Bloomberg: Cheap Oil Is Bad for the Economy (at Least, So Far)
It's been about a year since oil prices started their historic drop, falling from above $100 a barrel to a bottom of about $45 in March. After creeping back to around $60, prices are shaky again amid news of a nuclear deal with Iran and record Saudi production.
And low oil prices are good for growth, right?
Cheap oil means cheap gasoline, and the assumption throughout the oil price rout has been that for the U.S. economy, built on consumer spending, cheap gas is all good. In theory, yes. In practice, it's been tough to find the benefits in the economic data this year.
CNBC: Saudi Arabia Borrows $4B as Oil Price Reality Hits Home
Saudi Arabia has borrowed $4B from local markets in the past year, selling its first bonds for eight years as part of efforts to sustain high levels of public spending as oil prices slump.
Fahad al-Mubarak, the governor of the Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency, said the government would use a combination of bonds and reserves to maintain spending and cover a deficit that would be larger than expected.
Reno Gazette-Journal: NV Solar Cap to Be Reached Earlier Than Expected
The solar cap battle in Nevada is heating up once again.
Nevada's solar lobby filed a petition with the Public Utilities Commission to extend benefits under the current net metering program to the end of this year as the state is poised to hit the cap before the Dec. 31 deadline for the PUC to determine new rates for the industry.
The Alliance for Solar Choice claims NV Energy failed to account for 17.5 megawatts of solar when it submitted its projections to the Nevada Legislature regarding when it expects the net metering cap for solar customers to be reached. NV Energy is also receiving 6 megawatts' worth of applications for solar rooftop per week -- double the projections initially made by the utility company -- as the rate of installations has surged, according to TASC.
Guardian: Solar Impulse 2's Around-the-World Flight on Hold for at Least Nine Months
A team attempting to fly a solar-powered plane around the world has been forced to suspend its journey in Hawaii after the plane suffered battery damage during its record-breaking flight to the islands.
The Solar Impulse team said it would continue the bid to circumvent the globe, but irreversible damage caused by overheating batteries would ground the flight until at least April.
The batteries on board Solar Impulse 2 overheated on the first day of its trip from Japan to Hawaii, and there was no way to cool down the system, the team said.
Inside Climate News: Cap and Trade Shows Its Economic Muscle in the Northeast: $1.3B in 3 Years
States looking to comply with the Clean Power Plan should follow the Northeast's example, a new analysis says.
The Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, the nation's first mandatory cap-and-trade program aimed at reducing carbon emissions, has generated $1.3 billion in economic benefits and 14,000 job-years in the last three years for its nine member states in the Northeast. That is according to a report published Tuesday by Analysis Group, a financial and economic consulting firm.