The Economic Perspective 7/25/2025

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! 

Wednesday was a productive morning at Second Harvest in Orlando, FL! TBG compiled individual salads and breakfast boxes to serve children at the local Boys and Girls club for a total of 5,273 meals. The picture below shows some of our employees in action.

TBG economists are in the thick of annual interviews for highway construction contractors and materials suppliers. If you work in this space, we would love to hear from you about your recent experiences with prices, lead times, and availability! Contact us either through our LinkedIn page or email research economist Alicia Barker directly at abarker@balmoralgroup.us

This week we say goodbye to our economic analyst interns Ayden and Marisabel. Thank you for all of your hard work this summer, and good luck in your future endeavors!

Additionally, our interns curated articles this week on Brazilian Peppertrees Invading Florida, State Control Over the Everglades Reservoir, U.K. Sanctions on Russia's Shadow Fleet, and more. This week's data visualization covers Global Renewable Energy Production. 

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!

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Native Florida Plants Struggle to Outcompete Invasive Species

Brazilian peppertrees on Florida lands pose a great threat to native Florida plant and animal species, and they are greatly delaying restoration efforts. Mitigation banks in central and south Florida say these negative effects are also delaying credit releases. Land managers are struggling to meet mitigation requirements, as growing native plant species to replace invasive species is incredibly challenging due to the nature of their farming and seed harvesting processes. University of Illinois researchers found that, even if no net loss of wetland acreage is achieved in wetland restoration, biodiversity and ecosystem services would decrease relative to areas without the peppertrees. Read more here. 

Florida Acquires State Control of Everglades Reservoir Project

Last Friday, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis announced at the 39th Annual Environmental Permitting Summer School that the State of Florida will acquire control of federal funding and construction from the US Army Corps of Engineers for the Everglades Agricultural Area (EAA) restoration project. This will speed up the project by 5 years by expediting permitting, setting a new completion date for 2029 instead of 2034. The announcement follows the opening of the restored Caloosahatchee (C-43) Reservoir, which The Balmoral Group shared in last week’s Economic Perspective. Read more here.

United Kingdom Places Sanctions on Russia’s Shadow Fleet

The United Kingdom (UK) recently announced new sanctions regarding Russian oil transport via boats. 135 of their 137 targets are oil tankers in Russia’s shadow fleet that illicitly carry Russian oil under other country’s flags. This move puts even more pressure on Russia’s economy as oil and gas revenues have fallen every year since 2022 and lost over a third of their value. UK sanctions follow European Union’s recent sanctions that include port access bans, lowering the price cap from $60 to $47.60 per barrel of Russian crude oil, and a full transaction ban on the Nord Steam 1 and 2 natural gas pipelines that run offshore between Russia and Germany. Read more here.

USGS Removes Water Quality Monitoring Devices from Florida

U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) discontinued continuous nitrate monitoring at thirteen Outstanding Florida Springs, including Rock, Silver, and Wekiwa Springs beginning July 1st. Florida's Water Management Districts utilize USGS for supplementary monitoring, and four out of the five have reduced their funding agreements for the upcoming fiscal year. The USGS will continue to collect data on conductivity (salinity), temperature, and dissolved oxygen. Some believe that monitoring on a quarterly or annual basis is sufficient to track changes in nitrogen levels, while others argue that continuous monitoring is necessary to account for spring flow reversals and to obtain more accurate readings. Read more here.

DOT Updates Transportation Infrastructure Funding Policies

 The U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) has updated their Transportation Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act (TIFIA) to remove any roadblocks for the construction of important infrastructure. In the past, construction projects received up to 33% of funds, with only a few exceptions receiving a maximum of 49%. The recent TIFIA update aims to finance up to 49% of transportation projects, a change which was triggered by feedback from DOT partners. Read more here.

Florida to Receive USDA Grants to Relieve Hurricane Damage

The US Department of Agriculture will provide Florida’s agriculture industry with $675.9 million in federal funds to aid their recovery from hurricane events in 2023 and 2024. These funds will go towards repairing infrastructure, citrus and timber losses, and direct market losses. The citrus production in 2024-2025 was the lowest in the century due to hurricane damage and destruction. Read more here.

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Data Visualization of the Week

UN Reports Renewable Energy Globally Outpacing Fossil Fuels

The United Nations Secretary General’s Climate Action Team published a report focusing on the role of renewable resources in transitioning away from fossil fuels, and the opportunities that are coming with it. Regarding electricity generation, not only are solar and wind technologies cheaper to implement, but also faster at producing the product. The UN estimates that globally over 90% of renewable projects offered a cheaper route to electricity production when compared to fossil fuel alternatives in 2024. The report also notes that the switch to clean energy may come with a host of benefits beyond cheaper production including energy security, affordability and access, as well as job creation, economic growth, and other socioeconomic and environmental benefits. Read more here.