The lumber trade dispute between the United States and Canada intensified last week as Canadian Prime Minister Justing Trudeau said Canada might retaliate for U.S. tariffs on Canadian lumber by limiting Canadian imports of U.S. coal. Reuters had this report (see: “Canada hits back in lumber dispute, threatens action against U.S,” by David Ljunggren). “Trudeau said Ottawa would study whether to stop U.S. firms from shipping thermal coal via the Pacific province of British Columbia,” Reuters reported. “Provincial Premier Christy Clark asked for the ban in response to the U.S. tariffs. Canada is also considering duties on exports from Oregon such as wine, flooring and plywood, said a source close to the matter, citing Oregon Democratic Senator Ron Wyden’s prominent role in pressing for the lumber tariffs.”
“[Oregon’s] plywood, flooring, wood chips, packaging material and wine are among the potential targets as the Canadian government has launched a search for evidence of illegal subsidies to businesses in that state,” reported CTV News (see: “Canada weighing multiple trade actions against U.S. over softwood lumber,” by Alexander Panetta – The Canadian Press).
Read more: “Trudeau vows action against U.S. softwood lumber tariff,” by Brent Jang – The Globe and Mail
Even before Canada’s move, U.S. builder stock prices took a hit from the trade war after a strong first quarter. CNBC had this report (see: “Housing stocks take a hit from Trump’s lumber tariff,” by Fred Imbert). “The iShares U.S. Home Construction ETF (ITB) fell about 1 percent Tuesday,” CNBC reported. “PulteGroup’s stock closed down almost 4 percent, and Toll Brothers shares ended the day nearly 1 percent lower. PulteGroup also said its first-quarter results missed analyst estimates. Shares of D.R. Horton also pulled back, closing down over 1 percent.”
But the minor setback didn’t offset a generally good spring for homebuilder stocks: PulteGroup’s stock value was up 28 percent in the first quarter, DR Horton was up 22%, and Lennar was up 19%, CNBC reported at the end of March (see: “Homebuilder stocks track for best quarter in more than 2 years,” by Luqman Adeniyi).
Read more: “Trump’s Lumber War Vs. Canada Hammers U.S. Homebuilders,” by Ed Carson – Investor’s Business Daily.
Major flooding hammered much of North America this week as a spring weather pattern brought record rainfall to much of North America. Rivers burst their banks and overtopped levees from Arkansas to New York and north into Quebec.
In Arkansas, governor Asa Hutchinson responded with emergency measures, AccuWeather.com reported (see: “Gov. Asa Hutchinson deploys National Guard to combat Arkansas flooding following several levee breaches,” by Kevin Byrne). Thousands of acres flooded as water overtopped earthen levees. In Missouri, highways were swamped and bridges washed out, CNN reported (see: “Aerial images show devastating flooding in central US,” by Eric Levenson).
As the rains moved east, New York City felt the effects: on Friday, Manhattan roads were flooded and water was pouring into Penn Station, NBC New York reported (see: “Flooding Wreaks Havoc on Roads, Transit Across Tri-State”). The Canadian province of Quebec has also been hit hard, reported CBC (see: “More troops dispatched to Quebec as flooding leaves residents ‘heartbroken’,” by Laurène Jardin and Benjamin Shingler).
As the waters move downstream, flooding is likely to persist through May in the lower Mississippi, AccuWeather.com reported (see: “Slow-moving flooding disaster to expand along Mississippi River through mid-May,” by Alex Sosnowsky.
And in California, spring melt of last winter’s record-breaking Sierra snowpack threatens to bring flooding to river communities, The Los Angeles Times reported (see: “Central California towns in trouble if Sierra snowpack melts too fast,” by Joseph Serna). The condition of the state’s many aging reservoirs, dams, and levees is an ongoing concern, the paper reported: “Downstream, the rapid snowmelt is keeping public agencies juggling water levels across the state’s network of reservoirs. Water district managers conduct daily conference calls to coordinate how much water each expects to release into California’s labyrinth of rivers, creeks, bypasses and canals.”
Climate change may be a factor in this continent-wide flooding event: Scientists have warned for years that heavy rainfall will accompany rising temperatures as the earth’s atmosphere continues to warm. But experts are saying that this month’s extreme river flooding in the heartland is primarily the consequence of development in the Mississippi and Missouri river watersheds. The Weather Underground’s Bob Henson took up the issue in a “Category 6” blog post (see: “Billion-Dollar Cyclone: The Human Element in This Week’s U.S. Floods,” by Bob Henson). “Major reshaping of flood channels, to accommodate agriculture and development, has torqued the way in which small creeks and streams feed into the region’s great rivers, the Missouri and Mississippi,” observed Henson. “These rivers are now significantly narrower, so rainfall doesn’t have to be as widespread or intense as before in order to generate very high water levels.”
The St. Louis Post-Dispatch is also on that story (see: “River constriction and wetter climate leave area vulnerable to more frequent major floods,” by Bryce Gray). “Bob Criss, a professor at Washington University’s Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences who studies flooding, agrees that the cumulative impact of diverted water — and not rainfall — best explains the region’s recent major floods,” the paper reported. “The problem, he says, was especially apparent with last week’s crest of the Mississippi River. Such a big river, he says, should not normally be so sensitive to similar episodes of rain. But he says it’s increasingly behaving like a small basin ‘because it’s far too squeezed’ by levees that amplify flood severity.”
STATE BY STATE
New York: Officials in New York City are pushing to re-zone parts of Staten Island affected by Hurricane Sandy to discourage new construction or dense development, reported Curbed New York (see: “Staten Island neighborhoods damaged by Hurricane Sandy may be rezoned,” by Emily Nonko). The proposed “Special Coastal Risk District” would limit new construction to single-family detached homes. City Planning spokesman Joe Marvilli said the city’s aim is to “limit future residential density, while maintaining the ability of existing homeowners to invest in making their homes safe and resilient and aligning commercial zoning with existing uses and character.”
Indiana: Governor Eric Holcomb has signed a new law that sunsets the state’s incentives for rooftop solar power, U.S. News reported (see: “Indiana Governor Signs Bill Aimed at Dimming Solar Incentive,” by Brian Slodysko – Associated Press). The bill phases out the state’s “net metering” rule, which presently compensates solar panel owners at the retail electric rate for power they feed back to the grid from their panels. Existing solar panel owners will be grandfathered in to their present net metering agreement for thirty years, however. Read more: “Holcomb signs solar energy bill,” by Niki Kelly – The Journal Gazette.
