Your daily briefing for all the top news in Energy, Technology, Finance, and Politics.
Energy
U.S. Moves to Reduce Global Warming Emissions
NEW YORK TIMES
Coral Davenport
The Obama administration on Tuesday announced a series of moves aimed at cutting emissions of hydrofluorocarbons, or HFCs, powerful greenhouse gases that contribute to climate change. … Over all, the administration estimated that the agreements announced on Tuesday would reduce cumulative global consumption of HFCs by the equivalent of 700 million metric tons of carbon dioxide through 2025. That is about 1.5 percent of the world’s 2010 greenhouse gas emissions, or the same as taking 15 million cars off the road for 10 years.
Scottish Independence Movement’s Wager on Energy Could Prove Risky
NEW YORK TIMES
Stanley Reed
“It’s Scotland’s oil” was the rallying cry in the 1970s that helped raise the profile of the Scottish Nationalist Party, which now leads the country and is pushing for a vote to secede in the referendum on Thursday. Alex Salmond, the politician leading the separatist movement, has pointed to North Sea energy as the treasure that would help finance an independent Scotland — ensuring that the country could continue the generous public spending, including free university tuition, that he is promising voters. But North Sea energy revenue — even if the bulk of it went to a stand-alone Scotland, as is expected — would not be sufficient to justify such a big bet on the country’s economic future.
EPA Extends Comment Period on Climate Rules
WALL STREET JOURNAL
Amy Harder
The Obama administration said Tuesday it is allowing more time for the public to weigh in on draft regulations controlling carbon emissions from hundreds of fossil-fuel power plants across the country after a majority of senators called for the extension. The Environmental Protection Agency said Tuesday it was extending by 45 days its public-comment period that was originally scheduled to end Oct. 16. In a letter to EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy last week, 53 senators, including several Democrats up for re-election this year, urged the administration to allow 60 more days; the comment period was originally 120 days. The new closing date is Dec. 1.
TransCanada CEO says may build rail even if Keystone wins OK
POLITICOPRO (Subscribe)
Elana Schor
TransCanada may move ahead with oil sands-by-rail facilities even if it wins approval for its Keystone XL pipeline within the next several months, CEO Russ Girling told reporters today.
Jindal: Climate change a ‘Trojan horse’ for the left
THE HILL
Timothy Cama
While the Louisiana governor did not dispute that man-made climate change is happening, he urged “no regrets” climate policies that do not harm the United States’ economic standing around the world.
Technology
Momentum is building for a net neutrality compromise
WASHINGTON POST
Brian Fung
Internet service providers (ISPs) and net neutrality activists appear increasingly interested in a proposal that would give consumers more control over their Internet service, a hopeful sign for compromise in the debate about whether all Internet traffic should be treated equally.
Federal Intrusion: Too Many Apps for That
WALL STREET JOURNAL
Geoffrey A. Manne
In the case of the Google and Apple settlements, the FTC did not balance the harms of the small number of unauthorized purchases against the widespread benefits of the user interface design in question. While that approach might be defensible in the case of manifestly harmful practices—like fraud—it is inappropriate in the context of app-store design. The FTC prefers consent orders because they extend the commission’s authority with little judicial oversight, but they are too blunt an instrument for regulating a technology company. For the next 20 years, if the FTC decides that Google’s product design or billing practices don’t provide “express, informed consent,” the FTC could declare Google in violation of the new consent decree. The FTC could then impose huge penalties—tens or even hundreds of millions of dollars—without establishing that any consumer had actually been harmed.
Major TV changes go off the air
THE HILL
Julian Hattem
Lawmakers in the Senate have abandoned plans to overhaul the way people choose which television stations are part of their cable or satellite subscriptions. The broadcast industry revolted at the Senate Commerce Committee’s initial proposal to let people choose which broadcast channels — such as ABC or NBC — they want in their package, a proposal sometimes referred to as “a la carte TV.” Now the panel is set to vote Wednesday on a much narrower set of reforms to the TV market — with the channels proposal notably absent.
Finance
Tax doubts dampen hiring by US companies
FINANCIAL TIMES (Subscribe)
Barney Jopson
US chief executives see little chance of Congress reforming the country’s tax system after November’s midterm elections, leaving them cautious about hiring and investing for the next six months, a survey of chiefs has found.
G-20 Plans to Overhaul International Corporate Tax System Still on Track
WALL STREET JOURNAL
Paul Hannon
Plans to overhaul the international tax system to make it more difficult for companies to shift profits to low-tax countries remain on track, with the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development meeting an ambitious deadline on Tuesday for presenting a first set of new guidelines to finance ministers of the Group of 20 largest economies.
House Passes Bill Giving Fed More Flexibility in Regulating Insurers
WALL STREET JOURNAL
Victoria McGrane and Ryan Tracy
The House on Tuesday approved legislation long sought by large insurance companies that would give the Federal Reserve more flexibility in regulating such firms. … The stumbling block: House Republicans packaged the insurance legislation, which would amend the 2010 Dodd-Frank law, with several other changes to the law. The Senate passed the insurance fix as a stand-alone bill in June, and key Democrats have signaled they aren’t interested in considering the expanded House measure.
Uh-oh, the credit rating agencies are up to their old tricks again
WASHINGTON POST
Matt O’Brien
There are three major credit rating agencies, but Wall Street only needs one of them to rate a bond. So a bank can ask all of them what rating they would give a bond, and then go with the one that rates it highest. This “ratings shopping,” of course, gives credit rating agencies good reason—i.e., their bottom lines—to give banks the ratings they want. There’s no point being Cassandra if it drives you out of business. Dodd-Frank didn’t fix this, and now it’s coming back.
New Data, Old Story
NEW YORK TIMES
Editorial
New census data on income and poverty, released on Tuesday, show that median household income barely budged in 2013 for the second year in a row, following two consecutive annual declines. At nearly $52,000, it is still 8 percent below its level in 2007 before the recession. To make matters worse, the income declines from the recession came on top of losses carried over from the prior business cycle from 2000 to 2007. In all, median household income in America is 8.6 percent below its peak in 2000.
Politics
Top Harry Reid advisers build big-money firewall to protect Senate Democrats
WASHINGTON POST
Matea Gold
If Democrats cling to their Senate majority this fall, it will be in large part because of a well-funded group connected to Senate Majority Leader Harry M. Reid that has helped build a formidable firewall around vulnerable incumbents. The Senate Majority PAC, fueled by billionaires and labor unions, has been the biggest-spending super PAC of the 2014 midterm contests. Together with an allied tax-exempt group, Patriot Majority, the pro-Democratic effort has poured at least $36 million into ads and voter outreach, according to the Center for Responsive Politics, a nonpartisan research organization.
World Events Muffle Democrats’ Economic Rallying Cry
NEW YORK TIMES
Michael D. Shear and Carl Hulse
Events overseas have undermined Democrats’ strategy to tie their midterm prospects to an economic theme that includes calls for a higher minimum wage, reducing income inequality, pay equity for women and help with college tuition. Instead, the public and Congress have been overwhelmed this summer by a border crisis, an Ebola outbreak in Africa and, most notably, the terrorist threat from the Islamic State, also known by the acronym ISIS. Democrats, pointing to President Obama’s effectiveness in drawing an economic contrast with the Republican Mitt Romney in 2012 and to the 2006 midterm races in which they took over the House and the Senate, still believe the strategy is sound.
Obamacare: From game-changer to background noise
POLITICO
David Nather
A year ago, it looked like Obamacare was going to have a huge role in this year’s elections. And not in a good way — as a symbol of government incompetence and the Republicans’ main case against President Barack Obama’s record. Now, it’s clear that the health care law not going to be the centerpiece of the November campaigns, in a good way or a bad way. It’s going to be more like the wallpaper.
Federal Health Care Website Faces Security Risks, Watchdog Finds
WALL STREET JOURNAL
Louise Radnofsky and Stephanie Armour
HealthCare.gov has continuing security frailties that put users’ sensitive personal information at risk, a government watchdog is set to tell Congress this week. Despite the federal government’s efforts to protect the website from breaches, “weaknesses remained in the security and privacy protections applied to HealthCare.gov and its supporting systems,” said the Government Accountability Office.
In Iowa, attacks on Republican Ernst change dynamics of tight Senate race
WASHINGTON POST
Philip Rucker and Dan Balz
Ernst’s effort to project a more moderate image reflects what Democrats say is a shift in the dynamic in one of the closest and most contentious midterm campaigns in the country. In Iowa — which Republicans have looked to as a potential insurance policy for taking control of the Senate — the debate increasingly has centered on issues that could give Democrats the edge. The question is whether Iowa is part of a broader political shift in other competitive states that would allow Democrats to maintain their Senate majority, even if by the slimmest of margins.
Republicans Will Need to Sweep to Hold Onto Senate Majority in 2016
NATIONAL JOURNAL
Emily Shultheis
But looking ahead to 2016, when Republicans will face a tough Senate map of their own, the margin by which the GOP wins the Senate this fall is just as important as whether or not they win it in the first place.
Fate of Children’s Insurance Program Is Called Into Question at Senate Hearing
NEW YORK TIMES
Abby Goodnough
A Senate hearing on Tuesday set the stage for a coming debate over whether the federal government should continue financing a popular health insurance program for lower-income children who are now eligible for new coverage options under the Affordable Care Act.
The Slippery Slope Begins
NEW YORK TIMES
Editorial
The alarming uncertainty that General Dempsey has injected into the still evolving military strategy makes it even more important that Congress carry out its constitutional duty and debate and vote on the new mission in Iraq and Syria.
The ramped-up U.S. effort against Ebola is late but welcome
WASHINGTON POST
Editorial
WITH PEOPLE DYING in the streets of the Liberian capital, President Obama has at last ramped up the U.S. response to the worst outbreak ever of the Ebola virus in West Africa. The fresh surge of support announced Tuesday represents a welcome change of course. No one knows if the package outlined by Mr. Obama at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention will be sufficient, but at least the United States has started to act like the world’s indispensable nation.
Sports leaders put victory over decency
USA TODAY
Sen. Claire McCaskill
This week was a gut-check moment for big-time sports in this country. A giant mirror has been raised for commissioners, coaches and athletic directors across the country. It is their time to take a hard look at team and institutional priorities, their own character, and the message they send to women, children and all fans of the multibillion dollar American sports enterprise.
