Fed’s Rosengren Says 2022 Rate Hike in Play as Job Market Heals - The Federal Reserve might consider an interest-rate hike from near zero as soon as late 2022 as the labor market reaches full employment and inflation is at the central bank’s goal, Federal Reserve Bank of Boston President Eric Rosengren said. “The criteria is that we have a sustainable inflation rate, that’s 2% or above, and that we’re at full employment,” Rosengren said in a broadcast interview with Yahoo Finance. “I do expect that it’s quite possible that we will see that by the end of next year, but it does depend on whether the economy progresses as strongly as I’m expecting.” Rosengren joined several other Fed presidents -- St. Louis Fed’s James Bullard, Dallas’s Robert Kaplan and Atlanta President Raphael Bostic -- in laying out a scenario in which the Fed would lift rates next year. He declined, though, to specify what his “dot,” or interest-rate forecast, was in the quarterly projections. Fed officials last week published economic projections showing 13 of 18 favored at least one rate increase by the end of 2023, versus seven in March. Eleven officials saw at least two hikes by the end of that year. In addition, seven of them saw a move as early as 2022, up from four. Rosengren said it was “quite likely” the Federal Open Market Committee will achieve the “substantial further progress” on jobs and inflation required to taper its bond-buying program before the start of next year. The U.S. economy is likely to achieve around 7% economic growth this year, which would provide further support for healing in the job market, he said. The FOMC sees gross domestic product expanding 7% this year, up from a prior projection of 6.5%. The current surge in inflation is largely temporary and reflects the reopening of the economy following the Covid-19 pandemic and supply issues that will pass, Rosengren said, citing the situation in the used-car market. Data released Friday showed the Fed’s preferred gauge of inflation rose 0.4% in May from the prior month and 3.9% over the past year. Previous reports on consumer prices for the months of April and May showed the highest monthly increases since 2009.
Fed officials mobilize to reassure Wall Street -Top officials of the US Federal Reserve, starting with Chairman Jerome Powell, have pulled out all stops to reassure financial markets there will be no immediate tightening of monetary policy, and the flow of money that has sent Wall Street to record highs will continue. Last week there was a significant reaction to the “dot plot” from the meeting of the Fed’s policy-making body, which showed expectations that interest rates could start to rise in 2023, rather than in 2024, and to subsequent comments last Friday by St Louis Fed president James Bullard, that rates may increase as early as 2022. Markets fell sharply following his comments, with the Dow dropping by more than 500 points, and the S&P 500 recording its worst week in four months. By this Wednesday, Wall Street had returned to previous levels. But this was not due to the operation of so-called “market forces.” The World Socialist Web Site has no information as to what discussions were held between Fed officials. But from what followed, it appears a decision was taken over the weekend that concerted action needed to be taken, lest the tremor that went through Wall Street turned into something more significant, and some “heavy hitters” were called in. On Monday, John Williams, the president of the New York Fed, the second most important figure after Powell in the Fed’s governing body, commented that the US economy was not ready for the central bank to start easing its monetary support. Williams said the economy was “getting better all the time” but insisted the Fed would maintain the new policy framework, adopted last August, in which it said it would allow inflation to rise above its target rate of 2 percent, before considering rate increases or pulling back on asset purchases. “It’s clear that the economy is improving at a rapid rate, and the medium-term outlook is very good. But the data and conditions have not progressed enough for the Federal Open Market Committee to shift its monetary policy stance of strong support for the economic recovery,” he said. On Tuesday, in the lead-up to Powell’s testimony to Congress, the president of the San Francisco Fed, Mary Daly, weighed in. “Talking about rate changes now isn’t even on the table,” she told reporters. “The mantra right now is: ‘steady in the boat’.” In his opening statement to Congress, Powell insisted the Fed would “do everything we can to support the economy for as long as it takes to complete the recovery” in order to make clear the Fed was not going to react to warnings of inflation by clamping down on the money supply to Wall Street. Responding to a question from South Carolina House Democrat Representative James Clyburn, Powell said: “We will not raise interest rates pre-emptively because we think employment is too high [or] because we fear the possible onset of inflation. Instead, we will wait for actual evidence of actual inflation or other imbalances.”
Top U.S. Officials Consulted With BlackRock as Markets Melted Down - The New York Times --As Federal Reserve Chair Jerome H. Powell and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin scrambled to save faltering markets at the start of the pandemic last year, America’s top economic officials were in near-constant contact with a Wall Street executive whose firm stood to benefit financially from the rescue.Laurence D. Fink, the chief executive of BlackRock, the world’s largest asset manager, was in frequent touch with Mr. Mnuchin and Mr. Powell in the days before and after many of the Fed’s emergency rescue programs were announced in late March. Emails obtained by The New York Times through a records request, along with public releases, underscore the extent to which Mr. Fink planned alongside the government for parts of a financial rescue that his firm referred to in one message as “the project” that he and the Fed were “working on together.”While some conversations were previously disclosed, the newly released emails, together with public calendar records, show the extent to which economic policymakers worked with a private company as they were drawing up a response to the financial meltdown and how intertwined BlackRock has become with the federal government. Mr. Mnuchin held 60 recorded calls over the frantic Saturday and Sunday leading up to the Fed’s unveiling on Monday, March 23, of a policy package that included its first-ever program to buy corporate bonds, which were becoming nearly impossible to sell as investors sprinted to convert their holdings to cash. Mr. Mnuchin spoke to Mr. Fink five times that weekend, more than anyone other than the Fed chair, whom he spoke with nine times. Mr. Fink joined Mr. Mnuchin, Mr. Powell and Larry Kudlow, who was the White House National Economic Council director, for a brief call at 7:25 the evening before the Fed’s big announcement, based on Mr. Mnuchin’s calendars.The records reveal how often federal officials engaged with a Wall Street executive at a moment of crisis, as they strategized about how to turn around markets that were descending into chaos. Mr. Fink’s firm is a huge player across many stock and debt markets, and its advisory arm helped to execute some of the Fed’s crisis response during the 2008 financial meltdown. That market insight and experience got him a front-row seat at a pivotal moment, one that may have put him in a position to influence a rescue with huge ramifications for households, businesses and the entire U.S. economy.“They’re about as close to a government arm as you can be, without being the Federal Reserve,” said William Birdthistle, a professor at the Chicago-Kent College of Law and the author of abook on funds.
Fed Chair Powell Misleads House Hearing on Wall Street’s Bailout Programs - Pam Martens - Yesterday the House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Crisis convened a hearing at 2 p.m. to receive testimony from Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell. The title of the hearing was “Lessons Learned: The Federal Reserve’s Response to the Coronavirus Pandemic.”During Powell’s opening statement, he said this: “Our emergency lending tools require the approval of the Treasury and are available only in unusual and exigent circumstances, such as those brought on by the crisis. Many of these programs were supported by funding from the CARES Act. Those facilities provided essential support through a very difficult year and are now closed.”It’s factually incorrect for the Fed Chairman to say that it can only make emergency loans with the approval of the Treasury. Months before there was any case of COVID-19 anywhere in the world the Fed was making hundreds of billions of dollars a week in emergency repo loans to Wall Street trading houses. The emergency loans started on September 17, 2019 – four months before the first reported case of COVID-19 in the United States. By January 27, 2020 the Fed’s ongoing cumulative loans to bail out Wall Street’s hubris tallied up to an astounding $6.6 trillion. (See Fed Repos Have Plowed $6.6 Trillion to Wall Street in Four Months; That’s 34% of Its Feeding Tube During Epic Financial Crash.)The Fed made these loans without any Congressional approval or oversight. Despite Powell’s promises to the Senate Banking Committee that the Fed would provide a full report on what caused the need for these emergency bailouts to Wall Street banks, the public has yet to see any such report from the Fed.In addition, Powell appeared to be giving the impression yesterday that the Fed’s pandemic bailout programs have ended. While the programs funded with CARES Act money have stopped making new loans, the Fed’s weekly H.4.1 balance sheet as of last week shows that it held the following balances in its various emergency bailout programs: Paycheck Protection Program Liquidity Facility, $87.32 billion; Commercial Paper Funding Facility, $8.55 billion; Corporate Credit Facilities, $25.85 billion; Main Street Facilities, $30.56 billion; Municipal Liquidity Facility, $10.73 billion; TALF, $4.76 billion; Central Bank Liquidity Swaps, $500 million. The Commercial Paper Funding Facility, the Corporate Credit Facilities, TALF II and the Central Bank Liquidity Swaps are decidedly programs that help Wall Street far more than Main Street.Another problem is that the Fed continues to show the Primary Dealer Credit Facility (PDCF) as open on its H.4.1 report – albeit with a current zero balance. That same program was used to secretly inject $8.95 trillion in cumulative loans to Wall Street banks before, after and during the financial crash of 2008. Three banks got two-thirds of that $8.9 trillion: Citigroup, $2.02 trillion; Morgan Stanley $1.9 trillion; and Merrill Lynch, $1.77 trillion. While the Fed has released monthly reports showing the names of the recipients of some of its bailout programs, it has refused to make public the names or dollar amounts of the loan recipients under the following four programs: the repo loan bailouts; the Primary Dealer Credit Facility (PDCF); the Commercial Paper Funding Facility (CPFF); and the Money Market Mutual Fund Liquidity Facility (MMLF).
Chicago Fed: "Index points to a pickup in economic growth in May" --"Index points to a pickup in economic growth in May." This 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 +0.29 in May from –0.09 in April. Three of the four broad categories of indicators used to construct the index made positive contributions in May, and three categories improved from April. The index’s three-month moving average, CFNAI-MA3, rose to +0.81 in May from +0.17 in April. [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. For a broad historical context, here is the complete CFNAI historical series dating from March 1967.
Q1 GDP Growth Unchanged at 6.4% Annual Rate --From the BEA: Gross Domestic Product (Third Estimate), GDP by Industry, and Corporate Profits (Revised), 1st Quarter 2021Real gross domestic product (GDP) increased at an annual rate of 6.4 percent in the first quarter of 2021, according to the "third" estimate released by the Bureau of Economic Analysis. In the fourth quarter, real GDP increased 4.3 percent.The “third” estimate of GDP released today is based on more complete source data than were available for the "second" estimate issued last month. In the second estimate, the increase in real GDP was also 6.4 percent. Upward revisions to nonresidential fixed investment, private inventory investment, and exports were offset by an upward revision to imports, which are a subtraction in the calculation of GDP Here is a Comparison of Third and Second Estimates. PCE growth was revised up slightly to 11.4%. Residential investment was revised up from 12.7% to 13.1%. This was at the consensus forecast.
Q1 GDP Third Estimate: Real GDP Remains At 6.4% - The Third Estimate for Q1 GDP, to one decimal, came in at 6.4% (6.36% to two decimal places), an increase from 4.3% (4.33% to two decimal places) for the Q4 Third Estimate. Investing.com had a consensus of 6.4%.Here is the slightly abbreviated opening text from the Bureau of Economic Analysis news release:Real gross domestic product (GDP) increased at an annual rate of 6.4 percent in the first quarter of 2021 (table 1), according to the "third" estimate released by the Bureau of Economic Analysis. In the fourth quarter, real GDP increased 4.3 percent.The “third” estimate of GDP released today is based on more complete source data than were available for the "second" estimate issued last month. In the second estimate, the increase in real GDP was also 6.4 percent. Upward revisions to nonresidential fixed investment, private inventory investment, and exports were offset by an upward revision to imports, which are a subtraction in the calculation of GDP (see "Updates to GDP"). [Full Release]Here is a look at Quarterly GDP since Q2 1947. Prior to 1947, GDP was an annual calculation. To be more precise, the chart shows is the annualized percentage change from the preceding quarter in Real (inflation-adjusted) Gross Domestic Product. We've also included recessions, which are determined by the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER). Also illustrated are the 3.18% average (arithmetic mean) and the 10-year moving average, currently at 2.26%. Here is a log-scale chart of real GDP with an exponential regression, which helps us understand growth cycles since the 1947 inception of quarterly GDP. The latest number puts us 16.4% below trend. A particularly telling representation of slowing growth in the US economy is the year-over-year rate of change. The average rate at the start of recessions is 3.27%. All twelve recessions over this timeframe have begun at a higher level of current real YoY GDP.
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 (Light Blue), 2020 (Blue) and 2021 (Red). The dashed line is the percent of 2019 for the seven day average. This data is as of June 20th. The seven day average is down 27.0% from the same day in 2019 (73.0% of 2019). (Dashed line) There was a slow increase from the bottom - and TSA data has picked up in 2021. 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 June 19, 2021. This data is "a sample of restaurants on the OpenTable network across all channels: online reservations, phone reservations, and walk-ins. Dining is picking up again, and was only down 11% in US (7-day average compared to 2019). Florida and Texas are above 2019 levels.-- This data shows domestic box office for each week and the median for the years 2016 through 2019 (dashed light blue). The data is from BoxOfficeMojo through June 17th. Movie ticket sales were at $88 million last week, down about 66 from the median for the week. This graph shows the seasonal pattern for the hotel occupancy rate using the four week average. Occupancy is now above the horrible 2009 levels and weekend occupancy (leisure) has been solid. This data is through June 12th. Hotel occupancy is currently down 10% compared to same week in 2019). Note: Occupancy was up year-over-year, since occupancy declined sharply at the onset of the pandemic. However, the 4-week average occupancy is still down from normal levels. This graph, based on weekly data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA), shows gasoline supplied compared to the same week of 2019. As of June 11th, gasoline supplied was down about 5.7% (about 94.3% of the same week in 2019). Three weeks ago was the first week this year with gasoline supplied up compared to 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." There is also some great data on mobility from the Dallas Fed Mobility and Engagement Index. However the index is set "relative to its weekday-specific average over January–February", and is not seasonally adjusted, This data is through June 19th for the United States and several selected cities. The graph is the running 7 day average to remove the impact of weekends. According to the Apple data directions requests, public transit in the 7 day average for the US is at 95% of the January 2020 level and moving up. Here is some interesting data on New York subway usage. This graph is from Todd W Schneider. This is weekly data since 2015. Schneider has graphs for each borough, and links to all the data sources.
Bottom Line On The Biden-Putin Summit - According to Robyn Dixon of the Washington Post on 6/18/21 regarding the outcome of the Buden-Putin summit in Geneva, I shall simply quote directly from what looks to be the bottom line from Putin himself: Despite a packed European tour schedule, Biden “looked fresh” and was “fully aware of the materials” during the two hours of talks, Putin said: ‘Biden is a professional. One should be very observant when working with him in order not to miss anything. He misses nothing. I can assure you,” he added.
Anti-China legislation on Taiwan introduced in US House of Representatives - A “Taiwan Peace and Stability Act” was tabled in the United States House of Representatives on June 17 in the latest bipartisan effort to intensify pressure on Beijing over the self-ruled island of Taiwan. The purpose is to further challenge the “One China” policy and deepen preparations for war against the mainland. The leading Democrat and Republican on the Asia subcommittee of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, Ami Bera and Steve Chabot, respectively, introduced the legislation, which is of a piece with the anti-China bill that recently passed the Senate with bipartisan backing. The latest bill states: “In order to ensure the longevity of US policy and preserve the ability of the people of Taiwan to determine their future independently, it is necessary to reinforce Taiwan’s diplomatic, economic, and physical space.” Behind this double-speak, Washington intends to strengthen Taiwan in order to maintain its separation from China. Taiwan is considered a crucial aspect of Washington’s future war plans against the mainland. Earlier this year, the Pentagon called for the stationing of offensive missiles on Taiwan and other nearby islands. The legislation accuses Beijing of “coerc[ing] actors into adhering to its ‘One-China Principle.’” It cites countries that have broken off relations with Taipei in favor of Beijing since 2016 as supposed evidence of this “coercion.” Without openly rejecting it, the bill represents a challenge to the legitimacy of the “One China” policy, which has governed cross-strait relations since Washington formally cut ties with Taipei in 1979 and acknowledged Beijing as the government of all of China.
China denounces the U.S. for shipping vaccine doses to Taiwan. - The Chinese government accused the United States on Monday of interfering in its internal affairs after Washington shipped 2.5 million doses of Moderna’s Covid-19 vaccine to Taiwan, saying that any form of vaccine assistance should not be used as a form of “political manipulation.”China regards Taiwan as its own territory and is acutely sensitive to any form of interaction between the United States and the self-governed democracy. The donations, which were more than triple the original amount that the Biden administration had promised, were celebrated in Taiwan.In Beijing, Zhao Lijian, a spokesman for the Chinese Foreign Ministry, criticized the move.“We urge the U.S. not to use vaccine assistance to engage in political manipulation and not to interfere in China’s domestic affairs,” Mr. Zhao said at a regular news briefing.The vaccine donations come at a time when tensions between the United States and China are running high over Taiwan. Chinese officials were annoyed this month when three U.S. senators visited the island to announce the original pledge of 750,000 doses.Mr. Zhao also took aim at Taiwan’s governing Democratic Progressive Party, headed by President Tsai Ing-wen, which has long been considered a thorn in Beijing’s side. Mr. Zhao said that the party had “tried all means to obstruct the shipment of vaccines from the mainland to Taiwan and even lied that the mainland is obstructing its procurement of vaccines.”Taiwan’s leaders had previously blamed “Chinese intervention” for their inability to buy doses from the German company BioNTech, which developed its vaccine with Pfizer.A Chinese company, Fosun Pharmaceutical, claims the exclusive commercial rights to distribute BioNTech’s vaccine in Taiwan, but for many in the self-governing democracy, the idea of buying shots from a mainland Chinese business is unpalatable.
Trade Sanctions on Use of Forced Labor in China - Menzie Chinn - From Reuters: The Biden administration on Wednesday ordered a ban on U.S. imports of a key solar panel material from Chinese-based Hoshine Silicon Industry Co (603260.SS) over forced labor allegations, said two sources briefed on the matter.The U.S. Commerce Department separately restricted exports to Hoshine, three other Chinese companies and the paramilitary Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps (XPCC), saying they were involved with the forced labor of Uyghurs and other Muslim minority groups in Xinjiang.The three other companies added to the U.S. economic blacklist include Xinjiang Daqo New Energy Co, a unit of Daqo New Energy Corp (DQ.N); Xinjiang East Hope Nonferrous Metals Co, a subsidiary of Shanghai-based manufacturing giant East Hope Group; and Xinjiang GCL New Energy Material Co, part of GCL New Energy Holdings Ltd (0451.HK).The Commerce Department said the companies and XPCC “have been implicated in human rights violations and abuses in the implementation of China’s campaign of repression, mass arbitrary detention, forced labor and high-technology surveillance against Uyghurs, Kazakhs, and other members of Muslim minority groups in” Xinjiang. From the Congressional Research Service: According to some estimates, since 2017, Xinjiang authorities have arbitrarily detained approximately 1.5 million Turkic Muslims, mostly ethnic Uyghurs and a smaller number of Kazakhs, in “reeducation camps.” PRC officials describe the Xinjiang facilities as “vocational education and training centers” where “trainees” study Chinese, learn job skills, undergo “de-extremization” and be “cured of ideological infection.” Some may have engaged in religious and ethnic cultural practices that the government now perceives as extremist, or as manifesting “strongly religious” views or thoughts that could lead to the spread of religious extremism or terrorism. Detainees reportedly are compelled to renounce many of their Islamic beliefs and customs and to undergo self-criticisms. According to some former detainees, treatment and conditions in the camps include crowded and unsanitary conditions, forced labor, food deprivation, beatings, and sexual abuse. In July 2019, Xinjiang officials claimed that most detainees had been released. Many Uyghurs living abroad, however, say that they still have not heard from missing relatives in Xinjiang. Over 400 prominent Uyghur intellectuals reportedly have been detained or their whereabouts are unknown. Some detainees have received prison sentences.
Saudis who participated in Khashoggi killing received paramilitary training in US: report - Saudi operatives who participated the 2018 killing of Jamal Khashoggi, a journalist for The Washington Post, received paramilitary training in the U.S., The New York Times reported Tuesday. Khashoggi was killed in October 2018 by a Saudi hit squad while he was at the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul to obtain documents for a marriage license. The reporter was a prominent critic of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.The Biden administration said in late February that the crown prince approved an operation to “capture or kill” Khashoggi. At the time, the U.S. unveiled visa restrictions and sanctions on individuals believed to be assigned to his murder.According to the Times, an Arkansas-based security company called Tier 1 Group provided training to some of the operatives, though the training was reportedly “defensive” and “devised to better protect Saudi leaders.”At the time, the unit was beginning a series of kidnappings, detentions and torture of Saudi citizens to crush dissent.Louis Bremer, a senior executive at Tier 1’s parent company Cerberus Capital Management, confirmed Tier 1’s role in the training to the Times. He outlined details of the training in a document provided to the newspaper with written answers to questions for lawmakers as part of his nomination for a Pentagon post in the Trump administration. According to the document, four members of the team that killed Khashoggi received training from Tier 1 in 2017, while two of them had received a previous version of the training that ran from October 2014 to January 2015.
US seizes PressTV.com and 32 other Iranian media website domains -The Biden administration’s Department of Justice (DoJ) confirmed on Tuesday that the US had seized 33 websites affiliated with the Iranian Islamic Radio and Television Union (IRTVU) and three others operated by Kata’ib Hizballah (Hezbollah Brigades), an Iraqi Shia group supported by Iran. In a press statement, the DoJ stated that the website domains—including the English and French language PressTV.com based in Teheran—were “in violation of US sanctions.” The statement said that the US Office of Foreign Assets and Control (OFAC) had “designated IRTVU as a Specially Designated National (SDN)” during the Trump administration in October 2020 for “being owned or controlled by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Quds Force (IRGC).” The DoJ also said that organizations labeled as SDNs are “prohibited from obtaining services, including website and domain services, in the United States without an OFAC license” and that IRTVU “and others like it” are not news organizations but are used to launch “disinformation campaigns and malign influence operations.” It also claimed that the 33 website addresses were owned in the US by IRTVU which “did not obtain a license from OFAC prior to utilizing the domain names.” Whatever the public justifications provided for its aggressive act, the transparent political purpose of the Biden administration’s website seizures is the effort to ratchet up pressure on Iran amid ongoing negotiations in Vienna over the 2015 nuclear agreement and following the June 18 selection of the hardline conservative Ebrahim Raisi as the next Iranian president. Iran’s foreign ministry on Wednesday called the seizure an example of a “systematic effort to distort freedom of speech on a global level and silence independent voices in media.”
U.S. senators haggle over funding of $1 trillion infrastructure compromise - (Reuters) - A bipartisan infrastructure plan costing a little over $1 trillion, only about a fourth of what President Joe Biden initially proposed, has been gaining support in the U.S. Senate, but disputes continued on Sunday over how it should be funded. Biden told reporters last week that he will have a response to the plan as soon as Monday after reviewing it. Twenty-one of the 100 U.S. senators - including 11 Republicans, nine Democrats and one independent who caucuses with Democrats - are working on the framework to rebuild roads, bridges and other traditional infrastructure that sources said would cost $1.2 trillion over eight years. "President Biden, if you want an infrastructure deal of a trillion dollars, it's there for the taking. You just need to get involved and lead," one of the 21 senators, Republican Senator Lindsey Graham, said on Fox News Sunday. Biden, seeking to fuel growth after the pandemic and address income inequality, had initially proposed about $4 trillion be spent on a broader definition of infrastructure, including fighting climate change and providing care for children and the elderly. But the White House trimmed the offer to about $1.7 trillion in talks with senators in a bid to win Republican support which will be needed for any plan to get the 60 votes normally required to advance legislation in the Senate. Senate Budget Committee Chairman Bernie Sanders, who is working up a far more ambitious infrastructure blueprint of $6 trillion, panned as "bad ideas" some of the revenue-raising provisions the bipartisan group discussed, such as indexing the gas tax to inflation. On CNN's "State of the Union" and NBC's "Meet the Press" on Sunday, Sanders was unclear about whether he could support the bipartisan plan if those were removed. "If it is regressive taxation, you know, raising the gas tax or a fee on electric vehicles, or the privatization of infrastructure, no I wouldn't support it. But we don't have the details right now," Sanders, an independent who caucuses with Democrats, told NBC. The White House also has resisted indexing the gas tax to inflation, saying it won't raise taxes on people making less than $400,000 a year. Senator Rob Portman, the lead Republican working on the bipartisan plan, said Sunday that the gas tax indexing provision might not survive, but then the administration will "need to come forward with some other ideas (for raising revenue) without raising taxes."
Schumer vows to only pass infrastructure package that is 'a strong, bold climate bill' - Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) vowed he “will not pass” an infrastructure package that removes the climate provisions of President Biden's American Jobs Act. "Here's what I want to assure people: I will not pass an infrastructure package that first doesn't reduce carbon pollution at the scale commensurate with the climate crisis. We are gonna have a strong, bold climate bill,” Schumer said Wednesday night during a town hall organized by New York’s Working Families Party. Schumer’s comments come as environmental groups have pressured Democratic lawmakers not to decouple the climate provisions from the infrastructure package. Ten Democratic senators have made public statements in opposition to a package without those provisions, according to the the group Evergreen Action. Those senators are Sens. Martin Heinrich (N.M.), Michael Bennet (Colo.), Ed Markey (Mass.), Alex Padilla (Calif.), Tina Smith (Minn.), Jeff Merkley (Ore.), Sheldon Whitehouse (R.I.), Ben Cardin (Md.), Elizabeth Warren (Mass.) and Ron Wyden (Ore.). “Senator Schumer is right: If there’s no climate action, there should be no deal on infrastructure,” Evergreen Action executive director Jamal Raad said in a statement Thursday. “With Democratic majorities in both chambers and momentum building for bold climate action, we cannot settle for climate denial masquerading as bipartisanship.” Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.), an essential vote to pass any measure under reconciliation with a simple majority, has said he will not commit to backing a reconciliation package containing the bill’s climate aspects. This potentially puts Manchin at odds with those in the chamber who have committed to including the climate provisions in the final version. “My belief is that the bridges and roads and other traditional infrastructure … have to be simultaneously bolted to the climate provisions and the family-planning provisions that match the promises … that we’ve made,” Markey said Wednesday afternoon.
Biden objects to raising gas tax to pay for infrastructure (AP) — The White House made clear Friday that President Joe Biden was opposed to letting the federal gasoline tax rise at the rate of inflation to help pay for an infrastructure package that a bipartisan group of 21 senators is trying to craft.The gas tax increase was part of an early package that called for $579 billion in new spending on roads, bridges, rail and public transit. It’s unclear if it will make the final cut and the White House seems intent on making sure it doesn’t.“The President has been clear throughout these negotiations: He is adamantly opposed to raising taxes on people making less than $400,000 a year,” White House spokesman Andrew Bates said. “After the extraordinarily hard times that ordinary Americans endured in 2020 — job losses, shrinking incomes, squeezed budgets — he is simply not going to allow Congress to raise taxes on those who suffered the most.” TThe federal gas tax stands at 18.4 cents a gallon and has not increased since 1993. It helps pay for highways and mass transit programs around the country. Congress has traditionally relied on the user-pay principle to pay for road and bridge work, but is increasingly relying on general funds to accomplish that task. Lawmakers from both parties are wary of attack ads accusing them of supporting a hike in gas prices.Oregon Sen. Ron Wyden, the Democratic chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, said that indexing the gas tax to inflation was a nonstarter for him.“It’s another hit on working people,” Wyden said.Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, said a gas tax hike is a “Republican thing.”“Democrats want to fund this by taxing people (earning) $400,000,” Brown said.The White House is expecting to hear from the senators crafting the infrastructure package on Monday. It is scaled back from Biden’s proposal, but Democrats are preparing to move other parts of Biden’s agenda in separate legislation that they could pass using a tool that requires only a simple majority for approval.The bipartisan plan offers about $579 billion in new spending, including $110 billion on roads and highways, $66 billion on passenger and freight rail and $48 billion on public transit. An additional $47 billion would go toward efforts to fight climate change and there is money for electric vehicle charging stations.Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., described the infrastructure bill being negotiated a good start, but most Democrats don’t believe it does enough on climate or on the amount of revenue raises, and doesn’t address priorities like paid family leave. So they will proceed on two tracks that include a reconciliation package going beyond what’s in the infrastructure bill./p>
Business groups urge Biden to embrace bipartisan infrastructure package - The U.S. Chamber of Commerce, Business Roundtable and No Labels on Tuesday urged President Biden to continue infrastructure negotiations with Republicans in a joint statement. The groups launched a coalition of over 130 former government officials, trade groups and business executives calling for a bipartisan infrastructure bill. They’re urging Biden to reject congressional Democrats’ proposal to pass infrastructure legislation through budget reconciliation without Republican support. “We come from different perspectives, professions, and political parties, but we’re united in our belief that a two-party infrastructure bill is what America needs and what the public wants,” the groups said in a statement. “So let’s build bridges; do it together, and get it done.” The groups cited a bipartisan proposal from the moderate House Problem Solvers Caucus that would spend $1.25 trillion primarily on traditional infrastructures such as highways, roads and bridges. They mentioned a $1.2 trillion bipartisan proposal backed by 21 senators as another avenue to a bipartisan bill. Business groups such as the Chamber and Business Roundtable oppose tax hikes included in Biden’s $2.3 trillion infrastructure proposal. They’re lobbying Biden to back a bipartisan bill that pays for itself in other ways, such as user fees and unspent federal dollars. No Labels, which advocates for bipartisan legislation, launched an ad campaign this week calling on Biden to continue infrastructure negotiations with Republicans. The ad, which displays footage of Biden stressing the importance of bipartisanship, will air in Delaware and Washington, D.C. Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan (R) and former Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.) are leading the group’s effort to sway Biden on infrastructure. The push comes as some Democratic lawmakers have called on Biden to cut off bipartisan talks and move forward with a larger spending package without GOP support.
Bipartisan group of senators reaches agreement on infrastructure framework - CBS News— A group of bipartisan senators announced an agreement on a framework for an infrastructure proposal on Wednesday evening, even as the White House and congressional Democrats continue to pursue two tracks in passing President Biden's multi-trillion dollar plan.The group of 21 senators, 10 Democrats and 11 Republicans, previously reached an agreement on an infrastructure proposal costing roughly $1 trillion, with $579 billion in new spending — although the proposal did not include details about funding. Republican Senator Mitt Romney, a lead negotiator, told reporters on Wednesday evening that negotiators have "agreed to a framework" that they would present to the White House.Several of the lead negotiators from both parties traveled to the White House on Thursday morning to discuss the new framework, which includes pay-fors. Funding for the bill had been a sticking point in negotiations."President Biden is the ultimate person that will have to sign off on this and make sure he's comfortable. And he wants a bipartisan deal, he said that from day one. His negotiators were with us the whole time that we've that we've negotiated," Democratic Senator Joe Manchin told reporters on Thursday.The new framework comes after White House legislative team met with this group of senators twice on Wednesday. Senators faced a time crunch in their negotiations, as the Senate has a two-week recess beginning next week, leaving only a few days for them to reach a deal.Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said on Thursday that the Senate will "concurrently" take up the bipartisan deal and a large budget reconciliation bill, which would only require 50 votes to move forward, to address Mr. Biden's other infrastructure priorities.
Biden and Senators Reach Broad Infrastructure Deal - The New York Times— President Biden and a bipartisan group of centrist senators reached a deal on Thursday for $1.2 trillion in investments to rebuild the nation’s infrastructure, a victory for the White House but only the first lurch in what promises to be an arduous attempt to reshape the nation’s economic and social programs. The agreement on traditional infrastructure projects — roads, bridges, tunnels, rail and broadband — would be significant on its own, the first major increase of federal public works spending since President Barack Obama’s 2009 economic rescue plan. It would include some existing infrastructure programs, but also provide $579 billion in new money over eight years to patch cracking highways, rebuild crumbling bridges, speed rail traffic and more equitably spread high-speed internet access. The plan would also pour billions of dollars into waterways and coastlines washing away as a warming planet raises sea levels, and $7.5 billion into financing a half-million electric vehicle charging stations, all part of Mr. Biden’s climate pledges. It would be paid for in part with a $40 billion increase in the I.R.S. enforcement budget to bring in $140 billion in unpaid taxes, as well as repurposing unspent coronavirus relief funds, according to an outline provided by the White House. “This agreement signals to the world that we can function, deliver and do significant things,” Mr. Biden said from the White House’s East Room, after meeting with the lawmakers. But almost immediately after reaching the breakthrough, Mr. Biden and Democrats offered a giant caveat that could complicate its chances of passage. Both the president and top Democrats said the compromise, which constitutes only a small fraction of the expansive, $4 trillion economic agenda Mr. Biden has proposed, could advance only together with a far larger bill that would pour trillions more into health care, child care, higher education access and climate change programs. That measure, vehemently opposed by Republicans, would be paid for by remaking the tax code to capture the wealth of the superrich and multinational corporations that shift profits and jobs overseas. “If this is the only thing that comes to me, I’m not signing it,” Mr. Biden said of the infrastructure piece. “It’s in tandem.” Speaker Nancy Pelosi called the changes in their totality “transformative, if not revolutionary.” Senator Chuck Schumer of New York, the majority leader, predicted that the pair of bills would be “the boldest, strongest legislation that this country has seen in decades.” They said they hoped all of it could come together by this fall, an enormous challenge that will involve persuading at least 60 senators to back the traditional infrastructure plan, and keeping Democrats united on the larger bill. The latter measure would have to pass through a budget process called reconciliation, which would allow it to bypass a Republican filibuster, but would require all 50 Democratic and independent votes in the Senate. “There ain’t going to be no bipartisan bill unless we’re going to have reconciliation,” Ms. Pelosi said, a message she repeated privately to Democrats, after liberals warned against acting just on a bipartisan deal that jettisons the provisions progressives want most. Still, the deal struck Thursday fulfills the promise of bipartisanship that Mr. Biden has long sought, and its authors were in a celebratory mood. “I think that this coalition, and now being endorsed by the president, sends a message not just to Congress, not just to the country, but to the world that we can do the big things — we can function,” Senator Kyrsten Sinema, Democrat of Arizona, one of the group’s primary drivers, said in a brief interview. “We continue to be the leader of the world, and this is evidence that we are doing the work.” The framework doles out money in large pots: $312 billion for transportation projects, $65 billion for broadband and $55 billion for water infrastructure. A large sum, $47 billion, is set aside for “resilience” — a down payment on Mr. Biden’s promise to deal with the effects of climate change. But the path forward is complicated and politically freighted, given Democrats’ spare majorities in the House and Senate, which leave them little margin for error.
What's in the bipartisan infrastructure deal reached by Biden, senators? -President Biden on Thursday declared that he and a bipartisan group of senators had reached a deal for a $1.2 trillion infrastructure package, a breakthrough agreement that comes after weeks of arduous negotiations. The agreement includes more than $500 billion in new spending that will be invested in "core" infrastructure projects such as roads, broadband internet and electric utilities over the next eight years. Here's a breakdown on how the money in the bipartisan bill would be allocated:
Transportation: $312 billion
- Roads, bridges, major projects: $109 billion
- Safety: $11 billion
- Public transit: $49 billion
- Passenger and freight rail: $66 billion
- Electric vehicles: $7.5 billion
- Electric buses/transit: $7.5 billion
- Reconnecting communities: $1 billion
- Airports: $25 billion
- Ports and waterways: $16 billion
- Infrastructure financing: $20 billion
Other infrastructure: $266 billion
- Water: $55 billion
- Broadband: $65 billion
- Environmental remediation: $21 billion
- Power, including grid authority: $73 billion
- Western water storage: $5 billion
- Resilience: $47 billion
One of the biggest sticking points was how to pay for the measure. The White House said in a fact sheet that it would be funded with unused coronavirus relief funds, unused unemployment insurance and sales from the strategic petroleum reserve, among other measures. Here are all of the revenue sources listed by the White House:
- Reduce the IRS tax gap
- Unemployment insurance program integrity
- Redirect unused unemployment insurance relief funds
- Repurpose unused relief funds from 2020 emergency relief legislation
- State and local investment in broadband infrastructure
- Allow states to sell or purchase unused toll credits for infrastructure
- Extend expiring customs user fees
- Reinstate Superfund fees for chemicals
- 5G spectrum auction proceeds
- Extend mandatory sequester
- Strategic petroleum reserve sale
- Public-private partnerships, private activity bonds, direct pay bonds and asset recycling for infrastructure investment
- Macroeconomic impact of infrastructure investment
Bipartisan Infrastructure Deal Omits Big Climate Measures - The New York Times — A deal reached Thursday between President Biden and a bipartisan group of senators for $579 billion in new spending to repair the nation’s roads, rails and bridges does relatively little to fight climate change, an issue that the president has called an “existential threat.” The deal does provide funding for public transit, passenger and freight rail, electric buses and charging stations for electric vehicles, all designed to try to reduce pollution from passenger vehicles and trucks. And it includes $47 billion to help communities become more resilient to disasters and severe weather caused by a warming planet. Still, it contains few of the ambitious ideas that Mr. Biden initially proposed to cut the fossil fuel pollution that is driving climate change. The president had hoped to use a sweeping infrastructure bill as a vehicle to enact a national “clean electricity standard” requiring power companies to gradually ratchet up the amount of electricity they generate from wind, solar and other sources until they’re no longer emitting carbon dioxide. That is not included in the bipartisan bill, nor are the hundreds of billions of dollars in spending on tax incentives for wind, solar and other clean energy. Democratic leaders and environmentalists are hoping those proposals can be included in a separate infrastructure bill that would pass through a fast-track process known as budget reconciliation. That process would not require Republican support and could be enacted with a simple majority vote. But that’s a difficult proposition, as Senate rules require that legislation enacted through the reconciliation process pertain directly to federal revenue — such as taxes and spending. The Senate parliamentarian could determine that a clean electricity standard does not qualify. Mr. Biden said Thursday that he intends to move forward with more provisions in the second package. “I’m getting to work with Congress right away on the other half of my economic agenda as well,” he said. “The American family plan. To finish the job on child care, education, the caring economy, clean energy and tax cuts for American families and much more.” A senior White House official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said that Mr. Biden still intends to push for passage of a clean electricity standard, either in the reconciliation process or in a separate standalone bill. Failure to pass bold climate legislation could make it difficult for Mr. Biden when he travels to Scotland this year for a United Nations climate conference, where he intends to try to persuade other nations to take aggressive steps to curb global warming. Mr. Biden has pledged that the United States will slash its planet-warming emissions roughly in half over the next decade. He wants to reposition the world’s largest economy as a leader in global efforts to halt warming. “The United States right now has an opportunity to back up its ambitious claims with a detailed and defensible plan to honor those commitments. If we have that plan we’ll be able to compel other countries to make similar changes,” Michael Brune, executive director of the Sierra Club, said in an interview. “If we don’t pass climate legislation through reconciliation, we won’t have the credibility to compel other countries to act at the scale and speed that’s needed,” Mr. Brune said. Scientists have warned that the world needs to urgently cut emissions if humanity has any chance to keep average global temperatures from rising above 1.5 degrees Celsius, compared with preindustrial levels. That’s the threshold beyond which experts say the planet will experience catastrophic, irreversible damage. Temperature change is not even around the globe; some regions have already reached an increase of 2 degrees Celsius.
Biden endorses bipartisan infrastructure plan which guts initial proposal - President Joe Biden announced on Thursday that he was endorsing an infrastructure plan put forward by a bipartisan group of senators that was a fraction of his original $2.25 trillion proposal unveiled last March. Standing outside the White House with a group of five Democrats and five Republicans, Biden said, “We have a deal” and then added “none of us got all that we wanted.” Biden got far less with the bipartisan plan proposing to spend about $579 billion in new investments in roads, broadband internet, electric utilities and other projects, a drop in the bucket in comparison to the funding need to repair and update the country’s crumbling and neglected infrastructure. Attempting the political equivalent of making a silk purse out of a sow’s ear, Biden said, “When we can find common ground, working across party lines, that is what I will seek to do,” adding that the deal was “a true bipartisan effort, breaking the ice that too often has kept us frozen in place.” While the corporate media hailed the endorsement as a “major breakthrough,” the reality is that a commitment by the US government to any infrastructure spending plan is still far from a certainty. As the New York Times wrote, the bipartisan plan may not even “muster the support of at least 60 senators to overcome any filibuster” from Republicans, and the “two track strategy” of the Democrats—pursuing a larger funding bill through the process known as reconciliation at the same time—“promises to be a heavy lift.” The $579 billion in spending above expected federal levels in the bipartisan proposal would bring the investment in infrastructure to $973 billion over five years and $1.2 trillion if it is continued for eight years. According to a White House press statement, if adopted, the eight-year plan contains $109 billion for roads, bridges and major projects; $73 billion for power infrastructure; $66 billion for passenger and freight rail; $65 billion for broadband access; $49 billion for public transit; and $25 billion for airports. Republican opposition to tax increases to pay for the plan won out in the deal, with the cost of the spending covered by repurposing existing federal funds, public-private partnerships and revenue collected from enhanced enforcement at the Internal Revenue Service, sales from the strategic petroleum reserve and wireless-spectrum auction sales, among the other sources of revenue. Biden’s original proposal called for a partial roll back of the corporate tax breaks—raising rates from 21 percent to 28 percent—put in place by the Trump administration in 2017. Democrats such as Senator Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut were reduced to complaining that bipartisan agreement was “way too small—paltry, pathetic. I need a clear, ironclad assurance that there will be a really adequate robust package” that will follow. The president attempted to gloss over his surrender to the Republican Party agenda and right-wing Democrats such as Senators Joe Manchin of West Virginia and Mark Warner of Virginia by claiming there would be more added to the bill as it moved through the legislative process. He said, “If this is the only thing that comes to me, I’m not signing it.”
Biden says he won't sign bipartisan bill without reconciliation bill - President Biden on Thursday said he won’t sign the bipartisan infrastructure deal if Congress doesn’t also pass a reconciliation bill, committing to a dual track system to get both bills passed. “I expect that in the coming months this summer, before the fiscal year is over, that we will have voted on this bill, the infrastructure bill, as well as voted on the budget resolution. But if only one comes to me, this is the only one that comes to me, I’m not signing it. It’s in tandem,” Biden told reporters at the White House. Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said Thursday that the House would not vote on a bipartisan infrastructure bill until the Senate passes a larger set of Democratic priorities through budget reconciliation. Biden said he agreed with the Speaker on the sequencing. “The bipartisan bill from the very beginning was understood, there’s going to have to be the second part of it. I’m not just signing the bipartisan bill and forgetting about the rest that I proposed. I proposed a significant piece of legislation in three parts and all three parts are equally important,” the president said. Biden’s remarks are likely to ease concerns among progressive Democrats who are wary of the bipartisan agreement because it does not include other Democratic priorities, like measures to expand access to child care, free education and paid family leave. Still, Democrats will need to convince moderates like Sens. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) and Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.) to go along with a big reconciliation bill, which could allow Democrats to pass the rest of their agenda without GOP support. Senate progressives had already signaled Thursday that they wouldn’t bless the bipartisan infrastructure deal without a major reconciliation package.
Democrats' two-step infrastructure plan draws Republican ire (Reuters) -Hours after President Joe Biden declared “We have a deal” to renew the infrastructure of the United States, the Senate’s top Republican lashed out at plans to follow the $1.2 trillion bipartisan bill with another measure funding what Democrats call “human infrastructure.” Biden and top congressional Democrats - House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer - had long signaled their plan to link the bipartisan deal with another bill including spending on home health care and child care. The second measure would be passed through a Senate maneuver called reconciliation here, which would allow it to take effect without Republican votes. Biden told reporters at the White House that he expected quick action on both measures - or neither would survive. “I expect that in the coming months this summer, before the fiscal year is over, that we will have voted on this (bipartisan) bill - the infrastructure bill - as well as voted on the budget resolution,” he said. “But if only one comes to me, I’m not signing it. It’s in tandem.” That drew a harsh response from Republican Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell. “Less than two hours after publicly commending our colleagues and actually endorsing the bipartisan agreement, the President took the extraordinary step of threatening to veto it,” McConnell said on the Senate floor. “It almost makes your head spin.” McConnell, Pelosi and Schumer have not been directly involved with the bipartisan infrastructure talks. McConnell has not publicly stated if he would back the initiative, though he called it “encouraging” in his floor remarks. Lindsey Graham, one of the 21 senators who had negotiated the bipartisan deal, said in a tweet: “If reports are accurate that President Biden is refusing to sign a bipartisan deal unless reconciliation is also passed, that would be the ultimate deal breaker for me.” Progressive members of Congress - some of whom were pushing for a sweeping $6 trillion bill - had indicated they would not support the smaller bipartisan bill without a companion measure. The $1.2 trillion framework here includes $579 billion in new spending on major investments in the power grid, broadband internet services and passenger and freight rail. The eight-year proposal contains $109 billion for roads, bridges and major projects; $73 billion for power infrastructure; $66 billion for passenger and freight rail; $65 billion for broadband access; $49 billion for public transit; and $25 billion for airports, according to a White House statement. That spending falls far short of Biden’s original ambitions on schools, climate change mitigation, and support for parents and caregivers, and it doesn’t include his bedrock pledge to make the U.S. economy more fair by increasing taxes on the rich and corporations. Biden vowed to move “full steam ahead” on those priorities.
Medicare For All? Start At The Beginning: -It has been two years since I wrote on women’s healthcare and three important topics impacting women; clinical trials done without women participants, a failing birth control device – Essure, and maternal healthcare. The Health Affairs article is suggesting Medicare for all Maternal Care as an improvement to lacking healthcare for all women. Improving the availability of maternal healthcare for women needed. As I wrote in A Woman’s Right to Safe Healthcare Outcomes; there is also a need for improving the care. There are too many issues being missed or ignored for the mother before, during, and after the birthing of a child.Medicare is fee for service care. Medicare determines what will be paid. Those are the good parts. Dr. Donald Berwick claimed 30% of Medicare expenditures for care was waste and doctors knew it. However, Medicare for all Maternity is an important step forward which will level the field of care for “all” women. As the bar graph details, 52% of the deaths from pregnancy occurred after giving birth from day one to 364 days later. While (most) commercial healthcare insurance covers postpartum healthcare up to a year, Medicaid only covers two months of postpartum care. The most impacted by this lack of coverage are minorities who lack the resource for better coverage outside of Medicaid.The emphasis of the bill is to fund Medicaid so as to provide the same care as what is provided by commercial healthcare and up to 1-year after the baby’s birth. Two months of Postpartum Medicaid is provided, The care during and after is supposedly less than what is normally provided. It is a good goal to emphasize. The expansion of Medicaid maternal coverage should include the quality of care before, during, and after delivery for those lacking access to healthcare and the means of getting it through healthcare insurance today. Included in the expansion of the length of coverage is an effort to improve the careA little more than a year ago, I touched upon Maternal Healthcare, A Woman’s Right to Safe Healthcare Outcomes, and the dangers inherent in it. When I wrote on this one topic, I covered a story of a delivery that cost the life of the mother during a successful birthing of the child. All the warning signs were there of a mother in trouble and missed. Unfortunately, this is not an uncommon occurrence in the United States which still has the most expensive healthcare for a civilized nation.
Biden funnels pandemic relief funds into strengthening the police --On Wednesday, President Joe Biden announced new measures to deal with what he called an epidemic of gun violence in America. Speaking of his plan from the White House, Biden said nothing about the social causes of the spike in gun violence being reported in many US cities, nor did he mention the continuing wave of police killings that take more than 1,000 lives every year in the United States. Rather, he sought to establish his law-and-order credentials and dissociate his administration from calls to “defund the police” that emerged during the mass demonstrations last spring and summer against police violence, following the police murder of George Floyd. Saying that now was “not a time to turn our backs on law enforcement,” Biden announced that states and localities could use any portion of the $350 billion in pandemic relief funds allotted them under the $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan enacted in March to fund their police departments. In a statement released by the Treasury Department, the administration announced that the money could be used to hire additional police officers to reach pre-pandemic staffing levels, and, in communities with high rates of gun violence, increase the size of their department beyond pre-pandemic levels. The money could also be used to establish community violence intervention programs and purchase new policing equipment. Biden and his attorney general, Merrick Garland, explained that the plan also included expanded deployment of the FBI and other federal police agencies to aid local police, as well as enhanced technology for tracking criminal activity, presumably a coded reference to surveillance activities.
Migrant children speak of horrifying conditions in detention centers set up by the Biden administration - Testimonials filed in a California federal court this week reveal the horrific conditions faced by migrant children who are being held in federal detention centers, euphemistically categorized as “emergency shelters,” set up by the Biden administration. The conditions described in the 17 testimonials from children aged nine to 17, largely from Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador, include being given spoiled food, lack of drinking water and clean clothes, overcrowding, inability to contact family members and severe mental health issues. The testimonials were gathered by attorneys with the Center for Human Rights & Constitutional Law and the National Center for Youth Law, who are representing the children in the long-running Flores settlement, a court agreement setting bedrock standards of care for children in federal custody. Recorded between March and early June, these testimonials make it obvious that the Biden administration’s promises of a more humane approach to immigration remain mere rhetoric. The situation described by the children in their accounts presents a grim picture of what it means to be a detained, unaccompanied minor under the Democratic Party’s watch. A 13-year-old from Honduras, who was separated from her father while crossing into the US, has been held in Fort Bliss, Texas, for over two months. She told attorneys that she had problems sleeping in her overcrowded tent because the bright lights were on all night. But it was the food that was an even bigger issue. Much of it was inedible, the hamburger they had been served the night before had a distinct odor that made it impossible for them to eat, and one of her friends had been served some chicken that still had feathers on it. “I really only eat popsicles and juice because that is the only food I can trust,” she said. A 14-year-old from Guatemala, who is being held in a facility in Houston, spoke of the extreme heat in the tents that caused children to faint, the lack of clean drinking water and being forced to drink rancid milk when they ran out of water. A 17-year-old Guatemalan girl detained at Fort Bliss described sleeping in a large white tent with about three hundred girls, on cots stacked on top of each other. She said it was hard to sleep due to the rattling noise the tent’s metal beams made at night. Many of the testimonies highlighted the impact of the situation on the mental health of the detainees. A teenager, who had been held in the Dallas, Texas, convention center, spoke of feeling “asphyxiated” in the overcrowded facility which held 2,600 children. The testimonial continues in a heartbreaking vein: “There is no one here I can talk to about my case. There’s also no one here I can talk to when I’m feeling sad. There’s no one here; I just talk to God.”
ACLU report highlights ICE brutality against hunger striking migrants under Obama and Trump - On Wednesday, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and Physicians for Human Rights (PHR) released a report highlighting the brutal and inhumane treatment by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) of migrants who went on hunger strikes in various detention centers around the country. The report, based on over 10,000 pages of information released under the Freedom of Information Act, deals with ICE’s response to hunger strikes in its facilities between 2013 and 2017, a period that covers parts of the Obama and Trump administrations. Apart from outright intimidation and threats of retaliation, the “involuntary and invasive medical procedures” detailed in the report include force feeding, forced hydration and forced urinary catheterization—which involves inserting a tube into the urethra to involuntarily collect urine from people on a hunger strike. A hunger strike is often the last resort available to desperate detainees, who have no other means to draw attention to their plight. As José Tapate, who was held in immigration detention and went on a hunger strike over poor food and medical care, told the authors of the report: “What we want people to know is that people go on hunger strike because something is happening on the inside… There are so many things happening behind closed doors that people are not aware of.” Joe Mejia, a detainee who went on a five-day hunger strike with other detainees in Mesa Verde, California, to protest against poor conditions and lack of COVID-19 precautions, stated in an interview: “No one wants to starve, to feel their intestines move inside their body because of hunger … The housing, conditions, clothing, food, hygiene—they try to make individuals in ICE detention miserable.” That conditions in ICE detention centers are dire does not come as a surprise. In April, an internal watchdog report released by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Inspector General found serious concerns regarding “detainee care and treatment”—including one case where a cancer patient ran out of leukemia medication after staff forgot to order a refill in time. A peaceful protest by detainees to demand better Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) during the pandemic was met with a response that included the deploying of chemical agents from the ceiling and the firing of pepper spray from handheld devices. The watchdog report was based on an unannounced, remote inspection of a single facility, La Palma Correctional Center in Eloy, Arizona, for a span of just four months between August and November 2020. One can only imagine what the results would have been had the sample included more facilities and a greater timespan. The ACLU-PHR report provides a version of this perspective. The report found there were hunger strikes by at least 1,378 people across 62 immigration detention centers from 2013 to 2017. While it was not clear how many were subjected to forced and invasive measures, documents acquired by the ACLU and PHR show evidence that force feeding had been carried out by ICE as early as 2012. The report highlights the travails of John Otieno, whose name was changed to protect his identity, a 28-year-old East African asylum seeker held at Pine Prairie ICE Processing Center in Louisiana. Otieno, who had been detained by ICE after seeking asylum at the US-Mexico border, had been moved between multiple facilities and found it impossible to fight his case since he was not being released on parole. In early 2020, he decided that he would seek asylum in a different country and sent multiple letters to ICE stating that he would even pay his own way if he was released. His requests met with no response. After finding out that refusing to eat for three days would mean higher officials would have to become involved in his case, Otieno decided to go on a hunger strike. “It was the only option I had,” he said. “I needed my freedom. I needed to move on with my life—because at that point, I was stuck in one place with no hope, only doom.”
Manchin, Schumer strike deal ahead of election bill vote - Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) said Tuesday that he will vote in favor of advancing a sweeping election bill after striking a deal with Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) on a compromise proposal. Schumer, speaking to reporters after a closed-door caucus lunch, announced that he and Manchin had reached an agreement that will allow Democrats to be unified in support of advancing the For the People Act as it faces a 60-vote procedural hurdle. "I'm pleased to report that Sen. Manchin and I have come to an agreement. He came to my office, oh, about two hours ago, and we worked it out," Schumer told reporters. Under the deal, Manchin will provide a 50th Democratic vote on advancing the For the People Act, though it will still fail to overcome Tuesday's procedural hurdle because of a GOP filibuster that requires 60 votes. But being unified, Democrats hope, will keep the focus on GOP opposition to the bill. Schumer said that if Democrats were able to start debate on the bill, something they won't be able to do because of across-the-board Republican opposition, he would give Manchin a vote on his proposal as a substitute amendment in exchange for voting "yes" on Tuesday. It would be the first amendment considered. "Over the past month, I have worked to eliminate the far reaching provisions of S.1, the For the People Act – which I do not support. I’ve found common ground with my Democratic colleagues on a new version of the bill that ensures our elections are fair, accessible and secure," Manchin said in a statement. "Today I will vote ‘YES’ to move to debate this updated voting legislation as a substitute amendment to ensure every eligible voter is able to cast their ballot and participate in our great democracy," he added. The For the People Act is a sweeping bill that would not only set national voting standards but also change the composition of the Federal Election Commission, add new restrictions on congressional redistricting, overhaul campaign finance, and include new ethics rules for the president and vice president. Manchin has said he can't support the bill as it was introduced. Instead, he circulated a list of what he can and cannot support. He said he supports making Election Day a public holiday, mandating at least 15 consecutive days for early voting in federal elections, banning gerrymandering and setting up voter registration through state motor vehicle departments. Schumer, McConnell spar as GOP prepares to block voting bill Senate GOP blocks voting rights bill Manchin is also ready to back tighter campaign finance requirements currently in the For the People Act, including requiring online and digital ads to disclose their sources, similar to TV and radio ads, imposing tighter ethics requirements for presidents and vice presidents, and requiring campaigns and committees to report foreign contacts.
Senate GOP blocks voting rights bill - Senate Republicans on Tuesday blocked a sweeping bill to overhaul federal elections, ratcheting up already inflamed tensions over voting rights. Senators voted 50-50 in the evenly divided Senate on advancing the For the People Act, splitting along party lines and failing to get the 60 votes needed to overcome a GOP filibuster. The vote is the culmination of weeks of partisan rancor and behind-the-scenes talks over changing the nation's voting laws in the wake of the 2020 presidential election. That contest was historic both for taking place during the coronavirus pandemic, which led to record levels of mail-in voting, and because of former President Trump's baseless allegations that massive voter fraud led to his defeat, an argument that culminated in the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol and continues to reverberate in certain conservative circles. Several states — including Georgia, which was won narrowly by President Biden and then delivered the Democrats their Senate majority — have made changes to their voting laws since then, energizing a sharp debate over whether the new rules will limit the votes of Democrats and minority groups and edge them out of being able to control Congress. Underscoring the political importance of the issue to Democrats, Vice President Harris presided over the hours-long Senate debate and vote. Republicans railed against the bill ahead of Tuesday’s vote, arguing it was a partisan takeover of federal elections and exactly the sort of legislation meant to be blocked by the Senate’s filibuster. “The Senate is no obstacle to voting laws done the right way. ... The Senate is only an obstacle when the policy is flawed and the process is rotten. And that’s exactly why this body exists,” Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said. The ultimate outcome of Tuesday’s vote was never in doubt: Republicans have pledged for weeks that they would prevent Democrats from even bringing their bill up for debate, much less passing it. But Democrats have been holding a frenzy of talks as they’ve tried to shore up support from within their own ranks. Hours before the vote, centrist Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) announced he'd reached a deal with Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) to back the measure. That ensured that Democrats would be united on the measure and that they could argue it was only Republicans who were voting against even opening a debate on the issue. “All 50 Democrats will vote 'yes.' Every one of us wants to start debate. ... Right now the vote, is will the Republicans move to proceed or are they unanimously against it?” Schumer said.
Schumer vows next steps after 'ridiculous,' 'awful' GOP election bill filibuster -Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) and top Democrats are eyeing next steps on voting rights legislation after a GOP filibuster of a sweeping election bill sparked widespread fury. Republicans blocked the For the People Act, a top Democratic priority, from coming up for debate Tuesday, marking the third successful filibuster of the Biden era. But Democrats are vowing to push forward, arguing that after the 2020 election, which former President Trump falsely characterizes as "stolen" despite losing dozens of election challenges, not addressing voting rights would threaten the very core of American democracy. "Once again Senate Republicans have signed their names in the ledger of history alongside Donald Trump, the big lie and voter suppression to their enduring disgrace. ... But I want to be very clear about one thing: The fight to protect voting rights is not over, by no means," Schumer said after the vote, calling the GOP filibuster “ridiculous and awful.” "Make no mistake about it, it will not be the last time voting rights comes up for a debate in the Senate. ... We have several serious options for how to reconsider this issue and advance legislation to combat voter suppression. We are going to explore every last one of our options," Schumer added. Democrats didn't immediately detail how they would try to revive voting rights legislation and they face a big lift to get anything through the Senate given that the legislative filibuster requires 60 votes, meaning at least the support of 10 GOP senators, in order to advance and ultimately pass most legislation. Republicans rejected not only the original version of the sweeping 800-page bill but also a slimmed-down version circulated as a framework by centrist Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.). Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), who spearheaded the For the People Act, predicted that Democrats would keep negotiating. "The next step is continuing to work the dialogue between the 50 senators ... and evaluate the next approach," Merkley said. And Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), the Rules Committee chairwoman, announced that the Rules Committee will hold hearings. “This fight has just begun — that’s why, as Chairwoman of the Rules Committee, I am announcing a series of hearings on the urgent need to pass critical voting, campaign finance, and ethics reforms, including a field hearing in Georgia to hear testimony on the recently enacted legislation to restrict voting in the state," Klobuchar said. But it's unclear how Democrats get voting rights legislation across the finish line. The GOP blockade on the voting rights legislation poured fuel on calls from progressives and a growing number of senators to nix the 60-vote legislative filibuster. "If we are serious about calling ourselves a democracy we must make it easier for people to participate, not harder. Now is the time for majority rule in the Senate. We must end the filibuster, pass sweeping voting rights legislation, and protect our democracy," Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) said in a statement.Ellen Sciales, the communications director for Sunrise Movement, called the For the People Act a "corpse in Schumer’s legislative graveyard."
House to take big step on eliminating Trump-era rules -The House is gearing up for votes this week to undo three Trump-era rules, using a special legislative tool to repeal some of the previous administration’s agency actions. Democrats will draw on the Congressional Review Act (CRA) to take aim at rules governing methane regulations, lending practices and employment discrimination cases. The three resolutions, which made it through the Senate on simple majority votes that included Republicans crossing the aisle on two of the measures, all have a good chance of clearing the House. Sending the measures to President Biden’s desk would deal a blow to former President Trump’s legacy and mark the first time Congress has repealed his administration’s policies through the CRA, which allows lawmakers and a new president to get rid of rules established under a previous president if they were completed shortly before the change in administration. “You have lots of different tools that you can use to shift regulatory policy. This tool comes with some interesting sort of expedited procedures,” said Daniel Pérez, a senior policy analyst at George Washington University’s Regulatory Studies Center. The CRA is an all-or-nothing tool, he said, that lets you get rid of existing rules, but not revise them. “It’s a sledgehammer, not a scalpel,” Pérez said. The CRA was successfully used just once before 2017, but at the start of Trump’s presidency Republicans were able to eliminate more than a dozen Obama-era regulations since they controlled both the House and Senate. And while some on the left may view this week’s vote as a kind of payback, there are other progressives who argue that Democrats should be pushing to eliminate the CRA, not give it legitimacy by using it against Trump. “The Congressional Review Act is quite possibly the worst law Congress has ever enacted,” said James Goodwin, a senior policy analyst with the left-leaning Center for Progressive Reform. He argued that it better serves Republicans than Democrats because the GOP’s agenda is more deregulatory, while Democrats may want to add more regulations, not just take them away. “Very often, using the CRA puts Republicans where they want to be at. Almost never does using the CRA put Democrats where they want to be at,” he said. “Getting rid of Trump stuff is never going to be adequate for President Biden,” Goodwin added, noting that Biden will want to implement regulations instead of just getting rid of deregulatory actions. Still, some observers said they were surprised that Democrats haven’t targeted more Trump-era rules. “Given how much success the Republicans had using it and how little success it had prior to that ... and given how [many] differences there are in regulatory policy between the Trump administration and the Biden administration, just as there was such a broad difference between Obama and Trump, I would’ve thought for sure we were going to see more CRA activity,” said Diane Katz, a senior research fellow at the conservative Heritage Foundation.
Garland tries to untangle the Trump legacy at the Justice Department - The Washington Post -Three months into his new job, judge-turned-attorney-general Merrick Garland, who inherited a demoralized and politicized Justice Department, is facing criticism from some Democrats that he is not doing enough to quickly expunge Trump-era policies and practices. On a host of issues ranging from leak investigations to civil and criminal cases involving former president Donald Trump, Garland has been beset by a growing chorus of congressional second-guessers, even as he insists he is scrupulously adhering to the principles of equal justice under the law. How he charts his way through the current controversies and still-unresolved politically sensitive cases is likely to determine how much of a long-term impact the Trump presidency has on the Justice Department. “It’s a difficult situation to navigate. The Department of Justice is an institution like an ocean liner — it doesn’t turn around easily,” said Ronald Weich, who served as an assistant attorney general in the early days of the Obama administration. Within that big ship, there are thousands of career prosecutors and lawyers toiling away on a host of cases that have political implications. During the Trump era, current and former Justice Department lawyers decried what they saw as the politicization of legal decisions. Twenty-two House Democrats, led by House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerrold E. Nadler (N.Y.), recently wrote that Garland’s department made a “profoundly misguided” decision “with deeply problematic implications” when it continued to defend Trump in a defamation lawsuit, and they urged the attorney general to reconsider. Questions about the integrity of the department flared again this month, as internal emails were released showing the extent to which Trump and his advisers had urged Justice Department leadership in late 2020 and early 2021 to pursue false claims of voter fraud in hopes of negating Joe Biden’s victory at the polls.
Democrats Tell Merrick Garland to Clean Up the DOJ - After several letdowns for progressives from the Department of Justice, a group of House Democrats is delivering a simple message to Attorney General Merrick Garland this week: do better.On Monday, nine lawmakers, led by Reps. Pramila Jayapal (D-WA) and Ted Lieu (D-CA), sent a letter to Garland expressing their “deep concern” over what they called his “apparent reluctance to correct the weaponization and politicization of the Department of Justice by the Trump administration.”Jayapal and Lieu were joined by Reps. Cori Bush (D-MO), Steve Cohen (D-TN), Mondaire Jones (D-NY), Madeleine Dean (D-PA), Veronica Escobar (D-TX), Sylvia Garcia (D-TX), and Hank Johnson (D-GA). All are members of the House Judiciary Committee, which oversees the DOJ. (Two-thirds of their Democratic colleagues on the committee, including their chairman, Rep. Jerry Nadler (D-NY), did not sign on to the letter.)Much of the lawmakers’ concern centers on the department’s continued protection of Donald Trump under President Joe Biden. Exhibit A is the defense of Trump in the defamation suit brought against the ex-president by E. Jean Carroll, who accused him of raping her in the 1990s. The use of DOJ attorneys and resources to defend Trump, approved by former Attorney General Bill Barr last year, outraged Democrats at the time.The Judiciary Democrats argue Garland’s decision to stand by that defense“implies that the agency is continuing to either act as the former President’s personal attorney or that federal officials are immune from civil liability if inflammatory or discriminatory statements unrelated to their official duties are made during their time in office.”The lawmakers also told Garland they were troubled by the DOJ’s request to dismiss lawsuits filed against Trump and Barr over federal law enforcement’s violent removal of Black Lives Matter protesters from Lafayette Square in Washington in June 2020. They argued the move sends a message that “any President may use brutality against protestors who disagree with their positions.”Beyond DOJ actions that touch Trump’s personal legal liability, the Democratic lawmakers took issue with what they view as Garland’s troubling extension of Trump administration policy.
Garland dismisses broad review of politicization of DOJ under Trump - Attorney General Merrick Garland on Tuesday expressed hesitancy at launching a broad review of the Trump administration’s politicization of the Department of Justice (DOJ), citing separate investigations already underway and concerns of potential claims of bias. While answering questions from reporters, Garland noted that the department’s inspector general, Michael Horowitz, earlier this month had announced plans to review reports that the DOJ under former President Trump had subpoenaed Apple for metadata on House Democrats and seized journalists’ phone records in probes of classified information leaks. Garland added Tuesday that launching a comprehensive review into the actions of his department under the previous administration was a “complicated question,” according to The New York Times. “I don’t want the department’s career people to think that a new group comes in and immediately applies a political lens,” President Biden’s attorney general added. Instead, Garland said it was Horowitz’s job “to look at these things.” “He’s very good at this — let us know when there are problems and what changes should be made, if they should be,” he continued, according to the Times. “I don’t want to prejudge anything. It’s just not fair to the current employees.” The House Judiciary Committee has also launched a probe into the subpoenas and has asked the DOJ to turn over a number of documents related to the records seized. The inspector general probes also come amid Horowitz’s ongoing investigation into whether Justice Department officials attempted to use the agency to undo the results of the 2020 presidential election, which Trump has repeatedly claimed was “stolen” from him based on unsupported allegations of widespread fraud. His office is also looking into the sudden resignation and replacement of the U.S. attorney representing the Northern District of Georgia, Byung J. Pak. Pak had stepped down after being criticized by Trump as a "never Trumper U.S. attorney" on the former president's infamous call with Georgia's secretary of state, during which Trump asked officials to "find" more than 11,000 votes that would have allowed him to defeat Biden in the Peach State. Amid the multiple investigations, however, Democrats and former DOJ employees have called on Garland to launch a separate probe into politicization of the department under the Trump administration. In a Tuesday letter to the attorney general, Democratic lawmakers led by Congressional Progressive Caucus Chairwoman Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.) criticized Garland over his “apparent reluctance to correct the weaponization and politicization” of the DOJ under Trump.
Progressives slam Garland for DOJ stances on Trump-era cases Progressive Democrats slammed Attorney General Merrick Garland on Tuesday over his “apparent reluctance to correct the weaponization and politicization” of the Department of Justice (DOJ), sending a list of five matters where they seek a swift reversal from the Trump era. The letter comes as the public learns more about actions the DOJ took under the prior administration, including seizing the records of journalists and lawmakers while other White House officials sought to pressure DOJ officials to assist in former President Trump’s election battles. “The Trump Administration undermined the Constitution as President Trump consistently abused his power by seeking to use the DOJ to protect his political allies, undermine career officials, and subvert congressional authority,” lawmakers wrote in a letter spearheaded by Congressional Progressive Caucus Chair Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.) and signed by eight other Democrats on the House Judiciary Committee. “Restoring the American people’s faith will not come just from a return to previous norms. Instead, DOJ must address the unprecedented shattering of those norms, clearly communicate to the American people the real damage that was done, and commit to accountability for the previous administration,” they wrote. The DOJ did not immediately respond to request for comment. The letter, which was not signed by 16 of the Democrats on the committee, also asks DOJ to reverse course on a number of legal battles where observers have been surprised to see the new administration side with its predecessor. That includes a case filed by a public interest group seeking the Office of Legal Counsel memo presented to former Attorney General William Barr as he was preparing to release the Mueller report. Efforts under the Biden administration to continue to block its release send “a concerning message that the agency under your leadership will continue the Trump Administration’s tactics to avoid transparency.” The group also criticized the department’s stance backing the Trump administration’s argument that the former president’s comments about the writer E. Jean Carroll, who accused him of sexual assault, were made in the context of his official duties and thus he should be represented by government lawyers. The lawmakers also pushed back on decisions on cases involving the clearing of Lafayette Square before Trump crossed the street for a photo-op and the department’s stance on a case where Congress sought documents tied to the Trump hotel.
Garland Says Watchdog Is Best Positioned to Review Trump-Era Justice Dept., Not Him - The attorney general said that various inspector general inquiries would help uncover any wrongdoing and that he wanted to avoid politicizing the work of career officials. — Attorney General Merrick B. Garland backed away on Tuesday from doing a broad review of Justice Department politicization during the Trump administration, noting that the department’s independent inspector general was already investigating related issues, including aggressive leak hunts and attempts to overturn the election. Democrats and some former Justice Department employees have pressed Mr. Garland to uncover any efforts by former President Donald J. Trump to wield the power of federal law enforcement to advance his personal agenda. Their calls for a full investigation grew louder after recent revelations that Mr. Trump pushed department officials to help him undo his election loss and that prosecutors took aggressive steps to root out leakers. Answering questions from reporters at the Justice Department on Tuesday, Mr. Garland said that reviewing the previous administration’s actions was “a complicated question.” He noted that managers typically sought to understand what previous leaders had done. “We always look at what happened before,” he said. But he stopped short of saying that he would undertake a comprehensive review of Trump era Justice Department officials and their actions, in part to keep career employees from concluding that their work would be judged through changing political views. “I don’t want the department’s career people to think that a new group comes in and immediately applies a political lens,” Mr. Garland said. He also invoked the investigations by the Justice Department’s inspector general, Michael E. Horowitz, noting that they spoke to the question of whether Mr. Trump had improperly used the department’s powers to investigate and prosecute. “It’s his job to look at these things,” Mr. Garland said of Mr. Horowitz. “He’s very good at this — let us know when there are problems and what changes should be made, if they should be. I don’t want to prejudge anything. It’s just not fair to the current employees.”
Harris casts tiebreaking vote to confirm OPM nominee Vice President Harris returned to the Senate chamber on Tuesday to cast a tiebreaking vote, confirming President Biden's nominee for the director of the Office of Personnel Management (OPM). Senators voted 50-50 along party lines to confirm Kiran Ahuja as OMP director after her confirmation was held up by Senate Republicans over her support for abortion rights and focus on critical race theory. Harris ultimately sealed the confirmation, stating, "On this vote, the 'yeas' are 50 [and] the 'nays' are 50. The Senate being equally and evenly divided, the vice president votes in the affirmative. The nomination is confirmed ... and the president will immediately be notified of the Senate's action." Earlier on Tuesday, Harris cast the tiebreaking vote to advance Ahuja’s nomination after the chamber was again split 50-50 along party lines. Ahuja, who previously served as chief of staff at OMP under the Obama administration and worked in the Obama White House as executive director of the Initiative on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders, will be the 13th OPM director. She was nominated for the role in February. The tiebreaking vote was Harris's fourth overall as vice president and second for a Biden nominee. In April, Harris broke a tie to advance Colin Kahl’s nomination to be under secretary of Defense for policy, sparking a final vote in the full chamber. Ahuja’s confirmation comes after an effort by Senate Republicans, spearheaded by Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.), to hold up her confirmation.
Supreme Court upholds Obamacare, ruling opponents have no standing to sue - In a decision announced June 17, the US Supreme Court struck down the latest right-wing challenge to the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare). The court handed down a 7-2 ruling that avoided the substance of the law and instead found that the states and individuals who brought the suit lacked standing because they could not demonstrate that the ACA had caused them any material injury. The initial lawsuit, Texas v. California, was brought by 17 states and two individuals. States supporting the ACA countersued in California v. Texas, and both suits were disposed of by the court’s decision. The ruling was authored by Justice Stephen Breyer, one of the five justices who first upheld the constitutionality of the ACA in 2012. United States Supreme Court Building at Dusk (Credit: Wikimedia Commons/Joe Ravi) The law was also upheld in a 2015 ruling in King v. Burwell, where the margin was 6-3. The law has thus received growing support on the court over the past decade, even as the court’s membership has shifted steadily to the right, particularly with the appointment of three new justices by President Donald Trump. That alone makes clear that support for the ACA is not the outcome of a liberal or “progressive” political outlook. It is tied much more to the increasing dependence of giant health care, insurance and pharmaceutical companies on the flow of money from the federal government, and Wall Street looking askance at the prospect of that spigot being shut off. Countless commentaries have been published over the last few days on the intricate legal technicalities and behind-the-scenes conflicts among the justices that produced the latest ruling. However informative, they miss the main point, which was stated bluntly in a headline in the Capitol Hill publication Roll Call: “Industry cheers Supreme Court ruling on health care law.” As the ensuing article explained: “Several health care industry groups had urged the Supreme Court to uphold the law in amicus briefs filed before the November oral arguments. Hospitals, physicians, insurers and others stood to lose financially if the law had been overturned.” Virtually every corporate group associated with health insurance and health care applauded the Supreme Court ruling.
Tech industry pushes for delay in antitrust legislation - The House Judiciary antitrust subcommittee is coming under pressure to hit the brakes on a legislative package targeting tech giants. Industry groups, major tech companies and centrist Democrats have called for additional time and hearings to weigh the five proposals before the panel moves ahead with Wednesday’s scheduled markup. The bills focus on Amazon, Apple, Facebook and Google and build off the investigation the House subcommittee conducted last year that led to a blockbuster report alleging abuse of market power by the companies, who have all pushed back on the report’s findings. Now, the industry is arguing that the legislation on tap for Wednesday could lead to “unintended” consequences and end up hindering consumers and small businesses that rely on their services. “The bills would require us to degrade our services and prevent us from offering important features used by hundreds of millions of Americans,” Mark Isakowitz, Google’s vice president of government affairs and public policy, said in a statement. "We respectfully recommend that these consequences receive more thoughtful consideration before Congress takes action,” Isakowitz added. The proposals — all of which have some level of GOP support — are supported by advocacy groups and a coalition of small-business owners. The measures were introduced on June 11. Brian Huseman, Amazon’s vice president of public policy, said the panel, led by Rep. David Cicilline (D-R.I.), is moving “unnecessarily fast in pushing these bills forward.” “We encourage Chairman Cicilline and committee members to slow down, postpone the markup, and thoroughly vet the language in the bills for unintended negative consequences,” Huseman said in a statement.
John McAfee Dies of Apparent Suicide In Prison - John McAfee, the notorious entrepreneur who was best known for the antivirus software that bore his name, was found dead in a prison cell on Wednesday. McAfee was being imprisoned in Barcelona, Spain, and was awaiting possible extradition to the US where he was facing tax evasion charges. Just hours before his death, a Spanish court agreed to his extradition, and it is suspected that he took his own life in response to the news.In a statement announcing McAfee’s death, The Catalan Justice Department that “everything indicates” he took his own life.McAfee was a tech pioneer who founded the first commercial anti-virus software and eventually sold the company before traveling the world. He has been at the center of controversy ever since.McAfee was arrested in Spain while attempting to board a flight to Turkey in October of 2020. Authorities in the United States pressed charges against him for refusing to file a tax return for several years. He was accused of holding properties and expensive assets in other people’s names to avoid paying taxes. In the years leading up to his death, McAfee claimed that he was an enemy of the state and members of various governments were out to get him. McAfee was extremely outspoken about his political beliefs and ran for President of the United States under the Libertarian Party Banner in 2016 and 2020.It was during McAfee’s presidential run that he came under the scrutiny of tax authorities in the United States. In 2019, in a Twitter rant about taxation, McAfee admitted that he had not filed a tax return for at least 8 years.Shortly after making that post, he was detained in the Dominican Republic for allegedly carrying a firearm, something else that he openly discussed. After that, a whole world of trouble opened up for him as the US government began investigating him and filing charges.
John McAfee’s Wife Said US Govt Was “Determined” To See Him Die In Prison - John McAfee’s life was filled with controversy and mystery, and his death has been no different. The notorious tech entrepreneur died in a Spanish prison this week, from what authorities say was a suicide. Investigators say that they have ruled out any possibility of foul play, and have concluded that McAfee hung himself.The timing of his death seems to support this conclusion, but many of McAfee’s supporters and loved ones are suspicious about the circumstances surrounding his death. A series of cryptic tweets from McAfee and his wife Janice have surfaced since his death that paint a very grim picture of what could have happened.In a Twitter post shared on Father’s Day, three days before McAfee’s death, Janice posted that a statement saying that “US authorities’ were ‘determined to have John die in prison to make an example of him speaking out against the corruption within their government agencies.”“John’s honesty has often gotten him in trouble with corrupt governments and corrupt government officials because of his outspoken nature and his refusal to be extorted, intimidated or silenced,” she added. McAfee himself had previously stated on numerous occasions that the charges against him were politically motivated. He also believed that he would be in prison for the rest of his life if he was convicted in the United States. This is probably true considering that he was 75-years-old and facing serious time. The fact that his death came just hours after his extradition has led many to believe that he would rather die than return to the US, but he was adamant before his death that he would never take his own life.
Court trims TransUnion penalty for errors in IDs of potential terrorists --The Supreme Court has trimmed a $40 million verdict against TransUnion, ruling that some consumers the credit reporting company erroneously labeled as potential terrorists were not actually harmed.In a 5-4 ruling, the court upheld the damages that TransUnion owes to 1,853 people whose misleading information was shared with third parties, such as banks and landlords, but it rejected a claim that 6,332 other individuals are also entitled to damages. The justices found that consumers in the latter category did not suffer concrete harm because their faulty credit files were not sent to third-party businesses between January and July 2011. In gauging the possibility of subsequent harm, Justice Brett Kavanaugh wrote that those individuals had the burden to prove their credit reports were shared in order to establish the standing necessary to sue.
Nassim Nicholas Taleb Shellacks Bitcoin and Cryptocurrencies by Yves Smith -- Nassim Nicholas Taleb has weighed in on Bitcoin and its brethren in a new paper for New York University, Bitcoin, Currencies, and Bubbles, and finds nothing to like. We’ve embedded his analysis below and encourage you to read it in full.Taleb is far from the only expert in finance to pen a wide-ranging and overwhelmingly negative assessment of Bitcoin and other crypto (which for convenience we will refer to as Bitcoin). Nouriel Roubini published a no-holds barred takedown in the Financial Times in February. Roubini called out its lack of fundamental value, environmental toll, volatility, high transaction costs, and very slow processing.Taleb’s critique is even more fundamental. We joked early on that blockchain was a technology looking for an application. Taleb confirms that that is still true. From Taleb’s conclusion:We presented the attributes of the blockchain in general and bitcoin in particular. The customary standard argument is “bitcoin has its flaws but we are getting a great technology, we will do wonders with the blockchain”. No, there is no evidence that we are getting a great technology —unless “great technology” doesn’t mean “useful”. And we have done —at the time of writing —in spite of all the fanfare, still close to nothing with the blockchain.Bitcoin fanboys may have tried to shrug off Roubini as a mere doom-oriented economist. They’ll have a much more difficult time dismissing Taleb. Taleb is a quant’s quant and has no patience with poseurs. He starts with a brief overview of the technologies that underpin Bitcoin and includes observations about Bitcoin that derive from currency risk hedging, but it’s not essential to parse them to get the drift of his gist. Even though he is not a computer scientist, he held senior positions in derivatives trading at top tier market participants, and particularly in the 1980s and 1990s, competitiveness in options and derivatives trading was very much dependent on fast IT development and implementation, so the senior traders would often work closely with the developers on the rollout of new trading models and tools. So his asides about IT are not to be dismissed either.However, Taleb is also famous for suffering no fools, and so calls on readers to step up their game to follow his argument rather than making his arguments op-ed-level layperson friendly. However, the finance-literate will find this paper to be accessible as well as occasionally acid.Taleb’s overarching compliant is that Bitcoin accomplished none of its supposed aims, including facilitating crime. Its volatility and speculative use makes it unworkable as a currency. One of the comments the paper highlights:There is a conflation of “accepting bitcoin for payments” and pricing goods in bitcoin. For that the price in bitcoin must be fixed, with the conversion into fiat floating, rather than the reverse.It isn’t a store of value, an inflation hedge or a safe haven either. It isn’t just that Bitcoin did poorly in the Covid panic of March 2000; it’s also not a techno answer to a bank account in a secrecy jurisdiction like Panama or the Isle of Man.
Basel's crypto capital plan could boost banks' interest in stablecoins — Although banks are only starting to grapple with the rising popularity of cryptocurrencies, a framework from global banking regulators outlining possible capital charges for them is a likely preview of how financial institutions could soon come to view digital money.The Basel Committee on Banking Supervision issued a proposal this month laying out how regulators should make banks treat Bitcoin and other digital assets. Under that proposal, bank exposures to cryptocurrencies that are not linked to any underlying asset would be subject to a 1,250% risk weight, meaning that a bank would likely need to hold a dollar in capital for every dollar's worth of a digital asset. While the proposal is likely years away from adoption and could morph over time as the digital asset space continues to evolve, as even the committee acknowledged, many industry experts were encouraged by the framework.
OCC, states declare cease-fire in fintech charter case. Will it hold? — State regulators and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency have agreed to a temporary truce in their court battle over a controversial charter application, but analysts caution that the underlying conflict over fintechs' pursuit of banking powers is far from resolved. Judge Dabney L. Friedrich, of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, approved a motion this week by the Conference of State Bank Supervisors outlining the group's agreement with the OCC to pause for 90 days CSBS's litigation over Figure Technologies' specialized charter application.The stay comes amid signs that the OCC under acting Comptroller Michael Hsu could pump the brakes on plans developed in prior administrations to offer fintechs a special-purpose national bank charter. Those plans have drawn sharp objections from state regulators.
Federal Reserve gives U.S. banks a thumbs-up as all 23 lenders easily pass 2021 stress test --The Federal Reserve announced Thursday that the biggest U.S. banks could easily withstand a severe recession, a milestone for the once-beleaguered industry. The Fed, in releasing the results of its annual stress test, said all 23 institutions in the 2021 exam remained "well above" minimum required capital levels during a hypothetical economic downturn. Bank shares popped after the release; the KBW Bank Index rose 1.5% at 5 p.m. That scenario included a "severe global recession" that hits commercial real estate and corporate debt holders and peaks at 10.8% unemployment and a 55% drop in the stock market, the central bank said. While the industry would post $474 billion in losses, loss-cushioning capital would still be more than double the minimum required levels, the Fed said. If there was an anticlimactic note to this year's stress test, it's because the industry underwent a real-life version in the past year when the coronavirus pandemic struck, leading to widespread economic disruption. Thanks to help from lawmakers and the Fed itself, banks fared extremely well during the crisis, stockpiling capital for expected loan losses that mostly didn't materialize. VIDEO04:19 Former FDIC Chair Sheila Bair on Fed stress test results Nevertheless, during the pandemic, banks had to undergo extra rounds of stress tests and had restrictions imposed on their ability to return capital to shareholders in the form of dividends and buybacks. Those will now be lifted, as the Fed has previously stated. "Over the past year, the Federal Reserve has run three stress tests with several different hypothetical recessions and all have confirmed that the banking system is strongly positioned to support the ongoing recovery," Vice Chair for Supervision Randal K. Quarles said in a statement. Following the passage of this latest exam, the industry will regain a measure of autonomy it lost since the last crisis. After playing a key role in the 2008 financial crisis, banks were forced to undergo the industry exam, and had to ask regulators for permission to boost dividends and repurchase shares. Now, under something called the stress capital buffer framework, banks will gain flexibility in how they want to dole out dividends and buybacks. The stress capital buffer is a measure of capital each firm needs to carry based on the riskiness of their operations. The new regime was supposed to start last year, but the pandemic intervened. "So long as they stay above that stress capital buffer requirement and all their other requirements every quarter, a bank can technically do whatever it chooses to do with regards to buybacks and dividends," Jefferies bank analyst Ken Usdin told CNBC this week. During a background call with reporters, senior Fed officials pushed back against the idea that the new regime resulted in a free-for-all. Banks are still subject to restrictions, and the Fed is confident that the stress capital buffer framework will protect their ability to support the economy during a downturn, they said.
Banks get green light to resume payouts after acing stress tests - —The nation’s largest banks weathered the worst of the coronavirus pandemic with plenty of capital, the Federal Reserve said Thursday upon release of stress-test results that demonstrated for the first time how balance sheets were affected by COVID-19.All 23 of the banks tested are cleared after June 30 to resume full dividend payments and share repurchases for the first time in a year. The Fed said each of the firms has sufficient capital levels to “continue lending to households and businesses during a severe recession.”“Over the past year, the Federal Reserve has run three stress tests with several different hypothetical recessions and all have confirmed that the banking system is strongly positioned to support the ongoing recovery,” Fed Vice Chair for Supervision Randal Quarles said in a statement.
JPMorgan leads banks set to return $142 billion to shareholders - The biggest U.S. banks, led by JPMorgan Chase and Bank of America, are expected to pay out $142 billion in capital to shareholders after clearing this year’s stress tests. One year after the Federal Reserve capped stock buybacks and dividends, the central bank is poised to lift remaining COVID-19 restrictions for lenders that perform well on this year’s exams when results are announced Thursday.All six of the biggest U.S. banks — a group that also includes Citigroup, Wells Fargo, Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs Group — are expected to pass, paving the way for them to double total shareholder payouts in the next four quarters, according to data compiled by Bloomberg based on estimates provided by analysts at Barclays.
Morgan Stanley says no vaccine, no entry. - Morgan Stanley will require employees and visitors to be vaccinated against the coronavirus when they enter its New York offices next month.Starting July 12, employees, contingent workers, clients and visitors at Morgan Stanley’s buildings in New York City and Westchester County must attest that they are fully vaccinated, a person familiar with the matter said, citing a memo from Mandell Crawley, the bank’s chief human resources officer. Staff members who don’t will be required to work remotely, added the person, who was granted anonymity to discuss personnel-related matters.Although the requirement relies on an honor system for now rather than proof of vaccination, it will allow the bank to lift other pandemic protocols, such as face coverings and physical distancing. Some office spaces for Morgan Stanley’s institutional securities, investment and wealth management divisions already allow only those who have gotten their shots to work from their desks.Companies across America are grappling with the question of whether to ask employees about their vaccination status, or to require those returning to offices to be vaccinated. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission said last month that both actions were legal. Still, some senior executives have worried about pushback from employees. This month, Goldman Sachs said its employees in the United States would have to report their vaccination status. Other big Wall Street banks, including JPMorgan Chase and Bank of America, are encouraging workers to disclose their vaccination status voluntarily. BlackRock, the asset manager, will allow only vaccinated staff to return to the office beginning next month,Bloomberg reported. Those firms, however, stopped short of also asking clients and visitors to attest to being vaccinated.The Financial Times reported earlier on Morgan Stanley’s vaccine requirements.
Bill advances that would require lenders to report LGBTQ business data — The House has adopted legislation that would expand banks’ reporting of credit application data to include information about LGBTQ-owned businesses.The LGBTQ Business Equal Credit Enforcement and Investment Act passed the House 252-176 on Thursday. The legislation would require financial institutions to report credit application data relating to LGBTQ-owned businesses to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau for the purposes of enforcing fair lending laws.The bill expands upon the small-business loan data that the Equal Credit Opportunity Actalready requires banks to report to the CFPB on women-owned and minority-owned businesses to include LGBTQ-owned business data.
House follows Senate in rejecting OCC's 'true lender' rule - The House voted on Thursday to dismantle a Trump-era rule that sought to make it easier for national banks to make and sell loans through fintech partnerships. Following the Senate’s lead from early May, the House voted 218-208 to rescind an Office of the Comptroller of the Currency regulation known as the “true lender” rule using the Congressional Review Act. The measure now goes to President Biden’s desk, and he is expected to sign it into law. As in the Senate, the Congressional Review Act vote to overturn the OCC’s rule was bipartisan, albeit barely: One Republican House member voted with Democrats to undo the regulation.
House panel advances bill to require annual G-SIB reports to the Fed — The House Financial Services Committee advanced legislation Wednesday that would require the largest U.S. banks to submit annual reports to the Federal Reserve about their activities, compensation structures, and environmental, social and corporate governance initiatives.The committee voted 28-22 along party lines to advance the Greater Supervision in Banking Act, sponsored by Rep. Ayanna Pressley, D-Mass. The bill would require a host of new disclosures for all U.S. global systemically important banks.Democrats on the committee said the legislation would give the public a better understanding of banks’ activities, while Republicans blasted the bill as a political weapon against U.S. megabanks.
Why Visa is taking another swing at buying a data aggregator - U.S. regulators blocked the card network's attempt to buy Plaid last year for antitrust reasons. Its bid to acquire Tink, a similar company based in Sweden, may have a better shot given European officials' desire to promote open banking. Visa is making a fresh attempt to build a business around data sharing, this time focusing on Europe through its agreement to buy Tink. Visa has agreed to buy the Stockholm-based open banking platform provider for about $2.2 billion. The card network unsuccessfully tried a large open banking acquisition before, but backed off after U.S. regulators objected. Open banking, which is mandated by the European Union's PSD2 regulation, enables data sharing between banks and third parties such as fintechs. It also applies to banks from the U.S. and other markets that do business in the EU. The earlier deal, a $5 billion purchase of Plaid was announced in January 2020 and called offin early 2021 following a battle with the U.S. Department of Justice. The DOJ contendedVisa was removing a potential competitor in the online debit market by acquiring the San Francisco-based Plaid, thus raising antitrust issues.
Experts Have Been Warning for Months of an Unprecedented Stock Market Bubble Set to Explode --By Pam Martens - One thing is for sure. When the current stock market bubble does eventually crash, Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell is not going to be able to sit before Congress and tell lawmakers that nobody could have seen it coming. Wall Street veterans have gone on record repeatedly in recent months to warn of a coming crash.Last week Michael Burry, who heads the hedge fund Scion Asset Management and was immortalized in “The Big Short” movie for making a fortune shorting subprime debt before it collapsed in the 2008 crash, took to Twitter with the latest of these warnings. (The Tweets were subsequently deleted after they were heavily publicized in the business media and retweeted.) On Tuesday, Burry Tweeted this: “People always ask me what is going on in the markets. It is simple. Greatest Speculative Bubble of All Time in All Things. By two orders of magnitude. #FlyingPigs360.” On Thursday, Burry upped the ante, warning that the crash would “approach the size of countries.” Burry wrote: “All hype/speculation is doing is drawing in retail before the mother of all crashes. #FOMO Parabolas don’t resolve sideways; When crypto falls from trillions, or meme stocks fall from tens of billions, #MainStreet losses will approach the size of countries. History ain’t changed.” FOMO stands for “fear of missing out.” The next day, Friday, June 18, Robert Kiyosaki, author of Rich Dad, Poor DadTweeted this: “Biggest bubble in world history getting bigger. Biggest crash in world history coming. Buying more gold and silver. Waiting for Bitcoin to drop to $24 k. Crashes best time to get rich. Take care. Last week’s warnings were just the latest of the cautionary advice coming from long-term market watchers. On April 9, Phillip Toews, who has been an investment manager for three decades, posted this on the company’s website: “It used to be that excesses were followed by depressions, which allowed for inefficiencies to be worked out of the system. However, through efforts of the government and the Federal Reserve, the natural cycle of boom and bust seems to have been replaced by a boom boom cycle, interrupted with sporadic and spectacular temporary market crises.“A confluence of events that includes easy money and government stimulus has created a situation where we no longer have to look back almost four hundred years to tulip-mania to wonder, ‘How could such lunacy prevail?’ We now are living with real time examples of modern, digital, tulip level bubbles. Despite these excesses, with economies re-opening and fiscal stimulus still flowing, we may still be in the early stages of what may later be viewed as the bubble to eclipse all prior bubbles….” (Read his full column here.) The warnings have been punctuated with ever-growing cracks in the plumbing, raising the specter that a major rupture could occur at any time.
Another Choice Offering from Wall Street: A Doughnut with 11-25 Grams of Fat from a Company Awash in Red Ink with a Checkered Accounting History - Pam Martens and Russ Martens: -=A preliminary prospectus has been filed with the SEC to bring Krispy Kreme, the doughnut retailer, back to trade in U.S. public markets. JPMorgan, Bank of America and Citigroup will be three of the four Lead Book-Running Managers on the deal according to the preliminary prospectus. Those same three Wall Street underwriters have the distinction of just last week being banned from participating in a big European Union bond offering because of their past cartel activity in Europe. Morgan Stanley is to be the fourth Lead Book-Running Manager on the deal.Krispy Kreme’s net losses have been escalating over the past three years according to its SEC filing. Net losses in 2020 were $60.9 million; $34 million in 2019; and $12.4 million in 2018. During the company’s prior history as a publicly-traded company, the Securities and Exchange Commission charged the company with doctoring its earnings, ruling as follows in 2009:“Between approximately February 2003 and May 2004, Krispy Kreme fraudulently inflated or otherwise misrepresented its earnings for the fourth quarter of its 2003 fiscal year, which ended on February 2, 2003, and each quarter of its 2004 fiscal year, and its full year results for fiscal 2004, which ended on February 1, 2004. By this misconduct, the Respondent avoided lowering its earnings guidance and improperly reported for each of those quarters what had become a prime benchmark of its historical performance, i.e., reporting quarterly earnings per share of common stock (EPS) that exceeded its previously announced EPS guidance by one cent.” The company’s former CEO, COO and CFO were fined in the matter by the SEC without admitting guilt. According to Krispy Kreme’s website, its Reese’s Peanut Butter Doughnut contains 25 grams of fat; its Original Filled Original Kreme Doughnut contains 15 grams of fat; while its Original Glazed Doughnut has 11 grams of fat.The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention provides the following statistics on obesity in the United States: “From 1999 –2000 through 2017 –2018, the prevalence of severe obesity increased from 4.7% to 9.2%. “Obesity-related conditions include heart disease, stroke, type 2 diabetes and certain types of cancer. “The estimated annual medical cost of obesity in the United States was $147 billion in 2008. Medical costs for people who had obesity was $1,429 higher than medical costs for people with healthy weight.” When history books are written on this Wall Street era, it will be remembered as a period when federal regulators stood down and allowed every deal Wall Street could cook up and collect an underwriting fee on to be brought to the public markets. We’re talking about SPACs (blank check companies), crypto offerings, Bitcoin futures, and companies the public needs less of, not more of.Instead of functioning as an efficient and prudent allocator of capital to companies that will ensure America’s competitiveness in the world, Wall Street is bringing to market the same kind of dubious deals that collapsed Wall Street and the U.S. economy in 1929, 2000, and 2008.
President can fire FHFA director at will, Supreme Court says — The Supreme Court on Wednesday ruled that the leadership structure of the Federal Housing Finance Agency is unconstitutional, delivering at once a win for the Biden administration and a blow to current FHFA Director Mark Calabria, who was appointed by former President Donald Trump.In a split decision written by Justice Samuel Alito, with several of the other justices concurring and dissenting on several components of the case, the court also dismissed a claim brought by shareholders of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, who argued that a 2012 profit sweep agreement between the FHFA and the U.S. Treasury violates the law.The plaintiffs had also argued that the provision in the 2008 law establishing the FHFA, which said a president can only fire the director for cause, was unconstitutional. While the court left in place the so-called net worth sweep in Wednesday’s opinion, the justices agreed that a sitting president should have the ability to fire the FHFA director at will. Previously, a president had only been able to fire the director “for cause.”
Biden will fire FHFA's Calabria after Supreme Court ruling - President Joe Biden will move immediately to replace Federal Housing Finance Agency Director Mark Calabria, following a Supreme Court ruling issued Wednesday that determined the leadership structure of the agency is unconstitutional.In a split decision, the high court ruled that a provision in the 2008 law establishing the FHFA, which said a president can only fire the director for cause, was unconstitutional. That decision paved the way for the Biden administration to oust Calabria, who was appointed by former President Donald Trump.“In light of the Supreme Court’s decision today, the President is moving forward today to replace the current director with an appointee who reflects the administration’s values,” a White House official says. Calabria, an appointee of former President Donald Trump, has been heading the agency since April 2019. Calabria, a liberatarian economist, has been heading the agency since April 2019.
Calabria's ouster at FHFA sets stage for Biden to remake housing policy —As the Biden administration grapples with soaring home prices and declining rates of minority homeownership, the Supreme Court handed it a lifeline: the ability to fire Federal Housing Finance Agency Director Mark Calabria.President Biden exercised that newfound power Wednesday, the same day the high court ruled that the leadership structure of the agency was unconstitutional, and that the president has the authority to fire the FHFA director at will.Shortly after 2 p.m. Eastern, Calabria confirmed in an email to FHFA staff that Biden had removed him. Calabria called his two years as director “an honor of a lifetime,” and he praised the FHFA’s response to the coronavirus pandemic, saying the agency had “provide[d] some of the earliest financial support to borrowers and renters.”
Who will replace Mark Calabria at the FHFA? - President Biden’s replacement for Federal Housing Finance Agency Director Mark Calabria stands to significantly alter the direction of the government-sponsored enterprises and the guessing game as to who will be named has begun.Current FHFA Deputy Director Sandra Thompson was named to the post on an acting basis Wednesday night. Possible permanent replacements for Calabria include economist Mark Zandi and Julia Gordon, president of the National Community Stabilization Trust and a former FHFA official.The timing on formally replacing Calabria depends on the Biden administration's priorities, but if what’s happening at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is any indication, Thompson is likely to jump into the role quickly, noted Ryan Wood, regulatory counsel at Covius Compliance. Acting CFPB director Dave Uejio, has come out with "guns blazing," since being assigned to that post following Kathy Kraninger’s firing, he said. However, the CFPB also has a different, broader, mandate.
Biden appoints Sandra Thompson acting FHFA director - —President Joe Biden named Sandra Thompson as acting director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency late Wednesday, hours after removing Mark Calabria as head of the agency in the wake of a Supreme Court ruling that said the FHFA's leadership structure was unconstitutional. Thompson, who was most recently the deputy director of the FHFA’s Division of Housing and Mission Goals, has been at the agency since 2013. Before joining FHFA, she worked for 23 years at the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., ultimately serving as the director of risk management supervision.In a statement, Thompson said she is “committed to making sure our nation’s housing finance systems and our regulated entities operate in a safe and sound manner.”
Mortgage execs begin lobbying FHFA to lift lender sales cap --The Community Home Lenders Association has called for suspension of federal limits on the loan volumes that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac can purchase from individual lenders. The demand came on the same day that the Biden administration fired FHFA Director Mark Calabria and started the process of nominating his successor.
Acting CFPB Director Dave Uejio nominated for HUD post - President Biden has nominated Dave Uejio, the acting director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, to be an assistant secretary at the Department of Housing and Urban Development.Dave Uejio has been busy as acting director of the CFPB, moving quickly to rescind Trump-era rules.Uejio remains the CFPB’s acting director until Rohit Chopra, the president's nominee to lead the bureau, is confirmed by the Senate. Uejio, who would become assistant secretary for fair housing and equal opportunity if confirmed by the Senate, was on a list of White Housenominees sent to the chamber on Thursday. That Uejio was nominated to HUD could be an indication that Chopra will be confirmed soon by the Senate. Chopra sits on the Federal Trade Commission, and some analysts have attributed the delay in his confirmation to work that still needs to be done at the FTC under newly confirmed FTC Chairwoman Lina Khan.
HUD proposes reinstating Obama-era fair-lending rule — The Department of Housing and Urban Development has officially proposed rescinding a Trump administration rule on fair-lending enforcement and reinstating an Obama-era regulation that established a lower bar for plaintiffs alleging discrimination. In a press release Friday, HUD said that the 2013 rule does a better job of carrying out the statutory purpose of "eradicating unncessary discriminatory practices" from the housing market than the version that the department finalized last year.“It is a new day at HUD — and our department is working to lift barriers to housing and promote diverse, inclusive communities across the country,” HUD Secretary Marcia Fudge said in the release. “Today’s publication of the proposed discriminatory effects rule is the latest step HUD is taking to fulfill its duty to ensure more fair and equitable housing.”
Biden is considering a one-month extension of the federal eviction freeze --The White House is considering extending by one month a federal moratorium on evictions scheduled to expire on June 30, in a bid to buy more time to distribute emergency housing aid, according to three people with knowledge of the situation.The freeze, instituted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention last fall to stave off an anticipated wave of evictions spurred by the economic downturn during the pandemic, hassignificantly limited the economic damage to low-income and working-class renters, according to local officials and tenants’ rights groups.But the moratorium was never considered more than a stopgap, and landlords have prevailed in several recent federal court caseschallenging the legal justification for the C.D.C.’s order — the public health risk posed by the dislocation of tenants during the pandemic.Local officials have been bracing for a rise in evictions as the federal moratorium and similar state and city orders expire this summer. In some cases, that scramble to assist tenants has dovetailed with the broader goal of improving affordability that is now a core part of the Democratic Party’s agenda.On Monday, Gov. Gavin Newsom of California announced that the state had set aside $5.2 billion from federal aid packages to pay off the back rent of any tenant who fell behind during the pandemic, an extraordinary move intended to wipe the slate clean for millions of renters in a state dealing with acute homelessness and a housing affordability crisis.President Biden’s team has been seeking ways to speed up the sluggish distribution of $21.5 billion in emergency rental assistance allocated in the American Recovery Act this spring.The group met throughout the weekend to discuss potential moves, including the idea of pushing back the deadline until the end of July, which has been under consideration for weeks, the officials said.But they have yet to sign off on an extension, in part, over concerns in the White House Counsel’s Office that leaving the freeze in place, even for a month, could expose the order to a ruling that could affect executive actions during future crises, one of the officials said.Administration lawyers are particularly concerned that the Supreme Court will strike down a stay in a lower court decision that ruled the moratorium unconstitutional.
The Biden administration plans to extend the federal moratorium on evictions for another month. - The Biden administration plans to extend the national moratorium on evictions, scheduled to expire on June 30, by one month to buy more time to distribute billions of dollars in federal pandemic housing aid, according to two officials with knowledge of the situation.The moratorium, instituted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention last September to prevent a wave of evictions spurred by the economic downturn associated with the coronavirus pandemic, has significantly limited the economic damage to renters and sharply reduced eviction filings.Congressional Democrats, local officials and tenant groups have been warning that the expiration of the moratorium at the end of the month, and the lapsing of similar state and local measures, might touch off a new — if somewhat less severe — eviction crisis.President Biden’s team decided to extend the moratorium by a month after an internal debate at the White House over the weekend. The step is one of a series of actions that the administration plans to take in the next several weeks, involving several federal agencies, the officials said.Other initiatives include a summit on housing affordability and evictions, to be held at the White House later this month; stepped-up coordination with local officials and legal aid organizations to minimize evictions after July 31; and new guidance from the Treasury Department meant to streamline the sluggish disbursement of the $21.5 billion in emergency aid included in the pandemic relief bill in the spring.White House officials, requesting anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the issue publicly, said that the one-month extension, while influenced by concerns over a new wave of evictions, was prompted by the lag in vaccination rates in some parts of the country and by other factors that have extended the coronavirus crisis. Forty-four House Democrats wrote to Mr. Biden and the C.D.C. director, Dr. Rochelle P. Walensky, on Tuesday, urging them to put off allowing evictions to resume. “By extending the moratorium and incorporating these critical improvements to protect vulnerable renters, we can work to curtail the eviction crisis disproportionately impacting our communities of color,” the lawmakers wrote.
Ginnie Mae creates 40-year mortgage securitizations - Ginnie Mae is allowing lenders to securitize modified home loans with terms of up to 40 years as the Biden administration works to make more housing options available for struggling borrowers.The new pool type will allow Ginnie issuers to offer loan modifications that carry a lower monthly payment than a 30-year mortgage, while retaining the ability to securitize the loans for sale into the secondary market.Ginnie expects the new pools will be ready for use by October but their extended term modifications would still have to be authorized by the Federal Housing Administration and other agencies whose programs are the basis for the loans in Ginnie Mae pools.
Freddie Mac: Mortgage Serious Delinquency Rate decreased in May --Freddie Mac reported that the Single-Family serious delinquency rate in May was 2.01%, down from 2.15% in April. Freddie's rate is up year-over-year from 0.81% in May 2020. Freddie's serious delinquency rate peaked in February 2010 at 4.20% following the housing bubble, and peaked at 3.17% in August 2020 during the pandemic. 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 0.19%, down from 0.20% in April, and up more than double from 0.09% in May 2020.
MBA Survey: "Share of Mortgage Loans in Forbearance Decreases to 3.93%" --Note: This is as of June 13th. From the MBA: Share of Mortgage Loans in Forbearance Decreases to 3.93%: The Mortgage Bankers Association’s (MBA) latest Forbearance and Call Volume Survey revealed that the total number of loans now in forbearance decreased by 11 basis points from 4.04% of servicers’ portfolio volume in the prior week to 3.93% as of June 13, 2021. According to MBA’s estimate, 2 million homeowners are in forbearance plans.The share of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac loans in forbearance decreased 4 basis points to 2.05%. Ginnie Mae loans in forbearance decreased 7 basis points to 5.15%, while the forbearance share for portfolio loans and private-label securities (PLS) decreased 35 basis points to 7.98%. The percentage of loans in forbearance for independent mortgage bank (IMB) servicers decreased 16 basis points to 4.05%, and the percentage of loans in forbearance for depository servicers declined 3 basis points to 4.16%.“The share of loans in forbearance declined for the 16th straight week, with declines across almost every loan category,” “New forbearance requests, at 4 basis points, remained at an extremely low level.More than 44 percent of borrowers who exited this week used a deferral plan, highlighting the importance of this option.” The MBA notes: "Total weekly forbearance requests as a percent of servicing portfolio volume (#) remained the same relative to the prior week at 0.04%." Note: These deferral plans are very popular. Basically when the homeowner exits forbearance, they just go back to making their regular monthly payments, they are not charged interest on the missed payments, and the unpaid balanced is deferred until the end of the mortgage.
Black Knight: Number of Homeowners in COVID-19-Related Forbearance Plans Increased Slightly - Note: Both Black Knight and the MBA (Mortgage Bankers Association) are putting out weekly estimates of mortgages in forbearance. This data is as of June 22nd. From Andy Walden at Black Knight: Common, Marginal, Mid-Month Increase of Number of Forbearance Plans This Week In what’s become a common trend of marginal mid-month increases, the number of active forbearance plans ticked up slightly from last week.According to the weekly snapshot of Black Knight’s McDash Flash daily loan-level performance dataset, 2.06 million homeowners – representing 3.9% of mortgaged properties – remain in COVID-19 related forbearance plans.While the total number of plans rose by 1,000 since last Tuesday, the population is still down 6% from the same time last month. That’s as compared to last week’s 5.4% monthly rate of improvement.A 10,000 decline in the number of active GSE forbearance plans and a 7,000 drop in FHA/VA plans were both more than offset by a rise of 18,000 among portfolio and privately held mortgages.Meanwhile, starts edged lower this week and were 7% below their previous 4-week average. Likewise, removals hit their lowest level in five weeks and extension activity was down as well.That said, more than 300K plans are still scheduled for quarterly reviews between now and next Wednesday, which could lead to more exits. We should all be expecting more activity one way or another as we near the 4th of July.
Black Knight: National Mortgage Delinquency Rate Increased in May - Note: At the beginning of the pandemic, the delinquency rate increased sharply (see table below). Loans in forbearance are counted as delinquent in this survey, but those loans are not reported as delinquent to the credit bureaus. From Black Knight: Black Knight’s First Look at May 2021 Mortgage Data
• The national delinquency rate rose to 4.73% from 4.66% in April, driven largely by the three-day Memorial Day weekend foreshortening available payment windowsAccording to Black Knight's First Look report, the percent of loans delinquent increased 1.5% in May compared to April, and decreased 39% year-over-year. The percent of loans in the foreclosure process decreased 2.5% in May and were down 26% over the last year. Black Knight reported the U.S. mortgage delinquency rate (loans 30 or more days past due, but not in foreclosure) was 4.73% in May, up from 4.66% in April. The percent of loans in the foreclosure process decreased in May to 0.28%, from 0.29% in April. The number of delinquent properties, but not in foreclosure, is down 1,612,000 properties year-over-year, and the number of properties in the foreclosure process is down 52,000 properties year-over-year.
• Similar occurrences are rare; the last time was in May 2004, at which time mortgage delinquencies jumped by more than 15% in a single month; this month saw a 1.5% increase
• Early-stage delinquencies (those 30 or 60 days past due) rose by 110,200 in May, while serious delinquencies (90 or more days but not yet in foreclosure) improved for the ninth consecutive month
• Despite this improvement, nearly 1.7 million first-lien mortgages remain seriously delinquent, 1.26 million more than there were prior to the pandemic
• Foreclosure inventory hit yet another new record low as both moratoriums and borrower forbearance plan participation continue to limit activity, keeping foreclosure starts near record lows as well
• Mortgage prepayments fell to their lowest level in more than a year, driven by falling refinance activity as well as purchase-related headwinds
MBA: Mortgage Applications Increase in Latest Weekly Survey --From the MBA: Mortgage Applications Increase in Latest MBA Weekly Survey - Mortgage applications increased 2.1 percent from one week earlier, according to data from the Mortgage Bankers Association’s (MBA) Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey for the week ending June 18, 2021. ... The Refinance Index increased 3 percent from the previous week and was 9 percent lower than the same week one year ago. The seasonally adjusted Purchase Index increased 1 percent from one week earlier. The unadjusted Purchase Index decreased 1 percent compared with the previous week and was 14 percent lower than the same week one year ago. “Mortgage rates increased last week, with the 30-year fixed rate rising to 3.18 percent – the highest level in a month. Despite the jump in rates, refinances increased for the second consecutive week, pushed higher by a 4 percent bump in conventional refinance applications,” . “Purchase applications have regained an upward trend over the past few weeks. Activity was slightly higher for the third straight week, but remained lower than the same week a year ago. Government purchase applications drove most of last week’s increase, which also contributed to a slightly lower overall average purchase loan size.” … The average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages with conforming loan balances ($548,250 or less) increased to 3.18 percent from 3.11 percent, with points increasing to 0.48 from 0.36 (including the origination fee) for 80 percent loan-to-value ratio (LTV) loans. The first graph shows the refinance index since 1990. With low rates, the index remains elevated, and picked up this week as rates declined. The second graph shows the MBA mortgage purchase index.
Interest Rates and Home Prices - Kevin Erdmann - A couple of quick thoughts on recent home price appreciation. In graph 1, I estimate a national median gross rent/price yield from Zillow rent and price data. I compare it to the 30 year TIPS (real) interest rate (plus 8%). Certainly a case can be made that some of the recent price movement has been related to declining real long term yields. However, without more historical data, this doesn't tell us much. Two measures both moved in a certain direction over a period of time, and so it's easy to match them up on the y-axis. Here is a longer series with similar measures. Here, I estimate the national average gross rent/price level with total rent/total residential real estate value for owned homes. I also used the CPI rent inflation measure with the Case-Shiller national home price index, with a scaling constant as a second version of the estimate. Both estimates of rent/price yields follow similar trends.Here, I use a 30 year TIPS bond issued in 1998 and then in more recent years the general estimate for 30 year TIPS yields. Here I only added a 3% spread to the TIPS yields. Part of the difference is that the mean yield is lower than the median yield. (Price/rent is not the same across the market. It is systematically higher where rents and prices are higher.) Part of the difference is that we imposed a one-time shock on housing during the financial crisis, adding a 2-3% spread on housing yields compared to other assets, so the spread in the first graph from 2014 onward is much higher than it had been before.When I first started looking at these things years ago, I excused the pre-2006 price increases with this relationship. I still more or less stand by that. It isn't controversial to say that home prices are related to interest rates. In fact, I think it helps clarify the analysis to show that it is specifically real long-term rates that seem to correlate with housing yields. But, even in 2005, that doesn't tell the whole story. Rent/price yields are not uniform across cities. They decrease systematically where rents are high. Some of that might be attributed to expectations of future rent increases. Some of it might be attributed to lower cost of ownership where rent is a product of location rather than structures and services. In any event, before 2000, gross housing yields had been between 6-7% for some time, and after 2000 they continued to be in that range in most cities.. So, it may be that the correlation between 30 year TIPS and housing yields from 1998 to 2008 overstates the relationship. In most places the gross housing yield didn't decline as much as the 30 year real rate. Yet, even if one assumes that a 2% spread remains in place between long term real rates and housing yields, the recent drop in real interest rates is enough to support recent home price increases, even if the relationship is slight.
More on Interest Rates and Home Prices -Kevin Erdmann - Some follow-up thoughts on yesterday's post. There might be some more to think about regarding interest rate sensitivity and local supply constraints. I asserted yesterday that the decline in yields from 2000 to 2005 was concentrated among the more expensive cities, but that yields remained relatively stable in other cities during that time. One implication is that expensive cities may be more rate sensitive. I am unusually flummoxed by the patterns here for some reason. But, digging around some more, I think I have become less sure of my intuition about sensitivity to interest rates and about relative housing yields across metros.This first chart suggests the reason for expecting more yield volatility in expensive cities and possibly more sensitivity to interest rates. Clearly, over time, high rents have become an increasingly important factor in housing markets. Systematically, where rents are higher, gross yields are lower. And, where rents are low, yields seem to remain relatively stable over time. The relationship between rent levels and yields moves up and down through hot and cold markets. In other words, a bit counterintuitively, where rents rise, the rent/price ratio declines and becomes more volatile.Data from Zillow.com affordability measuresBut, when I look more closely at cyclical changes, I just don't see the pattern that this suggests there should be. During the 2000-2005 boom, the Closed Access cities and the Contagion cities experienced anomalous declines in gross yields. Long term interest rates also declined during that time, but I think the decline in yields in those markets was a result almost purely of these anomalies. In the Closed Access cities, the anomaly was mostly continued strong rent inflation, and in the Contagion cities, it was from short-term price surges having to do with big shifts in migration that stressed their local markets. Taking the Closed Access and Contagion cities out of the mix, in the rest of the country, if anything, housing in cities with higher yields was somewhat more sensitive to changing interest rates than housing in cities with lower yields. As housing has moved through the aftershocks of the boom and the crisis, this seems to continue to be the case. Once those anomalies from 2002-2006 worked their way out of the system, housing seems to be only somewhat sensitive to long term rates, and it is more sensitive to rates where housing is less expensive.Zillow has detailed rent data going back to 2014. Looking very broadly at the numbers up to 2014, gross rent/price was in the same range that it had been in the 1990s, and that this was more or less the case across MSAs. Over that time, 30 year TIPS rates had declined from about 3.5-4% to around 1%. One could suppose that this is because housing yields are not rate sensitive or because shifts to very tight lending had added a premium to housing yields, counteracting the change in TIPS rates.
NAR: Existing-Home Sales Decreased to 5.80 million in May --From the NAR: Existing-Home Sales Experience Slight Skid of 0.9% in May: Existing-home sales decreased for a fourth straight month in May, according to the National Association of Realtors®. Only one major U.S. region recorded a month-over-month increase, while the other three regions saw sales decline. However, each of the four areas again registered double-digit year-over-year gains.Total existing-home sales, completed transactions that include single-family homes, townhomes, condominiums and co-ops, dropped 0.9% from April to a seasonally-adjusted annual rate of 5.80 million in May. Sales in total climbed year-over-year, up 44.6% from a year ago (4.01 million in May 2020)....Total housing inventory at the end of May amounted to 1.23 million units, up 7.0% from April's inventory and down 20.6% from one year ago (1.55 million). Unsold inventory sits at a 2.5-month supply at the present sales pace, marginally up from April's 2.4-month supply but down from 4.6-months in May 2020.This graph shows existing home sales, on a Seasonally Adjusted Annual Rate (SAAR) basis since 1993.Sales in May (5.80 million SAAR) were down 0.9% from last month, and were 44.6% above the May 2020 sales rate.The second graph shows nationwide inventory for existing homes.According to the NAR, inventory increased to 1.23 million in May from 1.15 million in April. Headline inventory is not seasonally adjusted, and inventory usually decreases to the seasonal lows in December and January, and peaks in mid-to-late summer.The last graph shows the year-over-year (YoY) change in reported existing home inventory and months-of-supply. Since inventory is not seasonally adjusted, it really helps to look at the YoY change. Note: Months-of-supply is based on the seasonally adjusted sales and not seasonally adjusted inventory.Inventory was down 20.6% year-over-year in May compared to May 2020.Months of supply increased to 2.5 months in May from 2.4 months in April.This was slightly above the consensus forecast. .
Existing-Home Sales: Properties Typically Sold in 17 Days - This morning's release of the May Existing-Home Sales showed that sales fell to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.8 million units from the previous month's 5.85 million. The Investing.com consensus was for 5.72 million. The latest number represents a 0.9% decrease from the previous month and its fourth in a row.Here is an excerpt from today's report from the National Association of Realtors. Existing-home sales decreased for a fourth straight month in May, according to the National Association of Realtors®. Only one major U.S. region recorded a month-over-month increase, while the other three regions saw sales decline. However, each of the four areas again registered double-digit year-over-year gains.Total existing-home sales,1 https://www.nar.realtor/existing-home-sales, completed transactions that include single-family homes, townhomes, condominiums and co-ops, dropped 0.9% from April to a seasonally-adjusted annual rate of 5.80 million in May. Sales in total climbed year-over-year, up 44.6% from a year ago (4.01 million in May 2020)."Home sales fell moderately in May and are now approaching pre-pandemic activity," said Lawrence Yun, NAR's chief economist. "Lack of inventory continues to be the overwhelming factor holding back home sales, but falling affordability is simply squeezing some first-time buyers out of the market."The market's outlook, however, is encouraging," Yun continued. "Supply is expected to improve, which will give buyers more options and help tamp down record-high asking prices for existing homes." [Full Report]For a longer-term perspective, here is a snapshot of the data series, which comes from the National Association of Realtors. The data since January 1999 was previously available in the St. Louis Fed's FRED repository and is now only available for the last twelve months. Now let's examine the data with a simple population adjustment. The Census Bureau's mid-month population estimates show a 19.2% increase in the US population since the turn of the century. The snapshot below is an overlay of the NAR's annualized estimates with a population-adjusted version.
Comments on May Existing Home Sales – McBride - Earlier: NAR: Existing-Home Sales Decreased to 5.80 million in May A few key points: 1) Existing home sales are getting close to pre-pandemic levels. Although seasonally adjusted (SA) sales for May were the highest since 2006, sales Not Seasonally Adjusted (NSA) in May 2021 were below the sales for May in 2017, 2018 and 2019. Some of the increase over the previous ten months was probably related to record low mortgage rates, a move away from multi-family rentals, strong second home buying (to escape the high-density cities), a strong stock market and favorable demographics. Also, the delay in the 2020 buying season pushed the seasonally adjusted number to very high levels over the winter. This means there are going to be some difficult comparisons in the second half of 2021! 2) Inventory is very low, and was down 20.6% year-over-year (YoY) in May. Also, as housing economist Tom Lawler has noted, the local MLS data shows even a larger decline in active inventory (the NAR appears to include some pending sales in inventory). It seems likely that active inventory is down close to 50% year-over-year.Months-of-supply at 2.5 months is still very low, but above the record low of 1.9 months set in December 2020 and January 2021. Inventory will be important to watch in 2021, see: Some thoughts on Housing Inventory3) As usual, housing economist Tom Lawler's forecast was closer to the NAR report than the Consensus. The NAR reported 5.80 million SAAR, Lawler estimated the NAR would report 5.78 million SAAR, and the consensus was 5.72 million SAAR.This graph shows existing home sales by month for 2020 and 2021.The year-over-year comparison will be easy in June, and then difficult in the second half of the year. The second graph shows existing home sales for each month, Not Seasonally Adjusted (NSA), since 2005.Sales NSA in May (528,000) were 41.9% above sales in May 2020 (372,000).Although sales were up sharply from May 2020, this was below the sales NSA for May in 2017, 2018 and 2019.
New Home Sales Decrease to 769,000 Annual Rate in May --The Census Bureau reports New Home Sales in May were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate (SAAR) of 769 thousand. The previous three months were revised down sharply, combined. Sales of new single‐family houses in May 2021 were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 769,000, according to estimates released jointly today by the U.S. Census Bureau and the Department of Housing and Urban Development. This is 5.9 percent below the revised April rate of 817,000, but is 9.2 percent above the May 2020 estimate of 704,000.The first graph shows New Home Sales vs. recessions since 1963. The dashed line is the current sales rate.This was the highest sales rate for May since 2007.The second graph shows New Home Months of Supply.The months of supply increased in May to 5.1 months from 4.6 months in April.The all time record high was 12.1 months of supply in January 2009. The all time record low was 3.5 months, most recently in October 2020.This is in the normal range (about 4 to 6 months supply is normal). "The seasonally‐adjusted estimate of new houses for sale at the end of May was 330,000. This represents a supply of 5.1 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 just above the record low, but the combined total of completed and under construction is close to normal.The last graph shows sales NSA (monthly sales, not seasonally adjusted annual rate).In May 2021 (red column), 69 thousand new homes were sold (NSA). Last year, 64 thousand homes were sold in May.The all time high for May was 120 thousand in 2005, and the all time low for May was 26 thousand in 2010.This was well below expectations, and sales in the three previous months were revised down sharply, combined.
US New Home Sales Unexpectedly Plunged In May To Lowest In A Year --Following yesterday's slightly better than expected existing home sales (which was still a 4th straight monthly decline), analysts expected May new home sales to rebound very modestly from the 5.9% plunge in April... they were wildly wrong! New home sales plunged 5.9% MoM in May and April's crash was revised even lower (-7.8% MoM)... Graphics Source: Bloomberg This unexpected drop pushed the SAAR sales print to 769k (against expectations of 865k) - the lowest since May 2020 The median new home price is up 18.1% YoY to $374,400 (average selling price at $430,600) and is being blamed for the drop in sales as affordability collapses.None of this should come as a surprise given the total collapse in homebuyer sentiment (and when did homebuilder sentiment actually count for anything?)...With The Fed 'talking about, talking about' tapering and raising rates (at some point in the future), mortgage rates are already starting to rise...
A few Comments on May New Home Sales – McBride- New home sales for May were reported at 769,000 on a seasonally adjusted annual rate basis (SAAR). Sales for the previous three months were revised down significantly. This was well below consensus expectations for May, but still the highest sales rate for May since 2007. However, sales were in line with home builder about "limiting sales" in April and May mostly due to high material costs.Still, sales have been strong for the last year. Clearly low mortgages rates, low existing home supply, and favorable demographics have boosted sales. A surging stock market has probably helped new home sales too. Earlier: New Home Sales Decrease to 769,000 Annual Rate in May.This graph shows new home sales for 2020 and 2021 by month (Seasonally Adjusted Annual Rate).The year-over-year comparisons were easy in the first half of 2021 - especially in March and April. However, sales will likely be down year-over-year in the 2nd half of 2021 (maybe June) - since the selling season was delayed in 2020.And on inventory: note that completed inventory (3rd graph in previous post) is near record lows, but inventory under construction is closer to normal.This graph shows the months of supply by stage of construction.The inventory of completed homes for sale was at 36 thousand in May, just above the record low of 33 thousand in April 2021. That is about 0.6 months of completed supply (just above the record low).The inventory of new homes under construction, and not started, is at 4.6 months - a normal level.
New home sales edition: the remedy for high prices is . . . high prices --New home sales confirmed this morning what we learned from existing home sales yesterday, and from housing permits and starts earlier in the month: in terms of new construction and sales, the housing market has peaked.To the numbers.... New single family home sales declined -48,000 on a seasonally adjusted basis to 769,000 annually, the lowest level in 11 months (blue in the graph below):New home sales have declined by nearly 1/4 (-22.6% to be more precise) off their January peak. They thus confirm the decline shown in the much less noisy single family permits series (red).Median sales prices, however, continue to boom, up 18.1% YoY (blue) vs. 23.6% for existing homes (red):Comparing sales with inventory (gold in the graph below), we can see that sales peak and bottom first (shown YoY in the graph below, but the same is true of the absolute values):Inventory of new homes for sale bottomed last August and is now up 7.1% YoY. As I said yesterday, the remedy for high prices is . . . high prices. I expect sales to continue to decline until the price situation is addressed.
Homebuilder Comments in Mid-June: "Interest lists are shrinking slightly, Traffic down" --Some twitter comments from Rick Palacios Jr., Director of Research at John Burns Real Estate Consulting:
Here's a housing Thread to chew on over weekend. Mid-June update from 100+home builders across country. 1) rumblings of price ceiling. 2) slightly shrinking pool of qualified buyers. 3) some home releases not selling out immediately. 4) normal summer slowing as vacations take priority.
#Austin builder: “Some interest lists are shrinking & others are not. Seeing buyers who are no longer able or willing to afford the monthly payment. Definitely seeing attrition here. Frustration that prices continued going up without an opportunity to purchase.”
#Houston builder: “Interest lists are shrinking slightly. Likely just too much price pressure. It's out of hand. Some buyers are unable or unwilling to afford the monthly payments now, but only what we see from the slight decrease in contracts. Price shock is certainly a factor.”
#WestPalmBeach builder: “Traffic slowed. Not sure yet if market slowing or fact that we don’t have anything to sell. Probably bit of both. Takes more than a day or two to sell a unit. It was selling same day as release before, now pricing high enough that some people saying no.”
#Chicago builder: “Traffic slowed, ~50% of where it was in Q1 and beginning of Q2. Feels like seasonality, not sure. Last raised prices 1st week of June after 3 increases in May. Plan is to try & maintain from here. Felt some pushback & hesitancy.”
#Cleveland builder: “Traffic has slowed. Many people now taking vacations for first time in a long time. People pushing back from massive price increases we’ve had.”
#Indianapolis builder: “Traffic down somewhat from May, which was already down from prior months. Quality still good. Seeing some resistance overall to higher prices. Sales in June lightest we’ve seen in almost a year. Part of that is having no spec inventory available.”
#Phoenix builder: “Traffic down. Could be due to seasonality, locations opening up, & people getting early starts to summer. Sales paces could be higher if we let them & continuing to push prices. Last week we received price increases from 6 different trades.”
#LasVegas builder: “Traffic still busy, no real drop. Sales still super healthy, although it seems going deeper into priority lists to sell on the higher end (some people have either taken themselves out of the market or have purchased elsewhere). Prices still rising.” END
Lumber Prices - Menzie Chinn - A wild ride for futures means… Source: barchart.com, accessed 22 June 21. Do lumber prices (as measured by the PPI) move as predicted by the nearby month futures? Here’s a plot. Figure 1: PPI for lumber and softwood (blue, left scale), and nearby month futures, lagged one month (brown, right scale). Source: BLS via FRED, and ino.com.A one percent futures basis does not necessarily imply a one percent decline in lumber prices (as would be implied in a risk-neutral efficient markets setting). Mehrotra and Carter (2017) find that over the 1995-2013 period, at two months horizon, a one percentage point basis implies a 0.55 percentage point decline. If spot and futures prices move in tandem, this implies about a 7% decline in the June PPI, and around 20% decline in the July, bringing the lumber PPI back to around where it was in April. At least, that’s what the futures are signalling.
Household Debt And Credit Report: Up $85B in Q1 2021 --Household debt increased by $85B (0.6%) to $14.64 trillion in Q1 2021. There were increases in mortgage balances, auto, and student loans, while credit card balances declined. The Federal Reserve Bank of New York's Center for Microeconomic Data today issued its Quarterly Report on Household Debt and Credit . The report shows that total household debt increased by $85 billion (0.6%) to $14.64 trillion in the first quarter of 2021. The total debt balance is now $344 billion higher than the year prior. While mortgage, auto loan, and student loan balances have continued to increase, credit card balances have substantially decreased. The Report is based on data from the New York Fed's Consumer Credit Panel, a nationally representative random sample of individual- and household-level debt and credit records drawn from anonymized Equifax credit data.Read more As a result of the housing and mortgage crisis of the Great Recession, economists have been paying more attention to the liabilities portion of household balance sheets. Among the New York Federal Reserve Board's many economic reports is the Household Debt and Credit report, which is released quarterly with data going back to 2003. Data is collected through the NY Fed's Consumer Credit Panel which is constructed from a nationally representative random sample of Equifax credit report data resulting in a sample size of over 40 million individuals quarterly. Here is some background on the report from the NY Fed: The large increases in consumer debt and defaults—of mortgage debt in particular—during the Great Recession highlighted the importance of understanding the liabilities reflected on household balance sheets. To that end, one of the CMD’s large data collection projects is the New York Fed Consumer Credit Panel, which is constructed from a nationally representative random sample of Equifax credit report data. Analysis of this data set is regularly reported in the CMD’s Quarterly Report on Household Debt and Credit. The data set can be used to calculate national and regional aggregate measures of individual- and household-level credit balances, and delinquencies by product type. The Consumer Credit Panel also provides new insights into the extent and nature of heterogeneity of debt and delinquencies across individuals and households. The chart below shows the total debt balance nationwide by composition in trillions of dollars. The current total is $14.64T, well exceeding the 2008 peak.
AIA: "Architecture billings continue historic rebound" in May - Note: This index is a leading indicator primarily for new Commercial Real Estate (CRE) investment. From the AIA: Architecture billings continue historic rebound: Demand for design services from U.S. architecture firms continues to grow at a vigorous pace, according to a new report today from The American Institute of Architects (AIA).AIA’s Architecture Billings Index (ABI) score for May rose to 58.5 compared to 57.9 in April (any score above 50 indicates an increase in billings). May’s ABI score is one of the highest in the index’s 25-year history. During May, the new design contracts score reached its second consecutive record high with a score of 63.2, while new project inquiries also recorded a near-record high score at 69.2.“Despite ballooning costs for construction materials and delivery delays, design activity is roaring back as more and more places reopen,” said AIA Chief Economist Kermit Baker, Hon. AIA, PhD. “However, concern over rising inflation and ongoing supply chain disruptions, as well as emerging labor shortages, could dampen the emerging construction recovery.”...
• Regional averages: Midwest (63.4); South (59.0); West (57.4); Northeast (54.2)
• Sector index breakdown: commercial/industrial (60.6); multi-family residential (59.5); mixed practice (57.9); institutional (57.1)
This graph shows the Architecture Billings Index since 1996. The index was at 58.5 in May, up from 57.9 in April. Anything above 50 indicates expansion in demand for architects' services.Note: This includes commercial and industrial facilities like hotels and office buildings, multi-family residential, as well as schools, hospitals and other institutions.This index had been below 50 for eleven consecutive months, but has been solidly positive for the last foure months. The eleven months of decline represented a significant decrease in design services, and suggests a decline in CRE investment through most of 2021 (This usually leads CRE investment by 9 to 12 months), however we might see a pickup in CRE investment towards the end of the 2021 and into 2022.
Hotels: Occupancy Rate Down 10% Compared to Same Week in 2019 - Note: The year-over-year occupancy comparisons are easy, since occupancy declined sharply at the onset of the pandemic. So STR is comparing to the same week in 2019. The occupancy rate is down 9.9% compared to the same week in 2019. Leisure (weekend) occupancy has recovered, but weekday (more business) is still down double digits. From CoStar: STR: US Hotel Occupancy Reaches Highest Level in More Than 19 Weeks: U.S. weekly hotel occupancy hit its highest level in 85 weeks, according to STR‘s latest data through June 19. June 13-19, 2021 (percentage change from comparable week in 2019*):
• Occupancy: 68.0% (-9.9%)
• Average daily rate (ADR): US$128.90 (-4.4%)
• Revenue per available room (RevPAR): US$87.62 (-13.8%)
In addition to occupancy reaching its highest point since the week ending November 9, 2019, ADR and RevPAR were pandemic-era highs.
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, dashed purple is 2019, and dashed light blue is for 2009 (the worst year on record for hotels prior to 2020). Occupancy is now above the horrible 2009 levels and weekend occupancy (leisure) has been solid. With solid leisure travel, the next two months should have decent occupancy - but it is uncertain what will happen in the Fall with business travel.
Personal Income decreased 2.0% in May, Spending increased Slightly --The BEA released the Personal Income and Outlays report for May: Personal income decreased $414.3 billion (2.0 percent) in May according to estimates released today by the Bureau of Economic Analysis. Disposable personal income (DPI) decreased $436.3 billion (2.3 percent) and personal consumption expenditures (PCE) increased $2.9 billion (less than 0.1 percent). Real DPI decreased 2.8 percent in May and Real PCE decreased 0.4 percent; goods decreased 2.0 percent and services increased 0.4 percent. The PCE price index increased 0.4 percent. Excluding food and energy, the PCE price index increased 0.5 percent.The May PCE price index increased 3.9 percent year-over-year and the May PCE price index, excluding food and energy, increased 3.4 percent year-over-year.The following graph shows real Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) through May 2021 (2012 dollars). The dashed red lines are the quarterly levels for real PCE.Personal income was above expectations, and the increase in PCE was below expectations.Using the two-month method to estimate Q2 PCE growth, PCE was increasing at a 16.2% annual rate in Q2 2021. (using the mid-month method, PCE was increasing at 18.2%). However, this reflects the impact of the American Rescue Plan in April and May, and overall Q2 growth will be lower than those estimates.
Real Personal Income less Transfer Payments Above Previous Peak -- Government transfer payments decreased in May compared to April, but were still almost $1.0 trillion (on SAAR basis) above the February 2020 level (pre-pandemic) Note: Seasonal adjustment doesn't make sense with one time payments, but that is how the data is presented. Most of the increase in transfer payments - compared to the levels prior to the crisis - is from unemployment insurance and "other" (includes direct payments). This table shows the amount of unemployment insurance and "Other" transfer payments since February 2020 (pre-crisis level). The increase in "Other" was mostly due to parts of the relief acts including direct payments. There was a large increase in "Other" in March due to the American Rescue Plan Act.Note: Not in the table below, but Social Security payments haven't increased significantly since the pre-recession levels (from $1,065 billion SAAR in Jan 2020 to $1,111 billion SAAR in May 2021).A key measure of the health of the economy (Used by NBER in recession dating) is Real Personal Income less Transfer payments. This graph shows real personal income less transfer payments since 1990.This measure of economic activity increased 0.4% in May, compared to April, and was up 0.8% compared to February 2020 (previous peak).This is the first of the key NBER measures - GDP, Employment, Industrial Production, Real Personal Income less Transfer Payments - that is above pre-recession levels. GDP will be above pre-recession levels in Q2.
Real Disposable Income Per Capita in May Down 2.3% MoM - With the release of this morning's report on May's Personal Incomes and Outlays, we can now take a closer look at "Real" Disposable Personal Income Per Capita. At two decimal places, the nominal -2.34% month-over-month change in disposable income is cut to -2.77% when we adjust for inflation. This is an increase from last month's -14.62% nominal and -15.16% real increases. The year-over-year metrics are 1.10% nominal and -2.72% 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 COVID pandemic stimulus measures, major spikes can be seen in April 2020, January 2021 (a December 2020 payment), and March 2021.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 COVID 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. Do you recall what you were doing on New Year's Eve at the turn of the millennium? Nominal disposable income is up 117% since then. But the real purchasing power of those dollars is up 46.5%.
Weekly Gasoline Prices: WTIC Up 54% Since January --As of June 21, the price of Regular and Premium was down a penny and unchanged, respectively, from the previous week. According to GasBuddy.com, California has the highest average price for Regular at $4.23 and Louisiana has the cheapest at $2.70. The WTIC end-of-day spot price closed at 73.12, up 3.2% from last week and up 54% from the beginning of the year. How far are we from the interim high prices of 2011 and the all-time highs of 2008? Here's a visual answer. The next chart is a monthly chart overlay of West Texas Light Crude, Brent Crude, and unleaded gasoline end-of-day spot prices (GASO) through June 21. In this monthly chart, the WTIC end-of-day spot price closed at 73.12, up 3.2% from last week and up 54% from the beginning of the year.
June Vehicle Sales Forecast: Supply Issues Pull Down Sales Again - From WardsAuto: Withering Supply Dragging Down U.S. Light-Vehicle Sales Second Straight Month in June(pay content) This graph shows actual sales from the BEA (Blue), and Wards forecast for June (Red). The Wards forecast of 15.8 million SAAR, would be down 7% from last month, and up 21% from a year ago (sales collapsed at beginning of pandemic).
1 month, 1 million-plus containers at Port of LA - a record -- The Port of Los Angeles announced Tuesday that it had earned the distinction as the first port in the Western Hemisphere to handle more than 1 million twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) in a single month.May was the busiest month in the 114-year history of the United States’ busiest port. The Port of LA moved a total of 1,012,248 TEUs, up 74% from May 2020, when COVID-19 had stalled global trade. The Port of Long Beach and South Carolina Ports Authority last week also reported record Mays. And the Georgia Ports Authority announced it had had 10 consecutive months of growth and turned in its second-busiest month ever. One “most” figure that sticks out in the Port of LA’s May numbers: “Empty containers climbed to 366,448 TEUs, a jump of 114% compared to last year due to the heavy demand in Asia. It was the most empties ever processed in a month at the port,” Tuesday’s announcement said. At the neighboring Port of Long Beach, the volume of empty containers in May was up 80.7% year-over-year to 327,135 TEUs.The Port of LA also handled the most imports ever in a single month in May. Loaded imports, up 75% year-over-year, totaled 535,714 TEUs, surpassing the August 2020 record of 516,286 TEUs. May loaded exports, which have been running flat, were up 5.3% year-over-year to 109,886 TEUs.
U.S. durable goods orders rise 2.3% in May - — Orders to U.S. factories for big-ticket manufactured goods rose for the 12th time in the last 13 months in May, pulled up by surgin demand for civilian aircraft.The Commerce Department said Thursday that orders for durable goods — meant to last at least three years — climbed 2.3% in May, reversing a 0.8% drop in April and coming despite a backlogged supply chain and a shortage of workers. Orders for aircraft shot up 27.4% last month after climbing 31.5% in April. Excluding transportation orders — which can bounce wildly from month to month — durable goods orders rose 0.3% last month, down from a 1.7% gain in April.A category that tracks business investment — orders for nondefense capital goods excluding aircraft — dipped 0.1% in May after rising 2.7% in April.American industry is thriving despite problems with backlogged supply chains and a shortage of workers. The Federal Reserve reported earlier this month that factory production climbed 0.9% on surging output of cars, trucks and auto parts. The Institute for Supply Management, an association of purchasing managers, said that its manufacturing index signalled that factories were growing in May for the 12th straight month.
Richmond Fed Manufacturing: Strength in May - Fifth District manufacturing activity showed continued growth in May, according to the most recent survey from the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond. The composite index rose to 18 from 17 in April 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: Fifth District manufacturing activity strengthened in May, according to the most recent survey from the Richmond Fed. The composite index inched up from 17 in April to 18 in May, as all three component indexes—shipments, new orders, and employment—reflected growth. A majority of firms reported lengthening vendor lead times, as this index reached a record high, along with the backlog of orders index. Meanwhile, the index for raw materials inventories reached a record low. Overall, manufacturers reported improved business conditions. Link to Report Here is a somewhat closer look at the index since the turn of the century.
Kansas City Fed Survey: Activity Remained Strong in June - The latest index came in at 27, up 1 from last month's 26, indicating expansion in June. The future outlook increased to 37 this month from 33. 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:Tenth District manufacturing activity remained strong, and expectations for future activity increased to a survey record high (Chart 1, Tables 1 & 2). The index of prices paid for raw materials and prices received for finished goods compared with a month ago remained very high. Price indexes vs. a year ago posted record highs again in June. Moving forward, district firms expected materials prices and finished goods prices to continue to increase over the next six months. [Full report here] Here is a snapshot of the complete Kansas City Fed Manufacturing Survey. The next chart is an overlay of the general and future outlook indexes — the outlook six months ahead. Future factory indexes increased to 37.
US Services Sector Unexpectedly Plunges In June As Manufacturing Survey Hits Record HighDespite the serial disappointment in hard economic data, 'soft' survey data has continued to soar in 2021 but analysts expected today's Markit PMIs to retrace some of those gains. However, reality was notably different with Manufacturing jumping more than expected as Services plunged...
- Markit US Manufacturing rose to 62.6 (from 62.1) beating expectations of 61.5.
- Markit US Services plunged to 64.8 (from 70.4) hugely missing expectations of 70.0
That is the lowest reading since March for Services and highest reading ever for Manufacturing.Employment issues remained prevalent during June, as numerous panellists mentioned difficulties finding suitably trained candidates for current vacancies.Price pressures also remained elevated in June. The rate of input price inflation softened slightly but was the second-fastest on record. Manufacturers continued to note rapid increases in raw material and fuel costs, whilst service providers highlighted higher wage bills to attract workers plus greater transportation fees and fuel costs.US continues to be the world's "strongest" economy based on these soft surveys, even as the US Composite PMI dropped to 63.9...
Weekly Initial Unemployment Claims decrease to 411,000 --The DOL reported: In the week ending June 19, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 411,000, a decrease of 7,000 from the previous week's revised level. The previous week's level was revised up by 6,000 from 412,000 to 418,000. The 4-week moving average was 397,750, an increase of 1,500 from the previous week's revised average. The previous week's average was revised up by 1,250 from 395,000 to 396,250. This does not include the 104,682 initial claims for Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) that was up from 97,762 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 397,750 The previous week was revised up.Regular state continued claims decreased to 3,390,000 (SA) from 3,534,000 (SA) the previous week.Note: There are an additional 5,950,167 receiving Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) that decreased from 6,125,524 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. And an additional 5,273,180 receiving Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation (PEUC) up from 5,165,249.Weekly claims were higher than the consensus forecast.
"I'm Not Going Back To Work": Indiana Residents Sue After Governor Nixes Unemployment Benefits - A group of Indiana residents have filed a lawsuit against state officials, challenging the state's decision to end federal unemployment benefits by the end of the week.The lawsuit, filed last Monday, seeks to preserve what was supposed to be temporary pandemic safety net of $300 per week on top of other state or federal benefits, after indiana Gov. Eric Holcomb announced last month that the state would pull out of the federal program before it's official September end date in order to motivate unemployed people to help fill the state's more than 116,000 open jobs.Holcomb is joined by around two dozen mostly red states."It's not black and white," said Sharon Singer-Mann in a statement to IndyStar. "Everybody's story is not the same. I'm not going back to work, not at the risk of my son's life.""We'll have to decide which utility bill to pay, which household items to let go of," she added (despite the 116,000 open jobs), "... We'll have to change what kind of shampoo we use, what kind of toilet paper we use."Without the federal pandemic unemployment benefits, many Indiana residents, like Singer-Mann, say they would have had to choose between finding a job and taking care of their children, face evictions, forgo medical care and grapple with devastating financial setbacks that could derail their lives. Those stories from residents are outlined in a lawsuit filed against Indiana state officials Monday in Marion County Superior Court challenging the state's decision to end federal benefits by the end of this week. -IndyStar
The Bullshit Economy: How Amazon Sidewalk Steals Your Bandwidth - Imagine you could connect into your neighbor’s electrical power such that doing so would enable you to power electrical devices that might not be in a convenient location for an outlet from your home. Now imagine your home abuts your neighbors’ backyard such that it’s more convenient for them to plug in their hot tub to your home than it is to their own. This would cost you more in electricity bills. Amazon Sidewalk is a new feature that enables Amazon devices like Rings and Echos to perform a similar function, but instead with neighboring wifi networks. Sidewalk empowers these devices to connect to other Sidewalk-enabled hardware at long ranges using nearby wifi and bluetooth signals. Just as the hot tub works further away from your neighbor’s home by plugging into yours, the point of Sidewalk is to extend the distance at which the devices work by plugging into nearby wifi networks away from the ‘home’ network. Amazon, in its unceasing quest to widen its margins at the expense of its customers, plans to enhance its devices by allowing them to piggyback off of neighboring networks. If your neighbor has 5 Echos at the periphery of their property, it’s possible Amazon’s taking five tiny slivers of your broadband bandwidth, which you pay for. With Sidewalk, Amazon discovered a new way to pass its costs onto consumers, bypassing government entirely and disintermediating the costs of product enhancements into hardware and wifi networks. The feature opens up a brand new front on the way corporations can pass their costs onto unwitting consumers to not absorb them directly. It’s not new information that Amazon, and dozens of other corporations, find ways to discreetly pass their costs along to the public. For instance, Amazon pays many of their workers such low wages that thousands are forced to rely on government assistance to survive. Taxpayers subsidize these corporations’ ability to pay their employees sub-subsistence wages, widening margins. Compared to some of the more arcane methods of boosting bottom lines like offshore tax havens and transfer pricing, the method feels quaint to the point of being offensive. Pay just enough to be on the right side of the law, and let the government–and the taxpayers who fund it–pick up the rest of the tab. With Sidewalk, Amazon’s product enhancements are subsidized by the public’s wifi bills. If Amazon can do this, so can virtually any company with wifi-enabled devices that can be made mobile–Tile, Apple, Samsung and various types of auto manufacturers, to name a few. Although the current roster of Amazon devices using Sidewalk only require a small amount of wifi to improve their range, it’s not inconceivable that those devices could also increase their capability for streaming and delivering information and therefore increase the amount of bandwidth they require to operate at a distance. It’s doubly infuriating when taken into account many of the streaming services run through these devices are supported by advertising revenue. Someone streaming on YouTube or Spotify on an Echo that’s using nearby wifi means that not only is Amazon using that wifi to make money, so too is the streaming service. A twofer at an unwitting neighbor’s expense
Baltimore police chief calls for more 'boots on the ground' to handle crime wave --Baltimore Police Commissioner Michael Harrison said Tuesday that he would like to see more “boots on the ground” and additional funding for his department amid a surge in violent crime in cities across the country. During an interview with CNN’s Jake Tapper, Harrison noted that Baltimore like other big cities is seeing a spike in violence, with the Maryland city recording 18 homicides in the past 10 days alone. The police chief said this has resulted from a “number of issues,” like gang violence and “retaliation from previous bad acts,” but that the city has seen a particular increase in “close acquaintance shootings and domestic violence shootings.” Harrison, who said his department is roughly 230 officers short of its current budget, argued that his department is in severe need of more officers for “not just law enforcement,” but also to “build those relationships because we need the community’s help in helping us solve these murders so we can hold these bad actors accountable for terrorizing our community.” His remarks come ahead of President Biden’s planned Wednesday address to discuss rising crime in U.S. cities over the last 18 months. He is also expected to unveil a comprehensive crime reduction strategy.
Guardian Angels founder Curtis Sliwa wins GOP primary in NYC mayor's race Guardian Angels founder Curtis Sliwa won the GOP mayoral primary in New York City on Tuesday, though he faces low odds of winning November’s general election.Sliwa was declared the winner over restaurateur Fernando Mateo with an over 40-point lead with nearly 70 percent of votes tallied. Both candidates waged bitter campaigns centered around support for law enforcement amid a rise in violent crime in the city. Sliwa, who founded a group of volunteer crime fighters without any legal authorization, cast himself as uniquely qualified to reverse the spike and said he would hire 3,000 more police officers. Sliwa, also a radio host, won the endorsement of Rudy Giuliani, a personal lawyer for former President Trump who was elected New York City’s mayor as a Republican in 1993.
How the US lets hot school days sabotage learning - Human bodies react swiftly when they overheat.Blood rushes to the skin, trying to find cool air. Sweat seeps out of the skin and evaporates, dissipating body heat. But these processes have a cost: they reduce blood circulation, which means our most important organ, the brain, gets less blood.“And with reduced brain blood flow, we have reduced brain function,” said Tony Wolf, a researcher at Penn State University who studies how the body reacts to heat.In short, heat can lower our cognition.But it doesn’t take a PhD to know this. Just ask middle school students.Researchers have long known about heat’s profound impact on the human body – and found a pretty effective way to combat it: air conditioning. But nearly a century later a huge portion of American classrooms are still sweltering hot and don’t have air conditioning. And new research is showing that the ramifications are devastating: the more hot school days there are, the less students learn – and the effect is noticeably worse for students of color. “It’s another form of the same message: ‘We’re not investing in you,’” said Shelley Goulder, who teaches in rooms without air conditioning in the Oakland public school districtResearchers have found that our cognition really starts to suffer at about 80F (27C). So first we need to find out how many school days exceed 80F in your district.Look up your school using the search function below:Since you didn't select a district, we'll focus on Baltimore City Public Schools. As you can see below, Baltimore City Public Schools has varying numbers of hot school days from year to year – some years more, some years less. A team of researchers – R. Jisung Park, Joshua Goodman and A. Patrick Behrer – found that, in school years with more hot school days, students tend to do worse on state standardized exams at the end of that school year, when they’re tested on the material they learned.And it was specifically hot school days that mattered. Hot weekends or summer days had no effect on the scores.
Ohio Senate passes bill overhauling school report card from A through F grades to star system - cleveland.com – What started out as a bill that would allow parents of high schoolers to opt out of the ACT and SAT college admissions test emerged from the Ohio Senate on Wednesday as legislation that would also replace the A to F report card grades for schools and districts with a new star performance rating system.House Bill 82 passed the Senate 31 to 1.The bill now heads back to the House, which will consider the Senate’s changes to the bill.Few people like the school report card system in its current form, and there have been different bills in the Ohio House and Senate to change it. HB 82 is a compromise of Republican-sponsored House Bill 200 and Senate Bill 145, with input from education groups.Under HB 82, Ohio students would still be tested on the same content - such as math and English language arts. But how the tests are graded would be different, and the letter grades would end.Under the proposed system, the Ohio Department of Education must assign schools and districts a performance rating of “one star” to “five stars” for five areas that it currently uses to rate a school, such as overall achievement on the tests, graduation rates and early literacy.Next to the stars will be up, down and straight arrows showing whether the school or district has improved, declined or stayed the same in each of the six areas compared to the previous report card.“This will be, according to all parties, a vast improvement over the current report card system, which will be more reflective of what is going on in our schools,” said Sen. Andrew Brenner, a Columbus-area Republican who helped lead the compromise.A low grade on a report card can label a school as “failing,” and that can be a sting, Brenner said.Brenner said that if the bill passes the House and is signed by Gov. Mike DeWine, the new system will go into effect in the 2021-2022 school year, based on standardized tests from this year. School report cards usually come out around Sept. 15.However, the legislature had passed a bill earlier this year that states school districts will not be held accountable next year for standardized test results, which lawmakers expect may be lower than in normal years due to remote learning and other interruptions during the pandemic. That means that report cards will have stars and arrows, but districts won’t be held accountable for them until the 2022-2023 school year.
The pandemic affected mental health and college plans for U.S. high schoolers. Nearly 80 percent of American high school juniors and seniors say the coronavirus pandemic has affected their plans after graduation, and 72 percent of 13- to 19-year-olds have struggled with their mental health, a new survey shows.The survey, conducted by America’s Promise Alliance, a nonprofit group, found that 58 percent of teenagers reported learning entirely or mostly online in the 2020-21 school year, and 22 percent said that they had learned about half online and half in person. Nineteen percent said they had learned mostly through in-person instruction.The results are from a nationally representative survey of 2,400 high school students conducted in March and April.Among those who said the pandemic had affected their plans after high school, one-third said they would attend college closer to home; one-quarter said they would attend a two-year college instead of a four-year institution; 17 percent said they would attend college remotely rather than in person; and 16 percent said they would put off attending college. Seven percent said they were no longer planning to attend college.Nearly half the respondents who changed their plans said they were doing so because of financial pressure, suggesting that the pandemic will probably widen educational inequalities among young adults.Given the extraordinary swell of racial-justice activism over the past year, the survey also asked students about how their schools had handled race issues. Two-thirds reported that “the history of racism” had been taught at their schools. But A sian, Black, Latino and multiracial students were less likely than white students to say that the curriculum represented their own “racial and ethnic background.”
Supreme Court Rules 9-0 Against NCAA, Opening Door to Further Antitrust Challenges of Student-Athlete Compensation Bans -The United States Supreme Court unanimously ruled Monday that the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) cannot prohibit its member schools from providing athletes with certain forms of education-related benefits, including paid post-graduate internships, graduate school scholarships, or free laptops or musical instruments.The Supreme Court has now weighed in on the issue, joining the Biden administration, and Congress, which are mulling what approach to take to the vexed question of compensation for student-athletes in the billion-dollar college sports marketplace. As I wrote in March in Sports Desk: DoJ Files Amicus Brief in Support of College Athletes, While Congress Mulls Giving Them Rights to Their Names, Images, and Likenesses:The basic problem with big time college sports- at least for the two main money-generating sports of basketball and (American) football: the system is awash in money. And many of those involved – colleges, coaches, athletic departments, television networks – get their cuts.All that is, but the athletes, who risk injury by participating in college sports, not to mention, devote considerable time to so doing, often to the detriment of their studies.States have spearheaded action on this issue, which beginning with California, have passed statutes that allow student-atheletes to benefit from use of their names, images, and likenesses (see my November 2019 post,NCAA Votes to Allow College Athletes to Benefit from the Use of Their Names, Images, and Likenesses). As I wrote in that piece, the NCAA appeared to bend to pressure to allow student-athletes to profit more widely, but as the NYT recognized on Monday inSupreme Court Backs Payments to Student-Athletes in N.C.A.A. Case, the organization hasn’t actually made good on those promises: Next week, student-athletes in at least six states are poised to be allowed to make money off their personal fame — not because of action by the N.C.A.A., but because of state officials who grew tired of the industry’s decades-long efforts to limit the rights of players.The N.C.A.A.’s response to the pressure routinely rising out of statehouses since 2019 has been, in effect, to stall. Less than two weeks before some of the new laws are scheduled to take effect in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Mississippi, New Mexico and Texas and allow athletes to make endorsements and monetize their social media presences, the N.C.A.A. has not agreed to extend similar rights to players nationwide. And in a setback last week for the association, senior members of Congress said that they did not expect to strike a deal for a federal standard before July 1. A powerful N.C.A.A. panel is scheduled to meet this week to discuss how players could profit off their renown, but it is not clear when members will vote, particularly in the wake of Monday’s ruling.
Medicaid enrollment jumped during the pandemic, a new report says. - Medicaid enrollment rose sharply during the coronavirus pandemic, with nearly 10 million Americans joining the public health coverage program for the poor through January, agovernment report released Monday shows.Eighty million people — more than ever before in the program’s history — now carry Medicaid coverage, for which states and the federal government share the cost. The new figures demonstrate the program’s increasingly important role not just as a safety net, but as a pillar of American health coverage, with fully a quarter of the population covered under it.“The purpose of Medicaid is for times like this, when there is an economic downturn” said Peggah Khorrami, a researcher with Harvard Chan T.H. School of Public Health, who has studied the program’s enrollment increases during the pandemic. “As people are losing jobs, that’s where Medicaid comes in and we get people insured that way.”The Affordable Care Act transformed Medicaid from a targeted health care benefit meant to help certain groups of people — expectant mothers, for example, and those with disabilities — to a much wider program that provides largely free coverage to most people below a certain income threshold. The exception is in 12 states, mostly in the South, that have resisted expanding Medicaid under the health law to cover all adults with income up to 138 percent of the poverty level, which would be $17,774 for an individual this year.The expansion of Medicaid in most states since the bulk of the A.C.A. took effect in 2014, though, has proved important during the pandemic, creating a public source of coverage for the newly unemployed that did not exist a decade ago. Adult enrollment in Medicaid grew twice as quickly as child enrollment last year, suggesting widespread job loss related to the pandemic created a huge group of newly eligible adults.
Pandemic drives largest decrease in US life expectancy since 1943 - -- U.S. life expectancy decreased by 1.87 years between 2018 and 2020, a drop not seen since World War II, according to new research from Virginia Commonwealth University, the University of Colorado Boulder and the Urban Institute. The numbers are even worse for people of color. On average, whereas life expectancy among white Americans decreased by 1.36 years in 2020, it decreased by 3.25 years in Black Americans and 3.88 years in Hispanic Americans. The data will be released June 23 in The BMJ, a journal published by the British Medical Association. Other countries also saw declines in life expectancy between 2018 and 2020, but the loss of life expectancy in the U.S. was 8.5 times that of the average for 16 peer countries. The declines for minority populations were 15 to 18 times larger than other countries. "When the pandemic came, my naïve assumption was that it would not have a big impact on the preexisting gap between the U.S. and peer countries," said Steven Woolf, M.D., the study's lead author and director emeritus of VCU's Center on Society and Health. "It was a global pandemic, and I assumed that every country would take a hit. What I did not anticipate was how badly the U.S. would fare in the pandemic and the enormous death toll that the U.S. would experience." The U.S. death toll has surpassed 600,000, according to Johns Hopkins University's Coronavirus Resource Center. Excess deaths, which exceed the official count, may contribute to the impact of the pandemic, according to previous research led by Woolf. Life expectancy trends in the U.S. were already "very worrying," Woolf said. Since the 1980s, improvements in life expectancy in the U.S. have not kept pace with peer countries. Around 2010, life expectancy in America plateaued and then decreased for three consecutive years. It continued to climb in other countries.
Months into the pandemic, the U.S. had six times as many cases as reported, an N.I.H. study finds. For every coronavirus infection that was recorded in the United States in mid-2020, nearly five asymptomatic cases went undetected, according to a new study by the National Institutes of Health.The study, which was released on Tuesday, reinforced previous findings that the scope of contagion was much more widespread in the early months of the pandemic.It also highlighted the vast gap in virus testing in many parts of the country and the disproportionately high infection rate among Black people at the time.N.I.H. researchers estimated that there were as many as 20 million infections in the United States by mid-July 2020, far more than the three million cases that public health authorities recorded. Their findings were based on a yearlong study that began in April 2020, with researchers analyzing blood samples collected from more than 8,000 people, mostly from early May through July 31.The study, published online in Science Translational Medicine, looked at 9,089 adults who had not been diagnosed with Covid-19 and found that about 4.6 percent of them carried antibodies suggesting that they had been infected with the coronavirus at some point. That suggested, the study said, “a potential 16.8 million undiagnosed infections by July 2020 in addition to the reported 3 million diagnosed cases in the United States.” Data released last summer by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention similarly detailed a vast undercounting of infections.The new study “helps account for how quickly the virus spread to all corners of the country and the globe,” Bruce J. Tromberg, director of the National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering, said in a statement. The institute is one of several at N.I.H. whose scientists are leading the effort to study the transmission of the virus, and it contributed to the report.
More than 16 million Americans undiagnosed with COVID-19 during first wave, estimates antibody analysis - American Association for the Advancement of Science - As many as 16.8 million Americans had undiagnosed SARS-CoV-2 infections - 5 times the rate of diagnosed infections - by the end of July of 2020, according to an analysis of antibodies from more than 8,000 previously undiagnosed adults collected during the pandemic's first wave. The authors calculated that almost 5% of the undiagnosed U.S. population harbored SARS-CoV-2 antibodies, with the highest positivity rates among African Americans, those under the age of 45, urban dwellers, and women. The results suggest a larger spread of COVID-19 in the U.S. than originally suspected in previous reports. SARS-CoV-2 can stealthily cause asymptomatic infections in some individuals, who can still spread the disease to others. This property has frustrated health authorities' efforts to track down the true number of infected people, especially during the pandemic's early stages in the spring and summer of 2020. Here, Heather Kalish and colleagues posed survey questions to, and analyzed blood samples from, 8,058 undiagnosed adults reflecting the makeup of the U.S. population, which the team mostly gathered from early May to the end of July in 2020. They ensured a representative sample by using quota sampling with a much larger pool of more than 460,000 volunteers, allowing the scientists to make estimates about the general population. Kalish et al. found that 304 of the participants harbored antibodies against the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein and its receptor binding domain, leading them to estimate that 4.6% of the U.S. population harbored undiagnosed infections. The team also found differences in seropositivity across regions, gender, and ethnicity: rates were highest in the Mid-Atlantic (8.6%), in women (5.5%), and in African-Americans (14.2%), while lower in people working from home (3%) and in patients with chronic conditions such as heart disease. "Our findings have implications for understanding SARS-CoV-2 spread ... and prevalence in different communities and could have a potential impact on decisions involved in vaccine rollout," the authors conclude.
Peer-Reviewed and Published: Adoption of Ivermectin to Combat COVID-19 is Justified — A long-awaited study addressing the role of ivermectin in the battle against SARS-CoV-2 has just been published in the peer-reviewed American Journal of Therapeutics. According to the study’s abstract, Dr. Tess Lawrie (MBBCh, PhD), a medicinal evidence expert, and her team “assessed the efficacy of ivermectin treatment in reducing mortality, in secondary outcomes, and in chemoprophylaxis, among people with, or at high risk of, COVID-19 infection.” Ivermectin, an anti-parasitic drug with both antiviral and anti-inflammatory properties, has been used by doctors around the world as both a treatment and a prophylactic for COVID-19, the disease caused by SARS-CoV-2.As governments and public health officials attempted to find solutions to the pandemic as it unfolded, some doctors and scientists turned to trusted, though repurposed, medications—a practice that is not unusual when faced with a new or unexpected situation.Despite its safety and available anecdotal evidence, critics of the drug’s use were quick to point out a lack of peer-reviewed studies using ivermectin to treat the viral infection and resulting disease.In response to the criticisms and resulting attack on the use of ivermectin by Big Tech, Big Pharma, and public health organizations around the world, Dr. Lawrie and her team looked at bibliographic databases up to April 25 of this year. The authors “sifted for studies, extracted data, and assessed risk of bias” before conducting a meta-analyses resulting in the inclusion of 24 randomized control trials involving a total of 3,406 participants.The study’s authors conclude that “large reductions in COVID-19 deaths are possible using ivermectin.” The safe and cost effective drug “is likely to have a significant impact on the SARS-CoV-2pandemic globally.” A similar conclusion has also been reached by several expert groups from the UK, Italy, Spain, US, and a group from Japan headed by the Nobel Prize-winning discoverer of ivermectin, professor Satoshi Omura.
The mechanisms of action of Ivermectin against SARS-CoV-2: An evidence-based clinical review article - Considering the urgency of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, detection of various new mutant strains and future potential re-emergence of novel coronaviruses, repurposing of approved drugs such as Ivermectin could be worthy of attention. This evidence-based review article aims to discuss the mechanism of action of ivermectin against SARS-CoV-2 and summarizing the available literature over the years. A schematic of the key cellular and biomolecular interactions between Ivermectin, host cell, and SARS-CoV-2 in COVID-19 pathogenesis and prevention of complications have been proposed.Drug repurposing, drug redirecting, or drug reprofiling is defined as the identification of novel usages for existing drugs. The development risks, costs as well as safety-related failure, are reduced with this approach since these drugs have a well-established formulation development, in vitro and in vivo screening, as well as pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic profiles. Moreover, the first clinical trial phases of many such drugs have been completed and can be bypassed to reduce several years of development. Therefore, drug repurposing has the potential to reduce the time frame for the whole process by up to 3–12 years and carries great potential [6].Although several drugs received Emergency Use Authorization for COVID-19 treatment with unsatisfactory supportive data, Ivermectin, on the other hand, has been sidelined irrespective of sufficient convincing data supporting its use. Nevertheless, many countries adopted ivermectin as one of the first-line treatment options for COVID-19.With the ongoing vaccine roll-out programs in full swing across the globe, the longevity of the immunity offered by these vaccines or their role in offering protection against new mutant strains is still a matter of debate. The adoption of Ivermectin as a “safety bridge” by some sections of the population that are still waiting for their turn for vaccination could be considered as a “logical” option.
The Politics of ‘Follow the Science’ - -Matt Taibbi, in a free post at his Substack site, has started to look at a subject dear to my heart, the fact that the admonition to “follow the science” has become its opposite, an admonition instead to not follow the science if the path you tread makes you look insufficiently anti-Trump to your liberal peers and their gatekeepers. Taibbi’s kick-off point is the controversy (or “controversy”) over the use of the drug ivermectin to prevent Covid-19 infection:On December 8, 2020, when most of America was consumed with what The Guardian called Donald Trump’s “desperate, mendacious, frenzied and sometimes farcical” attempt to remain president, the Senate’s Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee held a hearing on the “Medical Response to Covid-19.” One of the witnesses, a pulmonologist named Dr. Pierre Kory, insisted he had great news.“We have a solution to this crisis,” he said unequivocally. “There is a drug that is proving to have a miraculous impact.”Kory was referring to an FDA-approved medicine called ivermectin. A genuine wonder drug in other realms, ivermectin has all but eliminated parasitic diseases like river blindness and elephantiasis, helping discoverer Satoshi Ōmura win the Nobel Prize in 2015. As far as its uses in the pandemic went, however, research was still scant. Could it really be a magic Covid-19 bullet?Kory had been trying to make such a case, but complained to the Senate that public efforts had been stifled, because “every time we mention ivermectin, we get put in Facebook jail.” A Catch-22 seemed to be ensnaring science. With the world desperate for news about an unprecedented disaster, Silicon Valley had essentially decided to disallow discussion of a potential solution — disallow calls for more research and more study — because not enough research and study had been done. Once, people weren’t allowed to take drugs before they got FDA approval. Now, they can’t talk about them. These are the liberal gatekeepers I’m referring to, the media who push, shape or ignore certain stories, and the Silicon Valley giants who ban their discussion, all to serve the anti-Trumpian cause.Where’s the science in that?
"Utopia" - Amazon Show Plot Featured Fake Virus, Global Vaccine Program To Sterilize World Population --An Amazon series released at the height of the COVID pandemic revolved around a plot where a virus is deliberately released and then a vaccine offered to a terrified public as a form of population control. Utopia is a remake of the UK Channel 4 series originally released in 2013 and stars Jessica Rothe, Rainn Wilson, and John Cusack. The plot centers on a group of comic book fans who discover an unpublished manuscript for a graphic novel which turns out to be a real life plot to fake a global pandemic in order to thin the earth’s population. People are killed or poisoned to convince them that the virus is real before a traumatized population is convinced to take a vaccine which sterilizes the vast majority of them, lowering the planet’s population to just 500 million people total in a single generation. The comic book fans are hunted down by a shadowy deep state organization after attempting to expose the conspiracy. The edit of Utopia was only finished in April 2020 at the height of the first wave of the pandemic and was subsequently released in September 2020. Indeed, the plot of the series is so close to what some “conspiracy theorists” claim is the real agenda behind the COVID-19 pandemic, that outlets like Slate said it should have never been released. The New York Times also reported on how author and showrunner Gillian Flynn knew that Utopia had “unsettling COVID parallels,” but that she wrote it before she knew anything about QAnon.
153 Texas hospital workers are fired or resign over mandatory vaccine policy.--More than 150 staff members at a Houston-area hospital were fired or resigned on Tuesday for not following a policy that requires employees to be vaccinated against Covid-19.The hospital, Houston Methodist, had told employees that they had to be vaccinated by June 7 or face suspension for two weeks. Of the nearly 200 employees who had been suspended, 153 of them were terminated by the hospital on Tuesday or had resigned, according to Gale Smith, a spokeswoman for the hospital.Ms. Smith said employees who had complied with the vaccine policy during the suspension period were allowed to return to work a day after they became compliant.The hospital did not specify how many workers had complied and returned to work.Vaccine hesitancy has been high among frontline health care workers: Surveys showed that nearly half remained unvaccinated as of mid-March, despite being among the first to become eligible for the shots in December. A March 2021 survey by the Kaiser Family Foundation found that health care workers had concerns about the vaccines’ newness and their possible side effects, both of which are common reasons for waiting to be vaccinated.Earlier this month, dozens of employees who had not been vaccinated by Houston Methodist’s deadline protested outside of the hospital against the mandatory vaccine policy.The protest followed a now dismissed lawsuit filed last month by117 Houston Methodist employees against their employer over the vaccine policy. The workers’ lawsuit accused the hospital of “forcing its employees to be human ‘guinea pigs’ as a condition for continued employment.”Jennifer Bridges, a nurse who led the Houston Methodist protest, had cited the lack of full F.D.A. approval for the shots as a reason she wouldn’t get vaccinated.U.S. District Judge Lynn N. Hughes, in the Southern District of Texas, rejected a claim by Ms. Bridges, the lead plaintiff in the lawsuit, that the vaccines available for use in the United States were experimental and dangerous. “The hospital’s employees are not participants in a human trial,” Judge Hughes wrote. “Methodist is trying to do their business of saving lives without giving them the Covid-19 virus. It is a choice made to keep staff, patients and their families safer.”
Younger adults are less likely to get vaccinated than their elders, new C.D.C. studies say. -Younger Americans are less likely to be vaccinated than their elders, and factors like income and education may affect vaccine hesitancy, according to two new studies by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.By May 22, 57 percent of adults had received at least one vaccine dose, the authors of one of the new papers found, but the rate varied considerably by age: Among those who were 65 or older, 80 percent had been at least partially vaccinated, compared with 38 percent of those between 18 and 29.Some of the gap in rates could be attributed to the fact that many young adults did not become eligible for vaccination until March or April. But uptake has also been slower among younger Americans, and a substantial proportion of them remain hesitant.If vaccine initiation rates remain stable, by late August, just 58 percent of 18 to 29-year-olds will have been vaccinated, compared with 95 percent of those 65 and up, the researchers found.Vaccination rates lagged for young men, people living in rural counties and people living in counties where a high share of the population was low-income, uninsured or lacked access to a computer or the internet.In a second study, 24.9 percent of 18- to 39-year-olds surveyed said that they would probably or definitely not get vaccinated. Those who were young, Black, low-income, lacked health insurance, lived outside of metropolitan areas or had lower levels of education were less likely to report being vaccinated or to say that they definitely planned to be vaccinated.
Mixing and Matching COVID-19 Vaccines -- Given the ever-changing narrative on COVID-19 vaccines, it is almost impossible for a layperson to understand exactly what is safe and what is part of the ongoing Phase 3 trials. A recent graphic found on the website of the School of Pharmacy at the University of Waterloo adds to that confusion, particularly given that mixing and matching of vaccines was NOT part of the original vaccine program. Here is the graphic which is supposed to allow vaccine consumers to determine whether they are fully vaccinated: Basically, the graphic is telling laypeople that they should not be getting the AstraZeneca vaccine as their second dose unless they received it as their first dose and that either the Pfizer or Moderna vaccines are suitable as a second dose if they received the AstraZeneca vaccine as their first dose.Given that these vaccines are still being rolled out and that the final phase three trials will not end until the following dates:...and that the medium- and long-term side effects of each of the vaccines on their own have yet to be fully understood/expressed, it is concerning that governments are basically allowing Big Pharma to continue their unprecedented vaccine experiment on humanity by both extending the period of time between doses far beyond what the manufacturer recommended and allowing the mixing and matching of COVID-19 vaccines all in the name of vaccinating as much of the world as possible as quickly as possible.
Don’t Count on Needing a Covid Booster Shot, WHO Scientist Says -As some governments and pharmaceutical officials prepare for Covid booster shots targeting more-infectious virus variants, health authorities say it’s too early to tell if they will be required. “We do not have the information that’s necessary to make the recommendation on whether or not a booster will be needed,” Soumya Swaminathan, the World Health Organization’s chief scientist, said in a Zoom interview Friday. The “science is still evolving.” Such a call is “premature” while high-risk individuals in most of the world haven’t yet completed a first course of vaccination, Swaminathan said. Data from countries introducing precautionary extra inoculations later this year -- particularly for vulnerable people whose immunity to SARS-CoV-2 may wane faster -- will inform WHO’s guidance, she said. Covid booster shots are likely to be rolled out in U.K. in the fall to avoid another winter surge. Seven different vaccines are being tested in volunteers in England in the world’s first booster study, Health Secretary Matt Hancock said last month. The U.K., which has inoculated a larger proportion of people than any other major economy, has been forced to delay a planned lifting of coronavirus restrictions amid a resurgence of cases driven by the delta variant. The strain, first reported in India, is the most infectious reported to date. More-transmissible variants, including the beta strain that emerged in South Africa, require higher antibody levels to prevent infection, prompting vaccine makers including Pfizer Inc. and Moderna Inc. to test whether tweaked versions of their existing shots will provide broader immunity. One dose of Novavax Inc.’s variant-directed vaccine may provide sufficient protection against the beta strain in individuals previously immunized against Covid-19, according to pre-clinical research released this month by scientists at the Gaithersburg, Maryland-based company and the University of Maryland School of Medicine. The modified shot also has the potential to provide broad protection against various strains if used as a primary vaccine regimen, said Gregory M. Glenn, Novavax’s president of research and development, in a June 11 statement. So far, the existing U.S.-approved vaccines work well enough to protect against beta, delta and two other strains that the WHO has designated as variants of concern, said Francis Collins, director of the National Institutes of Health.
Of the 22 million women vaccinated in the UK, 4,000 reported period changes. A leading OBGYN says it's no cause for alarm. - Some women have reported changes to their period after getting a COVID-19 vaccine, but a leading OB-GYN said the data isn't worrying. The Sunday Times reported on Sunday that the UK medicines regulator had received 3,958 reports of people with heavier than usual periods, delayed periods, or unexpected vaginal bleeding after getting a COVID-19 vaccine from AstraZeneca, Pfizer-BioNTech, or Moderna. Dr. Sue Ward, the vice president for education at the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, said in a statement to the Science Media Centre on Monday that she welcomed more data on the subject, but added that "psychological wellbeing" could naturally change hormone levels. "Something as all-consuming and life-changing as a global pandemic could result in women experiencing their periods differently," Ward said. The regulator, the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency, told Insider that the evidence doesn't suggest an increased risk of either menstrual disorders or unexpected vaginal bleeding following the vaccines. The number of reports is low "in relation to both the number of females who have received COVID-19 vaccines to date and how common menstrual disorders are generally," it said. Pat O'Brien, the vice president for membership at RCOG, responded to the report on Monday: The changes to people's periods after vaccination were "mild" and shouldn't deter women from getting the vaccine, he said. There were 2,734 reports of period problems linked to the AstraZeneca vaccine, 1,158 related to the Pfizer jab, and 66 linked to the Moderna vaccine up to May 17. Most of the reports were from women between the ages of 30 and 49, The Sunday Times reported. For context, by May 2, about 22 million vaccine doses had been given to UK women.
Cuba reports a high success rate for its homegrown Abdala vaccine. - Cuba began its Covid-19 mass vaccination campaign more than a month ago with homegrown, unproven vaccines, wagering that they would prove effective enough to blunt the rapid spread of the coronavirus on the cash-strapped Caribbean island. The gamble appears to be paying off. The Cuban health authorities said on Monday that their country’s three-shot Abdala vaccine had proved about 92 percent effective against the coronavirus in late-stage clinical trials. Throughout the pandemic, Cuba has declined to import foreign vaccines while striving to develop its own, the smallest country in the world to do so. The announcement places Abdala among the most effective Covid vaccines in the world, according to data from clinical trials, on a par with Pfizer-BioNTech’s 95 percent rate, Moderna’s 94.1 percent, and Russia’s Sputnik V at 91.6 percent. On Saturday, Cuba’s state-run biotech corporation, BioCubaFarma, said that another of its vaccines, Sovereign 2, had 62 percent efficacy after two of its three required doses. Results for the full three doses are expected in the next few weeks. The vaccine news was seen as a rare cause for celebration on an island that has been hammered both by the pandemic, which has devastated its tourism industry, and by Trump-era economic sanctions that have not been eased by the Biden administration. Cuba is currently experiencing its worst coronavirus outbreak since the start of the pandemic. It reported 1,561 new cases on Monday, a record. In May the health authorities began a mass vaccination campaign in Havana before the completion of Phase 3 trials, which assess a vaccine’s effectiveness and safety. The emergency step was intended to help combat the Beta variant, first detected in South Africa, which was spreading rapidly in the Cuban capital. Close to one million Cubans — about 9 percent of the national population — have now received all three doses of either Abdala or Sovereign 2, according to official figures. Officials say they are seeing a slowing of the virus’s spread in Havana, where vaccinations have been concentrated so far.
The White House outlines a plan to send 55 million vaccine doses to Latin America, Africa, Asia and elsewhere. --The White House outlined a plan on Monday to allocate 55 million doses of coronavirus vaccine around the world, the remainder of 80 million doses that President Biden pledged to send by the end of June to countries desperate for vaccine. Mr. Biden has a week and a half to meet his deadline, a task made more difficult as the administration tries to change which manufacturers’ vaccines would be included in the 55 million portion. Production problems at an Emergent BioSolutions factory in Baltimore have forced the administration to revise its initial plan to rely heavily on AstraZeneca’s vaccine for that donation. The White House did not specify on Monday which vaccines it would be sharing, but people familiar with the operation have said the administration is working to swap shots made by Pfizer and BioNTech, Moderna and Johnson & Johnson for AstraZeneca’s. The distribution formula closely followed the one that the White House announced earlier this month for the first 25 million doses in the president’s pledge. Three-fourths of the 55 million doses will go to Covax, an international vaccine sharing initiative that helps less wealthy nations. Of those, 14 million will go to countries in Latin America and the Caribbean; 16 million will be distributed to nations across Asia; and 10 million will be sent to countries in Africa.The remaining one-fourth will be spread among at least two dozen places to help address virus surges, including Colombia, Argentina, Haiti, the Philippines, Vietnam, Iraq, Ukraine, Bosnia, South Africa, the West Bank and Gaza.The donation of 80 million doses pales in comparison to the Biden administration’s plan, announced in early June, to share 500 million doses of Pfizer’s vaccine within the next 12 months. But with many countries unable to vaccinate even a tiny percentage of their populations, global health officials are pressing the United States to move as quickly as possible to share its vaccine supply.The gap in vaccination rates between rich and poor countries is stark. According to the Our World in Data project at the University of Oxford, high or upper middle countries account for 86 percent ofshots administered worldwide while low-income countries account for less than half of one percent.The federal government has purchased far more vaccine than the nation can possibly use, and distributed more than states can promptly administer as the pool of people eager to get vaccinated dwindles. More than 60 million doses of Pfizer, Moderna and Johnson & Johnson are sitting in storage in states across the nation, according to the latest figures from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
94% Of Americans Oppose Big Pharma's Control Over Global Vaccine Supply: Poll -- A new poll released Friday found that a whopping 94% of adults in the US do not want pharmaceutical corporations to control the global supply of Covid-19 vaccines, lending additional support to international demands for achieving universal access to inoculation through more knowledge sharing, technology transfer, and public production of doses. That 94% figure includes respondents who expressed no preference, and it revealed a strong bipartisan consensus, with 96% of Biden voters and 92% of Trump voters in agreement. The online survey was conducted by YouGov between June 9-10 on behalf of the Medicine Equality Now! campaign, which seeks to dismantle the intellectual property (IP) barriers that cause millions of unnecessary deaths per year by undermining equal access to lifesaving medicines. While pollsters found that the vast majority of Americans are unaware of the extent to which pharmaceutical giants exercise monopoly powers over vaccine manufacturing and underestimate how much money a few private companies have made from selling doses, they also discovered that 50% of the nation's adults—including half of Trump voters—consider it unacceptable that Big Pharma has made substantial profits from vaccines developed using public funding. "The majority of the U.S. public is not satisfied with the current system of vaccine access," Gregg Gonsalves, associate professor of epidemiology at Yale School of Public Health and global health activist, said in as statement. "As Americans, we know how pharmaceutical companies operate, prioritizing their profits ahead of saving lives." "More alarmingly," Gonsalves noted, "many are simply not aware that the world's recovery from this pandemic is controlled by a small number of pharmaceutical corporations—the exact system they've said they don't want."
C.D.C. researchers identify 1,200 cases of post-vaccination heart problems, noting they remain very rare. -The coronavirus vaccines made by Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna may have caused heart problems in more than 1,200 Americans, including about 500 who were younger than age 30, according to data reported on Wednesday by researchers at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Still, the benefits of immunization greatly outweigh the risks, advisers to the C.D.C. said. They strongly recommended vaccination for all Americans 12 and older. The heart problems are myocarditis, inflammation of the heart muscle; and pericarditis, inflammation of the lining around the heart. The risk is higher after the second dose of an mRNA vaccine than the first, and much higher in men than in women. Researchers do not know why. But the side effect is very uncommon, just 12.6 cases per million second doses administered. C.D.C. researchers estimated that every million second doses given to boys ages 12 to 17 might cause a maximum of 70 myocarditis cases, but would prevent 5,700 infections, 215 hospitalizations and two deaths. Agency researchers presented the data to members of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, which makes recommendations on vaccine use in the United States. (The scientists grouped together pericarditis and myocarditis for reporting purposes.) Most cases were mild, with symptoms like fatigue, chest pain and disturbances in heart rhythm that quickly cleared up, the researchers reported. Of the 484 cases reported in Americans under age 30, the C.D.C. has definitively linked 323 cases to vaccination. The rest remain under investigation. “These events are really very rare, extremely rare,” said Dr. Brian Feingold, an expert on heart inflammation in children at the UPMC Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh. “That needs to be taken in context with illness and morbidity and mortality related to Covid.” Separately, more than a dozen federal and professional medical organizations said in a joint statement on Wednesday that myocarditis “is an extremely rare side effect, and only an exceedingly small number of people will experience it after vaccination.”
Researchers find signs of inflammation in brains of people who died of COVID-19 The most comprehensive molecular study to date of the brains of people who died of COVID-19 turned up unmistakable signs of inflammation and impaired brain circuits. Investigators at the Stanford School of Medicine and Saarland University in Germany report that what they saw looks a lot like what's observed in the brains of people who died of neurodegenerative conditions such as Alzheimer's disease and Parkinson's disease. The findings may help explain why many COVID-19 patients report neurological problems. These complaints increase with the severity of infection with SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19. And they can persist as an aspect of "long COVID," a long-lasting disorder that sometimes arises following infection. About one-third of individuals hospitalized for COVID-19 report symptoms of fuzzy thinking, forgetfulness, difficulty concentrating and depression, said Tony Wyss-Coray, PhD, professor of neurology and neurological sciences at Stanford. Yet the researchers couldn't find any signs of SARS-CoV-2 in brain tissue they obtained from eight individuals who died of the disease. Brain samples from 14 people who died of other causes were used as controls for the study. "The brains of patients who died from severe COVID-19 showed profound molecular markers of inflammation, even though those patients didn't have any reported clinical signs of neurological impairment," said Wyss-Coray, who is the D. H. Chen Professor II. Scientists disagree about whether SARS-CoV-2 is present in COVID-19 patients' brains. "We used the same tools they've used -- as well as other, more definitive ones -- and really looked hard for the virus's presence," he said. "And we couldn't find it."
COVID-19 survivors may suffer from a loss of gray matter and other brain tissue over time, a long-term study suggests A new study that drew on data gathered by UK Biobank suggests COVID-19 survivors may suffer from a loss of gray matter over time. The long-term experiment, which involved 782 volunteers, compared brain scans of individuals before the pandemic. For an analogy between pre-pandemic and post-pandemic brain scans, researchers then invited 394 COVID-19 survivors to return for follow-up scans, as well as 388 healthy volunteers. Among those participants who recovered from COVID-19, researchers saw significant effects of the virus on human cerebral matter, with a loss of gray matter in regions of the brain. It should be noted that the study has yet to undergo rigorous peer review. The authors wrote: "Our findings thus consistently relate to loss of grey matter in limbic cortical areas directly linked to the primary olfactory and gustatory system," or areas in the brain related to the perception of senses such as smell and taste. The gray matter in our brains is part of our central nervous system and essentially controls all our brain's functions, as previously reported by Insider. It enables individuals to control movement, memory, and emotions, so an abnormality in the gray matter of the brain can affect communication skills and brain cells. The study also suggests that a loss of gray matter in memory-related regions of the brain "may in turn increase the risk of these patients of developing dementia in the longer term." This finding follows a study published by Lancet Psychiatry journal last year, suggesting that serious infections of COVID-19 may damage the brain leading to long-term complications such as stroke or dementia-like symptoms. The authors noted that more data is needed to adequately assess the effects of COVID-19 on brain health, though. Most of the COVID-19 survivors involved in the research experienced mild-to-moderate symptoms or had none at all. This was viewed as a strength of the analysis, as most brain-imaging publications have focused on moderate-to-severe cases of COVID-19. "There is a fundamental need for more information on the cerebral effects of the disease even in its mildest form," It is important to note, however, that changes in the brain were not seen in the group that had not been infected, as reported by Reuters.
Half of young adults with covid-19 have persistent symptoms 6 months after -- A paper published in the prestigious journal Nature Medicine on long-COVID, describes persistent symptoms six months after acute COVID-19, even in young home isolated people. The study from the Bergen COVID-19 Research Group followed infected patients during the first pandemic wave in Bergen Norway. "The main novel finding is that more than fifty per cent of young adults up to 30 years old, isolated at home, still have persistent symptoms six months after mild to moderate disease", the leader of the group, Professor Nina Langeland explains. The most common symptoms were loss of smell and/or taste, fatigue, shortness of breath, impaired concentration, and memory problems. "There was a significant correlation between high antibody levels and symptoms in home isolated patients, other risk factors for symptoms were asthma or other chronic lung disease", In non-hospitalized COVID-19-patients, thirty per cent experienced fatigue which was the most common symptom. Children under the age of 16 years had fewer long-term symptoms than adults, but Associate Professor Bjørn Blomberg, and first author of the article, underlines: "The cognitive symptoms of impaired memory and concentration difficulties are particularly worrying for young people at school or university and highlights the importance of vaccination to prevent the long-term health implications of COVID-19".M
Mutation in Highly Infectious Alpha Variant May Help Coronavirus Evade Immune System -- The B.1.1.7 coronavirus variant—also known as Alpha—may be more infectious because it contains mutations that make it better adapted to foil the innate immune system, at least for long enough to allow the virus to replicate and potentially find new hosts, according to a new study on BioRxiv.In the study, which has not been peer-reviewed, researchers at UCSF, in collaboration with colleagues at University College, London, cultured cells from the human respiratory pathway and infected them with the variant. They found that the cells produced very little interferon, a protein that triggers immune defenses.In addition, the team found that the infected lung cells produced large quantities of a viral protein produced by a gene known as Orf9b. “These massive amounts of viral protein can have a significant effect on the human who’s hosting the virus,” said Nevan Krogan, PhD, director of UCSF’s Quantitative Biosciences Institute and senior author on the study.In earlier studies, Krogan discovered that the protein produced by Orf9b binds with a human protein in the cell, dampening the signal that triggers the release of interferon and other immune molecules in SARS-CoV-1, the virus responsible for the first SARS epidemic. By halting the body’s initial immune response, the virus buys time to deepen the infection of its host as well as increase its chances of being transmitted to another person.“Identifying this key pathway and proteins responsible for this variant’s increased infectiousness points us to potential drug targets,” said Krogan. “That knowledge has important implications for management of the ongoing pandemic.”
As COVID-19 variant continues to spread, World Health Organization warns “we expect things to only get worse” - The more infectious and deadly Delta variant of the coronavirus, first detected in India last October, is now present in at least 80 countries, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). It is expected to overtake the Alpha variant, first detected in the UK, in the coming months as the dominant variant of the coronavirus worldwide. In countries such as India and the United Kingdom, it has already become the dominant variant of the coronavirus, with at least 90 percent of all new cases caused by the Delta variant. In countries such as the United States, it accounts for at least 10 percent of all new cases and will “probably” become the dominant variant in the country, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Rochelle Walensky warned Friday on Good Morning America. In Lisbon, Portugal, authorities ordered a weekend lockdown of the entire region after more than 1,300 new cases were recorded in the past 24 hours, of which roughly half were of the Delta variant. In Moscow, local health authorities have determined that the Delta variant is now the most prevalent COVID-19 variant in the city, making up 89.3 percent of all new cases. And in India, while cases and deaths have continued to decline, with confirmed counts currently standing at two-month lows of 69,000 and 1,600 respectively, experts are concerned that such figures greatly undercount the true toll the Delta variant took on India when it began to spread like wildfire in late February and early March. There are also surges of the Delta variant across Africa and South Asia, including countries such as Namibia, Sierra Leone, Liberia and Rwanda, Myanmar, Zambia, South Africa, Bangladesh, and Indonesia. As a result of the spread of the disease, the global decline in new cases since the beginning of May, largely a result of mass vaccination campaigns in the world’s wealthier countries, has slowed. Worldwide, the number of new cases on Thursday totaled just over 367,000, just 20,000 less than new cases reported seven days previously. In contrast, the decrease in daily new cases from two weeks ago to one week ago was more than 71,000. Similar changes were detected in the trajectory of the world’s daily new coronavirus cases in the weeks leading up to the emergence of the Alpha variant as the dominant form of the coronavirus, which helped to fuel the skyrocketing cases this past December and January. Daily deaths remain above 9,000 internationally.
Delta coronavirus variant may be strongest threat to vaccinated people - Scientists have long worried about a coronavirus variant that's more dangerous than the original virus in three key ways: It would be more transmissible, result in more serious illness, and evade protection from existing vaccines."The nightmare here is a variant that checks off all three boxes," said Bob Wachter, the chair of the Department of Medicine at the University of California, San Francisco.No prior variant, he said, has checked more than one or two. But the Delta variant, first identified in India in February, has come closest to checking all three.Right now, two doses of vaccine are at least greater than 88% effective at preventing serious cases of COVID-19, of the type that might put you in hospital, even from the Delta variant. However, a single shot is only about 33% effective in protecting patients from that level of harm, according to studies of Delta variant."The data today says that this variant gets a full checked box for more infectious, probably gets a checked box for more serious, and at least gets a partial checked box for immune evasion. And that's scary," Wachter said. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention labeled Delta a "variant of concern" on Tuesday."Delta is a superspreader variant, the worst version of the virus we've seen," Eric Topol, the director of the Scripps Research Translational Institute, tweeted on Tuesday.For the most part, however, Delta hasn't drastically challenged vaccines. Public Health England analyses have found that two doses of Pfizer's vaccine are still 96% effective at preventing hospitalizations — and 88% effective at preventing symptomatic COVID-19 — from Delta cases. Two doses of AstraZeneca's vaccine, meanwhile, are around 92% effective at preventing hospitalizations and 60% effective at preventing symptomatic COVID-19 from Delta.But that efficacy does not come after just one dose: A single shot of either Pfizer's or AstraZeneca's vaccines were just 33% effective at preventing symptomatic COVID-19 from Delta. "The fact that three weeks after your first dose you're only 30% protected — versus, in the original, you were 80% — says that this thing has figured out how to at least partly evade the immune system," Wachter said.
Covid Rebounds in U.S. South, With Many Shunning Vaccines - Covid-19 transmission is accelerating in several poorly vaccinated states, primarily in the South plus Missouri and Utah, and more young people are turning up at hospitals. The data present the clearest sign of a rebound in the U.S. in months. In Missouri, Arkansas and Utah, the seven-day average of hospital admissions with confirmed Covid-19 has increased more than 30% in the past two weeks, according to the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services. In Mississippi, the hospitalization rate is up 5% in the period. The jump in hospitalization is particularly jarring among 18- to 29-year-olds in the outlier states. An analysis by the genomics firm Helix suggests that the highly contagious delta variant in particular, which has prompted concern worldwide as it leads to new surges of Covid-19 across the globe, is spreading in undervaccinated pockets of the U.S. The U.S. has made extraordinary progress in its vaccine push, giving at least one jab to more than 53% of the population. But all the states with mounting transmission trail the national average, and Mississippi has given a single jab to just 35%. Young people are less likely to be vaccinated than older groups. In Arkansas, Missouri and Utah, reported Covid-19 cases mirror the concerning trends in hospitalizations. In other places -- namely, Mississippi -- they don’t. Testing has dropped off significantly, with the seven-day average nationwide plummeting 55% in the past three months, which makes case counts a less reliable indicator. Most Covid-19 projections expect subdued transmission during the summer, thanks in part to the seasonal nature of the virus. But the so-called Sun Belt surge last year showed that many Southern states can remain vulnerable as hot summer days drive people indoors in search of air-conditioning. Even for the worst-afflicted states, the situation is nowhere near as alarming as what residents survived as recently as February; absolute numbers of hospitalizations remain far lower. But the signs of an uptick come amid a jump in cases in the U.K. attributed to the spread of the highly transmissible delta variant.
Oregon won’t hit Monday’s target to lift coronavirus restrictions as vaccinations plummet - Oregon will not reach its vaccination goal to lift nearly all coronavirus restrictions by Monday and may not hit the mark by the time the governor’s COVID-19 emergency order expires June 28. The goal seemed attainable if a bit optimistic two weeks ago, when state officials said they would lift most masking and distancing requirements when 70% of Oregonians 18 and older had been at least partially vaccinated. But the number of Oregonians being newly vaccinated has taken a nosedive since then. Even the state’s worst-case scenario of hitting 70% by month’s end is now uncertain. As of Friday, 68.5% of adults have received at least one dose, leaving just 51,616 people in need of vaccinations to reach the threshold, according to the Oregon Health Authority. But that continues to be elusive, with only about 5,150 adults newly vaccinated each day over the past week, according to an analysis of federal data by The Oregonian/OregonLive. Based on that trajectory, Oregon could hit its target June 28, although that date could slip if vaccinations continue to slide. The Oregon Health Authority now says it hopes the state will reach that level by July 1. The lifting of restrictions serves as a pivotal if ceremonial milestone in this historic pandemic, indicating the worst has passed and ushering in a more full-scale return to normal life.
Delta Strain Spreads in U.S., Canada Eases Travel: Virus Update - The highly contagious delta variant of the coronavirus is gaining steam in undervaccinated pockets of the U.S., according to a study. Coupled with accelerating cases in the South, the finding casts a pall on the inoculation effort in the country even though more than 45% of the population has been fully vaccinated against Covid-19.Canada announced a loosening of travel restrictions for fully vaccinated people. U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson said England is on track for curbs to be lifted in July, while Germany warned a fourth wave is possible. South Africa is planning to make vaccines locally using messenger RNA.Cases surged in Indonesia, and China said it needs to fully vaccinate 80%-85% of the population, or just over 1 billion people, to reach herd immunity. The Tokyo Olympics will limit the number of spectators to 10,000 people per venue. Cases exceed 178.6 million; deaths pass 3.87 Covid-19 transmission is accelerating in several poorly vaccinated states, primarily in the South, and more young people are turning up at hospitals. The data present the clearest sign of a rebound in the U.S. in months.In Missouri, Arkansas and Utah, the seven-day average of hospital admissions with confirmed Covid-19 has increased more than 30% in the past two weeks, according to the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services. In Mississippi, the hospitalization rate is up 5% in the period.South Africa is planning to make vaccines locally using messenger RNA, the breakthrough technology of the global inoculation effort against Covid-19.The manufacturing will be conducted by the state-owned Biovac Institute, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the director-general of the World Health Organization, told reporters Monday. That will be part of a broader vaccine technology-transfer hub in the country, he said.The WHO is speaking to a number of drugmakers about establishing the hub, though the talks are so far mainly with “smaller companies,” said Soumya Swaminathan, WHO’s chief scientist. “We are having discussions with the larger companies with proven mRNA technology,” she added.
It’s highly transmissible and it may cause more severe illness. Should the U.S. be worried about the Delta variant? - The super-contagious Delta variant of the coronavirus is now responsible for about one in every five Covid-19 cases in the United States, and its prevalence has doubled in the last two weeks, health officials said on Tuesday.First identified in India, Delta is one of several “variants of concern,” as designated by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the World Health Organization. It has spread rapidly through India and Britain.Its appearance in the United States is not surprising. And with vaccinations ticking up and Covid-19 case numbers falling, it’s unclear how much of a problem Delta will cause here. Still, its swift rise has prompted concerns that it might jeopardize the nation’s progress in beating back the pandemic.“The Delta variant is currently the greatest threat in the U.S. to our attempt to eliminate Covid-19,” Dr. Anthony S. Fauci, the nation’s leading infectious disease expert, said at the briefing. The good news, he said, is that the vaccines authorized in the United States work against the variant. “We have the tools,” he said. “So let’s use them, and crush the outbreak.”
Fauci: Delta variant is 'greatest threat' to eradicating COVID-19 in the U.S. -The highly contagious delta variant of the coronavirus is the greatest threat to the United States’ attempt to eradicate COVID-19, White House chief medical adviser Anthony Fauci said Tuesday. During a White House coronavirus briefing, the head of the National Institutes of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) said the variant now makes up more than 20 percent of all new cases in the U.S., a significant increase from nearly 10 percent two weeks ago. The delta variant, first identified in India, recently became the dominant strain in the United Kingdom, surpassing the alpha variant first discovered in the U.K. in fall. The strain makes up more than 90 percent of new cases and delayed the U.K.'s scheduled reopening. “Similar to the situation in the U.K., the delta variant is currently the greatest threat to the U.S. to our attempt to eliminate COVID-19,” Fauci said Tuesday. “The transmissibility is unquestionably greater than the wild type SARS-CoV-2 as well as the alpha variant. It is associated with an increased disease severity as reflected by hospitalization risk,” he said. Fauci said the good news is, however, that COVID-19 vaccines have shown to be very effective against the strain, and urged those who have yet to be vaccinated to do so. The Pfizer-BioNTech shot showed to be 88 percent effective against symptomatic disease and 96 percent effective against hospitalization. Fauci’s comments come as the White House acknowledged Tuesday it’s likely to fall short of its goal of administering at least one dose of vaccine to 70 percent of American adults by July 4. More than 70 percent of Americans 30 and older, however, have received at least one dose. Despite the threat posed by delta, the country’s current seven day average for new cases is 10,352, a decrease of nearly 18 percent from the previous week, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). It’s the lowest average of new cases since March 2020, when the outbreak began to intensify across the U.S.
Kids are more likely to be vectors for fast-spreading new coronavirus strains like the Delta variant, former FDA chief says - The former head of the US Food and Drug Administration has said that children are likely to become "focal points" of the spread of the coronavirus as new and more contagious variants pose a threat.Dr. Scott Gottlieb told CNBC's "Squawk Box" on Monday: "I think the reality is that kids are becoming more likely to be vectors of these new variants.""The old assumptions about children and children [not] driving community spread were based on the original strain of this virus," he said."With these new, more contagious variants, I think we're going to see that children and schools do become more of a focal point of spread."He was speaking as the Delta variant is quickly taking up a higher share of coronavirus infections in the US, and the director of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention warned earlier this month that the variant could soon become dominant in the US, like it has in the UK.Last week President Joe Biden supports reopening schools for in-person teaching this fall, and Mayor Bill de Blasio of New York Cityannounced last month that all the city's public schools would reopen in September with no remote option.Gottlieb said he expects more of an emphasis on children and teenagers vaccinated in light of the Delta variant spreading.The US has authorized the Pfizer vaccine for children aged 12 and higher, and thousands of kids have been vaccinated since.
Two dead, four hospitalized in COVID-19 outbreak at Florida government building --Two people died and four were hospitalized after a coronavirus outbreak at a government building in Florida. Manatee County Administrator Scott Hopes told CNN that the outbreak began in the IT department, and six people ended up being infected. Five people were hospitalized from the virus, with one dying at the hospital and another dying at home. "The clinical presentation gives me concern that we're dealing with a very infectious variant that is quite deadly," Hopes said. The one exposed employee in the department who was vaccinated did not get infected, the administrator said. It is unclear which variant of the coronavirus infected the employees. The building reopened Monday, but masks remained optional, with Hopes saying, "Clearly masks work, but the vaccine is more important at this point." White House chief medical adviser Anthony Fauci warned Tuesday of localized surges in the virus in areas with low vaccination rates. The delta variant is the latest cause for concern among health officials, with Fauci saying it is more transmissible and makes up 20 percent of U.S. cases.
Coronavirus dashboard for June 23: And so, it (the delta wave) begins --There is now more evidence that the “delta” variant of COVID is taking hold in the unvaccinated regions of the country, and case counts are increasing accordingly. Below are the 5 States that have all seen unequivocal increases in new cases over the past 2 to 4 weeks:*All* of these except for Nevada are among the lowest 1/3rd of States for vaccinations. Arkansas, at 33% fully vaccinated, is the 3rd worst. Oklahoma and Utah, at 37%, are tied for 8th worst, and Missouri, at 38%, is tied for 12th worst. Only Nevada, at 41%, is closer to the middle of the pack.As an aside, the 2 worst States for vaccinations, Mississippi at 29% and Alabama at 32%, almost certainly are in worse shape than their “official” new case counts. Although I won’t post graphs, both are among the 10 worst States for the rate of testing, and both are among the 10 highest States for the rate of positive test results (along with 4 of the 5 States above experiencing new outbreaks). Their rate of positivity hasn’t started significantly increasing - yet.Because I am not a DOOOMsayer, I want to contrast this with the case of Colorado, which has a good full vaccination rate at 50%, is nearly surrounded by States doing poorly, and yet has case counts that have continued to decline, albeit from high levels: Colorado will make a very good bellwether for whether high levels of vaccinations will slow or stop the delta spread.
A ‘constellation’ of COVID-19 mutations may be coming – how worried should we be? - The SARS-CoV-2 virus (novel coronavirus) keeps mutating, bringing new complications in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic. But although new variants will keep cropping up, experts say we shouldn’t worry too much yet, as mutations are expected in viruses, and so far, the vaccines still seem effective against them.“The good news is so far the vaccines work against the Delta variant,” said Dr. Maria Van Kerkhove, an infectious disease epidemiologist with the World Health Organization, at a press conference Monday.“But there may be a time when we have a constellation of mutations that arise in a variant where our vaccines actually lose their potency.”So far though, evidence from Public Health England shows that two shots of the Pfizer or AstraZeneca vaccine are good at preventing severe illness from the Delta variant. But the mutations keep coming. The latest viral mutation to make headlines is the “Delta plus” variant, which India has named a variant of concern due to the possibility that it transmits more easily. It’s a sub-lineage of the Delta variant, which has been gaining a foothold worldwide.According to a report from Reuters, at least one case of the new mutation has been identified in Canada, though the WHO says that it does not appear to be common around the world. Little is currently known about Delta plus, but studies are ongoing in India and globally to test the effectiveness of vaccines against this mutation.
The Pandemic Is Us (But Now Mostly Them) - Fifteen months ago, the SARS-CoV-2 virus unleashed Covid-19. Since then, it’s killed more than 3.8 million people worldwide (and possibly many more). Finally, a return to normalcy seems likely for a distinct minority of the world’s people, those living mainly in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, the European Union, and China. That’s not surprising. The concentration of wealth and power globally has enabled rich countries to all but monopolize available vaccine doses. For the citizens of low-income and poor countries to have long-term pandemic security, especially the 46% of the world’s population who survive on less than $5.50 a day, this inequity must end, rapidly — but don’t hold your breath. In the United States new daily infections, which peaked in early January, had plummeted 96% by June 16th. The daily death toll also dropped — by 92% — and the consequences were apparent. Big-city streets were bustling again, as shops and restaurants became ever busier. Americans were shedding their reluctance to travel by plane or train, as schools and universities prepared to resume “live instruction” in the fall. Zoom catch-ups were yielding to socializing the old-fashioned way. By that June day, new infections and deaths had fallen substantially below their peaks in other wealthy parts of the world as well. In Canada, cases had dropped by 89% and deaths by 94%; inEurope by 87% and 87%; and in the United Kingdom by 84% and 99%. Lately, the place that’s been hit the hardest by Covid-19 is the global south where countries are particularly ill-prepared. People with jobs that can be done by “working from home” constitute a far smaller proportion of the labor force than in wealthy nations with far higher levels of education, mechanization, and automation, along with far greater access to computers and the Internet. An estimated 40% of workers in rich countries can work remotely. In lower- and middle-income lands perhaps 10% can do so and the numbers are even worse in the poorest of them. During the pandemic, millions of Canadians, Europeans, and Americans lost their jobs and struggled to pay food and housing bills. Still, the economic impact has been far worse in other parts of the world, particularly the poorest African and Asian nations. There, some 100 millionpeople have fallen back into extreme poverty. Such places lack the basics to prevent infections and care for Covid-19 patients. Running water, soap, and hand sanitizer are often not readily available. In the developing world, 785 million or more people lack “basic water services,” as do a quarter of health clinics and hospitals there, which have also faced crippling shortages of standard protective gear, never mind oxygen andventilators.
Brazil hits 500,000 COVID-19 deaths as the Amazon Gamma variant accelerates virus contagion The number of coronavirus-related deaths passed 500,000 in Brazil on Saturday, BBC News reported. Brazil's COVID-19 death toll is the second highest in the world, only surpassed by the US. The infection rates are between 80,000 and 100,000 people every day, Sky News reported. But these are just the recorded figures. The real numbers, the media outlet said, could be up to four times higher. The situation, according to Brazilian public health institute Fiocruz, is now "critical." Experts have warned that the outbreak is set to worsen because of a combination of a slow vaccine rollout, the rapid spread of highly transmissible variants, and President Jair Bolsonaro's resistance to introducing social distancing measures. Only 11 percent of Brazilians are fully vaccinated, according to The New York Times World Vaccination Tracker. Bolsonaro, a vaccine skeptic who previously suggested that shots could turn people into crocodiles or bearded ladies, has faced criticism for the slow rollout. He initially touted unproven anti-malaria drugs and, according to a senator's testimony during a Senate inquiry, backed herd immunity over inoculation. Bolsonaro asked Pfizer on Tuesday to speed up the delivery of vaccines in a bid to speed up the disappointing rollout, Reuters reported. The outbreak is also being fueled by the rapid spread of highly transmissible variants, BBC News said. The Gamma variant, first discovered in the Amazon region, is more resistant to the effects of antibody treatment, according to CNN. Experts are concerned that the variant could significantly increase the rate of infections over the next few months. "Brazil faces a critical scenario of community transmission... with the possibility of worsening in the coming weeks due to the start of winter," Fiocruz, the public health institute, said. On Saturday, thousands of Brazilian's protested against Bolsonaro and his government's pandemic response. Local media reported that protests took place in all 26 Brazilian states as well as the capital Brasilia, Reuters said. Protesters were angry that Bolsonaro, amid a worsening COVID-19 situation, for downplaying the pandemic, ignoring mask-wearing guidance, and rejecting social distancing measures as job-killers.
More than 350 Indonesian healthcare workers vaccinated with China's Sinovac vaccine got COVID-19 and dozens are hospitalized, raising questions about the vaccine's efficacy on variants Amtrak just debuted - More than 350 Indonesian healthcare workers who were vaccinated with China's Sinovac vaccine caught COVID-19, , Reuters reported. While the majority of those who tested positive for the coronavirus were asymptomatic, dozens needed hospital care. Badai Ismoyo, head of the health office in the district of Kudus in Central Java, told the outlet that more than 90% of the facility's beds are occupied. 5,000 healthcare workers are currently dealing with the outbreak, about 7% of whom have become infected. It's likely that the outbreak is fueled by the more transmissible Delta variant, which originated in India. The number of workers testing positive has prompted officials to question how effective the Sinovac vaccine is against variants. The Delta variant can also result in more serious illness. It may also be able to evade protection from existing vaccines, as Insider's Aria Bendix reported. "The data shows they have the Delta variant (in Kudus) so it is no surprise that the breakthrough infection is higher than before, because, as we know, the majority of healthcare workers in Indonesia got Sinovac, and we still don't know yet how effective it is in the real world against the Delta variant," Dicky Budiman, an epidemiologist at Australia's Griffith University told Reuters. Last month, Indonesian health officials said the Sinovac vaccine was estimated to be 98% effective at preventing death and 96% effective at preventing hospitalization. The statistic came after 128,000 healthcare workers who were vaccinated were monitored between January and March and it was found that 94% of them hadn't caught symptomatic COVID-19. The efficacy rate from trials in Brazil was lower than that found by Indonesian officials, at 50.7% effective against symptomatic COVID-19. The study and trial did not look at the Delta variant. Indonesia recorded over 1.9 million infections with 53,000 deaths since the start of the pandemic. Doctors and nurses accounted for close to 950 deaths. They were the first to receive the Sinovac vaccine in January.
Indonesia records largest single-day jump in COVID-19 infections— Indonesian health authorities announced the country’s largest one-day jump in new coronavirus infections on Monday, as the number of confirmed cases since the pandemic began crossed 2 million.The Health Ministry reported 14,536 new infections and 294 deaths, bringing the country’s total confirmed fatalities to more than 54,950. Both the total cases and total deaths are the most in Southeast Asia.Indonesia, the world’s fourth most populous country,has seen infections surge in recent weeks, a climb that has been blamed on travel during last month’s Eid al-Fitr holiday as well as the arrival of new virus variants, such as the Delta version first found in India.The surge is putting pressure on hospitals, including in Jakarta, where 80 percent of hospital beds are full, and has added urgency to the government’s plan to inoculate 1 million people each day by next month. Authorities have so far only fully vaccinated 12.3 million of Indonesia’s 270 million people and partially vaccinated another 10.9 million. The World Health Organization last week said Indonesia’s drastic increase in hospital bed occupancy rates is a major concern and necessitates stricter public health and social measures, including large-scale social restrictions.The government has resisted a large-scale lockdown due to fears of the economic impact. Offices, restaurants. shopping malls and places of worship remain open, though at 50 percent of their capacity. “The situation is worrying,” said Riris Andono Ahmad, an epidemiologist at Gajah Mada University. “We are facing a second wave of COVID-19 with the most transmissible variant and the public’s low compliance with health protocols.”
UK records 9,284 new COVID-19 cases, amid rising trend -Britain on Sunday recorded 9,284 new cases of coronavirus and six deaths within 28 days of a positive Covid-19 test. Although lower than recent days, the number of new cases reflects an upward trend in recent weeks, driven by the spread of the more infectious Delta variant first detected in India.Mass vaccination events have taken place across London over the weekend as the government tries to quicken its advanced programme to limit the impact of the variant.Anyone over the age of 18 in England can book a vaccination. The government said on Sunday that 81.6 per cent of the adult population had received their first vaccine dose, while 59.5 per cent had been given both. Prime Minister Boris Johnson said last week he was delaying a planned reopening of the economy, originally due to happen on Monday, until July 19. Mr Johnson said that would allow more people to be vaccinated and reduce the risk of health services being overwhelmed.
Covid Counting Sees New Era as Threat Shifts Away From Cases --Before vaccination campaigns took off in the U.K., U.S. and Europe, a spike in cases almost invariably translated into a surge in hospitalizations and deaths over the course of several weeks. The strain on health systems left leaders little choice but to place curbs on public life, disrupting economies, and forced people with other medical conditions to delay important procedures.Now, scientists and government officials are keen to see whether the widening scope of vaccinations will finally break that cycle. Events in Britain are providing the most compelling test case to date. About 46% of the U.K. population is fully vaccinated, according to Bloomberg’s Vaccine Tracker, helping reduce daily deaths to the lowest level since last summer. Yet cases of the delta variant, a more transmissible strain first identified in India, almost doubled in the past week, Public Health England said Friday. Hospitalizations also ticked higher, though most of the patients haven’t been fully vaccinated.Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Monday postponed the end of lockdown measures by four weeks to allow more adults to receive a second vaccine dose, which data show significantly increases protection against the new strain. But even if the virus spreads further among children and non-vaccinated young adults, the true test of the immunization campaign will be whether hospitalizations and deaths stay low.If they do, Covid would begin to look less like an unmanageable pandemic, and more like a seasonal disease such as influenza. For policy-makers, that’s the goal.“We are aiming to live with this virus like we do with flu,” Health Secretary Matt Hancock told Parliament last week.
Delta Variant Cases Soar in U.K. With More People Hospitalized - Cases of the highly transmissible Delta COVID-19 variant almost doubled in a week across the U.K., with more people admitted to hospital. The number of laboratory-confirmed and probable Delta cases rose to 75,953, from 33,630 the previous week, Public Health England said Friday. About 99 percent of sequenced and genotyped cases across the U.K. are now the Delta variant. A total of 806 people had been admitted to hospital with the Delta variant as of Monday, an increase of 423 in a week, PHE said. Of the 806 patients, 527 were unvaccinated, while 84 had received the full course of two doses. The latest data are consistent with PHE’s analysis that two vaccine shots will keep about 9 in 10 people who catch the disease out of hospital on average. But it also illustrates that COVID-19 cases will still emerge even when the vaccine program has reached all adults, presenting a challenge the government as it seeks to reopen the economy. “We are aiming to live with this virus like we do with flu,” Health Secretary Matt Hancock told Parliament this week. Given the typical lag of some weeks between initial infection and death because of coronavirus, PHE warned that it is too early to judge the relative fatality rate of the delta variant compared with other strains. The majority of confirmed delta cases are within the last 28 days. The increase in cases “is primarily in younger age groups, a large proportion of which were unvaccinated but are now being invited to receive the vaccine,” Jenny Harries, chief executive of the U.K.Health Security Agency, said in the statement. “It is encouraging to see that hospitalizations and deaths are not rising at the same rate but we will continue to monitor it closely.”
COVID-19 cases surge in Britain as government considers ending restrictions weeks earlier than announced - COVID-19 cases are surging in Britain. Daily cases have risen more than fivefold in the last month. According to Public Health England (PHE) data out this week, case rates per 100,000 people continue to increase in all regions and age-groups. On May 17, the day most of the economy was reopened, 1,979 coronavirus cases were reported. A month later, on June 17, the daily case number was 11,007—the highest for almost four months. In the week to Friday 61,181 people tested positive, up 15,286 on the week prior. Deaths due to the disease are increasing after having finally reached zero in Britain on June 1 due to the rollout of the vaccination programme and limited lockdown measures. In the last week, 72 deaths have been reported, up 18 percent on the week before. The R (Reproduction) rate of the virus jumped in the last week in England from between 1 and 1.2 to between 1.2 and 1.4. The north-west had the highest rate at 1.3 to 1.5, with London’s surging from 1.1 to 1.4. According to data compiled for the last seven days by Worldometers, and based on official government figures, the UK’s 34 percent increase in cases is second only to Russia (40 percent) in Europe. The surge is being driven by the Delta variant of COVID-19, which just months after being detected in Britain has become the dominant strain. Delta was first detected on April 1, but the government did not make its existence public until April 15. A PHE report issued yesterday found that cases of Delta had increased by 80 percent in just the last week, making up 99 percent of all COVID cases nationwide. These figures torpedo claims made in the media this week that virus infections were levelling off. The assertions were made based on data from the ZOE Covid study app. However, the lead scientist on the app, Prof Tim Spector, has consistently played down the danger of the Delta variant. On May 20, Spector said that the Delta variant “hasn't altered numbers significantly”, adding, “While the outbreaks remain localised and UK numbers are steady and most cases appear mild, it’s highly unlikely to cause the NHS to be overrun or stop us coming out of lockdown [scheduled for June 21].” The reality was that the surge in COVID cases was such that even Boris Johnson’s government, which has overseen at least 152,000 deaths due to its herd immunity agenda, did not feel able to end all restrictions on June 21, with Parliament voting Wednesday to extend the deadline by a month.
Delta Variant Makes Up Nearly All New U.K. Coronavirus Cases -Nearly all new coronavirus cases in the United Kingdom are the Delta variant of the virus, a strain first identified in India and one worrying health officials in the United States, where it has been named a "variant of concern." Public Health England data shows that the Delta variant accounts for 99% of sequenced COVID-19 tests in the U.K. At least 33,630 cases of the variant were identified last week, bringing the U.K.'s total to at least 75,953 cases of the Delta strain. Data also shows that there is an increased risk of hospitalization with the Delta variant. As of June 14, PHE reports a total of 806 people in the hospital with the variant, an increase of 423 since last week. Despite its severity, PHE said that two doses of a COVID-19 vaccine provides more than 90% protection against hospitalization. Of those hospitalized with the variant, 527 people were unvaccinated and just 84 people of the 806 had received both doses of a COVID-19 vaccine. While PHE says the case fatality rate is low for the Delta variant, it acknowledges that it is "too early to judge the case fatality of Delta" compared to the previously dominant strain in the U.K., referred to as Alpha, or other mutations of the virus. Dr. Jenny Harries, chief executive of the U.K. Health Security Agency, said Delta cases are "rising rapidly across the country" and the "Delta variant is now dominant." "The increase is primarily in younger age groups, a large proportion of which were unvaccinated but are now being invited to receive the vaccine," Harries said. "It is encouraging to see that hospitalizations and deaths are not rising at the same rate but we will continue to monitor it closely. The vaccination program and the care that we are all taking to follow the guidance are continuing to save lives."
WHO says delta is becoming the dominant Covid variant globally - The Delta Covid-19 variant, first identified in India, is quickly becoming the dominant strain of the coronavirus worldwide, the World Health Organisation said. Soumya Swaminathan, the WHO’s chief scientist, said this was because of the Delta strain’s increased transmissibility. The variant has quickly spread across the UK and there have been warnings that it will become the dominant strain in the US and Germany. The Delta strain tore through India and was partially responsible for a decision to pause lockdown-easing measures in England. A top UK scientist warned on Saturday that a third wave of the virus is under way in the country after a 79 per cent rise in a week in Delta variant cases. “It’s going up, perhaps we can be a little bit optimistic it’s not going up any faster, but nevertheless it’s going up, so this third wave is definitely under way,” said Adam Finn, a member of the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation, which advises the UK government. “We can conclude that the race is firmly on between the vaccine programme, particularly getting older people’s second doses done, and the Delta variant third wave,” he told the BBC. Russia's capital Moscow on Saturday reported a record number of cases for the second day running, with 9,120 new infections in the previous 24 hours. Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said the Delta strain accounted for nearly 90 per cent of cases. The US’s Centres of Disease Control and Prevention had already said on Friday that the Delta variant was rapidly spreading across the country. “As worrisome as this Delta strain is with regard to its hyper-transmissibility, our vaccines work,” Rochelle Walensky told Good Morning America. “I would encourage all Americans, get your first shot, and when you’re due for your second, get your second shot and you’ll be protected from this Delta variant.” It followed similar warnings from German health officials. “It is really not a question of whether Delta becomes the leading variant, but only when,” said Lothar Wieler, the head of the Robert Koch public health institute. “It will have the upper hand in the autumn at the latest.” Health minister Jens Spahn cautioned that the strain could “call into question the successes in fighting the pandemic”.
Surging Delta variant already dominant in several European states -The highly transmissible Delta coronavirus variant is spreading rapidly across the European continent. The mutation initially emerged in India and is responsible for tens of thousands of deaths. It is already the dominant strain of Covid-19 in the UK, Portugal and Russia. The main B.1.617.2 strain of Delta first detected last October is one of several strains of Covid-19. It has now been identified in at least 74 countries according to a World Health Organization survey of local reports. Public Health England (PHE) has identified all three Delta variants—the original first spotted in India, as well as Delta-AY.1 and Delta-AY.2 as variants of concern. By June 18, PHE had detected 36 confirmed and two probable cases of Delta AY.1 infection in England. Delta-AY.2 has not yet been detected in Britain. Within weeks of being detected, the main Delta strain became dominant in the UK. According to latest figures it is responsible for at least 98 percent of new cases. Over the last seven days there have been around 10,000 new daily cases of Covid announced in Britain, with the virus allowed to surge due to the government reopening most of the economy on May 17. The number of new cases in the last week (68,449) marked a 31 percent increase on the 52,077 cases in the previous seven days. On Tuesday, another 11,625 new COVID cases were recorded, the highest number since mid-February and up nearly a thousand cases on Monday. Deaths are also edging up with Tuesday’s 27 coronavirus-related deaths comparing with five on Monday. The spread in Britain is being particularly fuelled by infections among school children and young people; only a tiny percentage of whom are vaccinated. On Tuesday, the Department for Education reported that nearly 250,000 children in England missed school over the last week for Covid-related reasons, including 9,000 children who have contracted the disease. According to epidemiologists, Delta is around 60 percent more transmissible than the Alpha variant (originally named the Kent variant—which itself became dominant in Britain within a few months in the autumn and rapidly spread globally. Initial data compiled in Britain confirms that the Delta variant increases the risk of hospitalisation by 2.2 times compared with Alpha. Europe recorded a further 5,770 Covid deaths last week with the vast majority of these (3,000) in Russia, where the Delta variant is already rife. In the last seven days to Tuesday only Russia with 111,796 infections on the continent recorded more Covid cases than Britain. This was a 29 percent increase on the week prior. Last Friday alone a record 9,056 new infections were logged in Moscow. The largest percentage increase in cases was recorded in Portugal which had 7,734 cases in the last week (compared with a 5,038 the week before)—a 54 percent increase.
Covid delta: WHO says variant is the fastest and fittest and will 'pick off' most vulnerable - The highly contagious delta variant is the fastest and fittest coronavirus strain yet, and it will "pick off" the most vulnerable people, especially in places with low Covid-19 vaccination rates, World Health Organization officials warned Monday. Delta, first identified in India, has the potential "to be more lethal because it's more efficient in the way it transmits between humans and it will eventually find those vulnerable individuals who will become severely ill, have to be hospitalized and potentially die," Dr. Mike Ryan, executive director of the WHO's health emergencies program, said during a news conference. Ryan said world leaders and public health officials can help defend the most vulnerable through the donation and distribution of Covid vaccines. "We can protect those vulnerable people, those front-line workers," Ryan said, "and the fact that we haven't, as Director-General [Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus] has said, again and again, is a catastrophic moral failure at a global level." The WHO said Friday that delta is becoming the dominant variant of the disease worldwide. The agency declared delta a "variant of concern" last month. A variant can be labeled as "of concern" if it has been shown to be more contagious, more deadly or more resistant to current vaccines and treatments, according to the health organization. Delta is now replacing alpha, the highly contagious variant that swept across Europe and later the U.S. earlier this year, Dr. Paul Offit, director of the Vaccine Education Center at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, said in a recent interview. Studies suggest it is around 60% more transmissible than alpha, which was more contagious than the original strain that emerged from Wuhan, China, in late 2019. "We need to vaccinate now. Get everyone vaccinated now," Offit said. Delta has now spread to 92 countries, Maria Van Kerkhove, the WHO's technical lead for Covid, said Monday. It now makes up at least 10% of all new cases in the United States, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and is on its way to becoming the dominant variant in the nation. The United Kingdom recently saw delta become the dominant strain there, surpassing its native alpha variant, which was first detected in the country last fall. The delta variant now makes up more than 60% of new cases in the U.K. WHO officials have said there were reports that the delta variant also causes more severe symptoms, but that more research is needed to confirm those conclusions. Still, there are signs the delta strain could provoke different symptoms than other variants. No variant has really found the combination of high transmissibility and lethality, but delta is "the most able and fastest and fittest of those viruses," WHO officials said Monday. "This particular delta variant is faster, it is fitter, it will pick off the more vulnerable more efficiently than previous variants, and therefore if there are people left without vaccination, they remain even at further risk," Ryan said. Van Kerkhove said, "unfortunately we don't yet have the vaccines in the right places to protect people's lives."
With eight million shots in a day, India tries to energize its vaccination effort. - India administered 8.6 million doses of Covid vaccines on Monday, setting a national record on the first day of a new policy that offers free vaccines for all adults and aims to energize a lackluster inoculation effort.Despite a slow start characterized by supply shortages and bickering between the states and central government, officials say that vaccine production and procurement are being accelerated to ensure that all of India’s roughly 950 million adults are fully vaccinated by the end of the year.Monday’s total was the most Covid shots given in a single day inany country besides China, and the surge may have been partly because the vaccines were widely available and free for the first time to those younger than 45.Local news reports have also suggested that Monday’s record may have been made possible by holding back vaccines in some states run by the governing party of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. In one state, Madhya Pradesh, the number of administered doses had shrunk to just 692 a day before the start of the new policy on Monday, when 1.6 million doses were suddenly administered.And the boost was probably temporary — available supplies suggest that it would be difficult to sustain such a pace over the coming weeks. India has increased the availability of doses to 120 million this month, from about 75 million in May. About 135 million doses are expected to be available in July. The inoculation drive relies almost entirely on two vaccines manufactured in India, and government officials have said that the companies behind those vaccines, the Serum Institute of India and Bharat Biotech, have promised to deliver a total of about 1.3 billion doses from August to the end of the year. The remaining doses are expected to come from other vaccines still under assessment or trial.
Delta Strain Spreads in U.S., India Dose Record: Virus Update -- India gave more than 8.5 million doses on Monday, setting a daily record for the nation. In Japan, where inoculation rates are expected to reach 200,000 people a day as companies help vaccinate employees, the Tokyo Olympics will limit the number of spectators to 10,000 people per venue.Singaporean authorities found 13 new cases locally, as the government widened mandatory testing in a large neighborhood outside the city center where a cluster has been expanding since mid-June. Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte threatened to jail those who refuse Covid vaccines.The highly contagious delta variant of the coronavirus is gaining steam in undervaccinated pockets of the U.S., according to a study. Coupled with accelerating cases in the South, the finding casts a pall on the inoculation effort in the country even though 150 million Americans have been fully vaccinated. Global Tracker: Cases exceed 178.6 million; deaths pass 3.87 millionVaccine Tracker: More than 2.66 billion doses administeredCovid counting sees new era as threat shifts away from casesMany Brazilians insist on Pfizer even with 500,000 deadCovid rebounds in U.S. south, with many shunning vaccinesIf Philippine President Duterte threat to jail those refusing Covid-19 vaccines is implemented it could be among the most severe measures to boost inoculations in a nation where majority are unsure of or reject vaccines.“If you’re a person who’s not vaccinated and a potential carrier, to protect the people, I have to sequester you in jail,” Duterte said late Monday. Village leaders should keep a list of those who refused to be vaccinated, he said. Indonesia earlier this year moved to punish those who refuse shots with fines or delayed aid. Singaporean authorities found 13 new coronavirus cases locally, as the government widened mandatory testing in a large neighborhood outside the city center where a cluster has been expanding since mid-June. Singapore has been pursuing a strategy of ringfencing clusters with aggressive testing as the authorities remain cautious over the loosening of restrictions. The government has said vaccination rates are still not high enough to warrant a faster reopening in Singapore, although it has achieved a key threshold of inoculating more than half of its population with a first dose.
Afghanistan grapples with a dwindling oxygen supply amid a surge in cases - Afghanistan’s medical oxygen supply is under serious strain, a government official said on Monday, as the country’s third wave of coronavirus cases pummels its already feeble health care system.“There is more need for oxygen, and the number of patients is too high,” said Dr. Osman Tahiri, an adviser in Afghanistan’s Ministry of Public Health. “We are worried that the situation may become more critical.”Dr. Tahiri said that the government had tried to contend with dwindling supplies by installing oxygen generators in hospitals in Kabul, the country’s capital, and in provinces across the country. That plan, he said, has been hampered by fighting in several areas.The shortage in oxygen was first reported by The Associated Press.The ministry recorded nearly 2,000 coronavirus cases and more than 70 deaths on Monday, part of an upward trend in the country in recent weeks, driven in part by new variants of the coronavirus. Last week, the government recorded the most deaths in a single day — 101 — since the start of the pandemic.The true death toll and number of new cases is probably far higher than those recorded by the government, as there is limited coronavirus testing in Afghanistan.The country’s problems extend much further than the recent coronavirus surge, however. This is especially true in the country’s more rural reaches where recent Taliban offensives have wedged many civilians in the crossfire between government and insurgent forces, and a dry winter has precipitated a coming drought.In some cases, road closures and gun battles at a key border crossing on the Tajikistan-Afghanistan border have stopped oxygen bottles from getting to hospitals.“The war has affected 100 percent of the oxygen supply and the roads are completely closed,” said Ihsanullah Fazly, director of health in Kunduz, a province in the country’s north that has been racked with fighting in recent days.The conflict and hoarding of oxygen supplies has also led to price gouging. “There is an atmosphere of fear of the virus in the country, so people buy oxygen beforehand, which has led to a lack of oxygen and even multiplied the price of oxygen,” Dr. Tahiri said.
In the Philippines, Rodrigo Duterte threatens to jail those who refuse shots. - President Rodrigo Duterte of the Philippines has threatened to send anyone who refuses a coronavirus vaccine to jail, as the country grapples with one of the worst outbreaks in Asia.“There is a crisis being faced in this country. There is a national emergency,” Mr. Duterte said during a weekly television program late Monday, which included an expletive-laced rant against those who chose not to get a vaccine.“If you do not want to get vaccinated, I will have you arrested,” Mr. Duterte added. “Don’t force my hand into it, and use a strong-arm method. Nobody wants that.”He continued on to urge anyone who did not want to be vaccinated to “leave the Philippines,” and go elsewhere, like India or America.Mr. Duterte, a strongman leader who has long used thuggery, threats and calls for violence as part of his political persona, said he was “exasperated” by citizens who chose not to heed the government on vaccination, before ordering all local officials to look for those refusing to be immunized.Edre Olalia, president of the National Union of Peoples’ Lawyers, said that jail time for those refusing shots would be illegal.“There is no law that specifically empowers the president to order such arrests for said reasons, even if this is a health emergency,” Mr. Olalia said.Mr. Duterte’s spokesman, Harry Roque, a former rights lawyer, said on Tuesday that in Philippine jurisprudence, a president can compel compulsory vaccination. But he said that this should be supported by legislation.The Philippines is struggling to tamp down one of Southeast Asia’s worst Covid-19 outbreaks, with the government on Monday reporting 5,249 new cases, bringing the total number of cases in the country to 1.3 million.
Coronavirus cases spike in Africa. ‘The India example is not lost to us.’With medical supplies depleted, vaccines scarce, doctors lamenting physical and mental fatigue and hospitals turning away patients for lack of beds or oxygen, health officials say they fear a wave like the one that ripped through India in April and May could be looming in western Kenya and other parts of Africa.All of Africa is vulnerable, as the latest wave of the pandemic sweeps the continent, driven in part by more transmissible variants. Fewer than 1 percent of Africa’s people have been even partly vaccinated, by far the lowest rate for any continent.“I think the greatest risk in Africa is to look at what happened in Italy earlier on and what happened in India and start thinking we are safe — to say it’s very far away from us and that we may not go the same way,” said Dr. Mark Nanyingi, an infectious disease epidemiologist at the University of Liverpool in Britain. He called a surge now gripping western Kenya a “storm on the horizon.”Covid-related deaths in Africa climbed by nearly 15 percent last week compared to the previous one, based on available data from almost 40 nations, the World Health Organization said. But experts say the true scale of the pandemic far exceeds reported figures in Africa, where testing and tracing remain a challenge for many countries, and many nations do not collect mortality data.In late May, before Kenya’s president and other leaders arrived to celebrate a major public holiday, health officials in Kisumu on Lake Victoria saw disaster brewing. Coronavirus cases were spiking, hospital isolation units were filling up and the highly contagious Delta variant had been found in Kenya for the first time — in Kisumu County. Local health officials pleaded with the politicians to hold a virtual event instead, but their objections were waved away. In the weeks since, all reports show an alarming surge in infections and deaths in the county of just over 1.1 million people, with the virus sickening mostly young people.
The virus is ravaging Colombia, where the death toll surpassed 100,000 - Colombia, where a surging coronavirus and a dearth of vaccines have led to widespread protests, has surpassed 100,000 recorded Covid-19 deaths, just the 10th country to pass that milestone.Colombia and the wider Latin American region have become emblematic of the global divide between richer nations like the United States, Britain and Israel, which have reliable access to Covid vaccines, and poorer ones that lack them and are left grappling with rising death tolls.The crisis has been particularly acute in South America, now home to seven of the 10 countries with the highest average daily death toll per person, according to a New York Times database. The list also includes Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, Peru, Suriname and Uruguay. On Sunday, the Covid-19 death toll in Brazil surpassed 500,000, putting it behind only the United States and India in the total number of deaths.The situation in South America is in sharp contrast with wealthier countries, where government officials have lifted emergency orders that require people to wear masks and practice social distancing.Colombia has been averaging more than 500 deaths per day since the spring, according to the Colombian Ministry of Health. On Monday, Colombia reported 648 deaths, another record.Less than 10 percent of Colombia’s population of about 51 million is fully vaccinated, public health data showed.Colombia’s surge has steadily been worsening for months. In the spring, Claudia López, the mayor of Colombia’s capital, Bogotá, warned residents that they should brace for the “worst two weeks” of their lives.The crisis has exacerbated public anger in Colombia, with demonstrations over a pandemic-related tax overhaul intensifying as the nation grapples with rising infections and deaths.There has also been an uptick in abuses by the national police force, with officers beating, detaining and killing protesters, sometimes opening fire on peaceful demonstrations and shooting tear gas canisters from armored vehicles, according to interviews by The New York Times with witnesses and family members of the dead and injured.
COVID deaths rise among Brazil’s Petrobras oil workers - Similar to what has been seen in factories, transport and other workplaces, refineries and oil platforms have an infection rate above the national average. In the month in which Brazil surpassed the grim milestone of half a million COVID-19 deaths, the workers of the state-run energy giant Petrobras are seeing the deaths of their colleagues skyrocket. According to monitoring by the Ministry of Mines and Energy (MME), there was a 125 percent increase in Petrobras workers’ deaths in the last two months, from 20 deaths as of April 5 to 45 deaths by June 15. A 27 percent increase in total infections among these workers was registered over this same period. So far, of the 46,416 direct workers at Petrobras, 7,205 (15.5 percent) have been infected with the virus, a proportion above the national average (approximately 8 percent). This survey, however, does not even include outsourced workers, which in many Petrobras units correspond to half or even most of the workforce. The government’s records also do not disclose information per production unit, which makes it difficult for workers to check and control this data. According to the accounting of the Unified Federation of Oil Workers (FUP), there are actually more than 80 workers who have died of COVID-19 at Petrobras since the beginning of the pandemic. Even in the face of rising infection and death rates, the company is preparing a return to on-site work for the approximately 20,000 employees of its administrative sector, who have been working remotely. The return is planned to happen gradually starting in July, coinciding with the peak of a third wave of COVID-19 infections and deaths in Brazil, according to leading scientists’ projections. In addition to the exposure of workers to infections and the lack of data on the real impact of the pandemic, Petrobras is being accused of promoting quack treatments for COVID-19, recommending drugs such as Ivermectin to its employees. The FUP says it has received reports from workers denouncing this practice and has lodged an official complaint through one of its local unions, the Sindipetro of Northern Rio de Janeiro, presenting as proof a prescription given to a worker.
The White House plans to send 3 million doses of Johnson & Johnson’s vaccine to Brazil on Thursday. -The White House said on Wednesday that the United States would send three million doses of Johnson & Johnson’s vaccine to Brazil on Thursday. The country’s virus cases and fatalities are surging again, with a death toll above 500,000.Less than a third of the country’s population has had at least one shot, and an average of 74,490 new cases per day were reported in the country in the last week — an increase of 26 percent from the average two weeks ago.The vaccines, which are set to arrive in Campinas, near São Paulo, are part of President Biden’s pledge to dispatch 80 million doses overseas by the end of the month, a White House official said. The official added that “scientific teams and legal and regulatory authorities” from the United States and Brazil had worked to secure the arrangement.The shipment to Brazil follows one to Taiwan last weekend: 2.5 million doses of Moderna’s vaccine. Mr. Biden, who has been under intense pressure to increase his vaccine commitments abroad, announced this month that his administration would buy 500 million doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine and distribute them among about 100 countries over the next year.Asked last week at a pandemic news conference whether the administration would send vaccines to Brazil, Jeffrey D. Zients, the White House Covid-19 response coordinator, said that the United States was working with other countries on complicated logistical issues, including securing needles, syringes and alcohol pads that would accompany the medicine.
Israel, a world leader in fighting the virus, grapples with a new outbreak.— Israel has been a trailblazer in the post-pandemic world, largely returning to normal in May following one of the world’s fastest vaccination drives.But dozens of new cases recently emerged at schools in two cities, Modiin and Binyamina, leading to hundreds of people being quarantined. Israel has made 12- to 15-year-olds eligible for vaccination, but many have yet to get shots.Despite the new outbreak, the country’s current death rate remains close to zero, and only 26 of 729 active coronavirus patients were hospitalized, according to data released by the Health Ministry. And the overall daily caseload remains far from the country’s peak in mid-January, when the average hit more than 8,000 daily cases.The containment effort has struggled to have an impact as the virus continues to spread through several cities. Many of those who contracted the virus had been vaccinated, according to the director general of the Health Ministry, Prof. Chezy Levy, though he did not specify if they had had one or two doses.The Delta variant is unlikely to pose much risk to people who have been fully vaccinated, experts have said. The country has relied on the two-dose mRNA vaccines made by Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna.Some Israeli officials and health experts have attributed the outbreaks to the Delta variant, and point to international travelers as a potential source of the outbreaks. According to Anat Danieli, a Health Ministry spokeswoman, the Delta variant had been identified in 180 samples as of last Sunday. But it was unclear how many of the new cases involved the variant, as the testing can take up to 10 days. Since last Saturday, the country’s rolling seven-day average of new cases has grown from fewer than 25 to more than 72, according tothe Our World in Data project at Oxford University. Before the recent outbreak, the daily caseload had fallen close to zero. About 57 percent of the country’s population has already been given two shots of Covid vaccine..
The Delta variant is likely to make up 90 percent of E.U. cases by late August, officials warn. - Residents of the European Union should be fully vaccinated against the coronavirus as quickly as possible this summer, the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control warned on Wednesday, as concerns grew that the contagious Delta variantwould sweep across the bloc.Andrea Ammon, the agency’s director, said the variant was expected to account for 90 percent of all coronavirus cases in the European Union by the end of August. The variant has already spread to 23 European countries; in some it is linked to a limited share of cases, but it is responsible for more than 66 percent of new cases in Portugal, which has faced a recent surge of infections. In Moscow, 90 percent of new cases are reported to be the Delta variant, according to the local authorities.“Unfortunately, preliminary data shows that it can also infect individuals that have received only one dose of the currently available vaccines,” Dr. Ammon said. “It is very likely that the Delta variant will circulate extensively during the summer, particularly among younger individuals that are not targeted for vaccination.”The Delta variant is unlikely to pose much risk to people who have been fully vaccinated, experts said. According to one recent study, the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine was 88 percent effective at protecting against symptomatic disease caused by Delta, nearly matching its 93 percent effectiveness against the Alpha variant. But a single dose of the vaccine was just 33 percent effective against Delta, the study found.After a sluggish start, the distribution of vaccines in the European Union has sped up in recent months. Even so, around 30 percent of residents over 80 years old and around 40 percent of those over 60 have yet to be fully vaccinated, according to the center.Most E.U. countries have not yet fully vaccinated one-third of their total populations: the average is about 27 percent.Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany said on Wednesday that her country’s entire population will have been offered at least one dose of a vaccine by Sept. 21 if vaccine deliveries arrive as planned.Public health officials have said that Delta may be 50 percent more contagious than Alpha, though precise estimates of its infectiousness vary. The European Center for Disease Prevention and Control estimates that Delta is between 40 and 60 percent more transmissible.
NY Times test finds no identifiable tuna DNA in Subway's tuna sandwich A New York Times analysis found no identifiable tuna DNA in Subway’s tuna sandwich, the newspaper reported over the weekend, citing tests conducted by a commercial lab. The Times bought 60 inches of Subway tuna sandwiches from three different Subway locations in Los Angeles. A reporter for the newspaper then removed and froze the tuna and sent it to an unidentified commercial food testing lab. The newspaper said it paid roughly $500 for the lab to conduct a PCR test to see if the substance had one of five different tuna species. After a month, the lab said it found “no amplifiable tuna DNA was present in the sample and so we obtained no amplification products from the DNA.” “Therefore, we cannot identify the species,” the lab said. Elaborating on the results, a spokesperson for the lab told the Times that there were two different conclusions. “One, it’s so heavily processed that whatever we could pull out, we couldn’t make an identification,” the spokesperson said. “Or we got some and there’s just nothing there that’s tuna.” Subway declined to comment to the Times on the lab results. The Hill has reached out to the company. The Times noted that the Food and Drug Administration identifies 15 species of nomadic saltwater fish that can be labeled “tuna.” The test comes as Subway faces a class-action lawsuit alleging that its tuna sandwich is not actually made of tuna. The suit was first filed in a California federal court in January. In an amended complaint dated June 7, the plaintiffs allege that Subway claims to sell sustainably caught skipjack and yellowfin tuna but was instead selling “anything less than healthy stocks.”
CDC investigating TB cases linked to tainted bone repair product used in more than 100 patients --Federal and state health officials are investigating a rare tuberculosis outbreak among more than 100 patients who may have been infected after having spinal surgery or fracture repairs this spring with a bone product contaminated with the bacteria that causes TB.The manufacturer of the bone repair product has recalled 154 containers of the material — a malleable bone putty that includes human cells and is used in a variety of orthopedic procedures. The products were shipped to 37 facilities in 20 states between March 3 and April 2, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.The product, made by Aziyo Biologics Inc., a regenerative medicine company, came from a single donor, or cadaver, the company said.Of the total, 136 were implanted into 113 patients, according to CDC officials. Eight patients died after their procedures, but the cause of death is still being determined, CDC spokeswoman Martha Sharan said Thursday. Aziyo said in a statement it is “continuing to collaborate with FDA and the CDC on an investigation into the matter and at the appropriate time, we will provide more information.”In the meantime, public health officials are recommending that the remaining patients who received these bone repair products be treated for tuberculosis even if they are not showing symptoms. Health-care providers are contacting 105 patients who used this product and all but four are being treated for the disease, the CDC said in a statement Thursday.States were able to sequester 18 of the affected products to prevent additional surgeries, the CDC said. The agency is investigating the outbreak with state health departments, the Food and Drug Administration and the companies that manufactured and distributed the product.
Your Makeup Is Probably Toxic. The U.S. Senate Is Trying to Protect You -High levels of a marker for toxic "forever" substances have been found in 52 percent of makeup products tested in a new study. Accordingly, the U.S. Senate has recently moved to ban them from cosmetics.According to CNN, per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are a class of man-made chemicals that are pervasive in modern life. They're widely used because they're resistant to heat, water and oil, thePennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (PA DEP) reported. A 2015 report by the CDC detected PFAS in the blood of 97 percent of Americans. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) believes most people have been exposed to them through food, water, clothing, furniture, etc. In homes, PFAS are most commonly found in non-stick cookware Teflon coatings, fast food wrappers, shampoo, detergent and paint. Outside the home, they're used in carpeting, commercial aircrafts, firefighting foams and more.The EPA believes these chemicals lead to adverse health effects in humans. PFAS are endocrine disruptors and can interfere with natural hormones in people's bodies. PFAS have also been linked to cancer, thyroid disease, liver damage and decreased fertility. The toxins even increase the risk of severe coronavirus. PFAS are often called "forever" chemicals because they do not readily degrade or break down in the environment with air, sun or water, the PA DEP reported. They also persist and bioaccumulate in humans and animals over time, increasing multiple health risks.A recent study of makeups found that 52 percent of products surveyed in the United States and Canada showed high levels of a marker for PFAS. In cosmetics, the forever chemicals are intentionally added to make skin appear shiny or to create consistent, smooth products, CNN reported. The study, published in the journalEnvironmental Science & Technology Letters, found the highest levels of PFAS in waterproof mascara (82 percent), foundations (63 percent) and long-lasting lipstick (62 percent). "It's a little shocking and hopefully a wake-up call for the cosmetics industry in terms of how widespread the PFAS contamination is across types of makeup products," "PFAS chemicals are not necessary for makeup. Given their large potential for harm, I believe they should not be used in any personal care products," the study's co-author Arlene Blum said in a press statement. In response to the study, the U.S. Senate introduced the "No PFAS in Cosmetics Act," a bill that would ban the addition of PFAS into cosmetics. According to CNN, the proposed act would direct the FDA to issue a proposed rule banning the intentional addition of PFAS in cosmetics within 270 days of enactment, with a final rule to be issued 90 days thereafter.
OSHA will not investigate death of independent contractor in Iowa farm tank dive -The federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) will not investigate the death of independent contractor Bob Baenziger Jr., 54, of East Moline, Illinois after he died June 8 while performing a dive to repair a broken cable at the bottom of a million-gallon anaerobic digester tank at Sievers Family Farm in Stockton, Iowa. Anaerobic digesters, or biodigesters, are enclosed structures used on farms worldwide to break down manure and other organic matter with bacteria in the absence of oxygen. The digester captures methane gas released by the bacteria in the process, which can then be burned for heating and electrical power.OSHA’s rejection of an investigation was first reported in the press on Thursday. Iowa OSHA, the state-level regulator, will not investigate either, as it falls under the same limitations as the federal agency. As an independent contractor, Baenziger was exempt from OSHA inspections. Because the farm where he worked at the time of his death officially had fewer than 10 employees, it was not subject to Iowa OSHA regulations, according to administrator Russell Perry, who spoke to The Gazette of Cedar Rapids, Iowa .Baenziger was an experienced diver who had been trained in the US Army, according to his mother, who was interviewed by The Gazette. He worked for many years diving to repair offshore oil wells. He spent his entire adult life working, according to his son Quinton, who spoke to the Dispatch -The refusal of OSHA to investigate Baenziger’s death came as potentially serious safety violations on the part of Sievers Family Farm came to light. Before he died in the tank, Baenziger’s fiancée, Eliza Bisbee, who accompanied him, attempted to pull him up after he relayed to her through radio communications that he was removing his helmet, according to Scott County Sheriff’s Captain Joe Caffery. According to Caffery, only Baenziger’s helmet surfaced after Bisbee tried to pull him up through the waste with a rope.
EPA to review part of cancer-linked chemical regulation after industry request --The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) will reconsider decisions underlying a rule governing emissions of a chemical that it has deemed carcinogenic following a request from an industry group.The agency told stakeholders in letters dated last week that it would reconsider its risk information for ethylene oxide, a chemical the EPA currently says is carcinogenic if it is inhaled. The EPA also said it would reconsider its prior decision not to use a much lower risk finding from the state of Texas as an alternative risk value. The backstory: Last year, the American Chemistry Council (ACC), a trade group representing chemical manufacturers, petitioned the EPA to both reconsider its risk information system value for ethylene oxide and to consider the Texas assessment. Environmentalists have raised concerns about the Texas finding and sued in an attempt to compel the state to release the documents used as the technical basis for it. And what do people think??? The ACC praised the Biden administration’s move to reconsider these parts of the rule in a statement. Environmental advocates argued that some good could come from the EPA’s current review if it affirms its existing risk value, and they hope the agency would use that affirmation to strengthen the rule. But some have also expressed worry that they still are waiting to find out if the Biden administration will take stronger action to protect people.
EPA chief reinstates science advisory board he dismantled (AP) — The head of the Environmental Protection Agency said Thursday he has fully reinstated one of two key advisory boards he dismantled earlier this year in a push for “scientific integrity” at the agency. The new seven-member Clean Air Scientific Advisory Committee features four scientists who have served on the panel previously — including two who were on the board when it was dismantled in March. The five women and two men on the panel include three people of color, making it the most diverse panel since the committee was established more than 40 years ago.“From the very beginning of my tenure, I have committed to ensuring that science is restored as the backbone of everything EPA does to protect people and the environment from pollution,” EPA Administrator Michael Regan said in a statement. The new advisory panel will provide “credible, independent expertise to EPA’s reviews of air quality standards that is grounded in scientific evidence,″ he said.Regan has said that advisers appointed under the Trump administration were overly friendly to business, adding that his March 31 “reset” of the clean-air panel and the Science Advisory Board would return EPA to its practice of relying on advice from a balanced group of experts.Regan’s overhaul removed more than 45 members of the two advisory boards, including some whose terms do not expire this year. The panels provide scientific expertise and recommendations for air quality standards and other policies intended to protect public health and the environment.The new chair of the clean-air committee is Lianne Sheppard, a professor in environmental and occupational health sciences and biostatistics at the University of Washington. Sheppard, who has expertise in epidemiology, biostatistics and exposure assessment, served on the committee from 2015 to 2018.Other members include James Boylan, an air protection official with the Georgia Department of Natural Resources. Boylan served on the panel under President Donald Trump and was on the committee when it was dismantled, along with Dr. Mark Frampton, a physician and professor emeritus in medicine at the University of Rochester Medical Center.Judith Chow, a professor in atmospheric sciences at the Nevada=based Desert Research Institute, served on the panel from 2015 to 2018.Also serving on the committee are Michelle Bell, environmental health professor at Yale University; Christina Fuller, associate professor of environmental health at Georgia State University; and Alexandra Ponette-González, associate professor of geography and the environment at the University of North Texas.Members of the much larger Science Advisory Board have not been selected. Both panels pay stipends to members for their service.
Should California Turn Contaminated Land Into Affordable Housing? - In a busy five-acre industrial pocket of Lincoln Heights, north of Downtown Los Angeles, zigzagged with metro lines and freeways and car-choked roads, developers plan to build a 468-unit apartment complex called the Avenue 34 Project. But the project, which provides 66 units for “very low income” households, can’t escape the area’s polluted legacy. That’s because the site sits adjacent to Welch’s former industrial dry cleaners that operated for nearly 70 years. During that time, massive amounts of toxic chemicals and solvents, including possible carcinogens like trichloroethylene (TCE) and perchloroethylene (PCE), leaked or were dumped into the soil and groundwater, requiring extensive cleanup. The Department of Toxic Substances Control (DTSC) recently ordered the developers to conduct tests on the proposed building site, which detected elevated levels of these same chemicals, among others. A group of local residents and environmental advocates, however, insist that if it hadn’t been for the concerted pressure they placed on the DTSC, construction on the project would likely have already started with a different soil testing plan that left the community potentially vulnerable to toxic exposures. “The DTSC did not fulfill their responsibility,” says Angelo Bellomo, former deputy director for health protection for the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health, about the agency’s job policing the site. Indeed, just last November, the DTSC wrote that it “does not believe that residual chemicals in soil or groundwater beneath the Former Welch’s Uniform Facility pose a risk to future occupants” at the proposed development. Further evaluations are believed to have begun to better understand the scope of the potential contamination. The story of Avenue 34 unfolds at a time when the city and state are grappling simultaneously with a dire need to provide housing for a vast homeless diaspora and a filthy industrial legacy left by businesses that have been poorly regulated for decades. More pointedly, the competing forces behind Avenue 34 — a fervent push toward inner-city building along with concerns over lax regulatory oversight — also capture the kinds of arguments surrounding state plans to clean up many other polluted lands dotted around California.
Worrying insights into the chemicals in plastics --Every year, more than 350 million tonnes are produced worldwide. These plastics contain a huge variety of chemicals that may be released during their lifecycles - including substances that pose a significant risk to people and the environment. However, only a small proportion of the chemicals contained in plastic are publicly known or have been extensively studied. A team of researchers led by Stefanie Hellweg, ETH Professor of Ecological Systems Design, has for a first time compiled a comprehensive database of plastic monomers, additives and processing aids for use in the production and processing of plastics on the world market, and systematically categorized them on the basis of usage patterns and hazard potential. The study, just published in the scientific journal Environmental Science & Technology, provides an enlightening but worrying insight into the world of chemicals that are intentionally added to plastics.The team identified around 10,500 chemicals in plastic. Many are used in packaging (2,489), textiles (2,429) and food-contact applications (2,109); some are for toys (522) and medical devices, including masks (247). Of the 10,500 substances identified, the researchers categorized 2,480 substances (24 percent) as substances of potential concern."This means that almost a quarter of all the chemicals used in plastic are either highly stable, accumulate in organisms or are toxic. These substances are often toxic to aquatic life, cause cancer or damage specific organs," explains Helene Wiesinger, doctoral student at the Chair of Ecological Systems Design and lead author of the study. About half are chemicals with high production volumes in the EU or the US.In fact, 53 percent of all the substances of potential concern are not regulated in the US, the EU or Japan. More surprisingly, 901 hazardous substances are approved for use in food contact plastics in these regions. Finally, scientific studies are lacking for about 10 percent of the identified substances of potential concern. Wang stresses that even more chemicals in plastics could be problematic. "Recorded hazard data are often limited and scattered. For 4,100 or 39 percent of all the substances we identified, we were not able to categorize them due to a lack of hazard classifications" he says.
Mystery Disease Killing Hundreds of Birds in Six States + DC -- A mysterious ailment is killing off hundreds of birds in at least six states and the nation's capital, and wildlifeexperts don't know why.The strange disease was first widely observed in Washington, DC, Virginia, Maryland and West Virginia in late May, according to the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). Since then, it has also spread to Ohio, Kentucky and Indiana, the Evansville Courier & Press reported."This is truly scary," Jim Monsma, who runs the Washington, D.C.-based rescue organization City Wildlife,told DCist. "We don't see the light at the end of the tunnel, as it were, yet. And it's just every day more and more birds."Monsma said his organization had dealt with 174 dead or ill birds as of June 15. The birds brought to City Wildlife suffer from seizures, loss of balance, swelling, crusty eyes and blindness. These same symptoms are being observed in wildlife departments across the U.S. South and Midwest."They'll just sit still, often kind of shaking," Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources avian biologist Kate Slankard told NBC News. "It's pretty safe to say that hundreds of birds in the state have had this problem."The most often-afflicted species are blue jays, common grackles and European starlings. However, the ailment has also been observed in American robins and Northern cardinals, among others, Indiana Department of Natural Resources ornithologist Allisyn-Marie Gillet told the Evansville Courier & Press. No one yet knows what is causing the outbreak. Samples gathered in Indiana tested negative for both bird flu and West Nile virus. One possibility is that the disease is linked to the emergence of Brood X cicadas, Smithsonian Migratory Bird Center ornithologist Brian Evans told DCist. The disease has been observed in the same states as the cicadas, and emerged at around the same time. If this is the case, it could be that the birds are being harmed by an insecticide or a pesticide present in the cicadas, or by a fungus that is attacking the insects. For Evans, this would actually be a close-to-best-case scenario. "A population can take a once-every-17-year hit without any major long-term impact to the population,"
Large birds are dropping from heat stroke in Arizona as temperatures near 120 degrees - Temperatures are nearing 120 degrees in parched Arizona, and the heat is causing the state’s large raptors to drop from heat stroke.As many as 20 birds a day are being treated this week by Arizona raptor rescue agencies, including large birds found sitting in traffic.The Arizona Department of Public Safety reported Thursday a state trooper stopped to investigate a pile of “debris” on Interstate 17 near Camp Verde, and discovered it was a delirious golden eagle. The bird — about the size of a beagle — wasunable to fly.“Turns out this blazing heat was to blame,” Arizona Game & Fish officials posted on Facebook.The National Weather Service declared an “excessive heat warning” for southern Arizona this week, due to “dangerously hot conditions” in the afternoons. Temperatures have topped 100 degrees many days this month and are predicted to rise as high as 118 degrees in coming days, NWS forecasters say.Arizona-based raptor rescue Wild At Heart says the golden eagle rescued off Interstate 17 is one of a growing number of “heat stressed” birds it is treating. The eagle was “overheated” rather than injured and recovered after receiving a fluid IV and meal, officials said.“With 20 raptor intakes today, WAH had its busiest day of 2021 so far as this heat wave is really taking a toll on the young birds,” the agency reported Thursday.“Please put out water for our young birds that can’t fly yet to water and all the birds and wildlife that need shade and water to survive this summer.”Extreme heat in Arizona has also been known to cause some species of hawks to leave the nest too early, leaving them stuck on the ground and unable to fly, according to Tucson Audubon Society. The agency says concerned people should avoid picking up the fallen hawks “unless they are in imminent danger from a predator. Their parents are nearby and are taking care of them.”
Hundreds of thousands of salmon dying in 'climate catastrophe' - Hundreds of thousands of juvenile Chinook salmon are dying off in a large Northern California river, threatening tribal communities in the region that depend on the fish for their livelihoods and traditions, according to SFGate. The deaths of the fish in the more than 250-mile Klamath River is a consequence of the state’s historic drought. Low water levels in the river have allowed a deadly parasite known as Ceratonova shasta to thrive in the waterway and infect large numbers of salmon. Typically, sufficient water flows rushing down the river kept the parasite population in check. The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation also decided against releasing water from a dam on the Upper Klamath Lake to increase water flow. The Yurok Indian Reservation is located on a 44-mile stretch of the river, and the tribe’s fishery department monitors salmon populations. Last month, the tribe warned that the massive disease outbreak has put the salmon on a path to extinction. “Right now, the Klamath River is full of dead and dying fish on the Yurok Reservation,” Frankie Myers, the Yurok Tribe’s Vice Chairman, said in a statement. “This disease will kill most of the baby salmon in the Klamath, which will impact fish runs for many years to come. For salmon people, a juvenile fish kill is an absolute worst-case scenario,” he said. Each year the Yurok Fisheries Department monitors the river for the deadly parasite. Officials said more than 70 percent of the juvenile Chinook salmon it recently trapped were dead. The tribe said the Klamath fish runs have been some of the lowest on record over the last five years. “The impacts are very real to the people here on the Klamath River. We understand these fish aren’t going to return in the numbers we need them to be when they come back as adults to feed the tribe and to support the local businesses and the local fisherman,” he told the outlet.
U.S. Navy Detonates 40,000-Pound Bomb off Florida Coast - Marine mammal experts this week expressed deep concern over the potentially devastating effects of the U.S. Navy's recent detonation of 40,000 pounds of explosives off the Atlantic coast of Florida on sea life, while progressive observers blasted what they called the government's misplaced spending priorities.The Navy set off the massive blast — which registered as a magnitude 3.9 earthquake on shore — on June 18 about 100 miles off Palm Coast as the first in a series of full ship shock trials on the USS Gerald R. Ford, a $12.8 billion nuclear-powered aircraft carrier commissioned in 2017."The U.S. Navy conducts shock trials of new ship designs using live explosives to confirm that our warships can continue to meet demanding mission requirements under harsh conditions they might encounter in battle," the Navy explained in a press release.The statement claimed the explosion occurred "within a narrow schedule that complies with environmental mitigation requirements, respecting known migration patterns of marine life in the test area."The region is home to various marine mammal species including bottlenose dolphins, humpback whales, and North Atlantic right whales. While whales are not typically seen off the northern Florida coast in June, marine experts nevertheless expressed alarm over potential harm to mammals and other sea life."The Navy's own modeling indicates that some smaller species of marine mammals would be expected to die within one to two kilometers of the blast, and that some marine mammal species would suffer injury including hearing loss out to 10 kilometers of the blast," Michael Jasny, director of the Natural Resources Defense Council's (NRDC) Marine Mammal Protection Project, told The Guardian. "That gives some sense of the power of the explosives we are talking about."
Study Warns of Severe Drying in Amazon Rainforest -Researchers at the University of Leeds in Britain published new research Tuesday — World Rainforest Day — showing that massive swaths of the eastern Amazon are at risk of severe drying by the end of this century if greenhouse gas emissions are not reduced.Analyzing the results of 38 known Amazon climate models, researchers found that large quantities of carbon dioxide would be released from the forest into the atmosphere as a result of drying, exacerbating the greenhouse gas effect and further fueling climate change.Severe droughts in the Amazon would also adversely affect the rainforest's water cycle, biodiversity, and Indigenous peoples who live there."People in Brazil and across the globe are rightly concerned about what the future holds for the Amazon, and its valuable store of carbon and biodiversity," said study lead author Jessica Baker of the School of Earth and the Environment at Leeds University. "The Amazon is at risk from the twin threats of deforestation and climate change.""This new study sheds light on how the Amazon climate is likely to change under an extreme warming scenario," Baker continued. "It should ring alarm bells for governments around the world that this vital global resource must not be taken for granted. Protecting and expanding existing forests — which absorb and store carbon — is of paramount importance to combating climate change." "This study shows that dry season rainfall reductions in parts of the Amazon could be similar to the drying seen during the major Amazon droughts of 2005 and 2010, which caused widespread tree mortality and had major impacts for Amazon communities," Coelho added. A 2019 study by researchers at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California revealed that the atmosphere above the Amazon rainforest has been drying out over the past two decades, primarily as the result of human activity, leaving critical ecosystems increasingly vulnerable to fires and drought.
Telegraph Fire Slowly Grows to 180K Acres, Damages 52 Structures - While the growth rate of the Telegraph Fire in Arizona has decreased, it has burned over 180,000 acres as of Monday. --According to an update posted on the InciWeb national wildfire information system, the Telegraph Fire has burned 180,685 acres and is currently 67 percent contained. The fire has damaged/destroyed at least 52 structures and its cause is listed as human but remains under investigation.On June 16, fire officials reported on InciWeb that the Telegraph Fire burned at least 148,299 acres, making it the sixth largest wildfire in Arizona history. While the fire's size increased by nearly 40,000 acres since June 16, it's growth has slightly slowed as its size increased by less than 1,000 acres since Sunday.Containment of the fire has continued to teeter near 70 percent as fire officials said it was 68 percent contained last week, then 58 percent contained on June 16."Overnight, favorable weather conditions decreased fire activity and pushed the fire away from Government Springs Ranch, as well as communities and infrastructure along Dripping Springs Road and State Route 77. The southeast corner of the fire on Mescal Mountain remained active," fire officials wrote in an InciWeb update on Monday morning. "Firefighters continued to monitor the fire and potential threats to the electrical transmission lines supplying the San Carlos Apache communities. The fire continued to back down with low intensity through pine stands on Pinal Mountain."According to the most recent update on Monday, fire officials issued a "Go" evacuation order for residents in Dripping Springs, Wind Spirit, Hagen Ranch, Slash S Ranch, Government Springs, urging them to evacuate immediately. In addition to the Telegraph Fire, fire officials in Arizona are also currently battling the Pinnacle Fire, located near the Santa Teresa Wilderness on the Coronado National Forest, approximately 18 miles south of Bylas, Arizona.
Northeast China rivers reach historic levels amid persistent heavy rain --Persistent heavy downpours have caused 13 rivers to rise to record levels in parts of northeastern China, the Ministry of Water Resources reported Saturday, June 19, 2021. As of Tuesday, June 22, provincial authorities in Heilongjiang upgraded to a level two emergency response.Several parts of northeastern China have been hit by incessant heavy rains since last week, prompting authorities to warn people of flooding as water levels in the region's rivers reach historic levels.The ministry said 13 rivers, mostly in Heilongjiang, have hit above-normal water levels. The affected rivers included the main stream and tributaries of the upper reaches of Heilongjiang, the Emur River, Pangu River, and Huma River, and the Dobukur River and Gan River, the upper tributaries of the Nenjiang River in Inner Mongolia.Five rivers, including the Luogu River, a section of the upper reaches of Heilongjiang and its tributaries, Emur, Pangu, and Dobukur, a tributary of the Nenjiang River, have all surpassed highs last recorded decades ago.In some areas, flash flooding swept away bridges and submerged farms along the riverbanks.According to China News, the current average precipitation in the Heilongjiang River Basin is reportedly the highest since 1961.Since May, the average rainfall in the basin has reached 155 mm (6 inches), which is almost twice the previous record.On Monday, around 500 residents in Huma County were evacuated after authorities raised the flood emergency response to the highest level.
Illinois tornado 2021: Naperville, Woodridge and Darien residents continue to clean up storm damage - ABC7 Chicago -- Neighbors are helping neighbors clean up after the strong EF-3 tornado whipped through Naperville, Woodridge, Darien, and Burr Ridge Sunday night. Naperville police kept watch all night to make sure the area remains safe. One house was reduced to rubble. Though there is damage to homes on either side, those homes are still standing, an example of the random nature of this storm.A Naperville couple had to be rescued from under the debris of their destroyed home after a EF-3 tornado hit the western suburb late Sunday night. The grandparents in the home were sleeping upstairs when the tornado hit late Sunday night. Firefighters were able to rescue them buried under the rubble. Amazingly, they survived. The cleanup process in Woodridge is fully underway after Sunday's EF-3 tornado. At least 100 homes were damaged and many areas are still littered with trees. Given all of the damage, it is remarkable no one was seriously hurt. On Janes Avenue, there is much work to be done. Twelve-month-old Violet is one of the youngest tornado survivors. She and her parents rode out the storm in a laundry room in their home with no basement. "She was with us when our roof flew off and our windows came in," said tornado survivor Alexis Reeder. "And I'm sorry, I'm going to start to cry. And she, and we were OK. He jumped on top of us, and we hunkered down."
LIVE UPDATES: 130 Homes Damaged In Tornado In West, Southwest Suburbs As Dangerous Storms Hit Chicago Area Sunday Night – CBS Chicago — Severe and dangerous thunderstorms brought a tornado to the ground late Sunday night and brought heavy rain and dangerous wind to the entire Chicago area. Monday morning, residents in Naperville and Woodridge area waking up to extensive damage after a tornado touched down. CBS 2’s Charlie De Mar found tree limbs stacked more than 6 feet high in Woodridge, where many customers also remained without power. In Naperville, CBS 2’s Jermont Terry encountered many people shaking their heads in disbelief at the devastation – with tree limbs stacked high, and homes boarded up after being cleared out on one side of a street while homes were completely unaffected on the other side. A light pole was even left bent more than 90 degrees from its original upright position. Indeed, the path of destruction was evident, yet the resilience of the community was overshadowing. While no tornadoes touched down within the city of Chicago Sunday night, there was some damage in some neighborhoods. In Gage Park near 53rd Street and Homan Avenue, fierce winds did a lot of damage to trees and cars. Volunteers from My Block, My Hood, My City stepped in – working late into the evening to help neighbors. A second tornado has been confirmed as part of the storms that pounded the Chicago area Sunday night and left a path of destruction. In addition to the EF-3 tornado that hit Woodridge and Naperville, the National Weather Service also confirmed another EF-0 tornado with winds of 85 mph, from just north of downtown Plainfield to Mistwood Golf Course in Romeoville.
Tornado sweeps through suburban Chicago, causing damage - ABC News- A tornado swept through communities in heavily populated suburban Chicago, damaging more than 100 homes, toppling trees, knocking out power and causing multiple injuries, officials said. There was relief Monday, though, as authorities reported that it appeared no one had died. Less than a dozen people were hurt in the tornado that touched down after 11 p.m. Sunday, and all were expected to recover. At least eight people were hospitalized in Naperville, where 22 homes were left “uninhabitable" and more than 130 homes were damaged in the suburb of 147,500 people that’s about 25 miles (40 kilometers) west of Chicago. Two people initially described in critical condition had improved by Monday afternoon, said Naperville Fire Chief Mark Puknaitis. “It could have been a lot worse, I will say that,” Puknaitis said. “When you look at the destruction that has occurred over this five square block area or so, it’s amazing that we can stand here and report that we only had eight people that were transported to a hospital.” Officials in the nearby village of Woodridge said a tornado damaged at least 100 structures. The village’s fire chief said three people were taken to hospitals, but he could not provide more detail on their injuries during a Monday press conference. Woodridge Police Chief Brian Cunningham said early warnings likely minimized the number of injuries. “It was a nighttime event, a lot of people were sleeping, weren’t aware of what was going on,” he said. “The early warning got people to shelter. And the fact that there’s only three people injured and the amount of devastation that’s in the community, it’s just amazing." The storm destroyed the second floor of Bridget Casey’s Woodridge home. She sat in a lawn chair in the driveway before sunrise Monday. Her 16-year-old son, Nate, said he was watching TV when the storm swept through and he raced to help his mother get his three younger siblings to the basement. Mayor Gina Cunningham called the damage to homes and other property in the village “extensive.” “I’m just emotional because it is devastating to drive through the community that I grew up in and worked in and share with so many wonderful neighbors,” she said. The tornado was confirmed by radar, and a team with the National Weather Service began surveying damage Monday to determine its strength and path. The agency said one tornado likely caused damage in Naperville, Woodridge and Darien.
Severe thunderstorm spawns destructive tornado in Belgium (video) Severe thunderstorms struck parts of Belgium on Saturday, June 19, 2021, leaving 92 homes severely damaged and 17 people injured. Heavy downpours also triggered flooding in portions of Flanders. A tornado reportedly struck the town of Beauraing in Namur Province, injuring 17 people and leaving as many as 92 houses severely affected, 10 of which were declared unfit for habitation. More than a dozen cars were damaged. The local cultural center provided shelter for residents whose homes sustained damage. "The wind was incredibly strong. Houses and cars got damaged, trees were uprooted," Beauraing Mayor Marc Lejeune told Francophone public broadcaster RTBF.According to VRT's weather presenter Frank Deboosere, the phenomenon could either be a local tornado or a strong downwind, which was triggered by the massive downpour that created a downward air movement. In Rochefort, a dozen homes and a church lost their roofs due to strong winds. In Saint-Servais, a house was set on fire after being struck by lightning. In Hainaut, various reports of flooding were sent, including around Péruwelz, Leuze-en-Hainaut, and Lessines. The fire services had to attend to 40 calls for help. InEast Flanders, local thunderstorms caused damages, particularly in the Oosterzele, Wetteren, and Aalst regions. The fire services received about 90 calls to intervene, mostly about flooded cellars.
Deadly tornado leaves path of destruction in Auckland, New Zealand - A devastating tornado struck South Auckland, New Zealand, on Saturday, June 19, 2021, killing one person and leaving a trail of destruction. Around 62 houses have been deemed uninhabitable and 32 people were evacuated from their homes. Clean-up continued in the area on Monday, June 21. The tornado touched down around 20:00 UTC (08:00 LT), ravaging houses and injuring at least two people in the region. 62 houses have been destroyed and about 32 people spent overnight in emergency accommodations. Power outages were reported on Freyberg Avenue. On Ballance Avenue, a house had its roof ripped apart and windows shattered, but the family chose to sleep among the rubbles, fearing their properties might be looted if they left. "The windows were shaking, so I went to check the front door and the door just flew open... like it nearly came off the hinges. So I ran to my friends and got them to get under the table. I thought it was an earthquake," said Roy Rogers, the homeowner. "Within the span of 30 seconds, it was already gone. I opened the door, and just saw the devastation." Debris was scattered all over the area, with mounds of twisted metal, branches, roof tiles, and guttering seen outside homes. Streets were filled with shattered windows, toppled chimneys, downed powerlines, and cars squashed. A devastating tornado struck South Auckland, New Zealand, on Saturday, June 19, 2021, killing one person and leaving a trail of destruction. Around 62 houses have been deemed uninhabitable and 32 people were evacuated from their homes. Clean-up continued in the area on Monday, June 21. The tornado touched down around 20:00 UTC (08:00 LT), ravaging houses and injuring at least two people in the region. 62 houses have been destroyed and about 32 people spent overnight in emergency accommodations. Power outages were reported on Freyberg Avenue. On Ballance Avenue, a house had its roof ripped apart and windows shattered, but the family chose to sleep among the rubbles, fearing their properties might be looted if they left. "The windows were shaking, so I went to check the front door and the door just flew open... like it nearly came off the hinges. So I ran to my friends and got them to get under the table. I thought it was an earthquake," said Roy Rogers, the homeowner. "Within the span of 30 seconds, it was already gone. I opened the door, and just saw the devastation." Debris was scattered all over the area, with mounds of twisted metal, branches, roof tiles, and guttering seen outside homes. Streets were filled with shattered windows, toppled chimneys, downed powerlines, and cars squashed. "It's... a lot more long term. We can clean all this up now, but with holes in the roof and with the rain, because it's winter, it's just going to carry on building up with droplets inside... so we're going to have to fix that," said Rogers. On Freyberg Ave, the tornado threw parts of resident Julie Wharton's carport into her son's bedroom. He escaped by lying flat on the floor. Auckland Council building inspectors assessed hundreds of homes, while volunteers delivered food parcels to the affected residents. As of Monday, Auckland Emergency Management was still cleaning the debris. A contractor named Janesh Prasad died in the scene after being picked up by the twister and thrown against an object.
Deadly tornado hits Mascouche in southern Quebec, Canada -- (videos) A tornado killed one person in Mascouche near Montreal in southern Quebec, Canada, the deputy premier and minister of public safety confirmed Monday, June 21, 2021. Several dozen buildings were damaged and many others were injured. Dozens of people were cleaning up debris from their damaged homes in the aftermath of a tornado in Mascouche on Monday. On some residential streets between Route 125 and Highway 25, shingles were missing from roofs, power lines were downed, trees split down the middle, and trampolines suspended on sheds as firefighters worked to block off downed lines. The twister killed one man, who may have taken shelter in his shed, according to Mascouche police. His neighbors added that he didn't seem to have time to make it into his house as the incident happened so fast. "He was really nice; in winter, he always helped everyone with snow removal," said one of his neighbors, Mathieu Hamel. The tornado ripped the top of Hamel's house, which was several months into an expansion he and his partner have been working on. Hamel added that their four children, all under 10, were on the bus on their way home from school when they witnessed the tornado lift their house into the air.
Destructive storms bring giant hail, tornado and flooding to parts of France (videos) Severe storms pummeled parts of France over the weekend into Monday, June 21, 2021, bringing flooding rain, giant hailstones, and a tornado that resulted in damages and one person missing. Around 44 000 lightning strikes were recorded.In Saint-Nicolas-de-Bourgueil, a tornado inflicted damage to a chuch in Indre-et-Loire village. Fallen stoneworks collapsed into cars underneath, smashing windscreens. Trees and vines were also ravaged. No injuries were reported.In Vercel-Villedieu-le-Camp, hailstones the size of tennis balls wrecked through car windows. Heavy rains triggered flooding while strong winds caused material damage in Essonne in Ile-de-France, and in Reims, Grand Est. Widespread flooding submerged roads in the northeastern city of Reims as downpours continued. Power outages also occurred in some areas.According to Reuters, which dubbed the storm's aftermath as France's "darkest day" -- around 44 000 lightning strikes were recorded during the storm's onslaught. An 18-year-old man remains missing as of Tuesday morning, June 22, according to local news Courrier Picard. Fire services had to attend to 400 calls for emergency. More storms are forecast to sweep the country on Tuesday, Meteo France warned.
Major tornado hits Czech Republic, causing massive destruction - (videos) A powerful storm accompanied by hail and a major tornado hit communities near the city of Hodonin in South Moravia, Czech Republic on June 24, 2021. Several hundred homes have been damaged or destroyed, more than 200 people injured and an unknown number killed. This is the strongest tornado to hit the country in modern history.The twister completely destroyed the village of Lužice, half of Hrušky and parts of Moravská Nová Ves, Mikulčice and three others. According to a Czech Television meteorologist, the tornado may have reached F3 or 4 strength, making it the strongest tornado to hit the Czech Republic in modern history and the first since 2018. Local reports mention 200 people injured and at least 5 killed. Sadly, many are still believed buried under debris or trapped in flooded homes.The storm left more than 121 000 customers without power.Firefighters said they received hundreds of calls for help, adding that they are overloaded. Interior Minister Jan Hamáček said all units of the integrated rescue system are moving to the Hodonin region.Help is also coming from neighboring Austria and Slovakia.The deputy prime minister is urging citizens to stay at home as more storms could hit the region.
Two violent tornadoes hit China, destroying homes and claiming at least 8 lives - At least two large and violent tornadoes touched down in China on June 25, 2021, destroying homes, tossing cars, and leaving at least 8 people dead. Local authorities fear the death toll will continue to rise. Survey teams are on the scene today.The first violent tornado hit Baochang in Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, destroying many homes and leaving at least 6 people dead.According to extreme weather enthusiast Eric Wang, the tornado made EF3+ damage. "There are tons of houses damaged or destroyed." The second violent tornado hit Guyuan in Hebei Province minutes later. There are reports of homes completely gone and brick facilities vanished. "I've heard another two fatalities attributed to this one," Wang said.
Claudette regains tropical storm strength over Carolinas after killing 13 in Alabama, U.S.Claudette regained its tropical storm status on Monday morning, June 21, 2021, as it neared the coast of the Carolinas. This was after the storm left at least 13 people dead in Alabama; widespread damage and flooding in the neighboring states of Mississippi and Louisiana; and about 13 000 homes and businesses without power across the Florida Panhandle. Tropical Storm Claudette formed at 09:00 UTC on Saturday, June 19, as the third named storm of the 2021 Atlantic hurricane season. It made landfall in southeast Lousiana but weakened into a depression as it turned northeastward before moving through Mississippi, Georgia, and Alabama. The storm brought gusty winds, flash flooding, and several tornadoes to much of the Southeastern U.S., with areas in Alabama and Mississippi as the worst hit. Several areas of the Gulf Coast were flooded as Claudette moved across land throughout the day. Several tornadoes caused major damage and left dozens injured in Alabama."We've got probably about 50 homes pretty much destroyed," said Escambia County Sheriff Heath Jackson. Two people were critically injured and two mobile home communities were badly affected, he added. At least 13 people died in the state of Alabama. According to Butler County Coroner Wayne Garlock, 10 of the victims-- nine of whom were children-- were involved in a multi-vehicle collision on Saturday. The children were in a van for a youth home for the abused when it likely hydroplaned, said Garlock. In a separate incident, a 24-year-old father and his 3-year-old son died in their house after a fallen tree struck the residence in Tuscaloosa County. A 23-year-old woman also lost her life after her car ran off the road into a flooded creek, DeKalb County Deputy Coroner Chris Thacker told WHNT-TV. Search operations are underway for a man believed to have fallen into floodwaters in Birmingham. Crews were using boats to search Pebble Creek. Tornadoes were also reported in several areas. In Pace, Florida, several houses were damaged. No injuries were reported. Wind gusts of up to 130 km/h (80 mph) were recorded in Pensacola Beach, where some windows were blown away and at least one hotel and a tractor-trailer blew over on the I-10. Highways and bridges were closed throughout the region, including portions of Highway 90 between Biloxi and Pass Christian, Mississippi. Flooding and sand engulfed much of the roadway, while elevated homes in Hancock were surrounded by floodwaters. In Sidell, Louisiana, police deployed rescue vehicles due to widespread flooding. "We are currently clearing/have cleared approximately 40 to 50 vehicles out of the roadways due to them being flooded with water," said authorities. "Last night/early this morning, we had to rescue multiple people from their flooded cars, along with a woman, who was on her way to the hospital, possibly going into labor." The storm left around 13 000 homes and businesses without electricity across the Florida Panhandle counties of Santa Rosa and Escambia. Downed trees, power lines, and damaged buildings were reported after high winds and a possible tornado struck Saturday morning. According to the National Hurricane Center (NHC), Claudette regained its tropical storm status and is located around 104 km (65 miles) east-southeast of Raleigh, North Carolina, packing maximum sustained winds of 65 km/h (40 mph) as of 09:00 UTC (05:00 LT) on Monday, June 21.
‘People are wiped out’: Costs pile up as hurricane season begins | Southerly -Hurricanes, a winter storm, and spring floods have left low-income Gulf Coast residents exhausted and cash strapped before this year’s season, with no significant aid in sight. When Chrishelle Palay inherited her great-aunt’s home in Kashmere Gardens, a flood-prone neighborhood in northeast Houston, there was still damage from Hurricane Harvey. Water had seeped into the kitchen and family room floors; the roof was leaky. The house was insured by Allstate, but Palay discovered her aunt’s policy didn’t cover water damage. Then, the company dropped the house, claiming the roof was too old to qualify for coverage. “We had to find a new policy and company, even though my aunt had been with this company for 15 years,” said Palay, the executive director of the Houston Organizing Movement for Equity Coalition, which helps low-income communities with hurricane recovery. The new policy required a $4,000 upfront fee for flood insurance. “Most families don’t have that [money], especially in my neighborhood,” she said. “They’re left exposed and vulnerable to the environment.” In Kashmere Gardens and other low-income communities across the Gulf Coast, families are still recovering from past storms—Harvey in 2017, Imelda in 2019, Laura and Delta in 2020, flash flooding this spring. Experts predict 2021’s hurricane season to have several severe hurricanes. Coastal residents have found themselves perpetually caught between storm preparation and recovery, which are both costly. Prior to hurricane season, emergency managers recommend gathering several days’ worth of food and water and extra necessary medication. People are encouraged to buy storm shutters, generators, and carbon monoxide detectors, often during state tax holidays so the equipment is tax-free. But these items still aren’t cheap—and for some low-income households, they are unaffordable luxuries.
60 percent of banana crops in Colima wiped out by Tropical Storm "Dolores" Tropical Storm "Dolores" -- the 4th named storm of the 2021 Pacific hurricane season -- made landfall just northwest of the town of Punda San Telmo, near the border of the Mexican states of Colima and Michoacán, on June 19, 2021, with maximum sustained winds of 115 km/h (70 mph) and a minimum central pressure of 990 hPa. Days of heavy rain ahead of landfall -- brought by the precursor of Dolores synchronized with the precursor of Tropical Storm "Claudette" -- affected widespread areas of southern Mexico, including Oaxaca, Guerrero, and Michoacan, and Central America, causing rivers to overflow and leaving at least 2 people dead. While only minimal infrastructural damage was reported as Dolores made landfall, at least 232 downed trees were reported in Colima, and up to 400 mm (15.75 inches) of rain. According to the president of Banana Producers in the state of Colima, Gustavo Arceo Solis, banana producers in the state are in a very critical situation. "Dolores brought floods and strong winds which downed more than 60% of the crops, which is irreversible damage... more than 90% of the flowers were damaged," Solis said. "We are talking about around 9 000 ha (22 240 acres) of bananas in the state of Colima, especially in the region of Cerro de Ortega, Tecoman and part of Madrid and Caleras, which is where we have to most damage and where the most banana production exists in the state." Solis said about 35 000 families in Colima live, directly or indirectly, from banana cultivation. The state's banana production was already in dire condition due to severe drought, but now with this additional damage, the price of bananas in the state will rise.
Very thick Saharan dust cloud moving over the Mediterranean into Italy and SE Europe - (graphics, satellite images) A very thick Saharan dust cloud is moving over the Mediterranean Sea into Italy and Southeast Europe over the past couple of days. Coupled with exceptionally high temperatures affecting the region, this dust is contributing to lower visibility, respiratory issues, and lower Air Quality Index. The worst affected on June 23 are Sicily and southern Italy, most of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Albania, and western Greece. On June 24, dust cloud will spread over large parts of SE Europe, including Slovenia, Croatia, and Serbia. The worst affected on June 25 will be southern Italy and western Greece.
Suwanosejima ejects large rocks 1 km (0.62 miles) from the crater, Japan - Suwanosejima volcano erupted at 15:04 UTC on June 22, 2021 (12:04 JST, June 23), ejecting large rocks as far as 1 km (0.62 miles) from the crater and prompting the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) to raise the Volcanic Alert Level from 2 to 3 (on a scale of 1 - 5). At this level, residents of Toshima Village and tourists are advised to refrain from entering the danger zone. A smaller explosion occurred at the volcano's Otake crater at 01:54 UTC on June 21, ejecting large volcanic material 900 m (2 959 feet) NW of the crater. The explosions intensified and became more frequent on June 22, with 5 explosions within 6 hours. The volcanic ash plume rose up to 1 200 m (3 940 feet) above the crater -- this is 1 996 m (6 550 feet) a.s.l. JMA warned the volcano has the potential to eject big rocks within about a 2 km (1.2 miles) radius of the crater.
Violent lava fountains at Etna, ash rises up to 10 km (32 800 feet) a.s.l., Italy - Increased activity continues at Etna volcano, Italy, with numerous violent paroxysmal eruptive episodes and ash rising up to 10 km (32 800 feet) above sea level. Over the past couple of days, the Aviation Color Code was mostly Red. Strombolian activity at the Southeast Crater increased again at 23:50 UTC on June 24. This activity gradually evolved into lava fountaining by 01:00 UTC on June 25. A lava overflow was recorded at 01:15 UTC, spreading in an SW direction. Lava fountaining episode ended at 01:48 UTC but weak Strombolian activity continued. The eruptive cloud reached a height of about 8.5 km (27 900 feet) above sea level, drifting east of the volcano. Lava effusion continued at the southeastern side of the Southeast Crater, feeding two main lava flows of which the longest one is at an estimated altitude of 2.7 km (8 860 feet) a.s.l. The Aviation Color Code was raised to Red at 09:29 UTC on June 24, during previous paroxysms, and lowered back to Orange at 04:34 UTC today. A 10 km (32 800 feet) tall eruption column was recorded late afternoon (UTC) on June 24
New slow-slip event detected near Gisborne, New Zealand - A slow-slip event started around June 14, 2021, near Gisborne, New Zealand and models suggest several cm of movement has occurred at the plate boundary so far. This is the second slow-slip event off the coast of North Island since the May 2021 event near Porangahau. GeoNet scientists have so far measured about 2 cm (0.8 inches) of eastward displacement at the on-land GPS site at Gisborne. The slow-slip record at Gisborne has shown regular events every 1 - 2 years with much larger events every 4 - 6 years. The last event of similar size near Gisborne occurred in April – June 2019. During that slow-slip event, GeoNet recorded many small-to-moderate earthquakes in the area, including a M5.1 quake near Mahia Peninsula. "We expect to see a similar pattern of small earthquakes near Gisborne for this current slow-slip event, in line with what has been observed during previous events," said Laura Wallace, GNS Science Geophysicist. A cluster of about 60 small earthquakes was detected north of Gisborne over the past two weeks, coincidental to the timing of the slow-slip event. Five of these have been over M3. The largest was a magnitude 4.2 on Wednesday, June 16 that wasn't widely felt. Most of these events have been unnoticeable. This is the second slow-slip event off the coast of North Island since the Porangahau event of May 2021. "Even though these two East Coast slow-slip events are a couple of hundred kilometers apart, we often see such events clustering in time. For example, a series of slow-slip events like this occurred in 2011 and 2016," Wallace said. The Pōrangahau event lasted for about 2 weeks and finished up in early June. In addition, GeoNet has located 50% more earthquakes in this region in the last month. "Our scientists had been anticipating the Pōrangahau slow-slip event, as there is a record of one happening in the region about every five years," Wallace said. GeoNet has located 50% more earthquakes in the Pōrangahau region in the last month.
Many feared dead after Florida beachfront condo collapses - ABC News - A wing of a 12-story beachfront condo building collapsed with a roar in a town outside Miami early Thursday, killing at least one person and trapping residents in rubble and twisted metal. Rescuers pulled out dozens of survivors and continued to look for more.Nearly 100 people were still unaccounted for at midday, authorities said, raising fears that the death toll could climb sharply. But officials did not know how many were in the tower when it fell around 1:30 a.m. “The building is literally pancaked,” Surfside Mayor Charles Burkett said. “That is heartbreaking because it doesn’t mean, to me, that we are going to be as successful as we wanted to be in finding people alive.” Hours after the collapse, searchers were trying to reach a trapped child whose parents were believed to be dead. In another case, rescuers saved a mother and child, but the woman’s leg had to be amputated to remove her from the rubble, Frank Rollason, director of Miami-Dade Emergency Management, told the Miami Herald. Video showed fire crews removing a boy from the wreckage, but it was not clear whether he was the same person mentioned by Rollason. Gov. Ron DeSantis, who toured the scene, said television did not capture the scale of what happened. Rescue crews are "doing everything they can to save lives. That is ongoing, and they’re not going to rest,” he said. Teams of 10 to 12 rescuers were entering the rubble at a time with dogs and other equipment, working until they tire from the heavy lifting, then making way for a new team, said Florida Chief Financial Officer Jimmy Patronis, the state’s fire marshal.
Miami-Dade building collapse: At least 1 dead, almost 100 unaccounted for in Surfside, Florida, officials say – CNN - An intense search and rescue effort is underway after part of a 12-story residential building collapsed early Thursday in the South Florida town of Surfside, killing at least one and leaving almost 100 people unaccounted for. About 55 of the 136 units at Champlain Towers South collapsed around 1:30 a.m., officials said, leaving huge piles of rubble and materials dangling from what remained of the structure in the beachfront community a few miles north of Miami Beach. At least 99 people were unaccounted for as of Thursday afternoon, according to Miami-Dade Police spokesperson Alvaro Zabaleta. At least one person died because of the collapse, Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava said. Two people have been pulled from the rubble, Miami-Dade Fire Rescue Assistant Chief Ray Jadallah said, without addressing their medical conditions. Rescuers helped a boy from the debris alive, a witness said, and video showed responders helping others leave the standing portions of the building, sometimes using a bucket atop a fire truck's ladder. "We still have hope to be able to identify additional survivors," Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis told reporters near the scene. "The state of Florida, we're offering any assistance that we can." Besides the two pulled from rubble, 35 others had been helped from standing parts of the building, Jadallah said. Surveillance video obtained by local Fox Sports radio anchor Andy Slater appears to show the collapse: A huge section of the building fell first, followed by another portion about nine seconds later. A resident on the third floor, Barry Cohen, heard what he thought sounded like an explosion. His apartment was intact, but when he opened his door and tried to leave, he "looked down the hallway ... and there was nothing there," he said. After about 20 minutes, a rescue crew used a cherry picker to help him, his wife and another resident from a balcony, he said.
Collapsed Miami condo had been sinking into Earth as early as the 1990s, researchers say –A Florida high rise that collapsed early Thursdaywas determined to be unstable a year ago, according to a researcher at Florida International University. The building, which was constructed in 1981, has been sinking at an alarming rate since the 1990s, according to a 2020 study conducted by Shimon Wdowinski, a professor in the Department of Earth and Environment at Florida International University. When he saw the news that the condo had collapsed, he instantly remembered it from the study, Wdowinski said. “I looked at it this morning and said ‘Oh my god.’ We did detect that,” he said. Wdowinski said his research is not meant to suggest any certainty about what caused the collapse of the condominium. The building was sinking at a rate of about 2 millimeters a year in the 1990s, and the sinking could have slowed or accelerated in the time since. In his experience, Wdowinski said even the level of sinking observed in the 1990s typically results in impacts to buildings and their structures. He believes that very well could have been the case for the Champlain building in the 1990s, based on his findings. “It was a byproduct of analyzing the data. We saw this building had some kind of unusual movement,” Wdownski said. But Daniel Deitch, who served as Surfside’s mayor from 2010-2020, warned against drawing conclusions too soon. “This is an extraordinarily unusual event and it is dangerous and counterproductive to speculate on its cause,” he said.
Sea level rise due to climate change eyed as contributing factor in Miami-area building collapse - As the search for survivors of the collapse of a 12-story beachfront condominium in Surfside, Fla., continued on Friday, building experts began looking at the possibility that sea level rise caused by climate change may have contributed to the disaster that has left at least four people dead and 159 missing. From a geological standpoint, the base of South Florida’s barrier islands is porous limestone. As the oceans encroach on land due to sea level rise and the worsening of so-called king tides, groundwater is pushed up through the limestone, causing flooding. That brackish water, which regularly inundates underground parking garages in South Florida, can potentially lead to the deterioration of building foundations over time. “Sea level rise does cause potential corrosion and if that was happening, it’s possible it could not handle the weight of the building,” Zhong-Ren Peng, professor and director of the University of Florida’s International Center for Adaptation Planning and Design, told the Palm Beach Post. “I think this could be a wakeup call for coastal developments.” While it is too early to say whether climate change is to blame for the collapse of the 40-year-old Champlain Towers South, or if it also threatens thousands of similar structures along Florida’s coastline, sea levels rose by 3.9 inches between 2000 and 2017 in nearby Key West, according to a 2019 report by the Southeast Florida Regional Climate Change Compact. Future projections are much more dire. “Just using the U.S. government projections, we could be at 11 to over 13 feet [of sea level rise] by the end of the century,” Harold Wanless, director of the University of Miami’s geological sciences department and a leading expert on sea level rise, told Yahoo News. “There’s only 3 percent of Miami-Dade County that’s greater than 12 feet above sea level.” The Champlain Towers South, which had been built on reclaimed wetlands, was found to have sunk by roughly 2 millimeters per year between 1993 and 1999, the Washington Post reported. Though federal and state investigators will attempt to pinpoint the cause of the collapse, rising seas and flooding from king tides (exceptionally high tides that occur during a full or new moon) will certainly be examined as a possible contributing factor. But even if climate change is ruled out as a significant contributor to this particular instance of structural failure, there is no avoiding the fact that if seas continue to rise, the habitability of much of South Florida will be put in question.
Can The Fate Of Dolphins and Louisiana’s Fishing Industry Stop A $50 Billion Mississippi River Diversion Plan? - The tide is turning against Louisiana’s proposed $2 billion Mississippi River sediment diversion project, that supporters say is needed to save the coast from rapid land loss due to subsidence, damage done by the oil and gas industry, extreme weather events, and sea level rise quickened by climate change.The proposed Mid-Barataria sediment diversion project, is a key part of the state’s $50 billion master plan to restore the rapidly eroding coast. If constructed, the diversion is designed to let the river’s natural land building process restore Louisiana’s disappearing marshland.The state says it must be built, as it is the best chance for restoring the coast. A growing number of opponents of the project, however, see it as a risky, expensive experiment that, rather than creating the meaningful coastal restoration, will degrade the country’s most productive estuary, harming dolphin populations and the region’s fishing industry.Earlier this year, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the federal agency responsible for issuing a permit for the project, released a draft Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) on March 5 which is largely supportive of the diversion project. The Corps found that the projected benefits of creating up to 28 miles of self-sustaining marsh in the rapidly eroding Barataria Basin outweigh the likely negative impacts. This includes increasing flooding for those who live near where the project is slated to be constructed, including the Black community in Ironton, and killing off a large portion of bottlenose dolphins along with brown shrimp and oysters in the country’s most productive estuary.“The Army Corps is part of the problem,” Acy Cooper, head of the Louisiana Shrimp Association, said at a recent meeting about the project. He doesn’t think the agency should play a role in making a decision about it; he blames the Army Corps for what he describes as the mess at the mouth of the Mississippi River where there is rapid land loss and a growing deadzone where the river’s polluted river water enters the Gulf.The diversion project was designed by the Louisiana Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority (CPRA), a state agency formed in the aftermath of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita and tasked with developing a master plan to rebuild and protect the state’s rapidly eroding coast. It plans to open a section of the Mississippi River levy on the West bank of lower Plaquemines Parish and build a channel through it that will reconnect the Mississippi River to Barataria Bay, an area where the river previously deposited land-building sediment before levees were built over a hundred years ago. The diversion will have a controlled, gated system that allows operators to control the flow of water and sediment from the river into Barataria Bay. It will mimic the spring floods that were common before levees were built to contain the river — floods and sediment that built the Mississippi Delta in the first place.
Industrial waste, unplanned urbanization blight Turkey’s Sea of Marmara - The marine mucilage, or sea snot, that first started to appear in the Sea of Marmara in January, mostly on Istanbul’s shores, has continued to spread over the past months. It recently covered the coasts of almost all the provinces that have a coast to the Sea of Marmara and brought a major environmental disaster to the surface. When marine mucilage was first seen on the beaches, it was thought to be just a layer over the sea. However, scientists have explained that its greatest impact takes place underwater. The mucilage layer on the bottom particularly affects sea creatures. The layers seen on the surface prevent sea creatures from getting the necessary oxygen, causing them to die. Thus, the entire marine ecosystem is rapidly disappearing. Alice Alldredge, an expert on marine mucilage and a professor emeritus at University of California, Santa Barbara, told The Scientist: “Sea snot is a colloquial term for the mucus that is exuded by a lot of different phytoplankton species.” She added: “[t]he main problem is that the material eventually sinks and completely smothers the organisms that are on the bottom. It kills corals, it kills fish, it kills all the crustaceans down there, the bivalves—it kills pretty much everything because there’s not enough oxygen.” Studies have shown that the pollution is not limited to the Marmara Sea, which is an inland sea. The pollution has been seen both in the neighboring Aegean and Black Seas. Like all environmental problems, it ignores artificial national boundaries and has an international character. Alldredge said: “There have been scum events like this in the Adriatic [Sea] going back to the 1800s. … It seems these events are increasing in the Mediterranean. It used to be just the Adriatic, in the area around Sicily. Now, there’s been some events up around Corsica and the Italian-French border. So, it’s not just Turkey that’s suffering from this.” Scientists agree that this mucilage originates from industrial and urban wastes that have been dumped into the Marmara Sea for decades, as well as from climate change. If comprehensive measures are not taken soon, Marmara will turn into a completely dead sea.
Arctic heat roasts Finland and Russia, melts sea ice -- An intense and expansive heat wave has gripped parts of Siberia, northwestern Russia and Scandinavia, inducing a record plunge in sea ice cover in the Laptev Sea, which is part of the Arctic Ocean. Due largely to human activities such as fossil fuel burning and deforestation, the Arctic is warming at a rate more than twice as fast as the rest of the globe. Sweeping changes there are reverberating beyond in the form of melting permafrost, increased wildfires and altered weather patterns. In addition, sea ice melt is turning the Arctic into an increasingly competitive space for shipping, oil and gas drilling, and military posturing between the U.S., Russia and China. The details: In parts of north-central Siberia, temperatures have reached 45°F above average for this time of year, while other parts of Arctic Russia and Scandinavia have baked in record heat as well.
- Some of these same areas saw record heat and wildfires grip the landscape and melt adjacent sea ice last year.
- In Helsinki, the temperature did not drop below 72.5°F on the night of June 21-22, setting the national record for the highest minimum temperature recorded in June.
- Several locations in Finland set monthly June high-temperature records, and the national June record almost fell Tuesday.
- Record heat also affected Belarus and Latvia.
Scientists are keeping close tabs on climate trends in Siberia due to the massive amounts of carbon and methane stored in now-melting areas of permafrost.Also, researchers are monitoring the 2021 Arctic sea ice melt, which will hit its annual minimum extent in September or early October.
Ground Temperatures Hit 118 Degrees in the Arctic Circle - Newly published satellite imagery shows the ground temperature in at least one location in Siberia topped 118 degrees Fahrenheit (48 degrees Celsius) going into the year’s longest day. It’s hot Siberia Earth summer, and it certainly won’t be the last.While many heads swiveled to the American West as cities like Phoenix and Salt Lake City suffered shockingly hot temperatures this past week, a similar climatological aberrance unfolded on the opposite side of the world in the Arctic Circle. That’s not bizarre when you consider that the planet heating up is a global affair, one that isn’t picky about its targets. We’re all the target!The 118-degree-Fahrenheit temperature was measured on the ground in Verkhojansk, in Yakutia, Eastern Siberia, by the European Space Agency’s Copernicus Sentinel satellites. Other ground temperatures in the region included 109 degrees Fahrenheit (43 degrees Celsius) in Govorovo and 98.6 degrees Fahrenheit (37 degrees Celsius) in Saskylah, which had its highest temperatures since 1936. It’s important to note that the temperatures being discussed here are land surface temperatures, not air temperatures. The air temperature in Verkhojansk was 86 degrees Fahrenheit (30 degrees Celsius)—still anomalously hot, but not Arizona hot.But the ground temperature being so warm is still very bad. Those temperatures beleaguer the permafrost—the frozen soil of yore, which holds in greenhouse gases and on which much of eastern Russia is built. As permafrost thaws, it sighs its methane back into the atmosphere, causingchasms in the Earth.Besides the deleterious effects of more greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, the permafrost melting destabilizes the Siberian earth, unsettling building foundations and causing landslides. It also exposes the frozen carcasses of many Ice Age mammals, meaning paleontologists have to work fast to study the species that thrived when the planet was much colder. For all the talk of reanimating the woolly mammoth, one’s got to remember: the place they knew is long gone.The same region also suffered through a heat wave that led to a very un-Siberian air temperature reading of 100 degrees Fahrenheit (38 degrees Celsius) exactly a year ago to the day from the new freak heat. It’s the hottest temperature ever recorded in the region. It was also in the 90s last month in western Siberia, reflecting that the sweltering new abnormal is affecting just about everywhere. And it’s not just the permafrost suffering; wildfires last year in Siberia pumped a record amount of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, ensuring more summers like this are to come.
NASA: Earth Is Absorbing an 'Unprecedented' Amount of Heat - Ominous new research shows that the Earth is taking in a shocking amount of heat. In the past 15 years, the amount of incoming solar radiation trapped on the surface and in the oceans has doubled.The findings, published in Geophysical Research Letters by scientists at NASA and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, are a deafening klaxon that the planet is rapidly shifting outside the boundaries that have allowed civilization to thrive.The Earth’s energy balance is climate science 101. (It was actually a presentation on it that drew my wife into the field, so thank you for studying it, scientists.) The Earth is just like you and me. It has a budget. It absorbs energy from the sun and emits an equal and opposite amount of energy back into space, much like an average person gets paid and then uses that money to pays bills. However, the Earth’s budget is becoming increasingly unbalanced.Scientists at NASA and NOAA decided to study this energy imbalance, which is currently just 0.3%, meaning the planet is currently taking up more energy from the sun than it’s putting back into space. That energy has to dosomething here on Earth, and the end result is generally more heat. To gauge how that imbalance has changed since 2005, the researchers pulled satellite data looking at the top of the atmosphere and a network of autonomous floats that gather data in the upper 6,561 feet (2,000 meters) of the ocean. The former shows what kind of energy is coming and going while the latter offers a look at where 90% of the world’s heat gets stored.The results show a major change over the 15 years of records. Both datasets show the planet has roughly doubled the amount of heat it has taken on since 2005. That the two sources of data are in such close agreement gives the researchers confidence in the disturbing trend.“It is a massive amount of energy,” Gregory Johnson, an oceanographer for NOAA’s Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory and co-author of the study, told the Washington Post. “It’s such a hard number to get your mind around.” Among the analogies he mentioned in an attempt to help you get your head around it are that the heat is equal to dropping four atomic bombs equivalent to the one dropped on Hiroshima every second, or all 7 billion-plus of us firing up 20 electric tea kettles and just letting them run. I appreciate the effort, but even those stats are confounding. I don’t even have 20 outlets in my apartment.
NASA Warns Earth Trapping Twice As Much Heat As In 2005 The amount of heat being trapped by Earth has roughly doubled since 2005, NASA warned. Researchers from NASA and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) found in a new study released earlier this week that Earth's "energy imbalance approximately doubled during the 14-year period from 2005 to 2019."The energy imbalance is how much heat the Earth absorbs from the sun, compared to how much "thermal infrared radiation" the Earth radiates back into space. Norman Loeb, the study's lead author and a NASA investigator, said: "The magnitude of the increase is unprecedented." Researchers pointed to human activity as one of the main catalysts. The study said the greenhouse gases from human activity were trapping heat in the atmosphere that then melted snow and ice, which in turn put more water vapor into the atmosphere, thereby preventing radiation from escaping. It also said that a "naturally occurring" shift in the Pacific Ocean from a cool phase to a warm one likely played a big part. The researchers used a series of satellites and a network of ocean floats to reach their findings, and compared the data from each. Loeb said: "The two very independent ways of looking at changes in Earth's energy imbalance are in really, really good agreement, and they're both showing this very large trend, which gives us a lot of confidence that what we're seeing is a real phenomenon and not just an instrumental artifact. "The trends we found were quite alarming in a sense."
Joint NASA, NOAA Study Finds Earth's Energy Imbalance Has Doubled - Researchers have found that Earth’s energy imbalance approximately doubled during the 14-year period from 2005 to 2019.Earth's climate is determined by a delicate balance between how much of the Sun's radiative energy is absorbed in the atmosphere and at the surface and how much thermal infrared radiation Earth emits to space. A positive energy imbalance means the Earth system is gaining energy, causing the planet to heat up. The doubling of the energy imbalance is the topic of a recent study, the results of which were published June 15 in Geophysical Research Letters.Scientists at NASA and NOAA compared data from two independent measurements. NASA's Clouds and the Earth's Radiant Energy System (CERES) suite of satellite sensors measure how much energy enters and leaves Earth's system. In addition, data from a global array of ocean floats, called Argo, enable an accurate estimate of the rate at which the world’s oceans are heating up. Since approximately 90 percent of the excess energy from an energy imbalance ends up in the ocean, the overall trends of incoming and outgoing radiation should broadly agree with changes in ocean heat content.Increases in emissions of greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide and methane due to human activity trap heat in the atmosphere, capturing outgoing radiation that would otherwise escape into space. The warming drives other changes, such as snow and ice melt, and increased water vapor and cloud changes that can further enhance the warming. Earth’s energy imbalance is the net effect of all these factors. In order to determine the primary factors driving the imbalance, the investigators used a method that looked at changes in clouds, water vapor, combined contributions from trace gases and the output of light from the Sun, surface albedo (the amount of light reflected by the Earth's surface), tiny atmospheric particles called aerosols, and changes in surface and atmospheric temperature distributions.The study finds that the doubling of the imbalance is partially the result an increase in greenhouse gases due to human activity, also known as anthropogenic forcing, along with increases in water vapor are trapping more outgoing longwave radiation, further contributing to Earth’s energy imbalance. Additionally, the related decrease in clouds and sea ice lead to more absorption of solar energy. The researchers also found that a flip of the Pacific Decadal Oscillation (PDO) from a cool phase to a warm phase likely played a major role in the intensification of the energy imbalance. The PDO is a pattern of Pacific climate variability. Its fingerprint includes a massive wedge of water in the eastern Pacific that goes through cool and warm phases. This naturally occurring internal variability in the Earth system can have far-reaching effects on weather and climate. An intensely warm PDO phase that began around 2014 and continued until 2020 caused a widespread reduction in cloud coverage over the ocean and a corresponding increase in the absorption of solar radiation.
Bipartisan Infrastructure Deal Omits Big Climate Measures - The New York Times — A deal reached Thursday between President Biden and a bipartisan group of senators for $579 billion in new spending to repair the nation’s roads, rails and bridges does relatively little to fight climate change, an issue that the president has called an “existential threat.” The deal does provide funding for public transit, passenger and freight rail, electric buses and charging stations for electric vehicles, all designed to try to reduce pollution from passenger vehicles and trucks. And it includes $47 billion to help communities become more resilient to disasters and severe weather caused by a warming planet. Still, it contains few of the ambitious ideas that Mr. Biden initially proposed to cut the fossil fuel pollution that is driving climate change. The president had hoped to use a sweeping infrastructure bill as a vehicle to enact a national “clean electricity standard” requiring power companies to gradually ratchet up the amount of electricity they generate from wind, solar and other sources until they’re no longer emitting carbon dioxide. That is not included in the bipartisan bill, nor are the hundreds of billions of dollars in spending on tax incentives for wind, solar and other clean energy. Democratic leaders and environmentalists are hoping those proposals can be included in a separate infrastructure bill that would pass through a fast-track process known as budget reconciliation. That process would not require Republican support and could be enacted with a simple majority vote. But that’s a difficult proposition, as Senate rules require that legislation enacted through the reconciliation process pertain directly to federal revenue — such as taxes and spending. The Senate parliamentarian could determine that a clean electricity standard does not qualify. Mr. Biden said Thursday that he intends to move forward with more provisions in the second package. “I’m getting to work with Congress right away on the other half of my economic agenda as well,” he said. “The American family plan. To finish the job on child care, education, the caring economy, clean energy and tax cuts for American families and much more.” A senior White House official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said that Mr. Biden still intends to push for passage of a clean electricity standard, either in the reconciliation process or in a separate standalone bill. Failure to pass bold climate legislation could make it difficult for Mr. Biden when he travels to Scotland this year for a United Nations climate conference, where he intends to try to persuade other nations to take aggressive steps to curb global warming. Mr. Biden has pledged that the United States will slash its planet-warming emissions roughly in half over the next decade. He wants to reposition the world’s largest economy as a leader in global efforts to halt warming. “The United States right now has an opportunity to back up its ambitious claims with a detailed and defensible plan to honor those commitments. If we have that plan we’ll be able to compel other countries to make similar changes,” Michael Brune, executive director of the Sierra Club, said in an interview. “If we don’t pass climate legislation through reconciliation, we won’t have the credibility to compel other countries to act at the scale and speed that’s needed,” Mr. Brune said. Scientists have warned that the world needs to urgently cut emissions if humanity has any chance to keep average global temperatures from rising above 1.5 degrees Celsius, compared with preindustrial levels. That’s the threshold beyond which experts say the planet will experience catastrophic, irreversible damage. Temperature change is not even around the globe; some regions have already reached an increase of 2 degrees Celsius.
INFRASTRUCTURE: Manchin floats big energy proposals as talks ramp up -- Monday, June 21, 2021 -- Joe Manchin, the hub around which most infrastructure talk has spun, has come out with a massive draft bill that seems to be a wish list for the energy infrastructure spending portion of a larger deal.
INFRASTRUCTURE: Manchin thinks he can sell his big energy package -- Friday, June 25, 2021 -- While President Biden gave his blessing for a bipartisan infrastructure framework yesterday, Sen. Joe Manchin was already pushing the committee he chairs to get a jump-start on its portion of the spending.Manchin, chairman of the Energy and Natural Resources Committee, has long pressed for a bipartisan infrastructure package. Indeed, the West Virginia Democrat is widely seen as the key reason negotiations on a deal have persisted.Now all Manchin needs to do is get everyone on board with his $95 billion draft proposal."This bill will go into our infrastructure package," Manchin told E&E News yesterday in the midst of a hearing on his proposal, which emerged late last week as the negotiations on a bipartisan deal began ramping up.The timing of yesterday's hearing — just hours before Biden backed the $1.2 trillion bipartisan infrastructure framework agreed to by White House negotiators and a group of senators that included Manchin — was no accident.Former Energy and Natural Resources Chairwoman Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), who was one of the 10 senators who spent hours this week negotiating the agreement with top Biden administration officials, said yesterday that her successor atop the panel used the weeks of meetings to inform his draft bill."We have the contours of the energy infrastructure in our framework," Murkowski said in an interview after returning from a meeting with Biden on the plan."What Manchin has done — and keep in mind, this has come together very, very quickly — is to try to write a bill utilizing the framework that has been under discussion now for these past few weeks."However, while the framework released by the White House contains a $73 billion line item for "power infrastructure including grid authority," it leaves the details to Congress."We got to write the bill," Murkowski noted. Manchin conceded the point yesterday. "Everything that you are seeing in that framework the president put out, that has to be all worked in every committee of jurisdiction," he said. "So we started ours because we knew where we were at and how much we had to work with."Yesterday's hearing, which will be followed by a markup after the July 4 recess, "gives us a little bit of a jump on everybody," he said. "That's why we wanted to do the hearing now."Manchin's draft legislation would infuse $95 billion into efforts like fortifying fragile electric grids, bolstering supply chains for critical minerals and ramping up energy efficiency efforts.The proposal also includes the creation of a $1.2 billion annual credit program that would give the executive branch the power to help financially struggling nuclear power plants stay online. It would also fully fund clean energy demonstration projects approved by the Energy Act of 2020.
Sunrise Ends 400-Mile Climate March With Arrests at Ted Cruz's House - After six weeks of marching 400 miles from New Orleans to Texas amid fruitless federal infrastructure negotiations, Sunrise Movement activists concluded their march on Monday with arrests outside the Houston home of renowned Republican climate villain Sen. Ted Cruz.Eight demonstrators with the movement's "Generation on Fire" campaign were arrested on the Texas Republican's lawn while delivering a message to President Joe Biden."We protested outside of Ted Cruz's house to clearly lay out the choice Biden was making. We need Biden to work for us, not Cruz, the insurrectionist climate denier," Roshni Khosla, one of the Gulf South marchers, told Common Dreams.Biden has many progressive lawmakers and activists concerned he may endorse a bipartisan infrastructure package that has been watered down from the White House's initial two-part proposal—which Sunrise and various experts already dubbed inadequate."We are a bit worried, but we know that we can make Biden bend," Khosla said. "Our powerful California march just ended last week. Our Gulf South march ended today. Our Philadelphia march is ending next Monday."Noting plans for a rally in Washington, D.C. next week to pressure the president to support the Civilian Climate Corps (CCC) for Jobs and Justice Act, she added that "we are far more powerful than the insurrectionist climate deniers Biden is choosing to negotiate with over us, Gulf South Youth marchers." Sunrise campaigners on Monday held signs that said, "Our Homes Flood, Our People Freeze, Cruz Abandons Us"—referencing when Cruz vacationed in Mexico while Texans endured power outages earlier this year—as well as "Pass a Bold Civilian Climate Corps" and "Which Side Are You On, Biden?"
RENEWABLE ENERGY: Bird law complicates Biden's offshore wind push -- Tuesday, June 22, 2021 -- President Biden's plan to dramatically expand offshore wind power within a decade could come at a hefty price: the accidental killing of many migratory birds.
Biden weighs ban on China’s solar material over forced labor – POLITICO - The Biden administration is considering banning imports of a critical solar panel material from China's Xinjiang region, according to four people familiar with the administration's plans, a move that would assuage bipartisan pressure to crack down on human rights abuses but could undermine the White House's aggressive climate change goals. At issue is polysilicon, the material inside most solar panels, which President Joe Biden hopes will help replace fossil fuels and allow the U.S. to eliminate carbon emissions from power generation by 2035. Currently about half the world's supply of polysilicon comes from Xinjiang, where the Chinese government has been accused of rounding up hundreds of thousands of ethnic Uyghur Muslims in what the State Department has labeled a "genocide." "The kind of brutality that we're talking about is offensive to just about anybody who would ever see these sorts of practices being used," said Rep. Dan Kildee (D-Mich.), one of the lawmakers pushing Biden to act. "And they're doing it to the economic benefit of companies that are putting American companies at risk." For months, a bipartisan group of lawmakers has pushed Biden to impose import restrictions on polysilicon similar to ones the Trump administration placed on cotton, tomatoes and other products exported from Xinjiang. Now, the White House is considering an effective region-wide ban on polysilicon from Xinjiang, according to the four sources in the industry and on Capitol Hill with knowledge of administration plans. For the solar industry, which is coming off its latest record year of installations and is expected to see capacity quadruple this decade, the potential threat to supplies could hurt the supply chain that is already slowing projects and raising costs. That could slow deployment of the technology helping to drive Biden's effort to put the country on a path to eliminate carbon dioxide emissions from the power grid by 2035.
First Solar CEO: Getting rid of Trump tariffs would pose challenges - (transcript) China's solar industry monopoly took a hit earlier this month when a new Ohio-based solar panel factory was announced. First Solar, the only US-headquartered major manufacturer of solar panels, is investing $680 million investment into the factory, and its technology is not dependent on the Chinese at all, according to CEO Mark Widmar. First Solar is building a factory in Ohio, creating the biggest plant for making solar panels outside of China. CEO Mark Widmar talks to CNN's Julia Chatterley about their semiconductor technology.
New Mexico’s clean-energy future depends on Carlsbad - The blue van turned onto the pitted road, and for miles the tallest objects on the horizon were the brush and yucca. Suddenly, what looked like a hidden city appeared and the landscape was filled with warehouses, tall cylindrical gas storage tanks and, as far as the eye could see, rusted, bobbing oil pump jacks. Inside the van were three members of Citizens Caring for the Future (CCFF), practically the lone organized resistance to the oil and gas industry in Southeastern New Mexico. The Permian Basin stretches from Carlsbad, New Mexico, 30 miles across the Texas border. It is 75,000 square miles of metal and tubes and spire-like pipes burning gas, all above jackrabbit scrubland. Depending on your feelings about the industry, the Permian Basin is either awe-striking or nauseating. An inescapable fact is that it stinks. A hard-to-place mixture of rotten eggs and the oily undercarriage of a car wafted in the wind, and it was the source of this smell — gas leaks — that Eddy’s $70,000 camera and its special lens were designed to find. “Oh my gosh,” Brown said at one point, begging the others to close their windows. “It’s really bad here. Oh my gosh.” In its 2020 annual report, the New Mexico Oil and Gas Association credited the industry with bringing $2.8 billion to state coffers — totaling one-third of New Mexico’s annual budget. “And that percent is just from royalties,” noted Eddy County Commissioner Ernie Carlson, a former industry accountant who wears a stockman’s brimmed cowboy hat and speaks in a matter-of-fact rural tone. “There are a lot of other industries tied to oil and gas, and if you measure that it’s about 45 percent of the state’s budget.” Carlson and other industry proponents argue that without oil and gas, New Mexico’s economy would dry up and blow away. They point to the fact that the industry in 2019 underwrote $1.36 billion of the state’s education costs, and are quick to suggest what might happen if regulation ever got the upper hand. As a recent ad from the New Mexico Oil and Gas Association warned voters, “Our kids have had to overcome a lot this year, but now they’re facing yet another challenge — the New Mexico legislature. Proposed laws aimed at oil and gas would take billions away from public education, gutting our schools. Reading programs, sports, even school lunches – all at risk.” These same figures are cited by environmentalists and energy economists as evidence that New Mexico is long overdue for a weaning. They argue that the state needs to diversify its economy. And what better way to do it than with renewable energy, like solar and wind? “Just from wind, the energy potential is 20 times what the state consumes,” said Doug Howe, a board member of the New Mexico Renewable Energy Transmission Authority. “To really monetize that as an economic driver, we have to turn to thinking of exporting all that energy to nearby states.”
West Risks Blackouts as Drought Reduces Hydroelectric Power – WSJ - States across the West are at risk of electricity shortages this summer as a crippling drought reduces the amount of water available to generate hydroelectric power. Some of the region’s largest reservoirs are at historically low levels after a dry winter and spring reduced the amount of snowpack and precipitation feeding rivers and streams. The conditions are especially dire in drought-stricken California, where officials say the reservoir system has seen an unprecedented loss of runoff this spring—800,000 acre-feet, or enough to supply more than a million households for a year. The California Department of Water Resources operates eight major hydroelectric facilities that are now forecast this year to be about 30% of their 10-year average generation, the agency said. Hydroelectric power, some of which was imported from other states, accounted for about 16% of California’s generation mix in 2019, according to state data. California needs all the electricity it can get when temperatures climb: The margin for error is slim when it comes to balancing supply and demand, so any reduction in generation capacity can pose significant challenges. Meanwhile, streamflow forecasts for Utah, Wyoming, Colorado, New Mexico and Arizona are among the five driest on record, according to an update this month by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. The Colorado River’s Lake Powell is projected to receive only 25% of the water it normally would between April and July, according to the agency. Lake Powell is the main reservoir that feeds Nevada’s Lake Mead, where the Hoover Dam is located. The dam is one of the nation’s largest hydroelectric facilities, capable of producing enough power to serve about 1.3 million people. About 23% of its output serves Nevada, and 19% serves Arizona. Most of the remainder serves Southern California. Hoover Dam’s current generation capacity is 1,567 megawatts, down 25% from its peak of 2,074, said Bureau of Reclamation spokeswoman Patti Aaron. Already, power grids across the West and South are under strain this week amid a heat wave that has caused a surge in electricity demand, the first of several expected this summer. Grid operators in both Texas and California have called on people to conserve power by reducing reliance on air conditioning, among other things, to avoid the need for rolling blackouts to bring demand in line with supply. The West is gripped in one of the most severe droughts on record, with California among many places getting less than half of average precipitation. Mostly dry years over the past decade—fueled in part by climate change—have left so little moisture in the ground that it is sopping up much of the runoff normally destined for reservoirs, hydrologists say.
A California reservoir is expected to fall so low that a hydro-power plant will shut down for first time - Water in a key California reservoir is expected to fall so low this summer that its hydroelectric power plant will be forced to shut down for the first time, officials said Thursday, straining the state's already-taxed electric grid.An unrelenting drought and record heat, both worsened by the changing climate, have pushed the water supplyat Northern California's Lake Oroville to deplete rapidly. As a result of the "alarming levels," officials will likely be forced to close the Edward Hyatt Power Plant for the first time since it opened in 1967, California Energy Commission spokesperson Lindsay Buckley told CNN.The water in Lake Oroville — the state's second largest reservoir — is pumped through underground facilities to generate electricity, which can power up to 800,000 homes when operating at full capacity. While the water level in the reservoir is currently hovering around 700 feet above sea level, if it continues to fall at the currently projected rate to 640 feet there will not be enough water to continue operating the Hyatt plant in two to three months, coinciding with the typical peak of the summer heat and wildfire season."If lake levels fall below those elevations later this summer, DWR will, for the first time, cease generation at the Hyatt power plant due to lack of sufficient water to turn the plant's electrical generation turbines," said Liza Whitmore, Public Information Officer of DWR's Oroville Field Division.The announcement came as California Gov. Gavin Newsom declared a statewide heat wave emergency Thursday, with record setting temperatures and increased electricity use adding pressure to the grid.
With Its Power Grid On The Verge Of Failure, California Begs Residents To Change Their EV Charging Routines -It appears as though California's plans to become an environmental and socialist utopia are running face first into reality.The latest dose of reality came this week when the state, facing triple digit temperatures, began to "fret" about pressure on the state's power grid as a result of everybody charging their electric vehicles all at once.The state's power grid operators have been telling residents to "relieve pressure" from the grid by charging their EVs at off-peak hours, Newsweek wrote. Twice last week the California Independent System Operator (ISO) told residents to conserve energy voluntarily, including asking to charge their EVs at certain off-peak times. The ISO also suggested "avoiding use of large appliances and turning off extra lights," the report says. The state's Flex Alert Twitter account posted on June 18: "Now is the perfect time to do a load of laundry. Remember to use major appliances, charge cars and devices before #FlexAlert begins at 6 p.m. today."Despite the fact that the state seems hell bent on converting all of its residents to EVs, Patty Monahan, the lead commissioner on transportation at the California Energy Commission, said that when residents choose to charge their vehicles will be important "in keeping the power grid balanced". "Charging behaviors matter when it comes to California grid goals," she said. "By incentivizing, primarily through rates, charging behaviors that capitalize on when renewable energy is being generated—we basically have a win for the grid, and we have a win for the drivers in terms of reduced rates. Rates are a climate strategy, and California plans on using rates to help drive the charging behaviors that are going to help the state electrify transportation while cutting carbon from the grid and saving ratepayers and drivers money."
Bipartisan $973B infrastructure proposal alarms EV advocates with annual surcharge on vehicles | Utility Dive -A bipartisan group of 21 senators has recommended an annual surcharge on electric vehicles (EV), among other measures, to help pay for $579 billion in new infrastructure spending. The proposal, which has alarmed EV advocates, was first reported by Politico. The EV surcharge is part of a broader $973 billion infrastructure proposal backed by 10 Democrats and 11 Republicans. EV advocates oppose the plan, fearing the surcharge will hold back EV adoption and delay progress on domestic manufacturing. President Joe Biden was expected to review the plan over weekend, according to The Wall Street Journal.The bipartisan infrastructure plan includes $15 billion for electric vehicle infrastructure, but advocates say placing a surcharge on consumer EVs to pay for it will ultimately hold back the transition to electric transportation."Let's be clear — EV taxes are not about boosting revenue or creating fairness, and they should be rejected as a pay-for in any infrastructure bill," Joe Britton, executive director of the Zero Emission Transportation Association, said in a statement. "These consumer penalties are being pushed by oil refiners to deter EV adoption and to further lock us into a fossil fuel-based transportation system.""Generally speaking, I think it's a mistake to apply surcharges to EVs for anything, be it grid improvements or charging infrastructure or road maintenance," said Chris Nelder, who hosts The Energy Transition Show podcast and previously managed RMI's carbon-free mobility practice.Adding "excess and unfair cost burdens is exactly what the oil-auto complex wants in order to preserve the status quo," Nelder said. It is not clear if Biden would accept a surcharge on electric vehicles, as the president has pledged not to raise taxes on individuals making less than $400,000 annually. On Friday, the White House said it would not support indexing the gas tax to inflation for that reason, though it was included as a "placeholder" in the bipartisan proposal. A spokesperson for the U.S. Department of Energy said the agency could not address the potential for an EV surcharge.
How Energy Transition Models Go Wrong - Gail Tverberg -I have written many posts relating to the fact that we live in a finite world. At some point, our ability to extract resources becomes constrained. At the same time, population keeps increasing. The usual outcome when population is too high for resources is “overshoot and collapse.” But this is not a topic that the politicians or central bankers or oligarchs who attend the World Economic Forum dare to talk about.Instead, world leaders find a different problem, namely climate change, to emphasize above other problems. Conveniently, climate change seems to have some of the same solutions as “running out of fossil fuels.” So, a person might think that an energy transition designed to try to fix climate change would work equally well to try to fix running out of fossil fuels. Unfortunately, this isn’t really the way it works.In this post, I will lay out some of the issues involved. [1] There are many different constraints that new energy sources need to conform to. These are a few of the constraints I see:
- Should be inexpensive to produce
- Should work with the current portfolio of existing devices
- Should be available in the quantities required, in the timeframe needed
- Should not pollute the environment, either when created or at the end of their lifetimes
- Should not add CO2 to the atmosphere
- Should not distort ecosystems
- Should be easily stored, or should be easily ramped up and down to precisely match energy timing needs
- Cannot overuse fresh water or scarce minerals
- Cannot require a new infrastructure of its own, unless the huge cost in terms of delayed timing and greater materials use is considered.
It is really the overall cost of the system that is important. The reason why the overall cost of the system is important is because countries with high-cost energy systems will have a difficult time competing in a world market since energy costs are an important part of the cost of producing goods and services. For example, the cost of operating a cruise ship depends, to a significant extent, on the cost of the fuel it uses.In theory, energy types that work with different devices (say, electric cars and trucks instead of those operated by internal combustion engines) can be used, but a long delay can be expected before a material shift in overall energy usage occurs. Furthermore, a huge ramp up in the total use of materials for production may be required. The system cannot work if the total cost is too high, or if the materials are not really available, or if the timing is too slow.
Bitcoin miners flocked to an upstate New York town for cheap energy — then it got complicated --After dealing with a host of problems caused by a cryptocurrency mining craze, the former mayor of Plattsburgh, New York, on Thursday cast doubt on the economic benefits of miners setting up shop in a region."Counties and cities are enticed by all these promises of job creation, which — when you look into it, and I have — they just don't materialize," Colin Read said on CNBC's "The Exchange.""We had one of the biggest bitcoin operators in the world operating here and generated only a handful of jobs," said Read, who was elected in 2016 and served one four-year term. He's a professor of economics and finance at SUNY Plattsburgh.Bitcoin mining is an energy-intensive process that generates new bitcoins when miners, using high-powered computers, solve computational puzzles to verify transactions across the blockchain network.There's been a push by some politicians, such as Miami Mayor Francis Suarez, to attract bitcoin miners to their cities or states, particularly after China recently took steps to restrict miners' operations in the country.But, a few years ago, when bitcoin miners flocked to Plattsburgh, a small city of about 19,000 in upstate New York, for its cheap energy derived from the Niagara River, it didn't take long before the city began to experience a huge spike in electricity prices.Prominent investor Scott Minerd predicts the 'real bottom' in the price of bitcoinJPMorgan stays bearish on bitcoin, says big investors just aren't buying the dipBitcoin drops below $30,000, then recovers: We asked 5 experts what they’re doing After the crypto miners began using up the energy quota — which Read said was 1.9 cents per kilowatt at an hour industrial rate — he said it caused "constituents to be in an absolute uproar because of the much higher electricity costs that incurred." Once that quota was used up, Read said, Plattsburgh had to foot the bill across the entire city for the difference.
Once on the fast track, super-secret energy bill derailed over costs, nukes, and unproven claims | NC Policy Watch - Rep. John Szoka says House Bill 951 “is not perfect.” That, opponents say, is an understatement. For the past five months, the workings of a top secret energy group was so hush-hush that if someone was caught leaking information they would be expelled as an outcast and a pariah. Lawmakers in the group, otherwise largely composed of business trade associations and Duke Energy, raised the curtain yesterday on their 47-page opus magnum, House Bill 951, at a meeting of the House Energy and Public Utilities Committee. So publicly confident were they in the bill, that primary sponsors Reps. John Szoka (R-Cumberland) and Dean Arp, (R-Union) had planned to fast-track it, with a rush to the House floor before the end of the month. “We’re minimizing environmental impacts and lowering our carbon footprint,” Arp said, at the House Energy Committee. “We’re not picking winners or losers. We’re here for the people of North Carolina.” The measure, Szoka proclaimed, “would transform North Carolina’s energy future.” The response from fellow lawmakers of both parties: suspicion. Most of the major trade associations, including manufactures and textiles: skepticism, even outright opposition Environmental advocates: contempt. “I believe in keeping our environment clean,” said Rep. Charles Graham (D-Robeson). “But this bill has consequences, and I’m not sure what they are for our businesses, families and farmers.” The bill contains several controversial provisions:
- $50 million for a modular nuclear reactor;
- An estimated 50% rate hike over 10 years;
- Multi-year ratemaking, so unpopular it was trounced out of a bill two years ago;
- Language that would partially handicap the state Utilities Commission’s ability to regulate;
- A reduction in the number of public comment periods on major utilities commission actions; and
- A continued reliance on natural gas, a source of methane, which accelerates climate change.
After state rejects controversial powerline project, company files appeals to try to make it happen - -Just over a month after the four-member Pennsylvania Utility Commission voted unanimously to reject a controversial overhead powerline project proposed for construction in southcentral Pennsylvania, the contractor hired to obtain necessary regulatory approvals to build it has filed appeals.Transource Energy officials filed an appeal Tuesday with the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania and will file Wednesday with the Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania. The appeals challenge the commission’s order, which denied the Pennsylvania portion of constructing the Independence Energy Connection project.PJM Interconnection, the regional grid transmission operator, said experts had identified the project’s “need” almost five years ago. Officials claimed that there was an infrastructure “bottleneck” that didn’t allow power to freely flow south into northern Maryland.The project was supposed to be constructed in Franklin and York counties and spanned the Pennsylvania-Maryland line.“In its filings, Transource explains that the PJM determination of need is the requirement that should be followed to efficiently and reliably operate a multi-state regional transmission system,” Transource officials said in a statement. “Participation in the PJM Interconnection and its regional grid operations bring significant benefits to its member’s states, including $3.7 billion of annual savings.” But, neither PUC Administrative Law Judge Elizabeth Barnes, who was assigned to oversee the case, nor PUC commissioners, who agreed with her recommendation, didn’t calculate a benefit for Pennsylvanians.
U.S. Power Reliability: Are We Kidding Ourselves? - Our obsession with reliability indices (which, in my opinion, are misleading to the extreme) has diverted our attention from the bigger picture. Like many of you, I’ve also traveled overseas and seen different approaches to improving reliability. And I have a greater respect for the potential capabilities of the distribution system.Several years ago, IEEE Spectrum had an article(U.S. Grid Gets Less Reliable) that looked at decreasing reliability. More recently, a study by credentialed researchers looked at the industry’s performance from generation to regulators. Some of their findings made me sit up straight in my chair.For example: “The average U.S. customer loses power for 214 minutes per year. That compares to 70 in the United Kingdom, 53 in France, 29 in the Netherlands, 6 in Japan, and 2 minutes per year in Singapore. These outage durations tell only part of the story. In Japan, the average customer loses power once every 20 years. In the United States, it is once every 9 months, excluding hurricanes and other strong storms. Despite decades of sober technical reports written by investigation teams in the aftermath of blackouts, the frequency of electric power outages in the United States is no less today than it was a quarter-century ago. Whether measured in terms of city-sized blackouts or smaller events, the statistics show that reliability has not improved. Indeed, if the data show any trend in the past few years, it is toward lower reliability.” (Here’s another study with an intriguing graph from Saviva Research.) In the past, we've always tried to fix reliability issues in the transmission system where we had more control and were willing to make the bigger financial and technology investments; the distribution system was more the neglected step child. But now the distribution/customer system, with growing DG, microgrids and automation/smart grid, is becoming the center of technical/financial/regulatory attention. Some folks are suggesting that we’ll soon have DSOs (distribution system operators). What a hoot!
TVA studies plan to idle Kingston coal plant where ash spill destroyed homes, polluted river - Twelve years after the worst coal ash spill ever from a U.S. coal power plant, the Tennessee Valley Authority is considering shutting down the plant where the spill occurred and replacing its coal-fired generation with a cleaner source of power.TVA will conduct a public hearing next week to begin an environmental assessment on a plan to shut down its Kingston Fossil Plant in the next decade. The nine-unit coal plant built in 1954 at the confluence of the Clinch and Emory rivers is capable of generating 1,398 megawatts of power, or roughly enough power to supply the electricity needs of all of Chattanooga. TVA's long-range power plan adopted in 2019 recommended the retirement of 2,200 megawatts of coal-fired generation by 2038 and since then TVA President Jeff Lyash has said the utility plans to phase out all of the remaining units in its coal fleet by 2035.At its peak, TVA operated 59 coal-fired units that collectively supplied nearly two thirds of TVA's power, but the federal utility has boosted its generation from nuclear, natural gas, solar and hydro over the past two decades to cut its carbon emissions by 63% below the 2005 levels and replace the aging coal fleet it phases out across TVA's seven-state region.On its website, TVA stated its coal plants generally are "among the oldest in the nation" and are having trouble with performance. It described the coal plants as "contributing to environmental, economic and reliability risks."Those risks produced one of the biggest environmental disasters three days before Christmas in 2008 when a coal ash impoundment at the Kingston Fossil plant collapsed and spilled 5.4 million cubic yards — or about 1.2 billion gallons — of wet coal ash spilled onto 300 acres of residential farmland and into the Emory River.The coal ash spill was one of the biggest environmental spills ever and led TVA to spend billions of dollars to clean up the Kingston spill and replace similar coal ash ponds at other fossil plants.Environmental groups concerned about coal ash, air pollution and greenhouse gases linked to global warming from coal plants are pushing TVA to make plans to shut down its entire coal fleet over the next decade and a half.
Illinois coal plants closing even as energy bill stalls - The surprise announcement on June 17 that the coal-fired power plant in Waukegan, Illinois will close in 2022 was bittersweet for Ortiz and other members of the group Clean Power Lake County. It came just after a sweeping state energy bill yet again failed to pass, leaving in doubt “just transition” provisions that Waukegan residents say are desperately needed to help their town economically weather the closure and begin to mitigate the environmental injustice they say the plant has caused. The bill was widely expected to pass last week as the legislature had reconvened for a special session to consider it. But the Senate decided not to vote on the bill, reportedlybecause of opposition related to the impact on a $1.3 billion natural gas-fired plant under construction in downstate Grundy County. The latest version of the bill was spearheaded by Gov. J.B. Pritzker and hashed out over many months by a wide range of stakeholders. It demands coal plants close by 2035 and gas plants by 2045, ratcheting down emissions on the way. It also increases funding for renewables at a level meant to achieve 100% clean energy by 2050 and 40% by 2030 — ideally jump-starting a solar market that had boomed and then stalled after incentives created by a 2017 law ran out. J.C. Kibbey, clean energy advocate for the Natural Resources Defense Council, called the last-minute stalemate yet another “11th hour” roadblock put up by fossil fuel interests. The bill had previously been expected to pass during the final stretch of the state legislature’s regular session in May, but it failed in the final stretch because of opposition from backers of the Prairie State Energy Campus, Illinois’ largest coal plant. The revised bill allows Prairie State to remain open if it can capture and sequester 90% of its carbon emissions by 2034. “This was the first anyone heard of it,” Kibbey said of the opposition related to the gas plant. “As bill drafts were out for months or years, [fossil fuel closure plans] should not have been a surprise to anyone. Whoever was raising that concern either didn’t understand the way the bill was structured or was trying to create a disruption.” After the gas plant-related opposition arose, legislators clarified that the declining emissions caps would be aggregate, and the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency could decide to let some gas plants keep emitting more carbon while forcing others, especially in environmental justice communities, to ratchet down sooner. Kibbey said he has questions about the economics and doesn’t want to see too much concession around emissions reduction plans. “We should have zero emissions in 2045, but not all roads to zero emissions are created equal,” he said.
Consumers Energy proposes to end coal use by 2025 -- Consumers Energy proposed on Wednesday to stop using coal as a fuel source for electricity by 2025 and instead purchase existing natural gas power plants to provide reliable energy during the transition. The proposal is part of a 20-year plan from the subsidiary of Jackson-based CMS Energy Corp. that requires regulatory approval. It would end the use of coal 15 years ahead of schedule and make the company one of the first to go coal-free. The overall plan is expected to save customers $650 million through 2040. "We are proud to lead Michigan's clean energy transformation and be one of the first utilities in the country to end coal use," Consumers Energy CEO Garrick Rochow said in a statement. "We are committed to being a force of change and good stewards of our environment, producing reliable, affordable energy for our customers while caring for our communities during this transition." If approved by the Michigan Public Service Commission, the updated plan from Michigan's largest energy provider would speed the closure of three coal-fired units at the Campbell generating complex near Holland. Campbell 1 and 2, collectively capable of producing more than 600 megawatts of electricity, would be retired in 2025 — roughly six years sooner than scheduled. Campbell 3, capable of generating 840 MW, would also be retired in 2025 — roughly 15 years sooner. The updated proposal also calls for moving up the closure of Karn 3 and 4, units that run on natural gas and fuel oil and can generate more than 1,100 MW to meet peak demand, to 2023 — about eight years sooner than their design lives. Altogether, the coal units employ 510 employees. "Consumers Energy is committed to a just transition away from coal as a fuel source for electricity," Brandon Hofmeister, senior vice president for governmental, regulatory and public affairs, said in a statement. "We supported employees and communities impacted by our 2016 coal retirements by finding new roles for workers who wanted to stay, fulfilling our environmental responsibilities at the sites and helping local leaders pursue new economic possibilities. We plan to follow the same philosophy to help those affected by the proposed Campbell and Karn retirements." The natural gas plants Consumers Energy has identified to acquire represent roughly an equivalent generation. The natural gas plants are Covert Generating Station in Van Buren County and Dearborn Industrial Generation in Wayne County. Additionally, Kalamazoo River Generating Station in Kalamazoo County and Livingston Generating Station in Otsego County are smaller and would be used primarily to meet peak demand. The proposed purchases require state and federal regulatory approvals.
This Barge Capsized and Leaked a Massive Stream of Toxic Coal Ash Near Florida -- A barge carrying over 14,000 tons of coal ash that capsized and partially sank off the coast of Florida has now been raised—but not before leaking as much as 5,000 tons of coal ash a mile south of the St. Johns River. The barge was carrying coal ash, the byproduct from burning coal for electricity, from the Puerto Rican power company Applied Energy Services (AES) plant in Guayama to be disposed of on Chesser Island, Georgia, after Puerto Ricans refused to accept the toxic waste on their own island. The barge was stuck on coastal jetties for almost two months before storms capsized the ship in mid-May. It was finally refloated on Sunday.In drone images shot over the barge on June 14 by Cameron Beard, a consultant for the Public Trust, a Florida-based environmental legal institute, a plume of ash, roughly twice the length of the 416-foot barge, spilled out of the half-submerged vessel.“The barge (was) located directly in front of where everyone is surfing and recreating, and there’s been zero health alerts, zero notifications, and most people in the community are completely unaware there’s any kind of spill going on,” said Nicole de Venoge, chair of the First Coast chapter of Surfrider, a nonprofit focused on ocean protection. Two weeks after the barge capsized, a unified command response team including the party responsible for the barge, Dann Ocean Towing, the United States Coast Guard, Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, and the Florida DEP, hired an environmental consulting firm to collect sediment and water samples around the barge and on the shoreline. RPI’s findings, released Tuesday, show some levels of heavy metals in water near the barge were higher than Florida and EPA Region 4 screening levels, including barium, a contaminant considered a hazardous waste by the EPA, and boron.
PFAS ‘forever chemicals’ found at site of Grand Haven’s former power plant - – PFAS compounds, toxic “forever chemicals,” have been discovered at the site of the former Sims power plant in Grand Haven. The site has multiple contaminants, with PFAS (per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances) the latest to be discovered on the city’s Harbor Island. The Grand Haven Board of Light and Power is in the midst of planning for remediation of the site and recently voted to sell up to $50 million in bonds to clean up the site and develop a smaller gas-powered electric generating plant there. The city council must approve the bond sale. PFOS (perfluorooctane sulfonate acid) and PFOA (perfluorooctanoic acid) are two types of PFAS chemicals regulated by Michigan due to health risks from the chemicals, linked to cancer and other adverse health effects. Both were discovered at levels above regulatory limits in groundwater at the site of the now demolished J.B. Sims Electric Generating Station, according to a news release from the BLP. They were discovered during testing for compounds not related to coal ash, which was produced by the plant and buried on site. Testing and monitoring of the PFAS chemicals, as well as other contaminants, continues, according to Grand Haven City Manager Patrick McGinnis. He stressed that the city’s drinking water remains safe. In addition to PFOA and PFOS, cyanide, ammonia and total inorganic nitrogen also were found in the groundwater at unacceptable levels, according to the news release. Before Sims opened in the 1960s, the Harbor Island site was the location of a garbage dump. The BLP and the state are negotiating a remediation plan for the site. The BLP prefers to keep as much of the ash and trash buried – and therefore undisturbed – as possible. However, it expects to be required to remove some of the ash amid concerns that there are leaks in the clay liners of ash impoundment areas. “The goal of any ash removal plan should be to avoid exacerbation of contaminant levels in the groundwater, or any release of these contaminants to the Grand River from these other materials historically disposed of on the site,” The testing that turned up the PFAS contamination was conducted to determine how to handle groundwater that will be pumped at the site to allow for coal ash remediation, according to the news release.
Byron power plant in danger of shutting down- The Byron Nuclear Plant took one more step towards closure as paperwork was filed for a shutdown in less than three months. In 2020, Exelon announced it planned to close its Byron and Dresden nuclear power plants because of a drop in revenue and energy costs. Then on June 16, Exelon filed papers with grid operator PJM Interconnection to deactivate one cooling tower on September 14 and the other September 16. Last week, Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker said the House and Senate could pass a new clean energy bill in the next few weeks, but only if the bill includes meaningful decarbonization measures and moves us toward a clean energy economy. Haub’s kids view the nuclear power plant in Byron as something special as identified by the steam and water vapor coming from the cooling towers. But those identifying markers could soon disappear. “It’s going to be terrible. I don’t know how we are going to able to support all the people. we will. we’ll work together and support the families and help them as much as we can. I know there’s a lot of hard working people that work at those facilities and they need to keep those open so they can stay there,” said Haub. Despite no bill at the moment, state lawmakers say they can pass an energy bill that will keep the plant open. “We’ve continued to make good progress on this. over the course of the spring negotiations it was characterized that the nuclear piece was the one point of discrepancy,” said Representative Tom Demmer (R), 90th District.
Ohio bill to reform electric rates aims to preserve coal plant subsidies under attack in wake of corruption probe --A new plan is on the table to phase out rate programs that have let Ohio’s electric utilities collect billions in subsidies over the past dozen years. But the bill aims to continue coal plant subsidies and cuts authority for utility energy efficiency programs. Critics also worry that vague wording will continue cross-subsidies in another guise. For years, consumer advocates, environmental organizations and conservative groups have pushed to end so-called Electric Security Plans, or ESPs, which allow utilities to add riders and other charges without full regulatory review. Many of those producedcross-subsidies that ratepayers can’t avoid. In one extreme example, a Cleveland neighborhood group received a $70 monthly bill in 2019 for a single lamppost, with only 38 cents going to electricity. A 2017 bill tried to end the practice, but it stalled in the Ohio House. Now, House Bill 317 would slash statutory provisions for the plans. The bill, introduced last month, comes from Rep. Shane Wilkin, R-Hillsboro. Wilkin was a primary sponsor of HB 6, the 2019 nuclear and coal bailout lawthat also gutted the state’s clean energy standards. Wilkin was one of 21 lawmakers voting against the expulsion of Rep. Larry Householder following his indictment in a $60 million bribery scandal over the legislation. Attorney Rob Kelter of the Environmental Law & Policy Center called ESPs “a terrible way of utilities getting all these different riders onto people’s bills without having to go through a rate case that goes through all their costs and revenues. That’s fundamentally the problem.”Full-blown rate cases “look at all the utility’s costs and revenues together,” Kelter said. If utility costs go up in one place but down somewhere elsewhere, the regulators would consider all of that. “Whereas the rider just adds whatever new expense the utility has to the bill on top of everything else.” For example, FirstEnergy’s utility customers paid nearly half a billion dollars under ano-strings-attached rider that was ultimately held unlawful. However, the Ohio Supreme Court didn’t order refunds because regulators didn’t specify that when they approved the charge. An ongoing audit is supposed to dig into whether FirstEnergy used money from the charge to pass and defend HB 6. ESPs trouble critics even when riders are for potentially helpful projects. Several regulatory cases approved ad hoc riders for smart meters, distribution upgrades and other measures, said Ned Hill, a professor of economic development at Ohio State University.“Do we piecemeal modernization through ESPs versus a full-blown rate case?” Hill asked. Full ratemaking would let the Public Utilities Commission evaluate a utility’s overall modernization plan and avoid “gold-plated” capital expenditures. In contrast, he said, ESP riders let companies “build up the rate base to increase the rate of returns.”
Mahoning County prosecutors called to open criminal investigation into radioactive pollution in waterways – WKBN – On Monday and last Friday, Ohio residents handed letters to nine county prosecuting attorneys and the Ohio Attorney General’s Office.The letters demanded the enforcement of the Ohio Revised Code and the launch of felony investigations into the disposal of radioactive waste in Ohio drinking watersheds.Residents charge that the crime of poisoning is knowingly caused by the spreading of radioactive oil and gas drilling “brine” on public highways as a deicer and dust suppressant.Poisoning is a first-degree felony in violation of O.R.C. § 2927.24. Letters were delivered to the prosecuting attorneys in Athens, Cuyahoga, Franklin, Lucas, Medina, Portage, Mahoning, Williams and Wood counties as well as Attorney General Dave Yost. Members of the Ohio Community Rights Network (OHCRN) delivered the letters along with packets of information on the toxicity of the brine.The packets support the need for criminal investigations into brine processing companies and the State of Ohio, for the spreading and legalization of radioactive brine throughout the state.“State and private actors are violating Ohio’s criminal code by distributing and depositing radioactive oil and gas waste brine into Ohio watersheds,” said Terry Lodge, CELDF attorney. “State agencies are also guilty of permitting private actors to participate in this practice.”According to tests run by the Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR) in 2017, all tested samples of brine used for these purposes exceeded both federal and state standards of radioactivity limits into the environment. Despite these results, the radioactive substance is being spread in drinking water basins and ecosystems, according to CELDF.Other tests run by independent researchers at Penn State, the National Resources Defense Council and Duquesne University have shown similar results. According to a 2020 investigation published in Rolling Stone Magazine, the oil/gas industry is fully aware of these radiation issues and has been for decades. The Ohio Legislature is currently considering bills (HB 282 and SB 171) that would further encourage the spreading of radioactive brine by reclassifying it as a commodity in the state. However, even without passage of these bills, the Ohio Department of Transportation and ODNR have both permitted and utilized this brine for several years throughout the state as a road deicer and dust suppressant. The letters handed to the county prosecuting attorneys and Ohio Attorney General state:“These concentrations of Ra-228 and Ra-226 are dangerous. Once oil and gas brine is applied to roadways, it will ultimately be washed into every surface water source in the state. The decay of Ra-226 to safe levels will take more than 11,000 years. Radium is very mobile in water and will come to pervade the water table everywhere throughout Ohio. It is misidentified by our bodies as calcium, and so would be deposited in bones and teeth, from whence it would bombard and mutate surrounding cells into cancers.” Former Youngstown Fire Chief Silverio Caggiano stated in the Rolling Stone article on radioactive brine: “If we caught some ISIS terrorist cells dumping this into our waterways, they would be tried for terrorism. . . . However, the frac industry is given a pass on all of this.”
Still no Ohio rules for oil and gas drilling waste six years after facility opens - Despite calls from state inspectors to clean up its act, an oil and gas waste facility continues to operate in eastern Ohio without any formal sanctions, potentially leaking radioactive waste near the Ohio River and just 2,500 feet from a high school stadium and hospital. The Austin Master Services facility in Martins Ferry, situated in a 100-year floodplain in Belmont County, handles waste from the hydraulic fracturing business, records show.Problems cited in quarterly inspections of the aging warehouse since 2017 by the Ohio Department of Natural Resources include radioactive waste being stored directly on the floor and not in a container; a leaking roof that resulted in pools of rainwater collecting on the warehouse floor in the same facility with overflowing bins of radioactive waste; and waste seen by inspectors being tracked by trucks outside the facility. Despite repeated documentation of such problems in state inspection reports, the state has not taken any action against the facility.A detailed interview request was left June 10 with a staff member at Pennsylvania-based Austin Master Services. The company had not responded to the request as of June 22. Austin Master is one of multiple oil and gas waste facilities in the state. During an interview, state officials noted there are "a couple of others."The Ohio Department of Natural Resources is charged with monitoring the facilities, but no rules for bringing sanctions for violations have been finalized, six years after the Martins Ferry facility opened in 2015."I don't see where any agency in the state of Ohio has regulatory control over this facility, and facilities like them," said Teresa Mills, executive director of the Buckeye Environmental Network, who called together a group of environmental organizations in hopes of prompting action on this issue. "We have the citizens in these communities who have no say about what goes on in their communities. There's no opportunity for citizens' input." Mills said in addition to waste being tracked when it leaves the facility, there are concerns about worker exposure to chemicals.
Muskingum Watershed Joins Fight Against Ohio Forced Pooling Bill - In May MDN brought you the news that landowner Gateway Royalty was sounding the alarm over a new bill quickly advancing in the Ohio legislature. House Bill (HB) 152 would use forced pooling if 65% of a proposed unit’s landowners are leased (too low a bar) and also would force the landowner to accept a 12.5% royalty and force them to accept post-production deductions with royalties in some cases potentially going down to nothing (see Ohio HB 152 Forced Pooling Bill Disadvantages Unleased Landowners). Another major Ohio landowner with considerable acreage leased to the Utica Shale industry, the Muskingum Watershed Conservancy District (MWCD), is adding its voice of opposition to HB 152.MWCD was organized in 1933 to reduce the effects of flooding and conserve water for beneficial public uses. MWCD oversees 16 dams and reservoirs across 22 counties in Ohio, covering 20% of the state. It is a massive area, some 8,000 square miles, under the oversight and control of the MWCD.We’ve previously covered MWCD deals with Antero Resources to lease District property for drilling. We’ve also covered District deals to sell water to Antero and other shale drillers. MWCD has protected the land under its oversight while benefiting from shale drilling and water sales to shale drillers. The best of both worlds.After Gateway Royalty’s initial alarm, the bill’s sponsors backed away from it. However, they came back with a substitute bill which Gateway also opposes (see Rights Owner Says Changes to OH Forced Pooling Bill Not Enough).MDN received the following op-ed from Craig Butler, Executive Director of MWCD, expressing his concerns with the HB 152 substitute bill. The bill does not pass muster with MWCD. The new bill would gut provisions MWCD includes in its lease deals–provisions that protect the land under MWCD’s oversight. “…The Ohio General Assembly is considering a bill (HB 152) to make changes to how oil and gas leasing is managed when a landowner does not choose to lease their lands. This process, called “unitization,” has long existed but through this bill the industry is now trying to change this process. Unfortunately, the newly accepted substitute bill fails to protect the public interest and erodes our commitment to ensure a responsible oil and gas exploration program. Specifically, this bill eliminates our ability to include our hard-fought operational and environmental lease provisions. This is especially important if our lands are “unitized” by an operator not of our choosing and one that may not have the track record and financial stability that we demand as a partner at MWCD…”
Shell begins ‘steam blowing’ at Beaver County cracker plant— Beaver Countians can expect to see clouds of white water vapor emerging from Shell Chemicals’ ethane cracker plant site this month. The company began “first fire” activities last week to prepare piping on its cogeneration unit for eventual operation. It’s one of many milestones on the project’s path to startup; steam blows are the final cleanliness check of the plant’s steam piping. Passersby will see large clouds of vapor and may hear intermittent noise that differs from typical construction-related activity. This will last through the end of June, according to company leaders. A video on the process can be found on the Shell Pennsylvania Chemicals Facebook page. The multi-billion dollar complex is expected to be completed and operational by next year. The company in March said it was in the early stages of commissioning and start-up activities. Once power plant startup is complete, workers can launch processing units – including an ethane cracking unit and the three polyethylene units
Ferrari Energy Explains Whether the Extraction of Natural Gas is More Costly Than Oil - Whenever natural gas is extracted in the oil and gas industry, it is either wet or dry. The difference between wet and dry natural gas is that dry natural gas is at least eighty-five percent methane or more. Wet natural gas consists of some methane and other liquid features like butane, ethane, or propane. Essentially, the more methane present in natural gas, the dryer it is considered.When taking a closer look at how dry gas is extracted compared to wet gas, the cost for retrieving dry gas tends to come at a higher price. The cost is elevated due to the use of more advanced metallurgy and equipment. Ferrari Energy, a private, family-owned oil and gas company that offers mineral and leasehold acquisitions services is familiar with the debate around dry gas extractions. Below, experts at Ferrari Energy debunk myths related to gas and oil extraction costs and provide facts explaining whether or not gas and oil extraction prices are that much different. A common feature that natural gas and crude oil share is that they both are energy commodities. These fossil fuels are utilized to power society’s energy needs like transportation or heating and cooling homes. The prices of natural gas and oil relate as they are an inter-commodity spread. That means that the cost of these two energy resources changes in relation to one another. When looking at the history of cost fluctuation between the two, when one of the two raises in price, the latter elevates in consumer demand due to the nature of a lower price along with increased supply. When it comes to the businesses in the oil and gas industry, it is common for companies to produce both crude oil and natural gas. Oil and gas exploration usually goes hand in hand with production as the oil drilling process often involves natural gas’ release and capture. After more natural gas reserves were discovered in the United States, the connection between natural gas and crude oil prices changed. Massive gas reserves found in the United States’ Marcellus and Utica shale regions resulted in a price decrease of natural gas while, at the same time, oil prices proceeded to elevate from 2000 to 2014. Towards the end of 2014 and into 2016, the cost of crude oil reduced immensely due to the economy’s decelerated growth and less demand for oil. However, by 2018, the oil price climbed again until the coronavirus pandemic altered the global economy and society, putting a pause on oil demand. The pandemic forced a drastic fall in the cost of crude oil, so much so that the prices reached historic lows. On the other end, natural gas decreased a bit but mainly stayed at a consistent price. When comparing the refining process of crude oil and natural gas, the difference in their molecular makeup makes crude oil’s refining process a bit more profound compared to natural gas in preparation for commercial use.
Proposed Peabody Power Plant Defended, Challenged At Public Forum -— The first major public forum in the six-year history of the planned Peabody peaker power plant Tuesday night included more than four hours of utility officials laying out the benefits and necessity of the proposed fossil fuel-powered facility, while those concerned about the environmental and health impacts of the plant called for additional community input before a decision is made on the project's future. Massachusetts Municipal Wholesale Electric Company officials delivered an extensive presentation on the cost-effectiveness of owning the plant to meet surge-capacity requirements in case of extreme heat and cold compared to buying that energy off the greater grid or using less-reliable sources such as wind, solar or battery power. Officials argued having the 55-megawatt oil and gas peaker plant — which they say will only run about 239 hours per year and produce fewer emissions than 94 percent of similar resources in the region — will actually help the 13 municipalities that draw energy from the plant use more renewable energy sources because having the reliable backup will allow it to use more clean sources for primary energy needs. "While we certainly pledge to continue adding renewable resources to our power portfolio in compliance with de-carbonization thresholds put forward by the Commonwealth," Peabody Municipal Power Plant Chairman Tom D'Amato said, "Our Board firmly believes at this point in time that Project 2015A is fundamentally sound, well-grounded and, frankly, vital to serving our statutory obligation as a load-serving entity." The project entered a "pause" of at least 30 days on May 11 amid a growing outcry from public officials and climate advocatesabout a lack of transparency in the proposal, which moved along the planning stages for years in relative obscurity until recent months.
Oil spill settlement to fund loon conservation projects (AP) — A half-dozen projects in New England and New York are slated to receive more than $3.5 million in funding to help protect common loons. Loons have been the focus of conservation efforts throughout the country, and they have slowly come back in some states, including Maine. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service said state and federal regulators have picked six projects to receive money via a settlement stemming from an oil spill. The Bouchard B-120 oil spill in 2003 in Buzzards Bay off Massachusetts killed more than 500 loons and resulted in a $13.3 million settlement. One of the grants is an award of nearly $800,000 to the Adirondack Center for Loon Conservation to restore breeding common loons in Adirondack Park in New York. Another grant, awarded to the Vermont Center for Ecostudies for more than $440,000, is designed to increase loon populations in Vermont with strategies such as management and monitoring. The remaining projects are in New Hampshire, Maine, Massachusetts and Rhode Island. Hunting, habitat loss and pollution reduced loon populations around the country, but environmental protections have helped the birds recover somewhat. Protections have included bans on lead tackle, which can poison the birds; “no wake zones,” which require boaters to travel slowly, have also helped the birds successfully nest.
Public comment hearing on Mountain Valley Pipeline water permit focuses on past water violations, economic impact - The Mountain Valley Pipeline drew ire from opponents for its history of water quality violations and erosion control issues and praise from supporters for generating jobs during a hearing Tuesday evening on a crucial water permit for the project.The West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection held the hearing via Zoom teleconference to gather input at the end of a public comment period on Mountain Valley’s request to cross waterbodies throughout the state.Mountain Valley Pipeline LLC, the joint venture that owns the pipeline, still has applications pending with West Virginia and Virginia environmental regulators for about 300 water crossings while it seeks approval from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to tunnel under 120 additional waterbodies.Of the two-dozen commenters who addressed the DEP, 17 spoke out against the Mountain Valley Pipeline, arguing that past pipeline water quality violations found by West Virginia and Virginia environmental regulators show the project, long delayed by legal and regulatory challenges, is not fit for permit approval.West Virginia Rivers Coalition staff scientist Autumn Crowe recalled the nonprofit warning the DEP in 2016 that proposed erosion controls would be ineffective on steep slopes and that construction would damage streams and rivers. “Now, five years later, I feel like a broken record,” Crowe said. “And I hate to have to say we told you so.”Crowe predicted that allowing Mountain Valley the permit could result in muddy water causing boil-water advisories, buried trout eggs and clogged fish gills. Lewis County landowner Susie Vance said flooding earlier this month washed out a base of decomposed timber mats and devastated an area where Mountain Valley is planning to tunnel under to construct the pipeline. The flooding had destroyed the pipeline’s silt barriers and fencing.“I’m still devastated from the whole thing,” Vance said.Vicki Pierson reported that the pipeline crosses her Northern Braxton County property and that Mountain Valley was directing water onto her property, causing erosion of streambeds downstream and significant discharge into a Burnsville reservoir.The DEP proposed a consent order earlier this year requiring Mountain Valley to pay a $303,000 fine for violating permits by failing to control erosion and sediment-laden water. That penalty followed a $266,000 fine from the same regulators in 2019 for similar erosion and water contamination issues.
OIL AND GAS: Feds falling short on pipeline safety — watchdog -- Thursday, June 24, 2021 -- The country's pipeline safety agency needs to develop performance measures to gauge whether previous regulatory changes are achieving their desired results, according to a new report from the Government Accountability Office.
U.S. natgas climbs to 1-week high on rising global gas prices (Reuters) - U.S. natural gas futures rose over 2% to a one-week high on Tuesday on expectations the increase in global gas prices to their highest in years would boost U.S. liquefied natural gas (LNG) exports to fresh records this summer. Front-month gas futures NGc1 for July delivery on the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX) rose 6.7 cents, or 2.1%, to settle at $3.258 per million British thermal units (mmBtu), their highest since June 14. Last week, U.S. speculators boosted their long futures and options positions on the NYMEX 3023651MLNG by the most since June 2020 to their highest since November 2018 as soaring global gas prices prompt buyers around the world to keep purchasing all the LNG the United States can produce. Gas prices in Europe and Asia both traded over $10 per mmBtu, with the Title Transfer Facility (TTF) in the Netherlands reaching its highest since January 2014. Data provider Refinitiv said gas output in the Lower 48 U.S. states averaged 91.6 billion cubic feet per day (bcfd) so far in June, up from 91.0 bcfd in May but still well below the monthly record high of 95.4 bcfd in November 2019. With the coming of seasonally hotter summer weather, Refinitiv projected average gas demand, including exports, would rise from 87.3 bcfd this week to 91.9 bcfd next week. Those forecasts were lower than Refinitiv projected on Monday.
Natural Gas Futures Rally on Returning LNG Demand, Production Revisions - Natural gas futures roared back midweek as export demand rose sharply following maintenance and production dipped lower for the second straight day. The July Nymex gas futures contract surged 7.5 cents day/day to $3.333. The August contract picked up 7.5 cents to $3.352. Spot gas increases also became more widespread ahead of warmer weather on the East Coast. However, big losses in California left NGI’s Spot GasNational Avg. unchanged at $3.095.There continued to be small changes to the long-range weather outlook on Wednesday. However, the pattern was still expected to result in relatively light demand east of the Plains for the next few days, according to NatGasWeather.Still, the overall U.S. pattern is set to become hotter for the five- to 15-day forecast and is likely viewed as having a “bullish lean” for Saturday (June 26) through July 5. National cooling degree days are forecast to be above normal.“Sure, the pattern could be more intimidating, but there’s still enough coverage of highs reaching the upper 80s to 100s to result in smaller-than-normal weekly builds the last week of June and the first week of July,” NatGasWeather said. “And the upper pattern does favor widespread above-normal temperatures holding into the second week of July to keep strong national demand going for the 15- to 20-day period.”
US natural gas storage deficit grows as South Central region reports net withdrawal | S&P Global Platts -- US natural gas inventories increased by a margin well below the five-year average for the week ended June 18 as the Henry Hub balance-of-summer reached $3.40/MMBtu. Storage inventories increased 55 Bcf to 2.482 Tcf for the week-ended June 18 the US Energy Information Administration reported June 24. The build was less than the 63 Bcf addition expected by an S&P Global Platts' survey of analysts, as well as the five-year average build of 83 Bcf, according to EIA data. Storage volumes now stand at 513 Bcf, or 17%, less than the year-ago level of 2.995 Tcf, and 154 Bcf, or 6%, less than the five-year average of 2.636 Tcf. The injection was less than half the 115 Bcf build reported for the same week in 2020. Markets remained notably tight in the South Central region as temperatures there surged, driving up power demand. The region posted a net withdrawal of 4 Bcf. Over the past five years, the region has added an average of 19 Bcf in the corresponding week, according to EIA data. Platts Analytics' base case forecast expects net storage withdrawals across the Gulf Coast region the next two months due to higher burns as well as slower-than-anticipated production growth from the Haynesville and Permian. Gulf Coast inventories are forecast to exit the summer at 950 Bcf, 250 Bcf less than the five-year average and the lowest end to the summer since October 2018, when total US stocks entered the winter with just 3.2 Tcf in the ground. The NYMEX Henry Hub July contract added 7 cents to $3.40/MMBtu in trading on June 24. Spreads from summer to winter now stand at just 10 cents/MMBtu, disincentivizing economic storage cycling and positioning the winter for potentially even more bullish price moves. Henry Hub is also being boosted by rebounding LNG demand. Total US LNG feedgas broke back above 11 Bcf/d on June 23 for the first time since June 1 as multiple export facilities and feedgas delivery pipelines have gone down for maintenance work. The 1.6 Bcf/d increase in LNG demand since June 21 has caused spot prices at Henry Hub to strengthen from $3.15/MMBtu to $3.33/MMBtu for flow date June 24, the strongest daily cash price for Henry Hub since mid-February. US LNG feedgas is forecast to average 10.9 Bcf/d in July. Further declines in Gulf inventory projections could see prices move well above $3-$4/MMBtu (perhaps as high as $9-$10/MMBtu to cut LNG demand) given the limited elasticities in the power sector at higher loads/prices as witnessed this month, according to Platts Analytics. Platts Analytics' supply and demand model currently forecasts a 67 Bcf injection for the week ending June 25, which would measure only 2 Bcf more than the five-year average.
Natural Gas Futures Soar Past $3.40 on ‘Crazy Tight’ EIA Storage Figure, Hot July Forecast -- A very tight government inventory report sparked an initial rebound in natural gas futures on Thursday. But it was heat seen through the first full week of July and some technical drivers that sent futures surging later in the session. The July Nymex gas futures contract shot up 8.5 cents to settle at $3.418. August closed at $3.437, also up 8.5 cents on the day. Spot gas prices also strengthened as hotter weather began to expand across more of the country. With potentially record-breaking temperatures in the Pacific Northwest and across the border in Canada, NGI’s Spot Gas National Avg. climbed 5.5 cents to $3.150. Though still a couple of weeks shy of the core of summer, some early bouts of heat have provided enough momentum to move Nymex gas prices comfortably above $3.00. The latest storage data confirmed the stronger demand, as the Energy Information Administration (EIA) reported a modest 55 Bcf injection into storage. The latest EIA figure was well below historical levels, coming in 60 Bcf below last year’s injection and 28 Bcf below the five-year average. It also was a tick below the lowest estimate in major surveys ahead of the report. Bespoke Weather Services said the figure reflected “crazy tight” supply/demand balances, which it had expected. “How tight was the question.” NGI'S 'HUB & FLOW' PODCAST Latest Episode: Brighter Days Ahead - Natural Gas Poised for Growth after Historic Winter Freeze Grips Market Listen & Subscribe Now As it turned out, the combination of low wind and low nuclear output last week accounted for more than Bespoke estimated. The EIA figure would promote end-of-season storage levels under 3 Tcf if extrapolated forward, according to the firm. “Obviously, that is not going to happen, as next week’s number will not be nearly as tight, thanks to higher wind and more nuclear output. But it is easier now to see why prices have been on such a march higher.”
Why Did NYMEX Gas Futures Price Hit a 29-Month High Yesterday? | Marcellus Drilling News - Yesterday the July NYMEX gas futures contract (the current contract) went up by 8.5 cents to settle at $3.42. The August NYMEX futures contract closed at $3.44, also up 8.5 cents on the day. The big question is why? The short answer is that less gas was put into storage than expected for this time of year. The slightly longer answer is that less gas went into storage because of the hot weather and all those air conditioners whirling using all that electricity and all that electricity gets generated in big part by burning natural gas. So the bottom line is this: Natural gas futures prices popped yesterday because of the weather. The following story from Reuters does a good job of connecting all the dots, but was written before the closing bell (at midday), so it shows a slightly lower price increase (7.5 cents instead of the closing 8.5 cents on the day): Front-month gas futures rose 7.5 cents, or 2.3%, to $3.408 per million British thermal units by 12:02 p.m. EDT (1602 GMT), putting the contract on track for its highest close since January 2019. U.S. natural gas futures rose over 2% to a 29-month high on Thursday on a smaller-than-expected storage build, forecasts for hotter weather over the next two weeks, rising exports and projections for power demand in Texas to reach record highs for June. The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) said utilities added 55 billion cubic feet (bcf) of gas into storage during the week ended June 18. That is lower than the 66-bcf build analysts forecast in a Reuters poll and compares with an increase of 115 bcf in the same week last year and a five-year (2016-2020) average increase of 83 bcf. Analysts expected a low storage build last week because power generators burned lots of gas to keep air conditioners humming during heat waves in the Southwest. Last week's build boosted U.S. stockpiles to 2.482 trillion cubic feet (tcf), or 5.8% below the five-year average of 2.636 tcf for this time of year. Front-month gas futures rose 7.5 cents, or 2.3%, to $3.408 per million British thermal units by 12:02 p.m. EDT (1602 GMT), putting the contract on track for its highest close since January 2019. Data provider Refinitiv said gas output in the Lower 48 U.S. states averaged 91.6 billion cubic feet per day (bcfd) so far in June, up from 91.0 bcfd in May but still well below the monthly record high of 95.4 bcfd in November 2019. With the coming of hotter summer weather, Refinitiv projected average gas demand, including exports, would rise from 88.2 bcfd this week to 93.1 bcfd next week. Those forecasts were similar to Refinitiv's projections on Wednesday. The amount of gas flowing to U.S. liquefied natural gas (LNG) export plants fell to 9.9 bcfd so far in June due mostly to short-term maintenance outages at Gulf Coast facilities and the pipelines that supply them with fuel. That compares with averages of 10.8 bcfd in May and a record 11.5 bcfd in April. But with European and Asian gas both trading over $11 per mmBtu, analysts said they expect buyers around the world to keep purchasing all the LNG the United States can produce.
U.S. natgas gains over 2% to 29-month high on hot forecasts (Reuters) - U.S. natural gas futures rose over 2% to a fresh 29-month high on Friday on forecasts for hotter weather and higher air conditioning and export demand next week than previously expected. Traders noted prices were up even though the weather was expected to turn milder in two weeks, which should cut air conditioning demand a bit. On their second to last day as the front-month, gas futures NGc1 for July delivery rose 7.8 cents, or 2.3%, to settle at $3.496 per million British thermal units, their highest close since January 2019 for a second day in a row. The August NGQ21 futures, which will soon be the front-month, were up about 7 cents to $3.51 per mmBtu. For the week, the front-month was up over 8%, its biggest weekly increase since early February. Last week, the contract slid over 2%. In the power market, the Texas power grid operator said peak electric demand broke the June record on Thursday and was expected to do so again on Friday. But unlike last week, this week's record breaking was a non-event for the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT), which operates the grid in most of the state. In the West, meanwhile, a heatwave forecast to hit over the weekend boosted power prices at some hubs to their highest in years with the Mid Columbia hub W-MIDCP-IDX in Washington State up to $334 per megawatt hour for Monday, its highest since March 2019 when it hit a record high of $891. High temperatures in Seattle, the biggest city in the U.S. Pacific Northwest, were forecast to reach a record 111 degrees Fahrenheit (44 Celsius) on Monday, according to AccuWeather. That compares with a normal high of 73 F at this time of year. Data provider Refinitiv said gas output in the Lower 48 U.S. states has averaged 91.6 billion cubic feet per day (bcfd) so far in June, up from 91.0 bcfd in May but still well below the monthly record high of 95.4 bcfd in November 2019. Refinitiv projected average gas demand, including exports, would rise from 87.9 bcfd this week to 93.7 bcfd next week with the coming of hotter weather before sliding to 92.4 bcfd in two weeks as temperatures ease. The forecast for next week was higher than Refinitiv's projection on Thursday. The amount of gas flowing to U.S. liquefied natural gas (LNG) export plants has fallen to 9.9 bcfd so far in June due mostly to short-term maintenance at Gulf Coast facilities and the pipelines that supply them with fuel. That compares with averages of 10.8 bcfd in May and a record 11.5 bcfd in April.
USA Regulator Adds Hurdle for Enbridge Project-- Enbridge Inc.’s embattled plan to build a tunnel under the Straits of Mackinac for its Line 5 oil pipeline will need a more thorough review from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the latest setback for the project opposed by Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer. The Army Corps said Wednesday that the project will require an environmental impact statement, which is lengthier than a simple environmental assessment. The EIS is appropriate because it could “significantly” affect the quality of the “human environment,” Jaime Pinkham, acting assistant secretary for the Army for Civil Works, said on the agency’s website. The requirement is a victory for environmentalists and indigenous groups that now will gain more time to oppose Line 5. The Canadian pipeline giant is facing mounting opposition and hurdles for its two key projects to upgrade conduits that haul crude from the oil sands to U.S. refineries. They are crucial for producers in Alberta that have struggled for years with a shortage of export pipelines, and have seen projects such as TC Energy Corp.’s Keystone XL get scrapped. The decision “will lead to a delay in the start of construction on this important project. Enbridge will continue to work with the USACE on its review of our application and towards a successful conclusion to this process which began when we filed our permit application in April 2020,” Calgary-based Enbridge said in a statement. Earlier this month, more than 200 protesters were arrested in Minnesota after they clashed with law enforcement at a pump station for Enbridge’s Line 3, which the company is expanding. For Line 5, Enbridge is seeking to construct a tunnel under the lake bed as it fights off an order from Whitmer to shut down the pipeline entirely. The governor says that the line is a threat to the Great Lakes, but Enbridge and the government of Canada argue that Line 5 is an essential conduit of light crude for refineries in the U.S. Midwest, as well Ontario and Quebec. Last year, Whitmer revoked an easement for the line and ordered it shut by May 12, which Enbridge defied, arguing that the governor didn’t have the authority to shut the line. The dispute is currently before a federal judge and in court-ordered mediation. The fight has soured relations between the U.S. and Canada months after President Joe Biden, a Whitmer ally, angered Canadians by revoking a permit to the build cross-border Keystone XL pipeline. While the Keystone decision was disappointing, the continued operation of Line 5 is “nonnegotiable,” Canada’s Natural Resources Minister Seamus O’Regan has said. “Governor Whitmer stood with the people as she raised the alarm on the risks associated with the Line 5 pipeline,” Jane Kleeb, chair of the Nebraska Democratic Party and founder of the Bold Alliance, said in an email. “It is our hope Pres. Biden applies the same standard to reviewing and ending the KXL pipeline to other pipelines that are all risk and no reward.”
Enbridge says tougher environmental review will delay Line 5 tunnel project (Reuters) -Enbridge Inc said on Wednesday construction on its Line 5 oil pipeline tunnel under the Great Lakes will be delayed, after the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers announced the project will undergo a tougher environmental review. Calgary-based Enbridge had planned to start building the $500 million tunnel beneath the Straits of Mackinac, connecting Lake Huron and Lake Michigan, this year. The proposed tunnel would rehouse a four-mile (6.44 km)section of the aging Line 5 oil pipeline, which currently runs along the lake bed. Line 5 ships 540,000 barrels per day of oil and refined products from Superior, Wisconsin, to Sarnia, Ontario, and is a key link in Enbridge's crude export network. "The decision by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) to complete an environmental impact statement (EIS) instead of an environmental assessment (EA) for the Great Lakes Tunnel project will lead to a delay in the start of construction on this important project," The company had expected the tunnel to be operational by 2024, but environmental impact statements can take years. Duffy said Enbridge was still evaluating the impact on its timeline. Environmental campaigners have argued for years that there is a risk Line 5, built in 1953, could rupture in the Straits. The pipeline is the subject of an ongoing legal battle between Enbridge and the state of Michigan that has also embroiled the Canadian government. Michigan ordered the pipeline to shut down in May over concerns it could leak into the Great Lakes, an order that Enbridge ignored. The company first announced in 2018 plans to build a tunnel that would be buried more than 100 feet (30.5 m) below the lake bed which it said would virtually eliminate any chance of a spill, but environmentalists remain opposed to the project. "This announcement comes after tens of thousands of citizens voiced concern over Enbridge's Line 5 tunnel permitting application because it lacked critical details," said Beth Wallace of the National Wildlife Federation. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers said it received more than 15,000 comments on the project after holding a public hearing in December 2020. "I have concluded that an EIS is the most appropriate level of review because of the potential for impacts significantly affecting the quality of the human environment," said Jaime Pinkham, the Army's acting assistant secretary for Civil Works.
UP Republican representatives say fuel tanker spill ‘will become more frequent’ without security of Line 5 pipeline - On Thursday night, three Republican State Representatives issued a statement about Line 5 following a fuel tanker spill in Hancock Thursday morning.Representatives John Damoose, of the 107th House District (R-Harbor Springs), Beau LaFave, of the 108th District (R-Iron Mountain) and Greg Markkanen, of the 110th District (R-Hancock) criticized the Biden Administration’s review of the Line 5 pipeline plan, which has previously gained approval from the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy (EGLE), the state Legislature, and former Gov. Rick Snyder.Thursday, a fuel tanker truck overturned resulting in a fuel spill that discharged into Portage Canal in Houghton County, causing an environmental incident and unfortunate situation for the nearby residents and Great Lakes.Public access to beaches and boat launches has been shut down temporarily, and the public has been asked to avoid the affected area for the foreseeable future. As of Friday morning, clean-up continues in Hancock.In a release, the three representatives said, “This unfortunate incident in Houghton County earlier [Thursday] will become more frequent if Governor Whitmer and President Biden get their way and shut down the safest means of transporting life-sustaining fuels, Line 5. “It is quite ironic, and sad, that this accident occurred within hours of the Biden Administration announcing their intention to investigate the pipeline. If today’s events do not highlight the inherent dangers that vehicular transportation of fuels poses, we don’t know what will.
PIPELINES: Colonial hit with class-action lawsuit over ransomware hack -- Wednesday, June 23, 2021 -- Colonial Pipeline Co. is facing a class-action lawsuit for allegedly "grossly negligent" cybersecurity practices leading up to a May hack that shut down its 5,500-mile fuel system.
DC Circuit moves to vacate Spire STL certificate; finds FERC scrutiny lacking - Agreeing with the Environmental Defense Fund, a panel of the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit June 22 decided to vacate the certificate for the Spire STL Pipeline, finding FERC refused to seriously engage arguments challenging the weight of an affiliate precedent agreement in establishing the need for the project. At issue is the 65-mile Spire STL project, designed to move 400,000 Dt/d of gas from the Rockies Express Pipeline system into the St. Louis Area. FERC approved the project in a split vote August 2018 and placed it into service in November 2019. The decision comes as the debate has been ongoing for several years over the degree to which FERC must look beyond precedent agreements in assessing the market need for projects, but the ruling distinguishes the facts in this case from others in which the court found in FERC's favor. The ruling does not immediately affect the Spire pipeline operations because the court withheld issuance of the mandate in the case for seven days after disposition of a petition for hearing or rehearing en banc, should Spire seek rehearing. But the ruling could ultimately force a shutdown, once the court's mandate issues, said Gary Kruse of ArboIQ, with timing potentially contingent on efforts, stay the court's mandate and further appeals. Spire STL in an emailed statement June 22 said it was disappointed, calling the ruling "a decision that would be detrimental to communities throughout eastern Missouri," while adding that Spire was "currently reviewing the order and considering next steps." "We have trusted and relied upon the established FERC process and precedent to build and operate the STL Pipeline, but three years after approval was granted by the FERC, it appears that reliable and critical energy access to 650,000 homes and businesses throughout the St. Louis region now could be in jeopardy," Spire said. According to S&P Global Platts Analytics, deliveries on Spire STL to local distribution companies have averaged 95 MMcf/d this year and reached as high as 312 MMcf/d only once so far in 2021, February 21, during the record cold snap across the Midwest. EDF petitioned for a review of FERC's August 2018 certificate authorization of the project and its November 2019 decision to deny rehearing. The group contended FERC relied on information presented by Spire, about a contract between the company and its affiliate covering 87.5% of the output, as sufficient evidence of project need when FERC should have rigorously assessed whether market conditions warranted approving the project. Enable Mississippi River Transmission and the Missouri Public Service Commission also raised objections during the FERC review that the project was unneeded and would negatively impact St. Louis gas market competition.
OIL AND GAS: Court's 'historic' FERC slap-down shifts pipeline war -- Wednesday, June 23, 2021 - A federal court ruling yesterday could influence how the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission reviews and approves pipelines, with major implications for the gas industry and legal cases around the country, analysts say. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit axed a certificate for the Spire STL pipeline in a forceful opinion that criticized FERC for failing to follow its own policies and delve into whether there was a need for the 65-mile natural gas pipeline from Illinois to Missouri. Instead, the court found that FERC had relied too heavily on Spire's precedent agreement with shipper Spire Missouri, a retail utility that was affiliated with the pipeline developer (E&E News PM, June 22). The fate of the operational pipeline is now in the hands of the agency. Analysts said the ruling could influence FERC's ongoing review of its Certificate Policy Statement, which dictates the process for determining whether a proposed pipeline is in the public interest and should therefore be approved. FERC Chairman Richard Glick reopened the review this year but has not indicated when it will end. The agency has historically greenlit proposals as long as they included one or more precedent agreements, which indicate that customers are willing to reserve capacity on the pipeline, but that practice could change depending on the outcome of the FERC review (Energywire, May 28). "I don't think it can be overstated how important this decision is today," said Gillian Giannetti, an attorney with the Natural Resources Defense Council's Sustainable FERC Project. "This is a historic opinion that could change the landscape of how FERC assesses pipeline need."
Tellurian Looking to Build Natural Gas Pipeline System to Serve Demand in Southwestern Louisiana -Tellurian Inc. is looking for approval from FERC to build a 37-mile, dual 42-inch pipeline system in Louisiana to meet natural gas demand in the Lake Charles area and potentially serve its proposed export terminal. The Line 200 and 300 project would pair supplies from various production regions with growing industrial, petrochemical, manufacturing, power generation, residential and liquefied natural gas (LNG) demand. The system would plug a supply gap between Lake Charles and a pipeline network about 30 miles north. Subsidiary Driftwood Pipeline LLC launched a binding open season earlier this year to secure firm transportation on Line 200 and 300. In its Federal Energy Regulatory Commission filing, Tellurian said it signed a 20-year transportation agreement for 4.6 million Dth/d with an undisclosed foundation shipper. The dual system would pick up supplies from existing pipeline infrastructure in the state near Ragley in Beauregard Parish and terminate near Carlyss in Calcasieu Parish at a new meter station near Tellurian’s proposed Driftwood LNG export terminal.
Offshore oil and its Democratic allies are greenwashing Gulf drilling - When President Biden took office in January, a peculiar idea about oil and gas started to make the political rounds: that certain parts of the industry are more environmentally responsible and can actually reduce emissions, compared to other parts of the industry that are worse for the Earth. “If you want to reduce emissions, the offshore arena is better,” Scott Angelle, who was the top environmental regulator of offshore energy under the Trump administration, told the trade publication Offshore in late January. Questionable claims about the climate might be expected from a Trump administration official who rolled back oil and gas regulations, but the same argument has also seeped into Democratic politics. “Gulf of Mexico oil and gas production produces substantially fewer greenhouse gas emissions than oil and gas production in any other region of the world,” Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards, a Democrat, testified to the Senate Energy Committee in May. Documents show that these claims originated with a little-known lobbying group that advocates for offshore oil — and experts told Vox that they’re dubious at best. By focusing on the emissions of oil and gas production, the industry is ignoring the much larger share of pollution that comes from the burning of fossil fuels. This is a clear attempt at greenwashing: Parts of the oil industry are arguing, perversely, that more fossil fuels can help solve the climate crisis. Yet these tactics also suggest that fossil fuel companies foresee a fight for survival in a shrinking market for oil and gas — and one emerging industry tactic is pointing fingers to claim that a particular source of oil and gas isn’t as dirty as the next person’s. “They’re falling over themselves” to claim “their oil is cleaner than someone else,” Lorne Stockman, a research analyst at Oil Change International, a nonprofit advocacy group, told Vox. What’s worrying is that attempts to rebrand some oil and gas as sustainable has gained traction even among prominent Democrats, and could influence an administration that has pledged to slash emissions by half within the decade in the hope of preventing catastrophic climate change.
As the Gulf of Mexico Heals from the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill, Stringent Safety Proposals Remain Elusive - Obama put forth a tough new standard for offshore drilling that Trump rolled back, prompting a lawsuit by environmentalists. They’re now looking to Biden for help. Over a three-month period beginning on April 20, 2010, over 200 million gallons of oil spilled into the Gulf of Mexico because of a catastrophic blowout and explosion that rocked the Deepwater Horizon, an offshore oil rig 41 miles off the Louisiana coast operated by British Petroleum, killing 11 workers and injuring 17 others.In Biloxi, the effects of the disaster on seabirds and sea fronts are mostly gone except in the memories of residents. But the measures designed to prevent a similar disaster lay in the hands of a federal court in Louisiana, Interior Department officials in Washington and lawmakers on Capitol Hill. Former President Donald Trump’s administration weakened many of the drilling safety measures adopted under Obama after the disaster. Most notably, Trump partially repealed a federal regulation that required increased testing and monitoring of underwater drilling equipment and well-control operations. As over 80 operators continue to drill and pump oil in the Gulf today under the weakened regulation, environmental activists are in federal court in New Orleans trying to get Trump’s partial repeal thrown out. Although President Joe Biden has put the partial repeal on a long list of Trump administration actions to review, it’s unclear whether his administration will simply try to revert to the Obama well safety regulation, or try to strengthen it. There’s always the potential for something catastrophic to happen like “another Deepwater Horizon spill,” said Chris Eaton, a senior attorney with Earthjustice and a lead counsel in the case challenging Trump’s partial repeal, which remains in effect. “It’s important to make sure that to the extent that there is oil and gas development still happening, that it’s done safely.”
U.S. infrastructure deal includes $6 billion sale from oil reserve -document (Reuters) -The infrastructure deal struck by a group of bipartisan senators and President Joe Biden on Thursday includes partial funding by a proposed $6 billion sale from the U.S. emergency oil reserve, according to a document circulated by Republican lawmakers. A sale of that size equals a drawdown of about 82 million barrels, based on Thursday's price of $73 a barrel for West Texas Intermediate crude. That represents about 13% of the reserve's current holdings of nearly 624 million barrels of oil, though if prices rise, the volume of oil would shrink. The deal was a step forward for the $1.2 trillion bipartisan Senate package, but the battle is not over. Biden's fellow Democrats are also working on a companion bill to include more money to address climate change, but could only be passed on a party line vote in a process called reconciliation. The effort to pass the bills could extend into September and beyond. A document released by the White House also confirmed that the deal calls for partial financing by a sale from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR), but did not say how much money would be raised. The Republican document did not detail the time period over which the sale would take place. The White House said the deal includes $73 billion for electricity grid improvements, including the building of thousands of miles of transmission lines to deliver power from renewable energy projects, and a new Grid Authority. The investments could help boost use of electric vehicles, reducing demand for fuels refined from crude oil while curbing carbon emissions. The deal also includes $21 billion for environmental remediation, much of which could go toward cleaning up abandoned coal and hardrock mines and oil and gas wells, while providing jobs in communities that have long relied on work producing fossil fuels. The SPR, held in several salt caverns on the Texas and Louisiana coasts, has been tapped before to fund the federal government, medical research and a modernization of the facility under laws passed in 2015 and 2016. In 2015, the government agreed to sell 58 million barrels between 2018 and 2025.
USA Crude Hub Stocks Seen Falling to Historic Lows- Crude oil inventories in America’s largest storage hub could fall to historically low levels by the end of September as the demand rebound continues to outpace production. Stockpiles in Cushing, Oklahoma, the delivery point for West Texas Intermediate oil futures fell nearly 4 million barrels in the last two weeks, bringing inventories to the lowest since March of 2020 when the pandemic forced the country into lockdown. Analysts are estimating and traders are betting that supplies could dwindle to seasonal levels not seen since 2018 by the end of September. Inventory levels at the massive complex, which houses crude oil produced across West Texas, the Midwest and western Canada, arguably has more sway over oil prices than anywhere else in world. With U.S. shale production still 15% off of its pre-pandemic peak and imports from Canada running low there is a growing consensus among trading house and Big Oil executives that prices are set to surge as supplies tighten. Stockpiles at Cushing, currently at 41.7 million barrels, could drop to the lowest in almost 3 years as refineries ramp up fuel-making and oil production is still lagging, said Chris Sloan, a Houston-based analyst with BB Energy Trading Ltd. Inventories could fall to the 30-million-barrel range in the next three months, he said. It’s a stark reversal from a year ago when a market price crash devastated the oil industry as demand slid from pandemic-fueled restrictions. It forced traders to stuff unwanted crude into storage globally until consumption improved, shifting the market to a steep contango where oil for immediate delivery trades at a discount to forward supply. At the heart of the decline is a lack of a type of oil called Domestic Sweet or DSW that is produced by blending a cocktail of crudes, including supplies from the Permian and the Midwest, according to market participants. Output recovery in the Midwest, where Cushing tanks sit, has been the slowest among all producing regions. “The lack of available DSW is undoubtedly tightening WTI–spec balances at the hub,” according to a note from consultants Energy Aspects. This and strong exit flows could push Cushing stocks in August and September to around 27 million barrels and 24 million barrels, respectively, they said.
Empty Oil Tanks at Key Storage Hub Show Speedy Demand Rebound -Crude storage tanks that were brimming a year ago when the pandemic grounded flights and kept drivers at home are beginning to empty in the main U.S. distribution hub, the latest sign of strengthening demand in the world’s biggest oil-consuming country. For the first time since before the pandemic, empty tanks are being offered for lease at Cushing, Oklahoma, the delivery point for West Texas Intermediate oil futures. At least 1.4 million barrels of storage is up for rental starting in July, for roughly 12 cents per barrel a month, said Steven Barsamian, chief operating officer at storage brokerage Tank Tiger. That’s a stark contrast to at least 60 cents charged when there was little space left about a year ago. Americans are taking to the roads and skies at increasing numbers as the summer nears and the country emerges from months of lockdowns, with oil refiners speeding up fuel making to meet the rising demand. This week, California, America’s most populous state, re-opened its economy, while New York ended most of its curbs. It’s a dramatic turnaround from a market crash that saw traders storing unwanted crude in tankers at sea, and U.S. producers at one point having to pay for customers to take their oil last year. Meanwhile, shale producers are sticking to their pledges to focus on balancing their books and boosting returns to shareholders, rather than increasing output. U.S. production is 15% below its peak last year, limiting flows to the storage center. So, traders are rapidly draining their storage tanks to supply refineries with every barrel of crude feedstock they need. Empty tanks are typical of a market where demand is outpacing supplies and traders are getting a premium on the nearest deliveries, making it unprofitable to keep oil in storage -- a pattern known as backwardation. A year ago, when traders were storing as much oil as possible to wait for better prices, the nearest deliveries for WTI were selling at a discount to longer-dated ones. That structure is known as contango. These patterns affect especially the commercial storages used in speculative trading, such as the ones in Cushing. “Typically, in a backwardated market, its the storage that isn’t being used for operational purpose like the ones in Cushing, Oklahoma, that get emptied out first,” Barsamian said. “Storage at most other locations such as in Houston and Midland in Texas are used for operational purposes and get emptied out later.”
Cash gushes freely in shale oil bonanza --Cash is flowing faster than oil in the US shale patch as the threat of Opec's spare capacity continues to cap investment to boost production.Surging oil prices are fuelling an unexpected bonanza for investors in the US shale sector. Output remains stalled in the lower 48 US states this year but benchmark WTI is up by two-thirds at over $70/bl. The shale industry is expected to earn record revenues this year before taking hedging into account, consultancy Rystad Energy says. Yet firms are unwilling to spend more to boost output until oil market fundamentals tighten — especially the overhang of shut-in capacity held by Opec+ producers, estimated at 5.5mn-8mn b/d.Shale producers are determined to shake off the image of their profligate past, when they spent more than they earned while chasing rapid output growth. They are now focusing on rewarding shareholders and paying down debt, despite the doubling of prices since last year. "It is not the price of oil that is going to trigger whether we are growing or not growing," EOG Resources chief executive Bill Thomas says. And this view is echoed across the industry.Most shale firms are just spending enough to keep output flat and using excess cash to accelerate debt repayments and increase shareholder dividends. Breakeven prices have fallen sharply as operators continue to improve well productivity and cut development costs. EOG says it needs WTI at $50/bl for a 10pc return on capital employed, down from $57/bl last year and $81/bl in 2016. The firm says it aims to bring this down to $40/bl in the future.US oil production is expected to rebound in the second half of this year as shale drilling and completion activity picks up onshore in the lower 48 states, the EIA's Short-Term Energy Outlook (STEO) says. Output will be down by 2pc for 2021 as a whole, thanks to deep spending cuts brought on by the pandemic. But year-on-year growth will rise to 4pc for the remainder of 2021 and to 7pc in 2022, STEO projections show (see graph). It will still take until late 2023 to regain pre-pandemic output, even at these higher growth rates. Oil production is projected to rise modestly in June-July from the seven major shale formations covered by the EIA's Drilling Productivity Report (DPR). Output from new wells exceeds legacy declines from existing wells — estimated at 425,000 b/d. About 50pc more wells are being completed each month than drilled as operators draw on their large backlog of drilled-but-uncompleted (DUC) wells. These cost 40pc less to bring on line than drilling and completing a well. Operators completed 779 wells last month, of which 247 were DUC wells (see graph).
Shale oil and gas fraud: A sign of a peak in oil supplies? - Those of us who watched incredulously as investors shovelled more and more money into what we were sure were money-losing shale oil and gas drillers do not find the current spate of fraud lawsuits against these drillers surprising. The gargantuan claims about shale hydrocarbon reserves—which were compared more than once to those in Saudi Arabia—were clearly designed to woo investors into bidding up the stock price and/or hoovering up the constant stream of junk bonds emitted by the shale oil and gas drillers. The hype succeeded for a long time, even during the crash in oil prices in 2015 and beyond when investors convinced themselves that they were picking up "bargains." It wasn't until the pandemic-induced plunge in oil prices that the reality of those outlandish claims was revealed, and many companies disappeared. But this story of fraud and exaggerated claims is much more than a legal story. The large production gains that did take place in American oil fields had people believing America would be or already was "energy-independent," a phrase that meant the country would not be a net importer of energy resources. Though U.S. dependence on imported energy resources did decline, it didn't reach zero until the pandemic dramatically crashed U.S. oil demand below U.S. production. But as the world and U.S. economies rebound, that dependence is almost certain to return as the so-called "shale miracle" turns out to be something less than miraculous, bankruptcies continue and reserve estimates come back into line with reality. But the fallout extends even further. The U.S. shale boom was the principal source of increased world production for most of the last 15 years. Without that boom and the boom in the Canadian tar sands, world oil production would have grown little or even declined. Now that U.S. shale oil production is receding—from an estimated 8.3 million barrels per day (mbpd) in November 2019 to 6.9 mbpd as of February 2021—it is unlikely that U.S. producers could pull off a similar feat again. The recent rise in oil prices against a backdrop of a still recovering economy suggests that the shale miracle is not returning any time soon, if ever. For those who scoffed at the idea that world oil production would peak in the near term, the test is just ahead. World production of crude oil including lease condensate (which is the definition of oil) peaked at 84.6 mbpd in November 2018 (well before the pandemic) and has yet to touch that peak again. In fact, the latest monthly production figures available from the U.S. Energy Information Administration show oil production in February still more than 10 million barrels below its November 2018 peak.
War of Words Over New Mexico’s Oil Fields -In mid-June, a federal judge in Louisiana blocked the Biden administration’s 5-month-old pause on new oil and gas lease sales on federal lands and waters. But in New Mexico, where the state’s Democratic governor had requested an exemption to the pause, the tension over leases highlights how tricky it is for petroleum-dependent states to transition away from the historically rich revenue stream.It’s not yet clear how the judge’s order will play out, but the pause had already led to a dustup among state legislators and an unusual alliance across the upper levels of the state’s deeply polarized political parties.“There’s not a whole lot of common ground, at least with myself and the governor,” says state Sen. Greg Baca, the Republican minority floor leader. “But on this one thing, I can agree that we need to continue these leases.” He is the lead signatory on a letter fired off earlier in June to the Biden administration and signed by all of the state’s Republican legislators. In it, they denounced an earlier letter two dozen state Democrats sent to the president.State Democrats asked that the lease moratorium be kept in place to protect the environment and allow for further review of the leasing process on federal lands, crossing the state’s most prominent Democrat, Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham.“Just as our Democratic Governor requested in March 2021,” the Republicans wrote to Biden, “we respectfully ask that New Mexico’s fossil fuel production and any associated federal permitting and leasing activities be exempt from all future regulatory moratoriums.”This put them squarely in line with the governor, an uncommon position for both.
Plugging New Mexico's oil and gas wells could create thousands of jobs - Plugging thousands of abandoned oil and gas wells in New Mexico could generate billions in wages and more than 65,000 jobs while generating state revenue, per a recent study. A report published Tuesday by New Mexico-based O’Donnell Economics pointed to the economic boost well plugging could create but also contended federal funds were needed for the State to reap the benefits. When an operator is permitted to drill a well, they often pay bonding to assist with cleanup should the well be abandoned or orphaned – usually when its profitability declines. The State of New Mexico often foots the bill for shutting in the well and remediating the land as required by state law, officials said. State officials, environmental groups and iPlugging thousands of abandoned oil and gas wells in New Mexico could generate billions in wages and more than 65,000 jobs while generating state revenue, per a recent study.A report published Tuesday by New Mexico-based O’Donnell Economics pointed to the economic boost well plugging could create but also contended federal funds were needed for the State to reap the benefits.When an operator is permitted to drill a well, they often pay bonding to assist with cleanup should the well be abandoned or orphaned – usually when its profitability declines.The State of New Mexico often foots the bill for shutting in the well and remediating the land as required by state law, officials said. State officials, environmental groups and industry groups pushed the federal government to provide financial assistance to states for well plugging to protect the environment and stimulate the economy. Industry groups pushed the federal government to provide financial assistance to states for well plugging to protect the environment and stimulate the economy. Remediation of the facilities would support 65,337 jobs and $4.1 billion in wages, the study ready, providing jobs to energy workers displaced during the COVID-19 health crisis and the state’s transition away from fossil fuels, or whose jobs fluctuate with future busts in oil and gas.
Haaland: No plan 'right now' for permanent drill leasing ban -- Interior Secretary Deb Haaland told lawmakers on Wednesday that there is not currently a plan to permanently ban new drilling leases on public lands and waters. Haaland, during a House Natural Resources Committee hearing, also reiterated that the administration’s assessment of oil and gas drilling on public lands and oceans would be released in “early summer.” “Gas and oil production will continue well into the future,” Haaland said. “I don’t think there is a plan right now for a permanent ban ... but, as I said, the review will come out early summer, and we will assess the fossil fuel programs at that time.” “We want to make sure that American taxpayers are getting a good return on, essentially, their investment,” she also told the committee. When he was running for office, President Biden pledged to ban new drilling permits, which are typically granted on land that’s already leased to drillers, as part of his climate plan. However, since taking office, his administration has not said whether that will be its ultimate goal as it reviews federal oil and gas drilling. While it conducts its review, the Biden administration temporarily paused new oil and gas leasing. However, a federal judge recently placed an injunction on that pause, meaning the administration can’t keep it in place while the judge evaluates its legality. Haaland was also pressed on the department’s implementation of that decision. “Has anything changed within the department from when that judge issued a decision today?” asked Rep. Garret Graves (R-La.), specifically asking if the department had moved forward with a certain lease sale or published a Federal Register notice on it. “We’re reviewing the judge’s decision,” Haaland said, adding that the department hadn’t published any notices in the Federal Register. “It’s 44 pages,” Graves replied. “You have a whole legal team. You have a solicitor’s office. You have some very talented people, and it’s 44 pages. ... I’m just trying to understand how things have changed.” Haaland replied that she’d get him a detailed answer.
Boom in Native American oil complicates Biden climate push (AP) — On oil well pads carved from the wheat fields around Lake Sakakawea, hundreds of pump jacks slowly bob to extract 100 million barrels of crude annually from a reservation shared by three Native American tribes. About half their 16,000 members live on the Fort Berthold Indian Reservation atop one of the biggest U.S. oil discoveries in decades, North Dakota’s Bakken shale formation. The drilling rush has brought the tribes unimagined wealth -- more than $1.5 billion and counting -- and they hope it will last another 20 to 25 years. The boom also propelled an almost tenfold spike in oil production from Native American lands since 2009, federal data shows, complicating efforts by President Joe Biden to curb carbon emissions. Burning of oil from tribal lands overseen by the U.S. government now produces greenhouse gases equivalent to about 12 million vehicles a year, according to an Associated Press analysis. But Biden exempted Native American lands from a suspension of new oil and gas leases on government-managed land in deference to tribes’ sovereign status.With tribal lands now producing more than 3% of U.S. oil and huge reserves untapped, Interior Secretary Deb Haaland — the first Native American to lead a U.S. cabinet-level agency — faces competing pressures to help a small number of tribes develop their fossil fuels while also addressing climate change that affects all Native communities. “We’re one of the few tribes that have elected to develop our energy resources. That’s our right,” tribal Chairman Mark Fox told AP at the opening of a Fort Berthold museum and cultural center built with oil revenue. “We can develop those resources and do it responsibly so our children and grandchildren for the next 100 years have somewhere to live.”
PUBLIC LANDS: Report: 32K abandoned wells surround 162 national park sites -- Thursday, June 24, 2021 --More than a third of all National Park Service units sit within 30 miles of an orphaned oil or gas well — with nearly a dozen sites surrounded by 1,000 or more abandoned facilities, according to a new analysis.
Biden's Silence on Minnesota Oil Pipeline Frustrates Advocates | Audubon --Joe Biden wasted no time canceling the highly controversial Keystone XL oil pipeline once he became president. On inauguration day, he revoked one of the project’s key federal permits, leading Keystone’s developer to cancel the project earlier this month. The new administration’s opposition to the pipeline and its subsequent cancellation made headlines around the world. But deep in Minnesota’s northwoods lies another massive pipeline project that’s been called a “doppelganger” of Keystone XL: Enbridge Energy’s Line 3 oil pipeline. Like Keystone XL, Line 3 would carrytoxic, carbon-intensive tar sands crude from Canada into the U.S., crossing more than 300 bodies of water—including the ecologically rich Mississippi River headwaters and thousands of acres of wild rice watersthat are a critical lifeway to several Native tribes. The entities behind the pair of pipelines are multi-billion-dollar Canadian companies headquartered in Calgary, Alberta. Both lines have faced years of resistance and protests by Indigineous and environmental activists. But despite reports of behind-the-scenes pressure, Biden hasn’t taken a public stance on Line 3 the way he did with XL, much to the chagrin of environmental advocates. “The silence from the Biden administration on Line 3 is conspicuous and disappointing and really shocking,” says Brett Benson, spokesperson for MN350, a Minnesota climate advocacy group. “When you consider every rational reason the administration had for canceling Keystone XL on the first day in office, that applies to Line 3 as well.”As president, Biden said he had canceled the pipeline because the oil it would carry would further the climate crisis, and the project didn’t align with his administration’s goals of developing a clean-energy economy for the United States. “The world must be put on a sustainable climate pathway to protect Americans and the domestic economy from harmful climate impacts,” his order read. Protests on the Line 3 construction sites have been constant since the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers approved the project’s final federal permit in the waning days of the Trump Administration. Construction began shortly after, in early December last year, and was immediately met with resistance. Activists have been fighting the project for years, especially since Minnesota state regulators first approved Line 3 in 2018.
‘We will not stop’: pipeline opponents ready for America’s biggest environmental fight - As the sun set, more than a dozen young people carried a wooden bridge toward a narrow section of the Mississippi River. The bridge allowed the group to cross more easily from their camp to where the immense oil pipeline was being built on the other side. They were cited for trespassing – but they had symbolically laid claim to the marshy landscape. That same day, Dawn Goodwin’s voice was soft but forceful as she spoke into the camera: “I’m calling on you, Joe Biden, to uphold our treaties, because they are the supreme law of the land.” Goodwin, an Ojibwe woman and environmental activist, was recording a livestream from a picturesque camp site amid northern Minnesota’s natural beauty – where she and dozens of others had come together to protest the construction of the Line 3 pipeline. Across the state, along the pipeline’s planned route of construction, activists have traveled from all over the country to do the same: many have locked themselves to construction equipment, and hundreds have been arrested. Goodwin’s preferred method of protest is arguably less physical – she was in the middle of leading a four-day prayer ceremony – but she hoped it would be no less effective to draw attention to the potential harm the pipeline represents.“We’re done messing around with the process and trusting that the process is going to work, because in the end, it failed us,” she said. “What am I trusting instead? The power of the people, and the creator.” The proposed Line 3 pipeline – which, if expanded, would move crude oil from Alberta in Canada through Minnesota to Wisconsin – has quickly become the biggest target of US environmental advocates. In addition to attracting protesters from around the country, it’s bringing attention to Biden’s unfulfilled promises so far on the climate crisis, as advocates argue he could step in to stop an expansion of fossil fuel infrastructure but hasn’t. The US already produces more oil than it can use, and is increasing exports of oil and natural gas, despite vowing to cut its own climate pollution. The ramp-up in protests in Minnesota comes on the heels of a major environment win, with developers canceling the Keystone XL pipeline – something Indigenous activists fought for about a decade. Now, advocates are framing Line 3 as the latest frontier in environmental justice, in part because of the risks it poses to the waterways Indigenous Americans rely on. “For all of the reasons that Keystone XL was shuttered and more, Line 3 needs to be stopped as well,” said Collin Rees, a senior campaigner for Oil Change International. “There’s an increasing understanding that we can’t continue to expand fossil fuels.” If the pipeline moves forward, Rees said, the Biden administration will be undermining its own authority at international climate negotiations. Other countries – including Denmark, Ireland, and Spain – are moving to ban future licenses for oil and gas drilling. The 52-year-old pipeline, operated by the Canadian energy company Enbridge, is being replaced because it is deteriorating. Two other Enbridge pipelines have experienced major spills. But the replacement line is on an entirely new route, one that crosses rivers, lakes and wetlands. “Because if there’s a spill, we don’t know what’s going to happen. We don’t fully understand the underground. We want to think we do but we don’t,” Goodwin said.
Line 3 foes worry increased pumping could threaten Minn. water To build the new Line 3 pipeline across northern Minnesota, the Enbridge Energy company needs to dig a trench — and temporarily pump groundwater out of the construction area, in a process called dewatering. Enbridge originally asked for permission to pump about 510 million gallons of water from the pipeline corridor, as it builds the replacement to the current Line 3 pipeline along a new, 340-mile route across northern Minnesota. But as construction moves forward, the company encountered more groundwater than it anticipated and requested to significantly increase the amount it’s authorized to pump, according to the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources. On June 4, the DNR issued an amended permit that allows Enbridge to pump up to nearly 5 billion gallons — almost 10 times more than the original amount the company had requested — for the remaining 145 miles of pipeline it has left to build. Opponents of the project worry that the pumping could reduce the overall quantity of groundwater and potentially affect sensitive wetlands, lakes and streams along the route, which are already under stress due to current drought conditions statewide. But the DNR says it has determined that the increase in dewatering would not threaten groundwater sustainability or have other harmful impacts on natural resources. The agency’s permit only allows Enbridge to pump shallow groundwater from the construction area, not from lakes or wetlands, said Randall Doneen, a senior DNR administrator who oversees ecological and water resources. The water is temporarily stored and treated, then discharged nearby, where it infiltrates back into the ground, he said. “Our assessment is that the actual pumping of it will have limited impact to the wetlands, streams and lakes and the shallow aquifer,” Doneen said. Dewatering to dig a trench Dewatering is required for construction projects like new roads, buildings or sewer lines that require digging a hole or trench, which tend to fill with water if they’re below a certain depth. “Everywhere that you go down into the ground, you eventually run into the water table,” explains Kelton Barr, a consulting hydrogeologist who’s worked on other dewatering projects in Minnesota, but is not involved in Line 3. “Below that point, the ground and all the pores in it are saturated with water,” Barr said. “And so, if your construction project needs to be doing things below that water table, then you have to do dewatering.”
Biden administration stands behind federal permits for Line 3 - President Joe Biden's administration has signaled it has no intention of yanking federal permits for Enbridge's controversial Line 3 pipeline — despite pleas to do so by environmental groups and two Indian bands.The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers continued defending the water permit it granted Enbridge in November in a federal court filing late Wednesday night. The permit was the last major approval the company needed to begin construction on its 340-mile pipeline across northern Minnesota.The filing marks the first time President Joe Biden's administration has taken a positionon the $3 billion-plus Line 3, which will transport particularly thick oil from western Canada to Enbridge's terminal in Superior, Wis. Several environmental organizations voiced their displeasure Thursday."Allowing Line 3 to move forward is, at best, inconsistent with the bold promises on climate and environmental justice President Biden campaigned and was elected on," said Michael Brune, executive director of the Sierra Club, in a press statement.Calgary-based Enbridge said in a statement that the Corps' filing "is an expected next step in the court appeal process," laying out the agency's "very thorough review" of Line 3's federal permits.Two Ojibwe bands and three environmental groups sued the Corps in U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C., late last year. They claimed the Corps did not properly evaluate the pipeline's impact on climate change and that the agency should have conducted its own environmental impact statement (EIS) on the pipeline.Their lawsuit also alleges that the Corps failed to fully assess Line 3's impacts on tribal treaty rights. While the new Line 3 would cross only one of seven Ojibwe reservations — Fond du Lac — it goes through lands where Native Americans have treaty rights to hunt, gather and fish.Earlier this year, the plaintiffs asked the court for a summary judgment, which would mean that all factual issues are decided and that the case need not be tried.On Wednesday, the Corps also asked for a summary judgment — but in its favor — countering plaintiffs' allegations and saying it met all Line 3 permitting requirements under federal environmental law.The Corps permit allows Enbridge to drill beneath certain rivers during construction and to discharge dredged material into U.S. waters."The Corps found that the large majority of wetland impacts from the construction of [the new] Line 3 will be temporary, and mitigation will be performed to compensate for the small amount of loss of aquatic resource function," the filing said.
'Horrible and Unconscionable Betrayal': Biden DOJ Backs Trump Tar Sands Pipeline Approval --Indigenous and environmental activists fighting against the Line 3 tar sands pipeline were outraged Thursday after the Biden administration filed a legal brief backing the federal government's 2020 approval of the project under former President Donald Trump.Critics of the project — which Canadian energy giant Enbridge has undertaken to replace an aging oil pipeline — blasted the U.S. Department of Justice's late Wednesday filing as a betrayal of President Joe Biden's pledges to address the climate emergency and respect tribal rights."A White House that is serious about protecting communities needs to start by listening to communities when they say they don't want an oil pipeline threatening their water and land," said Janet Redman, Greenpeace USA climate campaign director. "Backing Enbridge's Line 3 tar sands oil pipeline is a massive failure for a president that campaigned on tackling the climate crisis. And it's a betrayal of what he promised the American people." Benjamin Goloff, a campaigner at the Center for Biological Diversity, accused Biden of "siding with a handful of corrupt corporate elites over honoring treaty rights, climate, water, and the future of life on Earth." "This is a racist pipeline project forced down the throats of our people, an ecological time bomb and a giveaway to a Canadian multinational oil interest," said Winona LaDuke, executive director of the Indigenous environmental group Honor the Earth, in a statement Thursday."If the president is genuine in his pledge to take climate justice and tribal rights seriously, his administration must stop defending the Trump administration's decision and undertake a genuine analysis of Line 3's environmental and human impacts," she asserted. The route of Enbridge's new, larger pipeline crosses Anishinaabe treaty lands. Native American and climate groups have challenged it with actions on the ground — which have sometimes halted construction — and lawsuits at the state and federal level.Those groups challenged the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' November 2020 decision to grant a key water permit and permission for specific work related to Line 3. They argue that the corps violated several federal laws — the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), Clean Water Act (CWA), the Rivers and Harbors Act (RHA), and Administrative Procedure Act (APA).
Line 3 contractor cited for serious safety lapse, fined $25,000 in worker's death - The employer of a man who died in December working on Enbridge's new Line 3 oil pipeline has been cited for a serious safety violation and fined $25,000. Construction worker Jorge Villafuerte III was killed when he was run over by a large forklift near Hill City on Dec. 18, a few weeks after Enbridge began building the $3 billion-plus pipeline across northern Minnesota. In May, the Minnesota Occupational Safety and Health Administration (MnOSHA) cited Eau Claire-based Precision Pipeline, a general contractor on the Line 3 project. Precision, which did not return requests for comment Tuesday, is contesting the citation. Under Minnesota law, companies with over 50 workers are hit with a minimum fine of $25,000 for a serious safety violation involving a fatality. MnOSHA contends Precision violated a rule calling for employers to ensure that industrial truck operators are "competent" to run their vehicles — "as demonstrated by the successful completion" of certain training and evaluations, records show. The day of his death, the 45-year-old Villafuerte was at a construction yard in the predawn hours, checking a list of materials while standing behind a "telehandler," which is an industrial forklift, according to the Aitkin County Sheriff's Office. As the forklift started backing up, Villafuerte was struck almost immediately by the rear passenger tire. Before the operator stopped the vehicle, "the machine's tire had backed over the full length of his body," the sheriff's report said. The forklift driver told deputies that Villafuerte, who had been wearing a reflective vest, was in "a blind spot while he was operating the machine and that he never saw him." Villafuerte, of Utah, was dead by the time emergency responders arrived. He left behind nine children.
Judge closes out Dakota Access lawsuit; future legal challenges still possible -e judge who for five years has presided over the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe’s fight against the Dakota Access Pipeline dismissed the case Tuesday but outlined a path for a future legal challenge to an ongoing environmental review, should the tribe seek to make one.U.S. District Judge James Boasberg issued a brief order indicating that if the tribe plans to challenge the outcome of the study, expected to conclude in March 2022, it must do so in the form of a new lawsuit that would be assigned to his court. He left open the possibility of reopening the case should any previous orders he made concerning the pipeline be violated.Boasberg answered the major lingering issues in the litigation in May when he ruled that the pipeline could keep operating. Standing Rock had asked him to issue an injunction forcing the line to stop pumping oil, but he concluded the tribe had failed to demonstrate a “likelihood of irreparable injury” from the line’s continued operation.That was a significant setback for the tribe, which last year secured a separate shutdown order from Boasberg only to have it overturned on appeal. The ruling eased the anxiety of many Bakken producers who send their oil to market through the 1,200-mile line, and it came as a relief to state officials who feared a decline in oil tax revenue and jobs if the pipeline were forced to shut down during the environmental review.Boasberg’s rulings over the years offered a mixed bag for both Standing Rock and pipeline supporters, including operator Energy Transfer and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the agency tasked with permitting the line’s Missouri River crossing.In the end, an appeals court upheld significant parts of his more recent rulings requiring that the Corps complete a new study of the line, a process known as an Environmental Impact Statement. The court also affirmed that he was right to have revoked the pipeline’s easement for the line’s Missouri River crossing just upstream from the Standing Rock Reservation, where tribal members are concerned about a potential oil leak. Energy Transfer has said it plans to appeal those decisions to the U.S. Supreme Court, but it has not yet done so.
Coast Guard yet to acknowledge video of ‘giant’ oily slick off San Clemente Island - U.S. Coast Guard officials in San Diego have yet to acknowledge a potentially large fuel spill off San Clemente Island reported Saturday by the captain of a whale-watching boat.Domenic Biagini, owner of Gone Whale Watching San Diego, said he’d taken half a dozen passengers out near the island on Saturday when they spotted an oily sheen covering the ocean. He said they found the slick about 12 nautical miles south of the island, tracking the pollution all the way past an area known as Butterfly Bank.“When I say giant, it was a minimum of 50 miles,” Biagini said. “We had 90 minutes of having to wrap our faces in sweatshirts because it was so toxic to breathe the air around us.”Coast Guard Sector San Diego did not respond on Tuesday to questions about the reported slick near San Clemente Island, located about 70 miles offshore.Biagini said he was surprised to find no immediate reports of the pollution. So, on Sunday, he posted to social media drone footage of dolphins swimming through the oily slick. “I went home thinking I was going to find a ton of information on this, and I was just flabbergasted to see nothing,” he said.
Coast Guard: Diesel fuel slick at least 3 miles long off San Diego coast - Video shows dolphins swimming through fuel slick in what might be a second spill further off the coast — A spill of at least 100 gallons of diesel fuel discovered Saturday about 10 nautical miles southwest of Point Loma is unrecoverable and will dissipate, the U.S. Coast Guard said Sunday. The spilled fuel created a slick about three miles long, said Petty Officer 3rd Class Alex Gray, a spokesman for the Coast Guard Sector San Diego. The Coast Guard on Sunday was not aware of who was responsible for the spill or when the fuel was spilled into the ocean. A Coast Guard helicopter flew over the area between noon and 1 p.m. Saturday after getting reports that a slick had been seen, Gray said. Two Navy officials told the Union-Tribune Sunday the service was unaware of any spills involving U.S. Navy vessels. On Saturday, a San Diego-based whale sightseeing tour operator shared on his popular Instagram account a video of dolphins swimming through what he described as an oil slick. According to the post on Dominic Biagini’s “dolphindronedom” account, a whale watching ship encountered a 50-mile-long oil slick near San Clemente Island, some 70 miles from San Diego — a significant distance from where the Coast Guard said it spotted fuel in the water.
Coast Guard, Navy pointing fingers over reported fuel spill near San Clemente Island - - Both the U.S. Coast Guard and U.S. Navy said Tuesday they were not responsible for investigating reports of a fuel spill off the coast of San Clemente Island.Domenic Biagini is the captain and owner of Gone Whale Watching. In video recorded on his phone, you can hear the disgust in Biagini's voice as he and his crew discover dolphins swimming through diesel."They were just, you know, stuck swimming through fuel and it was really hard to watch. They were not acting normal," Biagini said.Biagini tells Eyewitness News they spotted it Saturday, 65 miles off the coast of San Diego, near San Clemente Island, which is owned and operated by the Navy.Biagini pulled his drone out to record, in hopes of finding the end. He estimates the slick was about 50 miles long. “We could not see the end of this slick for the life of us once we got into it," Biagini said. "So, we immediately called the Coast Guard on the VHF channel 16 which is what we're supposed to do."The Coast Guard tells Eyewitness News the Navy is responsible for investigating and that the Navy reported to the USCG they were in the area and did not see a sheen.After the story aired on Eyewitness News Tuesday afternoon, two Navy spokespeople answered our questions - one over the phone, the other via email.The Navy told Eyewitness News the USCG is responsible for investigating spills and that the Navy is not investigating this matter. When asked whether the Navy was behind this spill, we were told the Navy has no reports of a spill.Biagini said he saw Navy boats out there and doesn't see how anyone could have missed it."I mean, we couldn't breathe. It was like the fumes were so toxic. It was such a dense area," Biagini said.Veterinarian Dr. Michael Ziccardi said staff with the Oiled Wildlife Care Network, managed by UC Davis, saw Biagini's video on social media and was monitoring in case any wildlife were in need of help.According to Ziccardi, those dolphins seen in the video swimming through fuel could have medical issues as a result. Can have effect on the eyes or some of the sensitive tissues and then also respirator damage at least we've seen that in birds," Ziccardi said.
AVTEC receives $40,000 grant from Marathon Petroleum— Alaska Vocational Technical Center received a $40,000 grant from the Marathon Petroleum Foundation to purchase an oil spill response module. The simulation will be incorporated at the Kongsberg Full Mission Bridge Simulator at AVTEC’s First Lake Campus. “We couldn’t be more excited about this new training opportunity for mariners across Alaska,” said Steve Fink, AVTEC’s lead simulation technician and operator. “Marathon Petroleum has been a great partner for many years, and we are truly appreciative of their continued investment in our facility, marine pilot training and water safety.” The oil spill response module allows small fleets of oil response vessels to plan and execute oil cleanup on the scene of a simulated oil spill. Highly detailed virtual pools of oil on the water’s surface can be contained with booms and then recovered with skimmers attached to virtual response vessels. All equipment is modeled from real-world equipment and simulated in a 3D environment using AVTEC’s state-of-the-art bridge simulation system. The oil response module is in the process of configuration and should be available to students for the upcoming fall semester. Alaska Maritime Training Center is a department at AVTEC and funded by The Alaska Department of Labor. AMTC is leading school in Alaska for mariners to be trained at any level of their profession including able seaman, deck officers, and engineering department crew.
St. Croix Refinery That Rained Oil on Homes Shuts Down 'Indefinitely' - The Limetree Bay refinery that rained oil on St. Croix neighborhoods will remain shut down "indefinitely," its private equity owners said Monday. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) shut down the refinery in May for 60 days after it spewed oil onto nearby predominantly Black and Latino neighborhoods twice since reopening in February. The noxious pollution sent residents to emergency rooms and locals worry their drinking water is now laced with the oil that fell from the sky. The Virgin Islands Good Food Coalition is conducting a survey of the refinery's health and environmental impacts along with two Bennington College professors (one of whom is a former EPA official who monitored the plant). VIGFC Executive Director Sommer Sibilly-Brown said she worried for those who will lose their jobs, as well as those harmed by the pollution. "We are a community of black and brown people who have been historically burdened by the effects of the refinery and left with the aging facility, undocumented health impacts, and no remediation to environmental impacts caused by refining," she told The Washington Post. As reported by CNN: In preparation for the extended shutdown, the refinery said it will start "safely purging gases from all of the units and removing any residual oil and products in the lines."Dyline Thomas, a 58-year-old resident on the island, said she discovered oil in her yard in mid-May. And just two days earlier, a flare incident occurred at the Limetree Bay refinery upwind of her home. As flames and smoke billowed out of the flare stack, oil droplets were launched into the sky and carried by the wind, raining down on nearby homes.
Limetree Bay refinery in St. Croix says it will stay shut indefinitely due to ‘extreme financial constraints’ - The Washington Post --Limetree Bay, a massive oil refinery in the Caribbean, announced Monday that it is ceasing operations following a number of catastrophic errors that rained oil droplets on St. Croix, sent residents to emergency rooms after noxious gas releases and raised fears among homeowners that their drinking water was laced with toxic chemicals.The plant, which had closed a decade ago under a previous owner after toxic spills helped push it into bankruptcy, was plagued with problems from the start after the Trump administration granted it permission to reopen in February.“Limetree had a very high rate of environmental violations over a very short period of time,” said Judith Enck, a former Environmental Protection Agency official who monitored the plant under the Obama administration. “It was an environmental catastrophe unfolding in real time.”The refinery’s pollution impacts on Black and Brown people in communities that surround it quickly emerged as a priority under President Biden, who made environmental justice a major focus of his climate agenda. In May, the EPA ordered the refinery to suspend operations for 60 days as it weighed whether it had become “an imminent threat” to people’s health.Now the island stands as a critical test for the president, who has promised to devote 40 percent of federal spending on the environment to disadvantaged communities. Even as many residents welcomed the plant’s closure Monday, they questioned how the territory would recover from the harm it has already caused.Monday’s announcement suggests that the refinery, which now owes tens of millions of dollars to contractors and faces multiple class-action lawsuits from residents, might never restart. The company, which will continue to operate an adjoining oil export terminal, told all 271 refinery employees that they will be terminated as of Sept. 19. On Friday, many of the remaining contractors were sent home. On Monday, contractors moved some of their equipment outside of the plant’s fence line.
Insurance Giants Under Fire from First Nations for Backing Trans Mountain Tar Sands Pipeline -Indigenous peoples in Canada and a coalition of environmental groups launched a “Global Week of Action” for June 14-21, aimed at pressuring an array of insurance companies to cut ties with a long-distance tar sands pipeline under construction in Canada.On Wednesday, the Braided Warriors, an Indigenous youth group in British Columbia, held a rallyin front of Chubb Insurance Canada in Vancouver, B.C. On Friday, activists in London are set toprotest outside Lloyd’s of London — one of the world’s largest insurers of fossil fuels. Other acts of solidarity are planned as far away as the Pacific Islands and Sierra Leone. The Indigenous and environmental groups are targeting the handful of global insurance companies that provide coverage for the Trans Mountain pipeline system, a long-distance pipeline running from Alberta’s tar sands to the Pacific Coast near Vancouver.The original pipeline has been operating for decades, but Canada is building what has been termed a “twin” pipeline that would nearly triple the capacity of the existing system to 890,000 barrels of oil per day. For years the Trans Mountain Expansion struggled to get off the ground. It met intense resistance from multiple First Nations in British Columbia, and as it became ensnared in legal limbo, it grew into a financial boondoggle.The former owner Kinder Morgan sought to bail on the project, and instead of letting it die, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau bought the system in 2018 for C$4.5 billion, effectively nationalizing it to keep it alive and push it forward.Since then, the Trans Mountain Expansion has broken ground, felling trees and digging trenches along part of its 700-mile route. At the start of 2021, the project was roughly 22 percentcompleted, and despite the ballooning cost, is scheduled to come online at the end of 2022. “The Trans Mountain pipeline and tanker project is an existential threat to Tsleil-Waututh Nation. It also fuels the climate crisis, which is a threat to us all. This is why Tsleil-Waututh Nation does not grant our Free, Prior, Informed Consent, and why we are calling on all insurance companies to drop Trans Mountain and recognize the violation of Indigenous rights as a material risk,” Charlene Aleck of the Tsleil-Waututh Nation Sacred Trust Initiative, said in a statement. The Tsleil-Waututh Nation has lived on the Burrard Inlet in what is now Vancouver for millennia. The expanded pipeline system is estimated to result in a sevenfold increase in oil tanker traffic in the inlet. That would boost the number of tankers navigating the island-studded waters leading to the pipeline’s terminal from 60 per year currently to over 400 per year. A technical assessmentconducted by the Tsleil-Waututh Nation found that there is a 79 to 87 percent likelihood of an oil spill in the inlet over a 50-year period. But completion is not inevitable, and First Nations and environmental groups opposed to the project see the insurance industry as a key point of leverage. Without insurance, the pipeline cannot proceed. DeSmog previously reported on the effort by First Nations and environmental groups to pressure global insurance companies to sever their ties with Trans Mountain, among other acts of resistance.
Gas Shortfall Sets Up Desperate Scenario -- Natural gas markets around the globe are rallying as the world’s importers have come to a stark realization: there isn’t enough supply to go around. A long, frigid winter drained gas stockpiles from Louisiana to Germany, and utilities are struggling to build them back up. But unforeseen supply disruptions and a rebounding global economy are making it impossible to keep up. That’s setting up a desperate scenario as hot summer temperatures approach, and it’s bound to get even worse when demand peaks this winter. Higher gas prices will make it more costly to keep the lights on in Madrid or cool apartments in Tokyo, after scorching heat waves in some regions are already making it more expensive to run air conditioners. The cleaner-burning fuel is the latest commodity to add to the global inflation scare as the price of everything from crude oil to corn and copper surge. If a gas deficit does develop during the winter months, it could spur European utilities to burn more coal, which has already started happening, and cause China’s power producers to curtail supplies to industries and cause blackouts like it did last winter. Households are set to pay sky-high utility bills and the worst-case scenario -- albeit unlikely -- is they won’t have heating or electricity when freezing temperatures hit. “Supplies are already very tight, and that could get much worse if there is a cold winter,” said James Whistler, the global head of energy derivatives at Simpson Spence Young, an international commodity and ship broker. “We are seeing strong competition between Europe and Asia, and that is manifesting in the continuous rally.” European gas inventories are the lowest in more than a decade for this time of year, with the region’s benchmark surging to the highest in almost 13 years, while rates in the U.S. and Asia have jumped to the highest seasonal level in years. The gas sector had long been segmented between geographical regions, but the ramp-up in new supply of liquefied natural gas and growing liquidity in spot trading over the past several years has helped transform it into a genuinely global market. That evolution comes at a price, as Europe and North Asia now compete for a finite supply of LNG, which results in bidding wars that catapult spot rates. At the center of the action is China, which in a surprise move is set to overtake Japan as the world’s top LNG importer for the first time this year. China is stockpiling supplies of the super-chilled fuel in order to power its booming economy and help it shift away from dirtier fossil fuels. “China’s LNG demand in the past years keeps outperforming even the most bullish analysts,” The mad dash is putting Europe at a major disadvantage, as Asian end-users increase prices to attract supplies away from the Atlantic. Europe -- where spot prices have rallied by more than 65% this year -- is facing thin gas inventories amid lower flows from pipeline suppliers and near record carbon prices. Europe’s end-users have been forced to depend more on Russian pipeline supplies. Yet Gazprom PJSC’s unwillingness to ship extra gas via Ukraine has been one of the key factors that has catapulted prices at the Dutch Title Transfer Facility, the spot benchmark for Europe, to the highest level since 2008. “I don’t see a catalyst in the short term that would bring down prices.” Indeed, the situation is made worse by the energy demands caused by extreme weather -- from last winter’s bitter cold in Asia to the current heat waves in the Western U.S. and severe droughts across the globe that have curbed hydro output. With fresh memories of record-high Asian spot LNG prices last winter, the world’s top importers in China, Japan, South Korea and Taiwan have been busy buying shipments for delivery between November and February, well ahead of normal, according to traders surveyed by Bloomberg. China’s importers were scolded by the government for not being well prepared last winter and they don’t want to make the same mistake twice, traders said.
It’s Too Late To Avoid A Major Oil Supply Crisis | OilPrice.com - There are a number of observable trends in oil supplies and by extension prices, presently. I am going to discuss one of them in this article. A lack of capital investment in finding new supplies of oil and gas. A favorite analogy of mine comes to mind, the ship is nearing the dock. In nautical parlance that means the time for course corrections is at an end. So we shall see if that is the case for oil. The massive "ship" that is world oil demand is on an unalterable collision with supplies that will have profound implications for consumers. This key metric reveals what the future is likely to hold for our energy security as the world continues to recover from the virus to those who will listen. The level of drilling and by extension capital investment is insufficient and has been for a number of years to sustain oil production at current levels. It's no secret that even with the lower break-even costs for new projects thanks to cost-cutting by the industry the last few years, oil extraction is a capital-intensive business. The chart below from WoodMac, an energy consultancy, shows just how severe the decline in capex has been. The message to oil and gas companies has been pretty clear from the market, investment funds like Blackrock seeking green “purity” in the allocation of financing of new energy sources, and government edicts mandating carbon intensity reduction across the entire swath of society, and a transformation to renewable energy, that new supplies of oil and gas are not wanted. These companies seem to have gotten the message, loud and clear. The super-major cohort formed by Shell, ExxonMobil, BP, TotalEnergies, all prime targets of the anti-oil movement, have reduced their capital allocation toward petroleum, exited businesses or converted petroleum assets like refineries to renewables, and sold assets that a few years ago might have contributed to oil and gas inventories. Just a couple of weeks ago, Shell was told to speed up its decarbonization by a Dutch court, and just this week the company took steps in that direction. Shell's decision to exit its Permian shale position is monumental and will change the character of the company over time. We will have further discussion on this in the future. There is going to be less oil produced in the future. That comment might not seem too prophetic given the points we've covered so far. The fact is there is kind of a disconnect in people's minds about the easy availability of energy and the factors that produce it. Soon the result of this key factor, a lack of new drilling will become apparent, and people will wonder where all the easy and cheap energy went.
Vessel Owners Scoping Out Technology to Cut CO2 Emissions as Decarbonization Rules Loom - An international regulatory body is set to finalize decarbonization guidelines for about 50,000 commercial vessels across the world later this month, but liquefied natural gas (LNG) ship owners are not waiting to upgrade their fleets. LNG carrier owners are already searching for ways to comply with the coming International Maritime Organization (IMO) decarbonization rules, which take effect in 2023. The IMO’s decarbonization strategy requires a 40% reduction over 2008 levels in carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from the shipping industry by 2030 and a 70% reduction in 2050. Finnish technology group Wärtsillä Corp., a major supplier of equipment for LNG carriers, has seen an “exponential increase” in customer inquiries about compliance with the rules, said the company’s Stefano Mori, general manager of marine power. IMO’s rules being finalized would establish two indexes. The Energy Efficiency Existing Ship Index (EEXI) and the Carbon Intensity Index (CII) would provide shipowners with a baseline to reduce their emissions levels. “The first issue and concern is compliance,” Mori said. “Since IMO targets can be reached in many different ways, we are often consulted to run tailor-made specific analyses to identify the most optimal and cost effective solution.” In particular, Wärtsillä’s greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions reductions package, which includes software upgrading and engine tuning, has gained “major market traction” for retrofits and newbuilds since its introduction last year. Wärtsillä said the package can cut GHG emissions from individual vessels by 20%.
German containership leaks oil off India after fuel tank cracks - A German-owned containership has leaked oil off India after developing a crack in a fuel tank. The 1,118-teu Devon (built 2008), operated by TB Marine Shipmanagement of Hamburg, was en route from Colombo in Sri Lanka to Haldia in north-eastern India. The Indian Coast Guard (ICG) said 10 kilolitres of oil, equivalent to 8.5 tonnes, were spilled into the Bay of Bengal. According to the coast guard, the Portugal-flag ship developed an underwater crack in the port fuel tank, which contained about 120 kilolitres of very low-sulphur fuel oil. "The crack resulted in spillage of about 10 kilolitres of oil into sea before preventive action was taken and remaining oil in tank was transferred to another tank by ship's crew," it added. The ship was continuing its voyage to Haldia, where it was likely to dock on Friday evening. "The ICG is in continuous contact with Devon and master has reported that the vessel is stable," the ICG said. The coast guard pollution response team at Chennai was alerted and kept on stand-by. ICG ships and aircraft at sea were also put on alert in a pollution response configuration, and the situation is being monitored by the Ministry of Defence. TB Marine has been contacted for further information. The last AIS update for the Devon shows it at Colombo on 15 June. It has a clean port control record going back to its delivery. The ship, one of five container vessels in the TB Marine fleet, has insurance through the Swedish Club. The German operator also controls nine product tankers.
Indian coast guard on alert after oil spill from Haldia-bound Portuguese ship - Indian Coast Guard is on alert as an oil spill from the Haldia-bound Portuguese flag container ship was reported on June 16 about 450 km southeast of Chennai, the Ministry of Defence reported on Friday. The investigation has revealed that a Portuguese flag container ship MV Devon, on passage from Colombo to Haldia, West Bengal, developed an underwater crack in the fuel tank containing about 120 KL of very low sulphur fuel oil, resulting in spillage of about 10 KL, before any preventive action was taken, the ministry added. The remaining oil in the tank was transferred to another tank by the ship's crew, the ministry reported. Manned by a crew of 17, the vessel is carrying 10,795 tonnes of general cargo in 382 containers. The ship continued its voyage to Haldia and is likely to reach today. "The ICG is in continuous contact with MV Devon and the master has reported that the vessel is stable. ICG pollution response team at Chennai has been alerted and kept on standby. In addition, ICG ships and aircraft deployed at sea are also put on alert in pollution response configuration," the ministry said.
Taiwans CPC cleaning up oil leak near Talin refinery (Reuters) - Taiwan's state-owned refiner CPC Corp has started cleaning up an offshore oil spill caused by a pipeline that cracked during the discharging of oil from a vessel at its Talin refinery, the company's spokesman said on Wednesday. The oil leak occurred on Tuesday at 2:18 a.m. (1818 GMT) and was likely caused by bad weather, the company said in a statement. CPC immediately halted oil discharge following the incident, it added. The incident will not affect the refinery's operations and fuel supply as inventories were high while domestic consumption fell 20% to 30% over the recent months from usual levels, CPC spokesman Chang Ray-chung told Reuters by phone. "Due to the coronavirus, people stay indoors," Chang said, adding that sales at CPC's fuel stations are lower compared with the same period last year. "We will stick to our existing production plans and there will be no issue with the supply," he said. The Talin refinery can process 400,000 barrels per day of crude oil. While waiting for weather to improve before carrying out repairs at the crude pipeline, CPC will rely on other discharge points for crude which are still functioning, Chang said. The oil spill clean-up is expected to finish by Wednesday night, he said.
Inpex dealing with domestic oilfield spill into local river -- Japanese oil and gas company Inpex has reported an oil leak from a flowline at its domestic Akita oilfield in Akita prefecture. Inpex said the leak started on 20 June at 5:40 am local time. All production wells using the flowline were shut down by 6:05 am and the leak was confirmed to be contained at 7:45 am on the same day. The presence of leaked oil was confirmed in the vicinity of the flowline as well as in the Kusouzu River, a Class A river. Measures including retrieving the leaked oil and setting up an oil fence in the river are being implemented, while the source of the leak has been determined and remedy measures are being put in place. Inpex said it has set up a crisis response team locally and is gathering information while engaging with stakeholders under the guidance of local authorities. "The company conveys its profound regret for the inconvenience caused by this incident to all stakeholders."
BP Gas Project Threatens Unique African Biodiversity Hotspot - A BP fossil-fuel project could threaten a unique biodiversity hotspot and worsen the climate crisis, a new investigation from Unearthed and SourceMaterial has found.Despite pledges to improve its environmental record, the company behind the Deepwater Horizon oil spilldisaster is planning to dig the deepest natural gas field to date in Africa, right beside what experts believe is the largest coldwater coral reef in the world."We can't excuse a company like BP, at a time when it seems to be taking climate change more seriously, simultaneously bankrolling a project that may end up having a big impact on Africa's carbon footprint and future," Mohamed Adow, director of the think tank Power Shift Africa, told The Independent of the project.The project, officially called the Greater Tortue Ahmeyim (GTA), will be a natural gas field 2.7 kilometers (approximately 1.7 miles) beneath the ocean surface, according to Unearthed. It will be located off the coast of Senegal and Mauritania, and BP has promoted it as an opportunity for growth in the region, calling it "the first step in establishing the basin as a world-class gas province," according to Unearthed.Construction has already begun, and it has been approved through 20 years by the governments of Senegal and Mauritania. The first gas from the field is expected within two years.However, BP's promises for the future of gas in the region stand in contrast to its stated goals for limiting carbon pollution. The company has pledged to achieve net zero emissions by 2050. But a major study from the International Energy Agency said there could be no new investments in fossil fuel projects if the world wanted to meet a 2050 net-zero emissions target.The GTA project, though, would be just the beginning of a plan to produce around 40 trillion cubic feet of gas from the region in the next 30 years, according to Rystad Energy figures reported by The Independent. This would burn the equivalent of 2.2 billion tonnes (approximately 2.4 billion U.S. tons) of carbon dioxide. This is almost double the current yearly emissions for all of Africa and about 0.3 to one percent of the carbon that can still be burned if we want to limit warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels.
South Sudan heads for mediation over oil spills -The East African Court of Justice has backed mediation as a first step in a legal fight between South Sudan and oil-producing communities.The First Instance Division will allow South Sudan and Hope for Humanity Africa (HHA) to attempt to find a resolution through talks. Mediation is due to begin early in July.HHA took South Sudan to court for alleged oil spills, caused by leaking oil pipelines.A lawyer representing South Sudan’s Minister of Justice asked the court to attempt settlement through mediation. A judge will preside over the mediation attempt. Should this process fail, the full court process will resume.In turn, the applicant withdrew two suits. The first attempts to stop South Sudan from carrying out oil exploration while the hearing is ongoing, the second attempts to provide safety for the lawyers involved.South Sudan launched a licence round this week, offering five blocks. The government has stakes in production through Nilepet.Justin Semuyaba and Wani Santino Jada represented the applicant. Bong Pieng Kuol acted for South Sudan.The case was filed in the East African court in April 2020. This aimed to halt production and secure compensation for communities that had suffered from pollution.Speaking to Energy Voice last year, Jada said Greater Pioneer Operating Co. (GPOC) and Dar Petroleum should carry out environmental remediation. Furthermore, the lawyer said the companies should replace the export pipeline as it was the cause of a number of spills. Jada had put the claim for damages at $720 million.
Decade Of Chaos Could Send Oil To $130 Per Barrel - From $35 per barrel to $130 per barrel—this is the range for oil prices in the next few years that we could see, according to a commodity trading group. And it will all depend on what peaks first: demand or investment in new production.”You could see spikes to even higher than $100 a barrel, even $130, and you could also see it go down to $35 a barrel for periods of time going forward,” William Reed II, chief executive of Castleton Commodities International, said at the FT Global Commodities Summit this week, asquotedby Reuters. “The question is what happens first. Peak demand or peak investment?”This is a fascinating question that will likely remain open for quite some time; it seems as if forecasts are even more unreliable than usual in the post-pandemic world. For instance, last year, energy authorities and the industry itself predicted oil demand growth was over thanks to the pandemic that encouraged a doubling down on an energy shift away from fossil fuels. Now, these same forecasters, including the International Energy Agency and BP(3.22%), are talking about growing oil demand.One thing that can hardly be disputed is that lower spending on exploration would inevitably lead to lower production. This is what we have seen: the pandemic forced virtually everyone in the oil industry to slash their spending plans. This is what normally happens during the trough phase of an industry cycle. What doesn’t normally happen in a usual cycle is long-term planning for smaller output. Yet this is the response of Big Oil to the push to go green. Most supermajors are planning changes that would effectively reduce their production of oil and gas. In Shell’s(3.58%)case, it has been literally ordered by a Dutch court to shrink its production of oil and gas.So, it’s pretty clear that supply is tightening, and oil prices are reflecting this. In fact, supply has lately shrunk so much that even the International Energy Agency, which earlier this yearcalledfor a suspension of all new oil and gas exploration, is nowcallingfor more supply. This is the perfect illustration of how difficult it has become to predict where oil prices would go even in the short term, let alone a period of several years.According to Castleton’s Reed, the recovery in oil prices was only to be expected. In that, he is the latest in the growing choir of voices predicting higher prices, even north of $100 per barrel, before too long. Yet, according to some, they might only stay there for a short while and then never reach the same levels.
Oil rallies on weaker U.S. dollar and Iranian supply uncertainty - Oil prices soared on Monday, gaining on a pause in talks to end U.S. sanctions on Iranian crude, and as the dollar retreated from two-month highs. Brent crude for August gained $1.39, or 1.9% to settle at $74.90 a barrel. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude for July gained $2.02, or 2.8%, to end at $73.66. Both benchmarks have risen for the past four weeks on optimism over the pace of global COVID-19 vaccinations and expected pick-up in summer travel. The rebound has pushed up spot premiums for crude in Asia and Europe to multi-month highs. Bank of America said that Brent crude was likely to average $68 a barrel this year but could hit $100 next year on unleashed pent-up demand and more private car usage. Oil was boosted by a weaker U.S. dollar, which can send speculative investors into greenback-denominated assets like commodities. Negotiations to revive the Iran nuclear deal took a pause on Sunday after hard line judge Ebrahim Raisi won the country’s presidential election. “The election of a hard-liner in Iran is weighing on market (supply) as sanctions look less likely to be lifted,” said Bob Yawger, director of Energy Futures at Mizuho in New York. A deal could lead to Iran exporting an extra 1 million barrels per day, or 1% of global supply, for more than six months from its storage facilities. Iranian and Western officials say Raisi’s rise is unlikely to alter Iran’s negotiating position. Two diplomats said they expected a break of about 10 days.
Oil Slips After Hitting $75 -- Oil retreated after hitting $75 a barrel in London for the first time in over two years, as traders waited to see how OPEC+ will handle a rapidly tightening market. Brent crude edged above $75 in Asian trading hours as price indicators and inventory data showed that demand continues to outstrip supply. The gains faltered as Russia -- which jointly leads the OPEC+ coalition with Saudi Arabia -- was said to consider proposing that the group increase production when it meets next week. The market continues to firm in a bullish structure, with one timespread for West Texas Intermediate expanding to the widest backwardation in seven years. Genscape Inc. reported stockpiles at the key American storage hub of Cushing fell again last week from the lowest level since March 2020, according to people familiar. Brent is also the most expensive against Middle Eastern oil in 21 months. That’s likely to boost the appetite of Asian refiners for barrels from the Persian Gulf linked to Dubai crude at the expense of Atlantic Basin grades. The global crude benchmark has rallied more than 40% this year as a strong rebound from the pandemic in the U.S., China and Europe underpins increasing fuel consumption, although a virus comeback in parts of Asia is a reminder that the recovery will be uneven. Brent may even advance to $100 a barrel next year as travel demand rebounds, according to Bank of America Corp. “Demand optimism is now well established and a tightening of the market is very much in the spotlight,” said Vandana Hari, the founder of Vanda Insights. “If there is a pause in this rally, it will likely come from the supply side.” One bit of bearish news amid all the optimism is China’s crackdown on the nation’s private refiners. A second batch of 2021 crude import quotas allocated to the independents was about 35% less than last year, which will crimp flows into a sector that accounts for around a quarter of Chinese processing capacity. Brent for August settlement fell 34 cents $74.56 on the ICE Futures Europe exchange at 10:00 a.m. local time after the highest intraday level since April 2019. The prompt timespread for Brent was 81 cents in backwardation, compared with 57 cents at the start of last week. WTI for July delivery, which expires Tuesday, was 55 cents lower at $73.11 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The more-active August contract fell 49 cents to $72.63.
Oil settles lower as OPEC+ reportedly weighs an August increase in crude output - Oil futures settled lower Tuesday, with global benchmark Brent crude retreating from highs above $75 a barrel, on expectations that OPEC+ may decide to further boost crude production starting in August. Reports from both Reuters and Bloomberg said the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies, a group known as OPEC+, had discussed a further relaxation of production curbs beginning in August. The OPEC+ report, ahead of the group’s scheduled meeting on July 1, “indicates that the demand-supply gap is already becoming an issue, and that the alliance is working on a plan to tap that deficit,” said Louise Dickson, oil markets analyst at Rystad Energy, in a daily note. “The OPEC+ chatter to raise supply is the most bearish risk for the recent oil price rally, which has been propelled on strong summer demand and an overall conservative supply environment,” she said. The most-active U.S. benchmark West Texas Intermediate crude for August delivery, which became the front-month contract at the end of the session, fell 27 cents, or 0.4%, to settle at $72.85 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. July WTI crude CLN21, which expired at the end of Tuesday’s session, lost 60 cents, or 0.8%, at $73.06 a barrel. August Brent crude fell 9 cents, or 0.1%, at $74.81 a barrel after hitting an intraday high at $75.30. Brent last traded above $75 in April 2019 on an intraday basis, according to FactSet. It hasn’t settled at a level that high since October 2018. “OPEC+ will likely loosen supply, either officially with a higher production target from August or unofficially with compliance slippage even earlier,” said Dickson. The group of producers already has an agreement in place to gradually increase oil production from May through July. Still, strong physical demand continued to underpin crude, analysts said. The backwardation of the Brent futures curve — with nearby futures prices trading at a premium to later dated contracts — underscores the near-term demand for barrels and is also generating additional speculative interest, said Eugen Weinberg, commodity analyst at Commerzbank, in a note. Among the petroleum products traded on Nymex Tuesday, July gasoline added nearly 1.3% to $2.22 a gallon, with prices based on the most-active contract marking their highest finish since May 24, 2018, according to Dow Jones Market Data. July heating oil rose 1.1% to $2.15 a gallon — the highest settlement since Nov. 12, 2018.
WTI Rebounds Back Above $73 After Bigger Than Expected Crude Draw --Oil retreated on the day after Brent topped $75/bbl in London for the first time in over two years, as Russia and other OPEC+ nations were said to consider increasing production."Just the rumors that OPEC+ will consider adding additional production is enough to pull us back from the $75 mark," On the positive side - for crude - negotiations to revive the Iran nuclear deal remain on pause after hardline judge Ebrahim Raisi won the country's presidential election.Crude stocks were expected to fall for the 5th week in a row (and gasoline stocks to rise for the 4th straight week). API
- Crude -7.199mm (-6.3mm exp)
- Cushing -2.55mm
- Gasoline +959k (+1.3mm exp)
- Distillates +992k (+1mm exp)
Crude stocks fell more than expected (down 7.199mm barrels) for the 5th straight week...
WTI Fails to Extend Overnight OPEC+ Gains Despite Big Crude Draw Oil prices are up overnight, with WTI topping $74 (and Brent topping $75 - a fresh two year high), after a bigger than expected crude draw reported by API. Prices were also buoyed by reports that OPEC+ is considering raising production by 500k barrels a day (which is less than the widely expected 1mm b/d).In another supportive voice for oil prices, OPEC Secretary General Mohammad Barkindo said on Wednesday at the meeting of the organization’s economic think-tank, the Economic Commission Board (ECB), that “the latest market developments point to much better conditions and improved outlooks” of the oil market and global economy.U.S. Oil inventories were expected to drop by 6.3 million barrels for the week ended June 18, aided by the lifting of domestic restrictions amid vaccinations, and by exports. However, the emergence of a new variants in regions where vaccinations are slower may pressure the global economic recovery, and with it demand, according to Vince Piazza, senior energy analyst at Bloomberg Intelligence. DOE:
- Crude -7.614mm (-6.3mm exp)
- Cushing -1.833mm
- Gasoline -2.93mm (+1.3mm exp)
- Distillates +1.754mm (+1mm exp)
Crude inventories dropped for the 5th straight week...
Oil Prices Finish Higher Amid Overbought Signs -- Oil pared gains with technical indicators showing the commodity is overbought, while traders assessed depleting U.S. stockpiles. Futures in New York closed 0.3% higher on Wednesday with West Texas Intermediate’s 14-day Relative Strength Index clinging near 70, a level that signals oil is due for a pullback. Meanwhile, a U.S. government report earlier showed crude supplies, gasoline inventories and stockpiles at the nation’s largest storage hub at Cushing, Oklahoma, all tumbled last week, reinforcing the expectation of limited supply during the summer driving season. Supply declines in the U.S. are the latest sign of a tightening global crude market as fuel demand bounces back from the pandemic. Stalled nuclear talks have also deferred the prospect of renewed Iranian supplies, keeping benchmark crude prices supported. However, OPEC+ is scheduled to meet next week to discuss its production policy for August and beyond, and some nations, most notably Russia, are considering backing an increase in output. “We’re at lofty levels and priced for bullish perfection,” said John Kilduff, a partner at Again Capital LLC. “Chatter about increasing output are going to tear away some of the gains.” Saudi Arabia’s Energy Minister said the OPEC+ alliance has a role in “taming and containing” inflationary pressures. Prince Abdulaziz said the group should remain cautious because the oil market wasn’t out of the “doldrums” created by the coronavirus pandemic. West Texas Intermediate crude futures for August delivery added 23 cents to settle at $73.08 a barrel in New York. Brent for August settlement climbed 38 cents to end the session at $75.19 a barrel on the London-based ICE Futures Europe exchange, the highest since 2018. Investors are also watching the spread of the delta variant in the U.S. and Europe, which could hamper a further recovery. The growing threat of the variant prompted a fresh warning on Wednesday from Europe’s disease prevention agency to speed up vaccinations and not rush reopening.
Crude Oil Ends up After US Infrastructure Deal; Eyes Next on OPEC -- Crude oil prices rose slightly Thursday as positive sentiment over an infrastructure deal announced by the Biden administration helped overcome concerns about additional supply being announced at next week’s meeting of top producers.U.S. crude settled up 22 cents, or 0.5% at $73.30 a barrel. On Wednesday, WTI rose as high as $74.25, a peak not seen since October 2018. Brent crude finished the session at $75.56, up 37 cents, or 0.5%, after scaling $76.02 in the previous session, also a peak since October 2018.Crude settled higher after President Joe Biden said his Democratic Party managed to strike a contentious infrastructure deal with rival Republicans, without any tax hikes involved.Earlier on Thursday, oil was weighed down by expectations that the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries and allies, a group known as OPEC+, was considering increasing supply at its meeting next week to curb the rapid rise in crude prices.Saudi Energy Minister, Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman, the de facto leader of the group, was reported Thursday saying that “we have a role in taming and containing inflation, by making sure that this market doesn’t get out of hand.” This follows reports out of Russia earlier this week suggesting it, one of the most influential members of the group, was considering proposing an increase in oil output at next week’s meeting.Oil markets have soared this year, with both benchmarks more than 40% higher year-to-date, on hopes of a quick return to peak demand as Covid-19 passes as well as OPEC+’s cautious husbandry of global supply.Evidence of the increased demand in the U.S., the globe’s largest consumer, came from the Energy Information Administration reporting a drop in U.S. stockpiles of 7.6 million barrels for the week ended June 18, the fifth consecutive week that stocks have fallen, the longest run since January 2021.This group is scheduled to meet toward the end of next week to discuss production quotas for August, and possibly beyond. OPEC+ has been steadily increasing output as the global economy recovers from the ravages caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, but is still withholding more than 5 million barrels a day of production from the market. Earlier Thursday, in annual talks with OPEC+, India’s oil minister called for “affordable” energy, warning about the impact of rising oil prices on consumers. India is the third largest consuming country in the world, and these comments will add pressure on the producers ahead of the meeting.
Oil prices rise to highest since Oct 2018, Brent reaches $76.18 per barrel - Oil prices climbed to their highest since October 2018 on Friday, putting both benchmarks up for a fifth week in a row on expectations demand growth will outstrip supply and OPEC+ will be cautious in returning more crude to the market from August. Brent futures rose 62 cents, or 0.8%, to settle at $76.18 a barrel, while US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude rose 75 cents, or 1.0%, to $74.05. Those were the highest closes for both benchmarks since October 2018 and put both contracts up over 3% for the week. "Crude prices rallied on an improving demand outlook and over expectations the market will remain tight as OPEC+ is likely to only deliver a small boost to output at the July 1st ministerial meeting," said Edward Moya, senior market analyst at OANDA. All eyes are on the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, Russia and allies - together called OPEC+ - who are due to meet on July 1 to discuss further easing of their output cuts from August. "The producer group has ample space to boost supply without derailing the drawdown in oil stocks, given the rosier demand outlook," said Stephen Brennock of oil broker PVM. On the demand side, the key factors OPEC+ will have to consider are strong growth in the United States, Europe and China, bolstered by vaccine rollouts and economies reopening, according to analysts who said this was countered by rising COVID-19 cases and outbreaks in other places. The prospect of sanctions on Iran being lifted and more of its oil hitting the market anytime soon has dimmed, with a US official saying serious differences remain over a range of issues over Tehran's compliance with the 2015 nuclear deal. The lack of an interim agreement between the U.N. nuclear watchdog and Iran on the monitoring of atomic activities is a serious concern that has been communicated to Tehran, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Friday. Iran has not responded to the U.N. nuclear watchdog on extending a monitoring agreement that expired overnight, the agency said on Friday, hours after Washington warned that not prolonging it would harm efforts to revive the 2015 Iran nuclear deal. "If an Iran agreement is not reached by July 1, we anticipate OPEC+ returning to month-by-month quota setting and announcing a modest production increase for August at its meetings next week," Meanwhile, the number of US oil rigs, an early indicator of future output, fell one to 372 this week, according to energy services firm Baker Hughes Co. Despite that small decline, the rig count gained 13 in June, its 10th monthly rise and increased 48 in the second quarter, its third consecutive quarterly rise.
Light Crude Settles Above $74 | Rigzone -- Oil posted its fifth straight weekly gain, the longest winning streak since December, as demand recovers and supplies continue tighten in the U.S. and China. Futures in New York rose 3.4% this week to the highest level since October 2018. Demand continues to rebound while the market expects output will only get a modest increase from the OPEC+ alliance, which meets next week to discuss supply policy. “It’s very unlikely, at least from my perspective, that they are going to go flood the market with crude, open up all the spigots and collapse the price,” said Bart Melek, head of commodity strategy at TD Securities. Stockpiles are draining rapidly as fuel consumption rebounds in key regions including the U.S. and Europe. At the same time, the prospect of an imminent surge of Iranian oil is diminishing as talks to revive a nuclear deal drag on. The increasingly bullish picture is helping to fan speculation that Brent may eventually return to $100 a barrel. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased an estimate for 2021 global demand for crude by 200,000 barrels per day, with the majority of that gain coming from China. U.S. demand would stay strong until September, the report said. Gasoline futures fell Friday after the Supreme Court announced Friday that the Environmental Protection Agency has wide latitude to exempt refineries from federal mandates that they mix renewable fuels into gasoline and diesel. The decision marks a victory for oil companies that have sought a break from the requirements, arguing that costs have skyrocketed in the recent months. “It’s the same theme that we’ve been showing the past several weeks: no real relief on the supply front and strong demand,” said John Kilduff, a partner at Again Capital LLC. West Texas Intermediate for August delivery rose 75 cents to settle at $74.05 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Brent for August settlement rose 62 cents to end session at $76.18 on the ICE Futures Europe exchange. The world’s third-biggest oil consumer India has called for an increase in output from OPEC and its allies, saying high crude prices are adding to inflationary pressure. India’s transport fuel demand is expected to grow in double digits next year, according to Icra Ltd.
Watch: US Patrol In Syria Blocked By Line Of Russian Commandos --Over the weekend, a US military patrol in northeastern Syria was blocked by the Russian military and forced to turn backto where they came from. The US reportedly violated existing security deals with Russia.Video of the brief encounter published by the Russian side shows the tense moment that Russian troops physically blocked the road while clutching their rifles:The US and Russia both have troops in reasonably close proximity in Syria, and the US tends to hype confrontations heavily. To try to reduce the number of issues, they’ve made several deals to coordinate their patrols and avoid running into one another.That works well, as far as it goes, but in this case the US didn’t inform Russia ahead of time, so when the Russian forces ran into them, they complained about the US ignoring protocol on prior notice. The US has not commented on why they ignored the protocol, but it’s not clear why they bother to patrol anyhow, since the US presence is very limited, a hold-over from President Trump’s plan to take Syria’s oil.Patrolling into adjoining Kurdish areas means the US retains some ties to the Kurds, but with Russia and Turkey also in the area, it’s a potentially complicated matter, especially if the US considers previous deals to be optional.
Russian Warships Practice Sinking Aircraft Carrier 35 Miles Off Hawaii Coast As US Places F22s On Standby - For weeks Russia has mustered a large fleet and aerial assets in the Pacific Ocean near Hawaii in what's been widely recognized as Russia's largest Pacific military drills since the end of the Cold War. The Pentagon has closely monitored the somewhat unprecedented exercises which have seen at least 20 warships, submarines, fighter jets, and long-range bombers operating a mere 300 miles off Hawaii's coast. But in a new alarming statement the US Navy is confirming that at one point Russian vessels and aircraft came a mere 35 miles off Hawaii's coast as the massive war games were underway. While stressing that the foreign military assets stayed within international waters, spokesman for US Indo-Pacific Command Navy Capt. Mike Kafka, said, "At the closest point, some ships operated approximately 20 to 30 nautical miles (23 to 34 statute miles) off the coast of Hawaii," he said. "We closely tracked all vessels."New details of Russian maneuvers during the course of the exercises suggest there were multiple "close calls" - also as days ago the Pentagon scrambled F-22 stealth fighters, which remain on standby.The Russian side is now divulging that its military undertook mock attacks on a simulated aircraft carrier strike group.
Chinese port difficulties amid a Covid outbreak further snarl global trade.— Dozens of huge container ships have been forced to drop anchor and wait. Freight rates have surged. Stores in the United States and Europe find themselves with understocked shelves, higher prices or both.The blockage of the Suez Canal in March? No, there is another disruption in global shipping. This time, the problem lies in Shenzhen, a metropolis adjacent to Hong Kong in southeastern China.Global shipping has been disrupted by the pandemic for months, as Western demand for goods made in Asia has outstripped the ability of exporters to get their containers onto outbound vessels. But the latest problem in Shenzhen, the world’s third-largest container port after Shanghai and Singapore, is making the difficulties even worse.The shipping delays are related to the Chinese government’s stringent response to a recent outbreak of the virus. Shenzhen, with a population of more than 12 million, has had fewer than two dozen locally transmitted coronavirus cases; city health officials have linked them to the Alpha variant, which was first identified in Britain.Shenzhen has responded by ordering five rounds of coronavirus testing of all 230,000 people who live anywhere near the Yantian container port, where the first case was detected on May 21. All further contact between port employees and sailors has been banned. The city has required port employees to live in 216 hastily erected, prefabricated buildings at the docks instead of going home to their families every day.The port’s capacity to handle containers plummeted early this month. It was still running at 30 percent below capacity last week, the port announced, and state-controlled media said on Monday that full recovery might require the rest of June.“A few weeks into a very substantial port congestion in Yantian caused by a Covid-19 outbreak, supply chain disruptions continue to be very present in global trade,” Maersk, the world’s largest container shipping line, said in a statement on Thursday.Long lines of container ships awaiting cargo bound for North America, Europe and elsewhere have had to anchor off Shenzhen and Hong Kong as captains now wait as long as 16 days to dock at Yantian. Small vessels mounted with their own cranes have been ferrying many containers straight from riverfront factory docks in the Pearl River Delta to container ships near Hong Kong, as exporters try to bypass delays at Yantian. Tim Huxley, the chairman of Mandarin Shipping, predicted that sorting out all of the shipping delays at Yantian and elsewhere could take the rest of this year.
Alcohol will be banned at the Tokyo Olympics. - Organizers of the Tokyo Olympics said on Wednesday that they would ban alcohol at the Games, bowing to an outcry from a Japanese public that is deeply skeptical of hosting the event andweary of months of pandemic restrictions. Two days earlier, the organizing committee said that it was considering sales of alcohol during the Games, which are scheduled to begin in Tokyo on July 23. That prompted outrage from many Japanese, with Tokyo and several other areas just emerging from a prolonged state of emergency during which restaurants were prohibited from selling alcohol as a virus control measure. On Wednesday, the president of Tokyo 2020, Seiko Hashimoto, said that the committee had consulted with experts and decided to ban the sale and consumption of alcohol at Olympic venues “to prevent expansion of infection.” Asahi Breweries, an official partner and one of the largest beer and spirits producers in Japan, endorsed the ban. “We totally understand the decision by the committee,” said Takayuki Tanaka, a company spokesman. “We will keep supporting the Games’ success.” The alcohol ban is the latest sign that the Tokyo Games, postponed from 2020 because of the pandemic, will be unlike any other. This week, organizers said that crowds would be limited to 50 percent of a venue’s capacity, up to 10,000 people. Only spectators who live in Japan will be permitted to attend, with the organizers having decided back in March not to allow fans to travel to the Games from overseas. Organizers are still determining what the crowd guidelines will be for some outdoor events such as marathons and whether viewing events that could attract large groups should be allowed in certain parts of the country. After a sharp spike in May, coronavirus cases in Japan are receding, with daily totals of new cases nationwide having fallen by 38 percent over the past two weeks. A sluggish vaccination drive is starting to pick up pace, but with only 8 percent of the country fully vaccinated, according to New York Times data, the Olympic events are set to take place in front of crowds that are mostly not immunized.
An outbreak in Sydney prompts a travel ban and a return to mask rules. -A new Covid cluster in Sydney has grown to 49 cases, prompting a travel ban for the five million residents of Australia’s largest city and a return to mandatory mask-wearing, and infecting at least one state government minister.Health officials in the state of New South Wales have been scrambling for more than a week to contain the outbreak, which began when a Sydney airport limousine driver tested positive for the highly contagious Delta variant. He was not vaccinated, in violation of public health guidelines, and is believed to have become infected while transporting a foreign airline crew.As the police continue to investigate whether the driver and his employer should face criminal penalties or fines for not complying with Covid rules, Sydney has been forced to hunker down. Residents are being asked to work from home, where gatherings are now limited to five people.The travel restrictions began late on Wednesday. Compounded by state border closures banning entry for anyone from Sydney, the stay-at-home orders have arrived at the start of winter break for schools, forcing tens of thousands of families to cancel travel plans.Australia has all but eliminated community transmission of the coronavirus thanks to border closures, extensive contact-tracing and a practice of swiftly imposing local lockdowns for even small numbers of cases. The current outbreak in Sydney follows several months of near-zero Covid community transmission.A stricter lockdown in the city has been avoided so far, officials said, because contact tracers have identified the source of nearly every case. Only three infections are still being investigated.But with some of the cases being linked back to fleeting contact, with just a few seconds of shared air in a store or cafe, officials said they expect more cases and challenges to arise.
Credit Suisse report reveals vast increase in global wealth inequality amid pandemic in 2020 - The Research Institute of Credit Suisse published its “Global Wealth Report 2021” on Tuesday, showing a substantial worldwide increase in wealth inequality during 2020. The report states, “The repercussions of the COVID-19 pandemic led to widespread rises in wealth inequality in 2020.” The report admits that this growth in the wealth gap—amid the devastating impact of the public health and economic crisis of 2020—is rooted in the “nature of the policy response” by governments and central banks to the coronavirus pandemic. Summarizing the impact of these polices, the report states, “Wealth creation in 2020 was largely immune to the challenges facing the world due to the actions taken by governments and central banks to mitigate the economic impact of COVID-19.” The report goes on to state that the initial widespread negative impact on GDP and share prices in February and March 2020 was overcome with central bank interest rate reductions and “prompt action” by governments to help financial markets regain confidence and equity markets to reverse their losses by June. Credit Suisse is a global investment bank and financial services firm based in Zurich, which has offices in every major financial center around the world. The organization specializes in “wealth management” services and caters to the needs of the capitalist elite and this, its twelfth annual report, is written to provide strategic advice to its customers. While the writers and editors do their best not to point directly to the class struggle implications of the data contained in their report, an element of concern is evident about stating too bluntly what has really been going on over the past year. On the one hand, they state that “the aggregate wealth of those at the top of the wealth pyramid and the resulting rise in the numbers of millionaires and UHNW [ultra-high net worth] individuals ... would be expected to raise wealth inequality.” Meanwhile, they hint at the difference between the vast increase in the wealth of the rich and the experiences of the working class—the economic depression that destroyed tens of millions of jobs and forced millions into poverty, homelessness and hunger—by writing, “The contrast between what has happened to household wealth and what is happening in the wider economy can never have been more stark.” Significantly, the report claims that the rise of the stock market and inflation of asset values of the rich “in the second half of 2020 was unforeseen.” The report goes, “These asset price increases have led to major gains in household wealth throughout the world. The net result was that USD 28.7 trillion was added to global household wealth during the year.” Thus, the Credit Suisse Research Institute reporters do not mention that the central banks have been flooding the financial markets with cash that has funneled enormous sums in one form or another into the “household wealth” of the richest people on the planet. In the US, the Federal Reserve bank has been buying assets at a rate of $120 billion per month.
Child malnutrition and hunger skyrocket in Haiti as COVID-19 infections spike -- At least 86,000 children are at risk of developing “severe acute” child malnutrition this year in Haiti, according to sources connected to the United Nations Children’s Fund. The number of children projected to suffer from starvation this year has doubled as the impoverished nation continues to grapple with extraordinary political and social crises exacerbated by the pandemic. According to a UN survey, there are now 217,000 children currently suffering from acute malnutrition. Acute malnutrition had been steadily rising in the child population for several years before the pandemic triggered a massive food crisis that raised the total by 61percent in 2020. In an interview with the Miami Herald, Bruno Maes, Haiti’s UNICEF representative, said that nearly 5 million Haitians are affected by malnutrition and struggle to obtain daily nourishment. In the first three months of this year alone, the number of admissions of severely acute malnourished children in health facilities has increased by more than 26 percent compared to a year ago. Jean Gough, the UNICEF Regional Director for Latin America and the Caribbean, pointed to the significant danger facing a large portion of small children if the crisis continues unabated. “We can’t look the other way and ignore one of the least funded humanitarian crises in the region,” declared Gough in a UNICEF press release. Gough warned that without “urgent funding in the next weeks,” treatment against malnutrition “will be discounted and some children will be at risk of dying.” Meanwhile, Haiti has been left dangerously unprepared for the onslaught of COVID-19. Despite being noticeably unaffected at the onset of the pandemic in 2020, Haiti has witnessed in recent weeks an alarming acceleration of infections and deaths, with its dilapidated medical infrastructure completely unequipped to handle a significant outbreak. On May 6, the Ministry of Health reported 13,245 COVID-19 infections and 268 deaths. Exactly one month later on June 6, the number of infections had ballooned to more than 16,079, while confirmed deaths rose to 346. These numbers, however, are surely gross undercounts, as the healthcare infrastructure needed to perform contact-tracing and identify all coronavirus-related deaths is all but absent. New cases are already starting to stretch hospital capacity and the country’s oxygen supply. Antiviral treatments and other crucial supplies remain, for most of the population, out of reach. Reports are emerging every week of at least one hospital in the country's capital and most populous city, Port-au-Prince, running out of beds and denying admission to COVID patients.
The 2021 Corporate Bamboozle On World Food Systems - (video & transcript) - I’m Lynn Fries producer of Global Political Economy or GPEnewsdocs. Today’s guest is Pat Mooney. At the end of this year 2021 a meeting is being held to rubber stamp a corporate strategic maneuver to takeover global governance of the entire world food system; effectively food production, research and finance. Pat Mooney will be talking about all this in the context of The Long Food Movement and its reportTransforming Food Systems by 2045. The report shows the stakes are high because food systems are being rapidly transformed as food and agriculture go digital. This is the last chance to change course. Pat Mooney is lead author of that report produced by IPES-Food in collaboration with ETC Group. Pat Mooney is leading IPES-Food’s ‘Long Food Movement’ project. He is the co-founder and executive director of ETC Group that has monitored corporate power in commercial food, farming and health for over four decades. He is an expert on agricultural diversity, biotechnology, corporate concentration and global governance. Pat Mooney was awarded the Pearson Peace Prize in Canada and received the Alternative Nobel Prize, The Right Livelihood Award. Welcome Pat. Thank you for joining us.
'Bolsonaro Out!': Massive Protests as Brazil's Covid-19 Death Toll Tops 500,000 - As Brazil's Covid-19 death toll surpassed 500,000 on Saturday, at least hundreds of thousands of protesters took to the streets of more than 400 cities across the nation and around the world to blame President Jair Bolsonaro for the grim pandemic milestone and demand his ouster.Chanting and holding signs with slogans including "Bolsonaro Out," "500,000 Deaths, It's His Fault," and "Vaccines Now," protesters called for the resignation or impeachment of the far-right president. Demonstrators also implored the government to ramp up vaccination efforts.On São Paulo's famed Avenida Paulista, protester Dona Neuza held a sign reading: "Bolsonaro Killed My Brother.""He took every precaution, but he died of Covid because he wasn't vaccinated," Neuza told Rede Brasil Atual. "Last August Bolsonaro rejected batches of immunizations that could have already been applied to millions of Brazilians."According to Folha de São Paulo, only 15% of Brazilians are fully vaccinatedagainst the coronavirus, a sore point in a nation that prides itself on itshistorically successful vaccination drives.At a massive protest in Rio de Janeiro, federal lawmaker Benedita da Silva of the left-wing Workers' Party (PT) told Brasil de Fato that "there are half a million people dead due to the negligence and denial of Bolsonaro.""Thousands of people are no longer getting a plate of food, thousands are unemployed, without oxygen in hospitals, without assistance," said da Silva. "We are on the street to defend our country, our people, our lives, our culture, our education, our economy. We can no longer die of Covid or starvation."In addition to #ForaBolsonaro protests across Brazil, solidarity demonstrations were also held Saturday in cities around the world, includingBarcelona, Berlin, Helsinki, London, Los Angeles, New York, Tokyo, and Vienna.Dubbed "Trump of the Tropics" by some of his opponents, Bolsonaro hasdismissed Covid-19 as a "little flu" while refusing to follow or promote mask-wearing, quarantines, and social distancing, despite having contracted the virus last year. Bolsonaro has also encouraged large gatherings and disparaged vaccines.
Is Another Military Coup Brewing in Peru, After Historic Electoral Victory for Leftist Candidate? - Five days ago, a group of retired military officers in Peru dispatched a letter to the high command of the country’s armed forces. In it they call upon the army to rise up against the leftist leader Pedro Castillo if he is pronounced president. The letter also raised questions about the recent work of Peru’s National Office of Electoral Processes (JNE) and urged the institution to fulfil “its constitutional mandate in a reliable and transparent manner” — i.e. by ensuring that Castillo, a former schoolteacher and farmer who ran largely on a socialist platform, does not become the next president. If it fails in this task, the institution will “bear the consequences.” The threat should not be taken lightly, especially given Peru’s long history of coups d’états. Since the country won its independence from Spain in 1821 there have been no fewer than 18, 14 of which were successful. Seven of them have occurred since the 1940s. Another source of concern is the long list of former high-ranking officers among the letter’s signatories. They include 23 retired Army generals, 22 retired Navy vice admirals and 18 retired Air Force lieutenant generals. Some have gone on to hold high positions within Peru’s political establishment, including former president Francisco Morales Bermúdez, former Prime Minister Walter Martos and elected congressmen Jorge Montoya, José Cueto, José Williams and Roberto Chiabra. Peru’s interim president, Francisco Sagasti, described the letter as “unacceptable”. In a nationally televised message broadcast on Friday, Sagasti, standing alongside Peru’s Prime Minister Violeta Bermúdez and Minister of Defense Nuria Esparch, said the letter had been sent to the Prosecutor’s Office. The requisite investigations will be launched. For her part Esparch lamented the “political use of the armed forces” because it generates alarm, anxiety and division at a time when the country needs unity and calm.” The prospect of a Castillo victory has fuelled panic among Peru’s political and business elite, who have monopolised political power for decades. It has also raised concerns in Washington that it could be about to lose one of its most important client states in the region. Peru’s political institutions — like those of Colombia and Chile — have long been tethered to US policy interests. Together with Chile, it’s the only country in South America that was invited to join the Trans-Pacific Partnership, which was later renamed the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership after Donald Trump withdrew US participation. It’s also the only country in the region whose constitution grants equal rights to foreign investors as domestic ones. That could come to an end if Castillo is confirmed as president. Given as much, the rumours of another coup in Peru should hardly come as a surprise. Nor should the Biden administration’s recent appointment of a CIA veteran as US ambassador to Peru, as recently reported by Vijay Prashad and José Carlos Llerena Robles:
Borderlands: Mexico exports of commercial trucks jump 277% - - Truck makers in Mexico exported 12,892 units during May, an increase of 277% compared to the same period in 2020, according to Mexico’sNational Association of Bus, Truck and Tractor Producers (ANPACT). Truck makers in Mexico exported 12,892 units during May, an increase of 277% compared to the same period in 2020, according to Mexico’sNational Association of Bus, Truck and Tractor Producers (ANPACT).Miguel Elizalde, president of ANPACT, said the major jump in exports can be attributed to the pandemic closing down most vehicle factories in April, May and part of June last year.“We see that the figures show a growth, a rebound after a year of pandemic, mainly in May, because we had a very big drop because practically all the plants were closed,” Elizalde said Wednesday during ANPACT’s monthly report on the trucking industry. “We had plants closed because the government didn’t consider our industry essential at first.”The biggest producer/exporter of trucks was Daimler/Freightliner, which exported 7,981 units in May.Other top heavy-duty truck producers/exporters in Mexico during May were International Trucks Inc., which shipped 4,265 units, and Kenworth, which exported 646. The U.S. was the main export market for Mexican-made trucks, with 94% of total exports in May. Canada (2.2%) and Colombia (1.7%) were second and third.Domestically, Mexico sold 2,673 trucks and buses wholesale in May, an increase of 270% compared to the same time last year. At retail, truck makers sold 2,763 units in May, a 109% increase compared to May 2020.Despite the surge in truck exports in May, Elizalde expects slower truck sales domestically the rest of the year due to a government regulation known as NOM-044 that mandates trucks use ultra-low-sulfur diesel (ULSD).The regulation requires companies to manufacture, import or sell heavy trucks or buses that exclusively use ULSD beginning in January 2022.Elizalde said ULSD is not available everywhere in Mexico, and truck makers and trucking companies have not had enough time to adjust to the regulation.
Putin Pens Op-Ed Encouraging "Partnership" With Europe, Urges Openness "Despite The Past" - An article by the President of Russia has been published in the German weekly newspaper Die Zeit and is timed to coincide with the 80th anniversary of the beginning of the Great Patriotic war. Being Open, Despite the Past On June 22, 1941, exactly 80 years ago, the Nazis, having conquered practically the whole of Europe, attacked the USSR. For the Soviet people the Great Patriotic War – the bloodiest one in the history of our country – began. Tens of millions of people lost their lives, the economic potential of the country and its cultural property were severely damaged. We are proud of the courage and steadfastness of the heroes of the Red Army and home front workers who not only defended the independence and dignity of our homeland, but also saved Europe and the world from enslavement. Despite attempts to rewrite the pages of the past that are being made today, the truth is that Soviet soldiers came to Germany not to take revenge on the Germans, but with a noble and great mission of liberation. We hold sacred the memory of the heroes who fought against Nazism. We remember with gratitude our allies in the anti-Hitler coalition, participants in the Resistance movement, and German anti-fascists who brought our common victory closer.that laid the foundation for constructive interdependence and initiated many future grand projects, including the construction of the Nord Stream gas pipeline.We hoped that the end of the Cold War would be a common victory for Europe. It seemed that just a little more effort was needed to make Charles de Gaulle’s dream of a single continent – not even geographically ”from the Atlantic to the Urals“, but culturally and civilizationally ”from Lisbon to Vladivostok“ – become a reality. […] The whole system of European security has now degraded significantly. Tensions are rising and the risks of a new arms race are becoming real. We are missing out on the tremendous opportunities that cooperation offers – all the more important now that we are all facing common challenges, such as the pandemic and its dire social and economic consequences.Why does this happen? And most importantly, what conclusions should we draw together? What lessons of history should we recall? I think, first and foremost, that the entire post-war history of Greater Europe confirms that prosperity and security of our common continent is only possible through the joint efforts of all countries, including Russia. Because Russia is one of the largest countries in Europe. And we are aware of our inseparable cultural and historical connection to Europe.We are open to honest and constructive interaction. This is confirmed by our idea of creating a common space of cooperation and security from the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean which would comprise various integration formats, including the European Union and the Eurasian Economic Union.I reiterate that Russia is in favour of restoring a comprehensive partnership with Europe. We have many topics of mutual interest. These include security and strategic stability, healthcare and education, digitalization, energy, culture, science and technology, resolution of climate and environmental issues.The world is a dynamic place, facing new challenges and threats. We simply cannot afford to carry the burden of past misunderstandings, hard feelings, conflicts, and mistakes. It is a burden that will prevent us from concentrating on the challenges at hand. We are convinced that we all should recognize these mistakes and correct them. Our common and indisputable goal is to ensure security on the continent without dividing lines, a common space for equitable cooperation and inclusive development for the prosperity of Europe and the world as a whole.
Germany, France Seeking EU-Russia Summit After 'Positive' Putin Op-Ed & Black Sea 'Warning Shots' - A day after Russian President Vladimir Putin published an op-ed in the German weekly newspaper Die Zeit which urged openness to positive Russia-Europe relations toward "partnership" and not confrontation - an op-ed wherein he dubbed NATO "a relic of the Cold War" - there are fresh, somewhat unexpected reports that Germany and France are now urging a new EU strategy for "closer engagement" with Moscow.It also comes exactly a week after the historic Biden-Putin summit where contrary to the apparent hopes of much of the US mainstream media, there were generally "friendly" vibes between the two leaders in Geneva. According to the new FT report on Wednesday: "Diplomats stated that German Chancellor Angela Merkel hopes that the European Union will consider inviting the Russian President to participate in a summit with EU leaders, an initiative supported by French President Emmanuel Macron."The report cites diplomatic insiders who say "at a meeting in Brussels on Wednesday, ambassadors representing Berlin and Paris put forward new proposals on relations with the Kremlin, which made other EU capitals untenable."EU communications with Putin have remained at a low-point, and essentially non-existent in terms of any formal mechanism, since Crimea came under Russia which the West has long condemned as an act of "annexation" and expansionist aggression committed against Ukraine. The FT report notes crucially that Biden's Secretary of State Antony Blinken has been quietly meeting with EU leaders in order to keep positive momentum going in the direction of diplomatic reengagement with Russia. "US Secretary of State Anthony Brinken also held talks with the government in Berlin this week," FT reports.And more details are being reported as follows:Germany believes that the Biden-Putin summit provides a template for restoring relations with Russia. Merkel meets regularly with Putin, but advocates finding a form for the EU to express its opinions on Russia....The proposed new outreach activities with Moscow may alarm some EU member states, such as the Baltic States and Poland, which are adjacent to Russia and want to take a tougher stance against the Kremlin.No doubt what could be hastening such efforts is the growing state of military tensions in the Black Sea, where onWednesday major escalation came in the form of "warning shots" fired by a Russian frigate on a British warship as it came near Crimea.
Italian artist auctions off invisible sculpture --In May, Italian artist Salvatore Garau sold his “immaterial sculpture” I Am at an auction. The invisible piece of art consists literally of nothing. Even though the work has no material existence, the Art-Rite auction house estimated its value at between €6,000 and €9,000 (that is, between approximately $7,000 and $11,000). During the auction, bidders pushed the price up, and Garau walked away with €15,000 ($18,300). In exchange for this sum, the buyer—a private Milanese collector—of the putative work, the latest version of the Emperor’s New Clothes, received a certificate of authenticity and the artist’s instructions for displaying the sculpture. Garau stipulated that the work must be exhibited in a private home in an area of approximately five square feet that is free of obstruction. Special lighting and climate control are optional. How is one to conceive of an invisible sculpture? Garau had a ready pseudo-scientific explanation for Spanish tabloid Diario AS. “The vacuum is nothing more than a space full of energy, and even if we empty it and there is nothing left, according to the Heisenberg uncertainty principle, that nothing has a weight,” he said. “Therefore, it has energy that is condensed and transformed into particles, that is, into us.” For those confused by this double-talk, Garau appealed to mysticism. “When I decide to ‘exhibit’ an immaterial sculpture in a given space, that space will concentrate a certain amount and density of thoughts at a precise point, creating a sculpture that, from my title, will only take the most varied forms. After all, don’t we shape a God we’ve never seen?” I Am is not Garau’s first invisible “sculpture.” In February, Garau exhibitedBuddha in Contemplation in Milan’s Piazza della Scala. It was allegedly displayed inside a taped square on the cobblestone. “It is a work that asks you to activate the power of the imagination,” said Garau.
"White Privilege" Rhetoric May Have Contributed To "Systemic Neglect" Of White Pupils, MPs --The Education Select Committee said that it agreed with the Commission on Race and Ethnic Disparities that discourse around the term ‘White Privilege’ can be divisive, and that disadvantage should be discussed without pitting different groups against each other.It also recommended schools to consider “whether the promotion of politically controversial terminology, including White Privilege, is consistent with their duties under the Equality Act 2010. ”The committee warned of the risk of young people being inadvertently “inducted into political movements,” and asked the Department for Education (DfE) to issue clear guidance for schools and other Department-affiliated organisations receiving grants from the DfE on how to deliver teaching on these complex issues in a balanced, impartial, and age-appropriate way.In a report (pdf) published on Tuesday, the committee said that its 14-month inquiry on left-behind white pupils from disadvantaged backgrounds had shown that “poor White pupils are far from ‘privileged’ in education.”The report comes seven years after a previous House of Commons Education Select Committee found that “white working class underachievement in education is real and persistent” (pdf), and called on the Government to “take steps” to ensure that they fulfil their potential.Looking at pupils in Britain who’re eligible for free school meals (FSM) in the 2018–2019 school year, the committee found white British children one of the worst-performing groups. Among 4- to 5-year old FSM-eligible pupils, 53 percent of white British pupils met the expected standard of development in the 2018–2019 school year, below average (55 percent); above only Irish Traveller (29 percent), Gypsy/Roma (33 percent), and white Irish (49 percent); and far behind the percentage of FSM-eligible Chinese (67 percent), Indian (66 percent), black Caribbean (61 percent), and black African (64 percent) pupils.
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