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Energy
Trains are carrying — and spilling — a record amount of oil
WASHINGTON POST
Joby Warrick
More than 141 “unintentional releases” were reported from railroad tankers in 2014, an all-time high and a nearly six-fold increase over the average of 25 spills per year during the period from 1975 to 2012, according to records of the federal Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration. The year 2013 had fewer accidents but a much larger volume of spilled crude: 1.4 million gallons, an amount that exceeded the total for all spills since record-keeping began in 1975.
West Virginia train derailment puts focus on rail safety
FUEL FIX
Jennifer Dlouhy
But the fiery derailment near Mount Carbon, W.V., shines a spotlight on other steps that oil industry leaders say are necessary to make it safer to transport crude by rail, including automated braking systems and better track maintenance. Strengthening tank cars is “focusing only on part of the problem,” said Brigham McCown, the former head of the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration. “The issue is keeping trains from derailing” in the first place, said McCown, “because if a train doesn’t come off the tracks, we don’t have to worry about how robust and resilient the package is.”
On climate, Republican votes don’t lead to action
POLITICOPRO (Subscribe)
Andrew Restuccia and Alex Guillén
Senate Republicans like Lindsey Graham (S.C.) and Susan Collins (Maine) have broken with GOP orthodoxy on global warming in recent years to support bills to address climate change, and they’ve prodded their colleagues to take action. But now, with Republicans in control of the chamber, the handful of Republican lawmakers considered quasi-allies of environmentalists either can’t or won’t push for the ambitious, economy-wide action scientists say is needed to stave off the worst effects of climate change.
Despite $39B in Annual Gov’t. Subsidies, Solar Produced 0.5% of Electricity in US
CNS NEWS
Barbara Hollingsworth
Despite receiving an estimated $39 billion in annual government subsidies over the past five years, the solar energy industry accounted for just one half of one percent (0.5%) of all the electricity generated in the U.S. during the first 10 months of 2014, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA
Technology
Dictators Love the FCC’s Plan to Regulate the Internet
WALL STREET JOURNAL
Robert M. McDowell and Gordon M. Goldstein
The Obama administration and its FCC have chosen a perilous moment to reverse decades of bipartisan agreement to limit Internet regulation. They can’t have it both ways. By creating an irreconcilable contradiction between America’s domestic and foreign policies, the cause of an open and freedom-enhancing global Internet will suffer.
Pai embraces chief critic role on net neutrality
POLITICOPRO (Subscribe)
Brooks Boliek
As the net neutrality debate intensifies, Republican FCC Commissioner Ajit Pai is ramping up his attacks on Chairman Tom Wheeler — and raising his own profile on the national stage.
Smaller cable companies hint they’ll sue the FCC on net neutrality, too
WASHINGTON POST
Brian Fung
The list of potential plaintiffs lining up against the Federal Communications Commission keeps getting longer and longer. On Tuesday, a top lobbyist representing small and rural cable companies said his group is considering litigation to overturn the FCC’s proposed net neutrality rules, which aim to stop Internet providers from blocking or slowing Web traffic.
Tech Companies Are Caught in the Middle of Terror Fight
WALL STREET JOURNAL
David Gauthier-Villars and Sam Schechner
“Internet companies find themselves caught in the middle,” said Eduardo Ustaran, a privacy lawyer for Hogan Lovells who represents some tech companies. “On one hand, there is a need to make sure these horrible attacks don’t recur. But they feel extremely uncomfortable about being obliged by governments to spy on their own users.”
Proposed drone rules strike careful balance
USA TODAY
Editorial
More than a little late to the party, the Federal Aviation Administration has finally proposed rules designed to balance commercial potential with public safety. And, for the most part, the proposals are smart.
FAA plans land short of the mark
USA TODAY
Michael Drobac
Congress granted the FAA authority to explore what is possible, and how technology and innovation can save lives and improve the consumer experience. The proposed rules are a good start, but they will take time to finalize. In the interim, companies should be granted exemptions to test and explore self-piloted unmanned aerial vehicles that will unleash a new economy. The United States is in a standstill; we can’t wait any longer or we will be bystanders, watching the rest of the world innovate.
Finance
Chip Cards Are Coming, But Most Consumers Are Unaware
WALL STREET JOURNAL
Robin Sidel
For all the talk about getting more-secure credit cards and debit cards into the hands of shoppers, most consumers still don’t know what a chip card is, according to a new survey from Fiserv. The financial-services technology company surveyed 4,000 consumers in October and found that 51% of them said they had never heard of a chip card or EMV.
Retirement-Account Standards May Tighten
WALL STREET JOURNAL
Andrew Ackerman
Brokers who recommend retirement-account investments would have to put their clients’ interests ahead of personal gain under rules expected to be endorsed by the Obama administration as soon as next week. At present, the brokers’ recommendations for 401(k) plans and other retirement accounts generally have to be “suitable,” a weaker standard that critics say permits high fees that eat into investors’ returns.
Politics
Dems’ farm teams languish even with Senate in play
POLITICO
Kyle Cheney and Tarini Parti
But a sense of foreboding has crept into Democratic circles around the country. Interviews with dozens of strategists, party officials and Democratic luminaries reveal that in states Democrats are depending on to retake the Senate, top-level candidates are sparse, unwilling to run or more interested in seeking state office than going to Washington. As a result, Democrats are embracing a slew of well-known but failed candidates — former governors, senators and also-rans spurned by voters the last time they were on the ballot — or being forced to rely on candidates with little political experience.
Foreign Government Gifts to Clinton Foundation on the Rise
WALL STREET JOURNAL
James V. Grimaldi and Rebecca Ballhaus
The Clinton Foundation has dropped its self-imposed ban on collecting funds from foreign governments and is winning contributions at an accelerating rate, raising ethical questions as Hillary Clinton ramps up her expected bid for the presidency. Recent donors include the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Oman, Australia, Germany and a Canadian government agency promoting the Keystone XL pipeline.
What will Jeb Bush say about Iraq?
WASHINGTON POST
Ed O’Keefe and Philip Rucker
Bush, a son and brother of former presidents, finds himself in a unique and difficult position within the Republican field as he works to formulate a foreign policy agenda. Voters and rival campaigns are watching closely to see how heavily he leans on veterans of the two past Bush administrations — and, in particular, how he addresses the ongoing instability in Iraq, the country where his father, George H.W. Bush, fought a war and the country his brother George W. Bush would later invade and occupy. Jeb Bush is expected to offer some clues to his foreign policy views in a speech Wednesday at the Chicago Council on Global Affairs.
Judge’s immigration ruling adds to Obama’s list of potential legal pitfalls
WASHINGTON POST
David Nakamura and Juliet Eilperin
President Obama’s new immigration program was supposed to begin accepting applications Wednesday from thousands of illegal immigrants hoping for relief from the threat of sudden deportation. Instead, the administration abruptly postponed the launch after a federal judge in Texas temporarily blocked the White House initiative. … Along with the immigration action, the fate of two of Obama’s other signature initiatives — a landmark health-care law and a series of aggressive executive actions on climate change — now rests in the hands of federal judges.
Obama’s Immigration Rebuke
WALL STREET JOURNAL
Editorial
That marvel of American self-government—the separation of powers—is once again frustrating President Obama ’s habit of suspending statutes that conflict with his political goals. This time a federal judge in Texas has rebuked and blocked his attempt to rewrite immigration law—potentially rewiring the debate in Washington.
Immigration policy, in limbo
WASHINGTON POST
Editorial
To think, as we do, that President Obama overstepped his authority by shielding more than 4 million illegal immigrants from deportation, with no assent from Congress, does not mean that a federal judge should have license to invalidate the president’s order on the basis of tendentious logic.
Democrats are bracing for another Obamacare backlash
WASHINGTON POST
Jason Millman
Up to 6 million Americans are expected to pay a penalty for not having coverage in 2014, according to recent Obama administration projections. The 2014 penalty for this tax season is $95, or 1 percent of family income — purposefully on the weaker side to let people adjust to this new coverage scheme. Most of the uninsured won’t actually face the penalty because they’ll qualify for an exemption, either related to their inability to afford coverage or some other hardship.
The Promise and Failure of Community Colleges
NEW YORK TIMES
Eduardo Porter
There are two critical things to know about community colleges. The first is that they could be the nation’s most powerful tools to improve the opportunities of less privileged Americans, giving them a shot at harnessing a fast-changing job market and building a more equitable, inclusive society for all of us. The second is that, at this job, they have largely failed.
Oklahoma might ban AP tests. But why?
WASHINGTON POST
Hunter Schwarz
Oklahoma lawmakers are considering dumping the Advanced Placement program because of its similarities to Common Core, but they might not have an easy time convincing voters of precisely why.
Civilian Casualties in Afghan War Topped 10,000 in 2014, U.N. Says
NEW YORK TIMES
Azam Ahmed
Last year was the deadliest for civilians caught up in Afghanistan’s war since the United Nations began keeping records in 2009, the world body said on Wednesday — a harbinger of the new dynamic of the conflict, in which insurgents and Afghan forces increasingly engage in face-to-face battles.
