Short Takes – 6-24-23

Mercenary group launches armed rebellion in Russia: How we got here. TheHill.com article. Pull quote: “The tensions began over the Russian military performance, Wagner’s recruitment of convicts and the amount of supplies and ammunition that the Wagner Group received to help the Russian military in Ukraine. Now, the strained relations have expanded to Prigozhin’s accusations that the Russian military is attacking his forces. He’s also denounced Russia’s justification for the war.”

McCarthy seeks to mollify conservatives ahead of federal spending fight. TheHill.com article. Pull quote: ““I think that what makes the most sense for us strategically is to be able to get these bills, get the numbers as low as we possibly can, and get them out of the House as quick as we can for negotiating purposes,” Rep. Garret Graves (R-La.), a close McCarthy ally who was central to debt ceiling negotiations, told reporters after the meeting. “I think that’s what’s most strategic and in our interest.””

Senate remains divided along party lines as it kicks off the fiscal 2024 funding process. GovExec.com article. Pull quote: “The Senate Appropriations Committee took a vote Thursday on the allocations for each of the 12 funding bills Congress must pass annually to keep agencies operational, but only Democrats supported it. The Fiscal Responsibility Act that President Biden signed into law earlier this month after tense negotiations with House Republicans set the top-line funding level for defense at $886 billion and non-defense discretionary spending at $704 billion—though pre-agreed to adjustments will grow the latter number—but lawmakers must still determine how that money will be divided among the 12 bills and for each federal agency.”

A submersible expert who rode Titan in 2019 says he raised safety concerns to operator CEO after trip. CNN.com article. Pull quote: ““As much as I appreciate entrepreneurship and innovation, you are potentially putting an entire industry at risk,” McCallum wrote in March 2018. “I implore you to take every care in your testing and sea trials and to be very, very conservative.””

Hurricanes push heat deeper into the ocean than scientists realized, boosting long-term ocean warming. Phys.org article. Pull quote: “Scientists have long thought of hurricanes as extreme events fueled by ocean heat and shaped by the Earth's climate. Our findings, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, add a new dimension to this problem by showing that the interactions go both ways—hurricanes themselves have the ability to heat up the ocean and shape the Earth's climate.”

Organizational Changes in Certain Department of Energy Health, Safety, and Security Regulations. Federal Register DOE Final Rule (technical correction). Summary: “The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has updated its organizational structure and changed certain titles and reporting duties within the Office of Environment, Health, Safety and Security. This final rule updates certain DOE health, safety and security regulations to reflect the new titles and organizational names. Additionally, the final rule makes further minor updates to these regulations to improve clarity and delete obsolete references.”

A cheap fix to global warming is finally gaining support. Phys.org article. Pull quote: “If all the [methane] gas that's leaked or vented by Turkmenistan's energy sector was salvaged and burned instead and the EU rules take effect, the combined measures would have roughly the same short-term climate effect as wiping out roughly 290 million tons of CO2 each year, according to calculations by Bloomberg and energy think tank Ember. That's like canceling the emissions of Taiwan—the world's leading chip-maker and its 21st worst polluter. In the U.S., the Environmental Protection Agency also is expected to outline its plan in coming weeks for implementing a new fee on methane emissions mandated by the sweeping climate law enacted last year.”