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Wall Street Journal
16 hours ago
- Business
- Wall Street Journal
America's Big, Beautiful Land Sale
Uncle Sam owns nearly half of the land west of the Rockies, and GOP lawmakers want to give states and businesses a tiny piece of the action. Selling a small amount of federal land would raise revenue and spur development, so why are some Republicans trying to protect the government's hoard? The Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee announced a plan last week to sell public land as part of the GOP's reconciliation bill. The proposal designates about 258 million acres of land—40% of federal holdings—as potentially available for sale. It directs the Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management to sell up to 3.3 million acres from these designated zones. The areas up for sale would exclude land with dedicated uses such as national parks and monuments, and land previously leased for mining, energy production and other activities. The plan directs federal agencies to prioritize selling land that is near existing roads or suitable for home-building. Agencies would consult governors before auctioning land in their states, and state and local governments would have the right to make an offer before private bidders. The selloffs would put unused resources in the hands of owners who commit to invest. The available land includes areas that are sometimes used for cattle grazing, but ranchers and other users would have ample time to comment before these parcels are sold. The sales would also raise money to offset tax cuts in the rest of the bill.
National Post
10-06-2025
- Climate
- National Post
AEM Report: Western U.S. Drought Nearly Triples in One Year, Threatening Critical Resources and Infrastructure
Article content 2025 Summer Weather Outlook Highlights Urgent Need for Action Amid Escalating Water Scarcity, Agricultural Challenges, and Infrastructure Risks Article content GERMANTOWN, Md. — The Western United States faces a rapidly worsening drought crisis, with affected areas nearly tripling compared to last year, according to AEM's 2025 Summer Weather Outlook, which was released today. This significant drought expansion raises serious concerns about water availability, agricultural productivity, wildfire threats, and infrastructure stability across the region. Article content The report shows Lake Mead and Lake Powell, crucial reservoirs providing water for millions, have reached alarmingly low levels, holding just one-third of their usual capacity. This shortage poses significant challenges to agriculture, urban water supplies, and industries reliant on consistent water availability. In Nebraska, drought conditions have notably impacted agriculture, severely affecting more than half of the state's corn acreage. Article content The severe drought conditions are further intensifying wildfire risks, particularly around the July 4th holiday, historically associated with increased wildfire activity. The Outlook indicates that areas such as California, the Great Basin, and the northern Rockies are projected to face above-normal fire potential throughout the summer months, further straining firefighting resources and endangering communities. Canada is also facing extreme fire danger across western provinces, with burned acreage already triple the seasonal average. Article content 'This summer will bring a dangerous combination of heat, dryness, and fuel buildup that elevates wildfire risks across North America,' said James Aman, Senior Meteorologist at AEM. 'We're already seeing an above-average number of wildfires in the U.S., with similar trends north of the border.' Article content Additionally, hotter-than-normal temperatures are expected across the Rockies, Pacific Northwest, and the Upper Midwest, exacerbating drought conditions and placing significant stress on regional electric grids. The Midcontinent Independent System Operator (MISO) specifically faces heightened vulnerability due to anticipated peak summer air-conditioning demands, highlighting the critical need for adaptive energy management and infrastructure resilience. Article content Article content Article content Article content Contacts Article content Media Contact: Article content Article content Neal Stein Article content Article content Article content
Yahoo
08-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Is the stage finally set for transcontinental rail mergers?
-- The prospect of transcontinental rail mergers in the U.S. has re-entered discussions among industry participants, with Wells Fargo analysts stating that while the probability remains "low," it has "increased substantially from near-zero." The key factor, according to Wells Fargo, lies in securing "the Trump administration's buy-in," which they believe would make the STB "unlikely to stand in the way." This political alignment has elevated the odds to approximately 20% in their view, with an accelerated timeline aiming for completion by the end of Trump's term in 2025. Wells Fargo suspects that any potential combinations would occur "between the large Western U.S. rails and the Eastern rails," as administration support for Canadian rail participation is deemed unlikely. They also anticipate that if one East/West deal is proposed, another would likely follow due to the competitive advantages of a transcontinental network. The primary appeal of such mergers, according to Wells Fargo, would be "better service as un-natural interchanges, and the friction they create, are eliminated, resulting in market share increases." Beyond potential cost synergies, they highlight the public good generated by "privately funded, greener infrastructure" that can reduce trucks and congestion on highways, driving "revenue/margin/EPS growth story for the rails." Wells Fargo estimates potential deals could generate "25-60%+ EPS growth over 3-5 years," assuming 30% premiums and synergies. Wells Fargo maintains a positive outlook on railroads, with or without M&A, due to "improving pricing power, potential for technological operational improvements, strong cash generation, and volume support from less economically sensitive goods." If mergers proceed, they see "the most upside for CSX (NASDAQ:CSX) and NS," considering them likely targets, though all rail stocks are expected to benefit. Related articles Is the stage finally set for transcontinental rail mergers? What are next big copper projects? UBS tells when equipment makers could benefit What's next for Fannie and Freddie under Trump administration? Effettua l'accesso per consultare il tuo portafoglio
The Guardian
05-06-2025
- Climate
- The Guardian
Rapid snowmelt and Trump cuts compound wildfire fears in US west
Unusually warm springtime temperatures have contributed to rapid reductions in snowpacks across the western US that rival the fastest rates on record, increasing concerns around wildfire season. The rapid snowmelt, in addition to reduced staffing and budget constraints initiated by the Trump administration, has set the stage for a particularly dangerous season across the west, according to an analysis of publicly available data by the Guardian and interviews with experts in the region. The National Weather Service has issued flash flood warnings across the south-west this week as warm weather ushered in rainfall at higher than usual elevations, worsening the runoff. In several lower-elevation locations within the headwaters of the Colorado River, mountain terrain is already snow-free – the earliest complete-melting of snowpack on record. 'Such rapid melt rates are not normal,' according to a special update by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (Noaa) last month. All western states now have below-normal snowpacks, including California, where this season's snowfall was above average. About one-third of the western US is now in 'severe' drought or worse, the highest fraction in more than two years. This summer's seasonal wildfire forecast calls for a continuation of hot and dry weather, especially in the Pacific north-west. Experts now fear that quickly depleting mountains snows will limit summertime water availability in streams and rivers throughout the west, and may kick off a potential feedback loop that could intensify and expand the current drought. In addition to the ominous environmental conditions, federal fire crews are short-staffed due to accelerated retirements and staff reductions taking place across the myriad organizations that make up the nation's unified wildland firefighting force. Off-season training has been hampered by an across-the-board spending freeze instituted by Donald Trump and Elon Musk's 'department of government efficiency'. Some crews have reported constraints even on basic off-season necessities, like the inability to buy fuel for chainsaws during training exercises due to Doge setting purchase limits to $1. The reduced readiness state means that firefighters and their support teams, called incident management teams, could be quickly overwhelmed. 'The thing that has me really worried is that I don't think we're going to have enough incident management teams to handle all the large fires that are going to pop this year,' said Jim Whittington, a retired federal wildfire public affairs officer who is now a faculty member at Oregon State University. Incident management teams – which include skilled support staff such as meteorologists, cartographers and supply chain experts – are deployed on short notice whenever a prolonged and complex firefight emerges. Whittington and his colleagues estimate that cuts by the Trump administration mean federal agencies will be able to field about 15-20% fewer incident management teams this summer, even amid an outsized fire threat. At the regional level, Washington cut its wildfire prevention spending in half amid a state budget crisis, raising concern for public safety this summer. Oregon officials held a news conference last week to say that cuts to EPA, USFS and NWS staff will leave their state less prepared for this year's fires. Given that fire season is already on a record-setting pace in the prairie provinces of Canada, Whittington also expects limited support from international partners, furthering the burden for US fire crews. Sign up to First Thing Our US morning briefing breaks down the key stories of the day, telling you what's happening and why it matters after newsletter promotion 'This may be the first year in memory where we have Canada and the US having overextended potential at the same time, and so I don't expect there to be a lot of help from up north,' said Whittington. 'That's going to create some cumulative fatigue issues as we head into late summer.' The National Weather Service itself is also dealing with its own staffing constraints, with forecast offices in Sacramento and Hanford, California, recently curtailing long-standing around-the-clock services. Some meteorologists receive special training to be able to forecast weather conditions around wildfires and are loaned to incident management teams as needed. Given this year's staffing constraints, however, they may need to stay at their home offices. The Trump administration's Federal Emergency Management Agency (Fema) is undergoing a comprehensive review. The rapid onset of summer-like conditions is a clear symptom of climate crisis, and has been occurring more frequently in the western US in recent years. There are more than a million homes in the wildland-urban interface in Washington state – about the same as in southern California – and the number is growing quickly. 'There's a good chance that the Wildland Fire Service will not be able to meet the expectations that we've created in the past,' said Whittington. 'I know they're going to bust their ass to try.' 'I think everybody who lives in fire country needs to have a really good plan this year and have some contingencies off those plans because you never can tell when you're going to be in the thick of it, and there just may not be the resources there that you expect there to be.'
Medscape
03-06-2025
- General
- Medscape
Wildfire Smoke Linked to Respiratory Admissions in Seniors
Among older adults in the western United States, exposure to high concentrations of smoke-related fine particulate matter (PM2.5) was associated with increased rates of hospitalizations for respiratory diseases, with weaker but suggestive ties to cardiovascular hospitalizations. METHODOLOGY: Researchers carried out a retrospective cohort study to analyze the association between exposure to smoke-specific PM2.5 and cause-specific hospitalizations in older adults in the United States. They used inpatient claims data of 10,369,361 Medicare beneficiaries (mean age, 74.7 years; 53.1% women) across 11 western United States during wildfire seasons from 2006 to 2016, with 57,974,120 person-months of follow-up. The causes of unscheduled hospitalizations were inferred from International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision, Clinical Modification codes and classified into various disease categories. codes and classified into various disease categories. Daily concentrations of surface-level smoke-specific PM2.5 were estimated through machine learning models that utilized ground measurements, satellite data, and reanalysis data sources. The associations between causes of hospitalization and smoke-specific PM2.5 were characterized by examining daily county-level rates of unscheduled hospitalization by disease category, modeling hospitalization rates according to same-day and prior-week smoke-specific PM2.5 exposure. TAKEAWAY: The leading cause of unscheduled hospitalizations was cardiovascular disease, with a mean daily rate of 7.92 per 100,000 persons, followed by digestive system disease at 3.62 and respiratory disease at 3.53 per 100,000 persons. Respiratory hospitalizations increased as smoke-specific PM2.5 exceeded 25 μg/m 3 , with average daily rates increasing by 2.40 (95% CI, 0.17-4.63) per 100,000 persons when PM2.5 levels rose from 0 to 40 μg/m 3 over a week. , with average daily rates increasing by 2.40 (95% CI, 0.17-4.63) per 100,000 persons when PM2.5 levels rose from 0 to 40 μg/m over a week. Hospitalizations due to cardiovascular diseases were unrelated to smoke-specific PM2.5 at exposure levels < 20 μg/m 3 but showed an increasing trend at higher concentrations. but showed an increasing trend at higher concentrations. No significant associations were seen for hospitalizations related to injuries, digestive issues, neuropsychiatric conditions, or endocrine disorders. IN PRACTICE: 'This information can be used by both policymakers and clinicians to design policies and guidelines to protect vulnerable older adults from the escalating health threats posed by wildfire smoke,' the authors wrote. SOURCE: This study was led by Sofia L. Vega, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston. It was published online on April 30, 2025, in JAMA Network Open . LIMITATIONS: Estimating concentrations of smoke-specific PM2.5 proved challenging due to the lack of direct measurements. County-level exposure measures may not have accurately reflected the exposures experienced by individual residents. This study did not include information on wildfires from recent years when their intensity increased. DISCLOSURES: This study was supported by the Harvard Climate Change Solutions Fund and grants from the National Institutes of Health. One author reported receiving support through an environmental fellowship at the Harvard University Center. The authors reported having no conflicts of interest.
