The Economic Perspective 4/25/2025

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!

This week, TBG celebrated Earth Day, and as part of our Earth Day activities several TBG team members spent the day at Spring Hammock Preserve, volunteering to help remove invasive species. Together, we removed more than 1,000 Caesarweed plants, a category I invasive plant in Florida.  

In this edition of the Economic Perspective, we're bringing focus to new updates from Florida legislature, Washington climate and ecology action highlights, coastal waters revival initiatives, climate centers, and more.  Our data visualization covers the current level of the Economic Policy Uncertainty index in the U.S. 

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!

Happy Easter and have a great weekend!

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Legislation Proposed to Update Federal Orange Juice Standards

Back in 2022, the Florida Citrus Processors Association and Florida Citrus Mutual filed a request with the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to lower Brix requirements for not-from-concentrate, pasteurized orange juice.  A bill was introduced in the Senate just this month by U.S. Senators from Florida (Rick Scott and Ashley Moody) to allow for slightly lower minimum sugar levels for orange juice (standards set by the FDA); this would decrease the minimum allowed sugar content from 10.5% Brix standard to 10% (Brix is the name for the % sugar content in juice).  Florida juice processors currently have to import a lot more juice from Brazil and elsewhere to meet the minimum standard, and this small change would allow for more FL orange juice to be used directly.  Read more about the bill, called “Defending Domestic Orange Juice Production Act” here.

From Groundwater to Owls: How Washington is Honoring Earth Day Every Day

In honor of Earth Day this past week, The Washington Department of Ecology is highlighting several initiatives showcasing the great work they’ve been up to. In Richland WA for example, over 35 billion gallons of contaminated groundwater have been treated, with plans underway to vitrify nuclear waste using high-tech melters. In Pasco, the city’s water reuse facility now treats food processing wastewater with algae, reducing strain on public systems. During expansion, artificial burrows were installed to protect burrowing owls, which maintained healthy breeding outcomes. After a major storm near Issaquah, the Washington Conservation Corps cleared hazardous debris from residential areas, helping the community recover. These projects highlight Ecology’s commitment to protecting natural resources, supporting wildlife, and enhancing community resilience all year round! Check it out here!

New Jersey Cutbacks on Prescribed Burns Now Facing Thousand Acres of Wildfire

A million acres of towering pitch pines exist in New Jersey, and with winter time needles lying on the ground floor conditions for a wildfire are ripe. On Tuesday morning a wildfire started, affecting 11,500 acres of forest. Thousands of households and businesses were evacuated for hours as a result and the Garden State Parkway was shut down for miles as smoke wafted into neighborhoods. Foresters had warned in March that below average rainfall at near-drought levels and delays in prescribed burns by authorities would increase risk of wildfires. The delays came from weather being too hot and dry to start controlled burns. Usually 25,000 acres of forest are treated with controlled burns, but so far only 3,320 acres have been burned. A decrease in rainfall and snowfall has been an additional cause. You can read more here and here

"Revive Our Ocean" Initiative Launched to Protect Coastal Waters

A new initiative backed by British naturalist David Attenborough was launched on Thursday to help communities profit from efforts to protect 30% of the world’s oceans by the end of the decade. Led by NGO Dynamic Planet and partnered with the National Geographic Society’s Pristine Seas program they will assist local communities to establish “marine protected areas”. Countries are meeting in New York this week to discuss how to implement and finance a global treaty agreed in 2023 to protect ocean biodiversity. Despite 100 countries signing the treaty only 21 have ratified it. More countries are expected to ratify by June, but currently only 8% of their goal oceans have been protected. Their goal is by 2030, 30% of oceans are protected. Read more here and here.

Solar Grants and a Clean ferry; How Washington Climate Funds are Being Utilized Today

This week, grant recipients for the Clean Energy Community Grants program in Washington were announced. The grant program, funded by Washington’s Climate Commitment Act (CCA), released over $36.5 million dollars, which has been spread over 38 projects around Washington. Most funding went to rooftop and battery solar projects for essential buildings like schools, hospitals, and food banks, but a portion also went to projects like an electric school bus and electric vehicle chargers. Aside from the grant program, recently, an announcement by the Department of Commerce has revealed that CCA funding will be used to provide a new zero-emission, zero-waste hydrofoil ferry which is anticipated to run between Bremerton and Seattle. Read more about the grant program here and more on the new ferry here.

Regional Climate Centers Reopen after Funding Loss

Four regional climate centers have resumed operations after they were shut down abruptly earlier this month. The centers not only collect and share state climate data, but they also provide free online resources like drought monitors and heat index tools. The regional centers that were affected were both the Southern Regional Climate Services and the Midwest Regional Climate Center, whose climate data services were restored on April 21 after an influx of online support. The High Plains Regional Climate had its operations resume on April 18. Read more here.

Florida Legislature Budget Standoff Threatens Tax Cuts and State Spending

Florida lawmakers are headed into overtime as the House and Senate remain deadlocked over the state budget, delaying decisions on key issues like property and sales tax cuts, school funding, and health care spending. With the legislative session originally set to end May 2nd, only 53 out of nearly 2,000 bills have passed and the budget must be finalized by April 29 to meet constitutional requirements with the mandatory 72-hour review period. The primary dispute is over the scope of tax cuts, with the House proposing a $5.5 billion plan centered on reducing the state sales tax to 5.25%, while the Senate favors a $2.8 billion package. Despite the ongoing negotiations, lawmakers remain at odds over how much to spend and save, with concerns mounting over a projected $7 billion shortfall in two years. Read more here.

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Data Visualization of the Week

Tariff Turmoil Fuels Historic Economic Uncertainty

The Economic Policy Uncertainty (EPU) index surged in March to levels not seen since the COVID-19 era, marking the sharpest year-over-year increase in nearly 40 years, according to Federal Reserve economists. Experts warn that this confusion is stalling business investment and consumer spending, with traditional market behaviors breaking down, such as bond markets failing to provide a safe haven as 10-year Treasury yields rise above 4.5%. Business leaders from major investment firms like JPMorgan and Blackrock warn that prolonged uncertainty is pushing the U.S. closer to recession. Read more here.