Power-sharing among options Alaska House is exploring
Associated Press, February 5, 2019
An Alaska House Democratic leader says members will need to wrestle with whether a power-sharing agreement is the best option for organizing the chamber. Rep. Bryce Edgmon says lawmakers have explored other options and none so far has materialized. A group of eight representatives has been looking at power-sharing arrangements in other states. Edgmon says other scenarios are also floating around.
Our Take: Regardless of the outcome of house organization, trusting anything that Rep Knopp says or does will be difficult.
Wild price swings may be the new normal for crude oil markets as US, Russia and Saudis vie for influence
Patti Domm, CNBC, February 5, 2019
- The three largest oil producers are locked in a new world order that could mean more volatile crude oil prices.
- The U.S. has become the world’s largest producer, and U.S. production has become a major factor in world supply.
- Russia, Saudi Arabia and OPEC may wait to act after U.S. sanctions on Venezuela. A rush to add supply ahead of Iran sanctions led to prices cratering.
OPEC Pursues Formal Pact with Russia
Benoit Faucon, Summer Said, The Wall Street Journal, February 6, 2019
Saudi Arabia and its Persian Gulf allies are backing a formal partnership with a 10-nation group led by Russia to try to manage the global oil market, according to OPEC officials, in an alliance that would transform the cartel. The ability of such an alliance to put a floor on oil prices would run counter to President Trump’s goal of lowering gasoline prices for U.S. consumers ahead of presidential elections next year.
From the Washington Examiner, Daily on Energy:
EPA CHIEF TRAVELS TO GEORGIA TO PROMOTE TRUMP’S INFRASTRUCTURE AGENDA: Environmental Protection Agency acting administrator Andrew Wheeler will travel to Georgia on Wednesday to put details to President Trump’s State of the Union address when it comes to infrastructure.
EPA announced the visit in an advisory on Tuesday before the State of the Union. Wheeler will be visiting a plant nursery in the Peach State that uses robots and other innovations to grow plants more effectively.
He will be promoting Trump’s State of the Union address, discussing EPA’s new proposed Waters of the U.S. rule, nutrient policy and ongoing efforts to modernize the nation’s aging infrastructure, EPA said.
The Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee advanced Wheeler’s nomination to be the next EPA administrator on Tuesday, even though he has been serving as acting chief since July and has already been confirmed as EPA’s deputy before that.
