Your daily briefing for all the top news in Energy, Technology, Finance, and Politics.
Energy
Well Leaks, Not Fracking, Are Linked to Fouled Water
NEW YORK TIMES
Henry Fountain
A study of tainted drinking water in areas where natural gas is produced from shale shows that the contamination is most likely caused by leaky wells rather than the process of hydraulic fracturing used to release the gas from the rock.
Emails show ‘collusion’ between EPA, environmental lobby: watchdog
WASHINGTON TIMES
Stephen Dinan
The EPA and environmental groups are exceptionally close for a government agency and lobby groups, with a revolving door and pressure from the groups often shaping EPA’s policies, according to a new report from a conservative watchdog group based on emails obtained in a yearslong battle with the agency. The report, which details what the Energy & Environment Legal Institute terms “collusion” between the Environmental Protection Agency and eco-friendly groups, is also a study in the way E&E used open records laws to force transparency on a secretive agency.
Study Links Increased Drilling With Earthquakes
WALL STREET JOURNAL
Tamara Audi
A magnitude-5.3 earthquake that hit Colorado in 2011 was likely caused by the injection of wastewater into the ground, a process used in natural-gas drilling, according to new research to be released Tuesday. The new study, published in the Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America, adds more detail to a growing body of work seeking to establish and explain the connection between human activity and seismic events, known as induced quakes.
Fixing Climate Change May Add No Costs, Report Says
NEW YORK TIMES
Justin Gillis
In decades of public debate about global warming, one assumption has been accepted by virtually all factions: that tackling it would necessarily be costly. But a new report casts doubt on that idea, declaring that the necessary fixes could wind up being effectively free. A global commission will announce its finding on Tuesday that an ambitious series of measures to limit emissions would cost $4 trillion or so over the next 15 years, an increase of roughly 5 percent over the amount that would likely be spent anyway on new power plants, transit systems and other infrastructure.
Obama targets a popular coolant in new effort to curb greenhouse gases
WASHINGTON POST
Joby Warrick
The White House will announce on Tuesday a series of voluntary commitments by some of the country’s largest chemical firms and retailers to move rapidly away from R-134a and similar compounds used in nearly every office, home and automobile in the country, according to current and former U.S. officials familiar with the effort.
China to Ban Coal With High Ash, Sulfur
WALL STREET JOURNAL
Chuin-Wei Yap, Rhiannon Hoyle and Andreas Ismar
China will ban certain types of highly polluting coal starting next year, making good on a vow its cabinet issued late last year as part of an accelerating campaign to clean up its air.
Technology
AT&T’s fascinating third-way proposal on net neutrality
WASHINGTON POST
Brian Fung
Here’s what AT&T’s proposal looks like: In a recent meeting with FCC officials, AT&T’s senior vice president for regulatory policy laid out a plan that would allow individual consumers to ask that some applications, such as Netflix, receive priority treatment over other services, such as e-mail or online video games. That’s different from the FCC’s current proposal, which tacitly allows Internet providers to charge content companies for priority access to consumers but doesn’t give the consumers a choice in the matter.
Netflix Has Replaced Google as the Face of Net Neutrality
NATIONAL JOURNAL
Brendan Sasso
Netflix is relishing its role as the corporate leader in the fight for net neutrality, and why wouldn’t it? By fighting for an open Internet, the video-streaming site is not only advocating a position that would protect its profits, it’s also earning goodwill from Web activists and liberals. But by taking a high-profile role, Netflix risks learning a painful political lesson: In Washington, friends are fickle, and enemies have long memories.
F.C.C. Revisits Net Neutrality Exemption for Mobile Broadband
NEW YORK TIMES
Edward Wyatt
High-speed cellular Internet access has been largely exempt from regulations aimed at preventing Internet providers from slowing down or blocking websites and applications. But wireless broadband’s special status is quickly losing support. On Tuesday, the Federal Communications Commission will hold a round-table discussion to examine whether proposed net neutrality rules should cover mobile broadband.
The FCC has now received 3 million net neutrality comments
WASHINGTON POST
Brian Fung
To date, the public has filed 3 million comments on the matter, the agency confirmed Monday. That’s more than double the last official count of 1.48 million — which itself was a substantial increase, attributed to last week’s Internet slowdown protests.
Smartwatches and Weak Privacy Rules
NEW YORK TIMES
Editorial
No amount of caution can truly take the place of strong privacy laws that give consumers control over what kinds of data companies collect about them and what businesses can do with it, something President Obama called for in 2012. Federal lawmakers have not passed such legislation, in large part because businesses that collect and use private data for targeted marketing have lobbied aggressively to preserve the status quo. The country should welcome innovative health devices but should also make sure that they do not becomes tools to invade individual privacy.
Apple’s Cook: Your Data Is Not Our Business
WALL STREET JOURNAL
Daisuke Wakabayashi
“Our business is not based on having information about you. You’re not our product,” Cook said. “I think everyone has to ask, how do companies make their money? Follow the money. And if they’re making money mainly by collecting gobs of personal data, I think you have a right to be worried.”
Next stop for some Obama alums: tech
POLITICOPRO (Subscribe)
Katy Bachman
Staffers from President Barack Obama’s administration — considered by some as the most digitally savvy in history — have been making the move to the tech sector for the next phase of their careers. As fast-growing tech companies become a bigger part of Americans’ everyday lives, high-level White House officials are in demand for their political gravitas and connections needed by tech companies to navigate regulatory challenges.
Nominee for European Post Voices Concern About U.S. Tech Giants
NEW YORK TIMES
James Kanter
Google should be blocked from expanding into making goods like cars and televisions, the European Union’s nominee for digital economy commissioner said over the weekend.
Google Report Shows Governments’ Increasing Demands for Users’ Data
NEW YORK TIMES
Conor Dougherty
Governments of all sizes are demanding that Google hand over growing troves of data about its users, according to the Internet giant’s latest transparency report. … The roughly 32,000 requests Google fielded in the first six months of 2014 were up 15 percent from the previous six months, and up 150 percent since the company started publishing its transparency report in 2009. The growth was faster in the United States, with 19 percent growth in the first half of 2014 versus the previous six months, and up 250 percent since 2009.
FTC chief: ‘Big data can have big consequences’
THE HILL
Julian Hattem
The head of the Federal Trade Commission is sounding the alarm about “big data.” … “But the same analytic power that makes it easier to predict the outbreak of a virus, identify who is likely to suffer a heart attack, or improve the delivery of social services, also has the capacity to reinforce disadvantages faced by low-income and underserved communities,” she said, according to prepared remarks.
Finance
US alarmed by prospect of Scottish ‘Yes’ in independence vote
FINANCIAL TIMES (Subscribe)
Robin Harding, Richard McGregor and Geoff Dyer
A Yes vote for independence would be an economic mistake for Scotland and a geopolitical disaster for the west, senior US figures – including Alan Greenspan – tell the Financial Times as Washington wakes up to the chance that its closest ally could break up this week. Having assumed for months that No would win comfortably, Washington has reacted with alarm to opinion polls showing that Thursday’s referendum is going down to the wire. “We have an interest in seeing the UK remain strong, robust and united,” said Josh Earnest, the White House spokesman.
As Bond-Buying Ends, Yellen Now Will Chart Course for Federal Reserve
NEW YORK TIMES
Binyamin Appelbaum
Ms. Yellen and her colleagues on the Fed’s policy-making committee, who will convene here on Tuesday and Wednesday, are broadly agreed that the Fed’s ability to improve economic conditions is nearing the end of the line, and they are inclined to start raising short-term interest rates around the midpoint of next year.
Calpers to Exit Hedge Funds
WALL STREET JOURNAL
Dan Fitzpatrick
The largest U.S. public pension plan is getting out of hedge funds as part of an effort to simplify its assets and reduce costs, a retreat that could prompt other cities and states to consider similar moves. The California Public Employees’ Retirement System said Monday it would shed its entire $4 billion investment in hedge funds over the next year.
Dodd-Frank’s Collateral Damage in Africa
WALL STREET JOURNAL
Rosa Whitaker
Reminiscent of the racially discriminatory practice of “redlining” neighborhoods, a little-known measure in the 2010 Dodd-Frank law, designed to stop the trafficking of “conflict minerals” from the Democratic Republic of Congo, is not achieving that goal. The measure also discriminates against the DRC’s regional neighbors and is hurting U.S. companies and consumers.
Politics
What Could Go Wrong for GOP?
NATIONAL JOURNAL
Charlie Cook
Two things may be keeping Republican strategists up at night: money and the Democratic ground game. Perhaps the biggest untold story of this election is how so many Republican and conservative donors, at least those whose last name isn’t Koch, have kept their checkbooks relatively closed.
How Senate Races Are Undercutting House Republicans
NATIONAL JOURNAL
Alex Roarty
Republicans have an easy time getting donors excited about Senate races. Write a big check, they say, and you’ll get the sweet satisfaction of watching Harry Reid give one final floor speech as majority leader before he turns control over to Mitch McConnell. It’s a much grander vision than anything House Republicans can offer. Their pitch? Help us increase our majority by 2 percent, or, if we’re being ambitious, maybe even 5 percent.
Democrats Put Cultural Issues in Their Quiver
NEW YORK TIMES
Jonathan Martin
After a generation of campaigns in which Republicans exploited wedge issues to win close elections, Democrats are now on the offensive in the culture wars. Democrats see social issues as potent for the same reasons Republicans once did, using them as a tool to both stoke concerns among moderate voters, especially women, and motivate their base.
A Republican War on Poverty
WALL STREET JOURNAL
Gary MacDougal
Now Republicans in Congress are coming together on important ideas to reform the Rube Goldberg patchwork of 126 federal safety-net human-services programs focused largely on the 46 million Americans now in poverty. Including state-level programs, annual government spending on these programs is almost $1 trillion. Dividing $1 trillion by 46 million shows an average of $21,700 for each American in poverty, or nearly $87,000 for a family of four. That’s almost four times the $23,850 a year federal poverty line for that family. While not practical, a cash payment of that amount would lift everyone in poverty well into the middle class. Clearly we are not getting the results we should from this enormous level of spending.
Common Core math is not fuzzy
USA TODAY
Solomon Friedberg
As a professional mathematician, I’m as firmly against fuzzy math as they come. Common Core lays the foundation for students to have a better grasp of mathematical concepts than present standards and sets higher expectations for teaching and learning.
Number of Americans Without Health Insurance Falls, Survey Shows
NEW YORK TIMES
Sabrina Tavernise
Federal researchers reported on Tuesday that the number of Americans without health insurance had declined substantially in the first quarter of this year, the first federal measure of the number of uninsured Americans since the Affordable Care Act extended coverage to millions of people in January.
In Congress, path clearing for Obama plan to aid Syrian rebels fighting Islamic State
WASHINGTON POST
Ed O’Keefe and Anne Gearan
President Obama’s plan to train and equip Syrian rebels in the fight against Islamic State militants appeared headed for quick passage on Capitol Hill this week, but congressional leaders have signaled that they will postpone a full debate on the use of military force until after the midterm elections. House Speaker John A. Boehner (R-Ohio) and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) have been working together on a cross-chamber strategy designed to keep their party ranks united and move swiftly toward passage of the measure.
Obama Must Get Congress’s Backing for the Fight Against ISIS
NEW YORK TIMES
Sen. Tim Kaine
Mr. Obama began airstrikes against ISIS (also known as ISIL) in August — during a congressional recess — to protect American lives in Iraq and avoid humanitarian catastrophe. But when the president decided last week to “go on offense” against the group, the need for congressional approval was plain. I and other senators have repeatedly called for Mr. Obama to submit this important mission to Congress, and for Congress to grapple with it in the manner required by Article I of the Constitution. The announcement last week by the chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee, Senator Robert Menendez, Democrat of New Jersey, that the committee would craft authorizing language is a positive step.
Fighting ISIL requires congressional backing
USA TODAY
Sen. Bob Corker
After making the case to the American people that we must confront the Islamic State of Iraq and Greater Syria (ISIL), the president chose not to include the buy-in of the American people through their elected officials in the decision to use force. … We would be stronger and our actions against ISIL more effective if the president requested authorization. Congress, and the American people, would give him that authority as long as his plan is well thought out. It’s the right thing to do for Americans heading into harm’s way.
The U.S. strategy to defeat the Islamic State is underpowered
WASHINGTON POST
Editorial
Mr. Obama is right to seek the empowerment of the Iraqi and Syrian forces and to fashion a broad agenda for a regional alliance. But in the end the Islamic State will have to be defeated on the battlefield. In that respect, the alliance the administration is constructing looks underpowered.
