Also on today’s menu:
A Good Enough Plan, Or Not?
A Look At Elementary School Needs
Children And Teachers Killed In Thailand
OPEC and non-OPEC allies — generally referred to as OPEC+ — agreed at this week’s meeting in Vienna to reduce oil production by 2 million barrels per day from last November’s levels. In comparison, the rate of drawdown of the United States’ Strategic Petroleum Reserve over the past six months has been less than 1 million barrels per day. President Joe Biden Jr. began drawing down the Strategic Petroleum Reserve when oil prices had surged past $100 per barrel, and it did help to reduce oil prices, which were around $80 per barrel when OPEC+ decided to intervene. Thus, Forbes points out, in one fell swoop OPEC+ undid the attempt by the Biden Administration to add more oil to the market.
Draining the Strategic Petroleum Reserve was never a sustainable move. The largest drawdown in U.S. history, the level is 33% below the level of a year ago and the lowest level since 1984, endangering the country’s energy security.
Rice University's Jim Krane told Axios that the oil production cuts reflect Saudi-Russia market cooperation that began a half-decade ago in response to the rise of U.S. shale production. “[Russian President Vladimir] Putin has been able to insert himself in what was a pretty strong relationship between the U.S. and Saudi Arabia, and he's destabilizing that relationship right now,” Krane said.
U.S.-Saudi relationships also have deteriorated since Jamal Khashoggi, a Saudi dissident journalist, was assassinated by agents of the Saudi government at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, Turkey. The United States attempted to hold the Saudis accountable, but President Biden recently attempted to mend fences in order to persuade the Saudi government to increase the oil supply in the wake of disruptions from the Ukraine war.
Russia benefits from the cuts because that country depends upon oil revenue to support its war against Ukraine. The United States and the European Union have set a price cap on Russian oil, in addition to another round of sanctions, in a move to stymie Russia’s war effort. By boosting global oil prices, OPEC+ allows Russia to make money on the countries that are not bound by that price cap — generally poorer countries that are already economically hard-pressed.
Apart from political considerations, though, the reduction in oil production makes sense during a global economic downturn that is likely to reduce the overall demand for petroleum. The Federal Reserve’s efforts to control inflation by depressing the economy, and Europe’s even more drastic measures, are disrupting markets and putting people out of work, so transportation’s demand for gasoline is likely to drop.
For those depending on petroleum products for heat during the coming winter, there will be no choice but to accept the higher prices.
A Good Enough Plan, Or Not?
The state’s newly released 10-year solid waste management plan — the first update since 2003 — appears not to have swayed the opinions of those who submitted testimony disparaging an early draft of the plan released last May.
The final plan, released on Sept. 30, noted, “A number of comments called for more specificity in the plan, but in many cases, specificity will only be possible after completing other actions included in the plan.” The cover letter from Department of Environmental Services Commissioner Robert Scott said, “Only after analyzing the data from these studies can details be provided for actions such as identifying which waste types should be prioritized for waste reduction and diversion, and what facility infrastructure will be necessary to facilitate diversion.”
Adam Finkel of Dalton responded, “If they really do need to have data collection to know where they are, and they really don’t want to apologize for not having done that for 20 years, OK, but then they really ought to say the first phase of the plan is going to be intense data-collection so that we can then issue a set of goals in, let’s say, 2024 that we pledge to meet by 2030.”
A Look At Elementary School Needs
Today, from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m., Danbury Elementary Elementary School will be open for tours, part of the Newfound Area School District’s efforts to address facilities needs at all of its elementary schools.
There will a tour of the Bristol Elementary School on Oct. 12 and the New Hampton Community School on Oct. 13. That will be followed on Oct. 18 by a listening session at Newfound Regional High School at which Banwell Architects will seek the public’s response to the condition of the three elementary schools and their views on the future of those schools. The firm is charged with putting together a plan to address facilities needs that will go before the voters in 2024.
The tours are all at 5:30 p.m., while the listening session will be at 6 p.m. That session at the high school will be streamed live on the district’s YouTube channel. Questions and comments may be emailed to questions@sau4.org during the meeting to be shared during the discussion.
Children And Teachers Killed In Thailand
A former policeman burst into a day care center in northeastern Thailand on Thursday, killing dozens of children and teachers and then firing on more people as he fled.
The assailant, who authorities said was fired from the police force earlier this year because of a methamphetamine drug offense, took his own life after killing his wife and child at home.
A witness said the staff at the day care locked the door when they saw the assailant approaching with a gun, but he shot his way in. At least 37 people were killed in the attack, according to police spokesman Archayon Kraithong. Another 12 people were wounded. At least 24 of the dead were children, mostly preschoolers.
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