"Wiped Off Map": Hawaii Wildfires Level Entire Town, Claiming 36 Lives

 Fueled by strong winds from Hurricane Dora, wildfires left widespread damage across the Hawaiian island of Maui. Local authorities report at least 36 people have died, and hundreds of buildings have been destroyed. 

"As the firefighting efforts continue, 36 total fatalities have been discovered today amid the active Lahaina fire," a Maui county statement read. 

Three wildfires started earlier this week and rapidly spread on Wednesday. Preliminary estimates show nearly 300 structures have been damaged or destroyed, and more than 1,000 acres of Maui's Upcountry have been charred. Power is out for thousands across the west of Maui. 

On Wednesday night, thousands of people lined Maui's Kahului Airport, trying to escape the inferno. Mass evacuations were conducted in the resort town of Lahaina earlier in the day. 

Maxar Technologies released before and after satellite imagery of Lahaina that reveals the fire leveled the town. 

Footage posted on "X," formerly known as Twitter, also shows the devastation. 

WSJ provided a fire map of Maui. 

Hawaii's Lieutenant Governor Sylvia Luke described the fire as "unprecedented." Here are the most recent updates on the blaze (list courtesy of CNN):

• Thirty-six killed: "As the firefighting efforts continue, 36 total fatalities have been discovered today amid the active Lahaina fire. No other details are available at this time," Maui County officials said in their news release.

• Several unaccounted for: Three helicopters from the US Coast Guard and US Navy were used in search and rescue efforts along the west Maui coastline, and a federal team arrived Wednesday to help search efforts in the Lahaina area, officials said.

• Power outages: More than 11,000 customers on Maui were without power as of 11 p.m. Wednesday local time (5 a.m. ET Thursday), according to PowerOutage.us, accounting for about 15% of the island's customers. Power crews are working to repair downed lines and additional crews are being deployed from Oahu, Hawaiian Electric said in a news release.

• Cell service out for thousands in Maui: It could take days or even weeks to fix networks. Officials have been using satellite phones to communicate with providers on the west side of Maui to restore power to the area, Luke said.

• Among the most devastated areas: Much of the western Maui community of Lahaina, where about 12,000 people live, is destroyed and hundreds of families there have been displaced, Hawaii Gov. Josh Green said. More than 270 structures have been impacted in Lahaina, county officials said.

• Many in shelters: More than 2,100 people were in four emergency shelters in Maui on Tuesday night, the mayor's office said. While there's enough shelter for an emergency response for a few days, "there's not enough shelter for long term living," the governor told CNN.

https://www.zerohedge.com/weather/wiped-map-hawaii-wildfires-level-entire-town-claiming-36-lives

Confidence Crisis As EPA Pushes "Unproven Tech" To Decarbonize Grid, Power Sector Warns

 The top lobbying group for US power plants penned a lengthy letter to President Biden's Environmental Protection Agency, arguing that the administration's aggressive plan to curb greenhouse gas emissions from natural gas-fired plants is "unworkable" because it relies on "unproven technologies."

Edison Electric Institute (EEI), whose members include Consolidated Edison Inc., Dominion Energy Inc., FirstEnergy Corp., and Southern Company, said the EPA's "rulemaking record simultaneously downplays the various infrastructure challenges to deploying" carbon-capture systems (CCS) and hydrogen, "while overplaying the current state of deployment and demonstration of each technology." 

EEI continued, "Given these realities, neither CCS nor hydrogen blending are adequately demonstrated today as they are not deployable, available, or affordable across the entirety of the industry, and the attendant supporting infrastructure will take more time than EPA predicts to deploy. This assessment factors in the timelines that EPA proposes for standards that may not be applicable until several years in the future. Accordingly, unit owners and operators have significant concerns about the achievability of the proposed standards." 

EEI's members power the homes of nearly 250 million Americans and operate in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. The power industry supports seven million jobs nationwide, and EEI's members invest $140 billion annually into improving the grid. 

"As we outline in these comments, electric companies are not confident that the new technologies EPA has designated to serve as the basis for proposed standards for new and existing fossil-based generation will satisfy performance and cost requirements on the timelines that EPA projects," the letter pointed out. 

The lobbying group warned: "This will impact electric companies' efforts to deliver affordable and reliable electricity to customers."

EEI's warning comes as the Biden administration wants to achieve a net-zero emissions power grid by 2035. Climate alarmists in the White House allege decarbonization efforts will combat global climate change. 

The race to decarbonize the power sector has already left the nation's largest grid, PJM Interconnection, with increasing reliability risks. 

Meanwhile, the EPA's new vehicle emissions standards under the Clean Air Act have also come into question: 

"You just don't even know if it's gonna save carbon emissions, which is the point of the whole exercise," said Rupert Darwall, Senior Fellow at the RealClear Foundation.

Why would Biden's EPA introduce power sector requirements that EEI labels as "unproven technologies"? It raises genuine concerns about the Biden administration's intentions regarding the stability of the power grid. But don't worry because if you dare question this, you are labeled a 'climate denier.' 

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Here's EEI's letter in full:

https://www.zerohedge.com/political/confidence-crisis-emerges-bidens-epa-pushes-unproven-technologies-decarbonize-grid-power

Summit Therapeutics Q2 Update

 Promising Updated Phase II Data Presented at ASCO 2023 for Ivonescimab

First US Patient Treated in Ivonescimab Phase III Clinical Trial with the First Patient in Ivonescimab's Second Phase III Clinical Trial Planned for the Second Half of 2023

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/summit-therapeutics-reports-financial-results-110000590.html

Orthofix beats The Street in Q2, upping full-year guidance

 Orthofix Medical (NASDAQ:OFIX)

 posted second-quarter results this evening that beat the consensus forecast on Wall Street.

It also raised its revenue and adjusted EBITDA guidance for the rest of the year, reflecting positive developments in Bone Growth Therapies and other sectors. It’s been more than eight months since Orthofix’s merger with SeaSpine.

The Lewisville, Texas–based orthopedic device manufacturer reported a net loss of $39.4 million, or $1.07 per share, on sales of $187.0 million for the three months ended June 30, 2023. Sales were up 58% on a reported basis and 7% on a pro forma constant currency basis over the prior year.

Adjusted to exclude one-time items, earnings per share were 2¢. The result was 49¢ ahead of The Street, where the consensus had Orthofix losing 47¢ per share on sales of $185.63 million.

“I am very pleased with Orthofix’s performance this quarter, delivering 7% year-over-year growth, on a proforma basis, and once again achieving double-digit growth in the Bone Growth Therapies franchise,” Orthofix CEO Keith Valentine said in a news release.

“We have been successful in managing revenue dis-synergy risks and capitalizing on operating expense synergy opportunities throughout the merger process and are encouraged to see continued market share taking in the U.S. spinal implants, biologics and enabling technologies franchises by leveraging our complementary product portfolios.”

Orthofix said it expects full-year net sales of $752 to $758 million and full-year adjusted EBITDA of $42 to $46 million for 2023, up from the previous outlook of $750 to $756 million in sales and $40 to $45 million in adjusted EBITDA.

https://www.massdevice.com/orthofix-beats-the-street-in-q2-upping-full-year-guidance/

SVB Securities Initiates IDEAYA Biosciences With Outperform

 Target $33

https://www.marketscreener.com/quote/stock/IDEAYA-BIOSCIENCES-INC-58457878/news/SVB-Securities-Initiates-IDEAYA-Biosciences-With-Outperform-Rating-33-Price-Target-44550200/

UBS Adjusts Qiagen Price Target to $48 From $50

 Maintains Neutral Rating

https://www.marketscreener.com/quote/stock/QIAGEN-N-V-40135659/news/UBS-Adjusts-Qiagen-Price-Target-to-48-From-50-Maintains-Neutral-Rating-44565982/

Resistance to green policies around Europe

 Europe faces growing pushback against policies to address climate change and protect the environment, causing its green agenda to start to fray as severe heatwaves and wildfires rage.

Here are some countries where the "greenlash" is greatest:

ITALY

Italy's right-wing government, which took office late last year, is pushing back on an array of European Union initiatives aimed at greening the economy, arguing that local business can ill-afford previously agreed transition goals.

Since then, Italy has demanded that the EU water down a directive aimed at improving the energy efficiency of buildings, re-write plans to phase out combustion engine cars and questioned a drive to slash industrial emissions.

Under current policies Italy is behind schedule in hitting the decarbonisation goals for 2030 set by the EU, an energy ministry document said last month.

At the same time, the government continues with other aspects of the green agenda. Earlier this month, for example, it said it wanted to use EU money for an investment programme worth around 19 billion euros to strengthen power and gas grids and make its economy greener, as part of its efforts to revamp plans to spend EU post-COVID funds.

BRITAIN

Britain has lost its position as a global leader on climate action and is not doing enough to meet its mid-century net-zero target, the country's climate advisers said in June.

Last year's announcements on new fossil fuel projects have also tarnished Britain's reputation, an annual progress report by the Climate Change Committee (CCC) said.

A separate government-commissioned review also found businesses complained of weaknesses in Britain's investment environment, including inconsistent policy commitment.

Progress in onshore and offshore wind has been hampered by rule changes, prompting some developers to warn they will struggle to invest in Britain without better incentives.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak last month warned of climate policies that "unnecessarily give people more hassle and more costs", days after his ailing Conservatives unexpectedly clinched a local election after opposing charges for the most polluting vehicles.

Responding to criticism of his government's environmental stance, Sunak has said Britain's record on cutting carbon emissions is better than other major countries.

NETHERLANDS

The BBB or BoerBurgerBeweging (Farmer-Citizen Movement) party, founded in 2019 in opposition to the government's plans to drastically cut nitrogen pollution on farms, has experienced a meteoric rise to second place in polls.

Riding a wave of protests against the government's environmental policies, it unexpectedly beat the conservative VVD party in regional elections in March.

The latest weekly poll by market researcher Ipsos ahead of a November parliamentary election put the BBB in second place at nearly 15% of the vote, just 3 percentage points behind the VVD, which will contest the vote without Prime Minister Mark Rutte for the first time in more than a decade.

The BBB's rise was a major blow to the latest coalition government, which collapsed in July.

If the BBB makes significant gains in national elections, it could set Dutch policy on nitrogen curbs on a collision course with the EU, which has supported action.

POLAND

Poland's government, long conservative on environmental policies at home and facing elections in October, has gone a step further by suing Brussels.

So far it says it has filed complaints with the Court of Justice on the EU's 2035 ban on combustion vehicles, the increase in the bloc's emissions reductions target, the reduction of free Co2 permits, and what it called interference in national forest management.

Facing pressure from mining unions, Poland has also deferred a plan to cut its reliance on coal by downgrading the status of its upcoming energy policy update to simply a "consultation".

GERMANY

Angst over a law to phase out oil and gas heating brought Germany's ruling coalition close to breaking point this spring. After weeks of wrangling, it agreed to changes which watered down the original bill.

The row has helped propel the far-right Alternative for Germany to second place in the polls. The party disputes that human activity is a cause of climate change.

Anger at initiatives to reduce the number of cars on the roads in the city-states of Berlin and Bremen also hit support for the Greens in state elections this year, say pollsters.

https://www.marketscreener.com/news/latest/Resistance-to-green-policies-around-Europe--44572160/