Local opposition stalls $98B in data center projects
Local opposition to data centers in the US has intensified, with communities...
Local opposition to data centers in the US has intensified, with communities across the political spectrum uniting to block or delay projects due to concerns over rising electricity bills and pollution. Data Center Watch reports that $98 billion in proposed investments were affected in Q2 alone. Major tech companies like Google and Meta have faced significant pushback.
BLM eases sage grouse protections in western US states
The Interior Department's Bureau of Land Management is weakening protections...
The Interior Department's Bureau of Land Management is weakening protections for the sage grouse in eight Western states, including Utah, Nevada, North Dakota and California, to open more public land for energy and mineral development. The revised land-use plans affect around 50 million acres of sagebrush habitat and allow leasing for fluid minerals, including geothermal, even in areas with the highest conservation standards, subject to strict conditions. "We are strengthening American energy security while ensuring the sage-grouse continues to thrive," said acting Bureau of Land Management Director Bill Groffy.
Saks Global might declare bankruptcy. Carrie Bradshaw...
Saks Global might declare bankruptcy. Carrie Bradshaw just fell to her knees. In financial straits, the luxury conglomerate that merged Saks Fifth Avenue with Neiman Marcus and Bergdorf Goodman one year ago is now considering Chapter 11 bankruptcy “as a last resort,” Bloomberg reported. Saks Global has a $100 million debt payment due Dec. 30 that it may not be able to afford. Sales have plunged and losses have mounted, in part because the company struggled to pay vendors in recent years, which shrank its inventory. Saks banked on its $2.7 billion acquisition of the Neiman Marcus Group to turn business around, but the deal sped up its downfall, per Bloomberg. Some analysts think bankruptcy could be beneficial, especially for brick-and-mortar restructuring, since about 40% of Saks Fifth Avenue and Neiman Marcus stores share territory.
US troops, including special operations aircraft and cargo planes, moved into the Caribbean area this week as President Trump ramps up pressure on Venezuela, the Wall Street Journal reported.
The Supreme Court blocked the Trump administration from deploying the National Guard to Chicago.
Johnson & Johnson was ordered to pay $1.5 billion to a Maryland woman who blamed the company’s talc-based baby powder for causing her cancer—the largest verdict for a single plaintiff in J&J’s history.
Citadel, the hedge fund founded by Ken Griffin, will give $5 billion in profits back to investors despite being on track for its worst annual return since 2018, Bloomberg reported.
Bari Weiss is planning an overhaul of CBS News’s standards and procedures, Axios reported, after she was criticized for pulling a 60 Minutes story on the Trump admin’s deportation of Venezuelan men to El Salvador.
The Powerball jackpot ballooned to $1.7 billion—the fourth-biggest ever—after no one won Monday’s drawing. The next drawing is tonight.
Everyone seems to be in agreement: global oil supply is greater than...
Everyone seems to be in agreement: global oil supply is greater than the demand for the fuel. The consensus stands despite the fact that some of the world’s biggest storage hubs are far from overflowing. Now, many forecast even more production coming into this oversupplied market. It would only hasten the inevitable rebalancing.
Kpler reported earlier this month that the amount of oil on tankers had risen to the highest level since 2020, reaching 1.3 billion barrels. But storage hubs in the Caribbean and South Africa are sitting half-empty, and inventories at Cushing, Oklahoma, are at their lowest since 2007. This is because, per Bloomberg, “the oil futures curve doesn’t currently make it profitable.”
What this suggests is that demand might not be as weak as perceived; otherwise, storage hubs would be seeing a lot of activity right now. Instead, the oil sits on tankers, ready to set sail once it finds a buyer—and oil is finding buyers, including sanctioned oil.
US oil, gas royalty payment system needs reform, GAO says
The Government Accountability Office has recommended that Congress and...
The Government Accountability Office has recommended that Congress and the Interior Department shorten the time companies have to revise federal oil and gas royalty reports from six years to three years to improve oversight and revenue collection. The GAO warned that the current system often leaves regulators too little time to verify payments, raising the risk that not all royalties owed are collected. It also advised the Interior's Office of Natural Resources Revenue to formalize voluntary agreements with companies and create a centralized system to track such arrangements.
