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Health Care — Florida COVID fight ramps up

Tonight, Beyoncé is dropping her first single in two years. It’s called “Break My Soul.” Are you ready? 

As COVID vaccines for infants, toddlers and preschoolers start rolling out, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) picked a fight with the White House by not pre-ordering doses ahead of time. We’ll look at some of the implications.

Welcome to Overnight Health Care, where we’re following the latest moves on policy and news affecting your health. For The Hill, we’re Peter Sullivan, Nathaniel Weixel and Joseph Choi. Subscribe here.

DeSantis escalates feud with White House

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) is escalating his feud with the White House over the COVID-19 response as he positions himself for a possible presidential campaign in 2024.

DeSantis has been taking heat from infectious diseases experts — as well as state and national Democrats — for his decision not to preorder from the federal government COVID-19 vaccines for infants and young kids.  

• “The state of Florida intentionally missed multiple deadlines to order vaccines to protect its youngest kids,” White House coronavirus response coordinator Ashish Jha told reporters Friday. 

The White House initially made 10 million vaccines for young children available for states to preorder.  

Having a small stockpile of doses on hand meant shots can start being administered as early as June 20, if states were able to distribute them quickly enough. 

But Florida was the only state that decided not to place an order. 

No middleman: The argument from state officials was twofold:  

• According to DeSantis, kids aren’t at risk of getting seriously sick. The state’s not going to expend resources on something that isn’t needed. 
• The Health Department said they’re not going to be the Biden administration’s warehouse for unused vaccines. If a pediatrician’s office or hospital wants the shots, they can place an order through the official state website.  

Picking fights: DeSantis has spent much of the pandemic attacking the Biden administration’s COVID-19 mitigation efforts. 

The Sunshine State’s governor has made it a point of pride to question and challenge a range of federal guidance, repeatedly promoting the “freedom” of a state without policies such as mask or vaccine mandates. 

Read more here.

Adviser: Vaccines ‘good choices’ for kids under 5 

White House COVID-⁠19 response coordinator Ashish Jha on Monday heralded the recent authorization of COVID-19 vaccines for kids under the age of 5, saying it gives parents “two good choices.” 

• Over the weekend, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention gave the final sign-off to Moderna’s and Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccines for children under age 5, the last group of people in the U.S. to be permitted to receive coronavirus immunizations.
• Appearing on ABC’s “Good Morning America” on Monday, Jha told host George Stephanopoulos that both vaccines were “exceedingly safe” and effective. 

Pfizer’s vaccine is administered in three doses while Moderna’s is administered with two doses. 

Should parents wait?: Stephanopoulos asked Jha if parents of children close to turning 5 should wait until they’re older so that they can receive the stronger dose. 

“What I personally think — you should go ahead and get your child vaccinated if they’re right on that cusp. You maybe want to talk to your pediatrician or family physician, but really the bottom line is we’ve got safe, effective vaccines for 4- and 5-year-olds, so it probably doesn’t matter hugely,” said Jha. 

Read more here.

GOTTLIEB PREDICTS SLOW START FOR KIDS’ VACCINES 

There are still questions about how many parents will actually get their young kids vaccinated even after the authorization.  

• Former Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Scott Gottlieb said on Sunday that he anticipates a slow rollout for COVID-19 vaccines for children under age 5.
• “I think it’s going to be a little bit more of a slow rollout relative to what we’ve seen in past rollouts with the other age groups,” Gottlieb said of vaccinating the youngest Americans during an interview on CBS’s “Face the Nation.” 

“Maybe around children’s hospitals, you’ll see some clinics stood up, but most people are probably going to get vaccinated in their pediatricians’ offices, and it’s going to take a little bit more time to get the vaccine into those local settings because it’s more difficult to vaccinate a child who is very young,” Gottlieb continued. 

Not everyone eager to vaccinate their kids: Gottlieb also cited surveys that indicated that roughly 20 percent of parents with children under 5 planned to vaccinate their children but said he anticipated a possibly lower rate. 

“As prevalence declines going into the summer, a lot of parents may choose to take a wait-and-see attitude and reconsider this in the fall. I think uptick will be pretty slow,” he explained. 

Read more here.

FIRST PROBABLE MONKEYPOX CASES REPORTED IN MISSOURI, INDIANA 

State health officials in Missouri and Indiana reported their first probable cases of monkeypox on Saturday. 

• The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) had reported monkeypox cases in 20 other states and Washington, D.C., as of Friday, although health officials continue to stress that the risk to the public remains low.
• Both states sent samples to the CDC for confirmatory testing after the states performed initial tests. Most states have been testing most for orthopoxvirus, the family of viruses which monkeypox belongs to. 

“This week, one of our excellent nurses suspected one of our patients may have monkeypox virus,” said Marvia Jones, director of the Kansas City Health Department.  

“We are considering this a probable case of monkeypox virus until we receive final confirmation from the CDC labs. We appreciate the work our disease investigation and nursing staff have done to educate themselves on this rare virus and be on alert for it.” 

Read more here. 

These cities, states say they won’t enforce abortion bans 

After a leaked Supreme Court draft decision indicated the high court is poised to overturn the landmark Roe v. Wade decision, which would effectively eliminate federal abortion protections and lead to bans in a number of states, some state and local officials have said they will not prosecute abortion-related cases. 

The draft ruling published by Politico in May would give individual states authority over abortion access. According to abortion rights advocacy group Guttmacher Institute: 

• Thirteen states have so-called trigger laws in place that would almost immediately ban or severely restrict abortion if Roe v. Wade is overturned. 
   
• Another nine states still have laws or constitutional amendments against the procedure in place from before the 1973 decision. 
• A number of states have also moved to restrict abortion access in anticipation of the Supreme Court’s decision on the matter. 

Abortion holdouts: But some state and local officials, even in states that have the trigger laws in place, have said they are not intent on prosecuting people over the matter, possibly putting officials at odds with one another. 

Follow the link below to see a list of state and local officials who say they do not plan enforcing abortion bans. 

Read more here.

STATE BY STATE

• Report: 2 in 3 Hawaii adults experienced negative COVID impacts from health to livelihood (Hawaii News Now) 
• First probable monkeypox case detected in New Jersey, Health Department says (northjersey.com) 
• Maine’s COVID-19 hospitalizations inch lower (Portland Press Herald)  

WHAT WE’RE READING

• ‘It was stolen from me’: Black doctors are forced out of training programs at far higher rates than white residents (Stat) 
• ‘Forever chemicals’ linked to high blood pressure in women (The Washington Post) 
• Those who tested positive for COVID-19 can share their genetic makeup with DNA testing sites to help research (Chicago Tribune) 

That’s it for today, thanks for reading. Check out The Hill’s Health Care page for the latest news and coverage. See you tomorrow.

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Crack appears in Jan. 6 committee wall

On Monday, June 13, the first crack appeared in the otherwise cohesive wall of the House Select Committee to Investigate the January 6 Attack on the U.S. Capitol. The fissure opened when committee Chairman Bennie G. Thompson (D-Miss.) told reporters after that day’s hearing that the committee would not be making any criminal referrals to the Justice Department of former President Donald J. Trump or anyone else. 

Almost immediately, Vice Chair Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) tweeted that the committee “has not issued a conclusion regarding potential criminal referrals,” and will do so “at an appropriate time.” Another committee member, Rep. Elaine Luria (D-Va.) issued her own conclusion that “if criminal activity occurred, it is our responsibility to report that activity to the DOJ.” Other committee members, taken aback by the chairman’s comments, were stumbling to respond, but most chose to keep their powder dry until the committee could talk it over privately.   

Meantime, a committee spokesperson released a statement to CNN the following day which attempted to clarify the chairman’s comments — sort of a sideways walk-back: “The committee has no authority to prosecute individuals but is rather tasked with developing facts….”  Two sentences later, the spokesperson said the committee would gather “all relevant information, offer recommendations, and, if warranted, make criminal referrals.”  

It is doubtful the chairman’s remarks on referrals were an inadvertent slip of the tongue.  There have certainly been private and even public surmises as to whether criminal referrals are advisable, perhaps even some guidance from above.  Ranking committee Democrat Zoe Lofgren (Calif.), who is close to Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), said publicly in March that a criminal referral would be “unproductive” because “it carries no legal weight.”   

That same month, the Justice Department announced it would not be prosecuting former Trump chief of staff Mark Meadows and social media director Dan Scavino on House-approved contempt of Congress charges for defying committee subpoenas to appear. No reason was given. That same day, however, the department announced it was proceeding against former Trump White House trade adviser Peter Navarro on the same charges. It was an obvious muscle-flexing demonstration of prosecutorial discretion. 

Unlike contempt of Congress citations, criminal referrals have no formal status in law or in Congress’s rules. Any citizen can make them. There are three good reasons why the committee would avoid making criminal referrals on Trump or anyone else. First, as Lofgren mentioned, such referrals from Congress have no legal status at DOJ. Most of such referrals from Congress, usually made by committee chairmen, have died on the department’s doorstep. Justice is very sensitive about being perceived as doing Congress’s political bidding, and prides itself on its independence and non-partisanship.      

The second reason for not filing a criminal referral is a matter of optics. One of the main criticisms House Republicans level at the select committee is that its investigation is simply a smokescreen for a public show trial – a “kangaroo court.” Making a criminal referral to DOJ would only feed and confirm that accusation.  Most of the public media’s focus would be on whether the committee finds Trump criminally culpable for the Jan. 6 riot and would overshadow any other findings and recommendations the committee will presumably make. 

A third reason a criminal referral would be resisted is that Trump’s role in claiming the election was stolen from him and whether he incited the violence that ensued is not necessarily a slam-dunk case. For Trump to be convicted requires proof of criminal intent on his part. Did he knowingly intend to break the law? Judging from much of the testimony already aired, it is not clear he was purposely acting illegally. As former Attorney General Bill Barr testified, at times the president seemed “detached from reality” and prone to believe the many “fantastical” conspiracy theories presented to him. Someone’s mental state is difficult enough to discern, let alone prove.       

The committee will be providing a valuable service to Congress and the country by sorting through and reporting on all the evidence it has gathered as to exactly what happened on Jan. 6 and why, and by making any recommendations for preventing its recurrence in the future. Its final report should speak for itself.   

Attorney General Merrick Garland has said he is following all of the committee’s hearings closely and is pressing for copies of its evidence. And it is abundantly clear his department is vigorously engaged in investigating and prosecuting those responsible for the violent breach of the Capitol.  

The select committee has several mandates to fulfill before it expires at the end of this year. It has too little time to engage in politically fraught, criminal referrals lacking any impetus or impact. Let Justice do the justice.  

Don Wolfensberger is a Congress Scholar at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, fellow at the Bipartisan Policy Center, former staff director of the House Rules Committee, and author of “Changing Cultures in Congress: From Fair Play to Power Plays.”  The views expressed are solely his own.  

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Defense & National Security — Russian cyberwar campaign not ending soon

Russia’s war on Ukraine through the cyberspace alone has shown how the shadowy world of cyberattacks will be a central battleground in the future of global conflicts.   

We’ll detail Moscow’s online tactics and what this means for the war going forward, plus China’s latest missile interceptor test and Biden’s upcoming trip to Europe. 

This is Defense & National Security, your nightly guide to the latest developments at the Pentagon, on Capitol Hill and beyond. For The Hill, I’m Ellen Mitchell. A friend forward this newsletter to you? Subscribe here.

What the Ukraine war means for cyber warfare 

Russia’s war on Ukraine has been largely defined by indiscriminate shelling and grinding exchange of artillery, but it has also shown how cyberspace will be a central battleground in the future of global conflicts.   

Early Russian cyberattacks were a harbinger of a ground war to come, and the battle for hearts and minds is now largely playing out online. And Russia has strategically timed cyberattacks for advantage in its on-the-ground assaults. 

The hypothesis: Experts said all of these components will likely be present in future global conflicts, with the Russia-Ukraine war cementing cyberspace as an intrinsic component of modern warfare.  

• “I believe the future of cyberwarfare is going to be more complex, more sophisticated and a lot more destructive,” said Paul Capasso, vice president of strategic programs at Telos, a cybersecurity firm based in Virginia. 
• “It’s not going away; it’s here to stay,” he added. 

A new form of warfare: In particular, he said more countries will learn to weaponize the internet and social media to influence the public in their favor.  

“Everybody wants to win the hearts and minds of their enemies without firing shots,” Capasso said. “The battle of the mind is real.” 

According to a report released in May by cybersecurity firm Mandiant, Russian-backed hackers launched several disinformation campaigns intended to demoralize and alienate Ukrainians. 

No sign of letting up: Though Russia’s effectiveness in cyberattacks has likely been blunted by Ukraine’s cyber defenses, strengthened through Western support in recent years, Moscow has not shown any signs of retreat. 

Since the invasion, Russian-backed hackers have repeatedly launched cyberattacks against Ukraine, targeting the country’s critical sectors and key government institutions. Some attacks were successful, while others failed. 

Read the full story here 

Zelensky expects fighting to intensify 

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Sunday said he expects Russia to intensify its attacks ahead of the European Union’s decision to potentially accept Ukraine as a new member of the 27-nation economic bloc. 

• Zelensky added that other countries could also be threatened by Russian aggression. 
• “We should expect greater hostile activity from Russia. Purposely, demonstratively. This week exactly,” Zelensky said in an address. “And not only against Ukraine, but also against other European countries.” 

Earlier: On Friday, the European Commission recommended Ukraine and Moldova be accepted as members of the EU, a big step forward in an otherwise long process to join the economic and trade alliance. 

Ukraine applied to become a member of the EU shortly after Russia invaded the country in late February. 

Read that story here 

China tests land-based missile interceptor 

China held a successful missile intercept test, the country’s Defense Ministry said Sunday, adding it was not intended as a message to any country.   

• A “land-based mid-course missile interception test” took place within China’s territory on June 19 “and achieved the desired test objective,” the country said in a brief statement. “The test is defensive in nature and not targeted against any country.”
• Beijing has been increasing its research and development of missiles that range in use, including those that can launch astronauts or parts into space, destroy already orbiting satellites or potentially carry nuclear weapons. 
   
• China, which says it has conducted anti-missile-system tests since at least 2010, last revealed it had tested a missile interceptor in February 2021 and in 2018.   

Why it matters: The newest test comes as China has been ramping up pressure and threats against Taiwan, a self-governing island which Beijing claims as its territory. China in recent years has asserted the island could be annexed by military force if needed.   

Such a conflict — which has increasingly come up as a hypothetical with Russia’s recent attack on Ukraine — would likely draw in the U.S., Taiwan’s main provider of weapons. Washington is also legally obligated to help Taiwan in some way should it be attacked.     

Read more here 

Biden says Ukraine visit unlikely during Europe trip

President Biden said Monday that he’s unlikely to visit Ukraine during a trip to Europe later this week.   

• Biden told reporters in Rehoboth Beach, Del., that any decision to go into Ukraine would depend on “whether or not it causes more difficulty for Ukrainians, whether it distracts from what’s going on.”
• Asked if he would visit the country on his upcoming trip to Europe, Biden answered: “On this trip, not likely.”   

Biden’s schedule: Biden is scheduled to travel to Germany on Saturday for a Group of Seven (G-7) leaders’ summit and will from there head to Spain where is he attending a NATO meeting.   

The White House has previously made clear that any presidential trip to Ukraine would not be announced ahead of time for security reasons.   

Earlier visits: Several European leaders have visited Ukraine amid the Russian war, including most recently the leaders of France, Italy and Germany. Those trips have raised questions about whether Biden will eventually travel into the country.   

• On Friday, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson traveled to Kyiv for a second time since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in late February. 
• And first lady Jill Biden also made a surprise trip into Ukraine earlier this year on Mother’s Day to meet with Ukraine’s first lady Olena Zelenska.   

Constant communication: During an impromptu press gaggle on the beach in Rehoboth on Monday, Biden noted that he often speaks with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky about the Russian invasion.  

Biden spoke by phone with Zelensky last week to brief him on a new $1 billion weapons package that the U.S. is sending to Ukraine to help the country thwart the Russian invasion.   

Read the full story here 

FROM THE WEEKEND

Lawmakers say new Iran nuclear deal unlikely

Senators in both parties briefed recently by senior Biden administration officials on negotiations with Iran say they doubt Tehran will agree to any new deal to limit its development of nuclear weapons.   

• Lawmakers say the administration has an offer on the table, but that Iran is showing little willingness to reestablish the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), which placed significant restrictions on its nuclear program in exchange for sanctions relief. 
• An update: Former President Trump unilaterally withdrew the United States from the 2015 deal, which was one of former President Obama’s biggest foreign policy accomplishments.   

Biden officials said in January that they were on the cusp of restoring the agreement but cautioned at the time that it would be up to Tehran to accept it.   

Four months later, Iran still hasn’t shown any serious interest in accepting the offer from the United States and its European allies, which means one of President Biden’s top foreign policy priorities remains in limbo.    

Read that story here 

ON TAP TOMORROW

• George Washington University’s Defense Writers Group will host a media conversation with Meredith Berger, acting Undersecretary of the Navy/assistant secretary of the Navy for energy, installations, and the environment, at 8 a.m. 
• The House Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the U.S. Capitol will hold a hearing at 1 p.m. 

WHAT WE’RE READING

• Russia’s air force has ‘underperformed’ in Ukraine invasion: UK military intelligence 
• NATO chief says Ukraine war could last for years 
• Zelensky praises Ukrainian fathers who ‘protect and defend the most precious’ 
• UK military intelligence: Multiple factors driving low morale among Russian forces in Ukraine 
• Zelensky vows to retake southern Ukraine 
• Jan. 6 panel shifts to pressure campaign on state election officials 
• The Hill: Opinion: The least worst option in Ukraine 
• The Hill: Opinion: The Ukraine war hits a critical juncture 

That’s it for today. Check out The Hill’s Defense and National Security pages for the latest coverage. See you tomorrow!

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Equilibrium/Sustainability — Scientists create plant-based wrap to replace plastic

Scientists have developed a biodegradable, plant-based coating for foods that they say could provide an environmentally friendly alternative to plastic packaging.  

Their solution can be sprayed directly onto foods, protecting them from both disease-causing microorganisms and from damage in transportation, according to the Rutgers and Harvard authors, who published their findings in Nature Food on Monday.

“We knew we needed to get rid of the petroleum-based food packaging that is out there and replace it with something more sustainable, biodegradable and nontoxic,” co-author Philip Demokritou, director of the Nanoscience and Advanced Materials Research Center at Rutgers University, said in a statement.  

At the core of the new technology are fibers based on polysaccharides, the most common natural carbohydrates in food, and biopolymers, which are naturally occurring, biodegradable materials.

Using a heating device that resembles a hair dryer, the scientists were able to spin the fibers and “shrink-wrap” them over foods of various shapes and sizes, according to the statement.

The material encases the food and stays sturdy to shield the contents from bruising, the authors explained. In addition, it contains antimicrobial agents capable of fighting spoilage and contaminants like E. coli and listeria. 

“What we have come up with is a scalable technology, which enables us to turn biopolymers, which can be derived as part of a circular economy from food waste, into smart fibers that can wrap food directly,” Demokritou said.  

“This is part of new generation, ‘smart’ and ‘green’ food packaging,” he added.

Welcome to Equilibrium, a newsletter that tracks the growing global battle over the future of sustainability.

Today we’ll see why American travelers faced travel disruptions this holiday weekend and take a look at how a melting Arctic might offer competition to Russian trade routes. Plus: Is a push to make shipping carbon neutral as green as it claims?

Let’s jump in.

Weather, staff shortages cause flight disruptions

A chaotic combination of staff shortages and inclement weather conditions led to the cancellation of more than 5,000 flights over the Father’s Day and Juneteenth holiday weekend, The Wall Street Journal reported.  

Flights saw major delays between Thursday and Sunday, with nearly a third of flights arriving at U.S. airports on Friday delayed. Several carriers also announced plans to reduce summer flight plans.

• Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg elected to drive to New York after his flight from Washington, D.C., was canceled Friday.
• Buttigieg told The Associated Press on Saturday that the administration would consider penalizing airlines if disruptions continued.

Slight improvement Monday: The Federal Aviation Administration confirmed that the situation was improving on Monday, as weather and traffic issues subsided, but still cited some staffing problems in Florida, according to the Journal.

The U.S. is not alone: Thousands of passengers across roughly 30 flights saw delays Monday after flights were canceled at London’s Heathrow Airport due to technical issues with luggage, the BBC reported. 

• Swiss low-cost carrier EasyJet declared that it would be cutting 7 percent of its 160,000 summer flights, according to the BBC.
• This decision occurred after Gatwick Airport, also in London, announced that it would be reducing flights taking off there, the BBC reported. 

More issues ahead: American Airlines said it would also eliminate service for three U.S. cities — Toledo, Ohio; Ithaca, N.Y.; and Islip, N.Y. — starting in September due to a “regional pilot shortage.”

Thawing Arctic could shift global shipping: study 

An ice-free Arctic artery could also offer critical trade alternatives to a historical Russian-controlled Northern Sea Route, a new study has found.  

Climate models indicate that parts of the region are now warming so rapidly that they will be iceless for months on end in as soon as two decades, according to the study, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.  

Big con, but also some pros: This dramatic transformation will lead to the endangerment of species that thrive in sub-zero temperatures, the researchers acknowledged.  

• Yet these conditions will also increase the Arctic’s navigability. By 2065, new trade routes could be populating international waters, according to the study.  
• Such arteries could help curb the shipping industry’s carbon footprint, while also loosening Russia’s control over Arctic trade, the researchers found.    

Making the best of bad news: “There’s no scenario in which melting ice in the Arctic is good news,” lead author Amanda Lynch, a professor of Earth, environmental and planetary sciences at Brown University, said in a statement.

“But the unfortunate reality is that the ice is already retreating, these routes are opening up, and we need to start thinking critically about the legal, environmental and geopolitical implications,” Lynch added.

Russia’s regulatory authority: The United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, signed in 1982, increased the authority of Arctic coastal states over primary shipping routes, so long as these regions remain covered in ice for most of the year.

• For decades, Russia has used the convention for its own economic and geopolitical interests, according to co-author Charles Norchi, director of the Center for Oceans and Coastal Law at Maine Law.
• Russian law requires all vessels traveling through the Northern Sea Route to be piloted by Russians and provide advance notice of their plans and pay tolls, Norchi said.    

Countries chose the cheaper option: Up against such heavy regulation, major shipping companies often choose to bypass the route and instead use the much longer — but cheaper and easier — trade routes through the Suez and Panama canals, according to Norchi.  

But if the ice near Russia’s northern coast continues to melt, so too will the country’s grasp on shipping in the Arctic, Norchi explained. 

“If that happens, Russia can’t do much, because the outcome is driven by climate change and shipping economics,” he said.    

To read the full story, please click here.

A push to decarbonize shipping

Shipping, airline and trucking companies are facing a formidable challenge as they scramble to decarbonize their fleets amid a push to reduce greenhouse emissions.

With solutions like long-range batteries or hydrogen power supplies still emerging, firms are increasingly turning to methanol — a common industrial alcohol with a surging market — to try to reduce emissions.

• Methanol can be produced now, in industrial quantities, from a wide variety of waste streams or renewable energy. 
• It can be burned in engines similar to the ones used for fossil fuels. 

Big orders: Shipping and airline companies have been spending billions on renewably produced methanol production and vehicles.

• The market is expected to reach $66 billion by 2030, driven largely by growth in demand for marine fuels, Bloomberg reported. 
• The Swedish company Stena Bulk just received its first methanol-powered cargo ship on Monday, according to shipping news site MarineLink.
• Last week, French carrier CMA CGM ordered six methanol powered ships, per supply chain reporting site The Loadstar. 

‘Lego’ molecule: Methanol is one of the most common chemical building blocks in the world — used to manufacture products from silicone to fleece. 

To make it, companies just need a source of hydrogen and carbon dioxide — which can come from a wide array of natural, renewable or fossil fuel-based sources. 

• Methanol’s simple chemical structure lets it serve as a base for more complex fuels and chemicals, Kristjana Kristjánsdóttir of Iceland-based methanol fuels startup Carbon Recycling International told Equilibrium. 
• “It’s like the first block of your Lego house,” she added.

Environmental benefits? Since methanol dissolves in water, spills would not form the same devastating slicks like those from oil or other fuels, Kristjánsdóttir argued.

• The compound also bio-degrades within a week, according to a fact sheet from the Methanol Institute, a methanol-industry trade group.  
• On the other hand — for the same reasons — there is no way to contain a spill, unlike oil, the Institute noted. 

FUELING THE NEW SHIPPING

Companies from oil majors like ExxonMobil to small companies like Carbon Recycling International are racing to supply the booming methanol-powered fleet. 

While burning methanol still releases carbon dioxide, these companies claim that it’s carbon neutral because it redirects existing emissions. 

• For example, ExxonMobil is deriving methanol-based “sustainable” jet fuel by turning biomass and waste into gas — or converting carbon dioxide from smokestacks into fuel, the company announced on Monday. 
• Danish shipping giant Maersk is partnering with green methanol manufacturers to supply 12 methanol-fueled ships it ordered in 2021, the company said.

Increasing interest: Carbon Recycling International, which began manufacturing the fuel using energy and carbon dioxide harvested from Iceland’s geothermal power industry in 2006, has seen a huge spike in interest, Kristjánsdóttir said. 

• “We can see a significant shift,” she said, noting that when they began operations, it was hard to get people to care about carbon capture. 
• “Even the companies that didn’t want to hear about it, they’re all back at the table,” she added. 

Is it truly low carbon? That depends on a wide variety of factors, such as which ingredients the methanol is made from, which energy source powers its manufacture and whether the carbon dioxide released when it is burned is captured as well. 

For example: If generated from burning biomass or waste, or from fossil fuel plants, it is simply another aspect of the existing, fossil-fuel-based economy. 

• That is what as ExxonMobil appears to be doing, and what Carbon Recycling International is doing with its carbon capture pilot projects on Chinese steel factories. 
• Another Carbon Recycling project in Fjinnford, Norway, does use renewable energy to generate the hydrogen used to make the fuel, however. 

Changing the agenda: The goal can’t simply be “to make shipping look good, it’s to reduce the carbon footprint of the planet,” Sanjay Vema of Finland-based Wärtsilä, which sells solutions to help decarbonize shipping, told S&P Global on Monday. 

Using fossil fuel-derived methanol is “not doing any justice,” he added.

Monday Miscellanies

Climate change edition: A surge in Lyme’s disease, the fragile gains of effective climate communication and a push for international recognition of climate damages. 

Climate change causing uptick in Lyme disease 

• Lyme disease has recently been surging in the Northeast, spreading into Ohio, Michigan, Indiana, Wisconsin and Minnesota, local E.W. Scripps stations reported. Ashley Kennedy, a Delaware state tick biologist, told broadcasters that climate change plays a big role, as “the ticks are better at surviving [warmer winters], which is allowing them to really explore new territory.” 

Accurate reporting triggers support for climate action — briefly 

• Science-based articles about climate change can lead Americans to back government action to halt it — regardless of political orientation, according to a study in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, but “if they only hear it once, it recedes very quickly,” author Thomas Wood of Ohio State said in a statement.  

Vanuatu pushes for legal recognition of climate damage 

• The small Pacific nation of Vanuatu, at existential threat from rising seas, is calling on Australia’s new Labour government to back its attempt to have the International Court of Justice recognize damages from climate change.

Send us tips and feedback: Saul Elbein, Sharon Udasin. If you like this newsletter, consider sharing it with a friend. Not on the list? Subscribe here

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On The Money — Biden keeps up battle against inflation

President Biden is exploring his options to combat inflation, including a possible gas tax suspension. We’ll also examine the impact of pilot shortages and economists’ recession predictions.  

But first, check out the massive “heat dome” bringing blazing temperatures this week. 

Welcome to On The Money, your nightly guide to everything affecting your bills, bank account and bottom line. For The Hill, we’re Sylvan Lane, Aris Folley and Karl Evers-Hillstrom. Someone forward you this newsletter? Subscribe here.

The big flaw in Biden’s plan to fight inflation 

President Biden’s hands-off approach to fighting the highest inflation in four decades poses major risks to the economy and his political fortunes.  

Biden made clear earlier this month he will do nothing to push the Federal Reserve away from increasing interest rates as high as possible to curb price growth. But as the Fed picks up the pace of rate hikes, economists fear the bank will be forced to trigger a recession as it struggles to fight supply shocks beyond its control. 

• The Fed’s main weapon against inflation is raising its baseline interest rate range, which increases borrowing costs throughout the economy in order to lower prices. 
• Rate hikes will not boost the international supplies of oil, wheat, fertilizer and other crucial commodities depleted by the war in Ukraine and sanctions on Russia, or resolve supply chain backlogs from China’s COVID-19 containment policy. 
• Raising rates also raises the risk of a recession next year, but Biden has insisted that such an outcome is “not inevitable.”  

Sylvan and Alex Gangitano have more here. 

GAS TAX BREAK? 

Biden expects decision on federal gas tax holiday by end of week  

President Biden on Monday told reporters he hoped to make a final decision about whether to support a federal gas tax holiday by the end of the week as high fuel prices continue to pose a problem.  

“I hope I have a decision … by the end of the week,” Biden said from Rehoboth Beach, Del., where he spent the weekend.  

• Biden did not rule out sending gas rebate cards to Americans, though administration officials have in recent days sounded cool to the idea. 
• A recent study found that suspending the federal gas tax from March to December would reduce average per-capita gasoline spending by between $16 and $47 for that period. 
• Suspending the federal gas tax would require an act of Congress, but a public push by Biden in favor of the policy could help spur action on Capitol Hill.  

The Hill’s Brett Samuels has more here. 

UP IN THE AIR 

American Airlines ending service to three cities due to pilot shortage 

American Airlines will eliminate service for three cities following the Labor Day holiday weekend as a result of staffing shortages, marking the latest hiccup for the airline industry amid thousands of cancellations and cuts in recent months. 

An airline spokesperson said the company will drop service to Toledo, Ohio; Ithaca, N.Y.; and Islip, N.Y., on Sept. 7 in response to a “regional pilot shortage.” 

• Travel demand has surged, with large numbers of Americans taking trips for the first time since the start of the pandemic. The Transportation Security Administration said it screened about 2.44 million people at airports on Friday, a total greater than any other day since Nov. 28, 2021.  
• Meanwhile, airlines have struggled to keep up with rising demand after shedding millions of jobs at the height of the pandemic, driving prices higher. Thousands of flights were also canceled or delayed this past weekend ahead of Father’s Day and Juneteenth. 

The Hill’s Zach Schonfeld has more on this here. 

RECESSION PREDICTIONS  

Economists see 44 percent chance of recession in next year: survey 

The probability of the U.S. hitting a recession within the next year is about 44 percent, according to a new Wall Street Journal survey of leading economists. 

That’s the highest probability for a recession in the next year since the newspaper began asking the question in 2005, the Journal noted. 

• Before the 2007 to 2009 recession, economists assigned a 38 percent probability of a recession. Before the 2020 recession, they gave the economy a 28 percent probability of hitting a significant economic downturn. 
• Former Treasury Secretary Larry Summers said Sunday on NBC’s “Meet the Press” that, based on historical trends, the economy will likely hit a recession by the end of the year.  

Check out more on this here from The Hill’s Brad Dress. 

Good to Know

National Economic Council Director Brian Deese on Sunday said the White House is hoping to make progress on legislation to lower prescription drug prices and other costs “in the coming weeks.” 

Deese stressed to CBS “Face the Nation” moderator Margaret Brennan that combating high inflation levels remains the White House’s top economic priority. 

Here’s what else we have our eye on: 

• President Biden on Monday praised workers at an Apple store near Baltimore that voted to form the first American union at the Silicon Valley tech giant. 
• The Virginia Senate this weekend shelved a proposal by Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R) for a three-month gas tax holiday that had passed the GOP-controlled House of Delegates. 

That’s it for today. Thanks for reading and check out The Hill’s Finance page for the latest news and coverage. We’ll see you tomorrow. 

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Source: TEST FEED1

Summer is turning into the deadliest season

For much of human history, winter has been the most brutal season to survive. The winter of 536 saw rapid cooling followed by crop failures, disease outbreaks and general misery, leading to an estimated 100 million deaths in Europe alone. While exacerbated by volcanic eruptions, it was like many other winters where suffering predominated. These harsh winters are bookended by fall ceremonies and spring celebrations. Winter was a time of starvation, bitter cold and loss.

Throughout generations, winter has been synonymous with suffering and struggle — in stories, children are carried away by the Snow Queen or lost to winter wolves — reflecting the anxious anticipation of generations of villages huddled against the cold.

But now, it seems things have begun to change. While cold snaps and unseasonal weather still loom, temperatures double digits above average in Europe and Asia herald that summer is rapidly becoming the season of suffering.

Punctuated by the pandemic, the summers of 2020 and 2021 were a time of climate reckoning worldwide. The worst wildfire seasons to date left charred forests and poor air quality across the Northern hemisphere, mirroring the Southern hemisphere six months before. These fires burned over 18 million acres in the U.S. alone, representing over 100 million metric tons of CO2 (2020) and altering the land cover across diverse landscapes.

Whether the ecosystems can recover from these fires while suffering drought and rising temperatures remains to be seen. These hot-burning fires leave a growing legacy across the landscape — fires in the U.S. in 2021 alone cost over $70 billion. The summer of 2022 is primed to be worse.

Drought conditions, well-reported for the American West, have impacted every continent except Antarctica, diminishing coffee production in Brazil, food and wine crops in California, and water availability everywhere from Israel to Italy to India. Parched wildlife across the world is forced to adapt to dry, hot conditions at a record pace — and is unable to keep up. For humans, retrofitting water infrastructure will cost an estimated $114 billion annually, but the total costs from rising heat to all life are untold.

Already, the heat has been hard to bear. In 2021, the “heat dome” effect in the American Pacific Northwest trapped temperatures 20 degrees Fahrenheit above average, killing over 1 billion marine animals. This year, temperatures in India have already peaked at nearly 120degrees Fahrenheit, with Europe’s heat waves decimating records this past week. The combined impact of drought, heat waves and wildfires promise the North American West what may become the worst summer on record.

Weather weirding continues in the deluge-drought dynamics driven by atmospheric warming. Atmospheric rivers in the interior west led to historic flooding in Yellowstone National Park, while across the Pacific, exponentially increasing summer monsoons continue to shake nations across Asia. These storms have been followed by extreme heat and subsequent drought, taxing first responders and society.  

Human-driven climate change is doing what volcanic eruptions and ice ages never could- turning summer into the deadliest season. As humanity hurtles into unknown territory, increasing the carbon concentration of the atmosphere and depleting biodiversity responses worldwide, we must prepare for more “historic” events. As a well-circulated cartoon has recently claimed, this is the coolest summer of the rest of your life. The only way to remedy this dying season is to slow climate change at its source.

Kimberley R. Miner, Ph.D., is a Climate Change Institute research assistant professor at the University of Maine. She works on the Arctic Methane Project looking at the impacts of climate change in the Arctic. Miner’s opinions are her own and do not reflect those of the University of Maine.

Source: TEST FEED1

Trump ratchets up attacks amid questions about his presidential viability

Former President Trump has in recent days ratcheted up his attacks on the House select committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, riots at the Capitol, deriding it as a “theatrical production of partisan political fiction.”

While the former president has dismissed the hearings as a “witch hunt” like every other investigation into his campaign or presidency, Trump’s increased focus on the hearings underscores the potential threat the committee’s findings could pose to a re-election bid in 2024 — should he choose one.

“Ultimately these hearings can be viewed as the conundrum that the Republican Party faces with a third presidential campaign and prospective nomination of President Trump,” said Sam Nunberg, a former adviser to the 2016 Trump campaign.

“He certainly is going to be the favorite when he announces, and I think it’s when,” Nunberg continued. “But this has taken the veneer off, I think, of the inevitability.”

The House committee investigating the riots has spent its first three hearings using depositions, live testimony and video footage to build a narrative that Trump was told repeatedly there was no evidence of wide-spread fraud in the 2020 election, but that he made claims to the contrary for weeks anyway, culminating in the violence of Jan. 6.

An ABC News-Ipsos poll conducted last Friday and Saturday found that while just 34 percent of Americans are following the hearings closely, 60 percent believe the committee is conducting a fair investigation.

The poll also found 58 percent of respondents believe Trump bears a good or great amount of responsibility for the events of Jan. 6 and should be charged with a crime, though less than a quarter of Republicans feel that way.

While views on the committee largely fall along partisan lines, the poll indicates enough Americans are taking the proceedings seriously that it could be a real hurdle for Trump should he seek re-election, as many expect he will. 

And Trump seems to be responding accordingly.

The president put out a 12-page document after the committee’s first two hearings that repeated several claims about election fraud that were debunked during the hearings themselves.

He has posted multiple times on Truth Social, his fledgling social media network, to dismiss the committee as partisan and one-sided and complain that he is not able to present his own witnesses who subscribe to the idea that there was widespread fraud.

The former president last week chided House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) for pulling all Republicans off the panel when Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) rejected two of his picks. As a result, the only two GOP members are Reps. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) and Adam Kinzinger (R-Ill.), two fervent Trump critics.

And Trump on Friday unloaded on the committee at length, accusing the panel of “spinning a fake and phony narrative in a chilling attempt to weaponize the justice system against their political opponents” and attacking Cheney and Kinzinger individually.

“It’s obviously having an effect, because we’re hearing from him,” said Doug Heye, a former spokesperson for GOP lawmakers and the Republican National Committee. “But what that effect is ultimately going to be, it’s way too early to tell.”

Any criminal prosecution of Trump would face certain legal hurdles in proving Trump’s intent and overcoming the wide protections granted to the executive office.

But other Republicans eyeing the 2024 nomination would have no such trouble using the events of Jan. 6 to argue it’s time for the country to move on from Trump, and it could provide a boost for a struggling Biden White House.

Former Vice President Mike Pence has presented a conservative agenda at various events in early primary states while distancing himself from his former boss, specifically on the matter of Jan. 6.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) has polled well among Republicans, and even edged out Trump in a straw poll earlier this month at a Colorado conservative convention. 

Even Biden, who has seen his approval rating plummet to record lows in recent months, is shown to be competitive when pitted against Trump in a hypothetical rematch and has previously welcomed the opportunity to run against his predecessor again in 2024.

Nunberg, the former Trump campaign aide, said Trump’s connection to Jan. 6 is not fatal to his chances, but could prove problematic for both a primary campaign and a general election campaign.

Heye, meanwhile, said the Jan. 6 hearings, which will continue on Tuesday, could add to “the Trump exhaustion factor” among some Republican and independent voters.

“You’ve got a lot of Republicans who are sort of angling to make moves depending on what Trump does, but it’s not clear yet if because of [the hearings] or any other reason that anybody would be willing to take him on directly,” Heye said.

Source: TEST FEED1

Alaska most patriotic state in the country, study says

Alaska was ranked as the most patriotic state in the country in a new report from Wallet Hub published Monday.  

Patriotism is a difficult concept to quantify, so the personal finance website compared each state across 13 indicators of patriotism including veterans per capita, average number of military enlistees, Peace Corp members per capita and percentage of adult residents who voted in the 2020 presidential election.  

All 13 indicators fell into one of two categories, military engagement, and civic engagement, according to the Wallet Hub.  

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Every city received a grade for every indicator based on a 100-point scale, with 100 being the highest score. Each city’s weighted average across all metrics was then used to calculate each state’s overall score, which study crafters then used to compile their ranking. 

So, each state could have a top score for an individual category but come in low on the list of most patriotic states. For example, New Jersey ranked number 1 for the most adults to vote during the 2020 presidential election but came in at 38 for most overall patriotic state.  

On average, “Blue” states, or those that tend to vote in support of the Democratic party, were more patriotic than “red” states, according to the report.  

Here are the top 10 most patriotic states in the nation according to the report: 

1. Alaska 

2. Montana 

3. Virginia 

4. North Dakota 

5. Oregon 

6. Maryland 

7. Hawaii 

8. Vermont  

9. New Hampshire 

10. Iowa  

And here are the 10 least patriotic states:  

1. Arkansas 

2. New York 

3. Rhode Island 

4. Florida 

5. Massachusetts 

6. Connecticut 

7. Indiana 

8. Alabama 

9. Pennsylvania 

10. Louisiana

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Trump's pressure on state GOP to take center stage

Former President Trump’s role in pushing state officials across the country to bypass election requirements and aid him in claiming victory will take center state Tuesday for the fourth hearing from the House Committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol. 

“We’ll be taking a close look at how the president and his allies came up with these schemes to pressure Republican-controlled legislatures and other state officials to reverse the certification of  his electoral loss,” a select committee aide told reporters Monday.

“We’ll demonstrate that President Trump and his allies drove the pressure campaign based on lies. These lies led to threats that put state and local officials and their families at risk. These lies perpetuated the public’s belief that the election was stolen, tainted by widespread fraud, and these lies also contributed to the violence on Jan. 6.”

Appearing before the committee Tuesday will be Brad Raffensperger, the Georgia Secretary of State Trump called just days before the Jan. 6 certification of votes asking him to “find 11,870 votes” – just enough to make him the victor of the state. 

His deputy, Gabe Sterling, and former Georgia election worker Wandrea “Shaye” Moss, will also testify. 

But Trump’s efforts weren’t just limited to Georgia.

Arizona House Speaker Rusty Bowers (R) will also speak to multiple efforts to pressure him to take action to unwind the election, an effort that included a call from Trump and his attorney Rudy Giuliani.

Central to Tuesday’s hearing are Trump’s efforts to pressure election officials, a plot that also included a plan to craft false election certificates in key states Trump lost claiming that he won. 

In an effort to capitalize on its baseless claims of voter fraud, the campaign hoped that Vice President Mike Pence would seat the rogue electors from seven battleground states — a suggestion that was laid out for the campaign in a memo from attorney John Eastman. 

It was also forwarded by many others in Trump’s orbit. Text messages to Trump chief of staff Mark Meadows show former Energy Secretary Rick Perry, Donald Trump Jr. and Rep. Andy Biggs (R-Ariz.) encouraging the pursuit of the idea.

“Have a team on it,” Meadows responded to one of the messages.

The committee in January sent subpoenas to 14 people who helped coordinate the so called “alternate electors” plan. The people included state GOP officials and activists from Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, New Mexico, Nevada, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.

In February, the panel subpoenaed six others involved in the effort, including campaign officials and then-Pennsylvania gubernatorial candidate Doug Mastriano, who later won the GOP primary.

The group went as far as to send false election certificates to the National Archives claiming Trump had won.

The panel also sent a subpoena to Giuliani to uncover work he did to “convince state legislators to overturn the election.”

Trump’s campaign spent the months of November and December 2020 working its way through different state contacts.

Trump called canvassers in Michigan and even invited some of the state’s Republican state lawmakers to the White House for a meeting. Trump and Giuliani would go on to call Bowers and attempt to get in touch with Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey (R). The men make similar efforts in Pennsylvania.

Like in prior hearings, the committee will rely heavily on testimony from Republicans, in this case focusing on how those like Bowers were made deeply uncomfortable by Trump’s requests.

“We will highlight some of the heroes of the story – many of them Republican officials – but public servants who didn’t give into the pressure campaign, who remained true to their oaths to their duties as public servants. They prioritized their duty to uphold the law and the constitution over the pressure campaign, over loyalty to any party or any individual,” the aide said.

Trump’s fake elector scheme is already being investigated by the Justice Department, which launched the probe after state officials and lawmakers raised concerns over criminal wrongdoing.  

It’s also the subject of an investigation by prosecutors in Georgia.

Georgia will be a special focus of Tuesday’s hearing, as will the threats to election workers. 

Moss’s testimony will touch on both, after the election worker was name checked by Trump and falsely accused of counting fake ballots and double counting ballots for President Biden. The accusation resulted in death threats for the Georgia election worker, who later sued conservative cable news channel One America News for defamation.

“What you’ll take away is that President Trump was warned that his actions, including repeating these false claims, risked inciting violence, and he did it anyway,” the aide said.

“You’ll hear ultimately how this threat is not over. Threats to election workers and continuing efforts to undermine our country’s faith in democratic institutions are real, they’re a danger to our democracy and lies about the 2020 election and lies about insecure elections are ongoing.”

Source: TEST FEED1