Absolute zero: Lessons learned from the Fed's zero interest rate experiment - Once a controversial move, lowering interest rates to effectively zero is now an accepted part of the Federal Reserve's crisis playbook, despite the havoc that a rapid increase in rates has wreaked on the housing market and banks' balance sheets. Fed Chair Jerome Powell said he would not hesitate to take rates to their lower bound again in the future, despite the ramifications of that move present in the economy today."We'd be looking at what, fundamentally, what rates does the economy need," Powell said during a September press conference. "In an emergency like the pandemic or the global financial crisis, you have to cut rates to the point, you have to do what you can to support the economy."Economists and monetary policy experts tend to agree that the Fed should be willing to implement ultra-low rates to stimulate an embattled economy. Down-the-line disruption to lending activity is merely the cost of preserving financial stability."In the heat of a crisis, you have to do what you have to do to survive it," said John Sedunov, a finance professor at Villanova University. "You have to worry about the after effects afterward."Still, some of the emergency actions taken by the central bank during the past 15 years — such as quantitative easing and setting up emergency lending facilities — still face some skepticism among analysts and academics."Going to zero doesn't bother me. At times, it's necessary," said Lou Crandal, chief economist at the research group Wrightson ICAP. "With the benefit of hindsight, the Fed should have started tightening earlier, and I think they will be much more cautious about using asset purchases to try to depress long term real yields than they'll be concerned about taking short term rates to zero."Karen Petrou, managing partner of Federal Financial Analytics, said the Fed's various methods have been effective in averting a complete collapse of the financial system. To that end, she said, the Fed does not need to remove any tools or put limitations on the degree of their use. Instead, Petrou said, the Fed should focus on how and when to pull such support back once crisis moments have passed. "The real question to ask is not whether tools like ultra-low, negative — in real terms negative — interest rates, and quantitative easing of enormous proportions are the wrong tools to use in an emergency," Petrou said. "The real question is how long do those tools remain in the financial system and how much damage do they do when, as was the case in 08 and I think in 2020, the Fed is frightened to step back and let the market start to function."The ramifications of ultra-low rates and other interventions — first in 2008 after the subprime mortgage crisis then again in 2020 amid the COVID-19 pandemic — are being felt in the economy today after the Fed shot rates up more than 5 percentage points in a little more than a year.
Fed Chair Powell Says Public Understanding Key to Policy Impact on Economy - -- Federal Reserve Chairman Powell said that the Fed's ability to influence the economy depends on “whether people understand what we are saying.” Powell said in a written address to teachers in Washington on Thursday that when Fed officials released their interest rate and economic predictions, “One of our goals is to influence spending and investment decisions now and over the next few months... Our wishes will only be fulfilled if people understand what we are saying and how it affects their own financial situation.”
The Fed's favorite inflation indicator rose less than expected in August - An economic indicator the Federal Reserve favors as an inflation gauge rose less than expected in August, showing that the central bank's fight against higher prices is making progress/ The personal consumption expenditures price index excluding food and energy increased 0.1% for the month, lower than the expected 0.2% gain from the Dow Jones consensus of economists, the Commerce Department reported Friday. On a 12-month basis, the annual increase for core PCE was 3.9%, matching the forecast.That was the smallest monthly increase since November 2020.Along with the modest inflation gain, consumer spending rose 0.4% on a current-dollar basis. That was down sharply from 0.9% in July. In real terms, spending was up just 0.1% after rising 0.6% in July.Including food and energy, headline PCE increased 0.4% on the month and 3.5% from a year ago. Headline inflation has been creeping higher in recent months after hitting 3.2% in June.Though it's one of many inputs the Fed uses to measure inflation, the PCE index is considered particularly valuable because it accounts for shifts in consumer behavior, such as substituting lower-priced goods for more expensive items. In that way, it provides a better cost-of-living snapshot than the more widely followed consumer price index, which measures costs without regard to substitution.The core PCE was the first sub-4% year-over-year reading in nearly two years and a decrease from the 4.3% July reading."The Fed must be pleased with the overall direction of the PCE report, but declaring victory on quelling inflation would be premature," said Quincy Krosby, chief global strategist at LPL Financial. Inflation on the month was largely driven by energy costs, which accelerated 6.1%, according to Friday's reading. Food prices increased 0.2%. On an annual basis, energy was down 3.6% while food increased 3.1%.The Fed targets inflation at 2% as indicative of a healthy growth rate for the economy. Core PCE was last at that level in February 2021.The central bank has been raising interest rates aggressively since March 2022, though it elected to skip the September meeting as it weighs the impact of a dozen hikes totaling 5.25 percentage points. Markets largely expect that the Fed is done raising rates, though officials at last week's meeting indicated that one more quarter-point increase is likely before the end of the year.Since the meeting, several Fed officials have said that they expect interest rates to stay elevated for an extended period of time.However, market-based probabilities for future rate hikes dimmed following the report.Traders now assign just a 15% probability for a November increase, down from 27.5% a week ago, according to the CME Group's tracker of fed funds futures market pricing. Odds for a December increase fell to about 31%, compared to more than 42% a week ago.
Q2 GDP Growth at 2.1% Annual Rate -- From the BEA: Gross Domestic Product (Third Estimate), Corporate Profits (Revised Estimate), Second Quarter 2023 and Comprehensive Update Real gross domestic product (GDP) increased at an annual rate of 2.1 percent in the second quarter of 2023, according to the "third" estimate released by the Bureau of Economic Analysis. In the first quarter, real GDP increased 2.2 percent (revised).The GDP estimate released today is based on more complete source data than were available for the "second" estimate issued last month. In the second estimate, the increase in GDP was also 2.1 percent. The update primarily reflected a downward revision to consumer spending that was partly offset by upward revisions to nonresidential fixed investment, exports, and inventory investment. Imports, which are a subtraction in the calculation of GDP, were revised down (refer to “Updates to GDP”). The increase in real GDP reflected increases in nonresidential fixed investment, consumer spending, and state and local government spending that were partly offset by a decrease in exports. Imports decreased. Here is a Comparison of Third and Second Estimates. PCE growth was revised down from 1.7% to 0.8%. Residential investment was revised up from -3.6% to -2.2%. The BEA also released the Comprehensive Update. This graph shows the change in quarterly GDP from the 2023 comprehensive update of the National Economic Accounts (seasonally adjusted annual rate) for the last 5 years. Note that Q2 and Q3 2020 are off the chart due to the pandemic and are labeled.
U.S. Consumer Spending Rose At Weakest Pace In A Year Last Quarter- (Bloomberg) -- US consumer spending advanced at half the pace as previously reported in the second quarter, largely due to weaker services outlays, according to government figures published Thursday. Personal consumption, the main driver of the US economy, rose an annualized 0.8% in the April-to-June period, according to the third estimate of gross domestic product from the US Bureau of Economic Analysis. That compared with 1.7% in the previous estimate, and marked the weakest advance in over a year. Overall GDP rose at an unrevised 2.1% rate during the period. Stronger business fixed investment helped offset the slowdown in consumer spending, advancing at a 7.4% pace versus the previously reported 6.1% estimate. Net exports and inventories were also revised higher, no longer acting as a drag on growth. While consumer spending slowed in the second quarter, it’s so far shown signs of resilience in the current one, leading Federal Reserve and Wall Street economists alike to grow more upbeat on near-term growth. A gauge of the income generated and costs incurred from producing goods and services — gross domestic income — advanced 0.7% in the second quarter after a sizable upward revision to the first-quarter figures, the BEA figures showed. Averaging GDI and GDP, the economy grew 1.4% in each quarter. The agency also issued its comprehensive benchmark update that included revisions to GDP going back a decade. The BEA also revised GDI figures back to 1979. During these updates, the government incorporates new data sources and refreshes its methodology. The broader economic picture remained largely the same over the past few years, with a few noteworthy exceptions. Americans saved some $1.1 trillion less in the past six years than previously thought, and GDP growth was revised lower in 2022. Inflation, however, was hotter, with the personal consumption expenditures price index closing 2022 at a 4.1% annualized pace instead of the 3.7% reported before. In the second-quarter figures, the PCE price index excluding food and energy — a gauge Fed officials watch closely — rose at an unrevised 3.7% pace in the second quarter. That marked the slowest pace of increase since early 2021. The BEA data now also includes a calculation of core services prices excluding housing, a metric the Fed has put the spotlight on this year. That measure rose 3.5% annualized in the second quarter, representing the slowest pace since the end of 2020 and a sharp slowdown from the first three months of the year. A separate report Thursday showed applications for unemployment benefits remained historically low last week. (Updates with chart.)
US GDP revised down in every first quarter from 2020 to 2022 (Reuters) - U.S. economic activity was either even weaker or not as strong as previously estimated in each of the first quarters of 2020, 2021 and 2022 amid downgrades mostly to consumer spending, revised government data showed on Thursday. But the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA), the government agency that constructs the gross domestic product report, said there was no evidence that residual seasonality, which plagued the GDP data several years ago, was an issue. The government adjusts economic data to remove fluctuations such as seasonal weather patterns and holidays that normally occur at roughly the same time and magnitude every year, to make the series easier to interpret and analyze. But seasonal effects have lingered in some cases even after the data was seasonally adjusted. This was most prevalent in first-quarter GDP data, before the government resolved the problem in 2018. Back then, residual seasonality tended to understate economic growth in the first quarter. "We put forward a whole set of protocols and mechanisms, which we were going to check to make sure we didn't have residual seasonality," Dave Wasshausen, associate director, National Economic Accounts at the BEA told reporters. "And so we continue to run all those tests, checks, just to see if there's residual seasonality and there is not any. We didn't see anything in particular that gave us pause about persistent components revised up or down." GDP in the first quarter of 2020 was revised down to show it contracting at a 5.3% annualized rate, instead of the previously reported 4.6% pace. But GDP for the whole of 2020 was upgraded by 0.6 percentage point to show the economy contracting 2.2% amid robust performances in the third and fourth quarters. In the first quarter of 2021, GDP increased at a 5.2% rate rather than the previously published 6.3% pace, with consumer spending revised lower. Growth for the full year was trimmed to 5.8% from 5.9%, reflecting downgrades to state and local government spending, federal government spending and nonresidential fixed investment. In 2022, GDP contracted at a 2.0% rate in the first quarter, revised down from the previously reported 1.6% pace. Consumer spending, now estimated to have been flat instead of growing at a 1.3% rate as previously reported, accounted for the downgrade. For the full year, economic growth was lowered by 0.2 percentage point to 1.9%, the result of downward revisions to consumer spending, inventory investment, state and local government spending and exports as well as an upgrade to imports. The annual benchmark revisions incorporated results of the 2017 Economic Census. The reference year was shifted to 2017 from 2012. The economic picture was little changed from 2017 to 2022, with GDP growing at an average annual rate of 2.2%, up from the previously estimated 2.1% pace. The COVID-19 pandemic recession remained the deepest on record, with the economy contracting at an average rate of 17.5% from the fourth quarter of 2019 to the second quarter of 2020, revised up 0.7 percentage point. The recovery was the second- fastest in history. When measured from the income side, the economy expanded at an average rate of 2.3% from 2017 to 2022. Gross domestic income (GDI) was 0.2 percentage point higher than previously estimated. Some economists have focused on the gap between the quarterly GDP and GDI rates to argue that the economy was not as strong as recent data suggested. Though the gap or statistical discrepancy, was wider in the fourth quarter of 2022, it narrowed for the full year, coming in at -0.2% of GDP instead of the previously reported −0.6%. The gap was less than 0.1% of GDP in 2022, revised from −0.6%. "It's worth noting the average statistical discrepancy as a share of GDP over the last 50 years is about 0.9%," said Wasshausen. "And with the updated figures from 2017 forward, the share is 0.3% or less in each of these three years. So with this update, we feel really very good about where that statistical discrepancy is sitting." Inflation was a little hotter than previously reported in 2022, when the Federal Reserve started raising interest rates. The personal consumption expenditures price index excluding food and energy increased 5.2% last year, revised up from 5.0%. The core PCE price index was revised higher in the first, third and fourth quarters of 2022.
GDP and Nowcasts: Continued Growth in Q3 - by Menzie Chinn -- As of today: Figure 1: GDP (bold blue), GDI (green), GDO (orange), GDO+ (red), GDPNow of 9/29 (light blue square), NY Fed nowcast as of 9/29 (pink triangles), St. Louis Fed news index as of 9/28 (inverted purple triangle), Goldman Sachs tracking as of 9/29 (chartreuse +), all in bn. Chained 2012$ SAAR. GDP+ based on 2019 GDP level. Source: BEA 2023Q2 3rd release/comprehensive revision, Atlanta Fed, NY Fed, St.Louis Fed, Philadelphia Fed, Goldman Sachs, and author’s calculations.GDP+ is now much closer to GDP than in the pre-revision data (see this post for comparison of levels pre- and post-comprehensive revision). All the nowcasts tabulated in Figure 1 indicate continued growth in Q3.Lewis-Mertens-Stock Weekly Economic Index (NY Fed) is at 1.89% y/y growth, using data through 9/232. As late as week ending 5/13, it was as low as 0.74%.
Update on Four High Frequency Indicators – McBride - I stopped the weekly updates of high frequency indicators at the end of 2022. Here is a late September look at four indicators: The TSA is providing daily travel numbers.This data is as of September 24th. This data shows the 7-day average of daily total traveler throughput from the TSA for 2019 (Light Blue), 2020 (Black), 2021 (Blue), 2022 (Orange) and 2023 (Red). The dashed line is the percent of 2019for the seven-day average.The 7-day average is above the level for the same week in 2019 (103.4% of 2019). (Dashed line) Air travel - as a percent of 2019 - is tracking above pre-pandemic levels.This data shows domestic box office for each week and the median for the years 2016 through 2019 (dashed light blue). Black is 2020, Blue is 2021 and Red is 2022. The data is from BoxOfficeMojo through September 21st.Note that the data is usually noisy week-to-week and depends on when blockbusters are released. Movie ticket sales (dollars) have mostly been running below the pre-pandemic levels.This graph shows the seasonal pattern for the hotel occupancy rate using the four-week average.The red line is for 2023, black is 2020, blue is the median, and dashed light blue is for 2022. Dashed purple is for 2018, the record year for hotel occupancy.This data is through September 16th. The occupancy rate was down 2.2% compared to the same week in 2022. The 4-week average of the occupancy rate is tracking just below last year, and slightly above the median rate for the period 2000 through 2022 (Blue).This graph, based on weekly data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) shows gasoline supplied compared to the same week of 2019.Blue is for 2020. Purple is for 2021, and Orange is for 2022, and Red is for 2023.Gasoline supplied in 2023 is running about 5% below 2019 levels.
A Few Comments on the Likely Government Shutdown – McBride - First, shutdowns are expensive, and many government employees continue to work (like the military), but don't get paid. This time President Biden and Speaker McCarthy agreed on a plan, but the Speaker has been unable to deliver. So, the path forward isn't clear. Second, there will be an impact on GDP from Goldman Sachs:A government shutdown this year has looked likely for several months, and we now think the odds have risen to 90%. ... We continue to think a shutdown would last 2-3 weeks.We have estimated a shutdown would subtract 0.2pp from Q4 GDP growth for each week it lasts ... We expect all data releases from federal agencies to be postponed until after the government reopens, except for releases from the Federal Reserve, which does not rely on congressional funding.And from Nick Timiraos at the WSJ: Shutdown Would Blindfold Fed in Piloting Course on Rates. We will all be flying mostly blind without reports on employment, inflation, housing starts and more. However, there will be some private data to fill the gap.For housing, depending on the length of the shutdown, the impact would be on existing home closings in October. If the shutdown lasts for the entire month, I'd expect about a 10% decline in seasonally adjusted sales in October. If the shutdown only lasts a couple of weeks, there would probably be little impact. Some issues could be Tax transcripts, Flood Certs, and SS# Authorization. Also, a shutdown increases uncertainty, and that might push up mortgage rates (investors hate uncertainty).This is one of the "Four Horseman of the Q4 GDP Drag" (don't call it an "apocalypse", it probably won't be that bad)
- 1) UAW Strike
- 2) Likely Government Shutdown
- 3) Student Loan Payments Resume
- 4) Higher energy prices (oil up 14% YoY)
- And for housing, 7.5% 30-year fixed mortgage rates.
Senate Democrats put McCarthy in shutdown squeeze - Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) is ramping up the pressure on Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) to avoid a government shutdown by moving first on a stopgap funding bill that will pass the Senate this week, a few days before the Sept. 30 deadline. The Senate’s plan is to send the bill to the House and put pressure on McCarthy to bring it to the floor for a vote it would pass with bipartisan support if given the chance, said senators who are calculating how the endgame will play out. But Republican and Democratic senators admit they don’t know what McCarthy will do, and some GOP senators are worried about “sticking our necks out” if the stopgap is doomed to fail in the House. “McCarthy’s made the decision to shut the government down. Period. Stop,” Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) said, previewing the rhetorical offensive Senate Democrats will launch against McCarthy this week. The Senate is scheduled at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday to take the first in a series of procedural votes that will tee up the Federal Aviation Administration reauthorization bill, which Schumer will use as the legislative vehicle to pass the continuing resolution (CR) to keep the government open. McCarthy showed growing frustration with conservative rebels Saturday, when he told reporters that hard-liners in his conference “like to stop everything, and then they turn around and say it’s your fault you’re not getting anything done.” He complained Thursday that some “individuals” just “want to burn the whole place down.” McCarthy’s exasperation with the obstructionists in his conference has given senators hope that he may be willing to steamroll those conservative critics by bringing a Senate-passed bill straight to the House floor.
Democrats sharpen shutdown attacks on McCarthy, GOP -- Democrats are seizing on a GOP-backed push for steeper cuts in government funding to argue Republicans are putting Americans in danger with the threat of a shutdown that could cut off various federal services by next week. Administration officials, the White House and members of Congress have laid out a litany of problems that will be caused by an Oct. 1 shutdown, from airline disruptions to challenges for national security to the cutting off of programs that fight housing discrimination. They are also arguing that the GOP cuts themselves are even worse, painting a draconian picture for government programs that would be the result of spending reductions from Republican proposals. “We are calling out how a shutdown would damage our community’s economy and national security and we’re going to hold extreme House Republicans accountable,” White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said during a Monday briefing. “We’re gonna hold them accountable for the reckless cuts they are demanding as a condition for keeping the government open,” she added. Over the weekend, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said a shutdown would cut off training for air traffic controllers, contributing to problems at the nation’s airports.President Biden on Monday said a shutdown would furlough workers at the Department of Housing and Urban Development, stopping its enforcement work fighting housing discrimination.Rep. Rosa DeLauro (Conn.), the top Democrat on the House Appropriations Committee, ripped the GOP’s proposal for a full-year funding bill for the Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education, saying it would amount to a nearly 30 percent cut below existing spending.“We are witnessing a widespread attack on education at all levels that should horrify all of us,” DeLauro said, pointing to proposed reductions in funding for Title I grants that Democrats say could lead to thousands of teachers being “removed from classrooms serving low-income students.”The government will shut down Oct. 1 without a new funding mechanism.
‘Not at all’: Maxine Waters says she wouldn’t ‘save’ McCarthy if GOP votes to oust Speaker-- Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.) said Sunday that she doesn’t have any plans to “save” House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) if Republicans opt to vote to ousting him over the spending fight. During an appearance on MSNBC’s “The Sunday Show,” host Jonathan Capehart asked Waters if there’s a possibility that she and her fellow Democratic colleagues will vote to keep McCarthy in the Speakership. “I cannot speak up at the leadership. And I think Chairman Jeffries has said let’s see what happens. But I for one, I’m not prepared to save him. Not at all. Not with the cuts that they’re proposing,” Waters said. “They are devastating this country. They are undermining children and veterans and seniors with the kind of cuts that they’re proposing. And they’re literally almost eliminating education in this country,” she said. Waters’s remarks come as the GOP side of the House chamber has sparred over government spending. The federal government is set to run out of funds by the end of the month if Congress does not pass spending bills or come up with a short-term plan before the end of the week. When asked about the pending shutdown, Waters said that the “Republican Party is in complete disarray,” adding that McCarthy has “no control” of his GOP colleagues. “No, he’s pathetic to the fact that we know that not only is he begging on his knees, the other day he cursed and said, you know, to his people, ‘All right. If you’re not going to support me, put a motion up to get rid of me,’” Waters told Capehart. “’Vacate the chair. What are you going to do?’ He doesn’t know what he’s doing. It is more than pathetic”
Greene a ‘hard no’ on two spending bills after McCarthy flips on Ukraine aid -- Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) said Sunday she is a “hard no” on two spending bills after Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) said Ukraine aid would be included in the legislation despite opposition from the Georgia Republican. McCarthy said Saturday that he will keep Ukraine aid in the Pentagon funding bill, a reversal from his announcement a day earlier that he would strip the money out after Greene joined conservatives last week in blocking the legislation from advancing. Greene responded to that decision in a series of posts on X, formerly known as Twitter, complaining that House leadership had broken its promise by preparing to move an appropriations bill with Ukraine funding in the House Rules Committee.“The rule is the first step of advancing this blood money in Congress,” she wrote.“Unfortunately it looks like some of the House’s strongest conservatives are going to vote for the rule to help along..the ‘process.’ Voting yes on the rule means more money for Ukraine. It’s that simple. No one who wants peace should vote yes on the rule to advance the bills. That’s why I’m a HARD NO on the rules package and a blank check for Ukraine!” McCarthy said he decided to include the $300 million of Ukraine aid after recognizing another spending measure set to come up this week — one that funds the State Department and foreign operations — also includes money for the embattled country. The Speaker argued eliminating the Ukraine aid out of the State Department measure “becomes more difficult to do.” GOP leaders pulled a planned vote on a short-term stopgap bill, known as a continuing resolution, last week amid conservative opposition in the narrow GOP majority. Government funding will run out at the end of the month unless a stopgap measure is passed this week.
McCarthy ally to GOP critics: ‘Get your little games over with’ - Rep. Garret Graves (R-La.), a top ally of Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.), said Sunday that he drafted a motion to oust McCarthy from the Speakership in an effort to stop conservatives from hanging the idea over the California Republican’s head. “Matter of fact, look, I’ll tell you — I drafted a motion to vacate for the Speaker as well,” Graves told CNN. “I’ve got it sitting on my desk right now. And I said, ‘Look, if you’re gonna keep hanging this over [his] head and playing these games, let’s just do it now, let’s get it over with, get your little games over with, and then we’ll get back to focusing on the things that actually matter.’” McCarthy has faced increased threats of removal from some hard-line conservatives in his own conference, notably from Rep. Matt Gaetz (Fla.), a constant critic of McCarthy who has threatened to put a motion on the floor to remove him from the Speakership if he does not cave to a series of demands on spending. Under current House rules, it only takes one member to bring up a motion to vacate the Speakership. The federal government is set to run out of funds by the end of this week unless Congress can pass a temporary funding measure beforehand. Hoping to avert a shutdown, GOP leaders last week tried to pass a rule on a short-term stopgap bill, known as a continuing resolution (CR), to extend government funding past the Sept. 30 deadline, but were met with conservative opposition in the narrow GOP majority. The Republicans against a CR argue Congress should only work on passing regular appropriations bills and break the pattern of stopgaps that often force lawmakers to swallow huge funding bills prior to the end-of-year holidays. Graves said Saturday he thinks people’s “perverted intentions have really caused problems this year,” and that if there is a shutdown, it will be due to “a failure in strategy that was absolutely manipulated or distorted by disingenuous behavior, intentions and probably ignorance.” “The arsonists are out there, number one, whining that their house is on fire; number two, are going to want credit that they put the fire out; and then number three, are gonna set up a GoFundMe site to get paid for it,” Graves told reporters.
Moderate Republicans plot last-ditch shutdown plan with Democrats - A small but significant number of moderate GOP lawmakers are plotting a path toward potentially working with Democrats to fund the government past Sept. 30 and combat a shutdown. At least three Republicans — Reps. Mike Lawler (N.Y.), Don Bacon (Neb.) and Brian Fitzpatrick (Pa.) — have expressed an openness to joining Democrats in signing a discharge petition, a mechanism to force a vote on a measure against the wishes of the Speaker. Four members of the bipartisan Problem Solvers Caucus introduced a bill Friday that reflects the group’s framework for a short-term stopgap funding measure. Fitzpatrick suggested Sunday that lawmakers could use a discharge petition to compel a vote on that legislation. Five Republicans would need to join their party’s leaders in order to force action with Democrats. Members of two other centrist blocs — the Republican Governance Group and New Democrat Coalition — have also been in touch about other ways to keep the government open, including through a continuing resolution, according to a source familiar with the discussions. Signing an opposing party’s discharge petition would be an act of political mutiny, so the increased public conversation — and support — surrounding the break-the-glass option underscores the pressure lawmakers are under as they race to prevent an end-of-month shutdown after the House GOP flailed on multiple spending fronts last week. “We’re going to do whatever it takes to get that bill on the floor,” Fitzpatrick said of his bipartisan bill on CNN’s “State of the Union” Sunday. “And we have multiple options. A discharge petition is one, one of several options. And a group of us met with the parliamentarian this past week to discuss all the options we have to force a vote on our bill.” The talk of working with Democrats also reflects the struggle Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) has had in quelling turmoil within his fractious conference. But triggering the last-ditch option could spell trouble for the Speaker as hard-liners heighten their threats to confiscate his gavel if he works with Democrats to keep the lights on in Washington. “If Speaker McCarthy relies on Democrats to pass a continuing resolution, I would call the Capitol moving truck to his office pretty soon, because my expectation would be he’d be out of the Speaker’s office quite promptly,” Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) told reporters last week. Gaetz, who has said he will never support a continuing resolution, also aired a warning to centrist Republicans mulling a discharge petition. “If Republican moderates want to go team up with Democrats and sign a discharge petition to take over the floor with Democrats, well, they’ll be signing their own political death warrant, and they’ll be handing it to their executioner,” Gaetz said.
Government shutdown: Congress is moving into crisis mode (AP) — Congress is rushing headlong into crisis mode Tuesday with a government shutdown days away, as Speaker Kevin McCarthy faces an insurgency from hard-right Republicans eager to slash spending even if it means halting pay for the military and curtailing federal services for millions of Americans. There’s no clear path ahead as lawmakers return with tensions high and options limited. The House is expected to launch an evening vote on a package of bills to fund parts of the government, but it’s not at all clear that McCarthy has the support needed as holdouts demand steeper spending cuts.“It’s easy,” McCarthy quipped Tuesday when asked about keeping the government open.But with just five days to go before Saturday’s deadline, the right flank in the House has seized control, leaving the Senate trying to stave off a federal closure. Senators are pushing ahead with their own bipartisan stopgap measure to keep offices funded in time before Saturday’s deadline. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer opened the chamber by saying the temporary measure from the Senate would be “a bridge towards cooperation and away from extremism,” and include some supplemental funding for Ukraine and disaster assistance in the U.S. that has been in jeopardy.With a supportive nod, Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell appeared on board with the bipartisan Senate plan saying, “Government shutdowns are bad news.”A government shutdown would disrupt the U.S. economy and the lives of millions of Americans who work for the government or rely on federal services — from the military personnel and air traffic controllers who would be asked to work without pay to some 7 million people in the Women, Infants and Children program, including half the babies born in the U.S., who could lose access to nutritional benefits, according to the White House.The standoff comes against the backdrop of the 2024 elections as a core group of hard-right Republicans are being egged on by Donald Trump, the Republican frontrunner to challenge President Joe Biden, who has urged McCarthy’s House to stand firm in the fight or “shut it down.”It is setting up a split-screen later this week as House Republicans hold their first Biden impeachment inquiry hearing probing the business dealings of his son, Hunter Biden, as Congress spirals closer to a shutdown. It also comes as former Trump officials are floating their own plans to slash government and the federal workforce if the former president retakes the White House. Against the mounting chaos, Biden warned the Republican conservatives off their hard-line tactics, saying funding the federal government is “one of the most basic fundamental responsibilities of Congress.”
Senate Announces Stopgap Funding Bill That Includes $6.2 Billion for Ukraine - Senate leaders on Tuesday announced they reached a deal on a stopgap funding bill that needs to be passed by September 30 to avert a partial government shutdown. The bill includes $6.2 billion for Ukraine and $6 billion for natural disasters.“We will continue to fund the government at present levels while maintaining our commitment to Ukraine’s security and humanitarian needs, while also ensuring those impacted by natural disasters across the country begin to get the resources they need,” Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) said.The bill would fund the US government until November 17. The inclusion of $6.2 billion for Ukraine would ensure that the US could continue to fund the proxy war against Russia, although the Pentagon has saidUkraine operations would be exempted from any shutdown.The Pentagon still has a few billion dollars left to arm Ukraine, made available by an “accounting error” that officials say can roll into the next fiscal year, which starts on October 1 for the federal government. If the $6.2 billion for Ukraine is authorized and used, it would bring total US spending on the war to about $119 billion.Once passed through the Senate, the stopgap funding bill could have a hard time making it through the Republican-controlled House. Sources told CNN that McCarthy told his team on Tuesday that he plans to amend the Senate bill to include border security funds that the GOP is looking for.The CNN report also said that it’s likely the Ukraine funding might be stripped from the House version of the bill. McCarthy has failed to move forward funding legislation due to more conservative GOP members who are opposed to spending levels and also oppose additional aid for Ukraine.
Senate moves shutdown-prevention plan that’s ‘not gonna happen’ in House - The bipartisan Senate spending bill released Tuesday is a direct confrontation with the House GOP that risks raising the already high prospects of a government shutdown. Though the Senate bill shortchanges President Joe Biden’s requests for Ukraine and disaster aid, it delivers far more robust funding for both priorities than some senators had contemplated just 24 hours earlier. It contains none of the spending cuts sought by conservatives and funds the government through Nov. 17 mostly at current levels — all things that House Republicans have declined to endorse. The proposal also offers nothing to Speaker Kevin McCarthy on border policy, an issue that he’s now demanding must be at the center of any government funding deal to avoid a shutdown on Oct. 1. But senators in both parties said the chamber needs to make a move — and fast — given the dysfunction of the House. “It seems to change every hour, if not by the minute in the House. So I don’t think they know what they can do at this point. But we know what we can do ... and that is to send over a [bill] and see what the speaker can do with it,” Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) said. Cornyn added that the Senate is flexible in its approach: “I don’t think there’s such a thing as a final offer. Whatever we need to do to keep the lights on.” Though the bill might be able to pass the Senate by the time funding expires on Sunday morning, it “ain’t gonna pass the House,” said senior appropriator Rep. Mike Simpson (R-Idaho). The legislation amounts to a challenge from one side of the Capitol to the other, where McCarthy has passed just one of his party’s own full-year spending bills. And it sets up exactly the situation that the speaker warned his rebellious conservatives was coming: paralyzed House Republicans getting jammed by the Senate with a bill they refuse to endorse.
Government shutdown would put pay for over 1M military members at risk, Pentagon says - A government shutdown would harm military readiness and have “huge, profound impacts across the globe,” Pentagon spokesperson Sabrina Singh said Tuesday morning. With a looming government shutdown, over 1 million military members and furloughed civilian employees are at risk of going without pay during the shutdown period, Singh said on CNN, adding that a shutdown would send a dangerous message to Washington’s adversaries. “If the U.S. government shuts down, China, Russia, North Korea, Iran — these are countries that are not shutting down, that are continuing their operations,” she said. “Any type of shutdown, any type of impact to our military and readiness, has huge, profound impacts across the globe.” An immediate impact could be having command costs and stations without enough personnel to continue missions, Singh said, also underscoring the struggles that military families with children and mortgages would face. When the government last shut down in 2018, lawmakers passed a measure allowing for military personnel to continue being paid throughout the period. When asked if she’d support such a measure, Singh initially dodged — blaming lawmakers for putting Washington’s national security at risk.
Inside the spending cuts House Republicans are fighting for - Today is a big test for House Republicans. They will vote on a procedural motion — a rule — to advance four of the 11 remaining individual spending bills the House hasn’t passed. If the vote fails, the chamber’s Republicans will seem even more unable to govern. The vote is a last-minute play to appease a small group of hard-line Republicans and demonstrate that the party is working to enact deep, year-long spending cuts — but it will do nothing to prevent a government shutdown on Sunday.The only viable way to prevent a shutdown — which now seems likely — is to pass a continuing resolution, or CR. Senate leadership is nearing an agreement on a CR. They’ll vote tonight to move on to a shell bill that would house a CR. Negotiations have revolved around how “clean” to make the CR — limiting the amount of other priorities such as disaster and Ukraine aid.But the administration is pushing back against not including at least some Ukraine funding — perhaps proportional to how long it funds the government. The White House’s request for Ukraine aid was meant to cover the next three months, but any CR is expected to be shorter.“The Biden-Harris Administration continues to work with members of both parties in the Senate and the House to secure supplemental funding as part of any continuing resolution — which would ensure our efforts to support Ukraine continue alongside other key priorities like disaster relief and regular government activities,” Timothy White, an Office of Management and Budget spokesman, said in a statement Monday evening.Limiting Ukraine aid in a CR could give Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) a lifeline in the House.But it’s unclear whether McCarthy would put even a clean CR on the House floor if it’s unable to pass with only Republican votes because that could lead a group of hard-right Republicans who’ve been making his life hell to try to oust him. He could also try again to convince House Republicans to pass their own CR — although a bill that could pass the House along party lines would probably never clear the Senate. Because House Republicans are focusing on year-long spending bills, we thought it’s worth taking a closer look at what’s in those bills.The 12 bills would cut nondefense discretionary spending — which doesn’t include Pentagon funding or mandatory programs like Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid — by $58 billion more than the amount to which President Biden and McCarthy agreed in May when they struck a deal to raise the debt limit, according to an analysis by Bobby Kogan and Jean Ross of the Center for American Progress, a liberal think tank. (The analysis also excludes Department of Veterans Affairs medical care spending.)But the cuts would hit some government programs much harder than others — and several bills that House Republicans have made the most progress passing would raise spending rather than slash it.The only spending bill House Republicans have passed to date — the military construction and veterans affairs bill — would raise spending by 4.8 percent compared with the previous fiscal year, according to the analysis by Kogan and Ross.The four spending bills the House will take up today include the homeland security bill (which would raise spending by 3.9 percent, according to the CAP analysis), the defense bill (which would raise spending by 2.2 percent, per the analysis), the agriculture bill (which would cut spending by 2 percent, according to the analysis) and the State Department and foreign operations bill (which would cut spending by 15 percent, according to the analysis).
House GOP advances 4 spending bills after failed attempts - House Republicans on Tuesday advanced four full-year spending bills, handing Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) a small win but doing little to stave off a government shutdown at the end of the month. The chamber voted 216-212 to begin consideration of spending measures to fund the Department of Defense; Department of Homeland Security; Department of State and foreign operations; and the Department of Agriculture, rural development and Food and Drug Administration. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) was the lone GOP “no” vote. Her opposition did not come as a surprise; ahead of the vote, she said she was a “hard no” on the rule because two of the spending bills include funding for Ukraine. McCarthy initially said he would remove the Ukraine aid from the Pentagon funding bill and hold a separate vote on it, but backtracked after recognizing that there was also assistance for Kyiv in the appropriations bill for the Department of State and foreign operations. The Speaker said it was “too difficult” to strip the money out of the State Department measure. Greene spoke out against the aid for Ukraine following the vote. “I just voted NO to advance Ukraine funding bills. After tonight, we will find out who is actually against sending YOUR money to Ukraine. No more stump speeches. No more red meat. No more chest thumping in letters,” Greene wrote in a post on X. The successful procedural vote marks an incremental win for McCarthy, who has struggled to advance spending measures this month amid conservative opposition. The House tried to advance the Department of Defense appropriations bill twice last week, with hard-line opposition sinking the measure both times. The advancement of the bills, however, will do nothing to avert a shutdown ahead of the Sept. 30 government funding deadline. Leaders in both parties and chambers have recognized that a continuing resolution will be needed to keep the lights on in Washington beyond the Saturday deadline, but the path to clearing such a measure is unclear. Senate leaders unveiled a bill Tuesday to avoid a shutdown, but it remains unknown when it will clear the Senate and if McCarthy will bring the legislation to the floor for a vote. The measure would kick the funding deadline to Nov. 17 and includes roughly $6 billion for Ukraine and $6 billion in disaster relief. McCarthy has tried to coalesce his conference around a GOP-crafted continuing resolution that would cut spending and enact a chunk of the House Republican conference’s marquee border bill, but a number of hard-liners have said that they will not support a stopgap measure under any circumstances. House GOP leaders are hopeful that moving the four appropriations bills will make some of those Republican holdouts more open to a continuing resolution. McCarthy said Tuesday that he will bring a stopgap bill to the floor for a vote this week.
House Republicans FINALLY vote to advance four spending bills after a week of failures and protests by hardline Kevin McCarthy critics - The House voted to pass a rule vote to begin debate on four separate spending bills after two rules votes failed last week, prompting Republicans to burst into applaus on the floor. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., was the only Republican to vote against the rule, opposing the 'blood money' it contained for Ukraine. The House now moves on to debating amendments for the agriculture-FDA, defense, homeland security and state appropriations bills. McCarthy celebrated the win in a news conference with reporters after the vote where he vowed to bring a stopgap spending bill to the floor to extend the September 30 deadline for a government shutdown. He said he would bring it to the floor whether or not it had the votes to pass as multiple GOP members remain opposed to any CR, arguing the House must pass 12 single-subject spending bills or nothing. 'We want to make sure government stays open as we do our work,' he said. But the speaker scoffed at the Senate's new bipartisan CR plan that includes money for Ukraine and disaster relief. He said the Senate's priorities are 'backwards' because their CR included money for Ukraine but did not include border security provisions. With only four days to shutdown, the rule vote gave a hint of optimism to the House GOP, which is not facing new pressure to agree on spending legislation after the Senate released a bill that would kick the deadline for a government shutdown down the road by six weeks. The continuing resolution (CR), endorsed by both Senate leaders Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., would extend government funding from September 30 to November 17. It includes over $6 billion in Ukraine aid, sure to trigger some House conservatives. It also includes $6 billion in disaster relief and no border provisions. It's unlikely the deal could pass before Sunday if Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., holds up 'quick passage' - which requires unanimous consent. He claimed Tuesday he would continue to do so. 'I will object to any kind of easy passage or speeding up of the time. I think it's bad policy to borrow money from China to send it to Ukraine.' Meanwhile Speaker Kevin McCarthy remained non-committal on whether he'd ever give a Senate-authored CR a vote on the House floor. He's also called for Ukraine aid to be dealt with separately from stopgap spending legislation. On Tuesday he did say he would put a stopgap funding bill on the floor before Saturday but said he would continue pushing for one that included border security. The Senate CR would likely pass both the upper chamber and the lower chamber with votes from Democrats and some Republicans if House GOP leadership put it up for a vote. But doing so could endanger McCarthy's speakership. McConnell endorsed a 'standard, short-term' stopgap spending bill on the Senate floor Tuesday. 'Over the years, I’ve been pretty clear in my view that government shutdowns are bad news whichever way you look at them. They don't work as political bargaining chips,' the GOP leader said. The Senate is set to advance the House's FAA reauthorization bill on Tuesday, which Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer will use to advance a CR through the Senate.
House Republicans get some momentum after two embarrassing setbacks — After two embarrassing failed votes last week, House Republicans on Tuesday regrouped and successfully voted to open debate on a package of spending bills they hope will unlock votes to keep the government from shutting down at the end of the week.The rule passed 216-212, with Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., as the sole Republican to vote against it.A federal shutdown early Sunday morning is still highly likely given broad disagreements between the GOP-controlled House and Democratic-led Senate over funding levels and aid for Ukraine.But if Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., can rally his troops behind four partisan appropriations bills this week, he believes he can put Republicans in a better negotiating position with the congressional Democrats and the White House heading into a potential shutdown."We're going to work through appropriations bills this week. ... We'll have a process to get through a large chunk of funding, significantly more than the Senate's been able to get through," said a top McCarthy ally, Financial Services Chairman Patrick McHenry, R-N.C. "And that should put us in a better negotiating position for what is inevitably going to be the end-of-year negotiations around funding the government."The four bills would fund the Departments of Defense, Homeland Security and Agriculture, as well as state-foreign operations. Adhering to the demands of House conservatives, the bills would cut billions of dollars despite a bipartisan debt and spending deal earlier this year between McCarthy and President Joe Biden.
Freedom Caucus presses McCarthy for answers before supporting stopgap -More than two dozen members of the House Freedom Caucus are pressing Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) for answers on his plan to advance spending bills before advancing a short-term funding measure to avert a government shutdown. The Thursday letter to McCarthy comes as he is preparing to bring a short-term spending bill that includes border security measures for a House vote Friday, according to multiple House GOP members. Hesitance from the Freedom Caucus members signal an uphill climb for getting that bill through the slim House GOP majority. The government is slated to shut down after 11:59 p.m. Saturday, unless Congress can pass a funding solution. “No Member of Congress can or should be expected to consider supporting a stop-gap funding measure without answers to these reasonable questions,” said the letter, led by House Freedom Caucus Chairman Scott Perry (R-Pa.) and signed by 26 other members of the hard-line conservative group. The letter listed numerous questions about the state of regular full-year appropriations bills, including the plan to address GOP opposition to several of the four bills being considered on the House floor; the schedule for the five appropriations bills that have been passed out of the committee and to mark up the last two spending bills; how additional agreed-upon cuts will be implemented across other bills; and whether the House will stay in session Finally, the letter asked McCarthy to “publicly refute and reject the Schumer-McConnell Continuing Resolution” — the Senate’s stopgap plan to extend government funding to Nov. 17 that includes $6.15 billion in funding for Ukraine and $5.99 billion in disaster assistance. The Freedom Caucus lawmakers asked what McCarthy was doing to “proactively oppose and defeat this ‘Omnibus Preparation Act.’”“We remain ready to continue working in good faith with our colleagues across the Republican Conference to advance appropriations; likewise, we expect you to take every step necessary to pass these bills — starting with the four bills now under consideration to fund approximately two-thirds of the federal government,” the letter later said. McCarthy and his allies hope that the House GOP’s short-term stopgap with border measures could set the conference up to extract concessions on border policy from the White House and Senate. But that is only if they can pass it. At least six House GOP members — enough to sink a party-line vote, assuming full attendance — have publicly said they will oppose any kind of short-term funding measure as they demand the House continues work on regular full-year appropriations bills.
McCarthy, Gaetz get into testy exchange over anti-Gaetz paid post --Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) and Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) got into a testy exchange behind closed doors Thursday, after Gaetz accused McCarthy of being behind a social media campaign targeting the Florida Republican — which the Speaker denied. The back-and-forth at the House GOP’s conference meeting took place amid heightened tensions between the men, with Gaetz openly threatening to force a vote on ousting McCarthy as Speaker if he does not follow through with a number of demands on spending and legislation. “I asked McCarthy a direct question: Were you out there paying for people to try to create a false negative sentiment about me online?” Gaetz told The Hill of the exchange. “And his non sequitur retort was that he was giving out two and a half million dollars to other Republicans at breakfast. And I asked him how much of that money he’d gotten from FTX and Sam Bankman-Fried.” McCarthy, however, denied any involvement in the anti-Gaetz campaign, according to the lawmaker — and his outside legal counsel sent a cease-and-desist to the individual responsible for the solicitations earlier this week. The Speaker told Gaetz that he is busy doing his job and trying to run the conference and essentially said, “I’m not worried about you, Matt,” according to a House Republican. Gaetz said that McCarthy “mumbled and said that he didn’t think enough of me to do that.” “I don’t think you believe that, and I don’t think your readers would believe that,” Gaetz said. A House Republican who requested anonymity to discuss the private exchange told The Hill that Gaetz accused McCarthy of “masterminding outside money attacking him.” And another House Republican added that it was a “very” testy exchange. The scuffle came after social media posts circulated Tuesday with screenshots of a message individuals received from an account soliciting work for an advocacy campaign “against Gaetz and the government shutdown.” Gaetz shared the post, writing “1. Thank you! 2. @SpeakerMcCarthy is pathetic.” McCarthy’s outside counsel, Elliot S. Berke, sent a cease-and-desist to an individual presumed to be behind the solicitations Tuesday. “I understand based on multiple reporter inquiries that reference your name that you are reaching out to social media influencers about a ‘Against Gaetz and government shutdown’ and claiming it is in on behalf of Speaker McCarthy and/or entities purportedly affiliated with the Speaker,” Berke said, according to a copy of the message shared with The Hill. “That is false and in violation of the law. This email puts you on notice that you must immediately cease and desist or we will move forward with all remedies under the law including the pursuit of damages where warranted.” Politico first reported the cease-and-desist. The feud between McCarthy and Gaetz — which came into sharp focus during the drawn-out Speaker’s race in January — has boiled over in recent weeks as Gaetz threatens to force a vote on removing McCarthy as Speaker. The amped-up rhetoric comes as lawmakers are racing the clock to fund the government before the Sept. 30 shutdown deadline. McCarthy has said he wants to pass a GOP-crafted stopgap bill to keep the lights on in Washington beyond Saturday, but a handful of hard-line conservatives — including Gaetz — have said they will not support a continuing resolution under any circumstances. The Senate advanced a bipartisan stopgap bill Tuesday that would fund the government until Nov. 17 and includes $6.15 billion for Ukraine and $5.99 billion in disaster assistance. Gaetz warned McCarthy that if he brings the legislation to the floor he would face a vote on his ouster. McCarthy, for his part, told his members Wednesday that he will not hold a vote on the measure. “If the leadership moves a Democrat spending bill to advance Democrat priorities, then there very likely to be a motion to vacate that the Speaker would face,” Gaetz told reporters Wednesday.
House bill would reduce Defense secretary’s salary to $1 --House lawmakers passed an amendment to a Defense spending bill that would reduce Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin’s salary to just $1, though the provision is unlikely to become law in a piece of legislation that seems doomed to fail.The amendment, offered by Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.), was agreed to in the House by voice vote Wednesday afternoon.The provision states clearly: “None of the funds made available by this Act may be used to pay Defense Secretary Lloyd James Austin III a salary that exceeds $1.”Greene hailed her victory in passing the amendment, saying Austin should be fired from his post for the chaotic U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021 and for low military recruitment. She said even $1 was too much for the Defense chief.“There’s a loss in confidence in Lloyd Austin’s leadership and he deserves to be fired,” Greene said in a Wednesday video after the vote.Austin, who has an annual salary exceeding $221,000, is a retired four-star general who served 41 years in the military and is the first African American to lead the Defense Department.The Senate confirmed him by a 93-2 vote in 2021.Greene, however, has frequently railed against his leadership. The Georgia Republican has also complained about U.S. service members being fired for refusing to take the COVID-19 vaccines.“Secretary Austin has not fulfilled his job duties; as a matter of fact, he’s destroying our military,” Greene said on the House floor.
House advances Ukraine aid after leaders strip money from Defense spending bill - The House advanced legislation Thursday that provides $300 million in aid to Ukraine after GOP leaders stripped the funding from a Defense spending bill amid opposition from Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene. The chamber voted 217-211 to adopt the rule — which governs debate on legislation — for the five-page bill, kicking off debate in the chamber. The legislation appropriates the $300 million for fiscal 2024. The $300 million in aid for Ukraine, which had initially been included in the Pentagon appropriations bill, has been a source of controversy within the House GOP conference, prompting Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) to flip-flop on the matter three times ahead of Thursday’s vote. House GOP leaders moved late Wednesday night to strip the funding from the Defense bill and hold a separate vote on it amid uncertainty regarding the legislation’s chances of passing. Top Republicans made that decision even after the House — including a majority of Republicans — overwhelmingly rejected an amendment to strip the $300 million from the Defense appropriations bill. The amendment, sponsored by Rep. Andy Biggs (R-Ariz.), failed in a 330-104 vote. The late-night decision marked the third time the game plan for the Ukraine funding had changed. Last week, McCarthy told reporters that he would strip the funding from the Defense bill and hold a separate vote on the aid after Greene joined a band of conservatives in voting down the rule for the appropriations measure, which was enough opposition to tank the procedural vote. It was the second time in three days that hard-liners sank efforts to advance the Pentagon spending bill. But the day after McCarthy vowed to separate the Ukraine aid from the Defense bill, the Speaker reversed course, telling reporters that he would keep the funding for Kyiv in the legislation. He said he made that decision after recognizing that another appropriations bill set to come up — one funding the State Department and foreign operations — also included money for Ukraine. The House ultimately advanced the rule containing the four bills Tuesday, with Greene as the only Republican to vote “no.” But amid uncertainty over the Defense bill’s chances of passing, the House Rules Committee convened a last-minute hearing to remove the funds and hold a separate vote on them. The funding is meant to “provide assistance, including training; equipment; lethal assistance; logistics support, supplies and services; salaries and stipends; sustainment; and intelligence support to the military and national security forces of Ukraine, and to other forces or groups recognized by and under the authority of the Government of Ukraine, including governmental entities within Ukraine, engaged in resisting Russian aggression against Ukraine, for replacement of any weapons or articles provided to the Government of Ukraine from the inventory of the United States.”
Senate Republicans demand major immigration reform in anti-shutdown bill --Senate Republicans say they want to add language to the government funding stopgap that would stop the Biden administration’s policy of releasing migrants after they’ve been detained for crossing the U.S.-Mexico border, but the idea is already running into Democratic opposition. A group of Senate Republicans are rallying behind Speaker Kevin McCarthy’s (R-Calif.) demand that any government funding bill include policy changes that Republicans say would secure the border, specifically language requiring migrants detained while crossing the border to wait in Mexico while their asylum claims process. “I’d like as close to H.R. 2 [the Secure the Border Act] as we can possibly get,” said Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas), who participated in a meeting of Republican senators Thursday morning on adding border security language to the continuing resolution. The House bill, the Secure the Border Act, would require the Department of Homeland Security to resume border wall construction, increase the number of border patrol agents and tighten asylum standards. It would also require the department to detain unlawful migrants or return them to Mexico or Canada. McCarthy told reporters Thursday that he wants to establish a “remain in Mexico” policy and reestablish the pandemic-era Title 42 health emergency order that suspended migrants’ ability to stay in the United States to pursue asylum claims. “Basically, I think, it boils down to ending catch and release,” Cornyn said. “That happens because there’s no reasonable detention of people while their asylum claims are being considered.” Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Dick Durbin (Ill.), a leading Democratic voice on immigration reform, immediately dismissed Cornyn’s requested changes to the continuing resolution as “unrealistic.” “I’m for immigration reform, and I’ve been that way for 10 years since we passed it on the [Senate] floor [in 2013.] This notion that we’re going to stick it into a measure that’s going to pass in 48 hours is unrealistic,” Durbin said. The Senate advanced a stopgap funding bill Thursday, though it still has legislative hurdles to overcome. Government funding runs out Saturday.
McCarthy told conference he won’t allow vote on Senate stopgap: GOP lawmakers Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) told members of the House GOP conference Wednesday morning that he will not bring the Senate’s bipartisan continuing resolution to the floor for a vote. Rep. Bob Good (R-Va.) told reporters after a closed-door House GOP conference meeting that McCarthy informed lawmakers during the gathering that he will not bring the upper chamber’s legislation to the floor for a vote, even after the Senate voted to advance it in a bipartisan fashion Tuesday night. “I don’t think he plans to do that,” Good said when asked about bringing the Senate stopgap bill up for a vote. “He reiterated that this morning. I called on him to consistently say that to the public, let the Senate know that’s dead on arrival and that there’s no way the House would pass that bill.” Pressed on if McCarthy told the conference that he will not bring up the Senate legislation, Good responded, “That’s exactly right.” A second House Republican confirmed to The Hill that McCarthy said he would not bring the measure to the floor for a vote. Senate leaders unveiled a continuing resolution Tuesday afternoon to fund the government through Nov. 17. The legislation also includes roughly $6.15 billion in funding for Ukraine, $5.99 billion in disaster assistance and would temporarily extend the expiring authority of the Federal Aviation Administration. The Senate advanced the legislation in an overwhelmingly bipartisan vote Tuesday night, 77-19. While the measure has the backing of Democrats and Republicans in the Senate, a number of House conservatives have already lined up against the legislation, pointing to the inclusion of Ukraine aid and the exclusion of border security provisions. Asked about the Senate proposal following Wednesday’s conference meeting, McCarthy told reporters: “I don’t see the support in the House.” Rep. Byron Donalds (R-Fla.), a member of the conservative House Freedom Caucus, said the legislation “is dead over here,” referring to the House. “First of all, you continue spending, you have $6.2 billion for Ukraine, they do nothing to secure our southern border. That is just a nonstarter,” he said. “The Senate needs to get real.” Some House Republicans, however, would be open to the stopgap measure. Rep. Don Bacon (R-Neb.), who represents a district President Biden won in 2020, said he would support the Senate’s legislation and that McCarthy should bring it to the floor “if that is the only option.” “I don’t want a shutdown. I would support it,” he noted earlier. Instead, however, McCarthy said he plans to bring a GOP-crafted stopgap bill to the floor Friday, legislation that will be dead on arrival in the Senate but is meant to open negotiations with Democrats in the upper chamber.
Government shutdown odds grow as House GOP leaders reject Senate spending bill - A federal government shutdown this weekend looks increasingly likely, as House Republicans indicated Wednesday they would not consider a bipartisan Senate plan to fund the government past the weekend deadline. In light of the standoff in Congress, the White House Office of Management and Budget told federal agencies Wednesday to be prepared to notify their employees of the status of government funding, two people familiar with the matter told The Washington Post, speaking on the condition of anonymity to describe internal planning. Those updates will occur Thursday morning, as part of the government’s mandatory contingency process. Agencies will begin notifying employees sometime this week about whether they will be furloughed, but it is unclear exactly when. Senior officials across the federal government have already begun discussing who will be furloughed and who will continue working without pay, one of the people said. On Capitol Hill, the two chambers are working on diverging tracks to extend government funding, which is set to expire at 12:01 a.m. Sunday. The Senate worked Wednesday on a bill to continue funding at current levels into mid-November, which would also supply some of the billions of dollars President Biden seeks for U.S. aid to Ukraine and for natural disaster relief. But House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) rejected that measure, telling his conference in a closed-door meeting Wednesday morning that he would not put the Senate bill on the floor in its current form. There appeared to be no talks underway between the House and the Senate to craft a short-term spending bill that both chambers can agree on. Instead, each chamber will try to pass its own legislation and challenge the other to take it up or reject it. Biden said a shutdown would be “disastrous.” “We made a deal,” Biden said in remarks to a Democratic fundraiser in San Francisco on Wednesday night, referring to an agreement with McCarthy in June to suspend the U.S. debt ceiling and set federal spending limits for this year. “Now they come along and say … we didn’t mean it.” McCarthy, in private meetings this week, has started to float alternative plans for the GOP-controlled House to counter the Democratic-controlled Senate’s bipartisan progress. The speaker has suggested taking the Senate’s short-term bill, stripping it of provisions House Republicans oppose — including emergency aid for Ukraine and domestic disaster victims — then tacking on a House-passed border security bill and sending it back to the Senate. Separately, McCarthy and his allies have continued to encourage their colleagues to pass a short-term spending bill, called a continuing resolution, or CR, on Friday, which would include funding for border security, in a signal of defiance to the Senate. Exactly how long the CR would last remains up in the air, but the contours largely follow the deal struck last week by the pragmatic Main Street Caucus and the Freedom Caucus. That would mean cutting spending levels for most of the federal government by about 8 percent but leaving spending on the military and veterans untouched.
House Agriculture spending bill crashes as shutdown nears - Congress remains in a state of chaos, lacking a clear path to prevent a government shutdown, assist victims of natural disasters and keep countless other essential programs afloat. Flood insurance is also on the line. The Senate made some progress on its bipartisan, 45-day stopgap legislation Thursday — known as a continuing resolution, or a CR — but negotiators were still working to determine whether they could amend it with some additional border security funding to make it more palatable to the House. Across the Capitol, the House approved three fiscal 2024 bills but rejected a fourth — Agriculture — in a sign of continuing Republican divisions on spending. A continuing resolution to keep the government open is also likely to stall as soon as Friday. All told, unless an unexpected breakthrough happens soon, government funding will run out Sunday at 12:01 a.m. Despite those long odds, McCarthy told reporters Thursday, “At the end of the day, we’ll get it all done,” The House stopgap will follow the framework brokered last week by the conservative House Freedom Caucus and center-right Republican Main Street Caucus. It links restrictive immigration policy riders with across-the-board cuts to domestic spending and fresh money for the Federal Emergency Management Agency to dole out some disaster assistance. It does not, however, include the president’s $16 billion disaster supplemental request. McCarthy promised the House will vote on it Friday regardless of whether it has the support to pass, an outcome that is far from guaranteed. “Members this week need to be able to vote on something that funds the government,” said Rep. Steve Womack (R-Ark.), the chair of the House Financial Services and General Government Appropriations Subcommittee. “Whether it passes or not is not the issue right now,” said Womack. “Members need to be on record, either one way or the other … to demonstrate that we are interested in keeping government operational.” Members of the House Freedom Caucus fired a warning shot Thursday afternoon in a letter to McCarthy, suggested they could oppose a CR without commitments that the speaker will, among other things, keep the chamber in session to pass all 12 annual appropriations bills at lower spending levels and “publicly refute” the Senate’s stopgap measure. “No Member of Congress can or should be expected to consider supporting a stop-gap funding measure without answers to these responsible questions,” the lawmakers wrote. Questions loomed all day Thursday over whether the House could pass any spending bills. In the end, the chamber advanced three: State-Foreign Operations, Defense and Homeland Security — mostly on party-line Republican votes. The lone bill to go down to defeat was Agriculture-Rural Development after nearly two dozen Republicans voted against it. The measure includes deep cuts to conservation, rural development and rural energy grants, among other areas. It also aimed to reduce research on climate change. Amendments adopted this week went further in targeting climate programs, including President Joe Biden’s jobs initiative. Many of those cuts proved too deep for some Republicans, especially after GOP leadership made even steeper across-the-board reductions to appease hard-right lawmakers. Rep. Dusty Johnson (R-S.D.) said Republicans uncomfortable with the bill fell into three camps: those who didn’t like proposed limits on the availability of the abortion pill mifepristone, regulated by the Food and Drug Administration; others who believed the program cuts were too severe; and those who thought the proposed cuts weren’t big enough. And while the struggle over the agriculture bill mirrors bigger difficulties across all spending measures, Johnson said, “Kevin McCarthy is nothing if not persistent” in trying to find ways to navigate them to the floor. “We keep working it and working it, and there have been a number of times we’ve gotten a breakthrough even after times where everybody felt like progress was impossible,” Johnson said. Lawmakers this week also advanced an amendment to the State-Foreign Operations appropriations bill to withdraw the United States from the Paris climate accord. Another amendment winning approval would zero out funding for Biden’s special climate envoy, John Kerry. The base bill also targeted Kerry’s role.
Shutdown odds grow as Senate, House advance separate spending plans (Reuters) - The Democratic-led U.S. Senate forged ahead on Thursday with a bipartisan stopgap funding bill aimed at averting a fourth partial government shutdown in a decade, while the House prepared to vote on partisan Republican spending bills with no chance of becoming law. The divergent paths of the two chambers appeared to increase the odds that federal agencies will run out of money on Sunday, furloughing hundreds of thousands of federal workers and halting a wide range of services from economic data releases to nutrition benefits. The Senate voted 76-22 to open debate on a stopgap bill known as a continuing resolution, or CR, which would extend federal spending until Nov. 17, and authorize roughly $6 billion each for domestic disaster response funding and aid to Ukraine to defend itself against Russia. The Senate measure has already been rejected by Republicans, who control the House of Representatives. The House planned late-night votes on four partisan appropriations bills that would not alone prevent a shutdown, even if they could overcome strong opposition from Democrats and become law. House Republicans, led by a small faction of hardline conservatives in the chamber they control by a 221-212 margin, have rejected spending levels for fiscal year 2024 set in a deal Speaker Kevin McCarthy negotiated with Biden in May. The agreement included $1.59 trillion in discretionary spending in fiscal 2024. House Republicans are demanding another $120 billion in cuts, plus tougher legislation that would stop the flow of immigrants at the U.S. southern border with Mexico. The funding fight focuses on a relatively small slice of the $6.4 trillion U.S. budget for this fiscal year. Lawmakers are not considering cuts to popular benefit programs such as Social Security and Medicare. McCarthy is facing intense pressure from his caucus to achieve their goals. Several hardliners have threatened to oust him from his leadership role if he passes a spending bill that requires any Democratic votes to pass. Former President Donald Trump has taken to social media to push his congressional allies toward a shutdown. McCarthy, for his part, suggested on Thursday that a shutdown could be avoided if Senate Democrats agreed to address border issues in their stopgap measure.
Republicans reject own funding bill, US government shutdown imminent (Reuters) - Hardline Republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives on Friday rejected a bill proposed by their leader to temporarily fund the government, making it all but certain that federal agencies will partially shut down beginning on Sunday. In a 232-198 vote, the House defeated a measure that would extend government funding by 30 days and avert a shutdown. That bill would have slashed spending and restricted immigration, Republican priorities that had little chance of passing the Democratic-controlled Senate. The defeat left Republicans - who control the chamber by 221-212 - without a clear strategy to avert a shutdown that would close national parks, disrupt pay for up to 4 million federal workers and hobble everything from financial oversight to scientific research if funding is not extended past 12:01 a.m. ET (0401 GMT) on Sunday. After the vote, House Speaker Kevin McCarthy said the chamber might still pass a funding extension without the conservative policies that had alienated Democrats. But he declined to say what would happen next. The chamber is expected to hold more votes on Saturday. "It's only a failure if you quit," he told reporters. It was not clear whether the Senate would act in time, either. The chamber was due on Saturday afternoon to take up a bipartisan bill that would fund the government through Nov. 17, but procedural hurdles could delay a final vote until Tuesday. U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said on Friday that a government shutdown would "undermine" U.S. economic progress by idling programs for small businesses and children and could delay major infrastructure improvements. The shutdown would be the fourth in a decade and just four months after a similar standoff brought the federal government within days of defaulting on its $31 trillion debt. The repeated brinkmanship has raised worries on Wall Street, where the Moody's ratings agency has warned it could damage U.S. creditworthiness.
House Republicans struggle to agree on stopgap to avoid a shutdown : NPR - House conservatives blocked a Republican bill to avoid a government shutdown, dealing House Speaker Kevin McCarthy another defeat with the clock ticking toward the midnight deadline on Saturday when federal agencies run out of money. The failure is the latest display of the dysfunction that has engulfed Congress in the days and weeks leading up to an increasingly inevitable government shutdown. House Republicans have been mired in internal battles over spending and political tactics that have put them at odds with Democrats and most Republicans in the Senate who are pursuing a bipartisan solution. The lack of unity has frustrated rank-and-file House Republicans like Steve Womack, R-Ark.. "This is what we are supposed to do as a governing majority: we are supposed to lead," he said. House Republicans went back to the drawing board Friday evening. They emerged from a closed-door party meeting with a potential plan to try to vote on a different, shorter stopgap measure sometime on Saturday. But there was seemingly no consensus on the details of what would be in that bill and when it might be considered. The talks come as the Senate prepares to vote Saturday on their own bipartisan bill that would fund government agencies through November 17. It includes $5 billion for disaster aid and $6 billion for assistance for Ukraine. McCarthy has ignored that bill and opposed pairing additional money for Ukraine on a stopgap bill, and argued Congress needed to address the situation at the southwest border. However, his own GOP-crafted measure that would have funded agencies through October 31 and included border security provisions failed at the hands of a bloc of members who said they wouldn't approve any short-term bill. The vote was 198-232, with 21 GOP members voting against it. At a press conference before the vote McCarthy downplayed internal divisions and essentially dared fellow Republicans to follow through on their threat to block it. "Every member will have to go on record of where they stand. Are they willing to secure the border or do they side with President Biden on an open border and vote against a measure to keep government open?"
Here are the 21 House Republicans who voted no on McCarthy’s stopgap funding bill to avert government shutdown | Fox News --The House of Representatives failed to pass a stopgap funding bill which could have averted a government shutdown, with 21 Republican members of Congress voting against the bill.While a procedural vote to advance the bill passed, final passage failed by a 198-232 vote, with 21 Republicans voting against the bill.Funding for the government expires at midnight on Sunday, and without a deal agreed to by the House and Senate, all federal functions considered "nonessential" will temporarily be placed on hold. The bill voted down by lawmakers, the "Continuing Appropriations and Border Security Enhancement Act, 2024," if agreed upon by the Senate, would have given lawmakers more time to gather support for 12 individual spending bills.Here are the 21 GOP members of Congress who voted no to the stopgap funding bill:
- Rep. Andy Biggs, R-Ariz.
- Rep. Dan Bishop, R- N.C.
- Rep. Lauren Boebert, R-Colo.
- Rep. Ken Buck, R-Colo.
- Rep. Tim Burchett, R-Tenn.
- Rep. Eric Burlison, R-Mo.
- Rep. Michael Cloud, R-Texas.
- Rep. Eli Crane, R-Ariz.
- Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla.
- Rep. Paul Gosar, R-Ariz.
- Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga.
- Rep. Wesley Hunt, R-Texas.
- Rep. Nancy Mace, R-S.C.
- Rep. Mary Miller, R-Ill.
- Rep. Cory Mills, R-Fla.
- Rep. Alex Mooney, R-W.V.
- Rep. Barry Moore, R-Ala.
- Rep. Troy Nehls, R-Texas.
- Rep. Andy Ogles, R-Tenn.
- Rep. Matt Rosendale, R-Mont.
- Rep. Keith Self, R-Texas.
Fox News Digital reached out to every individual who voted no on the "Continuing Appropriations and Border Security Enhancement Act, 2024." [statements follow]
September 29, 2023 - Government shutdown nears as Congress continues negotiations --With less than two days to go until the critical deadline to extend federal funding, Congress is barreling toward a government shutdown as lawmakers have yet to reach a deal. The Senate put together a bipartisan proposal to avert a shutdown — but House Republicans have thrown cold water on that plan, leaving the two chambers at an impasse. A House vote on a short-term funding measure failed Friday, marking a fresh blow for House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, whose speakership could also be on the line. A shutdown could have enormous impacts across the country, from air travel to clean drinking water. Many government operations would come to a halt, while services deemed “essential” would continue. Speaker Kevin McCarthy clarified that he opposes the Senate’s stopgap spending bill and declared it would be a non-starter in the House, after some hardliners left a meeting in the Capitol confused about his position. “After meeting with House Republicans this evening, it’s clear the misguided Senate bill has no path forward and is dead on arrival,” he wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter. “The House will continue to work around the clock to keep government open and prioritize the needs of the American people.”His late Friday night message comes after a two-hour conference meeting in the Capitol tonight, where McCarthy floated several different options — including putting the Senate bill on the floor or passing a short-term bill that excludes Ukraine money.But there is still no consensus on what — if anything — they will put on the House floor Saturday to avoid a government shutdown. At this point, McCarthy appears to be throwing things at the wall to see what sticks.For 1.3 million active-duty troops, the paycheck received Friday could be their last until government funding is passed, though they will continue to go to work. “I think what is going through my mind is the unknown right now,” one Army spouse, Joanna Nicoletti, told CNN Friday. “We have childcare costs, we have student loans, we have bills to pay, we have mortgages to pay — where is that money going to come from?” Shannon Razsadin, the president of MFAN, told CNN that some military families are “just getting by,” and a missed paycheck could devastating. “Military families, they sacrifice a lot,” Razsadin said, “and they should not have to worry about if they’ll get paid when their due to get paid.”
For Ginger Gerrish, a Coast Guard spouse whose husband is currently deployed, this isn’t the first time she’s had those concerns. From December 2018 to January 2019, the Coast Guard went without pay for 35 days during a government shutdown — while Congress passed legislation that ensured much of the military was paid, it did not include the Coast Guard, which falls under the Department of Homeland Security. While legislation has been introduced this year to pay the military in a shutdown, it has not been passed.
Rand Paul: Withdraw Ukraine money if you want to avoid shutdown -Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) reiterated his threat Thursday to hold up a Senate government funding bill because it includes more than $6 billion in funding for Ukraine. Paul wrote on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter, that he would only allow a vote on the spending stopgap before the Sept. 30 deadline for funding government if Senate leaders pull out the money for Ukraine. “To avoid a government shutdown, I will consent to an expedited vote on a clean CR without Ukraine aid on it. If leadership insists on funding another country’s government at the expense of our own government, all blame rests with their intransigence,” he wrote. So far, neither Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) nor Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) have signaled any willingness to pull the Ukraine money out of the bill. “I’m comfortable with the way we put together the Senate bill,” McConnell told reporters Wednesday. Anticipating Paul’s objections to speeding up the floor debate, leaders have told rank-and-file senators to expect to vote through Sunday to get the temporary funding measure through the Senate. It would fund the government until Nov. 17.
House Republicans to vote on 45-day, clean stopgap funding bill - The House will vote Saturday on a 45-day “clean” stopgap funding bill that includes money for disaster relief, a major turn in strategy for Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) ahead of a midnight shutdown deadline. The clean continuing resolution (CR) would require support from two-thirds of the House for passage because it is being considered under a fast-tracked mechanism called suspension of the rules. That means it would rely heavily on Democratic support to pass. It will not have border policy changes, a non-starter for Democrats, or funds for Ukraine that some Republicans opposed. McCarthy announced the plan following a nearly two-hour closed-door conference meeting. “We will put a clean funding stopgap on the floor to keep government open for 45 days for the House and Senate to get their work done,” McCarthy told reporters after the meeting. “We will also, knowing what had transpired through the summer, the disasters in Florida, the horrendous fire in Hawaii, and also the disasters in California and Vermont. We will put the supplemental portion that the president asked for in disaster there too.” “Keeping the government open while we continue to do our work to end the wasteful spending and the wokeism and most important, secure our border,” he added. If the bill does not pass, Republicans plan to bring up several measures to mitigate the effects of a government shutdown, multiple members said.
House passes 45 day spending stopgap, sending bill to Senate -- In a significant last-minute reversal, the House has voted 335 to 91 to approve a 45 day extension of federal funding. The fate of the bill in the Senate remains unclear, though the broad bipartisan support in the House puts pressure on senators to accept the stopgap and avoid a shutdown. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., announced the plan to vote on the bill after a morning meeting with House Republicans. McCarthy has refused for weeks to consider any spending bill that would require the support of Democrats. But, facing the potential for a politically and economically harmful shutdown, McCarthy reversed course, specifically calling on Democrats for help passing the bill. "What I am asking, Republicans and Democrats alike, put your partisanship away, focus on the American public," McCarthy told reporters before the vote. The bill would also extend authorization for the Federal Aviation Administration until the end of the year and includes $16 billion in emergency disaster assistance requested by the White House. It does not include any money for Ukraine. The fate of the bill in the Senate is unclear, in part because the the Senate was scheduled to vote to advance its own bipartisan bill that funded the government at roughly the same time as the House. House Democrats attempted to stall progress on the House bill in order to give the Senate time to vote first on their version, which does include Ukraine aid. As senators crept towards their own vote, across the Capitol, the House Appropriations Committee's Democratic staff members released an analysis criticizing the bill for not including money for Ukraine. The sudden rush of action came after House Republicans huddled in the basement of the Capitol to discuss strategy. Some McCarthy allies, like Rep. Dusty Johnson, R-S.D., argued a temporary fix to funding the government was needed so House Republicans can continue to push for conservative spending policy without the threat of a shutdown. Leaders stressed that with continued resistance from a group of conservative GOP members, there was no way to move a bill with just Republicans. McCarthy holds a narrow majority and can't lose any more than four votes.
'Republicans for Ukraine' Ad Says Ukraine War Is Good Because It 'Weakens Russia' - A new group formed to rally GOP support for Ukraine released an ad this weekend that said US spending on the war in Ukraine is good for the US because it “weakens” Russia.The ad was made by Republicans for Ukraine, a campaign launched by Defending Democracy Together, an organization led by neoconservative Bill Kristol. The effort comes as support for arming Ukraine is waning among GOP voters, with a recent CNN poll finding 71% of Republicans were against Congress authorizing more Ukraine aid.“When America arms Ukraine, we get a lot for a little. Putin is an enemy of America. We’ve used 5% of our defense budget to arm Ukraine, and with it, they’ve destroyed 50% of Putin’s Army,” the ad says.The ad is blunt and does not attempt to frame US support for Ukraine as a fight for democracy as the Biden administration does, and claims hurting Russia will also hurt China. “The more Ukraine weakens Russia, the more it also weakens Russia’s closest ally China. America needs to stand strong against our enemies, that’s why Republicans in Congress must continue to support Ukraine,” the ad says.Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin used similar language in the early days of the war, saying one of the US goals in Ukraine was to “weaken Russia,” leaving no doubt the conflict is a proxy war.Hawks in Congress have adopted similar talking points to justify more spending on the Ukraine war. Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) recently said the US was getting its “money’s worth” in Ukraine because Russia is taking losses and no Americans are dying. The argument shows a lack of concern for Ukrainian lives.
Zelensky Says He Met BlackRock CEO and Other Finance Leaders in US Trip - Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Sunday that during his recent trip to the US, he met with BlackRock CEO Larry Fink and other US business and finance leaders to discuss investment in Ukraine’s reconstruction.“The American entrepreneurs and financiers confirmed their readiness to make large-scale investments in our country immediately after the end of the war and the receipt of security guarantees,” Zelensky wrote on Telegram. “We are working for the victory and reconstruction of Ukraine.”CNN reported that while Zelensky was in New York for the UN General Assembly, he attended a meeting convened by JPMorgan Chase to discuss Ukraine’s reconstruction. A source told CNN the meeting was attended by former Google CEO Eric Schmidt, Michael Bloomberg, New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft, hedge fund billionaire Bill Ackman, former US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, and billionaire Barry Sternlicht.The destruction of Ukraine provides a huge investment opportunity for American corporations, as the World Bank has estimated reconstructioncould cost over $500 billion. Ukrainian officials have put the price tag for their “recovery plan” at $750 billion.Earlier this year, bankers from JPMorgan traveled to Kyiv and signed a memorandum of understanding with Zelensky related to Ukraine’s reconstruction. Zelensky and the bankers discussed the idea of establishing a fund with tens of billions of dollars in private capital to go towards investment in Ukraine.In January 2022, Zelensky virtually addressed a group of American companies and touted the “big business” opportunities his country offered, citing US military support as an example. “And everyone can become a big business by working with Ukraine. In all sectors — from weapons and defense to construction, from communications to agriculture, from transport to IT, from banks to medicine,” he said.
First Batch of US-Made Abrams Tanks Arrive in Ukraine - Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Monday that the first batch of US-made Abrams tanks have arrived in Ukraine, which are armed with toxic depleted uranium (DU) ammunition.“Abrams are already in Ukraine and are preparing to reinforce our brigades. I am grateful to our allies for fulfilling the agreements!” Zelensky wrote on X. “We are looking for new contracts and expanding the geography of supply.”US officials confirmed the arrival in comments to The New York Times, saying they were the first of 31 tanks Ukraine would receive and that more would be delivered in the coming months. They said so far, Ukraine has received two tank platoons, which puts the number of Abrams between eight and 10. The US is supplying Ukraine with refurbished M1A1 Abrams, an older variant of the tank. When the Biden administration first announced it would arm Ukraine with Abrams, they promised new M1A2 tanks, but they needed to be manufactured and would have taken years to be delivered, so the Pentagon chose to send older tanks to speed up the timeline. The provision of US-made tanks marks a significant escalation of US support for the war, especially since they are armed with DU, which islinked to cancer and birth defects where it is used. The Pentagon announced it was shipping 120mm DU rounds to Ukraine as part of aweapons package announced on September 6.
Kremlin Says US Abrams Tanks 'Will Burn' in Ukraine - On Tuesday, the Kremlin said US-provided Abrams tanks in Ukraine will not impact Russia’s operations and will “burn” like other Western armored vehicles.“There is no panacea, no single weapon that can change the balance of power on the battlefield,” said Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov. “They too will burn,” he added, referring to comments Russian President Vladimir Putin has previously made about Western armor.Peskov’s comments came a day after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and US officials said the first batch of Abrams had arrived in Ukraine. The tanks are armed with toxic depleted uranium ammunition,which is linked to cancer and birth defects in areas where it’s been used.According to The Wall Street Journal, Ukrainian officials have acknowledged that the Abrams tanks are “unlikely to significantly alter the shape of the war.” With Ukraine’s fall rains approaching, muddy conditions will make it difficult for the tanks to operate.Ukraine’s German-made Leopard tanks and US-made Bradley Fighting Vehicles were a prime target for Russia when Ukraine first launched its counteroffensive and attempted large armored assaults. According toThe New York Times, Ukraine lost 20% of the weapons and armor it deployed to the front in the first few weeks of the assault.President Biden first announced the US would arm Ukraine with Abrams tanks back in January. The pledge was part of a deal to get Germany to agree to send Leopard tanks to Ukraine. Just a few days before Biden’s announcement, Pentagon officials said Abrams would not be practical for Ukraine since they’re difficult to maintain.
US Taxpayer Dollars are Subsidizing Small Businesses in Ukraine - A report from 60 Minutes that aired Sunday detailed how US taxpayer dollars are not only funding weapons in Ukraine but are also subsidizing small businesses and paying first responders salaries, among other things.While the bulk of US support for Ukraine has gone toward military aid, the US has also provided tens of billions of dollars in a form of assistance known as direct budgetary aid.According to the US Agency for International Development (USAID), budgetary aid “keeps basic government services like hospitals, schools, and utilities running, and it sustains support for emergency responders and firefighters.” According to the 60 Minutes report, the US aid pays for the salaries of all 57,000 of Ukraine’s first responders.Tatiana Abramova, a woman who runs a knitwear business in Ukraine, spoke with 60 Minutes and said she received subsidies funded by the US taxpayer. “We realize that it’s the aid from government, but it’s the aid from the heart of every ordinary American person,” Abramova said. US officials working for USAID helped Abramova’s business find new customers overseas. Other examples of non-military aid include the US purchasing seeds and fertilizers for Ukrainian farmers. The 60 Minutes report said the US has pumped $25 billion in non-military aid into Ukraine.
Russia Says US and UK Helped Coordinate Attack on Crimea - Russia’s Foreign Ministry on Wednesday said that the US and Britain helped Ukraine with the September 22 missile strike that targeted the headquarters of the Russian Black Sea Fleet in Sevastopol, Crimea.“There is not the slightest doubt that this attack was pre-planned with the use of Western intelligence means and NATO satellite equipment and spy planes and was implemented at the request of and in close coordination with the US and British secret services,” Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova.A Ukrainian source told BBC that the strike was launched using British-provided Storm Shadow missiles, which have a range of up to 155 miles, but the full extent of British or US involvement in the attack is not clear.Acting Deputy Secretary of State Victoria Nuland said back in February that the US was “supporting” Ukrainian attacks on Crimea, suggesting that the US might provide intelligence for such operations. In recent weeks, Ukraine has significantly increased attacks on Crimea as its counteroffensive is faltering. “The obvious aim of such terrorist acts is to distract attention from the Ukrainian army’s failed attempts of mount a counteroffensive and intimidate the people and trigger panic in our society,” Zakharova.Ukraine’s special operations forces have claimed that the September 22 strike killed 34 Russian officers. But the Russian side has not confirmed any deaths, only saying one serviceman was missing after the strike. Ukraine also claimed the strike killed Russia’s Black Sea Fleet commander, Adm. Viktor Sokolov, but he appeared at a Russian Defense Ministry meeting on Tuesday.
House Kills Rep. Gaetz's Amendment to Ban Transfer of Cluster Bombs - The House on Wednesday night voted down an amendment to the Pentagon appropriations bill introduced by Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) that would have banned the transfer of civilian-killing cluster bombs to other countries. The amendment failed in a vote of 160-269, with only 85 Republicans and 75 Democrats supporting the measure. Cluster bombs spread small submunitions, known as bomblets, over a large area. They are so hazardous to civilians because many of the submunitions do not explode on impact and can be found years or decades later, often by children. Due to their indiscriminate nature, cluster bombs are banned by over 100 countries. The vote on Gaetz’s amendment came after the Biden administration announced a weapons package for Ukraine that included the second tranche of cluster bombs in the form of 155mm artillery shells. The administration first shipped cluster bombs to Ukraine in July. Secretary of State Antony Blinken has claimed that without the widely-banned munitions, Ukraine would be “defenseless.” According to recent media reports, the administration has also agreed to provide Ukraine with Army Tactical Missile Systems (ATACMS) that will be armed with cluster munitions. The provision would be a huge escalation as the ATACMS have a range of up to 190 miles, meaning Ukraine could use them to fire cluster bombs into Russian territory. The House also voted down two amendments aimed at reducing US support for the proxy war in Ukraine. One amendment, introduced by Rep. Andy Biggs (R-AZ), to strip $300 million in military aid for Ukraine included in the Pentagon appropriations bill was rejected in a vote of104-330 and only received support from Republicans. Another amendment introduced by Gaetz would have cut off military support for Ukraine altogether. It failed in a vote of 93-339 and also only received support from Republicans.
US Announces $2 Billion Loan for Poland to Spend on Military - The Biden administration on Monday announced a $2 billion loan for Poland that will go toward modernizing Warsaw’s military. “Today, the United States is proud to announce the signing of a milestone $2 billion Foreign Military Financing (FMF) direct loan agreement to support Poland’s defense modernization,” the State Department said in a press release.The State Department said the US would also provide $60 million in FMF funds to cover the cost of the loan. The press release described Warsaw as a “stalwart US ally” as Poland has become a major hub for arms shipments to Ukraine and spends more on its military than most European NATO members.“In addition to its central support role in facilitating international assistance to neighboring Ukraine, Poland has demonstrated its ironclad commitment to strengthening regional security through its robust investments in defense spending,” the State Department said.Poland has been unloading its old Soviet-made equipment into Ukraine and is purchasing lots of US and other NATO military equipment, a policy that’s been a boon for Western arms makers. The US has also significantly expanded its military presence in Poland since Russia invaded Ukraine, with about 10,000 US troops now stationed there.The loan announcement comes after Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said Poland would no longer provide arms to Ukraine amid a public spat between Warsaw and Kyiv over Ukrainian grain. The comments mark a significant shift as Poland has been a staunch backer of the proxy war against Russia. US officials and Western media outlets have attempted to downplay the spat, insisting it’s part of Polish election rhetoric and won’t impact NATO support for Ukraine. Poland’s parliamentary elections are scheduled for October 15, and the ruling Law and Justice party has come under domestic criticism for being subservient to Ukraine.
Erdogan Says Turkish Approval of Sweden's NATO Bid Hinges on US F-16 Sale - Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Tuesday that the Turkish parliament will ratify Sweden’s NATO membership as long as the US follows through on its plans to sell Turkey F-16 fighter jets.Erdogan told NATO in July that Turkey’s parliament would approve Sweden’s membership when it reconvenes this fall, but there has yet to be a vote. The F-16 deal that Turkey is seeking is expected to be worth $20 billion, and President Biden has indicated it would go through if Ankara ratifies Sweden’s NATO bid.“I hope that, so long as they remain true to their promises, our parliament will also remain loyal to the promise that was made,” Erdogan told reporters.While the Biden administration supports the F-16 deal for Turkey, there has been opposition from Congress. The deal’s main opponent has been Sen. Bob Menendez (D-NJ), who just stepped down from his influential post as the head of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee after the Department of Justice indicted him for corruption over allegations that he accepted bribes to benefit Egypt.Erdogan said Menendez stepping down provided an opportunity for Turkey. “Thanks to this development, we may have an opportunity to speed up the process regarding the F-16 sale. Menendez and those who share his mentality are not only creating obstacles on the F-16s but on all other issues,” he said.Erdogan said his foreign minister, Hakan Fidan, met with Secretary of State Antony Blinken last week and discussed several issues, including the F-16 deal. “These talks continue but it would be useful to talk with him [Blinken] once again to turn this situation into an opportunity,” Erdogan said. “Now, we are waiting for a clear answer from the US. We hope that we will get the expected positive outcome without further delay.”
Biden Hosts Pacific Island Leaders as Part of Strategy Against China -- President Biden is hosting Pacific Island leaders for a second annual summit in Washington that’s part of his administration’s strategy to counter China in the Asia Pacific.The two-day US-Pacific Islands Forum Summit kicked off Monday and started with President Biden announcing the US would recognize and establish diplomatic relations with two small island nations: Niue and the Cook Island islands, both associated states of New Zealand but self-governing.Niue is a small island with a population of just over 1,600, and the Cook Islands is comprised of 15 islands and has a population of around 15,000. In a statement on the recognition, President Biden noted that the US military built runways on the Cook Islands during World War II.President Biden said establishing relations with both nations will help advance “a free and open Indo-Pacific,” a term US officials use when discussing efforts against China in the region. The US has been working on expanding its military presence in the Pacific to prepare for a future war with China, which includes an agreement signed earlier this year with Papua New Guinea that grants the US access to the country’s airports and sea ports.The US is also expanding its military presence in Australia and extending agreements to maintain military access to the Marshall Islands, Palau, and Micronesia. US Pacific Air Forces Commander Gen. Kenneth Wilsbach recently said the purpose of the expansion is to give China more areas it will need to target in a future war. He also said the Air Force is clearing out jungles in the Pacific to build new airfields and restore old ones.
US in Talks With Vietnam on Major Weapons Deal - The US and Vietnam are in talks on a major arms deal in what would be the largest-ever weapons transfer between the two nations, Reutersreported on Friday.The report said the deal could include Vietnam buying a fleet of US-made F-16 fighter jets, but sources told Reuters the talks were still in the early stages, and everything is subject to change. The potential weapons sale was a topic of conversation between US and Vietnamese officials in meetings over the past month.The US has been looking to boost ties with Vietnam and other countries in the region as part of its strategy against China. Hanoi has sought to balance relations between the two powers, a strategy known as “bamboo diplomacy,” but the US and Vietnam elevated their relationship to a “Comprehensive Strategic Partnership” when President Biden visited the Southeast Asian nation earlier this month.With the upgrade, Vietnam has elevated the US to the same diplomatic status as Russia and China. From Beijing’s perspective, any major US arms sales to Vietnam would be viewed as part of the US military buildup in the region aimed at China.Like China, Vietnam has sweeping claims to the South China Sea, and the disputed waters are a significant source of tension between Hanoi and Beijing and an area where Vietnam could deploy F-16s.
Blinken Says China Threatens US-Led 'Liberal World Order' - Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Thursday claimed that China is seeking to become the “dominant” world power and wants to replace the US-led “liberal” world order. When asked by The Atlantic’s Jeffrey Goldberg if Russia or China is a bigger “threat” to the US, Blinken said that China has a “much greater ability certainly than Russia to try to shape what the international system looks like.” Blinken’s comments reflect strategy documents that have been produced by the Biden administration that name China as the top threat, with Russia falling in second.“I think they want a world order, but the world order that they seek is profoundly illiberal in nature; ours is liberal with a small ‘L.’ And that’s the fundamental difference,” Blinken said.When asked what he thinks China wants, Blinken said, “I think that what it seeks is to be the dominant power in the world militarily, economically, diplomatically.”While Blinken claims China seeks global hegemony like the US, the Biden administration’s China policy is focused on preventing Beijing from becoming the hegemon in Southeast Asia by increasing support for Taiwan and looking to challenge China in the South China Sea.
Back to Business As Usual: The US Is Once Again Vigorously Stirring the Pot in Its Own “Backyard” -From Peru to Uruguay, to Ecuador and Guyana, the US is seeking to rebuild its strategic influence in Latin America, one gun at a time. Last week, the head of U.S. Southern Command (SOUTHCOM), Army Gen. Laura Richardson, visited Peru, a country that is in the grip of arguably its worst political crisis of this still-fledgling century. The country has witnessed wave after wave of anti-government protests followed by brutal, sometimes deadly, crackdowns by security forces since the US-greenlit removal of the democratically elected President Pedro Castillo in December. It also recently played host to a joint military exercise involving an unprecedented number of US troops.With a record low approval rating of just 10% and a record high disapproval rating of 82%, Castillo’s replacement as president, his former deputy, Dina Boluarte, is weak. She is still under investigation for the deaths of dozens of pro-Castillo protesters in the early months of her government and refuses to hold elections until 2026 despite previous pledges to bring the vote forward. In the face of rising public discontent, her government recently proposed changes to the penal code that could, in their current form, allow for the prosecution of any citizen who calls for a protest march and any journalist who reports on it. During her stay in Lima, Gen Richardson met with Peru’s Secretary of Defence Jorge Chavez, senior armed forces leaders and the commanders of the Peruvian air force, navy and army, to discuss the “longstanding U.S.-Peru defence partnership.” Meanwhile, Boluarte was in New York spinning a web of lies and half truths, including a rapidly debunked claim that she had held an official meeting with Joe Biden on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly when in reality all they had shared was a photo op.But relations between the US and Peru are stronger than ever. By the end of last week, the US Embassy in Peru had published a press release announcing a new agreement between US Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and the government of Peru to collaborate in transnational criminal investigations through the establishment of a Transnational Criminal Investigation Unit (TCIU). According to the press release, HSI’s TCIUs help further HSI’s global mission by bringing in foreign partners to help investigate and prosecute individuals involved in transnational criminal activities.The move comes as Republican lawmakers and right-wing pundits are busily psychologically prepping the US public for a fresh escalation in the war on drugs. Droves of high-profile figures, including arch neocon and regime change-specialist Lindsay Graham, presidential candidates Donald Trump and Ron de Santis, and media pundit Tucker Carlson, have been calling for direct, overt US military intervention against Mexico’s drug cartels in order to stem the flow of fentanyl.In an op-ed for the Wall Street Journal in March, former Attorney General (under both George HW Bush and Donald Trump) William Barr likened Mexico’s “narco-terrorists” to Isis and called for “a far more aggressive American effort inside Mexico than ever before.” Barr also called AMLO the cartel’s “chief enabler” for refusing to wage war against the cartels with quite the same zeal as his predecessors.Barr is hardly one to talk given his central role in burying evidence of then-President George HW Bush’s involvement in the “Iraqgate” and “Iron-Contra” scandals, the latter of which involved the trafficking of huge volumes of cocaine to the US by the Contras, as the hand-written notebooks of Oliver North, the National Security Council aide who helped run the contra war, amply show. Years later, courageous journalists like Gary Webb and Robert Parry would show that the CIA was also heavily involved in bringing crack cocaine into the US.
US Expresses Support for Anti-Assad Protesters in Southern Syria - A US official spoke with a Druze spiritual leader to express support for protests against the government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad that have been taking place in Syria’s southern Suwayda governate. The US Embassy in Syria wrote on X that Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Ethan Goldrich “spoke with Druze spiritual leader Sheikh Hekmat al-Hajari reiterating our support for Syrians’ freedom of expression, including peaceful protest in Suwayda.” According to The Cradle, the protests in Suwayda, a Druze-majority area, broke out on August 16 after the Syrian government raised civil servant salaries but cut fuel subsidies amid a collapse in the value of the Syrian pound. The demonstrations have continued since then with calls for the overthrow of Assad. Three members of Congress also recently spoke with al-Hajari to express bipartisan support for the protests, Reps. Joe Wilson (R-SC), Brendan Boyle (D-PA), and French Hill (R-AR). Boyle told The Nationallast week that he “reaffirmed bipartisan congressional support for the peaceful protests in Suwayda” during his conversation with al-Hajari. The support for the protests comes as the US is looking to exert more pressure on the Assad government as more countries are normalizing with Syria. Assad recently traveled to China for the first time since war broke out in Syria in 2011. Back in May, the Arab League voted to readmit Syria despite opposition from the US. US sanctions on Syria are specifically designed to prevent the country’s reconstructionand have had a devastating impact on the civilian population, creating the economic conditions that sparked the Suwayda protests. On top of the sanctions, the US backs the Kurdish-led SDF in Syria, allowing the US to occupy about one-third of Syria’s territory in the east, where most of the country’s oil and wheat resources are located.
Iran Says Netanyahu Threatened Nuclear Attack in UN Speech - Iran has lodged a formal complaint to the UN accusing Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of threatening a nuclear attack on the Islamic Republic.In his speech at the UN General Assembly last week, Netanyahu said, “Above all — above all — Iran must face a credible nuclear threat. As long as I’m prime minister of Israel, I will do everything in my power to prevent Iran from getting nuclear weapons.”Netanyahu’s office later said he misspoke, insisting the prepared speech said “credible military threat” instead of “credible nuclear threat.” Iran still issued a complaint, noting that Israel has an arsenal of nuclear weapons that it does not acknowledge.Iranian Ambassador to the UN Amir Saeid Iravani accused Netanyahu of making “explicit threats to use nuclear weapons against an independent member state of the United Nations.” Iravani said the threat is more serious coming from Israel, which he described as an “illegitimate regime that has been widely condemned for aggressions, for apartheid policies and for support for terrorism, as well as for possessing an arsenal of weapons of mass destruction alongside advanced conventional weapons.” The Iranian envoy said the “use or even the mere threat of using nuclear weapons, regardless of the circumstances, by anyone, at any time and in any place, is a clear violation of international laws.”
Unsafe and unprofessional': U.S. chides Iran after American helicopter hit with lasers - Iranian vessels pointed lasers against a U.S. attack helicopter operating in the Persian Gulf on Wednesday, in what the U.S. military is calling “unsafe, unprofessional and irresponsible.”According to a U.S. Navy statement, personnel aboard vessels belonging to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy pointed lasers at a U.S. Marine Corps AH-1Z Viper attack helicopter while in flight.No one aboard was injured and the helicopter, which was operating from the amphibious assault ship USS Bataan, was not damaged, the statement said.The helicopter was operating in international airspace and Iran’s actions were inappropriate, the statement said.“These are not the actions of a professional maritime force,” said Cmdr. Rick Chernitzer, a spokesperson for U.S. Naval Forces Central Command. “This unsafe, unprofessional, and irresponsible behavior by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy risks U.S. and partner nation lives and needs to cease immediately.” Chernitzer added that naval forces will “remain vigilant and will continue to fly, sail and operate anywhere international law allows while promoting regional maritime security.”This is the second time in six years that Iranian units have targeted a helicopter associated with the Bataan with lasers. In 2017, an Iranian naval patrol boat used lasers against a Marine helicopter moving through the Strait of Hormuz with three U.S. vessels. Iranian state media also reported in 2022 that the Iranian military was developing a laser cannon to shoot down aerial targets.
Why the Pentagon’s ‘killer robots’ are spurring major concerns -As the Defense Department is pushing aggressively to modernize its forces using fully autonomous drones and weapons systems, critics fear the start of a new arms race that could dramatically raise the risk of mass destruction, nuclear war and civilian casualties.The Pentagon and military tech industry are going into overdrive in a massive effort to scale out existing technology in what has been the Replicator initiative. It envisions a future force in which fully autonomous systems are deployed in flying drones, aircraft, water vessels and defense systems — connected through a computerized mainframe to synchronize and command units.Arms control advocates fear the worst and worry existing guardrails offer insufficient checks, given the existential risks. Critics call self-operating weapons “killer robots” or “slaughterbots” because they are powered by artificial intelligence (AI) and can technically operate independently to take out targets without human help. These types of systems have rarely been seen in action, and how they will affect combat is largely unknown, though their impact on the landscape of warfare has been compared to tanks in World War I.But there are no international treaties governing the use of these weapons, and human rights groups are uneasy about Washington’s ethical guidelines on AI-powered systems and whether they will offer any protection against an array of humanitarian concerns.“It’s really a Pandora’s box that we’re starting to see open, and it will be very hard to go back,” said Anna Hehir, who leads autonomous weapons system research for the advocacy organization Future of Life Institute (FLI). “I would argue for the Pentagon to view the use of AI in military use as on par with the start of the nuclear era,” she added. “So this is a novel technology that we don’t understand. And if we view this in an arms race way, which is what the Pentagon is doing, then we can head to global catastrophe.” While autonomous systems have been used for decades in some form, such as automatic defensive machine guns, Replicator is designed to produce swarms of AI-powered drones and flying or swimming craft to attack targets. Hicks said Replicator will use existing funds and personnel to develop thousands of autonomous systems in the next 18-24 months. She has also publicly said that the initiative will remain within ethical guidelines for fully autonomous systems. Some critics also point out that there is a waiver throughout the policy that appears to allow for the bypassing of the requirement for senior-level review of AI weapons before deployment.
GOP’s Gosar suggests Milley should be ‘hung’ for Jan. 6 response - Rep. Paul Gosar (R-Ariz.) suggested Sunday that Chairman of the Joint Chiefs Gen. Mark Milleyshould be “hung” for his response to the Jan. 6, 2021, riots at the Capitol.In a newsletter Sunday, Gosar offered his thoughts on the testimony from former Capitol Police Chief Steven Sund to the House Administration Committee last week. Gosar said that Sund, who was the chief at the time of the attacks, had requested national guard assistance but claimed it was “delayed” by Milley.“But even after approval was given, General Milley, the homosexual-promoting-BLM-activist Chairman of the military joint chiefs, delayed,” Gosar wrote. “Of course, we now know that the deviant Milley was coordinating with Nancy Pelosi to hurt President Trump, and treasonously working behind Trump’s back.”“In a better society, quislings like the strange sodomy-promoting General Milley would be hung,” he added, also calling Milley a “traitor.” The latest in politics and policy. Direct to your inbox. Sign up for the News Alerts newsletter Gosar’s comments follow former President Trump’s post on Milley from last week, in which he accused the top general of going behind his back to talk to Chinese counterparts — an apparent reference to calls Milley made to reassure China near the end of Trump’s term.“This is an act so egregious that, in times gone by, the punishment would have been DEATH! A war between China and the United States could have been the result of this treasonous act,” Trump wrote. Retired Lt. Gen. Mark Hertling told CNN that the violent rhetoric from Gosar and Trump toward Milley is “disgusting.”“This proposed violence by any political figure is disgusting, shows how deeply disturbed both of these individuals are,” Hertling said.“[Gosar’s] delivered statement to the press was sexist, racist, vile — it just shows the extent to which these kinds of things have become commonplace and not condemned in our divided country,” he added.
Milley says he will take ‘appropriate measures’ to ensure safety following Trump comments --In an interview on “60 Minutes” on Wednesday, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs Mark Milley said he will take “appropriate measures” to make sure he and his family are safe in the wake of recent comments made by former President Trump.Milley’s words come after a Truth Social post by Trump last week calling the chairman a “Woke train wreck” and accusing him of treason, seeming to reference calls made by Milley to China for reassurance at the end of Trump’s term.“This is an act so egregious that, in times gone by, the punishment would have been DEATH!” Trump’s post read. “A war between China and the United States could have been the result of this treasonous act. To be continued!!!”“I’ve got adequate safety precautions,” the military leader said in response to a question about his concern about his safety from CBS’s Norah O’Donnell.Former Defense Secretary Mark Esper expressed his concerns Monday about retaliation by the former president against people whom he has had strife with — such as Milley — if he returns to office, calling them “legitimate.” “Look, I think it’s a legitimate fear,” Esper told CNN anchor Kaitlan Collins. “If you recall from my memoir … I cite a circumstance where [Trump], egged on by his close advisers, wanted to call back to active duty Adm. McRaven and Gen. McChrystal, to court-martial them, for some things that they allegedly said in in the public domain, and Milley and I had to talk the president out of doing that, for any number of reasons.”“The president has also said that a second term would be about retribution, right? So, I think these are all legitimate concerns,” he later added.
How Trump and Biden killed the free-trade consensus - The U.S. has turned sharply against free trade over the past two decades, shifting from an era in which members and presidents of both parties generally embraced one free-trade pact after another to one in which the forces of globalization are widely criticized, if not condemned. Former President Trump’s recent campaign pledge to enact a general tariff of 10 percent on imported goods to the U.S. is only the latest arrow into the free-trade consensus, which has sputtered now under successive presidential administrations. A dozen pieces of legislation implementing various trade deals were signed by U.S. presidents between 2001 and 2012, all following up on the Clinton-era North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). Congress also voted in 2000 to allow China to enter the World Trade Organization (WTO), a vote that opened up the U.S. further to Chinese imports. But over the past decade, things have changed dramatically. Only one trade deal has been approved by a recent U.S. Congress — in January 2020 under a bipartisan deal to approve the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Free Trade Agreement (USMCA) under Trump. And that deal was seen by many as part of the new era since it made major pro-labor overhauls to NAFTA — which by that time had become almost a four-letter word for many globalization opponents in both parties. Longtime critics of the U.S. era of free trade argue the political world finally caught up to the grassroots consensus that trade deals were damaging the country. “What we’re seeing here to some degree is elite opinion and policymaking catching up to where the public’s lived experience of these policies already was,” said Lori Wallach, a longtime critic of globalization and director of trade at the American Economic Liberties Project. “There was an elite consensus … and it was obviously bipartisan … and there were all these grandiose promises of things that everyone would want, but the deliverables did not come forward,” she said. For much of the 2000s, Republicans in particular backed free-trade diplomacy, arguing that trade deals would lower prices for U.S. consumers while creating markets for exporters and paving the way for stronger diplomatic alliances. After winning the 2016 election in part on the promise to unwind decades of free trade deals, Trump sidelined the GOP’s most ardent free traders while making common cause with anti-trade Democrats. Liberal populism typified by Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), also deeply skeptical of trade, is rising in the Democratic Party. Bill Reinsch, who served as a Commerce Department undersecretary in the Clinton administration, said there’s “a lot of unhappiness in the business community on trade.” At the same time, he acknowledged the old era is over, and it’s unlikely to come back anytime soon.
Elon Musk wades into US immigration debate at Texas-Mexico border (Reuters) - Billionaire Elon Musk waded into the U.S. immigration debate on Thursday, paying a visit to the Texas border with Mexico to meet with local politicians and law enforcement and obtain what he called an "unfiltered" view of the situation. Musk's visit came as thousands of migrants have ventured to northern Mexico in recent days on freight trains and buses, then crossed the U.S. border into Texas, Arizona and California in an upswing in arrivals of people seeking asylum in the United States. The sharp increase, notably around San Diego, California, and the Texas border towns of El Paso and Eagle Pass, follows an earlier lull in unauthorized border crossings following a new asylum policy imposed by Democratic President Joe Biden's administration to discourage such activity. Musk visited Eagle Pass, where throngs of migrants have for several days been wading across the Rio Grande near a railroad bridge in Eagle Pass, undeterred by coils of razor wire placed along the river banks by the Texas National Guard. Dressed in a black T-shirt, black cowboy hat and aviator-style sunglasses, Musk urged a two-pronged approach to overhauling U.S. immigration laws in a video-selfie posted to the social media platform X, formerly Twitter, which he purchased last April. He called for an "expedited legal approval" as part of a "greatly expanded legal immigration system" that welcomes "hard-working and honest" migrants, while also barring entry for those who are "breaking the law." "We want to do both things - smooth out legal immigration and stop a flow of people that is of such magnitude that we’re leading to a collapse of social services," Musk said. Musk, a native of South Africa, noted his own status as an "immigrant to the United States" and called himself "extremely pro-immigrant."
Biden's $15 minimum wage for federal contractors blocked by US judge (Reuters) - A federal judge in Texas has ruled that President Joe Biden lacked the power to order U.S. government contractors to pay workers a minimum wage of $15 an hour, and blocked the plan from being enforced in three states. In a ruling late on Tuesday, U.S. District Judge Drew Tipton in Victoria decided that because the Democratic president's 2021 executive order potentially affects millions of workers and has "vast economic and political significance," only Congress had the power to adopt it.Tipton, an appointee of Republican former President Donald Trump, blocked the Biden administration from enforcing the $15 minimum wage in Texas, Louisiana and Mississippi, states that last year filed a lawsuit challenging the executive order. State agencies often receive federal contracts.The judge paused his decision for seven days to allow the Biden administration to file an appeal.Tipton made the ruling in part on the basis of what is called the major questions doctrine, a judicial approach that the U.S. Supreme Court has employed to invalidate major Biden policies including student debt relief deemed lacking clear congressional authorization. Tipton also found that Biden ran afoul of a federal law called the Procurement Act, which governs the way goods and services are purchased by federal agencies.The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.The executive order from Biden, who is seeking re-election next year, was one of his pro-labor moves since becoming president as he makes supporting blue-collar workers a priority.The federal government spends hundreds of billions of dollars each year on contracts with private businesses, nonprofit entities and state agencies to provide goods and services.The minimum wage under federal law is $7.25 an hour, though many states set higher minimums. Four states and several cities have a minimum wage of at least $15.The White House last year estimated that 327,300 employees of federal contractors were paid less than $15 an hour, and that raising their wages would cost employers $17 billion over 10 years.The administration argued that the Procurement Act gives the president broad powers to implement policies aimed at fostering an efficient contracting system. But Tipton agreed with the states that a president's authority was limited to supervising the buying and selling of goods. Only Congress can set minimum wages and adopt other employment policies unless it specifically grants those powers to federal agencies, Tipton wrote.
In Historic First, Biden Walks Picket Line With Striking UAW Workers --Joe Biden on Tuesday became the first sitting U.S. president to join striking workers on a picket line, rallying with United Auto Workers members outside of a General Motors plant in Belleville, Michigan as they fight for a fair contract."You saved the automobile industry back in 2008," Biden said in brief remarks to the Michigan workers. "You made a lot of sacrifices, you gave up a lot, and the companies were in trouble. But now they're doing incredibly well. You should be doing incredibly well, too.""Wall Street didn't build the country, the middle class built the country," the president said. "And unions built the middle class. So let's keep going. You deserve what you've earned, and you've earned a hell of a lot more than you're getting paid now."The president's visit to the picket line comes days after the UAWexpanded its strikes to every General Motors and Stellantis parts distribution facility in the U.S., accusing the two companies of refusing to seriously engage with union negotiators.More than 18,000 autoworkers in 21 states are currently on strike against General Motors, Ford, and Stellantis, pushing the so-called Big Three automakers to deliver significant pay and benefit improvements after years of surging profits and declining real wages. Survey datareleased Monday shows that public support for the strikes is growing, with 62% of likely U.S. voters—regardless of party affiliation—backing the walkouts.When asked by a reporter, Biden said he supports a 40% wage increase for UAW workers.Labor historians say they're not aware of any other case of a sitting U.S. president rallying with striking workers in this way."This is genuinely new—I don't think it's ever happened before, a president on a picket line," Nelson Lichtenstein, a labor historian at the University of California, Santa Barbara, told veteran labor journalist Steven Greenhouse on Tuesday. "Candidates do it frequently and prominent senators, but not a president."UAW president Shawn Fain, who accompanied Biden at the Belleville picket line, thanked Biden for "being a part of this fight.""We know the president will do right by the working class," said Fain, "and when we do right by the working class, you can leave the rest to us, because we're going to take care of this business."
UAW allies want a put-up-or-shut-up vote in the Senate - President Joe Biden’s historic stop today at a picket line outside a GM plant made clear just how much he views the union movement as critical, both to the state of the nation’s economy and his own political future. Few presidents have so openly touted their pro-labor bonafides. No president has gone to these lengths to show them. But is there another step he and the Democrats could take? Some think so. Operatives within the ranks want the party to use the current rush of goodwill being directed toward striking United Auto Workers to reinvigorate momentum behind pro-union legislation. They note that the current moment is unique in modern political history, with leading Republicans, including Donald Trump, offering support for the striking workers. And while they aren’t Pollyanna-ish that this will result in their most ambitious legislative hopes becoming reality, they see opportunity in putting lawmakers on the record. “Obviously I’d love the PRO Act, but even a vote on a resolution expressing support for UAW workers would be a valuable and elucidating endeavor,” Faiz Shakir, an adviser to Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and executive director of the labor-focused nonprofit media organization More Perfect Union, said in reference to the Protecting the Right to Organize Act. Asked if the Democratic-controlled Senate was cooking anything up, Shakir replied with a shrug emoji and a single word: “Trying.” To Democrats, Republicans are opportunistically using the UAW strike to align themselves with workers without actually supporting pro-worker policies. And it’s becoming deeply agitating. On Tuesday morning, a researcher at the Democratic-allied think tank, Center for American Progress, blasted out an old video of Trump criticizing the unions in the midst of the Great Recession in 2008 — a sort of “hello folks!” type online missive.
Biden makes case that climate, labor interests can go hand in hand as auto strike fuels attacks - President Biden is making the case that fighting climate change can create jobs, countering a key Republican narrative surrounding the autoworker strike. The president’s GOP opponents have sought to paint climate action as a job-killer, seizing on concerns over worker pay in the transition to electric vehicles in light of the ongoing United Auto Workers (UAW) strike. But Biden, who has argued throughout his presidency that efforts to combat climate change can go hand in hand with workers’ interests, underlined that stance this past week in both words and actions. He created a climate-jobs program that is expected to, in its first year, employ 20,000 people in jobs to fight climate change and protect the environment. Biden also launched a Partnership for Workers’ Rights alongside Brazil’s president. One of the issues the partnership aims to address is “advancing worker-centered approaches to the clean energy transition.” “As I’ve told labor from the very beginning: When I think of climate change, I think of jobs,” Biden said in remarks announcing the labor partnership. His comments starkly contrast recent rhetoric from his GOP rivals on the issue. Former President Trump, looking to court Michigan voters, has repeatedly bashed Biden’s electric vehicle policies, saying on social media that they will ensure “the Great State of Michigan will not have an auto industry anymore.” Other Republicans have also chimed in. Sen. JD Vance (R-Ohio) wrote in a recent op-ed that “those who have claimed there will be a ‘just transition’ to EVs should visit Northeast Ohio for a glimpse into the industry’s bleak future.” “Up the road from the once-iconic Lordstown Assembly Complex, where 15,000 union workers once assembled millions of cars, now stands a battery plant that employs a fraction of the workers at a fraction of the wages,” he added.
Ford battery plant delay emboldens Hill critics - Ford Motor Co.’s decision to halt construction of a controversial $3.5 billion electric vehicle battery plant in Michigan is empowering critics of the project, even as supporters downplay the severity of the automaker’s move. Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia, chair of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, hailed Ford’s decision to stop work on the plant in Marshall, Mich. The facility would use technology from China-based Contemporary Amperex Technology Co. Ltd. (CATL), the world’s largest producer of lithium iron phosphate (LFP) batteries. Manchin, who has repeatedly raised concerns about incentives tied to the Inflation Reduction Act, which he helped craft, benefitting CATL through working with Ford. “Sen. Manchin has been clear that projects seeking federal support should not be dependent on Chinese technology, and he believes this is the correct course of action on the part of Ford and hopes they will drop all ties to CATL,” Sam Runyon, a spokesperson for the senator, said Tuesday. Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) has also called on Ford to change course. And Rep. Mike Gallagher (R-Wis.), chair of the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party, said Monday he saw the delay as Ford taking a “crucial first step” to reevaluating its pans. “Ford needs to call off this deal for good,” Gallagher said. President Joe Biden joins striking United Auto Workers on the picket line. President Joe Biden joins striking United Auto Workers on the picket line Tuesday. | Evan Vucci/AP Photo Michigan has been thrust into the spotlight this week with President Joe Biden making history Tuesday as the first sitting president to join workers on strike. Former President Donald Trump is also visiting the state Wednesday in a bid to win over working class voters in the swing state. Ford added to that attention Monday after announcing it was pausing work on its well-publicized Marshall project after weighing a “number of considerations” but stopped short of providing details or clarifying whether the ongoing United Auto Workers strike had swayed its decision. Democratic proponents of the project about 100 miles west of Detroit, including Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and Rep. Debbie Dingell, are betting on its completion. “We have been fighting hard to keep auto manufacturing here in Michigan and bring back jobs that have been shipped overseas, and the Ford Marshall EV Plant is evidence of that,” Dingell said in a statement.
Strike lines become the front line in EV war - Many of the Republican presidential candidates are offering the same message to striking autoworkers: Kill President Joe Biden’s plan to dramatically expand the electric vehicle market. That position promises to be a theme at the second GOP debate Wednesday as seven candidates compete for airtime with former President Donald Trump, who is skipping the nationally broadcast debate to hold a rally in Michigan near the lines of striking autoworkers. The Republican push against electric cars comes as both parties throw themselves into a political brawl in hopes of winning union votes. Trump’s narrow Michigan victory in 2016 paved his path to the White House — something he hopes to replicate. “Joe Biden’s draconian and indefensible Electric Vehicle mandate will annihilate the U.S. auto industry and cost countless thousands of autoworkers their jobs,” Trump said Tuesday in a statement. “The only thing Biden could say today that would help the striking autoworkers is to announce the immediate termination of his ridiculous mandate.” At least three other GOP candidates have described Biden’s EV policies as economic euthanasia. Former Vice President Mike Pence said the United Auto Workers strike was a result of “Bidenomics and their green energy, electric vehicle agenda.” “This drive toward electric vehicles, driving people away from gasoline-powered vehicles, any autoworker that’s paying attention would know that’s not in their long-term interest,” he said last week in an appearance on CNBC’s “Squawk Box.” Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) said while campaigning in Iowa last week that eliminating the administration’s EV push would create more jobs. “With respect to the auto industry and the autoworkers, one of the things that’s a big threat to that is Biden’s push to impose electric vehicle mandates,” DeSantis told KCCI television in Des Moines. “The reality is that’s not where the market is. We want to preserve the ability of automakers to actually produce the type of vehicles that people want to buy.” North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum (R) blamed Biden for what he said are policies that would weaken American car companies. He argued that “we’re going to be dependent on China for our transportation needs.” The union strike lines are now the front lines in the presidential race. Trump will not only try to outmaneuver his Republican opponents, but also Biden, who climbed onto a small stage of wooden pallets Tuesday to show solidarity with strikers at a General Motors Co. plant near Detroit.
'Not a fan': UAW workers give thumbs-down to Biden's EV plan - — Autoworkers aren’t just turned off by electric vehicles because they might kill their jobs. They also don’t want to purchase them, and aren’t buying into either party’s approach to electrification — a view that signals political risks for both President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump, the Republican presidential front-runner. In interviews across the country Monday, many striking members of the United Auto Workers said they would likely shun EVs because of charging worries and the vehicles’ high prices. While some said they were inclined to credit Biden for walking the picket line Tuesday, others said union members are deeply divided on presidential candidates. “We’ve got a lot of people that are frustrated, just with all of them,” said Aaron Westaway, a unit bargaining representative, referring to the broader political landscape. He is part of UAW Local 900, which covers the Ford Motor Co.’s Michigan Assembly Plant in Wayne, on the outskirts of Detroit. Westaway said he supported Biden’s visit to Michigan to draw attention to the union’s ongoing strike, but noted that there’s an overall frustration with politicians among union workers. “Nobody’s happy with Trump, nobody’s happy with Biden,” he added. To gauge autoworkers’ opinions on EVs, E&E News visited the picket lines at Big Three auto plants in three states and interviewed almost two dozen workers. Along with Ford’s assembly in Michigan, there were visits to two parts warehouses — one belonging to General Motors Co. in Roanoke, Texas, northwest of Dallas, and another of Stellantis NV in Beaverton, Ore., outside Portland. The workers’ attitudes are consequential not just for the future of EVs and of the 146,000 employees at the country’s three biggest legacy automakers represented by the UAW, but could affect who controls the White House, considering the influence of unions in battleground states like Michigan. Biden considers his moves to support EVs — chiefly the billions of dollars of subsidies to build charging stations and manufacture EVs and their batteries in 2021’s bipartisan infrastructure law and last year’s Inflation Reduction Act — as a key administration achievement that increases American competitiveness versus China and combats climate change. Trump — who is scheduled to visit Michigan on Wednesday — is seeking the support of autoworkers in that swing state on the argument that EVs will kill jobs. He is slated to deliver a speech that is counterprogramming to a Republican primary presidential debate, being held at the same time in California. Biden on Tuesday visited a GM picket line in Belleville, Mich., to express solidarity with the UAW, a union that historically has been aligned with Democrats but so far has withheld its endorsement in the presidential race. Speaking through a bullhorn at the GM redistribution center, the president credited the UAW with saving the auto sector in the past and making sacrifices. “Now they’re doing incredibly well,” said Biden. “And guess what? You should be doing incredibly well, too.” UAW President Shawn Fain, asked at the event about the union’s stance on EVs, said, “it’s got to be a just transition, where it has our labor standards in there, not paying poverty wages and not a race to the bottom, and it’s currently driving a race to the bottom.” Biden was asked whether he supported a 40 percent raise for UAW workers, a number that automakers have called a nonstarter. Biden said simply “yes.” Union workers are seeking a broad portfolio of improvements to their contract, including better wages, cost-of-living increases and an end to wage tiers that disadvantage more recently hired employees. They were encouraged, but not necessarily won over, by Biden’s visit. Meanwhile, they held views of EVs that were sometimes hostile. “I’m good with the regular 87 unleaded,” said DeJhon Moore, 37, a production operator at Ford’s Michigan Assembly Plant in Wayne. “I don’t trust [EVs] to drive long distances, I’d rather just do the regular, go get some fuel and go about my day.” Aaron Franklin, an autoworker at the Wayne plant for the past three years, struck an open tone. Franklin said the shift to electrification is moving forward quickly and it’s not clear what will happen to the Wayne facility. He said he doesn’t yet drive an EV but supports technology that can reduce emissions, especially if it provides opportunity for Ford workers. Edgar Litton, 60, said he’s nearing retirement after working 35 years at the Wayne facility and decided to strike to fight for better pay and stronger pensions. When asked about Ford’s shift to EVs, Litton expressed a concern about the lack of charging infrastructure and questioned whether there would be steady supplies of power, noting that Michigan has suffered repeated outages during recent storms. The White House, the Trump campaign, GM, Stellantis and Ford did not reply to requests for comment.
Key findings in Bridge Michigan auto project | Bridge Michigan -- As automakers tap into generous public subsidies to build electric vehicle plants in Michigan, communities across the state continue to suffer from the industry’s polluted past. Bridge Michigan set out to quantify the toll unaddressed factory contamination has exacted on Michigan, and what the state can do to avoid repeating history as automakers and suppliers race toward an EV future. We found:
- As automakers and suppliers build new EV factories on rural farmland, they are leaving old, contaminated plants behind with uncertain futures and hidden perils, failing community after community.
- Taxpayers have subsidized at least $259 million in cleanups at more than 100 Michigan sites linked to the industry. The true toll is far higher, but impossible to calculate because of gaps in government data on contaminated sites.
- Record-breaking state incentives for Michigan’s new EV factories come with few environmental requirements attached, prompting fears that in the race for jobs the state will again not hold industry accountable for contaminants left behind.
- Laws limiting industry liability for contamination routinely stick taxpayers and local communities with cleanup. But the state doesn’t invest the funding to keep up, leading to an ever-growing list of dirty sites.
- Michigan has fewer people working on contaminated site cleanup today than three decades ago, when the number of known contaminated sites was nine times smaller.
- When companies discover pollution on their property, Michigan law generally does not require them to tell state regulators what they found or how it is being addressed. As a result, communities often don’t learn of environmental peril until a factory closes and the company leaves town.
- Bankruptcies have allowed automakers and suppliers to skip out on hundreds of millions in environmental liabilities. State law can’t prevent such maneuvers, but experts say Michigan could require up-front financial assurances from polluting industries to better protect communities and taxpayers.
- This fall, lawmakers say they are pursuing changes to state business incentives and contamination cleanup laws, with an eye toward holding industry more accountable.
Read our full coverage of the automotive industry’s contaminated legacy here. In the coming months, we’ll continue pursuing stories on unaddressed environmental harms of Michigan’s industrial past.
FCC Chair Confirms Plan to Reinstate Net Neutrality Rules Eviscerated Under Trump --Open internet advocates across the United States celebrated on Tuesday as Federal Communications Commission Chair Jessica Rosenworcel announced her highly anticipated proposal to reestablish FCC oversight of broadband and restore net neutrality rules.“We thank the FCC for moving swiftly to begin the process of reinstating net neutrality regulations,” said ACLU senior policy counsel Jenna Leventoff. “The internet is our nation’s primary marketplace of ideas—and it’s critical that access to that marketplace is not controlled by the profit-seeking whims of powerful telecommunications giants.”Rosenworcel—appointed to lead the commission by President Joe Biden—discussed the history of net neutrality and her new plan to treat broadband as a public utility in a speech at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C., which came on the heels of the U.S. Senate’s recent confirmation of Anna Gomez to a long-vacant FCC seat.Back in 2005, “the agency made clear that when it came to net neutrality, consumers should expect that their broadband providers would not block, throttle, or engage in paid prioritization of lawful internet traffic,” she recalled. “In other words, your broadband provider had no business cutting off access to websites, slowing down internet services, and censoring online speech.”After a decade of policymaking and litigation, net neutrality rules were finalized in 2015. However, a few years later—under former FCC Chair Ajit Pai, an appointee of ex-President Donald Trump—the commission caved to industry pressure and repealed them. “The public backlash was overwhelming. People lit up our phone lines, clogged our email inboxes, and jammed our online comment system to express their disapproval,” noted Rosenworcel, who was a commissioner at the time and opposed the repeal. “So today we begin a process to make this right.” The chair is proposing to reclassify broadband under Title II of the Communications Act, which “is the part of the law that gives the FCC clear authority to serve as a watchdog over the communications marketplace and look out for the public interest,” she explained. “Title II took on special importance in the net neutrality debate because the courts have ruled that the FCC has clear authority to enforce open internet policies if broadband internet is classified as a Title II service.”“On issue after issue, reclassifying broadband as a Title II service would help the FCC serve the public interest more efficiently and effectively,” she pointed out, detailing how it relates to public safety, national security, cybersecurity, network resilience and reliability, privacy, broadband deployment, and robotexts.Rosenworcel intends to release the full text of the proposal on Thursday and hold a vote regarding whether to kick off rulemaking on October 19. While Brendan Carr, one of the two Republican commissioners, signaled his opposition to the Title II approach on Tuesday, Gomez’s confirmation earlier this month gives Democrats a 3-2 majority at the FCC.
The government's new attack on Amazon could completely restructure the giant - The U.S. government is launching its most consequential attack on the dominance of Big Tech in Americans’ daily lives: a sweeping antitrust lawsuit targeting retail giant Amazon Inc. The legal challenge, filed in a federal court in Washington state Tuesday, will be a defining cornerstone of the Biden administration’s pledge to curb the power of the nation’s largest tech companies, including Google, Facebook and Apple, which have been accused of running modern monopolies that don’t fit within the confines of antiquated antitrust laws. The suit could have far-reaching implications for the way Americans shop, run their households, sell products, and run small and large businesses. The Amazon case is the most ambitious gambit yet by the Federal Trade Commission to rein in the power of large tech companies and a potentially decisive test of new liberal antitrust theories taken up by the Biden administration. It is also a crucial moment for Lina Khan, the FTC’s hard-charging 34-year-old chair, who is at the vanguard of a rising cohort of progressive antitrust lawyers who increasingly populate key federal agencies. In the past, Khan has specifically called for breaking up Amazon. If successful, the FTC suit could lead to a court-ordered restructuring of the $1.3 trillion empire. The case challenges a host of Amazon’s business practices, including rules that the FTC says block lower prices on competing websites and policies the FTC believes force merchants to use Amazon’s logistics and advertising services. The FTC first began investigating Amazon in 2019 during the Trump administration. The probe accelerated once Khan took over the agency, and the FTC has been drafting a complaint since late last year, POLITICO previously reported. “The practices the FTC is challenging have helped to spur competition and innovation across the retail industry, and have produced greater selection, lower prices, and faster delivery speeds for Amazon customers and greater opportunity for the many businesses that sell in Amazon’s store,” David Zapolsky, Amazon senior vice president of global public policy and general counsel said in a statement. “If the FTC gets its way, the result would be fewer products to choose from, higher prices, slower deliveries for consumers, and reduced options for small businesses—the opposite of what antitrust law is designed to do. The lawsuit filed by the FTC today is wrong on the facts and the law, and we look forward to making that case in court.”
FEMA cuts disaster aid ahead of shutdown - The Federal Emergency Management Agency is preparing to withhold $8 billion in disaster recovery funding from states and territories until Congress replenishes its coffers — one of a host of spending decisions mired in the stalemate that’s threatening a government shutdown.Thomas Frank discovered the plan for the self-imposed funding restriction in the fine print of a recent FEMA report. It is intended to ensure the agency can respond to the immediate needs of future emergencies (by clearing roads and sheltering displaced residents, for example) while it waits for Congress to replenish its coffers. But clawing back long-term recovery funds threatens to delay thousands of projects in 27 states and territories aimed at repairing roads, buildings and other facilities damaged by recent disasters.Puerto Rico is projected to suffer the greatest loss. FEMA plans to withhold $2.6 billion, as the financially strained island struggles to rebuild the electric grid, hospitals and other critical facilities still wrecked from Hurricane Maria in 2017, earthquakes in 2020 and Hurricane Fiona in 2022.Florida and Louisiana also face significant impacts from the FEMA restrictions, to the tune of hundreds of millions of dollars.President Joe Biden requested $16 billion in emergency disaster cash for the agency’s dwindling Disaster Relief Fund, and FEMA is seeking an additional $20 billion for the fund in the fiscal year that begins Sunday.Money for both requests is stalled, though, as squabbling House Republicans barrel toward Saturday’s midnight deadline to keep the government running. A proposed stopgap bill in the Senate would offer about $6 billion in disaster relief.Meanwhile, a hotter planet is fueling an increase in the frequency and intensity of natural disasters, and recovery efforts and aid are struggling to keep up.Since last month’s devastating wildfires in Hawaii, FEMA has declared at least 15 more major disasters, bringing the total active count to 82 — not to mention pending requests from governors for additional emergency declarations.A senior FEMA official told Thomas that the agency may end up withholding even more money if Congress doesn’t approve new disaster funding on time.Oh, and there are still two months left in hurricane season.
Menendez fights for political survival amid rising calls to resign - Sen. Bob Menendez (D-N.J.) is fighting for his political life amid rising calls to resign from Democratic colleagues in the wake of a federal indictment on bribery charges. Menendez on Monday said he’s not going anywhere during a defiant appearance before the press, insisting he’d be exonerated. But by 5 p.m., a second Senate Democratic colleague — Sen. Sherrod Brown (Ohio) — said he should step down, underscoring how the charges he faces have shaken the political earth beneath him. “The allegations leveled against me are just that: allegations,” Menendez told the crowd in Union City, N.J. “I recognized that this will be the biggest fight yet. But as I have stated through this whole process, I firmly believe that when all of the facts are presented, not only will I be exonerated, but I will still be New Jersey’s senior senator.” Menendez is up for reelection next year and may need to keep his Senate seat to raise money for his political defense. “His reputational survival, if not his financial survival, depends on his ability to beat these charges,” “And to beat these charges, you need the best lawyers. To get the best lawyers, you need the most money. To get the most money, you can’t give up your seat.” Sen. John Fetterman (D-Pa.) was the first Democratic senator to call for Menendez to step down, joining a number of lawmakers in the House. New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy (D) has also called on him to resign, along with at least six Democratic members of New Jersey’s congressional delegation and several top Democrats at the Statehouse in Trenton. Rep. Andy Kim (D-N.J.) has already announced a primary challenge against the sitting senator, with others potentially set to follow suit. Those drumbeats are likely to get louder when lawmakers return to Washington on Tuesday and reporters ask Senate Democrats whether Menendez, who is up for reelection in 2024, should continue in office. “This is about to get uncomfortable for the rest of his colleagues, and real quick,” said one former Senate Democratic leadership aide. “The gold bar question is going to prove irresistible.” Prosecutors accuse Menendez and his wife, Nadine, of accepting “hundreds of thousands of dollars” in bribes in exchange for using his “power and influence” to enrich a trio of New Jersey businessmen. Making headlines were the gold bars and $480,000 in cash stuffed into envelopes and clothing that authorities said they seized from the New Jersey Democrat. Menendez has proclaimed his innocence and attempted to explain some of the questions during the press conference. He said the reason investigators found so much cash is because he keeps it on hand for “emergencies.”
The bribery charges against Senator Menendez and the corruption of the Democratic Party -- The indictment of Senator Bob Menendez supplies another yardstick with which to measure the corrupt and reactionary character of the Democratic Party. The New Jersey Democrat long held one of the most powerful positions in the US Senate, as chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. He used it to both promote the interests of American imperialism, particularly in Latin America and the Middle East, and to amass a fortune for himself, signaled by the wads of cash, totaling $480,000, and kilos of gold found in his house by federal agents. At a press briefing Monday morning, Menendez declared that he would not resign from the Senate and suggested that the indictment was in retaliation for his long record fighting for the interests of New Jersey citizens and as a supporter of Democratic Party policies on the expansion of social programs and democratic rights. Why this would lead the US Attorney for the Southern District of New York, appointed by Democratic President Joe Biden, to bring a false indictment the senator did not bother to explain. His remarks were curiously limp, suggesting an official who is aware that he has been caught redhanded and has little likelihood of escaping from this indictment, as he did a previous corruption charge brought in 2015. That case ended in a hung jury and a decision by the prosecution not to proceed any further. There is no innocent explanation for the stash of money, stuffed into jacket pockets and other locations throughout his home, or the gold bars, with the photographs spread widely by the media. The senator did not make reference to the gold bars—worth at least $50,000 apiece—and his claim that he had accumulated nearly half a million dollars in cash through withdrawals from his savings account over the past 30 years is preposterous. His statement that he kept the cash “for emergencies and because of the history of my family facing confiscation in Cuba” is a deliberate appeal to anticommunism, based on a flat-out lie. His family actually emigrated from Cuba in 1953, and Menendez himself was born in New York City on January 1, 1954, exactly five years before Fidel Castro and his guerrilla fighters marched into Havana. The senator wishes to justify his conduct by painting his family as a victim of Castroism and relying on widespread historical ignorance and a compliant media to get away with it. Whatever the fate of Menendez in the present case, the exposure of his gross corruption shows the seamy side of a political gangster who is implicated in far greater crimes than those he was charged with last Friday. In his 30 years in the US Congress, Menendez has been a ferocious right-wing advocate for American imperialism, supporting US military interventions in Iraq, Libya, Syria and now Ukraine, as well as economic sanctions against Cuba, Venezuela, Iran and Iraq, which have cut off vitally needed medicines and other goods, contributing to hundreds of thousands of premature deaths
Menendez pleads not guilty to charges of bribery, fraud and extortion - — Sen. Bob Menendez, the third ranking Democrat on the Senate Banking Committee, entered a not guilty plea to felony charges of bribery, fraud and extortion in a packed courtroom Wednesday.Menendez was arraigned in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York alongside his wife, Nadine Menendez, and two other alleged co-conspirators: Fred Daibes, a developer and former banker in New Jersey, and Jose Uribe, who has business interests in insurance and trucking. Menendez was released on his own recognizance after posting a $100,000 bond and forfeiting his personal passport. He still has his official passport as a senator, and is permitted to leave the country, but only with permission from the court. His wife, meanwhile, was released on a $250,000 bond secured by her home in Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey. Her travel will be limited to New York, New Jersey and South Florida, where she has family. Uribe and Daibes were released on bonds of $2 million and $1 million, respectively. Daibes is also facing federal bank fraud charges in a separate case in New Jersey, for which he has a $10 million bond. Those funds will be transferred to the U.S. District Court in New York upon the New Jersey case's resolution, Judge Ona Wang said during the hearing. Last week, federal prosecutors accused Daibes, Uribe and a third New Jersey businessman, Wael Hana, of plying the Menendezes with gifts — including home furnishings, mortgage payments, more than half a million dollars in cash and a pair of gold bars — in exchange for the senator using his position as chair of the powerful Foreign Relations Committee to aid their business interests in Egypt. Hana was arraigned in the same court Tuesday and also pleaded not guilty.
Biden disapproval rating hits highest mark of presidency: poll -- President Biden’s disapproval rating hit the highest mark of his presidency in a new poll that also showed support by essential voting blocs is slipping. Biden’s disapproval rating ticked up to 56 percent, with 41 percent saying they approve. The survey also shows support for Biden slipping with voters aged 18-24, who reported a 46 percent approval rating; Latinos, who reported 43 percent; and independents — who will be key to deciding the general election — at 36 percent. The NBC News poll released Sunday continues the trend of showing an overwhelming majority of voters expressing concern about Biden as well as his likely 2024 general election opponent, former President Trump. But Trump’s lead in the GOP primary has also surged ahead of a crowded field of opponents; he is leading by 43 points despite a myriad of legal troubles in the form of four state and federal criminal indictments. Trump was the first choice among national Republican primary voters at 59 percent, while Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis clocked in at only 16 percent, according to the poll. It also showed Republicans increasingly believing that Trump should remain the Republican Party’s leader at 58 percent, an increase from 49 percent in June. Trump has been indicted four times this year, including three times since June in cases involving the potential mishandling of classified documents and interference in the 2020 election results on the federal level and in the state of Georgia. Voters continue to see the 80-year-old Biden’s age as an issue, with 74 percent of voters saying they have major or moderate concerns that he doesn’t have the mental and physical capacity to be president, while 44 percent said the same of 77-year-old Trump. Still, 1 in 5 voters who expressed concerns about Biden’s age said they would still vote for him over Trump. A hypothetical 2024 match-up in the poll shows Trump and Biden in a dead heat at 46 percent among registered voters. Biden held a 4 percent lead over Trump in the same poll in June.
Washington Post says poll showing Trump beating Biden likely an ‘outlier’ - The Washington Post said Sunday that its poll with ABC News showing former President Trump beating President Biden is likely an “outlier,” citing other polls that show the two candidates in a dead heat. A Washington Post-ABC News poll released Sunday found Biden trailing Trump with 42 percent support, compared to Trump with 51 percent support.In its analysis of the poll, the Post said Trump’s strong lead is “significantly at odds with other public polls that show the general election contest a virtual dead heat,” a difference that suggests the data point is probably an outlier.Gary Langer, a public opinion researcher, pointed out in an ABC News analysis that question order could be a factor. The survey asked first about Biden and Trump’s performance, economy sentiment and various other issues such as the looming government shutdown, Ukraine aid and abortion, before questioning participants on their candidate preferences. Langer said this is customary for the polls at this stage in the election cycle, as these questions are more relevant than candidate support at this point.“Since many results are negative toward Biden, it follows that he’s lagging in 2024 support,” Langer wrote. “Nonetheless, those sentiments are real, have been consistently negative in recent surveys and clearly mark Biden’s challenges ahead.”Message-sending was also suggested as a possible factor, meaning a hypothetical vote-preference this early in the election may not actually suggest what’s to be expected at the polls next year.“It’s best seen as an opportunity for the public to express its like or dislike of the candidates,” Langer wrote. “Biden is broadly unpopular and doubts about his suitability for a second term are extensive; wherever they end up in more than a year, a substantial number of Americans today are taking the opportunity to express their displeasure.”
White House: Comer, Jordan are ‘posing for the cameras’ on impeachment instead of funding government -- The White House on Monday attacked House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer (R-Ky.) and House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) for focusing on an impeachment inquiry into President Biden instead of on averting a government shutdown. The House Oversight Committee will hold its first hearing on the impeachment inquiry into Biden on Thursday and Comer said while it is not expected to cover new ground, it will be a refresher course “to help educate the Washington, D.C., press corps.” Meanwhile, Congress faces a Saturday deadline to pass legislation to fund the government and prevent a shutdown. So far, House Republicans have not agreed to a deal among themselves, let alone with the Senate and White House. “Instead of working to avoid the pain they and their extreme House Republican colleagues could inflict on Kentuckians and Ohioans with their shutdown plan, Comer and Jordan are posing for the cameras to attack President Biden with debunked smears — it’s D.C. politics at its worst,” said Ian Sams, White House spokesperson for oversight and investigations. The White House said Comer and Jordan’s focus on impeachment is a distraction “to take attention away from extreme House Republicans’ disastrous shutdown plan.” It also called out that about 300,000 Kentucky and Ohio women, children and infants are at risk of losing good assistance if the government shuts down. “While Comer and Jordan are focused on baseless political stunts to get themselves attention on Fox News, 300,000 of people at risk in Kentucky and Ohio — including vulnerable infants — could lose access to the food assistance they need because of extreme House Republicans’ shutdown plan. If they get their way, women and children who count on this food assistance could soon start being turned away at grocery store counters,” Sams said.
House Republicans to hold 1st Biden impeachment inquiry hearing - House Republicans on Thursday will hold the first public hearing in their impeachment inquiry into President Joe Biden. The hearing before the House Oversight Committee will start at 10 a.m. ET and will feature four witnesses, three called by Republicans. Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., said the focus will be to present findings from months of GOP-led investigations -- with the overall goal of explaining why an inquiry is warranted. He claims House Republicans have "uncovered an overwhelming amount of evidence showing President Joe Biden abused his public office for his family's financial gain." But so far, Republicans haven't produced direct evidence to back up their claims that Biden was involved in or personally profited from his family's foreign business dealings, or that he improperly influenced policy based on them when he served as vice president. "Americans demand and deserve answers, transparency, and accountability for this abuse of public office," Comer said in a statement. "This week, the House Oversight Committee will present evidence uncovered to date and hear from legal and financial experts about crimes the Bidens may have committed as they brought in millions at the expense of U.S. interests."
G.O.P. Eyes Bribery and Abuse of Power Impeachment Charges for Biden - Top House Republicans are eyeing potential impeachment charges of bribery and abuse of power against President Biden, according to senior House officials familiar with their plans, as they push forward with an inquiry that seeks to tie him to his son’s foreign business dealings. Building up to the inquiry’s first hearing scheduled for Thursday, Republicans have stepped up their efforts to cast suspicion on Mr. Biden, releasing material they characterized as incriminating but which contained no proof of wrongdoing. The lawmakers have been grasping for months for evidence to fuel their impeachment case, which has yet to provide a basis for either potential charge they are considering. On Wednesday, they released records of wire transfers from a Chinese businessman to Hunter Biden in 2019 that listed his father’s Wilmington, Del., address, suggesting that was an indication that the elder Biden had profited off those transactions. But the home was Hunter Biden’s primary residence at the time. Later in the day, a powerful panel voted to release 700 more pages from the confidential tax investigation into Hunter Biden, including an affidavit from an I.R.S. agent who concluded that he and his business associates received potentially more than $19 million in foreign income, but who makes no allegation the income was illegal. The documents also include an email in which a prosecutor at the U.S. attorney’s office in Delaware prohibited investigators from mentioning President Biden in a proposed search warrant in August 2020. Republicans argue that shows the Justice Department was biased in favor of Mr. Biden, but the warrant was being prepared months before the elections, during a period when the agency’s longstanding policy is to avoid taking high-profile actions against any political candidate. The G.O.P. has struggled so far to link Hunter Biden’s business activity to the president or get anywhere close to revealing proof of high crimes and misdemeanors. Despite their review of more than 12,000 pages of bank records and 2,000 pages of suspicious activity reports, none of the material released so far shows any payment to his father. Leaders of the three panels carrying out the inquiry — the Judiciary, Oversight and Ways and Means Committees — hope to accumulate evidence that the elder Biden abused his office, accepted bribes or both, according to the officials familiar with it, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the details. The officials emphasized that the inquiry might never result in impeachment charges if the evidence they compile does not support such charges — or any other. And Republicans are privately cognizant that they currently lack enough support within their ranks to push charges through the House, and that any charges would be dead on arrival in the Democrat-controlled Senate. For Thursday’s hearing before the Oversight Committee — the first since Speaker Kevin McCarthy, under pressure from his right flank, announced the inquiry — Republicans have booked a trio of conservative legal analysts to opine about the Bidens and the law. The analysts are not, however, in a position to present new facts in the case. The Oversight panel is considered the lead committee, according to the officials, and will investigate any allegations of corruption against the president and his family. The Judiciary Committee will focus on the Justice Department, while Ways and Means will handle any sensitive tax information pertinent to the inquiry.
GOP struggles to find footing in first Biden impeachment hearing -The Republican impeachment inquiry into President Biden got off to a rocky start Thursday as the GOP sought to stress a need for the investigation while Democrats argued they had done little to advance the specter of wrongdoing by the man they aim to remove from office. Republicans sought to draw attention to evidence as sprawling as the probe itself, bouncing back and forth between reviewing Hunter Biden’s business dealings, communications with family members and associates, and the ongoing Justice Department investigation into his failure to pay taxes. Still, the bulk of what they reviewed dealt only with Hunter Biden, not his father, even as House Oversight and Accountability Chairman James Comer (R-Ky.) said “our investigation is now focused on whether President Biden engaged in impeachable offenses under the U.S. Constitution.” Comer wrapped the hearing saying the panel would issue a subpoena for Hunter Biden’s personal bank records as well as those of his companies. Democrats vacillated between drawing attention to the looming government shutdown — passing an iPad with a countdown clock from member to member — and what they deem holes in connecting any wrongdoing to President Biden. Even as Republicans sought to convince the public of the need for an inquiry, GOP-invited witnesses at turns undercut their message, saying there was not currently enough evidence to back an impeachment resolution. Jonathan Turley, a go-to witness for conservatives in Congress, at one point told lawmakers that some of the details they’d gathered “really do gravitate in favor of the president.” “I do not believe that the current evidence would support articles of impeachment,” Turley said. At another point, when asked to weigh in on GOP claims that Hunter Biden was engaged in “influence peddling,” Turley said Congress has failed to do needed work to connect it to President Biden. “The key here that the committee has to drill down on is whether they can establish a linkage with the influence peddling, which is a form of corruption, and the President whether he had knowledge, whether he participated, whether he encouraged it. We simply don’t know, and we don’t even know if this was an illusion or not. But you can’t find the answers to that,” Turley said. “But without that type of nexus, then no, I don’t,” he added in response to whether he would back a vote to impeach President Biden. Bruce Dubinsky, a forensic accountant also invited to testify by the GOP, said the party had not yet laid out enough evidence to even suggest there is wrongdoing. “I am not here today to even suggest that there was corruption, fraud, or any wrongdoing. In my opinion, more information needs to be gathered and assessed before I would make such an assessment,” he said in his opening statement.
Ocasio-Cortez slams Republicans for using ‘fabricated image’ in Biden hearing --Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) slammed Republicans for using a “fabricated image” in the first impeachment inquiry hearing into President Biden.Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) launched an impeachment inquiry into Biden after Republicans alleged the president and his son, Hunter Biden, profited from foreign business deals. The House Oversight and Accountability Committee held its first hearing Thursday.During the hearing Ocasio-Cortez sat next to a computer screen that showed a clock, ticking down the seconds until the federal funding deadline.The fabricated image Ocasio-Cortez referenced was a screenshot of a text message presented earlier in Thursday’s hearing introduced by Rep. Byron Donalds (R-Fla.), she said.“Earlier today, one of our colleagues, the gentleman from Florida, presented up on the screen something that appeared to be a screenshot of a text message containing or insinuating an explosive allegation,” Ocasio-Cortez said during the hearing. “That screenshot of what appeared to be a text message was a fabricated image.”“I don’t know where it came from. I don’t know if it was the staff of the committee, but it was not the direct screenshot from that phone,” she added. The New York congresswoman said the fabricated image excluded “critical context that changed the underlying meaning and allegation.” Ocasio-Cortez said they were wasting their time and that the hearing was an “embarrassment.” Each of the three witnesses testifying before the panel told Ocasio-Cortez and the committee that there is not enough evidence yet to impeach Biden.“This is an embarrassment to the time and people of this country, and I would ask that the chair and I would ask that this Committee elevate to the promise of our duties here and comport ourselves with the consistency and practice that is required of our seats and our duty and … our oath to our responsibilities here,” Ocasio-Cortez said.
Democrats ask Greene not to present ‘pornography’ in impeachment hearing - Democratic Reps. Jamie Raskin (Md.) and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (N.Y.) asked Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) to not display “pornography” again in an impeachment hearing Thursday. Greene was interrupted during her prepared remarks to the House Oversight and Accountability Committee’s first hearing on the impeachment inquiry into President Biden so that Raskin could bring up a point of order. “Mr. Chairman, our colleague in Georgia has introduced before pornographic exhibits and displayed things that are really not suitable for children who might be watching,” Raskin said, before Greene interjected, asking, “A bathing suit is not suitable, Mr. Raskin?” “Well, I’m saying I would like the witness, I would like the member to be instructed to not introduce any pornography today at least without running through the chair first,” Raskin responded. Greene continued to reiterate that the photo she was holding up was a woman in a bathing suit, which she said “is not pornography.” Ocasio-Cortez later jumped in, questioning if Greene was “submitting a naked woman’s body.” “This is a bathing suit, this is a bathing suit!” Greene repeated, before asking the New York Democrat whether she was wearing her glasses. “I have contacts in,” Ocasio-Cortez responded. “Congratulations,” Greene shot back. At an IRS whistleblower hearing in July, Greene held up small posters featuring graphic sexual photos of Hunter Biden from the laptop hard drive that purportedly belonged to him, which were censored with black boxes. Raskin asked Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer (R-Ky.) at the time if Greene should be displaying those photographs.
Jim Jordan says special counsel in Hunter Biden probe to come before congressional committee - House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) said Sunday that the special counsel appointed in the Hunter Biden case, David Weiss, will come before a congressional committee next month. “David Weiss has committed to come in front of the committee on Oct. 18, so we can look forward to that,” Jordan said on Fox News’s “Sunday Morning Futures” with Maria Bartiromo. Weiss, who is also the U.S. attorney for Delaware, was appointed as special counsel in August to investigate President Biden’s son after a previous plea deal fell apart in July during a hearing in Delaware. A grand jury later indicted Hunter Biden on three gun-related charges as part of Weiss’s elevated investigation. The Hill has reached out to the offices of Jordan and Rep. James Comer (R-Ky.), the chairman of the Oversight and Accountability Committee, for clarification on which committee Weiss is slated to go before. Meanwhile, Weiss has found himself also involved with the House Republicans’ widespread investigation into the Biden family’s foreign business dealings. Jordan, alongside Comer, has spent recent months probing Hunter Biden and his time on the board of Burisma, a Ukrainian energy company, while his father was vice president. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) announced earlier this month he was moving to launch an official impeachment inquiry into President Biden in the wake of these investigations. The House will hold its first hearing on that matter this week. Earlier this year, the Oversight Committee heard testimony from two IRS whistleblowers who said Weiss was sometimes hesitant to aggressively pursue the younger Biden’s case, which included alleged tax crimes. Jordan told Bartiromo that his committee has a number of witnesses at the Department of Justice (DOJ) it is looking to depose. Pointing to a series of allegations about Hunter Biden and his father’s involvement with Burisma, Jordan echoed previous claims that the DOJ mishandled the investigation. “And then what does the [Attorney General Merrick] Garland Justice Department do? They try to sweep it all under the rug,” Jordan said. The investigations so far have not found the president directly financially benefited from his son’s business dealings or proved that he made any policy decisions because of them when he was vice president. Jordan’s comments follow his request earlier this month to the DOJ to turn over a series of documents related to the two IRS whistleblowers. In a letter to Garland, the committee asked for an Oct. 11 interview with Weiss and other top DOJ officials mentioned by the IRS
Hunter Biden in GOP’s crosshairs again as tax panel set to disclose sets vote on confidential info disclosure - The House Ways and Means Committee is preparing to release more sensitive information about its investigation into Hunter Biden. Republicans on the panel have told colleagues they will meet Wednesday to vote on whether to disclose information otherwise protected by strict taxpayer secrecy laws. It has to do with Republicans’ conversations with IRS whistleblowers, but the exact nature of the information is unknown. The committee previously released similarly protected information about Biden in June. The move comes as the president’s son has filed suit against the IRS, saying the agency has failed to protect his private tax information. Republicans’ notice to colleagues makes clear the information is safeguarded by a section of the tax law that imposes tough penalties including jail terms for unauthorized disclosure. Lawmakers can get around those restrictions by voting in private to make it public, as they previously did with former President Donald Trump’s tax returns. In the meantime, the notice says, lawmakers can view the information on Monday and Tuesday in private. Federal prosecutors said in August that they plan to charge Hunter Biden with tax crimes in California or Washington, D.C., after a plea deal fell through.
DOJ ordered Hunter Biden investigators to ‘remove any reference’ to Joe Biden in FARA probe warrant: House GOP - The U.S. Department of Justice ordered FBI and IRS investigators involved in the Hunter Biden probe to "remove any reference" to President Biden in a search warrant related to a Foreign Agents Registration Act probe, new documents released by the House Ways & Means Committee reveal. Committee Chairman Jason Smith, R-Mo., led a vote Wednesday to release new documents provided by IRS whistleblowers Gary Shapley and Joseph Ziegler that "corroborate their initial testimony to the Committee and reinforce their credibility and their high esteem among colleagues." "The Biden Administration — including top officials at the Justice Department — lied to the American public and engaged in a cover-up that interfered with federal investigators and protected the Biden family, including President Biden himself," the committee said. One document released Wednesday was an August 2020 email sent by Assistant U.S. Attorney Lesley Wolf in which she ordered investigators to remove any reference to "Political Figure 1" from a search warrant. Subsequent documents released Wednesday revealed that President Biden is "Political Figure 1." "As a priority, someone needs to redraft attachment B," Wolf writes in the email. "I am not sure what this is cut and pasted from but other than the attribution location, and identity stuff at the end, none of it is appropriate and within the scope of this warrant." Wolf adds: "Please focus on FARA evidence only. There should be nothing about Political Figure 1 in here." A document released Wednesday and reviewed by Fox News Digital states that "Political Figure 1" is "Former Vice President Joseph Robinette Biden Jr." "VP BIDEN is currently the Democratic Party Presidential candidate for the United States and served as the 47th officeholder for the position of the Office of the Vice President of the United States (VPOTUS) in the Barack Obama Administration from January 20, 2009 to January 20, 2017," the document states. "He is the father of SUBJECT 1." "SUBJECT 1" is presumably Hunter Biden, the target of the investigation.
House Republicans claim to have bank wires from Beijing going to Joe Biden's Delaware address. Hunter Biden's attorney explained why. - House Republicans say they have uncovered bank wires obtained by subpoena that allegedly reveal Hunter Biden received payments originating from Beijing that listed President Joe Biden's Delaware residence as the beneficiary address, an announcement Hunter Biden's attorney denounced as "lies to support a premise." In a statement Tuesday, the Republican chairman of the House Oversight Committee wrote, "What did the Bidens do with this money from Beijing?" Rep. James Comer said the alleged bank wires to the president's son included more than $250,000 in payments from three individuals in the summer of 2019. Comer asserted the Delaware address on the wire transfers compounded questions about what Joe Biden may have known about his son's overseas business dealings. And he said any past Biden financial entanglements in China heightened national security concerns. "Americans demand and deserve accountability for President Biden and the First Family's corruption," Comer said, adding that his probe will continue. President Biden has long maintained he had no involvement in his adult son's business dealings. And Tuesday, Hunter Biden attorney Abbe Lowell told CBS News that the announcement from congressional Republicans was just the latest example of a finding of purported wrongdoing "that evaporates in thin air the moment facts come out." In his statement, Lowell said the bank transfers resulted from loans Hunter Biden received from a private individual, and they referenced his father's Delaware address because it was on his personal driver's license at the time. Lowell said Hunter Biden borrowed the funds while making "a substantial investment" in a partnership called BHR Partners. "We expect more occasions where the Republican chairs twist the truth to mislead people to promote their fantasy political agenda," Lowell said in his statement. The White House called Comer's statement "half-baked innuendo and conspiracy theories."
Hunter Biden sues Rudy Giuliani over accessing and sharing personal data (AP) — Hunter Biden sued Rudy Giuliani and another attorney Tuesday, saying the two wrongly accessed and shared his personal data after obtaining it from the owner of a Delaware computer repair shop. The lawsuit was the latest in a new strategy by Hunter Biden to strike back against Republican allies of Donald Trump, who have traded and passed around his private data including purported emails and embarrassing images in their effort to discredit his father, President Joe Biden. The suit accuses Giuliani and attorney Robert Costello of spending years “hacking into, tampering with, manipulating, copying, disseminating, and generally obsessing over” the data that was “taken or stolen” from Biden’s devices or storage, leading to the “total annihilation” of Biden’s digital privacy. The suit filed in California also claims Biden’s data was “manipulated, altered and damaged” before it was sent to Giuliani and Costello, and has been further altered since then. Accessing, opening and sharing it broke laws against computer hacking, the suit argues. It seeks unspecified damages and a court order to return the data and make no more copies. Ted Goodman, a political adviser to Giuliani, said it was false to claim Giuliani manipulated the laptop hard drive, but he was “not surprised ... considering the sordid material and potential evidence of crimes on that thing.”
Judge to examine alleged attorney conflicts of interest in Mar-a-Lago case --Judge Aileen Cannon agreed Monday to a Justice Department (DOJ) request to hold hearings to examine potential conflicts of interest of two attorneys representing former President Trump’s co-defendants in the Mar-a-Lago case.The move comes after the DOJ warned that the two attorneys are representing other clients who may be called as witnesses against Walt Nauta, Trump’s valet who moved boxes in and out of a storage room, and Carlos De Oliveira, the Mar-a-Lago property manager who assisted him.Nauta’s attorney, Stanley Woodward, has represented “at least seven other individuals who have been questioned in connection with the investigation,” including those who have testified about Nauta, the DOJ disclosed last month.“Nauta should be thoroughly advised of the potential conflicts and attendant risks,” the DOJ wrote.De Oliveira is facing charges for obstruction of justice and lying to authorities. He’s represented by John Irving, who is also serving as counsel to a witness the DOJ said “has information demonstrating the falsity of statements De Oliveira has made to the government.”The same witness “also has information about De Oliveira’s loyalty to Trump and about De Oliveira’s involvement in the replacement of a lock—at the direction of Trump—on a closet inside Trump’s residence at Mar-a-Lago on June 2, 2022, the day Nauta and De Oliveira moved boxes” in and out of a storage room on the property, according to the DOJ.Dual hearings on the matters are now set for Oct. 12. Cannon’s decision comes after special counsel Jack Smith’s team has complained in filings about Trump’s offer to pay for the attorneys of those swept up in his legal troubles.The DOJ has had some success in shifting the case after requesting another so-called Garcia hearing for another Woodward client earlier this summer.Yuscil Taveras, a Mar-a-Lago IT worker, flipped in the case after he was offered the chance to speak with an outside attorney during one such hearing.Shortly after the meeting, Taveras disclosed to prosecutors the information that supported a superseding indictment in the case and led to charges for De Oliveira. Taveras has since signeda cooperation agreement.
Trump blasted for threats against Comcast, NBC - Former President Trump is coming under intense criticism for a social media post late Sunday in which he threatened to investigate Comcast, the parent company of NBCUniversal, NBC News and MSNBC, over the outlet’s coverage of him should he be elected president again. “They are almost all dishonest and corrupt, but Comcast, with its one-side and vicious coverage by NBC NEWS, and in particular MSNBC, often and correctly referred to as MSDNC (Democrat National Committee!), should be investigated for its ‘Country Threatening Treason,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social website. NBC has not commented on Trump’s threat, but his remarks have sparked a wave of backlash in media and political circles. “Let’s just think about the last three days where we’re at here. Donald Trump mocked a disabled veteran, called for the execution of Gen. Mark Milley, has called for the complete shutdown of the government unless they defund the prosecutions against him. He’s asked for all Senate Democrats to resign over the [N.J. Sen. Bob Menendez] case. And, you know, he’s talking about using government power to retaliate and shut down NBC for criticizing him,” said Charlie Sykes, a political commentator who makes regular appearances on MSNBC. The progressive political organization Occupy Democrats also blasted the former president’s social media post, which it called a “deranged rant.” “There you have it, folks. While Trump and his Republican enablers love to falsely accuse Democrats of ‘weaponizing’ the government against Trump, Trump himself is now openly threaten to weaponize the presidency to completely remove entire news channels from the airwaves simply because they expose his rampant criminality,” the organization said.
DOJ move for gag order in Trump Jan. 6 case puts judge in tough spot -- A Justice Department request to impose a narrow gag order on former President Trump is raising a number of sticky issues for the court as it weighs how to address what prosecutors called “disparaging and inflammatory” remarks about nearly everyone involved in the Jan. 6 case. The Justice Department argues that Trump’s comments could taint the jury pool and intimidate witnesses who might be called to testify against him — threatening to damage the case with a series of remarks on social media and along the campaign trail. But the request, if granted, raises First Amendment issues for the candidate and feeds into Trump’s long-running narrative that the Justice Department’s actions are designed to hamper his electoral prospects. And the stakes are high for Trump, who has a predilection for making such remarks and ignoring the cautioning of staff, and who could face fines or even jail time for violating such an order. “The devil will be in the detail. How do you frame an order that, on one hand, preserves the former president’s right to proclaim his innocence, including by making whatever outlandish — risible even — statements he wants, but drawing the line at intimidating statements?” said Jeff Robbins, a former state prosecutor now in private practice. “The judge has to look down the road, not very far down the road, and have it in her mind, ‘OK, if he does this, I will have to do that.” In making its case, the Justice Department cited a number of comments from Trump, from late 2020 remarks attacking those who challenged his case that the election was stolen, to a series of comments targeting witnesses, prosecutors, and the judge overseeing the Jan. 6 case. “Since the indictment in this case, the defendant has spread disparaging and inflammatory public posts on Truth Social on a near-daily basis regarding the citizens of the District of Columbia, the Court, prosecutors, and prospective witnesses,” special counsel Jack Smith’s team wrote in the brief. “The defendant knows that when he publicly attacks individuals and institutions, he inspires others to perpetrate threats and harassment against his targets,” they wrote. Still, Trump would be free to otherwise comment on the case, including proclaiming his innocence.
Trump won’t try to move Georgia charges to federal court -Former President Trump won’t try to move his Georgia criminal prosecution to federal court, his lawyer said Thursday. The surprising turn of events comes weeks after Steve Sadow, Trump’s attorney, notified the state judge that Trump may attempt such a move. “President Trump now notifies the Court that he will NOT be seeking to remove his case to federal court,” Sadow wrote in court filings Thursday. “This decision is based on his well-founded confidence that this Honorable Court intends to fully completely protect his constitutional right to a fair trial and guarantee him due process of law throughout the prosecution of his case in the Superior Court of Fulton County, Georgia.” Five of Trump’s 18 co-defendants are actively trying to move their charges, though they face an uphill battle. Some legal experts believe the entire case would still be moved if any one of them is ultimately successful. Moving courts would have provided Trump a pathway to try to assert immunity from the charges, though it would not have made them subject to a presidential pardon. It would have also broadened the jury pool to other areas of Georgia that are less heavily Democratic than deep-blue Fulton County and meant a federal judge would oversee the case. Recording of federal court proceedings are also prohibited, but by remaining in state court, Trump’s trial is poised to be televised. Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis (D) charged Trump and the 18 others last month in a racketeering indictment over their efforts to overturn the 2020 election result in Georgia. They have all pleaded not guilty. Trump’s filing Thursday came just before his deadline on whether to attempt the move to federal court, a process known as removal. Trump White House chief of staff Mark Meadows, Trump Justice Department official Jeffrey Clark and three individuals who signed documents purporting to be Georgia’s valid presidential electors have all tried to move their charges. Other defendants could still file such a request at the last minute.
Jim Jordan fires back at Fani Willis’s ‘hostile response’ to House probe House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) fired back at Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis (D) on Wednesday for her “hostile response” to his request to turn over documents related to her prosecution of former President Trump. In a letter dated Wednesday, Jordan said that Willis’s response to his request only “reinforces the Committee’s concern that your prosecutorial conduct is geared more toward advancing a political cause and your own notoriety than toward promoting the fair and just administration of the law.” “Congress in general, and this Committee in particular, have a strong legislative interest in ensuring that popularly elected local prosecutors do not misuse their law-enforcement authority to target federal officials for political reasons,” he continued. “We can only conclude from your hostile response to the Committee’s oversight that you are actively and aggressively engaged in such a scheme.” Jordan has sent letters to each of the prosecutorial entities investigating Trump, and, in his one to Willis in late August — just hours before Trump surrendered to the Fulton County Jail — he asked her to turn over all records related to her work on the 2020 election interference case. He also asked that if she had communicated with special counsel Jack Smith, who has also brought charges against Trump over his efforts to remain in power after losing the 2020 election. Willis responded to Jordan’s request in a scathing letter Sept. 7, attacking his “basic understanding of the law, its practice, and the ethical obligations of attorneys general and prosecutors specifically.” “Your attempt to invoke congressional authority to intrude upon and interfere with an active criminal case in Georgia is flagrantly at odds with the Constitution,” Willis wrote. “There is absolutely no support for Congress purporting to second guess or somehow supervise an ongoing Georgia criminal investigation and prosecution. That violation of Georgia’s sovereignty is offensive and will not stand.” She said that since Jordan was so taken with concerns related to her county, he should investigate the numerous threats she has faced since bringing the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO) case against Trump and 18 co-defendants. Willis told Jordan he was “misinformed” about details of the indictment and encouraged him to buy a copy of “RICO State-by-State,” in order to obtain a better understanding of the law. She also told Jordan that her response was merely voluntary since “settled constitutional law clearly permits me to ignore your unjustified and illegal intrusion.”
Michigan fake elector defendants want case dropped due to attorney general's comments - A second defendant accused in a fake elector scheme in Michigan is looking for criminal charges to be thrown out after the state attorney general said that the group of 16 Republicans "genuinely" believed former President Donald Trump won the 2020 election. The 16 Michigan Republicans are facing eight criminal charges, including forgery and conspiracy to commit election forgery. Investigators say the group met following the 2020 election and signed a document falsely stating they were Michigan's "duly elected and qualified electors."President Joe Biden won the state by nearly 155,000 votes, a result that was confirmed by a GOP-led state Senate investigation in 2021.Two defendants in the case are now asking for charges to be thrown out after Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel told a liberal group during a Sept. 18 virtual event that the false electors had been "brainwashed" and "genuinely" believed Trump won in Michigan."They legit believe that," said Nessel, a Democrat who announced criminal charges in the fake elector scheme in July.Nessel also said in the video that Ingham County — where the hearings will be held and the jury will be selected from — is a "a very, very Democratic-leaning county."Kevin Kijewski, an attorney for the defendant Clifford Frost, said in a motion to dismiss filed Tuesday that Nessel's comments are an "explicit and clear admission" that there wasn't intent to defraud. Kijewski told The Associated Press that he expected the motion to be taken up at a previously scheduled Oct. 6 hearing.An attorney for another accused fake elector, Mari-Ann Henry, also filed a motion to dismiss Tuesday and said the attorney general's comment should "nullify the government's entire case."Danny Wimmer, a spokesperson for Nessel's office, said in response to a request for comment that the office "will respond to the motion in our filings with the Court."
Trump NY fraud trial to proceed after last-ditch effort to delay is denied - A last-ditch legal effort by former President Trump to delay the start of his civil fraud trial in New York was denied Thursday by the state’s appellate division. The trial will proceed as planned Monday, barring any other roadblocks. A judge had issued a temporary pause in the sprawling civil case after Trump claimed the trial judge was ignoring an appellate ruling. The New York attorney general’s office, which brought the case against Trump, called Trump’s effort a “brazen and meritless attempt” to “usurp” the authority of Justice Arthur Engoron, the trial judge. The appeals court’s order comes after Engoron found Trump liable for fraud Tuesday, ruling that New York Attorney General Letitia James (D) proved the core elements of her case against the former president and his businesses. Trump’s business empire was imperiled by the decision, which stripped some of the former president’s business licenses and raised the potential for him to lose control of some of his famed properties. The New York attorney general’s office sued Trump, the Trump Organization and two of his adult children — Eric Trump and Donald Trump Jr. — last September, claiming it uncovered more than a decade of fraud during a multi-year investigation. The lawsuit claims Trump’s company sought lower taxes and better insurance coverage by falsely inflating and deflating the value of its assets. James’s office is seeking some $250 million in financial penalties, plus the barring of Trump and his children from serving as officers or directors of New York-registered or licensed corporations. Engoron’s decision applied to the first of seven causes of action applied in the lawsuit. The other six elements will be the focus of the upcoming trial. Arguing against granting Trump’s request to delay the proceeding, James’s office said pushing back the start of the trial would likely “wreak havoc” on the former president’s legal calendar. He faces a combined 91 criminal charges across four cases, each of which has its own schedule, and he has pleaded not guilty to all counts.
Trump found liable for defrauding banks, insurers in New York AG case --A New York judge ruled Donald Trump is liable for fraud for exaggerating his net worth by billions of dollars a year on financial records submitted to banks and insurers, a major victory for the state's attorney general before a high-stakes civil trial over remaining claims in the case.The ruling Tuesday by Justice Arthur Engoron in Manhattan resolves the state's biggest claim against the former president and narrows a trial set to start as soon as Oct. 2. The bench trial will now focus on allegations including falsifying business records and issuing false financial statements, as well as the state's demand for $250 million in restitution.New York Attorney General Letitia James sued Trump, his real estate company and his two adult sons in September 2022, accusing them of inflating the value of Trump's biggest assets from 2011 to 2021 to get better terms from banks and insurers. It's one of six cases against Trump — including four criminal prosecutions — that are heading to trial as he seeks to return to the White House in the 2024 election. Trump, who claims James's lawsuit is politically motivated, is likely to appeal the ruling. He's also making a last-ditch effort to delay the trial by arguing to a New York appeals court that Engoron failed to narrow the case after an appellate panel ruled some the state's claims might be too old. James, a Democrat, argued a trial on her fraud claim wasn't necessary because the evidence that Trump violated New York's Executive Law was overwhelming. The attorney general said in court filings that her team gathered proof that Trump inflated his net worth annually by as much as $3.6 billion by exaggerating the market value of properties including his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida.Trump argued against the state's motion for so-called summary judgment, saying the annual statements of financial condition that he gave to banks and insurers had "powerful disclaimers" saying they should do their own valuations. He has also argued that James didn't have a right to sue because the banks and insurers didn't suffer any financial losses.The case is New York v. Trump, 452564/2022, New York State Supreme Court (Manhattan).
Trump's 'corporate death penalty' explained: Veteran Manhattan fraud prosecutors describe what's next -- Experts are calling it the "corporate death penalty." And what happens next is uncharted territory. In a stunning decision Tuesday, a Manhattan judge found that Donald Trump committed widespread, long-standing, and ongoing fraud at the Trump Organization and ordered what experts in New York financial crimes say amounts to the dissolution of his company. The penalty, awarded on behalf of New York's attorney general, Letitia James, is so extreme that Trump may fight James and the judge for years before anything actually happens. And the penalty is so rare that the only previous time it's been attempted on such a grand scale — when James sought the corporate death penalty in her three-year-old, ongoing fraud lawsuit against the NRA — has failed. "It's a staggering judgment," said John Moscow, a former financial-crimes prosecutor for the Manhattan district attorney's office."It means you are no longer a company, and the judge is appointing someone to take over the assets and distribute them as the court sees fit."New York Supreme Court Justice Arthur Engoron's order dissolving the Trump Organization. New York Supreme Court/InsiderThe ruling by New York Supreme Court Justice Arthur Engoron spends some 35 pages describing Trump's frauds and disassembling his lawyers' arguments; it yanks the corporate charter in two short paragraphs.The first paragraph orders the immediate cancellation of any "certificates," meaning corporate licenses, that are held by Trump, his two adult sons, the Trump Organization, and its underlying LLCs.The second orders that "within 10 days of the date of this order, the parties are directed to recommend the names of no more than three potential independent receivers to manage the dissolution of the canceled LLCs.""The findings of fraud are just so obvious," said Moscow, who's now the senior counsel at Lewis Baach Kaufmann Middlemiss in New York.James has alleged that Trump exaggerated the worth of his assets to banks and insurers by as much as $3.6 billion in a single year."But how it unfolds, I just don't know," Moscow said.
JPMorgan will pay $75 million on claims that it enabled Jeffrey Epstein’s sex trafficking operations -(AP) — JPMorgan Chase agreed Tuesday to pay $75 million to the U.S. Virgin Islands to settle claims that the bank enabled the sex trafficking acts committed by financier Jeffrey Epstein. JPMorgan said that $55 million of the settlement will go toward local charities that provide assistance to victims of domestic abuse and trafficking and other crimes, as well as to enhance the capabilities of local law enforcement. Of that amount, $10 million will be used to create a fund to provide mental health services for Epstein’s survivors, according the Virgin Islands Department of Justice. The Virgin Islands, where Epstein had an estate, sued JPMorgan last year, saying its investigation has revealed that the financial services giant enabled Epstein’s recruiters to pay victims and was “indispensable to the operation and concealment of the Epstein trafficking enterprise.” It had been seeking penalties and disgorgement of at least $190 million, in addition to other damages. In effect, the Virgin Islands had argued that JPMorgan had been complicit in Epstein’s behavior and did not raise any red flags to law enforcement or bank regulators about Epstein being a “high risk” customer and making repeated large cash withdrawals. The settlement averts a trial that had been set to start next month. The bank also said it reached an confidential legal settlement with James “Jes” Staley, the former top JPMorgan executive who managed the Epstein account before leaving the the bank.JPMorgan sued Staley earlier this year, alleging that he covered up or minimized Epstein’s wrongdoing in order to maintain the lucrative account. JPMorgan had already agreed to pay $290 million in June in a class-action lawsuit that involved victims of Epstein’s trafficking crimes.
JPMorgan makes anti-trafficking pledges in latest Epstein settlement - JPMorgan Chase's deal to pay $75 million to the U.S. Virgin Islands to settle allegations that it knowingly facilitated, sustained and hid Jeffrey Epstein's sex crimes also includes various commitments to combat human trafficking in the future. The tentative settlement between the megabank and the U.S. territory's Department of Justice was announced Tuesday, just weeks before the case was scheduled to go to trial in federal court in Manhattan.The Virgin Islands sued JPMorgan in December, accusing the megabank of turning "a blind eye to evidence of human trafficking over more than a decade" due to Epstein's financial position and certain relationships he pledged to bring to the bank.Epstein, a convicted sex offender who had a Virgin Islands residence, was a client of JPMorgan until 2013, five years after he pleaded guilty to procuring and soliciting a minor for prostitution. Epstein died in federal prison in 2019 while awaiting trial on sex-trafficking charges. The cause of death was listed as suicide.The deal is "an historical victory for survivors and for state enforcement," U.S. Virgin Islands Attorney General Ariel Smith said in a press release Tuesday. "It should sound the alarm on Wall Street about banks' responsibilities under the law to detect and prevent human trafficking."JPMorgan on Tuesday did not admit any wrongdoing. In a statement, the bank said it "deeply regrets any association" with Epstein and that the company "would have never continued doing business with him if it believed he was using the bank in any way to commit his heinous crimes."Of the $75 million payment, $30 million will be directed to Virgin Islands charities that support victims of crimes, including human trafficking and other sex crimes, JPMorgan said Tuesday. The remaining money will be split between $25 million for public safety initiatives, including the establishment of a $10 million fund to provide mental health services for Epstein's survivors, and $20 million for attorneys' fees. The New York Times reported that the Virgin Islands will use the latter pool of funds to pay Motley Rice, a U.S. plaintiffs firm that represents the territory's government.The deal includes a commitment by JPMorgan Chase to inform law enforcement when its customers are identified as being involved in human trafficking, according to the Virgin Islands' Department of Justice.Under the settlement's terms, the nation's largest bank by assets agreed to terminate customers' accounts if it has credible information that the accounts are facilitating human trafficking.JPMorgan agreed to identify and escalate clients who are associated with forced or child labor, human trafficking or slavery. The bank pledged to escalate and remediate issues in the event that one of its suppliers is identified as violating human trafficking laws.In addition, JPMorgan agreed to conduct annual employee training on how to identify, report and address evidence of human trafficking by the bank's customers. And it said it would ensure that accounts at its private bank are not opened without satisfactory due diligence, according to the U.S. territory's press release.
JPMorgan’s Settlements Reach $365 Million Over Civil Claims It Banked Jeffrey Epstein’s Sex Trafficking of Minors; Criminal Charges Could Lie Ahead -By Pam and Russ Martens: JPMorgan Chase would like the public to believe that it’s going to walk away from the sleaziest financial crime of the century just $365 million poorer in the process. That’s just not going to happen.Yesterday, the bank settled for $75 million the Jeffrey Epstein related claims brought by the Attorney General of the U.S. Virgin Islands, after settling class action claims brought by Epstein’s victims for $290 million in June. (The June settlement was so questionable that we initiated an inquiry into the presiding Judge, Jed Rakoff, who called it a “really fine settlement.”)Both lawsuits alleged that JPMorgan Chase actively participated in Epstein’s sex trafficking of minors enterprise by turning a blind eye to his ongoing crimes and failing to file the legally mandated Suspicious Activity Reports (SARs) as Epstein took upwards of $40,000 to $80,000 in hard cash monthly from his accounts. Over the span of 15 years, that hard cash tallied up to more than $5 million according to court documents.JPMorgan Chase previously admitted in 2014 to two criminal charges brought by the U.S. Department of Justice for banking Bernie Madoff’s Ponzi scheme for decades and ignoring its legal obligation to file SARs with the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN). The settlement with the Justice Department included a penalty of $1.7 billion in restitution to Madoff victims and a promise to reform its anti-money laundering compliance programs. Clearly, JPMorgan Chase has not honored that agreement.The bank has claimed that its relationship with Epstein spanned approximately 15 years and ended in 2013. Internal emails produced in discovery, however, show that its bankers/brokers continued to make visits to Epstein’s Manhattan mansion for years after 2013. One JPMorgan broker, Justin Nelson, appears on a document produced by the bank as visiting Epstein at his residence 13 times, including as late as 2017. Five of those visits are characterized by the bank as “routine account servicing.” Seven visits are characterized as related to “Leon Black.” One visit to Epstein’s Zorro Ranch in New Mexico says it was to “tour property.” (See pages 3, 4 and 5 at this link.) Deposition testimony indicates that the bank was aggressively attempting to build a large banking relationship with Black, then head of the private equity firm, Apollo Global Management, who had a deep financial relationship with Epstein. Black has been sued by multiple women alleging they were sexually assaulted by him. The latest lawsuit in July comes from an autistic woman who alleges Black raped her at Epstein’s Manhattan mansion when she was 16. The Senate Finance Committee has also opened an investigation into exactly what kind of services Epstein was providing to Black that would explain the $158 million that Black paid Epstein between 2012 and 2017. The dial on the moral compass at JPMorgan Chase seems to perpetually default to the green dollar sign. The evidence produced in court documents shows definitively that Epstein was referring ultra wealthy clients to the bank. In a court filing on July 26, the U.S. Virgin Islands lists the following individuals as people Epstein referred as clients to the bank: Microsoft co-founder and billionaire Bill Gates; Google co-founder and billionaire Sergey Brin; the Sultan of Dubai, Sultan Ahmed bin Sulayem; media and real estate billionaire Mort Zuckerman; and numerous others. Typically, settlement announcements involving salacious court cases are announced late on a Friday afternoon so that the public relations damage fizzles out by Monday morning. So what caused this sudden urgency for JPMorgan to announce the settlement on a Tuesday? The announcement of the $75 million settlement with the U.S. Virgin Islands yesterday came just hours after Los Angeles Times’ Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Michael Hiltzik declared the bank guilty in his column. Hiltzik had given his verdict on the case in one of the largest daily newspapers in the U.S., which has a print and digital weekly audience of 4.4 million people. Hiltzik wrote: “It’s entirely fair to say that Epstein would have been brought to justice well before July 2019, when he was arrested on federal sex-trafficking charges, if JPMorgan merely told authorities what it knew and provided them with the documentation of his financial transactions that the bank held in its possession. “That these were ‘suspicious’ as defined by the federal disclosure law is hardly subject to question, since so many of the bank’s own executives knew it. Instead, they kept him on as a valued client until the relationship became utterly untenable. So let’s be clear: As an institution, JPMorgan knew what Epstein was up to and let dollars do its thinking about it. Whether the bank should be made to pay will be up to a judge and a jury, if the case gets that far. But is there any doubt about what they should conclude?” Here are just a few of the hurdles that JPMorgan Chase and its Chairman and CEO, Jamie Dimon, will continue to face for wantonly banking a rapist and sex trafficker of children: The criminal division of the U.S. Department of Justice had sufficient evidence in its possession in 2007 to bring federal sex trafficking charges against Epstein and put him in prison for decades. Instead, the Justice Department crafted a cozy deal with the Florida State Attorney that saw Epstein spend just 13 months in the private wing of the Palm Beach County jail, with most of that time spent in a work release program where Epstein was driven in his limo to an office each day. Since that time, the Justice Department’s actions have been assailed on a regular basis in books, newspaper articles, documentaries and by victims speaking out. Now that the U.S. Virgin Islands has effectively made the criminal case against JPMorgan Chase by obtaining in discovery the granular details of the money laundering operation the bank oversaw for Epstein, the criminal division of the DOJ is going to be hard pressed to explain why the bank’s activities with Madoff warranted two criminal felony charges but money laundering by JPMorgan to perpetuate more than a decade of sexual assaults on children results in no criminal action against the bank. Adding to the culpability of JPMorgan’s Board of Directors is the simple fact that they have not fired Dimon, as either Chairman or CEO, despite the unprecedented crime spree that has taken place as he sat at the helm of the bank. Raising even more suspicions of the Board’s own culpability is that after the bank’s two most recent admissions to felony charges, Dimon was financially rewarded by the Board. See our report: After JPMorgan Chase Admits to Its 4th and 5th Felony Charge, Its Board Gives a $50 Million Bonus to Its CEO, Jamie Dimon. Corruption of this magnitude cannot be sustained in a true democracy. If the Justice Department brings no criminal charges against this bank for financing horrific sex crimes against children, then Americans will know for certain that U.S. democracy has become a full-fledged kleptocracy.
Inside JPMorgan's year of being haunted by Jeffrey Epstein | American Banker -- Jamie Dimon wasn't going to be embarrassed into a settlement. As damaging revelations about the extent of JPMorgan Chase's relationship with Jeffrey Epstein trickled out of a lawsuit this year, his bank balked at paying up. The longtime JPMorgan chief told colleagues he saw the fight as one of "principle." He and others within the bank viewed the plaintiff — the US Virgin Islands, where Epstein had a private island — not as a victim, but instead complicit in the deceased sex offender's crimes. From the moment a year ago when the firm's top brass was surprised to learn that the territory would be pursuing a claim, through months of USVI attorneys taking aim first at Dimon and then one of his top deputies, JPMorgan's leaders were forced to weigh the legal, reputational and emotional concerns of the case. All the while, contents of old emails spilled into public view, chronicling years of close ties to one of this era's most notorious sex offenders. Ultimately, the $75 million JPMorgan agreed to pay the USVI this week is a tiny number for the firm, which generates that much in revenue in about five hours. Even combined with the $290 million settlement it reached with Epstein's victims in June, the total cost barely moves the needle for the biggest and most profitable bank in American history. JPMorgan's combative approach with the US Virgin Islands led to it settling for a quarter of what the territory had sought in earlier talks. But it's also left the firm seeking to tally the ultimate damage of its year of being haunted by Epstein — a decade after ejecting him as a client and four years after his death in a Manhattan jail cell — from which almost no one involved emerged unscathed. This account is based on interviews with more than half a dozen people close to the case, who asked not to be identified discussing private matters, as well as court documents and other filings. A JPMorgan representative declined to comment.
FERC to hike scrutiny of JPMorgan power sector actions after finding link to private equity firm IIF - - J.P. Morgan Investment is an affiliate of private equity firm Infrastructure Investments Fund, called IIF US Holding 2, the owner of El Paso Electric, gas-fired power plants totaling close to 5 GW and other energy assets, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission said last week.“There is liable to be an absence of arm’s length bargaining between IIF US Holding 2 and J.P. Morgan Investment,” FERC said in its Sept. 21 decision, which will trigger higher reporting requirements and scrutiny for J.P. Morgan-related activities under the agency’s jurisdiction, such as investing in utilities and power plants.Citing FERC’s decision, Public Citizen, a consumer watchdog group, on Monday asked the Federal Reserve to investigate whether JPMorgan Chase, parent to J.P. Morgan Investment, violated the Bank Holding Company Act and the Volker Rule by owning non-banking related assets and operating a private equity company.FERC’s decision reflects the agency’s growing toughness in its tests to make sure companies in the markets it regulates, such as J.P. Morgan, don't control other ones through their investments, which could harm consumers, according to Joshua Macey, an assistant professor of law at the University of Chicago law school.Thursday’s decision on J.P. Morgan Investments follows FERC’s October 2021 finding that Evergy, a utility company, and Bluescape Energy Partners, an investment firm, were affiliated companies, said Macey, an expert in energy law and the regulation of financial institutions, among other things.In the Evergy decision, FERC said sharing board members triggered an affiliated status, even though Bluescape owns less than 10% of Evergy’s shares, the agency’s standard threshold for being deemed an affiliate.Increasingly, FERC is finding affiliations even if the 10% ownership threshold isn’t reached, according to Macey. When FERC conducts market power tests, the agency looks at affiliated entities together and aims to make sure their ability to contract with each other is limited to arm’s-length negotiations, he said. Reflecting a lack of arm’s-length distance, in its letter to the Federal Reserve board, Public Citizen said in 2018 JP Morgan Chase recommended that IIF buy 120 million Class A shares of Coastal States Wind. IIF took the advice and bought the share, according to the group. “The seller? JP Morgan Chase,” Public Citizen said. JPMorgan didn’t respond to a request for comment about FERC’s decision or Public Citizen’s request for an investigation by the Fed.FERC’s decision stems from a 2020 “change in status” and revised market-based rate filing to reflect the purchase of Xcel Energy’s Mankato power plant in Minnesota by an IIF subsidiary.In its decision, FERC said an investment advisory agreement and the partnership agreement governing the relationship between IIF US Holding 2 and J.P. Morgan Investment, and IIF 2 GP and J.P. Morgan Investment, respectively, show there is likely to be an absence of arm’s length bargaining between IIF and J.P. Morgan Investment. J.P. Morgan and J.P. Morgan Investment employees signed both sides of the agreements, FERC said.The investment advisory agreement allows J.P. Morgan Investment to make “virtually every major decision” for IIF US Holding 2, FERC said.Also, IIF US Holding 2 has no employees. “This lack of employees, and the need for J.P. Morgan Investment to execute documents on behalf of IIF US Holding 2 … indicates that IIF US Holding 2 cannot function without J.P. Morgan Investment,” FERC said.In addition, a J.P. Morgan Investment executive is on the board of an upstream owner of the Mankato power plant, which indicates that J.P. Morgan Investment may be able to exercise control over the power plant, FERC said.The commission’s decision puts on notice private investment firms that are looking to buy utility, power plant and other assets under FERC jurisdiction that they need to be careful about how they structure their relationship with their investment manager, according to Tyson Slocum, energy program director for Public Citizen. “It's pretty important, especially as private funds take a bigger and bigger role in investing in U.S. infrastructure,” he said.
The Perfect Storm Hits Big Banks: Tumbling Deposits, Rising Unrealized Losses, and Higher-for-Longer Interest Rates -- By Pam and Russ Martens: --On March 30, 2022, two highly troubling events occurred: (1) Fed data showed that unrealized losses on available-for-sale securities at the 25 largest U.S. banks were approaching the levels they had reached during the financial crisis in 2008; and (2) the Fed simply stopped reporting unrealized gains and losses on these banks’ securities.As the chart above indicates, the Fed had reported this data series from October 2, 1996 to March 30, 2022 – and then, poof, it was gone and could no longer be graphed weekly at FRED, the St. Louis Fed’s Economic Data website. (See chart above from FRED.) On the same date, the Fed also discontinued the weekly data for unrealized losses or gains on available-for-sale securities at all commercial banks and small banks.) This data series was halted after the Fed had embarked on March 17, 2022 on the first leg of 11 consecutive rate increases, at the fastest pace in 40 years. The Fed took its benchmark Fed Funds rate from 0.00 – 0.25 percent on March 16, 2022 to 5.25 – 5.50 percent by its last rate hike on July 27 of this year. The Fed had little choice but to hike rates at this speed because the U.S. was facing spiraling inflation pressures. Unfortunately for U.S. banks, these rate hikes came after the banks had loaded up on low interest rate Treasury securities and federal agency Mortgage-Backed Securities (MBS). The banks had loaded up on these securities because their deposit balances had swollen to an historic level as a result of the trillions in stimulus payments that the federal government direct-deposited into depositor accounts at banks to deal with the economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. The pandemic and related business closures negatively impacted business loan demand so banks turned to government-backed bonds as a safe place to park the trillions of dollars in extra deposits. In hindsight, of course, parking large amounts of a bank’s deposits in bonds yielding next to nothing is not a rational move for the long term. Not hedging the interest rate risk on the bonds was an equally precarious move by so-called risk managers at the bank. (See Study Finds 75 Percent of U.S. Banks Didn’t Hedge Interest Rate Risk; Unrealized Losses on Securities $516 Billion at End of First Quarter.)As interest rates rise, the market value of bonds issued with much lower fixed interest rates lose market value. That’s because those bonds pay less interest than the newer bonds with higher fixed rates of interest and thus have less desirability to investors. This effect is expressed this way: bonds have an inverse relationship to interest rates.Since this formula is one of the first things that a rookie trader learns at a bond trading desk, why would banks think they could just skip the cost of hedging this massive risk?To fully appreciate what big banks have been getting away with since they crashed the U.S. economy in 2008, let’s take a look at what Citigroup reported on its 10-K (annual report) filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for the last quarter of 2008: (See page 160 at this link.) “SFAS 115 requires transfers of securities out of the trading category be rare. Citigroup made a number of transfers out of the trading and available-for-sale categories [to the held-to-maturity category] in order to better reflect the revised intentions of the Company in response to the recent significant deterioration in market conditions, which were especially acute during the fourth quarter of 2008…“The December 31, 2008 carrying value of the securities transferred from Trading account assets and available-for-sale securities was $33.3 billion and $27.0 billion, respectively. The Company purchased an additional $4.2 billion of held-to-maturity securities during the fourth quarter of 2008, in accordance with prior commitments.”At the end of the fourth quarter of 2008, Citigroup had swelled its held-to-maturity securities to a carrying value of $64.46 billion and had this to say about the transfers into the held-to-maturity category: “The net unrealized losses classified in accumulated other comprehensive income that relates to debt securities reclassified from available-for-sale investments to held-to-maturity investments was $8.0 billion as of December 31, 2008…This will have no impact on the Company’s net income, because the amortization of the unrealized holding loss reported in equity will offset the effect on interest income of the accretion of the discount on these securities.”
Bank of America’s Unrealized Losses on HTM Debt Securities Total $106 Billion; 34 Percent of All Such Unrealized Losses Reported by 4,645 Banks - By Pam and Russ Martens: September 26, 2023 ~ According to Bank of America’s federal regulatory filing known as the Call Report, for the quarter ending June 30, 2023, it had $105.79 billion in unrealized losses on its held-to-maturity (HTM) securities. That figure is not only far beyond the realm of what its peer banks reported, but it represents a stunning 34 percent of all unrealized losses on held-to-maturity securities reported by 4,645 FDIC-insured commercial banks and savings institutions as of June 30, according to the FDIC’s Quarterly Banking Profile.For the quarter ending June 30, the FDIC reported that all 4,645 FDIC-insured financial institutions had $309.6 billion in unrealized losses on held-to-maturity securities.Held-to-maturity securities at the largest banks are made up predominately of federal agency mortgage-backed securities and U.S. Treasury bills, notes and bonds. The principal on these securities is federally guaranteed at maturity but their market value is a function of the level of prevailing interest rates at a particular moment in time. At this particular moment in time, the Fed has hiked interest rates 11 times since March 17 of last year, pushing some interest rates on recently issued debt securities to their highest levels in 16 years. When interest rates rise dramatically, they impose market value losses on similar debt securities that were issued in the past when interest rates were much lower.What the decline in bond market values as a result of higher interest rates doesn’t explain, however, is why Bank of America’s losses on these debt securities are so far beyond those of its peers. As of June 30, Bank of America showed a 17 percent loss on its held-to-maturity debt securities versus 8.2 percent at JPMorgan Chase and 9.26 percent at Citibank – the mega bank that blew itself up in 2008, ended up as a 99-cent stock in 2009 and got a $1.2 trillion secret bailout from the Fed to shore it back up. Is it possible that JPMorgan Chase and Citibank are using a far more forgiving model to value their debt securities?We emailed the press contact for Bank of America yesterday, inquiring as to why their unrealized losses are so much larger than their peer banks. We asked for a response by last evening. We received no response. Not only are Bank of America’s unrealized losses beyond the norm on a percentage basis, but the total dollar amount of its held-to-maturity securities are also far beyond the norm.In terms of assets, Bank of America is the second largest federally-insured bank in the U.S. with $2.4 trillion in assets. (That’s just the federally-insured commercial bank unit of Bank of America. The bank holding company has $3.1 trillion in assets and includes the giant retail brokerage firm and investment bank, Merrill Lynch.) JPMorgan Chase is the largest bank in the U.S. with $3.38 trillion in assets at its federally-insured bank (Chase Bank) and $3.87 trillion in assets at its holding company. Despite being second in size to JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America reported $614 billion in held-to-maturity securities as of June 30 versus $409 billion reported by JPMorgan Chase. (Those figures come from the federally insured banking units, not the holding companies.) Why does Bank of America have $205 billion more of these debt securities than the global behemoth JPMorgan Chase? No one seems willing to talk about it. To understand why the accounting category of held-to-maturity is so attractive to the mega banks and dangerous for the public, we offer this take from CPA/CFA Sandy Peters, who posted the following at the CFA Institute website. Peters writes: “What that means is that the financial statement carrying value of those financial instruments held-to-maturity is reflected at amortized cost, or what management paid for the asset sometime in the past plus amortization of the discount or premium from the face value. The fair value is only disclosed on the face of the financial statement and in the footnotes. Any unrealized loss is ‘hidden in plain sight.’ Peters calls this “Hide-‘til-Maturity” accounting. In the case of SVB, it was hide ’til bank run accounting.
Is Too Big to Fail Over? | Institute for New Economic Thinking - By Simon Johnson --What should we learn from events earlier this year at Silicon Valley Bank, Signature Bank, First Republic, and Credit Suisse? Do the “bailout” actions taken by the US and Swiss authorities indicate that Too Big to Fail is still with us? Have we made no progress at all since the collapse of Lehman Brothers? Are we primed for another big financial crisis?TBTF is still with us, for the simple reason that it never went anywhere. In 2008, Lehman had total liabilities of around $650bn; Bear Stearns was a bit smaller. In 2023, Credit Suisse’s balance sheet was about $800bn and shrinking fast. SVB was around $250bn. Oh, and Long-Term Capital Management owed about $120bn in 1997.Currently, JP Morgan is close to $4trn and UBS is around $2trn. Could either of them fail, in the sense that creditors would face losses? Don’t be ridiculous.TBTF is not at its heart about law and regulation. It’s about game theory. Specifically, imagine this scenario. You are in the Oval Office. The Treasury Secretary says: this bank is about to fail. The Chairman of the Federal Reserve adds: if we let them fail, the result will be massive damage to our economy, with millions losing their jobs, and the knock-on negative effects on the rest of the world will be enormous. The president turns to you and asks: well, should we let them go bankrupt?Unless and until you can answer affirmatively, with complete confidence and better data than have top officials, there are TBTF banks. The threshold for receiving some form of government support for otherwise uninsured depositors might depend on the day or how the world economy is doing, but on present evidence it appears to be around $100 billion.This does not, however, mean we have made no progress since 2008. Sure, the biggest banks got bigger, “living wills” are purely performative for megabanks, and resolution planning was thrown out of the window in the US and Europe when the mini-crises of 2023 hit. But the big banks have lost their aura of cleverness.Consequently, shareholders and management cannot expect the support that they received in the fall of 2008. Creditors, however, can generally expect a lot of protection. (The Swiss elected to wipe out convertible bond holders but not equity. But that seems to have been some quirk of Swiss foreign relations, vis-a-vis who owned the stock.)Before 2008, to propose regulation was to be regarded by the establishment as a Luddite who did not understand the deep smarts of modern finance. Today the Bank Policy Institute is embarked on a major campaign to lower capital requirements – and this involves a full-frontal attack on the Federal Reserve. The BPI is antagonizing senior Fed officials, making it very unlikely for the bank lobby to win while damaging the reputations of all sensible bank executives. Remember the excessive lobbying of the tobacco industry and where that ended up for all involved?Will there be another big crisis? The answer depends on capital, a concept that is much misunderstood or mis-explained, even in the specialist press. It would be better to use the word equity, because the key concept is how much equity banks are allowed to fund themselves with, relative to debt.Higher debt to equity means, when things go well, a higher return on equity unadjusted for risk – and more compensation for executives. But when markets or the economy turn down, low levels of equity are quickly wiped out by losses and insolvency looms.Equity levels were very low in 2008 – a few percentage points for some big banks. Now equity requirements are higher, although they should be raised further for the TBTF crowd.We have made progress. Sure, not enough to forestall crises. But the political power of the big banks has been broken and their confrontational tactics are unlikely to prevail any time soon. This particular form of state capture is over.
Quelle Surprise! Bank Too Big to Fail Problem Not Solved as Lobbyists Scheme to Make It Worse by Yves Smith -- Simon Johnson, former IMF Chief Economist and now a professor at MIT’s Sloan School, provides an update on the state of Too Big to Fail. The short version is that despite the de facto bailouts of Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank (by extending deposit guarantees to the rich who had no legal basis for expecting that support), bank lobbyists are pushing for even more largesse.Below (and I strongly urge you to read his piece in full), Johnson calls for more equity as the remedy to the Too Big to Fail problem. It’s disappointing to see Johnson offer what he has to know is only a “better than nothing” solution. Johnson wrote one of the most important articles about the crisis early on, The Quiet Coup, was an active commentator as the crisis developed and in its aftermath, and was one of the louder pro-reform voices.Recall that it was none other than Timothy Geithner who advocated more bank equity as the way to make banks safer. But as Johnson surely knows, that idea had been debunked by the Bank of England Director of Financial Stability Andrew Haldane, in a seminal paper, The $100 billion question. It explains how the total amount of bank equity is inadequate to even begin to pay for the cost of periodic financial crises. Haldane starts with Martin Weitzman’s classic analysis of how to deal with so-called externalities, which are costs imposed on people who have nothing to do with a transaction (think of a dive bar opening next door and your household suddenly facing blaring music and party to loud arguments). If the private costs are higher than the public costs, you tax. If the public costs are higher than the private costs, you prohibit. Haldane was criticized at the time, the bone of contention being that his estimate of the long-term global GDP cost of the 2007-2008 crisis was way too high. In fact, the protracted period of so-called “secular stagnation” proved Haldane to be correct.Even though Haldane established that the amount of equity needed to impose a high enough tax to stop banks from doing destructing things would put them all out of business, other efforts to look at the bank equity problem came up with ballpark figures that are so high as to be depicted by banker as tantamount to forcing their closure (Note this is an exaggeration, but they’d have to change the way they operate so radically that it would amount to the death of their current mode of operating….an outcome sorely to be desired save by bankers and pols in their pay). First, let’s turn to another critically important observation, by Steve Waldman, Capital can’t be measured. It is very carefully argued, so forgive the necessarily long-ish extract. Ironically, Waldman starts by taking issue with Simon Johnson, back in 2010, recommending more bank equity. It’s one thing for Johnson to depict the idea of “more bank equity” as better than nothing, as opposed to sufficient. From Waldman: Simon Johnson and James Kwak are absolutely right. Sure, “hard” capital and solvency constraints for big banks are better than mealy-mouthed technocratic flexibility. But absent much deeper reforms, totemic leverage restrictions will not meaningfully constrain bank behavior. Bank capital cannot be measured. Think about that until you really get it. “Large complex financial institutions” report leverage ratios and “tier one” capital and all kinds of aromatic stuff. But those numbers are meaningless. For any large complex financial institution levered at the House-proposed limit of 15×, a reasonable confidence interval surrounding its estimate of bank capital would be greater than 100% of the reported value. In English, we cannot distinguish “well capitalized” from insolvent banks, even in good times, and regardless of their formal statements…
Meet the Banking Cartel that Is Planting the Seeds for the Next Banking Panic and Bailout -By Pam and Russ Martens:On July 27, the Federal Reserve, FDIC and Office of the Comptroller of the Currency released a proposal to require higher capital levels at banks with $100 billion or more in assets – those that demonstrated quite clearly this past spring that they could spread systemic contagion throughout the U.S. banking system. Community banks will not be impacted at all by the new proposals according to the regulators. The three federal bank regulators provided a very generous public comment period of 120 days on the proposal. (Submit your own comment here.) The large banks had to only begin transitioning to the new rules on July 1, 2025, with full compliance not due for an absurd five years – on July 1, 2028.On September 12, the banking cartel made their anger known in a 7-page letter that assaulted the proposal from every conceivable angle and demanded that the three federal agencies turn over all “evidence and analyses the agencies relied on” in making the proposal. The logos at the top of this article capture the banking cartel that sent the letter. The graphs below from the nonprofit watchdog, OpenSecrets.org, capture the millions of dollars and more than 200 lobbyists that the cartel has available to stop banking reform in its tracks.The Bank Policy Institute (BPI), whose Board of Directors consists of the CEOs of the biggest banks and is Chaired by Jamie Dimon, CEO of five-count felon JPMorgan Chase, has even launched an ad campaign that grossly distorts the narrative to harming working families. Hopefully, those working families will remember when the reckless and irresponsible banks blew up the U.S. economy in 2008, put millions of Americans out of work, left millions of working families in foreclosure and got a secret $29 trillion bailout behind-the-scenes from the Federal Reserve.Unfortunately, the graphs below only capture a small part of the corrupt system that poses a daily threat to the safety and soundness of the U.S. banking system. Each of the mega banks on Wall Street also hire their own lobbyists and spend millions lobbying Congress to get their way on any proposed regulations that threaten the status quo.Last year, JPMorgan Chase spent $2.9 million lobbying Congress and employed 49 lobbyists to do its work. In addition to hiring lobbyists working for outside lobbying firms, 11 lobbyists worked directly for JPMorgan Chase. Of those 11 lobbyists, 8 had revolving door histories.For example, JPMorgan Chase lobbyist Tim Berry was the former Chief of Staff to two Republican Majority Leaders in the House of Representatives. He worked for Kevin McCarthy from 2011 to 2017 and for Tom Delay from 1995 to 2005.Jack Bartling, another lobbyist working directly for JPMorgan Chase as Executive Director for International Government Relations, was previously Senior Counsel to the House Financial Services Committee and Deputy Assistant Secretary for International Affairs at the U.S. Department of the Treasury. From 1999 to 2005, Bartling was Legislative Counsel to former Republican Senator Christopher (Kit) Bond of Missouri.To get an even broader picture of the banking cartel that is undermining the safety and soundness of the U.S. banking system, see our earlier report: Yes, America, a Banking Cartel Exists and Here’s the Proof.
Cannabis banking bill passes Senate hurdle despite bipartisan opposition — The SAFER Banking Act, the latest iteration of a bill that would make it easier for banks to serve legal cannabis businesses, passed through the Senate Banking Committee in a 14-9 vote. The bill had both bipartisan support and opposition. Republicans Cynthia Lummis of Wyoming, Steve Daines of Montana and Kevin Cramer of North Dakota voted in favor of the bill. Sen. Raphael Warnock, D-Ga., was the only Democrat to vote in opposition to the legislation. This is the first time the Senate has considered the legislation. An earlier version, the SAFE Banking Act, had passed the House seven times previously. The markup and the deal between parties was made possible after a breakthrough among some Senate Republicans, who want to codify protections for certain businesses, such as gun sellers, that Republicans say are politically disfavored in Democratic administrations. Some of the Republican lawmakers who support the SAFER Banking Act come from states where recreational marijuana isn't legal.
Gruenberg: Congress probably won't alter deposit insurance — Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. Chairman Martin Gruenberg said Thursday his agency is unlikely to make changes to deposit insurance — something they can only do with congressional approval — given lawmakers' waning interest in passing legislation on the issue."While there was considerable interest in the immediate aftermath of the bank failures earlier this year, that has dissipated with time," he said. "At this point there does not seem to be any imminent likelihood of changes to deposit insurance coverage in the U.S."In the speech, delivered to the International Association of Deposit Insurers 2023 Annual Conference, the FDIC chairman recounted his agency's experience earlier this year with three historically large bank failures and the FDIC's subsequent issuance of three proposals in May offering suggestions for reforming deposit insurance to avoid future contagion. The FDIC report suggested three paths forward: maintaining the deposit insurance status quo, providing all accounts unlimited deposit insurance and targeted insurance for businesses. While the agency had asserted they were considering each option carefully, the report noted a preference for targeted insurance. Gruenberg reiterated Thursday, as he did in May, that any changes to deposit insurance coverage would be contingent on Congress passing legislation authorizing such reforms. With a looming election, government shutdown and split Congress, the chairman's remarks further emphasize how long the odds are that such proposals could gain traction.SCOTUS will hear case challenging Fed's interchange fee cap — The Supreme Court said Friday it will hear a case brought forward by Corner Post Inc. — a North Dakota convenience store — to settle a dispute over the statute of limitations for the store's lawsuit challenging an interchange rule issued by the Federal Reserve. The Supreme Court's decision to grant Corner Post's petition will revive a 2021 lawsuit brought by the convenience store challenging the Fed's Regulation II rule. The 2011 rule was enacted by the Fed pursuant to a Dodd-Frank Act provision known as the "Durbin Amendment," which directs the federal bank regulator to ensure interchange fees are reasonable and proportional to the cost incurred by the issuer of a transaction. The Administrative Procedure Act establishes a six-year statute of limitations for legal actions challenging agency rules, but Corner Post hadn't even opened its doors until 2018 — years after the Fed's rule. Corner Post argues that because it sued within three years of opening and first being injured by Regulation II, it had met the deadline. An Eighth Circuit ruling last year ruled in the Fed's favor, saying that under their interpretation of the APA, the six year statute of limitations starts from the date the rule is published, meaning the convenience store's suit was brought too late. The convenience store has since petitioned the Supreme Court to appeal the lower court's decision to dismiss their 2021 lawsuit. In granting Corner Post's petition the Supreme Court stands poised to resolve this disagreement over APA statute of limitations. The Fed's rule says banks with over $10 billion in assets could charge a fee of no more than 21 cents per-transaction, plus a percentage-based extra allowance to cover fraud losses.
California could complicate banks' climate reporting obligations For months, banks and other U.S. companies have been waiting for new rules from the Securities and Exchange Commission on the disclosure of corporate carbon emissions.But now the state of California appears poised to act first, which could complicate the reporting requirements for many banks — assuming the Golden State's legislation survives likely legal challenges.Earlier this month, lawmakers in Sacramento passed two bills that would require larger companies that operate in California to report expansive measurements of their emissions, as well as to account for the financial risks of climate change.Banking industry groups are taking issue with the inclusion of so-called Scope 3 emissions in the California legislation. Those are greenhouse gas emissions that result from the value chains of companies' products and services. In the case of banks, Scope 3 emissions may result from their financing activities.Financial industry trade groups have also been arguing that the California requirements could conflict with the forthcoming SEC rules, as well as upcoming international standards."We strongly recommend that any California requirements align with, or be compatible with, federal standards or other international standards incorporated by U.S. authorities," the industry groups wrote in a recent letter to Democratic state Sen. Scott Wiener, who sponsored one of the bills.The letter was signed by the American Bankers Association, the Bank Policy Institute, the California Bankers Association and the California Credit Union League, among other financial industry groups.The California Bankers Association first announced its opposition to the two bills shortly after they were introduced in January.
There’s a Trump Era/Charles Koch Big Law Firm Behind the Supreme Court Case that Hopes to Gut the Federal Agency that Fights for the Little Guy --Pam and Russ Martens: September 28, 2023 ~ Next Tuesday, the U.S. Supreme Court will hear oral arguments in a case that could have far reaching effects on the legislative ability of Congress to have flexibility in how it funds regulatory agencies, as well as place in jeopardy the survival of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), a government watchdog for the little guy, elderly, young, poor and unsophisticated against goliaths on Wall Street and other financial predators.The case arrives at the Supreme Court as a result of a decision handed down in October by a three-judge panel at the right-wing 5th Circuit Court of Appeals. All three judges on the panel (Don Willett, Kurt Engelhardt, and Cory Wilson) were appointed by former President Donald Trump. The 5th Circuit effectively ruled that the CFPB’s funding system, legislated by Congress, was unconstitutional.The shadow of Trump and the invisible hand that had an outsized role in setting the agenda for his administration, fossil fuels billionaire Charles Koch, and his corporate law firm – Jones Day – have their footprints all over this case. On Trump’s first day in office, January 20, 2017, Jones Day announced that 12 of its law partners were moving into the Trump administration. Among the 12 was Noel Francisco, who became Trump’s Solicitor General. Francisco is now one of the five Jones Day lawyers representing the opposing side at the Supreme Court attempting to gut funding for the CFPB.Gutting the funding and power of federal regulatory agencies is something that Charles Koch and his myriad front groups have been attempting to do for the past 40 years.Right wing Republicans and corporate interests have been attempting to kill the CFPB since it was created under the Dodd-Frank financial reform legislation of 2010, following the financial crash of 2008. Dodd-Frank and the creation of the CFPB came in response to the greatest fraudulent wealth transfer from the middle class to the 1 percent since the Wall Street frauds of the late 1920s. Both periods devastated the U.S. economy for years and left millions of Americans unemployed.Mega banks on Wall Street and other bad actors are particularly hostile to the fact that the CFPB allows consumers who have been victimized by financial firms, even where small amounts of money are involved, to file a complaint with the CFPB, who then demands a timely written explanation from the alleged wrongdoer. Bad actors dislike the fact that these complaints go into a permanent database at the CFPB, which can be mined by the public, reporters, class-action attorneys and prosecutors looking for patterns of fraud. On May 15, Senator Sherrod Brown (D-OH), Chairman of the Senate Banking Committee and Congresswoman Maxine Waters (D-CA), Ranking Member of the House Financial Services Committee, led 144 current and former members of Congress in filing an amicus brief in the case: Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) v. Community Financial Services Association of America (CFSA). Their amicus brief argues that when Congress established the CFPB after the 2008 financial crisis, a judgment was made that the CFPB, like other financial regulators, needed independence from unpredictable annual funding cycles to be effective. As legislated in the Dodd-Frank Act, the CFPB is funded through the Federal Reserve. Congress maintains oversight authority of the CFPB, and the Director of the agency testifies regularly before Congress. The CFSA, the opposing front group, which cleverly put the homespun word “Community” in its name, is the evil twin sister of the CFPB. It’s a pool of financial sharks, including payday lenders, who don’t want a well-funded federal investigatory agency looking into their predatory practices against financially-strapped and/or financially unsophisticated Americans. Accountable.US, the nonprofit watchdog, describes the company representatives that make up the Board of Directors of CFSA as follows: “In January 2019, Enova was fined $3.2 million by the Bureau for debiting consumer bank accounts without their authorization. In November 2013, Cash America International, Enova’s parent company at the time, was fined $5 million by the CFPB and forced to pay $14 million in refunds for ‘violat[ing] the Military Lending Act by illegally overcharging servicemembers and their families.“In April 2020, PROG subsidiary Progressive Leasing paid $175 million to settle a Federal Trade Commission lawsuit alleging the lender ‘frequently’ misled consumers by charging consumers twice the advertised ticket price for payments on rent-to-own items. Then-FTC director Kelly Slaughter said, however, ‘the settlement did not go far enough,’ as consumers ultimately paid ‘more than $1 billion in extra fees and charges.’ […]The hatred of the CFPB is so strong by predatory financial actors that another front group, American Action Network, launched a $500,000 ad campaign during the November 10, 2015 Republican presidential debate, comparing the advocate for the little guy to a communist organization. The ad features giant banners of then CFPB Director, Richard Cordray, and Senator Elizabeth Warren, who pushed for the creation of the agency, hanging on the front wall in a nod to Soviet dictators. The advertisement was a masterpiece of misinformation, overtly suggesting that the job of the CFPB is to deny car loans and mortgages to regular folks seeking credit. The agency, in fact, has absolutely nothing to do with approving credit applications. Its job is to root out and punish financial institutions that are ripping off customers. For example, just four months before the ad was released, the serial miscreant, Citigroup, was ordered by the CFPB to reimburse an estimated $700 million to 7 million of its credit card customers for deceptive marketing and billing for services that were never provided. (For what CFPB has been up to more recently, scroll down here.)
Report: SF Fed mulled removing SVB's Becker from board before failure -The Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco considered removing Silicon Valley Bank CEO Greg Becker from its board of directors over a looming ratings downgrade in 2022, but opted not to, citing concerns about sending market signals and betraying supervisory confidentiality.In a report on the failure of Silicon Valley Bank released Thursday morning, the Fed's Office of the Inspector General noted that Becker's presence on the San Francisco Fed's board created complications for the reserve bank as examiners built a case for taking supervisory action against SVB to compel it to address various risks and deficiencies.While it was not one of the report's seven official recommendations, the OIG urged reserve banks to establish a policy that would prohibit sitting bank executives from serving on reserve bank boards. "We believe that the CEO's service on the [Federal Reserve Bank of] San Francisco board of directors created an appearance of a conflict of interest for the system," the report reads. "Given the potential for market-signaling challenges when removing a reserve bank board member, we encourage the Board [of Governors] to consider assessing the current policy."Becker's presence on the board has been a source of debate since SVB succumbed to a massive run on deposits in March and triggered a short-lived crisis in the banking system. Some in Washington have questioned whether it prevented Fed supervisors from being as tough on the bank as they should have been. Becker was removed from the reserve bank board in March after SVB failed and fell into Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. receivership. The Federal Reserve System's 12 regional reserve banks each have three tiers of directors. Class B and C directors are appointed to represent the public in each district; they are nominated by the banks in a given region and the Fed Board of Governors, respectively. Class A directors, meanwhile, are supposed to represent the interests of the banks.Fed officials have noted that class A directors play no role in shaping oversight policies and they are not supposed to be privy to supervisory information. But politicians and policy advocates have questioned how much of a firewall there is between the various functions of the reserve banks. "I think it would come as a shock to most Americans to find out that Gregory Becker, the CEO of Silicon Valley Bank, who successfully lobbied for the deregulation of his financial institution was allowed to serve as a director of the same body in charge of regulating his bank: the San Francisco Federal Reserve," Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., said in a March statement. "It is clear to me and to the American people that the CEOs of the largest banks in America should not be allowed to serve as directors of the main agency we have in this country in charge of regulating those very same financial institutions."
Small Kansas bank failed because its CEO fell for a crypto scam: Report --The failure of Heartland Tri-State Bank in Elkhart, Kansas, this summer was tied to its CEO's involvement in a cryptocurrency scam, Bloomberg Businessweek reported.Shan Hanes, who was president and CEO of the $139 million-asset bank until it was seized by regulators on July 28, allegedly wired $12 million in connection with what he told one bank customer was a cryptocurrency investment, according to the report.The new reporting comes two months after Kansas Banking Commissioner David Herndon said the bank "fell victim to a scam" and was under investigation.The Bloomberg Businessweek report, which is based on interviews with three anonymous sources, sheds new light on the abrupt demise of Heartland, which is the fourth and smallest bank failure to date this year.The unnamed Heartland client told Bloomberg that Hanes asked him if he could borrow $12 million to deal with the crypto problem. Hanes told the client that someone was trying to help him invest money in crypto, but there was trouble with the wire payments, the report said. Hanes told the client that the bank's money wasn't involved, but two sources told Bloomberg that it actually was.The client wound up declining Hanes' request for the loan. A week later, when the same client learned that Hanes made the $12 million wire transfer after all, he contacted a director of the bank's board and warned that the bank might be at risk, Bloomberg Businessweek reported. Regulators stepped in, Heartland was declared insolvent and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. was appointed as the bank's receiver.
Former employee says Sam Bankman-Fried’s firm caused a 90% bitcoin price drop with 'fat finger' - A former engineer at Alameda Research, a crypto hedge fund co-founded by disgraced crypto mogul Sam Bankman-Fried, claims that an 87% crash in Bitcoin’s prices on Binance.US in 2021 was sparked by a “fat finger” and "misplaced decimal point" at Alameda Research.On October 21, 2021, an unnamed trader at Alameda Research attempted to sell Bitcoin through a manual trade, causing Bitcoin prices on Binance.US to plummet from $65,000 to $8,000 in a single minute before quickly recovering. “What they missed was the decimal point was off by a few spaces,” said Adi Baradwaj, a former engineer at Alameda Research, who was employed at the company at the time. Although traders were able to restore it, the damage had been done. “Rather than selling [Bitcoin] at the current market price, they sold it for pennies on the dollar,” Baradwaj explained.
Sam Bankman-Fried's trial to test dueling explanations for FTX’s collapse (Reuters) - In U.S. prosecutors' telling, Sam Bankman-Fried embezzled money from depositors in his FTX cryptocurrency exchange ever since he launched it in 2019, and the resulting shortfall led directly to its collapse as crypto prices swooned last year.But in his own version and in explanations put forth by his lawyers, Bankman-Fried thought FTX, like a bank, could make investments with customers' money as long as they were able to withdraw it - and he did not know that actions taken by his closest colleagues had jeopardized the availability of funds.Over the course of six weeks starting on Oct. 3, a federal jury in Manhattan is due to weigh these dueling narratives during Bankman-Fried's criminal trial on fraud charges, before determining whether the 31-year-old former billionaire is guilty on seven counts of fraud and conspiracy.Bankman-Fried, who quit his job as a quantitative trader at Wall Street firm Jane Street to found crypto hedge fund Alameda Research in 2017, haspleaded not guilty.A conviction would seal his spectacular fall from grace. During his meteoric rise as the values of bitcoin and other digital assets soared during 2020 and 2021, he became something of a poster child for responsibility in the often rough-and-tumble cryptocurrency sector.He plastered FTX's logo on a basketball arena in Miami and on MLB baseball umpires' uniforms. He hired star athletes and actors to endorse the platform as safe. And as his net worth surged to $26 billion, he pledged to give most of his wealth away to philanthropic causes such as pandemic preparedness.FTX survived a downturn in crypto prices that saw other major digital currency platforms fail earlier in 2022, with Bankman-Fried even bailing some of them out.But in November, crypto news outlet CoinDesk published an Alameda balance sheet showing the fund was heavily exposed to FTT, a token issued by FTX itself. That spurred a wave of customer withdrawals from which the exchange could not recover.Prosecutors say it was a facade all along. Bankman-Fried is charged with stealing billions of dollars in FTX deposits to plug losses at Alameda as well as to buy luxury real estate and donate to U.S. political campaigns to promote crypto-friendly legislation."This is one of the biggest financial frauds in American history," Damian Williams, the U.S. Attorney in Manhattan, said in December 2022 upon announcing Bankman-Fried's arrest in the Bahamas, where FTX was based.Bankman-Fried has acknowledged inadequate risk management, but denied stealing funds. He intended to tell Congress in a December hearing over FTX's collapse that he made a mistake and did not know how much FTX had lent Alameda due to a "quirk" in the company's internal controls, according to a written draft of his planned testimony published by Forbes and confirmed by Bankman-Fried as authentic. Bankman-Fried was arrested before he could testify.His lawyers have said Bankman-Fried should be allowed to introduce evidence that he had a "good faith" belief that his treatment of customer funds was in line with FTX's terms of service and the law. To convict Bankman-Fried, prosecutors must show he intended to commit a crime.
‘Alarm Bells For Crypto’—Leak Reveals Joe Biden Could Be About To Issue a Game-Changing Executive Order And Trigger Bitcoin Price Chaos -- Bitcoin and crypto have been hit by severe uncertainty this year, with a U.S. crypto crackdown followed by the Federal Reserve creating a bitcoin price nightmare.The bitcoin price is languishing under $30,000 per bitcoin, in part due to fears the U.S. is waging a secret war against crypto (though MicrosoftMSFT and Elon Musk could each be about to blow up the crypto market). Now, a leak has revealed U.S. president Joe Biden could be about to issue an executive order on artificial intelligence that could have a serious spillover to bitcoin and crypto, setting "alarm bells" ringing. Bitcoin's historical halving that's expected to cause crypto price chaos is just around the corner! Sign up now for the free CryptoCodex—A daily newsletter for traders, investors and the crypto-curious that will keep you ahead of the market "The upcoming White House executive order on AI raises some alarm bells for crypto," Alexander Grieve, head of government affairs at bitcoin and crypto-focused investment company Paradigm, posted to X (Twitter), linking to a Semafor report that cites anonymous sources. The report claims companies like Microsoft, GoogleGOOG , and AmazonAMZN would be forced to disclose "when a customer purchases computing resources beyond a certain threshold." Grieve points to a part of the report that refers to computing power as a "national resource" and that "mining bitcoin, developing video games, and running AI models like ChatGPT" all require "large amounts of compute." The bitcoin network, which requires so-called miners to validate transactions in return for freshly-created bitcoin using high-powered computers, is thought to use more electricity annually than some small countries. Following China's 2021 bitcoin mining ban, the U.S. has become home to more bitcoin miners than any other country.
SEC Told to Approve Bitcoin Spot ETF ‘Immediately’ by Congress - A group of U.S. Congress members sent a letter to Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Chair Gary Gensler on Tuesday, urging the agency to “approve the listing of spot-bitcoin ETPs immediately.”The letter was signed by Representatives Mike Flood, Tom Emmer, Ritchie Torres, and Wiley Nickel. The lawmakers argued that a regulated spot bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) would “increase investor protection” by providing safer and more transparent access to bitcoin investments.“Congress has a duty to ensure the SEC approves investment products that meet the requirements set out by Congress,” the letter stated.Last month, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit rejected the SEC’s argument that bitcoin markets are “uniquely resistant to manipulation” and not yet mature enough for ETF approval. The court ruled that this claim did not justify the SEC’s decision to deny Grayscale’s proposed bitcoin ETF.Citing this, the Congress members wrote, “There is no reason to continue to deny such applications under inconsistent and discriminatory standards.” They argued that the SEC’s stance is “untenable moving forward.”The SEC has repeatedly blocked proposals for spot bitcoin ETFs, despite applications from major financial firms including Fidelity, BlackRock, Bitwise, VanEck, Galaxy, Invesco, and WisdomTree. The agency has only approved bitcoin futures ETFs so far, drawing criticism over inconsistent standards. The lawmakers told Chair Gensler, “A spot bitcoin ETP is indistinguishable from a bitcoin futures ETP. Thus, the SEC’s current posture is untenable moving forward.” They pressed the SEC to quickly approve a spot Bitcoin fund.
Coinbase role in crypto firm Celsius's bankruptcy plan questioned by SEC - The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission said it has concerns about Coinbase Global's proposed involvement in Celsius Network's plan to emerge from bankruptcy.Under the proposed plan, Celsius agreed to engage Coinbase to distribute assets to international customers. In a filing on Friday, the SEC — which charged Coinbase earlier this year with operating as an unregistered securities exchange, broker and clearing house — said the agreements "go far beyond the services of a distribution agent, contemplating brokerage services and master trading services that implicate many of the concerns" raised in its suit. Celsius filed for bankruptcy protection in July 2022, and is working to emerge as a new user-owned company and distribute an estimated $2 billion of bitcoin and ether as part of the plan. Celsius wants to start fresh under new management led by investment firm Arrington Capital, part of a consortium called Fahrenheit LLC that won the crypto lender's assets at a bankruptcy auction earlier this year.The SEC joined the Justice Department's bankruptcy watchdog and some Celsius customers in challenging aspects of the company's Chapter 11 plan. Such challenges are common in Chapter 11 and may be resolved before Judge Martin Glenn is scheduled to consider approving Celsius' bankruptcy plan on Oct. 2. The SEC said it has discussed its concerns with Celsius' lawyers and that the company has been addressing other issues with the bankruptcy plan that the regulator has raised.Coinbase, which is fighting the SEC's lawsuit, declined to comment beyond a Monday post on X (formerly Twitter) from its chief legal officer Paul Grewal: "I wonder, why would the SEC object to a trusted U.S. public company taking on this role? We look forward to addressing this with the bankruptcy court and undertaking our important role to make Celsius customers whole."The SEC has also leveled fraud allegations against Celsius and its former Chief Executive Alex Mashinsky, who also faces criminal charges to which he has pleaded not guilty. The SEC said its case has been stayed pending the outcome of the criminal case against Mashinsky.
Fugitive founder of crypto hedge fund that lost $10 billion arrested in Singapore -- Authorities have arrested crypto fugitive Su Zhu, co-founder of bankrupt digital asset hedge fund Three Arrows Capital, who was apparently attempting to flee Singapore.Liquidators handling the bankruptcy estate of the collapsed fund, known as 3AC, said in a statement on Friday that Zhu was apprehended at Changi Airport in Singapore, trying to travel out of the city state.Zhu and co-founder Kyle Davies have both been sentenced to four months in prison, according to Teneo, the financial advisory firm handling 3AC’s liquidation. Davies’ whereabouts remain unknown.The Singapore Courts ruled against Zhu for deliberately failing to comply with court orders compelling him to cooperate with Teneo’s investigation into creditors’ claims and the implosion of the multibillion-dollar fund. At its peak in 2022, 3AC managed about $10 billion in assets, making it one of the most prominent crypto hedge funds in the world. The firm filed for bankruptcy in mid-2022 after the plunge in cryptocurrency prices and a particularly risky trading strategy combined to wipe out its assets and leave it unable to repay lenders. 3AC had a lengthy list of counterparties, and its demise set off a wave of bankruptcies across the sector. Davies, who remains at large, faces a similar committal order from the court. Police have been directed to arrest Davies and bring him in “safely” so he can serve his four-month sentence. While Zhu is in custody, Teneo says it will work with him on matters relating to 3AC, “focusing on the recovery of assets that are either the property of 3AC or that have been acquired using 3AC’s funds.” The firm added that it may seek further court orders against him.“Throughout the process, the liquidators’ priority has been recovering the assets of 3AC and maximising returns for its creditors,” Teneo said in a written statement.In January, Davies and Zhu were reportedly attempting to attract investors for a new venture — a distressed debt marketplace dubbed GTX that was looking to capitalize on bankruptcies in the industry. The Monetary Authority of Singapore, which has responsibility for regulating investment activities, has barred the co-founders from conducting regulated investment activity for nine years, according to Teneo.
DOJ announces $9M settlement with Washington Trust for redlining in Rhode Island — The Department of Justice announced a $9 million settlement and consent order Wednesday with the Westerly, R.I.-based Washington Trust Company to resolve allegations of race-based lending discrimination and redlining in the Ocean State. The DOJ said that from at least 2016 to 2021, Washington Trust engaged in practices that systematically denied lending services to Black and Hispanic neighborhoods in Rhode Island. "Despite expansion across the state of Rhode Island, Washington Trust has never opened a branch in a majority-Black and Hispanic neighborhood," the DOJ's release noted. "Compared to Washington Trust, over the same six-year period, other banks received nearly four times as many loan applications each year in majority-Black and Hispanic neighborhoods in Rhode Island [and] even when Washington Trust generated loan applications from [these areas], the applicants themselves were disproportionately white." Redlining is an illegal practice in which financial institutions refuse or avoid lending to people because of their race or national origin. The complaint also alleged that Washington Trust relied on mortgage loan officers based only in majority-white areas as their main source of lending applications. The DOJ said the bank failed to take any steps to compensate for its lack of presence in Black and Hispanic areas. Washington Trust — founded in 1800 — is the oldest community bank in the nation and had $7.0 billion in assets as of June 30, 2023. The firm is owned by a publicly owned holding company, Washington Trust Bancorp, Inc. As part of the settlement, Washington Trust agreed to a consent order — subject to court approval — which would require the bank to invest $7 million in a "loan subsidy fund" aimed at increasing majority-Black and Hispanic neighborhood residents' access to housing loans, $1 million in increasing those residents access to mortgage credit and another $1 million on outreach to these neighborhoods.
Federal Home Loan banks 'failed to meet existing expectations': OIG report -Examiners with the Federal Housing Finance Agency went into overdrive in February after crypto-friendly Silvergate Bank had tapped the Federal Home Loan Bank of San Francisco for billions in cash. By the end of March, after a run on deposits at Silicon Valley Bank, the Home Loan Bank System would end up pumping nearly half-a-trillion dollars to stave off a systemwide liquidity crisis.In a report Friday, the FHFA's Office of Inspector General described in broad terms how borrowings by Silvergate Bank, Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank raised red flags that the Federal Home Loan Bank System was taking on too much risk. After the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank, the FHFA launched a special credit review of six Federal Home Loan banks and of "certain" unnamed member banks that were under stress, according to the 19-page OIG report. By May, when a fourth bank, First Republic Bank, had shut down, the system had provided more than $30 billion in cash advances to failed institutions just months before their collapse.Each of the 11 Federal Home Loan banks will be sent a supervisory letter and an advisory bulletin on bank credit risk from FHFA — their primary regulator — according to the report. FHFA also has issued new supervisory guidance on how the Home Loan banks should assess credit risks particularly of distressed banks. "Examiners had suspicions across the system about the FHLBanks' evaluation of their members' interest rate risk and liquidity risk management. That work is being informed by examiners' views of the FHLBanks' failure to meet existing expectations," the report stated. "The collapses drew scrutiny … into the FHLBanks' member credit risk management practices and, more broadly, into the system's role in lending to troubled members."It is unclear whether the FHFA's findings have led to downgrades in the supervisory ratings of any of the Home Loan banks. While supervisory ratings are confidential, the FHFA does include in its annual report to Congress comments on issues faced by individual banks. The OIG report comes at a particularly precarious time for the Home Loan Bank System. The FHFA is expected to release an anxiously awaited report from FHFA Director Sandra Thompson on the structure, mission and future of the Home Loan Bank System this week, and will likely include dozens of policy recommendations for Congress. Last year, Thompsonlaunched a holistic review of the system, the first in 90 years. A major concern for regulators is that the Home Loan banks have a "super lien" priority ahead of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. and other creditors when a bank fails.
CFPB finds big jump in mortgage payments and costs due to high rates - The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau said that higher interest rates have wreaked havoc on the mortgage market, causing monthly payments to skyrocket for new homebuyers while lenders denied more applicants from getting home loans due to insufficient income. In a report Wednesday, the CFPB said that homebuyers paid more in costs and fees to take out a mortgage largely because more than half of all new borrowers are paying upfront fees, or discount points, to lower their mortgage rate. The report was based on 2022 data and does not reflect the even higher mortgage rates that are prevalent today. The CFPB is keeping a close eye on cash-out refinances, which plummeted last year to 2.2 million, a 73% drop from a year earlier. The CFPB said it is reexamining whether to change mortgage servicing standards largely because cash-out refinances can increase the risk of foreclosure. "The CFPB will be devoting more attention to ensure that borrowers can sufficiently navigate alternatives to foreclosure when faced with financial distress," CFPB Director Rohit Chopra said in a statement. "We are currently exploring some amendments to mortgage servicing standards. We will also continue to look for ways that the refinancing process can be simpler for borrowers, which will be particularly important if the rate environment becomes less restrictive." With mortgage rates headed toward 8% and the Federal Reserve showing no signs of reducing interest rates in its fight against inflation, trends in the mortgage market show no signs of changing and are more likely to worsen as rates rise. Last year, borrowers paid an average of $2,045 for a conventional conforming 30-year fixed-rate mortgage, a 46% jump from $1,400 in 2021. The increase was driven almost entirely by the rise in mortgage rates, the CFPB said in its 71-page mortgage market activity report. The median total cost to purchase a home rose 22% to $5,954 last year, the largest annual increase since the CFPB first began collecting more information in 2018 under the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act. The median cost to refinance jumped nearly 49% to $4,979 in 2022. The bureau also found a very large increase in costs and fees paid by borrowers when taking out a mortgage because more homebuyers are paying down their mortgage rate. Slightly more than 50% of borrowers paid a median of $2,370 in discount points last year, the highest percentage since the bureau began collecting data on points and fees.
Mortgage Applications Decrease in Latest MBA Weekly Survey - Mortgage applications decreased 1.3 percent from one week earlier, according to data from the Mortgage Bankers Association’s (MBA) Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey for the week ending September 22, 2023.The Market Composite Index, a measure of mortgage loan application volume, decreased 1.3 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis from one week earlier. On an unadjusted basis, the Index decreased 2 percent compared with the previous week. The Refinance Index decreased 1 percent from the previous week and was 21 percent lower than the same week one year ago. The seasonally adjusted Purchase Index decreased 2 percent from one week earlier. The unadjusted Purchase Index decreased 2 percent compared with the previous week and was 27 percent lower than the same week one year ago.“Mortgage rates moved to their highest levels in over 20 years as Treasury yields increased late last week. The 30-year fixed mortgage rate increased to 7.41 percent, the highest rate since December 2000, and the 30-year fixed jumbo mortgage rate increased to 7.34 percent, the highest rate in the history of the jumbo rate series dating back to 2011,” said Joel Kan, MBA’s Vice President and Deputy Chief Economist. “Based on the FOMC’s most recent projections, rates are expected to be higher for longer, which drove the increase in Treasury yields. Overall applications declined, as both prospective homebuyers and homeowners continue to feel the impact of these elevated rates. The purchase market, which is still facing limited for-sale inventory and eroded purchasing power, saw applications down over the week and 27 percent behind last year’s pace. Refinance activity was down over 20 percent from last year and accounted for approximately one third of applications, as many homeowners have little incentive to refinance.”...The average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages with conforming loan balances ($726,200 or less) increased to 7.41 percent, the highest level since December 2000, from 7.31 percent, with points decreasing to 0.71 from 0.72 (including the origination fee) for 80 percent loan-to-value ratio (LTV) loans.
New 20+ year record high mortgage rates begin to impact home sales; bifurcation in new vs. existing home prices continues --In addition to updated reports on new home sales and prices, and existing home prices this morning, there’s some very important news on mortgage rates. Namely, at 7.51%, mortgage rates are the highest they have been since December 2000. Here’s what they looked like through the end of last week: As I wrote last week, this has caused a seizing up of the existing home market, with sales down 40% from their peak over a year ago. This is also going to worsen the new home market, which has held up better until now due to builders cutting prices. As per usual, interest rates lead sales, represented by housing permits in the YoY graph below: Permits were already down a year ago, and despite their recent rebound it is likely they will decline further from those levels. Further, sales lead prices. For existing homes, both the FHFA and Case Shiller reported this morning through July, with both showing monthly increases of 0.8% and 0.6% respectively. The FHFA index is up 4.6% YoY, and the Case Shiller national index is up 1.0%: Meanwhile, new home sales declined -64,000 annualized to 675,000, the lowest level since March. This is a very noisy and heavily revised series, but I suspect we are seeing the impact of the recent renewed increase in mortgage rates in this data: The median price declined slightly to $430,300, and is now almost 15% below its peak from last October: Here is the comparison of sales and median prices YoY for new homes, showing as per usual that sales lead prices there as well. The first graph is quarterly for the past 20 years to cut down on noise: The second is monthly for the past 5 years: Finally, because house prices lead Owners Equivalent Rent in the CPI by roughly 1 year or more, here is the YoY update of that comparison, using the median price index for new homes: We can expect further disinflationary pressure on OER in the coming months, gradually lessening shelter’s upward pull on both headline and core inflation.
Housing September 25th Weekly Update: Inventory increased 1.8% Week-over-week; Down 5.2% Year-over-year --Altos reports that active single-family inventory was up 1.8% week-over-week.This inventory graph is courtesy of Altos Research. As of September 22nd, inventory was at 527 thousand (7-day average), compared to 519 thousand the prior week. Year-to-date, inventory is up 7.6%. And inventory is up 30.2% from the seasonal bottom 23 weeks ago.The second graph shows the seasonal pattern for active single-family inventory since 2015.The red line is for 2023. The black line is for 2019. Note that inventory is up from the record low for the same week in 2021, but below last year and still well below normal levels.Inventory was down 5.2% compared to the same week in 2022 (last week it was down 6.1%), and down 44.7% compared to the same week in 2019 (last week down 45.6%).\In 2022, inventory didn't peak until late October, and it appears same week inventory will be below 2022 levels for the remainder of the year - depending on when inventory peaks seasonally this year!It seems likely that inventory will be close to or above 2020 levels (dark blue line) by the end of the year.Mike Simonsen discusses this data regularly on Youtube.
Case-Shiller: National House Price Index Up 1.0% year-over-year in July; New all-time --S&P/Case-Shiller released the monthly Home Price Indices for July ("July" is a 3-month average of May, June and July closing prices).This release includes prices for 20 individual cities, two composite indices (for 10 cities and 20 cities) and the monthly National index. From S&P S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller Index Continues to Trend Upward in July The S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller U.S. National Home Price NSA Index, covering all nine U.S. census divisions, reported 1.0% annual change in July, up from a 0% change in the previous month. The 10- City Composite showed an increase of 0.9%, which improves from a -0.5% loss in the previous month. The 20-City Composite posted a year-over-year increase of 0.1%, improving from a loss of -1.2% in the previous month....Before seasonal adjustment, the U.S. National Index, 10-City and 20-City Composites, all posted a 0.6% month-over-month increase in July.After seasonal adjustment, the U.S. National Index posted a month-over-month increase of 0.6%, while the 10-City posted a 0.8% increase and 20-City Composite a 0.9% increase. “Our National Composite rose by 0.6% in July, and now stands 1.0% above its year-ago level. Our 10- and 20-City Composites each also rose in July 2023, and likewise stand slightly above their July 2022 levels.“The increase in prices that began in January has now erased the earlier decline, so that July represents a new all-time high for the National Composite. Moreover, this recovery in home prices is broadly based. As was the case last month, 10 of the 20 cities in our sample have reached all-time high levels. In July, prices rose in all 20 cities after seasonal adjustment (and in 19 of them before adjustment).“That said, regional differences continue to be striking. On a year-over-year basis, the Revenge of the Rust Belt continues. The three best-performing metropolitan areas in July were Chicago (+4.4%), Cleveland (+4.0%), and New York (+3.8%), repeating the ranking we saw in May and June. The bottom of the leader board reshuffled somewhat, with Las Vegas (-7.2%) and Phoenix (-6.6%) this month’s worst performers. The first graph shows the nominal seasonally adjusted Composite 10, Composite 20 and National indices (the Composite 20 was started in January 2000).The Composite 10 index is up 0.8 in July (SA) and is at a new all-time high.The Composite 20 index is up 0.9% (SA) in July and is also at a new all-time high. The National index is up 0.6% (SA) in July and is also at a new all-time high. The second graph shows the year-over-year change in all three indices. The Composite 10 SA is up 0.9% year-over-year. The Composite 20 SA is up 0.1% year-over-year. The National index SA is up 1.0% year-over-year. Annual price changes were close to expectations.
Inflation Adjusted House Prices 3.4% Below Peak; Price-to-rent index is 7.4% below recent peak --Today, in the Calculated Risk Real Estate Newsletter: Inflation Adjusted House Prices 3.4% Below Peak; Price-to-rent index is 7.4% below recent peak Excerpt: It has been over 17 years since the bubble peak. In the June Case-Shiller house price index released yesterday, the seasonally adjusted National Index (SA), was reported as being 66% above the bubble peak in 2006. However, in real terms, the National index (SA) is about 9% above the bubble peak (and historically there has been an upward slope to real house prices). The composite 20, in real terms, is at the bubble peak.People usually graph nominal house prices, but it is also important to look at prices in real terms. As an example, if a house price was $200,000 in January 2000, the price would be $360,000 today adjusted for inflation (80% increase). That is why the second graph below is important - this shows "real" prices.The third graph shows the price-to-rent ratio, and the fourth graph is the affordability index. The last graph shows the 5-year real return based on the Case-Shiller National Index.
Housing market not likely to improve till 2025, analysts say - With mortgage rates headed to 8%, the current housing slump is unlikely to reverse course until 2025, due to the Federal Reserve's continued ratcheting up of interest rates, mortgage experts said at a conference in Las Vegas. Analysts continue to warn about overcapacity in the industry with too many lenders and employees to support current origination volumes. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell signaled last week that interest rates need to stay higher for longer to tame inflation and that it could raise interest rates once more this year. The Fed's policies have hit potential homebuyers the hardest as mortgage rates approach their highest levels in 23 years, analysts said. "If the Fed keeps rates where they are today, then I think you're going to easily see 8% mortgages because the survivors in the mortgage market — once we get rid of another 50% of capacity — are going to want to make money and that's how they're going to do it," said Christopher Whalen, chairman of Whalen Global Advisors, on Tuesday at the National Mortgage News Digital Mortgage conference in Las Vegas. Whalen was joined by Mark Calabria, a senior advisor at the Cato Institute and the former director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, in a debate about current public policy and its effect on the mortgage market. Calabria said the main obstacle to buying a home is finding a house that is affordable. He questioned the Biden administration's public policy approach, which is focused primarily on providing access to credit to low and moderate-income communities at a time when mortgage rates are above 7% and home prices are still rising due to a lack of inventory. "There's just too much tension in Washington where the sense is that we're going to make the mortgage market and mortgage policy the answer to all these other unrelated things which are real — there are very real social injustices we should fix — but the mortgage market is not the solution for all of them," Calabria said. "I worry that mortgage policy is bearing the weight of trying to fix a number of things that really have very little to do with the mortgage markets."
New Home Sales decrease to 675,000 Annual Rate in August -- The Census Bureau reports New Home Sales in August were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate (SAAR) of 675 thousand. The previous three months were revised up, combined. Sales of new single‐family houses in August 2023 were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 675,000, according to estimates released jointly today by the U.S. Census Bureau and the Department of Housing and Urban Development. This is 8.7 percent below the revised July rate of 739,000, but is 5.8 percent above the August 2022 estimate of 638,000.The first graph shows New Home Sales vs. recessions since 1963. The dashed line is the current sales rate.New home sales are close to pre-pandemic levels.The second graph shows New Home Months of Supply. The months of supply increased in August to 7.8 months from 7.0 months in July.The all-time record high was 12.2 months of supply in January 2009. The all-time record low was 3.3 months in August 2020.This is above the top of the normal range (about 4 to 6 months of supply is normal). "The seasonally‐adjusted estimate of new houses for sale at the end of August was 436,000. This represents a supply of 7.8 months at the current sales rate." Sales were below expectations of 700 thousand SAAR, however, sales for the three previous months were revised up, combined.
New Home Sales decrease to 675,000 Annual Rate in August; Median New Home Price is Down 13% from the Peak - The Census Bureau reports New Home Sales in August were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate (SAAR) of 675 thousand. The previous three months were revised up, combined. The first graph shows New Home Sales vs. recessions since 1963. The dashed line is the current sales rate.New home sales are close to pre-pandemic levels. The second graph shows New Home Months of Supply.The months of supply increased in August to 7.8 months from 7.0 months in July. The all-time record high was 12.2 months of supply in January 2009. The all-time record low was 3.3 months in August 2020. This is above the top of the normal range (about 4 to 6 months of supply is normal).The next graph shows new home sales for 2022 and 2023 by month (Seasonally Adjusted Annual Rate). Sales in August 2023 were up 5.8% from August 2022. Year-to-date sales are up 1.8% compared to the same period in 2022. As expected, new home sales were up year-over-year in August, and it is fairly certain there will be more sales in 2023 than in 2022 - although 7%+ mortgage rates will likely slow sales.
PCE Measure of Shelter Slows to 7.4% YoY in August --Here is a graph of the year-over-year change in shelter from the CPI report and housing from the PCE report this morning, both through July 2023. CPI Shelter was up 7.2% year-over-year in August, down from 7.7% in July, and down from the cycle peak of 8.2% in March 2023. Housing (PCE) was up 7.4% YoY in August, down from 7.7% in July, and down from the cycle peak of 8.3% in April 2023. Since asking rents are slightly negative year-over-year, these measures will continue to slow sharply over coming months.
Personal Income increased 0.4% in August; Spending increased 0.4% --The BEA released the Personal Income and Outlays report for August: Personal income increased $87.6 billion (0.4 percent at a monthly rate) in August, according to estimates released today by the Bureau of Economic Analysis. Disposable personal income (DPI), personal income less personal current taxes, increased $46.6 billion (0.2 percent) and personal consumption expenditures (PCE) increased $83.6 billion (0.4 percent).The PCE price index increased 0.4 percent. Excluding food and energy, the PCE price index increased 0.1 percent. Real DPI decreased 0.2 percent in August and real PCE increased 0.1 percent; goods decreased 0.2 percent and services increased 0.2 percent.The August PCE price index increased 3.5 percent year-over-year (YoY), up from 3.4 percent YoY in July, and down from the recent peak of 7.1 percent in June 2022. The PCE price index, excluding food and energy, increased 3.9 percent YoY, down from 4.3 percent in July, and down from the recent peak of 5.6 percent in February 2022.The following graph shows real Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) through August 2023 (2012 dollars). The dashed red lines are the quarterly levels for real PCE. Personal income was slightly below expectations, and PCE was at expectations. Inflation was below expectations. Using the two-month method to estimate Q3 real PCE growth, real PCE was increasing at a 4.0% annual rate in Q3 2023. (Using the mid-month method, real PCE was increasing at 3.9%). This suggests strong PCE growth in Q3.
Consumer spending holds up well in August, despite ending of disinflation - As I have repeated for the past several months, in the current economy the personal spending and income report is just as important as the jobs report. That’s because, despite the downturn in manufacturing production and many parts of the housing market, consumer spending especially on services has continued to power the economy forward. Today’s report generally showed a continuation of this slow but steady improvement in almost all of the metrics since June 2022, when gas prices peaked at $5. Real personal spending rose 0.1%, while real personal income rounded to unchanged in August, as shown in the below graph in which both real personal income (red) and spending (blue) are normed to 100 as of the onset of the pandemic: The NBER has indicated they place great weight on both of these, and neither are consistent with the onset of recession. Another of the important coincident measures for the NBER, real personal income less government transfer receipts, also rose a slight 0.1%, and is up 1.7% from a year ago: This series has risen pretty consistently since the peak of gas prices at $5 in June 2022. On the spending side, here’s how goods vs. services spending compare. I show this because real spending on goods has in the past declined months in advance of recessions, while real spending on services has frequently powered right through. Both of these also increased in August, another positive sign: Meanwhile, the personal saving rate - income that isn’t spent - declined further to 3.9%: There were extensive historical revisions to this series published yesterday. Last month was initially reported at 3.5%, but as you can see that has been revised away. Last month Inwrote that “With the exception of several months last year, and the 2005-07 lows, the personal saving rate is at its lowest level ever.” This has also mainly been revised away. The net effect is that consumers are less vulnerable to shocks than it previously appeared. Further, the savings rate typically rises before recessions, as consumers get more cautious. Needless to say, that isn’t happening now. The one negative in today’s report was that the deceleration in the personal consumption deflator, which started with the peak in gas and commodity prices generally in June 2022, has likely ended. The PCE deflator, the chain type measure of inflation in this report, rose 0.4% in August, the highest monthly change since January. On a YoY basis, prices are up 3.5%. This was the second increase in a row: Finally, the personal consumption deflator gets used in the calculation of real manufacturing and trade sales, which is another important coincident indicator monitored by the NBER. These rose a sharp 0.8% in August to within 1% of their December2021 record, and are well above their June 2022 low: Two months ago I summed up by writing about this report with “If that tailwind [of YoY decelerating prices] is ending - and I suspect it is - what happens next?” So far, sales and spending are certainly holding up. The next big clue will be whether the deceleration in hiring continues in next Friday’s jobs report.
Ford pauses work on $3.5 bln battery plant in Michigan (Reuters) - Ford Motor said on Monday it has paused work on a $3.5 billion electric vehicle battery plant in Michigan, citing concerns about its ability to competitively operate the plant at a time when it remains locked in broader contract negotiations. United Auto Workers (UAW) President Shawn Fain blasted Ford, saying the announcement was "a shameful, barely-veiled threat by Ford to cut jobs.... We are simply asking for a just transition to electric vehicles and Ford is instead doubling down on their race to the bottom." Ford has repeatedly raised its offer to the union in contract talks without securing a deal, while the fate of battery plant workers has remained a key issue in negotiations with the Detroit Three. "We are pausing work and limiting spending on construction on the Marshall project until we're confident about our ability to competitively operate the plant," Ford said on Monday, declining to say what specific reason triggered the decision but adding there were a number of considerations. "We haven't made any final decision about the planned investment there." President Joe Biden on Tuesday is set to visit Michigan to join a UAW picket line in support of striking workers at the Detroit Three automakers. Ford in February announced plans to build the plant in Michigan, betting that making the batteries in the United States would help it and Chinese partner CATL attract U.S. customers to embrace a lower-cost technology pioneered in China. Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer said: "Ford has been clear that this is a pause, and we will continue to push for successful negotiations between the Big 3 and UAW so that Michiganders can get back to work doing what they do best."
UAW threatens to expand strikes again at GM, Ford, Stellantis — The United Auto Workers union will announce expanded strikes at General Motors , Ford Motor and Stellantis plants if the sides don't make significant progress in negotiations by 10 a.m. ET Friday, according to a person familiar with the matter. The new union-imposed deadline comes a week after the UAW announced it would expand its initial Sept. 15 strikes at assembly plants of each of the Detroit automakers to 38 additional parts and distribution locations for GM and Stellantis. The UAW did not expand its strikes at Ford , citing progress in those talks. Like a week earlier, it's expected that UAW President Shawn Fain will host a Facebook Live event to announce which plants will walk out at noon Friday, barring progress in the talks. The strikes currently involve about 18,300 workers, or 12.5% of the UAW's 146,000 members whose labor contracts expired on Sept. 14.Fain previously said the union planned to increase the work stoppages, based on how negotiations with the companies were going. The union is calling the work stoppages "stand-up strikes," a nod to historic "sit-down" strikes by the UAW in the 1930s. Spokespeople for the Detroit automakers did not immediately respond for comment on Wednesday. The additional strike plans come despite record contract offers from the automakers that include roughly 20% hourly wage increases, thousands of dollars in bonuses, retention of the union's platinum health care and other sweetened benefits. The union's new deadline comes a day after President Joe Biden joined Fain and union members, becoming the first known sitting president to walk a picket line with striking autoworkers. Biden also voiced support for the union and its demands, including a 40% wage increase during the life of the contract. The UAW has further demanded a shortened workweek, a shift back to traditional pensions, the elimination of compensation tiers and a restoration of cost-of-living adjustments, among other improvements. Unlike past strikes, UAW leaders opted for targeted strikes at select plants instead of initiating national walkouts. The strategy is in an effort to keep the automakers on edge in an effort to pit them against one another to achieve better contracts, according to private messages leaked last week involving UAW communications director Jonah Furman. The messages, which described a strategy to cause "recurring reputations damage and operational chaos" for the companies, were heavily criticized by the automakers.
UAW expands its historic strike, hitting Ford and GM plants : NPR - The United Auto Workers expanded its historic strike against General Motors and Ford by adding two additional assembly plants, ramping up pressure on the companies to come to a new contract deal. Workers at Ford's Chicago Assembly Plant and GM's Lansing-Delta Assembly Plant walked off their jobs at noon. The plants employ around 7,000 people, bringing the total number of striking UAW auto workers to around 25,000 under the union's plans to gradually expand its strike against the Big Three automakers. But UAW president Shawn Fain said the union would not expand its strike against Stellantis, saying the automaker formerly known as Chrysler had made a significant offer just moments before he was to announce the most recent moves. Ford's Chicago plant builds the Ford Explorer, the Lincoln Aviator and police vehicles, while GM's Lansing-Delta plant assembles the Buick Enclave and Chevrolet Traverse. A stamping plant at Lansing will not be shut down. The automakers' most profitable vehicles, full-size pickup trucks, continue to be unaffected, and the plants that would have the biggest ripple effects on supply chains are also not yet targets for work stoppages. Fain, in a Facebook Live appearance, compared the union's strike to World War II, saying that the workers of America are once again "the arsenal of democracy." "Just like 80 years ago, today our union is building a different arsenal of democracy," he said. "But this war isn't against some foreign country. The front lines are right here at home. It's a war of the working class versus corporate greed." Fain has used similar rhetoric before. On Thursday Stellantis issued a statement expressing alarm about such language, especially given incidents of violence on some picket lines, which the company attributed to the union and which the union has blamed on non-union workers trying to cross picket lines. "Words matter," the company wrote. "The deliberate use of inflammatory and violent rhetoric is dangerous and needs to stop. The companies are not 'the enemy' and we are not at 'war.' " General Motors' head of global manufacturing, Gerald Johnson, issued a statement on Friday disputing the union's account of contract talks. Instead of GM failing to make a compelling offer, he says, it's the union who's been absent. "We still have not received a comprehensive counteroffer from UAW leadership to our latest proposal made on September 21," he wrote. "Calling more strikes is just for the headlines, not real progress."
Strike by Hollywood writers declared over - — Leaders of Hollywood’s writers union declared their nearly five-month-old strike over Tuesday after board members approved a contract agreement with studios. The governing boards of the eastern and western branches of the Writers Guild of America both voted to accept the deal, and afterward declared that the strike would be over and writers would be free to work starting at 12:01 a.m. Wednesday. The writers still have to vote to ratify the contract themselves, but lifting the strike will allow them to work during that process, the Writers Guild told members in an email. Hollywood actors remain on strike with no talks yet on the horizon. A new spirit of optimism animated actors who were picketing Tuesday for the first time since writers reached their tentative deal Sunday night. “For a hot second, I really thought that this was going to go on until next year,” said Marissa Cuevas, an actor who has appeared on the TV series “Kung Fu” and “The Big Bang Theory.” “Knowing that at least one of us has gotten a good deal gives a lot of hope that we will also get a good deal.” Writers’ picket lines have been suspended, but they were encouraged to walk in solidarity with actors, and many were on the lines Tuesday, including “Mad Men” creator Matthew Weiner, who picketed alongside friend and “ER” actor Noah Wyle as he has throughout the strikes. “We would never have had the leverage we had if SAG had not gone out,” Weiner said. “They were very brave to do it.” Striking actors voted to expand their walkout to include the lucrative video game market, a step that could put new pressure on Hollywood studios to make a deal with the performers who provide voices and stunts for games. The Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Radio and Television Artists announced the move late Monday, saying that 98 percent of its members voted to go on strike against video game companies if ongoing negotiations are not successful. The announcement came ahead of more talks planned for Tuesday.
Tesla sued by US agency over alleged harassment of Black factory workers (Reuters) - A U.S. civil rights agency sued Tesla Inc on Thursday, claiming the electric carmaker has tolerated severe harassment of Black employees at its flagship Fremont, California, assembly plant, in charges similar to cases brought by the state and by Tesla employees. The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) said in the lawsuit filed in federal court in California that from 2015 to the present, Black workers at the Tesla plant have routinely been subjected to racist slurs and graffiti, including swastikas and nooses. Tesla has failed to investigate complaints of racist conduct and has fired or otherwise retaliated against workers who reported harassment, the EEOC said in the lawsuit. The lawsuit adds federal charges to discrimination claims by the state of California and lawsuits by Tesla employees. It follows the breakdown of settlement talks with the EEOC after Tesla announced that the agency had formally raised its concerns last year. The EEOC routinely settles lawsuits with employers, and it is relatively rare for the agency’s cases to go to trial. Tesla faces several other race discrimination lawsuits that make similar claims, including a class action by workers at the Fremont plant and a lawsuit by a California civil rights agency. The company in those cases has said it does not tolerate discrimination and takes workers complaints seriously. Tesla did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Adams: NYC policy to shelter the homeless shouldn't cover migrant influx - — Mayor Eric Adams suggested Thursday he wants to exempt the influx of migrants from the city’s decades-old right-to-shelter mandate as his administration tightens the length on shelter stays and explicitly discourages new arrivals.“I don’t believe the right to shelter applies to a migrant crisis,” Adams said during an appearance on WABC’s “Sid & Friends in the Morning,” referring to a mandate dating back to 1981 that the city provide shelter beds to anyone in need.He was responding to a decision from a Staten Island judge earlier this week that referred to the shelter guarantee as “an anachronistic relic from the past” that was “intended to address a problem as different from today’s dilemma as night and day.”The mayor appeared to agree with that sentiment, even as his administration plans to appeal the larger order from Judge Wayne Ozzi, which blocked a migrant shelter in Staten Island.“Our team is looking at exactly what we’re going to do with the ruling,” the mayor said. “There are parts of the ruling we may — and that’s may — agree with. We’re going to examine that.”Adams’ comments come as the city moves to seek relief from the right-to-shelter mandate in court and further restricts how long migrants can stay in shelters.The administration is now limiting shelter stays for new arrivals to 30 days, down from a 60-day limit the city began imposing in July. Migrants can still return to the arrival center for a new time-restricted placement if they have nowhere to go at the end of that period.The moving target has sowed confusion among asylum-seekers, advocates and elected officials said, as the city looks to limit the surge of more than 110,000 migrants who have come to the city since 2022.“We saw that people were confused by the messages that they got about what was supposed to happen when they got to the end of whatever time limit they had,” said Joshua Goldfein, an attorney at the Legal Aid Society, which serves in a watchdog role over the right-to-shelter mandate.“It doesn’t make sense to put an arbitrary time limit on when somebody is getting services.” Others say the migrant-specific restrictions are a slippery slope toward weakening hard-fought shelter requirements that keep homeless New Yorkers off the streets. “The intent here is to illegally get as many of them out as possible by utilizing loopholes that allow them to do that,” Council Member Diana Ayala, chair of the committee overseeing the shelter system, said in an interview. “My concern is that we’re going to start with eliminating out-of-towners and people from out of the state, and then what? Then we move to New Yorkers?” Ayala said. Speaking of shelter conditions, she added, “They’re just trying to make it as uncomfortable as possible so folks not only don’t come here, but exit on their own.”
Appeals court upholds Tennessee, Kentucky bans on transgender care for minors (Reuters) - A federal appeals court on Thursday allowed Tennessee and Kentucky to enforce laws banning gender-affirming medical care for minors, such as puberty blockers, hormones and surgery.By a 2-1 vote, the Cincinnati, Ohio-based 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals rejected a challenge by families of transgender children who had argued that the bans discriminated on the basis of sex.The ruling is the second by a federal appeals court upholding such laws, after the 11th Circuit ruling revived an Alabama law. On the other side of the ledger, federal district courts in Arkansas, Florida, Georgia and Indiana have overturned such bans, as has a state court in Montana.Mainstream U.S. medical associations say gender-affirming care is appropriate and potentially life-saving treatment for gender dysphoria, or distress caused by the mismatch between transgender people's sex assigned at birth and their gender identity.But the 6th Circuit panel sided with proponents of gender-affirming care bans who say the treatments are unproven and risk permanently harming children."This is a relatively new diagnosis with ever-shifting approaches to care over the last decade or two. Under these circumstances, it is difficult for anyone to be sure about predicting the long-term consequences of abandoning age limits of any sort for these treatments," wrote Chief Judge Jeffrey Sutton, who was joined by Judge Amul Thapar.In dissent, Judge Helene White said the Tennessee and Kentucky statutes "cannot pass constitutional muster" and "intrude on the well-established province of parents to make medical decisions for their minor children."Both the Tennessee and Kentucky bans were blocked by trial court judges, but the 6th Circuit in July allowed Tennessee's ban to take effectwhile it considered the state's appeal.The judge overseeing the Kentucky case then allowed that state's ban to take effect as well, saying he was bound to follow the 6th Circuit, which hears appeals from both states.Lawyers for the families who brought the Tennessee challenge, including Lambda Legal and the American Civil Liberties Union, called the ruling a "devastating result for transgender youth and their families" and said "we are assessing our next steps" in defense of transgender rights.
High school students launch ‘Green New Deal for Schools Campaign’ - Student organizers at 50 different high schools across the country are banding together to launch the “Green New Deal for Schools Campaign.” The hope of the campaign is to get district-wide climate policies enacted, with the ultimate goal of obtaining federal legislation to change schools across the country. The campaign has been set up by the Sunrise Movement, a youth climate justice organization that says this initiative is “in response to attacks from the Right on the American education system.” “The Green New Deal for Schools will transform public schools in America to face the climate crisis and ensure all students receive safe and high-quality education – no matter their zip code or the color of their skin,” said 17-year-old Adah Crandall, one of the leaders of the campaign. “Our generation is on the front lines of this fight and it’s time for our school districts to take real action.” The group is demanding school buildings and buses to run on 100 percent clean energy, free and healthy lunches, pathways to green jobs, climate disaster plans and curriculum about climate justice. The Sunrise Movement says they had a multi-week summer training camp to teach hundreds of high schoolers how to organize, run campaigns in schools and protest. “The Republican Party knows that they don’t have the youth vote,” said Aster Chau, another organizer for the campaign from Pennsylvania. “They’ve spent the last few years antagonizing students and teachers — eroding trust in public education — in order to distract from all of the problems they’ve created in our society. Today, we say no more — these are our schools and our futures.”
DeSantis suspends scholarships to Florida schools with ‘ties to the Chinese Communist Party’ - Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’s (R) office announced Friday the suspension of school choice scholarships to four schools over their alleged “direct ties to the Chinese Communist Party.”“Through a thorough investigation, [the Florida Department of Education] has determined that Lower and Upper Sagemont Preparatory Schools in Weston, Parke House Academy in Winter Park, and Park Maitland School in Winter Park have direct ties to the CCP and their connections constitute an imminent threat to the health, safety, and welfare of these school’s students and the public,” reads a news release from the governor’s office.The release also noted a bill DeSantis signed into law in May barring private schools in the state from “participating in an educational scholarship program” if they are “owned or operated by a person or an entity domiciled in, owned by, or in any way controlled by a foreign country of concern or foreign principal.” The law then references a different law that lists China as a “country of concern.”“The Chinese Communist Party is not welcome in the state of Florida,” DeSantis said in the release. “We will not put up with any attempt to influence students with a communist ideology or allow Floridians’ tax dollars to go to schools that are connected to our foreign adversaries.”The schools are part of “a multi-brand education network” called Spring Education Group. Onthe schools’ websites, the group says it is “controlled by Primavera Holdings Limited, an investment firm (together with its affiliates) principally based in Hong Kong with operations in China, Singapore, and the United States, that is itself owned by Chinese persons residing in Hong Kong.” DeSantis has also recently signed bills that ban Chinese citizens from buying land in Florida and make the state’s Department of Management Services “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.”
Student loan payments are coming back: 5 things to know - Student loan payments return Sunday with hope, confusion and fear clouding the restart after a three-year pause. The Biden administration is hoping to provide some relief to borrowers with a new income-driven repayment plan and an “on-ramp” repayment program, but the on-switch also comes as Congress is struggling to keep the government funded. A shutdown could hurt student loan servicers already struggling to handle more than 45 million accounts getting turned on at once after a break that began in the early days of the coronavirus pandemic. While student loans are restarting, the typical consequences for missing payments will not be enacted until October 2024. The Biden administration is offering an “on-ramp” repayment option for the upcoming year that allows borrowers to miss payments with few financial consequences. Borrowers who miss payments will not be labeled as delinquent, will not have their wages garnished and will not be referred to debt collections. However, interest will still accrue on the loans, and missing payments have the potential to impact a borrower’s credit score. The resumption of student loans is set to impact more than 45 million Americans as all the accounts get turned back on at once. The average student loan borrower owes around $29,000, with all such debt in the country totaling more than $1.75 trillion. Most of that debt is held by the federal government, which has kept payments paused for the past three years due to the economic upheaval of the pandemic. The Biden administration has also released a new income-driven repayment (IDR) plan before the restart of payments called the Saving on a Valuable Education (SAVE) plan.The new plan is the “most generous” ever offered to borrowers, according to Education Secretary Miguel Cardona. Student loan servicers have a difficult task ahead of them as millions of accounts turn back on at once — after they failed to receive a requested budget increase from Congress. The Department of Education previously said the allotted funding would not be enough for a smooth transition. “As the Department has repeatedly made clear, restarting repayment requires significant resources to avoid unnecessary harm to borrowers, such as cuts to servicing,” a spokesperson said. Others have argued the department could have allocated money better to help loan servicers as they prepared to take on this task.The White House was asked if it considered pushing back the start date for resuming payments in light of the looming government closure. And while press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said student loans are a “top priority,” she did not indicate they would push back the date.
Sepsis associated with COVID-19 infections more common than thought --Today in JAMA Network Open, researchers provide new evidence that the prevalence of SARS-CoV-2–associated sepsis among hospitalized adults is higher than previously thought, but deaths from the condition became less frequent as the pandemic progressed.The study is based on records of adults admitted to one of five Massachusetts hospitals from March 2020 to November 2022. A total of 431,017 hospital encounters from 261,595 individuals were included in the study.A total of 23,276 patients (5.4%) were hospitalized for SARS-CoV-2, 6,558 (1.5%) had SARS-CoV-2–associated sepsis, and 30,604 patients (7.1%) had presumed bacterial sepsis without SARS-CoV-2 infection.SARS-CoV-2–associated sepsis was defined as a positive SARS-CoV-2 test and concurrent organ dysfunction. The most common organ dysfunctions for SARS-CoV-2–associated sepsis were respiratory distress and failure requiring more than a nasal cannula, seen in 82.2% of patients.Crude in-hospital mortality for SARS-CoV-2–associated sepsis was 1,460 of 558 patients (22.3%) overall, and crude mortality for presumed bacterial sepsis was 4,451 of 30,604 (14.5%), the authors said.The 14.5% remained consistent across the study period, but the crude mortality rate due to SARS-CoV-2–associated sepsis dropped from 490 of 1,469 (33.4%) in the first quarter of the study to 67 of 450 (14.9%) in the last (adjusted odds ratio, 0.88 [95% confidence interval [CI], 0.85 to 0.90] per quarter).Overall, SARS-CoV-2–associated sepsis was present in 28.2% of patients admitted with SARS-CoV-2."The incidence of SARS-CoV-2–associated sepsis fluctuated in tandem with changes in local community incidence but trended toward fewer cases between the pandemic onset and November 2022," the authors said. "In-hospital mortality rates were initially high for SARS-CoV-2–associated sepsis (33.4%) but decreased to 14.9% by November 2022."
SARS-CoV-2 can infect coronary arteries and trigger heart attack, stroke, study suggests --SARS-CoV-2 can directly infect the arteries of the heart, inflaming the fatty plaque inside and raising the risk of heart attack and stroke, suggests a small study published yesterday in Nature Cardiovascular Research. A New York University-led team obtained 27 samples of coronary arteries and fatty, or atherosclerotic, plaque at autopsy from eight patients who died of COVID-19. They alsoinfected arterial and plaque cells, including macrophages and foam cells, with SARS-CoV-2; the cells were extracted from healthy patients from May 2020 to May 2021, a period dominated by the wild-type virus.Macrophages are white blood cells the immune system sends to help clear the virus. They also help sweep cholesterol from the arteries, and when they are overloaded with cholesterol, they change into another kind of macrophage called a foam cell. Foam cells ingest low-density lipoprotein (LDL, or "bad") cholesterol lining blood vessel walls.The average patient age was 69.6 years, six of the eight patients were men, and all had evidence of coronary artery disease and at least three cardiovascular risk factors, including high blood pressure (8 patients), overweight or obesity (7), high cholesterol levels (7), type 2 diabetes (6), and chronic kidney disease (4). Some had a history of heart attack (1) or ischemic stroke.The researchers noted that while heart attack and stroke can occur after other respiratory viral infections such as the flu, COVID-19 patients are at more than seven times the risk for stroke than flu patients, and the risk of heart attack and stroke stays elevated for up to 1 year post-infection.
COVID patients at higher risk of new cardiovascular, cerebrovascular conditions amid Delta wave --A large study from Singapore suggests that COVID-19 infection increased the risk of new-onset cardiovascular and cerebrovascular complications during the Delta variant era and that vaccination lowered the risk. For the study, published today in Clinical Infectious Diseases, a team led by National Centre for Infectious Diseases researchers used national testing and healthcare claims databases to evaluate the risk and rates of incident cardiovascular (eg, abnormal heart rhythms), cerebrovascular (eg, stroke), and other thrombotic (blood clot–related) complications among adults. The 106,012 participants tested positive for COVID-19 from September to November 2021, a period of Delta predominance. The researchers also built a test-negative control group of 1,684,085 COVID-naïve people from April 2020 to December 2022. Median follow-up was 300 days.The average age of infected participants was 51 years, 80.7% were fully vaccinated, and 10.8% were boosted. About 56% were men, and 68.2% were Chinese.Full vaccination was considered two doses of the Pfizer/BioNTech or Moderna mRNA COVID-19 vaccine given 3 to 8 weeks apart. In September 2021, Singapore recommended a booster for people ages 60 years and older. By the end of the study period, 94% of the population had received two doses, and 24% had received a third.Relative to controls, COVID-19 survivors were at elevated risk (hazard ratio [HR], 1.16) and excess burden ([EB], 0.70) of new-onset cardiovascular and cerebrovascular conditions. Risks were lower among fully vaccinated (HR, 1.11) and boosted (HR, 1.10) participants. The risks and burdens were higher for hospitalized than for nonhospitalized patients. COVID-19 survivors weren't at higher risk for all cerebrovascular complications (HR, 1.12), including stroke (HR, 1.06) and temporal ischemic attack (HR, 1.21), but there was a moderate weighted EB per 1,000 infected people (EB, 0.08). Cardiovascular risks and excess burdens were higher for abnormal heart rhythms (HR, 1.32), specifically, sinus bradycardia ([slow heart rate] HR, 1.64) and other arrhythmias (HR, 1.68) in the infected group. COVID-19 wasn't positively associated with all inflammatory heart disease ([IHD] HR, 1.04). Nor was it linked to an increased risk of acute coronary disease (HR, 0.96), heart attack (HR, 1.08), ischemic cardiomyopathy (HR, 1.11), or angina (HR, 1.24). But COVID-19 survivors had a moderate weighted excess burden per 1,000 people for angina (EB, 0.11). There were increased risks of other cardiac disorders (HR, 1.33), including heart failure (HR, 1.28) and nonischemic cardiomyopathy (HR, 1.63).
Study: 75% of infants hospitalized with COVID-19 born to unvaccinated women This week, studies in Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Reportdescribe the landscape of COVID-19 vaccination among women of reproductive age and those who are pregnant, showing better outcomes for infants whose mothers were vaccinated during pregnancy.Maternal mRNA vaccines against COVID-19 have been widely recommended by providers for more than 2 years, and now evidence from the Omicron surge shows they were effective in preventing hospitalizations for infants ages 6 months or less.Currently, babies 6 months and older can get vaccinated. A case-control study conducted from March 9, 2022, to May 31, 2023, evaluated the vaccine effectiveness (VE) of maternal receipt of a COVID-19 vaccine dose during pregnancy for infants under 6 months of age and a group of infants under 3 months. A total of 716 hospitalized infants (377 case-patients and 339 control patients) were included in the final study, and the median age was 2.3 months.Of the 377 case-patients, 82 (22%) were born to mothers who had received a COVID-19 vaccine dose during pregnancy, compared with 94 (28%) born to mothers of control patients. Fifty babies in the study required life support, and mothers of 42 of those 50 were unvaccinated.VE of maternal vaccination during pregnancy against COVID-19–related hospitalization was 35% (95% confidence interval [CI], 15% to 51%) among infants aged less than 6 months and 54% (95% CI , 2% to 68%) among infants aged less than 3 months.Invasive mechanical ventilation was more common among infants of unvaccinated (9%) than vaccinated mothers (1%), the authors said."These findings indicate that maternal vaccination during pregnancy could help prevent COVID-19–related hospitalization in infants too young to be vaccinated, particularly during the first 3 months of life," the authors wrote. "Expectant mothers should be counseled to remain current with COVID-19 vaccination to protect themselves and their infants from hospitalization and severe outco
Study: Immune response from COVID infection after 2 vaccine doses waned slower than after 3 doses --Three Pfizer/BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine doses stimulate long-term immune responses against SARS-CoV-2 similar to breakthrough infection plus two doses, while four doses only temporarily increase antibody levels, according to a new study in theInternational Journal of Infectious Diseases.Every 2 to 4 months, researchers at Ziv Medical Center in Israel measured anti-spike SARS-CoV-2 immunoglobulin G (IgG) levels in healthcare workers (HCWs) who received at least two Pfizer COVID-19 doses and either had more doses and/or were infected up to 22 months after the second dose.The study, which ended in September 2022, was a follow-up to one published in Clinical Infectious Diseases in March 2022.Most workers (62%) had received three COVID-19 vaccine doses, while 16% received two, 14% had four, and 8% had one, of whom 70 were vaccinated after infection.Among 993 HCWs, infection after dose two led to higher IgG geometric mean titers (GMCs) than receipt of a third dose (4,285 vs 2,845 arbitrary units per milliliter [mL] 1 or 2 months after infection or vaccination).Sixteen to 18 months after dose two, HCWs who were infected or received three or four vaccine doses had IgG GMCs higher than 500 arbitrary unit/ml, with no significant between-group differences. IgG levels leveled off 16 to 22 months after the second dose.IgG levels surpassed the correlate of protection against the wild-type and Delta strains, but it's unclear clear how they stack up to those required against Omicron strains, which are probably much higher considering the lower effectiveness of the original Pfizer vaccine against Omicron, the researchers said.Four to 6 months after a fourth dose, IgG levels had regressed to three-dose levels.
Health Canada approves updated Pfizer vaccine for COVID-19 -- Health Canada has approved Pfizer's updated vaccine to protect people aged six months and older from COVID-19.Thursday's authorization of the Pfizer-BioNTech Comirnaty vaccine takes aim at the Omicron XBB.1.5 subvariant of the virus that causes COVID.The updated vaccine is administered as one dose for those aged five and up. Children between six months and five years old who haven't received the primary series should receive three doses.Pfizer Canada said it expects the newly formulated vaccine to be available "in the coming weeks" before the respiratory virus season is forecasted to peak. Moderna's updated vaccine was approved earlier this month. Dr. Bonnie Henry, B.C.'s Provincial Health Officer, noted Thursday that the new, updated vaccines show "good protection" against all the Omicron subvariants circulating right now. "So that's good news." Rapid antigen tests available also still work, Henry said.
New poll finds nearly half of adults expect to get new COVID vaccine - The latest vaccine monitoring poll from the Kaiser Family Foundation (KFF) found that nearly half of US adults will definitely or probably get the updated COVID-19 vaccine, a pattern the group said is higher than previous booster campaigns but lower than the initial primary series rollout.The online and telephone poll, conducted during the second week of September, found that 23% will definitely get the new COVID vaccine and 23% will probably get it. As in earlier polls, vaccination intentions reflect a political divide, with Democrats more likely to be vaccinated than Republican respondents.Despite solid uptake intentions for adults, most parents don't intend to have their children vaccinated against COVID, despite a universal recommendation from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that everyone ages 6 months and older be immunized. Fewer than 4 in 10 parents said they will get their kids vaccinated against COVID.KFF also asked about intentions to receive other vaccines, finding that most (58%) of adults have already received or plan to receive the flu shot. Also, most (60%) of adults ages 60 and older said they have already gotten or plan to receive the new respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) vaccine. Partisan divides for flu and RSV vaccines were still present, but not as sharp as for the COVID vaccine.
Survey: 18 million Americans say they have long COVID --Today, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's National Center for Health Statistics released the 2022 National Health Interview Survey results, which show that roughly 18 million Americans said they have ever had long COVID, and 8.8 million said they currently have the condition.Long COVID, or post COVID condition (PCC), is defined by ongoing or new symptoms following an acute COVID-19 infection. Symptoms must be present anywhere from 4 to 12 weeks after initial infection.In the current survey, 27,651 respondents were asked, "Did you have any symptoms lasting 3 months or longer that you did not have prior to having COVID-19?" The current long-COVID definition was based on the presence of symptoms at the time of interview. Though COVID-19 is most severe in older adults, adults ages 35 to 49 were the age-group most likely to ever have had (8.9%) or to currently have (4.7%) long COVID. Adults ages 65 and older were the least likely to ever have had long COVID, with only 4.1% saying they experienced the condition, compared to 8.9% of middle-aged Americans.Women (8.5%) were more likely than men (5.2%) to ever have had long COVID, and women (4.4%) were also more likely than men (2.3%) to currently have long COVID, a trend that has been seen in other recent studies on long COVID prevalence.As of December 2022, samples from the Nationwide Blood Donor Seroprevalence Survey show that 77.5% of people ages 16 and up in the United States have antibodies showing a previous COVID-19 infection.Survey shows 1% of kids have had long COVIDPart of the survey offered the first estimates of long COVID in children based on parent answers in the survey. A total of 7,464 children were included in the study.In 2022, 1.3% of US children ever had long COVID, and 0.5% currently had the condition."Girls (1.6%) were more likely than boys (0.9%) to have ever had Long COVID. While the percentage of girls who currently have Long COVID (0.6%) was higher than that of boys (0.3%), this difference was not significant," the authors said.As of December 2022, 91.9% of children had antibodies indicating a previous COVID-19 infection, according to the survey.
Looking to general practice for clues about long COVID = In another new study to quantify the clinical features of long COVID, or post COVID condition (PCC), authors publishing in PLoS One describe the key clinical features noted in the UK general-practice setting.Using information about symptoms recorded in primary care consultation notes, the study authors reviewed the health records of those diagnosed by a general practitioner (GP) in England during the first year of the pandemic.Authors compared symptoms among patients following confirmed COVID-19 to produce a list of 89 symptoms and the 30 most common symptoms. The goal was to define the basis on which GPs were suspecting or diagnosing PCC.Symptoms recorded from a total of 11,015 confirmed COVID-19 cases, 15,841 suspected COVID-19 cases, 15,846 possibly exposed patients (with a viral or respiratory illness), and 18,098 unexposed controls were included in the study.The authors wrote that the symptoms with the strongest associations with PCC were fatigue (adjusted hazard ratio (aHR) 3.46; 95% confidence interval (CI), 2.87 to 4.17), shortness of breath (aHR 2.89; 95% CI, 2.48 to 3.36), palpitations (aHR 2.59; 95% CI, 1.86 to 3.60), and phlegm (aHR 2.43; 95% CI, 1.65 to 3.59). "Consistent with prior literature, we found that increasing age, female sex, and severity of acute COVID-19 were associated with developing Long Covid," the authors said.
Potential link found between Merck antiviral and mutated COVID strains - A new study published Monday links COVID-19 antiviral created by Merck with new mutations of the virus that have been sequenced around the world. Molnupiravir, known commercially as Lagevrio, is one of two COVID-19 antivirals authorized for treating coronavirus infections along with Paxlovid from Pfizer. The drug works by inducing mutations in the virus’s cells as it replicates, resulting in random mutations that are harmful to the virus and cuts down on its viral load. Researchers from the U.K. and South African delved into the question of where some mutated variants may have occurred, given that some have been found with seemingly random mutations, and whether molnupiravir may have contributed to the rise of some strains. In the study published in the Nature science journal, researchers looked at available data from patients who were treated with molnupiravir and those who were not. Their findings confirmed the drug’s ability to cause high rates of mutations in the virus, and they noted that a “high proportion” of these mutations are likely to be hazardous to the virus. They also looked at sequenced COVID-19 genomes from global databases and narrowed down mutations that were only sequenced in 2022, after molnupiravir became available, and found that many of the sequences were consistent with mutations that were found in patients treated with the antiviral. They cited a specific type of mutation that rarely occurs in natural SARS-CoV-2 evolution but which they note is induced through the use of molnupiravir. High rates of the specific mutation which researchers associated with molnupiravir use were found in populations of countries where use of the treatment was higher, such as in seniors in Australia where retirement homes were stocked with the drug. The study put forward that molnupiravir may increase genomic diversity in the viral cells that survive the hazardous mutations brought on by the drug, expanding the variety from which SARS-CoV-2 can select from for future changes. “Importantly, the divergence of the molnupiravir mutation spectrum from standard SARS-CoV-2 mutational dynamics might allow the virus to explore the fitness of distinctive parts of the possible genomic landscape to those it is already widely exploring in the general population,” the study stated. “Molnupiravir-induced mutation could also potentially allow infections to persist for longer by creating a more varied target for the immune system.”
UK: still not clear if BA.2.86 will outcompete other variants The United Kingdom's Heath Security Agency (HSA) recently posted a technical briefing on the highly mutated Omicron BA.2.86 variant, which said that, based on moderate confidence, the level of antibody escape is probably similar to XBB.1.5. In addition, data from two labs suggests it may have slightly higher ACE2 binding affinity, a factor that might play a role in transmissibility.So far, there's no sign that infections involving BA.2.86 are more severe.The virus is circulating among a mix of other variants, and so far the low number of sequenced viruses doesn't provide enough information to say if BA.2.86 will outcompete other viruses, but the HSA said it's plausible that its incidence may increase.As of September 18, the UK had reported 43 BA.2.86 sequences, reflecting an increase of 11 from the week before. Ten people were hospitalized and six had unknown hospitalization status. No deaths from BA.2.86 were reported. The sporadic cases were reported from nearly all regions in people with no recent travel history. Other than an earlier reported nursing home cluster of 30 cases, only 2 other cases had epidemiological links.Globally, as of September 18, there were 139 sequences from 137 human cases from 15 countries, according to the HSA. The largest portion are from the UK and France, followed by South Africa, Sweden, and the United States.
US COVID markers show more declines - Most of the measures the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) uses to track COVID-19 activity declined last week, except for deaths, which are often a lagging indicator, according to the group's latest data updates. The levels reflect a recent drop in COVID activity, following several weeks of a slow summer rise from very low levels.Hospitalizations declined 4.3% compared to the previous week, with only a few counties at the high level, mainly in the southern region. Deaths were up 12.5%, with Kentucky reporting the highest level of fatalities from COVID among the states.Early indicators also reflect more declines compared to the past week. Emergency department (ED) visits for COVID dropped 19.3%, with Oregon the only state at the moderate level. Test positivity declined 1.2%., is at 11.6% nationally, and is highest in the southern part of the Midwest.Data from the Biobot wastewater tracking network show declining SARS-CoV-2 levels nationally, as well in all regions.The CDC also today posted its latest variant projections, which show that EG.5 and FL.1.5.1 variant levels continue to increase, with the two making up about 40% of sequenced samples. Levels of the HV.1 variant rose to 12.9%, up from 8.1% 2 weeks ago. In other COVID developments, the World Health Organization (WHO) posted its latest monthly update, which it cautions is based on limited data, with cases and deaths reported from only 96 countries and even fewer countries regularly reporting hospitalizations and intensive care unit (ICU) admissions. It also said its assessments are limited by reduced testing and delays in reporting.Over the past month, cases were down 55% and deaths were down 34%, with a mixed picture from different regions. Cases were up in the European and Eastern Mediterranean regions compared to the previous month. Italy and Russia are among the countries reporting rises. Deaths were up in three regions: Africa, the Eastern Mediterranean, and South East Asia.Meanwhile, hospitalizations and ICU admissions were up 42% and 12%, respectively.Regarding variant activity, EG.5 is the only variant showing increasing proportions at the global level, accounting for 33.6% of sequences in the most recent reporting week. So far, 21 countries have reported 198 sequences of the highly mutated BA.2.86 variant.
COVID-19 the third-leading cause of death in Australia in 2022, data shows - ABC News - Last year, COVID-19 killed 9,859 Australians, behind only heart disease and dementia (including Alzheimer’s) as the leading causes of death in the country.Heart disease killed 18,643 Australians in 2022, and dementia killed 17,106."An infectious disease (influenza and pneumonia) was last in the top 5 leading causes of death in 1970," the Australian Bureau of Statistics said in the press release. "Deaths due to COVID-19 were a significant contributor to the increase, causing just under 10,000 deaths and mentioned as a contributing factor on a further 2,782 death certificates. The Omicron variant was the dominant strain during 2022, with multiple waves across the year associated with the variant."The government said the rate of death from COVID-19 had increased to 27.1 deaths per 100,000 people, compared to 24.5 in 2020.An aging population contributed to the increased COVID-19 deaths, as the median age of citizens who died from COVID-19 in 2022 was 85.8 years. COVID-19 was not the only respiratory virus to see a jump in deaths: 305 people died from influenza in 2022. This contrasts with 2 people in 2021, the lowest number of annual flu deaths on record.
Judicial Watch: New Documents Show Wuhan Lab Asked NIH Official for Information on Disinfectants; Nine Fauci Agency Grants for EcoHealth Bat Coronavirus Research – - Judicial Watch announced today that it received 301 pages of emails and other records from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) officials in connection with the Wuhan Institute of Virology in Wuhan, China, revealing significant collaborations and funding that began in 2014. These new records reveal that NIAID gave nine China-related grants to EcoHealth Alliance to research coronavirus emergence in bats and was the National Institute of Health’s (NIH) top issuer of grants to the Wuhan lab itself. These records also include an email from the vice director of the Wuhan Lab asking an NIH official for help finding disinfectants for decontamination of airtight suits and indoor surfaces.Additionally, a World Health Day announcement lists “successful activities” of the US-China collaboration that included “detailed surveillance throughout China and in other countries on the emergence of coronaviruses” and NIH’s receipt of influenza samples from China to “assess risks associated with emerging variants for pandemic and zoonotic threat.”The records further show that, in 2018, Dr. Ping Chen, the NIAID Representative in China, learned of a “type of new flu vaccine using nano-technology from China’s Wuhan Institute of Virology” and discovered that the Chinese had blocked all Internet links to reports on the new technology. This led Chen to write an urgent “night note” to US Government officials. The note said, “The intranasal nano-vaccine can target broad-spectrum flu viruses and induces robust immune responses.” The documents also include a picture of the Wuhan facility building taken by Dr. Chen. The documents were obtained through a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit for records of communications, contracts and agreements with the Wuhan Institute of Virology in China (Judicial Watch, Inc. v. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (No. 1:21-cv-00696)). The lawsuit specifically sought records about NIH grants that benefitted the Wuhan Institute of Virology. The agency is only processing 300 pages records per month, which means it will take until the end of November for the records to be fully reviewed and released under FOIA.The nine grants to EcoHealth Alliance include the following:
1 in 6 US patients hospitalized with 2 flu strains had more severe outcomes -- A Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)-led study finds that more than 1 in 6 US patients infected with the influenza A(H1N1)pdm09 or influenza B virus had severe in-hospital outcomes such as intensive care unit (ICU) admission or death during nine recent flu seasons. Published this week in The Lancet Microbe, the study used Influenza Hospitalization Surveillance Network (FluSurv-NET) data to assess the severity of flu-associated outcomes in104,969 patients aged 6 months and older who were hospitalized in certain counties in 13 states during the 2010–2011 to 2018–2019 flu seasons (October through April).The states included California, Colorado, Connecticut, Georgia, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio, Oregon, New Mexico, New York, Tennessee, and Utah."The burden of influenza varies greatly from season to season because of differences in circulating influenza virus types and subtypes as well as differences in influenza vaccine coverage and effectiveness, with some years seeing lower vaccine effectiveness and higher hospitalisation and mortality rates when when influenza A H3N2 viruses are predominant," the researchers wrote."Despite the effect of virus type or subtype on the yearly influenza burden, little is known about the relative severity of influenza by virus type and subtype in hospitalised individuals," they added.On average, after weighting, 57.7% of patients had influenza A(H3N2), 24·6% had influenza A(H1N1)pdm09, and 17·7% had influenza B. A total of 16·7% required ICU admission, 6.5% needed mechanical ventilation or extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO), and 3.0% died (95% confidence intervals all had a range of less than 0.1%). Patients infected with A(H1N1)pdm09 had a higher likelihood of poor in-hospital outcomes than those with A(H3N2). Specifically, they were 42% more likely to be admitted to an ICU, 79% more likely to need mechanical ventilation or ECMO, and 25% more likely to die.Patients who had influenza B versus influenza A(H3N2) were 6% more likely to be admitted to an ICU, 14% more likely to need mechanical ventilation or ECMO, and 18% more likely to die.Children aged 6 months to 17 years and adults 18 to 49 years had higher odds of mechanical ventilation or ECMO. Children aged 6 months to 17 years and adults 65 years and older were more likely to die when comparing those with influenza B versus A(H3N2). No link, however, was found between likelihood of death in patients aged 6 months to 17 years and those 65 and older who had A(H1N1)pdm09 versus A (H3N2), but the adjusted odds ratio was also significant for death in those 18 to 49 and 50 to 64 years. Of the of 104,969 hospitalized flu patients, 52% were vaccinated against flu, and 88% had at least one underlying illness. Analyses stratified by flu vaccination status showed that unvaccinated patients were more likely to die if they had influenza A(H1N1)pdmo9 or B virus than those infected with A(H3N2).
PAHO warns of potential early start to respiratory virus season in parts of the Americas -- The Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) recently posted an epidemiologic alert about the possibility of an early onset of the respiratory virus season, based on what it observed in five South American countries earlier this year.PAHO summarized the experiences of the five Southern Hemisphere countries: Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Paraguay, and Uruguay. The group also referenced a recent advisory from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) about an early start to respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) activity in southeastern states, the region where virus activity usually picks up first.Argentina's RSV onset was also earlier than usual this year, peaking 3 to 4 weeks sooner than normal. Pneumonia cases also rose early. RSV hospitalizations and flu detections were highest in children younger than 5. In Brazil, the respiratory virus season also started earlier than usual, and in May and June, seven states and one city declared public health emergencies due to a large spike in RSV hospitalizations, especially in younger children.Flu hospitalizations also peaked earlier, mostly involving adults. Chile's RSV season started about 5 weeks earlier than usual, and a sudden, sharp rise put pressure on the country's health system. Paraguay and Uruguay reported similar patterns.PAHO urged Americas countries in the Northern Hemisphere to take steps to prepare for a potential early onset to the season, which could mean extra burdens for health systems. It suggested ensuring measures are in place for early diagnosis and that countries shoot for high vaccination coverage in high-risk groups.
WHO advisers recommend switch back to trivalent flu vaccines - Before 2020, two influenza B lineages—Victoria and Yamagata—circulated widely across the globe and were notoriously difficult to predict for flu vaccine strain-selection purposes. The lineages were distinct and offered little cross-protection. In 2012, experts solved the problem by recommending the inclusion of both, which saw the arrival of quadrivalent (four-strain) vaccines.However, there haven't been any confirmed detections of the Yamagata influenza B lineage since March 2020, and today the World Health Organization (WHO) flu vaccine strain-selection committee recommended switching back to trivalent (three-strain) vaccines that include two influenza A strains plus just the influenza B Victoria vaccine strain.The group met this week to recommend the strains to include in the Southern Hemisphere's 2024 vaccines. They also looked at the latest zoonotic influenza viruses and picked two new candidate vaccine viruses for pandemic-preparedness purposes.The experts recommended swapping out the 2009 H1N1 and H3N2 components in the Southern Hemisphere's 2023 vaccine, with different vaccine virus strains for egg-based and cell-based vaccines.For egg-based vaccines in the coming year, they recommend including an H1N1 virus similar to influenza A/Victoria/4897/2022 and an H3N2 virus similar to A/Thailand/8/2022. And for cell-based vaccines, they recommend including an H1N1 virus similar to A/Wisconsin/67/2022 and an H3N2 virus similar to A/Massachusetts/18/2022. The recommendations are similar to the current Northern Hemisphere vaccine except for the cell-based H3N2 strain.For the trivalent B strain, they suggest a virus similar to B/Austria/1359417/2021 as the Victoria lineage strain, the same as for the current Northern Hemisphere vaccine.If companies make quadrivalent vaccines, the group suggested a Yamagata lineage B virus similar to B/Phuket/3073/2013, the same as the Northern Hemisphere vaccine recommendation.
Leading cause of invasive infections shifting in kids with sickle cell disease - A study conducted in Europe found that Salmonella has become the leading cause of invasive bacterial infection (IBI) in children with sickle cell disease (SCD), researchers reported yesterday in Pediatrics.For the study, a team of European researchers analyzed data from 28 pediatric hospitals in five European countries on children with SCD who had IBI episodes from 2014 through 2019. Children with SCD have a higher risk of IBI, and prior to the widespread use of 13-valent pneumococcal conjugate vaccines (PCV13), Streptococcus pneumoniae had been the leading cause of IBI in children with the disease. The aim of the study was to evaluate the causes of IBI post-PCV13 implementation.The researchers analyzed data on 169 IBI episodes in 156 children (51% girls, median age 7.8 years); 85 of 138 children (62%) had completed PCV13 vaccination. Among the 169 episodes, Salmonella spp. was the main isolated bacteria (44 cases, 26%), followed by S pneumonia (31, 18%) and Staphylococcus aureus (20, 12%). Salmonella was mainly found in osteoarticular infections and in primary bacteremia (45% and 23% of episodes, respectively) and S pneumoniae in meningitis and acute chest syndrome (88% and 50%, respectively).All S pneumoniae IBI occurred in children under 10 years, including 35% in children 5 to 10 years old. The outcomes were favorable in 129 cases (81%), but 27 (17%) children had complications of infection and three died: two because of S pneumoniae, and one because of Salmonella. The main risk factors for a severe infection were a previous IBI and pneumococcal infection.The authors say this is the first time in a study in high-income countries that S pneumoniae was not the most common cause of IBI in children with SCD, a finding they say suggests a shift in the epidemiology in the post-PCV13 era.
Colorado reports fatal plague infection -- Health officials in Colorado this week announced a fatal plague infection in a resident of Archuleta County, located in the southwest corner of the state.San Juan Basin Public Health (SJBPH) said an investigation is underway. It said it monitors prairie dog die-offs to track potential plague threats, and it urged area residents to report the sudden disappearance of active prairie dog colonies. "Residents should not eradicate or kill prairie dogs on their property as this increases the risk of exposure to plague-infested fleas," SJBPH said.Colorado reports sporadic Yersinia pestis cases every year, and officials routinely urge people to take precautions, such as protecting pets from fleas and staying out of areas where wild rodents are found. In late June, Colorado reported a plague case in a patient from Montezuma County, also in the southwestern part of the state.
China reports fatal H5N6 avian flu case --China has reported a fatal H5N6 avian flu infection in a 68-year-old man from Chongqing, the country's fourth largest city, Hong Kong's Centre for Health Protection (CHP) said in a statement today.The man's symptoms began on August 5, and he was hospitalized 5 days later. He died on August 20. An investigation revealed that he had been exposed to live domestic poultry before he got sick. China has now reported six H5N6 cases this year. The last casewas reported in the middle of August, in a woman from Sichuan province.H5N6 is known to circulate in poultry in some Asian countries, and the first human case was reported in 2014. Of 88 global cases, 87 have been reported from China. Laos is the only other country that has reported a human H5N6 case. Infections involving the strain are often severe or fatal.
H5N1 avian flu strikes another Finnish fur farm -The Finland Food Authority has reported another H5N1 avian flu outbreak at a fur farm, this time at a facility housing minks in a newly affected region.The virus was detected on September 27 at a farm in Alavieska, a town in Northern Ostrobothnia region in the west central part of the country. The outbreak brings the number of outbreaks in the country's fur farms since the middle of July to 27.Finland recently ordered culling of animals at all outbreak farms. Minks are thought to be a potential mixing vessel for respiratory viruses.The outbreaks in Finland have intensified scientists' calls for shuttering fur farms to reduce the risk of flu viruses that have pandemic potential.In other avian flu developments, two countries reported more H5N1 outbreaks in poultry or other birds, according to recent notifications from the World Organization for Animal Health (WOAH). Denmark'soutbreak began on September 26 at a backyard location housing 30 chickens and ducks on the island of Lolland in southern Denmark.Elsewhere, Israel reported an outbreak that began on September 21 at a mini zoo in Northern District housing 350 birds, some caged and some free range. About 50 of the free-ranging birds died, including peacocks, ducks, chickens, geese, and guinea fowl.The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) today released its latest avian flu update, which urged the poultry industry to tighten their biosecurity practices ahead of the fall migration season.The group said though poultry outbreaks eased over the summer, H5N1 continued to strike seabird populations across European country coastlines. It noted that introductions to mammals, including the outbreaks at Finnish fur farms, likely occurred through contact with wild gulls, though farm-to-farm transmission can't be excluded.The risk to the general public remains low, and low to moderate for people who have occupational exposure, the EFSA said.
FDA releases draft guidance on antibiotic duration limits in food animals -The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) today published draft guidance for defining appropriate duration of use in antibiotics used in the feed of food-producing animals.The guidance aims to address an issue that critics say the FDA has neglected in its efforts to promote more judicious use of medically important antibiotics in livestock and poultry. Roughly one-third of medically important antibiotics approved for use in food-producing animals have no duration limit, meaning farmers can use those antibiotics in animal feed for extended periods of time to prevent disease—a practice critics say compensates for poor living conditions that promote disease in herds and flocks. Advocates for more robust antibiotic stewardship in US meat production say the overuse of medically important antibiotics on US farms promotes antibiotic resistance and threatens the effectiveness of antibiotics that are critical for human and veterinary medicine. Some groups have called for the FDA to limit the duration of use for medically important antibiotics to 21 days.In a 5-year action plan released in 2018, the FDA's Center for Veterinary Medicine said that establishing appropriate duration limits would be one of its priorities.The agency says the scope of the draft guidance is limited to drugs that are approved for use in animal feed, since antibiotics that have been approved in non-feed forms already have appropriately defined durations of use."FDA's objective in issuing this guidance is to provide specific recommendations to animal drug sponsors on how to revise the product use conditions (e.g., dosage regimen, instructions for use) of affected products, as necessary, to better target when and for how long a drug may be used to effectively treat, control, or prevent the disease(s) for which the product is indicated," the draft guidance states.While compliance with the guidance is voluntary, the FDA says the revisions are, "intended to provide for the continued effective use of these products while minimizing the extent of antimicrobial drug exposure, thereby supporting efforts to mitigate the development of antimicrobial resistance."The public comment period on the draft guidance is open until December 26.
Study suggests poor environmental controls may aid spread of resistant pathogens -A new study by an international team of researchers suggests that in countries where people and livestock live in proximity and use many of the same antibiotics, inadequate sanitation and environmental controls could be aiding the spread of antibiotic-resistant pathogens.The case study, published last week in Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment, found that strains of antibiotic-resistant Escherichia coli collected from people and meat products sold at markets in Cambodia contained resistance genes and mobile resistance elements that were strikingly similar, which suggests they had been exchanged at some point between humans and animals—a process that is likely occurring on a frequent basis.The authors say the findings highlight the fact that in low-resource countries where livestock are allowed to roam freely, and access to clean water and sanitation is limited, there is ample opportunity for bacterial pathogens from humans and animals to swap genes and other mechanisms that promote the spread of antimicrobial resistance. And they argue that in similar settings, fixing those issues may be as important in the fight against AMR as efforts to limit antibiotic use in humans and animals."Unless we find ways to cut off that circular transmission of bacteria between humans and animals, antibiotic stewardship is not likely to be enough to really address resistance," lead study author Maya Nadimpalli, PhD, an assistant professor at Emory University's Rollins School of Public Health, told CIDRAP News. Nadimpalli said the study is a follow-up to research she worked on in 2016 in Cambodia. One study from that research reported finding highly similar strains of extended-spectrum beta-lactamase (ESBL)–producing E coli in gut-colonized women, infected patients, and meat and fish sold in markets in Phnom Penh, a finding she and her colleagues said supported concerns that the dissemination of drug-resistant bacteria from animals to humans may be more likely in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs)."We were seeing similar resistance genes and similar sequence types," she said.But when Nadimpalli presented these data, she frequently received pushback from researchers who questioned the findings and suggested more proof was needed to link the resistant bacteria found in the women and the meat products. One particular question was whether the plasmids—mobile pieces of DNA that harbor resistance genes and can be shared among different bacterial species—were similar." For this study, Nadimpalli, along with researchers from the Pasteur Institutes of France and Cambodia and scientists from Denmark, Belgium, and the United States, set out to find further evidence for the links documented in the earlier study. They did this by performing long-read genomic sequencing on five ESBL-producing E coli isolates from healthy, gut-colonized people and pork and chicken meat sold at a Phnom Penh market. They then identified the ESBL-encoding plasmids in the genomes, annotated them, and compared them with previously published Cambodian collections of ESBL-producing bacteria.They found four distinct ESBL-encoding plasmids shared among the human and animal E coli isolates. Three of the four plasmids contained a region of DNA—called a transposon—that can move from one genomic region to another and confers resistance to third-generation cephalosporins and fluoroquinolones—antibiotics commonly used in people and farm animals in Cambodia that are likely providing selective pressure.And when they looked at the wider collection of ESBL-producing bacteria from Cambodia, Nadimpalli said, they found that same transposon everywhere.
Chicago's West Side is an air pollution hotspot, new study finds - The western edge of Chicago—including the North and South Lawndale, East Garfield Park, Archer Heights and Brighton Park neighborhoods—experiences up to 32% higher concentrations of nitrogen dioxide (NO2) air pollution compared to the rest of the city, a new Northwestern University study has found.In the new study, researchers developed a process to systematically identify areas of agreement and disagreement among three individual state-of-the-art air-quality datasets: satellite observations, a simulation developed at Northwestern and sensors from Microsoft Research's Project Eclipse.Although one or two datasets identified multiple areas as NO2 hotspots, all three datasets consistently flagged Chicago's West Side as having elevated NO2pollution. The West Side also has more Black, Hispanic and Latinx residents compared to the rest of the city, highlighting the disproportionate pollution and health burdens shouldered by these communities.The study was published in Environmental Research Letters."The three tools that we explored sometimes identified different areas of elevated pollution from one another," However, in areas where we found agreement between the datasets, we have greater confidence that NO2 pollution is significantly high. The three different tools we used all pointed to the West Side as an area where pollution is significantly elevated relative to the Chicago average.""High spatial resolution air quality data has the potential to reveal inequitable exposure to pollution by identifying localized hotspots," said Northwestern's Daniel Horton, the study's senior author. "Using this science-backed evidence, residents can advocate for change, and government officials can develop more targeted policies. By combining and improving tools to identify these hotspots, we can ensure that mitigation efforts serve the most affected communities."
Alarming results from world-first study of two decades of global smoke pollution --The world's first study of the increase in pollution from landscape fires across the globe over the past two decades reveals that more than 2 billion people are exposed to at least one day of potentially health-impacting environmental hazard annually—a figure that has increased by 6.8% in the last 10 years.The study highlights the severity and scale of the landscape fire-sourced air pollution, its increased impact on the world's population and associated rise in public health risk. Exposure to fire-sourced air pollution has many adverse health impacts, including increased mortality and morbidity and a global worsening of cardiorespiratory conditions and mental health.The study, published today (20 September) in Nature and led by Australian scientists, estimated the global daily air pollution from all fires from 2000 to 2019. The researchers found that 2.18 billion people were exposed to at least one day of substantial landscape fire air pollution in each year, with each person in the world having on average 9.9 days of exposure per year, an increase of 2.1% in the last decade. It also found that exposure levels in low-income countries were about four-fold higher than in high income countries.Led by Professors Yuming Guo and Shanshan Li, from Monash University's School of Population Health and Preventive Medicine, the study also found that the exposure levels of PM2.5 were particularly high in Central Africa, Southeast Asia, South America and Siberia. The study also looked at global landscape fire-sourced ozone, an important fire-related pollutant has only been estimated for United States.In the study, landscape fires refer to any fires burning in natural and cultural landscapes, e.g., natural and planted forest, shrub, grass, pastures, agricultural lands and peri-urban areas, including both planned or controlled fires (e.g., prescribed burns, agricultural fires) and wildfires (defined as uncontrolled or unplanned fires burning in wildland vegetation).The comprehensive assessment of the global population exposures to fire-sourced PM2.5 and ozone during 2000–2019 was calculated using a machine learning approach with inputs from chemical transport models, ground-based monitoring stations, and gridded weather data.The recent pollution from the Canadian wildfires that spread smoke across North America highlighted the increase in severity and frequency of landscape fires due to climate change. According to Professor Guo, no study to date has looked at the long-range effect of this increase in landscape fires globally and wildfires often impact remote areas where there are few or no air quality monitoring stations. In addition, in many low-income countries, there are no air quality monitoring stations even in urban areas.
Examining how much wildfire smoke influences air quality trends --By spewing plumes of smoke laden with tiny toxic particles called PM2.5, wildfire smoke has slowed or reversed progress toward cleaner air in dozens of U.S. states, Stanford University researchers have found."We document a growing source of pollution that is changing trends in overall PM2.5 in a way that is completely unregulated and that will harm our health," said lead study author Marshall Burke, an associate professor in the Stanford Doerr School of Sustainability.No wider than a human hair spliced into 30 strands, PM2.5 can embed deep in the lungs and cross into the bloodstream. Even a few hours or weeks of exposure to elevated levels can trigger asthma attacks, heart attacks, and early death. Longer-term exposure can take months or years off your life expectancy. Outdoor concentrations of these tiny particles had been declining across most of the U.S. for decades, thanks largely to the bipartisan Clean Air Act of 1963 and its amendments.The new analysis of U.S. air pollution data from ground and air sensors, published in Nature, shows average annual PM2.5 levels had declined in as many as 41 states throughout the contiguous U.S. between 2000 and 2016.Since then, wildfire smoke has either slowed or fully reversed air quality trends in 35 states. Taking these states as a group, the authors found drifting plumes have added enough particle pollution to erase about a quarter of the average air quality improvement achieved by these states since 2000."We're starting to see the fingerprint of wildfire smoke on overall air quality trends over the entire country, not just in the western states where these fires are burning most often," said study co-author Marissa Childs, Ph.D. '22, an environmental fellow at the Harvard University Center for the Environment who began work on the paper as a student in Stanford's Emmett Interdisciplinary Program in Environment and Resources (E-IPER). "This is because the larger fires that have been burning in recent years are lofting the pollution way up into the atmosphere, which can transport these tiny particles thousands of miles away." The new study extends a September 2022 analysis by Childs and Burke that looked at air quality, smoke pollution, and population data up to 2020. The initial study revealed a dramatic 11,000-fold increase in the number of people in the U.S. experiencing the most extreme levels of smoke pollution, and a 27-fold increase in the number of people living in areas experiencing unhealthy air at least one day per year.
Rivers contain hidden sinks and sources of microplastics, study finds Significant quantities of microplastic particles are being trapped in riverbed sediments or carried through the air along major river systems, a new study has shown.The research, conducted along the length of the Ganges River in South Asia, found on average about 41 microplastic particles per square meter per day settled from the atmosphere. .In addition, analysis by scientists found 57 particles per kilogram on average in sediment from the riverbed as well as one particle in every 20 liters of water.The research, published in Science of the Total Environment, represents the first combined analysis of microplastics in water, sediment and air around a major river system.It was conducted using samples collected by an international team of scientists as part of the National Geographic Society's Sea to Source: Ganges expedition.Lead author Dr. Imogen Napper, said, "We have known for some time that rivers are key pathways for the transfer of microplastics to marine environments. However, there has always been uncertainty about the sheer amounts being transported, and whether they represent long-term sinks. This study goes some way to unraveling that mystery, and revealing the true scale of microplastic contamination that our river systems can represent."Many of the same scientists were involved in a previous study, published in January 2021, which suggested the Ganges River and its tributaries could be responsible for up to 3 billion microplastic particles entering the Bay of Bengal every day.In addition to highlighting the overall abundance of particles, for the new study scientists found fibers to be the most common type, representing up to 99% of the microplastics discovered in some of the samples analyzed.
Researchers investigate microplastics in D.C.'s waterways - A research team from American University has spent the last three years collecting samples from several freshwater streams that feed into Washington, D.C.'s Anacostia River. They have been looking for microplastics. These tiny plastic fragments threaten the river's quality, sediments and aquatic life. Their goal: To help government officials regulate the use and disposal of plastics, including single-use plastics, a major culprit behind microplastics. Their first findings from the Nash Run stream have just been published and tell us more about what's going on with microplastics in D.C.'s waterways. "This paper is a comprehensive analysis of our sampling at Nash Run. It reveals the quantity and type of microplastics in water and sediments." Balestra's former student, Elisa Davey, participated in the research and is lead author for the paper published in the journal Water, Air, Soil Pollution. Nash Run, which flows through the neighborhoods of Deanwood and Kenilworth in Southeast D.C., is one of a half-dozen sites of river tributaries in D.C. and in Maryland that the team samples for microplastics. They always find microplastics, no matter the season or sample site. In water samples collected along different points of Nash Run, the team found a range of 24 to 127 microplastic particles per liter.Is this amount a lot? It's hard to say. Microplastics make up many kinds of plastics and range from the nano to millimeter size. Experts agree there is a need to create standardized methods for microplastics testing to better assess impacts. For now, scientists across the world are finding wide ranges of particles when they measure.In Nash Run, the team's chemical analysis shows the main type of microplastic as HDPE, or high-density polyethylene, commonly used in making containers for milk, motor oil, shampoos and conditioners, soap bottles, detergents and bleaches.Microplastics are remnants of large plastics broken up into smaller pieces, or products such as microbeads that are found in many cosmetics. They are found in freshwater and oceans and animals, such as clams, oysters and fish. They have been found in humans, as evidenced by studies showing them in our lungs or in the placentas of newborns.Despite what we know, there is still so much we don't know. Many studies are underway to assess the health risks to humans and animals posed by microplastics. Because of their size, they can't be easily removed from waterways. Businesses and governments are responding to the problem with sustainability goals to end the use of single-use plastic, and with plastic bag bans or prohibitions on businesses from providing single-use plastics and cutlery in dining orders.
This Alaska Mine Would Destroy the World’s Largest Salmon Fishery - For decades, a Canadian company has sought to excavate an enormous open pit mine at the headwaters of the 40,000-square-mile Bristol Bay watershed in southwestern Alaska. Called the Pebble Mine, it would destroy the planet’s most productive salmon fishery and impoverish the communities the fishery sustains.How bad would this be? The breadth of the opposition offers an idea. The entire Alaska congressional delegation opposes the project. The Trump administration denied it a permit in 2020, and this year the Environmental Protection Agency issued a rare veto, effectively blocking the mine. The project is opposed by a consortium of Alaska Native tribes that represent about 80 percent of the people who live in the region. In 2016 it was condemned by a near unanimous vote of the World Conservation Congress of theInternational Union for Conservation of Nature. All of the project’s major mining partners walked away a decade ago, leaving the scheme to its financially challenged Canadian owner, Northern Dynasty Minerals. And yet this project to extract copper, gold and molybdenum has refused to die. Alaska’s governor, Mike Dunleavy, Northern Dynasty’s inexplicably loyal disciple, is trying to revive it again. This past summer, at Mr. Dunleavy’s direction, the state bypassed the normal appeals process by going directly to the Supreme Court to challenge the E.P.A. veto. It’s no mystery why: Since last year, the Supreme Court has gut-punched the E.P.A. twice, first onclimate change regulation and then, this spring, on clean water protection. The Dunleavy administration and the mining company are clearly hoping for another bolt of deregulatory lightning. While Governor Dunleavy claims to be representing the interests of Alaskans, he has for years supported the development of the Pebble Mine over the strong objections of Alaskans. In fact, a recent poll found that 74 percent of Alaska’s voters are stillconcerned that the E.P.A.’s rejection of the project won’t do enoughto protect the Bristol Bay watershed from large-scale mining. The initial petitions that led to the E.P.A.’s veto were filed by six Bristol Bay tribes and later joined by a consortium of other federally recognized tribes.They have been actively supported by a diverse consensus of businesses, commercial fishermen and processors, anglers and lodges, chefs and restaurant owners, hunters, conservationists and many others, including the Natural Resources Defense Council, where one of us is a senior lawyer. “Governor Dunleavy’s lawsuit,” Alannah Hurley, the executive director of United Tribes of Bristol Bay, said in August, “is another example he is willing to waste state resources to try and save a failing foreign mining company.”The project is on state land, and the governor said this year in comments leading up to the filing of the lawsuit that “my job is to make sure that we take advantage of every opportunity.” Apparently unfazed by the project’s singular risks, he added, “I believe we have the best environmental standards in the world.”What hangs in the balance is the greatest remaining commercial, recreational and subsistence salmon fishery on Earth, and the sustainable lifeblood of the region and its residents. In 2022 alone, this single fishery produced a record run of nearly 80 million fish, surpassing a succession of annual record runs. It is a natural wonder of global proportions.The E.P.A.’s decision was based on over a dozen years of transparent review, including extensive peer-reviewed science, broad public participation and public comment — and vigorous engagement in the process by Northern Dynasty and the Dunleavy administration. Having compiled this comprehensive record, the agency concluded that the Pebble Mine would violate the Clean Water Act and cause the watershed’s globally important aquatic resources to suffer “unavoidable adverse impacts.”The state’s complaint, on the other hand, is high on rhetoric and low on substance. It attacks the veto as a strike “at the heart of Alaska’s sovereignty” and asks the court to find that the E.P.A. has taken state “property without just compensation.” It cites no actual language to support its claim, and it ignores the Supreme Court’s unanimous 2019 decision that, in Alaska, “state, Native and private land (and waters)” do “of course remain subject to all the regulatory powers they were before, exercised by E.P.A., the Coast Guard and the like.” Bizarrely, the state asserts with emphasis that “there is nothing the state can now do with these lands for economic purposes.” The annual salmon runs are an economic engine that generates half of the world’s sockeye salmon, yielding more than $2.2 billion a year in revenue and supporting over 15,000 jobs. The Bristol Bay watershed’s staggering economic value and job creation, all generated by the streams and waters where the salmon spawn, are exactly what the E.P.A.’s veto is intended to protect. The E.P.A.’s action is consistent both with its legal authority and with what Alaskans have requested and overwhelmingly support. The Dunleavy administration has a right to appeal through the established appellate process for review of complex, fact-based agency action. But its attempt to bypass that process — and to get the Supreme Court to ignore its own precedent — should be rejected.
Storm treks farther up East Coast after lashing coastal North Carolina on Saturday — Ophelia, now a tropical depression, is impacting parts of the mid-Atlantic after its landfall early Saturday near Emerald Isle, North Carolina, slammed the coast with heavy rain, strong winds and flooding. Here are the storm’s latest impacts:
- Across North Carolina and Virginia, as many as 70,000 homes and businesses lost power, and as of Saturday night, around 14,000remain in the dark, according to utility tracking site PowerOutage.us.
- Storm surge flooding of more than 3 feet hit coastal North Carolina where water was seen covering roadways.
- Five people were rescued from a boat anchored in rough waters near Cape Lookout, North Carolina.
- States of emergency were declared in Virginia, North Carolina and Maryland.
- The National Weather Service issued a coastal flood warning Saturday for Atlantic City, New Jersey.
The then-tropical storm roared ashore around 6:15 a.m. with 70 mph sustained winds, just shy of hurricane strength. By 8 p.m., maximum sustained winds decreased to 35 mph, the National Hurricane Center said. It is expected to continue weakening. All storm surge and tropical storm warnings were discontinued Saturday night as the storm lost strength.Coastal flooding warnings and wind advisories remained in effect for some parts of the East Coast, according to the hurricane center.The storm’s shield of rain extended hundreds of miles from its center and dumped heavy rain across a large swath of the mid-Atlantic, including Virginia, Maryland, Delaware, New Jersey and New York.As Ophelia made its way up the East Coast Saturday evening, the National Weather Service issued a coastal flood warning for communities in New Jersey’s Atlantic City, where several roads were closed due to flooding.“With high tide right around now along the Atlantic coast, we are getting numerous reports from coastal communities of street flooding and road closures,” the NWS office in Mount Holly posted on X, formerly Twitter.Coastal areas in North Carolina bore the brunt of impacts as the expansive storm’s center barged into the state earlier Saturday.Storm surge flooded coastal areas and inlets in North Carolina overnight and winds gusting to 73 mph hit Cape Lookout, along the state’s Outer Banks.
Downtown Annapolis left with flooding from Tropical Storm Ophelia - CBS Baltimore - Annapolis residents are still dealing with the flooding that Tropical Storm Ophelia left behind this weekend.Now that Ophelia has shifted out of the way, it's the aftermath residents are dealing with, especially at City Dock where business owners are dealing with some major flooding."And Dock Street right here and Compromise Street right next to us, those are some of the first to flood," said Annapolis Office of Emergency Management Deputy Director David Mandell.Flood waters are covering parts of City Dock after Tropical Storm Ophelia dumped more than three inches of water, shutting down a popular street. "This is definitely something that doesn't happen every day or even every year," Mandell said. "But we've seen plenty of times over the years with flooding in Annapolis."Flood waters swept through downtown Annapolis overnight caused by heavy rain, high waters and wind gusts.Annapolis emergency management says high tide made its way in around 1 a.m. Sunday, and the water hung around for much of the day.Those in the area told WJZ that weather like this isn't new, but they feel for the businesses battling the flood waters. "They're just totally beholden to the weather," Annapolis resident Kirk Young said. "I mean, nobody is going to open today, total loss of revenue. Nobody can park these poor cars. I think they're gonna end up being towed out of here. It's just a lost weekend."
Remnants of Ophelia still drenching the Northeast but improvements are slowly on the way– The remnants of what was once Tropical Storm Ophelia are continuing to bring gusty winds and rain to the Northeast and New England, and while wet weather made for a slow morning commute, improvements are on the way for millions across the region.Time-lapse video recorded in New Bern, North Carolina, shows how high the storm surge got when then Tropical Storm Ophelia approached the region. Flooding was reported up and down the mid-Atlantic coast as the storm made landfall on Saturday, September 24, 2023.Ophelia made landfall near Emerald Isle, North Carolina, early Saturday morning as a strong tropical storm and caused widespread flooding and power outages from the mid-Atlantic to the Northeast. The storm then pushed farther inland later Saturday and into Sunday.Rain from the remnants of Ophelia stretched nearly 300 miles from the Philadelphia metro area to New England on Monday morning, but clearing is on the way. The effects of what was once Tropical Storm Ophelia are still being felt in the Northeast after the storm walloped the mid-Atlantic over the weekend.It was a slow morning commute for millions of people in the Northeast due to the gusty winds and rain, and a slow evening commute is also expected as the system meanders in the region. The FOX Forecast Center expects what’s left over from the circulation of Ophelia will be offshore in the Northeast by Monday night and will begin to fall apart during the day on Tuesday.An additional few inches of rain from Ophelia is expected in the Northeast and New England.
Remnants of Ophelia, Supermoon enhance flood risk along East Coast again – The sun made a brief appearance Wednesday along parts of the East Coast that have seen several days of gloomy weather, but it’s going to be short-lived as a high pressure system over Quebec works in conjunction with the remnants of what was once Tropical Storm Ophelia return to bring more heavy rain and coastal flooding to the region.The renewed rain is only adding to the nearly five days of wet weather in places likeNew York City, Providence, Rhode Island and Atlantic City, New Jersey. But rain isn’t the only concern as the weather again takes a turn for the worse. Strong onshore winds will trigger more coastal flooding, coming on the heels of days of heavy surf pounding the shores from the mid-Atlantic to the Northeast since Tropical Storm Ophelia made landfall in North Carolina last Saturday. Some streets in Atlantic City, New Jersey, were submerged in water Tuesday night as the remnants of what was once Tropical Storm Ophelia continue to spin offshore and bring impacts to the mid-Atlantic and Northeast. "Unfortunately, the rain is going to return," FOX Weather meteorologist Britta Merwinsaid. "It’s back for the end of the workweek into the first half of the weekend."After it has been meandering off the East Coast for days, the remnants of Tropical Storm Ophelia will head back to the north and once again bring rain to coastal areas from southern New England to Virginia on Friday.The rain could be heavy at times, which could lead to minor flash flooding as the ground has been so saturated recently that it simply cannot support much more rain. Generally, the FOX Forecast Center expects about an inch or two of rain for most areas, but much of it could come in a short period of time. There are also parts of eastern Pennsylvania, including the Philadelphia area, that could see higher rain amounts of 2-3 inches. Some locally higher amounts are also possible.Wind will also be an issue along the coast, with winds gusting to around 30 mph in many areas. Those winds, along with the rough surf and high tide, could lead to more coastal flooding in areas that have already experienced it. Coastal flooding is expected from the Carolinas to the Jersey Shore in the days ahead, and some locations could even reach major flood stage, resulting in water inundating streets and neighborhoods closer to the shoreline.One of those places is Charleston, South Carolina, which already saw flooding as Ophelia neared the coast last week. Power outages could also be a concern as another round of rough weather kicks up. "Wind is at least going to be some sort of issue on the ground, as we know because it has not stopped raining. Hardly, anyway," said FOX Weather meteorologist Adam Klotz. "The ground is saturated, so winds could very easily take down a couple of trees and take down power lines. Power outages could be an issue as you're looking at winds 20, 30 mph."The flooding is only expected to be enhanced by the upcoming full Moon – the final Supermoon of 2023. The other two Supermoons occurred in July and twice in August. The full Moon leads to higher tides than normal because it’s at its closest point to Earth.The Supermoon only makes the tides run even higher.Flood alerts are in effect up and down the East Coast from the mid-Atlantic to the Northeast. Coastal Flood Advisories are in effect in southern New Jersey, including Atlantic City, and the state of Delaware.
Flash Flood Warnings cover New York City, flooding subways and streets amid torrential rain slamming Northeast - As of 9:30 AM on Friday, ‘dangerous and life-threatening’ flooding is underway in New York City from torrential downpours slamming the Northeast. Continuous coverage has moved here. – A life-threatening situation is unfolding in the New York City tri-state area Friday as heavy rains from the remnants of Tropical Storm Ophelia lash the already heavily saturated region, with "numerous" instances of flash floodingexpected across the area.The entire New York City area was under Flash Flood Warnings on Friday morning as the Big Apple was drenched by several inches of relentless rain, flooding subway stations in Brooklyn and causing massive system-wide disruptions."There are major disruptions to subway service, especially in Brooklyn," Metropolitan Transportation Authority said.Meanwhile, hundreds of miles of coastline from New England to the Southeast are on alert as tidal flooding impacts coastal communities from to combined effects of remnants of Tropical Storm Ophelia and king tides from the final Supermoon of 2023.The remnants of Ophelia, combined with an approaching upper-level disturbance, is bringing heavy rains and triggering a flash flooding threat for millions in the Northeast and New England into the weekend. The highest threat of flash flooding is focused across most of central and northern New Jersey, the New York City tri-state area, New York’s Hudson Valley and southernConnecticut.A water rescue was reported in Port-au-peck located within Oceanport in Monmouth County, New Jersey, after a vehicle was submerged in water, according to storm reports.Flash Flood Warnings are in effect for the New York City area until at least 11:30 a.m. ET. Some areas have already received over 3-5 inches of rain, and the rate of rainfall is expected to continue at up to 2 inches per hour.
New York stunned and swamped by record-breaking rainfall as more downpours are expected (AP) — One of New York’s wettest days in decades left the metropolitan area stunned and swamped Friday after heavy rainfall knocked out several subway and commuter rail lines, stranded drivers on highways, flooded basements and shuttered a terminal at LaGuardia Airport for hours.Some 8.65 inches (21.97 centimeters) of rain had fallen at John F. Kennedy Airport by nightfall Friday, surpassing the record for any September day set during Hurricane Donna in 1960, the National Weather Service said.Parts of Brooklyn saw more than 7.25 inches (18.41 centimeters), with at least one spot recording 2.5 inches (6 centimeters) in a single hour, according to weather and city officials.More downpours were expected Saturday. The deluge came two years after the remnants of Hurricane Ida dumped record-breaking rain on the Northeast and killed at least 13 people in New York City, mostly in flooded basement apartments. Although no deaths or severe injuries have been reported, Friday’s storm stirred frightening memories.Ida killed three of Joy Wong’s neighbors, including a toddler. And on Friday, water began lapping against the front door of her building in Woodside, Queens.Within minutes, water filled the building’s basement nearly to the ceiling. After the family’s deaths in 2021, the basement was turned into a recreation room. It is now destroyed.Gov. Kathy Hochul and Mayor Eric Adams declared states of emergency and urged people to stay put if possible. But schools were open, students went to class and many adults went to work, only to wonder how they would get home.Virtually every subway line was at least partly suspended, rerouted or running with delays. Metro-North commuter rail service from Manhattan was suspended for much of the day but began resuming by evening. The Long Island Rail Road was snarled, 44 of the city’s 3,500 buses became stranded and bus service was disrupted citywide, transit officials said.“When it stops the buses, you know it’s bad,” Brooklyn high school student Malachi Clark said after trying to get home by bus, then subway. School buses were running, but they transport only a fraction of public school students, many of them disabled.
Violent Atlantic storm Agnes to impact Ireland and the UK mid-week - Storm Agnes formed on September 25, 2023, as the first named system of the 2023/24 North Atlantic storm season. Agnes is set to bring severe winds and waves to Ireland and the UK on Wednesday, September 27, 2023. Forecasters are particularly concerned due to unusually high sea surface temperatures in the Atlantic, which are contributing to the storm’s rapid intensification. Agnes formed from the remnants of Tropical Storm “Ophelia” which recently impacted the U.S. East Coast. These types of weather systems often transition into intense extratropical cyclones as they move over the North Atlantic. The cyclone development process usually involves three key phases: a tropical phase, an extratropical transition, and a final re-intensification phase. Agnes is forecast to experience a rapid deepening of its central pressure, falling around 20 hPa within a 24-hour timespan, just before making landfall in Ireland and the UK on September 27. Higher-than-normal sea surface temperatures in the Atlantic are contributing to Agnes’s potential intensity. The Atlantic Ocean’s temperatures this September range from 29 to 31 °C (84 – 88 °F) across the tropical western Atlantic, and from 20 to 24 °C (68 – 75 °F) from the Northwest Atlantic towards the Bay of Biscay. These elevated temperatures are expected to remain, increasing the likelihood of further intense tropical and extratropical development in the coming weeks and potentially also months as we head into the next Winter Season, Marko Korosec of the Severe Weather Europe noted. Given its current track and intensification, Storm Agnes poses a significant threat to shipping across the Bay of Biscay from Tuesday night into Wednesday. Authorities are advised to take necessary precautions.
New study definitively confirms gulf stream weakening - The Gulf Stream transport of water through the Florida Straits has slowed by 4% over the past four decades, with 99% certainty that this weakening is more than expected from random chance, according to a new study.The Gulf Stream—which is a major ocean current off the U.S. East Coast and a part of the North Atlantic Ocean circulation—plays an important role in weather and climate, and a weakening could have significant implications."We conclude with a high degree of confidence that Gulf Stream transport has indeed slowed by about 4% in the past 40 years, the first conclusive, unambiguous observational evidence that this ocean current has undergone significant change in the recent past," states the journal article, "Robust weakening of the Gulf Stream during the past four decades observed in the Florida Straits," published inGeophysical Research Letters.The Florida Straits, located between the Florida Keys, Cuba, and The Bahamas, has been the site of many ocean observation campaigns dating to the 1980s and earlier. "This significant trend has emerged from the dataset only over the past ten years, the first unequivocal evidence for a recent multidecadal decline in this climate-relevant component of ocean circulation."The Gulf Stream affects regional weather, climate, and coastal conditions, including European surface air temperature and precipitation, coastal sea level along the Southeastern U.S., and North Atlantic hurricane activity."Understanding past Gulf Stream changes is important for interpreting observed changes and predicting future trends in extreme events including droughts, floods, heat waves, and storms," according to the article. "Determining trends in Gulf Stream transport is also relevant for clarifying whether elements of the large-scale North Atlantic circulation have changed, and determining how the ocean is feeding back on climate.""This is the strongest, most definitive evidence we have of the weakening of this climatically-relevant ocean current," said Chris Piecuch, a physical oceanographer with the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, who is lead author of this study.The paper does not conclude whether the Gulf Stream weakening is due to climate change or to natural factors, stating that future studies should try to identify the cause of the weakening.
Mexico’s Jalisco hit by deadly flash floods - The flash floods that hit a community of about 200 inhabitants in the municipality of Autlán de Navarro in the state of Jalisco, Mexico, have had a devastating impact. Initial assessments indicate eight fatalities and three individuals still unaccounted for. The catastrophe also caused extensive damage to five homes, a school, and several roads. According to Jalisco’s Civil Protection, the calamity was triggered by the abrupt rise of the El Jalocote stream on September 25. Emergency personnel were able to assess the damage after the water levels receded later that day. The preliminary report documented seven fatalities, nine missing persons, and three individuals successfully rescued. An updated report corrected these numbers to eight fatalities and three missing individuals. The flooding has also resulted in significant infrastructural damage. Five homes and a school in the area have been severely affected, along with multiple roads. Rescue operations, aided by dogs, drones, and a medical helicopter, are still underway in the area as emergency services work diligently to find the missing individuals and assess the full extent of the damage. Juan Ignacio Arroyo Verastegui, a local civil protection official, indicated that deforestation and a fire that occurred earlier in the year had severely impacted the wooded area around the stream. These factors could have contributed to the severity of the flash flooding event, although this connection has not been definitively proven.
El Naranjo River bursts, destroying homes and causing evacuations in Guatemala City - Heavy rain caused the El Naranjo River to break its banks in the early hours of September 25, 2023, near Guatemala City. The flash floods destroyed six homes in the shantytown of Dios Es Fiel, claiming at least six lives and leaving 12 others missing. Following the catastrophic flooding caused by the overflowing El Naranjo River, rescue operations are in full swing in the Dios Es Fiel settlement located in Zone 7 of Guatemala City. By late September 25, authorities confirmed the discovery of six bodies. An additional 12 individuals remain missing, intensifying the urgency of ongoing search and rescue efforts led by the country’s disaster agency, CONRED. The rainfall recorded overnight from September 24 to September 25 was the catalyst for the river’s breach. Several families have been displaced from their homes, taking refuge in emergency accommodations. Apart from destroying six residences in the shantytown, the rushing water exacerbated the precarious living conditions of residents already burdened by economic struggles. Addressing the nation, President Alejandro Giammattei expressed his profound concern and solidarity with those affected. “Preliminarily there are deaths, missing people, and damage to homes,” the President said. Multiple units of firefighters and CONRED personnel, assisted by sniffer dogs, initiated their operations early on September 25. Guatemala struggles with a 59% poverty rate and a significant housing deficit, which according to the Guatemalan Chamber of Construction and the ANACOVI builders’ association, stands at about 2 million units. Such deficits contribute to the proliferation of informal settlements in locations susceptible to natural disasters. The persistent heavy rainfall in Guatemala has also affected other regions. On September 22, five workers died when a building site collapsed due to rain in the San Cristóbal neighborhood, San Pedro Yepocapa in Chimaltenango Department. CONRED disclosed that, during the current rainy season, at least 32 individuals have lost their lives in over 800 rain-related incidents across the country.
Motorway between Sweden and Norway shut down after massive landslide - On the morning of September 23, 2023, a large landslide caused the collapse of a motorway stretch between Gothenburg in Sweden and Oslo in Norway. The landslide has resulted in three injuries and is currently under police investigation. The incident took place near the small Swedish town of Stenungsund and has significantly impacted the E6 motorway in both directions. Early Saturday, a landslide tore through the E6 motorway near Stenungsund, a small Swedish town located between Gothenburg and Oslo. The severe damage extends from a petrol station car park to a Burger King restaurant, overturning lorries and collapsing the restaurant’s roof. In total, approximately 10 vehicles were affected, along with an adjacent forest and commercial area. The affected area covers a large diameter of 500 m (1 640 feet), stated August Brandt, a police spokesperson. Specifically, the most severely damaged section measures 100 m x 150 m (330 x 500 feet). However, the overall damaged area spans 700 m by 200 m (2 300 x 650 feet), according to emergency services. Three individuals sustained injuries in the landslide. Search and rescue teams, along with specially trained dogs, are combing through the collapsed roadway for any additional victims. Emergency services also aided in rescuing several people trapped inside their vehicles. Swedish police have opened an investigation into “aggravated public destruction,” although there is currently no definitive link between the ongoing construction project in the vicinity and the motorway’s collapse. Investigators plan to question construction site staff about any possible correlation between the landslide and nearby blasting works.
Three dead, over 1 300 require medical care as dust storms hit Iran’s Sistan-Baluchistan - At least three people died and more than 1 300 sought medical help as dust storms swept across Iran’s Sistan-Baluchistan province from September 20 to 22, 2023. Reduced visibility caused by the storms led to fatalities, according to state reports. Dust storms in Iran’s southeastern Sistan-Baluchistan province, affecting residents of five adjacent towns near the Afghanistan border, resulted in at least three fatalities over a span of three days and 1 346 individuals treated for various health issues, mainly respiratory, heart, and eye ailments. Environmental experts said the increasing frequency and intensity of dust storms in Iran is associated with overgrazing, deforestation, and the excessive use of river water. These causes contribute to the drying up of wetlands, which in turn leads to more frequent dust storms in the southern regions of Iran. The reduced water flow in the shared Helmand River has also heightened diplomatic tensions between Iran and Afghanistan. While Tehran blames a dam constructed by Afghanistan for limiting water flow into a border-straddling lake, Kabul attributes the decreased water levels to climate-related factors. Sistan-Baluchistan has had a history of water shortages and was recently hit by a severe heatwave during late July and early August 2023. Last month, around 1 000 people were treated in hospitals because of health issues triggered by high temperatures and dust storms.
An El Niño winter is coming: What could that mean for the US? | CNN — Fall has only just begun, but it’s not too soon to look ahead to winter, especially since this one may look drastically different than recent years because of El Niño.This winter will be the first in a few years to feel the effects of the phenomenon, which has a sizable impact on the weather during the coldest months of the year.El Niño is one of three phases of the El Niño Southern Oscillation, which tracks water temperature changes in the equatorial Pacific Ocean that can have rippling effects on weather patterns around the globe. The El Niño phase occurs when these ocean temperatures are warmer than normal for an extended period.This year’s El Niño began in June, is expected to be strong this winter and last at least into early next spring, according to NOAA’s Climate Prediction Center.El Niño’s cooler counterpart, La Niña, played a huge role in the past three winters across the US, keeping the South dry while parts of the West received a lot of much-needed snow.Early winter predictions from the Climate Prediction Center have many of the hallmarks of typical El Niño winters, auguring changes to come.No two El Niño winters are the same, but many have temperature and precipitation trends in common.One of the major reasons is the position of the jet stream, which often shifts south during an El Niño winter. This shift typically brings wetter and cooler weather to the South while the North becomes drier and warmer, according to NOAA.Because the jet stream is essentially a river of air that storms flow through, they can move across the South with increased frequency during an El Niño winter. More storms means more precipitation, typically from the southern Plains to the Southeast. This could be crucial for states like Texas, Louisiana and Mississippi plagued by drought.A wetter southern tier and a drier northern tier in an outlook for this winter from the Climate Prediction Center have all the fingerprints of an El Niño winter.The combination of cooler weather and more frequent precipitation may also increase the chances for wintry precipitation like freezing rain, sleet and snow to fall in the South.El Niño typically leads to a milder winter in the North, from the Pacific Northwest to the Rockies, Plains and Midwest. Individual storms can still form and deliver bouts of brutal cold or heavy snow to these regions, but they are typically less frequent.This would be bad news for portions of the Midwest also dealing with extreme and exceptional levels of drought, and for snowpack in the Pacific Northwest – a key water source for the region.
Over a 95% chance of El Niño this winter. What does that mean for Indiana? - — The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Climate Prediction Center is anticipating El Niño to remain in place this winter.The center has forecasted over a 95% chance of an El Niño from January through March. Next year will be the first time an El Niño pattern will be present during the winter months — December to February — since the 2018-2019 season, which was a fairly weak El Niño.El Niño and La Niña are phases in the El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) climate pattern. During an El Niño phase, warmer-than-average temperatures set up off the western South American coastline due to weak trade winds. This acts as a domino effect for the jet stream through much of the Pacific region.In a typical El Niño pattern, the moisture feed coming off of the Pacific Ocean tends to shift further south than its neutral position. Drier-than-average conditions are usually set up in the Midwest including Indiana.With regards to temperatures, above-average temperatures usually straddle the northern United States, while spots in the southeast remain cooler than normal.Eight of the last 10 winters in central Indiana have produced below-normal snowfall, and 21.2 inches is the December to February average.In the winter of 2022-2023, central Indiana finished with below-average snowfall and above-normal temperatures.NOAA’s official winter outlook is released sometime in mid-October. Stay tuned to see if its prediction is in line with what a typical El Niño pattern produces in the U.S.In August, the Old Farmer’s Almanac called for a “cold, snowy” winter in Indiana. Meanwhile, its counterpart, the Farmers’ Almanac, predicted a “cold, stormy” winter for our area.
PNW winter outlook from NOAA: How will El Niño impact Oregon, Washington?– For the first time in years, an El Niño winter is upon us. That means this year’s winter outlook, release by the Climate Prediction Center, looks a little different than it has in several years, especially for Oregon and Washington. The last three winters have been dominated by La Niña, which typically means a dry winter in the southern half of the country and colder, wetter conditions in the Pacific Northwest. But that’s not the case this year, as a strong El Niño looks very likely to stick with us through early next year. This year the CPC, which is part of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, is forecasting above-normal temperatures across the northern United States through the winter months. ING The best chance for a warmer-than-normal winter to occur in the Northeast, the Pacific Northwest and the upper Great Lakes states. For the southern half of the country, the temperature outlook for December, January and February shows that there’s an equal chance for temperatures to be normal, above normal or below normal. The Climate Prediction Center is forecasting drier-than-normal conditions for much of the northern United States between December and February. In particular, the Pacific Northwest and the Midwest have the best chance for drier than normal winter months. While the North experiences a drier-than-normal winter, the majority of the South looks like it may see a wetter winter. Southern California, the Southwest, Gulf states and much of the East Coast are leaning toward more precipitation than normal. The warmer ocean water then increases the potential for rainfall in areas like Southern California through Texas and even into the southeastern U.S. In a typical El Niño winter, the Polar jet stream sets up slightly further north, which makes for warmer-than-normal temperatures in the northwestern part of the country. A persistent Pacific jet stream sets up over the South, which brings increased rainfall for the majority of the Deep South including portions of the Southeast. The Tennessee River Valley tends to run drier-than-normal from an El Niño setup. But El Niño’s impacts aren’t guaranteed.
Food prices are rising as countries limit exports. Blame climate change, El Nino and Russia’s war – How do you cook a meal when a staple ingredient is unaffordable? This question is playing out in households around the world as they face shortages of essential foods like rice, cooking oil and onions. That is because countries have imposed restrictions on the food they export to protect their own supplies from the combined effect of the war in Ukraine, El Nino’s threat to food production and increasing damage from climate change. For Caroline Kyalo, a 28-year-old who works in a salon in Kenya’s capital of Nairobi, it was a question of trying to figure out how to cook for her two children without onions. Restrictions on the export of the vegetable by neighboring Tanzania has led prices to triple. Kyalo initially tried to use spring onions instead, but those also got too expensive. As did the prices of other necessities, like cooking oil and corn flour. “I just decided to be cooking once a day,” she said. Despite the East African country’s fertile lands and large workforce, the high cost of growing and transporting produce and the worst drought in decades led to a drop in local production. Plus, people preferred red onions from Tanzania because they were cheaper and lasted longer. By 2014, Kenya was getting half of its onions from its neighbor, according to a U.N. Food Agriculture Organization report. At Nairobi’s major food market, Wakulima, the prices for onions from Tanzania were the highest in seven years, seller Timothy Kinyua said. Some traders have adjusted by getting produce from Ethiopia, and others have switched to selling other vegetables, but Kinyua is sticking to onions. “It’s something we can’t cook without,” he said. Tanzania’s onion limits this year are part of the “contagion” of food restrictions from countries spooked by supply shortages and increased demand for their produce, said Joseph Glauber, senior research fellow at the International Food Policy Research Institute. Globally, 41 food export restrictions from 19 countries are in effect, ranging from outright bans to taxes, according to the institute. India banned shipments of some rice earlier this year, resulting in a shortfall of roughly a fifth of global exports. Neighboring Myanmar, the world’s fifth-biggest rice supplier, responded by stopping some exports of the grain. India also restricted shipments of onions after erratic rainfall — fueled by climate change — damaged crops. This sent prices in neighboring Bangladesh soaring, and authorities are scrambling to find new sources for the vegetable. Elsewhere, a drought in Spain took its toll on olive oil production. As European buyers turned to Turkey, olive oil prices soared in the Mediterranean country, prompting authorities there to restrict exports. Morocco, also coping with a drought ahead of its recent deadly earthquake, stopped exporting onions, potatoes and tomatoes in February.
Brazil sets up task force for unprecedented drought in Amazon -minister (Reuters) - Brazil's government is preparing a task force to provide emergency assistance to inhabitants in the Amazon region hit by a severe drought that has impacted the rivers that are their life support, Environment Minister Marina Silva said. Low river levels and hotter waters have killed masses of fish seen floating on river surfaces, contaminating the drinking water, she said. "We have a very worrying situation. This record drought has disrupted river transport routes threatening food and water shortages, and a large fish mortality is already beginning," she told Reuters in an interview. Some 111,000 people have been affected in a region where a much of the population's protein comes from fishing, which will be suspended for some time, she added. The civil defense agency warned that the drought could eventually impact up to 500,000 people in the Amazon. The Port of Manaus website said the Rio Negro's water level fell by an average of 30 centimeters (11.8 inches) a day since mid-September and stood at 16.4 meters (54 feet) on Wednesday, about six meters below its level on the same day of last year. The federal task force would be airlifted by the Air Force to the states of Amazonas and Acre with water, food, medicines and other resources, Silva said. The government also allocated 140 million reais ($27.76 million) to dredging rivers and ports in the region to keep transport flowing when water levels drop, she added. The drought in the Amazon, like the flooding in the south of Brazil, results from the El Niño phenomenon, which warms the surface water in the Pacific Ocean. This year the impact has been greater than normal, weather experts say.
Experimental forecast calls for ‘super’ El Niño by winter - The Washington Post -- A fast-forming and strengthening El Niño climate pattern could peak this winter as one of the most intense ever observed, according to an experimental forecast released Tuesday. The new prediction system suggested it could reach top-tier “super” El Niño strength, a level that in the past has unleashed deadly fires, drought, heat waves, floods and mudslides around the world. This time, El Niño is developing alongside an unprecedented surge in global temperatures that scientists say has increased the likelihood of brutal heat waves and deadly floods of the kind seen in recent weeks. Whether — and where — this El Niño might produce new weather extremes is difficult to pin down months in advance, scientists said. That’s because research has not clarified any link between human-caused planetary warming and El Niño, or its counterpart, La Niña. Variation among El Niño events also makes weather impacts difficult to predict. Warming ocean waters point to a developing El Niño weather pattern for 2023. The Post's Scott Dance breaks down what this means for future forecasts. (Video: John Farrell/The Washington Post) There are signs that rising temperatures could increase El Niño’s capacity to trigger heavy rainfall in some parts of the globe, though, said Yuko Okumura, a research scientist at the University of Texas. Climate models have for months suggested the potential for an intense El Niño that could trigger floods, heat waves and droughts. The phenomenon is marked by a surge of warmth in surface waters along the equator in the eastern and central Pacific Ocean. The warmer those waters become, and the more they couple with west-to-east flowing winds over the Pacific, the stronger the El Niño and its influence on global weather. NOAA scientists declared the pattern’s arrival in June, by which point there were already signs of unusual warming in the Pacific and other waters around the world. As global ocean and surface temperatures surged into record territory in the months that followed, official predictions of El Niño’s intensity have solidified. NOAA’s climate forecasters this month estimated the chance of a strong El Niño pattern by winter in the Northern Hemisphere at 71 percent. Its current strength is moderate. A forecast that the National Center for Atmospheric Research issued Tuesday was even more bullish, using a new prediction system to prognosticate that the coming winter could bring a super El Niño, with strength rivaling the historic El Niño of 1997-1998. That winter brought extreme rainfall to California and Kenya, and intense drought to Indonesia. Advertisement “We might be facing a similar winter coming up,” said Stephen Yeager, a project scientist at the center who helped lead the forecasting. “This is one plausible future.” The model predicts this El Niño will be a little less intense than the last super El Niño, which occurred in 2015-2016. That El Niño was tied to severe coral bleaching in the Great Barrier Reef, record cyclones in the Pacific, drought and fires in Australia, a historic snowstorm along the Mid-Atlantic coast and disease outbreaks around the world.
Long-lasting La Niña events more common over past century --Multiyear La Niña events have become more common over the last 100 years, according to a new study led by University of Hawai'i (UH) at Mānoa atmospheric scientist Bin Wang. Five out of six La Niña events since 1998 have lasted more than one year, including an unprecedented triple-year event. The study was published in Nature Climate Change."The clustering of multiyear La Niña events is phenomenal given that only ten such events have occurred since 1920," said Wang, emeritus professor of atmospheric sciences in the UH Mānoa School of Ocean and Earth Science and Technology.El Niño and La Niña, the warm and cool phases of a recurring climate pattern across the tropical Pacific, affect weather and ocean conditions, which can, in turn, influence the marine environment and fishing industry in Hawai'i and throughout the Pacific Ocean. Long-lasting La Niñas could cause persistent climate extremes and devastating weather events, affecting community resilience, tourist industry and agriculture.Determining why so many multiyear La Niña events have emerged recently and whether they will become more common has sparked worldwide discussion among climate scientists, yet answers remain elusive.Wang and co-authors examined 20 La Niña events from 1920-2022 to investigate the fundamental reasons behind the historic change of the multiyear La Niña. Some long-lasting La Niñas occurred after a super El Niño, which the researchers expected due to the massive discharge of heat from the upper-ocean following an El Niño. However, three recent multiyear La Niña episodes (2007–08, 2010–11, and 2020–22) did not follow this pattern.They discovered these events are fueled by warming in the western Pacific Ocean and steep gradients in sea surface temperature from the western to central Pacific."Warming in the western Pacific triggers the rapid onset and persistence of these events," said Wang. "Additionally, our study revealed that multiyear La Niña are distinguished from single-year La Niña by a conspicuous onset rate, which foretells its accumulative intensity and climate impacts."
Study explores supergiant iceberg's huge impact on surrounding ocean surface --The melting of the supergiant iceberg A-68 had a huge impact on the ocean around South Georgia, in sub-Antarctica, and significantly changed the Southern Ocean's temperature and saltiness, with potentially major consequences for this ecologically significant region. These results are published this week in the journal Geophysical Research Letters.In 2020, A-68—a supergiant iceberg about the size of Luxembourg that calved from the Larsen C ice shelf in 2017—drifted very close to South Georgia before starting to break up, releasing huge quantities of fresh, cold meltwater in a relatively small region.Researchers from British Antarctic Survey and University of Sheffield used satellite data to observe how the melting iceberg affected the temperature and saltiness, or salinity, of the top few centimeters of theocean surface.They observed the meltwater caused extreme anomalies in the temperature and saltiness of the waters at the ocean surface, of magnitudes that have not been reported for any previous iceberg disintegration so far. Researchers recorded temperatures up to 4.5°C colder than average. The salinity was reduced by more than 10 psu (a way of measuring the amount of salt in water) meaning the surface ocean became around two-thirds of its normal saltiness.This "signal" from the melted iceberg eventually extended well beyond South Georgia; it was carried by ocean currents to form a long plume that stretched up to more than 1,000km across the South Atlantic—roughly the distance from Land's End to John O'Groats.The meltwater signal also took a long time to disappear—it was still visible more than two months after the iceberg disintegrated.These changes to the physical conditions at the ocean surface have important links to the biological conditions. For example, meltwater contains dissolved iron which stimulates the growth of microscopic plants called phytoplankton that form the base of the ocean's food web.However, this meltwater can also have negative impacts, altering the temperature, salinity and nutrient conditions that many of the Southern Ocean's inhabitants are adapted to thrive in.
Glaciers are becoming smaller and disappearing, finds new inventory -The Western United States is losing its glaciers. A new inventory from Portland State University researchers show that someglaciers have disappeared entirely, some no longer show movement, some are too small to meet the 0.01 square kilometer minimum and some are actually rock glaciers—rocky debris with ice in the pore spaces. Andrew Fountain, a geology professor emeritus at Portland State University, and research assistant Bryce Glenn, inventoried glaciers and perennial snowfields in the western continental U.S. using aerial and satellite imagery between 2013 and 2020. The inventory, published in the journal Earth System Science Data, identified 1,331 glaciers and 1,176 perennial snowfields.It updates a mid-20th century inventory, derived from U.S. Geological Surveytopographic maps made over a 40-year span, and provides a baseline for estimating future changes amid a warming climate."Glaciers are disappearing and this is a quantification of how many around us have disappeared and will probably continue to disappear," Fountain said.The new inventory excludes 52 of the 612 officially named glaciers because they are no longer glaciers. The official names are those listed in the federal Geographic Names Information System—the nation's repository for the names and locations of landscape features. Milk Lake Glacier in Washington's Mt. Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest and Wyoming's Hooker Glacier have disappeared altogether; 25 were instead classified as perennial snowfields, which unlike glaciers don't move; 18 had areas smaller than the commonly used threshold of 0.01 square kilometers or roughly the size of two football fields side-by-side; and seven were considered rock glaciers.The loss of glaciers impacts more than aesthetics. Glaciers act as a natural regulator of stream flow, Fountain said. They melt a lot during hot dry periods and don't melt much during cool rainy periods. As glaciers shrink, they have less ability to buffer seasonal runoff variations and watersheds become more susceptible to drought. Retreating glaciers also leave behind sharp, steep embankments on either side, which can collapse and result in catastrophic debris flows. Globally, the loss of glaciers is also a major contributor to sea level rise.
Antarctic winter sea ice hits 'extreme' record low - (Reuters) - Sea ice that packs the ocean around Antarctica hit record low levels this winter, the U.S. National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC) said on Monday, adding to scientists' fears that the impact of climate change at the southern pole is ramping up. Researchers warn the shift can have dire consequences for animals like penguins who breed and rear their young on the sea ice, while also hastening global warming by reducing how much sunlight is reflected by white ice back into space. Antarctic sea ice extent peaked this year on Sept. 10, when it covered 16.96 million square kilometers (6.55 million square miles), the lowest winter maximum since satellite records began in 1979, the NSIDC said. That's about 1 million square kilometers less ice than the previous winter record set in 1986. "It's not just a record-breaking year, it's an extreme record-breaking year," said NSIDC senior scientist Walt Meier. NSIDC in a statement said that the figures were preliminary with a full analysis to be released next month. Seasons are reversed in the Southern hemisphere with sea ice generally peaking around September near the end of winter and later melting to its lowest point in February or March as summer draws to a close. The summer Antarctic sea ice extent also hit a record low in February, breaking the previous mark set in 2022.
Near-surface permafrost could be nearly gone by 2100, scientists conclude - Most of Earth's near-surface permafrost could be gone by 2100, an international team of scientists has concluded after comparing current climate trends to the planet's climate 3 million years ago. The team found that the amount of near-surface permafrost could drop by 93% compared to the preindustrial period of 1850 to 1900. That's under the most extreme warming scenario in the latest report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.By 2100, Earth's near-surface permafrost, within the upper 10 to 13 feet of the soil layer, may exist only in the eastern Siberian uplands, Canadian High Arctic Archipelago and northernmost Greenland—just like it did in the mid-Pliocene Warm Period.The research, published Aug. 28 in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, was led by Donglin Guo of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and Nanjing University of Information Science & Technology. Scientists from the United States, Russia, United Kingdom, Germany, Japan, Canada, The Netherlands, France and Sweden collaborated in the research."Our study indicates dramatically smaller-than-present near-surface permafrost extent in the geological past, under climate conditions analogous to those expected if global warming continues unabated," the authors write.Professor emeritus Vladimir Romanovsky of the University of Alaska Fairbanks Geophysical Institute is among the co-authors. Romanovsky is a leading scientist in permafrost research."The loss of this much near-surface permafrost over the next 77 years will have widespread implications for human livelihoods and infrastructure, for the global carbon cycle and for surface and subsurface hydrology," Romanovsky said. "This research rings yet another alarm bell for what is happening to Earth's climate."
New research reveals extreme heat likely to wipe out humans and mammals in the distant future -A new study shows unprecedented heat is likely to lead to the next mass extinction since the dinosaurs died out, eliminating nearly all mammals in some 250 million years time.The research, published in Nature Geoscience and led by the University of Bristol, presents the first-ever supercomputer climate models of the distant future and demonstrates how climate extremes will dramatically intensify when the world's continents eventually merge to form one hot, dry and largely uninhabitable supercontinent.The findings project how these high temperatures are set to further increase, as the sun becomes brighter, emitting more energy and warming the Earth. Tectonic processes, occurring in the Earth's crust and resulting in supercontinent formation would also lead to more frequent volcanic eruptions which produce huge releases of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, further warming the planet.Mammals, including humans, have survived historically thanks to their ability to adjust to weather extremes, especially through adaptations such as fur and hibernating in the cold, as well as short spells of warm weather hibernation.While mammals have evolved to lower their cold temperature survivable limit, their upper temperature tolerance has generally remained constant. This makes exposure to prolonged excessive heat much harder to overcome and the climate simulations, if realized, would ultimately prove unsurvivable."The newly-emerged supercontinent would effectively create a triple whammy, comprising the continentality effect, hotter sun and more CO2 in the atmosphere, of increasing heat for much of the planet. The result is a mostly hostile environment devoid of food and water sources for mammals."Widespread temperatures of between 40 to 50° Celsius, and even greater daily extremes, compounded by high levels of humidity would ultimately seal our fate. Humans—along with many other species—would expire due to their inability to shed this heat through sweat, cooling their bodies."Although human-induced climate change and global warming is likely to be a growing cause of heat stress and mortality in some regions, research suggests the planet should largely remain habitable until this seismic landmass change in the deep future. But when the supercontinent forms, findings indicate only somewhere between 8% and 16% of land would be habitable for mammals.
Asteroid 2023 SL5 flew past Earth at 0.1 LD - A newly-discovered asteroid designated 2023 SL5 flew past Earth at a distance of 0.13 LD / 0.00035 AU (51 864 km / 32 227 miles) from the center of our planet at 07:54 UTC on September 20, 2023. This is the 65th known asteroid to fly past Earth since the start of the year and the 12th so far this month. 2023 SL5 was first observed at Catalina Sky Survey, Arizona on September 21 — one day after it made the close approach. The object belongs to the Aten – a relatively rare – group of asteroids. Named after asteroid 2062 Aten, the first of its kind, Aten asteroids have semi-major axes smaller than Earth’s but are still greater than one Astronomical Unit (AU). This means that they orbit the Sun within a radius closer to the Earth’s own orbit, but may still cross Earth’s orbital path at certain points, making them significant from both a scientific and hazard-assessment perspective. Its estimated diameter is between 4.6 and 10 m (15 – 33 feet).
Rare red auroras seen as far south as France - The Coronal Mass Ejection (CME) that was launched on September 22, 2023, hit Earth’s magnetic field on September 24 at 20:43 UTC, sparking a moderate G2 – Moderate geomagnetic storm and rare red auroras. Initially detected in Canada where magnetometer readings spiked by 129 nT, the event later became visible across Europe, reaching as far south as France. CME arrived with a force much greater than anticipated, causing immediate geomagnetic disturbances. European skywatchers reported the rare occurrence of red auroras, visible even to the naked eye in some locations, including France and Scotland. In Canada, magnetometer needles recorded an abrupt increase by as much as 129 nanoTesla (nT), signifying the onset of a G2-class geomagnetic storm. This was significantly higher than the storm’s initial forecasts had predicted. In Europe, the geomagnetic activity led to the appearance of red auroras, a rare and often elusive phenomenon. Nicolas Drouhin, a photographer in Burgundy, France, captured the intense, albeit brief, red aurora that lasted for approximately 5 minutes. Observers in Scotland and Iceland also confirmed the visibility of the red glow. Red auroras are a product of atomic oxygen at the top layer of Earth’s atmosphere. These atoms, excited by solar wind or a CME, emit their red photons at an extremely slow pace. The radiative lifetime of this transition is around 110 seconds, making these auroras particularly fragile and difficult to observe.
Extensive methane gas leakage from the deepest seabed of the Baltic Sea discovered -- During a research expedition led by Linnaeus University and Stockholm University to the deepest parts of the Baltic Sea in the Landsort Deep researchers recently discovered an area with extensive emissions of the powerful greenhouse gas methane from the bottom sediments. The area where the methane leak was discovered is located in the Landsort Deep (Landsortsdjupet), about 30 kilometers southeast of the coastal town Nynäshamn. "We know that methane gas can bubble out from shallow coastal seabeds in the Baltic Sea, but I have never seen such an intense bubble release before and definitely not from such a deep area," says Christian Stranne.The research project aims to expand knowledge about methane and its sources and sinks in the oxygen-free environments in the deeper parts of the Baltic Sea. The project is led by Marcelo Ketzer, professor of environmental science at Linnaeus University."Knowledge about the factors that control how much methane is produced in these deeper areas and where the methane goes is limited. How does the system react to, for example, eutrophication or a warmer climate? I knew from one of my previous projects that the methane levels in the sediments in this area are higher than elsewhere in the Baltic Sea, but I never expected methane to bubble out into the sea in this way," says Marcelo Ketzer.The researchers determined the area's extent to be about 20 square kilometers (equivalent to almost 4,000 football pitches) and it lies at a depth of around 400 meters. During the expedition, a large number of sediment cores and water samples were collected, and now the researchers hope that further analyses will be able to provide answers to why so much methane gas is released from this specific area."We already have a pretty good idea of why it looks the way it does. The size of the sediment grains in the area and the form of the seafloorgive us an indication. It seems like deep ocean currents are causing sediments to accumulate in this particular area, but we need to do more detailed analyses before we can say anything definitive," says Marcelo Ketzer.
‘Staggering’ green growth gives hope for 1.5C, says global energy chief | Green economy The prospects of the world staying within the 1.5C limit on global heating have brightened owing to the “staggering” growth of renewable energy and green investment in the past two years, the chief of the world’s energy watchdog has said.Fatih Birol, the executive director of the International Energy Agency, and the world’s foremost energy economist, said much more needed to be done but that the rapid uptake of solar power and electric vehicles were encouraging.“Despite the scale of the challenges, I feel more optimistic than I felt two years ago,” he said in an interview. “Solar photovoltaic installations and electric vehicle sales are perfectly in line with what we said they should be, to be on track to reach net zero by 2050, and thus stay within 1.5C. Clean energy investments in the last two years have seen a staggering 40% increase.”But Birol also noted that greenhouse gas emissions from the energy sector were “still stubbornly high”, and that the extreme weather seen around the world this year had shown the climate was already changing “at frightening speed”.The IEA, in a report entitled Net Zero Roadmap, published on Tuesday morning, also called on developed countries with 2050 net zero targets, including the UK, to bring them forward by several years.The report found “almost all countries must move forward their targeted net zero dates”, which for most developed countries are 2050. Some developed countries have earlier dates, such as Germany with 2045 and Austria and Iceland with 2040 and for many developing countries they are much later, 2060 in the case of China and 2070 for India.Cop28, the UN climate summit to be held in Dubai this November and December, offered a key opportunity for countries to set out tougher emissions-cutting plans, Birol said.He wants to see Cop28 agree a tripling of renewable energy by 2030, and a 75% cut in methane from the energy sector by the same date. The latter could be achieved at little cost, because high gas prices mean that plugging leaks from oil and gas wells can be profitable.But Birol warned that the geopolitical situation, with many nations at loggerheads over the war in Ukraine, and still frosty relations between the US and China, would make for a difficult summit.He said: “The most important challenge [to limiting temperature rises to 1.5C above pre-industrial levels] is the lack of international cooperation. Cop28 is a critical juncture, and should send a strong signal to energy markets that governments are taking the climate seriously. They should move to reduce the consumption of unabated fossil fuels.” my comment: r j sigmund @zerosquaredl Fatih Birol is wrong on this; in fact, it's the full cycle carbon footprint of that “staggering” growth of renewable energy and green investment itself that will propel us over the 1.5C warming limit...
'False promise': DOE's carbon removal plans rankle community advocates - The Biden administration has championed carbon removal projects as better neighbors than the pollution-spewing industries of the past. But the Department of Energy’s first two candidates for its $3.5 billion direct air capture program have conducted an opaque early outreach process in the disadvantaged Louisiana and Texas communities where the projects would be built. Some residents and advocates say they feel shut out of a process that was intended to protect them. Battelle Memorial Institute and Occidental Petroleum Corp. are the project owners for the two selected DAC hubs in Calcasieu Parish, La., and Kleberg County, Texas. DOE announced last month that it was opening negotiations that could result in the two companies each receiving upward of $500 million in federal dollars. That’s a massive shot in the arm for a new industry that aims to suck carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere and store it permanently — in this case in underground injection sites. But environmental justice groups in those areas say the announcement came as a surprise. They say DOE and the two companies did scant outreach before the projects were selected and worry the window for the public to have its say has already effectively closed. “I think they’re working backwards,” said Elida Castillo, program director of Latino activist group Chispa Texas. Castillo is based in Corpus Christi, not far from the proposed Texas DAC site. “They’ve selected this location, and now the community engagement begins.” Direct air capture and carbon capture are crucial parts of President Joe Biden’s plan to slash the country’s planet-warming pollution and reach net-zero emissions by 2050. But the administration’s efforts to quickly deploy the technologies have created tension with environmental justice groups, which say such projects would prolong the life of the fossil fuel industries that have blighted low-income minority communities for decades. DOE has promised to make “two-way” engagement with would-be host communities a hallmark of the DAC hub program, offering citizens a chance to give input on project design and on local benefits from the projects. Brad Crabtree, who heads the department’s Office of Fossil Energy and Carbon Management, stressed that point during this month’s Climate Week in New York City. “It’s no longer good enough to have a public hearing or a community meeting and say, ‘Here’s our plans, this is the project’ and then start the project,” he said. “That doesn’t work anymore. Companies and governments need to go in before project designs are even finalized, before engineering studies are completed, before there are even permit applications, and engage with communities to find out what their interests and concerns are.”
Idaho's Snake River dams could help phase out fossil fuels - Tearing down dams could save Western rivers — and also make climate change worse --Deep in the bowels of Idaho’s Brownlee Dam, Neal Lincoln is ready to offer a demonstration.Almost 40 feet below the surface of the Snake River — whose waters originate in Yellowstone National Park, then cascade down the Rocky Mountains and course across Idaho — Lincoln makes a call to the power plant control room. The narrow hallway where we stand waiting is chilly, the air dank and the floor covered with leakage from the river.A siren goes off. A minute later there’s a long whooshing sound from behind an imposing metal hatch, as the control room fires up the hydroelectric turbine on the other side — the largest hydro turbine operated by Idaho’s largest power company.Here in the narrow hallway, it’s getting louder and louder, the walls rattling and rumbling. There are no fossil fuels being burned, no coal or oil or natural gas heating the planet and filling the air with pollution. Just hydropower, which forms the backbone of the Gem State’s electric grid and has allowed Idaho Power to pledge 100% clean energy by 2045.It’s an unprecedented green ambition in a deep-red state — or a greenwashing sham, depending on whom you ask.Energy reporter Sammy Roth and a team of visual journalists spent a week in Idaho trying to find out: Are hydropower dams a valuable source of climate-friendly energy? Or a fish-killing monstrosity that should be torn down? (Video by Jessica Q. Chen and Maggie Beidelman / Los Angeles Times)Brownlee is one of 17 hydroelectric dams owned by Idaho Power on the Snake River and its tributaries. These artificial river-stoppers, and others operated by the federal government, have devastated salmon and steelhead trout populations, blocking many of their historical spawning grounds and depriving Indigenous tribes of fish central to their nourishment and cultures.Those harms, and others, aren’t unique to Idaho.Across the American West, dams have reshaped ecosystems for the worse, raising water temperatures, diminishing downstream flows and driving fish species toward extinction. From Grand Coulee Dam on the Columbia River to Hoover Dam on the Colorado, reservoirs have fueled toxic algae blooms, increased evaporation and flooded land that was home to Native Americans for millennia.As far as some tribal and environmental activists are concerned, many of those dams never should have been built.Maybe they should even be dismantled.
EVs are a climate solution with a pollution problem: Tire particles - Tires shed tiny particles with every rotation. Tire wear happens most dramatically during rapid acceleration, braking, and sharp turns, but even with the most conservative driving, particulate pollution is an unavoidable consequence of car use. And it’s a problem that’s poised to get worse as drivers transition to EVs. Emissions Analytics found that a single car sheds almost nine pounds of tire weight per year, on average. Globally, that amounts to six million metric tons of tire pollution annually, with most of it coming from wealthier countries where personal car use is more prevalent. The amount of tire pollution emitted per vehicle is increasing as more electric cars hit the road around the world — some 14 million of them this year, according to the International Energy Agency. EVs tend to be significantly heavier than gas-powered or hybrid cars due to their larger, heftier batteries. The average battery for an EV on the market today is roughly 1,000 pounds, with some outliers approaching 3,000 pounds — as much as an entire gasoline-powered compact car. Emissions Analytics has found that adding 1,000 pounds to a midsize vehicle increased tire wear by about 20 percent, and also that Tesla’s Model Y generated 26 percent more tire pollution than a similar Kia hybrid. EVs’ more aggressive torque, which translates into faster acceleration, is another factor that creates more tire particulate mile for mile, compared to similar internal combustion engine cars. Tire particulate is a toxic slurry of microplastics, volatile organic compounds, and other chemical additives that enter the air, soil, and water around trafficked areas. The rubber, metals, and other compounds coming off tires settle along roads where rain washes them into waterways. Smaller bits of tire particulate linger in the air, where they can be inhaled, and the smallest of this particulate matter — known as PM 2.5, because each particle is 2.5 micrometers or less — can directly enter the bloodstream. A 2017 study estimated that tire wear is responsible for 5 to 10 percent of oceanic microplastic pollution, and 3 to 7 percent of airborne PM 2.5 pollution. One particularly concerning chemical in tires is 6PPD, which is added to virtually all tires to prevent rubber from cracking. But in the environment, 6PPD reacts with ozone to become 6PPD-quinone, a substance that has been linked to salmon die-offs in the Pacific Northwest. A 2022 study confirmed the compound isalso lethal to rainbow trout and brook trout.Further research has shown that the chemical is absorbed by edible plants like lettuce and has the potential to accumulate in them. A study in South China found both 6PPD and 6PPD-quinone in human urine samples. The human health effects of the chemical are not yet understood, but other chemicals found in tires have been linked to problems ranging from skin irritation to respiratory problems to brain damage.
Electric big rigs are going farther and charging faster - There’s only one way to know if electric trucks can really replace diesel-fueled trucks: load them up with cargo, put them on the road and collect the data to see how far they can go.That’s exactly what 10 freight depots in North America have been doing over the past two weeks. And so far, the data indicates that the latest electric medium-duty and heavy-duty trucks are increasingly ready to handle a lot of North America’s freight-hauling needs.The data comes from trucks participating in Run on Less – Electric Depot, a three-week-long test-drive event organized by the North American Council for Freight Efficiency, a nonprofit research group. Back in 2021, NACFE did its first electric truck test, and the findings showed that the vehicles available then were capable of handling the shorter-haul routes of about100 miles or less that make up roughly half of all daily freight movement in the U.S. This round of tests indicates that today’s trucks can go quite a bit further, Mike Roeth, NACFE’s executive director, said during a Monday livestream showcasing early results. In fact, the range and the recharging speeds of the 21 trucks being tracked have roughly doubled compared to the fleets NACFE tracked in 2021, he said.“This gives us real data, real-world experience to look into the future a bit — and I think the future of battery electric commercial trucks is bright,” he said.Medium- and heavy-duty trucks make up less than 5 percent of vehicles on the road, but theyaccount for about 7 percent of overall U.S. emissions. Heavy-duty trucks in particular account for around 70 percent of the emissions from medium- and heavy-duty vehicles, and an even greater share of harmful air pollution, the latter of which disproportionately affects lower-income areas and communities of color.After decades of exploring options such as compressed natural gas and biofuels, experts have turned their focus to battery-electric vehicles as the most efficient and cost-effective means of cleaning up emissions from trucking. California set a goal earlier this year mandating that its fleet of 1.8 million commercial trucks convert to emissions-free vehicles over the next two decades, and a dozen other states have passed laws or are exploring similar goals. But longer-haul routes remain a challenge for electric trucks, due to the ever-greater size and weight of batteries needed to move heavy cargoes long distances, and a lack of high-speed charging to keep them moving on tight schedules.
Biden makes case that climate, labor interests can go hand in hand as auto strike fuels attacks - President Biden is making the case that fighting climate change can create jobs, countering a key Republican narrative surrounding the autoworker strike. The president’s GOP opponents have sought to paint climate action as a job-killer, seizing on concerns over worker pay in the transition to electric vehicles in light of the ongoing United Auto Workers (UAW) strike. But Biden, who has argued throughout his presidency that efforts to combat climate change can go hand in hand with workers’ interests, underlined that stance this past week in both words and actions. He created a climate-jobs program that is expected to, in its first year, employ 20,000 people in jobs to fight climate change and protect the environment. Biden also launched a Partnership for Workers’ Rights alongside Brazil’s president. One of the issues the partnership aims to address is “advancing worker-centered approaches to the clean energy transition.” “As I’ve told labor from the very beginning: When I think of climate change, I think of jobs,” Biden said in remarks announcing the labor partnership. His comments starkly contrast recent rhetoric from his GOP rivals on the issue. Former President Trump, looking to court Michigan voters, has repeatedly bashed Biden’s electric vehicle policies, saying on social media that they will ensure “the Great State of Michigan will not have an auto industry anymore.” Other Republicans have also chimed in. Sen. JD Vance (R-Ohio) wrote in a recent op-ed that “those who have claimed there will be a ‘just transition’ to EVs should visit Northeast Ohio for a glimpse into the industry’s bleak future.” “Up the road from the once-iconic Lordstown Assembly Complex, where 15,000 union workers once assembled millions of cars, now stands a battery plant that employs a fraction of the workers at a fraction of the wages,” he added.
Ford taps the brakes on Biden's EV push - Ford has hit pause on building an electric vehicle battery plant in Michigan, adding fuel to the larger political and economic battle over President Joe Biden’s climate goals.The $3.5 billion facility would be the first to manufacture next-gen lithium, iron and phosphate batteries on U.S. soil — a major boon for Biden’s twin goals of slashing planet-warming pollution and boosting domestic manufacturing. It would also employ some 2,500 unionized workers — a key feature for a labor-friendly president.Ford’s decision to halt work on the plant comes as the United Auto Workers approaches week three of its strike against the company, along with General Motors and Stellantis. Auto workers are demanding higher wages to make up for years of employee concessions to management, amid a shift to EVs that threatens a long-term erosion of UAW jobs.The union characterized the pause as a “shameful, barely veiled threat by Ford to cut jobs,” writes Hannah Northey.“Closing 65 plants over the last 20 years wasn’t enough for the Big Three, now they want to threaten us with closing plants that aren’t even open yet,” UAW President Shawn Fain said.The facility also looms large in Republican messaging against Biden’s green agenda. GOP lawmakers object to Ford’s plan to use Chinese battery technology, and many are calling for a permanent cancellation of the plant, write James Bikales and Kelsey Tamborrino. So are some residents of Marshall, Mich., who launched a lawsuit to halt the facility earlier this year, citing potential environmental impacts to the Kalamazoo River.Ford stopped short of offering a concrete reason for the pause, but said work on the facility would resume when company leadership is confident in “our ability to competitively operate the plant.”Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s office tied the move to the UAW strike.“Ford has been clear that this is a pause, and we hope negotiations between the Big 3 and UAW will be successful so that Michiganders can get back to work doing what they do best,” Whitmer’s press secretary Stacey LaRouche said.Today, Biden joined a group of striking autoworkers on a picket line in Michigan, telling them through a megaphone that they “deserve a significant raise.”
Ford battery plant delay emboldens Hill critics - Ford Motor Co.’s decision to halt construction of a controversial $3.5 billion electric vehicle battery plant in Michigan is empowering critics of the project, even as supporters downplay the severity of the automaker’s move. Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia, chair of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, hailed Ford’s decision to stop work on the plant in Marshall, Mich. The facility would use technology from China-based Contemporary Amperex Technology Co. Ltd. (CATL), the world’s largest producer of lithium iron phosphate (LFP) batteries. Manchin, who has repeatedly raised concerns about incentives tied to the Inflation Reduction Act, which he helped craft, benefitting CATL through working with Ford. “Sen. Manchin has been clear that projects seeking federal support should not be dependent on Chinese technology, and he believes this is the correct course of action on the part of Ford and hopes they will drop all ties to CATL,” Sam Runyon, a spokesperson for the senator, said Tuesday. Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) has also called on Ford to change course. And Rep. Mike Gallagher (R-Wis.), chair of the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party, said Monday he saw the delay as Ford taking a “crucial first step” to reevaluating its pans. “Ford needs to call off this deal for good,” Gallagher said. President Joe Biden joins striking United Auto Workers on the picket line. President Joe Biden joins striking United Auto Workers on the picket line Tuesday. | Evan Vucci/AP Photo Michigan has been thrust into the spotlight this week with President Joe Biden making history Tuesday as the first sitting president to join workers on strike. Former President Donald Trump is also visiting the state Wednesday in a bid to win over working class voters in the swing state. Ford added to that attention Monday after announcing it was pausing work on its well-publicized Marshall project after weighing a “number of considerations” but stopped short of providing details or clarifying whether the ongoing United Auto Workers strike had swayed its decision. Democratic proponents of the project about 100 miles west of Detroit, including Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and Rep. Debbie Dingell, are betting on its completion. “We have been fighting hard to keep auto manufacturing here in Michigan and bring back jobs that have been shipped overseas, and the Ford Marshall EV Plant is evidence of that,” Dingell said in a statement.
Strike lines become the front line in EV war - Many of the Republican presidential candidates are offering the same message to striking autoworkers: Kill President Joe Biden’s plan to dramatically expand the electric vehicle market. That position promises to be a theme at the second GOP debate Wednesday as seven candidates compete for airtime with former President Donald Trump, who is skipping the nationally broadcast debate to hold a rally in Michigan near the lines of striking autoworkers. The Republican push against electric cars comes as both parties throw themselves into a political brawl in hopes of winning union votes. Trump’s narrow Michigan victory in 2016 paved his path to the White House — something he hopes to replicate. “Joe Biden’s draconian and indefensible Electric Vehicle mandate will annihilate the U.S. auto industry and cost countless thousands of autoworkers their jobs,” Trump said Tuesday in a statement. “The only thing Biden could say today that would help the striking autoworkers is to announce the immediate termination of his ridiculous mandate.” At least three other GOP candidates have described Biden’s EV policies as economic euthanasia. Former Vice President Mike Pence said the United Auto Workers strike was a result of “Bidenomics and their green energy, electric vehicle agenda.” “This drive toward electric vehicles, driving people away from gasoline-powered vehicles, any autoworker that’s paying attention would know that’s not in their long-term interest,” he said last week in an appearance on CNBC’s “Squawk Box.” Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) said while campaigning in Iowa last week that eliminating the administration’s EV push would create more jobs. “With respect to the auto industry and the autoworkers, one of the things that’s a big threat to that is Biden’s push to impose electric vehicle mandates,” DeSantis told KCCI television in Des Moines. “The reality is that’s not where the market is. We want to preserve the ability of automakers to actually produce the type of vehicles that people want to buy.” North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum (R) blamed Biden for what he said are policies that would weaken American car companies. He argued that “we’re going to be dependent on China for our transportation needs.” The union strike lines are now the front lines in the presidential race. Trump will not only try to outmaneuver his Republican opponents, but also Biden, who climbed onto a small stage of wooden pallets Tuesday to show solidarity with strikers at a General Motors Co. plant near Detroit.
'Not a fan': UAW workers give thumbs-down to Biden's EV plan - — Autoworkers aren’t just turned off by electric vehicles because they might kill their jobs. They also don’t want to purchase them, and aren’t buying into either party’s approach to electrification — a view that signals political risks for both President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump, the Republican presidential front-runner. In interviews across the country Monday, many striking members of the United Auto Workers said they would likely shun EVs because of charging worries and the vehicles’ high prices. While some said they were inclined to credit Biden for walking the picket line Tuesday, others said union members are deeply divided on presidential candidates. “We’ve got a lot of people that are frustrated, just with all of them,” said Aaron Westaway, a unit bargaining representative, referring to the broader political landscape. He is part of UAW Local 900, which covers the Ford Motor Co.’s Michigan Assembly Plant in Wayne, on the outskirts of Detroit. Advertisement Westaway said he supported Biden’s visit to Michigan to draw attention to the union’s ongoing strike, but noted that there’s an overall frustration with politicians among union workers. “Nobody’s happy with Trump, nobody’s happy with Biden,” he added. To gauge autoworkers’ opinions on EVs, E&E News visited the picket lines at Big Three auto plants in three states and interviewed almost two dozen workers. Along with Ford’s assembly in Michigan, there were visits to two parts warehouses — one belonging to General Motors Co. in Roanoke, Texas, northwest of Dallas, and another of Stellantis NV in Beaverton, Ore., outside Portland. The workers’ attitudes are consequential not just for the future of EVs and of the 146,000 employees at the country’s three biggest legacy automakers represented by the UAW, but could affect who controls the White House, considering the influence of unions in battleground states like Michigan. Biden considers his moves to support EVs — chiefly the billions of dollars of subsidies to build charging stations and manufacture EVs and their batteries in 2021’s bipartisan infrastructure law and last year’s Inflation Reduction Act — as a key administration achievement that increases American competitiveness versus China and combats climate change. Trump — who is scheduled to visit Michigan on Wednesday — is seeking the support of autoworkers in that swing state on the argument that EVs will kill jobs. He is slated to deliver a speech that is counterprogramming to a Republican primary presidential debate, being held at the same time in California. Biden on Tuesday visited a GM picket line in Belleville, Mich., to express solidarity with the UAW, a union that historically has been aligned with Democrats but so far has withheld its endorsement in the presidential race. Speaking through a bullhorn at the GM redistribution center, the president credited the UAW with saving the auto sector in the past and making sacrifices. “Now they’re doing incredibly well,” said Biden. “And guess what? You should be doing incredibly well, too.” UAW President Shawn Fain, asked at the event about the union’s stance on EVs, said, “it’s got to be a just transition, where it has our labor standards in there, not paying poverty wages and not a race to the bottom, and it’s currently driving a race to the bottom.” Biden was asked whether he supported a 40 percent raise for UAW workers, a number that automakers have called a nonstarter. Biden said simply “yes.” Union workers are seeking a broad portfolio of improvements to their contract, including better wages, cost-of-living increases and an end to wage tiers that disadvantage more recently hired employees. They were encouraged, but not necessarily won over, by Biden’s visit. Meanwhile, they held views of EVs that were sometimes hostile. “I’m good with the regular 87 unleaded,” said DeJhon Moore, 37, a production operator at Ford’s Michigan Assembly Plant in Wayne. “I don’t trust [EVs] to drive long distances, I’d rather just do the regular, go get some fuel and go about my day.” Aaron Franklin, an autoworker at the Wayne plant for the past three years, struck an open tone. Franklin said the shift to electrification is moving forward quickly and it’s not clear what will happen to the Wayne facility. He said he doesn’t yet drive an EV but supports technology that can reduce emissions, especially if it provides opportunity for Ford workers. Edgar Litton, 60, said he’s nearing retirement after working 35 years at the Wayne facility and decided to strike to fight for better pay and stronger pensions. When asked about Ford’s shift to EVs, Litton expressed a concern about the lack of charging infrastructure and questioned whether there would be steady supplies of power, noting that Michigan has suffered repeated outages during recent storms. The White House, the Trump campaign, GM, Stellantis and Ford did not reply to requests for comment.
Key findings in Bridge Michigan auto project | Bridge Michigan -- As automakers tap into generous public subsidies to build electric vehicle plants in Michigan, communities across the state continue to suffer from the industry’s polluted past. Bridge Michigan set out to quantify the toll unaddressed factory contamination has exacted on Michigan, and what the state can do to avoid repeating history as automakers and suppliers race toward an EV future. We found:
- As automakers and suppliers build new EV factories on rural farmland, they are leaving old, contaminated plants behind with uncertain futures and hidden perils, failing community after community.
- Taxpayers have subsidized at least $259 million in cleanups at more than 100 Michigan sites linked to the industry. The true toll is far higher, but impossible to calculate because of gaps in government data on contaminated sites.
- Record-breaking state incentives for Michigan’s new EV factories come with few environmental requirements attached, prompting fears that in the race for jobs the state will again not hold industry accountable for contaminants left behind.
- Laws limiting industry liability for contamination routinely stick taxpayers and local communities with cleanup. But the state doesn’t invest the funding to keep up, leading to an ever-growing list of dirty sites.
- Michigan has fewer people working on contaminated site cleanup today than three decades ago, when the number of known contaminated sites was nine times smaller.
- When companies discover pollution on their property, Michigan law generally does not require them to tell state regulators what they found or how it is being addressed. As a result, communities often don’t learn of environmental peril until a factory closes and the company leaves town.
- Bankruptcies have allowed automakers and suppliers to skip out on hundreds of millions in environmental liabilities. State law can’t prevent such maneuvers, but experts say Michigan could require up-front financial assurances from polluting industries to better protect communities and taxpayers.
- This fall, lawmakers say they are pursuing changes to state business incentives and contamination cleanup laws, with an eye toward holding industry more accountable.
Read our full coverage of the automotive industry’s contaminated legacy here. In the coming months, we’ll continue pursuing stories on unaddressed environmental harms of Michigan’s industrial past.
Automakers’ Electric Vehicle Lie -- The United Auto Workers are entering their third week of the first-ever simultaneous strike against the three big automakers, and for the first time, a sitting US president, Joe Biden, joined them on the picket line. Executives at General Motors, Ford, and Stellantis are pushing back on worker demands by invoking the climate crisis. They say it is impossible to give workers what they want while also making a swift transition to manufacturing electric vehicles.On September 14, Ford’s CEO Jim Farley said that the union’s demands — higher wages, better hours, an end to tiered employment, and guaranteed job security in a green energy transition — could send the company into bankruptcy. Mary Barra, the CEO of GM, said that the union’s demands are “unrealistic” and would make GM less competitive. Major outlets have echoed these claims, even arguing that the UAW’s strike will harm the environment by stalling EV production.But these corporate arguments are undercut by the fact that these companies have authorized billions in stock buybacks, special dividends, and executive compensation. The automakers could have invested that money into worker compensation and electric vehicles, but instead steered it toward stockholders.People with experience in government seem to be on their side. In 2009, Steve Rattner, President Barack Obama’s former “Car Czar” and the original negotiator of the post-2008 GM bankruptcy deal, helped force the UAW to accept $11 billion in cuts to wages and benefits. Now, Rattner claims that workers’ demands are overly audacious and could cause Democrats to lose the next presidential election. Simultaneously, corporate media has focused on how the strike could harm American consumers, while ignoring the fact that autoworkers cannot even afford to purchase the very cars that they build. Perhaps the most complex challenge to the union’s demands however, is the critique that the UAW — most of whose members support a move toward electric vehicles — will ultimately harm the environment.
Why Michigan pays a premium for EV factories | Crain's Detroit Business --When it comes to landing electric vehicle-related projects, Michigan is known to be the highest bidder.That's because the state that put the world on wheels risked being squeezed out of the electric vehicle investment boom in North America. At least that's how Michigan — and other states — have justified mammoth incentives packages for automakers reshaping their manufacturing footprints. In reality, the window to land these mega projects isn't closing as quickly as many might believe, according to industry experts, but economic developers say they are moving aggressively nonetheless."The stakes are high for Michigan," said Josh Hundt, executive vice president and chief projects officer for the Michigan Economic Development Corp. "I think for this type of investment that creates good-paying jobs and has the technology of the future, it's high stakes for any states competing. We built this industry. We're the home of this industry today, and we need to make sure that we're the home for the industry in the future."Despite the general decline of manufacturing in recent decades, Rust Belt states are still heavily exposed to the sector. Manufacturing remains the largest economic driver in Michigan, accounting for 609,000 jobs, according to the latest data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. That's 14,000 jobs shy of pre-pandemic levels and a third less than 20 years ago.What's more concerning is the reliance of the Midwest — particularly Michigan and Ohio — on transmission and engine plants, said Shea Burns, a partner at consultant AlixPartners specializing in automotive. "There is a larger concentration of powertrain plants in Michigan, Ohio, Indiana and Ontario," he said. "So, certainly from a medium to longer term, there's more to lose there from a jobs standpoint if those powertrain jobs aren't replaced with something having to do with EVs."With automakers and battery companies expected to plunge anywhere from $500 billion to $1 trillion into EVs over the next decade, states are vying to capitalize on the resurgence in domestic manufacturing. Ensuring economic security and preventing job displacement are the primary justifications for going all in on EVs, according to more than a dozen economic development officials and politicians around the U.S. and Canada interviewed for this story. But from a jobs standpoint, EVs won't come close to replacing gas cars. Internal combustion engines are composed of more than 2,000 parts — 100 times as many as an EV motor, according to the Congressional Research Service, a Washington, D.C.-based public policy research institute. "Battery packs and e-axles certainly have less labor than an engine or transmission," Burns said.
High school students launch ‘Green New Deal for Schools Campaign’ - Student organizers at 50 different high schools across the country are banding together to launch the “Green New Deal for Schools Campaign.” The hope of the campaign is to get district-wide climate policies enacted, with the ultimate goal of obtaining federal legislation to change schools across the country. The campaign has been set up by the Sunrise Movement, a youth climate justice organization that says this initiative is “in response to attacks from the Right on the American education system.” “The Green New Deal for Schools will transform public schools in America to face the climate crisis and ensure all students receive safe and high-quality education – no matter their zip code or the color of their skin,” said 17-year-old Adah Crandall, one of the leaders of the campaign. “Our generation is on the front lines of this fight and it’s time for our school districts to take real action.” The group is demanding school buildings and buses to run on 100 percent clean energy, free and healthy lunches, pathways to green jobs, climate disaster plans and curriculum about climate justice. The Sunrise Movement says they had a multi-week summer training camp to teach hundreds of high schoolers how to organize, run campaigns in schools and protest. “The Republican Party knows that they don’t have the youth vote,” said Aster Chau, another organizer for the campaign from Pennsylvania. “They’ve spent the last few years antagonizing students and teachers — eroding trust in public education — in order to distract from all of the problems they’ve created in our society. Today, we say no more — these are our schools and our futures.”
U.S. needs minerals for green tech, but planned mines could threaten water On a 107 degree morning in the mountains east of Phoenix, a miner in a hard hat plunges down the nearly 7,000-foot shaft of what may soon be the biggest underground copper mine in the United States.But for now, the Resolution Copper mine isn't taking out copper. It's taking out groundwater, at a rate of around 600 gallons per minute. Because this copper is so deep underground, in geologic formations dating back more than a billion years, the mining takes place far below the water table. The mine is removing that aquifer water so the operations don't flood. And the mine is giving away this water for free to nearby farmers, about 6 billion gallons so far. This summer, Arizona state officials declared they won't permit some new home construction in the Phoenix region because of concerns about groundwater. The region's groundwater supplies are under increasing stress from drought and climate change. But it's in that same Phoenix metro region where Resolution plans to remove groundwater for its mining operations. If the mine gets its environmental permits and begins full operations, Resolution would use billions of gallons of local groundwater and stored Colorado River water for the next 40 years.The U.S. is pushing to secure new domestic mining supplies for metals such as copper, lithium and manganese that are critical for building things like electric vehicle batteries, solar panels and other components of the energy transition away from fossil fuels. But much of the exploration and planned production of these minerals is taking place in the arid American West, where water is increasingly scarce.Mines like Resolution say they are using new technologies to extract and process minerals with less water. But researchers and Indigenous groups worry about the impacts of drawing down local aquifers as part of mining and the impacts on local water quality. Critics say that the Arizona mining sector's water usage is too lightly regulated and that much of the data on water usage is self-reported by companies.Today, with the intertwining crises of climate change and declining water supplies, the drive to unearth the West's energy transition minerals is colliding with the need to protect the water that remains, says Burke Griggs, a law professor at Washburn University School of Law who researches Western water law. "The major challenge that we're facing in the West regarding these critical minerals is," Griggs says, "is there water available to make the mining of these critical minerals feasible?" "The stakes could not be higher, because once groundwater is gone," he says, "that groundwater is not going to be coming back anytime soon."
FERC to hike scrutiny of JPMorgan power sector actions after finding link to private equity firm IIF - - J.P. Morgan Investment is an affiliate of private equity firm Infrastructure Investments Fund, called IIF US Holding 2, the owner of El Paso Electric, gas-fired power plants totaling close to 5 GW and other energy assets, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission said last week.“There is liable to be an absence of arm’s length bargaining between IIF US Holding 2 and J.P. Morgan Investment,” FERC said in its Sept. 21 decision, which will trigger higher reporting requirements and scrutiny for J.P. Morgan-related activities under the agency’s jurisdiction, such as investing in utilities and power plants.Citing FERC’s decision, Public Citizen, a consumer watchdog group, on Monday asked the Federal Reserve to investigate whether JPMorgan Chase, parent to J.P. Morgan Investment, violated the Bank Holding Company Act and the Volker Rule by owning non-banking related assets and operating a private equity company.FERC’s decision reflects the agency’s growing toughness in its tests to make sure companies in the markets it regulates, such as J.P. Morgan, don't control other ones through their investments, which could harm consumers, according to Joshua Macey, an assistant professor of law at the University of Chicago law school.Thursday’s decision on J.P. Morgan Investments follows FERC’s October 2021 finding that Evergy, a utility company, and Bluescape Energy Partners, an investment firm, were affiliated companies, said Macey, an expert in energy law and the regulation of financial institutions, among other things.In the Evergy decision, FERC said sharing board members triggered an affiliated status, even though Bluescape owns less than 10% of Evergy’s shares, the agency’s standard threshold for being deemed an affiliate.Increasingly, FERC is finding affiliations even if the 10% ownership threshold isn’t reached, according to Macey. When FERC conducts market power tests, the agency looks at affiliated entities together and aims to make sure their ability to contract with each other is limited to arm’s-length negotiations, he said. Reflecting a lack of arm’s-length distance, in its letter to the Federal Reserve board, Public Citizen said in 2018 JP Morgan Chase recommended that IIF buy 120 million Class A shares of Coastal States Wind. IIF took the advice and bought the share, according to the group. “The seller? JP Morgan Chase,” Public Citizen said. JPMorgan didn’t respond to a request for comment about FERC’s decision or Public Citizen’s request for an investigation by the Fed.FERC’s decision stems from a 2020 “change in status” and revised market-based rate filing to reflect the purchase of Xcel Energy’s Mankato power plant in Minnesota by an IIF subsidiary.In its decision, FERC said an investment advisory agreement and the partnership agreement governing the relationship between IIF US Holding 2 and J.P. Morgan Investment, and IIF 2 GP and J.P. Morgan Investment, respectively, show there is likely to be an absence of arm’s length bargaining between IIF and J.P. Morgan Investment. J.P. Morgan and J.P. Morgan Investment employees signed both sides of the agreements, FERC said.The investment advisory agreement allows J.P. Morgan Investment to make “virtually every major decision” for IIF US Holding 2, FERC said.Also, IIF US Holding 2 has no employees. “This lack of employees, and the need for J.P. Morgan Investment to execute documents on behalf of IIF US Holding 2 … indicates that IIF US Holding 2 cannot function without J.P. Morgan Investment,” FERC said.In addition, a J.P. Morgan Investment executive is on the board of an upstream owner of the Mankato power plant, which indicates that J.P. Morgan Investment may be able to exercise control over the power plant, FERC said.The commission’s decision puts on notice private investment firms that are looking to buy utility, power plant and other assets under FERC jurisdiction that they need to be careful about how they structure their relationship with their investment manager, according to Tyson Slocum, energy program director for Public Citizen. “It's pretty important, especially as private funds take a bigger and bigger role in investing in U.S. infrastructure,” he said.
Shipping industry has no easy path towards decarbonisation, UN agency says --(Reuters) - The shipping industry lacks clarity on future clean fuels and regulatory systems which is holding back companies from replacing ageing vessels amid pressure to decarbonise faster, U.N. agency UNCTAD said on Wednesday. Shipping, which transports over 80% of world trade and accounts for nearly 3% of the world's carbon dioxide emissions, has faced calls from environmentalists and investors to deliver more concrete action, including a carbon levy. "We call for global action to decarbonise shipping. However, we recognise that this is not an easy task and also the cost that can be associated with it," the agency's Secretary-General Rebeca Grynspan told a news conference in London. In its Review of Maritime Transport for 2023, the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) said it was concerned over the ageing global shipping fleet. At the start of 2023, commercial ships were on average 22.2 years old, two years older than a decade ago, according to the report. "More than half of the world’s fleet is over 15 years old," UNCTAD said. "Shipowners face the challenge of renewing the fleet without clarity regarding alternative fuels, green technology and regulatory regimes to guide ship owners and ports, while port terminals face similar challenges in vital investment decisions." In July, countries adopted a revised greenhouse gas strategy for shipping that set a net zero emissions target by or around the middle of the century, which was seen by environmental groups as not ambitious enough. Decarbonising shipping by 2050 will require large investment, and the UNCTAD report cited estimates from Norwegian risk manager DNV indicating additional annual costs of $8 billion to $28 billion to enable ships to reach that target. The industry is exploring a number of different technologies, including ammonia and methanol in an effort to move away from dirtier bunker fuel. Wind assisted propulsion is another clean energy option being looked at.
Still reliant on coal, Indiana moves slowly toward renewables — For more than 30 years, Wendy Bredhold has lived near the A.B. Brown Generating Station, where two smokestacks tower over the Ohio River. The coal-fired plant is surrounded by a crisscross of roads and rail lines hauling in supplies to keep the 265-megawatt facility running. An ash pond filled with boiler slag, chemical wastes and other toxins sits a half mile from the river. But after nearly 45 years in operation, the plant owned and operated by the electric-utility Centerpoint is shutting down its coal burners and replacing them with natural gas combustion turbines. Bredhold has pushed Centerpoint to retire its coal units for decades in her role as the state’s senior representative for the Beyond Coal Campaign operated by the Sierra Club, an environmental advocacy group. Now, that campaign is paying off. Over the next 12 years, Indiana utilities are planning to shutter as many as 20 coal-fired generation units. All of the major investor-owned utilities have announced plans to be coal free by 2035 or sooner. That follows a decade in which Indiana has seen 29 coal-fired generation units already retire. Nearly all were over 50 years old. “I have seen how much progress we’ve made,” Bredhold said. “So much of it has been from the grassroots level, from people calling on these utilities to change their ways.” Today, power companies are rapidly transitioning away from coal to natural gas and renewable energy sources. But even as plants close and solar and wind edge their way into the state’s energy portfolio, there’s no denying a stubborn fact. In Indiana, coal is still king. Last year, Indiana utilities operated 34 coal-fired power plants — the most of any state in the nation. Indiana consumed 32 million tons of coal, most of which was used for electric power generation. That’s the third-highest amount in the country, trailing only Texas and Missouri, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. Indiana is the eighth-largest coal producer in the country, but even that isn’t enough to meet demand. State utilities are still shipping in more from Kentucky, West Virginia and elsewhere to keep power plants operating. Add it all up, and coal’s share of the state’s net power generation was greater than in all but six other states last year.
SK E&S, Honeywell UOP team up to capture carbon from LNG power plants - South Korea’s SK E&S is joining forces with US tech firm Honeywell UOP to capture carbon from LNG-fueled power plants. In that regard, the two firms recently signed a joint development agreement to build a carbon capture demonstration plant, according to a statement by the unit of South Korean conglomerate SK Group. This is the first case in which the private sector will build its own dedicated facility to demonstrate carbon capture from natural gas power generation, SK E&S said. Under the agreement, the two companies plan to launch a front-end engineering design (FEED to build a carbon capture demonstration plant and discuss ways to commercialize the jointly developed carbon capture technology, it said. SK E&S said it will provide one of its power plant sites for the demonstration facility, secure government permissions, and work on engineering, procurement, and construction, while Honeywell UOP will provide its advanced solvent carbon capture (ASCC) technology. According to SK E&S, the ASCC technology is expected to significantly reduce carbon from the global power plant sector in the future. The technology captures more than 95 percent of CO2 in exhausts from fossil fuels, it said. The move is a part of the company’s plans to slash emissions at its power plants, while SK E&S also works to produce low-carbon LNG and develop CCS projects in Australia.
Georgia coal ash pond neighbors channel frustrations through proposed EPA crackdown in Alabama - Juliette resident Gloria Hammond has watched as families moved away from their homes located next to what was once the largest coal-fired power plant in the country.On Wednesday, Hammond urged the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to follow through with its rejection of Alabama’s proposed coal ash disposal rules. The agency’s denial is part of the Biden administration’s broader crackdown on sites EPA officials say fall short of federal requirements.The EPA’s decision on the Alabama Department of Environmental Management’s application also has implications for Georgia, where Georgia Power operates coal-fired power plants and manages retired plants that store toxic coal ash. The environmental community has been advocating for federal and state regulators to force Georgia Power to remove coal ash and dispose of it in lined landfills to protect groundwater.On Wednesday, the EPA held a virtual public hearing dominated by Alabama and Georgia residents opposed to loosening toxic coal ash cleanup restrictions. The federal agency is set to make a final ruling once the public comment phase concludes on Oct. 13.During the hearing, Hammond spoke about the long-term effects of living with a contaminated well and a multitude of serious health problems that many residents of the small town north of Macon say they have experienced living near Georgia Power’s Plant Scherer, which opened in 1982. “All the states in the Southeast are not being regulated right and Georgia Power and Southern Company are not doing the right thing. We are still suffering here.”Georgia Power operates 24 coal ash ponds and landfills that are regulated by the federal government, as it moves closer to retiring its fleet of coal-burning facilities. Plant Scherer is one of the sites where the utility company plans to store coal ash in unlined pits, where it is in contact with groundwater, using the controversial “cap in place” method. Georgia Power argues the coal ash has not compromised drinking water standards.
ODNR chief shrugs off claims of disputed pro-fracking comments as state weighs drilling parks - – The head of the Ohio Department of Natural Resources defended the decision to neither independently investigate nor remove from the official record disputed, pro-fracking public comments after more than 150 people said their names were used on the letters without their knowing permission.ODNR Director Mary Mertz said she was first made aware via grassroots activists in mid-July of Ohioans saying they didn’t knowingly allow anyone to attach their names to comments urging the Ohio Oil and Gas Land Management Commission to open two state parks and two protected wildlife areas to oil and gas exploration.Cleveland.com and The Plain Dealer have previously identified more than 64 people who say their names were used without their knowing permission on the letters. Save Ohio Parks, a grassroots advocacy organization organized to oppose fracking in state parks, has identified an additional 84 names. The Dayton Daily News reported it identified 10 Dayton-area peoplewho say their names were used in public comments without permission.All the letters mention Salt Fork State Park, a Guernsey County recreational area that was previously the subject of a nearly $2 billion leasing offer.ODNR itself has received at least 10 emails from people whose names appeared on public comments asking that they be taken down. Mertz downplayed the accusations as “handfuls” and minimized their relevance as to the state’s decision on whether to lease mineral rights to the parks.“In terms of internally, finding an investigator to track this down, no, not my intention at this point,” she said in an interview Monday.“So far we have heard from not huge numbers of people. At this point, it seems like it’s more handfuls of folks this has happened to. We take that into account and we’re happy to take their names off the rolls. But no, no further investigation at this point.”On Sept. 10, Cleveland.com and The Plain Dealer reported that 28 people claimed their names were used without knowing consent, promptingAttorney General Dave Yost to open an investigation into the origins of the comments. That figure included three people who emailed the commission alleging their names were used without consent.
Ohio Oil and Gas Land Management Commission can – and should – deny fracking in our public lands - By Cathy Cowan Becker, et al of Save Ohio Parks -- Ohio’s Oil and Gas Land Management Commission met Sept. 18 to discuss the fate of our beloved state parks, wildlife areas, and public lands. At issue were nine applications, called “lease nominations,” by unidentified oil and gas companies to frack Salt Fork State Park, Wolf Run State Park, Valley Run Wildlife Area, and Zepernick Wildlife Area. Filling the room were Ohio citizens opposed to oil and gas extraction on the public lands we own, use, and want to preserve for future generations. Many of us held signs that said things like “Deny All Nominations” and “It’s Not Nice to Frack Mother Nature.” We rallied, spoke, and sang songs written for this movement by Ohio singer-songwriter Jenny Morgan. This meeting took place after thousands of Ohioans had submitted public comments asking the commission to deny nominations to frack our parks — and on the heels of a bombshell report showing that hundreds of pro-fracking comments were apparently fake. Yet instead of listening to the people, the commissioners seemed mainly to do the work of the fracking industry. Repeatedly Commission Chair Ryan Richardson said the commission had been directed to open our public lands for oil and gas extraction, that the legislature had made its intent clear, that the commission did not have the authority to deny fracking on public lands. Here’s the catch — that’s not true. The commission has full legal authority to deny fracking in our state parks, wildlife areas, and public lands — and they should. The relevant statute, ORC 155.33, says the commission can “approve or disapprove” lease nominations on the basis of nine considerations, including economic benefit, environmental impact, geological impact, impact on visitors, and public comments and objections. Further, HB 507’s amendment of the statutory language to “shall lease” is no longer in effect. That language reverted back to “may lease” once the administrative rules governing how the commission operates were approved May 28. Once the commission began taking lease nominations, our all-volunteer group Save Ohio Parks started issuing action alerts that have resulted in more than 3,600 public comments submitted by Ohioans opposed to fracking in our state parks and wildlife areas.Hundreds of other people independently wrote to the commission to oppose fracking in our public lands, including former First Ladies Hope Taft and Frances Strickland. Meanwhile, other than two sets of form letters, there were less than a dozen comments in support of fracking our public lands — and as reporting by Jake Zuckerman of the Cleveland Plain Dealer showed, almost 150 people whose names were on the pro-fracking form letters said they did not write them. Most of the others could not be reached.Given that the chair of the commission deciding the fate of our state parks and wildlife areas has falsely stated several times that the commission cannot deny lease nominations, it appears the outcome of this process was determined before it began. If the commission had no choice but to allow our parks to be fracked, why did we go through a public commenting process for months, only to ignore the vast majority of the submitted comments? The fact is, this commission does have a choice. They should listen to the overwhelming majority of Ohioans whose tax dollars pay for our state parks and wildlife areas, and deny all fracking in, near, or under Ohio public lands.
Legal Strategies: Will Drilling Come Back? - Youngstown Business Journal – I am constantly asked, “Will the oil and gas shale boom ever come back to Mahoning County?” Alas, it depends on a number of tricky factors. As with any business, oil and gas drillers look for maximum profit. Just as a farmer wants to plant the most profitable crop, oil and gas companies evaluate drilling opportunities in terms of the bottom line. So, the first thing a driller considers is the price of hydrocarbons. When the value of oil is high, operators will drill in “oily” areas. When natural gas trades up, they will move into dry gas territory.The chart below illustrates the last four years of commodities pricing pursuant to New York Mercantile Exchange and WTI [Western Texas Intermediate] historical records. The natural gas liquid composite price is derived from Bloomberg’s daily spot price.Wells that came online with lots of oil in 2022 were a driller’s dream. However, hydrocarbon prices are notoriously volatile. No one, not even top executives in the oil and gas industry, can perfectly predict future commodities prices.Last summer because of the war in Ukraine, natural gas prices were in the $9 range. Because of the warm winter in the United States and Europe, natural gas prices have recently sunk to $2.60.Second, drillers also look for areas with built-in infrastructure in the form of pipelines and roads sturdy enough to support heavy drilling rigs. Back in 2010, there were few large pipes in eastern Ohio.Over the last 12 years, however, thousands of miles of pipelines have been installed in our state. Now big collection lines crisscross Harrison, Jefferson, Carroll, Belmont, Noble and Monroe counties, moving gas from wells to treatment plants and then on into larger interstate pipes.These huge lines have been laid in both directions across the state: from central eastern Ohio up through Toledo and on to Canada, and down through Cincinnati and into the Gulf of Mexico.A number of treatment plants have been built in eastern Ohio to remove natural gas liquids, such as ethane, from the gas stream. An enormous Shell ethane cracker plant has been built along the Ohio River near Monaca, Pa. Having the plant handy greatly improves the economics of Ohio shale drilling.Back in 2012, most Utica Shale drillers considered Mahoning County and most of Columbiana County to be in the “wet gas window,” believing that Utica Shale wells drilled here would produce a lot of natural gas liquids. Early wells include Halcon’s Davidson (North Jackson) and Grenamyer (North Jackson) wells; and CNX’s Cadle (North Jackson) and Hendricks (Ellsworth) wells, among others. At the time of publication, all wells were still producing, but not in the massive quantities that wells further south have produced. The Grenamyer Well, for example, has produced 26,302 barrels of oil and 824,357 MCFs of natural gas since it was drilled nine years ago. Compare that to Encino’s 2020 Williams Well in Carroll County. In only three years it has produced 138,386 barrels of oil and 1,794,993 MCFs of gas.Perhaps the comparison isn’t fair, though, because drilling technology has progressed substantially in the years between 2014 and 2020. This has caused companies to take a fresh look at areas that did not look promising in the early years of the shale play. In Columbiana County, Hilcorp continues to drill in Fairfield, Unity and Elk Run townships, while Encino has started to lease in the western townships. Importantly, one of Ohio’s biggest Utica Shale drillers, EOG Resources, through its subsidiary, R&S Operating LLC, has quietly acquired over 395,000 acres of leases on the western, oily side of the play, including rights in Mahoning County. The acquisition involved deep rights under old Clinton sandstone leases.
Analysis Shows Utica has Years More of Inventory than Marcellus -- Marcellus Drilling News - According to a recent analysis by Enverus Intelligence Research, the cost of supply for North American shale producers is expected to continue rising. The remaining top-tier shale drilling inventory across North America *could be* in shorter supply than previously estimated, says Enverus. Rampant cost inflation from the Bidenistas and declining well productivity across the U.S. shale patch are making drilling wells much more expensive. What about the situation here in the Marcellus/Utica?
Federal Court In Ohio Rules That Driller Must Establish Marketability of Each Gas Product Under Market Enhancement Clause - JD Supra -- Let’s assume you own 95 acres in Greene County, Pennsylvania. In 2019, you signed an oil and gas lease with ABC Exploration. During the negotiations, you agreed that only those post-production costs which actually “enhanced” the value of the raw gas could be deducted from your royalty. In 2023, you receive your first royalty statement from ABC Exploration. You are pleased that there are no deductions for the cost to gather, compress or dehydrate the gas. However, you are shocked that significant processing costs are being deducted from your royalty. You contact ABC Exploration for an explanation. They claim that the costs incurred to process and fractionate the natural gas liquids (“NGLs”) are deductible because they “enhanced” the value of the raw gas. According to ABC Exploration, the individual NGL purity products, such as propane, butane and pentane, do not exist until the gas is processed and fractionated at a downstream processing plant. ABC Exploration contends that all costs incurred to process and fractionate the gas, and thereby create the “new” NGL purity products, must necessarily “enhance” the value of the raw gas. You are frustrated, angry and confused. Your 2019 Lease says no costs can be deducted unless such costs enhance “the value of the marketable oil, gas or other products …” Aren’t the NGLs a separate and distinct “product” that must first be marketable before any deductions are allowed? A recent decision by the Federal District Court in Ohio suggests that ABC Exploration cannot deduct the processing and fractionation costs. This is good news for landowners with Market Enhancement Clauses. Before we address the substance of District Court’s decision, a brief primer on Market Enhancement Clauses is warranted. Many Pennsylvania oil and gas leases have what is commonly known as a “market enhancement” royalty clause (“MEC”). These MEC leases typically prohibit the deduction of any post-production costs that are incurred transforming the raw gas into a marketable product. Once gas is in a marketable form, the MEC generally allows the driller to deduct further costs only if those costs actually enhance the value of the gas product. The enhancement costs must also result in the driller obtaining a “better” price for the raw gas. In other words, the driller cannot deduct the cost of dehydrating the raw gas and then moving the gas 165 miles away to a distant buyer unless the final net sales price at that location is better than the price the driller would have received selling the gas locally. The driller must show that the purported enhancement cost resulted in a better sales price for that volume of marketable gas. See, Net-Back Method Does Not Result In Better Pricing To Justify Deductions Under Market Enhancement Clause (October 16, 2021). This makes sense. Incurring costs and receiving a “worse” price makes no sense. The key is that no post-production costs are deductible until the gas product is marketable. Despite this clear language, drillers often deduct all post-production costs regardless of whether the gas is in marketable form and regardless of whether the downstream costs actually enhanced the value of the gas product.
Pincushion America revisited: The legacy of fracking on our drinking water -Eleven years ago, I wrote about the how millions of holes drilled deep into American soil were already destined to pollute groundwater across the United States, making many areas uninhabitable to humans who rely on such water. I warned that the so-called shale oil and gas boom would make this problem dramatically worse. Now that problem has reached the news pages of southern Ohio, and this will likely just be the beginning of coverage of fracking-related damage to the country's groundwater supplies. (There has been much coverage of studies that suggest such harm is inevitable and likely happening from fracking. But, we are now shifting into the stage where the actual harm will start to be discovered—almost certainly too late to prevent contamination in many cases.)The main culprit (for now) is not the oil and gas wells themselves, but the injection wells used to dispose of huge volumes of water laced with toxic chemicals that have been injected into wells under great pressure to fracture underground rocks containing oil and natural gas in shale deposits. A lot of that water comes back to the surface and so must be disposed of. One of the easiest ways to do that is to pump it deep underground—many thousands of feet down—where it can supposedly be safely deposited away from the surface and far below drinking water aquifers used by us humans. The trouble is—as I pointed out in my piece 11 years ago—the injected wastewater doesn't necessarily stay put. And, that's the problem in southern Ohio. In the Ohio case, "the [Ohio] Division of Oil and Gas Resources Management found that waste fluid injected into the three K&H [waste injection] wells had spread at least 1.5 miles underground and was rising to the surface through oil and gas production wells in Athens and Washington counties."This is why a former EPA scientist referenced in my 2012 piece believes that groundwater practically every there is any kind of drilling will become contaminated within the next 100 years as toxic fluids migrate from working and abandoned oil and gas wells and wastewater injection wells into fresh drinking water aquifers.Part of the problem is the piecemeal regulation of oil and gas operations and wastewater injection. States do the regulation and currently face large and powerful oil and gas companies and the companies that haul their toxic fracking wastewater away. The states have a difficult time monitoring what these companies are dumping, not least of all because the composition of the fluids used to fracture shale oil and gas deposits is considered a trade secret. States cannot easily pry open the files of these companies to find out exactly what is in these fluids.The fact that companies which use hazardous chemicals that can easily get into the drinking water supply are not obliged to divulge publicly the formulas for the mixtures they inject underground ought to shock the public. But unless Congress fixes some or all of the exemptions from federal disclosure laws enjoyed by the oil and gas industry, the public will continue to be in the dark about the makeup of the waste fluids from oil and gas drilling, especially in shale oil and gas fields, and associated injection of toxic fluids deep into the Earth.Without crucial information about contaminants which threaten public drinking water supplies, regulators and the public will be shadow-boxing their oil and gas industry foes. My guess is that if companies were obliged to release their fracking formulas and be subject to analysis of the actual fracking fluids and every community was by law informed of this information and its implications for public health, regulation of these practices would be far stricter and some current practices, such as injection of wastes underground, would be banned.
Fracking Fallout: Is America’s Drinking Water Safe? by Yves Smith - After many years, concerns about the impact of fracking on aquifers are finally going mainstream.A predictable outcome of fracking, which is contamination of aquifers, may be happening on a big enough scale to get out of the so-called progressive media into the mainstream. I recall years ago photos of dirty yellow and brown water coming out of taps in parts of Pennsylvania, and even some being able to get ignition when they held a lighter near the water stream, presumably due to high methane concentrations.I would like to know where in “southern Ohio” the water problems are. Cobb links to an article in Athens County Independent from earlier in the month which also came up in a quick search. lists Athens and Washington counties in southern Ohio as afflicted areas:Four fracking waste injection wells in Athens County have temporarily suspended operations by order of the Ohio Department of Natural Resources, which says the wells present an “imminent danger” to health and the environment.On May 1, ODNR Division of Oil and Gas Resources Management ordered the suspension of a Class II injection well in Rome Township on grounds that its operator, Reliable Enterprises LLC, violated an Ohio Administrative Code section that bars operators from contaminating or polluting surface land and surface or subsurface water. In late June, three wells in Torch operated by K&H Partners were suspended on the same grounds.Applications for new Class II injection wells from both Reliable Enterprises and K&H were denied because of the suspensions. K&H’s application for a fourth well at its $43 million facility in Torch generated controversy when it was proposed in 2018.Class II wells are used to contain toxic waste from oil and gas production thousands of feet underground. The wells are intended to isolate the waste water, known as brine, from groundwater.However, the Division of Oil and Gas Resources Management found that waste fluid injected into the three K&H wells had spread at least 1.5 miles underground and was rising to the surface through oil and gas production wells in Athens and Washington counties. Note that a May article, Ohio Environmentalists, Oil Companies Battle State Over Dumping of Fracking Wastewater, describes fracking water contamination in a different Ohio county, Coshocton County.
The Sickening Toll of Fracking in Pennsylvania - Stomach-churning smells. Mysterious rashes. Never-ending headaches and nausea. Faucets that produce brown, sludgy water; water that erupts into flames at the touch of a lighter. Anxiety, uncertainty, anger, fear. These have become parts of everyday life for families living near fracking operations. And while lawmakers and regulators should be protecting these communities, they’ve bowed to powerful corporations instead. Since the start of the fracking boom, Southwestern Pennsylvania has been a hotspot for gas. Fracking companies flooded in, promising jobs, tax revenue, and community investment. But as problems mount, the truth has become clearer. Fracking threatens families’ health, wellbeing, and lives, and we need leaders to join our fight against it. In 2019, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reported on a devastating anomaly. Over the past decade, Southwestern Pennsylvania saw rates of Ewing sarcoma three times higher than normal. In human terms, that meant 27 people were diagnosed with this rare bone cancer in a small four-county area. Six lived in a single school district.The report drew attention to what folks in the region already knew — something was horribly wrong. And many community members suspected that fracking was involved.For more than a year, families and organizers called for the state to investigate. In 2020, the governor’s office finally funded two major studies. The findings were published in August. Even given all we know about fracking, the results were shocking. The study linked fracking to worse asthma attacks, lower infant birth weights, and lymphoma, a rare type of cancer. It found that children living within a mile of a fracking well are five to seven times more likely to develop lymphoma than those living further from wells. Over the years, research has linked fracking to a long list of health problems. For almost a decade, Concerned Health Professionals of New York have gathered peer-reviewed studies on fracking and health. Most recently, it counted 2,239 studies that find evidence of harm.Much of fracking’s dangers come from the fracking fluids injected deep underground to help pull trapped gas to the surface. This toxic cocktail includes water, sand, and various harmful chemicals. Out of the ones we know, over three-fourths of these chemicals harm the skin, eyes, and other organs. They also wreak havoc on our hormones, brain, heart, and more. Moreover, at least 55 chemicals used in fracking are known to cause cancer.But companies keep many of their fracking chemicals secret, as allowed by federal law. They’re considered “trade secrets”; the logic is that making them public may give competitors a business advantage. This is a prime example of lawmakers putting profit over people. We deserve to know what chemicals may be getting into our water and poisoning our air. For example, the wastewater that fracking produces not only contains fracking fluids; it’s been found to contain heavy metals and radioactive material. This waste is usually transported to a new site and “disposed of” by injecting it into wells deep underground. It’s often carried in trucks that can and havespilled, and it’s been spread on roads to deice them in the winters. The injection process and wells themselves can leak, creating yet more pathways for toxic, radioactive wastewater to contaminate the environment and threaten our health.
EPA approves permit for fracking wastewater disposal well in Plum Borough - CBS Pittsburgh (KDKA) -- The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has approved a permit for a new fracking injection well in Plum Borough after a lengthy review of the proposed project and dozens of public comments. Tucked away off Old Leechburg Road in Plum Borough sits Penneco Environmental Solutions' wastewater disposal facility. The EPA approved a permit for a conventional natural gas well at the site to be converted to a commercial disposal injection well, named SEDAT 4A. It will be the second injection well at the site. The new permit was approved despite opposition from people who live in Plum, some borough officials and environmental groups. "I wasn't surprised that the EPA approved it. Oftentimes the EPA's process is really narrowly focused on the Safe Drinking Water Act, so they are not accounting all of the local issues that we've seen on the ground with this well," said Gillian Graber, the executive director of Protect PT, a community group. People who live near the site don't want another well in their backyard. "The people that live near this site have experienced heavy air pollution events, where they have this acrid chemical smell when they open up the tanks that wafts down onto their property," Graber said. Protect PT has been voicing concerns over the wells for years. Graber said they question the integrity of the well casings and they're worried about possible water pollution. "Regionally, the biggest concern is drinking water. I think locally, the people that live on that street and live near the site, the contaminated air and truck traffic is huge. I mean, this is a rural road and there are hundreds of trucks going to and from the site," she said. According to the final permit, the well will inject into the Murrysville sandstone formation. The EPA reviewed the plans submitted by Delmont-based Penneco Environmental Solutions and there was a review of public comments, which were made in 2022. Penneco's Senior Vice President, D. Marc Jacobs, told KDKA-TV on Monday, "Penneco and the regulating authorities take very seriously the concerns of residents and borough officials" and that the "EPA has addressed all of the public concerns and inherent operational safeguards in their responsiveness summary to public comments." The EPA's response summary can be found here. The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection still has to give approval on a change of use permit and a waste transfer station permit.
'Ezell: Ballad of a Land Man' performance about fracking and belonging coming to Pittsburgh - A touring production about the complex issues around fossil fuel extraction is coming to western Pennslyvania. The story, presented by Kentucky-based Clear Creek Creative, delves into the themes of domination and resilience in Appalachia.“Ezell: Ballad of a Land Man” is described as an outdoor, eco-cultural theater, music and meal experience. It’s coming to Tree Pittsburgh’s campus along the Allegheny River from September 28 through October 1.The Allegheny Front’s Kara Holsopple spoke with artist Greg Manley of local organization Friends of the Riverfront, who helped bring the production to Pittsburgh, and Bob Martin, writer and lead performer of the title character.
- Kara Holsopple: Who is Ezell Parsons, and where did he come from?
- Bob Martin: Ezell is somebody whose family has lost their land. It’s a story that’s common to many people. Parents, family members have gotten sick, so in hard times, families had to sell off the land. And Ezell has been removed from that place of his upbringing and has been trying to find a way to get back to that place or that feeling of being connected to land, of home place, of belonging.Ezell has taken a job as a land man, a land rights speculator. As the fracking boom has come into his area and local companies are forming to try to grab land rights, oil and gas rights in anticipation of a larger commodity, Ezell, as a land man, is using his knowledge of the place and of the people who live there to try to support them in not having to sell off their land.At the same time, he’s using the money from this job to buy back his family’s land in hopes of reviving it. However, this idea of Ezell buying back his family’s land while trying to get neighbors to sell off their mineral rights is a catch-22. It’s something where the land might be destroyed despite his best intentions.
Pa. gas prices, drilling falls between April-June 2023, report says - Natural gas prices in Pennsylvania have fallen steeply, after spiking last year. In a recent report, the state’s Independent Fiscal Office said the average price for natural gas from April to June of this year fell to $1.45 per million British thermal units.That’s down from $2.25 per MMBtu in the previous quarter, and from $6.70 at the same time the previous year.And the price continues to fall. Data from July and August shows the average price was $1.16 per MMBtu.The IFO says the drop is due to the mild winter leaving a glut of gas inventory.The amount of impact fees the state collects from drillers depends on both the number of wells drilled and the price of gas. Communities where drilling happens use the money to offset the effects of the industry.The IFO said there’s been a significant slowdown in new unconventional well drilling since the middle of last year.In the 2nd quarter of 2023, companies drilled 94 wells. That’s a 29% decrease from the same period in 2022, when 133 wells were spud.Pennsylvania operators ramped up drilling last year as prices spiked and following disruptions related to the COVID-19 pandemic.But the rate of production growth has not kept pace with the new wells.Between April and June, drillers pulled 1,859 billion cubic feet of gas from the ground, an increase of 0.3% from the previous year. It was the first quarter without a year-over-year production decline since the 2nd quarter of 2022.
Appalachian gas production sinks as in-basin prices dip below $1 -- Natural gas production in the Appalachian Basin is coming under pressure as waning autumn demand in the Northeast pushes prices there to their lowest since last November. Assuming the market follows a pattern seen in recent years, though, output could see a rebound by the fourth quarter.In September, production from the Marcellus and Utica shales has averaged just under 35.1 Bcf/d – down from a nearly two-year high at 35.3 Bcf/d in August, data from S&P Global Commodity Insights showed.The downturn in Northeast gas production in recent weeks comes as no surprise to seasoned observers.Over the past three years, producers in the Appalachian Basin have dialed back output in September. In 2020 and 2021, the early autumn drop was followed by a rebound in October and continued gains through the fourth quarter. Last year, though, output dropped consecutively in September and then October before rebounding in November and dropping again in December, S&P Global data showed.This fall, as in years past, the downturn in output comes as producers in Appalachia take a hit from cooling temperatures, falling gas demand and cratering prices.Since mid-September, gas demand in the Northeast has averaged just 15.9 Bcf/d – down from over 18.5 Bcf/d in August. In addition to weaker seasonal demand, the Northeast market is also coping with added supply from an ongoing annual maintenance at Cove Point LNG. Since Sept. 20, feedgas demand at the terminal has averaged just 15 MMcf/d – down from a prior 30-day average at nearly 760 MMcf/d. Based on the facility's maintenance history, the outage could last anywhere from 21-27 days.As supply overwhelms demand, spot gas prices at Appalachia's benchmark upstream hub, Eastern Gas South, have come under increasing pressure recently, hitting lows not seen since November. On Sept. 22, cash prices there traded as low as 77 cents/MMBtu before rebounding to around $1.20 in the days following. On Sept. 28, prices there were down nearly 50 cents, or almost 40%, on the day to trade at just 80 cents, data from the Intercontinental Exchange and S&P Global showed.Over the next seven days, weaker demand will likely keep pressure on Appalachian gas prices – and, potentially, production as well. According to a week-ahead forecast, Northeast demand should average about 15.6 Bcf/d followed by a slight drop below that level in the eight- to 14-day outlook.In the forward market, traders are already anticipating more price pain ahead. Earlier this month, the October gas contract at Eastern Gas South settled as low as 99 cents/MMBtu. More recently, October prices have rebounded, settling Sept. 27 at $1.25/MMBtu, Platts M2MS forwards data showed.In October, Northeast gas demand should rebound as feedgas flows return at Cove Point LNG and as residential-commercial heating ramps up late month amid colder weather. Despite the expected gains in demand, a forecast from S&P Global shows output holding flat-to-slightly weaker in October, followed by incremental gains in November and December.
Major U.S. Shale Drillers Hedged 2H23 Gas Production Avg. $3.35 | Marcellus Drilling News - According to an analysis by S&P Global Commodity Insights, large U.S. shale gas drillers (namely Marcellus/Utica drillers) have hedged (pre-sold at a specific price) an average of 50% of anticipated shale gas production for the second half of 2023. The average price of the hedges is $3.35/Mcf, far above the average NYMEX Henry Hub price that has been bumping along between $2.25 and $2.75. CNX Resources is the top hedger, hedging 80% of its production in 2H23 at $3.04/Mcf.
A Drop in Emissions, and a Jobs Bonanza? Critics Question Benefits of a Proposed Hydrogen Hub for the Appalachian Region. - —As the federal government nears a decision on which of the nation’s proposed “hydrogen hubs” will share up to $8 billion in startup money, critics of the idea in the Appalachian region are asserting that the program would do little to curb greenhouse gas emissions or create jobs, while increasing electricity prices for consumers and businesses.The U.S. Department of Energy plans to fund six to 10 regional hydrogen hubs to produce, store and use hydrogen as an alternative fuel for industry, transportation and power generation. Two rival proposals for the Appalachian region are still in the running, with separate support from the Pennsylvania and West Virginia state governments.But at a meeting this month in Pittsburgh, detractors argued that the economic and environmental benefits of building the hubs had been overstated. “The risk that we run is pushing hydrogen and carbon capture into applications where it’s not cost-effective,’’ said Sean O’Leary, a senior researcher at the Ohio River Valley Institute, the research nonprofit that sponsored the Sept. 11 forum. He warned that the program, known as Regional Clean Hydrogen Hubs, or H2Hubs, would siphon resources from more effective efforts to arrest climate change. The adopters would be “causing ourselves to pay far more money for a half measure—something that would cost a great deal more than other solutions and do a much worse job of reducing carbon emissions without any significant economic development to accompany it,’’ O’Leary said.The hubs would generate so-called blue hydrogen, using natural gas to heat water that would then be separated into hydrogen and oxygen. Carbon generated from the gas combustion would then be captured and buried in underground spaces that would be fed by a pipeline network.Advocates of the process say it would significantly reduce carbon dioxide emissions from major sources such as power plants and transportation while creating thousands of jobs. A regional hub would particularly benefit communities suffering from the long declines in the coal and steel industries, they add, which have traditionally dominated the economies of Pittsburgh and the Appalachian region. When approached by Inside Climate News, neither of the two public-private initiatives proposing to build a hub in the Appalachian region supplied projections of the hoped-for economic impact, however. And some analysts say the Department of Energy has not only exaggerated the benefits of the program but also risks worsening greenhouse gas emissions through leakage of the methane involved in burning and distributing the natural gas—and through the escape of hydrogen itself.“The reality is that blue hydrogen is neither clean nor low-carbon,” the nonprofit Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis, or IEEFA, declared in a report released the day after the Pittsburgh event. Equally worrying, it said, “pursuing it will waste substantial time that is in short supply and money that could be more wisely spent on other, more effective investments for reducing greenhouse gas emissions in the immediate future.”
Inside the race to clean up America's abandoned oil wells -- The rig operator was stumped. He’d been making good progress, but now something blocked the way forward. Above the hole, Mong’s rig, which towered 50 feet into the air, suspended a vertical ramrod. When it dropped, the ramrod only shot 17 feet into the ground before slamming to a stop. Earlier, Mong had managed to reach more than 500 feet deeper into the well. Then this obstruction, whatever it was, sent him back to the start. Clearing it — prime suspects included metal casing, rocks, or a tree branch — would allow him to send cement and pea gravel into the hole, which reached hundreds of feet into Appalachian rock formations. Once an active oil well, now it was an environmental nuisance and the target of an ambitious federal cleanup program. The well needed to be decommissioned, along with at least 21 more spread across woodlands and fields in McKean County, Pennsylvania. The job fell to Mong and other employees of an oil service outfit called Plants & Goodwin, which specializes in plugging so-called orphan wells. Oil and gas companies are supposed to plug and clean up wells that they’ve drilled, but if they go bankrupt or otherwise disappear, that responsibility falls to the state, which then contracts with companies like Plants & Goodwin. If left festering, these wells can leak contaminants into surrounding groundwater or release methane, a greenhouse gas at least 25 times more powerful than carbon dioxide at trapping heat in the atmosphere. Uncorking a well in this part of Appalachia reveals a blend of oil and gas that has a nauseous maté color and gurgles like witch’s brew. After generations of drilling, the remnants of both vernacular backyard digs and professional oil operations pockmark the land. Since drillers operated for more than a century with little regulatory oversight, documentation of well locations is scarce and cleanup quality is inconsistent. “Until the 1970s there were no strong plugging standards in place,” said Luke Plants, who heads Plants & Goodwin. “People just shoving tree stumps down a well to plug it, or a cast iron ball or something like that.” The exact number of orphan wells nationwide is unknown. In late 2021, The Interstate Oil and Gas Commission, a multi-state organization, had more than 130,000 orphan wells on record but estimated that anywhere between 310,000 and 800,000 remained unidentified. That year the federal government took notice, folding $4.7 billion into the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act to help states handle their orphan well inventories. The first batch of that money has trickled down to states and has been distributed to contractors like Plants & Goodwin. It’s easily the most funding ever spent to address the problem, but both states and pluggers are now facing hurdles as they begin to identify and plug wells.
Siren Song of Geothermal Calls to PA Conventional & Shale Drillers -Marcellus Drilling News- As far back as July 2021, MDN began to cover the issue of geothermal energy, which uses the same technology (drilling rigs, horizontal drilling) to drill holes in the ground to circulate and warm (or cool) water underground as a “green” energy source. Geothermal is an area of interest for Marcellus/Utica shale drillers as a potential new source of revenue (see our geothermal stories here). More recently, we’ve reported on an experiment by West Virginia University and Northeast Natural Energy drilling an experimental geothermal well in WV (see WVU & NNE Drilling Test Well for CCS, Geothermal Energy). Pennsylvania is also sniffing around the geothermal concept (seePenn State Suggests Reusing Old O&G Wells for Geothermal Energy). Now comes word of a nonprofit called Project InnerSpace attempting to convince PA drillers to leave drilling for natural gas behind and enter the new nirvana of geothermal drilling instead.
Sempra's Port Arthur LNG Phase 2 Receives FERC Approval --The Port Arthur LNG Phase 2 expansion project in Texas has received permit approval from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. Image by Fahroni via iStock Sempra Infrastructure LLC’s Port Arthur LNG Phase 2 expansion project in Jefferson County, Texas, has received permit approval from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC). Sempra Infrastructure said the permit is a major regulatory milestone for the project, which includes the addition of two liquefaction trains, trains 3 and 4, that are capable of producing up to 13 million metric tons per annum (mtpa) of liquefied natural gas (LNG), the company said in a recent news release. The Port Arthur LNG Phase 2 project is under active marketing and development and “could help meet future demand for US LNG supplies expected to serve European, Asian and other global markets as countries look to enhance energy reliability and security, and displace coal in power production”, the company said. Phase 1 of the Port Arthur LNG project is currently under construction and is designed to include two natural gas liquefaction trains, two LNG storage tanks, and associated facilities. The second phase would increase the total liquefaction capacity of the facility from approximately 13 mtpa to approximately 26 mtpa. The proposed project is also expected to include an additional LNG storage tank and marine berth and would benefit from some of the common facilities currently under construction that were previously approved as part of the Port Arthur LNG Phase 1 permitting process, Sempra Infrastructure said. "Sempra Infrastructure is committed to investing in infrastructure opportunities that help enable a cleaner and more secure energy future", Sempra Infrastructure CEO Justin Bird said. "Today's FERC order is a significant step in our ability to advance the global energy transition, creating an opportunity to double the amount of secure and reliable U.S. natural gas that Port Arthur LNG can help deliver to global markets”. Sempra Infrastructure said it continues to evaluate opportunities to develop the entirety of the Port Arthur site while also exploring potential projects to reduce the carbon intensity of its LNG, aiming to position Port Arthur as a flagship hub for the energy transition. The company is leveraging the integrated capabilities of its business segments to develop the proposed Port Arthur Pipeline Texas Connector project and the proposed Post Arthur Pipeline Louisiana Connector project, and develop new gas storage facilities, all of which would serve the Port Arthur LNG facility. To further the advancement of the Port Arthur Energy Hub, the company recently acquired 38,000 acres of pore space and relevant surface rights to support the proposed Titan Carbon Sequestration project, which is near the Port Arthur LNG facility. The project targets capturing carbon from the Port Arthur LNG Phase 1 and 2 projects, and has the potential to unlock other net-zero energy infrastructure opportunities, according to the release.
FERC Wants Action to Prevent Cold Weather Grid Failure Risk | Engineering News-Record -- At its Sept. 21 meeting, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission approved four natural gas projects, while deferring two others—reinforcing an apparent impasse among agency commissioners over how they should consider greenhouse gas emissions and climate change in project review. Observers speculate that the issues spurred FERC to drop the project approvals from the agenda of its July meeting, without comment. Set to move forward is a second two-train LNG project, estimated at $13-billion, at the existing Sempra Infrastructure export terminal site in Port Arthur, Texas. Also approved was a boost in export capacity for the Calcasieu Pass LNG project in Louisiana and small increases in existing pipelines in the state and in Minnesota. The meeting also included lengthy discussion by FERC commissioners and others of action needed, including new and upgraded infrastructure, to prevent a repeat of the near-failure of some eastern U.S. electric and gas systems during extreme cold weather last December. It included those of Consolidated Edison Inc., the largest utility in New York state. During that weather event, 90,000 MW of generation was out at the same time, which represents 13% of the entire eastern interconnection—the grid system that covers two-thirds of North America (see map). Con Edison, which serves the New York City metropolitan area, took emergency action by tapping into available LNG. Gas-fired capacity accounted for 63% of the outages, followed by coal and lignite at 23%, oil at 4%, wind at 4% and nuclear, solar and hydroelectric at 1% each, according to details shared by FERC staff of a soon-to-be released outside analysis. About 10 GW of gas-fired outages occurred when gas supplies were curtailed by pipeline operators, staff said. In a statement, FERC and nonprofit North American Electric Reliability Corp. (NERC), the report author, said natural gas pipeline pressures “dropped largely because of freeze-related production declines” of Marcellus and Utica shale gas. Con Edison “faced reliability-threatening low pressures on its delivery pipelines, forcing it to declare an emergency and use its own liquefied natural gas facility to maintain service,” FERC and NERC officials said. The U.S. power system has become more reliant on natural gas, with gas-fired capacity growing 11% to 564.2 GW in mid-2023 from 508.2 GW in mid-2016, said FERC. A failure “would have been catastrophic,” Willie Phillips, the agency's acting chairman, told attendees. In a statement, the office of New York Gov. Kathy Hochul noted “very high reliability standards and safety requirements for our gas distribution system.” Jim Robb, NERC president and CEO, called for urgent action on the interdependence between bulk electric and natural gas systems, “including need for sufficient and reliable gas and electric infrastructure to sustain energy reliability.” Its analysis of the cold-weather event, including details not previously disclosed, listed 11 recommended actions to help prevent future risks. The problem is linked to the “gas/electric” conflict, said Mark Christie, a FERC commissioner. He noted that gas systems set up for retail customers are now used heavily to generate electricity. “Of course, we need more infrastructure, but the question is how to get more pipelines,” he said. Commissioner James Danly said the NERC report indicates the U.S. has failed to build enough natural gas infrastructure, largely due to agency roadblocks. Both are Republican appointees.
East Tennessee Natural Gas Looking to Support TVA’s Potential Coal-to-Gas Switch -Enbridge Inc.’s East Tennessee Natural Gas LLC (ETNG) is proposing to build a 122-mile natural gas pipeline that could add 300,000 Dth/d of firm transportation capacity to support Tennessee Valley Authority’s (TVA) long-range plan to reduce its coal fleet. FERC issued a notice of intent to prepare an environmental impact statement (EIS) for ETNG’s Ridgeline Expansion Project. The proposed project as designed would include a 14,600 hp compression station in Hartsville. A meter and regulating station would be added to receive supply from Columbia Gulf Transmission Station LLC, and ENTG plans modify existing stations that receive gas from Texas Eastern Transmission LP and Midwestern Gas Transmission Co. ENTG also plans to build 30- and 24-inch diameter pipelines across 122...
North American Natural Gas Demand Said ‘Approaching Its Peak,’ with Storage Needs Also Slipping - Natural gas demand in the United States and Canada is expected to peak in the next year, even as production remains strong and LNG exports are projected to increase through 2050, according to consultancy firm DNV.The independent risk management expert’s Energy Transition North America 2023 provides an outlook for natural gas, oil, coal and renewables to midcentury. “Currently, fossil fuels account for around 80% of energy supply in the U.S. and Canada, but this will drop to less than 50% by 2050,” the DNV researchers said. Natural gas demand in North America is set to drop by 40% by 2050, with oil down by 75% and coal consumption falling by 86%.
US weekly LNG exports down to 21 shipments - LNG Prime - US liquefied natural gas (LNG) exports declined in the week ending September 27 compared to the week before, according to the Energy Information Administration. The agency said in its weekly natural gas report that 21 LNG carriers departed the US plants between September 21 and September 27, down by seven cargoes compared to the week before.Moreover, the total capacity of these LNG vessels is 79 Bcf, the EIA said, citing shipping data provided by Bloomberg Finance.Average natural gas deliveries to US LNG export terminals decreased by 9.1 percent (1.2 Bcf/d) week over week, averaging 11.8 Bcf/d, according to data from S&P Global Commodity Insights.Natural gas deliveries to terminals in South Louisiana decreased by 3.2 percent (0.3 Bcf/d) to 7.8 Bcf/d, while deliveries to terminals in South Texas decreased by 7.4 percent (0.3 Bcf/d) to 3.7 Bcf/d.The agency said that natural gas deliveries to terminals outside the Gulf Coast decreased by 67.6 percent (0.6 Bcf/d) to 0.3 Bcf/d, while natural gas deliveries to the Cove Point LNG terminal in Maryland fell to zero this week. The Cove Point LNG facility, operated by Berkshire Hathaway’s unit BHE GT&S, has started its annual maintenance on September 20.Cheniere’s Sabine Pass plant shipped eight cargoes and the company’s Corpus Christi facility sent three shipments during the week under review.Sempra Infrastructure’s Cameron LNG terminal sent four LNG cargoes, while the Freeport LNG terminal and Venture Global’s Calcasieu Pass each shipped three cargoes during the week under review.The Elba Island LNG terminal did not send LNG cargoes this week.The price of the 12-month strip averaging November 2023 through October 2024 futures contracts declined 1 cent to $3.220/MMBtu, it said.The agency said that international natural gas futures increased this report week.Bloomberg Finance reported that weekly average front-month futures prices for LNG cargoes in East Asia increased 80 cents to a weekly average of $14.63/MMBtu.Natural gas futures for delivery at the Dutch TTF increased $1.32 to a weekly average of $12.61/MMBtu, the highest weekly average since late April, the agency said.In the same week last year (week ending September 28, 2022), the prices were $39.77/MMBtu in East Asia and $53.45/MMBtu at TTF, the EIA said.
QatarEnergy and ExxonMobil provide update on Golden Pass LNG construction - QatarEnergy and ExxonMobil released the latest construction update for their giant Golden Pass LNG export plant on the US Gulf Coast near Sabine Pass, Texas, as they work to launch the first train next year. State-owned QatarEnergy owns a 70 percent stake in the Golden Pass project with a capacity of more than 18 mpta and will offtake 70 percent of the capacity, while US energy firm ExxonMobil has a 30 percent share. A joint venture of Chiyoda, McDermott, and Zachry is building the tree Golden Pass trains worth about $10 billion next to the existing LNG import terminal. Golden Pass LNG Terminal and Golden Pass Pipeline said in the newest construction report filed with the US FERC that Golden Pass is continuing to carry out Phase I and Phase II activities, such as storm water protection, levee construction, stockpiling of material, and piling. Golden Pass and its contractors progressed installation of piping and steel in process and utilities areas, continued piping and vessels insulation activities and helical piles and piping installation for the ground flares, while concrete foundation pours continued in Train 2 and Train 3. In addition, Golden Pass progressed setting various vessels on respective foundations and progressed brownfield tie-ins. The firm also continued LNG tank tops modifications and progressed cable tray installations and cable pulling activities, and continued pipe pneumatic/hydrostatic testing program. As per the pipeline expansion project, Golden Pass continued civil and construction activities supporting milepost (MP)01 Compressor Station, Sabine Spur, Natural Gas Pipeline (NGPL) Interconnect improvements, and associated facilities.
NextDecade secures $356 mln loan for Rio Grande LNG Phase 1 (Reuters) - NextDecade said on Wednesday it has received a loan worth $356 million from a group of lenders to finance a portion of the Phase 1 of its Rio Grande liquefied natural gas (LNG) export facility in Texas. The LNG firm said the full amount was disbursed on Sept. 15, leading to lowering of its existing loan commitments for Phase 1 to under $10.8 billion from $11.1 billion. Located at Brownsville, Texas, the Rio Grande LNG export facility has been in development for several years, suffering repeated delays. The facility, with a capacity to produce 27 million tonnes per annum of LNG, received a positive final investment decision to construct the first three liquefaction trains (Phase 1) in July. The $18.4 billion committed for Phase 1 is the largest greenfield energy project financing in U.S. history.
Judge blocks government plan to scale back Gulf oil lease sale to protect whale species (AP) — A federal judge has ordered the Interior Department to expand next week’s scheduled sale of of Gulf of Mexico oil and gas leases by millions of acres, rejecting a scaled-back plan announced last month by the Biden administration as part of an effort to protect an endangered whale species. The Biden administration on Friday asked the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans to block the order issued Thursday night in Lake Charles, Louisiana, by U.S. District Judge James David Cain Jr. Environmental groups represented by the Earthjustice organization also appealed. As originally proposed in March, the Sept. 27 sale was would have made 73 million acres (30 hectares) of offshore tracts available for drilling leases. That area was reduced to 67 million acres (27 hectares) in August when Interior’s Bureau of Ocean Energy Management announced final plans for the sale. Cain’s injunction restores the original coverage area. BOEM’s revision also included new speed limits and requirements for personnel on industry vessels in some of the areas to be leased — also blocked by Cain’s order.
Appeals Court Blocks Biden Bid to Limit Oil Drilling Auction --A federal court left in place an order forcing the Biden administration to expand an upcoming sale of offshore drilling rights in the Gulf of Mexico, while giving the government more time to hold the auction. The decision by the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans late Monday was a blow to environmental groups who’d sought to swiftly reinstate auction limits they argued are essential to protect the endangered Rice’s whale. The three-judge panel ordered the auction take place no later than Nov. 8 but otherwise left in place a lower court order forcing the Interior Department to sell more territory for potential oil development. Under that order, the agency must include 6 million acres it previously had pulled off the auction block and scrap planned vessel traffic limitations in an area that may provide habitat for the species. Louisiana and representatives of the oil industry, including the American Petroleum Institute, units of Chevron Corp., and Shell Plc, had challenged the limitations, with Chevron saying they could raise the costs and time to complete projects in the region. “We are pleased that the Fifth Circuit upheld the district court’s decision to compel the Department of the Interior to reinstate the removed acreage and remove the burdensome stipulations, but this administration has once again found a way to delay oil and gas lease sales,” said Ryan Meyers, API senior vice president and general counsel. Environmentalists, who had joined the Biden administration in appealing the lower court ruling and seeking a stay of the lower court’s order, argued that oil and gas activities in the northern Gulf of Mexico pose a serious threat to the continued survival of the Rice’s whale, given estimates there are just 51 remaining. Although the Fifth Circuit panel directed the Interior Department to take “necessary actions” to implement the order and warned there would be no extension of the Nov. 8 sale deadline, the extra time allows for the court to consider the environmental groups’ appeal on its merits. “Today’s ruling denies the oil industry’s frantic attempt to rewrite the rules of the game just as the clock runs out,” said Earthjustice lawyer Steve Mashuda. “We’ll continue this fight to protect the nearly extinct Rice’s whale from needless harm from the oil industry.” A spokeswoman for the Interior Department declined to comment Monday night.
Federal Court Reinstates Six Million Acres Slashed from Upcoming GOM Natural Gas, Oil Auction - An offshore oil and gas lease sale scheduled for Wednesday (Sept. 27) in the Gulf of Mexico’s (GOM) Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) must proceed as originally planned with all 73 million acres on offer, following a preliminary injunction granted by the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Louisiana. The Department of the Interior’s (DOI) Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) announced a preliminary notice of sale for Lease Sale 261 in March. Upon publishing the final notice in August, however, BOEM said it had withdrawn six million acres from the process, citing concerns about possible impacts on the endangered Rice’s whale. In response, the State of Louisiana, the American Petroleum Institute (API) and Chevron USA Inc. filed a lawsuit and a motion for.
BOEM Complying with Gulf of Mexico Lease Sale Court Order -The U.S. Department of the Interior’s (DOI) Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) has announced that it is taking steps to comply with an order issued by the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Louisiana regarding Gulf of Mexico Outer Continental Shelf Oil and Gas Lease Sale 261. “The United States is seeking an emergency stay of this order to allow time for a more orderly lease sale process,” BOEM said in a statement sent to Rigzone over the weekend. “In the event such relief is not granted, Lease Sale 261 will be conducted on September 27, 2023, and in accordance with the court’s order, BOEM will include lease blocks that were previously excluded due to concerns regarding potential impacts to the Rice’s whale distribution in the Gulf of Mexico,” it added. “BOEM will also remove portions of a related stipulation meant to address potential impacts to Rice’s whale from the lease terms for the leases that may be issued as a result of Lease Sale 261,” BOEM continued. In the statement, BOEM said it is extending the bid submission period to 3pm CST on September 26, 2023. The U.S. District Court for the Western District of Louisiana, Lake Charles Division, revealed in a document released on September 21 that government defendants were ordered to proceed with Lease Sale 261, absent challenged terms, by September 30, 2023. Motions for preliminary injunction seeking to halt the addition of a term to Lease Sale 261 by the BOEM, and the withdrawal of six million acres from that sale, were granted by the court, the document showed. Commenting on the preliminary injunction granted by the court, Ryan Meyers, the American Petroleum Institute’s Senior Vice President and General Counsel, said in a statement posted on the API website, “we are pleased that the court has hit the brakes on the Biden Administration’s ill-conceived effort to restrict American development of reliable, lower-carbon energy in the Gulf of Mexico”. “[The] decision will allow Lease Sale 261 to move forward as directed by Congress in the Inflation Reduction Act, removing the unjustified restrictions on vessel traffic imposed by the Department of the Interior and restoring the more than six million acres to the sale,” he added. “This decision is an important step toward greater certainty for American energy workers, a more robust Gulf Coast economy and a stronger future for U.S. energy security,” Meyers continued. Also commenting on the preliminary injunction, Erik Milito, the President of the National Ocean Industries Association (NOIA), said in a statement sent to Rigzone, “the injunction is a necessary and welcome response from the court to an unnecessary decision by the Biden administration”. “The removal of millions of highly prospective acres and the imposition of excessive restrictions stemmed from a voluntary agreement with activist groups that circumvented the law, ignored science, and bypassed public input,” he added. “In a period when inflation is increasing expenses for Americans, particularly in terms of gasoline prices, we must fully harness America's energy production capabilities, particularly those offshore. Our leaders should stop ignoring the vast benefits that U.S. offshore oil and gas production provides to Americans,” he continued. “This includes an abundance of energy resources, high-paying job opportunities, environmentally responsible low carbon output, support for coastal resilience and restoration, and enhanced national security, among numerous other benefits,” Milito went on to state. Prior to the release of BOEM’s statement on the court order, Rigzone asked the DOI, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), and the White House for comment on the API and NOIA’s statements, and on the preliminary injunction itself. A DOI spokesperson told Rigzone that it was reviewing the decision, the DOE referred Rigzone to the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), and the White House has not yet responded to Rigzone’s request at the time of writing. Rigzone has since contacted the DOJ asking for comment on the API and NOIA statements and on the preliminary injunction. A spokesperson for the Justice Department’s Environment and Natural Resources Division declined to comment.
Biden OKs new offshore oil leases, and faces hits by both sides - The Biden administration said Friday it will approve just three offshore oil and gas lease sales through 2029 — the smallest offshore oil drilling plan in history and one designed to narrowly comply with limits set by a divided Congress.The decision reflects how Biden is grappling with the realities of divided government and his own climate agenda, including his 2020 campaign pledge to end new offshore oil projects. In a heavily negotiated landmark climate bill last year, Congress tied the fate of offshore wind development — a Biden priority — to approval of new oil leases.With its announcement Friday, the administration argued it was meeting its legal mandates while still furthering the transition away from fossil fuels.In a statement, Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland said the plan represents “the smallest number of oil and gas lease sales in history.” She added that it sets a course “to support the growing offshore wind industry and protect against the potential for environmental damage and adverse impacts to coastal communities.”The plan will delay any new oil lease sales until 2025, leaving as much as a two-year gap between sales that historically have been scheduled for several times a year. The Interior Department will also lease only in the Gulf of Mexico — dismissing proposed sales for Alaska’s Cook Inlet — as the administration seeks to limit fossil fuel production and zero out U.S. greenhouse gas emissions by 2050, according to an announcement from the Interior Department.Administration officials said they couldn’t go further because of provisions Congress approved last year that require offshore oil leasing in order for Interior to do offshore wind leasing. A maximum of three sales — one each planned for 2025, 2027 and 2029 — are the fewest the Interior Department said it could do under the law and keep expanding its offshore wind program as it intended through 2030.
Biden administration approves more offshore drilling in bid to expand wind energy — The Biden administration announced Friday it is planning as many as three new oil and gas drilling lease sales in federal waters over the next five years – a move that could anger Republicans, pro-industry groups and climate advocates alike and that will likely prompt legal challenges.But the plan, which the Interior Department was required by law to create, comes with a trade-off: It allows officials to offer more federal waters for clean wind energy.The five-year drilling plan “represents the smallest number of oil and gas lease sales in history,” Interior Secretary Deb Haaland said in a statement. The administration had previously proposed more drilling areas – up to 11 possible sales.The three sales would all take place in the Gulf of Mexico, scheduled for 2025, 2027 and 2029. The plan nixed the possibility of lease sales off Alaska’s Cook Inlet. The plan “sets a course for the Department to support the growing offshore wind industry and protect against the potential for environmental damage and adverse impacts to coastal communities,” Haaland said. The Inflation Reduction Act required the Interior Department to propose a certain number of oil and gas leases in federal waters in exchange for the ability to propose clean offshore wind energy projects. Three was the lowest number that would allow it to move forward with offshore wind lease sales around the country, the department said, given the requirements of the law. Tying clean wind energy to fossil fuel drilling was a key demand of Sen. Joe Manchin, the West Virginia Democrat who wrote much of the bill.
U.S. Oil And Gas Production Growth Accelerates Despite Higher Costs --Oil and gas production in the U.S. expanded at a faster pace during the third quarter of the year despite still rising costs, the latest Dallas Fed Energy Survey has shown.Costs have now been on the rise for 11 quarters in a row, the Dallas Fed said, with the situation particularly difficult for oilfield service providers.Even with rising costs, optimism in the industry increased over the third quarter, likely thanks to rising oil prices, which also probably motivated the increase in production. The optimism was evident in respondents’ input despite expectations of still higher costs next year.Speaking of prices, the respondents in the Dallas Fed survey forecast a WTI price of $87.91 per barrel on average for the final quarter of the year. This compares with an average price forecast of $77.48 in the previous quarter’s survey edition.Asked about what the effects of the energy transition would be on the industry, about a third of respondents said they expected the transition to push the price of oil higher. Another third predicted the transition will push the price of oil significantly higher. Just 9% expect the transition to make oil cheaper.These expectations suggest highly resilient oil demand in the face of EVs and other electrification efforts that are part of the transition push.Another interesting take from the survey concerned oil consumption now and in 2050. Some 28% of respondents saw oil consumption in 2050 slightly higher than current levels while 25% saw it as substantially higher. Another 25% saw 2050 oil consumption as slightly lower than current levels and only 8% expected it to be significantly lower than current levels.These expectations are particularly interesting in the context of recent reports from the International Energy Agency and other forecasters saying that peak oil demand will happen before 2030 as EVs displace internal combustion engine cars.
12,100 New Jobs in Texas Oil and Gas This Year So Far -The Texas upstream oil and natural gas industry has added 12,100 jobs in 2023, Texas Oil and Gas Association (TXOGA) noted in a media release, citing newly-released data from the Texas Workforce Commission (TWC). In August alone, employment in the sector rose by 1,200 jobs, TXOGA highlighted. “The oil and natural gas industry serves as a major driver of the Lone Star State’s robust economy,” said Todd Staples, president of TXOGA. “The 1,200 jobs reported in August add to already strong job growth numbers for this year, continued evidence of the strong demand for these irreplaceable resources both at home and abroad,” he added. In its review of the August Current Employment Statistics (CES) report from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), the Texas Independent Producers and Royalty Owners Association (TIPRO) said that Texas upstream employment for August 2023 totaled 208,500 jobs. Since the COVID-low point of September of 2020, industry has added 51,500 Texas upstream jobs, averaging growth of 1,479 jobs a month, TXOGA pointed out. At 208,500 upstream jobs, compared to the same month in the prior year, August 2023 jobs were up by 18,200, or 9.6 percent, over August of 2022, TXOGA said. Months with an increase in upstream oil and natural gas employment have outnumbered months with a decrease by 30 to five, according to TXOGA. Oil and natural gas jobs pay among the highest wages in Texas with employers paying an average salary of approximately $115,000 in 2022, the association said. The upstream sector involves oil and natural gas extraction and excludes other industry sectors such as refining, petrochemicals, fuels wholesaling, oilfield equipment manufacturing, pipelines, and gas utilities, which support hundreds of thousands of additional jobs in Texas, TXOGA outlined. The employment shown also includes “Support Activities for Mining,” which is mostly oil and gas-related but also includes some small amount of other types of mining, the association revealed.
Natural Gas Recapturing Process Promises Waste Reduction — but Questions Linger - A trio of major oil and gas producers are testing a new-to-New Mexico process to keep natural gas in the ground when it can’t be transported, sold or otherwise shipped through a pipeline. Instead of flaring or venting natural gas or completely shutting down wells when a midstream pipeline operator has an issue, the three producers — EOG Resources, Inc., Occidental Petroleum Corp. and Chevron Corp. — can now re-route backed-up gas into closed-loop gas capture systems, or CLGC, where it is re-injected into an active oil well. It then can be taken out later when a pipeline again has enough capacity. The New Mexico Oil Conservation Division regulates the state’s oil and gas field operations and issued the orders allowing the state’s pilot CLGC wells. Dylan Fuge, the division’s director, said he expects the process will help reduce venting and flaring. “Overall, CLGC systems result in less waste due to an increase [in] an operator’s gas capture,” he said. Producers want to capture this gas rather than flare it because they can sell it later. Plus, Fuge said, flaring the captured gas would not make sense given the cost and effort to set up the wells. Occidental was the only one of the three companies to respond to questions about CLGC systems. “CLGC is part of Oxy’s overall strategy to reduce greenhouse gas emissions,” said Jennifer Brice, the company’s director of communications and public affairs. She said the process minimizes flaring when third parties are unable to handle the gas [i.e. during mechanical breakdowns], and “keeps production online, and conserves natural resources when produced gas is stored rather than flared.” So far, New Mexico’s CLGC projects are small, and their promise hasn’t panned out in the oil and gas fields. EOG, Occidental and Chevron operate nine pilot CLGC projects in New Mexico. A review of venting and flaring records the three companies submitted to OCD showed that flaring amounts for EOG rose nearly twentyfold in the past year. Occidental and Chevron reported flaring nothing at all. At the same time, the “waste” Fuge referred to — natural gas lost in production, often due to leaks between a wellhead and a pipeline — spiked for all three companies in recent months, though inconsistencies in Chevron’s numbers leave that somewhat inconclusive. (Chevron reported processing more gas than it pulled from the ground in January and April.) EOG reported losing enough natural gas in June alone to equal the greenhouse gas emissions of 100 cars driven for a year. That’s four times what it burned in emergency flaring the previous year and far more dangerous to the climate. Given that murky picture, it’s not clear how much the pilot CLGC systems may be helping reduce emissions, much less mitigate contributions to climate change.
Energy Transfer LP Shuts Ruptured Oil Pipeline In Permian - -Energy Transfer LP shuttered its Centurion Pipeline on Monday after it was struck by a road worker, the pipeline company said in an email to Bloomberg. Energy Transfer LP acquired the pipeline earlier this year when it acquired the previous owner, Lotus Midstream for $1.4 billion. The Centurion Pipeline runs from New Mexico, ending in Cushing, Oklahoma, with laterals that extend to Crane, McCamey, and Colorado City in Texas. As of Monday afternoon, Energy Transfer LP was working “as quickly as possible to stop” the oil leaking from the pipeline. “We have shut in the line, however, there is residual product coming out of the line. We are working quickly as possible to stop the leak. We have dispatched specialized crews to contain the product that is out of the line and begin the cleanup process. All regulatory notifications have been made. We will provide updates as information becomes available,” Energy Transfer said in a note. It was not clear when the pipeline repairs would be complete and when the pipeline would resume normal flows. The whole Centurion pipeline system acquired from the Lotus deal has a capacity of almost 1.5 million bpd. The leak happened in a segment of pipe on the north side of Oklahoma City, about 70 miles southwest of Cushing, Oklahoma, known as the pipeline crossroads of the world. Cushing is the largest onshore oil storage hub in the world. Analysts have been watching the crude oil inventory levels at Cushing, Oklahoma, for weeks as the levels in storage at the facility have been falling on a fairly steady trajectory since June, with current levels now below 23 million barrels. It is Cushing’s lowest level since the summer of 2022.
Oil spews into the air in Oklahoma City after line hit during construction – ‘Black Gold’ spewed into the air for hours Monday, causing environmental concerns and a big mess in northwest Oklahoma City. ‘Texas tea’ shot into the sky, near NW 178th and Portland around 10:45 a.m. Monday “For me, this is a first,” said Chief Andrew McCann with OKC Fire Dept. The Oklahoma Corporation Commission said the crude oil line runs from Midland, Texas, to Cushing.The line, at a neighborhood under development, was hit by a bulldozer working on a new road. The oil ran off into a culvert and some into a storm drain. “It’s probably blowing thirty feet in the air,” said Steve Taylor. Taylor lives across the street. He saw the breaking news on the television and went outside to get a better vantage point.“I was concerned at first, because it was flowing towards my house, but then when I got up on the mound of dirt and saw that they had built quite a dike around it,” said Taylor. “I knew then that they had it under control.”Oklahoma City fire crews said they couldn’t even begin to estimate how much oil was spilled.“All I can say is it is very significant,” said McCann.Trucks came in to suck out as much oil as possible, while crews worked to turn off valves several miles away.“Once the process does get shut off, it will take time for the system to bleed down and the excess oil to flow through the through the leak,” said McCann.The city said the nearby neighborhood and drinking water will not be affected. Their main concerns are environmental and infrastructure.“It’s going to be have a negative impact to the environment, not just the ground and into the storm water, but also to the wildlife,” said McCann.They added the clean up will take days.“I imagine it will be a lot of soil recovery and some flushing of the storm drainage system,” said OKC Environmental Protection Superintendent, Derek Johnson.“They will have to come in here and literally mitigate the soil and take it out and put back fresh soil,” said McCann.The Oklahoma Corporation Commission sent News 4 the following statement:The oil transportation line struck today in North Oklahoma City runs from Cushing to Midland Texas. It is a large line, 16 inches in diameter. As it is an interstate line, it is under the jurisdiction of the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA), a federal agency. The line is still blowing down, so there is no estimate yet on the amount spilled. It is our understanding that the line was hit by an excavation operator working on a new road for a development under construction. The Oklahoma Corporation Commission Pipeline Safety Department is investigating from the standpoint of Oklahoma regulations regarding excavation and pipeline damage. The Corporation Commission‘s Oil and Gas Conservation Division is responsible for ensuring the area is remediated properl. The company that owns the pipeline also sent KFOR the following:A contractor for the developer of the subdivision hit one of our crude lines this morning and caused a leak. We have shut in the line, however, there is residual product coming out of the line. We are working quickly as possible to stop the leak. We have dispatched specialized crews to contain the product that is out of the line and begin the cleanup process. All regulatory notifications have been made. We will provide updates as information becomes available.
Crews Work To Cleanup Oil Spill In Northwest Oklahoma City --Crews are focused on cleaning up the mess an oil geyser made Monday in northwest Oklahoma City. Officials say more than 80,000 gallons of oil spilled out onto the ground, creating a 30-foot geyser that spewed for multiple hours.Sam Coury, a nearby landowner, was not too worried with the oil that made its way onto his land.“We did catch some oil and some contamination,” Coury said. “We’re oil country. We have pipelines all across the state. From time to time, we’re going to have mishaps like this.”One thing to thank for the containment of the spill was the quick response of crews.“It’s been very efficient,” Coury said. “They were on it all night. They’re down now, probably removing the dirt, and that’s it.”Removing the dirt is the first step, according to Matt Skinner with the Oklahoma Corporation Commission.“The contaminated soil is dug up and taken to a facility that is licensed to deal with such products,” Skinner said.The same goes for the oil that leaked into the storm water drainage system.“You flush it out with fresh water and then vacuum it up. That also goes to be disposed of in the proper facility,” Skinner said.Skinner says Oklahoma law is clear on who is responsible for the cleanup efforts, regardless of liability.“An operator, be it an operator of an oil and gas well, a pipeline, or anything of that sort, is responsible for the product,” Skinner said.Energy Transfer is the oil company that is in charge of the cleanup effort, with the OCC’s oversight.Officials say we won’t know the extent of the long-term environmental impact, if any, until the cleanup is done.
OKC mitigating damage of 88,000-gallon oil spill, one of the state's worst since 2010 --Frontend loaders, backhoes and tractor-trailers carrying tanks and vacuum equipment buzzed across dusty ground next to a housing addition and a busy highway in northwest Oklahoma City on Wednesday as workers attacked potential environmental issues posed by an 88,000 gallon crude oil spill that occurred Monday.The work being done by Energy Transfer, operator of the line near NW 184 and Portland Avenue, and contractors it hired were expected to remain on site for at least the next several days, officials said Wednesday.Tasks involved in the cleanup include recovering small lakes of spilled crude, removing or remediating contaminated dirt and flushing city-owned storm drains with fresh water to prevent any polluted water from flowing into a pond or nearby Bluff Creek.The drain flushing isn't expected to end until water captured at the end of the flows is clean, while work to remove contaminated soil at the spill location is expected to continue until what remains is oil-free. Making sure all the oil is removed matters.If any resulting pollution were to make it to Bluff Creek, it eventually could flow into Deer Creek and ultimately the Cimarron River. Oklahoma City's water supply in Lake Hefner, which is upstream from the spill site, was never in any danger, the city's environmental superintendent told The Oklahoman.The cleanup work is being overseen by the Oklahoma Corporation Commission's oil and gas division and Oklahoma City's storm water quality division. No lasting environmental impacts on the surrounding area are expected, representatives of both agencies said this week.The breach happened about 10:30 a.m. Monday as a road builder cleared ground at the site, creating a geyser of oil that could be seen by passing motorists until Energy Transfer was able to shut it down.The 16-inch line that was hit is one of two that carry crude oil between Cushing and Midland, Texas. When operational, the lines have a capacity of thousands of barrels per day. A barrel of oil contains 42 gallons.Known as the “pipeline crossroads of the world,” Cushing has more than 430 oil storage tanks spread out along the southern and northern edges of town. Cushing, which sits about 70 miles northeast of Oklahoma City, was once home to 53 refineries, but the last one was closed by Kerr-McGee in 1987.However, a Texas company is set to build a $5.6 billion “next generation” refinery in Cushing that will be one the country’s largest, processing 250,000 barrels of light crude daily.
As cleanup continues for oil spill in northwest Oklahoma City, who's liable remains unclear — Cleanup continued in a northwest Oklahoma City neighborhood after a pipeline was hit on Monday, causing 80,000 gallons of oil to spill for hours. Despite the amount of oil that leaked onto a construction site near a neighborhood at 178th Street and Portland Avenue, there have been no reports of impacts to wildlife or the city's water source, according to a report from the Oklahoma Corporation Commission. Crews remained in the area Thursday to clean up the spill. "It has to be put back to the way it was before this happened," said Matt Skinner, the spokesperson for the Oklahoma Corporation Commission. A contractor struck the pipeline and was trying to clear a road during construction. "Under our rules, any operator – be it the operator of an oil well, the operator of a pipeline – they're responsible for their product, regardless of how it got out. They are responsible for cleaning it up," said Skinner. The pipeline company has been cleaning up and scooping contaminated soil. The Corporation Commission said they oversee the process to make sure everything is done properly. "There's a difference between who’s responsible for a cleanup and who has liability. We do not decide liability by any means," said Skinner. They said that can be worked out between the pipeline company and the contractor, or it can be decided in court. They are also looking into if the pipeline was properly marked when it was struck. But neighbors still have concerns. "It's seeping into the ground, but hopefully, they'll get it cleaned up quick, and it doesn't release any fumes in the air," said homeowner Troop Holden. "That's a concern as well."
US oil, gas rig count falls seven to 694 on the week; most basins lose rigs or are unchanged - The US oil and natural gas rig count fell by seven to 694 on the week ended Sept. 20, an analysis by S&P Global Commodity Insights showed, as most basins lost rigs or stood still. The decline came from oil-focused rigs, which dropped by 11 to 568, the Sept. 28 analysis showed. All were vertical rigs that generally are used by private upstream operator in smaller plays. On the other hand, gas-directed rigs rose by four to 126, largely from horizontal rigs. Except for a recent adjustment of the total rig count for the week ended Aug. 23 from 703 to 698, the current week was the first time the rig count dipped below 700 since the final week of December 2021, according to S&P Global data. The elusive rig count bottoming, which has been talked up nonstop around the sector during the last few months, seems to be just about arrived – but at this point the figures aren't firm enough to call it. During August and September, the S&P Global rig count has see-sawed, ticking up and down week to week. For the week ended Sept. 20, the Bakken Shale posted the largest number of rig additions of the eight unconventional that S&P Global tracks – namely, five, making a total 37 rigs in that play. Also, the Haynesville Shale gained two rigs, for a total 51. But all other basins lost rigs or were unchanged. The Permian Basin shed the most rigs – four, leaving 319. That is the fewest number of Permian since early September 2022. The Eagle Ford Shale and DJ Basins were each down one rig, leaving 51 and 17 respectively, while the Marcellus Shale, SCOOP-STACK and Utica Shale were all unchanged, leaving 27, 26 and 10 respectively. The SCOOP-STACK has not been close to 50 rigs since early December 2021. Also, the week ended Sept. 20 is the Utica's fourth consecutive week at 10 rigs. As third-quarter 2023 draws to a close and quarterly upstream and oilfield service company conference calls loom in late October, industry thinking revolves around stronger commodity prices going forward as well as a tighter oilfield service market and cost deflation that is a bit less than earlier anticipated, investment bank Tudor Pickering Holt said.
Fracking For Oil and Gas Is Devouring American Groundwater - Today, the insatiable search for oil and gas has become the latest threat to the country’s endangered aquifers, a critical national resource that is already being drained at alarming rates by industrial farming and cities in search of drinking water.The amount of water consumed by the oil industry, revealed in a New York Times investigation, has soared to record levels. Fracking wells have increased their water usage sevenfold since 2011 as operators have adopted new techniques to first drill downward and then horizontally for thousands of feet. The process extracts more fossil fuels but requires enormous amounts of water.Together, oil and gas operators reported using about 1.5 trillion gallons of water since 2011, much of it from aquifers, the Times found. Fracking a single oil or gas well can now use as much as 40 million gallons of water or more.These mega fracking projects, called “monster fracks” by researchers, have become the industry norm. They barely existed a decade ago. Now they account for almost two out of every three fracking wells in Texas, the Times analysis found.“They’re the newcomers, a new sector that burst onto the scene and is heavily reliant on the aquifers,” said Peter Knappett, an associate professor in hydrogeology at Texas A&M University, referring to fracking companies. “And they could be pumping for several decades from aquifers that are already over-exploited and already experiencing long-term declines.” Fracking, which is shorthand for hydraulic fracturing, has transformed the global energy landscape, turning America into the world’s largest oil and gas producer, surpassing Saudi Arabia. Supporters say it has strengthened America’s national security and created valuable jobs.But fracking has long been controversial. The process of cracking the bedrock by injecting chemical-laced water into the ground can lead to spills and leaks and can affect the local geology, sometimescontributing to earthquakes. Critics of fracking say it is an irony that so much water is being diverted to produce fossil fuels, given that the burning of fossil fuels is causing climate change, further straining freshwater resources.The Times documented the surging water usage by examining an industry database in which energy companies report the chemicals they pump into the ground while fracking. But the database also includes details on their water usage, revealing the dramatic growth.The problem is particularly acute in Texas, where the state’s groundwater supply is expected to drop one-third by 2070. As the planet warms, scientists have predicted that Texas will face higher temperatures and more frequent and intense droughts, along with a decline in groundwater recharge. Some experts have warned that water issues could even constrain oil and gas production.In the western portion of the Eagle Ford, one of the state’s major oil-producing regions, aquifer levels have fallen by up to 58 feet a year, a 2020 study by researchers at the University of Texas at Austin found, and fracking’s water demands could result in further regional declines of up to 26 feet.Since 2011, BP has dug at least 137 groundwater wells in Texas for its oil and gas operations and reported using 9.1 billion gallons of water nationally during the past decade. EOG, one of the country’s largest frackers, consumed more than 73 billion gallons of water for fracking at the same time. Apache Corporation, Southwestern Energy, Chevron, Ovintiv and other major operators also have intensified water usage, the Times analysis found.
Fracking emissions count toward Colorado's air pollution goals --Colorado likely will need to rewrite its plan to reduce ozone pollution after a federal appeals court this week determined it was illegal for the state to ignore emissions from oil and gas fracking operations as it tries to improve air quality.The ruling by the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals is a win for environmentalists who have argued that the oil and gas industry is among the largest polluters in Colorado and that state and federal air regulators need more stringent permitting rules in place to limit the toxic fumes coming from the industry.“Colorado ignores pollution from oil and gas wells when fracked,” said Robert Ukeiley, an attorney for the Center for Biological Diversity. “We think that’s a big reason why we are in a severe area when it comes to ozone.”Colorado’s Air Quality Control Commission approved the state’s air-quality improvement plan in December without requiring fracking emissions to be considered when determining whether an oil and gas drilling site needed an air pollution permit. That allowed oil and gas operators to release unlimited amounts of toxic chemicals while digging a well and then fracking the site, Ukeiley said.The Environmental Protection Agency approved the state’s plan, and that’s when Ukeiley’s organization filed a challenge in the federal courts.Already, state regulators knew their air quality plan was flawed after those who drafted it admitted they had miscalculated future emissions from the oil and gas industry.On Monday, the 10th Circuit agreed with the Center for Biological Diversity that the EPA was wrong to approve the plan without limits on emissions from fracking, according to an opinion published by the court.The various agencies involved in the court’s decision were still digesting the ruling on Tuesday and it was unclear what’s next for the state.The American Petroleum Institute, which represents the oil and gas industry, signed onto the case with the EPA to argue Colorado’s plan was valid.
Nikki Haley and Ron DeSantis tangle on fracking in second GOP debate - Former U.N. ambassador Nikki Haley and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantissparred over fracking at the second Republican primary debate Wednesday, with each making some questionable — and in some cases false — claims about DeSantis’s record on the subject.Haley tried to frame DeSantis as opposed to American energy independence because as governor he directed state environmental officials to oppose fracking, the process of injecting pressurized liquid into bedrock to extract oil or gas.On the presidential campaign trail, DeSantis has reversed course and expressed support for fracking in states that allow it.“Ron DeSantis is against fracking. He’s against drilling,” Haley said. “He always talks about what happens on day one, you better watch out because what happens on day two is when you’re in trouble. Day two in Florida, you ban fracking, you ban offshore drilling.”DeSantis’s actions on fracking have been more nuanced than Haley’s attack suggests. In his 2018 campaign for governor, he promised “to pass legislation that bans fracking in the state.”“With Florida’s geological makeup of limestone and shallow water sources, fracking presents a danger to our state that is not acceptable,” he wrote on his 2018 campaign website.That November, Florida voters passed an amendment to the state constitution to ban offshore oil and gas drilling under Florida’s waters. The amendment did not mention fracking.Two days after his inauguration, on Jan. 10, 2019, DeSantis signed an executive order implementing the change. Among other things, the sweeping order instructed the state’s Department of Environmental Protection to “take necessary actions to adamantly oppose all off-shore oil and gas activities off every coast in Florida and hydraulic fracturing in Florida.”Effectively, according to PolitiFact, no permits have authorized fracking in Florida while DeSantis has been in office.During Wednesday’s debate, DeSantis tried to deny Haley’s assertion that he had banned fracking as governor: “That’s not true,” he replied. DeSantis pointed to the constitutional amendment to explain his executive order. He went on to argue that he supports increased drilling in west Texas and would force gas prices down as president.
Exxon Barred From Trucking Oil From California Offshore Platform - Exxon Mobil Corp. won’t be able to revive oil platforms off the California coast by relying on trucks to ship crude to refineries on shore. Three offshore platforms, known as Exxon Mobil’s Santa Ynez Unit, have been shut down since 2015 when a pipeline ruptured and created the worst coastal oil spill in the state in 25 years. Exxon Mobil figures it’ll probably take five more years to repair or replace the pipeline. The company estimates it spends tens of million of dollars to maintain the facilities and pays $1 million annually in taxes while SYU is shut down. US District Judge Dolly M. Gee in Los Angeles on Wednesday denied Exxon Mobil’s request to overturn a 3-2 decision by the Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors to reject the oil company’s trucking plan in 2022. The judge said while Exxon Mobil has every right to operate its offshore oil platforms, it doesn’t have a right to truck the crude. “The Board’s decision in this case does not permanently implicate Exxon’s vested right to use its SYU facilities, but only halts its proposed ‘restart’ which itself was a temporary fix to a bigger problem: the lack of viable pipeline transport,” Gee wrote. “That is a problem not caused by the Board’s decision.” Exxon Mobil didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment. “It’s time for Exxon to accept that the community won’t support drilling and transporting oil in their backyard,” Liz Jones of the Center for Biological Diversity said in a statement. “The costs of oil spills are too high to risk, and this decision is a well-deserved win for the community, ocean life and ecosystems.”
Argentina’s output falls in July, cabinet launches favourable dollar rate for oil, gas exporters (ICIS)–Argentina’s economic output fell by 1.3% in July, year on year, but posted an increase of 2.4% compared with June, the country’s statistics office Indec said this week. Agriculture, still reeling from a historic drought which hit Argentina’s grain exports hard, and manufacturing posted falls in output in July, year on year, of 14.0% and 3.7%, respectively. Month on month, however, economic activity rose by 2.4%. July’s economic indicators come after Indec confirmed earlier this month the economy contracted by 4.9% in the second quarter, year on year. While Argentina’s economic woes continue rising the Argentinian government launched this week the ‘Vaca Muerta dollar’ to let the country’s key oil sector enjoy more favourable peso exchange rates for the next two months. Vaca Muerta is Argentina’s vast oil and gas field in Patagonia. With the measure, the state would also increase its revenue by around $1.2bn, said Massa, as the country is in dire need of dollar reserves. The experiment would follow the example of the ‘soy dollar’, which also allowed agricultural exporters to have more favourable exchange rates. With inflation running at nearly 125%, Argentina has tight control of the official exchange rates, but it can also favour certain economic sectors. For the next two months, oil and gas exporters will be able to exchange 25% of the value of their exports using the cryptocurrency CYCLEAN (CCL) exchange rate to convert their dollars into pesos. The CCL rate offers the oil sector about 763 pesos per dollar, or more than double the value of the official rate, which stands at around 350 pesos per greenback. “We made the decision to recognise 25% of what [energy companies] export and bring to Argentina to invest using the CCL value so that they increase investment levels over the next 60 days in the oil and gas sector,” said Argentina’s economy minister, Sergio Massa, the candidate of the governing party for the general election on 22 October
Equinor’s Brazilian Natural Gas Development Could Supply 15% of Country’s Demand - Norway’s Equinor ASA is set to develop a massive natural gas project offshore Brazil. The company submitted a declaration of commerciality for the BM-C-33 concession in Brazil’s Campos Basin to oil and gas regulator Agência Nacional de Petróleo, Gás Natural e Biocombustíveis (ANP). The $9 billion Raia Manta and Raia Pintada projects on the deepwater concession are expected to be natural gas-rich additions to Brazil’s energy mix once they are up and running in 2028. “The developments have the potential to meet 15% of the total Brazilian gas demand when in production,” said Veronica Coelho, Equinor’s country manager in Brazil. “This will contribute to Brazil’s energy security and economic development, enabling significant new job opportunities at local...
European Natural Gas Prices Rally on Extended Norwegian Supply Outages – LNG Recap - Global natural gas prices ticked higher on Monday driven partly by ongoing supply fears as winter approaches. Norwegian exports to the rest of Europe continue to gradually ramp back up. Nominations were at 254 million cubic meters (MMcm) on Monday and closer to normal levels of over 300 MMcm. That’s up from 175.9 MMcm a week prior as maintenance work offshore has lasted longer than expected. Equinor ASA said last Thursday it would take a few days to return to full production after finishing planned modifications at a production platform in the massive Troll field. Norwegian grid operator Gassco shows the outage lasting until Oct. 6, while work at the Skarv field is also expected to stretch into next week.
France Expected to Boost Europe’s LNG Imports with FSRU Arrival - The recent arrival of France’s first floating regasification and storage unit (FSRU) at the port of Le Havre comes as high gas stocks and a rebound in nuclear power output have limited the country’s need for natural gas. “Given the current healthy gas stock situation and improved nuclear availability in France, we would expect the country’s liquefied natural gas demand to be limited in the months ahead,” Kpler analyst Rhyana Rasidi told NGI. “However, the new FSRU could definitely support demand from November, when heating requirements typically rise.” France also continues to play a key role as an entry point and transit country for natural gas for the rest of Europe as the continent continues working to replace Russian gas imports.
What is known about the Nord Stream gas pipeline explosions - – One year on from explosions that damaged the Nord Stream gas pipelines under the Baltic sea between Russia and Germany, the question of who was behind them is unresolved. On Sept. 26, 2022, Swedish seismologists registered several blasts, some 17 hours apart off the Danish island of Bornholm that ruptured three out of four lines of the Nord Stream system, sending plumes of methane into atmosphere. Russia’s Gazprom said about 800 million cubic metres of gas, equivalent to about three months of Danish gas supplies, had escaped. It took several days for the gas to stop leaking. Since the blasts occurred in the exclusive economic zones of Sweden and Denmark, both countries are investigating, as well as Germany, where the pipes land. The multibillion-dollar infrastructure project was built by Russia’s Gazprom in two stages – Nord Stream 1 and Nord Stream 2. Each stage consists of two concrete-coated steel pipelines of about 1,200km in length and more than 1m in diameter, laying at a depth of around 80-110m. Nord Stream pipelines had a total capacity of pumping some 110 billion cubic metres (bcm) of natural gas per annum, more than a half of Russia’s total export capacity. Gazprom owns 51% of Nord Stream 1, while Germany’s E.ON and Wintershall Dea have 15.5% each, while French Engie and Dutch Gasunie hold 9% each in Nord Stream 1. The Western owners have written off all their investments. Nord Stream 2, fully owned by Gazprom and operated by Nord Stream 2 AG, was completed in September 2021 at a cost of $11 billion, but was never put into operation because Germany had cancelled Nord Stream 2’s certification days before Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24, 2022. Western companies – Shell, Germany’s Wintershall Dea and Uniper, French Engie and Austria’s OMV covered 50% of the NS2 construction costs. All five have also written off their full financing of NS2, each of about 1 billion euros. Washington and NATO called it an act of sabotage, while Moscow said it was an act of international terrorism. Sweden found traces of explosives on several objects recovered from the explosion site, confirming it was a deliberate act. In July, Germany told the U.N. Security Council that it found traces of subsea explosives on a sailing yacht that “may have been used to transport the explosives”. Germany told the U.N. that trained divers could have attached explosives at the points where the damage occurred to the pipelines at about 70 to 80 meters deep. So far, no one has taken responsibility for the blasts. Russia and the West have pointed fingers at each other. U.S. investigative journalist Seymour Hersh alleged in a blog post in February that the operation was carried out by U.S. navy divers with assistance of Norway but Washington dismissed the report as “utterly false and complete fiction”, while Norway said the allegations were “nonsense”. Russia has asked the U.N. Security Council for an independent investigation but failed to win support, except from China and Brazil.
Samsung Heavy develops high-speed welding robot for LNG carriers - South Korean shipbuilder Samsung Heavy Industries said it had developed a laser high-speed welding robot to speed up the construction of liquefied natural gas (LNG) carriers. SHI said in a statement that the new robot, first such technology in the industry, would substantially improve the speed of joining membrane panels in the cargo holds of LNG carriers. According to the shipbuilder, the new laser high-speed welding robot is up to five times faster than the existing method of plasma arc welding (PAW). When welding a 2-meter-long membrane panel, PAW takes about five minutes, while laser welding takes only one minute, SHI claims. SHI said that the length of membrane panel welding for four cargo holds on a 174,000-cbm LNG carrier is about 60 kilometers, which is equivalent to a straight line from Seoul to Pyeongtaek.
Worley bags carbon capture gig from QatarEnergy LNG - Australian engineering firm Worley has secured a contract from QatarEnergy LNG, previously known as Qatargas, to provide front-end engineering design (FEED) services for the latter’s CO2 sequestration project in Ras Laffan, Qatar. Worley said in a statement on Monday that its teams in Qatar and Australia will develop the FEED study and engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) scope of work. The Australian firm said it will complete the project next year, but it did not provide the price tag of the contract. Once completed, the sequestration facility will be capable of capturing 4.3 million tonnes of CO2 every year, helping to further reduce QatarEnergy LNG’s environmental impact across the LNG value chain by reducing emissions from its seven LNG trains at QG North and three LNG trains at QG South. Worley said the facility will capture CO2 from the trains, compress it, and inject it into the new injection wells. New compression trains and pipelines need to be installed after FEED is completed. Drawing in on expertise from its CCUS centers of excellence, the project team will aim to prove the pre-FEED concept by modelling the CO2 capture process, Worley said. This high-level technical approach aims to further instill confidence to expand the CO2 sequestration technology in the future to include the remaining trains at Qatargas South and North, it said.
Iran begins developing new gas field in northeast - Tehran Times – The first phase of the development project of the Tous Gas field in northeastern Iran was started in an official ceremony on Sunday, Shana reported. Located in Khorasan Razavi Province, Tous Gas field is going to produce three million cubic meters of gas on a daily basis in the first phase and the production of the field is going to be increased to five million cubic meters per day in the second phase. The inauguration ceremony of the mentioned project was attended by the Head of the National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) Mohsen Khojasteh-Mehr. According to Khojasteh-Mehr, in total, eight wells are going to be dug to develop this field and $200 million will be invested to complete the project.
Gas projects to save Iraq over $8bln a year -- Gas projects unveiled by Iraq over the past months will allow the OPEC member to become a gas exporter and save money on imports, the country’s Prime Minister Mohammed Al-Sudani was reported on Monday as saying. Sudani, speaking at a weekend seminar in New York, said Iraq is losing $4-5 billion annually because of gas flaring while it is saddled with an Iranian gas import bill of $4 billion. “We are importing nearly one billion cubic feet of gas from Iran, with an import bill standing at nearly $4 billion per year…we are also losing $4-5 billion due to flaring of associated gas,” he said in comments published on Monday by the official Iraqi news agency. Sudani said Iraq’s gas resources are massive but have not been exploited by most previous governments, adding that concessions being awarded to foreign companies would largely boost recoverable gas in the OPEC member. “We are undertaking large projects in the gas sector with the help of foreign firms, including TotalEnergies…these projects will turn Iraq into a gas exporter in the future,” he said, referring to the recent $27 billion agreement signed with the French energy giant. “We are a country which is producing 4.65 million barrels-per-day of oil…imagine the large quantities of associated gas which are being wasted…but my government is working to establish the right basis for utilising these resources and stopping this waste.”
LNG deals ramp up amid green transition - China has been stepping up its natural gas purchases as well as facilitating construction in recent years, as part of efforts to ensure sufficient energy supply amid its green transition, said industry experts. The country is looking to sign more deals to avoid future shortages and reduce dependence on spot deliveries, with 33 percent of global long-term liquefied natural gas volumes going to China, according to Bloomberg’s calculations. China is on track to become the top importer of LNG worldwide in 2023, as Chinese companies agree to buy more on a long-term basis than any single nation for the third straight year, data compiled by Bloomberg reveal. An analyst said as China heavily depends on imports for natural gas, the country must diversify its imports among various countries as a cushion against geopolitical disruptions and uncertainties. “Energy security has always been a priority for China, as the country is making efforts to avoid energy shortages while seeking to fuel economic growth,” said Luo Zuoxian, head of intelligence and research at the Sinopec Economics and Development Research Institute. China’s natural gas consumption rose steadily in the first seven months of 2023 amid efforts to achieve green development, with apparent consumption of natural gas during the January-July period standing at 227.1 billion cubic meters, up 6.5 percent year-on-year, according to the National Development and Reform Commission. In July alone, apparent consumption of natural gas increased 9.6 percent year-on-year to 32.49 bcm, data from the country’s top economic regulator showed. According to Luo, State-owned enterprises have played a key role in ensuring sufficient natural gas supply in recent years. State-owned China National Petroleum Corp recently sealed a 27-year deal with Qatar with a stake in the latter’s massive expansion project, while ENN Energy Holdings also inked a decades-spanning contract with US developer Cheniere Energy. Supplies from both contracts are slated to begin as soon as 2026. Companies including CNOOC, Zhejiang Provincial Energy Group and Beijing Gas Group are also in search of similar deals. As Chinese companies are signing more contracts, they are gaining more control over the global LNG supply, with China playing a key role in balancing the market, Luo said. According to Li Ziyue, an analyst at BloombergNEF, long-term contracts, with a relatively steady price compared to the spot market, help China to secure LNG supply in an increasingly volatile gas market, with large fluctuations in spot prices. China’s efforts will, in turn, help support global export projects, while Beijing’s influence on the market is also set to increase, she said. China’s LNG imports could rise to as high as 138 million metric tons by 2033, nearly double the current levels, according to Norwegian consultancy Rystad Energy. Alexei Miller, chief executive officer of Russian gas giant Gazprom, was quoted by Reuters as saying that the company accounts for more than half the increase in China’s gas imports this year, without providing figures. The Chinese gas market is growing. China’s gas imports increased over the first eight months of this year and more than half of the increase in the supplies imported to the Chinese market was provided by Gazprom, he said. Russia supplies gas to China via the Power of Siberia pipeline. Exports through the route reached 15 bcm last year, with a planned rise to 22 bcm in 2023, according to the company. Experts predict that China’s natural gas consumption will peak before 2035 and account for 10 percent of energy consumption by 2060, primarily used for power generation and peak load regulation. China’s natural gas consumption is expected to exceed 600 bcm around 2035, constituting 15 percent of the primary energy consumption, said Huang Weihe, an academician at the Chinese Academy of Engineering. According to Huang, China will focus on power generation and industrial fuels before 2040 for the development of natural gas, to facilitate the transformation and upgrading of industrial and energy structures. “The ongoing urbanization process in China is among the primary drivers behind the sustained growth in urban natural gas consumption,” he said. “As China’s urbanization accelerates, the urban population continues to expand, leading to an increase in the number of gas consumers, which rose to approximately 413 million by 2020, a growth rate of nearly 45 percent compared with 2013.” By reducing dependence on fossil fuels, increasing the share of nonfossil energy sources and promoting the development and application of natural gas, China can achieve a transformation and upgrade of its energy structure. This will help lower carbon emissions, drive sustainable development, and provide a stable and reliable energy supply for economic growth, he said. Source: China Daily
Gazprom rushes with new pipeline to secure stable gas supplies to China --Russian gas giant Gazprom has revealed the first steps to avoid a potential failure to meet a 30-year supply contract with China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC), with plans to build a connector pipeline to carry volumes from Russia’s far east. Gazprom had agreed to supply Chinese state company CNPC with 38 billion cubic metres per annum of gas for 30 years, with the Russian company originally planning to send volumes from the Kovykta gas field in East Siberia via the Sila Sibiri 1 pipeline. However, according to a partner in Moscow-based energy consultancy RusEnergy, Mikhail Krutikhin, reserves downgrades at Kovykta following the start-up of commercial production have led Gazprom executives to conclude that it might not be able to maintain the contracted volumes. Russian state news agency Tass this week quoted Gazprom’s projects and investment director Andrey Chekansky as saying the company has started engineering research work to gauge options for building a connector between Sila Sibiri 1 and the Sakhalin-Khabarovsk-Vladivostok pipeline. However, one major hurdle in building the connector is the difficult terrain and almost total lack of infrastructure along the 600-kilometre route. Sila Sibiri 1 started operations in 2019 and carried untreated gas output from the Chayanda and Kovykta fields towards the Russia’s border with China in the Amur region. Gazprom is still building a major gas treatment facility at Amur to remove off-spec contents from the gas stream before it is sent across the border to China, with construction of the facility 89% complete in July. The Amur facility has to be in operation before Gazprom can increase gas exports via Sila Sibiri 1 to the annual contracted volume of 38 Bcm due in 2025. Meanwhile, the connector between Sila Sibiri 1 and the Sakhalin-Khabarovsk-Vladivostok pipeline may enable Gazprom to divert some gas flows from Sakhalin Island via Sila Sibiri 1 and onwards to China to compensate for possible shortfall from Kovykta, Krutikhin suggested. A key supplier to the Sakhalin-Khabarovsk-Vladivostok pipeline is the offshore South Kirinskoye gas field, which holds reserves of over 800 Bcm of gas. However, development of South Kirinskoye has been on hold because of slack domestic gas demand in Russia’s far east, and because of international sanctions prohibiting the supply of Western-manufactured subsea production templates for the project that Gazprom hoped to order from the US. Gazprom is working to extend the Sakhalin-Khabarovsk-Vladivostok pipeline to export gas to eastern China after agreeing in February 2022 to supply another 10 Bcm per annum of gas. It is also possible that the proposed connector could operate in the reverse direction, taking treated gas from Amur to Russia’s far east, from where it can be sent to China if South Kirinskoye’s output does not increase as expected, Krutikhin suggested.
EU imports of petroleum oil from Russia in Q2 2023 down 82% y/y – - Petroleum oils imports into the European Union from Russia fell from a monthly average of 8.7 million tons in the second quarter of 2022 to 1.6 million tons in the second quarter of 2023, a decrease of 82 per cent, EU statistics agency Eurostat said on September 25. In contrast, the imports from the non-EU partners with the exception of Russia increased by 5.8 million tons, from 31.5 million to 37.3 million tons, Eurostat said. Russia’s shares in the EU imports of petroleum oils and natural gas have been decreasing continuously over time since the second quarter of 2022, the statistics agency said. Following a strong increase in energy imports in the EU between 2021 and 2022, the scenario is different in 2023, with imports dropping for the second quarter in a row when compared with the same period in the previous year. In the second quarter of 2023, compared with the same quarter of 2022, EU imports decreased by 39.4 per cent in terms of value and 11.3 per cent in terms of net mass (weight expressed in tons). These results follow declines of 26.5 per cent and 6.1 per cent, respectively, in the first quarter of this year. Russia’s share in total EU imports of petroleum oils was four per cent in the second quarter of 2023, a staggering difference from the 21.6 per cent share recorded in the same quarter of 2022. EU imports of natural gas dropped significantly (-17 per cent in terms of net mass) in the second quarter of 2023, compared with the same quarter in 2022. This reduction could have been triggered by the EU reduction plan, where EU countries committed to reducing gas consumption, Eurostat said. Natural gas imports from Russia fell from a monthly average of 5.1 million tons in the second quarter of 2022 to 2.5 million tons in the second quarter of 2023. Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine led the EU to implement several packages of sanctions, which directly and indirectly affected the trade of oils and natural gas. “The impact is now visible in a growing diversification of energy suppliers,” Eurostat said.
Russia still No.1 oil source for India despite fall -Russia remained the top supplier of crude oil to India in July as it exported crude oil worth $3.37 billion during the month, showed data from the ministry of commerce and industry. However, compared to June, the imports from Russia declined 11.4% in terms of value. In June, India had imported crude oil worth $3.80 billion. The month-on-month decline comes in the backdrop of narrowing discounts on the Russian oil and with supply cuts by the country in tandem with Opec+ decision, analysts said. India imported crude oil worth $8.96 billion and Russian supplies constituted 37.62% of the overall imports in value terms. Russia has emerged as a major supplier of oil to India in the past 18 months as the country offered discounted oil amid sanctions from the West in reprisal for its invasion of Ukraine. In FY22, Russian oil accounted for only 2% of India’s total oil imports; in FY23, it made up around one-fourth of the 235.52 million tonnes of crude oil imported by India. India’s overall oil import bill fell $10.01 billion in June 2023 to $8.96 billion in July, the data showed. On a year-on-year basis imports, Russian oil imports continued to witness growth as imports from the country rose 42.54% from $2.36 billion in July 2022. For April-July this year, import of crude from Russia stood at $15.74 billion, nearly 127% higher than $6.93 billion during the corresponding period of the last fiscal. This rise of Russia as the top oil supplier to India comes with Opec members losing their market share in India. Iraq, which is traditional oil supplier to India, has witnessed a decline of 38.6% on a YoY basis in its supplies to India during the April-July period at $6.9 billion. Saudi Arabia, the second largest oil producer in the world, sold oil worth $6.90 billion during the first four months of the fiscal, down nearly 27% from the corresponding period of the last fiscal. On a month-on-month basis, too, Iraq and Saudi Arabia witnessed a decline of 6.5% and 5.3%, respectively, as their supplies to India in July stood at $1.76 billion and $1.41 billion. India and China are among the top oil consumers in the world and the West Asian countries would not want to lose these markets, according to analysts. In order to tap these the key Indian market, Iraq has also offered discounts in the past several months and Saudi Arabia has lowered the Asian Premium charged on the oil selling price.
Russian oil sold to India at 30% above Western price cap, traders say (Reuters) - Russia is selling oil to India at nearly $80 per barrel, some $20 above the Western price cap, traders said and Reuters calculations showed, as tight global oil markets help Moscow generate strong appetite for its exports. Russia's main export grade Urals has been trading above the $60 per barrel Western price cap since mid-July amid output cuts by OPEC+ producers, including Saudi Arabia and Russia. India, which is the world's third biggest oil importer, has become the top buyer of seaborne Russian oil, mainly Urals, since 2022 after Western sanctions against Moscow. Calculated Free on Board (FOB) estimates for Urals cargoes loading from Baltic ports in October were close to $80 per barrel on Thursday for Indian customers, according to traders' data and Reuters calculations. "Russia has low inventory levels and their production is also cut," said an official at an Indian refiner that regularly buys Russian oil, explaining the latest jump in prices. Cuts have helped narrow discounts for Urals at Indian ports to $4-$5 per barrel versus dated Brent from $6-$7 per barrel two weeks ago, four trading sources involved in the operations said and Reuters calculations showed. The traders referred to prices for cargoes loading in late October. "Urals prices are on the rise again. Alternatives are much more expensive and not easily available," a trader familiar with the Russian oil market said. Indian refiners did not respond to Reuters' emails seeking comments. Russian Urals oil typically gives higher yields of diesel, which accounts for about two-fifths of India's overall refined fuel consumption. Meanwhile, Russia's decision to ban diesel and gasoline exports added to the appeal of Urals crude, amid a looming shortage of the products globally. The Western price cap on Russian oil allows buyers to use Western services such as shipping and insurance in the event that crude trades below $60 per barrel.
Russia Sells Urals Oil To India At $20 Above The Price Cap - Tightening global crude supply and rising international prices have raised the price at which Russia’s crude is being sold to India at about $20 per barrel over the G7 price cap of $60, traders have told Reuters. The Russian flagship crude grade, Urals, is being sold to one of Moscow’s top customers, India, at nearly $80 per barrel now, or around 30% above the price cap set by the G7 and the EU if Russian crude shipments to third countries outside the EU are to use Western insurance and financing.Data from traders and Reuters calculations showed that free on board (FOB) Urals cargoes to load from Russia’s western ports on the Baltic Sea in October were nearly $80 a barrel for Indian refiners as of Thursday. The tightening global supply, especially crudes from the Middle East which have high diesel yields, have made Russia’s Urals more attractive, due to the discount at which the Russian grades trade relative to the international benchmark Brent. In India, where diesel is the number-one fuel in terms of consumption, Urals is in high demand, despite being much more expensive compared to the first half of this year.But other similar grades, if available at all, are costlier than Urals.“Urals prices are on the rise again. Alternatives are much more expensive and not easily available,” one trader with knowledge of the Russian oil market told Reuters.The price of Urals breached the G7 price cap in July and has averaged well above the ceiling since then.Urals prices averaged $74 per barrel in August, slightly down from August 2022, but way above the G7 price cap of $60 and higher than the July average of $64.37 a barrel, data released by the Russian Finance Ministry showed in early September. Between January and August 2023, the average price of Urals was $56.58 per barrel, compared to an average of $82.13 a barrel for the same period of 2022.
Russia’s Oil Export Revenues To Rise This Year As It Evades The G7 Price Cap -Russia is set to generate higher revenues from oil exports this year despite the price cap imposed on the country by the G7 and EU in response to the country’s invasion of Ukraine.Analysis of shipping data cited by the Financial Times shows that Russia is now shipping three-quarters of its oil overseas without Western insurance—one of the tools the G7 and the EU used to enforce the cap of $60 per barrel.Meanwhile, prices are on the rise and Russian crude is no exception. Urals crude is trading at close to $79 per barrel and ESPO, the Far Eastern blend, is trading at over $88 per barrel.This spring, the FT noted, citing Kpler data, Russia was moving half of its export oil without Western insurance, which suggests “Moscow is becoming more adept at circumventing the cap”.The revelations come amid repeated assurancesfrom the U.S. Treasury Department that the price cap was working as intended.“In just six months, the price cap has contributed to a significant decline in Russian revenue at a key juncture in the war,” Deputy Treasury Secretary Wally Adeyemo said in June.In August, Acting Assistant Secretary for Economic Policy Eric Van Nostrand said that he was “confident that the price cap is achieving its twin goals of restricting Russian revenues while helping stabilise energy markets”. Yet the FT cited the Kyiv School of Economics as estimating that Russia is going to see its revenues from oil exports rise by $15 billion this year thanks to circumvention of the G7 and EU price cap.Critics of the price cap said from the start that enforcing it would be a challenge while circumventing it would be relatively easy. Indeed, Russian, Chinese, and Indian insurers have stepped in to replace Western majors and what media call a “dark fleet” of tankers was built to ship Russian crude around the world without the participation of Western companies.In spite of all that, the price cap and sanctions regime have had a significant effect since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, costing Russia an estimated $100 billion in oil exports since February 2022.
Russia using European tankers for oil transport despite price cap: report --Despite a Western ban on insuring tankers carrying oil above a set price, Russia continues to use European and “shadow” tankers. -Russia is still using tankers owned by European nations to transport oil despite their price cap, a report has found. According to the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA), 24% of total Russian crude oil exports were moved by tankers owned or insured by price cap-implementing countries. In December 2022, Western nations placed a price cap of $60 per barrel on Russian oil in an attempt to minimise Moscow’s revenue streams after the Russian invasion of Ukraine. The price cap prohibits shipping, insurance and re-insurance companies from handling cargoes of Russian crude around the globe, unless it is sold for less than the price cap. In August 2023, 50% of tankers that were subject to the oil price cap transported crude oil from Russia. Moreover, Russia has assembled a fleet of “shadow tankers” operating without insurance or outside the jurisdiction of countries imposing sanctions. Isaac Levi, CREA’s team lead for Europe-Russia policy, said in a statement on Tuesday: “More than just by use of ‘shadow’ tankers, the impact of the oil price cap has been undermined by a failure of the participating governments to fully enforce the price cap and punish violators.” CREA has recommended lowering the oil price cap, increasing monitoring and enforcement of sanctions, and banning hitherto unsanctioned fossil fuels such as liquefied natural gas, liquefied petroleum gas and pipeline fuels that are allowed into the EU. According to the researchers, these measures will more effectively constrict the Kremlin’s war chest. Off the back of higher oil prices, Russia’s oil revenues rose by 7% in July. Furthermore, Russia’s crude oil exports increased in volume by 50% in the spring, as the state used trade routes with countries without sanctions.
Russia Still Heavily Using European Shipping for Its Oil: Think Tank -Russia is still relying on European shipping to transport its oil even as the country’s supplies exceed Group-of-Seven price caps, according to a researcher. Roughly two-thirds of Russian crude and petroleum products is being transported by vessels insured or owned in nations implementing price caps imposed by the G-7 and its allies, the Helsinki-based Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air said. That shows Moscow is still heavily using the European shipping industry, it said. The cap was designed to keep enough oil flowing to the world while crimping the Kremlin’s revenue. But as well as still using Western vessels, Russia has assembled a so-called shadow fleet of tankers operating outside jurisdictions of countries imposing sanctions. They tend to carry oil over shorter distances where the same amount of capacity can move more supply, the CREA said. “More than by the use of ‘shadow’ tankers, the impact of the oil price cap has been undermined by a failure of the participating governments to fully enforce the price cap and punish violators,” Isaac Levi, the CREA’s team lead for Europe-Russia policy and energy analysis, said in a statement Tuesday. The G-7 and its allies imposed a cap on Russia’s crude oil exports in December and on refined fuels like gasoline and diesel in February. Russian crude has been trading above the price cap of $60 a barrel since mid-July. Some of the country’s supply sold in Asia has started fetching a premium to benchmarks, and with Brent crude trading near $95 certain Russian grades are trading closer to $100 than $60. Russian crude can exceed the cap if no Western services are involved. About three-quarters of all shadow fleet trips were dedicated to transporting Russian crude, the CREA said.
Fuel exports rebound to a 5-month high but demand woes linger -- With fears of a global slowdown impacting exports, India’s ability to continue as one of the top exporters of fuel, especially to newer markets like the US and Europe, would be a key factor in limiting the country’s widening trade gap. India is the third largest consumer of oil in the world and imports around 85 percent of its requirements from key trading partners. After witnessing a slowdown in the past couple of months, India’s petroleum product exports came in at a five-month high, jumping nearly 41 percent in August 2023 compared to the month before owing to a surge in crude oil prices. But New Delhi may struggle to continue the current run rate on outbound shipments of fuel due to limitations emerging from several areas, ranging from refining capacity, and windfall tax, to diminishing discounts from Russia. A closer look at the data reveals that despite a sequential uptick, the value of India’s fuel exports fell 23 percent year-on-year in the first five months of the current financial year as crude oil prices declined from the elevated levels of July 2022, data from the government's NIRYAT portal showed. "Nearly half the decline in exports so far this year has been driven by the decline in petroleum prices. Though export volumes of petroleum products were up 6 percent, prices are 27 percent lower than a year ago," commerce ministry officials had said on September 15. But a decision by Saudi Arabia and Russia to extend production cuts till the end of 2023 has propelled oil prices higher of late. Brent crude jumped to a 10-month high and breached $94/barrel in mid-September. This was followed by Moscow’s decision to temporarily ban fuel exports, which further exacerbated worries over tight supply, keeping prices elevated.
CNOOC Starts Up Two Oil Projects Offshore China - - CNOOC Ltd. announced Monday the start of production at two oil development projects offshore China, part of efforts to raise full-year production to up to 660 million barrels of oil equivalent (MMboe). The bigger of the two, Lufeng 12-3, is expected to reach a peak production of about 29,000 barrels of crude per day next year, the majority state-owned company said in a press release. "Lufeng 12-3 Oilfield is the largest jointly-developed oilfield in the South China Sea in the past decade", CNOOC said. "It will provide stable energy supply for the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area and contribute to the high-quality development of local economy". Located in the eastern South China Sea with an average water depth of 787.4 feet (about 240 meters), the project plans to put 13 wells into production. Lufeng 12-3's main production facilities include one wellhead platform and one newly built 100,000-metric ton intelligent floating production, storage and offloading vessel (FPSO), according to CNOOC. In the other project, called Bozhong 28-2 South Oilfield Second Adjustment, CNOOC expects a peak production of 7,600 barrels of petroleum a day in 2024. In Bozhong 28-2 CNOOC plans to commission 21 development wells, consisting of 13 production wells and eight water injection wells, according to the news release. Located in the southern Bohai Sea with an average water depth of 68.9 feet (around 21 meters), the project's main production facilities include one central platform and one water injection subsea pipeline. CNOOC operates the Bozhong 28-2 South Oilfield Second Adjustment with a 100 percent stake, while SK Earthon Co. Ltd. is the operator of Lufeng 12-3 with a 39.2 percent interest, though CNOOC is the majority shareholder with a 60.8 percent interest. The two projects are among several CNOOC has planned for this year, during which it aims to produce 650-660 MMboe net. The company plans to meet 70 percent of the target through domestic production and 30 percent through its overseas operation, according to CNOOC's capital budget announcement January 11. "Net production is expected to reach 690 million to 700 million BOE in 2024 and 730 million to 740 million BOE in 2025", the announcement said. CNOOC has scheduled nine oil and gas projects for startup this year. Besides Bozhong 28-2 and Lufeng 12-3, these include China's Bozhong 19-6 Condensate Gas Field Phase I Development Project and Enping 18-6 Oilfield Development Project, as well as Brazil's Buzios5 Project and Mero2 Project and Guyana's Payara Project, as named in the capital budget announcement.
Uganda seeks Chinese funding for oil pipeline project --Uganda is in the final stages of negotiations with Chinese financiers to help fund a controversial pipeline project after some Western partners pulled out, a senior official said Wednesday. "We are having final discussions with our Chinese partners to provide about half of the finances required for the construction of the EACOP (East African Crude Oil Pipeline)," Irene Bateebe, permanent secretary at the energy ministry, told AFP. "We should be concluding the arrangements with the Chinese financiers this coming month (October)," she added. French energy giant TotalEnergies is leading a multi-billion dollar project to develop Ugandan oilfields and ship the crude through a 1,445-kilometre (900-mile) pipeline to a port in Tanzania. But the scheme has come under fire from human rights groups and environmental campaigners who say it will harm fragile ecosystems and the livelihoods of tens of thousands of local people. The government has vowed to plough ahead despite the opposition, and TotalEnergies says those displaced by the project have been fairly compensated and measures have been taken to protect the environment. "This is a critical project for Uganda," Bateebe said. "Some of our international partners from Europe were forced to pull out from financing this project and as a country, we sourced for other friendly partners to finance the balance of the financing and we are on course."
Iraq approves $1.26bln for Basra oil pipeline project --Iraq’s cabinet has approved around $1.26 billion for a major oil pipeline project that will largely boost the export capacity of the Southern oil hub of Basra. The cabinet, which met under Prime Minister Mohammed Al-Sudani on Tuesday, instructed the Finance Ministry to unlock funds for the project which also involves development of a nearby oil export terminal, Aliqtisad News and other newspapers said. The funds cover the costs of the construction of two pipelines 4 and 5 as part of the ‘Sealine 3’ project that also includes rehabilitation of Khor Al-Amaya oil export terminal and the construction of a new marine platform in Basra Port. Officials said this month the projects would allow Iraq to increase oil production by 500,000 barrels per day (bpd) and avert the loss of two million bpd if these projects are not executed. The Iraqi cabinet in July approved the funds for the “Sealine 3” subsea oil export pipeline project, to be carried out by Dutch firm Boskalis, but the funds remained locked by the Finance Ministry.
Two vessels detained over oil spill in Labuan waters -The Environment Department (DOE) here has detained two vessels in connection with an oil spill near Labuan Shipyard Engineering (LSE) jetty and in Patau-Patau 1 waters. Labuan disaster management committee chairman Rithuan Ismail said the detention of the vessels was carried out in accordance with Section 38 (1)(C) of the Environmental Quality Act 1974. "I have been briefed by the DOE director on the situation, and at present, investigations are under way at five sampling locations to determine the extent of the oil spill in the affected area. "Samples collected are also slated for immediate analysis at the Kota Kinabalu Chemistry Department,” Rithuan said on Monday (Sept 25). He said the findings would help determine and identify the responsible party and bring the case to court. "Clean-up and containment efforts for the oil spill in the affected area were concluded as of Friday (Sept 22),” he said. Rithuan said while much of the oil had naturally decomposed, the DOE is set to issue a Notice of Instruction to LSE to conduct marine water monitoring and sampling to assess the quality of water both immediately after the incident and one week later. The oil spill, which extended across a 1.5km area encompassing the waters around LSE jetty, Patau-Patau 1, and the Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA) jetty, was initially reported to the MMEA on Thursday (Sept 21) following a notification from the Labuan Fishermen's Association.
Mideast-Asia oil shipping rates rebound, capped by OPEC+ supply cuts --The cost of chartering a supertanker to load Middle Eastern crude oil for Asia has rebounded from a 19-month low in September, but industry sources expect output supply cuts, led by Saudi Arabia, to cap freight rates for the rest of the year. The world’s benchmark very large crude carrier (VLCC) export route from the Middle East Gulf (MEG) to Japan, known as TD3, rose to W50.46 on Monday in the Worldscale measure of freight rates, LSEG data showed. It fell to W35.60 in September, the lowest since Feb 2022. Freight rates fell after Saudi Arabia started reducing its output by an additional 1 million barrels per day from July. Adding to the pressure, the leading OPEC member, together with major producer Russia, extended their combined 1.3 million bpd supply cuts to December. “VLCC rates have improved as Saudi crude exports rebounded back to July level this month. Saudi is fulfilling term barrels nomination for October delivery and sending more crude to the West simultaneously,” Anoop Singh, global head of shipping research at Oil Brokerage, said. However, Singh said VLCC rates are unlikely to hit the highs of the fourth quarter last year, or levels suggested by tanker futures markets. “We expect Saudi Arabia not to sustain this level of exports and U.S. crude exports to stall as production stops growing and U.S. refineries return from maintenance,” said Singh. China’s buying appetite is likely to ease as it uses crude from its record-high inventories, he added. The voluntary cuts by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and allies, notably Russia (OPEC+), sent freight rates for trademark routes across main crude tankers classes to 2023-lows earlier, Ioannis Papadimitriou, senior freight analyst at Vortexa, said. Changes in price spreads that began last week between West Texas Intermediate and Brent, and between Brent and Middle East crude Dubai, have also weakened the economics of shipping oil across regions, which could reduce the need for ships to travel longer distances. “Given the narrow WTI-Brent spread that will potentially restrict further flows to Asia, this might lead to steady-to-higher Middle East volumes,” Emril Jamil, senior analyst for crude and fuel oil at LSEG, said. “In terms of (freight) rates, we may see a small step-up in Q4, but October might still be weak,” said Jamil, adding that he expects weaker October crude volumes to China amid a decline in refining margins. A source from an Asian shipowner company, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to speak to the press, said crude supply was “much less”, demand was not increasing and many ships were available, meaning rates were unlikely to rise sharply. Beyond this year, however, some tanker operators expect broader demand growth. “We see markets which can be sustained at least for a couple of years,”
OPEC+ Cuts Offset By Booming U.S. Oil Production - Despite the fact that U.S. oil producers are now deploying the lowest number of drilling rigs in more than a year and a half, America's crude oil production is set to hit a monthly record in September—at 13 million barrels per day (bpd), according to estimates by Rystad Energy. Production growth has slowed due to the discipline U.S. shale producers have shown in the past two years, but a slower increase still means that output is headed higher, the energy research firm says, as carried by The Wall Street Journal. The expected monthly record in September will match the record output from November 2019, the only other month in which U.S. production hit 13 million bpd—just a few months before the pandemic crippled demand, sank oil prices and led to production cuts across the board. U.S. crude oil production is set to increase even more until the end of the year, with October and four-quarter output estimated to average 13 million bpd-13.1 million bpd, according to Rystad Energy's analysis based on regulatory filings, satellite imagery, and pipeline flows. Even at a slower pace, American production is growing and offsetting part of the OPEC+ cuts, although the extended Saudi and Russian supply reductions are set to tighten the global oil market more than previously expected. U.S. shale production "is not growing as fast as before," Alexandre Ramos-Peon, Rystad Energy's head of shale research, told the Journal. "But it doesn't mean that shale has to decline." According to Ramos-Peon and Rystad Energy, all signs point to still growing U.S. shale, although growth is still slower than before Covid. Despite the loss of active drilling rigs, shale firms are producing more oil and gas and have even exceeded some skeptical projections from earlier this year. Last week, the total rig count fell to 630, per the latest Baker Hughes data—the fewest number of active drilling rigs since February 4, 2022. The number of oil rigs fell by 8 last week to 507, down by 114 so far in 2023.
The Oil Market Traded Lower on Monday as Russia Revised its Fuel Ban -- The oil market traded lower on Monday as Russia revised its fuel ban. The market traded mostly sideways in overnight trading and posted a high of $90.83 as the market remained concerned about higher interest rates that could impact demand. However, the crude market erased any of its gains and sold off to a low of $89.03 by mid-day. The market was pressured as Russia approved some changes to its fuel export ban, lifting the restrictions for fuel used as bunkering for some vessels and diesel with high sulfur content. The market later bounced off its low and settled in a sideways trading range during the remainder of the session. The November WTI contract settled down 35 cents at $89.68, while the Brent contract settled up 2 cents at $93.29. The product markets ended in negative territory, with the heating oil market settling down 4.4 cents at $ 3.2622 and the RB market settling down 1.79 cents at $2.5439. The Russian government has approved some changes to its fuel export ban, lifting the restrictions for fuel used as bunkering for some vessels. It also lifted restrictions on the export of fuel already accepted for export by the Russian Railways and Transneft before the initial ban had been announced last week. According to traders and LSEG data, Russia cut its seaborne diesel and gasoil exports by 30% to about 1.7 million metric tons in the first 20 days of September compared with the same period in August.The European Union’s statistics agency, Eurostat, said European Union energy imports continued their downward trend in the second quarter as members further reduced their reliance on Russian supplies. After a strong increase between 2021 and 2022, EU imports fell by 39.4% in value and 11.3% in volume in the second quarter of 2023 on a yearly basis. That followed declines of 26.5% and 6.1% respectively in the first quarter. Russia, the top supplier of petroleum oils to the EU with a market share of 15.9% in the second quarter of 2022, saw that share decline to just 2.7% in the second quarter of this year, making it only the twelfth biggest supplier.IIR Energy reported that U.S. oil refiners are expected to shut in about 1.7 million bpd of capacity in the week ending September 29th, cutting available refining capacity by 324,000 bpd. Offline capacity is expected to increase to 1.9 million bpd in the week ending October 6th.Phillips 66 reported that release of emissions at tis 149,000 bpd Borger, Texas refinery on Friday. It said the even was ongoing and operations personnel was working to minimize emissions from the event.Valero reported an issue at a sulfur recovery unit at the West plant of its 290,000 bpd Corpus Christi, Texas refinery on Saturday. It initiated shutdown sequences, which included the routing of process gases to facility flares.
The Oil Market Rallied Sharply Higher on Wednesday, Posting its Largest One Day Gain Since Early May -The oil market rallied sharply higher on Wednesday, posting its largest one day gain since early May as it continued to trade in its upward trend channel. The market continued to trade higher in overnight trading after it briefly breached the lower boundary of its channel during Tuesday’s session before it rebounded. The market was supported by speculation that the market is looking to test the $100 level. The crude market also continued to extend its gains ahead of the release of the EIA’s weekly petroleum stock report, which showed a larger than expected draw in crude stocks of over 2 million barrels to 416.3 million barrels, the lowest level since December 2, 2022. The crude market rallied over $3.60 as it traded to $94.04 by mid-day following the supportive report and held some resistance at that level before further buying ahead of the close, pushed the market to a high of $94.17. The November WTI contract settled at $93.68 up $3.29 or 3.64%, the largest one day gain since May 5th. The November Brent contract settled up $2.59 at $96.55. The product markets also ended the session sharply higher, with the heating oil market settling up 9.09 cents at $3.3147 and the RB market settling up 3.64 cents at $2.5986. The EIA reported that U.S. crude oil stocks fell more than expected in the week ending September 22nd, with inventories at Cushing, Oklahoma falling to the lowest level in over a year. U.S. crude stocks fell by 2.169 million barrels on the week to 416.3 million barrels, with stocks in Cushing, Oklahoma falling by 943,000 barrels on the week to 22 million barrels. LSEG is estimating MWE gasoline exports to the United States this month have so far reached 736,000 metric tons versus 828,000 metric tons shipped in August. Russia’s President Vladimir Putin ordered his government to make sure retail fuel prices stabilize, seeking additional measures to balance the domestic market following the introduction of a ban on gasoline and diesel exports. He also told the cabinet it needed to act swiftly and that reviewing oil industry taxes was an option. Earlier, Russia’s Deputy Prime Minister, Alexander Novak, told a government meeting chaired by President Vladimir Putin that some new measures, in addition to the fuel export ban, have been under consideration. He said there are proposals to restrict grey fuel export and increase the fuel export duty for resellers. He said there are proposals to restrict grey fuel exports and to raise fuel export duty to 50,000 roubles or $518.24/ton from 20,000 roubles for resellers. Meanwhile, Russia’s Finance Minister, Anton Siluanov, said Russia’s Finance Ministry is ready to provide additional funding to regions to tackle high fuel prices. The Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas said oil and gas activity in three key energy producing states increased modestly in the third quarter but cost increases continue. It said exploration is driving the increase, with the survey’s business activity index, reaching 10.9 in third quarter from zero in the second quarter. The Alaskan Department of Taxation reported Alaskan North Slope production in August averaged 423,290 b/d, down from 430,743 b/d produced in July and some 74,000 b/d below the January average production of 499,016. Seasonal maintenance is the major reason for normal summer production declines. IIR Energy reported that U.S. oil refiners are expected to shut in about 1.8 million bpd of capacity in the week ending September 29th, decreasing available refining capacity by 375,000 bpd. Offline capacity is expected to increase to 1.9 million bpd in the week ending October 6th.
WTI, Brent Oil Futures Consolidate Lower Following September Rally -- Nearest delivered oil futures on the New York Mercantile Exchange and the Intercontinental Exchange Brent contract rallied Wednesday following a reported drawdown in U.S. crude stocks, ignoring an ongoing advance in the dollar further bolstered by strength in the U.S. economy, while some observers see the Chinese economy stabilizing after a summer slowdown. November West Texas Intermediate surged $3.29 on the session to a $93.68 bbl settlement, paring an advance to a $94.17 13-month high on the spot continuous chart reached intrasession after the Energy Information Administration reported the seventh consecutive weekly drawdown in crude stocks at the Cushing tank farm in Oklahoma. Inventory at Cushing is down 49% from a 2023 high of 43.244 million bbl reached in late June to 21.958 million bbl on Sept. 22, with the stock level nearing a point that can cause operational issues. Estimates suggest operational constraints at the WTI delivery point can occur when stocks fall between 16 and 22 million bbl. The inventory drawdown at Cushing spiked an already wide six-month WTI calendar spread, which surged $2.24 on the session to $10.09 bbl -- the widest backwardation since mid-July 2022. U.S. commercial crude stocks fell 2.2 million bbl to 416.287 million bbl in the third week of September, with 943,000 bbl of the draw at Cushing, pressing inventory to a 15-month low, while 15.5 million bbl or 3.6% below the five-year average. Strong export flow amid supply constraints by OPEC+, including an additional 1 million bpd cut in production by Saudi Arabia and pledge by Russia to withhold 300,000 bpd of oil exports through the end of the fourth quarter, has amplified demand by foreign buyers for U.S. crude. EIA data shows U.S. crude exports for the four-week period ended Sept. 22 averaged 4.275 million bpd, 491,000 bpd or 13% above the comparable four weeks in 2022. Bank of America Research in a note to clients on Tuesday said it lifted its price projection for Brent crude for the fourth quarter to $96 bbl on the production cuts by OPEC+, recent gains in refining margins, and expanding economic stimulus in China. "[W]e expect global oil stocks to decline by 70mm over the coming 3 months," said Bank of America Research. ICE November Brent futures settled at $96.55 bbl Wednesday, up $2.59 on the session, trimming an advance to a $97.06 better-than 10-month high on the spot continuation chart. November Brent widened its premium against the December contract by $0.66 to $2.19 bbl, with the six-month calendar spread settling at $8.87 bbl. NYMEX October ULSD futures rallied $0.0909 to a $3.3147 gallon settlement following three down sessions, with the November contract ending the session at $3.2621 gallon in the backwardated market. October RBOB futures gained by a smaller $0.0364 to $2.5986 gallon at settlement, widening a premium to the November contract to $0.0485 gallon ahead of expiration on Friday. "The recent run up in crude oil and the high sustained margins in gasoline have left wholesale NYMEX RBOB (gasoline) prices at the highest seasonal levels in a decade going into winter, a relatively rare event given winter gasoline's higher Reid vapor pressure and thus lower costs economics," said Bank of America Research. "Meanwhile, turbocharged by a run up in crude oil prices and low inventories, diesel prices have raced to match last year's exceptionally high levels despite the growing downside demand pressures on the industrial and manufacturing side." Oil futures rallied despite a strengthening U.S. dollar, which settled at a 106.366 10-month high, gaining 0.4% in index trading against a basket of foreign currencies. In addition to high interest rates which are expected to remain elevated throughout 2024, U.S. economic growth remains resilient compared with a sluggish Eurozone economy and summer slowdown in China. Wednesday morning, the U.S. Census Bureau reported a 0.2% increase in U.S. durable goods orders in August from a downwardly revised July estimate of 5.6% and expectations for a 0.3% monthly decline. Machinery led the advance in new orders, and transportation equipment led increases in shipments, unfilled orders, and inventories. On Thursday, the Bureau of Economic Analysis will release its third and final estimate for annualized U.S. gross domestic product growth in the second quarter, which is expected to be bumped up from 2.1% to 2.3%. The Atlanta Federal Reserve's GDPNow indicator suggests U.S. GDP in the third quarter would grow at a 4.9% annualized rate. Meanwhile, "China's economy has recently shown some signs of stabilization, and the government still has many policy levers to pull," Beijing hasn't provided large fiscal or monetary stimulus as it has in the past, instead choosing targeted measures, including modest interest rate cuts, reduced restrictions on property buying, and policies to help lower local government debt.
Oil falls as macroeconomic concerns dampen price rally - Oil prices fell on Friday in a volatile trading session, as macroeconomic concerns weighed on the recent rally. Front-month Brent November futures were down 14 cents, or 0.15%, at $95.24 per barrel at 1442 GMT ahead of the contract’s expiry later in the day. The more liquid Brent December contract was down 72 cents, or 0.77%, at $92.38 per barrel. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude (WTI) was down 92 cents, or 1%, to $90.79 per barrel. WTI futures traded $1 higher earlier in the session, before then trading $1 below Thursday’s close price. With oil futures inching closer to the $100 a barrel threshold, investors could be taking stock of the current rally given ongoing macroeconomic concerns. “But with investors now questioning the resilience of the global economy going into next year against the backdrop of higher interest rates for longer, that bullish bias in oil markets may become more balanced,” said Craig Erlam, an analyst at OANDA. Investors may also be looking ahead to a potential partial U.S. government shutdown on Sunday. A shutdown would be an “unnecessary risk” to a resilient U.S. economy, top White House economic adviser Lael Brainard said on Friday. U.S. consumer spending increased 0.4% in August, while personal consumption expenditures (PCE) price index data showed that inflation excluding volatile food and energy prices slowed to 0.1% last month, from 0.2% in July. Also next week, the OPEC+ ministerial panel meeting will take place on Oct. 4. “Next week’s OPEC meeting will be a key update for the market with increasing probability the voluntary supply cuts by Aramco are reduced,” National Australia Bank analysts said in a client note, referring to Saudi Arabia’s state oil producer. Brent is forecast to average $89.85 a barrel in the fourth quarter and $86.45 in 2024, according to a survey of 42 economists compiled by Reuters on Friday. The supply cuts announced by Saudi Arabia and Russia will dominate oil prices for the remainder of this year, but a run towards $100 per barrel could be short-lived because of “the artificial nature of supply shortages in the system, and the fragile macro environment,” said Suvro Sarkar, energy sector team lead at DBS Bank.
US Expresses Support for Anti-Assad Protesters in Southern Syria - A US official spoke with a Druze spiritual leader to express support for protests against the government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad that have been taking place in Syria’s southern Suwayda governate. The US Embassy in Syria wrote on X that Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Ethan Goldrich “spoke with Druze spiritual leader Sheikh Hekmat al-Hajari reiterating our support for Syrians’ freedom of expression, including peaceful protest in Suwayda.” According to The Cradle, the protests in Suwayda, a Druze-majority area, broke out on August 16 after the Syrian government raised civil servant salaries but cut fuel subsidies amid a collapse in the value of the Syrian pound. The demonstrations have continued since then with calls for the overthrow of Assad. Three members of Congress also recently spoke with al-Hajari to express bipartisan support for the protests, Reps. Joe Wilson (R-SC), Brendan Boyle (D-PA), and French Hill (R-AR). Boyle told The Nationallast week that he “reaffirmed bipartisan congressional support for the peaceful protests in Suwayda” during his conversation with al-Hajari. The support for the protests comes as the US is looking to exert more pressure on the Assad government as more countries are normalizing with Syria. Assad recently traveled to China for the first time since war broke out in Syria in 2011. Back in May, the Arab League voted to readmit Syria despite opposition from the US. US sanctions on Syria are specifically designed to prevent the country’s reconstructionand have had a devastating impact on the civilian population, creating the economic conditions that sparked the Suwayda protests. On top of the sanctions, the US backs the Kurdish-led SDF in Syria, allowing the US to occupy about one-third of Syria’s territory in the east, where most of the country’s oil and wheat resources are located.
Ukraine Asks West to Bomb Drone Factories in Iran and Syria - Ukraine asked its Western backers to bomb drone factories in Iran, Syria, and in Russia, The Guardian reported on Wednesday, citing a document Kyiv submitted to the G7 in August.In the document, Kyiv alleged that Iranian drones Russia has used to bombard Ukraine contain Western components. Ukraine claims that Iran had diversified its drone production using a factory in Syria and that the production would eventually shift to Russia.The document suggests that Ukraine’s Western backers could launch “missile strikes on the production plants of these UAVs in Iran, Syria, as well as on a potential production site in the Russian Federation.”The document says that Ukraine could launch the strikes if provided with the weapons capable of doing so. “The above may be carried out by the Ukrainian defense forces if partners provide the necessary means of destruction,” it says.For their part, Iran has denied that it has provided Russia with drones since the invasion of Ukraine was launched, a claim Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi reaffirmed last week at the UN General Assembly.The Ukrainian document claims Iran is trying to “disassociate itself from providing Russia with weapons” and “cannot cope with Russian demand and the intensity of use in Ukraine.”There’s no indication the US or any of Ukraine’s other Western backers would bomb Iran or Syria for Ukraine. Israel frequently launches airstrikes in Syria and covert attacks inside Iran, but that’s been happening long before Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Iran Says Netanyahu Threatened Nuclear Attack in UN Speech - Iran has lodged a formal complaint to the UN accusing Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of threatening a nuclear attack on the Islamic Republic.In his speech at the UN General Assembly last week, Netanyahu said, “Above all — above all — Iran must face a credible nuclear threat. As long as I’m prime minister of Israel, I will do everything in my power to prevent Iran from getting nuclear weapons.”Netanyahu’s office later said he misspoke, insisting the prepared speech said “credible military threat” instead of “credible nuclear threat.” Iran still issued a complaint, noting that Israel has an arsenal of nuclear weapons that it does not acknowledge.Iranian Ambassador to the UN Amir Saeid Iravani accused Netanyahu of making “explicit threats to use nuclear weapons against an independent member state of the United Nations.” Iravani said the threat is more serious coming from Israel, which he described as an “illegitimate regime that has been widely condemned for aggressions, for apartheid policies and for support for terrorism, as well as for possessing an arsenal of weapons of mass destruction alongside advanced conventional weapons.” The Iranian envoy said the “use or even the mere threat of using nuclear weapons, regardless of the circumstances, by anyone, at any time and in any place, is a clear violation of international laws.”
Polish PM Tells Zelensky to 'Never Insult Poles Again' - Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki on Friday said Ukrainian President Volodoymr Zelensky must “never insult” Polish people again as Warsaw and Kyiv are at odds over Ukrainian grain imports.“I … want to tell President Zelenskyy never to insult Poles again, as he did recently during his speech at the UN,” Morawiecki said at an election rally.Zelensky targeted Poland and two other EU countries for continuing to ban the import of Ukrainian grain in his UN General Assembly speech, accusing them of aiding Russia.After Zelensky’s speech, Morawiecki was asked if the grain spat would impact Polish support for Ukraine, and he replied by saying Poland was no longer arming the country. A spokesman for the Polish government, Piotr Mueller, then clarified that Poland would provide what it has already promised to Ukraine, but nothing more due to “a series of absolutely unacceptable statements and diplomatic gestures [that] appeared on the Ukrainian side.”Bloomberg reported Friday that the US was seeking further clarification from Poland on its support for Ukraine. Crucially, Morawiecki said weapons shipments from other countries transiting through Poland would not be interfered with, as Poland has turned into a major hub for NATO weapons deliveries to Ukraine.The spat between Ukraine and Poland comes ahead of the Polish parliamentary elections, which are scheduled for October 15. Poland’s ruling Law and Justice party has come under criticism for being too supportive of Ukraine.
Kyiv Launches More Attacks on Sevastopol in Crimea - Kyiv launched cruise missile attacks on the Crimean Peninsula with weapons provided by NATO on Friday. This was followed by another missile strike on Sevastopol, where Russia’s Black Sea fleet is based, on Saturday morning.Kyrylo Budanov, Ukraine’s intelligence chief, told Voice of America – the US state-funded media outlet – that at least nine people were killed, and 16 others were wounded during the attack on Friday. The Russian Defense Ministry says there were no casualties, but the strikes have left one service member missing.A Ukrainian military source speaking with the BBC said that the attack was carried out using the UK-provided Storm Shadow cruise missiles, which have a range of roughly 155 miles. The missiles can be launched from Kyiv’s Soviet-era MIG-29 warplanes.According to a statement from the Ukrainian military, Friday’s missile strike was specifically timed to target a meeting of Russian naval officials. The statement claimed the air force conducted 12 strikes on the Black Sea fleet headquarters, which resulted in “dozens of dead and wounded occupiers, including the top management of the fleet.”
Ukraine Claims It Killed Russia's Black Sea Commander in Missile Strike on Crimea - Ukraine has claimed an attack it launched on the Crimean peninsula on Friday killed 34 Russian officers, including the head of Russia’s Black Sea Fleet, Adm. Viktor Sokolov.The Ukrainian claim is not confirmed, and the Russian side onlyreported one serviceman missing after the strike, which targeted the Russian Black Sea Fleet’s headquarters in Sevastopol. Ukrainian sourcestold media outlets that the strike was launched with British-provided Storm Shadow missiles, which have a range of about 155 miles.“After the defeat of the headquarters of the Russian armed forces, 34 officers died, including the commander of the Russian armed forces. Another 105 occupiers were wounded. The headquarters building cannot be restored,” Ukraine’s special operations forces said Monday.Kyrylo Budanov, the head of Ukraine’s military intelligence, initially claimed the Friday strike killed nine people and wounded 16. The Ukrainian military said the strike was timed to target a meeting of Russian naval officers.Ukraine has significantly stepped up its attacks on Crimea in recent weeks amid its faltering counteroffensive. The Friday attack came as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky was visiting Canada’s parliament and joined them in a standing ovation for a Ukrainian World War II veteran who fought for the Nazis, a moment that caused an international outcry, forcing Canadia’s speaker of the house to apologize.
Russian Black Sea Fleet Commander Attends Meeting After Ukraine Claimed He Was Killed - The commander of Russia’s Black Sea Fleet attended a Russian Defense Ministry video conference on Tuesday, a day after Ukraine claimed he was killed in a September 22 missile strike on the fleet’s headquarters in Sevastopol, Crimea.The Russian Defense Ministry released footage that showed Adm. Viktor Sokolov virtually attending a meeting led by Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu. In response to Sokolov appearing at the meeting, Ukraine’s special operations forces, which claimed he was dead on Monday, said it would “clarify” information about the missile strike.“As is known, 34 officers were killed as a result of a missile attack on the headquarters of the Black Sea Fleet of the Russian Federation. Available sources claim that the commander of the Russian Black Sea Fleet was among the dead. Many still have not been identified due to the disparity of body fragments,” Ukraine’s special operations forces said on Telegram. “Since the Russians were urgently forced to publish an answer with an apparently alive Sokolov, our units are clarifying the information. This is happening within the procedure for collecting data on the results of the operation,” they added.While Kyiv claims 34 Russian officers were killed in the strike, the Russian side has not confirmed any deaths. According to Russia’s TASSnews agency, the Russian Defense Ministry only said one serviceman was missing after the strike. Ukrainian sources have told media outletsthat the September 22 attack used British-provided Storm Shadow cruise missiles.
Russia Has Gained More Territory This Year Than Ukraine - Russian forces have gained more territory in Ukraine this year than the Ukrainian side despite the Ukrainian counteroffensive that was launched in June, The New York Times reported on Thursday. The report noted that despite nine months of heavy fighting in Ukraine, only about 500 square miles of territory have changed hands this year. Russia has gained 331 square miles while Ukraine has gained 143, a difference of 188, which amounts to Russia’s net gain in territory so far this year.Most of the fighting in the first half of the year focused around the Donbas city of Bakhmut, which Russia fully captured in May after a brutal battle that started in August 2022. Ukraine’s counteroffensive has focused on the south, but fighting has continued near Bakhmut and across the entire eastern front.The Times quoted Marina Miron, a postdoctoral researcher in war studies at King’s College London, who said Russia appears to be comfortable holding the territory it currently controls rather than seeking rapid gains. “It’s not losing anything by not moving forward,” Miron said. “The whole strategy in Ukraine is for the Russians to let the Ukrainians run against those defenses, kill as many as possible, and destroy as much Western equipment as possible.”
Ukraine breaks Russia’s main defensive line with armor as forces make critical advances - Ukrainian armor has broken through Russia’s main defensive line in the southeast for the first time and is making major advances toward the town of Verbove, a sign the counteroffensive is continuing to pick up the pace and could soon reach a breakthrough. Ukraine’s infantry made it past the main layer of defenses in the front line weeks ago, but armored vehicles have now rolled past dragon’s teeth obstacles and are advancing near the town of Verbove in a critical step for Kyiv’s operation. Armored vehicles, including American-made Strykers, breached the main layer of the infamous “Surovikin line” of defenses, named for the Russian Gen. Sergei Surovikin, which is made up of trenches, mines and antitank obstacles. The Institute for the Study of War first assessed last week that armored vehicles likely penetrated the main layer, though it wasn’t immediately clear if the positions would hold. Ukrainian commanders have also confirmed to media outlets that the armored vehicles blasted through the main line after troops cleared the way. Videos and images online are also showing the breach, which indicates Ukraine is securing its position behind Russia’s defensive layers. If Ukraine can secure its advance around the towns of Verbove and Novoprokopivka next, it can then advance toward Tokmak, a key waypoint toward the ultimate objective of taking the city of Melitopol. Ukraine still has a long way to go, at least 15 miles or so, to reach Tokmak, and the path is scattered with more Russian defenses.
Enormous explosion felt 20 miles away hits international airport in ex-Soviet republic Uzbekistan: Fireball hundreds of feet high erupts above Tashkent amid fears of mass casualties, with buildings destroyed and untold damage caused to the airfield | Daily Mail Online - A powerful explosion has rocked the capital city of Uzbekistan with reports of a fireball hundreds of feet high lighting up the night sky. The blast at Tashkent International Airport could be heard 20 miles away according to Uzbek news website Daryo, with nearby buildings destroyed and untold damage to the airfield. An 'unspecified' number of people have also been taken to hospital with injuries according to the nation's health service. Flights at the airport appeared to be taking off and landing as normal, data from flight tracking website FlightRadar24 showed. But notice to airmen issued at 10.15pm GMT yesterday said a runway at the airport would be closed for takeoff and landing between 2am and 7pm today, but a segment would be available for taxis. It did not provide a reason. The health ministry said that a 'fire' had been reported during the night at the warehouse, and that an unspecified number of injured people had been taken to hospital. 'At the moment, there are not any seriously injured among them. Right now, doctors are furnishing all necessary medical assistance,' the ministry said on Telegram. 'Emergency medical care is also being provided to people injured in the fire at the scene of the accident and in the surrounding apartments.' Uzbekistan is the most populous of the central Asian former Soviet republics, and fires attributed to dilapidated equipment and poor adherence to safety standards are common there. Accidents of this magnitude, however, are still rare. According to a Daryo post on social media, the Ministry of Emergency Situations received a call that a fire had occurred due to a strong explosion at one of the warehouses located in the city's Sergeli district. Fire and rescue crews and vehicles have arrived at the scene and are currently extinguishing the fire, the post said, adding details of injuries and deaths as a result of the fire were not yet known.
Fascism and imperialist war—Why Canada’s parliament saluted Ukrainian Nazi SS veteran - Last Friday, Canada’s entire parliament—led by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his honoured guest, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky—gave a standing ovation to a 98-year-old Ukrainian veteran of Adolf Hitler’s Waffen SS, Yaroslav Hunka. The Waffen SS played a leading role in the extermination of Europe’s Jews between 1941 and 1945. In response to an outpouring of public condemnation, Canada’s political establishment has rallied round a cover story. The honoring of Hunka, we are now told, was an innocent mistake for which the House of Commons Speaker Anthony Rota was solely responsible.“I have subsequently become aware of more information which causes me to regret my decision,” Rota said.“No one,” he added, “including fellow parliamentarians and the Ukraine delegation, was aware of my intention or of my remarks”—in which he hailed Hunka as a Ukrainian and Canadian “hero”—“before I delivered them.” The claim that Rota and Trudeau were not informed of Hunka’s past is absurd. The convening of a special sitting of parliament to hear an address from Zelensky was a major political event that would have been carefully scripted. Those invited to hear Zelensky’s address, let alone honored in the proceedings surrounding it, would have been extensively vetted. The Canadian parliament’s standing ovation for a Nazi war criminal was a deliberate provocation. It came at the conclusion of a week of war plotting, in which Zelensky conferred with US President Biden and other top US officials and bellicose speeches were given from the floor of the United Nations by Biden, Zelensky and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz.Friday’s events were the foul outcome of the decisions now being taken by Washington and its NATO allies to escalate the war in response to the manifest failure of Ukraine’s much-vaunted spring/summer offensive.Biden, Trudeau and the leaders of the other NATO imperialist powers are now publicly speaking of a “protracted war” that they will wage for as “long as it takes.” To inflict what they call a “strategic defeat” on Russia—that is regime change in Moscow and its semi-colonial subjugation—will require their moving rapidly to introduce NATO troops into Ukraine and initiating direct conflict with Russia.The standing ovation for the Ukrainian SS veteran Hunka was meant to send the Russian government the message that there “are no limits” the NATO powers are not prepared to cross. This event is the culmination of an alliance between the Canadian state and the Ukrainian far right that was cemented in the immediate aftermath of World War II, when Canada opened its doors to tens of thousands of Ukrainian Nazi collaborators. This included 2,000 veterans, Hunka among them, of the specially created all-Ukrainian (senior-most officers excepted) Waffen SS 14th Galizien Division, and supporters of both wings of the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists (OUN).Ottawa—working in concert with the Ukrainian Canadian Congress (UCC), which had been founded at the government’s behest at the beginning of World War II—used the Ukrainian fascists as tools of its Cold War policy.In recent decades, as the Canadian government, along with Washington and its NATO partners, has worked ever more aggressively to harness Ukraine to NATO and the European Union, the alliance with the UCC and the Ukrainian far right has become ever more important to Canadian foreign policy. It is embodied in the person of Chrystia Freeland, the Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister. The leading war hawk in the government, Freeland has been associated with the UCC since her youth. Her maternal grandfather was the editor of Krakivski Visti, the only Ukrainian newspaper allowed to appear under Nazi occupation. It championed the creation of the Waffen SS 14th Galizien Division.
