Fed's Bowman: more policy tightening likely appropriate - (Reuters) - The U.S. Federal Reserve will probably need to raise interest rates further if inflation stays high, Fed Governor Michelle Bowman said on Friday, adding that key data so far this month has not convinced her that price pressures are receding. "Should inflation remain high and the labor market remain tight, additional monetary policy tightening will likely be appropriate to attain a sufficiently restrictive stance of monetary policy to lower inflation over time," Bowman said in remarks prepared for delivery at the European Central Bank in Frankfurt, Germany that mostly focused on the fallout from the recent U.S. bank failures. "I also expect that our policy rate will need to remain sufficiently restrictive for some time to bring inflation down and create conditions that will support a sustainably strong labor market." The Fed last week lifted interest rates a 10th straight time, bringing the benchmark rate to a 5%-5.25% range in what has been the most aggressive round of policy tightening in 40 years. Fed Chair Jerome Powell signaled it may be time for the central bank to pause and assess the impact of the Fed's policy tightening to date. Since then the economic data has been mixed, with a Labor Department report last week showing U.S. employers added a whopping quarter-million jobs last month and the unemployment rate edged down to 3.4%. This week a separate report showed consumer prices rose 4.9% in April, still far higher than the Fed's 2% target but down from 5% in March, and enough to convince financial markets that the Fed will not raise rates any further. But in her remarks Friday, Bowman said neither the jobs report nor the inflation report provided the "consistent evidence" of falling inflation that she is looking for as she considers whether interest rates are high enough. Fed policy is not on a preset path, she said. And there are, she said, some signs that higher rates are having an effect, including slowing in demand, fewer job openings and slower economic growth. Credit is also likely to continue tighten, and recent bank failures have added uncertainty to the economic outlook, she said. "In my view, our policy stance is now restrictive, but whether it is sufficiently restrictive to bring inflation down remains uncertain," Bowman said. "I will continue to closely monitor the incoming data as I consider the appropriate stance of monetary policy going into our June meeting."
Early Fed Cut Stays On Table As China's Stall Keeps Lid On CPI (w/graphs) China’s faltering recovery implies US CPI’s downwards trend is unlikely to reverse soon enough to prevent the Fed from cutting rates early. We’re coming to the crunch point. We’ll find out how immovable the Fed’s “higher-for-longer” aim for rates is when up against what is often the unstoppable force of the market, which has been consistently reluctant to price in the “longer” part of the Fed’s policy wish. September is now pricing a full 25bps rate-cut (and June rate-hike odds have plunged from 20% to less than 5% this morning)... Yet now that the Fed is quite possibly done hiking, and the economic lesions from tight monetary policy are beginning to appear, the duel between the central bank and the market will soon be forced to a conclusion. What would give the Fed cover to keep rates steady is a re-acceleration in inflation. It is the deceleration in inflation (it’s ok to dabble in third derivatives sometimes) that has guided the market’s pricing of a Fed pivot. The pace of inflation’s fall has not let up and continues to give backing to the market’s belief this will be enough to allow the Fed to reverse course. Headline inflation has fallen as energy and food prices have eased. But core inflation has been more stubborn. We can split core PCE up into cyclical and acyclical components. Cyclical inflation is more influenced directly by Fed policy, while acyclical is primarily guided by non-domestic factors. Cyclical inflation has barely budged from its highs, while almost all of core PCE’s fall has been driven by acyclical factors. Indeed what we find is, given its size and influence on global prices, acyclical inflation is heavily driven by China. And it’s because of China that the market might finally be the victor on where rates go next. While the country turned a corner at the beginning of this year, its recovery continues to stutter. This means it is less likely to give any notable support to global prices – and therefore US acyclical inflation – in the coming months. On the other hand, the reasons why the Fed may be forced to cut as soon as September, when the market expects – recession, credit tightening, debt ceiling – are mounting. With no China to significantly upset the inflation apple cart, the weakening US inflation outlook inferred from the leading indicator in the chart above is likely to be realized, allowing the Fed the cover it needs to give the market what it’s been hankering after all along.
The Fed’s Interest Rates Are still Fueling Inflation rather than Dousing it, and People Getting Used to this Inflation by Wolf Richter - The Fed has now raised its policy rates by 500 basis points in a little over a year, with the top of the range now at 5.25%, and with the Effective Federal Funds Rate at 5.08%. But “core” CPI, which excludes the volatile food and energy components, has gotten stuck at around 5.5% to 5.7% for the fifth month in a row. There wasn’t any progress at all with core CPI in five months. Inflation intensity is simply shifting from one category to another. As inflation temporarily subsides in one category, it resurges in another. The Fed’s short-term policy rate, as measured by the Effective Federal Funds Rate (purple), is still below inflation, as measured by core CPI (red): With core CPI at 5.52% in April, the “real” Effective Federal Funds Rate (EFFR minus core CPI) is still a negative 0.44%. And negative real policy rates are still a form of interest rate repression, and are still stimulative of the economy and of inflation. And so core CPI got stuck at 5.5% to 5.7%, and isn’t making any efforts to be heading toward 2% or whatever, and instead, everyone has gotten used to this inflation and accepts it, and deals with it, and builds it into economic decisions, which is nurturing this inflation right along. In other words, with its current policy rates, the Fed is still just removing accommodation, rather than turning the screws on inflation. But the crybabies on Wall Street are out there in force screaming about those unfair interest rates and clamoring for immediate rate cuts, like in June, to remove this incredible injustice of 5% short-term rates and even lower long-term Treasury yields (the 10-year Treasury yield is at 3.43%, LOL), when core CPI is 5.5%. For those crybabies on Wall Street, the best money is free money. They want their 0% back, and they want their QE back. But now we have this inflation that’s not going away. When we look back 60 years, we see what an extraordinary period this QE and interest rate repression since 2008 has been. During almost the entire 14 years — except for a few months in 2019 — the Fed’s policy rate was far below the rate of core CPI. And to this day, it remains below core CPI. But that’s an upside-down version of what was the rule before 2008. The chart below goes back to 1965. Before 2008, the rule was that the Fed’s policy rates were nearly always higher or substantially higher than the rate of inflation. For example, in the 1990s, the EFFR was around 5% to 6%, while core CPI was around 2% to 3%. In other words, the EFFR was double the rate of inflation, which is what pushed down inflation. And those were booming times. I mean, we even had the magnificent Dotcom bubble. Over those decades from 2008 back to 1965, there were only a few relatively brief periods when the Fed’s interest rates were below the rate of inflation as measured by core CPI. But since late 2008, we’ve had the opposite. Policy was turned upside down. And it still hasn’t been turned right-side up. There is still a ways to go. And just looking at this chart, I get the distinct feeling that inflation is just being fueled further, rather than being doused, by the Fed’s current interest rates:
Biden nominates Jefferson as Fed Vice Chair, Kugler to Fed Board - (Reuters) - U.S. President Joe Biden on Friday nominated Federal Reserve Governor Philip Jefferson to be the central bank's vice chair, a key policy advisory role recently vacated when Lael Brainard took a top position in Biden's White House economics team. Biden also nominated the World Bank's U.S. executive director, Adriana Kugler, to be a Fed governor, adding a labor economist to the central bank's leadership ranks as policymakers judge how much further to raise interest rates and cool a strong job market that a number of them, including Chair Jerome Powell, see as aggravating inflation. The president also renominated Governor Lisa Cook, who joined the Fed at the same time as Jefferson roughly a year ago, to a full 14-year term on the Board of Governors. Her current term expires in January 2024. "These nominees understand that this job is not a partisan one, but one that plays a critical role in pursuing maximum employment, maintaining price stability, and supervising many of our nation’s financial institutions," Biden said in a statement. "I am confident these nominees will help build upon the historically strong economic recovery we have had under my administration." A Colombian-American, Kugler would be the first-ever Latina on the Fed Board of Governors, addressing the long-standing complaints of Senator Bob Menendez, an influential Democrat who has decried the historic absence of Hispanics in U.S. central bank leadership. "We are finally giving Latinos, all 62 million of us who call this country home, a seat at the table where the most consequential decisions on monetary policy are made," Menendez in a statement, pledging to fight for swift confirmations for all three in the closely divided Senate. Kugler, 53, is a PhD economist who has researched extensively on U.S. and international labor markets and served as the Labor Department's chief economist under President Barack Obama. Biden appointed her last year to her World Bank role, where she is one of 25 national executive directors at the global development lender. Jefferson, 61, would become the second-ever Black vice chair, the prior being Roger Ferguson who held the post roughly two decades ago. Jefferson's elevation to the No. 2 spot comes a year into a relatively subdued tenure on the Fed board during which he has offered limited views on monetary policy in the public sphere. He has also voted in favor of each of the eight interest rate increases the Fed has delivered since he joined the seven-member board after an easy Senate confirmation in May 2022.
Biden picks Fed Gov. Jefferson for vice chair, nominates first Latina to Fed Board - President Joe Biden has tapped Philip Jefferson for the No. 2 position on the Federal Reserve Board. If confirmed, Jefferson, who joined the board last year, will succeed former Gov. Lael Brainard as the Fed's vice chair. Brainard vacated the position to lead the National Economic Council in February. A former administrator at Davidson College, Jefferson has held several prominent positions in academia, served as a staff economist for the Fed and served on the advisory board of the Opportunity and Inclusive Growth Institute at the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis. Last year, the Senate confirmed him by a vote of 91-7 to fill a seat on the board with a term ending in 2036. The White House also said it would nominate Fed Gov. Lisa Cook for a full term on the board and Adriana Kugler, an executive director at the World Bank Group, to fill the vacant seat left by Brainard. "These nominees understand that this job is not a partisan one, but one that plays a critical role in pursuing maximum employment, maintaining price stability and supervising many of our nation's financial institutions," Biden said in a written statement. "I am confident these nominees will help build upon the historically strong economic recovery we have had under my Administration." Cook, a former professor of economics and international relations at Michigan State University, joined the board along with Jefferson last summer, taking on a seat with a term expiring next year.
Buffett Turns Gloomy: The "Incredible Period" For The US Economy Is Coming To An End -While Warren Buffett's insights on the economy are traditionally cheerful and uplifting - usually hitting at time of peak pessimism in the form of self-serving NYT op-eds or CNBC vignettes (and usually around the time the Omaha billionaire knows that the government will backstop his TBTF investments, unlike those of pretty much anyone else), on Saturday the head of Berkshire Hathaway had a far more downbeat and gloomy prediction for his own businesses - and the broader economy in general - the good times may be over.Speaking at Berkshire's annual general meeting in Omaha, Nebraska, the billionaire investor said he expects earnings at the majority of the conglomerate's operations to fall this year as the coming economic downturn slows corporate activity further. He made his pessimistic comments even as Berkshire posted an almost 13% gain in operating earnings to $8.07 billion for the first quarter, up from $7.04 billion a year ago.“The majority of our businesses will report lower earnings this year than last year,” Buffett, 92, said, before crowds of thousands at the event on Saturday according to Bloomberg. During the last six months or so, the “incredible period” for the US economy has been coming to an end, he said.As Bloomberg notes Berkshire is often viewed as a proxy for economic health owing to the expansive nature of its businesses ranging from railroad to electric utilities and retail. Buffett himself has said Berkshire owes its success to the incredible growth of the US economy over the decades, but his prediction for a slowdown at his firms comes as upheaval at regional banks threatens to curtail lending as inflation and higher rates continue to bite.Buffett’s long-time business partner Charlie Munger, 99, who joined him on stage, said the more-difficult economic environment will also make it harder for value investors, who typically buy stocks that look cheap compared to the intrinsic value of the businesses.“Get used to making less,” Munger said.Despite the broader pessimism, Buffett said he expects earnings at its insurance underwriting operations — which are less correlated to business activity — to improve this year. Berkshire already reported higher earnings at those businesses including auto-insurer Geico, which swung to profitability following six quarters of losses.
Treasuries Will Find Enough Takers On Debt-Ceiling Impasse -Front-end Treasuries have fallen since Friday’s non-farm payrolls data and Monday’s much-anticipated Senior Loan Office Opinion Survey from the Fed. Still, the increase in yields can only go so far.While markets were expecting a middling number on the jobs front for April, US employers were still hiring at full speed. Only three of 77 in Bloomberg’s survey had imagined the number would be north of 250k, and coming hot on the heels of the banking turmoil, that expansion was particularly significant. Hourly earnings increased and the unemployment rate extended its decline from a multi-decade low. The Fed reckons that we need a jobless rate of 4.5% to align supply in the economy with demand, but we got a number that went the other way. Clearly, the long tail of the economy will continue to wag.The SLOOS report proved to be long on excitement, but short on what it ultimately delivered: US lenders tightened their standards in the first quarter, but not by a whole lot. The more interesting read-out showed the weakest demand for credit among large and mid-size firms since 2009.So it wasn’t a shocker to see two-year yields clawing their way back to 4%, some 20 basis points higher than before the payrolls data. Even so, front-end Treasuries may find the equilibrium range has moved lower to between 4.00% and 4.20% - and there are enough factors that will support bonds. President Joe Biden is due to meet Congressional leaders later Tuesday, with Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell warning that there is no “secret plan” to solve the debt-ceiling impasse.While we have seen this movie before, the uncertainty will do the economy no good and push it that much closer to a recession.For now, front-end yields may nudge higher, but there isn’t too much fuel left in the tank.
43 Senate Republicans Say No To Increasing Debt Limit Without Substantive Spending Cuts -- A group of 43 Republicans in the U.S. Senate said on May 6 that they “oppose raising the debt ceiling without substantive spending and budget reforms,” coalescing around their House counterparts ahead of the White House meeting over the federal debt ceiling amid a monthslong political standoff.“The Senate Republican conference is united behind the House Republican conference in support of spending cuts and structural budget reform as a starting point for negotiations on the debt ceiling,” the group of Republicans, led by Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah), said in a letter addressed to Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-Calif.).Almost all Republicans in the Senate signed the letter, including Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.).“It is now clear that Senate Republicans aren’t going to bail out Biden and Schumer, they have to negotiate,” Lee said in the statement accompanying the letter. “I thank my colleagues for joining my effort to emphasize this point in the clearest possible terms.”President Joe Biden is scheduled to sit down with House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) on May 9 to discuss a path forward on the federal debt ceiling. But the White House has signaled that there would be little compromise from the president.“[Biden] is not going to negotiate on the debt ceiling,” White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters on May 2.However, the president “is willing to have a separate conversation about their spending, what they want to do with the budget,” she said.Biden and McCarthy have been locked in a standoff over raising the debt ceiling since January. The president has called on Congress to pass a hike to the government’s borrowing limit without conditions.McCarthy made it clear that he wouldn’t consider increasing the debt ceiling unless the president agreed to limit future spending.“No clean debt ceiling is going to pass the House,” McCarthy said on April 26. “We can’t do that to our children.”
White House Warns Default An "Entirely-Avoidable Economic Catastrophe" --As the debate over the U.S. debt ceiling and a possible default continues, the White House Council of Economic Advisers (CEA) published a new analysis, warning against the possible consequences of an actual breach of the debt ceiling.As Statista's Felix Richter notes, there is broad consensus among economists, the analysis finds, that such an event would “generate an entirely-avoidable economic catastrophe.”Even a last-minute standoff that leaves the possibility of a default open as the deadline approaches would likely have significant negative consequences, the report finds, as mounting uncertainty over a potential default would disrupt financial markets, hurt equity prices and shake consumer and business confidence. The outcome in case of an actual default is expected to be significantly worse, however, putting millions of jobs at risk and, depending on the length of the default, potentially resulting in a deep recession.As the following chart, based on CEA simulations of different outcomes, shows, a protracted default could lead to catastrophic job losses and a significant drop in economic output in Q3 2023. As opposed to past recessions, the government would be unable to spend money on countermeasures, making the potential impact on households and business significantly worse and the road to recovery much steeper.Furthermore, even a short debt limit breach could have a lasting effect on interest rates, as U.S. Treasury bills would no longer be perceived as risk-free.“Virtually every analysis we have seen finds that default leads to an immediate, sharp recession on the order of the Great Recession,” the CEA concludes.“Economists may not agree on much, but when it comes to the magnitude of risks invoked by closely approaching or breaching the debt ceiling, we share this deeply troubling consensus.”
14th Amendment emerges as last-ditch fix to ward off default -- Top political figures are considering the possibility that President Biden could utilize a clause in the 14th Amendment as a last-ditch effort to ward off the threat that the U.S. could default on its debt as soon as next month. When asked about invoking the amendment, President Biden as recently as Friday appeared to leave the option on the table but told MSNBC he had “not gotten there yet.” But Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen sounded the alarm Sunday, saying Biden using the amendment would be a “constitutional crisis.” The 14th Amendment obscurely addresses the nation’s debt, and legal scholars believe it allows the president to continue issuing debts without lifting or suspending the ceiling. “There is no way to protect our financial system in our economy — other than Congress doing its job and raising the debt ceiling and enabling us to pay our bills — and we should not get to the point where we need to consider whether the president can go on issuing debt. This would be a constitutional crisis,” Yellen said on ABC’s “This Week.” The Treasury secretary said she doesn’t want to “consider emergency options” and warned that if Congress doesn’t act to solve the issue, “we will have an economic and financial catastrophe that will be of our own making, and there is no action that President Biden and the U.S. Treasury can take to prevent that catastrophe.” But Biden technically can take action, and White House aides have reportedly looked at the possibility in order to avoid a default. Lawmakers have insisted a deal to avoid default can only be reached between Biden and Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.), who are meeting Tuesday for the first time since February in an attempt to hash out a deal. Biden and his administration have spent the past few months insisting they won’t negotiate and want a “clean” debt limit increase, but Republicans won’t budge on the stance that an increase has to come with a promise of spending cuts, though the GOP has been short on details on just where it wants to see the federal budget be slashed. The impasse has Washington bracing for what Yellen called a potential “catastrophe.” The nation has never previously defaulted on its debt. The amendment chiefly extended the Bill of Rights liberties to formerly enslaved people but also includes a section declaring, “the validity of the public debt of the United States … shall not be questioned.” Some Republicans don’t believe invoking the 14th Amendment is a viable alternative. Sen. James Lankford (R-Okla.), appearing after Yellen on “This Week,” said invoking the amendment is “certainly not a good option.” “She rightfully said it would be a constitutional crisis, because the Constitution is very clear that spending — all those details around spending and money actually has to come through Congress,” Lankford said.
14th Amendment talk on debt limit viewed with extreme caution by Team Biden --President Biden and his team are approaching the prospect of a debt ceiling escape hatch that hinges on the 14th Amendment with extreme caution ahead of a pivotal meeting with congressional leaders at the White House on Tuesday. Some officials have openly voiced concerns about the legal standing of using the 14th Amendment to solve the debt crisis and the potential financial ripple effects of going that route. There is also a desire to avoid undercutting talks with lawmakers on either a short- or long-term deal on the debt ceiling by vowing to go around Congress. While not entirely ruling it out, Biden and other senior officials are hardly embracing the idea, which revolves around language in the 14th Amendment that says the public debt “shall not be questioned.” The idea of using that language to allow Biden to unilaterally continue to issue debt has reportedly been floated privately within the administration. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen on Sunday, however, said using the 14th Amendment would trigger a constitutional crisis. She argued lawmakers should not let it get to that point. “There is no way to protect our financial system and our economy other than Congress doing its job and raising the debt ceiling and enabling us to pay our bills,” Yellen said on ABC. “And we should not get to the point where we need to consider whether the president can go on issuing debt. This would be a constitutional crisis.” Yellen would not explicitly say the idea was not being considered but described it as “one of the not good options” if Congress fails to act.
Yellen calls invoking 14th Amendment a ‘constitutional crisis’ - Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen on Sunday called the possibility of invoking the 14th Amendment a “constitutional crisis” after President Biden left open such an option amid stalled debt ceiling talks. During an appearance on ABC’s “This Week,” anchor George Stephanopoulos repeatedly asked Yellen about whether Biden invoking the 14th Amendment — in which he could continue issuing debt without raising the limit on borrowing — was on the table. She largely sidestepped the questions and laid the responsibility on Congress but alluded to the option as a dire choice. When asked to respond to Biden saying he was not yet ready to invoke the 14th Amendment, Yellen said, “Our priority is to make sure that Congress does its job.” “There is no way to protect our financial system in our economy, other than Congress doing its job and raising the debt ceiling and enabling us to pay our bills and we should not get to the point where we need to consider whether the president can go on issuing debt. This would be a constitutional crisis,” she said. Stephanopoulos continued to press Yellen on the issue, asking if invoking the amendment was on the table if an agreement between Biden and Congress isn’t reached. Yellen responded there was nothing the president could do to avoid an “economic catastrophe” using the mechanism even though invoking the 14th Amendment would be a choice for Biden. “I’m still not exactly clear on whether it’s on the table or off the table,” Stephanopoulos asked. “Is it a break glass in case of emergency option?” “Look, I don’t I don’t want to consider emergency options. What’s important is that members of Congress recognize what their responsibility is, and avert what will surely be, regardless of how it’s handled, what option is used to handle it … an economic and financial catastrophe,” Yellen said. “It sounds like you’re saying you don’t want to but you may have to,” Stephanopoulos asked. “Well … what to do if Congress fails to meet its responsibility, there is simply no good options. And the ones that you’ve listed are among the not good options,” Yellen replied. Biden said in an interview that aired Friday that he’s not ready to invoke the 14th Amendment, leaving the option on the table ahead of a meeting he has this week with congressional leaders on the matter. “I’ve not gotten there yet,” Biden told MSNBC host Stephanie Ruhle.
Union sues to strike down US debt limit as default looms | (Reuters) - A union for U.S. federal government employees filed a lawsuit on Monday claiming a law setting a $31.4 trillion debt ceiling is unconstitutional as political leaders seek to avoid a historic default expected as soon as next month. The National Association of Government Employees (NAGE) says the debt limit law adopted in 1917 violates the U.S. Constitution's separation of powers because it forces the president in the event of a default to cut spending already authorized by Congress. The lawsuit filed in Boston federal court says the Constitution's 14th Amendment requires the president to find funding to meet the country's debt obligations. The union in the complaint said it will seek an order temporarily blocking the debt limit law while the case proceeds. The White House has examined the possibility of using the 14th Amendment to avert a debt-ceiling crisis, but Democratic President Joe Biden on Friday said he was not yet ready to try the untested legal strategy. The relevant clause has been largely unaddressed by the courts, and legal experts disagree about what it requires from Congress and the presidency. The union said in the lawsuit that Congress cannot impose a debt limit "without at least setting the order and priority of payments once that limit is reached, instead of leaving it to the president to do so." The union is seeking to strike down the law setting a debt limit and to block the Biden administration from limiting borrowing in the event of a default so it can continue funding government agencies. The lawsuit names Biden and Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen as defendants. A spokesman for the Treasury Department declined to comment. The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The U.S. reached its debt limit in January, and Yellen at the time told Congress that she would suspend investments in federal government workers' retirement and health benefit funds to avoid an immediate default. Yellen has warned that the U.S. could run out of cash to meet its obligations as early as June 1. The union, which represents 75,000 government workers, said in Monday's lawsuit that its members have already been harmed by Yellen's extraordinary move. A default would further harm government workers by triggering furloughs and layoffs, the union said.
Government employees union sues Yellen, Biden over ‘unconstitutional’ debt limit law - The National Association of Government Employees (NAGE) filed a lawsuit to block enforcement of a law that sets the nation’s debt limit, arguing it is unconstitutional as a political divide over raising the borrowing cap comes to a head. The lawsuit contends that, if the debt limit is reached, President Biden and Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen would be forced to decide which payments to prioritize, violating the separation of powers by taking over Congress’s spending authority.“The Debt Limit Statute is unconstitutional because it puts the President in a quandary to exercise discretion to continue borrowing to pay for the programs which Congress has heretofore duly authorized and for which Congress has appropriated funds or to stop borrowing and to determine which of these programs the President, and not the Congress, will suspend, curtail, or cancel altogether,” the complaint states.Yellen has said that the U.S. could default on its debt as early as June 1 if the borrowing limit is not raised.President Biden will meet with Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) and the other three top congressional leaders Tuesday at the White House to discuss the debt ceiling, but a deal still appears far off.NAGE represents nearly 75,000 federal employees and asserts that its members are at imminent risk of layoff or furlough once the limit is reached. “Unless and until the Debt Limit Statute is amended or revised to allow Congress to determine the priority of payments among specific programs once the limit is reached, members of Plaintiff NAGE will suffer irreparable injury from layoffs, furloughs, and loss of employment that are taken without any legitimate authority by the President,” the group wrote in its complaint.Filed in Massachusetts’ federal trial court on Monday, the lawsuit further states that federal debts must be paid under the 14th Amendment, which states that the “validity of the public debt of the United States … shall not be questioned.”“The Fourteenth Amendment requires the President to meet obligations to the holders of federal debt,” the complaint states. “To do so, he must either borrow or find the necessary funds to do so from cancelling, suspending, or refusing to carry out spending already approved by Congress.” Yellen on Sunday said invoking the 14th Amendment would create a “constitutional crisis.” Our priority is to make sure that Congress does its job. There is no way to protect our financial system and our economy other than Congress doing its job and raising the debt ceiling and enabling us to pay our bills. And we should not get to the point where we need to consider whether the president can go on issuing debt. This would be a constitutional crisis,” Yellen said on ABC’s “This Week.”
Yellen says 'no good options' if Congress fails to raise debt ceiling (Reuters) - Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said on Monday that a failure by Congress to raise the $31.4 trillion federal debt limit would cause a huge hit to the U.S. economy and weaken the dollar as the world's reserve currency. Asked whether the U.S. Treasury could prioritize payouts to bondholders in the event of a default, Yellen told CNBC that President Joe Biden would be forced to make decisions on what to do with Treasury's resources if the debt ceiling was not raised, but declined to discuss or rank the options. "There are a variety of different options, but there are no good options. Every option is a bad option," she said. "The only option that really leaves our economy in good shape - and our financial system - is raising the debt ceiling." She said Biden hoped to establish a process for discussing and compromising on fiscal-policy issues and his budget proposal with congressional Republicans but would not do it "with a gun" to his or the American people's heads. Biden insists that Congress has a constitutional duty to raise the debt ceiling, which reflects previously spent federal money, without conditions, but Republicans have tied any increase to sweeping budget cuts that Democrats oppose. Yellen conceded there was "a very big gap" between Biden's position and that of many Republicans, warning that their proposed spending cuts were "draconian." Risking default to secure budget cuts could bring "enormous harm to American households," and even the current brinkmanship would harm financial markets and could jeopardize U.S. government credit ratings and undermine the U.S. currency.
Republicans take aim at Biden’s climate plan in debt ceiling fight | US Government borrowing --Amid warnings about looming fiscal catastrophe, the GOP is attempting to use Biden’s climate agenda as a bargaining chip over raising the debt ceiling – even if it could hurt Republican voters.Late last month, House Republicans narrowly passed speaker Kevin McCarthy’s proposal to raise the government’s debt ceiling in exchange for sweeping cuts to federal spending.Known as the Limit, Save, Grow Act, the proposal – which is unlikely to progress through the Democrat-majority Senate and which the president says he would veto – would eliminate Biden's student loan forgiveness plan and claw back pandemic relief spending. It would also repeal most of the new renewable energy tax incentives codified in the Inflation Reduction Act.“Republicans unfortunately are not allowing government to function as intended,” said Mark Paul, a professor of economics at Rutgers University.All but six Senate Republicans on Saturday promised to oppose raising the debt ceiling “without substantive spending and budget reforms”, supporting McCarthy’s position. Biden is set to meet with McCarthy on Tuesday.The Inflation Reduction Act dedicated $369bn to climate and renewable energy policies, constituting the largest down payment on climate policy in US history. But the GOP proposal would gut the majority of those provisions.The McCarthy bill would repeal the $4,000 credits for used vehicles and phase out some of the $7,500 credits for new EVs, remove tax breaks for building solar panels and other clean energy infrastructure, and put an array of other climate incentives on the chopping block. RL Miller, president of the advocacy group Climate Hawks Vote and a member of the Democratic National Committee, called it a “hostage situation”.“I am screaming at the top of my lungs for climate people who don’t normally get that into debt ceiling fights … to get involved in this one,” she said.The proposal was also originally set to eliminate incentives for the production of corn ethanol, but members of the Republican caucus from the midwest, where corn used to make ethanol is grown, successfully fought to preserve those provisions.The proposed cuts could help McCarthy curry favor with the far-right wing of his party. But if passed, the measure would come at great cost to Republican voters. The Financial Times last month found that red congressional districts have secured five times more funding for clean energy projects from the Inflation Reduction Act than blue districts; Politico found that two-thirds of the major renewable energy projects announced from the spending bill’s passage through January 2023 were slated for Republican-led districts. The result would be the loss of more than 77,000 clean energy jobs across 72 Republican-held districts, according to a recent report by the environmental advocacy organization Climate Power.“People in red states, in particular, need to be aware that their representatives are acting counter to their own economic interests,” said Miller.McCarthy also slipped a GOP proposal to speed energy permitting into his debt ceiling bill. Known as HR 1, the measure, which passed the House in March, would expedite the federal approval of energy projects and limit states’ ability to reject them, while buttressing domestic fossil fuel production.Among the “most egregious” provisions: a plan to repeal a fee that the Inflation Reduction Act imposed on emissions of methane – a greenhouse gas that is 80 times more planet-warming than carbon dioxide in the short term – from oil and gas operations, said Michelle Deatrick, head of the Democratic National Committee’s Council on the Environment and Climate Crisis.
Biden, McCarthy aim to break US debt-ceiling standoff as default crisis looms - (Reuters) - President Joe Biden and top Republicans and Democrats from Congress are set to sit down this week to try to resolve a three-month standoff over the $31.4 trillion U.S. debt ceiling and avoid a crippling default before the end of May. The Democratic president is calling on lawmakers to raise the federal government's self-imposed borrowing limit without conditions. Republican House of Representatives Speaker Kevin McCarthy has said his chamber will not approve any deal that does not cut spending to address a growing budget deficit. Biden is due to meet on Tuesday at the White House with McCarthy for the first time since Feb. 1, with Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and top Senate Republican Mitch McConnell. Top House Democrat Hakeem Jeffries will also join the talks. Analysts do not expect an immediate deal to avert a historic default, which the Treasury Department has warned could come as soon as June 1. Forecasters warn a default would likely send the U.S. economy into deep recession with soaring unemployment. But the start of active talks could soothe the nerves of investors who last week forced the federal government to pay its highest interest ever for a one-month debt issue. "We have a lot of frothy waters now. We need to calm them. Some of that could come just from saying, 'We've found areas of agreement, we've found areas of disagreement, we're going to get back together and work on a solution,'" Republican Senator Thom Tillis told reporters late last week. Outside observers including people who have participated in past fiscal negotiations and business lobby groups have laid out a range of potential compromises largely revolving around extending the debt ceiling past the November 2024 presidential elections while freezing spending. Legislative standoffs are nothing new in a nation with deep partisan divides, where Republicans hold a thin House of Representatives majority and Biden's Democrats control the Senate by a scant two votes.
Biden and McCarthy Reach No Consensus on Debt Ceiling as Possible Default Looms - President Biden and Speaker Kevin McCarthy emerged from a critical meeting at the White House on Tuesday with no consensus on how to end their impasse over the federal debt and spending just weeks before the nation is set to default on its obligations for the first time. With the economy hanging in the balance, the two leaders stuck to their opening positions, with Mr. Biden demanding that Congress raise the debt ceiling unconditionally to avoid a default and Mr. McCarthy insisting such a move be accompanied by serious spending restraints. But the two agreed to have aides meet later in the day and to reconvene themselves on Friday. The session in the Oval Office, the first such meeting in three months between the Democratic president and Republican speaker, was the opening act in a drama expected to play out over the next few weeks as the nation hurtles toward a deadline around June 1 before running out of authority to pay its debts. Neither side expected the meeting to produce a breakthrough, and it did not. Instead, it was a chance for both camps to lay down markers for the make-or-break debate. “I made clear during our meeting that default is not an option,” Mr. Biden said after the session in the Oval Office. “I repeated that time and again. America is not a deadbeat nation. We pay our bills and avoiding default is a basic duty of the United States Congress.” But he added: “I’m prepared to begin a separate discussion about my budget and spending priorities but not under the threat of default.” Meeting with reporters as he left the White House, Mr. McCarthy said the two sides remained at loggerheads. “I didn’t see any new movement,” he said. He added that he had asked Mr. Biden “numerous times” if there were places in the federal budget where they could find cuts. “They wouldn’t give me any,” he said. In one potential sign of progress, the two sides agreed to have their staffs meet as early as Tuesday night and daily through the rest of the week to discuss possible agreements on spending levels for next year’s bills to fund government operations — which could lead toward the sort of broader fiscal agreement that Mr. Biden has said he would discuss. But the Democratic leaders who joined the meeting, Senator Chuck Schumer and Representative Hakeem Jeffries of New York, insisted that any such discussions not be tied to increasing the debt ceiling, saying it was irresponsible to jeopardize the nation’s fiscal health and economic well being for tactical advantage. “There are probably some places we can agree, some places we can compromise,” Mr. Schumer said about federal spending. But that has to occur separately, not as part of debt ceiling negotiations, he said, maintaining the White House line.
Biden says he’s exploring 14th amendment to defuse debt ceiling standoff - President Joe Biden on Tuesday said he was “considering” the use of the 14th amendment as a means to circumvent the debt ceiling standoff he currently finds himself in with House Republicans. But he cast some doubt on whether it could work, saying it would “have to be litigated and in the meantime without an extension it’d still end up in the same place.” The president said he would look at the issue of invalidating the debt ceiling through the 14th amendment “months down the road.” The amendment states that the public debt of the United States “shall not be questioned.” Biden also refused to rule out a short-term debt limit increase. “I said I would come back and talk,” he said. “The one thing I’m ruling out is default, and I’m not going to pass a budget that has massive cuts.” The president’s remarks came at the White House shortly after a meeting he called “productive” with House Speaker Kevin McCarthy and the three other top congressional leaders. But Biden leveled criticism at McCarthy for sometimes making remarks during the meeting that were “maybe a little bit over the top” and for not knowing what he had proposed in his GOP bill. “Three of the four participants [were] very measured and low key,” Biden said. Back at the Capitol, McCarthy laughed off the comment, saying: “If you ever spend time with [Senate Majority Leader Chuck] Schumer, you’ll find out who the fourth is.” On a more serious note, Biden warned that not everyone at the negotiating table pledged to avoid default. Among only “three of the five, there was substantial movement that everyone agreed that deficit — defaulting on the debt was off the table,” Biden said. The president is scheduled to meet again Friday with McCarthy, Schumer, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries. Until then, White House staff and aides to the four congressional leaders would continue to hold discussions, those involved said.
If US defaults on its debt, Treasury would have to decide how to pay the bills — As the date that the US could default on its obligations grows closer, the Treasury Department must prepare for an unprecedented situation – figuring out which bills to pay with the money it has on hand if Congress doesn’t act.One option that Treasury officials have seriously contemplated in past debt ceiling dramas is prioritizing payments, which would entail satisfying certain bills before others. Among the highest priorities would be paying interest and principal on Treasury securities, according to a transcript of a Federal Reserve’s Federal Open Market Committee call during the 2011 debt ceiling crisis.Treasury has never been forced to implement any contingency plans because lawmakers always addressed the borrowing cap in time. But the threat of default is now looming large – as soon as June 1 – while President Joe Biden and House Republicans remain far apart on a solution to the impasse. The president will meet with congressional leaders on Tuesday to try to find some common ground. Some Republicans lawmakers are pushing payment prioritization as a way to minimize the fallout from a default, an option the party has supported in the past. But experts say it would be risky on many levels. For one, it would not avoid the consequences of a default. “Prioritization is effectively a default by just another name,” Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen told senators at a committee hearing in March. “It’s simply a recipe for economic and financial catastrophe to think we can pay some of our bills and not all of them.” Even if the agency continued making timely interest and principal payments, rates on Treasury securities would rise, “It makes our debt much more expensive because no one’s going to want to buy it,” he said. “The confidence in our debt goes down.”Yellen told lawmakers that she cannot assure that the idea is feasible, adding there’s a reason why Treasury secretaries of both parties have rejected prioritization in the past.“The government, on average, makes millions of payments each day, and our systems are built to pay all of our bills on time and not to pick and choose which bills to pay,” she said. “It would be an exceptionally risky, untested and radical departure from normal payment practices of agencies across the federal government.”Among the monthly obligations:
- – Social Security benefits are disbursed to about 66 million retirees, disabled workers and others on the third day of the month and on three Wednesdays each month. About $25 billion is sent each week.
- – About $40 billion is paid to Medicare Advantage insurers and Medicare Part D prescription drug plans on the first day of the month.
- – About $25 billion in pay or benefits for active-duty military members, civil service and military retirees, veterans and Supplemental Security Income recipients is disbursed on the first day of the month.
- – Interest payments of varying amounts are made around the 15th and on the last day of each month.
It shouldn’t be up to Treasury which bills to pay when, said Wendy Edelberg, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution.“They don’t have that authority, and they shouldn’t have that authority,” she said. “Congress has the power of the purse.”What’s more, if lawmakers fail to act and Treasury tries to implement a prioritization plan, it would likely spark swift legal action by those who aren’t first in line.That would also put the agency in the sticky situation of having to justify why one group, such as investors, should be paid before another group, such as Social Security beneficiaries.
Here are the top four areas of debt ceiling compromise the GOP is eyeing - With negotiations in the White House underway this week, House Republicans are getting more candid about what compromises they consider most feasible in a debt ceiling deal. Rep. Garret Graves (R-La.), a deputy to Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) who was central to outlining the House GOP debt limit bill, told reporters in a lengthy pen-and-pad discussion Thursday that the lowest-hanging fruits for agreement with Democrats are permitting reform, work requirements for public assistance programs, spending caps and rescinding unspent COVID-19 funds. “If I were the person that were trying to lead a successful negotiation, I would grab those four and start with those,” Graves said.Other House Republicans echoed those expectations — but some in the conference will likely expect more in the final agreement. And they point out that Democrats have not yet outlined any alternative to their own plan.McCarthy also said Thursday that the talks between the White House and Republicans have not been productive so far.“The president does not want a deal on this. He just wants to have default,” McCarthy said. House Republicans’ debt bill — which was intended to be a starting point for negotiations — paired a $1.5 trillion debt ceiling increase with about $4.8 trillion in spending cuts and policy reforms. But they knew that much of that was a nonstarter for Democrats. In addition to capping spending at fiscal 2022 levels, clawing back unused COVID-19 funds, blocking President Biden’s student loan forgiveness program and rescinding a boost in IRS funding passed last year, the legislation included the entirety of Republicans’ H.R. 1 energy bill that would boost production of fossil fuels.Here are the areas where Republicans are optimistic about reaching a deal.
- Permitting reform: Efforts to streamline regulations and procedures for building new energy projects have been a priority in both parties, though they have disagreed on the details. Graves highlighted comments from White House clean energy adviser John Podesta about the need for permitting reform at the Bipartisan Policy Center this week. And the White House is supporting Sen. Joe Manchin’s (D-W.Va.) recently reintroduced permitting reform bill.
- Work requirements: House Republicans’ debt increase bill beefed up work requirements to 20 hours per week for recipients of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (previously known as food stamps) between 50 and 56 years old. There were also changes proposed to the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program, and an outline for work requirements for Medicaid.
- Spending caps: A centerpiece of the GOP’s debt limit bill was putting a cap on discretionary spending at fiscal 2022 levels while allowing for 1 percent annual growth for 10 years. Graves said that the White House is “certainly pushing for a shorter window” on a spending caps agreement.
- Rescind unspent COVID-19 funds \:” Biden said following his meeting with McCarthy and other top leaders at the White House on Thursday that rescinding unspent COVID-19 relief funds is “on the table,” giving Republicans reason to believe that a compromise there is possible.“The fact that within 24 hours at the end of the meeting, they’re already stepping forward acknowledging Republicans’ strength in those areas is exceedingly good news,” Johnson said.
Podesta: Cut energy permitting talks from debt ceiling fight - The White House wants the proposals to overhaul federal infrastructure permitting rules jettisoned from the high-stakes negotiations with Republicans to raise the debt limit and avoid a potentially catastrophic blow to the global economy, White House senior adviser John Podesta said Wednesday. Podesta reiterated President Joe Biden’s call for a clean debt ceiling bill from Congress, pushing back against Republican efforts to tie those negotiations to Republican energy priorities and permitting reforms included in their energy legislation, H.R. 1., since the two parties remain far apart on what type of energy infrastructure — fossil fuels or electricity — permitting updates should focus on. “We think everything needs to be delinked from the debt ceiling fight,” said Podesta, who unveiled the White House’s permitting priorities at the Bipartisan Policy Center. “If you want to talk about the budget, we should talk about the budget. If you want to talk about permitting, we should talk about permitting.” The two parties have both made permitting reform a centerpiece of their policy and political efforts, but they remain far apart on specifics. The fight threatens to further complicate negotiations over lifting the debt ceiling given that House Republicans included permitting reform in their list of demands for passing legislation that would agree to pay money the United States owes its creditors. In his presentation, Podesta laid out the White House vision of hastening permits that focused almost exclusively on electric transmission projects to bring more renewable energy projects to the grid. It was in stark contrast with a bill that GOP Sens. John Barrasso of Wyoming and Shelley Moore Capito of West Virginia released last week that overwhelmingly focused on oil and gas permitting. Podesta didn’t shut down the idea of negotiating with Republicans, but was more optimistic about ideas put forward by Sen. Joe Manchin (W-Va.), as well as proposals expected from Sen. Tom Carper of Delaware. “We’re definitely open to working with Republicans,” Podesta said. “We think there’s opportunity in the Senate, especially with Sen. Carper and Sen. Manchin.”
Biden takes debt ceiling pitch on road amid standoff with Republicans — President Joe Biden took his case for raising the debt ceiling without conditions on the road to Valhalla, New York, Wednesday as he seeks to ramp up the public pressure campaign on lawmakers with the threat of default – and potential economic catastrophe – just over three weeks away. In his speech, Biden once again blasted Republicans for “holding the economy hostage” on the nation’s debt, saying Republican threats “are dangerous and they make no sense.” “They’re literally, not figuratively, holding the economy hostage by threatening to default on our nation’s debt,” Biden said of “extreme MAGA Republicans.” “We’re bringing jobs back all across America. This is no time to put all this at risk, to threaten a recession, to put at risk millions of jobs, to undermine America’s standing in the world,” Biden said. The trip comes as the president is set to reconvene with House Speaker Kevin McCarthy and congressional leaders on Friday after a one-hour meeting in the Oval Office on Tuesday reinforced the months long standoff over the debt ceiling with each side dug in on their positions. Following Tuesday’s meeting, Biden said he “made it clear” to congressional leaders “that default is not an option,” adding he is “absolutely certain” the US could avert defaulting on its debt. “I know we have the time, we could do it easily, but do we have the will?” the president said, reiterating his call for a clean debt ceiling increase before discussions about the budget and spending framework takes place. “I didn’t see any new movement,” McCarthy, who is holding the line on spending cuts accompanying any debt limit hike, told reporters after the meeting. “I would hope that he’d be willing to negotiate for the next two weeks so we could actually solve this problem and not take America on the brink.” As the stalemate in Washington, DC, continues, the president turned his attention to courting support in competitive districts, holding an event in Valhalla, an area represented in part by Republican Rep. Mike Lawler, who flipped the state’s 17th congressional district from blue to red in last year’s midterm elections. Biden briefly met with Lawler backstage before his event at SUNY Westchester Community college, a White House official said. “It was a good and frank discussion on debt ceiling and immigration,” the official said.
Senate recess on chopping block as debt ceiling deadline looms - The debt ceiling drama is jeopardizing one of the Senate’s more precious institutions: recess. With little progress made toward a deal to raise the debt ceiling ahead of the June 1st X-date, senators this week expressed alarm that they might have to nix their Memorial Day recess to try to stave off a disastrous default. The break is scheduled to run from May 19 through May 29. “I’m not making any solid plans until the debt ceiling is taken care of,” Sen. Dick Durbin (Ill.), the No. 2 Democrat, told The Hill about the upcoming planned break. “I’m not planning to be here, but I’m not planning on leaving. I’ve been in the Senate long enough, I can say that and it makes sense.” President Biden and congressional leaders are set to meet early next week about the debt limit, having postponed the planned Friday sit-down. The next get-together will piggyback off hours of meetings between their staffs in recent days and the initial sit-down between the five leaders that took place on Tuesday. Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) told reporters there was no “new movement” in talks, heightening the possibility that the weeklong break could be scrapped. Sen. John Thune (S.D.), the No. 2 Republican, told members during a conference lunch on Wednesday it’s “hard to imagine us not being here,” according to Sen. Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.). “If the deadline is June 1, it’s hard to see how we will have executed on this thing by then, or at least by the week before, which is the week we would be out,” Thune told The Hill, noting the decision is up to Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.). As for Cramer, he is fully expecting to be in the District. “I’m not worried about it [getting canceled]. I’m fairly confident it will,” he said with a laugh.
Resolve debt limit dispute or no pay for U.S. lawmakers, House Democrat says (Reuters) - Lawmakers in the U.S. Congress should have their pay frozen until the fight over whether to increase the country's debt ceiling is resolved, Democratic Representative Abigail Spanberger said in a letter on Friday. "If the American people and the American economy are suffering as a result of congressional inaction, then members of Congress should not be rewarded with their pay," Spanberger, 43, wrote in a letter to Congress's chief administrative officer. government's $31.4 trillion debt ceiling to avoid a catastrophic default were ongoing, but a gap remains between President Joe Biden and his Democratic allies in Congress, and Republican lawmakers in the House and Senate. It is not clear how the congressional administration would block pay, but Spanberger's call is illustrative of a growing frustration within Congress at the gridlock. The Treasury Department says it could run out of money by June 1 if lawmakers fail to lift the amount of debt the country is legally allowed to take on, a result that would throw stock markets around the world into chaos, as the United States' reliability as a debt payer is a foundational assumption of the global economy. Republicans insist on drastic spending cuts in exchange for raising the debt ceiling, while Democrats for months have refused to budge from their position that the debt ceiling is not an appropriate vehicle to make budget changes. "Hyper-partisanship in Congress is jeopardizing the economic strength and security of our country," Spanberger said in her letter. Biden and the 'big four' - the top two Republicans and Democrats in Congress - were supposed to meet on Friday, but the meeting was postponed as negotiations between staff were expected to continue into at least early next week.
GOP senators disavow Trump on debt ceiling, signaling growing rift - Senate Republicans are disavowing former President Trump’s call to let the federal government default on its debts unless President Biden agrees to “massive” spending cuts, dismissing Trump’s suggestion as something far too risky to seriously consider. The cold reception to Trump’s bold statement is the latest sign of the widening rift between Trump and his party’s Washington establishment. While Trump maintains strong influence in the House, where he helped Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) nail down enough votes to be elected Speaker, it’s a different story in the Senate. GOP senators largely ignored Trump’s participation in a CNN’s town hall Wednesday and later dismissed the former president’s claim that failing to raise the debt ceiling by next month’s deadline might not be a big deal. “I don’t think anybody suggesting that ‘we have to do a default’ is wise policy, wise strategy for this country,” said Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), adding that Trump “certainly doesn’t impact” her view. She argued it would be far more productive to encourage Biden and McCarthy to work together to reach a compromise rather than pushing a default as a viable option. “Right now, the talks are going on with the top four and of course the White House, and now the staffs. What we want to do is encourage that every step of the way,” she said. Senate Republican Whip John Thune (S.D.) said “most people recognize we need to strike a deal here” and predicted that Trump’s impacts won’t get much traction among GOP lawmakers. “I don’t think we want to go there with the potential consequences,” he said of a potential default. Asked about Trump’s comments, Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas), an adviser to the Senate GOP leadership team, said: “Nobody thinks default is a good idea. Nobody.” McCarthy on Thursday distanced himself from Trump’s comments. “The only thing I see right now is that the Republicans made sure default is not on the table. We’ve raised the debt limit,” he said, referring to the bill House Republicans passed last month to raise the debt ceiling to $1.5 trillion and cut spending by $4.8 trillion. “The only person talking about default right now is President Biden. His actions, he’s ignored this problem, just like he’s ignored the border, that means more Americans are gonna die from fentanyl. You had 11,000 people just yesterday come across,” he said. Those are much different tones than the one Trump struck at the CNN town hall, where he declared: “I say to the Republicans out there — congressmen, senators — if they don’t give you massive cuts, you’re gonna have to default.” He went on to say that a federal default might not have as big an impact on the U.S. economy as experts predict. Trump said the consequences of failing to extend the debt limit by the deadline “could be maybe nothing” or result in only “a bad week or a bad day.”
‘Significant risk’ US defaults on debt in ‘first two weeks’ of June: CBO - The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) issued a report Friday updating its projected timeline for when the nation risks defaulting on its debt, estimating the federal government’s deadline could now be the “first two weeks of June.” The nonpartisan budget scorekeeper warned Friday morning that there is greater risk the Treasury Department is on track to exhausting the “extraordinary measures” it’s been taking since January to temporarily stave off a federal default, if Congress fails to raise or suspend the debt ceiling in time. “The extent to which the Treasury will be able to fund the government’s ongoing operations will remain uncertain throughout May, even if the Treasury ultimately runs out of funds in early June,” the report said. The report chalked up that uncertainty largely to the “timing and amount of revenue collections and outlays over the intervening weeks could differ from CBO’s projections.” In the event the Treasury Department’s cash and extraordinary measures are able to buy the government until June 15, the CBO estimates that quarterly tax receipts expected around then, along with additional emergency measures, could “allow the government to continue financing operations through at least the end of July.” The CBO previously estimated in February that the federal government could default sometime between July and September. But CBO director Phillip Swagel also cautioned then that the timeline could move back, depending on revenue levels during tax season. The agency said in an interim update last week that there was more risk of a national default in early June as tax season wound down. The report is the latest warning to Congress that it faces a more serious time crunch to raise the debt ceiling than previously expected. Tax receipts came in lower than expected last month, which has sapped money the federal government could have used to stave off a default. The Treasury Department warned last week the US could default as soon as June 1. Economists have warned a government default could produce devastating effects for the nation’s economy, as well as global financial markets. “If Congress fails to do that, it really impairs our credit rating. We have to default on some obligation, whether it’s Treasuries or payments to Social Security recipients,” Treasury Department Secretary Janet Yellen warned in an interview with Bloomberg Television on Friday. “That’s something America hasn’t done since 1789, and we shouldn’t start now,” she added.
Debt ceiling worries deepen as early June U.S. default reinforced (Reuters) - The Washington standoff over raising the U.S. government's $31.4 trillion borrowing limit is adding to global economic worries, as a new non-partisan congressional report cited "significant risk" of a historic default within the first two weeks of June.The U.S. Congressional Budget Office report, issued Friday morning, confirms Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen's earlier warnings that a default could come as early as June 1. "There is a significant risk that at some point in the first two weeks of June, the government will no longer be able to pay all of its obligations," the CBO warned.Congress' budget scorekeeper also noted that the federal government's debt payments "will remain uncertain throughout May, even if the Treasury ultimately runs out of funds in early June."President Joe Biden and his Democratic colleagues in Congress have urged prompt action to raise the $31.4 trillion statutory limit on government borrowing without conditions since the beginning of the year.Republicans, who narrowly control the House of Representatives, want new limits on future spending nailed down before they give the green light on more payments to cover borrowing on previously enacted spending.At a meeting of Group of Seven (G7) finance officials in Japan, World Bank President David Malpass said the looming risk of a default, which would be the first in U.S. history, was adding to problems facing the slowing global economy."Clearly, distress in the world's biggest economy would be negative for everyone," Malpass told Reuters on the sidelines of the G7 meeting.Next week, Biden is scheduled to attend a G7 leaders meeting in Niigata, Japan, but said this week he could cancel his trip if he and congressional leaders were not making enough progress toward a debt limit increase.
Yellen says 'we have to default' on something if Congress fails --Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said that the federal government will have to renege on some payments if Congress doesn't raise the debt limit, though no plan on how the department would proceed has yet been presented to President Joe Biden. "If Congress fails to do that, it really impairs our credit rating. We have to default on some obligation, whether it's Treasuries or payments to Social Security recipients," Yellen said Friday in an interview with Bloomberg Television. "That's something America hasn't done since 1789. And we shouldn't start now. So we've not discussed what to do." Yellen was pressed on whether the assumption of many market participants that the Treasury would prioritize payments of interest and principal on Treasury securities was accurate. That presumption is based on discussions between Federal Reserve and Treasury officials during the 2011 debt-limit showdown, revealed in a transcript of a Fed policymaker discussion. "My understanding — I was at the Fed in 2011 — is that this plan was never presented to the president and never approved," said Yellen, who was vice chair of the Fed at that time. Asked whether she would now present that plan to prioritize Treasuries to the president, Yellen said, "we are working full time to work with Congress to raise the debt ceiling. That's where our focus is." "We've not discussed what to do, if that doesn't occur, with the president — our focus is on getting it done," she said in the interview on the sidelines of a Group of Seven gathering of finance officials in Niigata, Japan. Biden and congressional leaders are planning to resume discussions on the debt ceiling next week. They had been scheduled to meet Friday, but the session was postponed as Republican and Democratic staff members continue to negotiate.
Debt ceiling standoff could derail Biden's trip to G-7, where Russia and China are on the agenda — President Joe Biden said Wednesday ongoing debt ceiling negotiations could disrupt plans to meet with allies in Japan and Australia this month and force him to participate in the summits virtually instead of traveling abroad.With the Treasury Department indicating that the U.S. could reach the debt limit as early as June 1, Biden warned that failure to find a way out of the political standoff could cause him to cancel the trip or move the huddle with world leaders online.“Depending on the state of play and the negotiations, it’s possible I would either have to delay the trip, not delay, not go and do it virtually,” Biden said in New York. "Or not go."Biden plans to attend a summit of the Group of Seven major industrial countries in Hiroshima, Japan, to discuss the response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and tensions with China, followed by a “Quad” meeting in Sydney on May 24 with Japanese Prime Minister Kishida Fumio, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese.Biden is also set to visit Papua New Guinea on his way to Australia to discuss regional security and economic and climate support, the White House said. It would be the first time a sitting U.S. president has visited the Pacific island nation.Biden has said that responsibility for raising the nation’s borrowing limit falls on Congress and that he will accept only a bill to raise the borrowing limit with no strings attached. Republicans are trying to use the threat of default as leverage to force concessions on federal spending.Failure to break the deadlock threatens the possibility of default on the nation's $31.4 trillion debt, an outcome that could trigger panic on Wall Street and bode possible political ramifications for Biden heading into his re-election campaign.Asked whether he agreed with House Speaker Kevin McCarthy’s assertion that congressional leaders had to reach a deal in principle by early next week, Biden demurred, telling reporters Wednesday that he was “not going to make those kinds of judgments.” “I’ve been involved in negotiations my whole career,” Biden added. “Some negotiations happen in the last second. Some negotiations happen way ahead of time. So we’ll see.”Biden and congressional leaders had an acrimonious sit-down Tuesday that McCarthy, R-Calif., characterized to Republican members as awaste of time. The group is due to meet again Friday before Biden is scheduled to depart for Asia next week.The fight over raising the debt ceiling has evoked the brinkmanship that took place a decade ago when President Barack Obama tussled with congressional Republicans over the same issue.In October 2013, Obama canceled a planned trip to Asia so he could remain in Washington to negotiate an end to a government shutdown and reach a deal that would raise the debt limit.
US Announces $1.2 Billion in Long-Term Military Aid for Ukraine - The Biden administration on Tuesday announced a new $1.2 billion weapons package for Ukraine that includes additional 155mm artillery ammunition and air defense systems.The massive package is being provided through the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative (USAI), which allows the Pentagon to purchase military equipment for Kyiv, meaning the arms could take months or years to deliver. The bulk of US military aid to Ukraine has been provided through the Presidential Drawdown Authority, which allows President Biden to send weapons directly from Pentagon stockpiles.The Pentagon said the announcement “represents the beginning of a contracting process to provide additional priority capabilities to Ukraine” and that the weapons package represents the US commitment to supporting Kyiv for the long-term.“This USAI package underscores the continued US commitment to meeting Ukraine’s most urgent requirements by committing critical near-term capabilities, such as air defense systems and munitions, while also building the capacity of Ukraine’s Armed Forces to defend its territory and deter Russian aggression over the long term,” the Pentagon said.The package includes:
- Additional air defense systems and munitions
- Equipment to integrate Western air defense launchers, missiles, and radars with Ukraine’s air defense systems
- Ammunition for counter-Unmanned Aerial Systems
- 155mm artillery rounds
- Commercial satellite imagery services
- Support for training, maintenance, and sustainment activities
The Pentagon didn’t specify what type of air defense systems would be provided, but US officials told AP that it would include the Raytheon-made HAWK system. The new aid brings the total the US has pledged in military equipment alone to over $36.9 billion since Russia invaded last year.
Turkey Angrily Rejects US Request To Give Ukraine S-400 Air Defense System -Turkey over the weekend announced that it has rejected a US request for Ankara to provide Ukraine with Russian-made S-400 missile defense systems, which it controversially acquired from Moscow in 2017, and which resulted in strained relations with the United States. Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu revealed the request, and said it would be a violation of Turkey’s sovereignty, and strongly suggested the request was insulting in the first place. "They made proposals that directly affect our sovereignty, for example, give us control over it, give it to another place. Where is our independence and sovereignty?" Cavusoglu said. "The U.S. has made various offers regarding the delivery of the Russian S-400s missile defense systems in Türkiye to third parties, Çavuşoğlu also said," according to Turkish media sources. He stressed that Turkey's answer is a firm 'no':The minister said one of the proposals made to Türkiye was to send the S-400s to Ukraine. “They told us ‘Will you send to Ukraine?’ We said ‘no,’” he stated. Not only was Turkey hit with limited US sanctions in 2020 as a result of getting the S-400 systems, but the Pentagon also kicked Turkish pilots out of the F-35 training program, and halted delivery of the advanced Lockheed-made fighters. Addressing this, Cavusoglu emphasized his government is demanding the money back which was spent on training. "We are not saying ‘Let’s go back to the F-35 [program] right now.’ We are saying ‘Give us our money back.’ Because we produce our own national combat aircraft," he said.
Kissinger Makes Ukraine Peace Prediction Centered On China -- 99-year old Henry Kissinger has raised eyebrows among the Washington establishment which has long revered him, this time once again with some unexpected commentary on the Ukraine war. He said in a fresh interview with CBS News' Ted Koppel which aired Sunday that he sees China has being a positive force for bringing peace between Russia and Ukraine. "Now that China has entered the negotiation, it will come to a head, I think, by the end of the year," the former Secretary of State said. "We will be talking about negotiating processes and even actual negotiations." Newsweek summarized some of the remarks by saying "he believes the Russia-Ukraine war is coming to a turning point and expects negotiations by the end of the year thanks to recent efforts made by China."This is in reference to China's 12-point peace plan, as well as the fact that President Xi Jinping joined Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in a one-hour phone call in April. This after Xi's trip to Moscow where he met with Putin. Also interesting is that the elderly diplomat offered his services: Kissinger also told Koppel that he believes both Chinese President Xi Jinping and Putin would speak with him if he telephoned them. When asked by Koppel if he would meet with Putin in Moscow if asked to do so by a president, the retired diplomat said: "I would be inclined to do it, yes. But I would be an adviser, not an active person."
US Ambassador Accuses South Africa of Supplying Russia With Weapons -The US ambassador to South Africa has accused the nation of secretly supplying Russia with weapons, a claim that drew a rebuke from Pretoria.US Ambassador Reuben Brigety said he knew that a Russian ship that docked in South Africa in December was loaded with weapons but did not provide evidence for the claim.“We are confident that weapons were loaded on to that vessel and I would bet my life on the accuracy of that assertion,” Brigety said. “The arming of Russia by South Africa … is fundamentally unacceptable.”The accusation is sure to strain ties with South Africa as the office of President Cyril Ramaphosa has said it was “disappointing” Brigety made the charge while an investigation was ongoing.Vincent Magwenya, a spokesman for Ramaphosa, said the US and South Africa had agreed to let an investigation into the Russian ship run its course and that US intelligence could provide what evidence it had.“It is therefore disappointing that the US Ambassador has adopted a counterproductive public posture that undermines the understanding reached on the matter,” Magwenya said.South Africa’s neutral stance has angered the US as Pretoria has not gone along with sanctions against Russia. South Africa also recently conducted joint military exercises with Russia and China.
The 1619 Project and the New York Times’ promotion of the racialist ideology of Ukrainian nationalism - The 1619 Project, launched in 2019 by the New York Times, sought to rewrite American history in the service of contemporary domestic identity politics. It is worth revisiting this controversy in light of the New York Times’ subsequent coverage of the war in Ukraine. the publication of an article that can only be described as the opposite of “anti-racist.” The April 18 article by London-based reporter Emma Bubola, “When Freezing Sperm Makes a Patriotic Statement,” celebrates Ukrainian men who are “preserving Ukrainian bloodlines” by freezing their sperm, which the Times hails as “patriotic” and an act of “defiance” against Russia.“For many Ukrainians,” Bubola writes, “the idea of saving soldiers’ sperm is at once personal and patriotic … It leaves open the possibility, at least, of preserving Ukrainian bloodlines even as the Kremlin insists that Ukrainian statehood—and by extension Ukrainians as a separate people—is a fiction.”The phrase “preserving Ukrainian bloodlines” appears in the article without irony, qualification or quotation marks. Indeed, the whole thrust of the passage in context is that Ukrainians, in fact, are “a separate people,” contrary to the claims of “the Kremlin.” Behind this talk of “Ukrainian bloodlines” and Ukrainians as “a separate people” is an utterly toxic racialist ideologythat was developed by the Ukrainian fascists parallel to German and other European fascist movements in the period leading up to the Second World War. The idea, which the Times does not dare to say out loud, is that “pure” Ukrainian blood will be corrupted if it is “mixed” with the blood of “impure” or “subhuman” people, including Russians, Jews or Roma people who are not part of the Ukrainian “national identity” being extolled by theTimes.The editors of the Times know very well that the government-backed “bloodline-preserving” endeavor they are celebrating is tainted by precisely that brand of poison. In the service of war propaganda, the Times not only conceals the hateful subtext but actively glorifies these conceptions, which have their American counterpart in the racist “great replacement” theory promoted by figures such as former Fox News personality Tucker Carlson. The Times passes this filth on to American readers with an approving quote from a Ukrainian politician who claims that it represents “a continuation of our gene pool.”
Blinken threatened with contempt of US Congress over Afghanistan cable (Reuters) - The Republican chairman of the U.S. House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee threatened Secretary of State Antony Blinken with contempt of Congress if he does not comply with a subpoena seeking a classified cable related to the August 2021 U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan.In a letter to Blinken dated Friday and released on Monday, Representative Michael McCaul said information that has been provided about a "dissent channel" cable sent in July 2021 and the department's response to the cable were insufficient to satisfy the committee.The committee issued a subpoena in March seeking the information.The "dissent channel" allows State Department officials to communicate directly with senior officials. A Wall Street Journal article in August 2021 said the cable warned top officials of the potential collapse of Kabul soon after the withdrawal of U.S. troops.The State Department has said some information can only be shared with senior officials to protect the identity of those using the dissent channel."It's unfortunate that after being provided a classified briefing and being provided a written summary of the contents of the dissent channel cable as well as the department's response, the House Foreign Affairs Committee continues to pursue this," department spokesperson Vedant Patel told reporters."Our viewpoint is that the materials and briefings that we've offered and provided have sufficiently met the mark when it comes to the committee's legitimate oversight requests," Patel said.McCaul has launched an investigation into the withdrawal from Afghanistan. Republicans - and some Democrats - say there has never been a full accounting of the chaotic operation, in which 13 U.S. service members were killed at Kabul's airport.
DeSantis signs bill that bans Chinese citizens from buying land in Florida - Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) signed multiple bills on Monday that prohibit Chinese citizens from purchasing land in the state. In a news release, DeSantis signed bills SB 264, SB 846, and SB 258 into law, noting how he called on his state legislature last year to build upon its efforts to combat corporate espionage and higher education subterfuge carried out by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and its agents. SB 264, referred to as Interests of Foreign Countries, will prohibit “governmental entities from contracting with foreign countries and entities of concern and restricts conveyances of agricultural lands and other interests in real property to foreign principals,” which include the People’s Republic of China and other entities and individuals affiliated with the country. According to Fox Florida affiliate WTVT, the legislation will allow Chinese citizens with nontourist visas to acquire single parcels that are smaller than 2 acres and at least 5 miles from military installations.SB 864, referred to as Agreements of Educational Entities with Foreign Entities, will bar state colleges and universities and their employees and representatives from accepting any gifts “in their official capacities from a college or university based in a foreign country of concern.” State colleges and universities also are prohibited from accepting any grant from or participating in any agreement or partnership with any college or university based in a foreign country unless the partnership is authorized by the Florida Board of Governors or the State Board of Education, the news release said. SB 258 will require the state’s Department of Management Services “to create a list of prohibited applications owned by a foreign principal or foreign countries of concern, including China, which present a cybersecurity and data privacy risk.” The bill also will require government and educational institutions to block access to prohibited applications on all government servers and devices in the state, requiring public employers to retain the ability to remotely wipe and uninstall these applications, such as TikTok, from government-issued devices, the news release said.
House Republicans Demand Europe Falls in Line on Taiwan - A group of House Republicans introduced a resolution last week that would urge European leaders to affirm support for Taiwan and follow the US on its policies related to the island.The resolution was led by Rep. Max Miller (R-OH) and has received 30 Republican cosponsors, including Rep. Mike Gallagher (R-WI), chairman of the new House committee on China. The legislation is a direct response to French President Emmanuel Macron’s warning that Europe should not follow the US into a conflict with China over Taiwan.Miller slammed Macron in a statement on the resolution. “It is astonishing to me that the French president would even suggest siding with a communist nation over a democratic one. Our resolution asks our European friends a simple question: Do you side with Taiwan and democratic values, or with an aggressive communist power that threatens the world order?” he said.In his statement on the bill, Rep. Mike Lawler (R-NY), a cosponsor, said NATO countries must be involved in the Asia Pacific. “It is incumbent on all NATO members to strengthen their involvement with democratic partners in the Indo-Pacific to ensure safety and security in the region,” he said.According to the text of the bill, the resolution would call for “trans-Atlantic” unity on Taiwan and encourage “North Atlantic Treaty Organization allies to strengthen their engagement with partners in the Indo-Pacific.” It would also call on European leaders to “express support for maintaining the status quo in the Taiwan Strait and condemn any use or threat of use of force.”The resolution comes as the US has taken unprecedented steps to increase military and diplomatic support for Taiwan, including House Speaker Kevin McCarthy’s recent talks with Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen in California. The meeting made McCarthy the highest-level US official to ever host a Taiwanese leader since Washington severed diplomatic relations with Taipei in 1979, and it provoked major Chinese military exercises around Taiwan.
Jake Sullivan Meets With China's Top Diplomat in Vienna - National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan met with China’s top diplomat for two days in Vienna this week, marking the highest level of in-person engagement between the two nations since President Biden and President Xi Jinping held talks in Bali last November.According to a White House readout, Sullivan and Wang Yi, director of China’s Central Foreign Affairs Commission, met from May 10-11 and held “candid, substantive, and constructive discussions on key issues in the US-China bilateral relationship.”The readout said the topics discussed included “global and regional security issues, Russia’s war against Ukraine,” and Taiwan. “This meeting was part of ongoing efforts to maintain open lines of communication and responsibly manage competition,” the White House said.According to China’s Xinhua news agency, Wang and Sullivan held “candid, in-depth, substantive and constructive” discussions in Vienna. “The two sides held discussions on removing obstacles in China-US relations and stabilizing the relationship from deterioration,” Xinhua said.Wang also expressed “China’s solemn position on the Taiwan question,” which has been a major source of tensions as the US has been increasing support for Taipei. According to both readouts, the two sides agreed to maintain communication.The US and China made a point to hold high-level talks after the Biden-Xi meeting, but the progress was reversed after Secretary of State Antony Blinken canceled a planned trip to China over the Chinese balloon that wound up in US airspace in February. Beijing effectively froze high-level talks with Washington after Blinken called off his visit.
Report: Jake Sullivan in Saudi Arabia Discussing Rail Project - The US wants to push infrastructure projects in the region to counter China's Belt and Road Initiative - National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan was in Saudi Arabia on Sunday to discuss a rail project that would link Middle East countries and extend to India via seaports, Axios reported.The national security advisors from India and the UAE were expected to join the meeting on Sunday. Announcing his trip to the region, Sullivan said he would meet with his Saudi, Indian, and Emirate counterparts to discuss a “new area of cooperation” but didn’t specify it was a rail project.“This can help us carry forward some very tangible initiatives that we think will be unlike anything we have seen in the region in recent years,” Sullivan said.The rail project is something the US wants to push to counter China’s Belt and Road Initiative in the region. It was first discussed at a forum known as I2U2, which includes the US, Israel, the UAE, and India. The Axios report said Israel was not part of the rail initiative but could be added to it in the future if Israel normalizes ties with Saudi Arabia. A US official told Axios that Sullivan would discuss Saudi-Israeli normalization while in Saudi Arabia, but Riyadh appears to be more focused on repairing relations with Iran. CIA Director William Burns recently visited Riyadh and said the US was “blindsided” by the Saudi efforts to normalize with Iran and Syria.
House Hawks Urge Biden to Use Sanctions to Prevent Syria Normalization - The top Republican and Democrat on the House Foreign Affairs Committee released a statement on Monday slamming Syria’s readmission into the Arab League and urging President Biden to use sanctions to prevent further normalization.“Readmitting Assad to the Arab League is a grave strategic mistake that will embolden Assad, Russia, and Iran to continue butchering civilians and destabilizing the Middle East,” Rep. Michael McCaul (R-TX) and Gregory Meeks (D-NY) said.“The United States must fully enforce the Caesar Act and other sanctions to freeze normalization efforts with this war criminal,” the lawmakers added. The Caesar Act imposed crushing economic sanctions on Syria in 2020 that are specifically designed to prevent the country’s reconstruction. The measures have had a devastating impact on Syria’s civilians. The House recently voted overwhelmingly to keep enforcing sanctions following a devastating earthquake that killed thousands of Syrians. What makes the Caesar Act sanctions so sweeping is that they allow the US to sanction any person or entity for doing business with the Syrian government. This means US allies like Saudi Arabia and Jordan, which spearheaded the effort to bring Syria back into the fold, could potentially be targeted. On Tuesday, Syria and Saudi Arabia announced they were reestablishing diplomatic ties for the first time in over 10 years.The State Department has denounced Syria’s readmission to the Arab League. “We do not believe that Syria merits readmission to the Arab League at this time,” State Department spokesman Vedant Patel said on Monday. “We continue to believe that we will not normalize our relations with the Assad regime, and we don’t support our allies and partners doing so either.”On top of the crippling sanctions, the US has about 900 troops in eastern Syria and backs the Kurdish-led SDF, allowing the US to control about one-third of the country, where most of its oil resources are located. Syria’s normalization with its neighbors could complicate the US’s plans to keep occupying the country.
U.S. seeks to shore up border as migrants gather ahead of end to Title 42 - (Reuters) - The Biden administration and Texas state government are sending reinforcements to the U.S.-Mexico border to prepare for a possible increase in illegal immigration when COVID-19 restrictions known as Title 42 are set to end on Thursday. Hundreds of specialized investigative agents and air marshals from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) are being pulled from day-to-day duties to help with border management, sources said, leading to pushback from some employees who argue they are being reassigned to menial tasks. At the same time, Texas deployed a specially trained National Guard unit on Monday to target "hot spots" where migrants try to enter the United States illegally, Governor Greg Abbott said. The moves are part of broader efforts by President Joe Biden, along with state and local officials, to prepare for the end of the Title 42 order on Thursday. The order, in place since 2020, allows U.S. authorities to quickly expel migrants to Mexico without the chance to seek U.S. asylum. The policy shift is expected to lead to a rise in border arrivals as a result of pent-up demand and the perception among migrants that they will be allowed into the country. Near San Diego, California, on Monday, hundreds of migrants were waiting between two U.S. border fences as U.S. Customs and Border Protection appeared to struggle to process them, a Reuters witness said. Dozens reached through the fence asking for food at one point as volunteers brought peanut butter sandwiches, oranges and water. "We don't know who is encouraging them. That is the million-dollar question. We think it might be the traffickers," said Enrique Lucero, director of migrant affairs for the city of Tijuana in Mexico. Adriana Jasso, a human rights advocate for the American Friends Service Committee, said people who expected to be processed for asylum claims have instead been stuck at the border for days, exposed to the overnight cold.
'Risk it all': Migration rises ahead of end to asylum rules (AP) — Under a set of white tents at the U.S.-Mexico border in Brownsville, Texas, dozens of Venezuelan men waited. Some sat on curbs and others leaned on metal barricades. When the gates eventually opened, the long line of men filed slowly up the pedestrian pathway to the bridge and across the Rio Grande River to Mexico.In the past few weeks, U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials have been facilitating these expulsions three times a day as roughly 30,000 migrants, mostly from Venezuela, have entered the U.S. in this region since mid-April. That’s compared with 1,700 migrants Border Patrol agents encountered in the first two weeks of April.In the other end of the state, in El Paso, officials are dealing with another increase of migrants and worry that thousands more are waiting to cross.All this comes as the U.S. is preparing for the end of a policy linked to the coronavirus pandemic that allowed it to quickly expel many migrants, and it spotlights concerns about whether the end of the immigration limits under Title 42 of a 1944 public health law will mean even more migrants trying to cross the southern border.“We’ve been preparing for quite some time and we are ready. What we are expecting is indeed a surge. And what we are doing is planning for different levels of a surge,” Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said last week during a visit to southern Texas. But he also stressed that the situation at the border is “extremely challenging.”He spoke from a location in Brownsville where U.S. officials had set up a tent and facilities like portable bathrooms for migrants. He said it’s difficult to identify the cause of the recent increase in Venezuelan migration, but said the U.S. is working with Mexico to address it and predicted change “very shortly.”Many of those crossing the border are entering through Brownsville just north of the Mexican border town of Matamoros. The city was rocked by another crisis Sunday when an SUV plowed into people waiting at a bus stop across from the city’s migrant shelter. Eight people, mostly men from Venezuela, died.
In 'Major Pivot' Ahead Of Title 42 Immigration Catastrophe, Biden Admin Revives Trump-Era Border Policy - According to 'internal documents' seen only by CBS News (so who knows), the Biden administration is bringing back a Trump-era rule in a "major pivot" to help facilitate swift deportations of migrants who enter the United States illegally after the Title 42 pandemic-era emergency policy sunsets on Thursday. Under the new rule, asylum seekers who can't prove they previously requested protection in a third country, such as Mexico, will be ineligible. "More than 150,000 migrants are waiting in northern Mexican states to cross into the United States," reports CNN — and "hundreds of thousands more from Central America are on their way as Title 42 expires on Thursday." pic.twitter.com/PJMqjjY2kR According to the report, hundreds of US immigration officers have been trained on how to enforce the new restriction, which is expected to be challenged in federal court. That said, migrants who use a mobile app-powered system won't be barred under the policy - nor will the new rule apply to unaccompanied minors that the Obama-Biden administration built cages to toss them in over a decade ago. Of course, CBS News reminds us that "If upheld, the Biden administration's rule will cement a growing bipartisan rejection of the asylum laws that Congress enacted in 1980 to conform with international treaties designed to prevent nations from turning away refugees to places where they could be persecuted, as the U.S. did to some Jews fleeing Nazi Germany." So, 150,000 migrants waiting to cross into the United States this week have been compared to Jews fleeing Nazi Germany - with the implication of course being that only Nazis would oppose letting illegals into the country. According to internal training documents, only migrants with "exceptionally compelling circumstances" will be able to overcome the rule's asylum bar. Those include migrants with an "acute medical emergency," those who face an "imminent and extreme threat" in Mexico and victims of "a severe form of human trafficking." In order to avoid being deported and banished from the U.S. for five years, those who don't qualify for any exemption will need to pass interviews with heightened standards designed to lead to more rejections than traditional "credible fear" interviews, according to the training materials. Former ICE director Tom Hokman called the border crisis the "largest homeland security intelligence failure since 9/11," telling the Epoch Times that the problem will only be exacerbated with the lifting of Title 42. "What’s happening to the southern border right now, in my opinion, after doing this for 35 years, is the largest homeland security intelligence failure since 9/11," he said, adding "This is a huge national security failure."
Title 42 live updates: What to know before the rule lifts tonight -- Here are key points about Title 42’s end
- Title 42, the pandemic-era policy that immediately expels migrants without providing asylum hearings, expirestonight at 11:59 ET.
- Title 8, the immigration law in place before the pandemic, will replace Title 42. Under it, migrants will be allowed once again to apply for legal pathways to enter the U.S.
- Homeland Security officials predict 10,000 migrants per day will try to cross into the U.S. after Title 42 lifts. The numbers already surpassed that, with 11,000 apprehended Tuesday and Wednesday.
- Many new arrivals are fearful and uncertain about what will happen if they turn themselves in to immigration officials.
A federal judge tonight blocked the Department of Homeland Security from implementing a new Biden administration policy that would release some migrants into the U.S. without court dates or the ability to track them. U.S. District Judge T. Kent Wetherell II, who was nominated by former President Donald Trump in 2019, said the restraining order would take effect at 11:59 p.m. ET "to correspond with the expiration of the Title 42 Order and to give Defendants an opportunity to seek an emergency stay from a higher court." The restraining order will expire within 14 days, Wetherell said, setting a court hearing for May 19. The ruling from the Florida-based judge comes hours after Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody filed an emergency motion seeking to halt implementation of the policy, which is part of a plan that would release some migrants on “parole” with a notice to report to an Immigration and Customs Enforcement office but without enrolling them in the program.
Thousands of migrants overwhelm the U.S.-Mexico border as Title 42 expires - — The Biden administration Thursday vowed that its border immigration strategy would succeed over time despite a record influx of migrants across the U.S.-Mexico border as it lifts pandemic-era measures and begins emergency releases of detainees to ease overcrowding in government facilities. Are you on Telegram? Subscribe to our channel for the latest updates on Russia’s war in Ukraine. Illegal border crossings have topped 10,000 per day this week, the highest levels ever, as the Title 42 border policy was set to expire at 11:59 p.m. Thursday. Thousands of migrants forded the Rio Grande into the Brownsville, Tex., area, or arrived elsewhere, including more than 800 miles away on the dusty strip of U.S. land between the riverbanks and the border wall east of downtown El Paso. With Border Patrol stations and processing centers maxed out, officials authorized the release of migrants without court dates at locations where facilities exceeded 125 percent of their holding capacity or other thresholds were surpassed. The move was a step toward the type of mass releases Biden officials have wanted to avoid. “We are clear-eyed about the challenges we are likely to face in the days and weeks ahead, and we are ready to meet them,” Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said at the White House. “We prepared for this moment for almost two years, and our plan will deliver results,” Mayorkas said. “It will take time for those results to be fully realized. And it is essential that we all take this into account.” For the past three years, U.S. border agents have used pandemic-related rules, launched during the Trump administration, to summarily expel border-crossers to Mexico or their home countries. The Biden administration is replacing Title 42 pandemic measures with a new emergency policy that will make it easier for authorities to deport asylum seekers who cross illegally, while expanding opportunities for migrants to apply to reach the United States legally. In El Paso, thousands of migrants have been streaming toward two massive gates, two miles apart, that open into the United States. U.S. authorities have been directing migrants toward the border wall gates, marked Door 40 and Door 42, turning the river plain east of downtown El Paso into a massive outdoor waiting room. U.S. agents periodically opened the gates to allow groups of 10 or 15 to enter for processing and a chance to seek U.S. protection. “But 100 more arrive,” The White House set the Title 42 emergency public health policy to expire Thursday, and for months U.S. officials have predicted a migration surge would occur after they were no longer able to rapidly expel border-crossers as part of pandemic restrictions. The mere anticipation of the policy’s end triggered a race to the border this week, as tens of thousands of migrants have been crossing, with some saying they fear they’re more likely to be deported after the measure lifts.
Cities scramble to prepare for deluge of migrants following immigration change - It’s not just Texas that’s bracing for an influx of migrants this week. Cities throughout the U.S. are preparing to receive busloads of people at potentially record numbers due to a pandemic-era immigration policy expiring on Thursday. U.S. officials have said they expect as many as 13,000 people a day to cross the U.S.-Mexico border, many seeking asylum. That’s more than double the current average. The expected surge has local leaders warning that they’re not equipped to welcome them and pleading with the federal government to launch a national resettlement strategy. In Chicago, migrants are sleeping on the floors of police stations. New York Mayor Eric Adams, dealing with packed emergency shelters, intends to send newcomers to neighboring counties. Philadelphia has launched a fund for residents to donate to nonprofits providing services like food and shelter. Republican Govs. Greg Abbott and Ron DeSantis are already preparing to transport migrants north before the policy change, a political stunt launched last summer by the Texas governor to send migrants to Democratic-led cities like New York and Washington. “Cities have now been confronted with what is a federal government responsibility,” said Evan Dreyer, deputy chief of staff to the Denver mayor. “We are doing our best, but we need more help than we are getting right now.” At midnight, the Biden administration is lifting a Trump-enacted policy known as Title 42 that allowed officials to turn away people at the border for years on public health grounds. Biden has been met with criticism from the right and left over his immigration approach: Republicans have blasted the president for being too weak on the border and Democrats blame the administration for making it too difficult for people fleeing violent countries in Latin America to apply for asylum.
Biden DHS Coordinating Illegal Immigration In-Flows with Mexico – In recent days, large crowds of immigrants have formed on the Mexican side of the Rio Grande fully prepared to swim over well-worn crossing spots to Brownsville – but seemingly held back by unarmed Mexican immigration officials. Over the course of several recent days in this northeastern Mexican city when perhaps 3,000 immigrants a day swam over to Brownsville with no opposition on either side, a curious pattern became evident. At some sort of signal from the Mexican immigration officers, a group of about 100-150 from the crowd would suddenly stand in unison and rush down the riverbank, past the immigration officers, and swim over to America. It turns out that this pattern was far from happenstance. The Center for Immigration Studies asked several of the Mexican immigration officers what was going on and learned that President Joe Biden’s Department of Homeland Security has been coordinating these mass swims with Mexico’s immigration service, INM, at high levels on an encrypted Whatsapp channel. The officers explained that their senior officers were in touch with U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials about how many immigrants were gathered and were prepared to cross the river at any given time. “We’re letting them know that there’s a group of people ready to cross,” one officer explained. The Americans on the other side would ask the Mexicans to hold back the migrants – not because such crossings are illegal and should be blocked and obstructed, but only until the Americans had finished processing the last batch into the country through Brownsville. Once the Americans felt they could take in more, they message the Mexicans that “they are ready to receive them.” Then, senior officials would radio the on-ground immigration officers, all of whom are equipped with radios. Next, the officers signal to the waiting crowd to go forward and, once they figure enough are in the water, they cut off the rest and push and cajole them back into line until the Americans signal they’re ready again. The Mexican officers said the Americans initiated this system in late April but could only guess at why – perhaps to better manage the processing of very high recent numbers of crossings. But the collaboration explains why Mexican immigration officers are stationed at the river at all, and raises many questions. CBP did not immediately respond to CIS’s telephoned and emailed messages for comment. But the process, which has never been publicized, amounts to a “controlled-flow” system most often used, controversially, by Colombia, Panama, and Costa Rica, to facilitate mass illegal migration to the U.S. border rather than incur the expense and trouble of blocking it in those countries.
Mexico’s president blasts Florida’s new immigration bill as ‘immoral’ - Mexico President Andrés Manuel López Obrador took aim at Florida’s new immigration bill at a press conference Monday, calling the proposal “immoral.”Politico reported Monday that López Obrador called Florida’s GOP-backed immigration bill “immoral” and “politicking.” The bill, which was approved by Florida lawmakers last week, granted $12 million to a Florida program that has previously been used to fly migrants from the state to Martha’s Vineyard, a move blasted by critics as inhumane.“Why does [Republican Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis] have to take advantage of people’s pain, of migrants’ pain, of people’s need for political gain,” López Obrador said at a press conference, according to Politico. “This is immoral. This is politicking.”“Now, I found out that the Florida governor — imagine, Florida, which is full of migrants — is taking repressive, inhumane measures against migrants in Florida because he wants to be a candidate,” he added. If enacted, the bill would also prohibit funding for granting identification documents to undocumented immigrants, and it would invalidate drivers licenses issued to undocumented immigrants by other states when in Florida.Leaders of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus (CHC) condemned the proposals last month, saying in a statement that the new moves were part of “Florida Republicans’ anti-immigrant agenda.” “The recent policies implemented by the Republican-led Florida Legislature demonstrate Governor DeSantis’ preference for fearmongering, promoting racial profiling, and damaging Florida’s economy, rather than supporting the state’s Hispanic population in their time of need,” the statement read.
End of Title 42 has not led to ‘substantial increase’ at border, Biden officials say - Biden administration officials said Friday they have yet to see an uptick of migrants at the southern border in the wake of Title 42’s termination, but asylum officers have been told they must work throughout the weekend to help process claims. While officials expected to see an increase of migrants at the border following the end of Title 42, which allowed for the U.S. to turn them away almost immediately, flows have not yet altered in the immediate hours following the lift of the policy. “Overnight, we saw similar patterns to what we’ve seen over the past several days. We continue to encounter high levels of non-citizens at the border but we did not see a substantial increase overnight or an influx at midnight,” Blas Nuñez-Neto, chief operating officer at U.S. Customs and Border Protection, said on a call Friday with reporters. Asylum officers at U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), however, were notified they must work mandatory overtime on both Saturday and Sunday. “Developments emerging over the course of the day made clear that more resources are needed, and we must take immediate steps to increase the number of staff available on both Saturday and Sunday to meet the need,” a USCIS official told staff in an email obtained by The Hill. The email states the move is needed to “ensure full operational readiness.” “We are clear-eyed about the challenges we face in the days and weeks ahead, and we are ready to meet them. We expected to see large numbers of encounters initially; we are already seeing high numbers of encounters in certain sectors. This places an incredible strain on our personnel, our facilities and our communities,” Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said at a Thursday White House press briefing ahead of Title 42’s lifting. The Biden administration has surged resources to the border, including sending 24,000 border agents, along with military troops and asylum officers.
Migrant child dies in US custody - A migrant child has died in U.S. custody and a medical investigation conduced by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has been opened, officials confirmed Friday. “It is sad news, it is deeply saddening to hear and we are certainly aware of the tragic loss and our hearts go out to the family,” White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters. She said a medical investigation was opened on May 10. An HHS spokesperson said local law enforcement and Florida’s Department of Children and Families have been notified and HHS’ Division of Health for Unaccompanied Children is “closely reviewing the case.” Jean-Pierre declined to say whether President Biden would be reaching out to the family of the child. She added that she hasn’t spoken to the president about the incident. “Being a mother and celebrating Mothers’ Day on Sunday, it is very devastating news,” she said. The Department of Health and Human Services confirmed to Fox News that there was a death at the border involving a child. Reports have surfaced that the child, a boy, was in custody by the department for weeks and migrated from Honduras. The child died in the days leading up to the lifting of Title 42, which occurred at midnight on Friday morning. Officials have been warning migrants that the border is not open in the lead up to the lifting of the a COVID-era policy, which allowed for the rapid expulsion of asylum seekers.
White House considering new rules on airlines in event of flight delays and cancellations -- The Biden administration is prepping regulations that will seek to address benefits consumers receive when dealing with widespread flight delays and cancellations after travel mishaps over the holidays last year wreaked havoc on airline customers. The White House and Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg will announce Monday a rulemaking process that will examine the possibility of slapping requirements on airlines in the event of controllable airline cancellation and delays, according to a White House official. Among the possible requirements would be compensation in addition to refunds and other amenities to consumers, food or meal vouchers, overnight accommodations, transportation to a hotel, and timely customer service. The regulations will also include an enhanced dashboard on FlightRights.gov that shows which specific amenities each airline provides. The move from the Biden administration to explore the new requirements on airlines comes after the airline industry and the federal government faced significant backlash for mass flight delays and cancellations that stranded passengers during the holiday season last year. The disruptions included more than 3,000 flights that were canceled in one day in late December, including more than 2,600 from Southwest Airlines. Airlines were criticized by travelers for the lack of accommodations offered while they dealt with the delays and cancellations. The troubles in the travel industry also have come at a political loss for Buttigieg, who has faced the brunt of the criticism. The former Indiana mayor became a favorite target of Republican ire over the flight cancellations and a string of train derailments that made national headlines, even facing calls to resign. The possible regulations announced on Monday are part of a broader push by the Biden administration to regulate the flight industry, including rules that seek to improve pricing transparency.
FERC commissioners tell senators of major grid reliability challenges, with some blaming markets - The U.S. grid faces major reliability challenges, according to members of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission who used the word 34 times in their prepared testimony Thursday at a Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee hearing. There is a “looming reliability crisis in our electricity markets,” FERC Commissioner James Danly said. “The United States is heading for a very catastrophic situation in terms of reliability,” FERC Commissioner Mark Christie said. FERC Acting Chairman Willie Phillips said, “We face unprecedented challenges to the reliability of our nation’s electric system.” Growing reliability and resilience challenges from extreme weather and cyber and physical security threats require changes to the U.S. grid, according to FERC Commissioner Allison Clements. Christie said the main problem is that power plants are being retired at a faster pace than they’re being replaced, pointing to estimates from the PJM Interconnection. About 40 GW, or 21% of PJM’s installed capacity, is at risk of retiring by 2030, the largest U.S. grid operator said in a Feb. 24 report. PJM expects only 15.1 GW to 30.6 GW of accredited capacity to come online by 2030. “The arithmetic doesn’t work,” Christie said. “This problem is coming. It's coming quickly. The red lights are flashing.” Phillips said he is “extremely” concerned about the pace of power plant retirements. “This is something that we have to keep a careful eye on,” he said, noting that FERC needs to work on the issue with states, which have authority over resource adequacy. Reliability problems are driven by two main issues: faulty capacity markets and a dearth of gas pipelines, according to Christie. During Winter Storm Elliott in December, PJM was on the brink of rolling blackouts when a large number of gas-fired power plants failed to run, partly because they couldn’t get fuel, he said. Danly said the culprit is subsidized renewable energy, which he contends undermines the economics of coal-fired and natural gas-fired power plants in organized markets. “FERC has allowed the markets to fall prey to the price distorting and warping effects of subsidies and public policies that have driven the advancement of large quantities of intermittent renewable resources onto the electric system,” he said.
EPA clamps down on power plants - EPA has proposed its strongest-ever climate rules for the power sector, which require coal- and many gas-fired plants to capture most of their emissions. The Biden administration’s draft rules mandate that coal units that remain in operation in 2040 begin capturing 90 percent of their carbon by 2030. Utilities can avoid most requirements by agreeing to shutter their coal units by 2032 or by 2035 if they run them only occasionally. Plants that will retire by 2040 but don’t meet those criteria would co-fire with natural gas, meaning that they would use 40 percent gas to lower their emissions. The rules also demand that large natural gas plants that run consistently either capture 90 percent of their emissions by 2035 or burn mostly low-carbon hydrogen by 2038. Plants that run at lower capacities would face less stringent standards — or wouldn’t immediately be regulated. “These proposals are part of a larger suite of actions that EPA has taken to fully address the climate, health and environmental burdens from power plants,” said EPA Administrator Michael Regan on a call Wednesday with reporters. “Through this comprehensive approach, we’re working to fulfill EPA responsibility to protect communities from pollution while providing regulatory certainty.” The draft rules entail the most aggressive carbon standards EPA has ever proposed for the power sector — which contributes a quarter of U.S. carbon emissions. If finalized they would regulate existing gas- and coal-fired power for the first time. EPA rules crafted under the Obama and Trump administrations were overturned by federal courts. Once published in the Federal Register, the rules will be open for public comment for 60 days. EPA has said it plans to finalize them by June of next year.
As EPA prepares to roll out new power plant rules, Manchin says he'll vote against agency's nominees - As the Environmental Protection Agency prepares to roll out significant proposed rules for power plants, Senator Joe Manchin says he’ll oppose every nominee for the agency until the administration backs off. EPA Administrator Michael Regan has a 9:30 a.m. Thursday announcement scheduled to describe new carbon pollution standards for coal- and gas-fired power plants. The standards would require utilities to either reduce or capture emissions tied to climate change. One way of complying with the rules could be through the use of carbon capture technology, but that traditionally has been too expensive for viability. “This Administration is determined to advance its radical climate agenda and has made it clear they are hellbent on doing everything in their power to regulate coal and gas-fueled power plants out of existence, no matter the cost to energy security and reliability,” stated Manchin, a Democrat who chairs the U.S. Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee. Manchin said in response, “I will oppose all EPA nominees until they halt their government overreach.” In a briefing with West Virginia reporters on Wednesday, Manchin had more to say. “They’re crazy. Totally insane. I can’t clean this up any better than that,” the senator said, elaborating that a reliable electric grid still requires coal production. “Why can’t this administration understand ‘no means no.’ You’ve got to have it reliable. Coal is basically dispatchable; it runs 24-7. OK, we have renewables. I’m for everything. I’m just not for taking off what I’ve got to have just because you want something you want to have that doesn’t do the job.” Last year, the U.S. Energy Information Administration reported that 60 percent of energy generation was from fossil fuels like coal, natural gas and petroleum. About 18 percent was from nuclear energy, and about 22 percent was from renewable resources like wind or hydropower. On refusing to confirm EPA nominees, Manchin said, “This is the only way I can get their attention to make sure they know we’re for real; we’re not going to allow this craziness to happen in this country. I’ll do whatever I have to. “I’m not hiding it. I’m telegraphing it for everybody to know how sincere: Don’t be crazy.”
Manchin attacked EPA’s new rules. They could cost him millions. - When Sen. Joe Manchin upbraided EPA on Wednesday for requiring power plants to reduce their carbon emissions, he didn’t mention that the agency’s rules could threaten his personal income.The West Virginia Democrat vowed to oppose President Joe Biden’s EPA nominees because the agency’s rules being proposed Thursday could push coal- and gas-fired power plants “out of existence,” he said.The risk to one plant, in particular, could jeopardize a lucrative source of money for Manchin. His family business Enersystems Inc. delivers waste coal to the Grant Town power plant, a financially struggling coal facility near Manchin’s hometown that he has spent much of his political career protecting.The Grant Town plant has repeatedly threatened to shut down. Now, with the release of EPA rules that are expected to push many power plants into installing expensive technology to capture their carbon emissions before the pollution escapes into the sky, the plant faces an increasingly troubled future. Many coal plants might shut down rather than comply with the stringent new climate rules.“This is going to make it harder for them to stay around. You won’t find written anywhere in the rule that this is supposed to be putting coal plants out of business, but just do the math,” said Brian Murray, director of the Nicholas Institute for Energy, Environment & Sustainability at Duke University.Last year, Manchin earned $537,000 from Enersystems, according to financial disclosure records he filed with the Senate. He has been paid more than $5 million by the company since being elected to the Senate in 2010. The Grant Town plant is the main facility to receive coal from Manchin’s family business. Enersystems is now run by Manchin’s son, Joe Manchin IV.Spokespeople for Manchin and Grant Town did not immediately respond to a request for comment.Manchin, who faces a strong Republican challenger with deep connections to the coal industry in next year’s election, expressed outrage in a 221-word statement released Wednesday against the Biden administration’s “extreme ideology” for targeting fossil fuel carbon emissions. “This Administration is determined to advance its radical climate agenda and has made it clear they are hellbent on doing everything in their power to regulate coal and gas-fueled power plants out of existence, no matter the cost to energy security and reliability,” Manchin said. The Grant Town plant generates 80 megawatts of power, making it one of the smaller plants in West Virginia and the only one that continues to burn waste coal, a mix of mud and minerals that is often found discarded near old mines. Waste coal is a high-carbon fuel. Environmental regulations have long threatened the Grant Town plant. West Virginia, which still gets about 90 percent of its power from coal, is an outlier in the United States. Many states, including New York, have moved beyond coal entirely, replacing it with natural gas and renewables.
Gutting the National Environmental Policy Act is a political vendetta, not permitting reform -- At the end of March, House Republicans passed H.R. 1, a shameless giveaway of handouts and loopholes to the oil, gas, and mining industries, fittingly dubbed the Polluters Over People Act. While oil companies’ record-breaking profits make it clear that they’re not an industry under duress, Republicans continue to push legislation to gut our most fundamental environmental and public health laws, namely the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), to line industry pockets. But of course, if you listen to industry-branded talking points you won’t hear that side of the story. You’ll hear relatively innocuous-sounding words, like “streamlining,” “modernizing,” or the latest turn of phrase — “permitting reform.” To be clear, permitting reform is not inherently a dirty concept. After all, the climate crisis is calling on us to get clean energy infrastructure up and running quickly — and there is broad consensus across the political spectrum that we must improve existing permitting processes to make that happen. But, the way Republicans are using permitting reform as a foil to wage a full-scale political attack on NEPA and other bedrock environmental laws most certainly is dirty. As ranking member and Subcommittee ranking member of the U.S. House Natural Resources Committee, which has jurisdiction over NEPA, we know this strategy all too well and have watched it play out for years. As the GOP seizes every possible opportunity to wage war on NEPA, these attacks ignore the fact that it was passed with overwhelming bipartisan support in Congress because it gave the American people a seat at the table in federal decision-making. These attacks ignore the fact that good-government process put into place by NEPA are often communities’ only line of defense against pollution and other harms. And, these attacks ignore how critical NEPA is for environmental justice communities, which have long been excluded from decisions and treated as collateral damage by irresponsible polluters. But perhaps most curiously, Republican attacks ignore the fact that slicing and dicing NEPA won’t speed up permitting processes. That’s because a whopping 95 percent of all projects are already exempt from detailed reviews under NEPA. Of the less than 1 percent of projects that go through NEPA’s full Environmental Impact Statement process, these are the largest and most complex — making their environmental and public health impacts deserving of closer scrutiny and public input. When there are project delays, they are often caused by the permit applicants themselves who may fail to provide the right application materials or pause a project due to financing and market conditions. To put it simply, Republicans appear to be more interested in advancing a pro-polluter political agenda than putting real and meaningful permtting solutions in place. They know that if they weaken longstanding environmental protections and hollow out federal agencies, polluters can pursue projects with as little accountability (and as much profit) as possible.
Big Oil Tries To Buy Its Own Courts -When Texas oil and gas companies need to remove a legal roadblock to drilling, or answer for alleged wrongdoing, they head to court — and a bill that could be considered by the state legislature as early as Thursday would hand them considerable sway in picking the judges that hear some of their cases.The state’s $200 billion fossil-fuel industry has thrown its weight behind legislation that would create a new system of district courts to hear certain disputes involving corporations. While 26 states already have so-called business courts, the Texas proposal has a unique feature: Republican Gov. Greg Abbott, who has been bankrolled by fossil fuel donors, would have the power to personally appoint judges, who would then serve two-year terms — a tenure that would let Abbott quickly remove judges if they deny favorable rulings to his supporters.The legislation backed by the oil industry comes just after the U.S. Supreme Court allowed climate cases against fossil fuel companies to proceed in state courts. Opponents of the business-court plan say that not only would it run afoul of the state constitution, which mandates the popular election of district and appellate judges, it could also set a dangerous national precedent by undermining the independence of the judiciary.As a result, cases that would otherwise be heard by judges elected by communities in their districts could instead be forced into courts controlled by the governor — and by extension, his donors.Abbott, who has raked in more than $42 million of campaign cash from the oil and gas industry during his career, has already raised eyebrows by appointing some of those donors to political positions — including an oil tycoon whom he tapped to head the agency overseeing the state’s energy grid.Some experts also raised alarms about a separate intervention by Abbott into the legal process last month, when he called for the pardon of a man convicted of killing a protester before his sentencing had even taken place.The business court bill exacerbates those concerns by allowing the governor to handpick judges overseeing cases impacting some of his largest contributors.Since they serve terms shorter than his own, “there’s a real danger that he can just swap them out every two years if they aren't making the kinds of rulings he wants,” said Texas-based commercial practice attorney Michael Smith. “It’s a basic separation of powers issue.”Smith testified against the bill last month on behalf of the Texas chapter of the American Board of Trial Advocates (ABOTA), one of three statewide legal associations opposing the measure alongside several Democratic appeals court judges and state consumer groups.The push for business courts is backed by a broad swath of industries,including lobbying groups representing the different segments of the state’s fossil fuel sector, as well as Energy Transfer, the pipeline company owned by billionaire Abbott donor Kelcy Warren.Those groups rely on the state’s district courts for a range of issues that help maintain business as usual — from suing Texas cities over municipal bans on fracking to removing regulatory roadblocks to pipeline development and filing condemnation petitions against residents who resist it.Fossil-fuel companies also frequently end up in the state’s district courts when they’re accused of wrongdoing. Energy Transfer, ExxonMobil, and Kinder Morgan — all of which have delivered big donations to Abbott — are among the energy companies currently facing a spate of lawsuits over claims of profiteering during the state’s deadly winter blackouts in 2021, though the new business courts would not have jurisdiction over claims already before district courts.The Texas House passed the bill last week on a party-line vote; the state Senate is scheduled to vote on it as soon as Thursday.
Democrats press Biden administration on climate impact of LNG buildout (Reuters) - Dozens of Democratic lawmakers on Monday called on the Biden administration to consider the climate and environmental justice impacts of the expansion of the liquefied natural gas (LNG) industry.The 44 lawmakers, including Senators Jeffrey Merkley, Edward Markey and Representatives Jared Huffman and Raul Grijalva, urged the Council on Environmental Quality, a White House office, to "include greater scrutiny on the entire LNG supply chain" as it finalizes guidance on greenhouse gas emissions and climate change under bedrock U.S. environmental law.In a letter to Brenda Mallory, the CEQ chair, the lawmakers asked for the scrutiny "from wellhead, through export outside the United States, to combustion."As the U.S. vies for the top LNG exporting spot, administration officials have been holding talks with global energy companies and foreign officials about potential ways to certify emissions reductions of natural gas.While some gas drillers are marketing certified, or responsibly sourced gas, with carbon reductions certified by third parties, the administration has not weighed in on how such certification should work.As Europe cuts gas purchases from Russia after its invasion of Ukraine, the Biden administration has approving exports of LNG from projects, a step in opening potential projects.In the latest support for the industry, it approved LNG exports from Alaska LNG last month. Project backers hope it will be open by 2030, though no final investment decision has not been made."Existing LNG infrastructure already has a disproportionate impact on Black, Brown, Indigenous, and poor communities; this will only be exacerbated with the addition of the proposed projects," the letter said.The lawmakers said U.S. agencies decide on LNG projects based on a public interest determination made during the era of former President Donald Trump that fails to incorporate drilling emissions of methane, a potent greenhouse gas, which, they said, makes LNG exports worse than coal.
Congressional Democrats ask Biden administration to revamp LNG permit process More than 40 congressional Democrats urged the Biden administration, in a letter released Monday, to consider the possible environmental risk of liquefied natural gas (LNG) expansion. Forty-four senators and representatives wrote to Brenda Mallory, chair of the White House Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ), calling on her to develop specific best practices for the LNG infrastructure approval process.Specifically, the members expressed concerns that CEQ assesses LNG permits based on a Trump-era framework that does not address upstream methane emissions. The 2020 changes to the assessment process barred the CEQ from considering indirect environmental impacts of permitting.Although methane dissipates faster in the atmosphere than carbon dioxide, it is also about 25 times more effective at trapping heat in the atmosphere, making it a particular concern as a driver of climate change. The letter was led by Sen. Jeff Merkley (Ore.) and Reps. Raúl Grijalva (Ariz.), Jared Huffman (Calif.) and Nanette Díaz Barragán (Calif.).“Our ability to combat the worst impacts of the climate crisis depends, to a significant degree, on whether the United States approves proposed LNG pipeline and export terminal projects on top of the already-substantial LNG infrastructure,” the members wrote.“CEQ’s guidance should include examples and best practices for how agencies should conduct meaningful engagement to ensure that relevant agencies conduct proper and adequate analysis of the direct, indirect, and cumulative effects of LNG infrastructure,” they added.U.S. production of LNG has dramatically expanded in recent years, particularly for export to European nations seeking an alternative to the Russian oil they relied on before the invasion of Ukraine. Exports rose to an average of 10.6 billion cubic feet per day last year, a 9 percent increase from 2021, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, which projects a daily average of 12.1 billion per day this year.
Congress eyes new rules for tech: What's under consideration (AP) — Most Democrats and Republicans agree that the federal government should better regulate the biggest technology companies, particularly social media platforms. But there is very little consensus on how it should be done. Should TikTok be banned? Should younger children be kept off social media? Can the government make sure private information is secure? What about brand new artificial intelligence interfaces? Or should users be regulating themselves, leaving the government out of it?Tech regulation is gathering momentum on Capitol Hill as concerns skyrocket about China’s ownership of TikTok and as parents navigating a post-pandemic mental health crisis have grown increasingly worried about what their children are seeing online. Lawmakers have introduced a slew of bipartisan bills, boosting hopes of compromise. But any effort to regulate the mammoth industry would face major obstacles as technology companies have fought interference.Noting that many young people are struggling, President Joe Biden said in his February State of the Union speech that “it’s time” to pass bipartisan legislation to impose stricter limits on the collection of personal data and ban targeted advertising to children. “We must finally hold social media companies accountable for the experiment they are running on our children for profit,” Biden said.Tech companies have aggressively fought any federal interference, and they have operated for decades now without strict federal oversight, making any new rules or guidelines that much more complicated. A look at some of the areas of potential regulation:
Subpoenaed Alphabet documents improperly redacted, may not be complete, Jordan says -- House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) on Monday sent a letter to Alphabet, the parent company of Google and YouTube, urging full compliance with a subpoena requiring the production of unredacted documents pertaining to the company’s communications with the executive branch. In the letter, Jordan said the company released insufficient information, producing only 4,049 pages of material with key details redacted “despite explicit instructions” not to do so. “Alphabet has frustrated the Committee’s review of the responsive material by unilaterally redacting key information necessary to understand the context and content of the material,” Jordan said in the letter. “These redactions do not appear to be based on any applicable privilege — because Alphabet has asserted none — and the Committee requires this material to be produced without redactions,” he added. Jordan said he expects Alphabet to submit all requested documents without redactions by May 22, including some that he believes are in the company’s possession but haven’t been released. Alphabet is one of several tech companies — including Amazon, Apple and Meta — the committee subpoenaed in February for “reported collusion with the federal government … to suppress free speech.” In response to the subpoena, a Microsoft spokesperson said at the time, “We have started producing documents, are engaged with the Committee, and committed to working in good faith.” Republican members of the committee have accused the tech companies of suppressing free speech by coordinating with the federal government to take down content.
Abortion providers sue to preserve, expand access to abortion pill (Reuters) - A group of abortion providers on Monday filed a lawsuit aiming to preserve access to the abortion pill mifepristone as anti-abortion opponents aim to ban it in a separate case. The lawsuit, filed in federal court in Charlottesville, Virginia, is similar to one filed in Spokane, Washington by the Democratic attorneys general of 17 states and the District of Columbia in February. Both lawsuits name the U.S. Food and Drug Administration as a defendant and ask for court orders lifting current federal restrictions on mifepristone, which include a requirement that pharmacies be specially licensed to dispense it. GenBioPro Inc, which sells a generic version of mifepristone, is also suing to block the FDA from restricting the drug. Mifepristone is the first of a two-drug regimen used to terminate a pregnancy within the first 10 weeks. It is used in more than half of U.S. abortions. All three lawsuits come in response to a lawsuit last year by anti-abortion groups in Amarillo, Texas federal court challenging the FDA's approval of the drug in 2000. U.S. District Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk on April 10 suspended approval of the drug. The same day, the attorneys general won an injunction from U.S. District Judge Thomas Rice in Spokane barring the FDA from enforcing any additional restrictions on mifepristone in their states. Kacsmaryk's order was put on hold by the U.S. Supreme Court while the Biden administration appeals. The appeal is set to be heard by a panel of three conservative, anti-abortion judges of the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals next week.
Abortion pill case to be heard by conservative, anti-abortion panel (Reuters) - A case brought by anti-abortion groups seeking to ban the abortion pill mifepristone nationwide will be heard next week by a panel of three deeply conservative judges hostile to abortion rights, a federal appeals court revealed on Monday. The Biden administration is expected to urge the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals panel in New Orleans on May 17 to overturn a court order that suspended the federal government's approval of mifepristone. The administration will be appealing to Circuit Judges Jennifer Walker Elrod, who upheld a Texas law making it more difficult for abortion clinics to operate in the state; James Ho, who has called abortion a "moral tragedy"; and Cory Wilson, who supported abortion bans as a Mississippi state legislator. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration, which is named as the defendant in the lawsuit, did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Ho did not immediately return a request for comment. A Wilson staffer said he does not comment on pending cases, and a staffer for Elrod referred Reuters to the court's clerk's office, which said it could not comment.
Biden administration unilaterally erasing 50 years of female rights – Senator Joni Ernst Whether it’s growing as a young leader, winning a championship, or securing a college scholarship, sports open doors for young girls. They build confidence, develop skills to work through difficult problems, hone life-long friendships, and build healthy habits. But today, these doors are being slammed shut because of progressive gender ideology. Girls’ locker rooms have become a political battleground. Over 50 years ago, Congress passed Title IX to end unjust sex discrimination in all aspects of education, including athletics. By requiring schools to offer equal athletic opportunities for members of both sexes, male and female, Title IX unleashed a period of unprecedented growth in women’s sports. But this law has been undermined — by the NCAA and by the Biden administration, both of which are working overtime to allow biological males to participate in female sports. This absurdity was on full display last year when college swimmer and biological male, Lia Thomas, switched to the women’s division after competing for several years on the University of Pennsylvania men’s team. Not surprisingly, Thomas broke records, took home a title,, and was named All-American, depriving female swimmers of life-changing honors and opportunities. The female athletes who were forced to compete against Thomas were publicly humiliated — told to step aside and stay quiet. To add insult to injury, last month, the Biden administration’s Department of Education proposed new rules that disregard Title IX and, if implemented, will not only allow but require schools to let athletes compete on teams consistent with their “gender identity.” In other words, the Biden administration is unilaterally erasing 50 years of female rights and turning all women’s sports into a free-for-all, unless the school affirmatively determines that allowing biological males to participate would jeopardize fairness or safety for a particular team. Not only is this unfair, but in many sports it is unsafe to allow biological males to compete on women’s teams. The burden should not be on female athletes to convince their schools to accept this scientific reality, but that is where the Biden administration has placed it. Title IX is an equal opportunity law. In most sports, athletic opportunities are limited. Teams can only roster so many people. Only a certain number of athletes can race in a heat, play a certain position, or compete on a team. Schools can only grant so many athletic scholarships — scholarships women across this country have dedicated countless hours of practicing to earn, and in certain cases, are the only way these women can afford to obtain a higher degree. Because athletic resources are scarce, allowing even a single biological male to take a spot on the women’s roster means that a female athlete loses her opportunity — meaning women lose 100 percent of the time.We cannot let that happen. To fortify Title IX’s original equal opportunity mandate, Republicans are leading the Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act, which clarifies that allowing biological males to take awards, roster spots, or scholarships from female athletes violates Title IX’s prohibition of discrimination “on the basis of sex.”
US lawmakers seek probe of how Elon Musk's brain chip venture oversees animal experiments (Reuters) - U.S. lawmakers will ask regulators to investigate whether the make-up of a panel overseeing animal testing at Elon Musk's brain-chip startup Neuralink contributed to botched and rushed experiments. U.S. House Representatives Earl Francis Blumenauer and Adam Schiff, both Democrats, have signed a draft letter to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) requesting a probe into how Neuralink oversaw its experiments, Blumenauer's office said.The lawmakers have shared the draft with peers to gather more signatures and plan to send it to the USDA on Monday. The draft states that they are responding to a May 4 Reuters story which revealed that Neuralink filled its oversight board with company employees who stand to benefit financially from the start-up securing regulatory approval for its novel brain chip.The panel approved experiments that resulted in the unnecessary deaths and suffering of animals, Reuters showed in a Dec. 5 story. A spokesperson for Blumenauer said the USDA did not respond to an earlier request from lawmakers for a probe into Neuralink in the wake of that story. "Congress has a significant interest in ensuring that all facilities using animals in research and testing - whether they are government-run, universities, or private companies - comply with the minimal standards of the Animal Welfare Act," the draft letter states.
More revelations of corruption on US Supreme Court - The exposure of rampant corruption on the US Supreme Court expanded over the past week. While the scandal has centered on Justice Clarence Thomas and his wife Virginia “Ginni” Thomas, the most brazen bribe-takers, it has increasingly implicated the entire court, including the chief justice and the Democratic minority. Last month, the investigative journalism website ProPublica published a series of exposés documenting the fact that Clarence Thomas, a vicious opponent of the democratic and social rights of the working class, has accepted millions of dollars worth of unreported “gifts” from Harlan Crow, a billionaire Republican Party donor who sports a collection of Hitler and Nazi artifacts at his Texas mansion and calls Marxism his greatest fear. For more than two decades, Thomas and his wife have enjoyed all-expenses-paid lavish vacations on Crow’s superyacht and at his various private resorts, none of which have been reported by Thomas on his financial disclosure filings. He has been joined by fascistic think tank executives, corporate barons and leaders of the right-wing Federalist Society, a conveyor belt for placing reactionaries on the federal courts. Since his accession to the high court in 1991, Thomas has played a central role in a series of anti-democratic and pro-corporate rulings that have rolled back previously established rights, including the right to vote. These include the 5–4 decision in Bush v. Gore (2000) halting a vote recount in Florida and stealing the presidential election for George W. Bush, the loser of the popular vote. Other landmark rulings in which Thomas joined the right-wing majority—in most cases writing concurrent decisions staking out the most extreme right positions—include Citizens United v. FEC (2010), lifting virtually all restrictions on corporate donations to election campaigns; Shelby County v. Holder (2013), gutting the enforcement provision of the 1965 Voting Rights Act; and last year’s Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health, rescinding the constitutional right to an abortion. He is implicated in Trump’s attempt to overturn the 2020 election through the activities of his wife Ginni, a longtime far-right Republican activist who worked with Trump lawyers and aides in attempting to overturn pro-Biden slates of electors in swing states won by the Democratic candidate but controlled by Republican lawmakers. Clarence Thomas has refused to recuse himself from Supreme Court cases stemming from the attempted coup in which his wife played a major role. Since the initial revelations, ProPublica has published articles exposing the fact that Thomas has had direct financial dealings with Crow, having sold the house in Georgia where his mother lived (and evidently continues to live rent-free) to the billionaire fascist for over $130,000. Thomas failed to report the transaction in his financial disclosure filings. On May 4, ProPublica published a new article documenting the fact that Crow paid the tuition for Thomas’ grandnephew to attend a private military academy for one year and a private boarding school for a second year, at an estimated total cost of $150,000 or more. It also reported that some 15 years ago, Crow donated much of the budget of a political group founded by Thomas’ wife, which paid her a salary of $120,000. None of this was reported by Justice Thomas. Even more damning was an investigative report published May 4 by the Washington Post revealing that Leonard Leo, the former head of the Federalist Society and leading figure in shifting the courts to the far-right, arranged for Ginni Thomas to be secretly paid tens of thousands of dollars by Republican pollster Kellyanne Conway in January 2012.
Billionaire Harlan Crow Also Bankrolled GOP Lawmakers Blocking SCOTUS Ethics Reform --The Senate Judiciary Committee on Monday sent a letter asking Harlan Crow—the billionaire GOP megadonor who has secretly showered U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas with hundreds of thousands of dollars in gifts since the mid-1990s—to provide a full accounting of his financial ties to Thomas and any other judges on the high court.It comes as "no surprise" that none of the panel's nine Republicans signed the letter, Accountable.US declared Tuesday, because they have collectively accepted nearly half a million dollars in campaign cash from Crow since the turn of the century, as a new analysis from the watchdog group shows.Last month, one day after ProPublica published its bombshell report on Crow's under-the-table funding of near-annual luxury vacations for Thomas—the first of what would become many revelations about the two men's financial relationship—Accountable.US calculated that the current Republican members of the Senate Judiciary Committee received $453,300 from Crow between 2001 and 2022. The group revised that figure up to $457,000 on Tuesday in light of a $3,700 donation Crow made to Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) earlier this year.The following is a list of Crow's total contributions to the nine GOP lawmakers on the panel as well as their affiliated PACs and joint fundraising committees, in descending order:
- Cornyn: $294,800
- Sen. Chuck Grassley (Iowa): $46,600
- Sen. Tom Cotton (Ark.): $23,900
- Sen. Ted Cruz (Texas): $23,500
- Sen. Lindsey Graham (S.C.): $20,600
- Sen. Mike Lee (Utah): $19,500
- Sen. Thom Tillis (N.C.): $13,400
- Sen. John Kennedy (La.): $8,300
- Sen. Marsha Blackburn (Tenn.): $6,400
"There should be bipartisan outrage about the undisclosed gifts and travel billionaire megadonor Harlan Crow has given Justice Thomas," Accountable.US president Kyle Herrig said last month. "Senate Judiciary Republicans should join their Democratic colleagues to act. However, their silence so far may be because they have received hundreds of thousands of dollars from Crow as well.""The highest court in the land should have the highest ethical standards," he added. "When it doesn't, Congress should exert its oversight authority."Not only have Republicans on the Senate Judiciary Committee with apparent conflicts of interest refused to join their Democratic colleagues in trying to establish enforceable ethics rules for the Supreme Court, but they have attempted to downplay the seriousness of the court's growing crisis of legitimacy.Several of the panel's GOP members used last week's hearing on proposed Supreme Court ethics reforms—a hearing Chief Justice John Roberts refused to testify at despite mounting evidence of possible corruption involving Thomas and others, including Roberts himself as well as Justice Neil Gorsuch—as "an opportunity for political grandstanding and performative outrage," Accountable.US noted Tuesday.
George Santos owns up to theft charges in Brazil, signs deal to avoid prosecution | The HillRep. George Santos (R-N.Y.) has signed an agreement with public prosecutors in Brazil, avoiding prosecution in a 15-year-old fraud case. Santos’s lawyer in Brazil, Jonymar Vasconcelos, confirmed to The Associated Press that the first-term congressman is no longer the subject of any case in Brazil. The Washington Post also reported that Santos confessed to the theft and agreed to pay restitution and fines in exchange for dropping the criminal charges.Reports had surfaced back in March indicating Santos and the prosecutors had reached a deal. Vasconcelos didn’t share more details about the newly signed deal, citing the fact that the case proceeded under seal. Brazilian public prosecutors had reopened the criminal fraud case against then Rep.-elect Santos in January over an alleged 2008 incident in which Santos spent almost $700 with a stolen checkbook and fake name at a clothing store near Rio de Janeiro, to which he reportedly confessed. A judge in Brazil accepted the charges against Santos in 2011, but subsequent subpoenas went unanswered and authorities were unable to determine his whereabouts — so the case was suspended in 2013. He then surged into the spotlight as he took his seat in Congress. Separately, in the U.S. Wednesday, Santos was arrested on 13 federal criminal charges — and pleaded not guilty at the federal courthouse in Central Islip, N.Y. The controversial first-term lawmaker, who admitted to fabricating parts of his resume as he campaigned for his congressional seat and has since faced scrutiny over his campaign finances, was charged with seven counts of wire fraud, three counts of money laundering, one count of theft of public funds, and two counts of making materially false statements to the House of Representatives.
Future of student loan forgiveness looms over Biden in 2024 -- The issue of student loans stands to loom over President Biden’s 2024 bid as he tackles one of his key first-term campaign promises being tied up at the Supreme Court. Biden managed to deliver on the promise of developing a program to forgive a chunk of student debt to the cheers of many Democrats and progressives who pushed him on the issue during his first two years in the White House. But his plan quickly hit a roadblock when GOP attorneys general sued the administration over the issue, which Republicans say would be “paid for” by people who never even attended college. The White House had warned that such legal challenges would arise, but Biden went through with the program anyway. The case made its way all the way up to the Supreme Court, where a conservative majority appears unlikely to give it the green light. Now, Biden has to sell his accomplishment — but also its stoppage — on the 2024 campaign trail. “The strategy should be to lay the blame for this stall on Republicans and their opposition. Biden did everything within his power to make good on his promise, and while this is a setback, he remains committed to finishing the job,” said Debra Dixon, former chief of staff at the Office of Planning, Evaluation and Policy Development at the Department of Education under President Obama. “If the Supreme Court finds that student loan forgiveness was not within his administrative powers, then he will have to redouble his efforts to push for a legislative fix in a second term,” added Dixon, now a principal at Ferox Strategies. Republicans have not shied away from their criticism of the debt forgiveness, messaging on how the plan is unfair to those who did not go to college or made huge sacrifices in order to avoid student loan debt. South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott (R), who is likely running for president in 2024, said when Biden announced student loan relief last August that it was a “handout to the wealthy. Period.” The administration is also likely to tout other measures they are attempting to put in place to make paying back student loans easier, such as reforms to income-driven repayments that could leave some borrowers paying zero dollars a month. Meanwhile, it has attempted to show confidence in the legality of the current plan, refusing to talk about alternatives if the Supreme Court strikes it down. But Biden in March slightly detracted from that strategy. He said that he’s “confident we’re on the right side of the law” but “not confident about the outcome of the decision yet,” while not offering any kind of Plan B. Advocates are looking for the president to step up and do more through executive action if the Supreme Court does in fact strike down the plan.
DOJ seeks to stop Trump deposition in Strzok, Page lawsuit - The Department of Justice (DOJ) said on Thursday it will ask a federal appeals court to block former President Trump’s deposition in a lawsuit brought by two former FBI employees who claim they were unfairly targeted for their work investigating the former president’s ties to Russia. The government said it plans to seek a rare writ of mandamus from the appeals court, unless U.S. District Judge Amy Berman reconsiders its request that FBI Director Christopher Wray sit for his deposition first, according to a new court filing. Jackson ordered Trump and Wray to sit for depositions in the case in February. However, the Justice Department argued Wray should be deposed first, in case his deposition removes the need to question the former president under oath. “As the Court itself acknowledged, Director Wray’s testimony could obviate the need for any deposition of former President Trump,” the filing said. If Berman declines to reconsider the ruling, the DOJ said it will ask the appeals court to block Trump’s deposition and requested the judge stay his deposition in the meantime. The DOJ’s latest filing comes in the case brought by former FBI agent Peter Strzok and former FBI attorney Lisa Page. Strzok was fired and Page resigned from the bureau in 2018, after text messages emerged that showed the two making critical comments about Trump.
Comer To Reveal Evidence Wednesday On Biden Family Receiving Money In Exchange For Policy – James Comer has scheduled a press conference for Wednesday that he says will lay out an array of evidence. That is the deadline for the FBI to produce a document that Comer says exists which shows policy actions taken in exchange for money: bribery, which is specifically mentioned in the Constitution as a reason for impeachment. Comer says that he has evidence that the Department of Justice has not bothered looking into, evidence that the Biden family has a “web of LLCs” that have taken in millions and millions of dollars from foreign countries in exchange for policy actions. He worries that the DoJ will indict Hunter Biden on some relatively minor crimes in order to refuse to comment or produce evidence related to a prosecution underway. You can watch the interview below, or read the transcript that follows the embedded video.But keep in mind that Sundance of The Conservative Treehouse believes this press conference is a mere distraction from the end of Title 42 and the rush of illegals that will overrun the border.
The White House Is Blocking The New York Post From Attending Biden Appearances - The New York Post revealed Monday that The White House is blocking its reporters from attending Joe Biden’s public appearances, suggesting that it is doing so in retaliation for the outlet reporting on “his relatives’ foreign dealings.” The New York Post reported that despite there being 20 empty seats in the South Court Auditorium on Monday at Biden’s only public appearance, the outlet’s request for a press credential was denied. The Newspaper intimated that it was due to it being at the forefront of reporting on the Hunter Biden laptop and shady foreign money deals. Biden appeared Monday with Transport Secretary Pete Buttigieg to gibber through comments on flight delays and cancelations. The Post reports: The White House press office barred The Post from attending President Biden’s only daytime public event Monday as federal prosecutors near a decision on criminally charging first son Hunter Biden for tax fraud and other crimes. The Post has closely covered the president’s ties to his relatives’ foreign dealings and first reported in October 2020 on files from Hunter’s abandoned laptop that link Joe Biden to ventures in China and Ukraine. Biden, who falsely characterized The Post’s reporting as Russian disinformation, appeared with Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg to talk about airline policies in the White House-adjacent Eisenhower Executive Office Building In a Monday email, White House staff informed The Post: “We are unable to accommodate your credential request to attend the Investing in Airline Accountability Remarks on 5/8. The remarks will be live-streamed and can be viewed at WH.gov. Thank you for understanding. We will let you know if a credential becomes available.”
Bracing for impact: Biden world preps for Hunter Biden fallout - -- The White House is bracing for the political fallout from the charging decision in the Hunter Biden case. And they’ve concluded that Republicans will attack them over it whether President Joe Biden’s son is criminally indicted or not. In conversations, Democrats and senior West Wing aides are downplaying the potential impact, arguing Hunter Biden was a factor in the 2020 election and voters elected his father anyway. They point out the president’s top rival, Donald Trump, was just indicted himself. But people close to Biden still worry about the personal toll it will take on a father who has already felt anguish about a son’s struggles amid a long history of family tragedy. And they wonder how long he can compartmentalize personal anger with the attacks on Hunter and the political calculation that he’s better off not responding to it. Biden has long agonized over the fate of his surviving son, expressing that worry in phone calls with longtime friends and to Hunter himself. Attorneys for Hunter Biden met at Justice Department headquarters in Washington last week to discuss the tax- and gun-related case with prosecutors, according to a person familiar with the matter. Often a signal that an investigation is concluding, such meetings are used by defense lawyers to urge prosecutors to refrain from seeking an indictment or to consider reduced charges. The probe has centered on whether Biden failed to report all of his income and whether he lied on a form for buying a gun. His attorneys declined comment. “Obviously, the Biden team would hope that this investigation does not result in an indictment for a multitude of reasons,” said Jennifer Palmieri, who served as President Barack Obama’s communications director. “But the Republicans have failed — both in the 2020 campaign and in their 2023 congressional hearings — to have questions about Hunter Biden impact public opinion and I don’t think they will succeed now, regardless of what DOJ decides.” There is no Hunter Biden war room at the White House, according to four people familiar granted anonymity to speak freely. Defense for the president’s son is being handled by his personal attorneys and the White House is not involved with legal matters. The campaign and the Democratic National Committee officials will likely take the lead in responding to political inquiries, while White House staffers will respond if the accusations touch on official government business. No matter what DOJ decides at the end of its six-year investigation, the decision could have significant implications for the president’s just-announced reelection bid, giving fodder to Republicans as they seek to paint the Biden family as corrupt. There is a sense among Biden allies that he’ll face some blowback either way. If Hunter Biden is charged with a crime, Trump and Republicans will try to link his behavior to his father’s conduct and fitness for office. And if charges are not brought, Republicans have telegraphed that they will claim that the Department of Justice was biased and that Attorney General Merrick Garland, a Biden appointee, rigged the decision.
Hunter Biden's former business partner, close friend makes last-ditch attempt to avoid prison sentence -The co-founder of Hunter Biden's now-dissolved investment firm, Rosemont Seneca Partners (RSP), made a last-ditch attempt Tuesday to appeal his prison sentence for defrauding a Native American tribe.Lawyers for Devon Archer, Hunter’s longtime friend and fellow Burisma board member, appeared before a three-judge panel in the Second Circuit Court of Appeals in New York City.A jury convicted Archer of conspiracy to commit securities fraud and securities fraud following a 2018 trial in which prosecutors alleged that he and his co-defendants purchased more than $60 million in bonds from a Native American tribe, which were then used to "build a financial services mega-company" instead of holding the bonds for annuity.Archer was later sentenced to federal prison for a year and a day in February 2022 for his role in the scheme.Archer was overly broad, among other issues, and he asked that the case be remanded to the lower court. Samuel Rothschild, an assistant U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, argued that the judgment be upheld.The appeals court ultimately said it would reserve its decision. A future date has not been announced.The Department of Justice said the crimes occurred from March 2014 through April 2016. While Hunter Biden has not been considered a suspect in the case, he was listed as vice president of the company through which the fraudulent bonds were issued, Burnham Financial Group, and was paid $155,000 by the company in 2015, the New York Post reported.Friends with knowledge of Hunter’s thinking have advised Archer that a last-minute presidential pardon is off the table and that he should save himself by blowing the whistle on the Biden family’s business dealings, which are facing dual investigations, the Post reported.
Hunter Biden: What are the possible charges against him? The feds might be coming for President Biden's son. The Washington Post first reported in October 2022 that federal agents believe they have enough evidence to charge Hunter Biden with tax and gun crimes. NBC News has since reported that prosecutors are nearing a decision on potentially bringing charges against him.Because of his father's position, any move against Hunter Biden could have political consequences, especially as the elder Biden has recently launched his campaign for reelection. The president, though, has been steadfast in his support of his son, saying during an interview with MSNBC, "My son has done nothing wrong. I trust him. I have faith in him." However, as the campaign season heats up, there is likely to be continued pushback against Hunter Biden from conservatives, even if he is not charged. Politico notes that the White House is "bracing for the political fallout … and they've concluded that Republicans will attack them over it whether President Biden's son is criminally indicted or not."The president's son, 53, has had well-publicized troubles with drug addiction, which play a part in the potential charges. The gun charges, for example, stem from a period when he was, "by his own account … smoking crack cocaine," the Post reports. That was in 2018, when Hunter Biden purchased a handgun and allegedly answered "no" to a question about whether he had unlawfully used drugs. The younger Biden's taxes have also been under scrutiny for years, The New York Times reported in March. That investigation began during the Obama administration but "widened in 2018 to include possible criminal violations of tax laws, as well as foreign lobbying and money laundering rules." The paper reported that Hunter paid off his tax liability, which he told friends amounted to more than $1 million, but that might not save him from legal trouble. Prosecutors argue that "the crime happens when the return is falsely filed or not filed at all."Hunter Biden has arguably been drifting toward trouble for much of his adulthood — "the guy who even into his 40s keeps needing dad to send the search-and-rescue party," Matt Yglesias wrote for Vox in 2020. He has made a living as a lawyer, a lobbyist and, more recently, an artist, but it's not clear he could have done much work over the years without his dad's name and connections. In addition to his drug problems, he also attracted attention when in 2014 he joined the board of Burisma, a controversial Ukrainian oil and gas company. "Hunter had no apparent qualifications for the job except that his father was the vice president and involved in the Obama administration's Ukraine policy." When President Donald Trump was impeached in 2019, it was because he pressed Ukraine's president for dirt on Hunter and Joe Biden and withheld U.S. military aid to give him leverage.
In Hunter Biden probe, IRS whistleblower's lawyer meets with Congress - CBS News -The attorney for the IRS whistleblower who has alleged that the Justice Department interfered in and mishandled the Hunter Biden criminal probe met with members of Congress last week on behalf of his client, according to two sources familiar with the matter. The Friday meeting was described to CBS News as a proffer session with the House Ways and Means and Senate Finance committees to lay the groundwork for what the whistleblower could tell investigators and how he could do so without running afoul of taxpayer privacy laws. CNN first reported the meeting. In a letter to Congress last month, the attorney, Mark Lytle, said his client, an unnamed IRS criminal supervisory special agent, could shed light on how the years-long, high-profile investigation had been hindered by "preferential treatment and politics." However, Lytle said his client could not share "certain information" because of the taxpayer privacy laws. Lytle told CBS's chief investigative correspondent Jim Axelrod, "My client wants to come forward to Congress. … He's ready to be questioned about what he knows and what he experienced under the proper legal protections." Lytle did not respond to a request for comment for this report, but in his April letter, he said his client's information would "contradict sworn testimony to Congress by a senior political appointee."In a Senate hearing in March, Attorney General Merrick Garland promised he would not interfere with the work of David Weiss, the U.S. attorney in Delaware who is leading the probe. In a recent, unrelated news conference, Garland addressed the IRS whistleblower allegations."Yes, it's still the case I stand by my testimony, and I refer you to the U.S. attorney for the District of Delaware who is in charge of this case and capable of making any decisions that he feels are appropriate," Garland said.
President Biden Needs To Stop Commenting on Justice Department Investigations – Lawfare - “My son has done nothing wrong. I trust him. I have faith in him.” So said President Biden on Friday, May 5, when NBC’s Stephanie Ruhle asked him how the Justice Department’s potential charges against his son Hunter might affect his presidency. Other than former President Trump’s incessant self-serving commentary on Justice Department matters during his presidency—a large qualification, to be sure!—Biden’s statement was one of the most egregious and ill-timed breaches of the norms of Justice Department independence since Watergate. And it is not the first time he has breached the norm as president.The relevant norm is that, despite the president’s authority under Article II to direct criminal investigations, presidents should not be involved in, or comment on, pending Justice Department investigations, especially ones that impact the president and other senior executive branch officials. Former President Obama violated this norm when he said in October 2015, in the midst of the FBI investigation of Hillary Clinton’s emails: “I don’t think it posed a national security problem. This is not a situation in which America’s national security was endangered.” The director of the FBI at the time, James Comey, later noted that Obama’s comments “seemed to absolve [Clinton] before a final determination was made” and could lead an outside observer to reasonably wonder, “how on earth could his Department of Justice do anything other than follow his lead?” Commentary on and interference in Justice Department matters was of course commonplace during the Trump administration. President Trump very often publicly engaged with ongoing criminal investigations, including of himself, and was widely criticized for doing so—not just by politicians, commentators, and the press, but by Attorney General Barr as well. Trump’s ceaseless commentary on Department of Justice investigations was near the top of the list of his worst norm-breaking actions. President Biden came to office promising to restore norms of Justice Department independence. And yet Biden has been a serial norm-breaker in commenting on sensitive Justice Department investigations.
FBI declines GOP subpoena on Biden ‘alleged criminal scheme’ - The FBI declined to immediately provide congressional Republicans with a document the lawmakers say outlines an “alleged criminal scheme” involving President Biden and a foreign national, blowing through a Wednesday deadline to produce the unverified information that was subpoenaed by House Oversight and Reform Committee Chairman James Comer (R-Ky.). Christopher Dunham, the FBI acting assistant director for congressional affairs, said in a letter responding to the subpoena that the FBI “is committed to beginning the constitutionally mandated accommodation process” in a response to the request from last week, later adding the agency “would be pleased to coordinate with your staff to discuss whether and how we can accommodate your request without violating our law enforcement and national security obligations.” “Justice [Department] policy strictly limits when and how confidential human source information can be provided outside of the FBI,” Dunham said in the letter obtained by The Hill. In a statement, Comer said that he planned to follow up with the FBI to compel compliance with the subpoena, setting up more potential battles over production of the document. “It’s clear from the FBI’s response that the unclassified record the Oversight Committee subpoenaed exists, but they are refusing to provide it to the Committee,” Comer said. “We’ve asked the FBI to not only provide this record, but to also inform us what it did to investigate these allegations. The FBI has failed to do both. The FBI’s position is ‘trust, but you aren’t allowed to verify.’ That is unacceptable.” Comer and Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) said last week that a “highly credible” whistleblower had told them that the FBI possessed a FD-1023 form — which documents unverified information gathered from confidential sources — detailing an “alleged criminal scheme involving then-Vice President Biden and a foreign national relating to the exchange of money for policy decisions.” They provided no other details on the allegations in the letter, and Grassley has said in other interviews that Republicans were not sure if the claims were true. Comer immediately subpoenaed the document rather than requesting voluntary cooperation from the FBI first. “The mere existence of such a document would establish little beyond the fact that a confidential human source provided information and the FBI recorded it,” the FBI said in its response. “Indeed, the FBI regularly receives information from sources with significant potential biases, motivations, and knowledge, including drug traffickers, members of organized crime, or even terrorists.”
McCarthy says he’ll call FBI director over subpoena in Biden probe - Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) said he plans to call FBI Director Christopher Wray on Thursday after the agency rebuffed a subpoena from the House Oversight Committee for a document that GOP lawmakers claim lays out an “alleged criminal scheme” involving President Biden and a foreign national. McCarthy’s comments came one day after Christopher Dunham, the acting assistant director of the FBI’s Office of Congressional Affairs, penned a letter to House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer (R-Ky.) informing him the agency would not immediately provide the document in question. “As this was your first communication with the FBI seeking this information, please know that the FBI is committed to beginning the constitutionally mandated accommodation process,” Dunham wrote, later adding the agency “would be pleased to coordinate with your staff to discuss whether and how we can accommodate your request without violating our law enforcement and national security obligations.” On Thursday morning, McCarthy called the FBI’s response “unacceptable.” “I’m gonna call Director Wray today because we have oversight of the FBI. We have the right,” McCarthy said during an interview on “Fox & Friends” outside the Capitol. “Comer is simply following information that he has found. We should find all the information.” McCarthy also underscored the House’s authority to conduct oversight over the FBI. “As a member of Congress, it doesn’t matter if this person is Republican or Democrat. We have oversight of the FBI. If the FBI at any times think they could withhold information from Congress, we have a severe problem on our hands,” he said. Comer and Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) subpoenaed the FBI last week after claiming a “highly credible” whistleblower informed them the FBI had an FD-1023 form in its possession that detailed “an alleged scheme involving then-Vice President Biden and a foreign national relating to the exchange of money for policy decisions.” FD-1023 forms are used to document unverified information that is obtained from confidential sources. Comer asked that the FBI hand over all such forms created or modified in June 2020 that contain the word “Biden.” Comer and Grassley did not reveal any other details about the document in question, and Grassley in the past week has said Republicans do not know whether the claims are accurate. “The mere existence of such a document would establish little beyond the fact that a confidential human source provided information and the FBI recorded it,” Dunham wrote to Comer. “Indeed, the FBI regularly receives information from sources with significant potential biases, motivations, and knowledge, including drug traffickers, members of organized crime, or even terrorists.”
DOJ seeks 25 years in prison for Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes -- Oath Keepers leader Stewart Rhodes should spend 25 years in prison for his role in the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol, the Justice Department (DOJ) argued, after a jury last November found him guilty of seditious conspiracy. In a filling late Friday, the DOJ made sentencing suggestions for Rhodes and eight of his coconspirators, including recommending 21 years in prison for Kelly Meggs, the group’s Florida chapter leader also convicted of seditious conspiracy. The DOJ recommended other co-conspirators receive anywhere from 10-18 years in prison, arguing the Oath Keepers’s recruitment of former military members should be a factor in their sentencing. “Using their positions of prominence within, and in affiliation with, the Oath Keepers organization, these defendants played a central and damning role in opposing by force the government of the United States, breaking the solemn oath many of them swore as members of the United States Armed Forces,” the DOJ wrote in the sentencing memo. Seditious conspiracy carries a maximum 20-year prison sentence, but many members of the group were convicted on multiple other felony charges, including obstruction of an official proceeding. Rhodes’s conviction is particularly significant because he never entered the Capitol on Jan. 6. Instead, he remained outside and connected to members of the group through a walkie-talkie app as the members used a military “stack formation” to enter the Capitol. But because Rhodes was the leader of the treasonous plot, the DOJ argued, the Yale Law School alumnus deserves the most severe punishment of the group. “He exploited his vast public influence as the leader of the Oath Keepers and used his talents for manipulation to goad more than twenty other American citizens into using force, intimidation, and violence to seek to impose their preferred result on a U.S. presidential election,” they wrote. “This conduct created a grave risk to our democratic system of government and must be met with swift and severe punishment.” APA issues new guidelines on social media use for kids West Virginia University men’s basketball coach apologizes for using anti-gay slur on radio show Rhodes’s sentencing hearing is set for May 25, while other members of the group are set to appear before a judge in late May and early June. Rhodes appears likely to serve the longest jail term of any defendant from the DOJ’s sweeping Jan. 6 prosecutions.According to NBC News, the longest sentence to stem from the attack thus far is 14 years, given Friday to Peter Schwartz, a rioter with 38 prior convictions.
Marjorie Taylor Greene renews call for public release of Jan. 6 tapes - Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene Loading (R-Ga.) called on Monday for the public release of security camera footage taken during the Capitol attack on Jan. 6, 2021. Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) in February granted access to some 44,000 hours of footage to then-Fox News host Tucker Carlson. Carlson aired some clips in March and promised to air more of the unseen footage. Carlson since has parted ways with Fox News. “A lot of people are asking me when we are going to release the J6 video tapes. Well I’m wondering the very same thing and waiting too,” Greene tweeted on Monday. “The American people paid for the video cameras that are installed all over the Capitol building that they also pay for. And most of all the riot scenes have been shown repeatedly a gazillion times in loop for over two years anyways. It won’t give the Democrats anything new, but it might give us all something new,” she added. Greene pointed to McCarthy’s decision to release footage to Carlson, saying the rest of the footage should now be released. “We need to release the J6 tapes to a public on line source so that everyone knows what did and didn’t happen, we need to restore fair justice, and America can move on,” she said. Carlson, who described the footage as “mostly peaceful chaos,” was faced with bipartisan outrage after he aired the footage of the day. McCarthy also faced questions about whether his actions undermined security efforts after Capitol Police said they only reviewed one clip aired by Carlson. The speaker previously said other media organizations eventually would get access to review the tapes. A coalition of news organizations filed a lawsuit last month demanding access to the surveillance footage. The Hill has reached out to McCarthy’s office for comment on Greene’s tweet. Greene repeatedly demanded the release of the Jan. 6 tapes in the months following the attack, but she has been quieter on the issue since helping McCarthy win the speaker’s gavel.
Tucker Carlson Preparing For "War" Against Fox News -- Tucker Carlson is preparing to go to “war” against Fox News as the network refuses to release him from his contract, preventing him from working for other networks until January 2025. Fox News announced it was parting ways with Carlson last month, although speculation is still raging as to the exact reason. Carlson has not technically been fired since he has still not been released from his $20 million per year deal, which forbids him from working elsewhere in the industry for another 20 months. That means the popular host would be completely frozen out of being able to actively cover the 2024 presidential election. “His team is preparing for war. He wants his freedom,” a close friend told Axios, adding that Carlson had previously said he wanted to “get this done quiet and clean” but his team was now “going from peacetime to Defcon 1.” Several behind the scenes videos of Carlson have already been leaked to left-wing media outlets, although Fox News has denied they are responsible. Another inside source told the media outlet that the conservative commentator “knows where a lot of bodies are buried, and is ready to start drawing a map.” Both Newsmax and Rumble have reportedly offered Carlson more than he was being paid at Fox, while Carlson has also reportedly been in talks with Twitter owner Elon Musk about starting a new project. “The idea that anyone is going to silence Tucker and prevent him from speaking to his audience is beyond preposterous,” Carlson’s lawyer Byran Freedman told Axios. Fox News has lost almost half its viewership in the slot that Carlson previously occupied and audience figures for the network’s other shows have also suffered big hits, especially in the coveted 25-54 age demographic.
CNN leadership under fire after ‘disastrous’ Trump town hall - CNN’s prime-time broadcast of a raucous town hall with Donald Trump propelled a tsunami of criticism from inside and outside the network Thursday — and renewed questions about how the news media will handle the challenge of covering the serial falsehoods of the Republican Party’s leading candidate going into the 2024 election.The former president repeatedly dodged or sneered at questions from CNN’s moderator, Kaitlan Collins, during the live, 70-minute forum at St. Anselm College in New Hampshire on Wednesday night. He doubled down on false claims that “a rigged election” led to his 2020 ouster and referred to writer E. Jean Carroll, who just prevailed in her lawsuit against him for defamation and battery, as a “whack job,” to cheers and laughter from the audience, made up of local Republican voters.And when Collins pressed him on why he removed classified documents from the White House, he replied: “You are a nasty person.”Former president Donald Trump called CNN anchor Kaitlan Collins “a nasty person” during a town hall event in New Hampshire on May 10. The crowd cheered. (Video: CNN)“Predictably disastrous,” wrote former network TV news executive Mark Lukasiewicz, part of a chorus of media critics and political observers who bemoaned the on-air spectacle. “Live lying works. A friendly MAGA crowd consistently laughs, claps at Trump’s punchlines … and the moderator cannot begin to keep up with the AR-15 pace of lies.”been struggling to turn around viewership decline, the telecast proved to be a ratings disappointment, with Nielsen reporting just 3.1 million viewers overall. That was a big boost over CNN’s typical 8 p.m. telecast, but a smaller audience than CNN’s town hall with President Biden last summer (3.7 million) and six previous Trump town halls carried by Fox News — calling into question both CNN and Trump’s drawing power.The more profound impact, however, may be the damage done to the reputation of the network that has long promoted itself as “the most trusted name in news.” It also raised questions about the future prospects of chief executive Chris Licht, who replaced Trump-friend-turned critic Jeff Zucker last year and is charged with striking a more neutral tone at a cable channel that exploded with impassioned commentary during the Trump years.Journalists at CNN and others outside the organization called the town hall a “debacle,” a “disaster” and “CNN’s lowest moment.” On Twitter, the hashtags and phrases BoycottCNN, DoneWithCNN and ByeCNN trended late Wednesday.The thrust of the criticism is that CNN’s format, which it has used for other candidates over the years, enabled Trump’s filibustering and thwarted real-time fact checking, allowing him to present a dishonest rehashing of his record. “In terms of sheer control of the stage and WWE-style platform dynamics, the horrible truth is that this outcome was preordained,” tweeted veteran political writer James Fallows. Some compared the program to a modified Trump campaign rally — the kind that CNN sometimes aired live during the 2015-16 campaign cycle, which Zucker later said he regretted.
Judge restricts Trump’s social media posting in hush-money case: report --The New York state court judge overseeing the hush-money case involving former President Trump issued a protective order restricting the former president’s social media usage Monday.Judge Juan Merchan sided with Manhattan prosecutors with an order stating that material and information provided to the defense team for Trump is “solely for the purposes of preparing a defense in this matter,” NBC News reported.Trump faces 34 felony counts of falsifying business records over his alleged role in a hush money payments made to adult film star Stormy Daniels to cover up an alleged affair ahead of the 2016 presidential election. He pleaded not guilty. NBC News also reported that the order said that anyone with access to the evidence handed over to Trump’s team “shall not copy, disseminate or disclose” the material, including on social media, without getting approval by the court. The order reportedly said that Trump can view some sensitive information only in the presence of his lawyers, and “shall not be permitted to copy, photograph, transcribe, or otherwise independently possess the Limited Dissemination Materials.” NBC News reported last month that the prosecutors asked Merchan to limit what evidence Trump can publicly use in the investigation, requesting “safeguards that will protect the integrity of the materials.” Trump’s legal team argued against it, saying that it would “infringe” on Trump’s First Amendment right, according to NBC.
Jury hears final arguments in writer's claims against Trump (AP) — Donald Trump should be held accountable for sexually attacking an advice columnist in 1996 because even a former president is not above the law, a lawyer for the columnist told a jury Monday in closing arguments in the lawsuit that accuses Trump of rape.A lawyer for Trump responded by calling the accuser’s account “unbelievable” and “outrageous.” Once the final arguments were complete, the judge sent the jury home with instructions to return Tuesday to hear about an hour of instructions before beginning deliberations. Jurors will be asked to decide whether Trump committed battery and defamed writer E. Jean Carroll and whether damages should be awarded. In recapping Carroll’s case, attorney Roberta Kaplan showed jurors video clips of Trump from his October deposition and replayed the “Access Hollywood” video from 2005 in which Trump said into a hot mic that celebrities can grab women’s genitals without asking. Kaplan recalled Trump’s comment that “stars like him can get away with sexually assaulting women.” “That’s who Donald Trump is. That is how he thinks. And that’s what he does,” Kaplan said. “He thinks he can get away with it here.” Kaplan used Trump’s words to support Carroll’s claims that Trump raped her in early spring 1996 in the dressing room of Bergdorf Goodman, a luxury department store in Manhattan across the street from Trump Tower.
Jury finds Donald Trump sexually abused columnist E Jean Carroll --A New York jury found on Tuesday that Donald Trump sexually abused the advice columnist E Jean Carroll in a New York department store changing room 27 years ago.The verdict for the first time legally brands a former US president as a sexual predator. But as it is the result of a civil not criminal case, the only legal sanction Trump will face is financial.In explaining a finding of sexual abuse to the jury, the judge said it had two elements: that Trump subjected Carroll to sexual contact without consent by use of force, and that it was for the purpose of sexual gratification.The jury deliberated for less than three hours. It did not find Trump raped Carroll, but did find him liable for sexual abuse.It awarded about $5m in compensatory and punitive damages: about $2m on the sexual abuse count and close to $3m for defamation, for branding her a liar.Before the verdict in the highly charged case, the judge, Lewis A Kaplan, warned the courtroom: “No shouting. No jumping up and down. No race for the door.”After the verdict, as she was escorted to a car, Carroll said: “We’re very happy.”George Conway, a conservative lawyer and Trump critic who encouragedCarroll to sue, said on Twitter: “God bless E Jean Carroll and congratulations to Roberta Kaplan [Carroll’s attorney] and her team for a job well done.”
Jury Finds Trump Liable for Sexual Abuse and Defamation - A Manhattan jury on Tuesday found former President Donald J. Trump liable for sexually abusing and defaming E. Jean Carroll and awarded her $5 million in damages. More than a dozen women have accused Mr. Trump of sexual misconduct over the years, but this is the only allegation to be affirmed by a jury.In the civil case, the federal jury of six men and three women found that Ms. Carroll, 79, a former magazine writer, had sufficiently proved that Mr. Trump sexually abused her nearly 30 years ago in a dressing room of the Bergdorf Goodman department store in Manhattan. The jury did not, however, find he had raped her, as she had long claimed.On Truth Social, Trump continued his attacks, focusing on Judge Lewis A. Kaplan. He wrote: "What else can you expect from a Trump Hating, Clinton appointed judge, who went out of his way to make sure that the result was as negative as it could possible be, speaking to, and in control of, a jury from an anti-Trump area which is probably the worst place in the U.S. for me to get a fair 'trial.'”Outside of the courthouse in Lower Manhattan, Donald J. Trump’s lawyer, Joseph Tacopina, said the trial had been unfair in several ways and his client intended to appeal the verdict. Mr. Tacopina said Judge Lewis A. Kaplan, who oversaw the case in federal court, had displayed a bias toward Ms. Carroll in several decisions. He called the court “highly prejudicial.
Ideological Echo Chambers Are Making Us All Stupid: Notes From The Edge Of The Narrative Matrix – Caitlin Johnstone - American liberals just spent days raging at CNN for hosting a town hall with Donald Trump like it’s the worst thing CNN has ever done. CNN isn’t horrible because it “platformed” Trump, CNN is horrible because it’s an imperialist propaganda firm whose whole job is to deceive people into supporting the most depraved agendas of the world’s most powerful people. Hosting that town hall was one of the least evil things CNN has done. Liberals shouldn’t be upset at CNN for betraying their trust by platforming Trump, they should be upset with themselves for trusting CNN. It’s so, so much worse than they’re giving it credit for. …If you find Elon Musk’s hiring of a new Twitter CEO with a background in mainstream media and the World Economic Forum shocking and contradictory, it’s probably an indication that your worldview isn’t informed by an accurate perception of what’s really happening. You probably haven’t been thinking accurate thoughts about Musk, and you probably haven’t been thinking accurate thoughts about the WEF. Nothing about this stands out as surprising for those who see both as figures of status quo global capitalism.In many right wing circles Musk’s beneficence has been massively overstated and the WEF’s nature has been wildly distorted. Really they’re both just garden variety manifestations of the mundane capitalist dystopia we live in, and are deeply invested in maintaining this dystopia.Lately the WEF has served as an ideological scapegoat for rightists who are critical of the establishment but are ideologically unable to see capitalism’s role in this mess. They paint the WEF as some freakish aberration rather than the true face of the capitalism they support. In such circles the WEF has taken on a narrative role as a villainous antagonist that capitalism supporters can point to and say “Look at those freaks, they’re ruining the capitalism!” When in fact the WEF is just the face of what capitalism looks like when it gets to this stage.Musk’s new hire isn’t an indication that anything has changed or that anything new is happening. Whatever happens with Twitter from here on out was the trajectory Twitter was on from the moment Musk bought it.
SEC Pays Out Monster $279 Million Whistleblower Award - We guess you can forget the old adage from your childhood that "no one likes a tattle-tale". Because when you tattle to the tune of $279 million, you can buy as many new friends as you'd like.This might be the case for the whistleblower who was bestowed a massive $279 million award from the SEC as a result of helping out with an investigation that led to "three different settlements or fines", according to Bloomberg. Gurbir Grewal, the SEC’s enforcement chief, said this week: “The size of today’s award – the highest in our program’s history – not only incentivizes whistleblowers to come forward with accurate information about potential securities law violations, but also reflects the tremendous success of our whistleblower program.”The award is more than twice the previous record of $114 million, which was awarded back in October 2020. The SEC said that information provided to the agency expanded “the scope of misconduct charged" in an investigation that was already ongoing. In keeping with policy, neither the names of the company nor the whistleblower were disclosed. Whistleblowers usually get between 10% and 30% of an amount collected in penalties by the agency, the report says. In sum, the SEC has paid out over $1 billion in awards since the program was started as part of the 2010 Dodd-Frank Act.
House oversight committee takes up ESG investing standards -House Republicans and Democrats clashed Wednesday over the impact of environmental, social and governance-related investment rules on states and local governments, with House Republicans pledging to ramp up scrutiny on what's become the latest flashpoint in the culture wars. "ESG is just window dressing for liberal activism and radical far-left ideology," said House Oversight and Accountability Committee Chair Rep. James Comer, R-Ky., during the first in a series of hearings on ESG standards that will be held by the committee. "This is a coordinated effort by unelected shadow organizations to force their policies on U.S. taxpayers, investors, and retirees." Both parties argued that the other side's position put politics over an investment manager's fiduciary duty, and cited data that backed up their respective arguments that ESG-driven decisions either outperform or underperform the market. Democrats argued that states like Texas, Florida, Kentucky and Indiana will see higher borrowing costs and lower pension returns due to their anti-ESG laws. Republicans contended that ESG standards subject AAA-rated states like Utah to unfair criteria, that states like Illinois will see their pensions worsen under ESG-related decisions, and that ESG investment standards violate state and federal laws and consumer rights. The federal hearing takes up a partisan debate that so far has taken place largely on the state level, which has seen a wave of anti-ESG laws and investigations enacted over the last two years in Republican states and a rising number of pro-ESG legislation in Democratic states. Ranking member Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., contended the anti-ESG agenda is financed by the fossil fuel industry and that Republican states that enact anti-ESG rules would "rather be broke than woke." "ESG considerations are totally consistent with an asset manager's fiduciary duty to maximize shareholder value," Raskin said. He called a Texas law restricting local governments from hiring banks that are seen to be boycotting gun or fossil fuel industries a "sledgehammer.""This anti-woke sledgehammer in Texas is costing the cities and towns between $305 million to $532 million in additional interest payments a year," Raskin said, citing a Wharton study.. "Florida will spend between $97 million and $360 million on municipal bonds alone to satisfy the new anti-woke standard," he added, citing a Sunrise Project study. Alabama Attorney General Steven Marshall testified that "an unelected cabal of global elites is using ESG to hijack our capitalist system, capture corporations and threaten the hard-earned dollars of American workers." Utah Attorney General Sean Reyes said ratings agencies have unfairly targeted the state based on ESG factors. "S&P pointed out the issue of drought without taking into consideration a whole host of mitigating factors," Reyes said. "S&P makes it look like the most important factor isn't Utah's credit history but one instance of drought."
House Republicans target opacity in bank post-mortem reports — Republican lawmakers are pushing legislation requiring regulators to share more information with Congress and the public amid criticism that those regulators are being less than forthcoming in the wake of three large bank failures this year. The House Financial Services Committee's Subcommittee on Financial Institutions and Monetary Policy questioned witnesses on a number of discussion drafts of bills introduced after three midsized banks collapsed this year, increasing transparency requirements for the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., the Federal Reserve and the Financial Stability Oversight Council. While both the Fed and the FDIC released lengthy reports in the wake of the failures of Signature Bank and Silicon Valley Bank, lawmakers on both sides suggested they want more information. Republican lawmakers, in particular, dismissed the regulator reports, calling their conclusions politically motivated. "Rather than being responsive to Congress so that we may consider potential legislative needs, federal agencies and officials have slow-walked us," said Rep. Andy Barr, R-Ky., the chairman of the subcommittee. "Instead, they spent their time writing their narratives to cover their mistakes and inject politicized calls for more regulation into the public sphere. That is unacceptable, and clearly shows why we need to change emergency authorities for the Fed and FDIC and Treasury to, at least, obtain accountability and transparency." Some witnesses also pressed lawmakers to push regulators for more clarity around what happened as the FDIC attempted to sell off both Silicon Valley Bank and Signature, and how regulators arrived at the decision to declare a systemic risk exception for those banks rather than find a buyer for them in the weekend between Silicon Valley Bank's failure and the announcement that the federal government would guarantee the two banks' deposits. Rep. Roger Williams, R-Texas, specifically asked Jonathan Gould, a partner at Jones Day and former official at the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, whether the FDIC could have gotten a better deal for Silicon Valley Bank or Signature Bank had it moved faster.
Heated debate over debt ceiling derails bank failure oversight hearing — In several exchanges that reflected the increasingly tense atmosphere over the debt ceiling on Capitol Hill, Republican leadership in the House Financial Services Committee tried to steer the narrative of a hearing on the recent regional bank failures toward their criticisms of the Federal Reserve. President Joe Biden has escalated his public battle over the debt ceiling, specifically targeting Wall Street, and Democratic lawmakers appeared to be following his lead. Yesterday, Biden accused Republicans of "holding the economy hostage" in a speech in Valhalla, New York, a narrowly GOP-held suburb of New York City that serves as home base for many Wall Street and financial commuters into the city. Similarly, Democratic lawmakers sought to make their points on the debt ceiling during a House Financial Services Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee hearing on the recent Government Accountability Office report on regional bank failures. At the hearing, a spat over time allotted over the typical five minutes given to each member of a committee for questioning — along with a point of parliamentary order over how it's appropriate to refer to other members of Congress — gave way to a rowdy argument between Democratic and Republican lawmakers. Rep. Steven Horsford, D-Nev., used his time to try to draw parallels over the failed management of Silicon Valley Bank, Signature Bank and First Republic to the ongoing negotiations over the debt ceiling. "I think that while we do our jobs examining Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank and First Republic Bank, we should actually do our job as Congress and avoid this major catastrophe that is weeks away," he said. Rep. Ann Wagner, R-Mo., interrupted Hosford's comments with a point of parliamentary order after he referred to Senate minority leader Mitch McConnell's, R-Ky., role in stalling debt ceiling negotiations. But Rep. Bill Huizenga, R-Mich., who chaired the subcommittee hearing, didn't find Wagner's point valid. However, the exchange deteriorated as Horsford and Huizenga began speaking over each other. "The chair will not accept this behavior," Huizenga said. "I let a line of questioning go for an answer that was along the line of the ranking member. I allowed you to have a full minute." He continued: "I expect that we are going to behave as adults at this table as you are demanding that Congress act, so lead by example everybody." Rep. Maxine Waters, D-Calif., ranking member of the full committee, continued to escalate the tone of the conversation. "I would caution you not to imply that our members are not acting like adults," she said. Huizenga said his comment was directed to "all sides." "Let's present to the American people that we can actually act like adults at this table," Huizenga retorted. Waters responded: "I think we are. We don't need you to admonish us."
FDIC proposes special assessment to replenish deposit insurance fund — The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.'s board voted to issue a proposed rule on Thursday that would levy a 0.125% special assessment fee on banks' uninsured deposits over $5 billion. The special assessment was issued pursuant to the systemic risk exception that the agency invoked in its closures of Silicon Valley Bank and later Signature Bank, in March. Institutions with uninsured deposits below $5 billion will pay nothing under the proposal, and those with uninsured deposits in excess of $5 billion will be assessed on their uninsured deposits above that threshold. The special assessment would apply to the first quarterly assessment period of 2024, and the first payment is due at the end of Q2 2024 and will be collected over a total of eight quarters. "The [rule] would apply an annual special assessment rate of approximately 12.5 basis points to an assessment base that would equal an insured depository institution's estimated uninsured deposits reported as of December 31, 2022," said Chairman Gruenberg at the board meeting regarding the rule. "For insured depository institutions that are not part of a holding company, the first $5 billion in estimated uninsured deposits would be excluded from the assessment base. For insured depository institutions that are part of a holding company, the first $5 billion of the combined banking organizations' estimated uninsured deposits would be excluded." FDIC says the overwhelming majority of the industry will not be subject to the higher assessments and larger institutions will shoulder the lion's share of the total cost. "Based on data reported as of December 31, 2022, staff estimate that 113 banking organizations would be subject to the special assessment," they said. "Banking organizations with total assets over $50 billion would pay more than 95% of the special assessment." Under the proposed rule, a bank with $10 billion in uninsured deposits would pay an additional $6,250,000 per year. At the board meeting considering the rule, FDIC staff reiterated that under the Federal Deposit Insurance Act, the agency is required to recover recent losses to the Deposit Insurance Fund, incurred after the agency tapped the fund to protect uninsured deposits via a systemic risk exception. "On March 10, 2023, Silicon Valley Bank was closed by the California Department of Financial Protection and Innovation, followed by the closure of Signature Bank by the New York State Department of Financial Services on March 12, 2023," said an agency official. "The same day, the Secretary of the Treasury acting on the recommendation of the FDIC and the Federal Reserve, and after consultation with the president, invoked the statutory systemic risk exception to protect all depositors in connection with each of the two failures." Of the $18.5 billion and estimated losses at the two banks, they say, the estimated loss attributable to the protection of uninsured depositors currently stands at $15.8 billion.
Dimon says regulators are likely to overreact to banking turmoil --Jamie Dimon said U.S. regulators are likely to overreact in their response to the turmoil that swept through the banking industry in March, leading to the collapse of four regional lenders. "I think it's going to get worse for banks — more regulations, more rules and more requirements,'' JPMorgan Chase's chief executive officer said in a Bloomberg Television interview from Paris on Thursday. "If you overdo certain rules, requirements, regulations — there are some of these community banks that tell me they have more compliance people than loan officers.'' The only major bank CEO from the financial crisis still in command, Dimon has played a central role in the reaction to the industry's worst period of tumult in more than a decade. He brought his typical blunt style to critiques of regulators and fellow bankers, spearheaded an industry lifeline to First Republic Bank and ultimately stepped in to buy the lender last week when those efforts proved insufficient. Four regional firms have collapsed amid steep Federal Reserve interest rate hikes and deposit outflows. JPMorgan's purchase of First Republic and Dimon's declaration that "this part of the crisis is over" did little to quell investor concern about the strength of the industry. The KBW Regional Banking Index has dropped 12% since that deal was announced. Banks should have been encouraged to look at a broader range of potential pitfalls, rather than one annual stress test that ran hundreds of thousands of pages, breeding a "false sense of security," Dimon said. The Federal Reserve itself wasn't predicting interest rate rises before it started hiking, and then was surprised when banks also got caught wrong-footed. Dimon said regulators need to get a better handle on smaller banks' financial situations, to "not be surprised constantly." While blame should be placed at the feet of bank CEOs and boards of directors, "I think there needs to be humility on the part of regulators,'' Dimon said. "They should look at it and say, 'OK, we were a little bit a part of the problem' as opposed to just pointing fingers.''
Fed's Bowman: Recent failures don't justify higher capital requirements - Federal Reserve Board Gov. Michelle Bowman does not believe recent bank failures should be used to justify higher capital requirements. She also called for the Fed to commission an independent investigation into the failure of Silicon Valley Bank and the central bank's shortcomings as the institution's primary federal regulator. "This would be a logical next step in holding ourselves accountable and would help to eliminate the doubts that may naturally accompany any self-assessment prepared and reviewed by a single member of the Board of Governors," Bowman said in a speech Friday morning during a closed event hosted by the Program on International Financial Systems in Frankfurt, Germany. Bowman said the bank runs that toppled Silicon Valley Bank, Signature Bank and First Republic Bank were caused by poor bank management and insufficient supervisory oversight. Because of this, she said, the Fed should focus its efforts on ensuring its supervisors identify critical risks within banks and take the appropriate steps to compel bank executives to address them. She also supported targeted changes to regulation if further review identifies specific shortcomings, noting deposit insurance and treatment of uninsured deposits as potential areas of change. But she said that the banking system is well capitalized and any changes to standards should be capital-neutral, arguing that recent failures should not be used as a "pretext to push for other, unrelated changes to banking regulation." "The unique nature and business models of the banks that recently failed, in my view, do not justify imposing new, overly complex regulatory and supervisory expectations on a broad range of banks," Bowman said. "If we allow this to occur, we will end up with a system of significantly fewer banks serving significantly fewer customers. Those who will likely bear the burden of this new banking system are those at the lower end of the economic spectrum, both individuals and businesses." In her speech, Bowman made scant mention of Fed Vice Chair for Supervision Michael Barr's report on the failure of Silicon Valley Bank, which was completed at the end of last month and released broadly two weeks ago. But her remarks were, in many ways, a rebuttal to his review. Barr's report cites both regulatory changes enacted by the Fed in 2019 and an overall shift in supervisory sentiment under the leadership of former Vice Chair for Supervision Randal Quarles as factors contributing to Silicon Valley Bank's demise. Barr's report, which was compiled by the Fed's top regulatory advisor Kevin Stiroh and included interviews with supervisory staffers, does not propose new policy changes but suggests that several preexisting proposals could be beneficial moving forward. These include changes to stress testing, a long-term debt requirement for large regional banks and a revision of capital standards.
Treasury's Liang says bank liquidity risk is stable, but nonbank fears mount - Nellie Liang, the Treasury's undersecretary for domestic finance, said regulators are "quite far along" in looking closely at liquidity risk management at banks but also need to pivot to address potentially systemic vulnerabilities of nonbank financial intermediaries including highly leveraged hedge funds. Liang said Thursday at the annual meeting of the International Swaps and Derivatives Association that among the lessons to be learned from the recent bank failures is the impact of social media in igniting bank runs. "Going forward, banks and regulators will review how liquidity risk and interest rate risk management and regulation may need to adjust given the effects of changes in technology and social media on deposits — their sensitivity to interest rates and their sensitivity to stress," she said. While regulators are focused on liquidity risk at midsize banks, Liang said risks also have surfaced among a variety of nonbank financial intermediaries — including mutual funds, money market funds and hedge funds. She said there is a "liquidity mismatch" in the structures of open-end bond mutual funds and prime money market funds which provide credit, but also have "well known vulnerabilities," and give advantages to "early movers." Bond and open-end mutual fund investors are able to redeem shares daily even though the underlying bonds and loans cannot be sold as quickly. "This mismatch can have systemic consequences because of highly correlated portfolios and investor behavior, which can lead to dysfunction in periods of stress," Liang said, citing the global "dash for cash crisis" in March 2020 that caused disruptions in sovereign bond markets. "Excessive leverage can make it more difficult for financial intermediaries to manage systemwide shocks to demand or supply of safe assets, amplifying the effects of such shocks," Liang said. "More recently, in the days immediately following the bank failures, substantial margin calls from clearinghouses to highly leveraged hedge funds appears to have added to Treasury market volatility."
Quarles issues stark warnings to Fed in wake of bank failures -- As the Federal Reserve weighs changes to regulation and supervision policies amid the ongoingbanking crisis, its former chief regulator shared some words of caution.Former Fed Vice Chair for Supervision Randal Quarles said the Fed must be sure any changes made are clear, consistent and measured, or else they will be stricken down in court."The reason that it's important that we get this right is that if bank supervision can't develop a way of being effective, while also being transparent, consistent and sensitive to due process, it will not survive a coming conflict with the modern judiciary," Quarles said. "It will be found to be a farrago of impermissible delegation of congressional action and unauthorized resolution of major questions."Quarles issued this and other stark warnings on Friday during a conference hosted by Stanford University's Hoover Institution. His anticipation of a potential judicial clash comes at a time when some federal courts have shown a willingness to entertain challenges to regulatory authority. Last fall, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit ruled that the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's funding mechanism was unconstitutional. Meanwhile, the Supreme Court has also shown less deference toward regulators in some recent decisions. Quarles also cautioned that the Fed's current capital and liquidity regime, which does not allow banks to count reserves held at the Fed toward their liquidity requirement, is making it unnecessarily difficult for banks to prepare themselves for periods of stress. He said one reason Silicon Valley Bank was so ill-prepared for the run on its deposits in March was because it was disincentivized from keeping assets at the discount window — the Fed's primary mechanism for emergency lending. Such an arrangement, Quarles said, undermines the Fed's ability to serve as lender of last resort."That is the main lesson of SVB, not a more restrictive capital regime, or more self-insured liquidity regime, or a more unfocused and assertive supervisory regime," Quarles said, "but a rethinking of the misguided undermining of the Fed's core liquidity mission that we've been engaging in for decades." Friday's event was Quarles' first public appearance since current Vice Chair for Supervision Michael Barr released his report on the failure of Silicon Valley Bank two weeks ago. Quarles seized the opportunity to refute his successor's conclusions, many of which blamed Quarles' own policies and priorities for contributing to the poor oversight of the collapsed bank.Quarles called Barr's findings "not just loopy but obviously loopy." In particular, he took issue with the conclusion that the tiering system for capital requirements implemented on his watch contributed to Silicon Valley Bank's demise. He noted that the bank was primarily deposit-funded, had a relatively small loan book and was "awash in liquid assets." Because of this, he said, the pre-2019 capital regime would not have made the bank any more stable than it already was. "It is perfectly possible to have a coherent and well reasoned belief that those tailoring changes should have been calibrated differently or not done at all. I think you'd have the worse of the argument, but that's a reasonable position," Quarles said. "SVB, however, is not evidence for your case. It's not evidence that you would be right. It is, so far as it is evidence of anything, evidence that you were wrong."Similarly, Quarles said the report mischaracterizes the changes to bank oversight that he pursued as the Fed's chief supervisor. Barr's report stated that his predecessor oversaw a "shift" in supervisory culture, but Quarles said if there was such a change, it did not move in the direction he intended.
For Fed supervision, cultural shortcomings are nothing new --Last month's Federal Reserve report on the failure of Silicon Valley Bank has put the policy objectives of former Vice Chair for Supervision Randal Quarles back under the microscope. Many factors contributed to what was then the second-largest bank failure in U.S. history, according to the report, but one finding, in particular, places blame directly at Quarles's feet. Though he is not named in the report, it states that his office directed a shift in supervisory practices that made supervisors reluctant to elevate issues and take decisive action against banks. "In the interviews for this report, staff repeatedly mentioned changes in expectations and practices, including pressure to reduce burden on firms, meet a higher burden of proof for a supervisory conclusion, and demonstrate due process when considering supervisory actions," the report states. "There was no formal or specific policy that required this, but staff felt a shift in culture and expectations from internal discussions and observed behavior that changed how supervision was executed." But former Fed officials, supervisory policy experts and bank lawyers say the cultural deficiencies at play in the supervision of Silicon Valley Bank are nothing new for the central bank. They say the heavy focus on gathering evidence and building "consensus" before taking decisive action on lingering issues has been endemic in the institution for years. There are differing opinions on why this is the case. Some say it is tied to supervision being a secondary consideration for the monetary policy-focused institution. Others call it a focus on the wrong issues. Quarles argues the Fed's long-running modus operandi has been to cast a wide net in its supervision, a practice that he said prioritizes the volume of citations over the risk they present to individual banks or financial stability broadly. Quarles said he tried to do away with this manner of supervision, insisting that his directive was for supervisors to forgo small infractions in favor of hitting hard on major issues. He said the report on Silicon Valley Bank — which notes that 31 supervisory findings were issued to the bank — is evidence that his advice was not heeded. "I wasn't able to do much on supervision and it's evident that I really didn't get much done on changing the culture, because the objective was to stop distracting both the institutions and ourselves with excessive attention to routine administrative matters and focus on what's really important – like interest rate and liquidity risk," he said. "I would often use the phrase, 'And if they won't do what's really important, smite them hip and thigh.'"
Deposits at JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America and Wells Fargo Shrank by $465 Billion Y-O-Y; More than Twice the Total of 4,000 Small Banks - By Pam and Russ Martens -Since the banking crisis began making headlines at expensive media real estate, the narrative has been that deposits are fleeing the small commercial banks and flooding into the biggest banks that are perceived as too-big-to-fail and thus offer a safer venue for deposits.Because these mega banks are the same ones that the Fed has been bailing out since the financial crisis of 2008, that narrative requires believing that our fellow Americans are dumber than a stump.We decided to check out that narrative for ourselves. Not only is that scenario wrong, but it is so decidedly wrong, and it’s so easy to get the accurate figures, that from where we sit it looks like there might have been an agenda by someone to harm smaller banks. (Since it’s short sellers who have benefited to the tune of more than $7 billion from this misinformation, the Securities and Exchange Commission should find out who the public relations firms are who placed this erroneous information, and who paid them.)Each Friday, at approximately 4:15 p.m., the Federal Reserve (“the Fed”) releases its H.8 report showing the assets and liabilities of commercial banks in the United States. Monthly deposit data is included going back one year, as well as deposit data for each of the last four weeks. Data is also broken down by the 25 largest banks and the approximate 4,000 small banks. Equally helpful, the folks at the St. Louis Fed make it possible to chart much of that H.8 data via its FRED charting tools. (See charts above and below.) The 25 largest banks in the U.S. lost a total of $644 billion in deposits between April 27, 2022 and April 26, 2023.The three largest banks in the U.S., as measured by deposits, are JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America and Wells Fargo. Between April 27, 2022 and April 26, 2023, JPMorgan Chase lost $184 billion in deposits; Bank of America lost $162 billion; and Wells Fargo lost $118.7 billion, for a combined loss in deposits of $464.7 billion — representing 72 percent of the decline in deposits at the 25 largest banks. (That’s a crystal clear indication of just how dangerously concentrated banking has become in the U.S.)The deposit losses at JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America and Wells Fargo are more than twice what the 4,000 small banks lost in total during the same period. Their combined loss in deposits was just $210 billion. (See chart below.) Bank of America and Wells Fargo not only lost those large deposit sums on a year-over-year basis, but both banks saw deposits fall during the past five quarters, including the quarter ending March 31, 2023 when headlines were declaring that they were seeing big inflows of deposits as a result of the banking crisis. JPMorgan Chase lost deposits in each of the quarters in 2022 and then saw a small increase in deposits in the first quarter of this year – likely from all of those misleading headlines. (This information is easily obtained from the financial statements the firms file publicly with the SEC.)
BankThink: Short sellers aren't the problem. Bank stability is | American Banker --Vultures are some of the most highly evolved vertebrates in the animal kingdom. Their digestive tracts have a pH so low and corrosive that almost any microorganism a vulture eats is either killed on impact or isolated in its digestive tract — it's so corrosive, in fact, that if a vulture eats a dead animal that contains lead bullets, the bullets will dissolve in the vulture's digestive tract and kill the vulture via lead poisoning. All of that may sound pretty gross, but keep in mind that vultures play a vital role in the ecosystem, limiting the spread of disease among living animal populations and hastening the biodegradation of animal carcasses into food that goes back to the bottom of the food chain. They play a role that may be unseemly, but it's nonetheless vital. Short selling kind of works the same way. Market participants are all looking for the same thing: dislocations between a company's actual value and perceived value. If a company is actually pretty strong and has the potential to grow but undervalued, investors would buy that stock and profit if their hunch turns out to be correct. Short selling offers investors the same opportunity but in reverse — if a company is overvalued relative to its fundamentals, there is money to be made watching that valuation come back to earth. The reason that can be healthy is because having those vultures watching over the market acts as a check on overvaluations, which can lead to destructive asset bubbles.As we've all seen, short sellers are back in the news after a week of dramatic volatility in the stock valuations of several regional banks. Earlier Tuesday a number of those stocks were declining — led by PacWest Bancorp, which announced a dividend cut Monday — after those same stocks rallied late last week … after declining dramatically a week ago. Short interest in those next-most-wobbly banks has ballooned; short sellers earned a reported $1.2 billion on the failures of Silicon Valley Bank, Signature Bank and First Republic over the last several weeks.The reason the vultures have been circling both those failed banks and their still-living peers is the same: an overreliance on long-dated underwater securities on their balance sheets. A wise man once said that stock valuations are imperfect proxies for bank solvency — banks capitalize themselves primarily via deposits rather than stock offerings. Bank stock values can ebb and flow, but as long as the fundamentals are strong banks can live to fight another day and the vultures will turn their attention to another rotting carcass in the financial system.
WSJ Reveals TD Anti-Money-Laundering Practices Nuked First Horizon Deal -- The reason behind the termination of Toronto-Dominion Bank's acquisition of First Horizon Corp. last week has finally been revealed. The Wall Street Journal reported that TD could not obtain the necessary approval from US banking regulators due to past concerns regarding its handling of suspicious customer transactions. Last Thursday, TD released a statement, calling off the $13.4 billion deal to purchase First Horizon. Shares of the Memphis-based regional bank crashed but clawed back some losses in the last few sessions. A person familiar with the bank deal said the termination was due to mounting uncertainty about whether the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency and the Federal Reserve would approve it because of TD's past anti-money-laundering practices. Concerns surfaced among federal regulators regarding TD's handling of unusual transactions in recent years, as well as the speed at which Canada's second-biggest bank reported those transactions to US authorities, the person said. Despite TD's commitment to improving its anti-money laundering policies, it couldn't sway regulators' approval for the completion of the deal, the source continued. TD's anti-money-laundering procedure problem is yet another issue for the lender. It paid $1.2 billion earlier this year to settle a lawsuit accusing it of aiding disgraced financier Allen Stanford's Ponzi scheme more than a decade ago. Stanford was convicted in 2012 and was sentenced to 110 years in prison.
Waller: 'backdoor' policy objectives open Fed up to political attacks -Federal Reserve Board Gov. Christopher Waller said climate change poses risks to banks, but not at a scale warranting new regulatory or supervisory standards. Speaking at an event on Thursday at IE University in Madrid, Waller said any attempt to set policies around climate change would be outside the Fed's statutory authorities and expose the central bank to political scrutiny. "We have a clear mandate from Congress to have price stability, maximum employment and financial stability," Waller said during a question and answer session. "What I worry about is when things like this come in the backdoor. These are particular political agendas, potentially one party likes this, the other party does not like this. If it comes in through the backdoor and the Fed starts acting on it, that's when you start getting attacked." During the event, hosted by IE University, the Spanish central bank and the Federal Reserve Bank of St Louis, Waller delivered a speech on climate change and financial stability. In his remarks he argued that the physical changes to weather and the environment as well as transitional risk related to public policies should be treated the same as other external shocks. "I don't see a need for special treatment for climate-related risks in our financial stability monitoring and policies. As policymakers, we must balance the broad set of risks we face, and we have a responsibility to prioritize using evidence and analysis," he said. "Based on what I've seen so far, I believe that placing an outsized focus on climate-related risks is not needed, and the Federal Reserve should focus on more near-term and material risks in keeping with our mandate." Waller said the Fed is responsible for ensuring that banks can absorb losses during market disruptions and continue providing credit to businesses and households. It is "agnostic" to what those individual disruptions might be, he argued, adding that trying to tailor resiliency measures to precise events would not be an efficient use of time or resources. Even in its annual stress test, in which the Fed presents banks with a severely adverse economic scenario to evaluate their capital levels, Waller said the Fed does not specify what triggers the shock, but rather what the economic outcomes are. "We don't care about the cause," he said.
Senate Democrats press bank CEOs on late fees --— A group of Senate Democrats asked several banks to explain their policies regarding customer late fees. The group, led by Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., and joined by Senate Banking Committee Chairman Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, wrote letters Tuesday to ten of the country's largest credit card issuers: PNC, JPMorgan Chase, Capital One, Citigroup, Discover, Bank of America, American Express, Wells Fargo, U.S. Bancorp and USAA. The letter questions how much each company makes off late fees each year and the total cost annually of collecting those fees. The letter comes as the comment period closes on the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's proposal to cut credit card late fees to $8. The CFPB's proposal would address a loophole created by the Federal Reserve Board in 2010 that allowed issuers to raise credit card late fees every year. "Unfortunately, banks have exploited a safe harbor granted by the Federal Reserve Board to charge fees as much as five times higher than the costs they incur because of late payments," the lawmakers wrote. "That is why we were glad to see the CFPB propose a rule to rein in exploitative late free practices and properly enforce the law." The CFPB rule, and President Joe Biden's general campaign against so-called "junk fees" has pulled fierce opposition from banking groups and the industry in general. Bank executives have argued that reducing late fees would raise the cost of credit for all consumers. "Many banks have reduced or eliminated overdraft fees, another harmful junk fee, without raising costs for consumers," the Democratic senators said in the letters. "How do you reconcile this with the lobby's argument that consumers will pay the price for limited late fees?"
U.S. Internal Revenue Service Files Claims Worth $44 Billion Against FTX Bankruptcy --The United States Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has filed claims worth nearly $44 billion against the estate of bankrupt crypto exchange FTX and its affiliated entities. According to bankruptcy filings dated April 27 and 28, the IRS put forth 45 claims against FTX companies, which include West Realm Shires (the legal entity of FTX.US), Ledger Holdings (the parent company of LedgerX and LedgerPrime) and Blockfolio, among others. The largest of the claims includes a $20.4 billion and a $7.9 billion claim against Alameda Research LLC and two claims totaling $9.5 billion against Alameda Research Holdings Inc. The claims are filed under the classification “Admin Priority”, which could allow the IRS’ claims to take precedence over the claims of other creditors in a bankruptcy case. Bankruptcy documents detailing the $20.4 billion claim against Alameda Research LLC reveal the IRS is claiming about $20 billion in partnership taxes. The remaining amount of the claim includes millions in withheld income taxes and payroll taxes. “Federal law prevents the IRS from confirming or denying any correspondence with regard to any taxpayer case,” said a spokesperson for the IRS. FTX’s bankruptcy attorneys said they had located more than $5 billion in various assets during a hearing in January 2023, and in initial bankruptcy filings the company said it estimated it had somewhere between $1 billion and $10 billion in assets overall. These figures have changed as the company’s management has located additional funds through the last few months.
Crypto Lawsuit Against Tom Brady, Shaquille O'Neal, and the Golden State Warriors gets the cooperation of a former FTX exec - The case against Tom Brady, Shaquille O'Neal, and other celebrities who promoted FTX has gained the cooperation of the failed crypto exchange's ex-compliance chief Dan Friedberg, according to an amended complaint filed late Thursday. Friedberg provided evidence showing that important FTX promotional activity took place in Florida, the May 11 filing said – even though some of the defendants have claimed they shouldn't be targets of the lawsuit because they don't reside in the Sunshine State. The complaint alleges that 11 individuals – including Brady, O'Neal, comedian Larry David and tennis superstar Naomi Osaka – and the Golden State Warriors all promoted unregistered securities by serving as brand ambassadors for FTX. Plaintiffs assert that under Florida law, the celebrities and the Warriors are liable for the losses that customers suffered when FTX-listed cryptocurrencies tanked in value. They're seeking billions of dollars worth of damages. The Warriors, David, Osaka, former NBA MVP Steph Curry and two-way MLB superstar Shohei Ohtani contend that the lawsuit has no "personal jurisdiction" over them because none of their contract signings, ad tapings or other activities on behalf of FTX happened in Florida. "I did not appear in Florida on behalf of any FTX entity nor did I take any action in the State of Florida related to the advertising contract," David said in a declaration filed last month. But the evidence provided by Friedberg shows that "there appears to be no state that has more connections to the FTX brand ambassador defendants" than Florida, according to Thursday's amended complaint.
Sam Bankman-Fried's Ties to George Santos Are Just the Beginning - This week saw the charging and arrest of George Santos, the comically inventive Long Island Congressman. Almost unbelievably, Santos is connected to another apparently inveterate liar: Sam Bankman-Fried, the multiply-indicted founder and former CEO of collapsed crypto exchange FTX. Bankman-Fried’s ties to Santos were just a footnote to Bankman-Freid’s sprawling political influence campaign, seemingly funded in large part with stolen customer funds.The goal of that campaign, however clumsily pursued, may have been the passage of a piece of cryptocurrency legislation, the Digital Commodities Consumer Protection Act, or DCCPA. Many have argued that the DCCPA would have benefitted FTX at the expense of the broader crypto ecosystem – and maybe even allowed Bankman-Fried to keep his gargantuan embezzlement scheme going.George Santos seems to have told an array of lies about his biography and resume, including that he’s Jewish, a former Broadway producer and both the survivor of an assassination attempt and the son of a 9/11 survivor. The lies are almost as entertaining as they are infuriating, suggesting not so much strategic deception as some form of mental illness.But this week's charges against Santos are serious, and a little sad: he faces 13 criminal counts including money laundering and wire fraud. This includes allegedly embezzling $50,000 in campaign funds to buy himself fancy clothes.According to public records uncovered in December of 2022, Santos’ donors included three figures from the FTX circle. The Santos campaign reportedly received the maximum possible individual donation from FTX senior exec Clare Watanabe, product head Ramnik Arora and Ryan Salame, CEO of the company's Bahamian subsidiary FTX Digital Markets, who gave upwards of $24 million to Republican candidates and committees during the midterms.This information was puzzling when it first emerged – Santos had no clear connection to FTX, and no apparent interest in crypto or any other issues Bankman-Fried feigned concern about. According to Puck News, though, the explanation for the Santos connection is relatively straightforward. Salame’s girlfriend, Michelle Bond, former CEO of the FTX-backed crypto trade group Association for Digital Asset Markets, ran for Congress in 2022 as a MAGA Republican, in a district near Santos’.The FTX executive donations went to Santos as part of an agreement with Bond to “swap” donors who had hit the individual limit for donations to the partner candidate. In other words, FTX execs gave money to Santos not because they supported him, but as part of supporting Bond. Puck characterizes such swaps as fairly routine in political campaigns. But Salame was deeply entwined with other aspects of the FTX hustle. Though he has not yet been charged with any crime, the $4 million home he shares with Bond was raided by the FBI in late April.
Binance leaves Canada due to stricter crypto rules -Canadians will no longer have access to the largest cryptocurrency exchange in the world. Binance hasannounced that it's withdrawing from the Canadian marketplace due to new stablecoin and investor limits in the country. Back in February, the Canadian Securities Administrators (CSA) released new guidance that gives crypto trading platforms operating in the region 30 days to register or to leave. The crypto firms that decide to register and stay will have to adhere to stricter rules, such as seeking the CSA's approval before allowing users to buy or deposit stablecoins. According to CoinDesk, Binance will have to pass authorities' due diligence checks before it gets approval. The crypto exchange has been under intense scrutiny in North America over the past years. In the US, the DOJ and the Internal Revenue Service have been looking into reports that Binance is being used for money launderingschemes since 2021. It's also reportedly under investigation for allowing users to bypass sanctions against Russianfinancial institutions. In March this year, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission charged Binance for allegedly offering unregistered crypto derivatives, among other things. In its announcement, Binance said it put off the decision as long as it could "to explore other reasonable avenues to protect [its] Canadian users." Indeed, Bloomberg says its Canadian affiliate filed paperwork to begin its registration process in March. But in the end, it had decided that continuing its operations in the country is "no longer tenable."Binance ended its announcement with a note saying it's confident it will return to Canada, it's CEO Changpeng Zhao's home country, someday. It also said it hopes to continue engaging with Canadian authorities when it comes to forming a "thoughtful, comprehensive regulatory framework."
New York attorney general releases draft of crypto legislation — New York Attorney General Letitia James released draft legislation aimed at regulating the cryptocurrency industry just as talks in Congress over regulating stablecoins remain mired in partisan gridlock. The draft bill, which James released May 5, would strengthen the attorney general's enforcement authority over digital assets and clarify the New York State Department of Financial Services' ability to operate the state's digital asset licensing regime. In a statement announcing the bill, James characterized the proposal as "the strongest and most comprehensive set of regulations on cryptocurrency in the nation." James said the bill, named the Crypto Regulation, Protection, Transparency, and Oversight or CRPTO Act, would bring law and order to the multibillion-dollar industry and safeguard New York investors from its widespread fraud and volatility. "Millions of investors have lost hundreds of billions in the value of their cryptocurrency investments because of rampant fraud, including market manipulation, hacking, and opaque business practices," James said in a statement. James says the bill would give her office enforcement over crypto firms including the authority to subpoena crypto firms as part of investigations. Offending crypto firms would be subject to fines of $10,000 per individual or $100,000 per company. The attorney general's office also says it intends to forcibly close businesses which engage in fraud or illicit activity. The bill would require digital asset exchanges to maintain independent public audits of their financial statements and would make them liable for reimbursing customers who are defrauded. The draft bill also aims to diminish conflicts of interest in the sector by prohibiting individuals from issuing tokens on their own exchanges.
Coinbase Execs Visit UAE To Test Potential Of "Strategic Hub" For International Operations - Following United States-based crypto exchange Coinbase announcing the launch of its global derivatives platform, key executives at the firm are meeting with industry leaders and policymakers in the United Arab Emirates.In a May 7 blog post, Coinbase said CEO Brian Armstrong and some of the firm’s executive team planned to discuss the potential for the UAE “to be a strategic hub” for the crypto exchange. According to the company, it was working with regulators in the Abu Dhabi Global Market and Dubai’s Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority as part of efforts to potentially expand into the region.On May 2, Coinbase announced the launch of the Coinbase International Exchange, a platform offering crypto derivatives trading. The launch came amid the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission potentially charging Coinbase with securities violations following the issuance of a Wells notice in March. Though Armstrong has sometimes been critical of regulatory clarity affecting digital assets in the U.S., he told shareholders in a Q1 earnings call that he had no intention of moving operations outside the country.Before its Wells notice, Coinbase officials, including Armstrong, had met with U.S. policymakers to discuss crypto regulations in the country. Chief legal officer Paul Grewal said the firm had meetings with SEC representatives “more than 30 times over nine months” as of March but largely did not receive feedback on its proposals.The UAE has steadily opened up opportunities for crypto firms, seemingly to draw in capital and jobs. Dubai established a legal framework for cryptocurrencies and set up the Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority in March 2022, taking advantage of the Emirates’ free-trade zones with separate rules and regulations.
The paradox of valuing cryptocurrency in America - The White House just dedicated an entire chapter to the value of digital assets in its 2023 Economic Report of the President. Viewpoint diversity on the subject is alive and well. Crypto critics and advocates can’t even agree on a name. Labels like “digital asset,” “virtual currency,” “tokens,” “decentralized money,” and “digital gold” float around the industry. Critics choose colorful terms of art such as “rat poison squared” and “pet rock” and call to ban crypto for its lack of value.To the dismay of the crypto industry, (full disclosure: I am an advisor of the North Carolina Blockchain Initiative) the White House analysis — framed as a contrast between crypto’s purported benefits and the realities of what crypto has actually achieved — was largely critical. Unsurprisingly, almost all benefits were supposedly debunked. The report concluded that, from an economic view, many crypto assets do not have fundamental value. There are myriad ways to value something, and the report’s economic analysis for some cryptocurrencies seems objective. However, the conclusions are perplexing. The overarching critique is in tension with government actions that have relied on — even exploited — cryptocurrency’s implied or inherent value. Moreover, policymakers have experienced an extraordinary expansion of regulatory and enforcement power by recognizing crypto’s value.Take the extraordinary power gained by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). As early as 2017, the SEC issued the DAO Report, which explained why DAO-issued tokens were securities and therefore subject to its jurisdiction. While other securities tests exist, the SEC relied on SEC v. W.J. Howey Co., a Supreme Court case that outlined a four-factor test to analyze whether a potential transaction is a loosely-defined type of security called an “investment contract.” The first factor of the test asks whether there has been an investment of “money” in the specified transaction. In the DAO Report, ETH, the digital currency native to the Ethereum blockchain, was used. The SEC didn’t exactly conclude that ETH was money, but it did argue that ETH was a “contribution of value,” thus satisfying the test’s criteria.Since 2017, the SEC has relied on this test and the perceived value of crypto to launch — and win — numerous enforcement actions against digital asset companies. Calling into question the value of cryptocurrency might undermine the SEC’s perceived authority on this matter."Bitcoin Is Not Under Attack" - BTC Maxis Allay Fears Of A DoS Offensive - A sudden spike in Bitcoin transaction fees and unconfirmed transactions sparked concern on Crypto Twitter over the weekend of a potential Denial of Service (DoS) “attack” on the network. Some Bitcoin analysts and commentators have been quick to allay these fears from their respective followers. Bitcoin average transaction fees are currently $19.20, or 0.00068 BTC, according to BitInfoCharts. Meanwhile, according to Mempool Space, the backlog of transactions at time of writing stood at 459,341. The increased demand on the network has even caused total fees per block to temporarily exceed the block subsidy reward of 6.25 BTC on May 7. The proof-of-work mining process has a set block subsidy of 6.25 BTC, which halves every four years. However, in the rare instance that block space demand surges, this figure can be exceeded, causing higher transaction fees.Industry analysts reported that it is the first time this has happened since 2017. Fees of 6.76 BTC were recorded for one block and block 788695 generated fees of 6.7 BTC.The Mempool Space explorer shows that activity has since cooled down a little and fees have fallen back below the block reward again. The next block is expected to be processed generating 4.51 BTC in fees.
Some CFPB staff receive "boss text" scam purportedly from Rohit Chopra -Several employees at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau reported receiving fake texts on their personal phones purportedly from their boss, CFPB Director Rohit Chopra. The CFPB's internal service desk on Wednesday alerted the bureau's staff that "text messages are being sent to employee personal phone numbers claiming to be from Director Chopra," according to a copy of the internal CFPB email obtained by American Banker. Employees who received the texts were advised to report the alleged "smishing attack," a form of phishing that uses mobile phones as a platform to gather personal information. So-called "boss text" scams are fairly common but it is still unclear how fraudsters managed to obtain the personal phone numbers of CFPB staffers. In a "boss text" scam, the sender claims to be a boss asking for help, typically an urgent request for money. "Unfortunately, scammers target many American businesses and organizations with this type of attack," a CFPB spokesman said. "We have no indication that this is anything other than a bad actor seeking to mislead or trick people into providing their information or otherwise profit financially." The spokesman said there are no indications that the text messages "are the result of any system compromise, and no CFPB systems or data were affected." The scam is unrelated to an employee data breach in April. In that incident, a CFPB employee sent confidential supervisory information to their personal email account in addition to the names of 256,000 consumers and internal account numbers from a financial institution. The employee no longer works at the CFPB but it is not known if charges have been filed against the former employee. The Office of the Inspector General for the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System and the CFPB declined to comment.
Fed Survey: Banks reported Tighter Standards, Weaker Demand for All Loan Types - From the Federal Reserve: The April 2023 Senior Loan Officer Opinion Survey on Bank Lending PracticesThe April 2023 Senior Loan Officer Opinion Survey on Bank Lending Practices (SLOOS) addressed changes in the standards and terms on, and demand for, bank loans to businesses and households over the past three months, which generally correspond to the first quarter of 2023.Regarding loans to businesses, survey respondents reported, on balance, tighter standards and weaker demand for commercial and industrial (C&I) loans to large and middle-market firms as well as small firms over the first quarter. Meanwhile, banks reported tighter standards and weaker demand for all commercial real estate (CRE) loan categories.For loans to households, banks reported that lending standards tightened across all categories of residential real estate (RRE) loans other than government-sponsored enterprise (GSE)-eligible and government residential mortgages, which remained basically unchanged. Meanwhile, demand weakened for all RRE loan categories. In addition, banks reported tighter standards and weaker demand for home equity lines of credit (HELOCs). Standards tightened for all consumer loan categories; demand weakened for auto and other consumer loans, while it remained basically unchanged for credit cards.This graph on Residential Real Estate demand is from the Senior Loan Officer Survey Charts.This shows that demand has declined. The left graph is 1990 to 2014. The right graph is 2015 to Q1 2023.
Fed survey: Banks are tightening up their lending standards after rate hikes, turmoil — It was already difficult for businesses and households to borrow money earlier this year — but after the collapse of three US regional banks and a cascade of rate hikes by the Federal Reserve, getting money has become a little harder. More lenders have stiffened their standards in the wake of increasing turmoil within the banking sector, according to the Federal Reserve’s quarterly Senior Loan Officer Opinion Survey (SLOOS) released Monday. Survey respondents attributed the changes in lending standards to economic uncertainty, a reduced appetite for risk, deterioration in collateral values and broader concerns about banks’ funding costs and liquidity positions, according to the Fed report. Additionally, lenders reported that they expect to tighten standards across all loan categories for the remainder of this year, citing the above concerns as well as customer withdrawals. When banks tighten their standards, loans can be harder to get or come with more onerous terms, making it difficult for businesses to make capital improvements or hire staff; or for consumers to buy a house, purchase or lease a car or make home improvements. “The impact of tightening credit to small businesses, which are very large employers, and banks are major providers of credit to small and mid-sized businesses,” Warren Kornfeld, senior vice president of Moody’s Investors Service, told CNN. “So depending on how long this tightening and how significant this tightening is, has the potential to have material impacts on how fast the economy grows.” The report doesn’t typically garner a lot of attention from the public; however, that’s not the case now, after three large regional banks failed within a four-week span and the Fed is attempting a precarious “soft landing” — to bring down inflation without causing a ballooning in unemployment. “Further evidence of tightening lending conditions and a potential credit crunch can be seen in the notable decline in demand for credit by large and middle market firms inside the [SLOOS],” Joseph Brusuelas, chief economist with RSM US, said in a statement. “Policymakers and investors should anticipate this to impact the real economy in the near term as investment, hiring and growth slow on the back of tighter lending.” The Fed surveys up to 80 large US banks and 24 domestic branches of foreign banks and asks officers about topics such as changes in lending terms and standards as well as household demand for loans. The last SLOOS, released in January and generally corresponding to activity in the fourth quarter of 2022, showed that standards tightened for most business loans, especially commercial real estate products. Standards tightened and demand weakened for residential loans as well as consumer-specific categories such as credit cards, autos and personal loans. At the time, banks expected that trend of tightening credit, waning demand and deteriorating loan quality would continue. Then in March, two regional banks failed in quick succession. The Fed, Treasury and Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation stepped in to shore up the banking system and stave off future bank runs; however, uncertainty spiked as to potential ripple effects within the banking industry as well as the economy. “Perhaps what [this SLOOS report points] toward … is it shows that there is some evidence that banks are experiencing stress,” Jill Cetina, associate managing director of Moody’s Investors Service, told CNN. “I think we knew that before the survey, but now we have that quantified here with how it’s impacting lending.”
Banks' Tighter Lending Signals Fewer Loans, Wider Credit Spreads --US banks’ tightening of lending conditions points to a significant slowdown in bank credit extended, while non-bank credit will become more expensive as spreads widen.The latest Senior Loan Officer Opinion Survey was released Monday. Often the different aspects of the survey are conflated, but they are best understood by noting that lending in the US follows a well-defined sequence. Lending standards are the most leading part. These have been tightening and lead loan demand by about six months.The latest survey showed only a slight further tightening in banks’ lending standards, and a much sharper drop off in loan demand. But this was anticipated as lending standards had tightened sharply over the last 18 months.Demand for loans then leads supply of loans. There is about a six-month lead in this relationship (using C&I loans as a proxy for loan growth overall), and the drop in loan demand points to a sharp fall in loans over at least the rest of this year.Typically, credit spreads and bank-lending standards track each other closely. The latter’s data is survey based and therefore backwards looking. But banks are likely to take their cues from credit markets – a live, continuously updated indication of the market’s view of credit risk – when deciding on the conditions for the loans they extend.However, thus far in this cycle they have decoupled. This is likely to do with the Fed warehousing duration risk. Despite almost a year of QT, the Fed’s balance sheet still harbors almost $8 trillion of fixed-income risk that the public would otherwise hold.The banks might be expected to take on a good chunk of this burden, but they are also jettisoning fixed-income risk. The rapid rise in interest rates and deterioration in overall credit conditions are making them reluctant to shoulder too much of this potential tsunami of upstream duration risk.Instead, the non-bank public - non-financial corporations and households - are holding an increasing share of total US debt. This will stress company balance sheets. Credit spreads have been insulated from much of the rising duration risk as the Fed has raised rates, but this is changing and will soon be reflected in potentially much wider spreads.
Banks expect to tighten credit throughout 2023: Fed | CFO Dive - Banks expect to tighten credit standards for all types of loans during the rest of 2023, the Federal Reserve said Monday, noting that stresses in the banking system beginning in March prompted lenders to sharpen credit terms during the first quarter. Demand for loans fell during the period.Looking ahead to “the remainder of 2023, banks reported expecting to tighten standards across all loan categories,” the Fed said in a report on its quarterly Senior Loan Officer Opinion Survey.When explaining the reasoning behind plans to pull back credit, “banks most frequently cited an expected deterioration in the credit quality of their loan portfolios and in customers' collateral values, a reduction in risk tolerance and concerns about bank funding costs, bank liquidity position and deposit outflows,” the central bank said.Fed Chair Jerome Powell and other policymakers have warned the failure of Silicon Valley Bank and other lenders since March will likely intensify a broad pullback in lending that started last year.“I’m certainly getting vibes as you are in the market and in the business context that the credit crunch, or at least a credit squeeze, is beginning,” Chicago Fed President Austan Goolsbee said Monday.Referring to his fellow policymakers, Goolsbee told Yahoo! Finance, “we had yet to see that tightening really bite on the real side of the economy” on Wednesday when unanimously approving a quarter-point increase in borrowing costs in the tenth consecutive rate hike since March 2022.Powell, in comments echoed by Goolsbee, said Wednesday that the central bank is trying to gauge the severity of the credit tightening and how much it will reinforce Fed efforts to slow inflation in the most aggressive monetary policy tightening in 40 years.“We have to be honest and humble about our ability to make a precise assessment” of the impact from declining bank credit, Powell said during a press conference.“In principle, we won't have to raise rates quite as high as we would have had this not happened,” he said, noting especially a reduction in credit by small- and medium-sized banks. “The extent of that is so hard to predict because we don't know how persistent these effects will be.”Large U.S. and foreign banks, when explaining why they raised credit standards across all loan categories during the first quarter, “cited a less favorable or more uncertain economic outlook, reduced tolerance for risk, deterioration in collateral values and concerns about banks' funding costs and liquidity positions,” the Fed said.In commercial and industry lending during the first quarter, banks most widely reported raising costs on credit lines and premiums charged on riskier loans, as well as widening spreads on loan rates over the cost of funds, the Fed said.Among U.S. banks, 46% said they tightened terms for C&I loans to medium and large businesses during the first quarter, an increase from 44.8% during the fourth quarter of last year, the Fed said.“Significant net shares of banks reported having tightened the maximum size of credit lines, loan covenants and collateralization requirements to firms of all sizes,” the central bank said.Demand fell during the first quarter for all types of business and household credit, including for commercial and industrial loans, commercial real estate, residential real estate, home equity lines of credit, and auto and consumer loans, the Fed said. Demand was “basically unchanged” for credit cards.“The economy is likely to face further headwinds from tighter credit conditions,” Powell said Wednesday. “Credit conditions had already been tightening over the past year or so in response to our policy actions and a softer economic outlook,” he said. “But the strains that emerged in the banking sector in early March appear to be resulting in even tighter credit conditions for households and businesses,” slowing the economy, discouraging hiring and cooling inflation.
CFPB warns banks about reopening closed deposit accounts -- The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Wednesday warned banks that reopening a deposit account to process transactions after a consumer has already closed it may violate federal law. Some consumers have complained to the CFPB that their bank reopened an account and charged overdraft, nonsufficient funds and maintenance fees after the account had already been closed. Banks risk violating the general prohibition on "unfair acts or practices" by reopening closed accounts, the CFPB said. "When a bank unilaterally chooses to open an account in someone's name after they have already closed it, this is a fake account," CFPB Director Rohit Chopra said in a press release. "The CFPB is acting on all fronts to halt the harvesting of illegal junk fees." The CFPB's warning came in a policy statement, which is not legally binding, but rather provides advice on matters in which the agency plans to exercise its authority. The CFPB highlighted that in 2019 it ordered USAA Federal Savings Bank to pay more than $15 million in restitution and fines to settle claims that USAA had reopened deposit accounts without customers' consent. In that order, the bureau alleged that USAA refused to investigate when customers asserted that funds — most notably, payday loan payments — had been debited in error, and the bank refused to stop the payments.
'I want to see consumer finance where people aren't stuck': CFPB's Chopra - The three-digit credit score has outlived its usefulness. This was a strong message Thursday from Rohit Chopra, director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau at the Fintech Nexus conference in New York. It was one of many fintech-friendly points he made to an audience that offers alternative data and lending software to help banks rely less on the scores. "Credit scores are often unreliable, inaccurate or in many cases people won't even have a credit score," Chopra said. "More lenders are getting insight on cash flow, what's coming in the account and what's leaving, that's going to give people insight on residual income, which really is in some ways going to back to the basics of banking, of saying how much money does someone have left in order to service some sort of new loan or financial obligation." Chopra also said he'd like to give consumers the ability to threaten to switch banks more easily, and that that will be a factor in the data-sharing rules the CFPB is writing to fulfill the Dodd-Frank Act, which he said should be finished next year. "I just want to see consumer finance where people aren't stuck," he said. "Where they can switch more easily and they can take their business elsewhere." Though the Fed raised interest rates in recent quarters, the biggest banks have not passed on those rate hikes to depositors, Chopra pointed out. "The more consumers have the ability to credibly threaten a switch, I do think that could help us help consumers capture more of those deposits and ideally get lower costs on their loans as well," he said. Customers should stay with their bank because its pricing or service is good, not because it's so complicated to switch, he said. "What you see a lot in banking is it's a bureaucratic nightmare to switch your products, move your money," Chopra said.
Fed's Williams says commercial real estate a 'real issue' for banks ---Federal Reserve Bank of New York President John Williams said the health of the office sectoris a "real issue" for banks but not an immediate threat to financial stability. Speaking at an event hosted by the Economic Club of New York, Williams said he and other bank supervisors are keenly focused on what falling commercial real estate values might mean for banks and their loan books. "We are definitely monitoring that, analyzing it, but also paying very close attention to it in the supervision space around banks' commercial real estate risk," he said. "This is primarily focused on the office space, where you see some of the potential declines in values as businesses have seen people go to work from home or remote, that demand for office space has gone down in New York and other places."Commercial real estate valuations are a rising concern among financial market participants, according to the Fed's latest financial stability report, released Monday. More than half of those surveyed for the biannual report said the sector was a top concern for financial stability.The report noted that valuations remain strong despite falling prices for commercial properties, rising vacancy rates and income levels for the asset class hovering around historic lows. But Williams said those figures may not tell the entire story. After the event, Williams told reporters that current data about the valuation of commercial real estate assets likely understates the problems in the sector, noting that most transactions in the market have involved higher end properties, thus skewing the data upward. While it is apparent that city center offices and retail spaces are being used less since the onset of COVID-19, he said, it is unclear just how much that trend has impacted their values. "As people have gone to work from home, partially remote or hybrid models, I don't think we fully understand how that will settle out in terms of the underlying value of these properties," Williams said. "Also, given that these properties often get revenue from the businesses, like restaurants and others that are associated with them. So I think we'll get more information on that."
FHFA drops debt-to-income based pricing adjustment -The housing industry cheered the Federal Housing Finance Agency's cancellation of the loan level price adjustments based on the borrower's total debt-to-income ratio originally set to go into effect on May 1.Already, the FHFA had pushed back implementation three months to Aug. 1. The change would have created an adjustment for mortgages with DTI's higher than 40% that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac would acquire.The Mortgage Bankers Association and many others in the field had argued that debt-to-income ratios can change on a daily basis, which would necessitate frequent recalculation of appropriate pricing and risk misleading borrowers about costs."I appreciate the feedback FHFA has received from the mortgage industry and other market participants about the challenges of implementing the DTI ratio-based fee," said FHFA Director Sandra Thompson in a press release. "To continue this valuable dialogue, FHFA will provide additional transparency on the process for setting the Enterprises' single-family guarantee fees and will request public input on this issue."It will be issuing a request for input on a fee pricing framework "shortly." Republican members of Congress have criticized Thompson over various fee changes the FHFA wants the government-sponsored entrepreneurs to implement. "The industry can breathe a sigh of relief," Peter Idziak, senior associate at the law firm of Polunsky Beitel Green, said in a statement. "But the announcement and subsequent walk-back of the DTI LLPA are nevertheless concerning…because it shows that FHFA doesn't fully understand or appreciate the challenges facing lenders today. Nor does the agency contemplate how its policies can affect borrowers."
Washington state will provide mortgage assistance as remedy for historical discrimination A new state law in Washington will provide homeownership assistance to members of communities harmed by historical policies that restricted fair access to housing. The law levies a $100 fee on certain documents recorded by county governments to fund a program that will provide qualified applicants with loans to cover down payments and closing costs associated with buying a home. The program will cover first-time homebuyers who are Black, indigenous, people of color or from other historically marginalized communities. Applicants must be state residents or the descendants of residents who were excluded from homeownership "by a racially restrictive real estate covenant," according to the law's text. State lawmakers proposed the measure earlier this year after academic research commissioned by Washington's legislature identified 50,000 properties in the Seattle area that historically had real estate covenants. Those covenants prevented people of certain races or ethnicities from owning or renting the property. The legacy of racial housing discrimination is a "dark blot" on the history of the Evergreen State, Washington Gov. Jay Inslee said Monday during a signing ceremony. He called the bill one solution to "right a historic wrong of who can access homeownership in our state. "We're going to use the same system that enabled prejudice and bias in homeownership to do some good and help people obtain houses," said Inslee, a Democrat. Lawmakers who supported the legislation cited the study that the Legislature commissioned from researchers at the University of Washington and Eastern Washington University. In addition to identifying properties that historically had restrictive real estate covenants, the Racial Restrictive Covenants Project found racial disparities in homeownership rates in Seattle and the rest of King County. Black families had a 27% homeownership rate, and Latino families had a 35% rate, far behind the 62% rate for white families.
MBA: "Mortgage Delinquency Rate in First-Quarter 2023 Declines to Second-Lowest Level in MBA’s Survey" --From the MBA: Mortgage Delinquency Rate in First-Quarter 2023 Declines to Second-Lowest Level in MBA’s Survey The delinquency rate for mortgage loans on one-to-four-unit residential properties decreased to aseasonally adjusted rate of 3.56 percent of all loans outstanding at the end of the first quarter of 2023, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association’s (MBA) National Delinquency Survey.The delinquency rate was down 40 basis points from the fourth quarter of 2022 and down 55 basis points from one year ago. The percentage of loans on which foreclosure actions were started in the first quarter rose by 2 basis points to 0.16 percent. “The mortgage delinquency rate fell to its lowest level for any first quarter since MBA’s survey began in 1979 and was the second lowest quarterly rate overall, just 11 basis points above the survey low in the third quarter of 2022,” said Marina Walsh, CMB, MBA’s Vice President of Industry Analysis. “Mortgage delinquencies and the unemployment rate continue to track each other closely, with the unemployment rate in April falling back to the 54-year low of 3.4 percent set in January.”, “Consistent with the resilient job market, the performance of existing mortgages is exceeding expectations. Across all states, there was an improvement in the first quarter compared to one year ago. Year-over-year delinquencies for all product types – FHA, VA, and conventional – were also down.”.This graph shows the percent of loans delinquent by days past due. Overall delinquencies decreased in Q1.From the MBA:Compared to last quarter, the seasonally adjusted mortgage delinquency rate decreased for all loans outstanding. By stage, the 30-day delinquency rate decreased 15 basis points to 1.77 percent, the 60-day delinquency rate decreased 11 basis points to 0.55 percent, and the 90-day delinquency bucket decreased 14 basis points to 1.24 percent.The delinquency rate includes loans that are at least one payment past due but does not include loans in the process of foreclosure. The percentage of loans in the foreclosure process at the end of the first quarter was 0.57 percent, unchanged from the fourth quarter of 2022 and 4 basis points higher than one year ago.The sharp increase in 2020 in the 90-day bucket was due to loans in forbearance (included as delinquent, but not reported to the credit bureaus). the percent of loans in the foreclosure process increased slightly year-over-year in Q1 with the end of the foreclosure moratoriums but are still historically low.
Fannie "Real Estate Owned" inventory essentially unchanged in Q1 -Fannie reported results for Q1 2023. Here is some information on single-family Real Estate Owned (REOs). Foreclosure have increased slightly since the end of the foreclosure moratorium. Fannie Mae reported the number of REOs increased to 8,780 at the end of Q1 2023, essentially unchanged from 8,779 in Q4 2022, and up 18% from 7,430 at the end of Q1 2022. For Fannie, this is down 95% from the 166,787 peak number of REOs in Q3 2010. Here is a graph of Fannie Real Estate Owned (REO). This is well below a normal level of REOs for Fannie, and REO levels will increase further in 2023, but there will not be a huge wave of foreclosures.
Realtor.com Reports Weekly Active Inventory Up 35% YoY; New Listings Down 22% YoY -- Realtor.com has monthly and weekly data on the existing home market. Here is their weekly report from chief economist Danielle Hale: Weekly Housing Trends View — Data Week Ending Apr 29, 2023 Active inventory was up at a slower pace, with for-sale homes up just 35% above one year ago. The number of homes for sale continues to grow, but compared to one year ago, the pace is slowing. New listings–a measure of sellers putting homes up for sale–were down again this week, by 22% from one year ago. The number of newly listed homes has been lower than the same time the previous year for the past 43 weeks. Here is a graph of the year-over-year change in inventory according to realtor.com. Inventory is still up year-over-year - from record lows - however, the YoY increase has slowed sharply recently. This was the smallest YoY increase since October.The recent trend suggests active inventory could be down YoY in Q3!
Leading Index for Commercial Real Estate Decreased in April - From Dodge Data Analytics: Dodge Momentum Index Declines In April After Pullback In Commercial Planning The Dodge Momentum Index (DMI), issued by Dodge Construction Network, fell 5.1% in April to 180.9(2000=100) from the revised March reading of 190.6. In April, the commercial component of the DMI fell 8.0%, and the institutional component improved 0.3%.“On par with our expectations, the Dodge Momentum Index continued to recede in April, due to declining economic conditions and ongoing banking uncertainty.” stated Sarah Martin, associate director of forecasting for Dodge Construction Network. “Weaker commercial planning is driving the DMI’s decline, as it is more exposed to real-time economic changes than the largely publicly funded institutional segment.”Commercial planning in April was pushed down by sluggish office, hotel and retail activity. Institutional planning remained flat, as weak education planning offset growth in healthcare and amusement projects. Year over year, the DMI remains 11% higher than in April 2022. The commercial and institutional components were up 7% and 17% respectively....The DMI is a monthly measure of the initial report for nonresidential building projects in planning, shown to lead construction spending for nonresidential buildings by a full year.This graph shows the Dodge Momentum Index since 2002. The index was at 180.9 in April, down from 190.6 the previous month. according to Dodge, this index leads "construction spending for nonresidential buildings by a full year". This index suggests a solid pickup in commercial real estate construction in early 2023. but a slowdown towards the end of 2023 or in 2024.
NY Fed Finds Inflation Expectations Mixed, As Spending Growth Outlook Tumbles To Two Year Low –(NY Fed graphs throughout) While we wait for today's 2pm SLOOS release, where the latest C&I credit standards are expected to measure at a level tighter than the dot-com crisis (if still less extreme than during the financial crisis or the height of the pandemic... at least until a few more banks collapse), earlier today the NY Fed published the results of its April Survey of Consumer Expectations, which found that while inflation expectations at the one-year horizon decreased to 4.45% in April from the previous month’s 4.75%, longer-dated inflation expectations - at both the three- and five-year horizons - rose to 2.89% (from 2.78%) and 2.62% (from 2.54%), respectively. And while these are largely C-grade data points at best since they gyrate wildly month to month, here are the rest of the survey's findings:
- Median home price growth expectations rose to 2.52% from 1.84%, highest reading since July of last year; increase more pronounced among respondents in the Midwest and Northeast Census regions, report notes.
- Median household spending growth expectations fell to 5.22% from 5.72%, lowest since Sept. 2021.
- That may explain why respondents' expectations for applying for a new credit is near the highest in the past decade, at 12.0%
- And yet, one look at the next chart shows that credit demand is already the lowest since Oct 2020, as the number of respondents who "applied and were" approved for credit dropped to just 33.8%, the lowest since 2020.
- Over the next year consumers expect gasoline prices to rise 5.09%; food prices to rise 5.77%; medical costs to rise 9.29%; the price of a college education to rise 7.79%; rent prices to rise 9.17%.
- A smaller percentage of consumers, 10.60% vs 10.87% in prior month, expect to not be able to make minimum debt payment over the next three months
- Finally, while the NY Fed surveys are traditionally wrong about most things, one place they are right this time is in their expectations for higher stock prices: with just 35.8% forecasting higher stock prices, or just off the lowest level in the past decade, few will be disappointed by what is coming.
BLS: CPI increased 0.4% in April; Core CPI increased 0.4% --From the BLS: The Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) rose 0.4 percent in April on a seasonally adjusted basis, after increasing 0.1 percent in March, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Over the last 12 months, the all items index increased 4.9 percent before seasonal adjustment.The index for shelter was the largest contributor to the monthly all items increase, followed by increases in the index for used cars and trucks and the index for gasoline. The increase in the gasoline index more than offset declines in other energy component indexes, and the energy index rose 0.6 percent in April. The food index was unchanged in April, as it was in March. The index for food at home fell 0.2 percent over the month while the index for food away from home rose 0.4 percent.The index for all items less food and energy rose 0.4 percent in April, as it did in March. Indexes which increased in April include shelter, used cars and trucks, motor vehicle insurance, recreation, household furnishings and operations, and personal care. The index for airline fares and the index for new vehicles were among those that decreased over the month.The all items index increased 4.9 percent for the 12 months ending April; this was the smallest 12-month increase since the period ending April 2021. The all items less food and energy index rose 5.5 percent over the last 12 months. The energy index decreased 5.1 percent for the 12 months ending April, and the food index increased 7.7 percent over the last year.CPI was slightly lower than expected and core CPI slightly higher than expectations. I'll post a graph later today after the Cleveland Fed releases the median and trimmed-mean CPI.
Inflation rate eases to 4.9% in April, less than expectations -- A widely followed measure of inflation rose in April, though the pace of the annual increase provided some hope that the cost of living will head lower later this year. The consumer price index, which measures the cost of a broad swath of goods and services, increased 0.4% for the month, in line with the Dow Jones estimate, according to a Labor Department report Wednesday. However, that equated to an annual increase of 4.9%, slightly less than the 5% estimate and the lowest annual pace since April 2021. The annual rate was 5% in March. Excluding volatile food and energy categories, core CPI rose 0.4% monthly and 5.5% from a year ago, both in line with expectations. Increases in shelter, gasoline and used vehicles pushed the index higher, and were offset somewhat by declines in prices for fuel oil, new vehicles and food at home. Markets reacted positively to the news, with futures turning positive as Treasury yields were lower. "Today's reports suggests that the Fed's campaign to quell inflation is working, albeit more slowly than they would like," "But for financial markets ... today's inflation print is a net positive." Inflation has been persistent despite the Federal Reserve's efforts to bring down prices. Starting in March 2022, the central bank has enacted 10 consecutive interest rate increases totaling 5 percentage points, taking benchmark borrowing rates to their highest level in nearly 16 years. The CPI reading has cooled considerably since peaking out around 9% in June 2022. However, inflation still has held well above the Fed's 2% annual target. The report provides both good and bad news on the inflation front as Fed officials weigh their next move on rates. Shelter costs, which make up about one-third of the CPI weighting, increased another 0.4% on the month and are now up 8.1% from a year ago. The monthly gain represented a step down from previous months' increases but was still indicative that a key inflation driver is rising. With housing costs projected to decline, the Fed is focusing on "super core" inflation, which excludes food, energy and shelter. That measure rose 0.4% for April and was up 3.7% from a year ago. The monthly gain was slightly higher than the 0.3% in March while the annual pace was unchanged. At the same time, the 4.4% jump in prices for used cars and trucks reverses recent declines. Food prices, though, were flat while the energy index rose 0.6%, boosted by a 3% gain in gasoline. Of the six grocery store indexes the Bureau of Labor Statistics uses to compute food prices, four showed declines. Milk, for instance, fell 2%, the biggest monthly drop since February 2015. Egg prices, one of the biggest gainers in the food index over the past year, fell 1.5%, taking the annual gain down to 21.4%. For workers, real average hourly earnings, adjusted for inflation, rose 0.1% for the month but were still down 0.5% from a year ago, the BLS said in a separate report. Following the reports, traders lowered the odds that the Fed would raise interest rates at the June meeting to 20%, according to the CME Group's FedWatch tracker of pricing in the fed funds futures market. The CPI reading comes just days after the BLS reported that nonfarm payrolls increased by 253,000 in April, above expectations and indicative that the labor market is still hot despite Fed efforts to cool demand. In approving its latest rate hike last week, the Fed removed an indication that future increases are warranted and instead shifted to language saying that decisions will be based on incoming data.
Core CPI Stuck at 5.5%-5.7% Range for Fifth Month, Now Higher than Overall CPI, as Used Car Prices Suddenly Spike Again - By Wolf Richter The Consumer Price Index (CPI) for April, released today by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, was marked by a very unwelcome reversal in durable goods prices which suddenly jumped again month-to-month. This was driven by a spike in used vehicle prices. A month ago, we explained why this spike would happen, based on underlying dynamics in prior months and called it a“turning point” in used vehicle prices. Today, it looks like a U-turn.Services inflation remains red hot, but was somewhat moderated by a sharp drop in airline fares, rental cars, and by the infamous and huge adjustment of the health insurance CPI that started in September 2022 and will continue to wreak havoc with services CPI through September 2023. This combination of the month-to-month jump in durable goods and the slight moderation in month-to-month services caused the “core” CPI (overall CPI minus food and energy) to remain stuck for the fifth month in a row at around 5.5% — it’s now higher than overall CPI. Inflation, once it reaches this level, is a game of Whac A Mole. As you hammer one category down, another one re-pops up. The huge “base effect” is something we’re going to be talking about here a lot over the next few months because it is now pushing down year-over-year CPI readings through June, but will reverse in July and push them up in July and in the entire second half. This “base effect” is the result of the surge of CPI last year through June, which forms the base for the year-over-year comparisons now. But last July, the index kinked with a month-to-month negative reading (on a plunge in energy prices and dropping durable goods), and the overall CPI curve then flattened out for the rest of the year. This flatter curve will be the base for the year-over-year readings in the second half, and the reversing “base effect” will push up year-over-year readings. This is already baked in. Something to look forward to. Inflation at a glance by major category:
- Services without energy services jumped by +6.8% from a year ago – after +7.1% in March and the four-decade high of +7.3% in February – fueled by housing, food services, auto insurance, auto repair, pet services. But declines in airline fares and rental cars pulled the other way. The infamous and huge health insurance adjustment also pulled the other way and will continue to do so through September.
- Food at home: inflation dipped in April from March, the second monthly decline in a row (-0.2%). Year-over-year, prices increased (+7.1%) at the slowest rate since January 2022.
- Energy inflation month to month rose (+0.6%) which slowed the year-over-year decline (-5.1%). Prices of gasoline rose for the month, but were still down (-12.2%) from a year ago.
- Durable goods CPI jumped month-to-month (+0.8%), the second month in a row of increases, after six months of declines, driven by a huge spike in used vehicle prices. This whittled down the year-over-year decline toward the flat line (-0.2%).
- Core CPI, on a month-to-month basis (+0.4%) has been in the same range for the fifth month in a row. On an unrounded basis, April was a little hotter than in March. Year-over-year, core CPI (+5.5%) has been stuck in the same range for the fourth month in a row.
- Overall CPI (CPI-U) accelerated month to month (+0.4%), but year over year moderated to +4.9%.
- Core CPI higher than overall CPI for the second month in a row. After the plunge in energy prices and the softening food prices, overall CPI has come down a lot, to +4.9% in April, while core CPI has gotten stuck at 5.5%.
Cleveland Fed: Median CPI increased 0.4% and Trimmed-mean CPI increased 0.3% in April -The Cleveland Fed released the median CPI and the trimmed-mean CPI. According to the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland, the median Consumer Price Index rose 0.4% in April. The 16% trimmed-mean Consumer Price Index increased 0.3% in April. "The median CPI and 16% trimmed-mean CPI are measures of core inflation calculated by the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland based on data released in the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ (BLS) monthly CPI report".This graph shows the year-over-year change for these four key measures of inflation. On a year-over-year basis, the median CPI rose 7.0%, the trimmed-mean CPI rose 6.1%, and the CPI less food and energy rose 5.5%. Core PCE is for March and increased 4.6% year-over-year.Note: The Cleveland Fed released the median CPI details. "Used Cars" increased at a 69% annualized rate in April (this will reverse in May), and "Car and truck rental" decreased at a 33% annualized rate. Note that Owners' Equivalent Rent and Rent of Primary Residence account for 1/3 of median CPI, and these measures were up almost 7% annualized. This data is lagged and asking rents have softened in recent months (due to the sharp slowdown in household formation).
Wholesale prices rose just 0.2% in April, less than estimate as inflation pressures ease -Wholesale prices rose less than expected in April, according to a Labor Department report Thursday that provides more hope that inflation is at least trending lower. The producer price index, a measure of prices for final demand goods and services, increased 0.2%, against the Dow Jones estimate for 0.3% and after declining 0.4% in March. Excluding food and energy, the core PPI also rose 0.2%, in line with expectations. The core reading was the same excluding trade.On an annual basis, the headline PPI increased just 2.3%, down from 2.7% in March and the lowest reading since January 2021.Though the PPI rise was less than expected, the services index increased 0.3%, the biggest move since November 2022, the Bureau of Labor Statistics report stated.A separate Labor Department report Thursday showed thatjobless claims for the week ended May 6 jumped to 264,000, a rise of 22,000 from the previous period. The total was well above the Dow Jones estimate for 245,000 and the highest reading since Oct. 30, 2021. Continuing claims edged higher to 1.81 million."This morning's PPI release indicates that prices are inching lower, a significant indicator for a market concerned about an elevated trend in prices paid," said Quincy Krosby, chief global strategist at LPL Financial. "The higher than expected initial unemployment claims release, similarly is market friendly as the resilient labor landscape, underpinning higher wages, is showing signs of easing."However, stock market futures were mixed following the data release as Wall Street worries over a debt ceiling impasse in Washington.The reports come as the Federal Reserve has been using its policy levers to bring down inflation that had been running at a 41-year high last summer. Central bankers have raised their benchmark interest rate 10 times since March 2022 while reducing bond holdings that had approached $9 trillion at one point.In a release Wednesday, the Labor Department said the consumer price index, a popular gauge of prices that consumers pay for a bevy of goods and services, increased 0.4% in April, equating to a 4.9% annual inflation rate. The latter number was the lowest reading since April 2021.The PPI differs from the CPI in that it measures prices that producers pay for the goods and services they need.The report showed that about one-third of the PPI services increase came from "portfolio management" services, which measures the prices for investment advice and increased 4.1%. Gasoline prices rose 8.4%, pushing the goods index higher by 0.2%.Other notable increases came from food and alcohol wholesaling, outpatient care, and loan services. Decreases came from long-distance motor carrying and a 37.9% plunge in the cost for chicken eggs.
Weekly Initial Unemployment Claims increase to 264,000 --The DOL reported:In the week ending May 6, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 264,000, an increase of 22,000 from the previous week's unrevised level of 242,000. This is the highest level for initial claims since October 30, 2021 when it was 264,000. The 4-week moving average was 245,250, an increase of 6,000 from the previous week's unrevised average of 239,250. This is the highest level for this average since November 20, 2021 when it was 249,250. The following graph shows the 4-week moving average of weekly claims since 1971.
Pilots at United picket for higher pay as pressure builds before summer travel season (AP) — Just ahead of what could be a record-breaking summer travel season, pilots from one of the nation’s biggest airlines marched in picket lines at major airports on Friday as they push for higher pay.The United Airlines pilots have been working without a raise for more than four years while negotiating with airline management over a new contract.The pilots are unlikely to strike anytime soon, however. Federal law makes it very difficult for unions to conduct strikes in the airline industry, and the last walkout at a U.S. carrier was more than a decade ago.The coast-to-coast protests by United pilots come on the heels of overwhelming strike-authorization votes by pilots at American Airlines and Southwest Airlines. United pilots could be the next to vote, according to union officials. Pilots at all three carriers are looking to match or beat the deal that Delta Air Lines reached with its pilots earlier this year, which raised pay rates by 34% over four years.
America's Largest Transit Systems Reeling As Revenues Continue To Crater -- Public transit systems across the country are reeling from a dramatic decline in ridership which has left some of the largest cities with less than 70% of their pre-pandemic traffic - causing a financial rut that's led to transit CEOs pressing city and state officials for more funding streams and taxes, Politico reports.Despite being rescued with $55 billion in federal Covid relief money in 2020 and 2021 after watching their farebox revenue evaporate, 10 of the nation’s largest transit systems will soon need to find billions of dollars a year to stay afloat. Public transportation executives from Los Angeles to New Jersey are warning of a fiscal cliff in just a few years that risks raising ticket prices and cutting service on workers who can least afford it. And even though New York lawmakers struck a deal last week to fill a transit budget gap, it’s not enough to avoid a fare hike."It’s a new day for transit in terms of ridership, the people delivering the services — from drivers to mechanics," former Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the outlet. According to the report, pleas to Congress for another round of relief have been met with lukewarm reception. At the state level, the issue is creating a divide between rural and urban state lawmakers."It would be nice to continue to support the regeneration of nightlife and theater and everything with even more frequent service," said Janno Lieber, head of New York’s Metropolitan Transportation Authority. "But in fairness… it’s really not time to focus excessively on it until you’re confident that we’re filling the bucket."
'Challenging Protein Market': Tyson Foods Reports Loss, Slashes Revenue Outlook For Year As Shares Plunge - The largest US meat company, Tyson Foods, tumbled 10% in premarket trading after it posted a second-quarter loss. The meat supplier has been battered by rising costs across its business and sliding demand for its meat products as consumers push back against high supermarket prices. For the quarter ending on April 1, Tyson reported a loss of $97 million, or 28 cents per share, compared to a net income of $829 million in the same period last year. A Factset survey of Wall Street analysts expected the company to report a profit of 80 cents per share.Tyson said quarterly revenue increased slightly from the prior year at $13.1 billion. However, it was well below the $13.6 billion the analysts expected.Tyson cut its 2023 fiscal year revenue outlook to $53-54 billion (previously $55 billion - $57 billion), short of the Wall Street forecast of $55.2 billion.
Newsom announces California budget deficit much larger than previously expected California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) unveiled a revised $306.5 billion budget proposal on Friday, while announcing that the state’s budget deficit had grown to $31.5 billion. This shortfall is about $9 billion more than the $22.5 billion gap he had projected in his initial January budget proposal, which totaled about $297 billion. “We are walking into a budget where we need to maintain our prudence, and we need to prepare not just for the short term but the medium and long term,” Newsom said at a Friday press conference, where he presented the revised proposal. Recognizing the current environment of economic volatility, Newsom stressed the importance of taking that uncertainty “very soberly and seriously as it relates to macroeconomic headwinds.” The total $306.5 billion budget includes $224.1 billion in general spending, $79.5 billion in special funds and $2.9 billion in bond funds. The May revision estimates a total of $37.3 billion in budgetary reserves — an increase from the $35.6 billion estimated in January. Yet although in January Newsom indicated that he did not intend to tap into the reserves, on Friday he announced a $450 million withdrawal from the Safety Net Reserve. This represents about half the funds available within that reserve. “We are sweeping $450 million from the safety net reserve to help offset costs associated with Medi-Cal and CalWorks,” Newsom said, referring to two family assistance programs. “We think it’s exactly why that fund in reserve was created and it will provide opportunity to continue to provide the services that we’ve come to expect and the services that the legislature championed over the course of last number of years,” the governor added. While the May revision does not project a recession, it acknowledges that if a moderate recession does occur, revenues could decrease by $40 billion in 2023-2024 alone — due to losses in personal income tax.
DeSantis signs bill that bans Chinese citizens from buying land in Florida - Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) signed multiple bills on Monday that prohibit Chinese citizens from purchasing land in the state. In a news release, DeSantis signed bills SB 264, SB 846, and SB 258 into law, noting how he called on his state legislature last year to build upon its efforts to combat corporate espionage and higher education subterfuge carried out by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and its agents. SB 264, referred to as Interests of Foreign Countries, will prohibit “governmental entities from contracting with foreign countries and entities of concern and restricts conveyances of agricultural lands and other interests in real property to foreign principals,” which include the People’s Republic of China and other entities and individuals affiliated with the country. According to Fox Florida affiliate WTVT, the legislation will allow Chinese citizens with nontourist visas to acquire single parcels that are smaller than 2 acres and at least 5 miles from military installations.SB 864, referred to as Agreements of Educational Entities with Foreign Entities, will bar state colleges and universities and their employees and representatives from accepting any gifts “in their official capacities from a college or university based in a foreign country of concern.” State colleges and universities also are prohibited from accepting any grant from or participating in any agreement or partnership with any college or university based in a foreign country unless the partnership is authorized by the Florida Board of Governors or the State Board of Education, the news release said. SB 258 will require the state’s Department of Management Services “to create a list of prohibited applications owned by a foreign principal or foreign countries of concern, including China, which present a cybersecurity and data privacy risk.” The bill also will require government and educational institutions to block access to prohibited applications on all government servers and devices in the state, requiring public employers to retain the ability to remotely wipe and uninstall these applications, such as TikTok, from government-issued devices, the news release said.
Elon Musk: Why Does The Media Misrepresent Interracial Crime Stats "To Such An Extreme Degree"? - Twitter CEO Elon Musk on Saturday questioned why the media misrepresents "the real situation" when it comes to interracial violence "to such an extreme degree." Odd, why would the media misrepresent the real situation to such an extreme degree?— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) May 6, 2023 The media's lies are getting innocent people killed and may be inciting more anti-white violence than ever.Interracial murders against whites have reached extreme highs in FBI data in states with high black populations. Throughout the south, about half of murder offenders against non-hispanic whites in 2021 were black or hispanic, an unprecedented fraction for as long as data exist. pic.twitter.com/iUn5uhQZD6If you want to check this yourself you can use the online EZASHR tool to generate racial crosstabs but it's less detailed and only goes up to 2020. But you can still see the interracial share of violence increasing over the past decade. https://t.co/RhQ6H1j5lD— AnechoicMedia (@AnechoicMedia_) May 5, 2023 Whereas Twitter was used in the past to incite anti-white hatred, Twitter under Musk is actually countering hate hoaxes and disinformation, including the media's lies about Jordan Neely.
Following the unexplained death of a kindergartner, Detroit elementary school reopens amid cluster of “mystery” illnesses The Detroit Public Schools Community District (DPSCD) is reopening Marcus Garvey Academy today amid a cluster of what is being referred to as “mysterious flu-like illnesses” that have left dozens sickened, three hospitalized and one kindergarten student dead. Nearby day care center, Focus: HOPE, which has also experienced a mass outbreak of illness is also reopening today. The kindergartner who died, Jimari Williams, was just six years old. The cause of death for Jimari is still unknown. One can only imagine the depths of shock and grief this death has caused the parents, family, friends of Jimari and the broader community. Under these tragic and disturbing circumstances, DPSCD and the Detroit Health Department have responded with utter callousness. The cluster of illnesses reportedly began sometime in mid April. Six-year-old Jimari, a student of Marcus Garvey Academy, died in the hospital on Wednesday, April 26. Despite the hospitalization and death of this student, and the other illnesses, the Detroit Health Department was not notified of the cluster until Monday, May 1. School cleaning began that day. The school was not closed until Wednesday, May 3. On May 4, Focus: HOPE publicly claimed that their outbreak was Hand, Foot and Mouth disease, though the Detroit Health Department never confirmed this. On May 5, at a poorly advertised DPSCD virtual meeting for parents and educators at Garvey, it was revealed that the school system had not identified the majority of the illnesses; there would be no mask mandate in the school; and that no systematic testing was taking place. In fact, only two of the cases had been confirmed as Haemophilus influenzae, a broad name for any illness caused by bacteria called H. influenzae, which can be extremely serious. COVID-19 was only mentioned once, in the context of explaining to a parent why they would not be mandating masks at the school. The absence of the word COVID is no mistake or oversight. It is a political calculation. To admit that this cluster of illnesses could be an outbreak of COVID-19 or related to COVID-19 would require the admission that COVID-19 does in fact remain a real threat to the lives of millions of workers and children. It would be an admission that President Biden’s decision to end the public health emergency which has been in place since the start of the pandemic, and dismantle the few health protections that were left in place, has nothing to do with public health and everything to do with protecting private profit.
Parents speak out against reopening of Detroit elementary school amid a cluster of “mystery” illnesses - The Detroit Public Schools Community District (DPSCD) has reopened the doors to Marcus Garvey Academy today amid a cluster of what is being referred to as “mysterious flu-like illnesses.” The still largely unidentified cluster of illnesses has killed one kindergartner, Jimari Williams, a boy who celebrated his 6th birthday just two days before passing on April 26. The Detroit Public Schools Community District (DPSCD) has responded to the crisis with utter callousness towards the lives of its students and educators. Sarah Johnson, a parent whose daughter attends Marcus Garvey Academy, told the World Socialist Web Site that parents were “left in the dark” as the “mysterious flu-like illness” swept through the school. “I found out about the ‘flu-like symptoms’ last Tuesday, from the Detroit News. It was very late in the evening when the school called and cancelled classes. They never gave the details about Jimari or the severity of what’s been happening. There was nothing about the children hospitalized. Johnson continued: “Not until Friday did I learn about Jimari. Four days earlier the school had posted a memorial flyer saying a student had passed. It was just a picture, no explanation or anything. “In fact, they never mentioned him or his passing in any of their communication with parents. They also didn’t specify which age groups had been exposed; all of that came out in the media.” At a virtual DPSCD meeting, held for parents last Friday, the district admitted that they did not know what illness killed Jimari. They also admitted that they had not been able in the vast majority of cases to identify the precise illness that was responsible for sickening the children. According to the latest reports, only two of the cases had been confirmed as Haemophilus influenzae, a broad name for any illness caused by bacteria called H. influenzae, which can be extremely serious. Alycia Merriweather, the Deputy Superintendent for DPSCD, used the meeting to tell parents that the building has been cleaned against an illness or illnesses they have not identified; that masks would not be required; that no virtual learning option was available; and that no systematic testing was in place. Many parents left the meeting feeling more concerned and angry than they were before. “I watched part of the meeting on Friday,” Johnson explained, “but it was immediately clear that they had no intention of giving responses outside of their official PR (Public Relations) strategy. She continued, “It's very disappointing that they refuse to acknowledge Jimari. When a former student was murdered in the shooting at Michigan State University earlier this year, they made sure to inform parents. However, over a week after Jimari's death they still haven't offered public condolences. Their whole handling of the situation has been completely heartless and it seems like they’re more concerned with managing negative publicity than with keeping students safe.” Another parent, Stacey Grimes, has a daughter who went to school with Jimari. Grimes explained that Jimari’s death is the first time she has had to explain death to her daughter. She commented: “It’s too soon for the kids to be going back to school. I don’t like it. We are hoping it isn’t like covid was.”
Texas 6-year-old was forced to perform sex act at school: family --Enraged parents of a Texas first-grader say their daughter was forced to perform a sex act on another student in the classroom as other students looked on — and as one recorded the horrifying assault on a school-issued iPad. About 200 infuriated parents protested outside the administrative offices of the Plainview Independent School District on Friday, chanting, “Be their voice!” as they expressed dismay over the school’s botched response to the alleged assault. The April 19 incident at Plainview South Elementary only came to light when a parent spread the word on social media, the Plainview Herald reported. The district first acknowledged the assault a week later following public outcry. Heather Gonzales, an older cousin of the 6-year-old girl who was assaulted, said she noticed a shift in the young girl’s behavior after the traumatic event. “She’s in distress, she’s like, ‘My stomach hurts. I just want to lay down,'” Gonzales told KCBD. “You can tell something’s wrong with her. So, they said, ‘What’s going on? What happened?'” The young girl told her family that a boy had exposed himself to her while in the lunch line at school. She later mentioned that a week before that incident, she was pulled under a desk and forced to perform a sex act on a male student. The latter incident was recorded by another student on a school-issued iPad. The video reportedly showed the young girl doing her best to fight off her attacker from underneath the desk. “She said she was hitting him with the poetry book,” Gonzales said, adding that when she asked how long the incident went on for, her cousin told her “until they let me go.” A day after the incident, students watched the video of the assault until the teacher took the iPad — which had been locked by a student — and sent the device to IT to be opened. That was when the teacher allegedly realized what happened, according to the Plainview Herald. Gonzalez slammed the district for not being forthcoming with information about the assault. “Everything was ‘No comment. I cannot tell you. No comment,'” Gonzales told KCBD. “You mean to tell me abuse was happening for a week and a half, and these kids are still at the same desk? My cousin is still at a desk with all boys, having to see her abusers every day.” During Friday’s protest, Gonzales said she hoped to prevent the district from sweeping what happened under the rug. People traveled from surrounding communities to march alongside the Plainview community and demand accountability from administrators on Friday, which was the second protest held following the incident. Protesters demanded that South Elementary Principal Jennifer Hughey and Superintendent H.T. Sanchez be fired. The teacher involved, who apparently could not see the incident from where they were in the classroom, has been placed on administrative leave, according to the Plainview Herald. The victim’s family says they still have not been shown the video and claim district officials told them there was nothing to see. The family has since hired an attorney, Gonzales said.
APA issues new guidelines on social media use for kids - The American Psychological Association is urging parents to limit the content their kids are exposed to on TikTok, Facebook and Instagram as part of a new set of guidelines on social media use. The guidelines include 10 recommendations the organization published Tuesday on how parents, teachers, policymakers, tech companies and health care workers can make sure kids develop healthy social media habits. “Social media is neither inherently harmful nor beneficial to our youth,” said APA President Thema Bryant. “But because young people mature at different rates, some are more vulnerable than others to the content and features on many social media platforms that science has demonstrated can influence healthy development. “Just as we require young people to be trained in order to get a driver’s license, our youth need instruction in the safe and healthy use of social media.” Kids are using social media now more than ever with 95 percent of teenagers admitted being on a social media platform, according to a Pew Research Center survey. And parents are noticing a change in their children. Half of parents with children younger than 18 feel that their children’s mental health has suffered since using social media, one recent survey found. Under the guidelines, parents are urged to monitor their children’s social media activity and minimize their exposure to content that encourages self-harm, eating disorders and other “high-risk” behavior. Parents and caregivers are also encouraged to minimize children’s exposure to online content that promotes prejudice or hate towards anyone based on race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, religion, or disability status. Other recommendations include limiting kids’ and teens’ use of social media content on beauty or appearance and making sure that social media use is not interfering with sleep or physical activity. “Social media use should not restrict opportunities to practice in-person reciprocal social interactions and should not contribute to psychological avoidance of in-person social interactions,“ the guidelines say.
To improve kids' mental health, some schools start later (AP) — In the hours before he’s due at Upper Darby High School, senior Khalid Doulat has time to say prayers, help his mother or prepare for track practice. It’s a welcome shift from last year for him and thousands of students at the school, which pushed its start time back by more than two hours — from a 7:30 a.m. start time to 9:45 a.m. One goal for the change: to ease strains on students that were more visible than ever coming out of the COVID-19 pandemic. The idea of later school start times, pushed by many over the years as a way to help adolescents get more sleep, is getting a new look as a way to address the mental health crisis affecting teens across the U.S. For some schools, the pandemic allowed experimentation to try new schedules. Upper Darby, for one, initially considered later start times in 2019. Ultimately, it found a way to do it this year by using distance learning as a component of the school day. As students first came back to in-person learning, many dealt with mental health struggles and behavioral issues, Upper Darby Superintendent Daniel McGarry said. Officials saw a breakdown in students respecting the authority of teachers in the classroom.“We had a lot of those things that we were facing and we’re still working our way through it; we’re in a much better place,” McGarry said. “I think our kids feel better. They’re not 100% better.” But, he said, much of the social anxiety students felt after being in online school has dissipated.During the pandemic, soaring numbers of high school students expressed persistent feelings of sadness or hopelessness, with girls and LGBTQ+ youth reporting the highest levels of poor mental health and suicide attempts. It doesn’t help that research suggests middle and high school students aren’t getting enough sleep.“These mental health challenges are already going to happen and then, with the absence of sleep, are much worse,” said Orfeu Buxton, director of the Sleep, Health & Society Collaboratory at Penn State University. “The same with decision making, suicidal ideation, those kinds of things.”
New York City schools just embraced the science of reading. What is it? -- New York City announced on Tuesday it is switching its 32 school districts, encompassing hundreds of schools, to the science of reading to teach students to read and write. Over the course of the next year, New York City teachers will have to relearn how to teach literacy as the nation grapples with how to raise dire reading scores. “Before kids can learn to love to read, we first have to teach them how to read. And the science on that, on how kids learn to read, is now pretty clear,” New York City Schools Chancellor David Banks said when announcing the change to phonics instruction. “We must give children the basic foundational skills of reading, teach them to sound out words, teach them to decode complex letter combinations and build them into confident readers The basic premise of the science of reading, or structural literacy, is a focus on phonics, which is a student’s ability to sound out words or be able to understand how groups of letters sound together. \ Experts emphasize, however, that the science of reading is not just about phonics. “It’s the explicit and systematic teaching of phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, comprehension, and I will also include writing, which is sadly often left out of the discussions but certainly a critical part of early literacy,” said Miah Daughtery, vice president of Content Advocacy-Literacy at NWEA, a research-based education organization. The science of reading has risen in popularity as more research has been done to back the method and show it is effective for many students. “It’s based on evidence and multiple different research studies, as well as now, increasingly brain science and actual imaging and what we’ve been able to see and learn about the brain,” said Beth Anderson, executive director at the Hill Learning Center, an organization that focuses on helping students who struggle academically. The science of reading has been in some serious contention among education experts with the balanced literacy approach. While the balanced literacy approach also can include phonics, it places a bigger emphasis on the “whole language” approach and focuses on ensuring students read works that would inspire them to love reading. Proponents say balanced literacy is taught with a combination of group and independent learning that stresses students using “cues” in sentences to understand what they are reading. “There’s often an emphasis on larger units of speech and larger units of sound versus individual sounds that you need to learn. It’s often more implicit, and incidental instruction,” Anderson said. Critics say this approach leaves behind students who are not naturally good or interested in reading.
Students embrace political clothing to make their voices heard - Two Michigan middle schoolers are suing for the right to wear “Let’s Go Brandon” sweatshirts. An Iowa high schooler posed next to the governor with “I Read Banned Books” emblazoned on his chest. And a Massachusetts seventh grader’s clothing insists “There are only two genders.” U.S. students are making their voices heard with political clothing as they navigate an increasingly polarized society where most of them can’t vote at the ballot box. At the same April 30 Iowa Governor’s Scholar Program ceremony that featured the “Banned Books” T-shirt, a transgender student walked on stage to accept an award from Republican Gov. Kim Reynolds wearing pins that said “Trans Rights Are Human Rights” and “She Her,” as well as a tie in the colors of the transgender flag. The student yelled “trans rights are human rights” after shaking hands with Reynolds, who had pushed for the recently implemented state ban against gender-affirming care for minors, reported The Des Moines Register. “Education is about preparing our students for their future careers and to be successful in the world around us, and part of that foundation is civic engagement,” Reynolds said after the incident. “While we may disagree about what is best for our schools, no student should be afraid to express his or her opinion, even when it comes to their governor.” Clothing has long been used by American students to express their political opinions, with the most famous example culminating in the 1969 Supreme Court case Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School District. In the case, the Iowa children, all of whom were 16 or younger, sued after their school refused to allow them to wear armbands that protested the Vietnam War. The Supreme Court ruled in favor of the students, declaring the act was part of their First Amendment rights and establishing the so-called Tinker test for if the clothing in question poses a “substantial disruption” for the school that needs to be curbed. Since then, courts have gone in “different directions” and with “different approaches” when examining political clothing in schools, said Vera Eidelman, staff attorney for the American Civil Liberty Union’s Speech, Privacy, and Technology Project. “Sometimes, they’ll look at what’s the broader history of discrimination at the school. This has come up not infrequently with regard to shirts that have clearly racist messages, and some of the things that schools will look to is, ‘Have there been fights related to this before? Have there been disruptions of classrooms? What’s the history of this kind of speech and, let’s say, racial or homophobic or transphobic tensions in the community more broadly?’ Those are the kinds of facts that the court might look to,” Eidelman said. The line is a tight one to walk, especially as students today become increasingly politically active and more willing to speak out against injustices they see.
FBI Denies Request For Nashville Shooter’s Manifesto, Writings - Despite multiple requests for the release of Nashville Christian school shooter Audrey Hale’s manifesto and writings surrounding her March 27 attack that left three 9-year-olds and three adults dead, the Department of Justice and Federal Bureau of Investigation denied a request from The Epoch Times for those documents. The reason the FBI cited in a letter to an Epoch Times reporter based in Tennessee is that U.S. Code exempts from disclosure “records or information compiled for law enforcement records or information… could reasonably be expected to interfere with enforcement proceedings…” Those “enforcement proceedings” were not cited in the letter. It is unclear what the enforcement proceedings could be in reference to, as the main suspect, Audrey Elizabeth Hale, died at the scene of the attack.The FBI’s letter further stated “the records responsive to your request are law enforcement records; there is a pending or prospective law enforcement proceeding relevant to these responsive records, and release of the information could reasonably be expected to interfere with enforcement proceedings.” The request was then “administratively closed,” the FBI noted in the letter.An additional request by The Epoch Times for those documents to be processed on an expedited schedule was also denied by “DOJ standards for expedited processing.”For expedited processing to be granted, the letter stated a request must meet one of four situations.Those situations include “circumstances in which the lack of expedited treatment could reasonably be expected to pose an imminent threat to the life or physical safety of an individual.”Another situation listed states “an urgency to inform the public about an actual or alleged federal government activity, if made by a person primarily engaged in disseminating information.”The third situation listed mentioned the loss of any substantial “due process of rights.”
Teachers earn $67K on average. Is push for raises too late? (AP) — As schools across the country struggle to find teachers to hire, more governors are pushing for pay increases, bonuses and other perks for the beleaguered profession — with some vowing to beat out other states competing for educators.Already in 2023, governors in Georgia and Arkansas have pushed through teacher pay increases. Ahead of Monday’s start of national Teacher Appreciation Week, others — both Republican and Democratic — have proposed doing the same to attract and retain educators.More than half of the states’ governors over the past year — 26 so far — have proposed boosting teacher compensation, according to groups that track it. The nonprofit Teacher Salary Project said it is the most it has seen in nearly two decades of tracking.“Today we have governors left and right from every political party and then some who are addressing this issue because they have to,” In Idaho, Gov. Brad Little is aiming to raise the state’s average starting salary into the nation’s top 10. In Delaware, Gov. John Carney said competition for teachers is more intense than ever and a pay increase is necessary to “win the competition with surrounding states.”It’s not clear how far pay raises will go toward relieving the shortages, though, and some teachers say it is too little, too late to fix problems that are years in the making.Blame for teacher shortages has fallen on underfunding after the Great Recession, tight labor markets, lackluster enrollments in colleges and programs that train teachers and teacher burnout inflamed by the travails of the COVID-19 pandemic.There has been no mass exodus, but data from some states that track teacher turnover has shown rising numbers of teachers leaving the profession over the past couple years. Shortages are most extreme in certain areas, including the poorest or most rural districts, researchers say. Districts also report particular difficulties in hiring for in-demand subjects like special education, math and science. Meanwhile, teacher salaries have fallen further and further behind those of their college-educated peers in other fields, as teachers report growing workloads, shrinking autonomy and increasingly hostile school environments. Magan Daniel, who at 33 just left her central Alabama school district, was not persuaded to stay by pay raises as Alabama’s governor vows to make teacher salaries the highest in the Southeast. Fixing teachers’ deteriorating work culture and growing workloads would be a more powerful incentive than a pay raise, she said. She recalled, for instance, her principal asking her to make copies and lesson plans last fall while she was on unpaid maternity leave. Difficulty getting substitutes puts pressure on teachers who need time off for emergencies, she said, and spending nights and weekends on paperwork siphoned the joy out of teaching.
Colorado Teachers’ Union Passes Anti-Capitalist Resolution, Sparking Outcry From Republicans -- Two Republican members of Colorado’s U.S. House delegation—Ken Buck and Doug Lamborn—have criticized the state’s teachers’ union for the passage of an anti-capitalist resolution at its recent assembly. In an email to the education publication The Lion, the Colorado Education Association (CEA) belatedly admitted last week to the passage of a resolution on April 22 stating that, in the Association’s opinion, “capitalism inherently exploits children, public schools, land, labor, and resources.” The resolution also takes the position that capitalism is opposed to fully addressing “systemic racism, climate change, patriarchy (gender and LGBTQ disparities), education inequality, and income inequality.” Previously, the CEA had refused to admit the passage of the resolution by the assembly—until an apparent delegate posted the news on Twitter that the measure had passed. “It’s disturbing that the CEA would endorse this patently false statement,” Rep. Ken Buck (R-Colo.) told The Epoch Times in a statement. “Capitalism as an economic system is responsible for raising millions of people out of poverty, vastly increasing the standard of living, and providing people of all classes and backgrounds with the freedom and opportunity to pursue their own economic goals.” The CEA is part of the NEA—which is the largest labor union in the United States and which represents over 3 million members, according to its website. Neither the White House, the NEA, nor the CEA returned requests for comment before this article was published.
Biden administration unilaterally erasing 50 years of female rights – Senator Joni Ernst Whether it’s growing as a young leader, winning a championship, or securing a college scholarship, sports open doors for young girls. They build confidence, develop skills to work through difficult problems, hone life-long friendships, and build healthy habits. But today, these doors are being slammed shut because of progressive gender ideology. Girls’ locker rooms have become a political battleground. Over 50 years ago, Congress passed Title IX to end unjust sex discrimination in all aspects of education, including athletics. By requiring schools to offer equal athletic opportunities for members of both sexes, male and female, Title IX unleashed a period of unprecedented growth in women’s sports. But this law has been undermined — by the NCAA and by the Biden administration, both of which are working overtime to allow biological males to participate in female sports. This absurdity was on full display last year when college swimmer and biological male, Lia Thomas, switched to the women’s division after competing for several years on the University of Pennsylvania men’s team. Not surprisingly, Thomas broke records, took home a title,, and was named All-American, depriving female swimmers of life-changing honors and opportunities. The female athletes who were forced to compete against Thomas were publicly humiliated — told to step aside and stay quiet. To add insult to injury, last month, the Biden administration’s Department of Education proposed new rules that disregard Title IX and, if implemented, will not only allow but require schools to let athletes compete on teams consistent with their “gender identity.” In other words, the Biden administration is unilaterally erasing 50 years of female rights and turning all women’s sports into a free-for-all, unless the school affirmatively determines that allowing biological males to participate would jeopardize fairness or safety for a particular team. Not only is this unfair, but in many sports it is unsafe to allow biological males to compete on women’s teams. The burden should not be on female athletes to convince their schools to accept this scientific reality, but that is where the Biden administration has placed it. Title IX is an equal opportunity law. In most sports, athletic opportunities are limited. Teams can only roster so many people. Only a certain number of athletes can race in a heat, play a certain position, or compete on a team. Schools can only grant so many athletic scholarships — scholarships women across this country have dedicated countless hours of practicing to earn, and in certain cases, are the only way these women can afford to obtain a higher degree. Because athletic resources are scarce, allowing even a single biological male to take a spot on the women’s roster means that a female athlete loses her opportunity — meaning women lose 100 percent of the time.We cannot let that happen. To fortify Title IX’s original equal opportunity mandate, Republicans are leading the Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act, which clarifies that allowing biological males to take awards, roster spots, or scholarships from female athletes violates Title IX’s prohibition of discrimination “on the basis of sex.”
West Virginia University men’s basketball coach apologizes for using anti-gay slur on radio show - West Virginia University (WVU) men’s basketball head coach Bob Huggins issued an apology Monday, hours after using an anti-gay slur during a radio program appearance. During a guest appearance on the “Bill Cunningham Show” on Cincinnati radio station Newsradio 700 WLW, one of the hosts asked Huggins, who was previously the coach at the University of Cincinnati, about his thoughts on former in-city rival Xavier University. In response, Huggins made several anti-gay remarks and slurs directed toward Xavier’s fanbase, which he alleged was hostile toward him and his team during games between the rival schools. Huggins, 69, led the Cincinnati Bearcats to 14 consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances during his tenure from 1989-2005. “Earlier today on a Cincinnati radio program, I was asked about the rivalry between my former employer, the University of Cincinnati, and its crosstown rival, Xavier University. During the conversation, I used a completely insensitive and abhorrent phrase that there is simply no excuse for —and I won’t try to make one here,” Huggins said in a statement Monday, adding he “deeply apologize[s] to the individuals” he has offended with his remarks. In a separate statement, the WVU athletic department referred to Huggins’s remarks as “insensitive, offensive,” and not representative of the university’s values. “Coach Huggins has since apologized. West Virginia University does not condone the use of such language and takes such actions very seriously,” the university added. “The situation is under review and will be addressed by the University and its athletics department.”
Future of student loan forgiveness looms over Biden in 2024 -- The issue of student loans stands to loom over President Biden’s 2024 bid as he tackles one of his key first-term campaign promises being tied up at the Supreme Court. Biden managed to deliver on the promise of developing a program to forgive a chunk of student debt to the cheers of many Democrats and progressives who pushed him on the issue during his first two years in the White House. But his plan quickly hit a roadblock when GOP attorneys general sued the administration over the issue, which Republicans say would be “paid for” by people who never even attended college. The White House had warned that such legal challenges would arise, but Biden went through with the program anyway. The case made its way all the way up to the Supreme Court, where a conservative majority appears unlikely to give it the green light. Now, Biden has to sell his accomplishment — but also its stoppage — on the 2024 campaign trail. “The strategy should be to lay the blame for this stall on Republicans and their opposition. Biden did everything within his power to make good on his promise, and while this is a setback, he remains committed to finishing the job,” said Debra Dixon, former chief of staff at the Office of Planning, Evaluation and Policy Development at the Department of Education under President Obama. “If the Supreme Court finds that student loan forgiveness was not within his administrative powers, then he will have to redouble his efforts to push for a legislative fix in a second term,” added Dixon, now a principal at Ferox Strategies. Republicans have not shied away from their criticism of the debt forgiveness, messaging on how the plan is unfair to those who did not go to college or made huge sacrifices in order to avoid student loan debt. South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott (R), who is likely running for president in 2024, said when Biden announced student loan relief last August that it was a “handout to the wealthy. Period.” The administration is also likely to tout other measures they are attempting to put in place to make paying back student loans easier, such as reforms to income-driven repayments that could leave some borrowers paying zero dollars a month. Meanwhile, it has attempted to show confidence in the legality of the current plan, refusing to talk about alternatives if the Supreme Court strikes it down. But Biden in March slightly detracted from that strategy. He said that he’s “confident we’re on the right side of the law” but “not confident about the outcome of the decision yet,” while not offering any kind of Plan B. Advocates are looking for the president to step up and do more through executive action if the Supreme Court does in fact strike down the plan.
18-to-20-year-olds can’t be barred from buying handguns, judge rules - A federal judge in Virginia has declared unconstitutional a set of laws and regulations that prohibit federally licensed firearms dealers from selling handguns to 18-to-20-year-olds, finding that the measures violated the Second Amendment. “Because the statutes and regulations in question are not consistent with our Nation’s history and tradition, they, therefore, cannot stand,” U.S. District Judge Robert E. Payne, who sits in Richmond, concluded in a 71-page opinion. Gun-control advocates say the decision, if allowed to stand, would significantly increase gun access for a population that research shows is more impulsive and responsible for a disproportionate number of fatal shootings. But attorneys on both sides of the case said they expected the Justice Department to appeal and request a stay, which would prevent Payne’s ruling from taking effect while higher courts weigh the case. Elliott M. Harding, the attorney who argued to nullify the laws and regulations, said people under 21 years old are, for the moment, not allowed to purchase handguns from licensed dealers because a final order had not been entered. The judge set a May 18 deadline for attorneys to submit recommendations “for future proceedings in this matter.” Although 18-to-20-year-olds previously could buy handguns in private sales — or have a parent purchase a weapon for them — the decision issued Wednesday would dismantle a legal framework that for decades has prevented licensed dealers from selling handguns “to teenagers,” said William T. Clark, an attorney with the Giffords Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence, which filed an amicus brief in the case calling for the laws at issue to be upheld. “It’s a significant decision — we disagree with the outcome,” Clark said, adding that “there is compelling scientific evidence showing that teenagers are more impulsive and face unique elevated dangers from firearms.”
Nearly half of baby boomers have no retirement savings - More than two-fifths of baby boomers are nearing retirement with no retirement savings. That fact may surprise you if you are a typical white-collar worker, dwelling in a corporate culture of near-universal retirement coverage, encouraged to save a half-million dollars or more before taking the gold watch. But many Americans work for smaller companies that don’t offer retirement savings, or are self-employed, or live paycheck to paycheck. “You think everyone works for a Fortune 500 company, and everybody has a pension plan, but that’s not the reality,” said Craig Martin, managing director of wealth and lending intelligence at J.D. Power. Fewer than half of working-age Americans have any retirement savings, according to Census data for 2020. Savings rates rise with age, but only to a point. In the 55- to 64-year-old boomer age group, 58 percent of Americans own retirement accounts. And that is a problem. A newly minted retiree of 65 can now expect to live 20 more years, on average, according to Social Security projections. Without a retirement account, most retirees count on Social Security. The average monthly Social Security check to a retired worker is around $1,800. The average household run by an American older than 65 spends more than $4,000 a month. Yet, “many people go into retirement thinking that Social Security is going to provide for them,” said Josh Hodges, chief customer officer for the National Council on Aging. A chasm of wishful thinking separates America’s retirement goals from its retirement realities. By one rule-of-thumb retirement calculator, workers should aim to save 10 times their annual salary by age 67: $375,000 for an individual, and $708,000 for a household, based on median incomes. If the goal is to retire in relative comfort, Americans assume they will need something closer to $1.1 million, according to a survey by Schroders, the asset management company. But the average retirement account held just over $100,000 at the close of 2022, according to a Fidelity analysis. The median baby boomer household isn’t doing much better, with $134,000 in retirement savings in 2019, the most recent federal data. That’s about one-third of the average retirement savings in that age group, $408,420, a figure inflated by the super-rich. And most retirement nest eggs are much smaller now than a year ago. By Fidelity’s estimate, the average retirement account lost one-fifth of its value in 2022, dwindling from $135,600 to $104,000. Among retirees, the average savings account dwindled from $192,000 to $171,000 in 2022, according to a survey by Clever Real Estate. The share of retirees with no savings jumped from 30 percent to 37 percent. Earlier generations of retirees counted on Social Security and employer-funded pensions to deliver a steady income. Social Security has dwindled as an income source over the years, and pensions are in decline. More than ever, Americans who desire a “comfortable” retirement must squirrel away money in a retirement account. Yet nearly half of private-sector employees, 57 million Americans, have no option to save for retirement at work. According to an AARP analysis, huge swaths of the American public lack access to employer-sponsored retirement plans: 78 percent of workers at companies with fewer than 10 employees, 76 percent of workers who lack high school diplomas and 64 percent of the nation’s Hispanic employees. “When you get below 100 employees, the likelihood of a plan really goes down,” said Craig Copeland, director of wealth benefits research at the Employee Benefit Research Institute. “That leaves those people to try to do an IRA on their own. And if they’re lower income, they’re less likely to have a relationship with a financial institution to set that up, and they’re likely living paycheck to paycheck.” Anyone can start a retirement plan. But for lower-income Americans, it is easier said than done. Since the 1980s, inflation-adjusted wages have stagnated for all but the wealthiest Americans.To make ends meet, more Americans are working into their 70s. The share of people older than 75 in the labor force is projected to reach 11 percent in 2026, up from 5 percent in 1996. But even with those added wage-earning years, the poverty rate among seniors reached 10.3 percent in 2021, Census data shows, which is the highest quotient in two decades. “If you didn’t have Social Security, it would be well north of 40 percent,” said Richard Fiesta, executive director of the Alliance for Retired Americans. The savings shortfall leaves many older people unprepared for the medical costs that come with old age. More than half of Americans will eventually need long-term care. Someone who turns 65 today will incur $120,900 in future long-term care costs, on average, by one estimate. But an analysis by the National Council on Aging found 60 percent of older adults could not afford two years of long-term, in-home care. “People don’t want to admit they’re going to need it,” Hodges said. “The idea that you’re going to need help going to the bathroom, help getting out of bed, that’s a concept people don’t want to deal with.”
Drug shortages have worsened and may only increase in the future, experts say - COVID-19 snarled the US healthcare supply chain, but it was in trouble long before, experts say.What's more, drug and medical-device shortages could get worse, Tammy Beckham, DVM, PhD, associate director of the US Food and Drug Association's (FDA's) Resilient Supply Chain Program at the Center for Devices and Radiological Health (CDRH), told attendees at this month's MedCon 2023."Shortages and supply chain issues don't just happen during a public health emergency," she said at the event, which was sponsored by the Association of Food and Drug Officials, the Regulatory Affairs Professional Society, and the FDA. "We've seen these before COVID, and we're continuing to see these moving into the future. Many of the issues we're facing are becoming much more complex and more systemic."Problems that have plagued the healthcare industry for years, including scarce raw materials, sole-source suppliers, a concentrated market, quality problems and product recalls, labor issues, geopolitical conflict, and natural disasters won't go away with the end of the COVID-19 public health emergency.But Beckham said that CDRH is taking action in three areas to mitigate drug shortages:
- Working with trade associations, health systems, and distributors to develop a list of medical devices most important to public health
- Urging better collaboration between the supply chain and product development
- Identifying vulnerabilities and interdependencies at a high level to address shortages before they escalate
Europe, as well as many other regions of the world, is also struggling with maintaining a steady flow of drugs such as antibiotics and generic medicines.This month, 19 European Union (EU) member states issued a four-page report on a steady increase in drug shortages since 2022. The report cites problems such as increased demand, manufacturing and quality problems, factory closures, and supply-chain bottlenecks."In addition to these problems, the EU is becoming increasingly dependent on imports from a few manufacturers and regions for its medicines supply, adding a security dimension to the question," the authors wrote.The EU has already taken actions such as creating legislation designed to improve national and European Medicines Agency oversight and mitigation of drug shortages, establishing a steering group to track the causes of shortages and monitor supply, and proposing the Critical Medicines Act to support the domestic manufacturer of drugs, active pharmaceutical ingredients, and intermediates for which the EU depends on one country or just a few manufacturers.
US backs study of safe injection sites, overdose prevention For the first time, the U.S. government will pay for a large study measuring whether overdoses can be prevented by so-called safe injection sites, places where people can use heroin and other illegal drugs and be revived if they take too much.The grant provides more than $5 million over four years to New York University and Brown University to study two sites in New York City and one opening next year in Providence, Rhode Island. Researchers hope to enroll 1,000 adult drug users to study the sites’ effects on overdoses, to estimate their costs and to gauge potential savings for the health care and criminal justice systems.The universities announced the grant Monday. The money will not be used to operate the sites, the universities said.With U.S. drug overdose deaths reaching nearly 107,000 in 2021, supporters contend safe injection sites, also called overdose preventions centers, can save lives and connect people with addiction treatment, mental health services and medical care.
Local And Private COVID Vaccine Mandates For Patients And Health Care Workers Being Reversed, Overturned Across US - Efforts to overturn vaccine mandates for both hospital patients and health care workers appear to be gaining momentum across the United States.In what is seen as a major victory for transplant patients who did not take the COVID vaccine, one of the largest transplant centers in the United States reversed its policy to require the jab in order to be eligible for an organ transplant.The University of Michigan (UM) announced its new policy on May 4 just before court proceedings were about to get underway in a lawsuit filed against it for declaring patients ineligible for an organ transplant unless they agreed to the jab.The suit was filed on behalf of several patients by David Peters of Pacific Justice Institute who in celebrating the reversal simply stated “we’re winning!”In a written statement, UM said it was “new information” that led to the “voluntary decision” to reverse its policy.“The University hereby gives notice to the Court that in light of developing epidemiological and other actuarial circumstances, effective April 27, 2023, it has changed its Transplant Center COVID-19 Vaccination Requirement for Adult Transplant Candidates. Relevant to this litigation, COVID-19 vaccine will no longer be required prior to wait-listing of potential adult solid organ transplant recipients.”
Antibodies spiked then waned after Pfizer, Moderna COVID vaccines, but J&J response was opposite - In a head-to-head comparison today in Scientific Reports, University of California San Francisco (UCSF) researchers describe very different antibody responses to the monovalent (single-strain) Pfizer/BioNTech, Moderna, and Johnson & Johnson (J&J) COVID-19 vaccines up to 6 months after receipt.In the observational study, the researchers compared the neutralizing antibody (nAB) responses of 498 healthy volunteers aged 18 to 88 years given the Pfizer (287 people) or Moderna (149) mRNA vaccines, or the J&J (62) adenovirus-vector vaccine in spring 2021. Participants gave blood samples for measurement of nABs and completed questionnaires before vaccination and 1 and 6 months after completion of the primary vaccine series.One month after COVID-19 vaccination, compared with J&J recipients, nAB levels were 51 times higher among Moderna recipients and 21 times higher among Pfizer recipients. At 6 months, however, J&J vaccinees produced the same antibody response as that of Moderna and significantly higher concentrations than those of Pfizer.Specifically, 99.3% of Pfizer, 99.3% of Moderna, and 59.7% of J&J recipients had measurable nABs at 1 month. By 6 months, 92.2% of Pfizer, 97.9% of Moderna, and 89.5% of J&J vaccinees had nABs.During the same period, concentrations fell among Pfizer (-0.16 fold; average difference, -0.79; 95% confidence interval [CI], -0.85 to -0.73) and Moderna (-0.18 fold; average difference, -0.75; 95% CI, -0.84 to -0.67) vaccinees, while nABs in J&J recipients rose significantly (5.8-fold; average difference, 0.76; 95% CI, 0.63 to 0.90)."This was the most striking finding," lead author Aric Prather, PhD, said in a UCSF press release. "While the mechanism for this increase is unknown, other smaller studies have suggested this trend, leading us to believe there are robust phenomena not specific to our sample."
Study: Immune cells—not antibodies—cause COVID vaccine-linked myocarditis - The rare cases of myocarditis among recipients of mRNA COVID-19 vaccine—mostly in young men—are caused by a generalized immune-cell and inflammatory response rather than vaccine-triggered antibodies, suggests a small study published late last week in Science Immunology.Yale University researchers analyzed immune responses among 23 participants who developed post-vaccination myocarditis (generally mild, transient inflammation of the heart muscle) and healthy vaccinated control patients. Most myocarditis patients (87%) were boys or young men (average age, 16.9 years) and were generally healthy before vaccination.No participants had evidence of previous SARS-CoV-2 infection. Most myocarditis patients began experiencing symptoms 1 to 4 days after the second dose of the Pfizer/BioNTech mRNA COVID-19 vaccine. Symptoms included chest pain, heart palpitations, fever, shortness of breath, sweating, headache, muscle pain, fatigue, and nausea.Lab tests among the myocarditis patients showed elevated levels of biomarkers of inflammation of the heart, heart damage, and systemic inflammation. "The immune systems of these individuals get a little too revved up and over-produce cytokine and cellular responses," senior author Carrie Lucas, PhD, said in Yalepress release. Electrocardiographic findings included pericarditis (inflammation of the lining of the heart), and echocardiographic results showed borderline-low or reduced left-ventricle ejection fraction, a measure of the heart's ability to pump blood. These patients didn't have higher levels of SARS-CoV-2–specific or neutralizing antibodies but rather had similar or lower levels than controls.Cardiac magnetic resonance imaging (CMR) revealed abnormalities consistent with myocarditis and/or pericarditis. These patients received nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, and some also received steroids and intravenous immunoglobulin (antibodies). Patients were released after 1 to 6 days, but most still had imaging abnormalities on CMR at 2 or more months.
Excess COVID-19 deaths in veterans similar to general population --In JAMA Network Open, researchers report increased excess mortality during the first year of the pandemic among Veteran Affairs patients, similar to what was seen across the country.To conduct the study, researchers used data from the National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) and the VA health system to code deaths occurring between January 1, 2014, and December 31, 2020, among adults over age 25 in three groups: VA enrollees, VA active users, and the general US population.VA enrollees included approximately 10.9 million Americans, including 9.2 military veterans and 1.7 million family members. VA active users were defined as individuals with at least one diagnosis in their VA health system electronic health record in the 2 years prior to each time point, the authors said.The goal was to create a model of deaths predicted for each quarter of 2020 based on deaths recorded in the previous 6 years.The VA population was mostly men (more than 85%, compared to 49% of the general US population), with an average age of 61. Notably, VA users were mostly White (73%, compared to 61% of general population.)Expected death rates were generally higher among the VA enrollees than the general US population (2,520 per 100,000 [95% prediction interval, 2,360 to 2,670] vs 930 deaths per 100,000 [95% prediction interval, 910 to 960]) and higher still among active users of VA healthcare (2,910 deaths per 100,000 [95% prediction interval, 2,770 to 3,050]).The authors calculated 200 excess deaths per 100,000 people in 2020, and during the same period, 170 deaths per 100,000 were related to COVID-19."This finding suggests that approximately 85% of the increase in the death rate was directly associated with COVID-19 (170 COVID-19 deaths/200 total excess deaths)," the authors said.
Severe obesity poses 76% higher risk of poor COVID-19 outcomes, study suggests --Obesity accelerates the loss of COVID-19 vaccine-induced neutralizing antibody capacity, concludes a University of Cambridge study published yesterday inNature Medicine.The researchers used the Early Pandemic Evaluation and Enhanced Surveillance of COVID-19 platform to evaluate the relationship between body mass index (BMI) and infection-related hospitalization and death among 3.6 million adults in Scotland. Participants had received a second primary vaccine dose or a first booster dose of Pfizer/BioNTech or AstraZeneca/Oxford vaccine from December 8, 2020, to March 19, 2022. People with obesity are known to be at elevated risk of poor COVID-19 outcomes and to have weaker immune responses to vaccines against flu, rabies, and hepatitis, the researchers noted.Participants with severe obesity (BMI greater than 40 kilograms per square meter [kg/m2]) were at a 76% higher risk of COVID-related hospitalization or death (adjusted rate ratio, 1.76). Infections after the second vaccine dose also led to hospitalization and death starting at 10 weeks among people with severe obesity and 15 weeks among those with milder obesity, compared with 20 weeks among healthy-weight participants.A longitudinal analysis comparing 28 severely obese people with 41 controls who had a healthy BMI (18.5 to 24.9 kg/m2) showed that the SARS-CoV-2 neutralizing antibody capacity of 55% of severely obese participants was too low to measure, compared with 12% of those with a healthy BMI 6 months after the second vaccine dose—even though they had similar antibody levels.Regardless of antibody level, people with severe obesity had lower neutralizing capacity than those with a healthy BMI. A third COVID-19 vaccine dose restored neutralizing capacity but was followed by more rapid waning in severely obese than in healthy-BMI participants."More frequent booster doses are likely to be needed to maintain protection against COVID-19 in people with obesity," coauthor Sadaf Farooqi, MBBS, PhD, said in a University of Cambridge news release. "Because of the high prevalence of obesity across the globe, this poses a major challenge for health services."
Sleep apnea linked to long-COVID symptoms --A study yesterday in the journal Sleep suggests that adults with obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) were more likely to experience symptoms of long COVID compared with adults without apnea. The findings are based on the National Institutes of Health Researching COVID to Enhance Recovery (RECOVER) Initiative. Researchers used the electronic health data of 2.2 million Americans—both children and adults—who tested positive for COVID-19 from March 2020 to February 2022. They studied electronic health record codes from three networks to identify patients with preexisting OSA: the National COVID Cohort Collaborative (N3C); the National Patient-Centered Clinical Research Network (PCORnet), which is limited to adults; and PCORnet's pediatric population, anchored in PEDSnet, a pediatric learning health system within PCORnet.In total, OSA occurred in 5% of adults and less than 2% of children included in the study.The researchers then used machine learning to assess follow-up symptoms and medical visits to determine which people likely had long COVID. About 5% of adults in the N3C study with OSA, 17% of adults in PCORnet, and less than 5% of children in PEDSnet were suspected to have developed long COVID, but only those patients included in the N3C study were seen at long COVID clinics.Persistent long-COVID symptoms were documented more than 30 days after initial disease diagnosis in PCORnet, and certain symptoms and conditions indicated long COVID in PEDSnet, inclucing myocarditis.Patients were excluded if they died within 30 days of their positive COVID-19 test. The unadjusted odds ratio for someone with OSA to experience long COVID ranged from 1.41 to 3.93. After adjusting for other risk factors for long COVID, including obesity and age, the odds ratios diminished but were still significant. The greatest effect was seen in the N3C study, where patients with OSA were 75% more likely to experience long COVID.In PCORnet, the increased odds of having long COVID were 12% if the patient also had documented OSA."The association was attenuated yet still elevated after successively adjusting for demographic factors, hospitalization, obesity, and comorbidities," the authors said.Of note, women in the N3C study had an 89% increased likelihood of having long COVID if they had OSA, compared with a 59% increased risk for men.In children, however, the unadjusted risk of OSA and long COVID disappeared after adjusting for obesity, with no significant difference in the odds of probable long COVID when comparing children with and without OSA (PEDSnet: 1.05; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.89, 1.24).
Cognitive issues, anxiety, depression during acute COVID linked to lingering symptoms | CIDRAP - A new study from clinicians at the University of California-Los Angeles (UCLA) offers more insight into the mental and physical components of long COVID, suggesting that people who perceived having more cognitive difficulties during their acute COVID-19 illnesses—including "brain fog," anxiety, and depression—were more likely to later report the lingering physical symptoms that define long COVID-19.The authors of the study, which appeared in JAMA Network Open late last week, said the findings came from data collected for clinical purposes from 766 patients enrolled in UCLA's SARS-CoV-2 Ambulatory Program. The program was started to follow up on patients who had either been hospitalized for COVID-19 at UCLA or seen as an outpatient at 1 of 20 associated clinics from April 2020 to February 2021.Clinicians interviewed patients about symptoms by telephone at 30 days, 60 days, and 90 days following hospital discharge or, in the case of outpatients, after the date of a positive COVID-19 test. The average age of participants was 60 years, and 52.1% were men. Patients were asked about nine symptom clusters during the previous 4 weeks: fever, chills or night sweats; loss of smell or taste; fatigue; shortness of breath; chest pain; numbness or tingling; nausea, vomiting or diarrhea; muscle aches; and rash.They were also asked three questions to assess cognitive function: Could the patients get organized? Could they concentrate on a television show or while reading book? And had they forgotten what was discussed during a telephone call within the previous month?The researchers found that 276 (36.1%) of the patients surveyed within 4 weeks of hospital discharge or infection perceived that they had cognitive difficulties. Of the 276 patients (36.1%) who perceived a cognitive deficit, 63 patients (22.8%) responded yes to only 1 item, 53 patients (19.2%) responded yes to 2 items, and 160 patients (58.0%) responded yes all 3 items.And these 276 patients were twice as likely to report also experiencing physical symptoms at 60 and 90 days indicative of long COVID. A total of 118 of 276 patients (42.8%) described long COVID symptoms during follow up, compared with 105 of 490 patients (21.4%) who did not report cognitive difficulties in the first 4 weeks following infection. Neil Wenger, MD, MPH, senior study author, told CIDRAP News that answers to these questions about perceived cognitive struggles were not associated with cognitive defects as strongly as the presence of anxiety and depression were. "It turns out, anxiety and depression symptoms during the acute phase of COVID are most predictive of developing long COVID symptoms," he said.
Cognitive behavioral therapy reduces severe fatigue in long-COVID patients | CIDRAP -- Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) lessens fatigue and improves concentration among long-COVID patients, finds a Dutch randomized controlled trial published yesterday in Clinical Infectious Diseases.The Amsterdam University Medical Centers–led study involved 114 long-COVID patients with severe fatigue and functional impairment 3 to 12 months after infection. Participants were randomly assigned in a 1:1 ratio to receive either CBT or usual care (mainly physical therapy and/or occupational therapy) from November 12, 2020, to September 21, 2021. The average number of interactions (email and video, in-person, and phone visits) between patients and therapists was 11.8.Participants completed two symptom-based questionnaires during the study. Most patients were nonhospitalized and self-referred from one of six centers.CBT helps long-COVID patients better manage their symptoms, senior author Hans Knoop, PhD, said in an Amsterdam University news release. "Together with patients, we look, for example, at how they can improve their sleep-wake rhythm," he said. "We also help them become more active again with small, safe steps. For example, by going for short walks."Patients who received CBT were significantly less fatigued on the fatigue-severity subscale of the Checklist Individual Strength than usual-care patients both immediately after therapy completion and 6 months later (-8.8 points; 95% confidence interval [CI], -11.9 to -5.8). There were also improvements in physical and social functioning, physical symptom severity, and concentration. "Cognitive behavioural therapy also appears to be a safe treatment," Knoop said. "Our research shows that the symptoms did not worsen, and new symptoms arose less often."
COVID-related stress, depression may have altered placentas during pregnancy Maternal stress and depression amid the COVID-19 pandemiccan alter the structure, texture, and other characteristics of the placenta during pregnancy, although the long-term neurodevelopmental impact on children is unknown, according to an ongoing observational study published yesterday inScientific Reports.Researchers from MedStar Washington Hospital Center and Children's National Hospital in Washington, DC, used magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to compare the placentas of 63 pregnant women without known COVID-19 exposure during the pandemic with 165 control patients who were pregnant before the pandemic.The women, who were at 17 to 39 weeks' gestation, also completed symptom questionnaires. The study was conducted from June 2020 to April 2021."During the pandemic, mothers were exposed to a litany of negative stressors including social distancing, fear of dying, financial insecurity and more," senior author Catherine Limperopoulos, PhD, said in a Children's National news release. The placenta provides oxygen, nutrition, and immune protection to the fetus. Placental changes could compromise its ability to nourish and support healthy fetal growth and development and may negatively affect children's behavior, sleep, and temperament, the researchers said.Women who were pregnant during the pandemic scored significantly higher on the questionnaires measuring stress, depression, and anxiety. The pandemic group had placentas with altered texture and greater volume and thickness—but less elongation. Some changes were tied to differences in birth weight.The authors said that maternal stress and the resulting placental changes may increase a baby's risk for delayed cognitive, language, and motor development. Previous studies have found a link between larger placental size and childhood mental illness and maternal anemia, high blood pressure, and diabetes, they added.
World Health Organization falsely declares end of COVID-19 public health emergency - On Friday, World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus announced the formal ending of the COVID-19 Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC) first declared on January 30, 2020. This decision has no scientific basis, but rather serves to provide ex post facto justification for all capitalist governments’ scrapping of anti-COVID public health measures since the emergence of the Omicron variant in November 2021. The WHO announcement was clearly influenced by the United States, which, as the world’s dominant imperialist power, largely controls the WHO’s parent organization, the United Nations. It came less than a week before the Biden administration formally ends the national COVID-19 public health emergency on May 11, putting an end to all official response to the pandemic in the US. The WHO announcement grants legitimacy to this reactionary and unscientific policy shift. It also follows the catastrophic lifting of the Zero-COVID elimination policy in China, which produced a horrific wave of mass infection and death, killing over 1 million people in just three months. Every country in the world has now lifted all anti-COVID mitigation measures, and the coronavirus is spreading freely, evolving into new variants at an accelerating pace. The WHO’s ending of the PHEIC represents a complete and total abrogation of all modern public health policy, which has centered on preventing and stopping outbreaks of deadly pathogens and fighting for the elimination and eradication of communicable diseases. The same organization that at the start of the pandemic denounced the “alarming levels of inaction” and the “moral decay” of governments that allowed COVID-19 to spread unchecked, is now the most influential advocate of the criminal policy of “herd immunity,” or “forever COVID,” embraced by every capitalist government. By any objective standard, the COVID-19 pandemic continues to meet the WHO’s definition of a PHEIC: “an extraordinary event which is determined to constitute a public health risk to other States through the international spread of disease and to potentially require a coordinated international response.” To justify its ending of the PHEIC, the WHO claims that official COVID-19 infections, hospitalizations and deaths are on the decline. But official figures are well known to be vast undercounts due to the global dismantling of COVID-19 testing and data reporting systems. The only way to estimate the real state of the pandemic is by monitoring viral levels in wastewater and excess deaths above pre-pandemic levels. Both figures show that COVID-19 continues to wreak havoc globally.
COVID activity rises in 2 world regions as US declines continue - COVID flare-ups continue in parts of Southeast Asia and the Western Pacific, though, as a whole, global cases and deaths continue to drop, the World Health Organization (WHO) said yesterday in its latest weekly update.In the United States, federal data reporting changed yesterday when the national public health emergency expired, with the new main markers—hospitalizations and deaths—showing continued downward trends.Globally, COVID-19 infections declined 14% and deaths fell 17% over the past 4 weeks compared to the previous 4 weeks. Cases, however, rose sharply in Southeast Asia, with a more modest rise in the Western Pacific.The WHO's Eastern Mediterranean region had been experiencing a spike in activity over the past several weeks, but activity over the past 4 weeks has stabilized.Hot spots in the WHO's Southeast Asia region, include India, Indonesia, Thailand, Myanmar, and Maldives. Meanwhile, the rising activity in the Western Pacific is led by increases in Vietnam, Mongolia, Laos, Australia, Japan, and South Korea.The WHO said subvariant dominance varies by region, with XBB.1.16 dominant in Southeast Asia and XBB.1.5 dominant in the Western Pacific.Globally, XBB.1.5 continues to dominate, but its proportions are steadily dropping. Other subvariants continue to rise, including XBB.1.16, which has now been reported in 46 countries and has increased from 4% to 8.6% of sequences over the past 4 weeks. Other variants under monitoring showing increasing trends include XBB, XBB.1.9.1, and XBB.1.9.2.In a separate weekly update yesterday, the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) said country trends over the past several weeks continue to decline or are stable.Recent rises in transmission and severe disease in Bulgaria, Croatia, Finland, and France appear to be at or past their peaks. Spain's primary care surveillance hints at increased community transmission, which the ECDC said isn't reflected in the country's reported case rates.Sequencing from a limited number of countries suggests that XBB.1.5 makes up 62.7% of the samples.In the United States, health officials are adjusting to a shift in Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) data reporting, which was announced last week ahead of yesterday's end to the national public health emergency. The new metrics focus less on case rates, which have become less reliable, and lean more heavily on hospital and death data.Hospitalizations for COVID continue to slow, declining 6.5% last week. Deaths also reflect a slow and steady decline, dropping 5.3% over the past week. Emergency department visits for COVID also declined, though at a level slightly higher than for flu and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV). They declined for all age-groups and were highest in those ages 0 to 1 and in seniors.For wastewater, only 2% of sites reflect a modest increase, defined as 10% to 99%, a decrease of 33% over the last week.For variant proportion projections, the CDC is shifting to every-other-week reporting. This week's report shows that, over the past 2 weeks, XBB.1.5 makes up 64% of samples, down from 76.3% from the previous 2 weeks. Levels of XBB.1.16 rose from 6.6% to 14.3% over the same period, with levels of XBB.1.9.1 rising from 6.5% to 9.2%. Other subvariants reflexing increased proportions include XBB.1.9.2 and XBB.2.3.
Experts warn widespread use of antibacterial products could promote antibiotic resistance, other health threats -More than two dozen scientists warn that the accelerated use of antibacterial products during the COVID-19 pandemic could pose health risks, such as antimicrobial resistance, and that a comprehensive research and policy agenda is needed to understand and limit these potential impacts.In a review published yesterday in Environmental Science & Technology, the researchers detail the expanded use of products containing quaternary ammonium compounds (QACs), which comprise hundreds of chemical and mixtures and are often found in antibacterial wipes, hand sanitizers, cleaning products, and personal care products. They note that QACs are in roughly 50% of the US Environmental Protection Agency's list of disinfectants effective against SARS-CoV-2, which has likely contributed to their increased use, even though the evidence of QAC effectiveness in reducing transmission of infectious diseases is limited.In addition, the authors note that, despite their widespread use, most QACs have not undergone rigorous regulatory assessment for potential associations with adverse human and ecological health effects. They go on to review some of the evidence for those health effects, which include dermatitis, asthma, infertility, birth defects, and antimicrobial resistance."A substantial body of evidence points to QACs as exacerbating this problem, notably in drug-resistant pathogens of concern, e.g., P. aeruginosa," they wrote. "Exposure of bacteria to disinfectants is expected to result in an increase in resistance, both to QACs and clinically relevant antibiotics." "Our review of the science suggests disinfecting with these chemicals in many cases is unhelpful or even harmful," study co-author Courtney Carignan, PhD, of Michigan State University, said in a press releasefrom the Green Science Policy Institute. "We recommend regular cleaning with soap and water and disinfecting only as needed with safer products."
Study highlights persistence of carbapenem-resistant Acinetobacter in hospitals -A paper published yesterday in The Lancet Regional Health—Western Pacific describes the introduction and spread of carbapenem-resistant Acinetobacter baumannii (CRAB) in a Chinese intensive care unit (ICU), with more than half of samples collected from patient rooms and 28% of patients testing positive.In the cross-sectional study, a team of researchers from China and the United Kingdom collected and conducted whole-genome sequencing on 5,068 swab and clinical samples from the hospital environment (3,985), patients (964), and staff (119) at a 28-bed ICU in Hangzhou. Their aim was to assess the prevalence of CRAB, a World Health Organization priority pathogen that persists for prolonged periods on hospital surfaces and medical equipment and can colonize patients within 48 hours of admission. They also investigated population structure, dynamics of strain movement and dissemination, and horizontal gene transfer events.Overall, CRAB was isolated from 532 (10.5%) samples, including 432/3,985 (10.8%) environmental samples and 100/964 (10.4%) patient samples, and was isolated more frequently from bed units (183/335, 54.6%) than from patients (72/299, 24.1%). Within the bed units (patients' rooms), samples from ventilators (80/287, 27.9%) and dispensing trolleys (10/39, 25.6%) were most likely to yield CRAB. Almost a third of patients screened (35/254, 28.0%) during the study were CRAB-positive, with 14 acquiring CRAB during their stay. The acquired clusters were frequently found in the patient's environment.All isolates were resistant to imipenem, meropenem, and ciprofloxacin, and 274 (49.7%) were resistant to amikacin.
Study links early antibiotic use to pediatric inflammatory bowel disease - A study presented late last week at the Digestive Disease Week 2023 conference suggests that exposure to antibiotics at an early age is among the factors that can increase the risk of pediatric inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). The findings are from a review and meta-analysis of 36 studies involving about 6.4 million children. Researchers found that exposure to antibiotics before the age of 5 years was linked to a three-times greater risk of pediatric IBD, and exposure to four or more antibiotic course was linked to a 3.5-time greater risk. Exposure to a Western diet and higher socioeconomic status were also linked to pediatric IBD, which can inhibit a child's growth and the progression of puberty. "Many of these factors can impact our gut microbiota and may have a particularly strong effect in a child," gastrointestinal dietitian and lead study author Nisha Thacker said in a Digestive Disease Week press release. Lower socioeconomic status, greater consumption of vegetables, having only one toilet in the household, and exposure to pets during childhood was associated with reduced risk for pediatric IBD.
Flesh-eating 'zombie drug' saturating Los Angeles streets– A flesh-eating “zombie drug” called xylazine has been saturating the streets of Los Angeles with severe, deadly effects when mixed with illicit opioids. Los Angeles County Sheriff’s officials launched a new program to track the troubling prevalence of the substance, which is a sedative typically used by veterinarians to anesthetize animals. Also known as “tranq” or “tranq dope” on the streets, xylazine has become increasingly present in the illicit drug supply. The drug can be cooked down into a powder form and mixed with illicit opioids such as heroin and fentanyl or pressed into counterfeit pills or sedatives. The “zombie drug” nickname stems from the substance’s known effect of rotting the skin. Growing concerns over the increasing prevalence of xylazine in L.A. have law enforcement officials and addiction specialists extremely concerned. “I’ve never seen anything like what we’re dealing with right now,” said Cary Quashen, an addiction expert. Xylazine is known to have severe effects, sometimes disfiguring users who develop sores, causing limb amputation in some cases, along with death from overdosing. ‘Tranq’ claims the life of a young mother in Pennsylvania “We had a woman come in and her sister had passed away from a fentanyl overdose,” recalled Quashen. “But not only was it a fentanyl overdose (but) her skin was starting to rot, the muscles on her leg and her arm. So that’s a sure sign of xylazine.”
US cases of antifungal-resistant tinea suggest community spread --Today in Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, two unrelated cases of Trichophyton indotineae infections are described, suggesting the severe, antifungal-resistant tinea is now being locally transmitted in the United States.The skin infection, caused by dermatophyte molds, has become an epidemic in South Asia, because T indotineae infections are highly transmissible, and resistant to commonly used antifungal and steroid creams. T indotineae isolates are frequently resistant to terbinafine, a mainstay of tinea treatment, the authors said, but the skin condition had previously only been seen in Asia and EuropeThe report describes patients seen by a New York City dermatologist who notified health officials in February of severe tinea that did not improve with oral terbinafine treatment, raising concern for potential T indotineae infection. The patients shared no epidemiologic links. The first patient was a pregnant woman with no travel history, suggesting she picked up the infection locally. The second patient, also a woman, had recently traveled to Bangladesh.Both women presented with widespread large, annular, scaly, itchy plaques over the neck, abdomen, pubic region, thighs, and buttocks. After the terbinafine failure, subsequent therapies healed the first woman, but the second woman had only about 80% improvement and is still being treated by the dermatologist.
Chelsea Clinton Promotes Mass Vaccination Program For Children - Laments Public Resistance --Need confirmation that the globalists failed in their pandemic agenda? You only need to review the numerous recent interviews of establishment elites in which they grow sour and despondent discussing their mRNA vaccination campaigns.Why so serious? Why are they so indignant over lack of vaccination for a virus with a median Infection Fatality Rate of only 0.23%? While speaking at the Brainstorm Health conference by Fortune Magazine held in Marina del Rey, California, in April 2023, Chelsea Clinton asserts that vaccine hesitancy and outright rejection have been an "unfortunate" side effect of the coronavirus pandemic. She goes on to promote a partnership with the World Health Organization and the Gates Foundation to push a program of mass jabs for children to make up for declining vaccination rates. Chelsea Clinton Announces 'The Big Catch-Up' Initiative Which Will Be 'The Largest Childhood Immunization Effort Ever'"We need the public sector to hopefully stop doing things like stripping away public health emergency powers from state public health agencies...We're…pic.twitter.com/pGbgWAJRNP Clinton is obviously ignoring the herd of elephants in the room – Anti-mandate activists were right about the lockdowns, right about the masks and right about their mRNA vaccine concerns. The science is on their side. But even if we look beyond the fallacies surrounding the mandates and mRNA technology, there was always the issue of individual rights. The exploitation of the pandemic to centralize political and social power has left millions of people angry and more suspicious than ever.
Four countries report more vaccine-derived polio cases - In its latest weekly update, the Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI) said four African countries reported more polio cases, all involving vaccine-derived poliovirus type 2 (cVDPB2).Chad reported one case in Tandjile region, bringing its total for the year to six. The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) reported 6 more cases in five provinces, putting its total for 2023 at 22. The DRC is also battling the spread of circulating vaccine-derived poliovirus type 1, but no new cases of that strain were reported this week, keeping the total at 12.Nigeria reported 3 more cases, 2 in Zamfara state and 1 in Sokoto, raising its total to 4. Also, Somalia reported one more case, though the report didn't note the location. The country this year has now recorded two cases.
FDA Approves First Pill Containing Human Feces --Patients needing a fecal microbiota transplant for recurrent Clostridioides difficile (C. diff) infections now have the option of getting stool in pill form.The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recently approved Vowst, the first oral biologic drug for fecal microbiota that was shown in clinical trials to be as effective as fecal microbiota transplants given rectally. Biologic drugs are derived from blood, proteins, bacteria, and other living organisms.In a traditional fecal microbiota transplant or FMT, healthy donor stool is transferred into the colon of a patient, usually via colonoscopy or retention enema. Late last year, the FDA approved the first microbiota product for rectal administration to C. diff patients.C. diff, often contracted by taking antibiotics, is highly a contagious bacterial infection that causes severe diarrhea, abdominal pain, and fever and can result in organ failure and even death. Recurrent infections within two to eight weeks are a problem for about one in six patients, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Risk factors include recent hospital or nursing home stay, a weakened immune system, and previous C. diff infections.In response to the approval of the new oral microbiota product, Dr. Peter Marks, director of the FDA’s Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research, said in a news release:“The availability of a fecal microbiota product that can be taken orally is a significant step forward in advancing patient care and accessibility for individuals who have experienced this disease that can be potentially life-threatening.” Vowst—taken as a dose of four capsules for three consecutive days—is not free of risk. The donated human fecal matter is screened for transmissible pathogens before it is manufactured. However, as the news release pointed out, there is a possibility that donor stool used in the pill could be infected with infectious pathogens, as well as food allergens. The potential for adverse reactions caused by Vowst due to such allergens is unknown.
Mpox resurgence reported in Chicago --The Chicago area is experiencing a resurgence in mpox infections, which are at the highest level since November and mark the highest weekly case rate in the nation, Howard Brown Health said in a May 5 press release.The agency, which serves the LGBTQ+ community, said it has confirmed seven cases since Apr 17, with results of other tests still pending. It added that, in the 3 previous months, the Chicago Department of Public Health had reported only one mpox case.Patrick Gibbons, DO, Howard Brown’s chief medical director, said, "We urge sexually active members of our community to receive the mpox vaccine. For example, unvaccinated people planning to attend International Mr. Leather at the end of May should receive their first dose of the mpox vaccination as soon as possible." He added that increased vaccination rates will better protect the community from another outbreak.Following last year's international outbreak, cases dropped sharply over the winter months. In February, the World Health Organization kept the public health emergency of international concern (PHEIC) in place for mpox, citing sustained transmission in some countries, undetected transmission and under-reporting in others, and concerns about a possible resurgence when social events and other mass gatherings resume.Other countries have reported upticks in mpox activity, such as a cluster in France and South Korea, where officials last month raised the alert level from 1 to 2.
Adverse events highest after intradermal injection of Jynneos mpox vaccine - An Australian postmarketing study of adverse events following Jynneos mpox vaccination finds that local adverse event rates were highest following intradermal administration, but absolute event rates were lower than in previous studies, and the vaccine was well tolerated overall. The study was published late last week in JAMA. In late summer of 2022, Australia began to use the Jynneos vaccine with a dose-sparing schedule of 0.1-milliliter (mL) intradermal vaccine recommended for preexposure to mpox, and 0.5-mL subcutaneous vaccine for postexposure prophylaxis (prevention)—two doses given 4 weeks apart for both approaches. The study was based on the results of a survey given to 13,306 participants. The median age was 41, and 97% of participants were men. if administered in the forearm and subcutaneous if administered in the deltoid. According to the authors, the adverse event rate was highest following dose one of intradermal vaccination (53%) and lowest following dose two of subcutaneous vaccination (31%). For both routes, dose one produced more non-severe localized reactions, including redness, itching, and swelling."Absolute event rates were lower than in previous studies, which reported more than 30% systemic adverse events following both routes and local adverse event rates of more than 50% following subcutaneous administration and nearly 100% following intradermal vaccination," the authors said. "This study also found a low percentage of people reporting medical review [0.7% to 1.2% of all recipients] or missing daily activities [2.5% to 3.7%], suggesting that the vaccine is generally well-tolerated."
Climate conditions, urbanization fueling chikungunya rise in Americas, officials say - In an update last week on the intensifying chikungunya outbreak in the Americas, officials from the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) said they are seeing changes in the timing and magnitude of cases that are likely related to the effects of climate change and unplanned urbanization. PAHO first warned about a new surge of cases in January, and since the first of the year, more than 214,000 cases have been reported in five countries, with Paraguay hit the worst. Argentina and Uruguay have reported their first local transmission of the mosquito-borne virus, and Bolivia is reporting high numbers of chikungunya and dengue infections. In a May 4 statement, PAHO said unusually high temperatures, anticipated or increased rains, and humid conditions have allowed Aedes mosquitos to survive in areas where their populations weren’t supported before. Also, increased or unplanned urbanization have increased watering spots at households, a factor that creates a breeding environment for the mosquitoes. Seven vaccines are in development, with three in clinical trials. PAHO said the best protection for now is to use insecticide and mosquito netting and curb breeding sites. Though few deaths are reported, chikungunya virus can cause debilitating joint pain that can last as long as 6 months.
Probes continue into Africa's Marburg outbreaks as recent patients discharged -- The most recently confirmed patients in Marburg virus outbreaks in Equatorial Guinea and Tanzania were discharged from treatment at the end of April, with efforts under way in both countries to shore up responses and investigate the source of the virus and earlier transmission links, the World Health Organization (WHO) said yesterday in an update.Both countries have been battling their first outbreaks of Marburg virus, which is related to Ebola and also spreads among humans through infected body fluids.Equatorial Guinea's last two cases were reported from Bata, the country's biggest city, and were known contacts of previous cases. The last patient was discharged from treatment on Apr 26. Tanzania's last case was the mother of a child who died from the virus in March, and she was discharged from treatment on Apr 21.In both outbreaks, investigations are still underway, as are response efforts. In Equatorial Guinea, many cases are linked through social networks or gatherings, but earlier cases across multiple districts without clear links suggests the possibility of undetected spread, the WHO said. It added that surveillance in the country is suboptimal and that few alerts have been reported.Meanwhile in Tanzania, the source of the virus hasn't been found, which may pose an ongoing risk to the population. All cases have been reported from Bukoba district of Kagera district, which borders Uganda, Rwanda, and Burundi.
Study: Ingredient found in salad bowls and burger wrappers less safe than previously thought - A compostable salad bowl seems like an Earth-friendly way to enjoy a healthy lunch. But the toxic chemicals used in containers like molded-fiber salad bowls, sandwich wrappers, and French fry pouches may be leaching into food despite efforts to make those materials safer, according to the results of a study published in March in the journal Environmental Science and Technology.The presence of “forever chemicals” in materials used to contain or carry food is far from new. Various formulations of compounds called per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS, are used in materials like pizza boxes, popcorn bags, and paper straws because they’re both water-proof and oil-proof. That means they’re perfect for keeping fake butter or salad dressing from seeping out of microwave popcorn packets and takeout salad bowls, as well as for maintaining structural integrity while protecting a steaming, cheesy pizza. But PFAS are also toxic. They’ve been linked to testicular and kidney cancers, ulcerative colitis, low birth weights, and even decreased immune response to vaccines.
PFAS chemicals in drinking water cause of obesity: study - Scientists said they have located a new source of blame for the rise in obesity in the United States and elsewhere: distressingly common chemicals found in our homes — and our drinking water. The recently completed study, conducted jointly by the Universities of Rhode Island and Southern Denmark, honed in on per-and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) as likely culprits. Found in everything from makeup to microwave popcorn bags to nonstick skillets, PFAS, frequently referred to as “forever” chemicals due to their surprising resilience, are present in a wide range of everyday items found in most households. And when they’re not in your home, they’re being discharged by someone else’s into your water supply, via waste runoff, the study said. Elevated levels of PFAS can make it more challenging to keep pounds off — especially after a recent weight loss, according to lead study author Dr. Philippe Grandjean at the University of Southern Denmark. “We’ve previously shown that children with increased PFAS concentrations tend to gain weight and develop higher levels of cholesterol in the blood,” Grandjean wrote. “We now focused on adults who participated in an experimental study of five different diets in regard to weight gain. Our results add to the concern that environmental pollution may be affecting our metabolism, so that we tend to gain weight.” In particular, the chemical perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) — commonly found at low levels in food, drinking water and even household dust, according to the American Cancer Society — was determined to be strongly connected to weight gain.
Nine small Indiana drinking water utilities have levels of PFAS above federal health guidelines — The state detected harmful PFAS in the treated drinking water at more than two dozen small water utilities in Indiana. Among other things, exposure to the human-made chemicals has been linked to kidney cancer, problems with the immune system and developmental issues in children.This is the second round of testing the Indiana Department of Environmental Management (IDEM) has done for PFAS in public water utilities.Nine of those water utilities had PFAS levels above federal health guidelines: Delphi Water Works, Crescent Hills Mobile Home Park, Leavenworth Water Company, Westport Water Company, Haubstadt Water Department, And-Tro Water Authority - District 1, Troy Township Water Association, Indiana American Water - Farmersburg and Sullivan-Vigo Rural Water Corp. The Environmental Protection Agency recently discovered PFAS are much more harmful than we once thought — even at barely detectable levels. The agency has proposed limiting the two most well-known PFAS to 4 parts per trillion (ppt) in drinking water. That’s more than 17 times lower than the current limit.
Low levels of PFAS found at former Sparta Township landfill —— Small amounts of PFAS have been found in the groundwater and surface water near a former landfill in Sparta Township. The Sparta Foundry Waste Facility on Laubach Avenue operated from the early 1980s through 2021. Because the landfill is not lined, the Michigan PFAS Action Response Team said the Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy requested a site analysis before the landfill was closed. The tests found that two groundwater wells showed levels of PFOA — perfluorooctanoic acid — at 10 parts per trillion, just above the current safety standard of 8 ppt. Groundwater from the landfill flows east toward a small wetland. Storm water from the landfill also flows into the wetland from a culvert. A surface water sample collected next to the culvert outlet found PFOS at 13 ppt, just above the safety standard of 12 ppt. PFAS levels in West Michigan study are above national average, include extreme high-end exposuresMPART says the nearest drinking water wells are approximately a quarter mile to the east of the landfill. EGLE and the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services are working with local health officials to determine if those wells need to be tested. PFAS — or per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances — is a giant group of chemical compounds first developed in the 1940s and incorporated into all sorts of products for its waterproofing and heat-resistant properties. Decades later, research showed that PFAS compounds can build up in the human body, causing serious health problems including cancer. They are called “forever chemicals” because they do not break down easily in the human body, though concentrations of PFAS within the body do start to go down once exposure ends.
New PFAS Fish Consumption Advisory For Green Bay And Associated Tributaries — Wisconsin DNR - The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (DNR) and the Department of Health Services (DHS) today announced a new PFAS-based consumption advisory for the Bay of Green Bay and its tributaries. Elevated levels of perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS), a type of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), were detected in rainbow smelt sampled from Green Bay. As a result, the DNR and DHS recommend consuming only one meal per week of rainbow smelt from the Bay of Green Bay and its associated tributaries up to the first dam, including portions of the Peshtigo, Oconto and Menominee rivers. “Eating locally caught fish is a cost-effective way to feed your family a lean, healthy protein. This advisory, like our long-standing mercury and polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) advisories, is another way to ensure our anglers who eat their catch are provided with the right information to consume fish safely,” said Lori Tate, Fisheries Management Section Supervisor. PFAS are a group of human-made chemicals that have been used for decades in various products, such as non-stick cookware, fast food wrappers, stain-resistant sprays and certain types of firefighting foams that have made their way into the environment. Health risks may increase when fish with high levels of PFAS are consumed more frequently than recommended. These can include increased cholesterol levels, decreased immune response, decreased fertility in women, and cancers, among other health effects. More information is available on the DHS website.
Another source of toxic PFAS in Wisconsin: Toilet paper? —When you flush your toilet, sending waste to a nearby sewage treatment system, you might also be contributing toxic chemicals to the local watershed. University of Florida scientists recently studied 21 toilet paper brands from around the world and found traces of PFAS in each case. The study does not name the brands. "I feel like we hear about new places that have PFAS every day," said Christy Remucal, a University of Wisconsin-Madison associate professor of engineering who studies the chemicals and did not participate in the study. PFAS, also known as "forever chemicals," are gaining more attention in Wisconsin and nationwide. The chemicals have been linked to increased risks of cancer, thyroid disease and other adverse health effects. As some residents are being forced to drink bottled water due to contaminated wells, state and federal agencies are weighing new regulations. Anything we can do to prevent these chemicals from getting in the environment in the first place is important because they're so persistent and mobile"Anything we can do to prevent these chemicals from getting in the environment in the first place is important because they're so persistent and mobile. They last such a long time," Remucal said. "Prevention is the key approach here." Remucal leads UW-Madison’s Water Science and Engineering Laboratory and is co-director of the Core Facility for Advanced Water Analysis. She recently joined Wisconsin Public Radio’s "Central Time" to discuss the new University of Florida study on toilet paper. In Wisconsin, authorities have pointed to firefighting foam as one of the main sources of PFAS. But University of Florida researchers pointed to toilet paper as another source. "Our results suggest that toilet paper should be considered as a potentially major source of PFAS entering wastewater treatment systems," the researchers wrote.
Study: 1 in 7 US households struggle to pay for wastewater services --Today in PLoS Water, a new analysis suggests that millions of US households struggle to pay for water and wastewater services because the cost of water utilities has increased substantially in recent years.The study was based on data from 787 of the largest water utilities in the nation. Researchers used the metric of households spending more than 4.6% of their monthly income on 6,000 gallons of water per month, which is considered sufficient to meet basic household needs. The percentage is roughly equivalent to the pay from one workday.A total of 17% of households, which included 28.3 million people, spent more than 4.6% of their monthly income on water services. That means an average of 1 in 7 households (15%) can't afford water services, the authors said.The researchers said their findings have wide public health implications, and the reasons behind the increasing water cost is varied but include climate change, aging infrastructure, and lower household incomes."We found household water affordability challenges in all utilities, states, and regions of the U.S. In every community, there are households with unaffordable water services even when using the most conservative definitions of undue hardship and volumes of water usage," the authors concluded. "While unaffordable water services are not geographically limited to specific states or regions, there are regional concentrations of unaffordability challenges in eastern regions, particularly within West Virginia, Ohio, and Indiana."
USDA green-lights Lyme disease vaccine that targets mice hosts - The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) has conditionally licensed an oral vaccine designed to limit the spread of Borrelia burgdorferi, the bacterium that causes Lyme disease. The vaccine is sprayed onto pellets and distributed in natural settings to be consumed by mice.Lyme disease is the nation's most common vectorborne disease, and the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that about 476,000 people are infected each year. Black-legged ticks that feed on blood from infected mice can than transmit the disease to people.In its announcement, Memphis-based US Biologic said field trials by several groups showed a real-world impact and that the product meets all of the USDA's conditional licensing requirements, including that it uniquely addresses an emergency condition.The company said it will make the product available for residential settings and public spaces, such as parks, golf courses, and other recreational facilities. It added that it will work closely with federal and state health agencies, pest control management groups, and partners including the Global Lyme Alliance and the Lyme Disease Association.The vaccine is called Borrelia Burgdorferi Bacterin. The product, called LymeShield, includes a device or "station" that holds and applies the pellets, according to the company's website.
All birds are shrinking — but small birds are shrinking fastest -com - The forest of Amazonia and the urban canyons of Chicago are dramatically different environments.But in both, bird life has displayed the same mysterious pattern: While all birds are shrinking, small birds are getting smaller, faster, than larger ones, a new study has found. At the same time, in a surprising twist, their wings are getting longer — as though all birds were becoming a bit more every year like tree swallows — and scientists have no idea why.The findings published Monday in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) begin with a large and macabre body of evidence. Since 1978, scientists at Chicago’s Field Museum have collected the corpses of unlucky birds.These are a diverse bunch, owing to Chicago’s lethal — if scientifically fortunate — position as a giant city, full of deadly glass windows on a major migratory route for birds across the country. For nearly 40 years, Field Museum scientists have risen long before dawn every morning of the spring and fall migration period to collect the bodies of birds who have crashed into the windows of city buildings.By surveying changes in more than 70,000 specimens from 52 species — most of which had crashed into the windows of McCormick Place, North America’s largest convention center — the Field Museum announced in 2019 that birds in general were getting smaller.The magnitude of the changes were subtle enough to have been easily missed. “It’s a matter of millimeters, tenths of millimeters,” Field Museum scientist Dave Willard said at the time. “It’s not something you know is happening until the analysis.”The researchers hypothesized that the ultimate cause for the shrinking birds was climate change, because smaller bodies release heat more easily.But that required more evidence that the phenomenon was in fact happening worldwide — a conclusion to which the PNAS study published Monday gives added support.
Md., DC attorneys general warn about dangers of gas stoves, and it’s not just hot air - Nearly a dozen attorneys general nationwide, including in D.C. and Maryland, have signed on to a letter asking the Consumer Product Safety Commission to do more to regulate and warn about the dangers surrounding gas stoves. The list includes DC Attorney General Brian Schwalb and Maryland Attorney General Anthony Brown. In a 21-page letter, D.C. Attorney General Brian Schwalb, Maryland Attorney General Anthony Brown and many of their counterparts across the country want the CPSC to regulate an appliance with no regulations. “Gas stoves (unlike furnaces and water heaters) are not required to meet any voluntary or mandatory safety or performance standards related to emissions, other than requirements related to CO concentrations,” they wrote. They’re also asking for mandatory standards for ventilation, including an automatic hood that vents to the outdoors, as well as emissions maximums for what they term dangerous pollutants. “Since there are no voluntary emission standards for gas stoves, the CPSC may either work with industry to adopt voluntary standards or promulgate a mandatory performance standard that would adequately reduce the health risks.” The argument is that gas stoves emit pollutants, such as carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxide and other particles, that are linked to respiratory illnesses, including cancer. Children, according to their letter, are especially susceptible to illnesses, with kids who live in a home with gas stoves increasing their risk for asthma by 42%. Lastly, they also asked the CPSC to do more to raise awareness about the health hazards of gas stoves, including a requirement for warning labels.
Lake Powell is rising more than a foot a day. But megadrought’s effects will still be felt. - Weeks after the surface of Lake Powell sunk to an all-time low, the key Colorado River reservoir is rising more than a foot a day — on track to deepen by some 70 feet in the coming months. Spring flows into the lake are among the highest observed in its history.That could mean long-stranded boat ramps regain water access this summer. Already, the bolstered water levels allowed for recent dam releases that sent rapids surging down the Grand Canyon for the first time in five years.But whatever optimism the recent boost might create, it should not extend beyond this year, said Bart Leeflang, the Colorado River program manager for the Central Utah Water Conservancy District. Though snowpack that feeds the river is among the basin’s deepest in decades, one expert noted that it would take nearly a decade of wet years to refill Lake Powell.River managers say difficult decisions remain about how to drastically cut water consumption from a source that serves 40 million people.“It’s maybe a year’s worth of breathing room,” Leeflang said. “The crisis is still very real and very much in front of us.”The upper Colorado River basin, which stretches from southern Wyoming to the Four Corners region, drains to Lake Powell along the Utah-Arizona border. But the lake, which has existed since the completion of Glen Canyon Dam in 1963, is in peril amid water overuse and a Southwestern megadrought that scientists say began in 2000 and is the worst to hit the region in 1,200 years.A wet and snowy weather pattern for much of the West brought at least a brief reprieve this winter. In the upper river basin, snowpack peaked at more than 150 percent of normal. While that was not as dramatic aswhat accumulated in California’s Sierra Nevada after a winter of repeated storms, snowfall set records in some parts of southwestern Colorado.The snow was slow to melt in early spring, with colder-than-normal temperatures and periods of mountain snow extending into late April. But early May warmth has triggered a surge of snowmelt. Temperatures rose into the 70s for several days early in the month in the mountains of western Colorado and eastern Utah.After Lake Powell’s surface dropped to about 3,520 feet above sea level in mid-April, it has been largely rising. That accelerated to an increase of more than a foot per day over the past week, according to data from the federal Bureau of Reclamation, which owns and operates Glen Canyon Dam. The lake’s height reached about 3,533 feet above sea level on Tuesday.And the lake is forecast to rise 70 to 71 feet, in all, by the fall. That allowed the bureau in late April to release torrents of water from Lake Powell downstream as part of an experiment exploring potential rehabilitation of river wildlife and ecosystems along the Grand Canyon.
California readies for treasure hunt as floods wash up ‘Gold Rush 2.0’ -- In the aftermath of an unusually wet winter, Californians are bracing not only for flooded fields and raging rapids, but also for a potential treasure hunt that experts are dubbing “Gold Rush 2.0.” “It’s one of those 100-years events,” Mark Dayton, a Sacramento Valley metal detector expert, told The Hill. With one atmospheric river after another this past winter, snowpack on the Golden State’s mountain peaks piled up to unprecedented heights. But as that snow gushes down the hillsides, the fast and furious flow is shuttling other materials along with it. “When it melts, it comes rushing down at crazy speeds through narrow gorges and canyons, and it’s a torrent of raging water,” Dayton said. “This is even crazier than whitewater.” The flow cascades like a waterfall from about 5,000 feet to 3,500 feet, at which point it begins “meandering into some of the foothills” and into creeks and streams, Dayton explained. “What happens is the material is being ripped literally right off the walls of the creeks as they reshape themselves,” he added. By “material,” Dayton means gold. And he said he anticipates a lot of it this year. “It’s like a generational flood,” agreed Albert Fausel, the third-generation owner of the local Placerville Hardware Store, which opened in 1852. “It’s been a flood that I’ve never seen in my life,” Fausel continued. “It’s all going to come down at once and just integrate a lot of new material into our river systems.” Prospectors should expect to find “several different pockets of gold” in relatively shallow waters, as the snowmelt washes “all that material into the waterway,” according to Dayton. The heavier pieces, he explained, will stay up at higher altitudes. “But most of the small stuff that we typically find year-to-year as gold prospectors is going to make its way not only down to where we typically look for it, in the 2,000-3,500-foot range, but all the way down literally to the Sacramento Valley,” he said.
Weather Pattern Change for Second Half of May -- Warmth that spread through the U.S. last week favored rapid progress on spring planting. As noted in the USDA Crop Progress Report May 8, corn planting increased 23 percentage points to essentially halfway done while soybean planting increased 16 percentage points to 35% complete.Spring wheat was slower, but South Dakota was still able to cross the halfway mark as plantings increased by 39 percentage points. Northern areas are still somewhat behind the average pace, but were able to pick it up last week outside of Michigan that stayed cooler and wetter than other areas.The warmth that helped to kick off the rapid planting is sticking around this week, favoring another week of expected good progress. Anecdotally, as I drove around my area of Minnesota the last couple of days, it appears that just about every field is planted. As any farmer would tell you, good weather does not last for very long, and sure enough we are expecting a change in the weather pattern next week.Until then, showers will continue to come through much of the country's primary growing regions along with the warmth, which has been falling over some of the drier areas of the Corn Belt since this past weekend. Drought has been a major concern for the Western Corn Belt this spring, but clusters of showers and thunderstorms have been moving through Nebraska and northern Kansas as well as parts of the Dakotas and Minnesota that have been in the longer-standing drought categories since last year. Even some of the more recently dry areas around Iowa, Missouri, and Illinois got some much-needed rainfall since the weekend, helping to improve soil moisture.Although rain has come with severe weather, including widespread reports of significantly large hail larger than golf balls, the wetter pattern for these western states has provided a needed boost to soil moisture for a lot of areas. The rain has not been completely widespread and there are no doubt areas that would disagree with my assessment, but the overall pattern has been wet. Those showers continue to come in disorganized clusters for the rest of the week and into the weekend. A small system will aid that process as it drifts into the Plains on Thursday and then across the Midwest over the weekend. The cold front to the system will not be very cold but be a focal point for continued showers in the Southern Plains through Sunday or Monday, which may bring some heavy amounts to some of the drought areas there.After this weekend though, the overall weather pattern is going to undergo a change. What has been keeping much of North America warm has been a ridge across the eastern half of the U.S. up through the Canadian Arctic. To make the showers, a trough of low pressure has been situated over the West, providing the energy necessary to kick off occasional periods of thunderstorms and small systems.The trough will make a shift into the middle of the country later this week, hence the small storm system. But after vacating the West, a ridge will pop up there over the weekend, shifting the focus of heat to western North America. At the same time, a trough of low pressure will move down into eastern Canada, bringing a chill to that area that will extend into the Midwest and Northeast as well. The temperature forecast is still being determined, but a move away from above-normal temperatures is expected. That comes with a cold front moving through early next week that may bring some showers, but the period of widespread heavy rain will be over.
Early heat wave in Pacific Northwest could break records - (AP) — An early May heat wave this weekend could surpass daily records in parts of the Pacific Northwest and worsen wildfires already burning in western Canada, a historically temperate region that has grappled with scorching summer temperatures and unprecedented wildfires fueled by climate change in recent years. “We’re looking at record-breaking temperatures,” said Miles Higa, meteorologist at the National Weather Service’s Portland office, describing the warmth as “unusual for this time of year.” The unseasonal high temperatures could further fuel the dozens of fires burning in Canada’s western Alberta province, where officials have ordered evacuations and declared a state of emergency. Residents and officials in the Northwest have been trying to adjust to the likely reality of longer, hotter heat waves following the deadly “ heat dome ” weather phenomenon in 2021 that prompted record temperatures and deaths across the region. The National Weather Service issued a heat advisory Friday lasting from Saturday through Monday for much of the western parts of both Oregon and Washington state. It said the temperatures could raise the risk of heat-related illness, particularly for those who are dehydrated or don’t have effective cooling. Temperatures in Portland, Oregon, are expected to hover around 94 F (34.4 C) throughout the weekend, according to the website of the National Weather Service office there. The current daily temperature records for May 13 and 14 stand at 92 F (33.3 C) and 91 F (32.8 C), dating from 1973 and 2014, respectively. Temperatures in the Seattle area could also meet or surpass daily records, according to National Weather Service meteorologist Jacob DeFlitch. The mercury could near 85 F (29.4 C) on Saturday and reach into the low 90s (32.2 C) on Sunday, he said. King County, home to Seattle, directed transportation operators such as bus drivers to let people ride for free if they’re seeking respite from the heat or heading to a cooling center. The city’s regional homeless authority said several cooling and day centers will be open across the county. Authorities also urged people to be wary of cold water temperatures, should they be tempted to take a river or lake swim to cool off.“Rivers are still running cold. We have snow melting and temperatures … probably in the low- to mid-40s (4.4 to 7.2 C) right now,” National Weather Service meteorologist Higa said. “You’re nice and warm and jump into the cold water — that could pose a risk to getting cold water shock.” Residents and officials in the Pacific Northwest have become more vigilant about heat wave preparations after some 800 people died in Oregon, Washington and British Columbia during the heat dome weather event in late June and early July 2021. The temperature at the time soared to an all-time high of 116 F (46.7 C) in Portland and smashed heat records in cities and towns across the region. Many of those who died were older people who lived alone.
State of local emergency in Auckland following heavy rainfall and flooding, New Zealand - (video) Following an onslaught of torrential rainfall, Auckland is grappling with severe flooding and landslides. On May 9, 2023, Mayor Wayne Brown declared a state of local emergency, citing the intensity of the weather and the lessons learned from previous floods. New Zealand’s MetService reported rain rates of 40 -50 mm (1.6 – 1.9 inches) per hour in areas of Auckland, leading to substantial disruption and over 277 weather-related calls to Fire and Emergency. This included 19 calls in Northland and 258 calls in Auckland. Approximately 100 of these incidents were deemed serious, with responses required for landslides, fallen trees, and vehicles trapped in the floodwaters. Travel has been heavily impacted, with multiple car accidents reported on Auckland’s motorway network. Extensive flooding of State Highway 1 (SH1) has further disrupted traffic flow. In response, Civil Defence in Northland stated that the Kaipara District Council had set up shelters for travelers stranded along SH1 between Auckland and Kaipara District. Evacuation shelters were also opened in Massey and Albany by the Civil Defence in Auckland, providing aid for individuals forced to leave their homes due to the severe weather conditions. Furthermore, there were reports of a student who went missing during a school trip to a caving site in Whangārei. It was unclear if this incident was directly related to the adverse weather.
Heavy rains affect nearly 500,000 people, devastate crop fields in Jiangxi, China - (video) Heavy rainfall impacted nearly 500 000 people in Jiangxi province, China, from Friday through Sunday, prompting the evacuation of approximately 14 000 residents. The provincial flood and drought control headquarters reported the situation on Sunday, highlighting the major flood challenge that Southern China faces this year due to uneven distribution of rainfall. As of 16:00 on Sunday, seven cities in Jiangxi, including Fuzhou, Ji’an, Yichun, and Xinyu, had been affected, resulting in crop damage across 67 700 ha (165 560 acres). Direct economic losses are estimated at around 520 million yuan ($75.2 million), according to local authorities. The National Meteorological Center forecasts that most areas south of the Yangtze River will experience heavy rain on Monday, May 8, with the monthly precipitation potentially reaching or surpassing the maximum rainfall ever recorded in May. The Ministry of Water Resources states that since the end of March, flood threats in China’s southern region had not been severe. However, the situation worsened on Friday as downpours and floods ravaged southern parts of the country. Between Friday and Sunday, some provinces in southern China recorded 406 mm (16 inches) of rainfall in Fuzhou, Jiangxi, and 313 mm (12.3 inches)in Nanping, Fujian province. A total of 50 rivers in six provinces have exceeded their danger marks since the end of March. Local authorities in Fuzhou have mobilized emergency response teams as heavy rains caused inundation of urban areas and farmlands. A breach in the Qingfeng dike in Yichun, Jiangxi, was repaired around 18:00 LT on Sunday after it occurred on Saturday. About 300 people in the vicinity had been evacuated. A rescue team of over 1 000 personnel quickly assembled to implement emergency response measures following the dike breach. Disaster response officials are taking preventive steps in other areas, identifying vulnerable spots and alerting nearby residents. China Central Television reported that four officials from Xinluo district in Longyan, Fujian, went missing around 01:40 on Sunday after flash floods caused a bridge to collapse while they were inspecting the water level of the Longchuan River.
Deadly landslide hits mining site in North Kivu, DR Congo - A large landslide hit the Songambele mine near the city of Rubaya in Masisi Territory of North Kivu Province, DR Congo around 11:00 LT on May 8, 2023. According to Rubaya city officials, nearly a hundred artisanal miners were buried under the rubble. While the efforts to find the victims are still in progress, the exact number of missing people is not yet known. The event comes after more than 400 people were killed in neighboring South Kivu Province after heavy rainfall caused rivers to overflow on May 4, flooding the villages of Bushushu, Nyamukobi, Luzira, and Chabondo. UN OCHA reported around 1 200 houses were completely destroyed and a further 1 800 damaged, leaving 3 000 households homeless.
Tornado strikes Anamur district, Turkey, injuring over a dozen people and destroying banana greenhouses - A powerful tornado tore through the Anamur district in Turkey’s Mersin Province on May 6, 2023, injuring more than a dozen people and causing widespread damage. The tornado affected an area of 5 km2 (1.9 mi2) between the neighborhoods of Fatih and Akarca, leaving over 100 banana greenhouses destroyed. The governor’s office reported that 13 people sustained injuries during the intense storm, which also damaged roofs and overturned two cars. Responding to the disaster, the Disaster and Emergency Management Presidency (AFAD), police, gendarmerie, municipalities, and fire and health workers were promptly dispatched to the affected areas. In a separate weather-related incident, heavy rainfall battered the southern province of Antalya, leading to flooding on some of the city’s streets. In the Konyaaltı district, vehicles became stranded on a boulevard due to uneven asphalt caused by the downpour. Many drivers were forced to call tow trucks and wait for assistance.
Early start to wildfire season displaces 30,000 across Alberta - Alberta Premier Danielle Smith announced a provincial state of emergency Saturday after an early season outbreak of wildfires across the western Canadian province. As of Monday more than 30,000 people had evacuated their homes under the threat of flames and choking smoke from more than 100 active fires. An early May heat wave primed the province for a fiery explosion. Record high temperatures were smashed in both Edmonton, the province’s capital, and Calgary, its largest city. In the former the mercury hit 28.9 Celsius (84 F) on May 1, while Calgary broke a 130-year record with a temperature of 25.8 C (78 F) recorded at the city’s airport. Heat records were also broken in Red Deer, Vegreville, Fort Chipewyan and Rocky Mountain House. Warnings were made days ahead of time by meteorologists that the fire danger was exceptionally high and burn bans were put in place for much of the province. “Much of Alberta has been experiencing a hot, dry spring and with so much kindling, all it takes is a few sparks to ignite some truly frightening wildfires,” Premier Smith said at a press conference Saturday. “These conditions have resulted in the unprecedented situation our province is facing today.” Smith expressed shock at the number of people forced to flee their homes, stating, “I don’t know that I ever recall seeing multiple communities evacuated all at once in fire season.” Alberta Wildfire spokesperson Christine Tucker told reporters Saturday that firefighters were confronting extremely difficult conditions, including high winds, which are fueling the flames. Tucker described the outbreak of wildfires across the province as “unusual” and “unprecedented.” The 7,300 residents of Drayton Valley, approximately 140 km southwest of Edmonton, were warned to continue to stay away Sunday as flames burned uncontrolled. Four homes have been destroyed by a fire which forced residents to flee Thursday night. Approximately three dozen residents took shelter at Edmonton’s Expo Centre over the weekend, while others are in hotels or with relatives. “This fire remains out of control and so it is imperative that people stay out of this area. I can’t stress that enough,” Brazeau County and Drayton Valley Fire Chief Tom Thompson warned. “The risk to the public is still extremely high and it is not safe to enter the community at this time.” Other areas under evacuation orders due to fires include: the town of Edson (population 8,000), northwest of Drayton Valley; Sturgeon Lake Cree Nation 154 (population 1,505) and Fox Lake Indian reserve (population 3,600), in remote northern Alberta; and Rainbow Lake (population 500), in the province’s northwest corner. The fires have also triggered the widespread idling of oil extraction operations, resulting in 145,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day being “shut in.” Alberta is the center of petroleum extraction in Canada, and one of the largest oil-producing regions in the world, with approximately 120,000 workers employed in the process of oil drilling and surface mining of bitumen oil-tar sands. The oil and gas industry accounts for a quarter of the province’s annual economic output. The burning of oil and other fossil fuels, which emit carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, is the major factor in man-made climate change. Scientists have warned that climate change is the driving force behind the increasing intensity of wildfires and the expansion of the fire season beyond its historic range.
Alberta declares state of emergency as massive wildfires force 30 000 residents to evacuate, Canada - (news video) The Alberta government declared a provincial state of emergency on Saturday, May 6, 2023, as fast-spreading wildfires forced nearly 30 000 residents from their homes. The fires are producing massive smoke clouds drifting into British Columbia and Northwest Territories. The number of active wildfires in Alberta rose from 103 on Friday to 110 on Saturday, May 6, prompting the government to declare a provincial state of emergency. As of Sunday afternoon, there were 108 active wildfires across the province, with 31 classified as out-of-control. Over 29 000 Albertans have been forced to evacuate their homes due to the escalating crisis. Officials from the Alberta Emergency Management Agency and Alberta Wildfire are closely monitoring the situation, but the extent of the damage remains difficult to determine. Colin Blair, executive director of the Alberta Emergency Management Agency, emphasized the priority of protecting lives and dealing with the emergency response. Assistance from other provinces and even Montana has arrived to help battle the fires. Weather conditions have improved slightly in some parts of the province, with 5 to 12 mm (0.2 – 0.5 inches) of rain recorded overnight Saturday into Sunday morning in affected areas such as Edson, Hinton, and Jasper. However, meteorologists say more widespread, heavy rain is needed to mitigate the ongoing crisis. The Alberta Wildfire is reminding all residents that the use of recreational drones over wildfires in Alberta is dangerous, illegal and could result in a fine of up to $15 000 for putting aircraft and people at risk. “Please give Alberta firefighters the space they need to do their jobs safely.” The declaration of a state of emergency enables the provincial government to access emergency funds and mobilize additional support, such as around-the-clock monitoring and intergovernmental coordination. Alberta Premier Danielle Smith plans to speak with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to discuss potential military support and other resources for affected communities. By 09:00 UTC on Monday, May 8, the number of active wildfires across the province slightly decreased to 105, with 27 classified as out-of-control. The total number of wildfires since the beginning of the year now stands at 405, which includes 285 that have been extinguished. Of these wildfires, 220 are still under investigation, 175 were caused by human activity, and 13 by lightning. The 405 wildfires recorded this year represent a significant increase compared to the past five years. In 2022, Alberta experienced a total of 180 wildfires, 239 in 2021, 136 in 2020, 252 in 2019, and 195 in 2018.
Vietnam and Laos set records for highest-ever temperatures -- All-time temperature records were broken in Vietnam and Laos last week. On 6 May, Hoi Xuan in Vietnam reached a scorching 44.1C, breaking the previous record for the country of 43.4C, set in 2019. On the same day, Laos recorded its highest-ever temperature, , which reached 43.5C in Luang Prabang. These records were set just a few weeks after temperatures in Thailand rose above 45C for the first time.A breakdown of the heat in south-east Asia is expected to occur in the next few days as a tropical disturbance is likely to develop nearby. Forecast models suggest that, over the coming days, the Bay of Bengal will have the perfect conditions for cyclogenesis to occur. By later this week, several factors, including enhanced vorticity and very high sea surface temperatures, will enhance the chance that a tropical storm will edge north-eastwards into parts of Myanmar. This will bring some strong winds and significant rainfall to south-east Asia, including the areas that have recently seen their temperature records broken. Spain has also had some particularly dry and hot conditions over recent weeks, with the country breaking its April temperature record. The heatwave continued for weeks and the overall temperature anomaly for Spain in April was more than 3C above normal for most parts of the country. And it’s not just the heat that has affected Spain; it has also been very dry away from the north coast. Rainfall barely reached 20% of a normal April rainfall for most of the country, with some places in central and southern areas even receiving less than 10% of a normal April month. This would be impactful as a standalone month, but since the start of the year much of Spain has been receiving below normal rainfall each month. May is also already well on the way to becoming another dry month, with the outlook not expected to bring much relief. Any rain through the next couple of weeks will probably stay away from the worst-affected drought areas. Even though the north-east has not been the worst affected, Catalonia has exceptionally low reservoir levels, which could hit water supplies for cities including Barcelona through the summer.
Ocean warming at a record high – what do we do now? | World Economic Forum (podcast, video & graphics)
Extremely Severe Cyclonic Storm “Mocha” forecast to make landfall close to Sittwe, Myanmar - Mocha is expected to cross the coast of southeast Bangladesh and north Myanmar on May 14, 2023, as a very dangerous extremely severe cyclonic storm. This is the first named storm of the 2023 North Indian Ocean cyclone season. At 10:00 UTC on May 13, the center of Extremely Severe Cyclonic Storm “Mocha” (pronounced as “Mokha”) was located about 590 km (366 miles) NNW of Port Blair, India, 580 km (360 miles) SSW of Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh and 490 km (305 miles) SSW of Sittwe, Myanmar. The system was moving NE at a speed of 19 km/h (12 mph), according to the RSMC New Delhi. Its minimum barometric pressure was 950 hPa. The cyclone is expected to move NNE and cross southeast Bangladesh and north Myanmar coasts close to Sittwe, Myanmar (between Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh and Kyaukpyu, Myanmar) around 06:00 UTC (12:00 LT) on May 14, 2023, as an Extremely Severe Cyclonic Storm with maximum sustained wind speed of 170 – 180 km/h (105 – 112 mph) and gusts to 200 km/h (125 mph).Immediately after landfall, Mocha will rapidly weaken as it gets torn apart by high shear and terrain interaction, fully dissipating by 09:00 UTC on May 15 over far northern Myanmar. More than 500 000 people living on the coast of Bangladesh and Myanmar have been ordered to evacuate. The World Meteorological Organization warned of a humanitarian crisis as the cyclone is forecast to make landfall near the world’s largest refugee camp in the town of Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh, bringing storm surge, flooding rainfall and damaging winds. Evacuations are also taking place in Myanmar where authorities warned of possible flash floods and landslides and urged residents to stock up on essential supplies.
Meteorite impact: Metallic object believed to be a meteorite hits home in New Jersey - On May 8, 2023, just after 13:00 LT, a metallic object, believed to be a meteorite, pierced the roof of a home in Hopewell Township, New Jersey, U.S., without causing any injuries. Hopewell Township Police Department is currently working with other agencies to confirm the identity of the object. An unexpected celestial visitor made its presence known in Hopewell Township, New Jersey, on May 8, 2023. Just after 13:00 LT, a metallic object, suspected to be a meteorite, pierced the roof of a ranch-style home on Old Washington Crossing Pennington Road, denting the hardwood floor but causing no injuries. The Hopewell Township Police Department (HTPD) reported that despite the shock of the incident, none of the residents in the home were hurt. The object, described as oblong and metallic, measured approximately 10.16 x 15.24 cm (4 x 6 inches). Following the incident, HTPD reached out to several agencies seeking assistance in both positively identifying the object and ensuring the safety of the residents and the object itself. If confirmed to be a meteorite, the object could potentially be part of the Eta Aquariids meteor shower, an annual celestial event. However, this connection remains speculative until further investigation.
House in Germany struck by a meteorite — second such incident in a fortnight - A meteorite approximately 6.7 cm (2.6 inches) in diameter pierced through the roof of a family home in the state of Schleswig-Holstein, Germany at 14:14 LT on April 25, 2023. The event took place 13 days before a similar incident in New Jersey, US. Fortunately, neither event caused injuries. The object, weighing around 225 grams, was one of four that plummeted into the town. “There was a lot of banging and rumbling outside. We thought lightning struck. Then we went outside and saw that two pieces of the roof tiles were lying down in the yard in front of the entrance,” the owner of the home told the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung. While splinters were found scattered in Gärtnerstrasse, a substantially larger fragment, weighing 3.5 kg (7.7 pounds) and ten times the size of one that struck home, embedded itself in a garden lawn 500 m (1 640 feet) away. A spokesperson from the German Aerospace Centre (DLR) confirmed the rock to be a meteorite, emphasizing that such incidents are extremely rare. The majority of meteors disintegrate and burn up in the Earth’s atmosphere, typically vanishing before reaching the surface. Interestingly, the last recorded meteorite landing in Germany occurred in 2002 when one struck the iconic Neuschwanstein Castle in Bavaria.
M6.5 solar flare erupts from Region 3296, CME produced on May 7 heading our way - (video) A moderately strong M6.5 solar flare erupted from Active Region 3296 at 03:54 UTC on May 9, 2023. The event started at 03:42 and ended at 04:05 UTC. This was the 12th M-class solar flare since M4.3 on May 3. It was followed by M1.2 at 06:13 UTC, also from Region 3296. The CME produced on May 7 was modeled and analyzed and the likely result is impact to Earth late on May 10 to early May 11. A Type II Radio Emission with an estimated velocity of 641 km/s was registered at 03:53 UTC. Type II emissions occur in association with eruptions on the sun and typically indicate a coronal mass ejection (CME) is associated with a flare event. In addition, a 10cm Radio Burst, lasting 6 minutes and with a peak flux of 360 sfu, was associated with the event. A 10cm radio burst indicates that the electromagnetic burst associated with a solar flare at the 10cm wavelength was double or greater than the initial 10cm radio background. This can be indicative of significant radio noise in association with a solar flare. This noise is generally short-lived but can cause interference for sensitive receivers including radar, GPS, and satellite communications.
EVs Made the First Visible Dent into Gasoline Consumption - Wolf Richter - Gasoline consumption in the US dipped by 0.4% in 2022, from 2021, to 369 million gallons per day, all grades of gasoline combined, below where it had been in 2002, and down by 5.7% from 2019, and by 5.9% from the peak in 2018, according to data from the Energy Department’s EIA. And yet, in 2022 employment grew by 4.8 million. And miles driven increased by nearly 1%. It’s not that economic activity declined or that people drove less. But they bought less gasoline: When we look at a chart like this, in a country with substantial population growth over the years, our first reaction might go like this: I don’t want to be in this market. But refiners and gas stations are in this market. We can see the impact of the big recessions on gasoline consumption: The double-dip recession in the early 1980s, the 1990/1991 recession, the Great Recession, and the lockdown period in 2020. Shallow recessions, such as the 2001 recession, didn’t make a visible gouge into gasoline consumption. From about 2007 on, we can also see that something bigger is playing out here than just periodic recessions: Structural factors. And yet, miles driven by all passenger and commercial vehicles, including those powered by diesel, ticked up 0.9% to 3.17 trillion miles in 2022, according to the Federal Highway Administration. Miles driven haven’t recovered fully to 2019 levels (-2.8%) likely at least in part because of reduced commuting in the era of working from home. Many office workers are now either working from home entirely, or are going to the office on some days and working at home on others.
BBC- Climate Change Too Important To Be Left To Personal Choice --A recent piece in BBC’s “Future World” series on its surface celebrates someone who choose to live an “ultra low carbon lifestyle”. They made a conscious and individual decision to bring their own personal carbon footprint down below 2 metric tonnes per year.Throughout the developed world, per capita carbon output ranges from 4.46 (France) to Canada being the highest at 15.43.The article talks about the personal challenges around living an ultra-low carbon lifestyle. According to the piece, 2 tonnes/year is also about half the output of a single gas powered car in the US, so the first step for any Americans (or Canadians) wanting to do this, they would have to start by ditching their cars.Other behaviours which move the needle would be: eating a plant based diet, buying green energy and forgoing one transatlantic round-trip per year.In terms of what level of personal CO2 emissions gets the job done “for the climate”, estimates vary. While the 2 tonne number was somewhat arbitrary, there are other climate focused think tanks that feel the number has to be 1.4 tonnes of C02 per person by 2040 and 0.7 by 2050.Going back to Canada’s “excessive” carbon footprint – if we look at a metric that really means anything – total CO2 output – Canada is basically a rounding error to the world’s largest emitter, China.At an average annual temperature at -4 to -5c celsius, Canada is also the coldest G7 nation. So perhaps we can forgive the Canucks for not wanting to freeze to death – even if it means emitting Co2 for heat. Also worth noting that far more humans are killed each year from being cold (17.7 million per year, on average) than from being too warm (2.2 million per year), roughly 8X.While the overall timbre of the piece lauds the story’s protagonist (a communications officer at a climate non-profit) over her decision to make this lifestyle choice, sprinkled throughout are casual, back-handed references at where all this is going:The ultra-low carbon lifestyle isn’t just for the eco-minded, it has to be for everybody. Or it isn’t going to work (“work” being defined as controlling the planet’s climate decades out).“what do truly low-carbon lifestyles look like – and can they really be achieved by personal choice alone?“ the article laments.Well if the answer is “no” then that means the ultra-low CO2 lifestyle has to be for everybody. How we do that is a matter of “both individual and systems change”. By systems change is meant that“with the right policies, infrastructure and technology in place to enable changes to our lifestyles and behaviour, we can reduce overall greenhouse gas emissions substantially by 2050…In richer countries, this means moving towards a far lower carbon lifestyle for most people. But the changes to get there aren’t necessarily painful or even negative. For example, research has shown that good public services enable higher wellbeing at lower energy use.”If you read between the lines we see the implications of this. It basically means that an ultra-low carbon lifestyle has to be brought about through systemic change, government policy and massively expanded public services – or said differently, increasing dependence on The State.Private infrastructure – like cars – will have to become a thing of the past:
Climate Envoy John Kerry's Jet-Set Spending Is Getting Plenty Of Cloud Cover --John Kerry leads an international jet-set life that might exhaust a runway model. If President Biden’s special envoy for climate was not in Washington or relaxing at his mansion near Nantucket Harbor, he could be found in Brazil, Panama, the Bahamas, or Germany. And that’s just in February and March. While Kerry trumpets his meetings and appearances around the world, the State Department wraps the rest of his efforts in a cloak of secrecy usually reserved for CIA black box operations. It has refused to specify lists of people he is meeting with and who is advising him as he circles the globe. His office has stonewalled requests for budget and staffing information from legislators and government watchdog groups. In response to a Freedom of Information Act request filed last year by RealClearInvestigations for a breakdown on how the climate envoy’s roughly $16.5 million 2022 budget was spent, the State Department said it could not comply with the request until April 2025, months after both the 2024 election and the expiration of President Biden’s current term. The secrecy surrounding Kerry’s work is reaching a boiling point with the threat of a congressional subpoena. Frustrated that Kerry’s office ignored two previous requests for detailed information about its budget when his party was in the minority, Republican Rep. James Comer, who now heads the House Oversight Committee, sent what he labeled a final courtesy letter on April 25 and added that a subpoena would accompany the next request if Kerry’s “powerful, unchecked position” continued to hide the information. “The State Department has not provided any meaningful updates to Committee staff inquiries on the status of producing these documents,” Comer wrote. “Envoy Kerry is engaging in activities that skirt congressional authority, threaten foreign policy under the guise of climate advocacy, and could undermine economic health. Yet, Envoy Kerry and his office are refusing to be transparent about their activities, spending, and staffing with the Committee – and the American people.” Since taking office, Kerry has been indefatigable in attending conferences and meetings in far-flung posts and glittering capitals. His office has sent out his pronouncements to the press and copies of his public remarks from places such as Hanoi, Dhaka, London, Cairo (twice) and, last month, the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. But almost nothing is known about discussions and potential agreements made at his private meetings.
Lawmakers Back Speedier Dam Licenses for Grid, Climate Goals -Two senators announced Wednesday a fresh legislative effort to speed up hydropower licensing, arguing that looming dam closures threaten power grid reliability and climate goals.The Community and Hydropower Improvement Act from Sens. Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.) and Steve Daines (R-Mont.) proposes the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission establish a two-year process to grant licensing for adding hydropower to qualifying non-powered dams and a three-year process for lower-impact projects. It would direct the commission to establish a two-year licensing process for adding hydropower to non-powered dams, according to a bill summary and bill text shared with Bloomberg Law.The bill would also extend authority to tribes with treaty-protected rights to submit license recommendations to FERC to protect fish and wildlife resources. It would direct the study of possible benefits that fish passage or downstream environmental improvements may have on fish species and reasonably foreseeable hydrological changes during the license term.Hydropower licensing changes have been sought for years by a coalition of industry, environmental groups, tribal nations, and others called Uncommon Dialogue.But that coalition has not, so far, translated into legislative success, with hydropower losing out on the kind of tax incentives and attention received by wind, solar, electric batteries, hydrogen, and other energy technologies, industry representatives said Wednesday at a conference in Washington organized by the National Hydropower Association.The bill’s proposals dovetailed with hydropower licensing changes also released Wednesday by the White House, which called for shortening timelines for licensing decisions while recognizing tribal authority and protecting the environment.With permitting reform at the top of the agenda in Washington, hydropower supporters are gearing up to ensure they have a seat at the table, Malcolm Woolf, president and CEO of the National Hydropower Association, said in an interview at the conference.The lawmakers, also speaking at the conference, said licenses to extend the life of dams often get bogged down in unnecessary bureaucratic reviews by a slew of agencies.About 450 licenses totaling some 17 gigawatts of capacity are scheduled to expire by 2035, Cantwell said, the year the Biden administration wants to achieve net-zero greenhouse gas emissions from the US power sector.On average, the relicensing of hydropower dams takes more than seven years and costs roughly $3.5 million, not counting any capital improvements like fish passages that are required by a renewed license, Cantwell said.“The reality is, there’s no way we can reach our net-zero emission reduction goals without maintaining our existing hydroelectric generating capacity,” said Cantwell, whose home state sources two-thirds of its power from dams. “We need to say that over and over and over and over again until people in this town who are less familiar with hydro understand that.”Daines, whose home state gets 40% of its power from dams, characterized the legislation as the “largest commitment to hydro in the last two decades.”“There will be a lot of press releases on this bill,” Daines said. “But the good news for this group in this room is, I think we’ve got a reasonable shot at an outcome, to actually see something pass.” Hydropower provides stability to the power grid as wind and solar stop producing when the sun sets or the wind stops blowing, he said. “This is the culmination of years of effort,” Woolf said. “This is not the hydropower reform bill any one of those groups would have written—this is the compromise bill all of us are able to get behind.”
How Amazon bought more renewable energy than any other company in 2022 - Big Tech companies are dominating the purchase of clean power. Among the group of frontrunners, Amazon is lapping all of the Big Tech companies many times over. In 2022, Amazon bought 10.9 gigawatts of clean power, making it the largest corporate buyer of renewable power in the world, according to data from the market research company BloombergNEF. That's enough energy to power the entire country of Ecuador. In 2019, Amazon announced The Climate Pledge, making a public commitment for the entire business to be net zero carbon by 2040. At that time, Amazon accelerated its commitment to power its operations with 100% renewable energy from 2030 to 2025. "When we announced The Pledge in 2019, we got really serious and I would say rigorous and mechanized about our approach to renewable energy," said Charley Daitch, director of energy and water infrastructure at Amazon Web Services, Amazon's cloud computing business. Daitch oversees the majority of Amazon's renewables — which includes buying renewable projects for the network of Amazon fulfillment warehouses and Whole Foods Markets and charging the fleet of electric Rivian vans that make deliveries — but he sits within AWS because AWS and all of the associated computing consume the majority of Amazon's electric footprint.
How renewable energy sources like wind, solar farms could use less land - Imagine that all 462 billion watts of electricity consumed in the United States last year were supplied by a single source of power, rather than a mixture of different technologies. This is how much land each power source would require. If nuclear power plants generated all U.S. electricity, that would occupy 469 square miles of land, including the land for mining uranium, storing spent fuel and connecting to the electricity grid. That’s about the size of Madison County, Idaho, population 53,000. Natural gas needs land for fracking and pipelines as well as power plants. If it generated all U.S. electricity, it would need as much land as Huerfano County, Colo. Coal needs a lot of land for mining. If coal generated all of U.S. electricity, it would use as much land as West Virginia — aptly, a major coal state. Solar panels’ fuel is sunlight, requiring no mines, drills or pipelines. But sunlight is often unavailable, and solar farms need more land to produce the same amount of electricity as fossil fuel-powered plants running round-the-clock. Wind turbines require even more land than solar panels. If the United States were powered solely by onshore wind turbines, they would occupy an area larger than Montana. Wind and solar — what many hope will be the power plants of the future — will need far more land than the power plants of the past. Where will this land come from? Leading plans to halt climate change involve replacing natural gas and coal with solar and wind — all while doubling electricity production as cars and other fossil-powered machines are plugged in. “We need a massive build out,” said Nels Johnson, senior practice adviser for renewable energy development at the Nature Conservancy, an environmental nonprofit. “It probably exceeds the interstate highway system in terms of its scale, in terms of its cost, in terms of the time it’s going to take to complete.”
States Ask FERC to Block BlackRock from Imposing ESG on Utilities - Marcellus Drilling News - A group of 17 states, including Ohio and West Virginia, filed a motion yesterday with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) asking the commission to block BlackRock, the largest asset manager in the world, from forcing utility companies in which BlackRock invests to adopt so-called ESG policies. BlackRock buys up a significant portion of ownership in a company and then tries to force that company to stop using fossil energy via the back door of forcing it to implement ESG (environment, social, governance) policies. It is “woke” investing, plain and simple. And the Attornies General of 17 states have had enough of it.
Minnesota highway initiative goes national to advance co-located energy, communications buildout - The NextGen Highways initiative, which launched as a public-private collaboration focused on Minnesota, will expand its mission to advocate nationally for co-location of electric transmission and communications infrastructure along existing public rights-of-way, or ROWs, the group said Thursday. The initiative’s goal is to enable the adoption of electric vehicles, renewable power and building electrification through a national coalition that includes utilities, state energy officials, renewables advocates, equipment manufacturers and grid modernization initiatives. The National Association of State Energy Officials will collaborate with NextGen Highways and NASEO President David Terry called the use of existing ROWs “a practical, expedient solution” to help states enable affordable and clean power. The NextGen Highways approach aims to utilize existing infrastructure ROWs to speed development of a more modern electric grid. A draft U.S. Department of Energy report in March estimated the United States could need about 47,300 GW-miles of new transmission by 2035, a 57% increase compared to today’s transmission system. “Expanding and upgrading the U.S. transmission grid at a pace necessary to meet climate goals will require exploring all available options to ease the permitting and siting of such needed infrastructure,” American Council on Renewable Energy President and CEO Gregory Wetstone said in a statement, The NextGen Highways national coalition includes ACORE, NASEO, the Solar Energy Industries Association, NextEra Energy, LS Power, the Union of Concerned Scientists, RMI, Smart Electric Power Alliance, and others.
FERC commissioners tell senators of major grid reliability challenges, with some blaming markets - The U.S. grid faces major reliability challenges, according to members of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission who used the word 34 times in their prepared testimony Thursday at a Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee hearing. There is a “looming reliability crisis in our electricity markets,” FERC Commissioner James Danly said. “The United States is heading for a very catastrophic situation in terms of reliability,” FERC Commissioner Mark Christie said. FERC Acting Chairman Willie Phillips said, “We face unprecedented challenges to the reliability of our nation’s electric system.” Growing reliability and resilience challenges from extreme weather and cyber and physical security threats require changes to the U.S. grid, according to FERC Commissioner Allison Clements. Christie said the main problem is that power plants are being retired at a faster pace than they’re being replaced, pointing to estimates from the PJM Interconnection. About 40 GW, or 21% of PJM’s installed capacity, is at risk of retiring by 2030, the largest U.S. grid operator said in a Feb. 24 report. PJM expects only 15.1 GW to 30.6 GW of accredited capacity to come online by 2030. “The arithmetic doesn’t work,” Christie said. “This problem is coming. It's coming quickly. The red lights are flashing.” Phillips said he is “extremely” concerned about the pace of power plant retirements. “This is something that we have to keep a careful eye on,” he said, noting that FERC needs to work on the issue with states, which have authority over resource adequacy. Reliability problems are driven by two main issues: faulty capacity markets and a dearth of gas pipelines, according to Christie. During Winter Storm Elliott in December, PJM was on the brink of rolling blackouts when a large number of gas-fired power plants failed to run, partly because they couldn’t get fuel, he said. Danly said the culprit is subsidized renewable energy, which he contends undermines the economics of coal-fired and natural gas-fired power plants in organized markets. “FERC has allowed the markets to fall prey to the price distorting and warping effects of subsidies and public policies that have driven the advancement of large quantities of intermittent renewable resources onto the electric system,” he said.
U.S. launches $4 billion effort to electrify U.S. ports, cut emissions -(Reuters) -The Biden administration on Friday launched a $4 billion effort to electrify U.S. ports and cut heavy duty truck emissions as the government looks to address disproportionate impacts on nearby communities. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)said it was seeking input in its $3 billion Clean Ports Program to reduce pollutants at U.S. ports and its $1 billion Clean Heavy-Duty Vehicle Program to reduce vehicle emissions near ports and other truck routes. EPA wants details about the availability, market price, and performance of zero-emission trucks, zero-emission port equipment, electric charging and other infrastructure needs for zero-emission technologies. White House National Climate Advisor Ali Zaidi said the program is addressing "pernicious pollution pumping through our port communities by making investments and setting standards that will spur a shift away from dirty diesel to clean, American-made technologies." Zaidi told Reuters that ports account for a significant share of emissions. "They are pockets of concentrated pollution," Zaidi said. "You can be accelerating in the direction of more productive, more efficient hubs of economic activity but we can cut emissions at the same time." Earlier this year, the EPA finalized new clean air standards for heavy duty trucks for the first time in more than two decades that are 80% more stringent than current standards. The EPA estimates that by 2045, the rule will result in up to 2,900 annual fewer premature deaths, 1.1 million fewer lost school days for children and $29 billion in annual net benefits. The Senate voted 50-49 last week to overturn those rules that aim to drastically cut smog- and soot-forming emissions from heavy-duty trucks but President Joe Biden has promised to veto the measure. The EPA proposed in April new sweeping cuts to medium- and heavy-duty tailpipe emissions limits. "Folks who live near ports know air pollution can be extreme, because all trucks and all the vehicles moving goods in and out of ports and on the backs of ship are polluting the air significantly," Biden said in April. California regulators last week approved new rules requiring all medium- and heavy-duty vehicles sold in the state in 2036 be zero-emission and new reduced emission regulations for locomotives. Big rigs, local delivery and government fleets must transition to zero emission by 2035, garbage trucks and local buses by 2039, and sleeper cab tractors and specialty vehicles by 2042.
‘No other way to do it’: Biden about to go big on power plants - The Biden administration is poised to unveil its most ambitious effort yet to roll back planet-warming pollution from the nation’s thousands of power plants — an effort that’s certain to bring a legal and political attack from conservatives but may disappoint some supporters of the president’s climate agenda. The proposal from EPA, expected to be formally unveiled next week, makes key trade-offs in its efforts to slash the power industry’s greenhouse gas output without running afoul of a skeptical Supreme Court, according to four people briefed on the upcoming regulations. EPA is expected to rely on advanced technologies rarely if ever employed in the U.S. power industry, such as capturing coal plants’ carbon pollution before it hits the atmosphere or blending hydrogen into the fuel mix at natural gas plants. But it could also exempt hundreds of the nation’s dirtiest gas plants from strict pollution limits, these people said. That may lessen the rules’ legal peril and keep more units online, but it may also provide fewer benefits to the low-income, Black or Hispanic communities where the dirtiest plants are disproportionately located. The proposal will be a capstone of President Joe Biden’s climate efforts before he faces voters next year and follows the historically aggressive pollution standards his agencies have proposed for oil and gas, cars and other industries. Its fate will likely determine whether the U.S. comes within reach of meeting his pledges to cut carbon pollution. It could also help Biden win support in 2024 from climate-minded voters turned off by some recent administration decisions favoring fossil fuel production. If it succeeds, the rule would transform the U.S. economy by accelerating the dwindling of coal as a major power source, just as EPA’s proposals to limit car and truck pollution aim to spur a rapid shift to electric vehicles.
EPA clamps down on power plants - EPA has proposed its strongest-ever climate rules for the power sector, which require coal- and many gas-fired plants to capture most of their emissions. The Biden administration’s draft rules mandate that coal units that remain in operation in 2040 begin capturing 90 percent of their carbon by 2030. Utilities can avoid most requirements by agreeing to shutter their coal units by 2032 or by 2035 if they run them only occasionally. Plants that will retire by 2040 but don’t meet those criteria would co-fire with natural gas, meaning that they would use 40 percent gas to lower their emissions. The rules also demand that large natural gas plants that run consistently either capture 90 percent of their emissions by 2035 or burn mostly low-carbon hydrogen by 2038. Plants that run at lower capacities would face less stringent standards — or wouldn’t immediately be regulated. “These proposals are part of a larger suite of actions that EPA has taken to fully address the climate, health and environmental burdens from power plants,” said EPA Administrator Michael Regan on a call Wednesday with reporters. “Through this comprehensive approach, we’re working to fulfill EPA responsibility to protect communities from pollution while providing regulatory certainty.” The draft rules entail the most aggressive carbon standards EPA has ever proposed for the power sector — which contributes a quarter of U.S. carbon emissions. If finalized they would regulate existing gas- and coal-fired power for the first time. EPA rules crafted under the Obama and Trump administrations were overturned by federal courts. Once published in the Federal Register, the rules will be open for public comment for 60 days. EPA has said it plans to finalize them by June of next year.
EPA's rule would steeply cut pollution. But not this decade. - EPA will release its most stringent power plant standards in history Thursday, but it won’t be enough on its own to deliver President Joe Biden’s near-future climate goals. Biden has built his commitment to the Paris Agreement around a U.S. power grid that runs on 80 percent clean energy by 2030 — and that has net-zero emissions five years later. By contrast, EPA’s rule would achieve relatively light emissions reductions from power plants until 2030. The draft rules EPA will unveil Thursday morning would require new and existing gas plants — excepting those that only run part time — to capture 90 percent of their emissions by 2035. Existing coal-fired power plants would need to hit that 90 percent target in 2030, but only if operators plan to keep them in operation in 2040. The reductions EPA projects in the early years of the rule will be relatively modest. EPA’s regulatory documents for the draft rule estimate that will result in a drop of 10 million metric tons of CO2 in 2028 compared with 2027. The U.S. power sector produced 1,539 million metric tons of carbon last year, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. While the emissions curve would bend sharply down after 2030 — and particularly by 2035 — the rule never results in a zero-carbon grid, according to the EPA documents. But on a call yesterday afternoon with reporters, EPA Administrator Michael Regan expressed confidence that “where we will end up will be squarely in line with the president’s goal of 100 percent by 2035.” White House climate adviser Ali Zaidi said on the same call that the president’s Paris pledge to halve emissions across the economy by 2030 would be achieved through the “totality of his climate and clean energy agenda.” That includes regulation, he said, but also newly enacted clean energy incentives and other policies. EPA’s power plant proposal “reinforces our trajectory in a critical sector of the economy, in the power sector,” Zaidi said. EPA projects the draft rules will avoid 600 million metric tons of carbon through 2042 — an amount equivalent to taking half of U.S. cars off the road for one year. EPA will accept public comment on the rule for 60 days after it is published. The draft also formally rolls back a weaker Trump-era power plant carbon standard. EPA’s proposal covers three power plant categories: new and existing gas plants and existing coal-fired power plants. Newly built coal has been regulated since 2015, and EPA stated in a fact sheet that it decided not to revise that standard because “we anticipate no further new units.” The draft rules offer utilities years of lead time to build out carbon capture or hydrogen infrastructure — or to take their plants offline.
Biden's power plant rule could help revive an old idea about how to fight climate change - The Environmental Protection Agency’s new rule on power plants relies heavily on an old idea that’s getting a new push — capturing planet-warming carbon pollution before it enters the atmosphere. But questions remain about whether the technology can be deployed quickly and affordably enough at the nation’s thousands of coal- and gas-burning plants. Carbon capture ran into hurdles and huge cost overruns when power plants tried to use it during the past two decades. And capturing CO2 from plants burning natural gas — a growing part of the electricity mix — poses higher cost challenges than many other pollution sources. Even so, the International Energy Agency said last month that deployment of the technology worldwide needs to increase fourfold over current plans to reach climate goals. Unless the technology is deployed during the next 30 to 50 years, “we don’t have a shot at meeting climate targets because we’re not going to stop using fossil fuels globally,” said Charles McConnell, who used to run the Department of Energy’s Office of Fossil Energy in the Obama administration. But many environmentalists are skeptical about the technology, saying federal incentives for carbon capture are simply handouts to the same fossil fuel industry that deceived the public on climate change. They want the Biden administration to phase out fossil fuels instead. Here are seven questions answered on carbon capture and power plants — where the technology has been and where it’s headed.
Analysis: Biden's power plant proposal poses huge test for carbon capture (Reuters) - The Biden administration's plan to decarbonize the U.S. power sector envisions the first-ever large-scale use of carbon capture and green hydrogen over the next decade - raising questions about whether the climate-fighting technologies can rise to the challenge. The issue could emerge as a legal vulnerability for the plan, one of President Joe Biden’s biggest steps in his strategy to combat global warming, as fossil fuel companies and their representatives explore challenging it in court on the basis the technologies are unproven. A similar effort to clean up the power industry by the Obama White House in 2015 was hung up by legal challenges and ultimately repealed. The Environmental Protection Agency's new proposal, announced on Thursday, sets carbon emissions standards for power plants that would push many to either install carbon capture equipment (CCS) that can siphon the CO2 from a plant’s smokestack, or use super-low-emissions hydrogen – made by electrolyzing water using renewable energy sources like solar and wind - as a fuel. If it works, the plan would put the U.S. on track to reach net-zero emissions from the power sector – now responsible for a quarter of the nation’s greenhouse gases – by 2035, according to the White House. But industry representatives are pushing back hard. “The proposal raises a number of critical legal questions, including whether EPA has the authority to force the use of technologies that are not economically or technically feasible for widespread use,” said Michelle Bloodworth, president and CEO of America’s Power, which represents utilities that burn coal. Jeff Holmstead, a lobbyist at Houston-based Bracewell LLC who formerly ran the EPA’s air office during the Bush administration, said betting on carbon capture is risky. “There isn’t a single commercial-scale gas-fired power plant anywhere in the U.S. — or as far as I know, anywhere in the world — that uses CCS to control its emissions,” he said. "This fact alone could make it hard for EPA to convince the courts that CCS has been adequately demonstrated." EPA officials and some environmental groups say the rule was designed to withstand legal challenges because it focuses on available technologies that can be applied directly at power plants, and because Congress affirmed the agency's authority to impose technology-based carbon standards.
As EPA prepares to roll out new power plant rules, Manchin says he'll vote against agency's nominees - As the Environmental Protection Agency prepares to roll out significant proposed rules for power plants, Senator Joe Manchin says he’ll oppose every nominee for the agency until the administration backs off. EPA Administrator Michael Regan has a 9:30 a.m. Thursday announcement scheduled to describe new carbon pollution standards for coal- and gas-fired power plants. The standards would require utilities to either reduce or capture emissions tied to climate change. One way of complying with the rules could be through the use of carbon capture technology, but that traditionally has been too expensive for viability. “This Administration is determined to advance its radical climate agenda and has made it clear they are hellbent on doing everything in their power to regulate coal and gas-fueled power plants out of existence, no matter the cost to energy security and reliability,” stated Manchin, a Democrat who chairs the U.S. Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee. Manchin said in response, “I will oppose all EPA nominees until they halt their government overreach.” In a briefing with West Virginia reporters on Wednesday, Manchin had more to say. “They’re crazy. Totally insane. I can’t clean this up any better than that,” the senator said, elaborating that a reliable electric grid still requires coal production. “Why can’t this administration understand ‘no means no.’ You’ve got to have it reliable. Coal is basically dispatchable; it runs 24-7. OK, we have renewables. I’m for everything. I’m just not for taking off what I’ve got to have just because you want something you want to have that doesn’t do the job.” Last year, the U.S. Energy Information Administration reported that 60 percent of energy generation was from fossil fuels like coal, natural gas and petroleum. About 18 percent was from nuclear energy, and about 22 percent was from renewable resources like wind or hydropower. On refusing to confirm EPA nominees, Manchin said, “This is the only way I can get their attention to make sure they know we’re for real; we’re not going to allow this craziness to happen in this country. I’ll do whatever I have to. “I’m not hiding it. I’m telegraphing it for everybody to know how sincere: Don’t be crazy.”
Manchin attacked EPA’s new rules. They could cost him millions. - When Sen. Joe Manchin upbraided EPA on Wednesday for requiring power plants to reduce their carbon emissions, he didn’t mention that the agency’s rules could threaten his personal income.The West Virginia Democrat vowed to oppose President Joe Biden’s EPA nominees because the agency’s rules being proposed Thursday could push coal- and gas-fired power plants “out of existence,” he said.The risk to one plant, in particular, could jeopardize a lucrative source of money for Manchin. His family business Enersystems Inc. delivers waste coal to the Grant Town power plant, a financially struggling coal facility near Manchin’s hometown that he has spent much of his political career protecting.The Grant Town plant has repeatedly threatened to shut down. Now, with the release of EPA rules that are expected to push many power plants into installing expensive technology to capture their carbon emissions before the pollution escapes into the sky, the plant faces an increasingly troubled future. Many coal plants might shut down rather than comply with the stringent new climate rules.“This is going to make it harder for them to stay around. You won’t find written anywhere in the rule that this is supposed to be putting coal plants out of business, but just do the math,” said Brian Murray, director of the Nicholas Institute for Energy, Environment & Sustainability at Duke University.Last year, Manchin earned $537,000 from Enersystems, according to financial disclosure records he filed with the Senate. He has been paid more than $5 million by the company since being elected to the Senate in 2010. The Grant Town plant is the main facility to receive coal from Manchin’s family business. Enersystems is now run by Manchin’s son, Joe Manchin IV.Spokespeople for Manchin and Grant Town did not immediately respond to a request for comment.Manchin, who faces a strong Republican challenger with deep connections to the coal industry in next year’s election, expressed outrage in a 221-word statement released Wednesday against the Biden administration’s “extreme ideology” for targeting fossil fuel carbon emissions. “This Administration is determined to advance its radical climate agenda and has made it clear they are hellbent on doing everything in their power to regulate coal and gas-fueled power plants out of existence, no matter the cost to energy security and reliability,” Manchin said. The Grant Town plant generates 80 megawatts of power, making it one of the smaller plants in West Virginia and the only one that continues to burn waste coal, a mix of mud and minerals that is often found discarded near old mines. Waste coal is a high-carbon fuel. Environmental regulations have long threatened the Grant Town plant. West Virginia, which still gets about 90 percent of its power from coal, is an outlier in the United States. Many states, including New York, have moved beyond coal entirely, replacing it with natural gas and renewables.
Power Blackouts Will Be Part Of This Summer In The U.S. - Blackouts are likely this summer in the United States, according to the North American Electric Reliability Corp.The NERC warning came late on Wednesday, calling for “shortfalls” in power supplies to the U.S. West, Midwest, Texas, Southeast, New England—as well as Ontario—as temperatures rise.Last year, the warnings of power blackouts were less severe, in part because they didn’t include the U.S. Southeast.“A combination of extreme peak demand, low wind, and high outage rates from thermal generators could require system operators to use emergency procedures, up to and including temporary manual load shedding,” the North American Electric Reliability Corporation said in its Summer Reliability Assessment report released last year in the run-up to summer.Texas, in particular saw a major heat wave last summer that strained the state’s electric grid, triggering a call from the state’s electricity regulator, ERCOT, to consumers to conserve energy. At the time, wind turbines in Texas were operating at just 8% of their capacity.This year’s full summer assessment will be published next week.The U.S. power grid is faced with other challenges that go beyond power disruptions due to extreme temperatures. The number of attacks on the U.S. power grid infrastructure with gunfire or vandalism grew last year, and it is likely to rise this year, too, according to a confidential NERC analysis seen by the Wall Street Journal earlier this year.Last year, the number of physical attacks – including intrusion, vandalism, and gunfire – jumped by 71% from 2021, according to the Electricity Information Sharing and Analysis Center, or E-ISAC, a division of North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC)..
Backup Power: A Growing Need, if You Can Afford It - The New York Times - When frigid weather caused rolling blackouts on Christmas Eve across North Carolina, Eliana and David Mundula quickly grew worried about their 2½-week-old daughter, whom they had brought home days earlier from a neonatal intensive care unit. But her husband pulled out a small gasoline generator a neighbor had convinced them to buy a couple of years earlier, allowing them to use a portable heater and restart their refrigerator, keeping them going for much of the five-hour outage. North of Charlotte, in the town of Cornelius, Gladys Henderson, an 80-year-old former cafeteria worker, was less fortunate. She did not have a generator and resorted to candles, a flashlight and an old kerosene heater to get through a different recent outage. “I lose power just about all the time,” Ms. Henderson said. Ms. Henderson is on the losing end of a new energy divide that is leaving millions of people dangerously exposed to the heat and cold. Image As climate change increases the severity of heat waves, cold spells and other extreme weather, blackouts are becoming more common. In the 11 years to 2021, there were 986 weather-related power outages in the United States, nearly twice as many as in the previous 11 years, according to government data analyzed by Climate Central, a nonprofit group of scientists. The average U.S. electric utility customer lost power for nearly eight hours in 2021, according to the Energy Information Administration, more than twice as long as in 2013, the earliest year for which that data is available. Outages are becoming so common that generators and other backup power devices are seen by some as essential. But many people like Ms. Henderson cannot afford generators or the fuel on which they run. Even after strong sales in recent years, Generac, the leading seller of home generators, estimates that fewer than 6 percent of U.S. homes have a standby generator. Energy experts warn that power outages will become more common because of extreme weather linked to climate change. And those blackouts will hurt more people as Americans buy electric heat pumps and battery-powered cars to replace furnaces and vehicles that burn fossil fuels — a shift essential to limiting climate change. “The grids will be more vulnerable,” “That furthers the divide between the haves and the have-nots.”
AEP plans to sell competitive retail, distributed energy businesses in move to simplify, lower risks --American Electric Power plans to sell AEP Energy, its competitive retail energy business, and OnSite Partners, a distributed energy company, as part of a strategy to de-risk and simplify its businesses,Julie Sloat, AEP president and CEO, said Thursday during an earnings conference call.The Columbus, Ohio-based company is also considering selling its Pioneer Transmission, Prairie Wind Transmission and Transource Energy joint ventures, which total about $551 million in net plant investment for AEP, according to Sloat.Looking ahead, the chance of a downturn in the national economy is “extraordinarily high,” Ann Kelly, AEP chief financial officer, said, noting that economic activity is slowing in its service territory.Simplifying and derisking its businesses is a top priority for AEP, Sloat told analysts.The company expects to close before July on the $1.5 billion sale of its 1,360-MW unregulated renewables portfolio to IRG Acquisition Holdings, a partnership owned by Invenergy, pension fund Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec, and funds managed by Blackstone Infrastructure. AEP plans to use the sale proceeds for its regulated utility operations, according to Sloat.AEP expects it will sell AEP Energy in the first half of next year. The retail energy provider had about 752,000 customers in Delaware, Illinois, Maryland, New Jersey, Ohio Pennsylvania and Washington, D.C., at the end of March, the company said in a quarterly filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.Last month, AEP decided to include AEP Onsite Partners in a sale process. The unit focuses on distributed solar, combined heat and power, energy storage, waste heat recovery, energy efficiency and peaking generation.It owned projects in 22 states, including about 168 MW of installed solar, and about 26 MW of solar projects that are under construction, according to the SEC filing. Its net book value was $350 million at the end of March. AEP expects to sell the unit in the first half of next year.AEP Onsite Partners also has a 50% stake in NM Renewable Development, totaling $102 million. PNM Resources owns the other half.NMRD owns eight operating solar projects totaling 135 MW, one 50-MW project that is under construction and six projects totaling 440 MW that are under development, all in New Mexico, according to AEP’s earnings presentation. AEP and PNM have agreed to initiate a separate sales process for their interests in NMRD. AEP expects to sell the business in the fourth quarter.AEP expects to decide whether it will sell its transmission JVs by the end of this year. The possible sale of those assets is driven by a desire to focus on customers within AEP’s footprint, according to Sloat.
Power plants are big climate polluters in Pennsylvania – WHYY -Power plants and big industrial facilities in Pennsylvania release millions of tons of planet-warming greenhouse gas emissions, according to a new report that ranks the top climate polluters in the state.“Unfortunately, Pennsylvania is a huge part of the problem,” said Stephanie Wein of PennEnvironment, the environmental advocacy organization that released the “Dirty Dozen” report, at a press conference Tuesday. The report estimates that just 12 facilities in Pennsylvania release nearly a fifth of the state’s total greenhouse gas pollution.The ranking comes as the EPA develops standards expected torequire power plants to cut or capture their emissions in the coming years. Scientists around the world say governments and industries need to rapidly slash planet-warming pollution in order to avoid the most extreme impacts of climate change.“In Philadelphia, toxins in our air have made asthma worse for thousands of children,” said Philadelphia City Councilmember Kendra Brooks, at Tuesday’s press conference. “Disasters caused by climate change from floods to heat waves are damaging our schools and homes, disrupting our lives and endangering our most vulnerable neighbors.”PennEnvironment’s report, which used EPA data from 2021, found all but one of the top 12 emitters of planet-warming greenhouse gasses in Pennsylvania that year were coal or natural gas-fired power plants. Half of the top polluters were located in Southwestern Pennsylvania, with the coal-fired Keystone power plant in Armstrong County leading the pack.Just one facility in the top 12 was located near Philadelphia: the Fairless Energy natural gas power plant in Bucks County.“You look at the gas burning power plants, the biofuel and gas combination power plants, they’re still seeing a lot of emissions,” Wein said. “This is about transitioning to clean energy. This is about decarbonization of industrial sources and not just drawing down on coal.”
EPA promises action on Puerto Rico coal ash - Víctor Alvarado Guzmán was tired of waiting for environmental regulators to do their job. The local activist shared the concerns of residents in Guayama, Puerto Rico, that toxic coal ash from a nearby power plant was seeping underground and contaminating drinking water. After calling on the U.S. EPA and Puerto Rican government to act, he and an environmental chemist, Dr. Osvaldo Rosario, decided to take matters into their own hands. With help from other community leaders, they mapped out sites where they suspected coal ash had been dumped and took samples of the tap water in nearby homes. They conducted two rounds of testing in the same homes in March and August of 2021, Rosario said. The results, they say, support the community’s suspicions about contamination and helped persuade the Environmental Protection Agency in November to announce $100,000 in federal funding for EPA staff members to test drinking water and install air monitors near coal ash disposal sites in Puerto Rico. “The government agencies are the ones who should be checking if the water is getting polluted, if the quality of the air is adequate for the residents of the area,” Rosario said. “It’s immoral to know that this is happening and not want to document it because it’s politicized.” Residents of Guayama and nearby Salinas were glad the EPA is supporting more testing, but many remain cynical about a colonial government that has allowed a U.S.-based energy company to contaminate the region’s air, soil and water with toxic ash and other pollutants for decades.
US support for nuclear power soars to highest level in a decade A Gallup survey released in late April found that 55 percent of U.S. adults support the use of nuclear power. That’s up four percentage points from last year and reflects the highest level of public support for nuclear energy use in electricity since 2012. The survey found that Republicans are more likely to favor nuclear energy than Democrats, consistent with previous Gallup polls. Experts say that partisan divide is particularly visible at the state level, with more pro-nuclear policies adopted in Republican-controlled states than left-leaning ones. But Democratic support for nuclear energy is on the rise, and advances in nuclear technologies and new federal climate laws could be behind the broader shift in public opinion toward nuclear energy. Nuclear energy has historically been a source of immense controversy. A series of high-profile nuclear accidents and disasters, from Three Mile Island in 1979 to Chernobyl in 1986 to Fukushima in 2011, have raised safety concerns — even though the death toll from fossil fuel power generation far outstrips that of nuclear power generation. Several government nuclear programs have also left behind toxic waste that place disproportionate burdens on Indigenous communities.But nuclear power doesn’t produce carbon emissions, and it’s more consistent and reliable than wind and solar energy, which vary depending on the weather. For these reasons, the Biden administration has identified nuclear energy as a key climate solution to achieve grid stability in a net-zero future. The administration is pushing for the deployment of a new generation of reactors called “advanced nuclear”: a catch-all term for new nuclear reactor models that improve on the safety and efficiency of traditional reactor designs. In a recent report, the Department of Energy found that regardless of how many renewables are deployed, the U.S. will need an additional 200 gigawatts of advanced nuclear power — enough to power about 160 million homes — to reach President Joe Biden’s goal of hitting net-zero emissions by 2050.
US regulators OK spent nuclear fuel facility in New Mexico (AP) — U.S. nuclear regulators licensed a multibillion-dollar complex to temporarily store tons of spent nuclear fuel in New Mexico from commercial power plants around the nation, a decision likely to be challenged in court. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission issued its decision Tuesday, saying it will allow the energy company Holtec International to build and operate the facility in southeastern New Mexico. New Jersey-based Holtec may still need to acquire permits from the state, and top New Mexico officials have vowed to fight the project. Hot and highly radioactive, spent fuel consists of uranium pellets inside metal rods. It can only be handled by machines and people have to be physically shielded from it, usually by steel or concrete. The New Mexico project would have capacity to temporarily store up to 8,680 metric tons of used uranium fuel. Future expansion could make room for as many as 10,000 canisters over six decades. The material would be transported to New Mexico via rail. Critics say most would be brought from East Coast sites, prompting concern after recent railway accidents involving other chemicals and cargo. Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham and the state’s congressional delegation say they fear New Mexico will become the nation’s dumping ground for spent nuclear fuel because the federal government has no permanent solution for the waste piling up at commercial reactors around the country. New Mexico approved legislation in March aimed at stopping the project. “Today’s actions by the NRC illustrate the importance of New Mexico’s new prohibition on the storage and disposal of high-level nuclear waste. It’s time that our voice be heard and honored, and that this project be shut down,” said state Sen. Jeff Steinborn, a Democrat who sponsored the measure. Holtec has argued that the New Mexico measure is pre-empted by federal law and that a court fight would only delay the economic boon that would come from building the complex. The company has spent an estimated $80 million pursuing the 40-year license to build and operate the facility.
Russia confirms rare nuclear supplies shipment to China, US alarmed --Rosatom, Russia's state-owned nuclear energy corporation, has confirmed that it will deliver highly enriched uranium to two Chinese fast-neutron reactors during the next three years. The fuel will be exported by TVEL, a Rosatom affiliate, to China for use in the CFR-600 power plant in the province of Fujian in the country's southeast, according to a South China Morning Post's (SCMP) report on Wednesday, citing Russian media sources. Each of the project's two fast-neutron reactors holds the capacity to generate 600 megawatts of power, with the first reactor expected to connect to the grid later this year. Meanwhile, concerns about U.S. security have been expressed as a result of this cooperation between China and Russia, and the U.S. government has urged the Biden administration to "stop Rosatom and the PRC's dangerous cooperation."Since September, three batches of fuel from TVEL have been shipped by rail to the Chinese factory, with the most recent shipment being highly enriched uranium, Word Nuclear Newsreported in January. A little bit more than 30% of the uranium contains uranium-235, which makes up less than 1% of uranium that occurs naturally. Nuclear weapons typically contain about 90% uranium-235 and plutonium, while fast reactors need a concentration of uranium-235 of about 20%.The danger of using highly enriched uranium in China's reactors is that it might cause China to increase the size of its nuclear arsenal, as per experts. The development of a closed nuclear fuel cycle in China, which reprocesses the leftover uranium and plutonium isotopes in spent fuel, is a component of the country's strategy to reduce the danger of shortages.
Russia Evacuates People Near Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant -- Russian-backed authorities in Ukraine’s southern Zaporizhzhia oblast have ordered the evacuation from areas that are threatened with shelling,including Enerhodar, the town where the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP) is located. Yevgeny Balitsky, the Russian-installed acting governor of Zaporizhzhia, said about 70,000 people in 18 towns and villages would be relocated due to intensified shelling. The evacuation order comes as Ukraine is expected to launch a counteroffensive that is expected to be focused on Russian-controlled territory in Zaporizhzhia and Kherson.“We believe that a counteroffensive will begin very soon. We have information from the line of contact, up to 150 kilometers deep, and we realize that it can happen in the coming days, if not hours,” Balitsky said on Friday. The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has a presence at the ZNPP and said its experts were aware of the evacuation of Enerhodar. The agency also warned the situation at the ZNPP is becoming “increasingly unpredictable and potentially dangerous.” “I’m extremely concerned about the very real nuclear safety and security risks facing the plant,” said IAEA Director General Rafel Grossi. The ZNPP has been controlled by Russia since March 2022 and has been the site of frequent shelling throughout the war, raising fears of a potential nuclear disaster.According to The Times of London, the Ukrainian forces attempted a cross-river raid to recapture the ZNPP, which is on the east bank of the Dnieper River, that was thwarted by Russia. The US backed the attack by providing targeting data for the HIMARS rocket systems.
Columbia Gas of Ohio plans to construct new natural gas pipeline in Hinckley - — Columbia Gas of Ohio is working to construct a new natural gas pipeline in Hinckley Township in the coming months in order to continue to serve more than 2,000 customers in the surrounding area. Columbia Gas Public Affairs Manager Ben Cutler said the company works by taking gas from an upstream supplier and delivering it to residents and businesses. The current supplier's line for the area, which services parts of Brunswick, Hinckley and North Royalton, will be retired. “Once they change it, we no longer have access to use it for our system,” he said. “That’s why we have to construct a new system with a different upstream supplier.” Therefore, a new natural gas main line is planned to be constructed in the southbound lane of West 130th St. between Boston Road and Marland Drive. Cutler said a point of delivery station will be put on Marland Drive, and a district regulator station, which reduces the pressure of the natural gas, will be built on Crestview Drive. “We’re laying most of this new line system in the road,” he said. “While there definitely will be some impact when it comes to traffic and work zones, we’re not going to have to cross individual properties, which is good.” It is anticipated that construction will start in the next few months. Columbia Gas will control traffic to guide people through the work zones once construction begins, and the company committed to paving the impacted roadways afterward.
Why is my Dominion Energy gas bill going up? - Your next monthly Dominion Energy natural gas bill will be $1.93 higher, but it doesn’t have anything to do with the current cost of gas. Dominion Energy Ohio is in the midst of a massive, 25-year replacement of its aging pipelines. Ohio law allows regulated utilities to recoup costs the utility spends on infrastructure with some oversight from the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio, so that means customers pay for it. In total, Dominion is replacing more than 5,500 miles across Northeast Ohio and Western Ohio. In the Akron area, Dominion serves parts of Summit, Stark, Portage and Medina counties. The project was first approved in a rate case in 2008. Collection of what’s called the Pipeline Infrastructure Replacement Cost (PIR), which is included among other charges in the “Total Monthly Charge” on your Dominion bill, began being collected in 2010. The costs to consumers are always a year behind the actual costs incurred by Dominion, which has to turn in documentation to be audited by the PUCO regulators. By the end of 2022, Dominion had replaced nearly 2,335 miles of pipeline, or about 42% of the project, PUCO staff said in a report filed about the case in March.
Ascent Resources 1Q – Big Swing to Profitability, Drilled 19 Wells - Marcellus Drilling News - Ascent Resources, originally founded as American Energy Partners by gas legend Aubrey McClendon, is a privately-held company that focuses 100% on the Ohio Utica Shale. Ascent, headquartered in Oklahoma City, OK, is Ohio’s largest natural gas producer (352,000 leased acres) and the 8th largest natural gas producer in the U.S. The company issued its first quarter 2023 update yesterday. Ascent net production averaged 2.2 Bcfe/d (billion cubic feet equivalent per day) during 1Q23, up 12% over 1Q22. The company made $1.1 billion in profit during 1Q23, a massive +$2.7 billion swing from losing $1.6 billion in 1Q22.
20 New Shale Well Permits Issued for PA-OH-WV May 1-7 | Marcellus Drilling News - New shale permits issued for May 1-7 in the Marcellus/Utica rose slightly from the prior week. There were 20 new permits issued last week, up from 18 in the prior week. Last week’s tally included 15 new permits for Pennsylvania, 5 new permits for Ohio, and no new permits in West Virginia. Last week the top receiver of new permits was PennEnergy Resources, with 5 permits issued in Armstrong County, PA. Chesapeake Energy was second-highest, with 4 permits issued in Bradford County, PA. Armstrong County, Ascent Resources, Bradford County, Chesapeake Energy,Columbiana County, Elk County, EQT Corp, Greene County (PA), Harrison County, Hilcorp Energy, Monroe County, PennEnergy Resources, Seneca Resources, Statoil, Washington County
Shell Sued Over Air Emissions at Pennsylvania’s New Petrochemical Plant - Two environmental groups sued Shell on Thursday, claiming that air emissions from its massive new petrochemical plant about 30 miles north of Pittsburgh repeatedly violated federal and state air-quality laws and far exceeded limits set in its operating permit. The plant officially opened in November 2022 after months of testing. The Environmental Integrity Group and the Clean Air Council said Shell Chemical Appalachia emitted volatile organic compounds including benzene, a carcinogen, as well as nitrous oxide, at levels that exceeded requirements set by state authorities.The 400-acre complex on the banks of the Ohio River in Monaca, Beaver County, also broke state rules on the length of time that it flared, or burned off, waste gases, the suit said.The legal action, which follows an Intent to Sue notice by the plaintiffs in February, is the latest action by community opponents who predicted long before operations began that the plant would worsen air and water quality in a region that has endured historically high levels of air pollution as a result of decades of coal and steel production.“We are witnessing, unfortunately, what many have warned about our region’s choice to follow a petrochemical industry-centered economic strategy: harmful pollution and health costs being placed on families and workers,” said Matthew Mehalik, executive director of the Breathe Project, a Pittsburgh-based nonprofit that campaigns for better air quality. “Just like elsewhere where this industry operates, this lawsuit documents physical pollution failures stemming from bad economic regional strategic bets on outdated business models that neglect the health of communities.”Since being announced in 2015, the estimated $6 billion project has been criticized for attracting $1.6 billion in state subsidies from the administration of former Republican Gov. Tom Corbett. It has also come under fire from environmentalists for “cracking” molecules of ethane, a byproduct of fracked natural gas from the Marcellus and Utica shale formations, to produce what is estimated to be 1.6 million metric tons a year of plastic “nurdles,” tiny pellets that are the feedstock for plastics manufacturers.“Shell received $1.6 billion in taxpayer subsidies from the state to build this plant,” said Sarah Kula, an attorney for the Environmental Integrity Project. “The very least this international corporation can do is to follow the law and not make Pennsylvania taxpayers breathe in their illegal pollution.” Alex Bomstein, an attorney with Clean Air Council, said the plaintiffs had been in talks with Shell during the required 60 days since filing the Intent to Sue notice. But he declined to say whether talks had broken down, or why.The suit says that Shell has emitted high levels of volatile organic compounds, which contribute to atmospheric petrochemical reactions and can produce health effects including headaches, dizziness, respiratory tract infection and memory impairment, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. The suit also alleges that Shell has exceeded its permitted level of nitrous oxide, which can cause dizziness, impaired memory and even death, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The company’s emissions of both substances violates the federal Clean Air Act, and Pennsylvania’s Air Pollution Control Act, the suit says.
Shell's Pennsylvania polyethylene cracker slows operations - Operations at Shell Plc subsidiary Shell Chemical Appalachia LLC’s start-up ethylene cracker in Pennsylvania have started running ‘slower than expected’ due to technical glitches faced by the company just a few months after commencing operations. The plant, with a cumulative capacity of 1.6 million tonnes per annum, began operations in November of last year but has since slowed, presumably due to protests from local citizens. “Our polyethylene cracker at Pennsylvania, also known as Shell Polymers Monaca (SPM), is a world-class facility significantly advantaged by its location, offering an opportunity to create sustainable earnings for us as a company. As we have guided in the past, the ramp-up is going to take the rest of the year,” said Wael Sawan, Chief Executive Officer of Shell Plc during an analysts’ call after the January-March 2023 quarter earnings. “It’s been slower than we would have hoped for, but the team is doing a great job battling with some of the obvious technical niggles that start-ups typically have. We remain hopeful that, through the course of this year, we will bring it up to the levels that we had anticipated in the plan,” he added. The polyethylene cracker is situated on a 386-acre site just southwest of Monaca. The cracker started operations on November 15, 2022, and is proposed to achieve its full ‘nameplate’ operating capacity by the second half of 2023. Shell began construction on SPM in April 2017 following the operator’s final investment decision to move forward with the development in June 2016. The company first proposed its investment possibility in this project in 2012. While announcing the implementation of the SPM petrochemical complex in November, the company stated that it had contracted at the final investment decision for most of the complex’s required natural gas feedstock from regional gas operators in nearby Utica and Marcellus basins. Without divulging details of the gas supply agreements, Shell said, “The Monaca complex will receive the entirety of its regionally-sourced ethane feedstock via Shell Pipeline Co LP’s Falcon ethane pipeline system (FEPS). This is a 97-mile common carrier ethane pipeline stretching across south-western Pennsylvania, West Virginia, and eastern Ohio and connecting Monaca with three major ethane source points in the rich-gas portions of the Marcellus and Utica shale reservoirs such as Houston Pa, Scio, and Cadiz in Ohio.” Explaining the significance, Sawan said, “Our SPM project is going to be a robust asset going forward. I think this is a healthy asset in the US$1-plus billion earnings range in a normal year. A lot of it is tied, but this is a really differentiated asset, uniquely positioned in that supply envelope. Roughly two-thirds of the industry is around that specific asset.” The company can gain an advantage perspective compared to some of the competitors in the Gulf Coast, and therefore, this project has access to nicely priced gas in that area. So, by and large, this is an asset that should be able to outcompete and is well positioned to do so, a company note said.
Antis Attack PA Conventional Drillers Again Over Abandoned Wells -- Marcellus Drilling News --Spotlight PA, a partisan Democrat “newsroom” (propaganda outfit) powered by the Philadelphia Inquirer in partnership with Harrisburg Patriot-News, Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, and WITF PBS Public Media, is taking aim at the conventional drilling industry. In an article about the “crisis” of unplugged orphaned and abandoned conventional oil and gas wells, Spotlight PA, via interviewees, says the $400 million coming from the federal government is not nearly enough money to plug some 200,000+ old wells in the state.
Energy company's latest plan to use Big Sewickley Creek water for fracking draws more pushback -Environmental activists fighting to stop an energy company from drawing millions of gallons of water a day out of Big Sewickley Creek for fracking say the driller has submitted an application to take water from an area that is a popular spot for fishing and swimming. =Members of the Big Sewickley Creek Watershed Association say allowing any water to be removed from the creek or its tributaries runs the risk of causing permanent damage to its ecosystem. In 2021 PennEnergy Resources submitted a request to draw up to 3 million gallons a water a day from a site along the creek and another 1 million gallons a day from the North Fork tributary. In March 2022, after addressing a number of deficiencies called out by state regulators, the company resubmitted its application to only draw 1.5 million gallons a day from a single location along the creek near the Cooney Hollow Waterhole, a dog-leg in the creek at Cooney Hollow and Hoenig roads. The “waterhole,” a roughly 70-foot area and the deepest pool in the creek, is a popular spot for fishing and swimming. On March 9 of this year, PennEnergy submitted an application to move the water intake about 55 feet from the location proposed in last year’s application, according to the DEP. Amanda Peterson, PennEnergy’s manager of investor relations, said the company “is committed to safe and responsible natural gas development utilizing industry best practices that meet or exceed regulatory requirements.” “All water sourcing activities are highly regulated by the Pennsylvania DEP, with applications going through a rigorous permitting process to ensure that the withdrawal of water does not adversely impact the subject water sources. “These regulations ensure the protection of fish and other species, their habitat and that our operations would not impede or interfere with other uses of the water source,” she said. A copy of the company’s water management plan application for proposed operations along Big Sewickley Creek is available on it website.
Summit Midstream 1Q – Marcellus Flows Down, Utica Flows Up - Marcellus Drilling News -- Summit Midstream Partners, formed in 2009 and headquartered in The Woodlands, Texas, operates natural gas, crude oil, and produced water gathering (pipeline) systems in several unconventional shale plays, including the Marcellus and Utica. Last week Summit issued its first quarter 2023 update. While most upstream and midstream companies have seen positive cash flow and profits over the past year, Summit continues to miss the mark. The company lost $14.1 million in 1Q23 versus losing $5 million in 1Q22.
PA AG Indicts 2 Workers for Conspiracy, Fraud re MarkWest Pipeline | Marcellus Drilling News -- On Friday, Pennsylvania Attorney General Michelle Henry announced her office has filed criminal charges against two men for falsifying paperwork and risking catastrophe while working on a natural gas pipeline project in western PA. The AG’s Environmental Crime Section and the US Department of Transportation’s Office of Inspector General investigated a case of suspected fraud in falsifying records for portions of a MarkWest Liberty Pipeline to transport NGLs.
NextEra Energy Selling Its Stake in NE Pa. Marcellus Pipeline | Marcellus Drilling News -- Yesterday, the management of NextEra Energy announced it has officially lost its collective mind. The company is selling its two natural gas pipeline investments–one in Texas and the other right here in the heart of the Marcellus Shale–because it wants to concentrate 100% on unreliable (and government-funded) “renewable” energy projects instead. You may recall that NextEra bought Meade Pipeline Co LLC for $1.37 billion in 2019 (see NextEra Energy Buys 39% Stake in Atlantic Sunrise Pipe for $1.37B). Meade is another name for a small consortium that invested in the Atlantic Sunrise pipeline project, which is majority owned and operated by Williams and a feeder pipeline of Marcellus molecules to the mighty Transco Pipeline system.
Oil and gas production linked to $77 billion in annual health care costs • In an era where global initiatives are pushing for a transition from fossil fuels to cleaner energy sources, the United States is experiencing a concerning trend. Despite these efforts, oil and gas (O&G) production in the country is approaching record levels, raising alarms among health experts who worry about the potential implications of this growth on air quality and human health. While the climate effects of methane produced by O&G operations have been extensively researched, there is a lack of studies examining the health effects of the air pollution generated by these activities. Aiming to address this gap, a collaborative study led by the Boston University School of Public Health (BUSPH), the University of North Carolina Institute for the Environment (UNC-IE), PSE Healthy Energy, and Environmental Defense Fund has been published in the journal Environmental Research: Health. This groundbreaking study reveals that air pollution from the oil and gas sector in the United States has significant detrimental effects on air quality, human health, and associated healthcare costs. The researchers found that nitrogen oxide (NO2), fine particulate matter (PM2.5), and ozone (O3) emitted from U.S. oil and gas production contributed to 7,500 excess deaths, 410,000 asthma attacks, and 2,200 new cases of childhood asthma across the nation in 2016. Taking into account respiratory and cardiovascular-related hospitalizations, adverse pregnancy outcomes, and other health issues, the study estimates that oil and gas production is responsible for $77 billion in annual health costs. This figure is three times the estimated climate impact costs of methane emissions from oil and gas operations. The consequences of O&G-related pollution are not evenly distributed, with the most significant impacts concentrated in areas with substantial oil and gas production. Some of the most affected regions include southwest Pennsylvania, Texas, and Eastern Colorado. However, the health effects of this pollution do not stop at the borders of these production areas. Densely populated cities with little or no gas activity, such as Chicago, New York City, Baltimore, Washington DC, and Orlando, also experience negative health outcomes due to pollution from O&G operations. The study has indicated that policies aimed at reducing oil and gas (O&G) emissions, such as the forthcoming EPA methane regulations, could produce immediate and significant air quality benefits for human health, in addition to the substantial climate benefits. The researchers behind the study are urging policymakers to take these “co-benefits” into account when developing future emissions reduction strategies. The scientists also emphasize that focusing solely on end-of-pipe pollution controls during combustion in power plants, vehicles, buildings, and industries only addresses a part of the problem. According to study corresponding author Jonathan Buonocore, assistant professor of environmental health at BUSPH, “These substantial impacts from oil and gas production show that there are serious consequences across the full life cycle of oil and gas, from ‘well to wheels,’ ‘well to power plant,’ and ‘well to furnace.’” “The health impacts are not just from the combustion of oil and gas. In order for energy, air quality, and decarbonization policies to successfully protect health, they need to incorporate health impacts across this full life cycle.” The research identified the five states with the highest impacts from O&G pollution as Texas, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Oklahoma, and Louisiana. However, interestingly, Illinois and New York – states that produce very little O&G – still ranked 6th and 8th, respectively. Among the three pollutants studied, NO2 was found to be the highest contributor to overall health impacts, accounting for 37% of the effects, followed by ozone at 35%, and PM2.5 at 28%. The majority of these effects were related to mortality. NO2 contributes to the formation of PM2.5 and ozone, so strategies aimed at reducing O&G-produced NO2 could be effective in mitigating health impacts. State regulations addressing precursor NO2 emissions from the O&G sector could help alleviate childhood asthma cases in communities located near emission sources and provide secondary ozone and PM2.5 health benefits in downwind areas. “Curbing oil and gas emissions is one of the fastest, most cost-effective ways to reduce methane and other air pollutants, which improves air quality, protects public health and slows climate change,” said study co-author Ananya Roy, senior health scientist at EDF. “It’s critical that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency strengthen and finalize its proposed oil and gas methane rules as quickly as possible. These proposed rules should build from leading state approaches in Colorado and New Mexico and go further to end pollution from the practice of routine flaring.”
PHMSA Seeks Stricter Methane Emissions Regulation on Natural Gas Infrastructure - The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) is proposing a new rule to improve the detection and repair of leaks from gas pipelines.The proposed rule would apply to pipelines as well as natural gas storage and liquefied natural gas facilities, according to PHMSA.“Quick detection of methane leaks is an important way to keep communities safe and help curb climate change,” said Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg. Overall, the rule would reduce emissions from covered pipelines by up to 55%. The proposal would require pipeline operators to establish advanced leak detection programs; reduce the volume of gas released due to unintentional emissions like leaks and equipment failures; minimize intentional flaring...
Federal pipeline agency rolls out methane proposal - Federal pipeline regulators Friday formally proposed their first regulations to crack down on natural gas leaks from pipelines to reduce pollution and the effects of climate change. “Quick detection of methane leaks is an important way to keep communities safe and help curb climate change” Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said in a statement Friday. “We are proposing a long-overdue modernization of the way we identify and fix methane leaks, thereby reducing emissions and strengthening protections for the American people.” The proposal would cover the 2.7 million miles of transmission, distribution and other pipelines under the jurisdiction of the Department of Transportation’s Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration. It would also cover underground natural gas storage facilities and liquefied natural gas facilities. It would update leak detection and repair rules to require companies to use commercially available technologies to find and fix methane leaks from pipelines and other facilities. The proposal was met with enthusiasm from environmental groups and cautious approval from the trade group representing large pipeline companies.
Biden DOT Issues New Partisan Methane Rules for All Gas Pipelines - Marcellus Drilling News - Another breathtaking attempt to strip away the power to regulate oil and gas from the states and concentrate it in unelected bureaucracies (the DC swamp). This latest attempt comes from the Dept. of Transportation’s Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA). On Friday, the PHMSA issued a proposed new rule that would slap onerous and very expensive new requirements on pretty much all natural gas pipelines in the country, including 2.7 million miles of gas transmission, distribution, and gathering pipelines; 400+ underground natural gas storage facilities; and 165 liquefied natural gas facilities.
MAD: Time to Oppose “Permitting Reform” for Pipelines & Renewables | Marcellus Drilling News - Ever hear of the term MAD–or mutually assured destruction? It was popularized during the Cold War we had with Communist Russia (i.e. the Soviet Union) in the last century. The MAD doctrine said if one side used a nuclear weapon against the other, the other side would retaliate. The war would quickly escalate, and each side would essentially destroy the other side, and there would be nothing left but cinders. MAD meant nobody, in their right mind, would launch the first nuke. Let’s apply that doctrine to today’s environmental Communists on the left (i.e. the Democrats in Washington). They HAVE launched the equivalent of a nuclear attack against the fossil fuel industry. We think it’s time to retaliate and take them out, too (no winners). How? By refusing to vote in favor of so-called “permitting reform” that would make it easier to build so-called renewable energy projects in this country. Let’s let the left have a taste of the destruction they have brought on fossil energy for the past 20 years or so. See how THEY like it. Yeah, it’s MAD.
US weekly natgas rig count falls by most since 2016 -Baker Hughes (Reuters) -The U.S. oil and natural gas rig count fell this week to its lowest in nearly a year, as gas rigs slumped by the most in a week since February 2016, energy services firm Baker Hughes Co BKR.O said in its closely followed report on Friday. U.S. natural gas NGc1 futures jumped over 5% shortly after Baker Hughes issued the report on expectations the rig count reduction would cut output later this year. NGA/ The oil and gas rig count, an early indicator of future output, fell by 17 to 731 in the week to May 12, the lowest since June 2022. The weekly drop was the biggest since June 2020. Baker Hughes said that leaves the total rig count up by just 17, or 2%, over this time last year. At the end of 2022, the rig count was 193 rigs over the prior year. U.S. oil rigs fell by two to 586 this week, their lowest since June 2022, while gas rigs plunged by 16 to 141, their lowest April last year. U.S. oil futures CLc1 were down about 13% so far this year after gaining about 7% in 2022. U.S. gas futures NGc1, meanwhile, have plunged about 49% so far this year after rising about 20% last year. The drop in gas prices has already caused some exploration and production companies, including Chesapeake Energy Corp, Southwestern Energy Co and Comstock Resources, to announce plans to reduce production by cutting some gas rigs - especially in the Haynesville shale in Arkansas, Louisiana and Texas. The number of rigs active in the Haynesville, the nation's third biggest shale gas field, fell by five this week to 57, its lowest since February 2022, according to Baker Hughes. The rig count in the Eagle Ford shale in South Texas, meanwhile, dropped by two this week to 62, its lowest since May 2022. Despite some plans to lower rig counts, U.S. crude production was still on track to rise from 11.9 million barrels per day (bpd) in 2022 to a new record high of 12.5 million bpd in 2023 and 12.7 million bpd in 2024, according to projections from the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) in May. The last record output was hit in 2019 at 12.3 million bpd. U.S. gas production, meanwhile, was on track to rise from a record 98.13 billion cubic feet per day (bcfd) in 2022 to 101.09 bcfd in 2023 and 101.24 bcfd in 2024, according to EIA's projection. 10:06 AM
Democrats press Biden administration on climate impact of LNG buildout (Reuters) - Dozens of Democratic lawmakers on Monday called on the Biden administration to consider the climate and environmental justice impacts of the expansion of the liquefied natural gas (LNG) industry.The 44 lawmakers, including Senators Jeffrey Merkley, Edward Markey and Representatives Jared Huffman and Raul Grijalva, urged the Council on Environmental Quality, a White House office, to "include greater scrutiny on the entire LNG supply chain" as it finalizes guidance on greenhouse gas emissions and climate change under bedrock U.S. environmental law.In a letter to Brenda Mallory, the CEQ chair, the lawmakers asked for the scrutiny "from wellhead, through export outside the United States, to combustion."As the U.S. vies for the top LNG exporting spot, administration officials have been holding talks with global energy companies and foreign officials about potential ways to certify emissions reductions of natural gas.While some gas drillers are marketing certified, or responsibly sourced gas, with carbon reductions certified by third parties, the administration has not weighed in on how such certification should work.As Europe cuts gas purchases from Russia after its invasion of Ukraine, the Biden administration has approving exports of LNG from projects, a step in opening potential projects.In the latest support for the industry, it approved LNG exports from Alaska LNG last month. Project backers hope it will be open by 2030, though no final investment decision has not been made."Existing LNG infrastructure already has a disproportionate impact on Black, Brown, Indigenous, and poor communities; this will only be exacerbated with the addition of the proposed projects," the letter said.The lawmakers said U.S. agencies decide on LNG projects based on a public interest determination made during the era of former President Donald Trump that fails to incorporate drilling emissions of methane, a potent greenhouse gas, which, they said, makes LNG exports worse than coal.
Congressional Democrats ask Biden administration to revamp LNG permit process More than 40 congressional Democrats urged the Biden administration, in a letter released Monday, to consider the possible environmental risk of liquefied natural gas (LNG) expansion. Forty-four senators and representatives wrote to Brenda Mallory, chair of the White House Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ), calling on her to develop specific best practices for the LNG infrastructure approval process.Specifically, the members expressed concerns that CEQ assesses LNG permits based on a Trump-era framework that does not address upstream methane emissions. The 2020 changes to the assessment process barred the CEQ from considering indirect environmental impacts of permitting.Although methane dissipates faster in the atmosphere than carbon dioxide, it is also about 25 times more effective at trapping heat in the atmosphere, making it a particular concern as a driver of climate change. The letter was led by Sen. Jeff Merkley (Ore.) and Reps. Raúl Grijalva (Ariz.), Jared Huffman (Calif.) and Nanette Díaz Barragán (Calif.).“Our ability to combat the worst impacts of the climate crisis depends, to a significant degree, on whether the United States approves proposed LNG pipeline and export terminal projects on top of the already-substantial LNG infrastructure,” the members wrote.“CEQ’s guidance should include examples and best practices for how agencies should conduct meaningful engagement to ensure that relevant agencies conduct proper and adequate analysis of the direct, indirect, and cumulative effects of LNG infrastructure,” they added.U.S. production of LNG has dramatically expanded in recent years, particularly for export to European nations seeking an alternative to the Russian oil they relied on before the invasion of Ukraine. Exports rose to an average of 10.6 billion cubic feet per day last year, a 9 percent increase from 2021, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, which projects a daily average of 12.1 billion per day this year.
In the Florida Panhandle, a Black Community’s Progress Is Threatened by a Proposed Liquified Natural Gas Plant - —Not long ago, this rural coastal town in the Florida Panhandle was home to a thriving Black community, with locally owned shops and restaurants and plentiful jobs at the nearby paper mill. Their community fell into decay after the paper mill closed in 1999, but today residents have big plans for restoring and uniting it, finally, with the white side of town. They envision a reinvented Martin Luther King Boulevard, the main thoroughfare here, with mixed-use development, extended sidewalks and a new Black history museum. They had crafted a redevelopment plan with the community’s beachy location making tourism and real estate opportunities the centerpiece. To support their dream, the residents had secured three grants from the Environmental Protection Agency, together totaling $850,000, for health and housing needs, repairs after Hurricane Michael in 2018 and a legacy of pollution left by the paper mill. They just garnered another one in April from the Biden administration, aimed at finding nature-based solutions for frequent flooding affecting the community. But elected officials and a Miami-based energy company, Nopetro Energy, have other plans: a liquified natural gas plant on the same 60 acres, now vacant and weedy, where the paper mill once stood. The LNG plant would involve three enormous refrigerators that would cool natural gas to an extreme minus-260 degrees Fahrenheit, turning the fossil fuel into a liquid. The LNG then would be loaded into shipping containers and trucked a crucial quarter mile—1,300 feet—to a dock, where a crane would hoist the containers on cargo ships destined for the Caribbean and Latin America. The 1,300 feet is a crucial detail because it has enabled Nopetro to move forward with the plant without any oversight from federal regulators, sparing the energy company a lengthy and costly environmental review process that would have involved the public, said Tyson Slocum, energy program director at Public Citizen, a consumer advocacy group in Washington. “If you look at the details of Nopetro’s design, they clearly worked with lawyers to intentionally design and orient their LNG terminal specifically to evade FERC oversight,” he said. “This is why this case is so insane. FERC is mangling common sense and the plain statutory language. It’s insane that we’re even having to file this lawsuit.”
Sempra Considers Delaying Cameron LNG Phase 2 as Gulf Coast Costs, Labor Crunch Grow - Sempra Infrastructure could delay a final investment decision (FID) to expand the Cameron LNG facility in Louisiana to avoid further impacts from a mounting labor and supply crunch for projects on the Gulf Coast. The liquefied natural gas infrastructure unit of San Diego-based Sempra had been targeting the completion of a competitive front-end engineering and design (FEED) process sometime this summer. Management said the project would then soon reach FID, as Sempra has already formed equity and offtake agreements with partners in the first phase. However, CEO Justin Bird told analysts during a first quarter call Thursday that the process may be extended as cost headwinds stack up for Gulf Coast projects.
US natgas up 5% on daily output decline, Canada wildfires (Reuters) - U.S. natural gas futures gained about 5% to a one-week high on Monday on small declines in U.S. daily output and a drop in gas exports from Canada as wildfires shut in some oil and associated gas production. Prices climbed despite forecasts for milder weather and less U.S. demand over the next two weeks than previously expected. Front-month gas futures for June delivery on the New York Mercantile Exchange rose 10.1 cents, or 4.7%, to settle at $2.238 per million British thermal units (mmBtu), their highest close since May 1. With gas prices down about 11% last week, speculators boosted their net short futures and options positions on the New York Mercantile and Intercontinental Exchanges for a second week in a row to their highest since early April, according to the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission's Commitments of Traders report. Analysts said that increase in shorts could lead to a short-squeeze that would boost prices in the near future. In the spot market, mild spring weather and a lack of heating or cooling demand pressured next-day power and gas prices for Monday to their lowest in years. Next-day gas fell to its lowest since October 2020 at the Henry Hub benchmark in Louisiana and its lowest since July 2020 at the Southern California Border NG-SCL-CGT-SNL. Next-day power sunk to a record low of $3.25 per megawatt hour (MWh) at the SP-15 hub in Southern California. At the Palo Verde in Arizona power prices dropped to their lowest since May 2020, while in New England power prices fell to their lowest since March 2021. Data provider Refinitiv said average gas output in the U.S. Lower 48 states has risen to 101.6 billion cubic feet per day (bcfd) so far in May, up from a record 101.4 bcfd in April. On a daily basis, however, output fell to a two-week low of 101.1 bcfd on Saturday. Wildfires in Alberta in Canada caused some producers to shut some oil and gas output and pipeline flows. Gas exports from Canada to the U.S. fell to 6.7 bcfd on Sunday, the lowest since April 2021, according to Refinitiv. That is down from an average of 8.5 bcfd of gas that Canada has exported to the U.S. since the start of the year. Meteorologists projected the weather would remain mostly warmer than normal through May 23 with fewer Total Degree Days (TDD) than usual for this time of year. TDDs measure the number of degrees a day's average temperature is above or below 65 degrees Fahrenheit (18 degrees Celsius) to estimate demand to cool or heat homes and businesses. With the warmer weather coming, Refinitiv forecast U.S. gas demand, including exports, would hold near 90.8 bcfd this week and next. Those forecasts were lower than Refinitiv's outlook on Friday.
Natural Gas Futures Continue to Climb Early Amid Supply Disruptions - Natural gas futures added to recent gains in early trading Tuesday as the market continued to gauge the impact of cuts to Canadian supply amid wildfires in Alberta. Coming off a 10.1-cent rally in the previous session, the June Nymex contract was up 3.6 cents to $2.274/MMBtu at around 8:50 a.m. ET. Monday’s rally saw the June contract approach the 20-day moving average at $2.25, with supply disruptions from wildfires in Canada contributing to the move higher, EBW Analytics Group analyst Eli Rubin said. “The 20-day moving average remains a key near-term technical inflection point; if Nymex gas can break out higher, it could open the door to prices in the $2.30s/MMBtu,” Rubin said. Analysts at ICAP Technical Analysis said that even after Monday’s rally it will take...
US natgas falls 3% as Canada exports rise, Waha turns negative (Reuters) - U.S. natural gas futures fell about 3% on Wednesday as Canada boosted exports after reducing flows earlier in the week due to wildfires in Alberta, and spot gas prices at the Waha hub in West Texas closed in negative territory for the first time since October 2020. The spot gas prices at the Waha hub in the Permian Shale closed in negative territory as pipeline maintenance prevented some gas from leaving the basin and mild spring weather reduced demand for the fuel. Gas futures fell despite a decline in U.S. output in recent days and forecasts for higher gas demand over the next two weeks than previously expected. Front-month gas futures for June delivery on the New York Mercantile Exchange fell 7.6 cents, or 3.4%, to settle at $2.191 per million British thermal units (mmBtu). On Tuesday, the contract settled at its highest level since May 1 for a second day in a row. The White House on Wednesday called on Congress to pass permitting legislation that would help speed up clean energy and fossil fuel projects, betting that the bipartisan measure may help end a standoff on the debt ceiling. Data provider Refinitiv said average gas output in the U.S. Lower 48 states held at 101.4 billion cubic feet per day (bcfd) so far in May, matching the monthly record hit in April. On a daily basis, however, output was on track to drop by 1.3 bcfd over the past couple of days to a preliminary two-week low of 100.4 bcfd on Wednesday. The amount of gas flowing from Canada to the U.S. was on track to reach 8.0 bcfd on Wednesday after dropping to a 25-month low of 6.7 bcfd on Sunday as wildfires in Alberta caused some producers to shut oil and gas output and pipeline flows. Since the start of the year, Canada exported an average of 8.5 bcfd of gas to the U.S. Meteorologists projected the weather would remain mostly warmer than normal through May 23 with fewer Total Degree Days (TDD) than usual for this time of year.
UPDUS natgas futures climb 4% as producers drop rigs (Reuters) - U.S. natural gas futures climbed about 4% on Friday on worries output will decline in the future after energy companies this week cut the number of rigs drilling for gas by the most in seven years. The gas rig count, an early indicator of future output, fell by 16 to 141 in the week to May 12, the lowest since April 2022, energy services firm Baker Hughes Co said in its closely followed report. That weekly gas rig decline was the most since February 2016. Before Baker Hughes released its report, gas prices were little changed despite record U.S. output, rising exports from Canada after wildfires and forecasts for mild weather that should keep demand low and allow utilities to inject more gas into storage than usual in coming weeks. Front-month gas futures for June delivery on the New York Mercantile Exchange rose 7.6 cents, or 3.5%, to settle at $2.266 per million British thermal units (mmBtu). For the week, the contract was up about 6% after falling about 11% last week. In the spot market, a lack of demand due to mild weather caused next-day prices for Friday at the PG&E Citygate in Northern California to drop to its lowest since June 2021. Data provider Refinitiv said average gas output in the U.S. Lower 48 states held at 101.4 billion cubic feet per day (bcfd) so far in May, matching the monthly record high in April. The amount of gas flowing from Canada to the U.S. was on track to hold at 7.6 bcfd for a third day in a row on Friday, up from a 25-month low of 6.7 bcfd on Sunday as wildfires in Alberta caused some producers to shut oil and gas output and pipeline flows. Since the start of the year, Canada has exported an average of 8.5 bcfd of gas to the United States. Meteorologists projected the weather in the U.S. Lower 48 states would switch from warmer-than-normal levels from May 12-17 to near-normal from May 18-27. Refinitiv forecast U.S. gas demand, including exports, would rise from 91.2 bcfd this week to 91.9 bcfd next week as some homes and businesses turn on their air conditioners before sliding to 90.1 bcfd in two weeks as the weather turns milder. Gas flows to the seven big U.S. LNG export plants fell to an average of 13.1 bcfd so far in May, down from a record 14.0 bcfd in April. The decline was due mostly to reductions at Cameron LNG's terminal in Louisiana and Cheniere Energy Inc's Sabine Pass in Louisiana. Last month's record flows were higher than the 13.8 bcfd of gas the seven plants can turn into LNG since the facilities also use some of the fuel to power equipment used to produce LNG. Some analysts have questioned whether this year's gas price collapse in Europe and Asia could force U.S. exporters to cancel LNG cargoes this summer after mostly mild weather over the winter left massive amounts of gas in storage. In 2020, at least 175 LNG shipments were canceled due to weak demand. But for now, most analysts say energy security concerns following Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 should keep global gas prices high enough to sustain record U.S. LNG exports in 2023. Gas was trading at 22-month lows of around $11 per mmBtu at the Dutch Title Transfer Facility (TTF) benchmark in Europe and the Japan Korea Marker (JKM) in Asia. That put TTF down about 54% and JKM down about 62% so far this year.
14,000 Inactive Oil & Gas Wells In U.S. Unplugged -A study published in Nature Energy on Monday has revealed that the U.S. Oil Patch is home to tens of thousands of inactive offshore oil and gas wells that remain unplugged, posing the risk of possible leaks into the ocean. The study estimates that whereas plugging and abandoning these wells could minimize their environmental risk, the exercise would cost the industry a hefty $30 billion. There are more inactive, non-producing wells in the Gulf of Mexico coastal waters in Louisiana, Texas and Alabama that have not been plugged and abandoned than currently active wells in this region. It also means that companies operating in the region risk clashing with the regulators sooner rather than later.Last week, the U.S. pipeline regulator unveiled new rules aimed at lowering methane leaks from the vast network of 2.7 million miles of natural gas pipelines in the country. The proposal issued Friday by the Transportation Department's Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration could "significantly improve the detection and repair of leaks from gas pipelines... deploy pipeline workers across the country to keep more product in the pipe, and prevent dangerous accidents."The agency estimates the new rules could potentially eliminate 1 million metric tons of methane emissions by 2030, the equivalent of emissions from 5.6 million cars. Leaky oil and gas infrastructure has been playing an outsized role in climate change by spewing out far more quantities of an even more potent greenhouse gas into the atmosphere than earlier thought. Three years ago, Reuters reported that satellites by the European Space Agency had detected huge plumes of methane leaking from the 2,607-mile-long Yamal pipeline that transports natural gas from Siberia to Europe. The massive methane leaks could throw a monkey wrench into the natural gas bridge which presupposes that natural gas is a cleaner fossil fuel resulting in it being favored over coal in the global energy mix. Although methane does not usually get the same bad rap that carbon dioxide does, it’s actually a far more potent greenhouse gas, more than 80X more powerful at warming the earth than CO2 over 20 years and 28x more powerful on a 100-year timescale.
Price to Plug Old Wells in Gulf of Mexico? $30 Billion, Study Says. - Ever since the first offshore platforms went up off Louisiana 85 years ago, the Gulf of Mexico has been an oil and gas juggernaut. But decades of drilling has left behind more than 14,000 old, unplugged wells at risk of springing dangerous leaks and spills that may cost more than $30 billion to plug, a new study has found. Nonproducing wells that haven’t been plugged now outnumber active wells in the gulf, the study says. The researchers also found that, in federal waters, nearly 90 percent of the old wells were owned at some point in the past by giant oil companies known as the “supermajors,” including BP, Shell, Chevron and Exxon. Under federal law, that means those companies would still be responsible for cleanup costs, even though they might have sold the wells in the past, the study’s authors said.. Decades of drilling has left 14,000 old, unplugged wells in the Gulf of Mexico.Oil and gas companies are responsible under federal and state rules for securely plugging wells that are no longer in service. In the boom-and-bust world of oil and gas drilling, though, operators frequently go bankrupt, leaving wells orphaned and unplugged, and taxpayers on the hook.That raises risks that oil and other pollutants will leak into the ocean and travel to shore and smother wetlands, particularly sensitive salt marshes along the northern Gulf Coast. Wells that aren’t properly plugged with concrete can also leak significant amounts of methane, a potent greenhouse gas that contributes to climate change and its increasingly catastrophic consequences.Orphaned oil and gas wells are a big issue onshore, too. “But offshore is a different beast, particularly in terms of the costs involved,” said Mark Agerton, an expert in energy economics at the University of California, Davis, who is one of the study’s authors. “The wells are bigger, and they’re just a lot more expensive. You can’t just drive a truck up to it.”The $1 trillion infrastructure bill that President Biden signed into law in 2021 sets aside $4.7 billion to plug orphaned wells, both onshore and off. That’s a sizable sum, but not nearly enough to cover the backlog of orphaned wells. Still, in federal waters, the government can hold prior owners of wells liable for plugging them, even if the current owners go under or otherwise don’t fulfill their cleanup obligations. Eighty-seven percent of wells under federal jurisdiction were once owned by one of the supermajors, many of which have recently booked record profits. The companies named in the report did not respond to requests for comment. It makes sense for public funds to prioritize plugging wells in state waters, where no such provision exists. Wells in state waters also tend to be in shallower locations, which make them cheaper to plug. Any pollution from wells closer to shore has a higher chance of reaching the shore and wreaking havoc with the coastal environment, making plugging those shallower wells more urgent.
Shell Refinery Unit Had History of Malfunctions Before Fire - The units at a Houston-area Shell refinery that caught fire this weekend repeatedly malfunctioned in recent years without recourse from Texas regulators. Since the start of 2022, the British oil giant reported at least four malfunctions at one olefins unit in its Deer Park petrochemical refinery that had resulted in thousands of pounds of illegal pollution but no fines or citations. Olefins units—the heart of petrochemical complexes—separate hydrocarbons into the components of plastics. In every case prior to this weekend’s fire, Shell invoked the “affirmative defense,” an element of Texas law that relieves industrial operators of liability for pollution events that are reported as accidents or emergencies. Critics of the affirmative defense say it allows companies to defer expensive equipment upgrades and maintenance without fear of consequences for dangerous malfunctions. “If I was involved in a car crash and hurt someone, I can’t just put my hands up and say ‘it was an accident,” said Jaun Parras, a longtime public health advocate in Houston and co-director of TEJAS Barrios, an environmental justice nonprofit. “So why are we letting Shell and its funders get away with incidents like this?”Last month, a study released by the Environmental Integrity Project found that industries in Texas reported thousands of illegal emissions each year but rarely faced legal consequences. “In only one half of one percent of these incidents did the state use its legal authority to require the companies to analyze the cause of the problem and take concrete action to avoid these pollution releases in the future,” the study said. According to a Friday report filed by Shell with the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, a fire at its Deer Park chemical plant shut down the refinery’s olefins units on Friday afternoon. The fire went out early Saturday morning but then reignited and burned until Monday.
Big Oil Tries To Buy Its Own Courts -When Texas oil and gas companies need to remove a legal roadblock to drilling, or answer for alleged wrongdoing, they head to court — and a bill that could be considered by the state legislature as early as Thursday would hand them considerable sway in picking the judges that hear some of their cases.The state’s $200 billion fossil-fuel industry has thrown its weight behind legislation that would create a new system of district courts to hear certain disputes involving corporations. While 26 states already have so-called business courts, the Texas proposal has a unique feature: Republican Gov. Greg Abbott, who has been bankrolled by fossil fuel donors, would have the power to personally appoint judges, who would then serve two-year terms — a tenure that would let Abbott quickly remove judges if they deny favorable rulings to his supporters.The legislation backed by the oil industry comes just after the U.S. Supreme Court allowed climate cases against fossil fuel companies to proceed in state courts. Opponents of the business-court plan say that not only would it run afoul of the state constitution, which mandates the popular election of district and appellate judges, it could also set a dangerous national precedent by undermining the independence of the judiciary.As a result, cases that would otherwise be heard by judges elected by communities in their districts could instead be forced into courts controlled by the governor — and by extension, his donors.Abbott, who has raked in more than $42 million of campaign cash from the oil and gas industry during his career, has already raised eyebrows by appointing some of those donors to political positions — including an oil tycoon whom he tapped to head the agency overseeing the state’s energy grid.Some experts also raised alarms about a separate intervention by Abbott into the legal process last month, when he called for the pardon of a man convicted of killing a protester before his sentencing had even taken place.The business court bill exacerbates those concerns by allowing the governor to handpick judges overseeing cases impacting some of his largest contributors.Since they serve terms shorter than his own, “there’s a real danger that he can just swap them out every two years if they aren't making the kinds of rulings he wants,” said Texas-based commercial practice attorney Michael Smith. “It’s a basic separation of powers issue.”Smith testified against the bill last month on behalf of the Texas chapter of the American Board of Trial Advocates (ABOTA), one of three statewide legal associations opposing the measure alongside several Democratic appeals court judges and state consumer groups.The push for business courts is backed by a broad swath of industries,including lobbying groups representing the different segments of the state’s fossil fuel sector, as well as Energy Transfer, the pipeline company owned by billionaire Abbott donor Kelcy Warren.Those groups rely on the state’s district courts for a range of issues that help maintain business as usual — from suing Texas cities over municipal bans on fracking to removing regulatory roadblocks to pipeline development and filing condemnation petitions against residents who resist it.Fossil-fuel companies also frequently end up in the state’s district courts when they’re accused of wrongdoing. Energy Transfer, ExxonMobil, and Kinder Morgan — all of which have delivered big donations to Abbott — are among the energy companies currently facing a spate of lawsuits over claims of profiteering during the state’s deadly winter blackouts in 2021, though the new business courts would not have jurisdiction over claims already before district courts.The Texas House passed the bill last week on a party-line vote; the state Senate is scheduled to vote on it as soon as Thursday.
Lawsuit: State allowance on oil and gas violates New Mexico Constitution - Plaintiffs in a civil lawsuit filed Wednesday are seeking a seismic shift for New Mexicans’ rights to a “healthful and beautiful environment.” In a complaint spanning 100 pages, environmental groups, youth activists and individuals from the Pueblos, the Permian Basin and Navajo Nation sued the state of New Mexico, top officials and rulemaking bodies on oil and gas. Their argument is twofold. Plaintiffs allege the state’s permitting of oil and gas production and failing to enforce pollution laws violated its duty laid out in a 1971 amendment Article XX Section 21 of the state constitution. The second claim is that the state’s actions allowing more oil and gas production and failing to limit pollution discriminated against indigenous people, youth and frontline communities. New Mexico is the second largest producer of crude oil in the nation, and seventh-largest in gas extraction. High extractions pumped billions of dollars into state coffers this past year – but that production and use of oil and gas is driving the heating of the planet. The state also feels the sharp edge of the climate crisis. Wildfiresripped across forests parched by drought, intensified by higher temperatures. Water shortages on the state’s rivers, depleted aquifers as a result of the drought lasting decades has cut into agriculture and Pueblo traditional ways of life. Those areas are dried out, then inundated with stronger rainstorms, causing flooding. The decimation of habitats and the changing climate is driving another mass extinction. The lawsuit claims the state damaged the health of people living around oil and gas extraction and the environment “in a way that has caused and will continue to cause human deaths, shorten life spans, result in widespread damage to property, threaten food sources and dramatically alter ecosystems.” Mario Atencio, one of the plaintiffs, said he’s looking for justice after he said the state failed to protect water and resources from an oil and gas disaster near Counselor, New Mexico. In 2019, Atencio described how a spill of 42,000 gallons of toxic liquid waste and 12,500 gallons crude oil contaminated water near property owned by his father’s family. The lawsuit alleges the state failed to warn the family about the spill or any problems with groundwater.
Saving abandoned wells from environmental disaster in Kansas – Have you ever wondered what happens with old abandoned oil derricks in Kansas? Since 1995, around 11,000 natural gas and oil wells drilled over the last century-and-a-half have been plugged off. Oil and gas drilling started in the late 1800s and spread east to west through Kansas. Development of drilling regulations didn’t begin until the late 1930s, with comprehensive regulation not established until the 1970s, according to a Kansas Corporation Commission (KCC) report.Many oil wells were never properly plugged off, leaving potential environmental consequences up to a century later, according to the KCC. Many wells weren’t documented and have been buried or overgrown, making them hard to find. Wells found in the eastern part of the state are typically older and have very little industry or historical documentation. “As a general rule, as you move west, specifically the southwest, it [wells] gets deeper,” KCC Conservation Division Director Ryan Hoffman said. “The further east you go, the shallower it is. It’s geology. It’s where the formations that produce the oil and gas are.” Kansas has historically been a top 10 producer of oil and gas in the U.S., according to Hoffman. In the late 1800s and early 1900s, wells were typically plugged by pouring cement in the hole from the surface, according to the National Petroleum Council (NPC). For shallower wells, the method was somewhat effective. As wells went deeper, cement needed to be pumped down to desired depths. Many early plugs didn’t harden as desired because holes required prior cleaning, according to the NPC. Newer methods use cement with hole-cleaning characteristics, which can displace leftover mud. Modern methods run a tube to the desired depth, and cement is pumped down the tubing. Cement flows around the tubing then water is pumped behind the cement. If done correctly, the cement will fill the space left by the tubing and leave a section of clean cement. In the 1950s, prior to modern regulations, many wells were plugged with brush, wood, paper sacks, linen or any other form of material that could be pushed into a well, according to the NPC. “If it’s a shallower well, we may just pull the tubing out and fill it with cement,” Hoffman said. “So, you have your casing there, and you fill that with cement all the way to the surface. Some of the deeper wells, instead of filling with cement, we’ll stage plugs over useful water or other formations like salt sections to keep them from being intruded by any other fluids and then cement at the surface.” Field data from four Conservation Division Districts puts the average cost to plug a well at $10,739. At this price, the remaining 5,290 abandoned wells in Kansas would cost roughly $56 million. Price discrepancies between districts are typically due to well depth, with deeper wells requiring more effort to plug, according to the KCC. In 2022, 249 plugging operations were approved, and all projects were completed. There are still more abandoned wells needing plugs than federal funds can provide.
As the anniversary of Enbridge’s refusal to shut down Line 5 approaches, groups press Biden admin ⋆ As the two-year anniversary approaches since Canadian oil company Enbridge began defying a state shutdown order, environmental groups this week are renewing their call for the Biden administration to take immediate action to protect the Great Lakes from a controversial 70-year-old crude oil pipeline. “There’s no place for old technology that pumps crude oil through Lake Michigan,” said Sean McBrearty, coordinator for the anti-Line 5 group Oil & Water Don’t Mix. “Whether or not Line 5 in the Straits of Mackinac is ever replaced some day, right now it is a ticking time bomb. That’s why the State of Michigan acted to shut it down and that’s why President Biden must urgently act to protect the Great Lakes before it’s too late.” In November 2020, Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer set a six-month deadline for Enbridge to cease operation of the two 20-inch underwater pipelines in the Straits of Mackinac while ordering the company’s 1953 easement with the state to be revoked and terminated. That deadline expired on May 12, 2021. Saturday will mark two years since the energy company has refused to comply. Enbridge is fighting a federal lawsuit filed by Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel in 2019 seeking to return the case to state court. That case currently sits before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, with Democratic leaders, with Democratic leaders in Michigan recently urging the Biden administration to intervene on behalf of the state. Tribal citizens and supporters march through Mackinaw City to protest Line 5 as part of the “Heart of the Turtle” international Indigenous gathering in opposition to oil pipelines, May 14, 2022 | Laina G. Stebbins Whitmer’s order terminating Enbridge’s Line 5 easement agreement cited numerous violations by Enbridge, including missing anchor supports, missing protective coatings, and pipeline damage, including from multiple ship anchor strikes. Enbridge argues that the pipeline tunnel they are seeking to build through the Straits would eliminate the chance of problems like an anchor strike while vastly reducing the possibility of oil ever leaking into the Great Lakes.
Bad River tribe and allies call for emergency Line 5 shutdown - Next week a court filing by the Bad River Band of Lake Superior Chippewa will be brought before a U.S. district court judge in Madison who is presiding over a legal battle between the tribe and the Canadian energy company Enbridge, over the company’s Line 5 pipeline. Since 2019, the tribe has argued that Enbridge is trespassing on its land, and that the pipeline endangers the Bad River. Momentum has continued to build on both sides of the legal battle, with the pipeline continuing to operate all the while.“The interconnected waters flowing through the Mashkiiziibii—the Bad River — are inseparable from our people’s existence,” said Bad River Band Chairman Mike Wiggins in a May 11 statement. “We cannot afford to place our trust wholly in Enbridge’s assurances that these waters are safe. Instead, we must follow the science and our own traditional knowledge gathered by generations whose lives depended on this ecosystem.”Wiggins’ statement accompanied the tribe’s court filing calling for an emergency closure of the pipeline. The filing echoes many concerns expressed by the tribe and environmental advocates about the possibility of a catastrophic failure in the pipeline. It highlights that some estimates show there are just 11 feet of protective soil underneath the pipeline, and just 5 feet above it.A breach in the pipeline could trigger a significant water quality and ecological disaster, the filing argues. Those fears have been further amplified by the arrival of spring flood season. In October, during court proceedings related to the tribe’s lawsuit, experts testifying on behalf of the Bad River Band stated that spring flooding could leave Line 5 virtually inaccessible. The lawsuit stemmed from the pipeline’s operation on tribal lands despite the tribe’s decision not to renew easements which expired in 2013.Last September, U.S. District Judge William Conley ruled that Enbridge is illegally trespassing on tribal land while collecting profits. An immediate shutdown of the pipeline was not on the table at the time. By December, the tribe and Enbridge were supposed to meet to discuss completing shutdown protocols for the pipeline, but were unable to come to an agreement. Opponents of the pipeline point to its design as an underground pipeline, not one meant to endure rushing river currents and flood waters. Shoreline erosion in Wisconsin is another concern, with experts testifying that in 2016 the riverbank lost 15 feet of shoreline in a single storm. Some 10 feet of riverbank has been lost in one part of the river in the two weeks prior to the emergency filing on Wednesday. Shoreline erosion is one effect of climate change in Wisconsin.The Enbridge company has countered that the 645-mile oil pipeline — which was built in 1953 — is modern, safe and crucial for supporting local economies, jobs and the supply of energy. A reroute has been proposed for the pipeline to steer it away from tribal lands. However, the Bad River Band has continued to demand that the pipeline be removed from the entire watershed, and not just from tribal lands.Wiggins is concerned that while the court makes its decision, Line 5 remains a ticking time bomb. “In one week alone, nearly half the riverbank eroded away,” said Wiggins. “At this moment, just one more storm could expose the oil pipeline to the river’s current, and we could experience a release of oil akin to what happened in the Yellowstone River in 2011 or the Arkansas River in 2014. This is an imminent threat not just to our way of life, but to the clean waters that sustain all the residents and businesses throughout the Lake Superior basin. The court needs to take action to shut down and purge Line 5 before it’s too late.”
EIA sees US oil output rising 5% in 2023, cuts price forecasts --The Energy Information Administration forecast U.S. crude production will rise about 5% in 2023, while fuel demand will increase 1%, and cut its estimates for Brent and U.S. crude prices. Crude production will rise 5.1% to 12.53 million barrels per day (bpd) in 2023 and 1.3% to 12.69 million bpd in 2024, the EIA said in its Short Term Energy Outlook (STEO). Total petroleum consumption is due to rise nearly 1% to 20.5 million bpd in 2023, and 1.4% to 20.8 million bpd in 2024, the EIA said. Growth in energy demand will help bring the global oil market into balance between the third quarter 2023 and the first quarter 2024, the EIA said. The EIA lowered forecasts for international benchmark Brent crude and U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude oil (WTI) spot prices in the latest report. The administration expects Brent spot prices to average $78.65 per barrel in 2023, versus $85.01 per barrel previously, the EIA said. It expects WTI crude spot prices to average $73.62 per barrel in 2023, versus $79.24 per barrel previously. Retail gasoline prices during the peak summer driving season this year will average about $3.40 per gallon, a 20% decrease from the summer 2022, the EIA said.
Just How Important Is The U.S. Shale Industry? | OilPrice.com - In 2022, almost 7.8 million barrels of crude oil daily were produced from so-called tight oil resources. The other name for these is unconventional resources. Yet a third and a lot more popular name is shale.Shale is a porous rock that traps hydrocarbon molecules in its pores and makes their release tricky. Or it used to be tricky. Back in the early 20th century, a technology called hydraulic fracturing was developed that allowed the extraction of those hydrocarbon molecules from the pores of the shale rock.Some trace the origins of fracking back to the 19thcentury when some producers used liquid and solid nitroglycerin to stimulate yields from oil wells in several U.S. states. Modern fracking, luckily for all involved, does not use nitroglycerin. It uses water, chemicals, and sand.Although known for decades, fracking only gathered pace in the early 2000s after a landmark study by the Environmental Protection Agency, which concluded that hydraulic fracturing does not pose a contamination threat to drinking water resources. What followed this study was aptly named a revolution.A historical U.S. oil production chart by the Energy Information Administration reveals a fascinating story. Until about the end of 2010, production grows gradually and consistently, with a few dips here and there following the industry boom and bust cycles.From 2011 onwards, growth is no longer smooth and gradual—it is a literal spike from around 5.6 million barrels daily at the end of 2010 to 13 million barrels daily by late 2019. All thanks to fracking. Fracking turned the United States into the world’s biggest oil producer and also the world’s biggest gas producer. It was gas production that hydraulic fracturing was first used for, and only later expanded to oil.To date, despite slowing production growth and forecasts from some analysts that the revolution is over for good, hydraulic fracturing still contributes the bulk of U.S. total oil and gas production and keeps it higher than anyone back in the 1970s, for instance, could have expected.
U.S. oil and gas health impacts cost $77 billion per year - Air pollution from U.S. oil and natural gas production causes roughly $77 billion in health impacts nationwide every year, while also contributing to thousands of early deaths and health flare-ups, a new study finds. It puts a price tag on one of the human costs of domestic oil and gas activity. The pollutants nitrogen oxide, fine particulate matter and ozone from U.S. oil and gas production contributed to 7,500 excess deaths, 410,000 asthma attacks, and 2,200 new cases of childhood asthma across the U.S. in 2016, per the study published Monday in the journal Environmental Research: Health.Nitrogen oxide was the largest contributor to the overall health impacts, followed by ozone and then fine particulate matter, according to researchers at Boston University School of Public Health, the University of North Carolina Institute for the Environment, PSE Healthy Energy and the Environmental Defense Fund. Texas, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Oklahoma, and Louisiana — all states with significant oil and gas activity — saw the highest proportions of associated health damages. Lead author Jonathan Buonocore, an assistant professor at Boston University School of Public Health, tells Axios that the effects were not limited to areas with active oil and gas production.Cases of premature deaths, asthma attacks and childhood asthma also spread regionally to affect densely populated cities with little to no gas activity, which included Chicago, New York City, Baltimore, Washington, D.C., and Orlando, according to Buonocore. Plus, Illinois and New York — states that produce "very little oil and gas," per the study — were among the top eight most impacted health hot spots. The $77 billion in annual health outcomes also includes hospitalizations and emergency room visits. "This is a major cost that's not being accounted for" in most discussions of oil and gas, says Buonocore. Ananya Roy, a senior health scientist at EDF and co-author of the study, tells Axios that their paper shows that air pollution "doesn't respect state boundaries."She also notes that while many studies have found that communities around oil and gas activity have been facing harm, scientists have not been able to directly link it to the air pollution arising from oil and gas production. "What's become really clear is that the oil and gas sector has climate, air pollution and health impacts," says Roy. "As they evaluate policies in the sector, they need to account for all of them."
$3.4 million fine proposed over 2021 oil spill that shuttered California beaches -- An energy company should be fined nearly $3.4 million for safety violations involving a 2021 oil pipeline spill that fouled Southern California beaches, a federal regulator said. Amplify Energy Corp. ignored 83 alarms indicating the offshore pipeline had leaked and failed to notify federal authorities or shut down the pipeline to San Pedro Bay until 17 hours after the first alarms, the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration said in a letter proposing the fine that was sent April 6 to the company's president. An email to the Houston-based firm seeking comment wasn't immediately returned Tuesday. The pipeline carries oil to shore from platforms in San Pedro Bay, near the Los Angeles and Long Beach harbors. The October 2021 spill of 25,000 gallons of crude oil created a miles-wide sheen in the ocean and sent blobs of crude ashore, primarily affecting the cities of Huntington Beach and Newport Beach. It further shuttered beaches for a week and fisheries for more than a month, oiled birds and threatened area wetlands. Amplify Energy said the spill was linked to damage from two ships it accused of dragging anchors and striking the pipeline during a January 2021 storm. It reached an $85 million settlement with the vessel companies. Southern California fishermen, tourism companies and property owners sued Amplify and the shipping vessels seeking compensation for their losses. Amplify agreed to pay $50 million and the vessel companies agreed to pay $45 million to settle those lawsuits. Amplify also reached a plea deal with federal authorities for negligently discharging crude. The company announced last month that it received approval from federal regulatory agencies to restart the pipeline.
Wildfires In Canada Force 30,000 To Flee, Slash Oil And Gas Production - Canada's top oil-producing province, Alberta, declared a state of emergency on Saturday as more than 100 wildfires raged across the region. On Monday, there were 100 wildfires, 29 of which were classified as out of control. Evacuation orders have been posted for 30,000 residents in the province. Bloomberg said numerous companies shut down 234,000 barrels a day of oil and gas production. The fires are striking Canada's main natural gas production region, including the prolific Montney and Duvernay formations, an area studded with wells and processing plants and criscrossed by pipelines. The region also is a major center for light oil production, and the disruptions have sent prices for some local grades of crude surging.Edmonton Mixed Sweet's discount to West Texas Intermediate narrowed by more than a third to $2.50 a barrel, the smallest discount since March, and Syncrude Sweet's premium grew to $3.50 a barrel, data compiled by Bloomberg show. Condensate's discount narrowed to $3.20 a barrel. One community under evacuation order as of Sunday was Fox Creek, a major center for light oil and gas drillers. Energy facilities and local residents were also being evacuated in Grande Prairie, provincial officials said. –Bloomberg NatGas for spot delivery at the Alberta Energy Co.'s hub jumped 34% to the equivalent of $2 per million British thermal units due to disruptions. The list (courtesy of Bloomberg) is the following energy companies whose operations have been impacted by out-of-control fires.
- Crescent Point Energy Corp. has shut in 45,000 barrels a day of production in the Kaybob Duvernay region, though the company said it has seen no damage to its assets.
- Vermilion Energy Inc. temporarily shut 30,000 barrels a day of production, but added in a statement that initial assessments indicate minimal damage to key infrastructure.
- Pipestone Energy Corp. has shut in around 20,000 barrels a day of production, the company said in a statement.
- Tourmaline Oil Corp. has closed down nine South and West Deep Basin gas processing facilities as nearby fires expanded and new wildfires rapidly emerged.
- Paramount Resources Ltd. has shut the equivalent of about 50,000 barrels a day of oil production as of May 5 as a precaution and because of disruptions to third-party infrastructure, the company said Sunday. Its operations in the Grande Prairie and Kaybob regions are being affected.
- TC Energy Corp. halted two compressor stations on its Nova Gas system nearest to active wildfires, the company said in an email Sunday. Other sections of the system and other networks continue to operate safely. The company is keeping workers away from facilities near active blazes unless necessary.
- Tidewater Midstream & Infrastructure Ltd. shut its Brazeau River Complex, a gas processing facility, west of Edmonton and evacuated all personnel, the company said in an email.
- Cenovus Energy Inc. has shut down some production and halted plants in some areas, a company spokesperson said.
- Kiwetinohk Energy Corp. shut in the majority of its Placid operations in response to third-party service interruptions.
- The government-owned Trans Mountain Pipeline, the sole link carrying Canadian crude to the Pacific coast, is still in operation but the company has deployed mitigation measures, including a perimeter sprinkler system at its Edson pump station, and is ready to deploy additional protection measures if needed, the company said.
- Tamarack Valley Energy Ltd. had to shut in less than 300 barrels a day of production after the gas processing plants operated by Tidewater and another run by Keyera Corp. went out of operation due to the blazes, Chief Executive Officer Brian Schmidt said by phone.
- Pembina Pipeline Corp. also said it evacuated some workers west of Edmonton.
Here are scenes from the ground.
Canada Probes Exxon Unit For Leaks At Oil Sands Site -- Canada said on Thursday that it had opened an investigation into Imperial Oil Ltd, a unit of U.S. supermajor ExxonMobil, over seepage of oil from its oil sands production site that has endangered fish in the area. “Environment and Climate Change Canada Enforcement has opened an investigation into a suspected contravention of subsection 36(3) of the Fisheries Act at Imperial Oil Ltd.’s Kearl Oil Sands Site,” the government said. That particular subsection of the Fisheries Act “prohibits the deposit of a deleterious substance into water frequented by fish, or in any place where the deleterious substance may enter any such water,” it added. Imperial Oil could be charged with non-compliance with the Act, Canada’s Environment and Climate Change Minister, Steven Guilbeault, said at a news conference on Thursday. “The process is underway to hold the company to account,” Guilbeault added. The first seepage was detected in May last year. However, neither Imperial Oil nor the Alberta Energy Regulator kept local First Nations or provincial and federal environment officials briefed until February 2023. In March this year, Canada issued a direction to Imperial Oil requiring immediate action to contain the seep and prevent it from entering a fish-bearing waterbody.First Nations in early March demanded“ accountability for the frequent and unprecedented failures of tailings dams, toxic tailing leaks and spills at the Kearl mine site – an oil sands mine in the Athabasca Oil Sands region north of Fort McMurray.” According to representatives of First Nations, the unestimated seepage amount continued in March, and the wastewater exceeded federal and provincial guidelines for iron, arsenic, sulfates, and hydrocarbons that could include kerosene, creosote, and diesel. “The government needs immediate and urgent action to protect people and the environment. Identify the causes of Imperial’s tailings breaches and find a resolution immediately. Imperial and the governments’ must contain Tar Sands’ toxic leaks,” Dene National Chief Gerald Antoine said in the March statement.
Sudbury news: Almost four months later, cleanup continues of oil spill in Ramsey Lake --Oil from a ruptured heating oil tank that spilled into Ramsey Lake last winter is still being cleaned up. A spokesperson for the Ministry of the Environment and Climate Change told CTV News that ministry staff visit the site at least once a week to monitor the process. “The excavation and removal of remaining contaminated soil is ongoing,” Gary Wheeler said in an email. “The mobile treatment unit remains in place to remove fuel from impacted runoff. The site is monitored daily, including weekends, by a professional environmental service provider.” On Jan. 12, roughly 812 litres of home heating fuel spilled to the ground from a residential storage tank on Gennings Street. Wheeler said most of the spilled fuel was recovered during the cleanup. “On Jan. 16, oil sheen was observed along the shoreline of (Ramsey Lake) at the home where the spill occurred. Containment measures were immediately put in place and the oily water was recovered using absorbent materials and skimmers,” he said. Since the spill, contaminated soil has been removed from all affected areas of the property and shoreline. “Regular water quality monitoring at the lakeshore has also occurred in addition to the installation of a mobile treatment unit to pump and treat run-off from a collection sump,” Wheeler said. “Marine booms and absorbent products will remain in place to prevent any remaining contamination from entering Lake Ramsey while cleanup activities continue.”
Letter: End fracking to protect British Columbians from climate disaster | The Rossland Telegraph --To The Editor: I am writing to express my total opposition to fracking in BC and anywhere in the world. Hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, involves drilling deep into the earth and directing a high-pressure mixture of water, sand and chemicals at a rock layer, to release the gas inside. Fracking for gas in northeast BC produces methane, a greenhouse gas that traps 86 times as much heat as carbon dioxide, and is responsible for about a quarter of global warming. Fracking can lead to methane leakage and groundwater pollution, as well as carbon emissions, and has been shown to be a danger to human health. In recent years, British Columbians have experienced deadly heat waves, wildfires, storms and floods, and pollution from fracking have caused these climate disasters. The number one job of governments is to keep people safe. That means we must end fracking as soon as possible. BC should stop issuing permits for new gas wells immediately and cancel all proposed LNG natural gas permits. Electric appliances can replace gas with affordable renewable energy in our homes and workplaces and help keep our planet safe. Gas is a fossil fuel that is just as bad as oil and coal for our environment. Let's end fracking and protect British Columbians from more climate disasters. We have everything we need to make the transition from fossil fuels except the political will. Sincerely, Sandra Hartline, Nelson, BC
Exxon, Conoco see new LNG markets with planned Alaskan pipeline – Oil companies have for decades pulled billions of dollars of natural gas from Alaska’s rugged North Slope, only to pump it back underground once it’s been separated from the crude oil they are seeking. More than 800 miles from the closest ice-free port accessible to ships, the North Slope has no natural gas pipeline and thus no market for companies such as Exxon Mobil and Conoco Phillips to sell their gas into. Now a planned $44 billion project that would pipe gas the length of Alaska to an LNG terminal outside Anchorage stands to change all that as state officials, with the support of the Biden administration, seek to breathe new life into the state’s declining oil and gas industry by shipping the gas across the northern Pacific to South Korea and Japan. Decades in the making, the project has confounded developers and engineers for years, entailing not only planning to build a pipeline across some of the nation’s most rugged and frigid wilderness but doing so at a price that can compete with a flood of new LNG projects coming online along the Gulf Coast, the Middle East and Australia. All at a time energy analysts are projecting demand for oil and gas to peak within the next two decades as nations respond to climate change. “It seemed like this thing was dead,” said Clark Williams-Derry, an analyst with the nonprofit Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis. “This project isn't cheap to begin with, and then you have all the question marks about what the LNG market will look like a decade from now. There's many reasons to think this isn't going to happen, but without this project, that gas is stranded." When Russian troops invaded Ukraine last year, driving up gas prices in Europe and Asia to well in excess of $15 per mmBTUs, Alaska LNG suddenly looked like it could be a viable project. “The impact of the Russian invasion of Ukraine tipped the world’s energy market on its head,” said Frank Richards, president of the Alaska Gas Development Corp. “What we see is increased interest from allies in Japan and Korea in having a reliable source of supply, and we have a stranded asset we can offer at a stable price.” And they have the ostensible support of the Biden administration, with U.S. Ambassador to Japan Rahm Emanuel hosting a meeting of top officials from both countries in Tokyo last year to “discuss how Alaska LNG can provide stable, sustainable and affordable energy sources to Japan.” Last month the Department of Energy renewed an export license for the project that had been previously approved by the Trump administration, following Biden's decision to allow Conoco Phillips to move ahead on its controversial Willow oil project on the North Slope. But deep questions remain as to whether Alaska LNG will actually go ahead, including whether it can clear a series of lawsuits by environmental groups arguing the federal government has failed to adequately assess the greenhouse gas emissions the project will generate. They claim those emissions will be far in excess of LNG projects along the Gulf Coast because of the energy demands of pumping gas more than 800 miles from the North Slope – almost twice the distance from West Texas’ Permian Basin to the Gulf Coast. At the same time, they are questioning whether the project is necessary considering the flood of LNG projects already under construction along the Gulf Coast.
LNG Cargoes Stall at Sea as High European, Asian Storage Outweighs Rock Bottom Prices - The amount of LNG floating on vessels at sea for extended periods is ticking above average levels, particularly in Asia, as buyers continue to shun cheap spot cargoes amid weak demand.
Greek Shipping Company Fined €2 Million For Environmental Violations On Oil Tanker -- Greek shipping company, Zeus Lines Management S.A., has been found guilty of violating environmental laws and has agreed to pay a penalty of €2,027,065 euros ($2.25 million US dollars), according to federal prosecutors. The violations were carried out by the captain and chief engineer of one of its oil tankers, the Galissas, during a voyage from Rotterdam, the Netherlands, to Rhode Island.The U.S. Attorney's Office in Providence announced that the Galissas discharged almost 10,000 gallons of oily bilge water directly into the ocean and failed to report a hazardous condition in the vessel’s cargo tanks to the U.S. Coast Guard last year. The tanker’s captain pleaded guilty to failing to report the hazardous condition to the Coast Guard prior to the tanker entering the port of Newport, Rhode Island.The vessel’s chief engineer pleaded guilty to knowingly discharging untreated oily bilge water directly from the tanker into the sea during the voyage. As per the plea agreement, Zeus' penalty of €2,027,065 euros includes a fine of €1,515,917.5 euros and €511,147.5 euros to be allocated to the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation for marine and coastal natural resources in Rhode Island. Additionally, Zeus will need to implement a robust environmental compliance plan for its vessels when they enter a U.S. port."This prosecution demonstrates our commitment to ensuring the health and safety of the marine environment," Assistant Attorney General Todd Kim of the Justice Department’s Environment and Natural Resources Division said in a statement. "The reckless actions of these defendants not only threatened the marine environment, but also the safety of this coastal community."
Turkey Makes Huge 1-Billion-Barrel Oil Discovery - Turkish Petroleum (TPAO) has made the largest crude oil discovery onshore Turkey with a find estimated to hold 1 billion barrels of crude, the Turkish company said. The discovery was made in the southeastern province of Sirnak, which borders the semi-autonomous Kurdistan Region in Iraq and Syria. Turkish Petroleum has drilled an exploration well and has encountered more than 162 meters of light oil-bearing reservoir with API gravity of 41. The well already produces around 10,000 barrels of oil per day, TPAO said. TPAO plans to drill back-to-back appraisal wells and conduct well tests to have a full-field development plan until the end of this year. Additional exploration activities are planned for the second half of 2023. The production target is set for 100,000 bpd, which would be more than double Turkey’s oil production. The exploration success is expected to help achieve Turkey’s energy independence, TPAO said in a statement. Currently, Turkey depends mostly on oil imports for its consumption. The country is also targeting natural gas independence with recent huge finds of gas in the Black Sea and the start of gas transmission from the Sakarya Gas Field last month. In April, Turkish Energy and Natural Resources Minister Fatih Dönmez told broadcaster CNN Türk that the volumes of natural gas that Turkey had found so far in the Black Sea were worth in excess of $500 billion. The huge gas finds would be enough to supply all households in the country for 35 years, or to cover total Turkish natural gas consumption, including from industry, for 15 to 20 years, the minister added.
Indias Russia oil imports jumped tenfold in 2022, bank says --India's imports of Russian oil rose tenfold last year, according to Indian state-controlled lender Bank of Baroda. The figures show Asia's third largest economy saved around $5bn (£4bn) as it ramped up crude purchases from Moscow. It comes as Western countries have been cutting their imports of energy from Russia after its invasion of Ukraine. Russia has been selling energy at a discount to countries like China and India, which is the world's third largest importer of oil. In 2021 Russian oil accounted for just 2% of India's annual crude imports. That figure now stands at almost 20%, Bank of Baroda said. India's purchases of oil from Russia during the last financial year, saved it around $89 per tonne of crude, the figures show. Despite pressure from the US and Europe, India has refused to adhere to Western sanctions on Russian imports. New Delhi has also not explicitly condemned Russia's invasion of Ukraine. India has defended its oil purchases, saying that as a country reliant on energy imports and with millions living in poverty, it was not in a position to pay higher prices. Since the Ukraine war began, Europe had imported six times more energy from Russia than India, the country's External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar said in a TV interview last year. "Europe has managed to reduce its imports while doing it in a manner that is comfortable," he said. Mr Jaishankar added: "If it is a matter of principle why did Europe not cut on the first day?"
Northern Territory clears way for fracking to begin in Beetaloo Basin | Northern Territory --The Northern Territory government says it is satisfied the recommendations of an independent inquiry into fracking have been met, clearing the way for gas production and the expansion of wells across the Beetaloo basin. The NT chief minister, Natasha Fyles, announced Wednesday morning her government was giving a green light for gas production in the region between Katherine and Tennant Creek, a move environment organisations and scientists have warned will have an unacceptable impact on the climate. Wednesday’s announcement means gas companies can apply for production licences and environmental impact assessments. “Along with our world class renewable resources, our highly prospective onshore gas resources will support the energy transition to renewables not only for the Northern Territory, but for Australia and the world,” Fyles said. The territory’s deputy chief minister, Nicole Manison, said “we want nations to be able to decarbonise the economy in a safe and sustainable way and gas will be that important fuel of transition, the onshore gas industry will also be good for the territory’s economy.” Companies will still need to make financial decisions about whether to proceed, but if the Beetaloo did reach full production it could see thousands of wells across the landscape. Analysis by Reputex in 2021 estimated a high production scenario in the Beetaloo could lead to an additional 1.4 billion tonnes of life cycle emissions - which includes emissions from when the gas is sold and used - over 20 years. On Wednesday, 96 scientists published an open letter calling for the Northern Territory government to ban unconventional gas projects because of their effects on the climate. The International Energy Agency and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change have said no new coal and gas projects can proceed if the world is to limit global heating to 1.5C. “This is a profoundly sad day for the Northern Territory. As we look down the barrel of unliveability here in the Northern Territory due to climate change, the Chief Minister has today given the green light for a carbon bomb that will hurtle us towards climate collapse,” Kirsty Howey, the executive director of the Environment Centre NT, said.
Tamboran Resources welcomes Beetaloo Basin fracking approval, as Northern Territory locals raise concerns over groundwater use - A US gas company with the biggest stake in the Beetaloo Basin has welcomed the approval of a full-scale fracking industry, promising "billions of dollars" in royalties. On Wednesday, the company's hopes came true. "We're very pleased [with] the way the timing worked out," chief executive Joel Riddle told reporters on Friday. "That was not planned." Mr Riddle said Tamboran was committed to delivering 10 per cent of royalties from its Beetaloo gas production revenues to territory coffers. "The quantum of royalties is in the billions of dollars that could flow into the Northern Territory government and the Northern Land Council," he said. The total figure would depend on gas prices and demand, he said. In a small town closer to the basin, not everyone was celebrating. "I'm devastated," local Des Barritt said. "I'm really, really angry." Mr Barritt runs the Little Roper stock camp in Mataranka, about 100 kilometres from the Beetaloo sub-basin. His business relies upon tourists visiting natural thermal pools — such as Bitter Springs — which draws in groundwater from a huge interconnected aquifer. "The water is irreplaceable," he said. In one scenario outlined by the Pepper Inquiry's final report, about 2,500 to 5,000 megalitres of water could be needed per year for drilling and fracking wells in the Beetaloo Basin. Mr Barritt said he didn't trust the Northern Territory government to properly monitor fracking water use. "They're not transparent," he said. "Any risk to our water needs to be considered with a lot more rigour than what the Northern Territory government's doing at the moment."
‘This is so disappointing’: Outrage after Northern Territory Labor government --The Northern Territory government has paved the way for fracking in the Beetaloo Basin, a move which has caused outrage. Chief Minister Natasha Fyles on Wednesday released the Final Implementation Report into the Scientific Inquiry into Hydraulic Fracturing. She said it sets out significantly "stronger environmental, cultural, social, economic and health protections”. “Gas is the transition fuel that enables renewable energy technology,” Ms Fyles said. “The new industry standards set the bar high with clear expectations and transparency for industry compliance. Ms Fyles stressed that Indigenous Territorians have the power to veto a project. "All applications made for gas production, subject to the industry's successful exploration and appraisal results, will go through this rigorous approval and monitoring process," she added. "I want to make it clear, traditional owners, Aboriginal Territorians have the power to veto a project." Independent Senator David Pocock said the announcement was “frankly ridiculous”, especially from a Labor government. “This is so disappointing to see in 2023 Labor governments pushing for the expansion of the fossil fuel industry,” he told the ABC. "It is frankly ridiculous, given what we know about climate change and the incredible opportunity for Australia to decarbonise and start to lead the world in that. “Instead, we're seeing politicians wanting to have it both ways.
Letters: Fracking move ignores science -It’s outrageous that the Northern Territory government has approved fracking in the Beetaloo Basin (“Indigenous anger as NT allows fracking in Beetaloo”, May 4).A forensic legal analysis completed last year found that only 27 per cent of risks had been addressed since the 2018 Pepper Inquiry into hydraulic fracturing.It is therefore very unlikely that all 135 scientific recommendations have suddenly been implemented. Amid climate and environmental breakdown, and opposition from traditional owners, it is shocking that this destructive industry is even considered, let alone given the green light by governments.As Saul Griffith proposes, an “aggressive decarbonisation agenda” is the sensible and safe path forward (“Labor’s ‘electrify everything’ ambition muted by inflation fear”, May 4). --Amy Hiller, Kew, Vic
Fracking regulator disputes NT government's claim it met all Pepper Inquiry promises - ABC News --The Northern Territory's independent regulator has disputed a claim that the government met all the recommendations of a major inquiry before approving fracking.On Wednesday NT Chief Minister Natasha Fyles green-lit full-scale gas production in the Beetaloo Basin, five years after amoratorium on fracking was lifted.The ban was lifted on the condition the NT government implement in full all 135recommendations of the 2018 Pepper Inquiry, which were aimed at mitigating all associated risks from fracking."We have undertaken a comprehensive body of work so that we can meet those independent recommendations — all 135 from the initial inquiry," Ms Fyles said.But the independent officer overseeing the implementation of the requirements, David Ritchie, said recommendation 9.8 remained outstanding. What is Recommendation 9.8?This measure requires the NT and federal governments seek to ensure there is no net increase to Australia's carbon emissions from fracked gas in the NT."My report makes it very clear … that [with recommendation] 9.8, we've still got Scope 2 emissions that have not been accounted for," Dr Ritchie told reporters this morning."The inquiry found that the release of that quantity of gas, that 26-odd million tonnes, is an unacceptable risk."That's why 9.8 exists."Speaking to reporters yesterday, Ms Fyles said: "In terms of 9.8, we have absolutely met the recommendation".In Dr Ritchie's final report, he wrote "there has been no progress on the crux of this recommendation". Grattan Institute program director for energy and climate change, Tony Wood, said it was still unclear how the NT government would help offset all the lifecycle emissions from fracking, as promised."The Northern Territory government says 'we can't take responsibility for emissions that occur outside the Northern Territory'," Mr Wood said. "But inside Australia, the Commonwealth government hasn't come up with a particular view yet about how it would contribute." Climate Council chief executive Amanda McKenzie said the question of whether Beetaloo emissions were being burned in the NT, interstate or overseas was irrelevant in the context of global warming. "It doesn't matter where it's burned — climate change affects all of us," she said. "You can't slow down by putting your foot on the accelerator."
UK: Bonga Oil Spill Case Resolved in Shell's Favour - --A UK court has ruled in favour of oil major Shell in an oil pollution case going back to 2011. The Nigerian claimants' case against two Shell subsidiaries emanated from an oil spill involving a tanker loading crude oil from Shell's Bonga oil field 120 m from the Nigerian coast. The UK's Supreme Court upheld rulings by two lower courts that found the claimants had brought their case after the expiry of a six-year legal deadline for taking action, Reuters reports. The claimants' lawyers had argued that the ongoing consequences of the pollution represented a "continuing nuisance", a type of civil tort, which would have meant the deadline did not apply. Two Nigerian citizens were appellants in the Supreme Court case, but the ruling will also apply to the thousands of other claimants. Shell had disputed the claimants' allegations, saying the Bonga spill did not impact the shoreline. The court did not rule on the disputed facts as it was seeking only to decide the legal point about nuisance.
Exxon & Guyana environment agency breaches oil spill insurance --- A Guyanese court on Wednesday ruled that oil giant ExxonMobil’s offshore oil unit in Guyana is in breach of its insurance obligations, Reuters reports. According to high court justice Sandil Kissoon, ExxonMobil “engaged in a disingenuous attempt” to dilute its obligations under its environmental permit for its Liza One project. The environmental permit for the Liza One unit requires ExxonMobil to take responsibility for a range of potential outcomes, including an umbrella guarantee that commits the company to cover all damage costs, beyond a $600m penalty should the project spill its oil. Kissoon’s ruling stated that ExxonMobil must provide Guyana’s authorities with a liability agreement from an insurance company by 10 June. If they miss this deadline, Liza One’s environmental permit will be suspended. The agreement would protect the company from future damages stemming from incidents that cause environmental damage, such as oil spills. Exxon “engaged in a course of action made permissible only by the omissions of a derelict, pliant, and submissive Environmental Protection Agency,” Kissoon wrote in the ruling via Reuters. However, the country’s government has rejected the High Court’s decision. It said that the court breached its statutory duty by failing to enforce compliance by Esso Exploration and Production Guyana, adding that Kissoon “fell into error in his findings”. The government plans to appeal the ruling, it said in a statement, adding that it will seek orders to suspend the decision. “The ruling is what it is and we will comply at this time,” a spokesperson for the country’s Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) said. A spokesperson for Exxon said that the company is reviewing the court decision and will evaluate next steps. An association of oil firms, led by ExxonMobil and including US company Hess and China’s CNOOC, currently produce the entirety of Guyana’s crude oil output, totalling approximately 380,000 barrels per day.
Japan urges action on decaying oil tanker in Yemen --Japan’s State Minister for Foreign Affairs Kenji Yamada has called for urgent international action to salvage the FSO Safer, a supertanker in an advanced state of decay moored off Yemen’s Red Sea coast, in a video message statement delivered on May 4 at the Pledging Conference. The conference, co-hosted by the UN and governments of the UK and the Netherlands, highlighted the critical situation of the supertanker. The FSO Safer, which currently holds four times the amount of oil spilled by the Exxon Valdez — enough to make it the fifth-largest oil spill from a tanker in history — is expected to break apart or explode if not addressed promptly, according to the UN. A massive spill could devastate the Red Sea’s pristine reefs, coastal mangroves, and sea life, exposing millions to highly polluted air and cutting off food, fuel, and other life-saving supplies to Yemen. During the conference, Yamada highlighted the importance of the UN-coordinated Safer Salvage Operation Project to mitigate the risk of a catastrophic spill. “In light of the importance of this issue, we will continue to work with the international community to advance this project,” he stated, emphasizing that the FSO Safer was one of the most pressing issues for the international community, given the many challenges Yemen is facing. Yamada highlighted Japan’s commitment to addressing the humanitarian crisis in Yemen, having provided approximately $430 million in humanitarian assistance since 2015. He announced that Japan would provide at least $24 million of additional humanitarian assistance in 2023. Reiterating Japan’s determination to continue working with the international community to address the FSO Safer issue, Yamada underscored the importance of collaboration to mitigate the risk of having one of the world’s largest oil spills.
Fuel released into sea as ship capsizes off Bataan — A vessel capsized off Mariveles, Bataan Saturday morning, releasing several liters of fuel into the sea, the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) said. PCG said MV Hong Hai 189 capsized and sank 400 yards from the Sisiman Lighthouse in Mariveles town at around 5:21 a.m. Saturday, prompting authorities to install oil spill booms in the area. The sunken vessel spilled between 30 and 50 liters of fuel and other mixed substances into the sea, PCG added, noting that there was no additional traces of an oil spill in the nearby waters. Personnel from the PCG Station Bataan and Marine Environmental Protection Unit (MEPU) were monitoring the situation "for further measures." The sinking came more than two months since oil tanker MT Princess Empress sank off Oriental Mindoro last February, releasing about 800,000 liters of industrial fuel into the sea. Damage caused by the Mindoro oil spill has reached P3.88 billion, with the number of affected families rising to around 40,000, the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) said.
Tethys begins oil export from extended well in Oman - Oil export from the extended well test from Oman's Al Jumd discovery started at the end of March following the installation and commissioning of the fiscal meter, Tethys Oil said in a statement on Tuesday. “The three horizontal wells drilled on the Al Jumd discovery last year will now be evaluated, and the structure appraised for commercial viability. An important, if not decisive, milestone has been reached in the continuing exploration of onshore Block 56 in Oman,” the statement added. The other major Block 56 event in Oman in the first quarter was the finalisation of the processing of the Central Area seismic. Interpretation is ongoing and by the end of the second quarter, we hope to have identified several drillable prospects to be tested by the drill bit in the second half of 2023. Regarding Oman's Block 58 seismic interpretation is further along with work on the Fahd area completed, drillable prospects identified, and prospective resources estimated and risked. Interpretation of the Lahan area is nearing completion and these carbonate stringers imbedded in salt hold interesting potential but the year’s exploration drilling in Block 58 will most likely target the large Fahd prospects, the statement further said. The exploration drilling on Block 58 and Block 56 will be the main focus areas for the second half of the year and with prospective resources well close to 200 million barrels of oil, success could be transformative. “We expect to revisit our old friend on Block 49, the Thameen-1 well, later this year, most likely in the third quarter. The well will undergo a re-test and preparations and tendering for the services needed to re-enter the well and conduct hydraulic fracturing operations in the tight sandstone are ongoing,” the statement said.
Global oil supply falls by half a million barrels per day in April --- Global oil supply fell month-on-month by 500,000 barrels per day (bpd) in April, averaging 101.3 million bpd, according to the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries’ (OPEC) most recent monthly oil market report on Thursday. Secondary sources showed that total crude oil production from the 13 member countries of the OPEC group, or OPEC-13, averaged 28.60 million bpd in April, 191,000 bpd lower than the previous month. Crude oil output increased mainly in Saudi Arabia, Angola and Iran, while production in Iraq and Nigeria declined by 203,000 bpd and 170,000 bpd, respectively. Production in Saudi Arabia rose by 95,000 bpd, followed by 79,000 bpd in Angola. The share of OPEC crude oil in total global production remained unchanged at 28.2% in April. Meanwhile, the global rig count totaled 1,889 in April, a reduction of 65 from March, while OPEC countries accounted for 420 rigs. - World oil demand growth forecast remains unchanged for 2023 OPEC kept its forecast for global oil demand growth unchanged for 2023. The group predicts that oil demand will increase by 2.3 million bpd in 2023 to reach 101.9 million bpd. 'Minor upward adjustments were made due to the better-than-expected performance in China's economy, while other regions are expected to see slight declines, due to economic challenges that are likely to weigh on oil demand,' OPEC said. 'However, this forecast is subject to many uncertainties, including global economic developments and ongoing geopolitical tensions,' OPEC added.
OPEC: World Oil Demand To Rise By 2.33 Million Bpd In 2023 --For the third month running, OPEC has barely changed its forecast of global oil demand, predicting growth of 2.33 million barrels per day, or 2.3% Y/Y growth, good for a very slight increase from its previous forecast of 2.32 million barrels per day. According to OPEC, strong growth in the Chinese market of 800,000 b/d is likely to be offset by downside risks elsewhere such as the U.S. debt ceiling. "Minor upward adjustments were made due to the better than expected performance in China's economy, while other regions are expected to see slight declines due to economic challenges that are likely to weigh on oil demand," OPEC said in the report. Over the past year, energy agencies have generally grown more bearish with their forecasts on oil demand growth. The EIA’s latest growth prediction of a decline of 420,000 barrels per day (kb/d) in what experts refer to as the call on OPEC (i.e. global demand minus non-OPEC supply) in the current year, a level 1.87 million barrels per day (mb/d) lower than its July 2022 forecast. Other agencies expect lackluster growth: Standard Chartered sees “the call” growing by just 63,000 b/d, 1.41mb/d less than its July 2022 forecast, while the International Energy Agency (IEA) expects growth of 400kb/d, 2.326mb/d below its July 2022 forecast. The upshot of it all is that all four agencies at least expect some growth, though they can’t seem to come close to finding consensus on the magnitude. At least one expert has predicted that oil demand will hit an all-time high in the current year. Commodity experts at StanChart have predicted that global oil demand will set a new all-time high of 102.24mb/d in August, surpassing the previous record of 102.2mb/d set in August 2019. The bullish interpretation simply is that this is an all-time high; the bearish one is that it has taken no less than four years for global demand just to get back to the previous high. Indeed, StanChart reckons that had it been business-as-usual during those four years, global oil demand would have increased by another 5mb/d. Even better, StanChart sees oil demand setting fresh all-time highs in both November and December with demand set to rise above 103mb/d for the first time in June 2024.
Oil Gains Nearly 2% After ‘Overblown’ Selloff Brent crude oil was up nearly 2% on Monday, largely driven by the easing of economic slowdown fears in the U.S. At 10:39 a.m. EST on Monday, Brent was trading up 1.62% at $76.52, for a $1.22 gain on the day, while West Texas Intermediate (WTI) was trading up 1.95% at $72.73, for a $1.39 gain on the day. Last week, while Brent was up on Friday, the crude benchmark shed over 5% and WTI shed over 7% on the week, hitting their lowest levels since Q4 2021. Friday also marked three straight weeks of price slides. Driving bearish sentiment in markets are renewed fears of a US banking crisis contagion and lukewarm industrial figures from China. Hijacked tankers in the Strait of Hormuz, falling US inventories, and the lack of a deal to unlock Kurdish oil exports all failed to offset the macroeconomic doom and gloom. Recession, though, has been the buzzword putting oil prices in reverse, and Monday saw traders change course with the view that the sell-off had been overdone. Traders were also looking at the U.S. April jobs market data, though with a bit of caution as a strong labor market could prompt more rate hikes from the Federal Reserve. Some analysts continue to be concerned about future oil demand, based on what is viewed as a deteriorating growth outlook, which has since been somewhat eased by the April jobs report. However, over the weekend, Goldman Sachs labeled the oil sell-off as “overblown” in the face of a strong demand outlook, also noting that production cuts from OPEC+ begin this month, putting further pressure on supply to meet demand. The market will now be looking first to OPEC’s monthly oil market report due out on May 11, followed by the next OPEC+ meeting scheduled for June 4.
Oil Trims Gains on US Dollar After Survey Shows Tighter Credit - Oil futures settled Monday's session higher, although all petroleum contracts pared earlier advances after a Federal Reserve survey revealed tighter credit conditions for U.S. businesses and households over the past three months, lifting the U.S. dollar index against a basket of major currencies. The Senior Loan Officer Opinion Survey on Bank Lending Practices, or SLOOS, published Monday afternoon showed 48.5% of large banks and 36.7% of smaller lending institutions reported they "tightened credit somewhat," although a majority of banks still see the availability of credit largely unchanged from the fourth quarter 2022. While no large banks reported beefed up lending standards, 3.2% of all banks responded they "tightened credit considerably" over the past three months, which follows the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank on March 10. "Regarding ... reasons for changing standards on all loan categories in the first quarter, banks cited a less favorable or more uncertain economic outlook, reduced tolerance for risk, deterioration in collateral values, and concerns about banks' funding costs and liquidity positions," according to comments from the SLOOS survey. The survey suggests that the recent turmoil in the banking sector has been somewhat contained, having a limited impact on credit availability that might have contributed to a stronger economy at the start of the second quarter. Friday's employment report revealed U.S. economy added 253,000 new jobs in April as the unemployment rate fell for the second straight month to a 3.4% 54-year low. The strength of the labor market coupled with still-solid consumer spending lifted the Atlanta Federal Reserve Bank's GDPNow running estimate of U.S. Gross Domestic Product growth to 2.7% for the second quarter, up from 1.8% seen on May 1. As fears over imminent recession fade, oil traders raised bets on more robust U.S. fuel demand this summer, pushing oil futures up more than 2% on the session. After reaching a $73.69-per-barrel (bbl) four-day high intraday, NYMEX West Texas Intermediate June futures settled up $1.82 at $73.16 per bbl. ICE Brent July futures climbed $1.71 bbl to $77.01 bbl. NYMEX RBOB June futures jumped $0.0826 for a $2.4616-per-gallon settlement, and the front-month ULSD contract advanced $0.0630 to $2.3777 per gallon. The U.S. dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of six global currencies, strengthened 0.156 points to 101.155.
Oil Prices Decline On Weak China Data -- Oil prices fell notably on Tuesday, after having gained more than 2 percent in the previous session on the back of better-than-expected U.S. jobs data and signs of supply disruptions in Canada. Benchmark Brent crude futures fell 0.7 percent to $76.45 a barrel, while WTI crude futures were down 0.8 percent at $72.61. Oil prices weakened today as fresh data showed China's imports contracted sharply in April and exports grew at a slower pace, reinforcing signs of feeble domestic demand despite the lifting of Covid-19 controls. Exports registered an annual growth of 8.5 percent in April, the General Administration of Customs reported. Economists had forecast shipments to climb 8.0 percent after a 14.8 percent gain in March. On the other hand, imports declined 7.9 percent annually, which was much bigger than March's 1.4 percent drop and economists' forecast of 5.0 percent decrease. Traders also looked ahead to the release of U.S. reports on consumer and producer price inflation on Wednesday and Thursday, respectively for additional clues on the Federal Reserve's monetary policy path.
The Oil Market Looked Ready to Post an Inside Trading Day Before the Market Rallied to its Highs Ahead of the Close -- The oil market looked ready to post an inside trading day before the market rallied to its highs ahead of the close. The market had traded to $73.08 in overnight trading before it sold off to a low of $71.34 by mid-day as traders took some profits following its recent rebound. The market was pressured amid the strength in the dollar. However, the market bounced off its low and rallied higher ahead of the close, breaching its previous high of $73.69 as it traded to a high of $73.78. The market turned around on reports that the Biden administration announced it was cancelling some 140 million barrels of previously mandated sales and would begin replenishing the SPR later this year. The market was also supported by the EIA forecasting higher seasonal demand and lower than expected output in its Short Term Energy Outlook. The June WTI settled up 55 cents at $73.62 and the July Brent contract settled up 43 cents at $77.44. The product markets ended the session in positive territory, with the heating oil market settling up 1.25 cents at $2.3902 and the RB market settling up 1.83 cents at $2.4799. In its Short Term Energy Outlook, the EIA raised its 2023 world oil demand growth forecast by 120,000 bpd to 1.56 million bpd but cut its forecast for 2024 world oil demand growth by 130,000 bpd to 1.72 million bpd. World oil demand is forecast to total 100.99 million bpd in 2023 and 102.71 million bpd in 2024. World petroleum output is forecast to increase by 1.49 million bpd in 2023 to 101.34 million bpd and by 1.68 million bpd in 2024 to 103.02 million bpd. OPEC oil output in 2023 is forecast to fall by 330,000 bpd to 28.34 million bpd but increase by 650,000 bpd to 28.99 million bpd in 2024. The EIA said that U.S. oil output in 2023 is forecast to increase by 640,000 bpd to 12.53 million bpd, up 660,000 bpd from a previous forecast. U.S. oil output in 2024 is forecast to increase by 160,000 bpd to 12.69 million bpd, up 210,000 bpd from a previous forecast. U.S. total petroleum consumption is forecast to increase by 200,000 bpd to 20.5 million bpd, up from a previous estimate of a 100,000 bpd increase and demand is expected to increase by 300,000 bpd to 20.8 million bpd in 2024. The EIA cut its forecasts for Brent crude and WTI crude spot prices. It expects Brent spot prices to average $78.65/barrel in 2023, down from a previous forecast of $85.01/barrel and expects WTI crude prices to average $73.62/barrel in 2023, down from a previous forecast of $79.24/barrel. Retail gasoline prices during the peak summer driving season this year will average about $3.40/gallon, down 20% on the year. The United Arab Emirates' Energy Minister, Suhail al-Mazrouei, said that additional voluntary cuts by the OPEC+ producer group were implemented to balance the oil market. He said he was concerned about future supply shortages due to low investment. According to Wood Mackenzie, Canada’s energy production, shut in due to wildfires, may be able to return quickly as rain headed for the areas in western Canada should improve safety conditions. It said that about 2.5 bcfd of natural gas production or about 15% of Canada’s output, has been shut in due to the fires. Wood Mackenzie also said that while some oil output has been curtailed, crude pipeline operations in western Canada have been “largely unaffected”. The fires have shut down the equivalent of at least 234,000 bpd of oil production. Alberta is reporting 89 active wildfires, with 27 out of control, down from more than 100 total active fires on Monday.
Oil recoups losses on plans for SPR refill, higher seasonal demand (Reuters) -Oil prices ticked up on Tuesday, reversing a more than 2% drop earlier in the session, as markets weighed U.S. government’s plans to refill the nation’s emergency oil reserve and anticipated higher seasonal demand. Brent crude settled 43 cents, or 0.6% higher, at $77.44 a barrel, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude closed up 55 cents, or 0.8%, at $73.71. Both benchmarks had fallen about 2.5% earlier in the session after two days of gains. Biden administration plans to begin purchasing oil to replenish the Strategic Petroleum Reserve helped cover speculative short positions, said Robert Yawger, executive director of energy futures at Mizuho. Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm has said the administration could start buying back crude oil for the Strategic Petroleum Reserve late this year after President Joe Biden last year directed the largest sale yet from the stockpile. A report from the Energy Information Administration (EIA) pointing to higher seasonal demand and lower-than-expected output also supported prices. “We expect the seasonal rise in oil consumption and a drop in OPEC crude oil production to put some upward pressure on crude oil prices in the coming months,” the Energy Information Administration said in its Short-Term Energy Outlook. The EIA also forecasts U.S. crude production will rise 5.1% to 12.53 million barrels per (bpd) day this year, but lowered its output estimate for this year and next from previous forecasts. It cut its estimate for Brent and WTI prices by more than 7% each to $78.65 and $73.62 a barrel, respectively. U.S. crude oil inventories rose by about 3.6 million barrels in the week ended May 5, according to market sources citing American Petroleum Institute figures on Tuesday, compared with analysts’ estimate for a drawdown of about 917,000 barrels. Prices were held back, however, by data that showed China’s imports contracted in April, while exports rose at a slower pace, implying weak domestic demand. Markets were also monitoring U.S. President Joe Biden and top Republican lawmakers’ comments on raising the $31.4 trillion U.S. debt ceiling, fearing an unprecedented default if Congress does not act in three weeks. U.S. consumer price index (CPI) figures for April are due to be released on Wednesday and could determine the Federal Reserve’s next interest rate decision. New York Fed President John Williams said inflation remains too high and that the central bank will raise rates again if necessary, even though the U.S. central bank dropped guidance about the need for future hikes. While doubts about the economy could weigh on markets, crude prices were supported as wildfires prompted oil producers in the Canadian province of Alberta to shut in at least 319,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day, more than 3.7% of Canada’s output.
Goldman Sachs Reiterates $100 Brent Price Forecast, Expects Oil To Rally If US Avoids Recession - United States Oil Fund (ARCA:USO) - Despite the sharp declines experienced by oil prices in recent weeks, Goldman Sachs GS reiterated its forecast for Brent prices of $95 by December 2023 and $100 for April 2024. Supply deficits are expected to surge in the second half of the year, the firm predicts. The selloff was mostly driven by recessionary fears about demand, the U.S. banking crisis and reports about increased oil production in Russia, Iran, and other OPEC nations. The United States Oil Fund USO, an exchange-traded fund that tracks WTI prices, is down 5% thus far this year. It witnessed an 18% dip between mid-April and early May, after surging nearly 25%. Further increases in emerging market demand, along with OPEC cuts, will result in oil supply shortfalls in the second half of the year, according to Goldman Sachs. The investment bank forecasts a roughly 90% compliance rate for the announced 1.16mb/d drop in OPEC+ ex-Russia output, as the nations who announced the additional cut had a solid compliance track record. Goldman analysts remarked that forward prices appear exceptionally low in comparison to analysts' consensus predictions, with the difference between 12 months ahead Brent consensus estimates ($90/bbl) and futures ($70/bbl) ranking in the 98th percentile in its history. The Goldman Sachs model forecasts that oil spot prices in May 2023 will be 16% higher than today's 12-month forward in the absence of a US recession, at $81/bbl, but only 4% lower in the event of a recession, at $67/bbl.
WTI Extends Losses After Biden Admin Drains SPR By Most Since December - Oil prices are lower this morning, after a quick trip higher on weaker-than-expected CPI (less Fed tightening). However, this 'dovish' dip in CPI was not enough to quell concerns about a recession and implicitly weak oil demand.“Wall Street remains unsure of how long this disinflation journey will take to get to the Fed’s inflation target of 2.0%,” Prices were also weighed down by API's report which showed an unexpected crude build (the biggest since Feb). API
- Crude +3.618mm (-800k exp) - biggest build since Feb
- Cushing -1.316mm
- Gasoline +399k (-800k exp)
- Distillates -3.945mm (-400k exp)
DOE
- Crude +2.951mm (-800k exp) - biggest build since Feb '23
- Cushing +397k
- Gasoline -3.167mm (-800k exp)
- Distillates -4.17mm (-400k exp) - biggest draw since Oct '22
The official data confirmed API's reported and unexpected crude build and gasoline;s large inventory draw...Despite all the chatter about refilling, the Biden admin drained 2.924mm barrels from the SPR (the 6th straight week of draws)... The so-called 'adjustment' factor was positive yet again...US Crude production remains at cycle highs despite the rig counts decline...mWTI was hovering around $72.50 ahead of the official data and is extending those losses after a brief spike as the belief in the admin's plan to refill fades...The White House’s plan to begin purchasing oil to replenish the nation’s emergency reserve added some price support, along with output disruptions in Canada. Wildfires in Alberta may have reduced energy production by the equivalent of 500,000 barrels a day, according to Rystad Energy.
Oil Mixed After EIA Shows Large Crude Build, Products Draw - New York Mercantile Exchange oil futures turned mixed in late-morning trade Wednesday, reacting to inventory data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration showing domestic crude oil stockpiles increased sharply last week, while supplies of refined fuels dropped by more than 7 million barrels (bbl) amid higher fuel demand. U.S. commercial crude oil inventories fell for the first time in four weeks through May 5, rising 3 million bbl to 462.6 million bbl, and are now about 1% below the five-year average. Markets have mostly expected crude stockpiles would fall by 800,000 bbl from the prior week. The build was realized on the back of another 2.9-million-bbl transfer of crude oil last week from the nation's Strategic Petroleum Reserve to the commercial side. Such sales will continue through the end of June, according to the Energy Department, which is conducting the transactions. Oil stored at Cushing, Oklahoma, hub -- the delivery point for West Texas Intermediate -- increased 397,000 bbl from the previous week to 34 million bbl, the EIA said in its weekly report. U.S. crude oil production remained unchanged at 12.3 million bpd. Domestic refiners raised utilization by 0.3% from the previous week to 91% of capacity, processing 15.745 million bpd in the reviewed week. Analysts were expecting a larger 0.5% increase in refinery run rates. In the gasoline complex, stockpiles slid 3.2 million bbl last week to 219.7 million bbl compared with analyst expectations for an 800,000-bbl decrease. Demand for gasoline, meanwhile, improved by 685,000 bpd to 9.303 million bpd ahead of the busy summer travel season. Distillate stocks, which are mostly diesel fuel, fell by 4.2 million bbl to 106.2 million bbl, and remained about 15% below the five-year average, EIA said. Analysts had expected distillate inventories would fall 400,000 bbl from the previous week. Total products supplied over the last four-week period averaged 19.9 million bpd, up 2.5% from the same period last year. Over the past four weeks, gasoline supplied to the U.S. market averaged 9 million bpd, up 2.2% from the same period last year. Distillate fuel supplied averaged 3.9 million bpd over the past four weeks, up 0.1% from the same period last year. Near 11:15 a.m. EDT, NYMEX WTI futures for June delivery declined $1.08 to $72.63 bbl. NYMEX RBOB June futures increased $0.0172 to $2.4968 gallon and ULSD April futures gained $0.053 to $2.3964 gallon.
Oil drops 1% after US data points to further rate hikes - Oil prices fell by more than a dollar a barrel on Wednesday, ending a three-day rally, as economic data suggested that the U.S. Federal Reserve might hike interest rates further. Brent crude dropped $1.03, or 1.3%, to settle at $76.41 a barrel while U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude (WTI) fell $1.15, or 1.6%, to $72.56 a barrel. U.S. consumer prices rose in April, potentially raising the likelihood that the Fed will maintain higher interest rates for the time being. Rising global interest rates have weighed on oil prices in recent months, as traders are concerned about the economy crashing into a recession. "Oil prices have been depressed by fears about economic growth related to the banking crisis and normal seasonal weakness during the spring as energy demand moderates," U.S. crude oil inventories rose by about 3 million barrels last week due to another release from national reserves and a drop in exports, the Energy Information Administration said. The government report confirmed industry data released late Tuesday that had reported an unexpected build, which weighed on prices for most of Wednesday's session. [API/S} Analysts polled by Reuters had forecast a crude drawdown of 900,000 barrels. The surprising U.S. crude inventory build, along with lower crude imports and April's softer export growth in China exacerbated worries about global oil demand. The decline in crude prices was, however, limited by a surge in U.S. gasoline demand ahead of the summer driving season. U.S. gasoline inventories decreased by 3.2 million barrels last week, much bigger than the 1.2 million-barrel draw forecast by analysts. Distillate stocks also declined, EIA data showed. RBOB gasoline futures rose 0.7% to $2.50 per gallon, while the ULSD futures contract was trading about unchanged. "We are forecasting that oil prices range from $75-95 during 2023 based on fundamental supply and demand and that oil will rally as we head into the summer driving season,"
Oil Prices Climb On US Fuel Demand Optimism - Oil prices climbed on Thursday as strong fuel demand data coupled with optimism over the Federal Reserve cutting interest rates later this year outweighed U.S. debt ceiling worries. Benchmark Brent crude futures rose a little over 1 percent to $77.18 a barrel, while WTI crude futures were up nearly 1 percent at $73.27. Latest data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) showed that gasoline inventories declined by 3.2 million barrels last week, raising optimism about strong fuel demand from the world's top oil consumer. Distillate fuel inventories, which include diesel and heating oil, tumbled by 4.2 million barrels, helping offset worries surrounding recession and the U.S. debt ceiling. U.S. jet fuel demand rose to its highest level since December 2019, suggesting demand for transport fuels remains resilient in the U.S. Meanwhile, softer-than-expected U.S. inflation data raised hopes that the Fed would start cutting rates this year to shore up the economy. The dollar traded higher in European trade ahead of U.S. producer price inflation data due out later in the day. The Bank of England's rate decision is also due later in the day.
Oil prices slip 1%, US jobless data and debt-ceiling talks weigh - Oil prices slid about 1% on Thursday as a political standoff over the US debt ceiling stoked recession jitters in the world’s biggest oil consumer, while rising US jobless claims weighed on sentiment and a stronger dollar pressured oil too. Brent futures fell 73 cents, or 1.0%, to $75.68 a barrel by 11:19 a.m. EDT (1519 GMT). US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude fell 92 cents, or 1.3%, to $71.64. The dollar rose to its highest in a week against a basket of major currencies, after recent jobless claims data strengthened the case for the Federal Reserve to halt interest rate hikes but did not prompt expectations of year-end rate cuts. A stronger US dollar makes oil more expensive in other countries. Higher interest rates can weigh on oil demand by boosting borrowing costs, pressuring economic growth. US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen urged Congress to raise the $31.4 trillion federal debt limit and avert an unprecedented default that would trigger a global economic downturn. “Uncertainties regarding the US debt ceiling, recent banking issues that could prompt a credit crunch across much of the oil industry and continued strong possibility of a recession remain … significant obstacles” for oil markets, analysts at energy consulting firm Ritterbusch and Associates said in a note. An extended period of high interest rates could put more stress on banks, but would be necessary if inflation stays stubbornly high, said Minneapolis Federal Reserve President Neel Kashkari. US producer prices rose moderately last month, the smallest annual producer inflation increase in more than two years. US President Joe Biden’s administration unveiled a sweeping plan to slash greenhouse gas emissions from the power industry, one of the biggest steps so far in its effort to decarbonize the American economy to fight climate change. The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) kept its global oil demand forecast for 2023 steady for a third month, saying potential growth in China, the world’s biggest oil importer, could be offset by economic risks elsewhere such as the US debt ceiling battle. New Chinese bank loans tumbled far more sharply than expected in April, adding to worries that the economy’s post-pandemic recovery is losing steam. On the supply front, Iraq has sent an official request to Turkey to restart oil export flows through a pipeline running from the semi-autonomous Kurdistan Region in northern Iraq to the Turkish port of Ceyhan, which could add 450,000 barrels per day (bpd) to global crude flows.
On Thursday, the Market Continued to Retrace its Previous Losses --On Thursday, the oil market continued to retrace its previous losses as increasing jobless claims and a stronger dollar weighed on sentiment. The market traded sideways in overnight trading and ahead of the release of the weekly unemployment report. However, the market breached its previous low and began the day’s sell off upon the release of the weekly jobless claims report showing claims increased to the highest level since October 2021 and a gauge of producer sentiment came in below market expectations. The market sold off to a low of $70.63 by mid-morning and remained pressured during the remainder of the session. The market traded towards its low ahead of the close and settled in a sideways trading range before settling in negative territory for the second consecutive session. The June WTI contract settled down $1.69 at $70.87 and the July Brent contract settled down $1.43 at $74.98. The product markets settled lower, with the heating oil market settling down 4.39 cents at $2.3495 and the RB market settling down 3.7 cents at $2.4577. OPEC raised its forecast for Chinese oil demand growth this year but left its global projection steady, citing potential downside risks such as the U.S. debt ceiling. In its monthly report, world oil demand in 2023 will increase by 2.33 million bpd or 2.3%. This was virtually unchanged from 2.32 million bpd forecast last month. OPEC said Chinese oil demand is now expected to increase by 800,000 bpd, up from the 760,000 bpd forecast last month, adding to a recovery after strict COVID-19 containment measures were scrapped. The global demand growth figure was unchanged for a third straight month and OPEC left its 2023 economic growth forecast at 2.6%, citing potential downside risks such as persistent inflation and increasing debt payments from higher interest rates. The OPEC report showed that OPEC’s oil production fell in April by 191,000 bpd to 28.6 million bpd, with declines in Iraq and Nigeria. Iraq’s northern exports were halted while some of Nigeria’s exports were disrupted by a labor dispute. OPEC kept its forecast that non-OPEC supply would increase by 1.4 million bpd in 2023 and flagged factors that could limit or cut supplies such as investment levels and the war in Ukraine. Three sources said Russia's Deputy Energy Minister Pavel Sorokin held a call this month with Western analysts about the country's oil production, trying to convince them that Russia had reduced output as targeted. Nigerian officials reported Wednesday the nation’s crude oil and condensate production in April fell to just 1.25 million b/d as a result of strikes at key oil export terminals. April’s production was down 18% from March’s levels and was at the lowest level since October 2022, when output had fallen to a 40 year low. This production level was well below its OPEC+ production quota of 1.74 million b/d. The country currently has a production capacity of 2.2 million b/d. S&P Global Commodity Insights is estimating OPEC and its allies pumped 380,000 b/d of crude oil less in April than they did in March. Much of this decline was the result of Kurdish barrels not being able to reach export markets and the shortfall in Nigeria.
Oil Prices Set For The Longest Weekly Losing Streak Since November 2021 - Early on Friday, oil prices extended the losses of the previous two days as concerns about the Chinese and U.S. economies continue to weigh on market sentiment, dragging prices down and on track for a fourth consecutive weekly loss. As of early morning trade in Europe, the U.S. benchmark WTI Crude had slumped again to the $70 per barrel mark, and traded at $70.57, down by 0.42% on the day, and down from this week’s high of over $73 a barrel. Brent Crude, the international benchmark, was trading down by 0.53% at $74.62. Both benchmarks were on course to book another weekly loss, despite gains in the first two trading days of this week. A fourth consecutive week of losses would mark the longest weekly losing streak for oil since November 2021. Concerns about the U.S. economy, another build in U.S. inventories, and signs of a patchy economic recovery in China have weighed on the petroleum complex this week, overshadowing signals that the United States could begin buying crude soon to fill the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR). The impasse on raising the U.S. debt ceiling and a subsequent looming debt default have also dragged down prices and sentiment in the oil market. Crude oil prices were also weighed down by the Energy Information Administration (EIA) reporting on Wednesday an inventory build of 3 million barrels for the week to May 5. Later on Wednesday, U.S. inflation data showed a decline in core consumer prices. But the still sticky inflation could mean that the Fed may not start cutting rates in the near term, analysts say. Concerns about oil demand in the near future outweighed signals from U.S. Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm that the Administration could start repurchasing crude to fill the SPR once the June sale from the SPR is completed.
Oil price falls to $75 a barrel amid demand fears in US, China -Oil prices fell on Friday as renewed economic concerns in the United States and China (two main oil consumers) raised fears about the global fuel demand growth.Brent crude futures dropped 0.60 percent to $75.47 a barrel by 14:30 GMT+1, while US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude was down 0.47 percent to $70.54.US President Joe Biden and lawmakers have been in talks over the US debt ceiling — a limit that congress imposes on the amount that the federal government can owe.Democrats have long pushed for an unconditional increase of the debt ceiling, while Republicans have demanded a number of policy reforms in addition to sharp spending cuts.On Friday, Janet Yellen, US treasury secretary, said the US faces financial and economic catastrophe if congress fails to raise the debt ceiling.Also, Michelle Bowman, US Federal Reserve governor, said the Fed would probably need to raise interest rates further if inflation stays high, adding that data, so far this month, has not convinced her that price pressures are receding.Staff economists at the Fed had projected that the recent banking turmoil would trigger a “mild recession” later this year.On the other hand, a decline in new loans to businesses and weaker economic data inChina earlier in the week refocused doubts about the country’s recovery from COVID restrictions driving oil demand growth, according to Reuters.Meanwhile, with international oil prices falling, Nigeria has been battling to resume optimal crude oil production.Last month, the country’s oil production fell below the one million mark.The production figure decreased to 998,602 barrels per day (bpd), a 21.26 percent declinecompared to March, when output was 1,268,202 bpd. In January and February, oil production averaged 1,258,150 bpd and 1,306,304 bpd, respectively
Oil Pressured by USD, Possible Kurdish Oil Exports Restart -- New York Mercantile Exchange oil futures and Brent crude traded on the Intercontinental Exchange settled Friday's session lower, with all petroleum contracts notching their fourth consecutive weekly loss amid a one-two punch of a stronger U.S. dollar and the potential return of Kurdish oil exports to the global market after the Iraqi government signaled a breakthrough in an ongoing dispute with their Turkish counterpart. Friday's rally in the U.S. dollar was, in part, spurred by a weaker-than-expected consumer sentiment index released by the University of Michigan this morning, showing Americans feel less optimistic about the economy than at any point over the past six months. The combination of a softer labor market and standoff in Washington, D.C. over raising the federal debt ceiling renewed worries about the economic outlook. Year-ahead expectations for the economy plummeted 23% from last month, while long-run expectations slid 16%, indicating consumers are concerned that an expected economic downturn will not be brief. "While current incoming macroeconomic data show no sign of a recession, consumer worries about the economy escalated in May alongside the proliferation of negative news about the economy," said Surveys of Consumer Director Joanne Hsu. In reaction to the data, the U.S. dollar advanced 0.6% against a basket of foreign currencies to finish Friday's session at 101.873, while pressuring front-month West Texas Intermediate to $70.04 bbl, down $0.83 bbl on the session. International crude benchmark Brent for July delivery declined $0.81 to settle at $74.17 bbl. NYMEX RBOB June futures dropped back $0.0275 to $2.4302 gallon, while ULSD June futures fell $0.0440 to $2.3055 gallon. Further weighing on the oil complex, the Iraq National Oil Company has officially asked Turkey to restart its pipeline connecting the port of Ceyhan on the Mediterranean coast with the oil-producing region of Kurdistan in northern Iraq, authorities said on Thursday. Ankara stopped receiving oil exports from Kurdistan in March after Paris-based International Chamber of Commerce ruled that Turkey owed Iraq $1.5 billion for receiving unauthorized exports between 2014 and 2018. The oil exports from the Kurdistan Region to Turkey were expected to begin in April following a trilateral deal, but Turkey has not given the green light allowing exports. The halt of oil flows is threatening the Kurdistan Region's oil sector due to the lack of storage capacity in the region. Norwegian oil company DNO, one of the operators in the region, said on Thursday it will reduce operations in Kurdistan amid uncertainty of the dispute with Turkey. "Given the uncertain timing of export resumption and, importantly, of payments by the Kurdistan Regional Government for previous oil sales, DNO has scaled back [spending] in Kurdistan, including drilling," the company said in a statement. The stoppage of Kurdish oil flows has depressed production volumes from the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries last month, according to OPEC's Monthly Oil Market Report. OPEC showed its collective oil production fell by 191,000 bpd in April to 28.6 million bpd just as some of the group's largest producers have started production cuts aimed for May. The drop off in production pressed Iraqi crude production 292,000 bpd below its voluntary quota established in October 2022, and 81,000 bpd less than its quota that took effect this month.
Iraq asks Turkey to resume oil flows -- Iraq has officially requested that Turkey restart the pipeline responsible for sending Iraqi crude oil from the semi-autonomous Kurdistan Region to the port of Ceyhan, a statement from Iraq’s Kurdistan Regional Government said on Thursday. Oil flows along the pipeline have been halted for weeks. “Both the Kurdistan Region’s Ministry of Natural Resources and Iraq’s Ministry of Oil are reportedly waiting for Turkey’s response before resuming oil exports,” the KRG statement said. Iraq’s oil minister said last week that Baghdad and Erbil were set to reach an agreement over crude oil exports from the semi-autonomous Kurdistan Region within the next two weeks. “Regarding the agreement with the Region, we have reached the final stage and hopefully we will reach the final agreement on the exportation of crude oil within a maximum of two weeks,” Iraq’s oil minister Hayan Abdul Ghani said at the time. The only outstanding issue was how Iraq would handle the bank account where Erbil’s oil money is kept. Kurdistan’s crude oil exports – around 400,000 to 450,000 bpd shipped through an Iraqi-Turkey pipeline to Ceyhan and then on tankers to the international markets – were halted in late March by the federal government of Iraq. A few days earlier, the International Chamber of Commerce ruled in favor of Iraq against Turkey in a dispute over crude flows from Kurdistan. Iraq argued that Turkey shouldn’t allow Kurdish oil exports via the Iraq-Turkey pipeline and Ceyhan without approval from the federal government of Iraq. The court ruled that Turkey should pay Iraq compensation of $1.5 billion for what now appears to be illegal exports of oil over five years. Turkey then shut off the Kirkuk-Ceyhan pipeline in response, which suspended the flow of oil from the Kurdistan region. Kurdistan’s oilfields also shut down due to a lack of storage. The negotiations between Baghdad and Erbil are focused on who gets more control over the oil flows, with the latest iteration of talks settling on export revenues being deposited into an existing KRG bank account with Citi in the UAE, three Reuters sources close to the matter said. Baghdad will have auditing access.
Saudi Envoy Says Yemen Peace Talks are 'Serious' But Unclear When Deal Will Come - Saudi Arabia’s envoy to Yemen said Thursday that all sides engaged in talks to end the war in Yemen are “serious,” but the next steps are unclear.“Everybody is serious. Serious means everybody is looking for peace,” Mohammed al-Jaber told AFP. “It’s not easy to be clear about next steps.”Jaber traveled to Sanaa last month to hold in-person talks with the Houthis that were mediated by Oman. The negotiations were a significant step, andboth sides said good progress was made, but no deals were signed.The Saudis and the Houthis are expected to soon agree to an extension of a ceasefire, which is meant to pave the way for a lasting political settlement. While no official ceasefire has been in effect since last October, there have been no Saudi airstrikes in Yemen or Houthi attacks inside Saudi Arabia in over a year.Jaber tried to characterize Riyadh’s role as a mediator between the Houthis and the Saudi-backed Yemeni government, whose leadership is in exile. But Saudi Arabia is a direct party to the conflict and has been since it led a coalition to intervene in Yemen in 2015 with full US backing.Last year, the exiled Yemeni government formed the Presidential Leadership Council in Riyadh, which took power from President Hadi, who fled to Saudi Arabia in 2015. Members of the PLC insist the Saudis are mediating between them and the Houthis. Jaber said the Houthis and the PLC “refuse to sit together.”The PLC has little power in Yemen, and southern separatists have added to their problems. The UAE-backed Southern Transition Council (STC) held a meeting on Monday and called for the partition of Yemen to reflect the borders of the previous states of North Yemen and South Yemen before they were combined to create the modern borders of Yemen in 1990.
Bold gambits on the West Asian chessboard – Pepe Escobar -- West Asia is a region that is currently experiencing a great deal of geopolitical activity. Recent diplomatic efforts, initiated by Russia and overseen by China, secured a long-elusive Iranian and Saudi Arabian rapprochement, while Syria’s return to the Arab League has been welcomed with great fanfare. The diplomatic flurry signals a shift away from the Imperial “Divide and Rule” tactics that have been used for decades to create national, tribal, and sectarian rifts throughout this strategic region. The proxy war in Syria, backed by the Empire and its terror outfits – including the occupation of resource-rich territories and mass theft of Syrian oil – continues to rage on despite Damascus having gained the upper hand. That advantage, weakened in recent years by a barrage of western economic killer sanctions, is now growing exponentially: the Syrian state was further bolstered by Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi’s recent official visit – pledging to expand bilateral ties – on the eve of Syria’s return to the Arab League. “Assad must go” – a meme straight out of collective western hubris – in the end, did not go. Imperial threats notwithstanding, those Arab states that had sought to isolate the Syrian president came back to praise him all over again, led by Moscow and Tehran. Syria is extensively discussed in informed circles in Moscow. There’s a sort of consensus that Russia, now concentrated in the “all or nothing” proxy war against NATO, will not currently be able to impose a Syrian peace solution, but that doesn’t preclude the Saudis, Iranians, and Turks fronting a Russian-led deal. Had it not been for the aggressive behavior of Straussian neo-cons in the Washington Beltway, a comprehensive multi-territorial peace could have been achieved, including everything from Syria’s sovereignty, to a demilitarized zone in the Russian western borderlands, stability in the Caucasus, and a degree of respect for international law. However, such a deal is unlikely to materialize, and instead, the situation in West Asia is likely to worsen. This is due in part to the fact that the North Atlantic has already shifted its focus to the South China Sea. The collective west appears to lack a decisive leader, with the Hegemon currently being “led” by a senile president who is remote-controlled by a pack of polished-faced warmongers. The situation has devolved to the point where the much-hyped “Ukrainian counter-offensive” may actually be the prelude to a NATO humiliation that will make Afghanistan look like Disneyland in the Hindu Kush. Arguably there may be some similarities between Russia-NATO now and Turkiye-Russia before March 2020: both sides are betting on some crucial military breakthrough on the battlefield before sitting at the negotiating table. The US is desperate for it: even the 20th century ‘Oracle’ Henry Kissinger is now saying that with China involved, there will be negotiations before the end of 2023. Despite the urgency of the situation, Moscow does not appear to be in a hurry. Its key military strategy, as seen in Bakhmut and Artemyovsk, is to use a combination of the snail technique and the mincing machine. The ultimate goal is to demilitarize NATO as a whole rather than just Ukraine, and so far, it appears to be working brilliantly.
House Hawks Urge Biden to Use Sanctions to Prevent Syria Normalization - The top Republican and Democrat on the House Foreign Affairs Committee released a statement on Monday slamming Syria’s readmission into the Arab League and urging President Biden to use sanctions to prevent further normalization.“Readmitting Assad to the Arab League is a grave strategic mistake that will embolden Assad, Russia, and Iran to continue butchering civilians and destabilizing the Middle East,” Rep. Michael McCaul (R-TX) and Gregory Meeks (D-NY) said.“The United States must fully enforce the Caesar Act and other sanctions to freeze normalization efforts with this war criminal,” the lawmakers added. The Caesar Act imposed crushing economic sanctions on Syria in 2020 that are specifically designed to prevent the country’s reconstruction. The measures have had a devastating impact on Syria’s civilians. The House recently voted overwhelmingly to keep enforcing sanctions following a devastating earthquake that killed thousands of Syrians. What makes the Caesar Act sanctions so sweeping is that they allow the US to sanction any person or entity for doing business with the Syrian government. This means US allies like Saudi Arabia and Jordan, which spearheaded the effort to bring Syria back into the fold, could potentially be targeted. On Tuesday, Syria and Saudi Arabia announced they were reestablishing diplomatic ties for the first time in over 10 years.The State Department has denounced Syria’s readmission to the Arab League. “We do not believe that Syria merits readmission to the Arab League at this time,” State Department spokesman Vedant Patel said on Monday. “We continue to believe that we will not normalize our relations with the Assad regime, and we don’t support our allies and partners doing so either.”On top of the crippling sanctions, the US has about 900 troops in eastern Syria and backs the Kurdish-led SDF, allowing the US to control about one-third of the country, where most of its oil resources are located. Syria’s normalization with its neighbors could complicate the US’s plans to keep occupying the country.
Russia Evacuates People Near Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant -- Russian-backed authorities in Ukraine’s southern Zaporizhzhia oblast have ordered the evacuation from areas that are threatened with shelling,including Enerhodar, the town where the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP) is located. Yevgeny Balitsky, the Russian-installed acting governor of Zaporizhzhia, said about 70,000 people in 18 towns and villages would be relocated due to intensified shelling. The evacuation order comes as Ukraine is expected to launch a counteroffensive that is expected to be focused on Russian-controlled territory in Zaporizhzhia and Kherson.“We believe that a counteroffensive will begin very soon. We have information from the line of contact, up to 150 kilometers deep, and we realize that it can happen in the coming days, if not hours,” Balitsky said on Friday. The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has a presence at the ZNPP and said its experts were aware of the evacuation of Enerhodar. The agency also warned the situation at the ZNPP is becoming “increasingly unpredictable and potentially dangerous.” “I’m extremely concerned about the very real nuclear safety and security risks facing the plant,” said IAEA Director General Rafel Grossi. The ZNPP has been controlled by Russia since March 2022 and has been the site of frequent shelling throughout the war, raising fears of a potential nuclear disaster.According to The Times of London, the Ukrainian forces attempted a cross-river raid to recapture the ZNPP, which is on the east bank of the Dnieper River, that was thwarted by Russia. The US backed the attack by providing targeting data for the HIMARS rocket systems.
UK Confirms It's Supplying Ukraine With Long-Range Missiles - British Defense Secretary Ben Wallace confirmed on Thursday that London is providing Ukraine with longer-range missiles, marking another escalation of NATO support for Kyiv. The UK is sending Storm Shadow missiles, which are air-launched and can be fired by Ukraine’s Soviet fighter jets. According to CNN, the Storm Shadows London is sending Kyiv have a range of 250km (155 miles). Wallace said the Storm Shadows are “now going in, or are in the country itself,” signaling some have been delivered. He didn’t specify how many London is sending. “The use of Storm Shadow will allow Ukraine to push back Russian forces based within Ukrainian sovereign territory,” he said. The Kremlin called the news “extremely negative” and vowed to respond. “This will demand an adequate response from our military, which will, naturally, from a military point of view, find corresponding solutions,”Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said. US officials have welcomed the British move but have said it won’t mean the US will be providing Kyiv with the Army Tactical Missile Systems (ATACMS) it has been requesting. ATACMS have a range of up to 190 miles and can be fired by the HIMARS rocket systems. The current munitions Ukraine has been using with the HIMARS have a range of up to 50 miles, although there have been reports of Kyiv using Ground Launched Small Diameter Bombs (GLSDB), which can hit targets up to 94 miles away. The US first pledged the GLSDBs for Ukraine in February. The provision of longer-range weapons to Ukraine risks a major escalation as they can be used to target Russian territory. Ukrainian officials have insisted they wouldn’t use them for attacks inside Russia, but leaked Pentagon documents have indicated President Volodymyr Zelensky would want to.
Italy's Meloni To Pull Trigger On Belt & Road Exit In Major Blow To China - The government of Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni is readying plans to pull the trigger on a formal exit from China's controversial Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), estimated at having funded $900 billion in infrastructure projects globally. The past weeks have seen increasing reports that Meloni’s Brothers of Italy party has been spearheading a move away from the BRI, though some within the broader center-right coalition unity government have been on the fence. Bloomberg now reports Tuesday that "Italy has signaled to the US that it intends to pull out of a controversial investment pact with China before the end of the year." "Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni reassured US House Speaker Kevin McCarthy during a meeting in Rome last week that while a final decision hasn’t been taken, her government is favoring an exit from its role in China’s massive Belt and Road Initiative, according to people present at the talks," Bloomberg continues. Neither the Italian nor US administrations have yet to give public comment or confirmation to the report. But Rome could also be hesitant over economic retaliation from Beijing. Ratcheting the pressure over the decision is the European Union's previewing a new package of trade restrictions meant to "punish" China. As the FT reported Sunday, "Brussels has proposed sanctions on Chinese companies for supporting Russia’s war machine for the first time since the war in Ukraine began, a development that is likely to increase tensions with Beijing." The list includes a couple mainland Chinese companies - 3HC Semiconductors and King-Pai Technology, as well as five Hong Kong-based firms: Sigma Technology, Asia Pacific Links, Sinno Electronics, Tordan Industry, and Alpha Trading Investments. However, the sanctions package still needs approval by all 27 EU member states to take effect. An Italy pullout of the BRI would be a significant and also hugely symbolic blow to Beijing, given Italy had been the very first G-7 country became part of the controversial Chinese initiative, crucial to Xi's vision for Chinese global expansion. Italy had formally signed on under then Italian Premier Giuseppe Conte. It's widely perceived that this triggered greater Washington engagement with Rome, in order to steer the country away from Chinese influence.
Brazil's Lula Blasts “Embarrassment” Of Assange Incarceration To UK Press -- Brazil's President Luiz Inacio “Lula” da Silva has called for freedom for Julian Assange and denounced the lack of concerted efforts to free the journalist. Lula spoke to a group of reporters in London Saturday while in town to attend the coronation of King Charles III. Assange, the WikiLeaks founder, has spent four years in Britain’s Belmarsh Prison while fighting extradition to the United States.“It is an embarrassment that a journalist who denounced trickery by one state against another is arrested, condemned to die in jail and we do nothing to free him. It’s a crazy thing,” Lula told reporters. “We talk about freedom of expression; the guy is in prison because he denounced wrongdoing. And the press doesn’t do anything in defense of this journalist. I can’t understand it.”“I think there must be a movement of world press in his defense. Not in regard to his person, but to defend the right to denounce,” Lula told the reporters. “The guy didn’t denounce anything vulgar. He denounced that a state was spying on others, and that became a crime against the journalist. The press, which defends freedom of the press, does nothing to free this citizen. It’s sad, but it’s true.”Also, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said on Friday he too was frustrated over the continued detention of Julian Assange: "enough is enough.""I know it's frustrating, I share the frustration," Albanese told the Australian Broadcasting Corp. from London for the coronation of King Charles III. "I can't do more than make very clear what my position is, and the U.S. administration is certainly very aware of what the Australian government's position is. There is nothing to be served by his ongoing incarceration.""Enough is enough, this needs to be brought to a conclusion, it needs to be worked through," said Albanese.
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