Preview Newsletter
ACC PM 13/11/18
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(ACC Blog) At Greenbuild 2018, Chemistry Helps Build Sustainability
Nov 13, 2018 | American Chemistry Matters
This week in Chicago, architects, designers, builders and product manufacturers are gathering at Greenbuild 2018, to learn about, discuss and be inspired by the latest trends in high-performance, sustainable, resilient buildings designed and constructed with the goal of helping to enhance our health and well-being. -
(ACC Mentioned) Combative Press Tactics Mirror Trump's
Nov 13, 2018 | E&E Greenwire
By Maxine Joselow
EPA's press shop is taking a page from President Trump's playbook. -
(ACC Mentioned) Global Nylon Resins Market 2018: Attractive CAGR Valuations , Potential Growth with Long-Term Investment 2023
Nov 13, 2018 | TokensJournal
Nylon Resins Market Report gives big time operator, sponsors and senior organization with the fundamental information they need to assess the Global Nylon Resins Market. Nearby intentionally separating the key little scale Market, the report in like manner revolves around industry-specific drivers, limitations, openings and troubles in the Nylon Resins Market. -
(ACC Mentioned) AmSty and Agilyx Announce Joint Venture for Polystyrene Recycling
Nov 13, 2018 | Waste360
AmSty and Agilyx have signed a letter of intent to form a joint venture that will assume operations of Agilyx’s first-in-kind polystyrene recycling facility in Tigard, Ore. -
Banks Mandated for U.S. Listing of German Chemicals Group Atotech-Sources
Nov 13, 2018 | Reuters (In The New York Times)
Buyout group Carlyle has picked four banks to lead the U.S. stock market listing of German speciality chemicals group Atotech, a former part of oil group Total, people close to the matter said. -
Trump EPA Official Indicted in Alabama
Nov 13, 2018 | The Hill - E2 Wire
By Timothy Cama
An Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) official in the Trump administration was indicted Tuesday on charges stemming from a previous job. -
No Accounting for These Tastes: Artificial Flavors a Mystery
Nov 13, 2018 | AP (In The New York Times, The Washington Post)
By Candice Choi
Six artificial flavors are being ordered out of the food supply in a dispute over their safety, but good luck to anyone who wants to know which cookies, candies or drinks they're in. -
What You Need to Know about California’s New Warning Regulations
Nov 13, 2018 | EHS Today
By Chris Waller
If you live in or visit California, you may have noticed that nearly every building has a sign that reads, “Warning: This area contains a chemical known to the State of California to cause cancer.” -
EWG’s Stress-Free Thanksgiving Menu
Nov 13, 2018 | Environmental Working Group
As we head into the holiday season, the marathon task of preparing a Thanksgiving dinner or even just one dish to contribute as a guest – may be stressful. -
EPA Moves Ahead on Methane Rule Rollback
Nov 13, 2018 | Houston Chronicle
By James Osborne
Oil and gas lobbyists clashed with environmentalists this week ahead of a hearing by the Environmental Protection Agency on its proposed rollback of limits on methane emissions from drilling sites. -
Despite Trump Warning, OPEC Makes Case for Oil Supply Cut
Nov 13, 2018 | The Hill - E2 Wire
By Tal Axelrod
The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) on Tuesday laid out an argument for cutting oil production to increase its price, directly contradicting a request from President Trump that it maintain current levels of supply. -
Unifying Issues for a Divided Congress? Try American Infrastructure and Energy
Nov 13, 2018 | The Hill - Opinion
By Mike Sommers and Sean McGarvey
In the wake of a bruising and contentious midterm season—and with control of Congress now split between the parties — Americans on both sides of the political divide are wondering whether Washington can find anything to agree on in the year ahead. -
Oil Majors Spending 'Sweet Spot' to Last to 2020: BlackRock
Nov 13, 2018 | Reuters (In The New York Times)
By Ron Bousso
Big Oil is today in a spending sweet spot as years of cost cuts and rising oil prices converge but investments will need to rise after 2020 to boost output, BlackRock, the world's largest asset manager, said on Tuesday. -
Ewire: Democrats Face Calls for More Aggressive Climate Oversight
Nov 13, 2018 | Inside EPA
House Democrats have not yet taken control of the lower chamber but already they are at odds with some environmentalists over how aggressively to address climate change, with some environmentalists calling for more aggressive action on the issue than what some on Capitol Hill had indicated. -
U.S. Top Court Rejects Trump Administration Bid to Halt Climate Trial
Nov 13, 2018 | Reuters (In The New York Times)
By Lawrence Hurley
The U.S. Supreme Court on Friday rejected for now a bid by the President Donald Trump's administration to block a trial in a lawsuit filed by young activists who have accused the U.S. government of ignoring the perils of climate change. -
New York City Seeks to Overturn Preemption Ruling in Climate Nuisance Suit
Nov 13, 2018 | Inside EPA
New York City has filed an opening brief in its bid to reverse a district court's dismissal earlier this year of its climate nuisance suit against major oil companies, arguing the district court erred in several significant ways, including its finding that the suit is preempted by the Clean Air Act.
Industry and Association News
LCSA News - There are no clips to report at this time.
Chemical Management News
Energy News
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Transportation and Infrastructure News - There are no clips to report at this time.
Environment News
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(ACC Blog) At Greenbuild 2018, Chemistry Helps Build Sustainability
Nov 13, 2018 | American Chemistry Matters
This week in Chicago, architects, designers, builders and product manufacturers are gathering at Greenbuild 2018, to learn about, discuss and be inspired by the latest trends in high-performance, sustainable, resilient buildings designed and constructed with the goal of helping to enhance our health and well-being.
“Human By Nature,” the Greenbuild 2018 theme, reflects this connection, to highlight how building for sustainability can benefit building occupants, our communities and the natural environment all around us.
The benefits of “building green” are numerous – resilient buildings can better withstand impacts from extreme weather like hail and winds; energy-efficiency improvements help buildings save energy and reduce reliance on natural resources; well insulated homes are less likely to lose warm or cool air, which can result in lower utility bills, reduced greenhouse gas emissions and improved indoor air quality. In addition, the products of chemistry can play a critical role in making these benefits, and others, possible.
Today, the chemical industry’s brightest scientists, engineers and researchers are transforming molecules to create a wide array of materials and products that contribute to sustainable, resilient buildings. For example:“Greener,” bio-based carpet. DuPont developed a bio-based co-polymer through a fermenting process, using plant-based resources, similar to the process for making beer and wine. DuPont uses this Sonora co-polymer to create soft, stain-resistant carpets made from renewable resources.Sustainable mattresses and furniture. Scientists at Covestro have developed a breakthrough technology – a catalyst that makes it possible to harness carbon dioxide molecules and convert them into a precursor for flexible polyurethane foam found in products like upholstered furniture, bedding and more.Engineered wood from a circular economy. Hexion’s EcoBindTM resin technology helps manufacturers recover more usable wood from trees, resulting in a variety of engineered wood products for use in building materials. Thanks to this technology, engineered wood panels can be made from recovered wood waste that might otherwise be burned or disposed of in a landfill.Nanotechnology-powered smart windows. 3M has developed a nano-tech film made of micro-structured prisms for windows that can optically redirect up to 80 percent of daylight upward and diffuse it for even distribution throughout a room without heating it up.Structural insulated panels (SIPs) with high R-values. BASF produces structural insulated panels for walls made from graphite polystyrene (GPS) insulation, which helps boost a panel’s R-values even higher, enhancing energy efficiency throughout the building envelop.Innovative flooring materials. Milliken & Company recently earned the first WELL Platinum project certification in Chicago, and flooring materials helped pave the way. Milliken manufactures its luxury vinyl tiles using a closed-loop recycling process where all production waste is granulated and put back into tile production.Resilient green roofing systems. Sika uses its knowledge in the material sciences to produce waterproofing membranes for green or vegetative roofing systems. Green roofing systems can help make communities more resilient by reducing stress on urban sewer systems and decreasing run-off related pollution in waterways.
Attending Greenbuild 2018?
If you are in Chicago this week, check out the Greenbuild Materials Journey Map, sponsored by ACC, which can help architects and designers learn more about materials-focused events and experiences at Greenbuild.
ACC is also sponsoring two lunch and learn sessions at Greenbuild:Driving Sustainability: The Importance of Collaboration and Transparency
Wednesday, November 14, from noon to 1 p.m., at Booth 163
Innovative products and materials that go in to constructing LEED-certified buildings, like energy efficient insulation and green roofs, began as breakthroughs in chemistry. Learn more about supply chain initiatives to accelerate sustainable building and construction.Innovative Approaches to Materials & Resources Credits in LEED
Thursday, November 15, from noon to 1 p.m., at Booth 163Learn about two LEED v4 pilot credits designed to provide important health, safety, environmental and life cycle information on building products to help architects and project teams make informed material selection decisions.
To learn more about how chemicals are the building blocks for many high-performing materials, visit BuildingwithChemistry.org.
https://blog.americanchemistry.com/2018/11/at-greenbuild-2018-chemistry-helps-build-sustainability/
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(ACC Mentioned) Combative Press Tactics Mirror Trump's
Nov 13, 2018 | E&E Greenwire
By Maxine Joselow
EPA's press shop is taking a page from President Trump's playbook.
Since the new administration entered office, the staff in EPA's press shop has gotten personal with reporters — calling out their alleged mistakes in press releases, keeping them off advisories and blocking some from agency events. The combative approach calmed a bit when acting EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler took over for Scott Pruitt, who resigned over the summer, but now it appears to be intensifying again.
It comes as Trump has been making waves with his own treatment of the press. In the most recent uproar, the White House is under fire for revoking a CNN reporter's press badge following a confrontational episode during a news conference last week. CNN today sued the Trump administration, demanding that the press credentials be returned to reporter Jim Acosta.
Environmentalists and press freedom advocates warn that the White House and EPA are setting a troubling precedent. They say the public isn't getting adequate information as the EPA press shop spends its time launching personal attacks against reporters.
"When your president calls the press an 'enemy of the people' and has a very confrontational style with respect to the press, that trickles down," said Nick Conger, a former EPA spokesman during the Obama administration. Conger now serves as communications director for former Vice President Al Gore.
Pruitt's press team launched with an aggressive approach, lobbing insults at individual reporters and barring certain news outlets from an event on hazardous chemicals (Greenwire, May 22).
At the center of that approach: Jahan Wilcox, a GOP operative who had worked on Florida Sen. Marco Rubio's 2016 presidential campaign and at the Republican National Committee before he landed at Trump's EPA.
Wilcox called Elaina Plott, a staff writer for The Atlantic, a "piece of trash" after she reported on a top Pruitt aide leaving the agency in June. He later apologized.
He also dismissed an E&E News reporter seeking information about Pruitt using his personal email address for official business: "You can use this thing called Google, which searches websites on the internet."
Another Pruitt-era press aide was Liz Bowman, a seasoned public relations official who had done stints at the Pew Charitable Trusts and the American Chemistry Council.
Under Wilcox and Bowman, the EPA press shop was known to blast out stories from conservative news outlets such as The Daily Caller, The Weekly Standard or The Washington Free Beacon. Many of the stories praised Pruitt's leadership of the agency or accused newspapers such as The New York Times of having a liberal bias.
Also under Wilcox and Bowman, the press shop went after Associated Press investigative reporter Michael Biesecker in the midst of a hurricane.
Biesecker scrutinized whether EPA was adequately monitoring Superfund sites in the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey. He checked in with a team of AP reporters who had visited seven such sites in the Houston region. The original headline on his story: "AP EXCLUSIVE: Toxic waste sites flooded, EPA not on scene."
EPA shot back with a press release calling the story "incredibly misleading." It said the agency had seen aerial imagery showing that 13 of 41 sites were flooded and "experiencing possible damage." And in an email obtained by The Washington Post, Wilcox told Biesecker, "You are an anti-Trump reporter. ... Folks know you are a dishonest reporter and it could be why the Associated Press moves you from beat to beat."
Biesecker didn't respond to a request for comment for this story.
Wilcox left the agency in July to become communications director for a GOP campaign (E&E News PM, Aug. 21). Bowman left the agency in May to work as communications director for Republican Sen. Joni Ernst of Iowa (Greenwire, May 3).'A change in tone'
Wheeler and his staff took a different tack after Pruitt's exit.
The press shop has maintained a small team of staffers led by John Konkus, who previously worked as a Republican political consultant and helped on Trump's presidential campaign. It also includes Michael Abboud, a former Republican National Committee analyst; Molly Block, a former House GOP staffer; and James Hewitt, another RNC alumnus and the son of conservative talk show host Hugh Hewitt.
Konkus has been involved with EPA from the very beginning of the Trump administration, serving on the agency's transition and "beachhead" teams and helping to guide Pruitt's confirmation in the Senate.
In his early comments after Wheeler took the helm, Konkus promised a more open EPA. "You can expect a change in approach, and in this case a change in tone, as well," Konkus said in July, noting that Wheeler had already said he puts "a premium on transparency."
"I think you can take that mindset and apply it across the board when it comes to how EPA will be communicating with the media and the public going forward," Konkus added.
In his first two weeks on the job, Wheeler published his daily calendars, agreed to interviews with a range of news outlets and gave advance notice that a meeting in Pennsylvania would be open to press (Greenwire, July 18).
But since then, EPA has been getting personal again. The agency's actions have been scrutinized in the press in recent weeks, and the public affairs shop has been hitting back.
A Nov. 1 press release from EPA titled "Fact Checking Seven Falsehoods in CNN's Report" blasted a CNN article about agency guidance on the ground-level ozone standard. The press release went on to criticize seven "errors" in CNN's reporting — including the headline.
"EPA Sets the Record Straight After Being Misrepresented in Press," read a separate Oct. 30 press release attacking news reports about EPA's efforts to address cancer-causing emissions from an Illinois facility.
Bobby Magill, president of the Society of Environmental Journalists, said the agency seems to be returning to its war-room-style tactics under Pruitt.
"It looks to me like they're sort of returning to form," Magill said. "This suggests that they are returning to their previous press strategy under Scott Pruitt."
Konkus declined to be interviewed for this story, saying, "We will pass." He didn't respond to a follow-up emailed list of questions.
Some supporters of the Trump administration say the EPA press shop's aggressive tactics are justified.
"I do think that the EPA has an active press operation. I think correcting factual mistakes is a legitimate part of that," said Myron Ebell, a former Trump EPA transition team head and director of the Competitive Enterprise Institute's Center for Energy and Environment.
But former EPA press officials say the new approach is unprecedented.
"I cannot recall anyone in the Obama administration putting out a press release directly attacking a media outlet," said Liz Purchia, a former EPA spokeswoman under Obama. "That's not the role of a government agency."
She added, "Your job is to communicate effectively your agency's policies and priorities, not to attack the press. If you have a disagreement with a reporter or a media outlet, you should work with them, not make personal attacks against the media outlet."
A source who worked in EPA's press office for several years echoed these sentiments.
"It's just completely extraordinary for me to see a press release used to criticize a reporter or an organization for a story where EPA may take issue with some of the things that are written," the person said.
"The way things were done was never to use the agency's letterhead and its press resources for criticizing a reporter," added the source. "And there were numerous times that we disagreed with what was published."
Former EPA chief Bill Reilly, who led the agency during the George H.W. Bush administration, said his relationship with the media was "generally quite positive."
He recalled "just once expressing objection to a newspaper article," which he thought drew the wrong conclusions about a memo he had sent to EPA staff. "I knew personally several of the reporters who covered EPA," Reilly said. "Neither my press office nor I would have attacked a journalist."
Bill Ruckelshaus, who was EPA's first administrator during the Nixon administration, was brought back to calm the waters after the resignation of President Reagan's embattled first administrator, Anne Gorsuch Burford.
A central part of that, he told E&E News earlier this year, was increasing press access. "The only way to restore trust is to open the whole thing up. That's what we did back in the '80s," he said. He invited reporters to attend monthly lunch meetings. "They'd all come up; it was completely on the record. Anything they wanted to ask was all right with me. They used to all show up for fear that somebody would say something important," he said.'Fake news'
Observers say EPA's press shop may feel pressure from the White House to criticize what it deems "fake news" — a rallying cry for Trump's base.
"It just seems like more of the Trump administration's M.O. of trying to undermine the credibility of any reporter they disagree with," said Magill.
Trump has made CNN a favorite target of his Twitter tirades and remarks at "Make America Great Again" rallies.
The president earlier this year tweeted out a doctored video showing him wrestling and punching a figure whose head had been replaced by the CNN logo.
And on Wednesday, Trump clashed with CNN reporter Acosta in a testy exchange. "CNN should be ashamed of itself having you working for them," Trump said during an afternoon press briefing. "You are a rude, terrible person."
The White House subsequently suspended Acosta's press pass. Press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders also tweeted out an apparently doctored video showing Acosta making physical contact with a White House intern trying to grab his microphone.
So it came as little surprise when EPA issued its CNN criticisms last week, said former EPA spokesman Conger.
The EPA press release took issue with an Oct. 31 CNN story headlined "EPA quietly telling states they can pollute more."
The story focused on an Aug. 31 EPA guidance memo for states seeking to determine whether upwind ozone from outside their borders was contributing to compliance problems with the 2015 ozone standard.
EPA's press office said the CNN story "blatantly mischaracterizes" the guidance document, adding, "Despite spending nearly two hours with EPA Clean Air Act experts on the phone and receiving numerous pages of email responses, CNN failed to report virtually any of the facts provided in detail. This is a great disservice to the public who now believe EPA is ordering states to 'pollute more.'"
The EPA press release went on to list seven alleged errors in CNN's reporting, from its characterization of smog to its calculations of cross-border ozone pollution.
But John Walke, clean air director with the Natural Resources Defense Council, leapt to the news outlet's defense. "Every single one of the agency's so-called corrections were erroneous themselves," he said.
CNN accurately reported that the guidance document would allow states to pollute more, Walke said. Konkus even admitted as much in the article, he said.
"John Konkus' views in the story ratified the criticism like mine that the guidance was intended to give states permission to pollute at higher levels," Walke said. "The CNN article damningly paraphrased comments by Mr. Konkus that confirmed that criticism. And so my personal view is that's what led to this really extreme, objectionable and fundamentally false overreaction by the EPA press shop."
Konkus didn't respond to a question about whether the press shop reached out to the three CNN reporters who contributed to the piece.
CNN spokeswoman Barbara Levin didn't respond to a request for comment. But after Trump clashed with Acosta on Wednesday, the news outlet said in a statement: "This President's ongoing attacks on the press have gone too far. They are not only dangerous, they are disturbingly un-American."'You have to pick your battles'
The Obama EPA was also no stranger to criticism.
From 2009 to 2017, the agency was a popular punching bag for conservative news outlets and politicians of the opposing party.
Under the leadership of Tom Reynolds, an Obama campaign vet, EPA's press office sought to combat a barrage of attacks lobbed at the agency's regulations, science and staffers (Greenwire, Aug. 7, 2014).
Reynolds headed up EPA's public affairs office for nearly 2 ½ years, using media tactics he had honed on the campaign trail and during his time deflecting scandals in the Energy Department's press shop.
Reynolds now works on "policy communications" at Facebook, according to his LinkedIn profile. A Facebook spokeswoman declined to make him available for an interview.
Purchia, who overlapped with Reynolds in the public affairs office, said she occasionally took issue with inaccurate reporting. But she said she always reached out to the relevant reporter to express her concerns, have a productive dialogue and in some cases request a correction.
"If you have a disagreement with a reporter or a media outlet, you should work with them, not make personal attacks against the media outlet," Purchia said.
"You know, you have to pick your battles," she said. "Sometimes you fight harder for a correction and work with reporters and editors to provide additional background materials that they need for their story. If you feel like they don't have the correct story, you make your point."
But, she added, "you're going to have to work with these reporters for your entire career in that position. It doesn't do you any benefit to just fight with them."
Conger, who worked with Purchia, had a similar recollection.
"There were many times when we took issue with the way a reporter or an outlet characterized the work we were doing," he said. "Our approach was to pick up the phone, have the conversation, work through those issues and not take that spat public."
Magill, of the Society of Environmental Journalists, said he didn't remember the Obama EPA ever criticizing specific reporters in press releases. But he did recall concerns about access to information.
"In the Obama administration, our primary concern was access, and EPA under Obama preventing reporters from having access to specific documents and talking to EPA scientists," Magill said. "But this [administration] obviously has ratcheted up any sort of opaqueness in the Obama administration quite a bit."
https://www.eenews.net/greenwire/2018/11/13/stories/1060106089
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Nov 13, 2018 | TokensJournal
Nylon Resins Market Report gives big time operator, sponsors and senior organization with the fundamental information they need to assess the Global Nylon Resins Market. Nearby intentionally separating the key little scale Market, the report in like manner revolves around industry-specific drivers, limitations, openings and troubles in the Nylon Resins Market. This inquisition report offers top to bottom inquisition of the market measure (profit), bit of the general business, genuine market divides, and differing geographic districts, check for the accompanying five years, key market players, and premium industry designs. It moreover revolves around the key drivers, limitations, openings and troubles.
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https://www.marketreportsworld.com/12345361
The Research report demand, score, deal and revenue figures are also developing in the forecast period 2018-2023. The key players and brands are making their moves by product launches, researches, their joint ventures, merges, and accusations and are getting successful results.
Nylon Resins market report describes the development of the industry by long term demanding & succeeding industry development, key companies, as well as type segment & market application and so on, and makes an factual Forecast for the development industry prospects on the basis of analysis. finally, Nylon Resins Market analyses opportunities for investment in the industry at the end of the report.
Request a Sample of this report from:
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The nylon resins market is expected to register a CAGR of 3.52% during the forecast period, 2018-2023. The market is driven by many factors including, increasing demand from automotive industry and packaging sector. However, high raw material prices are restraining the market.
Increasing Demand from the Automotive Industry
The Automotive sector is an important market for nylon resins and according to the American Chemistry Council. Light weight vehicles account to around 30% of the nylon resins demand. Consumers are increasing their preference to light weight vehicles in response to low maintenance cost and low fuel consumption. This is resulting in increasing demand for nylon resins, thereby driving the market. In North American countries like United States and Canada, there is an increase in demand for light weight vehicles, forcing the automotive manufacturers to increase plastics, such as nylon in automobiles.
Nylon 6 – the Dominant Product Type
The global nylon resins market is segmented on the basis of product type, application, and end-user industry. Based on product type, nylon 6 is the dominant market because of its lustrous surface finish and high impact strength, which is increasing its usage in the manufacture of films in the packaging sector. In addition, its aesthetic appeal and easy process ability using extrusion is also augmenting its demand in the packaging sector in countries like Vietnam etc.
Asia-Pacific – the Fastest Growing Market
Asia-Pacific is the largest market for nylon resins with a share of approximately 40%, and is expected to grow at a high rate during the forecast period, mainly because of increasing manufacturing capacities. China is the largest market in the Asia-Pacific region. With various government initiatives like, ‘China Manufacturing 2025’ is encouraging the use of energy saving automobiles to promote light weight vehicles. This is expected to drive the market in this region. In addition, the Chinese defense sector has started incorporating 3D printing technologies in manufacturing interior products which require plastics. This technology is producing light weight products which are providing opportunities for the market.
Notable Development
July 2017: Arkema SA planned to expand its nylon production activities in Asia, with an investment of around EUR 300 million over five years, to increase its global production capacity by 50 percent.
Major Players: BASF SE, AAA Plastics, Inc., Ag Polymers, AMETEK Westchester Plastics, Aquafil USA Inc., Arc Resin Corporation, Asahi Kasei Corp., DowDuPont, DSM Company, and Solvay amongst others.
https://tokensjournal.com/global-nylon-resins-market-2018-attractive-cagr-valuations-potential-growth-with-long-term-investment-2023/127842/
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(ACC Mentioned) AmSty and Agilyx Announce Joint Venture for Polystyrene Recycling
Nov 13, 2018 | Waste360
AmSty and Agilyx have signed a letter of intent to form a joint venture that will assume operations of Agilyx’s first-in-kind polystyrene recycling facility in Tigard, Ore.
The process converts used polystyrene products back into their original liquid form, styrene monomer. Fresh polystyrene products can then be made without degrading quality or value. This form of circular recycling is known as the PolyUsable process.
Last August, AmSty and Agilyx announced an offtake agreement to process recycled styrene monomer from Agilyx’s Tigard facility at AmSty’s styrene monomer plant in St. James, La.
“We are excited to work with Agilyx, a leading developer of recycling technologies for plastics, as we continue to improve our PolyUsable process assuring polystyrene remains a viable and growing component of the circular economy,” said Brad Crocker, president and CEO of AmSty, in a statement.
AmSty is an integrated producer of polystyrene and styrene monomer, offering solutions and services to customers in a variety of markets throughout the Americas. The company is headquartered in The Woodlands, Texas, and is a member of the American Chemistry Council and its Responsible Care initiative.
Agilyx is an environmental technology and development company located in Tigard that extracts value from difficult-to-recycle mixed waste plastic streams. The company developed a full-circle system capable of recycling post-consumer polystyrene (packaging materials, foam cups, etc.) into styrene monomer, which is then used to make new polystyrene equal in quality and composition to the original product. The company has also commercialized a technology that converts mixed plastics to high-quality VGO crude.
https://www.waste360.com/recycling/amsty-and-agilyx-announce-joint-venture-polystyrene-recycling
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Banks Mandated for U.S. Listing of German Chemicals Group Atotech-Sources
Nov 13, 2018 | Reuters (In The New York Times)
Buyout group Carlyle has picked four banks to lead the U.S. stock market listing of German speciality chemicals group Atotech, a former part of oil group Total, people close to the matter said.
Bank of America, Citi, Credit Suisse, JP Morgan have been chosen to organise the initial public offering, which is expected to take place as early as the second quarter of 2019, the people said.
Carlyle and the banks declined to comment.
Atotech, a Berlin-based maker of speciality chemicals and equipment for printed circuit boards and semiconductors, posted adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) of $329 million on sales of $1.2 billion last year.
Carlyle bought Atotech in 2016 at an enterprise value of $3.2 billion or 12 times its core earnings.
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While an offer size has not been decided yet, a share issue of about $600 million has been discussed in initial meetings with banks, one of the sources said.
The company could be valued at around $5 billion, or 13 to 14 times Atotech's expected core profit of up to $400 million, people said earlier this year.
The valuations of U.S.-listed peers such as Cabot Microelectronics, Entegris, Quaker Chemical and Versum Materials have, however, come down recently and they now trade at only 8.5 to 10 times their expected core earnings.
That is putting pressure on Atotech's potential valuation, which may as a result end up lower, the people said.
While a listing in New York is seen as the most likely exit route, Carlyle will also consider potential bids from chemicals groups or other investors, people close to the matter have said.
https://www.nytimes.com/reuters/2018/11/13/business/13reuters-carlyle-atotech-ipo.html
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Trump EPA Official Indicted in Alabama
Nov 13, 2018 | The Hill - E2 Wire
By Timothy Cama
An Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) official in the Trump administration was indicted Tuesday on charges stemming from a previous job.
Trey Glenn, the regional director for EPA’s southeast region, helped Birmingham, Ala. law firm Balch & Bingham between 2014 and 2017 to fight potential EPA actions to clean up contaminated sites in north Birmingham and Tarrant on behalf of Drummond Co., which could be responsible for the cleanups, AL.com reported.
The Alabama Ethics Commission, which took the lead on the case, said Tuesday that a grand jury had indicted Glenn and former Alabama Environmental Management Commissioner Scott Phillips for their roles in the controversial efforts, the news site said.
They were charged with multiple alleged violations of state ethics laws, including soliciting a thing of value from a principal, lobbyist or subordinate; and receiving money in addition that received in one’s official capacity.
The EPA did not return a request for comment on the indictment.
The two men worked for Southeast Engineering & Consulting on the Drummond case, and Phillips was serving on the environmental commission.
A federal jury earlier this year convicted Balch partner Joel Gilbert and Drummond vice president David Roberson for bribing an Alabama state lawmaker as part of the effort to stop the EPA cleanup effort. Glenn and Phillips were both called as witnesses in that trial, and evidence showed they were closely with Balch on the effort to stop the cleanups.
Then-EPA chief Scott Pruitt named Glenn to lead the EPA’s southeast region, based in Atlanta, in August 2017, after the alleged incidents that are the subject of the indictment.
https://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/416446-trump-epa-official-indicted-in-alabama
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No Accounting for These Tastes: Artificial Flavors a Mystery
Nov 13, 2018 | AP (In The New York Times, The Washington Post)
By Candice Choi
Six artificial flavors are being ordered out of the food supply in a dispute over their safety, but good luck to anyone who wants to know which cookies, candies or drinks they're in.
The dispute highlights the complex rules that govern what goes in our food, how much the public knows about it, and a mysterious class of ingredients that has evolved over decades largely outside of public view.
On food packages, hundreds of ingredients are listed simply as natural flavor or artificial flavor. Even in minute amounts, they help make potato chips taste oniony or give fruit candy that twang.
"The food system we have is unimaginable without flavor additives," said Nadia Berenstein, a historian of flavor science based in New York.
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The flavors are also at the center of a dispute over how ingredients should be regulated.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is giving companies two years to purge their products of six artificial flavors — even though the FDA made clear it believes the ingredients are safe in the trace amounts they are used.
The six artificial flavors in question, with names like methyl eugenol, benzophenone, ethyl acrylate and pyridine, are used to create cinnamon or spicy notes, fruity or minty flavors, or even hints of balsamic vinegar.
The FDA and the Flavor and Extract Manufacturers Association, an industry group, did not respond when asked for examples of products the six ingredients are used in. But they noted in statements that the compounds have natural counterparts in foods like basil, coffee, grapes and peppermint, and that the action does not affect the naturally derived versions.
The FDA said it had to order the artificial versions out of the food supply because of a lawsuit brought by consumer advocacy groups that cited a 60-year-old regulation known as the Delaney clause. The rule prohibits additives shown to have caused cancer in animals, even if tested at doses far higher than what a person would consume.
In a statement, the flavor industry group said the Delaney Clause doesn't allow regulators to assess an ingredient's risk based on modern scientific understanding, but that changing it would require an act of Congress. As far back as 1981, the Government Accountability Office issued a report saying the clause should be re-examined because of its inflexibility.Editors’ Picks50 Years Later, It Feels Familiar: How America Fractured in 1968Where Brexit Hurts: The Nurses and Doctors Leaving LondonHe Defended Accused Terrorists for 35 Years. Now He’s Back.
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Christopher Kemp, a professor of cancer biology at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, doesn't think the rule is necessarily too strict a threshold. He said animal studies provide the strongest evidence about cancer risk in humans, and that it is better to err on the side of caution.
Erik Olson of the Natural Resources Defense Council, one of the groups that sued over the six ingredients, said it's also unknown what effect they might have when used in combination with other ingredients. And since they're listed only as "artificial flavor," he said people don't know in what concentrations they're used in particular products.
"It's all secret. You can't pick up an ice cream or chewing gum or a baked good and have any idea what chemicals are in there," he said.
Berenstein, the flavor science historian, said the ingredients in flavors don't have to be specified in part because regulators decided long ago that listing the names of compounds on packages might just confuse people. And she stressed that flavors are used in infinitesimal amounts. In 2015, the flavor industry estimates just 40 pounds of one of the now banned artificial ingredients was produced.
But Bernstein said a more robust regulatory system might inspire greater public confidence about flavors.
In a separate but related lawsuit, the FDA is also facing a challenge over its oversight of the universe of ingredients companies can put into foods, including artificial flavors.
New flavors, sweeteners and other ingredients can go through an FDA petition process to be approved as food additives. But another option lets manufacturers deem their own ingredients to be "generally recognized as safe."
There's no clear rule for when ingredients should take one path or the other. The artificial sweetener Splenda is an approved food additive. Another sweetener, stevia, was declared GRAS by manufacturers.
The six artificial flavors in question were approved food additives, along with dozens of other synthetic flavors . The flavor industry group also regularly declares other ingredients like them to be GRAS, without formal review by the FDA.
Critics say GRAS determinations were meant for basic ingredients like salt and vinegar, not highly engineered ingredients. The advocacy groups suing the FDA say the GRAS option has turned into a loophole that lets companies approve all sorts of ingredients without public scrutiny, including artificial flavors.
In September, a judge allowed the legal challenge to move forward.
https://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2018/11/13/health/ap-us-med-mystery-ingredients.html
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What You Need to Know about California’s New Warning Regulations
Nov 13, 2018 | EHS Today
By Chris Waller
If you live in or visit California, you may have noticed that nearly every building has a sign that reads, “Warning: This area contains a chemical known to the State of California to cause cancer.” These warning signs are the product of California’s Safe Drinking Water and Toxic Environment Act of 1986, better known as Proposition 65 or Prop 65.
On September 2nd, 2016, the California Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (OEHHA) issued amendments to Proposition 65 (California Health and Safety Code §25600 – 25607.9), which effectively overhauled the requirements for Clear and Reasonable Warnings. Due to these amendments, these over-familiar signs and labels will need to be updated or replaced to include more information than previously required. The new Clear and Reasonable Warning requirements became effective on August 30, 2018.BACKGROUND
In 1986, California voters approved Proposition 65 in response to growing concern about exposure to toxic chemicals. Proposition 65 requires the state to publish and maintain a list of chemicals known to cause cancer or reproductive harm. In addition, Prop 65 requires businesses with 10 or more employees to notify the public about potential exposure to listed chemicals through products they purchase, at their homes or workplaces, or through environmental release. This notification process is codified in Sections 25600 through 25607 of Title 27 of the California Code of Regulations (CCR) and is titled “Clear and Reasonable Warnings.”WHAT’S CHANGED?
Under the old regulation, Proposition 65 warnings were required to state that a product, area, or business may expose Californians to chemicals known to the state to cause cancer or reproductive harm. Under the amended regulation, the warning must include the name of one or more chemicals that the public may be exposed to and the source of the exposure. In addition, the address for a Prop 65 informational website must be included in The warning. This requires more extensive knowledge and testing of products or exposure areas, and additional attention to detail when preparing and issuing signs and notices. A comparison of the old versus new warnings is provided in Table 1.Table 1OLD WARNING
This area contains a chemical known
to the State of California to cause
cancer.NEW WARNING
Entering this area can expose you
to chemicals known to the State of
California to cause cancer, including
[name of one or more chemicals],
from [name of one or more sources
of exposure]. For more information
go to www.P65Warnings.ca.gov.The new regulations have separate warning requirements for consumer products, food products and environmental exposure. In addition, the new Clear and Reasonable Warning Regulations guidelines for common exposure including but not limited to diesel engine exhaust, gasoline service stations, hotels and designated smoking areas.WHY IS IT IMPORTANT?
The primary goal of the revised Clear and Reasonable Warning requirements is to provide the public with additional details on exposure from consumer products, food products and areas with environmental exposure. The addition of the specific chemical and source of the exposure provides a concise, useful warning with information on how to reduce exposure to toxic chemicals. The best example of this is the specific warning for environmental exposure at gasoline service stations:
"Breathing the air in this area or skin contact with petroleum products can expose you to chemicals including benzene, motor vehicle exhaust and carbon monoxide, which are known to the State of California to cause cancer and birth defects or other reproductive harm. Do not stay in this area longer than necessary. For more information go to www.P65Warnings.ca.gov/service-station.”
This warning provides the public with clear information on the potential hazards, as well as actions they can take to minimize exposure. The previous warnings did not inform the public on the specific hazards of service stations and provided no advice on mitigating or minimizing the hazards. In this scenario, the revised requirements achieved the goal to provide a clearer, more useful warning.
For consumer products, 27 CCR §25603(b) allows for abbreviated on product warnings where disclosure of the listed chemicals contained within the product is not required. The on-product warning must include the required warning symbol (a black exclamation mark in yellow equilateral triangle), plus one of the following statements:
Warning: Cancer—www.P65Warnings.ca.gov
Warning: Reproductive Harm—www.
P65Warnings.ca.gov
Warning: Cancer and Reproductive
Harm—www.P65Warnings.ca.govThe abbreviated consumer product warnings strike a balance between providing consumers with necessary exposure information and minimizing the amount of space required to convey. Allowing the abbreviated warnings frees up valuable space on labels that manufacturers and distributors need to describe and advertise their products.WHAT ARE THE PROBLEMS?
The revised warning requirements provide clear guidelines for simple exposures to one chemical or one area. However, the requirements pose confusion for complex facilities with multiple processes and/or areas that may result in exposure to Prop 65 chemicals. For environmental and occupational exposures at indoor or well-defined outdoor areas, warnings must be posted at all entrances, and the new requirements state that the warnings must include “one or more” chemicals and “one or more” sources of exposure. This leaves the question: Do these warnings need to include every chemical and every source of exposure or at least one chemical and at least one source?
The common interpretation is that “one or more” means just that, one or more, not all. This interpretation would result in warnings that omit potentially hazardous exposures. For example, if a facility had a surface coating operation and a soldering operating in the same large room, both of these operations have the potential to expose employees and visitors to Prop 65 chemicals. The painting operation may result in the release of solvents such as toluene, and the soldering operation may result in the release of toxic metals, such as lead. The “at least one” approach would lead to a warning sign that reads:
“WARNING: Entering this area can expose you to chemicals known to the State of California to cause cancer and birth defects or other reproductive harm, including lead, from emissions associated with soldering operations. For more information go to www.P65Warnings.ca.gov.”
This warning omits the potential exposure to toluene from painting operations. Under this scenario, have workers that are stationed near the surface coating operation been adequately warned? Unfortunately, this question will most likely be answered in a future lawsuit, and facilities will have to wait and see what happens. The alternative is that warnings require every chemical and every source of exposure. For some facilities—refineries for example—this would be impossible, and the warnings would be the size of a multi-car garage.WHAT’S THE BOTTOM LINE?
One of the goals of the recent amendments is to reduce lawsuits related to Proposition 65. However, the final rule may have the opposite effect due to the complexity of the new warning requirements. Manufacturers and distributors of consumer products must update or redesign their labels for products sold in California, and retailers need to work with their distributors to acquire adequate information and signage to display the proper warnings. Facility owners and managers are required to determine exactly which listed chemicals are present in their living and working spaces and develop new warning signs that include those specific chemicals. Managers of industrial facilities required to send out quarterly notices need to update their public notice content and delivery method to meet the new requirements. Additional analysis or modeling may be necessary to develop the map that is required with the notice.
Overall, the new amendments have made the warning requirements more specific, which may provide the public with more information. However, they have increased the burden on entities required to provide the warnings and opened the door for a new round of lawsuits due to the unanswered questions regarding interpretation of the new requirements.
Chris Waller, C.P.P., is team manager, EHS & air, at Alta Environmental (www.altaenviron.com), an environmental engineering and consulting firm.
https://www.ehstoday.com/industrial-hygiene/what-you-need-know-about-california-s-new-warning-regulations
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EWG’s Stress-Free Thanksgiving Menu
Nov 13, 2018 | Environmental Working Group
As we head into the holiday season, the marathon task of preparing a Thanksgiving dinner or even just one dish to contribute as a guest – may be stressful. To help you combat the inevitable stress surrounding this meal, EWG has put together this guide suggesting what to make yourself and what to buy, and when to go organic.
Main Dishes
Turkey
Most conventional turkeys are tainted with antibiotic-resistant bacteria, potentially exposing consumers to foodborne illnesses and hard-to-treat infections. To avoid these risks, look for a turkey bearing one or more of these labels:USDA Certified Organic.Certified Humane®.Global Animal Partnership Steps 3 to 5+.Certified Animal Welfare Approved.
Confused by head-spinning labels? EWG’s turkey label decoder can help.
Make your own: Purchase a turkey from a local farm by searching for your city or zip code at LocalHarvest.
Make it easy: Look for brands at the supermarket that are USDA Certified Organic and Non-GMO Project Verified, like Mary’s or Diestel.
Pro tip: Consider purchasing a smaller turkey, like a heritage bird. The USDA estimates 35 percent of turkey meat ends up in the trash each year.
Vegetarian or Vegan Options
Meat has a significantly higher carbon footprint than other protein choices. So eat your vegetables: Choose a more sustainable (and cheaper!) alternative, like stuffed winter squash.
Make your own: Check out this Vegan Wild-Rice-Stuffed Butternut Squash recipe. Use organic cherries and consider replacing the rice with quinoa. We advise limiting rice consumption, as both organic and conventional rice may be contaminated with arsenic.
Pro tip: Use EWG’s 2018 Shopper’s Guide to Pesticides in Produce® to determine which products have the highest amount of pesticide residue. Choose organic versions of these fruits and vegetables whenever possible. Sides
Green Beans
As tempting as the occasional shortcut may be, try to avoid canned vegetables. Most cans are lined with bisphenol A, or BPA, a potent endocrine-disrupting chemical. Instead, grab a reusable bag and head to the vegetable aisle for fresh, organic green beans.
Make your own: We recommend this Simple Skillet Green Bean recipe.
Make it easy: Frozen organic green beans will also do in a pinch, but opt for whole organic green beans rather than cut, since they retain their nutrients better. Earthbound Farm Whole Organic Green Beans score well in EWG’s Food Scores, a free database that rates nearly 80,000 foods on nutritional concerns, ingredient toxicity and degree of processing.
Pro tip: Other kinds of frozen vegetables may be a good alternative. Visit EWG’s Food Scores’ frozen vegetable category for options.
Stuffing
You can avoid feeling groggy after eating this high-carbohydrate dish if you stuff your stuffing with protein, fiber and healthy fats. Consider adding nutritious ingredients like nuts, apples, celery, cherries or cranberries, and carrots.
Make your own: Check out this Healthy Harvest Stuffing recipe. If possible, choose to make it with organic celery, cranberries and apples.
Pro tip: Replace the low-sodium chicken broth in this recipe with unsalted vegetable broth for a vegetarian-friendly dish.
Make it easy: Arrowhead Mills Organic Savory Herb Stuffing is USDA Certified Organic.
Mashed Potatoes
Potatoes are on EWG’s Dirty Dozen list, so it’s best to use organic. Most frozen or instant mashed potatoes aren’t, so we recommend making this dish from scratch, which will also allow you control how much butter and salt go into it.
Make your own: We recommend this Healthy Garlic Mashed Potatoes recipe.
Pro tip: Replace a few potatoes with the equivalent volume of cooked kale (or try this kale colcannon recipe) to add extra vitamins, minerals and cancer-fighting phytochemicals to the dish and reduce the carbohydrates.
Make it easy: If you prefer to use an instant version, Edward & Sons Organic Home Style Mashed Potatoes and Edward & Sons Organic Roasted Garlic Mashed Potatoes are USDA Certified Organic.
Cranberry Sauce
Cranberry sauce provides an extra punch of flavor, but it can come at a cost: unnecessary sugar. Try making it from scratch, since most store-bought versions are more than 30 percent sugar.
Make your own: EWG recommends this Best Homemade Cranberry Sauce recipe, preferably made with organic cranberries.
Make it easy: Pacific Organic Whole Berry Cranberry Sauce doesn’t contain any artificial ingredient – although it’s 41 percent sugar by weight.
Gravy
When gravy enthusiasts drench their mashed potatoes in this kind of thick sauce, they’re adding loads of sodium to their plate. Most store-bought products contain more than 20 percent of the National Academy of Medicine’s recommended daily sodium intake. You might want to make the gravy yourself and even consider a vegetarian option.
Make your own: To cut the salt content, try using a low-sodium broth to make your favorite recipe.
Make it easy: Pacific Foods Organic Turkey Gravy and Pacific Foods Organic Vegan Mushroom Gravy are USDA Certified Organic.
Sweet Potato Casserole
Who doesn’t love eating dessert as a side dish? Replace the typically high sugar ingredients while preserving much of this dish’s sweetness by using seasoned nuts, toasted organic oats, coconut flakes or pineapple for a healthier yet equally decadent dish.
Make your own: We recommend this Healthy Sweet Potato Casserole recipe. If possible, use organic apple sauce.
Make it easy: Simple Balanced Organic Mashed Sweet Potatoes score moderately in EWG’s Food Scores. However, if you have guests who are watching their salt intake, they may want to skip them.
Pumpkin
Whether making your special pumpkin pie or pumpkin soup recipe, choose a puree packaged in a carton or BPA-free can.
Make it easy: Pacific Organic Pumpkin Puree comes packaged in a BPA-free carton.
Not only can you control the amount of salt, sugar and other ingredients added when you do the cooking yourself, you can also reduce the amount of waste produced during Thanksgiving, maybe even save some money. And that’s a lot to be thankful for!
https://www.ewg.org/news-and-analysis/2018/11/ewg-s-stress-free-thanksgiving-menu
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EPA Moves Ahead on Methane Rule Rollback
Nov 13, 2018 | Houston Chronicle
By James Osborne
Oil and gas lobbyists clashed with environmentalists this week ahead of a hearing by the Environmental Protection Agency on its proposed rollback of limits on methane emissions from drilling sites.
EPA is holding a public hearing in Denver Wednesday, to allow the public to comment on a proposal that would reduce the frequency with which oil companies must inspect drilling and production equipment for leaks of methane, the principal component of natural gas.
The changes to a 2016 regulation ordered by former president Barack Obama have been championed by the American Petroleum Institute, the oil sector's largest lobbying arm. The Trump administration estimates that shifting from twice a year reviews to annual reviews, along with other changes, the oil and gas sector would save$75 million a year.
ROGUE EMISSIONS: Infrared cameras reveal hidden air pollution from oil and gas drilling
"The data we submitted to EPA shows the occurrence of leaks is much lower than EPA has estimated," said Howard Feldman, API senior director of regulatory and scientific affairs. "On leak detection and repair, we think EPA has requirements in the final rule that are not cost effective."
The proposed roll back has drawn fierce opposition around the country, particularly in Colorado where leaks from oil and gas drilling have contributed to both climate change and elevated levels of ozone and other pollutants that contribute to human respiratory ailments like asthma.
On Tuesday afternoon the environmental group Earthworks planned to project footage of methane leaks shot with an infrared camera at oil and gas sites onto a building in downtown Denver, where the EPA hearing is scheduled.
"Methane is 86 [times] more potent a greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide. Methane leaks at every step of the oil and gas production process," the group said in a statement. "This air pollution is associated with cancer, respiratory illness, fetal defects, blood disorders, and neurological problems. 12.6 million Americans live within [a half] mile of an active oil and gas well."
In a proposal made public in September, the EPA under President Donald Trump is moving ahead on a catalog of changes to the 2016 rule.
Oil companies would have 60 days to make repairs, not 30 days. And drill sites in California, Texas, Colorado, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Utah, which have existing regulations on methane leaks, have the option of complying with those regulations instead of EPA's.
https://www.chron.com/business/energy/article/EPA-moves-ahead-on-methane-rule-rollback-13387744.php
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Despite Trump Warning, OPEC Makes Case for Oil Supply Cut
Nov 13, 2018 | The Hill - E2 Wire
By Tal Axelrod
The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) on Tuesday laid out an argument for cutting oil production to increase its price, directly contradicting a request from President Trump that it maintain current levels of supply.
“Although the oil market has reached a balance now, the forecasts for 2019 for non-OPEC supply growth indicate higher volumes outpacing the expansion in world oil demand, leading to widening excess supply in the market,” OPEC said in its monthly report.ADVERTISEMENT
“The recent downward revision to the global economic growth forecast and associated uncertainties confirm the emerging pressure on oil demand observed in recent months.”
The report also noted that while world oil demand will rise by 1.29 million barrels per day in 2019, that estimation is 70,000 barrels per day less than predicted last month.
Despite U.S. sanctions on Iran that are driving down production, oil prices are currently in the middle of a sharp decline amid concerns that global demand is weakening.
The report said that crude oil production increased by 127,000 barrels per day after OPEC agreed to lower prices in June after pressure from Trump.
Trump on Monday again sought to assert his influence, urging OPEC not to cut oil supply.
“Hopefully, Saudi Arabia and OPEC will not be cutting oil production. Oil prices should be much lower based on supply!” the president tweeted.
Hopefully, Saudi Arabia and OPEC will not be cutting oil production. Oil prices should be much lower based on supply!— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 12, 2018
However, non-OPEC countries, led by the U.S., Canada, Russia and Kazakhstan, are expected to increase production of oil according to the report.
https://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/416394-despite-trump-warning-opec-makes-case-for-oil-supply-cut
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Unifying Issues for a Divided Congress? Try American Infrastructure and Energy
Nov 13, 2018 | The Hill - Opinion
By Mike Sommers and Sean McGarvey
In the wake of a bruising and contentious midterm season—and with control of Congress now split between the parties — Americans on both sides of the political divide are wondering whether Washington can find anything to agree on in the year ahead. Our view? Sure, it can.
API and NABTU’s combined advocacy experiences demonstrate that when organizations inside the Beltway work together, there are always issues on which bipartisan consensus can be found and coalitions formed. We believe public infrastructure investment to deliver America’s energy is one of those issues.ADVERTISEMENT
This was evident in the 2018 election, where we saw growing agreement that our country is in the midst of an energy revolution driven by American ingenuity. Over the last ten years, highly skilled workers and technological innovations have helped make America the world’s No. 1 producer of natural gas and oil. This is a factor in driving down costs for consumers, creating more middle-class sustaining jobs, dramatically cutting our dependence on foreign energy sources, and reducing carbon dioxide emissions to 25 year lows.
Our public infrastructure and energy policies should know no party and bring out the maverick in politicians on both sides of the aisle. Infrastructure and energy affect every single American every single day — they are simply too important to fall victim to the same partisan calculations as with other issues.
For this reason, in the upcoming 116th Congress, Democrats and Republicans alike can take pride in America’s energy revolution, the highly trained workforce that supports it, and the local economic benefits which investment brings.
To fully realize this potential, one of the first things the new Congress must do to is to act on legislation that invests in America’s roads, bridges, and critical water and energy infrastructure. When these investments are coupled with our construction and energy workforce development programs, federal investments go further.
This is partly because NABTU’s training is not reliant on federal dollars. Last year alone, construction trade unions and their contractor partners collectively invested over 1.5 billion dollars through their jointly-managed Registered Apprenticeship programs to prepare and enlist the next generation of craft professionals eager to answer the call to action.
With a bipartisan commitment to strengthening our nation’s infrastructure, Washington can make our roads, bridges and drinking water safe; it can create jobs for the safest and most highly-trained workforce in the country, and it can ensure that American energy continues to reach the consumers who rely on it every day.
This is not to say we’re pollyannish. We know “Kum Ba Yah” will not suddenly break out in the halls of Congress, and that’s okay. Progress in a divided government does not require extreme partisans to suddenly agree on everything — just enough lawmakers of good faith to join together and deliver for the American people.
Sean McGarvey is President of the North American Building Trades Union and Mike Sommers is President and CEO of the American Petroleum Institute.
https://thehill.com/blogs/congress-blog/energy-environment/416360-need-unifying-issues-for-a-divided-congress-try
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Oil Majors Spending 'Sweet Spot' to Last to 2020: BlackRock
Nov 13, 2018 | Reuters (In The New York Times)
By Ron Bousso
Big Oil is today in a spending sweet spot as years of cost cuts and rising oil prices converge but investments will need to rise after 2020 to boost output, BlackRock, the world's largest asset manager, said on Tuesday.
Oil and gas giants such as Royal Dutch Shell, Chevron and BP are generating as much cash at today's oil prices of around $70 a barrel as they did in 2014, before crude spiraled down from over $100 a barrel to lows of below $30 a barrel.
As they emerge from the deepest downturn in decades, boards have vowed to remain thrifty and stick to lower spending targets in order to return value to shareholders after years of pain.
Alastair Bishop, director and portfolio manager in BlackRock's natural resources team, which has major holdings in the world's five largest oil and gas companies, said he did not expect capital expenditure, or capex, to rise in the near term.
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"It is a sweet spot for IOCs (international oil companies) where they have relatively low cost inflation, a reasonable oil price and at these levels they can generate significant cashflow to go toward paying down debt (and share) buybacks," Bishop told Reuters in an interview.
BlackRock is the largest investor in Shell and BP and among the top five in Total, Exxon and Chevron, Eikon Refinitiv data shows.
Unlike earlier in the decade, when oil companies raced to grow production to meet soaring demand in China, boards are today focused on returns from investments, Bishop said.
"I am not sure investors are wanting large IOCs to be chasing growth. There is much greater interest in generating returns and free cash flow."
But given the nature of the business where fields naturally decline as they age and take years to develop, investments will have to grow after 2020 to avoid a dip in production.Editors’ PicksInside Colombia’s Beloved Candy Factory50 Years Later, It Feels Familiar: How America Fractured in 1968A.I. Is Helping Scientists Predict When and Where the Next Big Earthquake Will Be
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"Would I be surprised if beyond 2020 capex budgets start to move higher? No, I wouldn't. There will be a little cost inflation and they will need to start thinking about their production profile into the 2020s," Bishop said.
The appetite for huge multi-billion-dollar projects such as deepwater oil fields and large gas processing facilities that became the trademark for Big Oil has however weakened, Bishop said.
Instead, companies should opt for smaller-scale and phased projects where spending is better controlled such as shale oil and offshore field expansions as well as non-oil and gas projects such as chemical plants and power generation, he added.
"There seems to be less appetite for just ploughing money straight back into the ground," according to Bishop.
"From our side, unless you have new opportunities right at the bottom of the cost curve we are not that desperate for you to drive volume growth in terms of oil."
RENEWABLES
BlackRock sees the transition away from fossil fuels to cleaner low-carbon energy happening faster than many oil companies expect, with oil demand peaking in the early 2030s, Bishop said, around a decade earlier than most other forecasts.
But what role oil majors will play in the transition remains unclear.
Europe's energy giants have stepped up investments in low-carbon energies following the landmark U.N.-backed 2015 Paris Climate Agreement, in contrast with their U.S. rivals.
"Levels the Europeans are spending in that area look entirely reasonable to me," Bishop said. "If they can prove the business model works then it would make sense for them to start allocating more."
https://www.nytimes.com/reuters/2018/11/13/business/13reuters-oilmajors-blackrock.html
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Ewire: Democrats Face Calls for More Aggressive Climate Oversight
Nov 13, 2018 | Inside EPA
House Democrats have not yet taken control of the lower chamber but already they are at odds with some environmentalists over how aggressively to address climate change, with some environmentalists calling for more aggressive action on the issue than what some on Capitol Hill had indicated.
350.org, the group that advocates for lowering atmospheric carbon intensity to 350 parts per million, is pushing a petition detailing a role for a “real climate leader” whose “top priority” includes close scrutiny of Exxon and other fossil fuel giants.
Specifically, the petition reads, a “real” climate leader would “stand up to the fossil fuel industry: end government handouts to polluting coal, oil, and gas corporations, and investigate Exxon and other big polluters for misleading the public and wrecking the climate.”
The petition also calls for supporting a “Green New Deal” that would “hasten a just and equitable transition to 100% renewable energy for all,” and “stop all new coal, oil and gas projects.”
The petition appears to respond to suggestions from some Democrats that Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), who is expected to be the next Speaker, may not aggressively pursue climate legislation for fear of dividing the ideologically diverse Democratic caucus.
As we reported shortly after the election, Democrats were already acknowledging they faced a tightrope walk on climate issues as they faced pressure from some environmentalists to aggressively address the issue even as they battled to limit any overreach.
While Pelosi has said she will recreate a special committee on climate change, an aide to Pelosi told Politico that Democrats would not pursue a climate bill for fear of boxing in lawmakers.
And former Rep. Henry Waxman (D-CA) told the Washington Examiner that “Democrats ought to pay a lot of attention to the issue of climate change because the American people are starting to demand it.”
But he added that “it’s hard to imagine a big proposal getting passed. Democrats should be afraid to vote for a bill that’s not going anywhere, and take all the potential losses from people who will distort their vote with negative campaigns. They don’t need to do that.”
Instead, two former Waxman aides have floated a plan for extensive oversight on the climate issue. Philip S. Barnett and Gregory Dotson, who played key staff roles when Waxman led the Energy and Commerce Committee, detailed three areas where Democrats may want to conduct oversight, though their priorities differ from 350.org.
Writing in the Columbia Law School blog, they suggest that Democrats start their oversight by bringing in scientists to counter GOP claims about the uncertainties of climate change. “We would recommend the new Congress consider inviting scientists doing groundbreaking research to unveil their findings at public hearings, thereby using the congressional megaphone to amplify public appreciation of profound risks we are facing,” they write.
Second, they recommend oversight to reveal the role that “special interests” have played in driving Trump administration deregulatory policies, such as the auto industry's role in pushing a rollback of vehicle greenhouse gas standards.
Finally, Congress can investigate what fossil fuel companies knew about the dangers of carbon emissions, just as Waxman investigated the tobacco companies’ knowledge of the addictiveness of nicotine. “An ample predicate for launching an investigation into what the major oil companies, like ExxonMobil, knew has been laid by the work of investigative journalists and state attorneys general. Such an investigation could also include companies and organizations that continue to spread climate disinformation to this day,” they write.
https://insideepa.com/daily-feed/ewire-democrats-face-calls-more-aggressive-climate-oversight
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U.S. Top Court Rejects Trump Administration Bid to Halt Climate Trial
Nov 13, 2018 | Reuters (In The New York Times)
By Lawrence Hurley
The U.S. Supreme Court on Friday rejected for now a bid by the President Donald Trump's administration to block a trial in a lawsuit filed by young activists who have accused the U.S. government of ignoring the perils of climate change.
The loss for the administration means it now faces a high-profile examination of U.S. climate change policy during the trial that was due to begin on Oct. 29 in Eugene, Oregon but has since been postponed by the judge.
Chief Justice John Roberts on Oct. 19 had temporarily put the case on hold while the court as a whole decided how to proceed.
The Supreme Court's three-page order noted that the administration may still have grounds to take its arguments to the San Francisco-based 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.
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Conservative Justices Clarence Thomas and Neil Gorsuch indicated they would have granted the administration's request. There was no indication how Trump's new Supreme Court appointee, conservative Brett Kavanaugh, voted on the issue.
In the lawsuit, 21 activists, ages 11 to 22, said federal officials violated their rights to due process under the U.S. Constitution by failing to adequately address carbon pollution such as emissions from the burning of fossil fuels.
The lawsuit was filed in 2015 against former President Barack Obama and government agencies in a federal court in Eugene, Oregon. Both the Obama and Trump administrations have failed in efforts to have the lawsuit thrown out.
The administration has said a courtroom is not the appropriate venue for a debate on climate change policy.
"This suit is an attempt to redirect federal environmental and energy policies through the courts rather than through the political process, by asserting a new and unsupported fundamental due process right to certain climate conditions," Trump administration Solicitor General Noel Francisco said in court papers.Editors’ PicksA.I. Is Helping Scientists Predict When and Where the Next Big Earthquake Will BeInside Colombia’s Beloved Candy Factory50 Years Later, It Feels Familiar: How America Fractured in 1968
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Francisco noted that the plaintiffs are seeking to hold the U.S. government liable for the cumulative effects of carbon dioxide emissions "from every source in the world over decades."
Lawyers for the young activists, led by Julia Olson of a Eugene-based group called Our Children's Trust that brought the lawsuit, have said their clients have suffered "irreparable harm" from the effects of a changing climate.
"This is a case about the fundamental rights of children and whether the actions of their government have deprived them of their inalienable rights," Olson said in court papers.
On July 30, the high court rejected an earlier application by the Trump administration, calling it premature.
Eugene, Oregon-based federal Judge Ann Aiken has repeatedly allowed the case to move forward to trial over the objections of the government. The trial will proceed if neither the high court nor the 9th Circuit intervene.
Aiken said in an Oct. 15 ruling that although the case raised questions about the role of the judiciary delving into a matter of policy those concerns were not enough to warrant a dismissal of the entire case.
https://www.nytimes.com/reuters/2018/11/13/us/politics/13reuters-usa-court-climate.html
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New York City Seeks to Overturn Preemption Ruling in Climate Nuisance Suit
Nov 13, 2018 | Inside EPA
New York City has filed an opening brief in its bid to reverse a district court's dismissal earlier this year of its climate nuisance suit against major oil companies, arguing the district court erred in several significant ways, including its finding that the suit is preempted by the Clean Air Act.
“Congress did not include any express preemption statement in the Clean Air Act,” the city charged in a Nov. 8 brief. “Nor is Congress’s regulatory scheme sufficiently comprehensive to crowd out a state-law nuisance or trespass claim seeking compensation for the costs of responding to the effects of climate change under a field-preemption analysis.”
“Finally, state law on this matter does not stand as an obstacle to the purposes of federal law. The City’s claims can continue without impairing the federal regulatory scheme,” the brief adds.
The case, City of New York v. BP, et al., pending in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit, appeals a July 19 order by Judge John Kennan of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York dismissing the lawsuit, which seeks compensation for damages stemming from climate change caused by the companies' products.
Kennan concluded that the city's claims are displaced because they are governed by federal common law and the Clean Air Act, and that the case also interferes with separation of powers and foreign policy.
Kennan also cited earlier climate nuisance suits that courts have rejected, including Native Village of Kivalina v. Exxon Mobil, which the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit dismissed in 2012, and the Supreme Court's 2011 holding in American Electric Power v. Connecticut. Both rulings found the Clean Air Act displaced common law climate damage claims.
But the New York brief charges that Kennan misunderstood the city’s allegations and, on the basis of that misunderstanding, erroneously concluded that various federal-law doctrines barred the city’s claims.
The city says in part that its allegations “do not render this one of the extraordinary cases where state law must be displaced by federal common law.”
Displacement of state law by federal common law is “appropriate only where there is an actual and significant conflict between state law and a uniquely federal interest. Here, there is no uniquely federal interest at stake, nor is there a significant conflict with any such interest that may exist.”
In addition, no federal policy or statute “regulates the relief sought in the suit -- compensation for local harms resulting from the effects of climate change -- or purports to prevent state-law tort suits seeking such relief,” the New York attorneys claim.
More broadly, Kennan “judged the need for a federal standard of decision against claims that the City does not assert. Most troubling, the court did so with no actual intention of applying federal common law to those rewritten allegations.”
Kennan also erred in holding that the Clean Air Act barred the city's claims, the brief asserts. “Because the court erroneously concluded that the City’s state-law claims were displaced by federal common law, it failed to undertake an analysis of whether the state-law claims were preempted by the statute under the more demanding standard for preemption of state law.”
Had the court done so, “it would have had to conclude that the claims could proceed,” the brief adds. “Congress did not include any express preemption statement in the Clean Air Act.”
Regarding the separation of powers and the president’s ability to conduct foreign policy in the area of climate change, the district court “did not articulate how the City’s claims offended any U.S. foreign policy on global warming,” New York further argues.
https://insideepa.com/daily-feed/new-york-city-seeks-overturn-preemption-ruling-climate-nuisance-suit
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