The Latest Trending Economic, Environmental and Infrastructure News Curated for You by The Balmoral Group
The Balmoral Group provides practical, professional and precise Economics, Data Analytics, and Engineering Consulting services and is part of a globally integrated team.
Happy Friday!
And thanks for tuning into another edition of the Economic Perspective! Hope everyone has had a great week so far and is looking forward to a fantastic weekend! In this week's TBG news: on Wednesday, the East Central Florida Regional Planning Council held its annual Diamond Awards. TBG’s Cortney Cortez attended the event to represent Balmoral’s role in the Orange County Wetland Code Update which received the ‘Excellence in Conservation and Countryside Diamond Award’. The award recognizes Orange County’s innovative revisions to its outdated Wetland Protection Ordinance to provide better protection to valuable wetlands; the ordinance was approved unanimously by the Orange County Board of County Commissioners. Balmoral provided analysis for updating of the permit fee schedules and staffing analysis with the County, Drummond Carpenter and Applied Ecology.
In this edition, we bring you articles on the recent rollback of FEMA flood policies, layoffs in the National Park Service, improvements in remote sensing technology for agriculture, and more! Our data visualization for this week also showcases and interactable database on changes in U.S. Trade Policy, so check it out below!
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!
Have a great weekend!
EMixed Trends in the Capacity and Utilization of Transportation Logistics
The Logistics Managers’ Index released this week reveals the sentiment around transportation rates has reached its highest level since April 2022, as prices jumped in January. The monthly survey of supply chain managers shows the LMI at 70.4 for pricing, 3.5 points higher than December indicating expansion, as a reading over 70 indicates “significant growth”. Respondents expect inventories to be elevated a year from now with companies reporting plans to hold higher inventories of merchandise due to consumer demands, tariff concerns, and rising transportation costs. Read more here.
Road Use Charges Begin Testing as More EVs Take to the Streets
Several states are exploring “road usage charge” (RUC) to have motorists pay a set rate that more closely aligns with miles driven as a new approach to raise revenues that have been traditionally collected through gas taxes. The programs to date are currently voluntary such as those in Utah, Oregon, and Virginia. An example of this is in Utah, where participants in the program pay 1.11 cents per mile up to an annual cap of $143.25, however the program is currently voluntary with 7,200 participants. RUC programs are generally more accepted as a fair system for revenue collection as vehicles using the roads are paying more instead of gas-mileage based collection methods. As EVs grow in market share, states are considering alternative revenue collection methods to capture the revenues to support highway development and maintenance. Read More Here: Miles Driven a Key Metric for Road Usage Charge Programs.
Humanity Can Farm More Food from the Seas While Shrinking Negative Impacts
The University of Michigan has been doing research on sustainable maricultural practices. The models these used helped establish baseline, best-case scenario, and worst-case scenario results for different levels of greenhouse gas emissions and other factors. In the best-case scenario bivalve shellfish and finfish production could increase by 2.36-fold and 1.82-fold respectively, while mariculture impacts would decrease by up to 30.5%. The drawback is that this requires careful farming practices as the worst-case scenario would be four times worse for the environment. The area in which the farms operate is a significant factor in minimizing impact. Analyzing impacts on biodiversity and the environment will help develop other sustainable practices for researchers to work with. Read more here and here.
Remote Sensing Technology Enhances Groundwater Monitoring for Irrigation
A recent study by the Desert Research Institute confirms that remote sensing technology, specifically the OpenET platform, can accurately estimate groundwater use in irrigation. By utilizing satellite-based evapotranspiration measurements, researchers compared OpenET estimates with well meter data in Nevada’s Diamond Valley and Oregon’s Harney Basin. The results showed a 7% discrepancy in Diamond Valley and a 17% difference in Harney Basin, demonstrating the effectiveness of remote sensing in tracking water use. This approach provides a cost-effective solution for monitoring groundwater consumption in areas with limited infrastructure, helping water managers make informed decisions for sustainable water management. Read more here.
FEMA Stops Enforcement of Flood Protection Rules for Building Codes
The Trump administration ordered FEMA to halt implementation of the Federal Flood Risk Management Standard, a policy that was established to help ensure buildings and other infrastructure damaged by flooding are rebuilt to be less vulnerable to future flooding events. FEMA has historically helped develop building codes and construction standards that improve resilience of structures to severe weather. Disaster experts are expressing concern that this change will lead to higher damage, losses and costs to communities if structures are not rebuilt to withstand future floods. Read more here.
Layoffs at the National Parks Service Create Uncertainty for a $640 Billion Recreation Industry
Approximately 1,000 workers were fired from the National Park Service last week, leading to a great deal of uncertainty for national parks heading into the busy summer tourist season. In 2023, national parks and other sites attracted over 325 million visitors, with some parks like Yosemite National Park having as many as 4 million visitors annually. Collectively, the parks are estimated to contribute approximately $640 billion to the outdoor recreation industry, according to the Bureau of Economic Analysis. The firings create uncertainty for park operations and maintenance as well as concerns for the economic impacts to local communities that depend on the parks for jobs and economic activity. Read more here and here.
Data Visualization of the Week
Update in Changes in U.S. Trade Policy
As of February 4, 2025, a 10% tariff was applied to all Chinese imports. China responded the same day with a 15% tariff on coal and liquefied natural gas products and a 10% tariff on crude oil, agricultural machinery, and large-engine cars imported from the U.S. The implementation of tariffs on Canadian and Mexican goods, which was supposed to take place on February 1, 2025, has been pushed back to March 4, 2025. The proposed tariffs would impose a 25% tax on all products imported from Canada or Mexico, except for Canadian “energy” or “energy resources,” which would be subject to a 10% tariff. A 25% tariff is set to be imposed next month on all imports of steel and aluminum into the U.S. This would end exemptions for major trade partners including Canada, Mexico, Brazil, and the European Union. Impacts of blanket tariffs, as well as changes in immigration and energy policies, could bring 4% to 7% of additional inflation (on top of current inflation) into the U.S. economy over the next two years. For more data visuals, see The International Economic Implications of the Trump Program; Inflation Scenarios 8 and 9.
Click the visual below for more information.
Komentáře