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Biden names John Kirby as NSC coordinator for strategic communications

President Biden on Friday named John Kirby as the new National Security Council Coordinator for Strategic Communications at the White House.

“John Kirby is uniquely qualified for this position, and I look forward to bringing his background, knowledge, and experience to the White House,” Biden wrote in a statement.

Kirby is currently the Assistant to the Secretary of Defense for Public Affairs, where he serves as the spokesman for the Pentagon.

“From his work as the Assistant Secretary and Spokesperson at the State Department to his work at the Pentagon, most recently as Assistant to the Secretary for Public Affairs and Press Secretary, John understands the complexities of U.S. foreign and defense policy, and he will ably represent the Administration on important national security issues,” said Biden of Kirby.

Kirby will “coordinate interagency efforts” for communications in his new position and will serve as a senior communications point person for the Biden administration.

The role of Coordinator for Strategic Communications reports to the National Security Advisor at the NSC.

National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan added to Biden’s statement: “I am proud to welcome John to the team. I’m excited to see him get to work on behalf of the president and the entire national security enterprise.”

Kirby served as Assistant Secretary for the Bureau of Public Affairs and as spokesperson for the State Department before his current position at the Pentagon.

“I am incredibly honored to be given this opportunity to continue serving my country and this Administration,” said Kirby of the new role. “I am very grateful to President Biden for his confidence in me and to Secretary Austin for his tremendous support and leadership these last 18 months.”

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Biden administration to appeal court's ruling on roll back of Title 42

The Biden administration will appeal a ruling by a federal judge that temporarily stopped the roll back of Title 42, according to a statement from the White House released Friday.

“The Administration disagrees with the court’s ruling, and the Department of Justice has announced that it will appeal this decision,” White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said, according to the statement.

The statement from Jean-Pierre came hours after U.S. District Court Judge Robert Summerhays stopped the administration from ending Title 42, a Trump-era border management policy that allows migrants to be expelled quickly from the border under pandemic conditions.

The Louisiana judge granted a preliminary injunction to a group of Republican state attorneys general who opposed the rollback.

Summerhays argued that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) bypassed a process that allows for input from the public on the decision to rescind Title 42.

Summerhays continued that the plaintiffs demonstrated harm that would result from the rollback, adding, “despite the impact of the order on the states, they were not able to protect their interest by participating in the notice-and-comment process.”

In the White House statement, Jean-Pierre argued that the authority to determine public health policy should reside with the CDC.

“The authority to set public health policy nationally should rest with the Centers for Disease Control, not with a single district court. However, in compliance with the court’s injunction, the Biden Administration will continue to enforce the CDC’s 2020 Title 42 public health authority pending the appeal.”

She added that “this means that migrants who attempt to enter the United States unlawfully will be subject to expulsion under Title 42, as well as immigration consequences such as removal under Title 8.”

The Friday ruling from Summerhays came just days before the rollback was set to take place on May 23. The Biden administration announced that it would rescind Title 42 in early April, a decision that drew criticism from both sides of the aisle.

At the time, moderate Democrats including Sens. Joe Manchin (W.Va.) and Kyrsten Sinema (Ariz.) opposed the decision. Manchin called it “frightening.”

Immigration restrictionists panned the rescission as taking away a final defense against “mass migration.”

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UN ambassador: Global food shortages have reached level 10

U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield said Friday that global food shortages due to the Russia-Ukraine conflict have reached the highest level of alarm.

“I can tell you on a scale of one to 10, I’m probably at the 10 level of alarm, because this crisis has exacerbated what is already a serious food insecurity issue,” Thomas-Greenfield said in an interview with the BBC.

Consumer food prices in the U.S. alone made the largest 12-month increase since 1981 in April, when they slid up by 9.4%.

Thomas-Greenfield said that food insecurity was a serious issue before Russia invaded Ukraine in February, but since the conflict the global crisis has severely worsened.

“Russia’s aggression in Ukraine, its blockade of the ports, blocking Ukrainian wheat from getting to the market has exacerbated this situation and made it even more dire and the impact is being felt across the world,” she said.

The ambassador discussed ways to aid food insecurity around the world, saying that “first and foremost, we have to keep the pressure on the Russians to end this unconscionable war against the Ukrainian people and allow Ukraine to go back to a situation where they are contributing to the food market around the world.”

“We encourage countries not to put export restrictions on food coming from their countries,” Thomas-Greenfield added. “The U.S. just gave $44 million to Ukraine, a large portion of that going toward humanitarian assistance.”

However, Thomas-Greenfield emphasized that the ball is in Russia’s court when it comes to ending the hunger crisis.

“The facts are that they are blocking food,” she said of Russia. “There are no sanctions on their agricultural products. They are attacking Ukrainian silos and keeping farmers from planting. So the action is in Russia’s hands to stop this food blockade, to also start to export their own food that they have put restrictions on.”

Thomas-Greenfield added: “But in the meantime, as we keep the pressure on Russia, we will increase our humanitarian funding, our in-kind funding of food, and we’re encouraging others to do the same to keep the food and agricultural markets open.”

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On The Money — Prices remain high while stocks sink

Food prices could increase even more amid international export bans. We’ll also look at this week’s stock market carnage, IRS changes and the continued push for action on student loans.  

But first, learn more about how Europe and Russia are escalating their energy showdown amid soaring oil prices. 

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. Subscribe here.

Export bans threaten to push food prices higher

Soaring food prices both in the U.S. and abroad have prompted countries to ban exports of core agricultural commodities, pushing up domestic food prices and leading agronomists to wonder what additional crops could face supply constraints on their way to grocery stores. 

India’s partial ban on wheat exports announced last weekend increased the winter wheat crop prices by more than 8 percent before leveling off slightly on Wednesday. The decision compounded a crunch on the commodity set off by the war in Ukraine, often referred to as the breadbasket of Europe.  

“There was some general thinking that India was going to be able to fill a lot of that supply gap that Ukraine historically filled, but it’s less likely to fill it this year,” Mark Jekanowski, a research economist with the Agriculture Department and chairman of its World Agricultural Outlook Board, said in an interview.

• Food inflation in the U.S. is already at a 40-year high, with the annual index for consumer food prices up 9.4 percent in April — the largest 12-month increase since 1981 — according to the Department of Labor.   
• Meat, poultry, fish and egg prices increased by more than 14 percent over the last year, the biggest jump since 1979.  
• According to a list compiled by the International Food Policy Research Institute, a Washington-based nonprofit, 20 countries now maintain export bans on various foodstuffs, contributing to a 30 percent rise in global food prices.  

The Hill’s Tobias Burns has more here.

BEAR HUNTING

Stocks continue to fall, briefly enter bear market 

The S&P 500 index of major U.S. stocks continued a seven-week decline on Friday, briefly meeting the definition of a bear market.

The S&P closed almost even with its opening level Friday after falling to as low as 3,837 in the afternoon, down from a January high of around 4,800 points.

The index was briefly down 20 percent from its most recent record high, the formal definition of a bear market. 

The Dow Jones Industrial Average also ended the day flat, while the Nasdaq closed with a loss of 0.3 percent. 

• The stock drops have followed a recent interest rate hike by the Federal Reserve of 50 basis points as the U.S. central bank seeks to curb inflation, which is at a 40-year high. 
• The core driver of inflation has been supply chain disruptions and demand hikes following private sector shutdowns during the coronavirus pandemic. Republicans have also pointed to the Biden administration’s fiscal stimulus packages as well as negligence on the part of the Federal Reserve. 

PLUS INTEREST

IRS to pay 5 percent interest to individuals with delayed tax refunds 

The IRS will start paying 5 percent in guaranteed interest to individuals with delayed tax returns beginning in July, up a percentage point from the last interest rate hike that took effect in April. 

The agency will also pay 4 percent interest on delayed corporate tax returns,
5 percent on underpayments on tax returns and 7 percent for “large corporate underpayments,” the IRS said Friday. 

• The federal government regularly spends billions of dollars in interest on delayed returns. The IRS has paid out almost $14 billion in refund interest in the last seven fiscal years, according to a Government Accountability Office (GAO) report published in April. The GAO estimated such payments totaled $3.3 billion in fiscal 2021 alone. 
• The number of delayed returns still numbers in the tens of millions, having skyrocketed during the pandemic as the IRS shut facilities and diverted resources to administer benefits like the child tax credit. By law, the agency has 45 days to process a tax refund. The agency says it gets 90 percent of refunds issued within 3 weeks. 

Check out more here from Tobias.

STUDENT LOANS

Black Caucus leaders want Biden meeting on student debt 

The Congressional Black Caucus is seeking a meeting with President Biden to discuss student loan debt, calling on the White House to approve broad-based cancellation of federal debt through executive action. 

“The $1.7 trillion student loan debt crisis is a racial and economic justice issue disproportionately impacting Black communities across the nation,” Rep. Joyce Beatty (D-Ohio), chair of the Black Caucus, said in a written statement on Friday. 

• The call comes after Senate Democrats met with Biden earlier this week to push for significant action on student loans. Sen. Raphael Warnock (D-Ga.), who attended the Wednesday meeting along with Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) and Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), said he met with Biden to “stress the urgency” of the issue and “how important it is to Georgians.” 
• Biden supported canceling at least $10,000 in federal student loan debt per borrower during his 2020 presidential campaign, though many in his party want him to go as high as canceling $50,000 or wiping out the debt entirely. 

Aris has more here. 

Good to Know

The U.S. military is working to figure out whether the first deliveries of infant formula from Europe to the United States will be contract flights arranged by the Defense Department or military aircraft, the Pentagon’s top spokesperson said Friday.   

Operation Fly Formula — a new government initiative to address the domestic formula shortage — will likely fly badly needed baby formula from Switzerland to the U.S. using chartered commercial flights arranged by U.S. Transportation Command, press secretary John Kirby told reporters.  

Here’s what else have our eye on: 

• Russia is cutting off its supply of natural gas to Finland as of Saturday as Helsinki moves forward with its effort to join NATO in response to Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine. 
• Twenty-two congressional Democrats on Thursday urged caution over the European Union’s plan to replace fossil fuel imports from Russia with liquefied natural gas (LNG) infrastructure. 

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 next week. 

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Providers of single-family rental homes are an important part of America’s housing ecosystem

President Biden’s release this week of a “Housing Supply Action Plan” represents a commendable effort to bring much needed quality, affordably-priced housing to communities throughout the country. In taking steps to “ease the burden of housing costs over time” the administration has presented a legitimate framework to address the supply constraints that have been at the forefront of the U.S. housing market for so long. Importantly, the administration’s plan recognizes the need for a multi-faceted approach that engages a variety of relevant stakeholders and housing providers, with the ultimate aim of ensuring all Americans have ready access to a suitable range of housing opportunities, both in the owner-occupied and rental housing markets, to include the market for single-family rental homes. 

Though the business of renting single-family homes has existed for as long as anyone can remember, the single-family rental home industry as we know it today — comprised of companies large and small, owners and builders, operators and vendors — has brought structure and organization to the housing market’s large but decentralized middle ground between homeownership and rentership. Contrary to alarmist claims of “large institutions” buying homes with abandon, individuals and small, local businesses own more than 90% of the nation’s single-family rental homes. Large companies, on the other hand, account for just a small share of the market. Member companies of the National Rental Home Council, which include the nation’s leading providers of single-family rental homes, collectively own about 300,000 properties. This represents just 0.2% of the more than 140 million residential housing units in the US and less than 1.5% of the country’s inventory of 23 million single-family rental homes.  

Even in markets where NRHC large member companies have higher concentrations of properties, they still account for a small share of homes. In 23 states, NRHC member companies don’t own a single property and in no state do companies own more than 1% of the residential real estate or 5% of the number of single-family rental homes. In fact, providers of single-family rental homes are more likely to invest in markets characterized by strong underlying population and employment growth, factors that tend to be highly correlated to the demand for rental housing. 

Regarding the notion that providers of single-family rental homes impact local rates of homeownership, again the data is less than conclusive. In many markets where NRHC member companies have higher concentrations of properties, rates of individual homeownership have been on the rise in recent years. According to US Census Bureau data, Charlotte, NC has seen the rate of homeownership across the metro area increase from 65% to 75.5% between the first quarters of 2017 and 2022; the rate in Atlanta during that period has increased from 64.4% to 67.6%; Nashville from 71.1% to 75.2%; and Phoenix from 62.7% to 67.2%. Nationally, the share of owner-occupied housing has increased more than 10% during that five-year timeframe while the share accounted for by rental housing has grown just 2%. Further, in terms of home prices, in seven of the ten states with the highest rates of home price appreciation in 2021, NRHC member companies don’t own one property. Yes, these are only select markets, however, the data from these examples show rates of homeownership and home price appreciation are clearly influenced by factors beyond whether single-family rental home providers have a presence in those markets. 

Finally, and most importantly, providers of single-family rental homes are committing significant resources to local markets for one reason: demand. According to Harvard’s Joint Center for Housing Studies, the number of renter households in the US increased by 870,000 during the COVID pandemic. To meet this demand, providers of single-family rental homes are investing in local staff, hiring local contractors and business partners, and bringing property management expertise to local markets all to ensure a positive experience for residents and families who choose a single-family rental home lifestyle. As evidence, NRHC member companies invested nearly $2 billion in home renovations, upgrades, and other property-level operations in 2021, and each of NRHC’s five largest member companies maintain an A+ rating from the Better Business Bureau. 

The continuing development and maturation of the industry is about one thing – providing a viable source of stabilized long-term single-family rental housing responsive to the needs and lifestyle preferences of today’s housing consumer. To get there, the industry is becoming more accessible, more transparent, more consistent, and more relevant. This is a positive for those who have decided renting a single-family home is in their best interest. Local housing markets should reflect the diversity of needs and circumstances of all Americans, both homeowners and renters. As testament to the role of single-family rental homes in neighborhoods and communities, a report by AARP in 2021 found, “the most livable neighborhoods offer the most diverse set of housing options, including multifamily and rental opportunities as well as single-family and owner-occupied homes.” 

Recent attention on the role of single-family rental home companies has served to provide legitimate inquiry into the changing dynamics of today’s housing market. However,  

coverage of the industry that portrays single-family rental home providers as nothing more than buyers and sellers of single-family properties misses the real story: America’s housing market is evolving in significant ways, and the emergence of single-family rental home companies is a response to that evolution. 

David Howard, Executive Director, National Rental Home Council 

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Health Care — Democrats ramp up pressure over COVID impasse

Harry Styles just dropped his third solo album, and you can listen to the entire thing here. 

Today in health care, Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) is facing growing pressure to bring COVID relief funds up for a vote.  

And tonight, a judge blocked the lifting of border restrictions that have been caught up in the COVID funding debate, but it is unclear if that will help shake loose the funds.  

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. Someone forward you this newsletter? Subscribe here.

Dems push Schumer for COVID relief 

A growing number of Senate Democrats say they’re ready to take a tough vote on an amendment to keep the Title 42 health order in place at the U.S.-Mexico border if that’s what’s needed to move a stalled COVID-19 relief package. 

Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) has held the bill from the floor because Republicans are insisting on voting on a bipartisan amendment to overrule the Biden administration’s decision to lift Title 42, a pandemic order that has stopped thousands of immigrants from entering the country on asylum claims.   

But a growing number of senior Democrats say they’re prepared to vote on the amendment in order to break the logjam on new money for therapeutics, vaccines and testing at a time when new coronavirus variants are causing a rise in infections and deaths around the country.   

Without giving in to the Republicans’ demand for a vote on the hot-button issue of securing the border, COVID-19 relief could be stalled until after the November midterm elections.   

The amendment is expected to fail, but it’s a tough vote for vulnerable Senate Democrats. 

Sen. Raphael Warnock (D-Ga.), whose seat is a top Republican target, says that Congress needs to do more on COVID-19 relief and he’s not afraid of taking a tough vote, though he won’t yet say how he would vote on the Title 42 amendment.   

“I’m concerned about future variants and how bad this could get, and I do think we need to do more to make sure we’re prepared,” he said.  

Read more here. 

BREAKING TONIGHT: JUDGE BLOCKS BIDEN FROM ROLLING BACK TITLE 42

A federal judge in Louisiana on Friday temporarily stoppedthe Biden administration from ending Title 42, the Trump-era border management policy that allowed officials to quickly expel foreign nationals at the border under pandemic conditions.

The policy was due to end Monday as part of the Biden administration’s efforts to restructure border and immigration policy after the Trump administration’s overhaul of the system.

U.S. District Court Robert Summerhays granted a nationwide preliminary injunction to a group of GOP state attorneys general challenging the policy change. Summerhays, who was appointed by former President Trump, ruled that the Biden administration cannot roll back the policy while the broader legal challenge plays out in court.

Summerhays ruled the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) improperly circumvented a process to allow for public input before issuing an order to terminate the program.

The White House and CDC did not immediately respond when asked for comment.

Read more here.

Pelosi barred from communion over abortion rights 

The Archbishop of San Francisco barred Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) from receiving communion over her support for abortion rights and access. 

Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone said in a letter to Pelosi on Thursday that he had requested to speak to her after she vowed to codify Roe v. Wade, the landmark abortion rights case, in the wake of Texas banning abortions after six weeks last September. 

He had warned Pelosi in an April 7 letter, he said, to either repudiate advocacy for abortion rights or to refrain from referring to her Catholic faith in public or else he would have no choice but to bar her from being admitted communion. 

“As you have not publically repudiated your position on abortion, and continue to refer to your Catholic faith in justifying your position and to receive Holy Communion, that time has now come,” Cordileone said in the Thursday letter. 

“Therefore, in light of my responsibility as the Archbishop of San Francisco to be ‘concerned for all the Christian faithful entrusted to [my] care’ (Code of Canon Law, can. 383, §1), by means of this communication I am hereby notifying you that you are not to present yourself for Holy Communion and, should you do so, you are not to be admitted to Holy Communion, until such time as you publically repudiate your advocacy for the legitimacy of abortion and confess and receive absolution of this grave sin in the sacrament of Penance.” 

Pelosi, who describes herself as a devout Catholic, has defended her support for abortion rights despite the Catholic Church’s stance against abortion. 

“I believe that God has given us a free will to honor our responsibilities,” Pelosi said in a press conference last September, noting that she is the mother of five children. 

Read more here.  

GOP RESOLUTION DEFINES ‘WOMAN’ ON BASIS OF BIOLOGICAL SEX  

A resolution introduced by Republicans in both chambers of Congress on Thursday would define words like “woman,” “man,” “mother” and “father” on the basis of biological sex, a rebuke to transgender and inclusivity measures. 

Republicans call the measure a “Women’s Bill of Rights,” arguing that defining women on the basis of biological sex is necessary to protect women’s rights in spaces like domestic violence centers, sports, locker rooms and bathrooms. 

“The Democrats are erasing women and the spaces that are uniquely ours,” Rep. Debbie Lesko (R-Ariz.), who is leading the House version of the bill, said at a press conference announcing the bill on Thursday with the Republican Study Committee, the largest conservative caucus in the House. 

The resolution, which would not have the force of law, states that the House believes that for the purposes of federal law, “sex” refers to biological sex; terms like “mother” and “father” refer to individuals of the female and male sex, respectively; and that agencies are required to base reported data on the biological sex of individuals at birth. 

The House version of the resolution has 11 co-sponsors, and was promoted by the Republican Study Committee. The Senate version was introduced by GOP Sens. Cindy Hyde-Smith (Mo.), Cynthia Lummis (Wyo.) and Ted Cruz (Texas). 

Read more here. 

PHILADELPHIA SCHOOL DISTRICT REINSTATES MASK MANDATE 

The School District of Philadelphia announced Friday that it is reimplementing a universal mask mandate beginning Monday, May 23, at the recommendation of the Philadelphia Department of Health, due to the current escalation in COVID-19 cases in the city. 

“Until further notice, all School District students and staff will be required to wear their masks during the school and work day and while riding on school buses and vans,” the school district’s superintendent, William Hite, wrote in the announcement. 

Philadelphia County has seen a 58 percent increase in average daily cases in the past two weeks, and hospitalizations in the city are up 29 percent over the same period, according to data from The New York Times. 

Over 77 percent of adults in Philadelphia are fully vaccinated, with more than 34 percent having received a booster dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, and 94 percent of all residents aged 12 and older have received at least one dose, according to city data. 

For children ages 5-11 in Philadelphia, about 36 percent have received at least one COVID-19 vaccine dose. 

Read more here. 

CDC: 1 new death from unexplained pediatric hepatitis

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on Friday confirmed one possible new death from the unexplained cases of pediatric hepatitis that have been detected throughout the U.S. and Europe. 

The latest death, reported on Thursday, brings the potential death toll in the U.S. up to six from the five that were reported by the CDC earlier this month. 

During a press briefing, a CDC official said seven percent of the 180 cases that have been reported so far occurred within the past two weeks. The majority of the cases have been detected retrospectively and most of the children who were found to have hepatitis have since recovered. 

A common link that could tie all these cases together has not been found so far, according to the agency. 

According to the officials, they have still not been able to ascertain whether the cases they have detected over the past seven months represent a pre-existing trend that is just now being noticed, or if they represent a spike in pediatric hepatitis. 

During the briefing, officials reiterated that a possible link to adenovirus remains the “leading hypothesis” behind the potential cause of these hepatitis cases. 

Read more here. 

WHAT WE’RE READING

• Vague ‘medical emergency’ exceptions in abortion laws leave pregnant people in danger, doctors say (Stat) 
• African scientists baffled by monkeypox cases in Europe, US (AP) 
• Abbott completes India recall of baby formula products imported from U.S. (Reuters) 

STATE BY STATE

• Former GA insurance commissioner John Oxendine indicted for conspiracy to commit health care fraud (WSB-TV) 
• Less deadly than delta? In some states, omicron caused more deaths (NBC News) 
• Possible monkeypox case reported in New York City, health department says (WPIX) 

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

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Equilibrium/Sustainability — Farmer blames auto giant for bad crops

A farmer in Germany is blaming Volkswagen for the damage global warming is inflicting upon his crops, arguing the auto giant is at least partly responsible.

The farmer claims drier soil and heavier rainfall — which he attributes to climate change — are harming his fields, animals and commercial forests, The Associated Press reports. He alleges VW, the world’s second-biggest carmaker, is contributing to the damage.

“Farmers are already being hit harder and faster by climate change than expected,” the farmer, Ulf Allhoff-Cramer, told reporters. He is calling for VW to end production of combustion engine vehicles by 2030 and his case is supported by Greenpeace.

However, a German judge on Friday cast doubt that the farmer’s claims were valid — asking the plaintiff and his lawyers to provide details as to whether he has already suffered climate-related damages or if he is simply expecting them, the AP reported.  

Volkswagen told the AP in a statement that it intends to decrease its emissions “as quickly as the business allows” but has set a 2050 deadline to achieve net-zero. The company called upon lawmakers to decide on climate change measures.  

“Disputes in civil courts through lawsuits against individual companies singled out for this purpose, on the other hand, are not the place or the means to do justice to this responsible task,” VW said, adding it plans to push for the lawsuit to be dismissed.

Welcome to Equilibrium, a newsletter that tracks the growing global battle over the future of sustainability. We’re Saul Elbein and Sharon Udasin. Send us tips and feedback. Subscribe here.

Today we’ll take a look at the strange weather ahead for parts of the U.S., then we’ll  travel across the Atlantic and dive into Russia’s move to cut off natural gas to Finland. Plus: New findings on how climate change may be impacting our sleep.

Weekend of weird weather ahead

A Saharan dust cloud is expected to reach the Gulf Coast this weekend — coloring skies in an orange haze with sandy desert particles. 

What’s a Saharan dust cloud? It’s “a huge plume” of dust that has made a 5,000-mile journey from Africa to Florida, as the Miami Herald describes it.  

That cloud stems from the “Saharan Air Layer,” which the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) defined as “a mass of very dry, dusty air that forms over the Sahara Desert during the late spring, summer and early fall.” 

The Atlantic is no stranger to these clouds. Saharan Air Layer activity usually ramps up in mid-June and peaks from late June to mid-August, generating new outbreaks every three to five days, according to Jason Dunion, a University of Miami hurricane researcher working with NOAA. 

During that peak period, Dunion said it is common for individual outbreaks to reach as far west as Florida, Central America or Texas.  

Saharan dust could help prevent hurricanes: Because the dust is extremely dry and contains about 50 percent less moisture than the typical tropical atmosphere, it can “weaken a tropical cyclone,” the Miami Herald reported, citing the National Hurricane Center. 

What about breathing? Those individuals with preexisting lung conditions should be the most vigilant, according to Panagis Galiatsatos, an assistant professor in the Division of Pulmonary & Critical Care Medicine at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine.   

The small particles carried in Saharan dust are “going to irritate the heck out of the lung” — and wreak even greater havoc on lungs that are already damaged, he told Equilibrium. 

“Those patients are going to have a lot of pulmonary symptoms moving forward,” said Galiatsatos, who also serves as a volunteer medical spokesperson for the American Lung Association.  

And those people without preexisting conditions? They could have some pulmonary symptoms as well, Galiatsatos warned.  

“If you go out and you breathe in some noxious stimuli like heavy pollutants, etc., your lungs are going to cough,” Galiatsatos added. “That should signal to you, whatever you’re breathing, get me away from it.” 

What can Gulf residents do? Galiatsatos recommends doing as much as possible to avoid the dust: If it becomes apparent that certain parts of the day are going to be worse, plan around that. He also suggests wearing an N95 or KN95 mask when possible exposure to the dust might occur.

Be prepared: For those individuals with preexisting lung conditions, he stressed the importance of talking to their doctors ahead of time, so they have “an action plan.”  

“This is a predictable storm coming to us,” Galiatsatos said. “Patients should act appropriately, in preparation for a potential exacerbation.” 

MEANWHILE, IN THE ROCKIES… 

After a stretch of days in which temperatures climbed to the upper 80s this week, residents of the Rocky Mountain region are bracing for a weekend winter storm.  

Snow in May? Yup. Colorodans are set to endure what a CNN meteorologist described as “weather whiplash.”  

Snowfall could accumulate to as much as 2-3 feet in the higher elevation regions, with up to 8 inches in Denver, CNN reported, citing the National Weather Service.  

The storm system is the result of a cold front that moved in and produced upslope winds, generating moisture, The Denver Post reported. Coinciding with this is a “roaring” jet stream that will enhance the storm, according to the newspaper. 

There’s precedent for such a storm: The Post noted the storm could produce enough snow to surpass the 3.9 inches the Front Range received in May 2019.  

“This is certainly going to be an impactful storm, even if there aren’t any records,” Zach Hiris, a National Weather Service meteorologist in Boulder, told CNN.  

Some snow was already falling Friday morning — in terrains higher than 7,000 feet, the Post reported.  

Rocky Mountain National Park is expected to see up to 30 inches of snow, while temperatures may fall into the 20s on Saturday and Sunday morning, causing a “region-wide deep freeze,” according to the Post.  

Treacherous travel conditions: With or without records, Hiris told CNN that “it’s going to be quite the change over the next 24 hours.”  

“So people traveling up into the higher elevations — especially Friday afternoon and evening — really need to be prepared for those changing conditions,” he said. 

See a map and the latest forecasts here, from Nexstar affiliate KDVR in Denver.

Russia halts gas to Finland 

Russia will be halting natural gas supplies to Finland on Saturday — part of an escalating energy fight between Russian and much of the European Union, our colleague Rachel Frazin reported for The Hill.  

Retaliatory measures: Moscow’s move comes as Helsinki proceeds with its efforts to join NATO in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. 

Finnish energy firm Gasum confirmed on Friday that it had been notified by Russia’s Gazprom that it would be turning off the tap the next day. 

White House behind Finland: President Biden has expressed his support for Finland and Sweden’s efforts to join NATO and met with the leaders of both countries on Thursday.   

Finding new solutions: Finnish Finance Minister Annika Saarikko announced on Friday that Finland had agreed with U.S.-based Excelerate Energy to a 10-year charter for a floating storage and regasification vessel, Reuters reported.  

“The LNG terminal will make it possible for us to break free from Russian gas,” Saarikko said in a statement. 

Saarikko expressed hopes that the vessel — which will likely be a shared venture with Estonia — will be operational in the fourth quarter of the year, according to Reuters.

A MOVE WITH PRECEDENT

Russia has already cut off gas to Poland and Bulgaria.  

The decision to halt Finland’s supplies occurred as Russian demanded that Finland pay for its gas in rubles, while Finland has refused to do so, Frazin reported.

Oil ban in question: Earlier this month, the EU proposed an oil ban on imports from Russia, our colleague Zack Budryk reported.  

But Hungary’s Prime Minister Viktor Orban is posing a big hurdle to such an embargo — which The Wall Street Journal described as the EU’s “biggest attempt so far to start the Kremlin’s war machine.”  

Mixed messages: While Hungary’s largest energy company, the partly-government-owned MOL, has been tacitly boosting efforts to import oil from other nations, Orban has been relaying mixed messages to other European leaders, the Journal reported.

In threats to veto a potential embargo, he has said that such a move would amount “to an atomic bomb dropped on the Hungarian economy,” newspaper noted.

You may be sleeping less thanks to climate change

Citizens of a warming world may be losing considerable amounts of sleep due to climate change — with the worst effects occurring in developing countries, a new study has found.

If temperatures continue to surge, every person could lose an average of 50-58 hours of sleep each year by the end of the century, according to the study, published on Friday in One Earth.

The impacts will not be equal: Residents from lower-income countries, as well as older adults and females, are poised to struggle the most, the authors determined. 

Anonymous sleep-tracking: To conduct their study, the researchers said they used anonymized global sleep data collected from sleep-tracking wristbands.  

The data included 7 million nightly sleep records from more than 47,000 adults across 68 countries on all continents except Antarctica, according to the study.  

Hot nights, poor sleep

• On very warm nights — those with temperatures above 30 degrees Celsius, or 86 degrees Fahrenheit — the amount of sleep dropped an average of more than 14 minutes, the researchers observed.  
• They also found that the likelihood of getting less than seven hours of sleep also rises alongside temperature increases.  

Heat regulation disturbed: “Our bodies are highly adapted to maintain a stable core body temperature, something that our lives depend on,” lead author Kelton Minor, of the University of Copenhagen, said in a statement. 

• Human bodies shed heat into the environment by dilating blood vessels and increasing blood flow to the hands and feet
• But that heat transfer can’t occur as efficiently if the surrounding environment isn’t cooler than the bodies are

Developing countries hit hardest: While a lack of sufficient air conditioning may play a role, the researchers said they could not formulate a definitive conclusion on this factor, as they did not have access to relevant data on air conditioning. 

Future research on the impact of rising temperatures on sleep, they noted, should focus on how sleep loss is unequal globally — with a particular look at the world’s most vulnerable populations who reside in the hottest environments. 

To read the full story, please click here. 

Follow-up Friday

National funds for regional carbon capture  

• Boulder County, Colo., and Flagstaff, Ariz., are partnering on regional carbon removal technology, and on Thursday, the Biden administration announced that it would be investing $3.5 billion toward its own Regional Direct Air Capture Hubs program, Zack Budryk reported for The Hill.  

Connecticut to require teaching climate change  

• The World Meteorological Organization declared this week that four key climate change indicators broke records last year, and now Connecticut schools will soon be required to teach climate change as a part of their science curriculum, The Connecticut Mirror reported.  

A right to clean air 

• In the U.K., a new bill has been introduced in parliament — named “Ella’s law,” after a child who died from asthma induced by air pollution — that would establish a right to clean air, The Guardian reported.    

Please visit The Hill’s Sustainability section online for the web version of this newsletter and more stories. We’ll see you next week.

VIEW THE FULL EDITION HERE

Source: TEST FEED1

CDC warns doctors to watch for monkeypox

Federal health officials on Friday advised clinicians to watch out for a telltale rash that could be a symptom of monkeypox, a rare viral infection found in the U.S. earlier this week.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued an advisory Friday, saying it is working with the Massachusetts Department of Public Health to investigate a confirmed case of monkeypox in the state.

Senior health officials told reporters the case “is highly unusual” because it doesn’t appear to have any direct link to any of the countries in Western Central Africa where monkeypox is commonly found. 

Officials, speaking anonymously, said the Massachusetts case bears similarities to some of the other monkeypox cases being reported across the globe right now, which also lack evidence of travel.

“This is the only confirmed case being recorded in the United States to date, but it is likely that there could be some additional cases detected in the coming days as surveillance and testing began to work more actively to look for cases,” a senior administration health official said. 

New York City health officials are also investigating a possible case of monkeypox.

Last year, the United States had two cases of monkeypox imported by travelers who had recently visited Nigeria. What’s different about this week’s case and the clusters being recorded in Canada, Europe and elsewhere is that they don’t have any links to travel.

“This is the first time we’ve seen that phenomenon on such a wide scale, and that’s why we have some scientific concern about it,” the official said.

Still, the official emphasized, “there appears to be a low risk to the general public at this time.” 

The official said it is suspected the virus is being spread person-to-person by “close, intimate skin on skin contact with somebody who has had an active rash.”

Unlike COVID-19, which is airborne, monkeypox is “not something you can get passing somebody on the street,” the official said. Respiratory droplets generally cannot travel more than a few feet, so prolonged face-to-face contact is required.

But it can be spread through shared items like bedding, clothing and toothbrushes. 

Most of the cases detected so far are among men who have sex with men, health officials said, but not all have been.

“What we’re seeing here is not so much a disease that’s related to sex, as a community of men who have — may have been having a lot of close contact,” another official said. 

“It’s important to think of it that way because we have examples in the past where we’ve seen diseases that first appeared among [men who have sex with men], but were spreading in the general community, and we want to remain vigilant for the fact that there could well be other communities affected by this,” the official said.

Officials said the U.S. has plenty of doses of the antiviral medication Tpoxx, which treats the disease, in the strategic national stockpile. 

The World Health Organization said Friday there are approximately 130 confirmed or suspected monkeypox cases in nations where the disease is not endemic.

Source: TEST FEED1