The Ethanol Scam: ADM and Brian Mulroney

Ethanol burns more than it saves: study
Researchers at Cornell University and the University of California-Berkeley say it takes 29 per cent more fossil energy to turn corn into ethanol than the amount of fuel the process produces. For switch grass, a warm weather perennial grass found in the Great Plains and eastern United States, it takes 45 per cent more energy and for wood, 57 per cent. It takes 27 per cent more energy to turn soybeans into biodiesel fuel, the study found. "Ethanol production in the United States does not benefit the nation's energy security, its agriculture, the economy, or the environment," according to the study by Cornell's David Pimentel and Berkeley's Tad Patzek. They conclude the country would be better off investing in solar, wind and hydrogen energy.The researchers included such factors as the energy used in producing the crop, costs that were not used in other studies that supported ethanol production, Mr. Pimentel said.The study also omitted $3-billion (U.S.) in state and federal government subsidies that go toward ethanol production in the United States each year, payments that mask the true costs, Mr. Pimentel said

Gee would those subsidies be the ones that went to Agribusiness giants like Archer Daniels Midland (ADM), who monopolize the ethanol market with their domination of corn and soyabean markets. As the "Supermarket to the World" brags on their web page:

"ADM is working with the abundant and renewable products of agriculture to develop nature-based fuels & industrials alternatives to the world’s finite stores of fossil fuels. Today, we are recognized as a leader in the production of cleaner-burning fuel ethanol. Additionally, ADM is a leading producer of consistently reliable, high-performing and naturally derived products for a diverse group of industries."

ADM, who have been charged with criminal conspiracy in the past, claim that they are helping create a clean energy for the future with their corn/soyabean ethanol projects. Hmm but the study says: "Ethanol production in the United States does not benefit the nation's energy security, its agriculture, the economy, or the environment" But it sure does benefit ADM.



"Little attention is given to ADM's controlling position within ethanol, the industry's shaky dependence on a complex, multi-tiered subsidy regime, or the basic volatility of commodity prices." Ethanol Subsidies for ADM & Other Corporate Kleptomaniacs Will Not Solve Energy Crisis

ADM's Canadian connection: during the ADM price fixing scandal they hired former Canadian Prime Minister Brian Mulroney, to act as a director in charge of corporate transparency. He remains on the board today.

The Mulroney Government approved the sale of Ogilvie Mills, the last independent milling company in Canada to ADM after they passed NAFTA.

"1993-1994 - ADM purchased Ogilvie Mills, the largest miller in Canada and a world leader in production of starch, gluten, and other wheat ingredients, with annual sales of $275 million. The flour-milling business arm of the new conglomerate then signed long-term supply contracts with the Toronto-based food and retailing giant George Weston Ltd, United Oilseeds Products Inc., a canola crushing plant in Lloydminster, Alta., (which was jointly owned by United Grain Growers Ltd. of Winnipeg and Mitsubishi Corp. of Japan), and the agriculture operations of International Multifoods Corp. of Minneapolis, a business that included 11 feed mills and a chicken hatchery in Canada."
Ogilvie Flour Mills :Univeristy of Manitoba Special Collections

"The sheer fact that Brian Mulroney went from being a Canadian prime minister to the most prominent director of Archer Daniels Midland (ADM) should never be lost o­n the investigation. The statement of ADM chairman to some grumbling shareholders in praising Brian Mulroney and showing them the highest value to the company is a glaring testimony."The Death of the Canadian Farmer

The Andreas family that owns ADM have been large contributors to U.S. Presidential Campaigns. Especially Republican ones. The recent Bush subsidies for Agriculture benefit ADM more than the family farmer.

"The Andreas clan began supplanting the founding Archer and Daniels families in the 60s and still own a few percent of the century-old company. While chief competitors Cargill and Bunge Ltd. established a broad global network of suppliers as well as customers during the last half of the 20th century, the charismatic Dwayne Andreas built ADM as "supermarket to the world" almost entirely on the crops of American farmers. The elder Andreas was an advisor to several U.S. presidents and could count on his Washington connections to prop up prices for key ADM products domestically, including high-fructose corn syrup and ethanol, a gasoline alternative made from corn." Heartland transformation: ADM CEO Allen Andreas has led the giant out of scandal and put it on a winning path

CRIMINAL CAPITALI$M REDUX

ADM postpones some exec bonuses amid accounting probe -memo


Sun, January 28, 2024 

Archer Daniels Midland Co (ADM) logo

By Chris Prentice and Karl Plume

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Archer-Daniels-Midland Co will delay paying performance bonuses to some executives until its financial statements are completed and audited, according to a staff memo seen by Reuters.

The delay, detailed in a memo sent to staff on Thursday, comes days after ADM sidelined its chief financial officer and brought in outside lawyers to launch an investigation into accounting practices last week.

The investigation is focused on the nutrition segment, a relatively small unit of the grains trading giant's business which played an outsized role in executive compensation.

Compensation from ADM's performance incentive plan for members of the company's executive council, including any who retired last year, would be postponed, the note said.

ADM declined to comment. Payments to other employees would be paid in March on the company's normal schedule, according to the staff memo.

The executive council includes several top executives and heads of other ADM businesses. Reuters could not determine exactly how many people are on the council.

According to the company's website detailing what it calls its Senior Leadership, of the 19 people listed, 14 are cited as being members of the executive council in their biographies.News of the investigation into accounting practices sent ADM shares tumbling 24% on Jan. 22, the biggest fall since 1929, according to the Center for Research in Security Prices.

ADM has delayed the release of its full-year 2023 financial results until further notice.

The probe focuses on ADM's Nutrition reporting segment and "intersegment transactions," the company has said. It started after ADM received a request for information from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, ADM said. The SEC declined to comment.A change by ADM's Compensation and Succession Committee in 2020 tied half of long-term executive compensation to operating profit growth of the Nutrition segment, according to ADM proxy statements. Previously, the long-term compensation had been based on ADM's adjusted earnings, return on invested capital and relative total shareholder returns, according to the filings.

The Nutrition unit accounted for just 9.3% of ADM revenue that year, LSEG data showed.

ADM in 2023 reported average Nutrition operating profit growth from 2020 to 2022 of a larger-than-forecast 21.4% and which topped the company's average adjusted return on invested capital target. As a result, seven ADM executives were awarded more than 841,000 performance share units, twice the targeted payout, the proxy statements showed. Those PSUs were valued at nearly $69 million when they vested in February 2023.

(Reporting by Chris Prentice in New York and Karl Plume in Chicago; Editing by Caroline Stauffer and Leslie Adler)

US Justice Department probing ADM accounting practices -sources

Mon, February 5, 2024 




By Chris Prentice and Jody Godoy

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The U.S. Justice Department is probing accounting practices at Archer Daniels Midland Co, according to two people with direct knowledge of the matter, ramping up pressure on the global commodities giant.

New York-listed shares of ADM's stock dropped 24% on Jan. 22 after the company disclosed the previous day that it had suspended its CFO amid an internal probe into accounting practices related to its Nutrition division. The company's probe was prompted by a Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) inquiry, it said.

The two sources said that in recent days the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York (SDNY) has interviewed former ADM employees about accounting practices at the 122-year old, Chicago-based maker of animal feed, sweeteners and other products.

The sources each said a SDNY prosecutor asked about the company's pricing practices related to the sales of goods from ADM's commodities units to its Nutrition division.

A third source with knowledge of the matter said that the SDNY had opened an investigation into ADM. The source was unaware of the substance of the probe.

Reuters could not immediately determine the scope of the probe or the degree to which it had advanced.

Spokespeople for ADM and SDNY declined to comment.

Government investigations are not evidence of wrongdoing and do not necessarily result in charges.

Still, a probe by the Justice Department, which has the power to bring criminal charges and impose steep fines, increases pressure on ADM and is likely to inflame investor concerns.

Shares of ADM extended earlier losses on Monday, falling 4.3% to $53.29 at around 1:43 p.m. EST (1843 GMT).

Reuters could not ascertain if the Justice Department probe directly relates to the company's internal probe. That focuses on "intersegment transactions" in ADM's Nutrition reporting segment and the transfer of goods between segments, according to ADM's Jan. 21 disclosure in which it also said it was delaying its financial results.

The Nutrition division manufactures ingredients used in pet food, animal feed and consumer products, such as energy bars. It is a relatively small unit of ADM, a giant in global grains trading which has a market capitalization of nearly $30 billion. Since 2020, however, the division has played a major role in the doling out of executive compensation.

A change by ADM's Compensation and Succession Committee in 2020 tied half of long-term executive compensation to the Nutrition segment's operating profit growth, according to ADM's regulatory filings. Previously, long-term compensation had been based on ADM's adjusted earnings, return on invested capital and relative total shareholder returns, the filings showed.

ADM's 24% share price plunge was its biggest single-day fall since 1929, according to the Chicago-based Center for Research in Security Prices.

The company has since told employees that it will delay bonuses for some senior executives until its financial statements were completed and audited, Reuters reported last week.

(Reporting by Chris Prentice and Jody Godoy in New York

Editing by Michelle Price, Caroline Stauffer and Matthew Lewis)

LA REVUE GAUCHE - Left Comment: Search results for ADM 

US agri-food heavyweight Archer-Daniels Midland (ADM) has invested $33m to build a new pet-food production line in Guadalajara, Mexico.

ADM signage at Decatur plant

The ingredients supplier to human- and animal-food manufacturers said adding the line will increase the factory workforce by 65% and “optimise dry pet-food production flow”. Alongside its Ganador and Minino brands, ADM said the investment will also support the development of new product ranges.

The line will be equipped with new and automated technologies.

Chicago-based ADM, which has been present in Mexico for more than 65 years, said the investment will also expand its coverage to Central America and Colombia.

Jorge Martínez, president of ADM's pet-nutrition business, said: "Without a doubt Guadalajara is a strategic, economic location for ADM in Mexico. The integration of this new production line adds range and flexibility to our capabilities in Mexico and enables ADM to triple its capacity and give us wider international visibility within the pet-food market."

Jalisco, the region in which Guadalajara sits, has been identified as a key growth market in Mexico, based on increased economic activity and growing investment in the region.

ADM’s plant adheres to its CSR initiatives by reusing water from a new treatment plant.

In 2021, ADM bought a majority stake in US pet-food business P4 Companies - the owner of the PetDine, Pedigree Ovens, The Pound Bakery and NutraDine pet-food businesses.

It paid $450m for a 75% stake in the business with an option to buy the remaining 25%.

While better known as an ingredients business, in March ADM launched the direct-to-consumer plant-based health brand Knwble Grwn.

The Knwble Grwn line - distributed via Amazon.com and Walmart.com - includes flaxseed, hemp seed, flax oil, hemp oil and quinoa.

ADM said the launch was driven by consumer demand for “transparency and traceability” of their food.

The company said that while its “core business continues to be B2B”, it is “building more and more of a presence in D2C”.

Just Food has asked ADM for details of how its Ganador and Minino pet-food brands are distributed.

"ADM pumps $33m into pet-food production in Mexico" was originally created and published by Just Food, a GlobalData owned brand.

LA REVUE GAUCHE - Left Comment: Search results for ADM 

IOWA

Proposed 350-mile carbon capture pipeline would go through Johnson County. Here's what you need to know.

IT'S BUILDING A PIPELINE CAUSES DAMAGE, DOESN'T MATTER WHAT IT TRANSPORTS

George Shillcock, Iowa City Press-Citizen
Thu, July 7, 2022 

A sliver of northeastern Johnson County is included in the latest proposal for a carbon capture pipeline in Iowa after two much larger projects completely avoided the area.

A map of a proposed pipeline filed with the Iowa Utilities Board shows the main artery of the 350-mile project would extend from an Archer Daniels Midland Co. location in Cedar Rapids, cutting southeast through Johnson, Linn, Cedar, Clinton and Scott counties. A second lateral line would run north from Davenport to another ADM location in Clinton.

Wolf Carbon Solutions, based in Denver, is partnering with ADM on the proposed pipeline. The company announced in January that it intended to build a pipeline in Iowa. A news release from the companies said the pipeline will transport carbon dioxide from ADM’s ethanol and cogeneration facilities in Clinton and Cedar Rapids to be stored permanently underground at ADM’s already-operational sequestration site in Decatur, Illinois.

While the main line wouldn't go directly through Johnson County, the proposed route's 2-mile corridor does include the northeastern part of the county. Other pipeline proposals in Iowa have avoided running through Johnson County, where opposition is expected.

"This is an exciting opportunity for ADM to connect some of our largest processing facilities with our carbon capture capabilities, advancing our work to significantly reduce our CO2 emissions while delivering sustainable solutions for our customers," ADM president of carbohydrate solutions Chris Cuddy said in the release. "These efforts are core to our purpose, our culture and our growth, and we look forward to working with Wolf Carbon Solutions to finalize this agreement and further decarbonize our operations and our industry.”

Nick Noppinger at Wolf Carbon Solutions told the Press-Citizen in an email statement that the company's goal is to reach voluntary agreements through respectful and open discussions with all landowners along this proposed route. He said the proposed 2-mile corridor, with one mile on each side of a proposed center line, would enable them to cooperatively work with landowners to determine the best possible route.

“Wolf Carbon Solutions is committed to building and maintaining meaningful relationships with landowners," Noppinger said.

The proposed 350-mile carbon capture pipeline from Wolf Carbon Solutions US, LLC

This pipeline is one of several proposed in the Midwest that would run through Iowa, drawing criticism from environmental groups and landowners amid fears that eminent domain will be used to take property for the construction of pipelines.

Other critics argue the pipelines don't do enough to lower carbon emissions and say Iowa should focus on transitioning the state's farming economy away from producing renewable fuel, and the corn and soybean crops needed to make it.

Three companies — Summit Carbon Solutions, Navigator CO2 Ventures and ADM-Wolf — want to build pipelines that run through Iowa that will be used to move carbon dioxide captured from ethanol, fertilizer and other agricultural industrial plants.

The Johnson County Board of Supervisors and other county governments and elected officials and also signaled strong opposition to these projects.

More: What we know about three carbon capture pipelines proposed in Iowa
Company claims to push for carbon-neutrality, but critics questions eminent domain tactics and environmental impact

The 350-mile pipeline would include both a main line running west to east from Cedar Rapids into Illinois, and a lateral line running south to north from just north of Davenport to Clinton.

The company would use pressure to liquefy the carbon dioxide, and the pipelines would transport it and then inject it deep underground where it will be permanently sequestered. Summit Carbon plans to sequester carbon in North Dakota; Navigator CO2 and Wolf-ADM plan to do so in Illinois.

ADM and Wolf expect to transport 12 million tons of carbon dioxide a year.

The news release from Wolf-ADM states that ADM’s carbon capture and sequestration capabilities in Decatur have allowed it to safely and permanently store more than 3.5 million metric tons of carbon dioxide 1½ miles underground and have paved the way for increased decarbonization of the company’s operations. The company announced plans to construct a zero-emissions power plant adjacent to the company’s Decatur corn complex, and wants to achieve the wheat milling industry’s first carbon-neutral footprint.

This map, based on information in March 2022, shows the proposed route of the 2,000-mile Summit Carbon Solutions CO2 pipeline that will carry pressurized carbon dioxide from ethanol plants to a sequestration site a mile underground in central North Dakota. About 470 miles of the pipeline would be located in South Dakota.

The release said the pipeline would have significant spare capacity to serve other third-party customers looking to decarbonize across the Midwest and Ohio River Valley.

To build the pipeline, Wolf-ADM will either have to purchase land from many private property owners along the 350-mile route or acquire permission from the Iowa Utilities Board and county governments to use eminent domain to acquire the land, regardless or the support of private landowners.

While landowners can refuse to voluntarily give up their land for this type of project, Summit, Navigator and ADM-Wolf can ask the three-person Iowa Utilities Board to grant eminent domain powers if they're determined to serve a public purpose. That would force unwilling landowners to grant easements at fair market values.

Eminent domain is a power a government entity or its agent can use to take private property for public use while compensating landowners. In this case, if the board grants eminent domain powers, it would force unwilling landowners to sell ADM-Wolf the rights to build across their property.

The Des Moines Register reported that several experts are skeptical of the environmental impact of these pipelines, despite the White House saying that carbon sequestration projects likely will be needed to meet President Joe Biden's climate goal of net-zero emissions economywide by 2050.

The proposals have drawn bipartisan ire from politicians and became an issue prior to the primary elections, including for four of the six Republicans who ran for a Iowa House of Representatives seat, and others throughout the state. As recently as March, a large group of people opposing a pipeline project gathered in the Iowa Capitol.

Wolf-ADM is asking for several informational meetings to take place in September. The company could bypass the need to use eminent domain by reaching out to landowners along the proposed route and attempting to negotiate easements.

More: Iowa official asks Summit Carbon Solutions for more information about possible pipeline leaks, dangers

Johnson County Supervisors express opposition to carbon capture pipelines

The Johnson County Board of Supervisors has already taken a strong stance against carbon capture pipelines, months before any route was officially proposed to run through the county.

The board sent two letters opposing the other two pipeline projects using eminent domain, even though they would not run through Johnson County.

On Wednesday, Supervisor Jon Green told the board about the Wolf-ADM project and said he would like to see the Supervisors send an additional letter stating the county's opposition. The rest of the board signaled its support for an additional letter.

Green, in April, speculated that such a pipeline would eventually make its way to Johnson County and suggested the board should put its "finger on the scale." The other Supervisors agreed and the letter was sent.

When The Cedar Rapids Gazette first reported about this proposed pipeline Tuesday, Green tweeted his opposition to it running through Johnson County.

Michael Daly, a resident of Cedar Township in Johnson County, said at the April meeting that a potential pipeline could cut into his land. It is unclear if this proposal would

"My interest now is more urgent to find some solution," he said. "About the only thing we can do is object."

Supervisor Lisa Green-Douglass said in April that eminent domain should be used for "the greater good and not for private enterprise or private profit, which is what this would be."

The latest version of Navigator Co.'s proposed Heartland Greenway carbon capture pipeline.

The Linn County Supervisors also signed a letter in January opposing using eminent domain for pipelines.

Johnson County Board of Supervisors Executive Director Mike Hensch said in April that he wanted to remind the public that, even if eminent domain is exercised, objections from landowners will go to a county compensation commissions. Hensch is a member of the compensation commission and said he was not taking a position on the issue.

"Each county, in the compensation commissions, can refuse the amount of money that is being recommended. And the step beyond that is district court. We're years away," he said.

More: Advocacy group estimates carbon capture pipelines crossing Iowa will get $23 billion at public expense

Wolf-ADM requests public meetings in September

ADM-Wolf is proposing five public informational meetings in the counties that the pipeline would go through, and a sixth that would be virtual.

"Wolf is committed to transparent, two-way communication throughout this process and is enthusiastic about bringing the economic and environmental benefits of this carbon capture and storage project to Iowa," its letter read.

The letter said that once dates are confirmed, the company will make reservations for suitable locations in each county. Each location will have Wi-Fi capabilities and will be ADA-compliant.

More: Tech giants like renewable energy, but question cost of MidAmerican's $3.9 billion wind, solar plan

George Shillcock is the Press-Citizen's local government and development reporter covering Iowa City and Johnson County. He can be reached at (515) 350-6307, GShillcock@press-citizen.com and on Twitter @ShillcockGeorge

This article originally appeared on Iowa City Press-Citizen: Where a carbon capture pipeline could run through Johnson County

Conrad Black and ADM

Along with its connection to Brian Mulroney, Archer Daniels Midland, ADM, the major beneficiary of subsidies for bio-fuels in the United States and Canada has a connection with Conrad Black.

Ethanol's boosters, led primarily by ADM, go to great lengths to screen the
public's knowledge of the facts behind this taxpayer-funded rip-off.
Justifications for the subsidy are draped in histrionics, flawed research
and/or demogogic appeals to patriotism (i.e. "No American soldiers should
die for foreign oil") --- Who would disagree with that ---
but who looks behind the statement to discover its falsehoods?

ADM's de facto monopoly in ethanol and its subjugating influence across wide
swaths of our agro-food system has been accomplished stealthily over decades
and is currently enforced by several largely hidden (but interlocking)
realities:
(1) political contributions and placement of ADM-approved toadies at all
levels of
government, particularly USDA and Congress,
(2) a large phalanx of controlled trade associations, commodity groups, and
related foundations at national, state and local levels and
(3) controlling influence in important media sectors through stock ownership
of newspapers, advertising and holding companies.

Let's illustrate the last point --- Have you been watching the public
destruction of Conrad Black, erstwhile chairman of Hollinger International,
and a member of British House of Lords? Hollinger, which controlled, among
other assets, The Chicago Sun Times, The London Daily Telegraph and dozens
of smaller newspapers, began imploding shortly after ADM's chairman emeritus
Dwayne O. Andreas and another longtime ADM director, Robert Strauss,
resigned their board seats at Hollinger in early 2003.

Other ADM directors and toadies, including former Ambassador Richard Burt and former Illinois governor James Thompson, continued serving on Hollinger's board and helped spark an internal investigation, brought in a former SEC chairman for window dressing and dumped Black amid a swirl of nasty allegations. Having orchestrated Black's ouster, by exposing audits
and other internal revelations of indefensible corporate greed, it would
appear the "Pot (Andreas) can call the kettle (Black)" and get away unscathed --- while simultaneously riding the public's post-Enron indignation.

See:

Bio Fuels = Eco Disaster

Real Costs of Bio-Fuels

BioFuel and The Wheat Board

The Ethanol Scam: ADM and Brian Mulroney

Capitalism Endangers Orangutan

Criminal Capitalism

ADM



Find blog posts, photos, events and more off-site about:
Brian Mulroney, Conrad Black, ADM, Archer Daniels Midland, agribusiness, biofuel, bio-fuels, Canada, Wheat Board, politics, ecology, Indonesia, palm oil, corn, soya,
crime, fraud, white collar crime, corporate crime, Hollinger

 

Biden picks first woman to lead the Navy after reports of Pentagon snub

BY ALEX GANGITANO - 07/21/23

Jim Cleveland/U.S. Navy via AP

In this image provided by the U.S. Navy, Vice Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Lisa Franchetti meets with leadership at Portsmouth Naval Shipyard, Nov. 17, 2022 in Kittery, Maine. A senior administration official says President Joe Biden has chosen Franchetti to lead the Navy. If confirmed, she would be the first woman to be a U.S. military service chief.

President Biden on Friday picked Adm. Lisa Franchetti to be the next chief of naval operations after Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin passed over her when recommending for the role.

The promotion of Franchetti, who has been vice chief of naval operations since last fall, will be the first time a woman has the spot of the Navy’s highest-ranking officer and she will be the first female member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

Biden, in announcing his nomination, noted that Franchetti has already made history as the second woman ever to achieve the rank of four-star admiral in the United States Navy. She would replace current Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Mike Gilday, whose four-year term is over this fall.  

Austin in June reportedly recommended that Adm. Samuel Paparo become the next chief of naval operations despite Franchetti being considered the front-runner for the top position as the Navy’s No. 2 officer. Biden on Friday nominated Paparo for commander of Indo-Pacific Command.

The president also nominated Vice Adm. James Kilby for vice chief of naval operations and Vice Adm. Stephen “Web” Koehler for commander of U.S. Pacific Fleet.

He also urged the Senate to quickly confirm these nominations and the other pending military nominations that have been held up by Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.). Tuberville is blocking the Senate from moving on military promotions in protest of the Pentagon’s abortion policy, which allows for paid leave and travel reimbursement for abortions. 

“It has long been an article of faith in this country that supporting our service members and their families, and providing for the strength of our national defense, transcends politics. What Senator Tuberville is doing is not only wrong — it is dangerous,” Biden said Friday.

Biden also called out Republicans in Senate for not stopping Tuberville from continuing the hold and said the Alabama Republican is “risking our ability to ensure that the United States Armed Forces remain the greatest fighting force in the history of the world.”

Biden Picks Female Admiral To Lead Navy. She’d Be First Woman on Joint Chiefs of Staff

Biden's decision goes against the recommendation of his Pentagon chief.

By The Associated Press

Published on 7/21/2023 at 4:50 PM

In this image provided by the U.S. Navy, Vice Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Lisa Franchetti meets with leadership at Portsmouth Naval Shipyard, Nov. 17, 2022 in Kittery, Maine. (Jim Cleveland/U.S. Navy via AP)

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden has chosen Adm. Lisa Franchetti to lead the Navy, an unprecedented choice that, if she is confirmed, will make her the first woman to be a Pentagon service chief and the first female member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

Biden's decision goes against the recommendation of his Pentagon chief. But Franchetti, the current vice chief of operations for the Navy, has broad command and executive experience and was considered by insiders to be the top choice for the job.

In a statement Friday, Biden noted the historical significance of her selection and said “throughout her career, Admiral Franchetti has demonstrated extensive expertise in both the operational and policy arenas.”

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin recommended that Biden select Adm. Samuel Paparo, the current commander of the Navy’s Pacific Fleet, several U.S. officials said last month. But instead, Biden is nominating Paparo to lead U.S. Indo-Pacific Command.

A senior administration official said Biden chose Franchetti based on the broad scope of her experience at sea and ashore, including a number of high-level policy and administrative jobs that give her deep knowledge in budgeting and running the department.

At the same time, the official acknowledged that Biden understands the historical nature of the nomination and believes that Franchetti will be an inspiration to sailors, both men and women. The official spoke earlier on condition of anonymity because the nomination had not been made public.

Franchetti's nomination will join the list of hundreds of military moves that are being held up by Republican Sen. Tommy Tuberville of Alabama. He is blocking confirmation of military officers in protest of a Defense Department policy that pays for travel when a service member has to go out of state to get an abortion or other reproductive care

Biden, in his statement, blasted Tuberville for prioritizing his domestic political agenda over military readiness.

“What Senator Tuberville is doing is not only wrong — it is dangerous,” Biden said. “He is risking our ability to ensure that the United States Armed Forces remain the greatest fighting force in the history of the world. And his Republican colleagues in the Senate know it.”

Franchetti is slated to serve as the acting Navy chief beginning next month when Adm. Michael Gilday, the current top naval officer, retires as planned.

Several women have served as military service secretaries as political appointees, but never as their top uniformed officer. A woman, Adm. Linda L. Fagan, is currently the commandant of the Coast Guard. She, however, is not a member of the Joint Staff. The Coast Guard is part of the Department of Homeland Security, not the Pentagon.

The news last month that the defense chief had recommended Papara stunned many in the Pentagon because it was long believed that Franchetti was in line for the top Navy job.

In a statement Friday, Austin praised the nomination, saying, “I’m very proud that Admiral Franchetti has been nominated to be the first woman Chief of Naval Operations and member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, where she will continue to inspire all of us.”

A surface warfare officer, she has commanded at all levels, heading U.S. 6th Fleet and U.S. Naval Forces Korea. She was the second woman ever to be promoted to four-star admiral, and she did multiple deployments, including as commander of a naval destroyer and two stints as aircraft carrier strike group commander.

Paparo, who if confirmed will replace Adm. John Aquilino, is a naval aviator and a TOPGUN graduate with more than 6,000 flight hours in Navy fighter jets and 1,100 landings on aircraft carriers. A Pennsylvania native, he graduated from Villanova University and was commissioned into the Navy in 1987.

Prior to his Pacific tour, he was commander of naval forces in the Middle East, based in Bahrain, and also previously served as director of operations at U.S. Central Command in Florida.

Biden also said he will nominate Vice Adm. James Kilby to be the vice chief of the Navy and tap Vice Adm. Stephen Koehler to head the Pacific Fleet.

____

By LOLITA C. BALDOR

President Joe Biden has nominated Adm. Lisa Franchetti to become chief of naval operations. (Lance Cpl. Cody Purcell/U.S. Marine Corps)

WASHINGTON — Adm. Lisa Franchetti was five weeks into leading U.S. 6th Fleet when she oversaw the first-ever Tomahawk missile strike by a Virginia-class attack submarine.

Days after Syrian President Bashar Assad launched a chemical weapons attack on his people in April 2018, then-President Donald Trump threatened to use military forces to destroy the Syrian chemical weapons facilities.

Franchetti, then a three-star admiral still settling into her new office in Naples, Italy, was tasked by Defense Department leadership with striking Syria from European waters using naval vessels.

The target was complex: Three facilities in Damascus and near Homs were close to Russian forces and air defense systems, which the U.S. wanted to avoid hitting.

Franchetti and her 6th Fleet team both successfully used the new submarine John Warner to fire upon Syria from the Eastern Mediterranean and rearmed the boat afterward, marking two firsts.

“There were some real challenges there,” retired Adm. James Foggo, then the commander of Naval Forces Europe and Franchetti’s direct superior, told Defense News. “Afterward, we all kind of breathed a sigh of relief because all the elements of that strike mission directed by the president were met: The targets were destroyed, minimal collateral damage, didn’t bring the Russians into it, a strong message sent to Assad, and then the reload afterwards.”

Five years later — and after completing her tour as 6th Fleet commander, serving as the director for strategy, plans and policy on the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and then becoming the vice chief of naval operations — Franchetti is now President Joe Biden’s nominee for chief of naval operations.

The White House announced the nomination July 21. If confirmed by the Senate, Franchetti would be the first woman to lead the Navy or any Defense Department military service. The Coast Guard was the first U.S. armed service to be led by a female; Adm. Linda Fagan became the 27th commandant of the branch last year.

Franchetti’s nomination is likely to be sidelined by ongoing political fights on Capitol Hill over the military’s abortion access policy. The ongoing hold by Sen. Tommy Tuberville, R-Ala., has stalled more than 250 senior military confirmations over the last four months, with no resolution in sight, over the Defense Department’s abortion policies.

Sen. Tommy Tuberville, R-Ala., serves on the Senate Armed Services Committee. 

(J. Scott Applewhite/AP)

Under rules put in place last fall, troops stationed in states where abortion is limited or illegal can be granted leave time and travel stipends to help cover the cost of moving across state lines for abortion services. Tuberville and a host of Republican lawmakers have decried the policy as illegal.

Top Navy spokesman Rear Adm. Ryan Perry confirmed the nomination in a statement and said that “she has worked across the Navy and the Joint Force with an emphasis on strategy, international engagement, and interagency collaboration, most recently serving as the Director, Strategy, Plans, and Policy, J-5.”

Biden also announced the nomination of Adm. Samuel Paparo — who in recent weeks had been rumored to be in line for the CNO post — as commander of U.S. Indo-Pacific Command.

Foggo said Franchetti has the right character and experience for the job.

“She cares a lot about her people [and] you want a CNO that cares about the troops on the deckplate,” he said. “At the same time, you want a CNO that has experience in some tight, tough situations and some combat situations.”

Surface warrior and policy wonk

If a group of Navy ROTC students at a Midwestern university hadn’t decided to have a cookout one day more than four decades ago, there’s a chance Franchetti would not have embarked on a career that landed her as the nominee.

She grew up in suburban Rochester, New York, according to a 2015 Northwestern University profile of Franchetti.

Franchetti attended Northwestern’s Medill journalism school and wanted to become a reporter covering the Middle East, according to the profile. That changed in 1981 during freshman orientation, when she came upon a group of Navy ROTC students grilling out and playing football, the profile recalls.

ROTC midshipmen at Northwestern University listen to speakers about the working relationship chiefs and officers need to have in a command. 

(Scott A. Thornbloom/U.S. Navy)

“They said: ‘We could get you $100 a month, and maybe you could get a scholarship next year if you joined ROTC,’ ” Franchetti said in the piece. “I was whisked away to their office building on Haven Street, talked to a lieutenant who told me how great the Navy was, and next thing, I’m signed up and getting my uniform and some books. And that’s how it started.”

From there, she commissioned as a Navy officer in 1985 — five years after the first woman graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy, putting her at the forefront of gender integration on ships.

As such, Franchetti began her career on auxiliary ships, or those that support vessels in the naval fleet. She served on the destroyer tender Shenandoah and then the oiler Monongahela, and eventually moved onto destroyers, commanding Ross.

Franchetti became the second woman to serve as vice chief of naval operations on Sept. 2, 2022.

Retired Vice Adm. Nora Tyson, who in 2010 became the first woman to command a carrier strike group, said Franchetti’s resume makes her an ideal candidate to serve as the next chief of naval operations, regardless of gender.

Tyson told Defense News she first worked with Franchetti at the Navy’s Logistics Group Western Pacific in Singapore, and during Franchetti’s leadership of Destroyer Squadron 21.

Franchetti “is probably one of the best, well-rounded officers that we could put in as CNO. And that’s because she’s had, A, the leadership experience; B, she has had a lot of experience working with our allies and partners around the world,” Tyson said.

Later, when Tyson led U.S. 3rd Fleet and Franchetti reported to her as commander of Carrier Strike Group 9, Tyson made the unusual decision to ask Franchetti to lead two strike groups.

“I had the utmost confidence in Lisa,” she said. “Lisa is just a great person and a good leader and has the right values, characteristics, experience, training, whatever, that she’s one of those people that you can trust to get the job done.”

Foggo said Franchetti’s time as 6th Fleet commander put her leadership skills to the test: She came into the job managing ongoing naval aviation strikes against the Islamic State group, and she left in July 2020 after seeing the command through a horrific start to the COVID-19 pandemic in Italy.

Hospital Corpsman 1st Class Jonmichael Heldorfer, left, performs a COVID-19 test on Cryptologic Technician (Technical) 2nd Class Nareba Brady aboard a ship while in Gaeta, Italy, on May 6, 2020. (MC1 Kyle Steckler/U.S. Navy)

By March 2020, 1,000 people a day were dying in Italy. Foggo said he and Franchetti had daily meetings to discuss how to keep their people both safe and ready for any missions.

“We were making dozens, if not hundreds, of decisions every day about how we’re going to continue to sustain the warfighting posture of this theater with Americans who are on ships, deployed or in port, or need to be ready to go and meet any contingency when we have this murderous pandemic upon us here in Italy,” he said.

Sailors and their families were scared, he added, but he and Franchetti communicated well during that time to explain their rigid policies. “Lisa was my wingman for this,” Foggo said.

Retired Vice Adm. Ron Boxall was a fellow surface warfare officer who has known Franchetti for years and led the Joint Staff’s resources directorate while Franchetti led the policy directorate.

He said her time in that job meant she “learned a lot about what went on with the [National Security Council] over [at] the White House, a lot of the inner dealings with the political-military side with [the] State Department.”

Foggo noted that, while leading 6th Fleet and Naval Forces Korea, she worked closely with allies and partners.

Breaking gender barriers

While Franchetti’s resume includes many of the same posts as other top surface warfare officers — ship captain, carrier strike group commander, fleet commander — she’s been the first woman to take on many of these roles.

“She’s a role model for a lot of young female officers, mostly surface warfare officers, and she’s always taken it as a personal mission for her to be that mentor that she never had, or that she had very few of,” Boxall said.

But he said that Franchetti, as a woman, may be uniquely positioned to help the surface warfare community and the Navy as a whole address some thorny policy issues that have thus far eluded resolution.

Then-Vice Adm. Lisa Franchetti, commander of U.S. 6th Fleet, takes a selfie with Midshiman 1st Class Elise Vincent while visiting the destroyer Bainbridge in June 2018. (MC1 Theron Godbold/U.S. Navy)

Speaking about retention — an issue for all the services — Boxall said it would be “refreshing” to see how a female service chief would tackle the challenge.

In a competition for people, he said, “it may be she will be able to come up with policies and confront them head on as a female officer” in a way that male officers have struggled to do.

Franchetti could lead on these issues because she’s lived them all herself. She spoke to the Northwestern University magazine about caring for sailors and maintaining a work-life balance, even with a demanding profession.

“I have my work sphere, my mom and wife sphere, and my mental and physical health sphere. When I was younger, I thought: ‘I can do all of this at the same time!’ ” Franchetti was quoted as saying.

“But when I became older, I realized, ‘OK, this week I’m going to focus on work because it’s going to be really busy,’ ” she added. “‘And next week I’m going to take a day off and go to the zoo with my family. And then next week I’m going to make sure my running is going well and get that back on track.’ A lot of rethinking and reevaluating your priorities is really important. Every day you have to think about this.”

Tyson, the first woman to command a carrier strike group, said that Biden selecting Franchetti to lead the service sends two messages to young women in the Navy or considering joining.

“First, a woman can do that; I can go as far as I want to go. And two, the Navy as an organization has the right values that they put the right person in the right place for the right reason,” Tyson said.

Foggo said he spoke to Franchetti several times about the intersection of being a naval officer and a woman.

“One of the things she said is, I learned a lot a long time ago that you do not have to sacrifice your femininity or your gender identity to be a good leader in the Navy,” Foggo explained. “In other words, you don’t have to lower your voice. You don’t have to yell. You don’t have to use bad language. You can just lead. You can be an effective leader by listening to your people, caring for your people, understanding your people, knowing something about your people.

“That’s leadership, and it has nothing to do with gender.”

Leo Shane III contributed to this report.

About Megan Eckstein and Geoff Ziezulewicz

Megan Eckstein is the naval warfare reporter at Defense News. She has covered military news since 2009, with a focus on U.S. Navy and Marine Corps operations, acquisition programs and budgets. She has reported from four geographic fleets and is happiest when she’s filing stories from a ship. Megan is a University of Maryland alumna.

Geoff is a senior staff reporter for Military Times, focusing on the Navy. He covered Iraq and Afghanistan extensively and was most recently a reporter at the Chicago Tribune. He welcomes any and all kinds of tips at geoffz@militarytimes.com

BioFuel and The Wheat Board

Is there a connection between the Harper announcement promoting bio-fuels and the push to kill the Wheat Board. Why of course there is. Its called Archer Daniels Midland (ADM) who is a shareholder in Agricore the Alberta based Wheat and Barley exchange, and they are the largest processor of bio fuels. They also have Brian Mulroney as a board member. This article is from the U.S. but note the conclusion

Ethanol's roots in ADM lobbying

Grist features the origins of U.S. government subsidies for ethanol fuels and their benefits to Acher Daniels Midland (ADM) and its former CEO Dwayne Andreas (the man who provided the $25,000 for the Watergate 'plumbers'). Includes links to the 1995 Cato Institute study of Carter administration support to ADM, as well as this year's study by the International Institute for Sustainable Development, Biofuels - At What Cost? (Oct. 25, 2006).

The latter estimates federal support for ethanol to total between $5.5 billion and $7.3 billion each year, and the benefits to ADM which (according to the article) contols about 1/3 of the ethanol market.

The article suggests that the federal government could do more to fight greenhouse gases (GHG) if it used the money to buy carbon offsets. Of course, that's not the administration's goal in supporting ADM and ethanol, is it?

How cash and corporate pressure pushed ethanol to the fore | By Tom Philpott | Grist | Main Dish | 06 Dec 2006

Also check out this World May Be Facing Highest Grain Prices in History

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WAR IS ECOCIDE

Ukrainian Air Force Strikes Russian Vessel on Dnipro Estuary

Debris falls back to earth after a Ukrainian strike on a vessel on the Crimean Peninsula (Ukrainian Air Force)

PUBLISHED MAR 11, 2024 5:09 PM BY THE MARITIME EXECUTIVE

 

On Monday, Ukraine's air force carried out a strike on a Russian-occupied merchant ship that has been grounded on the Dnipro Estuary for months. The Ukrainian military claims that the vessel has been in use as a listening post by Russian forces; Russia has not confirmed the attack. 

The force of the blast appeared to send a lifeboat soaring skyward, and it tumbled back into the water off the starboard side. 

The unnamed ship is located on a spit that extends from the north side of the Crimean Peninsula, an area held by Russia since 2014. Naval analyst H.I. Sutton dates the vessel's presence at the grounding site back to early June 2023. 

The strike is the latest in a long and growing list of Ukrainian attacks on Russian vessels, from corvettes to landing ships to the occasional submarine, cruiser or tanker. According to UK intelligence, Ukrainian maritime strike capability has pushed the Russian Navy out of the western half of the Black Sea, ensuring the security of merchant traffic to and from the port of Odesa. 

Over the weekend, Russian state media reported that the commander in chief of the Russian Navy has been removed and replaced with a new commander, Adm. Aleksandr Moiseev. At the regional level, the Black Sea Fleet has had three commanders in two years. 

The Russian Navy's Commander-in-Chief Has Been Removed and Replaced

Adm. Nikolai Evmenov (Mil.ru)

PUBLISHED MAR 10, 2024 6:07 PM BY THE MARITIME EXECUTIVE

Russian state media has confirmed the dismissal of the Russian Navy's top officer, Adm. Nikolai Evmenov. He has been removed and replaced by the commander of the Northern Fleet, Adm. Aleksandr Moiseev. 

Evmenov began his career in the Russian Navy's nuclear-submarine community, and he came up through the ranks in the Pacific Fleet's ballistic-missile submarine division. After a series of staff assignments, he took command of the Northern Fleet in 2016, and was appointed commander-in-chief of the Russian Navy in 2019. 

Evmenov kept his role through the first two years of the invasion of Ukraine, despite a string of damaging losses in the Black Sea. Ukraine's navy lacks a fleet, but it has destroyed or damaged more than a dozen Russian warships using only long-range missiles and suicide drones. The Black Sea Fleet has gone through two commanding officers in this time period, Adm. Igor Osipov (dismissed August 2022) and Adm. Viktor Sokolov (dismissed February 2024).

He will be replaced by Admiral Aleksandr Moiseev. Like Evmenov, Moiseev is a submariner by background and has a background in the Northern Fleet. He also spent a year commanding the Black Sea Fleet from 2018-19; during this period, Ukraine accused him of involvement in the Kerch Strait Incident, a maritime skirmish between the 2014 seizure of Crimea and the full-scale invasion of 2022.