Written by rjs, MarketWatch 666
This is a collection of interesting news articles about the environment and related topics published last week. This is usually a Tuesday evening regular post at GEI (but can be posted at other times).
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Note: Because of the high volume of news regarding the coronavirus outbreak, that news has been published separately:
- 10 May 2020 – Coronavirus Disease News 10May 2020
10 May 2020 – Coronavirus Economic News 10May 2020
CDC: 80,000 people died of flu last winter in U.S., highest death toll in 40 years – STAT – An estimated 80,000 Americans died of flu and its complications last winter – the disease’s highest death toll in at least four decades. The director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Dr. Robert Redfield, revealed the total in an interview Tuesday night with The Associated Press. Flu experts knew it was a very bad season, but at least one found size of the estimate surprising. “That’s huge,” said Dr. William Schaffner, a Vanderbilt University vaccine expert. The tally was nearly twice as much as what health officials previously considered a bad year, he said. In recent years, flu-related deaths have ranged from about 12,000 to – in the worst year – 56,000, according to the CDC. Last fall and winter, the U.S. went through one of the most severe flu seasons in recent memory. It was driven by a kind of flu that tends to put more people in the hospital and cause more deaths, particularly among young children and the elderly. The season peaked in early February. It was mostly over by the end of March, although some flu continued to circulate. Making a bad year worse, the flu vaccine didn’t work very well. Experts nevertheless say vaccination is still worth it, because it makes illnesses less severe and save lives. “I’d like to see more people get vaccinated,” Redfield told the AP at an event in New York. “We lost 80,000 people last year to the flu.” CDC officials do not have exact counts of how many people die from flu each year. Flu is so common that not all flu cases are reported, and flu is not always listed on death certificates. So the CDC uses statistical models, which are periodically revised, to make estimates. Fatal complications from the flu can include pneumonia, stroke and heart attack. CDC officials called the 80,000 figure preliminary, and it may be slightly revised. But they said it is not expected to go down. It eclipses the estimates for every flu season going back to the winter of 1976-1977. Estimates for many earlier seasons were not readily available.
Ineffective flu vaccine added to 50,000 extra deaths last winter, ONS says – The flu vaccine’s failure to protect against some of the key strains of the infection contributed to more than 50,000 “extra” deaths in England and Wales last winter, according to data from the Office of National Statistics. It was the worst winter on record for more than 40 years, with the 1975-76 season being the last time deaths climbed so high above the expected levels. The NHS was rocked by a record winter crisis in early 2018, with amassive rise in flu cases and sub-zero temperatures triggered by the Beast from the East storm, which added further to death rates. Despite protecting against the potentially serious “Aussie flu“, officials said in January that the vaccine which had been widely used was not effective against some of the more prevalent strains of the virus affecting the UK.The impact on death rates was apparent as early as March, when experts warned the government must “urgently investigate” a spike of 10,000 deaths in the first weeks of 2018.But the ONS data, spanning December to March, shows that this trend continued to rise. “The number of excess winter deaths in England and Wales in 2017 to 2018 was the highest recorded since the winter of 1975 to 1976,” said Nick Stripe, from the ONS Health Analysis and Life Events team.”
Millions predicted to develop tuberculosis as result of Covid-19 lockdown – The head of a global partnership to end tuberculosis (TB) said she is “sickened” by research that revealed millions more people are expected to contract the disease as a result of Covid-19 restrictions. Up to 6.3 million more people are predicted to develop TB between now and 2025 and 1.4 million more people are expected to die as cases go undiagnosed and untreated during lockdown. This will set back global efforts to end TB by five to eight years. “The fact that we’ve rolled back to 2013 figures and we have so many people dying, this for me is sickening,” said Lucica Ditiu, executive director of the Stop TB Partnership. “I am outraged that just by not being able to control what we do … and forgetting about programmes that exist we lose so much, starting with the loss of the lives of people.” There is currently no TB vaccine for adults, only one for children. “I have to say we look from the TB community in a sort of puzzled way because TB has been around for thousands of years,” Ditiu said. “For 100 years we have had a vaccine and we have two or three potential vaccines in the pipeline. We need around half a billion [people] to get the vaccine by 2027 and we look in amazement on a disease that … is 120 days old and it has 100 vaccine candidates in the pipeline. So I think this world, sorry for my French, is really fucked up,” she said. “The fear we have in the community is that researchers are heading towards just developing a vaccine for Covid. That’s on the agenda of everyone now and very few remain focused on the others [diseases]. We don’t have a vaccine for TB, we don’t have a vaccine for HIV, we don’t have a vaccine for malaria and out of all this, TB is the oldest. So why this reaction? I think because we are a world of idiots. What can I say?”
Coronavirus’s priceless gift — Frances Coppola – The freesias that my daughter sent me are long dead, but the clematis in my garden are in full flower, and they smell of vanilla. It has taken about five weeks for my sense of smell to return. But I was only mildly ill. For many people, the road to recovery is much longer. Initially, coronavirus was thought to be a respiratory illness causing cough, fever and breathing difficulties. But the range of symptoms that the virus produces is now known to be much wider. Headache, muscle pains, fatigue, nausea, diarrhoea are recognised as symptoms of coronavirus infection. There is growing evidence that it disturbs the blood clotting mechanism and can trigger heart attacks or strokes. It also seems to have caused renal or liver failure in some patients. And there are worrying reports of long-term problems such as a weakened heart or immune systems. It’s also difficult to diagnose. Some very sick people don’t have a cough or fever, or obvious breathing difficulties. Some people’s only symptom is sudden loss of the senses of smell and/or taste: this is now regarded as a definitive indicator of coronavirus infection in people without other symptoms. The virus and the measures taken to contain it are causing untold grief and misery. But there are unexpected benefits. Under lockdown, the air has cleared and nature has re-colonised our empty spaces. We will return to them again: but this time, I hope, with renewed love and consideration for the plants, birds and animals with whom we share this beautiful planet. And also for our own future selves, and those who will live here when we are gone. Lower pollution levels and greater diversity of wildlife benefit humans too. There is so much loss, but there is also healing, not only for those who like me have survived the virus, but for the world. Deadly though it is, coronavirus has brought us a priceless gift. It has given us a delightful glimpse of what a pollution-free natural world can be like, and it has created time for us to rethink our relationship with nature. We should use this gift wisely, designing new ways of working, producing and caring, so that when the time comes for our economy to wake from its induced slumber, the beauty that has been restored through our collective sacrifice can stay with us for ever. Surely this would be the best memorial for those who are losing their lives.
Gas stoves making indoor air up to five times dirtier than outdoor air, report finds – Gas stoves are making people sick, contributing pollution that makes indoor air up to two to five times dirtier than outdoor air, according to a new report. Despite the risks, regulators have failed to set standards for indoor air quality – a problem that is now likely to be exacerbated by large numbers of people spending time inside and cooking at home during the coronavirus pandemic. Fossil-fuel-burning stoves are likely exposing tens of millions of Americans to air pollution levels that would be illegal if they were outside, concludes the review of decades of science by the Rocky Mountain Institute and multiple environmental advocacy groups. Lead report author Brady Seals said little attention has been paid despite longstanding knowledge of the problem. “Somehow we’ve gotten accustomed to having a combustion device, often unvented, inside of the home,” Seals said. About a third of US households cook primarily with gas – which emits nitrogen dioxide and carbon dioxide, in addition to the particle pollution that all types of stoves produce. Older, poorly maintained stoves pollute even more including risks from carbon monoxide. Even small increases in short-term exposure to nitrogen dioxide can increase asthma risks for children. One analysis found that children in homes with gas stoves have a 42% higher chance of having asthma symptoms. Another in Australia attributed 12.3% of all childhood asthma burden to gas stoves. Nitrogen dioxide also makes chronic obstructive pulmonary disease worse and may be linked to heart problems, diabetes and cancer. Carbon monoxide poisoning can cause a headache, nausea, a rapid heartbeat, cardiac arrest and death. The best solution, according to the report, is to change to electric stoves. But individuals with gas stoves can also open windows, cook on their back burners, use an exhaust hood, run an air purifier with a HEPA filter and install a carbon monoxide detector.
NY, Other States to Argue EPA Fails to Enforce Pollution ‘Drift’ – New York, New Jersey, and New York City are set to argue Thursday that the Environmental Protection Agency wrongfully denied the states’ petition to act on pollution coming from nine upwind states in a virtual oral argument before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. The argument focuses on New York’s petition under the Clean Air Act’s “good neighbor” provision to impose emission limits on 350 industrial sources of nitrogen oxides, about half of which are coal-fired power plants. The provision requires states to remove emissions that are significantly affecting air quality in a downwind state. Nitrogen oxides can contribute to ground-level ozone, a lung irritant that can worsen breathing conditions such as asthma. The EPA says in its brief filed April 2 that the petition, which it denied, was “materially deficient.” The agency says New York failed to include the type or location of the pollution sources, their existing controls or requirements, and the cost of implementing limits. The state also failed to show its requested emissions controls would be cost-effective, the agency says, a requirement under the good neighbor provision. “EPA did all that the law requires – and more,” according to the agency. The states argue in their brief filed March 27 that the EPA is being unreasonable in requiring New York to collect sourcing and other information. The state doesn’t have direct authority over the emissions sources, the brief says, compared to the agency which is authorized under the CAA to demand emissions records.
Rubbish Is Piling Up and Recycling Has Stalled – Waste Systems Must Adapt – Coronavirus has revealed just how fragile our waste cycle is.Globally, collection services are being reduced because of social distancing, staff absences and concerns about workers’ health and safety. This is affecting the collection, sorting, processing and treatment of wastes as well as markets for materials made from recycling and composts. In the UK alone, 46% of recycling facilities have reduced or stopped treatment. Domestic glass and some recycling, garden and food waste collection schemes have been cancelled or restricted, with almost all household waste recycling centres closed. This impact is being seen around the world, with the US reporting that 31%of their facilities have been negatively affected. Unless these recyclable materials are stored safely at home, they may end up being sent to end-of-life treatments, such as landfill or incineration.Changes in lifestyle are adding to this problem. The amount of waste generated in commercial and industrial workplaces has drastically reduced. In contrast, home clear-outs and renovations during the lockdown are creating domestic waste that can’t be disposed of at recycling centres. In the UK, this has resulted in a 300% increase in reported fly-tipping in rural communities. Items that could have been reused via donation to charity are being disposed of unnecessarily. The UK’s high street charity retail shops – which generate around £270 million annually for good causes – now find their future under threat at a time when demand for their services is highest. Industries that rely heavily on recycled materials are therefore the ones feeling the most pressure in terms of getting hold of resources. The US plastic recycling industry has asked congress for a US$1 billion (£800 million) bailout “to meet the demands of this crisis”. There are warnings for cardboard shortages for future packaging as we produce and recycle less at work, and sharp increases in online shopping brings more card and paper into our homes. Meanwhile, dramatic reductions in wood waste recycling (to nearly 10% of capacity) thanks to construction slowing, and household recycling centres closing, is having knock on effects on biomass energy generation. The manufacture of cars has reduced globally, reducing the demand for recycled steel and aluminium. Medical waste, which requires specialist collection and treatment, is increasing rapidly. When you add the panic-bought £1.9 billion of groceries to this – and that’s just a UK figure – some of which went straight into the bin, it’s clear that COVID-19 is having a massive impact on waste management and negatively affecting the environment.
‘Murder Hornets’ Spotted in U.S. for the First Time – Invasive “murder hornets” have been spotted in the U.S. for the first time, prompting concerns for the nation’s honeybees and the trajectory of a year that has already brought locust invasions and a global pandemic.Four sightings of the world’s largest hornets – officially called the Asian giant hornet (Vespa mandarinia) – were reported and verified in Washington State in December 2019, according to the Washington State Department of Agriculture (WSDA). But “murder hornet” began trending after the publication Saturday of aNew York Times piece about Washington’s efforts to find and eradicate the insects before they take hold, asNBC News reported. But for honeybees, the Asian giant hornet is no joke. The hornets enter a “slaughter phase” where they decapitate bees, WSDA said. They destroy an entire hive within hours and then claim it as their own, feeding the brood to their young.Washington beekeeper Ted McFall told The New York Times of driving home in November to find a pile of decapitated bee carcasses on the ground.”I couldn’t wrap my head around what could have done that,” McFall told The New York Times. He later came to suspect murder hornets, though this has not been confirmed.There have also been sightings of the hornet across the border in British Columbia, but at least one of the Canadian hives was proven to be unconnected to one of the W ashington hornets, meaning the insect was likely introduced to the region at least twice. While the hornets do not typically attack humans or pets unless threatened, their stings are extremely painful and can be deadly. They earned the nickname “murder hornet” because their group attacks can expose the victim to as much venom as a snake bite, “It was like having red-hot thumbtacks being driven into my flesh,” Conrad Bérubé, a beekeeper who was stung while exterminating a hive on Vancouver Island, told The New York Times of the experience.The hornets are 1.5 to two inches long and have a yellow or orange head with bulging eyes and a black and yellow striped abdomen, according to WSDA.
US bracing for invasion of monster hornets – The US is facing an invasion of giant Asian hornets that scientists fear could threaten its bee population. The monster hornets – nicknamed “murder hornets” by researchers in the northwestern state of Washington – were first spotted late last year near Blaine, a town near the Canadian border. Known as the Vespa Mandarinia, the hornet is two inches long and is capable of stinging several times, which can prove fatal. It is estimated that they kill around 50 people a year in Japan alone. The hornets’ stingers are so long that they can penetrate beekeepers’ protective suits. Their toxic venom is equivalent to that of a poisonous snake, according to Jun-ichi Takahashi, a researcher at Kyoto Sangyo University in Japan. In all four hornet colonies were found in Washington and two more were discovered in British Columbia. The tell-tale sign was piles of dead bees with their heads ripped off. Just a handful of hornets can destroy a beehive in a matter of hours, according to Washington’s department of agriculture. Having decapitated the bees during what is known as their “slaughter phase” the hornets then take control of the hive. They then use the bodies of the bees to feed their young. “It’s a shockingly large hornet,” said Todd Murray, an entomologist at Washington State University. “It’s a health hazard, and more importantly, a significant predator of honeybees,” he added. The hornets’ natural habitat is the forests and mountains of eastern and southeast Asia, where it has already devastated the local population of the European honeybee. How they arrived in North America remains unclear. One theory is that they might have been inadvertently transported in international cargo. Washington’s department of agriculture has issued a chilling warning to local residents, telling them to use extreme caution should they come across a colony, even though they do not normally attack people or pets unless they feel threatened. “Anyone who is allergic to bee or wasp stings should never approach an Asian giant hornet,” it said. “Don’t try to take them out yourself if you see them,” added Chris Looney, another state of Washington entomologist. “If you get into them, run away, then call us! It is really important for us to know of every sighting, if we’re going to have any hope of eradication.”
Murder Hornets Are In Canada Because 2020 Just Keeps On Going – Another day, another story that really starts to feel like 2020 is a year that just really has an axe to grind with humanity as a whole. Asian giant hornets, which have been not-so-fondly dubbed murder hornets, have made their way to North America. They were discovered in British Columbia last summer but there’s growing concern the insects are establishing themselves in the U.S. and Canada. “They’re like something out of a monster cartoon with this huge yellow-orange face,” said Susan Cobey, a bee breeder in the entomology department of Washington State University (WSU), in an April news release. Officials in B.C. issued a warning in March about the winter-hibernating hornets appearing this spring and summer after some were found in White Rock, B.C. as well as neighbouring Washington state late last year. “The Asian giant hornet is classified as a serious honeybee predator. Asian giant hornets hunt insects for food and generally are not interested in humans, pets and livestock. When their nest is disturbed, they will attack with painful stings, which can be hazardous to people’s health,” a provincial bulletin reads. The insects were first discovered B.C. in August 2019 – thought to have stowed away on a ship from Asia – and a group of beekeepers on Vancouver Island had to eradicate a large nest of the hornets the following month, reported CTV News. The queens of this species can grow over five centimetres long, while other hornets are usually around 3.5 centimetres. “It’s a shockingly large hornet,” said Todd Murray, WSU’s extension entomologist and invasive species specialist. “It’s a health hazard, and more importantly, a significant predator of honey bees.” The “murder hornets” invade hives and decapitate all the bees inside in a matter of hours. Scientists worry if they gain a foothold in North America, they’ll decimate already fragile bee populations, which in turn will affect food crop production. As the largest hornets in the world, they feed exclusively on other insects.
Second wave of locust invasion and floods to shake East Africa economies – The East African Community secretariat will set aside emergency funds to turn tides against floods and locusts. While floods are wreaking havoc across the region, a swarm of locusts is expected to once again invade Kenya through Ethiopia. This will deal a double blow to food security in a region that is already grappling with widespread economic disruption from the coronavirus pandemic. “We have convened a meeting of Agriculture Ministers from the EAC to discuss the impact of Covid-19 on agriculture and the impending invasion of locusts in our region,” said Christoph Bazivamo, deputy EAC secretary general in charge of productive and social sector. This comes in the wake of an announcement by the Food and Agriculture Organisation, warning that a new generation of locusts is set to enter East Africa in June. FAO’s resilience team leader for Eastern Africa Cyril Ferrand is concerned that the desert locust will eat seedlings and young plants, leaving no chance for crops to mature. “More swarms of locusts are set to mature in central and northern areas in Kenya with a few laying eggs and hatching starts.” “The current situation in East Africa remains extremely alarming as more swarms form and mature in northern and central Kenya and southern Ethiopia. This represents an unprecedented threat to food security and livelihoods because it coincides with the early beginning of the long rains and the current growing season,” warns desert locust situation update report by FAO and dated April 28, 2020. A new generation of breeding is under way in Kenya where more eggs will hatch and form hopper bands in May, followed by new swarms in late June and July, which coincides with the harvest season in Kenya. “First, we intend to review measures taken by each EAC partner state and share the best practices to curb the challenge posed by these natural disasters,” he said. FAO warns that it will be too late to stop the locusts from spreading in less than six months, thereby inviting starvation to millions. FAO is also concerned that the chemicals used will kill wildlife and damage food supplies. Despite FAO’s warning, EAC partner states remain unprepared to deal with the threat. Current solutions have not and will not work, the agency warns, as the sizes of the swarms are too big for aerial spraying. Further, current spraying practices don’t kill everything, leaving bugs in the ground.
Endangered Tigers Face Growing Threats From an Asian Road-Building Boom – Tigers are one of the world’s most iconic wild species, but today they are endangered throughout Asia. They once roamed across much of this region, but widespread habitat loss, prey depletion and poaching have reduced their numbers to only about 4,000 individuals. They live in small pockets of habitat across South and Southeast Asia, as well as the Russian Far East – an area spanning 13 countries and 450,000 square miles (1,160,000 square kilometers).Today Asia is experiencing a road-building boom. To maintain economic growth, development experts estimate that the region will need to invest about US$8.4 trillion in transportation infrastructure between 2016 and 2030. Major investment projects, such as China’s Belt and Road Initiative – one of the largest infrastructure projects of all time – are fueling this growth. While roads can reduce poverty, especially in rural areas, many of Asia’s new roads also are likely to traverse regions that are home to diverse plants and animals. In a newly published study, I worked with researchers at the University of Michigan, Boise State University and the University of British Columbia to examine how existing and planned Asian roads encroach on tiger habitats. We forecast that nearly 15,000 miles (24,000 kilometers) of new roads will be built in tiger habitats by 2050, and call for bold new planning strategies that prioritize biodiversity conservation and sustainable road development across large landscapes. Road construction worsens existing threats to tigers, such as poaching and development, by paving the way for human intrusion into the heart of the tiger’s range. For example, in the Russian Far East, roads have led to higher tiger mortality due to increased collisions with vehicles and more encounters with poachers.
Is There Enough Wood in the World to Meet the Sustainability Demand? – The harvesting machine takes just one second to fell the towering spruce, and another to strip the branches and scan its trunk for defects.”This one is very straight,” operator Antonio Petersson Kvennefelt says of the trunk gripped by the arm of his machine, as a screen in front of him flashes with data. “The computer decides what it wants the logs to be. This one is for Långasjö, a sawmill in Sweden.” “The computer makes sure each sawmill gets exactly what that sawmill wants,” he explains.And across the world, what saw and pulp mills want is more and more wood. According to the latest figures from the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), global forest production hit record levels in 2018. Up 11% on the year before. “We see an increasing demand for almost all of our products,” says Göran firlander, strategist at Södra, Sweden’s largest association of forest owners. “The most obvious demand is for biofuels at the moment. Everybody wants to have biofuels to replace fossil fuels.”The idea is that burning wood becomes close to carbon neutral if the forests from where it is taken are replenished at the same rate as they are felled for fuel.But critics question whether this is the case in every country which claims to provide sustainable wood, and say some of what is supplying the current boom in biomass fuels comes from existing forests rather than sustainably managed plantations. “Globally I don’t think the forest resource is enough,” Professor Johan Bergh, who heads the forestry department at Växjö’s Linnaeus University, told DW. Particularly not, he added, to supply the transport industry with wood-derived bioethanol or biodiesel. “A lot of forest would be needed to replace fossil fuels in vehicles,” he says. “It would require at least half of the new forest growth in Sweden at a national level, and of course at a global level, it would be much, much more.” Other industries are also increasingly showing an interest in wood as a resource.
Pakistan turns unemployed workers into tree planters – In 2018, Pakistan pledged to plant ten billion trees in an effort to slow climate change and to replenish a landscape that has been decimated by decades of deforestation, livestock grazing, and drought. It was an ambitious goal, but as the Washington Post reported at the time, “the idea of a green awakening seems to be taking root… The concept appeals to a new generation of better-educated Pakistanis, and it has sparked excitement on social media.”That program, whose name is 10 Billion Tree Tsunami, has been chugging along for the past two years, but it recently received an unexpected infusion of help from – of all things – the coronavirus. Many Pakistanis are suddenly unemployed, so the government has given them jobs as tree-planters. Unemployed day laborers have been turned into “jungle workers,” planting saplings for 500 rupees a day ($3), which is roughly half of what a construction worker would normally earn. It’s not a lot, but it’s enough to get by, and that can mean the difference between survival and starvation. Al Jazeera reported,“As the coronavirus pandemic struck Pakistan, the 10 Billion Trees campaign was initially halted as part of social distancing orders put in place to slow the spread of the virus, which has infected more than 14,880 people in Pakistan, according to a tally by Johns Hopkins University. But earlier this month, the prime minister granted an exemption to allow the forestry agency to restart the programme and create more than 63,600 jobs, according to government officials.” The program is employing three times the number of planters as it normally does, and the planting season has been extended from May (its usual end) throughout June, in order to keep workers employed. Most of these jobs have been created in rural areas and have “a focus on hiring women and unemployed daily workers – mainly young people – who were migrating home from locked-down cities.” All workers are being told to wear masks and maintain two meters of distance from others.
Wildfires Are Burning 5 Million Acres in Siberia and Eastern Russia – Wildfires in Siberia and the Russian Far East are as much as 10 times worse compared to this time last year, as the climate crisis and the coronavirus pandemic join forces to fan the flames. As of April 27, ten times the amount of land was on fire in the Krasnoyarsk region compared to the same time last year, The Siberian Times reported. In Transbaikal, meanwhile, three times as much land was burning, and in the Amur region, there were 1.5 times as many fires.”A critical situation with fires has developed in Siberia and the Far East,” Emergencies Minister Evgeny Zinichev said in a video conference with Russian President Vladimir Putin reported by The Siberian Times. Experts and agencies outside Russia have also reported on the extent of the fires. London School of Economics geographer Thomas Smith told Earther that around five million acres of Russian forest and grassland were on fire, and the largest fire was one million acres total, around the size of Glacier National Park. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) also captured the fires from space April 27. “On April 23, 2020, strong winds helped to push fires set by locals to dry grass out of control,” NASA wrote. “The regions of Kemerovo and Novosibirsk among others have been the hardest hit to date. Nine Siberian regions have been affected by these wildfires. Clouds of smoke have swept across the Siberian landscape.”In Novosibirsk, around 50 homes were burned and in Kemerovo, 27, The Siberian Times reported. Human activity provides the immediate spark for the fires. Farmers burn dry grass even though the practice was banned in 2015, and, this year, the coronavirus lockdown has made the situation worse. “People self-isolated outdoors and forgot about fire safety rules,” Russian forestry chief Sergei Anoprienko told The Siberian Times. “In some regions, the temperature is already around 30C, and people just can’t keep themselves in their apartments. People rushed outdoors, and as a result we have a surge of thermal points.” “A less snowy winter, an abnormal winter, and insufficient soil moisture are factors that create the conditions for the transition of landscape fires to settlements,” Zinichev told The Siberian Times. He also said unusually hot weather was combining with strong winds to fan the flames.
5 dead, hundreds in hospital after gas leak at India chemical plant – At least five people have been killed and several hundred hospitalised after a gas leak at a chemicals plant on the east coast of India, police said Thursday. They said that the gas had leaked out of two 5,000-tonne tanks that had been unattended due to India’s coronavirus lockdown in place since late March. “We can confirm at least five deaths right now. More will be confirmed later. At least 70 people in the nearby hospitals are in an unconscious state and overall 200 to 500 locals are still getting treatment (at the hospitals),” said police official Swaroop Rani in Visakhapatnam. The plant operated by LG Polymers is located in the outskirts of Visakhapatnam, an industrial port city in the state of Andhra Pradesh. The city and the surrounding area are home to around five million people. The gas “was left there because of the lockdown. It led to a chemical reaction and heat was produced inside the tanks, and the gas leaked because of that,” Rani, an assistant commissioner, told AFP. “We received an emergency call from the local villagers around 3.30 am in the morning today. They said there was some gas in the air,” she said. “We reached there immediately. One could feel the gas in the air and it was not possible for any of us to stay there for more than a few minutes. Prepared rescue workers started working from around 4.00 am.” India witnessed in December 1984 one of the worst industrial disasters in history when gas leaked from a pesticide plant in the central city of Bhopal. Around 3,500 people, mainly in shanties around the plant operated by Union Carbide, died in the days that followed and thousands more in the following years. People continue to suffer its after-effects to this day. Government statistics say that at least 100,000 people living near to the Unnion Carbide plant have been victims of chronic illnesses. Survivors still suffer from ailments such as respiratory and kidney problems, hormonal imbalances, mental illness and several forms of cancer. New generations have been made ill by the polluted groundwater and poisonous breastmilk fed to them from birth. To this day, children are still born disfigured with webbed hands and feet, weak immune systems, stunted growth and congenital disorders owing to the gas that affected their mothers.
More evacuated from around India chemical plant after gas leak – Officials in India were on Friday morning evacuating more people from the area around a chemical factory that leaked toxic gas, after at least 11 people were killed in a leak from the site on Thursday. There was confusion about whether the wider evacuation was the result of a renewed leak at the LG Chem plant in the eastern state of Andhra Pradesh or by concern that higher temperatures in the factory could trigger another leak. “The situation is tense,” district fire officer N Surendra Anand told Reuters news agency early on Friday, adding that people in a 5km (3 mile) radius of the factory in the east coast city of Visakhapatnam were being moved out. Hours earlier, authorities had said that the situation was under control at the plant on the outskirts of Visakhapatnam, after hundreds of people were sickened by the fumes. The factory is operated by LG Polymers, a unit of South Korea’s biggest petrochemical maker, LG Chem. The Seoul-based company said on Friday the expanded evacuation was a precaution. “There was not a second leak and LG Chem has asked the police to evacuate residents as a precautionary measure as there are concerns that tank temperatures could rise,” the company said in a statement. “We are taking necessary measures, including putting water into the tank.” At least 11 people were killed and several hundred admitted to hospitals after Thursday’s leak. A further 1,500 people were evacuated, mostly from a neighbouring village, some 14km (9 miles) inland from Visakhapatnam. Footage on Indian television channels showed people, including women and children, lying motionless in the streets of Visakhapatnam, an industrial port city.
India chemical leak: more evacuations amid fears of second gas release – Indian officials have evacuated more people from the area around a chemical plant in the south of the country that leaked toxic gas, killing at least 11 people and sickening hundreds more.There was confusion about whether the wider evacuation orders were sparked by a renewed leak at the LG Chem factory in Andhra Pradesh, or by the fear that rising temperatures at the plant could lead to another leak. “The situation is tense,” N Surendra Anand, a fire officer in Visakhapatnam district, told Reuters, adding that people within a 5km (3.1 mile) radius were being moved out because of renewed emissions from the plant. However, LG Chem, which is owned by the Korean conglomerate LG, said on Friday the decision to extend the evacuation area from 3.5km had been ordered as a precaution. “There was not a second leak and LG Chem has asked the police to evacuate residents as a precautionary measure as there are concerns that tank temperatures would rise,” South Korea’s biggest petrochemical maker said in a statement. “We are taking necessary measures, including putting water into the tank.” Srijana Gummalla, commissioner of the Visakhapatnam municipal corporation, said gas emissions had been fluctuating through the day and had largely subsided. Police began urging people to move out of their houses and into waiting buses at around midnight, said local resident Sheikh Salim, who lives about 2.5km from the plant. Footage on Indian television channels showed people, including women and children, slumped motionless in the streets after locals raised the alarm in the early hours. “There was utter confusion and panic. People were unable to breathe, they were gasping for air. Those who were trying to escape collapsed on the roads – kids, women and all,” local resident Kumar Reddy, 24, told reporters. Local police commissioner RK Meena, said that by Thursday afternoon 11 people had been confirmed dead. According to the Times of India, the dead included an eight-year-old girl, and 5,000 people had fallen sick. Residents complained of breathing problems, rashes and sore eyes, it added. Authorities advised people to wear wet clothes and masks, avoid eating uncovered food and consume bananas and milk to “neutralise the effect of the gas”.
Indian protesters carry bodies into gas leak plant – Angry protesters carrying bodies stormed an Indian chemical plant on Saturday to demand the facility’s closure after a toxic gas leak killed 12 people days earlier. Thursday’s pre-dawn accident in the industrial port city of Visakhapatnam injured hundreds and knocked many unconscious as they tried to flee the area. State government officials arrived to conduct a safety tour of the plant, owned by South Korea’s LG Chem, when a crowd of about 300 people barged past police and security guards. Some helped cart stretchers bearing three victims of the disaster, their feet sticking out from under the black canvas covers that otherwise shrouded the bodies. They chanted slogans demanding justice for the dead and the shutdown of the plant before they were pushed back by security. Relatives of the dead stood nearby, many in tears, while others relived the horror of the sudden accident. “I saw people carrying their children on their shoulders looking for water. They could not move because of the gas, I thought they were dead,” said one man. At least three children were among the dead and dozens remain in hospital. Andhra Pradesh state police chief Gautam Sawang said the situation at the facility was now “under control”. Authorities have started a manslaughter investigation over the leak and India’s environmental tribunal has already fined the company $6.2m as a preliminary punishment. Late on Thursday, an evacuation zone around the plant was widened and hundreds more people were moved to safety after fears of a new leak. Some have since been allowed to return. Police said the plant had been left idle because of India’s nationwide coronavirus lockdown and suspect the leak was caused by gas left in a tanker that overheated.
Extreme Mother’s Day Weekend: Record Cold Into the South, Snow in the Northeast, Potential New England Bomb Cyclone | The Weather Channel -An extreme weather pattern is setting up for Mother’s Day weekend that will shatter dozens of temperature records, wring out strange May snow in the interior Northeast and possibly set May pressure records both in parts of New England and northern Canada.This weather pattern would grab the attention of meteorologists in the middle of winter, much less the second weekend of May. Blocking high pressure near Greenland and another “omega block” of high pressure bulging northward from the West Coast of the U.S. to the Arctic Ocean northeast of Alaska will work together to force the jet stream to take a sharp southward plunge over the Great Lakes and Northeast. There are several parts of this pattern that could be record-setting.The Weather Channel meteorologist Jim Cantore noted temperatures in the mid-levels of the atmosphere – for meteorologists, the 500-millibar level – could reach minus 40 degrees (Celsius and Fahrenheit) over the Great Lakes this weekend, a first anywhere in the U.S. in May, according to data from NOAA’s Storm Prediction Center dating to the mid-20th century.Secondly, intensifying low pressure in the Northeast may become a bomb cyclone – a drop in the storm’s central pressure by at least 24 millibars in 24 hours or less – by the time it moves into the Gulf of Maine on Saturday. The storm could be strong enough to set all-time May pressure records along the Maine coast, according to data compiled by David Roth, a meteorologist at NOAA’s Weather Prediction Center.As the frontal system moves through the Ohio Valley and Northeast on Friday, the air will be just cold enough to produce some wet snow in parts of the interior by Friday afternoon into Friday night. On Saturday, snow, possibly heavy, is expected to continue in parts of northern New England, particularly in Maine, as the intense potential bomb cyclone wraps moisture into sufficiently cold air.
Polar vortex to unload historic Arctic blast in the East, as blistering heat roasts West – The Washington Post — A contorted jet stream – with a massive bulge of high pressure in the West and a downstream dip, or trough, in the East that resembles tall ocean waves – is cleaving the United States into two seasons. This weather pattern is leading to record heat in the West and Southwest, including Arizona, California, Nevada and New Mexico, while record cold descends upon the Midwest, Ohio Valley, Mid-Atlantic and Northeast as a result of a lobe of the polar vortex.Both temperature extremes are unusually severe for this time of year. In the East, after a winter lacking in polar vortex-induced cold air outbreaks, a lobe of the tropospheric polar vortex is breaking off from the main circulation over the Arctic and is swinging down from Canada toward New England.The low temperatures that will result are almost certain to break records.Meanwhile, in the West, numerous weather observation sites are expected to eclipse the century mark Thursday and Friday, for example. High temperatures are running at least 15 degrees above average in a zone from Southern California to Texas, and these same areas have seen extreme heat since late last month, compounding the effects. Highly amplified jet stream patterns are typically associated with weather extremes, and this one is no exception. It’s leading to a peculiar setup, one in which, on Saturday, Anchorage will be 15 degrees higher than Washington, and a cross-country flight from Los Angeles to New York would be a journey from midsummer to midwinter. In the East, temperatures are set to tumble as the polar vortex – largely absent all winter – descends over New England beginning early Friday. With it will come frigid upper-air temperatures that could obliterate all-time weather balloon temperature records, and translate to surface temperatures more characteristic of March.In fact, anticipated temperatures at the 500 millibar level – which marks the halfway mark of the atmosphere’s mass with height – would in some cases be record-setting even during December. That illustrates that the air mass, which is originating in the Arctic, would be unusual even during the winter. For this to occur in May is an outlier event. Temperatures in the eastern United States will be the lowest on the planet compared to average.
UK Cooperative Extension Service fears millions of dollars could be lost due to cold temperatures – The forecast shows potential historic cold on the way this weekend, an unusual time for temperatures to be in the 20s, and a delicate time for farmers. Experts with the UK Cooperative Extension Service project millions of dollars could be lost because of the cold temperatures in the forecast. “We’re talking somewhere close to 30 degrees below normal,” UK Ag Meteorologist Matt Dixon said. That’s not the kind of record farmers want to break, especially this late in the season. “Right now, about 50 percent of our wheat is at a stage where it’s the most sensitive to cold temperatures,” Extension Professor for Grain Crops Chad Lee said. Cold temperatures are exactly what’s expected for the upcoming weekend with the potential for a hard freeze. It’s a gloomy forecast in more ways than one for area farmers. “On the wheat alone we have the potential to lose several million dollars,” Lee said. “If the forecasts are accurate and we get the temperatures projected, it could be absolutely devastating.” That, of course, has a domino effect. “That’s millions of dollars that don’t go into the local economies,” Lee said. “It’s also wheat that doesn’t get put into make cookies, donuts, cakes, and all the things we enjoy to eat.”
One-Third of Humanity Could Live in Sahara-Level Heat by 2070 – If nothing is done to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, one third of humanity could live in conditions as hot as the Sahara Desert by 2070. This sobering conclusion, published in The Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences Monday, was based on an international study of the climate conditions humans have preferred over the past 6,000 years and how the climate crisis might alter them. “The numbers are flabbergasting. I literally did a double take when I first saw them,” study coauthor Tim Lenton of Exeter University told The Guardian. “I’ve previously studied climate tipping points, which are usually considered apocalyptic. But this hit home harder. This puts the threat in very human terms.” The researchers first set out to determine if humans had a “climate niche,” or ideal temperature range they tend to settle in, much like other animals, The New York Times explained. They found that, throughout human history, we have consistently chosen locations with a relatively narrow temperature range. The majority of people now live in places with a mean temperature of 50 to 60 degrees Fahrenheit while a smaller number live in places with a mean of 68 to 77 degrees. Most human settlements from 6,000 years ago were placed in areas with the same mean temperatures, the researchers found. This human vulnerability to climate extremes is bad news for the future. In a business-as-usual scenario, 3.5 billion people will live in areas with a mean temperature above 84 degrees Fahrenheit or 29 degrees Celsius within 50 years.”This would bring 3.5 billion people into near-unlivable conditions,” study coauthor Jens-Christian Svenning of Aarhus University in Denmark told iNews.The countries most at risk from extreme heat are India, Nigeria, Pakistan, Indonesia and Sudan. In India, more than 1.2 billion people could be exposed to these temperatures.”I think it is fair to say that average temperatures over 29C are unlivable,” Scheffer told The Guardian. “You’d have to move or adapt. But there are limits to adaptation. If you have enough money and energy, you can use air conditioning and fly in food and then you might be OK. But that is not the case for most people.”
It’s already getting too hot and humid in some places for humans to survive -A combination of heat and humidity so extreme that it’s unendurable isn’t just a problem for the future – those conditions are already here, a new study finds. Off-the-chart readings that were previously thought to be nearly nonexistent on the planet today have popped up around the globe, and unyielding temperatures are becoming more common.Extreme conditions reaching roughly 115 degrees Fahrenheit on the heat-index scale – a measurement of both heat and humidity that’s often referred to as what the temperature “feels like” – doubled between 1979 and 2017, the study found. Humidity and heat are a particularly deadly combination, since humidity messes with the body’s ability to cool itself off by sweating. The findings imply that harsh conditions that scientists foresaw as an impending result of climate change are becoming reality sooner than expected.“We may be closer to a real tipping point on this than we think,” Radley Horton, co-author of the new study published today in the journalScience Advances, said in a statement. Hisprevious research had projected that the world wouldn’t experience heat and humidity beyond human tolerance for decades.More intense and frequent heat events are one of the symptoms of climate change, a lot of research has shown. But most of those studies were based on readings that looked at averages over a wide area over a long period of time. Instead, Horton and his co-authors looked closely at hourly data from 7,877 weather stations around the world. They used the“wet bulb” centigrade scale, which measures other factors such as wind speed and solar radiation on top of heat and humidity. That’s how they found more than a thousand readings of severe heat and humidity, reaching wet bulb readings of 31 degrees Celsius, that were previously thought to be very rare. Along the Persian Gulf, they saw more than a dozen readings above what’s thought to be the human tolerance limit of 35 degrees Celsius on the wet bulb scale. That’s the highest wet bulb reading that scientific literature has ever documented. In 2015, the city of Bandar Mahshahr in Iran experienced a wet bulb reading just under 35 degrees Celsius. At more than 160 degrees Fahrenheit on the heat-index scale, that’s about 30 degrees higher than where the National Weather Service’s heat-index range ends – and it’s a scenario that climate models hadn’t forecast to happen until the middle of the century.
Experts Are Predicting A “Record Breaking” Hurricane Season For 2020 — 2020 has been off to a start so bad that it is truly historical, and experts are predicting that things could get even worse in the coming months. As the world is starting to come to terms with the coronavirus pandemic and resulting economic crisis, scientists are now warning about swarms of “murder hornets” that could decimate honey bee populations. If all that isn’t bad enough, we have natural disasters to worry about as well, and hurricanes, in particular, are supposed especially bad this year. In fact, scientists are predicting that this could be one of the worst hurricane seasons on record.According to predictions from researchers at Penn State University and The Earth System Science Center, the 2020 hurricane season could see up to 24 tropical storms that are large enough to be named. A hurricane season has not even come close to getting this bad since 2012.This prediction was made using the statistical model of Kozar et al. We predict one of the most active Atlantic hurricane seasons on record (20±4 named storms) | “The 2020 North Atlantic Hurricane Season: Penn State ESSC Forecast”:https://t.co/MNs6uvpX0Z@Penn_State @PSUClimate @PSUEarth @PSUEMSpic.twitter.com/VfKa89cuNl – Michael E. Mann (@MichaelEMann) April 27, 2020 According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), a normal Atlantic hurricane season produces an average of 12 named storms, 6 of which are hurricanes. The 2019 season had 18 named storms, matching 1969 for the fourth most active season in the past 150 years. According to the weather channel, a storm has to have sustained winds of 74 MPH or more to be considered a hurricane, while a tropical storm is listed for anything 73 MPH. Many tropical storms often become hurricanes as they follow their trajectory and pick up speed. The CSU outlook estimations are based on more than 30 years of data which similar characteristics of sea level pressure and sea surface temperatures in the oceans Atlantic and eastern Pacific. The data was collected between 1981 and 2010. Other estimates from places like Colorado State University have confirmed these findings. According to Axios, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is drafting a document that lists preparations for surviving a pandemic during hurricane season. This is likely because every state in the country has declared a state of emergency, which is unprecedented, and it means that hurricanes will be approaching areas that are already vulnerable.
Bioluminescent waves dazzle surfers in California: ‘Never seen anything like it’ –Mother nature has provided a radical gift to nighttime beach-goers in southern California, in the form of bioluminescent waves that crash and froth with an otherworldly light. The event occurs every few years along the coast of southern California, though locals say this year’s sea sparkle is especially vibrant, possibly related to historic rains that soaked the region and generated algal bloom.For some, this year’s light show was especially meaningful, coming just as beaches began to reopen after an almost month-long closure due to coronavirus.Dale Huntington, a 37-year-old pastor at a church in south-eastern San Diego, got up at 3am after beaches reopened to surf the iridescent waves.“I’ve been surfing for 20 years now, and I’ve never seen anything like it”, Huntington said. Spectators watch bioluminescent plankton light up the shoreline as they churn in the waves at Dockweiler state beach. Photograph: Mark J Terrill/APThe neon waves owe their color to blooming microscopic plants called phytoplankton. By day, the organisms collect on the water’s surface to give the water a reddish-brown hue, known as the red tide. By night, the algae put on a light show, dazzling most brightly in turbulent waters.One photographer off the coast of Newport Beach, where crowds in recent weeks have protested against closures, recorded a dolphin jetting through bioluminescence like a sea spectre.The phosphorescent display has captured the attention of locals in southern California, with many emerging from shelter-in-place restrictions to catch a glimpse of the surreal scenery.One San Diegan, who lives in a neighborhood along the coast, implored local officials to restrict access to the beach, complaining that the red tide has drawn large crowds comparable to a “Fourth of July on steroids”. For surfers like Huntington, the spectacle has provided joy and relief amid the challenges of the pandemic. “My favorite part was paddling out – it was almost like there was a glow stick around your hand,” he described. “My board left a bioluminescent wake. There were a few of us out there and we were giggling, grown men shouting ‘this is so cool’ and splashing around like kids in the bathtub.”
Antarctica Is Melting Like Never Before – A new paper has emerged with fresh data from NASA providing a visual of Antarctica’s rapidly melting ice.The recent data is presented in a paper published in the journal Science on April 30, 2020. Data from space imparts more detailed pictures of Antarctica’s ice, how and where the ice is accumulating or melting rapidly.The data fill in any questions as to where the ice goes when it melts. The concern is this could happen at a quicker and quicker pace, contributing to rising sea levels that threaten people, cities, and countries around the world. The information will aid researchers as they try to assimilate and comprehend the largest driver of ice loss in Antarctica, the thinning of floating ice shelves that allows more ice to flow from the interior to the ocean. The study is the first to be published using data from ICESat-2. Many more studies are planned.Many have documented, and researchers have known, that the continent is losing mass overall as the climate changes. Massive glacier caving’s continue in the north and have been documented by scientists and even featured in film.The data show that the continent is gaining more ice in some areas, like parts of East Antarctica. In other areas, it is losing ice, and more rapidly. Quick melting is occurring in West Antarctica and the Antarctic Peninsula.The East Antarctica ice growth is presumed to be from extra precipitation in the region, which would match up with expected results of climate change. “While we can’t say that these changes are related to contemporary climate change, we can say that these are the patterns of change we expect to see in a warming world,” Ben Smith, a study author who is a glaciologist at the University of Washington, said.The New York Times reports, “Helen A. Fricker, an author of the paper, said that scientists have tried to study the link between thinning shelves and what is called grounded ice, but have been hampered because most observations were of one area or the other, and made at different times. ‘Now we’ve got it all on the same map, which is a really powerful thing,’ said Dr. Fricker, a glaciologist at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography in La Jolla, Calif.”
5G Tower Installed On World’s Highest Peak Mount Everest — The world’s highest-altitude base station at about 6,500 meters above sea-level north of Mount Everest now has the ultrafast 5G signals coverage on “the highest peak of the world”. Organizers, China Mobile Hong Kong (CMHK), and Huawei started operations after they installed the world’s highest 5G communication towers in the remote region of Tibet. CMHK announced to the world that it successfully operated its dual Gigabit network and “8K live broadcasts on 5G network” was not a dream anymore in its official press release on the website. According to the state-run telecom giant, Huawei’s 5G AAU and SPN technologies have been applied near about the China-Nepal border, with its north part located in Xigaze prefecture of Tibet Autonomous Region, state media reports confirmed. The network is maintained by network specialists stationed 24/7 at the altitudes of 5,300 meters and above. As of April 30, on the occasion of the 60th anniversary of the summit, the Chinese mobile companies announced the deployment and installation of its 5G AAU, which they claimed, is highly integrated into a compact size, according to reports. Further, they claimed that the 5G fits particularly well for infrastructure in extreme environments such as Mount Everest. A unique network, which is “stand-alone plus non-stand alone” (SA+NSA) mode connects five 5G at the base stations. Meanwhile, Huawei’s Massive MIMO with three-dimensional narrow beams and SPN technology makes lightning speed and large bandwidth possible, as per Huawei’s statement.
How to stop a climate vote? Threaten a ‘no social distancing’ protest – San Luis Obispo was on the verge of passing an ambitious climate change policy when the proposal’s most vocal critic, Eric Hofmann, found a trump card: fear of the coronavirus. Elected officials in this city along California’s Central Coast planned to vote on an energy code that would encourage construction of all-electric buildings, which don’t use gas appliances and aren’t hooked up to the gas grid. It’s an increasingly popular tool for cities looking to phase out fossil fuels – and a threat to the gas industry, which has mounted a vigorous counteroffensive. On March 16, Hofmann sent an email to San Luis Obispo officials that left them shocked. “If the city council intends to move forward with another reading on a gas ban I can assure you there will be no social distancing in place,” he wrote. “I strongly urge the city council to kick this can down the road to adhere to public health safety measures. Please don’t force my hand in bussing in hundreds and hundreds of pissed off people potentially adding to this pandemic.” Hofmann is president of Utility Workers Union of America Local 132, which represents thousands of employees of Southern California Gas Co. – one of the nation’s largest gas utilities, and a prominent crusader against local efforts to phase out gas. He also chairs the board of directors of Californians for Balanced Energy Solutions, a pro-gas advocacy group that has received funding from SoCalGas and worked closely with the utility to generate opposition to all-electric building policies. “We will pull permits and close streets and have a massive protest on April 7th. Now is not the time to do this,” Hofmann wrote. “Please tell mayor harmon and the rest of the council for the sake of people’s health, that their efforts are better focused on how to better deal with this pandemic than to stir up all the emotions of people losing their jobs along with this disease.” The next week, San Luis Obispo officials scrapped plans for an April 7 vote on the energy code. The vote has not been rescheduled.
Toledo, Oregon mayors join effort to ease ethanol mandates – Toledo Blade -In nearly identical letters, Toledo Mayor Wade Kapszukiewicz and Oregon Mayor Michael Seferian have asked the Trump administration to ease up on biofuel requirements for Toledo-area refineries – especially the ethanol mandate.Ethanol, which is most commonly produced from corn, has for years been a gasoline additive used to help domestic supplies of gasoline last longer, curb pollution, and reduce America’s reliance on foreign oil.That has been reduced dramatically over the past decade because of large volumes of previously trapped reserves of oil and natural gas being recovered through the horizontal drilling technique of fracturing shale, or fracking.Ethanol usage also has been a source of controversy for years by critics who view it as a farm subsidy. In their letters, the two mayors implore U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Andrew Wheeler to soften the requirements for usage of ethanol and other biofuels because of the coronavirus pandemic’s imposed financial hardship on the refining industry.Easing up on the requirements, they said, would lower the industry’s production costs.They noted President Trump acknowledging during his visit to Toledo earlier this year that this area’s economy is linked to advanced manufacturing. They both noted this area is “the glass capital of the world and home of Fiat Chrysler’s Jeep assembly plant.”“Manufacturing is central to economic progress, with a high multiplier effect that creates numerous direct and indirect jobs,” both of their letters stated. The documents also said every refining job supports 16 other jobs, and that the two local refineries – the BP/Husky Refinery in Oregon and the PBF Toledo Refinery in East Toledo – supply “more than 30 percent of Ohio’s gasoline and 42 percent of gasoline in southeastern Michigan.”“This is essential fuel residents use to get to work and school, to power generators and outdoor machinery, and take road trips to visit family,” their letters both stated.The letters – which neither mayor explained why they so closely resemble each other – also said the two Toledo-area refineries are important to regional air travel in that they supply the “vast majority of the fuel to Detroit Metro Airport, airports throughout Ohio, and even the Indianapolis and Pittsburgh airports.” “The closure of either refinery would make regional jet fuel supplies harder to come by and consumer and airline costs significantly higher, threatening air travel and, thus, larger swaths of the Ohio, Michigan, and the Midwest economy,” their letters stated.
Iowa Lawmakers: Biofuel Producers Need Relief Aid – Midwest lawmakers say biofuel producers should be getting the same support and protection as oil companies. Coronavirus shutdowns have slashed the demand for gasoline, and while the White House is pledging to buy 75 million barrels of oil, ethanol producers say their requests for help have gone ignored. “We’re seeing the administration continue to side with big oil,” Rep. Abby Finkenauer, D-Iowa, said. Finkenauer says the White House is turning its back on Midwest corn farmers by rejecting aid for biofuel producers while pledging millions to prop up oil companies. “It’s just unconscionable to me when our farmers have been hit so hard over the last two years,” Finkenauer said. The farmers grow corn for ethanol, which is blended into gasoline. As millions of Americans have stopped driving because of stay-at-home orders, prices for oil and ethanol have dropped to nearly nothing. “If you’re trying to help the oil industry because they’re in economic trouble, we got the same problem for ethanol,” Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, said. Illinois Democrat Cheri Bustos says the biofuel industry is also huge in her state. “Iowa and Illinois – we’re the number one and and number two corn producers,” Bustos said. “You can bet that this is a fight we’re not going to lie down.” Bustos and Finkeanuer want the U.S. Department of Agriculture to reconsider its decision to refuse farm aid for biofuel growers. And they’re slamming the United States Environmental Protection Agency, which is considering a plan to allow oil refineries to stop blending ethanol into gasoline. Grassley says he will work to include help in the next coronavirus relief bill. “We’ll have to see what they’re trying to do to help the oil industry and we’ll see what we’ll do to help the ethanol industry at the same time because the two are tied together,” Grassley said. But farmers may have a long wait since the House is not in session and the Senate just returned to work on Monday..
US wind industry installed over 1,800 megawatts in first quarter, but the coronavirus remains a risk – The first quarter of 2020 saw the U.S. wind industry install more than 1,800 megawatts (MW) of new capacity, a report from the American Wind Energy Association (AWEA) has revealed. According to the AWEA’s report, 11 new projects with a total capacity of 1,821 MW commenced operations in the first three months of the year. In a statement issued Wednesday, the AWEA noted that this represented more than double the installations compared with the first quarter in 2019. While there are clear positives in the report – which also said construction activity hit a new record in the first three months of the year – the coronavirus is casting a shadow over the sector. The AWEA acknowledged this, stating that the pandemic was “posing significant challenges to the U.S. wind industry.” Citing its own analysis from March, the trade association said an estimated 25 gigawatts of planned projects – which represent $35 billion in investments – were at risk. The AWEA has said that economic losses “will have an outsized impact on rural America,” where 99% of wind energy projects are situated. In another sign that “clean energy” in the U.S. is being impacted by the coronavirus, over 106,000 people working in the sector lost their jobs in March, according to research released earlier this month. The analysis of Department of Labor data, released by Environmental Entrepreneurs, the American Council on Renewable Energy, E4TheFuture and BW Research Partnership, painted a challenging picture for the industry. For the purposes of the analysis, the term “clean energy” encompassed a range of areas including: renewables such as solar and wind; energy storage; energy efficiency; and “clean fuels.” Looking ahead, the analysis projected that over 500,000 people working in clean energy – 15% of the sector’s workforce – would lose their jobs in the following months unless “quick and substantive action” was taken by both the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump and Congress.
TVA getting more power from renewables than coal this year | Chattanooga Times Free Press – For the first time in more than six decades, the Tennessee Valley Authority got more power from renewable sources than from burning coal during the first three months of 2020.With electricity sales down due to the mild weather and COVID-19 virus shutdowns, TVA used its coal-fired power plants to generate only 12% of its power needs in the past quarter. A generation ago, TVA’s coal plants supplied more than two-thirds of the utility’s electricity.Last month with most schools, restaurants and stores shut down, TVA at times turned off its 25 remaining coal-fired units and relied entirely upon its nuclear, hydro, natural gas, solar and purchased power supplies to meet the electricity needs in its seven- state region.Despite President Donald Trump’s appeal to TVA and others to revive “beautiful coal,” TVA has phased out more than half of the 59 coal-fired units it once operated, including the shutdown of its last unit at the Paradise Fossil Plant in Kentucky in February. At the same time, abundant rainfall pushed up power production at TVA’s 29 power-generating dams and the addition of more solar farms in the Tennessee Valley boosted power generated from the sun. The biggest share of TVA’s power, 43% in the first quarter, came from TVA’s seven nuclear power reactors in Tennessee and Alabama. TVA is studying whether to add even more atomic power by building the nation’s first small modular reactor to help supply Oak Ridge, Tennessee.
Green recovery can revive virus-hit economies and tackle climate change, study says – (Reuters) – Massive programmes of green public investment would be the most cost-effective way both to revive virus-hit economies and strike a decisive blow against climate change, top U.S. and British economists said in a study published on Tuesday. With co-authors including Nobel laureate Joseph Stiglitz from Columbia University and prominent British climate expert Lord Nicholas Stern, the findings are likely to fuel calls for “green recoveries” gathering momentum around the world. “The COVID-19 crisis could mark a turning point in progress on climate change,” the authors wrote, adding that much would depend on policy choices made in the next six months. With major economies drawing up enormous economic packages to cushion the shock of the coronavirus pandemic, many investors, politicians and businesses see a unique opportunity to drive a shift to a low-carbon future. German Chancellor Angela Merkel and International Monetary Fund Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva called for green recoveries last week, and the concept has emerged as a political fault line from the United States to India and South Korea. While think-tanks and investor groups have also been making the case for tailoring recoveries to accelerate a transition away from fossil fuels, the study aimed to assess such proposals in the light of new data. The authors examined more than 700 economic stimulus policies launched during or since the 2008 financial crisis, and surveyed 231 experts from 53 countries, including senior officials from finance ministries and central banks. The results suggested that green projects such as boosting renewable energy or energy efficiency create more jobs, deliver higher short-term returns and lead to increased long-term cost savings relative to traditional stimulus measures.
600 MW OWF in Gulf of Mexico Would Bring 4,470 Jobs and USD 445 Million – Study – A 600 MW offshore wind farm in the Gulf of Mexico, with a commercial operation date of 2030, would bring some 4,470 jobs and USD 445 million in gross domestic product (GDP) during construction, according to a study released by the U.S. Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM). During the operational stage, a project of this capacity would create around 150 ongoing jobs and bring in USD 14 million annually. BOEM’s Gulf of Mexico OCS office issued two new studies on renewable energy in the Gulf of Mexico at the end of April, developed in cooperation with the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL). In the Offshore Renewable Energy Technologies in the Gulf of Mexico study, different offshore renewable energy technologies were analysed to determine which are best suited for development in the Gulf of Mexico. The renewable energy resources evaluated included wind, wave, tidal, current, solar, deepwater source cooling, and hydrogen. Offshore wind was identified as the leading technology, as it showed the greatest resource potential for the Gulf of Mexico and is the most mature technology of those analysed for the region, according to BOEM. Following the identification of the most suitable technology, BOEM and NREL further analysed its economic feasibility for selected sites in the Gulf of Mexico. In the Offshore Wind in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico: Regional Economic Modeling & Site-Specific Analyses study, BOEM and NREL analysed the economic impact of a 600 MW project at a reference site with a commercial operation date of 2030. The site-specific economic analysis indicated that a single offshore wind project of this size could support approximately 4,470 jobs and USD 445 million in gross domestic product (GDP) during construction and an ongoing 150 jobs and USD 14 million annually from operation and maintenance labor, materials, and services. The analysis did not include the likely further jobs or impacts in the Gulf of Mexico that may be created while supporting offshore wind projects built in other regions of the U.S., or the world.
Amid pandemic, U.S. renewable power sources have topped coal for 40 days – (Reuters) – Electricity generated by renewable sources like solar, wind and hydro has exceeded coal-fired power in the United States for a record 40 straight days, according to a report based on U.S. government data released on Monday. The boost for renewables is due to a seasonal increase in low-cost solar and hydro power generation, alongside an overall slump in electricity demand caused by coronavirus-related stay-at-home orders, according to the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis. Coal tends to be the first power source to be cut by utilities when demand falls because subsidized renewable sources are cheaper to operate and often backed by state clean-energy mandates. The IEEFA report, which is based on preliminary data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration going back to late March, reflects how the coronavirus pandemic could accelerate a shift away from coal-fired power, despite Trump administration efforts to prop up the ailing industry. The Department of Energy has warned that an over-reliance on solar and wind power can reduce the dependability of the grid because its generation is intermittent, and that fossil fuel plants that can store fuel on site are more reliable. Every day between March 25 and May 3, solar, wind and hydro plants together produced more electricity than the nation’s coal-fired plants – accounting for about a fifth of the grid’s power, IEEFA said. The longest back-to-back stretch previously was nine days in 2019. In total in 2019, renewables beat coal on just 38 days, IEEFA said. IEEFA added it is possible that renewable energy in the United States could exceed coal on an annual basis for the first time this year, a year earlier than it initially forecast, if the power consumption trends caused by the health crisis continue.
When coal plants decrease pollution or shut down, people have fewer asthma attacks – Asthma attacks decreased significantly among residents near coal-fired power plants after the plants shut down or upgraded their emission controls, according to a new study. Coal-fired power plants emit air pollution that includes mercury, sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides, and particulate matter. Living near coal-fired power plants is linked to higher rates of respiratory and cardiovascular disease, and cancer, and premature death. According to a study published this week in the journal Nature Energy, when those plants shut down or upgrade their emissions controls, rescue inhaler use, emergency room visits and hospitalizations for asthma all decrease among nearby residents. The study is the first to show decreased inhaler use following a reduction in pollution from coal plants, and builds on previous evidence that living near these facilities leads to increased asthma exacerbations. In the months following scrubber installation, Casey and her colleagues saw an average reduction of inhaler use of about 17 percent, with continued declining use after that. In 2014, coal-fired power plants accounted for 63 percent of sulfur dioxide emissions in the nation. The 2012 federal Mercury and Air Toxics (MATS) rule required all coal-fired plants to install scrubbers that reduce toxics like mercury and sulfur dioxide in emissions by 2015 (or 2016 if they got a special extension). During 2015, plants that had recently installed this equipment reduced their sulfur dioxide emissions by 49 percent.
Utilities, gas industry coordinate to oppose Ohio village’s clean energy goal | Energy News Network –Dominion Energy’s opposition to an Ohio village’s clean energy proposal appears to be part of a larger trend nationwide in which gas utilities are becoming more active at the local government level.Unlike other cases involving bans on new gas hook-ups, however, Bratenahl’s proposed resolution stated a general goal of achieving 100% clean energy, with no specific plan or enforcement provisions. The resolution would have set a goal of fully transitioning to clean energy for village-owned facilities by 2025 and for the general community of about 1,200 people by 2035. The proposal surfaced in November in the wake of state lawmakers gutting the state’s renewable energy standards last year. The 2025 goal for Bratenahl was “probably unreasonable,” Keith Benjamin told his fellow village council members at their Nov. 20 meeting. “But I think that it’s important to at least have this conversation and the [legislative] committee agreed.”Three months later, the resolution was indefinitely tabled.“Good news in Ohio,” wrote Paul Briggs, Dominion Energy’s director of Midwest state and local government affairs in a Feb. 24 email, giving an update on the resolution. “It may come up again but for now [it’s] dead.”The email, obtained by the Energy and Policy Institute, went to more than 80 recipients, including dozens in the natural gas industry, along with representatives at FirstEnergy, several large industry groups and others. An earlier email from Briggs that month noted the American Gas Association was “continuing efforts to form a national coalition to combat bans and are urging states to do the same.”Yet another email from Briggs that month urged its recipients to call or write council members in Bratenahl and South Euclid, where a similar resolution was under discussion. Names and contact information for council members were provided.
Renewable-energy plan for PES refinery site is not dead — A settlement has been approved in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Delaware that resolves Point Breeze Renewable Energy’s objection to the sale of the Philadelphia Energy Solutions refinery complex on grounds that it had a lease for 23 acres there to build a $120 million biogas plant. The renewable energy plant, to be developed by RNG Energy Solutions, signed an agreement with PES in 2017. A plan was presented to and praised by city officials in 2018, and the process of obtaining city and state permits had begun. As proposed, the plant would have the potential to turn 1,100 tons of commercial food waste from the Philadelphia region that otherwise would be burned or sent to landfills and incinerators into 22,000 to 24,000 gallons of renewable natural gas every day, using anaerobic digesters. But PES had argued in bankruptcy court that the Point Breeze Renewable Energy agreement had not formally started by the time the refinery operator filed for Chapter 11 in July, and that therefore the lease was not in effect. Last week, PES, Point Breeze Renewable Energy, and Hilco Redevelopment Partners agreed to terminate all previous contracts and rights held by Point Breeze in relation to the refinery site, clearing the way for Hilco and PES to close on the $240 million sale of the 1,300-acre property. Hilco had said it could not have entered into the purchase agreement or close the deal if Point Breeze had a right to occupancy. James Potter, president of RNG Energy Solutions, said the settlement approved by the bankruptcy court does not kill the biogas project. “Point Breeze Renewable Energy has executed an agreement with Hilco where the parties agreed to negotiate a new lease agreement after Hilco closes the purchase of the refinery,” he said. Hilco has committed to negotiate a contract with his company after it closes on the purchase of the refinery, Potter said. That is set for May 21, he noted. “We’re committed to getting the project done there. Hopefully, we get an agreement quickly,” Potter said.
Daily electricity demand in New York falls about 13% after COVID-19 mitigation efforts – Recent business shutdowns and changes to normal routines related to mitigation efforts for the 2019 novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) have caused daily, weekday electricity demand in New York state to decrease by 11% – 14% in March and April compared with expected demand, after accounting for seasonal temperature changes. Electricity demand changes in New York state and in New York City, in particular, have been more pronounced than in other parts of the country, which may partly be caused by regional differences in how much electricity each end-use sector consumes and the varying effects of COVID-19 mitigation efforts on the sectors.The U.S. Energy Information Administration’s (EIA) Hourly Electric Grid Monitor provides hourly electricity demand data from the 64 balancing authorities in the contiguous United States, including the New York Independent System Operator (NYISO), which operates the electric grid serving New York state. Using these data, EIA compared the daily electricity demand of each weekday in 2020 through May 1 to the average demand of all weekdays with the same daily average temperature from January through June in 2016 – 2019. Weekends and holidays were excluded.Comparing current electricity demand to historical temperature-comparable days instead of simply to the same calendar day or week of previous years better isolates the effect of unexpected events, such as the mitigation efforts taken in response to COVID-19, because it accounts for any changes in electricity demand caused by normal seasonal temperature fluctuations. Electricity demand during the spring and fall shoulder seasons can be particularly volatile because temperatures often swing significantly from week to week. On the NYISO grid, daily weekday electricity demand in January 2020 and most of February 2020 closely tracked the average temperature-comparable historical demand before beginning to drop slightly at the end of February. This drop became more pronounced in March as the state began taking steps to limit the spread of COVID-19. By late March, weekday NYISO daily electricity demand averaged about 13% lower than temperature-comparable historical demand, where it remained through April. NYISO reports that “the reduction in electric demand from commercial customers is a leading driver of overall reduced electricity consumption.” New York state’s electricity sales to commercial sector end users as a proportion of total electricity sales in the state is the second-largest in the nation (52%) after the District of Columbia (72%), based on preliminary 2019 data in EIA’s Electric Power Monthly (EPM).
MISO Power Tracker: Prices dip as pandemic weakens loads, natural gas prices – Light loads, largely driven by pandemic-related stay-home policies, combined with weak natural gas to prices push most Midcontinent Independent System Operator day-ahead on-peak power prices into the low $20s/MWh in April, down from March and April 2019 prices, and summer forwards weakened year on year Among five MISO hubs included in this analysis, the year-on-year decrease ranged from as little as 27.6% at the Indiana Hub to almost 38.5% at the Louisiana and Minnesota hubs. The month-to-month decreases ranged from about 4.1% at the Michigan Hub to as much as 7.2% at the Minnesota Hub. Daily peakloads in April, averaging 66.5 GW, were down 10.2% on the month and 9.3% on the year. But most of these decreases could not be explained by weather conditions, as heating-degree days this April were down about 19.8% from March but up 24.4% from April 2019. In a Vistra Energy earnings conference call Tuesday, company officials said they observed MISO energy use decreases attributable to the novel coronavirus pandemic ranging from 9 to 11%, more than any of the four other power markets where Vistra operates. The oil market crash that resulted from a lack of agreement between OPEC and Russia regarding production cuts to accommodate the pandemic’s effect on travel has had an ancillary effect on natural gas in the MISO footprint. At the Henry Hub, spot gas averaged $1.687/MMBtu this April, down from $1.746/MMBtu this March and down from $2.60/MMBtu in April 2019. At the Chicago city-gate, which is important for most of MISO’s North and Central regions, spot gas averaged $1.665/MMBtu, which was up from this March’s $1.573/MMBtu but down from April 2019’s $2.453/MMBtu. GENERATION MIX In consequence, gas-fired generation expanded its lead over second-place coal-fired generation this April, both on the month and year. The gas fleet supplied 38.3% of MISO energy this April, up from 35.4% this March and 32.7% in April 2019.
So far, COVID-19 fallout not altering plans to retire US coal-fired plants – While U.S. power generators continue to assess what the total implications could be of a decline in electricity demand caused by the economic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, those forecasting a shift to less carbon-intensive assets have not yet changed near-term plans to retire coal plants. In 2019, U.S. power generators retired 13,863 MW of coal-fired generation, the highest amount of coal capacity retired since 2015 when new mercury regulations drove the retirement of 15,124 MW of coal-fired capacity, an S&P Global Market Intelligence analysis shows. As of April 17, generators had 9,038 MW worth of capacity slated for retirement in 2020 and another 23,010 MW of coal capacity set to retire between 2021 and the end of 2025. In April, renewables generated more electricity than coal every day of the month, the first time that has happened in the U.S., an analysis from the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis recently pointed out. Lower power demand due to the coronavirus pandemic is one of several reasons the transition away from coal has accelerated in 2020, the group added in a May 4 news release. While companies around the world are reassessing capital spending forecasts and looking to preserve liquidity, most utilities set to retire coal plants said they are not yet seeing a reason to slow those plans. Eleven companies responded to a set of questions from S&P Global Market Intelligence regarding their COVID-related generation demand impacts and whether the pandemic will prompt any reassessment of their coal plant retirement plans.
Coal and COVID-19: Lung Impairment Makes Miners Especially Vulnerable To Coronavirus – Underground coal miners start their shifts getting changed in closely packed changing rooms. They ride rail cars to their worksite, shoulder-to-shoulder, sometimes for more than an hour. And once they’re underground, ventilation designed to tamp down coal dust blows air through the mine. All that makes a coal mine the kind of place where the coronavirus could spread like wildfire. Coal mines have been designated essential businesses in most states in order to keep the nation’s energy supply stable. But state and federal agencies are not tracking coronavirus transmissions or regulating sanitation to keep those essential workers safe. “I think there’s a concern by workers in this country that this is a government that gives workers second seat when it comes to their health and safety,” said Joe Main, former Assistant Secretary for the Mine Safety and Health Administration. Rather than implement rule changes or increase safety inspections, MSHA has reduced some enforcement actions and issued unenforceable recommendations for coal miners and mine operators. The language is similar to that used by MSHA’s sister agency, OSHA, which regulates meat packing plants and other work sites that also present risk of transmission. The difference, though, is that coal miners are particularly vulnerable to the coronavirus because of the high percentage of miners with lungs damaged due to exposure to toxic coal and rock dust. MSHA encourages workers to wash hands frequently, disinfect equipment, and maintain six feet of space between workers. Such actions can be difficult or impossible underground. “Guidelines were a good first start, but it’s not enough in this situation,” Main said. “You have people who are totally vulnerable, and you just put out guidelines and let what happens, happen. You have to search in your toolbag and do everything you can to make sure people are protected.” Main, who served as MSHA assistant secretary from 2009 to 2017 said there are plenty of tools at MSHA’s disposal. It could do more inspections, make sure miners know they can report unsafe conditions without fear of retribution, issue emergency standards, and make public information on which mines had had confirmed cases of the virus.
TVA, contractor listed among ‘dirty dozen’ workplace safety violators -The Tennessee Valley Authority and Jacobs Engineering, one ofthe primary contractors on TVA’s historic 2008 coal ash spill, together were ranked in annual report on the nation’s “dirty dozen” worst workplace safety scofflaws.The National Council for Occupational Safety and Health’s latest annual “Dirty Dozen” report, highlights firms and organizations accused of failing to protect American workers. The organization put TVA and Jacobs 10th on the list over their treatment of laborers who helped clean up the nation’s largest coal ash spill more than a decade ago.“The Dirty Dozen report is released to mark Workers’ Memorial Week, remembering those who have been injured, suffered illnesses or lost their lives at work,” the report’s authors wrote. “The event is observed nationwide – and around the world – by unions, surviving family members, and health and safety activists in workplaces and communities.” The report cites the rising death toll among workers who cleaned up a December 2008 spill of 7.3 million tons of toxic coal ash at TVA’s Kingston coal-fired power plant and allegations by surviving workers of mistreatment by TVA and Jacobs, including the denial of adequate protective gear such as respiratory masks and threats of job loss if the laborers persisted in their complaints.
Coal Companies Snag Paycheck Protection Loans for Small Business – Stimulus loans meant to help small businesses hurt by the coronavirus pandemic are being doled out to coal companies, stoking criticism from environmentalists that the Trump administration is using the aid to help a preferred industry that was already in financial trouble.The U.S. Small Business Administration has given more than $31 million in loans from the Paycheck Protection Program to publicly-traded coal mining companies, according to Securities and Exchange Commission filings.“The question is, is this a good use of taxpayer dollars when we have other businesses closing their doors? What is the long term viability of this industry?” said Jayson O’Neill, director of the Western Values Project, a Montana-based conservation group. “I would argue we should focus first on the small businesses that are in the most need.” Among the recipients are Ramaco Resources, Rhino Resource Partners LP, Hallador Energy Co. and American Resources Corp. Mining and Extraction Tops List of Industry Funding.The stimulus program has drawn criticism for other awards, including loans to Shake Shack Inc., Potbelly Corp. and the Los Angeles Lakers Inc. while millions of mom-and-pop firms were left stranded when the program ran out of money. All three have since returned the money amid an outcry.
Murray Energy’s Creditors Ask to Sue Founder for Raiding Cash –Creditors of Murray Energy Corp. are seeking permission to sue founder Bob Murray and his family members to recover what they allege was at least $71 million in excessive compensation in the years leading up to the coal giant’s bankruptcy.Murray and nephew Rob Moore received at least $100 million more than senior executives in comparable companies for the years 2016 through 2019, the unsecured creditors committee said in a May 1 filing with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Ohio. Their total cash compensation during this period was at least $120 million, the committee said
Murray Energy executives saw ailing coal company as own ‘piggy bank’ – A complaint prepared against two executives of Murray Energy Corp., the nation’s largest underground coal mining company, alleged fraudulent transfers and breaches of fiduciary duty before the company filed for bankruptcy. A committee of unsecured creditors asked the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Ohio for the authority to prosecute claims against Murray Energy founder Robert Murray and CEO Robert Moore. The complaint alleges gross overcompensation, the use of corporate assets and funds for personal benefit, and donations to personally connected charities while the company was allegedly insolvent for years. According to the committee’s filing, Murray Energy’s shareholder equity was negative with liabilities exceeding the book value of its total assets as early as 2014. The company’s shareholder equity hit a low point of negative $2.1 billion in the third quarter of 2016, according to the filing, and was about negative $1.9 billion just before the company filed for bankruptcy. Since at least 2017, the company’s free cash flow has been less than the amount needed to pay its debt. “In sum, under applicable law, the debtors became insolvent, inadequately capitalized, and/or unable to pay their debts as they came due at a point no later than the end of fourth-quarter 2016, and remained so at all times thereafter through the petition date,” the creditors alleged. Those findings appear to contradict Robert Murray’s public statements about the health of the company. In a 2016 interview, he decried other coal producers for dragging the industry down into the “bankruptcy sewer” and insisted he had a “four-point plan” that would keep the company away from the restructuring process. In 2017, Murray Energy warned that it would follow a customer into bankruptcy if it did not receive federal support, but it did not pursue that option when its client did so the following year. Instead, Murray Energy refinanced through a distressed debt exchange in the summer of 2018 and insisted its creditors were now “well-protected.” Analysts warned at the time that Murray Energy’s debt exchange could be a financial stretch for the producer. The latest filing includes a proposed adversary complaint against Murray and Moore detailing allegations the unsecured creditors have mentioned in previous filings. Moore is Murray’s nephew. The complaint also includes as defendants Robert Murray’s wife, Brenda Murray, and his sons Robert E. Murray, Patrick Murray and Jonathan Murray, who are also employed by the company.
Dominion Energy unit reaches deal to settle SEC case over nuclear project – Reuters – Dominion Energy Inc on Tuesday said it had agreed to pay a $25 million penalty to resolve claims by U.S. securities regulators that a South Carolina company it merged with misled investors about a failed $9 billion nuclear power plant project.Dominion in a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission disclosed that its SCANA Corp unit reached an agreement in principle with the agency to resolve a lawsuit it filed in February.To read the full story on Westlaw Practitioner Insights, click here: bit.ly/2yxBH7Y
Nuclear Is Getting Hammered by Green Power and the Pandemic – Generating power without harmful carbon emissions has never been more urgent, yet one of the biggest sources of clean power is struggling to turn a profit. The nuclear industry has been vying for a role as the perfect partner to the surging, but intermittent, renewables sector for years, citing its role as a stable source of emissions-free power. Nations around the world have set tough targets to reduce greenhouse gases with the help of clean energy to meet commitments set out in the 2015 Paris Agreement.Record output from wind and solar is more frequently creating an oversupply that can push prices below where reactors are no longer profitable, or even to rates where utilities have to hand out power for free. The rout has been exacerbated by the global pandemic gutting demand. Generators from France to Sweden, Germany and China have been forced to turn stations off or curb output.“We need to work on being more flexible in nuclear,” Magnus Hall, the chief executive officer of Swedish utility Vattenfall AB said in an interview. “It’s a new way of learning how to run the plants and this is the mode we are in.”Electricite de France SA, the world’s biggest nuclear operator, is feeling the heat more than most. The utility with 57 domestic reactors and new-build projects at home and abroad, expects output from its stations in the country to fall by more than a fifth this year. Its output is near the lowest since at least 2012 after about a dozen plants were taken offline in April. The utility’s shares are trading close to a record low.
After Cutting Workforce, Georgia Power Sticks to Current Vogtle Schedule – Despite shedding roughly 2,000 craft laborers from the Plant Vogtle site in response to the coronavirus pandemic, Georgia Power believes that jobsite productivity will remain high enough for the utility to meet the scheduled in-service dates of November 2021 and November 2022 for the two new nuclear units being built near Waynesboro, Ga. However, “The next few months will be pivotal as we adjust to a smaller, more streamlined workforce and seek to improve productivity,” said Tom Fanning, CEO of Southern Company, Georgia Power’s parent, during a Q1 earnings call held April 30. He added, “The safety of our workforce and the surrounding community remains paramount, and will continue to guide our decision-making at the site.”
Virus puts Fermi 2 refueling outage on hold | Toledo Blade – DTE Energy said it instituted “an extended safety stand down” at its Fermi 2 nuclear plant in northern Monroe County over the weekend because of the coronavirus outbreak there, one which will likely keep the plant idle much longer than expected and add to its operating expenses. The plant was in the midst of its latest refueling and maintenance outage, which began March 21. The industry standard for completing them has been a month in recent years. The safety stand down began Friday. It is unknown how many of the thousand or so DTE workers and specialized contractors are being paid to stay at area homes and motels until the stand down is lifted. The utility was able to resume some work on Monday, according to a statement issued by Stephen Tait, DTE spokesman. Refueling and maintenance outages are among the busiest times at a nuclear plants. They happen on average once every 18 to 24 months, depending on the type of uranium in a nuclear plant’s reactor. Hundreds of tasks that can’t be done while the plants are operating are performing while the facilities are taken offline to be refueled. Each refueling consists of replacing a third of the reactor core with fresh steel-cladded, uranium-filled fuel assembles. DTE confirmed in early April that it had seen an unspecified number of coronavirus cases among workers assigned to perform tasks, but said it was able to continue moving forward by taking extra precautions. Now, much of the work has been suspended until test results are completed on all personnel. Workers have agreed to do antibody testing, which requires a finger-prick blood sample, and viral testing, which requires a nasal swab, according to the company statement. “Crews who maintain the facility in its current idled state remained on the job through the weekend to ensure the safety of the plant,” DTE’s statement reads. “The safety stand down allowed the site to conduct newly available novel coronavirus testing for regular and contractor employees at the facility.” DTE said it provides face masks to all employees and contractors, and requires they wear them when they are on site.
Ukraine Considers Using Nuclear Plants For Cryptocurrency Mining – Ukraine’s Ministry of Energy believes that using power plants for crypto mining could be one of the best ways to take advantage of a current energy glut. Cryptocurrency mining is a contemporary and efficient way to use excess energy, Ukraine’s Ministry of Energy argued in a May 6 statement published on Facebook. According to the post, local nuclear plants have generated the surplus due to the COVID-19 lockdown. The bureau is now looking to apply progressive solutions to avoid wasting energy as part of the government’s course toward digitalization championed by president Volodymyr Zelensky. Leaving the situation unchanged might create “conditions for corruption offenses, which will ultimately be paid at Ukrainian citizens’ expense”, the ministry warns.Crypto mining, in turn, could prove to be one of the efficient solutions, the post continues: “There is a way to transfer this ‘liability’ into an ‘asset’. One of the modern approaches for using excess electricity is to devote it to cryptocurrency mining. That would not only allow to maintain the guaranteed load on the nuclear power plants, but also ensure that companies can attract extra funds. Therefore, it would open the way to a fundamentally new economy, new approaches, a new market model.” As previously reported by a Russian-language crypto news outlet Forklog on May 5, the acting head of Ukraine’s Ministry of Energy requested the state-owned enterprise Energoatom to study potential ways to implement cryptocurrency mining at the country’s nuclear energy generating facilities by May 8.
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