America is experiencing a ‘great dechurching.’ What’s happening to all the church buildings?

Jennifer Graham
Wed, September 6, 2023 

Michelle Budge, Deseret News

When the congregation of Community Covenant Church decided to close its doors forever, only about 12-15 people were attending services regularly. The decision to close wasn’t an easy one — the church, in the suburbs of Boston, had been founded in 1907 by working class Swedish immigrants who had faithfully given their time and money to the church for decades.

The actual closing, however, was difficult in an unexpected way.

In order to maximize the value of the property, the church sought a change in zoning from residential to commercial. The change was denied, in part because of opposition from people who said they didn’t want the character of the neighborhood to change.

Church member Mary Overholt knocked on doors, trying to get support for the rezoning. One man told her he loved looking out from his house at a church. But he and others who liked having a church in the neighborhood weren’t motivated enough to join it.

This paradox is playing out as churches close across the world. Like the man Overholt spoke to, people like the idea of churches; they appreciate their beauty, the community meeting space that some provide, and their charitable work and donations. Many don’t want churches razed or turned into nightclubs or hotels, as is happening in some cities in Europe.

But with notable exceptions — Utah, for example — people aren’t going to church like they did a generation or two ago. And as congregations dwindle and their church buildings close, their towns are left with the problem of what’s going to be in that space — as their pastors wonder what to do with church furniture and supplies, like kneelers and collection plates.

There aren’t just social problems caused by the “great dechurching” but physical ones, as well.

“What do you do with the choir robes? What do you do with hymnals? What do you do with extra Bibles?” asked Ryan Burge, a social scientist who studies the decline of religion and is also an American Baptist pastor leading his own small congregation in Illinois through what is likely its final months.

“We have 125 place settings for church dinners that used to happen in the 1970s and ‘80s; we haven’t used them in 30 years. What do you do with them?”

Burge’s research on the declining levels of religious participation provides the basis for the new book “The Great Dechurching” by Jim Davis and Michael Graham. While the book starkly describes trends that have led to the existence of what Burge ruefully calls “hospice pastors,” the authors remain hopeful that church attendance can yet rebound.

Until then, there are plenty of churches for sale

Ryan P. Burge, a political scientist, researcher and pastor, sits in his church in Mount Vernon, Illinois. | Nicole Fields Photography

Who are the ‘dechurched’?

In “The Great Dechurching,” Graham and Davis say that America is seeing in real-time “the largest and fastest religious shift in U.S. history,” with some 40 million people — 1 in 6 Americans — having stopped going to church in the past 30 years. “That’s a lot of people who have changed their rhythms and habits,” Graham said in an interview.

The losses in church going, Graham and Davis point out, are greater in number than the people who came to faith during the First Great Awakening, the Second Great Awakening and all the Billy Graham crusades combined.

In Orlando, where Graham lives, 42% of residents have stopped attending church within the past 25 years. “That’s a lot of people who have changed their rhythms and habits,” he said in an interview.

Graham, the program director for The Keller Center for Cultural Apologetics, defines the “dechurched” as people who used to go to church at least once a month and now go less than once per year. So these people aren’t even going to church on Christmas and Easter, he noted.

“In sociology of religion, there are three ‘B’s that are important — that’s belief, behavior and belonging,” said Graham, a former pastor. “A lot of what’s been written over the past few decades is more about belief and behavior, but affiliation and attendance is more about belonging. All three of those things mutually influence each other in complex ways, but we are looking at belonging as the primary lens.”

The decline in church attendance matters, “even if you’re a total atheist and have been unchurched your entire life and don’t care about these things. There’s still a significant impact here when you’re talking about this many people.”

Forty percent of the social safety net in America “is downstream from houses of worship,” he said. The loss of the sense of belonging, many sociologists believe, is contributing to the rising numbers of Americans who say they are lonely.

People in dwindling congregations can still sustain relationships as a church grows smaller, but it becomes harder to maintain the church facilities with diminished contributions, and even to keep providing services to the community.

Burge, author of the 2021 book “The Nones,” which is about the growing number of Americans who don’t identify with any religious group, has said, “The future, if you’re a church, is not looking rosy for you.”

Related

• Secularism as scapegoat

• Perspective: Why even secular people should worry about Gen Z’s lack of faith

Who will miss you?

As Burge’s own congregation shrank (one recent Sunday, just six people were at the worship service), one member asked what seemed like a pivotal question: Who, outside the congregation itself, would miss the church if it closed?

With no clear answer to that question, the church set out to create a ministry that would make it invaluable to the community, and began providing brown-bag meals for local school children. The program was successful, but eventually became too much for the small congregation to handle. They recently turned it over to another group.

Similarly, the members of Covenant Community Church in Hopkinton, Massachusetts, tried to keep up programs such as a living nativity during the Christmas season, even partnering with another church. But Overholt says that although, at the end, the church was “super small and, to be honest, run by volunteers who were a little bit tired and getting a little bit burned out,” they’d seen God answer prayers. “We didn’t have a huge impact on the community, but we did the little that we could,” she said.

Although some so-called megachurches (churches with 2,000 or more members) are continuing to see growth, “half of all churches have fewer than 65 people in their weekly worship service,” LifeWay Research reported in 2020.

Many of those people are sitting in sanctuaries built to hold 200 people — and for this type of real estate, it’s not a seller’s market, as the pastor of a closing church can quickly find out.

Many older church buildings don’t meet current building standards, and a new owner would have to significantly upgrade them to, for example, be ADA compliant. A new congregation trying to make a go of it often can’t afford the cost of the building, let alone the improvements required, Burge said. (And there are still churches being formed in the age of dechurching. In 2019, the latest year for which LifeWay has data on church openings and closings, about 3,000 new Protestant churches opened while 4,500 closed.)

Anticipating what seems inevitable, Burge tried to sell his congregation’s property, which has 16,000 square feet and sits on 9 acres on a “prime highway” in Mt. Vernon, Illinois. The best offer was $150,000.

However, Burge found a solution that worked for his congregation and community. The church gave its building to a local Christian school, and the church and school will share the facility until the church closes for good — probably sometime in the next year, he said.

‘The remains of the church’

Most church buildings and real estate will ultimately find a new purpose, although it might not be one that sits well with the community or with people of faith. Fortune magazine reported earlier this year on the repurposing of grand churches in Europe, and the uneasiness some people have with formerly sacred spaces turning into breweries and climbing walls.

In many cases, elements of the church are being preserved, as at a former Catholic church in Brussels that is now home to a climbing club. (Catholic churches must be “deconsecrated” before they can be used for another purpose, which must be approved by a bishop.) The co-founder of the club spoke to a reporter about feeling “the presence of the remains of the church,” which seems apt, since something both real and intangible seems lost when a church closes.

Browsing the website usedpews.org, billed as a “Craiglist for churches,” you can get a sense of how the “great dechurching” will upend the businesses that have long supplied houses of worship: “Free blue pews. Wrapped in plastic, ready to go.” A baptismal heater. A mahogany communion table.

Some of the churches selling supplies, of course, are doing so because they are remodeling, a visible sign of their hope. Community Covenant Church was once in that space; anticipating growth, the congregation built an addition in 2007.

Cultural headwinds

Burge now counsels churches to set goals that are not about growth, saying that faith groups are “facing more headwinds than we ever have before.”

Some churches face these headwinds by joining forces, like two congregations in Memphis that merged earlier this year. Others are opening their buildings for other purposes, like a United Church of Christ congregation in Newton, Massachusetts, that shares its space with arts and music organizations, a pediatric occupational therapy clinic, and a Jewish congregation.

Related

• Perspective: We’re watching ‘post-Christian America’ unfold in real time

Davis and Graham, however, remain optimistic, pointing out that millions of Americans who have stopped going to church are what they call the “casually dechurched” — people who didn’t have any great falling out with God or their religious tradition, but who simply stopped going to services out of inertia, or a change in life circumstances, like a move or divorce.

“The good news, and the reason we’re incredibly hopeful, is that over half the people who have left houses of worship are willing to return right now,” Graham said, “and the reasons they’d be willing to return is just as basic as why they left. They just want to be treated well, on an individual basis, and they want to have a good relationship with the church as an institution.”

A sacred task?

Of course, there are other factors at play, particularly when an individual church is already on life support. Churches like Burge’s or Overholt’s, where a congregation is largely comprised of senior citizens, may have a hard time attracting young families. Some people may choose megachurches with contemporary music instead of pipe organs. And as Burge points out, small churches often close simply because so many members have died over time.

While there still may be heartbreak involved, sometimes closing a church can be a calling when it is undertaken with much consideration and prayer, Overholt said.

After years of trying to maintain Covenant Community Church, by trying to merge with a larger church and even reducing the pastor’s hours, some in the congregation came to believe that growth wasn’t its calling — that closing might be what God was asking the church to do.

In a letter published in the local newspaper, Overholt wrote, “Our culture values success, and even churches compete to provide a ‘product’ that will attract the most ‘customers.’ So, for many the closure of a church might be considered a failure.

“But it is never a failure to listen and get direction from the Spirit and to lay down your own desires for the good of others. In this case, the funds from the proceeds of the sale of the building will go to plant new Covenant churches. The church sensed God smiling on them in their decision,” she wrote.

As of this week, the church is still for sale.

How NASA's Habitable Worlds Observatory will search exoplanets for signs of alien life
Robert Lea

SPACE.COM
Fri, September 8, 2023

An illustration shows the Habitable Worlds Telescope in orbit around Earth with its starshade unfolded

Planning is well underway for NASA’s Habitable Worlds Observatory (HWO), which will scour the atmospheres of planets outside the solar system for telltale signs of alien life.

This week, a workshop was held at the California Institute for Technology (Caltech) at which scientists and engineers discussed the state of technology that could be employed by the HWO, one of NASA’s next big telescope projects after the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST).

The hunt for signs of life in the atmospheres of planets outside the solar system orbiting distant stars — exoplanets — is akin to hunting for a needle in a cosmic haystack. After all, NASA estimates there are several billion Earth-size planets sitting in the habitable zones of their stars, which regions with the right temperatures to allow liquid water to exist. And that's in the Milky Way alone.

Yet, scientists at least have a good idea of what they should be hunting for as well as knowledge of signs that would potentially indicate life.

"We want to probe the atmospheres of these exoplanets to look for oxygen, methane, water vapor, and other chemicals that could signal the presence of life," NASA’s Exoplanet Exploration Program chief technologist, Nick Siegler, said in a statement. "We aren't going to see little green men but rather spectral signatures of these key chemicals, or what we call biosignatures."

Related: NASA’s exoplanet hunter TESS spots warm Jupiter with longest known year

The HWO was first proposed as a top priority by the Decadal Survey on Astronomy and Astrophysics 2020 (Astro2020), a roadmap of goals for the astronomy community to take on over the coming decade. This is because, in addition to hunting for signs of life outside the solar system and helping astronomers understand entire planetary systems, the observatory will also play a major role in astrophysics investigations.

Though the mission is set to launch in the late 2030s or early 2040s, advancing technologies the telescope will use now could help prevent cost overruns later down the line, according to Dmitry Mawet, member of the HWO Technical Assessment Group (TAG).

An illustration shows the Habitable Worlds Telescope in orbit around Earth and (inset) the kind of exoplanet the project will investigate for telltale signs of life. (Image credit: (Main) NASA/Robert Lea (Inset) NASA Ames/JPL-Caltech/T. Pyle)


Throwing shade at distant stars

To perform deep investigations of exoplanet atmospheres in order to hunt for signs of life, the HWO will tap into its ability to block out the glares of stars those exoplanets orbit.

Blocking strong light coming from these stars will allow fainter bits of starlight, reflecting off the atmospheres of orbiting planets around these stars, to be seen. Chemical elements and compounds absorb and emit light at unique wavelengths characteristic to their compositions, meaning light exposed to a planet's atmosphere carries fingerprints of elements it is made of.

Scientists take this light and, using a process called spectroscopy, search for these fingerprints. Such chemical fingerprints could include biosignatures indicating chemical compounds exhaled or inhaled by living things.

There are two main ways that the HWO could potentially block out excess starlight. On one hand, it could utilize a large external light block called a starshade, which would unfurl from the HWO after its launch into a massive sunflower-shaped umbrella.

Or alternatively, it could use an internal starshade called a coronagraph, similar to instruments scientists use to block out light from the sun’s bright photosphere to study its nebulous outer atmosphere, or corona. Siegler added that currently, NASA has decided to focus the HWO around coronagraph technology used on several other telescopes, including the JWST and forthcoming Nancy Grace Roman Telescope.

An illustration shows an Earth-like world in the habitable zone of its star, a prime target for NASA’s Habitable Worlds Telescope A planet that looks like Earth but with yellowish shades and a distant star are seen in space. (Image credit: NASA Ames/JPL-Caltech/T. Pyle)


Located on the Hawaiian mountain Mauna Kea, the W. M. Keck Observatory is already using a coronagraph invented by Mawet in conjunction with the Keck Planet Imager and Characterizer (KPIC) to study exoplanets. The coronagraph lets the KPIC picture thermal emissions from young and hot gas-giant exoplanets, allowing scientists to investigate how these planets and their planetary systems evolve.

Earth-like planets that the HWO will set its sights on can emit light around 10 billion times fainter than that of their stars, meaning a coronagraph for the future space telescope would need to push starlight well past its current limits.

"As we get closer and closer to this required level of starlight suppression, the challenges become exponentially harder," Mawet added.
Suppressing starlight with a shapeshifting mirror

One of the ideas put forward at the Caltech meeting to enhance suppression of light from a distant star is to put a mirror within a coronagraph that can be deformed to control light rays.

Employing thousands of actuators to drive the shape of the mirror as well as push and pull on its reflective surfaces could stop stray light from making its way to the final image, thus preventing unwanted "blobs" of residual starlight. A deformable "active" mirror of this type is the kind set to be used by the Nancy Grace Roman Space telescope, in fact, an observatory set to launch no later than 2027. Roman should let astronomers see gas giants around a billion times fainter than their stars as well as debris around stars left over from the births of planets.

This will be a vital stepping stone towards more powerful technology that will be needed by the HWO, bridging a gap in coronagraph masks and active mirrors too great to cover in a single proverbial bound.

"We need to be able to deform the mirrors to a picometer-level of precision," Mawet explained. "We will need to suppress the starlight by another factor of roughly 100 compared to Roman’s coronagraph."

During the Caltech session, scientists also addressed the best type of mirror to use for the HWO and what it should be coated with, as well as other potential instruments for the telescope.

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As planning for the HWO continues in earnest, astronomers are also at work selecting Earth-like exoplanet targets for the future telescope to train its gaze on. This hunt will include the use of the Caltech-operated Keck Planet Finder (KPF) at the Keck Observatory, which has been specially designed to look for Earth-like planets in the habitable zones of small red stars.

"The workshop helped guide us in figuring out where the gaps are in our technology and where we need to do more development in the coming decade," Mawet concluded.

The vast bog that helps fight climate change

Kevin Keane - BBC Scotland's environment correspondent

Thu, September 7, 2023 

To the untrained eye it looks like a vast expanse of empty moorland, but the Flow Country holds a secret.

Beneath the surface it contains more than double the carbon of all UK forests combined.

The huge area in the far north of Scotland acts as a giant sink, soaking up and storing carbon from the atmosphere.

It is a critical process in the fight against climate change.

In recognition of its global significance a team has been bidding to make it the planet's first peatland with world heritage status.

Assessors for Unesco have visited the 187,000 hectare (469,500 acres) site to see if it qualifies and a verdict is expected around the middle of next year.

Globally, the sites already on the list include Australia's Great Barrier Reef and Egypt's Historic Cairo.

About 400 small pool systems provide an important wildlife habitat

Volunteers use long extendable poles to probe the peat for depth measurements

Scotland's Flow Country stretches across Caithness and Sutherland but its intricate network of about 400 pool systems are only fully appreciated close up or from higher ground.

It is special because it contains the most extensive blanket bog system in the world.

It is called a blanket bog because the peat, which holds water, extends across both the hills and the glens.

Because it is so wet, plants do not decompose and release carbon dioxide back into the atmosphere.

Instead species like sphagnum moss fall below the water line forming the peat in layers which grow at a rate of about 1mm per year.
'Keep it in the ground'

The peatland has been building up for about 9,000 years and each metre of depth represents about a millennium.

In some places it is many metres from the surface to the bedrock.

But it has to be kept in good condition to prevent it from drying out which would release the carbon.

Prof Roxane Anderson describes the ecosystem as "globally important".

She says: "The best thing we can do for this very big stock of carbon is keep it in the ground."

A visitor centre was opened in 2015 so people can experience the flows

World heritage status is an internationally-recognised designation given to places of cultural, historical or scientific significance.

The idea of applying was first discussed back in 1988 but the serious work did not begin until 2010.

A formal bid was submitted by the UK government in February.

A designation would offer no further protection to the land, three-quarters of which is already covered by statutory designations like Sites of Special Scientific Interest.

The rest is protected through policy.

steven andrews

About 400 million tonnes of carbon is estimated to be contained within the flows.

Dr Steven Andrews, who has been leading the bid, says becoming the first peatland to be inscribed on the world heritage list would demonstrate how important such landscapes are.

"There are a number of opportunities we hope would arrive whether it be through restoration works, for training opportunities around that, for branding of produce."

He hopes it will encourage more tourists but added: "A peatland like the flow country can't be appreciated by just driving through it.

"You need to stop and you need to spend time. That's the way that you'll see the bird species, start to pick out the different sphagnum mosses and all the amazing biodiversity that's out there."

The Hound of the Baskervilles by Arthur Conan Doyle

BLACKSNAKE

Feds leave future of Dakota Access pipeline's controversial river crossing unclear in draft review
JACK DURA
Updated Fri, September 8, 2023 

 In this October 2016, file photo, construction continues on the Dakota Access Pipeline. Federal officials on Friday, Sept. 8, 2023, released a draft environmental review of the Dakota Access oil pipeline without a recommendation from five options for the future of the line's controversial river crossing in North Dakota, proposals which include an extensive reroute miles upstream. 

(Tom Stromme/The Bismarck Tribune via AP, File) 

BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) — Federal officials on Friday released a draft environmental review of the Dakota Access oil pipeline, but said they're waiting for more input before deciding the future of the line’s controversial river crossing in North Dakota.

The draft was released over three years after a federal judge ordered the environmental review and revoked the permit for the Missouri River crossing, upstream of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe's reservation. The tribe is concerned a pipeline oil spill could contaminate its water supply.

North Dakota officials support a decision that ultimately allows the pipeline to continue operating as it has. The tribe is calling for a new review and a pipeline shutdown.

The environmental review is key for whether the federal government reissues the permit. The pipeline has been operating since 2017, including during the environmental review.

The draft environmental impact statement, which is dated in June but was made public Friday, noted that the Corps “has not selected a preferred alternative," but will make a decision in its final review, after considering input from the public and other agencies.

The draft details five options for the pipeline, including denying the easement for the crossing and removing or abandoning a 7,500-foot (2,286-meter) segment. Officials could also approve the easement with measures for “increased operational safety,” or grant the same easement with no changes.

A fifth option is a 111-mile (179-kilometer) reroute of the pipeline to north of Bismarck, over 38 miles upstream from the current crossing. The reroute would require new permits from federal, state and local authorities and regulators, which could take at least two years. The exact path of such a reroute is unknown, according to the draft.

“We are seeking public input on the environmental analysis of each alternative, and that input combined with the environmental analysis will help us to make an informed decision among the alternatives,” Corps Omaha District spokesman Steve Wolf told The Associated Press.

A comment period will end Nov. 13. Public meetings are scheduled Nov. 1-2 in Bismarck.

A final environmental impact statement will follow the public input and environmental analysis, and a formal decision will be made, Wolf said.

Republican U.S. Sen. John Hoeven of North Dakota told the AP a final alternative is expected to come out in fall 2024. He said he hopes for a decision that allows the pipeline to continue operating.

“Clearly they should go ahead and approve it without any additional modifications. The safety measures are in place,” Hoeven said.

Tribal Chairwoman Janet Alkire on Friday said the draft review should be “invalidated” and the Corps should “start from scratch" on a new review, with the pipeline shut down. The tribe is furious, she said.

“The pipeline is an imminent threat to the Missouri River, sensitive habitat and sacred burial sites along the riverbank," Alkire said. "The oil company’s emergency response plans are inadequate, its safety track record is horrendous, and there’s been a stunning lack of transparency with Standing Rock throughout the environmental review process, including inaccurate characterizations of tribal consultation."

She also called on the public to submit comments supporting a new review and a shutdown of the pipeline.

North Dakota's governor-led, three-member Industrial Commission on Thursday heard of the draft's pending release. Republican Gov. Doug Burgum on Thursday called the selection of no preferred alternative “unusual if not unprecedented.”

Burgum in a statement Friday added his support for granting the easement as it was previously issued, citing the pipeline as a safe operation and better than rail.

Hoeven said an Army official had notified him that the Corps wouldn't make a recommendation in the draft, but the agency will do more consultation in addition to the public input. The senator said he emphasized that the Corps consult with the state and the oil-rich Three Affiliated Tribes, whose reservation shares geography with North Dakota's oil patch.

State and federal officials and the pipeline's company say the line is safe. It moves oil from western North Dakota to Illinois. Leaders in North Dakota’s oil industry and state government consider the pipeline to be crucial infrastructure, with far less oil now transported by rail.

The pipeline is moving about 600,000 to 650,000 barrels of oil per day. Its capacity is 750,000 barrels per day. North Dakota produces about 1.1 million barrels of oil per day.

The U.S. Supreme Court last year refused to take up an appeal of the tribe’s lawsuit over the pipeline. The tribe first filed the lawsuit in 2016. Thousands of people gathered and camped near the pipeline's river crossing for protests that lasted months and sparked hundreds of arrests in 2016 and 2017. More than 830 criminal cases resulted from the protests.

CO2 pipeline project denied key permit in South Dakota; another seeks second chance in North Dakota

JACK DURA and STEVE KARNOWSKI
Wed, September 6, 2023

A sign reading "No CO2, no eminent domain" stands along a rural road east of Bismarck, N.D., on Tuesday, Aug. 15, 2023. The sign is in opposition to Summit Carbon Solutions' proposed $5.5 billion, 2,000-mile pipeline network to carry carbon dioxide emissions from dozens of ethanol plants in five states to central North Dakota for permanent storage deep underground. 

(AP Photo/Jack Dura) 

South Dakota regulators on Wednesday denied a construction permit for a carbon dioxide pipeline project, one month after a North Dakota panel did the same to a similar project by another company.

Navigator CO2 Ventures wants to build a 1,300-mile (2,092 kilometers) pipeline network across Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota, Nebraska and South Dakota, to carry planet-warming carbon dioxide emissions from more than 20 industrial plants to be buried over a mile underground in Illinois.

The South Dakota Public Utilities Commission voted unanimously to deny Navigator's application for its Heartland Greenway pipeline. Chair Kristie Fiegen cited myriad reasons in her motion to deny, including the company's lack of promptness and several objections to commission staff questions as well as struggles to notify landowners of routes and meetings. She detailed concerns related to safety, community growth, landowners and emergency responders, among other issues.

The proposed South Dakota route encompassed 112 miles (180 kilometers) and would serve three ethanol plants. The panel’s decision came after evidentiary hearing sessions in July and August.

Navigator expressed disappointment that the permit was denied, and was weighing its options going forward.

"Our commitment to environmental stewardship and safety remains unwavering, and we will continue to pursue our permitting processes in the other regions we operate in,” the company said in a statement.

The decision comes just days before the South Dakota panel is set to begin an evidentiary hearing Monday for a separate CO2 pipeline project, proposed by Summit Carbon Solutions, with a final decision expected by Nov. 15.

Brian Jorde, an attorney for South Dakota landowners opposed to the Navigator and Summit projects, expressed hope that Navigator might now drop the South Dakota leg of the project, given that most of the plants it would serve are in Iowa and other states.

Similar projects are proposed around the country as industries try to reduce their carbon footprints. Supporters say carbon capture will combat climate change. Governments and companies are making big investments in it. But opponents say the technology isn’t proven at scale and could require huge investments at the expense of alternative energy sources such as solar and wind power.

Landowners across the Midwest have opposed such pipeline projects, fearing their land will be taken and that the pipelines could break, spewing hazardous carbon dioxide into the air.

Other states continue to weigh Summit's project, which would encompass a 2,000-mile network from 30-some ethanol plants throughout Iowa, Minnesota, Nebraska, North Dakota and South Dakota to an underground storage site in North Dakota.

The Iowa Utilities Board began its evidentiary hearing for Summit last month. It's expected to last several weeks.

North Dakota's Public Service Commission last month denied Summit a siting permit. The company subsequently asked the panel to reconsider. The regulators have a work session set for Friday to discuss the request. A decision will come after the meeting.

Summit this week withdrew its applications to Oliver County for two permits related to construction of injection wells for its underground CO2 storage site in central North Dakota.

The company's move came after the county's planning and zoning board voted last week to forward a denial recommendation to the county commission. The board had cited a lack of information from Summit, safety concerns and no financial or economic benefit to the county or residents, Oliver County Auditor Jaden Schmidt said.

Summit spokesperson Sabrina Ahmed Zenor said the company would work to address Oliver County's questions and concerns and that it was confident of securing the necessary permits from the county.

JPMorgan warns auto strike will cut new vehicle production, driving used car prices

higher

Joe Toppe

FAUX NEWS
Thu, September 7, 2023 

JPMorgan on Thursday said supply chain disruptions from a potential United Auto Workers (UAW) strike would cut new vehicle production and increase used car prices.

The current four-year labor agreements that cover 146,000 workers at Ford, GM and Stellantis expire on Sept. 14.

"Industry observers have suggested that there is a high risk of strike given the reform-minded stance of the UAW under President Shawn Fain," analysts at JPMorgan said.

According to JPMorgan, Ford, GM and Stellantis represent roughly 40% of light vehicle auto sales in the U.S. and a strike would disrupt North American vehicle production by roughly 75%.

"Even if the UAW continues to negotiate beyond its deadline, the lack of a deal and threat of a strike should discourage auto dealers from offering discounts on their existing inventory and drive an uptick in vehicle prices," the analysts wrote. "Although used car prices have declined roughly 18% from their peak in January 2022, they remain 37% above the pre-pandemic level of January 2020."

With used car prices on the rise, insurance companies will be forced to levy higher charges for coverage.

SOUTHWEST AIRLINES REACHES TENTATIVE AGREEMENT WITH TEAMSTERS ON NEW CONTRACT FOR MATERIAL SPECIALISTS

JPMorgan said the higher used car values would effectively increase coverage limits on auto insurance, making claims more expensive.

"Insurers are obligated to pay the fair market value of a car if it is deemed totaled," bank analysts wrote. "Besides payments on totaled vehicles, higher used car values increase repair costs as they raise the amount that insurers are willing to spend on repairing a car."

Stellantis workers attend a "members' handshake" event with United Auto Workers President Shawn Fain to mark the beginning of the UAW's contract talks with Stellantis at the Sterling Heights Assembly Plant on July 12, 2023, in Sterling Heights, Michigan.

The labor union is seeking a 46% pay raise over the four-year contract along with an array of additional benefits, including a reduction of the workweek to 32 hours for 40 hours worth of pay at Ford, GM and Dodge parent Stellantis, whose latest offers the UAW rejected last month.

FOX Business' Breck Dumas contributed to this report.

Factbox-Impact of possible strikes on Detroit Three automakers

Reuters
Fri, September 8, 2023





(Reuters) - The union representing workers at General Motors, Ford Motor and Jeep-maker Stellantis has threatened strikes if a contract deal is not reached before the current ones expire on Sept. 14 at midnight.

A strike would ground production to a halt, costing billions of dollars in losses for automakers as well as their suppliers. With the deadline approaching, here's a look at some key facts about the possible strikes and their costs:

UAW VS. DETROIT THREE

The United Auto Workers (UAW) union said on Aug. 25 that 97% of its nearly 150,000 members voted in favor of authorizing a strike at the Detroit Three automakers if agreements over wages and pension plans were not reached before the current four-year contracts expired.

PAST STRIKES

The UAW went on a 42-day strike against GM in 2019 before reaching a new contract, the longest walkout since a 28-day strike at Ford in 1976. UAW workers have struck work for two days at GM and for one day at Chrysler in 2007.

Prior to 1976, strikes were frequently used as a bargaining tool at Detroit Three. UAW workers went on a strike at GM for 113 days in 1945, according to data compiled by Kristin Dzizcek, an adviser to the Chicago Federal Reserve.

STRIKE POSSIBILITY

A survey of 99 investors by Morgan Stanley found that 82% were expecting a strike, while 58% believed that a stoppage was "extremely likely." A significant percentage also anticipate any UAW contract talks could cause wage inflation in the range of 20%-40% over the next four-year period.

STRIKE IMPACT

The Detroit Three automakers account for about 40% of U.S. new light vehicle sales by units, according to J.P. Morgan. IHS Markit is estimating stoppages at the three automakers to disrupt North American vehicle production by about 75%.

A month-long strike at the three automakers could cut output by as many as 500,000 vehicles, Sam Fiorani, vice president of global vehicle forecasting for AutoForecast Solutions, said in a newsletter. About 1.3 million light vehicles were sold in the United States in August, according to Wards Intelligence data.

ECONOMIC HIT

The automotive industry has historically contributed 3%-3.5% to the U.S. GDP. As of 2020, it accounted for nearly a 7% share of manufacturing value-added in the U.S. economy, research by Deloitte showed.


In terms of employment, the auto manufacturing sector accounts for 9.7 million jobs, or about 5% of U.S. private-sector employment, according to data from the Alliance for Automotive Innovation.

STRIKE TOLL

Ten-day strikes at all three automakers could cost manufacturers, workers, suppliers and dealers more than $5 billion, according to economic consulting firm Anderson Economic Group.

A week long strike at Ford could impact earnings by $550 million, whereas a similar action could shave off $480 million from GM's earnings and $400 million from Stellantis' profit, according to Deutsche Bank Research analysts.

PAST COSTS

GM recorded a $3.6 billion pre-tax loss in 2019 after UAW members went on a strike for 42 days before a new deal with the company was reached. The stoppage cost the workers nearly $1 billion in lost wages, Anderson estimated.

(Reporting by Mehr Bedi and Nathan Gomes in Bengaluru, Joe White in Detroit; Editing by Anil D'Silva)

Venomous creature found glowing at night in desert of Saudi Arabia. It’s a new species

CHECK YOUR SLIPPERS BEFORE PUTTING THEM ON

Aspen Pflughoeft
Fri, September 8, 2023

A venomous creature tried to go about its night in the desert of Saudi Arabia. Nearby, scientists scanned the landscape with a searchlight. Caught in the searchlight, the stinging animal glowed.

Scientists captured the animal and soon realized they’d discovered a new species.

Researchers ventured into the Majami al-Hadb protected area in search of scorpions, according to a study published Sept. 7 in the journal ZooKeys. They set out at night, equipped with ultraviolet lights.

Their approach followed a “common technique” for finding scorpions, co-author Ahmed Badry told McClatchy News. The animals glow under ultraviolet light “due to certain chemicals in their exoskeleton” reacting to the light, he said. “The color of the glow can vary depending on the species of scorpion, but it is usually a blue-green color.”

Scanning the desert ravines, known as wadis, the researchers found 11 glowing scorpions and captured them, the study said. Analyzing the scorpions, scientists realized they’d discovered a new species: Leiurus hadb, or the Majami al-Hadb scorpion.

Majami al-Hadb scorpions are “medium to large” scorpions, ranging from about 2.5 inches to about 4.5 inches in size, the study said. They have a “yellow or yellow-orange” coloring with darker brown coloring on their backs and tail.

Photos show a Majami al-Hadb scorpion. It has eight legs and two large claws, or pincers, near its head. Its tail is curled upward in a half-heart shape. The stinging bulb on the tip of its tail has a bright yellow color and a piercing point

.

A Leiurus hadb, or Majami al-Hadb scorpion, standing on the rocky ground.

“The new scorpion species is indeed venomous,” Badry said. “However, we are still conducting further research to determine the potential harm it may cause to humans.”

Researchers named the new species after the area where it was discovered, the Majami al-Hadb protected area. The area is “dominated by dark volcanic mountains, sandy desert plains, and faded granite domes,” the study said.

The new species of scorpion “may be restricted to this particular (protected) area,” researchers said.

The Majami al-Hadb protected area is in Wadi ad-Dawasir and about 380 miles southwest of Riyadh, the capital city.

The new species was identified based on its body shape, smoother texture and coloring, the study said. DNA analysis found the new species had between 6% and 12% genetic divergence from other scorpion species.

“We are thrilled about this discovery and believe that it will contribute significantly to our understanding of scorpion biodiversity,” Badry said.

The research team included Abdulmani Al-Qahtni, Abdullah Al-Salem, Fahad Mesfer, Manal Al Balawi, Wasayf Allahyani, Abdulaziz Alqahtani and Badry.

SEND IN THE CLONES
Rare horse — once believed extinct — ‘thriving’ at new CA home. See ‘energetic’ foal

Daniella Segura
Fri, September 8, 2023 

A rare horse, whose species was once considered extinct, made its arrival at a California zoo after becoming the second successfully cloned of its kind.

Ollie and his surrogate mother, a domestic quarter horse, were recently moved from a Texas cloning facility to the San Diego Zoo Safari Park, where he is “thriving,” the San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance said in a Sept 7 news release.

Ollie is named in honor of Oliver “Ollie” Ryder, Ph.D., one of the visionary scientists who made the clone’s historic birth—and many other groundbreaking conservation efforts—possible.

The “energetic six-month-old” was named in honor of Oliver Ryder, a scientist “who made the clone’s historic birth … possible,” the organization said.

Seen here shortly after his birth in Texas, we’re honored to have recently welcomed Ollie, the second-ever Przewalski’s horse clone, to his new home at the Safari Park. He and his mom, a domestic horse surrogate mare, are settling in well.
‘History … made again’

In February, “history was made again” when Ollie became the second Przewalski’s horse researchers have ever successfully cloned, the organization said.


Ollie’s birth “marked the first time cloning successfully produced more than one individual of any endangered species — an unprecedented achievement that proves this technique can be used as a viable conservation tool for genetic rescue,” the organization said.

The world’s first Przewalski’s horse clone, Kurt, made his debut in 2020, according to the organization.
Once thought to be extinct

Up until 1996, the Przewalski’s horse was considered to be extinct in the wild, the organization said, McClatchy News previously reported.

“The species has survived for the past 40 years almost entirely in zoos around the world,” the organization said.

Using “conservation breeding and reintroduction efforts,” the organization said it has “helped reestablish populations in their native habitat across the grasslands of China and Mongolia.”

The horses once lived “throughout Europe and Asia,” according to the Smithsonian’s National Zoo & Conservation Biology Institute.

“Competition with man and livestock, as well as changes in the environment, led to the horse moving east to Asia, and eventually becoming extinct in the wild,” the institute said.

Now, the Smithsonian institute said, the species can only be found in “reintroduction sites in Mongolia, China, and Kazakhstan.”

The births of Ollie and Kurt were made possible by living cells cryopreserved in our Wildlife Biodiversity Bank’s Frozen Zoo®. We’ve cryopreserved living cells from over 1,200 species, many of which are endangered—and these samples open the door for cutting-edge genetic rescue efforts, including cloning.
‘Work isn’t over’

While such conservation efforts are a “remarkable accomplishment, the work isn’t over,” the organization said.

Currently, all living Przewalski’s horses are descendants of 12 individuals, the organization said.

To help the species’ future, the organization said it needs to ensure “an increase in vital genetic diversity.”

“This is where cloning comes in,” the organization said.

Cloning can be used to “bring back that essential genetic variation,” such as with Ollie and Kurt, according to the organization.

The pair are “clones of a stallion that lived over 40 years ago,” using DNA that was previously absent from the species’ population, the organization said.

One day, when he breeds, Ollie will pass his important genes to the next generation of Przewalski’s horses—helping to bring key genetic diversity back to this endangered species.

‘Lots of time to learn and grow’

For now, though, the organization said “Ollie still has lots of time to learn and grow before he matures into a breeding stallion.”

Eventually, once he’s ready, Ollie will join the herd of Przewalski’s horses at the Safari Park, according to the organization.

There, “the others will teach him the ways of his kind,” the organization said.

Until then, Ollie and his mom will be in a private habitat, away from guests, the organization said.

The San Diego Safari Park is located in Escondido, about 30 miles northeast of San Diego.

This small horse has a big purpose. See the adorable cloned foal frolic in his paddock

Rare horse — once believed extinct — born at California zoo. See foal ‘find his stride’

North Korea hackers going after Russian targets, Microsoft says

Raphael Satter
Thu, September 7, 2023 

FILE PHOTO: Man holds laptop computer as cyber code is projected on him in this illustration picture

By Raphael Satter

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - North Korean hackers targeted Russian diplomats and successfully breached a Russian aerospace research institute earlier this year, Microsoft Corp said in a blog post published Thursday.

Microsoft did not identify any of the victims by name and provided little by way of details or evidence, but said the hacking took place in March.

"North Korean threat actors may be capitalizing on the opportunity to conduct intelligence collection on Russian entities due to the country's focus on its war in Ukraine," the report said.

North Korea's mission to the United Nations did not immediately reply to a message seeking comment. The Russian embassy in Washington did not immediately respond to an email.

Spying on rivals' military and diplomatic organizations is standard operating procedure for the hacking squads employed by the world's intelligence agencies. North Korea has repeatedly been accused of deploying hackers against defense and diplomacy-related targets in South Korea, the United States and elsewhere.

But allegations that Pyongyang is spying on its Russian allies are potentially more awkward as the countries draw closer amid the war in Ukraine.

Last month, Reuters and researchers at cybersecurity firm SentinelOne Inc revealed how North Korean spies had broken into a major Russian missile developer for at least five months last year - putting them into position to gather intelligence about Russia's hypersonic missiles and rocket propellant technology.

Microsoft's allegations were made in a report about cyberespionage in East Asia, which also covered previous reporting by the American tech giant about Chinese hackers targeting U.S. critical infrastructure as well as new allegations about China's propaganda operations, which it said Beijing had "continued to scale up" using artificial intelligence and influencers.

The Chinese embassy did not immediately return a message seeking comment. Beijing routinely denies allegations of cyber subterfuge.

(Reporting by Raphael Satter; Editing by Stephen Coates)

DESANTISLAND

Employees told investigators DeSantis’ affordable housing director was abusive, sexist

Lawence Mower
Thu, September 7, 2023 

Florida Housing Finance Corp.

Gov. Ron DeSantis’ affordable housing executive director yelled and screamed at staff, made sexist comments, talked about their weight and threatened their jobs, employees of the Florida Housing Finance Corp. told an inspector general during an investigation.

The behavior of Mike DiNapoli, a former New York City financial adviser chosen by DeSantis to lead the corporation, created a hostile work environment that violated the organization’s policies, the corporation’s inspector general told board members Thursday.

“The conduct is severe and pervasive enough to create a work environment that a reasonable person would consider intimidating, hostile or abusive,” said the inspector general, Chris Hirst.

The investigative report into DiNapoli, which was not released publicly, was highly anticipated by those in Florida’s close-knit affordable housing community. Since the board approved hiring DiNapoli in February, 15 employees — 10% of the corporation’s workforce — were either fired by DiNapoli or quit.

DiNapoli was placed on paid administrative leave by the board in July. Last month, DeSantis reinstated him, with a spokesperson for the governor telling Politico that he never should have been suspended and that the investigation “has found nothing to justify the placement of Mr. DiNapoli on administrative leave.”

Board members, who were briefed in a Jacksonville hotel conference room on Thursday, called the report “disturbing” and lamented the “toxic environment” in the corporation.

“Reading it put tears in my eyes,” said Olivia Hoblit, a regional manager for a hotel chain. “That’s not how we treat people.”

READ MORE: DiNapoli struggled with personal debt for years. DeSantis put him in charge of billions

DiNapoli did not attend Thursday’s meeting and did not respond to a request for comment left with the corporation. Meredith Ivey, a former DeSantis spokesperson who is a member of the board and a deputy secretary of the Department of Commerce, also did not attend Thursday’s meeting. In February, Ivey endorsed DiNapoli and touted his “great personal success” in his previous career in finance.

The Legislature this year assigned the corporation record funding to address the state’s affordable housing crisis.

A spokesperson for DeSantis lashed out at the board in a statement Thursday, calling the board members “clearly incapable of exercising prudent judgment.”

“If anyone wonders what the deep state looks like, this is it,” spokesperson Jeremy Redfern said. “It’s clear to us that at least some members of this Board believe they can wield unchecked power to recklessly disparage a public official and tarnish his reputation without basic fairness and due process.”

He added, “We will explore every available tool to ensure proper management and oversight of the board and its staff, including the Inspector General, and to ensure further that this agency ultimately remains accountable to the people of Florida.”

Inspector general says there were more issues

Hirst revealed other findings from his office’s nearly two-month investigation, which included interviews with 24 current and former employees.

DiNapoli also serves on the board of the First Housing Development Corp. of Florida, which contracts with the corporation. Three of the corporation’s general counsels, who doubled as ethics officers, said it was a conflict of interests. Hirst agreed and concluded it was a violation of the corporation’s policies.

When asked about the conflict, DiNapoli said it was a “gray line,” and “an appearance of a conflict is not a conflict,” Hirst said.

“Furthermore, the subject [DiNapoli] did not think that the policy required employees to avoid the appearance of conflicts of interests and felt the policy may be outdated,” Hirst said.

DiNapoli also ordered the corporation’s chief financial officer, who manages the organization’s bond portfolio, to sell its Disney bonds, at a loss, Hirst said, in reaction to the entertainment company’s ongoing dispute with DeSantis over control of its Orlando-area special taxing district.

“The subject stated that holding the Disney bond was a bad look and stated this was because of Disney’s lawsuit against the state of Florida,” Hirst said.

Hirst said selling a bond at a loss for a non-pecuniary reason appeared to be a violation of the corporation’s ethics policies. He referred it to the state’s ethics commission, governor’s office and chief inspector general for their opinions.

Policies violated in hiring DiNapoli, IG says

Hirst also found that the corporation violated its hiring policies when it chose DiNapoli.

The corporation was supposed to advertise the executive director position, conduct interviews, do background checks and call work references. None of that happened, Hirst said. The corporation doesn’t even have an application or a resume on file for DiNapoli, he added.

Instead, DiNapoli was simply appointed by DeSantis, with the only letter of recommendation coming from James Uthmeier, DeSantis’ chief of staff who is currently leading DeSantis’ campaign for president.

The Times/Herald has previously reported that, before taking the job with the Florida Housing Finance Corp., DiNapoli had struggled with financial issues, including a bankruptcy, debtors garnishing his wages and a foreclosure on an Ocala home. Weeks after losing his job with UBS in New York City in 2015, a woman who claimed DiNapoli was her brother and financial adviser filed a complaint alleging that DiNapoli “stole money from her account as well as forged her name to a check that was addressed to her and deposited those funds in another account.”

Hirst said the financial history brings “into question the subject, and therefore Florida Housing’s, ability to demonstrate it is a creditworthy institution, and that its principal owners and corporate officers are creditworthy individuals.” Those are requirements to do business with the Federal Housing Administration, Hirst noted.

“The totality of information received during the course of this investigation reveal a pattern of behavior and/or management style of the subject which elevated Florida Housing’s overall risk and increase the potential threat of corporate instability,” Hirst said.

The corporation is effectively a multibillion-dollar bank for the state, distributing hundreds of millions of affordable housing dollars each year and issuing bonds.

No background check was ‘mind-blowing’

The fact that the corporation didn’t do a background check and assumed that the Department of Commerce, where DiNapoli previously worked as a manager since 2017, had done one was “mind-blowing,” said board member Ryan Benson, who works for a home builder.

“The answer of, ‘We received a recommendation from the Office of the Governor and it was move forward,’ is not acceptable to me,” Benson said.

The board meets again Friday morning, where it could recommend DiNapoli be disciplined or removed, or it could opt to do nothing. The ultimate decision will be up to the Department of Commerce secretary, Alex Kelly, who is currently DeSantis’ acting chief of staff.

Board chairman Mario Facella defended his decision to suspend DiNapoli, saying that he’d been hearing complaints from employees for months.

The last complaint came two weeks ago, from the corporation’s longtime human resources director, Facella said. Her resignation letter was sent after DeSantis reinstated DiNapoli. The director was the one who made the initial complaint to the inspector general’s office, Hirst said.

In her resignation, the director cited “the abuse and trauma of the last six months,” Facella said, and said she was resigning because she was “told that Mike will fire me” when he returns to work, and she didn’t want to have a termination on her record.

“That is, to me, ridiculous that we’re even having employees having to say that,” Facella said.