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Energy
Judge rules EPA lied about transparency, tells agency to halt discrimination against conservatives
WASHINGTON TIMES
Stephen Dinan
A federal judge warned the EPA on Monday not to discriminate against conservative groups in how it responds to open-records requests, issuing a legal spanking to the agency that he said may have lied to the court and showed “apathy and carelessness” in carrying out the law.
Europe Unlikely to Meet Climate Goal, Study Finds
NEW YORK TIMES
Melissa Eddy
The European Union will fail to meet an ambitious goal of significantly reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 unless it takes more aggressive measures to limit the use of fossil fuels and adopts new environmental policies, according to a report scheduled for release on Tuesday.
Climate Change Researcher Offers a Defense of His Practices
NEW YORK TIMES
Justin Gillis
The scientist at the center of a controversy over fossil-fuel funding for climate research denounced his critics on Monday and said that he would be “happy to comply” with possible additional disclosure requirements from scientific journals publishing his papers. In his first detailed public statement since the controversy erupted more than a week ago, the scientist, Wei-Hock Soon, a researcher at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, complained that he had been the subject of unfair attacks in the press. He ascribed them to “various radical environmental and politically motivated groups.”
Crude on Derailed Train Contained High Level of Gas
WALL STREET JOURNAL
Russell Gold
The crude oil aboard the train that derailed and exploded two weeks ago in West Virginia contained so much combustible gas that it would have been barred from rail transport under safety regulations set to go into effect next month. Tests performed on the oil before the train left North Dakota showed it contained a high level of volatile gases, according to a lab report reviewed by The Wall Street Journal.
Technology
After Net Neutrality Vote, Wheeler Turns to Salesmanship
NEW YORK TIMES
Mark Scott
“There’s nothing the day after the rules go into effect that offers a different revenue picture for Internet service providers,” Mr. Wheeler said in an interview on Monday at Mobile World Congress, an industry event here. “Go ahead, do what you want, as long as it’s just and reasonable.”
Republican makes plea on net neutrality bill
THE HILL
Mario Trujillo
Rep. Greg Walden (R-Ore.) on Monday asked the White House to turn off Democrats’ “shock collars” and let members negotiate a legislative deal on net neutrality. Walden, the head of the Commerce subcommittee on communications and technology, made another plea for congressional Democrats to come to the negotiating table following the Federal Communications Commission’s approval of regulations to reclassify the Internet under authority governing traditional telephones.
As GOP targets ‘patent trolls,’ old battle lines take shape
POLITICOPRO (Subscribe)
Kate Tummarello
The reemerging fault lines could threaten a high-profile campaign by tech companies like Google and the retail industry, which want protection from aggressive “patent trolls.” Critics say such troll firms amass large numbers of patents simply to threaten other businesses with infringement lawsuits, making money off legal settlements and licensing fees.
Copyright for APIs is going to be a disaster and only the Supreme Court can stop it
VOX
Timothy B. Lee
The Federal Circuit’s ruling has opened the possibility that efforts to make software work together better could trigger copyright liability. If it’s allowed to stand, it could lead to more compatibility problems and less innovation.
U.S. millennials post ‘abysmal’ scores in tech skills test, lag behind foreign peers
WASHINGTON POST
Todd C. Frankel
This exam, given in 23 countries, assessed the thinking abilities and workplace skills of adults. It focused on literacy, math and technological problem-solving. The goal was to figure out how prepared people are to work in a complex, modern society. And U.S. millennials performed horribly.
Mark Zuckerberg Goes on Charm Offensive for Internet.org
NEW YORK TIMES
Mark Scott
The Facebook chief executive outlined on Monday why he thought Internet.org, a service backed by his company that is intended to provide people in emerging markets with free access to some online applications, would help telecommunications carriers persuade customers to spend more on streaming content to their cellphones.
It’s official: Google says it wants to offer cellular service
WASHINGTON POST
Brian Fung
Google isn’t necessarily looking to become the next Verizon and AT&T, said Sundar Pichai, Google’s head of Android, at the annual Mobile World Congress in Barcelona. But, according to various news reports, Pichai said we’ll begin to see more details trickle out in the next few months as Google announces partnerships with wireless carriers and other businesses. Analysts say Google is likely to partner with firms such as T-Mobile and Sprint rather than build its own network from scratch.
Finance
The Goldman Sachs primary
POLITICO
Ben White
Forget the Democratic and Republican primaries: The two biggest names in the 2016 presidential race are competing directly against each other in an elite forum, the halls of Goldman Sachs.
Americans say keep politics out of the Fed
REUTERS
Michael Flaherty
Most Americans don’t know who runs the Federal Reserve, but they do believe that elected officials should stay out of its business, according to a Reuters-Ipsos poll. Just 24 percent of those polled said Congress should be allowed to have detailed oversight of the Fed, the poll shows. More than double that amount said the central bank should be left alone.
A Warning From Buffett About Banks
NEW YORK TIMES
Andrew Ross Sorkin
Mr. Buffett has long ridiculed the financial industry, but this year’s letter, laced with references to bankers, lawyers and consultants as “a lot of mouths with expensive tastes,” seemed to amp up the pugnacity and was clearly noted by the industry, which pored over the letter.
Warren Buffett: Elizabeth Warren is angry and demonizing
USA TODAY
Catalina Camia
“I think that she would do better if she was less angry and demonize less,” Buffett told CNBC about Warren. “I believe in ‘hate the sin and love the sinner.’ I also believe in praising by name and criticizing by category. And I’m not sure I totally convinced Elizabeth Warren that that’s the way to go.”
A Small-Cap Idea With Little to Recommend It
WALL STREET JOURNAL
Arthur Levitt
Officials from the Securities and Exchange Commission are contemplating setting up a special exchange for small-cap companies—those with a market capitalization of less than $250 million. Proponents say many small companies need access to public markets, but not enough of them can meet the expensive and rigorous regulatory standards involved in listing with Nasdaq , NYSE and other traditional exchanges. That may be true, but the interests of small companies aren’t at stake here. The question to ask is how a change in listing requirements would affect the investing public.
US Federal Reserve urged to clarify bank capital requirements
FINANCIAL TIMES (Subscribe)
Ben McLannahan
The Federal Reserve must shed more light on how it plans to calculate extra capital requirements for the biggest US banks so it gains broader support for its proposals from a sceptical banking industry, according to Sheila Bair of the Systemic Risk Council.
Dispute-Resolution System Fuels Criticism of Pacific Trade Pact
WALL STREET JOURNAL
William Mauldin
Opponents of the White House’s trade ambitions have seized on an obscure dispute-resolution provision to warn that a Pacific trade pact could expand the ability of foreign firms to challenge U.S. laws and regulations. Led by Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D., Mass.), the criticism brings together liberal critics of President Barack Obama’s trade policies and libertarians and conservatives who worry that the language in international deals could undermine American sovereignty.
Foreign Banks Brace for Fed Stress Tests
WALL STREET JOURNAL
Ryan Tracy and Matt Turner
The Federal Reserve’s growing scrutiny of global banks has set off a scramble among foreign firms as they staff up and revamp operations to meet the central bank’s rising expectations. The Fed’s stress tests are expected to find shortcomings in risk management at the U.S. units of some foreign banks, including Deutsche Bank AG and Banco Santander SA, according to people familiar with the matter. The Fed announces preliminary results of this year’s tests on Thursday and full results on March 11.
Politics
Hillary Clinton Used Personal Email Account at State Dept., Possibly Breaking Rules
NEW YORK TIMES
Michael S. Schmidt
Hillary Rodham Clinton exclusively used a personal email account to conduct government business as secretary of state, State Department officials said, and may have violated federal requirements that officials’ correspondence be retained as part of the agency’s record. Mrs. Clinton did not have a government email address during her four-year tenure at the State Department. Her aides took no actions to have her personal emails preserved on department servers at the time, as required by the Federal Records Act.
The terrible, horrible, no good start for the Republicans
THE HILL
Scott Wong
The opening weeks of the 114th Congress have been nothing short of a disaster for Republicans, who declared upon taking control of both chambers last fall that the era of governing by crisis and fiscal cliffs was over. Since their declaration, House GOP leaders have yanked several high-profile bills from the floor after rebellions from rank-and-file members.
Can Democrats Retake the Senate in 2016?
POLITICO
Larry Sabato
It’s still too early to predict the Senate’s makeup in 2016, but it’s not too early to start thinking about who could land on the list of endangered senators. And in the 2016 cycle, it’s more likely to be a Republican than a Democrat.
The real Iowa kingmaker
POLITICO
Helena Bottemiller Evich
A dozen potential Republican presidential candidates are about to sit down, one by one, with the biggest GOP donor in Iowa — a multimillionaire few people outside the state have ever heard of. Bruce Rastetter, an agribusiness mogul who’s made a fortune in pork, ethanol and farm real estate, has long worked behind the scenes to help bankroll conservatives across the country, but Saturday is a public coming out party of sorts for Rastetter as he hosts the first Iowa Agriculture Summit. It’s an event designed to promote farm policy in a state where pigs outnumber voters 10 to 1, but it’s also a bold display of the political power Rastetter has amassed — and a reminder to candidates that his endorsement would be a big get ahead of the Iowa caucuses.
An Off-Ramp From ObamaCare
WALL STREET JOURNAL
Reps. John Kline, Paul Ryan and Fred Upton
So here’s the bottom line: Under ObamaCare, government controls your choices. Under our proposal, you will. You’ll get to pick a plan that works for you. We look forward to building upon these ideas and working with our colleagues in the House and Senate, health-care experts and, most important, the American people, to put high-quality, affordable coverage within closer reach for all. And we’ll do it by putting Americans, not Washington, in the driver’s seat.
Senate vote boxes Boehner in
POLITICO
John Bresnahan, Jake Sherman and Burgess Everett
After Senate Democrats again blocked a House proposal aimed at undoing President Barack Obama’s unilateral initiatives to stave off deportations for millions of undocumented immigrants, House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) has few options to stave off a shutdown of the Department of Homeland Security at midnight Friday. He can allow a vote on the Senate’s “clean” bill that’s free of immigration provisions — again angering the right-wing rebels in his conference — or perhaps try another punt, which Democrats would likely oppose.
Mikulski, a role model for generations of women in politics, to retire in 2016
WASHINGTON POST
Marc Fisher and Jenna Johnson
Sen. Barbara A. Mikulski, the Maryland Democrat who is the longest-serving woman in congressional history, will depart Capitol Hill the way she arrived — with a sharp tongue, an unabashed liberalism and a mission to make the Senate a place where women belong.
