The Latest Trending Economic, Environmental and Infrastructure News Curated for You by The Balmoral Group
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Happy Friday!
Welcome back to this week’s edition of The Economic Perspective! Here at TBG, our July Plastic Challenge is well under way where staff are increasing their awareness of plastic consumption and making efforts to reduce it by learning about the subject, bringing their own coffee cups to their favorite shops, replacing plastic items in their homes with non-plastic alternatives, buying recycled items, and more. We challenge you to do the same!
This week, TBG’s Valerie and Greg Seidel and Cortney Cortez attended the 36th Annual Environmental Permitting Summer School on Marco Island, Florida, where they were immersed in the latest and greatest information available on environmental, energy, and growth management laws, rules, and programs. Valerie made two presentations at the conference on the topics of resiliency in transportation and infrastructure as well as emerging issues in agriculture and their effects on the environment. In addition, this week 11 TBG staff volunteered to distribute food at Orlando’s Second Harvest Food Bank where they were part of a volunteer group that sorted and packed 15,167 pounds of food, equivalent to 12,639 meals to be distributed to individuals and families in the greater Orlando area! Way to go, team!
In this week’s edition, we bring you stories on new PFAS water treatment approaches, hope for coral species survival, deep-sea mining, and more. We hope you enjoy the read, and let us know what you think! Please feel free to forward this to anyone you think would be interested. If you’d like to view previous editions please click here, or to subscribe please click here!
Thank you and have a great weekend!
Hope for Coral Found in Unique Honduran Coral Species
Due to rising temperatures across the globe and increasingly acidic waters, coral cover has been dwindling. The Florida Keys experienced serious coral bleaching in Biscayne National Park and other locations just last summer due to intense heat. But some hope has emerged from a unique coral species found in Tela Bay, Honduras that can withstand these higher temperatures and stressful water environment. By bringing back live samples, the University of Miami’s Coral Reef Future Lab is working to breed more heat-tolerant varieties with the hope of changing the trajectory of coral cover everywhere for the better. Read more here.
New Technology Developed for Underwater Exploration
While a vast amount of the ocean remains unexplored, new technological developments are allowing researchers to discover more. The University of South Florida and Florida Institute of Oceanography recently invented a remotely operated vehicle named Taurus to take samples from deep-water sharks and repair coral. The vehicle is able to travel up to 2.5 miles under water, providing scientists opportunities to advance underwater exploration and providing the Florida Institute of Oceanography a competitive edge in education for students interested in oceanography. Taurus is expected to take its first dive in late July of 2024. Read more here.
Wind Power Electricity Generation Exceeded Coal in Recent Months
With renewable resource use on the rise, wind turbines marked an important victory over fossil fuels this year. Wind energy electricity production surpassed that of coal in March, April, and May of this year, signaling positive momentum for the industry despite pressure and cancelled contracts. While the U.S. Energy Information Administration says that this pattern will fluctuate, there has been a steady decline in coal use alongside an increase in wind. Wind power represents only 10.2% of the U.S. energy production overall but is responsible for nearly half of total renewable energy production, contributing to reduced reliance on fossil fuels. Read more here.
New Facility in Florida Keys to Combat PFAS in Drinking Water
The Florida Keys Aqueduct Authority (FKAA) is developing a new facility for the treatment of PFAS to help meet U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Maximum Contaminate Levels for public water systems. The FKAA is implementing upgrades to the J. Robert Dean Water Treatment Plant by constructing a nanofiltration facility that will provide advanced water treatment methods to reduce PFAS levels. The project is expected to take 30-36 months to complete. Read more here
Washington Direct Seed Agriculture Program Protects Water Quality
Washington State’s partnership with producers to create mutually beneficial solutions for sustainable agriculture resulted in the creation of Spokane Conservation District’s Direct Seed Loan Implementation Program. This program helps farmers afford equipment by allowing them to switch to direct seed tilling, which mitigates soil erosion that decreases water quality, and had converted 107,000 acres as of 2023. Paired with Washington’s Farmed Smart Certification, it was one of five “Exceptional Projects” recognized by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s annual PISCES award for clean water projects. Read more here. Image: USDA NRCS South Dakota
Grants Totaling $160 Million Awarded for Clean Construction Materials
Funded by the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) distributed 38 grants ranging from $250,000 to $10 million each to recipients across the United States. The Biden-Harris Administration and EPA aim for these grants to create American jobs, support a domestic market for climate-friendly construction products, and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The money provided by the grants will allow recipients to research and produce cleaner materials, track and report emissions data, and train construction professionals on sustainability. Read more here.
Deep Sea Mining Facing Challenges From Multiple Countries
The United Nations International Seabed Authority is facing pushback from 27 countries as they are considering new rules and regulations that would allow deep sea mining. Deep sea mining is a process that extracts raw minerals like cobalt and nickel from the ocean floor, but does so at the risk of wreaking havoc on ecosystems and disrupting wildlife patterns in the area. A few Pacific U.S. states have issued a complete ban on the process, including Hawaii, the most recent. There is concern over whether or not the proposal is being rushed, combined with the fact that not all involved costs are known. Read more here.
Data Visualization of the Week
Plastic Bag Bans Around the World in 2024
In the spirit of TBG’s July Plastic Challenge where we are learning about implications of plastics use and ways to reduce it, we share a world map showing the state of national plastic bag restrictions in 2024. 91 countries have implemented some form of policy limiting the use of plastic bags, either through taxation or outright bans. Many African countries have successfully implemented plastic bag bans, and in the European Union, many countries that have banned certain types of plastic bags are going further to ban other plastics like produce bags and condiment packages. Source: Katharina Buchholz, Statista
Click the visual below for more information.
