Economy
Gas prices soaring and could go even higher by spring: Analyst
GasBuddy analyst Patrick DeHaan argued on Monday that the price at the pump is soaring due to increased demand coupled with the fact that the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) “is not opening the spigot.”
DeHaan was referencing the fact that last week, OPEC leaders and their allies agreed to maintain production cuts for all countries except Russia and Khazakstan. The news caused West Texas Intermediate crude oil, the U.S. benchmark, to spike.
Urban Farming Startup Infarm Raises Extra $100 Million to Expand (rbaker)
Indoor farming startup Infarm raised an additional $100 million to expand into more foods as the coronavirus pandemic increases interest in growing produce in urban areas.
Infarm, which already grows salad greens and herbs, wants to strengthen its presence in existing markets, hire more people and venture into new crops including mushrooms, tomatoes and chillies, Chief Executive Officer Erez Galonska said. The Berlin-based company received extra financing from existing investors that’s on top of the $170 million raised in September.
Electricity needed to mine bitcoin is more than used by ‘entire countries’ (jw)
Bitcoin mining – the process in which a bitcoin is awarded to a computer that solves a complex series of algorithm – is a deeply energy intensive process
It’s not just the value of bitcoin that has soared in the last year – so has the huge amount of energy it consumes.
The cryptocurrency’s value has dipped recently after passing a high of $50,000 but the energy used to create it has continued to soar during its epic rise, climbing to the equivalent to the annual carbon footprint of Argentina, according to Cambridge Bitcoin Electricity Consumption Index, a tool from researchers at Cambridge University that measures the currency’s energy use.
A Key Issue To Be Resolved Will Be Which Parties Take The Loss (newsbouy)
“The nation’s largest homebuilders are buying up undeveloped land at a frantic pace. All those land purchases could create an economic pinch for homebuilders that overextended themselves. ‘The biggest concern I have is the land grab,’ Ivy Zelman, CEO of housing research firm Zelman & Associates. ‘The majority of these homebuilders are going out and buying land and underwriting today’s record-high absorption and price growth. Those numbers are not sustainable, but builders are buying land as if they are.’”
BP to tell 25,000 office staff to work from home two days a week
BP has told 25,000 office-based staff that they will be expected to work from home for two days a week as part of a post-pandemic shift to flexible working patterns.
The global oil company introduced the new hybrid model of working to staff last month, and expects the 60-40 split between office and home working to take effect from this summer as Covid-19 restrictions begin to ease.
Brent cracks $70 for first time since pandemic began after Saudi facilities attacked
Brent crude futures jumped above $70 a barrel on Monday for the first time since the COVID-19 pandemic began, while U.S. crude touched its highest in more than two years, following reports of attacks on Saudi Arabian oil facilities.
COVID-19 Relief And Cash Payments Near; CDC Says Vaccinated Can Gather Without Masks
Over the weekend, the Senate approved a version of President Biden’s $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan, setting up a vote in the House that could send the package to Biden’s desk as early as Tuesday. The package contains direct cash payments for many Americans, extended unemployment benefits, billions of dollars for vaccine distribution and a significant change to the child tax credit that could lift millions of American children out of poverty. Indi Dutta-Gupta of the Georgetown Center on Poverty and Inequality explains how the credit would work.
And there’s new guidance for Americans who’ve been fully vaccinated. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention say vaccinated people can feel safe enjoying a few pre-pandemic freedoms.
Consumers Saved $2.9 Trillion During the Pandemic. Their Money Will Drive the Global Recovery
Consumers in the world’s largest economies amassed $2.9 trillion in extra savings during Covid-related lockdowns, a vast cash hoard that creates the potential for a powerful recovery from the pandemic recession.
Households in the U.S., China, U.K., Japan and the biggest euro-area nations socked money away when forced by the coronavirus to stay home and out of the shops, according to estimates by Bloomberg Economics. They are likely continuing to do so as restrictions remain and governments dole out stimulus.
Wyoming to Lift All Pandemic Restrictions on March 16
Wyoming will lift its Covid-19 mask requirement and permit bars, restaurants, theaters and gyms to resume normal operations March 16, Governor Mark Gordon announced Monday.
Wyoming “has seen significant success rolling out the vaccine,” according to a statement issued by the governor’s office.
Environment
Global heating pushes tropical regions towards limits of human livability (newsbouy)
The climate crisis is pushing the planet’s tropical regions towards the limits of human livability, with rising heat and humidity threatening to plunge much of the world’s population into potentially lethal conditions, new research has found.
Should governments fail to curb global heating to 1.5C above the pre-industrial era, areas in the tropical band that stretches either side of the equator risk changing into a new environment that will hit “the limit of human adaptation”, the study warns.
Millions Of U.S. Homes Face An Expensive Flooding Threat
Sea level rise and heavier rainstorms driven by global warming are sending more water into residential neighborhoods from the Gulf Coast to New England to Appalachia to the Pacific Northwest. New data make it clear that many households and communities cannot afford the mounting costs.
The cost of flood damage to homes nationwide will increase by more than 50 percent in the next 30 years, according to data released by the First Street Foundation, a nonprofit research organization that studies flood risk and housing.
Gold & Silver
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