For climate Progressives, Biden s $2.25 trillion isn t enough
Leslie Kaufman and Brian Eckhouse, Bloomberg
April 1, 2021
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President Joe Biden delivers a speech on infrastructure spending at Carpenters Pittsburgh Training Center, Wednesday, March 31, 2021, in Pittsburgh.Evan Vucci/AP
(Bloomberg) As a candidate, Joe Biden garnered nearly unanimous support from environmentalists, progressives, and clean energy advocates for his promise to reconfigure the U.S. economy for the fight against climate change.
But as president, his $2.25 trillion jobs-and-infrastructure blueprint released Wednesday and meant to fulfill much of that campaign pledge received a much less harmonious welcome.
“Today I find myself caught between two truths,” said Varshini Prakash, executive director of the youth climate activist group the Sunrise Movement. “This infrastructure plan is a historic step forward that would not have been possible without us,” she said, referring t
Texas power firm Brazos Electric hit with $2.1 billion bill after freeze, files for bankruptcy
Jeremy Hill, Eduard Gismatullin and Rachel Morison, Bloomberg
March 1, 2021
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FILE - This Tuesday, Feb. 16, 2021, file photo shows power lines in Houston.David J. Phillip/Associated Press
The largest power generation and transmission cooperative in Texas filed for bankruptcy in the wake of power outages that caused an energy crisis during the winter freeze last month.
Brazos Electric Power Cooperative filed for Chapter 11 in the Texas after racking up an estimated $2.1 billion in charges over seven days of the freeze. Last year, it cost cooperative members $774 million for power for all of 2020.
J&J s COVID-19 vaccine could protect millions - if people take it
One-dose version s overall efficacy is below Pfizer, Moderna
Angelica LaVito and Riley Griffin, Bloomberg
March 1, 2021
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Johnson & Johnson’s Covid-19 vaccine could protect millions more Americans from contracting the coronavirus. The key will be assuring people that the single-shot vaccine is worth taking, as its overall efficacy appears lower than the two-dose ones already on the market in the U.S.
J&J’s shot, which U.S. regulators authorized Saturday, is more convenient than the vaccines cleared by the Food and Drug Administration last year. It requires one injection and can be stored for months in a refrigerator. State health officials and the Biden administration see it as a way to quickly host mass clinics as more transmissible virus variants continue to spread. Yet the ease of distributing the vaccine will need to be balanced with the risk of creating the perception that J&J’s sho
Israel gives half of population at least one COVID shot
Yaacov Benmeleh, Bloomberg
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Israel has now vaccinated half its population against Covid-19, another milestone on the way to subduing the pandemic.
More than 4.6 million people have gotten at least one dose of the vaccine from Pfizer Inc. and BioNTech SE, according to Health Ministry data released Friday. With nearly 8% of the country having recovered from the disease and likely developing some resistance to reinfection, that could bring Israel closer to herd immunity.
Vaccinating about 60% to 70% of the population should be enough to rein in infections, illness and death, estimates Raina MacIntyre, a professor of biosecurity at the University of New South Wales, based off the latest data from Israel.
Oil rally could extend into summer
Elizabeth Low and Alex Longley, Bloomberg
Feb. 24, 2021
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The effects of the winter storm in Texas may be seen on crude stockpiles when government data is released Wednesday.David Paul Morris / Bloomberg
Oil climbed again, with mixed news on global inventories offset by expectations of a prolonged market rally into the summer.
Futures in New York climbed as much as 1.4%, wiping out an earlier loss. The American Petroleum Institute reported crude inventories increased by 1.03 million barrels last week, though stockpiles at a key European storage hub are at their lowest level since September, according to Genscape. The structure of the futures curve continues to indicate tighter supply.