Mr. Biden has already staffed his government with more people concerned with climate change than any other president before him. On his first day in office, he rejoined the Paris Agreement on climate change. But during the campaign, he tried to walk a delicate line on fracking for natural gas, saying he would stop it on public lands but not on private property, where most of it takes place.
Winters: ‘Hundreds of billions’ needs to move to firms combating carbon emissions - A large and "credible" carbon market is needed to transfer hundreds of billions of dollars into assets involved in reducing global emissions, according to Standard Chartered CEO Bill Winters. Winters chairs the Institute for International Finance's Taskforce on Scaling Voluntary Carbon Markets, launched by U.N.'s Special Envoy for Climate Action Mark Carney. The group aims to build a voluntary carbon market to enable corporations to reach net zero emissions, and has suggested that this will need to scale at least 15 times, and potentially 160 times, its current level. These markets allow the trading of emissions allowances and effectively puts a price on carbon. Speaking to CNBC from the World Economic Forum's virtual Davos Agenda event, Winters acknowledged that since large companies like Standard Chartered cannot practically reduce their carbon output to zero, they can offset their output by purchasing assets which aid global efforts to combat climate change. "What that really means is we are going to have to transfer some of our money into the pockets of people that actually remove carbon from the environment, or who can go that extra step in terms of investing in technologies or processes that will reduce the carbon emissions from existing business models," Winters said. "We estimate that we will need tens of billions of dollars, eventually hundreds of billions of dollars, to transfer from people like us to people who are actually able to make a difference in terms of affecting the ultimate outcome of carbon emissions." A "robust and liquid and credible" carbon market will be necessary to facilitate these transactions between private buyers and sellers over the coming years, Winters said, voicing hopes that this action from the private sector will also help to drive governments toward policies aimed at reducing carbon emissions. The taskforce is seeking to establish common standards, a verification regime and governance structure to ensure market transparency, and will reveal more details about these efforts on Wednesday. "We have had to work very quickly to take these ideas and this framework and turn it into an actual market that everybody in the world can participate in with confidence that the money that they are investing is going into the hands of people that are really solving this problem," Winters said.
Largest-Ever Climate Poll: 64% Say Climate Change Is a Global Emergency 
- Taking an unconventional approach to conduct the largest-ever poll on climate change, the United Nations' Development Program and the University of Oxford surveyed 1.2 million people across 50 countries from October to December of 2020 through ads distributed in mobile gaming apps.The survey found that 64 percent of people think climate change is a global emergency and only 10 percent think world leaders are doing enough to address it. The number of people who considered climate change an emergency was even higher – 69 percent – among those ages 14 to 18.The survey also asked respondents to rank 18 specific policies to address climate change, and found that the most popular policies were restoring forests, using renewable energy, and using climate-friendly farming techniques. "There is a groundswell of people that are saying even during a pandemic that climate change is an emergency and here's how we want to solve it," Cassie Flynn, UNDP's strategic adviser on climate change and head of its Climate Promise initiative, told Al Jazeera.As reported by The Independent: More than 30 million invites to the survey were issued to people when they played a popular mobile game – such as Words With Friends, Angry Birds, Dragon City or Subway Surfers.The findings were weighted by polling experts at Oxford University to be as representative as possible for each country.Cassie Flynn, the UNDP's strategic adviser on climate change, told The Guardian: "The voice of the people is clear – they want action on climate change."If 64 per cent of the world's people are believing in a climate emergency then it helps governments to respond to the climate crisis as an emergency."The key message is that, as governments are making these high-stakes decisions, the people are with them."
Jennifer Granholm, Energy Nominee, Stresses Climate Action - Former Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm is expected to refocus the Department of Energy on climate change if she's confirmed as the next secretary of energy. In a confirmation hearing Wednesday before the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, Granholm echoed President Biden's emphasis on new jobs created through achieving his goal of net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. "I am obsessed with creating good-paying jobs in America," Granholm said in her opening statement. She cited her time as Michigan's governor when two of the largest automakers had declared bankruptcy amid the Great Recession. She worked with the Obama administration on a bailout package that encouraged them to turn to cleaner technologies such as electric vehicles. Several times during the hearing, Granholm mentioned she drives a Chevrolet Bolt EV and praised the car's acceleration. Environmental groups generally support Granholm's nomination and look forward to the agency improving energy efficiency standards for everything from light bulbs to stoves and furnaces. Former President Donald Trump made it a personal crusade to weaken such standards, even targeting showerheads in his last days in office. "She'll also be inheriting a backlog of work and a shortage of career staff resulting from the Trump administration's efforts to erode the department's clean energy activities," said Arjun Krishnaswami, policy analyst at the Natural Resources Defense Council. Article continues after sponsor message
BlackRock tells CEOs to prepare for a zero-emissions economy - Larry Fink is telling companies to prepare for a zero-emissions world. The CEO of BlackRock, the world's largest asset manager, told CEOs at its portfolio companies to outline their plans for getting to net-zero carbon emissions by 2050 and to show that their board of directors has reviewed the plans. "There is no company whose business model won't be profoundly affected by the transition to a net zero economy – one that emits no more carbon dioxide than it removes from the atmosphere by 2050, the scientifically-established threshold necessary to keep global warming well below 2ºC," Fink wrote in his annual letter to CEOs on Tuesday. BlackRock last year made waves when it said it would put environmental sustainability at the center of its investment strategy, including divesting from fossil-fuel producers. The move by Blackrock, with a portfolio over $7 trillion, effectively pressures other finance firms to increase their own climate commitments, according to environmental advocates."The signal is becoming undeniable to the boardroom that mainstream finance truly regards climate risk as financial risk, and it is their business to create and disclose credible transition plans," said Ben Ratner, senior director of EDF+Business, a partnership between the Environmental Defense Fund and businesses pledging to decarbonize.Ratner said that BlackRock's call for specific plans could prod companies into revealing details that they have so far avoided disclosing.
25 states promised to stay in the Paris Agreement. Did they follow through? - Four years ago, just hours after former President Donald Trump promised to pull the United States out of the Paris Agreement, the governors of California, Washington, and New York announced the formation of the “U.S. Climate Alliance” — a group of states committed to following through on the country’s broken promises. “If the president is going to be AWOL in this profoundly important human endeavor,” Governor Jerry Brown of California said at the time, “then California and other states will step up.”Today, the alliance boasts 24 states and one territory: Puerto Rico. All have vowed to collectively cut emissions 26 to 28 percent by 2025, compared to 2005 levels. Many have set ambitious goals to cover their states in wind turbines, electrify cars and trucks, and slash the amount of dangerous pollutants in the air. With President Joe Biden in the White House, and with the U.S. back in the Paris Agreement, hopes are high for action on the climate crisis. But the states’ struggles over the past four years demonstrate that it may be a long road ahead.Most of the states that have promised sweeping emissions cuts by 2025 — which include the U.S. Climate Alliance members and the state of Louisiana — are still off-track to meet the U.S. commitment under the Paris Agreement, according to an analysis by the Environmental Defense Fund released last month. The study, based on data from the research firm Rhodium Group, found that if the country recovers fairly quickly from COVID-19, U.S. emissions in those states would only fall 18 percent by 2025, missing the goal of cutting emissions by 26 percent.
Let’s try this (climate change bill) again -WITH LITTLE FANFARE and no drama, the House and Senate on Thursday enacted and sent to the governor the same climate change bill he vetoed on January 14. The Senate approved the bill on a series of voice votes and the House enacted it by a vote of 144-14, with 13 of the 31 Republicans voting no along with Rep. Colleen Garry, a Democrat from Dracut. The last time the governor got the bill it was at the end of the 2019-2020 legislative session – too late for him to make amendments and send it back to the Legislature for action, so he pocket-vetoed it. This time he is expected to amend a number of sections he objects to, including the requirement that the state cut emissions 50 percent below 1990 levels by 2030. The administration favors a 45 percent reduction. It’s unclear whether the Legislature will insist on the version sent to the governor.
D.C. Circuit Court Stays EPA Action Granting Refinery Waivers - In Washington, D.C., in response to an emergency motion filed by the Renewable Fuels Association, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit ordered that EPA’s action on Tuesday to grant three small refinery petitions must be “administratively stayed pending further order of the court.” The order prevents EPA from further processing the small refinery exemptions, at least until the court has had “sufficient opportunity to consider the emergency motion for stay.” EPA has until February 3 to respond to the motion, and any replies are due to the court by February 10. The stay comes roughly 36 hours after EPA approved two 2019 waiver petitions and one 2018 petition, which—if allowed to stand—would erase another 260 million gallons of Renewable Fuel Standard blending requirements. “We took this action immediately to prevent the agency from doing further economic damage to an industry already reeling from the impacts of COVID-19,” said RFA President and CEO Geoff Cooper on Tuesday when the motion was filed. “To avert additional harm to the ethanol industry, EPA must be prevented from returning any compliance credits (RINs) to the unidentified refiners who were given these last-minute exemption handouts.”
Shell agrees deal to buy electric car-charging company ubitricity - Shell has agreed to buy one of Europe’s largest on-street electric car-charging companies to accelerate its move into low-carbon transport. The oil company, which faces growing pressure to cut its carbon emissions, expects the deal to buy the German car-charger ubitricity to be finalised by the end of the year. The car-charging network includes more than 2,700 charge points across the UK, or 13% of the existing market share, and more than 1,500 charge points across Germany and France. István Kapitány, the head of Shell’s global mobility business, said ubitricity’s work with local authorities to fit car chargers to existing street infrastructure such as lamp-posts and bollards would help make owning an electric vehicle more convenient. “On-street options such as the lamp-post charging offered by ubitricity will be key for those who live and work in cities or have limited access to off-street parking,” he said. “Whether at home, at work or on the go, we want to provide our customers with accessible and affordable EV [electric vehicle] charging options so they can charge up no matter where they are.” The deal is set to accelerate the race to corner the market in electric vehicle charging, which is gaining pace among energy companies because of the UK’s plan to ban the sale of new fossil fuel vehicles by 2030. Shell was one of the first energy companies to set out plans for “green” forecourts in the UK, which offer electric charging, hydrogen cell refuelling and biofuels rather than petrol and diesel. It also installed the UK’s first 150kW electric vehicle charger, in the summer of 2019, which can charge a car in half an hour.
All EVs by 2035? Report shows roadblocks -- Monday, January 25, 2021 -- Even as anticipation builds that President Biden will go big on building electric vehicle infrastructure, a new study out of California shows the need might be bigger than anyone thought. This study, an update by the California Energy Commission on the state's EV charging needs, is the first to try to game out the implications of Gov. Gavin Newsom's earthshaking order to ban the sale of internal-combustion engines by 2035. The short answer: Charging stations will need to propagate like rabbits, and electricity demand will drastically shift. The Golden State alone will need to have a total of 1.5 million EV chargers by 2030, or three times what Biden promised for the entire nation while on the campaign trail. It is unclear where the money will come from. Furthermore, a massive 15% surge of electricity demand could arrive at midnight, when people are charging during off-peak hours. That could prompt a wholesale rethinking of how to move electricity around. The conclusions show "we need to supercharge our efforts," said Nancy Sutley, the chief sustainability officer of the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power, on a webinaryesterday about California's 2035 goal. "The needs," she added, "are evolving more quickly than we thought even a few months ago." The California Energy Commission prepares the report every other year. This one takes stock of an EV landscape that has changed dramatically in the past few years. California policymakers looking to dial down transportation emissions by 2035 understand that ride-hailing companies, like Uber and Lyft, have an outsize role in climate pollution. So do medium- and heavy-duty electric trucks, which are racing to market with a huge and poorly understood impact on the grid. California, with its 40 million citizens and aggressive car emissions rules, has long been at the bleeding edge of clean transportation. A succession of executive orders ratcheted up its ambition on electric cars. The order unveiled by Newsom (D) in September — as the state choked on smoke from a catastrophic fire season — takes the impact on fueling and the electric grid to a whole new level. California's experience is instructive for the rest of the country because others are starting to follow its lead. New Jersey and Massachusetts have started fashioning rules that match California's, and Washington state is reconsidering an effort that failed last year Energywire, Feb. 14, 2020).
Biden plan to electrify federal fleet will boost EV market, but many questions remain, experts say -- President Joe Biden on Monday called to transition the federal government's vehicle fleet to all-electric and American-made, spurring optimism within the electric vehicle (EV) sector for increased adoption of emissions-free cars.As part of an executive order announced on Wednesday, Biden directed "federal agencies to procure carbon pollution-free electricity and clean, zero-emission vehicles to create good-paying, union jobs and stimulate clean energy industries."There were about 645,000 vehicles in the federal fleet in 2019, according to the General Services Administration. Electrifying all of them could take a decade or more, according to experts, and that process will help bring stability to the burgeoning EV marketplace. "The federal government also owns an enormous fleet of vehicles, which we’re going to replace with clean, electric vehicles made right here in America," Biden said Monday. He added that the switch would represent "the largest mobilization of public investment in procurement, infrastructure, and R&D since World War Two."EV advocates and analysts highlighted the significance of Biden's EV actions. "The federal government stepping in as a major buyer will have an enormous impact on the market," said Chris Nelder, a manager with Rocky Mountain Institute's (RMI) mobility practice. "It will create demand for all kinds of electrified vehicles."A plug-in federal fleet would be "a big thing," said Plug in America Executive Director Joel Levin. "For manufacturers, it obviously means a significant increase in demand — and a reliable one. Manufacturers like selling to fleets because they are big purchasers, and they're more stable than individual customers."The federal government embracing EVs could help speed broader adoption among consumers, experts say."The government stepping forward and starting to electrify government fleets is a positive on a number of different fronts," said Gary Rackliffe, vice president of market development and innovation at Hitachi ABB Power Grids. Along with making economic sense, "it's an important signal to the country." "When the federal government leads by example, it can accelerate market transformation, which is also strategic for assuring American competitiveness,
"'Not slowing down': Solar will be cheapest power resource in US by 2030: WoodMac Based on developing technology already in the pipeline, a new report by Wood Mackenzie projects that solar costs will fall another 15-25% over the next decade, potentially making solar the lowest-cost power resource in all U.S. states by 2030. Rapid adoption of solar energy allowed the industry to scale and cut costs much faster than analysts in the early 2010s expected would be possible, according to Ravi Manghani, head of solar research for Wood MacKenzie. Demand for solar continues to exceed installation capacity, and could continue to do so for some time, according to Manghani. But without affordable storage options, he said, solar installations could end up essentially giving power away. How cheap could solar power get? So cheap, Wood MacKenzie's Manghani said, that someday power generators may let solar energy "go to waste" by installing more solar capacity than needed and simply turning off the excess generation when it's not. "It's not a bad thing, because at the end of the day, if the cost is still below the other resources, you might still go with solar," Manghani said. In the early 2010s, Manghani said, analysts who watch the solar industry anticipated slow but steady cost reductions as the industry grew. What they didn't see coming, he said, was the exponential rate at which the industry would reduce costs as it scaled rapidly. "That's the most fascinating part," he said. "The industry, or even industry observers such as [Wood Mackenzie] underestimated the potential of scaling." These cost declines might make one think that the age of falling solar prices is behind us, Manghani said, but he doesn't believe that is the case. "The cost decline trend is not slowing down any time soon," he said. "Yes, there are some externalities that may change, on a short-term basis, but the level of innovation we've seen in the industry makes us feel good about the cost reduction possibilities that exist." But the industry must also manage a balancing act, Manghani said. Until the industry has an affordable, viable solution to storing and shifting the availability of variable solar energy, there is a chance that solar could essentially grow itself out of a job. In this scenario, Manghani said, demand for solar could plummet and drag prices along with it. At present, Manghani said, this scenario seems unlikely, with storage on track to fill the coming need. But in the meantime, he said, the industry will experience another growing pain: there is currently greater demand for solar than there is capacity to deploy it, and bottlenecks have begun to build up around permitting and interconnection. Consequently, although the actual equipment and technology continues to grow more affordable, Manghani said overall PPA prices have actually begun to rise.
Ohio regulators sign off on Madison County solar farm - State regulators have signed off on construction of a solar farm in Madison County, the second solar project to be approved in central Ohio in a month.The 180-megawatt Madison Fields Solar Project in Pike Township will take up about 1,000 acres of a 1,932-acre project area near Rosedale, according to the Ohio Power Siting Board. The project is one of about two dozen solar farms in various stages of development in Ohio. Project developer Savion expects construction to start in the spring of 2022 with the project to be completed in June 2023. Last month, the board approved a 200-megawatt Savion project for Deer Creek and Perry townships, near the village of Williamsport in Pickaway County. The project will occupy 1,375 acres of a 2,276-acre project area. Construction of that project will start in August with the project coming online in 2022.
Environmental Priorities -- Solar Energy and Land Conservation -- Compete in the Legislature -Competing environmental priorities will come to a head again in Hartford as lawmakers consider whether to add more regulations in an effort to prevent new solar projects from impacting tracts of farmland and forest.The General Assembly’s Environment Committee agreed on Wednesday to consider legislation this session on the siting of solar projects on certain farmlands and forests. As part of a larger energy bill passed in 2017, the legislature adopted regulations requiring that the Connecticut Department of Agriculture review any solar project proposed for prime farmland with a total generating capacity of more than 2 megawatts, and that the Department of Energy and Environmental Protection review any solar project proposed for core forest land. Lawmakers have introduced legislation on the topic, including State Rep. Maria Horn, D-Salisbury, who proposed a bill that would reduce the threshold for review on prime farmland to 1 megawatt, establish a fund to purchase conservation easements on farmland to offset losses to solar, and would require a bond for decommissioning solar projects on prime farmland as defined by state and federal rules. The 2017 law has not resolved a struggle between land conservation advocates and advocates of expanding generation of renewable energy — competing interests that recently came to a head in southeastern Connecticut when the Connecticut Siting Council finally approved a 15 megawatt projectthat will require cutting 75 acres of core forest in Waterford, despite years of opposition from local activists, who say they are concerned about the impact on water quality in area. Last November, the council also approved a 3.2 megawatt project in Bristol that will cover 11.2 acres of prime farmland.
Vineyard Wind resumes push to build offshore wind farm 15 miles south of Martha’s Vineyard - Officials at Vineyard Wind on Monday told the Biden administration that the company would like to resubmit the plans for a wind farm 15 miles south of Martha’s Vineyard that it yanked from federal review in early December. After the latest in a string of permitting delays imposed on the project by the Trump administration, Vineyard Wind on Dec. 1 announced that it was pulling the 800-megawatt offshore wind project out of the federal review pipeline in order to complete an internal study on whether the decision to use a certain type of turbine would warrant changes to the project’s construction and operations plan. On Monday, less than a week into a new Biden administration that has signaled an interest in offshore wind advancement, Vineyard Wind said it determined that no changes are needed and that “the Federal Permitting Process can be Completed” by the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management. “Since there are no changes required to the COP, we expect that BOEM can finalize their review based on the extensive analysis and studies of the project over the last three years,” Vineyard Wind CEO Lars Pedersen said. “We look forward to completing the permitting phase of the project and to finalizing the engineering, contracting and financing of the first utility scale offshore windfarm in the US.” It remains unclear how the new Biden administration will treat the Vineyard Wind project. When developers of the Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners and Avangrid Renewables joint venture pulled the project from review in December, Trump’s administration officially declared Vineyard Wind’s federal permitting process “terminated” with a posting published in the federal register. The developers projected an air of confidence in their announcement Monday morning, declaring that its decision to rescind its request to withdraw its COP -- a request which the Trump administration appears to have already granted -- would have the effect of “allowing the federal permitting process to resume.” Vineyard Wind also said it remains “slated to become the first large-scale offshore wind farm in the United States” and still expects to financially close in the second half of 2021 and to begin delivering clean wind energy to Massachusetts in 2023.
Aiming to ease fishing industry’s concerns, Mills proposes moratorium on offshore wind - Portland Press Herald --In a bid to defuse opposition and avoid conflict with Maine’s fishing interests, Gov. Janet Mills proposed a series of actions Monday to advance a floating wind research project planned for far offshore in federal waters, while protecting the near-shore waters valued for lobstering and coastal tourism.In a letter to licensed commercial fishermen, Mills announced that she will ask the Legislature to approve a 10-year moratorium on new offshore wind projects in waters managed by the state, which extend three miles from shore. The ban, however, wouldn’t include the already permitted New England Aqua Ventus demonstration site off Monhegan island. That venture, which would feature a single turbine atop a floating platform pioneered at the University of Maine, is being developed in a $100 million partnership with two global ocean energy companies, Diamond Offshore Wind and RWE Renewables.No other applications are pending for wind projects in state waters, Mills noted. But it was clear Monday by the reactions from representatives of the lobster, ground fishing and scallop fisheries that fishermen are skeptical and wary of the state’s efforts. Fishermen already are facing a variety of pressures on how and where they operate, from restrictions aimed at reducing right whale entanglement to rebuilding stocks of haddock and cod. To them, turbines anywhere in the gulf take away somebody’s productive fishing area. “What we’re talking about is replacing food production with energy production,” said Ben Martens, executive director of the Maine Coast Fishermen’s Alliance. Asked if he sees room to compromise in siting the offshore research project, which would operate under a 20-year permit, Martens said it would be difficult. “I don’t know how the industry can come to the table and say, ‘We’re going to lose fishing grounds for the next generation,’ ” he said.
Indiana Republicans want to regulate universities’ clean energy investments -A new element of controversy surfaced in an already contentious debate in the Indiana legislature this week, as an amendment that could limit state-funded universities’ investments in clean energy was added to a bill (HB 1191) regarding electrification of home heating. On Tuesday, the state’s House utilities and energy committee passed a bill that would prohibit local governments from requiring that new construction not use natural gas for home heating. A number of municipalities in California and the Northeast have passed such measures to promote electrification of home heating, though no such proposals currently exist in Indiana. The bill passed 9-4 along party lines in the Republican-dominated committee, with an amendment added that potentially restricts state-funded higher education institutions’ clean energy investments. As bill co-author Rep. Jim Pressel explained in Tuesday’s hearing, the measure would mandate that investments in projects like energy-efficient new buildings and electric vehicles be cost-effective, including with a 10-year payback time. Legislators were confused about the amendment’s contents and the reason for its inclusion, as they made clear in the hearing. Bill author Rep. Edmond Soliday said the amendment wouldn’t necessarily hamper the construction of individual projects, but it would restrict universities’ boards from adopting policies on clean energy investments. Pressel said that, for example, a university could not decide that all new construction would be built with adobe and windows positioned for maximum sunlight. Rep. Matt Pierce, a Democrat and critic of the bill, said the amendment would add unnecessary and costly bureaucratic requirements and questioned its origin. “I’m just trying to figure out which contractor got mad about not getting a contract from a university and decided to come in here and seek relief from the General Assembly,” said Pierce at the hearing. “Where did this amendment come from? Who wanted this amendment?”“Is there evidence of trustees being fiscally irresponsible in their procurements?” he added. Pressel said he had no complaints about university spending decisions, but, “times do change, things happen, this is just a little safeguard maybe.”
Transmission trouble: Pipeline woes presage challenges for clean energy buildout - President Joe Biden's $2 trillion plan for the U.S. economy includes a renewable energy infrastructure build-out expected to help target carbon-free electricity by 2035 and net-zero economywide emissions by 2050. But the decarbonization goals may not keep clean energy projects from facing the same headwinds that recently upended the oil and gas pipeline industry under the pro-fossil-fuel Trump administration. "People hate infrastructure; it really doesn't matter what it is," "If you are building a wind facility on sage grouse habitat, you are going to have just as many people freaking out about that as there are about Mountain Valley [pipeline]." Pipeline project opponents in recent years found ways to require more environmental analyses under the National Environmental Policy Act, or NEPA, which also have the effect of delaying projects and driving up costs. During 2020, major legal setbacks forced Dominion Energy Inc. and Duke Energy Corp. to cancel their Atlantic Coast natural gas pipeline project and Williams Cos. Inc. to scrap its Constitution gas pipeline project, as the Equitrans Midstream Corp.-led Mountain Valley Pipeline LLC faced additional delays. Similar to the way environmental groups have litigated pipelines' Federal Energy Regulatory Commission certificates in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, landowners opposed to interstate renewable transmission projects are looking to state courts to overturn public utility commission approvals. In Missouri, for example, opponents continue to fight Invenergy Transmission LLC's Grain Belt Express even after the state supreme court upheld the Missouri Public Service Commission's 2019 approval of the project. The line would run roughly 780 miles from western Kansas, through Missouri and Illinois, and into Indiana. The Missouri Farm Bureau and other groups contend that Grain Belt Express does not qualify for power of eminent domain since it is neither a public utility nor an electrical corporation.While regulators in Kansas and Indiana have also signed off on the project that would deliver largely wind-generated power to customers in Kansas, Missouri and states further east, an Illinois appellate court in 2018 reversed the state commission's approval. Still, the Invenergy LLC subsidiary plans to begin construction prior to Illinois regulatory authorization.
Allegheny County inks 35-year deal to use hydropower generated in Emsworth for government buildings - The power used by the Allegheny County Courthouse, jail and other government buildings will be generated by hydroelectric energy harnessed from the Emsworth Lock and Dam, county Executive Rich Fitzgerald said Thursday. Fitzgerald was joined by Paul Jacob, CEO of Boston-based Rye Development, which has an office in Downtown Pittsburgh, and other officials as they celebrated a milestone toward using more climate-friendly energy sources. The project has been in the works for several years and was the second piece of good environmental news shared by the county recently. On Tuesday, the county announced that all eight of its air quality monitors met federal air quality standards — something that hadn’t been accomplished since the standards were put into place more than two decades ago. “This is a historic week in Allegheny County,” Fitzgerald said during Thursday’s virtual news conference. Both moves show the county’s commitment to being stewards of the environment, Fitzgerald said. The county has inked a 35-year agreement to buy power generated by the Emsworth plant from Rye. It’s expected to generate 17.8 megawatts, Jacob said. Excess power will be supplied to other entities, Jacob said. It’s a $50 million project that’s one of 10 hydropower projects in southwestern Pennsylvania on the Allegheny, Monongahela and Ohio rivers in coming years.
This Finger Lakes power plant wants to add a Bitcoin mine - With water being traded on the stock exchange, the Finger Lakes continues to fight to protect the largest water body solely within the state’s borders — Seneca Lake — from a savvy new Bitcoin deal that has far-reaching implications across New York.Greenidge, a 1950s-era relic of New York’s past, is operating at less than half the efficiency of more modern natural gas power plants, and is a direct assault on the intent of Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s nationally leading Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act — to reduce greenhouse gas levels 85 percent by 2050.This previously mothballed coal-burning plant along Seneca’s western shores was originally transitioned to burn natural gas and serve as a “peaker plant” for public use when additional energy was needed. Since getting approval, however, Atlas Holdings Inc. has applied to expand its energy production — not for public consumption but to fuel its privately owned Bitcoin mining operation. If approved, the facility would generate enough energy to power 93,000 homes, emit more greenhouse gases that it has in the past, and completely evade Cuomo’s CLCPA requirements by operating “behind the meter.”What damages our fragile ecosystem in the Finger Lakes will also damage our agritourism industry. Discharging water at up to 108 degrees into the Keuka Outlet, which empties directly into Seneca Lake, this project would stress trout and other cold-water fish and increase risks to annual spawning.The hot water will also increase incidences of harmful algal blooms, exacerbating an already-troublesome issue for the Finger Lakes. Furthermore, the system is not using protective measures to prevent fish, eggs, and other aquatic life from being killed at its water intake location.In addition to harming Seneca Lake, a drinking water source for over 100,000 people, this facility will increase noise levels, not only in the surrounding area but also across the lake, since noise travels easily across open water. Traditional data centers prohibit the use of Bitcoin servers because they make so much noise, use too much energy and generate too much heat.Greenidge received $2 million in state regional economic development funds in 2015 to build the gas pipeline extension to bring gas to the plant. Now Greenidge is saddling our region with all of the environmental and economic risk and little to no reward.
With Biden in charge, N.J.’s clean air advocates hope the days of diesel are numbered - For years, clean air advocates in New Jersey have put a bullseye on some of the state’s most common polluters: Diesel trucks, trains and ships. The transportation sector is the Garden State’s largest source of air pollution, and communities living near heavy traffic have borne the brunt of that burden. As a result, they’ve been left with higher rates of respiratory disease, and likely have been made more vulnerable to COVID-19. For four years, former President Donald Trump’s administration showed little interest in making transportation cleaner, and often took action to loosen pollution regulations instead. That effort was highlighted by two high-profile moves: A lowering of national fuel efficiency standards, and a failed attempt to keep older, dirtier diesel engines on the road. But now, with Trump out and President Joe Biden in, activists are expressing a new hope. Last week, days before the White House changed hands, a national coalition of environmental justice groups sent a letter to Biden urging him to address long-standing air pollution problems tied to fossil fuel-powered engines. The main request? Replace the medium- and heavy-duty diesel, gasoline and natural gas-powered vehicles dominating highways, railroads and ports with electrics and other zero emissions alternatives. “For decades, the freight industry has bombarded our communities with harmful pollution and other impacts,” the coalition’s letter read. “Addressing the rampant environmental injustice from this industry and fulfilling your promises requires regulations and policies to advance zero-emissions solutions powered by zero emissions power generation. We cannot continue to rely on combustion equipment, which produces large quantities of pollution in our communities.” Melissa Miles, the executive director of the New Jersey Environmental Justice Alliance, said the federal government should do all it can to hasten the transportation sector’s transition away from diesel. “We see that there is a certain degree of technology that exists when it comes to medium and heavy duty trucks,” Miles said. “But more research has to be done, more incentives, more directives to help the industry become cleaner.”
Biden Has An Ambitious Agenda. What Will It Mean For The Ohio Valley? - Biden has outlined his plans for economic aid, and major investments in clean energy and new infrastructure — much of it planned for the early months of his presidency. We asked Ohio Valley ReSource listeners for their thoughts on the new administration’s agenda, and what will be most important for their communities. The responses show a mix of hope for some help on long standing areas of need and anxiety about the potential costs associated with rapid change. “This country’s infrastructure needs overhauling,” one listener wrote. “It’s a great way to jump the economy.” The economy was the top concern our listeners identified, and some remarked on the connection between the economic recovery and recovery from the pandemic. “Getting the pandemic under control will help get people back to work and help out [the] economy and small businesses,” a listener wrote. Listener comments also reflected both the urgency of addressing climate change, and the uncertainty about what such action might mean for an energy-producing region long tied to fossil fuel extraction. One listener said a transition to renewables is imperative because “climate change [is] an existential threat.” Another expressed concern about what Biden’s clean energy plans mean for the jobs still tied to fossil fuels and “what effect their energy and climate policies are going to have on the middle class.”
THE DIRTY TRUTH About Utility Climate Pledges (pdf) Sierra Club - To protect our planet and communities from disaster, we must do everything we can to limit global warming to 1.5°C (2.7°F). This next decade is critical to our chances to decarbonize and hit an emissions pathway consistent with a 1.5°C future. While this is a daunting timeline, the clean energy alternatives are available to make this transition on the needed time frame. There is no time to waste and no excuse for failing to act. Cleaning up the electricity sector is the key to economy-wide decarbonization, and electric utilities have a large role to play in making sure we are on the path toward a livable future. Many utilities have stated climate goals. However, those goals are meaningless greenwashing without utilities taking the necessary actions to decarbonize. There are three key things utilities must do to enable us to avoid catastrophic warming: They must retire existing coal plants by 2030, terminate plans to build new gas plants, and build clean energy much faster. In this report, we examine utilities’ performance on each of these three necessary actions. Our analysis is based on integrated resource plans (IRPs) and major announcements for the 50 utilities that remain the most invested in fossil fuel generation.3 These include investorowned utilities, power authorities (like the Tennessee Valley Authority), generation and transmission co-ops, and large municipal utilities. Overall, we examine plans for 79 operating companies owned by 50 different parent companies, as detailed in the appendices.4 These 50 companies own half of all remaining coal and gas generation in the nation — 1,310 million megawatt-hours (MWh) of coal and gas generation.5 We find there is a stark difference between utilities’ existing coal and gas generation (1,310 million MWh) and how much clean energy they plan to add this decade (only 250 million MWh). In other words, despite 33 of these companies having a public climate goal, there is an enormous gap between utilities’ current practices and what they need to do to protect people and the planet. We scored companies based on their plans to retire coal-fired power plants, stop building new gas plants, and build clean energy, all of which are necessary steps to keep warming under 1.5°C. We find that, apart from a few leaders, these companies are falling short on all three of these necessary actions.
Many U.S. utilities plan to hang on to their coal plants for a decade: Sierra Club (Reuters) - The most coal-dependent U.S. utilities plan to keep around 75% of their coal-fired power plants running for another decade, according to an analysis by the environmental group Sierra Club released on Monday, posing a threat to the climate. The report here, which reviewed the plans of the 50 U.S. utilities most invested in coal and gas generation, reflects some of the obstacles President Joe Biden will need to overcome to achieve his administration's goal to decarbonize the power sector by 2035.The Sierra Club analysis of utility public filings found that the companies, which together account for 43% of the nation’s power production, have committed to retiring just a quarter of their coal capacity by 2030.It also found the companies plan to add new wind and solar capacity over that period amounting to less than one-fifth of their current coal and gas generation. It said the study shows companies are not moving fast enough to transition away from fossil fuels and are unlikely to reduce greenhouse gas emissions quickly enough to align the United States with the Paris agreement goal of limiting global warming to 1.5°C, to avoid the worst impacts of climate change. Biden has re-engaged the United States with the Paris deal after former President Donald Trump withdrew from it. The U.S. power sector contributes about 27% of the nation’s greenhouse gas emissions, making it the second largest source behind transportation, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
Coal Communities Across the Nation Want Biden to Fund an Economic Transition to Clean Power - Coal-state economic development groups, labor leaders and environmentalists are asking President Joe Biden’s administration to fund a “just transition” from coal to renewable energy, given his focus on climate change, environmental justice and racial and economic equity. Thirteen groups from areas as diverse as West Virginia and Kentucky in Appalachia to the Navajo Nation in Arizona, along with their national partners, want the immediate creation of a White House Office of Economic Transition, focused on rebuilding the economies of coal communities. They also asked the administration last week in a letter to create a task force on communities dependent for jobs on coal and power plants. “What we are saying is we recognize the inevitable shifts in the energy economy landscape as a result of the measures we must take to address climate change,” said Peter Hille, president of the Mountain Association, a nonprofit that serves counties in the coalfield of eastern Kentucky and is working for a new economy there. “The justice we are calling for is represented by the new investments needed to help these coal-impacted communities.”Biden entered the White House last week with the most ambitious climate agenda of any president, having put forth a $2 trillion plan that seeks to tie curbing heat-trapping greenhouse gases with economic growth in renewable energy sources like solar and wind power. On his first day, the president moved to rejoin the Paris climate accord and directed his administration to review and begin rolling back more than 100 rules on the environment put in place by the Trump administration, many of which benefited the fossil fuel industry. Biden’s plan includes the goal of a “carbon pollution-free power sector by 2035.”During the campaign, Biden also promised his administration would “invest in coal and power plant communities and other communities impacted by the climate transformation.” His campaign website said he would create a task force on how best to transition such communities. What the coal state groups are doing is reminding Biden of his promises. They say that adding a voice in the White House for coal communities alongside those advocating for climate action will help to keep the communities a priority—especially as the coronavirus pandemic has accelerated the decline of the coal industry.
Environmental groups sue to stop alleged surface mine pollutant discharge into Kanawha River tributary --Conservationist groups have taken their concerns about a Kanawha County surface mine’s alleged pollution of a creek that flows into the Kanawha River to federal court.The Ohio Valley Environmental Coalition, the West Virginia Highlands Conservancy and the Sierra Club filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of West Virginia Thursday against JMAC Leasing, Inc., alleging that JMAC’s Briar Mountain Surface Mine was discharging pollutants into waters near the mine that violate federal water pollution and coal mine regulation laws.The lawsuit alleges that JMAC’s selenium levels in discharges from an outlet that discharges into Cabin Creek have exceeded permit limits since it began reporting the levels in March 2015, even after the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection approved constructing a passive biological treatment system to treat and remove selenium from discharges at the outlet following a 2015 administrative consent order from the DEP that required JMAC to address its selenium noncompliance. Cabin Creek flows into the Kanawha River. Selenium is toxic at high concentrations, and chronic exposure in fish and other aquatic life can cause reproductive harm. The conservationist groups are asking for the court to declare that JMAC is violating the Clean Water Act and Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act, and issue an injunction prohibiting JMAC from operating the Briar Mountain Surface Mine and its facilities in what they say would be further violation of its permits under those acts. The groups also seek orders forcing JMAC to pay civil penalties of up to $56,460 per day for each violation of the Clean Water Act under the law and their attorneys’ and expert witness fees.
Duke Energy, NC officials announce coal ash expense deal (AP) — Duke Energy, North Carolina officials and a conservation group announced Monday an agreement on how the utility pays to get rid of coal ash stored in the state. The proposed settlement would shift an estimated $1.1 billion in expenses away from customers over the next decade to the nation’s largest electric utility and its shareholders. The agreement was announced a month after the state Supreme Court ruled regulators should revisit an order that would have placed nearly all of the expense upon Duke’s 3.4 million electric customers in the state. Under the settlement, which still must be approved by the North Carolina Utilities Commission, the amounts covered by those customers would be reduced from roughly $4 billion through 2030 to $3 billion, Duke Energy spokeswoman Meredith Archie said. “It’s wrong for North Carolinians to bear the full cost of cleanup. Duke’s shareholders should pay its fair share,” Attorney General Josh Stein said at an online news conference. His office was involved in the negotiations with the commission’s Public Staff, which represents consumers, and the Sierra Club. Stein and these groups had challenged Utilities Commission orders over cleanup costs ultimately issued in 2018. Charlotte-based Duke Energy, which operates two electric subsidiaries in the state, is working on closing all 31 of its pits or ponds in the state in part by excavating over 120 million tons of coal ash — residue from operating coal-fired power plants for generations. The ash landfills often are near waterways, raising the threat for toxins to seep into rivers and groundwater.
Extreme Cold and Lower Renewable Energy Output Spike Electricity Prices in Europe and Asia - Record cold temperatures have hit parts of Europe and Asia causing electricity prices to spike as the normal generating supplies of electricity could not keep prices in check. Spain registered its coldest temperature on record, at -35.6 degrees Celsius, and several areas of the country, including Madrid, are under 18 inches or more of snow and may get record-breaking snowfalls. The electricity price in Spain soared to nearly €95 ($116) per megawatt hour—up 123 percent from prices the previous week and nearly three times higher than the 2020 average. Frigid temperatures, as low as -10 degrees Celsius, are gripping much of Japan and electricity prices jumped to record highs of 222.30 yen ($2.13) per kilowatt hour. (For comparison, average electricity prices in the United States in October 2020 were 10.64 cents per kilowatt hour.) The surge in Spain’s electricity prices results in an increase of 27 percent in the average user’s electricity bill. Factors that have driven up the costs to heat and power households include reduced output of renewable energy from the cold and stormy weather and the evolution of the natural gas market at a global level, which recently sustained a price shock. As a result, Spain has dipped into its subterranean natural gas reserves, which is 80 percent full. In Germany, day-ahead power prices hit the highest level in two years with temperatures in Berlin dropping close to freezing; prices could increase further with temperatures expected to dip as low as minus 6.9 degrees Celsius by Sunday (January 17) in the German capital. Residential electricity prices in Germany are already 3 times the average cost in the United States owing to their rapid adoption and subsidization of renewable wind and solar energy. A sub-zero blast is expected to worsen conditions in Europe with a weather phenomenon known as a sudden stratospheric warming. The event can disrupt the polar vortex, the winds that usually keep cold air contained in the far north, and allow freezing weather to head south. The calm conditions associated with it are expected to stifle Europe’s wind generation, causing dependence on its thermal energy. France usually exports excess power from its nuclear units to neighboring countries, but scheduled nuclear plant maintenance is adding to the power supply shortages and to the strain from the cold. France also has a much higher level of electric heating than most other European nations, making its own electric demand more sensitive to cold weather.
2021's 'Doomsday Clock' Stays at 100 Seconds to Midnight - One hundred seconds to midnight. That's how close humanity is to the apocalypse, and it's as close as the world has ever been, according to Wednesday's annual announcement from the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, a group that has been running its "Doomsday Clock" since the early years of the nuclear age in 1947. Although the scientists cite the COVID-19 pandemic, which has killed 1.7 million people around the world and has "revealed just how unprepared and unwilling countries and the international system are to handle global emergencies properly," they acknowledge that the coronavirus does not pose an existential threat to Homo sapiens. However, nuclear weapons and, increasingly, catastrophic global heating caused and exacerbated by human activity — the climate crisis — do. "Accelerating nuclear programs in multiple countries moved the world into less stable and manageable territory last year," the scientists say. "Development of hypersonic glide vehicles, ballistic missile defenses, and weapons-delivery systems that can flexibly use conventional or nuclear warheads may raise the probability of miscalculation in times of tension." "Events like the deadly assault earlier this month on the U.S. Capitol renewed legitimate concerns about national leaders who have sole control of the use of nuclear weapons," they say. "Nuclear nations, however, have ignored or undermined practical and available diplomatic and security tools for managing nuclear risks." "By our estimation, the potential for the world to stumble into nuclear war — an ever-present danger over the last 75 years — increased in 2020," they conclude.
How Ohio’s controversial HB 6 law pandemic-proofed utilities’ revenue - When the coronavirus pandemic struck last spring, energy use patterns were among the many things it upended. As millions of people were forced to change their routines, electricity use changed, too, with an overall decline nationwide. How much electricity customers use is typically a big factor in determining utility rates and revenue. An unexpected drop in sales can cause utilities to come up short of what they planned to collect from customers. In Ohio, FirstEnergy and other utilities had less to worry about, though, thanks to a measure in the state’s controversial power plant bailout law that cut the linkbetween revenues and the amount of electricity sold. The concept is known as decoupling, and it’s usually used as a tool to overcome utilities’ financial disincentive to invest in energy efficiency and conservation. Utilities that help customers conserve energy still collect the money they need to cover costs and a reasonable return for investors. In Ohio, however, lawmakers didn’t use decoupling to offset losses due to energy conservation. Instead, HB 6, the law at the heart of an alleged corruption conspiracy, gave utilities that spoonful of sugar without any medicine. In fact, HB 6 eliminated energy efficiency standards for Ohio utilities.The end result: Amid a pandemic that saw the state’s economy falter, FirstEnergy’s utilities were guaranteed steady revenues — at the expense of ratepayers struggling to make ends meet.“In Ohio’s case, what they’re calling decoupling I wouldn’t call decoupling at all,” said Martin Kushler, a senior fellow at the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy. “It’s basically a guaranteed set of revenues based on a very high revenue year in perpetuity, which makes no sense at all. It’s not connected to anything tangible that I can see, other than guaranteed revenues for the companies.”Specifically, House Bill 6 gives utilities the option of pegging their revenue to 2018 electricity sales levels. Former FirstEnergy chair Chuck Jones once boasted that the law’s revenue-guarantee provisions effectively made its utilities “recession-proof.” Full year-end figures aren’t out yet. FirstEnergy’s earnings per share were down a bit through the third quarter last year, due partly to depreciation. Yet operating earnings per share were a few cents above the same time in 2019. “Incremental rider revenues” from Ohio helped shore up the results.
Toledo looks to join lawsuit blocking H.B. 6 nuclear bailout fees --- The city of Toledo has asked to join a lawsuit that claims the subsidies that were set to be added to every Ohioans’ electric bills on Jan. 1 are unconstitutional and the result of “a scheme to corrupt the legislative process.” It’s the latest reaction to a $1 billion nuclear bailout law, House Bill 6, at the center of a $60 million bribery probe. The suit was filed in Franklin County Common Pleas Court in October by the cities of Columbus and Cincinnati, and now both Toledo and Dayton are asking to join as well. Republican Attorney General Dave Yost also filed suit on behalf of the state in September against Energy Harbor, a former subsidiary of FirstEnergy Corp., the state’s largest utility. “The fee Toledoans are being asked to pay on their electric bills is based on a fraud, in fact, the largest fraud in the history of the state of Ohio. There is no way on Earth we should be helping First Energy pay off their illegal bribes,” Toledo Mayor Wade Kapszukiewicz said Monday.
Ohio bribery scandal will continue after U.S. Attorney DeVillers leaves - From the moment he took the oath of office as U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Ohio in November 2019, David DeVillers knew his days were numbered. “Some president was going to fire me eventually,” DeVillers said. “I wasn’t sure which one, but I knew that would happen at some point.” The respected, longtime prosecutor, known on the streets as the “Devil Man” for his penchant for cracking down on criminals, is flattered by the public support and calls for President Joe Biden to retain him as the current top federal prosecutor over 48 Ohio counties, including the cities of Columbus, Cincinnati and Dayton. But DeVillers, who has worked in the Southern District office for nearly two decades, is also realistic. Federal officials, including Democratic U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown, are already accepting applications from those interested in the job. With an expected departure by mid-summer, DeVillers is spending his final days making sure ongoing investigations, including the House Bill 6 racketeering case, and new ones are progressing and ready for the office’s next leader. DeVillers also has been the face of the investigation and prosecution of corruption cases, including racketeering allegations connected to the enactment of House Bill 6, a billion-dollar nuclear bailout.Former Republican House Speaker Larry Householder, longtime associate Jeffrey Longstreth, lobbyists Neil Clark and Juan Cespedes, and former Ohio Republican Party Chairman Matt Borges were arrested in July in what prosecutors ranked as among the largest public corruption scandals in state history. Investigators say Householder and the others used dark money from First Energy and related entities to bankroll candidates’ campaigns, ensuring the eventual passage of HB 6 and blocking referendum efforts to overturn the new law.Longstreth and Cespedes pleaded guilty last year to racketeering counts that carry potential prison sentences of up to 20 years. Court proceedings continue against Householder, Clark and Borges. The investigation started more than a year before DeVillers was nominated as U.S. attorney, and it will continue after he leaves.
Groups ask utilities commission to investigate ex-chairman - Environmental advocacy groups asked the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio on Wednesday to expand its investigation of Ohio’s largest electric utility to include whether the commission’s former chairman was unduly influenced by the company, Akron-based FirstEnergy Corp. A motion filed by attorneys for Chicago-based Environmental Law & Policy Center and the Ohio Environmental Council argues the utilities commission should expand and consolidate several cases, including a probe into charitable giving and political donations made by FirstEnergy to support passage of scandal-tainted legislation that aimed to provide $1 billion in subsidies to two nuclear power plants once owned by a FirstEnergy subsidiary. The groups want the commission to investigate ties between the company and its former chairperson, Samuel Randazzo. Randazzo resigned as Ohio’s top utility regulator in November days after FBI agents searched his Columbus townhome and FirstEnergy revealed in a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filing that former top executives at the company paid $4 million in early 2019 to end a consulting contract to someone who fit Randazzo’s description. Randazzo became chairman of the utilities commission and the Ohio Power Siting Board, which regulates energy projects, in April 2019. FirstEnergy is the subject of multiple investigations after federal authorities alleged last July that the company funded a $60 million bribery scheme to get the legislation, known as HB6, approved and to prevent a referendum issue on the bailout from reaching the Ohio ballot. The former Ohio House speaker and four others were subsequently indicted on a federal racketeering conspiracy charge. Wednesday’s filing noted the firing of FirstEnergy CEO Chuck Jones and other top company executives last fall and other events that “further support” the utilities commission’s “duty to provide a robust investigation into the First Energy Utilities’ involvement in the passage of HB6.”
Dispatch Editorial: Gov. DeWine, Ohioans need an advocate on PUCO - Gov. Mike DeWine has a lot of good reasons to appoint someone to the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio who is free of any financial ties to the utility corporations the PUCO is charged with regulating. The most important reason is because that’s what Ohioans deserve: commission members who can be expected to look out for their interests rather than those of the utilities. We sympathize with those consumer advocates who are unhappy that DeWine on Wednesday rejected all four candidates proposed for a PUCO opening by the agency's Nominating Council. The Ohio Consumers’ Counsel, the left-leaning policy group ProgressOhio, and the Ohio Consumer Power Alliance all said that two of the candidates on the rejected list would have been good choices. Angela Amos is a policy adviser at the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission and Gregory Poulos is executive director of Consumer Advocates of the PJM States, a nonprofit group. “Why would Gov. DeWine turn away professionals with extensive utility market expertise who could have brought a fresh start and much-needed perspective to a PUCO that is currently in the shadows of scandal?” demanded Ohio Consumers Power Alliance Director Rachel Belz. It’s a good question; after all, the PUCO vacancy exists only because former Chairman Sam Randazzo, a DeWine appointee, resigned Nov. 20, shortly after the FBI searched his home. The search came after Akron-based FirstEnergy Corp., the utility at the center of a $60 million bribery scandal, revealed that it had paid $4 million to a firm owned by a “state official” whose description fits Randazzo. Randazzo has not been charged or even named in the FBI probe, but his appointment to the PUCO was questioned, justifiably, from the start. When DeWine named him in early 2019, environmental and consumer advocates raised alarms because he had done extensive work for FirstEnergy and long had been known as an advocate for utilities and opposed to development of wind, solar and other clean-energy technologies. That’s another reason for DeWine to go out of his way to make a consumer-friendly appointment: The PUCO’s recent history has been one of favoring utilities over consumers. Lawmakers and other public officeholders are supported by FirstEnergy and other utility campaign with contributions large enough to raise questions about the influence wielded by those donors. The matters under investigation by the FBI, related to the passage of House Bill 6 in 2019, are all too clear an example. The FBI charges that former House Speaker Larry Householder and four associates illegally controlled a political action committee funded by FirstEnergy. The money helped Householder win election as speaker and paid for a massive lobbying and media campaign to win passage of the bill – which provides a $1 billion bailout for two nuclear plants owned by a former FirstEnergy subsidiary -- and to defeat an effort to overturn the bill by referendum. Lastly, DeWine needs to demonstrate independence from influence by utilities because recent tax records show that FirstEnergy money, channeled through two different dark-money groups, helped fund his 2018 campaign for governor and his daughter’s unsuccessful campaign for Greene County prosecutor.
Energy company sets sights on drilling near LaDue --An agreement could be in the works between the City of Akron and a private energy company that would result in drilling for gas and oil under 475 acres just south of the LaDue Reservoir in Auburn and Troy townships.In an Akron Planning and Economic Development Committee meeting on Jan. 11, Director of Public Service Chris Ludle explained that the energy company, DP Energy Auburn, LLC, is seeking to put gas and oil wells on adjacent private property to the city-owned land. He said this is located in the upper Cuyahoga River Watershed, and the proposal has been about a year in the making. The company is offering the city a one-time payment of $237,500, or $500 per acre, in a lease agreement for mineral rights of the 475 acres, according to the agreement. The city would also receive 15 percent of royalties on all oil and gas extracted from the wells.Geauga Commissioner Tim Lennon said neither the city nor the private company have approached the commission about the potential drilling in the county; however, he added the commissioners would not hold any authority over the situation anyway “I’d have to check with [our] legal counsel,” he said, “but I don’t think the commissioners can do anything officially to stop it. We don’t have the authority to impose restrictions on lands we don’t own.” He said any zoning concerns that may rise would fall under township purview. Mr. Lennon said he is not necessarily opposed to fracking, noting that there are oil wells all throughout the county, but he addressed environmental or drinking water concerns both area Geauga residents and Akron residents may have if City Council approves the deal. The city faced previous opposition from Geauga County residents to a logging proposal near LaDue in 2018, he added. He said he would have to wait for more information to unfold on the issue before taking any stance for or against the initiative.During the Jan. 11 meeting, Mr. Ludle explained that the agreement would not prevent the city from continuing any preservation efforts.“We can [still] do our invasive species program or wetlands management. We can do the normal things that we do to protect our land and protect the lake and the river up there,” he said, later adding, “We will still be able to do our best management practices with this land as we have in the past and we will be in the future.” He said if the agreement is approved, the energy company will have three years to find resources. “If they do not produce or if they do not hit anything, they cap the well and then all of the mineral rights do revert back to the city,” he said.
Risks too great from fracking at LaDue Reservoir, a key source of Akron drinking water - cleveland.com -- Akron City Council must reject selling LaDue Reservoir’s mineral rights with the intent to use hydraulic fracturing under land that is near or under the reservoir. City officials defend the deal, saying fracking happens thousands of feet below surface water. Officials are ignoring thousands of documented cases of contamination, equipment failures, and intentional violations, expecting us to trust DP Energy Auburn, a recently incorporated company with no safety record. Although Akron Director of Public Service Chris Ludle pointed to regulation by the Ohio Department of Natural Resources when asked by council members about ensuring the integrity of the reservoir, Ohio had over 60,000 active oil and gas wells as of 2018, according to Spectrum News, but my analysis of ODNR data suggests that fewer than 17,000 wells were inspected in 2020. Violations could occur at any time, not only when inspectors are present. But ODNR does not, and likely will never, have the staff to provide constant oversight of every well. This is a matter of “when” not “if.” If fracking is permitted at LaDue, contamination could result in a Flintesque disaster. Akron’s officials are denying reality and the safety of residents. Theresa Göttl Brightman,
USA Shale Drilling Project Obtains $139.4M Investment Proposal from Capital Corp Merchant Banking -The shale development project will take place in lower-risk natural gas wells located in the Marcellus and Utica shale formations, which are some of the most prospective areas for natural gas production in the United States. The $139.4 million project will be developed by an oil & gas operator who has a full suite of in-house capabilities. The development of the targeted wells will include well drilling and the operator’s proprietary ability to process natural gas on-site and create refined components, including methane, ethane, propane, liquid natural gas, and other products for a value uplift.Shale is a substitute for conventional crude oil and is increasingly used, owing to its low cost of extraction. Additionally, oil shale serves in the production of specialty carbon fibers, carbon black, adsorbent carbons, resins, phenols, tanning agents, road bitumen, and soil-additives. The growing use of oil shale across various industries has been driving the oil shale market.Though shale may have had a rougher year in 2020 due to the Covid19 pandemic, oil prices appear ready to push higher in 2021 as demand recovers, according to Forbes. The funding structure of the project was engineered by Mr Gilles Herard. Mr Herard is a seasoned merchant banker and has been in the banking industry for over 40 years. As Managing Director of Capital Corp Merchant Banking, Mr Herard has become a leading figure in international middle-market project financing and engineers all funding structures for projects at Capital Corp.
EQT Launches Pilot to 'Responsibly' Produce Appalachian Natural Gas for Global Market - EQT Corp., the Lower 48’s largest natural gas producer, has launched a pilot program to demonstrate that the fossil fuel can be produced in an environmentally responsible way as buyers across the world continue demanding higher standards. EQT has partnered with environmental monitoring company Project Canary to continuously measure methane emissions and obtain certification that natural gas from two well pads in the Appalachian Basin is responsibly produced. The ultimate goal of the pilot, the company said, is to show that gas can be produced with both high environmental and social standards. EQT CEO Toby Rice said the pilot would help confirm “the emerging domestic and international markets for this differentiated commodity and the important role that United States liquefied natural gas (LNG) will play in the future energy mix.”Project Canary would provide an independent, third-party certification of responsibly sourced gas and provide methane monitoring. The terms of the project are confidential, but, EQT said a global energy company agreed to purchase a portion of the gas produced during the pilot. Costs associated with the pilot and the location of the wells were not disclosed.Devices are to be installed on the two well pads to measure methane concentrations at the site level “every second” and communicate results to a cloud database “every minute,” EQT said. Social impacts on the nearby community also would be evaluated. The TrustWell certification provides ratings for gas wells or entire asset bases. It measures several metrics to certify the conditions under which gas is produced to gauge impacts and risks, with a focus on water, air, land and community. The ultimate output is a rating similar to a Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, aka LEED, rating for a building. Project Canary, which provides emissions monitoring for the oil and gas industry, merged with Independent Energy Standards, the developer of the TrustWell certification program, in August. They came together to provide a more comprehensive “responsibly sourced gas” solution for the industry as environmental, social and governance (ESG) issues have become a top priority. EQT produces gas in Ohio, Pennsylvania and West Virginia. It produced 366 Bcfe in the third quarter and has churned out more than 1 Tcf annually in recent years. The producer’s decision to launch the pilot comes as governments and private companies are aiming to curb the impacts of climate change.
Pain of natural gas price drop spreads to Pa. agencies, communities - The fallout from a year of low natural gas prices and little new drilling is reaching Pennsylvania state agencies and local governments that have come to depend on the shale gas industry for crucial funding. The state’s conservation and environmental protection departments are already warning of significantly less revenue from natural gas royalties and drilling permits in a year when the economic shock of the pandemic will make it harder to shift revenue from other state sources to fill in the holes. At the same time, low natural gas prices are projected to drive down total impact fees assessed on Pennsylvania’s shale gas wells by $56 million — to a record low of $145 million. That will leave less money to share among the counties, municipalities, state agencies and conservation initiatives that split the fees to offset the industry’s demands on the environment, public services and infrastructure. The impact fee rate is pegged to the average annual price of natural gas on the New York Mercantile Exchange. It fell to $2.08 per million British thermal units in 2020, the lowest level since the impact fee was established by Act 13 in 2012, according to the Independent Fiscal Office, which released the new projections. Impact fees are collected in April and distributed in July. The average natural gas price at major Pennsylvania trading hubs was even lower — $1.38 per MMBtu — according to the fiscal office’s weighted average of spot prices. Lower local gas prices means lower royalties for landowners who have leases with companies to extract gas from their properties — including the state. Natural gas revenue was down 23% — from $79 million in 2019 to $60.5 million in 2020 — on the 250,000 acres of state forest that are leased for shale gas development, the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources said.
Gov. Wolf outlines goals in 2021 - Gov. Tom Wolf is once again pushing for a higher minimum wage, a tax on natural gas drilling and the legalization of marijuana for recreational uses as top priorities in the coming year. The governor has met resistance from Republican lawmakers on those goals in the past. But he said he’d be pushing forward with them again as he outlined some of his top 2021 priorities in a news conference Thursday. Wolf has previously pushed a severance tax on natural gas production in each year in office and he’s now midway through his second term. Last year, he sought to use the tax to finance a host of economic development projects. Republicans have rejected proposals for a natural gas tax in the past. Pennsylvania is the second leading producer of natural gas in the nation. The governor said the severance tax would need to be “reasonable” but said it could be a source of revenue to finance economic development and workplace development programs that will help the state recover from the pandemic. The Marcellus Shale Coalition, which represents the natural gas industry, said a severance tax would hurt an industry already dealing with setbacks related to the pandemic. David Spigelmyer, the coalition’s president, said the industry’s numbers of active rigs and new well development are at their lowest since 2012. “We all feel the pandemic’s ongoing pain, yet Governor Wolf’s fixation with higher energy taxes will only compound these historically difficult challenges,” Spiglemyer said in a statement. “Increasing taxes on natural gas, one of the most essential products needed to keep us safe and defeat the pandemic, will put more Pennsylvanians out of work, increase energy bills for struggling families, small businesses as well as manufacturers, and further harm our economic recovery.”
De Blasio to ban gas hookups in new buildings by 2030 -The city will officially ban fossil fuel connections in new construction by 2030, a major step toward phasing out a reliance on gas and oil that other liberal cities have pursued across the nation.Mayor Bill de Blasio will announce the new policy, reviewed in advance by POLITICO, during his State of the City address on Thursday. The city will first establish intermediate goals for the policy in the short term and work to ensure the ban doesn’t negatively impact renters and low-income homeowners.De Blasio last year pledged to ban natural gas and other fossil fuels in large building systems by 2040 and to block any new fossil infrastructure, like pipelines, in the city. But it was unclear at the time how he would achieve those lofty goals as cities are mostly beholden to the state or federal government when it comes to new energy infrastructure — from siting new power plants to building offshore wind farms.But banning gas hookups in new or renovated buildings is one of the few ways cities can exert local authority to cut greenhouse gas emissions — and New York will now pursue the measure. The ban is among a list of policy items that environmental advocates are pushing Democratic mayoral candidates to commit to before the June primary. Some of those groups are likely to push the city for a ban ahead of 2030.
Biden administration to take 'hard look' at LNG-by-rail rule, Buttigieg says Pete Buttigieg, nominated to head the U.S. Transportation Department, signaled that the Biden administration would consider rescinding a recently completed rule allowing LNG transportation by rail. The final rule, issued June 19, laid out requirements for LNG transport by rail and allowed broad authorization for train shipments. The Transportation Department's Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration, or PHMSA, undertook the rulemaking to fulfill former President Donald Trump's executive orders aimed at promoting energy infrastructure development. The LNG-by-rail rule is among a batch of Trump-era energy regulations the Biden administration is expected to review. Asked about his views on the rule during his Jan. 21 Senate confirmation hearing, Buttigieg said it was something he wanted to take a closer look at if confirmed. He said it would be important to take into account safety considerations. Pressed by Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, on whether he would consider repealing the rule and halting transportation of LNG by rail, Buttigieg responded, "The best, honest answer I can give you now is that I'll be taking a hard look at it." Offering a view into his position on natural gas, Buttigieg noted that South Bend, Ind., converted some of the city's municipal fleet to natural gas-powered vehicles during his tenure as mayor. Buttigieg elaborated on his views in response to Cruz's comment that the transition from coal to gas for power generation has driven U.S. greenhouse gas emissions reductions. "I do recognize that natural gas, certainly for climate purposes, is not the same thing as coal," he said. "It's not the same as coal, but of course it's not the same as hydroelectric power, and we need to be balancing all of these considerations as we go forward." Buttigieg also committed to ensuring PHMSA is adequately staffed. The latest PHMSA reauthorization act requires the transportation secretary to present to Congress a comprehensive workforce plan for the administration.
Residents concerned about startup of compressor station — Residents opposed to a natural gas compressor station in the Fore River Basin are concerned that news that the facility will go back online came from the energy company and social media, rather than federal regulators. "It's not professional and it's not respectful of the citizens who live especially within that half-mile notification zone," Alice Arena, of the Fore River Residents Against the Compressor Station, said during a virtual meeting Sunday night. "It's all a little distressing." The residents group called the meeting Sunday to discuss the news, as well as a vote by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to reject the denial of a rehearing request submitted by the group. The commissioners, several of whom suggested the commission should do more to address health and safety concerns, offered some hope that residents may succeed in keeping the compressor station turned off following two emergency shutdowns at the plant in September. But Max Bergeron, a spokesman for Enbridge, the Canadian company that built the compressor station, said in an email Friday, Jan. 22, that the federal Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration has approved the station going back into service after two emergency shutdowns in September. Bergeron said the station would “methodically be placed in service” with oversight from the federal agency. “We expect to have the ability to start flowing gas through the compressor station for our customers in the coming days,” Bergeron said in the email. Robert Burrough, director of the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration Eastern Region, sent a letter to Enbridge on Jan. 22 confirming "the temporary operation of the compressor units." Burrough said the agency's corrective action still remains in effect. Arena called the news "a little sketchy," and said the letter isn't clear about whether Enbridge can operate the station at full capacity. A spokesperson for the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration confirmed Monday that the agency had temporarily removed pressure restrictions to allow for the station's start up. A corrective action order remains in effect. The controversial compressor station is part of Enbridge’s Atlantic Bridge project, which expands the company’s natural gas pipelines from New Jersey into Canada. It has been a point of contention for years, and residents say it brings serious health and safety problems to the Fore River Basin.
$1.1 million Dominion gas upgrades continue in Bridgeport, West Virginia officials say - — Dominion is working on a $1.1 million project in Bridgeport that city officials say is a standard but substantial upgrade to gas lines. According to Bridgeport Interim Public Works Director Tiny Grimes, the gas company is working along parts of Johnson Avenue, Philadelphia Avenue, James Street, Water Street, Anderson Street, Wyatt Street and Faris Avenue. To Grimes’ knowledge, the old line was leaking in water and there were several leaks that could not be found, causing individuals to lose gas.
Regulatory route becomes more complicated for Mountain Valley Pipeline - The journey of the Mountain Valley Pipeline, up and down precarious mountainsides and under rocky streambeds, was never an easy one. Now, the natural gas pipeline is facing an increasingly difficult passage through legal and regulatory roadblocks. A sixth lawsuit challenging the project’s federal permits — which were recently restored after being set aside by an earlier round of litigation — was filed Wednesday. On the same day, the inauguration of President Joe Biden foreshadowed more uncertainty at agencies long perceived to be friends of the pipeline. Biden on Thursday named commissioner Richard Glick as chairman of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, putting a Mountain Valley critic in charge of the presidentially appointed panel that governs pipelines. And as the crossing of hundreds of streams and wetlands in the buried pipeline’s path grows more complicated, Mountain Valley has indicated it might abandon its initial plan and seek a new kind of permit that could further slow an already delayed construction schedule. No one obstacle alone is likely to kill the pipeline, according to Carolyn Elefant, a Washington, D.C., attorney who once worked for FERC and now represents landowners opposed to pipelines. But FERC could take a new look at Mountain Valley “through the prism of a new administration and new administrative policies,” she said. “I think it will certainly slow the process, and if the process is slowed enough, it could lead the developers to cancel or modify their plans.” The most recent slow-down came last Tuesday, when FERC considered an application by Mountain Valley to expedite construction on the first 77 miles of the pipeline in West Virginia. To the surprise of many, FERC deadlocked 2-2 on the company’s request to bore under streams along the segment, rather than use a trench-digging method that is currently stalled by a legal challenge from environmental groups. Boring would have allowed Mountain Valley to complete the segment and begin shipping gas up to the point where it connects with another pipeline, then on for distribution, while work continued on the rest of the 303-mile line. With the tie vote, the request was neither approved nor denied, putting it in a state of limbo. Mountain Valley spokeswoman Natalie Cox said the matter could be considered a second time. But the chair of FERC has the sole authority on whether to place items on the panel’s meeting agenda. The commission is now headed by a Democrat, Glick, who in the past has said Mountain Valley should not be allowed to resume construction on the $6 billion project until it has all of the required permits in hand. One approval has been stayed by a federal appeals court, and others are facing legal attacks.
NextEra Energy Posts Loss on $1.2 Billion Mountain Valley Pipeline Charge -- NextEra Energy Inc., the world’s largest producer of wind and solar energy, swung to a loss in the fourth quarter, dented by an impairment charge of $1.2 billion on its investments in the Mountain Valley natural gas pipeline. Mountain Valley pipeline, which stretches from West Virginia to Virginia, is one of the several oil and gas pipelines delayed in recent years by regulatory and legal fights with states and environmental groups that found problems with permits issued by the Trump administration. Most recently, federal energy regulators did not approve a request to ramp up construction of a part of the pipeline, which is expected to transport 2 billion cubic feet per day of gas from the Marcellus/Utica shale formation in West Virginia, Pennsylvania and Ohio to Virginia. The natgas pipeline, owned by units of Equitrans Midstream Corp. and NextEra, among others, is currently estimated to be in service by late 2021. Analysts, however, expect the pipeline’s startup to be delayed after Virginia environmental regulators proposed changes to stream-crossing rules that would bar Mountain Valley from using the U.S. Army Corp’s proposed 2020 Nationwide Permits to cross streams. NextEra on Jan. 26 attributed its writedown to legal and regulatory challenges, saying the project is facing “substantial delays in reaching commercial operation and increased costs associated with those delays.” The company posted a net loss of $5 million in the three months ended Dec. 31, from an income of $975 million a year earlier. Excluding the charge and other items, the company’s profit of 40 cents per share beat analyst estimates of 37 cents, helped by a surge in demand for renewable power generation.
Editorial: Consistency needed in pipeline permitting process - The question of whether the United States needs more pipeline capacity to carry natural gas, natural gas liquids, crude oil and petroleum products over long distances returned last week when President Joe Biden, on his first day in office, issued an executive order canceling permits for the Keystone XL pipeline in the Great Plains. The immediate effect of Biden’s order was to cause a new strain in U.S.-Canadian relations, as the government of Canada was counting on the pipeline to move its crude oil to ports on the U.S. Gulf Coast. Closer to home, people who oppose pipelines won a victory last week when the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, in a 2-2 vote with one abstention, declined to approve a request from the developers of the Mountain Valley Pipeline to bore under 69 waterbodies and wetlands along 77 miles of the pipeline at its northernmost end in West Virginia. Not all permits have been secured for pipeline work in West Virginia. Some have been tied up in court.The aim of the Mountain Valley Pipeline is to make natural gas from West Virginia’s Marcellus and Ohio’s Utica shale regions available to residential and industrial customers in Virginia and North Carolina. If built, the pipeline would run from Wetzel County to an existing compressor station in Virginia and then southward. As with any undertaking of this size and nature, there are questions of whether the pipeline is needed, whether construction would adversely impact the environment of sensitive areas and whether landowners whose land the pipeline would cross are being treated fairly. There are several ironies in all this. One is that Appalachians are willing to tear down a mountain to build a road or a shopping center, but they find drilling under a creek to install a pipeline to be unacceptable. Another is that propane (liquified natural gas) and compressed natural gas are being used as cleaner alternatives to diesel fuel in tractor-trailers and buses. That gas has to get from the well to the filling station somehow. Natural gas provides cleaner electricity than coal, but it needs to get from the well to a processing plant and then into a pipeline for delivery to a power plant. Renewables are the future, but we need a bridge to that future while technology and infrastructure are developed. Natural gas is our best bridge at this time. The gas industry needs to be responsible in its construction and maintenance of pipelines, and the federal government needs to honor its commitments in permitting instead of making permits subject to the whims of whatever new administration takes office.
Concerns over erosion impact of Mountain Valley Pipeline continue with project in limbo -West Virginia Rivers Coalition staff scientist Autumn Crowe has been closely following the Mountain Valley Pipeline since it was first proposed and says that pipeline construction through the steep slopes of West Virginia has taken a dangerous toll. “They’re trying to [work through] steep slopes with highly erosive soils, and we’re seeing that over and over again where slopes are failing, erosion is occurring,” Crowe said. “There’s just nothing they can really do to control the amount of soil they’ve exposed.” A volunteer group that has been monitoring and reporting environmental issues related to the construction of the 303-mile natural gas pipeline from Northwestern West Virginia to Southern Virginia filed evidence with federal regulators Thursday suggesting that the pipeline is eroding areas along the pipeline right-of-way in Braxton and Lewis counties. Mountain Valley Watch submitted three pages of aerial photos showing bare, unvegetated areas and slips long the pipeline route, reporting collapsing slopes and sediment in a stream crossing south of Copley Road in Lewis County. “The photos are conclusive evidence of unvegetated areas requiring corrective action for lack of ground cover,” Mountain Valley Watch wrote in the filing to the FERC. Mountain Valley Watch cofounder Kirk Bowers noted that exposed soil surfaces increase runoff into streams. “They need to go in and reseed the areas that are not under grass and don’t have adequate vegetative cover,” Bowers said. “It’s that simple.” Mountain Valley Watch has been on watch before. The group submitted aerial documentation of what it concluded were inadequate ground cover and stabilization measures in Doddridge, Lewis, Braxton, Webster, Summers and Monroe counties last summer to the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection, which in 2019 fined Mountain Valley Pipeline, LLC $266,000 for more than two dozen notices of environmental violations, which included failing to operate and maintain erosion control devices, resulting in stream sedimentation. Natalie Cox, spokeswoman for Equitrans Midstream Corporation, said that “[Mountain Valley] has consistently stated that completing construction work and fully restoring the right-of-way is best for the environment, as well as for the affected landowners along the route,”.
Poll shows support for pipeline in Southwest Virginia - A majority of Southwest Virginians support the construction and operation of the Mountain Valley Pipeline, according to a recent poll commissioned by the company building the natural gas pipeline. Surveying by Mason-Dixon Polling & Strategy found that 66% of the respondents favored the pipeline, which has been under construction since 2018. The poll found 28% opposed and 6% undecided. However, the poll showed that backing for the project has declined since the start of construction led to widespread environmental problems with muddy runoff. In 2017, 74% of Southwest Virginia respondents supported the pipeline, compared to the more recent figure of 66%, according to Mason-Dixon. Although the pipeline has fierce opposition — from those who object to the project’s environmental impact in the Roanoke and New River valleys, contribution to climate change and use of eminent domain to take private land — supporters say its natural gas will fuel economic growth and sustainable energy. “Mountain Valley is important for our region’s future. As indicated by these latest survey results, most people agree,” Joyce Waugh, president and CEO of the Roanoke Regional Chamber, said in a news release issued by the company. Statewide, backing for the pipeline was by a closer margin, at 53%. The poll, conducted in December, relied on telephone responses from 625 registered voters selected at random. Based on population percentages, 70 respondents were from Southwest Virginia.
Mountain Valley Pipeline changes strategy on permits— Mountain Valley Pipeline says it will abandon its plan to use a blanket permit to cross nearly 500 streams and wetlands. The Roanoke Times reported Tuesday that the pipeline project will instead apply for individual approvals for each open-cut crossing. That will make for a more costly and time-consuming process for a project that is already swamped by legal and regulatory delays. But Mountain Valley attorney Todd Normane said in a letter Tuesday to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission that switching to individual permits is “the most efficient and effective path to project completion.” The federal 4th Circuit Court of Appeals has twice set aside the blanket permit. Critics have said that it fails to adequately assess the environmental impacts of a massive pipeline fording pristine mountain streams. The project has faced various legal challenges from environmental groups because construction has led to violations of regulations meant to control erosion and sedimentation. Despite its change in strategy, Mountain Valley said it still expects to complete the project by year's end at a projected cost of about $6 billion. That's nearly twice the original estimate. The 303-mile pipeline will take natural gas drilled from the Marcellus and Utica shale formations and transport it through West Virginia and Virginia. Mountain Valley Pipeline LLC has received FERC permission to resume construction of its 303- mile, 2-bcfd natural gas pipeline through West Virginia and Virginia. FERC also granted a two-year extension for completion of the pipeline, through October 2022.With a vast supply of natural gas from Marcellus and Utica shale production, the Mountain Valley Pipeline is expected to provide up to 2 million dekatherms per day of firm transmission capacity to markets in the Mid- and South Atlantic regions of the U.S. The pipeline will be 42 inches in diameter and will require approximately 50 feet of permanent easement (with 125 feet of temporary easement during construction). In addition, the project will require three compressor stations, with identified locations in West Virginia's Wetzel, Braxton and Fayette counties.
Frack check: Debunking natural gas pipeline claims made in a recent Energy Transfer commercial - On Jan. 24, oil-and-gas giant Energy Transfer shelled out some serious money to re-run one of their commercials during the NFL conference championship games. The commercial implies that oil and natural gas lines are necessary to keep tanker trucks off of roads and tanker train cars off of railways, “just to meet our energy needs.” The commercial posits underground pipelines as bucolic havens, and railroads and highways as dangerous.Highways are dangerous, and pipelines do have far fewer incidents compared to America’s roads. But any notion that pipelines are solely peaceful and perfectly safe comes tumbling down when confronted with reality. According to ProPublica, pipeline incidents have killed more than 500 people, injured over 4,000, and cost nearly $7 billion in property damages between 1986 and 2012. There are roughly 3 million miles of pipeline in the U.S. Between 2010 and 2019, there were 329 pipeline explosions and more than $5.3 billion in damages, according to the FracTracker Alliance.In 2018, less than two weeks after the initial airing of its commercial, an Energy Transfer pipeline exploded in Beaver County after only being in service for one week due to a landslide. It burned one house to the ground and several vehicles. No one was injured. (Natural gas drilling, aka fracking, is done all across Southwestern Pennsylvania, although fracking production has slowed as of late.)According to the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission, the Energy Transfer pipeline was constructed in an area that has extremely high risks for landslides. Since the explosion, the state Department of Environmental protection haslevied more than 600 violations against the Revolution pipeline, as it is so called.Another claim made by the Energy Transfer commercial is that U.S. roads and railways would be clogged if pipelines were eliminated. Some politicians and environmentalists are more concerned with blocking new pipelines than ripping out ones currently in use. And many major pipeline proposals have recently either been abandoned by energy companies, or blocked by governments. Stephanie Wein of the statewide environmental group PennEnvironment says the Energy Transfer commercial is an attempt to boost the profile of fossil fuels when they are becoming increasingly less popular. She notes that pipelines do leak and cause pollution, like in Marsh Creek Lake in Chester County last year, but says that overall, Pennsylvanians should be wary of efforts by fossil-fuel companies to market pipelines since they could take the country in the wrong direction.
Vote Solar expert says Duke Energy customers could face $4.8 billion in stranded fossil fuel plant costs - Duke Energy Corp. customers could be on the hook for $4.8 billion by 2074 to pay for natural gas plants in the Carolinas that the company will build but will have stopped operating before they are fully paid for, says a new study by the Energy Transition Institute. At the heart of Carbon Stranding: Climate Risk and Stranded Assets in Duke’s Integrated Resource Plan is author Tyler Fitch’s analysis of the company’s latest Integrated Resource Plan judged against its carbon reduction plan to reach net-zero emissions by 2050. Fitch, Southeast regulatory manager for the pro-renewables group Vote Solar, produced the report while on a fellowship to ETI. His group intends to use the information to argue that regulators should account the possibility of stranded costs as they consider whether to approve Duke’s latest resource plans. Fitch notes that Duke Energy Carolinas and Duke Energy Progress plan to build from 6,100 to 9,600 megawatts worth of new natural gas plants by 2035. He argues that most of those will have to be closed down by 2050 to reach Duke’s carbon goals and conform with North Carolina’s Clean Energy Plan. Under regulatory practices in North Carolina and South Carolina, utilities are allowed to charge customers to amortize the costs of power plants over their “used and useful” life. But natural gas plants have are considered 40-year assets, and Duke (NYSE: DUK) projects the last of those plants being built in 2035. Fitch says that, absent some unusual amortization arrangements or intervention by regulators, customers could be paying the costs of that plant for more than 25 years after it stops producing power. He compares the situation to the way that Duke’s failure to account for long-range costs of coal ash left customers on the hook for some $7.5 billion now that those costs are coming due. If Duke’s Carolinas customers were required to pay that amount in a single lump sum, each of its 4.2 million customers would have to pay $900 in current dollars to cover those costs, the report says.
Colder Weather, Strength in Cash Prices Fuel Surge in February Natural Gas Futures- After a bruising run a week earlier, natural gas futures rebounded Monday on substantial increases in expected heating demand over the weekend and a fresh bout of winter weather settling in across parts of the Midwest on Monday. The February Nymex gas futures contract jumped 15.6 cents day/day and settled at $2.602. The prompt month had dropped 10% over the prior week. March rose 14.2 cents to $2.598 on Monday, also recovering from a slump a week earlier. Of last week’s activity, analysts at The Schork Report said, “the fact traders are unwilling to pay a premium to own gas for the final two delivery months of winter is as fundamentally bearish as it gets,” Observers said hints of a cold finish to winter, however, were enough for futures to reverse course on Monday. “The supply/demand balance remains tight for when weather cooperates,” NatGastWeather said. NGI’s Spot Gas National Avg. advanced 9.0 cents to $2.730. After a week of warming shifts in weather forecasts, model changes over the weekend turned back colder for the final week of January and into early next month, lifting expectations for a run of stronger heating demand. Bespoke Weather Services estimated an additional 15-20 gas-weighted degree days over the next couple weeks. “Some of these colder changes were for this week, not just far out in the more unreliable extended forecast,” the firm said. But the change marked “a decent step away from the big warmth we saw” in outlooks last week. U.S. liquefied natural gas (LNG) export volumes also recovered Monday, climbing to around 11 Bcf after dipping down near the 9 Bcf level late last week. Challenges created by several days of heavy fog near Cheniere’s Sabine Pass LNG facility temporarily minimized activity.
Natural Gas Futures Build Momentum as ‘Dead of Winter’ Arrives; Spot Prices Sail Higher - Natural gas futures extended gains on Tuesday, as traders absorbed news of weather forecasts shifting even colder after a similar change in models over the weekend. The weather outlooks increased the likelihood of robust heating demand the rest of January and into early February, fueling futures. The February Nymex gas futures contract settled at $2.656 on Tuesday, up 5.4 cents day/day. Both the domestic and European weather models produced forecasts that, if they hold up, could make the coming two weeks colder than the five-year average. On Monday, the prompt month surged 15.6 cents. March also advanced on Tuesday, rising 3.8 cents to $2.636. March takes over as the prompt month with Thursday’s trading. Futures caught “a dead of winter skew to the upside,” as Mizuho Securities USA’s director of energy futures Robert Yawger put it. NGI’s Spot Gas National Avg. posted a third-consecutive gain amid the intensifying winter chill, advancing 12.0 cents on Tuesday to $2.850. A day earlier and last Friday, cash prices rose 9.0 cents each day. A deep winter freeze had already settled in across the northern Plains and Midwest by Tuesday. NatGasWeather expected the frigid conditions to expand and generate strong national demand Wednesday through Friday, “as cold air spreads across the northern and eastern U.S.” Temperatures are expected to warm by the end of the coming weekend, the firm said, but another blast of widespread cold is possible in the first week of February. “What’s now most important is if cold air arriving into the Rockies and Plains Feb. 3-4 can spread eastward Feb. 5-8,” the forecaster added. Should the cold snap extend into next month, it would mark the longest and most frigid winter freeze of an otherwise benign winter season
Natural Gas Futures and Cash Prices Rally Amid Freezing Temps, Cold Outlooks - Natural gas futures on Wednesday extended to three days a winning streak built on intensifying winter weather and renewed momentum in U.S. liquefied natural gas (LNG) demand. EIA storage Jan 22 Before rolling off the board on Wednesday, the February Nymex gas futures contract climbed 10.4 cents day/day and settled at $2.760. March, which takes over as the prompt month on Thursday, advanced 6.6 cents to $2.702. NGI’s Spot Gas National Avg. continued its own multi-day rally, surging 52.0 cents to $3.370 on Wednesday. In addition to a widespread blast of cold this week, mid-range weather outlooks have steadily pointed to freezing conditions in weeks ahead. “Once again, the changes in the weather forecast are to the colder side, enough to now move the 15-day forecast as a whole a little colder even versus the long-term, 30-year normal,” Bespoke Weather Services said Wednesday. “Much of the colder change the last several days has been centered around more storm-induced variability than projected a week ago, as opposed to a true cold outbreak coming out of Canada,” Bespoke added. “But that narrative changes in the 11- to 15-day period, as a stronger cold air mass is expected to push southward out of Canada into the U.S. Its focus appears to be in the middle of the nation…as opposed to hitting the more populated East and South, though it still looks like enough for a few days of above-normal” demand.
US natural gas in storage falls less than expected but massive draw looms | S&P Global Platts — US working natural gas stocks dipped less than the market expected last week, leading to a dip in the Henry Hub prompt month, but a cold spell seizing most of the nation could lead to the largest draw of the heating season thus far for the week in progress. Storage inventories decreased by 128 Bcf to 2.881 Tcf for the week-ended Jan. 22 the US Energy Information Administration reported Jan. 28. It was a sharp departure from the massive 187 Bcf draw reported the week prior. US supply and demand balances were much looser than the week prior. The call on storage fields fell by 6.4 Bcf/d week over week, according to S&P Global Platts Analytics. Total demand saw a large decline due to milder temperatures, which pushed residential and commercial and industrial combined demand down nearly 2.9 Bcf/d. In addition, gas-fired power generation fell by 3.3 Bcf/d. This was due in part to higher wind and coal generation. Gas supply remained relatively stable as 300 MMcf/d of growth in US production was offset by an almost equal decline in net Canadian imports. Colder weather in Canada led to a spike in local demand resulting in less export to the Lower 48. The withdrawal was weaker than an S&P Global Platts' survey of analysts calling for a 136 Bcf draw. The pull also trailed the 170 Bcf draw reported during the same week last year as well as the five-year average withdrawal of 174 Bcf, according to EIA data. Storage volumes now stand 78 Bcf, or 3%, more than the year-ago level of 2.803 Tcf and 244 Bcf, or 9%, more than the five-year average of 2.637 Tcf.
March Debuts with Thud; Natural Gas Futures Fall After Storage Withdrawal Fails to Impress - Natural gas futures faltered Thursday following a bearish storage report and a key weather model pointing to lighter heating demand than previously expected, ending a rally. EIA storage Jan 22 On its first day as the prompt month, the March Nymex gas futures contract shed 3.8 cents day/day and settled at $2.664. It ended a three-day run of solid gains for the prompt month. April lost 4.5 cents to $2.675. “The end of the winter curve is trading below the front of the summer curve, and has been since Dec. 8,” indicating that, despite the recent rally, cold weather has fallen short of expectations this winter, said Mizuho Securities USA’s Robert Yawger, director of energy futures. NGI’s Spot Gas National Avg. kept a five-day win streak alive Thursday, rising 5.0 cents to $3.420, after surging 52.0 cents on Wednesday. NatGasWeather noted the European weather model tilted warmer overnight. It showed a decline from earlier forecasts in the level of cold air reaching eastern portions of the country for the first 10 days of February. Over the course of the three prior trading days, weather models shifted colder at multiple stages, fueling a rally. After falling 10 cents lower in morning trading, futures regained some ground after the latest American Global Forecast System (GFS) model “upped the cold factor yet again for Feb. 6-10 by favoring frosty Arctic air over Western Canada releasing across the U.S. Rockies, Plains and Midwest for strong national demand,” NatGasWeather said in a midday note. EIA reported a withdrawal of 128 Bcf rom storage for the week ended Jan. 22, well below both the midpoint of analysts’ estimates and the week-earlier print. Analysts noted that it was warmer than normal during the covered week and liquefied natural gas (LNG) volumes were also lower because of heavy fog along the Gulf Coast that limited access to export facilities. LNG volumes have since recovered this week, holding above 11 Bcf/d on Thursday after dipping below 9 Bcf at one point last week, according to NGI data.
March Natural Gas Futures Lose More Ground Amid Mixed Demand Outlooks; Cash Prices Fall - - Natural gas futures flip-flopped between gains and losses early on Friday, as traders weighed fluctuating weather forecasts against renewed strength in U.S. liquefied natural gas (LNG) volumes. Still, futures ultimately finished in the red as the cloud of a bearish storage report from a day earlier — and the light winter heating demand it reflected — hung over markets. The March Nymex gas futures contract settled at $2.564 on Friday, down 10.0 cents day/day. A day earlier, in its debut as the prompt month, March shed 3.8 cents. The April contract, meanwhile, fell 8.3 cents to $2.592 on Friday. Analysts at The Schork Report noted that March traded at a discount to April, as it has since December. They said this “is a clear bearish fundamental telltale,” given that trading for March still represents the winter season, when demand for natural gas is typically at its peak. NGI’s Spot Gas National Avg., meanwhile, dropped 56.0 cents to $2.860, snapping a five-day win streak. Bespoke Weather Services noted early Friday that both the American and European weather models were colder versus 24 hours earlier, yet the overnight data from the European came in warmer versus Thursday’s afternoon run. Both models tilted slightly warmer at midday Friday. “Storm-induced variability is still the theme over the next week or so, followed by a more substantial push of cold into the central/western U.S. next weekend into the following week,” Bespoke said. The anticipated spell of freezing conditions over the next two weeks could drive above-normal gas-weighted degree days nationally, the firm said, even though the coldest temperatures were not expected to reach the East.
U.S. charges two offshore workers over Gulf of Mexico oil spills(Reuters) - Two Fieldwood Energy LLC oil workers face federal criminal charges for allegedly separately allowing crude oil spills from offshore U.S. Gulf of Mexico platforms to avoid required shut downs. The two were indicted Tuesday for spills in 2015 and 2018, according to complaints by the U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Louisiana. Workers in one platform joked that their motto was “safe and sound until production’s down,” the indictment said. Fieldwood’s “top priority is to operate our facilities in a safe manner that protects” workers and the environment, the Houston-based company said in a statement. Fieldwood was not identified by name in the indictments or charged. It referred questions to attorneys for the two men. Fieldwood area foreman Brandon Wall, 42, of Louisiana, was charged with negligent discharge and bypassing monitoring and safety systems to keep oil flowing at one of the company’s most prosperous platforms, according to the indictment. “Shutting-in the platform for repairs or maintenance would have resulted in Company A making substantially less money,” the indictment said. The actions released a “harmful quantity of oil and other hazardous substances.” Wall alerted regulators a month after an oil sheen was first sighted off the Grand Isle 43AA platform, the indictment said. Patrick Huse, 40, of Mississippi, a person-in-charge of other Fieldwood platforms, faces eight charges including knowingly releasing oil, misrepresenting to regulators and making false entries to inspection logs.
Anti-fracking groups to appeal challenge to Michigan petition law to Supreme Court The Michigan Supreme Court is likely to be the last stop for a group that's trying to put a fracking ban on the ballot. Hydraulic fracturing, commonly known as fracking, is a controversial process involving pumping large amounts of water, sand and chemicals into deep into the ground to break up shale deposits releasing oil or natural gas. Fracking has boosted oil and natural gas production. But critics say it damages the environment. The Committee to Ban Fracking in Michigan collected more than 270,000 signatures to put a ban on the ballot. But the signatures were not collected within the 180 day window required by law. The group has been fighting the limit in court for years. Last week, the Court of Appeals rejected the group’s request to strike down the statute. Attorney Matthew Erard represents the Committee to Ban Fracking in Michigan. He says meeting the 180-day limit is easier for well-funded campaigns with paid circulators. But Erard says for grassroots groups pursuing a petition drive entirely on the basis of volunteer effort it’s extremely daunting, if not impossible. “There is no purpose for this statute,” says Erard. “Other than to frustrate the citizens’ initiative process.” Erard says if appealing to the Supreme Court fails, the anti-fracking group will have to consider starting their petition drive over.
John Walsh: Whitmer's Line 5 fight a 'backslide for carbon control progress'(president and CEO of the Michigan Manufacturers Association) Rounding the corner to 2021, the pandemic that many believed would end months ago continues to take its toll on people's lives and our economy. While Michigan can be immensely proud that Pfizer, one of our state's most prominent manufacturers, is leading the way in speeding a life-saving vaccine to market, Michigan's economic recovery is years away. One thing is for certain, the pandemic has altered the way we work, go to school and shop, among other things. In other words, the way we consume things. For Michigan, where good manufacturing jobs are highly desired and where we work hard to ensure our companies can compete around the world, basic economic principles of supply, demand and workforce remain challenged and uncertain. But the demand for goods, especially food, medical supplies, clothing, safety products and many others, continues despite, and because of the coronavirus. Michigan manufacturers have risen to the challenge, changing auto assembly lines to hand sanitizer, ventilator and mask-making production lines to meet the safety needs of front-line workers and citizens everywhere. Once the Arsenal of Democracy, Michigan is flexing its manufacturing muscle again as the Arsenal of Health. Michigan manufacturers are gearing up to power up Michigan's economy as we emerge from COVID's grip. But manufacturing takes a lot of energy, and Gov. Gretchen Whitmer's recent actions to shutter Line 5 — Michigan's energy lifeline — in early 2021 just three years before a planned tunnel solution can be completed, threatens the speed and strength of recovery. Her actions risk manufacturing jobs and the mere survivability of some manufacturers. They threaten to raise the price of nearly every product made in Michigan — from pickles to potato chips and automobiles to appliances — and sold here and around the world.
Canadian pressure mounts on Michigan governor to back off Enbridge pipeline - — Canadian government and business interests are mounting a full-court-press on Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, hoping to badger the Midwest Democrat into reversing an order that shuts down a controversial Enbridge oil pipeline under Lake Michigan later this year. Whitmer administration officials say formal calls are coming from nearly all corners of Canada to allow the Enbridge Line 5 oil line crossing under the Straits of Mackinac to continue operating after a May deadline, which the governor imposed several months ago when she announced revocation of the pipeline easement over past violations.Diplomats and business leaders across the border say the move imperils Canadian jobs and they’re threatening to escalate the matter with new U.S. President Joe Biden, who is juggling the desire of climate voters demanding a shift away from fossil fuels with efforts to improve an international relationship strained under Donald Trump.Local and provincials officials in Ontario, where the 645-mile pipeline crosses back into Canada at Sarnia, are pushing Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to take the matter directly to Biden.“At some point, there will be some discussions with the new administration, whether that be directly between our prime minister and the president, or at the cabinet-level on both sides. That’s still up in the air, " said Joe Comartin, a former Parliment member and Canada’s consul-general in Detroit.“The position by Enbridge, generally, and we support it, is that the state does not have the jurisdiction and authority to close this (pipeline) down,” Comartin said. In November, Whitmer rewarded environmental groups and Enbridge critics by terminating a 68-year-old easement which enabled the company to run dual oil lines under the Great Lakes next to the Mackinac Bridge. The move was heralded by many concerned that the aging pipeline posed an oil spill risk, but has been criticized by pro-business and labor groups who say the pipeline is necessary to support energy jobs and supply home heating fuel in Michigan.Whitmer gave Enbridge until May to wind down operations, ostensibly a date chosen to allow time for alternative fuel supply issues to be figured out in the Upper Peninsula, where the line moves propane for residential heating.Enbridge has pushed back, saying it wont comply with the shutdown absent a court order. The company is seeking permits to build a huge $500 million tunnel under the straits to house a replacement for the pipeline. “We’re getting a lot of pressure from Canada,” said Hugh McDiarmid, spokesperson at the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy (EGLE), which is reviewing several of Enbridge’s permit applications for the tunnel. “Every, or almost every, province has written a letter in support of keeping the pipeline open.” Canadian news sites have quoted a litany of local, provincial and federal officials as being concerned about a Line 5 shutdown and making efforts to lobby the Michigan governor. Canada’s ambassador to the U.S., Kirsten Hillman, is reported to have spoken to Whitmer and Ontario Prime Minister Doug Ford has also written the governor to urge that she reconsider.
SpaceX to Drill for Natural Gas Near Texas Starship Development Site - It's a development that was unexpected even for the frequently surprising Elon Musk. As reported by Bloomberg, the Tesla Motors CEO's SpaceX revealed in a regulatory hearing that it plans to drill for natural gas near its Boca Chica spacecraft development facility in the southeast corner of Texas, near Brownsville. In the hearing, conducted by the Railroad Commission of Texas and aimed at helping resolve a dispute, attorney Tim George said that SpaceX will utilize the methane extracted from its efforts "in connection with their rocket facility operations." No further details were immediately available. George represents Lone Star Mineral Development, the SpaceX subsidiary formed last June that will be responsible for the drilling. Such activity has not yet begun because Lone Star Mineral Development is locked in a fight with rival energy company Dallas Petroleum Group. Lone Star purchased its 806-acre site from privately held Houston company Mesquite Energy; Dallas Petroleum claims it owns numerous inactive wells on the property. Another SpaceX subsidiary, land acquisition business Dogleg Park, claims that Dallas Petroleum blocked SpaceX's access to the site in an attempt to effectively extort money from Musk's company. Boca Chica is the site where SpaceX's Starship spacecraft and Super Heavy rocket are currently being developed and tested. Last month, an unmanned Starship prototype was launched from Boca Chica. The flight saw Starship notch a new record for height (roughly 40,000 feet) and hit certain objectives, although it exploded on impact during landing.
US oil, gas rig count jumps 12 to 442; highest since April 2020: Enverus — The US oil and gas rig count jumped climbed 12 to 442 in the week ended Jan. 27, Enverus data showed, with the double-digit jump likely telegraphing a changing mindset stemming from higher oil prices.. Stay up to date with the latest commodity content. Sign up for our free daily Commodities Bulletin. Sign Up "Overall, another strong week for US rigs, as operators are likely starting to see a mid-$50/b price in 2021 as a possibility, which would allow for most of the drilled-but-uncompleted wells to be profitable in major crude plays and a large portion of new wells to be able to breakeven," said Andrew Cooper, quantitative analyst with S&P Global Platts Analytics' Global Supply Team. "However, a strong rig ramp of 20 rigs a week is unlikely without $60/b WTI," Cooper said. For the week ended Jan. 27, oil prices were slightly lower. WTI prices averaged $52.71/b, down 33 cents, while WTI Midland averaged $53.63/b, down 28 cents, and the Bakken Composite price averaged $49.68/b, down 42 cents. Natural gas prices were also slightly weaker, with Henry Hub averaging $2.55/MMBtu and Dominion South averaging $2.25/MMBtu, both down 8 cents. The nationwide rig count, now it's highest since April 2020, has grown by 36, or 8.9%, in the past three weeks. Oil rigs were up eight on week to 326, while gas rigs were up four to 116. In April-May 2020, rig totals plummeted from an oil price collapse as the pandemic hit oil demand. The rig count has since recovered 58% from the early July trough of 279 but it is still below the 838 domestic rigs active in early March 2020.The largest weekly change in rigs came in the Permian Basin of West Texas/New Mexico, where seven rigs were added to 201, marking the highest total the basin has seen since May 2020. Rigs in the Eagle Ford Shale of South Texas were up four week on week to 32. The DJ Basin (nine rigs) of Colorado; the SCOOP-STACK (16) play of Oklahoma; and the gas-prone Haynesville Shale (49) of East Texas and Northwest Louisiana all gained one rig apiece. The natural gas-prone Marcellus Shale (34), mostly in Pennsylvania, and the Utica Shale (eight), largely in Ohio, also kept their rig counts steady week on week. There were no weekly changes in rig count to the oily Bakken Shale, where totals have remained at 13 for three consecutive weeks.
Keppel Exits Offshore Rig Building Business - Keppel Corporation announced Thursday that its wholly owned subsidiary Keppel Offshore & Marine will exit the offshore rig building business. The development, which will occur after the company completes existing rigs under construction, is being undertaken amid the global energy transition and major disruptions facing the oil industry, Keppel Corporation noted. As part of the transformation, Keppel Offshore & Marine’s business will be restructured into three parts; a Rig Co, Development Co and Operating Co. The restructuring will commence immediately and is expected to be executed over the next two to three years. Keppel Offshore & Marine’s completed rigs will be placed under Rig Co, which will put the completed rigs to work, or sell them if there are suitable opportunities. Uncompleted rigs will come under Dev Co, which will focus on completing the rigs. Op Co, which comprises the rest of Keppel Offshore & Marine, will progressively transit to a developer and integrator role, focusing on design, engineering and procurement, Keppel Corporation noted. This business will be people and asset “light” and will seek opportunities in floating infrastructure and infrastructure-like projects, including renewables developments, Keppel Corporation outlined.
Oil companies could make millions if required to capture natural gas - Requiring oil and gas companies to capture 98 percent of natural gas produced in Texas could yield $440 million of additional revenue from increased gas production by 2025, according to a new report. If Texas were to adopt a 98 percent gas-capture policy, it would nearly eliminate routine flaring in the Permian Basin of West Texas, according to a Rystad Energy report commissioned by the Environmental Defense Fund and released Tuesday. The policy would sharply reduce greenhouse gas emissions, but also allow operators to capitalize on the increased natural gas production. “There’s significant value creation to be had with a 98 percent gas capture metric.” The oil industry has long battled the issue of flaring, the burning of excess natural gas that's produced during crude production. Flaring releases greenhouse gases such as methane, which is 84 times more capable of trapping heat than carbon dioxide, according to the Environmental Defense Fund. A trillion cubic feet of natural gas in the Permian Basin of West Texas has been flared since 2013, according to the Energy Information Administration. Flaring has fallen to the lowest level in nearly a decade after the lockdowns during the coronavirus pandemic slashed crude demand and oil and gas production. Rystad estimates that 390 million cubic feet per day of natural gas — representing 1.6 percent of production — was flared in the fourth quarter of 2020, the lowest since 2012. For comparison, more than 4 percent of the natural gas produced in the Permian Basin was flared in 2018 and 2019. As oil production rebounds from the pandemic, however, flaring is expected to rise. “We haven’t seen an uptick in flaring yet.” Still, the Environmental Defense Fund is pushing ahead to keep flaring at historically low levels. The environmental advocacy group is proposing that Texas implement gas capture requirements similar to ones enacted recently in North Dakota and New Mexico. Some Democrat legislators in Texas are also calling for a tax on flaring. Complying with a 98 percent gas capture rule is estimated to cost oil and gas companies about $50 million by 2025. Less than a fifth of oil and gas companies would incur costs of about $100,000 a year to meet a prospective gas-capture rule, according to Rystad.
Regulator shelves rule meant to force banks to serve oil, gun companies - The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) is shelving a controversial rule meant to prevent banks from rejecting corporate customers based solely on their industry. The OCC announced Thursday that it would wait to publish its “Fair Access” rule in the Federal Register until a full-time comptroller can review it, preventing it from taking effect until President Biden’s eventual nominee assumes office. The move comes roughly a week after the White House imposed a freeze on all rulemaking activity that began before Biden took office, though the OCC said the pause was the agency’s decision alone. Biden has not yet announced his pick for comptroller of the currency, The OCC on Jan. 14 finalized its Fair Access rule, which was proposed in November to protect oil, natural gas and firearms companies from being spurned by banks. A slew of major banks have backed away from financing oil and gas drilling projects and firearm manufacturers in recent years, citing climate change and several mass shootings. Republicans applauded the OCC for taking action to protect such companies, some comparing their woes to the centuries of financial discrimination faced by people of color in the U.S. Democrats and advocates for big banks — two groups rarely on the same page — condemned the proposal as unnecessary, intrusive and shortsighted.
Texas, New Mexico, Louisiana issue warnings against suspending oil and gas leasing on federal lands – In response to the Biden administration suspending new oil and gas leases on federal land for 60 days, oil and gas companies in the South and Southwest warned that doing so would impact hundreds of thousands of jobs and destroy the economy of some states. Under the new Biden Administration, the Acting Interior Secretary signed a 60-day Temporary Suspension of Delegated Authority, which among other directives suspends the issuance of federal onshore and offshore oil and natural gas leasing permits. “Should this action become permanent, it would be devastating to jobs, communities and economies nationwide and would set back tremendous environmental progress,” the Texas Oil & Gas Association (TXOGA) said. Power The Future-New Mexico called on New Mexican leaders to oppose the decision, arguing it was the first of many to ultimately implement a permanent ban. The TXOGA, the Louisiana Mid-Continent Oil and Gas Association (LMOGA) and the American Petroleum Institute (API) released an analysis last year warning that suspending leases would cost 200,000 jobs in the Gulf Coast region alone. The offshore Gulf of Mexico accounts for over 15 percent of U.S. oil production, and researchers found that local economies in the Gulf Coast region would be among the hardest hit areas with more than 200,000 job losses by 2022 and millions of dollars in reduced revenue. In New Mexico, roughly half of the state’s oil and gas production occurs on federal land. Banning it “would be nothing short of devastating to New Mexico’s energy workers and the state’s economy,” Power the Future says. “If New Mexico’s leaders care about our jobs and our economy, they will immediately begin the process of seeking relief including securing a waiver, from President Biden’s anti-energy agenda,” Larry Behrens, Western States Director for Power The Future, said. “This decision is going to destroy jobs and erode revenue needed for our schools, police and infrastructure. New Mexico’s leaders need to stand up for our working families and protect them from disastrous decisions coming out of Washington.” Last September, a spokeswoman for New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham said it was “premature” to discuss a waiver from a potential Biden federal ban. Now, Power the Future argues the state must seek a waiver.
After long fight to thwart climate rules, oil firms seek inroads with Biden - — Shortly after Donald Trump took office in 2017, the American Petroleum Institute reached out to members of Congress, urging them to repeal methane regulations put in place by the Obama administration. Since methane, better known as natural gas, has value as a commodity, the oil industry’s biggest lobbying group claimed drillers were unlikely to let it just escape from leaky pipes and drilling equipment. Emissions estimates by the Environmental Protection Agency, however, showed oil and gas companies were doing just that. Four years later, with President Joe Biden in the White House, the oil industry’s largest lobbying group has reversed course, pledging to work with the administration to restore federal methane regulations rolled back by Trump. The about-face comes as lobbyists representing oil and gas companies in Washington try to navigate a new administration that has put climate change near the top of its priority list, even as the government spends trillions of dollars on economic relief and COVID-19 continues to kill more than 4,000 Americans a day. “I think the American people and the industry I am in have evolved on this issue (of climate change),” Mike Sommers, president of the American Petroleum Institute, said in an interview. “I was really taken by President Biden’s tone (during the inauguration) and the importance on working together to solve the big problems. If he’s serious about working across industries, he’ll find a partner in the oil and gas industry.” How long the detente will last is anyone’s guess. Oil lobbyists made similar attempts to win points in the early days of the Obama administration, only to spend most of the next eight years fighting it in court. M
Oil Groups Talk Federal Lease Freeze - Restricting development on federal lands and waters is nothing more than an import more oil policy. That’s according to American Petroleum Institute (API) President and Chief Executive Officer Mike Sommers, who noted that energy demand will continue to rise, especially as the economy recovers. “We can choose to produce that energy here in the United States or rely on foreign countries hostile to American interests,” Sommers said in an API statement. “With this move, the administration is leading us toward more reliance on foreign energy from countries with lower environmental standards and risks to hundreds of thousands of jobs and billions in government revenue for education and conservation programs,” he added. “We stand ready to engage with the Biden administration on ways to address America’s energy challenges but impeding American energy will only serve to hurt local communities and hamper America’s economic recovery,” Sommers continued. According to a recent API analysis, without access to energy development on federal lands and waters, U.S. energy supply would shift to foreign sources, cost nearly one million American jobs, increase CO2 emissions and reduce revenue that funds education and key conservation programs. Commenting on the potential new energy policy, Todd Staples, the president of the Texas Oil and Gas Association (TXOGA), said, “banning energy development on federal lands and in offshore waters not only threatens thousands of the best paying jobs but needlessly erases much needed revenue that helps pay for schools and other essential services”. “American oil and natural gas is safe, clean and abundant, and misguided policies will only stifle our nation’s energy and environmental progress,” he added. The Louisiana Oil and Gas Association (LOGA) noted that moratoriums intended to regulate American oil and gas companies out of business backfire by burdening main street and households everywhere. The organization also highlighted that restricting offshore development will jeopardize hundreds of thousands of jobs and billions in revenue. “Now more than ever people cannot afford heightened energy costs,” LOGA Interim President Mike Moncla said in an organization statement. “A better approach would be to support the recovery with sustainable policies that benefit struggling Americans with affordable, reliable, American energy,” he added. “A large portion of drilling activity in Louisiana is from offshore federal waters … Biden should focus on responsible offshore energy development that will aid in nation’s economic recovery,” Moncla continued. On January 22, Bloomberg reported that U.S. President Joe Biden was poised to suspend the sale of oil and gas leases on federal land, according to four people familiar with the matter. Some of the people said the move could also block offshore oil and gas leasing, Bloomberg highlighted.
Biden Sets in Motion Plan to Ban New Oil and Gas Leases on Federal Land - NY Times - The president will announce a suite of executive actions on Wednesday to combat climate change, two people familiar with his plans said, and will ask federal agencies to determine the extent of a drilling ban. — President Biden on Wednesday will direct federal agencies to determine how expansive a ban on new oil and gas leasing on federal land should be, part of a suite of executive orders that will effectively launch his agenda to combat climate change, two people with knowledge of the president’s plans said Monday. An eventual ban on new drilling leases would fulfill a campaign promise that infuriated the oil industry and became a central theme in the fight for the critical battleground state of Pennsylvania, where the natural gas extraction method known as hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, has become big business. The move is the most prominent of several that Mr. Biden will announce Wednesday, the two people said. The president also will direct the government to conserve 30 percent of all federal land and water by 2030, create a task force to assemble a governmentwide action plan for reducing greenhouse gas emissions, issue a memorandum elevating climate change to a national security priority. Mr. Biden will also create several new commissions and positions within the government focused on environmental justice and environmentally friendly job creation, including one to help displaced coal communities. The programs and proclamations are supposed to signal that climate change is back on the government agenda, bigger than ever. What they will not deliver, at least yet, is a steep and rapid reduction in greenhouse gas emissions. “Can this administration do a lot on its own? Yes,” said Jonathan H. Adler, a law professor at Case Western Reserve University. “But,” he added, “if the standard, though, is atmospheric stabilization, I’m skeptical the administration can do anything near enough administratively.” That will require legislation, Mr. Adler said, “especially if a premium is put on getting emissions reductions as soon as possible.” A spokesman for the White House declined to comment on the orders, and two people close to the administration noted that final decisions on them were still being refined. ImageThe Kayenta Solar Plant on the Navajo Reservation in Kayenta, Ariz.
Biden Ban on Oil, Gas Leasing on U.S. Lands Challenged in Court - The Biden administration’s moratorium of oil and gas leasing on federal public land faced an immediate legal attack from an energy industry group. Western Energy Alliance, which says it represents 200 oil and natural gas companies, said the administration’s suspension of leases is “unsupported and unnecessary,” and an overreach by the U.S. Bureau of Land Management, according to a petition filed Wednesday in Wyoming federal court. “Presidents don’t have authority to ban leasing on public lands,” Western Energy Alliance President Kathleen Sgamma said in a statement. “Drying up new leasing puts future development as well as existing projects at risk,” she said, adding that the move will cost tens of thousands and perhaps millions of jobs. The administration moratorium issued Wednesday buys time for a broad review of whether fossil fuels should be extracted from lands under the U.S. government’s control. Environmentalists want President Joe Biden to make the suspension of leasing permanent. But even if he doesn’t, future leasing could encompass far less terrain and come with higher costs and environmental limits. Although Biden has directed the Interior Department to pause new leases for oil and natural gas from public land and coastal waters, it will not affect ongoing operations on existing leases. And drilling permits for existing leases will keep flowing; more than two dozen have been issued already since Biden took office. Beyond its two-page court petition, Western Energy Alliance said in its statement that the president’s order is a violation of the Mineral Leasing Act, the National Environmental Policy Act and the Federal Lands Policy and Management Act. The group successfully challenged former President Barack Obama’s rule governing gas venting and flaring on federal land and also tangled with the Obama administration over fracking restrictions on public lands. The case is Western Energy Alliance v. Biden, 21-cv-00013, U.S. District Court, District of Wyoming.
EMISSIONS: Analysis: How Biden's freeze on drilling leases affects CO2 -- Wednesday, January 27, 2021 -- A freeze on new federal oil and gas leases could earn goodwill for President Biden among environmentalists, but analysts said such a move likely would have a limited effect on U.S. greenhouse gas emissions. Several news outlets, including Reuters and The Wall Street Journal, reported yesterday that Biden plans to suspend new oil and gas leases on federal land as part of a broader climate package of executive orders to be issued today. But experts said it's difficult to determine how much of an impact this step would have on U.S. emissions. For one, oil and gas companies have stockpiled leases in recent months, meaning major producers could continue drilling new wells irrespective of the new order. A moratorium on new leases also would have no impact on existing oil and gas wells. An even bigger question is whether Biden could implement a long-term ban without a legislative change to the Mineral Leasing Act, a 100-year-old statute requiring that federal minerals be leased for auction. "I suspect there will be litigation if they try to cancel all future oil and gas sales," A 2018 study by the U.S. Geological Survey estimated that more than 23% of American greenhouse gas emissions between 2005 and 2014 came from fossil fuels produced on federal land. About 36% of that total came from oil and gas production on federal lands and waters. The remainder came from coal production, largely in Wyoming. Issuing a moratorium on new coal leases would have little practical effect, since mining companies have stopped purchasing new tracts of federal land with the contraction of the coal market. Oil production on federal land, meanwhile, is booming. Output on federal land increased from 723 million barrels in fiscal 2014 to more than 1 billion barrels in 2019, according to the most recent Interior Department data. The increase has been driven in large part by a drilling boom in New Mexico's Permian Basin, where output more than doubled over that time. Federal lands accounted for 23% of total U.S. oil production in 2019. Many of the major producers on federal land have been stockpiling leases. EOG Resources reported early last year that it had more than 2,500 wells permitted on federal lands, representing about five years of drilling, according to a research note published by Goldman Sachs. Devon Energy has 600 permits, or enough for about four years of drilling. Cimarex Energy Co. had a relatively modest 50 permits, but that was still enough for a three-year drilling program, the bank said. "Everyone saw this coming," She called a moratorium a missed opportunity for the Biden administration, saying the president could have used the threat of a leasing ban to push for more stringent methane and flaring regulations while working on long-term measures to reduce oil demand.
Biden’s Pause of New Federal Oil and Gas Leases May Not Reduce Production, but It Signals a Reckoning With Fossil Fuels - It’s hard to overstate the symbolic importance of the executive order President Biden signed Wednesday that paused new leasing of oil and gas development on federal lands, among other actions on climate change. The United States is the world’s top oil and gas producer, and the directive, which orders a wholesale review of the federal leasing and permitting program, signals a reckoning with how that production will need to fall. Advocates hope the halt to leasing will be the first step toward developing a comprehensive path to phase out fossil fuel production in a way that also supports workers, communities and states that depend on the resources for their livelihoods. But the order—which pauses leasing until the review is completed—will do little in itself to reduce the nation’s oil and gas production, and will not affect the number of wells being drilled for years.Oil and gas companies are sitting on a huge cache of undeveloped federal leases: Nearly 14 million out of more than 26 million acres leased to oil companies onshore are not in use, and more than 9 million out of a total 12 million offshore acres leased are not producing, according to the Interior Department. Biden’s order will allow companies to continue to receive permits to drill on land they have already leased.The research firm Rystad Energy estimates that in New Mexico’s Delaware Basin, one of the most active drilling areas in the country, most companies can continue their current level of drilling for more than a decade, even without acquiring new federal leases.Wells on federal lands also account for only about 20 percent of the nation’s oil production, and even less of its gas output. The pause in new leasing will have no impact on the state and private lands that account for the rest. Still, fossil fuel production on federal lands is responsible for nearly a quarter of the nation’s carbon dioxide emissions, according to one government study, and those lands are the only place where the federal government can take a direct role in managing production.
Biden Administration Sued For Halting Oil, Gas Leasing On Federal Lands - The Biden administration was sued on Jan. 27 over its executive order to halt oil and gas leasing on federal lands and waters. The lawsuit (pdf) was filed in the U.S. District Court in Wyoming by the Western Energy Alliance, a group representing fossil fuel producers on federal lands. They say President Joe Biden exceeded his authority with the recent order.“The law is clear. Presidents don’t have authority to ban leasing on public lands. All Americans own the oil and natural gas beneath public lands, and Congress has directed them to be responsibly developed on their behalf,” Alliance President Kathleen Sgamma said in a statement, according to The Washington Times. “Drying up new leasing puts future development as well as existing projects at risk. President Biden cannot simply ignore laws in effect for over half a century.” The executive order, Sgamma said, violates the Mineral Leasing Act, the National Environmental Policy Act, and the Federal Lands Policy and Management Act. The lawsuit argues that the administration’s suspension of the federal oil and gas leasing program is “an unsupported and unnecessary action that is inconsistent with the Secretary’s statutory obligations” and is “both arbitrary and capricious.” The Biden executive order sets up a “pause on entering into new oil and natural gas leases on public lands or offshore waters to the extent possible” and will launch a “rigorous review of all existing leasing and permitting practices related to fossil fuel development on public lands and waters,” according to the White House. The White House said the move is an attempt to “tackle the climate crisis.” Republicans and industry leaders said the order would harm the U.S. economy and result in thousands of job losses.
Biden's energy plan will cause Americans to 'struggle' for years, former Shell Oil president warns -- Former Shell Oil President John Hofmeister argued on Monday that President Biden’s “Keystone cancelation makes no sense for the future good of the American people,” warning that “we will pay a price for that.” Hofmeister made the comments on “Mornings with Maria” on Monday, stressing that Biden’s energy actions create “uncertainty.” “Oil is not going away,” he said. “Anyone that thinks it is, certainly doesn’t understand how the economy works and how science works and so it’s just going to be a struggle.” “We’re in for a number of years of struggle while we also work on the next set of alternatives,” he continued. Biden signed a total of 17 executive orders within minutes of entering the Oval Office for the first time on Wednesday. The orders reversed a number of Trump administration policies and covered areas Biden identified as his priorities on the campaign trail, including climate change. In addition to halting the Keystone XL oil pipeline project, Biden renewed the U.S. commitment to the Paris climate agreement, just three years after President Trump withdrew support.“We’re not going to get rid of fossil fuels in a four-year term or an eight-year term of an administration. It’s just not going to happen,” Hofmeister stressed. “What will happen is that the price of oil will go up and the production of U.S. oil will go down.” “So we help Russia, we help the Middle East, OPEC countries, but the American people cannot shift quickly enough to electric vehicles, there aren’t enough of them,” he continued. “We don’t have the supply chain built yet for lithium, for example, for batteries so this is a long, long process.”
Texas governor vows to fight U.S. curbs on oil and gas activity (Reuters) - The top elected official of the largest U.S. oil and gas producing state on Thursday pledged to fight President Joe Biden’s executive orders that he claimed would undercut Texas energy production. In a case of dueling executive orders, Texas Governor Greg Abbott authorized state agencies to bring legal challenges Biden’s policies. Biden on Wednesday unveiled a series of actions to combat climate change, including pausing new oil and gas leases on federal land and cutting fossil fuel subsidies. “When it comes to threats to your jobs, you have a governor who has your back,” he told workers at an oilfield service firm where he signed his order. “Texas will protect the oil and gas industry from any type of hostile attack from Washington,” he said. State agencies should identify opportunities to sue the federal government where they find federal overreach, said Abbott who as the state’s attorney general sued the federal government 31 times. Cities in Texas also would be prohibited from banning natural gas appliances under state bill he plans to file, Abbott added. Texas produced 41% of U.S. crude oil and 25% of natural gas, according to the Energy Information Administration. The state lost about 60,000 energy jobs between February and August 2020, according to an energy lobby group.
Texas Gov. Abbott fights back against Biden order suspending oil, gas drilling on federal lands and waters - KAKE- In Odessa Thursday, Texas Governor Greg Abbott fired back at President Joe Biden’s executive order armed with an executive order of his own. The governor directed all state agencies to sue the federal government over its new policy to place on hold new oil and natural gas leases on federal lands and waters. During a news conference he said, “Texas is going to protect the oil and gas industry from any type of hostile attack launched from Washington, D.C. Texas is not going to stand idly by and watch the Biden administration kill jobs.”The governor held a roundtable discussion at Cudd Energy Services.An employee there, Daniel Posada, told reporters that he and his co-workers feel threatened by the Biden administration’s policy. “This industry is important to not just Texas, but the United States. We made a big part and we are here to stay.”President Biden’s executive order says, “The United States and the world face a profound climate crisis. We have a narrow moment to pursue action at home and abroad in order to avoid the most catastrophic impacts of that crisis and to seize the opportunity that tackling climate change presents.”While there is little to no oil and natural gas drilling on federal lands in Texas, off-shore drilling in federal waters is significant.The Texas Oil and Gas Association warns under the Biden policy, Texas could lose 120,000 jobs and $65 million in revenues by next year.
Barrasso says Biden climate orders are a 'de facto fracking ban' - Fox News - Fracking advocates are fighting mad at President Biden’s new executive orders aimed at curbing oil and gas drilling, with some believing the new measures effectively break his promise not to ban fracking.Biden on Wednesday signed an order to pause oil and gas leases on federal land, and the White House announced it would begin a "rigorous review" of all existing fossil fuel leases and permitting practices."Let me be clear, and I know this always comes up. We're not going to ban fracking," Biden said signing the order. It was a promise he’d peddled in swing states like Pennsylvania and Ohio that led him to victory. Some critics aren't buying it. "It is a de facto ban on fracking," Sen. John Barrasso, R-Wyo., told Fox News in an interview about the new order, noting that his state stands to lose 30,000 jobs. A top energy industry official agreed. "He explicitly said he wasn’t going to ban fracking," American Petroleum Institute CEO Mike Sommers told Fox News in an interview. "That rings a little bit hollow." Sommers agreed that the combination of Wednesday’s order issuing a moratorium on new oil and gas leases on federal land combined with last week’s order from the Interior Department to freeze leases to drill for 60 days amounted to a "de facto fracking ban." Banning fracking outright, as environmentalists have called for, would take an act of Congress and be subject to various lawsuits. Others say that the Biden orders will do little to hurt the fracking industry since many big oil and gas producers already have existing leases they haven’t drilled on."Right now, the oil and gas industry has existing leases on enough federal land and ocean water to cover the state of Georgia. Those leases aren’t affected," Bob Dean, spokesman for the National Resources Defense Council, told Fox News. "The industry hasn’t yet drilled on more than half of that land. In other words, the industry has enough untapped federal land and ocean acreage right now to cover two-thirds of South Carolina. That’s enough, industry executives have said, to keep the industry busy for years."
INTERIOR: Republican opposition to Haaland grows more vocal -- Wednesday, January 27, 2021 -- When President Biden picked Rep. Deb Haaland to be his Interior secretary, the positive response to the historic choice was so enormous, it virtually overshadowed any meaningful dissent. Supporters who had been lobbying for the New Mexico Democrat cheered the selection of a staunch progressive and environmental defender, while news stories played up the groundbreaking nature of her appointment: the first Native American to ever lead the federal agency with direct oversight of tribal interests. But now that Haaland could be on track for confirmation hearings to begin next month — perhaps as soon as next week — the fierce opposition is starting to make itself known. Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.), who sits on the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, which will oversee Haaland's confirmation proceedings, appears ready to hold Haaland to account for the Biden administration's plans to stop issuing new leases for oil and gas drilling on federal lands. "It won't hurt the people who are sitting around congratulating themselves on 'leave it in the ground' policies," Cassidy told E&E News. "It will hurt a family who was able to send their children to a better school, take a nice vacation in the summertime. ... It will destroy their livelihoods." Rep. Pete Stauber (R-Minn.), who as a House member does not get a vote on whether Haaland is installed at the Interior Department or not, is nonetheless seeking to use his platform to call attention to what he says are worrisome elements of her record. "The nomination of Representative Haaland as Interior Secretary embodies clear support for the Green New Deal and a rejection of even the potential of high-wage jobs," Stauber wrote yesterday in a letter to Biden co-signed by 14 fellow House Republicans. The members added, "We implore you in the strongest terms to withdraw [her] nomination ... and instead nominate a consensus-driven individual who will not implement policies that will kill jobs and increase the country's reliance on foreign adversaries."
No, Joe Biden still isn't banning fracking - President Joe Biden is cracking down on the oil-and-gas industry, but he is not taking the extreme steps the Trump campaign claimed he would last fall.Last week, the Biden administration imposed a 60-day suspension of new oil and gas leasing and drilling permits on federal lands unless the Interior Department's leaders approved them.Biden is expected to go a step further Wednesday, by ordering a moratorium on new oil and gas leaseson federal land and water areas. However, this is a far cry from the more dramatic step climate activists are calling for (and that the oil industry fears): a full-blown federal ban on fracking.During the campaign, Biden explicitly opposed a nationwide ban on the controversial oil-and-gas technique, although the Trump campaign repeatedly suggested otherwise. And it's not even clear that a president has the legal power to ban fracking on private lands -- that would likely take an act of Congress.Rather, Biden's moratorium on oil and gas leases applies only to federal land, which accounts for less than a quarter of total US oil production and much less for natural gas. And the freeze does not impact existing leases.In other words, ExxonMobil and Chevron can continue to frack away."We do not think Biden has the authority to ban fracking and if he did, he wouldn't go that far," said Bob McNally, founder and president of consulting firm Rapidan Energy. "Biden remains a centrist with strong links to unions, who would oppose such a step."
Killing Keystone XL pipeline might not be bad for Oklahoma according to some in the oil industry -On Thursday, President Joe Biden signed an order that stopped construction of the Keystone XL pipeline. Some Oklahoma politicians and oil and gas professional immediately pushed back saying it would cost Oklahomans jobs and money, but now some in the industry say not so fast. One former Oklahoma oilman says the news about the pipeline made him smile because its good for the state’s energy industry. Others say it will hurt consumers and it’s the beginning of the Biden administration’s fight against oil and gas. “We do not need 800,000 barrels a day of anybody’s crude oil to come to Cushing, Oklahoma and sit there,” said Mickey Thompson, former head of the Oklahoma Independent Petroleum Association.President Biden recently signed an executive order to stop building the northern leg of the Keystone Pipeline.The massive pipeline project has been in the works for years and if finished, would transport oil from Canada through Oklahoma on its way to the Gulf Coast for refinement.On Thursday, Oklahoma U.S. Senator James Lankford firing out a statement saying,“The Keystone XL is the physical embodiment of Democrats’ crusade against traditional energy. President Biden wasted no time turning back years of Americans’ hard work developing, ironing out the route, and building this trans-border pipeline,” said Lankford. “The southern leg of Keystone, which begins in Cushing, Oklahoma, has been complete for more than six years, but the northern leg of the pipeline—under the strictest pipeline safety standards ever implemented—has faced countless delays. Pipelines are the safest way to transport oil. Yesterday’s irrational denial of the Keystone XL permit damages our relationship with Canada and will lead to higher prices at the pump for consumers. While Oklahomans want to see the US continue to pursue an all-of-the-above energy policy, we also understand that currently our cars and trucks run on oil. Limiting access to an oil pipeline kills jobs and limits our energy supply. Kicking people who work in the energy sector on day-one may help progressive politics, but in Oklahoma, we know our jobs and livelihoods are next. ” But Thompson says the Pipeline would bring millions of gallons of Canadian oil to Cushing, OK , driving down demand and prices for Oklahoma oil, ultimately hurting oil prices and jobs far more than what would be caused by stopping the Pipeline.“The loss of job argument holds no water in Oklahoma,” said Thompson.
Millions of Americans, Hundreds of Groups Support Halting Fossil Fuel Leasing, Permitting on Public Lands, Oceans - Center for Biological Diversity— Environmental justice, Indigenous, climate and conservation groups from across the country announced today that in recent years they’ve delivered millions of petitions and public comments, and letters from hundreds of organizations, supporting a halt on new fossil fuel leasing and permitting on public lands and oceans.The Biden administration is expected to order a leasing ban on Wednesday.President Biden has promised to ban new leasing and permitting activities. Calls to ban fracking on federal lands ramped up in 2013 and expanded to oppose all new fossil fuel leasing in 2015. Nearly every acre of federal lands leased for oil and gas by the Trump administration is under some form of legal challenge, and many lease sales have been overturned by the courts.Millions of people have spoken out from all corners of the United States where federal fossil development is harming public health and worsening the climate and extinction crises. In December nearly 600 groups, representing millions of Americans, sent the Biden transition team a draft executive order outlining how the next Interior secretary could implement the president’s directive. “Too many federal lease sales have already sacrificed the Greater Chaco region for short-term profit,” said Daniel Tso, Navajo Nation Council delegate and chair of the Health, Education and Human Services Committee. “Local Navajo communities, through little or no ‘meaningful consultation,’ have consistently borne too much of the environmental and social impacts from federal oil and gas leasing. As a result, Navajo Nation communities in northwestern New Mexico have suffered increased coronavirus morbidity, a methane cloud visible from space, and some of the worst air quality in the U.S. There has to be a balance point: people over money. I welcome an end to federal fossil fuel leasing and the necessary transitions to more sustainable economies for the Navajo Nation.” “The waters of the Gulf of Mexico are being polluted, which is throwing all life out of balance. Rapid expansion by the fossil fuel industry threatens our coastal communities and our ways of living,” said Juan Mancias, tribal chairman of the Carrizo Comecrudo Tribe of Texas. “The Deepwater Horizon disaster showed the damage even a single spill can do to our waters and the environment — it's time to end new leases for oil and gas.”“We need to end Arctic oil drilling, both offshore and on federal lands,” said Dune Lankard, executive director of Native Conservancy in Alaska. “Like many Alaskans who were devastated by the Exxon Valdez oil spill, as an original Native inhabitant, commercial and subsistence fisherman, I intimately understand how dirty and dangerous all oil drilling is. Here we are 30-plus years later and our fisheries and wildlife have never fully recovered from the Exxon spill. It’s time that we as a human race unite and come together, and take care of our planet, including our communities, wildlife, climate and keep this oil in the ground.”
Oil-producing Native American tribe seeks exemption from Biden drilling pause (Reuters) - An oil-producing Native American tribe on Friday asked the U.S. Interior Department for an exemption from the recent temporary suspension of oil and gas leasing and permitting on federal and tribal lands, saying the move would hit its economy and sovereignty. The pushback from the Ute Indian Tribe reflects the financial strain some communities will face from a freeze of the government’s fossil fuel leasing program. The new administration of President Joe Biden announced the move this week as part of a raft of measures intended to combat global climate change. “The Ute Indian Tribe and other energy producing tribes rely on energy development to fund our governments and provide services to our members,” Luke Duncan, chairman of the Ute Indian Tribe Business Committee in Utah, said in a letter to acting U.S. Interior Secretary Scott de la Vega. The tribe produces about 45,000 barrels of crude oil per day in the Uintah basin, along with about 900 million cubic feet per day of natural gas, according to a document it filed with the Bureau of Indian Affairs in 2017. The secretarial order issued on Jan. 20 - Biden’s first day in office - suspended the authority of Interior Department offices to issue new fossil fuel permits and leases - a move that could be a first step in delivering on Biden’s campaign promise to ban all new federal drilling permits. While some Native American tribes have been vocal opponents of fossil fuel development others are drilling the vast oil and coal reserves on their land. The Mandan, Hidatsa and Arikara nation in North Dakota, for example, are also big producers of oil and gas. MHA Nation Tribal Chairman Mark Fox did not comment on whether his tribe would also seek an exception but said: “We will do what is necessary to protect the treaty rights and trust interests of the Mandan, Hidatsa and Arikara Nation.” Biden’s pick to lead the Interior Department, Deb Haaland, is poised to become the first Native American to head a cabinet agency once she is confirmed in Congress. She has said she would prioritize climate change and conservation as secretary and has previously opposed drilling in ecologically and culturally sensitive areas. A spokesman for the Interior Department declined to comment.
Tribes exempt from pause in U.S. federal drilling program -official (Reuters) - Native American tribes are exempt from the Biden administration’s temporary suspension of U.S. oil and gas leasing and permitting on federal lands, a spokesman for the U.S. Department of Interior said on Monday. The clarification comes after an oil-producing tribe in Utah last week asked Interior for an exemption from the 60-day pause, saying it would hit its economy and sovereignty. “The approval process for oil and gas activities does not apply to tribal and individual trust lands,” Interior spokesman Tyler Cherry said in an email, referring to the secretarial order issued on Jan. 20, President Joe Biden’s first day in office. The order, which strips Interior Department agencies and bureaus of their authority to issue drilling leases and permits, appeared to be a first step in delivering on Biden’s campaign pledge to ban new drilling on federal acreage permanently. But the immediate backlash from the Ute Indian Tribe reflects the financial strain some communities will face from a freeze in the government’s fossil fuel permitting program. While some tribes opposed fossil fuel development, others are drilling the vast oil and coal reserves on their land. In a letter to acting U.S. Interior Secretary Scott de la Vega last week, the Ute tribe said energy development was critical to providing services to its members.
INTERIOR: Republican opposition to Haaland grows more vocal -- Wednesday, January 27, 2021 -- When President Biden picked Rep. Deb Haaland to be his Interior secretary, the positive response to the historic choice was so enormous, it virtually overshadowed any meaningful dissent. Supporters who had been lobbying for the New Mexico Democrat cheered the selection of a staunch progressive and environmental defender, while news stories played up the groundbreaking nature of her appointment: the first Native American to ever lead the federal agency with direct oversight of tribal interests. But now that Haaland could be on track for confirmation hearings to begin next month — perhaps as soon as next week — the fierce opposition is starting to make itself known. Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.), who sits on the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, which will oversee Haaland's confirmation proceedings, appears ready to hold Haaland to account for the Biden administration's plans to stop issuing new leases for oil and gas drilling on federal lands. "It won't hurt the people who are sitting around congratulating themselves on 'leave it in the ground' policies," Cassidy told E&E News. "It will hurt a family who was able to send their children to a better school, take a nice vacation in the summertime. ... It will destroy their livelihoods." Rep. Pete Stauber (R-Minn.), who as a House member does not get a vote on whether Haaland is installed at the Interior Department or not, is nonetheless seeking to use his platform to call attention to what he says are worrisome elements of her record. "The nomination of Representative Haaland as Interior Secretary embodies clear support for the Green New Deal and a rejection of even the potential of high-wage jobs," Stauber wrote yesterday in a letter to Biden co-signed by 14 fellow House Republicans. The members added, "We implore you in the strongest terms to withdraw [her] nomination ... and instead nominate a consensus-driven individual who will not implement policies that will kill jobs and increase the country's reliance on foreign adversaries."
Bureau of Land Management exodus: Agency lost 87 percent of staff in Trump HQ relocation - After the Trump administration announced its plans to relocate the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) headquarters to Colorado, more than 87 percent of Washington-based employees decided to leave the agency, according to new numbers released by the Biden administration. The figures show that following a July 2019 announcement the Department of the Interior would uproot the majority of BLM employees, just 41 agreed to relocate, while a staggering 287 either retired or left the agency before the end of 2020. The flight of employees came after Trump’s BLM rolled out a plan that would leave just 60 of the agency's 10,000 employees in Washington, D.C., establishing a new headquarters in Grand Junction, Colo., while spreading the majority of Washington-based staff to various offices across the West. “The bureau lost a tremendous amount of expertise; those were very seasoned people,” said Steve Ellis, who held the highest-ranking career position at the BLM under the Obama administration. “The numbers confirmed my worst fears. I hope we can get some of them back.” Critics saw the move as a way to dismantle an agency that at times stands in the way of development on public lands, particularly for the fossil fuel industry. Previous reporting from The Hill found the move would split apart a key public lands team, spreading across seven states those who review the environmental impacts of government decisions. A senior policy analyst, several legislative affairs specialists and a public affairs specialist were among the positions of note shown in the documents to be heading to Reno, Nev. Democrats frequently questioned why Grand Junction — a town of 60,000 four hours away from any major airport — would be the site of the BLM’s top officers. The move was first announced by then-Sen. Cory Gardner (R-Colo.) as he prepared for a tough reelection campaign. But as the Biden administration puts its own stamp on the BLM, it’s not yet clear what it plans to do with the Grand Junction headquarters, where 40 employees currently work, or the rest of the employees based out West. “The Interior Department’s new leadership will work with BLM career staff to understand the ramifications of the headquarters move and determine if any adjustments need to be made," the agency said in a statement. "We are committed to engaging with a number of stakeholders through this process, including Tribes and Members of Congress."
Biden Issues Dozens of Oil Drilling Permits in First Few Days - The Biden administration has issued at least 31 new drilling permits authorizing operations on federal land and coastal waters, despite an order putting political appointees in charge of the decisions. The move signals those drilling authorizations are continuing to flow, despite President Joe Biden’s plan to pause oil and gas leasing -- and a Jan. 20 order temporarily putting decisions about oil and gas permits, mining operations, hiring and other matters in the hands of top Interior Department officials. The order provoked alarm across the oil industry, as energy companies worried they wouldn’t get approval to drill new wells or swift approval to amend permits for ongoing drilling operations. So far, there’s no sign of that blockade. Offshore, the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement has issued 22 drilling permits to eight companies since Jan. 20, when President Joe Biden was inaugurated. Recipients have included BP Exploration and Production Inc., Arena Offshore, Shell Offshore Inc.and a BHP Billiton Petroleumsubsidiary, according to a Bloomberg News review of an Interior Department database. The Interior Department said in a statement that permits for valid, existing leases “are continuing to be reviewed and approved.” The agency has maintained that the order, which is set to expire March 20, does not equate to a drilling permit freeze and does not apply to tribal lands.
Cheney offers bill to prohibit suspension of oil, gas, coal leases - Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) introduced two bills Thursday seeking to block the White House plan to pause leases for oil, gas or coal on federal lands, a key part of its expansive climate change platform. Cheney, the No. 3 House Republican and the representative of a major fossil fuel-producing state, said the Safeguarding Oil and Gas Leasing and Permitting Act and the Safeguarding Coal Leasing Act would force the Biden administration to obtain a joint resolution of approval from Congress before implementing any federal moratorium on oil and gas leasing or permitting or coal leasing. The bills are similar to one from Wyoming Sen. Cynthia Lummis (R), which is also likely to be formally introduced Thursday. “The executive actions from the Biden Administration banning new leasing and permitting on federal land endanger our economy and threaten our national security. The legislation I am introducing today would safeguard against these damaging orders, and prevent the job loss, higher energy costs, and loss of revenue that promises to come with them,” Cheney said in a statement. “These bills will defend the interests of the people of Wyoming and our nation, and I will work with partners in Washington to push for their consideration.” Cheney touted 21 co-sponsors for the Safeguarding Oil and Gas Leasing and Permitting Act and 14 for the Safeguarding Coal Leasing Act, as well as support from a number of industry groups. “The Petroleum Association of Wyoming applauds Congresswoman Cheney’s common-sense bill that will give voice to those elected offices with a constitutional responsibility to represent the people and lands affected by these misguided attempts to wreak havoc on economies across the West,” said Petroleum Association of Wyoming President Pete Obermueller. The introduction of the bills follows President Biden’s signing of executive orders laying out an array of climate goals, including conserving 30 percent of public lands and waters by 2030, halting the granting of leases on public lands or offshore waters and putting the U.S. on a path to reaching net-zero emissions by 2050. The move by Cheney could play well among her constituents in Wyoming, which is a major producer of coal, natural gas and crude oil, but could also serve as a way to tap into a popular issue within the GOP at a time when she faces withering criticism from conservatives over her vote this month to impeach former President Trump.
Enerplus doubles down on U.S., buys North Dakota producer for US$465M - Enerplus Corp. is doubling down on its shift to the United States from Canada, announcing it will buy privately-held oil and gas producer Bruin E&P HoldCo LLC for US$465 million in an all-cash deal. The deal will add about 24,000 barrels of oil equivalent (BOE) per day to Enerplus’ production out of North Dakota’s Williston Basin with Bruin’s properties near Enerplus’ current operations in the area. The deal is expected to close in early March. In a release, Enerplus President and Chief Executive Officer Ian Dundas highlighted the geographic proximity between the two companies as a key driver behind the deal. "With immediately adjacent acreage offering strong operational synergies, Bruin's assets are highly complementary to our existing Tier 1 position in the Bakken and will enable us to accelerate free cash flow growth and further support our focus on providing long term sustainable shareholder returns," he said in a statement. The American acquisition fits within a trend for Enerplus, which has been increasingly shifting its operational focus away from Canada and into the United States. Dundas has repeatedly pointed to the Canadian energy regulatory regime as a key driver of that shift. The company’s U.S. operations now account for nearly 90 per cent of its total production. Enerplus will finance the acquisition through a new US$400 million term loan and a concurrent US$115 million bought deal offering as it sells shares for $4 apiece, a seven per cent discount to the closing price of the company's shares on Monday. Enerplus will not assume any of Bruin’s debt after the deal closes. As a result of the deal, Enerplus raised its 2021 production forecast to as much as 108,500 BOE per day, up from the earlier view of about 86,000 BOE per day. The company also raised its full-year capital spending plan to a range of $335 million to $385 million, up from $300 million.
D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals: Standing Rock Sioux Tribe v. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers - Indianz.Com - The D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals has issued a ruling in Standing Rock Sioux Tribe v. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.The 36-page decision, released Tuesday morning, confirms that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers acted “unlawfully” in approving the final portion of the pipeline near the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation. The action occurred in the early days of the Donald Trump administration, back in 2017, over the objections of tribal nations. “The tribes’ unique role and their government-to-government relationship with the United States demand that their criticisms be treated with appropriate solicitude,” Judge David S. Tatel wrote in the decision.But the appeals court won’t require the illegal pipeline to be shut down. Tatel said it would be up to the new administration of President Joe Biden to take action, though the ruling also left the door open for further litigation to stop the oil from flowing on Sioux Nation treaty territory.“It may well be — though we have no occasion to consider the matter here — that the law or the Corps’s regulations oblige the Corps to vindicate its property rights by requiring the pipeline to cease operation and that the tribes or others could seek judicial relief under the APA should the Corps fail to do so,” Tatel wrote in reference to the Administrative Procedure Act (APA), the U.S. law that governs how federal agencies develop and carry out actions. “But how and on what terms the Corps will enforce its property rights is, absent a properly issued injunction, a matter for the Corps to consider in the first instance, though we would expect it to decide promptly,” Tatel concluded for the court. Since becoming operational in June 2017 thanks to the Trump administration, the Dakota Access Pipeline has transported up to 500,000 barrels of oil per day. The 1,172-mile path runs through North Dakota, South Dakota and Iowa before ending in Illinois. The portion of the pipeline at issue in the litigation crosses the Missouri River at Lake Oahe. The site, which is managed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, falls within Sioux Nation treaty territory and is less than a half-mile from the northern border of the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation.
Court upholds order for Dakota Access environmental review (AP) — A federal appeals court on Tuesday upheld a district judge’s order for a full environmental impact review of the Dakota Access pipeline, but declined to shut the line down while the review is completed. Following a complaint by the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe, U.S. District Judge James Boasberg said in April 2020 that a more extensive review was necessary than the environmental assessment conducted by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. The $3.8 billion, 1,172-mile (1,886 kilometer) pipeline crosses beneath the Missouri River, just north of the the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation that straddles the North Dakota-South Dakota border. The tribe, which draws its water from the river, says it fears pollution. The U.S. Court of Appeals ruling does not require the pipeline to stop operating or be emptied of oil, as Boasberg had initially ruled. The appellate court blocked that order last summer. “This pipeline is now operating illegally. It doesn’t have any permits,” said Jan Hasselman, the EarthJustice attorney representing Standing Rock and other tribes. “The appeals court put the ball squarely in the court of the Biden administration to take action. And I mean shutting the pipeline down until this environmental review is completed.” EarthJustice said in a release Dakota Access should not be allowed to operate until the Corps decides after its review whether to reissue a federal permit granting easement for the pipeline to cross beneath Lake Oahe. The group said Biden has the discretion to shut the pipeline down; last week, the leaders of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe, Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe, Oglala Sioux Tribe, and Yankton Sioux Tribe wrote to the president asking him to do so. North Dakota Republican Sen. Kevin Cramer said the court was right to reject the shutdown and wants Biden to stay out of it. “The Army Corps of Engineers should be allowed to proceed as they are without political interference from the Biden administration,” Cramer said. “This is not another opportunity to wage war on North Dakota’s energy producers.”
Biden Holds Key to Dakota Access Pipeline Fate After Ruling (1) President Joe Biden has an opening to move quickly against Energy Transfer LP’s Dakota Access pipeline in the wake of a new court decision affirming the need for more review.The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit on Tuesday refused to revive a key pipeline easement, which a lower court tossed last year due to inadequate environmental analysis. The D.C. Circuit didn’t order Dakota Access to shut down, but its ruling provides fresh legal cover for Biden to step in and halt operations—if he chooses to.“The D.C. Circuit has given the Biden administration a great out on this,” ClearView Energy Partners analyst Christine Tezak told Bloomberg Law, saying the president could frame the court decision as forcing his hand on the issue.Other legal observers say Biden might opt to stand down to save political capital, especially because Dakota Access opponents could instead secure a shutdown order in separate, ongoing proceedings in federal district court.The district court on Wednesday morning shifted the pressure to the president, scheduling a Feb. 10 status hearing for government lawyers to explain how they play to proceed.The White House didn’t respond to questions Tuesday about its plans. The president is set to unveil a suite of climate-focused policies, including a freeze on federal oil and gas leasing, on Wednesday. Dakota Access, unlike other highly contentious pipeline projects, has been in service, shipping oil from North Dakota to Illinois since 2017. Without a valid easement, the pipeline is trespassing on federal land. While the Trump administration declined to bring an enforcement action to address the encroachment, the Biden administration could change course.The D.C. Circuit briefly addressed shutdown prospects in its opinion, which says “it may well be” that federal law or regulations require the Army Corps to “vindicate its property rights” by halting operations. But the court declined to answer the question, calling it “a matter for the Corps to consider in the first instance, though we would expect it to decide promptly.”
How will Biden XL's latest setback impact Canadian crude oil producers? -- Sure, there was at least some hope among Keystone XL’s supporters that President Biden might back away from his promise to kill the much-maligned crude oil pipeline project. After all, KXL developer TC Energy had done all it could to make the 1,210-mile project more palatable to the incoming administration by making Canadian First Nation groups partners in the project, reaching a favorable labor agreement with the four U.S. unions that would build the pipeline, and, most recently, committing to invest in renewable energy to power KXL’s pumps and other equipment. But it wasn’t enough, and now, with Biden’s decision to revoke the project’s Presidential Permit, it appears that the Alberta-to-Nebraska pipeline is all but dead, and that Western Canada will need to get by without its 830 Mb/d of southbound capacity. The looming question now is, what does that mean for Alberta’s producers — particularly those that have signed up for more than 500 Mb/d of space on KXL? Today, we discuss what’s ahead. As we blogged about earlier this month in Oil From the North Country, crude oil production in the Western Canadian Sedimentary Basin (WCSB) — including the all-important Alberta oil sands — has roughly doubled since 2010, from about 2 MMb/d at the beginning of the last decade to ~4 MMb/d today. TC Energy, then known as TransCanada, fully (and correctly) anticipated the coming boom in WCSB production when it and then-partner ConocoPhillips announced in 2008 that they would build Keystone XL (dashed green line in Figure 1) to supplement their planned 590-Mb/d Keystone Pipeline (dark-green line), which in 2010-11 started transporting crude from Hardisty, AB, to Steele City, NE, and from there to hubs in Patoka, IL, and Cushing, OK. (TransCanada bought out ConocoPhillips’s Keystone and Keystone XL stakes in 2009.) The plan was for KXL to provide 830 Mb/d of additional capacity from Hardisty to Steele City starting a year or two after the original Keystone Pipeline came online, and thereby supporting increasing flows of Western Canadian crude oil and diluted bitumen (dilbit) from the oil sands to U.S. refineries.
LNG Imports for Alaska's Kenai Terminal Clear Another Hurdle - Plans to convert an Alaska liquefied natural gas (LNG) export terminal, the oldest in the United States, to allow imports moved ahead this week after clearing another regulatory hurdle. The National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) found a Marathon Petroleum Corp. subsidiary’s plans to import four cargoes a year of the super-chilled fuel at the Kenai LNG terminal won’t adversely affect endangered whales and sea lions. FERC in December approved Trans-Foreland Pipeline Co. LLC’s application to import natural gas at Kenai. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission had requested a consultation from NMFS on whether those plans would impact Cook Inlet beluga whales or their critical habitat, and other species of gray whales, humpback whales, sei whales or sea lions. “The proposed LNG facility upgrades will occur entirely on land, therefore the construction of the upgrades is not expected to impact water resources, fishes, marine mammals, and/or threatened and endangered species,” wrote NMFS in a letter to FERC earlier this week. The agency added that because the “project proposes no change in vessel operations compared with current conditions, no additional adverse effects from vessel operations are expected as a result of this action.” Kenai began operating in 1969 and for more than 40 years was the only LNG export terminal in the United States. The terminal has a liquefaction capacity of 200 MMcf/d, but the plant hasn’t exported LNG since 2015. It’s been idled since Marathon Petroleum acquired it from ConocoPhillips in 2018. Trans-Foreland wants to construct facilities, return two 35,000 cubic meter storage tanks and other equipment to service to import LNG. Liquefaction would remain out of service under current plans.
Biden's energy moves strengthen Russia, US rivals, undermine national security | Fox Business - President Biden’s executive orders that put the U.S. on a course to transition away from fossil fuels are a boon for U.S. competitors Russia, Saudi Arabia and other adversaries and pose a threat to national security. Biden on Wednesday signed an executive order that temporarily bans the issuance of new permits and leases for drilling and fracking on federal lands. He also ordered federal agencies to eliminate fossil fuel subsidies. The actions followed other executive orders that called on the U.S. to rejoin the 2016 Paris climate agreement and to temporarily halt drilling in the Arctic, among other things. “Anything that blunts U.S. production growth and potentially blunts the ability of the U.S. to pursue a coercive sanctions regime tied to American energy dominance” would benefit Russia, said Helima Croft, managing director and global head of commodity strategy at RBC Capital Markets. She noted the orders, while telegraphed by Biden on the campaign trail, may have taken people by surprise due to the speed at which they were implemented. Biden has promised to "transition" the U.S. away from oil. Deregulation implemented by the Trump administration helped the U.S. in 2017 become a net exporter of natural gas for the first time since the 1950s. In 2019, the U.S. became a net exporter of energy. Being energy independent allowed the Trump administration to levy sanctions against the Russian oil company Rosneft for its support of the Maduro regime in Venezuela.Additionally, Russia’s stronghold on liquefied natural gas exports to the European market was threatened as a strong U.S. presence gave those countries purchase optionality.Other potential winners from Biden’s executive actions include the Gulf state producers like Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates and Kuwait, which produce the cheapest and cleanest oil. Just this month, the U.S. for the first time in 35 years did not import a single barrel of crude oil from Saudi Arabia.
Big Oil hits brakes on search for new fossil fuels (Reuters) - Top oil and gas companies sharply slowed their search for new fossil fuel resources last year, data shows, as lower energy prices due to the coronavirus crisis triggered spending cuts.Acquisitions of new onshore and offshore exploration licences for the top five Western energy giants dropped to the lowest in at least five years, data from Oslo-based consultancy Rystad Energy showed. The number of exploration licensing rounds dropped last year due to the epidemic while companies including Exxon Mobil, Royal Dutch Shell and France’s Total also reduced spending, Rystad Energy analyst Palzor Shenga said. “Acquiring additional leases comes with a cost and it demands some work commitments to be fulfilled. Hence, companies would not want to pile up on additional acreages in their non-core areas of operations,” Shenga said. Of the five companies, BP saw by far the largest drop in new acreage acquisition in 2020. Bernard Looney, who became BP’s CEO in February, outlined a strategy to reduce oil output by 40% or 1 million barrels per day by 2030. BP has rapidly scaled back its exploration team in recent months. Exxon, the largest U.S. energy company, acquired the largest acreage in 2020 in the group, with 63% in three blocks in Angola, according to Rystad Energy.Total was second with two large blocks acquired in Angola and Oman. Acquiring exploration acreage means companies can search for oil and gas. If new resources are discovered in sufficient volumes, the companies need to decide whether to develop them, a costly process that can take years. As a result, the drop in exploration activity could lead to a supply gap in the second half of the decade, analysts said.
Half-million barrels unloaded from oil-storage vessel in the Gulf - ABOUT half of the 1.3 million barrels of crude oil stored in the troubled Nabarima floating storage and offloading (FSO) facility, moored off Guiria, Sucre, Venezuela, have been transferred to an oil tanker, a Reuters report said on Thursday. After the alarm was first raised last October about the listing ship posing the risk of an oil spill in the Gulf of Paria, the US State Department said an intervention would not violate US sanctions against Venezuela.The sanctions are aimed at ousting President Nicolas Maduro over alleged election-rigging. The Nabarima has been idle for two years as a result. Italian oil company Eni, which has a 26 per cent stake in the Petrosucre joint venture with PDVSA (Venezuela's state-owned oil company) prepared to help. PDVSA also prepared its own offload using a sanctioned oil-tanker, the Icaro. On December 15, the Reuters news agency said PDVSA had begun to transfer oil from the offshore facility. On Wednesday, Reuters reported in a story headlined: Venezuela completes first tranche of oil transfer from offshore facility: “PDVSA in December began offloading crude from the Nabarima floating storage and offloading facility (FSO), after images of the facility listing earlier last year raised alarms among workers, activists and governments of neighbouring countries about a possible environmental disaster.” Reuters said satellite images showed 570,000 barrels were moved from the Nabarima to the Icaro, a PDVSA-owned vessel anchored nearby, according to TankerTrackers.com, a service that monitors satellite data for the oil industry. A barge, the Inmaculada, was used to ferry the Nabarima's crude to the Icaro.
Will Venezuela Go To War Over Oil? -- January 2021 is still far from over yet the pages of Oilprice already boast 6 articles about Guyana being the hottest drilling spot in the world. This is hardly surprising, considering the hot streak that ExxonMobil had over the past 5 years, with new companies coming in and stepping up the drilling game. The interest globally attributed to Guyana has aggravated Venezuela’s long-standing grievances over the disputed Essequibo province – before 2015 the Venezuela vs Guyana oil standoff was akin to a David vs Goliath story but now, with Guyana building up its oil reserves tally and continuing to attract new investors, the balance has become a lot more nuanced. Amidst all of this, Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro has pledged to reconquer Essequibo. At first glance, the proposition that Venezuela should go to war over a disputed territory, let alone with Guyana, seems rather dubious. Venezuela boasts the world’s largest proven oil reserves, totalling roughly 304 Bbbls (see Graph 1), i.e. more than all of North America combined, more than Iraq and Iran combined. Guyana’s reserves are a fraction of that, barely reaching 3% with its 9-10 Bbbls. However, behind the dry facade of data and statistics, there lies an entire universe of human emotions, oftentimes led astray due to their subjective nature and in this particular realm, Caracas is the one frustrated and concerned. Guyana is adding one major discovery after another (the recent failure of Hassa-1 notwithstanding), whilst the Venezuelan national oil company PDVSA keeps on struggling to make ends meet. The dispute over Guayana Esequiba (alternatively dubbed the Essequibo Region) is one of the most complex remaining, mixing colonial legacies with modern-day grievances. It all began in 1840 when the British Empire demarcated the heretofore undisputed and unsettled frontier between British Guiana and Venezuela, by means the “Schomburgk Line”. To no one’s surprise Venezuela rejected the British claim, however, unwilling as they were to get mired in a protracted conflict, both sides agreed to disagree in 1850 and vowed not to colonize the then-largely uninhabited region. Despite arbitrations and negotiations, the question of who should control the Essequibo Region remained unsolved by the time of Guyana declaring itself independent in 1966. Caracas recognized the independent Guyana, however only its territories located to the east of the Essequibo River, maintaining its claim that all the territories to the west are part of Venezuela. One of the most protracted territorial disputes globally, the discovery of oil offshore Guyana might have been the factor missing to propel the issue forward. ExxonMobil, the operator of Guyana’s Stabroek offshore block, was subject to maritime harassment by the Venezuelan Navy and had one of its surveying vessels detained in 2013. However, when Exxon discovered the Liza field in 2015, closer to the Guyanese-Surinamese frontier and hence were beyond the Venezuelan maritime claim, the stakes turned really high. Guyana had official proof that its offshore was not sub-commercial as was previously thought (initially companies appraised the shallow waters of Guyana and found no commercial deposits) and with the help of a US major could now count on high-level backing for its border case.
ScotGov Proposes Halting Overseas Oil Support - The Scottish government has announced a new proposal to end all its overseas trade backing and promotion activities solely focused on fossil fuel goods and services by COP26. The government, which said it will consult with the industry on its proposal, noted that there will be legitimate exceptions to the withdrawal of support where it is clear that the work is essential for a fair and just energy transition, such as decommissioning. “Scotland’s vision for trade sets out our stall for the future and is clear about the kind of country we want to be,” Trade Minister Ivan McKee said in a government statement. “How we trade is as important as what we trade and our values-based approach will guide how we do business around the world and ensure that people, businesses and other governments know who we are and what we represent as a nation,” he added. Commenting on the Scottish government’s latest energy proposal, OGUK chief executive Deirdre Michie said, “we are requesting an urgent meeting with Scottish ministers so that we can highlight the effect this policy may have on members, particularly our SME members, who are still reeling from the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic and the downturn with its volatile commodity prices”.“In order to ensure our shared net-zero objectives become a reality, we will need to deliver a fair and managed transition at pace; one which deals with the realities of a competitive market while at the same time offering exciting new prospects for the future of our industry,” Michie went on to state.
Oil spill at Chevron’s oilfield pollutes Bayelsa - Crude oil spill has reportedly occured at Funiwa oilfield operated by Chevron Nigeria Limited (CNL) in Koluama, Southern Ijaw Local Government Area of Bayelsa State. Fishermen operating in the shallow waters of the Atlantic Ocean near Bayelsa coastline on Sunday reported the leak from the oilfield. The fishermen said they noticed crude on the waters near the oil facility as helicopters were seen overflying the area. A fisherman from the coastal settlement, Mr Tombra Ebitimi, said he noticed the incident on Saturday night and subsequently reported the development to the community leadership. He claimed several helicopters had been deployed to the area for assessment as response efforts had yet to commence. Ebitimi said: “Some of us who went for fishing sailed into the oil contaminated area near the Funiwa oilfield and got our nets and fishing gear soaked with crude on Saturday. “By today (Sunday), we noticed some helicopters overflying the facility. “It could be that community leaders have informed the company but our concern is that they should not apply toxic chemicals from the sky to dissolve the oil. “Those chemicals used to disperse and break down crude is unfriendly to fishes and marine life generally.” He said fishermen in the area had temporarily suspended fishing to avoid catching contaminated fishes that could jeopardise public health. First Exploration and Production Company, an indigenous oil firm, operates Oil Mining Leases (OMLs) 83 and 85, acquired from Chevron following its divestment from some of its assets in the area where it still retains interests in some fields. Officials of Chevron and FEPC have yet to respond to requests for comments on the incident.
Chevron denies responsibility as oil spill is reported in Bayelsa - Chevron operates in the area. Chevron Nigeria Limited (CNL) said on Friday that reported leaks near its operational areas at Funiwa offshore facilities off the Atlantic coast were not from its facilities. It pledged to support regulators in tracing the source. The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that fishermen around the Atlantic Ocean coastline reported an oil leak suspected to be from the Funiwa fields on Sunday. Esimaje Brikinn, General-Manager, Policy, Government and Public Affairs, Chevron, said the oil firm remained committed to tracing the source of the spill, as part of a joint effort by operators in the area to investigate the leakage. “The observed spill has been reported by CNL to the appropriate regulatory agencies. “For spills found within an operator’s operational area, the operator is required to contain the spill, followed by a Joint Investigation Visit by all stakeholders for assessment and further action. “No spill has been observed within CNL’s operational area, but we are monitoring this incident. “CNL operates in strict compliance with the relevant laws and regulations governing the Nigerian petroleum industry and remains committed to the safety of people and the environment,’’ he stated. Chevron and two other companies operate near the spill location. NAN gathered that the National Oil Spills Detection and Response Agency (NOSDRA) had summoned all the oil firms operating in the shallow waters near Koluama in Bayelsa in a bid to identify the source of the leaks.
Dutch court rules on Shell Nigeria oil spill case -- A Dutch court will hand down its verdict on Friday in a long-running case pitting oil giant Shell against four Nigerian farmers who accuse it of causing widespread pollution. After 13 years of legal wrangling, an appeals court in The Hague will rule on the farmers' demands for the Anglo-Dutch firm to clean up devastating oil spills in three villages in the Niger Delta and pay compensation. The case, backed by the Netherlands arm of environment group Friends of the Earth, is the first time a Dutch company has been held liable for actions by its foreign subsidiary. The case has dragged on so long that two of the Nigerian farmers have died since it was first filed in 2008, as Shell argued that the matter should not be heard in the Netherlands. "After almost 13 years, we will hear whether Nigerians will finally receive justice or whether Shell has succeeded in completely shirking its responsibility for the pollution," Donald Pols of Friends of the Earth Netherlands said in a statement. "For the inhabitants of the Niger Delta it is crucial that their land is cleaned up and their lost crops and livelihoods are compensated by the guilty party: Shell," he added. Shell has always blamed the spills on sabotage and said it has cleaned up with due care where pollution has occurred. The farmers first sued Shell in 2008 over pollution in their villages Goi, Ikot Ada Udo and Oruma, in southeastern Nigeria. A lower court in the Netherlands found in 2013 that Shell should pay compensation for one leak, at Ikot Ada Udo, but ruled that Shell's parent company in the Netherlands could not be held liable in a Dutch court for the actions of its Nigerian subsidiary. But in 2015 the Hague appeals court ruled that Dutch courts did indeed have jurisdiction in the case. The appeals court will on Friday decide on the substance of the case: whether Shell is to blame for the oil leaks and did it do enough to prevent them and future spills.
China Oil Demand at Risk -The Lunar New Year travel rush -- which starts on Jan. 28 this year -- runs for 40 days and is normally the biggest mass movement of people on the planet as hundreds of millions of Chinese jump on planes, trains and automobiles to see their extended families. It also provides an annual boost to transport fuel consumption in the world’s biggest oil importer. That seems unlikely this year as China discourages travel amid a resurgence of Covid-19 that’s threatening the nation’s reputation for controlling its spread. There will be around 1.7 billion trips over the LNY period, the Ministry of Transport has estimated. While that’s potentially 15% higher than last year, when movement was restricted to try and stop the initial coronavirus outbreak spreading from Wuhan, it’s down a massive 40% from 2019. The comeback in Covid-19 has been most severe in Hebei, where Tian’s hometown is, with authorities isolating the provincial capital of Shijiazhuang, a city of 11 million people. However, there have also been restrictions put in place in Beijing, Shanghai, northeast China and Hong Kong, where a densely populated neighborhood was locked down over the weekend. People traveling to rural areas will have to present a negative Covid-19 test result before leaving this year. Local governments are also offering incentives to stay home, including rent rebates in Zhejiang province and free meals and tickets to tourist attractions in Guangdong province. Concern that they could face quarantines when they get home may also stop people from traveling. China was a global bright spot for oil consumption last year as its economy rebounded rapidly from Covid-19’s first wave. The resurgence is now “casting a pall on that,” said Michal Meidan, director of the China Energy Programme at the Oxford Institute for Energy Studies. “The question now though is how steep of a demand impact and how long restrictions will last for.” It’s possible that some Chinese will ignore the travel warnings. The government ordered travel agencies to suspend sales of domestic and international package tours and imposed transport curbs before LNY last year. Many people still traveled anyway, however, helping to spread the virus.
Oil prices fall for 2nd session as Covid-19 lockdown concerns cast pall over demand prospects - Oil prices slipped for a second straight session on Monday as renewed Covid-19 lockdowns raised fresh concerns about global fuel demand. Brent crude futures for March fell 15 cents, or 0.3%, to $55.26 a barrel by 0158 GMT, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude for March was at $52.19 a barrel, down 8 cents, or 0.2%. "Signs of weaker demand weighed on the market," ANZ analysts said, pointing to lockdowns in Hong Kong, China and possibly France as COVID-19 cases rise, restricting business activity and fuel consumption. China reported a climb in new Covid-19 cases on Monday, casting a pall over demand prospects in the world's largest energy consumer, the main pillar of strength for global oil consumption. Last Friday prices came under further pressure after data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration showed U.S. crude inventories surprisingly rose by 4.4 million barrels in the week to Jan. 15, versus expectations for a draw of 1.2 million barrels. The number of oil and natural gas rigs added by U.S. energy firms rose for a ninth week in a row in the week to Jan. 22, but are still 52% below this time last year, data from Baker Hughes showed. Some support for prices has come in recent weeks from additional production cuts from the world's top exporter, Saudi Arabia. But investors are watching for a resumption of talks between the United States and Iran on a nuclear accord which could see Washington lifting sanctions on Tehran's oil exports, boosting supply. Iran's oil minister said on Friday the country's oil exports have climbed in recent months and its sales of petroleum products to foreign buyers reached record highs despite U.S. sanctions. On Sunday, Indonesia said its coast guard had seized the Iranian-flagged MT Horse and the Panamanian-flagged MT Freya vessels over suspected illegal fuel transfers off the country's waters.
Oil rises 1% on U.S. stimulus hopes, supply concerns (Reuters) - Oil prices rose about 1% on Monday as optimism around U.S. stimulus plans and some supply concerns boosted futures, but demand worries prompted by coronavirus lockdowns limited gains. Brent crude futures rose 47 cents, 0.9%, to settle at $55.88 a barrel. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude ended 50 cents, or 1%, higher at $52.77 a barrel. Officials in U.S. President Joe Biden’s administration on a Sunday call with Republican and Democratic lawmakers tried to head off Republican concerns that his $1.9 trillion pandemic relief proposal was too expensive. “Newly inaugurated President Biden seems to be pushing for a quick approval of his proposed $1.9 trillion pandemic relief package, a development interpreted by the market as a clear indication that the new U.S. administration aims to kick-start an economic recovery, which will naturally benefit fuel consumption,” said Bjornar Tonhaugen, Rystad Energy’s head of oil markets. On the supply side, the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies’ compliance with pledged oil output curbs is averaging 85% so far in January, tanker tracker Petro-Logistics said on Monday. The data suggest the group had improved its adherence to pledged supply curbs. In Indonesia, the country said its coast guard seized an Iranian-flagged tanker over suspected illegal fuel transfers, raising the prospect of more tensions in the oil-exporting Gulf. Output from Kazakhstan’s giant Tengiz field was disrupted by a power outage on Jan. 17. Meanwhile, European nations have imposed tough restrictions to halt the spread of the virus, while China reported a rise in new COVID-19 cases, casting a pall over demand prospects in the world’s largest energy consumer. Barclays raised its 2021 oil price forecasts, but said rising cases in China could contribute to near-term pullbacks.
Oil prices tick up with European shares amid Saudi blast reports - Oil prices ticked up on Tuesday alongside rising European shares and amid reports of a blast in Saudi Arabia, trading near 11-month highs. Brent crude was up 32 cents, or 0.6%, at $56.20, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude rose 22 cents, or 0.4%, to $52.99. Both contracts rose nearly 1% on Monday and are set to post the third monthly rise in a row. Prices edged up after reports of a blast in the Saudi Arabian capital Riyadh, although the cause remains unclear. In Europe, gains in financial services and chemical sectors helped stocks rise. Risk assets such a equities and oil often move in tandem. Raising the prospect of higher oil demand later in the year, the International Monetary Fund predicted global growth of 5.5% in 2021, an increase of 0.3 percentage points from the October forecast, citing expectations of a vaccine-powered uptick. On the supply side, the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies' compliance with pledged oil output curbs is averaging 85% in January, tanker tracker Petro-Logistics said on Monday, suggesting the group has improved compliance with supply curb commitments. Also, output from the giant Tengiz field in Kazakhstan, disrupted by a power cut on Jan. 17, will be restored over the next few days, according to Tengizchevroil. "It appears that market players are cautiously sanguine about the producer group's market management strategy and therefore about the imminent depletion in global oil inventories," PVM analysts said. Dampening bullish sentiment, U.S. Democrats are still trying to convince Republican lawmakers of the need for more stimulus, raising questions over when and in what form a package will be approved. China is reporting rising COVID-19 cases, casting a pall over demand prospects in the world's largest energy consumer. Elsewhere, Indian crude oil imports in December rose to their highest in more than two years.
Oil prices steady as virus deaths rise, demand worries persist (Reuters) - Oil prices were little changed on Tuesday as rising coronavirus deaths fed worries about the global demand outlook, but losses were capped by reports of a blast in Saudi Arabia. Brent crude ended the session up 3 cents, or 0.05%, at $55.91 while U.S. crude fell 16 cents, or 0.3%, to settle at $52.61. U.S. crude futures pared losses and Brent crude inched higher in post-settlement trade after data from the American Petroleum Institute showed U.S. crude inventories fell by 5.3 million barrels in the week to Jan. 22 to about 481.8 million barrels, compared with analysts’ expectations in a Reuters poll for a build of 430,000 barrels. [API/S] Indonesia, the world’s fourth-most-populous country, surpassed a million confirmed coronavirus cases on Tuesday while the death toll in Britain passed 100,000 people as the government battled to speed up vaccination delivery and keep variants of the virus at bay. The number of cases in the United States crossed 25 million on Sunday, a Reuters tally showed. Further dampening bullish sentiment, U.S. Democrats are still trying to convince Republican lawmakers of the need for more stimulus, raising questions over when and in what form a package will be approved. “Big COVID numbers, vaccine struggles and uncertainty surrounding the Biden stimulus plan, are all conspiring to pressure prices,” said Robert Yawger, director of energy futures at Mizuho Securities USA. Compared to some other countries, vaccine roll-outs in the European Union have been slow and fraught with problems, not least interruptions to supply chains. Prices edged up briefly after reports of a blast in the Saudi Arabian capital Riyadh, although the cause was unclear.
Oil Up After Report Points to Drop in US Stockpiles | Rigzone -- Oil in New York rose toward $53 a barrel as an industry report pointed to a drop in U.S. crude stockpiles, adding to signs of easing supply. Futures climbed 0.7% after slipping on Tuesday. The American Petroleum institute reported inventories fell by 5.27 million barrels last week, according to people familiar. If confirmed by government data on Wednesday, that would be the sixth draw in seven weeks. Broader financial markets are also awaiting the Federal Reserve monetary policy decision after its first meeting this year. Prompt timespreads for the U.S. benchmark and global Brent are in a bullish market structure and firming, indicating shrinking supplies. With the market switching to backwardation, “we are hopeful that 2021 will be a good year,” OPEC Secretary-General Mohammad Barkindo said. Oil has jumped almost 50% since the end of October but the rally has faltered recently on concerns about the near-term demand outlook due to Covid-19. China is facing a resurgent outbreak, there are fears about virus variants, while the U.K. became the first nation in Europe with 100,000 deaths. “With U.S. supplies shrinking and OPEC+ still keeping a tight rein on the other part of the supply equation, the market is expected to be in a deficit despite the reduced demand from the resurgent virus,” said Howie Lee, an economist at Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp. in Singapore. West Texas Intermediate for March delivery gained 34 cents to $52.95 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange at 7:41 a.m. London time after losing 0.3% on Tuesday. Brent for March settlement added 0.6% to $56.26 on the ICE Futures Europe exchange after ending the previous session little changed. Russia plans to cut exports next month to keep crude for domestic use, Iraq and Saudi Arabia are trimming output, and Libyan shipments are being affected by internal turmoil. Brent’s prompt timespread was 29 cents in backwardation -- where near-dated contracts are more expensive than later-dated ones -- compared with a 7-cent contango at the start of the month. U.S. fuel stockpiles, meanwhile, expanded last week, the API reported. Gasoline inventories rose by 3.06 million barrels, while distillates -- a category that includes diesel -- increased by 1.4 million barrels.
WTI Erases Overnight Weakness, Surges On Biggest Crude Draw Since July -After a strong overnight session following API's big crude draw, oil prices tumbled this morning, alongside a broader market dump, as lingering demand concerns weigh on crude’s recovery outlook, and liquidation threats ripple across every asset class.“There’s liquidation across the board and a flight to safety,” said John Kilduff, a partner at Again Capital LLC.“There’s also a nice snapback in the dollar, so some of the support the weak dollar had lent to the commodities complex and crude is being removed as well here.”The possible saving grace for this downside move in crude is a DOE confirmation of API's bigger than expected crude draw. API
- Crude -5.272mm (-1.7mm exp)
- Cushing -3.575mm
- Gasoline +3.058mm (+1.2mm exp)
- Distillates +1.39mm
DOE
- Crude -9.91mm (-1.7mm exp) - biggest draw since July
- Cushing -2.281mm
- Gasoline +2.469mm (+1.2mm exp)
- Distillates -815k
After the prior week's surprise crude build, analysts expected a modest draw but official data showed a huge 9.91mm barrel drop in stocks...
Oil rises as larger-than-expected U.S. crude draw outweighs Covid-19 demand concerns - Oil prices ticked up on Wednesday as a massive drawdown in U.S. crude inventories countered persistent concerns about the coronavirus pandemic continuing to hurt fuel demand. U.S. crude oil stocks dropped by nearly 10 million barrels last week to their lowest since March at 476.7 million barrels due to a sharp drop in imports, the Energy Information Administration said, compared with analysts' expectations in a Reuters poll for a build. Stocks at the U.S. storage hub and delivery point for crude futures in Cushing, Oklahoma, plunged by 2.3 million barrels. Brent crude gained 34 cents to $56.25 a barrel. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude settled 24 cents, or 0.5%, higher at $52.85 per barrel. "The market was led up by a significant draw in crude oil," said Andrew Lipow, president Lipow Oil Associates in Houston. Oil prices have recovered from record lows in April due to rising demand from the early months of the pandemic, particularly in China, and huge supply cuts by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies, known as OPEC+. "Oil continues consolidating," said Jeffrey Halley of brokerage OANDA. "The Saudi Arabian cuts, OPEC+ compliance above 85% and an insatiable demand from Asia means that oil has seen its cyclical lows for 2021." Prices could also benefit from lower U.S. oil production as a result of stricter industry regulations by the Biden administration, which is set to pause new oil and gas leases on federal land and cut fossil fuel subsidies as he pursues green policies. "We're going to be watching these production numbers to see if U.S. oil producers can overcome a tougher regulatory environment and a tougher funding environment and raise output," said Phil Flynn, senior analyst at Price Futures Group in Chicago. The number of global coronavirus cases has surpassed 100 million as infections rise in Europe and the Americas, while Asia scrambles to contain fresh outbreaks, weighing on oil demand and prices. China, the second-largest oil consumer, has recently seen a coronavirus resurgence, but official Chinese data showed 75 new confirmed cases of COVID-19 on Wednesday, the lowest daily rise since Jan. 11. After the U.S. oil inventory report, the market's focus shifts to the results of the U.S. Federal Reserve's two-day policy meeting. Analysts expect the Fed to stick to its dovish tone to help speed the economic recovery.
Oil falls on demand fears, strengthening dollar - Oil slid on Thursday as the impact of a weaker dollar and big U.S. crude inventory couldn't offset concerns that delays to vaccine rollouts and fresh travel curbs to prevent new coronavirus outbreaks could depress demand. Brent futures for March delivery fell 27 cents, or 0.48%, to $55.54 per barrel. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude settled 51 cents, or 0.96%, lower at $52.34 per barrel. The premium of the Brent front-month over the second month rose to its highest level since February 2020 for a fourth day in a row. The U.S. 3-2-1 crack spread , a measure of the profit margin for refining crude into gasoline and distillate, was on track for its highest close since May 2020, while the gasoline crack spread was on track for its highest close since June 2020. Oil prices were supported earlier by Wednesday's data that showed a huge 10 million-barrel drawdown in U.S. crude inventories last week, which analysts said was because of a pickup in U.S. crude exports and a drop in imports. "The draw was a big relief for inventories, especially as it followed a week of builds, putting traders at ease that supply doesn't overwhelm demand for the time being," Rystad Energy's Louise Dickson said. In addition, the U.S. dollar index flipped into negative territory after earlier gains, which also helped support oil prices. Buyers using other currencies pay less for dollar-priced oil when the greenback falls. Demand concerns, however, weighed on sentiment and prevented oil prices from holding those earlier gains. The U.S. economy contracted at its deepest pace since World War Two in 2020 as the COVID-19 pandemic depressed consumer spending and business investment, pushing millions of Americans out of work and into poverty. A separate report showed 847,000 more people likely filed U.S. jobless claims last week, strengthening views of persistent labor market weakness. Stricter vaccine checks by the European Union and delivery hold-ups from AstraZeneca Plc and Pfizer Inc have slowed the rollout of shots. In China, the world's second-largest oil consumer, a surge in coronavirus cases has led to travel restrictions ahead of the Lunar New Year, normally the busiest travel season of the year.
Oil Prices Decline Under Virus Variant Cloud -- Oil declined the most in nearly a week with the spread of new Covid-19 variants and tighter lockdown measures weighing on nascent hopes of a demand recovery. Futures in New York fell nearly 1% after choppy trading earlier on Thursday. The coronavirus variant identified in South Africa is reported to have reached the U.S. At the same time, worries over vaccine shortages in Europe continued to emerge, with Germany casting doubt on the effectiveness of AstraZeneca Plc’s shot for the elderly. “Concerns about the new Covid variants causing shutdowns in Europe and Asia, China especially,” are stoking worries over consumption, said Michael Lynch, president of Strategic Energy & Economic Research. “The market was balanced and inventories were coming down,” but now “people are worried demand may weaken even further.” Oil has struggled to break far above $53 a barrel in New York over the past few weeks as increased coronavirus lockdowns remain a risk to crude’s demand recovery. In Europe, air traffic could be down 70% this summer if travel curbs remain, according to Eurocontrol. “The vaccine and virus news remain ever-present as an issue,” said Rob Haworth, senior investment strategist at U.S. Bank Wealth Management. The crude market “needs a much larger tailwind in terms of demand and travel is not coming as quickly as people would hope.” Still, global supply curbs are helping push crude into a bullish structure called backwardation, when nearer contracts are more expensive than later-dated ones. Supply reductions could supersede the drag on demand from the virus and send Brent crude past $70 a barrel by the end of this year, according to JPMorgan Chase & Co. West Texas Intermediate for March delivery fell 51 cents to settle at $52.34 a barrel. Brent for the same month slipped 28 cents to end the session at $55.53 a barrel, posting the biggest daily decline since Jan. 22. Brent’s nearest timespread is at its strongest level since late February ahead of the expiry of its March contract on Friday. Meanwhile, continued declines of U.S. crude stockpiles at the nation’s key storage hub in Cushing, Oklahoma, is helping drive a similar firming in WTI’s forward curve. The U.S. benchmark crude’s so-called prompt spread is also in backwardation.
Oil Prices Decline with Broader Market | Rigzone -- Oil edged lower on Friday alongside a broader market decline as the recovery in consumption remains uncertain. The dip capped a third straight week with New York futures stuck near $52 a barrel. U.S. equities weakened amid lingering concerns over volatile retail trading. While Johnson & Johnson’s Covid-19 vaccine breakthrough allayed some worries about the deterioration of consumption, it’s clear the demand environment remains tepid. Chevron Corp. posted a fourth-quarter loss after weak fuel consumption hit its refining business. “There’s a lot of issues out there when it comes to demand going forward,” said Tariq Zahir, managing member of the global macro program at Tyche Capital Advisors LLC. “A massive amount of the population still is not going out anywhere. Demand will definitely see a big snapback, but who knows when that’s going to be?” But while headline prices have been treading water, the futures curve is pointing to a more balanced market as OPEC+ output curbs and restrained U.S. shale production help further draw down inventories accumulated during the pandemic. The nearest contracts for both Brent and West Texas Intermediate have moved further into a premium relative to the next month, a pattern known as backwardation that signals tighter supplies and strong demand. At the same time, low processing rates from refiners are keeping fuel supplies more or less in check. The incentive for processing a barrel of oil is growing, with the combined refining margin of gasoline and diesel back near levels last seen in May. Once vaccines are widely distributed, “we’re probably going to have the biggest surge in demand ever, at least year-over-year, and we’re not going to get the supply response we normally got” from U.S. shale producers, said Jay Hatfield, CEO at InfraCap in New York. “So price is going to have to be the moderating variable.” Prices West Texas Intermediate crude for March delivery dipped 14 cents to settle at $52.20 a barrel Brent for April settlement lost 6 cents to $55.04 a barrel The March contract, which expires Friday, increased 35 cents to $55.88 a barrel
U.S. oil futures edge lower for the session, but end the month over 7% higher - U.S. oil futures settled lower on Friday (link), weighed down by ongoing concerns over energy demand, but prices ended the month with a more than 7% gain, with Saudi Arabia set to implement a unilateral production cut (link) of 1 million barrels a day starting in February. March West Texas Intermediate crude fell 14 cents, or 0.3%, to settle at $52.20 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Based on the front-month contract close on Dec. 31, prices posted a climb of about 7.6% for the month of January, FactSet data show.
Mysterious Group Claims Responsibility For Recent Attack On Saudi Capital - An armed group calling itself the Righteous Promise Brigades [Alwiyat Al Wa’ad Al Haq] has claimed responsibility for the recent attack on the Saudi capital of Riyadh.In a statement released late on January 23, the group said it had attacked Riyadh with a number of kamikaze drones. According to the group, the attack targeted several positions in the Saudi capital including the Al Yamamah Palace, the official residence and office of the King of Saudi Arabia and the seat of the royal court.Early on January 23, the Saudi-led coalition announced the interception of a hostile aerial object over Riyadh, holding the Houthis responsible. The Yemeni group, however, denied responsibility for the attack.The Righteous Promise Brigades said the attack on Riyadh was a response to the January 21 Baghdad bombings, which claimed the lives of 34 people. The attack was carried out by ISIS, which receives support from Saudi Arabia, according to the group.“The second blow will be on the dens of evil in Dubai, with the help of the Almighty, if the crimes of Bin Salman [Saudi Crown Prince] and Bin Zayed [UAE Crown Prince] are repeated,” the group said in its statement. The newly-formed group may be affiliated with Iran. According to a recent report by Kuwait’s al-Qbas, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps deployed precision-guided rockets and drones in southern Iraq.
Game-changing Iranian Pipeline Set To Launch In March - The geopolitically game-changing Goreh-Jask pipeline project saw a major advance last week with the commencement last week of offshore pipe-laying operations. The implementation of this operation markets the first stage of the offshore development of the Jask Oil Terminal and, according to the Pars Oil and Gas Company, this offshore section of the early-production phase of the project will be completed with the construction of two 36-inch offshore pipelines running for around 12 kilometres and a single buoy mooring with ancillary equipment. Overall, the company added, the early-production phase of the Jask Oil Terminal Development Project is 70 per cent complete, allowing the project to come online by late March. After the completion of this first phase of offshore pipeline laying, the Goreh-Jask pipeline will begin full pumping tests aimed at ascertaining its capacity to transfer 350,000 barrels per day (bpd) of light, heavy, and ultra-heavy crude oil through the 1,100 km-long, 46 inch diameter pipeline that runs from the Goreh oil terminal in the north-west Bushehr Province to Mobarak Mount in the western Jask region along the Sea of Oman. This will involve the construction and deployment of 83 42-inch valves relating to the gate, control and emergency shut-off functions in the pipeline project, six smaller pipelines, five pump houses, three stations for receiving and sending pipeline pigs, 10 power stations, 400 kilometres of transmission lines, three single point moorings, subsea pipelines, and a stilling basin. The initial focus of the oil-transfer chain across the Goreh-Jask pipeline will be the huge oil fields cluster in the West Karoun region, which are the current focus of plans between Iran and China to boost short-term oil production as part of the two countries’ 25-year plan. The starting point of the transmission route in this first phase is the West Karoun pumping station, the middle point is the Omidieh pumping station, and the end stage is the Bahregan and Jask terminals. After the initial testing of the first phase infrastructure has been completed, with 350,000 bpd transferred, the figure will be increased to a daily delivery capacity 460,000 bpd of heavy crude oil and 254,000 bpd of light crude oil to export terminals. Phase 2 will involve the transfer more than one million barrels of crude oil to export terminals. Over and above the technical details involved in the Goreh-Jask pipeline project, the key point is that the pipeline will allow Iran another method by which it can export huge amounts of oil without being prey to U.S. sanctions and it will also allow Iran to do this whilst at the same time causing chaos for a third of the rest of the world’s oil shipments through blockading the Strait of Hormuz, should it wish to do so again. “The logistical model Iran has at present is not sustainable in the current circumstances, with around 90 per cent of all of its oil for export currently loaded at Kharg Island – with most of the remaining loads going through terminals on Lavan and Sirri - making it an obvious and easy target for the U.S. and its proxies to cripple Iran’s oil sector and therefore its economy,” a senior oil and gas industry source who works closely with Iran’s Petroleum Ministry told OilPrice.com. “Conversely, Iran wants to be able to use the threat – or reality – of closing the Strait of Hormuz for political reasons without also completing destroying its own oil exports revenue stream,” he said.
Indonesia seizes Iranian and Panamanian tankers over illegal oil transfer - A statement from coast guard spokesman Wisnu Pramandita said the tankers, seized in waters off Kalimantan province, were escorted to Batam island in Riau Island Province for further investigation.“The tankers, first detected at 5:30 a.m. local time (2130 GMT on Jan. 23) concealed their identity by not showing their national flags, turning of automatic identification systems and did not respond to a radio call,” the statement said.“There was an oil spill around MT Frea.” The International Maritime Organization requires vessels to use transponders for safety and transparency. Crews can turn off the devices if there is a danger of piracy or similar hazards. But transponders are often shut down to conceal a ship’s location during illicit activities.Iran, which not commented on the seizure, has been accused of concealing the destination of its oil sales by disabling tracking systems on its tankers, making it difficult to assess how much crude Tehran exports as it seeks to counter U.S. sanctions.In 2018, former President Donald Trump pulled Washington out of Iran’s 2015 nuclear deal with six major powers and reimposed sanctions aimed at cutting Tehran’s oil exports to zero.Iran sent the MT Horse vessel to Venezuela last year to deliver 2.1 million barrels of Iranian condensate.
Iran asks Indonesia to explain seizure of tanker accused of illegal oil transfer - Iran has asked Indonesia to provide details about the seizure of an Iranian-flagged vessel, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh said on Monday, a day after Jakarta said it had seized Iran and Panama-flagged tankers in its waters. Indonesia said on Sunday its coast guard had seized the Iranian-flagged MT Horse and the Panamanian-flagged MT Freya vessels over suspected illegal oil transfer in the country’s waters. Khatibzadeh said that the seizure was over a “a technical issue and it happens in shipping field”. “Our Ports Organisation and the ship owner company are looking to find the cause of the issue and resolve it,” Khatibzadeh told a televised weekly news conference. Coast guard spokesman Wisnu Pramandita said the tankers, seized in waters off Kalimantan province, will be escorted to Batam island in Riau Island Province for further investigation. Wisnu told Reuters on Monday that the ships were “caught red-handed” transferring oil from MT Horse to MT Freya and that there was an oil spill around the receiving tanker. He added that 61 crew members onboard the vessels were Iranian and Chinese nationals and had been detained. Indonesia’s foreign and energy ministries did not immediately comment on the matter. Both the supertankers, each capable of carrying 2 million barrels of oil, were last spotted earlier this month off Singapore, shipping data on Refinitiv Eikon showed. Very Large Crude Carrier (VLCC) MT Horse, owned by the National Iranian Tanker Company (NITC), was almost fully loaded with oil while VLCC MT Freya, managed by Shanghai Future Ship Management Co, was empty, the data showed. Asked to comment on the seized tanker, Iran’s Oil Minister Bijan Zanganeh told reporters : “It was carrying oil … the issue is being followed up by Iran.” The International Maritime Organization requires vessels to use transponders for safety and transparency. Crews can turn off the devices if there is a danger of piracy or similar hazards. But transponders are often shut down to conceal a ship’s location during illicit activities.
Pirates kidnap 15 sailors in attack on Turkish container ship off coast of Nigeria -Pirates off Nigeria's coast kidnapped 15 sailors from a Turkish container ship on Saturday, in a brazen and violent attack that was farther from shore than usual. One sailor, an Azerbaijani citizen, was killed in the raid, while those kidnapped are from Turkey, according to the respective governments and a crew list seen by Reuters. Accounts from crew, family members and security sources described a sophisticated and well-orchestrated attack, in which armed pirates boarded the ship and breached its protective citadel, possibly with explosives. Three sailors remain on the Mozart ship, which by Sunday evening was receiving assistance in Gabonese waters off central Africa.
Chinese military plane enters Taiwan's ADIZ for 7th straight day - Taipei, Jan. 17 (CNA) A Chinese military aircraft entered Taiwan's air defense identification zone (ADIZ) on Sunday, the seventh consecutive day there has been such an incursion, according to Taiwan's Ministry of National Defense (MND). The aircraft, an electronic warfare version of China's Y-8 transport plane, entered the airspace southwest of Taiwan between Taiwan and the Dongsha (Pratas) Islands in the South China Sea, according to a chart provided by the MND. In response to the incursion, Taiwan's Air Force scrambled planes to monitor the Chinese aircraft, issued radio warnings and mobilized air defense assets until the Chinese aircraft left the ADIZ, the MND said. An ADIZ is established by a country to allow identification, location and control of approaching foreign aircraft. However, unlike territorial airspace, no legal foundation for the ADIZ is explicitly stipulated in international law. The MND established a section on its website in mid-September 2020 to make public the movements of Chinese military planes near Taiwan. China's People's Liberation Army has deployed military aircraft in Taiwan's ADIZ every day in January except for Jan. 1, Jan. 8 and Jan. 10, according to MND records. Aircraft used by Chinese military for such maneuvers were all spy planes or signal jamming planes, MND records showed. On Jan. 4, four Chinese military planes flew into Taiwan's ADIZ, the most of any day this month, according to MND records.
China adopts law letting coast guard fire on foreign vessels - China's passed a controversial law that gives the coast guard more freedom to fire on foreign vessels, a move that could fuel the risk of military miscalculation in the Western Pacific. The law is aimed at "safeguarding national sovereignty, security and maritime rights," the official Xinhua News Agency said in a report early Saturday (Jan 23). The law will take effect from Feb 1.' The China Coast Guard would be allowed to take "all necessary means", including the use of weapons, to stop or prevent threats from foreign vessels, according to the text released by Xinhua. Coast guard personnel will be permitted to board and inspect foreign ships operating in China's "jurisdictional waters", a term covering areas claimed by other countries. The move could raise the risk of miscalculation in the vast areas of disputed waters that stretch out from China's coast. Chinese coast guard ships often come into close contact - sometimes engaging in tense standoffs - with foreign vessels, as they assert Beijing's claims to much of the South and East China seas. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying told a regular briefing on Friday in Beijing that the move was a "normal legislative activity of the NPC" and that China "will remain committed to upholding peace and stability in the sea".Claims to the resource-rich waters of the South China Sea have put China at odds with Southeast Asia neighbours including Malaysia, the Philippines and Vietnam. In East China Sea, Chinese and Japanese government vessels routinely tail each other on patrols near uninhabited islands claimed by both sides.
Indian farmers’ agitation against Modi government’s pro-agribusiness laws enters third month -- Farmers protesting against the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government’s pro-agribusiness “reform” laws will hold a giant tractor rally in Delhi today to mark the country’s January 26 Republic Day holiday. The government had initially sought to have the protest declared illegal. But it backed down after India’s Supreme Court refused its request for an injunction, out of fear such action would lead to a violent clash that would further fuel opposition to the Narendra Modi-led government and its rapacious pro-big business policies. Nevertheless, in a show of force meant to intimidate the farmers and their supporters, the BJP government is deploying “five layer security” in and around India’s capital today. The Indian Express reports Delhi police as saying that over 40,000 police and paramilitaries from the Delhi police, Indo-Tibetan Border Police and Central Reserve Police Force (CBRF) will be deployed at the Singhu, Tikri and Ghazipur borders of the Delhi National Capital Territory. Since November 26-27, when the government blocked their entry into Delhi with water cannon, tear gas and violent police charges, hundreds of thousands of farmers have been camped at the borders of India’s capital. Now entering its third month, the farmers’ agitation has compounded the enormous social and political crisis facing the Modi regime and the Indian ruling elite as a whole. The ruling class’ catastrophic handling of the coronavirus pandemic has resulted in more than 150,000 official COVID-19 deaths—although the real number is undoubtedly far higher—and the biggest economic contraction in modern Indian history. The greatest fear of the Hindu supremacist BJP government, no less than its establishment political opponents, is that the farmers’ agitation will become the catalyst for a broader social movement led by the working class and embracing the agricultural workers and landless, who comprise the majority of the rural masses. The three pro-agribusiness laws were rammed through parliament last September during the same session as the Modi government amended the country’s labour laws to expand the already ubiquitous use of contract labour, allow large companies to lay off workers at will, and illegalise most strikes and other worker job actions. The 11th round of talks between government representatives and farm union leaders abruptly ended on January 22 when the latter rejected the government’s proposal to delay implementation of its farm laws for a period of 18 months. Application of the laws had already been temporarily suspended by the Supreme Court as part of a ruse to get the farmers to agree to submit their complaints to a Court-appointed panel of “experts” comprised entirely of supporters of the government’s farm “reform” laws. Rightly mistrustful of the government, the farmers have insisted that the three pro-agribusiness laws must be repealed and a legal guarantee given that the Minimum Support Price (MSP) system will not be dismantled.
Sri Lankan stock market hits record high amidst rising COVID-19 infections -Over the past four weeks, Sri Lanka’s wealthy have become 739 billion rupees ($US3.8 billion) richer through a 25 percent rise in the Colombo Stock Exchange (CSE). Last week alone, major players in the CSE amassed 318 billion rupees, an increase that dwarfs the 109 billion rupee rise for the whole of 2019. The spike in Sri Lanka’s small share market occurs amidst an exponential growth of COVD-19 infections. As of yesterday, confirmed cases have increased 20-fold since October, to more than 60,000, and deaths by 26 times, to almost 300. The CSE rise has been accompanied by growing poverty, rising unemployment, wage cuts and a higher cost of living. Jubilant over the ballooning share market, Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapakse, who is also the finance minister, tweeted: “It’s also among the best performing indices in the world so far in 2021. I thank investors for having faith in the Sri Lankan companies. The GOSL [government] is committed to fulfilling its mandate to revive the Sri Lankan economy.” The CSE bubble, however, is the direct result of massive amounts of “free money” provided as part of President Gotabhaya Rajapakse’s pandemic stimulus package for big business last July. The package involved the Central Bank releasing 230 billion rupees and reducing bank rates by 2.5 percent to between 4 and 4.5 percent. Last year, the government also printed 650 billion rupees. Big business is reaping windfall benefits and profits from Colombo’s measures to boost foreign investment. Apart from providing cheap money, this year’s budget reduced tax rates to 14 and 18 percent, the lowest in South Asia, and big investors were given staggering 15-year tax exemptions. The Colombo share market increases are a small reflection of the massive rises on the US, EU and Indian stock markets. Since last March, the US Federal Reserve has pumped out $120 billion per month or more than $1.4 trillion a year, pushing up the share market. Warnings have already been issued that the Wall Street share bubble may burst. While Colombo’s share market boom continues, the country’s economy faces an unprecedented crisis that has been deepened by the global pandemic. Last year, the Sri Lankan economy contracted by 3.9 percent. The country needs $23 billion for debt servicing payments up to 2024, including $7 billion due this year. Foreign currency reserves have fallen to about $5 billion, which is only sufficient for four months of imports, and last year export earnings fell by 17 percent.
Millions of Brazilian students refuse to take exam amid rising opposition to back to school campaign - While the second wave of the coronavirus is resulting in record numbers of cases and deaths and overwhelming Brazil’s health care system, all sections of the ruling class are imposing the “herd immunity” policy, with several state governments announcing a return to school in the coming weeks. Last Thursday, the country registered 1,382 new coronavirus deaths in 24 hours, the highest number since August 4 during the height of the first wave of the pandemic. The seven-day daily average has surpassed 1,000 deaths once again, amid a grossly mismanaged rollout of the COVID vaccine. São Paulo State Health Secretary Jean Gorinchteyn has stated that the vaccine will have no impact on the number of cases for six months. Under these conditions, the country’s 2020 national college admission exam, the ENEM, was held last week throughout the country, after being postponed for a couple of months. In the state of Amazonas, where the health care system collapsed with COVID-19 patients dying due to the lack of oxygen tanks, the ENEM was merely postponed for a few more weeks. Students responded to the holding of the exam with a 51.5 percent absence rate, which corresponds to more than 2.8 million candidates. Between 2009 and 2019, absence on the first day of the exam was 28 percent on average. The unprecedented absence during one of the most important national yearly exams, taken by millions of students every year and widely seen as a way out of poverty, amounts to a statement of opposition to the herd immunity policy and the reopening of schools and universities throughout the country. The ENEM forced millions of young people to choose between risking infection or, what means in many cases, abandoning higher education. In a BBC report, one young student stated bluntly, “I won’t be able to attend college if I’m dead,” while another in the same report said, “I’ve been preparing for this test all year, but I thought about my family and my health.”
IMF raises global growth forecasts, expects 'low levels' of COVID-19 by end of 2022 - The International Monetary Fund (IMF) on Tuesday raised its projections for global growth, due in large part to the fund’s expectation to see “low levels” of COVID-19 across the world by the end of 2022. “Multiple vaccine approvals and the launch of vaccination in some countries in December have raised hopes of an eventual end to the pandemic,” the IMF noted in an update to its World Economic Outlook report. The IMF now expects global GDP to grow 5.5% in 2021, an upgrade from its 5.2% projection published in October last year. Among advanced economies, the United States received the largest upward revision in growth expectations, with the IMF now projecting 5.1% growth in 2021, compared to its last forecast of 3.1%. The IMF specifically applauded fiscal packages from late last year in the United States and Japan, urging governments to prioritize further support “until a vaccine-powered normalization of activity is underway.” IMF Chief Economist Gita Gopinath told Yahoo Finance Tuesday that the outlook could improve further if strong fiscal support comes alongside positive developments on vaccine rollout and overall case counts. “But I want to emphasize: there remains tremendous uncertainty,” Gopinath said. The IMF report warned that renewed lockdowns and obstacles to vaccine distribution remain downside risks. Gopinath also expressed concern about the emergence of new variants of the virus in the United Kingdom and South Africa. “If it indeed is the case the new strains of the virus reduce the effectiveness of vaccines enough that the recovery takes much longer, then we could have a negative downgrade,” Gopinath said.
Billionaire wealth soars as 255 million of world's jobs lost in pandemic -The pandemic has worsened income inequality, with the world's richest people regaining their losses from COVID-19 shutdowns in nine months while the number of people living in poverty has doubled to more than 500 million, according to a new report from the anti-poverty group Oxfam. Almost 9% of total working hours were lost last year when compared with the levels of employment at the end of 2019, before the pandemic shuttered the economy, according to a separate report from the International Labour Organization (ILO), a United Nations agency. That's the equivalent of 255 million full-time jobs lost across the globe, or about four times greater than the impact from the Great Recession of 2009, the analysis found. The world's poorest could take a decade to regain their financial footing from the devastation wrought by the pandemic, according to the Oxfam study, which says the novel coronavirus has accelerated an ongoing trend toward widening income inequality. Oxfam's report was released to coincide with the World Economic Forum's Davos Agenda, set to take place online this year rather than its traditional gathering of global movers and shakers in the Swiss ski resort town of Davos.America's richest people have seen their wealth soar during the pandemic by more than $1 trillion, thanks to a booming stock market and a K-shaped recovery that has benefited the rich, while poorer people have struggled with lost wages and jobs and future opportunities. It's a rich vs. poor phenomenon that is replicating across the globe. Oxfam describes the pandemic's impact as "the greatest rise in inequality since records began."The International Labour Organization said the crisis has been the most severe on work since the Great Depression in the 1930s. "Its impact is far greater than that of the global financial crisis of 2009," said ILO Director-General Guy Ryder. The employment fallout tracked by the ILO was almost equally split between reduced work hours and "unprecedented" job losses, he added.
Forty-three refugees drown off Libya’s coast: victims of the European Union’s refugee policy - At least 43 refugees drowned on January 19 off the Libyan coast during their attempt to cross the Mediterranean Sea to Europe. Only 10 people could be rescued. They were returned to Libya by the Libyan coastguard. The mass death in the Mediterranean, for which the European Union (EU) bears responsibility, thus continues into yet another year. The dinghy, carrying more than 50 people, suffered engine failure amid rough seas and capsized shortly after leaving the port city of Zawiyah, west of Tripoli, in the early hours of the morning. The survivors, who came from the Ivory Coast, Nigeria, Ghana and Gambia, stated that everyone on board the capsized boat came from West Africa. Chief responsibility for these pointless deaths of people fleeing civil war, poverty and misery lies with the governments in Berlin, Rome, Paris, Vienna and The Hague. In close collusion with the European Commission, they have blocked all legal avenues to Europe. When refugees are then forced to attempt crossings on tiny, unseaworthy dinghies, the European governments do everything in their power, in what amounts to a despicable crime, to halt virtually all rescue missions in the central Mediterranean. Their hands are, in the most literal sense of the phrase, dripping with the blood of the 20,000 people who have drowned in the Mediterranean over the past eight years. The experience of Souleymane, a refugee from Guinea, gives a sense of the tragedies taking place in the Mediterranean. Souleymane was interviewed by the Infomigrants news website last March while he was living in Libya, waiting on an opportunity to reach Europe. The 18-year-old was one of the victims who drowned in last week’s boat tragedy. His friend Moussa, who was among the survivors, told Infomigrants that the sea became increasingly rough in the hours following their departure. The boat then capsized, and Souleymane, who could not swim, was thrown into the water. Moussa was able to grab him and pull him back to the boat. Souleymane was still in the water holding onto the boat from the outside when a second wave struck. “I am broken. I can’t hold on anymore,” were the last words Souleymane spoke before he disappeared underwater. “He never resurfaced again,” whispered Sylla, who also comes from Guinea and lives in Libya.
Europe Remains In Lockdown Mode - In early 2021, COVID-19 restrictions remain in place across Europe. Yet, as Statista's Katharina Buchholz notes, reluctance to go into a full-fledged lockdown has some countries applying a hodgepodge of restrictions just short of the real deal.Spain and France, where a second wave of infections spread from mid-July, led the way by imposing lockdowns as early as October. France has since come out of lockdown and switched to an early national curfew supplemented by restaurant closures - a tactic which is currently also applied in Belgium and Luxembourg.Spain has stuck to its national curfew and localized lockdown system stubbornly despite case numbers rising swiftly again in what has been called a third wave of infections. Italy, where cases started rising quickly in October, is under the same regiment, while adding early restaurant closures at 6 p.m. into the mix. More national curfews have been implemented in less-affected parts of Eastern and South Eastern Europe, for example in Hungary, Romania, Turkey and Albania.Despite rumors, a curfew has not yet been implemented in Germany. The country implemented a national lockdown on Nov. 2, shortly after the spread of the virus accelerated, but failed to close non-essential shops until mid-December. The UK and much of Central Europe followed suit by imposing national lockdowns again, even though places like Scotland, Bulgaria and Denmark were latecomers. Switzerland closed down as late as January 15 and also keeps schools open, as does Portugal. Switzerland, which has developed a reputations for skirting some restrictions, also allows ski resorts to operate. This has led to conflict with neighboring France, where they were ordered shut.As with the first wave of lockdowns, enforcement varies significantly between countries, with Germany merely urging residents to stay at home, while more stringent checks are customary in Spain and France. Some more creative solutions have come out of Cyprus and Greece, where the frequency of shopping trips has been restricted majorly with the help text message codes. Scandinavia has not yet imposed major restrictions. Norway, for example, allows indoor gatherings of up to 200 people, but only if distancing measures are adhered to and chairs are bolted to the ground for extra safety. In locked-down Slovakia, a valid reason to leave your home is - like elsewhere - to walk your dog and - surprisingly - also to walk your cat.
Greece loosens coronavirus lockdown, massively rearms military - Despite the dangerous spread of the new virus mutations and the deadly development of the pandemic throughout Europe, Greece is easing its lockdown measures. On 11 January, elementary schools and daycare centers reopened, followed last Monday by retail stores, hairdressers and beauty salons. Citizen Protection Minister Michalis Chrysochoidis, who had the relaxations accompanied by an increased police presence, justified the move, saying, “If we continue with the strict bans, we will destroy ourselves financially and psychologically.” By this he does not at all mean the losses to small business owners and workers who have received almost no financial support during the lockdown. Rather, Chrysochoidis is concerned about the profits of the ruling class, for which his government will accept a renewed increase in the COVID-19 death rate without batting an eye. With the partial opening, the social plight of workers and employees in the private sector is being used as a battering ram. In a recent survey conducted by the Alco Institute for the Private Sector Trade Union Confederation (GSEE), 56 percent of respondents said they had lost income during the pandemic, and 22 percent even had wage cuts of more than 31 percent, which has major consequences given Greece’s low wages. The majority of respondents, 60 percent, have not been able to work from home, exposing themselves to the risk of infection at work. More than half of those surveyed are pessimistic about the coming months, with nearly 40 percent unsure whether they will be able to keep their jobs. The government has the backing of the nominal opposition party, Syriza (Coalition of the Radical Left), in its policy of opening up the economy. Party leader Alexis Tsipras, who himself saw to the interests of the economic and financial oligarchy for four years as prime minister, expressed his support for looser restrictions for retail. He troubled himself to deliver a few platitudes, such as calling for more financial aid and higher health spending, but from his mouth this is nothing but hot air. In the media, the drumbeat for the rapid reopening of schools is already rising. This is a “priority,” Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis of the right-wing Nea Dimokratia (ND) declared Tuesday. The target date is the first of February. The argument used to justify the relaxations is the initial fall in official infection rates in Greece, a result of the weeks-long lockdown and little testing. Last Monday, state television spoke of a “stable” epidemiological situation, concealing the fact that Monday’s figures of 237 new infections were accompanied by exceptionally low testing numbers of only about 3,700 PCR tests and 4,500 rapid tests. A day later, on Tuesday, the testing rate tripled as did infections, which went up to 566. The number of patients on ventilators also remains consistently high at around 300. So far, at least 32 people in Greece have tested positive with the new UK COVID-19 mutation.
Dutch Youth Torch COVID-Testing Facility In Violent Curfew Backlash |- Until December, the Dutch government had bucked the authoritarian trend of most global authorities in their efforts to 'crush' the virus, but as cases, hospitalizations, and deaths began to soar, the government turned to harsher measures, and ultimately to the first curfew since WWII. Yesterday was the first night of the newly enforced curfew and that crackdown sparked a backlash across the nation.. The violence climaxed with a group of rioting young people torching a coronavirus testing facility and threw fireworks at police in a Dutch fishing village. Video from the village of Urk, 80 kilometers (50 miles) northeast of Amsterdam, showed youths breaking into the COVID-19 testing facility near the village’s harbor before it was set ablaze Saturday night. “This is not only unacceptable, but also a slap in the face, especially for the local health authority staff who do all they can at the test center to help people from Urk,” the local authorities said, promising to strictly enforce the curfew in the future. The group was reportedly driving cars, honking horns, and waving national flags at the square, footage from the scene shows.The group then apparently waited for police to arrive to taunt the officers and pelt them with various projectiles. Overall, police said Sunday they fined more than 3,600 people nationwide for breaching the curfew that ran from 9 p.m. Saturday until 4:30 a.m. Sunday and arrested 25 people for breaching the curfew or for violence. Police in Amsterdam also were bracing for another protest Sunday, sending officers to a square where demonstrators clashed with police a week ago. The city’s municipality designated the square a “risk area,” a move that gave police extra powers to frisk people.
Netherlands on brink of ‘civil war’ as rioters strike again over COVID-19 curfew — Anti-lockdown protesters in the Netherlands set fires, looted stores and fought with cops for a third consecutive night of rioting after a strict curfew was imposed — with a mayor warning the nation was “on our way to civil war.”At least 184 people were arrested during Monday night’s ongoing riots as at least 10 cops were injured as police in some cities fought back with water cannon and tear gas, officials said.So far, rioters have struck in at least 20 cities and towns across the Netherlands since Saturday, when the nation was forced into its first curfew since World War II.“We haven’t seen so much violence in 40 years,” Koen Simmers, of the police trade union NPB, said on television program “Nieuwsuur” (“Newshour”).Monday’s violence left a trail of looted shops and burned cars in cities including Rotterdam, The Hague and the capital, Amsterdam, as well as a town close to it, Haarlem, according to Agence France-Presse (AFP).Around 1,850 fines were handed out for breaking curfew along with the close to 200 arrests, officials told national broadcaster NOS.Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte condemned the “unacceptable” revolt, saying most of the nation regarded it “with horror.”“This has nothing to do with protesting or fighting for freedom. It is criminal violence and we will treat it as such,” he tweeted. Finance Minister Wopke Hoekstra said the nation was “not going to capitulate to a few idiots,” according to NOS. Justice Minister Ferd Grapperhaus dismissed rioters’ claims that the violence was sparked by the curfew, telling NOS that “you don’t have to raid a shop for that.” John Jorritsma, the mayor of Eindhoven, one of the towns hit hardest by the riots, called the “completely anarchist” mobs the “scum of the Earth.”
Germany considers cutting international air traffic 'to almost zero' - Germany is considering closing its skies almost completely to international air traffic to slow the spread of more infectious strains of coronavirus, Interior Minister Horst Seehofer said Tuesday. "The danger from the numerous virus mutations forces us to consider drastic measures," Seehofer told Bild newspaper. "That includes significantly stricter border checks, especially at the borders of high-risk areas, but also reducing air travel to Germany to almost zero, as Israel is currently doing," he added. Chancellor Angela Merkel, addressing a meeting of lawmakers from her conservative CDU/CSU bloc, said citizens had a right to expect that the government would take "certain precautions at border", participants told AFP. "Everyone understands that now is not the time to travel," she was quoted as saying. The German Travel Association (DRV), however, objected to restricting travel more. Tourist travel has already come to an almost complete standstill due to the restrictions imposed by the pandemic, while the business travel sector is also down, the DRV said. "The federal government should also take note of this," the association said. "It should therefore not now concentrate on further restricting our already severely limited freedom to travel." Instead, the government should remedy the "dramatic deficits" in vaccination and present sensible testing concepts, the association said. "In addition, the federal government should urgently remember in the public debate that freedom to travel is a fundamental right - not a privilege to be granted politically."
French government determined to keep schools open as virus spreads - As the spread of more infectious and dangerous variants of the coronavirus strain French hospitals, the Macron government is doubling down on its efforts to keep schools open. His policy is driven by the interests of the capitalist class, which is demanding that schools be kept open as holding pens for children so that their parents can continue to work. On Monday night, Education Minister Jean-Michel Blanquer gave an interview to LCI in an effort to win support for the government’s policy. Despite his personal oversight of attacks on school funding in the 2018 high school reforms and the elimination of 2,650 public school positions in 2019, he feigned concern for the toll of school closures on children’s mental health. “Keeping schools open is my deepest conviction,” he said. “Being deprived of school can be very serious for children on the educational, social, psychological and even health levels.” Dismissing the deaths resulting from this policy, he boasted, “France is the country that has experienced the most school days in 2020.” A family watches French President Emmanuel Macron's televised speech, Monday April 13, 2020, in Lyon, central France. (AP Photo/Laurent Cipriani) Blanquer stated, “I am not convinced at this stage that this solution [closing schools] could reduce the contamination.” This is a bald-faced lie that contradicts international scientific studies showing that schools act as transmission vectors for the virus. Earlier on Monday, Eric Caumes, the head of infectious diseases at the Pitié-Salpêtrière hospital in Paris, stated on RMC, “It’s circulating in schools, there’s no reason why France should be the only country in the world where it’s not circulating in schools … there’s a cost that we’re going to have to pay.” Later in Blanquer’s interview, he attempted to shift blame from his government’s murderous “herd immunity” policy onto school children and their parents. Dismissing suggestions of extending the February vacation, he claimed that “vacations can be more contaminating than school periods.” Yesterday, 3,041 individuals were treated for COVID-19 in hospital intensive care units in France. The figure has risen by over 1,000 in the last two days alone. This is the first time that ICU occupancy has exceeded 3,000 since November. On Monday, another 445 people died from the virus, and the seven-day average for new infections reached a two-week high of 20,447. Since the premature reopening of schools in September, over 40,000 people have died from the virus in France.
Macron government denounces scientists for “intervening” in pandemic response In a press conference yesterday afternoon, French Health Minister Olivier Véran announced that the government would likely be compelled to announce stricter lockdown measures to face a continued acceleration in the spread of the pandemic. Véran admitted that the nationwide curfew from 6 p.m. had failed to reverse the spread of the virus, and the more contagious variants of the virus, principally the one first identified in the UK, have become established across France. Macron’s spokesperson, Gabriel Attal, stated yesterday that a decision will be taken by “the end of the week.” The curfew was implemented to prevent a national lockdown that would impact upon corporate profits through the closure of schools and non-essential workplaces. For weeks, the Macron government has rejected demands from the scientific community and health care professionals for a lockdown. Macron had been due to speak on Wednesday, in what had been widely reported to be an announcement of a limited lockdown in which schools and workplaces would all remain open. The speech was cancelled on Wednesday afternoon, with reports that he would not speak before at least Saturday. This week, Macron has released a series of increasingly open denunciations of scientists’ calls, including from his own chief scientific adviser Jean-François Delfraisy, for lockdowns. “The president has had enough of this automatic and robotic manner of managing the crisis. He wants new solutions,” a top legislator in Macron’s party told RTL radio anonymously on Wednesday. The same day, Le Monde published comments of Macron adviser Stéphane Séjourné, who denounced what he called the “uncontrolled and suffocating—because sometimes contradictory—interventions of scientists” into the debate on coronavirus policy. “This permanent escalation in the media makes the public debate hysterical,” he added. Séjourné said that “scientists are not there to make policy. They must clarify the decisions of the public powers, not clarify themselves. This mixing of roles has to stop.”In other words: the role of scientists is not to warn the public about dangers they face and outline a scientifically-based response. It is to provide advice to the government, and, when the government proceeds to ignore scientific warnings in defence of the interests of the corporate elite, to be quiet and acquiesce to everything.
Huge COVID-19 outbreak at Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency exposes fraudulent UK lockdown --A massive, sustained COVID-19 outbreak at the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) offices and call centre in Swansea, Wales has exposed the Conservative government’s fraudulent “national lockdown” and contempt for workers’ lives. The DVLA is a government agency under the Department of Transport. Since September, 535 workers have tested positive, the largest known number of infections linked to a single employer and workplace. The DVLA has a total workforce of 6,000 people, meaning more than one in 12 have been infected in the last five months. It is certain that these infections have contributed to the appalling toll of infections and deaths in the Swansea Bay area, where more than 26,000 cases have been registered and 828 COVID-related deaths. The DVLA headquarters in Swansea (credit: Wikimedia Commons) This disaster is the direct result of actions taken by management at DVLA and the loosened restrictions implemented during this lockdown compared to the original shutdown in March--despite the development of a more infectious strain of the virus and the overwhelming pressure on the National Health Service (NHS). It has been facilitated by the Labour Party and the trade unions, who have suppressed all opposition to the Tories’ herd immunity policy, exposing huge numbers of people to the virus in order to keep the economy producing profits. According to the Guardian, roughly 1,800 workers are currently being asked to come into the office. During the lockdown last spring, just 250 workers were kept on site. One employee told the newspaper, “We sit back-to-back, just one metre apart. They say ‘the two-metre rule only applies if you’re face to face’.” He said the virus had “spread like wildfire. Loads have tested positive. More than I can count’.”
Covid: Wrexham vaccine plant evacuated over suspicious package - Production of the Oxford-AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine has resumed at a plant after it was suspended when a suspicious package was received. The Wockhardt UK plant on Wrexham Industrial Estate was evacuated and the Army sent a bomb disposal unit. Police said the package had been made safe and its contents would be "taken away for analysis". Wockhardt said staff had been allowed to return and its production schedule had not been affected. Both Downing Street and Wales' First Minister Mark Drakeford had been receiving updates on the incident since police were called at about 10:40 GMT. A police cordon was put in place near the plant and the public were asked to keep away. There are no reports of any injuries. "There are no wider concerns for public safety, however, some roads on the industrial estate will remain closed whilst we continue our investigations," North Wales Police said in a statement.
COVID-19 infections among UK nursery workers deepens funding crisis -- The situation in early years education settings across the country is deteriorating day by day from the spread of COVID-19.Nurseries and early years settings were not included in the government’s limited national lockdown announced on January 4.Nurseries along with special educational needs providers were informed they would remain open despite a deadly increase in the pandemic—exacerbated by a newer more transmissible strain of the virus—because according to the official government rationale the under-fives were “unlikely to be playing a driving role in transmission.” These lies are refuted by the experience of nursery staff. Infections and hospitalizations are sweeping through nurseries and early years settings, particularly in the capital and the south-east of the country.On January 18, Nursery World reported that four staff members had been hospitalised with COVID-19 from the London Early Years Foundation (London’s largest group of “social enterprise nurseries”) and over a third of its settings had been forced to close.There have been 48 positive cases at the London Early Years Foundation (LEYF) since the start of the year. In that time, 14 out of 39 LEYF nurseries have closed due to staff having to self-isolate. LEYF warned that many more nurseries are set to follow CEO June O’Sullivan described the new variant of the virus as “spreading like wildfire” among staff at LEYF’s nurseries, with 22 positive cases in one week at one nursery and 16 positive cases across eight sites in one weekend alone.Following the nursery closures, O’Sullivan tweeted: “16 cases of Covid19 across 8 @LEYFonline sites in one weekend—48 cases this year (and counting), including four staff in hospital. What was the DfE @educationgovuk saying about nurseries being low risk???” On January 21, ITV news ran a piece that contains video interviews with nursery staff on the dangerous and impossible conditions they now face. Jo Godbold, the owner of Sunny Kids Pre-School Nursery in Kent—where COVID-19 outbreaks among staff have forced the setting to close three times—said: “We’ve been told its safe. But that’s a lie. Because categorically, people are getting ill. And people are going to hospital. We feel like we’ve been forgotten and lied to.” “Most of us are scared. I’ve definitely had my moments where I’ve sat in bed and cried… You’ve got to be a motivator as well for the children. You’ve got to motivate the parents. To show them that they’re safe and we’re happy to have them back. But at the same time, you feel conflicted to be here yourself.”
Bitcoin Investors May Lose Everything, Central Banker Warns - Bitcoin investors need to be prepared to “lose all their money,” European Central Bank governing council member Gabriel Makhlouf said, the latest warning from a central banker on the cryptocurrency.“Personally, I’m not sure why people invest in those sorts of assets, but they see them as assets clearly,” Makhlouf, who is also governor of Ireland’s central bank, told Bloomberg TV on Friday. “Our role is to make sure that consumers are protected.”Makhlouf’s comments echo skepticism from ECB leaders. The cryptocurrency is a “highly speculative asset,” President Christine Lagardesaid this month. Bitcoin prices have more than doubled since November and topped $40,000 earlier this month. Large movements in its value are common, with four daily swings of more than 5% in the past nine days.On Friday, Bitcoin rallied above $35,000, with brokers attributing the move to Elon Musk mentioning the cryptocurrency in his bio page on Twitter.Still, Makhlouf doesn’t see “financial stability issues at the moment arising from Bitcoin itself.” “I worry more about about consumers making the right choices,” he said.
Report whitewashes Ireland’s unmarried mother and baby homes scandal: 9,000 dead babies, mass graves, illegal medical experiments, trafficking - In 2015, the Irish government established the Mother and Baby Homes Commission of Investigation, after sinister revelations regarding the criminal treatment of young unmarried girls and women who became pregnant and were forced into institutions. The five-year investigation revealed the deaths of 9,000 babies between 1922 and 1998, some buried in mass, unmarked graves. Of the 57,000 babies born in the homes investigated, 15 percent died before their lives had hardly begun. Announcing the investigation in 2014, then Taoiseach (Prime Minister) Enda Kenny declared children born to unmarried parents were treated as "an inferior sub-species". He admitted the Dail (parliament) had records reaching back to the 1930s, and that the situation was known as far back as 1972. Kenny proposed only to probe aspects of the shameful past and avoid apportioning blame. Only 14 mother and baby institutions, which housed 56,000 mothers, run mainly by Catholic nuns, and four state run county Homes, which housed 25,000 mothers, were investigated. Groups campaigning on behalf of the women and children opposed the narrow remit, complaining that a further 182 institutions, state agencies and individuals should be investigated and calling for public hearings. From the first, the Commission intended to cover over more than it revealed, fearing further catastrophic erosion of what is left of the authority, and financial interests, of the Catholic Church. The Irish state that emerged from Ireland's brutal partition by Britain in 1921 increasingly relied on the Catholic church to systematically terrorise the entire working population on behalf of the Irish bourgeoisie. This role was recognised and sanctioned by the Irish constitution drafted under President Éamon de Valera and Fianna Fáil in 1937, which overturned the previous secular approach and, while retreating from making Catholicism a state religion, assigned it an undefined "special position" alongside other religions. Catholic view of the sanctity of marriage and the family were enforced. Sexual relations outside marriage were abhorred. Contraception was illegal until 1985, and abortion only legalised in 2018. Unmarried women who became pregnant were considered sinners and punished. Their offspring were thought unworthy of burial in consecrated ground. Although part of daily experiences, aspects of the truth hidden in the homes began to emerge in 1975, when two boys discovered child remains while playing nearby the closed Bon Secours Mother and Baby Home in Tuam, County Galway. The home had been run by an order of nuns, the Bon Secours Sisters, between 1925-1961. The home was a former workhouse. In 2013, local historian Catherine Corless, researching the "staggering number of children [who] lost their lives in the home”, collated death certificates of 798 children. The recorded causes of death were congenital debilities, infectious diseases and malnutrition. Corless, however, could not find records of where the infants were buried. Ever since, the church, state and political establishment have been seeking to delay investigation into circumstances of the lives and death of the women and children forced through the homes.
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