The Economic Perspective 4/18/2025

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!

April 20, 2025, marks the 15-year anniversary of the disastrous Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill.  In 2010, the semi-submersible oil rig exploded and the worst offshore oil spill in US history began.  11 people lost their lives and countless environmental damage occurred as the oil spill continued from April through July before it was finally capped.  The Balmoral Group team is part of the long-term recovery efforts, working with Florida’s Gulf Consortium to manage numerous projects for the economic and environmental improvement of Florida’s Gulf Coast.  Our team collaborates with each of the 23 Gulf Coast Counties to implement county-led projects to improve water quality, restore habitats, improve coastal public access, and more.  See more, including project highlights at Gulf Consortium projects.

In this edition, we bring attention to changes in agriculture production, elimination of habitat protections, tomato trade agreements being abandoned, and more.  Our data visualization covers the above-mentioned recovery efforts of the deepwater horizon disaster. 

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!

Happy Easter and have a great weekend!

---

Trump Administration Proposes to Eliminate Habitat Protections

The Trump administration proposed a rule change to the Endangered Species Act that would limit habitat protections by redefining "harm" to exclude habitat destruction unless directly intended to harm species. Environmentalists argue this undermines conservation efforts, potentially increasing industrial activities in sensitive areas and accelerating extinction risks for species like the spotted owl and Florida panther. The rule could significantly impact regions like Hawaii, home to 40% of U.S. endangered species. Conservation groups plan legal challenges, citing the rule's conflict with the Act's purpose and previous Supreme Court interpretations. AP News

US Power System Primed to Scale New Clean Milestone in April

The US power system is on track to hit a new energy transition milestone in April as total electricity supplies approach their annual peak while overall electricity demand eases during the spring shoulder season. For the first time ever, clean power sources generated more than half of all U.S. electricity in March. At 51% of all utility-scale electricity output this marks a major milestone for clean energy. This number could increase further as seasonal power usage generally declines this time of the year. Even with lower wind energy production so far in 2025 clean energy standards will be met as heating demand declines. Solar farms have seen large increases in production due to higher capacity installations and more daylight in key solar markets such as Texas, California, Arizona, and Nevada. Read more here and here.

$3 Billion Climate-Friendly Farming Program Cancelled

The Trump administration has canceled the $3 billion Partnership for Climate-Smart Commodities program, launched under President Biden to promote sustainable farming. It had funded 135 projects supporting soil health, carbon capture, and methane reduction, involving organizations such as the National Fish & Wildlife Foundation and firms such as Archer-Daniels-Midland. While many initiatives will end, some may continue if they proved 65% of the funds were paid to the farmers by the end of 2024. The administration plans to redirect resources toward existing conservation programs and aims for clearer, more cost-effective support for farmers. Reuters.

Washington State University Scientist Unveil New Bee Food

This week, scientists at Washington State University (WSU) alongside researchers from APIX Biosciences NV in Belgium unveiled a man-made alternative to pollen as a food source for bees. The food source, which has been described as resembling “human ‘Power Bars’”, reportedly contains all the essential nutrients for all stages of the bee’s life cycle – end especially the nutrient isofucosterol, a compound found in pollen which is vital to honey bee survival. Colonies fed on the nutrient-enriched food reportedly survived an entire season without access to pollen, and in field trials, colonies fed with the new food source saw an increase in both survival and colony growth. Read more here.

New AI Technology to Transform Fish Farming

A team of scientists from UC San Diego, UC Davis and the University of Washington will develop advanced machine learning models with the help of Expanse at San Diego’s Supercomputer Center (SDSC) to analyze images of white sturgeon to determine their anatomical traits.  The scientists will be able to distinguish between male and female fish, with increasing accuracy over time. The team’s primary goal is to develop a user-friendly, farm level solution for sturgeon producers using AI technology. Their software will require minimal training for farm staff, as it will run on a mobile platform. In addition to benefiting sturgeon producers, their findings will also serve as a model for AI applications in aquaculture more broadly. Read more here.

US to Withdraw from Tomato Trade Agreement

In an addition to the ongoing tariffs, the US Department of Commerce announced its intent to withdraw from a 2019 trade agreement with Mexico, citing the failure of the current agreement to prevent unfairly priced Mexican tomatoes from being imported and flooding the US market. This move is targeted to allow US tomato growers to compete more fairly in the marketplace and prevent the dumping of tomatoes grown in Mexico onto the US market. Set to take effect in mid-July, the termination of the agreement would mean the institution of an antidumping duty order and tack on a duty of 21% on the imports of tomatoes from Mexico. Read more here and here.

Polk County Farmer Swaps Citrus for Avocados

More than two years ago, citrus farmer Mitch McLellan decided to switch out his ailing citrus fields for avocados.  Citrus producers in Florida have struggled mightily against citrus greening and hurricane damage in recent decades.  When Mitch McLellan planted avocados in place of his citrus fields a few years ago he was taking a risk that the trees would thrive and there would be a good market for avocados.  His trees have already started to produce, and with a possibility of increased tariffs on Mexican avocados, prices and marketability of Florida-grown avocados might both improve.  Read more from local wfla news.

---

Data Visualization of the Week

Reflections on Restoration Progress at the Gulf Coast

Since the Deepwater Horizon disaster millions of funds have been allocated to projects helping restore the environment and economy. Gulf Consortium has highlighted several projects across the Gulf Coast such as water quality improvement programs in Santa Rosa county, dredging projects in Apalachicola Bay, and hydrologic restoration in Dona Bay. Many other projects have been implemented which can be read about here. Additionally, a video the RESTORE Council put out highlights other projects that have successfully recovered Gulf Coast activates. This video can be seen here.