The Economic Perspective 10/2/2026
The Latest Trending Economic, Environmental and Infrastructure News Curated for You by The Balmoral Group
The Balmoral Group provides practical, professional and precise Economics, Data Analytics, and Engineering Consulting services and is part of a globally integrated team.
Happy Friday!
Hello and welcome back to another edition of the Economic Perspective! With this edition comes the beginning of October, a month when our team members are going to be busy attending site visits as part of our work for the Gulf Consortium, RESTORE grantee training in Alabama, and more! Be sure to stay tuned for updates and more information as we take you along each week.
TBG's Laila Racevskis attended the Florida Wildlife Corridor Foundation's Mind the Gaps workshop in Milton, Florida, this week, where she presented on TBG's work on the Florida Wildlife Corridor Payment for Ecosystem Services program. Workshop attendees represented a variety of stakeholders, including local government, state agencies, non-profit organizations, landowners, and private industry, and the day included in-depth discussions and brainstorming over GIS maps of the local area to develop conservation strategies for the protection of Wildlife Corridor lands in the Emerald Coast region.
Our articles this week cover national environmental protection collaborations, USDOT DBE policy changes, acts of kindness in the restoration field, and biotechnology updates in US agriculture. Our Data Visualization covers the impending El Niño and what Florida should expect from it, so make sure to check it out!
FHWA Hosts EDC Initiative Regional Peer Exchange
The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) will be hosting four regional peer exchanges as part of its Every Day Counts (EDC) initiative they launched earlier in the year. These meetings are designed to help firms and other industry stakeholders become familiar with innovations featured in EDC-8. Topics covered in this edition of EDC include nighttime work zone safety, subsurface utility engineering, Integrated Digital Project Delivery, and more. Read more about the scheduled events here and more about EDC here.
More Changes to DBE Policies from USDOT
Over a year ago, several overhauls and rewrites to the Disadvantaged Business Enterprise (DBE) program began. On September 25th the USDOT issued a final rule on the program, with rules being clarified for the reevaluation process. This includes rules on deadlines for previous DBE firms applying for recertification, the certifying agency’s ability to determine if a firm is or is not economically disadvantaged, and requirements in the personal narrative about identification of the owner’s disadvantaged status. More clarity on the rules can be found here, and the fully released ruling can be found here.
Chinese Desert Transformed into Forest with $5,000 from a Teacher
Ronald Sakolsky, a teacher from Pennsylvania, made a donation of $5,000 to a farmer in Inner Mongolia named Yin Yuzhen back in 1999. This donation would go toward the planting of 50,000 trees in a desert by Yin, who was planting the trees by herself as a way to stay occupied after moving to the new area. Yin would spend the next 26 years maintaining and helping grow the saplings into the forest that exists there today. Sakolsky would later go and visit the area last month for the first time in the 26 years since their planting. The story was mentioned by Chinese leader Xi Jinping during his visit to Washington about the friendly exchanges that can exist between Chinese people and Americans. The project also connects to other efforts by China since 1973 to reforest much of its land to help stave off desertification and sand storms associated with climate change. Read more here.
WA Natural Gas Initiative Ruled Unconstitutional
Washington State’s Supreme Court recently ruled against an initiative passed last session regarding the availability of natural gas in Washington. Opponents of the decision point out that the legislation had already been passed and represented the will of the voters to choose where their energy comes from, while supporters have repeatedly criticized the legislation’s deceptive bundling of many subjects under the same initiative, which would limit local authority on air quality standards and repeal a part of the Decarbonization Act along with the stated goals of amending building codes statewide to accommodate natural gas hookups in new buildings. The Supreme Court of Washington found that the initiative was unconstitutional by a margin of six-three. Read more here.
US Biotechnology Continues Impact, Development, and Research
The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) released a report on the status of biotechnology in United States agriculture that was informed by data from their Economic Research Service, National Agriculture Statistics Service, and Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service agencies. Biotechnology advancements have historically contributed to herbicide tolerance, insect resistance, and drought tolerance in crops, factors which are all uniquely beneficial amidst global supply chain changes, food systems pressure, and climate change impacts. Looking ahead, newer genetic engineering methods may expand the market availability of biotechnology by making the process less costly and more efficient overall, focusing on the resilient traits desired to ensure market stability and productivity. Read the report here.
US and Italy Sign Environmental Protection MOU Ahead of 2028 Olympics
In an effort to strengthen environmental protection, particularly at large-scale events, the United States and Italy have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) establishing a framework to do so. The MOU encourages cooperation and information sharing between the two countries, focusing on cutting food loss and waste while also increasing recycling efforts and other initiatives during events such as the upcoming 2028 Olympic Games in Los Angeles. A workplan has not yet been created but is the next step in the process,and will likely include sharing best practices on enhancing air quality, reducing food loss, and expanding water reuse and recycling initiatives. You can read the MOU here, or read more here.
Data Visualization of the Week
El Niño to Steer Colder, Wetter Winter to FL, Southeast US
El Niño, according to six numerical models in the North American Multi-Model Ensemble for seasonal forecasting, is slated to bring colder, wetter weather to Florida and the Southeastern U.S. this year. The results of these models are shown in this week’s Data Viz, with a map showing areas that are likeliest to see increased precipitation and the percentage of the 1982-2010 average said precipitation amounts to, along with the same visualizations for temperature in the region. NOAA reports that this combination of cold, wet weather is anticipated to reduce the number of tropical cyclones observed this fall, though not to zero, and the increased frequency of nor’easters and coastal storms could lead to localized flooding. Read more here. Image courtesy of NOAA, data courtesy of University of California-Merced’s Climate Mapper tool.
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