CHIPS and Science Act, the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022, and Recession Updates
Inflation Reduction Act of 2022:
July 31: Manchin fends off GOP criticism of climate, tax deal with Schumer
Sen. Joe Manchin on Sunday pushed back on Republicans' criticism of a climate, health care, and tax deal he struck with Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer, championing the package as a measure to fight inflation and reduce the deficit.
When asked by CBS "Face the Nation" guest moderator John Dickerson about recent comments from Sen. Susan Collins and other Republicans saying the behind-the-scenes deal broke a layer of trust, Manchin said he never thought the deal would "Come to fruition," but he believes the package is important to move forward.
"We have energy, and we have investments for new energy, but basically, that's a responsibility," Manchin said.
Talks between Manchin and Schumer broke down on July 14, with the Democratic leader accusing him of "Walking away" from a deal. Hours after the Senate passed the semiconductor bill, Manchin and Schumer announced they had reached a deal on the reconciliation bill that would invest hundreds of billions in climate-related programs and allow Medicare to negotiate drug prices.
Manchin cited a Bureau of Labor Statistics report indicating inflation hit 9.1 percent in the year ending in June when talks broke down earlier this month, but now Manchin is championing the measure as designed to fight inflation.
"This is fighting inflation," Manchin said.
July 29: Inside the secret Manchin-Schumer deal: Dems shocked, GOP feels betrayed
Sen. Joe Manchin and Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer reached their agreement on a major tax and climate package Tuesday evening but kept it a closely guarded secret - giving Democrats just enough time to pass a $280 billion chips and science bill that Republicans would have otherwise blocked.
Manchin admitted Thursday morning that he and Schumer lost their tempers in a heated discussion on July 14 when the Democratic leader accused him of "Walking away" from a deal after months of negotiations.
Manchin said Schumer characterized him as walking away from the deal but insisted he never did so. Manchin on Thursday insisted that he and Schumer didn't pull a "Fast one" on Republicans by announcing the deal Wednesday afternoon.
Schumer told reporters Thursday afternoon that he and Manchin unveiled the legislative text and the summaries of the deal as soon as they finished it. Schumer noted that the talks with Manchin broke down on July 14 but that Manchin "Came to visit me" the following week.
Manchin kept President Biden on the sidelines after last year's negotiations between Manchin and the White House, which ended in failure and public recriminations after months of fruitless talks.
July 28: Manchin-Schumer Deal Would Have Moderate Inflation-Fighting Effect, Economists Say
Most inflation benefits of the bill, which cuts drug costs, subsidize healthcare premiums, and reduces the deficit-would come in future years, according to estimates Senate Democrats' tax and spending proposal would likely help cool inflation slightly but most of the effects won't be felt until later this decade, economists said.
Sen. Joe Manchin and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer have framed the agreement as a way to fight galloping inflation, which hit 9.1% in June, a four-decade high.
July 28: What’s in the Manchin-Schumer deal on taxes, climate, and energy
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and West Virginia Senator Joe Manchin released the outline of a tax, climate, and health care deal on Wednesday, in what could prove to be a major breakthrough after weeks of negotiations.
The regular, 21% corporate rate is left untouched, maintaining a key part of Trump's 2017 tax law.
Democrats hope to pull in $124 billion in tax revenue from cracking down on tax cheats and increasing compliance by rebuilding the IRS. The agency has lost staff and expertise over the past decade because of budget cuts. The plan would end the carried-interest tax break used by private equity and hedge fund managers to lower their tax bills.
Electric car credits The bill includes $4,000 tax credits for lower- and middle-income buyers to purchase used electric vehicles, and up to $7,500 tax credit for new vehicles.
The inclusion is a win for EV makers including Tesla Inc., General Motors Co., and Toyota Motor Co. Renewable energy credits The plan has $60 billion of incentives to bring clean energy manufacturing into the U.S. These include production tax credits to accelerate U.S. manufacturing of solar panels, wind turbines, batteries, and critical minerals processing.
Consumer energy perks There would be tax credits for consumers who add renewable energy items to their homes, under the legislation, including efficient heat pumps, rooftop solar, electric HVAC, and water heaters.
July 28: After Clash, Manchin and Schumer Rushed to Reset Climate and Tax Deal
Senator Chuck Schumer, the majority leader, and Senator Joe Manchin III, Democrat of West Virginia, were both nursing resentments when they met secretly in a windowless room in the basement of the Capitol last Monday to try to salvage a climate package that was a key piece of their party's agenda. On Dec. 19, 2021, Senator Joe Manchin III, Democrat of West Virginia, said he would not support the bill as written, dooming his party's drive to pass it.
Senator Mitch McConnell, Republican of Kentucky and the minority leader, said his party would not support the bill as long as Democrats continued to press a reconciliation bill.
Senator John Cornyn, Republican of Texas, charged that Mr. Manchin had done an "Olympic-worthy flip-flop" on the reconciliation package.
For more than a year, Mr. Manchin has been at the center of his party's efforts to muscle through sweeping domestic policy legislation while they still control Washington, wielding his influence as a conservative Democrat in an evenly divided Senate.
Senator Cory Booker, Democrat of New Jersey, said there was "a sense of joy that we're really doing the most significant bill on climate change in the history of our country," and joked that he rarely saw senators enthusiastic about the prospect of weekend work.
With Republicans expected to unanimously oppose the measure, Democrats will need all 50 senators who caucus with them to be present and to back the package for it to pass the Senate, along with the tie-breaking vote of Vice President Kamala Harris.
July 28: What’s in, and out, of Democrats’ inflation-fighting package
The bill would invest $369 billion over the decade in climate change-fighting strategies including investments in renewable energy production and tax rebates for consumers to buy new or used electric vehicles.
It's broken down to include $60 billion for a clean energy manufacturing tax credit and $30 billion for a production tax credit for wind and solar, seen as ways to boost and support the industries that can help curb the country's dependence on fossil fuels.
One is a 10-year consumer tax credit for renewable energy investments in wind and solar. There are tax breaks for buying electric vehicles, including a $4,000 tax credit for the purchase of used electric vehicles and $7,500 for new ones.
The biggest revenue-raiser in the bill is a new 15% minimum tax on corporations that earn more than $1 billion in annual profits. The new corporate minimum tax would kick in after the 2022 tax year and raise some $313 billion over the decade.
Federal deficits have spiked during the COVID-19 pandemic when federal spending soared and tax revenues fell as the nation's economy churned through shutdowns, closed offices, and other massive changes.
July 27: Manchin, Schumer Deal Carries 15% Corp. Minimum Tax
Sen. Joe Manchin said Wednesday he had reached an agreement with Majority Leader Chuck Schumer on legislation that would impose a 15% corporate minimum tax as part of a larger package to address tax, energy, and health care costs. The measure would bring in roughly $739 billion in new revenues, including $313 billion from establishing a corporate minimum tax, $124 billion from increased tax enforcement efforts by the Internal Revenue Service, $14 billion from changing the tax treatment of carried interest and $288 billion from reducing the cost the federal government pays for prescription drugs, according to a summary provided by Schumer's office.
Corporations would generally be eligible to claim net operating losses and tax credits against the AMT and would be eligible to claim a tax credit against the regular corporate tax for AMT paid in prior years, to the extent the regular tax liability in any year exceeds 15% of the corporation's adjusted financial statement income.
Manchin highlighted the corporate minimum tax in a statement on the agreement and called it wrong that some of the country's largest companies escape federal taxes. He said the tax code should not allow for the preferential tax treatment of carried interest or for state and local tax deductions that favor "Red state or blue state elites." Eliminating such tax provisions would raise revenues to "Cut the deficit and lower the cost of healthcare for working families and small businesses," he said.
Manchin's agreement with Schumer came shortly after the Senate passed a semiconductor bill by a vote of 64-33 that includes a 25% investment tax credit for U.S. semiconductor manufacturers.
The agreement with Schumer follows comments Manchin made during a West Virginia radio interview on July 15 that he wouldn't support the tax proposals in Biden's economic plan and that a significant increase in inflation led to his decision.
Economic News/Policy:
July 31: Economy Week Ahead: Hiring and Trade in Focus
Monday: Economists surveyed by The Wall Street Journal expect the Institute of Supply Management and S&P Global to release new purchasing managers’ indexes showing that economic activity among manufacturers slowed in July. The Commerce Department is expected to report that construction spending picked up in June.
Tuesday: The Labor Department is expected to report that job openings declined for the third consecutive month in June but remained historically elevated.
Wednesday: Economists expect the Institute for Supply Management and S&P Global to report that activity among services providers in the U.S. rose modestly in July. New orders for manufactured goods are estimated to have slowed in June, reflecting that demand for goods from consumers and businesses cooled a bit as economic growth loses steam.
Thursday: The Bank of England is expected to raise its key interest rate for the sixth time, to 1.75% from 1.25%. That would be a larger move than the previous five, each of which was a quarter percentage point. It is also expected to outline plans to sell government bonds acquired during its stimulus programs. That would make it the first major central bank to reverse the process by selling bonds rather than by letting them mature and not reinvesting the proceeds.
New applications for U.S. unemployment benefits are estimated to have edged lower in the week ended July 30. Jobless claims have trended upward in recent weeks, hitting the highest point of the year in mid-July.
The U.S. trade deficit is estimated to have narrowed in June, for the third consecutive month. The gap shrank in May as U.S. households spent less on imported goods and exports jumped on energy shipments.
Friday: Economists estimate that U.S. employers added jobs at a robust pace in July, but fewer than in June, adding to signs of slowing U.S. economic growth. Analysts expect the Labor Department report to show a gain of 250,000 jobs in July, with the unemployment rate holding at 3.6% for the fifth month in a row.
July 30: Is there a recession? Only the National Bureau of Economic Research gets to decide
It's not in the U.S., where a relatively under-the-radar group - the National Bureau of Economic Research's Business Cycle Dating Committee - is in charge of making an official call on whether the country is in a recession. The group within the NBER that actually makes the call on the recession is the Business Cycle Dating Committee.
Christina Romer served as chairwoman of the council of economic advisers under President Obama, and Poterba is the president of the NBER. The NBER's formal definition of a recession is broad. According to its frequently asked questions page, the NBER's traditional definition is "a significant decline in economic activity that is spread across the economy and that lasts more than a few months."
According to a short history of the NBER written in 1984 by former Vice President of Research Solomon Fabricant, the organization traces its history in part to initiatives made in the early part of the 20th century by the newly formed Rockefeller Foundation, the philanthropic organ built off the vast oil fortune made by John D. Rockefeller.
NBER research hasn't been immune from controversy. "NBER research is supported by grants from government agencies or private foundations, by the corporation and individual contributions, and by income from the NBER's investment portfolio," the website says.
"The NBER conducts research but does not make policy recommendations or carry out advocacy based on research findings," the group says of itself.
July 29: Inflation Hits Fresh Four-Decade High, According to Fed’s Preferred Measure
Inflation accelerated in June, measured by the Federal Reserve's preferred gauge, driven by a jump in energy prices as well as broader-based increases.
Consumer prices rose 6.8% in June from a year earlier, up from 6.3% in May and April, as measured by the Commerce Department's personal consumption expenditures price index. The gain in June marked the sharpest rise since January 1982.
Fed officials are raising rates aggressively in part because of worries that expectations for future inflation are shifting. Economists believe that such expectations can be self-fulfilling—that if people expect inflation to keep rising, workers will require higher pay, and business owners will, in turn, raise the prices they charge.
The University of Michigan consumer-sentiment survey showed that longer-term inflation expectations came in at 2.9% in July, down from June’s 3.1% but slightly above the average rate during the 20 years before the Covid-19 pandemic.
July 28: US economy shrinks for a 2nd quarter, raising recession fear
The U.S. economy shrank from April through June for a second straight quarter, contracting at a 0.9% annual pace and raising fears that the nation may be approaching a recession. In the United States, the inflation surge and fear of a recession have eroded consumer confidence and stirred anxiety about the economy, which is sending frustratingly mixed signals.
Fed Chair Jerome Powell and many economists have said that while the economy is showing some weakening, they doubt it's in recession.
In the wake of Thursday's government report, Biden dismissed any notion that the data depicted an economy in recession. Even with the economy recording a second straight quarter of negative GDP, many economists do not regard it as constituting a recession.
The definition of a recession that is most widely accepted is the one determined by the National Bureau of Economic Research, a group of economists whose Business Cycle Dating Committee defines a recession as "a significant decline in economic activity that is spread across the economy and lasts more than a few months."
"If we aren't yet in a recession, we soon will be,″ said Joshua Shapiro, chief U.S. economist for the economic consulting firm Maria Fiorini Ramirez Inc. "An economy rapidly losing momentum combined with aggressive monetary tightening is not a recipe for a soft landing or any other type of happy ending.
July 27: Biden Insists There’s No Recession as He Confronts Latest Economic Risk
After more than a year of attempting to soothe consumer anxieties over soaring inflation, Biden administration officials have segued into a sustained public campaign to extinguish fears that the nation's economy has dipped back into recession. The administration's arguments that the country was not currently in a recession were supported by some economic indicators, many forecasters, and the technical definitions of what constitutes a recession that is employed by the National Bureau of Economic Research's business cycle dating committee.
Amid persistently high inflation, rising consumer prices, and declining spending, the American economy is showing clear signs of slowing down, fueling concerns about a potential recession. About half of respondents in a June survey of Americans nationwide conducted for The New York Times by the online research platform Momentive said they believed the economy was already in a recession or a depression.
Still, the Biden administration's insistence that the country is not in a recession may be drawing more attention to the dark possibilities currently hanging over the economy than the White House might otherwise like to see. Perhaps the biggest political danger for Mr. Biden is that he ends up correct about the possibility of a recession at the moment, but wrong down the road. Even if the economy grew in the second quarter, it could fall into recession this summer or right before the midterms, especially if global oil prices spike again, a development administration officials were trying to head off.
The I.M.F. warned on Tuesday that the risks for the global economy were "Overwhelmingly tilted to the downside." It revised down its projections of growth in the United States, forecasting just 0.6 percent annual growth for the fourth quarter of 2023. Such a slowdown, I.M.F. officials wrote, "Will make it increasingly challenging to avoid a recession" - no matter how you define the term.
July 27: Fed Expected To Raise Rates To Fight Inflation
The Federal Reserve is expected to hike interest rates by three-quarters of a percentage point on Wednesday, in the latest push to rein in inflation that remains at 40-year highs, is threatening the overall economy, and is weighing on families and businesses nationwide.
Inflation in June even notched a new peak - climbing 9.1 percent compared with the year before - heightening the risk of a recession as the Fed moves more forcefully to slow the economy. Interest rates are the Fed's most important tool for combating inflation. The scorching June inflation report showed the Fed has more work to do.
The Fed's economic forecasts show the unemployment rate rising a bit as interest rates go up - meaning that some workers will lose jobs under the current plan to raise interest rates.
Back in June, when the Fed hiked rates by three-quarters of a percentage point, it marked the sharpest action taken by the central bank since 1994. The Fed has signaled that three more rate hikes are coming this year, though Fed leaders routinely say that the size of upcoming hikes will depend on the most recent data.
July 26: The I.M.F. warns that a global recession could soon be at hand
The world could soon be on the brink of a global recession as the economies of the United States, China, and Europe slow more sharply than anticipated amid a collision of crises, the International Monetary Fund warned on Tuesday.
"The world may soon be teetering on the edge of a global recession, only two years after the last one," Pierre-Olivier Gourinchas, the I.M.F.'s chief economist, wrote in a blog post accompanying the report.
Data set for release on Thursday is expected to show that the U.S. economy grew little or perhaps shrank in the second quarter of 2022. At a news conference following the release of the report, Mr. Gourinchas added that the I.M.F. was not currently projecting that the United States was in a recession and that even if its economy contracted in the second quarter, defining a recession can be complicated.
“The recession in the way it is defined typically is looking at more than just output, you want to take into account the strength of the labor market,” Mr. Gourinchas said. "The general assessment as to whether the economy is in a recession overall is a little bit more complex."
Mr. Gourinchas also suggested that the kind of “soft landing” that the Fed was trying to engineer — where it cools the economy just enough without setting off a recession — would be difficult to achieve. As the labor market cools, even a small "Shock" could tip the economy into a recession, he said.
"The current environment suggests that the likelihood that the U.S. economy can avoid a recession is actually quite narrow under our current projections," he said. The I.M.F. said Russia's recession this year was still significant and that its economic output could deteriorate further next year as the impact of the sanctions intensified.
Global Trade:
August 2: Wall Street falls on rising U.S.-China tensions, Caterpillar shares weigh
Wall Street's major indexes fell on Tuesday on concerns over rising U.S.-China tensions ahead of the arrival of U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi in Taiwan, with losses in industrial bellwether Caterpillar adding to the slide. Shares of chipmakers with large exposure to China fell, while Caterpillar slid 3.6% as slowing construction activity in the world's second-largest economy and a halt in Russia operations added to its supply-chain woes.
The CBOE volatility index, also known as Wall Street's fear gauge, rose to 24.31 points, its highest level in nearly a week and the Philadelphia SE semiconductor index fell 1%.At 10:16 a.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 301.47 points, or 0.92%, at 32,496.
93, the S&P 500 was down 25.27 points, or 0.61%, at 4,093.36, and the Nasdaq Composite was down 56.02 points, or 0.45%, at 12,312.
95. Among individual stocks, DuPont de Nemours fell 1.4% after the maker of the industrial material cut its full-year outlook, while shares of credit-rating company S&P Global Inc dipped 2.6% on a downbeat 2022 profit forecast.
Data showed U.S. job openings fell more than expected in June, suggesting that labor demand was starting to cool, which could ease the pressure on the Federal Reserve to aggressively raise interest rates.
The S&P index recorded one new 52-week high and 30 new lows, while the Nasdaq recorded 21 new highs and 41 new lows.
July 28: China Has Leapfrogged the U.S. in Key Technologies. Can a New Law Help?
In the weeks before the House and the Senate ended 13 months of arguments and passed the $280 billion CHIPS and Science Act, China's main, state-supported chip maker cleared a major technological hurdle that delivered a bit of a shock to the world. Experts are still assessing how China leapfrogged ahead in its effort to manufacture a semiconductor whose circuits are of such tiny dimensions - about 10,000 times thinner than a human hair - that they rival those made in Taiwan, which supplies both China and the West.
The Biden administration has gone to extraordinary lengths to keep the highly specialized equipment to make those chips out of Chinese hands because progress in chip manufacturing is now scrutinized as a way to define national power - much the same way nuclear tests or precision-guided missiles were during a previous cold war.
One lesson seemed clear: While Congress debated and amended and argued over whether and how to support American chip makers and a broad range of research in other technologies - from advanced batteries to robotics and quantum computing - China was surging ahead, betting it would take Washington years to get its act together.
In China, the drive to catch up and manufacture the most advanced chips is part of the "Made in China 2025" program. One of the first assessments of the new Chinese chip, made by Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation, came from researchers at a firm called TechInsights. So China has both a commercial and a geopolitical motive to make the world's fastest chips, and the United States has a competitive motive to keep Beijing from getting the technology to do so.
But that delicate balance won’t last forever. So China has both a commercial and a geopolitical motive to make the world’s fastest chips, and the United States has a competitive motive to keep Beijing from getting the technology to do so. It is the ultimate 21st-century arms race.
In the old Cold War, the one against the Soviet Union a generation ago, “the government could afford to sit on the sidelines” and hope private industry would invest, Mr. Schumer said on Wednesday. Now, he said, “we can’t afford to sit on the sidelines.”
July 28: House passes chips and science bill, sending the measure to Biden’s desk
The House passed a $280 billion bill on Thursday to strengthen the domestic chip manufacturing industry and finance scientific research in a bid to boost the United States's competitiveness on the global stage, sending the measure to President Biden's desk for final approval. The legislation, titled the CHIPS and Science Act, cleared the House in a 243-187-1 vote.
Lawmakers ultimately came to a consensus on the CHIPS and Science Act, which will allocate $54 billion for chips and public wireless supply chain innovation, including $39 billion that will go towards financial assistance to build, expand and modernize semiconductor facilities in the U.S. It also includes $11 billion for research and development by the Department of Commerce.
The measure seeks to establish a 25 percent tax credit for investment in semiconductor manufacturing and funnel $81 billion to the National Science Foundation, $20 billion of which will go towards an NSF directorate.
House Republican leadership revealed on Wednesday evening that it would whip against the bill, reversing from its position earlier in the day that it would not advise conference members on how to vote on the measure.
Roughly two weeks later, Manchin said he would not get behind climate spending in a reconciliation package, significantly decreasing Democrats' odds of approving a measure by the November midterm elections. Shortly after the Senate passed the semiconductor bill, Manchin said he reached an agreement with Schumer on the reconciliation package, frustrating many Republicans in the House.
July 27: Senate Approves Semiconductor Bill With 25% Tax Credit
The U.S. Senate approved a $52 billion semiconductor bill Wednesday that includes a 25% tax credit for new domestic chip manufacturing investments, sending the legislation to the House of Representatives. The bill is also aimed at boosting U.S. competitiveness against China, which has become a powerhouse in semiconductor production thanks to the Chinese government's massive subsidies to that industry.
The bill is "Sort of a Sputnik moment" in which the U.S. has realized that a rival foreign power "Would get way ahead of us if we don't pull out all of the stops," Schumer said in a press conference after the vote. To help boost the industry, the bill would provide an advanced manufacturing investment credit to companies equal to 25% of their qualified investment for each taxable year.
The credit aims to counter foreign countries' government subsidies, including China's, by offering a baseline incentive for re-shoring chipmaking operations to the U.S., according to a bill summary. The bill would also increase federal mandatory spending by over $60 billion, according to House tax writer Jason Smith, R-Mo., who also serves as the ranking member of the chamber's Budget Committee.
"The cost of compromise on this bill pales in comparison to the costs we will suffer if we allow the Chinese Communist Party to one day own and control access to our most critical technologies," Pompeo said in a tweet Friday.
Energy and Environmental Policy/News:
July 30: Energy Prices May Keep Inflation High for Years
Of all the drivers behind the dramatic rise in U.S. inflation in the past year, perhaps the most acute is the surge in energy prices. It may also be among the most persistent. High prices for electricity and fuel are likely to put continued pressure on inflation in coming years, forcing central banks to keep interest rates higher than otherwise.
Prices are also likely to become more volatile, which could make it even harder for central banks to control inflation, economists say. That raises the prospect of inflationary episodes, recessions, and volatile financial markets.
Energy shocks aren’t uncommon. Geopolitical turmoil in particular has often caused big jumps in prices, for example, after the Arab oil embargo in 1973 and the Iranian revolution in 1979. But this episode is different in that higher prices are also being driven by changes in the structure of energy supply as countries try to cut carbon emissions, said Tiffany Wilding, an economist at Pimco.
“There’s not enough gas and not enough renewable manufacturing capacity,” and the world is reluctant to replace gas with coal, said Audun M. Martinsen, head of energy service research at Rystad Energy. Due to the shortfall, he said he expects power prices to stay high for the next 10 years.
July 27: House passes cyber bill aimed to protect energy sectors
The House passed bipartisan legislation on Wednesday that would address the rise of cyber threats against energy infrastructure in the United States. The bill would establish a grant program based at the Department of Energy to financially assist graduate students and postdoctoral researchers studying cybersecurity and energy infrastructure.
"The United States has witnessed an alarming rise in cybersecurity threats and attacks against our energy infrastructure, including in my home state of North Carolina," Representative Ross said in a statement. "Our constituents rely on dependable energy sources for their lives and their livelihoods, and we cannot afford continued exposure to these types of attacks," she added.
The bill, which was introduced in April, was inspired by recent cyber incidents, including the Colonial Pipeline ransomware attack last year, which forced the company to shut down operations for nearly a week, causing gas shortages in several states and spikes in fuel prices. The legislation follows a series of warnings issued by the White House and federal agencies urging companies, especially those in critical sectors, to shore up their cyber defenses against the rise of Russian cyberattacks amid the war in Ukraine. If signed into law, the legislation would require the Secretary of Energy to submit a report to Congress with updates on the development and implementation of the program no later than one year after its passage.
For Fun:
August 1: Scientists are baffled as Earth spins faster than usual
Scientists have been left baffled after discovering the Earth is spinning faster than normal - making days shorter than usual. New measurements by the UK's National Physical Laboratory show that the Earth is spinning faster than it was half a century ago.
Scientists have warned that, if the rotation rate continues to speed up, we may need to remove a second from our atomic clocks. "If Earth's fast rotation continues, it could lead to the introduction of the first-ever negative leap second," astrophysicist Graham Jones reported via TimeandDate.com.
Scientists Leonid Zotov, Christian Bizouard, and Nikolay Sidorenkov claim the irregular rotations are the result of something called the Chandler Wobble, an irregular movement of Earth's geographical poles across the surface of the globe.
"Earth has recorded its shortest day since scientists began using atomic clocks to measure its rotational speed," TimeandDate reported.
"On June 29, 2022, Earth completed one spin in 1.59 milliseconds less than 24 hours. This is the latest in a series of speed records for Earth since 2020.".
July 28: 4,000 Mistreated Beagles Need Homes. These Folks Are Stepping Up
The mass rescue comes after United States authorities filed a complaint in a federal court in May, after inspections of the Envigo breeding and research facility in Cumberland, Va., over the past two years revealed several violations of federal regulations. Officials found the beagles hungry, sick, mistreated, and, in some cases, dead. Many of the animals in the breeding operation were expected to be used in research and testing. After the inspections and calls from lawmakers, a federal judge approved a plan this month to rescue the beagles. That mobilized several rescue organizations, dozens of volunteers, and hundreds of would-be owners who wanted to help.
Working to rescue, medically treat and relocate the dogs has been an enormous undertaking that has required the help of veterinarians, volunteers, drivers, and dog lovers. On July 21, the Humane Society of the United States took 201 beagles, among the first to leave Envigo, to a center in Maryland, and about 230 other dogs went directly to rescue partners.
Before the court intervened, some of the dogs had likely been destined to end up at testing facilities and die, said Kitty Block, the chief executive, and president of the Humane Society.
Lindsay Hamrick, the Humane Society's shelter outreach and engagement director, said pregnant dogs, nursing litters, and dogs in need of medical care were prioritized for new homes.
Aside from natural disasters that have displaced some dogs, Mr. Keiley, who is also the director of adoption centers and programs for the Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, said the rescue of the 4,000 beagles was the largest he had participated in or heard of. Her shelter has fielded requests from Texans and Floridians willing to drive to Massachusetts for a beagle, even though there are dogs ready to be adopted in those states.
The 21 dogs who were put in the care of Homeward Trails Animal Rescue in Virginia had a "Spa day," said Sue Bell, the executive director.
“Previously, when we’ve taken dogs, I have looked in the eyes of the beagles in their outdoor kennels row after row after row and kind of had to say an apology to them,” Ms. Bell said. “This time, I was able to look in the eyes of all those dogs and tell them we were coming back for them.”