The Economic Perspective 7/17/2026

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 Economic Perspective! We are excited to share that our talented TBG team will be attending the upcoming 40th Annual Environmental Permitting Summer School. If you'll be attending, come and say hello to Cortney Cortez, Senior Economist; Laila Racevskis, Director of Economics & Policy; Lori Stanfill, Chief Engineer; and Allison Campbell, PD&E Engineer & Planner. We look forward to seeing you there!  

Recent developments in Iran have re-sparked fears in some, with clashes increasing and negotiation at a standstill. Interviewed material producers have reported eating the costs associated to the fuel price increases over the past three to four months but are holding off on passing these costs to customers with the hope that prices will come back down before the end of the calendar year. 

Articles this week cover weakening protections for endangered species, the discovery of disease-resistant coral, the announcement of Washington State's continued exclusivity of the Cosmic Crisp apple, and data center moratoriums. Our data visualization captures the dramatic dramatic swing in public opinion of the U.S.'s reliability as a partner country over the last four years.

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Repeal of Endangered Species Habitat Protection

The Department of the Interior recently announced that the interpretation of “harm” within the Endangered Species Act would be shifted to only recognize direct injury to an animal. This change now allows farming, logging, drilling, mining, and development on the habitats of species at risk of extinction. With this new standard, endangered wildlife will likely experience devastating effects of habitat destruction, damaging their abilities to eat and breed. Mining and oil groups praise the decision as it will expedite projects; however, a strong public opposition notes the detriment to conservation efforts, animal life, and the preservation of species. Environmental groups have already filed suits challenging the revocation of the previous definition. Read more here and here.

New York Implements Nation’s First Data Center Moratorium 

This week, New York became the first state in the U.S. to impose a moratorium on new data centers, stopping construction as public opinion declines. New Yorkers, including Governor Kathy Hochul, have raised concerns in the past on how large data centers will affect water quality and raise utility rates. Stemming from this, the Department of Environmental Conservation will not be issuing any additional discretionary permits for data centers that use 50 megawatts or more. The moratorium is intended to provide a period for the State to develop and finalize more rigorous standards, including allowable environmental impact. Read more here.

Researchers Identify Disease-Resistant Coral Genotypes

Fighting frequently damaging stony coral tissue loss disease, researchers at Mote Marine Laboratory have identified multiple disease-resistant coral species. They found an array of disease-resistance by evaluating over 154 mountainous star corals, which are often used to build reefs in the Caribbean. Out of those tested, 12 genotypes were found to repeatedly display resistance to stony coral tissue loss disease, assisting future reef restoration efforts. Other factors such as warmer temperatures also affect coral reef health, but identifying disease-resistant genes is a large step towards conserving and repairing reefs along Florida. Read more here and here.

MIT Researchers Find Wetland Offsets Create Large Net Surplus in Florida

According to a recent study by researchers at MIT, Florida wetland conservation offsets lead to large net surplus across 1995 to 2020 via gains from trade, totaling over 2.4 billion dollars. Researchers Danial Aronoff and Will Rafey analyzed wetland offset markets in order to model equilibrium trade and pricing in order to measure this surplus, as well as model wetland offset supply dynamics. The researchers combined these models with local flood prevention valuation to determine environmental consequences of wetland reallocation, eventually finding that a Pigouvian tax (one which accounts for externalities) would have prevented 1.6 billion dollars’ worth of flood damage. Read the full text article here.

Brownfield Redevelopments Lead to Community Benefits in WA 

Washington Department of Ecology (Ecology) has a program focused on redeveloping Brownfields, properties sitting unused or vacant due to potential contamination, and it has started showing signs of community benefits. Ecology’s research has found that redeveloping these sites leads to various forms of investment returns, such as employment, tax revenue, additional housing and additional green space acreage. Some highlighted project benefits across the state of Washington include the new construction of 58 affordable housing units, 2 new businesses supporting 15 new jobs, riverbank restoration, a visitor resource center, veteran housing, and a 176-room hotel that contributes $158,000 annually in property taxes! For more information you can view their return-on-investment story map here, or read Ecology’s article here.

Cosmic Crisp Apple to Remain Washington State Exclusive, For Now

The Cosmic Crisp apple, first commercially grown in 2017 (20 years after the Honeycrisp x Enterprise apple hybrid was first bred), will remain exclusively grown in Washington State for another six years, after the original patent was set to expire in 2027. The decision to extend the patent and retain exclusivity until 2032 was made to recognize the hard work that Washington growers -among others- have done to develop and commercialize the apple varietal, according to Jeremy Tamsen, Senior Director of Innovation and Entrepreneurship at Washington State University’s Office of Research. Read more here.

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Data Visualization of the Week

The U.S. in the Court of Public Opinion

This week’s Data Viz is simpler, visually, than many that make their way into our report, but the data is perhaps more striking. According to Pew Research, fewer people around the world see the United States as a reliable partner; while many countries’ opinion of the U.S. as a reliable partner rose from 2021 to 2022, the majority of countries polled in Pew’s Spring 2026 Global Attitude Survey report significant decreases in the percentage of people who say that the U.S. is very or somewhat reliable as a partner to their countries. While Sweden saw the most precipitous drop in public opinion at a 52% decline, it was followed closely by Canada, with which the U.S. shares one of the longest continuous international borders in the world, at a decline of 48%. Read the full report here. Photo courtesy of Pew Research Center.