Making Our Drinking Water Safer: EPA Sets Limits On ‘Forever Chemicals’
Why Arizona will be center of 2024 abortion fight; Rising inflation may mean interest rates remain high
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Good morning,
This girl is on 🔥! Anouk Garnier, a 34-year-old French obstacle course racer nicknamed “the warrior,” broke the world record for rope climbing. She pulled herself up 110 meters to the second floor of the Eiffel Tower in 18 minutes — two minutes faster than expected!
Looking for a new challenge, Garnier began rope climbing just a couple years ago after she won the world obstacle course championship.
Never too late to find a new hobby… you might even break a record!
Mosheh, Jill, & Lauren
🚰 EPA SETS FIRST-EVER LIMITS ON PFAS CHEMICALS IN DRINKING WATER
For the first time, the EPA set legally enforceable drinking water limits for ‘forever chemicals,’ otherwise known as PFAS. With at least 45% of the nation’s tap water estimated to have one or more types of PFAS chemicals, there could be major implications for the water industry.
PFAS, or per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, are a group of thousands of “forever” chemicals that are linked to a host of health problems.
The CDC reports that they’re so ubiquitous (in soil, air, water) that nearly every American has them in their blood.
WHAT THEY ARE
From non-stick pans to electronics, PFAS are used to make products that resist heat, oil, stains, and water (here’s where they can be found in your home). They do NOT naturally break down, and are linked to cancer, birth defects, and other serious health problems.
There are around 15,000 PFAS synthetic chemicals, but the EPA has finalized a rule restricting six of them in the water.
What that means: Water systems are required to monitor for these chemicals and remove them if they're found above allowable levels.
🚨 The EPA’s previous advisory health limit was 70 parts per trillion (ppt). But, last year, research showed NO level of exposure is safe in drinking water. Now, enforceable limits are 4 parts per trillion — the lowest level detectable — or 10 ppt for a combination of three other PFAS compounds.
COST-BENEFIT ANALYSIS
Water utilities are not happy about the new rule saying it will cost too much. The change is going to cost companies around $1.5 billion per year, and the US government is setting aside $ to help. But consumers could see price increases, too.
There are about 66,000 public water systems that will need to follow the new regulation, but only six to ten percent of them will need to take action to meet the federal standard. Public water systems will have five years to address their PFAS problems.
The government says any cost increase will be outweighed by the health benefits from the new rule — reducing cancer, heart attack and stroke rates.
💰 INFLATION PROGRESS STALLS — A BAD SIGN FOR 2024 INTEREST RATE CUTS
Tracking inflation. Via: Washington Post.
Here we go again. Inflation rose in March for the third straight month — 3.5% from the same time last year and more than economists had expected. Price increases have slowed significantly from 2022’s 9.1% peak, but they’re still well above the Federal Reserve's 2% inflation target.
What this means: The road to interest rate cuts by the Federal Reserve may take a bit longer and prices will remain high.
BEHIND THE NUMBERS
The Labor Department said yesterday that the consumer price index, a broad measure of the price of everyday goods including gas, groceries and rent, rose 0.4% in March from the previous month.
The main drivers: Housing and energy costs. They made up over HALF of the month-to-month increase.
Rent costs rose 0.4 percent in March — up 5.7 percent compared with a year ago.
The energy index rose 1.1 percent in March, down from February, but still up 2.1 percent over last year.
GROCERY PRICES
The cost of groceries remained steady in March compared to February, but since March 2020, the cost of groceries has spiked 25%, outpacing overall inflation. And it’s up 40% since 2019. Going out to eat isn’t any better.
What $100 gets you: how much grocery shopping is in 2024 vs 2019. Via: WSJ.
NOT POLITICS, BUT…
The Fed operates independently from any presidential administration, but President Biden would like to see the Fed cut interest rates before the November election. Will that happen? The new numbers mean that rate cuts expected this June could be delayed.
🗳️ ARIZONA: THE 2024 ABORTION BATTLEGROUND
The political fallout continues after the Arizona Supreme Court ruled this week that the state should follow a law dating back to the 1860s that bans nearly all abortions. Politicians are weighing in, and in a rare display of consensus, Democrats and a number of top Republicans are pushing back against the decision.
VP Kamala Harris is planning a trip to the state tomorrow to call attention to the issue, and even former President Trump says the ruling went too far.
THE BAN
The law would effectively ban all abortions in the state except when the mother’s life is in danger. There are no exceptions for rape or incest. Doctors performing an abortion face two to five years in prison.
How we got here: In 2022, Arizona passed a law that allowed abortions until the 15th week of pregnancy. But, it turns out the state never repealed an 1864 law banning abortion. (It was just effectively frozen while Roe v Wade was in effect). So until the state repeals the original law, it stands.
TO NOTE: The law dates back to the Civil War, when Arizona wasn’t a state and women didn’t have the right to vote.
Arizona’s Attorney General Kris Mayes, a Democrat, won’t enforce the law if it goes into effect, saying, "As long as I am Attorney General, no woman or doctor will be prosecuted under this draconian law in this state."
ABORTION ON THE BALLOT
There was already talk of putting abortion on the Arizona ballot in November, but Mayes says the new ruling “supercharges the ballot initiative.” So far, there’s been strong voter support for similar measures in other states, even in Republican states like Kansas.
Democrats hope the issue will give them an edge in November. In 2020, Biden beat Trump in Arizona by just 10,457 votes, or 0.3 percent of the nearly 3.4 million ballots cast.
GOP weighs in: Kari Lake, the leading Republican candidate for Senate in Arizona, voiced support for the law two years ago, but now says it’s “out of step with Arizonans.”
Rep. Juan Ciscomani (R-AZ), who represents a seat President Biden won in 2020, called the ruling a "disaster for women and providers."
But, the GOP controls both chambers of the legislature. And state Republican leadership doesn’t seem so keen to rush to overturn the 1864 law. Yesterday, Republicans in both chambers kicked that can down the road.
The WSJ reports that the abortion ruling could push disaffected Democrats to show up on Election Day. There are efforts in about a dozen states to add a question to voters' ballots supporting abortion rights.
⏳ SPEED READ
🚨NATION
📌 TV networks prepare letter to Biden and Trump campaigns urging them to commit to 2024 election debates (CNN)
📌 Florida woman sentenced to a month in prison for theft of Ashley Biden's diary (ABC NEWS)
📌 Key Bridge wreckage lies in deepest parts of Baltimore shipping channel, sonar imaging finds (CBS NEWS)
📌 California spent billions on homelessness without tracking if it worked (YAHOO)
📌 Pictures of impacts of severe storms, tornados & flooding slamming the South (ABC NEWS)
🌎 AROUND THE WORLD
📌 3 of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh's sons killed by Israeli airstrike (FOX NEWS)
📌 Biden announces new steps to deepen military ties between the U.S. and Japan (CBS NEWS)
📌 Hamas tells negotiators it doesn’t have 40 Israeli hostages needed for first round of ceasefire (CNN)
📌 Amanda Knox back on trial in Italy in lingering case linked to roommate Meredith Kercher's murder (NBC NEWS)
📱BUSINESS, SCIENCE & TECH
📌 Consumer Reports asks USDA to remove Lunchables from schools' lunch menus (NPR)
📌 They’re young and athletic. They’re also ill with a condition called POTS. (WASHINGTON POST)
📌 Some Apple Vision Pro users suffer black eyes, headaches and neck pain (MARKET WATCH)
📌 OpenAI and Meta ready new AI models capable of ‘reasoning’ (FT)
🎬 SPORTS & ENTERTAINMENT
📌 Margot Robbie making ‘Monopoly’ movie and Blumhouse reviving ‘Blair Witch’ (AP)
📌 Michael Strahan's daughter Isabella tears up while sharing unexpected chemotherapy update (E NEWS)
📌 Travis Kelce says he doesn’t know how he wooed Taylor Swift: ‘she wasn’t into sports’ (BILLBOARD)
📌 ‘The View’ co-hosts evacuate ABC Studio after grease fire breaks out next door at ‘The Tamron Hall Show’ (PEOPLE)
🗓 ON THIS DAY: APRIL 11
1968: President Lyndon Johnson signs into law the Civil Rights Act of 1968, which includes the Fair Housing Act, a week after MLK is assassinated.
1970: Apollo 13 blasted off on its mission to the moon, but two days into the mission an oxygen tank exploded. The crew splashed down safely four days after the explosion.
1981: President Ronald Reagan returned to the White House days after being shot in an assassination attempt.
2000: Britney Spears released the song ‘Oops!... I Did It Again’ and Jay-Z released his song ‘Big Pimpin’