Fed officials call March rate hike 'appropriate' with inflation high, banks resilient - Two Federal Reserve officials said Thursday the Federal Reserve's decision last week to raise interest rates by another 0.25% was necessary because inflation remains too highBoston Fed President Susan Collins said raising interest rates by another 0.25% was "appropriate" amid elevated inflation and uncertainty around lasting impacts from the bank crisis. "While recognizing the heightened uncertainty, I believe staying the course with a one-quarter-percent increase in the policy rate at last week's FOMC meeting was appropriate," Collins said in a speech in Washington at the NABE Economic Policy Conference.Collins also said she anticipates raising rates another 25 basis points from the current range of 4.75%-5% to a new range of 5%-5.25% — in line with the median forecast from Fed officials — and holding there through the end of the year. She said she was planning to increase her forecast for how high rates needed to be raised to be "sufficiently tight," but that the banking issues offset some of that. Richmond Fed President Tom Barkin said in a separate speech on Thursday he wanted to raise rates 0.25%, given the banking system appeared "resilient" at the time, while also noting inflation is too high."I saw substantial inflationary pressure and a resilient banking system," Barkin said in a speech in Richmond.Barkin also suggested he wanted to avoid a situation like the experience of the 1970s. "If you back off on inflation too soon, inflation comes back stronger, requiring the Fed to do even more, with even more damage," Barkin said. "With inflation high, broad based and persistent, I didn’t want to take that risk."
Financial And Academic Experts See End To Federal Reserve Interest Rate Hikes, Inflation - Investors must see through a fog of emotion and bursts of news to place their bets on where inflation and the Federal Reserve are going next.On March 10, just such a news burst upended their expectations. That’s when the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) led to near-record swings in treasury note interest rates which some experts think foretells a nasty recession, according to the New York Times.Those expecting such a recession are in for a world of hurt.That’s my conclusion after interviewing two experts — a Goldman Sachs managing director in charge of $240 billion in assets and an MIT finance professor — who concluded that this volatility spike is of little long-term economic consequence. While they did not agree on everything, their views align on the following:
- Short-term factors drove volatility, not long-term erosion;
- Regulators' collaboration averted a catastrophe; and
- Taming inflation takes time.
The Goldman executive urges investors to move into a high-quality, diversified portfolio of investments and the MIT professor thinks that more people should move funds from non-interest bearing bank accounts to higher-yielding money market funds backed by government securities.Interest rate volatility, a measurement of daily swings in Treasuries, was recently at its highest since the 2009 financial crisis. Specifically, according toInvesting,com, the ICE BofA/ML MOVE Index closed March 24 at “a whopping 145.25” and by March 31, it had fallen to 141.24.The recent behavior of the MOVE Index has significant implications. “A rise or fall in Treasury yields, which move in the opposite direction to their price, can ripple through to everything from mortgages to company borrowing — affecting trillions of dollars’ worth of debt,” reported the New York Times.Treasury yield volatility can be measured through historical data or by analyzing investor expectations. As Debbie Lucas, MIT Sloan School professor and director of the MIT Golub Center for Finance and Policy, says “Volatility is measured by looking at the data and calculating the standard deviation. Another way to look at it is implied volatility — used in the MOVE Index — which is taken from options prices and is more forward looking.”
Will the Fed cut interest rates this year? BlackRock warns it's unlikely -- The Federal Reserve is unlikely to cut interest rates this year despite recent turmoil within the banking sector, according to BlackRock strategists, disappointing investors who are heavily betting on such a scenario."We don’t see rate cuts this year – that’s the old playbook when central banks would rush to rescue the economy as recession hit," BlackRock said in its weekly note to clients. "Now they’re causing the recession to fight sticky inflation and that makes rate cuts unlikely, in our view."The note comes shortly after Fed officials delivered another quarter-percentage point rate hike, lifting the benchmark funds rate to a range of 4.75% to 5%, the highest since 2007. It marked the ninth consecutive rate increase aimed at combating high inflation.Market pricing indicates that central bankers will approve another quarter-percentage point rate hike at their May meeting, according to the CME Group's FedWatch Group. But traders expect the Fed to pivot and start reducing the federal funds rate as soon as July, eventually trimming as much as a full percentage point by the end of the yearFed officials have been adamant that they are not considering slashing rates this year, even though the rapid rise in interest rates played a direct role in the spate of bank collapses earlier in March."Participants expect relatively slow growth, a gradual rebalancing of supply and demand in the labor market, with inflation moving down gradually," Fed Chairman Jerome Powell told reporters in Washington last week. "In that most likely case, if that happens, participants don’t see rate cuts this year. They just don’t."
Fed inflation gauge February 2023: Core PCE up 0.3%, less than expected --An inflation gauge the Federal Reserve follows closely rose slightly less than anticipated in February, providing some hope that interest rate hikes are helping ease price increases. The personal consumption expenditures price index excluding food and energy increased 0.3% for the month, the Commerce Department reported Friday. That was below the 0.4% Dow Jones estimate and lower than the 0.5% January increase. On a 12-month basis, core PCE increased 4.6%, a slight deceleration from the level in January. Including food and energy, headline PCE rose 0.3% monthly and 5% annually, compared with 0.6% and 5.3% in January. The softer-than-expected data came with monthly energy prices decreasing 0.4% while food prices rose 0.2%. Goods prices climbed 0.2% while services increased 0.3%. In other data from the report, personal income rose 0.3%, slightly above the 0.2% estimate. Consumer spending climbed 0.2%, compared with the 0.3% estimate.
The Fed sees a looming credit crunch. What's that? - (Reuters) - It's an old saw: A credit crunch is when your bank won't lend to you. A credit crisis is when banks won't lend to each other. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said Wednesday Silicon Valley Bank's collapse and the banking system upheaval it triggered "are likely to result in tighter credit conditions for households and businesses, which would in turn affect economic outcomes." In other words: a credit crunch is coming. Credit crunches are not new. They are frequent fellow travelers with recessions, but not always so. They also come with varying severity and durations, key factors Powell said remain unknown at the current time. Some small and concentrated crunches can weigh on growth without bringing the full economy to a standstill. Deeper lending clamp-downs can hobble the economy for years. Here's a look at some of the dynamics from past credit crunches in comparison with what has been observed to now in the current episode. Total credit from commercial banks - consisting of their bond holdings and the full scope of loans to businesses and consumers, from routine business credit and commercial real estate loans to residential mortgages and credit cards - is just off its record high from mid-February. But the credit growth rate has recently fallen below its historic average to a level that has often been associated with a recession. Overall annual credit growth rarely turns negative, but when it decelerates into the low single-digits as it has now, it shows that the lending that helps fuel overall economic growth is under strain. Only once since the early 1970s has it actually turned negative, in the aftermath of the 2007-2009 financial crisis. That was indicative of the lasting restraint that episode had on the recovery in credit and economic growth overall. When credit conditions tighten, among the first categories of borrowers to feel the pinch are those with lower means or with poorer credit profiles as banks pull back from risk. One place to watch for that dynamic is in the issuance of subprime auto loans. New York Federal Reserve data shows those volumes hit the highest in nearly two decades in the middle of last year, but had slowed somewhat by year end, though on balance were at the upper end of volumes seen before the pandemic. In the last big credit clamp-down, those loan volumes fell by two-thirds between 2005 and 2009.
Fed's emergency loans to banks fall in sign of easing turmoil - --Banks reduced their borrowings from two Federal Reserve backstop lending facilities in the most recent week, a sign that liquidity demand may be stabilizing. U.S. institutions had a combined $152.6 billion in outstanding borrowings in the week through March 29, compared with $163.9 billion the previous week. The latest figures suggest efforts by policymakers to stem contagion following a string of bank collapses is working, though banks are still borrowing much more than is typical during periods of low stress. "After the dust has settled a little bit this week with the banks, today's report offers some assurance that, at a minimum, things haven't gotten any worse," Jefferies economists Thomas Simons and Aneta Markowska wrote in a note to clients. Data showed $88.2 billion in outstanding borrowing from the Fed's traditional backstop lending program, known as the discount window, compared with $110.2 billion the previous week and a record $152.9 billion in a period of bank distress earlier this month. The discount window is the Fed's oldest liquidity backstop for banks. Loans can be extended for 90 days and banks can post a broad range of collateral. Outstanding borrowings from the Bank Term Funding Program stood at $64.4 billion compared with $53.7 billion the previous week. The BTFP was opened March 12 after the Fed declared emergency conditions following the collapse of California's Silicon Valley Bank and New York's Signature Bank. Credit can be extended for one year under the program and collateral guidelines are tighter. The reduction in usage "suggests a slightly improving bank liquidity picture," although the situation "remains uncertain," according to TD Securities strategists Priya Misra and Molly McGown, who pointed to earlier data for the period through March 15 showing declines in bank deposits in the first half of the month. Bank deposits fell by $98.4 billion to $17.5 trillion in the week ended March 15, according to numbers released March 24 by the Fed, with the next batch of similar data due Friday. Fed loans to bridge banks established by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. to resolve SVB and Signature Bank rose slightly to $180.1 billion in the week through March 29 from $179.8 the previous week. Foreign central banks tapped the Fed's Foreign and International Monetary Authorities repurchase agreement facility for $55 billion in the week through March 29, data show. That's after it reached an all-time high of $60 billion the prior week.
Fed accountability bill reemerges in the aftermath of bank failures A bipartisan group of senators are introducing a bill that would subject regional Federal Reserve banks to Freedom of Information Act requests, a bill largely similar to one proposed by Sens. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., and Pat Toomey, R-Penn., in December, but the issues at stake have taken on new importance in the wake of the Silicon Valley Bank failure. The bill, led this time by Warren and Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., would subject the regional Fed banks to FOIA requests and strengthen Congress' ability to request information from the Fed banks, including providing some members of the Senate Banking Committee and the House Financial Services Committee the right to request supervisory information. The bill would also make the Fed Inspector General a Senate-confirmed position. Warren and Toomey previously introduced a version of the bill in December 2022, after Toomey said he had multiple instances where he requested—but did not receive—information from the reserve banks during the past two years. More recently, he sought information from the Kansas City Fed on why it granted, and later revoked, a master account to the Greenwood Village, Colorado-based digital-asset firm Reserve Trust. Prior to this, he had submitted requests to the reserve banks in Minneapolis, Boston, Atlanta and San Francisco about their efforts to expand their research beyond topics directly related to monetary policy. None of these banks provided the requested information either.Currently, in the aftermath of the failure of Silicon Valley Bank, which was overseen by the San Francisco Fed, the regional Fed banks are facing increased scrutiny. "More and more lawmakers are troubled by the Fed's key role in the recent bank failures, and this bipartisan bill underscores the momentum in Congress for enhanced transparency measures to hold Fed officials accountable for their actions," Warren said in a statement. "After the largest ethics scandal in the history of the Federal Reserve System and now a failed multibillion dollar bank under its watch, the Fed cannot ignore congressional oversight and stonewall the American people."The legislation fits in neatly with Republican efforts to paint the bank collapses as supervisory failures, which they argue would omit the need for tougher regulation of midsize banks. "Congress must have a clear understanding of what regulatory and supervisory failures occurred to allow the collapse of both Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) and Signature Bank," Tillis said in a statement. "It is clear to me the Fed made mistakes and greater transparency is needed to determine what went wrong so we can ensure that it doesn't happen again. I'm proud to introduce this bipartisan legislation, which advances Federal Reserve transparency and accountability, while still maintaining crucial Fed independence over monetary policy decisions."The bill is one of several bipartisan agreements emerging in response to federal regulators stepping in to save depositors of Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank a few weeks ago. Another potential area of bipartisan compromise, executive clawback provisions, is also the subject of emerging legislation from the Senate Banking Committee.
Strong 5Y Treasury Auction Stops Through As Nosebleeding Rates Vol Dips -After weeks of bone-breaking treasury volatility, today has been the first day when the post-bank failure rollercoaster has finally stabilized, and after yesterday's ridiculously bad 2Y auction (which saw a record tail) which only added to the volatility of 2Y bonds, moments ago the US sold 5Y notes in an auction which almost surprisingly came in stronger than anything we have seen in recent weeks. The high yield of 3.665% was 44bps below the February yield of 4.106%, but above the January 3.530%; it also stopped through the When Issued 3.675% by 1.0bps. The bid to cover of 2.48 was unchanged from last month and was just above the six-auction average of 2.45. The internals were also solid, with Indirects awarded 68.5%, below last month's 70.0% but above the recent average of 67.3%; and with Directs taking down 18.2%, also above the 17.7% average, means Dealers were left holding 13.3%, the most since December if below the recent average of 15.0%. The market reaction to the strong auction was modest, with the 10Y dipping from session highs of 3.57% to 3.55%. That said, the 10Y has been stuck in a very narrow range all day, a welcome change from the rollercoaster moves we have observed in recent weeks.
Q4 GDP Growth Revised Down to 2.6% Annual Rate - From the BEA: Gross Domestic Product, Fourth Quarter and Year 2022 (Third Estimate), GDP by Industry, and Corporate Profits Real gross domestic product (GDP) increased at an annual rate of 2.6 percent in the fourth quarter of 2022), according to the "third" estimate released by the Bureau of Economic Analysis. In the third quarter, real GDP increased 3.2 percent.The GDP estimate released today is based on more complete source data than were available for the "second" estimate issued last month. In the second estimate, the increase in real GDP was 2.7 percent. The revision primarily reflected downward revisions to exports and consumer spending (refer to "Updates to GDP"). Imports, which are a subtraction in the calculation of GDP, were revised down. Here is a Comparison of Third and Second Estimates. PCE growth was revised down from 1.4% to 1.0%. Residential investment was revised up from -25.9% to -25.1%.
The final estimate for GDP shows the US economy grew at 2.6% last quarter --The US economy grew at a slower pace in the fourth quarter than initially estimated, as consumer spending continued to trail off. Inflation-adjusted gross domestic product — the broadest measure of economic activity — increased 2.6% for the final three months of 2022, according to the Commerce Department's third and final reading for the quarter. Economists were expecting GDP growth to hold steady at 2.7%, according to Refinitiv. In the Commerce Department's first two reads of fourth-quarter GDP, the growth was initially estimated at 2.9%, then revised down last month to 2.7%. Concurrently, consumer spending trended down as well, decreasing from 2.1% in the first read to 1.4% in the second revision and landing at 1% in the final print, released Thursday morning. Last quarter's 2.6% expansion was a deceleration from the 3.2% annualized growth recorded during the third quarter. In addition to slowing consumer spending, downturns in exports, non-residential fixed investment, and state and local government spending contributed to the step back in growth. The index that measures prices paid for personal spending, known as the PCE Price Index, was 3.7% in the quarter, steady with the previously reported level. 2022 marked a year of transition for the United States as its economy continued to recover from the pandemic. Imbalances in trade and inventories had an outsized effect on the GDP data in the earlier parts of the year, while the second-half growth was fueled by consumer spending. "Everyone was going out and shopping and spending and traveling ... and these factors drove a fairly solid expansion for the economy last year," said Oren Klachkin, a US economist at Oxford Economics, in an interview with CNN. That spending also helped drive increases in business investment, he added. However, 2023 is shaping up to look very different from the bulk of last year, he said. "We're going to have tighter lending conditions, high inflation, the [Federal Reserve's] rate hikes are going to have a larger impact on the economy," he said. "So we shouldn't expect the expansion to be as strong this year as it was in 2022." Oxford Economics is projecting 2.5% GDP growth during the first quarter of the year and a mild recession to occur in the second half of 2023. The Atlanta Federal Reserve's GDPNow estimate is at 3.2% for the first quarter. For the full year, expectations have dampened. Following the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank, which roiled the banking industry, Goldman Sachs cut its outlook for economic growth in 2023 by 0.3 percentage points to 1.2%
Q4 GDP Third Estimate: Real GDP at 2.6%, Worse Than Forecast - The third estimate for Q4 GDP came in at 2.6%, a decrease from the Q3 third estimate of 3.2% and worse than the Investing.com forecast of 2.7%. Here is the opening text from the Bureau of Economic Analysis news release:Real gross domestic product (GDP) increased at an annual rate of 2.6 percent in the fourth quarter of 2022 (table 1), according to the "third" estimate released by the Bureau of Economic Analysis. In the third quarter, real GDP increased 3.2 percent.The GDP estimate released today is based on more complete source data than were available for the "second" estimate issued last month. In the second estimate, the increase in real GDP was 2.7 percent. The revision primarily reflected downward revisions to exports and consumer spending (refer to "Updates to GDP"). Imports, which are a subtraction in the calculation of GDP, were revised down. [Full Release] Real gross domestic product (GDP) measures how fast or slowly the economy is growing and measures the inflation-adjusted value of all goods and services produced by the economy. It is considered the broadest measure of economic activity and the primary indicator of an economy's health. The Bureaus of Economic Analysis (BEA) releases real GDP data on a monthly basis. There are 3 versions released a month apart, advance, second, and final, each incorporating data that was previously unavailable. Economists can use GDP to determine whether an economy is growing or experiencing a recession. Here is a look at quarterly GDP since Q2 1947. Prior to 1947, GDP was an annual calculation. To be more precise, the chart shows is the annualized percentage change from the preceding quarter in real (inflation-adjusted) gross domestic product. We've also included recessions, which are determined by the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER). Also illustrated are the 3.18% average (arithmetic mean) and the 10-year moving average, currently at 2.45%.
Final fourth quarter GDP estimate confirms slowdown in economic growth - The third and final estimate for real gross domestic product (GDP) in the fourth quarter of 2022 showed that U.S. economic growth is decelerating, according to the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA). GDP increased at an annual rate of 2.6% in the fourth quarter of 2022 after rising 3.2% in the third quarter, according to the third and final estimate from the BEA. The slowdown was primarily due to a downturn in exports and a retraction in consumer spending, nonresidential fixed investment and state and local government spending, the BEA said. This was offset by increases in private inventory investment, a smaller decrease in residential fixed investment and an uptick in federal government spending. Thursday's GDP estimate was based on more complete data than what was previously available. The reading comes below the BEA's original GDP estimate for the fourth quarter, which indicated the economy increased at a rate of 2.9%. "While today's report provides an additional degree of clarity about the recent past, attention has already turned to more timely indications of the relative state of the economy today," Jim Baird, Plante Moran Financial Advisors chief investment officer, said in a statement. "The forecast range varies but has generally improved since the beginning of the year, with growth expected to remain solidly positive."The Atlanta Fed's GDPNow indicator projects Q1 growth to reach 3.2%, although its estimates can swing significantly and has materially missed the mark at times," Baird continued. Growth in the second half of 2022 has helped to quell recession fears after two quarters of negative growth in the first half of 2022, but there are signs that all is not well, according to Baird. "Recent turmoil in the banking sector is sparking a resurgence in concern about an economy that is feeling the weight of high inflation and a Fed that is firmly focused on reining it in," Baird said. "On the heels of multiple bank failures and other institutions coming under pressure earlier this month, questions persist about the strength of bank balance sheets and the impact of depositor outflows on their ability and appetite to continue to extend credit."A more pronounced and extended reduction in the flow of credit would be another significant headwind to growth," Baird continued.The Federal Reserve raised interest rates 25 basis points at its most recent meeting, defying economists' predictions that it would pause its monetary policy in response to the failures of Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) and Signature Bank. Fed chair Jerome Powell reiterated the central bank's commitment to rein in inflation but said, "the process of getting inflation back down to 2% has a long way to go and is likely to be bumpy." Powell also acknowledged that the events in the banking system over the past two weeks are likely to result in tighter credit conditions for households and businesses, which could impact economic outcomes. February's Consumer Price Index (CPI), a measure of inflation, came in at 6%, showing that inflation is moderating since hitting a record high last June. "The U.S. economic expansion was fueled by a resilient consumer," Morning Consult analyst Jesse Wheeler said. "However, the increase in consumer spending in Q4 was revised down to 1.0% from 1.4% previously, and higher prices, higher interest rates and tighter credit conditions on the back of the recent banking crisis are all expected to take their toll on consumption and investment moving into the rest of 2023."
Business Cycle Sit-Rep, End-March - by Menzie Chinn - With the release of the personal income and spending release, we have real consumption (-0.1% vs. 0.0% m/m consensus) and personal income through February; also released today is real manufacturing and trade industry sales. Below, in the graph of key business cycle series followed by the NBER Business Cycle Dating Committee, I add the 3rd release of 2022Q4 GDP (discussed in context of GDO and GDP+ in yesterday’s post). Figure 1: Nonfarm payroll employment, NFP (dark blue), Bloomberg consensus of 3/31 (blue +), civilian employment (orange), 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), GDP (blue bars), all log normalized to 2021M11=0. Q3 Source: BLS, Federal Reserve, BEA 2022Q4 3rd release via FRED, S&P Global/IHS Markit (nee Macroeconomic Advisers) (3/1/2023 release), and author’s calculations.Weekly Economic Indicators (Lewis-Mertens-Stock) for data available through March 25 (see discussionhere) indicates 1.47% for y/y growth, implying 2.37% q/q for Q1. GDPNow as of today indicates Q1 growth of 2.9% q/q SAAR, while S&P Market Intelligence/formerly IHS Markit has raised its tracking estimate to 1.8% (q/q SAAR), up from 0.8%, all due to higher than ancipated consumption.There has been some concern that labor market measurements have been off track, particularly with respect to the establishment survey series. The recent release of the QCEW data has put some of those concerns to rest (see this post). However, for completeness sake, consider the Philadelphia Fed coincident index (which is largely based on labor market data including wages and salaries), the ADP private NFP employment series (based on a completely different data set than the BLS establishment survey) and civilian employment series adjusted to the NFP concept (based on the household survey). Figure 2: Coincident index (blue), civilian employment adjusted to NFP concept (tan), and ADP nonfarm payroll employment series (green), all in logs, 2021M11=0. Source: Philadelphia Fed, ADP via FRED, BLS, and author’s calculations.
Would A 'Wealth Tax' Work?- Facing a national debt of over $31 trillion, the Biden administration’s FY 2024 budget plan is looking for a gusher of new revenue in a “wealth tax” of 25% on wealth exceeding $100 million. This would tax not just personal income but gains in the value of assets, regardless of whether that gain actually arrives as cash in hand. The Biden administration’s proposal is not exactly new. Sen. Bernie Sanders and Sen. Elizabeth Warren made wealth taxes part of their 2020 bids for the Democratic presidential nomination. Sen. Ron Wyden, the current chair of the Senate’s Finance Committee and the Joint Committee on Taxation, called for a wealth tax in 2021. Wyden’s plan, the “Billionaire’s Income Tax,” would tax billionaires (or anyone who earns more than $100 million in three consecutive years) at 20%. The Biden administration’s tax proposal is similar to Wyden’s, treating taxation of asset appreciation as a kind of “prepayment” of income taxes.The appeal of a wealth tax has three faces.
- First, the tax is variously estimated to capture $360 billion in revenue over the next ten years.
- It also appeals to popular anxieties over income inequality in America, since so much of the wealth of the “One Percent” is tied up in asset appreciation rather than actual income.
- Finally, there is a political dividend. As the Biden administration tries to gin up enthusiasm for a possible reelection campaign in 2024, promoting a wealth tax is at least one way to rally the Democrats’ progressive base.
But the appeal of the wealth tax also has some major liabilities. The first is the staggering difficulty of determining the appreciation of value. For instance: Should an asset’s appreciation be figured on its “fair market value”? Who determines that? Should it be on whatever the market price might be on a given day? Which day? The variations within those possibilities should make heads spin, which is one reason why Janet Yellen has expressed skepticism about the difficulties in levying a wealth tax. None of that even begins to deal with the question of what is due an asset owner if an asset actually loses value. Another ominous liability concerns who, exactly, would be paying such a tax. Advocates of wealth taxes have assured critics that the tax would affect only 700 uber-wealthy households – or, as President Biden explained, “One-hundredth of one percent of the Americans will pay this tax.” But new taxes tend not to be respecters of persons. There is no guarantee that the original targets of a wealth tax wouldn’t simply divert wealth into more difficult-to-value assets, or simply offshore their assets, and perhaps themselves as well. When François Mitterand introduced a wealth tax in France in the 1980s, more than 60,000 millionaires left France, and saddled the government with a net loss from what would have been their income taxes and value-added taxes.
Biden asks McCarthy to present GOP budget before Easter recess - President Biden on Tuesday called on Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) and House Republicans to release a budget proposal before lawmakers leave for Easter recess at the end of the week, reiterating that he would meet with McCarthy once his conference has done so.“My hope is that House Republicans can present the American public with your budget plan before the Congress leaves for the Easter recess so that we can have an in-depth conversation when you return,” Biden wrote in response to a letter from McCarthy earlier in the day pressing the president over the debt ceiling and government spending.“As I have repeatedly said, that conversation must be separate from prompt action on the Congress’ basic obligation to pay the Nation’s bills and avoid economic catastrophe,” Biden wrote. “I look forward to your response, to eliminating the specter of default, and to your budget.”In his letter to McCarthy, Biden urged Congress to raise the debt ceiling without conditions, noting lawmakers have done so for decades. Failing to raise the debt limit could lead to a government default and send the economy spiraling.Biden expressed an openness to meeting with McCarthy to separately talk about the nation’s finances, but wrote that “for that conversation to be productive, we should both tell the American people what we are for.”But there are few indications House Republicans will meet Biden’s request.House Republicans have said their budget, which was originally expected to be released before mid-April, will be delayed due to the White House budget being delayed weeks past the statutory deadline — which is a regular occurrence for presidents. The White House released Biden’s budget proposal on March 9, which included proposed tax increases on the wealthiest Americans as part of an effort to lower the deficit over 10 years and fund Medicare. The document was essentially dead on arrival on Capitol Hill, but has become a key messaging tool for the White House as it attacks the GOP for lacking its own transparent proposals. McCarthy and Biden have not held a White House meeting to discuss the debt limit and spending since Feb. 1. In his Tuesday letter, the Speaker asked the White House to reach out to set up a date for their next meeting by the end of the week. McCarthy also laid out some areas of negotiation, suggesting ideas like reducing nondefense government spending to pre-inflationary levels and limiting out-year growth, rescinding unspent COVID-19 funds, increasing work requirements on those without dependents who receive government assistance, taking measures to “lower energy costs” and increasing security at the U.S.-Mexico border.
Biden administration warns of ‘damaging’ effects from GOP budget plans - Flight delays and slower Social Security checks. Cuts to financial aid for the poorest college students. And fewer dollars to help families obtain public housing and child care. As Republicans forge ahead this week in their push to slash billions of dollars in federal spending, the Biden administration is warning Congress that a smaller budget could unleash devastating disruptions to government — underscoring how a political battle in Washington could spell real consequences for Americans nationally. Since taking over the House, GOP lawmakers have looked to cleave roughly $130 billion from federal agencies and programs in the 2024 fiscal year. Pushing for austerity, Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) submitted new demands to President Biden this week, and party lawmakers convened a hearing Wednesday on the country’s fiscal health, aiming to highlight the government’s growing debt, currently at about $31 trillion. So far, top Republicans have not coalesced around a final set of spending reductions, but they have made a broad commitment to slim down federal health care, science, education and labor programs while leaving defense untouched. In response, the Biden administration has tried to illustrate the stakes for voters’ daily lives. If funds at the Department of Health and Human Services are cut, for example, it would have less money for its 988 suicide crisis hotline, potentially diminishing its ability to respond, the agency told lawmakers recently. At the Justice Department, officials warned about “significant furloughs” at the FBI and other key law enforcement agencies, including those that focus on intercepting fentanyl, a GOP priority. Cuts at the Federal Aviation Administration, that agency said, might mean it struggles to retain air traffic controllers, potentially snarling travel. Biden pointed to the threat Monday, tweeting that the GOP approach would mean “passengers at some large airports would face wait times of two hours or more.” Even the federal government’s work to monitor extreme weather might face financial strain: The Commerce Department, which includes the National Weather Service, predicted its ability to issue “accurate weather forecasts” might be hindered with a smaller budget. Agencies shared the estimates with a key congressional spending panel — the House Appropriations Committee — at the request of Rep. Rosa L. DeLauro (Conn.), its top Democrat, who released the details last week. GOP aides largely dismissed the missives as a scare tactic, since Congress is unlikely to impose such blunt, across-the-board cuts. Yet, DeLauro said, the problem is that the GOP had not yet offered a detailed plan, meaning Democrats have “nothing to go on.” “I believe that most of my Republican colleagues have no idea of the depth and the level of the cuts we’re talking about,” she said. “More important than the cuts is the consequences in terms of children and families and seniors, national security and veterans.” The uncertainty raises the stakes for a highly consequential political battle this summer, as Congress stares down two fast-approaching fiscal deadlines that carry vast implications for the U.S. economy.
Indo-Pacific Command Seeks $3.5 Billion More Than Biden's 2024 Budget - US Indo-Pacific Command (INDOPACOM) is seeking $3.5 billion more than what President Biden has requested for his 2024 military budget, Defense News reported on Friday.The other five US military commands are also asking for more than what Biden has allocated for them, but nowhere near what INDOPACOM seeks. Combined, the five other commands’ extra spending requests are less than half of what INDOPACOM is asking for.INDOPACOM will likely get what it wants from Congress as the command is responsible for China, and hawks in Washington are looking to spend more on building up in the region to confront Beijing.The biggest chunk of Indo-Pacific Commands request is for $511 million for regional campaigning “to quickly mass forces multiple times a year as part of a synchronized set of operations, activities and investments.”The command is also looking for more missiles, including $357 million for the extended-range Standard Missile-6, $493 million for the Tomahawks, and $151 million for the Precision Strike Missile. The request includes $147 million to upgrade missile defenses in Guam. President Biden has requested $886.4 billion for the 2024 military budget, with $842 billion of it going to the Pentagon. When asking Congress to authorize the massive request, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Mark Milley said it would help prepare the US for a potential war with China.
The Pentagon's Budget from Hell - - Somehow, when it comes to Congress and the mainstream media, the true strangeness of the Pentagon budget always is missing in action. Despite arguments about the small things, just about everyone accepts that the United States must have a monstrous, all-powerful military and a military budget beyond compare (beyond, in fact, all comprehension). And nothing seems to truly dent that sensibility. Somehow, the fact that the Pentagon has been utterly incapable of winning – yes, actually winning! – a war that matters (or even half matters) since World War II never fully seems to penetrate, not even on the 20th anniversary of the disastrous invasion of Iraq, America’s own Ukraine. (Only former president George W. Bush, who launched that invasion, gets it, however subliminally.) The lesson is all too clear: the more that’s spent on our military and the more potentially destructive it gets, the less it’s actually able to accomplish. Despite all but obliterating North Korea from the air, it couldn’t beat that country’s military (aided by China’s) in the early 1950s; it lost disastrously to distinctly under-armed rebels in Vietnam in the 1960s and early 1970s; and did so again more recently to the half-baked forces of the Taliban in Afghanistan. The response of Congress to such disasters in this century: rewarding the Pentagon with yet more barrels of money. Something that might once have seemed inconceivable is now almost unstoppable, a future trillion-dollar military budget. And with that in mind, let Pentagon expert Hartung introduce you to that imposing trillionaire-in-the-making that has had just one great success in the twenty-first century: taking Congress captive. ~ Tom Engelhardt On March 13th, the Pentagon rolled out its proposed budget for Fiscal Year 2024. The results were – or at least should have been – stunning, even by the standards of a department that’s used to getting what it wants when it wants it. The new Pentagon budget would come in at $842 billion. That’s the highest level requested since World War II, except for the peak moment of the Afghan and Iraq wars, when the United States had nearly 200,000 troopsdeployed in those two countries. It’s important to note that the $842 billion proposed price tag for the Pentagon next year will only be the beginning of what taxpayers will be asked to shell out in the name of “defense.” If you add in nuclear weapons work at the Department of Energy and small amounts of military spending spread across other agencies, you’re already at a total military budget of$886 billion. And if last year is any guide, Congress will add tens of billions of dollars extra to that sum, while yet more billions will go for emergency aid to Ukraine to help it fend off Russia’s brutal invasion. In short, we’re talking about possible total spending of well over $950 billion on war and preparations for more of it – within striking distance, in other words, of the $1 trillion mark that hawkish officials and pundits could only dream about a few short years ago. The ultimate driver of that enormous spending spree is a seldom-commented-upon strategy of global military overreach, including 750 U.S. military bases scattered on every continent except Antarctica, 170,000 troops stationed overseas, and counterterror operations in at least 85 – no, that is not a typo – countries (a count offered by Brown University’s Costs of War Project). In an ideal world, Congress would carefully scrutinize that Pentagon budget request and rein in the department’s overly ambitious, counterproductive plans. But the past two years suggest that, at least in the short term, exactly the opposite approach lies ahead. After all, lawmakers added $25 billion and $45 billion, respectively, to the Pentagon’s budget requests for 2022 and 2023, mostly for special-interest projects based in the states or districts of key members of Congress. And count on it, hawks on Capitol Hill will push for similar increases this year, too. The $45 billion by which Congress increased the Pentagon’s budget request last year was among the highest levels on record. Add-ons included five extra F-35 jet fighters and a $4.7 billion boost to the shipbuilding budget. Other congressional additions included 10 HH-60W helicopters, four EC-37 aircraft, and 16 additional C-130J aircraft (at a cost of $1.7 billion). There were also provisions that prevented the Pentagon from retiring a wide array of older aircraft and ships – including B-1 bombers, F-22 and F-15 combat aircraft, aerial refueling planes, C-130 and C-40 transport aircraft, E-3 electronic warfare planes, HH-60W helicopters, and the relatively new but disastrous Littoral Combat Ships (LCS), referred to by detractors as “little crappy ships.” The lobbying effort to prevent the Navy from retiring those problem-plagued ships is a case study of all that’s wrong with the Pentagon budget process as it works its way through Congress. As the New York Times noted in a detailed analysis of the checkered history of the LCS, it was originally imagined as a multi-mission vessel capable of detecting submarines, destroying anti-ship mines, and doing battle with the kinds of small craft used by countries like Iran. Once produced, however, it proved inept at every one of those tasks, while experiencing repeated engine problems that made it hard even to deploy. Add to that the Navy’s view that the LCS would be useless in a potential naval clash with China and it was decided to retirenine of them, even though some had only served four to six years of a potential 25-year lifetime. Contractors and public officials with a stake in the LCS, however, quickly mobilized to block the Navy from shelving the ships and ultimately saved five of the nine slated for retirement. Major players included a trade association representing companies that had received contracts worth $3 billion to repair and maintain those vessels at a shipyard in Jacksonville, Florida, as well as other sites in the U.S. and overseas.
US holds back nuclear forces data from Russia in response to treaty violations -- The White House said it has stopped sharing detailed data on its strategic nuclear forces with Russia in response to the Kremlin refusing to comply with a key nuclear arms treaty, the standoff another front between Washington and Moscow over Russia’s war in Ukraine. Russian President Vladimir Putin announced in February that it was suspending its participation in the New START nuclear arms treaty with the U.S., citing America’s military support for Kyiv as making it impossible for Moscow to engage with Washington. White House National Security spokesperson John Kirby said Tuesday that Russia has refused to share nuclear data with the U.S., prompting Washington to withhold sharing its own nuclear data with Moscow. “We obviously would like to see Russia back in New START in full compliance … Russia refused to share data, which we agreed in New START to share biannually … since they have refused to be in compliance with that particular modality of New START, we have decided to, likewise, not share that data,” Kirby said. “We would prefer to be able to do that, but it requires them to be willing as well.” The U.S. decision to withhold key nuclear data was first reported by the Wall Street Journal. While Russian officials have stressed that Moscow has not abandoned the New START nuclear arms treaty with the U.S., Russian diplomats have refused to participate in key meetings with American officials as required by the treaty and failed to allow the resumption of inspections of nuclear facilities. The treaty — which nuclear nonproliferation experts say is a necessary check on nuclear-armed nations — limits the number of strategic nuclear warheads each country holds and allows insight into each other’s nuclear stockpiles to promote safety and stability.
Bolton on Putin plans to deploy nukes in Belarus: ‘He may not be bluffing here’ - Former national security adviser John Bolton on Monday said Russian President Vladimir Putin “may not be bluffing” about his plans to move nuclear weapons into neighboring Belarus as Moscow’s war against Ukraine stretches into its second year. Putin’s threat to station the weapons in Belarus has been condemned by the U.S. and NATO — and Ukraine has called the move “nuclear blackmail.” “Well, I think he’s been bluffing when he’s tried to rattle the nuclear saber before. He may not be bluffing here in the sense he may actually move tactical nuclear weapons into Belarus, which is its own separate problem” Bolton said of Putin on “CNN This Morning.” He raised the concern that Belarus, which was once part of the Soviet Union, could potentially be reabsorbed into Russia, calling the possibility “something I don’t think we’re paying enough attention to.” “But militarily, even if he did that, it really wouldn’t make that much difference in my view, because of what we know are extensive nuclear supplies, missiles, cruise missiles, drones and warheads, in Kaliningrad, an exclave, a piece of Russia that’s separated from Russia itself by Lithuania and Poland,” Bolton said. “That’s a place which has long been basically a Russian military facility going back to Soviet Union days,” Bolton said. “So the capabilities Russia already has in the Kaliningrad enclave are the ones that could be most threatening. I don’t think the idea of moving some tactical nuclear weapons into Belarus changes that balance.” Bolton noted missiles had already been in Kaliningrad in violation of the Intermediate-range Nuclear Forces Treaty, a Soviet-era arms control pact with Russia that the U.S. withdrew from back in 2018. Putin said over the weekend that stationing tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus would not violate international nonproliferation agreements because Moscow would retain control of the weapons. He added that Russia will complete the construction of a storage facility for the weapons by July 1, and that Russia has already stationed 10 aircraft in Belarus capable of carrying tactical nukes.
Russia Calls Out 'Nuclear Weapons Hypocrisy': US Has Tactical Nukes In 5 Non-Nuclear Weapon States - The Kremlin has blasted what a Russian official called the United States' "vivid example of hypocrisy" as part of the latest war of words in the wake of President Putin's announcing he has stationed tactical nuclear weapons in neighboring Belarus. Russian Ambassador to the United States Anatoly Antonov on Tuesday called out Washington's "extremely short memory" - given it "has long been systematically destroying the legal basis of bilateral relations in strategic sphere," which is a reference to the collapse of multiple nuclear treaties of late, including 'Open Skies' and the INF Treaty in 2019. New START is also looking to come to an end at the rate things are going. At the start of this week Western officials sounded the alarm over Putin's fresh announcement, which many within NATO countries interpreted as but the latest 'expansionist' threat. CBS recounts of what Putin said: Russia has ratcheted up tensions with the West amid its ongoing war against Ukraine, with President Vladimir Putin saying Moscow will deploy "tactical nuclear weapons" in Belarus. The Russian leader said 10 fighter jets capable of carrying tactical nuclear weapons — generally a reference to smaller weapons used for limited battlefield attacks, rather than larger, long-range "strategic" nuclear weapons — were already deployed in Belarus. Putin said Russia would also position nuclear-armed Iskander hypersonic missiles, with a range of around 300 miles, in Belarus. In response, the US State Department condemned the Russian leader's "irresponsible nuclear rhetoric," and said that "no other country is inflicting such damage on arms control, nor seeking to undermine strategic stability in Europe." The scathing denunciation had been issued by US State Department representative Vedant Patel. Amb. Antonov addressed the American official by name, saying, "As for Mr Patel's words regarding our President's statements on the Russian-Belarusian cooperation in the military-nuclear sphere, it is a vivid example of hypocrisy of the American politics," in a statement released by the Russian Embassy.
MSNBC Pundit Goes To Fight In Ukraine, Acts Like A Disruptive Troll And Leaves – Caitlin Johnstone -- In an article titled “Stolen Valor: The U.S. Volunteers in Ukraine Who Lie, Waste and Bicker,” the Times describes how foreign volunteer fighters “who lack the skills or discipline to assist effectively” are hindering the war effort, saying that “people who would not be allowed anywhere near the battlefield in a U.S.-led war are active on the Ukrainian front — often with unchecked access to weapons and military equipment.” The New York Times’ Justin Scheck and Thomas Gibbons-Neff name several of these problematic volunteers who “lie, waste and bicker,” including well-known American volunteer fighter James Vasquez, whom they confront about lies they’ve discovered he told in order to get himself to the frontline in Ukraine. But like many articles in the mainstream media, the chewiest bits aren’t found until many paragraphs down. From the article: Malcolm Nance, a former Navy cryptologist and MSNBC commentator, arrived in Ukraine last year and made a plan to bring order and discipline to the Legion. Instead, he became enmeshed in the chaos.Mr. Nance, whose TV appearances have made him one of the most visible Americans supporting Ukraine, was an experienced military operator. He drafted a code of honor for the organization and, by all accounts, donated equipment.Today, Mr. Nance is involved in a messy, distracting power struggle. Often, that plays out on Twitter, where Mr. Nance taunted one former ally as “fat” and an associate of “a verified con artist.”He accused a pro-Ukraine fund-raising group of fraud, providing no evidence. After arguing with two Legion administrators, Mr. Nance wrote a “counterintelligence” report trying to get them fired. Central to that report is an accusation that one Legion official, Emese Abigail Fayk, fraudulently tried to buy a house on an Australian reality TV show with money she didn’t have. He labeled her “a potential Russian spy,” offering no evidence. Ms. Fayk denied the accusations and remains with the Legion.Mr. Nance said that as a member of the Legion with an intelligence background, when he developed concerns, he “felt an obligation to report this to Ukrainian counterintelligence.”Scheck and Gibbons-Neff report that “Mr. Nance has left Ukraine,” which would make sense if that was how he was behaving. Perhaps he was asked to leave, or perhaps he left on his own because so many people hated him.
U.S. says Taiwan president is just passing through. China’s not amused.— When Lee Teng-hui, then the president of Taiwan, traveled to New York in 1995 to visit his alma mater, Cornell University, it set off a chain of events that became known as the Third Taiwan Strait Crisis. China, angrily accusing the United States of betraying its own “one-China policy,” carried out months of military drills, including conducting missile tests in the direction of Taiwan. The United States responded by sailing two aircraft carrier battle groups through the strait to try to bring an end to the crisis.Now, with Taiwan’s President Tsai Ing-wen set to stop in New York on Wednesday on her way to Belize and Guatemala, there are fears of another crisis.“Because of this low point in U.S.-China relations, both sides are aware of the risks of any misstep, miscalculation or accident that may escalate to more serious military confrontation with grave consequences,” said Jingdong Yuan, a professor focused on China’s defense policy at the University of Sydney. Hours before Tsai’s departure from Taipei, Beijing threatened retribution if she were to follow through on an expected meeting with House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) in California while on her return journey through the United States from Central America.A meeting between the two would be “another provocation that seriously violates the one-China principle, damages China’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, and undermines peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait,” Zhu Fenglian, a spokeswoman for China’s Taiwan Affairs Office, said at a briefing Wednesday. “We firmly oppose this and will take resolute countermeasures.”The United States’ “one-China policy” acknowledges but does not explicitly agree with Beijing’s “one-China principle,” which states that Taiwan is an inalienable part of China and that the People’s Republic of China is the sole legitimate government. Officially, the United States does not take a position on the status of Taiwan.Tsai’s trip comes amid heightened tensions across the strait — exacerbated in no small part by a visit to Taiwan last year by McCarthy’s predecessor as speaker, Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) — and deteriorating relations between the United States and China. Beijing expressed its anger over Pelosi’s visit with aggressive military exercises, including practicing encircling the island.
China Tells Taiwan President Not to Meet With US House Speaker as She Heads to US - China on Wednesday warned that it would respond if Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen met with House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) while she visits the US as part of a trip to Central America.Tsai departed for her trip to Guatemala and Belize, two countries that maintain formal diplomatic relations with Taipei. On the way there, Tsai will spend two days in New York, and on the way back, she will stop in Los Angeles on April 4 and 5, where she’s expected to meet with McCarthy.Beijing views any official contact between Taiwan’s president and high-level US government officials as an affront to the one-China policy. In August 2022, China launched its largest-ever military exercises around Taiwan in response to then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) visiting the island.Zhu Fenglian, a spokeswoman for China’s Taiwan Affairs Office, said if Tsai “has contact with US House Speaker McCarthy, it will be another provocation that seriously violates the one-China principle, harms China’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, and destroys peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait.”“We firmly oppose this and will definitely take measures to resolutely fight back,” Zhu added. Tsai has traveled to the US as president several times before, most recently in 2019. But tensions between the US and China over Taiwan have soared since then, and Beijing has been responding more harshly to official contacts between Washington and Taipei.The White House said Wednesday that China shouldn’t take any action in response to Tsai’s trip, insisting it’s not an official visit. “It is Taiwan’s decision to make these transits based on their own travel, transits are not visits, they are private, and they are unofficial,” said White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby.Later in the day, Xu Xueyuan, chargé d’affaires at China’s embassy in Washington, rejected the White House’s position and warned a Tsai-McCarthy meeting could lead to a confrontation between the US and China. Xu said the US “should not use past mistakes as excuses for repeating them today.”“[Whether] it is Taiwan leaders coming to the United States or the US leaders visiting Taiwan, it could lead to another serious, serious, serious, I repeat, confrontation in the China-US relationship,” Xu added.
US, EU Conduct First-Ever Joint Naval Drills Aimed at China - The US and the EU concluded their first-ever joint naval exercises on Fridayas the Western powers are stepping up military cooperation that is aimed at China.While most EU members are NATO allies of the US, this marks the first time the US formally conducted joint naval drills with vessels operating as part of an EU force. An American guided-missile destroyer participated in the drills with one Spanish ship and one Italian vessel.The Spanish and Italian ships that participated are part of the EU’s Naval Force Operation Atalanta, an anti-piracy mission that operates off the horn of Africa and in the Western Indian Ocean. The location of the drills, which took place on Thursday and Friday, was not disclosed.China was not mentioned by name in either the US or EU statements on the drills, but they were said to be done as part of the “shared commitment of the EU and United States to work towards practical maritime cooperation and support a free and open Indo-Pacific.”According to the State Department, the exercises were the result of a decision made at “the last round of the EU-US High-Level Consultations on the Indo-Pacific on 2 December 2022.”As part of its military buildup in the Asia Pacific, the US has been rallying its allies to join in on the provocations aimed at China. In recent years, the UK, France, and Germany have sent ships to the South China Sea.
US Aircraft Carrier Holds Drills With South Korean Military Under Threat Of Missile Tests - The US aircraft carrier USS Nimitz and its strike group began joint exercises in South Korean waters on Monday as Washington and Seoul continue to dramatically expand their military cooperation. A few hours before the drills began, North Korea fired two short-range ballistic missiles into the sea, likely as a response to the new military exercises between the US and South Korea.The Nimitz and the three other ships that are part of its strike group are expected to arrive in the South Korean port of Busan on Tuesday.The US began sending aircraft carriers to the Korean peninsula again in the fall of 2022 after a four-year lull of such deployments."The United States has deployable strategic assets at the ready on every day," said Rear Adm. Christopher Sweeney, commander of Carrier Strike Group Eleven, according to The Associated Press. "We can continue to deploy those assets and we will."The US and South Korea announced earlier this year that they would expand joint military exercises and that Washington would deploy more strategic assets to the region, including bombers.The war games ensure tensions will remain high on the peninsula as they will continue to provoke more North Korean weapons tests.
The New York Times Is A Disgusting Militarist Smut Rag – Caitlin Johnstone - The “paper of record” for the most murderous and tyrannical nation on earth, The New York Times has been run by the same family since the late 1800s, during which time it has supported every depraved American war and has reliably dished out propaganda to manufacture consent for the political status quo necessary for the operation of a globe-spanning empire that is fueled by human blood and suffering. It is a plague upon our world, and it should be destroyed, buried, and peed on. Among the latest items of unforgivable militarist smut churned out by the Times is an article titled “An Anxious Asia Arms for a War It Hopes to Prevent,” which freakishly frames the US as just a passive, innocent witness to the US military encirclement of China.Times author Damien Cave writes ominously that China’s president Xi Jinping “aims to achieve a ‘national rejuvenation’ that would include displacing the United States as the dominant rule-setter in the region,” as though it makes perfect sense for the US to be the “dominant rule-setter” in the continent of Asia.(You see lines like this in The New York Times constantly; earlier this month the Times editorial board bemoaned the fact that “the United States had tried with little success to persuade or compel China to abide by American rules,” like that’s a perfectly sane and normal line to write. Other nations make demands, the US makes “rules”. These people really do begin with the premise that the US government owns the entire world, and then write from there.) Cave then frames the US military encirclement of China as something “China’s neighbors” are doing as a “response” to Xi’s goal of “displacing the United States as the dominant rule-setter in the region”:In response, many of China’s neighbors — and the United States — are turning to hard power, accelerating the most significant arms race in Asia since World War II.On March 13, North Korea launched cruise missiles from a submarine for the first time. The same day, Australia unveiled a $200 billion plan to build nuclear-propelled submarines with America and Britain that would make it only the seventh nation to have them.Japan, after decades of pacifism, is also gaining offensive capabilities unmatched since the 1940s with U.S. Tomahawk missiles. India has conducted training with Japan and Vietnam. Malaysia is buying South Korean combat aircraft. American officials are trying to amass a giant weapons stockpile in Taiwan to make it a bristling “porcupine” that could head off a Chinese invasion, and the Philippines is planning for expanded runways and ports to host its largest American military presence in decades.Notice the glaring contradiction between the narrative that the US is “the dominant rule-setter in the region” and the framing of this encirclement operation as something the US is merely supplying to locals who request it of their own free will. If you acknowledge that the US exerts enough control over those nations to be able to “set rules” for them, then it’s probably a bit nonsensical for you to claim they’re stationing US war machinery because it was their own idea that they chose of their own volition.
Lawmakers Vote Overwhelmingly to Block Chinese Ownership of Farmland - The House of Representatives passed a massive energy overhaul bill Thursday largely along party lines, but a roll-call vote also demonstrated strong bipartisan support for banning Chinese ownership of U.S. farm ground. Amid a string of largely party-line votes, the House voted 407-26 with 223 Republicans and 184 Democrats agreeing to add language to the energy bill that would prohibit the Chinese government or any agent from the Chinese Communist Party from buying interest in U.S. farmland or land used to produce renewable energy. The House energy bill will likely not move in the Senate, but the broad support in the vote on Chinese land ownership indicates lawmakers likely could move a separate bill or add similar language to the next farm bill. The amendment was led by Rep. Randy Feenstra, R-Iowa. "China must be banned from buying American farmland suitable for ethanol and biodiesel production," Feenstra tweeted after the vote. Lawmakers have focused more on Chinese ownership of U.S. farmland over the past year. A controversial corn mill project by Chinese company Fufeng outside of Grand Forks, North Dakota, helped elevate the concerns into the national security debate. The Fufeng project was shelved in late January after the U.S. Air Force raised national security concerns about the proximity of the project to the Grand Forks Air Force Base. Fufeng was planning to develop 370 acres of land for the project. Senator Tom Cotton, R-Ark., also on Thursday introduced a bill that would ban Chinese citizens and companies from purchasing any real estate in the U.S. Members of the House Agriculture Committee earlier this week questioned Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack about USDA's handling of foreign ownership of farmland. Vilsack said USDA's knowledge of foreign ownership of farmland depends on self-reporting, and if Congress really wants to know how much farmland is foreign-owned, it would have to establish a registry that would require reporting from the nation's 3,000 counties on all deed changes.
Dem Caucus chair says TikTok ban is still on the table - As a growing number of liberal Democrats come out in opposition to a TikTok ban, the chairman of the House Democratic Caucus said Tuesday that such a blockade remains a possibility. “I don’t think anybody’s closing any door at this point,” Rep. Pete Aguilar (D-Calif.) told reporters in the Capitol. The comments arrive as lawmakers in both parties are intensifying their scrutiny of the enormously popular video-sharing app, citing its ties to China’s autocratic government. The Energy and Commerce Committee staged a fiery hearing on the topic last week, when TikTok’s CEO was hammered by Republicans and Democrats alike. And members of both parties are lining up behind efforts to rein in the company, citing concerns about national security, individual privacy and the mental health of users. Some proposals would ban the company from the U.S. outright. After last week’s hearing, Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-Wash.), chair of the Energy and Commerce panel, said the scrutiny is necessary because of “the threat that TikTok poses to our youth.” “I think it was the most bipartisan hearing I’ve ever been a part of,” she said. Amid that barrage, however, a small but growing group of progressives has emerged to defend the company — and the right of Americans to access its services. In recent days, prominent members of the liberal “squad” — including Reps. Jamaal Bowman (D-N.Y.), Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) and Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) — have all voiced their staunch opposition to a TikTok ban, noting that American-owned social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram and Twitter have all been dogged by concerns about privacy, security and mental health. “We should create actual standards and regulations around data harvesting and privacy violations across social media companies — like many countries around the world have already done — not ban particular platforms we don’t like,” Omar said Tuesday in a statement. Aguilar acknowledged the internal disagreements about TikTok’s fate, but attributed them to natural cultural differences between older lawmakers, like him, who grew up before the internet, and younger members, for whom social media is second nature. “This has less to do with ideology and more to do with generation,” he said.
Rand Paul among lawmakers opposing TikTok ban bills: ‘I think it’s a mistake’ - Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) declared his opposition to a possible nationwide TikTok ban as many members of both parties push back against the platform, saying a ban would be a “mistake.” Paul told Fox News in an interview on Tuesday that he believes a ban would violate the First Amendment. He noted that TikTok is unavailable in China, which is where TikTok’s parent company, ByteDance, is based. “I think it’s a really bad idea. And people need to ask themselves, why does the Chinese government ban TikTok, and do we want to emulate the Chinese government? So I think it’s a mistake,” Paul said. “If you ban a social media platform, you know, I don’t know if you get any clearer that that goes against the First Amendment.” Paul’s opposition comes as bills have been introduced in Congress in recent months to directly ban the downloading and use of the app and to grant the Commerce Department the authority to review and possibly ban technologies linked to foreign adversarial governments. Punchbowl News reported that Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.), who introduced the federal TikTok ban, said he will seek unanimous consent for his legislation in the Senate on Wednesday. He told the outlet Tuesday that no one had raised an objection to the bill to him yet. TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew testified before the House Energy and Commerce Committee last week amid questions from lawmakers about security procedures in place to protect U.S. users’ data on the app. Members of Congress on both sides of the political aisle have raised concerns about the Chinese government having access to the data because TikTok is owned by a Chinese company. Chew maintained at the hearing and TikTok has emphasized over the months that it is not subject to the actions of the Chinese Communist Party and has policies in place to protect users’ personal information. Several House Democrats have declared their opposition to a potential TikTok ban, including Reps. Ilhan Omar (Minn.), Jamaal Bowman (N.Y.) and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (N.Y.), but Paul makes at least one Republican who opposes the efforts.
Cori Bush joins ‘Squad’ members in opposing TikTok ban | - Rep. Cori Bush (D-Mo.) is joining other members of ” the Squad” in opposing a ban on TikTok, as a debate over the video sharing app heats up on Capitol Hill. “I oppose an outright ban on TikTok and believe that in order to protect people and address the underlying problems, Congress should pass comprehensive data privacy legislation, rather than target one company for industry-wide concerns,” Bush said in a statement on Friday. The Missouri Democrat said she has not “seen sufficient evidence” to back up the need for a TikTok ban. “As Congressmembers, we have not received a single briefing — classified or otherwise — on national security risks posed by TikTok, and at this time, I have not seen sufficient evidence to justify a nationwide ban,” she wrote. Bush is the latest member of Congress to join a short — yet growing — list of lawmakers who oppose banning TikTok in the U.S. A number of those members are part of the progressive group known as “the Squad,” including Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) and Jamaal Bowman (D-N.Y.). Reps. Summer Lee (D-Pa.), Mark Pocan (D-Wis.) and Robert Garcia (D-Calif.) have also voiced opposition to a TikTok ban, in addition to Republican Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.). Some members have pushed for a broader conversation about social media concerns rather than zeroing in on TikTok, while others have underscored the platform’s value as an organizing tactic. A large number of lawmakers from both parties and chambers, however, have voiced concerns about TikTok when it comes to national security, data privacy, misinformation and children safety, leading some to believe that the video sharing app should be banned in the U.S. House members raised those concerns during a blockbuster congressional hearing last week, during which members of the House Energy and Commerce Committee grilled TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew.
TikTok bills could dangerously expand national security state - TikTok has been all the rage in Washington lately. Not for the reasons which lead some 150 million Americans to use it, but because of the rush by politicians to try to ban the app, which is owned by ByteDance, a Chinese company. Two major bills that would impose sweeping restrictions on Chinese-owned software are working their way through the House (HR 1153) and Senate (S 686), while TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew was recently brought before the House Commerce Committee for hostile questioning. The executive branch is also seeking to force ByteDance to sell the app to an American owner, against Chinese opposition. Those raising the alarm about Chinese ownership of TikTok cite invasive surveillance practices, privacy violations created by excessive collection and exploitation of user data, addictive design features, and harmful content. But all of these disturbing characteristics are also ubiquitous features of American-owned big tech apps ranging from Google to Facebook to Instagram, and were in many ways pioneered by American Silicon Valley companies. In the case of TikTok, the claim is that Chinese ownership makes these problems particularly harmful because Chinese intelligence services can access user data and technologies owned by Chinese companies such as ByteDance. Some also go further by claiming that TikTok could be used to compromise the security of devices on which it is installed. It remains somewhat unclear exactly how the Chinese government would use TikTok to harm American users in ways that other big tech apps do not. This raises the question of whether what is needed is not an attack on TikTok but a broader effort to protect user privacy and protect children from harmful content on big tech apps in general. But an examination of the two “TikTok bills” working their way through Congress raises another question. Is TikTok being used as the wedge for a much broader effort to restrict companies owned by rival nations across the entire information technology sector? And does this effort threaten American civil liberties and risk government overreach? HR 1153, the DATA Act, which recently passed the House Foreign Affairs Committee, is almost surreal in some of its implications. Section 102 of the bill, oriented toward penalties on U.S. citizens, would require the secretary of the treasury to ban any U.S. financial transactions by any American who had knowingly transferred sensitive personal information to any entity owned by or even “subject to the influence of” China.Many of the problems with HR 1153 were pointed out by Rep. Gregory Meeks (D-N.Y.) and other Democratic members of the House Foreign Affairs Committee during the committee debate on the bill, and the bill passed on a partisan vote. This makes it less likely that it will become law.But that’s not true of S 686, the RESTRICT Act, the Senate “TikTok bill,” which has significant momentum toward passage. S 686 has 21 bipartisan co-sponsors and has been endorsed by the Biden administration. The bill would grant the executive branch unprecedented new national security powers over commerce in information and communication technologies, and by extension, speech.
Austin admits admin should’ve notified Congress ‘earlier’ about Syria strike - The Biden administration should have notified Congress about a deadly attack on an American contractor in Syria “earlier” than it did, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin told lawmakers Tuesday. During a Senate Armed Services hearing, lawmakers pressed Austin on a more than 13-hour lag between a drone attack launched by Iranian proxies last Thursday that killed a U.S. contractor and wounded six other Americans. The strike occurred at 6:38 a.m. in Washington, D.C., but the administration didn’t notify lawmakers until around 8 p.m. that same day, in which U.S. officials also let lawmakers know about a retaliatory plan in the works. During those 13 hours, the head of U.S. Central Command, Gen. Michael “Erik” Kurilla, testified in front of the House Armed Services Committee, and senators debated amendments to a bill that would repeal two authorizations for the use of military force, some of which were about Iranian aggression on American troops. The gap prompted Republicans to question if the administration held off on notifying Congress to shield Kurilla from tough questions and to ensure the war-powers measure sailed through the upper chamber. Sen. Roger Wicker (R-Miss.), the top Republican on the Senate Armed Services Committee, asked Austin on Tuesday if the Pentagon’s congressional affairs team should’ve notified Congress sooner, especially because of the war powers vote. Austin agreed: “We should’ve notified you earlier.” The secretary noted that the U.S. suffered an attack and responded in one day, letting Congress know about both events in between. “We take the War Powers Act very seriously,” Austin said, seated alongside Joint Chiefs Chair Gen. Mark Milley.
Syrians Have Every Right To Attack US Occupiers: Notes From The Edge Of The Narrative Matrix – Caitlin Johnstone -People who live in the Middle East have every right to attack the occupying forces there whose presence they oppose, and those occupying forces do not have any legitimate right to retaliate. Every American who is killed or injured by those opposing US military occupations was killed or injured because the US empire put them there. What happens to them is the empire’s fault, not the fault of those rightfully resisting a hostile occupation.Claims that attacks on US occupiers in Syria are “backed” by Iran should never be taken on blind faith, but to be clear it is entirely legitimate for Iran to involve itself in this conflict. Iran is an ally of Syria and is in Syria with the Syrian government’s permission; neither of these things are true of the US. Perhaps more importantly, Iran is in the Middle East, and therefore has infinitely more legitimacy than the US in making the Middle East its business.
It’s Immoral To Serve In An Immoral Military– Caitlin Johnstone - Deciding to enter the military is only morally justifiable if your country’s military is used in a moral and just way. There’s a weird, power-serving taboo against saying this which is born of the idea that it’s more important to protect the feelings of “our troops” than to discourage people from enlisting in the most murderous war machine on earth, but it’s true.This doesn’t mean that those military personnel are more responsible for the depravities they help enact than the government officials who sent them there, and it doesn’t mean they’re irredeemably evil — it just means they’re doing something immoral. We all do immoral things and make bad decisions from time to time. All it means is they need to course correct.Yes, many of those who enlist in the military are just doing what they feel they have to do to make some money in an unjust system, but it’s very revealing that people don’t tend to extend this same charitable sympathy to those who turn to crime out of the desperation of poverty. Most people in prison are guilty of far less egregious offenses than the things US and allied military personnel are routinely ordered to do, because they didn’t commit their crimes at the behest of a powerful government.And yes, to be sure those who join the military are pummeled with lies and propaganda by the culture they grew up in about what their military is and what it does, but many people who commit crimes are pummeled with false narratives and false promises by the people around them as well. That’s exactly how joining a gang tends to work, for example. Those who Charles Manson manipulated into committing murder weren’t exonerated just because they were manipulated. Manipulation is a mitigating factor in assessing morality, but it doesn’t prevent military service from being immoral any more than it prevents Mafia murders from being immoral.Unless you live in a nation which uses its military solely to protect its own borders and never to abuse its own citizenry, then if you choose to enlist you are doing something immoral. The US alliance is literally always at war overseas, and enlistment is therefore never moral. I guess it could even be theoretically possible for a military to always be at war overseas and still be moral, if it were fighting for moral reasons. There is no moral argument to be made that the US alliance does this, though; it wages wars of aggression for power and profit.
Netanyahu hits back after Biden expresses alarm over judicial overhaul - Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu responded to President Biden after the latter expressed concern of a proposed judicial overhaul that opponents say could threaten the independence of Israel’s courts system. Netanyahu tweeted Tuesday that he has known Biden for 40 years and appreciates his “longstanding commitment” to Israel. But he said Israel’s government will not make decisions based on external pressure from other countries. “Israel is a sovereign country which makes its decisions by the will of its people and not based on pressures from abroad, including from the best of friends,” Netanyahu said. Biden told reporters on Tuesday after a speech in North Carolina that he is “very concerned” about the effort to make changes to the set-up of the judiciary, saying he hopes Netanyahu “walks away” from it. “They cannot continue down this road,” Biden said. Biden issued his call after Netanyahu announced that he would temporarily delay his judicial reform effort amid widespread protests throughout Israel. The proposals include measures that would grant the Israeli Parliament the power to overrule decisions from the country’s Supreme Court by a simple majority vote and increase the power of the government in appointing judges. Thousands of workers took part in a strike on Monday in protest against the proposed legislation before Netanyahu announced the pause later in the evening. The country’s largest union called off the general strike after Netanyahu’s address.
Biden-Netanyahu spat bursts into full view - — A rift between President Biden and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu roiled Jerusalem and Washington on Wednesday after a rare public spat erupted between the leaders of the longtime allies, two men who have a long personal history of cooperation as well as disagreement.The dispute escalated late Tuesday following comments by Biden that appeared to question Netanyahu’s ability or willingness to compromise on his contentious judicial-overhaul plan, which has sparked months of protests and instability in Israel. Under pressure, Netanyahu has agreed to postpone the overhaul but has shown no signs of dropping it.Netanyahu’s defiant response to Biden overnight Wednesday shook Israel’s political and security establishment and exposed the prime minister to criticism for purportedly jeopardizing the country’s most vital diplomatic relationship. In the United States, the exchange reverberated across the political landscape, as Republicans accused Biden of undermining a key ally, and some Democratic activists called for him to take an even stronger stance in calling out Israel for potential antidemocratic moves.Although tensions between the United States and Israel have been on the rise since Netanyahu’s new far-right government was sworn in in December, this was the first time they were on such vivid display. The back-and-forth reflects not only a highly unusual split between two longtime allies but also the latest chapter in a years-long relationship between two seasoned heads of state who are deeply familiar with each other’s country. Netanyahu and Biden have publicly touted the durability of their friendship and their countries’ alliance, but the growing tensions carry implications for the domestic politics of both nations.“This is clear and tangible damage to the U.S.-Israel relationship, a pillar of Israel’s national security,” former Israeli diplomat Alon Pinkas wrote in the Haaretz newspaper Wednesday. “As long as he is Israel’s prime minister, things are likely to deteriorate.”
Biden finds his limits on Israel - The political crisis engulfing Israel is exposing the limits of American influence on the country — limits that are, to some degree, self-imposed.Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s effort to overhaul Israel’s judiciary is the most direct cause of the recent chaos — prompting huge protests and strikes, with even Israeli military members speaking out in opposition.Netanyahu’s goal: make changes to Israel’s judicial system that would, among other things, let Israeli lawmakers override court rulings — a move that critics fear will badly damage Israeli democracy.Over the weekend, Netanyahu fired his defense minister for opposing the overhaul — sparking more protests and exposing cracks in the ruling coalition. On Monday, as more coalition members reportedly threatened to quit, Netanyahu announced he was putting the overhaul on hold and would seek a compromise measure. Throughout the crisis, whose roots stretch back months, President Joe Biden and his aides tried to strike a balance with Israel: Keeping appeals and criticisms largely private, but going public on occasion with carefully worded statements designed to pressure Netanyahu to back off the overhaul plan. But those U.S. appeals didn’t seem to do the trick. Internal Israeli pressure has clearly been far more powerful. The big question now is how much influence the United States still has with Netanyahu and what level of pressure it’s willing to apply when Netanyahu or his party take future destabilizing actions. Netanyahu returned to power late last year— after the latest in a series of seemingly endless elections — by aligning himself with extreme right-wing figures, some of whom have racist, misogynist and homophobic views.This has alarmed more moderate and left-leaning Israelis, whose political power is limited. Many worry that the far-right coalition now in charge of the country — some members of whom have extreme religious views — will undermine secular Israelis’ rights, not to mention those of Israeli Arabs, Palestinians and others. To top it off, many of his critics suspect that the main reason Netanyahu is pushing the judicial overhaul and other initiatives desired by his far-right partners is so that they will ultimately protect him from prosecution in Israeli courts, where he’s facing corruption charges. For the most part, Biden administration officials have tried to keep their conversations with the Israelis private, and, even then, they tend to say things in carefully worded ways.The administration has — often in a coded manner — warned Netanyahu that he needs to protect Israeli democracy. The administration also has stressed its support for LGBTQ rights and Palestinian rights in ways designed to signal to Netanyahu that he should rein in his extremist allies.Administration officials have said they will hold Netanyahu responsible for his coalition, pointing out that he’s insisted he’s the one in charge. And top administration officials have refused to meet with far-right figures surrounding the Israeli prime minister.But the Biden administration also insists that its commitment to Israel’s security is ironclad. The president has long said he will not impose conditions on the billions of dollars in security aid the U.S. provides to Israel, and there’s no sign he’s changed his mind about that. While the administration insists that it does have some leverage over Israel — such as assisting it against attacks at the United Nations or helping it pursue deeper cooperation with some Arab states — the reality is that it has largely stuck to rhetoric as its main weapon.Just days ago, Biden spoke to Netanyahu, and the White House readout of the call emphasized that Biden wanted Israel to find a compromise on the judicial reform issue because it’s critical to safeguarding Israeli democracy.“Democratic societies are strengthened by genuine checks and balances, and that fundamental changes should be pursued with the broadest possible base of popular support,” the readout said.It was an unusually frank call, the readout suggested, especially given the usual niceties involved in the relationship. But in the days after, there was no sign that Netanyahu had taken Biden’s warnings to heart.The Israeli leader proceeded ahead with the judicial reform plans. It wasn’t until Netanyahu’s coalition started to crack amid popular pressure that he began to rethink his stance this past weekend.
Senate votes to repeal decades-old authorizations for Iraq, Gulf wars - The Senate on Wednesday passed a bill that would repeal decades-old authorizations for use of military force for the Iraq and Persian Gulf wars, a move by Congress to reassert its constitutional authority to declare war. The bill passed on a 66-30 vote with strong bipartisan support, as it did in procedural votes this month that brought together an unusual coalition of lawmakers. As the final vote was announced in the chamber, senators on both sides of the aisle applauded. The White House has signaled it will back the legislation, which now moves to the House.How each senator voted on the repeal of the Iraq War authorization If signed into law, the bill would repeal the 1991 Gulf War authorization and the 2002 Iraq War authorization. A bipartisan group of lawmakers who support the new legislation argue that it is necessary to prevent abuse by presidential administrations that could use the old authorizations for use of military force, or AUMFs, to launch unrelated combat operations without congressional approval on where and when to send troops.
More US Airstrikes in Syria Kill at Least 19, Multiple American Bases Attacked - Mar 25 -Three American bases in Eastern Syria were targeted with rockets and drones on Friday. One American soldier was injured in the attack. The American bases came under fire after the US carried out airstrikes in eastern Syria.The violence in Syria escalated on Thursday when a US outpost was attacked. One contractor was killed by a drone strike. Additionally, five soldiers and one contractor were wounded. The Pentagon claimed it had intelligence that the drones used in the attack were of "Iranian origin."Biden responded by authorizing airstrikes against groups affiliated with Iran in the regions. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin said American forces conducted "airstrikes tonight in eastern Syria against facilities used by groups affiliated with Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC)." It is estimated that 19 soldiers were killed by the American bombs.Tehran said there would be a "counter-response" to the airstrikes. “Any pretext to attack bases created at the request of the Syrian government to deal with terrorism and Islamic State elements in this country will be met with an immediate counter-response,” Keyvan Khosravi, spokesperson for the Supreme National Security Council of Iran warned.The Pentagon also warned it would respond to further attacks. "We are postured for scalable options in the face of any additional Iranian attacks," a statement from CENTCOM Commander, General Michael "Erik" Kurillasaid.On Friday, National Security Council Spokesperson John Kirby stated Biden immediately authorized the airstrikes after learning about Thursday’s attack. “He made the decision very, very shortly in that discussion to authorize the strikes against these particular targets,” He added, “We are not seeking a conflict with Iran.”Three additional attacks against American outposts occurred on Friday. The first incident occurred around 8 am and resulted in some civilian casualties. “March 24th, at approximately 8:05 am local time, 10 rockets targeted coalition forces at the Green Village in northeast Syria.” According to a statement from Central Command, “The attack resulted in no injuries to US or coalition personnel and no damage to equipment or facilities. One of the rockets missed the facility by almost five kilometers, striking a civilian house, causing significant damage and causing minor injuries to two women and two children."Later in the day, the US military bases at the Al-Omar and Conoco oil fields were hit with rockets and drones. Fewer details have been reported for these attacks. Fox News national security correspondent Jennifer Griffin tweeted that a US official said "one involved Iranian proxy forces firing rockets. A second involved multiple Iranian drones."Tehran entered the Syrian war at the request of Damascus. Iranian support forces have helped to push back jihadist groups. However, the Syrian government and its partner forces, including ones backed by Iran, have come into conflict with American forces as well. As part of its economic war against Damascus, Washington occupies the eastern third of Syria, including where most of the country’s oil and wheat resources are located. Damascus views the American forces as illegally occupying Syrian territory.
Imagine If All Officials Were Interrogated By Reporters Like This – Caitlin Johnstone --A fascinating exchange took place at a UN press briefing the other day between China Global Television Network’s Xu Dezhi and the UN’s Deputy Spokesperson for the Secretary-General Farhan Haq about the US military occupation of Syria. The exchange is interesting both for the wild pro-US bias shown by a UN official, and for the way it illustrates how much truth can be exposed when journalists do what they’re supposed to do in the press gallery. Xu, who has done on-the-ground reporting in Syria in the past, asked Haq some challenging questions about an attack on a US military base in eastern Syria last week which injured multiple American troops and killed an American contractor. In his response, Haq made the extremelyincorrect claim that there are no US armed forces in Syria, and refused to say whether the US military occupation of part of the country is illegal. Here’s the UN’s transcript of the key part of this exchange (emphasis added by me):
- Xu: Do you not urge everyone to respect the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Syria?
- Haq: Well of course, that’s a given, and obviously it’s important that the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Syria is respected. At the same time you are aware of the complexity of the situation of foreign forces, but we call for them to exercise restraint.
- Xu: But, do you think the presence of the US military in Syria is illegal or not?
- Haq: That’s not an issue that we’re dealing with at this stage. There’s been a war.
- Xu: What’s the difference between the situation in Syria and the situation in Ukraine?
- Haq: There’s no US armed forces inside of Syria. And so I don’t have a… It’s not a parallel situation to some of the others.
- Xu: You’re sure there’s no US military personnel in Syria?
- Haq: I believe there’s military activity. But, in terms of a ground presence in Syria, I’m not aware of that.
- Xu: Okay. Five US service members were injured in that attack. If there were no US service members in Syria, how could they got injured? That’s weird, right? And by the way, the international law here is the resolution from Security Council 2254 (2015), that says in its PA [preambular] paragraph, “reaffirming its strong commitment to the sovereignty, independence, unity and territorial integrity of the Syrian Arab Republic and to the purposes and principles of the Charter of the United Nations”.
- Haq: Yes. I’m aware of that. And as you see, that is accepted by the members of the Security Council itself.
- Xu: Yeah. So, again, back to my question, is that illegal to have presence in Syria for the US base, according to the relevant resolution that I just read out?
- Haq: The relevant resolution does call for that and we call on all countries to respect that. I wouldn’t go beyond that at this stage.
To be absolutely clear, this is a UN official. Haq has been in his current position as deputy spokesperson for almost a decade, and routinely answers questions about Syria as part of his capacity in that position.It is not some obscure esoteric secret that there are US military personnel in Syria; it’s in the mainstream news constantly. Just the other day The New York Times reported that “America still has more than 900 troops, and hundreds more contractors, in Syria.”Haq was either ignorant of this extremely important and relevant piece of common knowledge, or was dishonestly pretending to be. The most charitable interpretation of his actions at this press conference is that he sincerely did not know the US has armed forces in Syria.To put it into perspective, this is like being a UN official and routinely taking questions about Ukraine from the press, but not knowing that Russia invaded Ukraine and has been fighting a war there since last year.
After Escalation, White House Says US Troops in Syria are There to Stay -White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said Sundaythat President Biden is committed to staying in Syria following a series of attacks on US bases and US airstrikes in the country. “Here’s what’s not going to change … the mission and ISIS is not going to change. We have under 1,000 troops in Syria that are going after that network, which is, while greatly diminished, still viable and still critical. So we’re going to stay at that task,” Kirby said on CBS News’s Face the Nation.When asked if President Biden was committed to keeping US troops in Syria, Kirby replied, “That’s right. Absolutely.”While Kirby says the US mission in Syria is about fighting ISIS, the presence is part of the US effort against the government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. The Syrian government opposes the occupation of the eastern portion of Syria, which allows the US to control most of Syria’s oil resources. On top of the occupation, the US maintains crippling economic sanctions on Syria.The US occupation always risks sparking a wider war, as demonstrated by the recent airstrikes. The escalation started on Thursday when a US base in eastern Syria came under a drone attack that killed a US contractor and wounded five US troops. The Pentagon claimed the drone was of “Iranian origin” but offered no evidence to back up the assertion. President Biden responded by ordering airstrikes that hit targets in Syria early Friday against facilities the Pentagon said were “used by groups affiliated with Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps,” likely referring to the Shia militias that operate in Syria.According to the pro-opposition UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR), the US airstrikes killed 19 fighters, including three Syrian troops, 11 Syrian fighters in pro-government militias, and five non-Syrian fighters who were aligned with the government.The SOHR numbers aren’t confirmed, and both Iran and Syria issued statements accusing the US of lying about who they targeted. Tehran claimed the strikes hit civilian targets.The US airstrikes provoked more attacks on multiple US bases in Syria on Friday night that wounded at least one US soldier.
US Extends Carrier Deployment To Provide Military "Options" In Syria - Following last week's deadly attacks on US bases in northeast Syria by what the Pentagon called pro-Iran forces, the United States has announced an extension of the George HW Bush Carrier Strike Group's deployment in the Mediterranean region. "The extension of the George HW Bush Carrier Strike Group, inclusive of the USS Leyte Gulf, the USS Delbert D. Black, and the USNS Arctic, allows options to potentially bolster the capabilities of CENTCOM to respond to a range of contingencies in the Middle East," US Central Command (CENTCOM) spokesman Colonel Joe Buccino said Friday. The George HW Bush carrier is currently near Italy and Sicily. Like with prior US military intervention in Syria, for example the major anti-government strikes on Damascus and elsewhere in 2017 and 2018 under the Trump administration, the Pentagon typically launches missiles from the Mediterranean.According to Reuters, "Buccino also noted a scheduled, expedited deployment of a squadron of A-10 attack aircraft to the region.""One U.S. official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the Bush strike group was expected to remain in the European Command area of responsibility," the report continues.Last Thursday, US forces mounted attacks against Iranian-linked groups in Syria after a US contractor was killed and five military service members and another US contractor were wounded in a drone strike conducted by an unknown group.But the Pentagon has now revised the number of American wounded upward to 12, citing "traumatic brain injuries", per CNN: Six US service members have been diagnosed with traumatic brain injuries as a result of attacks from Iran-backed groups in Syria last week.Four US troops at the coalition base near al Hasakah that was attacked on March 23 by a suspected Iranian drone, and two service members at Mission Support Site Green Village attacked on March 24, have been identified as having brain injuries in screening since the attacks, Pentagon spokesman Brig. Gen. Patrick Ryder said Thursday. Gen. Ryder explained, "As standard procedure, all personnel in the vicinity of a blast are screened for traumatic brain injuries." He added: "So these additional injuries were identified during post-attack medical screenings."Warmongers in both parties say keeping troops in Syria is necessary to preserve the balance of power. That is simply not true. If they believe that, they should say it directly to the parents of Americans in Syria who have to sleep there tonight and guard oil fields against… https://t.co/YcFNoKkwQB pic.twitter.com/0SJBtjFzW2
Yellen Says US Sanctions Have Created a 'Real Economic Crisis' in Iran - Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen has acknowledged that US sanctions on Iran have created a “real economic crisis” in Iran but haven’t changed the behavior of the government.“Our sanctions on Iran have created real economic crisis in the country, and Iran is greatly suffering economically because of the sanctions … Has that forced a change in behavior? The answer is much less than we would ideally like,” Yellen said at a congressional hearing on Thursday.History shows that sanctions do little to change the governments they target but always hurt ordinary people in the targeted country. For example, UN experts said last month that more Iranians are dying from thalassemia, a congenital blood disorder, due to Western sanctions that deprive them of specialized medicines and the ingredients to make them.Despite the failed policy in Iran, Yellen said the US was looking for ways to strengthen the sanctions even more. The Biden administration has followed the Trump administration’s so-called “maximum pressure campaign” against Iran and has imposed a large number of new sanctions. Iran has found some relief by increasing oil sales to Asia, and the US has been trying to target those deals in some of its new sanctions. The US has also ramped up sanctions on Iran over Tehran’s growing military relationship with Moscow, which is a natural result of both countries facing similar Western pressure.
Is It Time To Refill The Strategic Petroleum Reserve? - There is a narrative that I hear from time to time that President Biden made billions of dollars for the country by selling oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) last year at high prices and buying it back at low prices. The only problem is that the story is only half true. The Biden Administration did indeed sell a lot of oil from the SPR last year. Further, oil prices in 2022 were the highest they had been in years, averaging nearly $95 a barrel — the highest level since 2013. However, the Biden Administration hasn’t bought back any of the 266 million barrels of oil that have been removed from the SPR since his inauguration. If Biden wants to legitimately receive credit for successfully playing as an oil speculator, then he needs to put the oil back. Right now, all he has done is deplete oil reserves that were built up under several previous administrations (Democratic and Republican). Previously, the Biden Administration had resisted calls to refill the SPR, citing high prices. In October, with oil prices still above $80, the administration announced it would set up a process to refill the SPR when oil was priced between $67 and $72 a barrel. As Bloomberg energy and commodities columnist Javier Blas pointed out on Twitter, the entire futures curve for West Texas Intermediate (WTI) is now below that range: “The whole WTI futures curve is now below the bottom range of $67-$72 a barrel given by the White House to buy crude for the SPR. That’s the **whole curve, including the contract for immediate delivery**. Let’s see if the Biden administration pulls the trigger.” Of course, the public loves low oil prices. Last year’s massive SPR release probably helped arrest the spike in oil prices. The risk of buying back that oil is that oil prices may stop falling. But, not refilling the SPR leaves the U.S. with a significantly lower insurance policy against any oil supply disruptions. This would seem to be an opportune time to put at least some oil back into the SPR, while claiming credit for selling high and buying low.
US could buy back oil for strategic reserve late this year (Reuters) - The U.S. could start buying back crude oil for the Strategic Petroleum Reserve late this year after President Joe Biden last year directed the largest ever sale from the stockpile, Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm said. The administration intended to repurchase crude oil for the SPR when prices were at or below about $67-$72 a barrel, after last year's 180 million barrel sale drove the level of the stockpile to its lowest since 1983, the White House said in October. Biden conducted the sale to relieve oil prices that shot up after Russia invaded Ukraine. U.S. oil prices CLc1 this month touched that range but no sales were announced. Last week, Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm told lawmakers in a House hearing it would be tough to take advantage of this year's relatively low prices to fill the reserve back up, raising concerns about energy security. But Granholm told Reuters during a visit to Puerto Rico that purchases could begin late in 2023. "We will begin that process this year but to refill the full amount is impossible to do in one year," Granholm said. The department is conducting a 26 million barrel SPR sale mandated by Congress and two of the four SPR sites in Texas and Louisiana are down for maintenance, both of which have delayed buy-backs. Granholm said the SPR sites undergoing life extension work at Bryan Mound in Texas and Bayou Choctaw in Louisiana would be "down into the fall." "We can start the process of buying back depending on some of these exchanges in the fourth quarter," Granholm said, referring to returns of more than 25 million barrels of oil from previous exchanges with oil companies. She said any buy-backs would also depend on where the price was. The SPR currently holds about 372 million barrels, the lowest since 1983, in hollowed-out salt caverns along the Gulf Coast.
Republicans grill Interior chief on mining of critical minerals - House Republicans pressed Interior Secretary Deb Haaland yesterday on a central tension surrounding President Biden’s ambitious climate and clean-energy goals: his administration’s blocking of domestic mining for the minerals needed to achieve those targets. It’s become a frequent refrain for Republicans, who have highlighted what they view as the administration’s conflicting stances on the critical minerals used in electric vehicles, solar panels and other green technologies.One of the most tension-filled exchanges at Tuesday’s House Appropriations Subcommittee on Interior, Environment and Related Agencies hearing occurred between Haaland and Rep. Ryan Zinke (R-Mont.), who served as interior secretary under President Donald Trump before resigning under a cloud of ethics investigations.“Madam Secretary, is it your policy that critical minerals should be sourced from countries that are stewards of the environment, like the U.S. and our allies, or sourced from Russia and China, that don’t share our same values?” Zinke asked.Haaland began to respond before Zinke interrupted her with a series of questions about critical minerals, including a query about whether Haaland is “aware that northern Minnesota is home to those critical minerals that are necessary for EVs and our Defense Department.”The question was an apparent reference to the Biden administration’sdecision in January to ban copper, nickel and other hard-rock mining for 20 years in a giant watershed near Minnesota’s Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness.“I think there are critical minerals across our country,” Haaland said in response, adding that the agency is “working currently on identifying those critical minerals within the U.S. Geological Survey.”Biden has signed an executive order calling for half of all new vehicles sold in 2030 to be zero-emission vehicles, including EVs. Copper and nickel are crucial ingredients in EVs and their batteries, along with lithium, cobalt, manganese and graphite.Yet the administration has recently blocked mining for these minerals in some areas because of concerns about harming wildlife and communities, underscoring the difficult trade-offs inherent in Biden’s environmental agenda.
House GOP to pass energy bill with eye on gas prices, 2024 - House Republicans passed legislation Thursday that would increase oil drilling and mining on public lands and waters, defying President Biden’s climate agenda and fulfilling a campaign promise to focus on lowering gasoline prices ahead of the 2024 election.All but one Republican voted in support of the bill, which passed 225-204, while four vulnerable Democrats crossed the aisle to help ensure its passage. Republicans can afford to lose only four votes to pass bills with their narrow majority.The sprawling 175-page package, known as the Lower Energy Costs Act, would slash some environmental regulations and reinstate suspended oil and gas leases. It also would repeal parts of the Democrats’ landmark climate law, the Inflation Reduction Act.While the House approved the measure, largely along party lines, it is not expected to become law. Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) has said the package will be “dead on arrival” in the Democratic-controlled Senate, and Biden has said he will veto the measure if it reaches his desk.But Republicans think the bill will send a potent message to voters that they kept a midterm election promise to lower gas prices, which spiked after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine last year before drifting downward in recent months. They argue that Biden’s climate policies, including his decision to revoke a key permit for the Keystone XL pipeline, are responsible for widespread pain at the gasoline pump.“There’s probably no single element that shows you how bad President Biden’s agenda has been for families — especially lower-income families — than his anti-American energy policy,” House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-La.) said at an event Tuesday hosted by the America First Policy Institute, a think tank aligned with former president Donald Trump.Democrats counter that the bill, which they have derisively called the “Polluters Over People Act,” ignores the findings of top climate scientists. In a dire report last week, the U.N. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change warned that the world must rapidly phase out its use of fossil fuels to avert the most catastrophic effects of global warming, including several feet of sea level rise and the migration of millions of people from places where they can no longer survive.
Republicans vote to end Biden's 'war on energy,' only 4 Dems agree - The House of Representatives voted Thursday to reverse the Biden administration’s energy policies that Republicans say are eroding U.S. energy security and raising prices for consumers — and picked up support from a small number of Democrats, even though President Biden has said he would veto the bill.The Lower Energy Costs Act passed 225-204 in a vote that saw four Democrats side with Republicans, and one Republican vote against it. The bill — which attacks everything from Biden’s rejection of the Keystone XL pipeline to restrictions on oil and gas development to proposed bans on gas stoves—– also saw dozens of Democrats support GOP amendments as the bill was being considered. Late Wednesday, 29 Democrats voted for an amendment aimed at banning Biden’s Department of Energy from imposing heavy new restrictions on gas stoves. Another amendment requiring a study on how banning gas stoves might raise electricity prices won the support of 48 Democrats.Elsewhere, 21 Democrats supported an amendment requiring the EPA to report on all regulations that have hurt U.S. energy independence, and seven Democrats voted for language disapproving of tax hikes on oil and gas development in Biden’s proposed budget.Those votes are a blow to the Biden administration, which dismissed the bill this week as an attempt by Republicans to give companies a "thinly veiled license to pollute." The White House argued the best way to lower energy prices is to keep funding green energy initiatives and said Biden would veto the bill if it made it to his desk.House Democrats who oppose the bill made similar arguments against the legislation on the floor this week."Looking more like a nearly 200-page love letter to polluting industries than a serious legislative effort, the Polluters Over People Act is a laundry list of gifts and giveaways to polluting industries," argued Rep. Raul Grijalva, D-Ariz.
House Passes G.O.P. Energy Bill, Pushing to Roll Back Biden Climate Measures - The New York Times— A divided House of Representatives on Thursday passed an energy bill aimed at expanding mining and fossil fuel production in the United States that would repeal sections of the landmark climate change legislation that President Biden signed into law last summer. House Republicans pushed through the legislation, which they call the Lower Energy Costs Act, almost entirely along party lines on a vote of 225 to 204. It has no chance of passing or even being considered in the Democratic-controlled Senate — where Senator Chuck Schumer of New York, the majority leader, has called it “dead on arrival” — or being signed by Mr. Biden, whose advisers issued a veto threat against the bill on Monday, calling it “a thinly veiled license to pollute.” But Republicans have made the measure their top legislative priority and pitched it as the first major policy plank in their newly won House majority’s agenda. The bill’s passage was the party’s attempt to make good on its promise to bolster domestic energy production and reflected a bid by leaders to appeal to voters by promoting what they call common-sense legislation. The measure is also the latest affront by Republicans to Mr. Biden’s climate change policies. They successfully passed a measure through Congress this month that would block a Labor Department rule that allows retirement plan managers to incorporate climate and social considerations into investment decisions. “If you go across this country, Madam Speaker, it costs too much to heat your home and fill up your car,” Speaker Kevin McCarthy, Republican of California, said as he promoted the bill during floor debate on Tuesday. “It cost less an administration ago.”Republicans say their bill would remove the red tape surrounding the construction of energy infrastructure, such as oil and gas pipelines, by speeding and revising a permitting process that can take as long as five years. Since passage of the climate change bill, some Democrats have also sought changes to accelerate the permitting of wind and solar facilities and transmission lines to move the clean energy. But energy policy analysts say the two sides’ efforts have little in common. Democrats have sought to overhaul energy permitting by increasing staffing and resources for environmental reviews, while the Republicans’ proposals would simply remove or loosen the legal obligations to perform some of those reviews, said Christi Tezak, an analyst with ClearView Energy Partners, a nonpartisan energy research firm. “They’re using the same words,” she said, “but they mean totally different things.” The House bill would shorten some of the environmental reviews that are currently required before construction of oil and gas pipelines and other energy infrastructure and lift some restrictions on imports and exports of oil and natural gas. It would also limit the president’s power over energy development, curbing his authority to restrict or delay the development of energy on federal land and barring him from banning the use of hydraulic fracturing — commonly known as fracking — to extract oil and gas. The legislation would direct the Interior Department to sell new leases to drill on federal lands and in federal waters. While Republicans argued that the legislation would lower energy costs, it would also cost taxpayers. It would reduce the royalties that oil and gas companies have to pay to drill on federal lands, while repealing a section of the 2022 climate change law, also known as the Inflation Reduction Act, that forced oil and gas companies to pay a fee on emissions of planet-warming methane gas. It would also eliminate some other climate programs from that law, including funds for energy efficiency improvements in buildings and a federal fund for greenhouse gas reduction.
How Biden’s environmental justice plan is changing DOE - More than two years after calling for a huge infusion of federal cash for environmental justice, President Joe Biden’s pledge is facing a critical test at the Department of Energy. With 146 programs covered by Biden’s Justice40 Initiative — more than any other federal department by far — DOE will be making decisions and doling out funds in coming months that will determine how new renewable and fossil fuel projects affect historically disadvantaged communities for decades. “We at the Department of Energy historically have done a terrible job, honestly. Only 1 percent of funding has gone to small, minority and disadvantaged businesses,” Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm said at Greentown Labs, a Houston incubator for startups, in early March. “We have had these structural inequalities, inequities in the past, and we’re trying to remedy that through embedding sort of structural equity into these programs,” Granholm said. Yet it remains unclear how DOE will deliver on the core objective of Justice40: funneling 40 percent of the benefits accrued in covered programs to disadvantaged communities. DOE is awaiting more guidance from the White House on enforcement. Meanwhile, some experts say DOE’s equity focus will come with a steep learning curve for a department that historically has been filled with scientists and policy researchers focused on emerging technologies. In 2021, Biden put his weight behind a growing environmental justice movement, which focuses on redressing legacy policies that have forced low-income and minority communities to bear the brunt of environmental pollution like smog and contaminated water. Biden’s executive order on climate, which was issued on his first day in office, directed the federal government to “advance environmental justice” where agencies “failed to meet that commitment in the past.” A week later, Biden set up the first-ever White House Environmental Justice Interagency Council to coordinate the plan. That second executive order also established the Justice40 Initiative, which agencies are now starting to implement in earnest, with DOE at the center of much of the targeted funding for climate and clean energy projects. The 146 covered programs at DOE include a $6 billion nuclear power plant bailout, an $8 billion regional hydrogen hub proposal and grants to plug orphan fossil fuel wells, according to a White House document. The Inflation Reduction Act and bipartisan infrastructure law also are set to dramatically expand the federal pot of money subject to the initiative. But the federal government hasn’t yet nailed down some of the details that could drive the flow of money, such as what constitutes a “benefit.” “When I first heard about this, that was the question in my head: Did they mean 40 percent of investment? And then I double-checked. It’s 40 percent of total benefits that are supposed to go to these communities,” said Devashree Saha, a senior associate at the environmental group World Resources Institute. “Then that raises the million-dollar question, right, that everyone is grappling with: How do you actually measure that 40 percent of benefits from these investments are actually accruing to these disadvantaged communities?”
Manchin: Biden admin might 'try to screw me' on EVs - Sen. Joe Manchin predicted Wednesday that the Biden administration will interpret new restrictions on electric vehicle tax credits in ways that are too permissive and don’t align with the climate change law he wrote last year. The West Virginia Democrat, chair of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, said at a Washington event hosted by energy security advocacy group Securing America’s Future Energy and the Electrification Coalition that he would fight for his interpretation of the law, even suing the administration if he has to. “I think they’re going to try to screw me on this,” Manchin said of the Treasury Department’s forthcoming guidance on the tax credit’s changes in the Inflation Reduction Act, the law he wrote last year with the goal of boosting U.S. energy security. “And I’m willing to go to court. I’m willing to stop it all, because that’s not the intent,” he said. “If it goes off the rails, where they’re liberalizing and opening up and blowing the cap off the pricing that we have and the intent of what we want — if all that happens, I’ll do whatever I can,” he later told reporters. “If that means going to court and I can do it, I’ll do it.” Manchin went on to call Biden administration officials “crazy” for the president’s goal that all new cars sold by 2030 would be zero-emission. “I know they’re trying. But they’re catering to the far left, and the far left has a pretty good grip on them,” Manchin said of officials like senior Biden adviser John Podesta and Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen.
Contract Confirms US Government Received $400 Million From Major COVID-19 Vaccine Manufacturer -- The U.S. government has released the licensing agreement it hammered out with vaccine manufacturer Moderna but has refused to confirm many payment details. Moderna agreed to pay the U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH) to license spike protein technology the company included in its COVID-19 vaccine, the contract confirms. Moderna resisted for years acknowledging the work by government researchers on the spike protein but relented in late 2021 and announced the contract during an earnings call on Feb. 23. Moderna said it provided a “catch-up payment” of $400 million to the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), which is part of the NIH, under the agreement. The newly disclosed contract says that Moderna would pay the NIH a “noncreditable, nonrefundable royalty in the amount of Four Hundred Million dollars.” Portions that would confirm Moderna’s statement that the company would pay “low single digit royalties” on future sales of its COVID-19 vaccines are redacted. The contract, running 34 pages, has key sections redacted as to future royalties. The Epoch Times obtained the contract through the Freedom of Information Act. The NIH cited for the redactions an exemption to the act that enables agencies to withhold “trade secrets and commercial or financial information obtained from a person and privileged or confidential.” “They redacted the royalties, even though there have been press releases about the royalties,” James Love, director of the nonprofit Knowledge Ecology International, told The Epoch Times via email. “It’s common but [expletive] to redact royalties on a negotiated license on a government patent.” Unredacted information in the contract confirmed that Moderna had agreed to pay the NIH royalties before the agreement took effect in late 2022: a “minimum annual royalty,” “earned royalties,” and “benchmark royalties.” The contract was signed on Dec. 14, 2022, by Michael Mowatt, director of the Technology Transfer and Intellectual Property Office at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, and Shannon Klinger, chief legal officer at Moderna. The payments would include a royalty within 60 days after government officials provided a “reasonable detailed written statement and request” for an amount “equivalent to a pro rata share of the unreimbursed patent expenses previously paid by the NIAID.”
US softens cut to Medicare Advantage 2024 payments (Reuters) - The U.S. government announced on Friday a lower than expected 1.1% average cut of 2024 reimbursement rates for health insurers that offer coverage through the Medicare Advantage program, boosting shares of the market's largest players. It improved the rates it would pay insurers after pushback from the industry, which contended the government was cutting reimbursement rates by too much for them to adequately serve older people enrolled in their plans. The U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid (CMS) said it expected total payments for next year to rise by 3.3% from 2023, or around $13.8 billion, up from its 1% initial estimate, and reduced drops on some costs resulting from rule changes. Health insurers who operate Medicare Advantage plans have come under pressure after the government last month proposed new rules for an audit program to avoid overpaying them.The agency said in its final rates announcement on Friday it would phase in the revision over three years and estimated it would result in a smaller drop during the first year. "The policies finalized in this Rate Announcement will help make more accurate payments. This reduces incentives to cherry-pick healthy beneficiaries and discriminate against sicker patients," CMS said in a statement.
Judge’s ruling undercuts US health law’s preventive care | (AP) — A federal judge in Texas who previously ruled to dismantle the Affordable Care Act struck down a narrower but key part of the nation’s health law Thursday that requires most insurers to cover preventive services that include screenings for cancer, diabetes and mental health. Other no-cost services, including HIV screenings, are also impacted under the ruling by U.S. District Judge Reed O’Connor that opponents say will jeopardize preventive care for millions of Americans. Experts cautioned that insurers are unlikely to stop any coverage immediately. The Biden administration was expected to appeal and seek a stay of the ruling. “This is not the potential fatal blow to the ACA like previous court cases, but it would limit a very popular benefit that tens of millions of people use,” said Larry Levitt, executive vice president for health policy at the Kaiser Family Foundation. The decision comes more than four years after O’Connor, a nominee of former President George W. Bush, ruled that the entire health care law also known as “Obamacare” was unconstitutional. The U.S. Supreme Court overturned that ruling.
US Justice Dept appeals Obamacare ruling blocking coverage mandate- White House (Reuters) - The U.S. Justice Department is appealing a decision by a Texas judge that blocked Obamacare's mandate that health insurance plans cover preventive care at no cost to patients, the White House said on Friday.U.S. District Judge Reed O'Connor in Fort Worth, Texas, on Thursday blocked the federal government from enforcing requirements that insurance plans cover preventive care, including screenings for certain cancers and pre-exposure prophylaxis against HIV (PrEP).If O'Connor's ruling is not paused or overturned on appeal, insurers will be able to charge patients copays and deductibles for such services in new insurance plans."The president is glad to see the Department of Justice is appealing the judge's decision," White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said in a statement."Preventive care saves lives, saves families money, and protects and improves our health," she said. "This decision threatens to jeopardize critical care."
As US fentanyl deaths jump, GOP casts blame at the border - The Republican takeover of the House shifted congressional oversight of the border, with GOP lawmakers using their new powers in efforts to link the fentanyl crisis to migration. Fentanyl has increased the stakes in the decades-long drug war, inflaming the preexisting opiate crisis and bickering over border security, with a heightened lethality not shared by other recreational drugs. The GOP has put a spotlight on fentanyl, portraying it as the connective tissue among immigration, crime, border chaos and the overdose epidemic. In recent weeks the drug has been a fixture of GOP hearings, with House Homeland Security Chairman Mark Green (R-Tenn.) claiming “backpacks full of fentanyl [are] pouring into our country” while border officers are stretched thin in responding to migrants. But statistics around fentanyl paint another picture, one in which American citizens are trafficking the drug to meet U.S. demand, with 90 percent of fentanyl captured as it is driven into the country through border crossing checkpoints. “To hear many of my colleagues, you’d be led to believe that vulnerable migrants are the ones bringing these drugs into the United States,” said Rep. Veronica Escobar (D-Texas) who represents an El Paso district along the border. “What we have failed repeatedly to do in our country is talk about the demand for these drugs. And you know, the focus has always been on the supply. And I really wish my colleagues would be as passionate about addressing addiction and the demand for illegal substances as they are passionate about the supply of them,” she said.
Dems push back on GOP fentanyl claims during hearing with Mayorkas - Senate Democrats on Tuesday made their most forceful push yet against narratives linking immigration and the fentanyl crisis, slamming Republicans for their attempts to entangle the two issues. Data shows the vast majority of fentanyl enters the U.S. through the cars of American citizens, a fact highlighted repeatedly by Democrats as GOP lawmakers increasingly cast blame at Mexico in the fight against fentanyl. “Some are pushing the narrative that asylum seekers are smuggling fentanyl across the border when the facts tell a different story,” said Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), the chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee. “It is predominantly U.S. citizens entering illegally at ports of entry who are bringing these dangerous drugs into the United States. So it’s hard to understand why some have opposed funding for technology like non-intrusive inspection systems to help Customs and Border Protection officers to detect fentanyl in vehicles coming through these ports of entry. The reality is, DHS is working aggressively.” Senators on Tuesday signaled a willingness to increase funding for equipment to screen for drugs at border checkpoints amid a steady surge in fentanyl deaths in recent years, a limited point of agreement as the parties remain highly divided over the border. The consensus around better screening comes as the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) last week credited new equipment as a factor in seizing 900 pounds of fentanyl in a week, a massive haul. More than 90 percent of fentanyl seized by DHS is detected at border checkpoints, while an analysis of sentencing data shows American citizens accounted for 86 percent of convictions for fentanyl trafficking. “This problem has risen under Republican presidents, Democratic presidents. This is not a partisan issue. This is an American issue. This is an American crisis,” Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) said at the hearing, where Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas testified.
US Supreme Court inclined to allow law against encouraging illegal immigration (Reuters) - Conservative U.S. Supreme Court justices on Monday appeared inclined to uphold a federal law that made it a crime to encourage illegal immigration, signaling agreement with President Joe Biden's administration that the measure does not violate constitutional free speech protections. The justices heard arguments in the administration's appeal of a lower court's decision in a case from California to strike down the decades-old provision, part of a larger immigration statute, as overly broad because it may criminalize legitimate speech protected by the U.S. Constitution's First Amendment. The case involves a man named Helaman Hansen who deceived immigrants through a phony "adult adoption" program and was convicted in 2017 of violating that law and others. In invalidating the law, the San Francisco-based 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals threw out Hansen's conviction for violating the provision, which bars inducing or encouraging noncitizens "to come to, enter or reside" in the United States illegally, including for financial gain. The 9th Circuit upheld Hansen's convictions on mail and wire fraud charges. The Supreme Court has a 6-3 conservative majority. Its conservative justices appeared to agree with Biden's administration that the law does not cover certain hypothetical scenarios that concerned the 9th Circuit, such as simply encouraging immigrants in the country illegally to remain in the United States or advising them about available social services. The law targets only facilitating or soliciting unlawful conduct, not "general advocacy," the administration argued.
Fire at Mexico detention center in Juarez kills 40 - — A fire at a migrant detention facility just south of the U.S. border killed at least 38 people, who appeared to be trapped in locked cells as flames spread Monday night and guards left the scene. It was one of the deadliest tragedies in years involving foreigners apprehended while trying to reach the United States. Mexico’s National Migration Institute said the blaze started shortly before 10 p.m. Monday in the men’s detention area of its office in Ciudad Juárez, across the border from El Paso. Sixty-eight men were staying in that part of the one-story building, according to the government-run institute. In a Tuesday morning news conference, President Andrés Manuel López Obrador said the fire was apparently sparked during a protest by migrants who had learned they were going to be deported. “In the door of the shelter they put some mattresses and set them on fire,” he said. “They never imagined that would cause this tragedy.”But hours later, security-camera footage began to circulate in Mexican media showing at least two guards walking past a large cell that was on fire. One prisoner tried desperately to kick open a locked door, but the guards ignored him. In less than 30 seconds, nothing is visible through the thick smoke.Mexico’s government minister, Adán Augusto López, told TV journalist Joaquín López-Dóriga that the government had obtained the video before dawn. “I condemn this sort of conduct,” he said.Security-camera footage from March 27 shows at least two guards walking past a large cell that’s on fire in a detention facility in Ciudad Juárez, Mexico. (Video: AP)The Mexican Attorney General’s Office said the list of dead and injuredincluded 28 Guatemalans, 13 Hondurans, 12 Salvadorans, 12 Venezuelans and one citizen each from Colombia and Ecuador. No specific breakdown was provided of those who perished, and the institute’s revised toll Tuesday night was slightly lower than the 40 deaths it had previously reported.
Video shows guards walking away during fire that killed 38 migrants - When smoke began billowing out of a migrant detention center in the Mexican border city of Ciudad Juarez, Venezuelan migrant Viangly Infante Padrón was terrified because she knew her husband was still inside.The father of her three children had been picked up by immigration agents earlier in the day, part of a recent crackdown that netted 67 other migrants, many of whom were asking for handouts or washing car windows at stoplights in this city across the Rio Grande from El Paso, Texas.In moments of shock and horror, Infante Padrón recounted how she saw immigration agents rush out of the building after fire started late Monday. Later came the migrants’ bodies carried out on stretchers, wrapped in foil blankets. The toll: 38 dead in all and 28 seriously injured, victims of a blaze apparently set in protest by the detainees themselves.“I was desperate because I saw a dead body, a body, a body, and I didn’t see him anywhere,” Infante Padrón said of her husband, Eduard Caraballo López, who in the end survived with only light injuries, perhaps because he was scheduled for release and was near a door.But what she saw in those first minutes has become the center of a question much of Mexico is asking itself: Why didn’t authorities attempt to release the men — almost all from Guatemala, Honduras, Venezuela and El Salvador — before smoke filled the room and killed so many?“There was smoke everywhere. The ones they let out were the women, and those (employees) with immigration,” Infante Padrón said. “The men, they never took them out until the firefighters arrived.”“They alone had the key,” Infante Padrón said. “The responsibility was theirs to open the bar doors and save those lives, regardless of whether there were detainees, regardless of whether they would run away, regardless of everything that happened. They had to save those lives.”Immigration authorities said they released 15 women when the fire broke out, but have not explained why no men were let out.
Eight people found dead near Canada-US border just days after Biden and Trudeau sign pact to stop refugee crossings -- The antidemocratic “modernization” of the reactionary US-Canada Safe Third Country Agreement (STCA) was unexpectedly concluded during American President Joe Biden’s March 23-24 visit to Canada.Less than 24 hours after Biden and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau formally announced the change, Canadian border police shut down the unofficial Roxham Road crossing point into Quebec. As of 12:01 a.m., March 26, they began systematically handing over would-be refugee claimants, some of whom had spent their life savings travelling for weeks in a perilous journey, to US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).Late Thursday afternoon, less than six days after the new rules came into force, six bodies were pulled from the St. Lawrence River in the Mohawk community of Akwesasne, which straddles the New York, Ontario and Quebec borders. Two more bodies were recovered Friday. Local police have reported that the eight, who included two infant children, perished when their boat overturned while they were trying to cross into the US. They came from two families, one originally from India and the other of Romanian descent.The STCA flouts both Canada and America’s obligations under international law. Under the revamped STCA, all migrants seeking refuge in Canada who enter via land or by waterway “irregularly,” i.e. not at an official entry point, will be arrested, and handed over to ICE agents, with a high risk of their being jailed and ultimately deported to their country of origin In addition to destroying the last hope of migrants fleeing war, misery and persecution, the new agreement signed by Biden and Trudeau fuels the long-standing xenophobic campaign of the Quebec, Canadian, and American ruling classes. The inextricable link between imperialist war and anti-immigrant policies was made clear by the fact that the STCA was adopted during Biden’s Canada trip, which served to broaden and intensify the North American imperialist powers’ preparations for world war and their pursuit of global economic hegemony.Under the reactionary STCA, first signed in 2002 and enforced since 2004, asylum-seekers coming to Canada through an official Canada-US border crossing are—with very rare exceptions—automatically turned away and sent back to the US, and vice versa. However, a so-called “loophole” in the original agreement allowed, until now, people who entered Canada outside of official checkpoints to stay while their application for refugee status was adjudicated.The arrival of large numbers of refugee claimants in Canada via the so-called STCA loophole was essentially a non-event until the coming to power of the fascistic Donald Trump as US president in January 2017, and his immediate launching of a virulent anti-immigrant witch-hunt. The fake “pro-refugee” posturing of Trudeau and his Liberal government encouraged many migrants to come to Canada, passing through forests, swamps and country roads to reach Canada “irregularly.” Most of them have come from Latin America, Middle East or Africa, regions of the world ravaged by the wars and predatory economic policies of US and Canadian imperialism. Many were living in the US without documentation. Others entered the US via Mexico so as to pass through it to reach Canada. The vast majority of these “irregular” migrants have entered Canada through Roxham Road, a rural route located on the US border 60 km south of Montreal.
Lawmakers cast fresh doubts on SBA's fintech plans -Senior members of Congress are taking issue with how the Small Business Administration plans its discretionary spending, as well as its plans to open its 7(a) lending program to fintechs. The Biden Administration released its fiscal 2024 budget March 9. The plan allocates $987 million of discretionary spending authority to the SBA. That is enough to support $57.5 billion of activity by its three primary lending and investment vehicles — the 7(a), 504 and the Small Business Investment Company programs. Lawmakers seemed satisfied with those funding levels. However, last week, senior members of the Senate Small Business Committee and its House of Representatives counterpart called on SBA Administrator Isabella Casillas Guzman to tap the brakes on plans to end a longstanding moratorium that has limited the number of nondepository small business lending companies (SBLCs) licensed to participate in 7(a), SBA's largest lending program, to 14 since 1983. In November, the SBA proposed a rule that would both eliminate the moratorium, allowing new for-profit SBLCs — including potentially fintechs — and creating a new category of nonprofit mission-based SBLCs that would focus on serving underserved markets and demographic groups. One of the most forceful calls for caution around the moratorium came from Rep. Nydia Velazquez, D-N.Y., the House Small Business Committee's ranking Democrat. At Thursday's House Small Business Committee hearing, Velazquez called on the SBA to deal first with growing concerns around borrower misappropriation of pandemic relief funds before embarking on Guzman's ambitious plan to redesign 7(a). "Put simply, the agency should slow down and address issues with fraud in the Paycheck Protection Program before moving forward with major policy changes to the 7(a) program," Velazquez said. Velazquez' comments come little more than two weeks after Sen. Ben Cardin, D-Md., and Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, the chairman and ranking Republican on the Senate Small Business Committee, wrote Guzman warning that plans to open 7(a) to more SBLCs —which could also open the door to fintech participation — might hurt program performance and lead to increased loan losses.
Congress appropriated $500M for workers. Democrats can’t agree on whether to spend it. - Congress appropriated nearly $500 million last year to help American workers whose jobs have been sent overseas. But two powerful Democrats disagree over whether that money can or should be spent, leaving relief for tens of thousands of workers in limbo. The disagreement between Senate Finance Chair Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) and Appropriations Chair Patty Murray (D-Wash.) is just the latest symptom of congressional gridlock on trade policy that has allowed multiple programs — from worker relief funds to tariff exemption programs for manufacturers and developing nations — to expire in recent years. Ending the relief payments would deal a blow to President Joe Biden’s trade policy that has sought to make international commerce easier on middle- and low-income Americans. The dispute over the funding for Trade Adjustment Assistance (TAA) — a Department of Labor program that provides income support, job retraining and other relief for victims of outsourcing — centers on language in the omnibus spending package that Congress passed last December. The bill included new funding for TAA, but did not explicitly reauthorize the program, which expired earlier in the year. According to two Appropriations Committee aides involved in the talks, $500 million in funding was included in the draft in hopes Democrats and Republicans could reach a deal to extend the TAA program, but they failed to do so. In the rush to pass the final bill, the appropriations provision was not altered, and aides felt it was not necessary to do so because the program was not authorized. The aides were granted anonymity to discuss confidential policy negotiations. While stressing that the senator supports TAA in principle, Murray’s office believes the program remains expired and the money cannot be spent without authorizing language. After the bill was signed and Murray became chair of the Appropriations Committee, she called DOL to relay that information and request the agency not restart processing applications for TAA aid. “The appropriations bill that passed at the end of the year said the program ended, that’s the way it was written,” Murray said in a brief Capitol Hill interview on Monday. She declined to comment on the language from her own committee allocating nearly $500 million to the program, reiterating that the bill “specifically said that the program was ended” and that “is all I’m going to say.” Wyden, one of Murray’s senior Democratic colleagues whose committee oversees the TAA program, is challenging that interpretation. Wyden and House Democrats tried for months to get an agreement with Republicans to authorize the program for another year. Republicans insisted throughout negotiations that the Biden administration would need to commit to new trade talks overseas to get the TAA payments restarted — a demand the White House dismissed. Though they never reached a deal on that language, Wyden says that having money appropriated for the program is enough for DOL to reopen TAA again.
Sanders grills former Starbucks CEO on 'vicious' anti-union efforts – POLITICO video
Here’s what happened when Bernie Sanders put Starbucks’ former CEO in the hot seat - After months of steadily amping up pressure on Starbucks and its longtime leader, Howard Schultz, Sen. Bernie Sanders finally got his chance Wednesday to grill the coffee executive over the company’s hardball response to union organizing at its stores.“Starbucks has waged the most aggressive and illegal union-busting campaign in the modern history of our country,” said Sanders (I-Vt.), who heads the Senate committee that handles labor issues, at a hearing where Schultz was the main attraction. “What is outrageous to me is not only Starbucks’ anti-union activities and their willingness to break the law, it is their calculated and intentional efforts to stall, stall and stall.”Schultz, who stepped down earlier this month as interim CEO, spent hours defending the company he has steered — off and on — since the 1980s. He repeatedly denied allegations of union busting, trading barbs with Sanders and Democrats in the process, and tried to depict a company worth emulating rather than denigrating. Schultz may no longer be holding the reins, but he made clear he does not believe the company has done anything illegal in its effort to quell a unionization drive that gained steam in 2021 and rippled across hundreds of Starbucks stores in 2022.“Starbucks Coffee Company unequivocally — and let me set the zone for this very early on — has not broken the law,” Schultz said at the outset of Wednesday’s hearing before repeating variations of that declaration numerous times throughout the proceedings. The National Labor Relations Board is prosecuting more than 80 complaints, covering 278 unfair labor practice charges, against the company. NLRB judges have handed down a smattering of rulings that Starbucks did break federal law, though the company appears intent on appealing such decisions for as long as it takes.GOP members of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee members were willing to go to bat for Starbucks, even though the company has allied itself with progressive causes over the years.“There’s some irony to a non-coffee-drinking Mormon conservative defending a Democrat candidate for president and perhaps one of the most liberal companies in America,” Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah) said. “That being said, I also think it’s somewhat rich that you’re being grilled by people who have never had the opportunity to create a single job.”During the hearing, senators of both parties got Schultz to confirm a number of facts about Starbucks and its response to the unionization drive — much of which will eventually make its way into legal filings.The former CEO confirmed that workers at unionized stores were not extended certain compensation benefits granted to non-union stores, that it has opposed having collective bargaining negotiations done over Zoom and that Schultz told one worker “if you hate the company, you could work somewhere else.”
Depletion date for Social Security trust fund draws closer - Social Security’s largest trust fund could see its reserves depleted as soon as 2033, a new report shows, as some on Capitol Hill have been eyeing potential reforms. © iStock The updated estimate is one year sooner than the board of trustees of the program’s accounts previously projected for the Old-Age and Survivors Insurance (OASI) Trust Fund, which pays out Social Security benefits to retirees. Absent policy changes, the board estimated the account would only be able to cover about 77 percent of benefits at that point. However, the report showed that combining the account with the program’s smaller Disability Insurance (DI) Trust Fund, which isn’t projected to become insolvent for at least 75 years, could buy roughly a year of time for lawmakers to potentially find a solution. In a statement to The Hill on Friday, the Peter G. Peterson Foundation said it’s the first time in decades that the trustees’ projected OASI depletion date has fallen within a 10-year window. “As Congress debates the debt ceiling and this year’s budget, everything should be on the table,” Peterson Foundation CEO Michael Peterson said. “Lawmakers have a valuable opportunity to stabilize these cornerstone programs, while bolstering our nation’s fiscal and economic outlook at the same time.” Some lawmakers also sounded alarm over the report. “We must stop preying on the fears of our grandparents, put down the political weapons, and prioritize American seniors by working in a bipartisan way to strengthen and save Social Security and Medicare,” House Budget Committee Chairman Jodey Arrington (R-Texas) said. Lawmakers on both sides have vowed no changes will be made to the program as part of a larger deal to prevent the nation from defaulting later this year. But there has been interest in both chambers at exploring potential measures to extend the program’s solvency, separate from ongoing discussions over the debt limit. In their recent report, the board of trustees urged Congress to address the projected shortfalls in a “timely way in order to phase in necessary changes gradually and give workers and beneficiaries time to adjust to them.”
Biden's nominees hit the Senate skids - President Joe Biden’s nominees are hitting a rough patch in the Senate. And things may only get trickier from here. It looked at the beginning of the year like Democrats would have an easier time confirming Biden picks, having gained a seat last fall after a historically lengthy run in a 50-50 Senate. But this Congress has brought a host of new challenges despite that padded margin for Biden’s party. Two high-profile Biden administration hopefuls have withdrawn in the past month alone. The president’s Labor Department pick faces a tough road to confirmation. And the administration is in danger of a first: having to abandon a judicial nominee due to tepid Democratic support. That’s in addition to the Pentagon promotions being stalled by a Republican senator and the judicial appointments delayed due to a senior Democratic senator’s extended absence. Underlining the tension between the narrowly divided Senate and the administration was the Saturday evening withdrawal of Phil Washington, tapped to lead the Federal Aviation Administration. Democrats blamed a GOP campaign against him, led by Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), but the reality is that Biden’s own party could have saved Washington had they kept their own side united and put up a simple majority. In Washington’s case, Commerce Committee member Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (I-Ariz.) had communicated her concerns to the Biden administration. And Sen. Jon Tester (D-Mont.) stayed undecided ahead of the committee vote, right up until Washington bowed out. “That’s a better question for the president,” Tester, who faces a reelection campaign this cycle, said of the FAA imbroglio. Asked if he supported the nominee, he responded: “Never had to make that vote.”Washington’s implosion comes at a crucial inflection point for the Biden White House’s confirmation operation. On Monday night, some Democrats were still digesting the news that he had withdrawn over the weekend. “He had the vast majority of supportive people in our caucus, whether from the left to the moderate wings of our caucus, so I’m very sorry that the misrepresentations of his record … resulted in his having to withdraw,” said Sen. Michael Bennet (D-Colo.). At Washington’s nomination hearing, Sinema said it was important to confirm a permanent FAA chief. But while noting Washington’s military experience as well as his job as CEO of the Denver International Airport, she said that the agency needed someone with aviation experience at the top — a strong hint that she was not convinced that Washington was right for the role, since that was the main line of attack against Biden’s pick.
Jim Jordan Demands Docs After IRS "Attempt To Intimidate" Journalist Matt Taibbi During Govt Weaponization Hearing - - It has been eleven years since Lois Lerner presided over (and then apologized for) the IRS targeting of conservatives during the 2012 election. But her "inappropriate... error of judgment" may just have been turned up to '11' as during the day when independent journalist Matt Taibbi was in Washington DC delivering testimony to the Select Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government on March 9, an IRS agent visited his home in New Jersey, leaving a note demanding he contact the agency within four days. As The Wall Street Journal reports, Mr. Taibbi was told in a call with the agent that both his 2018 and 2021 tax returns had been rejected owing to concerns over identity theft.The journalist has provided House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan's committee with documentation showing his 2018 return had been electronically accepted, and he says the IRS never notified him or his accountants of a problem after he filed that 2018 return more than four-and-a-half years ago.He says the IRS initially rejected his 2021 return, which he later refiled, and it was rejected again - even though Mr. Taibbi says his accountants refiled it with an IRS-provided pin number.Mr. Taibbi notes that in neither case was the issue “monetary,” and that the IRS owes him a “considerable” sum.The bigger question on everyone's minds (most of all Rep. Jordan) is simple - since when did the IRS dispatch agents for surprise house calls? Is this the new $80 billion budget being well spent to 'send a message' to a reporter telling the truth?The coincidental timing of this unannounced IRS agent visit prompted Rep. Jordan to write to IRS Commissioner Daniel Werfel and Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, demanding answers: "In light of the hostile reaction to Mr. Taibbi’s reporting among left-wing activists, and the IRS’s history as a tool of government abuse, the IRS’s action could be interpreted as an attempt to intimidate a witness before Congress. We expect your full cooperation with our inquiry."Jordan added that "the circumstances... are incredible," and "demand a careful examination by the Committee to determine whether the visit was a thinly-veiled attempt to influence or intimidate a witness before Congress."And the committee Chair demanded that the IRS and Treasury provide the following documents and information:
- 1. All documents and communications referring or relating to the IRS’s field visit to the residence of Matthew Taibbi on March 9, 2023;
- 2. All documents and communications between or among the IRS, Treasury Department, and any other Executive Branch entity referring or relating to Matthew Taibbi; and
- 3. All documents and communications sent or received by Revenue Officer [James Nelson] referring or relating to Matthew Taibbi.
Yellen and Werfel were given until April 10th to comply with the request.
Twitter restricts Greene’s congressional account over ‘vengeance’ post - Twitter on Tuesday restricted Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene’s (R-Ga.) congressional account for seven days after she repeatedly posted an image of a poster about a rally called “Trans Day of Vengeance.” Greene tweeted about the event after three children and three adults were killed in a shooting at a Christian school in Nashville. The suspect in that shooting, police say, identifies as transgender and uses hi/him pronouns. Ella Irwin, Twitter’s head of trust and safety, said in a separate tweet that the platform was automatically sweeping to remove images of the poster out of worries it could incite violence. “We do not support tweets that incite violence irrespective of who posts them. ‘Vengeance’ does not imply peaceful protest,” Irwin said. The poster highlights an event on Saturday, April 1 that appears to be organized by Our Rights DC. That Twitter account was locked on Tuesday. “We need more visibility,” it states, calling on people to gather at the Supreme Court to “stop trans genocide.” The main wording on the poster says “Trans Day of Vengeance.” Greene initially deleted her tweet, and then posted it again voicing frustration about the action from Twitter – along with sharing the poster again, calling on the Department of Justice to investigate. Twitter again deleted the tweet – prompting yet another tweet and re-post from Greene.
Pence must testify in Jan. 6 attack probe, judge rules -source (Reuters) - A federal judge has ruled that former U.S. Vice President Mike Pence must testify to a grand jury about conversations he had with former President Donald Trump leading up to the January 6, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol, a source familiar with the ruling said on Tuesday. In a ruling that remains under seal, the judge also said that Pence can still decline to answer questions related to Jan. 6, the source said, adding that Pence can still appeal the ruling. The appeal option is being evaluated, the source said. The source, confirming reports by CNN and NBC, said the judge's decision compels Trump's former vice president to appear before the federal grand jury but shields him from testifying about Jan. 6, 2021, itself. Ahead of the Jan. 6 events, Trump had repeatedly lambasted Pence, publicly and privately, for refusing to try to prevent Congress from certifying Biden’s win in the 2020 election, sources told Reuters at the time. Representatives for Special Prosecutor Jack Smith, who is leading the U.S. Department of Justice's investigation into Trump and his allies' alleged efforts to overturn his 2020 election loss, could not be immediately reached for comment. Pence's representatives decline to comment. Pence, who is exploring a challenge to Trump for the Republican presidential nomination in 2024, is fighting a grand jury subpoena to secure his testimony, sources have told Reuters.
Delaware jury to decide if Fox is liable for defaming Dominion (Reuters) - A jury will decide whether Fox Corp (FOXA.O) defamed Dominion Voting Systems with false vote-rigging claims aired by Fox News after the 2020 U.S. election, a Delaware judge ruled on Friday, dealing a setback to the media company that had sought to avoid a trial in the $1.6 billion lawsuit. Delaware Superior Court Judge Eric Davis denied motions from Fox and partially granted Dominion motions to resolve the issue of defamation liability ahead of the scheduled April 17 trial date. The ruling puts the high-profile case in the hands of a jury that will determine whether Fox acted with actual malice and whether Dominion suffered any damages. The trial, to be held in Wilmington, is expected to last roughly four weeks. It is possible the parties could still settle the case. Davis heard arguments from both sides during a two-day pretrial hearing on March 21 and 22. “This case is and always has been about the First Amendment protections of the media’s absolute right to cover the news," Fox said in a statement. "Fox will continue to fiercely advocate for the rights of free speech and a free press as we move into the next phase of these proceedings.” Dominion said it was gratified by the ruling and looked forward to the trial. This is one of the most closely watched U.S. defamation lawsuits in years and involves one of America's largest cable networks, home to many prominent conservative commentators. Denver-based Dominion sued New York-based Fox Corp and Fox News in 2021, accusing them of ruining its reputation by airing false claims by former President Donald Trump and his lawyers that its voting machines were used to rig the outcome of the election against him and in favor of Democrat Joe Biden. Dominion has said in court filings that internal emails, texts and deposition testimony demonstrate that Fox personnel at every level - from producers to hosts, all the way up to Chairman Rupert Murdoch - knew the election-rigging claims were false and aired them anyway in pursuit of ratings as they lost viewers to far-right outlets that embraced Trump's claims.
Manhattan Trump grand jury set to break for a month - — The Manhattan grand jury examining Donald Trump’s alleged role in a hush money payment to a porn star isn’t expected to hear evidence in the case for the next month largely due to a previously scheduled hiatus, according to a person familiar with the proceedings. The break would push any indictment of the former president to late April at the earliest, although it is possible that the grand jury’s schedule could change. In recent weeks, the Manhattan district attorney’s office hasn’t convened the panel on certain days. But it is District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s prerogative to ask the grand jury to reconvene if prosecutors want the panel to meet during previously planned breaks. The grand jury, which heard testimony in the Trump case on Monday, isn’t meeting Wednesday and is expected to examine evidence in a separate matter Thursday, the person said. The grand jury, which typically meets Mondays, Wednesdays and Thursdays, is scheduled to consider another case next week on Monday and Wednesday, the person said, and isn’t expected to meet Thursday due to the Passover holiday. The following two weeks are set to be a hiatus that was scheduled when the grand jury was first convened in January, the person said. A spokesperson for the Manhattan district attorney’s office declined to comment.
Donald Trump indicted in hush money payment case - A New York grand jury voted Thursday to indict former President Donald Trump in connection with a $130,000 hush money payment to porn star Stormy Daniels ahead of the 2016 election, his lawyer told CNBC. Trump attorney Joe Tacopina told NBC News that Trump is expected to surrender to the Manhattan District Attorney's office early next week. Trump is expected to be arraigned Tuesday, according to Susan Necheles, another Trump lawyer. The former president is tentatively expected to appear before Judge Juan Merchan after 2:15 p.m. that day in Manhattan, two officials told NBC News. That is subject to change. Trump is the first former president to be charged with a crime, a development that will reverberate around the country. The indictment comes as he is the leading contender seeking the 2024 Republican presidential nomination. The office of Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg confirmed the indictment Thursday evening. "This evening we contacted Mr. Trump's attorney to coordinate his surrender to the Manhattan D.A.'s Office for arraignment on a Supreme Court indictment, which remains under seal. Guidance will be provided when the arraignment date is selected," said a spokesperson for Bragg's office. The number of charges Trump faces in the indictment was not disclosed Thursday. And it was not known whether the indictment was limited to conduct related to the payment to Daniels or if it also includes conduct surrounding a separate hush money payment to former Playboy model Karen McDougal by the publisher of The National Enquirer. Trump's lawyers told CNBC on Thursday night they didn't know the charges. Trump was caught off guard by the news of the indictment, according to various media reports. He blasted the decision, calling it "Political Persecution and Election Interference at the highest level in history." Just Wednesday, he had said in a social media post that he had "gained such respect for this grand jury."
Pence calls Trump indictment ‘an outrage’ - Former Vice President Mike Pence on Thursday called a Manhattan grand jury’s decision to indict former President Trump an “outrage,” and declined to say if Trump should drop out of the 2024 race if he’s convicted. “The unprecedented indictment of a former president of the United States on a campaign finance issue is an outrage,” Pence said on CNN. “And it appears to millions of Americans to be nothing more than a political prosecution that’s driven by a prosecutor who literally ran for office on a pledge to indict the former president.” A grand jury voted earlier Thursday to indict Trump on criminal charges for his role in organizing hush money payments made to an adult film star during his 2016 campaign. The indictment, which remains under seal, follows an investigation by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg (D) that centered on a $130,000 payment fixer Michael Cohen made to adult film star Stormy Daniels shortly before the election. Trump is expected to be arraigned next week, and his team and Bragg’s office are working on arranging his surrender to authorities. Trump and his allies have widely decried the indictment as a political prosecution intended to damage his standing atop the polls in a GOP 2024 primary race.
Tucker Carlson: Trump indictment ‘greater assault’ on democracy than Jan. 6 - Fox News host Tucker Carlson said the indictment of former president Trump by a New York grand jury on Thursday was a bigger assault on the American system of government than the Jan. 6, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol by the former president’s supporters. “If you believe in our system and you want it to continue, you have to raise your hand and say stop, because this is too great an assault on our system, much greater than anything we saw on January 6th, that’s for certain,” Carlson said on his top-watched show on Fox as news of Trump’s indictment broke. Carlson’s defense of Trump is notable given recent criticisms Trump has leveled against Fox over its coverage of Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) and private comments made by Carlson and others at Fox after the 2020 election, which have been unearthed as part of an ongoing defamation lawsuit the network is fighting. “We are very very close to being able to ignore Trump most nights. I truly can’t wait,” Carlson wrote in one text message to an unidentified Fox employee on Jan. 4, 2021, according to one court filing from Dominion Voting Systems as part of its $1.6 billion claim against the network. “I hate him passionately,” Carlson said of Trump in another message. Fox has said the messages of its employees have been “cherry picked” to drum up press coverage of the case and Carlson last week said he was enraged that his private messages about Trump had been made public through the lawsuit.
Lindsey Graham: Trump should 'smash some windows' in New York - Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) joked on Twitter that former President Trump should “smash some windows, rob a few shops and punch a cop” on his way to the Manhattan district attorney’s office as a tactic to avoid prosecution. Graham, the senior Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee, made the ironic comment to allude to Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s (D) reputation as a soft-on-crime prosecutor and his record of winning fewer felony convictions than his predecessor. “How can President Trump avoid prosecution in New York?” Graham tweeted to set up his punchline. “On the way to the DA’s office on Tuesday, Trump should smash some windows, rob a few shops and punch a cop. He would be released IMMEDIATELY!” he wrote. The joke took a shot at Bragg’s record in office since winning election in 2021. The New York Post reported in November that Bragg had downgraded 52 percent of felony cases in his jurisdiction to misdemeanors — doing so significantly more often than his predecessor, former Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr. The Post also reported that Bragg’s office won conviction in only 51 percent of felony cases, compared to the 68-percent conviction rate Vance compiled in 2019. Bragg has come under fire from critics for circulating a memo in January of last year instructing prosecutors to seek prison sentences for only the most serious crimes.
Trump indictment marks a first for U.S. democracy. It may not be the last. President Warren G. Harding was in danger of facing criminal charges in 1921 in the Teapot Dome bribery scandal, but he died in office first. Richard M. Nixon faced almost certain indictment after the Watergate scandal forced his resignation in 1974, but his successor and former vice president, Gerald Ford, pardoned him. Those cases were as close as any current or former president had ever come to criminal charges in the 234 years since George Washington took office, until Donald Trump’s indictment on Thursday by a Manhattan grand jury. The expected prosecution of Trump shatters an unwritten American political norm and brings the United States more in line with dozens of other nations, including democracies such as South Korea, Brazil, France, Italy and Israel, that have criminally charged, convicted and in many cases jailed former leaders. It also left U.S. historians and legal scholars puzzling over what the new legal landscape will look like for future presidents. Several said it was a moment that could open a new era of legal peril for former presidents, including the possibility of tit-for-tat, politically motivated prosecutions. “Anyone who is worried that this will be the beginning of a pattern of indicting past presidents is right to be worried,” said Jill Lepore, a Harvard University historian and author. “The problem is not doing it but making it a habit,” she said. “If it happens once, the rule of law has held. If it happens after every presidency, the rule of law is lost.” Trump and his backers allege that the charges — which have not been unsealed, but which are expected to involve possible violations of campaign finance laws when Trump paid $130,000 in hush money to an adult film actress with whom he had an affair — have already taken the country down that path.
‘Delay, delay, delay’: How Trump could push his trial into the heart of campaign season - The ink on Donald Trump’s indictment has hardly had time to dry, but already there’s a widespread expectation that the former president will turn to a time-honored Trumpian strategy: delay. By dragging out the proceedings between the indictment and his trial, Trump could push the trial deep into the 2024 presidential campaign — with Trump expected to be the top contender for the Republican nomination. Trump has spent decades refining tactics for prolonging his legal fights as his lawyers attempt to out-wait and outlast the patience of his adversaries. Though a criminal indictment presents him with a different set of options — and obstacles — than his many previous bouts in civil court, there is still a substantial menu for him to choose from. “If they’re doing their job, they’re going to do everything they can to delay, delay, delay, delay,” said Catherine Christian, a 30-year veteran of the Manhattan district attorney’s office who is now a defense attorney. “Every single motion they can think of. That’s what they’re going to file.” Among the moves that could chew up time: an attempt to dismiss the entire case, a bid to relocate his trial outside of New York City, an effort to disqualify the prosecutor or judge in his case, a bid to move the case from state to federal court, extensive negotiations over security protocols for his appearances in court and a motion to reduce his charges from felonies to misdemeanors. Trump’s lawyers have also signaled they are likely to try to get the judge to pry into the grand jury proceedings, looking to show that the charges lack probable cause or that there was some impropriety in instructing the grand jurors. Such efforts are almost impossible in federal courts, but allowed in New York. “You’d … make a motion to ask for the court to review the grand jury minutes and determine whether or not the D.A. presented legally sufficient evidence,” said Michael Scotto, a former chief of the Rackets Bureau in the same Manhattan D.A.’s office prosecuting Trump. “It’s not the lockbox it is in the federal system.” Ironically, Trump could also cause delay by complaining about the prosecution’s own foot-dragging. He can argue that the delay in filing charges over events that occurred about six years ago violates his due process rights under the New York constitution, Scotto added.
Jamie Dimon In Hot-Seat As Sworn Deposition Looms In Epstein Lawsuits - JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon will be in the hot seat, as he is expected to be deposed under oath regarding his bank's decision to keep deceased pedophile sex-trafficker Jeffrey Epstein as a client despite public knowledge of his status as a registered sex offender, the Financial Times reports, citing people familiar with the matter.The sworn deposition - the latest development in two combined high-profile cases, is expected to take place in May behind closed doors.The lawsuits claim that JPMorgan, which banked Epstein for 15 years from 1998 to 2013, benefited from human trafficking and ignored several internal warnings about their client’s illegal behaviour. The lender has described the claims as meritless. The pre-trial process unearthed communications between JPMorgan employees that contained a reference to a “Dimon review” into the bank’s relationship with Epstein. The bank has denied that Dimon had any knowledge of such a review. –FT The US Virgin Islands and a group of Epstein victims claim Dimon had knowledge of Epstein's activities based on emails exchanged between the late sex offender and former executive Jes Staley using his JPMorgan email address."Jamie Dimon knew in 2008 that his billionaire client was a sex trafficker," argued US Virgin Islands attorney Mimi Liu during a March hearing in front of Manhattan US District Judge Jed Rakoff, referring to the year Epstein was first criminally charged with sex crimes, CNBC reports.
Wells Fargo fined $98m for helping foreign bank skirt sanctions - Federal regulators slapped Wells Fargo with a total of $97.8 million in fines for its role in helping a foreign bank avoid U.S. sanctions on more than half a billion dollars of transactions. The Federal Reserve dinged the San Francisco-based bank for $67.8 million, while the Treasury Department, through its Office of Foreign Assets Control, tacked on an additional $30 million in penalties. Between 2010 and 2015, Wells Fargo provided a trading platform to an unnamed foreign bank, according to a consent order released by the Fed on Thursday. The foreign bank used that platform to process non-dollar trading instruments involving parties in locations subject to three U.S. sanctions programs. The illegal transactions totaled $532 million. A consent order serves as a settlement between a bank and its regulator. By accepting its terms, Wells Fargo has waived its right to contest the matter and agreed to pay all associated fines. The $1.88 trillion bank neither admits or denies the Fed's allegations outlined in the order. "Wells Fargo is pleased to resolve this legacy matter involving conduct that ended in 2015, which we voluntarily self-reported and fully cooperated with OFAC and the Federal Reserve Board to address," a bank spokesperson said in a written statement. The Fed's document does not name the foreign bank or specify where the sanctioned parties were located. The platform was Eximbills, a finance system developed by China-based China Systems Corp. and distributed by the Indonesia-based information technology firm Refine Consulting.
As Senate Banking Committee Convenes Hearing on Exploding Banks, an FDIC Chart Shows the Banking Crisis Is Far from Over By Pam and Russ Martens --Senator Sherrod Brown (D-OH), the Chair of the Senate Banking Committee, will convene a hearing this morning at 10 a.m. to take testimony from federal bank regulators on why the second and third largest bank failures in U.S. history occurred within two days of each other this month. (A number of other regional banks have seen their share prices plunge this month.)The two banks that failed and were taken over by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) were Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) and Signature Bank. Both had experienced bank runs in March and both had extreme exposure to uninsured deposits. One of the witnesses at today’s hearing, Martin Gruenberg, Chair of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), explains as followsin his written testimony for today’s hearing:“A common thread between the failure of SVB and the failure of Signature Bank was the banks’ heavy reliance on uninsured deposits. As of December 31, 2022, Signature Bank reported that approximately 90 percent of its deposits were uninsured, and SVB reported that 88 percent of its deposits were uninsured. The significant proportion of uninsured deposit balances exacerbated deposit run vulnerabilities and made both banks susceptible to contagion effects from the quickly evolving financial developments. One clear takeaway from recent events is that heavy reliance on uninsured deposits creates liquidity risks that are extremely difficult to manage, particularly in today’s environment where money can flow out of institutions with incredible speed in response to news amplified through social media channels.”Gruenberg has included a chart in his written testimony that is nothing short of stunning. (See chart above.) It shows that the unrealized losses on investment securities at federally-insured U.S. banks during the 2008 financial crisis were less than $75 billion while at the end of the fourth quarter of 2022 they were over $600 billion.You are no doubt asking yourself how 2008 could have been the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression if banks had less than $75 billion in unrealized losses on their investment securities. That’s because the mega banks on Wall Street were highly interconnected, understood how highly-leveraged each one was, and backed away from extending credit as the panic started to spread. The official report from the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission (FCIC) reveals the following about the leadup to the 2008 crash:“…as of 2007, the five major investment banks—Bear Stearns, Goldman Sachs, Lehman Brothers, Merrill Lynch, and Morgan Stanley—were operating with extraordinarily thin capital. By one measure, their leverage ratios were as high as 40 to 1, meaning for every $40 in assets, there was only $1 in capital to cover losses. Less than a 3% drop in asset values could wipe out a firm.”Also, the chart above does not capture the losses and contagion the Wall Street banks themselves created in the broader financial system through their bundling and selling of hundreds of billions of dollars of toxic subprime mortgage debt and derivatives. The FCIC reports explains as follows:“Most home loans entered the pipeline soon after borrowers signed the documents and picked up their keys. Loans were put into packages and sold off in bulk to securitization firms—including investment banks such as Merrill Lynch, Bear Stearns, and Lehman Brothers, and commercial banks and thrifts such as Citibank, Wells Fargo, and Washington Mutual. The firms would package the loans into residential mortgage–backed securities that would mostly be stamped with triple-A ratings by the credit rating agencies, and sold to investors. In many cases, the securities were repackaged again into collateralized debt obligations (CDOs)—often composed of the riskier portions of these securities—which would then be sold to other investors. Most of these securities would also receive the coveted triple-A ratings that investors believed attested to their quality and safety. Some investors would buy an invention from the 1990s called a credit default swap (CDS) to protect against the securities’ defaulting. For every buyer of a credit default swap, there was a seller: as these investors made opposing bets, the layers of entanglement in the securities market increased.”
Lawmakers slam regulators following Silicon Valley Bank failure - Lawmakers raked banking regulators at the Federal Reserve, Treasury Department and Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) over the coals during a hearing of the Senate Banking Committee on Tuesday after the agencies failed to act on signs that Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) was in trouble, mobilizing instead to bail out depositors after it had collapsed. While Democrats argued for stronger legislation on the banking industry and Republicans focused on lapses in regulatory practice, it was the regulators themselves who bore the brunt of the criticism from both parties. “For over a year, regulators were saying to this bank, ‘straighten up and fly right,’ and they never did a damn thing about it,” Sen. Jon Tester (D-Mont.) said. “You did not have to be an accountant to figure out what the hell was going on here.” “If you find as part of your review that certain individuals were clearly negligent in the performance of their duties, are you willing to recommend they be fired?” Sen. Steve Daines (R-Mont.) asked Fed Vice Chairman for Supervision Michael Barr, who is currently leading an investigation into SVB’s collapse and why regulators weren’t able to stop it. The CEO of the failed SVB, Greg Becker, who was also a board member of the San Francisco Federal Reserve, did not appear before the Senate Banking Committee on Tuesday despite widespread agreement that the bank failed due to incompetent management. The issue of why bank bosses should be allowed to serve on the boards of regulatory bodies that have authority over them went largely unaddressed, although there is newly proposed legislation to prohibit the practice. The blame game over the collapse of SVB and the bailout of its depositors — well above the standard $250,000 FDIC insurance limit — is playing out over the expanse of the U.S. financial system, with lawmakers blaming regulators, regulators blaming bankers and bankers blaming the herd mentality of bank runs supercharged by social media.
Fed official: Bank rules under review in wake of SVB failure - (AP) — The Federal Reserve’s bank supervisors warned Silicon Valley Bank’s management as early as the fall of 2021 of risks stemming from its unusual business model, a top Fed official said Tuesday, but its managers failed to take the steps necessary to fix the problems.The Fed official, Michael Barr, the nation’s top banking regulator, said during a Senate Banking Committee hearing that the Fed is considering whether stronger bank rules are needed to prevent a similar failure in the future. Silicon Valley Bank’s management was deficient, Barr said. In particular, he said, the interest rate model the bank used “was not at all aligned with reality.”The timeline that Barr laid out for when the Fed had alerted Silicon Valley’s management to the risks it faced is earlier than the central bank has previously said the bank was on its radar screen.Tuesday’s hearing was the first formal congressional inquiry into the March 10 collapse of Silicon Valley Bank and the subsequent failure of New York-based Signature Bank, the second- and third-largest bank failures in U.S. history. The failures set off financial tremors in the U.S. and Europe and led the Fed and other government agencies to back all deposits at the two banks, even though nearly 90% of both banks’ deposits exceeded the $250,000 insurance threshold. The Fed also established a new lending program to enable banks to more easily raise cash if needed.Late Sunday, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. said that resolving the two banks, including reimbursing depositors, would cost its insurance fund $20 billion, the largest such impact in its history. The FDIC plans to recoup those funds through a levy on all banks, which will likely be passed on to consumers.
SVB mess festered under Fed's bureaucracy and feel-good culture --—For the Federal Reserve system, oversight failures ahead of the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank ran coast to coast. At the San Francisco Fed — largely responsible for monitoring SVB — there was heightened turnover among supervisory officials in recent years, according to people close to the situation. The culture under President Mary Daly at times put more emphasis on improving relationships among staff than installing people with strong oversight backgrounds, leading to departures, the people said. Staff for the Fed board in Washington had informed some officials of their concern around Daly's management of her branch's supervisory and regulatory work, according to four of the people familiar with the matter. The sudden collapse of SVB — the second-largest bank failure in US history — and the ensuing fallout has the Fed reckoning with how its oversight went wrong. Lawmakers on Wednesday are set for a second day of testimony on the crisis from Vice Chair of Supervision Michael Barr, who is leading an internal review that's set to be released by May. In and around the central bank, the finger-pointing has already started, with blame taking shape from the San Francisco branch to the Board of Governors ultimately in charge. "There was a significant supervisory failure," Dan Tarullo, a former Fed governor who oversaw financial regulation and supervision at the board, said Thursday on Bloomberg Television's "Wall Street Week" with David Westin. One issue he raised was the Fed's failure to stress-test banks for potential vulnerabilities from soaring interest rates, which were a major contributor to SVB's downfall.Bloomberg has reported that San Francisco Fed examiners identified warning signs at the California lender more than a year ago, and in recent months raised concern over the firm's monitoring of risks tied to rising interest rates. Barr told the Senate Banking Committee Tuesday that supervisors issued multiple warnings to SVB and called its failure "a textbook case" of bad bank management. SVB — whose chief executive officer, Greg Becker, was on the San Francisco Fed's nine-member board from 2019 until his company's implosion — collapsed following bets on bonds that lost value as interest rates rose. Its Silicon Valley clients began drawing down their deposits en masse, forcing the lender to sell assets at losses and setting off a panicked run on the bank. Becker, like directors of all regional Fed banks, had no involvement in the San Francisco Fed's supervisory or regulatory decisions.
Free Money Turned Brains to Mush, Now Some Banks Fail - Wolf Richter - There’s a lot of talk that the Federal Reserve broke the banks with its rate hikes and quantitative tightening, and that the Fed killed Silicon Valley Bank, etc. etc. But the Fed didn’t break anything with its rate hikes and QT, except consensual hallucination, as I call it, in the Free Money era. What did break Silicon Valley Bank was the Fed’s refusal to regulate it properly. The Fed is the dominant banking regulator. And it just let the bank do its thing, and it loosened its regulations for mid-size banks in 2018, and when the Fed as banking regulator started getting nervous about it, it still didn’t actually push the bank to fix its problems, and it still let it do its thing. The collapse of Silicon Valley Bank was a regulatory failure. And it was a reckless management failure, obviously, and those folks should spend some quality time in the hoosegow. But there’s another issue that forms the foundation for all this – and the Fed is solely responsible for it: The 14 years of free money policies by the Fed. From what we now know, free money is like a virus that turns brains to mush. The Fed has broken all kinds of things with its interest-rate repression and money printing that have created this era of Free Money. The biggest thing it has broken – and this is a huge thing – is price stability. After 40 years of relatively calm inflation, we now have raging inflation, and this inflation has moved from goods to services, and services is nearly two-thirds of consumer spending, and inflation is now raging in services at the worst pace in 40 years, and in services is where inflation is very difficult to eradicate. Way too late, the Fed is now trying to actually fix this huge thing – price stability – that it has broken. So we got this huge mess of heavy-breathing inflation that the Fed has been trying to address over the past 12 months, after having fallen at least a year behind. The Fed has been addressing this inflation with rate hikes and quantitative tightening. So that’s the end of free money. And now, in addition to this heavy breathing inflation, we have a crisis in the banking system because the brains of some banking executives had been turned to mush by 14 years of free money. And when I say “free money” with regards to banks, I mean it literally. Since 2008, banks have been borrowing from depositors at 0% interest or near 0% interest. Even today, even as some banks are trying to attract more deposits by offering higher interest rates, even today when the Fed’s short-term rates are near 5%, the average interest rate on savings accounts is still only 0.4%. Even today, 0.4%. But until March last year, it was 0.06%. For all practical purposes this is 0%. It means that on savings of $100,000, the bank would pay its customers just $60 in interest, when it should have paid them $3,000 or $4,000 in interest. For checking accounts and other transaction accounts, the banks paid 0% interest. For banks this was the era of free money – and a lot of free money. Banks now have about $17 trillion in deposits, and that’s $17 trillion in free money for the banks, thanks to the Fed’s 14 years of interest rate repression. The Fed’s monetary policies have allowed and encourage banks to screw their customers – to just take their money and not pay them any interest on it. And so now this free-money era is coming to a gradual end – the banks are mostly still not paying interest. As I said, the average savings account interest rate is 0.4% and the average checking account interest rate is 0%. But gradually banks are having to offer higher rates or else customers might yank their money out. And suddenly some banks get in trouble? Banks got in trouble because a bunch of these genius bankers could not even imagine life without free money, and they recklessly refused to prepare for the end of free money. And they made an awful mess.
Isolated issues or systemic risks? The Fed's framing conundrum -Federal Reserve Vice Chair for Supervision Michael Barr has two distinct, if not contradictory, messages to convey on Capitol Hill this week. Barr will appear in front of Senate and House committees this week alongside other bank regulators to discuss recent volatility in the banking sector. During those hearings, he will attempt to frame the failures that set off the crisis as the result of uniquely poor bank-level management. He will also use them as evidence that broader reforms are needed."The events of the last few weeks raise questions about evolving risks and what more can and should be done so that isolated banking problems do not undermine confidence in healthy banks and threaten the stability of the banking system as a whole," Barr will tell lawmakers, according to written remarks released by the Fed on Monday. "At the forefront of my mind is the importance of maintaining the strength and diversity of banks of all sizes that serve communities across the country." The duality of Barr's remarks — which largely mirror views expressed by Fed Chair Jerome Powell last week — are politically necessary, Fed watchers say, but also difficult to square. Playing up concerns about the banking sector broadly could feed into the general public's worst fears, and prompt further bank runs, they say. Yet, focusing too much on the idiosyncrasies that fell Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank — or the Fed's own supervisory shortcomings — could fuel those who say systemic reforms are not the appropriate response to one-off failures. Dennis Kelleher, head of the consumer advocacy group Better Markets, said the comments encapsulate "the tension between what public officials have to say to stop a crisis and contagion, and their duty to address the regulatory and supervisory flaws that caused the crisis and contagion." "Accomplishing the former undermines building the political will necessary to do the latter," Kelleher added. Early in his remarks, Barr blames Silicon Valley Bank for its own failure, calling it "a textbook case of mismanagement." He cited the Santa Clara, Calif.-based bank's concentration in the venture-funded tech space, its failure to hedge its long-dated bonds against the risk of rising interest rates and its reliance on uninsured deposits for funding as fatal flaws by the bank.He also emphasizes that the bank's demise came under "extraordinary" circumstances, noting that depositors coordinated to request more than $40 billion of withdrawals in a single day. The rapid drawdown occurred after the bank crystallized a $1.8 billion loss on its securities portfolio and attempted to raise capital to improve its liquidity position."Uninsured depositors interpreted these actions as a signal that the bank was in distress," Barr said. "They turned their focus to the bank's balance sheet, and they did not like what they saw."
Could the Fed have stopped Silicon Valley Bank from selling hedges? - - In one year, Silicon Valley Bank went from having more than $15 billion of interest rate hedges on its balance sheet to less than $600 million. In the wake of the Santa Clara, California, bank's failure — which was driven, in part, by its unhedged interest rate risk — some are asking whether regulators should have allowed Silicon Valley to offload those assets at a time when interest rates were on the rise. "Imagine if, in March 2023, Silicon Valley Bank had $15 billion of its [available-for-sale] portfolio hedged," said Dennis Kelleher, head of the consumer advocacy group Better Markets. "It likely wouldn't fail, there would have been no loss, there would be no crash." At the end of 2021, the bank was holding $15.26 billion of interest rate swap contracts, according to its year-end financial report. In the first quarter of 2022, it sold $5 billion of swaps along with their related securities and in July it sold another $6 billion of swaps, though it did not specify if the related securities were sold, too. Kelleher and others say the Federal Reserve, Silicon Valley Bank's primary federal regulator, should have intervened to prevent the bank from selling its hedges, especially considering the central bank's supervisors had been flagging issues related to risk management and corporate governance at the bank since late 2021. ""You are not running a consulting operation. You are running a regulatory operation who can force banks to follow that advice," Rep. Brad Sherman, D-Calif., told Fed Vice Chair for Supervision Michael Barr during a House hearing on the banking crisis on Wednesday. "Interest rates go up, interest rates go down. Certainly, the Fed, in auditing banks, ought to know that."During the hearing, Barr fielded criticism from both sides of the aisle. Rep. Blaine Luetkemeyer, R-Mo., pressed him on why the Fed's actions against Silicon Valley Bank did not result in substantial and timely changes."That's a question for our review," said Barr, who is leading an internal investigation into the factors that contributed to Silicon Valley Bank's failure. "We don't know, I don't yet know the answer. Could the staff have escalated more? Should they have done more? What were the interactions with the bank? That's all part of the supervisory record that will be in the May 1 report."
Hearing pries details from regulators on SVB-Signature failures — Federal regulators fielded intense questions from both sides of the aisle on the oversight of Silicon Valley Bank and what regulators knew about the bank's impending failure several weeks ago. In a hearing before the House Financial Services Committee, Federal Reserve Vice Chairman for Supervision Michael Barr said that he became aware of Silicon Valley Bank's acute troubles on Thursday, the day before the bank failed. Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. Chairman Martin Gruenberg said he was also told that Thursday evening. Lawmakers continued pointing fingers at the bank's management and at federal supervisors for the bank's failures. The regulators said different parties share responsibility. "Anytime you have a failure like this, bank management really failed, supervisors failed and our regulatory system failed," Barr said. Gruenberg also said that regulators and the bank share the blame. "I think bank management had responsibility," he said. "I think we as the regulators of the institution had responsibility." The Fed was in discussions with Silicon Valley Bank that Thursday to move pledgeable collateral to the discount window, Barr said. The team tasked with supervising Silicon Valley Bank has 20 full-time equivalent staff at the San Francisco Fed, but he wasn't aware how often those supervisors were physically at the bank. "Staff were working with Silicon Valley Bank basically all afternoon and evening and through the morning the next day to pledge as much collateral as humanly possible," Barr said.
Janet Yellen says bank deregulation may have gone too far --Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen warned that deregulatory efforts that watered down some post-2008 financial reforms might have gone too far and contributed to the recent banking crisis. "These events remind us of the urgent need to complete unfinished business: to finalize post-crisis reforms, consider whether deregulation may have gone too far and repair the cracks in the regulatory perimeter that the recent shocks have revealed," Yellen said in the text of a speech she's scheduled to deliver Thursday afternoon. Congress significantly strengthened bank oversight following the global financial crisis, but some of those rules were rolled back, especially for mid-sized banks, under former President Donald Trump. Yellen in her speech also highlighted that the Trump administration had gutted the staffing dedicated to addressing financial risk. As the Biden administration's top economic official and regulatory wrangler, Yellen can add substantial heft to any concerted push to toughen financial rules in the aftermath of the recent U.S. bank failures. Still, while agencies like the Federal Reserve can strengthen their application of existing laws, enacting new legislation will prove difficult given the split partisan control of the House and Senate. Yellen focused on the danger of "fire sales," where panic spurs investors to dump assets at prices below their fair value — a dynamic that can end up crippling the broader financial system and damaging the economy. She identified a number of areas where more work is needed to minimize the danger of such fire sales. Among the targets needing attention are non-bank financial intermediaries, from money-market funds and hedge funds to digital asset providers, she said.
Biden calls for tougher bank rules, but omits calls for legislation -— President Joe Biden asked regulators to reinstate rules that would give tougher oversight to banks between $100 billion and $250 billion in assets, a range that would have included Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank. In the aftermath of the two bank failures and the panic that ensued after regulators declared a systemic risk exception, policymakers have tried to figure out to what degree bank regulation should be shifted to account for the problems that precipitated the collapse. The Biden administration is apparently prioritizing a rollback of rules enacted by regulators appointed by former President Trump. In a fact sheet released by the White House, Biden claimed that the Dodd-Frank Act rules would have put Silicon Valley Bank under more scrutiny. "Unfortunately, Trump administration regulators weakened many important common-sense requirements and supervision for large regional banks like Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank, whose recent failure led to contagion," the White House said. The White House cited a Yale University analysis that it says found that Silicon Valley Bank would have, as of the end of 2022, been well below the liquidity threshold that would have applied had the Trump administration not "exempted the bank from those rules." "As we just saw, Silicon Valley Bank's liquidity stress contributed to its failure and quickly transmitted to other banks," the White House said. "Bank regulators are encouraged to consider reinstating these requirements and using rigorous liquidity stress tests that factor in the risks of faster withdrawals in an always-on online environment."
Fed's Barr says stronger capital, liquidity rules needed after crisis - — The Federal Reserve's top regulator told Congress the recent crisis in the banking system will likely result in new capital and liquidity requirements for mid-tier and larger banks. Fed Vice Chair for Supervision Michael Barr joined Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. Chairman Martin Gruenberg and Treasury Undersecretary for Domestic Finance Nellie Liang for the first in two congressional appearances — this time before the Senate Banking Committee — Tuesday morning. During the hearing, Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., asked regulators if the failures of Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank earlier this month would cause them to pursue rule changes to prevent similar collapses. "We, of course, would need to go through a notice and comment rulemaking in this process," Barr said. "But, I anticipate the need to strengthen capital and liquidity standards for firms over $100 billion." Gruenberg added that he favors revisiting some of the rule changes enacted by his predecessor, former FDIC Chair Jelena McWilliams, most of which were aimed at reducing the regulatory burden on banks. "I was a member of the board at that time and voted against those measures," Gruenberg said. "And I certainly think it's appropriate for us to go back and review those actions in light of the recent episode and consider what changes [might be appropriate]." The regulators' calls for expanding oversight practices and stiffening capital requirements drew the ire of some lawmakers who feel the root causes of the crisis was the management of the individual banks and the inability of supervisors to address them. "Each of you were asked, 'Would you like to see more powers, more strength?' Every single one of you said yes when you don't actually know if you utilize the tools in your toolbox correctly, or if the people that were under your supervision were supervising appropriately," said Sen. Katie Britt, R-Ala. "I think that's what people hate about Washington. We have a crisis and you come in here without knowing whether or not you did your job. You say you want more. That's not the way this works. You need to be held accountable."
Democrats focus on capital rules after bank failures -— Democratic lawmakers and officials are beginning to zero in on capital rules as needed adjustments to banking regulatory policy after the failures of Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank, blaming Republicans for their role in pushing for looser oversight in recent years. While lawmakers and President Joe Biden are limited in what they can accomplish in Congress since Republicans control the House, they're nonetheless turning on the political heat over the banking industry's and Republicans' efforts to loosen capital rules around banks in the $100 billion to $250 billion asset range. Thursday's letter is indicative of the political mudslinging expected around the banking industry in the lead up to the 2024 presidential elections. In a letter to Federal Reserve Vice Chair for Supervision Michael Barr, Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. Chairman Martin Gruenberg and Acting Comptroller of the Currency Michael Hsu, Democratic senators asked the regulators to follow through with establishing "strong" capital requirements for banks by aligning with the Basel III framework. The lawmakers, who included Sens. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., and Tammy Duckworth, D-Ill., said that banking industry lobbyists are trying to claim negligence on the part of regulators, notably the Fed, and maintain that more rules aren't needed. "These industry officials are right that bank regulators' failures are a key part of the reason that Signature and SVB failed — but this does not obviate the need for strong capital requirements," the lawmakers wrote. "You must resist this industry spin and continue their long-overdue work to implement strong capital standards that keep our financial system safe." The senators also criticized a push by Republicans to lobby for weakened capital requirements just prior to Silicon Valley Bank's collapse. In the letter, dated March 3, a group of Republicans led by Senate Banking Committee ranking member Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C., wrote to Fed Chairman Jerome Powell that increasing capital standards "appears unfounded as banks subject to the current regulatory capital regime seem to have weathered the real-life stress test of the COVID-19 pandemic well." "The failures of SVB and Signature, and the regulatory and supervisory failures that enabled its costly collapse, are directly tied to the big banks' and Republican policymakers' cynical efforts to weaken our regulatory framework," the Democratic senators said. "In order to prevent future bank crises and protect working Americans, we urge your agencies to quickly implement strong capital requirements and resist industry pressure to weaken or delay these requirements." The call for bank regulators to strengthen capital requirements comes at the same time as a lengthy speech from Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, who called for more regulation and finishing parts of Dodd-Frank that have languished as banks appeared to be doing well in the last few years.
FDIC's Gruenberg floats tougher resolution rules for midsize banks - — In his first public comments since the onset of a panic that led to the failure of Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank, Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. Chairman Martin Gruenberg will testify that capital treatment for unrealized losses on securities and resolution plans for banks over $100 billion in assets "merits serious attention." "The two bank failures also demonstrate the implications that banks with assets over $100 billion can have for financial stability," Gruenberg wrote in his prepared testimony. "The prudential regulation of these institutions merits serious attention, particularly for capital, liquidity, and interest rate risk. This would include the capital treatment associated with unrealized losses in banks' securities portfolios. Resolution plan requirements for these institutions also merit review, including a long-term debt requirement to facilitate orderly resolution." The pile of unrealized losses on securities that Gruenberg highlighted prior to Silicon Valley Bank's collapse is a particular target of the FDIC chairman's comments. "One clear takeaway from recent events is that heavy reliance on uninsured deposits creates liquidity risks that are extremely difficult to manage, particularly in today's environment where money can flow out of institutions with incredible speed in response to news amplified through social media channels," he said. Gruenberg will testify alongside Federal Reserve Vice Chairman for Supervision Michael Barr and top Treasury official Nellie Liang at the Senate Banking Committee on Tuesday. The trio will testify again on Wednesday in front of the House Financial Services Committee. The hearings are expected to be contentious, with some Democratic lawmakers building the case that oversight requirements for midsize banks are too lax and the $250,000 deposit insurance limit is too low. Republicans, meanwhile, will likely scrutinize the Fed's oversight of Silicon Valley Bank and the FDIC's process for selling off both failed institutions. Gruenberg said that the FDIC received only two bids for Silicon Valley Bank before federal regulators declared a systemic risk exception for the bank and for Signature Bank. One of those bids was invalid, Gruenberg said, because the institution didn't submit a resolution from its board of directors authorizing its offer. "The costs associated with the sole valid offer would have resulted in recoveries significantly below the estimated recoveries in liquidation," he said. The FDIC's chief risk officer will review the FDIC's supervision of Signature Bank, which, unlike Silicon Valley Bank, was under the FDIC's regulatory purview (Silicon Valley Bank was overseen by the Fed). The FDIC's report will include policy options related to deposit insurance coverage levels, excess deposit insurance and the "implications for risk based pricing and deposit insurance fund adequacy." The Fed previously announced that Barr would review the central bank's oversight of Silicon Valley Bank.
CFPB's Chopra: regulators need to assess risks in faster communications --Rohit Chopra, the director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, said regulators will need to assess how fast communications can precipitate a bank run, even at banks that had previously been considered well below the thresholds to create a systemic risk. Chopra gave a blow-by-blow account of the liquidity crisis and the response by regulators to invoke a systemic risk exception that bailed out the depositors of Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank Tuesday during a panel at a Consumer Bankers Association conference in Las Vegas. Chopra highlighted many issues that are now known about both banks: they served a specific niche of corporate not retail depositors, had high levels of uninsured deposits and were not diversified, which made them more vulnerable to a bank run. "It's a clear data point that $100 billion-dollar banks can really cause a lot of systemic risk and ultimately contagion across the financial system," Chopra said. "There's no question that one viral social media posting really could have a contagious effect." Chopra said he is specifically worried about deposits kept in peer-to-peer payment applications. Regulators also are focused on payments-clearing, settlement providers and nonbanks — including mortgage servicers, and the potential chaos that a nonbank failure could have on individual households. "I'm not sure there are clear solutions other than us as regulators and industry accepting that faster communication is an opportunity and a risk," he said. "I think you'll start seeing greater attention about liquidity, managing interest rate risk, making sure that there is a robust capital framework, and of course, quite a bit more on resolution planning and stress testing." Chopra pegged the start of the crisis to March 1st when crypto-friendly Silvergate Bank, based in La Jolla, Calif., warned investors of its ability to operate as a going concern. Silvergate self-liquidated on March 8, the same day that Silicon Valley Bank announced a capital raise and the sale of securities at a loss. "The market reaction to both of these [events] was fast and furious," Chopra said. "The rapid deterioration just proved to be too challenging in terms of doing due diligence, and getting a bid. So on Sunday, [March 12] all of the FDIC board, the Fed board and the Treasury, we decided to take a very dramatic step once we learned that Signature Bank had also failed to really activate some emergency powers and to guarantee the uninsured deposits of both Silicon Valley and Signature Bank."
CFPB head Chopra 'very open' to raising deposit insurance limit Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Director Rohit Chopra said Friday he's open to raising the limit on deposit insurance and suggested community banks could be exempt from having to pay for the failure of Silicon Valley Bank."I don't have any firm conclusions on that, but I'm certainly very open to that," Chopra, who also sits on the board of the FDIC, told Yahoo Finance when asked whether the level on deposit insurance should be raised."Ultimately this is gonna be a decision for Congress because that's set in the law and will be working with them as they revisit it too."Chopra's comments come as FDIC Chair Martin Gruenberg reviews potential changes to the deposit insurance system after the bank run on Silicon Valley Bankthree weeks ago and prepares a report due out by May 1.Chopra also signaled he agrees with Gruenberg on exempting community banks from new assessments to replenish the deposit insurance fund, which is projected to take a more than $20 billion hit from backstopping uninsured depositors at SVB and Signature Bank.Gruenberg was asked about the matter by lawmakers during Congressional hearings this week. He said the FDIC does have discretion, but ultimately it's up to the board to make that decision."I think it would be hard to say that community banks played a role in causing this," Chopra said. "If anything, they are offering a safer way for the system to operate. I think we have to take a hard look about whether we limit or exempt, the smallest and and safely operating banks from having to pay for this.”The White House also argued Thursday that smaller community banks should not have to pay for the failures of Silicon Valley Bank or New York’s Signature Bank.
Former FDIC Chair McWilliams warns against unlimited deposit insurance -Former Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. chair Jelena McWilliams cautioned against lifting the cap on insured deposits in the wake of bank runs that caused two banks to fail this month. McWilliams, speaking during a panel hosted by the Consumer Bankers Association on Wednesday, said raising the cap above its current $250,000 limit would have considerable costs that policymakers would have to take into consideration. "There is the moral hazard cost there, there is the market discipline cost, and then there's the actual dollar cost for banks," she said, noting that the latter would not be incurred without some kind of pushback. "One of the most [common] appeals that I received on anything was the deposit assessments on the banks and the amount we charged them." To prevent contagion in the wake of the failures of Santa Clara, Calif.-based Silicon Valley Bank and New York-based Signature Bank, federal regulators announced they would cover all deposits at the banks, even those well in excess of the $250,000 cap. In the weeks since, government officials have sent mixed signals about whether uninsured deposits elsewhere in the banking system would be backstopped. The ordeal has renewed a debate about what the appropriate cutoff should be for the federal deposit insurance. McWilliams led the FDIC from June 2018 to February 2022. Since leaving office, she has joined the law firm Cravath, Swaine & Moore, where she heads the financial institutions group practices. During the event, she declined to comment on the supervision of the two banks, which were taken over by the FDIC within two days of one another. She also did not have specific policy recommendations for how to prevent the issues at hand from leading to similar failures in the future. Instead, McWilliams urged politicians and regulators to take the time to fully understand the facts of what happened rather than changing policies based on preconceived notions. "Beware of fast-moving legislative vehicles," she said. "We will probably have some legislation. I don't know how far, how much, or what, but I think people will have somewhat of a knee-jerk reaction and I truly hope that cooler heads prevail."
Does deposit insurance matter if your bank can't fail? — Most companies don't expect their main banking partner to fail — indeed, before this month, none had failed since 2020. So rather than depositing their money into the safest possible accounts, many firms have instead prioritized interest rate returns and convenience over reducing deposit risk. Greyson Tuck, president of consulting firm Gerrish Smith Tuck, says Silicon Valley Bank's tech customers and their financial officers would rather hold large amounts of cash uninsured than manage hundreds of accounts in the name of absolute FDIC insurance coverage. "The CFOs of these companies are picking banks based on the services the bank will provide, the fees the bank will charge and the interest rate the bank will pay — not based on FDIC insurance," he said. "The risk of maintaining uninsured deposits for many CFOs was not as great as the hassle that would be experienced by trying to structure the deposits in order to have full FDIC insurance." Jaret Seiberg, managing partner at TD Cowen, says the risk of bank failure is so rare that most banks only have about half of their deposits covered by FDIC insurance. Seiberg says most companies can reasonably assume the risk of failure is negligible at institutions with relatively normal balance sheets. But Silicon Valley wasn't normal — its name recognition and hegemony for banking huge names in information and biomed technology, he said, may have overshadowed the questionable details buried deep in the weeds of its balance sheet and call reports. "If you're trying to create the next Google, you're not in the weeds on how your bank account works," Seiberg said. "We can argue that [they] should have hired somebody to be more fixated on the back office, but Silicon Valley Bank was the well-known partner of venture capital firms that helped create scores of new companies and millions of new jobs. So what in hindsight seems obvious, I'm not sure would have been as clear 18 months ago." While bank failures of any kind have been rare in recent years, Seiberg said, the causes of SVB and Signature's failures this month are even rarer — making them even less likely to raise alarms from the banks' customers before it was too late. "We haven't had a bank fail from interest rate risk or liquidity concerns since the end of the savings and loan crisis" in the early 1990s, Seiberg said. Part of the reason companies often structure their relationship with a depository institution to be simple and convenient — rather than as insured as possible — is because making all deposits insured is a considerable hassle. For multi-million dollar companies with many business lines, inflows and outflows, fully insuring deposits could mean holding hundreds of banking relationships with many different entities. Experts say this effect was made worse by the particular facets of the tech industry that SVB banked.
BankThink: It's past time to implement the law prohibiting excessive banker compensation | American Banker - In the wake of the recent bank failures, and the accompanying news that executives at these institutions recently paid themselves hefty bonuses, the Biden administration is calling for legislation authorizing the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. to claw back executive payouts when a bank fails. Not a bad idea, but fortunately many large banks already have strong clawback measures in place. What's missing are regulations making those measures mandatory and applicable to all banks. And the legislation on which to base those regulations has been around for a dozen years — regulators have just failed to act on it. Nearly all financial institutions with more than $100 billion in assets mandate deferral of a significant portion of senior executive officer (SEO) and senior risk taker (SRT) incentive compensation and for a significant period of time. Typically, these banks defer 60% of SEO and SRT incentive-based compensation for 3-5 years. Payouts of deferred awards may be adjusted downward to reflect poor risk outcomes or other information about risks taken that became available during the deferral period. Further, SEO and SRT awards are subject to being clawed back for a variety of reasons, including failure to identify, raise or assess material risks. As receiver, the FDIC steps into the shoes of a failed bank's shareholders and appoints bank management. In this role, the FDIC can direct the new bank management to determine whether it would be appropriate to cancel or lessen the payout of deferred amounts and claw back all or some of recent payouts. Nonetheless, President Biden is right to be concerned about the lack of regulations requiring banks to balance risk-taking and financial performance through well-tailored incentive compensation practices. There should be regulations like that. In the wake of the financial crisis, Section 956 of the Dodd-Frank Act mandated that the Federal Reserve, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, the FDIC, the National Credit Union Administration, the Securities and Exchange Commission, the FRB, the OCC and the Federal Housing Finance Agency prohibit incentive-based compensation arrangements that encourage inappropriate risks by a financial institution by providing excessive compensation; or that could lead to a material financial loss. The agencies proposed two rules — one in 2011, and one in 2016 — to implement Section 956. Neither rule was ever finalized. As an OCC lawyer, I had a lead role in the initial proposal and in the run-up to the second. The agencies worked very hard on these efforts — meeting weekly for hours to try to find common ground. Ultimately, however, the principals at the agencies could not reach agreement and seemingly dropped further efforts to do so. Thus, 13 years after President Obama signed Dodd-Frank, the agencies still have not acted to adopt the law's incentive compensation mandates. This, despite the agencies' assertion in the original 2011 proposal that "flawed incentive compensation practices in the financial industry" contributed to the financial crisis. Unfortunately, that seemed to be the only point on which the agencies could agree. With respect, I suggest that the Biden administration not waste time trying to pass more legislation, but instead ask the regulators to break this stalemate.
FDIC Sells Much of Silicon Valley Bank to First-Citizens Bank. Total Cost of SVB Collapse to Deposit Insurance Fund: $20 Bn by Wolf Richter - The FDIC is a liquidation machine. And so it announced Sunday night that it has made a purchase and assumption deal with First-Citizens Bank in Raleigh, North Carolina: First-Citizens will buy a big portion of the assets of Silicon Valley Bridge Bank and assume all its deposits (a liability).The FDIC had created the bridge bank to take on the assets and liabilities, including all deposits, of Silicon Valley Bank, which collapsed on March 10.On Monday morning, March 27, the 17 branches of Silicon Valley Bridge Bank will open as First-Citizens Bank. Depositors of Silicon Valley Bridge Bank will automatically become depositors of First-Citizens Bank. All transferred deposits will be insured by the FDIC “up to the insurance limit,” the FDIC said.Customers of Silicon Valley Bridge Bank should continue to use their current branch until First-Citizens Bank tells them that conversions of the banking systems have been completed to allow full-service banking at all of Citizen Bank’s other branch locations, the FDIC said.On the day that Silicon Valley Bank collapsed and the FDIC became its receiver– March 10, 2023 – it had $167 billion in assets and $119 billion in deposits, along with some other liabilities — which is what the FDIC took over. Today’s deal between the FDIC and First-Citizens includes:
- First-Citizens assumes all deposits that are still at the bridge bank (a liability).
- First-Citizens gets $72 billion in assets at a discount of 23%, or $16.5 billion.
- First-Citizens will assume all loan-related financial contracts.
- First-Citizens issued a $35 billion note to the FDIC as additional payment (in addition to assuming the deposits).
- FDIC gets equity appreciation rights in First Citizens BancShares, Inc. common stock [FCNCA] “with a potential value of up to $500 million.” The base share price of the deal is $582.55 per share [update Monday morning: the rights are already in the money, shares spiked 47% to $860.51. In terms of the FDIC’s base: +62%].
- A loss-share transaction on the commercial loans that First-Citizens purchased from the bridge bank; both parties will share in the losses and potential recoveries of the loans in the deal.
The FDIC will sell the remaining $90 billion in securities and other assets over time.The FDIC estimated that the total cost of the SVB collapse to the Deposit Insurance Fund will be $20 billion, after selling the remaining $90 billion in securities and other assets. This includes the additional costs of having covered all deposits, even those that are above the FDIC limits. On the day Silicon Valley Bank collapsed, there were still $119 billion in total deposits at the bank, according to the FDIC. The total shortage to cover all deposits would have been $20 billion, and if the FDIC had stuck to its insurance limits, that loss would have represented the maximum haircut for all uninsured depositors. It wouldn’t have been the end of the world.
FDIC grants First Citizens $70 billion credit line for SVB - First Citizens BancShares' acquisition of Silicon Valley Bank came with an unusual provision: a $70 billion line of credit, courtesy of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. The financing is meant to help First Citizens meet liquidity needs that arise in the next two years as it integrates SVB into its operations, the Raleigh, North Carolina, lender said in a regulatory filing. "This is not a typical deal term for an acquirer in these transactions to buy a failed bank," Jerry Comizio, an American University professor and former Treasury Department official, said in an email. "It really highlights the FDIC's desire to resolve this situation by providing a potential liquidity hedge against SVB's high level of uninsured deposits." New York Community Bancorp didn't mention an FDIC line of credit in its purchase of Signature Bank, which the agency helped engineer last week, and it's unclear if any other bank has received such terms in previous transactions for failed lenders. The FDIC has been keen to avoid having their bank-rescue plans labeled bailouts and took pains on Monday to point out that SVB shareholders and bondholders haven't received any money from the agreement. "This transaction was entered into as the least-cost to the insurance fund," an FDIC spokesman said in an emailed statement. "If First Citizens — or any bank for that matter — did not come forward, we would have had to liquidate the bank, which would have been more costly to the insurance fund than the agreement with First Citizens."
How The Collapse Of SVB Led To A $16 Billion Taxpayer-Funded Gift For One Bank - Something remarkable happened yesterday: just after midnight on Sunday night, the FDIC announced that a small bank which almost nobody had heard of before, First-Citizens Bank & Trust (FCNCA) would scoop up the remaining assets of the now defunct Silicon Valley Bank,which imploded on March 9 following a furious bank run, that saw $42BN in deposits drained in hours (and where another $100 billion in deposits were about to be yanked on Friday, which is why the FDIC stepped in and shuttered the bank before market open on Friday March 10)...Barr tells the Senate Banking Committee that Silicon Valley Bank told regulators it expected to lose $100 billion in deposits on Friday, following $42 billion on Thursday. The bank was closed before business hours on Friday morning. https://t.co/SiJESQelgu ... and what happened next shocked everyone" FCNCA stock almost doubled, soaring to the highest on record. But why would the value of the Raleigh, North Carolina-based First Citizens double in seconds if all it did buy assets which until just a few weeks ago were viewed as worthless. Well, because they were not worthless. Yes, SIVB certainly had its sahre of massive MTM losses on its HTM book (consisting primarily of Mortgage Backed Securities), but it also had solid loans and it is these loans that First Citizens bought for a song.As the following chart annotated by Wasteland Capital shows, the deal that First Citizens inked was nothing short of spectacular and explains how the small bank managed to double its stock price overnight. Here is what happened:
- In exchange for a discount bid of $16.5 billion, First Citizens acquired total assets of $110.1BN (including $35.3BN in cash), and $93.6BN in liabilities, including $56.5BN in deposits and $34.6BN in assumed borrowings.
- More importantly, none of the $90BN in underwater HTM "investment securities" that sparked the crisis in the first place were acquired; no the US taxpayers got to keep those courtesy of the FDIC.
- There's more: to further sweeten the deal, the FDIC pledged even more taxpayer funds to "incentivize" First Citizens not to walk away, and it did so by signing a five-year loss share agreement according to which the FDIC will reimburse First Cititzens for 50% of losses on commercial loans in excess of $5 billion.
Bottom line: virtually no risk - and what little risk is left after acquiring this portfolio of deeply discounted loans is shared 50-50 with US taxpayers - and only upside. And how much did this sweet taxpayer-funded deal cost First Citizens? Why a "whopping" $500 million... when when netting out the actual asset bid of $16.5 billion means that First Citizens "paid" a negative $16 billion. Confused by the double negative? Here's the bottom line: courtesy of US taxpayers (who ended up getting stuffed with the toxic garbage on Silicon Valley Bank's balance sheet), First Citizens got $16 billion (and arguably much more) in assets for free. What's more, FCNCA not only got $16BN in assets for free, but the combination of the two banks creates a $143 billion loan portfolio and turns the little-known North Carolina bank into one of the country’s largest lenders to the venture capital and private equity industries. It also means First Citizens will now be one of the top 15 US banks, with more assets than the likes of Morgan Stanley or American Express Co., according to Federal Reserve data!
FDIC collects windfall from Silicon Valley Bank sale to First Citizens --The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. is set to collect the instant windfall that it engineered as part of First Citizens BancShares' government-backed takeover of Silicon Valley Bank. The FDIC told First Citizens on Tuesday it was claiming a $500 million profit linked to the increase in that company's stock, which soared after the acquisition was sealed. The FDIC was entitled to the payment within five business days, the Raleigh, North Carolina, company said in a regulatory filing Friday. The FDIC's equity-appreciation rights went into the money Monday, Bloomberg News reported, as First Citizens shares surged 54% on optimism about how the takeover will boost the bank's finances. The swift benefit from the transaction echoes an arrangement the agency struck with New York Community Bancorp as part of its agreement to take over Signature Bank's deposits and some of its loans. The fresh cash will help rebuild the FDIC's Deposit Insurance Fund, which took a hit from the failures of SVB and Signature Bank. By some estimates, the FDIC spent about $23 billion to cover depositors. Taking a share of First Citizens' stock gains helps authorities as they seek to avoid accusations of a bailout. The FDIC declined to comment on the gains but confirmed that it had exercised its appreciation rights related to First Citizens. The regulator added in a statement that it also exercised its option to buy shares of New York Community Bancorp following its deal to sell billions of dollars of Signature Bank's deposits to NYCB. Like SVB, Signature Bank failed and was taken over by the FDIC earlier this month. "For the Signature deal, we did exercise our option to acquire shares of NYCB and intend to sell these shares at a future date to maximize recoveries," the FDIC said. The agency will sell the stock over a 40-day period beginning April 28, it said in a statement later Friday. The regulator stands to make as much as $300 million in equity-appreciation rights that went deep into the money when NYCB's stock surged after the deal for Signature was announced. .
Weird Things Are Happening at Silvergate Bank and First Republic Bank - By Pam and Russ Martens: --Silvergate Capital, the parent of Silvergate Bank – which has lost 90 percent of its share price year-to-date and announced it is winding down and liquidating — is still running a website that is putting a rosy glow on the bank’s operations. For example, under the heading of “Banking for the future,” the Silvergate website shares this:“Silvergate Bank has served entrepreneurs in unique and niche industries for over 20 years. Recognizing digital currency’s potential during the sector’s infancy, we built strong relationships with pioneers who were turned away by traditional banks. This solidified our position as industry-leading partners and innovators which remains true today.”(What ever happened to the Federal Trade Commission’s Truth in Advertising Law?) Those so-called “strong relationships” with digital currency firms turned into highly-fickle hot money once markets learned that Silvergate had been doing highly questionable banking for Sam Bankman-Fried’s house of frauds, the FTX crypto exchange and his hedge fund, Alameda Research. On January 5, Silvergate reported in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) that its “total deposits from digital asset customers declined to $3.8 billion” as of December 31, 2022 (down from the previously reported $11.9 billion on September 30, 2022.) That’s a 68 percent drop in deposits in one quarter. So much for those “strong relationships.”The Silvergate website further offers this assessment to website visitors:“Silvergate is a Federal Reserve member bank and the leading provider of innovative financial infrastructure solutions and services for the digital asset industry.. Our solutions are built on our deep-rooted commitment and proprietary approach to regulatory compliance.”“Regulatory compliance.” Seriously?On January 30, U.S. Senators Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), John Kennedy (R-LA), and Roger Marshall (R-KS) released a letter to the bank’s CEO, Alan Lane. The letter revealed that the bank had been stonewalling the Senators on their inquiries about the bank’s dealings with crypto firms majority-owned by Sam Bankman-Fried. Federal prosecutors have charged that executives at FTX and Alameda Research, including Bankman-Fried, looted more than $8 billion from FTX customer accounts and the money is missing. Three of those executives have pleaded guilty to criminal charges. Bankman-Fried has pleaded not guilty. The letter from the three Senators to Silvergate CEO Lane described the stonewalling as follows: […] Silvergate’s March 1 filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission indicated that record-keeping at the bank is so suspect that it can’t even file its annual report for the full year of 2022 (Form 10-K) on time and it needs more time to “record journal entries.” Equally troubling was the phrase that “its independent registered public accounting firm” will require more time “to complete certain audit procedures, including review of adjustments not yet recorded and the evaluation of the effectiveness of the Company’s internal control over financial reporting.”That stands in rather stark contrast to Silvergate’s website lauding how the company is “…built on our deep-rooted commitment and proprietary approach to regulatory compliance.”The same SEC filing indicated that Silvergate is under multiple investigations from regulators, Congress, and the folks with criminal prosecution powers – the U.S. Department of Justice.Despite all of this, Silvergate’s stock (ticker SI) is still trading on the New York Stock Exchange – sometimes in a very weird fashion. Things are equally weird at First Republic Bank, another troubled federally-insured bank whose share price has also lost 90 percent year-to-date.
The Banking Crisis Knock-On Effect Has Been a Stampede into Government Money Market Funds – Foiling the Fed’s Effort to Raise Market Interest Rates - By Pam and Russ Martens: March 27, 2023 ~ - On Sunday, Financial Times reporters Brooke Masters, Harriet Clarfelt and Kate Duguid published an article under the headline: “Money market funds swell by more than $286bn as investors pull deposits from banks.” This article needs some important clarifications. First is the fact that money market funds had to be bailed out by the government during both the 2008 financial crisis and the more recent financial panic of 2020 stemming from the COVID pandemic.Most Americans are unaware that there are two vastly different kinds of money market vehicles. There is the “money market account” that one can hold at a federally-insured bank which is FDIC-insured up to $250,000 per depositor per bank. If you have multiple FDIC-insured accounts at the same bank (money market account, checking, savings, certificates of deposit), they all count toward the $250,000 insurance limit. There is also the “money market fund” which is an uninsured mutual fund packed with short-term debt instruments of varying quality. It was these uninsured money market funds that had to be bailed out during the 2008-2009 financial crisis on Wall Street and again during the March 2020 financial panic related to the COVID pandemic.The Financial Times article is talking about the uninsured money market funds. So why would Americans be flocking to these uninsured money market funds during the latest banking panic? We found our answer in the data released by the Investment Company Institute (ICI.org). According to ICI’s statistics, $276.49 billion of that $286 billion reported by the Financial Times (or a whopping 97 percent), went into a very specific type of money market fund – the kind that holds short-term debt instruments guaranteed by the U.S. government. These are referred to as “government money market funds.”ICI reports that total assets in Government Money Market Funds grew as follows in the month of March: total assets of $3.98 trillion as of March 9, 2023; total assets of $4.128 trillion as of March 15, 2023; total assets of $4.26 trillion on March 22, 2023.According to the ICI’s latest data, Government Money Market Funds in the U.S. now represent 83 percent of all money market funds. As of March 22, 2023, Government Money Market Fund assets of $4.26 trillion compared to total assets in all money market funds of $5.13 trillion. According to a report from the Government Accountability Office (GAO), Government Money Market Mutual Funds represented 79 percent of all money market funds as of September 30, 2022. (See chart below.) This flight to safety is having an unintended consequence. It is throwing a wrench in the Federal Reserve’s plans to bring down inflation in the U.S. by hiking its benchmark interest rate. For example, the 6-month U.S. Treasury bill, which had traded at a yield of 5.29 percent in early March, is trading this morning at a yield of 4.85 percent – notwithstanding that the Fed raised its benchmark interest rate (Fed Funds) by another one-quarter percent on March 22.
Battle for Deposits: Tired of Getting Screwed by Banks, People Yank their Cash Out, Forcing Banks to Pay Higher Interest Rates. Treasury Yields Are a Mess by Wolf Richter --People – and I mean massive numbers of people – have finally figured out that they’ve been getting screwed by near-0% interest rates on their bank deposits, and they’re moving huge sums of money around, as deposits have suddenly turned into hot money, forcing banks to respond by offering better deals. And the land is now awash with banks offering 5%-plus on CDs, and people are moving huge sums from some banks into other banks, from money-market accounts to CDs, from checking and savings accounts to CDs, money market accounts, etc., and they’re massively piling into Treasury securities. The goal is low-risk 4% to 5%-plus. And the amounts and flows are huge between deposits ($17 trillion), regular money market funds, Treasury money market funds, Treasury bills ($4.1 trillion of 1-year or shorter maturities), and Treasury securities with a relatively short remaining maturity. Banks have been offering high-interest rate CDs through brokers (“brokered CDs”) to get additional cash to make up for the cash they lost from their regular customers. Now it’s also a battle to keep deposits. What’s the new thingy now is that they’re offering their existing clients 4% or higher CDs to encourage them to keep their money in their accounts instead of yanking out to put it into a money market fund or someone else’s CDs. This fight for deposits is something we haven’t seen in many years, not to that extent, but that’s how it should be. People should force banks to compete for their deposits. And the way people force banks to offer higher rates is by yanking their money out that’s earning 0.1% in large enough numbers. Banks can always borrow from the Fed’s Discount Window, currently at 5% and they have to post collateral. So paying folks 4% or even 5% and not having to post collateral is a much better deal. This is how the Fed’s rate hikes wash into the economy. These higher deposit rates mean the banks’ costs of funding are rising, and their margins are getting squeezed. But it’s finally some relief from 14 years of financial repression for savers and Treasury bill investors and money-market investors. The discussions of how to get those 5% yields are now everywhere, even on NPR, which is my thermometer for when a financial concept has become totally mainstream and everyone is doing it. And that’s how it should have been all along. But the Fed killed the free market for deposits with its interest rate repression.
Regional Banks Target New Crypto Business From Former Signature And Silvergate Clients -- There's no shortage of banks currently "rolling out the welcome mat" for crypto firms who need accessing to banking after the blowup of popular crypto banks Silvergate and Signature Bank, according to a new report from WSJ. New Jersey-based Cross River Bank was named among other regional banks like Customers Bancorp and Fifth Third Bancorp who are all "scrambling" to establish new relationships with crypto customers. Additionally, large banks like JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Bank of New York Mellon Corp. are still doing business with crypto clients, the report notes. They're simply being "selective" about their customer list and what services they provide. The fears that Washington was going to cut off crypto completely, stoked by indications it was going to sever it from the banking system, appear to have "somewhat abated", the Journal wrote. Rich Rosenblum, co-founder and president of crypto trading firm GSR, said: “There are dozens of other banks, both onshore and offshore, that are taking advantage of this opportunity.” After the collapse of Signature, one banker said he was so inundated with calls and applications for new banking that he had to put his phone on "Do Not Disturb" mode in order to get a night's sleep. “We clearly just want to diversify the options that we have,” said Crypto trading firm B2C2 Ltd. CEO Nicola White. The company is in the process of applying for 20 bank accounts across multiple currencies. Michael Shaulov, chief executive of crypto-infrastructure startup Fireblocks Inc., said: “We believe that there is a set of U.S. banks that is likely to onboard some of the crypto firms, with a smaller concentration in each bank than previously.” Smaller banks usually take more time to establish accounts, as they are more selective about who they do business with. Banks are eager to walk a fine line, minimizing their exposure to crypto so as to avoid the ire of regulators, but still keeping the doors open to new deposits. A perfect example of such a fine line is when a spokesman for Fifth Third bank told the Journal the bank didn't directly handle crypto, but added: “We recognize the need that all companies, including digital asset companies, have for traditional banking services including payroll, benefits, and accounts payable.”
What really happened to Signature Bank NY? by Frances Coppola - As the world reeled in shock at the sudden collapse of Silicon Valley Bank (SVB), another bank quietly went under. On Sunday 12th March, the U.S. Treasury, Federal Reserve and FDIC announced that all SVB depositors, whether insured or not, would have access to their funds from Monday. And then they added: We are also announcing a similar systemic risk exception for Signature Bank, New York, which was closed today by its state chartering authority.Signature Bank NY's state chartering authority was the New York State Department of Financial Services (NY DFS). It posted this on its website: On Sunday, March 12, 2023, the New York State Department of Financial Services (DFS) took possession of Signature Bank in order to protect depositors. All depositors will be made whole. DFS has appointed the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) as receiver, and the FDIC has transferred all of the deposits and substantially all of the assets of Signature Bank to Signature Bridge Bank, N.A., a full-service bank that will be operated by the FDIC as it markets the institution to potential bidders.So the NY DFS closed down Signature Bank NY (SBNY) and handed it over to the FDIC for resolution. Unlike California's Department of Financial Protection and Innovation, the NY DFS didn't have to get a court order to close down its bank. It simply exercised its powers under Section 606 of the New York Banking Act. Those powers are extremely wide-ranging: […] We could summarise this as "we can close you down at any time, without notice, if we don't like what you are doing". The NY DFS gave no explanation for its decision to close SBNY down, nor for putting it into FDIC receivership. It didn't even identify which clauses in the above list it relied upon. Lots of people were puzzled, because on paper, SBNY looked solvent: its 10-K regulatory filing, announced in February 2023, reported that at 31st December 2022, it had $110.36bn of assets and $88.59bn in deposits. True, it had weaknesses: like Silvergate, it provided specialist depository and payment services to crypto exchanges and platforms, and as a result had a high proportion of uninsured and highly runnable deposits. And like Silvergate, it was carrying unrecognised fair value losses on its securities portfolio. But it had a large, and apparently sound, real estate lending portfolio. And its uninsured deposits had grown substantially in the previous week, as many crypto exchanges and platforms had moved their funds to it from Silvergate Bank. So why had the NY DFS closed it down without warning? I thought rapid inflows from Silvergate might have overwhelmed SBNY's administration and control systems, rendering it no longer in a safe and sound condition (clause (c)) and unable to safely continue in business (clause (d)). But this might have been temporary, and Section 606 allows for temporary closures, for example to prevent bank runs due to contagion rather than fundamentals. SBNY's books didn't look too bad, so I wondered why the NY DFS had put SBNY straight into receivership. Did it think SBNY was "conducting its business in an unauthorized or unsafe manner" (clause (b))? Did it close down SBNY because of suspected complicity in FTX/Alameda's wire fraud (clause (a))? Or had SBNY suffered impairment to its capital as a result of Silvergate contagion (clause (e))? I didn't know, but I thought there must have been some kind of catastrophic failure to justify such drastic action. But crypto people smelled a rat. After Silvergate went into voluntary liquidation, SBNY was the only major provider of banking services to crypto companies. It had already announced its intention to reduce its exposure, but perhaps this wasn't enough for regulators that were increasingly unfriendly to crypto activities. Could the regulators have used the smokescreen created by SVB's failure as an opportunity to close down a bank that was engaged in business they didn't like? Then Barney Frank stepped in. Frank was joint author of the Dodd-Frank bank regulations introduced in response to the 2008 banking crisis - and a director of SBNY. Completely ignoring the bank's crypto-related activities, Frank insisted that the bank was sound, telling Bloomberg: I think that if we’d been allowed to open tomorrow, that we could’ve continued — we have a solid loan book, we’re the biggest lender in New York City under the low-income housing tax credit. I think the bank could’ve been a going concern.” Following Frank's intervention, the idea that SBNY was a solvent bank unfairly closed down by regulators spread like wildfire. Only a month before, the crypto entrepreneur Nic Carter had published an article claiming that the Biden administration was intending to choke off crypto companies' access to the US banking system in the same way that the Obama administration had choked off access for payday lenders. Carter called this plan "Operation Chokepoint 2.0". To many people, the closure of SBNY was evidence that Carter was right. "Operation Chokepoint 2.0" was real, and it was here.
The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. told neobank Utoppia to cease using the FDIC name, in Spanish and English communications. -The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. on Monday ordered neobank Utoppia Inc. to immediately correct wrongful claims or implications of deposit insurance.Utoppia Inc. is a neobank that offers cryptocurrency wallets and says it provides U.S. FDIC-insured bank accounts to non-U.S. residents. FDIC says the institution not only misled customers into thinking the nonbank was an FDIC-insured institution, but in multiple languages, as it offered foreign residents purported FDIC-insured U.S. bank accounts in both English and Spanish.As recently as January 5, 2023, the agency says Utoppia's website claimed to offer customers in 31 countries the protection of the U.S. financial system and FDIC insurance.According to the FDIC, Utoppia also displayed similar statements on the main page of its mobile app.Much of FDIC's concern seems to be with the lack of clear labeling as to how customer funds are managed and the ambiguity of their claims of FDIC insurance. In the fine print at the bottom of its website, Utoppia does say its cash management services are provided by another nonbank — Synapse Brokerage LLC. The site says Synapse facilitates the deposit of uninvested customer cash balances into certain FDIC-insured bank accounts at Synapse program banks. This inconspicuous labeling, however, could come off as deceptive to the FDIC, which has authority to act on instances where non-insured companies even vaguely suggest FDIC insurance.Along with conflating its brokerage services with actual deposit taking — the latter being something that, by law, only banks can do — the FDIC said Utoppia failed to clearly disclose which depository institutions, if any, were in fact parking customers' money in what Utoppia claimed were FDIC-insured accounts."Whenever anyone other than an insured depository institution states that a product is insured by the FDIC, that person must identify the insured depository institution(s) where the funds will be placed," the FDIC wrote in its letter. "Failure to do so constitutes a material omission in violation of Section 18(a)(4) of the FDI Act and Part 328." Like some previous recipients of FDIC cease-and-desist letters, Utoppia also claimed to insure customers' cryptocurrency, if less flagrantly than in recent cases."The statements that Utoppia is 'insured by' or backed or protected by ('respaldado') the FDIC and the statement that customers' 'funds are FDIC protected' could suggest or imply that Utoppia is itself FDIC-insured,'" the agency wrote. "The statements imply FDIC insurance coverage applies to all customer funds (including crypto assets)."
Bankman-Fried bribed Chinese officials with $40 million in crypto: prosecutors - Disgraced FTX co-founder Sam Bankman-Fried bribed Chinese officials with at least $40 million in cryptocurrency, federal prosecutors alleged in an indictment Tuesday. Bankman-Fried directed the transfer “in order to influence and induce” Chinese officials to unfreeze his hedge fund accounts that held more than $1 billion in crypto, according to the indictment. Prosecutors said that Chinese authorities froze accounts belonging to Alameda Research, an affiliate of FTX, in early 2021. “After months of failed attempts to unfreeze the accounts, Samuel Bankman-Fried discussed with others and ultimately agreed to and directed a multi-million-dollar bribe to seek to unfreeze the accounts,” prosecutors wrote in the indictment. Chinese officials went on to unfreeze the accounts and were rewarded with tens of millions of dollars in crypto, prosecutors said. It’s the latest charge levied against Bankman-Fried, who faces allegations of fraud, money laundering and campaign finance violations related to the collapse of FTX. The popular trading platform went under after Alameda Research suffered massive losses on risky bets. The new 13-count indictment accuses Bankman-Fried of violating the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, an anti-bribery statute. It comes after three top FTX officials pleaded guilty to criminal charges. Bankman-Fried has a well-documented history of shelling out huge sums to gain favor with key decision makers.
SBF Charged With Funneling $40M In Crypto To Bribe CCP Officials --Federal prosecutors in Manhattan have hit FTX founder Sam Bankman Fried ("SBF") with a new 13-count indictment accusing him of funneling $40 million in cryptocurrency to 'one or more' Chinese government officials, in order to "influence and induce them" to unfreeze Alameda Research trading accounts holding over $1 billion in crypto.He is accused of conspiring to violate anti-bribery provisions of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act.the Tuesday court filing, prosecutors asked US District Judge Lewis Kaplan to arrange a court hearing in order to arraign Bankman-Fried on the new charges."The S5 Indictment, which was unsealed this morning, includes the twelve counts contained in the S3 Superseding Indictment, as well an additional count for conspiracy to violate the anti-bribery provisions of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act ('FCPA'), in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 371," reads a letter to the judge, Coindesk reports. The 31-year-old previously pleaded guilty to eight counts related to the collapse of FTX, after prosecutors accused him of stealing billions of dollars in customer assets to try and stop Alameda Research - his crypto hedge fund - from imploding.
Sam Bankman-Fried pleads not guilty to latest round of federal fraud, bribery charges - Sam Bankman-Fried pleaded not guilty in New York federal court Thursday to five additional charges related to the collapse of his former crypto exchange FTX and hedge fund Alameda Research. Bankman-Fried's attorney, Mark Cohen, said he plans to file a motion that his client not be tried on all the counts. Bankman-Fried's team will argue that someone extradited under the U.S.-Bahamas treaty can only be tried on the charges they were extradited for. "As Mr. Cohen stated in court, we will be challenging the new charges when motions are filed," a spokesperson for Sam Bankman-Fried said. The U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York unveiled its third round of criminal charges against the disgraced former CEO of FTX in a superseding indictment that was unsealed Tuesday. This time, the focus was on Bankman-Fried allegedly bribing a foreign government. Prosecutors allege that Bankman-Fried — who arrived at the courthouse about an hour before the hearing, looking disheveled after an intense media scrum — directed the payment of at least $40 million in cryptocurrency to one or more Chinese government officials in an attempt to unfreeze trading accounts tied to his crypto hedge fund, Alameda Research. Bankman-Fried and his associates considered and tried "numerous methods" to unfreeze the accounts, which contained around $1 billion worth of cryptocurrency, prosecutors allege. Ultimately, after both legal and personal efforts failed, Bankman-Fried agreed to and directed a multimillion-dollar bribe to have the frozen accounts unlocked, prosecutors alleged. Bankman-Fried's hedge fund then allegedly used the unfrozen assets to continue to fund Alameda's loss-generating trades, continuing on what the government says was a fraud upon customers and investors for another year. The onetime crypto billionaire, who did not speak during the entirety of the hearing, also pleaded not guilty to charges related to bank fraud, money laundering, operating an unlicensed money transmitting business and making unlawful political contributions in the U.S. The 13-count indictment gives details of hundreds of political donations that Bankman-Fried allegedly directed in violation of federal campaign finance laws. Bankman-Fried already pleaded not guilty to eight other counts. FTX and Alameda imploded in November after concerns about their balance sheet turned into a veritable bank run. In addition to this federal indictment, Bankman-Fried also faces civil charges from both the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission. Meanwhile, FTX remains mired in Delaware bankruptcy court proceedings.
FBI Struggling to Analyze All the Data on SBF's Laptop: Prosecutors Prosecutors have run into a roadblock while trying to analyze reams of data in their criminal case against Sam Bankman-Fried. In a hearing in Manhattan federal court Thursday morning, Assistant US Attorney Nicholas Roos said the FBI was struggling to extract data from a laptop they obtained from the FTX founder. It takes weeks to extract just Slack messages from the laptop, Roos said, and longer still for the rest of the data on the device. Because of its size, he said, the device needs to be taken apart "virtually" and extracted in pieces for prosecutors to analyze. Because of the device's size, the Justice Department has not even been able to begin its privilege review to determine what kind of data prosecutors are even permitted to use in its criminal case against Bankman-Fried. The FBI, who had a representative in attendance during the hearing, did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment ahead of publication. Mark Cohen, an attorney representing Bankman-Fried, told US District Judge Lewis Kaplan that he was "concerned" about how prosecutors would handle the contents of the laptop, and may revisit the issue with the judge. "That relates to a cooperating witness, who may be a witness at trial," Cohen said. Prosecutors have already produced around 6 million pages' worth of discovery material to Bankman-Fried's legal team, Roos said at the hearing. Bankman-Fried was in court Thursday to enter a plea on new charges unsealed this week, in which prosecutors had accused him of trying to bribe Chinese officials with more than $40 million in cryptocurrency in 2021. He pleaded not guilty to all of them. Prosecutors previously hit Bankman-Fried with a fleshed-out indictment in February, outlining their story of how the former crypto billionaire negotiated his status atop a crypto empire. He leaned on executives at FTX to help direct political donations across both sides of the aisle, prosecutors alleged, saying that he did so in order to sway potential crypto industry regulation in his favor. In the latest 13-count indictment, prosecutors added a count for conspiracy to violate the anti-bribery provisions of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, alleging that Bankman-Fried had engaged in the scheme to try to free up trading accounts of his other company, Alameda Research, that had been frozen in China.
The Ghost Of FTX: Bankrupt Exchange Haunts Customers With Phantom Debit Card Deliveries -- Like that ex who just won’t go away, FTX is finding ways to pop up in people’s lives — most recently, through the delivery of its branded debit cards. It’s like the cryptocurrency exchange, which declared bankruptcy in November, is saying, “You thought it was over between us? It’s not over till I say it’s over.” A delay in processing at card issuer Evolve Bank & Trust is likely to blame for this harmless but ghostly snafu. The website to activate the cards is no longer operational, and the cards themselves don’t work. This isn’t the first time Memphis-based Evolve Bank & Trust has been involved with a cryptocurrency company that went belly up. The bank also issued cards for BlockFi, an exchange that filed for bankruptcy in November, too. Following the two bankruptcies, Evolve informed cardholders that their funds were safe, but inaccessible until the bankruptcy cases were resolved. “This was a clear delay in the customer’s mail service,” an Evolve spokesperson told Forbes. “Card services ceased with FTX’s bankruptcy filing. By law, Evolve is holding onto these balances until the court overseeing the FTX bankruptcy allows us to release these funds back to the customer.” Reports of the phantom card deliveries came just as FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried was receiving some news of his own. On Tuesday, the U.S. added a charge of conspiring to violate the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act to the laundry list of misdeeds he’s already accused of. Prosecutors allege Bankman-Fried paid $40 million in bribes to Chinese government officials to unfreeze Alameda Research assets held inside the country. He pleaded not guilty in a New York federal court on Thursday. With the historic nature of FTX’s collapse and the continuing drama of L’Affaire Bankman-Fried, those FTX-branded debit cards will come in handy for something: they’ll make great souvenirs.
Crypto Exchange Bittrex Winds Down U.S. Operations - Bittrex, an exchange that claims it offer the “widest selection of cryptocurrencies in the U.S.” and marked its ninth birthday last month, said it would end its U.S operations, saying it can't operate amid a rising tide of regulatory scrutiny.It doesn't make financial sense to stay open, given "the current U.S. regulatory and economic environment," the firm said. "Regulatory requirements are often unclear and enforced without appropriate discussion or input, resulting in an uneven competitive landscape." Regulators have taken enforcement action against several cryptocurrency platforms, in recent months. The Commodity Futures Trading Commission sued Binance, the Securities and Exchange Commission's fined Kraken $30 million and Coinbase faces impending legal action.
Elon Musk seeks to end $258 billion Dogecoin lawsuit (Reuters) - Elon Musk asked a U.S. judge on Friday to throw out a $258 billion racketeering lawsuit accusing him of running a pyramid scheme to support the cryptocurrency Dogecoin. Stay ahead of the market In an evening filing in Manhattan federal court, lawyers for Musk and his electric car company Tesla Inc called the lawsuit by Dogecoin investors a "fanciful work of fiction" over Musk's "innocuous and often silly tweets" about Dogecoin. The lawyers said the investors never explained how Musk intended to defraud anyone or what risks he concealed, and that his statements such as "Dogecoin Rulz" and "no highs, no lows, only Doge" were too vague to support a fraud claim. "There is nothing unlawful about tweeting words of support for, or funny pictures about, a legitimate cryptocurrency that continues to hold a market cap of nearly $10 billion," Musk's lawyers said. "This court should put a stop to plaintiffs' fantasy and dismiss the complaint." In a footnote, the lawyers also rejected the investors' claim that Dogecoin qualified as a security. The investors' lawyer, Evan Spencer, said in an email: "We are more confident than ever that our case will be successful." Investors accused Musk, the world's second-richest person according to Forbes, of deliberately driving up Dogecoin's price more than 36,000% over two years and then letting it crash. They said this generated billions of dollars of profit at other Dogecoin investors' expense, even as Musk knew the currency lacked intrinsic value. Investors also pointed to Musk's appearance on a "Weekend Update" segment of NBC's "Saturday Night Live" where, portraying a fictitious financial expert, he called Dogecoin "a hustle." The $258 billion damages figure is triple the estimated decline in Dogecoin's market value in the 13 months before the lawsuit was filed.
Musk, Wozniak Call For Pause In Developing 'More Powerful' AI Than GPT-4 --Elon Musk, Steve Wozniak, AI pioneer Yoshua Bengio and others have signed an open letter calling for a six-month pause in developing new AI tools more powerful than GPT-4, the technology released earlier this month by Microsoft-backed startup OpenAI, the Wall Street Journal reports.Contemporary AI systems are now becoming human-competitive at general tasks, and we must ask ourselves: Should we let machines flood our information channels with propaganda and untruth? Should we automate away all the jobs, including the fulfilling ones? Should we develop nonhuman minds that might eventually outnumber, outsmart, obsolete and replace us? Should we risk loss of control of our civilization? Such decisions must not be delegated to unelected tech leaders. Powerful AI systems should be developed only once we are confident that their effects will be positive and their risks will be manageable. -futureoflife.org"We’ve reached the point where these systems are smart enough that they can be used in ways that are dangerous for society," said Bengio, director of the University of Montreal’s Montreal Institute for Learning Algorithms, adding "And we don't yet understand."Their concerns were laid out in a letter titled "Pause Giant AI Experiments: An Open Letter," which was spearheaded by the Future of Life Institute - a nonprofit advised by Musk.
It's not just bankers who want to see cyber rules harmonized As a growing number of state and federal regulators come out with their own rules about how companies should respond to cybersecurity incidents, bankers have asked that these new regulations align with each other so that, when their teams scramble to respond, they can spend more time securing their systems and less time worrying about compliance.Bankers are not alone in making this ask. Leaders in cybersecurity and the software industry, which serve as key vendors to banks, also want harmonization for their own reasons.In testimony before the House Subcommittee on Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Protection, Drew Bagley, the vice president and counsel for privacy and cyber policy at cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike, recommended that regulators harmonize reporting regulations to the greatest extent possible.Bagley said that each of the many new and proposed rules on cyber incident reporting are "well-intended," but take place simultaneously and with different stakeholders, meaning the potential downside is "burdensome, distracting and costly compliance obligations without additional security gains." The antidote, he said, is "muscular harmonization efforts."During the hearing last week, Heather Hogsett, a senior leader of the Bank Policy Institute's technology policy division, reiterated her organization's recommendation that the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) focus on harmonizing cyber incident reporting rules.BPI supported a bipartisan law passed last year that requires companies in any of the nation's 16 critical infrastructure sectors to quickly report ransomware payments and cyber incidents to CISA. The law directs the agency to finalize rules implementing it by the end of 2025.BPI framed the law at the time as an opportunity for CISA to establish one rule to harmonize the multiple, sometimes conflicting requirements that banks already face from prudential regulators and other federal agencies.
The Mood Is Apocalyptic: Biggest Drop In S&P Non-Dealer S&P Futures Positioning On Record -- One of the most frequent laments on Wall Street these days - where sentiment has turned from mere "doom and gloom" to outright "apocalyptic" and according to the latest BofA fund manager survey the majority of Wall Street professionals now expects a "systematic credit event" emerging unexpectedly out of the shadow banking sector - is how is it possible that after everything that has happened, are stock not only not lower but actually rallying? That was the subtitle of Mike Wilson's Sunday Start note last week (see "Mike Wilson: "Why On Earth Did US Stocks Rally Last Week?"), and while the Morgan Stanley strategist is now a bearish broken record, repeating today in his latest weekly complaint what he has been saying since September, namely that earnings will collapse any minute now (if you keep repeating the exact same "thesis" for years you will eventually be right, and yes, professional subs can read his latest weekly note here) he is not alone and even banks like Goldman are publishing lengthy analyses seeking to explain how and why markets remain so propped up in the face of not only a looming recession but also a global bank crisis. The answer to all those questions, of course, is over a decade of Pavlovian conditioning that the Fed will - at some point - break and flood the system, inflation be damned... in fact as the $400BN in Fed balance sheet expansion in the past two weeks has shown...
CFPB's small business data collection hits banks at 'the worst time' - The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is expected to come out with a rule this week that will require banks and other lenders to collect data on small businesses that apply for loans. The long-anticipated rule — one of the last unimplemented provisions of the Dodd-Frank Act — comes at a particularly bad time for community and regional banks amid expectations of a pullback in credit this year. "This is the worst time ever for doing anything new," said Ken Thomas, founder and CEO of Community Development Fund Advisors in Miami and an expert on the Community Reinvestment Act. "A recession likely will start later this year and go into 2024, but at some point this rule has to be done." The CFPB is required to issue the small business data collection rule by Friday. The bureau was sued in 2019 by a consumer advocacy group, the California Reinvestment Coalition, for failing to complete the rule after nearly a decade. The bureau agreed under a court-supervised settlement to issue the rule by March 31. A House subcommittee on Tuesday will hold a hearing on the rule, which is known as section 1071 of Dodd-Frank. When the COVID-19 pandemic hit, the importance of collecting data on small businesses became clear. As banks and other lenders were rushing to provide loans through the Paycheck Protection Program, the federal government had — and still has — little visibility into the credit needs of small businesses, experts say. "Without this information, policymakers are flying blind on the needs of small business owners — relying on surveys and anecdotal data — for a crucial part of the economy," said Karen Mills, a senior fellow at Harvard Business School and former head of the Small Business Administration under President Barack Obama. In 2021, the CFPB released its proposal requiring that data be collected on a wide range of small business credit products including term loans, lines of credit, credit cards and merchant cash advances. The final rule will go into effect in July 2024, or 18 months after it is published in the Federal Register. Government and state entities may use the data to determine if a lender is discriminating against real or potential borrowers. Lenders face even bigger risks if they are found to have violated fair lending laws or the eventual public release of the data sparks a backlash by consumers. Financial firms have never been required to collect data on small businesses and have pushed back on doing so, claiming it requires too much paperwork and is a regulatory burden. "So much small and business lending is done by community banks and they are opposed to this because they don't want to take the time to collect the data and what it might show," said Thomas, who taught finance at the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School for over 40 years and is the author of "The CRA Handbook."
CFPB finalizes data-reporting rule for small-business lenders - The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has issued a long-anticipated rule that will require banks and other lenders to report data on small-business lending as part of a government effort to combat discrimination. The rule, mandated by Congress in 2010, will make lenders start collecting data in 2024 on how many applicants are approved or denied small-business loans. The data will include the cost of credit as well as geographic and demographic details about borrowers. The CFPB dragged its feet for more than a decade and ultimately was forced to begin the rule after it was sued in 2019 by the California Reinvestment Coalition, a consumer advocacy group. Under a court-ordered settlement, the CFPB was required to finalize the rule by March 31. The rule was one of the last remaining mandates of the Dodd-Frank Act. "Having the data set is very, very powerful especially when you can identify … what different lenders are doing," CFPB Director Rohit Chopra said Thursday, drawing applause and cheers at a conference of the National Community Reinvestment Coalition. "By merely asking for the data it changes the way lenders think." Chopra called the rule a "small-business loan census" that will "ensure that banks and nonbanks are serving small businesses fairly." The bureau said the rule provides "a data-driven approach to detect potential discrimination."
FHFA broadening use of expanded payment deferrals - The Federal Housing Finance Agency is extending an option used by borrowers with pandemic hardships to other distressed homeowners who have loans backed by government-sponsored enterprises Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. "The Enterprises completed more than 1 million COVID-19 payment deferrals during the pandemic, helping borrowers nationwide to stay in their homes," FHFA Director Sandra Thompson said in a press release. "Based on the success of the COVID-19 payment deferral, we are making this solution a key part of our standard loss mitigation toolkit that is available to all borrowers with eligible hardships." The expanded deferrals, which allowed borrowers who temporarily suspended their monthly obligations amid the national emergency to repay forborne amounts later, are being made available more broadly for up to six months worth of payments. Borrowers won't pay any interest on the deferred obligations. Deferred amounts will be due and payable when the loan matures, the collateral property gets sold, or if the borrower refinances or pays off the mortgage. The expanded deferrals will be available for broader use by servicers on a voluntary basis starting on July 1 and will become mandatory for in situations where it's appropriate for borrowers beginning Oct. 1. The GSEs will continue to also offer a broader set of options to borrowers with hardships, depending on their needs. Some may be able to reinstate loans after temporary hardships end, others might be able to make-up missed amounts with a repayment plan, and those with long-term income reductions might be able to obtain a modification of their loan terms that makes it more affordable if they meet certain requirements. Deferrals are one of a number of temporary foreclosure-prevention strategies used by government-related agencies during the pandemic that entities like the Mortgage Bankers Association and the Urban Institute's Housing Finance Policy Center have suggested be adopted on a permanent basis based on their high usage rate by borrowers during the national emergency.
Freddie Mac: Mortgage Serious Delinquency Rate declined in February --Freddie Mac reported that the Single-Family serious delinquency rate in February was 0.65%, down from 0.66% January. Freddie's rate is down year-over-year from 0.99% in February 2022.Freddie's serious delinquency rate peaked in February 2010 at 4.20% following the housing bubble and peaked at 3.17% in August 2020 during the pandemic. These are mortgage loans that are "three monthly payments or more past due or in foreclosure".Mortgages in forbearance are being counted as delinquent in this monthly report but are not reported to the credit bureaus.The serious delinquency rate was at 0.60% just prior to the pandemic; this is almost back to that level.Note that multi-family delinquencies have been increasing and were at 0.13% in February, up from 0.08% in February 2022.Fannie Mae reported earlier.
Case-Shiller: National House Price Index "Declining Trend Continued" to 3.8% year-over-year increase in January --S&P/Case-Shiller released the monthly Home Price Indices for January ("January" is a 3-month average of November, December and January closing prices).This release includes prices for 20 individual cities, two composite indices (for 10 cities and 20 cities) and the monthly National index.From S&P: S&P Corelogic Case-Shiller Index Declining Trend Continued in January The S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller U.S. National Home Price NSA Index, covering all nine U.S. census divisions, reported a 3.8% annual gain in January, down from 5.6% in the previous month. The 10-City Composite annual increase came in at 2.5%, down from 4.4% in the previous month. The 20-City Composite posted a 2.5% year-over-year gain, down from 4.6% in the previous month. Miami, Tampa, and Atlanta again reported the highest year-over-year gains among the 20 cities in January. Miami led the way with a 13.8% year-over-year price increase, followed by Tampa in second with a 10.5% increase, and Atlanta in third with an 8.4% increase. All 20 cities reported lower prices in the year ending January 2023 versus the year ending December 2022... Before seasonal adjustment, the U.S. National Index posted a -0.5% month-over-month decrease in January, while the 10-City and 20-City Composites posted decreases of -0.5% and -0.6%, respectively. After seasonal adjustment, the U.S. National Index posted a month-over-month decrease of -0.2%, while both the 10-City and 20-City Composites posted decreases of -0.4%. In January, before seasonal adjustment, 19 cities reported declines with only Miami reporting an increase at 0.1%. After seasonal adjustment, 15 cities reported declines while Miami, Boston, Charlotte, and Cleveland had slight increases. The first graph shows the nominal seasonally adjusted Composite 10, Composite 20 and National indices.The National index is down 0.2% (SA) in January and is down 3.0% from the peak in June 2022.
"Delay Your Home Purchase" - Bob Shiller Warns As Prices Slide For 7th Straight Month - US home prices, according to S&P CoreLogic's Case-Shiller index, fell for the 7th straight month (-0.42% MoM) leaving the home price index up 2.55% YoY (in January - this data is always very lagged) - the lowest growth since Nov 2019."One of the most interesting aspects of January’s report is the continued weakness in home prices on the West Coast, as San Diego and Portland joined San Francisco and Seattle in negative year-over-year territory," Craig J. Lazzara, managing director at S&P Dow Jones Indices, said in statement. "It’s therefore unsurprising that the Southeast (+10.2%) continues as the country’s strongest region, while the West (-1.5%) continues as the weakest."San Francisco and Seattle are down the most from their highs (New York and Miami are down the least). Home prices in Miami and Tampa are still up over 60% since COVID...Finally, the man behind the home price index - Yale economist Bob Shiller - told CNBC's "Closing Bell: Overtime" Monday. "Home prices are very, very high by historical standards." "I would extrapolate the downturn somewhat - it's going to continue," he added."Maybe if you have a good chance to delay your purchase, it might be a good time to do it.""It might get a little cheaper after another six months."
Realtor.com Reports Weekly Active Inventory Up 57% YoY; New Listings Down 20% YoY - Realtor.com has monthly and weekly data on the existing home market. Here is their weekly report released today from chief economist Danielle Hale: Weekly Housing Trends View — Data Week Ending Mar 25, 2023
• Active inventory growth continued to climb with for-sale homes up 57% above one year ago. Inventories of for-sale homes rose, but at a slightly slower pace than the previous week for a second time as the smaller number of hopeful homebuyers still outnumber new sellers on the market. Growth in the number of homes for sale is primarily being driven by longer time on market and needs to be put into context. The number of homes for-sale in March surpasses the two most recent years, but is still roughly only half of what was typical for this time of year in 2017 to 2019.
• New listings–a measure of sellers putting homes up for sale–were again down, this week by 20% from one year ago. For 38 weeks, the number of newly listed homes has trailed the prior year. The gap was steady this week, but at a fairly low level. In fact, March data show that the number of new listings to hit the market was nearly on par with the low in April 2020 when a large number of activities were curtailed in the early days of the pandemic.
Here is a graph of the year-over-year change in inventory according to realtor.com.
Inventory is still up sharply year-over-year - from record lows - however, the YoY increase has slowed recently.
Hotels: Occupancy Rate Down 6.3% Compared to Same Week in 2019 From CoStar: STR: Weekly US Hotel Occupancy Decreases as Spring Break Impact Recedes Reflecting the normal ebb and flow of spring break season, U.S. hotel performance decreased from the previous week, according to STR‘s latest data through March 25.
March 19-25, 2023 (percentage change from comparable weeks in 2022, 2019):
• Occupancy: 64.9% (-0.6%, -6.3%)
• Average daily rate (ADR): $158.61 (+4.7%, +19.5%)
• Revenue per available room (RevPAR): $102.98 (+4.1%, +12.0%)
The following graph shows the seasonal pattern for the hotel occupancy rate using the four-week average. NOTE: Last year, the occupancy rate was close to normal after the first quarter (depressed due to a surge in COVID), so STR will only be comparing to 2022 after Q1. The red line is for 2023, black is 2020, blue is the median, and dashed light blue is for 2022. Dashed purple is 2019 (STR is comparing to a strong year for hotels). The 4-week average of the occupancy rate is close to the median rate for the previous 20 years (Blue). The 4-week average of the occupancy rate will move more sideways until the Summer.
Las Vegas February 2023: Visitor Traffic Down 3.4% Compared to 2019; Convention Traffic Down 11.4% - Note: I like using Las Vegas as a measure of recovery for both leisure (visitors) and business (conventions). From the Las Vegas Visitor Authority: February 2023 Las Vegas Visitor Statistics: With an easy comparison to the lingering COVID‐affected months of last year, Las Vegas saw visitation approach 3.1M in February 2023, up +17.8% over February 2022. Overall hotel occupancy exceeded 82% for the month, +12.9 pts YoY and down ‐4.8 pts vs. 2019 while Weekend occupancy reached 89.3%, up 1.8 pts YoY and ‐2.6 pts vs. February 2019. Supported by the strengthening convention/group segment, Midweek occupancy reached 78.8%, + 18.1 pts vs. February 2022 and ‐5.8 pts vs. February 2019. Robust room rates equated to overall ADR of approx. $177, +18.1% ahead of February 2022 and +35.8% vs. February 2019 while RevPAR exceeded $145, +40.1% YoY and +28.3% over February 2019. The first graph shows visitor traffic for 2019 (Black), 2020 (light blue), 2021 (purple), 2022 (orange), and 2023 (red). Visitor traffic was down 3.4% compared to the same month in 2019. Visitor traffic was up 17.8% compared to last February. The second graph shows convention traffic. Convention traffic was down 11.4% compared to February 2019, but up 51.1% compared to February 2022.
Note: There was almost no convention traffic from April 2020 through May 2021.
Consumer Confidence Increased Slightly in March - The Conference Board released its Consumer Confidence Index ® this morning, with the headline number coming in at 104.2, an increase of 0.8 from the upwardly revised final reading of 103.4 in February. This month's reading is better than the Investing.com forecast of 101.0.The Conference Board Consumer Confidence Index® increased slightly in March to 104.2 (1985=100), up from 103.4 in February. The Present Situation Index—based on consumers’ assessment of current business and labor market conditions—decreased to 151.1 (1985=100) from 153.0 last month. The Expectations Index—based on consumers’ short-term outlook for income, business, and labor market conditions—ticked up to 73.0 (1985=100) from 70.4 in February (a slight upward revision). However, for 12 of the last 13 months—since February 2022—the Expectations Index has been below 80, the level which often signals a recession within the next year. The cutoff date for the survey was March 20th, about ten days after the bank failures in the United States.“Driven by an uptick in expectations, consumer confidence improved somewhat in March, but remains below the average level seen in 2022 (104.5). The gain reflects an improved outlook for consumers under 55 years of age and for households earning $50,000 and over,” Read moreThe Conference Board Consumer Confidence Index measures the consumers attitudes and confidence in the economy, business conditions, and labor market, with higher readings indicating higher optimism. The general assumption is that when consumers are more optimistic they will spend more and stimulate economic growth. However, if consumers are pessimistic then spending will decline and the economy may slow down. The index is based on a 5 question survey, with 2 questions related to present conditions and 3 questions related to future expectations. The survey began in 1967 and was conducted every two months but changed to monthly reporting in 1977, which is where our data begins.The next two charts are attempts to evaluate the historical context for this index as a coincident indicator of the economy. In the first chart, we see that the historical range of this indicator is from 26.9 to 144.7. In this chart I have also highlighted recessions and the level the index was at at the start of each recession. The average of the consumer confidence index at the start of recessions is 101.9, a level that we are currently above but have been hovering around for the last year.
Personal Income increased 0.3% in February; Spending increased 0.2% - The BEA released the Personal Income and Outlays report for February:Personal income increased $72.9 billion (0.3 percent) in February, according to estimates released today by the Bureau of Economic Analysis. Disposable personal income (DPI) increased $89.9 billion (0.5 percent) and personal consumption expenditures (PCE) increased $27.9 billion (0.2 percent).The PCE price index increased 0.3 percent. Excluding food and energy, the PCE price index also increased 0.3 percent. Real DPI increased 0.2 percent in February and Real PCE decreased 0.1 percent; goods and services each decreased 0.1 percent.The February PCE price index increased 5.0 percent year-over-year (YoY), down from 5.3 percent YoY in January, and down from the recent peak of 7.0 percent in June 2022. The PCE price index, excluding food and energy, increased 4.6 percent YoY, down from 4.7 percent in January, and down from the recent peak of 5.4 percent in February 2022.The following graph shows real Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) through February 2023 (2012 dollars).
PCE Price Index: February Core at 4.6% YoY - The BEA's Personal Income and Outlays report for February was published on this morning by the Bureau of Economic Analysis. The latest headline PCE price index was up 0.3% month-over-month (MoM) and is up 5.0% year-over-year (YoY). Core PCE dropped to 4.6% YoY, still well above the Fed's 2% target rate, and is up 0.3% MoM. All readings were below their respective Investing.com forecasts. Personal consumption expenditures (PCE) measures and tracks changes for all domestic personal consumption. Core PCE measures the changes in personal consumption less food and energy, making it less volatile than the headline PCE. The PCE Price Index is calculated using PCE data and is a key way to measure changes in purchasing trends and inflation. The adjacent thumbnail gives us a close-up of the trend in YoY core PCE since January 2012. The first string of red data points highlights the 12 consecutive months when core PCE hovered in a narrow range around its interim low. The second string highlights the lower range from late 2014 through 2015. Core PCE shifted higher in 2016 with a decline in 2017, 2019, and 2020, with a major jump in 2022. The first chart below shows the monthly year-over-year change in the personal consumption expenditures (PCE) price index since 2000, with a callout showing the last 12 months. Also included is an overlay of the core PCE (less food and energy) price index, which is Fed's preferred indicator for gauging inflation. The 2% benchmark is the Fed's conventional target for core inflation. Headline PCE increased 5.0% this month, a deceleration from last month's 5.3% and slightly below the 5.1% forecast. Core PCE increased 4.6% this month, a deceleration from January's 4.7% and below the 4.7% forecast. These are the slowest annual changes for headline and core PCE since September and October 2021, respectively. For a long-term perspective, here are the same two metrics spanning five decades.
Services Inflation Rages at Worst Rate since 1984, Keeps “Core PCE” (Fed’s Yardstick) in High Range. Energy & Goods Cool - Wolf Richter - Energy prices continued to drop, and prices of some goods dropped from the crazy spike in 2021, and food prices are increasing at a more moderate rate. We have seen these trends for months. But the element that makes up nearly two-thirds of consumer spending – services – the element that the Fed has been pointing out for months, remained at the worst level since 1984, and it kept core inflation at nose-bleed levels at well over twice the Fed’s target. On a year-over-year basis, the PCE price index without food and energy products (“core PCE”) jumped by 4.6% year-over-year in February, after having jumped by 4.7% in January, and by 4.6% in December, essentially unchanged for the past three months, according to the Bureau of Economic Analysis today. The Fed’s inflation target is 2%, and it uses this core PCE index as primary yardstick. Within the core PCE index, the PCE price index for durable goods rose just 0.7% year-over-year, but the PCE index for services spiked by 5.6%. On a month-to-month basis, the core PCE price index has been jumping up and down in the same range since 2021. In February, it rose 0.3%, after the 0.5% jump in January and 0.4% in December. This chart shows the three-month moving average of core PCE’s month-to-month changes, which smoothens out the month-to-month volatility and shows the trends more clearly: Inflation continues to rage in services. Powell, in every press conference since mid-2022, has been pointing at the services components of the PCE price index as the hotspot of inflation, where inflation is raging, and where it is very difficult to extinguish. Services account for nearly two-thirds of consumer spending. The PCE price index for services jumped by 5.6% year-over-year in February, same as in January, and both are the worst since 1984: On a month-to-month basis, the PCE price index for services jumped by 0.3% in February from January, and has been jumping up and down in the same high range since 2021. The chart shows the three-month moving average, which smoothens out the month-to-month volatility and shows the trends more clearly:
FAA says staffing issues will bring delays, especially in Northeast -- A shortage of air traffic controllers will lead to a large uptick in flight delays this summer, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA)warned in a memo on Wednesday. Delays could increase by 45 percent at New York City-area airports, the FAA said, noting that staffing levels at those hubs are at just 54 percent of the FAA’s target and travel is projected to rise 7 percent compared to last summer. In its memo, the FAA asked airlines to voluntarily give up 10 percent of their flight slots at John F. Kennedy International Airport and LaGuardia Airport from May 15 through September 15 “to allow carriers to reduce operations to enable scheduling and operational stability.” The agency explained that air traffic control issues will be alleviated when it moves operations from Newark to Philadelphia — but that isn’t expected to happen until September 2023. Nationwide, the FAA is at 81 percent of its staffing goal, according to the memo. The agency, which has long battled air traffic controller shortages, said that safety measures implemented during the pandemic created a training backlog.
DOT: Vehicle Miles Driven Increased 5.6% year-over-year in January. The Department of Transportation (DOT) reported: Travel on all roads and streets changed by +5.6% (+13.2 billion vehicle miles) for January 2023 as compared with January 2022. Travel for the month is estimated to be 247.3 billion vehicle miles.The seasonally adjusted vehicle miles traveled for January 2023 is 272.5 billion miles, a 4.5% (11.6 billion vehicle miles) change over January 2022. It also represents a 3.1% change (8.1 billion vehicle miles) compared with December 2022. This graph shows the monthly total vehicle miles driven, seasonally adjusted.Miles driven declined sharply in March 2020, and really collapsed in April 2020. After recovering, miles driven were softer early in 2022 due to higher gasoline prices but have increased since gasoline prices are now down sharply year-over-year.
Price gouging at the pump? Oil firms will have to pay up for higher prices - California lawmakers on Monday approved the nation’s first penalty for price gouging at the pump, voting to give regulators the power to punish oil companies for profiting from the type of gas price spikes that plagued the nation’s most populous state last summer. The Democrats in charge of the state legislature worked quickly to pass the bill on Monday, just one week after it was introduced. It was an unusually fast process for a controversial issue, especially one opposed by the powerful oil industry that has spent millions of dollars to stop it. The Democratic governor, Gavin Newsom, used his political muscle to pass the bill, which grew out of his call last October for a special legislative session to pass a new tax on oil company profits after the average price of gas in California hit a record high of $6.44 per gallon, according to the American Automobile Association. Taking on the oil industry has been a major policy priority for Newsom, who is widely viewed as a future presidential candidate. “When you take on big oil, they usually roll you – that’s exactly what they’ve been doing to consumers for years and years and years,” Newsom told reporters after the vote. “The legislature had the courage, conviction and the backbone to stand up to big oil.” He is expected to sign the bill into law on Tuesday. Legislative leaders rejected his initial call for a new tax because they feared it could discourage supply and lead to higher prices. Instead, Newsom and lawmakers agreed to let the California energy commission decide whether to penalize oil companies for price gouging. But the crux of the bill isn’t a potential penalty. Instead, it’s the reams of new information oil companies would be required to disclose to state regulators about their pricing. The companies would report this information, most of it to be kept confidential, to a new state agency empowered to monitor and investigate the petroleum market and subpoena oil company executives. The commission will rely on the work of this agency, plus a panel of experts, to decide whether to impose a penalty on oil company profits and how much that penalty should be. .
Richmond Fed Manufacturing Activity Improved Modestly in March - Fifth district manufacturing improved in March, according to the most recent survey from the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond. The composite manufacturing index is at -5 in March, up 11 from February. This is better than the Investing.com forecast of -10. Despite this month's increase, the latest 3-month moving average dropped by 2 from last month to -10.7, the lowest it has been since June 2020.Here is an excerpt from the latest Richmond Fed manufacturing overview:Fifth District manufacturing firms reported modest improvements in business conditions in March, according to the most recent survey from the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond. The composite manufacturing index rose from -16 in February to -5 in March. Of its three component indexes, shipments saw the largest change, rising notably from -15 in February to 2 in March. Both the employment and new orders indexes improved from February but remained in negative territory. Link to ReportThe complete data series behind today's Richmond Fed manufacturing report, which dates from November 1993, is available here. The Richmond Manufacturing Index is a gauge of manufacturing activity in the Fifth Federal Reserve District (Maryland, North Carolina, the District of Columbia, Virginia, most of West Virginia, and South Carolina) compiled from a survey of ~100 manufacturers. The composite manufacturing index is an average of indexes on shipments, new orders, order backlogs, capacity utilization, supplier lead times, number of employees, average work weak, wages, inventories, and capital expenditures. This is a diffusion index, meaning negative readings indicate contraction and worsening conditions, while positive ones indicate expansion and improving conditions. The survey offers clues on inflationary pressures and the pace of growth in the manufacturing sector for this region of the country and the accumulated results can help trace long-term trends.Here is a snapshot of the complete Richmond Fed Manufacturing Composite series.
Dallas Fed Manufacturing: Business Conditions Continued to Worsen in March -The Dallas Fed released its Texas Manufacturing Outlook Survey (TMOS) for March. The latest general business activity index came in at -15.7, down 2.2 from last month. The general business activity index has been in contraction territory since May of last year. The 3-month moving average is up 1.5 this month to -12.5, its lowest since June 2022. All figures are seasonally adjusted.Here is an excerpt from the latest report: Texas factory activity expanded slightly in March after contracting in February, according to business executives responding to the Texas Manufacturing Outlook Survey. The production index, a key measure of state manufacturing conditions, moved up from -2.8 to 2.5, a reading suggestive of a modest increase in output.Other measures of manufacturing activity showed mixed signals this month. The new orders index was negative for a 10th month in a row and came in at -14.3, little changed from February. The growth rate of orders index was also negative and largely unchanged, at -15.2. The capacity utilization index returned to positive territory, moving up six points to 2.3, while the shipments index pushed down from -5.0 to -10.5.Perceptions of broader business conditions continued to worsen in March. The general business activity index slipped two points to -15.7. The company outlook index remained negative but rose four points to -13.3. The outlook uncertainty index came in at 22.0, down slightly from February but still elevated.Labor market measures suggest a resumption of employment growth and continued lengthening of workweeks. The employment index shot up 11 points to 10.4 after dipping below zero last month. Twenty-four percent of firms noted net hiring, while 14 percent noted net layoffs. The hours worked index edged down to 2.6, a reading slightly below average.Price and wage pressures receded in March, though wage growth remained elevated relative to average. The raw materials prices index retreated five points to 20.3, falling further below its series average of 27.9. The finished goods prices index dropped from 15.8 to 7.0, falling below its series average of 9.0 for the first time since 2020. The wages and benefits index inched down two points to 30.5.Here is a snapshot of the complete TMOS.
March Regional Fed Manufacturing Overview-Five out of the 12 Federal Reserve Regional Districts currently publish monthly data on regional manufacturing: Dallas, Kansas City, New York, Richmond, and Philadelphia. Here are links to the five monthly manufacturing indicators that we track:
- Texas Manufacturing Outlook Survey (TMOS)
- Kansas City Manufacturing Survey
- Empire State Manufacturing Survey
- Fifth District Manufacturing Survey (Richmond)
- Philadelphia Fed Manufacturing Business Outlook Survey
Regional manufacturing surveys are a measure of local economic health and are used as a representative for the larger national manufacturing health. They have been used as a signal for business uncertainty and economic activity as a whole. Manufacturing makes up 12% of the country's GDP.The other six Federal Reserve Districts do not publish manufacturing data. For these, the Federal Reserve’s Beige Book offers a short summary of each districts’ manufacturing health. The Chicago Fed published its midwest manufacturing index from July 1996 through December of 2013. According to its website, "The Chicago Fed Midwest Manufacturing Index (CFMMI) is undergoing a process of data and methodology revision. In December 2013, the monthly release of the CFMMI was suspended pending the release of updated benchmark data from the U.S. Census Bureau and a period of model verification. Significant revisions in the history of the CFMMI are anticipated."In March, Richmond made the largest jump but still remains in contraction territory. Philadelphia also saw a monthly increase, while Kansas City remained flat. Dallas inched down a few points and Empire State plummeted after making large gains last month. The latest average of the five is -13.7, down from February.Here is the same chart including the average of the five. Readers will notice the range in expansion and contraction between all regions.For comparison, here is the latest ISM Manufacturing survey.
AI doesn’t belong everywhere. Stop using a hammer to make lasagna. - At the dawn of every profound development in technology, you can count on the profoundly stupid, too. When Apple first let anyone make apps for the iPhone about 15 years ago, one of the first viral hits was iFart, which — as you might have guessed — made flatulence sounds.Its popularity spawned many hundreds of copycats. Apple was so embarrassed that it essentially banned fart apps.Whenever we get excited about the potential of a new technology, we rush to try it for anything. We don’t always stop and think: “Wait, is this a good idea?”We are at the cusp of what many technologists believe is a breakthrough moment for artificial intelligence. That makes it essential for us to learn that, just because you can apply AI to some task, it doesn’t mean that you should.Already we’re starting to see examples of overly complicated, overly intrusive, overly expensive and overly clueless uses of AI in situations where simpler technology — or no technology at all — might be better. Examples of AI for the sake of AI
- Grocery delivery company Instacart bragged last week about an AI chatbot feature that suggests what you can make for dinner. Yeah, Instacart invented a cookbook. Or a web search. Or a cooking app.
- The fast-food chain White Castle has experimented with AI-powered license plate readers and AI voice assistants at drive-through windows that require people to accept terms and conditions before ordering a burger. Is shouting into a fast-food Siri any better than shouting through a speaker to a restaurant worker?
- Levi Strauss said it is testing AI-generated fashion models to show its clothes in a range of sizes and on bodies with many skin colors. It’s an illusion of diversity, without actual humans.
- A restaurant chain in Japan recently responded to gross pranks of people licking items on sushi conveyor belts by deploying AI cameras and software to identify suspicious diner behavior. Another chain responded by limiting the use of open conveyor belts of food and installing physical barriers between diners and the sushi.
Weekly Initial Unemployment Claims increase to 198,000 -- The DOL reported: In the week ending March 25, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 198,000, an increase of 7,000 from the previous week's unrevised level of 191,000. The 4-week moving average was 198,250, an increase of 2,000 from the previous week's unrevised average of 196,250.The following graph shows the 4-week moving average of weekly claims since 1971.
Push in states for $20 minimum wage as inflation persists (AP) — Just years after labor activists persuaded a handful of states to raise their minimum wage to $15 per hour, workers initially thrilled with the pay bump are finding their hard-won gains erased by inflation. New York City resident Anthony Rivera, 20, who sorts packages at a United Parcel Service facility in Brooklyn, said he had to take a second job at a grocery store after his food costs soared. “I was sitting at $15 an hour at UPS, and when it came to paying bills and buying groceries, it was starting to become not enough,” he said. “That led me to no other option than to pick up another job.” New York, California and Massachusetts are among states where pro-labor forces are now pushing proposals that, if approved, would boost minimum wages to $20 or more in the coming years. Inflation has meant that something that cost $15 in 2012 — when labor activists adopted the “Fight for $15” slogan in a push for wage hikes — would probably cost almost $20 today, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. But opponents to the wage hikes say they can be detrimental to small businesses, which already took a major hit during the coronavirus pandemic.;
As guns saturate the United States, police turn to the AR-15 - Police departments that once deferred to SWAT teams wielding military-style rifles for active-shooter situations have in recent years started equipping the rank and file with AR-15s and other long guns, as those weapons have flooded neighborhoods and communities.Many officers welcomed the change, some even buying their own AR-15s and using them for sport or hunting when not on duty. But police often say they still feel outgunned and ill-prepared — struggling to balance demands that they avoid using force against the knowledge that at any moment they could be called to stop a mass killing in progress.Those potentially conflicting impulses reflect a policing paradox deepened by America’s obsession with the AR-15: The weapon can, depending on the circumstances, be an officer’s greatest threat or a potentially lifesaving tool.“Police academies often aren’t well equipped to train with long guns,” said Pete Kraska, a professor of justice studies at Eastern Kentucky University who studies police militarization. Years ago, he argued that law enforcement agencies were adding tactical weapons unnecessarily. But with both mass killings and open-carry laws on the rise, he said, “It’s now a credible argument to say we have to engage in an arms race because we’re outgunned.”The dilemma has emerged as a critical factor in last year’s mass killing at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Tex., according to a recent Texas Tribune investigation, which found police waited more than an hour before confronting the gunman because they feared they lacked the firepower to compete with him. And it looms large every day in Colorado, where open carry is generally legal, many law enforcement agencies have resisted taking guns from risky people, and the map is peppered with the names of towns and cities where mass killings have occurred. An independent 2022 assessment of the Colorado Springs Police Department’s use of force, commissioned by the city, revealed that more than 8 in 10 officers surveyed said their training on the use of force and how to de-escalate was inadequate, and more than 9 in 10 officers said they needed more training on when to use their firearms.
Three children, three adults dead in Nashville school shooting - Three children and three teachers were killed in a shooting at a private Nashville elementary school on Monday morning. Police responded to a call of a shooting at The Covenant School just before 10:15 a.m. local time, where they located the shooter on the second floor. The suspect, a 28-year-old female, was eventually killed by police. According to police, the shooter entered through a side door of the school and opened fire in the school with two assault-style weapons and a handgun. President Biden addressed the shooting during an event at the White House on Monday afternoon, saying, “It’s sick. A family’s worst nightmare.” “We have to do more to stop gun violence. It’s ripping our communities apart … ripping at the very soul of this nation,” Biden said. This is the 129th mass shooting so far in 2023, according to the Gun Violence Archive, and comes less than a year after the school shooting in Uvalde, Texas, where a gunman shot and killed 19 children and two adults. In June, Biden signed into law the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, the most wide-ranging gun violence prevention bill passed by Congress in nearly 30 years, which included enhanced background checks for those under 21 and funding for state red flag laws, among other measures. It comes just two weeks after Biden also announced an executive order that aims to boost the number of background checks done prior to a firearm sale. The motive for the Nashville school shooting has yet to be established.
Six killed, including three children, in mass shooting at private Christian school in Nashville, Tennessee - Seven people are dead, including three students, three adult staff members and the shooter, following a mass shooting Monday morning at the Covenant School, a private Christian school in Nashville, Tennessee. Police identified the shooter in Monday’s massacre as local resident 28-year-old Audrey Hale, a former student at the school. At the time of this writing, police and FBI agents were conducting an investigation at a home located in Nashville where Hale is believed to have lived with their parents. According to Nashville police chief John Drake, the shooter, Hale, was a “transgender woman,” however, according to The Tennessean, Hale was “a transgender man who used male pronouns.” Police state that a five-person team engaged Hale in a shootout on the second floor at around 10:27 a.m. that ended with Hale dying after being shot by two police officers. Chief Drake confirmed that police are looking into a possible motive to the shooting that is related to the fact that the shooter identified as transgender. Tennessee, like several states controlled by Republicans, has enacted a raft of anti-LGBTQ legislation aimed at dehumanizing and criminalizing transgender and queer persons. Monday’s shooting is the deadliest mass shooting at a school in the United States since the Uvalde Massacre in Texas last year that left 19 students and two teachers dead, after police refused to engage the shooter for over an hour. It follows the shooting of two school administrators by a student in Denver, Colorado last week. The shooter in that incident, 17-year-old student Austin Lyle, was found dead after police claim he shot himself with a “ghost gun.” A database complied by the Washington Post estimates that with this latest shooting more that 348,000 students have experienced gun violence at school since the 1999 Columbine Massacre. The K-12 School Shooting Database which is maintained by David Reidman and has been cited by the Wall Street Journal and the New York Times, found that there have already been 89 shootings on school grounds this year alone. In 2022, the database recorded 303 school grounds shootings.
Nashville police response at Covenant school sharp contrast to Uvalde - For the second time in 10 months, police officers were called to confront a mass killer at an American elementary school. But this time, unlike last spring in Uvalde, Tex., the officers at the Covenant School in Nashville rushed right in.Body-camera footage released Tuesday shows heavily armed officers methodically sweeping colorful classrooms and backpack-lined hallways until they find and kill the suspect — a police response experts described as “textbook.”“They did an awesome job in a very high-stress situation,” said AJ Yokley, an instructor in firearms and building clearing at the Tennessee Law Enforcement Training Academy in Nashville. “You’re going into a situation where you can hear the shots fired. It’s a difficult thing to run towards the sound of gunfire, but that’s what they did. Every single one of them displayed tremendous courage.”Robert Carlson, a firearms instructor and owner of the Brave Defender Training Group in Memphis, said the Nashville police response was the “exact opposite” of how law enforcement responded to the attack at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde in May, when an 18-year-old armed with an AR-15 killed 19 students and two teachers and injured 17 other people.Police waited 77 minutes to confront the Uvalde shooter, in direct conflict with mainstream law-enforcement training for active-shooter situations since the Columbine High School mass killing in 1999. The Texas Tribune reported last week that some officers in Uvalde said they feared entering the school because they knew the gunman was armed with an AR-15.The Nashville shooter, Audrey Hale, also was heavily armed, with three guns, two of them assault-type weapons, according to Nashville police. The school was locked down and its hallways deserted when police found Hale alone on the second floor, according to the footage released Tuesday. The three young students and three employees who were killed are not clearly visible on the video footage, and no other potential victims appear to be nearby. But Carlson said the response by the Metropolitan Nashville Police Department was reaffirming nonetheless.
Mass school shootings kill 175 from Columbine to Nashville - Mass shooters have killed hundreds of people throughout U.S. history in realms like stores, theaters and workplaces, but it is in schools and colleges where the carnage reverberates perhaps most keenly — places filled with children of tender ages, older students aspiring to new heights and the teachers planting the seeds of knowledge, their journeys all cut short. If a mass shooting is defined as resulting in the death of four or more people, not including the perpetrator, 175 people have died in 15 such events connected to U.S. schools and colleges — from 1999′s Columbine High School massacre to Monday’s shooting in Nashville, Tennessee. That’s according to a database compiled by The Associated Press, USA Today and Northeastern University, in addition to other AP reporting: (graphic and list)
3 Colorado schools cancel classes amid fears of LGBTQ violence --At least three schools along Colorado’s northern Front Range closed Friday amid fears of rumored violence potentially tied to LGBTQ groups demonstrating on International Transgender Day of Visibility around the country.The Longmont Christian School, the Loveland Resurrection Christian School and Loveland Classical Schools canceled classes with administrators citing possible threats of violence.Police, however, have said there is no evidence of credible threats in Colorado.Transgender remembrance, visibility and other demonstrations planned around the nation were in flux this week following the school shooting in Nashville, which police have said was done by a transgender person. It was unclear what protests if any were planned in Colorado.But in the Longmont Christian School, administrators and board members late Thursday sent out a notice to parents saying Longmont police had warned school officials of possible threats and that, “out of an abundance of caution,” school officials decided to close on Friday and resume classes Monday.The decision was made out of concern for the safety of students and staff, the administrators and board members said in the notice they sent. “If they do not feel safe, they cannot focus, teach or learn. We pray that these concerns do not pan out to destruction or harm in our community,” the notice said.Longmont police had contacted the school and told officials that protests taking place across the country by LGBTQ groups “may be potentially violent” and that “ there are plans for groups to travel north along the I-25 corridor to Fort Collins” for a demonstration, the notice said. “We have been informed by law enforcement that some of these groups may choose to target Christian organizations and schools.”On Friday afternoon, Longmont police released a statement saying the threats were received by the schools themselves.
Florida Republicans advance legislation to restrict pronoun usage in schools -The Florida House of Representatives passed legislation on Friday that would restrict the use of preferred pronouns in schools, as part of a larger expansion of the state’s so-called “Don’t Say Gay” law. The bill, which passed largely along party lines, would bar school employees from asking students for their pronouns and sharing their own pronouns if they “do not correspond to that person’s sex.”It would also mandate that all public schools operate under the policy that “a person’s sex is an immutable biological trait and that it is false to ascribe to a person a pronoun that does not correspond to such person’s sex.”Florida House Bill 1069 expands the “Don’t Say Gay” law’s restrictions on classroom instruction on sexual orientation and gender identity from kindergarten through third grade to include prekindergarten through eighth grade. Materials used for instruction on reproductive health would also now require the department’s approval rather than that of the local school board, and schools would be required to remove materials from libraries and classrooms within five days of receiving a complaint from parents.The legislation passed the Florida House of Representatives in a 77-35 vote, with only two Republicans — state Reps. Demi Busatta Cabrera and Will Robinson — joining Democrats in voting against the bill. The vote was notably held on the Transgender Day of Visibility. President Biden commemorated the day in a presidential proclamation that took aim at Republican legislatures across the country that have targeted transgender Americans.
Florida House passes parental rights bill restricting pronouns in schools - — House Republicans in Florida passed a wide-ranging education bill Friday targeting how teachers and students can use their pronouns in schools, building on the state’s parental rights law that critics call “Don’t Say Gay.”The proposal tightens restrictions on school lessons about sexual identity and gender orientation, which lawmakers say should happen at home. It also would require libraries pull books from shelves within five days if someone objects to the content in a change opponents contend amounts to censorship. The measure is part of the push by Florida conservatives to uproot what they say is “indoctrination” in schools and is one of several bills taken up this session focusing on the LGBTQ community and transness. With the 77-35 vote that saw House Democrats in opposition, the legislation is on the cusp of passing the Legislature but is awaiting a final committee hearing in the Senate. Two Republicans — State Rep. Demi Busatta Cabrera (R-Coral Gables) and Rep. Will Robinson (R-Bradenton) — crossed party lines and voted against the bill. The bill, FL HB1069 (23R), would broaden the state’s prohibition on teaching about sexual identity and gender orientation from kindergarten through third grade to pre-K through eighth grade. This was a key piece in the Parental Rights in Education bill, known nationally as “Don’t Say Gay,” that was one of the more controversial policies passed by state lawmakers in 2022.It also targets how school staff and students can use pronouns on K-12 campuses. Specifically, the legislation stipulates that school employees can’t ask students for their preferred pronouns and restricts school staff from sharing their pronouns with students if they “do not correspond” with their sex. Under the bill, it would be “false to ascribe” a person with a pronoun that “does not correspond to such person’s sex.”
Los Angeles area high school students express support for education workers continuing struggle against sellout tentative agreement - After working without a contract for three years, some 30,000 public school support workers in the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD), joined by 35,000 teachers, went on a three-day strike last week, shutting down schools in the second largest school district in the United States. Despite the immense support the strike received from students and the broader working class, members of Service Employees International union (SEIU) Local 99, which include maintenance, cafeteria, warehouse and other school staff, were ordered back on the job by the union bureaucracy Friday morning. Only later that afternoon was a tentative agreement announced. On Monday the SEIU released the details of the full agreement. They confirm that the deal is a massive betrayal of workers. The pathetic wage “increases” barely even keep pace with inflation, leaving the majority of the SEIU membership making poverty wages in one of the most expensive cities in the world. The World Socialist Web Site will be publishing a more complete analysis of the agreement in the very near future. However, what has been revealed so far already falls well short of the expectations of Los Angeles area students, who overwhelmingly support their public school staff. Students in the Los Angeles area expressed their support for the powerful three-day strike and questioned the so-called “socialists” in the Democratic Socialists of America, which controls both the United Teachers Los Angeles union and the LA school board, who characterized the agreement as a “big victory.” A high school student from Torrance, a city in the South Bay region of Los Angeles County, told this reporter that he had “heard about the strike and the contract that was offered to the service workers. There was an article in Jacobin that said that, basically, the service workers ‘won big.’ That is what I discovered about Jacobin—that is my biggest pet peeve with them—whatever contract it is, no matter what it is, it is a ‘big win.’
FBI Lawyer Hoped Justice Department Would 'Reconsider' 2021 Memo On Alleged School Board Threats - Documents the FBI recently released show that a lawyer for the agency expressed her reservations about a draft version of U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland’s Oct. 4, 2021 memo that initiated a controversial federal effort to investigate alleged harassment at school board meetings around the country.The documents, which the America First Legal Foundation (AFL) recently obtained through a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request, showed FBI attorney Miriam Coakley expressed her hope that Garland and the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) would reconsider their actions.“Not sure if you’ve seen this/weighed in—it was just raised to my attention,” Coakley wrote in an Oct. 4, 2021 email to Corey Frazier Ellis. Ellis was serving at the time as chief of staff for FBI Director Christopher Wray before Garland appointed him in December of that year to serve as the Interim U.S. Attorney for the District of South Carolina.“I hope DOJ reconsiders,” Coakley added in her email.After Coakley contacted him, Ellis raised the issue to Norman Wong, the then director of the DOJ’s Executive Office for United States Attorneys (EOUSA), writing “we are asking that the memo be revised,” to which Wong replied: “It’s a little too late.”The DOJ proceeded to publish Garland’s memo that day, along with a larger press statement describing the formation of a task force that would include the FBI and the DOJ’s Criminal, National Security, and Civil Rights Divisions.
Biden’s Education secretary is done sitting ‘idly’ amid schools fight – POLITICO -President Joe Biden’s education secretary — a former elementary school principal from Connecticut — has sought to avoid conflict since arriving in Washington. But Cardona has been shaken by the country’s fractured education politics over curriculum, parents’ rights, LGBTQ students and race.“I was hired to improve education in the country. I’m not a politician. I’m an educator. I’m a dad, and I want to talk about raising the bar in education,” Cardona said in an interview with POLITICO last week. “But I won’t sit idly when some try to attack our schools or privatize education.”Cardona advocated for tighter gun laws after last year’s killings at Robb Elementary and has warned that the country risks failing students in Covid-19’s wake. Yet his newly public exasperation with school-centered partisanship comes as the Republican-controlled House approved sweeping “Parents Bill of Rights” legislation that captures broad strokes of pandemic-era conservative education wars.“When we talk about politicization, when we talk about book banning, when we talk about Black history curriculum being picked apart — I think there are deliberate attempts to make sure that our public schools are not functional so that the private option sounds better,” the education secretary said. “I don’t doubt that’s intentional.”Elections are also at play.Nearly 30,000 school board seats are on the ballot this year across the country.Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis — a likely 2024 Republican presidential candidate who weighed in on school board races last year — has tapped conservative energy with a range of education issues. He signed one measure restricting how gender identities are discussed with schoolchildren, launched a feud over an Advanced Placement African American history course, and is primed to sign major private school voucher legislation. Biden’s other potential challengers also frame their education concerns with a distinct culture war bent.Conservatives say they’re the ones on the defensive. Many Republican governors and lawmakers argue their restrictions on classroom lessons, curriculum, and LGBTQ students are meant to blunt diversity initiatives run amok or what they see as the misapplication of legal protections to include transgender people.Some Republican groups are also looking to combine a longstanding push for expansive school choice programs with renewed efforts to harness more power on local school boards.“Many school board members are intertwined with biased political ideologies and are controlled by special interests groups like the teachers unions,” said Laura Zorc, the education reform director at the conservative FreedomWorks organization, after Florida lawmakers sent their school choice bill to DeSantis.“The only way parents can ensure that their children receive a high quality education is if state educational dollars, traditionally earmarked for local school districts, are directed to parents who want the very best for their children,” Zorc said in a statement.Cardona’s public frustration dovetails with a growing political counteroffensive from White House allies.National Education Association President Becky Pringle and American Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten recently denounced DeSantis during an Orlando rally, and Weingarten is scheduled to deliver an address “in defense of public education” in Washington this week.The Democratic Party of Illinois last week unveiled what it called an unprecedented effort to endorse dozens of candidates in nonpartisan local school and library board races. It also plans to funnel nearly $300,000 into an advertising and organizing campaign surrounding those elections.Amid all this tension, Cardona has wielded recent op-eds in Newsweek and the Tampa Bay Times to accuse Republicans of “hiding behind the guise of ‘parents’ rights’” to defund public schools and trying to “hijack” classroom discussions.And the secretary met last week with school superintendent and teacher representatives, who, he said, “feel the same way.”
U.S. colleges face loss of racial diversity if race-conscious admissions banned -study - (Reuters) - If the U.S. Supreme Court bans the consideration of race in college admissions, enrollment of minority groups at selective colleges will likely stall or decline - even if the schools give more weight to factors such as class, a new study found. The conservative-leaning court will issue rulings this spring in cases questioning the legality of race-conscious admissions at Harvard and the University of North Carolina. Students for Fair Admissions, the group suing Harvard and UNC, argues that class-conscious admissions would allow schools to create a diverse student body and boost disadvantaged students without focusing on race. But a study released on Tuesday by Georgetown University's Center on Education and the Workforce found that admissions practices that consider class - defined by family income and parental education and occupational prestige - but not race would still leave selective colleges without the representation of Black, Hispanic, Indigenous and Pacific Islander students seen in U.S. high schools. To increase enrollment of all underrepresented groups on campus without race-conscious admissions, the study said, schools would need to overhaul the entire process. That would involve eliminating the consideration of students' athletic talent and their ties to school alumni or donors - factors that largely benefit white, affluent applicants, the study said. About 60% of top U.S. colleges consider race as a factor in admissions, according to 2015 estimates. The study's authors said it was unlikely that schools would universally adopt class-conscious admissions. Many colleges lacking large scholarship budgets would be limited in their ability to select applicants, which could further erode diversity, said Anthony Carnevale, head of the Georgetown center and lead author of the study. An expert witness for Students for Fair Admissions in the Supreme Court cases, Rick Kahlenberg, said he believed many leading universities would be willing to overhaul their admissions processes, however, in order to maintain or increase their current racial and ethnic enrollment levels.
Prof Suspended After Declaring It's "More Admirable" To Shoot Down Than Shout Down Conservative Speakers -- by Jonathan Turley, A professor at Wayne State University in Detroit, Michigan, has been suspended after posting threatening statements on social media posts that suggested that people would be justified in killing speakers who hold opposing views on issues like transgender policies. Wayne State University President M. Roy Wilson released a statement saying that an unnamed professor in the school’s English department made a social media post that is “at best, morally reprehensible and, at worst, criminal.” College Fix identified that professor as Steven Shaviro, who writes in the areas of film, music videos, and science fiction literature. Wilson stated “This morning, I was made aware of a social media post by a Wayne State University professor in our Department of English. We have on many occasions defended the right of free speech guaranteed by the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, but we feel this post far exceeds the bounds of reasonable or protected speech. It is, at best, morally reprehensible and, at worst, criminal.” On one level, a suspension could be viewed as a necessary proactive step to guarantee that there is no real danger in this circumstance. Indeed, we have seen a strikingly different treatment given to academics on the right as opposed to the left in such actions. Many conservative or libertarian professors find themselves suspended or under investigation for controversial tweets or jokes. Conversely, it is comparably rare to see such action against those on the left who use inflammatory language including professors advocating “detonating white people,” denouncing police, calling for Republicans to suffer, strangling police officers, celebrating the death of conservatives, calling for the killing of Trump supporters, supporting the murder of conservative protesters and other outrageous statements. The most analogous case is that of University of Rhode Island professor Erik Loomis, who defended the murder of a conservative protester and said that he saw “nothing wrong” with such acts of violence. Yet, those extreme statements from the left are rarely subject to cancel campaigns or university actions.
Exxon in the classroom: how big oil money influences US universities | Princeton University --The lecturer looked, and sounded, the part. Sporting a pale blue shirt and Princeton University ID badge, he had his own office on campus, a short stroll from the room where several dozen students were gathered to hear him confidently talk about the challenges in moving away from fossil fuels.Tim Barckholtz is not a Princeton professor, however. He is a senior scientific adviser at ExxonMobil, the oil giant that has done so much to both perpetuateand downplay the climate crisis. Barckholtz, an affable figure who has fronted adverts for Exxon touting its emissions reduction research, spent around six months sitting in and contributing to lectures and research groups, based in his own office space at the elite university.In September, with the university poised to cut its extensive ties with certain fossil-fuel companies including Exxon, Barckholtz even taught a class of engineering students on “negative emissions technologies”, during which, over pizza and soda, he criticized the divestment decision, warned that the transition away from oil and gas will be “very difficult” and that the unfolding climate emergency was “not our fault”.“It’s hard for me to figure out who wins [from divestment],” Barckholtz told the class, a recording of it shows. “There are, like, 10 people who win. They are sleeping better at night, but technology is the loser.” Barckholtz then noted that Exxon makes the type of rubber that goes into most car tires. “Are all of the Princeton security cars going to go back to the Flintstones and have no tires?” he asked. “There are some parts of this they didn’t think through completely.”Asked by a student about the Paris climate agreement, Barckholtz expressed doubt that it could be met, as it was too hard to ditch fossil fuels. “I’m not optimistic, I’m going to call it the way I see it,” he said. “The system is just too big to be flipped.”“A few of the students thought it was weird he was in the class and that he then taught the class,” said Claire Kaufman, a second year master’s student in public affairs who said she started talking to Barckholtz during one of the first negative emissions. Dozens of US universities, however, retain links with the fossil-fuel industry in a variety of ways, despite the growing pressure on them to cut them. Several host Exxon representatives on campus and even provide them with office space, similar to Princeton’s previous arrangement, a Guardian investigation has found. technology classes and was “quite shocked” to discover he was an Exxon employee.
Victor Davis Hanson: Who Owns The University? - The most recent shout-down debacle at Stanford’s law school, one of many such recent sordid episodes, prompts the question: “Who owns our universities?” The law students who are in residence for three years apparently assume they embody the university. And so, they believe they represent and speak for a score of diverse Stanford interests when they shout down federal Judge Kyle Duncan, as if he were an intruder into their own woke private domain. After all, Stanford, like most of the Ivy League universities, is a private institution. Are then its board of trustees, its faculty, its students, and its administration de facto overseers and owners? Not really. In the case of public institutions of higher learning, there is no controversy: The people own the university and, through their elected representatives, pay for and approve its entire budget.Again, through their selected regents and overseers, the taxpayers adjudicate the laws of these universities. But private universities, while different, are not really so different. Take again Stanford as a typical example.It receives about $1.5 billion per year in federal taxpayer grants alone to its various faculty, labs, research centers, and programs. Its annual budget exceeds $8 billion. If Stanford accepts such huge federal and state direct largess, do the taxpayers who provide it have some say about how and under what conditions their recipients use their money? Second, the university also has accumulated a $36 billion endowment. At normal annual investment returns, such an enormous fund may earn well over $2 billion a year. That income is almost all tax-free, based on the principle that Stanford is a nonprofit, apolitical institution. But is it? One could imagine what would have happened had, say, a radical abortion proponent been shouted down at Stanford Law School. Further, conceive that conservative law students had called her scum and wished for her daughters to be raped. Envision obscene placards flashing in her face—before she was stopped speaking entirely by a conservative Stanford dean who hijacked her talk and informed the pro-abortion speaker that she more or less asked for such a mob reception. The perpetrators, we know, would have been expelled from the law school within 24 hours, and the dean fired in 12. And, alternately, had the architects of this real, vile demonstration faced an open hearing, where evidence of the event was presented, and had been found guilty of violating university policy and then had been expelled and ostracized from the law school, even after much chest-thumping and performance-art braggadocio, it is unlikely the debacle would be repeated. Third, the federal government through subsidies and guarantees is liable for over $1.6 trillion in aggregate student loans. Thousands of Stanford undergraduate and graduates are among those indebted and could not attend the university without such taxpayer largess. To take a hypothetical, if some 16,000 undergraduate and Stanford graduate students carried on average $20,000 in federally backed student loans, the Stanford student community could be carrying a third of a billion dollars in federal loan guarantees. In other words, the private universities of the United States are really not so private at all. They rely on billions of dollars in federal and state research subsidies and grants; billions of dollars in tax-exempt annual income from their endowments; and hundreds of billions of dollars in federally backed student loans that allow them to charge exorbitant tuition at above the annual inflation rate from leveraged and indebted students.
Millennials Dominate Insolvencies In Canada As Credit Card, Student Loan And Other Debts Pile Up -- As US millennials distinguish themselves as the 'buy now, pay later' generation, their Canadian counterparts are leading the way when it comes to insolvencies, according to Ontario-based insolvency trustee firm, Hoyes Michalos, which performs an annual "Joe Debtor" analysis. According to Doug Hoyes, millennial Canadians have been dealt a generational losing hand, as debts from credit cards, high-interest loans and tax debt, and debt owed from the country's taxable financial support during the pandemic known as the Canada Emergency Response Benefit (CERB)."I think there’s a whole bunch of whammies that have hit millennials," said Hoyes. "The CERB was the final straw that broke the camel’s back."The 2022 Joe Debtor study examined 2,700 personal insolvencies filed in Ontario. Hoyes Michalos says 49 per cent were filed by millennials aged 26 to 41, even though they make up 27 per cent of adult Canadians.The study found that on a per−population basis, millennials were 1.4 times more likely to file for insolvency than people in generation X aged 42 to 56, and 1.7 times more likely than baby boomers aged 57 to 76.Insolvent millennials were on average 33 years old and owed an average of $47,283 in unsecured debt. -Canadian PressAccording to Hoyes, many people didn't set aside taxes when they received CERB and other pandemic-related relief funds. Now, a flood of young Canadians have found themselves insolvent and unable to continue paying down their various debts. Hoyes says the millennials have been given a bum rap, and didn't enjoy the same societal benefits as older generations - whose wages kept up (better) with inflation, and went to college when tuition didn't require student loans - allowing graduates the ability to enter the workforce and start saving and investing right away, as opposed to having to service large debts in addition to pulling off a house.He also says there's no 'safety valve' like there use to be."Anything goes wrong like a pandemic, or you lose your job or you get sick or you get divorced and boom, there is no safety valve there," said Hoyes, who added that filing for bankruptcy is an option to eliminate debts, however most people end up working with insolvency trustees to file proposals to manage their debt.
Republican lawmakers override veto of transgender bill in Kentucky - — Republican lawmakers in Kentucky on Wednesday swept aside the Democratic governor’s veto of a bill regulating some of the most personal aspects of life for transgender young people — from banning access to gender-affirming health care to restricting the bathrooms they can use. The votes to override Gov. Andy Beshear’s veto were lopsided in both legislative chambers — where the GOP wields supermajorities — and came on the next-to-last day of this year’s legislative session. The Senate voted 29-8 to override Beshear’s veto. A short time later, the House completed the override on a vote of 76-23. As emotions surged, some people protesting the bill from the House gallery were removed and arrested after their prolonged chanting rang out in the chamber. The protesters, their hands bound, chanted “there’s more of us not here” as they waited to be taken away from the Capitol. Nineteen people were arrested and charged with third-degree criminal trespassing, Kentucky State Police said. Officers gave each person “the option to leave without any enforcement action or be placed under arrest,” said Capt. Paul Blanton, a police spokesperson. Republican House Speaker David Osborne later said it was a decision by state police to remove and arrest protesters. “I think it’s unfortunate that it reached that level and certainly they were given, as I’ve been told since then, multiple opportunities to either quiet their chants or to leave voluntarily,” Osborne said. The bill’s opponents framed the issue as a civil-rights fight. Democratic Rep. Sarah Stalker declared: “Kentucky will be on the wrong side of history” by enacting the measure. The debate about the transgender bill will likely spill over into this year’s gubernatorial campaign, with Beshear’s veto drawing GOP condemnation as he seeks reelection to a second term. A legal fight also is brewing. The American Civil Liberties Union of Kentucky reaffirmed that it intends to “take this fight to the courts” to try to preserve access to health care options for young transgender people.
Probiotic supplements claim to boost gut health, but may do opposite - Probiotic supplements have grown into a multibillion-dollar industry, spurred by claims that the products will populate your gut with bacteria that can boost your health in numerous ways.But beware of the hype: In healthy people, probiotic supplements offer little benefit, and they can potentially do more harm than good.Studies show that taking probiotic supplements — for overall health or to counter the effects of antibiotics — can alter the composition of your microbiome and reduce the levels of microbial diversity in your gut, which is linked to a number of health problems.Probiotic supplements come in the form of capsules, gummies, powders and pills that contain live microorganisms believed to boost gut health. There is a subset of people who may benefit from taking them, including people with gastrointestinal ailments. Studies have found that probiotic supplements can reduce symptoms of irritable bowel syndrome and inflammatory bowel disease. They can prevent traveler’s diarrhea and reduce some side effects of antibiotic medications.But for most people, more reliable ways are available to nourish your gut microbiome.First, eat a variety of vegetables, nuts, seeds, beans and whole grains, which provide gut microbes the fiber-rich fuel that they need to thrive. Researchers have found that eating fermented foods such as yogurt, sauerkraut, kimchi and kefir, which contain probiotics and other beneficial compounds, have positive effects on your health and gut microbiome. Your gut microbes are part of a vast ecosystem of bacteria, viruses, archaea and fungi located largely in your colon. People who harbor diverse gut microbiomes tend to age more healthfully and develop fewer diseases.These microbes thrive on the fiber found in fruits and vegetables, turning it into new compounds or “postbiotics,” including butyrate, acetate, and other short-chain fatty acids that appear to be exceptionally good for your health.But like residents of any community, the microbes in your gut can work together and compete against one another. Sometimes the proportion of good and bad bacteria in your gut can get out of balance — a condition known as dysbiosis.Although there are numerous brands of probiotic supplements, many of them contain a limited number of bacterial strains, primarily from the groups lactobacillus, bifidobacterium and a few others. These microorganisms are quite common and have been associated with many health benefits.But taking concentrated doses of a few strains of bacteria can upset the balance in your gut, said Lorenzo Cohen, a professor and director of the Integrative Medicine Program at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston.“You can inadvertently create a form of dysbiosis by having too much of a good thing,” he said. “You’re not only crowding out the bad things, but crowding out the other good things that you want in there to create high microbiome diversity.”
WHO vaccine advisers update COVID vaccine recommendations -The World Health Organization (WHO) vaccine advisory group today announced its latest recommendations for COVID-19 vaccines, which take into account high levels of immunity due to vaccine and prior infection, prioritizes highest-risk groups, and balances COVID vaccination for lower-risk groups with other preventive health actions.In a statement, the WHO Strategic Advisory Group of Experts (SAGE), along with a prioritization roadmap, weighed in on booster doses, timing of booster doses, and vaccine composition. It laid out three prioritization tiers—high, medium, and low—based on risk for severe disease and death.The highest tier includes older adults, younger adults who have underlying health conditions, immunocompromised people ages 6 months and older, pregnant women, and frontline health workers. For the highest tier, the group recommends a booster shot 6 or 12 months after the last dose, depending on age and underlying conditions. It emphasized that the interval applies only to the current epidemiological situation and isn't a recommendation for annual boosters. "The aim is to serve countries planning for the near- to mid-term," it said. The medium priority group includes healthy adults younger than 60 and children and adolescents with underlying conditions, who should get their primary series and one booster. Though additional boosters are safe, SAGE said it didn't recommend them, because public health returns are relatively low.Meanwhile, the low-priority group is made up of healthy children and adolescents as old as 17. The experts said the primary series and booster doses are safe, but owing to the low burden of disease, countries should base their decisions on a range of factors, including cost-effectiveness and other health priorities. It added that the public health impact of vaccinating healthy kids against COVID is lower than the benefits of other routine vaccinations such as rotavirus, measles, and pneumococcal conjugate.The group examined the data about the impact of COVID-19 vaccine on long COVID, but said the evidence on the extent of the impact is inconsistent.Separately, WHO's SAGE also recommended that countries consider using bivalent mRNA vaccines for the primary series.
WHO Eases Vaccination Guideline For Healthy Children And Adolescents -The World Health Organization's Strategic Advisory Group of Experts on Immunization (SAGE) revised the roadmap for prioritizing the use of Covid-19 vaccines to reflect the impact of Omicron and high population-level immunity acquired by infection and vaccination. WHO experts recommended that healthy kids and teenagers are considered as "low risk" category and may not necessarily need vaccine against the viral disease. "Countries should consider their specific context in deciding whether to continue vaccinating low risk groups, like healthy children and adolescents, while not compromising the routine vaccines that are so crucial for the health and well-being of this age group," SAGE Chair Dr Hanna Nohynek said after the experts group's latest meeting. "Updated to reflect that much of the population is either vaccinated or previously infected with COVID-19, or both, the revised roadmap reemphasizes the importance of vaccinating those still at-risk of severe disease, mostly older adults and those with underlying conditions, including with additional boosters," she added. The roadmap newly considers the cost-effectiveness of vaccination for those at lower risk - namely healthy children and adolescents - compared to other health interventions. The roadmap also includes revised recommendations on additional booster doses and the spacing of boosters. A press release issued by the WHO says the evidence on the extent of the impact of the current vaccines' reduction of post-Covid conditions is inconsistent. The revised roadmap outlines three priority-use groups for Covid vaccination: high, medium, and low. The high priority group includes older adults, younger adults with diabetes and heart disease; people living with HIV and transplant recipients) including children aged 6 months and older; pregnant women; and frontline health workers. For the high priority group, SAGE recommends an additional booster of either 6 or 12 months after the last dose, with the timeframe depending on factors such as age and immunocompromising conditions. The medium priority group includes healthy adults - usually under the age of 50-60 - without comorbidities and children and adolescents with comorbidities. SAGE recommends primary series and first booster doses for the medium priority group. Although additional boosters are safe for this group, SAGE does not routinely recommend them, given the comparatively low public health returns. Though low overall, the burden of severe Covid infection in infants under 6 months is still higher than in children aged 6 months to 5 years. SAGE also updated their recommendations on bivalent Covid vaccines, now recommending that countries can consider using BA.5 bivalent mRNA vaccine for the primary series.
Study: Antibiotics don't reduce risk of death from viral respiratory infections --Prescribing antibiotics for hospital patients with viral respiratory infections does not appear to have any protective effect, according to a study to be presented at next month's European Congress of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases (ECCMID).In fact, the study by researchers in Norway found that patients with viral respiratory infections who received antibiotics at any point during their hospitalization were more than twice as likely to die as those who didn't receive antibiotics. The authors of the observational study say the findings provide further evidence in support of more judicious antibiotic use in patients hospitalized with viral respiratory infections. The study included adult patients admitted to Norway's Akershus University Hospital from 2017 through 2021 who had a nasopharyngeal or throat swab that was positive for influenza, respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), or SARS-CoV-2 on admission. The researchers looked at which of those patients received antibiotics, calculated antibiotic days of therapy (DOT) for each patient, and assessed the impact of antibiotic therapy on survival, with 30-day all-cause mortality as the primary outcome. Patients with bacterial infections were excluded.The researchers say they wanted to explore the impact of antibiotic use in this cohort because of the high rate of unnecessary antibiotic use observed in COVID-19 patients. Early studies during conducted during the pandemic found that as many as 70% of COVID-19 patients in some countries received antibiotics, in part because of the lack of other treatments but also because of concerns about bacterial co-infections. Yet those studies, and subsequent research, show that fewer than 10% of COVID-19 patients have bacterial co-infections. Of the 2,111 patients included in the analysis, 935 (44.3%) had influenza, 429 (20.3%) had RSV, and 747 (35.4%) had SARS-CoV-2. A total of 1,321 (63%) received antibiotics for respiratory infection during hospitalization—1,153 upon admission and 168 later in their hospital stay. The 30-day mortality rate among the entire cohort was 8%; of the 168 patients who died within 30 days, 119 received antibiotics on admission, 27 received them later in their stay, and 22 did not receive antibiotics.Lessons from the Covid-19 pandemic suggest that antibiotics can safely be withheld in most patients with viral respiratory infections, and that fear of bacterial co-infections may be exaggerated....Our new study adds to this evidence.After adjusting for virus type, age, sex, severity of disease at baseline, and comorbidities, the researchers found that patients prescribed antibiotics at any point of their hospitalization were twice as likely to die within 30 days (hazard ratio [HR], 2.10; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.31 to 3.38). The risk of mortality increased by 3% for each day of antibiotic therapy (HR per DOT, 1.03; 95% CI, 1.01 to 1.05). But antibiotics initiated at admission were not associated with an increased risk of death (HR, 1.16; 95% CI, 0.81 to 1.68). Although they adjusted for age and disease severity, the authors say the higher mortality among patients who received antibiotics may be explained by the fact that sicker patients and those with more comorbidities were both more likely to be treated with antibiotics and to die. They also note that unreported factors, such as smoking and socioeconomic background, may have played a role.
Study identifies SARS-CoV-2 variants with antiviral resistance mutations -A study conducted by US and Austrian researchers has identified SARS-CoV-2 variants with resistance to widely used antiviral treatments.The study, published yesterday in Science Advances, found that several naturally occurring variants of Mpro, the main protease of SARS-CoV-2 that is essential for virus replication and is the main target of antivirals, carry amino acid mutations that confer resistance to nirmatrelvir (the main component of Paxlovid) and ensitrelvir, which received regulatory approval in Japan in February. Phylogenetic analysis indicates that these variants predate the use of these drugs, have appeared multiple times independently in different parts of the world, and are capable of spreading.The authors of the study say that while it's unclear what magnitude of resistance will be needed for treatment failure in a clinical setting, ongoing SARS-CoV-2 transmission, continuous evolution of the virus, and widespread use of the drugs means the variants may serve as an "evolutionary stepping stone" that could develop into variants with full drug resistance. They say this could be thwarted by developing new antiviral drugs with different resistance profiles and by using a multi-drug approach. "We are optimistic that ongoing studies will develop additional compounds to avoid cross-resistance and help combat the current COVID-19 pandemic and future coronavirus outbreaks," Reuben Harris, PhD, co-director of the University of Minnesota's Antiviral Drug Discovery Center, said in a press release.
Study: Long COVID could involve factors other than SARS-CoV-2 infection -- Researchers who compared rates of long COVID symptoms in young people with and without a history of mild SARS-CoV-2 infection found prevalence was equally high in the control group, suggesting contributions of other factors.Researchers from Norway using a prospective cohort study design examined patients ages 12 to 25 from two counties who were enrolled between Dec 24, 2020 and May 18, 2021, a time when the Alpha variant was circulating. They included 404 people who tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 and 105 who tested negative. The team published its findings yesterday in JAMA Network Open.The team evaluated the participants during the early convalescent stage and at 6-month follow-up. Study subjects underwent clinical exam, including pulmonary, cardiac, and blood tests to examine immunological and organ injury biomarkers. Researchers also conducted cognitive functional tests. They used the World Health Organization (WHO) definition for post COVID condition (PCC).Prevalence of PCC 6 months after acute COVID infection was about 50%, but was equally high at 47% in the control group. The team didn't find any biomarkers specific to viral infection at 6-month follow-up. The main risk factor for PCC was symptom severity at baseline. Two psychosocial factors stood out as risk factors for PCC: low physical activity and loneliness.The researchers concluded that the findings question the usefulness of the WHO's PCC case definition and suggest that factors labeled psychosocial should be considered as risk factors for persistent symptoms. "This does not imply that PCC is 'all in the mind,' or that the condition has a homogeneous, psychological etiology," the authors wrote. "Rather, there might be heterogeneous biological, psychological, and social factors engaged in triggering and maintaining the symptoms of the individual."
WHO: New Omicron Subvariant XBB.1.16 Is ‘One to Watch’ The World Health Organization on Wednesday said that it is monitoring XBB.1.16, an omicron subvariant that has been documented mostly in India. “We're monitoring it because it has potential changes that we need to keep a good eye out on,” Maria Van Kerkhove, WHO’s COVID-19 technical lead, said at a press conference. The strain has been reported in 22 countries, with the majority of cases coming from India. “In India, XBB.1.16 has replaced the other variants that are in circulation,” Van Kerkhove said. “So this is one to watch.” India is seeing an increase in coronavirus cases. According to WHO, India is experiencing the highest proportional increase in infections of its region, reporting over 10,500 new cases over the past four weeks compared to nearly 3,000 infections during the previous four weeks. The subvariant has been circulating for a few months, Van Kerkhove said, noting that it doesn’t appear to cause more severe disease. “We haven't seen a change in severity in individuals or in populations, but that's why we have these systems in place,” she said. “Systems to track the virus variants, global collaborations to assess transmissibility, immune escape, severity and the impact of any of our interventions including diagnostics, therapeutics and vaccines.” According to Van Kerkhove, the strain is similar to XBB.1.5, which is dominant in the U.S. “It has one additional mutation in the spike protein, which in lab studies shows increased infectivity as well as potential increased pathogenicity,” Van Kerkhove said. XBB.1.16 has been documented in the U.S. but does not yet appear on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s variant tracker. The subvariant is just one of more than 600 omicron subvariants that WHO is tracking. “One of the things we are very concerned about is the potential for the virus to change to become not only more transmissible but more severe,” Van Kerkhove said. “So we have to remain vigilant.”
WHO tracking Omicron XBB.1.16 subvariant, rising cases in some countries -Earlier this week at a press briefing, a World Health Organization (WHO) official said though COVID-19 patterns are hard to predict, the XBB.1.16 Omicron subvariant is the one to watch and is fueling a steady rise in cases in India.In its weekly update on the pandemic yesterday, the WHO said it added XBB.1.16 as the sixth variant under monitoring on Mar 22. It also said though global cases and deaths continue to decline, some countries—including India—are reporting recent spikes in cases.At a Mar 29 press briefing, Maria Van Kerkhove, PhD, the WHO's technical lead for COVID-19, said XBB.1.16 has a similar profile to XBB.1.5 but has an additional changes in the spike protein. She said XBB.1.16 has replaced other circulating subvariants in India.So far, there are about 800 sequences from 22 countries, mostly from India. Van Kerkhove said in lab studies, XBB.1.16 has shown signs of increased infectivity as well as potentially increased pathogenicity."So this is one to watch. It's been in circulation for a few months," she said. "We haven't seen a change in severity in individuals or in populations, but that's why we have these systems in place."India this week reported its highest levels COVID cases in 6 months, prompting stepped up testing and an advisory to increase mask use in New Delhi.In its weekly pandemic snapshot yesterday, the WHO said overall cases and deaths continue to decline, but said several countries are reporting significant increases in cases. Case trends in four WHO regions declined or held steady, but levels are on the rise in the Eastern Mediterranean and South East Asia region, an area that includes India.In the Eastern Mediterranean region, Iran, Kuwait, and Libya reported the biggest proportional increases over the last 28 days, with the highest numbers reported from Iran, the United Arab Emirates, and Qatar. Iran's health minister yesterday said that the latest COVID-19 wave has led to an increase in hospitalizations and that both XBB and BQ.1 subvariants are circulating, Anadolu Agency reported today. Thirteen cities are in the red risk category, and the spike in activity is occurring alongside the Iranian New Year Holiday.In the WHO's South East Asia region, India has both the highest proportional rise in cases and the most cases over the past 4 weeks. Also, Indonesia reported a modest rise in cases.In a biweekly data summary today the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said US COVID markers continue to decline. The 7-day average for new daily COVID cases is about 20,000, down 9.2% compared to the previous 7-day average. About 228 people die from COVID each day, down 29.4% compared to the previous 7-day average for deaths. In its latest variant proportion estimates, the CDC said XBB.1.5 has reached saturation, making up 87.9% of samples, and that three other Omicron subvariants show positive growth. They include XBB.1.9.1, XBB, and XBB.1.5.1.
COVID widened excess death gap between US and European countries -The United States has had substantially higher death rates than similar high-income countries in Europe in all but the oldest age groups, but the gap widened even more during the COVID-19 pandemic, a new study revealed today.Earlier studies had documented a widening mortality gap between the United States and five European countries between 2000 and 2017. The five countries include England and Wales, France, Germany, Italy, and Spain. A comparison of the latest excess death trends between the two regions from 2017 through 2021 appears today in PLoS One.Covering a period that includes the first years of the COVID-19 pandemic, Patrick Heuveline, PhD, professor of sociology at the University of California, Los Angeles, calculated excess death rates for the United States and the same five countries, finding that that gap widened between 2017 and 2021 and that COVID-19 contributed to the increase.Between 2019 and 2021, excess deaths in the United States nearly doubled, but 45% of the rise was from causes other than COVID-19. Looking just at 2021, 25% of all excess deaths were linked to COVID-19, which accounted for 223,266 of 892,491 excess deaths from any cause.Heuveline said the increased deaths from other causes during the study period could reflect a higher degree of COVID-19 deaths being attributed to other causes. Also, rates of unintentional injuries in the United States, such as those involving opioids and alcohol, are also rising.And though the contribution of COVID-19 deaths should tilt toward older age groups, in the United States, deaths in adults ages 15 to 64 continue to make up slightly more than half of excess deaths in recent years. In a PLOS press release, Heuveline said more research is needed to tease out how the pandemic widened the excess mortality gap between the US and some of its European peers. He said, for example, that studies could examine if vaccination rates or social conditions that put a disproportionate burden on minority populations may have played a role. "The mortality gap widened during the pandemic, but not just due to the US handling of the crisis mortality from Covid-19," he said. "The chronic toll of excess deaths due to causes other than Covid-19 continued to increase as well, further demonstrating the US health policy failure to integrate the social, psychological and economic dimensions of health, from a weak social security net and lack of health care access for all to poor health behaviors."
China’s abrupt change in COVID policies led to hundreds of thousands of deaths, AP investigation finds - When China suddenly scrapped onerous zero-COVID measures in December, the country wasn’t ready for a massive onslaught of cases. Hospitals turned away ambulances, crematoriums burned bodies around the clock, and relatives hauled dead loved ones to warehouses for lack of storage space. Chinese state media claimed the decision to open up was based on “scientific analysis and shrewd calculation,” and “by no means impulsive.” But in reality, China’s ruling Communist Party held off on repeated efforts by top medical experts to kickstart exit plans until it was too late, The Associated Press has found. Instead, the reopening came suddenly at the onset of winter, when the virus spreads most easily. Many older people weren’t vaccinated, pharmacies lacked antivirals, and hospitals didn’t have adequate supplies or staff — leading to as many as hundreds of thousands of deaths that could have been avoided, according to academic modeling, more than 20 interviews with current and former Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention employees, experts and government advisers, and internal reports and directives obtained by the AP. “If they had a real plan to exit earlier, so many things could have been avoided,” said Zhang Zuo-Feng, an epidemiologist at the University of California, Los Angeles. “Many deaths could have been prevented.” For two years, China stood out for its tough but successful controls against the virus, credited with saving millions of lives as other countries struggled with stop-and-start lockdowns. But with the emergence of the highly infectious omicron variant in late 2021, many of China’s top medical experts and officials worried zero-COVID was unsustainable. As early as March 2022, top medical experts submitted detailed proposals to prepare for a gradual exit to the State Council, China’s cabinet. But discussions were silenced after an outbreak the same month in Shanghai, which prompted Chinese leader Xi Jinping to lock the city down. By the time the Shanghai outbreak was under control, China was months away from the 20th Party Congress, the country’s most important political meeting in a decade, making reopening politically difficult. So the country stuck to mass testing and quarantining millions of people, even as omicron evaded increasingly harsh controls. Unrest began to simmer, with demonstrations, factory riots, and shuttered businesses. The pressure mounted until the authorities suddenly yielded, allowing the virus to sweep the country with no warning — and with deadly consequence. Experts estimate that many hundreds of thousands of people, perhaps more, may have died in China’s wave of COVID — far higher than the official toll of under 90,000, but still a significantly lower death rate than in the United States and Europe. However, 200,000 to 300,000 deaths could have been prevented if the country was better vaccinated and stocked with antivirals, according to modeling by the University of Hong Kong and scientist estimates.
Covid cases in Maharashtra double in a day, XBB 1.16 dominant --Daily detection of Covid-19 cases in the state more than doubled on Tuesday in comparison with Monday's tally, showing a steady rise in transmission. Experts said the recombinant subvariant XBB 1.16, which was isolated in the first week of March by genomic scientists from Maharashtra, is responsible for 60% of the cases. The subvariant has also been linked with a death -though not with increased severity. On Tuesday, Maharashtra reported 450 new cases of coronavirus, the highest number in 152 days. The last time the state recorded such a high count was on October 27 at 972 cases. sajfdfjlkfs (1) In addition, three deaths were reported, bringing the total number of Covid-19 deaths in March to 17, the highest monthly toll since November 2022. While there are currently around 2,500 active cases in the state (2,343), hospitalisations are not proportionately high, officials said. Elaborating on XBB 1.16, an Omicron variant's sublineage, the public health department said 230 patients have been detected with the new subvariant in Maharashtra. Of these, 151 cases were from Pune, 24 from Aurangabad, 23 from Thane, 11 each from Kolhapur and Ahmednagar, eight from Amravati, and one each from Mumbai and Raigad. The state revealed barring one patient who succumbed to the new type, all others have recovered. Dr Rajesh Karyakarte, who coordinates SARS-CoV-2 genetic sequencing in Maharashtra, said XBB 1.16 has become the dominant strain in the state, gradually displacing XBB and XBB.1. His team at B J Medical College in Pune was the first to identify the mutation and inform the Union health ministry on March 10. "This variant is now present in 60% of cases. Most patients had mild symptoms," he said. Doctors at SevenHills Hospital, which has the highest number of inpatients, concurred. Physician Dr Rajas Walinjkar said Covid is associated with fever that lasts less than 48 hours, sore throat and bodyache. "Patients who have required advanced care often are old TB cases, have lung conditions," he said. Currently, 52 patients are in the hospital of whom 33 were on oxygen.
Coronavirus: Why are COVID-19 cases suddenly rising so fast? | The Times of India - India is witnessing a rise in COVID-19 cases. Delhi recorded 115 fresh Coronavirus cases with a positivity rate of 7.45 percent on Monday, according to the data shared by the health department. As per data, active COVID cases in Uttar Pradesh have increased three times in the past 10 days. The latest government data shows that the number of districts with a weekly test positivity rate (TPR) of 10% or more has increased to 32 across 14 states and UTs, a 3.5-fold rise in two weeks. 6XBB.1.16 could be behind the surge As per experts, the new COVID variant XBB.1.16 is a cause of concern for the sudden surge in the number of cases.Vipin M Vashishtha, former convenor of Indian Academy of Pediatrics and consultant pediatrician at the Mangla Hospital and Research Centre, Bijnor, tweeted, “XBB.1.16 has a 140% growth advantage over XBB.1.5,” adding, “It is far more aggressive than XBB.1.5. And probably faster than XBB.1.9.” Vipin M Vashishtha shared that according to the UK Health Security Agency, “XBB.1.16 is a lineage with 3 additional spike mutations (E180V, K478R, and S486P)"."All eyes should be on India! If XBB.1.16 aka #Arcturus could succeed to wade through the 'sturdy' population immunity of Indians that successfully resisted the onslaught of variants like BA.2.75, BA.5, BQs, XBB.1.5, then whole world must be seriously worried!!," he added in the Twitter thread. According to doctors, COVID patients are showing a similar set of symptoms as during the third wave of the pandemic in India between January and March last year.Common symptoms of this new variant include fever, sore throat, cold, headache, body aches, and fatigue. It could also impact your digestive system.
Over 3,000lbs Of Beef Recalled Over Possible E. Coli Contamination - A Kansas meat packing company has recalled approximately 3,436 lbs of boneless beef chuck product due to potential contamination with E. coli, according to the US Department of Agriculture's Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS). A routine FSIS inspection of a sample of ground beef made from the boneless beef chuck tested positive for this strain of E. coli, also known as STEC O103, after which the the Harper, Kansas-based outfit issued the recall. The affected beef products were packaged on Feb. 16, 2023. The recall applies to all corrugated boxes of various weights containing "Elkhorn Valley Pride Angus Beef 61226 BEEF CHUCK 2PC BNLS; Packed on 2/16/23." The FSIS has provided a list of serial numbers and box count numbers on their website, according to the Epoch Times, which notes that the affected products were shipped to distributors, federal establishments, retail locations and wholesale locations - including hotels, restaurants, and institutions, in Connecticut, Illinois, Indiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Jersey, New York, and Pennsylvania. Consumers are advised not to use or distribute the affected products, and throw them out or return them to where they were purchased. STEC O103 infection can cause bloody diarrhea and vomiting, and some illnesses can last longer and be more severe. Most people recover within a week, but some can develop a more severe infection, including hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS), which is a type of kidney failure. HUS can occur in people of any age but is most common in children under five years old, older adults, and those with weakened immune systems. “It is marked by easy bruising, pallor, and decreased urine output. Persons who experience these symptoms should seek emergency medical care immediately,” FSIS said.
‘Lessons have not been learned’: FDA knew of positive test months before latest infant formula recall - A recent recall of infant formula was announced nearly three months after Food and Drug Administration officials first learned that some products at a major plant had tested positive for bacteria — a delay that mirrors the agency’s slow response to reports of food safety problems and infant deaths ahead of last year’s massive recall over the same type of bacteria. In late February, formula giant Reckitt issued a press release recalling 145,000 cans of Enfamil ProSobee Simply Plant-Based Infant Formula over the “possibility of cross-contamination with Cronobacter sakazakii” — the deadly pathogen that sparked the infant formula crisis last year. Dozens of news outlets covered this as breaking news, recommending parents and caregivers toss the products or return them for a refund.FDA inspectors, however, had become aware of the positive test that ultimately sparked this recall in November, an FDA spokesperson confirmed to POLITICO. Reckitt had found Cronobacter sakazakii in a batch of formula made at its Zeeland, Mich., plant, during internal testing conducted in early September. The batch that tested positive was destroyed, but the FDA later determined that not enough cleaning had been done following the positive test. Two batches of formula made right after the contaminated batch would ultimately be recalled on February 20 — more than five months after the products had been distributed nationally, including in Guam and Puerto Rico. The revelation that this recall took months to announce comes more than a year after a massive infant formula recall from Abbott Nutrition, renewing questions about FDA’s oversight of formula and whether enough has changed in the wake of this crisis to prevent another one. There have been four formula recalls over Cronobacter contamination in the past year — more formula recalls than there have been in the last decade combined. The Reckitt recall in February was relatively small compared to the Abbott recall — which was likely the largest in history — and both FDA and the company maintain there have been no reports of illness related to this incident. For food safety advocates, however, it feels like a test that the agency didn’t pass. “It’s stunning that it’s almost identical to what happened in 2021,” said Mitzi Baum, CEO of STOP Foodborne Illness, a group that advocates on behalf of victims of outbreaks, referring to the lengthy timeline from positive test to recall. “Lessons have not been learned.” “FDA continues to be reactive,” Baum added. “It’s the internal processes that have not been fixed, if this is happening again.”
Three African countries report more polio cases Three countries in Africa reported new polio cases this week, all involving vaccine-derived strains, according to the latest weekly update from the Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI).The Central African Republic (CAR) reported five circulating vaccine-derived poliovirus type 2 (cVDPV2) cases, its first for 2023. The patients had January and February illness onsets and are from health regions 1 and 6. The CAR's cases this year have already reached its total for all of 2022.In Chad, officials reported two cVDPV2 cases, bringing its total for the year to four. Paralysis onsets occurred in January and February in patients from Batha and Logone Oriental provinces.Elsewhere, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) reported 22 more cVDPV2 cases in patients with paralysis onsets in both 2022 and 2023, mainly from the eastern part of the country. The new cases lift the DRC's total for 2022 to 336 and the total for 2023 to 7. Also, the DRC reported 11 more circulating vaccine-derived poliovirus type 1 (cVDPV1) cases, also with paralysis onsets in both 2022 and 2023 and mainly involving patients in the country's east. The latest cases push the DRC's total for 2022 to 125 and its number for the current year to 3.
Equatorial Guinea reports 4 more Marburg virus cases - Health officials in Equatorial Guinea have confirmed four more Marburg virus cases in the country's outbreaks, raising the confirmed total to 13, the health ministry said yesterday on Twitter. Two more of the lab-confirmed patients died from their infections, raising the fatality count to nine. Earlier in the outbreak the country also reported 20 probable cases, all fatal.Two patients are currently hospitalized with mild symptoms, and one of the infected people has recovered. So far, 825 contacts have been identified for monitoring.Equatorial Guinea's Marburg virus outbreak, its first, began in January. Cases have been reported across a more than 100-mile area, including in two cities, raising worries about wider spread, especially in more populated areas.The outbreak is Africa's third since 2022. Tanzania is also battling its first Marburg virus outbreak, but so far there doesn't appear to be any epidemiological connections between the two events. The virus is known to jump from fruit bats to people, and human-to-human spread can occur after contact with an infected person's body fluids.
H3N8 avian flu sickens another person in China - Health officials in China have reported a human H3N8 avian influenza infection, the third case since 2022. The provincial government in Guangdong province yesterday reported an infection in a 56-year-old woman from Zhongshan City, which has a population of about 4.4 million people, according to a statement translated and posted by Avian Flu Diary (AFD), an infectious disease news blog. The woman had contact with live poultry before she got sick, along with a history of activity with wild birds around her home. So far, no similar infections have been reported in her contacts.Today, the Macao health bureau reported the case, based on information from the mainland, according to an official statement translated and posted by AFD. In 2022, China reported two H3N8 cases, which involved a 4-year-old boy from Zhumadian City in Henan province who was sick in April and a 5-year-old boy from Changsha City in Hunan province whose illness was reported in May.
Chile reports human H5N1 avian influenza case Chile's health ministry yesterday reported the country's first human H5N1 avian influenza case, making it the second South American country to report a case following the arrival of clade 2.3.4.4b H5N1 subtype in the region late last year.Few details are available about Chile's case. The patient is a 53-year-old man who has severe symptoms, according to a health ministry statement translated and posted by Avian Flu Diary, an infectious disease news blog.The man is from the northern part of the country. So far, it's not known how the man was exposed. The ministry said an investigation is underway into the source of the virus and whether there are any other sick people where the patient lives.Chile reported its first detection of H5N1 in wild birds in early December, and earlier this month it reported its first outbreaks in poultry. The country also reported H5N1 in sea lions and a marine otter.In January, Ecuador became the first country in South America to report a human case, which involved a 9-year-old girl who had a severe infection.The new case from Chile marks the ninth involving the 2.3.4.4b H5N1 clade. The earlier cases all involved people who had extensive contact with poultry or minks at a farm in Spain. Some illnesses were severe or fatal, but some patients had no symptoms and their positive nasopharyngeal swabs are thought to reflect environmental contamination rather than true clinical illness. So far, researchers haven't found any genetic markers that suggest the virus has gained more capacity to infect humans. However, they are watching closely for any changes, especially given the ongoing small but steady stream of H5N1 detections in mammals.
Americas region dengue surge gains more steam -A spike in dengue activity in the Americas in 2022 has continued into 2023, with the situation burdening health systems in some countries, the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) said yesterday in anupdate.Other mosquito borne diseases are also in the rise, including chikungunya, but dengue currently makes up 75% of all arbovirus cases, the group said.In the first 10 weeks of 2023, countries in the region reported 393,185 dengue infections, up from 390,733 during the same period in 2022. The four countries with the highest incidences are Bolivia, Nicaragua, Belize, and Brazil. Bolivia's increase is 23 times higher than for the same time span in 2022.Colombia, Peru, and Brazil have reported the highest numbers of severe cases. So far this year, the region has reported 114 deaths from dengue.PAHO urged countries to strengthen their health services and reinforce vector control efforts at both the community and individual levels.
High-path avian flu outbreaks strike more poultry in 7 states --The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) over the past few days has reported more highly pathogenic avian flu outbreaks in poultry from seven states.In New York, the virus struck an upland game bird producer in Tompkins County, plus a live-bird market in Queens County that had 140 birds. South Dakota also reported an outbreak at an upland game bird farm, a location in Spinks County that houses 570 birds. Michigan also reported an event involving a poultry farm, a producer in Lapeer County.Also, four states reported more outbreaks in backyard poultry flocks. They are Colorado (Arapahoe County), Kansas (Ellsworth County), Oregon (Klamath County), and Texas (Hale County).H5N1 outbreak activity in the United States that began in February 2022 has now led to the loss of a record 58.6 million birds across 47 states, according to the USDA.
Living with cats or dogs may lower children’s risk of food allergies - Newborns who live in a home with cats or dogs appear to be less likely to develop food allergies, according to the findings of a large study. The benefit holds even if the exposure is during fetal development, when a pregnant mother lives with pets. The effect in the study was modest but statistically significant: Exposure to dogs or cats during fetal development or the first few months of life lowered the odds of a later food allergy by about 14 percent. The benefit was strongest when the dogs were kept indoors and when the exposure was during both fetal development and infancy.Earlier studies reached similar conclusions, but the new study from Japan, involving more than 65,000 infants and their parents, is by far the largest to date. Like other studies, this one could not prove that pets themselves lower the risk of a food allergy. It could be that something else associated with pet ownership, such as lifestyle or genetics, could be causing the apparent association.But pediatricians who specialize in the study and treatment of allergies said the results look reassuring for pet owners.“The finding that exposure to dogs and cats is related to less food allergy seems pretty solid and agrees with several prior studies,” said James Gern, professor and chief of the Division of Allergy, Immunology and Rheumatology at the University of Wisconsin at Madison.
New study finds plants ‘scream’ when stressed or injured, raising questions about communication -- Tomato and tobacco plants make distinctive sounds when cut or dehydrated, a new study has found. Those sounds change depending on the plant emitting them and the type and severity of the threat that prompts them, according to the study in Cell. The findings shatter the common perception of plants as silent, passive background players to the animal life in their environments. Instead, they show those plants could send out signals that animals in their environment can hear and pick up on — and potentially use to change their behavior. Tomatoes left without water begin making noise “on the second day — even while the tomato still looks good,” Lilach Hadany, a Tel Aviv University mathematician who co-authored the study, told The Hill. The sounds, which somewhat resembled the noise of popcorn popping, peaked after five days of water stress, and then began to decline as the plant dried out. The sounds happen at the approximate volume of human speech but outside the range of our hearing, the study found. They also differed depending on the plant making them and the form of injury, with cut and dehydrated plants making different noises. The research opens the tantalizing possibility that for organisms able to hear these pitches, a landscape of plants is also a soundscape of information — revealing essential information about both plants and the wider environment.
Bayer Sues Six Missouri Farmers for Allegedly Saving Roundup Ready 2 Xtend Soybean Seed-- Six farmers from southeast Missouri find themselves at odds with Bayer CropScience after allegedly saving and subsequently planting soybean seed that contained the company's Roundup Ready 2 Xtend technology. Bayer also alleges that four of the six growers illegally applied dicamba formulations not approved for over-the-top (OTT) use on Xtend soybeans and did so after the June 30 cutoff date for OTT dicamba application set by EPA and the state of Missouri. In complaints filed in late January with the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri in St. Louis, Bayer claimed the Bootheel farmers' alleged actions infringe upon its patents and breach the terms of contracts and technology stewardship agreements (TSAs) the farmers signed. The company seeks damages and a permanent injunction against the farmers to prevent future infringements on patented technologies. In response to DTN's request for comment on the lawsuits, a Bayer spokesperson wrote that "deciding to pursue litigation against growers is not easy for us. We exist to serve and support growers. The vast majority of growers abide by the law and honor their contractual agreements. In these cases, there was clear evidence of irresponsible and illegal use. "Illegal use threatens law-abiding growers' access," the spokesperson wrote. "These lawsuits are about ensuring proper use of the technologies and protecting grower access to the technologies." The farmers named in the lawsuits include Caleb Duffy, Greg Duffy, Michael J. Hodel and Brian G. Irions, all of Hayti, Missouri; Robert O. Pierce Jr. of Caruthersville, Missouri; and Danny Glass of Wardell, Missouri. All grew soybeans in Pemiscot County. The complaints of illegal application of unapproved dicamba formulations after the OTT dicamba cutoff date were lodged against the four farmers from Hayti only. In February, all six farmers filed a separate answer to Bayer's complaint in which they denied all allegations and demanded a jury trial. Wendell L. Hoskins II, an attorney from Caruthersville, Missouri, represents the farmers. DTN reached out to Hoskins by phone and email seeking comment on behalf of his clients but received no return call or reply. The six lawsuits are the most recent in a string of legal actions since the mid-1990s when the Monsanto Co. -- which Bayer acquired in 2018 -- first sued farmers who saved and replanted its glyphosate-tolerant Roundup Ready seed. Though hundreds of lawsuits have been filed, very few have made it to trial. In those that have, courts have found in favor of the agriculture biotechnology company. When Bayer's dicamba-tolerant Xtend soybeans were introduced in 2016, EPA had not yet approved OTT dicamba formulations. Some growers, anxious to take advantage of the new technology to combat herbicide-resistant weeds, sprayed older, unapproved dicamba products anyway, leading to off-target movement and crop damage. Such issues led EPA to amend registrations for all OTT dicamba products in 2017, 2018 and again in 2020 after the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals vacated the 2018 registrations on the basis that "EPA substantially understated risks that it acknowledged and failed entirely to acknowledge other risks." The new EPA registrations in 2020 for three OTT dicamba products included new measures intended to prevent off-target movement and damage to nontarget crops and other plants. Despite these measures, dicamba-related incidents have continued. In its complaints against the Duffys, Hodel and Irions, Bayer claims the defendants' alleged illegal applications of unapproved dicamba formulations have made it more difficult for the company to continue obtaining registrations for XtendiMax, its OTT dicamba formulation, while also contributing to more restrictive application conditions for the product. Last month, EPA amended OTT dicamba labels in Illinois, Indiana, Iowa and South Dakota, shortening the application window in each state.
Massive snowfall results in California’s largest snowpack on record - 17 atmospheric rivers and several non-atmospheric-river storms since December 2022 pushed California’s snowpack to its largest level in recorded history, surpassing the previous record set in 1982-1983. In addition, the state’s drought conditions have improved significantly since the start of the water year, with severe to exceptional drought conditions now covering only 6.99% of the area, down from 93% just one year ago. California now boasts its largest snowpack in recorded history, with a statewide snowpack of 236% of the peak normal and nearly 300% in the Southern Sierra. As of March 30, 2023, the California Department of Water Resources reports that the statewide average snow water content stands at 154.4 cm (60.8 inches), breaking the previous record of 153.2 cm (60.3 inches) set in May 1983. The latest in the series of storms that started in December 2022 brought an additional 0.3 to 0.6 m (1 to 2 feet) of snow to the Sierra Nevada, culminating in the record-breaking snowpack on March 30, 2023. The previous record was held by the 1982/83 season with 234% (central Sierra) and 298% (southern Sierra) of normal snowpack levels. The Northern Sierra region experienced comparatively less snow, with snow water content at 190% of normal, still trailing the levels recorded in 1982-83. Unprecedented snowfall at ski resorts in the Sierra Nevada led to extraordinary heights, in some cases even burying chairlifts. Mammoth Mountain announced its snowiest season on record with 1 783 cm (702 inches) at its Main Lodge, surpassing the previous record of 1 698 cm (668.5 inches). At the mountain’s summit, Mammoth measured 2 232 cm (879 inches). The National Weather Service’s gridded snowfall analysis suggests that some totals exceeded 2 286 cm (900 inches) in the snowiest areas of the Sierra. The Central Sierra Snow Lab, located near Lake Tahoe, recorded a seasonal total of 1 813 cm (713.8 inches) after the latest storm, making it the second most on record. Although snowpack typically peaks around this time of the year, resorts in the Sierra can expect an additional 0.9 to 1.8 m (3 to 6 feet) of snow on average through the end of the season in May or June, suggesting that these totals may continue to climb and set new records. Looking at the latest data provided by the US Drought Monitor, we can see that the state’s drought conditions have improved significantly since the start of the water year (September 27, 2022), with severe to exceptional drought conditions covering only 1.95% of the area, as of March 28. In contrast, one year ago, severe to exceptional drought conditions covered over 93% of the area. The Drought Severity Index (DSCI) for California is currently at 75, indicating a relatively mild drought. This is a significant improvement compared to one year ago when the DSCI was at 334, indicating severe and extensive drought conditions. The severe drought conditions that California experienced one year ago had significant implications for the state’s economy, environment, and communities. The lack of rainfall and snowpack led to reduced water supplies for agriculture and drinking water, increased wildfire risks, and negative impacts on natural ecosystems.
Lake Shasta’s reservoir nears capacity, easing water supply concerns, California - The water level in Lake Shasta, California’s largest reservoir, has risen significantly this month, providing relief to local residents who rely on the water source. As of March 28, over half of the state (55.34%) had no drought, with severe to exceptional drought conditions (D2-D4) covering just 1.95% of the area. Lake Shasta’s water level has risen to within 9.5 m (31 feet) of the top as of March 29, 2023, reaching 82% of its capacity. This increase is good news for Redding and North State residents who depend on the reservoir for their water needs. Over the past week, the lake’s level has risen by 2.7 m (9 feet), as Shasta Dam received about 100 mm (4 inches) of rain during that time, according to Don Bader, area manager of the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation. Since December 1, the lake’s level has increased by 36 m (118 feet). Bader is optimistic that the Bureau of Reclamation will not need to start releasing more water through Shasta Dam to manage flood risk this spring. With storm events less likely to be severe later in the season, Bader expects Lake Shasta to continue rising and be near full by late spring. In late February, the Bureau of Reclamation announced that junior water rights holders, which include several water districts in Shasta County and the city of Shasta Lake, would receive 75% of their allotments. These allocations have since increased to 100%. Senior water rights holders, such as the city of Redding and Anderson-Cottonwood Irrigation District, were already set to receive 100% of their largest contracts with the bureau. Bader anticipates that the Bureau of Reclamation will begin increasing water flows from Shasta Dam to agricultural users in late April.
Canadian Pacific train derails in rural North Dakota, spilling hazardous chemicals -- A Canadian Pacific train derailed in rural North Dakota Sunday night and spilled hazardous materials. But local authorities and the railroad said there is no threat to public safety. There were no injuries and no fire associated with the derailment, which occurred in a rural area outside Wyndmere, a town of several hundred people about 60 miles (97 kilometers) southwest of Fargo. Canadian Pacific spokesperson Andy Cummings said 31 of the 70 cars on the train, including several carrying hazardous materials, left the tracks around 11:15 p.m. Sunday. Four cars filled with liquid asphalt and two railcars filled with ethylene glycol spilled some of those chemicals in the derailment. And Cummings said a car carrying propylene was punctured and released some vapor. It wasn’t immediately clear how much of the chemicals were released, but there are no waterways nearby and the chemical spills were contained at the site of the derailment. The railroad’s hazardous materials experts are working with local first responders to clean up the spill. Several roads in the area were shut down. Railroad safety has been in the spotlight nationally ever since last month’s fiery derailment of a Norfolk Southern train near East Palestine, Ohio. Roughly half of that town of about 5,000 people near the Pennsylvania border had to be evacuated after officials decided to release and burn toxic chemicals. Federal regulators and members of Congress have proposed reforms they want railroads to make to prevent future derailments.
Two massive train derailments in the US in the span of 12 hours - Two major train derailments have occurred in less than 12 hours this week, less than two months after the catastrophic train derailment and chemical spill in East Palestine, Ohio. At around 11:15 pm central time Sunday, a Canadian Pacific train derailed a mile outside of Wyndmere, North Dakota, with 31 of 70 cars leaving the track in a large pileup. Of the derailed cars, four spilled liquid asphalt and two spilled ethylene glycol. An additional car carrying propylene was punctured, releasing vapor, according to Canadian Pacific spokesman Andy Cummings. Liquid asphalt is refined crude oil used in the production of roads. Ethylene glycol is an industrial solvent used in the making of anti-freeze and hydraulic brake fluids. Both chemicals are flammable but company and public officials say that there was no fire at the site and that there is no waterway for the material to contaminate. The railroads said it believes a broken rail was the likely cause of the derailment. Nevertheless, hazardous waste crews are on site and it is expected to take seven to ten days for the spill to be cleaned. Ethylene glycol breaks down in air and water after around 10 days and the liquid asphalt is expected to congeal in the cold weather, aiding in the cleanup of the site. Just hours later, at 8:30 am Pacific time, a Union Pacific train carrying iron ore derailed in San Bernardino, California. Company officials said that 55 cars, including two locomotives, derailed after the train conducted an “uncontrolled train movement,” according to a statement from UP. At one point, the train was traveling at speeds of more than 80 miles per hour. The statement added that the crew was not in the cab at the time of the derailment—having jumped from the runaway train—and that no one was injured. The iron ore that spilled from the train is allegedly not hazardous, but there was a fuel leak from one of the locomotives which is being investigated by hazmat officials, according to county fire department officials. The cause of the derailment has not been determined as of this writing. The derailments in Wyndmere and San Bernardino are the latest in an endless list of such events in the United States, where on average three trains derail every single day. The recent catastrophe in East Palestine, in which a Norfolk Southern train derail spilling thousands of gallons of toxic vinyl chloride, has sparked public outrage and attention over the horrid state of commercial rail transport in the US. That derailment saw company and public officials initiate a “controlled release” and burning of the vinyl chloride, releasing toxic dioxins. Congressional hearing were held on the derailment, with Norfolk Southern CEO Alan Shaw testifying before the US Senate. Shaw claimed the company had plans to “make it right” and that “we will be in the community for as long as it takes.” But despite the platitudes from Shaw and grandstanding from Congress, nothing has been done to combat the scourge of train derailments in the United States. Only hours before Shaw’s first appearance before a Senate committee earlier this month, another Norfolk Southern train derailed in a 30-car accident in Alabama, This was followed by a 28-car derailment in Springfield, Ohio. Another Canadian Pacific train derailed in a Chicago suburb over the weekend, with two cars derailing on a train carrying primarily wheat.
Cold temps help contain chemicals in North Dakota derailment - The cold weather in North Dakota kept chemicals that spilled from a derailed Canadian Pacific train from spreading very far, authorities said. Richland County Emergency Management Director Brett Lambrecht said Tuesday that with temperatures well below freezing all of the chemicals that leaked remained within about 100 feet of the derailment that happened Sunday night in a rural area about 60 miles (97 kilometers) southwest of Fargo. The high temperature in the area was forecast to reach only 17 degrees Fahrenheit (-8 degrees Celsius) Tuesday.“The weather conditions helped a lot,” Lambrecht said. No injuries or fire were reported in the derailment and no one had to be evacuated in the two nearby farm houses or in the town of Wyndmere a couple miles away. There are no waterways near the derailment. Lambrecht said that the liquid asphalt and ethylene glycol that spilled from six railcars involved in the derailment mostly hardened and remained on the surface of the ground because of the cold weather. Some propylene gas also leaked from a tank car that was punctured in the crash, but officials were able to patch the leak on that car. He said the liquid asphalt looked like “sheets of black plastic” after it froze.Officials aren't yet sure how much of the chemicals spilled, but none of the railcars that leaked spilled all their contents. A total of 31 of the 70 cars on the train derailed. Canadian Pacific officials have said they believe a broken rail caused the derailment. The railroad was able to clear the tracks and resume running trains through the area Monday evening, but Canadian Pacific is still working on clearing all the damaged cars from the site. “It has been a good fast recovery really when you look at it,” Lambrecht said. The cleanup of the chemicals is expected to take about two weeks. The railroad's own hazardous materials experts are working with local officials.
EPA meeting to discuss results of soil testing (WKBN) – The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) will hold the next community open house this week to discuss the results of soil sampling in East Palestine. The event will be from 6-8 p.m. Thursday at East Palestine High School. There will be EPA staff available to discuss the soil samples. Soil removal continues at the derailment site and approximately 6,186 tons of contaminated soil has shipped to disposal facilities. Work at the site includes removing tracks in sections, removing soil, and placing it in a staging area for disposal. Soil removal continues on the south track rail area; planning for the north track rail removal is underway. Pa. commits to long-term health clinic following train derailment During the soil removal process, Norfolk Southern, with EPA oversight, will conduct soil sampling beneath the excavated rail track. An estimated 7.25 million gallons of wastewater have also been shipped offsite to appropriate disposal facilities. EPA and Norfolk Southern contractors continue to take soil samples at agricultural, commercial, recreational and residential properties in both Ohio and Pennsylvania. To date, 97 properties have been sampled. This soil sampling effort will help identify if contaminants, including SVOCs and dioxins, are present and may have been caused by the train derailment. Preliminary soil sample results are coming back from the lab. This information will be shared with property owners and the public after quality checks are complete. There have been 618 indoor air screenings have been conducted. Air monitoring continues at 23 stations throughout the community. No detections of vinyl chloride or hydrogen chloride have been identified so far. During the soil removal at the derailment site, EPA and independent contractors are also conducting air monitoring within the work zone and throughout the surrounding community. The EPA does not anticipate exceedances of levels of health concern as a result of the soil removal work.
Lawmaker wants answers for ‘still-suffering’ East Palestine residents (WKBN) – Holding his first hearing as chairman of a House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on last month’s toxic train derailment, Valley Congressman Bill Johnson’s goal was simple. He said he wanted to get answers for the “still-suffering” residents of East Palestine. Johnson called Columbiana County’s Health Commissioner, as well as state and federal environmental officials, to discuss the cleanup during a hearing in Washington, D.C. on Tuesday. Ohio Environmental Protection Agency Director Anne Vogel used a map to show lawmakers the wreck happened a mile and a half from the village’s local wells. “The derailment would not have affected the municipal water source, and we knew that very quickly after the derailment,” Vogel said. But lawmakers say they continue to hear concerns about conflicting messages residents are getting about the safety of their air, water and soil. “As we speak, there is a many-tons of toxic dirt pile still sitting there, very slowly being trucked out, because the proper legal certified disposal process was improperly turned into a political football,” Johnson said. “Based on the data we have, we’ve seen no sustained, elevated levels of any compound that would have health concerns,” U.S. EPA Regional Director Debra Shore said. Shore said air testing and indoor screenings have happened and that they are requiring Norfolk Southern to expand its testing methods. Approximately 600 homes have been tested thus far. “If we do find anything, we’ll know it. We’ll know before it’s a public health concern, and we’ll be able to address it accordingly,” Vogel added. If Norfolk Southern does not follow through with EPA orders, Shore said that punitive damages will occur at three times the original value. While Columbiana County Health Commissioner Wes Vins said most people going to the local clinic complain of headaches and anxiety, they also worry about getting sick years from now. “Certainly cancer is first and foremost, because of much of the information the residents see online and hear, as well as reproductive concerns, growth concerns,” he said. Vins said they are working with East Liverpool City Hospital to provide a clinic for East Palestine residents at the First Church of Christ. While lawmakers were disappointed no one from Norfolk Southern was in attendance, EPA directors say they’re committed.
Locals discuss testing positive for vinyl chloride (WKBN) – Tuesday night in New Waterford, members of the community and surrounding area sat in on a town hall. The topic: the Norfolk Southern train derailment.According to organizers, the train company was originally supposed to be at the meeting but they were a no-show.We spoke to two women who have tested positive for vinyl chloride. Shelby Walker, of East Palestine, says the Norfolk Southern tracks are practically in her backyard.“I am approximately 900 feet from the burn site,” she said.She has been staying off and on in a hotel since the derailment because she is afraid for her health. Walker showed us some of her toxicity test results.“It came back as vinyl chloride,” she said. “It’s not in my blood, it’s been in my urine tests.”Walker says her entire family has been experiencing symptoms. Eleven people lived in her home prior to the derailment, including her grandchildren.“I’m now on an inhaler that I’ve never had to before. My voice gets raspy on and off. We get headaches,” Walker said.Linda Murphy, of East Palestine, says she got a call from her doctor’s office while she was pulling into the parking lot for the meeting, telling her she has also tested positive for vinyl chloride.“My urine tested positive for vinyl chloride, which was a shock because they say it goes right out of your system,” Murphy said.According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, it takes the body about a day to metabolize vinyl chloride.Murphy lives almost three miles from the derailment site and says she had her test done two weeks ago.“I evacuated during the release and I don’t work anywhere near it. I only go into town occasionally for meetings. It doesn’t make sense. How could the exposure be there when they tell us it’s not in the air, we’re not exposed to it and it immediately goes out of your system?” Murphy said.Hazmat officials have maintained the air in East Palestine is safe to breathe since Feb. 7, the day after the controlled release.The Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry released a public health statement on vinyl chloride, which can be found here.
Baltimore mayor rejects request to process East Palestine wastewater - Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott denied a request from a contractor to dump pretreated wastewater from the Norfolk Southern train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio, earlier this year, citing public health concerns. Clean Harbors, a waste management company, planned to bring at least 675,000 gallons of wastewater from East Palestine to the city-run Back River Wastewater Treatment Plant. But Scott and other local leaders balked at the plan. “Clean Harbors has facilities across the country that may be better positioned to dispose of the treated wastewater, and we urge them to explore those alternatives,” Scott said in a statement Monday. “Make no mistake — I stand against any efforts that could comprise the health and safety of our residents, and the environment.” The company told CBS News on Tuesday that it had scrapped the plans to move the wastewater to Maryland after Scott denied a request for a permit. The Baltimore mayor said that while he feels bad for the East Palestine community, he needed to take steps to protect the city. “I extend my deepest sympathy to the East Palestine, Ohio community as they grapple with the effects of this devastating derailment on their community, but I must remain steadfast in my commitment to protect our residents — at all costs,” Scott said. The facility that the company planned to move the wastewater to has been under city operation since last year after a number of pollution, compliance and permitting issues. The denial from Baltimore to allow the wastewater to be treated in the city comes as the cleanup efforts in the aftermath of the disastrous train derailment have continued. The Ohio Environmental Protection Agency said that approximately 8.1 million gallons of wastewater have been hauled out of East Palestine so far.
Baltimore City Mayor Blocks Toxic Ohio Train Waste From Being Dumped Into Treatment System -We have been following this developing story since Friday regarding the Biden administration's Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) decision to transport toxic water from East Palestine, Ohio, to a water treatment facility in Baltimore. On Monday, local lawmakers from both Democratic and Republican parties united in expressing their concerns about the EPA's strategy and how it would be devastating for the Chesapeake Bay. Now, the mayor of Baltimore has found a way to block the EPA's plan. According to Fox Baltimore, Clean Harbors Environmental in Baltimore is set to receive the 675,000 gallons of the contaminated water as early as Thursday. They plan to flush the water into the city's sewer lines, where it would then flow to the troubled Back River Wastewater Treatment Plant for processing. However, the EPA's grand plan might be put on hold after Baltimore City Mayor Brandon Scott said he found a way to block the toxic water from entering Baltimore: After legal review, the City's Law Department has determined that the Department of Public Works has the authority to modify discharge permits in an effort to 'safeguard Publicly Owned Treatment Works (POTW) from interference, pass-through, or contamination of treatment by-products.' As such, I have directed DPW to modify Clean Harbor's discharge permit to deny their request to discharge processed wastewater from the cleanup of the Norfolk Southern Railroad derailment into the city's wastewater system after processing at a Clean Harbors facility. Clean Harbors has facilities across the country that may be better positioned to dispose of the treated wastewater, and we urge them to explore those alternatives.The mayor continued:Make no mistake - I stand against any efforts that could comprise the health and safety of our residents, and the environment. In recent days, Baltimore lawmakers have issued statements highlighting that the treatment facility has had a history of numerous mishaps.What's alarming is that Biden's EPA, supposedly committed to environmental justice, wants to send the toxic water to a troubled treatment plant and then release it in the Chesapeake Bay, the largest estuary in the US -- something about this administration doesn't pass the sniff test.
US Justice Department sues Norfolk Southern over Ohio train derailment (Reuters) - The U.S. Justice Department sued Norfolk Southern Corp (NSC.N) seeking to ensure that the railroad pays the full cost of cleanup and any long-term effects of the derailment in Ohio of one of its freight trains in early February. The lawsuit filed late Thursday in U.S. District Court in Ohio on behalf of the Environmental Protection Agency seeks penalties and injunctive relief for the unlawful discharge of pollutants under the Clean Water Act and an order addressing liability for past and future costs. The Norfolk-operated train derailment on Feb. 3 of 38 cars including 11 carrying hazardous materials in the village of East Palestine caused cars carrying toxic vinyl chloride and other hazardous chemicals to spill and catch fire. "With this complaint, the Justice Department and the EPA are acting to pursue justice for the residents of East Palestine and ensure that Norfolk Southern carries the financial burden for the harm it has caused and continues to inflict on the community," Attorney General Merrick Garland said on Friday. EPA in February issued an order requiring Norfolk Southern to develop plans to address contamination and pay EPA’s response costs. EPA Administrator Michael Regan said the suit will help "ensure Norfolk Southern cleans up the mess they made and pays for the damage they have inflicted as we work to ensure this community can feel safe at home again." Norfolk Southern on Friday said in response to the lawsuit that it was focused on "cleaning up the site, assisting residents whose lives were impacted by the derailment, and investing in the future of East Palestine and the surrounding areas ... we'll keep working until we make it right." Norfolk Southern CEO Alan Shaw told lawmakers last week that the railroad is "committed" to addressing potential long-term health issues, home value impacts from the derailment and efforts to protect drinking water.
Delaware River chemical spill impacts drinking water in the Philadelphia region - A chemical spill in Bristol, Pennsylvania accidentally leaked about 8,100 gallons of a latex emulsion product into the Delaware River. The facility where it was leaked from is owned by Trinseo PLC and is located about 23 miles north of Philadelphia, center of the country’s seventh-largest metro area with over six million people. At 11:40 p.m. on Friday March 24, 2023, water-soluble acrylic polymer solution that contained methyl methacrylate, butyl acrylate and ethyl acrylate leaked into Otter Creek, a tributary of the Delaware River. The Delaware River provides billions of gallons of water to people living in Philadelphia and surrounding areas. The chemicals that were spilled are used in the making of plexiglas and similar products, according to the Philadelphia Inquirer, “are also all regarded as hazardous to humans.” Butyl acrylate is one of the toxic chemicals released in the East Palestine, Ohio train derailment. Detection of it in the Ohio River prompted authorities in Cincinnati, hundreds of miles away from the accident, to shut off the water system’s intakes on the river, citing an “abundance of caution.” According to the New Jersey Department of Health, butyl acrylate is a “clear, colorless liquid with a fruity, strong odor. It is used in the manufacture of polymers and resins, and in paint formulations. “Contact can irritate and burn the skin and eyes. Inhaling Butyl Acrylate can irritate the nose, throat and lungs causing coughing, wheezing and/or shortness of breath. Exposure to Butyl Acrylate can cause headache, dizziness, nausea and vomiting.” The long-term health effects of butyl acrylate “can last for months and years.” In response to this danger, the city of Philadelphia waited nearly a day and a half before making any statements on the potential threat by this spill. Many citizens were first notified of the accident by a news article published on Sunday March 26, 2023. The article featured comments from city official Mike Carroll, who suggested that “we cannot be 100 percent sure that there won’t be traces of these chemicals in the tap water throughout the afternoon… Therefore, we are notifying the public in the customer service area that they may wish not to drink or cook with tap water.” CIty residents panicked when confronted with the news, and there was a run for bottled water. “The scene in the aisles was reminiscent of only two other times in recent history — the Eagles’ Super Bowl parade in 2018 and the early days of the pandemic,” wrote the Inquirer newspaper. Fair Mart grocery store, near downtown Philadelphia, reported that it had sold out of water “immediately Monday morning,” after being closed early Sunday. However, by nightfall on Sunday the city reversed their advisory and declared that the tap water remained safe to drink until Monday 11:59 p.m. This has since been extended to 11:59 p.m on Wednesday March 29. The Trinseo-Altuglas LLC plant in Bristol has a history of at least four spills of similar chemicals in the recent past. Prior to Trinseo’s ownership of this plant, it was owned by a company called Arkema which was investigated by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for a “release” of 1,760 pounds of methane methacrylate in 2010. Subsequently, it was again investigated for releases of butyl acrylate and ethyl acrylate in 2012, 2013, 2014, and 2021. The EPA issued a corrective action plan for a 60-acre area encompassing the plant because it was “contaminated with a variety of organic and inorganic chemicals.”
Philadelphia water safe to drink, officials say, after chemical spill - A day after Philadelphia residents flocked to grocery stores to stock up on water bottles, city leaders on Monday worked to assure residents their tap water was safe — at least for now — even as questions lingered about the cause of a chemical spill in the Delaware River.Authorities were still assessing why a chemical plant late Friday spilled thousands of gallons of an acrylic polymer into a tributary of the river, Philadelphia’s main water supply. The spill prompted authorities to warn residents to avoid drinking tap water. Those advisories have since been lifted.“There is no need to buy water at this time. Customers can fill bottles or pitchers with tap water with no risk at this time,” the city said Sunday afternoon.The water supply is safe to drink until at least 11:59 p.m. Monday, officials said, based on the time it takes water to move through treatment and water mains before reaching customers. But that may change as water tests continue.The spill from the Trinseo Altuglas chemical facility in Bristol Township released at least 8,100 gallons of a water-based latex finishing solution. The incident occurred because of an “equipment failure,” according to astatement from the company.The spill follows a string of industrial accidents in southern Ohio and Pennsylvania, including a Feb. 3 train derailment and subsequent toxic chemical release in East Palestine, Ohio, and a chocolate factory explosion in West Reading, Pa., on Friday that killed seven people.“The latex emulsion is a white liquid that is used in various consumer goods. Its pigmentation makes the water-soluble material visible in surface water,” Trinseo said in a statement. The company said it is working with local, state and federal agencies to clean up the chemical release and test water samples in the area.While the full list of spilled contaminants is currently unknown, at least one of the released chemicals raised some concerns. Butyl acrylate, a chemical that was also released in the East Palestine train derailment last month, is a clear, colorless, potentially flammable liquid with a fruity aroma. Exposure could lead to irritation of the eyes, skin and respiratory system, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Water scare latest attack on Pa. by plastics -- Sometimes random headlines in the news aren’t as random as you think. Consider these three seemingly unrelated stories, all from Pennsylvania.The first is the news that everyone around these parts is talking about this week: the roughly 8,100-gallon spill of hazardous chemicals at a plant in lower Bucks County that entered the Delaware River, threatens to enter a main water plant for Philadelphia, and has caused a massive run on bottled water across the region.Also this weekend, across the state: Officials at Shell’s brand new $6 billion plastics plant on the Ohio River north of Pittsburgh warned residents that maintenance problems would cause another round of elevated flaring — the latest in a string of incidents since the facility’s November opening that have turned the night sky orange while exceeding the expected yearly limit for air pollution in little more than a month. Meanwhile, nearby in East Palestine, Ohio, the fallout from February’s toxic train wreck of chemical cars on the Norfolk Southern line continued last week as Pennsylvania’s Blackhawk School District, roughly 15 miles away, filed a federal lawsuit claiming that its schoolchildren were endangered after “toxic fires and deadly plumes dumped a lethal cocktail on its buildings, property soil, and water supplies where deposits of the toxic materials have been found.”But there is a connection between those three environmental calamities and a lot of things you do every day — from the bag that came home with your items from the drug store to the rubber duckie in your kid’s bathtub — and it can be summed up in one simple word: plastics. Look, we can stipulate that a lot of positive and innovative things — I’ll mention life-saving medical devices, at the risk of sounding like an oil lobbyist — are made from plastics, and these polymers shouldn’t or won’t ever be totally banned. But when so much of a $600 billion global market goes toward excess packaging, store bags or that rubber duck, is it worth the pollution pain? I’d suspect there’s a growing number of Philadelphia residents terrified that a glass of tap water this week might cause cancer who would answer, “No!” In Pennsylvania, where billions invested in fracking natural gas has teetered on the edge of being a boondoggle despite rising well production, industry officials have looked to the process that uses ethane, a component of natural gas that’s prevalent in this region’s Marcellus Shale rock formations, to make plastics as an economic savior. That’s why Shell located its plant — highly sought after by economic development officials — in Beaver County, and it’s why more trains carrying chemicals like the highly toxic vinyl chloride, which derailed in East Palestine on its way to a yard near Pittsburgh, are crisscrossing Pennsylvania. And it’s why more bad things are happening to the environment.
Evacuations in Minnesota After Fiery Derailment of Train Carrying Ethanol -A BNSF train carrying ethanol derailed and caught fire early Thursday morning in Raymond, Minnesota, forcing residents living near the crash site to evacuate.U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, who has faced backlash for responding inadequately to the disaster in East Palestine, Ohio, saidthe Federal Railroad Administration is "on the ground' in Raymond following the derailment."At present no injuries or fatalities have been reported," said Buttigieg. "We are tracking closely as more details emerge."BNSF, which is controlled by Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway, haslobbied aggressively against enhanced rail safety regulations at the state and federal levels in recent years.An OpenSecrets analysis published earlier this month found that BNSF has spent nearly $13 million on state-level lobbying since 2003. BNSF's parent company is also among the rail industry's top federal lobbying spenders over the past two decades, according to federal disclosures.BNSF said in a statement that more than 20 train cars "carrying mixed freight including ethanol and corn syrup" derailed in Raymond on Thursday.The wreck and resulting blaze forced local authorities to issue evacuation orders for people living within a half-mile of the site. The Minnesota Department of Transportation said a nearby highway was also closed due to the fire.The local sheriff's department said in a press release that "no travel is advised to the city of Raymond" as emergency workers attempt to contain the fire.
A blaze still burns after a train carrying highly flammable ethanol derailed in Minnesota. Crews are assessing 3 more cars carrying ethanol— A train hauling ethanol derailed Thursday morning in Raymond, Minnesota, igniting several rail cars and forcing a mandatory evacuation of the city of about 800, officials said.The fire was still burning more than 14 hours after the derailment, the US Environmental Protection Agency said Thursday afternoon. An EPA team was in Raymond by 6:30 a.m. to conduct air quality monitoring.The EPA said four cars that contained ethanol, which is highly flammable, “ruptured, caught fire” and continued to burn, and warned Thursday morning there were additional cars containing ethanol that “may also release.”In a 3 p.m. update, the agency said the four cars burning had “denatured ethanol – ethanol containing gasoline to be used as a fuel additive,” and that crews were assessing impacts “to the three remaining denatured ethanol cars.”Firefighters stand near piled up train cars, near Raymond on March 30, 2023.The train, operated by BNSF Railway, derailed around 1 a.m. Homes within a half-mile of the derailment were evacuated, the Kandiyohi County Sheriff’s Office said.“There have been no injuries as a result of the crash or emergency response,” the sheriff’s office posted on Facebook.The evacuation order was lifted midday Thursday.“Residents may return safely to their homes. There will be road detours in the area around the site,” the sheriff’s department said. “There is no impact to groundwater. Local responders and BNSF personnel continue to work to mitigate the incident.”The EPA said Thursday afternoon it was monitoring the air for particulate matter and volatile organic compounds and was also overseeing BNSF’s air monitoring efforts. The evacuation order was lifted based on preliminary air monitoring data from the EPA and BNSF, the federal agency added.“EPA has not found any (particulate matter) levels of concern in the community and so far, low levels below health concerns of (volatile organic compounds) have been detected only immediately downwind of the cars in a non-populated area,” the EPA said.The foam that authorities will use to put out the blaze will not contain PFAS chemicals, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz said during a Thursday news conference. PFAS, or “forever chemicals,” are a family of ubiquitous synthetic chemicals that linger in the environment and the human body, where they can cause serious health problems.
Cleanup begins after fiery Minnesota ethanol derailment - Crews have started removing contaminated soil and damaged railcars left behind by Thursday’s fiery derailment in southwest Minnesota.Authorities said Friday afternoon the ethanol fire that burned for hours had been extinguished and that local firefighters were allowed to leave after remaining on site overnight. But large water tanks and railroad firefighting equipment remained at the site to handle any flare-ups as damaged tank cars are removed. The entire town of Raymond, which is about 100 miles (161 kilometers) west of Minneapolis, had to be evacuated after 22 cars, including 10 carrying ethanol, left the tracks. Four of the tank cars ruptured and caught fire. But the several hundred residents were allowed to return home by midday Thursday, and no injuries were reported. This latest derailment only adds to concerns nationally about railroad safety. Lawmakers and regulators want freight railroads to make changes after last month’s derailment near East Palestine, Ohio, that forced half that town to evacuate. Even though officials say the area is safe, many residents have lingering health concerns.The Kandiyohi County Sheriff’s office said BNSF railroad crews began removing some of the contaminated soil under and around the tracks early Friday morning. And once investigators from the National Transportation Safety Board gave the OK, workers started to remove the damaged railcars. It’s not clear how long the cleanup will take, and no cause of the derailment has been determined yet. The head of the Fort Worth, Texas-based railroad promised a thorough cleanup and said BNSF works hard to prevent derailments like this from happening. NTSB spokesman Keith Holloway said the BNSF train had three crew members — an engineer, conductor and brakeman — aboard when it derailed around 1 a.m. Thursday. The train had a total of 14 ethanol cars along with corn syrup it was delivering.
Ohio River Disaster As Barge Hauling 1,400 Tons Of Methanol Smashes Into Dam -- Three large barges, one carrying 1,400 tons of methanol, were wedged against a dam and partially submerged, on the Ohio River in Louisville, Kentucky, following their detachment from a tugboat. The Louisville Metropolitan Emergency Services said the navigation accident occurred early Tuesday morning when three barges -- part of a group of ten -- broke free from a tugboat after hitting a structure at the entrance to the Portland Canal near the river's McAlpine Locks and Dam. Videos from Tuesday evening show the three barges pinned against the bridge #BREAKING: Multiple Emergency Response Teams has been Deployed to Address Submerged Barge Carrying 1,400 Tons of Toxic Methanol in the Ohio River The barge carrying 1,400 tons of methanol is partially submerged at McAlpine Dam.Emergency Response Team (ERT) at a barge incident on the Ohio River in Lville. 10 of 11 barges are loose from the tug. One carrying 1400 tons of methanol partially submerged at McAlpine Dam. Nearest water intake is in Henderson. @USCG @kyfishwildlife @ORSANCOchannel pic.twitter.com/qyWJZkTYGg— Kentucky EEC (@KentuckyEEC) March 28, 2023Coast Guard spokesperson Chris Davis told NBC News that state and federal agencies are trying to remove barges. Downriver traffic has been halted. "We had shut down traffic.There's going to be salvage operations, and it's going to be dangerous," Davis said.As of now, Louisville Water Co. has reported the incident has not triggered an environmental disaster, and the city's drinking water remains unaffected. "Your water is safe to drink," the water agency said in a Facebook post. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention states that methanol is highly toxic to both humans and wildlife. This chemical, classified under the category of "toxic alcohols," is commonly found in antifreeze, carburetor cleaner, and windshield washer fluids.... and this incident comes on the heels of the toxic water release from the train derailment in East Palestine, which flowed down the Ohio River, prompting water agencies to take preventive measures to safeguard drinking water for millions of people.
Ohio River Disaster as Barge With Tons of Toxic Methanol Sinks - A barge carrying 1,400 tons of methanol, a toxic substance, is among those to have crashed on the Ohio River near Louisville, Kentucky, on Tuesday and is partially submerged.The Louisville Metropolitan Emergency Services (LMES) said that shortly after 2 a.m. ET a vessel towing 11 barges made contact with a "stationary structure" at the entrance to the Portland Canal, to the west of Louisville, near the McAlpine Dam.It comes just weeks after a toxic plume traveled down the major U.S. waterway from the site of a train derailment near East Palestine, on the border between Ohio and Pennsylvania, prompting measures to prevent contamination of the drinking water that is supplied to around 5 million people from the river.The LMES stressed in a statement that there is "currently zero evidence of a tank breach or any leaks" and that "air and water monitoring resources are in place."Three barges became lodged against a pier on the Ohio River near Louisville, Kentucky, on March 28, 2023. Images from the crash site show one barge bent around the pier, while another had been tilted on its side.KENTUCKY EEC"Safety is the top concern—safety of the public and first responder personnel," it added. "There is currently no impact to Louisville Water's water intake or water quality."The Kentucky Energy and Environment Cabinet (EEC) said the barge carrying methanol in its three cargo holds was "lodged" in the lower McAlpine Dam—which was built along with a series of locks to allow boats to circumvent the Falls of the Ohio—and that the nearest municipal water intake was downstream in Henderson, Kentucky.Kevin Roberts, the director of operations at Henderson Water Utility, clarified that their intake was the nearest to the crash in Kentucky, but noted that there were several intakes on the Indiana side of the river before theirs. "If it is to breach and is uncontained, traveling downstream, we do not anticipate it being a problem for Henderson," he said. "We have the available means to treat any residual concentration that hasn't evaporated by the time it makes it to us." "The situation is well in hand. We don't expect it to be a problem for us." An LMES spokesperson told ABC News that the companies that owned the barges were "marshalling significant resources in response to the incident" but that the Louisville Fire Department had deployed hazmat monitoring until private contractors arrived on the scene.As a result of the contact, 10 of the barges being towed broke loose, three of which became pinned against the lower McAlpine Dam. The LMES said the other barges had been carrying corn and soy.The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in the area specified that one had been pinned against the Louisville and Indiana bridge pier. It was recovered by 12:31 p.m. ET. Those not stuck had been recovered by nearby vessels.
Barge update: 1 removed from dam, 'no evidence' of leak or health risk — One of the barges that got stuck on a dam in Louisville has been removed and officials say there is no evidence of any health hazards. Ten barges got loose in Louisville when one struck the McAlpine Locks and Dam on Tuesday. Three got stuck, and on Wednesday, officials said one of those has been freed. There were initial concerns over health since one of them carrying 1,400 tons of methanol is sinking. Methanol is a toxic alcohol used industrially as a solvent, pesticide and alternative fuel source, according to the CDC. According to Louisville Metro Emergency Services, there is "zero" evidence of any health hazards related to the incident. Officials said Wednesday that, so far, there is no evidence of a leak and therefore no health risk. They also said if it does leak, it evaporates when exposed to air and dissolved quickly in water. The biggest risk is when ingested or inhaled in "sufficient quantities," Louisville Metro Emergency Services said. They said more than 80 air quality samples have been taken so far, and teams are continuously monitoring the situation. Here's the video of when the three were stuck on Wednesday:
Kentucky crews work to remove remaining 2 runaway barges stuck in Ohio River, including 1 containing methanol. There's no evidence of a chemical leak, -- Two runaway barges remain stuck in the Ohio River, according to officials in Louisville, Kentucky, who reiterated Wednesday there is still no evidence of a chemical leak as one of the barges is carrying the highly flammable compound methanol.In a news conference Wednesday afternoon, Louisville Mayor Craig Greenberg confirmed just two barges out of 10 that initially broke loose early Tuesday morning remained "settled against the lower McAlpine Dam structure along the Ohio river."One of the barges is carrying 1,400 tons of methanol, a Louisville Metro Emergency Services spokesperson told CNN in a phone call. The other barges were carrying soy and corn.Ten barges total broke loose and became stuck against the McAlpine Dam early Tuesday morning,according to a news release that afternoon from the US Army Corps of Engineers, at which time seven had been recovered. No injuries were reported.Greenberg on Wednesday stressed there remains no evidence of a chemical leak, and a Friday release from Louisville Metro Emergency Services said it has taken more than 300 air quality samples and "all tests continue to show no detections of Methanol."Methanol is an alcoholic chemical compound that's highly flammable. It's considered an alternative fuel under the Energy Policy Act of 1992, according to the US Department of Energy. Methanol was used in the 1990s as a transportation fuel but is no longer developed for that purpose, the department said.The stuck barges are from the Ingram Barge Co. Its chief executive, John Roberts, was also at Wednesday's news conference, where he said the company's primary concern was removing the barges safely."Although we were not the operator when this occurred, those are our barges out there on that dam," he added, "and we are going to be responsible for getting them off in a safe manner."In order to remove the barge containing methanol, authorities need the river current and levels to get below the dam so they can "close some of the gates and build up a pool," Roberts said."We believe that the pressure of the current right now is what's pinning the barge against the dam, and at that point it should refloat itself and then we can pull it out," he said.
Removal of Millions of Dead Fish from River Like 'A Funeral Procession' - Millions of fish that appeared floating dead in the waters of an Australian river this week are now being removed by authorities in a massive clean-up effort.The huge carpet of dead fish appeared in the Darling River near the town of Menindee, situated around 580 miles west of Sydney, on March 17.The fish, which are thought to have died en masse due to reduced oxygen in the river as a result of recent receding floodwaters, are thought to number around 20 million."It's like a slow funeral procession, it hangs over the town. Menindee doesn't wanna be known for this," one local told ABC News Australia in a video interviewThe fish carcasses are being removed by contractors from South Australia, alongside Fire and Rescue NSW. Large rubber booms are being used to collect floating bodies, which will then be placed into landfill.The NSW Department of Primary Industries (DPI) said in a statement that the fish deaths were likely caused by low oxygen levels from recent flood waters receding. This washed many tons of organic leaf matter into the riverway, which began to decay, with the decomposing bacteria using up much of the oxygen in the water. This, paired with the fact that the blazing temperatures in the region resulted in fish having a higher requirement for oxygen and, at the same time, water being able to hold less oxygen, led to the mass deaths of the river's fish.."This event is ongoing as a heatwave across western NSW continues to put further stress on a system that has experienced extreme conditions from wide-scale flooding," the DPI said in a statement. "The amount of dissolved oxygen water can hold decreases with increasing water temperature, which can add additional stress to fish that may already be struggling."The fish were mostly bony bream but also included Murray cod, golden perch, silver perch and carp.
Long-track, violent tornado hits Mississippi, leaving massive damage and multiple fatalities - (9 videos) A long-track, EF-4 tornado hit several towns in Mississippi around 21:00 LT on Friday, March 24, 2023, leaving massive damage in Rolling Fork. The same storm produced several other strong tornadoes, including an EF-3 that hit Winona. A tornado emergency was issued for Rolling Fork and Anguilla, Mississippi on Friday evening (LT) due to the presence of a large and destructive tornado. According to the National Weather Service (NWS), the tornado was situated over Rolling Fork and was moving northeast at a speed of 80 km/h (50 mph). The tornado emergency alert — the most severe level of a tornado-related alert issued by NWS — urged residents to take immediate shelter, warning that they were in a life-threatening situation. Rolling Fork, located about 96.5 km (60 miles) northwest of Jackson, Mississippi, was directly in the path of the dangerous twister. The latest reports mention at least 7 fatalities in Rolling Fork. Significant damage was reported in the towns of Silver City and Belzoni, located northeast of Rolling Fork. At least 1 person was killed and 2 severely injured in Silver City. Updates:
- 11:42 UTC The death toll rose to 21 by 11:42 UTC. At least 13 deaths were reported in Sharkey County, home to Rolling Fork. Three others were killed and at least 2 are in critical condition in Humphreys County. Three people died in Carroll County and 2 more in Monroe County. It’s still unclear whether the destruction was caused by one long-tracked tornado or multiple tornadoes.
- 14:42 UTC At least 25 people were killed and dozens more were injured by violent tornadoes that hit Mississippi on Friday night, according to the state’s emergency management agency. The National Weather Service gave a preliminary rating of EF-4 to the tornado that hit Rolling Fork, leaving total devastation in its wake. The storm also spawned other strong tornadoes, including an EF-3 that struck Winona, Mississippi. Fatalities were reported in four counties — Sharkey, Humphreys, Carroll and Monroe, and the governor declared a state of emergency for the affected areas.
Rolling Fork residents say they didn't hear any tornado warning sirens - In the days after an EF4 tornado killed at least a dozen people here, attention has turned to weather warning systems and whether the city’s functioned properly and was sufficient the night of the storm. The city’s mayor told The Washington Post he did not hear Rolling Fork’s two sirens. “I’m not sure it would have saved lives, the tornado came in so quickly,” he said. “But it would have gotten people’s attention. They would have known to get inside and try to get somewhere safe.” Over a dozen residents interviewed in different parts of the community said they did not hear any sirens. A storm chaser described driving through the city moments before the tornado, desperately alerting people.The National Weather Service warned that a storm capable of producing tornadoes was headed toward the area 11 minutes before the twister struck Rolling Fork. That is within the standard range for the quickly developing systems, and would have automatically triggered alerts to local television stations and on cellphones.But the siren system is still considered crucial, especially in more rural, low-income communities, where not everyone has a reliable cellphone or signal. In Rolling Fork, the Sharkey County Sheriff’s Office operates the two alarms. A dispatch supervisor told The Post that the individual in charge of sounding the sirens Friday evening had trouble getting them working.The potential issues with the siren system underscore what some in Rolling Fork see as a larger problem — a lack of investment in emergency preparedness in a predominantly poor, mostly Black corner of the state. Carolyn Cole-Tillis, chief deputy of the county sheriff’s office, said her agency has raised the need for better storm prep with emergency management officials before, but that lack of funding has been a barrier.Angela Jenkins, the dispatch supervisor, said the on-duty officer was eventually able to activate at least one siren, which she heard moments before the tornado hit. Other residents living near the sirens said theydid not hear anything. At least one complained that the sirens were hard to hear to begin with. Some received cellphone notifications. Others said their phones were silent.Across Rolling Fork, many said the only alert they received was the sound of the approaching wind. It sounded like a roar.
Mass casualty event declared in Arkansas university after tornado - CBS affiliate (Reuters) - The University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences declared a mass casualty event after a "catastrophic" tornado hit Little Rock on Friday, a CBS affiliate reported, adding hundreds of people were injured.
At least 18 dead after tornadoes rake Midwest, South - — Storms that dropped possibly dozens of tornadoes killed at least 18 people in small towns and big cities across the South and Midwest, tearing a path through the Arkansas capital, collapsing the roof of a packed concert venue in Illinois, and leaving people throughout the region bewildered Saturday by the damage. Confirmed or suspected tornadoes in at least seven states destroyed homes and businesses, splintered trees, and lay waste to neighborhoods across a swath of the country home to some 85 million people. The dead included seven in Tennessee’s McNairy County, four in the small town of Wynne, Arkansas, and three in Sullivan, Indiana. Other deaths were reported in Alabama, Illinois and Mississippi, along with one near Little Rock, where the mayor said more than 2,000 buildings were in a tornado’s path. Stunned residents of Wynne, a community of about 8,000 people 50 miles west of Memphis, Tennessee, woke Saturday to find the high school’s roof shredded and its windows blown out. Huge trees lay on the ground, their stumps reduced to nubs. Broken walls, windows and roofs pocked homes and businesses. Debris and memories of regular life lay scattered inside the damaged shells of homes and strewn on lawns: clothing, insulation, roofing paper, toys, splintered furniture, a pickup truck with its windows shattered. “Our school is gone, my church is gone. I’m sad for all the people who lost their homes.” Seven people died in McNairy County, east of Memphis along the Mississippi border, said David Leckner, the mayor of Adamsville. “The majority of the damage has been done to homes and residential areas,” Leckner said, adding that although it appeared all people had been accounted for, crews were going door to door to be sure. In Belvidere, Illinois, some of the 260 people attending a heavy metal concert at the Apollo Theatre pulled a man from the rubble after part of the roof collapsed; he was dead when emergency workers arrived. Officials said 28 other people were injured at the theater, some severely. “They dragged someone out from the rubble, and I sat with him and I held his hand and I was (telling him) ‘It’s going to be OK.’ I didn’t really know much else what to do,” concertgoer Gabrielle Lewellyn told WTVO-TV. Crews worked Saturday to clean up around the Apollo, with forklifts pulling away loosely hanging bricks. Business owners picked up shards of glass and covered shattered windows. Three people died in Indiana’s Sullivan County, near the Illinois line about 95 miles southwest of Indianapolis. Sullivan Mayor Clint Lamb said at a news conference that an area south of the county seat of about 4,000 “is essentially unrecognizable right now” and that several people were rescued from rubble overnight. There were reports of as many as 12 people injured, he said, and search-and-rescue teams combed damaged areas. “Quite frankly, I’m really, really shocked there isn’t more as far as human issues,” he said, adding that recovery “is going to be a very long process.” In the Little Rock area, at least one person was killed and more than two dozen were hurt, some critically, authorities said. Little Rock Mayor Frank Scott said that 2,100 homes and businesses were in the tornado’s path, but that no assessment had been done on how many were damaged.
California’s desert trees can’t take the heat: study - Some of the Southwest’s most iconic desert trees are running for their lives in what could be a grim harbinger for more temperate ecosystems across the West. A study in Functional Ecology offers evidence that desert ecosystems, long perceived as the most resilient to climate change, may be hitting their limits. Researchers at the University of California Riverside found that rising temperatures and protracted drought have driven piñon pines and juniper trees to seek refuge at higher elevations in the deserts north of Palm Springs. In the place of these slow-growing, iconic forests is rising an empire of weeds. That is part of a wholesale transition in arid landscapes caused by the burning of fossil fuels, the scientists said. “This is the hottest, driest desert in North America — you would think that surely it would be resilient to higher temperatures,” Tesa Madsen-Hepp, a University of California Riverside botanist who was first author on the paper, told The Hill. Even the limited amount of planetary heating experienced since the 1970s has reshaped these ecosystems — and emissions continue to rise. The study offers a vision of where other ecosystems “with cooler, wetter conditions are potentially headed,” Madsen-Hepp added. Broad trends based on the study of temperate ecosystems led researchers to expect that as temperatures increased and moisture in the ecosystem fell, all plants would migrate upwards in search of cooler temperatures. What they found instead was more complicated: a wholesale shift towards “weed” species, which had moved down from high elevations to colonize former forests left open by the mass dying-off of trees. While the piñon pines and junipers are often seen as hardier, they nonetheless depend on ready access to underground water. That’s in ever-shorter supply thanks to the West’s long drought, though this year’s record rainfall has provided a brief respite.
First major wildfire of the year forces 1 500 people to evacuate, Spain - (videos) A major wildfire in eastern Spain consumed over 4 000 ha (9 884 acres) of land near the village of Villanueva de Viver and prompted the evacuation of 1 500 people. Over 500 firefighters and 20 planes and helicopters were working to control the fire. This is Spain’s first major wildfire of the year. A wildfire that erupted on Thursday, March 24, 2023, between the provinces of Castellon and Teruel in eastern Spain has devastated approximately 4 000 ha (9 884 acres) of land and forced the evacuation of 1 500 residents. The fire, suspected to have been started by crop burning, rapidly spread between Thursday and Friday fueled by strong winds and unseasonably dry conditions. As a result, eight small towns and villages in the surrounding area were evacuated. By Friday night, cooler temperatures and a lack of wind aided the efforts of 500 firemen, forestry workers, and members of the Emergency Unit of the Spanish Military in establishing a 40 km (25 miles) perimeter around the fire. Teresa Rivera, the Minister for the Ecological Transition, pointed out that the region, which was traditionally cool and damp, has experienced altered patterns of temperature and humidity. Rivera highlighted the fifth consecutive year of drought on the Iberian Peninsula and stated that the changing water and temperature conditions explain the increased vulnerability of natural spaces. The summer of 2022 was Spain’s hottest on record, with wildfires consuming over 300 000 ha (741 316 acres) of land – more than three times the 84 827 ha (209 609 acres) burnt in 2021. The State Meteorological Agency (AEMET) predicts unseasonably hot weather in the affected area, with temperatures ranging from mid-20s to 30 °C (77 – 86 °F) by the end of the upcoming week. A spokesman for the Spanish Civil Guard said that an investigation was underway into the cause of the fire.
Deadly landslide hits Alausí, Ecuador, destroying homes and part of Pan-American Highway - (videos) At least 16 people were killed and 7 are missing after a landslide hit Ecuador’s mountain village of Alausí. On Sunday, March 26, 2023, a tragic landslide occurred in the mountain village of Alausi in Ecuador’s Chimborazo province, resulting in 16 fatalities, 7 missing persons, and 16 injuries. The village, situated in the Andes mountain range, is approximately 220 km (137 miles) south of the nation’s capital, Quito. The catastrophe caused significant damage, including the destruction of a section of the Pan-American Highway. Emergency response teams, including firefighters, police, and specialized rescue personnel, have been working to locate and save those trapped under the debris. To date, six individuals have been found alive, while the search for at least seven missing persons continues. The landslide has affected around 500 people in total. A local resident recounted the terrifying landslide, stating that the mountainside came crashing down “like a rocket” on Sunday evening, engulfing multiple homes in earth and rock. Heavy rainfall in the region led to the formation of fault lines, as reported by local media. These warnings were evident when the highway connecting Alausí and Guamote was indefinitely shut down due to cracks in the tarmac. To prevent further casualties, Ivan Vinueza, the governor of Chimborazo, ordered evacuations in the affected area, as new landslides are a potential risk. President Guillermo Lasso had previously declared a state of emergency in 14 provinces that were experiencing extreme weather conditions. The Andean nation has been grappling with the consequences of heavy rainfall since the start of the year, with a death toll of 22 people. -- Update 11:03 UTC, March 28: On March 27, officials reported 16 deaths, but President Guillermo Lasso put the confirmed toll at 7 as he arrived at the scene of the disaster in Alausí late Monday. The reports mention more than 30 rescued people and 23 hospitalized. Around 163 homes and 1 school have been damaged or destroyed. Water and power infrastructure were also impacted. Residents living in about 600 homes in the area, considered to be at risk, have been ordered to evacuate.
Cyclone Freddy’s death toll in Malawi likely to exceed 1 200 as hope for survivors fades - Over 1 200 people are feared dead in Malawi as Cyclone Freddy’s catastrophic aftermath leads authorities to declare missing individuals deceased. Very Intense Tropical Cyclone Freddy has made history as the longest-lasting and highest-ACE-producing tropical cyclone ever recorded worldwide. The storm traversed the southern Indian Ocean for over five weeks between February and March 2023, leaving a trail of destruction in its path. The death toll from Cyclone Freddy in Malawi is expected to exceed 1 200, as authorities announced on Thursday, March 30, 2023, that hundreds of missing individuals would be declared dead due to the dwindling chances of finding survivors. Earlier this month, the cyclone brought six months’ worth of rainfall in just six days to southern Malawi, causing floods and mudslides that destroyed homes, roads, and bridges in an unprecedented deluge. So far, 676 people have been confirmed dead, with 538 still missing. Police spokesman Harry Namwaza informed AFP that the missing would be presumed dead once rescue operations were completed, with some areas still being accessed. Charles Kalemba, disaster management commissioner, expressed on Wednesday that the chances of finding anyone alive were slim as rescue efforts scaled back. Over 430 km² (170 mi2) of land was flooded by the cyclone, leading numerous smallholder farmers to lose their crops and fields to the storm. About 204 833 ha (506 095 acres) of cropland were inundated, with 84 930 ha (209 916 acres) submerged and 119 930 ha (296 179 acres) washed away. Freddy struck just as farmers were preparing for harvest, exacerbating local food insecurities in the nation. Farms suffered significant damage, with many destroyed. Livestock was severely affected, resulting in 194 500 deaths and an additional 91 000 injuries. Cyclone Freddy initially struck southern Africa in late February, impacting Madagascar and Mozambique but sparing Malawi. The storm then moved back over the Indian Ocean, gaining strength from the warm waters before making a rare course reversal and hitting the mainland again. The overall death toll across all affected countries could reach nearly 1 400 if all of Malawi’s missing are declared dead. 198 deaths were reported in Mozambique, 17 in Madagascar, 2 in Zimbabwe, and 1 in Mauritius, as of March 31.
Red auroras descend to Florida, marking first sighting since 2003 and 1989 - A G4 – Severe geomagnetic storm on March 24, 2023, caused red auroras to appear over Florida and other low-latitude areas, marking the first such sighting in nearly 20 years. Numerous unusual phenomena were observed during this geomagnetic storm, including “aurora dunes” over Alberta, Canada. On March 24, a G4 – Severe geomagnetic storm, the most intense in nearly six years, caused red auroras to descend as far south as Florida for the first time in almost two decades. Bill Williams captured their stunning red glow on camera from the Chiefland Astro Village, overlooking the Suwannee River Basin and the Gulf of Mexico. Williams revealed that a 26-minute exposure intended for capturing the Winter Milky Way instead displayed an unusual red glow on the horizon. According to Williams, the auroras at 29.4 degrees north latitude marked the farthest south they had been observed and were the first sightings in Florida since 2003 and 1989. While most auroras are green, low-latitude sightings like those in Florida are predominantly red. The reason for this lies in the altitude of the oxygen atoms causing the auroras. Green auroras are generated by oxygen atoms approximately 150 km (93 miles) above Earth’s surface, whereas red auroras result from oxygen atoms between 150 km (93 miles) and 500 km (310 miles) above the surface. A photo taken by Dean Cosgrove of Curtis, Nebraska (+40.6N), on the same night illustrates the altitude structure with red-on-green layers. From southern locations like Florida, the green auroras are obscured by the northern horizon, leaving the higher red auroras to dominate the display. Other notable low-latitude red aurora sightings during the geomagnetic storm last week include New Mexico (+32.8N), North Carolina (+36.5N), Colorado (+40.4N), and California (+39.7N). Numerous unusual phenomena were observed during this geomagnetic storm, including “aurora dunes” captured in a deep twilight photo by Alan Dyer of Gleichen, Alberta, at the onset of the storm. The aurora dunes, horizontal green ripples to the left of Venus and the Moon, are a recently identified form of Northern Lights resembling ripples in desert sand. aurora dunes march 2023 by Alan Dyer via spaceweather Image credit: Alan Dyer (via SpaceWeather) Researchers first described the dunes in a paper published in 2020, identifying them as a “mesospheric bore” — a type of atmospheric gravity wave originating from Earth’s surface and becoming trapped in a thermal waveguide about 100 km (62 miles) high. When solar wind particles rain down on the bore, they illuminate its rippling structure. For years, Arctic skywatchers have observed dunes without knowing their true nature. A breakthrough happened on October 7, 2018, when several groups took photos of dunes from distant locations in Finland. Triangulation showed the dunes to be approximately 100 km (62 miles) high with a pure, monochromatic wavelength of about 45 km (28 miles).
Impulsive X1.2 solar flare erupts from AR 3256 - An impulsive solar flare measuring X1.2 at its peak erupted from AR 3256 at 02:33 UTC on March 29, 2023. The event started at 02:18 and ended at 02:40 UTC. There were no radio signatures suggesting a coronal mass ejection (CME) was produced. Even if it was, the location of this region does not favor Earth-directed CMEs. Radio frequencies were forecast to be most degraded over the West Pacific Ocean, parts of eastern China and Russia, Vietnam, Laos, Thailand, Cambodia, Japan, Philippines, Indonesia, Papua New Guinea and Australia. Region 3256 is now approaching the west limb and will start its farside rotation in a couple of days. Solar activity was at low levels until this solar flare and is expected to be at low levels, with a slight chance for M-class flares through March 31. The greater than 10 MeV proton flux was at background levels and the greater than 2 MeV electron flux reached high levels with a peak flux of 1 810 pfu observed at GOES-16 at 14:20 UTC on March 28.1 The greater than 10 MeV proton flux is expected to continue at background levels through March 31. The greater than 2 MeV electron flux is expected to reach high levels through March 31, possibly decreasing to moderate levels on March 30 with the arrival of the next negative polarity CH HSS. Solar wind parameters were mostly at background levels in 24 hours to 00:30 UTC on March 29. The IMF was relaxed with total field averaging around 6 nT and Bz undergoing few if any significant southward deviations. Wind speeds were unreliable from DSCOVR given the low density environment, but ACE showed speeds generally at 400 km/s or less. The phi angle was oriented in a negative solar sector towards the Sun. Nominal levels are expected to continue through March 29 and the first half of March 30. Another negative polarity CH HSS is forecast to arrive midday on March 30, with elevated levels of activity lasting through March 31. The geomagnetic field was at quiet levels on March 29. Mostly quiet levels are expected on March 29 and the first half of March 30. Active conditions are expected starting midday on March 30 through March 31 with the onset of a negative polarity CH HSS. There is also a chance for G1 – Minor geomagnetic storms on March 30 and 31 with this activity.
U.N. seeks rare legal opinion on climate. The U.S. abstained. - The United States declined to support a historic resolution in the U.N. General Assembly on Wednesday that asks the world’s highest court to weigh in on the legal obligation of countries to address climate change. The resolution was passed with the help of more than 120 nations, marking a rare agreement in the General Assembly that could reverberate worldwide if the International Court of Justice, in the Hague, issues an opinion that pushes countries to take greater action to curb their planet-warming emissions. The court is expected to make a ruling within two years. The move stems from a resolution offered by Vanuatu, a Pacific Island nation that was recently slammed by two back-to-back cyclones. It asks the U.N. International Court of Justice to determine whether countries are violating international laws by polluting the climate and to identify the legal consequences they could face. The resolution passed without opposition in the General Assembly. Yet the world’s two largest emitters of greenhouse gases — the United States and China — were not among the nations that supported it. A senior Biden administration official said addressing climate change “is of the highest priority” for the United States. “However, as we have said repeatedly, we believe that diplomacy — not an international judicial process — is the most effective path forward for advancing global efforts to tackle the climate crisis,” the official, who would only comment anonymously, wrote in an email. Countries agreed at last year’s climate talks to set up a fund for victims of unavoidable climate harm, what’s known in U.N. parlance as loss and damage. The United States is the world’s largest historical source of greenhouse gases, and it has long been wary of being on the hook for any form of climate compensation. Earlier this month, climate envoy John Kerry said on a press call that the United States had concerns about the resolution’s process and that Vanuatu was “jumping ahead” by going to the International Court of Justice.
Climate Hysteria And Woke Gobbledegook Are Becoming Inseparable - One of Britain’s leading climate ‘experts’, Professor Kevin Anderson, has provided a valuable insight into the increasingly bizarre demands that surround the promotion of the collectivist Net Zero political project. Writing in the Conversation, he argues for Net Zero within 12 years, complete with a refit of U.K. housing stock, a withdrawal of all combustion engine cars in favour of expanded public transport, electrification of industry, the roll out of ‘zero-carbon’ energy, and the banning of all fossil fuel production. To achieve his aims, Anderson suggests mobilisation on the scale of the post-war European reconstruction Marshall Plan. Others might suggest his crackpot schemes will leave the country facing a similar scale of destruction, ruin and poverty to that caused by the Luftwaffe. Anderson is currently a Professor of Energy and Climate Change at the University of Manchester and he has plenty of form when it comes to extremist claims and calls for widespread rationing. As early as 2010, he was calling on politicians to consider a rationing system “similar to the one introduced during the last time of crisis in the 1930s and 40s”. He also suggested a limit on electricity “so people are forced to turn the heating down”, and a limit on goods that require a lot of energy to manufacture. On a practical level, Anderson’s latest calls for radical societal restructuring under the guise of a ‘climate emergency’ are plainly ridiculous. Retrofitting Britain’s well-ventilated housing and industrial stock along with installing heat pumps would cost around £3 trillion, according to a paper published last year by the technology professor Michael Kelly – equivalent, it should be noted, to Britain’s annual GDP. That, of course, is before we’ve factored in the cost of Anderson’s other plans such as retrofitting the entire industrial and transport infrastructure, all within the next 12 years. In its more sane moments, even Extinction Rebellion might be proud of such an ambitious plan. The Conversation is obligatory reading for those aiming to keep fully up to speed with the latest climate, Net Zero and woke fantasies. It purports to be an independent source of news analysis, written by academic experts working with professional journalists. To the mainstream media, it offers “media-ready” experts and “free” content. It is funded by academic institutions and receives money from a number of billionaire Foundations. Media partners include Reuters, PA Media, Reach (owner of the Mirror, Express, Daily Star and multiple local U.K. newspapers) and Apple News. Collectivist economic solutions alongside the ubiquitous woke dogma are increasingly dominating debate around climate change.
Fear of climate lawsuits spreads beyond fossil fuel industry - The fear of being sued for contributing to climate change was once confined to the boardrooms of oil and gas companies. Now those concerns are spreading to other corporations as the Biden administration prepares to release regulations that could expose the polluting liabilities of every large firm in the United States.More than a dozen companies outside of the oil industry have disclosed climate-change-related legal risks to investors over the last three years, indicating what experts say is a growing sensitivity among businesses to the prospect of facing legal challenges for releasing large amounts of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. They include American defense contractor Lockheed Martin Corp., Brazilian financial services giant Itaú Unibanco Holding SA and China Eastern Airlines Corp. Ltd.“We’re consistently seeing all these companies disclosing litigation risk around climate change,” said George Georgiev, a professor at Emory Law who reviewed the filings at the request of E&E News. “That’s significant because it’s new. Something is changing — companies are paying more attention.”The emerging trend comes as the Securities and Exchange Commission and regulators in other countries are developing rules that would require large companies to disclose their climate-related risks (Climatewire, Jan. 9). Such efforts might expose a broad array of firms to litigation if they are believed to have downplayed their risks to legal challenges or misled investors and consumers about their contribution to rising temperatures.Climate suits are still relatively rare. Nearly two dozen cases have been filed against oil, gas and coal producers by U.S. cities, counties and states. They have gained the attention of the Supreme Court, which may soon address whether the cases should be heard in state or federal court (Climatewire, March 17).Outside of the U.S., the pace of litigation is accelerating more quickly and is being used to highlight the climate impacts of companies involved in the production of energy, food and plastics, according to an analysis published last year by researchers in the United Kingdom. Concerns among companies operating in the U.S. appear to be rising since President Joe Biden indicated shortly after his election victory that he would push financial regulators to increase their scrutiny of businesses that are jeopardized by climate change or federal efforts to lower emissions (Climatewire, April 9, 2021). Thirty-two companies have disclosed risks related to “climate litigation” or “climate change-related litigation” since 2020, according to an E&E News review of SEC filings. Half are fossil fuel companies, such as European oil and gas producers Shell PLC and Equinor ASA, both of which have already been named in climate lawsuits (Climatewire, July 21, 2021). The other 16 firms are involved in aviation, mining, agriculture, insurance and other industries.
4 lawsuits threaten Vineyard Wind - The lawsuits against America’s first major offshore wind project are coming to a head. Four cases are challenging the federal environmental permit issued to Vineyard Wind, a 62-turbine facility being planned for construction in the waters off Martha’s Vineyard. A federal judge in Massachusetts heard arguments brought by landowners in two cases in recent weeks. The other two suits, brought by fishing groups, have been consolidated and will appear before the same judge for oral arguments in Boston on Monday. The cases against Vineyard Wind allege that the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management conducted an inadequate environmental review when it approved the project by failing to account for its impact on everything from fishermen to the critically endangered North American right whale. The stakes are high. The Biden administration is betting that Vineyard Wind will begin an energy revolution in the United States by generating large amounts of carbon-free electricity needed to slash emissions and power the Northeast. Massachusetts utilities signed a contract to buy the project’s power to boost renewables in the state and cut emissions. But the project has encountered resistance from a landowners group on Nantucket, a renewable energy developer with a house on Martha’s Vineyard and groups of fishermen who contend the turbines will irreversibly damage the ocean. The dispute has even attracted a prominent conservative think tank with a history of supporting fossil fuels. “The administration has put all their political capital on offshore wind and is breaking all the rules in order to do it,” said Robert Henneke, executive director and general counsel for the Texas Public Policy Foundation, which is representing fishing interests in one case. Henneke claimed that the Biden administration is guilty of hypocrisy, saying the government is relaxing endangered species requirements for offshore wind even as it imposes stringent regulations on other industries.
Tax incentives start rush for carbon capture projects --For years, fossil fuel companies have been reluctant to build carbon capture facilities, except to recover oil, because it was too expensive. Now, with the aid of a federal tax credit in the 2022 federal Inflation Reduction Act, they are lining up to capture and store carbon with the potential to make billions of dollars in profit.In Louisiana alone, more than two dozen facilities have been proposed.Carbon capture and sequestration (CCS) will become a profitable tactic that fossil fuel companies can utilize to reduce their carbon footprint thanks in large part to the tax credits in the 2022 federal Inflation Reduction Act.But energy market analysts say the need for federal subsidies to make the projects , more than 20 of which are proposed in Louisiana, viable is another reason the public should be side-eyeing the aggressive push to capture and inject carbon emissions underground. “What happens if those incentives decline or go away?” says Suzanne Mattei, an energy policy analyst for the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis, a nonprofit group that examines trends and policies related to the energy market. “This is a technology that appears to need permanent life support to keep it going.” Under the recent federal legislation, the tax credits are set to expire 12 years after a facility goes into operation. Mattei and other experts are already calling into question industry insiders’ claims that carbon sequestration projects will actually reduce the amount of emissions, while other groups call the projects a way to greenwash fossil fuels. These new questions about carbon capture are fueling a growing opposition to CCS, which has also been scrutinized over its energy and water use, potential groundwatercontamination and public safety following a CO2 pipeline rupture in 2020. Leaders with Together Louisiana, a coalition of faith-based and civic groups that has led politically charged fights around tax fairness and environmental justice issues, are questioning the incentives.“It’s them saying ‘let’s try to figure out if this can be part of the solution’ but there are more questions than answers at this point,” said Erin Hansen, a staff analyst with Together Louisiana.The head of a Louisiana oil and gas association recently said carbon capture will create high-paying jobs and give Louisiana the opportunity to be the leading face of clean energy. “The state of Louisiana has, in our opinion, rightfully, decided to promote CCUS in this state,” Mike Moncla, president of the Louisiana Oil and Gas Association, wrote in an email to Floodlight.The 2022 law increased the amount of credit a fossil fuel company could earn for injecting their CO2 emissions underground from $45 a ton to $85, with the potential to reach $180 a ton. The law also extends the construction deadline for carbon capture projects from 2026 to 2033 and lowers the threshold on the amount of CO2 projects must capture annually. The industry also doesn’t have to prove that the technology is working as promised. Under the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), the industry self-reports to the U.S. Department of Energy how well the technology is working to reduce emissions. It’s a process watchdog groups have said needs better oversight.
Schumer’s highway to the Catskills angers environmentalists - — Thousands of New Yorkers escape the sweltering heat of the concrete jungle each summer by fleeing their Brooklyn brownstones and Upper West Side co-ops and driving west on Route 17, the winding highway leading to the cooler air of the Catskill Mountains. The revival of the old Borscht Belt in recent years has come with increased traffic down the two-lane state highway — an issue that’s irked Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, who began a push over a decade ago to expand a nearly 50-mile stretch of Route 17. Now, the project has new momentum under Gov. Kathy Hochul, one of many such proposals to benefit from the $1 trillion federal infrastructure package Congress approved in 2021. But supporters aren’t celebrating yet. First, the project must overcome opposition from local and national environmental groups who say the addition of a third lane in both directions will increase the number of gas-guzzling vehicles zipping through the forested region. “We’re spending a billion dollars on 47 miles of highway expansion that don’t need it, pumping an additional 2 million tons of greenhouse gasses” into the air through 2050, said Ramsay Adams, the executive director of the Catskill Mountainkeeper, a local environmental advocacy group fighting the widening project. “If it moves forward the way it seems to, it’s going to be a problem. It’s going to be an issue that I think a lot of us are gonna take up in the courts.”After years of federal disinvestment, state transportation departments are actively working through a backlog of capital projects, many of which have been stuck for years awaiting viable funding sources. The bipartisan infrastructure law will deliver roughly $350 billion to state transportation departments for highway work over the next five years, the largest investment in roads and bridges in decades. New York expects to get $13.5 billion for highways and bridges, a 40 percent increase over the last five-year federal program.The Biden administration initially attempted to place guardrails on how the new highway money is spent, releasing guidance encouraging states to prioritize road maintenance and upgrades over paving new lanes, butabandoned the effort amid fierce pushback from Republicans. Absent federal intervention, many states continue to pursue highway widenings, though not without opposition. In Maryland, environmental groups have sued to stop the expansion of Interstate 270. Opposition is also building in New Jersey over a proposal to spend nearly $5 billion to expand eight miles of highway leading to the Holland Tunnel.
TVA set to return ancestral remains of nearly 5,000 Native Americans - The Tennessee Valley Authority has taken a critical step toward returning the ancestral remains of more than 4,800 Native Americans to as many as 21 Native American tribes.The ancestral remains and associated funerary objects had been removed by TVA from sites in Tennessee, Kentucky and Alabama, three of the seven states in TVA’s region. A notice was filed in the Federal Register for publication on March 29 of the federal utility's intent to repatriate all ancestral remains and associated funerary objects it has. The process of repatriation allows tribes and descendants to take possession of the remains of their ancestors and associated funerary objects that were previously removed from their original resting places.TVA identified ancestral remains of at least 4,871 Native American individuals, as well as 1,389 lots of objects that TVA believes were placed with or near the ancestral remains “at the time of death or later as part of the death rite or ceremony,” the notice said. The ancestral remains and associated funerary objects originated from three states: Tennessee, Kentucky and Alabama, and are being held by TVA and its partner repositories which include the University of Tennessee, the University of Alabama, the University of Kentucky, Mississippi State University and Southern Illinois University.
- Ancestral remains of at least 3,676 individuals were previously removed from the eastern half of Tennessee.
- Ancestral remains of at least 465 individuals were previously removed from the western half of Tennessee.
- Ancestral remains of at least 722 individuals were previously removed from Alabama.
- Ancestral remains of at least eight individuals were previously removed from Kentucky.
TVA sent a copy of the notice to the Native American tribes it listed, including:
- Absentee-Shawnee Tribe of Indians of Oklahoma
- Alabama-Coushatta Tribe of Texas
- Cherokee Nation
- Coushatta Tribe of Louisiana
- Delaware Nation, Oklahoma
- Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians
- Eastern Shawnee Tribe of Oklahoma
- Jena Band of Choctaw Indians
- Kialegee Tribal Town
- Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians
- Peoria Tribe of Indians of Oklahoma
- Poarch Band of Creek Indians
- Quapaw Nation
- Shawnee Tribe
- The Chickasaw Nation
- The Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma
- The Muscogee (Creek) Nation
- The Osage Nation
- The Seminole Nation of Oklahoma
- Thlopthlocco Tribal Town
- The United Keetoowah Band of Cherokee Indians in Oklahoma
Potential hydrogen source could power trucks while reducing greenhouse gases | Great Lakes Echo -- Researchers have located a promising underground region in the Midwest that could have stores of fuel. But they’re not looking for oil. They’re looking for hydrogen. Hydrogen reservoirs form when heated water meets with iron rich rocks. An ancient North American rift could have created such environments, said Geoffrey Ellis, a United States Geologic Survey researcher. Natural hydrogen is a climate-friendly alternative to oil as it only produces water when it is used, rather than the harmful greenhouse gases produced by oil, according to the International Energy Agency. Over 1 billion years ago, North America split along a curve that extends up from Michigan, into Canada and then down through Minnesota, Wisconsin and Iowa before ending in Kansas. A recent model made by Ellis, suggests the Mid-Continent Rift may mean there is more hydrogen available within the earth’s crust than we thought. The rift is a prime candidate for more research, said Ellis, whose model was presented at a Geological Society of America conference in October. States the rift runs through that produce petroleum, like Michigan, aren’t likely to have reservoirs of hydrogen, Ellis said. Hydrogen is consumed as a part of the natural process that forms petroleum. But non-petroleum producers like Minnesota and Wisconsin might, Ellis said. More research is needed. Engineers can’t simply modify existing methods of finding oil and gas to find hydrogen, Ellis said. That helps, but it will also require pulling from multiple disciplines. “There’s some elements of mineral exploration that will be helpful for hydrogen exploration, as well as geothermal resource exploration.”
A Fossil Fuel Economy Requires 535x More Mining Than a Clean Energy Economy - Decarbonizing the world’s economy will require an enormous amount of minerals like copper, lithium, nickel and cobalt. Everything from electric vehicles to solar panels to transmission lines will require these raw materials.In some cases, mining these minerals has disastrous consequences for workers, indigenous communities, and the environment. This has led some clean energyskeptics to argue that decarbonization will be bad for both humans and the environment.But transitioning to clean energy will mean we no longer have to mine and extract vast quantities of fossil fuels each year. A clean energy transition will help us avoid the worst effects of climate change; it will save millions of lives currently lost to air pollution each year; and, importantly, it will reduce the total amount of environmentally and socially harmful mining each year. Every year, about 15 billion tons of fossil fuels are mined and extracted. That’s about 535 times more mining than a clean energy economy would require in 2040.Part of the reason for this massive difference in mining requirements is the fact that fossil fuel infrastructure is much less energy efficient than clean energy technology. Gas-powered cars are three times less efficient than electric vehicles. Gas furnaces are three to four times less efficient than heat pumps. Coal, oil, and gas all need to be transported long distances from mine or well to the source of combustion.A clean energy economy just requires much less energy than a fossil fuel economy.But there’s another important reason for this difference. Fossil fuel infrastructure requires constant fuel input. Building a coal or gas power plant, like building a wind or solar project, requires a lot of materials and energy input upfront. But for a fossil fuel power plant, construction is just the beginning. In order to generate power, you need to burn coal or gas every day for decades. Wind and solar projects, by comparison, don’t require any ongoing fuel input.Still, both the environmental and human impacts of mining minerals for the energy transition can’t be ignored. Policymakers should use every tool available to both minimize the total amount of clean energy minerals needed in the future and ensure those minerals are mined in socially and environmentally-friendly ways.But make no mistake: transitioning away from fossil fuels is one of the most effective ways to protect both the environment and the most marginalized communities in the world.
Why America's EV chargers keep breaking - Imagine living in a world where the gas station has trouble providing gasoline. Every few times a driver fills up, something goes haywire — the gas doesn’t flow, or it flows fast for a while and then slows to a trickle. Other times, the credit card payment is mysteriously rejected or the screen is blank. If the consumer wants a helping hand, too bad. In this world, the gas station has no human, and the only option is a 1-800 number. The gas pumps are alone in the middle of a big parking lot. Swap the word “gasoline” for “electricity,” and this is a realistic description of what happens every day at electric-vehicle charging stations across the United States. The high-tech, high-speed highway fueling system that America is building to power its EVs and replace the gas station is riddled with glitches that are proving difficult to stamp out. Individually, they are hiccups, but collectively, their consequences could be profound. “It adds to the non-EV driver’s view of the world that EV charging is painful,” said Bill Ferro, a software expert and founder of EVSession, an EV charger analytics firm. “People feeling that it’s a risk to buy an EV because the fast-charging infrastructure stinks is going to slow down EV adoption.” The problems are experienced by those who use fast chargers on the go and who aren’t driving Teslas. Studies and innumerable anecdotes describe the strange stumbles they encounter: a blank screen, a broken plug, a credit card payment that fails, sessions that abort without warning, electric current that flows fast this moment and slowly the next (Energywire, March 21). Behind the snafus are a daunting set of structural problems. They are tied to the peculiar way that EV chargers have evolved, and the fact that wires and batteries are way more complicated than what happens at the gas station. The problems are persisting even as billions of dollars pour into the charging sector from the federal and state governments, network operators and automakers.
Clean energy transition may be slowed by electrician shortage - Labor shortages have been pretty common throughout this pandemic recovery economy, but a growing shortage of skilled tradespeople could slow down efforts to shift to a green energy economy.Last year’s federal Inflation Reduction Act is supposed to channel hundreds of billions of dollars into clean energy projects in an effort to transition homes and businesses away from fossil fuels. That includes increasing the availability of renewable power sources and “electrifying America.”But even before this influx of funding from the IRA, the U.S. was short the number of electricians needed to build out that infrastructure. “A lot of the labor force in skilled trades is older and is retiring. And that’s just a natural fact of life,” said Joshua Hawley, a professor at Ohio State University who researches workforce development. “And then they’re not being replaced at the same rate.”According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the U.S. currently needs about 80,000 new electricians every year. But those in the field say filling those jobs is going to be exceptionally difficult.“Experienced electricians are impossible to find,” said Mark Dols, vice president of M.R. Electricians in Rockville, Maryland. He has almost three dozen electricians on staff, several apprentices in training and is expanding the business in Florida.Dols said his company offers competitive salaries, even for people with no experience, plus on-the-job-training and company-paid tuition for additional school; vacation, 401(k), life insurance, health insurance and other perks.“I have electricians that work for me that make over $100,000 a year,” he said. “They’re doing very well. I mean, they’re making very, very good livings.” And yet, Dols still has difficulty recruiting. “We just purchased another electrical contractor because we couldn’t find people,” he said. “So we purchased another contractor, basically, just for their manpower.”
Deep freeze and data concerns test Southeast power market - When several large electric utilities launched a first-of-its-kind energy trading platform in the Southeast last fall, the pitch was simple: Lower energy bills and deliver more solar power to customers. Now, more than four months after the Southeast Energy Exchange Market began operating, some state regulators and energy analysts are skeptical that those benefits will be realized. Critics say a December deep freeze exposed the platform’s flaws. SEEM operates in a fast-growing region, extending across parts of 12 states ripe for solar development but still dominated by carbon-emitting coal and natural gas power plants. The electricity trading system was designed to make it easier for utilities to buy and share electricity in real time, something SEEM backers say will be crucial as more solar enters the mix. But the platform doesn’t disclose what energy sources are being traded, making it largely impossible for outside observers to determine its impact on solar, coal or other resources. Trading electricity through SEEM effectively halted during a three-day period of extreme cold temperatures and severe weather around Christmas Eve — the same period last year when three major utilities in SEEM’s system enacted rolling blackouts that left hundreds of thousands of customers in the dark. “The total number of buy offers declined over those couple of days, which is the total opposite of how a real market would function,” said Simon Mahan, executive director of the Southern Renewable Energy Association. “It’s almost as if they gave up on it.” SEEM began operating in November as a way for electric utilities in the Southeast to trade power every 15 minutes, so long as there are transmission lines available to deliver the power. A participant can offer to sell excess energy, and if another participant is willing to buy it, the sale goes through. Supporters of SEEM have pitched it as a cheaper, simpler alternative to regional transmission organizations, which oversee the flow of power in much of the United States outside parts of the West and Southeast. But skeptics argue that it lacks the transparency and fairness seen in a full-blown regional transmission organization and isn’t up to addressing electric reliability challenges stemming from climate change-fueled extreme weather.
Mexico is moving to power California and Arizona. But who will pay for it? | The Residents of the U.S. Southwest could one day power their homes with solar energy generated across the border — if a multi-pronged plan from the Mexican government comes to fruition. A 120-megawatt capacity photovoltaic plant in the Sonoran seaside city of Puerto Peñasco already began feeding the national grid last month, while another 300 megawatts are expected to be online next year. “Who could have told me that a state like Sonora, a net importer of energy that has historically been a net importer, now has the potential to be an energy-exporting state?” The domestic output is just the first step in an extensive $48 billion plan envisioned by Mexico’s leaders, who have their sights set not only on neighboring Baja California, but also potentially on California and Arizona. Yet deep questions remain, including who exactly is footing the bill for the project and whether the U.S. will be involved with the financing. Mexican officials hailed the Puerto Peñasco facility for its future ability to produce up to 1,000 megawatts of clean energy, alongside 192 megawatts in battery storage at an inaugural event held by President Andrés Manuel López Obrador in February. “It will be the first of its kind in Mexico, the largest in all of America due to its generation capacity and fifth worldwide when considering the storage system,” a statement from Mexico’s state energy firm, the Comisión Federal de Electricidad (CFE), said following the inauguration. Owned and operated by the CFE, the Puerto Peñasco plant is the first tangible product of a sustainable energy initiative known as the “Sonora Plan.” The expansive federal program involves the construction of five massive photovoltaic solar facilities, new transmission lines and a lithium mining venture — all in the northern Mexican state of Sonora. The project’s first mission is to provide solar power to “the national electricity system where everything is interconnected,” David Figueroa, Sonora’s state government representative in Arizona, told The Hill. The second stage would involve transmitting part of the generated capacity to the Baja California circuit, which is entirely separate from Mexico’s national grid, Figueroa explained. During this phase, the sizable boost in capacity could power some 160,800 homes in Sonora and Baja California — up from an initial 64,300 Sonoran households, according to the CFE. “Third, we will look for the possibility of selling to the south part of the United States,” Figueroa said. “It is something that is contemplated.” Such a transaction would be feasible because Baja California and California area already linked through a binational electricity system. That network is part of the Western Interconnection, which stretches from Western Canada to Baja California in Mexico. While experts have voiced concerns that electricity produced at the plant could be expensive, Figueroa said that costs “will be low” in part because the land was “completely donated” — by real estate magnate Daniel Chávez, who has apparent family connections to López Obrador. Regardless of the land, Figueroa stressed that the amount of solar energy available in this region is among the highest in the world, enabling any solar panel situated there to “produce much more than anywhere else on Earth.”
Coal Ash: The Poison Seeping into Indiana Water —The toxic material left over after burning coal for electricity has been found in groundwater at every Indiana facility where coal was burned for electricity, largely as a result of poorly regulated storage that has led to toxins seeping through the soil. It contains harmful chemicals such as boron, lead, mercury and arsenic, and poses the possible risk of blood vessel damage, anemia, neurological and cardiovascular problems, as well as cancer in the skin, bladder, liver and lungs. Among multiple areas of concern to environmental justice groups and residents, one has risen to the top of the list in terms of urgency: the possible leaking of coal ash from the Northwest Indiana Public Service Co. generating plant in Michigan City into Lake Michigan, which supplies water to 10 million people in Indiana and neighboring states. Seawalls with a limited lifespan are the only barrier between toxic coal ash ponds and the lake, where increasingly high water levels are being fueled by climate change.“If we have an environmental disaster on the shores of Lake Michigan, it will be irreparable,” Susan Thomas, director of legislation and policy for environmental justice group Just Transition Northwest Indiana, said a news conference in December. “We will never be able to claim back our Great Lakes ecosystem, our beautiful source of wonder and recreation and our drinking water.”NIPSCO’s Michigan City generating station lies on 123 acres of land that stretches along the south shore of Lake Michigan and the western edge of Michigan City.The plant began operating in 1931. From 1931 to 1950, NIPSCO built steel pile barriers along the border of the property next to Lake Michigan and Trail Creek. Using a mixture of coal ash, sand and soil, it created “made land” behind the walls, which are up to 40 feet deep.NIPSCO used the made land to expand out toward the lake, building parking lots, additional structures and coal ash ponds.In 2018, the company announced its plan to close the station and move toward more renewable forms of energy. It began removing coal ash from the station in April 2022, trucking the ash from the ponds to a lined landfill at Schahfer Generating Station in Wheatfield.The current closure plan includes removing the ash from the five ponds located on the made land but doesn’t include removing the made land itself, even though it, too, is contaminated. That means some ash would stay in place, directly beside Lake Michigan, the drinking water source for around10 million people. Since the plant closure was announced, residents have become increasingly concerned about the methods proposed to remove the on-site coal ash, as well as the safety of the site itself. “NIPSCO was ready to pull the wool over our eyes and leave us with an inheritance that lasts thousands of years. Millions of tons of toxic coal ash waste is fouling our air and water as we speak,” said Ashley Williams, executive director of Just Transition.
Reuse of coal plants can cut small modular nuclear reactor development costs by 35%: report Nearly one-fourth of the current U.S. coal-fired fleet is scheduled to retire by 2029, providing opportunities to site advanced nuclear plants, specifically small modular reactors, or SMRs, a Washington, D.C. think tank says in a recent report.The reactors can reuse coal plant electrical equipment and steam-cycle components that, combined with reuse of transmission and administrative buildings, can reduce SMR construction costs by 17% to 35%, according to John Jacobs and Lesley Jantarasami, authors of “Can Advanced Nuclear Repower Coal Country?” released this month by the Bipartisan Policy Center.The Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s certification in January of NuScale Power’s SMR design, the country’s first such federal approval, “pushes the technology closer to maturity,” the report said.The report says 80% of evaluated coal plants have the “basic characteristics” needed to be repowered by an SMR, according to a Department of Energy study analyzing coal plants recently retired and those soon to be. Nuclear reactors and coal power plants both provide dispatchable energy “24/7 regardless of weather conditions, time of day or the season,” it said.“Renewables have a vital and substantial role to play in a decarbonized energy grid,” the report said. “Yet, it is essential to complement their variability with the construction of firm power capable of filling the gaps and maintaining reliability.”Other benefits highlighted by the report are SMRs’ flexible power output levels that allow developers to match the output of a retiring coal plant and capacity restrictions of equipment, unlike the fixed capacity of traditional nuclear plants. And SMRs require small areas, making its footprint suitable for replacing a retiring coal plant, according to the report.Re-using coal plant sites could also have labor force advantages, with 77% of jobs transferable to nuclear plants with no new workforce licensing requirements, the report said.SMRs can reuse coal plant transmission infrastructure, reducing SMR construction costs and avoiding some permitting challenges. And the reactors can reuse coal plant electrical equipment and steam-cycle components that, combined with reuse of transmission and administrative buildings, can reduce SMR construction costs by 17% to 35%, according to the report.The issue of shifting coal sites to nuclear energy production has been around for a while. The U.S. Department of Energy issued a report in September saying hundreds of coal sites could be converted to nuclear power plants that would add jobs, increase economic benefits and improve environmental conditions.Coal is responsible for the largest share of CO2 emissions from the energy sector, making its phase-out key to tackling climate change,according to the International Energy Agency. Backers of nuclear energy say the coal-to-nuclear transition will add clean electricity to the grid, helping the U.S. reach its net-zero emissions goals by 2050. Opponents say SMR manufacturing is notorious for cost overruns and delays at a time when climate change demands immediate attention. Critics also say the money earmarked for advanced reactors can better be spent on renewable energy such as wind, solar and battery storage.
EU Members Clash Over Nuclear Energy's Role In Climate Policy - The European Union needs to work on a divide among its member countries regarding the role of nuclear energy in achieving their renewable energy goals. This disagreement may delay the progress of one of the EU's primary climate policies. On Wednesday, negotiators from EU countries and the European Parliament will engage in their final round of discussions to establish more ambitious EU objectives to expand renewable energy throughout the next decade.These goals are crucial for Europe's commitment to reduce CO2 emissions by 2030 and to become independent of Russian fossil fuels. However, the negotiations have become bogged down by a dispute over whether fossil fuels produced using nuclear power should be considered part of the renewable energy targets.France is spearheading a push to classify "low-carbon hydrogen" – hydrogen produced from nuclear energy – as equal to hydrogen created from renewable electricity. France is joined by countries such as Romania, Poland, Hungary, and the Czech Republic, all of which seek greater acknowledgment of nuclear energy's CO2-free contribution to climate objectives.On the other hand, Germany, Spain, Denmark, Portugal, and Luxembourg oppose this view, arguing that including nuclear power in renewable energy targets would divert attention from the urgent need to expand solar and wind energy across Europe significantly.On Monday, EU ambassadors met again in an attempt to resolve the ongoing dispute. During a meeting of EU countries' ambassadors last Friday, nations reaffirmed their established positions, according to EU officials. This has led to doubts surrounding the success of the negotiations in finalizing the law.In addition to the nuclear energy debate, countries disagree on other aspects of the law, such as the types of wood fuel that can be considered renewable energy sources.France, one of the world's leading nuclear-powered nations, is interested in whether nuclear energy is recognized under renewable energy targets. The country plans to construct new reactors and modernize its extensive fleet of nuclear facilities.Agnès Pannier-Runacher, the French energy minister, will host a meeting of pro-nuclear countries' ministers on Tuesday to discuss the issue further, according to a source from the French ministry.France has also expressed disappointment with other recent EU decisions prioritizing renewable technologies over nuclear power. Last week, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen announced that "cutting-edge nuclear" projects would only receive access to specific EU incentives designed to support green industries. In contrast, "strategic" technologies, such as solar panels, would be granted full benefits.
Bank records reveal secret payments to Larry Householder's dark money group - Bank records subpoenaed by the Cleveland City Council have revealed previously secret payments to convicted former Ohio House Speaker Larry Householder’s dark money group Generation Now from donors in the fossil fuel industry and multiple other sectors. Earlier this month, a jury found Householder guilty of participating in a racketeering conspiracy that involved $60 million in bribes paid by FirstEnergy. In return, Householder and several co-conspirators secured a since-repealed $1.3 billion bailout for two nuclear plants owned by a bankrupt FirstEnergy subsidiary through the passage of House Bill 6. The 2019 Ohio law also rolled back the state’s renewable energy and energy efficiency standards for electric utilities, standards FirstEnergy had long fought to eliminate. A jury also found lobbyist Matt Borges guilty of participating in the scheme. Prosecutors had already secured guilty pleas from Generation Now, its president Jeff Longstreth and lobbyist Juan Cespedes before the trial. FirstEnergy reached a deferred prosecution agreement with federal prosecutors in which the utility company admitted it paid the $60 million to influence Householder and agreed to pay a $230 million legal penalty. Generation Now was at the center of a web of nonprofit and for-profit entities used to conceal FirstEnergy’s funding of the criminal enterprise. Money from FirstEnergy was used to support Householder-backed candidates during the 2018 elections and secure Householder’s return as speaker in early 2019. FirstEnergy then secretly funded multi-million dollar campaigns to pass HB 6 and later block a voter referendum aimed at repealing HB 6 from reaching the ballot. More than half a million dollars was used for Householder’s personal financial benefit.Shortly after Householder’s arrest and indictment in 2020, the Cleveland City Council authorized an investigation into the murky entities involved in the federal criminal investigation. The investigation was led by the City Council’s then-President Kevin Kelley and publicly issued a number of subpoenas in early 2021, but then went quiet ahead of Kelley’s loss to Justin Bibb in Cleveland’s mayoral election that November. The Energy and Policy Institute filed a public records request with the City of Cleveland seeking copies of records obtained during the City Council’s investigation. The city’s response included copies of subpoenaed bank records for two Generation Now accounts that the City Council obtained from Fifth Third Bank. Federal investigators used info from the same two accounts in their case against Householder. The Energy and Policy Institute (EPI) is publishing the Generation Now bank records here for the first time, with account numbers redacted. Included in the collection are copies of monthly bank statements for the two Generation Now accounts, which can be found here and here. Also included are copies of the deposited checks and check payments, as well as details about incoming and outgoing wire payments that the City Council obtained from Fifth Third Bank.
OH Lawsuit Filed Against Utica Fracker Accuses Subsurface Trespass Marcellus Drilling News - In a case initially filed last summer in Ohio, a Belmont County mineral rights owner alleges that Rice Drilling (now owned by EQT) drained natural gas from a rock layer it did not have the right to access according to the signed lease. Golden Eagle Resources says the lease allowed Rice to drill down only as far as the Utica Shale layer, which Rice did. However, Golden Eagle says fractures from Rice’s fracking of the Utica layer reached down into the adjacent Point Pleasant layer and drained some of the gas from the Point Pleasant too–and that’s a no-no according to the lease.
Ohio Democrats Introduce Bill to Ban Fracking Under Lake Erie - Marcellus Drilling News - Leave it to liberal Democrats to hype an issue that isn’t even an issue to try and scare folks for political gain. LibDems have introduced a bill in the Ohio House that would prohibit fracking for oil and gas underneath Lake Erie. The leftists of Lake Erie Waterkeeper appear to be behind the measure. When was the last time you heard about any drillers salivating over drilling and fracking under Lake Erie? That’s right. NEVER. And yet the left wants to plant the seed that drillers now have their sights set on fracking Lake Erie.
DeWine announces grants to rebuild local economies - Ohio Governor Mike DeWine, Lt Governor Jon Husted, and Ohio Department of Development Director Lydia Mihalik announced the first major development projects that will move forward with support from Ohio's $500 million Appalachian Community Grant Program. The DeWine-Husted Administration, in partnership with the Ohio General Assembly, created the grant program last year to support local initiatives to revitalize downtown districts, enhance quality of life, and rebuild the economies of Ohio's 32 Appalachian counties. A total of $50 million in development grants will be awarded in the program's first round to launch four transformational projects impacting communities in Athens, Carroll, Columbiana, Coshocton, Gallia, Hocking, Jackson, Jefferson, Mahoning, Meigs, and Perry counties. The Utica Shale Academy of Ohio will increase access to workforce training for at-risk, low-income young adults, individuals, and families impacted by substance use disorders in Columbiana, Carroll, Jefferson, and Mahoning counties. With an Appalachian Community Grant of up to $2,356,417, With an Appalachian Community Grant of up to $2,356,417, Utica Shale will create the Connecting Communities Through Workforce Training project, which will provide residents with a career pathway for in-demand jobs that allow them to earn a sustainable living wage. The project will expand workforce training services at three strategically-placed training centers that will reskill and upskill individuals to attract and retain skilled labor. The training will focus on in-demand jobs like heavy equipment operation, welding, industrial maintenance, robotics, 3D printing, broadband infrastructure, and diesel mechanics. Participants will also have access to community health workers to assist with resources to improve health.
Millions in funding awarded to Appalachian Ohio projects - (WOUB) — Athens and surrounding counties are among the big winners in the first round of grant funding intended to promote transformational change in the state’s Appalachian region. The governor’s office announced four grants totaling $50 million, the first chunk of $500 million that will be awarded over the next year under the Appalachian Community Grant Program. Three of these grants include projects in Athens County. The first round of grants was intended for projects that were shovel-ready, meaning they will begin construction or implementation within the next 90 days. The Survivor Advocacy Outreach Program, based in Nelsonville, received more than half of the $50 million awarded, with a grant of nearly $26 million. SAOP, an advocacy and support organization for survivors of domestic violence and sexual assault, will use the funds to expand services in Athens, Gallia and Meigs counties. Another grant, totaling more than $17.6 million, will be used to rehabilitate six historic downtown buildings, including the Athens Armory, to be used as collaborative spaces for economic development and community programs and services. A third grant of more than $4 million was awarded to the Outdoor Recreation Council of Appalachia, which will use the money to develop tourism in Athens, Meigs and Jackson counties, including completing more trails and visitor facilities, such as lodging, for the Baileys Trail System. The fourth grant, just over $2.3 million, was to the Utica Shale Academy of Ohio to be used to increase access to workforce training for at-risk, low-income individuals and families impacted by substance use disorders in Columbiana, Carroll, Jefferson and Mahoning counties.
Appalachian Community Grant Program announces grant for Utica Shale Academy of Ohio in Columbiana County, Ohio (WKBN) – A program to increase access to workforce training in Columbiana and surrounding categories has received funding from the Appalachian Community Grant Program. The Utica Shale Academy of Ohio has received over $2.3 million to create the Connecting Communities Through Workforce Training project, which will provide residents with a career pathway for in-demand jobs that allow them to earn a sustainable living wage. The program is geared toward at-risk, low-income young adults and families affected by substance use disorders. State lawmaker says East Palestine recovery is marathonThe project will expand workforce training services at three strategically-placed training centers, focusing on in-demand jobs like heavy equipment operation, welding, industrial maintenance, robotics, 3D printing, broadband infrastructure and diesel mechanics. Participants will also have access to community health workers to assist with resources to improve health. In partnership with the Ohio General Assembly, the DeWine-Husted Administration created the Appalachian Community Grant Program last year to support local initiatives to revitalize downtown districts, enhance quality of life and rebuild the economics of Ohio’s 32 Appalachian counties. A total of $50 million in development grants will be awarded in the first round of the program to launch four transformational projects impacting communities throughout Ohio, like Columbiana County. “The projects we’re announcing today are just the beginning of the long-term, impactful change that’s in store for Ohio’s 32-county Appalachian region,” said Governor Mike DeWine.
McNally announces $2356417 for Utica Shale Academy of Ohio - – State Rep. Lauren McNally (D-Youngstown) announced that on March 20 the State Controlling Board approved a $2,356,417 grant from the Ohio Department of Development’s (DOD) Governor’s Office of Appalachia for Utica Shale Academy of Ohio as part of their Appalachian Community Grant Program Development Grants.“I’m ecstatic that the workforce development efforts in our region are being noticed and funded. This is the type of attention that the Biden administration promised Appalachia Ohio, and he’s made good on his word,” said McNally.The Development Grants, made possible by $500 million in American Rescue Plan Act dollars, were awarded as part of an initial round of funding and required awardees to have partners in place and begin construction or implementation of their project within 90 days. The program activities, resulting in sustainable and transformational outcomes and include health care, infrastructure, and workforce components, are required to total at least $1 million or more in order to receive eligibility for consideration. The project must be completed by Oct. 31, 2026.According to the Ohio Controlling Board, the Utica Shale Academy of Ohio project, the Connecting Communities Through Workforce Training project, will focus on at-risk, low-income young adults and families affected by substance use disorders. It intends to reduce transportation barriers and increase the accessibility of quality workforce training equipment for residents in Carroll, Columbiana, Jefferson, and Mahoning counties by expanding their workforce training services at three strategically-placed training centers. The project will provide residents with a career pathway toward earning a sustainable living wage, with a focus on in-demand jobs, which will ideally assist with the elimination of generational poverty in the area. The project participants will also have access to Community Health Workers that assist with health improvement.
$2.3M State Grant Will Expand Regional Workforce Training - Business Journal Daily – A growing workforce-training program in Columbiana County, the Utica Shale Academy of Ohio, will be able to expand its reach. USA Superintendent Bill Watson announced Monday the school has been awarded a $2.35 million state grant to increase workforce training in the four-county area – Columbiana, Mahoning, Carroll and Jefferson. The Appalachia Community Grant Program through the governor’s office awarded $50 million in development grants in total Monday, the first step of a $500 million investment. Watson said the grant will be used to build a facility that will house both the heavy equipment operation program and adult training after school hours. USA will offer a recovery-to-work program, which includes a partnership with the Mahoning County Pathways Hub. The Utica Shale Academy began as a dropout recovery and prevention school, which focuses on career tech education for at-risk students. After sharing space at Southern Local High School for a few years, the academy set up its own location in Salineville in the Hutson Building, a former office space, which was renovated to be used for more traditional education classes and office space. Through a $300,000 Ohio capital appropriation, the academy was able to purchase the Huntington Bank building up the hill and renovate it into an industrial maintenance lab and light diesel mechanics training facility. Then the academy began expanding on the other side of the street, acquiring 3.5 acres and recently constructing an indoor-outdoor welding lab. This grant will be combined with other money and grants for the construction of a new facility on the 3.5-acre property. That will allow the Utica Shale Academy to offer more heavy equipment operating training and provide them spaces for additional classes. Additionally, it reduces the barrier for students in the region, many who cannot travel long distances, in order to get training for better jobs. In addition, the academy often partners with the Sustainable Opportunity Development Center in Salem and Youngstown State University’s Excellence Training Center to help provide additional training opportunities in areas such as industrial maintenance, 3D printing, 5G and robotics. Julie Needs, director of the SOD Center, said the grant will allow them to expand what they can offer as well, adding more equipment, more training programs and reaching additional people and businesses. “Utica has done several of our training classes,” Needs said. The USA has instructed some of the classes at the SOD Center, bringing some of its equipment to Salem to train people. With additional equipment, not only can more people receive the training, but they can also offer more hands-on time during training. .
Future growth in mind with gas pipeline project in Columbiana,Ohio - (WKBN) – Executives with Columbia Gas of Ohio say they’re trying to stay ahead of the future with potential growth.Crews have started preliminary work on a major gas line project running along Route 14 in Columbiana. It will include installation of about 10,000 feet of new, more durable pipeline to enhance service in the area for existing customers but also for those looking to expand or locate in the city.“But as a result of the project, we will have a larger capacity to support growth and development for future folks who may think about industry and things like that in Columbiana,” said Ben Cutler, a spokesperson for Columbia Gas. “We don’t want to come to Columbiana and build a plant or build a facility but then they can’t get natural gas, so if we can take any proactive steps to make sure we have good supply, good capacity, that’s prudent to do right now.”Installation of the new main should begin in early April. That’s likely to mean some traffic disruptions in the area for several months. Officials say the project, including restoring customers’ properties, should be finished late this summer.
32 New Shale Well Permits Issued for PA-OH-WV Mar 20-26 - Marcellus Drilling News - New shale permits issued for Mar. 20-26 in the Marcellus/Utica dropped by two from the prior week. There were 32 new permits issued in total last week, including 22 new permits for Pennsylvania, 8 new permits for Ohio, and 2 permits in West Virginia. (Note we recently updated last week’s report to include WV permits after the WVDEP fixed its database.) Last week the top receiver of new permits was CNX Resources with 10 new permits spread across two PA counties: Greene and Allegheny. Snyder Brothers received 8 permits in Armstrong County, PA. Allegheny County, Antero Resources, Armstrong County, Ascent Resources, Belmont County, Chesapeake Energy, CNX Resources, Doddridge County, Encino Energy, Greene County (PA), Harrison County, Lycoming County, Noble County, Range Resources Corp, Snyder Brothers, Southwestern Energy, Wetzel County, Wyoming County (PA)
Crypto Mining at Gas Wells Sparks Regulatory Headaches, Outcry in Northwestern Pennsylvania -Longhorn Pad C is located about half a mile south of a small cemetery and a little over a mile north of a Methodist church in Elk County, in northwestern Pennsylvania. With a population of around 30,000, this county sits squarely in the center of the path the Marcellus Shale formation takes as it curves through the commonwealth. The lonely well pad houses four natural gas wells that records show were initially drilled in 2011 but sat inactive for years after that. Now, it also houses infrastructure designed to mine cryptocurrency, which, according to a comment filed by the surrounding township’s Board of Supervisors, hums loudly enough to have solicited numerous noise complaints from residents. Though it has applied for them, the company behind this operation has yet to receive the permits it is required by law to construct or operate the engines to power a cryptocurrency mine. “After a recent inspection, the [Department of Environmental Protection] DEP has determined that Diversified was in violation,” said Tom Decker, community relations coordinator at the DEP’s Northwest Regional Office, “as it had installed equipment for its cryptocurrency operations prior to the issuance of a plan approval issued by the Department.“The company is required by law to obtain a plan approval from DEP prior to installation and operation of the air contamination sources,” Decker said. “Installation of the equipment without a plan approval could lead to enforcement action by the DEP.” The pad is owned by a fossil fuel operator that’s come under fire in recent years for purchasing tens of thousands of low-producing oil and gas wells without a clear business motive and for making unrealistic budget projections that minimize the true cost of plugging, critics say. In doing so, it has amassed the largest portfolio of old, low-producing wells in Appalachia. That operator is Diversified Energy Company PLC, the parent company to Diversified Production LLC, which recently applied for a permit with the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) to add five natural gas-powered engines and one generator to the well pad with the intention of mining cryptocurrency. What the operator’s permit application does not disclose is that Diversified would go on to prematurely install cryptocurrency infrastructure on the pad, and while the DEP reported that it was not operational on the day of a March 1 site visit, the department confirmed that the operator had installed one engine and two trailers holding cryptocurrency mining computers in violation of environmental law. According to the township that houses the site, it’s already showing signs of running. The engines will power what’s called wellhead mining, in which a cryptocurrency data center is powered directly by an oil or gas well. This pad appears to be the first of its kind in Pennsylvania to go through a formal permitting process for the practice, which is gaining prominence throughout the Keystone State, home to hundreds of thousands of abandoned wells and rich methane stores. It is not clear when Diversified installed cryptocurrency equipment on the pad without a permit. A DEP inspection report from June 2022 notes that “the operator is installing equipment to resume cryptocurrency mining operations using the production from four producing Marcellus shale wells on the pad.” Another one filed in August 2022 includes photos of large trailers that, according to the DEP, currently house cryptocurrency equipment. A DEP representative told Capital & Main that the department did not learn that the equipment was installed until mid-February.“Given Diversified’s history, this is not a surprise,” said Charles McPhedran, a senior attorney with Earthjustice and co-author of a comment opposing Diversified’s cryptocurrency permit application to the DEP. “The question is whether DEP can make a forceful response to rogue crypto operators.”
Appalachia continues to dominate natural gas production in United States, EIA reports - Even as natural gas production grows across the United States, Appalachia continues to dominate production. The latest report from the U.S. Energy Information Administration indicates the Appalachian region in the Northeast accounted for nearly a third (29 percent) of all natural gas production in the United States. And while U.S. natural gas production grew by 4 percent, Appalachian production growth slowed, the report said, due to no new pipeline takeaway capacity. No new pipelines came online in 2022, the report said. In 2021, Appalachian gross natural gas withdrawals grew by 1.4 billion cubic feet per day (Bcf/d), but in 2022, that growth had slowed to just 0.1 Bcf/d, less than in 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic limited production growth. In comparison, the Permian Region in western Texas and New Mexico accounted for 18 percent of U.S. production, with gross natural gas withdrawals rising by 2.6 Bcf/d to 21 Bcf/d. While the Haynesville region in Louisiana and Texas grew by only 2.0 Bcf/d to 15.3 Bcf/d. Gross natural gas withdrawals in the Eagle Ford region in Texas rose by 18 percent (0.9 Bcf/d), the first year it saw an increase since 2019. Across the country, Appalachia, Permian, and Haynesville supply about 60 percent of all U.S. natural gas, similar to the production levels in 2021.
Protect This Place: Fracking Threatens the Allegheny Plateau and Its Biodiversity The Allegheny Plateau is a lower-lying portion of the Appalachian Mountain Range that extends from southern and central New York to northern and western Pennsylvania, eastern Ohio, northern and western West Virginia, and eastern Kentucky.Protect This Place The plateau consists of areas of gently sloping hills in the north and west of the region as well as rugged valleys in the south and east. It overlies the Marcellus Shale and Utica Shale, sedimentary rock formations. The region is rich in natural resources, including hardwoods, iron ore, silica, coal, oil and natural gas. Prior to widespread logging between 1890 and 1920, the area hosted old-growth forests containing red spruce, eastern white pine, eastern hemlock, sugar maple, black oak, white oak, yellow birch and American beech. But the forest’s makeup is now different, favoring oaks, maples, hickories, American beech and yellow birch. Though fragmented and much less mature than the old-growth forests, today’s forests continue to play a vital role in ecosystems, serving as habitats for the federally endangered Indiana bat as well as locally endangered or at-risk species such as little brown bats, northern flying squirrels and blackpoll warblers. Unconventional oil and gas development has boomed in the region over the past decade. Already more than 13,000 unconventional wells have been drilled in Pennsylvania. Fracking itself is a resource intense process, requiring between 2 and 20 million gallons of water per well. A 2014 study estimated that in Pennsylvania, 80% of the water used for fracking comes from streams, rivers, and lakes, thus potentially altering water temperature and levels of dissolved oxygen. This water is combined with sand and a mixture of hazardous chemicals, which may include methanol, ethylene glycol and propargyl alcohol. Between 20-25% of the water that is injected into the well returns to the surface. This flowback water often has higher salinity and has been known to contain barium, arsenic, benzene and radium. While recycling of flowback is becoming more common, other methods of disposal include underground injection, application to road surfaces, treatment at public waste facilities, and discharging it onto rivers, streams and lakes. Near fracking sites in West Virginia, elevated levels of barium and strontium were found in feathers of Louisiana waterthrushes, native songbirds who make their home in brooks and wooded swamps. In northwestern Pennsylvania, crayfish and brook trout living in fracked streams were found to have increased levels of mercury. Fish diversity is also reduced in streams that have been fracked. Fracking consumes land, too. Each fracking well requires 3-7 acres. In Pennsylvania over 700,000 acres of state forest land are leased or available for gas production. Well pads, pipelines and other fracking infrastructure fragment forests, alter their ecology, and reduce biodiversity. Appalachian azure butterflies and federally threatened northern wild monkshood — purple-flowering herbaceous perennials found in New York and Ohio — are both sensitive to forest fragmentation.
Investigation into deadly Pennsylvania factory blast focuses on gas pipeline - Federal safety officials are investigating the role of a natural gas pipeline in a fatal blast at a Pennsylvania chocolate factory, the National Transportation Safety Board announced Tuesday. Friday’s powerful explosion at R.M. Palmer Co. killed seven people, sent 10 to the hospital and damaged several other buildings in West Reading, a small town 60 miles northwest of Philadelphia, where the 75-year-old, family-owned company has long had a factory.The National Transportation Safety Board announced the probe late Tuesday afternoon, calling the incident a “natural gas” explosion and fire.The agency has preliminary information from local authorities and a natural gas utility that a gas pipeline was involved, an agency spokesperson, Keith Holloway, told The Associated Press.NTSB is investigating “what caused, how and why the explosion occurred,” according to Holloway.
U.S. lawmaker leads amendment to hasten completion of Mountain Valley Pipeline - Pennsylvania Business The controversial, under-construction Mountain Valley Pipeline — which upon completion will deliver natural gas from Pennsylvania, Ohio, and West Virginia to the Carolinas — would be finished “expeditiously” under an amendment introduced on Thursday by U.S. Rep. Carol Miller (R-WV). “The Mountain Valley Pipeline is crucial to American energy independence,” Miller said in a March 23 statement. “All gas from the Mountain Valley Pipeline will supply domestic energy markets, meaning lower energy prices across the country as supply will dramatically increase.” Miller’s Amendment No. 36 was made to the Republican-led Lower Energy Costs Act, H.R. 1, the energy package introduced earlier this month in the U.S. House of Representatives. If enacted, the amendment would ensure that the Mountain Valley Pipeline, which is currently 94 percent completed, would be finished in mere months to deliver natural gas to North Carolina and South Carolina, increasing domestic energy supply and decreasing energy costs for all Americans, according to a bill summary provided by the congresswoman’s office. Once completed, the pipeline is expected to provide up to two billion cubic feet per day of natural gas from the Marcellus and Utica shale formations to consumers in the Carolinas. Miller says the pipeline also would sustain about 5,800 jobs and $5.9 billion in economic activity in West Virginia and Virginia. The Mountain Valley Pipeline will be governed by the federal Natural Gas Act, which requires a Certificate of Convenience and Necessity from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC). The pipeline received its certificate on Oct. 13, 2017 and construction activities began in early 2018. Since then, however, the delayed fracked gas pipeline has been strangled and held up by several court cases along the East Coast. To get around them and fast track construction, Miller’s amendment states that for any project that, prior to Jan. 1, 2018, has been granted a certificate of public convenience and necessity by FERC under the Natural Gas Act, and which is still in effect, “shall be constructed expeditiously in the location and form specified in such certificate of public convenience and necessity.” Additionally, such certificate of public convenience and necessity and any amendment, extension of time, or other authorization issued by a federal agency or state administrative agency for such project “shall not be subject to judicial review in any court, and any action (including any action pending in a court as of the date of enactment of this section) seeking judicial review of such an agency order or action shall not be filed or maintained in any court and shall be promptly dismissed,” the amendment says. “Numerous natural gas permitting projects are being held up by a left wing, radical court that should have no jurisdiction over our natural gas,” Miller said. “My amendment helps complete many America First projects, like the Mountain Valley Pipeline, and implements a necessary check on the liberal court who wants to stop energy production.” Her amendment is backed by 10 other Republican cosponsors, including several in Pennsylvania: U.S. Reps. Guy Reschenthaler (R-PA), Lloyd Smucker (R-PA), Daniel Meuser (R-PA), and Mike Kelly (R-PA). The larger bill, H.R. 1, which U.S. Rep. Steve Scalise (R-LA) sponsored on March 14 alongside three original cosponsors, is crafted to lower energy costs by increasing American energy production, exports, infrastructure, and critical minerals processing; by promoting transparency, accountability, permitting, and production of American resources; and by improving water quality certification and energy projects, according to the text of the bill. Currently, H.R. 1 has 42 Republican cosponsors, including Meuser and U.S. Reps. John Joyce (R-PA) and Glenn “GT” Thompson (R-PA). The bill remains under consideration in several House subcommittees. According to H.R. 1 opposition, the bill is nothing more than an attempt by the GOP to erase the Biden administration’s climate agenda and Democrats said this week that that’s not going to happen. U.S. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) on March 21 spoke on the Senate floor regarding H.R. 1, and sent supporters of the bill a clear message from the upper chamber: “You can do all the hoopla you want in the House, it ain’t passing.” “I have been very clear about two things: Democrats want to see a bipartisan, common-sense energy proposal come together in Congress, but Republicans’ H.R. 1 proposal is dead on arrival in the Senate,” Schumer said.
Mountain Valley pipeline at a stalemate: What’s next? - — Looking out from the library and across a field, a long Appalachian mountain rises in the distance, reddish-brown, except for a strip of synthetic green. The swath marks the path of the Mountain Valley pipeline, cut into mountainsides around this community outside Roanoke. Covered with gray or green matting, the path generally marks where trees have been cleared but no pipe has been buried. This represents the most visible sign of the regulatory stalemate that has left this region in a state of suspended animation for more than a year. The pipeline’s developers say the best way to resolve the standoff is to let them finish the pipeline, pull up the matting and plant grass along the path. But determined local opponents, backed up by attorneys for well-known environmental groups, are ready to keep fighting. “It’s not a choice. It’s a responsibility,” said Roberta Bondurant, a lawyer who lives here and has fought the project for years. “We’re not going anywhere.” As another construction season looms, a number of outcomes are possible. The developers could fold and walk away, a possibility they dismiss. Or they could persuade Congress to step in, sweep aside the regulatory process and push the project across the finish line. Or the stalemate could continue playing out in courtrooms, boardrooms and hallways of bureaucracy like a game of rock, paper, scissors. There’s precedent for any of these. There’s also a narrow path for the legal fight to end quickly with a victory for the pipeline that allows completion by the end of the year, said Christine Tezak, a managing director at energy analysis firm ClearView Energy Partners LLC. The roughly 300-mile project, commonly called MVP, was conceived to move natural gas from the shale fields near northern West Virginia across the Blue Ridge Mountains to the Virginia Piedmont, where it would connect with a key gas artery that supplies the East Coast. The pipeline is a joint venture among several companies, including NextEra Energy Inc., Consolidated Edison Inc., AltaGas Ltd., RGC Resources Inc. and lead developer Equitrans Midstream Corp. It gained a bigger national profile last year when supporters such as Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) sought to make it an example of why they believe an overhaul of the country’s infrastructure permitting is needed. Five years after construction began, no gas is moving along MVP’s path. The projected cost of the project has nearly doubled from $3.5 billion to $6.6 billion. Mountain Valley officials say they haven’t had “complete and full authorization” to work since mid-2018. David Sligh, conservation director of Wild Virginia, a leading opponent of the project, said work essentially ground to a halt in the fall of 2021, weighed down by permit cancellations. Still, much of the pipe has been buried in the ground — 272 miles of it, according to Equitrans. But many pipes sit above ground, exposed to the elements. The cylindrical segments, 3 ½ feet wide, clad with teal coating and 40 feet in length, rest on lumber in flat spots waiting to be tunneled under streams or hauled up steep slopes, some of the most difficult construction. Paths have been carved through the trees on those slopes, as wide as 175 feet and carpeted with green or gray matting that, up close, looks like the filling inside a blanket. The matting holds soil in place that’s been scraped clear in preparation for construction.
Federal court upholds stream crossing permit for the Mountain Valley Pipeline - The Mountain Valley Pipeline moved one step closer to completion Wednesday, winning approval of a stream crossing permit from an appellate court that it previously said has shown “continued hostility” to the project.A three-judge panel of the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals found no reason to disturb a water quality certification granted in December 2021 by the State Water Control Board and Department of Environmental Quality.The long-delayed natural gas pipeline needs the permit to finish work on 236 stream and wetland crossings in Virginia.“Mountain Valley continues to make significant progress in obtaining the few remaining authorizations needed to complete the MVP and continues to target a late 2023 in-service date,” company spokeswoman Natalie Cox wrote in an email.A lawsuit by environmental groups contended that the water board and DEQ acted “arbitrarily and capriciously” by failing to do three things: consider alternative water crossings for the 42-inch diameter pipe, verify whether each crossing was the least damaging option, and properly assess whether the pipeline complies with water quality standards. In rejecting all three arguments, the court held that “there is evidence in the record which indicates that the agencies did not simply ‘rubber stamp’ MVP’s proposed crossing methods.”“Rather, the agencies asked a number of clarifying questions to ensure they were satisfied” that a long and complicated regulatory process had been properly followed, the court’s opinion stated.Pipeline opponents said Wednesday that the fight is far from over.“This one decision does not weaken our resolve to stop destruction from the MVP,” said David Sligh, conservation director of Wild Virginia, which joined other environmental and community groups in challenging the permit.The water quality certification is a prerequisite to a separate permit from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, which has yet to be granted and could face yet another court fight.And a state approval in West Virginia, where the 303-mile pipeline begins, is still under review by the Fourth Circuit. In oral arguments held last year, the same three judges that upheld the Virginia water certification Tuesday had sharper questions about a similar decision by the state’s counterpart, the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection.A decision in that case, expected in the coming days or weeks, could mark another setback for Mountain Valley in its on-again, off-again construction that began in early 2018.
Court Upholds Virginia’s MVP Water Permit, But Ruling Forthcoming on West Virginia Approval - The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit has upheld a crucial water quality permit issued to the Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP) by Virginia state regulators, keeping the project on track to potentially resume and complete construction later this year. However, a forthcoming ruling on a water quality permit issued by the state of West Virginia could bring fresh setbacks for the embattled 300-mile, 2 million Dth/d Appalachian natural gas export pipeline, according to analysts. In a ruling published Wednesday, the Fourth Circuit denied a petition to review the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality’s decision to approve MVP under state water quality standards. In rebuffing the petition, filed by a coalition of opposition groups, the Fourth Circuit concluded, in part, that Virginia regulators had “considered a variety of factors in determining that the construction and operation of the pipeline would comply” with state water quality standards. Still, the state-level water quality permit issued to MVP by neighboring West Virginia may also have to withstand judicial scrutiny in order to keep the project on track. The Fourth Circuit heard oral argument in a case challenging the West Virginia water quality permit back in October “but has yet to issue a ruling,” analysts at ClearView Energy Partners LLC said in a note to clients. “We explained then that we thought it is likely that the court would return the permit to West Virginia for additional work, but that the real question is whether the court remands it without vacating it, too.” Whether or not the court vacates the West Virginia permit could prove critical for the timeline of the pending Army Corps of Engineers Clean Water Act Section 404 permit, which requires the state water-quality approvals to be in place, the ClearView analysts said. Information posted to MVP’s federal permitting dashboard indicates the Army Corps plans to issue the Section 404 permit by late April. “If a court believes that the agency can resolve the shortcomings in a permit and would likely arrive at the same decision (in this case approval), the court can remand the permit” but preserve its legal validity, the ClearView analysts said. “Most of MVP’s schedule delays have arisen from judicial challenges that resulted in permits being vacated.” MVP is a joint venture of EQM Midstream Partners LP; NextEra Capital Holdings Inc.; Con Edison Transmission Inc.; WGL Midstream; and RGC Midstream LLC. Project backers have said work on the pipeline is roughly 94% complete and that they plan to bring the pipeline into service in the second half of 2023.
Court brings Mountain Valley pipeline closer to completion - The Mountain Valley pipeline inched toward completion after a three-judge panel Wednesday unanimously denied environmentalists’ challenge to a Virginia water permit for the planned natural gas project. The 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals found that Virginia regulators had done an extensive review before certifying that construction of about 107 miles of pipeline across waterways in the commonwealth complied with state water standards. “Because we conclude that the Agencies’ decision to grant MVP’s application was neither arbitrary nor capricious, we deny the petition for review,” said Judge Stephanie Thacker, writing the opinion for the court.. The ruling is from the same three judges who have repeatedly rejected permits for the pipeline, contributing to construction delays and cost overruns for the $6.6 billion project. A decision from the 4th Circuit on a similar water certification from West Virginia is still pending. Once completed, the 42-inch diameter pipeline would carry natural gas 303 miles from West Virginia into southern Virginia. Natalie Cox, a spokesperson for Mountain Valley, said lead developer Equitrans Midstream Corp. was pleased with the 4th Circuit ruling. She said in an email that the company had worked closely with state and federal officials to develop construction plans that would be the least environmentally harmful. “Mountain Valley continues to make significant progress in obtaining the few remaining authorizations needed to complete the Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP) and continues to target a late 2023 in-service date,” Cox said in a statement. Environmental groups led by the Sierra Club sued the Virginia State Water Control Board in 2021 for granting a Section 401 certification for the pipeline under the Clean Water Act, which confirms that the project is in line with state water laws. The groups claimed Virginia officials had not considered alternative water crossings and did not independently verify that the project’s selected approach was the least environmentally damaging practicable alternative. They also argued that the board did not consider the state’s narrative water quality standards, which stipulate that waters should be free of sediments and other discharges from construction sites that could harm human, animal, plant or aquatic life. Thacker, who was appointed during the Obama administration, said that Virginia law barred the board from changing project siting for pipelines larger than 36 inches in diameter, like Mountain Valley, that had been approved by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. “Petitioners have failed to present any evidence indicating that any crossing could be moved without altering the Pipeline’s siting elsewhere,” Thacker wrote. “Because there is nothing before the court from which we can conclude that the Agencies could have changed one crossing without altering FERC’s siting determination,” she continued, “we conclude that the Agencies correctly applied Virginia law by approving MVP’s proposed crossing locations.” Thacker also said the board had reviewed each water crossing and found that the current pipeline route was the least harmful to state waters, fish and wildlife. The 4th Circuit also rejected Mountain Valley’s claims that the federal appeals court did not have jurisdiction to review Virginia’s certification. Since the state was acting under the federal Clean Water Act, Thacker said, the issue was properly before the court. Mountain Valley’s sovereign immunity argument also failed because agencies are aware that any action they take “relative to the issuance, conditioning or denial of a water quality certification,” can be reviewed by a federal court, she added.
Equitrans Midstream, A Political Football - A prime example of the destruction of our country's infrastructure is the story of Equitrans Midstream Corporation (NYSE:ETRN) and its 94% complete Mountain Valley Pipeline. It has become one of the biggest political footballs in our country, and as a result, is one of the most expensive pipeline projects ever. The company has received all the necessary permits three times now to finish MVP, only to have them revoked by the same three Obama-Clinton-appointed judges at the 4th District Circuit Court in Virginia. Recently, Goldman Sachs downgraded Equitrans Midstream due to the MVP debacle causing the stock to deflate to the low $5's. The old saying, "three strikes and you're out", may hold some weight, but this company is going for a fourth. The Mountain Valley Pipeline will transport liquid natural gas (LNG) from remote Appalachia to the Southeast. LNG is the cleanest-burning fossil fuel. Transportation by pipeline is the safest method, especially considering the recent Chernobyl-like tragedy in East Palestine, Ohio. Sadly, MVP has been a political football since 2018, and as a result, is almost twice over-budget and 5-years overdue. When the Biden administration was installed in the White House in 2020, they immediately killed the Keystone Pipeline in favor of the Nord Stream 2 pipeline; it sure is odd that the Nord Stream 2 pipeline was destroyed most recently, so where is the LNG going to come from for Europe? After the 2020 election, one of the biggest pipeline projects in the country, the Mountain Valley Pipeline, was halted after being fast-tracked under President Trump. One of the main adversaries of MVP is the Sierra Club. If you follow the money, you'll find that millions of dollars from Russian state-owned oil and gas companies flowed into the Sierra Club's coffers, so it only makes sense that they would want to shut down America's energy infrastructure. The MVP project was supposed to have been completed in 2018 at a cost of $3.7B. Since then, it has gone through multiple permitting hurdles and ballooned to a ~$6.6B cost, making it the most expensive and possibly the last pipeline project in our country, especially if permitting is not reformed. In July 2018, the 4th District Circuit Court sided with the Sierra Club and rejected permits from the US Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management for the national forest crossing, thereby halting MVP. In early 2022, the Court again revoked permits for MVP, halting the project. Senator Joe Manchin, Democrat, from West Virginia, touted that MVP was essential for the US economy, but without favors performed, backroom deals cannot be made. The first favor which raised eyebrows was when Manchin played identity politics and voted for Ketanji Jackson for the Supreme Court. The second was Manchin's voting for the Big Green "Build Back Better" aka Inflation Reduction Act of 2022; the fast-tracking of the Mission Valley Pipeline had been added to the Act, but as payback from the RINO's for Manchin's voting for the IRA, the Senate stopped Manchin's addition. So, MVP was pushed into the NDAA for 2023, but it was blocked again by the same politicians even though it had approval from Schumer, Pelosi, and the Biden White House. The latest push to fast-track MVP came in the form of the Lower Energy Costs Act or HR-1 which was introduced last week in the Republican-controlled House. Notice it is the first bill on the dock. The Democrats balk that this bill will not pass the Senate, but that remains to be seen; McConnell and his band of RINO's should be for it this time since there is clearly no conflict of interest as there was with the IRA or NDAA. The fact that the Biden White House, along with Pelosi and Schumer, were willing to make the side-deal with Manchin to have MVP fast-tracked means that a veto from the White House is not a definite either. Even if a glorious Act does not give MVP the green light, there is always the judicial. From the permitting sidelines, MVP got its revised Biological Opinion from the US Fish & Wildlife Service (USFWS) on 2/28 just as the CEO had promised; this opinion will be instrumental in the US Army Corps of Engineers water-crossing permit due by the end of April. Then, a final permit is expected for the forest crossing from the Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management by 5/17. CEO Thomas Karam was confident this past earnings call that all of the permits would be issued and that MVP would have everything the 4th District Circuit Court had wanted. So, if a backroom deal has been struck since Manchin is owed a favor, and his seat is needed to retain a Democrat majority in the Senate, then maybe the Obama-Clinton-appointed judges will give it a pass. For MVP, this summer will be a critical time, and investors can keep track of the latest on MVP here.
Natural Gas Price Uncertainty, Federal Policies Escalating Unease for U.S. E&Ps, OFS - Plummeting natural gas prices, workforce shortages, cost inflation and frustration with federal policies are a few of the challenges giving U.S. oil and gas executives headaches, according to a new survey conducted by the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas. The Dallas Fed, as it is better known, collected responses from 147 firms from March 15-23 for its first quarter energy survey. The quarterly survey gauges activity levels and overall sentiment in the industry. Respondents represented 95 exploration and production (E&P) companies and 52 oilfield services (OFS) firms in the Dallas Fed’s Eleventh District. The District includes Texas, northern Louisiana and southern New Mexico. “The uncertainty in oil and gas prices is making it difficult to plan for the future,” one executive said in a response to a Dallas Fed question. “Between government regulations and oil and gas prices, it is becoming more and more difficult to remain in the oil and gas business.” Another executive said, “An estimated 30-40% cost increase in field operations, increased interest charges on borrowed money, [and] a drastic collapse in natural gas prices combined with lower crude oil prices” have sharply impacted cash flow. “Service company capacity is quite limited in select basins. Outside investors seem to be losing interest in hydrocarbons.” One respondent highlighted the impact of low natural prices on gassy plays with higher breakeven costs, such as the Haynesville Shale. “Gas-directed activity, especially in the Haynesville, is being negatively impacted by takeaway limitations and significant declines in Henry Hub natural gas prices since third quarter 2022,” said the OFS executive. A fellow participant said, “We are seeing the vertical natural gas drillers drop rigs and defer projects due to low natural gas prices and high costs, especially casing and tubing. Unlike the horizontal operators, these companies can stop and start very quickly.” Executives forecast strengthening domestic natural gas prices, which have plunged to lows not seen since the height of the pandemic. Respondents on average predicted a Henry Hub natural gas price of $3.43/MMBtu and a West Texas Intermediate oil price of $80/bbl by year-end. Prices during the survey collection period averaged $2.23 natural gas and $68.51 West Texas Intermediate. “Volatility in commodity markets and recent banking turmoil continue to play into business dynamics and are leading to a reduction in spending plans,” said an E&P respondent. “The dramatic pullback in natural gas prices has also led to a decrease in appetite to target gas prospects and has also led to some optional gas-rate curtailments.” Another respondent said, “Crude oil is about to join natural gas in contango, which is highlighting a nervous macroeconomic picture. There are plenty of buyers at this calendar strip price and not a lot of sellers… “Not seeing financial distress with all of the cash accrued since last year. The only way people are in trouble is if hedges are under water or if they blew out authorization for expenditures.”
US natgas futures drop 6% to 4-week low on milder forecasts (Reuters) - U.S. natural gas futures dropped about 6% on Monday to a four-week low, on rising output and new forecasts for milder weather and lower heating demand next week that should allow utilities to start injecting gas into storage at the beginning of April. The amount of gas flowing to liquefied natural gas (LNG) export plants was on track to hit a monthly record high in March, the month after Freeport LNG's export plant in Texas exited an eight-month outage. Freeport LNG shut in June 2022 due to a fire. Front-month gas futures for April delivery fell 12.8 cents, or 5.8%, to settle at $2.088 per million British thermal units (mmBtu), their lowest since Feb. 21 when it settled at a 29-month low of $2.073. The market has been extremely volatile this month, with the contract gaining or losing more than 5% on nine of 19 trading days. So far this year, gas prices were down about 53%. Last week, gas speculators cut their net short futures and options positions on the New York Mercantile and Intercontinental Exchanges for a fourth week in a row to their lowest since August 2022, according to the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission's Commitments of Traders report. The last time speculators cut their net short positions for four consecutive weeks was April 2022. Freeport LNG's export plant was on track to pull in about 1.5 billion cubic feet per day (bcfd) of gas on Monday, up from 0.6 bcfd on Sunday, according to Refinitiv data. On March 8, Freeport LNG said it anticipated feedgas flows would rise and fall as the plant returns to full production over the "next few weeks." When operating at full power, Freeport LNG can turn about 2.1 bcfd of gas into LNG for export. Total gas flows to all seven big U.S. LNG export plants rose to an average of 13.0 bcfd so far in March, up from 12.8 bcfd in February. That would top the monthly record of 12.9 bcfd in March 2022, before the Freeport LNG facility shut. The seven big U.S. LNG export plants, including Freeport LNG, can turn about 13.8 bcfd of gas into LNG.
US natgas futures fall 3% to 30-month low on mild weather forecasts (Reuters) - U.S. natural gas futures fell about 3% on Tuesday to a 30-month low on rising output and mild weather forecasts that should allow utilities to start injecting gas into storage at the beginning of April. The price decline came even though the amount of gas flowing to liquefied natural gas (LNG) export plants was on track to hit a monthly record high in March after Freeport LNG's export plant in Texas exited an eight-month outage in February. On their second to last day as the front-month, gas futures for April delivery on the New York Mercantile Exchange fell 5.8 cents, or 2.8%, to settle at $2.030 per million British thermal units (mmBtu), their lowest since September 2020. That put the front-month close to the psychologically significant $2 per mmBtu that could trigger numerous option contracts. "Stops would very likely be elected versus violation of the big whole number versus $2," With April expected to expire on Wednesday and the May contract trading about 13 cents higher than futures for April, Yawger said "there is a chance the roll can save natural gas from sliding over the $2 cliff if (it) can just hang in there until after tomorrow's expiration." Futures for May, which will soon be the front-month, fell about 7 cents to settle at $2.15 per mmBtu.. Refinitiv said average gas output in the U.S. Lower 48 states rose to 98.5 bcfd so far in March from 98.1 bcfd in February. The monthly record is 99.9 bcfd in November 2022. Meteorologists projected the weather in the Lower 48 states would remain mostly near normal through April 12. With warmer spring-like weather expected to reduce the amount of gas burned to heat homes and businesses, Refinitiv forecast U.S. gas demand, including exports, would drop from 110.3 bcfd this week to 103.9 bcfd next week. Those forecasts, however, were higher than Refinitiv's outlook on Monday as LNG exports rise. Mild winter weather allowed utilities to leave more gas in storage so far this year and should let them start injecting fuel into inventories at the beginning of April. Gas stockpiles were about 23% above their five-year average (2018-2022) during the week ended March 17 and were expected to end about 20% above normal during the colder-than-normal week ended March 24, according to federal data and analysts' estimates.
Expiring April Natural Gas Futures Fall Below $2 as Downward Price Pressure Endures -- The April Nymex natural gas futures contract floundered on its final day as the front month – a third consecutive loss – as the intersection of robust production and waning demand again captured traders’ attention. April futures on Wednesday fell 3.9 cents day/day to close at a monthly low of $1.991/MMBtu. It then rolled off the books. The May contract, which takes over at the front of the futures curve on Thursday, eked out a 3.7-cent gain and settled at $2.184. NGI’s Spot Gas National Avg. was flat at $2.470.Chilly conditions lingered in far northern markets Wednesday and were expected to persist into Thursday, proving doses of near-term heating demand, NatGasWeather said. However, a “mix of cool shots and warmer breaks will propagate across the U.S. March 31-April 11 for swings between light and moderate national demand.” Overall, “highs will generally be in the mid-30s to 60s across the northern U.S.,” while the South “will be nice with highs of 60s to 80s besides locally hotter 90s for very light demand.”At the same time, production has held around 100 Bcf/d this week and much of the year to date – near record levels – raising concerns that supplies could far surpass demand as spring weather arrives.The latest gas futures slump – prices have been under pressure since early 2023 – was “triggered by an extension of the recent winter season’s trend of steady gas production alongside persistent mild weather driving sustained declines in demand for heating,” said Rystad Energy’s Emily McClain, vice president of gas markets research.
May Natural Gas Futures Begin Front Month Run With Whimper - The May Nymex gas futures contract lost 8.0 cents day/day and settled at $2.104/MMBtu. June fell 9.0 cents to $2.358. NGI’s Spot Gas National Avg. advanced 11.0 cents to $2.580, fueled by gains in the West. Prices, though, remained weak in most regions. Production held above 100 Bcf/d on Thursday, as it has throughout the trading week and much of 2023. National Weather Service forecasts, meanwhile, continued to show increasingly benign conditions heading into April. Mild weather and robust output have kept inventory data in check throughout the first quarter of this year. While the latest U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) report Thursday showed a seasonally stout storage withdrawal, it fell shy of market expectations and left underground stocks well above average levels. EIA posted a draw of 47 Bcf for the week ended March 24. Prior to the report, polls showed median draw estimates in the 50s Bcf. NGI modeled a 57 Bcf withdrawal. The actual result easily exceeded the five-year average for the period — a 17 Bcf pull – thanks to rounds of late winter weather in the Upper Midwest during the covered period. Still, it left inventories at 1,853 Bcf, comfortably above the year-earlier level of 1,411 Bcf and the five-year average of 1,532 Bcf. “The problem you face here is that the short-term production through summer is already baked in, so any changes to rigs” are not “really going to hit your production levels until this winter,” analyst Eric McGuire of Wood Mackenzie said on the online energy platform Enelyst. “At best what you can hope for here is deferred completions. In that case, maybe you help out this summer, but then you are just kicking the can down the road and you have to worry about it again in the winter,” McGuire added. “Either way, we still need a decent supply move downward this summer to facilitate balancing this market,” barring a scorching and long summer. By region, the Midwest and East led with pulls of 24 Bcf and 12 Bcf, respectively, according to Thursday’s EIA report. The South Central decrease of 10 Bcf followed. Mountain region stocks declined by 2 Bcf. Pacific inventories increased by 1 Bcf. Looking ahead, early estimates submitted to Reuters for the week ending March 31 ranged from withdrawals of 6 Bcf to 55 Bcf, with an average decrease of 20 Bcf. The projections compare with a decrease of 24 Bcf a year earlier and a five-year average of flat balances.
Natural gas posts worst quarterly drop of 50%; Bulls count on summer demand next -- U.S. natural gas prices experienced what appeared to be their biggest plunge in a quarter, handing bulls in the space a loss of more than 50% for the December to March period, as an unusually warm winter led to a huge inventory of the fuel used for heating. Natural gas for May delivery settled at $2.216 per mmBtu, or metric million British thermal units, on the New York Mercantile Exchange’s Henry Hub — up 11.2 cents, or 5.3%, on the day. For the week, the benchmark gas contract fell 6% while for the month, it lost 19%. Worst was the quarter, where it tumbled 50%. The selloff in gas came amid weaker-than-usual demand for heating that has left 1.853 trillion cubic feet, or tcf, of gas in U.S. storage, the Energy Information Administration, or EIA, said in its latest inventory reading for the week ended March 24. The current U.S. gas storage is 31% higher from the balance at the same time a year ago and 21% up versus the five-year average for storage, the EIA said. The gas balance for 2023 is the highest in recent memory and remains the bane of bulls in the market who’ve been trying to restart a spectacular rally they enjoyed just months ago, before an unusually warm winter season led to less heating demand, sending excess gas supply into storage. The path forward for gas bulls would be to hope for outsized summer demand that would lead to higher-than-usual storage draws of the fuel for cooling, said analysts. Barring a scorching and long summer, “we still need a decent supply move downward this summer to facilitate balancing this market,” Eric McGuire, analyst at Wood Mackenzie, said in comments carried by naturalgasintel.com.
How the natural gas industry cozies up to utility regulators -- Last November, in a vast conference hall at a Marriott hotel in New Orleans, utility executive Kim Greene took the stage. Greene, the CEO of Southern Company Gas, a Georgia-based conglomerate that owns gas utilities across four states, was the first to speak on a panel titled “The Role for Natural Gas in America’s Clean Energy Future.”* “Natural gas is foundational to America’s clean energy future,” she started, before proceeding to tell the audience about the nation’s 2.6 million miles of pipelines that deliver gas to 187 million Americans and 5.5 million businesses. “These customers are depending on our energy every day,” she said. “So as we look to the clean energy future, the most practical, realistic way to achieve a sustainable future where energy is clean, safe, reliable, resilient, and affordable, is to ensure that includes natural gas.” The statement, with its head-scratching, circular logic, may sound aimed at an audience of oil and gas industry executives, or perhaps an earnings call. But the seats were filled with utility commissioners — the state-level public servants who regulate gas, electric, water, and telecommunications companies. The panel was the centerpiece event for the annual meeting of the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners, or NARUC. And Greene was hardly the only industry representative there to lecture on the bright future for natural gas.The conference provided a glimpse into the collegial relationship utility regulators have with the companies they are charged with regulating on behalf of the public, and the way the natural gas industry is working that relationship to shape how the country moves toward its climate goals. Public utility commissioners hold significant sway over the storied clean energy future. They help decide what energy infrastructure gets built, and when. If a utility wants to raise rates to invest in new power plants, transmission lines, or pipelines, it’s up to these powerful panels to determine whether such multimillion-dollar, long-lived projects are necessary, and how much a company can profit off of them. That means commissioners are not only shaping the energy transition, but determining what it means for utilities and their bottom lines.
Chesapeake looks to finalize LNG deal bridging gap between US gas, global LNG markets | S&P Global Commodity Insights - US shale producer Chesapeake expects to finalize a sale and purchase agreement with global commodities trader Gunvor in just "weeks or months" amid talks with US LNG developers about purchasing up to 2 million mt/year of liquefaction capacity to source the supply, Chesapeake CEO Nick Dell'Osso said March 30. If Chesapeake succeeds in securing offtake capacity and finalizing an SPA with Gunvor, it will represent the first case of a US gas producer fully bridging the divide between the US gas market and the global LNG markets, according to S&P Global analysts. The deal could also represent a new paradigm for US producers keen to take on greater global gas exposure and a new way of commercializing US LNG projects. The heads of agreement that Chesapeake signed with Gunvor on March 6 marked an industry first in that the offtake agreement with a targeted start date in 2027 did not specify the liquefaction terminal where the LNG will be produced. Chesapeake, which does not hold any offtake capacity at a current US LNG terminal, said the facility chosen will most likely be a project that has not advanced to construction, "but it doesn't have to be," Dell'Osso said. "It's going to be about cost of liquefaction; it's going to be about surety of execution of construction and bringing the facility online," he said. "Those are really the key factors." Gunvor and Chesapeake saw announcing the preliminary deal when they did as giving them "a better ability to attract the right interest" from LNG projects, Dell'Osso said. "A lot of pieces have to come together to make these deals work, and we felt that by being clear that this part of it had been accomplished, it would facilitate the next step," he said. Many US LNG projects that have yet to reach a final investment decision could accommodate the Chesapeake-Gunvor deal, which could help some developers commercially sanction projects that have yet to get over the line after the wave of long-term contracting during the past year. The volumes under the deal would be supplied free on board for a 15-year term, with the purchase price indexed to the Platts JKM spot LNG price for delivery into Northeast Asia. Platts is part of S&P Global Commodity Insights. "Over the next several years, as much as 20% or 25% of US production will flow into international markets," Dell'Osso said. "Therefore, the price of those international markets will influence our market here domestically. We would like to be diversified into pricing that reflects that as well and have that exposure, so that we aren't disconnected from where that significant amount of production ultimately is priced. "Having a tie directly into an international market is attractive to us, and JKM being the largest international market seemed like the first right step," he said.
Worker shortage looms over LNG boom - The boom in U.S. liquefied natural gas exports could hit a new roadblock in the years ahead: workforce shortages. Since Russia invaded Ukraine last year, U.S. companies have raced to fill gaps in European natural gas markets. Eight export terminals currently operate along the Gulf Coast of Texas and Louisiana, with five more under construction. Another 11 have received approval from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. That many projects will require thousands of workers, both to build the terminals and then to operate them once construction is finished. LNG executives worry that today’s labor pool isn’t big enough to meet the demand. “It’s become more and more a topic of discussion in the industry as we’re getting more imbalance on this,” said Wouter Pastoor, chief operating officer of Delfin Midstream. “There’s a limited pool of labor experienced to build such megaprojects, whether it’s LNG or other types of petrochemical, and we think it will be a risk factor for those projects.” U.S. exports of LNG averaged 10.6 billion cubic feet per day in 2022, a 9 percent increase compared to 2021, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. The federal agency estimates that could grow to 14 billion cubic feet per day by 2024, as new LNG export projects come online. The boom has prompted debate over how increasing natural gas exports fits with Biden’s climate goals. Environmental groups — including the Sierra Club and the Natural Resources Defense Council — have fought approval of new LNG projects, arguing that they will spew more pollutants into communities already suffering from air pollution nearby petrochemical plants and refineries. But analysts expect the boom to continue. Rystad Energy, a research and business intelligence company, forecasts that construction activity for LNG projects will triple by 2025 in coastal Louisiana and Texas. That year, capital expenditures could total $15 billion, up from $5 billion in 2022, according to Rystad. At the peak of construction, 17 new projects could be underway, said Matthew Fitzsimmons, senior vice president of supply chain research for Rystad Energy. That would dwarf the 2017 boom in LNG export projects; at the time, S&P Global reported that companies struggled to hire around 30,000 workers for four projects.
‘A true toxicant’: Oil refinery dumps tons of polluted wastewater into Lake Michigan — (WOOD) — A new analysis of industry data maintained by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency found that five of the worst wastewater polluters in the American oil refinery industry are in the Great Lakes region and one of them dumps directly into Lake Michigan.The analysis was released in January by the Environmental Integrity Project, a nonprofit organization that bills itself as a watchdog to make sure the EPA properly enforces environmental laws.In “Oil’s Unchecked Outfalls,” the EIP reports the 81 oil refineries across the country released 1.6 billion pounds of chlorides, sulfates and other dissolved solids in its wastewater in 2021. That doesn’t include the 10,000 pounds of nickel, 60,000 pounds of selenium and 15.7 million pounds of nitrogen that drew the focus of the study.While the EPA organizes the information, EIP Executive Director Eric Shaeffer told News 8 that the data is actually collected by the individual oil refineries and submitted to the agency.“Ultimately, (the EPA) is required to monitor their discharges. They report some of the pollutants that we looked at, but a lot of times (the refineries) are not required to,” Shaeffer said. “We looked at some pollutants that the EPA currently doesn’t regulate. We looked at them because they are harmful.” One of the EIP’s primary concerns is how “outdated” the EPA’s current regulations are. The nonprofit says the last pollution standards set for industrial discharges were set in 1985’s Clean Water Act.“And that was just for stormwater. Processed wastewater is generally the most toxic. Those standards were (set in) 1982,” “Our data comes from a couple of sources,” Shaeffer told News 8. “One is if the state agency, for its own reasons, requires a refinery to monitor. One of the pollutants we studied like selenium. We pick up that data and we used it. If that data doesn’t exist, we go to the permit applications because those require the companies when they come in to renew those permits to disclose what they are putting into the water.” Between the primary three pollutants — selenium, nickel and nitrogen — five facilities in the Great Lakes region were among the top 10 polluters.The Phillips 66 Wood River refinery in southern Illinois made the top 10 for all three: discharging more nickel than any other U.S. facility, the sixth-most selenium and the seventh-most nitrogen.Citgo’s refinery in Lemont, Illinois — about 25 miles southwest of Chicago — discharged the fourth-most nitrogen and fifth-most selenium.Koch Industries’ Pine bend refinery in Minnesota discharged the fourth-most selenium while ExxonMobil’s refinery in Joliet, Illinois, discharged the ninth-most selenium.While those four refineries are responsible for a substantial amount of regional pollution. They don’t flow directly into the Great Lakes. The same can’t be said for BP’s Whiting refinery that sits on the southwest shore of Lake Michigan.The Whiting refinery discharged 3,589 pounds of selenium in 2021, the third-most of any U.S refinery that year. That same year it discharged 574,008 pounds of nitrogen, fifth-most in the country.The Whiting refinery has four primary discharge points: two that dump directly into Lake Michigan and two that dump into the Lake George Canal — which flows into Lake Michigan.
Another Enbridge Line 5 Permitting Delay Pushes Construction to 2026 - Enbridge Inc. said the start of construction on its Line 5 natural gas liquids and oil pipeline could be delayed until 2026 after the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers moved to extend the permitting process for its Michigan project. The Army Corps made the decision to extend the permitting process for the four-mile Great Lakes Tunnel Project under the Straits of Mackinac by an additional two years after receiving hundreds of thousands of public comments. The agency had previously targeted this fall for completion. Representatives for Enbridge wrote that the delay of the process could mean an even longer extension of its construction timeline for the $500 million project intended to maintain the flow of volumes into Michigan and Ontario. “While we are supportive of a thorough, comprehensive and carefully considered permitting process that ensures adequate opportunity for review and comment, we are disappointed with the extended timeline for a project of this scope,” the company said. Enbridge has been pursuing its most recent quest for approval of the project since it filed an application in 2020, but plans have been ongoing since before 2018. The tunnel would house a portion of Enbridge’s 540,000 b/d dual pipeline that currently runs through the waters of the straits. Line 5 foes earlier postponed the project by protesting the 2018 tunnel agreement between Enbridge and former Republican Michigan officials. Court disputes are still ongoing between Enbridge and the current Democratic administration headed by Gov. Gretchen Whitmer. Enbridge has also faced regulatory challenges to the Line 5 leg running through Wisconsin. Lake Superior Chippewa’s Bad River Band has been pursuing action against the company in order to have the segment removed from its tribal lands.
US puts Italy-sized chunk of Gulf of Mexico up for auction for oil drilling - An enormous swathe of the Gulf of Mexico, spanning an area the size of Italy, was put up for auction on Wednesday for oil and gas drilling, in the latest blow to Joe Biden’s increasingly frayed reputation on dealing with the climate crisis.The president’s Department of the Interior offered up a vast area of the central and western Gulf, including plunging deep water reaches, for drilling projects that will stretch out over decades, despite scientists’ urgent warnings that fossil fuels must be rapidly phased out if the world is to avoid disastrous global heating. The auctions also come despite Biden’s own pre-election promise to halt all drilling on federal lands and waters.A total of 313 tracts of ocean, spanning 1.6m acres, received high bids during the auction, the administration announced on Wednesday afternoon. There were 32 fossil fuel companies involved in the auction, collectively bidding $309.7m for drilling rights. The amount offered by the federal government was much larger than this, however. The bids will be evaluated by the government in the coming months before leases are issued.In all, 73.3m acres (30m hectares), an area roughly the size of Italy, was made available to drilling companies, less than a month before the 13th anniversary of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill disaster. The sale, known as lease 259, had the potential to extract more than 1bn barrels of oil and 4.4tn cubic feet of gas over the next 50 years, according to the US federal government.The auctions come just two weeks after Biden’s administration approved the controversial Willow project, a drilling endeavor in the remote tundra of Alaska’s arctic that will remove more than 600m barrels of oil over its lifetime, and the two actions have caused major alarm among those in favor of a livable climate, including Biden’s usual allies.“For the first half of his presidency, Joe Biden led on climate with transformative vision but in the second half he seems to be signaling a disastrous climate U-turn,” Ben Jealous, executive director of the Sierra Club and a prominent progressive, said.
What Are the Biggest Health Threats Offshore Oil Workers Face? | Rigzone - There are three types of primary health threats faced by offshore oil and gas workers - natural threats, infectious disease, and personal health threats. That’s according to Lars Petersen, the Regional Medical Director of health and security services firm International SOS, who told Rigzone, “we’re seeing more natural disasters due to climate change, such as frequent and erratic tropical storms and hurricanes”. “Additionally, due to climate change infectious diseases are increasing. Outbreaks of new and existing infections becoming more regular, recent examples include Covid-19, measles, and malaria,” he added. “Personal health threats come in the form of an aging workforce, which often has a higher rate of underlying chronic disease and an increase in mental health issues (depression and anxiety) brought on by the Covid-19 pandemic,” Peterson went on to state. Speaking to Rigzone, Will Nichols, the Head of Climate and Resilience at risk intelligence company Verisk Maplecroft, said the company’s research in 2021 showed that more than 600 billion barrels equivalent of the world’s commercially recoverable oil and gas reserves are facing “high or extreme risks from physical climate threats by mid-century”. “Offshore, these mounting risk will take the form of increasingly frequent and powerful storms, which can disrupt operations, damage assets, and threaten the safety of workers,” Nichols told Rigzone. “More chronic threats, such as rising temperatures and sea levels, have the potential to force investments in resilience, whether that is maintaining operability in longer periods of extreme heat or protecting coastal infrastructure from increased risks from flooding and storm surges,” he added. “Moreover, risks of accidents and spillages in ecologically sensitive locations could also increase as pipelines are exposed to more extreme weather events – events that they may not have been designed to withstand,” Nichols continued.
New GOM Lease Sale Reflects Need for Finalized Leasing Program | Rigzone - Gulf of Mexico Lease Sale 259 reflects the need for a finalized leasing program, the National Ocean Industries Association (NOIA) said in a statement sent to Rigzone following the conclusion of the sale. “Lease Sale 259 is the first Gulf of Mexico offshore oil and gas lease sale since November 2021,” NOIA President Erik Milito said in the statement. “Mandated by the Inflation Reduction Act, which was signed into law by President Biden, Lease Sale 259 and the resumption of Gulf of Mexico oil and gas lease sales has been needlessly overdue,” he added. “The preceding gap in leasing underscores why the next federal offshore oil and gas leasing program must be finalized and implemented as quickly as possible. Policies that restrict domestic offshore development require imports to make up the shortfall, and that supplemental production comes from higher-emitting operations in other countries to the detriment of our energy security, economic wellbeing, and emissions and climate progress,” Milito continued. In the statement, Milito described Lease Sale 259 as an opportunity to strengthen national security interests and develop domestic energy supplies in the face of geopolitical uncertainty and tight global demand. “Companies need lease opportunities to explore and potentially develop domestic energy resources,” Milito said. “Our national energy needs clearly depend upon a commitment to continued U.S. offshore energy development. U.S. Gulf of Mexico offshore energy production is a key component of a national energy strategy that will ensure Americans can continue to have access to fundamental domestic energy that is produced safely, sustainably, and responsibly,” he added.
South Texas Drilling Permit Roundup: EOG plans eight wells for Atascosa - EOG Resources Inc. shows indications of high ambitions for Atascosa County, filing eight of its 11 new drill permit applications there this week. The remaining three drill sites are planned for Gonzales County, according to EOG's filings with the Texas Railroad Commission (TRC). Gonzales County also was a high-interest area last week, with three different oil and gas companies filing 10 new drilling permit applications there. EOG's plans to place its Gonzales County oil wells 14.3 miles east of Smiley, drilling them to a total depth of 12,500 feet. EOG's requested Atascosa sites are 8.2 miles southwest of Christine, and will be drilled to a total depth of 10,600 feet. The drilling sites are being mapped. Total depth refers to the length of pipeline required for the vertical and horizontal sections of a well. Next on the leaderboard is EP Energy E&P Company LLC, which was granted five new drilling permits for La Salle County — the second most popular county for drilling this week. Also, four companies, Dewbre Petroleum Corporation, Merit Energy Company, T-C Oil Company LLC and Millennium Exploration Co. LLC, filed for recompletion of their oil and gas wells. New and Noteworthy: EOG announced in February the rollout of a $6 billion capital plan, following the addition of the Ohio Utica Shale to its multi-basin portfolio. The plan, as described in EOG's Fourth Quarter 2022 Earnings Report, outlines increased activity focused on Eagle Ford and on EOG's premium plays on the Powder River Basin, South Texas Dorado and Ohio Utica Shale.
Study says companies using “forever chemicals” in Texas oil and gas wells | The Texas Tribune -- -At first, they were considered a miracle chemical: polyfluoroalkyl substances, developed by 3M in the 1930s, could keep scrambled eggs from sticking to a frying pan. They could make rainwater roll right off a jacket, and when added to fire fighting foams, put out major fires quickly. But as their use grew, researchers started to link PFAS to a range of health problems, including birth defects, cancer, and other serious diseases. The chemical doesn’t break down, and can persist in water and soil, and even human blood, and has acquired the nickname “forever chemical.”Despite scientific concern, PFAS are still used in everything from waterproof camping gear to fast food containers. And according to a new study, they are used even more in Texas.A new report by the Physicians for Social Responsibility documents the wide use of PFAS in oil and gas drilling and calls on Texas to follow the lead of some other states in restricting use of the chemicals. The group criticized state regulations that allow energy companies to withhold information on the use of chemicals they deem to be proprietary. Texas state Representative Penny Shaw Morales (D-Houston) filed a bill March 9 calling for an official, state-sponsored study on the use of PFAS in fracking and the potential public exposure through air and water, to determine whether the chemical should be restricted. “PSR’s report highlighted shortcomings in disclosure standards and accountability, particularly up the chain regarding the manufacturing of chemical products that are used in fracking fluids,” Morales Shaw said in a written statement. PFAS are used to reduce friction for drill bits as they move through the ground, said Barb Gottlieb, an author on the study. Over the last decade in Texas, oil and gas companies have pumped at least 43,000 pounds of the toxic chemical into more than a thousand fracked oil and gas wells across the state,according to the study.“What was distinctive about Texas was the staggering volume of PFAS reported in use,” Dusty Horwitt, another study author, says. “It’s far and above what we’ve found in other states.” That’s likely because of the scale of fracking in Texas compared to other states, he explained. The report on Texas’ use of PFAS in wells follows similar analyses that Physicians for Social Responsibility has conducted on the use of the forever chemical in states like Ohio andColorado, as well as nationally. The studies analyzed publicly available data from FracFocus, a national registry that tracks the chemicals used in fracking. The database is managed by the Ground Water Protection Council, a nonprofit made up of state regulatory agencies. The data that PSR was able to analyze might not reveal the full extent of PFAS contamination in Texas, the authors say. FracFocus is composed of industry-reported data, and there are major exemptions in state and federal law that allow companies to withhold certain information by labeling it a trade secret.The study found that 6.1 billion pounds of chemicals injected into Texas wells were listed as trade secrets, meaning that no one – public health researchers, local environmental regulators, and landowners who might be drinking contaminated water – knows what they’re being exposed to.
EPA cites 2 oil and gas firms over Permian Basin pollution - (AP) — Two Texas companies have resolved Clean Air Act violations with the Environmental Protection Agency by agreeing to reduce emissions of planet-warming methane and other harmful pollutants wafting from the nation’s largest oil and gas producing region.EPA announced Monday that Matador Production Company has agreed to pay $6.2 million in fines and mitigation measures related to 239 oil and gas well pads in New Mexico. Permian Resources Operating agreed earlier this month to pay $610,000 and make improvements to its equipment to settle environmental violations.The enforcement actions came after EPA flew a helicopter equipped with a special infrared camera that can detect emissions of hydrocarbon vapors that are invisible to the naked eye. EPA announced a new round of overflights in August, four days after publication of an investigation by The Associated Press that showed 533 oil and gas facilities in the region are emitting excessive amounts of methane and named the companies most responsible. Colorless and odorless, methane makes up about 95 percent of natural gas and a potent greenhouse pollutant that traps 83 times more heat in the atmosphere over a 20 year period than an equivalent amount of carbon dioxide.
Pulling Back the Curtain on North America's Crude Oil Trading Market Trading in the highly integrated US/Canadian crude oil market is undergoing a profound transformation, driven mostly by the pull of exports off the Gulf Coast. But the shifts in flows, values and even the trade structures being used today are not well understood outside a small cadre of professional traders and marketers. Consider a few examples: Domestic sweet oil traded at Cushing on NYMEX is not West Texas Intermediate — WTI at Cushing has averaged a hefty $1.80/bbl over NYMEX for the past year. Most spot Houston and Midland crudes trade as buy-sell swaps. WTI in Houston trades at a discount to Corpus Christi and sweet crudes in Louisiana. Crude in Wyoming trades at a premium to Cushing. And the Gulf Coast is the highest-value market for Canadian heavy crude. This is not your father’s (or mother’s) oil trading game. Our mission in this blog series is to pull back the curtain on physical crude trading in North America, explain how it works, what sets the price, and who is doing the deals. Crude oil markets in North America are dynamic, interdependent, and uniquely built around the mechanics of physical pipeline deliveries. At the same time, they can be convoluted, arcane and quite opaque, even while appearing to be transparent. Increasingly, the price of oil in North America drives global markets. But what determines the price of crude oils in North America? Sure, at the macro level it’s the economics of production on the supply side, refined products on the demand side, crude import/export flows, transportation costs, and crude quality specs. But markets don’t trade at the macro level. Individual deals done between buyers and sellers are the real price makers, and it’s the workings of those deals that are generally misunderstood by many market participants, even those who buy and sell large volumes of physical barrels. Most physical crude oil barrels in North America move under term contracts with formula prices, which are frequently based in part on indices from price reporters like Argus and Platts. But where do they get their prices? The spot market, of course. Oil trade data is aggregated by price reporters from a variety of market participants and is used to provide a daily market assessment of an array of crude oil grades that trade at various locations across North America.
McWhinney-Backed Fracking Project in Loveland Pulls Out A McWhinney-owned entity in charge of a proposed fracking project in Loveland — submitted a permit request for its South Well Pad. By Monday, March 27, the application was gone. Rather than being a case of weekend regrets, MRG made an “operational and development decision" to pull the permit request after obtaining new information about local development plans, says Barb Jones of GroundFloor Media, speaking on behalf of the company.The proposed fracking pad would have been directly adjacent to a new Centerra South development that McWhinney, owned by longtime Colorado developers Chad and Troy McWhinney, is hoping Loveland City Council will greenlight in the coming weeks. “The decision to withdraw the permit request was made following increased interest in additional retail, mixed-use and residential development within the planned Centerra South community,” MRG said in a release.The South Well Pad is one of two fracking pads McWhinney was planning to install.Between the two pads, there would be over twenty wells used to access minerals under the Lakes at Centerra — a residential McWhinney development that sits at the intersection of Interstate 25 and Highway 34 in Loveland.When the fracking projects were proposed, residents of and near the Lakes at Centerra weren’t happy and questioned how it was okay for fracking to take place under the development, since it's a National Wildlife Federation-certifiedCommunity Wildlife Habitat. The area earned the designation by educating people about habitat restoration, making homes and community spaces animal-friendly, and encouraging native species in landscaping.Tamara Fairbanks, a Centerra resident since 2016 who moved there in preparation for her retirement, was one of those concerned a year ago. She tellsWestword the decision to scrap the south pad doesn’t encourage her much.“I was happy to see the withdrawal, but I wonder if it was a concession of sorts to get Centerra South approved,” she says.
Environment Groups Seek Decision in Wyoming Oil Lease Challenge -Two environmental groups filed a motion for summary judgment in a lawsuit challenging a 2022 oil and gas lease sale in Wyoming held by the Interior Department’s Bureau of Land Management. The Wilderness Society and Friends of the Earth contend the bureau violated the National Environmental Policy Act when it held the June 2022 Wyoming oil and gas lease sale with minimal environmental review. The lawsuit, Wilderness Society v. Haaland, was filed in June in US District Court for the District of Columbia. The sale was conducted alongside sales in Colorado, Montana, North Dakota, Nevada, and New Mexico after a court ordered the Biden administration to end its pause on oil and gas leasing, a key element of President Joe Biden’s climate agenda. The Wyoming auction was many times larger than the sales in the other five states, where the bureau auctioned 3,624 acres in all the states combined. Drilling rights to nearly 120,000 acres of federal land in Wyoming were auctioned to oil and gas companies during the lease sale. The bureau received bids for leases spanning much smaller area—67,627 acres. The leases were sold for $12.9 million. The Interior Department didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment Friday. “In most parts of the country, BLM exercised restraint and offered smaller amounts of acreage for lease. Not so in Wyoming: there, BLM offered for lease more than thirteen times as many acres as it offered in all other states combined,” the environmental groups say in a memo filed in their motion for summary judgment. The leases sold “jeopardize drinking water sources, threaten wildlife, and will lead to enormous social costs due to increased greenhouse gas emissions,” the memo says. The groups claim that the bureau acted arbitrarily and capriciously when it offered large acreages for lease, and are asking the court to set aside the sale because they say it violated NEPA. The case is Wilderness Society v. Haaland, D.D.C., 1:22-cv-01871, 3/23/23.
Lawsuit over harm to polar bears, walruses from oil exploration tossed - (Reuters) - An Alaska federal judge has backed a Biden administration decision allowing the fossil fuel industry to injure a limited number of polar bears and walruses during oil development and exploration. U.S. District Judge Sharon Gleason on Wednesday dismissed the lawsuit filed in 2021 by environmental groups challenging a U.S. Fish and Wildlife decision that said industrial activity in Alaska’s Beaufort Sea would have a negligible impact on the two species. The 2021 federal decision authorized nonlethal and unintentional harms to polar bears and Pacific walruses during fossil fuel exploration and development for five years. The government said then that the activity can disturb bear dens and impact walrus prey, but those harms could be avoided and minimized through strict rules. Gleason on Wednesday said the agency's decision was consistent with how the federal government has approached the issue in the past. And despite claims by the Sierra Club, the Alaska Wildlife Alliance, the Center for Biological Diversity and others that the agency’s analysis underestimated the impact to the animals, Gleason said the decision was well explained and based on a rational interpretation of data. Joanna Cahoon, an attorney who represented the groups, said in a statement Thursday the judge’s ruling was disappointing and “doubles down” on threats to the bears from an industry that is “already responsible” for the climate crisis threatening their existence. A spokesperson for the U.S. government declined to comment. An Alaska Oil and Gas Association spokesperson said the court's decision "properly rejects the meritless claims" in the lawsuit. In their complaint, the environmental groups said that oil and gas exploration in Alaska’s northern slope could harm or otherwise harass roughly half of the 907 polar bears alive in the area. The bears are protected as an endangered species. The groups said development would have a particularly serious impact on cubs. Those baby animals are weak and need time in the den with their mothers, and their survival is crucial to restore population levels to healthy levels, according to the suit. The case is Alaska Wildlife Alliance et al. V. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service et al., U.S. District Court for the District of Alaska, case No. 3:21-cv-00209.
Supreme Court refuses appeal by lawyer jailed for contempt in $9.5 billion Chevron environmental case - The Supreme Court refused Monday to consider the appeal of a disbarred lawyer jailed for contempt of court after he won a $9.5 billion judgment against Chevron in an environmental lawsuit in Ecuador. The attorney, Steven Donziger, was sentenced to six months in jail for failing to comply with a judge's order to surrender all of his electronic devices. He had asked the Supreme Court to take the case, arguing that a federal district court judge overstepped his legal authority in appointing three lawyers as special prosecutors to handle Donziger's contempt trial after the U.S. Attorney in Manhattan declined to prosecute him. Two conservative justices, Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh, dissented from the decision, saying they would have the Supreme Court accept the appeal by Donziger. Gorsuch, in his blunt written dissent, suggested that the appointment of special prosecutors by the judge violated the Constitution's separation of powers of branches of government, which gives the executive branch the power to file criminal cases, and the judiciary the power to interpret the laws. "In this country, judges have no more power to initiate a prosecution of those who come before them than prosecutors have to sit in judgment of those they charge," Gorsuch wrote. "Our Constitution does not tolerate what happened here," he added.
Fracking Chemicals Global Market to 2028: Rising Fracking Activities and Technological Advancements Drives Growth: Research and Markets - Global Fracking Chemicals Market is anticipated to relish a staggering growth in the forecast period due to increasing shale exploration and exploitation activities by oil and gas-producing majors.The market is growing by leaps and bounds due to the emerging demand for shale gas from developing countries. In recent years, there has been a surge in drilling activities of Wild Cat exploratory wells at oil and gas prospective regions. Fracking fluids are a necessity to extract hydrocarbons from tight reservoir fields.Fracking chemicals are well known for tapping hydrocarbon potential from tight oil-bearing formations beneath the underground. Due to the vast amount of hydrocarbon present in the tight conventional oil and gas reservoirs, it becomes important to harness the energy of this huge volume of hydrocarbon accumulated using Unconventional Hydrocarbon extraction techniques like Hydraulic Fracturing.This, consequently, requires a huge amount of fracking fluids and other chemical additives to aid in the fluidity of petroleum deposits from underground to the surface driving the demand for fracking chemicals. Unconventional wells encounter a major challenge like fluid transmissibility with ease when drilled using water-based and oil-based mud. So, they need techniques other than the usual trivial methods via which tight formations can be easily exploited. This is where the Fracking process comes into the picture. Hydraulic Fracturing or Fracking is an emerging technique where oil is taken out from tight and fine-grained source rocks. An increase in Hydraulic fracturing activities has led to a surge in the demand for Fracking chemicals over the forecast period. The frequency of horizontal fracking activity has substantially increased recently. A considerably greater quantity of fracking fluids and chemicals is required for this activity. As a result, there has been a steady rise in the need for fracking chemicals and fluids. Technological advancements in drilling activities (like the preparation of hydraulic mud) have also skyrocketed the capacity utilization of fracking chemicals. As new industries are being established in emerging economies, there is a huge surge of energy required for operating those industries. Its source of energy is primarily derived from hydrocarbon deposits which are increasingly extracted using fracking techniques.According to the BP Statistical Review of World Energy, the primary energy demand across the globe has increased by 5.8%, in 2021, while consumption of fossil fuels remained at the same levels as compared to the historic years which accounted for the growth of commodity trade market over the forecast period. Henceforth, demand for fracking chemicals is escalating in different regions seeking industrial growth over the forecast period which as result is driving the market growth.
Activists across BC call to end fracking - Environmental organizers in dozens of communities across BC are asking the government to frack off. Local activists with Frack Free BC hung banners in Stanley Park and by Waterfront Station and pasted posters across town yesterday. Similar actions took place from Surrey and Squamish to Victoria and the Comox Valley.“Everybody agrees we have got to stop burning fossil fuels, but the province doesn’t seem to accept that means we need to end fracking for gas,” said Peter McCartney, a climate campaigner with Wilderness Committee, in a press release. “If governments have one job it is to keep their citizens safe. In a climate emergency that means phasing out these polluting products, not building a brand new LNG [liquified natural gas] export industry.”Frack Free BC, a campaign organized by Stand.earth, Wilderness Committee, and Dogwood BC, are calling on the government to stop issuing fracking permits, and ultimately wind down the industry as part of the transition to a just green economy. Fracking involves injecting pressurized liquid into bedrock deep below the earth’s surface to create cracks that oil or gas can flow through. While the process makes it practical to reach oil and gas deposits deep in shale, it can cause air and water pollution—and use a large amount of fresh water—as well as produce fossil fuels that release large amounts of carbon dioxide when burned. Around 80 per cent of gas extraction in BC is done through fracking. The oil and gas industry as a whole is responsible for 19 per cent of the province’s emissions. “There are over 30,000 fracking wells in BC’s northeast, a number that could double in the next decade, if Premier Eby chooses not to stand up against LNG expansion,” said Kiki Wood, senior oil and gas campaigner with Stand.earth, in a press release. “If the B.C. government cancels fossil fuel subsidies, and puts a moratorium on new fracking wells, we can still get back on track to meeting our climate targets,” Wood said. A 2019 report found that BC had spent billions in subsidies and financial support for fracking companies in the previous two years, and 2022 research estimated that the province had given out $1.16 billion in fracking subsidies in 2021. In BC’s most recent provincial budget, the government signalled that fracking production would increase, despite diminishing profits from the sector.
Qatar takes stakes in two Exxon oil and gas projects offshore Canada - QatarEnergy said on Wednesday it signed a deal for stakes in two of ExxonMobil's offshore explorations in Canada as the Qatari state-owned firm builds up its global energy portfolio. The Qatari company first entered offshore exploration in Canada in 2021 with a 40 per cent stake in ExxonMobil's licence for EL 1165A off the coast of Newfoundland and Labrador. The latest farm-in agreement announced on Wednesday gives QatarEnergy a 28 per cent interest in licence EL 1167, with ExxonMobil Canada holding 50 per cent and Cenovus Energy 22 per cent, as well as 40 per cent in licence EL 1162, with ExxonMobil Canada holding 60 per cent. "We are pleased to sign this agreement with our strategic partner, ExxonMobil, to further grow our offshore Atlantic Canada portfolio as part of our international growth drive," QatarEnergy CEO Saad Al-Kaabi said in a statement. The company has in recent years expanded internationally, gaining stakes in oil and gas projects around the world by signing deals with major energy companies. Qatar is already one of the world's largest liquefied natural gas suppliers and aims to expand production to 126 million tonnes annually by 2027 from 77 million tonnes under its two-phase North Field expansion project.
200 barrels of oil spill into Southern England harbour -A major incident has been declared after about 200 barrels of reservoir fluid leaked into the water at Poole Harbour in Dorset, southern England, on Sunday, the BBC reported. The leak occurred at a pipeline operated by Perenco, under Owers Bay, according to the report, citing Poole Harbour Commissioners (PHC). PHC has activated its oil spill plan and the pipeline had been shut down, with booms placed on either side of the leak, the report said. "Anyone who has come into contact with the spill, they should be rinsed with water," the agency said in a statement to BBC. PHC did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for a comment.
Perenco UK says 60% of oil spill in southern England recovered – (Reuters) – Anglo-French oil company Perenco’s UK unit said on Wednesday it had recovered about 60% of the estimated oil leaked on Sunday at one of its well sites in Wytch Farm in Dorset, southern England.
The Most Important Oil Price Is About to Change for Good -After years of wrangling, the world’s most important oil price is about to be transformed for good, allowing crude supplies from west Texas to help determine the price of millions of barrels a day of petroleum transactions. The shift is because the existing benchmark, Dated Brent, is slowly running out of tradable oil for it to remain reliable. As such, its publisher S&P Global Commodity Insights — better known by traders as Platts — has been forced to make a dramatic overhaul. Its switchover was fraught with controversy and caused a lot of stress among physical oil traders. But it was necessary. BP Plc at one stage said that Dated Brent was subject to “increasingly regular dislocations.” But the future of Dated is now set. From cargoes for June onward, West Texas Intermediate Midland, oil from the Permian will become one of a handful of grades that set the Dated benchmark. Dated, as it’s commonly known by oil traders, helps to set the price of about two-thirds of the world’s oil and even defines the price of some gas deals. Oil producing states will often sell their barrels at small premiums or discounts to Dated, so the precise mechanics of how it is formed matter to them. In addition, the benchmark lies at the center of a complex web of derivatives, ultimately shaping Brent oil futures that get traded on exchanges. Dated affects a host of oil prices, so even crude in Dubai could feel the effects, according to Adi Imsirovic, a veteran oil trader and senior research fellow at the Oxford Institute for Energy Studies. Traders will be able to offer WTI Midland for sale from the US Gulf Coast. It will be delivered into Rotterdam and then price will be netted back using a freight adjustment factor as if it’s shipped from the North Sea. By following a careful process, Platts will evaluate if the oil is being offered at a higher or lower level than five existing grades that set Dated — Brent, Forties, Oseberg, Ekofisk or Troll. If Platts judges that WTI Midland is the most competitive price on offer — or actually sold — then it could set Dated. So WTI Midland might then influence the price a seller of an Atlantic Basin barrel charges a refinery in China.
North Sea oil and gas firms are struggling despite BP and Shell record profits, industry body warns --The record earnings of BP and Shell do not reflect the challenges most North Sea oil and gas producers face from the windfall tax, argued the UK’s leading offshore industry body. Ross Dornan, market intelligence manager at Offshore Energies UK, told City A.M. that the bumper profits of energy giants have been generated from global trading following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, with the UK footprint being less than ten per cent of their businesses. This meant they could handle the impact of a windfall tax, while producers hedged in UK markets suffered huge hits to their finances – forcing them to drop projects which could boost generation and potentially ease energy bills. He said: “Some of the global profits from and Shell BP are very eye catching but I think there has been a misunderstanding out there. Just because they’re UK headquartered on the FTSE as a PLC, I think people automatically assume that they’re making that money in the UK.” Dornan also argued that the record oil and gas prices did not translate like-for-like in the UK industry, which was home to a declining continental shelf with tighter margins due to higher extraction costs and operating expenses. “We need to make sure that we’re not trying to design our fiscal system in response to global profits, because those profits just simply aren’t accessible to the UK’s tax system. The reality on the ground here in the UK can be very different. We’re a more mature basin and we’re a bit more marginal than the global basins,” he explained. The overall tax rate has risen from 40 per cent to 75 per cent in just 10 months for oil and gas companies after Rishi Sunak first unveiled the Energy Profits Levy as Chancellor last May, before it was hiked by Jeremy Hunt later that year. This means the windfall tax has increased 25 to 35 per cent and sits on top of 40 per cent special corporation tax rate North Sea operators already pay.
Russia Could Seek Compensation Over Nord Stream Sabotage - Russia could demand compensation for damages over the sabotaged Nord Stream gas pipelines in the Baltic Sea, a senior Russian diplomat told Russian news agency RIA Novosti in an interview.“We do not rule out raising the issue of compensation for damages as a result of the explosion of the Nord Stream gas pipelines,” Dmitry Birichevsky, Head of the Economic Cooperation Department at the Russian Foreign Ministry, was quoted as saying. The official did not specify with whom Russia would seek compensation.Russia will continue to insist on an investigation into the blasts that involves Russian representatives, Birichevsky said, adding that the “Western countries are actively sabotaging work” on a Russia-proposed draft UN resolution calling for an independent investigation. The Nord Stream pipelines were sabotaged in late September in still unexplained circumstances. Nord Stream 1 was carrying gas from Russia to Germany via the Baltic Sea, while Nord Stream 2 was never put into operation after Germany axed the certification process following the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Russia, for its part, shut down Nord Stream 1 indefinitely in early September, claiming an inability to repair gas turbines because of the Western sanctions. Various investigations into the Nord Stream explosions continue amid accusations from Russia that some Western intelligence services are “hiding something.” Sweden’s refusal to share information about the sabotage of Nord Stream is “puzzling,” and withholding the results of the investigation means that “Swedish authorities are hiding something,” Russia’s Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said in January.Last month, Russia called for an international investigation into the sabotage of Nord Stream after a U.S. investigative journalist wrote that the United States was behind the explosions of the gas pipelines. Russia does not expect that findings on the Nord Stream blast investigations will be made public, Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said last week.
UN Security Council won't probe Nord Stream blasts - (AP) — The U.N. Security Council on Monday declined a Russian request to investigate the blasts on the pipelines that move natural gas from Russia to Europe under the Baltic Sea. Russia, China and Brazil voted in favor of the Russian request, but other Security Council members abstained or said another investigation was unnecessary. For a resolution to be adopted by the U.N. Security Council, it needs a minimum of nine “yes” votes in the 15-member council, and no veto by one of the permanent members — the United States, Russia, China, Britain and France. The U.S. deputy ambassador, Robert Wood, said there was no need for a U.N. probe when investigations by Sweden, Denmark and Germany “are proceeding in a comprehensive, transparent and impartial manner.” “It was an attempt to discredit the work of ongoing national investigations and prejudice any conclusions they reached that do not comport to Russia’s predetermined and political narrative. It was not an attempt to seek the truth,” he said. The pipelines, known as Nord Stream 1 and Nord Stream 2, are majority-owned by Russia’s state-run energy giant Gazprom. Nord Stream 1 carried Russian gas to Germany until Moscow cut off supplies at the end of August 2022. Nord Stream 2 never entered service as Germany suspended its certification process shortly before Russia invaded Ukraine on Feb. 24, 2022. The explosions on both occurred on Sept. 26. The investigations by European nations have yet to yield conclusive results, at least none made public. Both pipelines bypass existing routes that go through Ukraine, meaning that Ukraine could lose income from transit fees and be unable to directly use the gas they carry. The Nord Stream pipelines were seen as an effort by Russia to gain further control over Europe’s energy supplies. Some have said the blasts caused the worst release of methane in history. The New York Times, The Washington Post and German media have published stories citing U.S. and other officials as saying there was evidence Ukraine, or at least Ukrainians, may have been responsible. The Ukrainian government has denied involvement. Russian President Vladimir Putin has dismissed as “sheer nonsense” allegations that Ukrainians could have been behind the blasts and pointed the finger at the U.S.
European Gas Prices Extend Gains As French Strikes Block LNG Imports -Europe’s benchmark natural gas prices rose on Wednesday morning for a third consecutive day of gains amid lower LNG supply due to the nationwide strikes in France and expectations of a colder start to April than usual. The front-month futures at the TTF hub, the benchmark for Europe’s gas trading, traded up by 1.3% at $47 (43.30 euros) per megawatt-hour (MWh) at noon in Amsterdam, while the equivalent UK benchmark contract was up by nearly 1% at the same time in London.Wednesday’s trade marked the longest streak of gains for European natural gas prices in about a month, according to Bloomberg’s estimates.Three of France’s four terminals remain shut and will stay shut until at least Thursday as strikes are crippling LNG and crude oil imports, as well as refinery operations. The French strikes against President Emmanuel Macron’s pension reform have entered their fourth week.France has four LNG receiving terminals, Dunkirk, Montoir, Fos Cavaou, and Fos Tonkin. The terminals at Montoir, Fos Cavaou, and Fos Tonkin, operated by French company Elengy, are currently shut due to the strikes.Adding to the gas price rise were weather forecasts suggesting that most of Europe will see a colder-than-normal start to April, which could prolong the winter heating season and increase gas demand.Nevertheless, milder than usual winter overall helped Europe avoid a gas shortage this winter. As of March 27, the EU’s gas storage sites were nearly 56% full, per data from Gas Infrastructure Europe. That’s the highest gas stocks for the end of a winter heating season in a decade, also thanks to demand cuts from industry and households, and a steady inflow of LNG in recent months.Despite the rise in Europe’s benchmark gas prices, they are now at around a 20-month low. Signs have emerged that industries are switching back to using gas in a tentative sign that European industrial gas demand is rising.
Spain Presses Importers of Russian LNG - Spain, the biggest European buyer of liquefied natural gas from Russia, is urging importers not to sign new contracts with Moscow as it seeks to crimp revenues for the Kremlin’s war machine. LNG importers in Spain received a letter from the government asking companies not to sign up to new purchases from Russia, according to people with knowledge of the matter. The Spanish government’s request isn’t binding as there are no sanctions in place, and only refers to new contracts, according to the people, who declined to be named. Europe’s pipeline gas flows from Russia have fallen to historic lows since the invasion of Ukraine last year. But to make up for the shortfall, LNG shipments from all over the world have surged — including from Russia. Spain has almost doubled imports of Russian LNG since the outbreak of the war, highlighting how dependent Europe still is on Moscow. Naturgy Energy Group SA, Repsol SA, TotalEnergies SE, Axpo Holding AG, Pavilion Energy, Enagás SA, Met Energy, Enet Energy, Energias de Portugal SA, Compañía Española de Petroleos SA and BP Gas & Power Iberia were sent a letter on March 14 by Deputy Prime Minister Teresa Ribera, who’s in charge of Spain’s energy policy. The letter, seen by Bloomberg News, doesn’t explicitly mention spot contracts but makes a general plea to “intensify the diversification of supply of liquefied natural gas and do without those from Russia.” Ribera confirmed in an emailed response to questions that she sent the letter 10 days ago and several companies replied. Axpo, Repsol and Enagás responded to the notification saying they’re not purchasing LNG from Russia, according to a spokesperson of the ministry. “We can confirm that Axpo has not brought any Russian LNG cargoes into Spain since the start of the war in Ukraine,” a company spokesperson said. The European Union’s energy chief Kadri Simson earlier this month called for shipments to be stopped, saying companies should not renew long-term contracts once current ones end. She didn’t announce any specific measures. Spain is the EU’s top buyer of Russian LNG so far this year, ship-tracking data on Bloomberg show. The country was forced to seek additional purchases last year after shipments from longstanding gas supplier Algeria declined following a diplomatic feud between the two nations. Spain only receives Russian gas as LNG, as its utility Naturgy Energy Group SA holds a 20-year contract to purchase the fuel from Yamal LNG in the Arctic until 2038. The company declined to comment. In January the German government said it wanted to curb imports of Russian liquefied natural gas, without being specific how it would do this. So far, the EU has stopped short of discussing any ban at a regional level.
TOs hammer fracking deal governments sought to hide - Alice Springs News - “The cultural impacts associated with the development of any onshore shale gas industry must be fully explained prior to the development of that industry and that a plan be developed to manage those impacts on Aboriginal people and their communities.“Aboriginal people and their representatives must be involved in the design and implementation of any such plan.”That was a recommendation by the Independent Scientific Inquiry into Hydraulic Fracturing in the NT, set up by Chief Minister Michael Gunner and headed up by JusticeRachel Pepper. Her report was released in March 2018.The Beetaloo Sub-basin, which is estimated to have 500 trillion cubic feet of gas – about one-sixth of the nation’s reserve – gets a special mention. (See details below.)Today, five years later, an elder of the area, Samuel Janama Sandy (pictured), deputy chairman of Nurrdalinji Aboriginal Corporation, says in a media release about the planned gas development: “In terms of benefits and support from the fracking industry, it’s all talk, talk, talk and no action.“We are getting a peanut, while the white man is packing up his pocket with cash. We should own land, buy businesses, but we got nothing.“I live in Katherine in a housing commission flat, on a wheelchair, and haven’t got a car or any of the benefits they say will come from fracking.“Our people want jobs on country, but not jobs that involve drilling into our country.”Justice Pepper was reported as promising 32,000 jobs.Mr Sandy: “We want to protect our underground water, the environment, the animals and birdlife, from fracking.“We don’t want fracking, at any cost. The gas should be kept in the ground.”Under former Prime Minister Scott Morrison the National Indigenous Australians Agency (NIAA) commissioned a report about the gas project.The NIAA is an Australian Government agency and hence spending public money.Liberal Mr Morrison did not release the report, and neither did his Labor successor, Anthony Albanese.Nurrdalinji had to resort to a freedom of information process to get the report, called a Blueprint, which is mostly about the Aboriginal people affected by the gas project. Nurrdalinji’s action put the document into the public arena.Who is the author, paid from public funds? We’re not told their name which is redacted and replaced with “s22(1)” – a section of the Freedom of Information Act 1982.It permits the release of documents so long as they “would not disclose any information that would reasonably be regarded as irrelevant to the request” for disclosure, in the opinion of the agency.The executive summary of the Blueprint makes it clear that maximising regional benefits from private investment in onshore gas projects in the Beetaloo Sub-basin “is a core objective of the Australian and NT governments”.Little wonder both were keen to keep a lid on the document which has little good to say with respect to the way traditional owners figure in the exploitation of this huge Territory asset.
Proponents of fracking in the Beetaloo Basin welcome the Greens' safeguard mechanism amendments, say they create 'certainty' - ABC News -The Greens are claiming the Beetaloo Basin gas project has been "derailed" through amendments to the federal government's safeguard mechanism. But is that the case?Leader Adam Bandt claimed credit yesterday for putting "significant hurdles" in the way of new gas, including development in the basin 500 kilometres south-east of Darwin.The government is using the safeguard mechanism as its key policy to implement a 43 per cent cut in emissions by 2030, with the new laws to take effect in July.The mechanism will capture Australia's top 215 biggest polluters. They will have to reduce their emissions by 4.9 per cent each year to 2030, with a hard cap on Australia's total emissions also introduced.In announcing the amendments, Mr Bandt singled out the Beetaloo Basin.He said all scope one Beetaloo emissions — which come through the direct production of gas — would need to be offset. Amendments secured by Greens leader Adam Bandt will see scope one Beetaloo Basin emissions offset by gas companies. Scope two and three emissions will also now be "referred" to a forum of state and territory energy ministers."The Beetaloo gas field will be required from day one to offset all of its emissions — scope one, scope two and scope three — for domestic use," Mr Bandt said.But that has actually been the case for five years, as per the Pepper report.The 2018 report was the result of a 15-month scientific inquiry led by Justice Rachel Pepper. It determined that the risks associated with an industry could be "appropriately managed" if 135 recommendations were implemented. The NT Labor government promised to do so and concurrently lifted a ban on fracking.Thirty-five of those recommendations are still yet to be implemented, including "9.8", which states that there be no net increase in Australia's life cycle emissions from fracked gas produced in the territory.Life cycle emissions include scope one, two and three.Scope two emissions are indirect emissions from power generated to run a company's activities, while scope three result from the use of gas after it is sold.
Chairman says Gazprom close to maximum gas supply to China - (AP) — Russia's Gazprom is increasing gas supplies to China and expects soon to reach the maximum planned level through a Siberian pipeline, its chairman said Wednesday, highlighting Beijing's importance as his country's top export market in the face of Western sanctions over its invasion of Ukraine. Gazprom is negotiating with China over a possible additional supply project across neighboring Mongolia, Viktor Zubkov said at a government-organized economic forum. He said the company is open to serving other Asian markets. Chinese leader Xi Jinping’s government sees Moscow as a diplomatic partner in opposing U.S. domination of global affairs and has refused to criticized its invasion of Ukraine. Beijing has called for a cease-fire and negotiations but not a Russian withdrawal. China's imports from Russia, mostly oil and gas, surged 31.3% over a year ago in January and February to $18.6 billion. That helps President Vladimir Putin offset lost revenue after the United States, Europe and Japan blocked or limited imports. “Russia is increasing its gas supply to China,” Zubkov said at the Boao Forum for Asia. “The gas supply through the Power of Siberia pipeline will soon reach the contracted annual volume of 38 billion cubic meters,” or 1.3 trillion cubic feet. Gazprom is negotiating with state-owned China National Petroleum Corp. on a gas supply project through Mongolia that is designed to carry 50 billion cubic meters (1.8 trillion cubic feet), according to Zubkov. “Russia is open to cooperation with other Asian countries in clean energy supplies," Zubkov said. Also at the forum, the deputy chairman of the Chinese Cabinet's planning agency said Beijing will balance its plans to reduce carbon emissions with its need for energy security. China is the biggest emitter of climate-changing industrial gases.
Spain calls for tougher enforcement of oil transfers at sea – (Reuters) – Spain has called for tighter scrutiny of oil transfers involving tankers at sea as the number of unregulated ships hit by sanctions grows and raises pollution risks, a U.N. agency session heard this week. Hundreds of extra “ghost” tankers have joined this opaque parallel trade over the past few years as a result of rising Iranian oil exports as well as restrictions imposed on Russian energy sales over the war in Ukraine. The number of incidents last year including groundings, collisions and near misses involving these ships reached the highest in years, a Reuters investigation showed. Spain raised the issue this week at the legal committee of the United Nations’ shipping agency, the International Maritime Organization (IMO), and submitted a resolution to “address the consequences and concerns” over the increase in such operations, a Spanish transport ministry source told Reuters on Friday. Spain’s Mediterranean and Atlantic coastlines have become hubs for shipping activity including the transfer of oil known as ship-to-ship (STS) operations. Madrid, which has already tightened its rules for STS transfers around its coastline, has called for flag states to step up scrutiny and enforcement of such activity, the source added. “We express our willingness to support any international initiative aimed at resolving this problem and, to this end, we are urging at the international level initiatives against such STS operations outside our waters,” the source said. A paper submitted to the IMO committee by Australia, the United States and Canada said illicit transfers “undermine the rules-based international order”.
US Coast Guard, air assets to aid PH in oil spill response - Philippine Canadian Inquirer Nationwide Filipino Newspaper - The United States Coast Guard (USCG) and some of its air assets will assist in the ongoing cleanup operations on the massive oil spill in Mindoro. Senior Undersecretary Carlito Galvez Jr., Officer-in-Charge of the Department of National Defense, has already informed President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. that USCG and the US Air Force’s largest strategic airlifter will be arriving in the country in the following days, according to a news release of the Presidential Communications Office on Sunday. “We are looking forward to the arrival of the entire US Coast Guard contingent for the additional technical support in our disaster response operations. Although one US C-17 with equipment (60K loader) already arrived this morning and is now at Subic Air Base, another C-5 is expected to arrive,” Galvez said. On Saturday morning, Galvez, also the chair of the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council, conducted an aerial inspection of the affected areas along with the Office of the Civil Defense Undersecretary Ariel Nepomuceno, Philippine Coast Guard chief Admiral Artemio Abu, and other Armed Forces and local government officials. “We will immediately employ these assets and integrate them into our response operations. In addition, we continue to closely monitor the ROV’s (remotelyoperated vehicle) operations for significant updates and to further determine the extent of the oil spill,” he added. Galvez likewise noted that the presence of the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has considerably helped in the cleanup operations by providing rapid environmental assessments of the affected areas, identification of priority areas at risk of environmental damage, and assessment of the needs for ecosystem restoration. “They (NOAA) provide support for scientific modeling to estimate the trajectory of the oil spill and satellite imagery to boost assessment efforts,” Galvez said. The Japanese ROV found out that the oil tanker, M/T Princess Empress, “suffered extensive structural damage after sinking,” according to Galvez. Citing findings of the Japanese team, he said there was no visible consumption fuel leak coming from the damaged vessel. Oil leaks were observed from all eight compartments (tanks). Through ballast tanks, the volume of remaining oil inside the compartments cannot be estimated at this point. The oil spillage rate from the source is likewise yet to be determined.
Over 170k now affected by MT Princess Empress oil spill in Philippines - The National Disaster Risk Reducation and Management Center (NDRRMC) on Sunday said the oil spill in Oriental Mindoro now has affected 172,928 individuals nearly a month after the oil tanker submerged in waters off Naukan, Oriental Mindoro. The sinking of Princess Empress, which carried around 800,000 liters of industrial fuel, caused an oil spill that has affected the livelihoods of fisherfolk and caused harm to marine life in the area. It sank off the waters of Naujan, Oriental Mindoro on February 28 and was finally located by authorities on March 21. According to the NDRRMC's situational report, majority of the affected individuals are from the MIMAROPA region at 138,043, followed by 27,145 from Western Visayas, and 7,740 from Calabarzon. The oil spill also caused injuries or illnesses among 206 residents, with some experiencing chest pain, dizziness, abdominal pain, fever, coughs and colds, ingestion, as well as inhalation. Over P136.542-million worth of assistance has since been provided to affected communities. Meanwhile, the Philippine Coast Guard on Sunday also reported positive developments in their clean-up efforts from March 23 in Pola, Oriental Mindoro. The agency said traces of oil has since been cleared - with oil no longer visible on water or on boats, no subsurface oil layers in pits dug into the shore, and no oil debris. The PCG also collected water samples from shorelines of nine barangays in Pola and two in Naujan to measure contamination levels and to assess the condition of the shoreline. A hydrogen sulfide test resulted in a negative, while waters passed the water quality standards set by the Philippine Clean Water Act of 2004.
Over 9,000 liters of oily water collected from Oriental Mindoro oil spill - Coast Guard — The Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) has collected over 9,000 liters of oily water during its offshore oil leak response following the massive oil spill due to the sinking of the MT Princess Empress off Oriental Mindoro last month. In a statement on Monday, the PCG reported that it collected 900 liters of oily water mixture on March 26, bringing the total oily water mixture collection to 9,463 liters. The total oil-contaminated materials collected offshore is now at 115 sacks. For shoreline response, no oily water mixture was amassed on Sunday. The PCG, however, said that it piled up 137 sacks of oil-contaminated materials along the shore, raising the total to 3,514.5 sacks. Twenty-two drums of waste were previously collected in 13 affected barangays in the towns of Naujan, Bulalacao, and Pola in Oriental Mindoro, the PCG added. MT Princess Empress, was carrying 800,000 liters of industrial fuel when its sank off Oriental Mindoro on February 28, causing a huge oil spill. Seventy coastline villages in the province have since been placed under a state of calamity. The oil spill has likewise reached parts of Western Visayas and Palawan.
Caluya oil spill aid reaches P33M– The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) has so far extended over P33-million worth of assistance to oil spill-affected families in Caluya, Antique. DSWD Region 6’s Disaster Response Management Division chief Judith Tañate Barredo said the department had provided P33,350,144 worth of assistance as of March 21 right after the oil spill from the M/T Princess Empress reached the island barangays of Caluya town. “There were 7,195 families with 27,145 persons affected by the oil spill and provided with assistance,” said Barredo. The assistance provided was in the form of emergency cash transfers (ECT) amounting to P25,979,694, cash-for-work (CFW) — P1,093,500, and aid to individuals in crisis situation (AICS) — P1,707,000. Aside from the financial assistance, 8,300 family food packs worth P4,380,8000 were also distributed in the barangays of Alegria, Semirara, Sibolo, and Tinogboc. There were non-food items, too, including 50 pairs of boots, 20 units of modular tents, and 25 rolls of sakoline, amounting to P189,150 released to the local government of Caluya for those joining the coastal cleanup. “We are just waiting for the availability of the Philippine Coast Guard vessel that would transport an additional 8,300 family food packs to Caluya,” added Barredo. Each family food pack, now available at the DSWD Regional Warehouse in Oton, Iloilo, contains rice, cereals, canned sardines and corned beef. Barredo said there are now Sustainable Livelihood Program personnel in Caluya doing an assessment for the livelihood projects to be undertaken to assist the oil spill-affected families further.
Claims from Oriental Mindoro oil spill seen to reach ₱1.1 billion – lawmaker— Compensation claims resulting from the massive oil spill in Oriental Mindoro caused by the sunken MT Princess Empress may exceed those filed following the sinking of another oil tanker in Guimaras in 2006, House tourism committee vice chair Rep. Marvin Rillo said Sunday. “If we look back at the MT Solar incident, a total of ₱1.1 billion was paid to settle 26,872 compensation claims, including those filed by owners of beach resorts, tour boat operators, and other tourism service providers hit by the 2006 oil spill,” Rillo said. Given that the MT Solar incident occurred 17 years ago, Rillo said the inflation-adjusted claims for the damage caused by the MT Princess Empress leakage may likely exceed ₱1.1 billion. "Apart from tourism-related claimants, we expect property owners hit by the oil spill to file compensation claims for damages to beachfront properties, fishing boats, and fishing gear,” Rillo said. “Those who suffered economic losses, including fisherfolk, seaweed farmers, and fishpond operators, are likewise expected to file claims.” He said local governments that had to pay their workers more as a result of the oil spill disaster are also expected to make claims, along with clean-up contractors and the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG). The province of Oriental Mindoro will set up a claims office in its capitol on Monday to assist residents affected by the oil spill, according to Governor Humerlito “Bonz” Dolor. Dolor explained that the province establish the claims office first before announcing the procedure for submitting a claim.
Puerto Galera remains oil slick free, officials say | The Manila Times - The tourist town of Puerto Galera remains free from the oil slick that is advancing in many areas in the province, parts of the Visayas and Batangas, including the marine protected area, the Verde Island Passage. This was confirmed after the province, through the Sangguniang Panlalawigan (SP or Provincial Board), passed a resolution during a special session on Friday placing some areas under a state of calamity but did not include Puerto Galera. Gov. Humerlito Dolor, during a briefing at the provincial capitol, cited Socorro and Victoria which although not coastal towns, were placed under a state of calamity because the lack of fish sold in their public markets caused by the oil spill has resulted in a loss of income for vendors in these areas. The resolution came after the provincial government had confirmed the presence of grease and oil in the marine protected areas in Baco and San Teodoro towns on Thursday, prompting the governor to ask from the national government additional assistance and the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources to help in identifying alternative fishing grounds for the affected fisher folks. Puerto Galera Mayor Rocky Ilagan had been encouraging tourists to come to their town and admonished those who are posting false information on social media that the oil spill had reached the beaches. He even reprimanded the University of the Philippines Marine Science Institute in their presentation of the oil spill trajectory. Resort owners reported many cancellations of reservations amid reports that the oil slick was moving northwards in the direction of Puerto Galera. Meanwhile, Dolor, in a post on his social media page on Friday, said that the claims caravan is accepting forms inside the capitol complex. He clarified that there is no need for claimants to come to Calapan City because similar claim caravans would be set up in all the towns affected and in far-flung barangay (villages). The governor also stressed that the filing of the claim forms is voluntary.
Shell oil spill: 30k Nigerians seek compensation - Judges at the Supreme Court in London have started hearing a case which will determine whether nearly 30,000 Nigerians can seek compensation from the oil giant Shell for damage to land caused by a 2011 oil spill. The communities from coastal areas in Bayelsa and Delta State said their land was badly damaged by the spill. An earlier ruling by London’s Court of Appeal said the case had been brought too long after the leak had happened. Under English law a complainant can sue for damages to property no longer than six years after an alleged incident. The spill was about 120km (75 miles) off the coast of Nigeria and lasted several hours before the pipeline was closed and oil stopped. At least 40,000 barrels leaked into the sea, making it one of the largest spills ever in Nigeria. The Nigerian communities argue that the oil devastated their shoreline and has continued to cause widespread damage to their land and water supply and so they should be allowed to seek compensation. A ruling is not expected for months.
Oil tanker off Yemeni coast will ‘sink or explode at any moment’: UN -The FSO Safer supertanker — moored off the Yemeni coast and containing over a million barrels of oil — will “sink or explode at any moment,” wreaking devastation, the UN has warned. “We don’t want the Red Sea to become the Black Sea. That’s what’s going to happen. It’s an ancient vessel from 1976 that’s unmaintained and likely to sink or explode at any moment,” David Gressly, UN humanitarian coordinator for Yemen, told Sky News. “Those who know the vessel, including the captain who used to command the vessel, tell me that it’s a certainty. It’s not a question of ‘if,’ it’s only a question of ‘when’.” Given the million-plus barrels of oil on the Safer, Gressly said it is vital that action is taken quickly, with scientific modeling suggesting that an oil spill would hit Yemen’s Red Sea ports of Hodeidah and Salif “within days,” abruptly ending food aid relied on by 6 million people. Furthermore, it would lead to a cessation of “most” fuel imports essential for the functioning of pumps and trucks supplying fresh water to some 8 million people. While the catastrophe can be impeded at a cost of $130 million — a figure dwarfed by the potential $20 billion clean-up cost — the UN finds itself some $34 million short, and has even resorted to using crowdfunding to purchase a rescue tanker for the hoped-for salvage operation. “There are complexities, but for most member states the difficulty — and it’s ironic — is there’s plenty of money available in state budgets for a response to an emergency, but nobody seems to have budget lines for avoiding a catastrophe,” said Gressly. Nor is Yemen the only country at risk, with the modeling suggesting that the oil spill would hit the coasts of Saudi Arabia, Eritrea and Djibouti within two to three weeks, leading to profound environmental impacts for coral reefs and protected coastal mangrove forests. With the entirety of Yemen’s Red Sea fishing stock facing extinction, the concern is the upending impact on the millions of people reliant on the ocean for their food and livelihoods. “The oil tanker is unfortunately located near a very, very healthy coral reef and clean habitat, and it has a lot of species of marine organisms. “Biodiversity is high in that area, so if the oil spill finds its way to the water column, so many marine sensitive habitats are going to be damaged severely because of that.”
Chinese Oil Giant CNOOC Books Record-High Profit For 2022 - CNOOC, the Chinese state-owned oil and gas giant, reported on Wednesday a record-high profit for 2022, thanks to the high oil and gas prices. CNOOC also boosted its net oil and gas production to 623.8 million barrels of oil equivalent (boe), which was a new record high for the company. The Chinese giant saw its net profit double to $20.6 billion (141.7 billion Chinese yuan) last year as it "maximized its profit during the high oil price cycle." Total revenues jumped by 71.6% year over year to $61.3 billion (422.2 billion yuan) in 2022. CNOOC's average realized oil price for the year stood at $96.59 per barrel, up by 42.3% from 2021, while the average realized natural gas price jumped by up 23.5% annually to $8.58 per thousand cubic feet. All-in cost was $30.39 per boe, "which effectively alleviated the pressure of rising commodity prices and continued to consolidate the company's cost competitiveness," CNOOC said. The company's net proved reserves increased to 6.24 billion boe, with the reserve replacement ratio standing at 182% and the reserve life remaining at 10 years. While CNOOC followed the international majors who posted record-breaking profits for 2022, another giant in China, state-controlled Sinopec, reported earlier this week lower-than-expected net figures for 2022, citing the impact of Covid lockdowns that stifled China's economy last year. The company reported a net profit of around $9.64 billion, or 66.2 billion yuan, for 2022, which compared with a record result of $10.47 billion, or 72 billion yuan, a year earlier. The main impact on Sinopec's performance came from lower fuel demand amid the lockdowns. At the same time, chemicals prices were down, affecting refiners' performance. Sinopec booked a loss at its chemicals department for the last quarter of the year, Bloomberg noted in a report on the news.
In "Huge" Chinese Push By Aramco, World's Biggest Oil Producer Will Build $10BN Petrochemical Complex, Buy 10% Stake In Top Chinese Refinery - In what has been dubbed a "HUGE push" by the Saudi state-owned petrochemical giant into China's economy, Saudi Aramco surprised the world with a double-header of pro-China news: first, Aramco said it will build a $10 billion refinery in China and, just hours later, it revealed that it would acquire a stake a 10% stake in a Top Chinese oil refinery. The news come as Saudi Arabia is on the verge of dethroning the petrodollar and accepting payment in Yuan for Chinese oil sales.Over the weekend, Saudi Aramco - world’s biggest oil producer - announced plans to build a $10-billion refining and petrochemical complex in China’s northeast over the next three years, accelerating a development that was paused during the pandemic, and taking advantage of the country’s growing demand for energy. According to the Aramco news release, the complex will have a capacity of 300,000 barrels of crude daily, and OilPrice adds that the Saudi major will supply 201,000 barrels per day to the facility. The project will be carried out in partnership between Aramco and two Chinese companies. Construction works should begin in the second half of this year, with the project scheduled for completion in 2026.“This important project will support China’s growing demand across fuel and chemical products. It also represents a major milestone in our ongoing downstream expansion strategy in China and the wider region, which is an increasingly significant driver of global petrochemical demand,” said Aramco’s head of downstream, Mohammed Al Qahtani.The news follows a report from December last year according to which Aramco had struck a deal with China’s Sinopec to build a 320,000-bpd refinery and petrochemical cracker in China, highlighting the latter’s major role in global oil consumption yet again.Then, one day later, Aramco also unveiled that it has agreed to buy a 10% stake in a giant oil complex in China for 24.6 billion yuan ($3.6 billion), in exchange for securing sales to one of the country’s largest refineries.
Russia announces deal to boost oil supplies to India - The Hindu - Russian energy giant Rosneft announced a deal on Wednesday to ramp up oil sales to India, as Moscow seeks new buyers in the wake of tensions with the West over the Ukraine conflict. The Kremlin's decision to deploy its military to Ukraine last February saw Russia's share of the European market collapse as Kyiv's allies levied sanctions on the Russian oil sector. Rosneft said in a statement that its CEO Igor Sechin had travelled to India and brokered an agreement with the head of the Indian Oil Corporation. "Rosneft Oil Company and Indian Oil Company signed a term agreement to substantially increase oil supplies as well (as) diversify the grades to India," Rosneft said in a statement. Rosneft however did not specify the volumes stipulated in the agreement nor its value. The announcement comes one day after Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak said Moscow's oil sales to India had surged more than twentyfold last year. Rosneft said that representatives of the two oil companies also discussed the "possibilities of making payments in national currencies," pointing to Russia's efforts to de-dollarise its economy. Russia, a major producer and key ally of the OPEC oil cartel, cut crude production by 500,000 barrels per day this month in response to the Western sanctions. Rosneft earlier this month posted a sharp drop in annual profit in the wake of Western sanctions against Russia.
Fearing Credit Crunch, Hedge Funds Flee Petroleum - By John Kemp, Reuters - Portfolio investors sold oil-related futures and options contracts at the fastest rate for almost six years as traders prepared for the onset of a recession driven by tighter credit conditions in the aftermath of the banking crisis. Hedge funds and other money managers sold the equivalent of 142 million barrels in the six most important contracts in the seven days ending on March 21, after selling 139 million barrels in the week to March 14. Total sales over the two weeks were the fastest for any fortnight since May 2017, according to records published by ICE Futures Europe and the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission. Fund managers have slashed their combined position to just 289 million barrels (6th percentile for all weeks since 2013) from 570 million (46th percentile) on March 7. The fund community liquidated 163 million barrels of previous bullish long positions in the two most recent weeks, while establishing 115 million barrels of new bearish short ones. As a result, the ratio of bullish longs to bearish shorts slumped to 2.16:1 (16th percentile) on March 21 from 5.38:1 (71st percentile) on March 7. The most recent week saw heavy sales across the board, including Brent (-63 million barrels), NYMEX and ICE WTI (-48 million), U.S. gasoline (-15 million), U.S. diesel (-6 million) and European gas oil (-10 million). In absolute terms, the change in positions over the two most recent weeks is one of the largest to occur in either direction in the last decade, three times more than average, implying a fundamental change in the outlook. The banking crisis, which has resulted in the failure of several U.S. regional banks and the enforced rescue of Credit Suisse by UBS, is expected to result in a marked tightening of credit conditions. Even before the crisis, economic growth in North America and Europe was expected to slow in response to persistent inflation, rising interest rates, and the squeeze on household and business spending. But credit creation and loan growth is now expected to decelerate more abruptly as financial institutions, especially smaller ones, attempt to fortify their balance sheets hurriedly to reduce the risk of runs. At the same time, Russia’s crude and diesel exports have continued uninterrupted, despite sanctions imposed by the United States and its allies, contributing to near-term supply in crude and product markets. Doubts have also emerged about the speed of China’s rebound as the country’s manufacturers and service suppliers deal with cautious consumers following the lifting of coronavirus controls. Crude has been hit hardest while contracts for refined fuels have held up more strongly because of the current low level of inventories and limits on refining capacity. The previously expected tightening of the production-consumption balance has been pushed further back into the second half of 2023. Funds now anticipate a much larger surplus in the meantime, leading many to abandon bullish positions and create bearish ones, at least for the short term. .
Brent Gains on Renewed Risk of Russian Supply Disruption -- West Texas Intermediate futures traded on the New York Mercantile Exchange and Brent crude on the Intercontinental Exchange advanced Monday, with the international benchmark climbing above $75 barrel (bbl) after Russia announced it would station tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus, escalating risks to European security and refocusing sentiment on potential disruption of Russian production and petroleum exports. "Belarus hosting Russian nuclear weapons would mean an irresponsible escalation and threat to European security. The EU stands ready to respond with further sanctions," said EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Joseph Borrel. On Sunday, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced he will move an arsenal of tactical nuclear weapons to Belarus -- a landlocked country in Eastern Europe governed by the authoritarian regime of Aleksandr Lukashenko. Putin said the move is a response to the UK's agreement to provide Ukraine with ammunitions containing depleted uranium -- a byproduct of the uranium-enrichment process needed to create nuclear weapons. While depleted uranium ammunitions are not considered nuclear weapons, their emission of low levels of radiation has led the International Atomic Energy Agency to warn of possible dangers of exposure. Meanwhile, White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said the United States had seen no sign that Putin had moved any nuclear weapons. Regardless of the motive, Russia's announcement to station nuclear weapons closer to the NATO borders marks an escalation in the Ukrainian conflict and risks further disruptions to Russian oil exports. The Kremlin said last week it would extend the unilateral 500,000-barrels-per-day (bpd) production cut, first announced on Feb. 14, until the end of June after the European Union and the G-7 imposed price caps on Russian oil and petroleum products. The decision to cut production could be driven by Moscow's concerns about the deeply discounted prices that willing buyers such as India and China have been paying for its Urals crude. This has eroded the government's oil and gas revenues and could make it more difficult to fund the war in Ukraine. The production cut could support global oil prices but it's unclear how they might affect the large discounts on Russian oil barrels. Monday's move higher also follows last week's steep selloff in financial markets that was triggered by turmoil in the banking sector. Shares of Germany's largest lender, Deutsche Bank, sank over 10% Friday after insurance costs against default on its bond portfolio surged to a multi-year high. Traders also fled stocks of other major European banks heading into the weekend, including France's Societe Generale and Spain's Banco de Sabadell that are believed to be systemically important to global finances. Hence, the oil complex was once again pressured by a crisis of confidence in the banking sector and bearish macroeconomic data. Near 7:30 a.m. ED, NYMEX WTI futures advanced $0.84 to $70.09 bbl, and the international benchmark Brent contract gained to $75.87 bbl, up by $0.88 bbl in overnight trade. NYMEX RBOB added $0.0075 to $2.5960 gallon and ULSD futures for April delivery gained to $2.7123 gallon.
The Oil Market on Monday Continued to Retrace Friday's Early Losses The oil market on Monday continued to retrace Friday’s early losses. The market was supported by the news that Iraq was forced to halt about 450,000 bpd of crude exports from the Iraqi Kurdistan region on Saturday after a victory in an arbitration case confirmed Baghdad's consent was needed to ship the oil from Turkey. The market was also supported on new concerns over Russian supplies. Over the weekend, Russia said it would station tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus, refocusing the market on the threats to Russian supplies from geopolitical tensions. The crude market posted a low of $69.13 in overnight trading before it bounced off that level and never looked back. The market retraced more than 50% of its move from a high of $81.04 to a low of $64.36 as it rallied to a high of $73.10 ahead of the close. The May WTI contract settled up $3.55 at $72.81 and the May Brent contract settled up $3.13 at $78.12. The product markets ended the session sharply higher, with the heating oil market settling up 7.52 cents at $2.7704 and the RB market settling up 9.57 cents at $2.6156. Oil production in Iraq's semi-autonomous Kurdistan region is at risk after a halt in northern exports has forced firms operating there to divert crude to storage, where capacity is limited. Iraq was forced to halt around 450,000 bpd of crude exports from the KRI on Saturday through an export pipeline that runs from its northern Kirkuk oil fields to the Turkish port of Ceyhan. Turkey halted the pumping of Iraqi crude from the pipeline after Iraq won an arbitration case in which it said Turkey had violated a joint agreement by allowing the Kurdistan Regional Government to export oil to Ceyhan without Baghdad's consent.According to an annual forecast by a research unit of China National Petroleum Corp, China's crude oil imports in 2023 are expected to increase by 6.2% on the year to 540 million tons or 10.8 million bpd. China’s crude oil throughput is seen increasing by 7.8% to 733 million tons or 14.66 million bpd. Its refining utilization rate is seen at 79.4% in 2023, up from 73.6% last year. The CNPC think tank predicted that China’s gasoline output will increase by 7.6% this year to 156.4 million tons, its diesel output will increase by 6.1% to 202.9 million tons and its jet fuel output will increase by 18.4% to 34.9 million tons. Meanwhile, China’s crude oil consumption is seen increasing 4.5% in 2023 to 743 million tons. China’s refined fuel consumption is estimated to increase by 9.1% in 2023 to 398 million tons.IIR Energy reported that U.S. oil refiners are expected to shut in about 1,106,000 bpd of capacity in the week ending March 31st, increasing available refining capacity by 163,000 bpd. Offline capacity is expected to increase to 1,208,000 bpd in the week ending April 7th.The industrial action against the French government's pension reforms stretched into its 20th day on Monday, as at least six out of seven refineries in France were shut or functioning at reduced capacity and liquefied natural gas terminals were blocked. According to data compiled by Bloomberg, about 900,000 bpd of crude processing capacity is being taken out of service or has already been halted. Production has been shut at TotalEnergies' 240,000 bpd Gonfreville refinery and Exxon Mobil subsidiary Esso's Port Jerome-Gravenchon refinery due to the strikes, while two others are operating at reduced capacity and two more are offline for repairs. The CGT union said the industrial action disrupting the 240,000 bpd Port Jerome refinery has been extended until March 29th.
Oil rises over $3 on Kurdistan export halt, banking optimism (Reuters) - Oil prices rose more than $3 on Monday as a halt to some exports from Iraq's Kurdistan region added to worries about oil supplies while a U.S. banking acquisition eased worries that financial turmoil could hurt the economy and curtail fuel demand. Brent crude futures settled up $3.13, or 4.2%, at $78.12 a barrel. West Texas Intermediate U.S. crude closed $3.55, or 5.1%, higher at $72.81. Brent gained 2.8% last week while WTI rebounded by 3.8% as jitters in the banking sector eased. Prices received a lift as Turkey stopped pumping crude from Kurdistan via a pipeline following an arbitration decision that confirmed Baghdad's consent was needed to ship the oil. The exports amount to about half a percent of global oil supply, or 450,000 barrels per day (bpd). Loss of oil supplies from Kurdistan could offset the impact of Russian production and supplies finding their way to market, said John Kilduff, partner at Again Capital LLC in New York. It also could force production cuts in the Kurdistan region. "Now we have this new wrinkle here.... It's production that we really can't afford to lose," Kilduff said, adding that the loss of supply would amplify any other future force majeure or production outages. First Citizens BancShares Inc said it will acquire deposits and loans of failed Silicon Valley Bank, closing one chapter in the crisis of confidence that has roiled financial markets. "Oil prices are edging higher extending gains from the previous week as investors weighed up efforts by the authorities to calm concerns regarding the global banking system," said Fiona Cincotta, senior financial markets analyst at City Index. There are also hopes for extra support for bank funding after reports that U.S. authorities were in early deliberations about expanding emergency lending facilities. Wall Street equities gained as the banking deal offered a respite after weeks of turmoil. Oil prices also drew support from worries of geopolitical turmoil after Russian President Vladimir Putin's plans to station tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus, one of Russia's most pronounced nuclear signals yet. Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak has said Moscow is close to achieving its target of cutting crude output by 500,000 barrels per day (bpd) to about 9.5 million bpd. Still, Russia's crude exports are expected to remain steady as it cuts refinery output in April, data from industry sources and Reuters calculations showed on Friday. On the demand side, China's crude oil imports are expected to rise 6.2% in 2023 from last year's level to 540 million tonnes, according to an annual forecast by a research unit of China National Petroleum Corp on Monday.
Oil Climbs on Iraqi Supply Halt as Banking Fears Ease-- After notching the largest one-day gain in over three months, West Texas Intermediate futures on the New York Mercantile Exchange and Brent crude traded on Intercontinental Exchange advanced again Tuesday as traders shifted focus to supply disruption in Iraq after Baghdad halted oil exports from the semiautonomous region of Kurdistan, while investors in broader markets continue to monitor the economic fallout from the recent turmoil in the banking sector as concerns over financial stability ease. The banking crisis, which has resulted in the failure of several U.S. regional banks and enforced rescue of Credit Suisse AG, will likely lead to a marked tightening of credit conditions in coming weeks and months. It's still unknown, however, whether the so-called "credit crunch" would result in significant pressure on businesses and the economy. Some economists estimate that the turmoil in the banking sector could equate to a 75-basis-point rate hike from the Federal Reserve, but others are more conservative in their estimates. Even before the crisis, economic growth in the U.S. and Europe was expected to slow in response to persistent inflation, rising interest rates, and the squeeze on household and business spending. Today, as banks attempt to fortify their balance sheets to reduce the risk of runs, the expected downturn in economic conditions is likely to be more abrupt than previously thought. With that in mind, investors are awaiting the release of U.S. consumer confidence data for fresh clues on deeper contraction in consumer spending and financial conditions. On Monday, investors parsed through the latest report on Texas industrial activity released by the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas that showed factory output rose modestly in March but the outlook for business conditions remained deeply negative. The survey offers some clues on the business outlook for Texas oil operators that have struggled in recent months with high labor and equipment costs amid the Federal Reserve's aggressive campaign to raise interest rates. On the supply side, traders await fresh clues on the restart of oil exports from the Kurdistan region in Northern Iraq after Baghdad halted around 450,000 barrels per day (bpd) of crude exports through the Kirkuk-Ceyhan pipeline. On Saturday, Iraq won a longstanding case against Turkey concerning revenues derived from the sales of Kurdistan oil exports. Iraq's oil ministry "will discuss new mechanisms for exporting Iraqi oil through Turkey's Ceyhan port in a manner that guarantees exports will be sustained and international commitments met," according to a statement from the ministry. Over 1 million bpd passed through Turkey's Ceyhan terminal in January, or 1% of global supplies, with 400,000 bpd of that volume shipped from the Kurdistan region and only 75,000 bpd from Baghdad. It remains unclear when and under what agreement oil shipments would resume. Near 7:30 a.m. EDT, NYMEX WTI futures advanced $0.31 to $73.11 barrel (bbl) and the Brent contract increased to $78.44 bbl. NYMEX RBOB declined $0.0142 to $2.6700 gallon and ULSD futures for April delivery moved down $0.0085 to $2.7619 gallon.
The Crude Market Continued to Trend Higher on Tuesday Following Monday's Sharp Gains - The crude oil market continued to trend higher on Tuesday following Monday’s sharp gains on supply disruption risk from the Iraqi Kurdistan region. Iraq has been forced to halt about 450,000 bpd of its exports from its northern Kurdistan region through Turkey after an arbitration decision confirmed Iraq’s consent was needed to ship the oil. The oil market opened relatively unchanged and posted a low of $72.19 early in the session. However, the market bounced off that level and continued to extend its previous gains. The market was further supported amid reports that traders believe there is some buying of crude to refill the Strategic Petroleum Reserve. The market rallied to a high of $73.93 by mid-day before it erased some of those gains ahead of the close. The May WTI contract settled up 39 cents at $73.20, while the May Brent contract settled up 53 cents at $78.65. The product markets ended the session mixed, with the heating oil market settling down 8 points at $2.7696 and the RB market settling up 2.79 cents at $2.7121. Analysts said French strike action has led to record amounts of crude and condensate sitting idly offshore while the country's crude stocks have plummeted. According to Kpler crude analyst Johannes Rauball, around 17 cargoes carrying crude oil, oil products or chemical products have been floating in French waters for the past week. Bloomberg reported that vessels holding at least 14 million barrels of crude are currently floating off the country’s shores. It reported that of the crude currently floating, about 11 million barrels is near Fos, a port on the country’s southern coast where key oil terminals are not expected to carry out any tanker cargo operations until at least the end of the month. According to consultancy OilX, France's crude oil stocks have fallen to 40.3 million barrels in March, the lowest since the firm's records began in January 2010. France's refinery intake has fallen to its lowest level since October at 764,000 bpd. Union officials representing workers at TotalEnergies SE and ExxonMobil Corp said there is currently no end date for the strikes. Barclays said it remains constructive on oil and notes potential upside risk from a protracted disruption in Iraqi Kurdistan region oil exports. It said a disruption in oil exports from the Kurdistan region through the year-end will imply a $3/barrel upside to its $92/barrel 2023 price forecast for Brent crude. Russia's Energy Minister, Nikolai Shulginov, said that the country had managed to successfully re-direct its oil exports to new markets, but added that oil and gas production was expected to decline in 2023. Colonial Pipeline Co is allocating space for Cycle 20 on Line 1, its main gasoline line from Houston, Texas to Greensboro, North Carolina. The current allocation is for the pipeline segment north of Collins, Mississippi. Exxon Mobil Corp reported operations require flaring at its 369,024 bpd Beaumont, Texas refinery. Valero Energy Corp issued an all clear after concluding maintenance at its 205,000 bpd Houston, Texas refinery.
Barclays warns of upside oil price risk from protracted Kurdish supply halt - Barclays on Tuesday warned that a disruption in oil exports by the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) through the year-end would imply a $3 upside to their $92 per barrel 2023 Brent crude price forecast and might lead to some output loss. Brent crude futures gained 27 cents to $78.39 a barrel by 1458 GMT, while US WTI crude futures were up 28 cents at $73.09, rising on the back of supply disruption risks from Iraqi Kurdistan and hopes that turmoil in banking is being contained. Iraq was forced to halt around 450,000 barrels per day (bpd) of crude exports, or half a percent of global oil supply, from the semi-autonomous Kurdistan region on Saturday through an export pipeline that runs from its northern Kirkuk oil fields to the Turkish port of Ceyhan. It is unclear how long the disruption might last and a protracted disruption might lead to some output loss, Amarpreet Singh, an energy analyst at Barclays, wrote a note. “However, a sustained recovery in flows might be contingent on a resetting of oil revenue sharing terms between the federal government and KRG, which might be a complicated process,” Singh highlighted.
WTI Extends Gains After Unexpected Large Crude Draw - Oil prices extended gains today with WTI up near $74 as a disagreement between Iraq and Kurdish officials curtailed exports and fears of a banking meltdown receded somewhat.A recent international ruling has resulted in at least a temporary halt of Kurdish oil exports through Turkey and the Ceyhan pipeline network, said Robbie Fraser, manager, global research & analytics at Schneider Electric, in a daily note. That's impacting around 400,000 barrels per day or around 0.4% to 0.5% of global supply, he said. "The ruling determined Iraq's semi-autonomous Kurdish region could not export crude directly, but most do so with Baghdad's approval and under the authority of the Iraqi central government," said Fraser.In the short-term all eyes will be back on crude stocks (after last week's modest build while products saw big draws). API
- Crude -6.076mm (+300k exp) - biggest draw since 11/25/22
- Cushing -2.388mm - biggest draw since Feb 2022
- Gasoline -5.891mm (-1.6mm exp)
- Distillates +548k (-1.1mm exp)
Against expectations of another small build, API reported a significant crude draw og over 6mm barrels. Cushing saw stocks fall and Gasoline inventories also drew-down significantly... WTI was hovering around $73.40 ahead of the API print and is higher after... Finally, as Bloomberg notes, while oil has rallied from recent lows as the banking sector stabilizes, it remains on track for a fifth monthly decline amid concerns over a potential US recession and resilient Russian energy flows. Most market watchers are still betting that China’s recovery will accelerate and boost prices later this year as demand rebounds.Meanwhile, OPEC+ is showing no signs of adjusting oil production when it meets next week, staying the course amid turbulence in financial markets, delegates said. We also note that there is the 'Biden Call' sitting under the market as at some point he will have to start refilling the SPR.
WTI Extends Gains After Large Surprise Crude Draw, 'Adjustment' Factor Remains High - Oil prices extended recent gains overnight (but have trodden water for the last couple of hours) after a surprise crude draw reported by API last night and the ongoing dispute over Iragi crude exports via Turkey (disrupting supply) “Supply concerns continue to support oil prices,” . One of the biggest oil producers in Iraqi Kurdistan, Norway’s DNO ASA, has started to lower production as the dispute drags on.However, despite the support for oil prices coming from supply concerns, oil prices are likely to remain volatile in the near term, led by the financial market turmoil, according to UBS strategist Giovanni Staunovo.And if official inventory, supply, and demand data matches API's that upside vol may continue as positioning is very short. DOE
- Crude -7.49mm (+300k exp)- biggest draw since 11/25/22
- Cushing -1.632mm
- Gasoline -2.904mm (-1.6mm exp)
- Distillates +281k (-1.1mm exp)
The official DOE data shows an even bigger crude draw than API reported along with a draw in gasoline stocks (6th week in a row). Cushing stocks fell for the 4th straight week while Distillates saw a small build... The infamous "adjustment factor" dropped last week but remains extremely high historically speaking...
Oil dips on profit taking, markets debate supply tightness (Reuters) - Oil edged lower on Wednesday in choppy trading as investors looked to pocket profits from two straight days of gains, and as markets debated supply tightness. Brent crude closed 37 cents, or 0.5%, lower at $78.28 a barrel, while West Texas Intermediate crude fell 23 cents, or 0.3%, to $72.97. “The markets are trying to find equilibrium,” said Dennis Kissler, senior vice president of trading at BOK Financial, noting heavy fund buying over the last two days. On the supply side, worries of tightness after an unexpected draw in U.S. oil stockpiles and a halt to some Iraqi Kurdistan oil exports were partially offset by a smaller-than-expected output cut in Russia. U.S. crude oil stockpiles fell unexpectedly last week, the Energy Information Administration said, as refineries ramped up operations after maintenance season and U.S. imports fell to a two-year low. EIA data also showed a larger-than-expected draw in gasoline stocks, implying strong demand heading into the summer season. “Today’s EIA report was bullish, but the broader story is much more challenged right now,” said John Kilduff, partner at Again Capital LLC in New York, citing economic fears and supply concerns. News of the surprise drop in inventories came on top of a 450,000 barrels per day (bpd) of crude export halt on Saturday from Iraq’s semi-autonomous northern Kurdistan region following an arbitration decision. Norwegian oil firm DNO said it had begun shutting down production at its fields in Kurdistan. The company’s Tawke and Peshkabir fields averaged output of 107,000 bpd in 2022, a quarter of total Kurdish exports. U.S. oil and gas activity stalled in the first quarter as production gains slowed and drillers’ outlooks turned negative, a survey released by the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas showed. Supply concern were, however, eased by reports that Russian oil production fell by around 300,000 bpd in the first three weeks of March, less than the targeted cuts of 500,000 bpd. Meanwhile, markets also awaited clarity on the banking crisis and U.S. Federal Reserve’s plans for rate hike. Oil prices had plunged to a 15-month low on March 20 after global financial markets were roiled as investors balked at the collapse of two U.S. lenders and the rescue of Credit Suisse. The dollar edged higher against most major peers, pausing its recent declines. A stronger greenback hurts oil demand as crude becomes more expensive for buyers who hold foreign currencies.
The Oil Market on Thursday Posted an Outside Trading Day as it Continued to Erase Wednesday's Early Gain - The oil market on Thursday posted an outside trading day as it continued to erase Wednesday’s early gains in overnight trading and later bounced higher. The market extended its previous losses as it posted a low of $72.61 in overnight trading. However, the market bounced off its lows and retraced all of its previous losses by mid-day. The market rallied to a high of $74.63 as it remained supported by the news that producers have shut in or cut output at several oilfields in the Kurdistan region of northern Iraq following a halt to the northern export pipeline to the Turkish port of Ceyhan. The market also remained supported by the unexpected draw in crude stocks reported by the EIA on Wednesday morning. These factors offset the bearish sentiment seen on Wednesday following reports of a lower than expected cut to Russian crude oil output. The May WTI contract settled up $1.40 at $74.37 and the May Brent contract settled up 99 cents at $79.27. The product markets ended the session in negative territory ahead of the April product expirations on Friday. The April heating oil contract settled down 3.44 cents at $2.6237 and the April RB contract settled down 67 points at $2.6614. Technical Analysis: The crude market on Friday will be driven by the U.S. spending and inflation data due out in the morning and the resulting impact on the value of the U.S. dollar. The market will also position itself ahead of the OPEC+ meeting on Monday, when the producer group is likely to stick to its existing output cut agreement. Technically, the crude market is seen finding resistance at its high of $74.39, $74.67, $75.02 and $75.61. More distant upside is seen at $77.56 and $78.17. Meanwhile, support is seen at its low of $72.61, $72.19, $71.05, $70.15 and $69.89. Further support is seen at $69.13, $66.82 and $64.36. Fundamental News: Barclays forecast Brent crude prices at $89/barrel in the second quarter of this year, $96/barrel in the third quarter and $98/barrel in the fourth quarter. It also forecast Brent crude prices in the first quarter of 2024 at $92/barrel, while the price of Brent crude is expected to increase to $94/barrel, $100/barrel and $103/barrel in the second, third and fourth quarters of 2024, respectively. The price of WTI is seen at $83/barrel in the second quarter of this year, $91/barrel in the third quarter and $93/barrel in the fourth quarter. The price of WTI crude in the first quarter of 2024 is seen at $86/barrel, while the price of WTI is expected to increase to $88/barrel, $95/barrel and $98/barrel in the second, third and fourth quarters of 2024, respectively. Five OPEC+ delegates said the producer group is likely to stick to its existing deal to cut oil output at a meeting on Monday. OPEC+, which comprises OPEC and allies led by Russia, is due to hold a virtual meeting of its ministerial monitoring panel, which includes Russia and Saudi Arabia, on Monday. A delegate said the Kurdistan curbs and recent price drops were not sufficiently important to affect the overall OPEC+ policy path for 2023. Three other OPEC+ delegates also said any policy changes were unlikely on Monday. Colonial Pipeline Co is allocating space for Cycle 20 shipments on Line 20, which carries distillates from Atlanta, Georgia to Nashville, Tennessee.
Oil posts its highest finish since mid-March on stronger demand expectations, tighter supplies Oil futures finished higher on Thursday as brighter prospects for the Chinese and U.S. economy and tighter supplies helped lift prices to their highest finish since mid-March. Oil prices may continue to climb if the global economic outlook improves, analysts said. "Until the U.S. data tolls the recession bell, if broader markets remain in risk-on mode, oil could stay in relief rally mode supported by the same less threatening [Federal Reserve], a slightly weaker U.S. dollar, and hopes for the China recovery," U.S. government data released Thursday was slightly downbeat, showing the growth rate of the U.S. economy at the end of 2022 was reduced to 2.6% due to weaker consumer spending. Separately, the number of Americans who applied for unemployment benefits last week rose to a three-week high of 198,000. Read:Biden energy officials release strategy to boost offshore wind and cut its cost by 30% The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and their allies, a group known as OPEC+, will hold a committee meeting Monday to review the oil market, against a backdrop of a potential recession and concerns over the banking crisis. Read:OPEC+ committee is set to review an oil market plagued by concerns over the banking crisis and a recession Oil prices, for now, also likely found some support from a 7.5 million-barrel weekly decline in U.S. crude supplies reported by the Energy Information Administration on Wednesday. That was the largest weekly fall year to date. Oil refiners are coming out of maintenance season and "demand for fossil fuels around the globe is surging," He believes those factors will contribute to what he refers to as a "new season of big petroleum supply draws in the coming weeks." Natural-gas futures on Nymex extended their decline to finish nearly 4% lower, after the EIA reported on Thursday a weekly decline in supplies of the commodity that was a bit lower than some market forecasts. Domestic natural-gas supplies fell by 47 billion cubic feet for the week ended March 24, the EIA said. That compared with expectations for a decline of 56 billion cubic feet, according to a survey of analysts by The Wall Street Journal. Meanwhile, the Freeport LNG export plant in Texas is on track to achieve full processing power Thursday after regulators indefinitely closed the facility last June after an explosion, StoneX's Kansas City energy team, lead by Alex Hodes, wrote in Thursday's newsletter. They said natural-gas flows into the facility reached 1.8 bcf Wednesday and were on pace to reach 2.1 bcf Thursday.
Oil Prices Gain As China Factory Activity Expansion Lifts Demand Hopes - Oil prices climbed in early Asian trade on Friday as sentiment was boosted by an expansion in factory activity in China, the world's second largest crude consumer, and as concerns grew about Middle Eastern supply.Brent futures, which have risen nearly 6 percent this week, were up 15 cents, or 0.19 percent, at $79.42 a barrel at 0146 GMT. US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude rose 17 cents, or 0.23 percent, to $74.54, having gained about 8 percent this week. China's manufacturing activity rose in March at a slower pace compared with a record breaking expansion in February, but still exceeded expectations by economists in a Reuters poll. Industrial activity in China has become a key determinant of prices in recent weeks following its ending of coronavirus-related restrictions, amid weaker global demand. Oil prices are set to cap a second straight week of gains after the largest bank failure after the 2008 financial crisis spooked traders and roiled markets. Worries about a full-blown global banking crisis have abated after two banks, in the U.S. and Europe, were rescued. Prices rose more than 1 percent on Thursday due to lower US crude stockpiles and a halt to exports from Iraq's Kurdistan region, offsetting pressure from a smaller-than-expected cut to Russian supplies. Producers have shut in or reduced output at several oilfields in the semi-autonomous Kurdistan region of northern Iraq following a halt to the northern export pipeline. More outages are on the horizon. The US Energy Information Administration said US crude oil stockpiles fell unexpectedly in the week to March 24 to a two-year low. Markets are now waiting for US spending and inflation data due on Friday and the resulting impact on the value of the US dollar.
Oil Ticks Up As U.S. Inflation Cools, But Prices Set For Monthly Drop -(Reuters) -Oil prices ticked up on Friday with U.S. inflation data showing some signs of slowing price rises, but on the month oil was on course for its weakest performance since November. Brent futures, which have risen nearly 6% this week, were up 22 cents or 0.3% at $79.49 a barrel by 1309 GMT. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) U.S. crude was up 45 cents or 0.6% to $74.82, having gained about 8% so far this week. But the contracts were set for 5% and 3% monthly drops respectively after hitting their lowest since 2021 earlier in the month in the wake of large bank failures. Oil prices have broadly recouped these losses as worries about a global banking crisis have abated after banks in the U.S. and Europe were rescued. The U.S. Personal Consumption Expenditure (PCE) index, which is the Fed’s preferred inflation gauge, rose 0.3% in February on a monthly basis, compared with a 0.6% rise in January and an expectation of a 0.4% rise in a Reuters poll. On an annual basis the gauge stood at 4.6%, below an expected 4.7%. While the inflation data showed signs of cooling, it remained elevated, which could lead to the Federal Reserve raising interest rates one more time this year. Oil prices were buoyed after producers shut in or reduced output at several oilfields in the semi-autonomous Kurdistan region of northern Iraq following a halt to the northern export pipeline. Also sending a bullish signal was data showing U.S. crude oil stockpiles fell to a two-year low. [EIA/S] Prices have also found support from a rise in China’s manufacturing activity in March. With oil prices recovering from recent lows, the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and allies led by Russia are likely to stick to their existing output deal at a meeting on Monday, sources said. OPEC pumped 28.90 million barrels per day (bpd) this month, a Reuters survey found, down 70,000 bpd from February. Output is down more than 700,000 bpd from September.
Oil futures settle higher, but U.S. prices register a 5th straight monthly decline --Oil futures settled at their highest in about three weeks on Friday, but U.S. prices posted a fifth consecutive monthly decline, pressured by concerns over a potential recession and decline in energy demand. U.S. crude prices rallied by more than 9% this week, helped by such factors as supply problems out of Northern Iraq, U.S. dollar weakness, a hefty weekly drop in U.S. crude inventories and improved risk sentiment, along with signs of China's economic recovery, Ole Hansen, head of commodity strategy at Saxo Bank, said in a note to clients. Concerns about the banking crisis in the U.S. and Europe have also eased, allowing oil prices to recover somewhat, as fears of a financial crisis that could have a major impact on the economy and oil demand subsided, said Matthew Sherwood, senior Europe and lead commodities analyst at The Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU). That prompted prices for WTI to trade more than 8% higher for the week, and Brent to move up 6% from the week-ago settlement. Still, U.S. crude benchmark prices saw a fifth monthly loss in a row. "Investors continue to assess the long-term implications of turmoil in Western banking systems," said Sherwood, adding that EIU believes that "recession risks have increased, as banking lending standards will tighten further in the wake of SVB and Credit Suisse." Even so, the oil market still remains tight and we expect Brent to head above $80 a barrel and even approach $90 by the middle of the year as "demand continues to recover in China and the supply response remains muted," especially in the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, he said. OPEC and its allies, a group known as OPEC+, will hold a committee meeting Monday, as it does every two months, to review the oil market. Read:OPEC+ committee is set to review an oil market plagued by concerns over the banking crisis and a recession Meanwhile, natural-gas futures ended higher Friday, but the rise did little to offset the significant price losses for the month and quarter, after recently dropping to their lowest in two-and-a-half years. Read:Natural gas is among the worst-performing commodities in the first quarter, while steel, iron ore strengthen "Europe is the big story here. European natural gas storage is currently at about 56% of capacity, a historically high level for this time of year," said EIU's Sherwood. "An unseasonably warm 2022/23 winter means that European stocks remained much higher than expected through the winter and reduced the amount that needs to be topped up over the summer as Europe prepares for the 2023/24 winter." The developments in Europe have had a knock-on impact on U.S. Henry Hub natural-gas prices, and a "weather-related slump in U.S. natural-gas demand also played a major role in the sharp fall for U.S. prices in the first quarter, he said.
Oil Futures End Session On Firm Note, But Post Losses For Month, Quarter - Crude oil prices climbed higher on Friday on falling supplies in certain parts of the world, and optimism about the outlook for energy demand. The outlook for oil demand improved after data showed an expansion in manufacturing activity in China in March. Chinese services activity expanded at the fastest pace in nearly 12 years, and construction activity remained strong, boosting the outlook for growth this year. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for May ended higher by $1.30 or about 1.8% at $75.67 a barrel. WTI crude futures gained about 9.2% in the week, but dropped 1.8% in May, and lost about 6% in the January-March quarter. Brent crude futures settled at $79.77 a barrel today, gaining $0.50 or about 0.6%. Oil prices were also supported by data showing a drop in U.S. consumer prices in February that raised hopes the Federal Reserve will be less aggressive with interest rate hikes. Data from the Commerce Department showed the U.S. Personal Consumption Expenditure index, the Federal Reserve's preferred inflation gauge, rose 0.3% in February on a monthly basis, compared with a 0.6% rise in January. The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and allies, collectively known as OPEC+ is likely to stick to their output deal at the meeting scheduled to take place on Monday (April 3).
As Longterm Partnership With Us Fades, Saudi Arabia Seeks to Diversify Its Diplomacy – And Recent Deals With China, Iran and Russia Fit This Strategy - The fact that Saudi Arabia entered a rapprochement deal with Iran and chose China to broker it came as a surprise to many international observers.The agreement, officially called the Joint Trilateral Statement, was signed in Beijing on March 11 and begins the process of restoring diplomatic ties between Riyadh and Tehran. Those ties were severed in January 2016 after protesters stormed the Saudi Embassy in Iran in the aftermath of the execution of Nimr al-Nimr, a prominent Saudi Shiite cleric who had criticized Saudi treatment of its Shiite minority. As an analyst of Saudi foreign policy, I’ve seen how the kingdom’s decision to engage in this way with Iran and China is part of a broader diversification of the kingdom’s international relationships that has unfolded over the past decade. To close observers of geopolitical trends in Saudi Arabia and other Gulf states, the China-brokered deal fits into a pattern.From being firmly a part of the anti-communist camp during the Cold War and closely tied into U.S.-led regional security networks in the Persian Gulf, Saudi foreign policy is now taking anonaligned stance that has become increasingly consequential for how Saudi Arabia pursues its interests.The relationship between the U.S. and Saudi Arabia is often said to revolve around an oil-for-security dynamic in which the Saudis provide the former and the U.S. the latter.In reality, ties have spanned a far wider spectrum than that and have been more complicated, with periods of high tension – stemming from events such as Saudi participation in the Arab oil embargo in 1973, or the involvement of Saudi citizens in the Sept. 11 terrorism attacks in 2001.But since the Arab Spring protests in the early 2010s, U.S.-Saudi relations have frayed, both in Riyadh and in Washington. The perception among Gulf leaders that the Obama administrationabandoned former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak during the Egyptian revolution in 2011 left them deeply rattled. They feared that the U.S. could abandon them just as it had done Mubarak, a longtime partner of 30 years.This was compounded by the Gulf states’ exclusion from U.S. negotiations with Iran, initially in secret bilateral talks in 2013 and subsequently as part of the P5+1 framework of the U.N. Security Council permanent members, plus Germany, which culminated in the Iran nuclear dealin 2015. And then in 2019, a missile and drone attack on Saudi oil infrastructure temporarily knocked out half the kingdom’s production. The attacks were linked, but never formally attributed, to Iran. President Donald Trump responded by declaring it had been an attack on Saudi Arabia, not on the U.S., drawing a distinction between their interests. Trump’s remarks, and subsequent inaction,caused shockwaves in Riyadh and other Gulf capitals as leaders began to question U.S. credibility as a reliable regional partner.Finally, in 2021, the chaotic nature of the U.S. withdrawal from Kabul, Afghanistan, served to reinforce deeply-rooted perceptions about U.S. disengagement from the Middle East, irrespective of the situation in reality.It is against this backdrop of pragmatic acknowledgment of its own vulnerabilities to regional and global tensions – and entrenched uncertainty about the role of the U.S. as a long-term partner – that Saudi Arabia began to broaden its international relationships, with particular attention on China.Officials across the Gulf believe China will replace the U.S. as the dominant economic and energy superpower in the 21st century. For more than a decade, a majority of oil and gas from the six Gulf monarchies has flowed east to Asia in quantities that far exceed the cargoes heading west to Europe and North America.In a further sign of deepening bilateral ties, in December 2022, Chinese President Xi Jinping visited Saudi Arabia to sign investment agreements across 34 sectors, ranging from green energy and information technology to construction and logistics.
More US Airstrikes in Syria Kill at Least 19, Multiple American Bases Attacked - Three American bases in Eastern Syria were targeted with rockets and drones on Friday. One American soldier was injured in the attack. The American bases came under fire after the US carried out airstrikes in eastern Syria.The violence in Syria escalated on Thursday when a US outpost was attacked. One contractor was killed by a drone strike. Additionally, five soldiers and one contractor were wounded. The Pentagon claimed it had intelligence that the drones used in the attack were of "Iranian origin."Biden responded by authorizing airstrikes against groups affiliated with Iran in the regions. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin said American forces conducted "airstrikes tonight in eastern Syria against facilities used by groups affiliated with Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC)." It is estimated that 19 soldiers were killed by the American bombs.Tehran said there would be a "counter-response" to the airstrikes. “Any pretext to attack bases created at the request of the Syrian government to deal with terrorism and Islamic State elements in this country will be met with an immediate counter-response,” Keyvan Khosravi, spokesperson for the Supreme National Security Council of Iran warned.The Pentagon also warned it would respond to further attacks. "We are postured for scalable options in the face of any additional Iranian attacks," a statement from CENTCOM Commander, General Michael "Erik" Kurillasaid.On Friday, National Security Council Spokesperson John Kirby stated Biden immediately authorized the airstrikes after learning about Thursday’s attack. “He made the decision very, very shortly in that discussion to authorize the strikes against these particular targets,” He added, “We are not seeking a conflict with Iran.”Three additional attacks against American outposts occurred on Friday. The first incident occurred around 8 am and resulted in some civilian casualties. “March 24th, at approximately 8:05 am local time, 10 rockets targeted coalition forces at the Green Village in northeast Syria.” According to a statement from Central Command, “The attack resulted in no injuries to US or coalition personnel and no damage to equipment or facilities. One of the rockets missed the facility by almost five kilometers, striking a civilian house, causing significant damage and causing minor injuries to two women and two children."Later in the day, the US military bases at the Al-Omar and Conoco oil fields were hit with rockets and drones. Fewer details have been reported for these attacks. Fox News national security correspondent Jennifer Griffin tweeted that a US official said "one involved Iranian proxy forces firing rockets. A second involved multiple Iranian drones."Tehran entered the Syrian war at the request of Damascus. Iranian support forces have helped to push back jihadist groups. However, the Syrian government and its partner forces, including ones backed by Iran, have come into conflict with American forces as well. As part of its economic war against Damascus, Washington occupies the eastern third of Syria, including where most of the country’s oil and wheat resources are located. Damascus views the American forces as illegally occupying Syrian territory.
Imagine If All Officials Were Interrogated By Reporters Like This – Caitlin Johnstone --A fascinating exchange took place at a UN press briefing the other day between China Global Television Network’s Xu Dezhi and the UN’s Deputy Spokesperson for the Secretary-General Farhan Haq about the US military occupation of Syria. The exchange is interesting both for the wild pro-US bias shown by a UN official, and for the way it illustrates how much truth can be exposed when journalists do what they’re supposed to do in the press gallery. Xu, who has done on-the-ground reporting in Syria in the past, asked Haq some challenging questions about an attack on a US military base in eastern Syria last week which injured multiple American troops and killed an American contractor. In his response, Haq made the extremelyincorrect claim that there are no US armed forces in Syria, and refused to say whether the US military occupation of part of the country is illegal. Here’s the UN’s transcript of the key part of this exchange (emphasis added by me):
- Xu: Do you not urge everyone to respect the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Syria?
- Haq: Well of course, that’s a given, and obviously it’s important that the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Syria is respected. At the same time you are aware of the complexity of the situation of foreign forces, but we call for them to exercise restraint.
- Xu: But, do you think the presence of the US military in Syria is illegal or not?
- Haq: That’s not an issue that we’re dealing with at this stage. There’s been a war.
- Xu: What’s the difference between the situation in Syria and the situation in Ukraine?
- Haq: There’s no US armed forces inside of Syria. And so I don’t have a… It’s not a parallel situation to some of the others.
- Xu: You’re sure there’s no US military personnel in Syria?
- Haq: I believe there’s military activity. But, in terms of a ground presence in Syria, I’m not aware of that.
- Xu: Okay. Five US service members were injured in that attack. If there were no US service members in Syria, how could they got injured? That’s weird, right? And by the way, the international law here is the resolution from Security Council 2254 (2015), that says in its PA [preambular] paragraph, “reaffirming its strong commitment to the sovereignty, independence, unity and territorial integrity of the Syrian Arab Republic and to the purposes and principles of the Charter of the United Nations”.
- Haq: Yes. I’m aware of that. And as you see, that is accepted by the members of the Security Council itself.
- Xu: Yeah. So, again, back to my question, is that illegal to have presence in Syria for the US base, according to the relevant resolution that I just read out?
- Haq: The relevant resolution does call for that and we call on all countries to respect that. I wouldn’t go beyond that at this stage.
To be absolutely clear, this is a UN official. Haq has been in his current position as deputy spokesperson for almost a decade, and routinely answers questions about Syria as part of his capacity in that position.It is not some obscure esoteric secret that there are US military personnel in Syria; it’s in the mainstream news constantly. Just the other day The New York Times reported that “America still has more than 900 troops, and hundreds more contractors, in Syria.”Haq was either ignorant of this extremely important and relevant piece of common knowledge, or was dishonestly pretending to be. The most charitable interpretation of his actions at this press conference is that he sincerely did not know the US has armed forces in Syria.To put it into perspective, this is like being a UN official and routinely taking questions about Ukraine from the press, but not knowing that Russia invaded Ukraine and has been fighting a war there since last year.
After Escalation, White House Says US Troops in Syria are There to Stay -White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said Sundaythat President Biden is committed to staying in Syria following a series of attacks on US bases and US airstrikes in the country. “Here’s what’s not going to change … the mission and ISIS is not going to change. We have under 1,000 troops in Syria that are going after that network, which is, while greatly diminished, still viable and still critical. So we’re going to stay at that task,” Kirby said on CBS News’s Face the Nation.When asked if President Biden was committed to keeping US troops in Syria, Kirby replied, “That’s right. Absolutely.”While Kirby says the US mission in Syria is about fighting ISIS, the presence is part of the US effort against the government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. The Syrian government opposes the occupation of the eastern portion of Syria, which allows the US to control most of Syria’s oil resources. On top of the occupation, the US maintains crippling economic sanctions on Syria.The US occupation always risks sparking a wider war, as demonstrated by the recent airstrikes. The escalation started on Thursday when a US base in eastern Syria came under a drone attack that killed a US contractor and wounded five US troops. The Pentagon claimed the drone was of “Iranian origin” but offered no evidence to back up the assertion. President Biden responded by ordering airstrikes that hit targets in Syria early Friday against facilities the Pentagon said were “used by groups affiliated with Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps,” likely referring to the Shia militias that operate in Syria.According to the pro-opposition UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR), the US airstrikes killed 19 fighters, including three Syrian troops, 11 Syrian fighters in pro-government militias, and five non-Syrian fighters who were aligned with the government.The SOHR numbers aren’t confirmed, and both Iran and Syria issued statements accusing the US of lying about who they targeted. Tehran claimed the strikes hit civilian targets.The US airstrikes provoked more attacks on multiple US bases in Syria on Friday night that wounded at least one US soldier.
Israeli Airstrikes Hit Damascus, Two Syrian Soldiers Wounded - Israeli airstrikes hit Damascus early Thursday morning and wounded two Syrian soldiers, Syria’s SANA news agency has reported.The report said explosions were heard in Damascus at 1:30 am, and a Syrian military source said Syrian air defenses were “confronting hostile targets.” Besides the two wounded soldiers, material damage was reported as well.The Israeli warplanes launched the airstrikes from the direction of the Golan Heights. Israel hasn’t commented on the news and typically does not take credit for individual airstrikes in Syria.The incident marks the fourth time this month that Israel launched airstrikes in Syria. Two of the operations targeted the Aleppo International Airport and temporarily shut it downThe city of Aleppo was devastated by the earthquake that hit Syria and Turkey on February 6, and the airport has become a vital channel for aid deliveries. Israel began frequently targeting Syria’s airports last year.Israeli officials claim that their airstrikes in Syria are operations against Iran or Iranian weapons shipments, but they often kill Syrians and damage civilian infrastructure.
General strike and mass protests stagger Israeli regime - Late Monday, Jerusalem time, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced he was temporarily suspending action by the Knesset, the Israeli parliament, on his plan to carry out what amounts to a coup against the country’s judicial system, the only arm of the state that his ultra-right coalition does not control. Netanyahu made this tactical retreat in the face of the largest outpouring of popular opposition in the history of Israel, with massive street protests Sunday culminating in a full-scale walkout Monday by vast sections of the Israeli working class. Airports, shipping, transport, manufacturing, utilities, schools, day care centers, universities and virtually all government operations were affected. Israeli embassies all over the world were closed, and the Israeli consul general in New York City resigned. The immediate trigger for this political explosion was Netanyahu’s firing of his defense minister, Yoav Gallant, who on Saturday called on him to abandon the plan to straitjacket the judiciary because the political conflict over it was splitting the Israel Defense Forces (IDF). Gallant, a top leader of Netanyahu’s own Likud Party, cited statements by thousands of reservists that they would refuse their regular call-ups because they did not want to serve under a government that was destroying democracy. The crisis in the military is only one expression of a conflict that has profoundly shaken Israel and blown up the fundamental myth of Zionism, that Israel represents the unity of all Jews against the world. Instead, Israel is riven by enormous social, political and class conflicts. As Netanyahu himself admitted, the country is on the brink of “civil war.” The self-proclaimed leaders of the protest movement, mostly officials of the previous government that gave way to Netanyahu after elections last year, like Benny Gantz and Yair Lapid, are themselves committed defenders of the Zionist state and its oppression of the Palestinian people, as is the judicial system which they defend. They do not represent a “progressive” alternative, objecting to Netanyahu’s measures only because they fear that he will destroy the democratic fig leaf of the state of Israel. Nonetheless, the massive popular movement shows that far deeper issues are involved. Long suppressed social contradictions are exploding through the opening provided by the conflict in the ruling elite, bringing broad masses of the Israeli population and, above all, the working class onto the political stage. The postponement or even the resolution of the conflict over the Supreme Court will not suppress the further development of this social movement, fueled by immense economic inequality within Israel and the impact of the global capitalist crisis. Despite its enormous scale, however, this mass movement has a weakness that will prove fatal if not combatted: It has not so far embraced in any way the struggles of the Palestinian people. There has been a sea of Israeli flags, with not one attempt to mobilize support from Israeli Arabs, let alone the Palestinian population of the occupied territories.
Iran expects long-term strategic pact with Russia to be finalized ‘in a month’ -- Iran's foreign minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian has expressed hope that the long-term strategic cooperation agreement with Russia will be finalized in “less than a month.” The remarks were made by Iran's top diplomat at a joint press conference with his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov in Moscow on Wednesday following the delegation-level talks between the two sides. “Reviews on the long-term strategic cooperation agreement between the two countries have been finalized in Russia. Iran has also examined it. I hope that in less than a month, the final revision of the agreement will be carried out by Iran’s Foreign Ministry,” Amir-Abdollahian said. “High-ranking Iranian and Russian delegations at different levels are exchanging views, and the presidents of the two countries are in constant contact with each other.” In 2001, Tehran and Moscow signed a 10-year cooperation deal that was lengthened to 20 years through two five-year extensions. Now, the two capitals are seeking to ink a document on bilateral strategic cooperation, which may determine their future relations for the next twenty years.
China says ready to boost military cooperation with Russia - China says it is ready to boost cooperation with the Russian military in order to jointly uphold international justice, peace and security. Chinese Defense Ministry spokesman Tan Kefei said during a press briefing on Thursday that China is “willing to work together with the Russian military to fully implement the important consensus reached by the two heads of state.” The spokesman said the two nations plan to regularly organize joint maritime and air patrols. Tan said the aim is to “deepen military mutual trust” with Russia to help ensure international justice and make new contributions to international and regional security. This would “serve the building of a community with a shared future for mankind.” The spokesman said relations between Moscow and Beijing do not amount to a Cold War-style military-political alliance. He said the ties “transcend this model of state relations” and have a nature of “non-alignment, non-confrontation and non-targeting of third countries.” Tan said China is a “builder of world peace” and a “contributor to global development.” In contrast, he said the US uses its mammoth defense budget – which is the highest in the world – to “wage wars and create turmoil everywhere,” thus making it “the biggest threat to world peace, security and stability.” President Xi Jinping of China and Russian President Vladimir Putin held a summit in Moscow earlier this month. China and Russia have agreed to expand trade, energy and political relations amid the West’s increasingly adversarial approach over the war in Ukraine. Washington has become more vigilant about the relations between Beijing and Moscow ever since President Xi and Putin struck a “no limits” partnership in February 2022. China has blamed the United States and NATO for “provoking” Moscow over the Ukraine war and has condemned Western sanctions against Russia. Russia has also strongly backed China amid the recent tensions between Beijing and Washington over the US political and military interference in Taiwan.
US Aircraft Carrier Holds Drills With South Korean Military Under Threat Of Missile Tests - The US aircraft carrier USS Nimitz and its strike group began joint exercises in South Korean waters on Monday as Washington and Seoul continue to dramatically expand their military cooperation. A few hours before the drills began, North Korea fired two short-range ballistic missiles into the sea, likely as a response to the new military exercises between the US and South Korea.The Nimitz and the three other ships that are part of its strike group are expected to arrive in the South Korean port of Busan on Tuesday.The US began sending aircraft carriers to the Korean peninsula again in the fall of 2022 after a four-year lull of such deployments."The United States has deployable strategic assets at the ready on every day," said Rear Adm. Christopher Sweeney, commander of Carrier Strike Group Eleven, according to The Associated Press. "We can continue to deploy those assets and we will."The US and South Korea announced earlier this year that they would expand joint military exercises and that Washington would deploy more strategic assets to the region, including bombers.The war games ensure tensions will remain high on the peninsula as they will continue to provoke more North Korean weapons tests.
Germany Successfully Delivers 18 Leopard Tanks At Ukraine Border --On Monday Der Spiegel reported that 18 Leopard 2 battle tanks have been received by the Ukrainian government, after the tanks were successfully delivered at the Ukrainian border.Previously Defense Minister Boris Pistorius had promised that the the battle tanks would be in Ukrainian hands by the close of March. The German media report also noted that about 40 Marder infantry fighting vehicles were also delivered. Reuters separately confirmed the deliveries, and additionally reported that "The German army trained the Ukrainian tank crews as well as the troops assigned to operate the Marder vehicles for several weeks on training grounds in Muenster and Bergen in northern Germany.""Beyond the German vehicles, three Leopard tanks donated by Portugal also reached Ukraine, according to the security source," the report added.European outlets have meanwhile commented on widespread social media assertions that Leopard tanks are prone to getting stuck in deep mud, such that exists in parts of Ukraine; however, the reports underscore there's as yet no evidence for the claims.Meanwhile, there could soon also be an influx of UK-supplied Challenger II tanks into Ukraine, after Ukrainian soldiers have concluded training: According to UK Defence Secretary Ben Wallace, the Ukrainian soldiers "return to their homeland better equipped, but to no less danger". "It is truly inspiring to witness the determination of Ukrainian soldiers having completed their training on British Challenger 2 tanks on British soil. We will continue to stand by them and do all we can to support Ukraine for as long as it takes,” Wallace said.
Bulgaria Refuses To Send Weapons To Ukraine, Joins Hungary & Austria's Neutral Stance -Bulgaria has declared that it will not take part in the EU’s joint ammunition purchase program, nor will it supply fighter jets or tanks to Ukraine, Euronews reports. Bulgarian President Rumen Radev is under enormous pressure from opposition parties, but he has said he stands by his position. “Bulgaria does not support and is not involved in the joint procurement of ammunition for Ukraine. However, we will support efforts to restore peace. As long as the interim government is in power, Bulgaria will not make its fighter aircraft, anti-aircraft missile systems, tanks and other equipment available to Ukraine,” said Radev.At the end of January, Hungarian Defense Minister Kristóf Szalay-Bobrovniczky and his Austrian counterpart, Klaudia Tanner, said in Budapest that neither country will offer any kind of military assistance to Ukraine in order to “prevent further escalation.”Although many of its Western allies accuse Hungary of siding with Russia in the war based on its firm stance of not sending weapons to Ukraine, last December Prime Minister Viktor Orbán said that his government is simply on the side of the Hungarians.“We are pro-Hungarian,” Orbán told daily Magyar Nemzet in an interview.“We are on the side of the Hungarians in the Russian-Ukrainian war.”Orbán argued that while it is important to his government that Russia poses no security threat, continued economic relations are essential for not only Hungary but also the entire European economy.“The answer to the question of whether we are on the right or wrong side of history is that we are on the Hungarian side of history. We support and help Ukraine, it is in our interest to preserve a sovereign Ukraine, and it is in our interest that Russia does not pose a security threat to Europe, but it is not in our interest to give up all economic relations with Russia. We are looking at these issues through Hungarian glasses, not through anyone else’s,” Orbán said.
Austria’s lawmakers walk out of Zelensky's speech to parliament -- More than 20 lawmakers from Austria’s pro-Russia Freedom Party (FPO) have walked out of the lower house of parliament during a speech by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. The FPO politicians protested that Zelensky's speech on Thursday violated Austria's neutrality in the Ukraine-Russia conflict. Zelensky addressed the chamber via video link from Ukraine and thanked Austria for its humanitarian aid and help with projects such as clearing land mines. Ahead of his speech, the MPs warned they would hold some form of a demonstration against his remarks. Australia says its principle of neutrality prevents it from military involvement in the conflict and it cannot send the country weapons in its fight against the Russian forces. Austria has previously said it supports Ukraine politically but cannot help its defense militarily. The FPO politicians had warned days before that it would protest against Zelensky’s address. The lawmakers attended the start of the speech and then left. “It is sad that the FPO is the only party in parliament that takes our ever-lasting neutrality seriously, thereby also standing up for peace,” FPO leader Herbert Kickl said in a statement on Tuesday. The lawmakers left small placards on their desks featuring the party logo and either “space for neutrality” or “space for peace”.
Zelensky Invites China's Xi To Visit Ukraine As US Rebuffs 'Alternate' Peace Plan Coming on the heels of Xi Jinping's visit to Moscow where he met with Vladimir Putin last week, Ukraine's Zelensky has formally invited the Chinese leader to visit Ukraine soon, according to his remarks in a newly published Associated Press interview."We are ready to see him here," Zelensky said. "I want to speak with him. I had contact with him before full-scale war. But during all this year, more than one year, I didn’t have."Zelensky initially expressed openness in comments earlier this month given in reaction to Beijing's 12-point peace plan: "I think some of the Chinese proposals respect international law, and I think we can work on it with China," he said at the time.Just before Xi had arrived in Moscow on March 20, The Wall Street Journal had cited sources as saying there would be a phone call between Xi and Zelensky, but that doesn't appear to have ever materialized.Zelensky has since invited China to sign on to a 'Ukraine formula' for peace, which wouldn't be conditioned on any territorial concessions. Zelensky has vowed to never concede an inch, but has since shown some degree of doubt over how his forces are faring in the battlefield, particularly in Bakhmut. Zelensky described that the capture of Bakhmut will mean that Putin will smell weakness. According to the Ukrainian leader's words this week:Speaking with The Associated Press, Zelenskyy said that if Bakhmut were to fall, Putin could "sell this victory to the West, to his society, to China, to Iran," as leverage to push for a ceasefire deal that would see Ukraine agree to give up territory.This, alongside the potential for Xi and Zelensky to hold direct talks, is worrying the Biden administration, with Ukrainian officials in the meantime seeking to 'assure' Washington of Kiev's steadfastness, as Newsweek in a Wednesday report lays out: The top diplomats of Ukraine and the United States on Tuesday jointly cautioned against giving any weight to alternate peace plans that seek a cease-fire without the full withdrawal of invading Russian forces, in a subtle rebuff of a recent proposal by China."Ill-advised concessions to the aggressor would only encourage Russia to intensify its attacks on democracy, giving it time to rebuild its military capabilities and resume the armed offensive against Ukraine," Dmytro Kuleba, Ukraine's foreign minister, said at a virtual forum hosted by the U.S. State Department.Publicly, Kyiv and Moscow have been cautiously receptive to China's 12-point position paper, which reaffirms the "territorial integrity of all countries" without directly mentioning Ukraine, references "legitimate security interests" in deference to Russia, and calls for a quick end to hostilities on the ground.But if Russian forces do achieve a definitive victory in Bakhmut any time soon, this could tip the scales in favor of Ukraine taking the Chinese peace plan more seriously.
France Says Willing to Work With China to Find a 'Peaceful Solution' in Ukraine - French President Emmanuel Macron’s diplomatic adviser has told China’s top diplomat, Wang Yi, that Paris is willing to work with Beijing to find a “peaceful solution” to the war in Ukraine.“France is ready to make joint efforts with China to facilitate the cessation of hostilities and seek a peaceful solution,” Emmanuel Bonne told Wang,according to a Chinese readout of a phone call that took place on Thursday.The readout said Bonne “expressed appreciation for China’s positive role in promoting peace talks.” The French position is radically different than the Biden administration’s as the White House came out against the idea of a ceasefire in Ukraine ahead of Chinese President Xi Jinping’s trip to Moscow.President Biden also immediately dismissed the idea of China mediating between Russia and Ukraine after Beijing released a 12-point peace plan for the conflict. He said the idea of China being involved in the negotiations is not “rational.”Wang told Bonne in the call that China is hoping to come to a “strategic consensus” with the EU on the issue of Ukraine and wants European countries to promote the idea of peace talks.“China expects France and other European countries to also play their due role in this regard. Ceasefire, resumption of peace talks and political settlement of the crisis should become the strategic consensus between China and the EU,” the Chinese readout said.Other world leaders have expressed support for China’s initiatives, including Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva. Lula was due to visit China this week but had to cancel after catching pneumonia. Before the cancellation, the Brazilian leader said he would propose a “peace club” with China to help mediate an end to the war in Ukraine.
Russia Test-Fires Supersonic Anti-Ship Cruise Missiles In Sea Of Japan - Russia's military has test-fired what its defense ministry (MoD) is describing as a supersonic missile, launching it into the Sea of Japan on Tuesday. The MoD confirmed in a Telegram announcement that its ships of the Pacific Fleet successfully fired two "Moskit cruise missiles at a mock enemy sea target" - hitting the mock warship from a distance of about 62 miles. Crucially the Moskit is capable of carrying a nuclear warhead. According to details in the AP, "The Moskit, whose NATO reporting name is the SS-N-22 Sunburn, is a supersonic anti-ship cruise missile that has conventional and nuclear warhead capacity." "The Soviet-built cruise missile is capable of flying at three times the speed of sound and has a range of up to 250 kilometers (155 miles)," the report adds. "Supersonic" is a designation below "hypersonic" - given the latter denotes speeds of at least five times the speed of sound. Japan's foreign ministry said it doesn't intend to protest the missile launch given it occurred near coastal Russia, but a statement still stressed, "On the whole, Japan is concerned about Russia’s increasing military activities around the Japanese coasts and watching them with great interest."
Putin Says Russia Will Deploy Nuclear Weapons to Belarus - Russian President Vladimir Putin said Saturday that Moscow will deploy tactical nuclear weapons to Belarus at the request of Minsk.Announcing the decision, Putin compared the move to NATO’s nuclear sharing program, under which there are US nuclear weapons deployed to the territory of five allied countries: Germany, Italy, Belgium, the Netherlands, and Turkey.“There is nothing unusual here either. Firstly, the United States has been doing this for decades. They have long deployed their tactical nuclear weapons on the territory of their allied countries,” Putin said. The Russian leader insisted the deployment wouldn’t violate Moscow’s non-proliferation commitments. Putin also said the decision was related to the UK supplying Ukraine with depleted uranium rounds for its British-made Challenger 2 tanks. Depleted uranium ammunition is radioactive and is linked to cancer and birth defects, especially in Iraq, where US forces used an enormous number of the controversial munitions.In response to the announcement, the US said it hasn’t seen any indicationthat Russia is planning to use nuclear weapons. White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby also said the US hasn’t seen Russia move any nuclear weapons around yet.Putin said that the plan is for Russia to build a facility in Belarus to store the nuclear weapons, which will be completed by July 1. Russia has previously provided Belarus with nuclear-capable Iskander missiles and is helping upgrade the country’s warplanes so they can carry nuclear warheads.“We have already helped our Belarusian colleagues to reequip their planes. Ten planes are ready to apply this type of weapons. We have handed over to Belarus our well-known and very effective Iskander system that can carry [nuclear weapons],” Putin said.US and NATO officials have said they don’t see a reason to adjust their own nuclear posture at this point. But one way NATO could respond to the deployment is by placing nuclear weapons in countries that are closer to Russia.The US has not deployed nuclear weapons to countries east of Germany that joined NATO after the collapse of the Soviet Union and the dissolution of the Warsaw Pact, but some eastern European countries are willing to host nukes, including Poland. Finnish officials have also not ruled out the idea of hosting nuclear weapons, and Finland is poised to join NATO soon.
Belarus forced to host Russia nukes due to pressure from West: Minsk -- Minsk says "unprecedented pressure" from the West has forced Belarus to host Russia's nuclear arms, emphasizing that such deployment of nukes does not violate international regulations. Belarus is considered one of Russia's closest allies and when Moscow launched a war against neighboring Ukraine in February last year, Minsk also came under strict scrutiny by Kiev's Western allies, particularly the United States, to gauge how much assistance Minsk offers to the Kremlin in its ongoing military operation. The Western countries have imposed punitive measures against Belarus over its support for the war in Ukraine and particularly after it allowed Russia to use its territory as a launchpad for Moscow's offensive. At the weekend, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced Moscow's plans to deploy tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus, a move that will expand Russia's scope of strategic influence and increase its deterrence power in face of the US-led NATO's exceeding military support for Ukraine. The Russian leader said at the time that Moscow would build a special storage facility for its tactical weapons in Belarus, the construction of which would end by the beginning of July. The decision has drawn condemnation from the West, particularly Washington. On Tuesday, however, Minsk said that it agreed with Moscow on the plan due to "unprecedented" Western pressure, insisting that the deployment of the nukes will not violate international agreements. "Belarus is forced to respond to strengthen its own security and defense capability," Belarus' foreign ministry said, adding that Minsk had been subjected to "unprecedented" political and economic pressure from the US and its allies.
Zelensky Says No Counteroffensive Until the West Sends More Weapons - Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Saturday that Ukraine’s counteroffensive can’t begin until the US and other Western countries send more weapons and ammunition.When asked about a potential counteroffensive in an interview with the Japanese newspaper Yomiuri Shimbun, Zelensky said Ukraine can’t “start yet” and can’t “send our brave soldiers to the front line without tanks, artillery and long-range rockets.”“We are waiting for the receipt of ammunition from our partner countries. If there is political will, ways can be found to help us. We are at war and cannot wait,” he added. He said the military situation in eastern Ukraine is “not very good” due to the lack of ammo.Ukrainian and Russian forces are still battling for the eastern Donbas city of Bakhmut, where both sides are using an enormous amount of ammunition. Zelensky said the Russian troops are using three times as much ammunition as the Ukrainian side.Zelensky’s comments echo what a senior Ukrainian government officialtold The Washington Post on the condition of anonymity earlier this month. The official told the Post that Kyiv doesn’t have the “people or weapons” to pull off a counteroffensive.Ukrainian soldiers fighting on the front have told several media outlets that they’re being sent into what has become known as the “meat grinder” in Bakhmut with little support and ammunition. New conscripts are also being sent into battle with barely any training.The US and its allies have pledged a lot of new military aid for Ukraine over the past few months, but Zelensky keeps saying it’s not enough. The Biden administration wants Ukraine to launch a counteroffensive to make territorial gains this spring, but the prospect now seems unlikely.
Zelensky Says if He Loses Bakhmut, He Will Be Pushed to 'Compromise' With Russia - Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky told The Associated Press on Wednesday that if the Donbas city of Bakhmut falls to Russia, he would be pressured to “compromise” with Moscow.“Our society will feel tired” if the Russians win in Bakhmut, Zelensky said. “Our society will push me to have compromise with them.”He said if Bakhmut falls, Russian President Vladimir Putin could “sell this victory to the West, to his society, to China, to Iran” as leverage to seek a ceasefire deal that would involve Kyiv ceding territory to Moscow. “If he will feel some blood — smell that we are weak — he will push, push, push,” Zelensky said. Russian forces are close to encircling the city of Bakhmut, but the battle is still raging as Ukraine continues to send soldiers into what has become known as the “meat grinder.” Ukrainians fighting on the front lines havetold the media that soldiers are being sent into battle with very little training, support, and ammunition. Earlier this month, the head of the Russian mercenary outfit Wagner Group, Yevgeny Prigozhin, said the fighting in Bakhmut was getting “fiercer” and said Ukraine was “supplying endless reserves” for the battle.Zelensky’s comments about Bakhmut come after he said Kyiv could not launch a counteroffensive unless its Western backers supply even more weapons. He told AP on Wednesday that “the United States really understands that if they stop helping us, we will not win.”
Central Bank of Egypt raises key interest rates by 200bps - The Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) on Thursday raised its key interest rates by 200 basis points (bps). Following a meeting of its Monetary Policy Committee (MPC), the bank set the overnight lending rate at 19.25% and the overnight deposit rate at 18.25%. The central bank's proactive policy aims to control inflationary pressures and reduce inflation expectations to the target level of 7% ± 2% on average during Q4 2024. In a meeting held on February 2, the committee had decided to keep rates at 16.25% for deposits, 17.25% for lending, and 16.75% for the credit and discount. In 2022, the apex bank raised interest rates four times to 800 bps, out of which 500 bps was hiked in Q4 to curb the mounting inflation. HSBC and Goldman Sachs Group had predicted a 300 bps hike in interest rates in today's MPC meeting. While the US investment bank expected interest rates to increase due to February’s inflation that went beyond forecasts, HSBC noted that the interest rate hikes will put more burden on borrowing and slow growth rate. The median forecast in a Reuters poll of 15 analysts was for the CBE to hike rates by 200bps. Seven of the analysts expected a hike of 300bps.
Humza Yousaf Wins SNP Leadership Contest To Become First Muslim Leader Of Scotland - Yousaf beat devout Christian Kate Forbes to become the next leader of the governing SNP party, despite being strongly disliked among the Scottish electorate...Humza Yousaf has won the Scottish National Party leadership contest and will succeed the outgoing Nicola Sturgeon as First Minister of Scotland, despite being disliked by almost half of Scots, according to recent polling.The Scottish health secretary will become the first Muslim to attain the role. He narrowly beat colleague and practicing Christian Kate Forbes by 52 to 48 percent once second preference votes were counted after outsider Ash Regan was eliminated in third place. The 37-year-old is expected to be formally sworn in as Scotland’s sixth first minister at the Court of Session in Edinburgh on Wednesday, subject to a procedural parliamentary vote on Tuesday.
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