Amazon, Google make dueling nuclear investments to power data centers with clean energy
Tech giants Amazon and Google are investing in the next generation of nuclear reactors. Both companies are seeking new sources of carbon-free electricity to meet increasing demand from data centers and artificial intelligence. Just last month, the owner of the shuttered Three Mile Island nuclear power plant said it plans to restart the reactor so tech giant Microsoft can buy the power to supply its data centers. All three companies have been investing in solar and wind. Now they say they need a broad range of technologies to meet their carbon-free goals. Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm said she's thrilled Amazon is the latest to "BYOP" or "bring your own power" to the buildout of data centers.
Supreme Court allows rule limiting pollution from coal-fired power plants to remain in effect
WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Supreme Court has allowed a Biden administration rule aimed at limiting planet-warming pollution from coal-fired power plants to remain in place as legal challenges play out. The court on Wednesday rejected a push from Republican-led states and industry groups to block the Environmental Protection Agency rule. One conservative justice publicly dissented and two others said they expected the challengers to win eventually but the rule doesn't need to be blocked now. The challengers argued the EPA overstepped and set unattainable standards. Environmental groups have said the standards are reasonable and within the agency's legal responsibility to control harmful pollution.
Helene and Milton are both likely to be $50 billion disasters, joining ranks of most costly storms
Monstrous hurricanes Helene and Milton caused so much complex havoc that damages are still being added up, but experts in economics, insurance and risk say they are likely to be in the pantheon of super-costly $50 billion disasters. That would put them in the company of storms like Katrina, Sandy and Harvey. Making those costs even more painful is that most of that damage, particularly in Helene's case, was not insured. Several experts say damages are skyrocketing because people are building in harm's way, reconstruction costs are soaring faster than inflation and human-caused climate change is making storms stronger and wetter.
What's behind the widening gender wage gap in the US?
NEW YORK (AP) -- The first widening of the gender wage in 20 years is the latest indication that many women have paid a price for leaving the workforce at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, either because they lost their jobs or because they quit because of caretaking responsibilities. But the finding in a recent Census Bureau report captures a complicated moment for women in the post-pandemic recovery, and not all the news is bad. Wages are growing for all workers, just much faster for men. And the widening of the wage gap is due in large part because of a surge in Latina women joining the full-time workforce.
Unions face a moment of truth in Michigan in this year's presidential race
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (AP) -- Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump are appealing to middle-class workers in very different ways. How their messages land could have a big impact in battleground states with strong union ties such as Michigan. Harris, the Democratic nominee, is relying on United Auto Workers President Shawn Fain to help spread her message, as her campaign worries about her support among working-class men. That issue worsened when two unions that backed Joe Biden in 2020 decided not to endorse either candidate this year. Trump, the Republican nominee, has jumped on these non-endorsements and claims they show that rank-and-file workers support his vision. He has criticized union leaders and urged workers to trust him over the unions.
The judge handling Boeing's plea deal asks Justice Department to explain its diversity policy
DALLAS (AP) -- The federal judge considering Boeing's plea deal with prosecutors wants to know how the Justice Department's diversity, equity and inclusion policies would affect the selection of an independent monitor to oversee the aerospace company. U.S. District Judge Reed O'Connor ordered the Justice Department to explain how it will pick the monitor and whether DEI considerations would -- or should -- influence the choice. The appointment is a key component of the deal in which Boeing agreed to plead guilty to a felony charge of conspiring to defraud the government. O'Connor is a conservative nominated to the federal bench in Fort Worth, Texas, by President George W. Bush in 2007.
CSX profit rose 8% in the third quarter but hurricane damage will impact current period
CSX delivered 3% more shipments in the third quarter to help drive its profit 8% higher. But only modest volume growth is expected in the rest of the year as the Southeast rebuilds after two major hurricanes. The railroad said it earned $894 million, or 46 cents per share. That's lower than the 48 cents forecast by analysts surveyed by FactSet Research. The Jacksonville, Florida-based railroad has been working to recover after Hurricanes Helene and Milton that battered its extensive network. CSX CEO Joe Hinrichs says the railroad has remained "flexible and resilient" despite all the storm damage.
Trump uses interview on economics to promote tariffs and riff on his favorite themes
CHICAGO (AP) -- Donald Trump has seized on an opening to sound his frequent argument that imposing huge tariffs on foreign goods would amount to an economic elixir -- one he claims would raise enormous sums for the government, protect U.S. firms from overseas competition and prod foreign companies to open factories in the United States. Appearing Tuesday before a friendly audience at the Economic Club of Chicago, Trump asserted that tariffs are misunderstood as an economic tool. "To me," Trump said, "the most beautiful word in the dictionary is tariff. It's my favorite word. It needs a public relations firm." If tariffs need an image makeover, it's probably because mainstream economists say they actually amount to a tax on American consumers.
Trump's economic plans would worsen inflation, experts say
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Donald Trump has vowed that if voters return him to the White House, "inflation will vanish completely." Yet most mainstream economists say Trump's policy proposals wouldn't vanquish inflation. They'd make it worse. They warn that his plans to impose huge tariffs on imports, deport millions of migrant workers and demand a voice in the Federal Reserve's interest rate policies would likely send prices surging. Sixteen Nobel Prize-winning economists signed a letter in June expressing fear that Trump's proposals would "reignite'' inflation, which has plummeted from 9.1% in 2022 and is nearly back to the Fed's 2% target. The Peterson Institute for International Economics has predicted that Trump's policies would drive consumer prices sharply higher two years into his second term.
Stock market today: Wall Street rises as tech stocks and oil prices steady themselves
NEW YORK (AP) -- U.S. stocks rose following better-than-expected profit reports from Morgan Stanley, United Airlines and other big companies. The S&P 500 climbed 0.5% Wednesday, a day after sliding from its all-time high because of tumbling energy and technology stocks. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 0.8% to set its own record, and the Nasdaq composite rose 0.3%. Exxon Mobil and other energy producers stabilized a day after tumbling with the price of crude oil. Stocks in the chip industry also held up better a day after a market-shaking warning from Dutch supplier ASML. Treasury yields eased in the bond market.