Hurricane Ian puts pause on Florida midterm politics and DeSantis, Biden tension

With six weeks to go until Election Day and mail ballots already on their way to overseas voters, a major hurricane threatening vulnerable regions in the Gulf Coast of Florida has all but halted politics-as-usual in the state.

Hurricane Ian’s approach tamed weeks of political tensions between President Joe Biden and Gov. Ron DeSantis, caused campaigns to pull their commercials and derailed political events, including what would have been the president’s second visit to South Florida since his inauguration.

Where acrimony and finger-pointing once existed, the threat posed by Ian ushered in a forced detente.

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But Ian, which was projected to make landfall as a Category 4 hurricane, appeared to be enough of a threat to push aside political spats and campaign rhetoric. And by Monday, Jean-Pierre struck a different tone, saying that the president has an obligation to support any state — whether it be red or blue — facing extreme weather events and suggesting that criticism of the Florida governor was on pause.

Biden signed a disaster declaration for Florida, unlocking federal assistance for the state nearly five days before the storm was projected to make landfall. White House officials told Herald/McClatchy that Federal Emergency Management Agency leadership had been coordinating with DeSantis’ office since the order was signed.

“We appreciate it, we’re thankful,” DeSantis said on Sunday, offering rare kind words for the Biden administration after the president signed the disaster declaration for Florida. “They stand by ready to help so we appreciate that quick action.”

Twelve House lawmakers from Florida penned a letter to Reps. Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.) and Kay Granger (R-Texas), the chair and ranking member of the House Appropriations Committee, on Tuesday asking for their support in prioritizing an emergency supplemental package for the destruction caused by Hurricane Ian, which tore through the Sunshine State last week.

But in late September, the group of 12 voted against a stopgap that included millions of dollars in disaster relief.

Florida GOP Reps. Greg Steube, Carlos Gimenez, María Elvira Salazar, Bill Posey, Gus Bilirakis, Vern Buchanan, Kat Cammack, Brian Mast, Michael Waltz, Neal Dunn and Daniel Webster all signed the letter

About 1 million barrels of crude oil from the reserve are being made available each day for sale to the highest bidding company.
U.S. subsidiaries of foreign energy companies have long been eligible to place bids on SPR oil. Some of the companies have then chosen to export some of the oil to countries around the world, including China.

Since Congress lifted a nearly 40-year ban on most U.S. crude oil exports in 2015, the Department of Energy, which maintains the stockpile, cannot dictate whether companies can export oil purchased from the petroleum reserve - it is called free enterprise.

The U.S. already exports plenty of oil to other countries, including China, and has done so for years. Annual exports of crude oil have averaged around 3 million barrels per day since 2019.

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia—Days before a major oil-production cut by OPEC and its Russia-led allies, U.S. officials called their counterparts in Saudi Arabia and other big Gulf producers with an urgent appeal—delay the decision for another month, according to people familiar with the talks. The answer: a resounding no.

U.S. officials warned Saudi leaders that a cut would be viewed as a clear choice by Riyadh to side with Russia in the Ukraine war and that the move would weaken already-waning support in Washington for the kingdom, the people said.

The one-month delay requested by Washington would have meant a production cut made in the days before the election, too late to have much effect on consumers’ wallets ahead of the vote.

plain lies or unfunded (sic) rumours and facts