In South Bend, he challenged assumption that streets are for cars above all else – The Washington Post

Pete Buttigieg: In South Bend, he challenged assumption that streets are for cars above all else – The Washington Post

When Pete Buttigieg took office as mayor of the Indiana city in 2012, he changed that. He pitched a $25 million plan to convert downtown’s wide, one-way roads into two-way streets with bike lanes and sidewalks. He hoped making it safer to get out on foot would encourage more people to spend time and money in the area.

This Week in Petroleum

This Week in Petroleum

EIA forecasts that OPEC crude oil production will increase in 2021. The production forecast reflects OPEC’s announced increases to production targets and rising production in Libya. On January 5, 2021, OPEC announced that it will maintain the previously agreed to January 2021 production increase of 0.5 million b/d. The latest OPEC agreement also calls for production increases from Russia and Kazakhstan in ebruary and March (totaling 75,000 b/d per month). Saudi Arabia announced that it would voluntarily cut production by an additional 1.0 million b/d during ebruary and March, however, resulting in lower overall OPEC production in early 2021. EIA forecasts that OPEC crude oil production will average 27.2 million b/d in 2021 and 28.2 million b/d in 2022, up from an estimated 25.6 million b/d in 2020.

EIA expects crude oil production in the Lower 48 states, excluding the ederal Offshore Gulf of Mexico, (L48) will decline through ebruary 2021 because declining legacy well production is expected to offset production from new wells. or U.S. tight oil production, EIA analysis shows that changes in oil prices affect changes in crude oil production with about a six-month lag. EIA expects that recent increases in oil prices and active drilling rigs will contribute to L48 production beginning to grow in the second quarter of 2021. EIA expects L48 production will average 8.9 million b/d in 2021, 3% lower than 2020 production levels. As drilling activity increases during the forecast period, EIA expects L48 production will rise by 0.4 million b/d from 2021 and average 9.3 million b/d in 2022. Most of the L48 onshore growth is expected to occur in the Permian region.

Wastewater Treatment Plant Tour – “Flush To Finish”

A very interesting video on how wastewater is turned into clean water at a typical sewage treatment plant ...

Most sewage treatment is biological (natural bacteria) encouraged by heat and stirring up of the sewage. Then there is screening. Chemicals are used very sparingly in sewage treatment, due to the the risk of chlorine disinfection byproducts, which cause cancer.

NPR

CDC Director Robert Redfield Defends Pandemic Response : NPR

Redfield's departure on Wednesday, when President-elect Joe Biden will usher in a new administration, comes as a record surge in COVI-19 cases is sweeping across the country. The U.S. has far surpassed all other nations with more than 23 million virus-related cases and more than 391,000 deaths, according to Johns Hopkins University.

But, even as the pandemic enters its deadliest stage yet, Redfield told NPR on riday that the country is "about to be in the worst" months of the crisis.