Wed, April 24, 2024 at 9:35 AM EDT
Business
US coal use is rebounding under Biden like it never did with Trump – MINING.COM – MINING.com
That’s going to increase emissions at a time when Biden and other world leaders prepare to gather in Scotland in a few weeks, hoping to reach a deal on curbing fossil fuels in a last-ditch effort to save the world from climate change. The boom is being driven by surging natural gas prices and a global energy crisis that’s forcing countries to burn dirtier fuels to keep up with demand. It’s also a stark reminder that government policy can steer energy markets, but it can’t control them.
“Over the short term, the market will always dominate,” said Jeremy Fisher, senior adviser for the Sierra Club’s environmental law program.
As the world emerges from the coronavirus pandemic, reopening economies are driving a huge rebound for power demand. But natural gas is in short supply, creating shortfalls at a time when wind and hydro have been unreliable in some regions. Europe and Asia have been hit the worst, with skyrocketing markets, blackouts in places like India, power shortages in China and the threat of outages in other countries. Energy prices are also soaring in the U.S., though not to the same extremes.
The situation is driving up coal demand around the world, and in the U.S., utilities are cranking up aging power plants and miners are digging up as much as they can.
The shift means that coal will supply about 24% of U.S. electricity this year, after falling to 20% in 2020, an historic low after years of efforts to push utilities toward clean power and amid cheap natural gas supplies. That resurgence may look even more extreme when the Energy Department releases its latest monthly report Wednesday.
’Markets have spoken’
“The markets have spoken,” said Rich Nolan, chief executive officer of the National Mining Association. “We’re seeing the essential nature of coal come roaring back.”
In 2021, the U.S. utilities are poised to burn 536.9 million short tons of coal, up from 436.5 million in 2020, the Energy Information Administration forecasts.
Coal from the central Appalachia region has climbed 39% since the start of the year to $75.50 a ton, the highest since May 2019. Prices in other regions are lower, but also on the rise.
Demand for coal will likely remain strong into next year, said Ernie Thrasher, CEO of Xcoal Energy & Resources, the biggest U.S. exporter of the fuel. Supply is already constrained, and Thrasher said he’s hearing some utilities express concern that they may face fuel shortages over the next several months as colder weather pushes energy demand higher to heat homes.
“It won’t be easy this winter,” he said.
Kevin Book, managing director of research firm ClearView Energy Partners, said the current crisis has added fodder to the debate over efforts to move away from coal.
“The goal of policy, if you listen to what’s being said in Western countries in the context of climate discussions, is not only to stop building new coal but to eliminate the existing capacity to burn coal,” Book said. “This is a moment in time when that idea is going to be challenged.”
Short-lived boom?
While the coal boom is dramatic, the moment may be short-lived.
Global pressure to curb carbon emissions remains strong, and in the long-term, “policy absolutely matters,” said Cara Bottorff, a senior energy sector analyst at the Sierra Club.
Coal consumption plunged under Trump largely because utilities shifted to gas, which was far cheaper at the time, and increasingly embraced renewables as the cost of wind and solar fell. The decline was also the result of key policy decisions from his predecessor Barack Obama. And though Trump sought to revive the industry, legal challenges and the risk of an unpredictable regulatory environment discouraged long-term investments in coal.
Coal mining and generating capacity declined 40% over the past six years, according to B. Riley Securities.
Similarly, Biden’s policies will likely eventually lead to further reductions in coal use. He’s pursuing structural changes including tax incentives and new market rules that will drive decisions at energy companies.
“The transition is well underway, but it won’t be over tomorrow,” said Dennis Wamsted, an analyst for the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis.
(By Will Wade, with assistance from Jennifer A Dlouhy)
Continue Reading
Business
Stock market today: Nasdaq futures pop, Tesla surges after earnings with more heavyweights on deck
|
|
Tech stocks rose on Wednesday, outstripping the broader market as investors welcomed Tesla’s (TSLA) cheaper car pledge and waited for the next rush of corporate earnings.
The Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC) rose roughly 0.6%, coming off a sharp closing gain. The S&P 500 (^GSPC) was up 0.2%, continuing a rebound from its longest losing streak of 2024, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) fell 0.1%.
Tesla shares jumped nearly 12% after the EV maker’s vow to speed up the launch of more affordable models eclipsed its quarterly earnings and revenue miss. That cheered up investors worried about growth amid a strategy shift to robotaxis and the planned cancellation of a cheaper model.
The results from the first “Magnificent Seven” to report have intensified the already high hopes for Big Tech earnings, that the megacaps can revive the rally in stocks they powered. The spotlight is now on Meta’s (META) report due after the market close, as the Facebook owner’s shares rose after the Senate voted for a potential ban on rival TikTok. Microsoft (MSFT) and Alphabet (GOOG) next up on Thursday.
Meanwhile, Boeing (BA) reported better than expected first quarter results before the opening bell with a loss per share of $1.13, narrower than the $1.72 estimated by Wall Street. Shares rose about 2% in morning trade.
Live6 updates
|
|
MONTREAL — Gildan Activewear Inc. is making changes to its board of directors in an attempt to head off a move by an activist shareholder looking to replace a majority of the board at its annual meeting next month.
U.S. investment firm Browning West wants to replace eight of Gildan’s 12 directors with its own nominees in a move to bring back founder Glenn Chamandy as chief executive.
Gildan, which announced late last year that Chamandy would be replaced by Vince Tyra, said Monday it will replace five members of its board of directors ahead of its annual meeting set for May 28.
It also says current board members Luc Jobin and Chris Shackelton will not run for re-election and that it will recommend shareholders vote for Karen Stuckey and J.P. Towner, who are two of Browning West’s eight nominees.
The new directors who will join the Gildan board on May 1 are Tim Hodgson, Lee Bird, Jane Craighead, Lynn Loewen and Les Viner. They will replace Donald Berg, Maryse Bertrand, Shirley Cunningham, Charles Herington and Craig Leavitt.
Hodgson, who served as chief executive of Goldman Sachs Canada from 2005 to 2010, is expected to replace Berg as chair.
“I look forward to working with this highly qualified board and management team to realize the full benefits of Vince’s ambitious yet realistic plan to drive growth by enhancing the Gildan sustainable growth strategy,” Hodgson said in a statement.
“The refreshed board and I fully believe in Vince and his talented team as well as Gildan’s leading market position and growth prospects.”
Gildan has been embroiled in controversy ever since it announced Chamandy was being replaced by Tyra.
The company has said Chamandy had no credible long-term strategy and had lost the board’s confidence. But several of Gildan’s investors have criticized the company for the move and called for his return.
Those investors include the company’s largest shareholder, Jarislowsky Fraser, as well as Browning West and Turtle Creek Asset Management.
In announcing the board changes, Gildan said it met with shareholders including those who Browning West has counted as supportive.
“Our slate strikes a balance between ensuring the board retains historical continuity during a period of transition and provides fresh perspectives to ensure it continues to serve its important oversight function on behalf of all shareholders,” the company said.
Gildan said last month that it has formed a special committee of independent directors to consider a “non-binding expression of interest” from an unnamed potential purchaser and contact other potential bidders.
But Browning West and Turtle Creek have said the current board cannot be trusted to oversee a sale of the company.
The company said Monday that there continues to be external interest in acquiring the company and the process is ongoing.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 22, 2024.
Companies in this story: (TSX:GIL)
The Canadian Press
Anja Karadeglija, The Canadian Press
Published Sunday, April 21, 2024 4:02PM EDT
Last Updated Sunday, April 21, 2024 4:04PM EDT
Worried artificial intelligence is coming for your job? So is the federal government — enough, at least, to set aside $50 million for skills retraining for workers.
One of the centrepiece promises in the federal budget released Tuesday was $2.3 billion in investments aiming to boost adoption of the technology and the artificial intelligence industry in Canada.
But tucked alongside that was a promise to invest $50 million over four years “to support workers who may be impacted by AI.” Workers in “potentially disrupted sectors and communities” will receive new skills training through the Sectoral Workforce Solutions Program.
“There is a significant transformation of the economy and society on the horizon around artificial intelligence,” said Joel Blit, an associate professor of economics at the University of Waterloo.
Some jobs will be lost, others will be created, “but there’s going to be a transition period that could be somewhat chaotic.”
While jokes about robots coming to take jobs predate the emergence of generative AI systems in late 2022, the widespread availability of systems like ChatGPT made those fears real for many, even as workers across industries began integrating the technology into their workday.
In June 2023, a briefing note for Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland warned the impact of generative AI “will be felt across all industries and around 40 per cent of all working hours could be impacted.”
“Banking, insurance and energy appear to have higher potential for automation compared to other sectors,” says the note, obtained through access to information and citing information from Accenture.
“This could have substantial impacts on jobs and skills requirements.”
The budget only singles out “creative industries” as an affected sector that will be covered by the program. In February, the Canadian TV, film, and music industries asked MPs for protection against AI, saying the tech threatens their livelihood and reputations.
Finance Canada did not respond to questions asking what other sectors or types of jobs would be covered under the program.
“The creative industries was used as an illustrative example, and not intended as an exclusion of other affected areas,” deputy Finance spokesperson Caroline Thériault said in a statement.
In an interview earlier this year, Bea Bruske, president of the Canadian Labour Congress, said unions representing actors and directors have been very worried about how their likenesses or their work could be used by AI systems. But the “reality is that we have to look at the implication of AI in all jobs,” she said.
Blit explained large language models and other generative AI can write, come up with new ideas and then test those ideas, analyze data, as well as generate computer programming code, music, images, and video.
Those set to be affected are individuals in white-collar professions, like people working in marketing, health care, law and accounting.
In the longer run, “it’s actually quite hard to predict who is going to be impacted,” he said. “What’s going to happen is that entire industries, entire processes are going to be reimagined around this new technology.”
AI is an issue “across sectors, but certainly clerical and customer service jobs are more vulnerable,” Hugh Pouliot, a spokesperson for the Canadian Union of Public Employees, said in an email.
The federal government has used AI in nearly 300 projects and initiatives, new research published earlier this month revealed.
According to Viet Vu, manager of economic research at Toronto Metropolitan University’s the Dais, the impact of AI on workers in a sector like the creative industry doesn’t have to be negative.
“That’s only the case if you adopt it irresponsibly,” he said, pointing out creative professionals have been adopting new digital tools in their work for years.
He noted only four per cent of Canadian businesses are using any kind of artificial intelligence or machine learning. “And so we’re really not there yet for these frontier models and frontier technologies” to be making an impact.
When it comes to the question of how AI will affect the labour market, it’s more useful to think about what types of tasks technology can do better, as opposed to whether it will replace entire jobs, Vu said.
“A job is composed of so many different tasks that sometimes even if a new technology comes along and 20, 30 per cent of your job can be done using AI, you still have that 60, 70 per cent left,” he said.
“So it’s rare that (an) entire occupation is actually sort of erased out of existence because of technology.”
Finance Canada also did not respond to questions about what new skills the workers would be learning.
Vu said there are two types of skills it makes sense to focus on in retraining — computational thinking, or understanding how computers operate and make decisions, and skills dealing with data.
There is no AI system in the world that does not use data, he said. “And so being able to actually understand how data is curated, how data is used, even some basic data analytics skills, will go a really long way.”
But given the scope of the change the AI technology is set to trigger, critics say a lot more than $50 million will be necessary.
Blit said the money is a good first step but won’t be “close to enough” when it comes to the scale of the coming transformation, which will be comparable to globalization or the adoption of computers.
Valerio De Stefano, Canada research chair in innovation law and society at York University, agreed more resources will be necessary.
“Jobs may be reduced to an extent that reskilling may be insufficient,” and the government should look at “forms of unconditional income support such as basic income,” he said.
The government should also consider demanding AI companies “contribute directly to pay for any social initiative that takes care of people who lose their jobs to technology” and asking “employers who reduce payrolls and increase profits thanks to AI to do the same.”
“Otherwise, society will end up subsidizing tech businesses and other companies as they increase profit without giving back enough for technology to benefit us all.”
Health3 mins ago
Pasteurized milk includes remnants of H5N1 bird flu, U.S. officials say – CBC News
Politics17 mins ago
Opinion: Fear the politicization of pensions, no matter the politician
Investment31 mins ago
FLAGSHIP COMMUNITIES REAL ESTATE INVESTMENT TRUST ANNOUNCES CLOSING OF APPROXIMATELY US
Investment4 years ago
Silver investment demand jumped 12% in 2019
Media11 months ago
12 Bizarre Things People Did Just To Make Social Media Content
3 years ago
Global Media Markets, 2015-2020, 2020-2025F, 2030F – TV and Radio Broadcasting, Film and Music, Information Services, Web Content, Search Portals And Social Media, Print Media, & Cable – GlobeNewswire
-
Health11 hours agoRemnants of bird flu virus found in pasteurized milk, FDA says
-
Art17 hours ago
Mayor's youth advisory council seeks submissions for art gala – SooToday
-
Health15 hours ago
Bird flu virus found in grocery milk as officials say supply still safe
-
News23 hours ago
Some Canadians will be digging out of 25+ cm of snow by Friday – The Weather Network
-
Media22 hours ago
Jon Stewart Slams the Media for Coverage of Trump Trial – The New York Times
-
Investment16 hours ago
Taxes should not wag the tail of the investment dog, but that’s what Trudeau wants
-
News16 hours ago
Peel police chief met Sri Lankan officer a court says ‘participated’ in torture – Global News
-
Science20 hours ago
iN PHOTOS: Nature lovers celebrate flora, fauna for Earth Day in Kamloops, Okanagan | iNFOnews | Thompson-Okanagan's News Source – iNFOnews
