Fed Ramps Up Debate Over Taper Timing, Pace – WSJ - Federal Reserve officials are set to accelerate deliberations at their meeting next week over how to scale back their easy-money policies amid a stronger U.S. economic recovery than they anticipated six months ago. Fed Chairman Jerome Powell has said their discussions are focusing on two important questions: When to start paring their monthly purchases of $80 billion in Treasury securities and $40 billion in mortgage securities, and how quickly to reduce, or taper, them. The answers matter greatly to financial markets because Fed officials have said they aren’t likely to consider raising interest rates from near zero until they are done tapering the asset purchases. Some officials have discussed concluding the purchases around October 2022 so they could lift rates later that year if the recovery is stronger or inflation is higher than now anticipated. The Fed began buying large quantities of the securities in March 2020 when the Covid-19 pandemic triggered a near-meltdown in financial markets. The purchases aim to hold down long-term interest rates to encourage borrowing and spending. Fed officials are likely to receive formal staff briefings at their meeting next week on potential strategies for tapering the bond purchases. No decisions have been made. The timing of the Fed’s plans will depend on whether the economy keeps performing as expected and on whether Fed Chairman Jerome Powell can build a consensus among policy makers about how to proceed. The Fed’s preferred inflation gauge, excluding volatile food and energy categories, rose 3.4% in May from a year earlier, a larger jump than officials had expected and more than their target of 2% on average. They said last August they would seek inflation moderately above that level for some time to make up for years of shortfalls. While inflation is running well above that goal, Mr. Powell and many of his colleagues have said they still expect price increases to moderate as shortages driven by the reopening of the economy subside. The central bank last December said it would continue the current pace of bond purchases until officials concluded they had achieved “substantial further progress” toward their goals of 2% inflation and robust employment. “We have not achieved that,” New York Fed President John Williams said July 12. Because Fed officials have said they would provide ample notice before they start tapering, they look unlikely to initiate any taper at their next two meetings, in July or September. Instead, if they can agree on a plan this summer, they could provide updated guidance later this summer or at their September meeting on how soon actual reductions might begin.
Term Spread and Inflation Breakeven Declining, and Real Rates Still Low --Menzie Chinn - All suggesting slowing growth…maybe Figure 1: Treasury 10 year constant maturity yield minus 3 month yield, %. Source: Treasury via FRED, and author’s calculations.Maybe we won’t get that red hot economy, bumping up and over full-employment GDP after all.From Reuters:“Equity markets were pricing an explosion of growth and margins over the next two to three years and it’s clear now we won’t have that,” said Ludovic Colin, senior portfolio manager at Vontobel Asset Management.Colin said however bond markets appeared too pessimistic in starting to price recession.“We don’t think we will have recession, just long-term growth that won’t be as beautiful as what was expected by investors in January-March period.”Given the spread is still positive, predicting another recession seems uncalled for, especially given special factors affecting the term premium (e.g., flight to safety, Fed quantitative easing, etc.), as discussed before the last recession (e.g., here and here).Declining inflation expectations (or at least breakeven calculations) and real rates similarly suggest cooling (relative to prior expectations). Figure 2: Five year inflation breakeven calculated as five year Treasury yield minus five year TIPS yield (blue), five year breakeven adjusted by inflation risk premium and liquidity premium per DKW (red),and TIPS five year yield (teal), all in %. Source: FRB via FRED, Treasury, KWW following D’amico, Kim and Wei (DKW), and author’s calculations.
NBER: Recession Trough in April 2020 -From NBER: Business Cycle Dating Committee Announcement July 19, 2021 The Business Cycle Dating Committee of the National Bureau of Economic Research maintains a chronology of the peaks and troughs of US business cycles.The committee has determined that a trough in monthly economic activity occurred in the US economy in April 2020. The previous peak in economic activity occurred in February 2020. The recession lasted two months, which makes it the shortest US recession on record.The NBER chronology does not identify the precise moment that the economy entered a recession or expansion. In the NBER’s convention for measuring the duration of a recession, the first month of the recession is the month following the peak and the last month is the month of the trough. Because the most recent trough was in April 2020, the last month of the recession was April 2020, and May 2020 was the first month of the subsequent expansion.In determining that a trough occurred in April 2020, the committee did not conclude that the economy has returned to operating at normal capacity. An expansion is a period of rising economic activity spread across the economy, normally visible in real GDP, real income, employment, industrial production, and wholesale-retail sales. Economic activity is typically below normal in the early stages of an expansion, and it sometimes remains so well into the expansion. The committee decided that any future downturn of the economy would be a new recession and not a continuation of the recession associated with the February 2020 peak. The basis for this decision was the length and strength of the recovery to date.
NBER Declares Recession Trough at 2020M04 -Menzie Chinn - From NBER today: The Business Cycle Dating Committee of the National Bureau of Economic Research maintains a chronology of the peaks and troughs of US business cycles. The committee has determined that a trough in monthly economic activity occurred in the US economy in April 2020. The previous peak in economic activity occurred in February 2020. The recession lasted two months, which makes it the shortest US recession on record. Here is the resulting graph (monthly) showing some key indicators: Figure 1: Nonfarm payroll employment from June release (dark blue), Bloomberg consensus as of 7/16 for July nonfarm payroll employment (light blue +), industrial production (red), personal income excluding transfers in Ch.2012$ (green), manufacturing and trade sales in Ch.2012$ (black), consumption in Ch.2012$ (light blue), and monthly GDP in Ch.2012$ (pink), all log normalized to 2020M02=0. Source: BLS, Federal Reserve, BEA, via FRED, IHS Markit (nee Macroeconomic Advisers) (7/1/2021 release), NBER, and author’s calculations.ECRI places the monthly peak at December 2017 and trough at April 2020.For quarterly data, peak is at 2019Q4, trough at 2020Q2. Figure 2: GDP (blue) and GDI (red), both in billion Ch.2012$, SAAR. NBER recession dates shaded gray. Source: BEA, 2021Q1 3rd release, NBER. Chronologies for other countries, see this post.
Officially, the pandemic recession lasted only two months. -The pandemic recession is officially over.In fact, it has been over for more than a year.The National Bureau of Economic Research, the semiofficial arbiter of U.S. business cycles, said Monday that the recession had ended in April 2020, after a mere two months. That makes it by far the shortest contraction on record — so short that by June 2020, when the bureau officially determined that a recession had begun, it had been over for two months. (The previous shortest recession on record, in 1980, lasted six months.)But while the 2020 recession was short, it was unusually severe. Employers cut 22 million jobs in March and April, and the unemployment rate hit 14.8 percent, the worst level since the Great Depression. Gross domestic product fell by more than 10 percent.The end of the recession doesn’t mean that the economy has healed. The United States has nearly seven million fewer jobs than before the pandemic, and while gross domestic product has most likely returned to its prepandemic level, thousands of businesses have failed, and millions of individuals are still struggling to get back on their feet. To economists, however, recessions aren’t simply periods of financial hardship. They are periods of economic contraction, as measured by employment, income, production and other indicators. Once growth resumes, the recession is over, no matter how deep a hole remains. The recession that accompanied the 2008 financial crisis, for example, ended in June 2009 — four months before the unemployment rate hit its peak, and years before many Americans began to experience a meaningful rebound.
Chicago Fed: "Index suggests economic growth moderated in June" - "Index suggests economic growth moderated in June." 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:The Chicago Fed National Activity Index (CFNAI) decreased to +0.09 in June from +0.26 in May. Three of the four broad categories of indicators used to construct the index made positive contributions in June, but two categories deteriorated from May. The index’s three-month moving average, CFNAI-MA3, declined to +0.06 in June from +0.80 in May. [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 thisbackground 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.
Seven High Frequency Indicators for the Economy - These indicators are mostly for travel and entertainment.The TSA is providing daily travel numbers.This data is as of July 18th. This data shows the 7-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. The 7-day average is down 21.0% from the same day in 2019 (79.0% 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 July 17th, 2021. This data is "a sample of restaurants on the OpenTable network across all channels: online reservations, phone reservations, and walk-ins. Dining picked up during the holidays, then slumped with the huge winter surge in cases. Dining is generally picking up, but was down 6% in the 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 July 15th. Movie ticket sales were at $165 million last week, down about 34% 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 July 10th. The occupancy rate is down 9.3% compared to the same week in 2019.. This graph, based on weekly data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA), shows gasoline supplied compared to the same week of 2019. Blue is for 2020. Red is for 2021. As of July 9th, gasoline supplied was up 0.7% compared to the same week in 2019. This is the third week this year when gasoline supplied was 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. This data is through July 17th 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 100% of the January 2020 level.Here is some interesting data on New York subway usage. This graph is from Todd W Schneider. This is weekly data since 2015. Most weeks are between 30 and 35 million entries, and currently there are over 12 million subway turnstile entries per week - and generally increasing.This data is through Friday, July 16th. Schneider has graphs for each borough, and links to all the data sources.
Debt ceiling deadline: Here's when the government will no longer be able to pay its bills - The U.S. government will probably run out of cash to pay its bills at some point this fall, likely in October or November, if no action is taken, the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office announced Wednesday. This comes as the debate over raising or suspending the debt limit is breaking down on Capitol Hill. If lawmakers do not address the issue, the U.S. will be unable to pay its obligations fully — leading to delaying payments, defaulting on its debt obligations or both, the report warns.The debt limit suspension expires on July 31, after it w as suspended for two years under President Trump in 2019. The debt ceiling was previously $22 trillion, but as of the end of June, an additional $6.5 trillion had been borrowed, bringing the total amount of debt subject to the debt limit to $28.5 trillion.The Treasury Department said in May it would use so-called "extraordinary measures" to avoid defaulting over the summer. The Congressional Budget Office said Wednesday those "extraordinary measures" could be exhausted earlier or later than the agency expects, because the timing and size of revenue collection and spending over the coming months could differ noticeably from what the federal agency has projected. The pandemic has further complicated matters. Earlier this month, the Bipartisan Policy Center warned projecting the debt limit "X Date," that is, when the government can no longer meet its obligations after its suspension expires, will be more difficult to predict than it has been in the past, due to the "high uncertainty" of Treasury Department cash flows relating to COVID-19 relief and the speed of the recovery. Without congressional action, the center has also projected that date will arrive sometime in fall. But despite the expiration of the suspension at the end of the month, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell signaled Republicans would not be amenable to raising or suspending the debt ceiling because of what he referred to as "free-for-all for taxes and spending" favored by Democrats, who are working on a $3.5 trillion "human" infrastructure bill.
Senate braces for a nasty debt ceiling fight -Republicans are digging in on the federal debt limit, warning Democrats that it will be up to them to avoid a default as President Biden pushes for trillions more in spending. GOP senators are taking a firm line as Democrats plot a path for their $3.5 trillion spending measure, which the party plans to pass with budget reconciliation rules that will prevent the GOP from blocking it with a filibuster. Given those plans, Republican senators say they won’t lift a finger to help Democrats raise the debt ceiling. “I’m not sure why there’s much of an incentive right now given what the Democrats are doing, trying to run roughshod over the minority in the Senate, to help them,” said Sen. John Thune (S.D.), the No. 2 Senate Republican. Thune added that if Democrats are going to use a go-it-alone approach to push through a sweeping spending package, which is expected to include other priorities like immigration reform, then Republicans believe "the debt limit can ride on it and they can own it all." Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) previewed the GOP tactics to Punchbowl News, in remarks confirmed by his office. “I can’t imagine there will be a single Republican voting to raise the debt ceiling after what we’ve been experiencing,” he said. The government will reach its spending limit on July 31, though the Treasury Department will be able to shuffle funds for an additional period to prevent the U.S. from breaking the ceiling. Actually doing so would cause a severe disruption to markets and the economy, as the U.S. government would be unable to meet demands from its creditors and pay its bills. The limit on how much debt the federal government can owe has been suspended for nearly two years thanks to a bipartisan deal struck under former President Trump. The Congressional Budget Office estimated Wednesday that the Treasury would most likely run out of cash in October or November, though that is just an estimate. Experts have said that the coronavirus pandemic is making it harder to estimate precisely when the U.S. would default on its obligations absent any action. Republican senators are planning to use the specter of crisis to secure major fiscal concessions, in a throwback to the Obama years. Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), the top Republican on the Senate Budget Committee, is expected to put forward a proposal next week, accusing Congress of “spending like drunken sailors.” “We need to make some structural reforms down the road. ... About half the time the debt ceiling has been increased has been accompanied by something, and I think now is the time to put some ideas on the table,” he said. The effort comes after a GOP Congress approved a massive tax-cut bill during the Trump years that added to the deficit. It also follows a series of big spending bills signed by Trump and Biden that were intended to help the economy survive the pandemic. Democrats would need at least 10 GOP votes to defeat a filibuster on a stand-alone debt limit increase, and several progressives have ruled out ceding to Republican spending-cut demands. Several top Senate Democrats — including Majority Leader Charles Schumer (N.Y.) — accused McConnell of holding the U.S. economy hostage. “The leader's statements on the debt ceiling are shameless, cynical and totally political,” Schumer said at the Capitol on Wednesday. “This debt is Trump debt. It's COVID debt. Democrats joined three times during the Trump administration to do the responsible thing,” Schumer added. “And the bottom line is that leader McConnell should not be playing political games with the full faith and credit of the United States.” Republicans have suggested that Democrats add a debt-limit increase to the budget reconciliation process. Doing so would make it easier for Democrats to lift the ceiling but would also shield GOP senators from a vote that is necessitated by spending decisions by both parties. Senate Budget Committee Chairman Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) said that Democrats are “looking at various approaches” while also criticizing Republicans’ comments on the debt limit.
Drama over the debt ceiling is the last thing America's economy needs – CNN --America's road to economic recovery is littered with obstacles, beginning with soaring inflation and the rapidly spreading Covid-19 Delta variant. Now political bickering in Washington is looming as yet another hurdle.If Congress doesn't raise the debt ceiling, the federal government will likely run out of cash by October or November, according to the Congressional Budget Office. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell is already vowing that Republicans will not vote to raise the federal borrowing limit — even though failing to do so risks a default that would tank the economy.America's deep political fissures could cost the country its perfect credit rating -This raises the specter of Washington repeating the mistakes of the 2011 debt ceiling debacle by gambling with the full faith and credit of the United States. That episode sent markets into a tailspin and resulted in the unprecedented downgrade of America's prized AAA credit rating."The last thing the economy needs is an artificial crisis," said Joe Brusuelas, chief economist at RSM. "The risk is that the political polarization in Washington is so intense that politicians who should know better begin to throw around words like 'default.'"A default would be disastrous. US debt is considered among the safest securities on the planet, the benchmark for measuring all other risk. Even a near-default could send interest rates spiking, lifting the cost of borrowing on everything from car loans to mortgages. Markets would tumble."Few policy matters in Washington have such destructive economic capability," Chris Krueger, managing director at Cowen Washington Research Group, wrote in a note to clients Thursday.During a hearing in May, JPMorgan Chase (JPM) CEO Jamie Dimon urged lawmakers not to even think about going down this path again. An actual default, Dimon said, "could cause an immediate, literally cascading catastrophe of unbelievable proportions and damage America for 100 years."Brusuelas echoed that sentiment. "If one wants chaos across financial markets and a replay of the global financial crisis, this would be the quickest road to hell," he said. "The adults in the room need to take control."Yet this week McConnell signaled a brewing fight over the debt ceiling."I can't imagine there will be a single Republican voting to raise the debt ceiling after what we've been experiencing," the Senate minority leader said in aninterview with Punchbowl News published Wednesday.President Joe Biden responded by pointing out that Republicans had no problem raising the borrowing limit when a Republican was in the White House."You know, for the last four years, they've just extended the debt limit," Biden told reporters.In 2019, Congress voted to suspend the debt limit altogether, but that two-year suspension expires at the end of this month.
Yellen wants debt limit raised by Aug. 2, U.S. may need 'extraordinary measures' - Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen on Friday warned Congress that her department will need to embark on "extraordinary measures" on Aug. 2 to prevent the U.S. government from defaulting if lawmakers are unable to strike a deal to raise or extend the debt ceiling. In a letter to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., Yellen put lawmakers on notice that the Treasury Department will at the end of July suspend the sale of bonds, the avenue by which the U.S. finances its debt obligations. After Aug. 2 and barring a debt limit agreement, the Treasury will start taking "extraordinary measures" to pay for Congress' legal and financial obligations, a temporary fix that allows the secretary to tap additional government accounts for a period of weeks. "The period of time that extraordinary measures may last is subject to considerable uncertainty due to a variety of factors, including the challenges of forecasting the payments and receipts of the U.S. government months into the future, exacerbated by the heightened uncertainty in payments and receipts related to the economic impact of the pandemic," Yellen told Pelosi in a letter. The message between the Treasury secretary and the House speaker is a required formality should the outstanding debt of the U.S. near its statutory limit. While the extraordinary measures have been deployed in the past to prevent a default, it's unclear how long Yellen's emergency capital will last in the face of unprecedented stimulus efforts sparked by the Covid-19 crisis. While the United States has never defaulted on its debt, recent history shows that getting uncomfortably close to it can create chaos. In 2011, House Republicans' refusal to pass a debt ceiling increase led to a downgrade of the U.S. sovereign credit rating that upset financial markets. Economists say default, though extremely unlikely, would be a catastrophic event and would pose a significant threat to several sectors of the American economy. Asked about Yellen's letter, White House press secretary Jen Psaki stressed that the communication should be taken in context and noted that similar letters have been sent in prior administrations. The letter is "standard practice for Treasury secretaries when a debt limit is going to be reimposed," Psaki said Friday afternoon. "During the previous two administrations, the Treasury secretary sent nearly 50 letters to the Hill on the debt limit, some of which were very similar, in wording and asks and updates, to this letter." Despite the administration's calm, it is virtually certain Congress will breach that Aug. 2 deadline with Democrats and Republicans gridlocked on several key pieces of legislation. Perhaps most notable is that Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., remains far away from compromise over a trillion-dollar physical infrastructure deal. House Democrats insist that they won't pass a bill to improve the nation's roads, bridges, broadband and waterways without a separate piece of legislation modeled after President Joe Biden's American Families Plan to support paid worker leave, labor education and other programs. For his part, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., told Punchbowl News earlier this month that he "can't imagine a single Republican" voting to raise the debt limit amid Democrats' "free-for-all for taxes and spending."
Yellen to Congress: Raise the debt ceiling or risk 'irreparable harm' --Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen urged congressional leaders Friday to raise the federal debt limit as soon as possible or risk “irreparable harm to the U.S. economy and the livelihoods of all Americans.”In a Friday letter, Yellen warned that the Treasury Department is unable to project how long it could stave off a potentially catastrophic default on the national debt if Congress does not either raise or suspend the debt ceiling before Aug. 1. “In recent years Congress has addressed the debt limit through regular order, with broad bipartisan support,” Yellen wrote. “I respectfully urge Congress to protect the full faith and credit of the United States by acting as soon as possible.” The debt ceiling does not increase or reduce government spending, but sets a cap on how much debt the government can take on while paying for obligations already approved by Congress and the president. A two-year deal to suspend the debt limit expires on July 31, and Congress is unlikely to reach another agreement to lift it before then. Senate Republican leaders said this week there will not be enough Republicans to support a debt ceiling increase or suspension if it is not tied to debt reduction measures. Democrats have refused those requests, arguing that the GOP is holding the economy hostage to partisan demands. The Treasury Department has taken extraordinary measures to avert defaults during prior debt ceiling showdowns. But Yellen warned Friday that the department is unable to predict when those efforts would run out because of difficulties created by the coronavirus pandemic. While the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimated this week that the Treasury likely has until October or November before hitting the end of the road, Yellen said it could happen soon after Congress returns from recess in the middle of September. Yellen also warned lawmakers that the threat of a default alone could damage the nation’s financial standing. She cited the decision among rating agencies to downgrade the U.S’s credit worthiness for the first and so far only time during the 2011 debt ceiling standoff. “This is why no President or Treasury Secretary of either party has ever countenanced even the suggestion of a default on any obligation of the United States,” Yellen wrote. Yellen sent the letter to Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.); Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.); and the top Democrats and Republicans on the Senate Finance and House Ways and Means committees.
Senate Infrastructure Bill Drops IRS Funding, Raising Pressure for New Revenue – WSJ - Lawmakers dropped plans to pay for a roughly $1 trillion infrastructure package in part by boosting tax-collecting enforcement at the Internal Revenue Service, a setback for the bipartisan measure ahead of a looming deadline for agreement.The shift came after pushback from Republicans who were wary of granting the agency more money and power, Sen. Rob Portman (R., Ohio), one of the lead negotiators, said Sunday on CNN. Legislative aides from both parties confirmed the move.The change means that the plan to strengthen the IRS to do more to collect taxes owed but not collected—a priority for President Biden —has stalled, at least for now. But lawmakers say it could be revived elsewhere, in a separate spending package pushed by Democrats.The decision to exclude the IRS provision means lawmakers will have to scramble to replace it to complete the infrastructure package before a midweek deadline, and it casts new uncertainty over the talks.Republicans and Democrats have spent weeks trying to negotiate an infrastructure deal, including funding for roads, bridges and broadband. But they have struggled with how to cover the cost without increasing the federal deficit, which has risen to record levels over the past few years because of tax cuts and pandemic-related spending. They have said the plan would be fully paid for with new revenue Budget reconciliation may offer Democrats a way to sidestep some partisan gridlock and advance President Biden’s policy objectives.Lawmakers face the first test this week of whether there will be enough support to move forward with the infrastructure deal, along with a separate $3.5 trillion budget resolutionsupported only by Democrats. That package includes provisions aimed at addressing climate change, expanded access to education and affordable child care and broader Medicare benefits. The two pieces of legislation together comprise most of the White House’s legislative agenda. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D., N.Y.) said last week that he would take the first procedural step Monday, setting up a vote Wednesday to begin debate on the bipartisan infrastructure bill. Democratic support for the infrastructure legislation, however, depends on the party coalescing by the same day around the $3.5 trillion budget resolution. Both bills rely on fragile coalitions of lawmakers deciding to compromise. Republicans and Democrats were still working on details over the weekend and said they weren’t sure if they would meet the midweek deadline. Sen. Bill Cassidy (R., La.) said on Fox News Sunday that meeting the Wednesday deadline was possible, but only if the negotiators agreed on provisions to pay for the plan.Mr. Portman, the lead GOP negotiator on the infrastructure deal, said they shouldn’t have a Wednesday deadline. “It’s more important to get it right than to meet an arbitrary deadline,” he said.Lawmakers in the bipartisan negotiating group, including Sen. Jon Tester (D., Mont.) had said last week they were already looking at alternatives to the IRS provision to raise revenue. The process has been made difficult by Republicans’ refusal to raise taxes and Democrats’ unwillingness to raise user fees on lower and middle-income Americans.Mr. Portman said Sunday that the new funding shortfall wouldn’t derail the overall package, adding that other potential revenue sources existed for the infrastructure plan. Among other options, lawmakers are considering delaying or repealing a Trump-era proposal to end rebates that drugmakers give to Medicare, a change that would save the government revenue.
Carbon Border Tax Is Proposed by Democrats - Senators introduced a plan on Monday to tax iron, steel and other imports from countries without ambitious climate laws. — Democratic lawmakers on Monday proposed to raise as much as $16 billion annually by imposing a tax on imports from China and other countries that are not significantly reducing the planet-warming pollution that they produce. The tax would be levied regardless of whether Congress passed new laws to reduce emissions created by the United States. It would be designed to be approximately equivalent to the costs faced by American companies under state and federal environmental regulations. Experts said a border carbon tax would almost certainly provoke America’s trading partners and could create serious diplomatic challenges ahead of United Nations climate negotiations set for November in Glasgow. But Senator Chris Coons of Delaware and Representative Scott Peters of California, both Democrats, said American companies deserved protection as the Biden administration moved forward with aggressive policies to reduce greenhouse gas emissions caused by the burning of fossil fuels. “We must ensure that U.S. workers and manufacturers aren’t left behind and that we have tools to assess global progress on climate commitments,” Mr. Coons said. The plan comes a week after the European Union proposed its own carbon border tax on imports from countries with lax pollution controls. The proposal from Democrats, which Senate aides said was developed with input from the Department of the Treasury, the Office of the United States Trade Representative and other parts of the Biden administration, is expected to be attached to a $3.5 trillion budget resolution. The White House did not respond to a request for comment on the legislation or say whether the administration endorsed it. But President Biden and administration officials have said they support a carbon border tax as a tool to advance climate goals. Democrats hope to pass their budget package this year and use it as a way to expand social, educational and health care programs as well as fund a transition to clean energy and cut greenhouse gas emissions. The decision to package the proposals in a budget reconciliation bill would allow Democrats in the sharply divided Congress to pass the measure without any Republican votes. A handful of Republican lawmakers have explored a carbon border tariff as a way to counter China and protect U.S. industries.But Senator John Barrasso of Wyoming, the top Republican on the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, called the $3.5 trillion blueprint a “freight train to socialism” and said the Democrats’ plan for a border tariff would start a trade war.
Infrastructure deal in precarious state as endgame nears - The Washington Post - President Biden on Monday took a subtle yet unmistakable dig at Republicans who have backed away from a major funding component in a bipartisan infrastructure package that is now starting to fray, saying pointedly that “we shook hands on it” even as he continued to promote the agreement.Biden’s comment, with its accusatory undertones, reflected the agreement’s precarious state at the outset of what could be a pivotal week. Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) plans to force a vote within days to advance the roughly $1 trillion plan despite the Republican hesitations, a high-stakes gamble that is intended to force agreement but that GOP senators on Monday warned they would reject.The last-minute struggle to nail down details of the blueprint for revitalizing roads, bridges, water pipes and broadband systems is threatening a bipartisan victory that stands not just at the core of Biden’s economic agenda, but also is intended as Exhibit A in the president’s case that bipartisanship is still possible in a divided Washington.The current flare-up revolves around more than $100 billion in revenue that a bipartisan group of senators hoped to raise by beefing up Internal Revenue Service enforcement so it could better collect unpaid taxes. Conservatives rebelled against empowering an agency they deeply distrust, however, even after Republicans including Sen. Rob Portman of Ohio, a top GOP negotiator, sought to address the concerns by proposing safeguards on the IRS’s authority.But those suggested restrictions made the IRS provision virtually unworkable, according to aides familiar with the discussions, forcing negotiators to nix it as a source of revenue and leaving senators scrambling to find tens of billions of new dollars to pay for the infrastructure deal.Republicans were annoyed by Schumer’s insistence on holding preliminary Senate votes Wednesday to proceed to a debate on the agreement, which has not been finalized. The majority leader finalized his floor strategy on Monday night, teeing up a Wednesday vote that would allow the Senate to proceed to the bipartisan package.The Wednesday vote, Schumer said, was “simply about getting the legislative process started here on the Senate floor,” and he indicated that he was prepared to put the bipartisan infrastructure legislation on the floor as early as Thursday should the group finalize it by then.
The Democrat blocking progressive change is beholden to big oil. Surprised? - Joe Manchin owns millions of dollars in coal stock, founded an energy firm and Exxon lobbyists brag about their access to him. Republicans fundraise on his behalf. Senate Democrats are negotiating a $3.5tn budget package that could include an attempt to slow the use of fossil fuels over the next decade.One prominent senator is very concerned about proposals to scale back oil, gas and coal usage. He recently argued that those who want to “get rid of” fossil fuels are wrong. Eliminating fossil fuels won’t help fight global heating, he claimed, against all evidence. “If anything, it would be worse.” The speaker was a Democrat: Senator Joe Manchin of West Virginia.West Virginia is a major coal-producing state. But Manchin’s investment in dirty energy goes far beyond the economic interests of the voters who elect him every six years. In fact, coal has made Manchin and his family very wealthy. He founded the private coal brokerage Enersystems in 1988 and still owns a big stake in the company, which his son currently runs.In 2020 alone, Manchin raked in nearly $500,000 of income from Enersystems, and he owns as much as $5m worth of stock in the company, according to his most recent financial disclosure, Despite this conflict of interest, Manchin chairs the influential Senate energy and natural resources committee, which has jurisdiction over coal production and distribution, coal research and development, and coal conversion, as well as “global climate change”.He even gave a pro-coal speech in May to the Edison Electric Institute (EEI) while personally profiting from Enersystems’ coal sales to utility companies that are EEI members, as Sludge recently reported. Manchin is one of many members of Congress who are personally invested in the fossil fuel industry – dozens of Congress members hold Exxon stock – but he is among the biggest profiters. As of late 2019, he had more money invested in dirty energy than any other senator.Manchin sometimes seems like he’s an honorary Republican. Earlier this month the Texas Tribune and other publications reported that Manchin was heading to Texas for a fundraiserhosted by several major Republican donors, including oil billionaires.
Senate Infrastructure Deal in Sight After Medicare Agreement – A bipartisan group of senators is closing in on a $579 billion infrastructure deal after agreeing to pay for it in part by delaying a Trump-era Medicare regulation, a key Democratic senator said July 22.The Medicare rule, promulgated by President Donald Trump, eliminates rebates that drug companies give benefit managers in Medicare Part D and was aimed at reducing out-of-pocket costs.But the Congressional Budget Office estimated the rule would increase federal Medicare spending by about $177 billion from 2020 through 2029.“We had an agreement on 99% when we walked out yesterday afternoon,” Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.), one of 22 senators negotiating the infrastructure deal, said in an interview. “The pay-fors are pretty much lined up.” Drug companies, which could lose revenue if the rule is set aside, have lobbied against its inclusion in the deal.“Despite railing against high drug costs on the campaign trail, lawmakers are threatening to gut a rule that would provide patients meaningful relief at the pharmacy,” said Debra DeShong, executive vice president of public affairs at PhRMA. “If it is included in the infrastructure package, this proposal will provide health insurers and drug middlemen a windfall and turn Medicare into a piggy bank to fund projects that have nothing to do with lowering out-of-pocket costs for medicines.”Negotiators are still working on exactly how much money to funnel to transit systems, Manchin said. Some Republicans have argued that given the large boost in the bill for transit, future highway trust fund disbursement for transit should be reduced from 20% to 18%. Democrats say the traditional 20% share of the trust fund, which is primarily funded by the gas tax, that is set aside for transit should be maintained.The senators have said they hope to have final bill text and an official budget score by July 26 to allow the Senate to vote then to begin debate. Republicans on July 21 blocked an attempt by Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) to start debate, arguing they needed to see a deal first.“If it’s not ready for Monday vote, we’re going to lose a couple of weeks on our August recess,” said Sen. Jon Tester (D-Mont.), another member of the negotiating group. “So it’s got to be ready.”Schumer indicated on the Senate floor July 22 he is prepared to keep the Senate in session past its Aug. 9 recess date to finish work on the infrastructure bill and a multitrillion-dollar budget bill carrying much of President Joe Biden’s economic agenda.“My colleagues on both sides should be assured: As majority leader, I have every intention of passing both major infrastructure packages — the bipartisan infrastructure framework and a budget resolution with reconciliation instructions — before we leave for the August recess,” Schumer said. “I laid out that precise schedule both publicly and privately and I intend to stick with it.”
With schools, pay less now or pay more later -As Congress weighs whether to include schools in an infrastructure package, the choice is not whether the federal government should spend money on school construction and renovation. It already does. The choice is whether the federal government should spend less now or more later through a broken, wasteful and disruptive cycle of damage and repair. School construction is currently funded by local and state governments with one notable exception — rebuilding schools after disasters. The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has invested billions in fixing schools that have been damaged by extreme weather events such as flooding, wildfires, hurricanes and cold snaps. In 2005, FEMA spent almost $4 billion to help schools recover from Hurricane Katrina. Older school facilities present a heightened risk. They do not reflect the latest advancements in building science and disaster preparedness that can minimize damage and keep occupants safe. According to a 2017 report by FEMA, “older school buildings are particularly vulnerable to natural disasters and in most cases, school administrators do not have the financial resources to address these vulnerabilities.” If schools did have resources, investing in resilience would be an excellent use of funds. The National Institute of Building Sciences reports that for every $1 of preventative spending, we save $6 in post-disaster recovery. Schools across the country are at risk from a variety of extreme weather events. Hurricane Sandy damaged 72 schools in New York City, costing FEMA over $700 million. Initial accounting suggests that FEMA will spend tens of millions to repair schools in Texas after the February 2021 cold snap. West Virginia schools required $130 million in repairs after flooding in June 2016. Analysis by the Pew Charitable Trusts and ICF found that 6,353 schools serving 4 million students are located in the 100 most flood-prone counties in the country. Moreover, the risks to our schools posed by extreme weather are increasing. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) reports that extreme weather events have become more frequent and more severe. In 2020, the United States experienced 22 separate “billion-dollar weather” events, with costs exceeding $95 billion. The bipartisan Congressional Budget Office has raised the red flag about the budgetary impacts of spending associated with hurricane damage. FEMA provides reimbursement for 75 percent of the cost to repair buildings and comply with code. With America’s schools receiving a D+ grade from the American Society of Civil Engineers and an estimated annual shortfall of $38 billion in capital investment, schools will be particularly costly for FEMA to replace. Failing to rebuild schools is not an option. As Denis Rousselle, a Superintendent in New Orleans said, “[W]e wanted to rebuild our communities... People would not come back if you didn’t have schools.” While the most catastrophic of events will continue to be costly and damaging, we must embrace the Scouts’ motto and “be prepared.” Providing our school infrastructure with the equivalent of preventative medicine will enhance safety and resilience and reduce the cost and time required for recovery. Installing flood doors, elevating critical mechanical systems within buildings, creating tornado-safe rooms, performing seismic retrofits, and installing building materials that are mold-resistant are examples of recommended strategies. These investments need to be guided by our latest understanding of which schools are worth the investment and which schools need to be replaced or relocated first. By failing to deploy these cost-saving investments, the federal government is needlessly imposing extraordinary costs on taxpayers. Never mind the impact on devastated communities.
Transit money emerges as a last major obstacle to bipartisan Senate infrastructure deal— Senators say they're on the brink of finalizing a huge, bipartisan infrastructure deal. But there's a major dispute holding it up: how much money to spend on public transit.Sen. Jon Tester, D-Mont., said the main point of contention in the five-year, $579 billion package was "the ratio" of money distributed between highways and public transit.Senators and aides say Democrats want 80 percent of the funds allocated for transportation projects for highways and 20 percent for transit, citing past precedent. Republicans want less than 20 percent to go to mass transit, saying that ratio hasn't been fixed."They don't see the role for transit that we've seen bipartisanly for nearly 40 years," Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, said Thursday. "They are asking for significantly less money. ... The Trump party has changed. They don't want to invest in public transit the way this country has, really, since the Reagan years.""We need to be investing now in cleaner buses. ... We need zero-emissions buses. We've got to begin that process now," he told reporters. "Frankly, Republicans are standing in the way. I hope we can get a bipartisan deal. If we can't, we do these things in the reconciliation bill."Sen. Rob Portman, R-Ohio, the leading GOP negotiator, said Republicans have made a "generous offer" that provides a "significant increase" in transit money over the next five years."Transit funding has not yet been resolved," he said. "Democrats, frankly, are not being reasonable in their requests right now."The dispute comes as Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., vows to finish the legislation before the chamber breaks for a recess scheduled in August. Negotiations have been ongoing for a month since a group of five Democrats and five Republicansannounced an agreement on an infrastructure framework at the White House with President Joe Biden's endorsement.For Biden, the bill represents an opportunity to make good on his pledge to unify the parties around a major goal. For GOP senators, infrastructure provides a rare opening to work with a Democratic president and deliver for constituents, without much of a risk of backlash from their ideological base.But the issue of transit has run into a larger political divide between Republicans, many of whom represent rural parts of the country where cars tend to be the only viable way to get around, and Democrats, who disproportionately represent more urban areas that are heavily dependent on public transportation. Progressives have pushed for a higher ratio of transit funding in infrastructure talks to make the transportation sector greener."They’re kind of hung up on it right now," Senate Minority Whip John Thune, R-S.D., told reporters of the Democratic negotiators on Thursday. "It's just an issue that most of — a lot of people who don't have transit don't care about and don't like the way that the funds get allocated and divided."Thune said it was "one of the last hang-ups," while also identifying broadband as an area where negotiators were finalizing details.
Dems are 'not particularly pleased' with the Senate infrastructure deal. They'll back it anyway. - Ben Cardin is “not particularly pleased” with parts of the bipartisan infrastructure package. Kirsten Gillibrand has “no reason to be against it.” And Elizabeth Warren said she’ll support it if “it makes some people happier.” Those are Democratic senators' scintillating reviews for a plan billed as a major goal of President Joe Biden. As negotiators rush to finish their package by Monday, they're signaling they’ll go along with it, even if it’s through gritted teeth. When asked if he plans to support the bipartisan deal, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) hardly brimmed with enthusiasm: “I voted for it yesterday, didn’t I?” All 50 Democratic Caucus members supported advancing the bill on Wednesday, an effort blocked by 50 Republicans. In interviews Thursday, Democratic senators said they expected all 50 members of their caucus to sign on to the final product, with the assurance that their $3.5 trillion social spending proposal will include their top priorities. The bipartisan group still needs to sway several Democrats angry about water funding, but the party seems content to enter the home stretch of the infrastructure drama united — and leave Republicans split over whether to support it. “There are a lot of things that are happening that I’m unhappy about. I think they’re mistakes,” said Cardin (D-Md.). “But I’m going to support the package. I think it’s critically important we get the bipartisan package done.” Even Democratic senators skeptical of GOP cooperation said they were hopeful that a bipartisan deal on physical infrastructure would come to fruition, given that Biden has thrown the weight of the White House behind it and is already traveling the country to promote the framework. Sen. Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii), who previously panned the bipartisan talks, said she’s “optimistic” these days and is “prepared to support it because ... Joe Biden supports it.” “We’re knocking at an open door because leadership is for it and so is the president,” said Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), who has criticized the pace and scope of negotiations with Republicans. “The stars are pretty well aligned as long as the Republicans drop their obstruction. They seem to be flailing for every excuse to make this effort fail.” Biden can spare at most a handful of votes from the 50-member Democratic caucus to pass the bipartisan $1.2 trillion physical infrastructure package, if a deal is reached. While 11 Senate Republicans wrote a letter to Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer Wednesday saying that they’d vote to move forward next week, most members of the GOP conference are waiting for legislative text and a score from the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office before making up their minds. Even some Republicans in the bipartisan group of 22 working on the package could ultimately bolt, according to one GOP senator. Senate negotiators say they’re getting close to clinching a bipartisan deal, despite Wednesday’s failed vote. The most controversial sticking point remaining appears to be public transportation funding levels. But the group is finalizing provisions related to broadband and how to use unspent coronavirus relief money as a financing mechanism, according to aides familiar with the talks.
Democrats pushing for changes to bipartisan infrastructure deal - Senate Democrats are warning that they will ask for changes to an infrastructure deal being worked on by a bipartisan group of senators, as they try to get reassurances on key priorities. The bipartisan group is still working to finalize their deal, and resolve a remaining sticking point of transportation funding. But the requests from Democrats are an early sign of the hurdles the bill could face even if it is able to get the 60 votes needed to start debate. A group of Democrats is pushing for assurances that the Drinking Water and Wastewater Infrastructure Act, a drinking water and sanitation bill that previously passed the Senate in an 89-2 vote, would be fully funded through the bipartisan group's infrastructure bill. “I want to make sure that they are fully funded,” Sen. Tom Carper (D-Del.) told reporters. "I'm going to withhold my support until they are fully funded." Carper added that Democrats had received assurances that their proposal would be fully funded but were now hearing that "it may be moved around." Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.), who crafted the drinking water bill, warned in a statement that it had to be fully funded through the bipartisan bill in order for her to support it. “While I voted to proceed to consideration of a bipartisan infrastructure bill, more will need to be done in order for me to support the current proposal that is being drafted. ... I can’t commit to supporting a final bill if it does not include full funding for my Drinking Water and Wastewater Infrastructure Act (DWWIA) at $35.9 billion over the next five years," she said. In addition to Carper and Duckworth, Sen. Ben Cardin (D-Md.) is also raising concerns about the funding for the drinking water bill, according to senators involved in the talks.
Frustration builds as infrastructure talks drag - Tempers are starting to flare on both sides of the aisle as bipartisan infrastructure talks drag on and negotiators face the prospect of missing an informal self-imposed deadline of Monday for getting a deal. Some Democrats are accusing Republicans of slow-walking the negotiations and reopening negotiating items that were believed to be solved. Republicans say Democrats are being unreasonable in some of their demands, such as an insistence on tens of billions of dollars in new funding for transit and broad authority for local governments to decide how to spend infrastructure funds. A bipartisan group of Senate negotiators who have been working with the White House for months to fill out a $1.2 trillion, eight-year spending proposal say they’re on track to get it done next week, but frustrations are starting to mount as a final deal eludes them. “They have not been serious about transit dollars,” said Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio), the chairman of the Senate Banking Committee, who is leading the battle for more federal money for public transit, one of the biggest obstacles to getting a deal. “We’ve offered to split the difference and they don’t seem to want to do that,” he said. “It's not we who're stalling,” Brown added. Brown accused Republicans of drawing out the talks to derail President Biden’s agenda, which Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) says will move as a bipartisan infrastructure package and a budget reconciliation bill planned for the fall. Schumer said he will set up the reconciliation process by scheduling a vote on a budget resolution after the bipartisan infrastructure bill passes the Senate. But negotiators haven’t finished work on their bipartisan framework, holding the whole process up. “If they continue to slow-walk, which is what they’re doing, we’ve got to move ahead,” Brown said. “I remember during the Affordable Care Act [debate], they slow-walked for four months. That’s why we didn’t get Medicare at 55, that’s why we didn’t get a public option.” His Banking Committee has jurisdiction over transit. And unlike other Senate committee, such as the Environment and Public Work Committee, the Commerce Committee and the Energy and Natural Resources Committee, it had not already reached agreement on key infrastructure priorities in its domain. Brown said there is strong skepticism among Democrats about whether Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) will allow any major bipartisan infrastructure deal to pass the Senate, which would be a major win for President Biden. In a sign of wearing patience, Sen. Rob Portman (Ohio), the lead Republican negotiator, suggested dropping the transit funding element from the deal altogether, something that would spark an angry backlash from Democrats. “Transit funding has not yet been resolved. That’s important, but if we can’t resolve it then we could leave that out. I hope not,” he said. “Democrats frankly are not being reasonable in their requests right now. We have had a very generous offer out there that provides a significant increase in funding over the next five years,” he added.Sen. Bob Menendez (D-N.J.) threatened to oppose the bipartisan deal after he saw Portman's comment. “A bill that fails to adequately include transit will not have my support,” he warned. The other key player in the fight over transit funding is Sen. Pat Toomey (R-Pa.), the top-ranking Republican on the Banking panel, who has balked at an additional $48.5 billion in funding, which he believes would skew the traditional allocation between highway and transit spending.
Business groups urge lawmakers to stick with bipartisan infrastructure deal - Business groups are keeping the pressure on lawmakers to finalize a bipartisan infrastructure bill after Republicans blocked the Senate from debating the proposal Wednesday. More than 120 business and manufacturing associations, led by the National Association of Manufacturers, sent a letter to members of Congress on Thursday urging them to pass the infrastructure proposal negotiated by President Biden and a bipartisan group of senators. “As an elected leader, you have the chance to realize the promise of American economic prosperity by working with your colleagues to enact the bipartisan framework that was recently announced,” the groups wrote. Business groups are attempting to round up support from GOP senators, who blocked debate on the bipartisan deal Wednesday because the bill was not yet written. Lobbyists are stressing that the $1.2 trillion framework makes huge investments in the nation’s infrastructure without raising taxes on corporations, a top priority for both business interests and Republicans. “Importantly, this agreement advances these historic investments without putting at risk the competitive gains achieved for American businesses through tax reform, allowing manufacturers to reinvest in their facilities, their communities and their employees,” business groups wrote to lawmakers Thursday. Biden on Thursday afternoon was set to meet with business and labor leaders who support the bipartisan deal, including Business Roundtable CEO Joshua Bolten, U.S. Chamber of Commerce CEO Suzanne Clark, Laborers’ Union President Terry O'Sullivan and National Association of Manufacturers board chair Michael Lamach. The meeting is meant to send a message to Republicans that a wide range of organizations support Biden’s proposal, including those that typically clash on most issues, such as the Chamber and the AFL-CIO. Build Together, a group of CEOs from large companies such as Delta, General Motors, IBM, Nike, Walmart and Bank of America, is one of the many business groups attempting to persuade Senate Republicans to support the infrastructure deal. The group is placing newspaper ads in 14 states represented by Republican senators who are open to the bipartisan deal, including Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.). The ads say that the bipartisan framework “makes a down payment on our climate progress and engages private capital to create durable solutions to our infrastructure challenges without hampering our post-COVID recovery.” Republicans have insisted that they will come to an agreement on the final bill by next week. Progressive groups and some congressional Democrats have urged Biden to end negotiations with Republicans, making the case that GOP lawmakers are intentionally stalling the process.
Senate Democrats endorse Republican proposal for increased military budget - Democrats on the Senate Armed Services Committee have endorsed a Republican plan for an additional $25 billion in military spending above the amount proposed by the Biden administration for 2022 in the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). The 23–3 bipartisan committee vote for a $778 billion defense budget—a direct repudiation of President Biden’s $753 billion proposal—was announced by Senator Tim Kaine, Democrat from Virginia, during a call with news media on Thursday. According to a report by the Hill, “The funding boost would go entirely to the Pentagon, giving the department $740.3 billion compared to the Biden administration’s request for $715 billion. The remainder of the budget goes to non-Pentagon defense programs, such as the Energy Department’s nuclear weapons programs.” While the Democrats are in the White House and have a majority in both houses of Congress, the new spending proposed for the US war machine is greater than that enacted during the Trump administration which stood at $741 billion, with $704 billion for the Pentagon, and the highest spending since World War II. Committee Chairman Jack Reed, Democratic Senator from Rhode Island, followed Kaine’s announcement with a statement that got down to the real military matters at hand. Reed said that Congress “must work on a bipartisan basis” to ensure “the policies and resources to deter America’s adversaries,” and reassure US allies that American military forces “have the right tools and capabilities to combat threats around the globe.”Although Democrats have said very little about where the additional $25 billion will be spent, it has been reported that much of the extra resources will go toward programs that top generals and admirals had identified as priorities and were left out of Biden’s original budget request.According to the Military Times, the Army’s unfunded priorities include, “$1.1 billion for tactical training, soldier quality of life and strategic power projection capabilities, and another $1.9 billion for aviation platforms, wheeled and tracked combat vehicles and cyber security upgrades.” The Navy request includes, “$1.7 billion for a second DDG [missile guided destroyer] and $280 million for additional flying hours for Navy pilots,” and the Air Force wants to spend “$1.4 billion on 12 additional F-15EXs and $825 million for weapon system sustainment efforts.” Marine Corps leaders demanded “more than $150 million additional Naval Strike Missiles and Tactical Tomahawk missiles.”In policy terms, the vote by the bipartisan Senate committee is for a continued guarantee that the Pentagon will maintain overwhelming military superiority over every other country on the planet such that it can invade and launch wars against enemies and adversaries as it sees fit. Meanwhile, the committee is making a clear statement that Biden’s proposal was unacceptable and that the so-called “progressive” congressional Democrats will have absolutely no say-so over the hegemonic global military strategy of US imperialism.
Bad News About Iran And Nuclear Deal - In yesterday’s Washington Post it was reported that there will be no further negotiations between the US and Iran (and other parties) in Vienna over the US and Iran rejoining the JCPOA nuclear agreement that Iran had been adhering to when Donald Trump withdrew the US from it in 2018, then reimposing economic sanctions on Iran, with Iran then starting to violate the agreement in various ways starting a year later. President Biden had promised to rejoin the agreement as part of his campaign, but negotiations on doing so had bogged down. It was completely unsurprising that the moderate Iranian President Rouhani would be succeeded by a hardliner, Raisi, who is due to take office next month. Nevertheless, there had been reports that Supreme Leader Khamenei in Iran was supporting completing the negotiations with the team of Rouhani before Raisi taking office as a way of getting the deal done and off the desk as it were so Raisi would not have to deal with it. But apparently, he has changed his mind, and if in fact there is to be a successful negotiation and a resumption of both nations rejoining the agreement, it will be done by a team assembled by Raisi after he takes office. I consider this to be bad news as it may indicate no deal will be able to be made.The report suggested that most of the practical issues had been resolved by negotiations that have happened so far. These involve the timing of how both sides undo their respective actions that pulled them out of the agreement practically. For the US this would be the matter of ending the various economic sanctions while for Iran this would be undoing their advanced uranium enrichment programs they have been engaging in that are beyond the agreement’s limits. These were non-trivial matters to agree to, but reportedly the deal on them was cut. Maybe the best that can be hoped for is that when negotiations resume, at least this agreement is in place to work from. So, what remains to hold things up? Unfortunately on both sides, it seems to be matters being demanded by hardliners who basically do not want the agreement to be resumed, unrealistic demands. From the Iran side, it is a demand that somehow the US never leave the deal again. Well, maybe this is something the Biden people ought to be willing to grant. But the problem is that it is not something that can really be promised in a credible way given that if Trump or somebody like him gets elected president in 2024 or later, there is simply no way that person can be kept from leaving the deal again as Trump did. Biden can make promises, but there is no guarantee they can be kept. I am not sure what the Iran side wants beyond some promise that cannot be kept necessarily.
Pentagon watchdog to review security of 'nuclear football' - The Pentagon’s inspector general will review whether the department has plans to respond in the event the so-called “nuclear football,” the briefcase that holds nuclear launch codes and other sensitive equipment, is compromised. The review of Department of Defense (DOD) safeguards for what’s officially known as the Presidential Emergency Satchel was announced in a memo released Tuesday by the Office of the Inspector General (OIG). “The objective of this evaluation is to determine the extent that DoD processes and procedures are in place and adequate to alert DoD officials in the event that the Presidential Emergency Satchel is lost, stolen or compromised,” the inspector general’s office wrote in the memo. “This evaluation will also determine the adequacy of the procedures the DoD has developed to respond to such an event,” the memo added. The review comes after Reps. Stephen Lynch (D-Mass.), chairman of the House Oversight Committee’s national security subcommittee, and Jim Cooper (D-Tenn.), chairman of the House Armed Services Committee’s strategic forces subcommittee in March asked the inspector general to look into the issue following several incidents with either the football, which is always kept near the president, or the backup football, which follows the vice president. During the Senate’s February impeachment trial of former President Trump for inciting the Jan. 6 Capitol insurrection, House impeachment managers showed footage of rioters coming within 100 feet of then-Vice President Pence while he, his family, Secret Service agents and the military aide carrying the backup football ran to safety. Rioters would not have been able to use the information even if they had gotten ahold of the football because of security controls in the system and because the backup only functions when the president is incapacitated. But they would have had sensitive technology in their hands. In addition to the Capitol attack, the security of the football was called into question during an incident during Trump’s 2017 trip to Beijing. \ During the trip, a scuffle broke out when Chinese officials attempted to bar the military aide carrying the briefcase from entering the auditorium where Trump was set to meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping. The skirmish quickly ended, and the football was never compromised, but the incident still raised questions about the physical security of the briefcase.
Billionaire Tom Barrack Charged With Acting As Agent Of UAE To Gain Favor With Trump - Thomas Barrack, the 74-year-old billionaire founder of private equity form Colony Capital - who served as chairman of the 2017 inaugural fund for then-President Donald Trump - was arrested on federal charges in Los Angeles on Tuesday morning. He is accused of acting and conspiring to act as an agent of the UAE between April 2016 and April 2018, Justice Dept says in statement. The Indictment also charges Barrack with obstruction of justice and making multiple false statements during a June 20, 2019, interview with federal law enforcement agents. Barrack and other defendants “repeatedly capitalized on Barrack’s friendships and access to a candidate who was eventually elected President, high-ranking campaign and government officials, and the American media to advance the policy goals of a foreign government without disclosing their true allegiances,” said Acting Assistant Attorney General Mark Lesko. Read The DoJ's full release below...
Lawmakers Sound Alarm Over China Purchases Of US Farmland - A group of bipartisan lawmakers are sounding the alarm over foreign purchases of prime US agricultural real estate, in an effort to lessen China's influence on the US economy.Recent legislation advanced by House lawmakers warns that China's presence in the American food supply poses anational security risk, while key Senators have expressed interest in keeping American farms in American hands, according to Politico.The debate over farm ownership comes amid broader efforts by Congress and the Biden administration to curb the nation’s economic reliance on China, especially in key industries like food, semiconductors and minerals deemed crucial to the supply chain. The call for tighter limits on who owns America’s farms has come from a wide range of political leaders, from former Vice President Mike Pence to Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), after gaining momentum seeded in farm states."America cannot allow China to control our food supply," said Pence during a Wednesday speech at the Heritage Foundation in which he urged President Biden and Congress to "end all farm subsidies for land owned by foreign nationals."By the beginning of 2020, Chinese owners controlled approximately 192,000 agricultural acres in the US, worth around $1.9 billion - including land used for farming, ranching and forestry, according to the Department of Agriculture. It's a small but growing percentage of the nearly 900 million acres of total US farmland - with the USDA reporting in 2018 that China's agricultural investments have grown more than tenfold since 2009.The Communist Party has actively supported investments in foreign agriculture as part of its “One Belt One Road” economic development plans, aiming to control a greater piece of China’s food supply chain.“The current trend in the U.S. is leading us toward the creation of a Chinese-owned agricultural land monopoly,” Rep. Dan Newhouse (R-Wash.) warned during a recent House Appropriations hearing.The committee unexpectedly adopted Newhouse’s amendment to the Agriculture-FDA spending bill (H.R. 4356 (117)) that would block any new agricultural purchases by companies that are wholly or partly controlled by the Chinese government and bar Chinese-owned farms from tapping federal support programs. –Politico
China is buying up American farms. Washington wants to crack down. - The push to drain China’s influence from the U.S. economy has reached America’s farm country, as congressional lawmakers from both parties are looking at measures to crack down on foreign purchases of prime agricultural real estate. House lawmakers recently advanced legislation to that effect, warning that China’s presence in the American food system poses a national security risk. And key Senate lawmakers have already shown interest in efforts to keep American farms in American hands. The debate over farm ownership comes amid broader efforts by Congress and the Biden administration to curb the nation’s economic reliance on China, especially in key industries like food, semiconductors and minerals deemed crucial to the supply chain. The call for tighter limits on who owns America’s farms has come from a wide range of political leaders, from former Vice President Mike Pence to Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), after gaining momentum seeded in farm states. Chinese firms have expanded their presence in American agriculture over the last decade by snapping up farmland and purchasing major agribusinesses, like pork processing giant Smithfield Foods. By the start of 2020, Chinese owners controlled about 192,000 agricultural acres in the U.S., worth $1.9 billion, including land used for farming, ranching and forestry, according to the Agriculture Department. Still, that’s less than farmland owned by people from other nations like Canada and European countries, which account for millions of acres each. It’s also a small percentage of the nearly 900 million acres of total American farmland. But it’s the trend of increasing purchases and the buyers’ potential connections to the Chinese government that have lawmakers spooked. USDA reported in 2018 that China’s agricultural investments in other nations had grown more than tenfold since 2009. The Communist Party has actively supported investments in foreign agriculture as part of its “One Belt One Road” economic development plans, aiming to control a greater piece of China’s food supply chain. “The current trend in the U.S. is leading us toward the creation of a Chinese-owned agricultural land monopoly,” Rep. Dan Newhouse (R-Wash.) warned during a recent House Appropriations hearing. The committee unexpectedly adopted Newhouse’s amendment to the Agriculture-FDA spending bill (H.R. 4356 (117)) that would block any new agricultural purchases by companies that are wholly or partly controlled by the Chinese government and bar Chinese-owned farms from tapping federal support programs. That move followed a contentious debate over the potential consequences for Asian Americans if Congress adopted a provision aimed squarely at China. Rep. Grace Meng (D-N.Y.) said that if the amendment was about national security, buyers from other countries should also face similar restrictions. “It would perpetuate already rising anti-Asian hate,” Meng warned at the markup.
Top Biden officials now believe COVID lab-leak theory: report -The Biden administration took one giant step closer to admitting that the coronavirus was leaked from a Chinese lab, a theory once derided as fanciful fiction.An increasing number of senior administration officials engaged in a probe of the virus are now backing the theory that the virus could have emerged from the Wuhan Institute of Virology,according to a CNN report.Although officials still remain divided on whether the virus emerged from nature, passing from animals to humans, the acknowledgment marks a shift from the scorn that was heaped on former President Trump and a group of European scientists who first brought up the lab-leak theory during the height of the pandemic last year.The virus has infected nearly 190 million people around the world and resulted in more than 3.5 million deaths, according to statistics compiled by Johns Hopkins University. The World Health Organization’s director general also engaged in an about-face this week when he acknowledged that the virus could have leaked from a lab. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus now wants China to be “transparent, open and cooperate” and hand over the “raw data” that the WHO asked for at the beginning of the pandemic, he said.
White House blasts China's 'dangerous' rejection of coronavirus origins study -The White House on Thursday called China’s rejection of a second phase of the World Health Organization's (WHO) investigation into the origins of the coronavirus “irresponsible” and “dangerous.”“We are deeply disappointed. Their position is irresponsible and frankly dangerous,” White House press secretary Jen Psaki told reporters when asked about Beijing’s rejection of the investigation, which would examine the possibility the virus emerged from a laboratory.“Alongside other member states around the world, we continue to call for China to provide the needed access to data and samples and this is critical so we can understand, to prevent the next pandemic. This is about saving lives in the future, and it’s not a time to be stonewalling,” she added.Psaki reiterated the Biden administration’s support for a second phase of the investigation that is “scientific, transparent, expert-led and free from interference.”Zeng Yixin, the vice minister of China’s National Health Commission, said at a press conference earlier Thursday that China would not participate in phase two of the investigation. Zeng said he was “rather taken aback” that the study would investigate further the possibility that the virus emerged from a lab in Wuhan.“It is impossible for us to accept such an origin-tracing plan,” he said, according to The Associated Press. A WHO-led report issued in March found that COVID-19 most likely transferred from animals to humans and described the lab-leak scenario as "extremely unlikely." However, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said at the time that the United Nations health body was not ruling out any theories. The initial report was written jointly with Chinese scientists.Biden in May ordered U.S. intelligence agencies to “redouble their efforts” to come to a definitive conclusion on the disease’s origins, after new reports pointed to circumstantial evidence that it could have emerged from a lab.The U.S. has pressured China to provide more access to data and other information so that the global community can get to the bottom of the source of COVID-19, which was first discovered in Wuhan in 2019.
Half a million Chinese netizens sign joint letter to the WHO demanding a probe into the US’ Fort Detrick lab - More than half a million Chinese netizens have signed a joint letter to the WHO as of the press time on Sunday, demanding the organization conduct an investigation into the US' Fort Detrick lab, a place whose sudden shutdown is still shrouded in secrecy which has not been subject to any scrutiny from the international community. They believe a thorough probe into the US lab could prevent a future epidemic. The move came as certain Western politicians and media stirred up a new round of the smear campaign of pinpointing China as the culprit for the coronavirus origin. A group of Chinese netizens drafted the joint open letter to ask the WHO to investigate the US Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases (USAMRIID) at Fort Detrick, Maryland. They entrusted the Global Times with posting the letter on its WeChat and Weibo platforms on Saturday to solicit a public response. It has garnered half a million signatures within 24 hours. They said in the letter that to prevent the next epidemic, the WHO should pay special attention to labs that are conducting studies on dangerous virus or even on biochemical weapons. The open letter particularly noted the Fort Detrick lab, which stores the most deadly and infectious viruses in the world, including Ebola, smallpox, SARS, MERS and the novel coronavirus. The leak of any of them would cause severe danger to the world. "But this lab has a notorious record on lab security. There have been scandals of anthrax bacterium from the lab being stolen, causing poisoning to many and even death. There has been a leakage incident in the lab in the autumn of 2019 right before the outbreak of the COVID-19 epidemic, however, detailed information had been withheld by the US under excuses of national security," said the letter. The information unveiled by the US media has worried the world and some have questioned whether the novel coronavirus could be linked to the US lab.
Pentagon confirms 7 Colombians arrested in Haiti leader's killing had US training -Seven of the former Colombian servicemen arrested in connection with the July 7 assassination of the Haitian president had received U.S. military training, the Pentagon’s top spokesman confirmed Thursday. “Thus far, we’ve identified seven individuals who were former members of the Colombian military that had received some sort of ... U.S. funded and provided education and training,” press secretary John Kirby told reporters. The education and training, under either Defense Department or State Department funding and authorities, included cadet leadership development, counterdrug operations, noncommissioned officer professional development, or training in small unit leadership, human rights, emergency medical care and helicopter maintenance, Kirby said. Kirby stressed that all such training was “very common,” and nothing “leading to or encouraging of what happened in Haiti.” He added that he knows of no current plans “for us to reconsider or to change this very valuable, ethical leadership training” as a result of recent events in Haiti. The Pentagon last week confirmed that a small number of the now 26 people arrested after the assassination of Haitian President Jovenel Moïse had past U.S. military training, but did not provide further details at the time. Those arrested include 18 Colombians — at least 13 of whom are former Colombian military members — five Haitians and three U.S. citizens, according to CNN. Moïse was shot and killed early on July 7 at his private residence in a wealthy suburb outside of Port-au-Prince. His wife was injured in the attack. Details of who orchestrated and financed the killing remain largely unknown.
Ohio sent troopers, Guard to the Texas border. Nobody will say where they are or what they're doing. - Ohio Capital Journal— Apprehensions of undocumented immigrants have spiked at the border this year. But despite claims like that of Texas gubernatorial candidate Don Huffines that “our nation is being invaded,” the four in the river on Wednesday didn’t appear to be sneaking into the United States. Two were in swimsuits and two others were seen with a dog. The group appeared to be trying to escape the sweltering 93-degree heat, not the vast network of Border Patrol, National Guard troops and state troopers that Ohio and five other states have sent personnel to augment. Exactly where those visiting personnel from Ohio are stationed and just what they’re doing, however, is difficult to figure out. No Guard troops or out-of-state police were to be seen during a trip last week, and government officials won’t provide details.Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine sent 14 Highway Patrol officers to serve a two-week stint at the border at state taxpayer expense. Another 115 Ohio National Guard members are stationed there on the federal dime, with DeWine committing to send 185 more Guardsmen and women later this year.Greg Abbott, Texas’s politically embattled governor, in June joined Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey, a fellow Republican, in making a dire plea for help enforcing the law on their states’ southern borders.“Given the staggering number of violations now occurring in Texas and Arizona, additional manpower is needed from any state that can spare it,” they wrote to other governors. “With your help, we can apprehend more of these perpetrators of state and federal crimes before they can cause problems in your state.”Such sweeping criminality wasn’t in evidence during a drive last week along 200 miles of the border where illegal crossings have been heaviest during this year’s surge from Central America. From Laredo to Brownsville, Texas state troopers were only a light presence along the road and troopers from Ohio, Iowa and Nebraska weren’t seen at all.
U.S. Border Travel Restrictions Extended, Gov. Burgum Calls It "Preposterous" - — North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum calls it “preposterous”.The Biden administration is extending non-essential travel restrictions at the northern and southern borders until August 21.The administration is under fire for continuing to keep them in place more than a year into the pandemic, and after Canada announced it was reopening to vaccinated Americans on August 9. Burgum says Canada’s COVID-19 vaccination rate “has surpassed our own”.He says the Biden administration continues to stand in the way of a “long-overdue reopening of the border with our closest ally and trading partner.”
Democrat stalls Biden's border nominee - Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) is stalling President Biden’s nominee to lead Customs and Border Protection (CBP) in an effort to unearth more details about government surveillance of protesters in Portland last summer.Biden nominated Tucson, Ariz., Police Chief Chris Magnus to lead CBP in April, tapping a vocal critic of former President Trump’s immigration policies to lead the agency. While Wyden congratulated Magnus on his nomination earlier this year, his role as chair of the Senate Finance Committee, which conducts oversight of CBP, gives him a perch to push for answers amid reports the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) surveilled both protesters and journalists covering the demonstrations. “Six months into the new administration, the Department[s] of Homeland Security and Justice have failed to answer basic questions about how the Trump administration misused federal resources to stoke violence against peaceful protesters in my hometown,” Wyden said in a statement.“While it is clear that Customs and Border Protection faces pressing issues, as the senior senator from Oregon, I am unable to advance this nominee until DHS and DOJ give Oregonians some straight answers about what they were up to in Portland last year, and who was responsible,” he said.Wyden had previously sent a letter to both DHS and the Department of Justice (DOJ) seeking information about various efforts under the Trump administration as protesters were demonstrating following the death of George Floyd at the hands of Minneapolis police.
Unscripted remarks start to haunt President Biden - President Biden has been more freewheeling with his remarks in the last few weeks, leading to slip-ups the White House has had to clean up. The most recent example came Friday, when Biden accused Facebook of “killing people” because of the misinformation spread on the social media network about coronavirus vaccines. It was a striking statement that triggered a furious response from Facebook. And on Monday, it became clear Biden had gone further and been more biting than he intended. Less than three days after his initial remarks, the president reversed course, saying Facebook “isn’t killing people.” “My hope is that Facebook, instead of taking it personally — that somehow I’m saying Facebook is killing people — that they would do something about the misinformation, the outrageous information about the vaccine. That’s what I meant.” Biden’s walk-back of his original comments was the second time in recent weeks he’s been forced to backtrack from public comments that have caused a stir. It’s caused some consternation among people close to the White House and raised memories of past Biden gaffes. “A little bit cringeworthy, not going to lie,” said one major Democratic donor, who referenced former President Trump to underline the discomfort. “I think these sorts of things can be said more artfully and less Trumpy.” In the early months of the administration, Biden was scripted in his remarks, rarely straying from prepared comments and talking points. But the president has made a habit of indulging reporters’ questions after events at the White House, leading to more unscripted, unguarded moments in exchanges with the press. Those back-and-forths have led to the unforced errors that required clarifications from Biden or White House officials. During an overseas trip in early June, Biden held a press conference at NATO headquarters where he called on a predetermined list of reporters. When he took a question from an additional journalist in the room, he joked that he was “going to get in trouble with my staff.”
DOJ objects to Purdue bankruptcy settlement - The Justice Department is condemning a proposed bankruptcy settlement for OxyContin manufacturer Purdue Pharma, saying it would inappropriately shield members of the Sackler family from future opioid-related claims. In court filings late Monday, two Department of Justice (DOJ) divisions issued objections to the proposed $4.5 billion settlement. The DOJ's U.S. Trustee Program, which oversees the administration of bankruptcy cases, said the provision granting release to the Sacklers is illegal because it prevents "all persons" from future claims, even if they are not creditors or interested parties attached to the lawsuit. Separately, the acting U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York said the government has "fundamental concerns" with the plan. Even though it doesn't apply to the United States itself, the DOJ said the plan violated the "constitutional right to due process" for those with potential opioid claims. The provision in the deal sheltering members of the Sackler family, called a "third party release," has been controversial since it was first proposed, but more states in recent weeks have dropped their objections in favor of a sure payout that could help abate the opioid crisis. Acting U.S. Attorney Audrey Strauss said the "third party release" was overly broad. "To be sure, many individual creditors in the Purdue bankruptcy have agreed to give this release in exchange for the payments and other benefits they will receive under the plan, and presumably find this to be a fair deal. But many others, including states who have voted against or objected to the plan, have not agreed,” Strauss wrote. Purdue, the maker of OxyContin, filed for bankruptcy in 2019 in an attempt to settle about 3,000 lawsuits from states, tribes and other local entities related to its aggressive opioid marketing, which they argue contributed to the opioid crisis that killed nearly 500,000 people over the past 20 years. The settlement plan would shield members of the Sackler family and a long list of their associates from future opioid lawsuits. They would admit no wrongdoing, and would retain much of the fortune they made from Purdue. In return, they would give up ownership of the company and pay more than $4 billion in cash and charitable assets. But in the filing, U.S. Trustee William K. Harrington said the release was impermissible, because the Sacklers are not filing for bankruptcy, only the company is. "The principal argument ... for imposing this extraordinary relief against opioid victims is that the Sackler Family members will tie up victims in litigation for years before they will part with more of their wealth,"
Duckworth, Pressley introduce bill to provide paid family leave for those who experience miscarriage - Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.) and Rep. Ayanna Pressley (D-Mass.) introduced a bill on Tuesday that calls for employers to provide at least three days of paid leave for workers who experience a miscarriage. The bill, dubbed the Support Through Loss Act, is looking to “raise awareness about pregnancy loss and establish new paid leave benefits for workers experiencing painful challenges while seeking to grow their family," according to a press release. Specifically, the legislation aims to invest $45 million a year to the National Institutes of Health for federal research into miscarriages and pregnancy loss, and require that the Department of Health and Human Services, including the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), develop and spread public information regarding pregnancy loss, such as statistics on the matter and treatment options. The bill also proposes a minimum of three days of paid leave for workers “to process and cope following a pregnancy loss, an unsuccessful assisted reproductive technology procedure, a failed adoption arrangement, a failed surrogacy arrangement, or a medical diagnosis or event that impacts pregnancy or fertility.” According to the CDC, about one in 100 pregnancies at 20 weeks of carrying and later are affected by stillbirth. Roughly 24,000 babies are stillborn in the U.S. per year. The lawmakers wrote that while pregnancy loss is “an experience shared across communities and background,” it can sometimes feel like an “isolating experience” because of the lack of truthful information. “Pregnancy loss should be met with care, compassion and support. It is a common experience, but many struggle in silence due to the lack of awareness and cultural stigma,” Pressley said.
Private Equity Now Buying Up Primary Care Practices --As if we did not have enough issues with the commercial healthcare insurance industry attempting to supplant single payer Medicare (minus setting hospital budgets, doctor fees, and pharmaceutical costs to the consumer) and the VA with commercial healthcare insurance and/or Medicare Advantage and ACOs? Commercial Healthcare Insurance and Medicare Advantage are “not” the equivalent of Medicare or the VA healthcare models.Some advocates are actively promoting the replacement of Medicare with commercial Medicare Advantage which does not bode well for the healthy, the elderly, and also those with pre-existing conditions. In the end, it will be more costly healthcare to the nation and individuals. Fix the healthcare issues and move onward with single payer to cut costs.But . . . the latest threat to healthcare are private equity companies entering the market and buying up medical practices. When the PPACA was passed, within the new healthcare law was a concept called the Accountable Care Organization or ACO as they are mostly know as. The organizational concept were created with good intentions and meant to provide better care patients more efficiently and less costly. Even before the PPACA came into being many hospitals were increasing their prices as I wrotehere, here, and here.With the consolidation of healthcare under the ACO concept has come a greater concentration of care as ACOs have bought up other hospitals (and closed some), clinics, specialist groups, and well as testing facilities. The HHI (measures competition) has increased to an ~5000 in areas of the countries and the cost of healthcare has increased as a result.Both MedPage Today and Modern Healthcare are sounding the alarm on a new threat to healthcare due to multiple acquisitions taking place in 2021.ModernHealthcare: “Physician practice acquisitions see ‘staggering’ spending uptick in Q2”Compared to 2nd quarter 2020, investors spent 10 times as much time buying-up physician practices . . .From Modern Healthcare, Solic Capital Management tallied a total transaction value of $126.1 billion in the three months ended June 30, 2021. It characterized the 2021 venture investments as a “staggering” increase over the $12.9 billion during the same period in 2020. Huge deals in the long-term care, hospital, and e-health sectors drove up spending in the recently ended quarter.
Harris says she's talking with GOP senators about voting rights - Vice President Harris said on Tuesday that she has been speaking with GOP senators and other Republican leaders about voting legislation. Speaking to CBS News, Harris said there is "no bright line" between who she speaks to about voting rights laws, adding that it is a "partisan issue" and "should be approached that way." "I have spoken to Republican senators — both elected Republicans and Republican leaders," Harris said when asked if she has spoken to members of the GOP about the "For the People Act," which has been blocked in the Senate. Harris told CBS that despite this setback, the S.1 bill continues to be a "key piece of what we need to do to fight for the right to vote." Frustrations have boiled over in Congress over the setbacks, with some progressive lawmakers calling for the filibuster to be done away with. Harris declined to support filibuster reform during her interview with CBS, instead saying that "there is a national imperative to pass the voting rights legislation, and that is the test of our time." "Any changes to the filibuster is going to require all Senate Democrats to support those changes," she added, appearing to reference Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.), who has been a staunch opponent to getting rid of the filibuster. Harris recently met with a group of Democratic state lawmakers from Texas, who are in Washington, D.C., to prevent the passing of a state bill that would add more limitations to voter access. Harris told CBS that she will also be meeting with Native American and Alaskan native leaders for discussions on voting rights.
House passes host of bills to strengthen cybersecurity in wake of attacks The House on Tuesday approved five bipartisan measures designed to enhance various aspects of the nation’s cybersecurity following recent major cyberattacks. The cyber-related package passed in a 319-105 vote. It included measures to fund cybersecurity at the state and local level, bolster reporting requirements and test critical infrastructure. One bill, the State and Local Cybersecurity Act, would establish a grant program to provide $500 million annually to state and local governments over the next five years for cybersecurity needs. Rep. Yvette Clarke (D-N.Y.), chair of the House Homeland Security Committee’s cyber panel, is the lead sponsor of that bill. Also included in the package was the Cybersecurity Vulnerability Remediation Act, which would improve the reporting of cybersecurity vulnerabilities. The bill, primarily sponsored by Rep. Sheila Jackson-Lee (D-Texas), was previously passed by the House in 2019, but failed to get a vote in the Senate. A third bipartisan bill, sponsored by Rep. Elissa Slotkin (D-Mich.), would require the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), an agency within the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), to establish a program to test critical infrastructure readiness against cyberattacks. Another bill previously approved by the House in the last Congress was also passed Tuesday. The bipartisan Cyber Sense Act, spearheaded by Reps. Bob Latta (R-Ohio) and Jerry McNerney (D-Calif.), would require the secretary of Energy to establish a program to test the cybersecurity of products intended to be used in the bulk power system. House Homeland Security Committee Chairman John Katko (R-N.Y.), sponsor of the final bill passed Tuesday — the DHS Industrial Control Systems Capabilities Enhancement Act — applauded the chamber's efforts to prioritize cybersecurity. This bill would enhance partnership between CISA and cyber stakeholders to strengthen critical systems. “As I’ve said from day one, we must continue bolstering CISA’s authorities to defend our federal networks and the nation’s critical infrastructure from cyber threats,” Katko said in a statement. “Already this year, the nation has confronted numerous major attempts to compromise federal and private sector networks.”
NPR's Brilliant Self-Own by Matt Taibbi -- Yesterday’s NPR article, “Outrage As A Business Model: How Ben Shapiro Is Using Facebook To Build An Empire,” is among the more unintentionally funny efforts at media criticism in recent times.The piece is about Ben Shapiro, but one doesn’t have to have ever followed Shapiro, or even once read the Daily Wire, to get the joke. The essence of NPR’s complaint is that a conservative media figure not only “has more followers than The Washington Post” but outperforms mainstream outlets in the digital arena, a fact that, “experts worry,” may be “furthering polarization” in America. NPR refers to polarizing media as if they’re making an anthropological discovery of a new and alien phenomenon. The piece goes on to note that “other conservative outlets such as The Blaze, BreitbartNews and The Western Journal” that “publish aggregated and opinion content” have also “generally been more successful… than legacy news outlets over the past year, according to NPR's analysis.” In other words, they’re doing better than us.Is the complaint that Shapiro peddles misinformation? No: “The articles The Daily Wire publishes don't normally include falsehoods.” Are they worried about the stoking of Trumpism, or belief that the 2020 election was stolen? No, because Shapiro “publicly denounced the alt-right and other people in Trump's orbit,” as well as “the conspiracy theory that Trump is the rightful winner of the 2020 election.” Are they mad that the site is opinion disguised as news? No, because, “publicly the site does not purport to be a traditional news source.”The main complaint, instead, is that: By only covering specific stories that bolster the conservative agenda (such as… polarizing ones about race and sexuality issues)… readers still come away from The Daily Wire's content with the impression that Republican politicians can do little wrong and cancel culture is among the nation's greatest threats.NPR has not run a piece critical of Democrats since Christ was a boy. Moreover, much like the New York Times editorial page (but somehow worse), the public news leader’s monomaniacal focus on “race and sexuality issues” has become an industry in-joke. For at least a year especially, listening to NPR has been like being pinned in wrestling beyond the three-count. Everything is about race or gender, and you can’t make it stop.
Feds crack down on brothers behind 45 million illegal robocalls -Three New Jersey brothers will pay $1.6 million to settle charges of instigating more than 45 million illegal robocalls nationwide, including to tens of millions of Americans on the Federal Trade Commission's Do Not Call Registry, the agency announced on Friday.The siblings also agreed to a permanent ban on telemarketing and will hand over a residential property to resolve the agency's allegations, made in a complaint filed by Department of Justice on behalf of the FTC. According to the FTC's suit, Joseph, Sean and Raymond Carney initiated more than 45 million illegal telemarketing calls to people across the U.S. between January 2018 and March 2019 to pitch a line of septic tank cleaning products. Most of the calls, or 31 million, were placed to numbers on the FTC's registry of people who don't want to receive marketing calls.Telemarketers working on behalf of the brothers falsely told consumers they were calling from an environmental company to offer free information on their septic tank cleaning products, the complaint charges. Instead, people staying on the call allegedly got a sales pitch. People who bought the products and had outstanding balances were falsely told they would be referred to an attorney or collection agency, according to the government. "The defendants continued to call consumers despite the consumers having told the defendants to stop calling and to place the consumers' telephone number on the defendants' internal do not call list," the complaint states.
House passes bill to revive FTC authority to recover money for consumers - The House passed a bill Tuesday largely along party lines that aims to revive the Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC) authority to return money to constituents harmed by companies found to engage in deceptive practices. The Consumer Protection and Recovery Act passed with widespread support from Democrats. Republicans opposed to the bill argued on the floor before that the legislation was incomplete at the time of the vote. House Energy and Commerce Chairman Frank Pallone (D-N.J.) said before the vote, however that the bill introduced by Rep. Tony Cárdenas (D-Calif.) "is not ideological — this is practical,” and urged his colleagues to support it. “Today the House took decisive action to restore the FTC’s authority to help return money to consumers and businesses that have been defrauded by scammers," Pallone and Consumer Protection and Commerce subcommittee Chair Jan Schakowsky (D-Ill) said in a joint statement. The passage of the bill comes after the Supreme Court unanimously ruled earlier this year that the agency did not have authority under a provision known as Section 13(b) to obtain equitable monetary relief. FTC Commissioner Rebecca Kelly Slaughter, who served as acting chair of the agency before Chair Lina Khan was approved to the agency and named chair, had urged lawmakers to revive the agency’s authority. Slaughter testified before a House Energy and Commerce subcommittee in April that the Supreme Court’s decisions had “significantly limited” the agency’s “primary and most effective tool for providing refunds to harmed consumers.” The Biden administration issued a statement in support of the House bill Monday.
Eagle Bancorp in settlement talks with SEC, Fed as CFO faces penalty - The Securities and Exchange Commission has sent a notice to Eagle Bancorp Chief Financial Officer Charles Levingston signaling that it is planning to bring enforcement actions against him.The so-called Wells notice comes as the $11 billion-asset Bethesda, Maryland, company is nearing a settlement with the SEC and the Federal Reserve to resolve investigations first disclosed two years ago into the company’s ties to former District of Columbia Councilman Jack Evans.Evans was accused of several ethics violations in 2019, in part for his dealings with Eagle Bancorp and its former CEO and co-founder Ron Paul. Evans was allegedly hired as a consultant by the bank and pushed local legislation that would move the district’s funds into local banks like Eagle, while he owned shares in the company.
Jamie Dimon Pays Himself Eight-Figure Bonus For Agreeing To Stay On As CEO -We now know the real purpose behind that media-manufactured 'groundswell' of support for JP Morgan CEO Jamie Dimon to run for president.The longtime JPM CEO just received a "special award" in the form of an options package worth 1.5MM shares for agreeing to stay on at the helm of the bank - the bank which is not only the CEO, but also chairman of the board - for a "significant number of years," according to the FT.The news probably came as a disappointment to two of the bank's highest-ranking female executives, Marianne Lake (one of its most visible executives) and Jennifer Piepszack, who helped the megabank earn a round of accolades from progressives after the bank signaled that one of them would likely be tapped to succeed Dimon when the time comes for his retirement following a reshuffle leaving them in control of the bank's sprawling consumer business. Or if he has another heart attack (or cancer flare-up, God forbid). Per the FT, the board i awarding Dimon the options in the form of "stock appreciation rights" that he can exercise at Tuesday's average price of $148.73, allowing him to make a profit if the bank's stock rises above that level in the coming years. Megabank shares have risen substantially so far this year, though the outlook for bank performance is constrained by the Fed's ultra-loose monetary policy. However, he won't be able to exercise them any time soon: JPM's internal models project that the options will yield a profit of about $49MM for Dimon after a 10-year vesting schedule.A provision of the award allows the bank to claw back shares in the future should Dimon reneg on his end of the deal.
After JPMorgan Chase Admits to Its 4th and 5th Felony Charge, Its Board Gives a $50 Million Bonus to Its CEO, Jamie Dimon By Pam Martens - The unthinkable is happening with alarming regularity at the Frankenbank JPMorgan Chase. Over the last seven years, with Chairman and CEO Jamie Dimon at the helm, JPMorgan Chase has managed to do what no other federally-insured American bank has managed to do in the history of banking in the United States. The bank has admitted to five separate felony counts brought by the U.S. Department of Justice, while regulators took no action to remove the Board of Directors or Jamie Dimon.Now, once again, the outrageous hubris of this Board is on display. Just last fall the bank forked over $920 million of shareholders money to settle its fourth and fifth felony counts brought by the Department of Justice, this time for rigging the precious metals and U.S. Treasury market. Now, in the dog days of summer, rarely a time for bonuses on Wall Street, the JPMorgan Chase board announced on July 20 that it is giving Dimon 1.5 million stock options which, according to a specialist cited at Bloomberg News, have a total value of $50 million on paper.In its filing with the SEC, the Board wrote this about the 1.5 million stock option award to Dimon: “This special award reflects the Board’s desire for Mr. Dimon to continue to lead the Firm for a further significant number of years. In making the special award, the Board considered the importance of Mr. Dimon’s continuing, long-term stewardship of the Firm, leadership continuity, and management succession planning amidst a highly competitive landscape for executive leadership talent.” Translation: No one else wants to run a mega bank with a rap sheet like ours.Here’s the sneaky way that the Board gave Dimon a $50 million bonus. According to the SEC filing, the exercise price of the options is “equal to the average of the high and low prices of JPMorgan Chase & Co. common stock on July 20, 2021” – the date of the award. As luck would have it for Dimon, the stock traded in a wide range that day, with a low of $146.33 and a high of $151.12, providing an average exercise price of $148.73 – a very low exercise price for a stock that has traded in the $160s this year. Dimon would get the difference between what he pays to exercise the option (the exercise price) and what it’s trading at when he decides to sell the stock. Dimon cannot exercise the options for five years, at the earliest, but with the Board also rubber stamping Dimon’s ability to prop up the bank’s share price by using shareholders’ money to buy back tens of billions of dollars in stock each year, it’s a win, win situation for Dimon. It also doesn’t hurt that federal regulators insanely allow these mega banks on Wall Street to trade their own stock in their own dark pools.
How a more hands-on OCC chief could change bank supervision - — The interim chief of the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency is not only unwinding rules from the Trump era, but is also restoring an organization structure meant to put him more in the driver's seat on bank supervision.Earlier this month, acting Comptroller Michael Hsu said the agency’s major bank supervision divisions willreport directly to his office, rather than through a chief operating officer. The agency's COO position is being eliminated.The change is somewhat a return to normal for the OCC, which until the Trump administration never had a COO. The position was created by former Comptroller Joseph Otting, a former banking executive who sought to run the OCC like a business bycutting the agency’s costs anddelegating some authority to lieutenants, including over bank supervision.
NCUA tries to meet credit unions halfway on capital rules -The National Credit Union Administration board has approved a proposed rule to allow “complex” credit unions to opt out of its controversial risk-based capital requirements if they maintain a minimum net-worth ratio.The board by a 3-0 vote issued a notice of proposed rulemaking that would establish the “complex credit union leverage ratio.” Under the measure, credit unions with at least $500 million of assets meeting a leverage ratio of at least 9% can avoid burdensome risk-based standards that go into effect next year. Officials compared the plan to a similar measure implemented by bank regulators last year. That provides community banks with an off-ramp from complicated risk-based capital requirements if they meet a minimum leverage ratio.
These Charts Challenge the Status Quo Thinking on the Stock Market – Pam Martens - The only time that tens of millions of Americans typically hear anything about the stock market on the evening news is when the S&P 500 Index sets a new high. That’s been happening a lot this year. .But beneath the surface of that cheerful sound bite, major deterioration in the underpinnings of the market has been taking place. For example, recently there have been more stocks on the New York Stock Exchange setting 3-month lows than setting three-month highs. The same is true for the Nasdaq stock market and dramatically so for the smaller companies that trade Over-the-Counter (OTC). These measurements gauge the “breadth of the market.” When new lows consistently trounce new highs, it can be a forewarning of a looming market correction.Then there is the problem with the Dow Theory breaking down. Based on that theory, any long-term uptrend in the overall market requires that both the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the Dow Jones Transportation Average set new highs within a reasonable period of time of each other to confirm the upward trend. The thinking goes that if industrials are doing well, then the companies that ship those industrial products, the transports, should also be doing well. But as the chart above indicates, since May 10, the bottom has been falling out of the transports as the Dow Jones Industrial Average experienced little damage.Next up is the yield on the bellwether 10-year U.S. Treasury note. While the financial media has been in a tizzy over the threat of inflation coming from an overheating economy, the yield on the 10-Year Treasury note has been behaving like a recession is just around the corner. Since April 1, the yield on the 10-year U.S. Treasury note has declined from 1.70 percent to a yield of 1.2 percent.Unfortunately, we can’t tell if that heretofore bellwether on the U.S. economy is still an accurate barometer because the Fed has completely distorted the normal functioning of this market. James Grant calls what the Fed is doing “administered rates.” We agree. The confusion over just where the yield should be on the 10-Year U.S. Treasury note stems from the fact that the Federal Reserve continues to buy up approximately $80 billion each month in Treasury bills, notes and bonds. The Fed uses the quaint expression for this process as “Quantitative Easing” or QE. In reality, the Fed is providing artificial demand for these Treasury securities that wouldn’t otherwise be there, and thus driving down the yield. On top of that artificial demand, the Federal Reserve, via the privately-owned New York Fed, is simultaneously engaging in reverse repurchase agreements (reverse repos or RRPs) with the trading houses on Wall Street (primary dealers) and other financial institutions. The chart below, based on RRP data from the St. Louis Fed, shows the unprecedented scale of these RRP operations. In simple terms, what the Federal Reserve has been doing since its $29 trillion Wall Street bailout program that ran secretly from 2007 through at least July of 2010, is to flood Wall Street with bailout money and then, after the fact, attempt to figure out how to deal with the bubbles and market dislocations these bailouts create. For the past 13 years it’s been like watching a mad scientist perform radical experiments on a financial system controlled by Frankenbanks, the Wall Street behemoths that were insanely allowed by Congress to merge federally-insured deposits with high-risk speculative trading via the repeal of the Glass-Steagall Act in 1999.
Quelle Surprise! New Study Confirms that Public Pension Funds Use Flattering Benchmarks to Hide Failure to Beat Simple Indexing; CalPERS Is a Case Study by Yves Smith -Given how much is at stake for both the beneficiaries themselves and the various governmental bodies that fund public pensions, one would think transparent and forthright accounting for returns would be of paramount importance. But instead, public pension funds engage in all sorts of fudging, including to justify staff’s existence. Just like active fund managers, with very few exceptions, public pension fund investment offices do not generate enough in improved performance over simple public market index strategies to justify their existences.A new paper by Richard Ennis, embedded at the end of this post, Cost, Performance, and Benchmark Bias of Public Pension Funds in the United States: An Unflattering Portrait documents widespread underperformance. While that may not be news to many of you, Ennis also shows that public pension funds mask this sorry state of affairs by employing special “custom” benchmarks, the rationale being that these measures allegedly better measure staff performance. The wee problem is the terrible incentives. The very same outside hired guns who create those benchmarks are also the people who helped devise the investment strategies in the first place. So they need to make their cooking look good. And they also know that making their clients look good is key to having their contracts renewed. The not-surprising result is pervasive camouflaging of lagging results.For instance, recall that we publicized years ago that one group out of Stanford developed a five Vanguard fund strategy that beat the performance of 90% of public pension funds. And institutional investors like these giant retirement funds can presumably buy index fund products at even lower fee levels than Vanguard’s retail products. In other words, nearly all public pension funds would come out ahead if they fired their investment staffs, save a few people to buy the best index products.Ennis’ latest paper is if anything more damning than it appears. He used the data from 24 state-level public pension funds. It was only 24 due to the need to have everyone use the same fiscal year end (June 30) and report performance net of costs (Ennis said 1/3 fell short on that criterion). These state funds will generally be larger and more professionally managed than smaller pension funds, particularly police and fire pension funds. In other words, the level of underperformance is certain to increase if smaller funds were included. It’s also a reasonable suspicion that bigger funds that did not report returns net of fees felt the need to exaggerate their performance.You can see Ennis’ conclusions in data form below. Negative excess returns means the funds would have done b etter with simple-minded indexing.
Warren: CFPB should take a closer look at overdraft fees, crypto -— Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren is widely perceived as the architect of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and she used the occasion of the agency's 10th anniversary to call for more robust oversight of cryptocurrency and banks' overdraft practices. “There are so many areas still where the bureau can make a difference,” the Democratic senator said during a virtual event held by several groups, including Americans for Financial Reform, U.S. Public Interest Research Group and the Center for Responsible Lending, acknowledging the CFPB's anniversary. “Even in the face of...opposition from politicians and from industry, the agency survived [the Trump administration] and stayed strong, in part because it is built right," Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., said of the CFPB. “I think one of them is overdraft fees,” Warren said. “This is an area where there's a lot of predatory behavior by giant banks that make billions of dollars in profits and squeeze every last penny out of customers who are struggling.”
Where will CFPB come down on buy now/pay later loans? Providers of buy now/pay later options may have breathed a sigh of relief over a recent Consumer Financial Protection Bureau advisory, but analysts warn the agency's tepid warning could be a prelude to tougher regulation.A CFPB blog post earlier this month did not criticize buy now/pay later but recommended consumers assess their finances before using it. The agency also said using BNPL does not strengthen credit scores and in some cases can negatively impact a consumer's credit history. Some observers suggested the CFPB's benign statement was trying to signal that the agency believes that BNPL — which is increasingly being offered by mainstream payments providers — can be useful to certain consumers. Apple Pay most recently announced a partnership last week with Goldman Sachs offering consumers the choice of paying off purchases in four interest-free payments over several months.
Regulators hit reset on CRA reform, commit to joint rulemaking - — Federal bank regulators committed to rescinding the Trump-era reform of the Community Reinvestment Act, announcing a second attempt at an interagency rulemaking to modernize the anti-redlining law.The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency announced on Tuesday that the agency would unwind the CRA overhaul spearheaded by former Comptroller Joseph Otting. The OCC finalized the rule last year and partially implemented the framework despite a lack of support from the other regulatory agencies.The widely anticipated move under acting Comptroller Michael Hsu marks a new chapter in what has been, up to now, a deeply contentious process that began almost three years ago. Banks and other stakeholders had urged the OCC to rescind its unilateral rule and resume talks over an interagency approach.
Republicans hammer HUD chief over sluggish rental aid -Housing and Urban Development Secretary Marcia Fudge took heat Tuesday from Republicans over the meager portion of rental aid distributed to tenants and landlords with less than two weeks until a federal eviction ban expires. Fudge appeared before the House Financial Services Committee for what was scheduled to be testimony on the Biden administration’s plans to expand affordable housing. But Democrats and Republicans spent most of the hearing sparring over Fudge’s role in the dismal pace of rental aid distribution and why Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen had not joined her before the committee. Congress approved a total of $46 billion in rental aid between two coronavirus relief bills passed under former President Trump and President Biden. Administered by both the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and the Treasury Department, the program is intended to ensure millions of tenants have enough funds to cover rent and utilities accrued while they were protected from eviction. While the program has distributed all of that money to state and local grantees, only $1.5 billion made it to tenants, landlords and utility companies as of May, according to data released by the Treasury Department last week. “This is the poster child for why hardworking taxpayers are so critical of big government, bureaucratic programs like this,” said Rep. Andy Barr (R-Ky.). The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is also unlikely to extend its eviction ban past July 31, leaving millions facing eviction and deep debt without sorely needed federal aid. “If we don’t get those resources flowing, there’s going to be a bunch of folks in a terrible jam come sunrise on Aug. 1,” said Rep. Frank Lucas (R-Okla.). More than 4.7 million Americans are not current on their housing payments and expect to be evicted or foreclosed on within two months, according to a survey conducted by the Census Bureau between June 23 and July 5. Roughly 8 million also said they don’t expect to make their next housing payment on time, boosting the pressure on the Biden administration to get rental aid out.
Bank regulators to propose rewrite of anti-redlining rules - The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) on Tuesday announced it will scrap a May 2020 rewrite of anti-redlining regulations and work with the Federal Reserve and Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. (FDIC) on a replacement rule. The agency said in a statement that it will propose rescinding regulations issued under a Trump-appointed chief last year meant to modernize how banks comply with the Community Reinvestment Act (CRA). The OCC will instead team up on a new rewrite with the Fed and FDIC, which also enforce the CRA, after both declined to back the agency’s May rule. “To ensure fairness in the face of persistent and rising inequality and changes in banking, the CRA must be strengthened and modernized,” said Acting Comptroller Michael Hsu, an appointee of President Biden. “While the OCC deserves credit for taking action to modernize the CRA through the adoption of the 2020 rule, upon review I believe it was a false start. This is why we will propose rescinding it and facilitating an orderly transition to a new rule.” The CRA is a 1977 law intended to ensure banks adequately serve low-to-moderate income and majority-minority neighborhoods. Those communities were often overlooked or outright ignored by banks for decades, deepening racial wealth inequality and financial barriers among the most economically vulnerable Americans. Under the CRA, banks that fail to lend sufficiently and operate within underserved communities can face regulatory penalties that include a ban on potential mergers and acquisitions. While lawmakers and advocates broadly agree that those standards need to be updated, there is fierce debate over how exactly that should happen. The OCC last year released an updated version of CRA regulations under Comptroller of the Currency Joseph Otting, a former banker who frequently sparred with Democrats, just one day before his resignation. But neither the Fed nor FDIC agreed to adopt those rules, which were also fiercely criticized by Democrats and financial sector critics. “The disproportionate impacts of the pandemic on low and moderate income communities, the comments provided on the Board’s Advanced Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, and our experience with implementation of the 2020 rule have highlighted the criticality of strengthening the CRA jointly with the [Fed] and FDIC,” Hsu said. The new version will be based off a notice of proposed rule-making released by the Fed in September 2020. "We are delighted to work together," said Fed Governor Lael Brainard in a statement, adding that the bank's framework is intended ensure the CRA "remains a strong and effective tool to address inequities in access to credit and meet the needs of low- and moderate-income communities and garners broad support."
MBA Survey: "Share of Mortgage Loans in Forbearance Decreases to 3.50%"
- Note: This is as of July 11th. From the MBA: Share of Mortgage Loans in Forbearance Decreases to 3.50%: The Mortgage Bankers Association’s (MBA) latest Forbearance and Call Volume Survey revealed that the total number of loans now in forbearance decreased by 26 basis points from 3.76% of servicers’ portfolio volume in the prior week to 3.50% as of July 11, 2021. According to MBA’s estimate, 1.75 million homeowners are in forbearance plans.The share of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac loans in forbearance decreased 8 basis points to 1.83%. Ginnie Mae loans in forbearance decreased 42 basis points to 4.36%, while the forbearance share for portfolio loans and private-label securities (PLS) decreased 61 basis points to 7.33%. The percentage of loans in forbearance for independent mortgage bank (IMB) servicers decreased 19 basis points to 3.68%, and the percentage of loans in forbearance for depository servicers decreased 36 basis points to 3.62%. “Forbearance exits edged up again last week and new forbearance requests dropped to their lowest level since last March, leading to the largest weekly drop in the forbearance share since last October and the 20th consecutive week of declines,” said Mike Fratantoni, MBA’s Senior Vice President and Chief Economist. “The forbearance share decreased for every investor and servicer category.” “The latest economic data regarding the job market and consumer spending continue to show a robust pace of economic recovery, which is supporting further improvements in the forbearance numbers as more homeowners are able to resume their payments.” This graph shows the percent of portfolio in forbearance by investor type over time. Most of the increase was in late March and early April 2020, and has trended down since then.The MBA notes: "Total weekly forbearance requests as a percent of servicing portfolio volume (#) decreased relative to the prior week: from 0.04% to 0.03% – the lowest level reported since the week ending March 15, 2020."
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 July 20th. From Andy Walden at Black Knight: Forbearances Flat for Second Consecutive Week:Not much to report with this week’s snapshot of our McDash Flash daily Forbearance Tracker data, as we’ve come to expect in the mid-month period.Last week’s slight net decline of just 1,000 was matched by a 2,000 increase in the number of active forbearance plans over the past seven days, leaving volumes essentially flat for the second week in a row.As of July 20, 1.86 million borrowers remain in COVID-19 forbearance plans, making up 3.5% of all active mortgages and 2.1% of GSE, 6.2% of FHA/VA and 4.1% of Portfolio/PLS loans.What weekly improvement there was – among GSE forbearance plans (-8,000) – was more than offset by a 9,000 rise among portfolio/PLS forbearances and 1,000 additional FHA plans. All in, this puts the number of loans in active forbearance down 198,000 (-9.6%) from the same time last month. Some 230,000 plans are still scheduled to be reviewed for extension/removal in July, down from roughly 400,000 last week.Restarts remained elevated this week, while new forbearance plan volumes continue remain low. Removals held steady week to week and remain on the lower end of the spectrum – as we typically see in the middle of the month – while plan extensions hit the lowest level since late February.
MBA: Mortgage Applications Decrease in Latest Weekly Survey -From the MBA: Mortgage Applications Decrease in Latest MBA Weekly Survey: Mortgage applications decreased 4.0 percent from one week earlier, according to data from the Mortgage Bankers Association’s (MBA) Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey for the week ending July 16, 2021. The previous week’s results included an adjustment for the Fourth of July holiday.... The Refinance Index decreased 3 percent from the previous week and was 18 percent lower than the same week one year ago. The seasonally adjusted Purchase Index decreased 6 percent from one week earlier. The unadjusted Purchase Index increased 17 percent compared with the previous week and was 18 percent lower than the same week one year ago.“The 10-year Treasury yield dropped sharply last week, in part due to investors becoming more concerned about the spread of COVID variants and their impact on global economic growth. There were mixed changes in mortgage rates as a result, with the 30-year fixed rate increasing slightly to 3.11 percent after two weeks of declines. Other surveyed rates moved lower, with the 15-year fixed rate loan, used by around 20 percent of refinance borrowers, decreasing to 2.46 percent – the lowest level since January 2021,” “On a seasonally adjusted basis compared to the July 4th holiday week, mortgage applications were lower across the board, with purchase applications back to near their lowest levels since May 2020. Limited inventory and higher prices are keeping some prospective homebuyers out of the market. Refinance activity fell over the week, but because rates have stayed relatively low, the pace of applications was close to its highest level since early May 2021.”...The average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages with conforming loan balances ($548,250 or less) increased to 3.11 percent from 3.09 percent, with points increasing to 0.43 from 0.37 (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 will likely increase this coming week as rates declined. The second graph shows the MBA mortgage purchase index. According to the MBA, purchase activity is down 18% year-over-year unadjusted.Note: The year ago comparisons for the unadjusted purchase index are now difficult since purchase activity picked up in late May 2020. Note: Red is a four-week average (blue is weekly).
NAR: Existing-Home Sales Increased to 5.86 million in June -From the NAR: Existing-Home Sales Expand 1.4% in June - Existing-home sales increased in June, snapping four consecutive months of declines, according to the National Association of Realtors®. Three of the four major U.S. regions registered small month-over-month gains, while the fourth remained flat. However, all four areas notched double-digit year-over-year gains. Total existing-home sales, completed transactions that include single-family homes, townhomes, condominiums and co-ops, grew 1.4% from May to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.86 million in June. Sales climbed year-over-year, up 22.9% from a year ago (4.77 million in June 2020)....Total housing inventory at the end of June amounted to 1.25 million units, up 3.3% from May's inventory and down 18.8% from one year ago (1.54 million). Unsold inventory sits at a 2.6-month supply at the current sales pace, modestly up from May's 2.5-month supply but down from 3.9 months in June 2020.This graph shows existing home sales, on a Seasonally Adjusted Annual Rate (SAAR) basis since 1993.Sales in June (5.86 million SAAR) were up 1.4% from last month, and were 22.9% above the June 2020 sales rate. The second graph shows nationwide inventory for existing homes.According to the NAR, inventory increased to 1.25 million in June from 1.21 million in May. 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 18.8% year-over-year in June compared to June 2020.Months of supply increased to 2.6 months in June from 2.5 months in May.This was slightly below the consensus forecast.
Comments on June Existing Home Sales – McBride - 
Earlier: NAR: Existing-Home Sales Increased to 5.86 million in June. Two key points:
1) Existing home sales are still somewhat above pre-pandemic levels. Seasonally adjusted (SA) sales for May were the highest since 2006, and sales Not Seasonally Adjusted (NSA) in June 2021 were also the highest since 2006. Some of the increase over the previous eleven months was probably related to record low mortgage rates, strong second home buying, 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 18.8% 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). Lawler noted: "As I’ve noted before, the inventory measure in most publicly-released local realtor/MLS reports excludes listings with pending contracts, but that is not the case for many of the reports sent to the NAR (referred to as the “NAR Report!”), Since the middle of last Spring inventory measures excluding pending listings have fallen much more sharply than inventory measures including such listings, and this latter inventory measure understates the decline in the effective inventory of homes for sale over the last several months."
It seems likely that active inventory is down close to 40% year-over-year.Months-of-supply at 2.6 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 InventoryThis graph shows existing home sales by month for 2020 and 2021. The year-over-year comparison will be more 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 June (614,000) were 21.1% above sales in June 2020 (507,000). This was the highest sales for June, NSA, since 2006.
Housing Starts increased to 1.643 Million Annual Rate in June -- From the Census Bureau: Permits, Starts and Completions Privately‐owned housing starts in June were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1,643,000. This is 6.3 percent above the revised May estimate of 1,546,000 and is 29.1 percent above the June 2020 rate of 1,273,000. Single‐family housing starts in June were at a rate of 1,160,000; this is 6.3 percent above the revised May figure of 1,091,000. The June rate for units in buildings with five units or more was 474,000. Privately‐owned housing units authorized by building permits in June were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1,598,000. This is 5.1 percent below the revised May rate of 1,683,000, but is 23.3 percent above the June 2020 rate of 1,296,000. Single‐family authorizations in June were at a rate of 1,063,000; this is 6.3 percent below the revised May figure of 1,134,000. Authorizations of units in buildings with five units or more were at a rate of 483,000 in June.The first graph shows single and multi-family housing starts for the last several years. Multi-family starts (red, 2+ units) increased in June compared to May. Multi-family starts were up 31% year-over-year in June.Single-family starts (blue) increased in June, and were up 28% year-over-year (starts slumped at the beginning of the pandemic). The second graph shows total and single unit starts since 1968.The second graph shows the huge collapse following the housing bubble, and then the eventual recovery (but still not historically high).Total housing starts in June were above expectations, however starts in April and May were revised down.…
Housing permits continue decline in June; more challenging YoY comparisons ahead - First, a brief comment about the NBER’s declaration yesterday that the COVID recession ended in April 2020. I am not surprised at all that they chose that date. It has been clear for a year that the trough in economic activity across the board was that month (which we’ll see below as to housing, for example). Remember that a recovery starts when economic activity improves, even if that improvement is from totally awful to almost totally awful. The only thing that surprised me about the NBER announcement was that I expected them to wait for next week’s GDP report, which will probably show that Q2 set a new all time peak, surpassing Q1 2020 just before the pandemic. Housing permits, both in total (gold in the graph below) and the less volatile single family permits (red), both continued to decline in June, to the lowest level since last August. The more volatile and slightly lagging measure of housing starts (blue) increased, although they remained below their recent peak from this March and also last December:Both as to permits and starts, the level of construction activity remains higher than its pre-pandemic peak. At the same time, the decline of slightly more than 15% in permits is consistent with a slowing down of economic growth next year. Finally, here is the YoY change in mortgage rates (red)(*10 for scale), inverted so that up = economic positive, and down = economic negative, compared with total permits (blue):As I have said many times before, mortgage rates lead permits and starts. The big pandemic decline evaporated last July, so beginning next month, the YoY comparisons are going to be much more challenging. On the other hand, the renewed decline in mortgage rates in the past few weeks will at least temporarily put a floor under the decline in housing purchases.
Comments on June Housing Starts – McBride - Earlier: Housing Starts increased to 1.643 Million Annual Rate in JuneTotal housing starts in June were above expectations, however starts in April and May were revised down. Single family starts increased in June, and were up 28% year-over-year. Starts declined at the beginning of the pandemic, and then increased due to strong demand.The volatile multi-family sector is up 31% year-over-year. The housing starts report showed total starts were up 6.3% in June compared to the previous month, and total starts were up 29.1% year-over-year compared to June 2020.Low mortgage rates, limited existing home inventory, and favorable demographics have given a boost to single family housing starts.The first graph shows the month to month comparison for total starts between 2020 (blue) and 2021 (red). Starts were up 29.1% in June compared to June 2020. The year-over-year comparison will be more difficult starting in July. In 2020, starts were off to a strong start before the pandemic, and with low interest rates, and little competing existing home inventory, starts finished 2020 strong. Starts were solid in the first half of 2021.Below is an update to the graph comparing multi-family starts and completions. Since it usually takes over a year on average to complete a multi-family project, there is a lag between multi-family starts and completions. Completions are important because that is new supply added to the market, and starts are important because that is future new supply (units under construction is also important for employment).These graphs use a 12 month rolling total for NSA starts and completions.The blue line is for multifamily starts and the red line is for multifamily completions.
The rolling 12 month total for starts (blue line) increased steadily for several years following the great recession - then mostly moved sideways. Completions (red line) had lagged behind starts, but have caught up again.The last graph shows single family starts and completions. It usually only takes about 6 months between starting a single family home and completion - so the lines are much closer. The blue line is for single family starts and the red line is for single family completions. Single family starts are getting back to more normal levels, but I still expect some further increases in single family starts and completions on a rolling 12 month basis - especially given the low level of existing home inventory.
NAHB: Builder Confidence Declined to 80 in July
- The National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) reported the housing market index (HMI) was at 80, down from 81 in June. Any number above 50 indicates that more builders view sales conditions as good than poor. From the NAHB: Builder Confidence Edges Lower as Material Challenges Persist Strong buyer demand helped to offset supply-side challenges relating to building materials, regulation and labor as builder confidence in the market for newly built single-family homes inched down one point to 80 in July, according to the NAHB/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index (HMI) released today. “Builders continue to grapple with elevated building material prices and supply shortages, particularly the price of oriented strand board, which has skyrocketed more than 500 percent above its January 2020 level,” said NAHB Chairman Chuck Fowke. “We are grateful that the White House heeded our urgent plea to hold a building materials meeting with interested stakeholders on July 16 to seek solutions to end production bottlenecks that have harmed housing affordability.”“Builders are contending with shortages of building materials, buildable lots and skilled labor as well as a challenging regulatory environment. This is putting upward pressure on home prices and sidelining many prospective home buyers even as demand remains strong in a low-inventory environment,” ...The three major HMI indices were mixed in June. The HMI index gauging current sales conditions fell one point to 86, the component measuring traffic of prospective buyers dropped six points to 65 and the gauge charting sales expectations in the next six months posted a two-point gain to 81.Looking at the three-month moving averages for regional HMI scores, the Northeast fell four points to 75, the Midwest moved one-point lower to 71 and the West posted a two-point decline to 87. The South held steady at 85.. This graph show the NAHB index since Jan 1985.This was below the consensus forecast, but still a very strong reading - and lumber prices have continued to decline.
NMHC: July Apartment Market Tightness Index Highest on Record - 
The National Multifamily Housing Council (NMHC) released their July report: July Apartment Market Conditions Showed Improvement Across All Metrics Apartment market conditions showed continued improvement in the National Multifamily Housing Council’s Quarterly Survey of Apartment Market Conditions for July 2021. For the first time since October 2015, the Market Tightness (96), Sales Volume (79), Equity Financing (69), and Debt Financing (71) indexes all came in above the breakeven level (50).“We are witnessing strong, broad-based demand for apartments as the U.S. economy continues to recover,” noted NMHC Chief Economist Mark Obrinsky. “Many U.S. gateway metros, which were among those hardest hit during the coronavirus pandemic, have now seen their occupancy rates return to near-pre-pandemic levels. Meanwhile, rent growth remains particularly strong in a number of Sun Belt and Mountain markets.”“Nearly all (92 percent) respondents this quarter observed tighter conditions in their apartment markets, signaling that the worst of the pandemic could be behind us. Apartment sales volume is strong as well, bolstered by continued low interest rates and strong availability of equity financing.” The Market Tightness Index increased from 81 to 96 – the highest index number on record – indicating widespread agreement among respondents that market conditions have become tighter. Nearly all (92 percent) respondents reported tighter market conditions than three months prior, compared to only 1 percent who reported looser conditions. Seven percent of respondents felt that conditions were no different from last quarter. This graph shows the quarterly Apartment Tightness Index. Any reading above 50 indicates tighter conditions from the previous quarter. This indicates market conditions tightened further in July, after being especially weak during the early months of the pandemic.
CoreLogic: Single-Family Rents Up 6.6% Year Over Year in May --Housing economist Tom Lawler has been tracking this, see: Lawler: Single-Family Rent Trends. This will likely push up Owner's Equivalent Rent (OER, a key component of CPI) in the coming months. From CoreLogic: U.S. Single-Family Rents Up 6.6% Year Over Year in MayU.S. single-family rent growth increased 6.6% in May 2021, the fastest year-over-year increase since at least January 2005[1], according to the CoreLogic Single-Family Rent Index (SFRI). The May 2021 increase was nearly four times the May 2020 increase. The index measures rent changes among single-family rental homes, including condominiums, using a repeat-rent analysis to measure the same rental properties over time. An uneven U.S. job recovery, sometimes called a “K-shaped” recovery, is reflected in the rent price growth of the low- and high-price rent tiers, with the increase in lower-priced rentals lagging behind that of higher-priced rentals. The low-price tier is defined as properties with rent prices less than 75% of the regional median, and the high-price tier is defined as properties with rent prices greater than 125% of a region’s median rent (Figure 1). Rent prices for the low-price tier, increased 4.6% year over year in May 2021, up from 2.7% in May 2020. Meanwhile, high-price rentals increased 7.9% in May 2021, up from a gain of 1.3% in May 2020. This was the fastest increase in low-price rents since January 2017, and the fastest increase in high-price rentals in the history of the SFRI. Differences in rent growth by property type emerged after the pandemic as renters sought out standalone properties in lower density areas (Figure 2). The detached property type tier is defined as properties with a free-standing residential building, and the attached property type tier is defined as a single-family dwelling that is attached to other single-family dwellings, which includes duplexes, triplexes, quadplexes, townhouses, row-houses, condos and co-ops. As demand for more space and outdoor amenities remains, detached rentals in particular are experiencing accelerated growth with a 9.2% year-over-year increase in May, compared to growth of 3.6% annually for attached rentals.
“Rising Rents Threaten to Prop Up Inflation” - Menzie Chinn - That’s the title of a NYT article today.If rents continue to take off, it could be bad news both for those seeking housing and for the nation’s inflation outlook. Rental costs play an outsize role in the Consumer Price Index, so a meaningful rise in them could help keep that closely watched government price gauge, which has picked up sharply, higher for longer. The CPI for shelter has risen more slowly than the CPI less shelter, so the thesis of the article must be that — as transitory upward pressure on goods and services ex-shelter dissipates, CPI-shelter has risen more than previously anticipated. And is expected to be more persistent than previously anticipated — reasonable given what seems to be strong wages and high demand. First, what have each of the indices done since 2020M02. Figure 1: CPI-shelter (blue), CPI-less shelter (brown), CPI-all urban (bold black), CPI-all nowcast for July (gray +), all in logs, 2020M02=0. NBER defined recession dates shaded gray. Source: BLS via FRED,Cleveland Fed, NBER, and author’s calculations.Since the NBER peak in 2020M02, CPI less shelter has risen 5.8%, vs. 2.9% for the CPI shelter component. Month-on-month CPI-less shelter inflation has consistently outpaced CPI shelter component in recent months. The Cleveland Fed nowcast of CPI has substantial deceleration marked for July.Figure 2: Month-on-month annualized inflation for CPI-shelter (blue), CPI-less shelter (brown), CPI-all urban (bold black), CPI-all Cleveland Fed nowcast (gray +), all calculated using log differences. NBER defined recession dates shaded gray. Source: BLS via FRED, Cleveland Fed, NBER, and author’s calculations. from 1986-2019, the persistence of m/m CPI-shelter inflation was less than that of CPI-less shelter (as measured by the AR(1) coefficient), so the assumption of a transitory jump in shelter costs made sense. However, the special conditions surrounding the pandemic means that one wouldn’t want to rely on this historical pattern to hold.The NYT article cites statistics from Zillow (in particular, the smoothed, not seasonally adjusted, series*). I’m not sure how useful the Zillow series will be for predicting the CPI rent component. Figure 3 plots the m/m growth rates of the Zillow series (seasonally adjusted) and the CPI rent of primary residence component.
Hotels: Occupancy Rate Down 9% Compared to Same Week in 2019m 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 8.7% compared to the same week in 2019. From CoStar: STR: Weekly US Hotel Occupancy Reaches Pre-Pandemic Level While ADR Drops Slightly: U.S. weekly hotel occupancy reached its highest level since October 2019, according to STR‘s latest data through July 17.July 11-17, 2021 (percentage change from comparable week in 2019*):
• Occupancy: 71.0% (-8.7%)
• Average daily rate (ADR): US$139.19 (+1.8%)
• Revenue per available room (RevPAR): US$98.87 (-7.1%)
Despite a four-point, week-over-week improvement in occupancy, ADR dipped slightly from the all-time high achieved the previous week.
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 well above the horrible 2009 levels and weekend occupancy (leisure) has been solid.With solid leisure travel, the Summer months should have decent occupancy - but it is uncertain what will happen in the Fall with business travel. In another recent article, a CoStar analyst points out "Leisure Demand Continues To Do the Heavy Lifting for Industry".
AIA: "Architecture Billings Index robust growth continues" in June - Note: This index is a leading indicator primarily for new Commercial Real Estate (CRE) investment.From the AIA: Architecture Billings Index robust growth continues: Architecture firms reported increasing demand for design services in June according to a new report today from The American Institute of Architects (AIA). AIA’s Architecture Billings Index (ABI) score for June remained at an elevated level of 57.1 in June (any score above 50 indicates an increase in billings). During June, the new design contracts score also remained positive at 58.9 but was not quite as strong as the 63.2 reading in May. New project inquiries logged another near-record high score at 71.8, compared to 69.2 in May.“With the current pace of billings growth near the highest levels ever seen in the history of the index, we’re expecting a sharp upturn in nonresidential building activity later this year and into 2022,” said AIA Chief Economist Kermit Baker, Hon. AIA, PhD. “However, as is often the case when market conditions make a sudden reversal, concerns are growing about architecture firms not being able to find enough workers to meet the higher workloads. Nearly six in 10 firms report that they are having problems filling open architectural staff positions.”...
• Regional averages: Midwest (62.0); West (59.7); South (57.3); Northeast (53.2)
• Sector index breakdown: commercial/industrial (61.0); multi-family residential (57.9); institutional (57.3); mixed practice (56.4) This graph shows the Architecture Billings Index since 1996. The index was at 57.1 in June, down from 58.5 in May. 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 five 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.
July Vehicle Sales Forecast: "Sales to Continue Free-Fall" -From WardsAuto: July U.S. Light-Vehicle Sales to Continue Free-Fall from Springtime Peak (pay content) Wards notes low inventories and supply issues (mircochips) are impacting sales. This graph shows actual sales from the BEA (Blue), and Wards forecast for July (Red). The Wards forecast of 14.8 million SAAR, would be down about 4% from last month, and up 1% from a year ago (sales were recovering in June 2020 from the depths of the pandemic).
Internet outage that took down some major websites seems to be fixed -Several major websites briefly went down Thursday in a widespread outage linked to content distribution network Akamai. By about 12:50 p.m. ET, Akamai said it fixed the issue and the service seemed to be back to normal. The company later said on Twitter that the issue was caused by a software update that triggered a bug. It confirmed the incident was not a result of a cyber attack on its platform. Akamai said the disruption lasted for "up to an hour" and apologized for the inconvenience. Akamai, whose operation helps data move around the internet, said on its website earlier Thursday that it was investigating "an emerging issue with the Edge DNS service." Oracle had also pointed to Akamai as the source of the issue, which impacted some Oracle cloud properties, but it said resources within its own cloud service were not affected. The Domain Name System is like a phone book for websites. The technology figures out the right IP addresses to use when people try to go to individual websites. The Edge DNS service from Akamai takes care of this work for apps and websites and protects against distributed denial-of service, or DDoS, attacks. Delta Air Lines, British Airways, Capital One, Go Daddy, Vanguard, UPS, LastPass, AT&T and Costco were among the websites loading slowly or showing "DNS failure" Thursday afternoon. The outage caused some real-world disruptions. For example, Delta customers could not use the airline's website or app to check into flights until Akamai fixed the problem.
Internet Outage That Crashed Dozens Of Websites Caused By Software Update : A widespread internet outage caused several major websites to shut down Thursday afternoon, including Amazon, Delta, Capital One and Costco. Akamai, a content distribution network that helps with the spread of data around the internet, posted on Twitter that a software configuration update caused a bug in its DNS system. A DNS, or domain name service, helps match a website's name to its IP address. If the DNS fails, it becomes impossible to search and connect to a website by name. The outage lasted approximately one hour. Akamai says it rolled back the software configuration update. By around 1:13 p.m. ET, the site read "all systems operational." When reached by NPR, Akamai said, "We have implemented a fix for this issue, and based on current observations, the service is resuming normal operations." Akamai also confirmed that the outage was not due to a cyber attack. A similar widespread outage occurred in June when another content delivery network, Fastly, experienced a software bug. Websites like CNN, The New York Times, Twitch and Reddit were down for nearly an hour.The outages, while temporary, are raising concerns about the number of websites that rely on just a few content delivery networks like Fastly and Akamai, creating a more fragile internet ecosystem.
Passport backlog threatens to upend travel plans for millions of Americans - Millions of Americans hoping to renew their passports and travel abroad this summer could see their plans dashed by a massive backlog caused by staffing shortages at the State Department. The delays are compounding frustrations for would-be travelers looking to take vacations or visit loved ones who are barred from entering the U.S. because of ongoing restrictions tied to the coronavirus pandemic. Congressional staff say their offices are being inundated with complaints and pleas from constituents over the wait time for passports. The State Department said in a briefing Wednesday that processing could take up to 18 weeks. Lawmakers are now getting involved. The top members of the House Foreign Affairs Committee sent a letter to Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Monday calling for the State Department to “prioritize efforts to reduce processing time for passport applications.” “As more and more employees are able to safely return to work, and with demand for passports surging, it is critical that the Department use all available tools to reduce extended processing times, including strategies developed to address past passport backlogs,” wrote Reps. Gregory Meeks (D-N.Y.) and Michael McCaul (R-Texas), the chairman and ranking member of the committee. The delays largely stem from the State Department’s reduced in-person workforce that resulted from COVID-19 restrictions. The backlog now numbers as many as 2 million passport applications, for new ones and renewals, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Passport Services Rachel Arndt told reporters in a briefing Wednesday. “That is somewhat higher than what we would normally expect to see,” Arndt said, adding that application volume grew alongside vaccination rates in the U.S. Much of the processing has to be done with staff physically present in the office, said Arndt, adding that the State Department is bringing back more than 150 employees to help deal with the workload and will continue to increase that number. “They are not processing remotely or from home,” she said. “So we’re maintaining very high standards of security and privacy protection for the customers, and we’re securing their sensitive documents like their birth certificates and naturalization certificates in our offices. And, of course, the physical printing and mailing of the passport books and cards occurs from our facility.”
Summer travelers crowd U.S. airports despite coronavirus concerns. -More travelers passed through U.S. airports on Sunday than at any time since the start of the pandemic, federal data show, suggesting that the desire to get away this summer remains strong in the face of discouraging coronavirus news.About 2.2 million people passed through security checkpoints at airports in the United States, nearly three times as many as the same day a year ago, according to data from the Transportation Security Administration. That was still half a million short of the same day in 2019, before the pandemic, and about 300,000 short of July 21, 2019, which was also a late-July Sunday.The number of travelers continues to grow even though reported coronavirus infections are rising, particularly in areas with low rates of vaccination.The number of domestic travelers is growing even though there are fewer flights for them to take. U.S. airlines are expected to operate about 615,000 domestic flights this month, down more than 14 percent from July 2019, according to an analysis of flight schedules from Cirium, an aviation data provider.The number of passengers on domestic flights has climbed for months as vaccinations have risen and the numbers of cases, hospitalizations and deaths have declined.The number of air travelers on July 1 and 2 — just before Independence Day — was actually greater in 2021 than in 2019, T.S.A. data showed. (The T.S.A. noted that more people traveled over the entire holiday weekend in 2019.)
Eye-poking flight attendants and eye-popping fines for airplane mayhem - In undisclosed locations near airports around the country this month, flight attendants are receiving training in aggressive self defense moves that are specially designed for close-quarters. Flight attendants learn the double-ear slap, the eye-poke, and the groin-kick. They learn tricks to swiftly disarm passengers with sharp weapons, and how to use items readily available aboard a plane for defense.The moves are designed to de-escalate and quickly subdue passengers because in the words of former trainer Scott Armstrong, "you don't want to get into a long, drawn-out fight."This is, as they say, not a drill. Just last week, the training was famously put to good use, when a female passenger on an American Airlines flight to North Carolina attacked and bit several flight attendants and tried to open the plane's door mid-flight. Resourceful flight attendants grabbed a roll of duct-tape, and the woman arrived at her destination, subdued and bound tightly to her chair. It might not have been standard protocol but it was effective and American Airlines later applauded its crew. It's not just your imagination; there really has been an extraordinary amount of mayhem in the skies recently. The FAA has received 3,420 "unruly passenger" reports in 2021, and 3,000 weapons have been seized at airports.
State Department to Americans: Don't Fly to UK Due to COVID-19 - The US State Department has urged Americans not to travel to the United Kingdom because of a surge in coronavirus cases there. "Do not travel to the United Kingdom due to COVID-19," the agency wrote in an updated advisory posted Monday. COVID-19 cases in the UK continue to rise, with nearly 40,000 new infections reported on Monday. Despite the recent surge in cases, the UK government lifted most of its COVID-19 restrictions. The State Department raised the travel advisory for the UK to a Level 4 — "Do Not Travel" — after the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention elevated its warnings for travel there. The CDC "has issued a Level 4 Travel Health Notice for the United Kingdom due to COVID-19, indicating a very high level of COVID-19 in the country," the State Department said in its advisory. In a warning issued earlier Monday, the CDC told Americans to "avoid travel to the United Kingdom." "If you must travel to the United Kingdom, make sure you are fully vaccinated before travel," the CDC said, adding, "Because of the current situation in the United Kingdom, even fully vaccinated travelers may be at risk for getting and spreading COVID-19 variants."
Kansas City Fed Survey: Activity Strengthens in July - The latest index came in at 30, up 3 from last month's 27, indicating expansion in July. The future outlook decreased to 33 his month from 37. 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 increased further, with solid expectations for future activity over the next six months (Chart 1, Tables 1 & 2). The index of prices paid for raw materials remained near record highs and the index of prices received for finished goods expanded again in July. Price indexes vs. a year ago posted record highs in July for the fourth straight month. In July, more district firms expected materials prices and finished goods prices to rise over the next six months. [Full report here] Here is a snapshot of the complete Kansas City Fed Manufacturing Survey.
Weekly Initial Unemployment Claims increase to 419,000 - 
The DOL reported: In the week ending July 17, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 419,000, an increase of 51,000 from the previous week's revised level. The previous week's level was revised up by 8,000 from 360,000 to 368,000. The 4-week moving average was 385,250, an increase of 750 from the previous week's revised average. The previous week's average was revised up by 2,000 from 382,500 to 384,500. This does not include the 96,362 initial claims for Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) that was down from 100,590 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 385,250. The previous week was revised up. Regular state continued claims decreased to 3,236,000 (SA) from 3,265,000 (SA) the previous week. Note: There are an additional 5,133,938 receiving Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) that decreased from 5,687,188 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 4,134,716 receiving Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation (PEUC) down from 4,710,359. Weekly claims were higher than the consensus forecast.
New jobless claims rise sharply; is the Delta wave beginning to take its economic toll? - New jobless claims are the most important weekly economic datapoint with regard to the effects of vaccination progress. At this point, it is also a test of how much the “delta wave” of new cases is setting economic progress back. Three weeks I wrote that, because progress in vaccinations had largely stalled, “that implies at least a stall in the decline in new claims, and - I actually suspect - an increase, perhaps to about 450,000 per week or so.” This week’s number may just be noise, or may be evidence such an increase. New jobless claims rose by 51,000 to 419,000, the highest number in 9 weeks. The 4 week average of claims also rose - slightly - by 750 to 385,2500. Here is the trend since last August:After trending down by roughly 100,000 per month from late February into May, as vaccinations increased quickly, the rate slowed sharply ever since, to a decline of less than 20,000 in the past 6 weeks in the 4 week average.On the other hand, continuing claims, which are reported with a one week lag, and lag the trend of initial claims typically by a few weeks to several months, have declined gradually about 15% from roughly 3,800,000 over the past 4 months, did set another new pandemic low today at 3,236,000:
Some of this decline *may* be due to many States’ termination of all extended jobless benefits due to the pandemic.A long term perspective shows that this week’s level is similar to early during other recoveries from most previous recessions, versus at 2,000,000 or below later in strong expansions: My ultimate target for economic success from vaccinations has been for claims to average 325,000 or below. But with the Delta variant surging, and new COVID cases rapidly increasing to near last summer’s highs, I suspect that both employers and potential customers will become more cautious again. I remain skeptical that there will be a full return to employment until the disease has run its course.
The Pace of Employment Growth in States Cutting UI Benefits by Menzie Chinn - Is slower than for those that didn’t. From Steve Englander/Standard Charter Bank: Source: Englander, “US – Benefit cuts not linked to job gains so far,” Global Research/Standard Charter Bank, 16 July 2021. From the newsletter:We found evidence that cutting or eliminating federal COVID-linked benefits reduced the numbers receiving benefits (see UI recipients drop in states cutting benefits), but June Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) state employment data do not indicate that the states that cut or had impending benefit cuts had higher employment gains (Figure 1). The first round of states cutting benefits (Alaska, Iowa, Mississippi, Missouri) clearly lagged other states. The eight states that reduced benefits a week later also lagged, but by a smaller margin.…We see this as a modest disappointment for those who expected to see a big, immediate impact from benefit reductions, but the conclusion is very tentative because of the survey dates. July state data should be more definitive on this score.A more detailed examination, confirming little evidence of any effect, is provided by Arindrajit Dube in thisblogpost: So what has been the impact so far on the labor market? How have the policy changes impacted the number of people receiving UI benefits? And have these policy changes boosted jobs in those states so far? Here I use recent data from the Household Pulse Survey (HPS) collected by the Census Bureau to assess the short term impacts of the June expiration. Specifically, the HPS asks whether the respondent received UI in the last 7 days, which allows us to assess the impact of the policy expiration on recipiency. In addition, the HPS also asks whether the respondent is currently working, which allows us to evaluate the employment impacts. The most recent data goes through July 5, 2021.…Overall, the mid-June expirations of pandemic UI seem to have sharply reduced the share of population receiving any unemployment benefits. But this doesn’t seem to have translated into most of these individuals having jobs in the first 2-3 weeks following expiration. However, there is evidence that the reduced UI benefits increased self-reported hardship in paying for regular expenses. Of course, this evidence is still early, and more data is needed to paint a fuller picture.
Judge rules against Maryland’s threat to end extended pandemic benefits - On Tuesday, July 13, a Baltimore Circuit Court judge issued a preliminary injunction preventing Maryland Republican Governor Larry Hogan from cutting off supplemental enhanced federal unemployment benefits under the CARES Act, with the program allowed to continue until September 6, when the national program is terminated. Hogan's original order, issued June 1, announced that benefits would be cut off effective July 3. Hogan cited the state’s achievement of the 70 percent vaccination benchmark set by Democratic President Joe Biden as well as an abundance of vaccines and job openings in the state. In addition, the governor cited 12 consecutive months of job growth. The court ruling was the result of over two weeks of court battles and appeals by Hogan’s administration after two lawsuits filed June 30 opposed the order cutting off enhanced benefits. The six plaintiffs in the D.A. v. Hogan suit alleged that each of them had received some combination of pandemic assistance. All six had lost work due to the pandemic and had been unable to find new work. The suit also claimed that, for five of the six plaintiffs, their benefits would terminate if an injunction was not issued. Six more plaintiffs in Harp v. Hogan asserted claims for themselves and on behalf of other similarly-situated claimants. Two of the six plaintiffs were receiving enhanced unemployment benefits. Two others alleged that they lost work because of the pandemic and had never received their benefits due to errors in the administration of the benefit programs. The other two received benefits at one point, but were cut off due to those same errors. Baltimore City Circuit Court Associate Judge Lawrence Fletcher-Hill issued a temporary restraining order on July 3 and set up the hearing that took place on July 12, citing the “cruelly uneven” impact of the pandemic. Hogan's appeals to both the Court of Special Appeals and the Maryland Court of Appeals were denied. Even if the Circuit Court had ruled in favor of Hogan, the state would have had to extend benefits into mid-August due to a US Department of Labor ruling that a state must give 30 days’ notice before it can end federal benefits. “Hogan is going to all this trouble just to try to cut people off from their benefits a few weeks early,” Maryland House of Representatives Majority Leader Eric Luedtke (D-Montgomery County) told the Washington Post last week.
Volvo Group announces $1.1 billion second-quarter profits, after telling Virginia workers it could not afford wage and benefit improvements - On Tuesday, Sweden-based Volvo Group announced strong profits of over a billion dollars for the second quarter of the year. The earnings report comes shortly after the conclusion of a five-week-long strike at the conglomerate’s New River Valley heavy trucks plant in southwestern Virginia. Last week, the company, with crucial assistance provided by the United Auto Workers union, imposed a six-year contract that substantially raises workers’ health care costs and keeps wage increases for many below inflation, among other concessions. While the aim of Volvo and the UAW has been to crush opposition through the shutdown of the strike and enforcement of the contract, workers have returned to the plant in an angry and defiant mood, telling the World Socialist Web Site that production has proceeded only haltingly since Monday. In its earning statement, Volvo reported roughly $1.12 billion (9.7 billion Swedish kronor) in adjusted operating income, a key measure of corporate profit, for April through June. Combined with its first-quarter earnings, the company took in approximately $2.5 billion in profits for the first six months of the year. The company also reported a second-quarter operating margin of 10.7 percent, near the upper end for the automotive manufacturing industry, albeit down from the first quarter’s high of 12.6 percent. Although Volvo’s operating income for the quarter grew sizably compared to the amount for the same period last year, nearly tripling, it narrowly missed financial analysts’ projections of 9.84 billion Swedish kronor, sending Volvo’s share price down 2.9 percent for the day. The response by analysts at some giant banking firms was nevertheless still favorable, with a research note by JP Morgan stating, “Volvo printed a good set of results, slightly below street estimates.” Revenue also grew substantially, with net sales for the quarter of approximately $10.4 billion, a rise of 43 percent from the same period last year, when taking into account Volvo’s sale of Japan-based UD Trucks. But despite the growth in sales and profit compared to the second quarter of 2020, which was during the still-early stages of the pandemic and widespread economic disruption, the figures remained down in relation to two years ago, when Volvo reported roughly $13.9 billion in sales and $1.7 billion in adjusted operating income.
Many return-to-office plans are being disrupted by the virus surge. - When companies began announcing tentative return-to-office plans this spring, there was a sense of optimism behind the messages.In recent days, that tone has suddenly shifted. The Delta variant, a more contagious version of the coronavirus, is sweeping through the country. Less than half of Americans are fully vaccinated, exacerbating the situation. It all adds up to a difficult calculation for America’s business leaders, who hoped the country would already be fully on a path to normalcy, with employees getting back to offices. Instead, individual companies are now being forced to make tough decisions that they had hoped could be avoided, such as whether to reverse reopening plans or institute vaccine mandates for employees. All the while, they continue to grapple with the unpredictable nature of the pandemic.“It’s emotionally draining on all of us, and it drives the top management teams crazy,” said Bob Sutton, a psychology professor at Stanford University who studies leadership and organizations. He said some executives he had advised were “pulling their hair out” over what to do.Several hospital systems that previously held off making vaccines mandatory for health care workers are now willing to do so. Google employees in California who have returned to the office on a voluntary basis are again wearing masks indoors.Goldman Sachs is considering whether to reinstitute testing for fully vaccinated employees in the company’s New York City offices, according to a person familiar with the situation who spoke on condition of anonymity because nothing had been decided. And on Monday, Apple told its work force that it would push back its return-to-office date from September to October.For employers wary of the legal ramifications and political backlash of mandating a vaccine, the tide has begun to turn, if ever so sightly. “At the beginning, there were a lot of employers that were concerned about jumping in too soon and being the one out front — it is a divisive issue,” said David Barron, a labor and employment lawyer at the law firm Cozen O’Connor. “The calculus starts to shift a little bit when you see another spike.”
N.Y.C.’s mayor calls for companies to require shots, as national debate over vaccine mandates picks up. - Mayor Bill de Blasio urged on Friday that New York City’s private businesses require their workers to get vaccinated against the coronavirus and signaled that he would introduce similar measures for hundreds of thousands of municipal employees.The mayor’s comments came just days after he announced that all employees in the public hospital system would have to either receive a virus vaccine or submit to weekly testing.The highly contagious Delta variant has fueled outbreaks among the unvaccinated across the United States and in recent days many local governments and private organizations have been grappling with whether to put vaccination mandates in place. Several organizations — including various hospital systems, schools, thecity of San Francisco and professional football — have taken steps to require vaccinations.The mayor’s new position reflected growing concern that New York, like much of the United States, is on the verge of another wave of the pandemic. In just a few weeks, case counts in the city have tripled, to more than 650 a day on average, while inoculation rates have leveled off.“If people want freedom, if people want jobs, if people want to live again, we have got to get more people vaccinated,” Mr. de Blasio said on Friday during a weekly radio appearance on WNYC. “And obviously it’s time for whatever mandates we can achieve.”Although nearly five million New York City residents have received at least one dose of vaccine, the speed at which new shots are being administered has slowed. Nationally, 57 percent of Americans have gotten at least one vaccine dose; 49 percent are fully vaccinated.New York City officials have tried everything from mobile vaccination sites to in-home vaccination visits to offering incentives like cash and movie tickets, but they have yet to see a significant rise in inoculations.Even vaccinations among employees of many city agencies — including the Police Department, the Fire Department and the public schools — have remained below the citywide rate of full vaccination among adults, 65 percent. “We have reached the limits of purely voluntary,” Mr. de Blasio said on Friday. “It’s time for more mandates.”
DeSantis vows no lockdowns as Florida Covid cases surge— Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis on Thursday pledged that there would be no mask mandates in schools or Covid-related lockdowns this fall even as the virus surges in the state and across the nation. Florida has seen its cases explode in July, primarily among the unvaccinated, and hospitals are grappling with a wave of new admissions that have forced some major hospitals across the state to bring back visitation limits and cut back on elective surgeries. More than 8,000 people in Florida tested positive for coronavirus on Wednesday, and even the state’s attorney general announced this week that she has Covid despite being fully vaccinated. Yet the Republican governor insisted that Florida would have a “normal school year” and that the state would resist any campaigns or push by federal authorities to put in place mask mandates for school children. The American Academy of Pediatricians earlier this week recommended that all students two or older and school staff wear masks. “We’re not doing that in Florida. Ok? We need our kids to breathe,” said DeSantis during a press conference in Fort Pierce to acknowledge the signing of a bill that creates a statewide book distribution program. “Is it really healthy for them to be muzzled and having their breathing obstructed all day long in school? I don’t think it is.” DeSantis comments marked yet another round in his confrontational stance against federal health authorities. The Republican governor, who is eyeing a 2024 presidential bid, has repeatedly touted his hands-off approach to Covid-19 that went against some of the recommendations of health authorities, but resulted in businesses remaining open and the state keeping down its mortality rate among its senior citizens, particularly in nursing homes. More than 38,000 Floridians have died since the start of the pandemic.
Federal judge blocks Arkansas law banning almost all abortions - A federal judge on Tuesday issued a preliminary injunction blocking a recently passed Arkansas law that would have barred nearly all abortions in the state.U.S. District Judge Kristine Baker wrote the ban was “categorically unconstitutional” as it bans abortions before a fetus would be considered viable.She concluded that the plaintiffs in this case had standing to challenge the law in terms of how it affected "pre-viability abortions," and that they are "likely to succeed on the merits" of their argument.The Arkansas abortion law would only allow abortions to be performed to save the life of the mother and would not make exceptions for cases of rape or incest. "Defendants make no argument as to whether or not plaintiffs or plaintiffs’ patients will experience irreparable harm," Baker wrote. “Since the record at this stage of the proceedings indicates that women seeking abortions in Arkansas face an imminent threat to their constitutional rights, the Court concludes that they will suffer irreparable harm without injunctive relief."
Five-year-old dies of COVID-19 in Georgia as Biden administration pushes to fully open schools --On Friday, Wyatt Gary Gibson died from COVID-19 at Erlanger Hospital in Chattanooga, Tennessee, after a short battle with the virus. He was just 5 years old. Wyatt was the son of Alexis Gibson and her husband Wes Gibson, a deputy with the Whitfield County Sheriff’s Office, and brother to a 9-month-old sister. Local reports indicate that the entire Gibson family contracted COVID-19. However, Wyatt was the only member of the family that experienced complications, including a stroke. Tragically, the young boy was admitted to the hospital with “COVID pneumonia” early in the week and died just a few days after. As with all too many families, the Gibsons are now experiencing the worst nightmare of any parent. Wyatt is the fourth child under age 10 who has died of COVID-19 in Georgia alone, according to the official tally from the Georgia Department of Public Health (GDPH). The three other child deaths in the state include a 7-year-old boy from Chatham County, a 7-year-old girl from Clayton County, and a 1-year-old boy from Cobb County. As in many countries throughout the world, the United States is experiencing a major new upsurge of the COVID-19 pandemic. Over the past month alone, daily cases have increased by a staggering 250 percent. The increase in cases has driven a rise in hospitalizations and a significant increase in the daily death rate. The main source of the rise in cases is coming from the new Delta variant of COVID-19, the most infectious and deadliest variant of the virus that the world has seen so far. The increase in cases is mostly affecting the unvaccinated population. In the US, less than half of the population is fully vaccinated, including all children under 12 for whom no vaccines have yet been approved.
More than 1.5 million children have lost a caregiver to the pandemic, a study says. -An estimated 1.5 million children worldwide lost a mother, father or other caregiving relative in the first 14 months of the pandemic, according to a new study. More than a million lost primary caregivers. “These unnamed children are the tragic overlooked consequence of the millions of pandemic dead,” the researchers wrote in the study, which was published in the medical journal The Lancet on Tuesday.Many more children will experience such losses as the virus rages in many countries, the researchers predict, and the bereaved are likely to be at risk for an array of further traumas that may include mental health problems, abuse, chronic diseases and poverty.The estimates were developed using death statistics and other data for 21 countries that accounted for more than 76 percent of global Covid deaths up to April 30, 2021. The international research team was led by a member of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and included experts from international agencies, including the World Health Organization and Imperial College London. The deaths of grandparents represent a powerful blow to many children. “In the U.S.A., 40 percent of grandparents living with grandchildren serve as their primary caregivers; in the U.K., 40 percent of grandparents provide regular care for grandchildren,” the researchers wrote. In a separate online report linked to the study, the researchers warned that with the pandemic far from over and vaccinations yet to reach much of the global population, the deaths of caregivers were likely to keep mounting, with “severe consequences lasting at least through the age of 18 years for children affected.” “The impact of these parental and caregiver deaths differs across families, communities and nations,” the researchers wrote. “Yet, there is one commonality: A child’s life often falls apart when he or she loses a parent or grandparent caregiver.”
Public charter schools group blasts proposed Democratic cut -The leading national advocacy group for charter schools is condemning a provision included in House Democrats' education budget proposal that could put some charter schools at risk of losing federal funds.The National Alliance for Public Charter Schools this week released a petition calling on members of Congress to push back against the 2022 health, labor and education spending bill, which the House Appropriations Committee approved last week in a party-line vote. The group is specifically taking issue with a provision that states funds will not be made available to a charter school that “contracts with a for-profit entity to operate, oversee or manage the activities of the school.” The alliance said on its website that such a move would be extremely detrimental for many charter schools, which often “contract with businesses to provide students with services and supplies that they need.”“Charter school leaders would be forced to choose between accessing the federal funds their students are entitled to or working with businesses to provide the supplies and services their students need,” the group added, arguing that students of color and those from low-income communities will be especially harmed by cuts. “Apparently, Congress thinks those are things that some public school students can go without,” the alliance said. “More specifically, they think charter school students—who are more likely to be Black and Brown and come from low-income communities—can go without.” Nina Rees, the organization’s president and CEO, told CNN on Tuesday that the language could affect charter schools that contract out for cafeteria services, special education instruction and other services.
Tennessee educators oppose attacks on teachers’ free speech rights – The Tennessee Educators Rank-and-File Safety Committee opposes the legislation (HB 0580/SB 0623) passed by Tennessee’s right-wing legislature aimed at intimidating teachers and attacking their free speech and academic freedom.This legislation includes a prohibition against instruction that “promot[es] division between, or resentment of, a race, sex, religion, creed, nonviolent political affiliation, social class, or class of people.”Later, the bill nonsensically qualifies this prohibition with the claim that “this section does not prohibit” schools or instructors from making use of textbooks or instructional materials that discuss “the history of an ethnic group” or include “the impartial discussion of controversial aspects of history” or “the impartial instruction on the historical oppression of a particular group of people based on race, ethnicity, class, nationality, religion, or geographic region.”This distinction between the “promotion” of divisions and the “impartial discussion” of them seems to be intentionally vague. We cannot escape the conclusion that the legislators hope to intimidate teachers into avoiding controversial topics to avoid getting into trouble.A series of similar laws has been passed throughout the country in states with Republican-dominated legislatures. As awful as they are, these laws are only the opening shot in a broader campaign to undermine any kind of socially critical instruction in schools. Two laws recently passed in Florida go even further than the legislation in Tennessee and serve as a warning to educators everywhere.
Virginia PTA Leader Ousted After Being Caught Wishing Death On Anti-Critical Race Theory Parents --A Virginia Parent-Teacher Association (PTA) official has resigned after she was seen on video at a protest making incendiary remarks about parents who oppose critical race theory.In a statement released over the weekend, the PTA said that its “executive committee requested and received the resignation of Michelle Leete, who served as Vice President of Training.”“The actions & rhetoric of Ms. Leete & all of the like-minded partisan supporters of the SB are deeply disappointing. It evinces a deep lack of concern for children & parents, particularly where the wellbeing of children & families clash with political considerations,” a Twitter post from the organization reads.Leete was recorded at a counter-protest criticizing those who oppose critical race theory (CRT), an offshoot of the European Marxist school of critical theory, being taught inside classrooms.“Let them die,” Leete said, apparently referring to CRT’s opponents during the demonstration.The Virginia PTA’s statement also sought to distance the organization from Leete, stating that it doesn’t condone her words and noted that she wasn’t speaking in her capacity as a high-ranking member of the state’s PTA. Leete is also an executive within the Virginia NAACP.
Chicago will require masks in school this fall, regardless of vaccination status. -Chicago Public Schools will require everyone to wear masks in school buildings when the new academic year starts, regardless of their vaccination status, according to guidelines the school system released on Thursday.With the decision, Chicago joins New York City and several other large jurisdictions, including the state of California, in imposing stricter health guidelines for students and teachers than the federal government has recommended.In a letter to public school parents and children, Jose Torres, the interim chief executive of Chicago Public Schools, wrote that the rule on face covering would apply to students, staff members and visitors.“Continuing to require masks will help make sure those in our school communities who are not yet eligible for the Covid-19 vaccine, which encompasses the majority of our students, remain as safe as possible,” Mr. Torres wrote.The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued new guidance earlier this month that called for a full return to classrooms in the fall and recommended that masks be optional for fully vaccinated students and staff.But the guidance left a lot of details up to state and local governments, advising districts to use local coronavirus data to guide decisions about when to tighten or relax prevention measures like masking and physical distancing. It also recommended that unvaccinated students and staff members keep wearing masks.Chicago’s announcement came a day after the Virginia Department of Health and Department of Education said that masks should be worn indoors in public elementary schools, regardless of vaccination status. The state’s return-to-school guidelines also encourage mask-wearing indoors in middle and high schools for those who are unvaccinated. But Virginia stopped short of issuing a universal mask mandate, leaving that decision up to schools.Chicago’s decision on masks was based in part onrecommendations from the American Academy of Pediatrics,which took a more conservative approach than the C.D.C. by recommending that everyone over age 2 wear masks this fall, even if they have been vaccinated. But both the A.A.P. and the C.D.C. support a return to in-person learning.
After a Republican outcry, Tennessee redirects vaccine outreach to teenagers, shifting it to their parents -- Tennessee health officials are resuming several programs to promote vaccinations for public school students, just two weeks after such efforts were halted because Republican elected officials had complained that parents should make the decisions. The criticism of the programs had reached a fever pitch just before the firing of the state’s top immunization official, Dr. Michelle Fiscus, earlier this month. Dr. Fiscus, medical director for vaccine-preventable diseases and immunization programs, attributed her ouster to the pushback among Republican lawmakers in the state. She is one of scores of public health officials across the United States who have quit or been forced from their jobs in a political climate that has grown increasingly polarized over the coronavirus and the vaccines. On Friday, Dr. Lisa Piercey, the state health commissioner, said at a news conference that the state had temporarily suspended its outreach efforts in light of the criticism from conservatives, but officials were now trying to target messages to parents. She said the department would be taking part in several back-to-school vaccine events in partnership with schools. “There was a perception we were marketing to children and that was totally against our view of the importance of parental authority,” she said. “We strongly believe that parents are the best decision markers.”
A federal judge upholds Indiana University’s vaccination requirement for students - In what appeared to be the first ruling upholding a coronavirus vaccine mandate by a university, a federal judge affirmed on Monday that Indiana University could require that its students be vaccinated against the virus. A lawyer for eight student plaintiffs had argued that requiring the vaccine violated their right to bodily integrity and autonomy, and that the coronavirus vaccines have only emergency use authorization from the Food and Drug Administration, and should not be considered as part of the normal range of vaccinations schools require. He vowed an appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court if necessary. “What we have here is the government forcing you to do something that you strenuously object to and have your body invaded in the process,” said the lawyer, James Bopp Jr. He said that the appeal would be paid for by America’s Frontline Doctors, a conservative organization that has been pursuing an anti-vaccine agenda. Mr. Bopp, of Terre Haute, Ind., is known for his legal advocacy promoting conservative causes. Mr. Bopp filed the lawsuit in June, after Indiana University announced the previous month that faculty, staff and students would be required to get coronavirus vaccinations before coming to school this fall. The university, whose main campus is in Bloomington, Ind., said that students who did not comply would have their class registrations canceled and would be barred from campus activities. The requirement permitted exemptions only for religious objections, documented allergies to the vaccine, medical deferrals and virtual class attendance.
Prosecutors say 'incel' planned mass shooting of sorority members on Ohio college campus = A federal grand jury has levied charges against a 21-year-old self-identified “incel” who prosecutors say attempted to carry out a mass shooting on Ohio college women in sororities. The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Ohio announced Wednesday that Tres Genco of Hillsboro, Ohio, was arrested by federal agents and now faces one count of attempting to commit a hate crime, as well as one count of illegally possessing a machine gun. Prosecutors said in court documents that Genco, who was kicked out of Army Basic Training last year, said he was an “incel,” or “involuntary celibate,” referring to an online community predominantly made up of white men who “advocate violence in support of their belief that women unjustly deny them sexual or romantic attention to which they believe they are entitled.” The attorney’s office said that Genco in posts on a popular incel website detailed spraying “some foids and couples” with orange juice in a water gun, using the shortened term for “femoids,” referring to women. Genco allegedly explained that he was inspired by the actions of 22-year-old Elliot Rodger, who in May 2014 killed six people and injured 14 others, including individuals outside a University of California, Santa Barbara sorority house. According to prosecutors, Genco wrote a manifesto detailing that he wanted to “slaughter” women “out of hatred, jealousy and revenge," and law enforcement also uncovered a note in which the 21-year-old said he hoped to “aim big” and kill 3,000 people. Investigators discovered during their investigation that Genco had searched online for sororities and a university in Ohio where he could potentially carry out an attack and that in 2019, he purchased tactical gloves, a bulletproof vest, two Glock 17 magazines and a 9mm Glock 17 clip, among other supplies. The man faces life in prison if found guilty of the hate crime charge, and up to 10 years for illegal possession of the machine gun.
Former Sallie Mae CEO calls the cost of higher education 'criminal' A former CEO of the student loan lender Sallie Mae says the cost of tuition at U.S. universities is “criminal,” but acknowledges that he played a role in their rising, according to a forthcoming book. In an adaption of Wall Street Journal reporter Josh Mitchell’s “The Debt Trap,” set to be published on Aug. 3, Al Lord, who joined Sallie Mae in 1981, said that he first felt the impact of tuition costs when he started paying those of one of his grandchildren. Lord said he paid $175 a semester during the 1960s when he attended Pennsylvania State University, a stark difference to the tuition he paid for his grandson, who enrolled at the University of Miami several years ago. The college currently charges $75,230 for an undergraduate on campus, which includes tuition, fees, housing and meals, transportation and other expenses. “It’s criminal,” Lord reportedly said. He has reportedly also paid the tuition of several other grandchildren, at close to $200,000 a person. “Boy, am I sure glad we saved for my grandkids. If the average income is $40,000 or $50,000 or $60,000, I just don’t know how you do it,” Lord said. He reportedly acknowledges in the book that he understands he played a role in encouraging colleges to increase their rates. According to "The Debt Trap," after Lord started his first run as CEO for Sallie Mae in 1997, he started a series of incentives to allow students to take out more loans so that colleges could charge more. Sallie Mae started bundling packages of student loans that were then sold to investors. Additionally, Lord persuaded schools to have students borrow money from either the banks, where Sallie Mae bought its student loans, or the student lender itself, according to the book. Promises from Sallie Mae that additional money from private investors would be available for students to tap into led its stocks to subsequently soar. In 2007, when Lord took the helm again as CEO, Sallie Mae’s valuation dropped after profits that were guaranteed under its program were slashed by Congress, according to the book. “Our customer was almost every bit as much the college as it was the student,” Lord reportedly said. “It didn’t behoove me to lose 100% of the business for something that might make an iota of a difference. No one was looking to me for that kind of information.”
Inside the 'vicious cycle' of spiralling student-loan debt caused by servicers just not picking up the phone --Charles Moore, 49, was on the phone for four hours with the company that collects his student loans. Moore, who holds more than $50,000 in student debt, wanted to know why his and his wife's loans weren't consolidated, or combined, and despite many attempts to contact American Education Services, which collects his loan payments, he wasn't able to get an answer. This means they were paying two debt loads' worth of interest when they could have just been paying for one. "Nobody wants to assist you," Moore, of South Carolina, told Insider. "And you don't know how to get help. Even though you go back and forth, the lender doesn't know what the servicer is doing and the servicer doesn't know what the lender is doing."Student-loan servicers have been under close scrutiny on Capitol Hill over the past decade for practices that have put borrowers in a bind, engaging in misleading practices, with many borrowers taking out loans they can never pay back, among other things. Moore's loans, along with 8.5 million others, are owned by the Pennsylvania Higher Education Assistance Agency (PHEAA), which just announced it is shutting down its loan services in December. Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren said those borrowers can now "breathe a sigh of relief" knowing their loans won't be managed by a company that "has robbed untold numbers of public servants of debt relief." Borrowers told Insider that their debt piles continue to grow, simply because they can't reach their servicers for help. Here's what those borrowers are dealing with, and how lawmakers want to hold servicers accountable.
Warren: Canceling $50K in student debt could 'transform an entire generation' -Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) is reigniting her push for canceling $50,000 in student debt per borrower, arguing the move could “transform an entire generation.” “It would help nearly everyone who tried to go to college and it didn’t work out - the 40% of student loan borrowers who do not have a college diploma and are truly struggling hard with student loan debt and would help a huge number of public school teachers and firefighters and people who want a chance to get out there and start their own businesses,” Warren told MassLive in a recent interview. “It’s the right number, it’s where a lot of people intersect that we could transform an entire generation,” she added. The renewed push comes as Democratic lawmakers prepare for Oct. 1, when federal student loans payments and interest are slated to resume. The Trump administration enacted a pause amid the pandemic, which President Biden extended through an executive order he signed on his first day in office. Warren, along with a group of Democratic lawmakers, reintroduced a measure in February that called on Biden to forgive up to $50,000 in federally held student debt per borrower. She doubled down on that call days later, writing in a joint statement with Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.), “It’s time to act. We will keep fighting.” Biden, who said in February he is “prepared to write off” $10,000 in debt, has balked at the $50,000 figure, saying he does not believe such a move could be done with presidential action. The White House that month said the Office of Legal Counsel was reviewing if Biden could unilaterally cancel federal student loan debt. Warren said if the White House cancels $50,000 of student debt per borrower and extends the pause on payments and interest until at least March 21, 2022, student loan debt for 85 percent of Americans would be eliminated. “If they do both of those things, that will completely eliminate student loan debt for 85 percent of the people who currently carry it,” Warren told MassLive. “And for the 15 percent of people who remain, it gives the Department of Education a chance to get them into the right repayment programs.”
Almost nobody is repaying their student loans -In the 2020 CARES Act, Congress gave student-loan borrowers a temporary break from repaying their loans. President Trump extended that twice and President Biden once, with loan payments now set to resume Oct. 1, 2021.Borrowers could have kept paying if they wanted to, but almost nobody did. As Tom Lee of the American Action Forum recently explained, the portion of borrowers repaying their student loans dropped from 46% at the beginning of 2020 to 1% today. The portion of borrowers in forbearance rose from 10% to 57%. The rest include borrowers who are still in school, who have gotten deferments or who have defaulted.There’s no shame in accepting an emergency benefit the government offers during a pandemic. It’s also financially shrewd to put off repayment of a loan, as long as there’s no penalty. But the massive student-loan deferment may have set the stage for a chaotic resumption of payments this fall, or politically explosive intervention by the Biden administration that could impact upcoming elections.Some Democrats, including Senators Chuck Schumer and Elizabeth Warren, want Biden to extend the repayment deadline into 2022. Another group of Democrats wants Biden to forgive $50,000 in debt for every student-loan borrower. Biden has said he might consider canceling up to $10,000, but it’s not clear he has the legal authority to do that, and the high cost could torpedo funding for other priorities if he did. America’s $1.4 trillion in federally backed student debt has become a cultural and generational flashpoint as politicians debate what, if anything, to do about it. Liberal Democrats feel some or all of the 40 million student-loan borrowers deserve relief, since the average amount owed per borrower has exploded to nearly $37,000. The growth in average balances has far exceeded inflation or income growth. The hardest cases are students who take on debt but never get a degree or the extra earning power that comes with it.
Big 3 drug distributors, J&J reach $26 billion opioid settlement - A group of state attorneys general unveiled on Wednesday a landmark, $26 billion settlement resolving claims that the three largest U.S. drug distributors and drugmaker Johnson & Johnson helped fuel a deadly nationwide opioid epidemic. Under the settlement proposal, distributors McKesson, Cardinal Health and AmerisourceBergen are expected to pay a combined $21 billion, while Johnson & Johnson would pay $5 billion. The money from the distributors will be paid out over the next 18 years. J&J will pay over nine years, with up to $3.7 billion paid during the first three years. The distributors were accused of lax controls that allowed massive amounts of addictive painkillers to be diverted into illegal channels, devastating communities, while J&J was accused of downplaying the addiction risk in its opioid marketing. The companies have denied the allegations. The settlement also calls for the creation of an independent clearinghouse to provide all three distributors and state regulators aggregated data about where drugs are going and how often, a tool negotiators hope will help reduce pills being over shipped to communities. The ultimate amount the companies may have to pay will depend on the extent states sign up for the settlement and confirm their cities and counties are on board. The opioid crisis has been blamed for hundreds of thousands of U.S. overdose deaths since 1999, but has hit some regions much harder than others, creating divisions among governments when it comes to evaluating the settlement. At least 44 states must sign onto the deal to receive some of the money, and negotiators hope to gather more support, a person familiar with the matter said. Washington state's attorney general, Bob Ferguson, said he would not join the deal. "The settlement is, to be blunt, not nearly good enough for Washington," he said. That state's trial against the drug distributors begins on Sept. 7 and a January trial is set against Johnson & Johnson. To get the full payout, a critical mass is needed. The maximum payment requires at least 48 states, 98% of litigating local governments and 97% of the jurisdictions that have yet to sue, the person said. States will have 30 days to decide whether to sign onto the agreement. But electing to participate only guarantees a state 55% of its share of the settlement as a base amount, the person said. The other 45% is contingent on the state through legislation or agreement being able to get its political subdivisions on board and assuring the companies an end to the litigation, the source said. Local governments have up to 150 days to join.
Life expectancy in the U.S. dropped in 2020, especially for Black and Hispanic Americans.— Life expectancy in the United States fell by a year and a half in 2020, largely because of the deadly coronavirus pandemic, a federal report said on Wednesday, a staggering drop that affected Hispanic and Black Americans more severely than white people.It was the steepest decline in life expectancy in the United States since World War II.From 2019 to 2020, Hispanic people experienced the greatest drop in life expectancy — three years — and Black Americans saw a decrease of 2.9 years. White Americans experienced the smallest decline, of 1.2 years.The numbers can vary from year to year, providing only a snapshot in time of the general health of a population: If an American child was born today and lived an entire life under the conditions of 2020, that child would be expected to live 77.3 years, down from 78.8 in 2019.Racial and ethnic disparities have persisted throughout the coronavirus pandemic, a reflection of many factors, including the differences in overall health and available health care between white, Hispanic and Black people in the United States. Black and Hispanic Americans were more likely to be employed in risky, public-facing jobs during the pandemic — bus drivers, restaurant cooks, sanitation workers — rather than working from home in relative safety on their laptops in white-collar jobs.They also more commonly depend on public transportation, risking coronavirus exposure, or live in multigenerational homes and in tighter conditions that were more conducive to spreading the virus. The precipitous drop in 2020, caused largely by Covid-19, is not likely to be permanent. In 1918, the flu pandemic wiped 11.8 years from Americans’ life expectancy, and the number fully rebounded the following year. But even if deaths from Covid-19 markedly decline in 2021, the economic and social effects will linger, especially among racial groups that were disproportionately affected, researchers have noted.
Pandemic slashed US life expectancy by 1.5 years in 2020 - Life expectancy in the US plummeted by 1.5 years in 2020, according to a report released this week by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), marking the largest one-year drop since 1943, when young men were dying every day on the battlefields of World War II. The precipitous decline is a continuation and acceleration of a downward trend in US mortality since 2015. Life expectancy is defined as an estimate of the average number of years a person born in a given year may expect to live. The metric does not precisely predict actual life span, instead being a measure of a society’s general health. The drastic fall in 2020 reflects the accelerating decay of American society under the pressure of the COVID-19 pandemic, which has been allowed to run rampant under a bipartisan “herd immunity” policy, resulting in more than 35 million infections and over 625,000 deaths so far. According to the report, if an American child were born today and lived his or her entire life under the conditions of 2020, the child would be expected to live 77.3 years, down from 78.8 in 2019. Life expectancy for American males declined 1.8 years from 2019 to 2020, while life expectancy for American women dropped by 1.2 years from 2019. According to the National Center for Health Statistics, US life expectancy has not been so low since 2003. The report estimated COVID-19 deaths contributed to approximately 74 percent of the decline in life expectancy. Researchers discovered disparities among racial groups, with the virus being responsible for 90 percent of the decline in life expectancy among Latinos, 68 percent among the non-Hispanic white population and about 59 percent among the non-Hispanic black population. There was no data on Asian Americans or other racial groups in the report. According to CDC data, black Americans are hospitalized with COVID-19 at 2.9 times the rate of white Americans and die at two times the rate. Nonwhite Hispanics are hospitalized at 2.8 times the rate and die at 2.3 times the rate of white Americans. Federal data indicates life expectancy for black Americans has not fallen so much since the mid-1930s amid the Great Depression. While health officials have not recorded Hispanic life expectancy as far back, the 2020 decline was the largest recorded year-to-year drop. The report’s authors and bourgeois publications, such as the New York Times and the Washington Post, were quick to attribute the discrepancy among racial groups to “systemic racism” inherent in American society. In reality, these differences reflect the disproportionate impact the pandemic has had on the working class and poor. Minorities are more likely to be employed in jobs deemed “essential” by the ruling class and forced to expose themselves to the deadly disease. Poor workers more commonly depend on public transportation, risking exposure with every outing, or live in multigenerational homes in cramped conditions more conducive to spreading the virus. Experts say it is also possible Hispanics are disproportionately affected because many are undocumented and ineligible for federal pandemic relief or unemployment benefits. Additionally, there are obstacles related to accessing coronavirus tests, treatments and vaccines for the undocumented. The overall decline in life expectancy reflects the pandemic’s massive toll on American society and its broader impacts on social health, including a record-high number of deaths from drug overdoses and other so-called deaths of despair. In 2020, more than 93,000 Americans died from drug overdoses. This staggering figure is more than 10 times the estimated 9,000 overdose deaths recorded by the CDC in 1988, around the height of the crack epidemic.
Unvaccinated say vaccines more dangerous than COVID-19: poll - Unvaccinated individuals believe the coronavirus vaccine is more dangerous than the virus, according to a poll conducted by Yahoo News and YouGov.The poll found 37 percent of unvaccinated individuals believe the vaccines pose greater health risks than the virus while 29 percent acknowledge the coronavirus is a greater health risk than the vaccines, which studies have shown are effective in reducing cases, hospitalizations and deaths.Thirty-four percent of individuals were unsure which poses a greater threat to their health. The study highlights how misinformation about the vaccines are deeply ingrained with many Americans. Vaccine doubts have slowed vaccination rates in the United States to a crawl, and have been a major factor as the delta variant sweeps through the country, leading to a rise in cases, hospitalizations and deaths.Federal health officials have spoken of a pandemic of the unvaccinated, a worrisome development that could lead to many more deaths in the nation from the coronavirus. More than 600,000 people in the United States have already died from COVID-19.The poll found 37 percent are not getting the vaccine due to concerns about long-term side effects, 17 percent don’t trust the government, 16 percent believe the vaccine is too new, 11 percent cite that it is not fully approved by the Food and Drug Administration and 6 percent are against any sort of vaccine. The poll also showed that many unvaccinated people do not see the delta variant as a significant threat. Thirty percent of unvaccinated individuals said the Delta variant wasn’t a serious threat to anyone, while 33 percent of unvaccinated individuals said the Delta variant was a serious threat to all people. Seventeen percent said it was a threat to unvaccinated individuals. The poll was conducted between July 13 and July 15. It surveyed 1,715 U.S. adults with a margin of error of 2.7 percentage points.
New study suggests Johnson & Johnson less effective against variants - The Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine may be less effective in battling coronavirus variants than other shots, a new study suggests. The results, published by bioRxiv but not yet peer reviewed or published in a journal, suggest that the mRNA vaccines made by Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna could better protect against the delta and lambda strains than the Johnson & Johnson vaccine. The effectiveness of the vaccine in neutralizing the disease "significantly decreased" with the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, the study found.Overall, the results found the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines to be 94-95 percent effective in preventing moderate to severe cases of COVID-19, and Johnson & Johnson to be 66.9 percent effective.Nathaniel Landau, a virologist at NYU’s Grossman School of Medicine who led the study, told The New York Times the researchers don't wish to scare people off from getting the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, but say it can be supplemented with another dose of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, or with a different vaccine."The message that we wanted to give was not that people shouldn’t get the J&J vaccine, but we hope that in the future, it will be boosted with either another dose of J&J or a boost with Pfizer or Moderna," Landau said. Another expert said he believes the efficacy of Johnson & Johnson would be increased if it was spread out over two doses — a theory he says was proven through various studies. "I have always thought, and often said, that the J&J vaccine is a two-dose vaccine," John Moore, a virologist at Weill Cornell Medicine in New York, told the Times. The new study comes two weeks after Johnson & Johnson announced their vaccine was effective against the delta variant.
Why the Vaccinated Are Still at Risk From Coronavirus - With Covid-19 shots reaching billions of people, reports have grown more common of people getting infected with the coronavirus despite being vaccinated. Just as a natural infection doesn’t guarantee protection fromreinfection with the virus, neither does immunization provide a perfect shield. Still, those who have immunity -- either from vaccination or infection -- carry a fraction of the risk of those who have none. So-called breakthrough cases among the immunized are a reminder that as long as the pandemic virus is prevalent in the world, it remains a threat to everyone. First, it’s important to remember that testing positive indicates an infection with SARS-CoV-2, the coronavirus that can cause Covid-19. The disease is diagnosed only when the infection causes symptoms such as fever and cough; a significant proportion of people who become infected never develop symptoms. Although vaccines provide a strong defense against severe illness caused by SARS-CoV-2, none fully protects against the infection, meaning many vaccinated people are still at risk of catching the virus and of transmitting it to other people. The more SARS-CoV-2 is circulating in a community, the higher the chance of infection. In some instances, those infections will break through the protective shield that vaccine-induced immunity provides to cause Covid symptoms. In rare cases, the illness may be life-threatening. Another possible risk is so-calledlong Covid -- lasting fatigue, breathlessness and other symptoms seen in an estimated 1 in 10 Covid survivors; it’s unknown how well vaccines prevent these lingering problems.
Israel: Pfizer vaccine allows infection but prevents severe illness - A new study released this week from Israel’s Health Ministry found that while the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine is highly effective at preventing severe COVID-19 cases caused by the delta variant, it was much less effective than the health agency previously thought at protecting people from infection.The study, conducted from June 20 to July 17, with results released in a report Thursday, found that the two-dose Pfizer-BioNTech inoculation was roughly 88 percent effective at preventing hospitalization due to the delta variant and about 91 percent effective at protecting against severe cases.However, the Israeli health agency said that for symptomatic COVID-19 cases, the vaccine was found to offer just about 41 percent protection against the delta variant, with an overall effectiveness of 39 percent for preventing delta variant infections. The new percentage is much lower than the 64 percent effectiveness against delta variant infections that Israel reported earlier this month. The previous figure drew widespread skepticism from health experts, who argued that mRNA vaccines like the Pfizer shot have repeatedly been shown to offer strong protection against COVID-19 variants. The initial Israeli report was also challenged by a Public Health England study released Wednesday in the New England Journal of Medicine that found that the two-dose Pfizer vaccine was 88 percent effective against the delta variant. In comparison, the U.K. health agency said that the AstraZeneca vaccine was 67 percent effective at preventing infection from the delta strain. Ran Balicer, chairman of Israel’s national expert advisory team on the COVID-19 response, said in a statement along with the Thursday report that their data could have been skewed, citing the ways in which vaccinated groups of people were tested versus those who had not been vaccinated. “The heavily skewed exposure patterns in the recent outbreak in Israel, which are limited to specific population sectors and localities,” mean that some factors may not be accounted for, he said, according to Bloomberg.
A year after I contracted COVID-19, everything still smells like garbage and onions. When I completely lost my sense of taste and smell in March 2020, it was the first thing I noticed. It was a completely surreal experience, even more so because, at the time, loss of sense or smell — otherwise known as anosmia — wasn't officially recognized as a COVID-19 symptom yet. So when my nose started to pick up some aromas three months later, I was elated. Only this time, it wasn't the same and hasn't been the same since. For more than a year now, my nose has been plagued with what I like to call "COVID smell." "COVID smell" is nothing like I've ever smelled before. But when I try to describe it to friends, I explain it as the stench of garbage, raw onions, and sweaty armpits. The scientific term for this distortion of the ability to smell is parosmia, the "alteration of the sense of smell, that is usually unpleasant and caused by damage to olfactory neurons in the nerve center," according to Health.com. Living with this condition is incredibly frustrating and has had a massive impact on my everyday life. Many other sufferers have shared their own difficult experiences with parosmia caused by the virus. One woman told the New York Times she was attending therapy after her parosmia made it unbearable to kiss her husband. Another said she couldn't cook food anymore without wanting to vomit,according to the BBC. The precise number of parosmia sufferers is unknown but a study published in July 2020 found that 89% of people who suffer from smell loss due to COVID recover within four weeks, the remaining 11% report ongoing smell loss or parosmia. Another review from February 2021 found that of the 47% of COVID-19 patients who had smell and taste changes, about half reported developing parosmia.
A Round-Up of Anti-Covid Nasal Spray Research by Lambert Strether - Anybody who lived through the Studio 54 Era knows that the nose is an effective delivery system for all sorts of substances. SARS-COV-2 understand this, too, and uses the nose as a, almost certainly the, main entry point for Covid-19 infection. Journal of Clinical Investigations, “Nasal ciliated cells are primary targets for SARS-CoV-2 replication in the early stage of COVID-19” (July 1, 2021), from the Discussion:The epithelium in the upper respiratory tract is a frontline barrier in the battle against SARS-CoV-2, which is transmitted through respiratory aerosols or droplets. Our findings clearly indicate that among the variety of cells composing the upper respiratory epithelia, differentiated multiciliated cells of the nasal respiratory epithelium are the primary targets for SARS-CoV-2 infection and multiplication. SARS-CoV-2–containing respiratory aerosols or droplets from patients with COVID-19 could initially be trapped in the mucus of the nasal cavity. The receptor binding domain of SARS-CoV-2 would be exposed and bound to ACE2, which is highly abundant in the apical surface membrane in fully differentiated ciliated cells of the nasal cavity.The “graphical abstract”:I wouldn’t go so far as to say that mouth-breathers (see “human oral squamous epithelium” above) are in no danger, but it does seem clear that nasal tissue is the key “frontline barrier” — which sometimes fails. The nose knows, as Parliament Funkadelic has it.In parallel to clinical investigations, there has been quite a lot of activity in Covid nasal sprays, and so I thought I’d aggregate what I’ve been seeing into the following buckets: vaccination, treatment, and prophylaxis. (Prophylaxis is very low-tech and non-prescription, and so very attractive to me.) Except for one or two examples, none are on the market. Nor have any reached the clinical trial stage. However, development is very rapid, and to me the theory of the case — kill, treat, or defeat the virus at the front line — makes so much sense that I am conceptually long nasal sprays. Also, no icky needles! Of course, I don’t offer either investment or medical advice. So here are the buckets. Make of them what you will!
Here’s what scientists know about the Beta variant. -Formerly known as B.1.351, Beta was first detected in South Africa last year. It contains several mutations, in a protein called spike, that help the virus bind more tightly to human cells.It also contains the E484K mutation, sometimes known as the “Eek” mutation, which appears to help the virus partially evade antibodies. This mutation has emerged independently in multiple variants, including Gamma, which surfaced in Brazil, and in some samples of Alpha, which was first identified in Britain.The World Health Organization and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have both designated Beta as a “variant of concern.”Scientists and health officials became concerned about Beta because it spread quickly through South Africa and research indicated that some vaccines were less powerful against it. One of them, developed by Oxford-AstraZeneca, is the vaccine Britain has depended on most heavily.Several authorized vaccines do provide strong protection against severe disease caused by the variant, however.Some monoclonal antibody treatments are also less effectiveagainst Beta, although there are other authorized antibody treatments that appear to work well against it.Beta’s ability to bind tightly to human cells may also make it more transmissible; the C.D.C. notes that it appears to be roughly 50 percent more infectious than the original form of the virus. It does not appear to be as contagious as the Delta variant that was first detected in India. Beta has now been reported in 123 countries, but it remains far less prevalent than Delta, which the World Health Organization has said is likely to become the dominant variant globally in the coming months.
CDC director: Delta variant accounts for 83 percent of all COVID-19 cases in US - The delta variant of the novel coronavirus is now responsible for 83 percent of all sequenced COVID-19 cases in the United States, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Director Rochelle Walensky said Tuesday. That estimate is a major increase from just over two weeks ago. For cases tallied during the week of July 3, the CDC estimated the delta variant accounted for about 50 percent of new infections. Walensky told the Senate Health Committee that in some parts of the country with low vaccination rates, the percentages are even higher. Anthony Fauci, head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, noted that the delta variant could be responsible for up to 90 percent of cases in some areas. Vaccination has been uneven across states, and only about half of all eligible people nationwide are fully vaccinated. “We have the tools to end this epidemic,” Fauci said. “It’s up to us to use those tools.” Health officials have described the latest stage of the coronavirus as a "pandemic of the unvaccinated" while emphasizing that those who have had their shots are relatively safe. Walensky cited a five-month CDC study that found 99.5 percent of COVID-19 deaths are among people who are unvaccinated. Arkansas, Missouri, Florida and Louisiana are the four states with the highest per capita new cases per day, according to data from the Covid Act Now tracking site. The percentage of the population with at least one shot in those states is 44 percent, 47 percent, 56 percent and 40 percent, respectively. By contrast, Vermont and Massachusetts, where the vaccination rate is more than 70 percent, are faring much better. Fauci and Walensky also told the panel that it's still unclear when or if booster shots are needed, but clinical studies are being conducted to figure that out. "Right now we are doing studies to determine whether or not we will need boosters to increase the durability of protection," Fauci said. "We don't want people to believe that when you're talking about boosters, that means the vaccines aren't effective. They are highly effective, we are talking about the durability of that." Walensky added that she expects the immunity from vaccines to "wane not plummet," but when the agency sees waning happening, "that will be our time for action."
Delta Now Overwhelmingly Most Dominant NYC COVID Strain as New Case Average Soars 62% – The highly transmissible delta variant is now the most dominant COVID-19 strain in New York City, soaring from about a quarter of tested positive samples to more than 40% in a week as the five boroughs' rolling seven-day case average surged 62%, according to new health department data out Friday.As of Friday, the delta variant that first devastated India before spreading globally -- and is thought to be up to 60% more contagious than that first widely tracked alpha variant -- accounts for 41% of citywide samples tested in the last four weeks.That's up from 26% in the city's variant report a week ago and up from 4.9% in about six weeks, a rise reflective of a national trend that saw delta emerge as America's most dominant COVID variant last week.It took only 14 days for delta to vault from the fourth most common COVID strain in the city to the first, overtaking first the so-called New York City strain that initially emerged in Washington Heights before spreading elsewhere, B.1.526, then gamma, formerly known as the Brazilian strain, P.1 and now alpha. Scientific evidence has shown delta spreads far more easily than earlier strains of the virus and causes more severe outcomes for those infected, prompting renewed pushes at all levels of government to get people vaccinated if they haven't been.
Delta variant becomes dominant strain in Washington – KXLY — Several places across the country are seeing a rise in coronavirus cases again. The Delta variant has now become the dominant strain of the virus this month, and doctors say this can be particularly dangerous to those who are not vaccinated. The Delta variant account for about 58% of all COVID-19 cases nationwide. In Washington, it’s a much different story. While it is the dominant strain in the state, it only accounts for about 41% of all cases. The main reason? Vaccines. “This is the most contagious version of the virus we have seen throughout the whole pandemic. It’s really really contagious, so if you have significant exposure you are going to see some breakthrough infections,” said physician Dr. Ashish Jha. The Delta variant become the dominant strain of the coronavirus after making up only 3% of cases in late May. The demographic it is infecting most are younger people. According to the latest numbers released by the Washington Department of Health, almost 30% of the variant cases identified are those in the 0-19 age group, and another 30% in those ages 20-34. The vaccination rates in the state among those age groups line up closely to those case numbers, as well. “If you’re a younger person and you’re healthy, which is a good thing, that does not mean that you cannot get sick, [it] doesn’t mean that you cannot have severe disease,” said SRHD interim health officer Dr. Frank Velazquez. The good news, locally, is that only eight cases of the Delta variant have been identified in Spokane County, and as long as more people get vaccinated, those numbers should stay down.
Hospitals are increasingly mandating vaccines for their staffs. -More and more hospitals and major health systems are requiring employees to get the Covid-19 vaccine, citing rising caseloads fueled by the Delta variant and stubbornly low vaccination rates in their communities and even within their work force. They range from academic medical centers like NewYork-Presbyterian and Yale New Haven to large chains like Trinity Health.Watching cases rise prompted Trinity Health, a Catholic system with hospitals in 22 states, to become one of the first major groups to decide earlier this month that it would mandate inoculations. “We were convinced that the vaccine can save lives,” said Dr. Daniel Roth, Trinity’s chief clinical officer. “These are preventable deaths.”A large Arizona-based chain, Banner Health, announced Tuesday that it would also impose a mandate, and New York City said it would require all health care workers at city-run hospitals or clinics to be vaccinated or undergo weekly testing.Many hospitals say their efforts to immunize their employees have stalled. One recent estimate indicated that one in four hospital workers were not vaccinated by the end of May, with some facilities reporting that fewer than half of their employees had gotten the shots.At UF Health Jacksonville, in Florida, the number of Covid patients being treated has surged to levels not seen since January, and only half of its health care workers are vaccinated, said Chad Neilsen, the director of infection prevention. Seventy-five employees were out sick with the virus, the vast majority of whom were unvaccinated, while more await test results. “We are absolutely struggling for staffing right now,” he said.Some employees want more data, while others say the process has been too rushed. Many of the same conspiracy theories and misinformation — that the vaccines will make women infertile orcontain microchips — hold sway among staff members. “Our health care workers are a reflection of the general population,”
Here’s why even vaccinated people are getting ‘breakthrough’ infections. - As the Delta variant surges across the United States, reports of so-called breakthrough infections in vaccinated people have become increasingly frequent — including, most recently, when at least six Texas Democrats and an aide to Speaker Nancy Pelosi tested positive.The highly contagious variant, combined with the near absence of preventive restrictions, is fueling a rapid rise in cases in all states, and hospitalizations in nearly all of them. It now accounts for about 83 percent of infections diagnosed in the United States.But as worrying as the trend may seem, breakthrough infections in vaccinated people are still relatively uncommon, experts said, and those that cause serious illness, hospitalization or death even more so. More than 97 percent of people hospitalized for Covid-19 are unvaccinated.“The takeaway message remains, if you’re vaccinated, you are protected,” said Dr. Celine Gounder, an infectious disease specialist at Bellevue Hospital Center in New York. “You are not going to end up with severe disease, hospitalization or death.”Reports of breakthrough infections should not be taken to mean that the vaccines do not work, Dr. Anthony S. Fauci, the Biden administration’s top pandemic adviser, said on Thursday.“By no means does that mean that you’re dealing with an unsuccessful vaccine,” he said. “The success of the vaccine is based on the prevention of illness.” Still, vaccinated people can come down with infections, overwhelmingly asymptomatic to mild. That may come as a surprise to vaccinated Americans, who often assume that they are completely shielded from the virus. And breakthrough infections raise the possibility, as yet unresolved, that vaccinated people may spread the virus.
The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends universal masking in schools this fall. - The American Academy of Pediatrics issued new Covid-19 guidelines for schools on Monday, recommending that everyone over age 2 wear masks this fall, even if they have been vaccinated. Exceptions may be made for those with medical or developmental conditions that complicate mask wearing, the group said.The universal masking recommendation is a departure from theguidance issued by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention earlier this month, which recommends masking in schools only for unvaccinated people over age 2. Those guidelines heavily implied that fully vaccinated children and adults would not need to wear masks in the classroom — although they also said that individual schools were free to implement universal mask mandates.In many other ways, however, the two sets of guidelines are similar. The A.A.P., like the C.D.C., emphasized the importance of returning to in-person learning.“We need to prioritize getting children back into schools alongside their friends and their teachers — and we all play a role in making sure it happens safely,” Dr. Sonja O’Leary, the chair of the A.A.P. Council on School Health, said in a statement.Like the C.D.C., the A.A.P. recommended a “layered” approach that combines a variety of measures to reduce the risk of coronavirus transmission. In addition to universal masking, those measures include vaccination, improved ventilation, virus testing, quarantines, and cleaning and disinfection, the group said.Many students are too young to be eligible for the vaccines, which are authorized only for those ages 12 and older, the group noted. And universal masking could reduce overall transmission of the virus, helping to protect those who are unvaccinated.
Denver doctor calls for indoor mask mandates over breakthrough cases -- An emergency room doctor in Denver has called for indoor mask rules to be reimposed — saying it’s time to “change our approach” now that the Delta variant is driving outbreaks.“When a new mutation comes out that’s more transmissible, we have to change our approach to keep everyone safe, and I think that’s hard for people to sometimes stomach,” Dr. Comilla Sasson told the Denver Channel.Sasson said it was clear that the “data is changing,” with the highly contagious Delta variant now accounting in the state for around 90% of cases.“I think maybe it’s time to start thinking about putting our masks back on, especially indoors where we know that the ventilation is not necessarily all that good,” Sasson told the outlet.Across the country, around 97% of hospitalizations for the virus have been among unvaccinated people, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.But Sassoon stressed that mask rules for vaccinated people are also critical since they can also become sick with milder cases and unknowingly spread the virus.“What we’re learning now and as we’re starting to see all over the U.S. is that we’re having these breakthrough cases, which is basically people who’ve been vaccinated who have now gotten COVID-19,” Sasson said.
Biden officials: No change to masking guidance right now - The Biden administration is not issuing updated masking guidance as coronavirus cases tick up across the country, officials said Thursday, but they acknowledged there are regular conversations between the White House and public health officials about how to combat the virus amid concerns about new variants. The Washington Post reported Wednesday that top White House aides have had initial talks with Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) officials about whether they should update masking guidance to encourage vaccinated Americans to use face coverings in certain settings as the more transmissible delta variant spreads. CDC Director Rochelle Walensky on Thursday told reporters there has been no change to the agency's guidance, but that "we are always looking at the data as the data come in." "If you're in an area that has a high case rate and low rates of vaccination where delta cases are rising, you should certainly be wearing a mask if you are unvaccinated," said Walensky, who added that those who are vaccinated can make the personal choice to wear a mask if they choose. White House press secretary Jen Psaki faced multiple questions about potential changes to the administration's masking guidance during an afternoon press briefing. She emphasized any decision would be led by public health experts, but said there were no new announcements. "We are regularly in touch and have regular meetings with our public health officials, including the CDC about how to continue to address the virus," Psaki said. "That shouldn’t surprise anyone. Those conversations cover a range of topics." "I think the most important thing for the public is there hasn’t been a decision made," she added. "It will always be led with public health guidance, and they made that very clear this morning." The CDC issued guidance in May stating individuals who were fully vaccinated against the coronavirus no longer needed to wear masks. But some local jurisdictions implement new mandates requiring face coverings indoors or in large crowds even for vaccinated individuals in a bid to slow the spread of the delta variant.
Biden officials now expect that vulnerable Americans are likely to need booster shots. --As research continues into how long coronavirus vaccines remain effective, Biden administration health officials increasingly think that vulnerable populations will need booster shots.Senior officials now say they expect that people who are 65 and older or who have compromised immune systems will most likely need a third shot from Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna, two vaccines based on the same technology that have been used to inoculate the vast majority of Americans thus far.That is a sharp shift from just a few weeks ago, when the administration said it thought there was not enough evidence to back boosters yet.The growing consensus within the administration that at least some Americans will need a booster is tied in part to research suggesting that the Pfizer vaccine is less effective against the coronavirus after about six months. More than half of those fully vaccinated in the United States so far have received Pfizer’s vaccine.Pfizer’s continuing global study of its clinical trial participants shows that four to six months after the second dose, the vaccine’s effectiveness against symptomatic infection drops from a high of 95 percent to 84 percent, according to the company.Data from the Israeli government, which has fully vaccinated more than half of its population with Pfizer doses since January, also points to a downward trend in effectiveness against infection over time, though not against severe disease. Administration officials are viewing that data cautiously because of wide margins for error.Dr. Anthony S. Fauci, who heads the infectious disease division of the National Institutes of Health, said the apparent steep falloff in the Pfizer vaccine’s effectiveness against infection in the Israeli data had epidemiologists “raising their eyebrows a bit.”The administration has already purchased more than enough vaccine to deliver third doses of both Pfizer and Moderna, and has been quietly preparing to expand the distribution effort, should it become necessary.
Coronavirus dashboard for July 19: The UK as Delta wave trailblazer for the US - Now that the Delta wave is well and truly here in the US, let’s compare it with the UK experience, which has been about 7 weeks ahead, to get an idea of where we are going. Here is the long term view: As I said, the UK resurgence due to Delta started about 7 weeks before that in the US.So the experience in the UK is likely to give us a good idea where the US will be in about 7 weeks. So here is a look at cases (narrow line) and deaths (wide line) in the UK:In the autumn and winter wave last year, as well as the Delta wave this year, deaths followed cases with about a 4 week lag.A similar 4 week lag between cases and deaths shows up in the long term view of the US data., Now let’s take a close-up look at cases in the US (blue) and the UK (orange) over the last 8 weeks: Cases in the UK have doubled roughly every 2 weeks, from a low of about 1900 to over 45,000 now. In other words, cases now are over 20 times higher than they were 8 weeks ago. Cases in the US bottomed about 3.5 weeks ago at 11,300, and have since risen to over 32,000, roughly a tripling during that time. So if we project US cases to double every 2 weeks over the next 8 weeks, as they have in the UK, that puts us at 512,000 cases daily in the US by mid-September (more than double the US’s peak last winter). Now let’s look at deaths:In the UK, deaths bottomed at 8 per day about 6 weeks ago. As of now they have risen to an average of 42 daily, an increase of over 5x. In the last 2 weeks, they have more than doubled. In the US, deaths bottomed at about 215 per day less than 2 weeks ago, and have risen to about 270, a slow increase that is similar to that of the UK in the first several weeks after their bottom in deaths.If the US follows the same course as the UK, 1 month from now the US will have about 1000 deaths per day. But remember, deaths follow cases with a 4 week lag. So if the US has 16x more cases in mid-September, then by mid-October there will be over 4000 deaths per day.The question in the US is whether there will be government interventions at the State level to slow down the spread of these new cases, such as reinstating masking and distancing restrictions and shutting down certain businesses. Unsurprisingly, that is unlikely to happen in the Red States. The other alternative is that individuals reinstate some precautions, such as masking indoors, that they may have recently abandoned. At some point, I believe that *will* happen, even in the Red States (as it did last winter), but I do not know how severe conditions must be first. What I can say is that, if cases and deaths double every 2 weeks, then in about 4 months the Delta variant will have ripped through virtually the entire unvaccinated US population, with deaths following suit about a month later.
Markets Plunge on Monday on Growing Reports of Fully Vaccinated People Getting Delta Strain of COVID-19 - Yesterday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 725.8 points out of fear that there will be renewed business restrictions to deal with spiking COVID cases in all 50 states in the U.S. On July 8 the Food and Drug Administration and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention jointly released an unequivocal statement on the COVID-19 vaccines that ”Virtually all COVID-19 hospitalizations and deaths are among those who are unvaccinated.”That statement is now coming under growing scrutiny as evidence mounts of fully vaccinated Americans getting COVID-19, with hundreds ending up in the hospital. The largest challenge to the unequivocal statement from the FDA and CDC came on July 5 from the Israel Ministry of Health. The Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine was used in Israel. It was also one of the vaccines used widely in the U.S. The Israel Ministry of Health said this about that vaccine:“From the epidemiological analysis by public health services in the Ministry of Health, it is evident that since June 6th there was marked decline in the effectiveness of the vaccine in preventing infection (64%) and symptomatic illness (64%). This decline has been observed simultaneously with the spread of the Delta variant in Israel. The Israel study suggests that persons who were fully vaccinated with the Pfizer vaccine still have a 36 percent chance of getting COVID and a 7 percent chance of serious illness or hospitalization. On July 19, NBC News reported that “151 people in Illinois have died due to COVID-19 or complications after being fully vaccinated. That figure equates to 2.2% of COVID-19 deaths in the state since Jan. 1, officials said. At least 563 fully vaccinated people have been hospitalized in Illinois,” according to the Illinois Department of Public Health.According to a report from the Department of Health and Social Services in Alaska, from February 1 to June 30, 2021, they classified 656 COVID cases as VB cases. The report notes that “Seventeen persons with VB infections were hospitalized and two died (both had substantial comorbidities).” Seventeen hospitalizations out of 656 VB cases represents 2.5 percent.Another troubling report was released yesterday by Kentucky’s Lexington-Fayette County Health Department. According to an NBC News affiliate, that Health Department reported “a growing number of ‘breakthrough’ COVID-19 cases, which are positive cases found in people who are fully vaccinated. The health department said about 20-25% of new cases are considered breakthrough.” Those are deeply troubling statistics for vaccines that were originally promoted in the U.S. as being more than 90 percent effective. Last Friday, the Salt Lake Tribune in Utah reported these troubling statistics: “Breakthrough cases are up in a big way in Utah. Cases among vaccinated people are still much less common than those among unvaccinated people, but both are growing, due to the Delta variant and its increased level of contagiousness.“Basically, we’re seeing between 50 and 100 cases per day among the vaccinated, and 300 to 600 cases per day among the unvaccinated.”On July 13, a CBS news local affiliate station reported that in Provincetown, Massachusetts, “entire homes of visitors over the Fourth have tested positive, despite being fully vaccinated.”The effectiveness of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine is also coming under scrutiny. Yankee players and staff were vaccinated with the J&J vaccine in early April. On May 13, the MLB announced that a Yankee player, three coaches and four members of the travelling staff (all fully vaccinated) had tested positive for COVID-19.
DeSantis downplays increase in COVID-19 cases – Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) on Monday downplayed the recent spike in coronavirus cases in his state, and criticized public health officials who continue to push unvaccinated Americans to get COVID-19 shots. “It’s a seasonal virus and this is the seasonal pattern it follows in the Sun Belt states,” DeSantis told reporters at a press conference. He also said that he expects COVID-19 cases to decline next month. DeSantis’s remarks came as new cases of COVID-19 are on the rise, driven by the spread of the more infectious delta variant. Florida has emerged as the epicenter of the recent surge, with about one in five new cases nationwide coming from the Sunshine State. Despite the spike in cases, DeSantis has leaned into the same laissez faire approach to the coronavirus pandemic that has earned him praise from conservatives over the past year. His handling of the outbreak has earned him rising-star status among many Republicans, while fueling speculation of a potential 2024 presidential bid. His reelection campaign recently released a line of merchandise taking aim at Anthony Fauci, the federal government’s top infectious disease expert who has become the face of the national response to the pandemic. On Monday, DeSantis blamed public health experts for spreading what he called “misinformation” and offering “bad advice” with regard to the pandemic. He also suggested that the same experts were undermining their own vaccine initiatives by talking down to people who have yet to get one of the three approved COVID-19 vaccines. “I do not agree with some of these people, some of these quote unquote experts who lambast people and criticize them or say they’re stupid or something,” DeSantis said. “That’s not the way to reach folks, OK?” DeSantis’s office confirmed in April that the governor had received the single-dose vaccine manufactured by Johnson & Johnson. And on Monday, Chris Spencer, DeSantis’s director of policy and budget, announced that he had gotten his second dose of the Pfizer vaccine, and encouraged others to get vaccinated, as well.
A Florida congressman says he tested positive for the virus after he was fully vaccinated - Representative Vern Buchanan, Republican of Florida, has tested positive for the coronavirus after having been fully vaccinated earlier this year, his office announced on Monday.Mr. Buchanan was tested after “experiencing very mild flu-like symptoms” and is now quarantining at home, the statement said.Mr. Buchanan said in the statement that he looked forward to returning to work “as soon as possible.” He added, “In the meantime, this should serve as a reminder that although the vaccines provide a very high degree of protection, we must remain vigilant in the fight against Covid-19.”A telephone message left at Mr. Buchanan’s office in Washington was not immediately returned on Monday evening.Mr. Buchanan is the latest lawmaker to report being infected. More than 70 senators and members of the House of Representatives have been diagnosed with the virus, according to GovTrack. The announcement came as Florida reported a 190 percent increase in the number of people who have tested positive for the virus in the last two weeks, according to data collected by The New York Times, though cases remain at a fraction of their peak levels.
Arkansas Emerges As America's Newest COVID Case 'Hot Spot' As Delta Continues To Dominate - After LA County's public health czar ordered that masks must be worn indoors, NYC Mayor Bill de Blasio confirmed that he wouldn't follow in LA's footsteps, and that NYC would continue to focus on bolstering the city's vaccination rate. Less than a week later, Bloomberg reports that NYC's vaccination rate has plunged to less than 15K a day, from more than 100K a day in mid-April. Meanwhile, the number of new cases reported in the city has climbed: NYC reported a seven-day average of 576 confirmed and probable cases on July 18, more than double the average on July 6. Hospitalizations have also increased slightly, and practically everybody hospitalized hasn't been vaccinated.Anxieties about the Delta variant are prompting more companies to reconsider sending employees back to the office. On Tuesday, Bloomberg reported, citing several Apple insiders, that Apple management has delayed employees' return to the office until October, or possibly even later.Across the US, both cases and deaths have continued to creep higher.Hospitalizations have also started to climb, with Dr. Fauci assuring the public that more than 90% of those being hospitalized haven't gotten the vaccine.However, the perceived "risk" level varies dramatically from state to state due to differences in vaccine acceptance.Looking at the projections from the University of Washington's IHME, the most closely watched in the US (even if they haven't exactly proved reliable), the university expects the US death toll to continue to climb. Presently, more than 608K Americans have died from the virus so far, while more than 34,100,000 cases have been confirmed. Globally, Indonesia is preparing to lift restrictions while Singapore recently returned to lockdown. In Europe, health authorities say that French President Emmanuel Macron's tough approach to vaccinations has helped encourage more to get vaccinated.
Wyoming reports 67 new variant COVID cases Wednesday; 64 patients in hospitals - — The Wyoming Department of Health reported 109 new confirmed COVID-19 cases during their 3 p.m. Wednesday, July 21 update.The additional confirmed cases brought Wyoming’s total to 53,551 since the pandemic began. 39 additional probable cases were reported Wednesday, bringing the total to 10,437.There are 545 active confirmed cases in Wyoming. 186 of these are in Laramie County, along with 19 in Natrona County.67 new variant cases were reported on Wednesday; the number of COVID-19 cases identified as variants in the state rose to 1,431. Variant cases involve a mutated form of the virus and some may spread more easily or result in more serious illness.The number of COVID-19 patients in Wyoming hospitals stood at 64 on Wednesday, down from 66 on Tuesday, according to WDH data. 30 of the COVID patients on Wednesday were at the Cheyenne Regional Medical Center. There were four patients at the Wyoming Medical Center. No additional COVID-19-related deaths were reported Wednesday. Six additional COVID-19-related deaths among Wyoming residents were reported on Tuesday, bringing the toll to 766 since the pandemic began.
Covid-19 Vaccinations Hit All-Time Low -- And It's A Huge Drop -- July 20, 2021 -- Just when I thought it couldn't get any lower, the number of vaccinations given in most recent twenty-four hours: less than 250,000. Wow. This is an all-time low. One might assume many (most) of these vaccinations were second-dose Pfizer vaccinations. If so, that means unvaccinated folks are not showing up at all. Despite all the media coverage about the "delta" virus. [table] It would be nice if we were provided the vaccination status of those diagnosed with new infections, and "new deaths."
Coronavirus dashboard for July 21: brace yourself for the surge in deaths - I have been warning since late June that the situation would likely look very different by the end of July. By 2 weeks ago, I wrote:“In the near future, there appears to be bad news and *relatively* “good” news for the US. The bad news is that the “delta wave” is spreading, and we should expect a real outbreak on the order of last summer’s by early August. The *relatively* “good” news is that the death rate is likely not to be nearly so bad, if the experience in the UK is any guide.”Cases have nearly tripled in the US in the past 2 weeks: Since deaths lag by about 28 days, we haven’t nearly begun to see the kind of increase that is already baked into the cake. In the UK, the government has been congratulating itself over the low death rate. And in comparison with the number of deaths last winter, they are correct. To some extent, this is due to the fact that 15% more of the UK population has been vaccinated during the Delta wave there: But over the last 2 weeks, the death rate in the UK has actually increased *faster* than the rate of new cases:If we compare the increase in deaths in the UK over the past two weeks with the increase in cases 2 to 4 weeks before, it isn’t clear at all that the death rate there isn’t going to follow cases proportionately higher over the next month.Turning to the US, deaths have only risen slightly so far, but again, since deaths follow cases by about 4 weeks, we are probably only 2 weeks away from a proportionate increase in cases. And in the US, there has been no comparable surge in vaccinations since the onset of the Delta wave. In fact, there has been a subsidence.For a taste of what is in store, here are new cases and deaths in Arkansas, one of the States where the Delta wave increase started the earliest:
Deaths have risen just as fast as cases, and started to rise very quickly after cases did. So, brace yourselves. Cases have nearly tripled in the US over the past 2 weeks. Deaths are likely to increase to nearly 1000/day over the next 2 to 4 weeks.
At a summer camp north of New York City, 31 children test positive for the virus. - The outbreak at Camp Pontiac, a sleep-away camp in upstate New York, started in the girls’ dormitories. Nurses, worried that young campers were showing symptoms of Covid-19, began administering tests. Last Saturday, one came back positive.More followed: As of Thursday morning, 31 of the camp’s 550 campers had tested positive for the virus, said Jack Mabb, the health director of Columbia County, where the camp is located.All 31 children are under the age of 12 and none of them were seriously ill, Mr. Mabb said.The New York outbreak is one of a spate of recent camp-related Covid-19 clusters across the United States this summer. In Texas,more than 125 teenagers and adults at a church-run camp tested positive after an indoor event. Kansas’s health department has reported multiple outbreaks tied to camps in and around the state. Illinois reported more than 80 cases, most of them among teens, at a summer camp there.Those outbreaks, by and large, have come in states with lower vaccination rates than New York State, where 74 percent of adults and 62 percent of all residents have received at least one dose of a vaccine. Camp Pontiac will not close despite the outbreak, Mr. Mabb said.
Rise in COVID-19 cases among children surge in major US hotspots - Florida, Missouri and Arkansas have become major hotspots of the fourth wave of the coronavirus pandemic in the US. The severity of the Delta variant, expressed in a rise in cases, hospitalizations and deaths has not spared children and youth ages 0-17, who have been placed in grave danger as schools across the country have fully reopened for summer school and the upcoming fall semester. Data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and Human Health Services (HHS) shows the seven-day national average of cases has risen 52 percent, deaths have increased 18 percent and hospitalizations have increased by 20 percent. The dominance of the Delta variant coupled with low vaccination rates has caused cases to surge in recent weeks across the country, reaching levels not seen since the spring. Vaccinations have stagnated across the country, with many states reporting well under 50 percent of their populations fully vaccinated. Florida is currently the epicenter of the pandemic in the US. On Thursday, the Florida Department of Health reported 12,647 new infections and 86 deaths. Between July 15 and July 21, the state reported 45,449 new cases of coronavirus, far surpassing other states. It has seen a major surge with over 3,000 cases among children reported from July 8 through July 15, resulting in a greater than 80 percent increase among youth age groups from the two weeks prior. Significantly, the Florida Department of Health stopped reporting hospitalizations among children on June 24 obscuring the severity of cases among the thousands of children who have tested positive throughout the state in recent days. Despite the alarming situation, Republican Governor Ron DeSantis continues to downplay the dangers of the pandemic. In a statement Thursday, DeSantis vowed there would be no mask mandates in schools or COVID-related lockdowns this fall. In response to the recommendation by the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) earlier this week that all students two or older and school staff wear masks, DeSantis said, “We’re not doing that in Florida. Ok? We need our kids to breathe.” In Missouri, on Wednesday health officials recorded over 2,000 new COVID-19 cases for the second time in seven days, as well as eight new deaths. More than 1,500 hospitalizations have been reported, up almost 50 percent over two weeks ago and remaining inpatient hospital bed capacity hovers around 21 percent. Among children in Missouri, 1,356 cases were reported during the week of July 8 through July 15. A group of 100 Kansas City-area physicians signed a letter calling on school districts to require masks for all students under the age of 12, who are not currently eligible for the vaccine. Districts can decide whether to mandate masks, but regardless, full reopening plans with entirely inadequate mitigation and crowded classrooms will continue. In Arkansas, 1,875 new cases were reported on Tuesday bringing the current number of active cases throughout the state to 11,475. Hospitalizations have also been on the rise, increasing by 49 since Monday. On Saturday, the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences in Little Rock announced that its hospital, a public facility ranked among the best in the state, was full. On Tuesday, Arkansas Children’s Hospital reported 12 COVID-19 hospitalizations among children, with half in critical condition diagnosed with COVID-pneumonia or on ventilation support. In an interview with CNN on Tuesday, Dr. Rick Barr, Chief Clinical Officer at Arkansas Children’s Hospital, remarked on the virulence of the Delta variant among children. He said, “The Delta variant is different than what we were seeing. We have 12 children admitted to the hospital now with COVID, that’s triple our usual numbers we saw during the previous months of the pandemic, and they seem to be much sicker.”
In Florida, some hospitals have more Covid patients than ever before. — A month ago, the number of Covid-19 patients admitted at two University of Florida hospitals in Jacksonville was down to 14. Now more than 140 people are hospitalized with the virus, a tenfold increase over five weeks — and the highest number of Covid patients this system has seen since the start of the pandemic.Higher than last summer, when the coronavirus slammed Florida. Higher than over the winter, when the virus surged to devastating levels across the nation.A national uptick in coronavirus cases has led, in sudden and concerning fashion, to a steep rise in hospitalizations in some spots around the country where people have been slower to get vaccinated, a predicament experts hoped might be avoided because the people contracting the infection tend to be younger and healthier.Nationally, hospitalizations remain relatively low, nowhere near earlier peaks of the pandemic. But in some regions with lagging vaccination rates and rising virus cases — such as Northeast Florida, Southwest Missouri, Southern Nevada — the highly contagious Delta variant has flooded intensive care units and Covid wards that, not long ago, had seen their patient counts shrink.“It’s very frustrating,” said Dr. Leon L. Haley Jr., the chief executive of UF Health Jacksonville. “Each day we continue to go up. There’s no sense of when things are going to curtail themselves. People are stretched thin.”The situation is worrying across Northeast Florida. The Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville is on track to match or exceed its earlier record. Wolfson Children’s Hospital has its second-highest number of admissions, 45, after reaching 57 in January. About 90 miles south, in Daytona Beach, an AdventHealth hospital has more Covid patients than ever before.About a fifth of all national cases over the past two weeks have originated in Florida, which has emerged as a microcosm of the nation’s mounting Covid worries. The state has the fourth-highest hospitalization rate, behind Nevada, Missouri and Arkansas.
Alabama governor on rising COVID-19 cases: 'Time to start blaming the unvaccinated folks' - Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey (R) declared that it's “time to start blaming the unvaccinated” for the surge in coronavirus infections in her state.The governor, visibly exasperated while discussing the need to get a COVID-19 vaccination shot, was asked by local reporters Thursday what more can be done to boost vaccination rates.“I don’t know, you tell me!” Ivey said. “Folks supposed to have common sense.”“But it's time to start blaming the unvaccinated folks, not the regular folks. It’s the unvaccinated folks that are letting us down,” she continued.Ivey’s comments come as her state grapples with one of the lowest vaccination rates in the country.Only 48.7 percent of the population age 12 and up has received one dose of a coronavirus vaccine, while 39.6 percent have been fully inoculated,according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.There were 6,118 vaccine doses administered in Alabama on Wednesday, according to state data, a considerable drop from the more than 45,000 administered at the peak in April.Ivey was vaccinated in December.The state has seen a 70 percent increase in daily coronavirus infections over the past week and its highest hospitalization rate, according to The Washington Post. Ivey said it should be “crystal clear” that the new cases and hospitalizations are being reported among unvaccinated.“These folks are choosing a horrible lifestyle and self-inflicted pain,” Iveytold reporters. “You know we’ve got to get folks to take the shot. The vaccine is the greatest weapon we have to fight COVID, there’s not question about that, the data proves it.”
The C.D.C. director warns the U.S. is ‘not out of the woods’ in the pandemic. - The director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention warned on Thursday that the United States was “not out of the woods yet” on the pandemic and was once again at a “pivotal point” as the highly infectious Delta variant is ripping through unvaccinated communities.Just weeks after President Biden threw a Fourth of July party on the South Lawn of the White House to declare independence from the virus, the director, Dr. Rochelle P. Walensky, called the now dominant variant “one of the most infectious respiratory viruses” known to scientists.The renewed sense of urgency inside the administration was aimed at tens of millions of people who have not yet been vaccinated and therefore are most likely to be infected and become sick. Dr. Walensky’s grim message came at a time of growing anxiety and confusion, especially among parents of young children who are still not eligible to take the shot. And it underscored how quickly the pandemic’s latest surge had unsettled Americans who had begun to believe the worst was over, sending politicians and public health officials scrambling to recalibrate their responses. “This is like the moment in the horror movie when you think the horror is over and the credits are about to roll,” said Representative Jamie Raskin, Democrat of Maryland. “And it all starts back up again.”The choice by millions to reject the vaccine has had the consequences that public health officials predicted: The number of new cases in the country has shot up almost 250 percent since the beginning of the month, with an average of more than 45,000 infections being diagnosed each day during the past week — up from 12,800 on July 1.The disease caused by the virus is claiming about 250 lives each day — far fewer than during the peaks last year, but still 42 percent higher than two weeks ago. More than 97 percent of those hospitalized are unvaccinated, Dr. Walensky said last week.
Large majority of unvaccinated say they don't intend to get the shot: poll - A large majority of Americans that are not vaccinated against the coronavirus say they do not intend on getting inoculated, according to a poll released Friday. Sixty-seven percent of respondents in The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research poll said they had received at least one dose of a vaccine, while 32 percent had not. Of those who said they had not received a COVID-19 shot, 81 percent said they would not get a vaccine. This includes 45 percent who said they would "definitely" not get inoculated and 35 percent who said they "probably" would not. Only 19 percent said they would likely get vaccinated, including 3 percent who said they definitely would and 16 percent who said they probably would take the shot. The survey comes as the U.S. grapples with a rise in cases fueled by the spread of the delta variant of the coronavirus, which now accounts for 83 percent of new infections. Last week, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Director Rochelle Walensky described the rise in new infections as “a pandemic of the unvaccinated.” The states with the worst outbreaks have lower vaccination rates. Twenty-eight percent of respondents said they were “extremely” or “very” confident that the vaccines would be effective against variants of the coronavirus. Forty-one percent said they were somewhat confident, while 30 percent said they were “not very” confident or “not at all confident.” Those not vaccinated were more likely to say they were not confident in the vaccine’s ability to protect against variants, with 64 percent expressing no confidence.
Spiralling COVID infections in UK schools a warning to the world - The UK education system is on the verge of collapse as schools break up for the summer term this week. Across the country, in every region, hundreds of thousands of school children and staff have been forced to isolate due to either having made close contact with someone with COVID or testing positive for virus themselves, as the Conservative government’s “let it rip” pandemic policy takes effect. Almost 840,000 children (11.2 percent) in England’s state schools were not in class on July 8 because of COVID, according to the latest official figures. This was the highest level since March and a 31 percent increase on the week prior. Of those off school, 39,000 pupils had tested positive and 35,000 had a suspected infection. A further 630,000 were absent for other reasons. The situation will have worsened dramatically since then. The vast majority of infections are the highly transmissible and more deadly Delta variant, which is overwhelmingly dominant in Britain. Hundreds of schools have been forced to close for the summer early, due to the lack of staff or multiple cases of the virus across several class and year group “bubbles”. About 18,000 children were at home because their schools were closed on July 8 and many thousands of parents, alarmed at the rapid rise of infections, have voted with their feet and kept children at home. This dire situation was worsening even before the July 19 lifting of all containment measures by Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s Conservative government in its cynically named “Freedom Day”. The current surge among children will massively contribute to the wave of COVID-19 in the general population in the coming weeks. Johnson said bluntly earlier this month that the UK “must reconcile [itself] to more deaths” and that infections could rise to 50,000 a day. That total has already been reached. Health Secretary Sajid Javid, who has now tested positive for the virus, also demanded the population “learn to live with the existence of Covid” and admitted that daily case totals could reach 100,000 before the end of summer. The Guardian estimated that there could be two million cases in the remaining six weeks of summer, but this was based on a conservative estimate of an average 35,000 cases a day until July 19 and 60,000 from then until August 16. Hospitalisations from COVID are now at over 4,000, a rise of 26 percent in one week. The schools most impacted by the surge are in the north of England, where pupils in secondary schools are three times more likely to miss classes as their peers in London. A massive 37 percent of sessions were missed in the week to July 9, with 27 percent missed due to COVID isolation and quarantine.
Covid 19: More than one third of Londoners unvaccinated - BBC News - More than one third of Londoners have not had their first vaccine dose making it the area with the lowest uptake in England, latest figures show.The data from NHS England also shows 55% have not had a second dose. Across England, 88% of people have had a first dose and 68% the second.Figures also show the city has one of the lowest rates of Covid-19 cases, with 298 per 100,000.Sadiq Khan said "everything possible" was being done to vaccinate everyone.Pop-up vaccination centres are being held across London, including in the Tate Modern and football stadiums. There are 300 locations in the city where people can be vaccinated.The government set a target for all adults to be offered a first dose, and two thirds their second by Monday when all of the social distancing restrictions are being lifted.NHS London did not confirm how many Londoners have been offered the vaccine but have declined.
- 'Perfect storm could lead to Covid-19 increase' in London
- How many people have been vaccinated so far?
- What do over-18s need to know about the vaccine?
- How are Covid rules changing on Monday?
The city has a high proportion of young people - with 35 being the average age - meaning many have only been eligible for a vaccine for a short period of time, according to the mayor's office.
In England, concerns grow about a 'notable gender split' in COVID-19 Delta infections - For the English, today marks a kind of Independence Day over COVID-19 as monthslong lockdown restrictions are eased across the country. And yet to see how the outbreak continues to divide the nation, look no further than Twitter. Hashtags like “Freedom Day,” “Plague Island,” and “The Purge” have been trending throughout the day.The country holds the bragging rights of one of the highest vaccination rates in the world. It also has one of the highest numbers of active COVID-19 cases in the world—and the latest wave is hitting the young and males particularly hard.In the last week of June, men made up 55% of the COVID-19 deaths in the United Kingdom, according to the country's Office of National Statistics. The week before, males made up 70% of all COVID-19 deaths.Cases have also been considerably growing in males ages 15 to 40 over the past few weeks—the first time there’s been "a notable gender split" in the disease, Deutsche Bank analysts said in a research note to investors on Monday morning. The investment bank put in words the big fear that Europe may be glimpsing a kind of soccer-led spike in cases a week after the Euro Cup final match, pitting England against Italy. The gender split, Deutsche Bank analysts wrote, “strongly hints at the impact of millions of football fans watching the Euro football final.”The big culprit is the Delta variant, which has become the dominant strain in not just the U.K., but globally. Britain has becomes a new epicenter for the disease, recording 54,600 daily new cases on Saturday.So far, that hasn't slowed down the Boris Johnson government's Freedom Day reopening plan.From today onward, English immune systems will be further tested as the U.K. opens nightclubs, ends lawful requirements for face coverings, and drops all limits on the number of people who can hang out indoors.The masks may be dropping, but the government’s far-reaching test-and-trace program, which requires people to self-isolate when they come into contact with someone who has COVID-19, will remain in place.The program has been in the spotlight lately as U.K. Health Secretary Sajid Javid, who was fully inoculated, tested positive for COVID-19, setting off a chain reaction in the highest circles of power. On Sunday, Prime Mister Boris Johnson and Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak confirmed they would self-isolate for 10 days, as is required, after being “pinged” by the National Health Service (NHS) COVID tracing app.
Concern grows about vaccine effectiveness against COVID Beta variant - Amid growing concerns about the effectiveness of vaccines against the Beta variant of the coronavirus, the UK will require all travelers from France — including those who are fully vaccinated — to isolate for 10 days when they return to England and Wales.The Beta variant, first identified in South Africa, is spreading in France, though mostly in the Indian Ocean territories of Reunion and Mayotte, the BBC reported.Circulation of the variant in mainland France is low, just 3.4 percent of total cases in June, the Independent reported.CDC data shows the Beta variant accounts for just 0.2 percent of cases in the U.S.The Beta variant is thought to be less infectious than the Delta variant — the strain first seen in India that now accounts for 31% of cases in the US. “Where it has an advantage is that it is able to escape the immune response to a better extent,” Professor John Edmunds of the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine told the BBC. Growing immunity to other variants creates better conditions for the Beta variant to get an advantage, Edmunds said. “There is some good evidence from South Africa that it can evade the immune response generated by the AstraZeneca vaccine more efficiently.” The Beta variant may also be deadlier than other strains, Reuters reported. Researchers in South Africa found that people infected in the wave in that country where Beta was dominant were more likely to require hospitalization. Hospitalized COVID-19 patients during that time had a 31 percent greater chance of death.
More Than 50% Of Australians On Lockdown As Delta Fears Spread -What started as a two-week lockdown in Sydney three weeks ago has expanded to cover more than half of Australia's 25 million people as of Tuesday as a third state adopted the strict anti-COVID measures as the intense 'delta'-induced paranoia continued to swell. South Australia has ordered a 'snap lockdown' of (at least) seven days, joining neighboring Victoria and New South Wales,Reuters reports. Even though Australia's daily new COVID cases and deaths are well below other developed nations, authorities started again with the lockdowns after its 'drawbridge' strategy failed to keep COVID cases at the country's target level of '0'. Now, they're desperately trying to vaccinate as many Australians as possible during the coming weeks. The lockdown in South Australia started at 1800 on Tuesday.Premier Steven Marshall defended his decision to impose the lockdown measures, saying “we hate to put these restrictions in place, but we have just one chance to get this right". The alternative, he suggested, would be a lengthier freeze. But as the lockdowns spread, the Australian people have grown increasingly irritated, and the politicians are taking notice as their polling numbers plummet.Under the rules of the new lockdown, all South Australian residents are required to remain at home unless they are essential workers or need to purchase groceries or other necessities, or attend medical appointments. Individuals are allowed outside to exercise for a maximum of 90 minutes and within a 2.5km (1.5 mile) radius of their home. Schools will be closed and students will transition to online learning.The decision to impose a strict snap lockdown comes after five coronavirus cases were reported, with the fifth being an isolated incident from the other four cases.All of the cases have been confirmed to be caused by the Delta variant, which is 60% more transmissible than most other variants, with an R0 of 8, putting it on par with measles, according to certain public health authorities. Authorities also warned that hospitalizations have risen alarmingly. Authorities say people with COVID-19 have been hospitalized with COVID in the state, 27 of them in intensive care and 11 on ventilators. The state's five deaths in the latest outbreak take the national toll to 915, with a tally of just over 32,000 infections.
India's pandemic death toll could be in the millions - How many people have died of COVID-19 since the pandemic began? The official global total as of this week: 4.1 million.But everyone agrees the true toll is far greater. A study released on Tuesday looks at how much of a disparity there may be in India, one of the epicenters of the pandemic.The analysis, from the Center for Global Development, a think tank in Washington, D.C., looks at the number of "excess deaths" that occurred in India between January 2020 and June 2021 — in other words, how many more people died during that period than during a similar period of time in 2019 or other recent years.Drawing death data from civil registries and other sources, the report came up with three estimates for undercounts. The conclusion is that between 3.4 and 4.7 million more people died in that pandemic period than would have been predicted. That's up to 10 times higher than the Indian government's official death toll of 414,482.The researchers looked at India in particular because, says study co-author Justin Sandefur, the country has been hit so hard by COVID-19. "The second wave in particular led to heart-wrenching stories from friends and colleagues — and a sense that official numbers are not capturing the true scale of that toll." But COVID death undercounts are happening almost everywhere. In the United States, the official toll is 500,000 but the real number is closer to 700,000, says Ali Mokdad of the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME). The group's website has a global rundown that estimates "excess mortality" in many countries during the pandemic. When counting "excess deaths," the cause of death is not part of the data set. But during a health crisis like the pandemic, the assumption is that these additional deaths are part of the COVID-19 toll, says Mokdad. They reflect not only those who died of the virus but those who might have died, say, of heart disease or diabetes because they were afraid to seek treatment during lockdowns, and those who killed themselves due to pandemic stresses, he adds.There are various reasons for the death toll discrepancies in India, as NPR's Lauren Frayer and Sushmita Pathak reported earlier this year. Dr. Aniket Sirohi, a municipal health official in south Delhi, told NPR he counted 702 deaths on a day in mid-April and passed those numbers up the chain of command. But the death figures the government has published for his region have been at least 20% lower than what he's seeing on the ground, he said.He attributed this disparity to administrative chaos. People from neighboring states flock to Delhi for medical treatment. Some die in Delhi and are cremated there but remain registered as residents somewhere else. They don't get counted anywhere, he said. "Somehow the numbers are not getting recorded or not shown or getting missed," Sirohi said. "India always had a poor record of maintaining these things. We have a lot of population. So there's a bit of a problem with coordination — especially in times like this [pandemic second wave], when 50% of my staff is sick."
Israel’s COVID outbreak is mostly fully vaccinated people. What’s going on? - - About a month ago, Israel celebrated what seemed like the end of its domestic pandemic. The country dropped all coronavirus restrictions, including mask mandates and social distancing requirements, reported Reuters. Unfortunately, the celebration was premature. COVID-19 cases have begun to rise in Israel over the last few weeks, reported Reuters. The outbreaks started in schools among unvaccinated children then began spreading to vaccinated adults.
- Last week, Israel recorded an average of 775 new daily cases last week, according to data from Reuters.
- This is Israel’s highest number of daily new infections since March, Reuters reported.
- The average number of weekly hospital admissions is currently 120 people, according to The Washington Post.
- The country has reimposed mask mandates, social distancing requirements and quarantines for everyone arriving in Israel.
Just like in many other countries, the recent outbreak has been driven by the more contagious and “more vaccine-resistant” delta variant, reported The Washington Post. Unlike in many other countries, most of the people testing positive in Israel are vaccinated, reported The Washington Post. But this should not be surprising, according to epidemiologist Katelyn Jetelina, per The Washington Post. “The more vaccinated a population, the more we’ll hear of the vaccinated getting infected,” she said.And Israel has one of the most vaccinated populations in the world. About 60% of the nation’s entire population of 9.3 million has received at least one vaccine dose, reported Reuters. Among adults, about 85% have been vaccinated which means that Israel’s vaccinated community is five times larger than its unvaccinated community.
Singapore reports its highest daily count of new infections in almost a year. - Singapore reported 163 new locally transmitted cases of the coronavirus on Monday, its highest daily tally since August, as a growing cluster of infections has stalled the city-state’s return to normal life. Of the 163 cases, 106 were linked to the Jurong Fishery Port, and 19 were tied to karaoke bars. Ong Ye Kung, Singapore’s health minister, said in a Facebook post on Monday that the two clusters were linked. The Health Ministry says the number is likely to rise in coming days. The outbreak has delayed Singapore’s reopening plans just a week after it eased some restrictions, some of which have been restored. In addition, the port was closed for two weeks, and the authorities temporarily shut down more than 400 nightlife establishments that had been serving food and beverages to remain in business under pandemic restrictions. The Health Ministry said several of those businesses had “abused the system by operating clandestine and illegal activities,” contributing to the infections. “Unfortunately, there are a few who have flouted the rules,” Lawrence Wong, Singapore’s finance minister, said in a video released on Friday. He added, “We will take firm action against them.”
Russia passes 6 million virus cases. — A summer surge of new coronavirus cases in Russia pushed the country’s total reported number of infections since the start of the pandemic above six million, government news sitesreported on Tuesday.The milestone highlighted the authorities’ struggle to vaccinate the Russian population. When they announced eleven months ago that the country was the first in the world to develop an effective vaccine, other vaccines were in fact further along in trials at the time.As of Tuesday, 14 percent of the Russian population was fully vaccinated. A mix of vaccine hesitancy caused by mistrust of the government and lack of supply because of glitches producing the Russian vaccine, called Sputnik, slowed the rollout.Over the last seven days, Russia has reported a daily average of 17 cases per 100,000 people according to the Center for Systems Science and Engineering at Johns Hopkins University. Scientists and officials have blamed the spread of the more contagious Delta variant of the virus for the uptick in cases that began in June. For comparison, the United States has reported a daily average of 11 coronavirus cases per 100,000 people, according to a New York Times database.The new surge came despite months of assurances from President Vladimir V. Putin’s government that the worst of the pandemic had passed. Instead, Russia followed the path of India and several other countries that had seemed to squelch the outbreak, only tosee a resurgence with the spread of virus variants in a partially vaccinated population. As of Tuesday, Russia had reported a total death toll from Covid-19 of 149,922, but statistics showing excess mortality over the period of the pandemic suggest the real number is far higher.
World health officials call for urgent vaccine donations to stem Covid in Central America and the Caribbean. -Covid-19 cases are increasing in many Central American and Caribbean countries, officials from the World Health Organization warned on Wednesday as they called on richer nations to step up vaccine donations to a region where immunization rates remain perilously low.The Americas have become “a region divided by vaccine access,” said Dr. Carissa Etienne, the director of the Pan American Health Organization, which is part of the W.H.O.Countries with higher rates of vaccination, including Costa Rica, Uruguay and Chile, are seeing sharp drops in cases, while others are experiencing vastly different realities.Only 15 percent of people across Central America and the Caribbean have been fully vaccinated against Covid-19, and in some countries, including Honduras and Haiti, the figure is less than 1 percent.Several Caribbean nations are seeing a rise in cases, including Cuba, where infections and deaths have been soaring and which saw a recent outbreak of street protests against the government,the largest in decades.“Cuba is currently seeing the highest number of confirmed cases of Covid-19” in the region, said Ciro Ugarte, the director of health emergencies at the Pan American Health Organization. In a population of less than 12 million, more than 43,000 new cases were reported for the current week, up 21 percent from the week before, and the authorities have confirmed that the highly contagious Delta variant is circulating in several provinces.Other Caribbean nations are also reporting surges. Cases in Martinique, for example, have tripled over the past week, many involving “young people in their 20s,” Dr. Etienne said.Most Central American countries are also seeing a sharp rise in coronavirus cases, with Guatemala reporting high rates of hospitalizations and neighboring Honduras seeing a spike in cases along its border. There are also hot spots in Amazonian states in Colombia and Peru.“Covid-19 remains entrenched within our region, particularly in countries with low vaccination coverage, and the spread of variants only makes matters worse,” Dr. Etienne said.
EU countries have donated just a fraction of surplus vaccines: report - Countries from the European Union have donated just a fraction of surplus coronavirus vaccines to poorer countries, according to a European Union document viewed by Reuters. The countries have donated less than 3 percent of their coronavirus vaccines, fewer than 4 million shots, according to the internal document. Most of the donated shots have been from AstraZeneca, according to the wire service. The AstraZeneca vaccine has not been approved by the federal government for emergency use in the U.S., and its distribution in other countries was paused after a rare blood clot risk was associated with the vaccine. However, it was reinstated for use in European countries earlier this year. EU countries have received almost 500 million coronavirus doses since the pandemic began, and are set to reach 1 billion doses from drugmakers by September, Reuters noted. The combined adult population among all EU countries is 365 million. The EU Commission put out a statement Thursday that did not specify how many doses have been shipped to the underserved countries, but said it is expected to exceed the 200 million doses promised to send to other countries this year, according to Reuters. The statement comes as the EU and other wealthy countries have been subject to criticism for not sharing vaccine doses with poorer countries who are struggling with vaccination efforts due to lack of supply. “We are very far away from our target,” the head of the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, John Nkengasong, said at the beginning of July. “We don’t want to be seen as the continent of COVID ... [In Europe] the stadiums are full of young people shouting and hugging. We can’t do that in Africa.”
The European Union’s drug regulator authorizes the Moderna vaccine for children 12 and older.The European Medicines Agency, the European Union’s main drug regulator, on Friday authorized the use of Moderna’s Covid vaccinefor children age 12 and older, clearing the way for final approval by the bloc. The agency approved the vaccine for those older than age 18 in January. The vaccine is also licensed for those 18 and older in the United States, Canada and Britain.The protocol for children will be the same as for adults — two shots four weeks apart — the regulator said. Sore arms, headache and fatigue were the side effects most commonly reported among teenagers receiving the vaccine, it said, similarly to adults.The agency’s recommendation will go to the European Commission, the bloc’s administrative arm, for a final approval. Deciding if and when to begin using the vaccine on children is up to the E.U.’s 27 national governments.Until now, the only vaccine approved for those 12- to 17-years-old in Europe and North America has been the one from Pfizer-BioNTech. The bloc’s drug regulator recommended it for children in late May, and the European Commission swiftly approved it.More than a dozen E.U. countries have since begun vaccinating children.The E.U. vaccination campaign has accelerated considerably in recent weeks, and even overtook the immunization level in the United States, with over 67 percent of the population now inoculated with at least one dose, and 53 percent fully immunizedaccording to data gathered by the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control. Fifty-six percent of the U.S. population has received at least one dose, and 49 percent are fully vaccinated.The bloc has obtained enough doses to reach its goal of fully vaccinating 70 percent of the adult population by the end of July,the commission said earlier this month. But despite the overall high level of immunization, important divergences remain between the bloc’s member nations. The European Center for Disease Prevention and Control warned on Friday in a joint statement with the World Health Organization that the Delta variant is now dominant in the majority of the bloc’s nations, and urged the “fast rollout of vaccinations,” highlighting that full inoculation significantly reduces the risk of severe disease and death.
Exponential rise in Germany of new coronavirus infections --The number of reported new coronavirus infections is again rising dramatically in Germany. On Thursday, the Robert Koch Institute (RKI)—the German federal government agency and research institute responsible for disease control and prevention—reported almost 2,000 new cases and the nationwide seven-day incidence rate rose to over 12 per 100,000. The reproductive number (R) is 1.19, which means a strong exponential increase. The development reflects the perilous dynamics of the highly contagious delta variant. According to the RKI figures, active cases nationwide have increased by more than 42 percent compared to the previous week. The seven-day average of new infections was already around 67 percent higher on Tuesday than the previous week—the relative increase is thus higher than at any time during the so-called “third wave.” As an analysis by the newspaper Die Welt shows, the doubling period of active coronavirus cases, averaging 12 days, is only one-fifth of the previous week’s figure. It is thus only a matter of time before the infection rates in this country will also be at the level of the most affected countries in Europe currently. In Britain, Spain and France, tens of thousands are being infected with the virus every day. On Thursday, there were 43,907 new infections in the UK, 30,587 in Spain, 21,539 in France. The seven-day incidence rate rose to 496 in Britain, 378 in Spain and 122 in France. On Thursday, at her annual summer press conference in Berlin, Chancellor Angela Merkel (Christian Democratic Union, CDU) warned that Germany was on its way to a fourth coronavirus wave. Earlier, Federal Health Minister Jens Spahn (CDU) told the press that 400 new weekly infections per 100,000 inhabitants could be exceeded as early as September, followed by a seven-day incidence of 800 in October. German governments at federal and state levels are pursuing a deliberate herd immunity policy that puts profits before lives. By doing so, as happened last autumn, they are helping to produce a massive new coronavirus wave with hundreds of thousands of infected and dead.
Over 200 People In 27 States Being Monitored For Monkeypox: CDC -The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) is monitoring over 200 people in 27 states for potential exposure to monkeypoxafter their contacts were traced with a Texan who contracted the rare disease while traveling in Nigeria weeks ago.According to Stat, state and local health officials are working with federal authorities to monitor those who were in contact with the monkeypox patient, who flew into Atlanta international airport on July 8, and then on to Dallas Love airport the next day. One week later, he was diagnosed with the rare disease, which can be transmitted through bodily fluids and respiratory droplets, according to the CDC.Monkeypox has an incubation period of three to 17 days. The individuals who came in contact with the man include passengers who sat within six feet of the patient, or used the mid-cabin bathroom during the overseas flight. They will be monitored until July 30, according to the report. Also included are airline workers and family members."We’re in the timeframe where we certainly want to closely monitor people.""We define indirect contact as being within 6 feet of the patient in the absence of an N-95 or any filtering respirator for greater than or equal to three hours," McCollujm continued.Monkeypox is caused by a virus that is related to smallpox, the only human virus to have been eradicated. It causes less severe illness than smallpox, but is still quite dangerous. The CDC said thatthe fatality rate for the strain of monkeypox seen in the Dallas case is about 10%. Monkeypox is rarely seen in people. There was a large outbreak in the U.S. in 2003, when a shipment of animals from Ghana contained several rodents and other small mammals that were infected with the virus; 47 confirmed and probable cases were reported in five states. The outbreak was the first time human cases of monkeypox were reported outside of Africa. -StatNigeria has seen a sharp uptick of monkeypox cases over the past few years, while seven cases have been reported outside its borders; four in the UK, and one in Singapore, Israel and the United States. First identified in 1970 in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the original source of the monkeypox virus has yet to be identified - however cases have been linked to the handling of bushmeat as well as the trade of exotic small mammals, according to McCollum.
Superbug fears as supermarket pig farms escalate use of antibiotics — The Bureau of Investigative Journalism --The use of certain antibiotics deemed critical to human health has surged on British pig farms supplying major supermarkets, prompting fresh concerns about the rise of antibiotic-resistant superbugs. Previously unpublished industry data seen by the Bureau of Investigative Journalism, Vet Record and the Guardian shows the use of a class of antibiotics prescribed for various infections in humans more than doubled on UK pig farms between 2015 and 2019, with experts warning of a potential further rise because of impending changes to the sector. The Bureau’s investigation has established the drugs are in use on pig farms supplying pork to Tesco and Waitrose. The increase in usage of this class of drugs, known as aminoglycosides, came even as livestock farmers in the UK cut back on the overall use of antibiotics following stark warnings that the drug resistance crisis could lead to the deaths of millions of people around the world by 2050. Jim O’Neill, who chaired the UK government’s review into superbugs, said the Covid-19 pandemic has underlined the need to put the issue of drug-resistant bacteria back on the global political agenda. He said: “There needs to be much stronger international agreement, and discipline following those agreements, that we will dramatically reduce the use of antibiotics in animals – especially those that are critical for human health.” Tesco and Waitrose acknowledged they allow the use of the drugs by pork suppliers but insisted they are used responsibly. Antibiotics are widely used in livestock production to treat and prevent disease, particularly on factory farms where pigs and poultry are often reared in overcrowded conditions in which bacteria can flourish. These farms can act as incubators for potentially fatal drug-resistant diseases in humans.
The vomiting bug norovirus is surging in the the UK as it prepares to lift of all of its COVID-19 restrictions Public health experts are warning of a surge in the so-called "winter vomiting" bug as the UK government prepares on lifting all of its COVID-19 restrictions, the BBC reported. Cases of the norovirus, which is a highly contagious disease that causes projectile vomiting and diarrhea, usually peak in the winter. But the stomach bug is making a rare early appearance, with Public Health England (PHE) saying on Friday that 154 norovirus outbreaks have been reported in the last five weeks, compared to an average of 53 over the same time period in the previous five years. "Norovirus, commonly known as the winter vomiting bug, has been at lower levels than normal throughout the pandemic with less opportunity to spread between people in the community but as restrictions have eased we have seen an increase in cases across all age groups," Saheer Gharbia from Public Health England said, according to the BBC. Although the symptoms can be extremely unpleasant, norovirus usually only lasts for two days and can be treated by staying at home and drinking lots of fluids. However, norovirus is highly contagious and is easily transmitted through contact with infected people or contaminated surfaces.
15,000-year-old viruses discovered in Tibetan glacier ice. - Scientists who study glacier ice have found viruses nearly 15,000 years old in two ice samples taken from the Tibetan Plateau in China. Most of those viruses, which survived because they had remained frozen, are unlike any viruses that have been cataloged to date.The findings, published today in the journalMicrobiome, could help scientists understand how viruses have evolved over centuries. For this study, the scientists also created a new, ultra-clean method of analyzing microbes and viruses in ice without contaminating it."These glaciers were formed gradually, and along with dust and gasses, many, many viruses were also deposited in that ice," said Zhi-Ping Zhong, lead author of the study and a researcher at The Ohio State University Byrd Polar and Climate Research Center who also focuses on microbiology. "The glaciers in western China are not well-studied, and our goal is to use this information to reflect past environments. And viruses are a part of those environments."The researchers analyzed ice cores taken in 2015 from the Guliya ice cap in western China. The cores are collected at high altitudes—the summit of Guliya, where this ice originated, is 22,000 feet above sea level. The ice cores contain layers of ice that accumulate year after year, trapping whatever was in the atmosphere around them at the time each layer froze. Those layers create a timeline of sorts, which scientists have used to understand more about climate change, microbes, viruses and gasses throughout history. Researchers determined that the ice was nearly 15,000 years old using a combination of traditional and new, novel techniques to date this ice core. When they analyzed the ice, they found genetic codes for 33 viruses. Four of those viruses have already been identified by the scientific community. But at least 28 of them are novel. About half of them seemed to have survived at the time they were frozen not in spite of the ice, but because of it."These viruses have signatures of genes that help them infect cells in cold environments—just surreal genetic signatures for how a virus is able to survive in extreme conditions. These are not easy signatures to pull out, and the method that Zhi-Ping developed to decontaminate the cores and to study microbes and viruses in ice could help us search for these genetic sequences in other extreme icy environments—Mars, for example, the moon, or closer to home in Earth's Atacama Desert."
What is Monkey B virus, which has caused the first human death in China? - China has reported the first human infection case with Monkey B virus (BV) after a Beijing-based veterinarian was confirmed with the same a month after he dissected two dead monkeys in early March, according to China CDC Weekly.The 53-year-old male vet, who worked for an institution researching on non-human primates, started showing early-onset symptoms of nausea and vomiting in April. The vet died in May raising concerns amid the existing coronavirus pandemic.It said that there were no fatal or even clinically evident BV infections in China before, and therefore, the vet’s case marks the first human infection case with BV identified in China.The virus, initially isolated in 1932, is an alphaherpesvirus enzootic in macaques of the genus Macaca. B virus is the only identified old-world-monkey herpesvirus that displays severe pathogenicity in humans.The infection can be transmitted via direct contact and exchange of bodily secretions of monkeys and has a fatality rate of 70 per cent to 80 per cent. According to the Centre for Disease Control and Prevention, Macaque monkeys commonly have this virus, and it can be found in their saliva, feces (poop), urine (pee), or brain or spinal cord tissue. The virus may also be found in cells coming from an infected monkey in a lab. B virus can survive for hours on surfaces, particularly when moist. Humans can get infected if they are bitten or scratched by an infected monkey; get an infected monkey’s tissue or fluid on broken skin or in eyes, nose, or mouth; scratch or cut oneself on a contaminated cage or other sharp-edged surface or get exposed to the brain (especially), spinal cord, or skull of an infected monkey.
Maine Becomes First U.S. State to Ban 'Forever Chemicals' in Products --Maine enacted a groundbreaking law on Thursday, banning the use of so-called "forever chemicals" in all products by 2030, except in instances deemed "currently unavoidable." Maine is the first state in the U.S. and first government in the world to implement a ban on the toxic chemicals per- and polyfluoroalkyl, known as PFAS, which are notorious for not breaking down easily in the environment and can remain in a person's body for decades after exposure. The man-made chemicals can be found in soil, drinking water, the air, food packaging, cosmetics, cookware, various household products, and industrial workplaces—resulting in widespread exposure to humans and the environment. A 2015 study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) found PFAS present in 97% of Americans' blood.Democratic state House Representative Lori Gramlich who sponsored the bill, told Reuters, "PFAS is at a crisis level here in Maine—it's in the soil, groundwater, and household items, and it is making people severely sick." PFAS have been associated with numerous health effects, including low infant birth weights, liver and kidney disease, disruptions of the immune and reproductive systems, and cancer. While the statewide ban does not take affect until January 2030, manufacturers will have to begin reporting the presence of PFAS chemicals in their products to the Maine Department of Environmental Quality starting in January 2023."This policy sets a strong national precedent that sends a clear signal to industry that we need to move quickly toward safer chemistry and away from toxic chemicals like PFAS," said Sarah Doll, the national director of Safer States, a public health advocacy group that advocates for stronger legislation on PFAS at the state level.
Report: 650,000 lead pipes still carry water in Ohio; 2nd most in U.S. - As many as 650,000 lead pipes statewide deliver water to Ohioans, according to a report released last week by the Natural Resources Defense Council. This makes Ohio the second worst state in the nation as measured by the estimated number of lead pipes (technically known as lead-containing service lines) in the water system, behind only Illinois with 730,000.“It matters because it’s like drinking your water through a lead straw,” said Erik Olson, a senior strategic director for health at the NRDC, in an interview.Lead is a neurotoxin, and there is no safe level of exposure. Children and infants areespecially vulnerable to lead exposure, which has been linked to damage to the central nervous system, learning disabilities, impaired hearing and impaired formation and function of blood cells.Acidic water sources corrode the pipes, leaching their lead into the water. Clinical testing detected at least 3,533 Ohio children with elevated blood levels in 2019, according to state data. There’s no surefire way to confirm the NRDC’s estimate — Ohio doesn’t have a comprehensive estimate of the number of lead service lines in the system. The NRDC figures come from a 2016 water industry self-survey, that auditors with the U.S. Government Accountability Office believe to be a lowball.Nationwide, somewhere between 9.7 million to 12.8 million lead pipes are believed to run water to Americans’ homes, according to the report. That’s 6.2 million known lead water pipes, plus 3.5 million to 6.6 million service lines that are of “unknown” material but may be lead.The Public Utilities Commission of Ohio deferred questions to the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency. OEPA spokeswoman Heidi Griesmer said while the data is “informative,” the agency can’t verify its accuracy.Griesmer said the agency is collecting lead service line data and requiring utilities to take inventory of all lead pipes “to be submitted to us in upcoming years.” She did not respond when asked for a more specific timeline. It’s an expensive problem. One pipe is usually 15- to 20-feet, according to Olson, but some even reach 50 feet.Each pipe costs somewhere between $2,400 and $7,100 to replace, according to Kristy Meyer, associate director of Freshwater Future, which advocates for clean water. Unless a utility keeps meticulous records on pipe installation, these estimates don’t factor in their costs of digging down to determine whether a service line contains lead. Freshwater Future requested in a letter to lawmakers that they take $1 billion of the American Rescue Plan of 2021, which allocated more than $5 billion to Ohio, and use it for lead service line replacement. State lawmakers recently passed House Bill 168, which among other distributions, allocates $250 million to the Ohio Department of Development (not the OEPA) to establish and administer a water and sewer quality program. Monies will be granted to cities and counties for water and sewer quality projects.
Evacuations Ordered Over Chemical Venting at Dow Plant Near Houston - Residents of a Texas city southeast of Houston woke up to evacuation and shelter-in-place orders Wednesday morning following an incident at a Dow chemical plant.The first alert was issued by La Porte Emergency Management (OEM) at 7:30 a.m., urging residents east of the city's Bay Area Boulevard to remain inside and turn off their air conditioning, as KHOU 11 reported. "Go inside, close all doors and windows, and turn off A/C systems," OEM tweeted in a later update. "Remain sheltered in place until you receive an All Clear phone call from the City."OEM gave the all clear at around 10:47 a.m. local time.The La Porte Fire Department also issued an evacuation order for the half-mile radius surrounding the plant, at 13300 Bay Area Boulevard.That order did remain in effect as of 10:47 a.m.The orders were sparked by an incident at Dow's Houston Operations Bayport site. Dow Houston Operations first announced on Facebook that a tank was venting an unknown chemical at 8:40 a.m. Wednesday. In a 9:05 a.m. update, they announced that the chemical was Hydroxy Ethyl Acrylate (HEA), an acrylic used in both coatings and adhesives to make them more resistant to scratches, chemicals and weatherization, Houston Public Media reported.The chemical escaped from a tank vent when the tank wagon overpressurized, according to Harris County Pollution Control. HEA can cause serious burns and eye damage, as well as an allergic reaction in the skin. It is also harmful if swallowed. However, both Dow and Pollution Control said the chemical had not left the site."There is no indication by monitoring data that this event has caused off-site impact. However, out of abundance of caution, employees were evacuated and we continue to work with the Office of Emergency Preparedness on a shelter in place," Dow wrote on Facebook. "Thanks to the work of our employees, contract partners and emergency services, there are no injuries associated with this ongoing event."Video footage reported by KHOU 11 showed firefighters spraying down tanker trailers, but no flames or smoke were visible as of 9:05 a.m. local time.Most of the area being evacuated houses industrial facilities, KTRK reported. However, one neighborhood did lie within the half-mile radius, and La Porte police said fewer than 10 homes were impacted.The Dow plant at La Porte covers 139 acres, makes one billion pounds of products yearly and employs 225 workers and 150 contractors, according to Dow's website.The incident is far from the first time an event at a Texas chemical plant has prompted evacuations. An explosion at the Texas Petroleum Chemical plant in 2019, for example, forced 60,000 people to flee their homes the day before Thanksgiving.
Red Tide Leaves Hundreds of Tons of Fish Dead in Florida’s Tampa Bay -A deadly red tide has returned to Florida's Tampa Bay, prompting protests over government inaction.The solid waste division of Pinellas County, where Tampa Bay is located, said they had picked up 600 tons of dead marine life since late June, as NPR reported."The bay is really hurting right now," Pinellas County resident Maya Burke told NPR. "It's significant numbers of dead fish all up and down the food chain, from small forage fish all the way up to tarpon, manatees, dolphins... If it's swimming in the bay, right now it's washing up dead."The devastation prompted more than 100 protestors to march along the St. Petersburg waterfront on Saturday, as The AP reported. The demonstrators called on Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis to declare a state of emergency in order to provide funds to address the problem. "This is not political," protest organizer Aimee Conlee said at the demonstration, as The AP reported. "This is life. This is water, and water is life."The St. Petersburg City Council backed the call with a resolution passed last week, but DeSantis has said there is enough funding available from the state's Department of Environmental Protection without a declaration.Red tides are caused by an overabundance of the algae Karenia brevis, The Smithsonian explained. This algae is naturally occurring in the Gulf of Mexico, but is made worse by nutrient pollution, according to The AP. It is unusual for these blooms to occur in Tampa Bay during the summer months, NPR reported. Instead, they typically begin in the fall and end by January. The last serious summer red tide was in 2018, and this year's outbreak looks to be worse. "This is not normal," NOAA oceanographer Richard Stumpf told NPR. "The fact that it's been three years since the last one is not good." The outbreak comes around three months after a major leak at a phosphate plant wastewater pond located in a Piney Point reservoir near Tampa Bay. Experts say pollutants from the leak could be worsening the tide, but are unlikely to be its original source.
Landfills across the U.S. are raking in millions. Here's how - America has long remained one of the most wasteful countries in the world, generating 239 million metric tons of garbage every year, about 1,600 to 1,700 pounds per person. While some view it as a threat to our environment and society, the solid waste management industry sees an opportunity. "It's a profitable industry," according to Debra Reinhart, a member of the Board of Scientific Counselors for the EPA. "It's a difficult industry but it is profitable if it's done right." Two private companies, Waste Management and Republic Services, lead the solid waste management sector. Together they own about 480 landfills out of the 2,627 landfills across the United States. The two companies have seen staggering performance in the market, with the stock prices of both doubling in the past five years. Both Waste Management and Republic Services declined CNBC's request for an interview. "They've learned how to be best-in-class businesses," said Michael E. Hoffman, a managing director at Stifel Financial. "Their publicly traded stocks outperformed the market handily between 2015 and 2019 and underpinning it is a meaningful improvement in their free cash flow conversion." The stocks have continued to outperform. Since its inception, landfills have made a majority of their revenue via tipping fees. These fees are charged to trucks that are dropping off their garbage based on their weight per ton. In 2020, municipal solid waste landfills had an average tipping fee of $53.72 per ton. That translates to roughly $1.4 million a year in approximate average gross revenue for small landfills and $43.5 million a year for large landfills just from gate fees. Tipping fees have seen steady growth over the past four decades. In 1982, the national average tipping fee sat at $8.07 per ton or about $23.00 when adjusted for inflation. That's nearly a 133% increase in 35 years. While tipping fees make landfills sound like a risk-free business, they are still quite an expensive investment. It can cost about $1.1 million to $1.7 million just to construct, operate and close a landfill. For this reason, private companies have replaced municipal governments to own and operate the majority of the landfills across the U.S. "I think it's because the trend has been to go larger and larger so the small neighborhood dump can't exist because of the regulations and the sophistication of the design," Reinhart said. "So we are tending to see large landfills, which do require a lot of investment upfront."
The Dangers of Runoff From Land - According to the United States Geological Survey, runoff naturally occurs after rain falls onto a landscape. The water doesn't just sit on top of the ground; some seeps into soils to refresh groundwater, but most flows across ecosystems as surface runoff. In this way, runoff is an important part of the natural water cycle. Runoff becomes a problem when stormwater picks up potential pollutants as it flows overland. According to USGS, stormwater pollutants can include anything from sediment, nutrients from agriculture such as phosphorous and nitrogen, bacteria from animal and human waste, pesticides from lawn and garden chemicals, to metals from rooftops and roadways. All of these things accumulate as water flows down drains and/or towards streams, lakes and ultimately the sea. They also degrade water quality and can pose danger to plants, animals and people, USGS reported.
Unfortunately, high concentrations of nutrients contained in most runoff are what cause harm, he said. Nutrient runoff can cause a multitude of problems in ecosystems worldwide, Rolsky emphasized.Trash, excessive nutrients and other pollutants are making their way together down drains and streams and harming aquatic life along the way. Just as with trash, there are "downstream consequences" of this runoff and wastewater that are often overlooked. Here are a few:
- Excess phosphorous from agricultural sources has led to algal blooms that deplete oxygen from aquatic and marine ecosystems. This causes massive die-offs of aquatic and marine life and can release toxins harmful to humans. In Tampa, FL, one such red tide is currently devastating marine life.
- Water pollution has caused massive seagrass die-offs, which is starving Florida manatees.
- Nitrogen released when fossil fuels are burned can create acid rains that damage lands and waters around the planet.
- Methamphetamines excreted by users pass through sewage systems and then discharge from wastewater treatment plants, and can cause trout to become addicted, CNN reported.
- Sea turtles, especially endangered green sea turtles that live near urban coastlines, often develop debilitating fibropapilloma tumors on their eyes and flippers. "Studies suggest that there are links between FP and human effects on the environment, including various forms of pollution" in the water, NOAA reported.
- Animal waste and fertilizer runoff from industrial meat farms created the largest marine dead zone ever in the Gulf of Mexico where nothing can survive in the oxygen-depleted waters.
- Car pollution has contributed to 100% mortality of endangered Coho salmon in the Puget Sound Basin through stormwater runoff along the transportation grid.
All of these unfortunate events underline how humans pollute the natural environment far beyond what is visible.
World’s Coral Scientists Warn Action is Needed Now to Save Even a Few Reefs from Climate Change - Over the past century, sea surface temperatures have risen by an average of about 0.13 degrees Celsius (0.23 F) per decade as the oceans absorb the vast majority of greenhouse gas emissions from human activities, largely from the burning of fossil fuels. The temperature increase and changing ocean chemistry affects sea life of all kinds, from deteriorating the shells of oysters and tiny pteropods, an essential part of the food chain, to causing fish populations to migrate to cooler water.Corals can become stressed when temperatures around them rise just 1 C (1.8 F) above their tolerance level. With water temperature elevated from global warming, even a minor heat wave can become devastating.These events and rising global temperatures are why the International Coral Reef Society, which represents thousands of coral scientists, issued an urgent call to governments on July 20, 2021, to do more to protect coral reefs. As part of its report on the state of the world’s reefs, it listed ways to help reefs survive, including investing in conservation, management and restoration; committing to slow climate change, reduce pollution and stop overfishing; and supporting efforts to help corals adapt to warming waters. With swift action to slow climate change, the group writes, about 30% of reefs could survive the century; if global temperatures rise by 2 C (3.6 F) or more, only about 1% will still exist. At stake is an estimated US$10 trillion in annual economic value and coastline protection.In 2015, the ocean heat from a strong El Niño event triggered the mass bleaching in the Chagos reefs and around the world. It was the third global bleaching on record, following events in 1998 and 2010.Bleaching doesn’t just affect the corals – entire reef systems and the fish that feed, spawn and live among the coral branches suffer. One study of reefs around Papua New Guinea in the southwest Pacific found that about 75% of the reef fish species declined after the 1998 bleaching, and many of those species declined by more than half.Research shows marine heat waves are now about 20 times more likely than they were just four decades ago, and they tend to be hotter and last longer. We’re at the point now that some places in the world are anticipating coral bleaching every couple of years.That increasing frequency of heat waves is a death knell for reefs. They don’t have time to recover before they get hit again.
Australia Lobbying Thwarts Push to List Great Barrier Reef as Endangered - An intense lobbying campaign by the pro-fossil fuel Australian government succeeded Friday in keeping the Great Barrier Reef off a list of World Heritage Sites considered "in danger," despite experts' warnings that the biodiverse ecosystem is increasingly imperiled by the global climate emergency.The 21-nation World Heritage Committee — organized by the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) — voted down a push to categorize the Great Barrier Reef as endangered, an effort that the right-wing Australian government fervently opposed with the backing of Saudi Arabia and other oil-friendly countries.Instead of designating the Reef as "in danger," the World Heritage Committee on Friday instructed the government of Australia to produce a progress report on the structure's condition by February 2022.David Ritter, CEO of Greenpeace Australia, said in a statement that Friday's vote "is a victory for one of the most cynical lobbying efforts in recent history.""Under the UNESCO treaty, the Australian government promised the world it would do its utmost to protect the Reef — instead it has done its utmost to hide the truth," said Ritter. "This is not an achievement — it is a day of shame for the Australian government."Lesley Hughes, a spokesperson for Climate Council, an Australia-based advocacy organization, slammed the government lobbying blitz and said lawmakers "must stop censoring science.""The science is clear: climate change is accelerating and is the single, greatest threat to the Great Barrier Reef. In the past five years it has been repeatedly and severely damaged by three marine heatwaves," said Hughes, a professor of biology at Macquarie University in Sydney. "Until we see credible climate action, and the phasing out of fossil fuels like coal, oil, and gas, this situation will worsen, not improve. The Great Barrier Reef is in danger, and trying to hide the facts won't change a thing."
Biden proposes restoration of northern spotted owl habitat, reversing late Trump rule - The Biden administration is proposing to restore protections for millions of forests home to the northern spotted owl in the Pacific Northwest, the latest reversal of environmental protections undone by the Trump administration. In a Federal Register notice Tuesday, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service determined there was “insufficient rationale and justification” behind the Trump-era removal of protections. The affected 3.4 million acres stretched across nearly 45 counties in Oregon, Washington and Northern California. The agency said it would instead curtail protections on about 200,000 acres in Oregon, following up on a 2020 proposal. The environmental group Oregon Wild said that while the reversal was necessary, it was shy of the action needed to protect the species. “We’re not going to get any new critical habitat out of this,” Steve Pedery, the group’s conservation director, told The Washington Post. “This is great, it absolutely needs to happen, but it’s not, in and of itself, going to recover spotted owls or protect salmon.” Meanwhile, the timber industry has argued expanding protected forests prevents controlled forest management, which is often used as preventative measure against forest fires, the number one threat to the owl. "We strongly support the Biden administration's move, but it is important to recognize this is still going to result in the loss of hundreds of thousands of acres of mature and old-growth forest habitat on public lands," Steve Pedery, the group’s conservation director, told The Hill. "It's like worrying that your bank account was overdrawn by $3.4 million, then being happy it is only $200,000." "If the administration is going to meet its climate goals, and protect rare species like the owl, it needs to go much further in protecting ancient forests on public lands," he added. "A good start would be a moratorium on logging mature and old-growth in the temperate rainforests of the Pacific Northwest. They have already taken this step in the Tongass, but they need to think more broadly." OVERNIGHT ENERGY: Democrats lay out vision for
France to Ban Shredding and Gassing of Male Chicks --The culling of male chicks will be outlawed next year in France, Agriculture Minister Julien Denormandie announced on Sunday. Each year, 50 million male chicks are killed by being shredded, or gassed with carbon monoxide because they don't produce eggs nor grow as large as female chicks, according to Raidió Teilifís Éireann (RTÉ), Ireland's National Public Service Media. "France is the first country in the world, along with Germany, to end the crushing and gassing of male chicks," Denormandie said on the daily news website Le Parisien, according to Reuters.Germany banned the culling of male chicks by 2022 in May, according to Republic World. German Agriculture Minister Julia Klockner said culling was not "to be ethically acceptable," according to Republic World. Switzerland banned the shredding of male chicks in 2019.This initiative comes after years of pushback by animal welfare groups and the measure will be pushed to be adopted at a European level, Denormandie said, according to Reuters.In 2022 chick breeders will need to adopt machines that can detect the sex of chicks before they hatch, according to Reuters. However, farmers said that there's no easy or affordable way to find out a chick's sex before hatching at mass production facility, according to The AFP. An EU directive from 2009 allowed farmers to shred male chicks after hatching as long as death is "immediate" and the chick is less than 72 hours old, according to The AFP. In addition to banning the culling of male chicks, Denormandie also said that the castration of live piglets will also be prohibited in 2022, according to Reuters.
After Recent ‘Heat Dome,’ Washington Issues Warning Not to Eat Raw Shellfish - Washington State health officials have urged consumers not to eat locally harvested raw oysters and other shellfish after an outbreak of intestinal disease caused by bacteria that multiplied rapidly after a recent “heat dome” baked the Pacific Northwest. State health officials said that recent high temperatures and low tides were most likely to blame for the outbreak of the disease, vibriosis, which has sickened at least 52 people this month, the most ever recorded in July. The disease — which usually lasts between four hours and four days and causes diarrhea, abdominal cramps, nausea, vomiting, headache, fever and chills — is associated with eating raw or undercooked shellfish, especially oysters that are contaminated with vibrio, a bacteria that is found naturally in coastal waters. In low numbers, the bacteria do not pose any threat to people who eat shellfish. But the bacteria multiply quickly in warm conditions, so oysters are more likely to be contaminated in hot summer months when many like to savor the briny delicacy with a chilled glass of wine. Late last month, a “heat dome” enveloped the Pacific Northwest, shattering records across the region. Seattle broke a record on June 28 for the highest temperature ever recorded by the National Weather Service there: 108 degrees. The previous high of 105 degrees had been set in July 2009. “It was a perfect storm of these super low tides we’ve been having this month and the high heat,” Washington State health officials recommended that people cook shellfish at 145 degrees Fahrenheit for 15 seconds to destroy vibrio bacteria, that they check the department’s Shellfish Safety Map before heading to the beach to harvest shellfish recreationally, and that they always keep oysters chilled on ice or refrigerated. “We’re recommending, if you don’t want to get sick, don’t eat raw oysters,” Ms. McCallion said. “Cook them. Make sure they’re fully cooked.”
‘Just like any other livestock’: Drought’s effect on beekeeping in South Dakota. — Drought has taken a toll across the state of South Dakota. From corn and wheat to cattle, producers have made been put in a tough spot while keeping a hopeful eye on the sky. Another group that has been watching for rain is beekeepers. Bret Adee is the owner of Adee Honey Farms, with an operation in Roscoe, S.D.,which is currently listed on the drought monitor as being under extreme drought.,. Just like any other livestock, he says bees need moisture to produce. “You’ve got to have green plants,” said Adee. Pollen and nectar are essential for honey production, and the drought has resulted in a difficult season so far. “The plants look okay,” he says “but they aren’t producing nectar.” Adee says that he hopes they can get about three inches of rain by the end of August. “Very stressed plants put out lots of nectar after rain,” he says. This is because the plants go into survival mode, according to Adee, putting available energy into producing seed, pollen and nectar rather than into growing larger. Adee says even with the way the season has gone so far, a decent amount of rain could allow them to salvage a good if not great season.The main crops in the region that provide nectar, according to Adee, are clover, soy beans, alfalfa and sunflowers. He says that if you can smell the plants from the road, it’s a good sign that they’ve gotten moisture and are producing nectar.As for the bees themselves, Adee says the drought can take a toll on them too. The bees go dormant, he says. They put their resources toward surviving, producing fewer larvae and focusing on maintaining their population rather than growing. In the absence of nectar to gather, Adee says the bees will focus on securing water resources.Adee says that the farm makes effort to find the bees forage — places they can gather nectar — in these conditions, and that they have even resorted at one point to giving them sugar water to keep them sustained, but doing so is both time consuming and expensive.
'True Cost' of Food Is 3x What Americans Pay, Report Finds - Americans' grocery bills reflect only a third of a true cost of food, according to a new report, which evaluated factors including healthcare costs, spending associated with biodiversity loss, and the direct environmental impacts of farming and ranching to determine that the U.S. spends at least $3.2 trillion on food each year.Officially the cost is believed to be $1.1 trillion, but as the Rockefeller Foundation explains in its report, True Cost of Food: Measuring What Matters to Transform the U.S. Food System, "our food system rings up immense 'hidden costs' from its impact on human health, the environment, and social and economic inequity." The organization evaluated 14 metrics including air pollution, food insecurity, antimicrobial resistance driven by the widespread use of antibiotics in farming, and greenhouse gas emissions and found that "externalized costs" amounting to at least $2.1 trillion annually are being incurred by consumers, producers, and future generations."Don't think we're getting a good deal here," the organization said in a video posted to social media. "We're actually getting squeezed. Society pays that balance not out of our pockets but through other means like rising healthcare costs, effects of climate change, and food workers who are often underpaid and undervalued." "Americans pay that high cost even if consumers don't see it in the checkout line," reads the report. "And, if we don't change our food system, future generations will pay those high costs, too." The report identifies human health impacts as the biggest hidden cost in the food system, amounting to $1.1 trillion per year, including $604 billion that's "attributable to healthcare costs related to diet-related diseases such hypertension, cancer, and diabetes." "The additional costs are impacts from healthcare costs from workplace injuries, food insecurity and pollution, and additional costs attributable to obesity," reads the report. Many health-related costs of the food system would be eliminated through a concerted effort by policymakers to expand access to healthy food for all Americans, business incentives, infrastructure investment, and other reforms, the report says.
The Western drought is worse than you think. Here's why - It has lasted longer than the Dust Bowl of the 1930s. It’s dropped water levels perilously low at two of the nation’s largest reservoirs, forced ranchers to sell off herds and helped propel scorching wildfires. And worst of all, the drought blanketing the western United States is not going away. A group of experts featuring federal and state officials and farmers and ranchers spent nearly three hours yesterday chronicling the devastation caused by drought conditions that now cover almost every inch of seven Western states. Half of the U.S. population lives in a drought-stricken area. The virtual session, organized by NOAA, sought to draw attention to the vast effects of the drought — and to the Biden administration’s effort to help suffering communities and industries and to warn about climate change. “In Oregon, a wildfire the size of Los Angeles is burning now,” “And this is only the start of the wildfire season out West.” The drought has been particularly hard for Western farmers and ranchers, many of whom are facing water scarcity that is stunting crops and thinning herds as ranchers sell livestock because of feed shortages. “We’re seeing 10% to 25% herd reductions,” Schafer said, noting the effects of a widespread shortage of animal feed. “No water for a farmer means no crop, no foods and a very limited ability to take care of his or her family.” Although recent heat waves have helped drive the Western drought to its current expanse, conditions have been building for over 20 years due to above-average temperatures and below-average precipitation. Drought conditions now afflict 96% of seven Western states — Arizona, California, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Oregon and Washington — the highest percentage since record keeping began in 2000. “Starting around 2000 or the late 1990s, we’ve seen many years of below-normal precipitation,” said climatologist David Simeral of the Desert Research Institute. Asked to compare the current Western drought to the Dust Bowl, which hit parts of the West and the Great Plains in successive waves in the 1930s, Simeral said, “This has been a more prolonged period of drought that’s occurred than back in that era. We’re looking at nearly two decades.” The drought has reduced river and stream flows across the West, most notably on the Colorado River, threatening electric plants that rely on hydropower and water supplies in Southern California. Lake Mead, the nation’s largest reservoir and a water source for 20 million people in Arizona, California and Nevada, is at just 35% of its capacity. That’s the lowest level since the reservoir was filled in 1935, said Demetri Polyzos of the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California. Southern California is handling decreased water imports from the Colorado River and from Northern California by relying on water that the southern region has stored in recent years, Polyzos said. “This year, we’re prepared for the dry conditions,” Polyzos said. “Our concern is that the outlook for both imported systems is pretty bleak.”
Monsoons could break droughts in Southwest -Monsoons bringing rain across the Southwestern U.S. could help break droughts. The rain comes as virtually the entire Grand Canyon state is under some level of drought, according to a map from the U.S. Drought Monitor released Thursday. The heaviest rain is concentrated in the worst drought regions in Arizona, which are along the border of New Mexico up the eastern side to the Utah border, CNN reported. Flash flood watches are currently in effect in all three states. The National Weather service said the monsoon driven by heavy rainfall is expected through the weekend. There is a moderate risk of excessive rainfall in parts of Arizona and New Mexico through Sunday morning. A slight risk of excessive rainfall is also in place for parts of southwest Utah, central New Mexico and southwest Colorado. Roughly 1-4 inches of rain fell across the Tucson, Ariz. area on Friday, CNN reported. Tucson International Airport recorded 0.48 inches of rain Saturday morning, pushing its monthly total to 3.45 inches of rain as of June 15, the National Weather Service said. More rain was expected on Saturday. As of 5 am, the #Tucson Intl airport has recorded 0.48" this morning. This pushes the July monthly total to 3.28" which ranks as the 26th wettest July on record. Meanwhile in Phoenix, Phoenix Sky Harbor broke its record for daily rainfall on Friday with 0.80 inches of rain, eclipsing a previous record set in 2002 when 0.41 inches fell. Rainfall for the entire monsoon is at 1.172 inches at Sky Harbor since June 15.
Greybull breaks record reaching 107 degrees; Casper ties record set in 1943 - . — Wyoming saw multiple locations break or tie heat records for July 19 on Monday, according to the National Weather Service in Riverton. Greybull saw the hottest temperatures at 107 degrees, breaking the previous record of 103 degrees set in 2007. Worland was next hottest reaching 106 degrees, breaking their previous record of 102 degrees set in 1998. Casper reached 94 degrees on Monday, tying a record set in 1943. Buffalo reached 101 degrees, breaking their previous record for July 19 of 97 degrees, set in 2012. Both Riverton and Lander reached 100 degrees, breaking their previous records of 99 and 98 degrees, respectively. Both records were set in 1998. Rock Springs reached 96 degrees on Monday, breaking their record of 94 degrees set in 1998. Big Piney reached 94 degrees, breaking the record of 92 degrees set in 2006. Cody tied their previous record of 98 degrees, last seen in 1960. Jackson was one of the few major communities that didn’t set or tie records. Jackson reached 92 degrees on Monday, not hot enough to beat their record for July 19 of 96 degrees, set in 1934.
Northern Ireland records its highest ever temperature as UK bakes - Northern Ireland records its highest ever temperature as UK bakes - The hottest day of the year so far has been recorded in all four UK nations and forecasters believe it could be even warmer on Sunday. It was the hottest day on record in Northern Ireland with 31.2C recorded in Ballywatticock, in County Down, at 3.40pm, beating the previous highest temperature of 30.8C, reached on 12 July 1983 and 30 June 1976.In England, 30.3C was recorded in Coton in the Elms, Derbyshire, on Saturday, surpassing the 29.7C recorded in south-west London on 14 June.The year’s highest temperatures so far were also recorded in Usk, Monmouthshire, Wales, at 29.6C, and in Threave, in the Dumfries and Galloway region of Scotland, at 28.2C.But the Met Office said temperatures could rise yet higher in England and south Wales on Sunday as the summer heatwave continues. Tom Morgan, meteorologist at the Met Office, said: “Temperatures are expected to increase even further on Sunday, reaching highs of 33C in the south of the UK.” He added that an extended hot spell of weather is expected to last for much of the week ahead: “It’s going to mean that people are really going to feel the effects of the heat as we go through this week.”
Coast to coast heat dome to deliver sweltering weather next week -Summer is supposed to be hot. But this season has featured many large-scale North American heat waves that have roasted significant swaths of the country, helping temperatures skyrocket and toppling records.Another heat wave is set to park over the Lower 48 next week, bringing anomalous summertime heat to parts of the central and eastern United States that may have missed out on previous events.Early estimates indicate that most of the contiguous United States will see highs running 10 to 15 degrees above average. When combined with climbing humidity, it’ll feel like it’s well into the triple digits for millions. The pattern could also spark severe thunderstorms, perhaps packing strong winds, that could roll through the northern Great Lakes and New England during late July and August.On Friday, most of the heat was relegated to the north central United States, where temperatures in the Dakotas were forecast to near 100.Billings, Mont., has already measured 13 days topping 95 degrees this month. Monday spiked to 107 degrees, a degree shy of an all-time record. With highs in the upper 90s to lower 100s projected every day over the coming week, it is possible that tally may climb to near 20 by the end of July. That would mark the most 95-plus degree days in Billings in July since 1936.Next week’s heat wave looks to be more impressive in duration than in magnitude. Heat advisories are in effect for parts of Minnesota and the Upper Midwest, the Plains and Corn Belt and along the Gulf CoastIn addition to daytime highs in the upper 90s with heat indices reaching 105 degrees, nighttime lows will struggle to drop. “Overnight lows will not cool to less than 70 to 75 degrees,” warned the Weather Service in Kansas City, where an excessive heat warning is in effect. “This will make the recovery from daytime heat tougher to overcome.”
Historic crop loss as severe frosts hit Brazil - Farmers across Brazil are reporting widespread crop loss due to severe frosts affecting the country over the past 3 weeks. After several destructive cold waves, another blast is expected over the weekend, July 24 and 25, followed by yet another at the end of the month.The new week has begun with the already-shattered corn market in Brazil enduring yet another blow as a new cold wave swept the center-south of Brazil, bringing frosts to corn-producing states and raising fresh concerns about export volumes and contract breaches,Agricensus reports."It is going to be a historic crop loss," Daniele Siqueira from local consultancy Agrural told Agricensus.On Monday, July 19, frosts hit parts of the states of Paraná and Mato Grosso do Sul, with late-planted corn areas likely affected.The cold wave reached its peak on Tuesday, July 20 with forecasts showing potential fresh frosts in the states of Paraná, Mato Grosso do Sul, São Paulo, and Minas Gerais.According to a report by Marco Antonio dos Santos of Rural Clima, Tuesday's frost hit crops including sugar cane, coffee, and orange. Coffee brokers said this frost was stronger than the last one."Output losses will be extremely large across all producing states apart from Mato Grosso… Paraná and Mato Grosso do Sul will have no export capacity whatsoever," Siqueira said."The situation is so dramatic that there will not be any corn left in the market in September and the country will need to import much more from Argentina," Victor Martins from Hedgepoint Global Markets said.According to Soybean and Corn Advisor president Dr. Michael Cordonnier, temperatures in southern Brazil dipped below freezing three weeks ago and it’s expected to be even colder this week."The coldest in 20 years in some of these areas. And I like to tell people that 20 years ago there was not much Safrinha corn. And now that crop accounts for three-quarters of all of Brazil’s corn production." Cordonnier told Brownfield the Brazilian frost events are the equivalent of the U.S. Corn Belt experiencing three nights below freezing in mid-July.
At least 70 large wildfires burning in US west as fears mount over conditions - At least 70 large wildfires are burning across the US west and nearby states – engulfing more than 1m acres in flames – as fears mount that shifting conditions can worsen an already dire situation. Significant areas of these states are in the grips of drought conditions that are considered “extreme” and “exceptional” – the most severe categories.In California, a rapidly growing wildfire south of Lake Tahoe jumped a highway, prompting more evacuation orders and the cancellation of an extreme bike ride through the Sierra Nevada on Saturday.The Tamarack Fire, which was sparked by lightning on 4 July, exploded overnight and was over 20,000 acres as of Saturday evening, according to the Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest.The blaze was threatening Markleeville, a small town close to the California-Nevada state line, with thousands of bikers and spectators gathered for the 103-mile (165-kilometre) Death Ride stranded in the small town and racing to get out.In Oregon, authorities have said that arid, windy and unstable conditions will continue fueling the 281,208-acre Bootleg fire, which is just 22% contained, according to National Interagency Fire Center and InciWeb. The smoke and heat have spurred giant “fire clouds”, which are dangerous columns of ash and smoke that can spiral up to six miles skyward.At least 2,106 firefighting personnel are battling Bootleg, which is now the largest US forest fire. Officials have also worried that this inferno might merge with the nearby Log fire, which totals at least 4,830 acres. Meteorologists also detected a larger, more extreme type of fire clouds earlier this week – ones that can make their own weather, such as “fire tornadoes”. This extreme fire behavior is expected to worsen over the course of this weekend.
Lake Tahoe Wildfire Prompts Evacuations - The New York Times -A wildfire that has been burning for two weeks just south of Lake Tahoe in California quickly expanded on over the weekend, jumping a highway and prompting a wave of evacuations and event cancellations. It was one of several blazes around the state that have strained crews and threatened property. Track Wildfires in the West See the latest wildfires and air quality in California, Oregon, Washington and surrounding states. The Tamarack Fire, which started with a lightning strike on July 4, was more than 18,000 acres large and zero percent contained as of late Sunday night, fire officials said. Heavy smoke grounded all firefighting aircraft on Sunday as the blaze spread, they said. Several surrounding communities, including Markleeville, Grover Hot Springs, Shay Creek and others near the Nevada border, were under evacuation orders. A portion of Highway 89 was closed and a section of the Pacific Crest Trail was also closed. The fire forced the cancellation of this year’s Death Ride, a 103-mile extreme cycling event that would have had its 40th anniversary this weekend. The Associated Press reported that the fire left bikers and spectators racing to evacuate on Saturday. Nearly 800 fire and emergency personnel were assigned to that wildfire, according to officials from the Humboldt Toiyabe National Forest. A red flag warning, indicating conditions were ripe for fires, was in place through Monday morning. Farther north, the Beckwourth Complex in Plumas County continued to spread over the weekend, reaching more than 100,000 acres by late Sunday night. That fire, comprising the Dotta Fire, which lightning sparked on June 30, and the Sugar Fire, which started July 2 also by lightning, is 82 percent contained. More than 2,000 personnel were assigned to that fire. In Butte County, Calif., the Dixie Fire, has grown to more than 18,000 acres since it started last week, according to the stage agency Cal Fire. Officials said the fire was 15 percent contained, had injured one person and was burning in remote areas of steep terrain, with limited access. Evacuations orders were in place for parts of Butte and Plumas Counties. Tony Brownell, a fire operation section chief, said in a news conference on Sunday that there were many challenges facing crews in getting the Dixie Fire under control. “We will get around this thing,” he said. “We fight a fire aggressively, but we’re not going to hurt anybody. We don’t want the public to get hurt and we don’t want the firefighters to get hurt.”
Dangerous conditions for Western wildfires as Oregon blaze grows to the size of Los Angeles — Erratic winds and parched Oregon forests added to the dangers for firefighters on Monday as they battled the largest wildfire in the U.S., one of dozens burning across several Western states. The destructive Bootleg Fire was considered one of the largest in modern Oregon history and was burning more than 476 square miles, an area about the size of Los Angeles. The blaze just north of the California border was 25% contained. Meteorologists predicted critically dangerous fire weather through at least Monday with lightning possible in both California and southern Oregon. “With the very dry fuels, any thunderstorm has the potential to ignite new fire starts,” the National Weather Service in Sacramento, California, said on Twitter. Thousands of people were already facing evacuation orders, including some 2,000 people residing in the largely rural areas of lakes and wildlife refuges near the fire, which has burned at least 67 homes and 100 outbuildings while threatening many more. Extremely dry conditions and heat waves tied to climate change have swept the region, making wildfires harder to fight. Climate change has made the West much warmer and drier in the past 30 years and will continue to make weather more extreme and wildfires more frequent and destructive. Firefighters said in July they were facing conditions more typical of late summer or fall. Pyrocumulus clouds — literally translated as “fire clouds” — complicated containment efforts for the Dixie Fire in northern California on Sunday, as well as flames that spread to remote areas with steep terrain that are harder for crews to reach, officials said. New evacuation orders were issued in rural communities near the Feather River Canyon. The Dixie Fire remained 15% contained and covered 29 square miles. The fire is northeast of the town of Paradise, California, and survivors of that horrific fire that killed 85 people watched warily as the blaze burned. A growing wildfire south of Lake Tahoe jumped a highway, prompting more evacuation orders, the closure of the Pacific Crest Trail and the cancellation of an extreme bike ride through the Sierra Nevada. The Tamarack Fire, which was sparked by lightning on July 4, had charred about 28.5 square miles of dry brush and timber as of Sunday night. The blaze was threatening Markleeville, a small town close to the California-Nevada state line. It has destroyed at least two structures, authorities said. A notice posted Saturday on the 103-mile Death Ride’s website said several communities in the area had been evacuated and ordered all bike riders to clear the area. The fire left thousands of bikers and spectators stranded in the small town and racing to get out.
Oregon wildfires creating 'fire clouds,' potential for 'fire tornadoes' -The wildfires ripping through Oregon are generating "fire clouds" capable of creating their own dangerous weather patterns, The Associated Press reports. Authorities note that the massive blaze has led to columns of smoke and ash that can be seen more than 100 miles away. For four days in a row, the bootleg fire has created these clouds, which tend to form between 3 p.m. and 5 p.m. The largest and most intense of these fire clouds, called pyrocumulus clouds, are being created above a section of dead forest, which burns at a faster rate.The bootleg fire, currently the largest wildfire burning in the U.S., has mostly generated fire clouds of lesser intensity; however, the National Weather Service on Wednesday spotted a pyrocumulonimbus cloud. These superclouds, dubbed by NASA as the "fire-breathing dragon of clouds," are able to create their own dangerous weather patterns. At their worst, pyrocumulonimbus clouds can lead to a "fire tornado," the AP notes. Firefighters had to abandon their efforts Thursday when one of the fire clouds partially collapsed, causing intense winds and sending embers falling down on them. "We’re expecting those exact same conditions to develop today and even worsen into the weekend," fire spokeswoman Holly Krake told the AP on Friday.
Air quality in NYC, Philly plummets due to smoke from 2,500 miles away - After a smoky sunset Monday evening, heavy smoke continued to hang over the Northeast on Tuesday, as a result of more than 100 wildfires burning in the western U.S. and more in Canada. Air quality advisories were in effect for much of Canada and had been issued for Pittsburgh, Philadelphia and New York City as the smoke descended from the upper levels of the atmosphere.The AQI reading in New York City Tuesday evening was an unhealthy 137, the highest this year so far. At this elevated number, health effects can be immediately felt by sensitive groups. Healthy individuals may experience difficulty breathing and throat irritation with prolonged exposure, and should limit outdoor activity.The smoke spread up to 2,500 miles downwind of the locations of the wildfires. "Due to the fact that smoke particles are small and light, they can be transported hundreds if not a few thousand miles away from their source," AccuWeather Meteorologist Alex DaSilva explained."While the smoke is not thick enough to obstruct surface visibility, it is thick enough to create poor air quality in some areas and allow for vibrant sunrises and sunsets," DaSilva said. Wildfire smoke consists of gases and fine particles from burning trees, plants, buildings and other burning materials, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Anyone can get sick from inhaling the smoke, butthose at particular risk are people with asthma, Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD), heart disease, children, people who are pregnant, and first responders." Air quality was in the unhealthy range in the New York City area on the afternoon of July 20, 2021. Elderly individuals and people who may have breathing problems should try to avoid long periods of outdoor activity," DaSilva said, but overall most people in the Northeast won't be at risk."The smoke out West is a lot closer to the ground because that’s where the fires are," he explained. "It's more of a health concern out there."Locations from Washington, D.C., all the way to the Great Lakes had ideal conditions to witness a colorful sunset Monday night and sunrise Tuesday morning, in areas without clouds.This is not the first time the wildfire smoke from the West has trekked all the way to the opposite end of the country. Just last year, wildfire smoke from California, Oregon and Washington produced some hazy skies in the Midwest and Northeast.
Why West Coast Fires Are Producing Smoke & Bad Air On The East Coast - A remarkable situation is evident right now. Fires over the western U.S. are producing a dense veil of smoke that moved across the continent and then descended over the East Coast.And there is a great irony in all this: most of the West Coast has excellent air quality while the air is unhealthy over the northeast U.S.To illustrate this strange situation, here is the latest AIRNOW air quality map showing the air quality based on PM2.5, small particles that can move deep into your lungs. ( I want to acknowledge UW Bothell professor Dan Jaffe, who brought this to my attention)Green is good air quality while red is unhealthy.Really bad air quality in parts of New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania. But air quality is really good along the West Coast! You can visualize the movement of smoke by an image showing the smoke distribution at 11 AM this morning from the wonderful NOAA HRRR model. Smoke generated over eastern Oregon, northern CA, and eastern WA moved northward around a ridge of high pressure centered over the Rockies and then headed southeastward towards the northeast U.S. The smoke was quite apparent over the Northeast in the visible satellite imagery mid-day today (see below). The grayish stuff is smoke.The air reaching the East Coast has an interesting three-dimensional trajectory (the path of air in 3D space). Using the NOAA Hysplit software, I found the origin of the air ending over New Jersey at 11 AM PDT today at 500 meters, 1500 meters, and 2500 meters above the surface ( see below). Wow..the air reaching near the surface in New Jersey started over Washington State (red line). First, the smoky air rose over the Northwest, gained altitude to catch stronger winds aloft, and then got mixed down to the surface over the East Coast. A Washington import that may not be as popular as wine, apples, or cherries.
What’s in Wildfire Smoke? A Toxicologist Explains the Health Risks - Fire and health officials began issuing warnings about wildfire smoke several weeks earlier than normal this year. With almost the entire U.S. West in drought, signs already pointed to a long, dangerous fire season ahead.Smoke is now turning the sky hazy across a large swath of the country as dozens of large fires burn, and a lot of people are wondering what’s in the air they’re breathing. In parts of the West, wildfire smoke now makes up nearly half the air pollution measured annually. A new study by the California Air Resources Board found another threat: high levels of lead and other metals turned up in smoke from the 2018 Camp Fire, which destroyed the town of Paradise. The findings suggest smoke from fires that reach communities could be even more dangerous than originally thought because of the building materials that burn. What exactly is in a wildfire’s smoke depends on a few key things: what’s burning – grass, brush or trees; the temperature – is it flaming or just smoldering; and the distance between the person breathing the smoke and the fire producing it.The distance affects the ability of smoke to “age,” meaning to be acted upon by the Sun and other chemicals in the air as it travels. Aging can make it more toxic. Importantly, large particles like what most people think of as ash do not typically travel that far from the fire, but small particles, or aerosols, can travel across continents.Smoke from wildfires contains thousands of individual compounds, including carbon monoxide, volatile organic compounds, carbon dioxide, hydrocarbons and nitrogen oxides. The most prevalent pollutant by mass is particulate matter less than 2.5 micrometers in diameter, roughly 50 times smaller than a grain of sand. Its prevalence is one reason health authorities issue air quality warnings using PM 2.5 as the metric. The new study on smoke from the 2018 Camp Fire found dangerous levels of lead in smoke blowing downwind as the fire burned through Paradise, California. The metals, which have been linked to health harms including high blood pressure and developmental effects in children with long-term exposure, traveled more than 150 miles on the wind, with concentrations 50 times above average in some areas. There is another reason PM2.5 is used to make health recommendations: It defines the cutoff for particles that can travel deep into the lungs and cause the most damage. The really small particles bypass these defenses and disturb the air sacs where oxygen crosses over into the blood. Fortunately, we have specialized immune cells present called macrophages. It’s their job to seek out foreign material and remove or destroy it. However, studies have shownthat repeated exposure to elevated levels of wood smoke can suppress macrophages, leading to increases in lung inflammation.
Haze from western wildfires hampers visibility in NC, makes breathing difficult for some - — Do you notice a haze to the sky or perhaps smell a little bit of smoke in the air outside? Believe it or not, smoke from wildfires over the western part of the United States and even Canada is traveling all the way across the country and has made it to North Carolina.The smoke prompted a Code Orange alert for air quality over nearly all of North Carolina on Thursday.It blocked the sun so much that the WRAL solar farm in Garner put out about 10% less power Thursday than on the same day last week.The alert means the environment outside could be unhealthy for sensitive groups and people with existing conditions. Young children, the elderly and those with heart and lung disease and people exercising are encouraged to limit time outdoors.“It’s a rare day to have a Code Orange day in North Carolina, said Taylor Hartsfield, regional office supervisor at the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality.The last one linked to smoke or "fine particulate matter," as it is described by DEQ, came in 2017.DEQ has two air quality monitoring stations across the state that can monitor the air, minute-by-minute, for smoke. The state monitors the air quality and releases the next day's forecast each day at 3 p.m. There are currently 80 large wildfires spanning 13 states out west. The largest fire is the Bootleg Fire in Oregon, burning more than 350,000 acres so far and only 30% contained.
PG&E says its equipment may have sparked Dixie fire - Utility equipment from Pacific Gas & Electric Co. may have sparked the Dixie fire, which has scorched more than 30,000 acres in Butte and Plumas counties over the past week, according to a report the utility company filed Sunday. PG&E said in the report submitted to the California Public Utilities Commission that an employee responding to an outage Tuesday noticed a blown fuse at Cresta Dam in a heavily forested area of Butte County around the Feather River Canyon. The worker approached the pole about 4:40 p.m. and found two blown fuses and a tree leaning into a power lines conductor, “which was still intact and suspended on the poles,” the report said. “He also observed a fire on the ground near the base of the tree.” The worker removed a third fuse that hadn’t blown, reported the fire, and his supervisor called 911, according to the document. California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection officials quickly swarmed the area, dropping fire retardant and water. But by 8 a.m. Wednesday, the blaze had grown to 500 acres. Dangerous fire weather conditions followed, with gusty winds and low humidity, leading Cal Fire to issue a red flag warning. By Wednesday evening, the fire — by then dubbed the Dixie fire — had reached 2,200 acres and was 0% contained.
Southern Oregon's Bootleg Fire Grows To Nearly 400,000 Acres The Bootleg Fire in Southern Oregon is now one of the largest in the nation and will continue to increase in size as the fire season rolls on. As of Wednesday morning, nearly 400,000 acres of forest and grasslands have burned. There's a risk that months of back-to-back heatwaves could increase the fire to as much as 100,000 acres, according to Portland news KOIN. The fire is currently 32% contained.The fire has been raging for about two weeks. Last Monday, we noted the fire was likely to "double in size." Gov. Kate Brown on Tuesday warned the situation could get worse. She said 5,000 firefighters are battling wildfires across the state. "The good news is there's a lot of excellent work happening on the ground to protect Oregonians, to protect our homes, and our land," Brown said. She conveniently blamed "climate change playing out before our eyes" for the wildfires and, of course, said her administration is working on new legislation for climate action."I've been very, very clear we are working hard to increase our level of thinning and prescriptive burning to create healthier landscapes," the governor said.The Bootleg Fire is so large and intense that it's creating its only weather. "The fire is so large and generating so much energy and extreme heat that it's changing the weather," said Marcus Kauffman, a spokesman for the state forestry department, NYTimes quoted. "Normally, the weather predicts what the fire will do. In this case, the fire is predicting what the weather will do."Local news KATU said Bootleg Fire has merged with the nearby Log Fire.Across 13 states, 83 large wildfires have burned 1,293,636 acres, according to the National Interagency Fire Center. The wildfires hitting across the U.S. West have unleashed a massive amount of smoke that is currently transforming blue skies in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast states into a murky yellow/orange.
The Bootleg Fire Is So Massive, It's Creating Its Own Weather - As the Bootleg fire in Southern Oregon rages on, the massive wildfire is creating its own weather systems."The fire is so large and generating so much energy and extreme heat that it's changing the weather. Normally the weather predicts what the fire will do. In this case, the fire is predicting what the weather will do," Marcus Kauffman, a spokesman for the state forestry department, told The New York Times.The massive inferno has created a pyrocumulous cloud, also known as a "fire cloud," that extends from the top of the blaze to 30,000 feet into the atmosphere. The cloud is currently producing lightning, and has the capacity to create dangerous thunderstorms that will make the fire harder to contain on the ground, the Salem Reporter noted. When that built-up mass comes back down towards Earth, it will force surface air outward, "creating strong winds in all directions that can spread the fire," said The New York Times."A pyrocumulus cloud is similar to a normal cumulus cloud, but it is formed through large amounts of smoke from nearby wildfires. As a wildfire quickly heats the air near the ground, the thick, smoky air rapidly surges into the sky. This becomes a vicious cycle. As the wildfire burns, it creates a thunderstorm, which eventually leads to windy conditions at the surface, which allows the wildfire to grow even larger over time," meteorologist Joe Curtis told AccuWeather.It's the same phenomenon documented in January 2020 during the Australian bushfires that burned for nearly 80 days. Ultimately, the clouds created fire tornadoes — vortexes of heat, ash, smoke and high wind — that killed one firefighter, according to CNBC. A video taken in 2018 shows a fire tornado ripping through California's Carr Fire.The Bootleg fire started on July 6, and is the largest of more than 80 major fires searing across 13 states. Heat waves and drought caused by climate change, as well as high winds are aiding the spread of the fires and making it more difficult to tamp out, said the BBC.On Thursday night, the northern edge of the Bootleg fire jumped a barrier treated with a chemical retardant meant to contain its edges, forcing firefighters to back off. It was the latest example of the massive blaze barreling through a firebreak, The New York Times reported.
Couple charged over deadly California wildfire sparked by gender reveal party - A couple whose gender reveal party sparked a Southern California wildfire last year has been charged with involuntary manslaughter for the death of a firefighter who died while fighting the blaze. San Bernardino County District Attorney Jason Anderson announced during a press conference Tuesday afternoon that the defendants, who he identified as the Jimenez family, pleaded not guilty the previous day. The fire in question broke out on Sept. 5 when the couple held a gender reveal at the foot of the San Bernardino Mountains at El Dorado Ranch Park. A smoke-generating device that the couple had placed in a field quickly caused the surrounding dry grass to catch on fire. The couple attempted to put out the fire with water bottles, but strong winds caused the fire to spread through national forests about 75 miles east of Los Angeles. Charles Morton, 39, leader of the Big Bear Interagency Hotshot Squad, was killed on Sept. 17 when flames overran a remote area where firefighters were cutting fire breaks, or gaps in vegetation or other combustible materials meant to slow the spread of fires. The couple currently faces one felony count of involuntary manslaughter, three felony counts of recklessly causing a fire with great bodily injury, four counts of recklessly causing a fire to inhabited structures and 22 misdemeanor counts of recklessly causing fire to property. The fire burned about 35 square miles of land before being contained in mid-November. Hundreds of people were forced to evacuate, 13 people were injured and five homes were destroyed.
Wildfires consume 2.5 million ha (6.2 million acres) of forests in Yakutia, Russia - According to statistics released by the Russian Ministry of Emergency on July 20, the 2021 wildfires in Yakutia (Republic of Sakha) -- the largest and coldest republic of the Russian Federation -- have so far consumed 2.5 million hectares (6.2 million acres) of forests.
- Overall, Yakutia wildfires in 2021 are less destructive than in 2020, when they raged through most of July and August.
- In addition, they are now further south, nearer the main areas of population.
- As of July 20, there are more than 400 hotbeds of natural fires across Russia - most of them in Sakha.
There are now more than 300 wildfires in Yakutia but only half of them are being actively suppressed. Thousands of firefighters are being helped by aircraft and, where possible, artificial rain technology developed in Soviet times.To make the rain, the ministry is using Antonov-26 cloud-spiking plane to lace the clouds with a chemical cocktail of weather-changing silver iodide, liquid nitrogen, and dry ice."Most of the areas of fires in 2021 fall in the zone of 60 - 65° N," said Evgeny Ponomarev, associate professor at the Siberian Federal University, and senior researcher at the Sukachev Institute of Forest."In 2020, the greatest damage was recorded in the zone of 65–70° N. So the extreme movement of fires to the north of the region has not yet been repeated," Ponomarev added.In 2020, almost 69% of all areas covered by fires accounted for the zone north of 65° N. In addition, almost 30% of all fires in Yakutia were recorded north of the Arctic Circle (67 ° N)."In 2021 - about 9%, and the area of fires in the circumpolar regions today is almost 10 times lower than it was in 2020," Ponomarev said.The total estimated burned area, which includes forest and all types of non-forest fires in Siberia, from the beginning of the 2020 fire season in March through the end of September, was about 26 million ha (64 million acres), according to the International Association of Wildland Fire (IAWF). Please note that the IAWF number is for the entire Siberia, not just Sakha, and is different from official data, which would cover fires only in forest zones.From the IAWF 2020 overview1:
- ~31% (8.4 million ha / 20.8 million acres) of the fires in 2020 occurred in the steppe regions in southern Siberia.
- 13% (3.5 million ha / 8.6 million acres) was in the tundra to the north.
- ~37% (14.3 million ha; 35.3 million acres) was in various forest types, including pine, mixed conifer, and larch forests.
Total burned areas in 2020 ranged from about 6.1 million ha (15.1 million acres) between 60 and 65 degrees N to 6.8 million ha (16.8 million acres) between 65 and 70 degrees N. The number of fires, varied markedly in the different zones, with many small fires in the south, and a lesser number, but larger, fires in the north.
Severe flooding hits Colorado and New Mexico, U.S .- At least 3 people have been killed and 3 others remain missing after severe flooding hit parts of Colorado and New Mexico, U.S. late Tuesday (LT), July 20, 2021.At 01:44 UTC on July 21, the Larimer County Sheriff's Office in northern Colorado issued a mandatory evacuation order for residents and business occupants in the area of Highway 14 from Rustic to Ted's Place (Highway 14/Highway 287) due to immediate and imminent danger."Avoid areas subject to flooding including dips, low spots, ditches, etc. and do not attempt to cross flowing streams or creeks. If driving, be aware that the road may not be intact under floodwaters.""Never drive through flooded roadways - turn around and go another way. If your vehicle stalls, leave it immediately and seek higher ground. If you cannot leave the area, move to higher ground immediately."The evacuation order was lifted at 04:30 UTC but residents were asked to remain alert to the weather conditions in the event additional evacuations may be necessary.A large mudslide event was reported in the Poudre Canyon in Larimer County, sweeping away three people. Larimer County Sheriff’s Office said the body of one of the victims was found but 2 people are still missing.At least five houses were destroyed and several roads damaged.The storms also hit the El Dorado area, NE of Albuquerque, New Mexico after 42.1 mm (1.6 inches) of rain fell in just one hour. Three people went missing after they were swept into the water channel in Albuquerque. Firefighters recovered two bodies on Wednesday.Albuquerque Fire Rescue (AFR) spokesman Tom Ruiz said they will keep looking over the area on foot and with drones.Water levels in the channel were about 1.8 m (6 feet) high, moving at about 8 m (25 feet) per second, Ruiz said, adding these were among the highest levels he has ever seen in his 17 years at AFR.NWS said the foothills got more than 25 mm (1 inch) of rain in under 15 minutes.
Almost 200 dead, many still missing after floods as Germany counts devastating cost — Almost 200 people were dead and more than 700 injured, with many still missing Monday, as Germany counted the cost of the devastating floods and asked whether more could have been done to save lives. Torrential rain last week led to severe flooding and destructionacross western Europe, wreaking havoc in parts of Belgium and the Netherlands, and leaving Germany reeling from its worst natural disaster in decades. As the death toll continued to grow, the country grappled with what or whom to blame, from climate change to political leaders.Officials confirmed the deaths of at least 117 people in the worst-affected German region, Rhineland-Palatinate, bringing the total confirmed dead to 196 with another 749 injured as of Monday morning.Another 46 were killed in the neighboring state of North Rhine-Westphalia and at least two people died in the southern state of Bavaria, while 31 were killed in Belgium.Rescuers were engaged in a desperate search for survivors, with hundreds of people still unaccounted for.Police in Koblenz told NBC News they are currently searching for as many as 170 people who have been reported missing in Rhineland-Palatinate. Meanwhile, in neighboring North Rhine-Westphalia, police in Cologne have said they are still searching for at least 150 people who are still unaccounted for. NBC News spoke to one man, Jurgen Lenz, who said he was trapped on the fourth floor of a building in the town of Heimersheim for two days, waiting for the waters to recede. In Ahrweiler, Mike Ahrens said that six cars smashed into his house at 2 a.m. when the floods hit, and were then washed away in the rising tide. "It was more than scary, it was like a dream that you hope you wake up from," he said via a translator. The damage to infrastructure not only hampered immediate rescue efforts, but also threatened to leave the affected regions facing a long and difficult road to recovery.Phone and power lines were down across the area, police said, potentially complicating efforts to contact loved ones. At least 80 train stations were closed and a dozen lines out of service, Germany's main train company Deutsche Bahn said in a statement Sunday, a sign of the sheer scale of the damage. In an interview with a regional newspaper in Passau, Germany’s transport minister said 20 of the 35 bridges along the River Ahr, a tributary of the Rhine, had been destroyed. Supplies of drinking water in the most heavily affected regions were also likely disrupted for weeks. German Chancellor Angela Merkel called for more to be done to tackle climate change in the wake of the floods on a visit to the region Sunday, but questions are now being asked over whether authorities were also at fault for a lack of preparation. “As soon as we have provided the immediate aid that stands at the forefront now, we will have to look at whether there were things that didn't go well, whether there were things that went wrong, and then they have to be corrected,” Economy Minister Peter Altmaier told the Bild newspaper.
Dozens Killed After China's Henan Hit With Worst Rainstorms In 1,000 Years Large areas of China's central Henan province were inundated with floodwaters on Wednesday following the worst rainfall in 1,000 years, according to Reuters. From Saturday to Tuesday, 26.5 inches of rain fell on Zhengzhou, surpassing the annual average of around 24 inches. Just on Tuesday, 8.2 inches fell in a single hour. Zhengzhou, the capital of Henan, is a massive industrial hub. The largest iPhone assembly plant, operated by Foxconn, said operations have yet to be affected. They released a statement that said: "no direct impact on our facility in that location to date," adding it was closely monitoring the situation. However, Nissan Motor halted production at its facility due to devastating floodwaters. The extent of the damage to businesses in the city and across the province is unknown. The city's transportation network has come to a screeching halt as the metro system was closed on Tuesday after roads and tunnels were flooded. FT reports twenty-five people are dead, and seven are missing in Zhengzhou. Twelve were killed and five injured in subway tunnels when floodwaters trapped commuters. We noted Tuesday night, yet, another dam, this time in Zhengzhou, collapsed, the third in 48 hours, after rising water levels spilled over the dam's crest and weakened the structure, resulting in a structural failure. The dam is the third to fail in recent days: over the weekend, two dams in Hulun Buir City in North China's Inner Mongolia collapsed due to severe rain.Meanwhile, dozens of reservoirs and dams have hit emergency high water levels prompting authorities to evacuate more than 100,000 people. There's still an additional risk of other dams collapsing. Reuters notes the rainstorms are the worst in 1,000 years. More than 6,000 military and fire service personnel are involved in rescue operations.Here's more video of the devastation across Zhengzhou.
Massive flooding hits Zhengzhou after more than 200 mm (7.8 inches) of rain in just 1 hour, China - Extremely heavy rains hit the capital of China's Henan Province - Zhengzhou (population 10.3 million) on Tuesday, July 20, 2021, causing massive floods. This was the third and the strongest day of heavy rainfall in the province. Zhengzhou received average precipitation of 457.5 mm (18 inches) within 24 hours to 17:00 LT on July 20, making it the highest daily rainfall since the weather records in the city began. The city has also reported record-high hourly precipitation of 201.9 mm (7.9 inches) between 16:00 and 17:00 LT (08:00 - 09:00 UTC). The accumulated rainfall reached 449 mm (17.6 inches) on average from 18:00 LT on Sunday, July 18 to 00:00 LT on Tuesday, July 20. From Saturday, July 17 to Tuesday, July 20, the capital city recorded 617.1 mm (24.2 inches) of rain, nearly its annual average of 640.8 mm (25.5 inches). This is a level seen only 'once in a thousand years,' according to local meteorologists. Zhengzhou's average monthly rainfall for July is 193 mm (7.6 inches). July is also its wettest month, followed by August with 147 mm (5.8 inches) and September with 87 mm (3.4 inches). Severe waterlogging has led to the virtual paralysis of the city's road traffic, Xinhua reports. 260 flights have been canceled, over 80 bus lines suspended and more than 100 temporarily detoured. The subway service has also been temporarily suspended and some trains delayed. At least 160 000 people have been evacuated and an unknown number rescued from raging floodwaters. Water and electricity supply has been disrupted in parts of the city. The city's Guojiazui reservoir had been breached but there was no dam failure yet. The First Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University - the city's largest with over 7 000 beds - has lost all power. Even backup supplies were down as the hospital raced to find transport to relocate about 600 critically ill patients, Reuters reports. "Nearly all the hotels in the city have cut the prices to shelter the citizens who can't go home," Global Times' reporter Rita Bai said. "The municipal library and science museums opened their doors to take in trapped people and provide them with hot water and food."
Dam Near China's Flooded Zhenghou City Collapses, Third In Last 48 Hours - A dam near the city of Zhengzhou in central China's Henan province has been destroyed by heavy flooding, after being seriously damaged in heavy storms that killed several people and brought the region to a halt, local media reported. The dam is the third to fail in recent days: over the weekend, due to severe rain, two dams in Hulun Buir City in North China's Inner Mongolia collapsed. Fortunately, however, no injuries have been reported.According to Xinhua News Agency, the meteorological bureaus of Henan and Zhengzhou have raised the level of emergency response to meteorological disasters to the first level. The Chinese media report that the subway in Zhengzhou was flooded, and rescuers evacuated blocked passengers.The Chinese army warned that a stricken dam in the centre of the country "could collapse at any time" after being severely damaged in torrential storms that killed at least three people and brought the region to a standstill. Weather authorities also issued the highest warning level for central Henan province as downpours caused widespread disruption and the evacuation of residents of flooded streets.On Tuesday evening the regional unit of the People's Liberation Army warned that the relentless downpour had caused a 20-meter breach in the Yihetan dam in Luoyang -- a city of around seven million people -- with the risk that it "may collapse at any time."The PLA's Central Theater Command said it had sent soldiers to carry out an emergency response including blasting and flood diversion."On July 20, a 20-meter breach occurred at the Yihetan dam ....the riverbank was severely damaged and the dam may collapse at any time," it said in the statement according France 24. Earlier in the day, state media also reported that the army sent about 20,000 personnel to carry out emergency work to preserve the integrity of the dams.
Catastrophic floods caused by extremely heavy rains claim lives of at least 29 people in Henan, China - At least 29 people have been killed and 7 others remain missing after heavy rains affecting China's central province of Henan since July 16 intensified on July 20, 2021. 25 of them died and 7 remain missing in Henan's capital Zhengzhou after massive floods caused by a month's worth of July rains in just one hour. 4 people died in severe floods that hit the city of Gongyi on the same day.
- Zhengzhou meteorologists said the level of rains the capital received in 3 days was 'once in a thousand years.'
- Heavy rains are expected to continue affecting parts of the province over the next 2 days.
- More than 3 000 PLA soldiers and personnel were dispatched to help with search and rescue operations.
Zhengzhou received average precipitation of 457.5 mm (18 inches) within 24 hours to 17:00 LT on July 20, making it the highest daily rainfall since the weather records in the city began.The city has also reported record-high hourly precipitation of 201.9 mm (7.9 inches) between 16:00 and 17:00 LT (08:00 - 09:00 UTC).The accumulated rainfall reached 449 mm (17.6 inches) on average from 18:00 LT on Sunday, July 18 to 00:00 LT on Tuesday, July 20.From Saturday, July 17 to Tuesday, July 20, the capital city recorded 617.1 mm (24.2 inches) of rain, nearly its annual average of 640.8 mm (25.5 inches). This is a level seen only 'once in a thousand years,' according to local meteorologists.Zhengzhou's average monthly rainfall for July is 193 mm (7.6 inches). July is also its wettest month, followed by August with 147 mm (5.8 inches) and September with 87 mm (3.4 inches).Other parts of the province were also badly affected, with dozen other cities flooded.At least 4 people were killed in Gongyi, a city located by the banks of the Yellow River, like Zhengzhou. Local media reported widespread collapse of homes and structures due to heavy rains.At least 31 large and medium-sized reservoirs have seen water levels rise above the alert level after torrential rains battered most parts of the province on Monday and Tuesday, July 19 and 20.In Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, floods affected more than 16 000 people, as two dams collapsed on July 18 after two days of heavy rainfall -- the highest since record-keeping began 60 years ago.
China flooding: Death toll rises in Henan as passengers recount horror of Zhengzhou subway floods - At least 33 people have died and eight remain missing in central China, as authorities ramp up rescue and recovery efforts following devastating floods that submerged entire neighborhoods, trapped passengers in subway cars, caused landslides and overwhelmed dams and rivers.Torrential rains have battered Henan province since last weekend, displacing hundreds of thousands of people and causing 1.22 billion yuan (about $190 million) of economic damage, Henan authorities said Thursday.Zhengzhou, the provincial capital of 12 million people, is one of the worst-hit areas, with 12 killed after being trapped for hours on a flooded subway line. But many smaller cities and villages have also been badly ravaged. With more rains forecast for the region, the death toll is expected to rise as rescue work continues. In Gongyi, a county-level city to the west of Zhengzhou, at least four people were killed as gushing floodwaters swept through streets. Heavy rains also caused widespread collapse of homes and landslides, hampering rescue operations. In another city, Xinxiang, rivers have swelled beyond warning levels and seven reservoirs have overflowed, affecting 58 counties and 470,000 people, according to state-run People's Daily. Enter your email to sign up for the Wonder Theory newsletter.close dialog The severity of the flooding was captured by numerous videos shared on Chinese social media, which showed people and cars swept away in surging torrents. On Thursday, stranded residents have continued to call for help on Wechat and Weibo, the country's two largest social media platforms, with some sharing photos and information of their missing family members. Home to 99 million residents, Henan is one of China's most populous and poorest provinces, with large swathes of farmlands and factories.
Two dams collapse after heavy rains hit Inner Mongolia, China (video) Two dams in North China's Inner Mongolia collapsed on Sunday, July 18, 2021, after heavy rains falling since Saturday. Local citizens were evacuated before the collapse and while material damage is huge, there are no reports of casualties. The combined water storage capacity of both reservoirs was 46 million m3 (1.6 trillion ft3). The first dam collapsed at the Yongan Reservoir in the city of Hulunbuir at 13:48 LT, sending a large amount of floodwater into Xinfa reservoir, located 13 km (8 miles) downstream. At about 15:30 LT, the second dam collapsed at Xinfa reservoir (capacity 38 million m3 (1.3 trillion ft3))."On the night of the 18th, the flood has merged into the mainstream of the Nuomin River. Flooding caused the G111 national highway in Mo Banner to collapse, causing road disruptions. Downstream villages and farmlands have been turned into a sea of water," according to China Observer.According to the Ministry of Water Resources, 87 mm (3.4 inches) of rain fell in Hulunbuir on July 17 and 18 and as much as 223 mm (8.8 inches) at the Morin Dawa monitoring station.Hulunbuir city officials said 16 660 people have been affected and 21 775 ha (53 807 acres) of farmland submerged. 22 bridges were destroyed, as well as 124 culverts and 15.6 km (9.7 miles) of highways.According to 2021 statistics from the Ministry of Water Resources, most of the dams in China have exceeded or are approaching the end of their design life. China Observer presents more information in the video:
At least 25 killed as landslides hit Mumbai, India (videos) At least 25 people have been killed after a series of landslides hit Mumbai, India on July 18, 2021. Heavy rains started affecting the region on Saturday night, July 17, and continued into July 18, causing severe water-logging and disruption of both rail and road traffic. Heavy to very heavy rains are expected in the region over the next 4 days.The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation said the city recorded 156 mm (6.1 inches) of rain, followed by 143 mm (5.6 inches) in eastern suburbs and 125 mm (4.9 inches) in western suburbs from 20:00 on July 17 to 02:00 LT on July 18.The heaviest rain was reported between midnight and 02:00 LT on July 18, with waterlogging reported in several places in the city, including Borivali, Kandivali, Malad, Andheri, Chembur, Kurla, Gandhi Market, Hindmata.Within 24 hours, authorities reported 11 incidents of houses or walls collapsing in the Mumbai area. In just one neighborhood, some 6 shacks located at the base of a hill collapsed on top of each other.
Over 100 dead as monsoon rains trigger floods and landslides in India --At least 112 people have died in the western Indian state of Maharashtra, authorities said on Friday, after torrential monsoon rains caused landslides and flooded low-lying areas, cutting off hundreds of villages.Parts of India's west coast received up to 23 inches of rainfall over 24 hours, forcing authorities to evacuate people from vulnerable areas as they released water from dams that were threatening to overflow."Unexpected very heavy rainfall triggered landslides in many places and flooded rivers," Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray, who heads Maharashtra's state government, told journalists. "Dams and rivers are overflowing. We are forced to release water from dams, and, accordingly, we are moving people residing near the river banks to safer places."The navy and army were helping with rescue operation in coastal areas, he added.At least 36 people were killed in Taliye, 112 miles southeast of the financial capital Mumbai, when a landslide flattened most of the small village, said Vijay Wadettiwar, a minister in the state governmentAt least four people died in Mumbai after a building collapsed, and another 27 were killed in other parts of Maharashtra due to landslides and accidents linked to the heavy rainfall, state government officials said. Several dozen people were also feared to have been trapped in landslides in Satara and Raigad districts, said a state government official who asked not to be named."Rescue operations are going on at various places in Satara, Raigad and Ratnagiri.Due to heavy rainfall and flooded rivers, we are struggling to move rescue machinery quickly," he said.
At least 130 dead as severe flooding hits India - At least 130 are dead after severe flooding in India, officials in the country said on Saturday. Around 136 people are confirmed to be dead after monsoon rain hit the country causing massive flooding and landslides, officials said, CNN reported. One landslide in the country went through a small village and killed 38 people, government officials said. A person from the country’s Disaster Management, Relief and Rehabilitation department told CNN there were also 90,000 people evacuated from their homes due to the rain and more than 10 people trapped after a landslide. Nine more landslides killed 59 people in parts of Maharashtra while 15 were killed from accidents caused by the rain. "Unexpected very heavy rainfall triggered landslides in many places and flooded rivers," Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray, the head of Maharashtra's state government, said. "Dams and rivers are overflowing. We are forced to release water from dams, and, accordingly, we are moving people residing near the river banks to safer places," he added. Monsoon season is hitting many countries with China having to evacuate millions due to the rain. The Philippines are evacuating thousands on Saturday while struggling to maintain coronavirus social distancing rules in emergency shelters. More than 180 are also dead in Germany and Belgium due to flooding.
Heavy rain in Maharashtra breaks 40-year July record, India (video) Incessant rain over the last 48 hours has led to devastating floods in parts of Maharashtra, with three districts flooded and two districts facing a flood-like situation. The rains intensified on July 21, making this July the wettest in 40 years.From July 1 to 22, Ratnagiri recorded 1 781 mm (77.1 inches) of rain, the highest July rainfall in 40 years. Its monthly rainfall average in July is 972.5 mm (38.2 inches).The India Meteorological Department (IMD) said Satara District received 1 074.8 mm (42.3 inches) of rain in 48 hours to July 23 -- 480.4 mm (18.9 inches) to July 22 and 594.4 mm (23.4 inches) to July 23. Massive rescue operations are ongoing across the state and the number of casualties is rising.
Typhoon "In-Fa" nearing Okinawa, forecast to rapidly intensify on its way toward Taiwan and China - Typhoon "In-Fa" -- the 6th named storm of the 2021 Pacific typhoon season -- is approaching Okinawa, Japan on its way toward Taiwan and China. In-Fa will continue strengthening today and possibly rapidly intensify by July 22 while passing south of Okinawa. The current forecast track takes it along the northern tip of Taiwan on July 23 and into mainland China by July 25. At 09:00 UTC on July 20, its center was located about 275 km (170 miles) SE of Kadena Air Base, Okinawa, Japan. In-Fa's maximum 10-minute sustained winds were 110 km/h (70 mph), with gusts up to 155 km/h (100 mph). Its maximum 1-minute sustained winds were 120 km/h (75 mph). The minimum central barometric pressure was 980 hPa and the system was moving W at 13 km/h (8 mph). Animated multispectral satellite imagery depicts deep convection, robust poleward outflow in the upper levels, and a ragged 65 km (40 miles) wide eye. The typhoon will continue its westward track through 09:00 UTC on July 23 under the influence of the steering ridge, according to JTWC. The system will intensify only slightly over the next 6 hours due to a slight increase in vertical wind shear and the entrainment of dry air along the southern and southeastern periphery of the system. After that, a repositioning of the upper-level ridge positioned to the north of the system will allow for enhanced poleward outflow.
Typhoon "Cempaka" to make U-turn after landfall over China's Guangdong Province --Typhoon "Cempaka" -- the 7th named storm of the 2021 Pacific typhoon season -- is slowly approaching China's Guangdong Province where it's expected to make landfall on July 20, 2021.At 06:00 UTC on July 20, the center of Cempaka was located about 215 km (135 miles) WSW of Hong Kong. It had maximum 10-minute winds of 100 km/h (62 mph), with gusts to 150 km/h (90 mph). 1-minute sustained winds were 130 km/h (80 mph).The minimum central barometric pressure was 992 hPa and the system was almost stationary.Animated multispectral satellite imagery shows the system has maintained overall convective signature and a defined, albeit cloud-filled eye, as it tracked very slowly toward China, JTWC forecasters noted.The typhoon is forecast to continue moving NW and make landfall shortly after 15:00 UTC along the southeastern Chinese coast near Yangjiang, Guangdong.After 15:00 UTC on July 21, Cempaka is expected to begin making a tight left U-turn tracing the west coast of Leizhou Peninsula into the eastern tip of Hainan before exiting back into the South China Sea, JTWC said.By July 25, Cempaka will be accelerating northeastward in the middle of the South China Sea between Hong Kong and Luzon, Philippines. Land interaction with the rugged Chinese interior will rapidly decay the cyclone down to 55 km/h (34 mph). However, increased moisture from the Gulf of Tonkin will revive it and by July 25 it will be up to 75 km/h (45 mph).In preparation for the storm, the Hong Kong Observatory issued a Signal No.3 warning, indicating wind speeds up to 60 km/h (40 mph).The typhoon is expected to bring heavy rains to the SE portions of China through much of this week.The provinces of Guangdong, Guangxi, and Hainan can expect widespread rainfall up to 200 mm (8 inches), with isolated 500 mm (20 inches) in places through Friday, July 23.
Typhoon "In-Fa" moving over Okinawa, landfall expected south of Shanghai, China - (video, weather graphics) Typhoon "In-Fa" -- the 7th named storm of the 2021 Pacific typhoon season -- is slowly moving over Okinawa, southern Japan on July 23, 2021. After passing over Okinawa, In-Fa is expected to move north of Taiwan before making landfall south of Shanghai, China on July 25, with maximum sustained winds up to 140 km/h (87 mph).At 11:00 UTC on July 23, the center of In-Fa was located about 345 km (215 miles) SW of Kadena Air Base, Japan. The typhoon had maximum 10-minute sustained winds of 150 km/h (90 mph) with gusts up to 215 km/h (130 mph), making it a Category 1 hurricane equivalent on the Saffir-Simpson scale. Its minimum central pressure was 955 hPa (28.20 inHg), and the system is almost stationary.After moving over Okinawa, In-Fa is expected to pass north of Taiwan while approaching the central coast of eastern China on July 25, with maximum sustained winds up to 140 km/h (87 mph) and very heavy rain.Emergency warnings (level 4/5) for storm surge have been issued for Yaeyama Islands (southern Ryukyu, Japan), while red warnings for heavy rainfall, floods and high waves are in effect for the Ryukyu Islands.In Taiwan, extremely heavy rain advisories have been issued for northern areas of the Island.
Rare tornado hits Ontario, leaving 'catastrophic' damage, Canada (videos) A rare tornado tore through the city of Barrie, Ontario, Canada around 14:30 LT on July 15, 2021, leaving what officials described as 'catastrophic' damage. At least 11 people were injured. Environment Canada said the tornado received a preliminary rating of EF-2 with wind speeds of up to 210 km/h (130 mph). The tornado's path was about 4.8 km (3 miles) and up to 100 m (330 feet) wide at some points.Barrie Mayor Jeff Lehman said a total of 11 people were injured, with four of them taken to hospital.A total of 25 buildings were damaged and three of them were demolished."The damage is catastrophic. It is significant. It is major," Barrie police spokesperson Peter Leon said, adding that there have been power outages and damage to some gas lines."There's houses that have come off their foundation, obviously lots of roofs that have been blown off," Barrie-Innisfil Member of Parliament John Brassard told CBC News. "I've seen trampolines in people's pools, so the damage is quite devastating."AccuWeather Senior Meteorologist Alan Reppert said tornadoes in Barrie are not common, but they can still occur on occasion. On May 31, 1985, the city's Allandale area was hit by an EF-4 tornado, killing 8 people and injuring more than 100 others. At least 600 homes were destroyed.
Sirung volcano erupts, Aviation Color Code raised to Orange, Indonesia - Ash emission was observed at the Indonesian Sirung volcano, East Nusa Tenggara starting at 08:44 UTC (16:44 LT) on July 21, 2021. The last known eruption of this volcano took place in 2015, with ash rising up to 1.5 km (5 000 feet) above sea level.The best estimate of ash-cloud top is around 2.8 km (9 158 feet) above sea level but it may be higher than what can be observed clearly, the Sirung Volcano Observatory said.Ash-cloud is moving north. Its height was assessed by a ground observer.Seismicity at the volcano has not shown significant changes, however, ash emission may reoccur.The last eruption at Sirung volcano took place on July 8, 2015, when the ash plume drifted 55 km (34 miles) W of the volcano at an altitude of 1.5 km (5 000 feet) a.s.l.A 3-hour long eruption took place at Sirung volcano on May 8, 2012. The eruption was accompanied by loud sounds and incandescent tephra observed rising 10 m (33 feet) above the crater.The explosion created an ash plume that rose up to 3.5 km (11 500 feet) a.s.l. and drifted to the north, producing ashfall up to 4 mm (0.15 inches) thick near the crater.On May 12 (2012), authorities raised the Alert Level to 3 (on a scale of 1-4) and recommended that visitors not approach the volcano within a 2.5 km (1.5 miles) radius.
How the moon's 'wobble' worsens coastal flooding due to sea-level rise - Full moon, new moon. High tide, low tide. These are dependable rhythms of our planet. It is not surprising then, that news of a “wobble” in the moon’s orbit — one with implications for the growing problem of U.S. coastal flooding — has piqued the curiosity of many. . What the media has termed the “wobble” is actually a cycle as regular as the seasons but occurring over decades rather than months. More specifically, the path of the moon’s orbit around Earth is tilted in space and rotates once every 18.6 years with a motion similar to the undulations of a spinning coin just before it falls flat. This motion is more precisely described as lunar nodal precession, and it is most certainly not a new discovery. Astronomers have observed this phenomenon for millennia by documenting gradual changes to the moon’s position in the night sky. Precession of the moon’s orbit is not merely an astronomical phenomenon — it also affects ocean tides, which is how this esoteric “wobble” is connected to coastal flooding and made it into the headlines. The effect of precession on tides is not the same everywhere: To get an idea of the size of the effect, consider St. Petersburg, Florida, where the height of the highest tides changes over the lunar precession cycle by a little less than two inches. That may not seem like much, but keep in mind that the total amount of global average sea-level rise over the last decade is also a little less than two inches. That means that the “wobble” has roughly the same impact on the height of high tides as the most recent decade of global sea-level rise. These seemingly small changes can have big consequences becausehigh-tide flooding is a game of inches, where benign high water levels suddenly become impactful as the edge of a storm drain or sea wall is breached. Not to mention that the extent and frequency of such events increases rapidly with every incremental increase in the height of high tides. In St. Petersburg, for example, increasing the height of high tides by four inches (similar to the influence of the “wobble” plus a decade of sea-level rise) can produce an increase from 10 high-tide floods per year to 45 floods per year. That same four inches in Honolulu, Hawaii can produce an increase from 10 to almost 70 high-tide floods per year. Inches matter.
The Sun sends us a wake-up call --Two powerful solar events erupted from the Sun over the past couple of days. While they both missed Earth, 'we are very lucky they did,' Ben Davidson of the Suspicious Observers said in the video. The solar maximum is building now, and Earth's magnetic field continues weakening.It's never too late to start preparing.
CO2 emissions set to hit record levels in 2023 and there's 'no clear peak in sight,' IEA says -- Only a small chunk of governments' recovery spending in response to the Covid-19 pandemic has been allocated to clean energy measures, according to the International Energy Agency, with the Paris-based organization forecasting that carbon dioxide emissions will hit record levels in 2023. Published on Tuesday, the IEA's analysis notes that, as of the second quarter of this year, the world's governments had set aside roughly $380 billion for "energy-related sustainable recovery measures." This represents approximately 2% of recovery spending, it said. In a statement issued alongside its analysis, the IEA laid out a stark picture of just how much work needed to be done in order for climate related targets to be met. "The sums of money, both public and private, being mobilised worldwide by recovery plans fall well short of what is needed to reach international climate goals," it said. These shortfalls were "particularly pronounced in emerging and developing economies, many of which face particular financing challenges," it added. Looking ahead, the Paris-based organization estimated that, under current spending plans, the planet's carbon dioxide emissions would be on course to hit record levels in 2023 and continue to grow in the ensuing years. There was, its analysis claimed, "no clear peak in sight." Commenting on the findings, Fatih Birol, the IEA's executive director, said: "Since the Covid-19 crisis erupted, many governments may have talked about the importance of building back better for a cleaner future, but many of them are yet to put their money where their mouth is." "Despite increased climate ambitions, the amount of economic recovery funds being spent on clean energy is just a small sliver of the total," he added. Birol said governments needed to "increase spending and policy action rapidly to meet the commitments they made in Paris in 2015 — including the vital provision of financing by advanced economies to the developing world. "But they must then go even further," he added, "by leading clean energy investment and deployment to much greater heights beyond the recovery period in order to shift the world onto a pathway to net-zero emissions by 2050, which is narrow but still achievable — if we act now."
IEA Warning: CO2 Emissions Will Keep Reaching 'All-Time High' if Rich Nations Keep Skimping on Clean Energy --The International Energy Agency warned Tuesday that global carbon dioxide emissions are on track to soar to record levels in 2023 — and continue rising thereafter — as governments fail to make adequate investments in green energy and end their dedication to planet-warming fossil fuels.In a new report, IEA estimates that of the $16 trillion world governments have spent to prop up their economies during the coronavirus crisis, just 2% of that total has gone toward clean energy development.Fatih Birol, executive director of the IEA, slammed what he characterized as the hypocrisy of rich governments that promised a green recovery from the pandemic but have thus far refused "to put their money where their mouth is." Research published last month revealed that between January 2020 and March 2021, the governments of wealthy G7 nations poured tens of billions of dollars more into fossil fuels than renewable energy.On top of being "far from what's needed to put the world on a path to reaching net-zero emissions by mid-century," Birol said that the money allocated to green energy measures thus far is "not even enough to prevent global emissions from surging to a new record.""Governments need to increase spending and policy action rapidly to meet the commitments they made in Paris in 2015 — including the vital provision of financing by advanced economies to the developed world," Birol continued. "But they must then go even further by leading clean energy investment and deployment to much greater heights beyond the recovery period in order to shift the world onto a pathway to net-zero emissions by 2050, which is narrow but still achievable — if we act now."The IEA's analysis — which examines roughly 800 policies implemented throughout the coronavirus crisis by more than 50 countries — finds that "full and timely implementation" of the economic recovery measures would result in CO2 emissions surging to an "all-time high" in 2023 and continuing to rise in the following years, more than wiping out the pandemic-related emissions drop."While this trajectory is 800 million tonnes lower in 2023 than it would have been without any sustainable recovery efforts," the analysis notes, "it is nonetheless 3,500 million tonnes above" what's necessary to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050.The Paris-based agency's latest findings come just months after it said world governments must immediately halt all new investments in oil and gas projects in order to avert the worst consequences of the climate crisis, which is wreaking havoc across the globe in the form of catastrophic flooding, deadly heatwaves, drought, and wildfires.
Struggling global Covid-19 response dims hopes for climate change action - Across the world, Covid-19 is again surging. The global number of new coronavirus cases grew by at least 12 percent over the past week, theWorld Health Organisation announced on Wednesday, with a rise ininfections seen in almost all regions. In the United States, the seven-day average of infections soared nearly 70 percent, the White House said last week. Asian nations including Bangladesh, Indonesia and Thailand are seeing their worst waves of infections yet. Meanwhile, Reuters reports that Europe on Monday became the first region to see more than 50 million Covid-19 cases. Countries in Latin America, a region that has already seen an enormous number of deaths from Covid-19, are witnessing another upswing. And in sub-Saharan Africa, once largely spared from the worst of the crisis, the virus is hitting hard in many countries, with the continent seeing its deadliest period of the pandemic so far.WHO Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said in an address at a meeting of the International Olympic Committee on Wednesday that the “pandemic is a test” - one that “the world is failing.” That assessment does not bode well for a world confronting other looming, global problems. The pandemic is hardly the world’s only major threat. Disastrous weather events, from heat waves and wildfires in North America and Russia to floods in China and Europe, have left hundreds dead. These events have shaken many, offering all-too-real evidence that once freak-weather incidents are no longer unusual in our changing climate. Although wealthier nations have been hit hard this summer, it is often poorer nations that suffer the most. In southern Madagascar, a climate-change-linked drought threatens to push half a million people into famine, even though few even own cars.“These people contributed zero to climate change,” Lola Castro, the World Food Programme’s regional director for southern Africa, toldWashington Post’s Today’s WorldView in June of those worst affected. (Despite numerous public calls for help, experts on the ground say the situation in Madagascar remains dire.) Though climate change and the coronavirus pose different problems, they share alarming similarities. And in some cases, they feed into each other: A report released Tuesday said that the global rebound from the pandemic could lead to carbon emissions “climbing to record levels in 2023,” with the money allocated for clean energy in global spending plans failing to “reach international climate goals.” They also show the limits of a global system that focuses on short-term patches for long-term problems, putting a handful of leaders from powerful nations in charge of making decisions for the entire world. As Aaron David Miller, a former State Department official now with the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, put it on Twitter on Monday, it is “stunning” how multilateral institutions dropped the ball not only on the pandemic and climate change, but on much more.
Are We Prepared for Pandora’s Box of Climate Catastrophes? - Will this be the summer we all remember what we were doing? A monstrous landslide after record rainfall in Japan left fifteen dead and dozens missing. Biblical flooding in Germany has caused hundreds of deaths with many more unaccounted for. More than a million acres of the west coast of North America are on fire after temperatures soared to 122°F (49.9°C). Will this be the moment we woke up and demanded action? Or will it be the coolest summer of the rest of our lives? With the planet only warming by just over a degree, natural-disaster loss events have more than tripled in the past forty years. Since 2004, the number of events has already doubled. What can we expect to happen if we continue on our current path? One thing keeping scientists awake at night is the sleep inducingly named Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC), or the Gulf Stream. This is the ocean current that begins in the warm Gulf of Mexico, carries warm water up the northeast coast of the United States, and across the Atlantic to Northern Europe. The Gulf Stream is often credited with stopping countries like the U.K. and Ireland from freezing over in winter. What has scientists concerned is that the current has been slowing down, and it is possible that it may ‘switch off’ completely. The slowing down is being caused by the increasing amount of freshwater melt coming off the Greenland ice sheets as a result of manmade warming. Between 1900 and 1970, 1,919 cubic miles (8,000 cubic kilometres) flowed into the seas surrounding Greenland, and that figure rose to 3,119 cubic miles (13,000 cubic kilometres) between 1970 and 2000. During the 20th century, the current slowed down between fifteen and twenty per cent. Scientists believe that Europe will still continue to get warmer due to climate change, unless the Gulf Stream turns off completely. They are unsure of this likelihood, although Western European winters are predicted to become colder as the stream slows down further. Whilst Europe may avoid completely freezing over, the Gulf Stream, along with the North American Polar Jet Stream, are expected to drive extreme weather events. In research published in the journal Nature, scientists predict ‘climate chaos’ as water gushes from Greenland into the oceans. They expect weather to be strongly impacted and temperatures on both sides of the Atlantic to vary more wildly from year to year. The jet stream is like the weather distribution manager for North America. It decides where to send high and low pressure, and how strong to make them. When the jet stream is managing the weather effectively, weather rushes along a torrent from west to east, bringing rain every three to five days. Unfortunately, as the Arctic warms, and the temperature difference between the equator and the North Pole narrows, the jet stream acts unpredictably. The flow is strongest when the temperature variance is highest, but as the Arctic is warming faster than the equator, the flow has slowed down. Recently, the weather is not really rushing, it’s more like a child dragging their feet, hanging around in areas for long periods. The June 2019 fires in Alberta, Canada, were caused by a high-pressure ridge hanging out and causing drought and fire. Then further out east, low pressure ridges cause rain and flooding which festers (33). Likewise, the jet stream was meandering slowly in an Omega pattern (Ω) in July 2021 and this helped caused therecord heat and resulting wildfires in Canada and the western US. Whatever weather pattern emerges, be it a drought, heavy rainfall or heat wave; that pattern basically persists for longer and amplifies the associated risks.
DOE Quietly Backs Plan for Carbon Capture Network Larger Than Entire Oil Pipeline System -An organization run by former Obama-era Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz, with the backing of the AFL-CIO, afederation of 56 labor unions, has created a policy “blueprint” to build a nationwide pipeline network capable of carrying a gigaton of captured carbon dioxide (CO2).The “Building to Net-Zero” blueprint appears to be quietly gaining momentum within the Energy Department, where a top official has discussed ways to put elements into action using the agency’s existing powers.The pipeline network would be twice the size of the current U.S. oil pipeline network by volume, according to the blueprint, released by a recently formed group calling itself the Labor Energy Partnership. Backers say the proposed pipeline network — including CO2 “hubs” in the Gulf Coast, the Ohio River Valley, and Wyoming — would help reduce climate-changing pollution by transporting captured carbon dioxide to either the oil industry, which would undo some of the climate benefits by using the CO2 to revive aging oilfields, or to as-yet unbuilt facilities for underground storage.The blueprint, however, leaves open many questions about how the carbon would be captured at the source — a process that so far has proved difficult and expensive — and where it would be sent, focusing instead on suggesting policies the federal government can adopt to boost CO2 pipeline construction. Climate advocates fear that building such a large CO2 pipeline network could backfire, causing more greenhouse gas pollution by enabling aging coal-fired power plants to remain in service longer, produce pipes that could wind up carrying fossil fuels if carbon capture efforts fall through, and represent an expensive waste of federal funds intended to encourage a meaningful energy transition. In March, over 300 climate and environmental justice advocacy groups sent a letter to Congress, arguing that subsidizing carbon capture “could entrench the fossil economy for decades to come.”
Will carbon capture play a key role in the race to net zero emissions? Not everyone agrees— Carbon capture technology is often held up as a source of hope in reducing global greenhouse gas emissions, featuring prominently in countries' climate plans as well as the net-zero strategies of some of the world's largest oil and gas companies.The topic is divisive, however, with climate researchers, campaigners and environmental advocacy groups arguing that carbon capture technology is not a solution.The world is confronting a climate emergency, and policymakers and chief executives are under intensifying pressure to deliver on promises made as part of the landmark Paris Agreement. The accord, ratified by nearly 200 countries in 2015, is seen as critically important in averting the worst effects of climate change.Carbon capture, utilization and storage — often shortened to carbon capture technology or CCUS — refers to a suite of technologies designed to capture carbon dioxide from high-emitting activities such as power generation or industrial facilities, that use either fossil fuels or biomass for fuel.The captured carbon dioxide, which can also be captured directly from the atmosphere, is then compressed and transported via pipeline, ship, rail or truck to be used in a range of applications or permanently stored underground. Proponents of these technologies believe they can play an important and diverse role in meeting global energy and climate goals.Carroll Muffett, chief executive at the non-profit Center for International Environmental Law (CIEL), is not one of them. "If you look at the history of carbon capture and storage, what you see is nearly two decades of a solution in search of a cure."Some CCS and CCUS facilities have been operating since the 1970s and 1980s when natural gas processing plants in south Texas began capturing carbon dioxide and supplying the emissions to local oil producers for enhanced oil recovery operations. The first one was set up in 1972.It wasn't until several years later that carbon capture technology would be studied for climate mitigation purposes. Now, there are 21 large-scale CCUS commercial projects in operation worldwide and plans for at least 40 new commercial facilities have been announced in recent years. A report published by CIEL earlier this month concluded that these technologies are not only "ineffective, uneconomic and unsafe," but they also prolong reliance on the fossil fuel industry and distract from a much-needed pivot to renewable alternatives.
Would Upper Midwest carbon capture pipelines offer a lifeline to coal plants? --An environmental group is warning that a proposed pipeline network that would carry carbon emissions to underground storage in Illinois and North Dakota could also extend the life of fossil fuel power plants in the Upper Midwest. The recently announced projects would immediately benefit ethanol producers, but the Sierra Club says they might also offer a regulatory or economic lifeline to coal-fired power plants in the region under future federal emissions policies. The pipelines and storage sites, still in very early planning stages, are being promoted as a solution for ethanol refineries. But Andy Knott of the Sierra Club’s Beyond Coal Campaign said, “we certainly have a concern” that later on carbon capture could encompass coal plant emissions. If the federal government should impose a carbon emissions reduction policy, carbon capture and storage could help a power plant “to clear that bar,” said Jeremy Fisher, senior advisor for strategic research and development for the Sierra Club’s environmental law program. Secure underground storage sites abound in the Midwest, most notably in North Dakota, Nebraska and Illinois, according to Brad Crabtree, vice president for carbon management at the Great Plains Institute. One of them has been in operation since 2017, when ethanol manufacturer Archer Daniels Midland began injecting about one million tons of CO2 each year thousands of feet underground directly beneath its plant in Decatur, Illinois. More Midwestern projects are planned. Using a similar approach, a partnership of Battelle and Catahoula Resources envisions burying waste CO2 from Nebraska’s 25 ethanol plants in nearby saline reservoirs. Two pipelines, announced in the past few months, would deliver CO2 from Midwestern ethanol plants to salty storage beds located deep underground in North Dakota and Illinois. Navigator CO2 Ventures and the investment firm BlackRock are planning a 1,200-mile pipeline to collect carbon dioxide from “industrial sources” in North Dakota, Minnesota, Nebraska, Iowa and Illinois and stashing it underground in Illinois. A tentative route angles from northwest to southeast Iowa. It would pass fairly close to three of the state’s four largest coal-burning power plants: the George Neal Energy Center and the Louisa and Ottumwa generating stations.
Bezos: Trip to space 'reinforces my commitment to climate change' - Amazon founder Jeff Bezos on Tuesday said his space flight has reinforced his commitment to addressing climate change and environmental issues. In an interview with MSNBC News, Bezos told host Stephanie Ruhle that his Blue Origin space launch on Tuesday was significant for building a path for future generations in space travel. He also said it was a reminder of the fragility of the planet Earth. “We have to build a road to space so that our kids and their kids can build the future … when you get up and there you see it, you see how tiny it is and how fragile it is, we need to take all heavy industry, all polluting industry and move it into space, and keep Earth as this beautiful gem of a planet that it is,” Bezos told Ruhle.
Democrats lay out vision for Civilian Climate Corps -A group of more than 80 House and Senate Democrats on Tuesday laid out their vision for a climate jobs program called the Civilian Climate Corps that is expected to be part of a sweeping $3.5 trillion budget reconciliation bill filled with Democratic priorities. A new letter from Democrats spanning the ideological spectrum pushed for the program to prioritize natural climate solutions, clean energy, climate resilience and addressing environmental justice. The lawmakers also called for “ambitious” labor standards, including a living wage and an award to help participants pay for college or pay back student loans. The letter did not specify how much money should be provided for that program. They said half of the climate program’s investment should be directed into front-line communities disproportionately impacted by environmental issues and that half of the Corps' members should be recruited from such communities. The push was spearheaded by Reps. Joe Neguse (Colo.), Alexandria-Ocasio Cortez (N.Y.), Judy Chu (Calif.), Marcy Kaptur (Ohio) and Bobby Rush (Ill.) and by Sens. Ron Wyden (Ore.), Chris Coons (Del.) and Ed Markey (Mass.). Some of these lawmakers have already introduced legislation with different specifications for the program. In their letter, the lawmakers acknowledged those differences, saying that “while each of these bills vary in detail, we collectively ask that the upcoming reconciliation package include text that supports and funds a Civilian Climate Corps program as outlined in this letter.” During the press conference, Ocasio-Cortez described this as a “yes, and” approach, saying the proposals are “inclusive” rather than competitive.
Manchin could get top role in writing clean energy standard - Democrats are grappling with jurisdictional questions that will help determine whether their signature climate policies get enacted into law, and Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) could end up with a leading role in developing a clean electricity standard.The Senate Budget Committee last week struck a deal on a broad $3.5 trillion outline for reconciliation, but lawmakers are beginning the delicate process of writing a budget resolution and determining which other committees will draw up some of the Biden administration’s marquee proposals.The White House has pushed Congress to include a clean electricity standard (CES) in the reconciliation process (E&E Daily, June 30). Last week, Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm said that she expects such a provision to be in the package (Energywire, July 12).Now, Senate Democrats are coalescing around a CES that would cut emissions by half and generate 80% clean power by 2030. Lawmakers, budget experts and people involved with the effort expect the Energy and Natural Resources Committee, which Manchin chairs, to be charged with writing it, but other committee chairmen are signaling their own interest.“Sen. Manchin’s committee and Sen. Manchin are very important,” said Sen. Tina Smith (D-Minn.), who for months has been assembling a CES proposal she hopes can pass the complicated rules that govern reconciliation. “I’ve spoken to Sen. Manchin several times about the CES, and he has told me that he remains open to the idea,” Smith told reporters last week.Manchin’s office did not return a request for comment yesterday, but his support for a continued role for fossil fuels in the nation’s energy mix has already drawn complaints from progressive groups. The West Virginian emerged from a meeting with President Biden and Senate Democrats last week saying that proposals to eliminate fossil fuels are “very, very disturbing.”CES advocates, however, noted that Manchin has an incontrovertible role in writing clean energy policy, given that he already controls the crucial swing vote in the Senate.“Sen. Manchin is one of the votes we’re going to need for everything that is going to be in budget reconciliation, so he’ll be in all of the relevant conversations,” said Sen. Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.), a member of ENR. “I don’t think this is any different.”
One of the biggest myths about EVs is busted in new study - A new study lays to rest the tired argument that electric vehicles aren’t much cleaner than internal combustion vehicles. Over the life cycle of an EV — from digging up the materials needed to build it to eventually laying the car to rest — it will release fewer greenhouse gas emissions than a gas-powered car, the research found. That holds true globally, whether an EV plugs into a grid in Europe with a larger share of renewables, or a grid in India that still relies heavily on coal. This shouldn’t come as a big surprise. Fossil fuels are driving the climate crisis. So governments from California to the European Union have proposed phasing out internal combustion engines by 2035. But there are still people who claim that EVs are only as clean as the grids they run on — and right now, fossil fuels still dominate when it comes to the energy mix in most places. “We have a lot of lobby work from parts of the automotive industry saying that electric vehicles are not that much better if you take into account the electricity production and the battery production. We wanted to look into this and see whether these arguments are true,” says Georg Bieker, a researcher at the nonprofit research group the International Council on Clean Transportation (ICCT) that published the report. The ICCT’s analysis found that those arguments don’t hold true over time.
Renewable Energy and Battery Jobs Fared Better Than Energy Sector Overall in 2020 - Employment in renewable energy and battery-related sectors was far more resilient to the shock of the novel coronavirus pandemic, according to an annual DOE report released Monday.Overall, one in 10 U.S. energy workers lost their jobs in 2020, with oil and gas workers hit hardest despitebillions in bailouts and substantial payouts to executives. Wind energy employment grew by nearly 2%. Jobs in the electric and hybrid-electric vehicle sectors grew by 8% and 6% respectively, and battery storage jobs also increased."While we do have work to do to make our energy sector more robust, we also have a lot of work to do in making our energy sector look like America and to make sure that these new clean energy jobs are paying family-sustaining wages, with good benefits and union membership," DOE Secretary Jennifer Granholm said during a virtual report release.As reported by Reuters:The U.S. energy workforce, from fossil fuels to solar power, shed 840,000 jobs in 2020 as the global health crisis sapped demand for transportation fuels and slowed new projects, according to the annual U.S. Energy Employment Report.The largest declines were in petroleum and natural gas fuels with a combined loss of 186,000 jobs, or 21% of their workforce, according to the report. Employment in the wind energy industry was among the only sectors to grow, rising a modest 1.8%.The Biden administration is pushing several initiatives to boost clean energy industries as part of a sweeping infrastructure package being hashed out by Congress, arguing that a transition away from fossil fuels can create millions of good-paying union jobs while countering climate change.
Ohio's attack on renewable energies - Westlake | Bay Village Observer - On Monday, July 12, Governor Mike DeWine signed into law SB 52. This bill specifically targets wind and solar projects in Ohio. Prior to this bill, all energy projects had to apply first- and only- to the Ohio Power Siting Board (OPSB) for approval. OPSB is a governor-appointed/senate-approved board comprised of energy experts. With the passage of SB 52, businesses that would like to build wind and solar farms in Ohio must now hold a public meeting in the county they are proposing their project at least 90 days before applying to OPSB. This gives county commissions the power to reject a specific project or ban wind and solar projects altogether in the county. However, citizens would still be able to canvass signatures and put the restricted development up for popular vote. Please keep in mind that this new hoop for energy businesses in Ohio only applies to wind and solar: local officials have no power over coal mines, oil or gas well projects in Ohio. In fact, local governments are NOT allowed to ban natural gas activity (fracking) and local efforts to regulate it have been struck down. But now local governments will be allowed to ban wind and solar farms. At a time when the Biden administration is gearing up to fund renewable energy projects nationwide, this definitely feels like a step backwards for Ohio. It could mean missed opportunities for generating a greater percentage of energy from renewables and for new job growth. Opponents of the bill believe that Ohio will be passed over for renewable projects and neighboring states will benefit instead. An Ohio University report from fall of 2020 found that solar energy could support between 18,000-54,000 jobs over the next several decades. And that report just examined solar energy, not wind. The bill did not have any support from Democrats. Additionally, 10 Republicans from both the House and the Senate also opposed the bill. At the very least, each type of energy project should have the same standards in Ohio. Farmers should also keep their rights over their own land should they choose to lease it to a company for wind or solar energy. This bill gives the government control over private land.
Condo owners’ appeal could be last legal hurdle for offshore wind in Great Lakes - A legal challenge by two lakeview condo dwellers seeking to block Lake Erie’s first offshore wind farm faces a high legal bar before the Ohio Supreme Court — with equally high stakes for clean energy in the region.The Icebreaker Windpower project’s six turbines would sit roughly 8 to 10 miles northwest of Cleveland and produce roughly 20.7 megawatts of electricity per year. The Lake Erie Energy Development Corporation, or LEEDCo, has worked on the project for more than a decade.The Ohio Power Siting Board approved the project in October, putting it on track to become not just the first offshore wind project in Ohio but also the first freshwater offshore wind project in North America. The developer has achieved several regulatory wins, including the removal of a “poison pill” from an earlier version of the siting board’s approval, which would have mandated nightly shutdowns of the turbines for eight months of the year. There was no evidence that the shutdowns would have been necessary to protect wildlife.The project’s primary resistance now comes from two intervenors in Bratenahl, Ohio, a suburb east of Cleveland with median annual earnings above $80,000, according to U.S. census data. W. Susan Dempsey watches birds and sunsets from her balcony, and Robert Maloney enjoys birding and regularly takes his boat out to fish on Lake Erie, their lawyers wrote in 2018.Their case challenging the siting board’s decision, now before the state’s top court, faces a much narrower path than it had before the board. The Ohio Supreme Court won’t overturn the Ohio Power Siting Board’s ruling unless it was unlawful or unreasonable. Generally speaking, the court is supposed to affirm the Ohio Power Siting Board as long as it correctly applied the law to the facts before it. And the board’s factual findings depend in large part on its technical expertise. So, the court won’t disturb those findings unless they are manifestly against the weight of the evidence or so clearly unsupported as to show misapprehension, mistake or a willful disregard of duty, the state’s brief noted.“The court gives deference to the technical opinions of the agencies,” said Dave Karpinski, who heads up LEEDCo. In his view, “there are really no new arguments in their appeal,” which haven’t already been considered and rejected by the board.“Because Icebreaker Wind is the first ever offshore wind project proposed in Ohio, it is one of the most thoroughly reviewed projects ever to be approved in the state, having been comprehensively studied and analyzed at length,” said Miranda Leppla, vice president of energy policy for the Ohio Environmental Council.
Thune, Brown Introduce Bipartisan Bill to Increase Biogas Production, Promote Investment in Rural America -- U.S. Sens. John Thune (R-S.D.) and Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) introduced bipartisan legislation to encourage investment in biodigester and nutrient recovery systems, while establishing a market for farmers who already have a surplus of waste materials that can be used for biogas production. Thune and Brown's bill, the Agricultural Environmental Stewardship Act, will help expand the market for renewable biogas by providing a 30 percent investment tax credit to help offset the upfront costs associated with building biodigester systems. U.S. Reps. Ron Kind (D-Wis.) and Tom Reed (R-N.Y.) introduced companion legislation in the House of Representatives.'This bill is a commonsense solution to help South Dakota's dairy producers, boost our economy, and better preserve our environment,' said Thune. 'I'd like to thank Senator Brown and our colleagues in the House for this bipartisan effort to invest in sustainable biogas technology and American jobs, and I look forward to working to get this bill enacted into law.''Ohio farmers are struggling to safely dispose of livestock waste that could be used for renewable energy,' said Brown. 'This legislation will encourage investment in the technology needed to convert these waste materials into renewable fuel that can be used to power farms, households, and businesses across the country. We need to do all we can to protect Lake Erie and our waterways, and this bill provides another tool to ensure clean water.' Farmers across the country have a surplus of organic material like manure, food scraps, agricultural residue, and wastewater solids and liquids, all of which can be used to produce biogas that can be used to produce heat, electricity, and fuel and can be injected into natural gas pipelines. They can also be used to process wastewater up stream, which reduces runoff and containments that impact potable water in a number of communities.
In Connecticut, another boost for fuel cell industry reignites subsidy debate - Connecticut’s fuel cell industry scored a win last week when Gov. Ned Lamont signed into law a bill requiring the state’s electric distribution companies to solicit up to 30 megawatts in new fuel cell generation projects by Jan. 1. The legislation is the latest example of the state’s long efforts to bolster an industry that has made Connecticut a leader in fuel cell development, but the debate over the bill also underscored tensions between economic development interests and the urgency of eliminating carbon emissions.Connecticut is a national leader in fuel cell technology; the state is home to two major manufacturers and second only to California in the number of generators deployed. The units generate electricity through a chemical reaction fueled primarily by hydrogen. They are more than twice as efficient as typical combustion technologies,according to the U.S. Department of Energy, and do not emit the poisonous nitrogen oxides that are so harmful to humans and the climate.Supporters see fuel cells playing a pivotal role as backup power sources for microgrids and other scenarios where resilience demands rule intermittent renewables like wind and solar. But because most fuel cells currently derive their hydrogen from natural gas, they emit carbon. And some environmentalists argue that incentivizing their use is working against climate interests. “We should not be subsidizing dirty energy,” said Samantha Dynowski, state director of Sierra Club Connecticut. “There are methane leaks everywhere in the extraction and transport of natural gas. It’s really alarming to hear legislators, some of whom are good on climate, repeating this messaging that fuel cells are cleaner and will help us reach our goals.”
Feud between energy giants puts state’s climate goals at risk - A proposal to build a $1 billion transmission line to bring hydropower from Canada to Massachusetts has survived years of thorny negotiations and court challenges to win critical state and federal permits. The 145-mile line, Governor Charlie Baker has said, is critical to curb the state’s reliance on fossil fuels and reduce emissions. But none of that matters if Avangrid, a Connecticut-based subsidiary of a massive Spanish energy company, can’t connect the line to New England’s power grid, which requires expensive upgrades to a critical circuit breaker at the Seabrook Nuclear Power Plant in New Hampshire. Seabrook is owned by NextEra Energy, a Florida company that has taken aggressive action to stop the power line from being built.The increasingly bitter feud between the two energy behemoths has now put at risk the state’s ability to comply with its ambitious new climate law, which requires Massachusetts to reduce emissions by 50 percent below 1990 levels by the end of the decade and effectively eliminate them by 2050. It also highlights the complexities the state faces as it tries to clean up a power grid composed of many interconnecting, often competing, players. “”This conflict is symptomatic of a myriad of hurdles facing many large energy infrastructure projects, including green ones,” said Paul Patterson, an analyst at Glenrock Associates, a New York-based energy research firm. “One cannot underestimate how difficult it can be to overcome these hurdles.”Most recently, the dispute between the companies has devolved into rival complaints filed against each other with regulators, including one that Avangrid lodged with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission — a typically confidential filing the company publicized — in which it alleged that Seabrook poses a threat to public safety if the circuit breaker isn’t upgraded. NextEra officials allege that their competitor is “whitewashing the real issues” and “jeopardizing the development of renewable energy projects across New England.” Avangrid officials say their rival “chooses to lie” in an effort to protect its fossil fuel business and nuclear power plant.
Maine mining project CEO's comments about Indigenous rights stir controversy — Wolfden Resources, a Canadian mining company looking to develop a precious minerals mine in Maine, is under criticism for claims made to investors regarding Indigenous rights in the state and the environmental impact the mine will have on the area’s bodies of water. The claims originate from Wolfden CEO Ron Little’s presentation at a 2019 investor conference in Vancouver on the Pickett Mountain Mining Project, based in northern Penobscot County. About three minutes into the presentation, which was recorded on video by conference organizer Cambridge House International, Little showed a slide discussing the location of Wolfden’s property. Wolfden is seeking a rezoning permit on its land from the Maine Land Use Planning Commission. “There are no Indigenous rights in the state of Maine,” Little said in the video. “So this really streamlines the permitting process.” Little reiterates the claim in another video posted by Wolfden to YouTube in September 2020. The Natural Resources Council of Maine, one of the most prominent environmental groups in the state — long critical of the project — recently collected these two videos, among others, and shared them with the tribes and posted them to its website. The council condemned the statements about Indigenous rights as racist and ignorant of Maine’s laws. Now Little is facing criticism for what he told the investors Wolfden largely relies on for cash flow. “These videos demonstrate that Wolfden lacks respect for Maine law, Maine people and the truth,” Natural Resources Council of Maine Staff Scientist Nick Bennett said. “This behavior should disqualify Wolfden from receiving a rezoning from the Land Use Planning Commission.”
Illinois Commerce Commission greenlights Nicor Gas renewable natural gas pilot program - A program floated by Nicor Gas — the Renewable Gas Interconnection Pilot — received approval from the Illinois Commerce Commission (ICC) earlier this month, paving the way for new renewable natural gas (RNG) facilities to be interconnected. By encouraging the development of RNG production facilities within its service territory, Nicor Gas hopes to determine how such gas could be efficiently integrated into its natural gas distribution system at large and fill out its offerings with cleaner, reliable fuel. RNG is a sustainable non-fossil fuel produced from food and animal waste, wastewater plants and landfill gas, relying on the methane produced from decomposing organic waste. The Interconnection pilot project will take this methane and convert it to RNG to replace geologic natural gas.
Canadian cryptocurrency company plans to buy North Tonawanda power plant - Because of the power demands connected with the large number of supercomputers needed for elaborate calculations, cryptocurrency mining can be extremely expensive. But there is a way around that: buying one's own power plant, as Digihost, a Canadian cryptocurrency company, plans to do in North Tonawanda. Digihost has a deal to buy the Fortistar North Tonawanda natural gas-burning power plant at 1070 Erie Ave., and stock the site with supercomputers needed for investments in Bitcoin and other digital currencies. Monday, the Niagara County Planning Board approved the project, on the condition that it's an allowable use under the North Tonawanda zoning ordinance. Amy E. Fisk, county senior planner, said she can't tell if the ordinance allows data-mining. She suggested the city was looking into it, but City Attorney Luke A. Brown said Monday he knows nothing of the project. City approval would be needed. Digihost announced in March that it had purchased a 60-megawatt power plant somewhere in the state for $3.5 million, plus $750,000 worth of company stock. But it didn't say where. In April Digihost and Fortistar jointly petitioned the state Public Service Commission for approval of the North Tonawanda plant sale. The request is being reviewed and is now subject to public comment, a PSC spokesman said.
Gas share in MISO power generation stack defies gravity of high prices - Coal retirements in the Midwest Independent System Operator are giving natural gas-fired power surprisingly large market share in the ISO territory this summer, despite historically elevated gas prices. So far in July, gas has accounted for about 31% of total power generation in MISO, up from an annual low at just 20% market share in late February. Growing market share for gas in MISO this year has accompanied steadily rising prices for the fuel and doesn't appear to be correlated with any established seasonal pattern in market share for gas. At the Chicago city-gates, cash prices have averaged about $3.49/MMBtu this month – up from levels around $2.50 in late February. At the Mich Con city-gate, another key Midwest hub, prices have followed a similar trajectory, gaining nearly $1 over the past five months to average $3.47/MMBtu this July, S&P Global Platts data shows. Historically, rising gas prices have incentivized increased dispatch of coal-fired power. Thanks to recent coal retirements, though, generator demand for gas in MISO has become increasingly price inelastic. Since December 2020, at least seven coal plants in the ISO's territory have been retired including Dallman units 1 and 2, Hoot Lake units 2 and 3, R. Gallagher units 2 and 4 and Petersburg Station 1. The closures have subsequently removed some 830 MW of coal-fired power from the generation stack, according to data compiled by S&P Global Platts Analytics. Despite the recent plant retirements, coal remains the fuel of choice for most Midwest generators this summer. In July, coal has generated an average 838 GWh in MISO, and accounted for about 45% market share. In comparison, month-to-date gas generation has averaged just 578 GWh, equivalent to about 31% market share, ISO data shows. Compared to July 2020, total generation in MISO is down, thanks mainly to cooler Midwest temperatures this month.
Heatwave, wildfires heightens urgency for Western RTO: Glick, Clements - With heatwaves and wildfires raging in the West, the need for reliability is more critical than ever, and should spur stakeholders to move quickly to advance an organized market in the region, according to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission's Democratic commissioners. The prospect of creating a Western regional transmission organization (RTO) was raised "again and again," during FERC's technical conference on resource adequacy in the West, said Commissioner Allison Clements during the commission's monthly meeting on Thursday. "While it won't help us get through this summer, I agree that a Western RTO — designed by Westerners for Westerners — goes a long way toward addressing the West's needs in the decades to come," she said. Chair Richard Glick, who in June similarly called for the West to "finish the job" of creating an RTO, echoed those sentiments to reporters after the meeting.Their comments follow a call from a coalition of previous FERC commissioners and chairs to expand RTOs across the West and Southeast, the only two regions in the U.S., excluding California, that remain outside an organized power market. California's grid is managed by the California Independent System Operator, but the rest of the West remains unstructured, with electric customers largely beholden to traditionally-regulated, vertically-integrated monopoly utilities. Proponents of RTO expansion say organizing the West and Southeast can accelerate the energy transition and create more market transparency. Though some ex-FERC commissioners and chairs urged the commission to take this job on unilaterally, Glick and Clements indicated that such a policy should come from Western stakeholders themselves. But while the region has made some progress, such as the expansion of the Southwest Power Pool to create a Western Energy Imbalance Services market, Glick said the region needs to move faster."I believe there needs to be an RTO in the West, I think the time has come for it," said Glick. He added that "this commission has been very deferential and will continue to be deferential to the region. But at the same time, I think those discussions need to move forward ... instead of working incrementally."The impact of climate change on the region should accelerate those discussions, Glick and Clements said."The effects of climate change on the electricity system requires a recognition by all stakeholders of the magnitude of the challenge. It also requires a willingness to open our thinking to collaborative, bold steps going forward," Clements said. "We know from public reports that I think more than 4,000 MW of transmission capacity from the north to the south — from the Northwest into California, for instance — was taken out for a time period because of one of the major wildfires out there," said Glick. "And we know it's not going to get any any better. ... It's actually going to get worse."
A stronger electricity grid is crucial to cutting carbon. Does that make it green? -Can slicing a 100-mile-long trench into the bed of the Columbia River — the iconic giant whose flow binds British Columbia, Washington and Oregon — be good for the environment? The answer is a big yes, says a team of energy developers that proposes submerging power cables in the riverbed. The developers say the submerged cables could deliver “clean” energy that will be crucial for getting the most densely developed areas of Cascadia off fossil fuels. A proposal by renewable energy developer Sun2o Partners and transmission developer PowerBridge would insert the cables into the Columbia at The Dalles in Oregon. This electrical on-ramp is near the towering wind farms and expansive solar farms installed along the Columbia Gorge in eastern Oregon and Washington. The cables also would intersect and plug into the monster transmission lines at the Bonneville Power Administration’s Big Eddy substation, drawing cheaper solar power from the Southwest, steadier wind power from Montana and Wyoming, and reliable backup power from British Columbia’s supersized hydropower reservoirs. But even climate-conscious developers can’t make plans involving a natural resource like the Columbia River without causing uneasiness among those concerned with ecosystems and communities. Along the Columbia, those affected would include tribal nations and unique cultural interests.Regulators and environmentalists are likely to find themselves caught in the middle — wanting environmental justice for tribal nations, as well as limits to the impacts of energy projects on ecosystems, yet also eagerly seeking rapid action on projects designed to slow climate change. Sun2o and PowerBridge propose to bring their cables ashore in Portland, helping to electrify industries, buildings and vehicles while reducing the use of coal- and gas-fired power plants. Hence the project’s name: Cascade Renewable Transmission. “The only places you can site solar and wind at scale are, for the most part, east of the Cascades. But the demand, the need for the electricity, is in Portland and Seattle, on the west side,” says Corey Kupersmith, the New York–based renewable energy developer who cofounded Sun2o and dreamed up the cable scheme. And existing power lines that link east and west are filling up fast, he says.
Someone Is Buying Up Power Plants and Critical Infrastructure in 22 Countries. The Trail Leads to JPMorgan – a Bank Repeatedly Charged with Rigging Markets – Pam Martens - According to the Merger and Acquisition database at PitchBook, entities tied to JPMorgan Asset Management have been buying up energy and infrastructure assets around the world including solar power plants, wind farms, airports, water companies and the 120-year old El Paso Electric which provides electricity to approximately 437,000 retail and wholesale customers in west Texas and southern New Mexico.The acquisitions can be traced back to an entity called the Infrastructure Investments Fund (IIF). When IIF is seeking regulatory approval, as in the case of buying El Paso Electric, it contends it is not controlled by JPMorgan. But when JPMorgan is pitching the fund to institutional investors around the globe, the bank points out that 50 of the bank’s employees are actively engaged in the fund – along with “70 independent portfolio company directors.”The brochures (flipbooks) for IIF are marked “Strictly Private/Confidential” but one dated 2019 used to pitch California’s Mendocino County Employees Retirement Association and another from 2020 that was used to pitch a pension fund in the U.K., are available for anyone to read on the Internet.The 2019 flipbook states that IIF was founded in 2006 and “grew out of the JPMorgan Real Estate Group.” At that time, according to the flipbook, IIF included $6.1 billion in 15 portfolio companies in 15 countries. The 2020 flipbook states that IIF has 17 portfolio companies in 22 countries with a net asset value of $12.4 billion.The 2019 flipbook also shows that foreign investors owned 73 percent of the fund. Foreign ownership interest became a problem in 2019 when the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) had to approve IIF’s purchase of El Paso Electric, which owned part of the Palo Verde nuclear power plant in Arizona. Under federal law, nuclear power plants are to remain under the control of U.S. entities. The NRC approved the El Paso deal despite the foreign ownership interests.According to IIF’s flipbook, companies in which IIF held a 100 percent control includeVärmevärden, a heating company based in central Sweden; Summit Utilities, which owns natural gas distribution and transmission subsidiaries that operate in Arkansas, Colorado, Maine, Missouri and Oklahoma; SouthWest Water Company, which owns and operates regulated water and wastewater systems serving over half a million residential and business customers in Alabama, California, Florida, Oregon, South Carolina, and Texas. According to PitchBook, a subsidiary of SouthWest Water Company, via JPMorgan Asset Management, last year acquired the South Carolina wastewater utility operations of Ni Pacolet Milliken Utilities (Ni) from Pacolet Milliken, LLC. Ni owns regulated wastewater and water utility companies serving customers in South Carolina and Florida. Ni’s holdings include Palmetto Utilities,Palmetto Wastewater Reclamation, and Ni Florida.IIF’s 2020 flipbook for investors brags about the monopolistic aspects of its portfolio companies, writing that: “Essential services that often operate on a monopolistic basis either by regulatory structure or long-term contract, which drives visibility into strong EBITDA [earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization] margins & cash yield.”IIF also has 66.1 percent control of North Queensland Airports (NQA) in Australia, which currently owns and operates Cairns and Mackay Airports, which service approximately five million passengers each year. IIF also owns Nieuport Aviation which owns and operates the Billy Bishop Airport in Toronto, Canada, which services 2.8 million passengers according to its website. IIF’s 2020 flipbook says that it has control of 100 percent of the power being generated by Sonnedix Power Holdings, which owns solar plants, and Ventient Energy, a portfolio of wind farms.
Peabody utility plans to shutdown older plant — Plans to build a 55-megawatt natural gas-powered “peaker” plant along the Waters River are forging ahead, but the Peabody Municipal Light Plant officials recently announced their decision to decommission an existing 20-megawatt fossil fuel-burning plant at the same location. According to PMLP Manager Charles Orphanos, the decision to retire the older, less efficient plant was made after hearing the concerns of ratepayers and analyzing new census data which shows an increase in the number of “environmental justice areas” surrounding the plant. “I expect this will help reduce some of the health concerns as well as some of the environmental concerns, specifically in the environmental justice areas here in Peabody,” Orphanos said, adding that the decision was made over the past month by the lighting commission, PMLP management, and PMLP attorneys. Plans to build a new peaker plant, which would only run during periods of especially high demand for electricity, have been in the works since 2015. The plant, referred to as Project 2015A in public documents, would be owned and operated by the Massachusetts Municipal Wholesale Electric Company (MMWEC) and was previously approved to be built at PMLP’s Waters River substation, behind the Pulaski Street Industrial Park. On May 11, MMWEC announced they were pausing the $85 million Project 2015A in order to address the environmental and health concerns of residents, seek input from stakeholders and consider alternative energy options. During a June 24 Lighting Commission meeting, Orphanos said MMWEC made multiple changes — including the elimination of one of two 200,000 gallon oil tanks and the switch from ammonia to urea — over the past 2-½ months in order to lessen the environmental impact of the plant, but he added that PMLP had no plans to decommission wither of the two existing plants.
Sale to developer pulls plug on Avon Lake power plant - cleveland.com -- Charah Solutions Inc. has purchased the Avon Lake power plant from its current owner, GenOn, for teardown and redevelopment of its 40 lakefront acres. The transfer of ownership is scheduled for early April 2022 after the coal-fired, electricity-generating station ceases operation. Mayor Greg Zilka said current employees will be provided services to help them find jobs after the closing. In the meantime, Charah noted in a press release that “GenOn will continue to maintain responsibility for the plant and operate the plant in the normal course of business through closing.” As part of the agreement, Charah notes that it “will acquire the 40-acre area located on Lake Erie, which consists of multiple parcels of land adjacent to the generating plant, including the generating station, submerged lands lease in Lake Erie, substation/switch gear and transformers, administrative offices and structures, coal rail and storage yard parcels south of Lake Road, as well as the interconnection agreement.” Charah Solutions has a subsidiary, Avon Lake Environmental Redevelopment Group (ALERG), that will oversee the redevelopment of the property and will work with the city “to expand economic activity and benefit the surrounding communities through job creation and enable this site to provide the best potential use for the community and City of Avon Lake moving forward,” the press release notes.
Another coal-burning power plant faces its end - The village of Moscow, Ohio, population 185, sits along U.S. 52 about 18 miles from the Interstate 275 outer belt around Cincinnati. Standing at the post office parking lot and looking toward the skate park, you can’t miss the William H. Zimmer power plant. Its single smokestack and its cooling tower dominate the landscape there at Moscow. The plant has been in operation since 1991, making it one of the newer coal-burning power plants in this part of the Ohio Valley, if not the newest. It originally was to have been a nuclear power plant, but construction problems led its developer to build a coal-burning plant instead. About 150 people work at the plant. In a common occurrence these past few years, Zimmer’s owners announced Monday the plant will be retired no later than May 31, 2022, ahead of its scheduled retirement in 2027. The reason for Zimmer’s closure could indicate problems for other coal-burning plants in this area. It’s also a problem for West Virginia, as most of the coal Zimmer burns comes from the Mountain State. The problem is the PJM capacity auction for 2022-23. PJM is the regional grid operator from New Jersey to eastern Illinois and from Lake Erie south to the North Carolina border. In short, other power plants in the region can sell power into the grid for less than Zimmer. “The Zimmer coal-fueled power plant has recently struggled economically due to its configuration, costs, and performance. The PJM capacity revenues are critical to Zimmer, and unfortunately, without them, the plant simply doesn’t make money,” Curt Morgan, chief executive officer of Vistra, the plant’s Texas-based owner, said in a statement issued Monday. As explained in the Vistra statement, “May’s PJM capacity auction for 2022-23 cleared much lower than expected — nearly 50% lower than the 2021-22 auction in the zone where Zimmer is located. Due to this lower clearing price, Zimmer was unable to sell any generating capacity in the auction. In addition, indications suggest future PJM capacity auctions have the potential to experience low clearing price results, as well, resulting in a multimillion-dollar loss in expected future capacity revenues compared to previous years.”
Consortium to Look at Pulling Critical Minerals from Appalachian Coal Waste - Funded by a $1.2 million U.S. Department of Energy grant, a consortium of researchers will determine if critical minerals can be extracted from the waste byproducts of Appalachian coal mining. More measures like this could be a “game changer” for the rural Appalachia regions once dependent on coal for their economy, experts say. Critical minerals include metals and non-metals like gallium, indium, tungsten, platinum , cobalt, magnesium, and lithium that are considered vital for the world’s economy, yet whose supply may be at risk because of scarcity. The minerals are used in the manufacturing of diverse products such as mobile phones, flat screen monitors, wind turbines, electric cars, solar panels and other high-tech applications. The minerals are produced almost entirely by foreign countries, however. China alone produces about 85% of the world’s supply of critical minerals. The minerals are typically found in the ground in low concentrations, and harvesting is not only costly, but also environmentally damaging. By looking for the minerals in coal and its waste products, researchers hope to find an affordable and more environmentally friendly alternative. The Department of Energy found that those critical minerals can be drawn out of coal-based resources like coal waste, refuse, over/under burden materials, ash and acid mine drainage. In 2011, the DOE identified 16 critical elements in coal-based resources that are essential for making wind turbines, electric vehicles, PV cells and fluorescent lighting. Five rare earth elements—dysprosium, terbium, europium, neodymium and yttrium—were found to be critical to making magnets for wind turbines and electric vehicles.
Oklahoma Sues Federal Agency Over Coal Mining Oversight On Tribal Lands (AP) — Oklahoma is suing the U.S. Department of the Interior over the federal agency’s plan to strip Oklahoma of its jurisdiction to regulate coal mining on tribal reservations, Gov. Kevin Stitt announced Monday. The lawsuit, filed last week in federal court in Oklahoma City, names as defendants U.S. Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland, the Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement and that agency’s acting director, Glenda Owens. The U.S. Department of the Interior notified the state earlier this year it planned to strip Oklahoma of its jurisdiction to regulate surface coal mining within the Muscogee Nation reservation following last year’s U.S. Supreme Court’s McGirt decision, which determined the tribe’s reservation in eastern Oklahoma was never disestablished by Congress. “The Department of the Interior and other defendants in this case are dead wrong about their decision,” Stitt said in a statement. “They are attempting to unlawfully federalize mines that have been regulated by Oklahoma for almost 40 years by ignoring the clear limitations in the McGirt decision.” Stitt claims that the decision applies only to criminal jurisdiction. The U.S. Department of the Interior and the Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment on the lawsuit.
Manchin, Barrasso strike deal on coal reclamation program - Senators from the leading coal-mining states have reached an agreement to renew the soon-to-expire fee coal companies pay to clean up abandoned mines in a deal that includes an $11.3 billion reclamation investment. The compromise between Sens. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) and John Barrasso (R-Wyo.) is a significant step toward reconciling geographical differences among coal-state lawmakers before the abandoned mine land fee lapses on Sept. 30. The agreement would lower AML fees current mine operators pay for each ton of coal mined by 20% until 2034 and inject the Interior Department’s reclamation fund with an additional $11.3 billion. Manchin, chairman of the Energy and Natural Resources Committee, added the measures to his broader $98 billion energy infrastructure legislation, which that panel approved yesterday during a markup. “Thank you for including our compromise on reauthorizing the abandoned mine land reclamation fee,” Barrasso, the top Republican on the panel, told Manchin at the hearing. But the Wyoming senator added that he couldn’t support the broader legislation. Tens of thousands of mines orphaned before Congress passed the strip mining law in 1977 remain hazards to the environment and public safety. Since that year, Congress has only ever lowered the AML fees to accommodate industry. Manchin first pitched a straight-forward reauthorization of the current fee levels, which are set at 28 cents per ton at surface mines, 12 cents at underground mines and 8 cents for lignite. Under the Manchin-Barrasso plan, companies would pay 22.4 cents at surface mines, 9.6 cents at underground mines and 8 cents for lignite. Barrasso, whose state mines about 40% of the country’s coal, had pushed to reduce the fees even further in previous legislation. His position was similar to that of the mining industry, which has seen demand for coal in the electric power sector plummet in the past decade. Wyoming is the hub of the modern U.S. coal industry — it mined 41% of the nation’s coal last year. But it has already completed its high-priority AML reclamation work, meaning AML fees paid by Wyoming coal operators fund cleanup in other states. Most abandoned sites are in Appalachian states like West Virginia and Pennsylvania, where the coal industry boomed long before it did in Wyoming. Coal mining’s migration west has created tensions between lawmakers from the two regions over AML fees. Environmentalists and citizens’ groups have pushed to keep AML fees at their current rates to help ensure hazardous mine lands are restored to their natural states or transformed into centers of economic activity.
Environmentalists concerned about plans for TVA coal ash clean up — There is growing concern about the Tennessee Valley Authority's plan to haul hazardous coal ash from the old Allen plant on President's Island across the south side of Memphis. The plant was shut down in 2018 and the material needs to be removed from the site. Environmentalists and those potentially in the path of those trucks have a lot of questions. "The federal definition of coal ash falls short of calling it toxic, but it has toxic stuff in it and people get sick from it," said Scott Banbury with the Sierra Club. Banbury said he is concerned about what will happen to the coal ash from the old TVA Allen fossil plant. Three million yards of ash, the leftover product from when it was a coal burning power plant, needs to be moved from the site. Tuesday, Memphis City Council members were surprised to learn the TVA planned to move the ash to the South Shelby landfill on Holmes Road. "I would like to know how you are actually moving this ash across South Memphis and how are you dumping it in South Memphis," said council member Cheyenne Johnson. The distance between the Allen plant on President's Island to the South Shelby landfill is about 20 miles. While an exact route has not been announced, environmentalists are concerned not only with what is being transferred, but how it will be transported, and the route it will go. "It’s going to take 8 or 9 years, several hundred of trucks a day, and it’s going to be something we are living with, and we have to know it’s safe," said Banbury. "What is the plan going to be during rush hour ? Are they not going to run trucks while kids are going to school in the morning, and people going to work and same in the evening time,"
Barrasso says new legislation sets stage for new Wyoming Natrium nuclear reactor - — Wyoming’s U.S. Sen. John Barrasso on Friday helped introduce the “American Nuclear Infrastructure Act,” legislation which he says would set the stage “to deploy advanced nuclear technologies like the Natrium reactor coming to Wyoming.” “The American Nuclear Infrastructure Act will strengthen both America’s energy and national security,” Barrasso said in a press release shared by his office on Friday. “In the face of Russian and Chinese aggression, it’s critical we remain the world’s leading developer of nuclear energy technology. This bipartisan legislation gets that done. Nuclear power is dependable and clean. Our bipartisan bill supports the continued operation of America’s existing reactors and sets the stage to deploy advanced nuclear technologies like the Natrium reactor coming to Wyoming.” Governor Mark Gordon announced this June that Wyoming has been selected for the construction of a new “advanced” nuclear reactor, saying it would be “game-changing and monumental” for Wyoming.The system would be built at one of four sites in Wyoming. It was co-developed by TerraPower, founded by Bill Gates and GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy. The U.S. Department of Energy has awarded TerraPower $80 million in initial funding to demonstrate the Natrium technology, which TerraPower claims can offer “improved reactor economics, greater fuel efficiency, enhanced safety and lower volumes of waste.”The Natrium reactor would be a sodium-cooled fast reactor (SFR), utilizing different technology than existing reactors in the United States, which are either pressurized water reactors and the remaining or boiling water reactors. Whether the Natrium technology would actually improve on existing reactors is debated, with the Union of Concerned Scientists exploring the issue in their“‘Advanced’ Isn’t Always Better” report.
A year out, $60M bribery scandal felt in business, politics (AP) — The arrests one year ago Wednesday of then-Ohio House Speaker Larry Householder and four associates in connection with an alleged $60 million bribery scheme have rocked business and politics across the state, and events over the last year suggest a federal probe's tentacles only continue to grow.Householder, a Republican, has pleaded not guilty and maintains his innocence. He was removed from the speakership last year, reelected to office in November despite the felony racketeering charges he faces, then expelled from the chamber last month in an historic vote.His longtime political adviser Jeff Longstreth, lobbyist Juan Cespedes and Generation Now, a dark money group accused of taking millions in bribes, have pleaded guilty and await sentencing.Former Ohio Republican Chair and lobbyist Matt Borges has pleaded not guilty, admitting in a separate campaign finance probe that he spent the money but insisting legally so. Longtime Statehouse lobbyist Neil Clark died by suicide in Florida in March. DeVillers, an appointee of Republican former President Donald Trump, resigned in February to allow the new president to pick a successor. Democratic President Joe Biden has yet to nominate DeVillers' permanent replacement.The legislation at the heart of the scandal, House Bill 6, included a $1 billion bailout for two nuclear power plants operated at the time by a wholly-owned subsidiary of Akron-based FirstEnergy Corp. The federal criminal complaint said the conspiracy to pass the bill had partial roots on a flight FirstEnergy provided to Householder and his son to Trump’s January 2017 inauguration.Soon after the trip, $1 million from FirstEnergy began flowing to Generation Now, controlled by Householder, in $250,000 increments. That cash and more were used to elect Householder-backed candidates and win him the speakership, prosecutors say.Step two was passing the bill, titled the Ohio Clean Air Program, in July 2019. Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine signed it within hours. Step three was FirstEnergy spending around $38 million to finance a campaign to prevent a repeal referendum from reaching the ballot.State lawmakers have since rescinded the nuclear bailout and another provision of HB 6 guaranteeing FirstEnergy’s three Ohio utilities revenue equal to what they earned in 2018, a year of weather extremes. Majority Republicans blocked calls to repeal the entire bill, which they said was voluminous and contained some good energy policy.
Feds lay out corrupt scheme in which they say FirstEnergy paid $4.3 million bribe to former top state regulator - --- In new new court filings, FirstEnergy Corp. officials say that in exchange for a $4.3 million bribe, former Public Utilities Commission of Ohio Chairman Sam Randazzo helped them push for changes worth hundreds of millions of dollars to the Akron-based company after he became the state’s top public-utilities regulator.In the filings, made Thursday as FirstEnergy entered into what amounts to a corporate plea deal with the federal government, the company said it negotiated the payment while coordinating its agenda with Randazzo in the days before and after Republican Gov. Mike DeWine hired him in February 2019 to run the PUCO.Company officials also admitted that Randazzo helped them to develop strategy and legal language for House Bill 6, which was aimed at bailing out two nuclear plants owned by a former FirstEnergy subsidiary, and included a “decoupling” provision guaranteeing the company’s revenues at high 2018 levels. The bill is at the center of a federal corruption probe that led to Thursday’s charge against FirstEnergy.And, as PUCO chairman, Randazzo also pushed to cancel a 2024 rate review case that the company believed would hurt its bottom line by forcing it to reduce the rates it charged customers, the court filings say. Company officials referred to the the looming 2024 case as “the Ohio hole.” FirstEnergy first disclosed the $4.3 million payment to Randazzo last October, saying it discovered the payment as part of an internal investigation that it started after the FBI arrested then-House Speaker Larry Householder in July 2020, alleging that FirstEnergy bribed Householder and four others in exchange for help passing HB6. The legislature since has canceled the bailout and repealed the decoupling provision.On Nov. 20 last year, Randazzo resigned as chair of the PUCO, just days after the FBI searched his Columbus home as part of the investigation into the bribery scandal. His resignation came one day after the $4.3 million payment by FirstEnergy was revealed. In late October, shortly before disclosing the $4.3 million payment, FirstEnergy officials announced they had fired CEO Chuck Jones and two other top company executives. The company since has promoted Steve Strah, a longtime executive, to become its new CEO.But the new filings lay out the payment in greater detail, and in them, FirstEnergy officials admit that paying it was a crime. In a statement shared by his attorney, Roger Sugarman, Randazzo said the payment wasn’t improper. Although FirstEnergy has admitted to illegally paying Randazzo, Randazzo himself has not been charged with a crime. Vipal Patel, acting U.S. attorney for the Southern District of Ohio, on Thursday declined to discuss whether he would be.
Federal prosecutors charge FirstEnergy with conspiracy over House Bill 6 scandal - cleveland.comFederal attorneys filed a deferred prosecution agreement against the company in U.S. District Court in Cincinnati. FirstEnergy is charged with conspiracy to commit honest services fraud involving what authorities called the largest bribery scandal in Ohio history. “We have been waiting a really long time for Company A to be held accountable,” said Catherine Turcer, the executive director of Common Cause Ohio, referring to how federal authorities have identified FirstEnergy in court documents during the past year. “A lot of us wondered, ‘Is FirstEnergy going to get away with it again?’ It has run the Statehouse for years. This is a good day.” The agreement means the company will pay the fine and cooperate with the federal investigation. The charge will be dismissed in three years if the Akron-based utility meets several compliance obligations, including a strict internal review of campaign contributions. The agreement, however, does not prevent federal prosecutors from charging the utility’s top executives individually. “The company wants to put this chapter behind it [because it] wants to turn a new leaf. But it’s not as simple as them signing [with] a pen and it being over,” said Vipal Patel, the acting U.S. attorney for the Southern District of Ohio. Court filings allege the company paid bribes to then-Ohio House Speaker Larry Householder and Samuel Randazzo, the former chairman of the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio. Neither is named, though the descriptions from the document make it clear Householder and Randazzo are the officials involved in the case. The agreement calls for the company to pay $115 million within 60 days to the U.S. Treasury. It also must pay $115 million to a program the Ohio Development Service Agency runs for low-income utility users. If the state program “is unable or unwilling to accept the funds, FirstEnergy Corp. shall pay the $115 million to the U.S. Treasury,” the document says. Prosecutors also are seeking to seize $6.4 million through forfeiture from a nonprofit called Partners for Progress, which FirstEnergy used to funnel money in the scheme.
FirstEnergy to pay $230 million penalty in Ohio bribery probe | Pittsburgh Post-Gazette — To possibly avoid a conspiracy conviction, Akron-based FirstEnergy Corp., the utility at the heart of a $61-million Ohio Statehouse bribery scandal, has agreed to pay a $230 million penalty for its role in the scheme. And Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine on Thursday issued a statement distancing himself from his one-time appointee as chairman of the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio, Sam Randazzo, who is portrayed in the agreement as having committed improper acts. “That’s the largest criminal penalty ever collected as far as anyone can recall in the history of this office,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Vipal J. Patel at a Thursday news conference in Cincinnati. The corporation has been charged with conspiracy to commit “honest services wire fraud,” devising a scheme to use interstate wiring of monies to engage in bribery of public officials — former Ohio state House Speaker Larry Householder and Mr. Randazzo — and to hide the true purpose of the funds. However, the charge could be dismissed after three years if FirstEnergy meets its end of the settlement, including continued cooperation with prosecutors. The filing says the utility has provided “substantial cooperation.” FirstEnergy admits that it conspired with public officials and others to use nonprofit entities to conceal its actions and the purpose of its cash. It also admitted to paying $4.3 million to a second public official to act in his official capacity to further FirstEnergy’s interests in connection with two nuclear power plants owned by what was then a subsidiary. While not specifically named, that individual is Mr. Randazzo, a powerful former utilities lobbyist appointed PUCO chairman by Republican Governor DeWine. FirstEnergy was a major Randazzo client, something Mr. DeWine has said was well known before he made the appointment. Mr. Randazzo resigned as chairman late last year after the FBI raided his home. He has denied wrongdoing and is not among those who have been charged.
FirstEnergy paid $4.3 mil to top energy regulator and reaped the benefits, court docs state - An energy lobbyist who Gov. Mike DeWine appointed as the state’s top regulator of public utilities received $22 million from FirstEnergy Corp. in the decade before his appointment — including $4.3 million paid just before assuming the post and specifically to execute official duties to benefit the Akron-based utility — court documents revealed Thursday. Sam Randazzo, who resigned as chairman of the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio after federal agents raided his Columbus home, used his PUCO chairmanship to scuttle a requirement that FirstEnergy undergo a rate review set for 2024, which company executives believed would hurt its bottom line, the documents state. FirstEnergy entered into a deferred prosecution agreement — in which the U.S. Department of Justice could drop the charge if the company meets certain conditions including a $230 million criminal penalty — on one count of wire fraud. It also agreed to a stipulation of facts detailing its nearly $61 million in payments to an account the former speaker of the Ohio House allegedly controlled and spent to pass House Bill 6, legislation worth an estimated $1.3 billion to the company. Thursday’s filing, however, is flush with new details about FirstEnergy’s long relationship with Randazzo, dating back to a contract in 2010 and a consulting deal inked in 2013. The agreement states one FirstEnergy executive texted another on Nov. 15, 2019 that Randazzo is “going to make the requirement [for a rate review] to file go away, but I do not know specifically how he plans to do it.” The document doesn’t directly identify the executives. On Nov. 21, 2019, PUCO issued an order finding it is “no longer necessary or appropriate” that three utilities owned by FirstEnergy file a new case when its current rate structure expires in 2024.
Householder alleged to have promoted FirstEnergy interests during Trump roundtable - Facing serious financial trouble and pushing for a federal bailout, the FirstEnergy Corporation saw opportunity in August 2018 when President Donald Trump announced a trip to Ohio.The Akron-based company wanted someone to make the case to Trump in person, so it turned to a reliable political ally: Larry Householder.The Perry County Republican’s alleged connections with the energy company were further outlined in a new deferred prosecution agreement between federal prosecutors and FirstEnergy announced on Thursday. The agreement sheds more light on the years of political maneuvering that preceded the 2019 nuclear bailout in the form of House Bill 6. Awaiting Householder’s ascendancy to the speakership, FirstEnergy spent much of 2018 lobbying the Trump administration to provide emergency support toward its coal and nuclear plants, it was reported at the time.Trump traveled to the Buckeye State on Aug. 24, 2018 to headline the Ohio Republican Party’s annual dinner. After a visit to Nationwide Children’s Hospital, Trump headed to the Greater Columbus Convention Center to meet with supporters at a roundtable event.(Householder was an invited speaker during the 2016 Republican National Convention and had met with Trump White House aides earlier in 2018 ostensibly to discuss the issue of “sanctuary cities.”)According to the deferred prosecution agreement, FirstEnergy executives arranged for Householder to attend the presidential roundtable with the express purpose of asking Trump if his administration “intended to fix FirstEnergy Corp.’s issues at the federal level.”Householder would later tell a FirstEnergy lobbyist he didn’t speak during the roundtable because of poor acoustics in the room. But he described having a chance to talk “one on one” during a photo opportunity after the roundtable ended.
Cuyahoga County Council tweaks, advances plan to create a county-run public utility - — A Cuyahoga County Council committee on Tuesday approved plans to create a public utility at the county level, but only after making changes to the legislation in response to legal concerns raised by Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost. The full Council must still sign off on County Executive Armond Budish’s goal of creating a Division of Public Utilities. That vote could come as soon as the first week of August and would lay the groundwork for county-led power projects, like creating micro-grids as back-up energy sources. The Council committee had pushed off Tuesday’s vote for months because it first wanted Yost’s opinion about the legality of a county utility — specifically, whether Ohio law allowed the county to establish and operate one. The opinion was delivered to Council earlier this month. It stated that cities would have to sign off on any utility projects within their borders before the county could move forward. In response to the opinion, the Council committee on Tuesday approved a new version of legislation that explicitly requires the county executive to get advance permission from cities for such projects. The new language also requires County Council to approve any public utility agreements between the county and cities. The Budish administration has said Yost’s opinion would have little impact because the county had already intended to get city approval before moving forward on microgrid plans. Creating a county utility would give the county authority to establish a microgrid, or grids, which would serve as back-up power supplies for businesses that want a constant stream of electricity. The idea has been billed as an economic development tool that could encourage companies to move to the county.
Liens remain in place as mediation fails in Erie County pipeline case - A federal lawsuit is keeping uncertainty in place for hundreds of property owners who sold rights-of-way for a natural gas pipeline in western Erie County. The suit over the 28.3-mile Risberg Pipeline has failed to settle in U.S. District Court in Erie, and both sides in the case are asking for more time to gather evidence as they prepare for trial.As the case advances slowly in court, a far-reaching aspect of the dispute is staying intact: mechanic's liens of $18,946,185 each are still attached to pipeline work on hundreds of swaths of land near Albion in Erie County.The liens are an outgrowth of the federal suit that the builder of the pipeline, the Wood Group USA Inc., of Houston, Texas, filed in August against the Erie-based RH Energytrans, which owns the $86 million project. The pipeline, which opened in 2019, is made up of 15 miles of 12-inch steel pipe in Elk Creek Township in Erie County and about 13 miles of pipe in Ashtabula County, Ohio, where the project ends in North Kinsgsville.The Wood Group claims that RH Energytrans owes it more than $35 million, with $18,946,185 of that due on the work the Wood Group said it completed in Erie County. RH Energytrans is claiming it has paid the Wood Group everything due under the terms of the contract. The case is in federal court because the Wood Group and RH Energytrans are located in different states.In a companion action to the federal suit, the Wood Group in December filed the mechanic's liens at the Erie County Courthouse in an attempt to recoup the money that it claims RH Energytrans owes it. The Wood Group in December also filed similar mechanic's liens against hundreds of other property owners in Ashtabula County.
Wood Continues to Threaten OH/PA Landowners with Liens re Risberg Pipe - In March 2019 MDN brought you the news that Wood Group had been awarded a $34 million contract to build 28 miles of the 60-mile Risberg Pipeline from Crawford County, PA to Ashtabula County, OH (see Wood Wins $34M Contract to Build PA to OH Risberg Pipeline). The portion Wood built was new “greenfield” pipeline. The rest of the pipeline (32 miles) already existed and was repurposed. There is an ongoing controversy between Wood and RH energytrans (the owner) concerning payment for services rendered. Wood says they’re owed more and is using the “nuclear option” of going after the landowners whose property the pipeline traverses as a way to pressure RH into paying more.We told you back in January that Wood had filed “mechanic’s liens” against landowners in both Erie County, PA and Ashtabula County, OH (see Liens Served on PA/OH Landowner Property re Risberg Pipeline). Landowners get served papers by local sheriff’s deputies and don’t understand what’s happening. It’s a very scary (very sleazy) tactic to force a settlement.Wood filed a lawsuit in federal court in August 2020 claiming RH is refusing to pay Wood for extra work it did (see Contractor Sues Risberg PA-to-OH Pipeline for Nonpayment $35M). There is a dispute over a number of change orders submitted by Wood. We get it–sometimes there are disputes over contracts. However, Wood’s dispute with RH is no reason to send scare letters to landowners, some of whom have hired lawyers to defend themselves.The two sides tried arbitration in April. That effort failed, so the case will go to trial later this year. Meanwhile, Wood continues to keep the pressure on landowners with the mechanic’s liens. The suit over the 28.3-mile Risberg Pipeline has failed to settle in U.S. District Court in Erie, and both sides in the case are asking for more time to gather evidence as they prepare for trial. As the case advances slowly in court, a far-reaching aspect of the dispute is staying intact: mechanic’s liens of $18,946,185 each are still attached to pipeline work on hundreds of swaths of land near Albion in Erie County. The liens are an outgrowth of the federal suit that the builder of the pipeline, the Wood Group USA Inc., of Houston, Texas, filed in August against the Erie-based RH Energytrans, which owns the $86 million project. The pipeline, which opened in 2019, is made up of 15 miles of 12-inch steel pipe in Elk Creek Township in Erie County and about 13 miles of pipe in Ashtabula County, Ohio, where the project ends in North Kinsgsville. Back in January when this issue first hit the news we spoke to Dennis Holbrook, spokesman for RH energytrans. The position of RH is that they properly compensated Wood for the work done, including many of the extras Wood requested. From the start, there was a delay in beginning construction (no fault of either RH or Wood), pushing a lot of the construction into the winter and then into the rainy and wet spring. RH agreed to compensate Wood $1.3 million per month for the delayed start of construction, which went on for three months.RH also gave Wood an extra 40 days to complete the work, over and above the original time allotted. Even so, Wood took an extra six months to complete the project. Wood walked off the job in June and RH had to hire other contractors to finish up–not with building the pipeline itself, but with the work to re-seed and fix up construction areas, clean everything back to pristine condition.Holbrook pointed out there are often disputes in contracts for major projects, but it was unnecessary for Wood to serve landowners with mechanic’s liens. RH had already agreed to mediation! COVID delayed the start of the mediation. However, mediation ultimately failed.Here’s the thing. If this kind of situation keeps happening with companies like Wood serving landowners with court papers when there’s a tiff over the contract and payment, landowners will think twice about allowing a pipeline across their property. We sure would. In that case, everybody loses–including companies like Wood that build pipelines.
Concerned residents seek answers on radioactive waste concerns - — A service committee meeting was held Monday night, and one thing that was brought up by residents was radioactive waste concerns. Martins Ferry council members heard from other board members in the city and listened to residents, many there to voice concerns on the Austin Masters Services facility and the processing of hazardous material."Is the contamination from the oil and gas waste getting into the water system?" Bridgeport resident Bev Reed said. "The other concern we're looking at is PFAS chemicals, they call them forever chemicals, they found them in fracking fluid."Council members spoke and say they are doing what they can right now to help with those who believe it's contaminating the water and ensure its safe."I checked with the water superintendent and our water and our wells where we get our water from, they're checked daily, and we probably have the best drinking water in all of the state," said Bruce Shrodes, 2nd Ward Councilman.Council members like Bruce Shrodes have reached out to EPA and the Ohio Department of Natural Resources and say all they can do right now is wait to hear back for assistance. "So until we hear from them and let us know they're a hazard, we definitely want to know, we'd be the first that want to know."Reed is a part of the Concerned Ohio River Residents group and although there wasn't answer from the meeting on Monday, the group hopes for the city to find a resolution soon because of concern over Austin Masters' location and safety of all residents."Where this facility is located is really not safe. I mean, it's a half mile from the football field, it's a half mile from the hospital, and these are real issues and we need to take a real close look at them." Reed said.
Where is the watchdog over Ohio's oil and gas industry? - - Well. Well. Well. If it ain’t one thing, it’s another, right? Did you know Ohio’s taxpayer dollars are being used to buy up the oil and gas industry’s drilling and fracking radioactive waste? To use as highway “de-icer”? And for dirt road “dust control”? And that a new “twist” might be coming from Columbus? At least this time our state representatives and senators aren’t being bought and sold by Ohio’s nuclear and coal industry campaign contributors. Nope. This time it’s Ohio’s oil and gas industry campaign contributors. Well-heeled oil and gas lobbyists have “made it attractive” for certain state representatives and senators to create, and then try to push, two current bills [HB 282 and SB 171] through the legislative process. These bills attempt to “re-classify” the drilling and fracking industry’s radioactive waste brine “de-icer” as a “commodity.” Why? Because, if they can re-classify it as a “commodity,” state health agencies and the Ohio Department of Natural Resources will no longer be able to measure or regulate the amount of radioactivity in the brine. Why? Because, if it’s an “unregulated commodity,” it can more easily, and more profitably, be sold right off the shelf in retail stores. Where it is temptingly and misleadingly labeled “ancient sea water,” or “nature’s source agua salina.” For people to use to “de-ice” their patios, sidewalks and driveways. Where it will all eventually be washed away to “someplace” (spread over the soil, onto farmland, into streams, into water wells and underground aquifers; or maybe dried, airborne and inhaled). Not nice. It’s carcinogenic, people. Don’t buy it, people. Don’t allow it, people. Email your state reps. Fast.
Repairs to supply line at D-2 injection well in Cambridge completed - Repairs to a supply line that leaked at the SOS D-2 injection well off Southgate Parkway in June have been completed, according to the agency tasked to oversee the repairs and soil remediation at the site. "The leak was repaired and the line was pressure tested to ensure that there were no leaks in the repaired line," said Stephanie O'Grady of the Ohio Department of Natural Resources' Division of Oil and Gas Resources Management.The well was placed back in service on July 7."The division continues to oversee any identified soil impact remediation caused by the brine leak," added O'Grady.Cambridge officials were not advised of the leak for more than a week after city water department employees discovered what they believed to be an illegal dump site behind a business near the location of the injection well. Cambridge Mayor Tom Orr and Environmental Compliance and Safety Manager Louis Thornton both said they received no notification regarding the brine leak.Orr described the lack of notification as "disheartening.""Everything within the city has checked okay, but we are watching it. We have rallied up since we learned what happened," said Orr at the time the city learned of the leak during it's own investigation into the incident.It was not until local officials contacted the EPA and ODNR that they learned of the leak.Orr said city officials checked the reservoir and water systems, and found no evidence of contamination. The leak was reportedly the result of a weak spot in a weld in the line.
FERC Tells DC Circ. Gas Exports Can Justify Eminent Domain – Law360 (paywalled, re Nexus)
Ohio Oil and Gas Production Saw Steep Declines During Pandemic - Ohio’s oil and natural gas production dropped last year as operators shut in volumes and curbed activity amid the Covid-19 pandemic, according to the Ohio Oil and Gas Association’s (OOGA) annual Debrosse Memorial Report. Natural gas production fell by 10% year/year to 2.4 Tcf in 2020, according to estimates included in the report. Oil production fell 16% over the same time to 23.2 million bbl after setting a record in 2019. The pandemic curbed energy demand across the country and the world, which sent prices lower and forced oil and gas operators to slash activity and make price-related curtailments across Appalachia and the nation’s other leading fields. Permits issued by the state fell 25% last year to 353. The Utica Shale continued to dominate drilling programs in Ohio, accounting for 313 of the permits issued, while shallower legacy targets like the Clinton Sandstone accounted for the remainder. Completion activity also fell as operators deferred activity during the virus-induced slump. OOGA’s report said there were 267 completions in 2020, down 34% from 2019. Roughly 80% of all completions were for horizontal wells. Jefferson, Belmont, Monroe, Harrison and Guernsey counties accounted for 80% of all completions and wells drilled in the state last year. Meanwhile, Ascent Resources Corp., Encino Energy LLC and an affiliate of Southwestern Energy Co. were the top three most active operators. They accounted for nearly 70% of all wells drilled in the state during 2020. The number of producers operating in Ohio has continued to decline, going from 41 in 2019 to 31 in 2020, according to the report. Before the Utica land rush got underway in 2008, there were more than 180 exploration and production companies working in the state, but that number has declined every year since as assets in the basin have been consolidated by dominant operators.
Owens art exhibit considers effects of fracking in Ohio - WTOL— An art exhibit on display in the Walter E. Terhune Art Gallery at Owens Community College is bringing focus to the effects of fracking on the environment. The temporary exhibit is called, The Heavens and Earth."Chemicals and things from that process are getting to everyone. Whether it be in the atmosphere or in the brine that comes up from under the earth, with up to 600 chemicals in it," said Beth Genson, Owens Community College artist in residence.Fracking is a process of using hydraulics to break up the ground below the Earth's surface in order to gain access to natural gas and oil.Although it's not a typical sight in Northwest Ohio, Genson says some of what's produced is transported around the state.Genson says she takes inspiration from her firsthand experience visiting an area in Southeast Ohio where fracking is common."It just had such an impact on me, that I wanted to create some work that would speak to it, and also raise some money toward the project to further get regulation in Ohio," said Genson.Genson says she wants visitors to come away from the exhibit with an understanding of the effects of fracking in our state.By experiencing the gallery, she says you can help make change for the future."25 percent of the sale of any of the work goes to the freshwater accountability group. They are working hard to put regulation and legislation in Ohio to regulate the fracking industry here in Ohio," said Genson.The exhibit will be on display until August 13th. You can find information about the exhibit and reception here.
Series Of Sinkholes Spurs Action In Chesco To Halt Pipeline Work — Sinkholes — one after another along Mariner East 2 construction sites in Chester County — prompted a letter from the Chester County Commissioners today calling for the work to stop. In a letter to the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission (PUC), the Chester County Commissioners on Monday requested that two Mariner East pipelines be ordered to cease operations while further investigations examine the impact on public safety from a recent outbreak of construction-induced sinkholes near the lines. With at least seven sinkhole formations documented this year, the Commissioners urged PUC to take swift action to protect residents' safety. The lines in question are Energy Transfer's Mariner East 1 (ME1) 8-inch and 12-inch natural gas liquid (NGL) pipelines. Both pipelines have been in the ground for about 80 years but only began carrying NGLs under high pressure much more recently. A PUC document explained ME1 is used to transport liquid propane, butane, and ethane. According to the letter from Commissioners' Chair Marian Moskowitz, and Commissioners Josh Maxwell and Michelle Kichline, at least seven sinkholes have been caused by construction near the lines in 2021 in the fragile, hollow karst geology in West Whiteland Township. The Commissioners asked that work be halted and the cause of the sinkholes be determined. Find out what's happening in West Chester with free, real-time updates from Patch. The Commissioners' letter reported that one recent sinkhole near the lines swallowed a tree, a phenomenon caught on video and provided with the letter to the PUC. "It seems to us that the significant risk of exposing these pipelines makes the potential for a catastrophic leak that much easier to occur and renders the ME1 and 12-inch pipelines 'unreasonable, unsafe and inadequate,'" wrote the County Commissioners. "This is why we are asking that you order operations of the ME1 and 12-inch pipelines be ceased until the Commission can better understand the cause of these sinkholes and the risks that they present to the operation of the operating NGL pipelines," the letter said.
SEPTA Nicetown plant: EPA takes up environmental justice complaint - The Environmental Protection Agency has a long history of failing to adequately enforce Title VI of the 1964 Civil Rights Act, which requires federal aid recipients not to discriminate on the basis of race, color, or national origin. Since October 2019, the agency has pursued just seven out of 31 complaints.In March, the EPA’s External Civil Rights Compliance Office began an investigation of the Philadelphia Department of Public Health’s Air Management Services permitting of SEPTA’s natural gas-powered combined heat and power plant at the Midvale bus depot in Nicetown. The plant is built and operating, providing electricity to SEPTA’s Regional Rail lines. The heat typically lost at traditional power plants is used to heat and cool the buildings at the Midvale bus depot.Opposition to the project was twofold: Neighbors and environmentalists said that it would increase air pollution, and that it would lock in reliance on a new fossil fuel plant at a time when climate change is creating record-breaking heat waves, forest fires, and flooding. Frances Upshaw pointed to the 40-acre Midvale depot — where more than 300 buses come each day to be cleaned and fixed.“These people would not have put this in Chestnut Hill or any other place where there were mostly white people, because that’s just not the way it’s done,” said Upshaw. “Everything in this system, unfortunately, and I hate to say it, is all institutional racism, period.”Her friend Paula Paul, who lives in East Germantown, said nobody should be building new fossil fuel plants.“If we’re moving toward an environment where we’re trying to get rid of fossil fuels because we know it’s bad, why would you do that?”
Mariner East pipeline cases slammed as 'gamesmanship' — An attorney for the two state constables who were cleared by a Chester County Common Pleas Court judge last week of felony charges in what Chester County’s former chief prosecutor called a “buy-a-badge scheme” criticized the prosecution for pursuing cases involving the Mariner East Pipeline project against “innocent people. “This District Attorney’s office continues to spend enormous amounts of time, effort and taxpayer money prosecuting innocent people that are even tangentially associated with the pipeline for causes and political reasons that have absolutely nothing to do with whether the individual did anything wrong. Saying that the prosecution had failed to meet its burden in showing that the two men had abused their authority as public servants in their work along the pipeline, Judge Jeffrey Sommer granted the defense’s motions for acquittal on the most serious of the charges.Dismissed were counts of bribery of a public official, a felony; official oppression; and separate counts of conflict of interest, with Sommer saying that there was no evidence presented to show that the men could be considered guilty of those charges by the jury hearing the case, even under the most favorable version of the prosecution’s case.“I don’t think there is any evidence that would allow you to remotely conclude that they took any benefit,” as public officials to work on the pipeline project, Sommer said in granting the motion to dismiss. He said it was clear from the evidence that Johnson and Robel were working as security guards for the pipeline constriction company, a fact for which there is no prohibition in state law for constables.The men were later found guilty by the jury hearing the case of misdemeanor counts of failing to file statements of financial interest with the state Ethics Commission. They will be sentenced for those offenses at a later date.
Energy Transfer to finish Pa. NGL line expansion in Q3 despite opposition (Reuters) - U.S. energy company Energy Transfer LP said on Wednesday it plans to finish the final phase of its long-delayed Mariner East 2 natural gas liquids (NGL) pipeline expansion in Pennsylvania in the third quarter despite calls by county commissioners to shut some operating parts of the system. Earlier this week, Chester County Commissioners asked the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission (PUC) to shut the operating Mariner East 1 and a 12-inch (30-cm) "workaround" pipe being used by the Mariner East 2 expansion, according to local media. The county commissioners said several sinkholes have developed this year near the Mariner East 2 construction site in West Whiteland Township in southeastern Pennsylvania about 30 miles (48 kilometers) west of Philadelphia. Energy Transfer's Sunoco Pipeline unit used an existing 12-inch pipe - the so-called "workaround" pipe - to allow the 20-inch Mariner East 2 to enter service in December 2018 after numerous delays related to sinkholes and drilling fluid spills slowed the project's construction. In regards to the Chester County request, a spokesperson at Energy Transfer said "there are no safety concerns regarding the ongoing operations of our active pipelines in this area, which have safely operated for years." Mariner East transports liquids from the Marcellus/Utica shale in western Pennsylvania to customers in the state and elsewhere, including international exports from Energy Transfer's Marcus Hook complex near Philadelphia. Sunoco started work on the $2.5 billion Mariner East expansion in February 2017 and planned to finish the 350-mile (563-km) pipeline in the third quarter of 2017. Mariner East 2 did not enter service until December 2018 due primarily to several work stoppages by state agencies. Since May 2017, Pennsylvania has issued 122 notices of violation to Mariner East, mostly for drilling fluid spills, including two in June.
Regulation Is Too Weak for Radioactive Oil and Gas Waste | NRDC - The U.S. oil and gas industry produced an estimated one trillion gallons of produced water in 2017. And this waste—along with drilling and fracking waste--can contain radioactive elements known as “technologically enhanced naturally occurring radioactive material,” or TENORM. A new NRDC report describes these risks and how weak regulations fail to appropriately protect workers and communities.The U.S. oil and gas industry produced an estimated one trillion gallons of produced water in 2017. And this waste—along with drilling and fracking waste--can contain radioactive elements known as “technologically enhanced naturally occurring radioactive material,” or TENORM. A new NRDC report describes these risks and how weak regulations fail to appropriately protect workers and communities. TENORM that is not adequately managed poses significant health threats to oil and gas workers and their families and people who live near oil and gas operations. Nearby residents may face an increased risk of cancer. Making the situation even more dangerous, many oil and gas activities take place in residential neighborhoods, in close proximity to homes, schools, and playgrounds. My colleague Bemnet Alemayehu details the health threats from oil and gas TENORM here. Despite the clear health risks, there are no dedicated federal regulations to ensure comprehensive and safer management of radioactive oil and gas materials. Bedrock federal environmental, health, and safety laws have gaping loopholes and exemptions that allow radioactive oil and gas materials to go virtually unregulated, including the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act that governs waste management, the Atomic Energy Act, the Clean Water Act, the Safe Drinking Water Act, and the Clean Air Act. Rules to protect workers, including truck drivers, also have significant gaps. The Conference of Radiation Control Program Directors, an association of state and local professionals, has concluded that “no federal regulations explicitly govern the management and disposal of TENORM associated with the oil and gas industry.” State regulations are also filled with gaps that allow unsafe practices for radioactive oil and gas waste. NRDC worked with Fair Shake Environmental Legal Services to review state regulations in the 12 states with the most oil and gas production. We looked at regulations for landfills that accept oil and gas waste, road-spreading, discharging into surface waters, and burying waste on a wellpad. Our review found that 4 of the 12 states have no standards at all for the level of radioactive material in oil and gas waste that can be accepted at landfills, only 3 require monitoring of radioactive material in the wastewater that leaches out of landfills, and 10 allow oil and gas waste to be spread on roads for uses such as dust suppression, deicing, or road maintenance. Compounding the problem, radioactive oil and gas wastes are frequently transported across state lines as waste haulers take advantage of the lack of consistent state regulations to search for the cheapest or easiest way to dispose of radioactive material. Our report details case studies where scientific research has found radioactive materials at high levels being released into the environment in Kentucky, North Dakota, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Wyoming.
The Oil and Gas Industry Produces Radioactive Waste. Lots of It - Massive amounts of radioactive waste brought to the surface by oil and gas wells have overwhelmed the industry and the state and federal agencies that regulate it, according to a report released today by the prominent environmental group Natural Resources Defense Council. The waste poses “significant health threats,” including the increased risk of cancer to oil and gas workers and their families and also nearby communities.“We know that the waste has radioactive elements, we know that it can have very high and dangerous levels, we know that some of the waste gets into the environment, and we know that people who live or work near various oil and gas sites are exposed to the waste. What we don’t know are the full extent of the health impacts,” says Amy Mall, an analyst with NRDC who has been researching oilfield waste for 15 years and is a co-author on the report.The report conveys that radioactive oilfield waste is piling up at landfills across America — and in at least some documented cases leaching radioactivity through treatment plants and into waterways. It is also being spread on farm fields in states like Oklahoma and Texas and on roads across the Midwest and Northeast under the belief that it melts ice and suppresses dust.Many of the issues mentioned in the NRDC report were reported by Rolling Stone in a 20-month investigation published in January 2020 that found a sweeping arc of contamination. “There is little public awareness of this enormous waste stream, the disposal of which could present dangers at every step,” the story stated, “from being transported along America’s highways in unmarked trucks; handled by workers who are often misinformed and under-protected; leaked into waterways; and stored in dumps that are not equipped to contain the toxicity. Brine has even been used in commercial products sold at hardwares stores and is spread on local roads as a de-icer.” “Radioactive elements are naturally present in many soil and rock formations, as well as the water that flows through them,” the NRDC report explains. Oil and gas production brings those elements to the surface. Wells generate a highly salty toxic liquid called brine at the rate of about a trillion gallons a year in the U.S. It contains heavy metals and can contain significant amounts of the carcinogenic radioactive element radium. The U.S. EPA’s webpage on oilfield waste indicates that radium and lead-210, a radioactive isotope of lead, can also accumulate and concentrate in a sludge at the bottom of storage containers and in the hardened mineral deposits that form on the inside of oilfield piping. Crushed dirt and rock called drilled cuttings, which are produced through fracking, can contain elevated levels of uranium and thorium. The NRDC report, entitled “A Hot Fracking Mess: How Weak Regulation of Oil and Gas Production Leads to Radioactive Waste in Our Water, Air, and Communities,” shows that despite the industry and regulators knowing about the radioactivity issue, the risks have been patently ignored. A 1982 American Petroleum Institute paper obtained by Rolling Stone laid out hazards but warned the industry that regulation “could impose a severe burden.” A 1987 EPA report to Congress detailed numerous harms, but according to one EPA employee cited in the NRDC report, was ignored for “solely political reasons.” To this day there remains no single federal rule governing the radioactivity brought to the surface in oil and gas development, says the NRDC, and state regulators have failed to pick up the pieces and fill in the gaps.
Wolf administration approves over $42,000 for new pipeline investment program in Crawford County- — On Tuesday, Department of Community and Economic Development (DCED) Secretary Dennis Davin announced more than $42,000 had been approved for a new Pipeline Investment Program (PIPE) project through the Commonwealth Financing Authority (CFA). The project looks to improve infrastructure, save energy, and create and retain jobs in Crawford County. “The PIPE project approved today will help connect a business park to natural gas, which will create jobs, save money, and grow business within the area,” Secretary Davin said. “This program is so critical because it helps Pennsylvanians access the abundant natural gas resources available throughout the commonwealth, while doing their part to decrease their carbon footprint.” Watch: Storms cause more flooding in Titusville overnight The approved project in Crawford County consists of a cooperation between National Fuel and the Titusville Redevelopment Authority. A total of $42,544 in grant funding was approved to install 1,547 linear feet of natural gas pipeline to bring Titusville Opportunity Park in compliance with the Public Utility Commission (PUC). The PUC requires each building in the business park to be metered separately, and this project will connect the 14 buildings at the park to the main gas line, which is located just outside of the park. This will keep more than 300 jobs in 18 businesses within the business park and will help provide growth by bringing more businesses to the area. The total cost of the project is $85,088.
Destined to Fail: Why the Appalachian Natural Gas Boom Failed to Deliver Jobs & Prosperity and What It Teaches Us – Ohio River Valley Institute --Between 2008 and 2019, the twenty-two counties in Ohio, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia that produce 90% of Appalachian natural gas badly trailed the nation in key measures of economic prosperity, including growth in jobs, personal income, and population. That’s despite the fact that, during this period, economic output grew at a rate three times faster than that of the nation.The immense growth in gross domestic product (GDP) in the twenty-two counties we’ll call “Frackalachia” was driven by a natural gas production boom, which caused the Mining, quarrying, and oil and gas sector to grow from 4% of Frackalachia’s economy in 2008 to 35% in 2019.But, for the counties of Frackalachia, the boom, which reshaped the region’s landscape as well pads, pipelines, processing facilities and other gas-related infrastructure proliferated, turned out to be an economic bust and a bad deal that imposed significant burdens on people and communities while giving back little in return.As the prevalence of the Mining sector increased and output as measured by gross domestic product (GDP) skyrocketed, jobs in Frackalachia increased by just 1.6%—more than eight percentage points below the national average. Personal income growth was a third below the national average, and Frackalachia lost over 37,000 people even as the nation’s population was growing by nearly 8%. The question is, why did this disconnect between economic growth and key measures of prosperity happen? Can the problems that prevented job and income growth in Frackalachia be fixed, or at least mitigated? And what can the Frackalachian counties and the rest of us learn from the experience to help us come up with better economic development strategies? This reports attempts to answer these questions.
New reports make case that natural gas production boom was a bust for Appalachia, urge economic transition - Appalachia’s natural gas boom turned out to be an economic bust that local and state officials can rebound from if they embrace the rising clean energy economy.That’s the bottom line of two bottom-line-focused reports released Tuesday by nonprofit think tank Ohio River Valley Institute making an economic case for transitioning away from fossil fuels, especially natural gas development that has failed to convert production into prosperity.“We know that the Appalachian natural gas boom hasn’t just failed to deliver growth and jobs and prosperity so far. We now know that it’s structurally incapable of doing so,” Ohio River Valley Institute senior researcher Sean O’Leary contended during a webinar on the reports Tuesday. “[That] means that a lot of economic development strategies in the region need to be rethought.”The Ohio River Valley Institute’s analysis focuses on changes in income, jobs, population and gross domestic product — the total market value of goods and services produced — in 22 counties in West Virginia, Ohio and Pennsylvania from 2008 to 2019 that suggest a rise natural gas production in that span did little to lift up the economies in those counties.One of the reports calls those 22 counties — which include Doddridge, Harrison, Marshall, Ohio, Ritchie, Tyler and Wetzel counties in West Virginia — “Frackalachia” based on the slang term for hydraulic fracturing of deep rock formations to extract natural gas or oil.Jobs increased in the counties that comprise “Frackalachia” by just 1.6% from 2008 to 2019, 2.3 percentage points behind all West Virginia, Ohio and Pennsylvania counties and 8.3 percentage points below the national average, the report notes.The report concludes that a dramatic increase in gross domestic product in “Frackalachia” over the same span that came with the natural gas boom didn’t yield economic prosperity because the boom depended heavily on out-of-state workers and service suppliers, yielded less leasing and royalty income for property owners than expected and generated comparatively little income going to employee compensation.
Massive Cleanup Underway, 1,200-Gallon ConEd Spill In LI Sound | New Rochelle, NY Patch— Cleanup efforts are taking place around the clock after a massive underground spill discharged more than a 1,000 gallons of oil used to cool transmission lines into the Long Island Sound near Wright Island Marina.By Saturday morning, New Rochelle police had the area closed off. Boats, heavy equipment, pumper trucks and empty tankers were being staged nearby on Drake Street throughout the night on both Saturday and Sunday. Dozens of crews were still working to clean up the spill on Monday morning.Having no way to control the flow without ConEd, New Rochelle HazMat units could only hope to divert and contain the discharge. Because, at the time, unknown fluid was flowing into the nearby marina through storm drains, the help of the Coast Guard and New Rochelle Police Department Marine units was requested by firefighters.The firefighters placed booms by one driveway on Nautilus Place to keep the oil out. Then, with the help of police harbor units, they moved on to placing booms across the mouth of the harbor, to help keep the spill from flowing out to the Long Island Sound.ConEd and the New Rochelle Department of Public Works arrived with an army of tank trucks and sand for the street and began efforts to contain the discharge and stop the leak. Fire officials said the scene was turned over to ConEd at this point.The discharge was triggered by a water main break. Officials said at least 1,200 gallons of dielectric fluid was released from underground utility equipment used by ConEd. The oil sent flowing into the Long Island Sound is described as non-hazardous by the utility company.The cleanup required everything from tanker trucks to hand-cleaning an area several city blocks wide. (Jeff Edwards/Patch)"Right now, the only danger is slippage, things of that nature," New Rochelle Fire Chief Andrew Sandor told CBS News New York's Andrea Grymes. "We're told that it's dielectric oil, not PCBs, anything like that."Emergency crews were originally called to the site after calls began coming in about a possible explosion and street flooding. ConEd said it is still investigating the cause of the accidental discharge.
Alamance County couple raises awareness to Native American land - A couple from Alamance County, Crystal Cavalier-Keck and Jason Crazy Bear Keck, is taking this trip with a totem pole that symbolizes thousands of years of history. They’re joining a group that’s heading to the nation's capital to speak out against the Mountain Valley Pipeline Southgate Project and other Native American land rights issues.Crystal Cavalier-Keck is a member of the Occaneechi Band of the Saponi Nation and Jason is a descendent of the Choctaw Nation. Both said development projects like the MVP are threatening sacred lands and burial grounds.“We have to start standing up and standing together, especially in North Carolina. That's so important for the people here in North Carolina. Like they don't even know that these things are happening in their own back yards,” Crystal Cavalier-Keck of Alamance County said.She also added that “you have neighbors who are being affected by the drinking water and the air quality.” WXII 12 News reached out to representatives with the MVP project. Shawn Day with Capital Results sent a statement:“Federal and state authorities have recognized the MVP Southgate project is needed to meet public demand for natural gas in North Carolina. Dominion Energy North Carolina, a local natural gas distribution company, has added more than 100,000 new customers with no new supply source over the past decade, and local demand is expected to increase based on the state’s projections for continued population growth. North Carolina’s Utilities Commission has recognized MVP Southgate offers the best option for meeting that demand.For the past three years, the MVP Southgate team has worked diligently with landowners, tribes, non-governmental organizations and federal, state and local officials to design a route that minimizes impacts to the environment. These efforts included extensive cultural and environmental survey work to identify any sensitive resources and found the project route would not affect any known burial grounds. In issuing its Final Environmental Impact Statement last year, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission concluded the project could be built safely and responsibly, with no permanent impacts to surface or ground water resources.”
Pike County residents in quandary over gas - Folks in two areas of Pike county woke up July 14 only to find their gas had been turned off. According to a statement released by Kentucky Frontier Gas, the affected customers are in the Hurricane Creek and Robinson Creek areas of the county. The statement said approximately 100 customers are affected by the shut off. Ky. Frontier’s statement said they serve these ‘Farm Tap’ customers with gas supply off gas gathering pipelines operated by Kinzer Drilling. Ky Frontier said Kinzer “apparently decided to abandon the lines and shut them down July 13 without discussing or warning frontier or affected customers.” Meanwhile, Kinzer Drilling released their own statement saying that “an evaluation was performed of the gas lines which are used to transmit gas on behalf of Ky Frontier Gas for service of its customers on Hurricane Creek and Robinson Creek. It was discovered that these lines have developed serious leaks in populated areas.” The Kinzer statement went on to say Kinzer was “forced to immediately discontinue gas flow through those lines due to imminent threat to public safety.” While Ky Frontier indicated in their statement that they are attempting to work with Kinzer to correct the situation, Kinzer in their statement is encouraging people who have utilized natural gas along these routes to “convert to other sources of energy.” According to national statistics, the cost to switch from gas to electric service could cost between $3,000 to $7,000 depending on the size of the home. Residents in the affected areas are still trying to see if anything else can be done as many have indicated they don’t have the financial means to convert their homes and replace gas appliances with electric ones. Pike Judge-Executive Ray Jones said the county is aware of the situation but at this point there was really very little the county could do. The Kentucky Public Service Commission acknowledged receiving complaints from residents regarding the gas cutoff but offered no further comment.
Some central Virginia property owners plan to fight proposed gas pipeline - Some people in central Virginia are preparing to fight a plan to put a natural gas pipeline through their properties that would serve a yet-to-be-built power plant in Charles City County.While Charles City County has approved the plant, property owners and county government leaders along the pipeline path said they have no information yet about the actual route of the pipeline. Environmental groups say the line would serve a plant that is not needed for Virginia’s electricity needs.“The natural gas industry has written our law in Virginia, and nationally, to a very great extent,” said Lynn Peace Wilson of Henrico County, who received a letter from the pipeline company about her property across the Chickahominy River in New Kent County. “They have written themselves protections that make it very difficult for anyone to question what they are doing.”The company behind the pipeline proposes “to foul our air and our water and our soil and our wetlands”should prepare for a fight, she said.The letters that went out didn’t say so, but the developer of the plant told the Richmond Times-Dispatch that the company won’t try to legally force any property owner to allow use of their land for the pipeline. If any property owners along the proposed route from near Charlottesville to Charles City County object, the company will change the route, said Irfan Ali of Balico LLC.He said the plant would bring revenue to an impoverished county and help Virginia replace coal plants with natural gas, which is cleaner. “There is no way that windmills and solar are going to meet the needs of Virginia, and industry,” he said.The natural gas power plant in question is called Chickahominy Power. The plant would be what’s called a merchant plant — backed by private investors and not owned by a utility. The plant was approved by the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality.It would be on Roxbury Road, about 23 miles from downtown Richmond. It would burn natural gas piped in from other states to create electricity to be sold into a large wholesale market of numerous states. And it would have more electricity-generating capacity than any of the 12 natural gas plants in the state owned by Dominion Energy, Virginia’s largest electric utility.The Virginia General Assembly passed an environmental law in 2020 called the Clean Economy Act aimed at phasing out the use of natural gas to create electricity but, under the law, the plant could operate until at least 2050. Developers of a proposed second gas plant a mile away announced last week that they are canceling the plan.
How Va. pipeline ruling may reshape environmental justice - A leading expert on human health effects of air pollution at New York University, George Thurston says low-income areas and people of color are fighting fossil fuel projects like pipelines on an unequal playing field against well-paid, full-time industry consultants. "I’m just trying to give them the same level of scientific representation that the vested interests have." Thurston is known for publishing the first study in the U.S. linking fine particulate matter or PM2.5 to mortality in 1987. More recently, he has weighed in on emissions from the Lambert compressor station, a natural gas facility in rural Virginia that would help extend the 303-mile Mountain Valley pipeline project an extra 75 miles into North Carolina. Opponents say developers of the MVP Southgate expansion project have not done enough to analyze the facility’s health impacts on the low-income and majority Black Banister District in Pittsylvania County, Va. The outcome of the Mountain Valley battle could influence how pipeline emissions are measured in Virginia, which observers say could shift the environmental justice debate in other states. It also underscores the political, legal and market pressures facing pipeline projects after a string of cancellations ranging from the mammoth Keystone XL oil conduit to the Atlantic Coast natural gas pipeline in the Virginias. Earlier this month, for example, developers of the Byhalia Connection crude oil pipeline in Memphis pulled the plug on the project, which had sparked uproar over its proposed route through predominantly Black neighborhoods in the city (Energywire, July 6). Meanwhile, President Biden has pledged to make environmental justice a pillar of his clean energy agenda. Critics of the push to revamp pollution analysis say it could stymie needed infrastructure projects where developers have already implemented the latest technology to limit environmental footprints. But public health experts say there is a broader need to reframe project development to emphasize the health concerns of low-income and minority residents. "Environmental justice and environmental racism have not been a concern uniformly in considering siting and permitting out of potentially polluting activities. It’s been the exact opposite historically,"
Gas Ban Monitor: Building electrification evolves as 19 states prohibit bans - Local building electrification measures expanded and evolved in the first half of 2021, as the policy also percolated to the federal and international stage. Meanwhile, state laws prohibiting natural gas bans bolstered a growing firewall that now stretches across most of the southern U.S. and from the Rockies to the Midwest. The Biden administration on May 17 announced a building decarbonization policy that seeks to accelerate electrification and support the market for heat pumps. The following day, the International Energy Agency recommended policymakers around the world ban fossil fuel furnace sales by 2025 and adopt building codes that would largely phase out natural gas use in buildings. At the start of July, at least 19 U.S. states had adopted laws that prohibit the very policy that the IEA now endorses as a viable and efficient pathway to achieving net-zero emissions by 2050. Those states accounted for nearly one-third of U.S. residential and commercial gas consumption in 2019. Some of the biggest consumers — Ohio, Texas and Indiana — have passed such laws in recent months. In New York City, city councilors introduced legislation to prohibit fossil fuel combustion in new buildings. Meanwhile, a housing panel delivered recommendations to New York's Climate Action Council to phase out gas use in new and existing buildings statewide and retire parts of the distribution system. As state officials in Massachusetts develop an opt-in stretch energy code for construction — which "stretches" beyond minimum code requirements — some towns and cities are implementing interim measures to spur building electrification. Those include a new bylaw that uses zoning rules to restrict gas use in construction and renovations in Brookline, the first town to pass an East Coast gas ban. In June, Colorado adopted a law that requires investor-owned electric utilities to offer incentives to build all-electric or transition from natural gas and fossil fuel heating and cooking. Notably, however, the law does not allow state regulators to ban new gas hookups or require residents to replace gas-fired furnaces. The state legislature had considered legislation to prohibit local building gas bans, but the bill died in committee. Meanwhile, a Washington law that would phase out gas utility service across the state and a Vermont bill that would allow authorize Burlington to impose a carbon fee on new gas grid-connected buildings did not receive full chamber votes in state legislatures. In Oregon, the Eugene City Council signaled it would soon consider building electrification requirements.
U.S. natgas futures hit 30-month high on rising air conditioning use (Reuters) - U.S. natural gas futures jumped almost 3% to a 30-month high on Monday on soaring global gas prices and forecasts for more air conditioning demand next week than previously expected. The U.S. price increase occurred despite a 5% drop in crude futures and forecasts for a little less hot weather and lower air conditioning demand this week than previously expected. Gas futures often follow big moves in oil prices, but not on Monday. O/R Front-month gas futures rose 10.5 cents, or 2.9%, to settle at $3.779 per million British thermal units (mmBtu), their highest close since December 2018. Speculators, meanwhile, cut their net long futures and options positions on the New York Mercantile and Intercontinental Exchanges last week for the first time in seven weeks as buyers cashed in some of their gains after front-month futures rose over 15% during the prior three weeks. Data provider Refinitiv said U.S. output in the Lower 48 states slipped to 91.5 billion cubic feet per day (bcfd) so far in July, due mostly to pipeline problems in West Virginia earlier in the month. That compares with an average of 92.2 bcfd in June and an all-time high of 95.4 bcfd in November 2019. Refinitiv projected average gas demand, including exports, would rise from 92.3 bcfd this week to 94.7 bcfd next week as the weather turns seasonally hotter. The forecast for next week was higher than Refinitiv predicted on Friday. The amount of gas flowing to U.S. liquefied natural gas (LNG) export plants averaged 10.9 bcfd so far in July, up from 10.1 bcfd in June but still below the record 11.5 bcfd in April. With European and Asian gas trading near $13 and $14 per mmBtu, respectively, analysts said buyers around the world would keep purchasing all the LNG the United States can produce.
US working natural gas volumes in underground storage increase 49 Bcf: EIA | S&P Global Platts - The natural gas injection into US storage fields in the week ended July 16 measured 12 Bcf more than the five-year average, but upcoming builds look more in line with historical norms as the Henry Hub winter strip surpasses $4/MMBtu, which is $1.35 more than this time last July. Working gas in storage increased by 49 Bcf to 2.678 Tcf for the week, the US Energy Information Administration reported July 22. It was more than the 43 Bcf addition expected by an S&P Global Platts' survey of analysts. It also outgained the five-year average build of 36 Bcf and last year's 38 Bcf injection in the corresponding week. Storage volumes now stand 532 Bcf, or 16.6%, less than the year-ago level of 3.210 Tcf and 176 Bcf, or 6.2%, less than the five-year average of 2.854 Tcf. The build was less than the 55 Bcf injection reported for the week prior as demand increases outpaced those in supply. Total US demand averaged roughly 2.2 Bcf/d higher week over week, according to Platts Analytics. Gas-fired power demand grew across multiple regions, most notably in the US Southwest where burns increased by nearly 1 Bcf/d week over week. The NYMEX Henry Hub August contract added 2 cents to $3.98/MMBtu in trading following the release of the weekly storage report. The balance-of-summer averaged $3.97, which is only 5 cents less than the winter strip, providing little to no incentive to inject. November through March are up 1.6 cents/MMBtu for an average $4.02/MMBtu. This time last year, when storage measured 436 Bcf more than the five-year average, the winter strip was $2.65/MMBtu and 90 cents above the balance of summer. The EIA's Pacific region posted a net withdrawal of 3 Bcf for the week. This reflected the heat wave impacting California and other Western states, while the eastern half of the US was more temperate. Storage injections in the EIA's Pacific region have lagged behind typical levels this summer, as operators struggle to meet elevated demand while maintaining steady injections. Pacific storage activity trended bearish relative to the five-year average in April and May, adding 71 Bcf versus 63 Bcf during the shoulder season. The arrival of hot weather reversed that, with June and July injecting 16 Bcf in 2021 versus the five-year average of 24 Bcf over the same period. Platts Analytics' supply and demand model currently forecasts a 33 Bcf injection for the week ending July 23, which would measure 5 Bcf more than the five-year average. Fundamentals this week have tightened further, but to a lesser degree, as demand has risen by around 400 MMcf/d while supplies fell 300 MMcf/d. The following week shows a 27 Bcf addition compared to the five-year average injection of 30 Bcf.
August Natural Gas Futures Eclipse $4.00 Threshold as Demand Surges - Traders looked past a bearish storage print by the Energy Information Administration (EIA) on Thursday and focused instead on persistently strong demand and relatively light production, a combination favorable for continued strength in natural gas prices. The prompt month has climbed five straight days and on Thursday topped the $4.00/MMBtu threshold for the first time since 2018. The August Nymex contract gained 4.4 cents day/day and settled at $4.003/MMBtu. September advanced 4.4 cents to $3.982. NGI’s Spot Gas National Avg., meanwhile, stepped back after three days of gains, declining 2.5 cents to $3.785. EIA reported an injection of 49 Bcf natural gas into storage for the week ended July 16 – higher than analysts’ median expectations and historic averages. While scorching hot and dry conditions covered much of the West during the covered week, parts of the nation’s midsection and much of the East saw average temperatures and demand. By region, the Midwest and East led with builds of 21 Bcf and 19 Bcf, respectively, according to EIA. Ahead of the report, major surveys foreshadowed a build in the mid-40s Bcf. Reuters’ poll of analysts produced a median injection of 45 Bcf, while a Bloomberg survey landed at a median injection of 43 Bcf. NGI’s model predicted a 30 Bcf injection. In the similar week a year earlier, EIA recorded a 38 Bcf build, while the five-year average injection is 36 Bcf. The bearish result for last week pointed to a modest mid-summer loosening of balances after a 55 Bcf build a week earlier, Bespoke Weather Services said, initially sending futures lower after the EIA print. However, Bespoke added, demand has outstripped supply most of the summer, and with heat expected to intensify in August and export activity poised to accelerate, storage levels are likely to prove lighter than average heading into the fall. The build for the July 16 week lifted inventories to 2,678 Bcf, though that was well below the year-earlier level of 3,210 Bcf and shy of the five-year average of 2,854 Bcf. Production in July has hovered around 91 Bcf/d – below highs earlier in the summer around 92-93 Bcf — and did so again Thursday. At the same time, liquefied natural gas (LNG) volumes were close to 11 Bcf on Thursday – approaching record levels. Export demand is strong from both Asia and Europe, where supplies are light following a harsh winter and an unusually cool spring. “Low European storage combined with increasing decarbonization efforts as well as seasonally peaking demand are all major contributors to the price spikes abroad. These elevated international prices have greatly benefited U.S. LNG exporters, who despite higher Henry Hub prices, are making tremendous profits off the growing arbitrage,” “U.S. LNG exporters are heavily incentivized to continue to export enough LNG that we are quickly approaching the U.S. LNG market’s nameplate capacity at 11.6 Bcf/d,” the Gelber analysts said. Looking ahead to next week’s storage report, participants on The Desk’s online energy platform Enelyst were anticipating a build in the 40s Bcf. Bespoke preliminarily modeled a 41 Bcf injection
U.S. natgas futures hit 31-month high on hotter forecasts (Reuters) - U.S. natural gas futures rose to a fresh 31-month high on Friday on forecasts for hotter weather and higher air conditioning demand over the next two weeks than previously expected. Front-month gas futures NGc1 rose 5.7 cents, or 1.4%, to settle at $4.060 per million British thermal units (mmBtu), their highest close since December 2018 for a fifth day in a row. That put the front-month up almost 11% for the week after holding steady last week, its biggest weekly percentage gain since February. Data provider Refinitiv said U.S. output in the Lower 48 states slipped to 91.5 billion cubic feet per day (bcfd) so far in July, due mostly to pipeline problems in West Virginia earlier in the month. That compares with an average of 92.2 bcfd in June and an all-time high of 95.4 bcfd in November 2019. Refinitiv projected average gas demand, including exports, would rise from 92.5 bcfd this week to 95.5 bcfd next week and 95.6 bcfd in two weeks as the weather turns hotter than normal. Those forecasts were slightly higher than Refinitiv predicted on Thursday on expectations power generators will burn more gas to meet rising air conditioning demand. "Gas demand from the power sector has largely outperformed this summer and continues to hold a larger than expected share of the generation mix. Recent coal retirements have reduced that fuel’s ability to cover the shortfall left by lagging renewables this summer, placing the onus on gas to answer the call," analysts at Gelber & Associates in Houston said in a note. The amount of gas flowing to U.S. liquefied natural gas (LNG) export plants has averaged 10.8 bcfd so far in July, up from 10.1 bcfd in June but still below the record 11.5 bcfd in April. With European TRNLTTFMc1 and Asian JKMc1 gas trading near $12 and $14 per mmBtu, respectively, analysts said buyers around the world would keep purchasing all the LNG the United States can produce. U.S. pipeline exports to Mexico, meanwhile, have averaged 6.6 bcfd so far in July, down from a record 6.7 bcfd in June.
U.S. liquefied natural gas exports were at record high levels in the first half of 2021 -U.S. exports of liquefied natural gas (LNG) continued to grow in the first six months of 2021, averaging 9.5 billion cubic feet per day (Bcf/d). This average marks an increase of 41%, or 2.8 Bcf/d, compared with the same period in 2020, according to the U.S. Department of Energy’s LNG Monthly reports and our estimates for June 2021, based on shipping data from Bloomberg Finance L.P. In the summer months of 2020, U.S. LNG exports fell to record lows, but then they set consecutive record highs in November and December.U.S. LNG exports increased in the first half of this year because of an increase in international natural gas and LNG spot prices in Asia and Europe, an increase in global LNG demand following easing of COVID-19 restrictions, and continuous unplanned outages at LNG export facilities in several countries, including Australia, Malaysia, Nigeria, Algeria, Norway, and Trinidad and Tobago.In Asia, colder-than-normal winter temperatures led to increased demand for spot LNG imports. Natural gas demand in the spring continued to rise amid low post-winter inventories, which contributed to unseasonably high natural gas prices, attracting higher volumes of flexible LNG supplies, particularly from the United States.In Europe, natural gas storage inventories were also low following a cold winter. Increasingly hot temperatures in May and June and higher natural gas demand from the electric power sector contributed to high natural gas spot prices. Europe’s natural gas spot prices have historically been lower than prices in Asia; however, this year, Europe’s natural gas prices are tracking Asia’s spot LNG prices more closely to attract flexible LNG supplies from around the world to refill storage inventories. The U.S. Henry Hub natural gas benchmark and U.S. LNG spot market prices have been lower than international natural gas and LNG spot prices this year, which has supported record-high volumes of U.S. LNG exports. U.S. LNG exports also increased because of new export capacity added in 2020. The final liquefaction units were commissioned at Freeport, Cameron, and Corpus Christi LNG, and the remaining small-scale units were placed in service at Elba Island LNG, increasing total U.S. LNG peak export capacity by a combined 2.3 Bcf/d for a total of 10.8 Bcf/d. As in 2020, Asia remained the main destination for U.S. LNG exports from January through May 2021, accounting for 46% of the total, followed by Europe with a five-month average share of 37%. Exports to Latin America also increased, particularly to Brazil, which is experiencing its worst drought in more than 90 years.
U.S. natural gas exports to Mexico established a new monthly record in June 2021 --Natural gas pipeline exports from the United States to Mexico surpassed 7 billion cubic feet per day (Bcf/d) on multiple days during June, according to data from Wood Mackenzie. The highest amount of pipeline exports, 7.4 Bcf/d, was sent out on June 17.Over the past few years, Mexico has expanded its natural gas pipeline infrastructure and has relied increasingly on imported natural gas from U.S. pipelines. Pipeline imports accounted for 76% of Mexico’s total natural gas supply in June 2021, compared with 40% in June 2015. Mexico has reduced both its natural gas production and imports of liquefied natural gas (LNG) as a share of its total natural gas supply.U.S. natural gas pipeline exports to Mexico averaged 6.8 Bcf/d in June 2021, up 25% from June 2020 and 44% more than the previous five-year (2016–2020) monthly average. We expect these record-high flows, which were driven by increased power demand, high temperatures, and greater industrial demand in June, to continue through the summer. New pipeline additions that went into service during 2020 and in the first half of 2021 increased the volume of natural gas flowing to natural gas-fired power plants, industrial plants, and pipeline interconnections throughout Mexico. Two cross-border pipelines drove the growth: the Sur de Texas-Tuxpan Pipeline, which has a capacity of 2.6 Bcf/d and delivers natural gas from the U.S. border at Brownsville, Texas, to Tuxpan in Veracruz, Mexico, and the Trans-Pecos Pipeline (part of the Wahalajara system), which has a capacity of 1.4 Bcf/d and delivers natural gas to the U.S. border at Presidio, Texas.The Sur de Texas-Tuxpan Pipeline increased flows to an estimated 1.7 Bcf/d in June 2021, compared with year-ago levels of 0.8 Bcf/d. The pipeline’s volume increased because of expanded infrastructure in Mexico, which has allowed more natural gas to flow to power plants in the Mexico City region and to Mérida markets in the Yucatán Peninsula.The Trans-Pecos Pipeline increased flows to the Wahalajara pipeline system to 0.8 Bcf/d, compared with year-ago levels of 0.2 Bcf/d. This pipeline connects the Waha Hub in West Texas to Guadalajara and other population centers in West-Central Mexico. Some of this increase is the result of the increased flow capacity on the Villa de Reyes-Aguascalientes-Guadalajara Pipeline (VAG) in Central Mexico and subsequent delivery points that entered service when the pipeline was completed in October 2020. Because of increased access to natural gas imports, Mexico has increased its use of natural gas to generate electricity. Power plants in Mexico used about 4.9 Bcf/d of natural gas for power generation in June, up 19% compared with last year. Seasonally high temperatures in areas of Northern and Central Mexico during parts of June also increased demand for electricity. Industrial sector natural gas demand reached 3.3 Bcf/d in June, up 31% compared with last year, largely driven by the return to pre-pandemic demand levels and the reversal of related economic effects.
Company asks for revocation of federal, state permits for Byhalia Connection Pipeline - Plains All American Pipeline is giving up its state and federal permits for the proposed Byhalia Pipeline as it continues to close out the project since the company announced July 2 it was abandoning its plans.Patrick Parker, an attorney with the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation, told an administrative law judge Monday that the company asked that its state permit be revoked. Parker spoke during a status call on pipeline opponents’ appeal of TDEC’s decision to grant an aquatic resource alteration permit.“They are going to relinquish their permit and we’re going to revoke it,” Parker told Judge Michael Begley.Plains will also drop the federal permit it obtained from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, a company official said in a July 8 letter to the Memphis and Vicksburg districts of the Corps. “Due to changes in energy production post-COVID, Byhalia has determined that it will no longer pursue this pipeline construction project and respectfully requests the Army Corps of Engineers revoke the 2017 Nationwide Permit 12 verification,” said Carol E. Howard, Plains’ Senior Environmental Permitting and Compliance Specialist.The Nationwide Permit 12 gives companies a fast-track process that requires a single federal permit for water crossings rather than individual permits for each, and does not require an environmental impact statement or notification to the public at any point in the process. Attorneys involved expect to complete paperwork to finalize the state permit revocation by July 30.
Memphis activists push ordinances to protect community against future oil pipelines – — The fight against the Byhalia Pipeline may be over, but a group wants to ensure the company behind it can never come back to Memphis and try to build one. The group, Memphis Community Against the Pipeline, is calling on the Memphis City Council to act and set limits on what companies like them can do in the future. It’s a fight that hasn’t ended for many. Representatives for MCAP, Protect Our Aquifer, Southern Alliance for Clean Energy and Center for Transforming Communities met at the National Civil Rights Museum where they, along with supporters, listened to passionate speeches about why the ordinances are necessary. That was followed by a walk to city hall, where that vote will be taking place. One ordinance sets a 1,500-foot distance between any potential pipeline and a residential neighborhood, and the other creates an infrastructure review board. The Byhalia Pipeline has been abandoned by Plains All American, the company that sought to construct the pipeline, but supporters said they felt the company could come back and try again. The votes were scheduled to take place at the city council’s regularly scheduled meeting.
Ordinances protecting Memphis water, sewer approved on first reading (WMC) - There was a show of support in downtown Memphis Tuesday for the protection of Memphis water and beyond. Members of Memphis Community Against the Pipeline (MCAP), Protect Our Aquifer, Southern Alliance for Clean Energy, and Center for Transforming Communities marched from the National Civil Rights Museum to City Hall. They were demonstrating ahead of a vote on two ordinances affecting Memphis water. “So, these two ordinances would provide that protection to ensure that our most vulnerable communities and our drinking water supply are safe from crude oil infrastructure,” said Sarah Houston, executive director of Protect Our Aquifer. One ordinance updates requirements for industrial users of the city’s sewer system to meet federal and state regulations, and protects the city’s sewer collection system. The other ordinance further protects the Memphis Sand Aquifer, where we get our drinking water. Both ordinances were approved Tuesday.
Gulf of Mexico Player May Exit Oil and Gas Industry -- BHP Group is considering getting out of oil and gas in a multibillion-dollar exit that would accelerate its retreat from fossil fuels, according to people familiar with the matter. The world’s biggest miner is reviewing its petroleum business and considering options including a trade sale, said the people, who asked not to be identified as the talks are private. The business, which is forecast to earn more than $2 billion this year, could be worth an estimated $15 billion or more, one of the people said. BHP’s energy assets make it an outlier among the world’s biggest miners -- rival Anglo American Plc has already exited thermal coal under investor pressure and BHP is trying to follow suit. The company has long said the oil business was one of its strategic pillars and argued that it will make money for at least another decade. But as the world tries to shift away from fossil fuels, BHP wants to avoid getting stuck with assets that more become more difficult to sell, the people said. The deliberations are still at an early stage and no final decision has been made, the people said. A spokesman for BHP declined to comment. The move comes as oil supermajors grapple with how to respond to investor pressure over climate, in some cases by shrinking their core production and adding renewable energy assets. BHP wants to exit while it can still get a good price for the assets, aiming to repeat a 2018 sale of its shale business to BP Plc for $10.4 billion, the people said. And unlike big-oil rivals, BHP doesn’t depend on profits from the energy business, which are dwarfed by the company’s giant iron ore and copper units. The timing could be good for an oil exit. The economic recovery from Covid-19 has transformed the fortunes of oil producers, with Brent oil futures having rallied about 60% in the past year. By contrast, the company’s efforts to get out of thermal coal so far have been disappointing, after early bids for mines in Australia came in lower than the company’s own valuations last year. Getting out of both thermal coal and petroleum would help BHP make its case to investors as a company geared toward commodities of the future. The miner is also expected to sanction a giant potash mine in Canada next month, which could make it a key supplier of the crop nutrient once production begins. BHP is scheduled to report annual results on Aug. 17.
Halted Texas Plastics Project May Resume-- Motiva Enterprises LLC is eying the revival of a multibillion-dollar expansion project at its Texas Gulf Coast refinery in 2023 that would produce petrochemicals used to make everything from plastic water bottles to grocery bags. Engineering and excavation work had already been done before the project was halted nearly two years ago. Now, Saudi Aramco’s U.S. refining arm is considering reactivating the expansion, minus an ethane cracker, which it no longer needs, according to people familiar with the plans, who asked not to be identified because the information isn’t public. Motiva originally intended to construct an ethane cracker that produces ethylene, a key component for making plastics and solvents, as well as other downstream units to process the ethylene. The refiner suspended the project when it bought the adjacent Flint Hills Resources LLC’s chemical plant in late 2019, which gave it an ethane cracker, but not all the downstream units needed to turn the ethylene into plastics and other products. Motiva is re-evaluating the massive expansion in Texas as consumption of plastics skyrockets. Oil majors including Exxon Mobil Corp. and Royal Dutch Shell Plc are making more money from their petrochemical operations than they have in years. Supply disruptions and pandemic-related demand has bolstered the need for construction, manufacturing and consumer products that heavily rely on the processing of chemicals like ethylene. Ethylene, which traded at a seven-year high of 59.5 cents a pound in March, is down from the highs but trended upward recently. The spot price Friday was at 52.5 cents a pound, up 11 cents from the prior week, according to ICIS, a data and analytics provider. An alternative plan in discussion for Port Arthur involves Motiva buying another chemical facility in the area that would give it access to downstream process units without having to build them. Motiva has been sending the ethylene from its ethane cracker to local chemical plants for further processing or selling the ethylene outright. The value of the original project was estimated at $6.6 billion in 2018, according to local media reports, citing information from the Texas Comptroller’s office. The majority of the value was for building the ethane cracker, estimated at about $4.7 billion. Motiva’s 607,000 barrel-a-day refinery in Port Arthur, Texas, is the largest in the U.S. Its corporate offices are in Houston.
Keystone XL - Lite -- Flipping The Capline -- July 19, 2021 - An answer to the Keystone XL that was killed? Remember, the whole purpose of the Keystone XL pipeline (and other pipelines from the north, flowing south) was to bring heavier oil from Canada to the US refineries along the Texas-Louisiana gulf coast to "balance out" all that light WTI oil arriving at refineries configured to handle heavier oil. Re-posting from earlier this morning: RBN Energy: the St James crude oil hub readies for Capline-related changes, part 3. Archived.In just a few months, heavy crude from Western Canada will start flowing south on the Capline pipeline from the Patoka, IL, hub to the one at St. James, LA. While the initial volumes will be modest, Capline’s long-awaited reversal will provide Louisiana refineries and export terminals with easier, lower-cost access to oil sands and other Alberta production. Flipping the pipeline’s direction of flow also means more changes for the St. James storage and distribution hub — one of the U.S.’s largest — which has already seen more than its share of evolution during the Shale Era. Today, we continue our Capline/St. James blog series with a look at St. James’s terminals and pipelines, the Louisiana refineries they supply, and the changes coming with the Capline reversal. The obvious question is this: how does western Canadian oil sands oil get to Patoka. From RBN Energy(archived here; not-accessible to readers): There are five pipelines flowing into Patoka with a combined capacity of just over 2 MMb/d:
- MPLX’s 454-Mb/d Woodpat Pipeline, which receives crude oil from two upstream pipelines — MPLX’s 360-Mb/d Ozark Pipeline from Cushing and Enbridge’s 145-Mb/d Platte Pipeline from Casper and Guernsey, WY. The Platte Pipeline transports heavy Western Canadian crude fed into it by the Express Pipeline as well as light crude produced in the Bakken, the Powder River Basin, and the Denver-Julesburg (DJ) Basin.
- TC Energy’s 590-Mb/d Keystone Pipeline — not to be confused with the company’s now-deadKeystone XL — which runs from Hardisty, AB, to Steele City, NE; from there, one spur of the pipeline heads east to Wood River and Patoka and the other heads to the Cushing hub, where it connects to TC Energy’s Marketlink Pipeline to the Gulf Coast.
- The 570-Mb/d Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL), which runs from the Bakken to Patoka and which is co-owned by Energy Transfer (with a ~36% share), Enbridge (with ~28%), Phillips 66 (with 25%), MPLX (with ~9%), and ExxonMobil (with ~2%). DAPL is part of the Bakken Pipeline System, which also includes the 742-mile Energy Transfer Crude Oil Pipeline (ETCOP; mustard line) from Patoka to Nederland, TX. (Our most recent review of DAPL was Don’t Wanna Lose You in February, 2021.)
- Enbridge and MPLX’s 300-Mb/d Southern Access Extension Pipeline, a 168-mile connector between Flanagan, IL, and Patoka that receives Western Canadian crude oil from Enbridge’s 900-Mb/d Southern Access Pipeline (light purple line), which is part of Enbridge’s 2.9-MMb/d Mainline system. (Enbridge holds a 65% ownership interest in Southern Access Extension and MPLX holds 35%.)
- ExxonMobil and Enbridge’s 100-Mb/d Mustang Pipeline, which runs from Lockport, IL (a suburb of Chicago) to Patoka. (ExxonMobil has a 70% stake in Mustang and Enbridge has a 30% stake.)
Analysis Shows Oil and Gas Execs Using More Environmental Buzzwords-- The world’s biggest oil and gas companies are more likely to talk to Wall Street about emissions than how their businesses might grow. That, at least, is according to a Bloomberg analysis of conference calls for the world’s 25 biggest fossil fuel producers including Exxon Mobil Corp. and Gazprom PJSC. The data shows how environmental buzzwords and key phrases such as “carbon”, “climate change” and “renewables” are finding its way into conversations with analysts and investors like never before. The trend suggests that management teams, at least publicly, are increasingly engaged on the topic. They’re coming under mounting pressure from investors and environmentalists to come up with a plan to slash greenhouse-gas emissions and prepare for a low-carbon future. That push comes as the world’s largest economies aim to accelerate a shift from more polluting hydrocarbons to cleaner energy sources. Beyond the dialog, how far those companies have gone in terms of concrete steps to tackle environmental, social and governance issues — particularly the “E” in ESG — varies and is the subject of much contention. While energy giants such as BP Plc and Royal Dutch Shell Plc have set targets for net zero carbon emissions by 2050, most of their peers are lagging to varying degrees. When it comes to ESG, it remains to be seen if the energy industry can do more than just talk. “The fact that they are feeling the pressure shows that there is going to be more pressure to have that lip service and the potential for greenwashing.” Investors who dialed in to company conference calls of fossil-fuel giants this year heard the word “carbon” uttered 800 times, exceeding the 790 mentions of “growth” for the first time ever. References to words tied to energy transition so far this year have already outnumbered those for all of 2020. The terms “carbon”, “methane”, “climate change”, “renewables” and “emission” have been said more times in calls this year than in any of the years going back to 2013. References to “net zero” emissions targets surfaced in calls held by 21 of the companies analyzed. The Bloomberg analysis is based on a search of words related to ESG issues in transcripts of quarterly earnings calls and other investor events from the largest energy companies that regularly hold calls in English. . Carbon capture and sequestration, a costly technology climate scientists have long considered an essential component of meeting emission-reduction targets, has also emerged as a hot topic. It was cited more than 160 times this year -- three times more than in 2020 -- in calls of companies including Equinor ASA and Ecopetrol SA. Fossil-fuel companies are increasingly touting their plans on emerging clean-energy technologies.
After Kelcy Warren’s Energy Transfer Partners Made Billions from the Deadly Texas Blackouts, He Gave $1 Million to Greg Abbott - The Texas electric grid collapse during the February winter storm killed hundreds of Texans and caused an estimated $295 billion in damages, while generating seismic gains for a small and powerful few. The natural gas industry was by far the biggest winner, collecting $11 billion in profit by selling fuel at unprecedented prices to desperate power generators and utilities during the state’s energy crisis. No one won bigger than Dallas pipeline tycoon Kelcy Warren: Energy Transfer Partners—the energy empire Warren founded and now is executive chairman of—raked in $2.4 billionduring the blackouts.That immense bounty soon trickled down to Governor Greg Abbott. On June 23, Warren cut a check to Abbott’s campaign for $1 million, according to the governor’s latest campaign finance filing, which covers January through June. That’s four times more than the $250,000 checks that the billionaire has given to Abbott in prior years—and the most he’s ever given to a state politician in Texas.In the months after one of the worst energy disasters in U.S. history, Abbott has dutifully steered scrutiny away from his patrons in the oil and gas industry. Last month, the governor signed into law a series of bills that strengthened regulation of the state’s grid. But experts warned that lawmakers didn’t go far enough to prevent another grid failure and failed to crack down on natural gas companies. At a bill signing ceremony on June 8, Abbott proclaimed that “everything that needed to be done was done to fix the power grid in Texas.” The unusually large contribution from the blackout’s biggest profiteer raises questions about Warren’s influence over the governor and has prompted outrage at what many see as a blatant political kickback for kowtowing to the powerful natural gas industry.“When Governor Abbott said that we did everything we needed to do to fix the grid, what he meant was we did everything we needed to do that doesn’t interfere with my cronies’ profit margins,” says Democratic state Representative Erin Zwiener, who chairs the House Climate, Environment, and Energy Caucus. The governor’s office and his campaign did not respond to emails requesting comment, nor did Energy Transfer Partners.
Victim’s family files $250M lawsuit over fatal natural-gas explosion in Collin County - The family of one of the victims of a fatal Collin County natural-gas explosion last month is suing over the blast, alleging that negligence led to the man’s death. Melissa Tarver, the widow of Deric Tarver, filed the wrongful-death lawsuit Friday in Dallas County, court records show. The lawsuit, which seeks damages in excess of $250 million, names Atmos Energy and Bobcat Contracting as defendants. Neither company immediately responded to a request for comment. Tarver, 35, was working at an Atmos facility in Farmersville, about 15 miles east of McKinney, on June 28 when an explosion killed him and another worker, 22-year-old Ethan Knight, and injured two others. The lawsuit says Atmos had hired Tarver’s employer, Fesco Petroleum, and Bobcat Contracting to use a pipeline inspection gauge — a “pig” — at the site to check on the condition of part of the pipeline. The pig is inserted into a trap at one end of the pipe segment and then propelled to a trap at the other end. In this case, Tarver was standing near the pipeline using a pushrod to manually move the pig. But, the lawsuit says, Bobcat’s contractors failed to ground at least one of the traps, resulting in a static discharge that ignited residual gas in the pipeline, causing an explosion that “ripped apart the fabric binding a young, blossoming family.” The lawsuit alleges that Atmos and Bobcat failed to ensure that Tarver had safe working conditions by neglecting to properly maintain the pipeline and failing to train employees about industry standards, among other omissions. That inaction amounts to gross negligence, according to the lawsuit. In a written statement, the Tarver family’s attorneys noted other natural-gas explosions involving Atmos, including a February 2018 blast in northwest Dallas that killed 12-year-old Linda “Michellita” Rogers. The Railroad Commission of Texas determined that Atmos failed to detect leaks leading up to that explosion and proposed a record $1.6 million fine. The company settled a lawsuit with the girl’s family for an undisclosed amount.
The U.S. Shale Revolution Has Surrendered to Reality - “Drill, baby, drill is gone forever.” That was the recent assessment of Saudi Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman of the American oil industry’s future potential. As Saudi Arabia’s energy minister, Prince Abdulaziz is one of the most influential voices in the global oil markets. Fortune termed it a “bold taunt,” and a warning to U.S. frackers to not increase oil production. The response by the U.S. producers — to shut up and take it — quietly confirms this reality. Shale oil’s era of growth appears to be over. The reason is that even as global oil demand and prices rise, the economics of the shale oil business model continue to not work. The U.S. shale industry has lost hundreds of billions of dollars in the past decade producing oil and selling it for less than it cost to produce.This was possible because despite the losses, investors kept giving the industry money. But now investors appear to have grown tired of losing money on U.S. shale companies and new lending to the industry has dropped dramatically.As reported this month by The Wall Street Journal, “capital markets showed little interest in funding expansive new drilling campaigns” for the U.S. shale industry. Shaia Hosseinzadeh, a partner at investment firm OnyxPoint Global Management LP, told The Journal that the problem facing fracking companies is that “they can’t access cheap capital any longer.” Without new infusions of money, the industry can’t drill for more oil, and that is why the Saudis feel confident taunting the U.S. oil industry. Prince Abdulaziz’s confidence is based in the financial realities of U.S. shale.What’s happening with the U.S. shale industry in this high price oil environment is unusual. Oil is typically a very predictable boom-and-bust business: When prices go up, oil drillers produce as much as they can, and when prices go down they stop.But for American drillers right now, the money isn’t there because investors no longer are willingto lend to frackers based on promises of future profits that have yet to materialize for the industry. In July 2020, accounting firm DeLoitte released a report stating that, “The U.S. shale industry registered net negative free cash flows of $300 billion, impaired more than $450 billion of invested capital, and saw more than 190 bankruptcies since 2010” — supporting the claim that the industry has peaked without ever making money.Investors have taken notice, including the private equity industry that has invested heavily in the fracking boom. Dan Pickering, head of energy investment firm Pickering Energy Partners, highlighted how private equity has lost interest in further investment in the shale industry in his keynote presentation at Hart Energy’s annual Energy Capital Conference in June. The U.S. shale industry has been accurately described as being composed of “capital destruction machines”. The hundreds of billions in losses the industry has accumulated in the past decade prove that it’s true. With few investors willing to provide new capital to feed the machine, the only option is not drilling, even though prices are the highest they have been in years, at nearly $75 per barrel.
Has OPEC finally won the war against shale oil? -- I have maintained for the past six years that a key goal of OPEC has been to so demoralize investors in shale oil that they stop sending money to the companies that drill for it. As I've written previously, I believe that OPEC's contest with the shale oil industry is "part of a broader strategy meant to maximize Saudi revenues as production in the kingdom hovers at an all-time high over the next decade before beginning a decline." It now appears that OPEC may have finally won its war against shale. Investment in shale oil companies has finally collapsed—even as oil prices levitate. It has been a long time coming. The industry would like you to believe that it is now showing "restraint" in its capital spending. But, to use a dieting analogy, there is a big difference between watching what you eat and having your jaw wired shut. The industry has experienced the equivalent of the latter in the capital markets. What has amazed all of us who watched this battle play out is that OPEC didn't win sooner. The relentless tolerance for losses among investors was beyond belief. And, when those investors returned in force after a brief vacation during the oil price bust in 2015, we skeptics grew concerned that rational thought had been eliminated from the universe. One estimate puts shale oil and gas industry losses at around $500 billion in the last five years. But the industry was losing money as a whole before that even when oil was above $100 per barrel early in the last decade. The problem is that shale oil is difficult and costly to extract and the technologies that enabled that extraction were never efficient enough to create widespread profitability.The problem from here forward is that most of the sweet spots in U.S. shale plays have been exploited. As the industry runs out of them and increasingly moves toward developing more difficult shale deposits, costs will rise—thus making it even more difficult to turn a profit on shale oil.There is an oil price that would certainly make shale deposits profitable. But that price is likely too high for the economy and consumers to bear without falling into a recession. That, it turns out, is the conundrum for the oil industry as a whole. The price band that is affordable to consumers in the long run no longer overlaps with the price band that will allow oil companies to exploit increasingly difficult-to-extract deposits. That may already be reflected in the fact that oil production worldwide peaked in November 2018, long before the pandemic began. Those of us who have been concerned about a near-term peak in world production are starting to believe that we've already passed it. It may turn out that all the hype over shale oil had people looking the wrong way when one of the most momentous developments in modern history was taking place in plain view.
Permian pipeline operators merge amid obstacles to market recovery - A pair of Permian Basin oil and gas midstream companies combined their resources in the fossil fuel basin spanning from southeast New Mexico into West Texas. Pipeline operator Plains All American and Oryx Midstream announced on July 13 that they planned to merge Permian assets to form a new joint venture Plains Oryx Permian. The deal would include all the two companies’ Permian Basin asset excluding Plains’ long-haul pipeline system and certain intra-basin terminals. More: Work continuing in New Mexico to reuse oil and gas wastewater in other sectors When finalized, Plains will own 65 percent of the joint venture with Oryx owning 35 percent, with Plains serving as operator. Oryx Chief Executive Officer Brett Wiggs said the deal would boost returns to investors while also expanding Oryx’s operations and increasing efficiency as it will combine acreage and infrastructure already operating adjacently. “This combination is a natural evolution of the Oryx growth story and perpetuates that commitment, creating the premier crude oil logistics system in the basin, increasing connectivity, enhancing reliability, and strengthening efficiencies for our customers,” Wiggs said. When the deal is complete, Plays Oryx Permian will have 5,500 miles of pipelines with a capacity of 6.8 million barrels per day, read a news release, bringing oil products to all major downstream markets. The system would sit on about 4.1 million dedicated acres in the region.
US oil, gas rig count jumps 24 to 604 amid recovery confidence from early Q2 calls - The US oil and gas rig count jumped 24 to 604 in the week ending July 23 Enverus said, as early second-quarter earnings calls from oil services framed a picture of an upturning oil industry, slightly looser 2022 upstream capital budgets and more activity to come. The Permian Basin accounted for nearly half the additions, leapfrogging 11 week on week to 259 rigs. The West Texas/Southeast New Mexico basin accounts for about 4.5 million b/d of oil production and nearly 18 Bcf/d of gas output. Analysts believe WTI oil prices at $70/b-plus since early June no doubt have helped push up the rig count, although experts always caution week-to-week gains may not necessarily mean anything. "Oil companies typically make these decisions quarter by quarter, so [the recent jump in rig counts] is likely a reaction to being in a new quarter, and we have had prices for several months that will obviously get good return rates on wells," said James Williams, founder and president of WTRG Economics. S&P Global Platts Analytics analyst Taylor Cavey said recent price strength is no doubt playing a role in producer behavior. "We continually ask ourselves whether or not they will break from the maintenance mode mindset or not," Cavey said. Cavey noted rig gains were slower at the start of July, when the rig count dropped 12 the first week of the month followed by a gain of four and 24 in the most recent week. "Month to date, we're at plus 18 compared to June, which is largely in line with our forecast," he said. While some operators may raise their spending slightly in second-half 2021, operators should largely stick to stated budgets, Cavey said. Apart from the Permian, most of the US' other largest basins saw smalls gains or losses. The Haynesville Shale of East Texas/Northwest Louisiana gained two rigs to 55, while the SCOOP-STACK (28 rigs) play of Oklahoma, the DJ Basin (14 rigs) of Colorado, and the Utica Shale (13 rigs) of mostly Ohio were all up by one rig apiece. The Marcellus Shale, largely sited in Pennsylvania, shed a rig leaving 32, while the Bakken Shale of North Dakota/Montana and the Eagle Ford Shale in South Texas were unchanged, leaving totals of 23 and 45, respectively.
Oil and gas: Policy should not impede industry regrowth from COVID-19 -Oil and gas industry leaders from New Mexico and Texas, representing the Permian Basin, maligned efforts by the administration of President Joe Biden they said could stymie oil and gas operations throughout the U.S. Some representatives of energy companies also worried Congress could impose higher taxes on domestic fossil fuels as it considered a $1.2 trillion infrastructure package that could include such a measure.Language for the bill was not available as of Tuesday, but groups representing energy companies already began making their case for policy that supported their bottom lines.The two states’ major oil and gas trade associations collaborated with the American Petroleum Institute (API) to release an economic impact study Tuesday intended to display the importance of oil and gas revenue and argued the industry would play a key role in economic recovery both on state and national levels. The New Mexico Oil and Gas Association (NMOGA) pointed to $18.8 billion added to the state’s gross domestic product (GDP) by oil and gas in 2019, the year before the U.S. was struck by the COVID-19 pandemic.That’s 17.9 percent of the state’s economy, per the study, supporting 46,000 direct jobs.The health crisis brought on a year of sinking oil and gas prices and stymied production throughout 2020, but the markets recovered this year as vaccines became widely available.NMOGA Chairman Leland Gould said the industry was essential to New Mexico’s economy as it hoped to rebuild after COVID-19 and that public policy should support the regrowth of oil and gas production. “Oil and natural gas are a big part of New Mexico’s economy and will continue to play a leading role in driving our state from recovery to prosperity,” he said. “New Mexico has enormous oil and natural gas potential, and we should continue to make this state a magnet for capital investment and job creation by prioritizing the development of these resources right here in our own backyard.” Gould said oil and gas in New Mexico contributed to public services like education and infrastructure not only in high-producing regions like the Permian Basin in the southeast corner of the state, but throughout New Mexico.
Kansas gas well that blew 100 feet high now fixed; complaints of illnesses, smell linger - Authorities said Friday that a natural gas well outside of Lyons that exploded during maintenance the day before is now safe and repaired. Local residents had complained of an odor and a lingering haze, but a Northern Natural Gas official said there is no danger to the public. The complaints of a noxious smell began after the underground storage well blew open after 3 p.m. Thursday southeast of Lyons, causing water and natural gas to fly up into the air. Area resident Jacob Voorhies said the natural gas well shot 100 feet in the air and left a haze that descended on the city Thursday night. By Friday morning, the haze seemed to lift, but a natural morning fog did linger, he said. “There was definitely a haze over the city and it wasn’t like fog,” he said. “It was something else. I think everyone says certain things for lawyers. I live a mile away and whenever you look across the street you could clearly see there was something in the air … I guarantee you walk around town and ask 80 people, all 80 people will say, ‘Yeah, there was something different last night.’” A company spokesperson said the initial rupture caused a mixture of natural gas and water molecules to rupture into the air, causing a haze that would have been visible from town. The amount of gas lost would be calculated during the company’s roughly three-week investigation into the leak, spokesperson Mike Loeffler said. Kansas Corporation Commission spokesperson Linda Berry said the multi-state operation would be investigated by the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration. The organization did not reply to The Eagle, but Berry said she was told the organization is investigating. Loeffler said measurements taken near the edge of Lyons didn’t detect any levels of sulfur or natural gas. About people’s complaints of a smell, Loeffler said it is likely sulfur that forms in the Arbuckle Formation, where the well is located.
City, county leaders join calls to stop Enbridge pipeline projects in Minnesota, Wisconsin - Local leaders are drafting resolutions in support of people working to stop the expansion of Enbridge Energy pipelines that transport Canadian oil across Minnesota and Wisconsin. The Madison City Council is expected to vote on a resolution Tuesday in support of Indigenous sovereignty and calling on local, state and federal leaders to stop the reroute of Line 5 in northern Wisconsin and construction of Enbridge’s $2.9 billion Line 3 replacement in Minnesota. The resolution, which has 13 sponsors, notes that each of the lines crosses dozens of rivers, streams and wetlands, including the Mississippi River, and cites spills in 1991 and 2010 that leaked millions of gallons of oil into rivers. Dane County Board member Heidi Wegleitner said she plans to introduce a similar resolution later this week. Speaking at a send-off event Monday for several protestors heading to camps along the Line 3 pipeline route through northern Minnesota, Madison City Council President Syed Abbas said people in the United States are fortunate to have clean water. “We are blessed and we have to say thanks to the Indigenous community for that,” Abbas said. “We need to stand with them. We might tomorrow get to a similar situation where we don’t have clean water because of contamination.” Abbas added that extracting and burning the tar sands oil Enbridge transports through the lines is especially carbon-intensive and not in line with the city’s commitment to eliminating greenhouse gas emissions.
White House adviser Susan Rice divests from company building Midwest pipeline - The director of President Joe Biden's Domestic Policy Council, Susan Rice, has divested herself of millions of dollars' worth of holdings in a company that's leading a contentious pipeline project supported by the Biden administration.According to newly released financial disclosure reports and a White House official, Rice has liquidated nearly $2.7 million worth of shares she and her husband owned in Enbridge, a Canadian company building the Line 3 pipeline, which would carry hundreds of thousands of barrels of Canadian oil through Minnesota and Wisconsin. Last month, the Biden administration gave a public boost to the Trump-era pipeline project, calling for the dismissal of a court challenge brought by environmental groups seeking to protect Minnesota watershed and tribal lands from the pipeline.A certificate of divestiture issued by the Office of Government Ethics last week shows Rice's plans to sell holdings in more than three dozen companies and several investment funds that she and her family own -- assets currently worth a total of more than $30 million.Enbridge's stock price has been on an upward trend since November, and the value of Rice's holdings in the company has increased from roughly $2.4 million when she joined the Biden administration earlier this year to nearly $2.7 million as of Friday. It's unclear if Rice netted any capital gains from the sale of her Enbridge shares, but those who divest assets under a certificate of divestiture are allowed to defer taxes on capital gains.
Line 3 opponents seek restraining order against sheriff – Activists opposed to the Line 3 Pipeline project in northern Minnesota are asking a judge to issue a restraining order against Hubbard County, Sheriff Cory Aukes, and the local land commissioner.Winona LaDuke and Tara Houska claim that the sheriff has unlawfully blockaded access to a camp serving as a convergence space and home for Indigenous-led activities by water protectors. The activists say law enforcement formed riot lines and blockaded the only means of entry and exit to the camp.LaDuke and Houska say the actions are “an escalation of a months-long unlawful campaign of harassment, arrests, disruption, surveillance and baseless pullovers of Indigenous water protectors and land defenders and their allies who oppose the Line 3 pipeline expansion.” The lawsuit argues that the blockade is a violation of private property rights, including an easement covering the driveway to the property.
Water Activist Winona LaDuke And Others Arrested Near Park Rapids, MN - — Environmental activist Winona LaDuke is among a small group of people arrested at Shell River near Park Rapids. They were protesting work on the river for the Line 3 replacement project by Enbridge. Honor the Earth, of which LaDuke is executive director, says a total of seven women were zip-tied and taken into custody. Enbridge says work on the final portion of the pipeline in Minnesota is 70% complete. They are adjusting work plans to comply with a DNR order to suspend the use of some water sources due to low levels from the drought.
Winona LaDuke released from jail after three days amid Enbridge Line 3 protests - Ojibwe activist and former Green Party vice presidential candidate Winona LaDuke was released from jail Thursday after her arrest Monday while protesting construction of an oil pipeline in northern Minnesota.She and six other women were sitting together praying on an easement and protesting construction of the Enbridge Line 3 oil pipeline near Park Rapids at the Shell River — which the pipeline will cross in five places — when they were arrested for trespassing. She was transferred late Wednesday to the Aitkin County jail, while the other women were released from the Wadena County jail that day.“I think this is what you call the Enbridge way — make sure that hundreds of Minnesota citizens are put in jail so that they can steal 5 billion gallons of water and put the last tar sands pipeline in,” LaDuke said in an Instagram post after her release. Enbridge released a statement to the Reformer saying in part that “Police are responsible for public safety. Officers decide when protesters are breaking the law. Our first priority is the safety of all involved — our workers, men and women in law enforcement and the protestors themselves.” The protests that led to the arrests are just the latest direct action seeking to stop construction of the pipeline, which will replace an existing pipeline the company says is needed for safe transport of oil and rising demand. Local communities and construction trade unions say the 337-mile, $2.9 billion crude oil pipeline is a key source of economic vitality in struggling communities.So far, more than 500 people have been arrested during protests led by Ojibwe tribes and environmentalists, the activists say. LaDuke is charged with trespassing, harassment, two unlawful assembly misdemeanors and public nuisance and posted a $6,000 bond, according to court documents.
Minnesota Cop: Oil Pipeline Budget Boost Means New Guns - A FEW WEEKS before a controversial oil pipeline was approved for construction in his area, Aitkin County, Minnesota, Sheriff’s Deputy Aaron Cook bought a new assault rifle that cost $725. The purchase was part of an effort to standardize police weaponry, said Cook’s boss, the local sheriff, and was unrelated to the Line 3 pipeline being built by Enbridge. Cook himself, however, told the gun seller that Enbridge could play a role in boosting the agency’s arsenal. “Our budget took a hit last week, so that’s all we will be ordering for now,” the deputy said in a November 2020 email about his purchase. “I’m hoping the pipeline will give us an extra boost to next year’s budget, which should make it easy for me to propose an upgrade/trade to your rifles rather than a rebuild of our 8 Bushmasters” — a reference to another make of assault rifles. The email suggests that at least some law enforcement officers anticipate new policing resources if the pipeline, Enbridge’s Line 3, is completed. The document, obtained through a public records request, provides an elegant example of how everyday oil and gas investments make it all the harder for local economies to transition away from the fossil fuel industry. The deputy appeared to be describing a banal but lucrative benefit aligning local police interests with the oil pipeline: property taxes. “They clearly have a belief or awareness that there is a pot of gold should they succeed in stopping the water protectors from being able to stop Line 3,” said Mara Verheyden-Hilliard, director of the Partnership for Civil Justice Fund’s Center for Protest Law and Litigation and an attorney representing water protectors. “This deputy is obviously looking to line the county sheriff’s armory with this money.”
MDU Resources Subsidiary Begins Construction on ND Natural Gas Pipeline Project - WBI Energy, Inc., a subsidiary of MDU Resources Group, Inc. (NYSE: MDU), began construction this week on the North Bakken Expansion project in northwestern North Dakota. This natural gas pipeline expansion will have capacity to transport 250 million cubic feet of natural gas per day from the Bakken Formation. WBI Energy received a notice to proceed on July 8 from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, allowing construction to commence. "WBI Energy transports more than 50% of the natural gas produced from the Bakken. This project will bring WBI's total pipeline system capacity to more than 2.4 billion cubic feet per day while reducing natural gas flaring in the region by allowing producers to move more gas to market. Producers have reinforced their need for this additional capacity by committing to long-term transportation contracts with WBI," The North Bakken Expansion project includes construction of approximately 63 miles of 24-inch natural gas pipeline and 30 miles of 12-inch natural gas pipeline, as well as a new compressor station and additional associated infrastructure. It is estimated to cost $260 million and, during peak construction, is expected to employ up to 450 people. WBI Energy expects to have the pipeline in service by the end of the year.
Oil production flat in North Dakota due to worker shortage (AP) — Oil production is flat in North Dakota due to a workforce shortage as the industry recovers from the coronavirus pandemic. Companies say they are in need of workers to inject water, sand and chemicals down wells to crack open rock and release oil, a process known as hydraulic fracking. State Mineral Resources Director Lynn Helms said eight crews are currently working in North Dakota, down from at least 20 which would typically be working in the state at today's oil prices. “Most of these folks went to Texas where activity was still significantly higher than it was here, where they didn’t have winter and where there were jobs in their industry,” Helms tells the Bismarck Tribune. “It’s going to take higher pay and housing incentives and that sort of thing to get them here.” North Dakota’s oil production rose 4,000 barrels per day in May, a negligible increase. The state produced about 1 million barrels of oil per day in May, the latest month for which data is available. The fracking side of the industry is also experimenting with new techniques to reduce costs. One company is using saltwater to replace some of the freshwater used in the fracking process. The fluid is being transported several miles through a flat line hose tucked inside another hose to prevent leaks until it reaches a fracking site, Helms said.
Pipeline break spews 41,000 gallons of oilfield wastewater (AP) — Nearly 41,000 gallons of oilfield wastewater has spilled from a broken pipeline in western North Dakota, impacting an unknown amount of land, state regulators said Wednesday.The North Dakota Department of Environmental quality said Kansas-based Tallgrass Energy reported the produced water spill on Monday. The break occured about 6 1/2 miles south of Watford City.It was not immediately known what caused the leak to the 4-inch plastic composite pipeline. Agency officials were on scene Wednesday to oversee the cleanup and investigate the spill, said Karl Rockman, director of the department’s division of water quality.Rockman said the wastewater migrated at least a half-mile from the break in the pipeline and “varied in width along its path." Some of the water spilled in a dry drainage ditch that connects to Spring Creek, a tributary to the Little Missouri River.“There is no indication that drinking water sources were threatened,” Rockman said. “There are still questions about the full extent of (the spill).” Rockman said cleanup will involve excavating contaminated soil.Produced water is a mixture of saltwater and oil that can contain drilling chemicals. It’s a byproduct of oil and gas development. Brine is an unwanted byproduct of oil production and is considered an environmental hazard by the state. It is many times saltier than sea water and can easily kill vegetation exposed to it.
US regulator issues notice to Dakota Access pipeline over safety concerns (Reuters) — The U.S. Department of Transportation’s pipeline regulator on Thursday put the operator of the Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL), Energy Transfer LP (ET.N), on notice for probable violations of safety regulations and proposed a civil penalty against it.The U.S. Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) notice listed probable violations ranging from the location of storm water drainage at six pipeline facilities and failure to follow assessment guidelines relating to possible incidents in sensitive areas where the pipeline operates.The PHMSA recommended a civil penalty of $93,200 against the company for the violations and said failure to correct the issues may result in further enforcement action.In June, a U.S. district court closed a long-running case against the DAPL, a 570,000-barrel-per-day pipeline out of North Dakota that travels under a Missouri River reservoir, but allowed for Native American tribes and other opponents of the line to file additional actions against it. read moreEnergy Transfer was not immediately available to comment.“An oil spill from this pipeline would be devastating to our drinking water supply and that of millions of people downstream, placing us all in harm’s way. That’s why we have opposed DAPL from the very beginning and fought its continued operation at every turn,” Standing Rock Sioux Tribe’s vice chairman, Ira Taken Alive, said in a statement issued on Thursday by Earthjustice group, which represents the tribe in the lawsuit.
Saltwater spills reported in McKenzie County Two saltwater spills occurred in McKenzie County this week, according to the North Dakota Department of Environmental Quality.Tallgrass Energy reported a spill from one of its pipelines on Monday. The company estimated 850 barrels or 35,700 gallons spilled, affecting private property about 7 miles south of Watford City, according to a report it filed with the state.Saltwater is known as produced water or brine in the oil fields, and it can render land infertile when it spills. It's a byproduct of oil production, typically transported by truck or pipeline from an oil well to a disposal site.Tallgrass has not determined what caused its spill. A lightning strike is to blame for a separate incident that caused a fire and 820 barrels or 34,440 gallons of saltwater to spill at a disposal site about 5 miles south of Keene on Tuesday, according to a report the site operator, Bullrock, made with the state.Both companies are working to clean up the spills. State investigators will continue to monitor those efforts.
Pipeline break and lightning strike cause brine spills – A brine spill occurred during a pipeline break about six and a half miles south of Watford City. Most recent estimates indicate 35,700 gallons of brine were released on private property. Operated by Tallgrass Energy, the company first discovered the spill on Monday. Brine or produced water is a byproduct of oil production. It is typically carried from an oil well by pipeline or truck to a disposal site where it is injected back into the ground for permanent storage. A brine spill also occurred Tuesday, resulting from a lightning strike at the Alfred Brown Saltwater Disposal owned by Bullrock, LLC, about five miles south of Keene. The North Dakota Department of Environmental Quality was notified of both incidents. Initial estimates indicate 34,440 gallons of brine were released at the Keene area site. The spill occurred on private agricultural property. At this time, no surface water was impacted. Personnel from the Environmental Quality Department will be on site to monitor the investigations and remediations.
Pad Fire North Of Keene, ND -- July 24, 2021 --Because I did not want to incorrectly identify a pad fire at the wrong location (and the operator by association), I pulled the original post regarding that pad fire off the blog. A reader had sent me a note saying the rig in the photo is a workover rig and would not show up on the NDIC map as a drilling rig. I thought it was a workover rig at the time I posted the original note and should have not gone further with trying to locate the pad based on that error. So, the original post has been pulled. [To complete the story, a reader went by the pad I identified in the original post and said there was no fire and there had been no fire at that site. The reader suggested where the pad was likely to be, but I won't post that until / unless confirmed by other sources..] Here are the photos again taken "north of Keene" and posted on Facebook. Apparently the photos were taken about 10:37 p.m., Thursday night, July 22, 2021.I searched the local newspapers for any oil fires in this area. I couldn't find the story Thursday night. But Friday night, via twitter, I found the story. The link is to The Bismarck Tribune (https://bismarcktribune.com/news/state-and-regional/crews-respond-to-fire-at-mckenzie-county-oil-well-site/article_c1f9e4be-5ec4-58c3-8a02-19f52622f290.html): The US Forest Service is monitroing an active fire on an oil well site just south of Lake Sakakawea in McKenzie County (and north of Keene, ND).No injuries had been reported, according to a news release from the Dakota Prairie Grasslands office. The fire was contained to the well pad and no surface grassland or groundwater resources were affected Friday evening. Response teams are working to manage the incident.The cause of the fire is under investigation. More at the link. So, we're at square one. The pad fire could be at any number of locations north of Keene, ND, and south of the lake.
Chevron fails to hit targets with giant CCS scheme at Gorgon LNG - Chevron is receiving heavy flak and potential fines for failing to meet emissions reduction targets at its troubled carbon capture and storage (CCS) scheme that forms a crucial element of the Gorgon liquefied natural gas (LNG) export project in Australia. Its partners include Shell and ExxonMobil. Yesterday, Chevron admitted that its CCS project, described by the US giant as the world’s largest, has failed to meet a five-year target for burying carbon dioxide (CO2) under Barrow Island off Western Australia. The Gorgon joint venture, which also includes Osaka Gas, Tokyo Gas and JERA, shipped its first LNG cargo in 2016. The $3 billion CCS project, which started operating in 2019 and about three years late, has been beset by technical difficulties. Peter Milne, a Perth-based industry analyst at Boiling Cold, wrote that “Gorgon has been in production for 5.5 years, but there has not been a single day when all elements of Gorgon’s CO2 injection system have worked at the same time.” Significantly, it is the world’s largest CCS project dedicated to cutting greenhouse gas emissions, not enhancing oil recovery. Worryingly, if Chevron, backed by Shell and ExxonMobil, cannot get CCS right more than a decade after the project was approved, then expectations of a massive global CCS rollout before 2050 look doubtful, warned Milne. Chevron, which operates the Gorgon LNG development, has not met the official requirement to capture and store at least 80% of the emissions generated over the first five years of the project, or around 4 million tonnes per year. The emissions reduction target formed a key part of the environmental approval process. The Western Australian environmental minister, Amber-Jade Sanderson, is now seeking an “explanation of how the company intends to address the issue.” An analysis last year suggested Chevron could face a bill of more than A$100 million ($73 million) if it is required to offset all emissions that breached its approval requirements. Chevron’s managing director in Australia, Mark Hatfield, said the company is working with the regulator on “making up the shortfall”, which he did not quantify. He added the company would release a public report on the issue later this year. Analysts believe that the report will likely find that the project only captured 30% of what it was supposed to.
Quebec Quashes Energie Saguenay LNG Terminal on Environmental Grounds - Quebec upheld its reputation as no-go territory for fossil fuel projects Wednesday by denying environmental approval for a US$10.6 billion liquefied natural gas (LNG) export plan. GNL Quebec’s proposed Energie Saguenay terminal and Gazoduq pipeline failed to prove it would cut global greenhouse gas emissions, provincial Environment Minister Benoit Charette said in announcing the rejection. The decision ended hope for LNG exports of Western Canadian gas from Canada’s Atlantic seaboard. Pieridae Energy Ltd. earlier this month shelved the only other active East Coast proposal — the US$10 billion Goldboro LNG project in Nova Scotia. The Quebec decision did not surprise the Alberta-based Canadian oil and gas industry, where the LNG plan’s fate is seen as just the latest example of a well-established pattern. Since 2016 Quebec banned hydraulic fracturing to tap Utica Shale gas and led opposition that aborted TC Energy Corp.’s C$16 billion (US$12.8 billion) Energy East plan for a cross-Canada oil pipeline. Charette said flaws in the GNL Quebec proposal emerged from a prolonged and hotly contested examination of potential project effects by the provincial Bureau d’audiences publiques sur l’environnement (BAPE). The case drew a protest avalanche from urban academics and environmental groups, leaving the LNG project supported only by small centers at the proposed terminal site 277 miles east of Montreal at the junction of the St. Lawrence and Saguenay Rivers. Only a week before the rejection decision GNL president Tony Le Verger indicated Energie Saguenay and Gazoduq were still live economic propositions. The Covid-19 pandemic inflicted a two-year construction delay. But GNL had a connection deal with TC’s national natural gas pipeline and an agreement with a European LNG import project, and was negotiating for supplies from Alberta and British Columbia. The French Canadian LNG plan’s sponsors in the United States — the Ruby Capital team of California entrepreneurs Jim Illich and Jim Breyer — launched GNL Quebec in 2014, well before all the province’s political parties turned cold on fossil fuel projects. The prevailing mood in Quebec shows in Charette’s full official title. He is ministère de l’Environnement et de la Lutte contre les changements climatiques – Minister of the Environment and the Struggle Against Climate Change. While fossil-fuel foes celebrated Charette’s announcement as a victory for global energy transition and climate change policies, the pro-development Montreal Economic Institute mourned the LNG project’s end as a loss for Quebec investment and employment.
US won't block completion of Russia's Nord Stream 2 pipeline - The Biden administration won't block the completion of Russia’s Nord Stream 2 pipeline and will announce an agreement with Germany on the natural gas line’s construction in the coming days, according to top officials. Reuters first reported Monday that the U.S. and Germany were close to reaching a deal following discussions among officials from both countries over continued U.S. concerns that the nearly complete pipeline would make Europe too heavily dependent on Russia for gas. The U.S. has also warned the pipeline could rid Ukraine of the transit fees on gas currently pumped in a pipeline through the country. President Biden and German Chancellor Angela Merkel were not able to reach a deal on the pipeline during their meeting at the White House last week in what was likely the outgoing German leader’s last official visit to D.C. The Wall Street Journal reported Tuesday that one source familiar with the discussions among top officials said a deal was expected to be unveiled in the coming days, with another person saying the announcement could come as early as Wednesday. When asked about the reports on Tuesday, White House press secretary Jen Psaki said that she expected “the State Department and others will have more on this soon.” Psaki told reporters in the White House press briefing that the administration following Biden’s meeting with Merkel “made clear that this was a point of discussion, and that the president was planning to have a discussion about the fact that we have ongoing concerns about how the project threatens European energy security, undermines Ukraine security and the security of our eastern flank NATO allies and partners.” “He had directed his team to work with her team to see how we can address those concerns, even as the pipeline was 90 percent finished when this administration took office,” she added. The pipeline, which is now roughly 98 percent complete, had been opposed by U.S. officials under the two previous presidential administrations.
U.S., Germany strike a deal to allow completion of controversial Russian Nord Stream 2 pipeline – The United States and Germany reached an agreement to allow completion of the $11 billion Nord Stream 2 pipeline, a thorny, long-standing point of contention between the otherwise stalwart allies. The agreement reached between Washington and Berlin, which was announced Wednesday, aims to invest more than 200 million euros in energy security in Ukraine as well as sustainable energy across Europe. "Should Russia attempt to use energy as a weapon or commit further aggressive acts against Ukraine, Germany will take action at the national level and press for effective measures at the European level, including sanctions to limit Russian export capabilities to Europe in the energy sector," a senior State Department official said on a call with reporters on Wednesday. The senior State Department official, who requested anonymity in order to discuss the agreement candidly, added the U.S. will also retain the prerogative of levying sanctions in case Russia uses energy as a tool of coercion. The official said the United States and Germany are "resolutely committed to the sovereignty and territorial integrity" of Ukraine and therefore, consulted closely with Kyiv on this matter. The unease surrounding the nearly complete Nord Stream 2 project, a sprawling undersea pipeline that will pump Russian gas directly into Germany, stems from Moscow's history of using the energy sector to gain leverage over Russia's neighbors, namely Ukraine. When completed, the undersea pipeline will span 764 miles from R ussia to Germany, making it one of the longest offshore gas pipelines in the world. Last month, the Kremlin said that only 62 miles of Nord Stream 2 were left to build.In May, the United States waived sanctions on the Swiss-based company Nord Stream 2 AG, which is running the pipeline project, and its German chief executive. The waiver gave Berlin and Washington three more months to reach an agreement on Nord Stream 2.. The agreement comes on the back of German Chancellor Angela Merkel's visit to the White House, the first by a European leader since Biden took office and likely her last trip to Washington after nearly 16 years at the helm of Europe's largest economy. Merkel, the first woman to lead Germany, has previously said she will step down after the September national elections. During a joint press conference at the White House, Merkel pledged to take a tough stance against Russia if Moscow misused the energy sector for political gains.
Estonian seaport hit by oil spill - In north-eastern Estonia, an oil spill has been found near the Baltic Sea Port of Sillamäe, Estonian public broadcaster ERR reports. On Sunday, July 18, the Estonian Police and Border Guard Board’s Maritime Surveillance Centre was notified of 20 or more litres of oil spilled into the Baltic Sea. The responsible services accessed the site with a drone and estimated the spill to have an area of 500×200 metres. The pollution is thought to have leaked from a tanker in the Port of Sillamäe. From Tallinn the anti-pollution ship General Kurvits with its crew has been sent to collect the oil and continues to work in the area on Monday, July 19. In a joint emergency operation, the Estonian Rescue Board, the Environment Board and the Estonian Police and Border Guard Board are working to clear the pollution from the Baltic Sea, ERR reports. Oil prices briefly reached $75 a barrel in 2018 but haven’t been consistently higher than that since 2014.According to the shale oil industry, these prices are well above what is needed to make a profit. But the industry isn’t drilling, and in areas like the Bakken shale play in North Dakota, production is actually falling.And yet, with prices above $70 a barrel, Bakken production is not increasing. The current rate of just above one million barrels a day is down 26 percent from the 2019 peak of almost 1.5 million barrels per day.As DeSmog has recently documented, the challenges facing this region’s oil producers mean that “Bakken’s best days are a thing of the past.”
Halliburton Wins 7-Year Oman Contract - A large international oil company (IOC) in Oman has awarded Halliburton Co. (NYSE: HAL) a seven-year contract to provide production chemicals and associated services, Halliburton reported Wednesday.Without identifying the customer, Halliburton noted in a written statement that it will supply the IOC with customized products and specialized services to support in-field chemical treatments. “This collaboration aims to improve operational efficiencies and reliability by applying tailored solutions and close alignment between parties.” Halliburton stated that its facilities in Oman will support the project. The service company added that it will manufacture key raw materials for the contract’s portfolio at its new Halliburton Saudi Chemical Reaction Plant. The facility, which opens late this year, will boast capabilities to manufacture various chemicals for stimulation, production, midstream, and downstream engineered treatment programs, the firm explained. Halliburton also pointed out that it expects to hire and develop local personnel to deliver the Oman contract’s scope of work.
Halliburton Readies for Years of Expansion -- For the first time in seven years, Halliburton Co., the biggest provider of fracking services, is expanding in both U.S. and foreign markets as spending recovers in the global energy industry. “The economy feels more than 2% shut in, so the demand growth is there,” Chief Executive Officer Jeff Miller said Tuesday in an interview on Bloomberg TV. Drillers are “going to require a lot of services as we meet global demand for oil and gas.” Exploration customers are profitable at current oil prices in the $60-to-$70 range, he said. Their spending could increase by percentages in the double digits over the next couple of years as a result. The Houston-based contractor rose 5.8% Tuesday after reporting better-than-expected second-quarter earnings. The bullish outlook from the world’s No. 3 oil-services provider follows comments last month from its rival, Schlumberger, which said the global economic recovery will trigger an energy-industry “supercycle” that should lead to wider margins. That represents a dramatic rebound for the sector, which was laid low last year by the pandemic and forced to lay off tens of thousands of workers. The three biggest companies -- Halliburton, Schlumberger and Baker Hughes Inc. -- all report earnings this week and are expected to boost profits by at least 20% compared with the first three months of the year, according to an average of analysts’ estimates compiled by Bloomberg. Oil-services providers haven’t seen three straight quarters of share appreciation since the days of $100-a-barrel crude back in 2014. Now, as drilling accelerates around the world, the Philadelphia Oil Service Index is showing just that. Halliburton reported second-quarter earnings per share excluding one-time items of 26 cents, exceeding the 23-cent average of analysts’ estimates, while revenue of $3.7 billion trailed the $3.75 billion average. Halliburton reported its largest North American quarterly sales since the onset of the pandemic last year. Miller, who slashed more than $1 billion in costs during the downturn, reaffirmed an outlook for double-digit year-on-year growth in international orders during the second half of this year.
State company defends UAE pipeline deal, says oil spill risks 'negligible' | The Times of Israel -The state-owned Europe Asia Pipeline Company on Monday dismissed concerns of opponents of its deal to pipe Gulf oil through Israel on the way to European markets, telling the High Court that a petition filed by green groups to declare the agreement invalid had “no factual foundation” and that a risk survey found the threat of environmental damage to be “negligible.”In the petition, submitted in May, three green organizations charged that the Memorandum of Understanding signed by the EAPC with the United Arab Emirates in October should be made null and void given that it was neither discussed nor approved by the government, nor opened for consultation with experts and the public.The accord provides for the EAPC to transfer crude oil and oil-related products from its Red Sea terminal in Eilat to its terminal in Ashkelon on the southern Mediterranean coast via a land-based pipeline that connects the two.It is opposed by the former and current environmental protection ministers, the Israel Nature and Parks Authority, the local coastal authorities, a forum of some 20 environmental organizations, scores of scientists and Eilat residents.The opposition is due in large part to the EAPC’s shoddy environmental record and numerous past leaks — it was responsible, seven years ago, for the largest environmental disaster in Israel’s history when one of its pipelines ruptured, sending some 1.3 million gallons of crude oil into the Evrona Nature Reserve in southern IsraelThere are also real fears for Eilat’s coral reefs, with impacts not only to the city’s tourism and employment sectors but also globally.In its response to the petition, the EAPC said it had commissioned a risk survey, which had shown that “severe damage leading to full loss of the entire content of a tanker or external damage to a tanker and significant loss of content” would only occur once every 366,300 years.The likelihood of leakage in a pipe carrying fuel to a ship was determined to be so low it would only occur once every 1,111 years, the company went on. “An insignificant spill,” which was not quantified, was likely to take place once every 24 years. If such a spill happened, said the EAPC, the leak would be pooled and “no environmental damage or marine pollution would be caused at all.”
Environmental Groups in Israel Rise in Opposition to the Eilat - Ashkelon Oil Pipeline -Several 'green' groups in Israel have banded together to oppose further development of the Eilat - Ashkelon pipeline, transporting Gulf oil through Israel on its way to European markets.In their petition before the Court, submitted this May, three green organizations charged that the Memorandum of Understanding signed by the European Asian Pipeline Company (EAPC) with the United Arab Emirates in October should be made null and void given that it was neither discussed nor approved by the government, nor opened for consultation with experts and the public.The accord provides for the EAPC to transfer crude oil and oil-related products from its Red Sea terminal in Eilat to its terminal in Ashkelon on the southern Mediterranean coast via a land-based pipeline that connects the two.Opposition is widespread among environmental organizations, scientists and residents of Eilat itself, as they recall EAPC's recent operational performance where one of its pipelines burst, sending 1.3 million gallons of crude into the Evrona Nature Reserve in southern Israel.The EAPC has set up an oil boom in Eilat, designed to catch any potential oil spill before it leaks more broadly into the sea. The company has also spent around $10 million on the purchase of vapor combustion units for its ports in Eilat and in Ashkelon to treat the vapors emitted from ships during loading, and is pouring an additional more-than-$10 million into upgrading the pipeline system in a project that will be completed this year. During the year, it will send a special robot through the pipes to pinpoint where local repairs might be needed.Every tanker that called at Eilat was insured for $100 million per event, it said. The company has maintained throughout the legal contest that any prospective oil spill, particularly in light of the preventive measures the company has been taken around Eilat, would be small and negligible.
Sleep-deprived workers at Shell’s Prelude FLNG make official complaint - Workers onboard Shell’s Prelude floating liquefied natural gas (FLNG) facility offshore Western Australia are complaining about occupational health and safety (OHS) breaches after being forced to work on only two to three hours of sleep.
New Report Reveals Top Retail Shipping Polluters - 
The coronavirus pandemic has left U.S. customers ever more reliant on retail goods shipped around the world to their doorsteps, but what does all of this fossil-fuel-fueled transportation cost the environment?In a new report released Tuesday, nonprofits Pacific Environment and Stand.earth have uncovered the 15 retail giants that contribute the most both to the climate crisis and air pollution by shipping goods to the U.S. from overseas."These findings reveal new environmental and public health impacts of retail companies' manufacturing and transport choices — and they are damning," the report authors wrote.By shipping goods, these 15 companies emitted the same amount of greenhouse gases as 1.5 million U.S. homes in 2019 alone. The same year, they also released two-billion vehicles worth of sulfur oxide pollution, 65.7 million vehicles worth of particulate matter pollution and 27.4 million vehicles worth of nitrous oxide pollution. Walmart topped the list in terms of overall shipping emissions, followed by other familiar names Ashley, Target, Dole, Home Depot, Chiquita, Ikea, Amazon, Samsung, Nike, LG, Redbull, Family Dollar, Williams-Sonoma and Lowes. The report notes that high shipping emissions are built into the retail business model that has been in place for decades, in which manufacturing is outsourced to other countries and shipped to the U.S. using fossil fuels. As a result, the world's shipping fleet has quadrupled since the 1980s. Shipping now releases one billion metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions, causes 6.4 million childhood asthma cases and contributes to 260,000 early deaths every year.All of this pollution has a major environmental justice component. "Working class communities disproportionately of color bear the brunt of the toxic pollution from ocean shipping," report primary author and Climate Campaign Director for Pacific Environment Madeline Rose said in a Stand.earth press release.
Assam: Oil leak from ONGC pipeline spills into farmland in Sivasagar -- Crude oil leaking from an underground pipeline of Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) at Nazira in upper Assam‘s Sivasagar district has spilled over vast swathes of farmland affecting scores of farmers in the area. The breach occured in a pipeline at Borpathar which is located between two adjacent villages — Mesagarh and Molagaon — in the Nazira sub-division. Technical teams from the ONGC Nazira office has rushed to the area to locate and plug the leak. Huge quanity of crude oil has already spilled over and it has a risk of catching fire. So far, 20 bighas of paddy fields have been affected by the oil spill. Nazira sub-divisional officer (SDO) Sabyasachi Kashyap said the leakage was first spotted by farmers on Thursday evening and was brought to the notice of the administration on Friday.“We were informed about the oil leakage at around 10.30am. Immediately, we contacted the ONGC office and asked them to cut off the supply of crude oil through that pipeline. But already a huge quantity of crude oil had gushed out and spilled into the surrounding paddy fields. The pipeline passes under a vast 1,000-bigha field and out of that around 20 bighas have been affected. A thick and blackish layer of oil has formed above the paddy fields. We have been told that the pipeline was quite old. The leak may have occured due to regular wear and tear but we are not ruling out the possibility of sabotage by oil thieves,” Kashyap on Friday said.
Shell’s Niger Delta oil-spill case to be heard in UK courts - Anglo-Dutch supermajor Shell has run out of time to appeal a UK court ruling earlier this year which found that a five-year-old case on environmental pollution in the Niger Delta should be heard in the UK and not Nigeria. In February, Shell’s lawyers failed to convince the High Court in London over the jurisdictional argument that the trial would be better decided in Nigeria, although Shell was given leave to appeal but declined to so. Leigh Day, the London-based law firm representing the Ogale and Bille communities in the Niger Delta, said last week: "Unprecedented oil pollution claims against Royal Dutch Shell and its Nigerian subsidiary, Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC), will finally be heard in the High Court in London after the oil giant dropped its attempts to avoid English jurisdiction." By including the subsidiary in the UK proceedings, more documents about Shell’s work in Nigeria are likely to be made public, the law firm said. The High Court's February 2021 decision was grounded on the plaintiffs establishing an arguable case that the parent company should be treated as the anchor defendant, enabling the case to proceed to a judgment on civil law in the UK. The claimants have yet to demonstrate that Shell should be held responsible for events that took place in Nigeria, on the merits of the case, while they still need to prove that the supermajor owes a duty of care and that, critically, this was breached, according to a source with knowledge of the legal proceedings.
OPEC and allies target full end to oil production cuts by September 2022, increase supply as prices climb - — The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and its non-OPEC allies reached a deal Sunday to phase out 5.8 million barrels per day of oil production cuts by September 2022 as prices of the commodity hit their highest levels in more than two years. Coordinated increases in oil supply from the group, known as OPEC+, will begin in August, OPEC announced in a statement. Overall production will increase by 400,000 barrels per day on a monthly basis from that point onward. The International Energy Agency estimates a 1.5 million barrel per day shortfall for the second half of this year, indicating a tight market despite the gradual OPEC supply boost. OPEC+ agreed in the spring of 2020 to cumulatively cut a historic nearly 10 million barrels per day of crude production as it faced a pandemic-induced crash in oil prices. The alliance gradually whittled down the cuts to about 5.8 million barrels per day. The 19th OPEC and non-OPEC ministerial meeting noted that worldwide oil demand showed "clear signs of improvement and OECD stocks falling, as the economic recovery continued in most parts of the world" thanks to accelerating vaccination programs. International benchmark Brent crude is up 43% year-to-date and up more than 60% from this time last year, with many forecasters expecting to see oil trading at $80 a barrel in the second half of 2021. Brent closed at $73.59 a barrel at the end of the trading day on Friday. The agreement followed a temporary but unprecedented gridlock that began in early July and saw the United Arab Emirates reject a coordinated oil production plan for the group spearheaded by its kingpin, Saudi Arabia. While the 13-member organization has seen disagreements before, this was the first public rift between the UAE and Saudi Arabia, which are close allies. Abu Dhabi had demanded that its own "baseline" for crude production — the maximum volume it's recognized by OPEC as being able to produce — be raised because this figure then determines the size of production cuts and quotas it must follow as per the group's output agreements. Members cut the same percentage from their baseline, so having a higher baseline would allow the UAE a greater production quota. Sunday's agreement revealed baseline increases for four of OPEC's member states and one non-OPEC state beginning in May of 2022: the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Kuwait, and Russia, the last of which is not an OPEC member but a leader of OPEC+. The UAE's baseline for oil production will be raised from 3.16 million barrels per day to 3.5 million barrels per day, though short of the 3.8 million it reportedly initially requested. Saudi Arabia's baseline will be increased from 11 million to 11.5 million barrels per day.
Riyadh and Moscow claim biggest wins from OPEC+ deal - -- Saudi Arabia and Russia clinched a deal for an OPEC+ production increase by partly submitting to the United Arab Emirates’ demands for a more generous quota. But the compromise still leaves Riyadh and Moscow on top. Of all the adjustments agreed on Sunday to the cartel’s baselines -- the level from which each member’s cuts are measured -- the two largest OPEC+ members awarded themselves the biggest increases. While the UAE’s baseline will rise by about 330,000 barrels a day to 3.5 million in May 2022 -- a 10% increase -- Moscow and Riyadh’s will jump by 500,000 barrels a day to 11.5 million That may seem academic. Saudi Arabia has pumped that much only on the rarest of occasions, and the International Energy Agency sees Russia’s true capacity at 10.4 million barrels a day. Yet the generous headroom offered by these large numbers means the two countries will get back to pre-Covid output levels more quickly than fellow members, and keep going even higher if they are able. As early as November, Saudi Arabia is on track to restore production to March 2020 levels -- before the worst effects of the Covid-19 pandemic and before the price war that briefly pushed the kingdom’s output to a record. Russia will pass that milestone in April 2022, assuming the 400,000 barrel-a-day monthly production increases are shared out proportionally between the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies. By September 2022, when OPEC+ expects to have revived all of the oil production halted because of the pandemic, the UAE’s quota limit may still be pumping less than it did before the Covid-19 crisis. © 2021 Bloomberg L.P.
U.S. oil drops 7% to below $70 as OPEC prepares to boost production, Covid concerns weigh - West Texas Intermediate crude futures fell below the key $70 level Monday for the first time in more than a month as OPEC and its allies agreed to raise output, and as the delta Covid variant threatens global demand. U.S. oil dropped more than 7% to hit a session low of $66.35 for its biggest one-day decline since September 2020. The contract is now 13% below its recent high of $76.98 from July 6, which was the highest level in more than six years. International benchmark Brent crude slipped 6.7% to trade at $68.71 per barrel. The group of 23 nations, known as OPEC+, agreed Sunday to increase production by 400,000 barrels each month beginning in August. The output hike will continue through September 2022, at which point the entirety of the nearly 6 million barrels per day the group is still withholding will be back on the market. The announcement came after the group's initial meeting July 1 fell apart amid a disagreement between Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates over the latter's baseline production quota. "We view [Sunday's] deal as supportive to our constructive oil price view with supply increasingly becoming the source of the bullish impulse and evidence of non-OPEC supply shortfalls likely in the coming months," Goldman Sachs said in a note to clients. The firm pointed to discipline among U.S. producers as providing a floor for oil prices, although it noted that the delta variant could lead to price gyrations in the coming weeks. OPEC+'s July meeting ending without an agreement sent the oil market into turmoil because it opened the door for the group to potentially disband, with each nation pursuing an independent production policy. "This was a renewal of OPEC+ vows," RBC's Helima Croft said Monday on CNBC's "Worldwide Exchange." "We think the market can absolutely absorb the additional 400,000 barrels per month...this is a constructive agreement." Despite Monday's downturn some Wall Street firms believe a tight market will continue to support prices. Credit Suisse raised its forecasts Sunday night and now sees Brent averaging $70 per barrel in 2021, up from a prior estimate of $66.50. The firm raised its WTI forecast to $67 for the year, up from $62. Citi, meanwhile, sees Brent and WTI climbing to $85 or higher this year. "The summer season for petroleum markets should be stronger than usual this year on pent-up leisure demand," the firm said in a note to clients. Even with Monday's drop, WTI is still up 38% for the year amid a recovery in demand as worldwide economies reopened, and as producers kept supply in check. In April 2020 OPEC+ implemented historic cuts of nearly 10 million barrels per day in an effort to support prices as demand for petroleum products plunged. WTI briefly traded in negative territory for the first time on record.
Just a speed bump? Oil has taken a dive, but Goldman is still bullish - A panic-induced sell-off in the oil market triggered by virus concerns has thrown the commodity's upward march into question — but energy experts at Goldman Sachs don't appear to be rattled. Fears over the surging delta coronavirus variant and a fresh supply boost agreement from OPEC+ sent oil prices tumbling down more than 7% as the trading week opened Monday. The drop was the steepest since March, a rude awakening for oil bulls who'd been enjoying the commodities' highest prices in 2½ years. International benchmark Brent crude was trading at $68.42 a barrel at 2:15 p.m. in London on Tuesday, down just over 7% from its Friday close of $73.59 a barrel. Oil analysts were quick to stress the uncertain road ahead for demand as new waves of Covid-19 infections ― many among communities that have high vaccination rates ― threaten the recent months of economic recovery. "The market is clearly unsettled about the demand outlook. And rightly so. The rise in delta variant cases is raising questions about the sustainability of demand," S But analysts at Goldman Sachs led by Senior Commodity Strategist Damien Courvalin see the current setback as merely a speedbump, with little concrete reason for oil bulls to be worried. Oil balances globally are tighter than they were before, despite the agreement between OPEC and its allies over the weekend to cumulatively increase crude production by 400,000 barrels a day on a monthly basis beginning in August. The International Energy Agency estimated a 1.5 million barrel per day shortfall for the second half of this year compared to its demand predictions in the absence of an OPEC supply deal. And Goldman predicts the impact from delta to be in the neighborhood of "a potential 1 mb/d (million barrels per day) hit for only a couple months, and even less if vaccines prove effective at lowering hospitalizations in DMs (developing markets), the origin of most summer demand improvements," as per its latest report. Goldman's call is in line with its previously bullish stance, which saw it forecasting Brent hitting $80 per barrel in the second half of this year.
Oil futures bounced back on Tuesday - Perhaps a little bit overdone to the downside, oil futures bounced back on Tuesday, erasing some of the panic selling seen on Monday after OPEC+ agreed to boost supplies, and as concern over the surging delta coronavirus variant increased. Despite today's modest bounce, oil investors remain cautious about buying the commodity given the demand picture has quickly turned cold as inflation hits economic growth and the coronavirus Delta variant becomes a bigger concern in the US and globally. The expiring August WTI contract added $1.00, or 1.5%, to settle at $67.42 a barrel, while the September contract tacked on 84 cents, or 1.3%, to settle at $67.20 a barrel. Brent for September delivery settled at $69.35 a barrel, up .73 cents, or 1.1%. August RBOB added 1% to $2.13 a gallon and August heating oil added 1.4% to $2.01 a gallon. Oil balances globally are tighter than they were before despite the agreement between OPEC and its allies over the weekend to cumulatively increase crude production by 400,000 barrels per day on a monthly basis beginning in August. This has worked to cool concerns tied to the spread of the delta variant of the coronavirus that causes COVID-19. The near future of this market will be closely tied to the spread of the virus, and unless it spreads like wildfire, prices should be able to gain momentum to the upside. At this point, this market may be lacking a support base and therefore, any rally may be short lived. Goldman Sachs expects Brent prices in the third quarter to average $75/barrel, down $5 from a previous estimate and $80/barrel in the fourth quarter, up from a previous forecast of $75/barrel. It forecast an oil deficit of 1.5 million bpd in the third quarter compared with a previous estimate of 1.9 million bpd and a deficit of 1.7 million bpd in the fourth quarter. The bank said oil prices may continue to gyrate in the coming weeks given the Delta variant uncertainties and the slow velocity of supply developments. It said the bottom-up estimate of the impact that a Delta wave could have on global oil demand points to a potential 1 million bpd hit for only a couple of months. It also stated that non-OPEC+ production outside of North America will surprise consensus to the downside in the coming months. Goldman Sachs also said that progress on a U.S.-Iran nuclear deal has stalled leading to increased risks that the potential increase in Iranian exports is later than its October base-case. RBC analysts said the timing of the OPEC meeting is a coincidence rather than a cause as prices fell 8% amid concerns about the COVID-19 delta variant.
WTI Tumbles After Surprise Crude Build -Oil prices rebounded modestly today but were far from able to reverse yesterday's bloodbathery as delta variant (demand) scares combined with OPEC+'s production deal (supply) dominated any equity-exuberance spillover affect with WTI unable to get back above $68.Behind the burst of volatility is a realization that vaccines won't prevent episodic flare-ups in infection and the introduction of measures to control new variants, according to Marwan Younes, chief investment officer at Massar Capital Management, a commodities-focused hedge fund.And the next driver of that vol will be tonight's inventory dataAPI
- Crude +806k (-5.4mm exp)
- Cushing -3.57mm
- Gasoline +3.31mm
- Distillates
Analysts expected a 9th straight weekly crude draw but were disappointed when API reported a 806k barrel build. Gasoline stocks also saw a decent build. WTI traded around $67.50 ahead of the print, and dived lower to a $66 handle after the surprise crude build...
WTI Shrugs Off Unexpectedly Large Crude Inventory Build -After the initial tumble last night - after API reported an unexpected build in crude inventories (and big build in gasoline stocks) - oil prices have surged higher overnight and across the US equity market open as all those Monday fears appear to be evaporating once again.“Risk-on is the main driver,” “I still believe oil fundamentals themselves are supportive, but the last 72 hours were primarily driven by shifts in investors’ attitude to risk.”Maybe this morning's official data will reignote some sense of fundamentals in the energy complex... however fleeting.DOE
- Crude +2.11mm (-3.7mm exp)
- Cushing -1.347mm
- Gasoline -121k (-1.0mm exp)
- Distillates -1.349mm
Analysts expected a 9th straight weekly draw in crude stocks, even after API reported an unexpected build, but were wrong when the official data showed an even bigger 2.11mm barrel increase. Gasoline stocks dropped very marginally, but not the build we saw in API data...Some have suggested the lack of a continued drop in gasoline demand is responsible for the market's refusal to drop on the crude build but the rise in demand is de minimus ...
U.S. oil prices up over 4% as inventories at Cushing decline to 18 month low - Oil futures posted a more than 4% gain on Wednesday, as a decline in crude stocks at the Cushing, Okla. storage hub to the lowest level since early 2020 provided support, outweighing any pressure from the first weekly U.S. crude inventory rise since mid-May.The Energy Information Administration reported on Wednesday that U.S. crude inventories rose by 2.1 million barrels for the week ended July 16, marking the first weekly rise in nine weeks. At 439.7 million barrels, crude supplies are about 7% below the five-year average for this time of year, the EIA said.On average, analysts polled by S&P Global Platts forecast a decline of 6.7 million barrels for crude stocks, while the American Petroleum Institute on Tuesday reported an 806,000 barrel increase.The EIA data also showed crude stocks at the Cushing, Okla., storage hub declined by 1.4 million barrels for the week to 36.7 million barrels. Stocks at the storage hub haven’t been this low since January 2020, EIA data show. .“We did see a big surprise surge of imports and that kept the market somewhat at bay but if you look at the draw in Cushing, Oklahoma, we’re getting to a dangerously low level,” “We’re almost out of oil at the Cushing delivery point if we continue to draw at this rate.”The market has been “draining” crude stocks in storage at Cushing at an “incredible pace — it’s unbelievable,” said Flynn. Stocks may fall “below the minimum operating levels for that storage point pretty soon.”West Texas Intermediate crude for September delivery rose $3.10, or 4.6%, to settle at $70.30 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, extending a 1.3% rise from Tuesday.September Brent crude, the global benchmark, gained $2.88, or nearly 4.2%, to settle at $72.23 a barrel on ICE Futures Europe.The EIA also reported that gasoline supplies edged down by 100,000 barrels, while distillate stockpiles fell by 1.3 million barrels for the week. The S&P Global Platts survey forecast a supply decrease of 1.1 million barrels for gasoline and 600,000 barrels for distillates.
Oil gains as demand recovery seen tightening supply -Oil prices inched up on Thursday, extending gains made in previous sessions on expectations of tighter supplies through 2021 as economies recover from the coronavirus crisis. Brent crude advanced $1.56, or 2.2%, to settle at $73.79 per barrel, after rising 4.2% in the previous session. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude added $1.61, or 2.3%, to settle at $71.91 per barrel, after gaining 4.6% on Wednesday. "Some soft spots have emerged in the oil demand recovery, but this is unlikely to change the outlook fundamentally," Morgan Stanley said in a note. Members of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and other producers including Russia, collectively known as OPEC+, agreed this week on a deal to boost oil supply by 400,000 barrels per day from August to December to cool prices and meet growing demand. But as demand was still set to outstrip supply in the second half of the year, Morgan Stanley forecast that global benchmark Brent will trade in the mid to high-$70s per barrel for the remainder of 2021. "In the end, the global GDP (gross domestic product) recovery will likely remain on track, inventory data continues to be encouraging, our balances show tightness in H2 and we expect OPEC to remain cohesive," it said. Crude inventories in the United States, the world's top oil consumer, rose unexpectedly by 2.1 million barrels last week to 439.7 million barrels, up for the first time since May, U.S. Energy Information Administration data showed. Inventories at the Cushing, Oklahoma crude storage hub and delivery point for WTI, however, has plunged for six continuous weeks, and hit their lowest since January 2020 last week. "Supplies fell further by 1.3 million barrels to lowest level since early last year, theoretically offering support to the WTI curve," said Jim Ritterbusch of Ritterbusch and Associates. Barclays analysts also expected a faster-than-expected draw in global oil inventories to pre-pandemic levels, prompting the bank to raise its 2021 oil price forecast by $3 to $5 to average $69 a barrel. "Notwithstanding the tail risks, supply-demand dynamics point to a slow grind higher in prices over the next few months," Barclays said in a report.
Oil prices move up to end the volatile week with a modest gain - -Oil futures moved up on Friday, with gains for a fourth-straight session allowing prices to rebound from the lowest settlements since May after a sharp drop on Monday."Traders were uncertain as to whether the OPEC+ agreement was bullish, representing continued cohesion, or bearish, signaling more oil on the market," Michael Lynch, president at Strategic Energy & Economic Research, told MarketWatch. The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and their allies, together known as OPEC+, decided on Sunday to gradually increase production levels each month starting in August.Meanwhile, the spread of coronavirus delta variant is "seemingly bearish, but the demand data, at least for the U.S., remains bullish," said Lynch. That "gives you a price on the seesaw."West Texas Intermediate crude for September delivery rose 16 cents, or 0.2%, to settle at $72.07 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. That led the U.S. benchmark up by 0.7% for the week, based on the front-month contract, according to Dow Jones Market Data.September Brent crude , the global benchmark, added 31 cents, or 0.4%, at $74.10 a barrel on ICE Futures Europe, leaving it with a 0.7% climb for the week.Oil prices had plunged in the early part of the week on "concerns that rising global delta variant infection rates could undermine the economic rebound," or slow it down, said Michael Hewson, chief market analyst at CMC Markets UK.These worries haven't gone away, but even with the new OPEC+ agreement, there are still "residual concerns" that the market "could see supply struggle to keep up with demand, hence the recovery in prices heading into the weekend," he said in a market update.Crude plunged Monday, with WTI dropping more than 7%, in a broad selloff (link) that was attributed in part to worries about the spread of the delta variant of the coronavirus and it's impact on energy demand. Crude and other assets, including equities, subsequently bounced back as investors proved eager to buy the dip.The market's rebound "confirms our hypothesis that the selloff was ultimately sparked by external factors," said Eugen Weinberg, commodity analyst at Commerzbank, in a note.Weinberg said it also backs up the expectation that the OPEC+ agreement to add 400,000 barrels a day each month to output as it unwinds production curbs will prevent a repeat of last year's breakdown in the cartel."The supply situation remains tight, while the agreement underlines the unity of OPEC+, and the response of non-OPEC+ producers so far to the significantly higher prices leaves much to be desired," he wrote. "This suggests that OPEC+ will maintain its 'pricing power,' which will lead to high prices."Data from the Energy Information Administration released Wednesday revealed (link) a weekly increase in U.S. crude supplies, following eight-straight weeks of declines, but stocks at the nation's storage hub at Cushing, Okla. fell to their lowest since January 2020.Baker Hughes (BKR), meanwhile, reported on Friday that the number of active U.S. rigs drilling for oil (link) climbed for a fourth week in a row, implying an production increase ahead.
Oil Prices Edge Upward for the Week -- Oil squeezed out its first weekly gain in three on signs that global demand is holding up despite concerns that the renewed spread of the virus could stall the recovery. Futures in New York rose 0.2% this week, completely recouping a selloff on Monday that was stoked by the rapidly spreading delta variant. Fuel demand and road traffic from the U.S. to Asia and Europe remains resilient, underscoring expectations that the recovery hasn’t been derailed and global inventories will continue to shrink. “The fact of the matter is that we’re not going to see, at least in the U.S. and in Europe, a massive return to strict lockdown,” said Ed Moya, senior market analyst at Oanda Corp. Crude has rallied nearly 50% this year as ongoing vaccination campaigns have propelled reopenings. Data this week showed gasoline demand is essentially back to normal in many of the biggest consuming countries. Meanwhile, OPEC+ and U.S. shale producers have shown discipline in returning shuttered supplies to the market. The 7.5% price slump on Monday came just a day after the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies led by Saudi Arabia and Russia finalized an agreement to gradually restore production they halted during the pandemic. OPEC+’s modest increase eased fears around concerns of oversupply. “Everybody thinks they are going to flood the market, and then they take a step back and realize that, hey, they’re adding because the supply is being burned off,” said Phil Streible, chief market strategist at Blue Line Futures LLC in Chicago. The recent dip in prices is a buying opportunity and Brent prices should hit $100 per barrel next year, said a group of analysts at Bank of America Corp. in a recent note to clients. West Texas Intermediate crude for September delivery added 16 cents to settle at $72.07 a barrel in New York. Brent for the same month rose 31 cents to end session at $74.10 a barrel. This week, Schlumberger and Baker Hughes Inc. suggested the rebound in the U.S. shale patch will likely slow this year as companies keep a lid on spending. Despite a strong recovery in crude prices in 2021, the shale industry is largely resisting adding new supply.
Iran opens new oil terminal in bid to bypass crucial Strait of Hormuz for exports– Iran on Thursday opened its first oil terminal in the Gulf of Oman, a move aimed at making Iranian President Hassan Rouhani's regime less dependent on the Strait of Hormuz, often a source of international tension. The location of the new oil terminal — a project that began in 2019 and will cost some $2 billion — will also reduce transportation and insurance expenses for oil tankers. "This is a strategic move and an important step for Iran. It will secure the continuation of our oil exports," Rouhani said in a televised speech, according to state-run media. The Strait of Hormuz, a crucial channel located between the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman, is used by oil producers to transport crude from the Middle East. Approximately 20% of the world's crude oil passes through the waterway. The new terminal gives Iran more space to operate. The Strait of Hormuz is a narrow strip of water between Iran and the United Arab Emirates that connects the Persian Gulf to more open waters. The new terminal is to the east on the wider Gulf of Oman, which opens into the vast Arabian Sea. Iran has previously threatened to close the strait in response to Trump administration's decision to reimpose sanctions. "This new crude export terminal shows the failure of Washington's sanctions on Iran," Rouhani said, adding that Iran plans to export 1 million barrels per day of oil. Washington placed sanctions on Tehran after former then-President Donald Trump withdrew from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, or JCPOA, nuclear agreement in 2018. The JCPOA, brokered by the Obama administration in 2015, lifted sanctions on Iran that had hampered its economy and cut its oil exports roughly in half. In exchange for billions of dollars in sanctions relief, Iran agreed to dismantle some of its nuclear programs and open its facilities to more extensive international inspections.
Pentagon carries out first air strike in Somalia under Biden - The U.S. military on Tuesday conducted an air strike against an al-Qaeda-affiliated group in Somalia, the first such strike in the country since President Biden took office, multiple outlets have reported.The strike on the al-Shabaab militant group, first reported by Agence France-Presse, took place “in the vicinity of Galkayo, Somalia,” about 430 miles northeast of Mogadishu, Pentagon spokeswoman Cindi King said in a statement to the outlet.U.S. Africa Command (AFRICOM) carried out the single air strike in coordination with the Somali government.“A battle-damage assessment is still pending due to the ongoing engagement between al-Shabaab and Somali forces, however, the command's initial assessment is that no civilians were injured or killed as a result of this strike,” King added.The Somali government also confirmed the strike in a statement, noting that it occurred at 11:05 a.m. local time in the Galmudug State of the country “to protect the brave commandos of the Somali National Army.”The government did not say who carried out the action.The Pentagon did not respond to a request for comment from The Hill."The last U.S. air strike in Somalia took place on Jan. 19, one day before President Biden entered the White HouseFollowing Biden’s inauguration, he initiated a review of the policy on drone strikes and commando raids outside of conventional war zones and imposed temporary limits on such strikes.The move came after former President Donald Trump had loosened the rules for drone strikes when he was in office.Pentagon s pokesman John Kirby then told reporters in March that any planned strikes outside Afghanistan, Syria and Iraq had to be submitted to the White House “to ensure that the president has full visibility on proposed significant actions.”
US launches airstrikes against Taliban as Afghan forces crumble - US warplanes carried out at least four sets of airstrikes in Afghanistan this week in support of Afghan government troops who have ceded ever-growing swathes of the country to the Taliban Islamist insurgency. The Pentagon acknowledged the bombing raids, which took place on Wednesday and Thursday, but refused to provide any details as to the aircraft or munitions involved. The targets struck were in southern Kandahar province, the historic stronghold of the Taliban, and in Kunduz in the north. Among the targets were materiel captured by the Taliban from government forces, including at least one piece of artillery and armored vehicles, Pentagon officials said. In both Kunduz and Kandahar, the security forces of Afghanistan’s puppet government are facing increasing pressure from Taliban on their respective provincial capitals. In a Pentagon press conference on Wednesday, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. Mark Milley, provided a confirmation of the breadth and speed of the Taliban’s advances, acknowledging that the insurgency had seized about half of the country’s 419 district centers. Just last month, he told Congress that the Taliban held only 81 centers. This official count is no doubt a significant underestimate. And, in many cases, district centers still held by the government forces are islands surrounded by Taliban-controlled countryside. “Strategic momentum appears to be sort of with the Taliban,” Milley said, in what constitutes one of the understatements of the year. Insisting that “a negative outcome, a Taliban automatic military takeover, is not a forgone conclusion,” Milley added, “We will continue to monitor the situation closely and make adjustments as necessary.” Spelling out what such “adjustments” would entail, the Joint Chiefs chairman stated that a “package of long-range bombers, additional fighter-bombers and troop formations are postured to quickly respond if necessary and directed.”
UK To Permanently Deploy 2 Warships To Asian Waters In Counter-China Mission - London has of late joined Washington in deepening its security ties with Japan, now on Tuesday announcing it plans to permanently deploy a pair of warships in southeast Asian waters off Japan at a moment tensions with China over Taiwan and other contested islands are at their highest in years.The permanent deployment is to be launched after the HMS Queen Elizabeth aircraft carrier and its strike group sail to Japan in September. This after it joins other allies including the US and Australia in conducting a series of multinational exercises in the Philippine Sea this August, according to a defense ministry statement this week.Britain's Defense Minister Ben Wallace unveiled that the UK will keep two warships in the region while in Tokyo meeting with his Japanese counterpart, Nobuo Kishi. "Following on from the strike group’s inaugural deployment, the United Kingdom will permanently assign two ships in the region from later this year," he said. The Elizabeth is carrying F-35B stealth jets, and is currently escorted by two destroyers, two frigates, and two support vessels. Likely further provoking Beijing are plans to eventually deploy UK marines to the region as a rapid response counter-terror force. As Reuters reports: "In a further sign of Britain’s growing regional engagement, Wallace, who traveled to Japan with a delegation of military commanders, said Britain would also eventually deploy a Littoral Response Group, a unit of marines trained to undertake missions including evacuations and anti-terrorism operations."For every move on the part of the US and UK which China sees as an escalation, there's a PLA military response, with a week ago Beijing saying it "drove away" a US warship deemed "illegally" in Chinese waters near the disputed Paracel islands.
Pegasus: Spyware sold to governments 'targets activists' - Rights activists, journalists and lawyers around the world have been targeted with phone malware sold to authoritarian governments by an Israeli surveillance firm, media reports say. They are on a list of some 50,000 phone numbers of people believed to be of interest to clients of the company, NSO Group, leaked to major news outlets. It was not clear where the list came from - or how many phones had actually been hacked. NSO denies any wrongdoing. It says the software is intended for use against criminals and terrorists and is made available only to military, law enforcement and intelligence agencies from countries with good human rights records. It said the original investigation which led to the reports, by Paris-based NGO Forbidden Stories and the human rights group Amnesty International, was "full of wrong assumptions and uncorroborated theories". But it added that it would "continue to investigate all credible claims of misuse and take appropriate action". The allegations about use of the software, known as Pegasus, were carried on Sunday by the Washington Post, the Guardian, Le Monde and 14 other media organisations around the world. Pegasus infects iPhones and Android devices, allowing operators to extract messages, photos and emails, record calls and secretly activate microphones and cameras.Media outlets working on the investigation said they had identified more than 1,000 people spanning over 50 countries whose numbers were on the list. They include politicians and heads of state, business executives, activists, and several Arab royal family members. More than 180 journalists were also found to be on the list, from organisations including CNN, the New York Times and Al Jazeera.
As UN Human Rights Chief Urges Stricter Rules, Snowden Calls for End to Spyware Trade -The United Nations human rights chief and American whistleblower Edward Snowden on Monday joined the wide range of public figures demanding urgent action after reporting that Pegasus hacking spyware, sold by the Israeli firm NSO Group, has been used to facilitate human rights violations worldwide, including to target activists, journalists, and politicians.Their comments came in response to the Pegasus Project. Over 80 journalists from 17 media organizations across 10 countries conducted an investigation into the leak of 50,000 phone numbers of potential targets of authoritarian governments. The effort was coordinated by Paris-based Forbidden Stories, with the technical support of Amnesty International.U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet, in a statement, said that the revelations “are extremely alarming, and seem to confirm some of the worst fears about the potential misuse of surveillance technology to illegally undermine people’s human rights.”Bachelet highlighted that her office has previously raised concerns about the dangers of authorities using surveillance tools to hack phones and computers; emphasized the “indispensable role” that journalists and human rights defenders play in society; and pointed out that use of spyware has been linked to their arrest, intimidation, and even deaths.“I would like to remind all states that surveillance measures can only be justified in narrowly defined circumstances, with a legitimate goal,” Bachelet said. “And they must be both necessary and proportionate to that goal.”The use of tools like Pegasus “can only ever be justified in the context of investigations into serious crimes and grave security threats,” she continued. “If the recent allegations about the use of Pegasus are even partly true, then that red line has been crossed again and again with total impunity.”
Indonesia extends restrictions during a Muslim holiday. - President Joko Widodo of Indonesia said Tuesday he would extend coronavirus restrictions at least until Monday as the country celebrated a muted Eid al-Adha, one of the most important Muslim holidays traditionally marked by large gatherings and the slaughter of cows and sheep. The country hit a series of daily records last week, surpassing India and Brazil with the largest number of daily cases in the world and establishing Indonesia as an epicenter of the virus. Many hospitals on densely populated Java island are overwhelmed by patients, and lifesaving oxygen is in short supply. Some patients wait days in tents and hallways for admission to a hospital ward and many others die in isolation at home. Gravediggers struggle to keep pace with the surge of bodies. On Monday, the government reported a record 1,338 deaths. Mr. Joko said the restrictions on much of Java and Bali islands were needed “so as not to paralyze hospitals due to overcapacity.” Since last week, the number of reported cases has declined sharply, reaching 38,325 on Tuesday. But the number of tests being conducted has also dropped sharply, from a high of nearly 260,000 on Friday to fewer than 115,000 on Tuesday. Indonesia had hit a record of nearly 57,000 cases on Thursday. Mr. Joko, who has been reluctant throughout the pandemic to impose lockdowns that slow the economy, said that if the trend continues, he will begin lifting restrictions on commerce and gatherings in stages. The percentage of tests that are positive has remained at more than 30 percent for the past week, which health experts say is a sign that the virus is widespread and that too few tests are being conducted. On Tuesday, the positivity rate was even higher: one out of every three people tested was positive. This was the second year in a row that Indonesia, which has the world’s largest Muslim population, celebrated Eid al-Adha, the Festival of Sacrifice, under the shadow of the coronavirus. The holiday commemorates the willingness of the Prophet Ibrahim to sacrifice his son, Ismail, at God’s command.
Remittances to Latin America Surge, Even As Virus Crisis Continues to Bite in Host Economies --Between January and May of this year the total amount Mexico received in remittances — transfers of money by workers of Mexican descent mainly in the US but also other countries to individuals in Mexico — surged by 21.75% compared to the same period last year, from $15.75 billion to $19.17 billion. Spanish lender BBVA says it’s on target to set another annual record, of around $47 billion. That’s after increasing by 11.4% in 2020, to $40.6 billion. This all happened despite the fact that GDP in the US, where 98% of the remittances to Mexico originate, slumped by 3.5% last year, the worst annual decline since 1946.Mexico is the third largest recipient country for remittances inflows worldwide, behind India ($83 billion of inflows in 2019) and China ($70 billion), both with populations more than ten times larger than Mexico’s. After nine consecutive years of increases in inflows, Mexico’s economy is receiving more than double the amount it received in 2011 ($19 billion). The most important host regions for remittance outflows are the United States and Canada ($200 billion), the Arabian peninsular ($130 billion) and Europe ($121 billion). Mexico was not the only country in Latin America to witness a sharp rise in remittances last year. In El Salavador, where remittances account for 24% of GDP, $5.93 billion of remittances arrived in 2020, $275 million more than the previous year. The Dominican Republic saw its total remittance haul surge by 16%, to $8,219 million. A similar trend was observed in Honduras, Nicaragua and Guatemala. None of this was expected. In late April 2020, as the global economy seized up and financial markets cascaded, the World Bank released a press release warning that remittances were likely to drop significantly across the world’s low and middle-income economies: Remittance flows are expected to fall across all World Bank Group regions, most notably in Europe and Central Asia (27.5 percent), followed by Sub-Saharan Africa (23.1 percent), South Asia (22.1 percent), the Middle East and North Africa (19.6 percent), Latin America and the Caribbean (19.3 percent), and East Asia and the Pacific (13 percent). In the wake of the Global Financial Crisis, there was a six-year downtrend in remittances to Mexico, totalling 21%. Yet the opposite has happened during this downturn — and not just in Mexico. As the World Bank reported in May this year, despite COVID-19, remittance flows remained resilient in 2020, registering a smaller decline than previously projected: Officially recorded remittance flows to low- and middle-income countries reached $540 billion in 2020, just 1.6 percent below the 2019 total of $548 billion, according to the latest Migration and Development Brief. The decline in recorded remittance flows in 2020 was smaller than the one during the 2009 global financial crisis (4.8 percent). In some regions remittance income actually increased. In Latin America and the Caribbean it went up by 6.5%; in South Asia, by 5.2%, and in the Middle East and North Africa, by 2.3%. But it fell in East Asia and the Pacific (7.9%); in Europe and Central Asia (9.7%) and in sub-Saharan Africa (12.5%). Most of the decline in flows to Sub-Saharan Africa have been attributed to a 28% decline in remittance flows to Nigeria. Excluding those flows, remittances to Sub-Saharan Africa increased by 2.3 percent.
YouTube pulls videos by Bolsonaro for spreading misinformation on the virus. - YouTube removed videos from President Jair Bolsonaro of Brazil on Wednesday for spreading misinformation about Covid-19, becoming the latest internet platform to act against a leader whose country has one of the world’s highest death counts, but who hasdisparaged vaccines and the use of masks and called governors “tyrants” for ordering lockdowns.YouTube, which played an important role in Mr. Bolsonaro’s rise to power and says it is more widely watched in Brazil than all but one television channel, said in a statement that the president had violated the company’s policies about vaccine misinformation, including the promotion of unproven cures.“Our policies don’t allow content that claims hydroxychloroquine and/or Ivermectin are effective to treat or prevent Covid-19, claims that there is a guaranteed cure for Covid-19, and claims that masks don’t work to prevent the spread of the virus,” YouTube said in a statement. “This is in line with the guidance of local and global health authorities, and we update our policies as guidance changes.”Last year, Facebook removed statements by Mr. Bolsonaro after he promoted hydroxychloroquine as a cure for the virus. Around the same time, Twitter deleted posts from the far-right Brazilian president for pushing false remedies and calling for an end to social distancing. YouTube said it applies policies consistently across the platform, regardless of the person or political view.
Suicide attempts among Canadian children have doubled during the COVID-19 pandemic -A Canadian children’s charity has declared a state of emergency with respect to children’s mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic. Children First Canada launched the #codePINK campaign, which aims to raise awareness about pediatric emergencies.The figures reported by the campaign are devastating:
- ● A 200 percent increase in hospital admissions for substance abuse among children over the past year
- ● A 100 percent increase in suicide attempts by children during the same period
- ● 70 percent of children between ages 6 and 18 say that the pandemic has harmed their mental health in some form
- ● 62 percent of parents admit that the pandemic has worsened the mental health of at least one of their children
- ● 61 percent of parents expect the residual effects of the pandemic to impact their child’s mental health even after the pandemic ends
While the pandemic has unquestionably dramatically worsened the mental health crisis facing children, the real cause of the dramatic rise in suicides and substance abuse, which had begun well before COVID-19 emerged, is the capitalist profit system.The statistics cited by #codePINK are ultimately a by-product of the disastrous, decades-long gutting of social services by all the major political parties, from the social democratic New Democratic Party to the Liberals and Conservatives. Mental health services across Canada are in an atrocious state, with patients often waiting months to see specialists and receive support. Public education is also in a deplorable state following decades of austerity, which has pushed up class sizes, cut back on support staff, and placed increased demands on already overworked teachers.Meanwhile, the same politicians and political parties who repeat ad nauseam the claim that there is “no money” for critical health care and mental health services have lavished hundreds of billions of dollars on the banks and major corporations, and increased military spending by tens of billions of dollars.
Canada will reopen its border with the U.S. and hopes to allow others in by early September. - Canada is poised to welcome back fully vaccinated travelers, including Americans, after over a year of strict controls at the border.Beginning on Aug. 9, citizens and permanent residents of the United States will be allowed to enter Canada as long as they have been fully vaccinated for at least 14 days before travel, federal government officials said on Monday.Canada then hopes to allow visitors from other countries beginning on Sept. 7, a date that could change depending on conditions.Pressure has been building on both sides of the border to reopen, to bolster tourism and allow separated families to reunite (though Canada has already made some exceptions for relatives). The two countries have renewed the closure every month since the border closed to nonessential travel on March 21, 2020. Commercial traffic was never halted.Before the pandemic, Canada was the second most popular foreign destination for Americans, behind Mexico.Canada is ready to lift border restrictions because it has made rapid progress vaccinating its population after months of delays. It now has higher vaccination rates than the United States, with 50 percent of its population fully vaccinated, and 75 percent of residents having received at least one dose, according to its federal public health agency. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau had indicated that Canada would begin to open its border after it crossed the 75 percent threshold for residents who are at least partly vaccinated.
Quelle Surprise: Covid Cases Surge in Europe’s Tourism Hot Spots, Just One Month After Grand Reopening - It turns out that a massive increase in cross-border travel — particularly by air — is a great way of spreading an airborne virus. “Pack your bags, Europe is opening back up!” That was the message sent out, to great fanfare, just a month ago. Many Northern Europeans, starved for the best part of two years of sun, sea and sand, flocked southward. But unfortunately, it turns out that cross-border travel — particularly by air — is a great way of spreading an airborne virus. The Covid-19 pandemic is once again raging in many of Europe’s vacation hot spots, from Portugal to Spain, to Malta and Greece. Catalonia, from where I am writing this article, is one of the worst hit.For the first time in over a year and a half, Barcelona, the region’s capital, is crawling with tourists (albeit, thankfully, not nearly in the same numbers as before). But it’s unlikely to last, given that the number of Covid cases is surging to dangerous levels. With an infection rate of 1,160 per 100,000 over a 14-day period, Spain’s north-eastern region boasts one of the five worst rates of contagion in mainland Europe. Infections are expected to peak at the end of this month, by which point the region’s hospitals anticipate having as many as 500 patients in critical condition, said Gemma Craywinckel, the director of public health.As recently as two weeks ago, the local government’s health secretary, Josep Maria Argimon, was blaming the rising cases on two factors: the “more contagious” delta variant and a surge in social interaction among local people, particularly the young as they embarked on their end-of-school-year trips and made merry during the Sant Joan midsummer festival (June 23). But last week he finally admitted that the recent surge in overseas arrivals had also played a part: “Catalonia’s position as an important tourist destination makes it more likely that an explosive situation can occur.” It’s impossible to know how many of the incoming tourists have been vaccinated and how many haven’t. Based on my own on-the-ground observations, most of them are in their twenties, thirties or forties. Quite a few of them are not wearing masks as they pour into shops and other indoor settings, even though their use indoors is mandatory here in Spain. My wife, a jewellery designer who works in a craft jewellery store in the tourist-heavy barrio of El Borne, has to stop roughly one out of every three tourists that comes through the door. She respectfully but assertively asks them to don their mask. Many are happy to oblige, others somewhat less so.
France prepares to introduce Covid-19 'health pass' for access to cultural venues - A compulsory health pass for access to cultural and leisure venues will come into force in France on July 21, certifying that the bearer has either been fully vaccinated or had a recent, negative PCR test. FRANCE 24 takes a look at the European countries that have applied similar policies. Reserving access to venues and events for those who have been vaccinated or recently tested has sparked controversy in many countries, and France is no exception. "The health pass will never be a right of access that discriminates among the French. It cannot be made compulsory for access to everyday places," French President Emmanuel Macron pledged in April during an interview with the regional press. But barely two months later, under pressure from the soaring infections due to the Covid-19 Delta variant, the president did an about-face.Starting July 21, the "health pass" (pass sanitaire) will be compulsory for access to leisure and cultural venues with more than 50 people, including cinemas and museums. From the beginning of August, it will be necessary to show your health pass to have coffee or eat lunch at a restaurant – even on an outdoor terrace – or to shop at a mall.Customers will have to provide either a QR code proving they are fully vaccinated, a negative PCR or antigen test that is less than 48 hours old, or proof that they have recovered from Covid-19 in the last six months. According to the government's draft bill, restaurants could be fined up to €45,000 and proprietors face up to a year in prison if they fail to comply.Since Macron's dramatic announcement on July 12, accusations of a "health dictatorship" have been spreading on social networks. According to the authorities, more than 20,000 people protested across France on Wednesday, Bastille Day, in the name of "freedom" against the president's announcements.
In Europe, France takes the lead in making life unpleasant for the unvaccinated.— As Europe and the United States scramble to find an appropriate balance between curbing the Delta variant of the coronavirus and curbing personal freedom, President Emmanuel Macron has led the way down a narrow path combining limited compulsion to get vaccinated with widespread coercion.His approach of ordering health workers to get vaccinated by Sept. 15, and telling the rest of the French population they will be denied access to most indoor public venues if unvaccinated or without a negative test by Aug. 1, has prompted other countries including Italy to follow suit, even as it has stirred pockets of deep resistance.“You are creating a society of generalized control for months, maybe years,” Éric Coquerel, a lawmaker from the far-left France Unbowed party, said during a tumultuous 48-hour parliamentary debate on Mr. Macron’s measures that ended early Friday with a relatively narrow victory for the president.Barreling through 1,200 proposed amendments, defying accusations of authoritarianism and chaos from the hard right and left, the lower house voted by 117 to 86 to back President Macron’s attempt to strong-arm the French to get vaccinated by making their lives miserable if they do not.Europe’s problem is similar to that of the United States: vaccination levels that at around or just under 60 percent are inadequate for herd immunity; surging Delta variant cases; andgrowing divisions over how far getting an injection can be mandated.But where the United States has generally not gone beyond hospitals and major health systems requiring employees to get Covid-19 vaccines, major European economies including France and Italy are moving closer to making vaccines mandatory for everyone. Mr. Macron’s measures, announced July 12 as the only means to avoid yet another French lockdown, have spurred both protests and an extraordinary surge in vaccinations, with 3.7 million booked in the first week after the president spoke, and a record of nearly 900,000 vaccinations in a single day on July 19. In this sense, his bold move has been a success.
In France, angry protests, rising infections and record vaccinations. - More than 100,000 people took to the streets across France over the weekend to protest President Emmanuel Macron’s tough new vaccination strategy, which will restrict access to restaurants, cafes, movie theaters, long-distance trains and more for the unvaccinated.Demonstrators in Paris and elsewhere vented against what some called Mr. Macron’s “dictatorship” after he announced that a “health pass” — official proof of vaccination, a recent negative test, or recent Covid-19 recovery — would be required for many to attend or enter most public events and venues.At the same time, however, his policy seemed to have the desired effect: Record numbers of people flocked to vaccination centers in advance of the new rules coming into effect next month.It made for a striking split-screen image as millions lined up for vaccines — so desperately sought in much of the world suffering outbreaks but with little access to doses — while an increasingly strident group from both the far left and far right decried Mr. Macron’s policies as government overreach. Some protesters caused particular outrage after drawing parallels between their situation and that of the Jews during the Holocaust. Some wore a yellow star that said “nonvaccinated,” others carried signs or shouted slogans that compared the health pass to a Nazi-era measure.
Protestors in Greece demonstrating against vaccine mandates teargassed by police - Police on Saturday teargassed demonstrators in Greece who were protesting against a coronavirus vaccine mandate for some workers. There were more than 4,000 protesters in central Athens outside of the parliament building calling for the vaccincation requirement for healthcare workers to be dropped, Reuters reported. A police official told Reuters that some protesters threw petrol bombs at authorities, so police responded with tear gas. This is the third time this month that there have been protests against mandatory vaccines. The requirement for vaccines is only for healthcare workers and nursing staff in the country. Greece is encouraging teachers to get vaccinated as well; however, it is not a requirement. Only 45 percent of Greece’s population is fully vaccinated against the coronavirus, Reuters noted. Greece has reported more than 474,000 COVID-19 cases throughout the pandemic with more than 12,000 deaths. Greece wasn't the only country that experience protests on Saturday; in France, there were around 160,000 people who protested against a bill being discussed in the Senate that would require COVID-19 passes to get into all restaurants and bars in the country, and in Australia, thousands of protesters took to the streets of Sydney and other cities across the country to push back on continued COVID-19 lockdown orders. Although the protests were mostly peaceful, some protesters got violent with police responding with water cannons and tear gas.
Italy says it will require proof of vaccination or a negative test for many social activities. The Italian government announced on Thursday that it would require people to show proof of vaccination or a recent negative test in order to participate in certain social activities, including indoor dining, visiting museums and attending shows.The move follows a similar announcement made by the French government last week and comes as the debate in Western nations heats up over how far governments should — or can — go in circumscribing the life of the unvaccinated.In Britain, Prime Minister Boris Johnson said this week that his government planned to insist on proof of vaccination to enter nightclubs and similar venues by the end of September, but the idea was met with a swift political backlash and is not yet certain to go ahead.The expanded use of Italy’s health pass, which Italian authorities are calling “green certification,” is meant to both encourage more vaccination and blunt the spread of the Delta variant, which is already causing an increase in coronavirus case numbers across the continent.“The virus’s Delta variant is menacing,” Italy’s prime minister, Mario Draghi, said during a news conference on Thursday night. “We must act on the front of Covid-19,” he added, to continue to allow Italy’s economy to recover. A spokesman for the prime minister said that businesses would have to enforce the requirements and would be punished if caught violating them.Without these measures, the Italian government said it could be forced to reintroduce new restrictions in a country that endured the first and among the strictest lockdowns in the West. The Italian government is particularly concerned about the spread of the virus among the two million people over the age of 60 who are still completely unvaccinated.Just above 50 percent of Italians over the age of 12 — about 28 million people — are fully vaccinated, according to the Italian government.But the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control has said that the spread of the Delta variant is on the rise. The organization projected that by the end of August, the Delta variant would account for 90 percent of coronavirus infections in the European Union.
As Boris Johnson isolates himself, England lifts nearly all legal Covid restrictions. - “Freedom Day” arrived in England on Monday with its chief architect, Prime Minister Boris Johnson, confined in quarantine, millions of Britons facing the same prospect and untold people more anxious about the risks of liberation.Those were the incongruities on the long-awaited day when the government lifted all but a few remaining coronavirus restrictions.Even as nightclubs and pubs threw open their doors and patrons embraced each other, 39,950 new cases were reported on Monday and tens of thousands were forced into quarantine after they were notified by the National Health Service’s cellphone app that they had been in contact with an infected person.The U.S. State Department and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued their highest-level travel warnings Monday for the United Kingdom, citing high levels of the virus.Mr. Johnson defended the decision to reopen from his country residence, Chequers, where he has been in self-isolation since Sunday after the N.H.S. notified, or “pinged,” him because he had met with his health secretary, Sajid Javid, before he tested positive for the virus on Saturday. “If we don’t open up now, then we face a risk of even tougher conditions in the coming months when the virus has a natural advantage,” Mr. Johnson said in a news conference. “We have to ask ourselves the question, ‘If not now, when?’”
A ‘pingdemic’ is gripping the U.K. as cases rise.— Gas stations closed, garbage collection canceled and supermarket shelves stripped bare of food, water and other essential goods. In a week when Prime Minister Boris Johnson promised England a return to normality after the end of months of lockdown rules, a coronavirus-weary nation has instead been battered by a new crisis. This one is being called the “pingdemic.” With virus case numbers surging again, hundreds of thousands of people have been notified — or pinged — by a government-sponsored phone app asking them to self-isolate for 10 days because they were in contact with someone who had tested positive.In the week of July 8 to 15, more than 600,000 alerts were issued by the app, putting acute strain on many businesses and public services.Supermarkets have warned of staff shortages, as have trucking firms, and the British Meat Processors Association said that 5 to 10 percent of the work force of some of its companies had been pinged. If the situation deteriorates further, some will be forced to start shutting down production lines, it said.So many workers have been affected that some businesses have closed their doors or started a desperate search for new staff, and a political battle has erupted with the opposition Labour Party warning of “a summer of chaos” after contradictory statements from the government about how to respond if pinged. Those notified by the app are not required by law to isolate but the government’s official position is that it wants them to do so. On Thursday, it was planning to publish a list of critical workers to be exempted from self-isolation in order to keep things running.
Asset Strippers Are Preparing to Feast on Britain’s Covid-Ravaged Economy -For much of the past half-century, Morrisons supermarket has been hailed as a bastion of responsible British capitalism. But in recent weeks Britain’s fourth-largest supermarket chain has been the subject of a bidding war between investors that have a rather different business ethos. In June, private equity firm Clayton, Dubilier & Rice offered to buy Morrisons for £8.7bn, in a move that would take the company off the London Stock Exchange and into private hands. The bid was ultimately rejected, but on 3 July a £9.5bn offer from another private equity firm, Fortress Group, was accepted. The deal, which is still subject to shareholder approval, will result in an estimated £19.6m payoff for the company’s chief executive, David Potts. Another private equity giant, Apollo Global Management, has said it is considering lining up a rival counteroffer. The scramble to purchase a UK supermarket chain in the middle of a global pandemic raises an obvious question: why are profit-hungry private equity funds so keen to sink their fangs into a sector that is notorious for its cut-throat competition and low profit margins? The answer provides a glimpse into a dramatic transformation of the UK’s corporate landscape that is underway, which has the potential to fundamentally reshape British capitalism.Although Morrisons has long been run as a profitable business, its financial performance has been far from spectacular. This year the company expects to make about £342m in net profit – half what it made a decade ago and significantly less than its arch-rival Tesco. What the company does have, however, is assets, and lots of them.The company reportedly owns 85% of its retail stores, more than any other supermarket. With abook value of £5.8bn, Morrisons real estate portfolio is worth nearly as much as the market value of the entire company, based on its current share price. Unlike other supermarkets, Morrisons also owns significant parts of its supply chain. The company deals directly with the 2,700 British farmers rather than wholesalers, who deliver livestock and fresh produce directly to its 17 processing facilities. As a result, the National Farmers’ Union calls Morrisons “British farming’s biggest direct customer”. The company, which employs about 121,000 people, also has a healthy surplus in its defined benefit pension schemes. To most people, these characteristics mean that Morrisons is a prudently run business that strives to treat its suppliers and workers well. But to profit-hungry private equity firms, it means the company is a prime target for the kind of smash-and-grab asset stripping that the sector has become notorious for.
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