The Economic Perspective 12/12/2025

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! 

Welcome back readers, we hope you are ready for another Economic Perspective! For our Washington audience, we hope you are staying safe and dry amidst the atmospheric river strolling through the state, and for our Florida audience, we hope you are enjoying the balmy winter weather on that side of the country.

TBG's Laila Racevskis, Board member of the Tallahassee Area Association of Environmental Professionals (TAAEP), attended the TAAEP Annual Holiday Party this week at The Monroe in downtown Tallahassee where a fun and festive time was had by all! The evening included environmental professionals from diverse fields, including economics, ecology, engineering, law, among many others, who met to celebrate the holiday season together and share stories about all the cool environmental work being done in the north Florida region. 

If you're interested in joining a great network of environmental professionals in Florida, check out the Florida Association of Environmental Professionals (FAEP) website to find your local chapter here! 

Additionally, TBG has followed tradition of sponsoring the Florida Ranches Calendar again this year, featuring beautiful photography of Florida's ranch and rural settings as seen in the image below. If interested, feel free to contact us here for a calendar! (Image source: Jacey Pella)

In this edition of the Economic Perspective, we feature articles covering water quality wins in both Florida and Washington State, emission reduction initiatives, and SpaceX plans at Cape Canaveral. We also take a look at updates on the avian flu outbreak in WA and NASA biodiversity monitoring, with our data visualization covering climate vulnerability along railroads in the United States.

Please feel free to forward this to anyone you think would be interested. If you’d like to view previous editions please click here, or to subscribe please click here!

Thanks for reading and have a great weekend!

Economic Analysts,

Maddie Drewry & Jillian Liebersbach

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Grant Funding for Water Quality and Supply Projects Announced in FL

Florida’s Governor Ron DeSantis announced $112 million in grant funding spanning three water quality and supply-related project topics: alternative water supply investments, protecting Florida’s freshwater springs, and technology to address algal blooms. $50 million of the funding is allocated to 14 alternative water supply projects focusing on reclaiming water and promoting conservation that are projected to produce an additional 94 million gallons of new water supply per day. Another $50 million is going to support 23 freshwater springs projects ranging from septic-to-sewer upgrades and land acquisitions to more general enhancements, reducing total nitrogen by 100,000 pounds per year. The final $12 million is set aside for 16 projects focused on combatting algal bloom impacts with innovative technologies. A full list of grant projects for FY 25-26 can be found here, and you can read more here.

European Union Agrees to Cut Greenhouse Gas Emissions by 90% by 2040

This week, the European Parliament and Council announced reaching an agreement to adjust the European Climate Law’s target to a 90% reduction in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 2040, compared to 1990 levels. Earlier targets included reducing net GHG emissions by 55% by 2030, for which it was recently reported by the European Commission that the EU was on track, having achieved a 37% reduction as of 2023. While proponents of the new target claim that the agreement, in the Commission’s words, “reflects today’s economic and geopolitical realities,” opponents claimed the targets to be unrealistic and risky, raising concerns about the EU’s global competitiveness. Ultimately, an agreement was reached after additional flexibilities were added. Read more here. 

Water Quality Regulations Continuing to Evolve in WA

In an effort to further strengthen the state’s water quality standards, Washington Department of Ecology (Ecology) proposed an update to the bridge and ferry terminal washing general permit to cover hydro-demolition activities, include more protections, and suggest a name change to more accurately capture the scope of the permit. The 500 sites currently covered under this permit must abide by best management practices and wastewater discharge treatment during routine bridge maintenance and cleaning. The new permit would also cover waterbodies with existing contamination to prevent further pollution, prohibit ground discharge to protect wells used for drinking water, and update the State Environmental Policy Act (SEPA) checklist. The draft permit is open to public comments on Ecology’s website until January 23rd, 2026. Read more here. (Image source: Washington Department of Ecology, photo by Washington Department of Transportation)

$48 Million in FL Emission Reduction Funding to Include Electric Truck Upgrades

After Volkswagen violated the Clean Air Act by manufacturing cars designed to skirt emission regulations, they paid a settlement to affected states, including Florida, who received $166 million in payouts. The state has focused 70% of the settlement money on electric bus fleet enhancements and 8% on electric vehicle charging infrastructure, but after receiving public feedback on initial project allocations, Florida Department of Environmental Protection (FDEP) is now looking to direct the remaining $48 million towards lowering freight truck emissions. As of June 2025, Florida was already number one in electric vehicle sales, and this change in eligibility makes alternative fuel technology even more accessible for both private and public fleet owners, encouraging them to make the emission-friendly upgrade. Read more here.

Ecology Researchers Generate New, More Accurate "Dynamic Habitat Indices"

Earlier this year, researchers from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, NextGIS OÜ, and Swiss Federal Research Institute WSL completed research into generating Dynamic Habitat Indices (DHIs), which characterize aspects of vegetation productivity and are “strongly correlated with species richness at global to landscape scales”. Current DHIs were found to be relying on outdated data collection software, which the researchers addressed by utilizing newer software, implementing quality assessment layers, and evaluating the generated DHIs for correlation to species richness for heightened accuracy.  The article is published here. (Image source: University of Wisconsin-Madison)

Cape Canaveral Space Launch Complex-37 in FL Receives Green Light

The final Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) that SpaceX has been waiting for has been completed, granting them approval to build Space Launch Complex-37 (SLC-37), making it the second location with environmental approval. The final EIS accounts for both ship and booster operations as well as drone landings, allowing up to 76 Starship launches per year, and 152 landings at the complex. The complex is expected to consist of two launch pads with towers and mounts, two stormwater ponds, and necessary hardware. According to the EIS, construction of SLC-37 will take approximately 12 months, and SpaceX announced that efforts are underway as of December 1st, making for a late 2026 completion. Read more here.

Avian Flu Outbreak Continues in WA as Three New Counties Test Positive

Jefferson, San Juan, and Clark counties tested positive for cases of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) this month, making the total number of counties affected 10. Since the outbreak’s inception in 2022, over 4 million birds have had to be euthanized in Washington State, making it one of the longest and deadliest of its kind on record according to Dr. Amber Itle, State Veterinarian with Washington Department of Agriculture (WSDA). For those that are in the identified surveillance areas, WSDA recommends keeping a close eye on the health of your flocks and taking precautions when engaging with wild birds and other animals. While avian flu primarily affects birds, it can spread to people, and you can find resources on WSDA’s website for biosecurity steps to take, avian flu reminders, and tips to keep both your flock and family safe from the outbreak. Read more here.

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Data Visualization of the Week

New National Dataset for Mapping Climate Vulnerability Along U.S. Railroads

Researchers have developed a comprehensive, national dataset covering hazard exposures along U.S. railroad infrastructure from 2000 to 2024. By standardizing multiple federal databases, the dataset includes flooding, excessive heat, and landslides which are known to disturb rails through washouts, buckling, and obstructions. The goal is to provide spatial context for policy makers to prioritize climate-resilience investments, maintenance, and planning for the railway industry since it is a key component of the U.S. economy. A verification process showed over 50% of hazard accidents occurring during the same time period as a recorded hazard event from the Federal Railroad Administration database. The figure below provides a set of six regional maps where U.S. railroad segments intersect recorded landslide polygons. Northwest Washington, shown in Panels a, b, and c, exhibits concentrated clustering during 2009 and 2023, with sparser polygons observed between 2011 and 2017. You can read more here and view the dataset here. (Image source: Ghoreshi, B., et. al)