* * * * * * MONDAY, MAY 17, 2021 ~ VOL. CCLXXVII NO. 114 WSJ.com HHHH $4 .00

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BUSINESS & FINANCENew guidelines

prompt companies tolook at speeding upreturn to the office. B1

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Palestinians say funeral prayers for the victim of an Israeli airstrike in Gaza City, and a carsmolders after a Hamas rocket landed in Ashkelon, Israel, on Sunday, as violence escalated.

Vistra Corp. owns 36 natural-gas powerplants, one of America’s largest fleets. Itdoesn’t plan to buy or build any more.

Instead, Vistra intends to invest morethan $1 billion in solar farms and batterystorage units in Texas and California as ittries to transform its business to survive inan electricity industry being reshaped bynew technology.

“I’m hellbent on not becoming the next

Blockbuster Video,” said Vistra Chief Execu-tive Curt Morgan. “I’m not going to sit backand watch this legacy business dwindle andnot participate.”

A decade ago, natural gas displaced coalas America’s top electric-power source, asfracking unlocked cheap quantities of thefuel. Now, in quick succession, natural gasfinds itself threatened with the same kindof disruption, only this time from cost-ef-fective batteries charged with wind and so-

PleaseturntopageA12

BY KATHERINE BLUNT

AT&T Inc. is in advancedtalks to combine its sprawlingWarnerMedia division with Dis-covery Inc., according to people

familiar with the matter, in adeal that would unwind thetelecom giant’s signature beton media as pressure on thetraditional entertainment busi-ness mounts.

The talks, which likely valuethe AT&T business at well over$50 billion with debt, couldlead to an agreement by Mon-

By Cara Lombardo,Dana Cimilluca

and Drew FitzGerald

day, the people said. They cau-tioned that the talks could stillfall apart.

A deal between WarnerMe-dia, which owns cable channelssuch as HBO, CNN, TNT andTBS as well as the Warner Bros.television and film studio, andDiscovery, which has a portfoliothat includes its namesake net-work and HGTV, would furtherconsolidate a media businessbuffeted by cord-cutting andcompetition from streamingvideo.

Discovery Chief Executive Da-vid Zaslav is expected to headthe new company, people famil-iar with the matter said.

It is uncertain whether JasonKilar, the current chief executiveof WarnerMedia, will stay on ina lesser role.

The potential tie-up wouldbe a surprising U-turn by AT&T,

PleaseturntopageA4

AT&T SeeksTie-Up forMedia AssetsDeal with Discoverywould consolidatea business buffetedby cord-cutting

After a year of hoardingcash, U.S. companies are readyto reward investors again.

Companies across industrieshave been buying back stockand raising dividends at a briskpace this year. That is a sharpreversal from 2020, when theysuspended or cut such pro-grams, warning of the urgentneed to preserve liquidity in theearly stages of the Covid-19pandemic.

Already this year, U.S. com-

Israel’s Iron Dome withstandsbarrages........................................ A8

panies have authorized $504billion of share repurchases, ac-cording to Goldman SachsGroup data through May 7, themost during that period in atleast 22 years. The pace of an-nouncements trounces even the2018 bonanza that followed thesweeping tax overhaul of late2017.

U.S. companies also rampedup dividend spending in thefirst quarter, data from S&PDow Jones Indices show, in-creasing their payments by anaggregate $20.3 billion on an

annualized basis. That marksthe largest quarterly increasesince 2012.

“The Covid clouds are clear-ing, and optimism is starting tocome back in,” said Lori Calva-sina, head of U.S. equity strat-egy at RBC Capital Markets.“It’s a natural time for compa-nies to be thinking about using[those strategies] again.”

The increased desire amongcompanies to spend comes asthe U.S. economy is edging to-ward normalcy, and as execu-

PleaseturntopageA6

BY CAITLIN MCCABE

Share Buybacks, Dividends on RiseINSIDE

Gates Left BoardMid-InvestigationMicrosoft directors in2019 began probe intoemployee’s allegationof a sexual relationship

tasked with the matter hired alaw firm to conduct an investi-gation in late 2019 after a Mi-crosoft engineer alleged in aletter that she had had a sexualrelationship over years withMr. Gates, the people said.

During the probe, someboard members decided it wasno longer suitable for Mr. Gatesto sit as a director at the soft-ware company he started andled for decades, the peoplesaid. Mr. Gates resigned beforethe board’s investigation wascompleted and before the fullboard could make a formal de-cision on the matter, anotherperson familiar with the mattersaid.

“Microsoft received a con-cern in the latter half of 2019

PleaseturntopageA2

Microsoft Corp. board mem-bers decided that Bill Gatesneeded to step down from itsboard in 2020 as they pursuedan investigation into the bil-

lionaire’s prior romantic rela-tionship with a female Micro-soft employee that was deemedinappropriate, people familiarwith the matter said.

Members of the board

By Emily Glazer, JustinBaer, Khadeeja Safdar

and Aaron Tilley

TEL AVIV—Prime MinisterBenjamin Netanyahu of Israelruled out the prospect of animmediate cease-fire in thedeadly flare-up of MiddleEastern violence on Sunday,defying growing internationaldemands for de-escalation andconcerted mediation efforts byregional and world powers.

Civilian casualties mounted

a week after fighting intensi-fied, with at least 42 peoplekilled in an attack on an apart-ment complex, Palestinian of-ficials said, the deadliest ac-tion in seven days of an Israelimilitary operation. First re-sponders in central Gaza Citycould be seen pulling bodiesfrom the rubble as theysearched for survivors andscreams emanated from be-neath the wreckage.

In Gaza, 192 people, includ-

ing 58 children and 34 women,have been killed since Monday,according to the Palestinianhealth ministry. In Israel, 10people, including one child,have been killed, according toIsrael’s emergency responseservice. Israel said it has killedat least 75 Hamas militants.Hamas has fired 2,800 rockets

PleaseturntopageA8

BY FELICIA SCHWARTZAND JARED MALSIN

Israel Says Strikes to Go OnAs Gaza Death Toll Mounts

Batteries Challenge Natural GasAs America’s No. 1 Power SourceThe dominant fuel faces disruption a decade after displacing coal

Toward the end of promnight at a community eventhall in Grand Prairie, Texas,students started doing some-thing forbidden. They starteddancing.

The prom queen and kinghad just been crowned. Thesenior song, Post Malone’s“Congratulations,” was play-

ing, and excitement in theroom was high. Some attend-ees jumped up from theirchairs to take part in thebanned activity, much to thedismay of the chaperones andthe DJ, who urged everyone tosit down.

After proms across thecountry were canceled lastyear, they’re back on at manyschools this spring, with some

PleaseturntopageA12

BY TE-PING CHENAND VALERIE BAUERLEIN

Stop That Dancing—‘Footloose’Comes to the Pandemic-Era Prom

i i i

Schools offer alternate activities, unusuallocations; eating pretzels at the mall

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Israel’s prime ministerruled out the prospect of animmediate cease-fire in thedeadly flare-up of MiddleEastern violence, defyinggrowing international de-mands for de-escalation andconcertedmediation efforts byregional andworld powers.A1U.S. health officials reiter-ated that vaccinated individ-uals are at low risk of catch-ing or spreading Covid-19 butleft the future of mask man-dates up to local jurisdic-tions and businesses. A6Biden’s plan to offer Amer-icans the chance to attendcommunity college for freefaces skepticism aboutwhether it would broaden ac-cess to higher education. A3 The president’s tax-en-forcement plan leaves opencrucial questions over howmuch money it will gener-ate and how well the IRSwill implement it. A4 Police departments inlarge metro areas are bulk-ing up patrols and imple-menting new tactics to pre-pare for what they say couldbe a violent summer. A3Maduro’s authoritariangovernment seized theheadquarters of one of Ven-ezuela’s last remaining in-dependent newspapers. A11

AT&T is in advanced talksto combine its Warner-

Media divisionwithDiscovery,in a deal that would unwindthe telecom giant’s signaturebet on media as pressure onthe traditional entertain-ment business mounts. A1Microsoft directors de-cided Bill Gates needed toleave the company’s boardin 2020 as they probed hisprior romantic relationshipwith a female staffer. A1U.S. companies across in-dustrieshavebeenbuyingbackstock and raising dividendsat a brisk pace this year, in asharp reversal from 2020. A1 The CDC’s updated pan-demicguidance is raisingques-tions among employers aboutwhether to speed up em-ployees’ return to theoffice.B1 At Home’s largest share-holder plans to oppose adeal to take the retailerprivate because it says thesale price is too low. B2 Bright Machines is near-ing a merger with a SPACto go public in a deal thatwould value the companyat about $1.6 billion. B5 JD.com’s logistics armis looking to raise as muchas $3.4 billion through aninitial public offering in aHong Kong listing. B5

Business&Finance

World-Wide

JOURNAL REPORTClimate Technology: TheElectrification of (Almost)

Everything. R1-8

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A2 | Monday, May 17, 2021 * * * * * * THEWALL STREET JOURNAL.

U.S. NEWS

make comparisons to Aprilfrom a year ago, as do otherfactors. Global chip short-ages have caused bottlenecksin new car production andpushed households to buyused cars, driving theirprices higher. Prices for oil,gasoline and crops are alsomarching up.

On a month-to-month ba-sis, real wages have fallen inthree of the past fourmonths, though they are upfrom two years ago.

However measured, therecent drop in real wagespoints to a risk should thesetrends be sustained. Govern-ment efforts to boost eco-nomic activity and hiring—through low interest ratesand trillions of dollars innew federal spending—couldwiden inequality if they leadto continued outsize in-creases in the cost of living.

Mary Daly, president ofthe Federal Reserve Bank of

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THE OUTLOOK | By Jon Hilsenrath

More Inflation CanWorsen InequalityFederal Re-

serve and Bi-den adminis-trationofficials sayeconomic in-

equality is bad and they aimtheir policies in part at help-ing to reduce it. In the shortrun, at least, those policiesmight be widening inequal-ity, not shrinking it.

In recent months, infla-tionary pressures havecaused the cost of living torise faster than paychecks,meaning a paycheck hasn’tbeen going as far as it didbefore. Consumer price infla-tion in April rose 4.2% froma year earlier, while hourlypay for production workersrose 1.2%, the Labor Depart-ment reported last week.

The department also saidthat, after adjusting for in-flation, wages of productionworkers and nonmanagersfell 3.3% in April from a yearearlier, the largest such de-cline since an inflation shockand recession in 1980.

E conomists, policy mak-ers and many in thevoting public have dif-

fering views about incomeinequality, and the increas-ing concentration of wealthin the top 1%. Some see in-equality as a sign of an un-fair economic system thatthe government should ad-dress; others say a healthycapitalist economy rewardsits most productive citizens.

A fall in inflation-adjustedwages hits low- and moder-ate-income households espe-cially hard, because theydedicate a larger share oftheir paychecks to coveringdaily living costs. The num-

bers might be temporarilyskewed, but if inflation per-sists and is fueled by the Fedor the Biden administration’spolicies, it could raise ques-tions about the costs andbenefits of those policies forworking Americans.

Economists describe infla-tion as a regressive tax—meaning it hits low-incomeworkers hardest. “I don’t seeanything good happeningfrom an economic inequalityperspective,” said Karen Pe-trou, a financial analyst andauthor of “Engine of Inequal-ity,” a critique of Fed policy.“Most American householdsare living hand to mouth.”

Ms. Petrou said a decadeof the Fed’s low-interest-ratepolicies have mostly helpedthe wealthy by pushingstocks higher. That effect hasaccelerated recently. Whileinflation-adjusted wages fellin April from a year earlier,the Dow Jones Industrial Av-erage was up more than 40%over the same period. Thewealthiest 10% of U.S. house-holds own 88.5% of stocks,according to Fed data.

There are several reasonswhy April’s unusual tilt inwages might be an anomaly.Due to Covid-19, the econ-omy in April 2020 was like apatient in shock on an emer-gency-room table, with vitalsigns moving wildly in dif-ferent directions. The crisisdrove down prices of restau-rant meals, hotel stays andairline tickets amid nation-wide business shutdowns,while broad measures ofwages oddly went up be-cause low-wage restaurantand hotel workers were side-lined.

That makes it difficult to

San Francisco, said she iscomfortable with the centralbank’s approach. She seesconsumer price increases astemporary, driven in part bythe weird “base effect” com-parisons to last year and bytemporary supply bottle-necks that will be resolvedover time. In the Bay Area,she notes, lettuce has beenin short supply at restau-rants, which were lockeddown for months. She sayseventually the lettuce willstart showing back up at res-taurant kitchens and restau-rant salad prices will moder-ate.

“Demand is coming backwith a bang and supplycomes back with a lag,” shesaid. “These are transitoryfluctuations.”

Inflation will only becomea sustained problem if sup-pliers and workers embedprice increases in longer-runcontracts because they seecost upticks as permanent,she said. So far, she doesn’tsee that happening, a viewshe said markets affirm. Inthe Treasury bond marketfor inflation-protected secu-rities, called TIPS, investorssee inflation of 2.3% fiveyears from now. That is onlyslightly above the Fed’s 2%goal and less than expectedinflation at other recenttimes, such as in 2011 and2012.

Forty or 50 years ago,wages tended to go up auto-matically because of cost-of-living adjustments in unionand other labor contracts,Ms. Daly noted. Such adjust-ments don’t happen as oftennow. There is a trade-off.The benefit of that is that in-flation tends not to go in up-

ward spirals as it did in the1970s; the bad news is work-ers can take a temporary hitat times like now.

I n the mind of many Fedpolicy makers, inflationhas been too low for too

long—undershooting its 2%goal. Most Fed officials seelow interest rates as a pathto stronger wage growth: Byhelping to boost demand andpush the unemployment ratedown, they argue, they aregiving workers bargainingpower with employers to de-mand sustainable pay in-creases that outstrip infla-tion. That is what washappening in 2018 and 2019,before the Covid-19 crisis.

Money pouring into theeconomy isn’t just comingfrom the Fed. A $1.9 trillioncoronavirus-aid bill wassigned by President Biden inMarch that sent $1,400checks to households, ex-tended jobless benefits andexpanded child tax credits.

Jared Bernstein, a mem-ber of Mr. Biden’s Council ofEconomic Advisers, said theadministration’s policies alsoare creating opportunitiesfor low-wage workers byboosting demand. “We arecreating job and earningsopportunities for workerswho have been left behind,”he said.

“It’s important to separatetransitory issues from thebigger picture here, which isan economy back on themove,” he said. Inflation, headded, should be a temporaryproblem, while the joblessrate is coming down fast.

Inflation-adjusted averagehourly pay of productionworkers and nonmanagers

Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics

Note: Indexed for the value of a dollar in1982-84

$10.20

9.00

9.20

9.40

9.60

9.80

10.00

’19 ’20 ’212018

ECONOMICCALENDAR

Monday: In April, China in-vestment, industrial output andretail sales are expected tohave advanced at a slower pacethan March—partly because ofthe comparison to figures froma year earlier. Retail sales areexpected to have risen 24.9%from a year earlier in April, ac-cording to a forecast of econo-mists. Fixed-asset investmentlikely rose 19.2% in the first fourmonths, and industrial produc-tion is estimated to havejumped 9.1%.

Tuesday: In the first quarter,Japan’s economy likely con-tracted 1.2% from the previousquarter, according to economistssurveyed by data provider Quick.

U.S. housing starts rose to anearly 15-year high in March.Builders, however, have com-plained of rising lumber costsand labor-supply constraints, andeconomists are estimating asmall step back in April con-struction numbers.

Thursday: U.S. jobless claimsfell to a fresh pandemic low dur-ing the first full week of May.Another step down during theweek ended May 15 would be asign businesses are hiring newworkers and holding on to theones they have as the labormarket steadily improves.

Friday: Surveys of purchas-ing managers are expected torecord an acceleration in euro-zone activity for May. However,similar surveys for the U.S. areexpected to record a strongerexpansion, with the growthgap widest for the servicessector.

The median U.S. existing-home sales price in March roseto a record high, taking somesteam out of the market at thestart of the peak spring sellingseason. For April, economistssay rising prices and limited in-ventories could again tampdown sales.

James Mackintosh: Short-terminflation would test Fed......... B1

U.S.WATCH

ended amicably.” She said his“decision to transition off theboard was in no way related tothis matter. In fact, he had ex-pressed an interest in spendingmore time on his philanthropystarting several years earlier.”

Mr. Gates resigned from theMicrosoft board on March 13,2020, three months after hehad been re-elected to his seat.In a press release filed withregulators and a post onLinkedIn, the billionaire saidthen he wanted to focus on hisphilanthropy and would con-tinue to serve as a technical ad-viser to Chief Executive SatyaNadella. That same day, he alsovacated his board seat at Berk-shire Hathaway Inc., the con-glomerate run by Mr. Gates’sfriend Warren Buffett.

Mr. Gates, 65 years old, andhis wife, Melinda French Gates,56, announced earlier this

len and built it into one of theworld’s biggest companies,making the pair two of theplanet’s richest people. Mr.Gates married Melinda French,then a Microsoft employee, inJanuary 1994.

Mr. Gates and his rival SteveJobs, who died in 2011, becamethe faces most closely associ-ated with the rise of personalcomputers. Microsoft and Ap-ple Inc. now rank as two of thelargest public companies, witha market value of more than$1.8 trillion and $2.1 trillion, re-spectively.

“Microsoft will always be animportant part of my life’swork and I will continue to beengaged with Satya and thetechnical leadership to helpshape the vision and achievethe company’s ambitiousgoals,” Mr. Gates wrote in theMarch 2020 LinkedIn post an-nouncing his departure fromthe board.

By 2020, the Gateses werealready in discussions to dividetheir vast wealth, and legalteams from both sides wereprivately in discussions with amediator to work out a separa-tion, the Journal previously re-ported.

The May 3 divorce filingsays the couple had agreed to aseparation contract to dividetheir assets—a fortune esti-mated at $130 billion byForbes. The Gateses have saidthey would give away most oftheir wealth and have donatedmore than $36 billion to theGates Foundation over theyears. The couple said theyplanned to remain co-chairs atthe foundation and jointly leadit after their divorce.

that Bill Gates sought to initiatean intimate relationship with acompany employee in the year2000,” a Microsoft spokesmansaid. “A committee of the Boardreviewed the concern, aided byan outside law firm to conducta thorough investigation.Throughout the investigation,Microsoft provided extensivesupport to the employee whoraised the concern.”

A spokeswoman for Mr.Gates said, “There was an affairalmost 20 years ago which

ContinuedfromPageOne

Gates LeftBoard AfterAllegations

Bill Gates at a panel discussionin 2015 in Washington, D.C.

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month that they were endingtheir marriage after 27 years.In a joint statement on Twitter,the couple said, “We no longerbelieve we can grow togetheras a couple in this next phaseof our lives.” In a divorce peti-tion, Ms. French Gates saidtheir marriage was “irretriev-ably broken.”

Ms. French Gates had beenworking with lawyers at severalfirms since at least 2019 to un-wind the marriage, The WallStreet Journal reported lastweek. The couple hasn’t saidwhat prompted the split. Onesource of concern forMs. French Gates was her hus-band’s dealings with convictedsex offender Jeffrey Epstein,the Journal reported. A spokes-woman for Mr. Gates said in2019 that he met with Mr. Ep-stein for philanthropic reasonsand regretted doing so.

Mr. Gates was Microsoft’schief executive until 2000, chiefsoftware architect until 2006and chairman until 2014. In re-cent years, Mr. Gates continuedto serve on the board and as atechnical adviser to Mr. Nadellaeven as he shifted his focus tohis philanthropy, the Bill & Me-linda Gates Foundation. He con-tinues to serve as a technicaladviser to Mr. Nadella.

In April 2019, Microsoft saidit would change its process forhandling employee complaintsof harassment and discrimina-tion. The company also said atthe time it would add addi-tional training and boost thenumber of human resourcesstaff who address complaints,among other changes.

Mr. Nadella announced thechanges after women at Micro-soft shared stories of sexual ha-rassment and discrimination inan email chain within the com-pany, the Microsoft spokesmanconfirmed. Quartz originally re-ported the email chain in 2019.

Members of the Microsoftboard became aware in late2019 of the letter from the fe-male engineer, who demanded

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changes to her Microsoft joband also shared details of herrelationship with Mr. Gates, thepeople familiar with the mattersaid. Mr. Nadella and other se-nior executives were aware ofthe woman’s allegations, someof the people said.

Some board members askedabout Mr. Gates’s dealings withMr. Epstein, one of the peoplesaid. Board members were toldthe relationship was focused onphilanthropy and nothing more,this person said.

In December 2019—prior tothe end of the probe—Mr. Gateswas re-elected to Microsoft’sboard at the company’s annualshareholder meeting. As morebecame clear about the matter,board members were con-cerned Mr. Gates’s relationshipwith the woman had been inap-propriate, and they didn’t wanta director associated with thissituation in the wake of the#MeToo movement, the peoplesaid.

As part of her discussionswith Microsoft, the employeeasked that Ms. French Gatesread her letter, people familiarwith the matter said. It couldn’tbe learned whether Ms. FrenchGates read the letter.

A Harvard dropout, Mr.Gates started Microsoft in 1975with childhood friend Paul Al-

Microsoft directorsbecame aware in late2019 of the femaleengineer’s letter.

CHICAGO

Two Police OfficersAre Shot, Wounded

Two Chicago police officerswere shot and wounded Sundayafter they responded to reportsof gunfire and someone immedi-ately fired at them, authoritiessaid. Both officers were releasedfrom the hospital late Sundaymorning. The suspect also wasshot in the leg and taken to ahospital, police said. His injuriesweren’t life-threatening.

The officers were in uniformand identifiable as police, MayorLori Lightfoot said at a newsconference with Police Superin-tendent David Brown. “This of-fender had no regard for theirposition as police officers. No re-gard. And began trying to killthem,” Mr. Brown said.

—Associated Press

MINNESOTA

City Moves to AlterLaw Enforcement

Elected officials in a Minneap-olis suburb where a police offi-cer fatally shot Daunte Wrightduring a traffic stop in April ap-proved a resolution that putsthe city on track to majorchanges to its policing practices.

The Brooklyn Center CityCouncil voted 4-1 Saturday in fa-vor of a resolution to create newdivisions of unarmed civilian em-ployees to handle non-movingtraffic violations and respond tomental-health crises. It limits sit-uations in which officers canmake arrests and requires morede-escalation efforts by police.

The city attorney and MayorMike Elliott have said adoptingthe resolution commits the cityto change, though it isn’t a final

action. Mr. Elliott introduced theresolution last week, less than amonth after then-Brooklyn Cen-ter Officer Kim Potter, who iswhite, fatally shot Mr. Wright, a20-year-old Black motorist.

—Associated Press

MASSACHUSETTS

Cousins Who Couldn’tSwim Drown in Lake

Two boys who drowned at aBrockton park were cousins whodidn’t know how to swim, au-thorities said Sunday.

Rafael Andrade, 13, and TiagoDepina, 12, of Brockton, diedSaturday night in Waldo Lake inD.W. Field Park. An 11-year-oldboy who was rescued earlier inthe evening was hospitalized, ac-cording to Plymouth County Dis-trict Attorney Timothy Cruz.

—Associated Press IN CUSTODY: Migrants head to a bus after being detained near the border in Del Rio, Texas, on Sunday.

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A smoky wildfire churningthrough a Los Angeles canyoncommunity gained strength Sun-day as about 1,000 residents re-mained under evacuation orderswhile others were warned theyshould get ready to leave, au-thorities said.

Cool, moist weather early inthe day gave firefighters abreak, but by afternoon flames

starting moving again in steepterrain where tinder-dry vegeta-tion hasn’t burned in a half-cen-tury, the Los Angeles Fire De-partment said. “We’re definitelyseeing increased fire activity,”said department spokeswomanMargaret Stewart.

No structures were damagedand no injuries were reported inthe wildfire that broke out late

Friday in the Santa MonicaMountains.

A thousand or so residents ofthe Topanga Canyon area, about20 miles west of downtown LosAngeles, were ordered to evacu-ate their homes as flames racedalong ridges, sending a hugeplume of smoke and raining ashacross surrounding neighbor-hoods and the U.S. 101 freeway

The cost of attendingtwo-year public schools hasrisen steadily in recent years.

Source: Education Department

Note: Dollars are adjusted for inflation. Tuitionreflects published prices, which exclude grantsand scholarships. Date reflects the yearstudents end school.

$12,500

0

2,500

5,000

7,500

10,000

20001990 ’10 ’20

Tuition

Tuition, roomand board

year. Chicago police have re-corded 195 homicides, up from160 in the year-ago period.

“We’re coming out of thepandemic, life is starting againand more people are going tobe out on the street,” said theJersey City, N.J., director ofpublic safety, James Shea.

The Jersey City Police De-partment is increasing the de-

ployment of officers to footposts in high-crime areas, ex-panding the department’sclosed-circuit video systemand holding public meetings toimprove relations with thecommunity, he said.

In Dallas, the city’s ViolentCrime Reduction Plan includesprovisions for the deploymentof officers this summer to thecity’s hot spots, where muchof the violent crime is com-mitted, Police Chief Eddie Gar-cia said.

The pandemic interferedwith efforts by the police in

Washington, D.C., to visit com-munities in person last yearand spend time with residentsface-to-face, said Robert Con-tee, chief of the city’s Metro-politan Police Department. Thisyear, he said he believes moreofficers will be out in commu-nities, building relationships.

“You wouldn’t see a lot ofthat last year, and we certainlywant to do more of that be-cause I think that that’s howyou get to safer communities,by engaging community mem-bers of where they are,” ChiefContee said.

The MPD has recorded 69homicides this year, up from 52during the same period lastyear. Last year, the city had 198homicides, up from 166 in 2019,according to police.

New York Police Depart-ment officials are dispatching200 officers and adding pa-trols to 100 blocks in the citywith the highest levels of gunviolence. The city saw one ofits most violent summers in2020, recording the mostshootings since 1996.

“The warmer months al-ways usually give us moreproblems when it comes to vi-olence,” said NYPD Chief ofDepartment Rodney Harrison.

Chief Harrison said gangactivity accounted for about

that reopened earlier and easedCovid-19 restrictions morequickly, the Inrix data show.The biggest trip count-jumpshave been mostly in the South-east, with seven of the top 10in Florida, including Fort Myersand Sarasota. The bottom isdominated by metros such asSan Francisco, New York andDetroit, where afternoon week-day trips are still below 80% ofpre-pandemic levels.

Jeff Gabriel, 39, vice presi-dent of strategy at 23 Restau-rant Services, said he is sur-prised by the gridlock in hisApollo Beach neighborhoodsouth of Tampa on the days heworks from home or is drivingaround for his job.

“I have been stuck in trafficwithin two or three miles ofmy house,” he said. On theother hand, highways remainless congested than before thepandemic. He says his com-mute to and from his down-town Tampa office usuallytakes 30 to 40 minutes,whereas an hour used to becommon. In the morning, hereliably snags a first-level spotin the garage near his office.

Vehicle trips in the heart ofdowntown Tampa are three-quarters of their pre-pandemiclevel, according to Inrix. Abouta third of the 60,000 workersare back in city center offices,said Lynda Remund, presidentand chief executive of the ad-vocacy group Tampa Down-town Partnership.

The Tampa region’s sharpesttrip-count increases have comein beach communities such asClearwater Beach, where theyhave more than doubled. Out-of-staters and Floridians alikehave descended on beaches,some working remotely frombeach-front rentals, accordingto transportation planners andchamber of commerce officials.The influx is pushing up hotelrates, filling restaurants—andclogging roads.

For locals, there is onesurefire way to beat the con-gestion. “We have a boat,” saidAmanda Payne, president andCEO of Amplify Clearwater, achamber of commerce. “Ifyou’re on the water, trust me,the traffic is not that bad.”

colleges. Nearly six million stu-dents attend public two-yearcolleges, and spending per stu-dent is slightly more than athird of that at public four-yearcolleges, Education Departmentdata show.

The Biden plan aims toboost community-college fund-ing while reducing costs forstudents and their families tomake attendance more afford-able. The plan’s spending isspread over 10 years. Under it,$62 billion would go to com-munity colleges to improve ser-vices such as tutoring andcounseling. Another $85 billionwould cover cash grants tolow- and middle-income stu-dents for living expenses.

The largest portion, an esti-

mated $109 billion, would go tostates that waive community-college tuition.

A White House said thatraising incomes and remainingglobally competitive requirethat “we provide every studentthe opportunity to obtain apostsecondary degree or certif-icate.”

Forty-seven percent ofAmericans between the ages of25 and 64 have an associate de-gree or higher, according to theOrganization for Economic Co-operation and Development.

Tuition for most students atpublic community colleges isalready essentially free, orclose to it. Grants and scholar-ships are typically big enoughto cover average annual tuition

of $3,770, according to the Col-lege Board. But those funds of-ten don’t cover rent, gas andother living costs. When thoseexpenses are included, studentspay on average $14,560 a yearto attend public communitycollege, according to the Col-lege Board.

Mr. Biden’s plan would effec-tively free up grant and schol-arship money for students’ liv-ing expenses.

“It’s difficult for those of uswho have resources to under-stand why $1,200 or $1,500would be a barrier, but for afamily that is living paycheckto paycheck that’s a significantamount of money,” said EloyOrtiz Oakley, chancellor of Cali-fornia Community Colleges.

U.S. NEWS

say chronically underperforms.The White House says

spending more on communitycollege would lead to moreAmericans enrolling, gainingskills and landing well-payingjobs—in turn boosting incomesand the U.S.’s economic com-petitiveness. By shifting educa-tion costs to taxpayers, sup-porters say, the plan wouldease reliance on student debt,which has soared.

Republicans and some aca-demics on both the left andright say that community col-lege is already inexpensive andmaking it free wouldn’t suffi-ciently address deep-seatedproblems with the system: highdropout rates and entering stu-dents being unprepared for col-lege-level work.

“If you just give people cashand have that take the place ofdebt, I think that papers overthe problem,” said PrestonCooper, a research fellow at theFoundation for Research onEqual Opportunity, a nonprofitthat advocates free-marketideas.

The Biden plan as intro-duced also relies on states con-tributing funds—about $1 forevery $3 from the federal gov-

ernment—raising the questionof whether states would goalong.

In New Hampshire, commu-nity-college tuition costs on av-erage $7,100 a year, accordingto the College Board, a non-profit that represents collegesand universities. Gov. Chris Su-nunu, a Republican, said hedoesn’t believe college shouldbe free and is opposed to de-voting state funds to Mr. Bi-den’s plan.

“If you go down a pathwhere the federal governmentis paying the bulk of the costs,you’re really telling the federalgovernment that they now con-trol the system,” Mr. Sununusaid.

Taking all sources into ac-count, the U.S. spends morethan any other developed coun-try on its colleges and universi-ties—$632 billion in 2018-2019,according to the Education De-partment—and more per stu-dent, too.

Advocates of communitycolleges say the sector is un-derfunded and underappreci-ated. The schools take in manystudents who lack the high testscores and grades needed toget into middle- and upper-tier

President Biden’s plan to of-fer Americans the opportunityto attend community collegefor free is running up againstpolitical obstacles over whoshould pay for it and skepti-cism on whether it wouldbroaden access to higher edu-cation.

His proposal—unveiled inApril as part of his $1.8 trillionAmerican Families Plan—wouldwaive tuition for two years ofpublic community college. Itwould also provide many stu-dents more cash to cover livingexpenses.

The $256 billion community-college proposal represents agamble on big social spending.It could reduce inequality andboost wages of lower-incomehouseholds, as the White Houseenvisions, or it might shovelmore taxpayer money into asystem that some academicsacross the political spectrum

BY JOSH MITCHELL

Free-College PlanMeets ResistanceSome are skepticalthe Biden proposalwould broaden accessto higher education

Mr. Biden wants to waive tuition for public community college.

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When Marjorie Crosbiedrove to pick up her daughterfrom an after-school programon a recent afternoon, the 10-mile round trip from her homein a suburb of Tampa, Fla.,took 45 minutes—twice aslong as it used to.

Such slogs have become afamiliar headache at this stageof the pandemic, said Ms.Crosbie, a 50-year-old seniorfinance manager at PwC. Likemany of her neighbors inOdessa, she still works fromhome full time, making it easyto pop out for errands.

The Covid-19 pandemic con-tinues to scramble driving pat-terns throughout the U.S.Morning traffic is below pre-pandemic levels in most places,as many people continue towork from home. Afternoontraffic, however, has come roar-ing back—and now is heavier inmany places than it was beforeCovid-19, according to transpor-tation analytics company Inrix.

In more than 40 of the 100biggest U.S. metros, roads aremore congested on weekday af-ternoons than they were pre-pandemic, likely due to an up-tick in shopping and leisure-type trips, as well as deliveries.The company compared carcounts from the first half ofApril with those in January andFebruary 2020, and then ad-justed for seasonal variations.

In the Tampa region, after-noon vehicle trips are 105% ofpre-pandemic levels, the high-est rate increase among metroareas with at least three mil-lion residents, according to In-rix. Areas dense with officebuildings remain well belowthe pre-pandemic norm, whiletrip counts are higher in beachcommunities and across a sub-urban swath.

“People are working fromhome, so the suburbs have tre-mendous traffic,” said Tim Riv-ers, Florida market director forcommercial real-estate firmJLL. “They’re going out for amorning coffee at Starbucks totake their Teams or Zoom call,or going for a workout midday.”

Afternoon traffic hasbounced back faster in metros

BY SCOTT CALVERT

In the Suburbs,Afternoon TrafficBecomes a Slog

Heavy traffic on Interstate 275 in Tampa, Fla., last week.

Wildfire Raging in Los Angeles Canyon Lights Up the Sky

to the north.By midday Sunday, the fire

had charred about 2 squaremiles of brush and trees. Laterin the day, authorities warned afew dozen residents of a hillyneighborhood that they shouldprepare to evacuate if the firecontinued to grow. There was nocontainment.

—Associated Press

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half of the shootings in thecity. He said officers struggledto solve cases during the pan-demic in part because theNYPD’s relationship with resi-dents suffered in 2020, whenthousands attended demon-strations against police brutal-ity and racism.

The NYPD would work thissummer to rebuild the trust ofpotential witnesses to crimesby meeting with residents,community leaders and mem-bers of neighborhood groups,Chief Harrison said. The re-opening of bars and other es-tablishments may reduce vio-lence at illegal nightclubs,which flourished during thepandemic, he said.

Police have made more ar-rests for gun-related crimesthis year, but the effort so farhas failed to slow the pace ofshootings, NYPD officials say.

In New York City, the num-ber of shootings for the yearso far is 451, up 86% from 242in the same period in 2020.

Additional officers havealso been deployed in recentweeks to Manhattan businessdistricts, including TimesSquare, where a shooting oc-curred May 8. Three bystand-ers—a 4-year-old-girl and twowomen—were injured whenthey were hit by stray bullets.

Police departments in NewYork City and other largemetro areas across the U.S.are bulking up patrols and im-plementing new tactics to pre-pare for what they say couldbe a violent summer.

States lifting Covid-19 re-strictions and more people outin public spaces in warmerweather increase the likelihoodof more shootings, as well asless-serious crimes, officialssay. Many crimes, including vi-olent ones, normally rise insummer. Gun purchases alsorose during the pandemic andcities have seen an increase inguns being used in crimes.

Shootings and homicides inbig U.S. cities are up this yearagain after rising last year. Inthe last three months of 2020,homicides rose 32.2% in citieswith a population of at leastone million, according to theFederal Bureau of Investiga-tion’s Quarterly UniformCrime Report.

In New York City, the num-ber of homicides has reached146 for the year so far, an in-crease of 27% from 115 duringthe same period in 2020. InDallas, police have counted 75homicides this year, up from58 during the same period last

BY BEN CHAPMAN

Big Cities Steel for a Violent Summer

‘Life is startingagain andmorepeople are going tobe out on the street.’

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ney+.Discovery, which specializes

in nonfiction programming, hasits own streaming service calledDiscovery+.

WarnerMedia’s sprawlingoperations were a hard-wonprize for AT&T. The companyspent nearly two years battlinggovernment regulators and anantitrust challenge from theU.S. Department of Justice,which argued that combiningthe top U.S. pay-TV distributorwith one of the industry’s big-gest channel owners would hurtcompetition. AT&T rebuffed of-fers to divest parts of eitherbusiness and ultimately won infederal court.

AT&T has aggressively soldinvestors on its streaming-video strategy.

Mr. Stankey has cited HBOMax as the cornerstone of anentertainment business thatkeeps wireless and broadbandcustomers engaged while earn-ing a healthy profit. WarnerMe-dia boss Jason Kilar, who joinedthe company last year, shortlybefore HBO Max’s launch, saidin a recent interview that theon-demand entertainment ser-vice will be generating far morerevenue for its corporate parentthan executives expected if itmaintains its current pace.

The entire WarnerMedia di-vision generated about $8.5 bil-lion of revenue for AT&T in theMarch quarter. Total domesticHBO subscriptions rose toabout 44 million, up from 33million a year earlier.

The direct-to-consumer busi-ness growth, almost entirelyfrom HBO Max, still comes at asteep price to AT&T, which hascommitted billions of additional

dollars to expand the service’slibrary of movies and TV shows.The media business also com-petes for resources with AT&T’score wireless arm, the country’sthird-largest cellphone carrier.

Some investors have com-plained about AT&T’s steward-ship of its media assets and thedebt it amassed to close theTime Warner deal—and thetransaction under discussioncould help the company reduceits borrowings.

AT&T shares closed Friday at$32.24, down about 25% sincemid-2016, giving the company amarket value of about $230 bil-lion.

AT&T has had opportunitiesin recent years to divest CNN,which was regularly attacked byformer President DonaldTrump, but the telecom com-pany held on to it, viewing thenetwork as a valuable financialcontributor. CNN’s ratingsboomed during election season,thrusting it into the top spot intotal prime-time viewership,but the network has lostground amid a wider decline innews ratings. Fox News re-gained the No. 1 spot in thatcategory.

CNN President Jeff Zucker isexpected to leave the cablechannel when his contract ex-pires later this year. It is un-clear who would run the newsnetwork if a deal is completed.

AT&T still earns most of itsprofit from mobile-phone andbroadband service. Its reportednet debt surged to $169 billionat the end of March followingan expensive Federal Communi-cations Commission auction forwireless spectrum licenses. TheDallas company will need tospend billions of dollars overthe coming years to build andmaintain an ultrafast fifth-gen-eration wireless network thatcan keep up with those of rivalsT-Mobile US Inc. and VerizonCommunications Inc.

Discovery’s Mr. Zaslav isclose to Mr. Zucker. The twoworked together for years atNBC and remained goodfriends.

Mr. Zaslav also has Holly-wood ties. He is close to direc-tor Steven Spielberg and otherpowerful players in the enter-tainment business. He recentlybought the Beverly Hills homeof legendary movie executiveRobert Evans, who died in 2019,and is having it restored.

—Benjamin Mullincontributed to this article.

which placed a massive bet onmedia with its 2018 acquisitionof Time Warner Inc. for around$81 billion. That deal made itthe world’s most indebted non-financial company.

If the transaction moves for-ward, AT&T Chief ExecutiveJohn Stankey will have un-wound the two biggest dealsdone by his predecessor, Ran-dall Stephenson, in his 10months in charge. Earlier thisyear, the company reached adeal with private-equity firmTPG to shed a 30% stake in itsDirecTV business for $1.8 bil-lion. AT&T had acquired Di-recTV for $49 billion in 2015.

Mr. Stephenson retired asCEO last summer. Mr. Stankey,a telephone business veteran,was a key backer of the mega-mergers, and later led the inte-gration of both businesses.

Mr. Stankey has said hewould treat no asset as sacredand is willing to shed any busi-ness that doesn’t contribute toits parent’s overall value. Di-recTV has lost more than sevenmillion subscribers over thepast two years.

The transaction being dis-cussed would use a tax-efficientstructure and involve spinningWarnerMedia out of AT&T andcombining it with Discovery,the people said. AT&T share-holders would own a significantstake in the combined company,they said.

Bloomberg reported on thetalks on Sunday.

Both AT&T and Discoveryface daunting challenges in thetraditional TV business as moreconsumers go without cableand satellite-TV connections.Since 2010, about 35 millionhouseholds have dropped theirsubscription to a pay-TV chan-nel package or have skippedsigning up in the first place, ac-cording to market-research firmMoffettNathanson LLC.

AT&T has staked much of itsfuture in media on HBOMax, anexpanded online version of thepremium cable channel that isdesigned to compete with bigrivals like Netflix Inc. and Dis-

ContinuedfromPageOne

AT&T inTalks WithDiscovery

their lives we’re tasked withtrying to solve,” she said.

Mrs. Capito, a longtime be-hind-the-scenes legislator, isseen by her colleagues as well-positioned to kick-start prog-ress in the talks. She is close to

her state’s other senator, JoeManchin, a Democrat who hasindicated that he wants Repub-lican support for any infra-structure bill and has held upparty priorities in the past.

The two parties remain far

apart on what should be in-cluded in a package, as well ashow to pay for it. The WhiteHouse has said it is willing tomove forward with its ownplan if no bipartisan deal canbe reached, underscoring the

U.S. NEWS

long odds for a deal.Mr. Biden has proposed a

$2.3 trillion plan that also in-cludes funding for electric ve-hicles and medical care athome for seniors, paid for bytaxes on businesses. Mrs. Cap-ito and other Republicans wantto limit the package to more-traditional infrastructure, paidfor with unspecified user fees.Many Democrats said the GOPoffer falls far short of whatthey’d support.

“That’s nowhere near whatwe have to do,” Senate BudgetCommittee Chairman BernieSanders (I., Vt.), who caucuseswith the Democrats, said ofMrs. Capito’s initial offer.

Democrats pointed out thatthe GOP’s $568 billion proposalincludes an extension of cur-rent levels of spending in thehighway bill, while the Demo-cratic proposal doesn’t, mean-ing the two sides’ starting fig-ures are farther apart thanthey seem. “Do I think Republi-cans are there?” Mr. Sandersasked. “No, I do not.”

Mr. Biden has proposed pay-ing for infrastructure with anincrease in corporate taxes.Senate Minority Leader MitchMcConnell (R., Ky.) has said re-pealing the 2017 tax law is aline Republicans won’t cross.

Mrs. Capito said she agreedthat the 2017 tax cutsshouldn’t be repealed, addingthat Mr. McConnell isn’t dictat-ing her every move.

“He’s not riding herd on meor anybody else in the group todo something one way or an-

other,” she said.The White House has its

own red line, pledging no newtaxes or user fees, such asmiles-driven fees or gasolinetaxes, on anyone making lessthan $400,000 a year.

While Mrs. Capito has alargely conservative voting re-cord on Capitol Hill, she hasworked with members acrossthe aisle. Mrs. Capito, the topRepublican on the Senate’s En-vironment and Public WorksCommittee, and its chairman,Sen Tom Carper (D., Del.),crafted a water-infrastructurebill that overwhelminglypassed the Senate 89-2 in lateApril. The committee is work-ing on a reauthorization of thehighway bill that could poten-tially serve as a basis for alarger infrastructure bill if anagreement is reached.

Senators see her friendshipwith Mr. Manchin as a key ad-vantage. The two senators havedriven from Washington backto West Virginia together onoccasion. They toured the statewith country musician BradPaisley in 2016. When Mrs.Capito was first elected to theSenate in 2014, Mr. Manchinrefused to campaign againsther, according to a person fa-miliar with the matter.

“I applaud Sen. Capito’s ef-forts to reach a bipartisancompromise,” Mr. Manchinsaid in a statement Friday.“The bill she laid out is a goodstarting point.”

—Andrew Duehrencontributed to this article.

Republican Sen. ShelleyMoore Capito of West Virginiais embracing her role as a po-tential deal maker in talks withthe White House, leading aGOP effort to strike an agree-ment on improving the coun-try’s roads, bridges and broad-band internet.

Mrs. Capito, who met withPresident Biden and a smallgroup of Republican senatorsat the White House last Thurs-day, is now working on flesh-ing out details of her party’s$568 billion initial proposal, astep that could lead to more-substantive negotiations in theface of lawmaker skepticismthat a deal is possible.

“It feels like we’re moving,and we’re moving forward,”Mrs. Capito said in an inter-view after the White Housemeeting. Although she comesfrom a state where nearly 69%of voters supported PresidentTrump last November, Mrs.Capito said most of her con-stituents are encouraging herto cut a deal with Democratsthat could benefit the state’sdeteriorating bridges, ruralbroadband and other needs.

“They don’t want to see aslugfest every time they turnto something important in

BY KRISTINA PETERSON

GOP Senator Gets Focus in Biden TalksWest Virginia’s Capitocarries her party’smessage in meetingson infrastructure deal

Sen. Shelley Moore Capito is close to her state’s other senator, Democrat Joe Manchin.GABR

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The administration has saidits multipronged approach—costing $80 billion over a de-cade for enforcement staff,technology and information-gathering from Americans’bank accounts—could net $700billion.

The Biden administration’ssearch for a bipartisan deal tofinance about $4 trillion in in-frastructure spending, familybenefits and other priorities is

leading lawmakers to focus ontax enforcement.

The IRS, after years of flatbudgets, would face seriouschallenges hiring and trainingskilled workers and reversingdeclining audit rates. Once leg-islation is written, official con-gressional estimates could bemore conservative than admin-istration projections.

“There’s real money here,”said Rich Prisinzano, director of

policy analysis at the PennWharton Budget Model, a re-search group that estimates theadministration’s plan couldproduce $480 billion over a de-cade and $879 billion in thefive years after that.

The threshold question isthis: How much money isthere? How big is the tax gap,the difference between taxesowed and taxes collected?

That is notoriously difficult

to answer as researchers seekto measure what is often pur-posely hidden. Officially, theIRS projects the gap at$441 billion annually for the taxyears 2011 through 2013 and$381 billion after counting rev-enue from enforcement efforts.That represents an 84% volun-tary compliance rate and an86% rate after enforcement.

Given inflation, the tax gapis higher now, but there are no

official estimates.IRS Commissioner Charles

Rettig told Congress last monththat the gap could be nearing$1 trillion annually. He hascited increasing use of crypto-currency to hide income as wellas a paper from IRS and aca-demic authors saying the top1% of taxpayers hide more in-come offshore and throughcomplex partnership structuresthan previously thought.

Tougher tax enforcement isone of the least controversialpieces of President Biden’s eco-nomic agenda, a way to raiserevenue without raising taxes.As the Biden plan advances,there are crucial open ques-tions on how much money itwill generate and how well theInternal Revenue Service willimplement it.

BY RICHARD RUBIN

Key Tax-Enforcement Question: How Much Money Is There?

Market value, in billions

Source: FactSetNote: As of May 14, 2021

Disney

Comcast

AT&T

Netflix

ViacomCBS

Discovery

AMCNetworks

$315.3

269.6

230.2

218.8

25.4

16.6

2.1

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U.S. NEWS

agencies and with private con-tractors. The executive orderpushes for standard contrac-tual language in the hope ofunifying different agencies’ se-curity requirements.

Standardized contractscould help streamline commu-nication between software de-velopers and various agenciesafter an incident, said MorganReed, president of ACT | The

App Association, a trade groupfor developers.

“That helps remove confu-sion and helps the speed atwhich we can solve problemsand plug holes,” Mr. Reed said.

have fewer security staffers oroutsource the monitoring oftheir networks, said Scott Al-geier, executive director of theInformation Technology Infor-mation Sharing and AnalysisCenter.

Mr. Algeier, whose consor-tium shares data about cyberthreats among companies, saida required time frame for re-porting, reaching no morethan three days for incidentsthe executive order describesas “severe,” could be onerousfor cash-strapped firms.

“Do I devote my resourcesto getting the adversary out ofthe network, or do I devotemy resources to this three-dayreporting requirement?” Mr.Algeier said.

Aaron Cooper, vice presi-

dent for global policy at theBSA | The Software Alliance, atrade group, cautioned thatmandated reporting of an ar-ray of hacks could also delugeU.S. officials with useless data.

“There’s a burden on thegovernment side, if they arecollecting too much informa-tion about potential cyberse-curity incidents, that theywon’t be able to sift throughthe noise,” he said. Companiesflooded the Irish data regula-tor with such reports after theEuropean Union’s General DataProtection Regulation took ef-fect in 2018.

Analyzing data from ven-dors could be a significantway for U.S. officials to coor-dinate their response to cyber-attacks across government

President Biden’s executiveorder to shore up U.S. cyberse-curity will force many compa-nies selling software to thegovernment to report attackson their systems, sharing in-formation that officials andcyber experts say is increas-ingly important to U.S. secu-rity.

The obligations represent ashift for the private sector,which has resisted such re-quirements for fear of finan-cial and reputational damageresulting from the release ofsensitive information aboutbreaches.

The government still is de-termining which vendors thenew rules will cover, whichdata about threats they willrequire and how quickly com-panies will need to report.Regulators’ approach to spe-cific rules in the comingmonths will determine the or-der’s full impact on the privatesector, cybersecurity expertsand software industry lobby-ists say.

Despite the outstandingquestions, mandatory breachreporting will help better se-cure public and private com-puter networks, said AmitYoran, chief executive of cy-bersecurity firm Tenable Inc.

“One of the most founda-tional challenges in cybersecu-rity is the lack of transpar-ency,” said Mr. Yoran, whosecompany sells tools to the De-fense Department and otheragencies.

More businesses and law-makers now call for manda-tory breach reporting after thehack last year of U.S. agenciesand companies through a com-promised software updatefrom SolarWinds Corp.

The Biden administration’sannouncement last week cameas another major cyberattackyielded real-world conse-quences. Colonial Pipeline Co.was restoring service to theEast Coast’s main fuel conduitafter a ransomware attack ledto a five-day outage thatsnarled regional gas supplyand increased prices.

The executive order dialsup agencies’ cyber practiceswith requirements such asmultifactor authentication andimposes new standards forhow federal contractors buildand manage software. Regula-tors in the coming monthsplan to issue new guidelinesfor how contractors securetheir development environ-ments, encrypt data andtighten up access to their sys-tems.

A senior administration of-ficial said the governmenthopes its buying power willpush such safeguards to be-come the norm among soft-ware suppliers, aiding compa-nies such as Colonial Pipelinethat may use the same ven-dors.

U.S. agencies plan to recom-mend which cyber incidentsvendors must report to thegovernment and what infor-mation they have to shareabout their attempts to pre-vent, detect and respond tobreaches. Crucially, regulatorswill spell out what types ofcompanies must comply.

“You could apply this to anarrow category of contrac-tors that have very specificgovernment contracts,” saidAlex Iftimie, a partner special-izing in cybersecurity in theSan Francisco office of lawfirm Morrison Foerster LLP.“Or, theoretically, you couldapply this very broadly to ven-dors and service providersthat provide services muchmore broadly than to the fed-eral government.”

Federal information-tech-nology vendors range fromhuge companies such as Mi-crosoft Corp. that provideworkplace tools and cloudstorage to small software de-velopers that help sort docu-ments.

Smaller companies couldface more difficulty complyingwith the rules because many

BY DAVID UBERTIAND CATHERINE STUPP

Software Firms AwaitDetails on Hack Order

The government stillis determiningwhich vendors thenew rules will cover.

A recent cyberattack caused long lines at U.S. gas stations, including one in Washington, D.C.

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Some people wore masks covering their faces and some didn’t on a busy sidewalk in Bar Harbor, Maine, on Saturday.

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Parents across the U.S. arerushing to get their adolescentchildren vaccinated againstCovid-19 after regulators autho-rized the use of the Pfizer Inc.and BioNTech SE vaccine forchildren ages 12 to 15.

The Centers for Disease Con-trol and Prevention recom-mended last week the use ofthe vaccine in the younger agegroup. More than a dozenstates—including California,Washington, Maine, Illinois,Massachusetts, Arkansas andFlorida—followed the recom-mendation and made the 12-to-15 age group eligible, manyscheduling vaccination appoint-ments.

Public-health experts sayvaccinating children is crucialto protecting them from infec-tion and achieving community-wide immunity. Some parentsand school officials want chil-dren to be vaccinated ahead ofsummer camps and the start ofthe next school year. And manyteens are eager to resume so-cial activities.

Jen Ferris, who works incommunications for a nonprofitin Chapel Hill, N.C., has beentexting with other moms forweeks in anticipation of theFood and Drug Administration’sauthorization of the shot foradolescents.

“When the news came

through, my mom network justlit up—my phone wouldn’t stopbuzzing,” she said.

She scheduled her 13-year-old son for a vaccine appoint-ment at his pediatrician’s officefor Thursday and then sent thedoctor’s number to a half-dozenfriends.

Elliott Ferris, who likes vid-eogames and fishing, shouted,“That’s so dope!” upon hearingthe news, his mother said.

“I’ve had such a long yearand a half without friends,” El-liott said. “We’re just so boredand a little bit lonely.”

The FDA’s authorization of aCovid-19 vaccine for adoles-cents is expected to provide an

immediate boost in demand forvaccinations. There are 16.7 mil-lion children between the agesof 12 and 15, according to U.S.Census Bureau data analyzed bythe Annie E. Casey Foundation.With 45.1% of adults fully vacci-nated, demand for Covid-19 im-munizations seems to have pla-teaued, creating excess supplyof doses in some states.

“It’s harder to reach peoplenow,” said Ashish Jha, dean ofBrown University’s School ofPublic Health. “You can’t set upa mass vaccination site and giveshots to 5,000 people in a sin-gle day anymore.”

Dr. Jha said he expects aboutone-third of eligible children

KASUKABE, Japan—In theU.S., 12-year-olds are gettingvaccinated against Covid-19.In Japan, Yasuko Minagawa,83 years old, is too young tobe eligible.

“I don’t know when myturn will come. All I can do iswait,” Ms. Minagawa said.

Her home city of Kasukabe,an hour north of Tokyo, ini-tially limited vaccine appoint-ments to those 90 and olderand now has opened the doorto the 85-to-89 cohort. Ms.Minagawa was at a vaccina-tion center on Thursday be-cause her husband, Michio Mi-nagawa, 88, was getting hisfirst shot of the vaccine fromPfizer Inc. and BioNTech SE.

With Tokyo set to host theSummer Olympics in a littlemore than two months, thecountry is laboring through aslow rollout of vaccines. Japanoffers an example of the frus-trations in some countries inEast Asia and the Pacific thathave weathered the pandemicfar better than the U.S. andEurope, yet are stuck with re-strictions on daily life whilethe U.S. is rapidly reopening.

“I can’t go anywhere freely.I’d really like to go to a hotspring soon,” said 74-year-oldKatsuko Tamura while using

This week, investors will bewatching for updates on corpo-rate spending from companiesincluding Walmart Inc. and net-working company Cisco Sys-tems Inc. that are set to reportresults. They will also be pars-ing the minutes from the Fed’smost recent meeting for anyclues about officials’ thoughtson inflation and future changesin monetary policy—two topicsthat have kept traders increas-ingly on edge.

Those anxieties were evidentlast week, when investorsdumped shares of companiesacross sectors, sending the S&P500 down 4% through Wednes-day. That marked the bench-mark index’s worst three-dayperformance in nearly sevenmonths and offered a glimpseof the unease bubbling beneaththe surface of what has been ahot stock market. Stocks man-aged to claw back some of thedeclines by the end of the week,putting the S&P 500 withinstriking distance of yet anotherrecord. The index has set 26 all-time highs this year and hassurged 11%.

Still, many investors remainconcerned about recent datathat have shown prices forgoods ticking up, promptingconcern that inflation could cutinto profit margins or acceler-ate the Fed’s timeline for tight-ening monetary policy. Moneymanagers are also grapplingwith how to make sense ofsigns of euphoric sentiment.

History shows that buybacksoften help support the marketsby providing a key source of eq-uity demand—offering the pos-sibility that activity could help

ditures or other expenses in-stead. Investors tend to look fa-vorably on companies puttingcash toward items such asequipment and factories, bet-ting that such spending can re-turn more value to sharehold-ers in the long term.

Early signs from earningsseason, however, indicate thatcapital expenditures aren’t atthe top of executives’ minds atthe moment. According to anRBC Capital Markets’ analysisof first-quarter earnings tran-scripts for nearly 300 compa-nies, analysts found that buy-backs and dividends were eachemphasized about three timesmore than capital investments.

Corporate executives oftentout the importance of stockbuybacks and dividend in-creases as a way to return ex-cess cash to shareholders.

But buybacks in particularare often a two-way street forcompanies. By reducing thenumber of shares outstanding,companies can—even withoutprofit growth—boost their per-share earnings. That, in turn,can often drive their shareprice higher.

Even so, many said that buy-backs are a bullish sign. Compa-nies that have spent on share-holders have been largelyrewarded. The S&P 500 Buy-back Index is up 21% year todate, outpacing the S&P 500 byabout 10 percentage points.

“The fact that more compa-nies are starting to get back inthere is a vote of confidence—they are putting their feet backin the water,” said Howard Sil-verblatt, senior index analyst atS&P Dow Jones Indices.

tives are deciding how to de-ploy the cash hoard theyamassed last year.

Cash holdings among S&P500 companies topped $1.89trillion at the end of last year,according to S&P Dow Jones In-dices, an all-time high and anearly 25% increase from theend of 2019. Many issued re-cord-breaking amounts of debtto help bolster their balancesheets, too.

In recent weeks, executivesat companies ranging from Ap-ple Inc. to Advance Auto PartsInc. have unveiled plans forshare repurchases or divi-dends—with many citing excesscash on their balance sheets, aswell as confidence ahead. Applesaid in April it authorized a $90billion expansion of its buybackprogram, while Advance AutoParts made public a 300% in-crease in its dividend.

Several banks outlined simi-lar plans after the Federal Re-serve said it was lifting such re-strictions on the industry.

“We’re buying back stock be-cause our cup runneth over,”Jamie Dimon, JPMorgan Chase& Co.’s chief executive, said onan earnings call in April. Thebank unveiled late last year a$30 billion share-repurchaseplan.

ContinuedfromPageOne

CompaniesBuy BackShares

drive the market higher even asuncertainty rears its head.

Companies’ eagerness to buytheir own shares has been cred-ited with helping drive the 11-year bull market that ended lastyear. Between 2010 and the endof 2019, S&P 500 companiespoured nearly $5.3 trillion intothe stock market through sharerepurchases, S&P Dow Jones In-dices data show. Analysts saidthat helped support the marketeven as investors pulled moneyfrom U.S. stock-focused mutualand exchange-traded funds.

Whether that can happenagain remains up for debate onWall Street, especially in theshort term if the market entersa protracted downturn. Mean-while, some said a recent uptickin companies’ selling stockcould offset part of the buybackactivity.

Some analysts and investorssaid companies should redirecttheir spending to capital expen-

Repurchase authorizationsthroughMay 7 of each year

Source: Goldman Sachs

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data showing that the threevaccines in use in the U.S. areeffective against variants cir-culating in the country.

“We’re seeing that it is veryunlikely that a vaccinated per-son, even if there’s a break-through infection, would trans-mit it to someone else,” Dr.Anthony Fauci, President Bi-den’s chief medical adviser,said on CBS on Sunday.

U.S. public-health officialstried to address confusionabout new masking guidelinesreleased last week, reiteratingthat vaccinated individuals areat low risk of catching orspreading Covid-19 but leavingthe future of mask mandatesup to local jurisdictions andprivate businesses.

“This is not permission forwidespread removal of masks,”said Centers for Disease Con-trol and Prevention DirectorRochelle Walensky on Sundayon ABC. “We were going to getto the point in the pandemicwhere the vaccinated couldtake off their masks.”

Dr. Walensky said the CDC’supdated guidance would helpcommunities figure out how tobalance safety with reopening,while encouraging people toget vaccinated.

Those who aren’t vaccinatedshould continue to wear theirmasks and get vaccinated, she

The CDC said on Thursdaythat vaccinated individualsdon’t need to wear masks out-doors or indoors except in spe-cific circumstances, such aswhile riding public transporta-tion or visiting hospitals. Theguidance caught many busi-nesses and local governmentsoff-guard, and policy makersand companies trying to digestthe new guidance have so fartaken disparate approaches toapplying it.

Many states quickly adopted

the CDC’s guidance, but otherssaid they were still reviewingit. Public-health officials havebroadly advocated for the useof face masks during the pan-demic, saying that they were acritical and easily accessibletool to stop or slow the trans-mission of Covid-19.

The CDC recommendationssay that fully inoculated peo-ple should wear masks whenrequired by local jurisdictions,businesses and workplaces.

There also are some caveats

in the guidelines. On Saturday,the CDC clarified on its web-site that K-12 schools shouldcontinue with the current pre-vention strategies, includinguniversal masking, at least forthe rest of the school year.

Health officials said theywere emboldened by researchshowing that vaccinated peo-ple are extremely unlikely totransmit the virus to others,even if they have asymptom-atic or mild infections. Theyhave also been encouraged by

said. She urged businesses tomake it easy for their employ-ees to get vaccinated.

“Give them the time thatthey need so that they canmake those appointments andget themselves vaccinated sothose—people in those busi-nesses are safe,” Dr. Walenskysaid on NBC.

Her comments came afterthe CDC’s latest guidance trig-gered confusion and criticismamong some state health offi-cials, businesses and otherswho said they would be practi-cally difficult to implementand could weaken importantmeasures for managing thepandemic.

The unexpected revisionsalso followed criticism frompublic-health specialists whosaid the CDC had been late toacknowledge emerging scienceon the pandemic. Dr. Walenskysaid the CDC emphasized theagency was acting on thefreshest science when makingthe latest changes to its guide-lines.

BY GABRIEL T. RUBINAND BRIANNA ABBOTT

CDC Tries toClarify MaskGuidelines

ages 12 to 15 to be vaccinated incoming weeks. He said the paceof shots will probably slow overthe summer, as parents wait tosee whether or not summercamps and schools will requirevaccinations for attendance. Ifso, and if the virus continues tocirculate among unvaccinatedteenagers, those could be pow-erful motivators for parents tosign up their children, he said.

States appear to be takingdifferent approaches. In Califor-nia, hospitals are joining withcounty health departments andcommunity clinics to holdmass-vaccine events focused onchildren but are also offeringshots to caretakers. “There’s noone way that’s the best way” tovaccinate, said NicholasHolmes, chief operating officerof Rady Children’s Hospital-SanDiego.

In North Carolina, state offi-cials have signed up 400 pedia-tricians to do outreach to par-ents and administer vaccines attheir offices. Hospitals willbreak up Pfizer’s 1,200-dosepackets into smaller batches todistribute at pediatric practices,said Mandy Cohen, state healthsecretary.

In addition, dozens of publicschool districts in the statehave expressed interest in hold-ing on-site vaccination eventsor joining with local agencies totransport students to vaccina-tion sites.

BY ROBBIE WHELAN

Rush Is On to Vaccinate Children

Elliott Ferris, 13, got a Covid-19 vaccine Thursday in Chapel Hill, N.C.

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an abacus to keep the booksat the hardware store sheruns with her husband.

Government officials arecalling for patience, sayingthe rollout is about to speedup. They forecast that mostpeople over 65 will be able toget vaccinated by the end ofJuly.

“Unlike concert tickets,they aren’t going to sell out,”said Taro Kono, a governmentminister in charge of vaccines.“Everyone who wants to canreceive their shots.”

For now, though, only a lit-tle more than 1% of Japaneseare fully vaccinated comparedwith nearly half of adultAmericans.

Japan approved the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine in Februaryand has been inoculating doc-tors, nurses and other medicalworkers since then. Vaccina-tion of the elderly started lastmonth, and Moderna Inc.’svaccine is set to win approvalthis month.

Some 29% of the popula-tion of Japan—about 36 mil-lion people—is 65 or older,making it among the oldestnations in the world. That ledmany cities to set high ageminimums for the initial vac-cination batches and focus onthe 5% of the population thatis 85 or older.

BY MIHO INADA

In Japan, Some ElderlyStill Can’t Get the Shot

Firms ponder faster return tooffice after CDC advisory.... B1

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The meeting that could’ve been an email.

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CHANGE MINDS

USSEE

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The U.S. sought to workthrough diplomatic channels itopened in Cairo and Doha, Qa-tar, urging that intermediariescommunicate to Hamas, whichrules Gaza, that it should un-equivocally cease hostilities.

The U.S. doesn’t have directcontact with Hamas, which isdesignated by the U.S. as aterrorist organization. A smallgroup of senior Egyptian offi-cials are seen as the key topersuading Hamas to complyas part of a potential truce,

peacefully. “We must urge animmediate cease-fire. The kill-ing of Palestinians and Israelismust end,” Sen. Bernie Sanders(I., Vt.) wrote on Twitter.

U.S. officials continuedalong several diplomatictracks, with Deputy AssistantSecretary of State Hady Amrholding meetings in Israelwhile Secretary of State Ant-ony Blinken called counter-parts in Egypt, Pakistan, SaudiArabia, Qatar and elsewhereduring a trip to Denmark.

had not seen a “significantoverreaction” by the Israelis.

Linda Thomas-Greenfield,the U.S. ambassador to the U.N.,on Sunday left the question of acease-fire largely up to Israelisand Palestinians, saying the U.S.is “prepared to lend our sup-port and good offices shouldthe parties seek a cease-fire.”

The administration positiondrew criticism from someDemocrats who said it failed togive equal weight to right ofPalestinian civilians to live

WORLD NEWS

the Western official added.At a virtual celebration of

the Eid al-Fitr holiday hostedby the White House on Sun-day, Mr. Biden reiterated thatIsraelis and Palestinians“equally deserve to live insafety and security, and enjoyequal measure of freedom,prosperity and democracy.”

The destruction of the four-building apartment complex inGaza City wasn’t intentional, Is-rael’s military said. It said Is-raeli planes struck “under-ground military infrastructure,”which caused the homes aboveit to collapse, “leading to unin-tended casualties.”

Residents said the strikecame without warning, unlikeothers in recent days, when Is-raeli officials called residentsto warn them of an impendingattack. “We’re innocent peo-ple,” said Adly Kolak, a residentwho survived the bombing.“We have no connection withany party or organization.”

That incident and others,including a strike targetingthe building the AssociatedPress is housed in, havealarmed diplomats and rightsorganizations who have calledfor Israel to de-escalate.

The U.S., Europe and othershave also condemned Hamas.

—Anas Baba in Gaza City,Sabrina Siddiqui and Brett

Forrest in Washingtoncontributed to this article.

would make a cease-fire moredifficult both to achieve and tomaintain.

“This latest round of vio-lence only perpetuates the cy-cles of death, destruction anddespair, and pushes farther tothe horizon any hopes of coex-istence and peace,” U.N. Secre-tary-General António Guterressaid during the U.N. meeting.

Riyad al-Maliki, foreign min-ister of the Palestinian NationalAuthority, said Israel was com-mitting war crimes. “Israel isunapologetic and relentless inpursuing its colonial policies,”he told the Security Council.

Mr. Netanyahu has de-scribed Hamas’s decision tolaunch rockets toward Jerusa-lem as a red line and said Sun-day that while the campaignwould take time, President Bi-den was backing the effort.

“We are continuing to act atthis hour, for as long as it willtake, to restore quiet and secu-rity,” he said, speaking at Is-rael’s military’s headquarters.“They talk about internationalpressure—there is always pres-sure but all in all we are get-ting very serious support.”

The White House didn’t re-spond to a request for com-ment about Mr. Netanyahu’sassertion. Mr. Biden, a Demo-crat, has said he supports Is-rael’s right to defend itselfagainst Hamas missilelaunches. He said Thursday he

looked into buying the IronDome system, and the currentperformance is likely to makesuch sales more appealing,some analysts said. Saudi Ara-bia and, to a lesser extent, theU.A.E. and Bahrain, face a com-parable threat from rockets anddrones operated by Yemen’sHouthi movement that, likeHamas, is also backed by Iran.

“I suspect this will give Is-raeli missile-defense systems aboost on the internationalmarket because it is certainlyvisually spectacular,” said Jus-tin Bronk, research fellow forair power at the Royal UnitedServices Institute, a defensethink tank in London.

about 100 yards from his home.Iron Dome is managing to

destroy some 90% of the in-coming volleys, in line withexpected performance, accord-ing to the Israeli military.

“Everyone has been quietlyimpressed by the ability of IronDome to handle the sheer vol-ume,” said Michael Stephens, asenior fellow at the ForeignPolicy Research Institute inPhiladelphia. “It’s been a gooddemonstration of how the sys-tem has rapidly improved tobecome the best short-rangesystem on the planet.”

Several countries, includingthe United Arab Emirates, Indiaand other nations in Asia have

cluding 58 children and 34women, have been killed sinceMonday, the Palestinian healthministry said. The lopsided ca-sualty toll, however, isn’t due toa lack of Hamas trying. Its rock-ets have been aimed relentlesslyat Israeli population centers.

“If it wasn’t for the IronDome, all these rockets wouldhave been falling on our headsand we would be counting ourdead in the hundreds,” saidMoti Hetzroni, 77 years old, anAshkelon retiree, as he enjoyeda respite in the shelling tomeet a friend in an outdoorcafe. Days earlier, one of theHamas rockets that the IronDome didn’t intercept landed

ing to populated areas and ig-nore those likely to fall intoempty fields. While the systemhas been used in previous con-flicts with Hamas, the Pales-tinian group has never fired asmany rockets simultaneously.

“What Hamas is doing now istrying to challenge the system.They thought that Iron Domewould stop functioning, but thisdidn’t happen,” said Danny Ya-tom, a former head of Israel’sMossad intelligence service.

So far, Hamas and Palestin-ian Islamic Jihad fire from theGaza Strip has killed 10 Israelis,including one child, Israel’semergency-response servicesaid. In Gaza, 192 people, in-

will save us.”As he spoke, the Iron Dome’s

air-defense interceptor missilesstreaked into the sky, makingsix rockets fired at Ashkelon bythe Palestinian Islamist move-ment Hamas explode into far-away white puffs. As in the ma-jority of cases since Hamasstarted raining rockets on Is-rael on Monday—a total of2,800 by now—there were nocasualties or major damage.

Deployed since 2011 andbuilt and maintained with $1.6billion in U.S. funding, the IronDome system consists of anetwork of connected batter-ies and radars that fire atrockets that seem to be head-

ASHKELON, Israel—On Sun-day afternoon, as air-raid sirenssounded across this southernIsraeli city, people abandonedcars in the middle of the roadand ran to seek shelter. Hidingunder a tree, a man tried tocomfort his teenage daughter.

“Don’t worry,” he said, “itwill be fine, the Iron Dome

BY YAROSLAV TROFIMOVAND FELICIA SCHWARTZ

Israel’s Iron Dome Withstands BarragesMissile system shootsdown some 90% ofthe rockets fired byIslamists from Gaza

at Israel since Monday.New strikes were reported

early Monday in Gaza City.The Israeli military’s Twitteraccount said fighter jets tar-geted terrorist sites.

Mr. Netanyahu said Sundaythat operations wouldn’t becalled off until military goalshave been accomplished.“We’re trying to degradeHamas’s terrorist abilities andto degrade their will to do thisagain,” he said in a CBS inter-view. “So it’ll take some time.I hope it won’t take long, butit’s not immediate.”

Given Israel’s objective, in-ternational officials began onSunday to despair of finding away to quickly end the hostili-ties and reach a cease-fire.

“We cannot allow the situa-tion to slide further into chaos,”Tor Wennesland, U.N. specialcoordinator for the Middle Eastpeace process, said at an emer-gency meeting of the UnitedNations Security Council.

International officials alsosaid that a prolonged offensive

ContinuedfromPageOne

NetanyahuSays FightWill Go On

Palestinian rescue teams search for survivors in the rubble of an apartment building in Gaza City.

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THEWALL STREET JOURNAL. Monday, May 17, 2021 | A9

GLOBAL WARMINGIS A FACT.

AND IT IS ALSOA FACT THAT THE TIME

TO ACT IS NOW.JBS, ONE OF THE WORLD´S LEADING FOOD PRODUCERS, IS COMMITTED TO NET ZERO

EMISSIONS BY 2040. WE HAVE ALREADY STARTED OUR JOURNEY AND WE WILL INVEST

MORE THAN $1 BILLION IN ACTIONS TO FIGHT CLIMATE CHANGE.

JBS. Feeding the world with the best there is.

JBS launched a global program that includes a roadmap to reach net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by2040: JBS Net Zero 2040. Our commitment extends throughout the entire value chain — from farmers toconsumers. Our goal is to help our planet limit global warming to 1.5°C, and achieve a climate neutralworld for all.

By 2030, JBS will invest $1 billion in projects to reduce emissions in our facilities, and $100 million inresearch to support new solutions for regenerative farming practices. By 2040, we will use 100% cleanenergy, and achieve climate neutrality across our global family of companies.

Our Responsible Raw Material Procurement Policy is based on zero illegal deforestation, and we areextending our monitoring to the suppliers of our suppliers to help protect forests and preserve biodiversity.

Our 250,000 team members worldwide have embraced this commitment. Leadership compensationacross our global operations will be tied to goals for reducing our climate impacts.

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WORLD NEWS

WORLDWATCH

CHINA

Rover Lands on MarsOn First Attempt

China’s space program took agiant leap when it landed arover on Mars on its first at-tempt this weekend.

Early Saturday, the China Na-tional Space Administration saidthe lander containing its Zhu-rong rover touched down on thered planet’s Utopia Planitia, anachievement that establishesthe nation as a serious con-tender in the realm of space ex-ploration.

After the landing, state mediaran triumphant videos, with onestate agency piece lauding Presi-dent Xi Jinping for his longheld“space dream.”

The nine-minute automatedlanding on Mars came with con-siderable difficulties given theplanet’s thin atmosphere and theinability to communicate withEarth after the process is initi-ated. That China succeeded on itsfirst try—where other nationshave failed—establishes the nationas a serious contender in space.

—Natasha Khan

INDIA

Bodies Wash UpAlong Ganges

Police are reaching out to vil-lagers in northern India to inves-tigate the recovery of bodies

buried in shallow sand graves orwashed up on the Ganges Riverbanks, prompting speculation onsocial media that they are theremains of Covid-19 victims.

On Friday, rains exposed thecloth coverings of bodies buriedin shallow sand graves on awide, flat riverbank in Prayagraj,a city in Uttar Pradesh state.

Navneet Sehgal, a state gov-ernment spokesman, on Sundaydenied local media reports thatmore than 1,000 corpses ofCovid-19 victims had been recov-ered from rivers in the past twoweeks.

—Associated Press

AFGHANISTAN

Cease-Fire EndsAmid Calls for Talks

A three-day cease-firemarked by violent attacks—mostclaimed by Islamic State—endedin Afghanistan amid calls for re-newed peace talks between thegovernment and Taliban.

Taliban political spokesmanSuhail Shaheen said the negoti-ating teams of the governmentand the Islamic Emirate, as theTaliban refer to their ousted re-gime, met briefly on Saturday inQatar. They renewed their com-mitment to finding a peacefulend to the war and called for anearly start to talks that havebeen stalled, he said.

The U.S. has been pressingfor accelerated talks as it with-

draws the last of its 2,500 to3,500 soldiers and the North At-lantic Treaty Organization its re-maining 7,000 allied forces.

Even as the Taliban and thegovernment signed on to thecease-fire, which was declaredto mark the Islamic holiday ofEid-al-Fitr, violence continued un-abated in Afghanistan.

A bombing on Friday in amosque north of the capitalkilled 12 worshipers, includingthe prayer leader. On Sunday,the Islamic State affiliate tookresponsibility for the mosque at-tack.

—Associated Press

TURKEY

Interior MinistryLifts Full Lockdown

The interior ministry lifted afull lockdown that had orderedpeople to stay home to fightCovid-19 infections, shifting to aless-restrictive program that stillinvolved curfews on weeknightsand weekends.

The ministry called the stepsthat apply starting Monday andgoing until June 1 a gradual nor-malization.

Turks can return to theirworkplaces but will have to stayhome from 9 p.m. to 5 a.m. onweekdays and all day Saturdayand Sunday, with the exceptionof walking to a market to buyfood.

—Associated Press

A video screen at a Beijing shopping mall Saturday showed a broadcast about China’s successfullanding of a probe on Mars, establishing the nation as a serious contender in space exploration.

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Central banks, the mostpowerful financial institutionsin the world, want to becomethe guardians of the environ-ment as well.

The central banks say cli-mate change is a financial andeconomic risk. They believerising sea levels, more wild-fires and bigger storms couldcause shortages that spur in-flation, the regulators’ tradi-tional nemesis.

The banks that are deepestinto the issue are trying tolimit climate change by steer-ing their financial systemsaway from fossil fuels. Theirregulations could hit U.S. com-panies operating overseas. TheBank of England’s remit nowexplicitly includes environ-mental sustainability as wellas maintaining price stability.

The Federal Reserve is pro-ceeding cautiously, worriedabout financial risks but waryof expanding its mandate,which would put it in the mid-dle of the partisan debate overclimate change.

In December, the Fed joinedthe Central Banks and Supervi-sors Network for Greening theFinancial System. That group,which includes central banksand regulators of major Euro-pean countries as well as China,Russia and Japan, started witheight members in 2017.

Now, with 90 central banksand regulators as members,the group is planning to meetat a major conference in June.Some members are adjustingpolicy based on climate con-siderations, potentially includ-ing higher capital charges forlending to fossil-fuel compa-nies and bank stress tests thatfocus on the risk of rising tem-peratures to loan portfolios.

The group, which waslaunched in part as a responseto the U.S. announcing in 2017that it was pulling out of the

Paris climate accords, includesregulators of all the world’sglobally systemic banks. Thecentral banks’ rising interest inclimate dovetails with a floodof investor cash into productssuch as green bonds and intostocks of companies that makebatteries and produce alterna-tive energy. The U.S. has sincerejoined the Paris accords.

Potential risks posed to thefinancial system by climatechange include losses on loansor a decline in the value of as-sets, such as waterfront prop-erty and property repeatedlyexposed to wildfires. Commer-cial banks and investors lendbillions to companies that pro-duce significant amounts ofcarbon dioxide, such as opera-tors of coal power plants.

While climate change couldaffect macro economies, the ef-fort right now is largely focusedon regulating financial compa-nies. Still, it takes the centralbanks beyond their traditionalfocus of managing inflation.

In March, the group pro-posed options to adapt mone-

tary policy “to a hotter world”including central banks’ charg-ing higher interest rates tolenders that pledge carbon-in-tensive assets as collateral.

Some central banks are alsodebating whether to requirebanks to set aside more capitalfor loans to fossil-fuel compa-nies and less capital on loansto wind- or solar-power com-panies. Such a move wouldmean central banks would beinfluencing which parts of theeconomy get credit. Shifting inthat direction would goagainst the long-held belief bycentral banks that they shouldavoid influencing lending deci-sions and could embroil themin political disputes over theextent of climate change.

Some central banks aremoving more quickly than oth-ers, setting rules that U.S.companies will have to followin affected countries and cre-ating possible examples forthe Fed and others.

In the U.K., Treasury chiefRishi Sunak this year changedthe remit of the Bank of Eng-

land’s interest-rate-settingcommittee to include “strong,sustainable and balancedgrowth that is also environ-mentally sustainable” as wellas maintaining price stability.

The Bank of France hasstarted tallying the potentialcosts of climate change. A pi-lot climate stress test of banksand insurers found that thecost of insurance claims couldrise as much as six times inparts of France by 2050 be-cause of the increasing risk ofdroughts and flooding.

The European Central Bank,which oversees monetary pol-icy and bank regulation in theeurozone, says climate alreadyis covered by its mandate.

“Climate change can directlyaffect inflation. This may hap-pen when more frequent floodsor droughts destroy crops andraise food prices, for example,”wrote Frank Elderson, a mem-ber of the ECB’s executiveboard and the chairman of thecentral banks’ climate group.“These issues clearly lie at theheart of our mandate.”

BY SIMON CLARK

Central Banks Shift on ClimateMandates arebroadened to tacklefinancial risks ofenvironmental threats

More central banks are coming out in favor of green energy. Above, Redcar Wind Farm in England.

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whale is comparatively smallfor a gray—some researchersspeculated that it might havebeen born in the Atlantic,marking a return of the spe-cies to the ocean. But biolo-gists who managed to getcloser and examine aerial pic-tures of the whale concludedthat it was likely to have beenborn in the Pacific around Jan-uary 2020, and that stores offat had been badly depleted byits marathon journey.

“Underwater images con-firm that he is extremelythin,” said Maddalena Jahoda,from the Tethys Research In-stitute in Italy, which special-izes in the study of marinemammals. “This raises a lot ofconcern for his fate.”

Another researcher at Te-thys, Sabina Airoldi, saidWally urgently needed to stockup on food. “The hope is hewill still be able to feed him-self, even in our unfamiliarwaters,” she said.

Biologists suspect the

young whale might have beenconfused by the retreatingArctic ice cap, overshooting itsnormal feeding grounds andpassing up over the top ofnorthern Canada and downinto the unfamiliar waters ofthe Atlantic before enteringthe Mediterranean.

In the Mediterranean, con-cern is growing for Wally’swelfare. Experts say its bestchance for survival is to makeit to the Baltic, where the shal-low waters provide an accessi-ble supply of suitable food.

Worryingly, the gray whalehas most recently been seensticking close to the shoreline—a sign, Ms. Jahoda at Te-thys said, that it might be sickand coming ashore to die.

Somewhere in the Mediterra-nean, a 26-foot-long gray whaleis exploring harbors and inletsas it tries to find its way backout to the Atlantic after veeringthousands of miles off course.

Biologists, who have namedthe whale Wally, have beentracking its progress since itmade its way into the watersseparating southern Europefrom North Africa in April. Af-ter first being spotted off Mo-rocco, it passed Gibraltar andmade its way as far as Italy be-fore doubling back along theFrench and Spanish coasts to-ward the Atlantic, cut off fromits usual food sources andgrowing thinner with eachsighting. Researchers worrywhether the whale will survive.

Aerial photographs showedWally passing over reefs, al-most within touching distanceof people’s coastside gardensand resort beaches as itlooked for a way out. Oneshowed it near the sea wall ata popular beach in Barcelona.

The mystery, though, is howthe whale got to the Mediter-ranean in the first place.

Gray whales were thoughtto have been extinct in the At-lantic since the early 18th cen-tury because of overhunting;they were long prized for theirrich oil. Today, the only knownpopulation is in the Pacific,where they migrate 6,000miles between the waters offMexico, where they mate andreproduce, and the rich feed-ing grounds in the Bering andChukchi seas, where they diveto the ocean floor to fatten upon crustaceans and shrimp.

There have been only a cou-ple of other sightings of graywhales on the other side ofthe Americas in recent years.One was spotted in the Medi-terranean near Israel in 2010.Another made it as far southas Namibia, in the SouthernHemisphere, making it one ofthe farthest-traveling mam-mals ever recorded. Both dis-appeared.

Given Wally’s size—the

BY JAMES HOOKWAY

AWhale of a MysteryIn the Mediterranean

Some researchersspeculatedWallymight have beenborn in the Atlantic.

JOURNALISTS DON’T‘JUST WRITE STORIES.’

THEY RECORD HISTORY.

Learn more about the impact yourjournalism career can have on the world.Wall Street Journal reporter Erin Ailworthand others share career advice atdowjonesnewsfund.org/careers.

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THEWALL STREET JOURNAL. Monday, May 17, 2021 | A11

CARACAS, Venezuela—Pres-ident Nicolás Maduro’s author-itarian government seized theheadquarters of one of thecountry’s last remaining inde-pendent newspapers, in amove that could jeopardize theregime’s efforts to improve re-lations with Washington.

A judge accompanied byVenezuelan national guardsmenclad in bulletproof vests andmaroon berets raided the162,000-square-foot property ofEl Nacional late Friday in an in-dustrial part of eastern Caracas.They acted on a Supreme Courtorder to take the property aspart of a $13 million judgmentagainst the media outlet.

The headquarters was al-ready largely vacant as work-ers have been contributingfrom home amid the pandemic,and the paper has been an ex-clusively online publicationsince 2018. It ceased its printedition after the governmentcut the company’s access toimported newsprint. The pa-per’s website, too, has been re-stricted by Venezuela’s tele-communications regulator.

But the paper’s seizure couldhave greater implications forthe Maduro regime’s attemptsto turn a new page with the Bi-den administration. Under for-mer President Donald Trump,the U.S. levied a rash of sanc-tions against the governmentand top Maduro confidants foralleged human-rights violations,election fraud and corruption.

Human-rights and press-ad-vocacy groups called the rul-ing the latest action meant toquash critical media in a coun-try where dissidents havefaced jail and intimidation andhave been forced to flee.

Miguel Henrique Otero, ElNacional’s director, vowed thatthe newspaper would continueits reporting online.

BY KEJAL VYASAND GINETTE GONZALEZ

VenezuelaSeizesOppositionNewspaper

tainees say a number of theirclients have reported beingtaken to interrogation centersand subjected to beatings,starvation and other abuse.

More than 3,900 people arecurrently detained, most ofthem in undisclosed locations,according to the AssistanceAssociation for Political Pris-oners, a nonprofit that moni-tors fatalities and arrests.Among them are politicians,activists, artists, medics andcivil servants. Some, like Mr.Khet Thi, were arrested athomes and offices during

nighttime raids. Others wererounded up in mass arrests atprotests that swept the nationfor weeks after the coup andhave since become muchsmaller in scale.

Calls by foreign govern-ments and human-rightsgroups to free political prison-ers have gone unansweredmore than 100 days after theputsch. At least 790 peoplehave been killed since thecoup, the Assistance Associa-tion for Political Prisonerssays. Many of them were shotby soldiers and police at dem-

onstrations in the streets.In interviews with The Wall

Street Journal, four lawyerswho have been able to meetwith some of their clients afterthe detainees were transferredfrom interrogation centers toprisons said many were visiblyinjured and had described be-ing beaten, starved and ques-tioned in stress positions.

Myanmar’s military didn’trespond to a request for com-ment on the treatment of de-tainees or the death of Mr.Khet Thi and other prisoners.The regime has said reports

about abuses and deaths areexaggerated, but it has alsopublicized images of prisonerswho appear to have beenbeaten. In mid-April, a mili-tary-controlled televisionchannel broadcast photo-graphs of six detainees whosefaces were bruised and swol-len, which activists inter-preted as a warning.

Authorities at the hospitalwhere Ms. Chaw Su, 40, re-claimed her husband’s bodytold her that he died of cardiacarrest, though she says he hadno history of heart conditions.Relatives described him ashealthy and energetic, a for-mer engineer who quit his joba few years ago and opened adessert shop in his front yardto support his art. He was awell-known member of Myan-mar’s literary community.

Photographs of his bodyprovided by his family showedhis face swollen and scarred.

Friends gathered at hisnow-closed shop, Be BeezSnack Bar, for his funeralMonday in the town of Pale.His family handed out leafletsto attendees, filled with hisverse. Mr. Khet Thi wrote fivebooks, said his wife, who lovedhis poems, many of whichwere about her.

Lately, his writing took on amore political tone as hejoined protests against armyrule. “They shoot in the head,but revolution is in the heart,they do not know,” read one ofhis final verses.

The last thing Chaw Su saidto her husband was, “Run!”

It was around 10 p.m. onMay 8, and security forceswere closing in on a home incentral Myanmar where theywere visiting her parents. Herhusband, 44-year-old poet andpolitical activist Khet Thi,jumped over a fence into aneighbor’s backyard. Momentslater, he was detained, his wifesaid in a phone interview.

The next day, authorities toldMs. Chaw Su her husband hadsuffered cardiac arrest and died.When she retrieved his bodyfrom the hospital, he was al-most unrecognizable, she said.His face and hands were disfig-ured, his legs were etched withwounds from being beaten andburned, and a scar stretcheddown the middle of his abdo-men, sewn up with messy su-tures, Ms. Chaw Su said.

“They killed my husband,”she said. “They took him alive,the next day he was dead.”

The circumstances sur-rounding Mr. Khet Thi’s deathhave heightened fears amongfamilies and human-rights ad-vocates about the fate of thou-sands of people being held incustody by Myanmar’s militaryregime that seized power in aFeb. 1 coup.

Before him, two membersof the ousted ruling partywere also discovered dead af-ter they were detained. Law-yers representing other de-

BY FELIZ SOLOMON

Myanmar Activist’s Death Stirs Outcry

Myanmar soldiers in February monitored a protest in Yangon against that month’s military coup.

REUTE

RSplaces of study for joiningstreet protests in support ofthe dissident, while authori-ties are on the brink of out-lawing his political networkand anticorruption foundationas extremist movements.

Political analysts say thatwith Mr. Navalny serving a2½-year prison sentence forviolating parole conditions,President Vladimir Putin’sgovernment senses an oppor-tunity to neutralize his move-

ment, just a few months be-fore parliamentary electionsare scheduled to be held thatcould cement the rulingUnited Russia party’s hold onthe country for years to come.

Evgeny Minchenko, presi-dent of Minchenko Consulting,an independent political stud-ies agency in Moscow, said theKremlin considers Mr. Navalnyand his followers to be a toolof foreign governments work-ing to undermine the Russian

state.“I think that everything will

be done for this organizationalstructure to cease to exist,” hesaid.

Mr. Navalny, 44 years old,has few levers left with whichto counter the onslaught andfew heavyweight allies to takeup his cause.

When he ended a three-week hunger strike in April, heeffectively discarded his mosteffective weapon, which, for a

while, made him a center ofthe world’s attention.

Since then, little has beenheard from the oppositionleader.

“The problem is that Na-valny was the only charismaticperson in his structure [and]he didn’t tolerate competi-tion,” Mr. Minchenko said.“Those people who remain areplayers who do not have theirown political weight [or] polit-ical capital.”

MOSCOW—Russian authori-ties are tightening the screwson Kremlin critic Alexei Na-valny’s opposition network,threatening the survival of hispolitical movement as he lan-guishes in jail.

His key aides are underhouse arrest or in exile. Manyof his group’s rank and filehave come under pressurefrom their employers or their

BY ANN M. SIMMONS

Kremlin Clamps Down on Navalny’s Network

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A12 | Monday, May 17, 2021 * * * * THEWALL STREET JOURNAL.

to rethink its financial calculusto reflect that the plants mightneed to pay for themselvessooner, because they might notbe able to operate for as long.

Duke has proposed buildingas much as 9,600 megawatts ofnew gas-fired capacity in theCarolinas to help meet demandas it retires coal plants and in-vests more heavily in solar andwind power. But in regulatoryfilings, the company has ac-knowledged that any new gasplants could become strandedassets. A megawatt of electric-ity can power about 200homes, according to the Elec-tric Reliability Council of Texas,which operates the state’spower grid. Some other esti-mates peg this number higher.

To remedy that, Duke inpublic filings said it is consider-ing shortening the plants’ ex-pected lifespan from about 40years to 25 years and recoupingcosts using accelerated depreci-ation, an accounting measurethat would let the companywrite off more expenses earlierin the plants’ lives. It may alsoconsider eventually convertingthe plants to run on hydrogen,which doesn’t result in carbonemissions when burned.

“This is one risk that we’relooking at, but we need to lookat that risk across every tech-nology decision we make,” saidGlen Snider, Duke’s director ofintegrated resource planning,noting that all power invest-ments face potential disruption.

Stranded costsMore than 60,000 mega-

watts of gas-fired capacitycame online in the U.S. since2014, according to the EIA. Likecoal plants, many of which havebeen forced to close early, gasplants were financed with theexpectation that they would op-erate for decades.

Stranded costs resultingfrom coal retirements are typi-cally modest because many ofthe plants were built decadesago and nearing the end oftheir useful lives, according toMoody’s Investors Service.Much of the nation’s gas fleet,on the other hand, is relativelyyoung, increasing the potentialfor stranded costs.

Gas plants that supplypower throughout the day face

lar energy.Natural-gas-fired electricity

represented 38% of U.S. genera-tion in 2019, according to theU.S. Energy Information Ad-ministration, or EIA, and it sup-plies round-the-clock electricityas well as bursts during peakdemand. Wind and solar gener-ators have gained substantialmarket share, and as batterycosts fall, batteries paired withthat green power are beginningto step into those roles by stor-ing inexpensive green energyand discharging it after the sunfalls or the wind dies.

Battery storage remains lessthan 1% of America’s electricitymarket and so far draws powerprincipally from solar genera-tors, whose output is fairly pre-dictable and easier to augmentwith storage. But the combina-tion of batteries and renewableenergy is threatening to upendbillions of dollars in natural-gasinvestments, raising concernsabout whether power plantsbuilt in the past 10 years—fi-nanced with the expectationthat they would run for de-cades—will become “strandedassets,” facilities that retire be-fore they pay for themselves.

Green powerAcross the country, much of

the growth in renewable energyto date has been driven bystate mandates that have re-quired utilities to procure cer-tain amounts of green power,and by federal tax incentivesthat have made wind and solarmore economically competitive.

But renewables have becomeincreasingly cost-competitivewithout subsidies in recentyears, spurring more compa-nies to voluntarily cut carbonemissions by investing in windand solar power at the expenseof that generated from fossilfuels. And the specter of morestate and federal regulations toaddress climate change is accel-erating the trend.

President Biden is proposingto extend renewable-energy taxcredits to stand-alone batteryprojects—installations thataren’t part of a generating facil-ity—as part of his $2.3 trillioninfrastructure plan, which couldadd fuel to an already boomingmarket for energy storage.

Still, as batteries help windand solar displace traditionalpower sources, some investorsview the projects with caution,noting that they, too, could be-come victims of disruption incoming years, if still other tech-nological advances come along.

And while batteries can pro-vide stored power when othersources are down, most currentbatteries can deliver poweronly for several hours beforeneeding to recharge. Thatmakes them nearly useless dur-ing extended outages.

Gas-fired power plants arealready struggling to competewith wind and solar farms.Duke Energy Corp., a utilitycompany based in Charlotte,N.C., that supplies electricityand natural gas in parts ofseven states, is still looking tobuild additional gas-firedpower plants. But it has started

ContinuedfromPageOne

unusual twists. No dancingcheek to cheek—and in somecases, no dancing at all. Covidtests and vaccination cards areas de rigueur as corsages andboutonnieres. Some schools areturning to unlikely venues topromote social distancing, suchas malls and football stadiums.(Organizers implore attendeesnot to wear heels at the latter,to avoid turf damage.)

To keep students occupiedat the no-dancing-allowedGrand Prairie prom, organizersoffered alternate activities, in-cluding blackjack, videogamesand a giant Jenga set.

Still, Danielle Moss, an Eng-lish teacher who chaperonedthe event, worried when the DJcut into an especially catchybeat: “I’m like, he’s trying toget them to revolt! He wasplaying all the songs they love.”

Briana Cassidy’s comingprom—with dancing allowed—

ContinuedfromPageOne

is taking place at a zoo so stu-dents can spread out. The se-nior outside Philadelphia isready for it, and is planning towear a “floor length, classy andpoofy” dress. “A lot of peopleafter everything that happenedwanted to go all out,” she says.

Some students say that withall the strictures, they’d ratherskip it. Lorean Hofer, 17, a se-nior in central New Jersey, saysher school had originallyplanned a no-dancing prom.Around 80% of students votedto scrap the event in favor of aclass trip, so they are going toSix Flags instead.

“I’ve never been one forschool dances,” says Ms. Hofer,who’s excited to ride rollercoasters with friends.

Officials say they understandprecautions can be hard to ac-cept. “I think of ‘Footloose,’”says Michel Masters, communi-cable diseases head for Mont-gomery County, Pa.’s publichealth office, citing the 1984movie featuring a town thatbanned dancing. Her office re-cently issued prom guidelinesdiscouraging slow dances in fa-vor of line dancing or “forward-facing” dances, which she sayscan minimize aerosol exposure:“We’re thinking, the ElectricSlide, the Macarena.”

Proms originated more thana century ago and boomed inthe 1950s with the growth ofAmerica’s middle class. A stapleof popular culture and classicfilms like “Pretty in Pink,”they’ve assumed additional sig-nificance in a year riddled withloss, says Jessamyn Neuhaus, ahistorian at the State Univer-sity of New York at Plattsburgh.

To enable students to gatherall together, the Virginia High

School in Bristol, Va., decidedto hold its prom a few milesaway in Tennessee. That statehas no restrictions on indoorgatherings, while Virginia stilldoes. “We feel like it’s our jobto help students create thosememories that will last a life-time,” says SuperintendentKeith Perrigan.

At Jamestown High Schoolin Williamsburg, Va., studentssigned up to attend its recent

no-dancing event in 45-minuteslots. Teachers were instructednot to describe it as a “prom,”to avoid giving the impressionstudents could dance, saysChris Eames, a math teacherthere. “We called it a ‘SpringFling,’ ” he says. Students sat atsocially distanced tables in theschool courtyard while chat-ting, playing trivia and watch-ing a photo slideshow.

“A lot of kids said it wasnice,” says Mr. Eames. “Somemay have looked slightlybored.”

At Kearney High School innorthwestern Missouri, stu-dents attended prom in one-hour shifts. That meant theprom king and queen couldn’tbe crowned at the event itself.

The school organized a briefseparate assembly during theschool day for the king andqueen announcement instead.“That way everyone couldwatch the crowning,” saysprom coordinator Sherry Crall.

Christopher Burns, a special-education teacher who orga-nized this year’s prom at OwenJ. Roberts High School in Potts-town, Pa., says that the eventtook place under a tent in theschool parking lot, rather thanin a hotel as usual. Tempera-tures were in the 40s, he says,

but students looked ecstatic tobe there. “To see the looks ontheir faces—I’m never going toforget this prom,” he says, add-ing that it made the headacheof hiring a tent, chairs and ca-terers, and setting up two daysof on-site Covid tests beforethe event, worth it.

While it felt odd to attendher prom at a mall, Grace Ber-nal, a senior in suburban Chi-cago, says it would have beenweirder to hold it at Topgolf, adriving range her school hadscouted for the event butcouldn’t afford. She enjoyedriding a double-decker carouselin the food court as her class-mates dined nearby on AuntieAnne’s pretzels.

The evening had a surrealflavor. Joey Garcia and his dateKailey Davison posed by a light-up “PROM” sign at the bottomof an escalator bank nearMacy’s, as mall security officerslooked on. Other students tookselfies inside an abandonedshoe store, where a 3-D lightshow was staged.

Ms. Bernal says she wasgrateful to see friends she’dbeen missing. “My school reallycame through with the mostamazing prom they could pro-vide,” she says. “It just so hap-pened to be at the mall.”

tery storage, executives and an-alysts say, it likely wouldn’thave done much to ease themultiday supply crunch, whichoccurred during a season whenwind and solar farms aren’t asproductive. Most current stor-age batteries can discharge forfour hours at most before need-ing to recharge.

California last summer expe-rienced the consequences ofquickly reducing its reliance ongas plants. In August, during anintense heat wave that sweptthe West, the California gridoperator resorted to rollingblackouts to ease a supplycrunch when demand skyrock-eted. In a postmortem pub-lished jointly with the Califor-nia Public Utilities Commissionand the California Energy Com-mission, the operator identifiedthe rapid shift to solar andwind power as one of severalcontributing factors.

Like many power companies,Vistra doesn’t expect gas plantsto be immediately displaced.Mr. Morgan, who has closed anumber of Vistra’s coal-firedand gas-fired plants since be-coming CEO in 2016, said heanticipates most of the com-pany’s remaining gas plants tooperate for the next 20 years.

After 2030, he expectsthey’ll be used far less fre-quently as batteries augmentthe electricity supplied by windand solar farms. Vistra is devel-oping what is expected to bethe world’s largest power-stor-age project at Moss Landing,just north of Monterey, Calif.The batteries are situatedwhere turbines once sat insidea retired natural-gas plantspanning the length of nearlythree football fields. Once com-plete, the batteries will supply400 megawatts of power forfour hours, enough for morethan 225,000 homes.

Edged outEnormous batteries are also

edging out older gas plantselsewhere. Florida Power &Light Co., a utility owned byNextEra Energy Inc., beganconstruction this year on whatis expected to be the world’slargest solar-powered batterysystem, which will replace twonatural-gas turbines at a neigh-boring plant. The Manatee En-ergy Storage Center will have409 megawatts of capacity.

In Texas, the birthplace ofthe modern fracking industry,companies for years have usedthe bounty of the boom to fuelnatural-gas peaker plants,which could earn large sums inthe state’s wholesale powermarket when demand spiked.

Some are now having secondthoughts after a massive build-out of wind and solar farms hasmade it more difficult for gasplants to compete, and batter-ies threaten more disruption.

Quantum Energy Partners, aHouston-based private-equityfirm, in the last several yearssold a portfolio of six gasplants in Texas and three otherstates upon seeing just howcompetitive renewable energywas becoming. It is now work-ing to develop more than 8,000megawatts of wind, solar andbattery projects in 10 states.

“We pivoted,” said SeanO’Donnell, a partner in the firmwho helps oversee the firm’spower investments. “Every-thing that we had on the con-ventional power side, we de-cided to sell, given our outlookof increasing competition anddiminishing returns.”

BatteriesCome toPower Grid

The PromGoes toThe Mall

FROM PAGE ONE

the biggest risk of displace-ment. Such “baseload” plantstypically need to run at 60% to80% capacity to be economi-cally viable, making them vul-nerable as batteries help fillgaps in power supplied by solarand wind farms.

Today, such plants average60% capacity in the U.S., ac-cording to IHS Markit, a dataand analytics firm. By the endof the decade, the firm expectsthat average to fall to 50%, rais-ing the prospect of bankruptcyand restructuring for the low-est performers.

“They are under threat fromtons of renewables,” said SamHuntington, IHS Markit’s asso-ciate director for gas, powerand energy futures. “It’s justcoal repeating itself.”

It took only a few years forinexpensive fracked gas to be-gin displacing coal used inpower generation. Between2011, shortly after the start ofthe fracking boom, and 2020,more than 100 coal plants with95,000 megawatts of capacitywere closed or converted to runon gas, according to the EIA. Anadditional 25,000 megawattsare slated to close by 2025.

Most grid-scale batteries aremade of lithium ion, the samesort of technology that powerselectric vehicles. They look sim-ilar to large shipping containersand are often grouped togetherto create arrays capable of pro-viding large amounts of power.Some are attached to renew-

able energy sources, while oth-ers stand alone and drawpower from the grid.

Batteries are most oftenpaired with solar farms, ratherthan wind farms, because oftheir power’s predictability andbecause it is easier to securefederal tax credits for that pair-ing. Some companies are devel-oping wind farms paired withbatteries, and the market is ex-pected to grow as technologycosts fall.

Already, the cost of dis-charging a 100-megawatt bat-tery with a two-hour power

supply is roughly on par withthe cost of generating electric-ity from the special powerplants that operate during peakhours. Such batteries can dis-charge for as little as $140 amegawatt-hour, while the low-est-cost “peaker” plants—whichfire up on demand when sup-plies are scarce—generate at$151 a megawatt-hour, accord-ing to investment bank Lazard.

Solar farms paired with bat-teries, meanwhile, are becom-ing competitive with gas plantsthat run all the time. Those

types of projects can producepower for as little as $81 amegawatt-hour, according toLazard, while the priciest of gasplants average $73 a megawatt-hour. Major battery projectsunder way in New York andCalifornia are driven in part bystate mandates to slash carbonemissions, not just improvingbattery economics.

Even in Texas, a state with afiercely competitive powermarket and no emissions man-dates, scarcely any gas plantsare under construction, whilesolar farms and batteries aregrowing fast. Companies areconsidering nearly 88,900megawatts of solar, 23,860megawatts of wind and 30,300megawatts of battery storagecapacity in the state, accordingto the Electric Reliability Coun-cil of Texas. By comparison,only 7,900 megawatts of newgas-fired capacity is under con-sideration.

Power companies and gridregulators must consider theprospect that the new sourcesmay not be as reliable as powerplants they replace, at least ini-tially, and the Texas blackoutsin February illustrated thatconcern. The state experienceddays of devastating power out-ages as a winter storm frozemany of the state’s sources ofpower, including wind turbines,gas and nuclear power plants,just as demand was spiking dueto freezing temperatures.

Even if Texas had more bat-

PROJECTIONS

…andwind, solar and battery installations aregrowing quickly in Texas, while natural-gascapacity has remained flat.

Going GreenBatteries are becoming cost-competitivewithgas-fired power plants…

Cost range of generating or dischargingpower in theU.S., by source

*100 MW/200 MWh †500MW/200 MWhSources: Lazard Levelized Cost of Energy Analysis (costs); Electric Reliability Council of Texas (installations)

Battery*

Solar photovoltaic + storage†

Gas peaking plant

Gas combined cycle

$140 perMWh

$81

$151

$44

$243

$124

$198

$73

125

0

25

50

75

100

thousandmegawatts

2012 ’14 ’16 ’18 ’20 ’22

Wind

Solar

Battery

Gas(combinedcycle)

Gas (other)

It is threatening toupend billions ofdollars in natural­gas investments.

Joey Garcia and Kailey Davison at the prom.

JOEY

GARC

IA

Vistra is developing what is expected to be the world’s largest power-storage project at Moss Landing, near Monterey, Calif.

CHRIST

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P2JW137000-4-A01200-1--------XA

THEWALL STREET JOURNAL. * * Monday, May 17, 2021 | A12A

listening to the voices callingfor urgent change.”

Mr. Adams describes himselfas a “blue-collar” crossovercandidate who can attract sup-port from both moderate andprogressive Democrats. He saidhe was proud of his 22 years inlaw enforcement, which beganin 1984 when he worked as atransit officer before moving onto the NYPD.

He credits a mentor, the Rev.Herbert Daughtry of Brooklyn’sHouse of the Lord Church, forencouraging him and about adozen other young Black menin the mid-1980s to become po-lice officers and help fight whatthe pastor said were systemicracist practices in the NYPD.

“I told Eric one way tochange things is work fromwithin the system,” Rev.Daughtry said. “We all can’t beoutsiders, screaming, marching

and making noise. Somebodyhad to be on the inside.”

As an officer, Mr. Adamschallenged the NYPD’s statusquo, leading marches andspeaking out over cases wherehe said he thought racial profil-ing or police brutality occurred.In 1995, he co-founded a groupcalled 100 Blacks in Law En-forcement Who Care to operateoutside the purview of theNYPD and its fraternal organi-zations. He said the group triedto ease relationships betweenpolice and communities ofcolor.

His campaign platform in-cludes reinstating a plain-clothes anticrime unit that theNYPD disbanded last year amidnationwide protests calling forchanges to policing. The unithad been criticized for relyingon aggressive tactics. Mr. Ad-ams said the reinstated unit

Dutchess County Execu-tive Marc Molinaro, who ledthe Republican ticket in2018, is weighing anothergubernatorial bid as well asa campaign for Congress in2022. A spokesman said Fri-day he was still consideringhis options.

Both Messrs. Zeldin andAstorino, who unsuccessfullyran for governor in 2014,said they believed three-term Democratic Gov. An-drew Cuomo is vulnerablenext year. Mr. Cuomo is un-der investigation for accusa-tions that he sexually ha-rassed women who workedfor him, as well as for thestate’s Covid-19 policies fornursing homes.

The governor has said hedid nothing wrong, and thatthe state’s nursing-home pol-icies were crafted to preservehospital capacity during theheight of the pandemic. Hehas previously said he wouldseek a fourth term and re-buffed calls from fellow Dem-ocrats to resign amid thescandals.

Mr. Zeldin said he wouldroll back recent policies en-acted by Democrats, includ-ing an income-tax increase,new benefits for undocu-mented immigrants and alaw that restricted the use ofcash bail for most misde-meanor and nonviolent fel-ony offenses. He said the ef-

fects of full Democraticcontrol of state governmentwill make Republicans ap-pealing to moderate NewYork voters.

He said he wasn’t sure aprimary would be helpful,but he was confident in hisposition. “We are not goingto slow down. And this is thelowest gear that is in the ar-senal,” Mr. Zeldin said.

Mr. Astorino said he wouldforge ahead despite the en-dorsements that Mr. Zeldinhas secured. He outlined asimilar platform and said hewould again push for allow-ing a limited amount of natu-ral-gas hydrofracking to spureconomic development. TheCuomo administration hasn’tpermitted the practice, citingenvironmental concerns.

“Some in the establish-ment want to not have teamstake the field, and yet it’sthe first inning of the firstgame of a double-header,”Mr. Astorino said. “A pri-mary is good in that our Re-publican principles and is-sues are going to get thespotlight for a year.”

It will still be a battle forthe GOP: There are morethan twice as many Demo-crats as Republicans in thestate, and Mr. Cuomo had a$16.8 million war chest as ofJanuary.

jimmy.vielkind@wsj.com

ing second behind former pres-idential candidate AndrewYang, another Democrat, inmost public surveys.

Messrs. Adams and Yangwere on the defensive Thursdayas front-runners during thefirst official Democratic may-oral debate. At one point, Mr.Adams was accused of support-ing NYPD’s stop-and-frisk tac-tics that were found unconsti-tutional by a federal judge. Hefired back that he has been aleading advocate against theabuse of the practice.

Mr. Adams’s supporters sayhe is the right candidate forNew York, which has seen asurge in violent crime duringthe Covid-19 pandemic. Crimeis one of the top concerns ofvoters, according to recentpolls.

“He was the first candidateto really engage on the issue of

crime,” said former NYPD Com-missioner Bill Bratton, who su-pervised Mr. Adams in the1990s. “And he’s probably thebest one to deal with crime is-sues in the city and subways.”

Some progressive Demo-crats, however, say Mr. Adamsis too pro-policing and thatother candidates are bettersuited to change NYPD prac-tices they say have unfairly tar-geted people of color.

“We need a mayor who willsupport the tens of thousandsof New Yorkers who took to thestreets demanding a new visionof public safety that shrinks thesize and scope of the NYPD andinvests in our communities,”said Sochie Nnaemeka, state di-rector of the Working FamiliesParty, referring to the city’sBlack Lives Matter protests lastsummer. “Eric Adams has notdemonstrated a commitment to

GREATER NEW YORK

would focus on fighting gun vi-olence.

He said he also hoped tolower crime by having officersspend more time doing policework rather than clerical work.He has said that if he is electedmayor, he would appoint thecity’s first female NYPD com-missioner.

Some of his opponents havecriticized him for switching par-ties in 1997 and registering as aRepublican. He said he did so toprotest drug and anticrimelaws—which Democrats at thetime backed nationally—thatwere “destroying inner cities.”

He returned to the Demo-cratic Party in 2001, five yearsbefore he was elected to theNew York state Senate, servingfour, two-year terms represent-ing parts of Brooklyn. His ten-ure in Albany was marred by a2010 state inspector general’sreport that said he had exer-cised poor judgment as chair-man of the Senate Racing,Gaming and Wagering Commit-tee on a public- bidding processto bring video-slot-machinegambling to Aqueduct Race-track in Queens.

He has denied wrongdoingand was never charged with le-gal violations. The report notedhe received a contribution fromthe firm that won the bid andgave investigators noncredibletestimony.

In 2013, he was electedBrooklyn’s first Black boroughpresident—a job he has used tohelp promote platforms dear tohim such as increasing public-school funding and healthy eat-ing.

Hank Sheinkopf, a longtimepolitical consultant for Demo-crats, said he thought Mr. Ad-ams had a good chance to be-come mayor because heappealed to both people ofcolor and white moderates whofear the city is swinging tooleft.

“He’s been an advocate forpolice department reform whilealso being a cop who under-stands the real blue-collar fab-ric of the city, so people in themiddle should find him appeal-ing,” he said. “If that happens,he’ll be mayor.”

A leading Democratic candi-date to become New York City’snext mayor says his path to acareer in law enforcement andthen public office began 45years ago in a basement of aQueens police precinct.

Brooklyn Borough PresidentEric Adams, a retired BlackNew York Police Department

captain, said hewas 15 years old atthe time and hisbrother, Conrad,16. The siblings—two of six growing

up in a working-class householdin South Jamaica, Queens—hadbeen arrested after entering thehome of a neighborhood go-godancer to demand money sheowed them for running errands,Mr. Adams said.

In the basement of the 103rdprecinct, the brothers werebeaten by two white officers,then forced to spend the nightin a juvenile detention center,according to Mr. Adams. TheNYPD declined to comment.

Mr. Adams, now 60, has spo-ken publicly in the past aboutthe experience and said thatthe criminal case was sealed.He said he “turned his pain intopurpose” by becoming a cop.

Today, he is among the topcandidates in a 12-person fieldcompeting in the June 22 Dem-ocratic primary to succeedterm-limited Democrat Bill deBlasio. The winner likely willprevail in November’s generalelection because registeredDemocrats outnumber Republi-cans citywide by more than 6to 1.

Mr. Adams, who has madepublic safety his campaign’scenterpiece, was leading therace in fundraising and had anearly $8 million war chestwhen he last filed a campaign-finance report in March. Thismonth, he took the lead in twonew polls after previously rank-

BY RICH CALDER

Adams Pins Campaign to Public SafetyBrooklyn boroughpresident says he isproud of his 22 yearsin law enforcement

Eric Adams is among the leading candidates vying in the June 22 primary to decide the Democratic nominee for New York City mayor.

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New York Republicans LookTo Gubernatorial Primary

New YorkRepublicansare headingfor their firstgubernatorialprimary in

more than a decade next yearafter former WestchesterCounty Executive Rob Asto-rino last week joined U.S.Rep. Lee Zeldin in formallydeclaring a bid.

It could soon become athree-way contest: AndrewGiuliani, a White House aidein the Trump administrationand the son of former NewYork City Mayor Rudy Giu-liani, has engaged campaignstaff and said he would makean announcement about hisown potential bid by thisweek. A spokesman for Mr.Giuliani declined to comment.

The interest this year is incontrast to 2018, when GOPleaders scrambled to find astandard-bearer and didn’tsettle on a full slate of state-wide candidates until theirparty convention. The lastRepublican primary for gov-ernor occurred in 2010.

Mr. Zeldin, of SuffolkCounty, has won endorse-ments from county chairsrepresenting a majority ofthe weighted votes of theRepublican and Conservativeparties. A campaign spokes-woman said he has alreadyraised $2.5 million for hiscampaign, and New York Re-publican State CommitteeChairman Nick Langworthydescribed him as the front-runner for the nominationafter a party meeting lastmonth.

The field has shifted sincethat forum, where Messrs.Astorino, Giuliani and Zeldinpitched party leaders in Al-bany on their viability ascandidates. U.S. Rep. EliseStefanik, who represents theNorth Country, was elevatedto chair of the House Repub-lican conference Friday. Sheis no longer considering agubernatorial bid in 2022, anaide said.

Rep. Lee Zeldin, left, and Rob Astorino may face more competition.

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A12B | Monday, May 17, 2021 * * THEWALL STREET JOURNAL.

methods but like some fellowfarmers trying to promoteecological balance, she hasn’tyet sought organic certifica-tion. According to the latestdata from the U.S. Departmentof Agriculture, in 2019 threefarms grew certified organicwheat in New Jersey, 34 inNew York and 58 in Pennsylva-nia. Others grow organicgrains like barley or rye.

Elizabeth Dyck, who coordi-nates the Organic Growers’Research and Information-Sharing Network and advisesmore than 100 farmers a year,reports rising interest insmall-scale grain farms in theNortheast. Enthusiasm hascropped up for wheats pro-duced locally without chemi-cals, and ancient varieties,such as einkorn, spelt and em-mer.

Whole-grain flour thatkeeps the bran and germ, andlacks preservatives, is typi-cally more nutritious thanhighly processed white flourwith a long shelf-life, Ms. Dycksaid. “Consumers are willingto pay more,” she said, “be-cause they grasp the fact thateconomy-of-scale gets thrown

out the window with artisangrain production.”

Einkorn flour, for example,can sell for more than $4 apound retail, compared withabout $1 for bleached all-pur-pose flour.

Some shoppers also want tosupport local farmers, espe-cially after seeing Covid-19disrupt food supply chains.“The pandemic brought hometo us that we’re more vulnera-ble,” Ms. Dyck said. “The U.S.

food supply is pretty robustbut not impregnable.”

New Jersey was full ofgrain farms and busy mills inthe 18th century, but in timethey succumbed to competi-tion from large industrial op-erations in the Midwest. Ac-cording to Edible Jerseymagazine, by 1955 the statehad only one flour mill open.

When Ms. Perretti searchedthe internet to find a miller,she was stumped. Then

through a neighbor she metthree men who had justlaunched a part-time millingproject, River Valley Commu-nity Grains, to prove thatstone-ground local flour couldbe a viable business.

During the day, these threeentrepreneurs in their 50swork in financial data, market-ing and relocating corporateclients. But after hours theyrent space in a commercialkitchen in Long Valley, in Mor-ris County, to grind flour androll oats for six farmers, in-cluding Ms. Perretti. Theysend some to her restaurant,and sell some to bakeries, mi-crobreweries and customersonline.

“I love bread and beer,”said Mike Hozer, a founder ofRiver Valley CommunityGrains. “It seems silly not togrow our own food.”

The trio plans to move toMs. Perretti’s new mill when itopens.

She hopes to expand herwheat crop. She remembersher late father saying, “Ruthie,someday we should be grow-ing food here for fine restau-rants in New York City.”

the land. When she was littlein Montclair, her parentsturned a pre-RevolutionaryWar farmhouse and 40 acresin Marksboro, a hamlet inFrelinghuysen, into their coun-try refuge. Now her parentsare buried in a cemetery nextto the farm, across the streetfrom the mill site.

Ms. Perretti used to go tothe farm on weekends to es-cape her hectic life working inNew York City. She bought itfrom her brothers about a de-cade ago.

Like many of their neigh-bors, her family had gotten aproperty-tax benefit for farm-land by hiring an experiencedfarmer to grow livestock feed.One day Ms. Perretti’s hus-band joked they should makewheat for their restaurant in-stead. After investigating theidea, she asked their farmer toswitch crops.

Now they grow 9 acres ofwheat, with their third harvestexpected this summer. Lastyear’s yield was about 6,000pounds. Ms. Perretti said shegrabbed a scoop of wheat ber-ries one harvest day, dumpedthem in a kitchen grinder andmade pancakes. “They wereamazing,” she said. “They hada sweet, nutty flavor. It didn’ttaste like any flour I’d everhad before.”

Challenges abound. Agrono-mists say the Northeast hashigher risks of bad weatherand grain infections than theMidwest, including a pathogenthat produces a compoundthat can be harmful, thedreaded “vomitoxin.” Small-scale farmers often share ex-pensive equipment, so gettinga combine on deadline can bestressful. Sometimes machinesbreak down.

As some in the field say,“No pain, no grain.”

Ms. Perretti uses organic

When Ruth Perretti looks ather little farm in northwesternNew Jersey, she sees pizza.

As she strolls throughgreen rows of wheat, Ms. Per-retti describes grinding it intoflour for dough at her restau-rant, Ruthie’s BBQ & Pizza inMontclair. Fresh whole grainstaste nutty and rustic, shesays, and just like wines, theyget a distinctive flavor fromtheir soil.

Ms. Perretti aims to domore than grow ingredientsfor her chef, who is also herhusband, Eric Kaplan. Shewants to help bring small-scale grain farming back toNew Jersey, bolster the supplyof healthy bread and regener-ate soil depleted by chemicalweedkillers.

This month she won ap-proval from the land use boardin Frelinghuysen Township, inrural Warren County, to reno-vate an old tractor-repair shopand warehouse so she canstart a rare mill for local farm-ers.

Ms. Perretti, who is 60years old, says she has a con-tract to buy the warehouseproperty and expects to com-plete the purchase in June.She hopes the planned millwill become a community hub,inspire more neighbors togrow grains in natural ways,and teach families about pro-tecting the environment.

“I think you build some-thing of value through timeand patience and being con-nected to something that hasdeeper meaning to you,” shesaid. “I want to create some-thing lasting.”

A former fashion designerfor Ralph Lauren, Ms. Perrettiknew nothing about grainfarming when she started in2018, but she felt a deep tie to

BY LESLIE BRODY

Pizzeria OwnerDecides to GoWith the Grain

Ruth Perretti and her husband, Eric Kaplan, in a field of winter wheat on their farm in the New Jersey hamlet of Marksboro. Below,Mike Hozer of River Valley Community Grains pours kernels into a stone mill. Ms. Perretti plans to start a mill for local farmers.

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© 2021 Dow Jones & Company. All Rights Reserved. THEWALL STREET JOURNAL. Monday, May 17, 2021 | A13

PERSONAL JOURNAL.CAREERS & LEADERSHIP

F or interior designer Beth Di-ana Smith, the path to homedécor began with numbers.

Math came easily to her and byage 10, she said, “I knew I wantedto become an accountant.”

She received a bachelor’s inbusiness administration and amaster’s in professional account-ing from Seton Hall University. “Ilike understanding the rules, pro-cesses and definitive answers,”said Ms. Smith, 41, who grew up inMontclair, N.J. “No one in my fam-ily is creative.”

because her mother had just died.But she threw herself into the joband soon was working with MTVInternational’s CFO and presidentas well as traveling the world.

In her scant spare time, Ms.Smith redecorated, indulging apassion for interior design thatwas kindled by home-ownership.“With my mother gone, I felt like Ihad to change the feeling of thehouse,” she said. “This is a com-mon thing, I’ve learned. Wheneversomeone loses someone in thehome, they’re inspired to redothings.” Poring over design blogsand magazines, she realized shecould do something useful withher knack for organizing smallspaces. In early 2009, she hungout her shingle as a professionalorganizer. Over time, clients began

to ask for help beyond their clos-ets and pantries, and by year’s endthe business evolved into an inte-rior design firm, which Ms. Smithran alongside her corporate career.

Though she still aspired to be-come a CFO, she stopped takingclients and enrolled part-time atthe New York School of InteriorDesign in 2011. She put aside herorganizing business to focus onwork and school. Three years in, “Iwas exhausted,” she said. She wasworking too much to have time forfriends—and wasn’t happy atwork. “More and more, I was up-set by the cutthroat behavior ofthe people around me, from theV.P. level and up,” she said.

During a staycation in May2014, she decided to quit. “I imme-diately started to feel this sense of

Beth Diana Smith at home inIrvington, N.J., this month.

peace,” she said. “The stress wasgone, and I thought: This is hownormal humans are.” It was scaryto resign and close the door onher corporate career at age 34, butdoing so freed her up to spend thesummer and fall completing herdegree—and catching her breath.The following January, she begantaking clients as a full-time inte-rior designer.

Her first client was a referralfrom New York interior designerSheila Bridges, whom Ms. Smithmet through the Black Interior De-signers network. Former col-leagues began referring clients. “Itwas slow,” Ms. Smith said of herinitial growth. “I had been makingsix figures, and this was not nearthat.” As demand grew, she devel-oped her exuberant, colorful style.Ms. Smith folds in skills learned infinance, such as managing budgetsand creating presentations for cli-ents. Her days are filled with con-ducting in-person consultationswith potential clients, draftingproposals and creating designs ofrooms in progress on AutoCADsoftware. She also sources furnish-ings, follows up with vendors andtends to social media. Business haspicked up since the pandemic,thanks to the Covid home-decora-tion boom.

Her income is still less than hercorporate salary, when factoring inthe year-end bonus and 401(k)match she used to receive. Thereare no paid sick days and the workis harder. “I never drank hard li-quor until I became an entrepre-neur,” Ms. Smith said. “Once Istarted doing this full-time, atcocktail hour I didn’t want wineanymore. I wanted bourbon.” D

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BY LAUREN MECHLING

changed humans. Many of us arestill burned out and grieving aftera year that pushed us to our lim-its. Workspaces feel different andeerie—rearranged to accommodatesocial distancing and hybridschedules, or dotted with emptydesks after rounds of layoffs.

Some employees are bummedor fearful to be leaving remotework behind, worried about catch-ing coronavirus or just pining forthe days when they had more con-trol over their schedules. Eventhose eagerly racing back to theircubicles might struggle with thetransition.

“We’re going to be a littlezombielike, right? Like, ‘Oh, we’reout. How do we do this again?’ ”says Linda A. Hill, a Harvard Busi-ness School professor who studiesleadership.

How can managers rally andmotivate apprehensive or over-whelmed workers? The first step,Dr. Hill says, is to simply ask ques-tions. Through surveys and one-on-one conversations, gather opin-ions about what people want workto look like. Be empathetic: As-sume that folks will be anxious,and that productivity may take ahit at first. Remember that every-one endured different hardshipsduring the pandemic.

office were a good time to knockout busy work or chip away at non-pressing tasks. She bumps high-pressure conference calls or workthat requires hours of sustainedconcentration to later in the week.

Other parts of being back arementally draining, like remember-ing to put on a mask or worryingabout Covid. Ms. Johnson’s com-pany, NTY Franchise, which runsseveral retail chains, shed nearlyhalf its staff during the pandemic.The smaller office it moved intolast year is a reminder of that loss.But her bosses have emphasizedhow much remaining workers haverisen to the occasion, and how re-silient they are—a message that’shelped Ms. Johnson feel valuedand part of a close-knit team.

Aimee Cohen, a Minneapolis ex-ecutive coach, recommends thatmanagers keep employees’ work-loads consistent as they transitionback, so that it’s easy to tell iftheir output has truly slipped.

If employees start missing rou-tine deadlines, don’t take a disci-plinary approach. Instead, see iftogether you can analyze whatmight be going wrong and whatmight help.

And brace yourself for rusty so-cial skills. In a February surveyfrom the American Psychological

Association, 49% of respondentsreported feeling uneasy about ad-justing to in-person interactionsonce the pandemic ends. The re-sults held regardless of whetherpeople had been vaccinated.

“It might show up as being su-per shy and reserved, all the waythrough feeling almost manic, likebeing let out of prison,” Ms. Co-hen says.

Employees will likely strugglewith a loss of autonomy as theyhead back to a space where theirarrival times and computerscreens are suddenly in full viewof the boss. Being watched at workmight increase performance atfirst, but it’s not a sustainableform of motivation for employees,says Roshni Raveendhran, a pro-fessor at the University of Vir-ginia’s Darden School of Business.

“In some ways, they’re just los-ing productivity by sitting there,because they feel pressure to doso,” she says. “If they were at home,they could walk the dog, play withkids, come back, work at night.”

When Jacob Brown’s team re-turned to the office part-time lastJune, he gave workers flexibilityabout which days and times theycame in.

“I wanted my team to at leastfeel like they could control thatpart,” says Mr. Brown, a 37-yearold creative manager at a Wixom,Mich., recreational vehicle dealer.The move helped boost morale, hesays, especially for employees whowere nervous about heading back.

At 919 Marketing, Mr. Chap-man tried to use the lunch gonesideways to observe his workers.At the company’s next event, staffwill eat outdoors, then take a tripto a local “rage room” to smashfax machines and copiers, “OfficeSpace” style.

“I think everybody just needs togo to that rage room,” Mr. Chap-man says, “and get some stuff outand take a deep breath.”

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Graham Chapman’s teamis getting back towork. But things areweird.

People don’t chatlike they used to, he’s

noticed. Through the glass wall ofhis office, the manager of 15 cansee workers’ shoulders tensing up.When he walks the halls he hearsthem sighing.

He’d hoped a recent all-com-pany lunch would provide a kum-baya moment, but instead staffsplit into awkward cliques insideand outside, depending on theirlevel of Covid caution. Some im-mediately fled to their desks,plates of Greek food in hand, tokeep plugging away on work.

“I was just hoping that it wasback to normal,” says Mr. Chap-man, a vice president of accountservices at 919 Marketing, a mar-keting agency in Holly Springs,N.C. “It was not normal. It wasbizarre.”

We’re trickling back to the of-fice in a changed world, and as

HowtoRally aJitteryWorkforceHere’swhat organizations can do to showsupport and help everyone feelmore like a teamagain

WORK& LIFERACHELFEINTZEIG

“Managers can kind of live in abubble,” she says. “You need tonot assume that what you experi-enced is what they experienced.”

If workers have trouble adjust-ing to an open-office setup after ayear at home, consider designatingdifferent spaces for different pur-

poses. Dr. Hill once worked with acompany where employees couldreserve a desk in a quiet area ifthey wanted to avoid interruptions.Grabbing a different spot indicatedthey were open to chatter.

When Michelle Johnson startedcommuting back into her Plym-outh, Minn., office once a week inMarch, she found herself over-whelmed by the sudden plungeinto human interaction. “I couldn’tstay focused,” says Ms. Johnson, a50-year-old director of stores for aused children’s clothing franchisor.“Everyone wanted to catch up.”

She realized her Tuesdays in the

We’re trickling backto the office in achanged world, andas changed humans.

Preserve autonomy: Giveworkers flexibility, such asover what hours they work.Judge them by what they’reproducing, not what timethey’re clocking in and out.

Smooth social interac-tions: Offer real-time feed-back if you notice workersmaking inappropriate re-marks.

Foster focus: Create quiethours or spaces so workerscan hunker down without in-terruptions.

Assess workflow: Keep as-signments steady so you canpinpoint if there’s a problem.Expect that productivitymight dip a bit at first.

HELP YOUR TEAMTRANSITION BACK

Name: Beth Diana Smith

Age: 41

Location: Irvington, N.J.

Education: B.S. and M.S., SetonHall University, South Orange,N.J.; Associate in Applied Sciencein Interior Design, New YorkSchool of Interior Design

Former job: Director of finance

for MTV International at Viacom

Current job: Interior designer

Aha moment: Ms. Smith was al-ready attending night school forinterior design when she took astaycation to reconsider continu-ing up the corporate ladder. “Iimmediately started to feel thissense of peace,” she said. “Thestress was gone, and I thought:This is how normal humans are.”

MEET THE DESIGNER

At age 23, she bought a two-bedroom townhouse, in part be-cause becoming a young home-owner seemed financially astute.Another incentive: Her mother,who had recently become ill withdementia and heart issues, couldcome live with her. Ms. Smithgravitated to corporate finance inher mid-twenties, while working atJohnson & Johnson. “It’s morestrategic than accounting,” shesaid. “I had to figure things out,and I liked figuring things out.”

In 2008, she joined MTV Inter-national’s finance team, based atparent company Viacom’s NewYork headquarters. She became di-rector of finance for internationaldigital media in 2010 and less thana year later became director of fi-nance for MTV’s international pro-gramming. Ms. Smith hesitated be-fore accepting the position

This Interior DesignerMade a Leap FromCorporate Finance

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mostly tech firms that pro-vided the juices to their em-ployees as a perk. The staffof around 20 people tried toadjust, switching to homedeliveries and then convert-ing operations to bottle andsell hand sanitizer.

Like roughly 130,000other U.S. small businesses,Good Use shut down be-cause of the pandemic, leav-ing its founders and employ-ees scrambling for a Plan B.

For many of them, work-ing at a high-growth com-pany with a feel-good, anti-waste mission had felt likethe pinnacle of their work-ing lives. Now, scattered indifferent directions, manysay their experience at GoodUse has served as the basis

for their renewal and rein-vention. Here are some oftheir stories:

Grant CarlsonMr. Carlson started GoodUse partly so his motherwould hire him someday.

She owns a Seattle real es-tate management company,and after Mr. Carlson gradu-ated from the University ofCalifornia, Berkeley in 2014,he asked if he could join her.

“She said she didn’t wantto work with me, because Ididn’t understand how busi-ness worked and I didn’t un-derstand the work ethicneeded,” he recalls.

Mr. Carlson was in a Sili-con Valley sales job when heand Slava Chupryna launchedGood Use in 2016. At itsheight in early 2020, thejuice company served around300 commercial customersup to 10,000 bottles a week.Then the pandemic hit.

“It’s hard to say goodbyeto something that you builtand you worked with somany good people to buildit,” Mr. Carlson says.

In December, he movedback to Seattle and beganworking for his mother’scompany, managing 58 apart-ment units. “I came from be-ing the CEO of a companywith a couple dozen employ-ees to unclogging people’stoilets, and I’m absolutelyloving it,” he says.

Sabrina CorpusSabrina Corpus started atGood Use as an intern in2018 while finishing her ac-counting degree at SanFrancisco State University.By May 2020, she was thecompany’s CFO.

Ms. Corpus learned howto manage cash flow, taxesand budgeting on the job.Her time at Good Use alsohelped her find her voice,she says.

She stayed in San Fran-cisco and started workingfor a dog-walking service,where she tends to a dozendogs, logging 13 miles daily.“I wanted to do somethingwhere I didn’t have to sithunched over a computer allday,” she says.

Good Use gave many of itsemployees ownership stakes,with owners and managersreceiving roughly equal sala-ries. Ms. Corpus’s new jobpays slightly more than GoodUse did and may bring hercloser to her dream of open-ing a dog shelter.

“Entrepreneurship is real.I’m going to take that withme,” she says.

Yemi AdelaiyeYemi Adelaiye became GoodUse’s first permanent em-ployee after answering anonline ad for a night-shiftproduction worker in 2017.

“I’d have raccoons aroundme who were waiting forwhatever I’m going to dumpin dumpsters so they canpounce on it,” the 44-year-

Across the U.S.economy, hun-dreds of thou-sands of workersare emergingfrom the pan-

demic on a mission to rein-vent their disrupted ca-reers—much like the formeremployees of Good Use.

As a maker of juices from“ugly” fruit and vegetablesdestined for dumpsters, thefour-year-old Bay Areastartup was set to have itsbest year when Covid-19broke out in early 2020. In-stead, as San Francisco of-fices shut down, Good Usealmost overnight lost itsjuice-delivery client base—

BY LAUREN WEBER

A Job’s EndLed ThemTo Plan B

Grant Carlson, Yemi Adelaiye and Sabrina Corpus, clockwisefrom top left, have moved on to other things after their timeat the Good Use juice company.

old Nigerian says.Mr. Adelaiye has a degree

in music technology andworked for a telecommuni-cations startup in Nigeria,where he was also a choraldirector in his church. Heand his wife moved to theU.S. to perform and do mis-sion work.

At Good Use, “I learnedfrom scratch,” Mr. Adelaiyesays. “But I learned veryfast.” He rose to becomeGood Use’s production man-ager, supervising up to 20employees.

After the pandemicstruck, Mr. Adelaiye consid-ered returning to music full-time or signing up for gig-economy delivery apps. Hedidn’t have to. Another com-pany in Good Use’s facilityneeded a production man-ager. He manages nine peo-ple now, and recentlyearned his first raise. Hecredits his time at Good Usewith introducing him to theways of the American work-place.

“I’m from a hierarchicalsociety, and in a hierarchicalsociety, the people expect tobe treated unequally,” hesays. “Good Use gave me theopportunity to work in thekind of environment whereeveryone’s input is valuedno matter where they’refrom or who they are.”

Kayla CastañedaA former market-develop-ment manager for Coca-

Cola, Kayla Castañeda wasone of the few employees atGood Use with beverage-in-dustry experience. The 29-year-old joined as a consul-tant in March 2020 to helpwith sales. Instead, as lock-downs went into effect, sheended up trying to help thecompany survive.

When she was let go inJune, she says her mantrawas: “When life gives youlemons, make aguas frescas.”

With Erin PonTell, GoodUse’s former chief market-ing officer, Ms. Castañedastarted Agua Bonita, a lineof canned aguas frescas,based on the Mexican bever-ages. Reflecting the ethos ofGood Use, the company triesto purchase ugly and sur-plus produce to make some

Former Good Use employeesKayla Castañeda, above, andCameron Drake, below.

of its flavors.Every bit of Ms Casta-

ñeda’s background has cometo bear on the new business.When an international canshortage threw productionplans into doubt, sheworked her old Coke con-tacts and found a supplier.

Agua Bonita sold out itsfirst run of 5,000 cans andgot a small-business grantfrom Dany Garcia, Dwayne“The Rock” Johnson’s busi-ness partner. The second runof 33,000 cans ships in May.Ms. Castañeda and Ms. Pon-Tell see it as a do-or-die test.

Counterintuitively, thishas been a good time tolaunch. New businesses arepopping up at the fastestpace on record, according tothe Census Bureau. Thetrend may be driven by fac-tors such as owners whoclosed their business lastyear deciding to start a newventure, or laid-off workersstriking out on their ownbecause they couldn’t findwork in their prior fields.

“There’s nothing to lose,”Ms. Castañeda says.

Cameron DrakeAfter leaving Good Use,head of sales CameronDrake sank his $40,000 insavings into a passion proj-ect called Cliffset—portable,reusable cutlery designedfor everyday use that comeswith its own cleaning tool.

Mr. Drake, 27, had metMr. Carlson at UC Berkeley,where he wrote his thesison the end of home milk de-livery. He started doingsales for Good Use in 2017,originally creating a book ofbusiness by sneaking intobuildings full of tech start-ups with a bag of juice sam-ples over his shoulder.

“I’d just tell the securityperson I had a delivery. Thesuccess rate was 50-50,” hesays.

Meanwhile, he lived on aboat in the East Bay to savemoney and came up withthe concept for Cliffset. “I’dstep over plastic in the har-bor each day and it was al-ways on my mind.”

After leaving Good Use inMarch, he moved in with hisparents in Orinda, Calif., and

spent his savings to hire aproduct-design firm in NewYork. His sister-in-lawhelped with the logo andmarketing materials. Thecutlery made its debut oncrowdfunding platform Kick-starter in October, and hassold more than 3,000 sets ata preorder price of $29 aset. They now retail for $45,he says.

Cliffset is now a sidehustle to a job Mr. Draketook in March at Too GoodTo Go, an app-based servicethat helps people buy sur-plus food that grocerystores, restaurants and bak-eries might discard. “With-out the added pressure ofmaking Cliffset my living, itshould remain a fun andcreative outlet,” he says. CL

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THEWALL STREET JOURNAL. Monday, May 17, 2021 | A15

ARTS IN REVIEW

Andover, Mass

Here on the groundsof the Phillips Acad-emy, while lookingat the two largeoutdoor installa-tions commissioned

for “Mel Kendrick: Seeing Thingsin Things,” an artist accompany-ing me picked up and gave me asmall, weathered tree branch.Shaped like a hand with out-stretched fingers, its “palm” wasdark and honey-colored and its“back” was bleached almostwhite. She was illustrating a pointabout the surprise and unpreten-tiousness of nature; and offeringit as a palate cleanser to thenearly 90 abstract sculptures,most carved out of wood, we hadjust seen in Mr. Kendrick’s retro-spective inside the Addison Gal-lery of American Art.

Born in Boston in 1949 and anAndover alumnus, Mr. Kendricklater studied with MinimalistsRobert Morris and Tony Smith.Despite the fact that he works pri-marily in wood, a substance he ev-idently values for the pure, ab-stract beauty of its naturalmaterial, rather than metal, he’soften described as a Minimalistbecause of the reductiveness ofhis forms and his zealous embraceof process.

Process is a muse Mr. Kendrickdoggedly pursues. And the evi-dence and range of his studiopractice take center stage at theAddison. It oftentimes involvesthe meeting of a large tree stumpwith an unruly chainsaw; or theapplication of understated pri-mary and secondary colors, ink,lamp black, graphite and plaster;or casting his carvings in amber-hued rubber; or photographingsmall, three-dimensional artworks

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FORACM built on pointed observations—are

well-exhibited in this winningly in-formal set, performed in what theydescribe as “round the campfire”style. Two songs, performed herein their original unadorned form,are familiar as orchestrated on re-cent Lambert albums—“Tin Man,”the Academy of Country Music’sSong of the Year for 2018, and

“Tequila Does,” the latter purethrowback honky-tonk. Another,“Two Step Down to Texas,” is rea-sonably raucous Western Swing,but most of the songs are contem-plative ballads.

Lead vocals are divided up, of-ten backed by harmony from theremaining two; Jon Randall doesmost of the guitar picking, with el-

egance and grace. Ifyou’ve only heardMiranda Lambert beltingin stadiums, the artful-ness of her vocals in themelodic opener “In HisArms,” and in “Ghost,” amore muted example ofher “so long, jerk” songs,will prove revealing. Thetrio clearly knows who’sright to handle a givencollaborative lyric. JackIngram’s near-spokensinging style is just rightfor “I Don’t Like It,”which spells out a set ofsimple preferences of aseasoned lover that wouldmake John Prine proud,and on “We’ll AlwaysHave the Blues,” with no-table Randall guitar andits memorable chorus

“We can’t have each other / Butwe’ll always have the blues.”

All three of these talents areheard to their best advantage inthese direct, production-free per-formances. That wasn’t inevitable;they’ve made it so.

Mr. Mazor reviews country androots music for the Journal.

BOUNDARY-CROSSING collabora-tions in roots music can producefresh and unexpected turns, asseen, for example, in such pairingsas Tim McGraw with Nelly, AaronNeville with Trisha Yearwood, andDolly Parton with assorted blue-grassers. Musical melding can alsodissolve the distance between sub-genres and redefine performers’limits—real or assumed—in en-lightening ways. That’s the casewith the new album “The MarfaTapes.”

“The Marfa Tapes” (Vanner Re-cords/Sony Music Nashville) findsTexas-raised singer-songwritersJack Ingram, Miranda Lambert andJon Randall performing 15 songsthey’d written together duringmultiple working retreats to thatTexas desert town turned artists’

colony. All three are com-monly pegged, quite re-ductively—Mr. Ingram asan alternative countrysinger, though he had abrief string of chart coun-try hits; Ms. Lambert asan unabashedly main-stream country star witha rock side, though she’salways worked at theedge of Americana bal-ladry; and Mr. Randall asa bluegrass-oriented gui-tar player in Emmylou Harris’sNash Ramblers band, though he’sproduced country stars’ albums(Dierks Bentley, Dwight Yoakam)and wrote “Whiskey Lullaby,” amodern classic in the field, withBill Anderson.

Their comfort working togetherand shared Lone Star musical sen-sibilities—lean yet varied, and

MUSIC REVIEW

‘TheMarfa Tapes’:Lone Star Trio

Jon Randall, Miranda Lambert and Jack Ingram performing in April

BY BARRY MAZOR

Installation view of the exhibitionfeaturing Mel Kendrick’s ‘Untitled’(2007), top; Mr. Kendrick’s ‘BigTree’ (1988), above

in black-and-white and blowing upthe negatives, like enormous X-rays; or making mural-size wood-block prints or cast paper “wood-block drawings,” which bridgeprintmaking and relief sculpture.Many of his works, such as a se-ries of “Black Oil” sculptures from1991-92, on view here, each beganas a wooden block, which was cutup into pieces, further altered andthen reassembled, “like a jigsawpuzzle,” Mr. Kendrick explains in a2019 interview, “but made bysomeone who doesn’t understandjigsaw puzzles, or who isn’t obey-ing the rules.”

It’s when he obeys somethingresembling rules, however, thatMr. Kendrick’s work is most clearand rewarding. It’s then that hisMinimalist sensibility wins overhis tendencies toward the fre-netic, crowded and baroque—artas jigsaw puzzle gone purpose-fully awry.

Sometimes, Mr. Kendrick’s pro-cess is fruitfully palpable. Midwaythrough this jam-packed exhibi-tion of more than 100 objects—thefirst survey dedicated to Mr. Ken-drick, who collaborated on theshow with curator and Addison in-terim director Allison Kemmerer—is a row of seven untitled mahog-any abstractions from 2007, alllined up diagonally like sentriesacross the gallery floor. Eachsculpture, about 32 inches tall andtinted Japanese red, is dividedinto two halves (upper and lower).One part (either top or bottom)has seemingly been carved out ofand removed from the other. Theartworks’ cutout, negative sec-tions have apparently, magicallyrematerialized as positive forms.They suggest sculptures onplinths, heads-and-busts or seatedfigures, but also nuts outside oftheir shells, or organs detachedfrom their hosts. There’s spare,Constructivist logic and familial

ART REVIEW

integrity at the heart of thissculptural idea—as well as sweetsatisfaction in the recognition ofthe interrelatedness and transpo-sition of top and bottom, insideand outside.

In other standout pieces, suchas the crude “Black Walnut WithLegs” (1986)—in which Mr. Kend-rick pays homage to ConstantinBrancusi’s first sculpture in wood,“Prodigal Son” (c. 1914-15), ablocky, nearly abstract figurativecarving in the Philadelphia Mu-seum of Art—primitive totem andfigure are subsumed into pure,powerful abstract form. Thesculpture’s “head,” “body” and“torso” interchange: “legs” be-come “neck”; “face” becomes“spine.” And in the blackened,equally totemic “Split Ebony”(1987), less than a foot tall, Mr.Kendrick beautifully contrasts andmelds rippling curves and smoothpolish with the sharp, chippedand roughhewn. And in “Tiny Redand Blue” (1983), forms paintedthose colors and resemblingstairs, waterfalls and plumage ex-pand and contract with accordion-like ease.

Too often, however, processdominates—as if Mr. Kendrick isconcerned more with how thesethings are made than with the fin-ished products. “Big Tree” (1988),a chopped up, carved and recon-figured massive tree trunk, nevertranscends its humble origins. The12-foot-tall by 5-foot-wide by 10-foot-long “Black Dots” (1989)—combining stacked blocks and oc-topus-like tendrils—is not acohesive sculpture but a whiplash-ing stockpile of discordant articu-lations. And a lot of the woodworks, comprising a body sup-ported by legs or flying buttresses(such as pipe), imply gangly fig-ures, potbelly stoves, space aliens,robotic models, giant hives andegg sacks—despite Mr. Kendrick’s

BY LANCE ESPLUND disavowal of their blatantly an-thropomorphic qualities. These“beings” can seem less like ab-stractions and more like obses-sions with carved, surface razzma-tazz and figurative contrapposto.Not much is gained when theseartworks, like “Big Daddy Fun/Second Version” (1995), are thencast in rubber, propped up furtherwith 2-by-4 blocks and displayedin pairs.

“Seeing Things in Things” es-tablishes that Mr. Kendrick enter-tains a multitude of fertile, sculp-tural ideas. The artist who handedme that piece of tree branch was

inspired by Mr. Kendrick’s “7From 7” (2000)—an intriguingpairing of two much larger, hand-shaped wooden sculptures: one,fabricated; one, though altered,found. If not for this exhibition,she admittedly would not haveseen the hand in the branch—thething in the thing. Unfortunately,this show offers a few ideas toomany and is so congested you canhardly navigate the galleries. Itwould benefit greatly from somejudicious whittling.

Mel Kendrick: Seeing Things inThingsAddison Gallery of American Art,through Oct. 3

Mr. Esplund, the author of “TheArt of Looking: How to Read Mod-ern and Contemporary Art” (BasicBooks), writes about art for theJournal.

SculptorMel KendrickappliesMinimalistsensibilities to mostlynatural materials.

AShowThat Puts ProcessOver Product

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A16 | Monday, May 17, 2021 THEWALL STREET JOURNAL.

WeatherShown are today’s noon positions of weather systems and precipitation. Temperature bands are highs for the day.

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Amsterdam 57 46 sh 56 46 tAthens 79 65 s 84 64 sBaghdad 109 76 pc 104 75 pcBangkok 95 82 t 94 81 tBeijing 87 55 s 89 59 pcBerlin 62 49 t 62 47 tBrussels 59 47 t 58 45 tBuenos Aires 63 51 pc 61 53 sDubai 101 81 s 102 83 sDublin 57 39 t 57 39 tEdinburgh 57 42 t 58 42 pc

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DIMVIEW | By Jennifer NuttAcross1 Japanesebuckwheatnoodle

5 Soapy stuff9 Colorful part ofthe eye

13 Pack tight14 When Macbeth

stabs Duncan15 Kennedy Space

Center org.16 Unctuous17 Vague idea19 Stick up20 Instant

Messenger co.21 Like a rescued

castaway,perhaps

22 It’s neither sunnynor wet

26 Free from

28 Took testimonyfrom

29 ___-Caps(theater candy)

30 Wrapping paperfastener

31 Egyptian serpent33 Burst of wind36 Senator Cruz37 The difference

between ethicaland unethical,sometimes

40 Org. that screensluggage

42 Hotel amenity43 ___ Speedwagon

(“Can’t Fight ThisFeeling” band)

44 Hangs out to dry46 Hawaii’s

Mauna ___48 Attire

52 Accumulated,as debt

54 Numbers thatdon’t makesense, incampaign-speak

56 Holding highethical standards

58 Casual top59 Salty expanse60 What might be

needed to clearup this puzzle?

63 Lustrous fabric64 Archipelago piece65 Religious

pamphlet66 Vogue rival67 Reduced amount68 Uses a straw69 Companion of

magenta, yellowand black

TheWSJ Daily Crossword | Edited by Mike Shenk

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12

13 14 15

16 17 18

19 20 21

22 23 24 25 26 27

28 29 30

31 32 33 34 35 36

37 38 39

40 41 42 43

44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51

52 53 54 55

56 57 58 59

60 61 62 63

64 65 66

67 68 69

s

Solve this puzzle online and discuss it atWSJ.com/Puzzles.

Down1 Commit anironing error

2 Baltimoreballplayer

3 Panama explorer4 Comic Schumer5 Burns with liquid6 Pennsylvania-based chip brand

7 Craft projecttype, for short

8 Join the glee club9 Understandinstinctively

10 Schedulingalternative

11 Carbon-14, forone

12 ___ Francisco14 Call from a crew

member18 Propeller for a

crewmember20 Makes sense23 Russia’s ___

Mountains24 “On the Pulse of

Morning” poet25 “I thought ___

never ask!”

27 Nourished32 Old hand34 Camera type, for

short35 1960s fabric fad37 They may nest

above haylofts38 Massage deeply39 Standard40 Road crew’s goo41 Blue-eyed cat45 Electrical spikes47 Montezuma’s

people49 Without fuss or

muss50 Stanley’s wife in

“A StreetcarNamed Desire”

51 Rattled53 Buddy55 Citrus peel used

as flavoring57 Back muscles,

familiarly60 Zero, in a soccer

score61 ___ Lanka62 Tree’s “blood”63 Jiffy

Previous Puzzle’s Solution

The contest answer is MEANDERS. Each of thestarred answers consists of letters that suggestdirections:North, East, South,West, Left, Right, Upand Down. By starting at the M in square 1 (assuggested by 13-Down) and moving box by box asindicated by the directional letters, each starredanswer leads you to a subsequent letter of thecontest answer.

M A N A C L E M E G A T O NO D O R O U S A L L G O N ED R S E U S S S L U R R E DE Y E G T E K I T E

S A E N S P E E K SA B S U R D E M S S A C KR E E D S K N E E M O IA L A S D R E S S H A L OB L T R I C A W E L D SS E A T A S A D A M A S K

S C A R F S H A K OR I T E E R E E G O

D R E S D E N D E N U D E DE N G A G E D E M E R G E DB A G L E S S R E D N E S S

Dane Murphy knows that therehave been better times to be anAmerican working in English soc-cer.

As the chief executive of sec-ond-tier Barnsley FC, he has seenall around him in recent weekshow out of touch investors fromacross the Atlantic can be when itcomes to running these local insti-tutions. The fan protests followingtheir proposals for a European Su-per League made the point.

But on the ground in SouthYorkshire, he and Barnsley’s Amer-ican backers have been playing along game. Rather than running ajuggernaut, they’re working withone of the smallest budgets in thedivision at a team that has spentall of one season in the top tier inits 134-year history.

If the club manages to secure asecond through the Championshipplayoffs, which begin on Monday,it will be down to one of the moreradical squad-building experimentsthat English soccer has ever seen.With an approach based on a pairof high-performing algorithms,Barnsley is one of the rare teamsin Europe to earn more fromplayer trading than it spends. Itsroster has just four players over25.

And when Billy Beane, the datarevolutionary who turned aroundthe Oakland A’s in the early 2000s,happens to be one of the club’s si-lent owners, Murphy knows whatpeople are going to call his proj-ect.

“If it’s using data to cut awaythe fat, cut out the white noise, inour approach to the financialmodel and the recruiting model,then yes, it is Moneyball,” Murphysays. “But the nuances of it, ofcourse, are different.”

As richer clubs than Barnsleyhave discovered, philosophy is of-ten a luxury. Teams want to play acertain way, only to blow up theplan for something more prag-matic once things start to gowrong. The existential threat ofrelegation—and the financial tur-moil it causes inside a club—issimply too great.

“There are so many differentways the bottom can fall out,” saysMurphy, who has had a front-rowseat to the dramatic bankruptciesof clubs in the North of England,like Bury and Bolton in recentyears.

So he knows that English soc-cer’s second-tier might just be themost stressful division in sports.At one end, the 46-game grind canopen the door to the promisedland of the Premier League, withthe nine-figure cash rewards justfor showing up. At the other, is atrapdoor into lower leagues and afinancial insecurity that few own-ers ever recover from.

It also brings together a rangeof clubs with vastly different re-

sources. And in a sport where fewthings correlate more closely withleague position than payroll, Barn-sley should have no business fight-ing for promotion to the PremierLeague.

Teams who have recently spenttime in the top tier—and devel-oped a taste for the high life—arestill paying players in the neigh-borhood of £100,000 ($141,000) aweek, Murphy said. There arestarters at Barnsley, meanwhile, onless than 2% of that, at £1,500 aweek. The entire roster costs con-siderably under $10 million a sea-son. Only Wycombe Wanderers areoperating with less in the Champi-onship, as the second tier isknown.

“The stratosphere that some ofthese guys are in financially, wecan’t ever wish to get close to,”Murphy added. “Our approach atthe club has to be completely dif-ferent from the norm, or elsethere’s no chance we can com-pete.”

If that sounds familiar for a soc-cer team in the post-Moneyballera, it’s because so many havetried and failed. Liverpool’s Ameri-can owners, for instance, had ar-rived in England in 2010 hoping toapply Beane’s principles andlearned the hard way that majorsuccess also happened to requirepiles of money.

The difference is that Barnsleywas prepared to absorb the badtimes. By imposing a rigid finan-cial structure on itself, it set outto guarantee above else that the

club continued existing. Every-thing else could come later.

Selling that to the fans can becomplicated. Especially when youtry to explain that the Barnsleyventure is part of a larger, pan-Eu-ropean plan with the strings beingpulled from across the Atlantic.The team belongs to a consortiumput together by the Chinese-Amer-ican businessman Chien Lee andhis company Pacific Media Group,who have put together a portfolio

of clubs across five countries.Unlike the huge soccer multina-

tionals led by Manchester City andRed Bull, who believe their rivalsare Disney and Amazon ratherthan other soccer teams, PMG fo-cuses on much more modest out-fits. Those clubs are in Esbjerg inDenmark, Nancy in France, Oost-ende in Belgium, and Thun inSwitzerland. Barnsley—population240,000—is twice as big as any ofthem.

“It’s quite a socialist area. Sooverseas capitalists coming in andtaking over your club, it doesn’treally fit with the ethos,” says Si-mon Biltcliffe, chairman of theBarnsley-affiliated charity calledReds in the Community, of hishometown in Britain’s historiccoal-mining country. “But it is afact of life.”

Biltcliffe and others, however,have been pleasantly surprised.Barnsley’s approach has deliveredthem a young, hungry team undermanagers they’ve never heard of,and their highest league finish thiscentury. And they’ve learned thateverything starts with the two al-gorithms that are transformingtheir club.

One was developed by the sonof the former owner over thecourse of the past four years. Theother comes from Beane’s consult-ing group, which serves an advi-sory role. Both are closely guarded—Barnsley’s entire economicmodel depends on it. (Beane didn’trespond to a request for com-ment.)

That’s how Barnsley knew thatthey were onto something whenMurphy learned that a kid he hadwatched at his alma mater, theUniversity of Virginia, might beavailable midway through the sea-son. Just 20 years old, Daryl Dikefit closely enough with Barnsley’smodeling that the club felt hemight just have what it takes toleap from Orlando City in MajorLeague Soccer to the rough-and-tumble Championship.

After a last-minute loan deal,Dike boarded a flight to the U.K.for the first time in his life mid-way through the season. As itturned out, Dike was precisely thepiece Barnsley’s hard-running, al-ways suffocating approach hadbeen missing. The team doesn’tbuild around keeping the ball—itranked 17th in the Championshipin possession this year—but fo-cuses instead on forcing turnovershigh up the field and capitalizingon mistakes.

When Dike arrived, Barnsleyhad been in 12th place. Nineteengames and nine goals later, theclub was in fifth with a berth inthe playoffs.

“We’ve climbed the table andwe have momentum because ofour style of play,” Dike said. “Be-ing able to stress opponents. Beingable to play a constant press.”

Which certainly beats whereBarnsley was this time last year.The club escaped relegation fromthe Championship with a 91st min-ute goal on the final day of theseason. Barnsley breathed a collec-tive sigh of relief when they weresaved, but Murphy and the fansnow understand that those mo-ments come with the experiment.

“If you try to tiptoe around thehard truths,” Murphy says,“they’re going to see right throughyou.”

BY JOSHUA ROBINSON

AMoneyball Experiment in SoccerWith the second-lowest payroll in England’s second tier, Barnsley FC is hoping to reach the Premier League

If Barnsley FC manages to win promotion to the Premier League, it would be one of the more radical squad-buildingexperiments that English soccer has ever seen. Baseball executive Billy Beane, below, is one of the club’s owners.

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THEWALL STREET JOURNAL. Monday, May 17, 2021 | A17

Washington’sMarbleheadersThe IndispensablesBy Patrick K. O’Donnell(Atlantic Monthly, 415 pages, $28)

BOOKSHELF | By Mark G. Spencer

Facebook’s ‘Fact Checks’ Suppress Debate

T his paper publishedMark Mills’s review of“Unsettled,”my book on

climate science, on April 25.Eight days later, 11 self-ap-pointed “fact checkers”weighed in with a 4,500-wordcritique on the website Cli-mateFeedback.org. Facebook iswaving that fact check as a gi-ant red flag whenever the re-view appears in anyone’s feed.

By branding Mr. Mills’s re-view with “very low scientificcredibility,” the company di-rects its billions of users to awebsite that claims to dis-credit the review and, by di-rect implication, my book. Thisaction adds to the growingsuppression of open discussionof climate complexities.

ClimateFeedback bills itselfas “a worldwide network ofscientists sorting fact from fic-tion in climate change mediacoverage.” Its modus operandiis to label necessarily brief me-dia statements as misleading

or inaccurate, often becausethey lack context. While ac-knowledging that “global cropyields are rising,” for instance,they add the untestable claimthat yields might have beengreater absent human-causedclimate change. The gang ofenforcers who “fact checked”Mr. Mills’s review includedprofessors from Stanford,UCLA and MIT.

The oddest element of Face-book’s action is that the “factcheck” doesn’t challenge any-thing I wrote in “Unsettled,”but rather provides “context”for Mr. Mills’s statements.

The “fact checkers’ ” moti-vation is apparent in their crit-icism of a statement about ex-

treme weather events. Two ofthree fact-checking contribu-tors, Daniel Swain and AndreasPrein, acknowledge that “tor-nado frequency and severityare also not trending up; norare the number and severity ofdroughts,” and go on to ex-plain why it might not be truein the future, as I do in “Unset-tled.” Highlighting the absenceof global trends in most typesof severe weather is a rebuttalof the widespread claim thatthe climate is “broken.” Butanother contributor, KerryEmanuel, an MIT professorwho hasn’t read my book, dis-approves of the statement be-cause “it sets up a strawman”to disparage climate predic-tions. It seems Mr. Emanuelwould allow media to discussonly deleterious climatetrends.

Thoughtful challenge anddialogue are the most powerfulways that science gets closerto truth. But Facebook’s “factcheckers” criticized what theyimagined I wrote based on a

900-word review, rather thanwhat I did write in a book ofmore than 75,000 words.They’re no better than trollswho pan political adversaries’books on Amazon withoutbothering to read them. It’snot the behavior of serious sci-entists, and it demonstratesthe need for a book like “Un-settled.”

Wise responses to thechanging climate require thatwe get the unfiltered certain-ties and uncertainties of cli-mate science into the publicdialogue. As most fair-minded people will discover,there is far more unsettled inthe official United Nationsand U.S. government reportsthan we have been led to be-lieve. It doesn’t help to haveFacebook spreading disinfor-mation under the guise of“fact checking.”

Mr. Koonin is author of“Unsettled: What Climate Sci-ence Tells Us, What It Doesn’t,and Why It Matters.”

By Steven E. Koonin

The social-media siteseeks to discredit areview of my bookon climate science.

OPINION

T he military historian Patrick O’Donnell is known forhis books on 20th-century elite units, including“First SEALs.” In “The Indispensables,” his second

foray into the American Revolution, he does for thesoldier-mariners of Marblehead, Mass., what he earlieraccomplished for the Continental Army’s First MarylandRegiment in “Washington’s Immortals.” Readers who haveenjoyed Mr. O’Donnell’s earlier books will not be disap-pointed with this one, his 12th.

The climax of Mr. O’Donnell’s novel-like account unfoldson Christmas night, 1776, when the “weathered, salty” menof the Marblehead Regiment—many of them veterans ofthe French and Indian War—rowed George Washington,his 2,400 troops and their artillery across the “fast-flowing, ice chunk-filled” Delaware River. By facilitatingthe Continental Army’s surprise attack on Hessian andBritish forces at Trenton, N.J., they turned the tide ofthe war. Washington is typically the focal point of that

momentous scene, as he isin Emanuel Leutze’s painting“Washington Crossing theDelaware.” But Mr.O’Donnell’s gaze remainsfixed on the valiant men whodelivered him.

The author begins theirstory on the Atlantic Oceanin 1769, off Massachussetts’Cape Ann, where the RoyalNavy has stopped the PittPacket. Boarding the Marble-head-based brig under pretenseof searching for contraband, aBritish press-gang is instead

intent on kidnapping colonistsand compelling them into service for Britain. The Americansailors are not fooled. Mayhem ensues. One of theMarbleheaders, Michael Corbett, hurls “his harpoon withthe practiced skill of an experience mariner,” impalingand instantly killing Henry Panton, a British lieutenant.Corbett, writes Mr. O’Donnell, was one of the first to offer“deadly defiance against the Crown.” He epitomizes thesea-hardened men of Marblehead.

Not all Marbleheaders were as obscure as Corbett.Elbridge Gerry, an “ardent abolitionist” and the“intellectual mainspring behind Marblehead’s revolutionarymovement,” signed the Declaration of Independence andlater became vice president under James Madison. (Todayhe is remembered mostly for the term “gerrymandering.”)John Glover, “short, scrappy, and tenacious,” wascommander of the Marblehead Regiment and instrumentalin forming Washington’s navy. Capt. John Manley—whocaptured the British brigantine Nancy, one of the war’sgreatest prize ships—was celebrated in prose and song.Caleb Gibbs led Washington’s Life Guard, “a small, hand-picked, elite unit.” Nor were those associated withMarblehead all revolutionaries. We also meet thetreacherous Dr. Benjamin Church, whose mistress lived inMarblehead, and the loyalist Ashley Bowen, a Marbleheadsail-rigger and “prolific diarist” of the Revolution.

Some of the events in this history are not well known.The Redcoat seizure of gunpowder from the magazine onQuarry Hill, in present-day Somerville, Mass., in September1774, for instance, led to the “forgotten first shots of theRevolutionary War,” fired when Marbleheaders stormedFort William and Mary to get the powder back. Battles atLexington, Concord and Bunker Hill are more famous, as isthe siege of Boston and, later, the battles of Brooklyn,Trenton and Princeton. But even when retelling thoserenowned encounters, Mr. O’Donnell remains focused onthe men of Marblehead, whose actions often decidedoutcomes.

Mr. O’Donnell draws upon a variety of primary sources:diaries, letters, orderly books, manuscripts and periodnewspapers. Secondary sources, old and new, are scouredfor apt quotation. Often Mr. O’Donnell draws comparisonswith more recent times. His Marbleheaders operate“SEAL-like.” Their evacuation of the Continental Armyout of Brooklyn and across the East River in August 1776was a “miraculous American Dunkirk.” And Washington’sLife Guard was “a precursor to the Secret Service.”“The Indispensables,” he tells us, is a “ ‘Band of Brothers’-style history.”

Mr. O’Donnell’s prose is efficient. The book’s 40 snappychapters complement his fast-paced writing. He is at hisbest when it comes to warfare and its apparatus, on landand at sea. Maps help situate the action, as does additionalcontext, such as what we learn about gunpowder: itshistory, ingredients (sulfur, charcoal, saltpeter), scarcity(“the Achilles’ heel of the army”) and procurement(sometimes, aboard Marblehead’s ships, from theCaribbean and Spain), how to load it into muskets, andhow much of it cannons, of various sizes, devoured.

Outside the theater of war, occasional inconsistenciesand minor errors creep in. Too many are labeled“Renaissance men” (Loammi Baldwin, Benjamin Church,Joseph Warren), whose 18th-century interests are betterdescribed as enlightened—indeed, any discussion of thePatriots’ intellectual concerns in the book is perfunctory.The Sugar Act was passed in 1764, not 1765 (the year ofthe Stamp Act). Still, those seeking a detailed, reliableaccount of the War for American Independence’s earliestyears—one that embraces its nautical dimensions—willfind it here.

“The Indispensables” shows that the ardent men of theMarblehead Regiment were the diverse soldier-marinerswho not only rowed Washington across the Delaware but“saved the Continental Army multiple times.” In 1903 theBritish historian George Trevelyan wrote of them: “It maybe doubted whether so small a number of men everemployed so short a space of time with greater or morelasting results upon the history of the world.” Many ofthem, Mr. O’Donnell reminds us, “fought for no monetarygain and became broken men” in the process. But theseindispensable men from Marblehead “enabled the birthof a new country” and “serve as a shining example forfuture generations.”

Mr. Spencer, a professor of history at Brock University, isthe author of “David Hume and Eighteenth-Century America.”

The men of the Marblehead Regiment rowedWashington across the Delaware and ‘savedthe Continental Army multiple times.’

At first Ithought it wasa joke. I stilldo. A coupleof years ago,there was astir aroundA a r o nBastani’s book“Fully Auto-mated LuxuryC o m m u -

nism.” It’s a manifesto for the“postwork” movement. Tech-nology will “liberate us fromwork” and automation is “thepath to a world of liberty, lux-ury and happiness—for every-one,” the book advertises. Cuerainbow-belching unicorns.The Atlantic wrote that “thevision is compelling.” The NewYork Times helped promote it.And it sure feels like the Bidenadministration is trying to im-plement it. Naturally, it’s com-plete baloney.

The idea isn’t even original.It’s the plot of the 2008 Pixar-Disney animation “WALL-E”:Tubby humans in personalmobility vehicles leavingplanet Earth on a luxuryspaceship as robots likeWALL-E clean up the indus-trial wasteland. Kid-friendlypropaganda.

Collectivist visions (Cuba,“infrastructure” bills) fail inreal life for one reason: Theyignore productivity. Karl Marxwas ignorant that capital andtechnology could increase liv-ing standards for everyone, in-cluding workers. His shallow“immiseration thesis” missedthat productivity drives soci-ety to make obsolete certainlow-end work as more jobsmove to a higher intellectual

Automated Luxury Communism?plane. Even night-school econ-omists know that productivityis the only path out of poverty.

Plus, as economies shift to-ward services, workers them-selves, via human capital, be-come owners of the means oftheir own production. EvenLord Keynes fell for the ruse90 years ago, envisioning a 15-hour workweek. But there isalways, always something elseto invent—like mRNA vac-cines—to improve society’sliving standards.

Fully automated luxurycommunism is a joke, butmaybe over the past yearwe’ve experienced a versionof partly automated luxurycommunism. Think about it.Many Americans stayed homein their comfy chairs. Weworked, schooled, exercisedand entertained via a tele-screen that, as George Orwellimagined, “could be dimmed,but there was no way of shut-ting it off completely.” Ama-zon primed our doorsteps.Instacart delivered groceries.Cities became ghost towns.Governments justified spend-ing willy-nilly with crackpotideas like Modern MonetaryTheory.

Coyotes came back to SanFrancisco, and U.S. carbon-di-oxide emissions dropped 12%in 2020. For climate-changecontrol freaks, this is a dreamworld—a Green New Deal de-light—and they’ll do anythingto re-create these conditions.Wait for the headline: “BadCO2 Day, Lockdowns En-forced.”

The Biden administration isassembling the pieces for thisprogressive paradise. A $15

minimum wage means WALL-E and robots everywhere takeover for service workers—$4an hour to operate 24/7, andthey won’t complain aboutrude bosses.

No job? No worries! Stimu-lus checks, extended unem-ployment (juiced by $300 aweek from Washington) andmonthly child-care payments

are here, saying, “Stay home,we got you covered”—April’sdisastrous jobs report provedthat. These are gateway drugsto a universal basic income.Higher taxes will follow. It isalmost as if the safety net,which exists to break the fallof those in need, is morphinginto a cradle-to-grave cage.We know how this ends: witheveryone in poverty, not lux-ury.

The signs are everywhere.Barely any humans are neededto operate renewables such aswind and solar, unlike mines,oil refineries and hydraulicfracking. Note: Humans areneeded to push your Teslawhen windmills freeze.

Burnt-cardboard-tastingplant-based “meat” and low-protein oat milk (wait, youcan milk oats?) are inferior tothe real thing. But they’repushed on us anyway becauserobots can grow plants easilywithout herding methane-

spewing cattle. More likeherding humans. There’s evenbeeless synthetic honey.Maybe the plan is to use allthese planty foodstuffs as in-puts to 3D-printed food mak-ers, like in the 1962 cartoon“The Jetsons.” Still, it seemsas if less choice, not more, iscoming.

It’s a classic power grab.Those in charge will make thedecisions. The allegedly“healthy” or “green” optionsoon becomes the only option.There might be “equity” but,as always, some will be moreequal than others. See NewYork Gov. Andrew Cuomo’spolitical-payoff vaccine distri-bution. Self-governance? Howquaint. Each loss of personalfreedom will be hard to re-verse. I fear that fully auto-mated luxury communism willbe Groundhog Day-like visitsto the DMV—“equal sharing ofmisery,” as Churchill definedsocialism.

But wait, even George Jet-son worked, at Spacely SpaceSprockets. Maybe it’s becausepostwork, like postcapitalism(and Post Malone for thatmatter) sounds enticing butyou never get there. There’salways more to do: anothervaccine model to create, an-other set of genes to Crispr,more quantum-computing re-search. It’s never over. Thereis no declaration of victory,not to fully automated luxurycommunism or a Marxistworkers’ paradise. Instead,we’re on capitalism’s never-ending climb toward a con-sumer paradise. But you’vegot to work for it.

Write to kessler@wsj.com.

Even when consumerparadise seems near,there’s always morework to be done.

INSIDEVIEWBy AndyKessler

American pro-g r e s s i v e swant to doaway with theElectoral Col-lege. They sayit’s undemo-cratic becausea candidatewho gets themost electoralvotes can win

the presidency without win-ning the most votes cast bycitizens.

Yet the genius of the U.S.political system is that it putsthe brakes on both majoritari-anism and the concentrationof power. The Electoral Col-lege doesn’t eliminate suchrisks to domestic peace, but ittempers them.

To view presidential sys-tems without the mitigatingeffects of the Electoral Col-lege, see Latin America, wherepresidents are chosen by pop-ular vote. While the first-past-the-post rule can’t fully ex-plain the failure of democracyto deliver stability and growthin the region, it’s surely partof the puzzle.

Latin political instability israging again. The latest real-time horror show is in Colom-bia, where violence has surgedsince the government’s lateApril announcement of its in-tention to raise taxes on themiddle class. Guerrillas andpro-Venezuela thugs have usedthe popular backlash againstthe tax reform to block roads,vandalize property and battlewith police. Similar terrorismtook place in Chile in 2019. Inthat case, too, the perpetrators

Electoral College Lessons for Latinswho unleashed the chaos andsavagery were trained anticap-italists with the single-mindedgoal of destruction.

Majorities in both countriesreject this extremism. Yet theassault on the establishmentseems to be working. Demo-cratic capitalism is teetering inboth countries as the politicalclass cedes ground to social-ists who reject property rightsand the rule of law. In Peru ahard-left presidential candi-date leads in the polls—thoughnow narrowly—ahead of aJune 6 runoff election.

Why does Latin Americaseem stuck in a perennial loopof poverty and authoritarian-ism? One reason is that “de-mocracy,” as defined by a tripto the polls every few years,doesn’t deliver.

In most of Latin Americaenormous power is vested inthe executive. Yet the officecan be won at the ballot boxby a candidate who ignoreslarge parts of the country.The resulting neglect fuelsdiscontent.

The genius of the AmericanElectoral College is how it en-sures that less densely popu-lated states play a role inchoosing the president. Wewill never know what wouldhave happened if Hillary Clin-ton had campaigned in Wis-consin in 2016. But withoutthe Electoral College, therewould be no need to stumparound the country.

Data complied by the Van-couver, British Columbia-based Fraser Institute usingU.S. election results find thatunder a simple majority vote,

Joe Biden could have won the2020 race by taking only 193counties or equivalent juris-dictions—or 6.1% of the 3,155county-equivalents—in 40states plus the District of Co-lumbia.

A mere 16 of the 40 states,plus the capital, contain 146, or75.6%, of those 193 county-equivalents. “It’s clear the na-tional presidential electionwould largely be fought inthese 16 states,” Fraser’s Jason

Clemens told me. “That meansthe remaining states would bemuch less important and insome cases irrelevant for a na-tional presidential election.”While it is true that a smallnumber of swing states decideU.S. presidential elections,population alone does not dic-tate their importance.

Canada, which has a parlia-mentary system, also guardsagainst rule by a narrow num-ber of geographic areas. Ap-portionment of seats isn’tstrictly tied to population.This attempt to level the play-ing field somewhat is aimed atnational unity. Without it, Mr.Clemens says, “a party couldtheoretically win a nationalelection by courting majormetropolitan areas in Ontario,Quebec and British Columbiawhile ignoring much of the

rest of the country.”Chile—even with newly

elected regional governors—Colombia and Peru are unitarystates with strong central gov-ernments. It is no coincidencethat another commonalityamong them is that areas out-side the capital and a few bigcities are too often forsaken.

Brazil, Mexico and Argen-tina are nominally federalstates. But they also sufferfrom a geographic concentra-tion of voters in a majority-rules system. The Argentinepresidency is won or lost inthe heavily populated suburbsof Buenos Aires. Reformers inMexico have tried to decentral-ize power. But since the presi-dent is chosen by popular voteand the Senate doesn’t partici-pate in budget appropriations,low-population states arepoorly represented.

Brazil has an influentialSenate, known to check the ex-ecutive, and powerful gover-nors. But presidential candi-dates can and do ignoreregions that are unlikely toproduce the numbers theyneed to win. In 2018 Jair Bol-sonaro and Fernando Haddadadvanced to the runoff with-out having visited 12 of Bra-zil’s 26 states. When the exec-utive has the luxury of writingoff a state, it strengthens thehand of local political bosses—and this, too, undermines de-mocracy.

The Latin American lessonis that the Electoral Collegemakes democracy more repre-sentative, not less. Tearing itdown would be a mistake.

Write to O’Grady@wsj.com.

Instability is ragingagain, due in part tolimited checks onexecutive power.

AMERICASBy MaryAnastasiaO’Grady

P2JW137000-0-A01700-1--------XA

A18 | Monday, May 17, 2021 THEWALL STREET JOURNAL.

Vaccine Patent-Taking Move Is a Big MistakeRegarding your editorial “Biden’s

Vaccine IP Debacle” (May 7) on thedamage President Biden’s Covid IPgiveaway is going to cause makes mewonder where the CEOs of these com-panies are and why they aren’t lead-ing the charge instead of leaving it tothe Journal? Is this another exampleof spineless, “woke” CEOs trying toburnish their social-warrior creden-tials at the expense of their compa-nies and shareholders? As a share-holder in many of these companies,I’m appalled at the lack of action.

KIRK SCHLUPLiberty Township, Ohio

I draw your attention to Article 1,Section 8, Clause 8 of our Constitu-tion. For nearly 30 years, I assistedmy employer in its efforts to protectits intellectual property from nationsand individuals who hold no respectfor others’ ideas. In every non-court-room fight in which we engaged, Icould always depend on the local U.S.embassy or consulate to have ourback, as they did for other companies,large and small. The president’s“waiver” will be seen as a dooropener for every nation across theglobe to ignore America’s protectionof innovation, and as a slap in theface to every American who securedsuch protections for their ideas andwho depends on the U.S. government,and our president, to abide by Article1, Section 8, Clause 8 of our Constitu-tion.

Most Americans have no idea howmuch of a kick in the teeth PresidentBiden’s action is to America’s innova-tors and the future of innovation inAmerica.

MIKE LYNCHRolling Meadows, Ill.

Matthew Lesh blames “stakeholdercapitalism” for the Oxford vaccine de-bacle, but the real question is how ac-ademic scientists became stakehold-ers in the first place (“‘StakeholderCapitalism’ Caused the Oxford Vac-cine Debacle,” op-ed, May 6). Lawyerslike to say that the purpose of patentsis to “reward inventors,” but that’sonly true when the inventor is self-employed. The rest of the time the re-ward should, and usually does, go tothe investors who make the work pos-sible.

The puzzle has always been whatto do when the funders are taxpayers.The old rule was to put government-funded discoveries in the public do-main so that industry could find thebest candidates and develop them

further. But that changed after Con-gress passed the Bayh-Dole Act in1980, and other countries followedsuit. Then professors could own theirdiscoveries. The reason wasn’t, uni-versity lobbyists insisted, to rewardacademics—they had been paid oncealready—but to encourage them tofind commercial partners for discov-eries that industry had overlooked.

This was always a doubtful argu-ment. Does business really need pro-fessors to point out worthwhile dis-coveries?

STEPHEN M. MAURERAdj. Em. Prof. of Public Policy

University of California, Berkeley

After suspending patents so thatvaccines can be made in Malaysia,Bangladesh, Vietnam, etc., this admin-istration will require that the plantsproducing them be powered by “re-newables,” pay a “living wage” to allemployees and give away the productto “underserved” communities.

MICHAEL H. LEBPasadena, Calif.

The government can’t “waive” vac-cine IP rights—only the owners cando that. When the government triesto take away property rights, the cor-rect word is “confiscate.”

It is going to be very difficult forthe U.S. government to object toChina stealing intellectual propertywhen the U.S. government is stealingintellectual property too.

PAUL KONINGNew Boston, N.H.

When American companies are re-quired to give up their patent rights,who will provide the technology tocounter the new variants of the virus?Will China share its research with us?

TED BOND SR.Libertyville, Ill.

If, as I am led to believe, every-thing from airspace, land and con-tract rights, including intellectualproperty, is subject to eminent do-main, why is President Biden talkingabout a waiver of IP rights? Shouldn’the be moving toward a governmentpurchase of patent rights for fairvalue after which the U.S., as owner,would coordinate world-wide distri-bution? The government could re-cover money paid by insurers or in-ternational health organizations, andpossibly, over time, could even makea profit.

SHELDON I. SAITLINChicago

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

“Let’s take a quick breakto make sure our phones arewhere we think they are.”

THEWALL STREET JOURNAL

Letters intended for publication shouldbe emailed to wsj.ltrs@wsj.com. Pleaseinclude your city, state and telephonenumber. All letters are subject toediting, and unpublished letters cannotbe acknowledged.

Democrats Have a ChangedView of American Dream

Not only has the DemocraticParty “given up on the Americandream,” as Daniel Henninger writes(“Killing the American Dream,”Wonder Land, May 6), it haschanged the type of American itrepresents. In 1962 President JohnKennedy introduced a plan that in-cluded tax cuts for individuals andcorporations on the belief that itwould stimulate economic growth.In 1996 President Bill Clinton ful-filled his promise to “end welfare aswe know it” by signing legislationdesigned to increase labor-force par-ticipation. Both plans helped to en-courage work over sloth.

Nowadays, Democrats seem fo-cused instead on providing a perma-nent security blanket for those whowould rather stay at home. TheDemocratic Party used to representthe “working man.” Today, it repre-sents the couch potato.

STEVE KLOUDASugar Grove, Ill.

Israel, Hamas, Iran and Biden

A s the latest war between Hamas and Is-rael enters its second week, the narra-tive is following a familiar script.

Hamas fires rockets at Israelicities, Israel retaliates bybombing the source of therockets in Gaza, Hamas playsup the civilian casualties, andthe world leans on Israel tostop defending itself.

Let’s hope this isn’t the trap the Biden Ad-ministration falls into as the fighting contin-ues. So far the White House has supported Is-rael’s right to self-defense. But the weekendbombing of a building in Gaza that housed me-dia offices, including reporters from the Asso-ciated Press and Al Jazeera, has led to cries ofoutrage and an admonition from the State De-partment to Israel about protecting journalistsin combat zones.

But who’s really endangering the journal-ists? Israel’s government says the multistorybuilding was also used by Hamas for intelli-gence purposes. AP says it had no knowledgeof this, but this wasn’t the National Press ClubinWashington, D.C. Using civilians and journal-ists as shields is a common Hamas tactic, andHamas isn’t likely to have shared its plans withWestern journalists.

Israel also warned the journalists and othersin the building to clear out an hour before theattack. They did and there are no reports of ca-sualties. This also let Hamas’s militants escape,but it shows how far Israel has gone in this con-flict to avoid killing civilians. Inevitably therewill be mistakes in war, and civilians will die,but it’s remarkable how discriminating Israel’stargeting has been.

The truth to keep in mind is that this con-flict was started by Hamas and another radicaloutfit, Islamic Jihad. They are attempting tokill Israeli civilians with rockets supplied byIran, or manufactured in Gaza with parts sup-plied by Iran. Hamas’s rocket arsenal is largerand more sophisticated than ever, and the Is-rael Defense Forces said that as of Sunday theIslamists had fired some 3,000 rockets into Is-rael. The miracle is that more Israelis haven’tdied, and that’s due in large part to Israel’s IronDome missile-defense system.

Once Hamas starts one of these rocket of-fensives, Israel has an obligation to its ownpeople to degrade the threat. This means at-

tacking the underground tun-nels where the weapons aremade and stored. Israel wantsto avoid a ground incursion,which would escalate the ca-sualties on both sides, butthat means its aerial assault

needs to be aggressive and last long enoughto do the job.

This is a political andmilitary judgment forthe Israeli government tomake. PrimeMinisterBenjamin Netanyahu and his ministers are wellaware that the diplomatic costs rise each daythat bombing continues. But they can hardlystop as long as the rockets keep coming.

One of Iran’s obvious goals in encouragingHamas’s rocket offensive is to blow up lastyear’s Abraham Accords between Israel andseveral Arab states. The accords were the bestopening for Jewish-Arab peace in decades, andthey created a potential united front againstIran’s designs for regional dominance.

They also removed the intractable Israeli-Palestinian conflict from the center of MiddleEastern politics and as the main obstacle tolarger regional cooperation. The Palestinianswere forced to consider a new reality thatmight cause them to rethink their refusal to ac-cept a reasonable two-state solution. But withthe Trump Administration that midwifed theAbraham Accords gone, Hamas and Iran see achance to return to the trend of the Obamayears when U.S.-Israel relations frayed and Iranwas on the march.

All of this should give the Biden Administra-tion pause in its rush to court Iran and returnto the failed 2015 nuclear agreement. That dealdidn’t stop Iran’s weapons research, and itmerely delayed the day it will be able to deploya weapon. Meanwhile, it empowered Iran withmoremoney to arm its regional proxies, includ-ing Hamas.

President Biden and his strategists think re-turning to the nuclear deal will help the U.S.disengage from theMiddle East. As the Hamas-Israel conflict shows, it is more likely to do theopposite.

The U.S. needs to giveIsrael time to degradethe rocket threat.

Elizabeth Warren Tells the Truth

P rogressives are promoting President Bi-den’s waiver of U.S. Covid vaccine pat-ents as necessary to save lives. So full

marks for candor to Sen. Eliz-abeth Warren, who last weekexplained the real goal: set aprecedent that erodes allpharmaceutical intellectualproperty protections in theU.S. and around the world.

“Special [IP] protections for drug companiesare an even bigger issue than COVID-19 alone,”theMassachusetts Senator said at a Senate Fi-nance hearing with U.S. Trade Rep KatherineTai onWednesday. “I think it’s time now for ourtrade negotiators to take leadership and ac-tively set rules that lower drug costs for Ameri-can families.”

What special protections? Drug makers re-ceive less IP protection than other businessesunderWorld Trade Organization (WTO) rules,which allow low-income countries to force drugmakers to license patents during emergencies.But progressives believe IP protectionsshouldn’t exist at all for drugs and that theirmakers shouldn’t be rewarded for years of riskyinvestment and innovation.

As Ms. Warren explained: “We’re fightingover a waiver to [IP] rules—rules that nevershould have existed in the first place.”

Or as Oregon Sen. RonWyden put it: Intellec-tual property rules should “promote the com-

mon good,” which will presumably be definedby . . . Ron Wyden.

Progressives haven’t been able to persuadea majority of Congress toabolish drug patents, so theyaim to do so through tradeagreements, starting with theWTO vaccine waiver. Recallhow Democrats last year in-sisted that the Trump Admin-

istration remove a provision protecting IP forbiologic drugs from the U.S.-Mexico-Canadatrade deal.

Ms.Warren is right when she says drugmak-ers are “kicking and screaming about thiswaiver over the Covid vaccines.” They’re wor-ried about U.S. government theft. But they alsofear it will allow other countries, includingChina and India, to exploit their innovation andmake it harder to raise capital to future invest-ment—and future vaccines.

Vaccine makers have already licensed theirpatents to dozens of manufacturers around theworld, but it takes time to scale up production.Allowing unlicensedmanufacturers to producevaccines could imperil safety. This is why evenEuropean leaders, such as Germany’s AngelaMerkel and France’s EmmanuelMacron, opposeMr. Biden’s patent waiver.

Europe’s liberals don’t want to see theircrown pharmaceutical jewels handed to the Chi-nese, even if American progressives don’t mind.

She admits the vaccinepatent waiver is aboutstealing all Pharma IP.

REVIEW & OUTLOOK

OPINION

Pepper ...And Salt

Catholic Schools Deserve to Be FlourishingRegarding “Catholic School Enroll-

ment Plunges” (U.S. News, May 11):The global pandemic clearly took itstoll on families and children acrossthe country and in every kind ofschool. However, Catholic schools inthe Archdiocese of New York havebeen open for in-person instructionfive days a week since September,and our dedicated professional edu-cators are even more committed to-day to ensure every family has theopportunity to access the high-qual-ity education and spiritual enrich-ment that Catholic schools offeryoung minds. During this pandemic,our Catholic schools have become theenvy of the nation and model to gov-ernment schools on how to safely andeffectively remain open in service tothe educational community.

Families have specifically shownan appreciation for Catholic schools’prioritization of safe in-personteaching, which coincides with a sig-nificant increase in enrollment num-bers ahead of the next school year.More than 2,700 current public-

school families have inquired aboutapplying in one of the Catholicschools in the Archdiocese of NewYork during the current academicyear. More than 1,000 new familieshave already enrolled.

As the Journal’s reporting notes,many families who rely on the Catho-lic-education system are low-income,working-class households. As thosefamilies recover from the pandemic’seffects, which have already had a dis-proportionate impact on many oftheir communities, Catholic schoolsoffer holistic, reliable and forward-thinking curricula. We’re proud tocontinue to be a resource for thethousands of New York families whowant all children to thrive andachieve their fullest potential.

MICHAEL J. DEEGANSuperintendent of SchoolsArchdiocese of New York

New York

Enrollment in Catholic schoolswould skyrocket if more parents tooka “return on investment” approach totuition. My wife and I had four chil-dren enrolled in Catholic schools fora total of 28 consecutive years. Wekept track of what we spent on tu-ition. As a direct result of their Cath-olic-school education, our childrenreceived more than that tuition incollege financial aid and scholarships.What investment today pays morethan 100%? Plus, their souls wereprepared for a lifetime of living theirfaith. No price can be put on that.

JOHN M. NONNEMACHERHazleton, Pa.

The Rise of Inflation Expectations

Y ou’ve heard it a thousand times: Infla-tion expectations remain “well-an-chored.” So goes one of the mantras

used by Chairman JeromePowell and the Federal Re-serve to explain its monetaryadventurism of the last de-cade or so.

For many years thisproved to be correct, as theFed benefited from the lessons of the centralbank’s performance in the 1980s in breakingthe great inflation of the 1970s. Even then ittook years for consumers and businesses toadjust and trust thatinflation wouldn’t re-turn. But how aboutnow when the Fed’smonetary accommo-dation is making eventhe post-recessionpolicies of the last de-cade look restrainedby comparison?

Nearby is a chart ofone proxy for infla-tion expectations towatch in the monthsahead: the Universityof Michigan’s Surveyof Consumers. As thechart shows, expecta-tions for rising priceshave jumped this year and now anticipate anincrease of more than 4%. This monthly con-sumer data can be volatile. But another signal

is from the Philadelphia Fed’s survey of eco-nomic forecasters, which showed five-year av-erage inflation expectations popping in May to

2.4%. That may not seem likemuch, but that survey rarelymoves. The Fed’s inflationtarget is 2%.

The risk is that as inflationexpectations rise, they be-come embedded in consumer

behavior and business decisions. Workers de-mand higher wages to keep up with prices nomatter the underlying productivity; businessespay to keep those workers and then raise

prices to compensate.Workers then demandhigh wages, as expec-tations are hard tobreak.

Mr. Powell saysnever fear because allof this is “transitory.”But Americans willjudge that for them-selves based on whatthey are paying forgoods and services.They may not focus onthe nuances of thePersonal ConsumptionExpenditures index,but they know whatthey are paying for

groceries, a new or used car, or to call in theplumber. They’ll decide what’s “well-an-chored” or not.

Consumers are doubtingthat prices will remain

‘well-anchored.’

Expected Change in Prices for theNextYear,Monthly Data

Source: University ofMichigan Survey of Consumers

Expected Change in Pric fo theNextYe

%

2015 '20

1.5

2.0

2.5

3.0

3.5

4.0

4.5

5.0

P2JW137000-0-A01800-1--------XA

THEWALL STREET JOURNAL. Monday, May 17, 2021 | A19

The “problem of the 20thcentury,” W.E.B. DuBoiswrote in 1903, “is the prob-lem of the color line.” Theproblem of the 20th century

turned out to be totalitarian ideologies,which killed scores of millions of peo-ple. The killing was baked into the ide-ology. Massmurder seemed to be a ne-cessity of the century’s Big Ideas.

The problem of the 21st century,you might say, is the problem of thenarrative line. If you study the man-ner in which the 20th century’s colorline morphed into the 21st century’snarrative line, you may grasp an as-pect of the struggle for power to-day—“for the soul of America,” as theparsons of the left like to say.

It isn’t that the complaints ofblack Americans weren’t or aren’tvalid. But common sense tends to bea casualty of political story lines.When DuBois published his statementabout the color line, Jim Crow ruledin much of the country. It certainlywas the law in Georgia, where blacksdidn’t dare try to vote and wherewhite men rode around in sheets andterrorized the countryside. The Southin those days was, for blacks, totali-tarian indeed.

Yet more than 100 years later, in adecisively changed America, Presi-dent Biden annulled the interval be-tween 1903 and 2021 and pronouncedGeorgia’s new voting law to be “JimCrow on steroids.” It was demagogicnonsense. The Georgia voting lawbore no more resemblance to JimCrow than Mr. Biden bears, let us say,to Neil Kinnock.

But in the 21st century, the coun-try has been all but lost to the poli-tics of whoppers. It’s always Saturdaymorning in America now, and the TVis always playing cartoons. DonaldTrump has a genius for the form.Since November, his big story linehas been that the 2020 election wasstolen from him.

Moderation on Masks Might Make More Get a Shot

T he Centers for Disease Controland Prevention’s new guidanceadvising vaccinated Americans

that it is safe to shed their masks is amilestone. The prevalence of Covid-19is declining rapidly; older Americansare largely vaccinated. The task nowis to learn to live with Covid. The vi-rus won’t threaten America in thesame way again, though neither willit disappear. Forbearance and persua-sion will be essential.

Soon preventive measures won’tbe prescribed by governors or may-ors. People and businesses will de-cide what risks they are comfortablewith. Critics of the CDC guidance sayit’s too soon to stop masking orworry that there’s no way to tell whois vaccinated and who isn’t. It’s truethat some unvaccinated Americanswon’t wear masks. But many Ameri-cans are following public-health ad-vice in good faith and may now seemore incentive to get the shot.

The vaccines are remarkably effec-tive. For most Americans, Covid willbe a preventable disease. Some willneed to continue to take precautions,

such as those with compromised im-mune systems or certain pre-existingconditions like heart or lung disease.

Those who are fully vaccinatedmay want to guard against the re-mote risk that they could become in-fected and pass on the virus tosomeone else. Some will continue towear masks in certain situationsthat are perceived to be high-risk—public transit, for instance. Suchprudent behavior should be acceptedand encouraged.

For all the finger pointing at politi-cians, the past year has included re-markable successes. Americans roseto a difficult challenge, developedhighly effective vaccines in recordtime, and took on burdens to slow thespread until inoculations arrived.

The Trump administration sup-ported an unprecedented research ef-fort that helped deliver three vac-cines and secure new efficiencies inmanufacturing. The Biden adminis-tration oversaw an exceptional roll-out. Widespread immunity is arrivingearlier than most expected, thanks toso many Americans being vaccinatedin such a short time. Mr. Biden andhis team oversaw an effort that ad-

ministered 220 million shots in hisfirst 100 days in office, beating itsown estimates. Vaccinating nearly50% of the public in less than sixmonths helped not only slow thespread but also ward off dangerousnew variants.

Now the task will be persuadingmore Americans to get vaccinated,essential to keeping the virus at bayand making sure the young andhealthy aren’t spreading the diseaseto more-vulnerable friends and rela-tives. Even if older Americans arelargely vaccinated, the vaccines won’twork well for everyone, such as thosewho have cancer or other conditionsthat require powerful drugs to sup-press the immune system.

Many of those who haven’t beenvaccinated aren’t “antivaxxers.” For

some, it’s a matter of convenience:It’s still hard to get the time off toget the shot. Others are young anddon’t think they’re at high risk fromthe disease. Still others have ques-tions and need more information tofeel confident. The Biden administra-tion’s efforts to deliver vaccinesthrough local doctors and pharma-cists could help more Americans getthe counseling they need to make in-formed choices.

Over the past several weeks moreevidence has emerged that Covid-19vaccines not only prevent disease butalso substantially reduce the risk ofspreading the virus to others. Thisevidence informed the CDC’s decisionto lift the mask guidance for the fullyvaccinated. There’s reason to hopethat more Americans look at thepractical benefit—no more masks—and decide to make that appointmentto get vaccinated.

Dr. Gottlieb is a resident fellow atthe American Enterprise Instituteand was commissioner of the Foodand Drug Administration, 2017-19.He serves on the boards of Pfizer andIllumina.

By Scott Gottlieb

Many unvaccinatedAmericans aren’t‘antivaxxers,’ but needincentive and information.

Can Freedom Survive the Narratives?

What Mr. Biden attempted withthe phrase “Jim Crow on steroids”had nothing to do with reality. Hewas only playing at whoppers. Thedemagogue’s best friend is a goodstory line. Mr. Biden’s “Jim Crow onsteroids” became interwoven with

other strands in the tapestry of theleft’s 2021 story line. A dominant mo-tif is American blacks as the victimsof “white supremacy,” or Americanblacks oppressed by a pandemic ofpolice brutality more devastatingthan Covid. It isn’t statistically true,but if you repeat it often enough,with video, it becomes, so to speak,folklorically true. Derek Chauvin didhis part to make it so.

In all this, there’s the fallacy ofstopped time. When fabulating Biden-ites, reporters at the New York Timesand others on the left refer to “sys-

temic racism,” they mean to conjurethe sum of all American white peo-ple’s badness going back four centu-ries to 1619; and, when all that mean-ness is assembled in one trope (slaveowners Washington and Jeffersonand Lee and Stonewall Jackson ontheir bronze horses) to lay it beforewhite America as indictment.

There is no difference between1619 and 2021. There was no CivilWar, no civil-rights acts of 1964 and1965, no President Obama. Whiteguilt comes with the white skin; theevil is frozen in time—like the sin ofAdam, like the woolly mammoth inthe glacier. Race trauma is sancti-fied—permanent, outside time.

Grown-ups, both black and white,find something fishy in this meta-physics. They know that history is ajourney. In today’s race politics, thereis neither journey nor redemption.There is only the cartoon of blacks inchains. Notice, however, that thosevictims are attended by white patronsaints. Miraculously, the story grantsan exemption to the virtuous whiteelites who have taken on black peopleas their moral wards—whites whopreen and shake their fists and la-ment the iniquity, inequity and

shame of it all. Where’s Charles Dick-ens when we need him? Robin DiAn-gelo, author of “White Fragility,”makes a fine Mrs. Jellyby.

The left’s narrative now rules theland in the form of “critical racetheory,” “antiracism” and invidiousvariations. Feelings of rage and indig-nation have coalesced as dogma andsettled science, embedded in the houserules of almost every institution in thecountry. One questions them on painof expulsion, excommunication. TheAge of Information is the era of hys-terical story lines. Twenty-first-cen-tury technology supercharges feelings,not thoughts, and registers them in-stantaneously on hundreds of millionsof screens and minds.

Such narratives serve neither his-tory nor justice. The New YorkTimes’s “1619 Project,” now taught inschools all over the country, is, in itsessence, racist propaganda. Its storylines are instruments for the consoli-dation of political power. Marxistsdiscovered long ago that classdoesn’t work as a great divider inAmerica. But race does work.

Race is the McGuffin—the pretext.Our moral generals are fighting thelast war. The struggle to which Amer-icans, of whatever race, should bepaying attention is the one that hasto do with freedom. It has to do withprivacy, mind control, individual lib-erties—with totalitarian systems ofsurveillance and manipulation per-fecting themselves in an alliance ofbig tech, big government, global cor-porations and artificial intelligence.Wokeness—a politics that manages tobe both prissy and vicious, a totali-tarian social design that flies the flagof everything good and nice—frontsfor the real problem of the 21st cen-tury: a sinister autocracy just aroundthe corner.

Mr. Morrow is a senior fellow atthe Ethics and Public Policy Center.His latest book is “God and Mammon:Chronicles of American Money.”

By Lance Morrow

ROBE

RTABB

OTT

SENGST

ACK

E/GET

TYIM

AGES

We live in the age ofsupercharged storylines, most of which aredemagogic nonsense.

A civil-rights march from Selma, Ala., to Montgomery in March 1965.

OPINION

Now TeachersUnions FaceA RemoteThreat

By Ken Girardin

Why the GOP Has Gone Quiet Over Tax Hikes

S ometimes what people don’tsay tells you more than whatthey do. That’s what’s happen-

ing with the Republican Party’s reac-tion to President Biden’s plan to en-sure tax fairness. The president hasperformed political jujitsu by forcingRepublicans to minimize their well-worn strategy of attacking Democratsfor tax hikes. Far from a merely tacti-cal retreat, the GOP’s decision to playdown the issue in public even whilemaintaining some semblance of thefight behind closed doors highlightsa political and substantive crisis.

For the past two generations—even before Walter Mondale’s 1984shellacking—tax cuts have been themost important knot holding the Re-publican Party together. Wall Streetexecutives never cared much for thesocial conservatism that drove ruralAmericans into the GOP. Social con-

servatives were never that concernedabout deficits and wasteful spendingoutside the welfare state. But Mid-west populists and CEOs alike wantedlow taxes. For conservatives, it wasgood politics to harp on the fear thatDemocrats would reach further intopeople’s wallets.

No more. As Republicans struggleto punch back, they are focused onquestions of what is and isn’t “infra-structure” and the laughable notionthat they care about deficits. Theirold bogeyman isn’t effective any-more. Not only is Mr. Biden’s pro-posal to make federal tax policy fairerpopular with the public; so are theinitiatives the new revenue willfund—infrastructure, community col-lege, universal pre-K, public health.Democrats don’t have to run scaredon taxes anymore.

Public polling tells the story.Nearly 60% of Americans are both-ered “a lot” that corporations andrich people don’t pay their fair share,according to a Pew Research survey—and only a third are bothered by theamount they pay themselves. Naviga-tor Research finds 69% support rais-ing taxes on the rich (those making$400,000 or more), on corporationsor both to support infrastructure in-vestments—and that includes a ma-jority of Republicans earning lessthan $50,000 a year. Taken as awhole, 58% of Americans back Mr. Bi-den’s plan, including 25% of Republi-cans, according to a Morning Consultpoll. This isn’t Ronald Reagan’s coali-tion anymore—and that works to theDemocrats’ advantage.

As public attitudes change, Repub-licans are in a precarious position—and they know it, as revealed by theirrhetoric, or lack thereof. The Trump-

ist base is hip that they don’t getmuch directly from the sort of taxcuts that Reagan championed, thatGeorge W. Bush signed in 2001 and2003, and that Mr. Trump touted in2017. A party hoping to refashion it-self as a champion of blue-collar vot-

ers and the struggling middle class isquickly realizing that the other ele-ments of its economic agenda don’tresonate either. Republicans can railagainst waste, as they’re doing. Butcomplaints about deficits are ridicu-lous when Messrs. Trump and Bushboth sent the federal governmentdeep into the red.

That puts the GOP in unchartedpolitical territory. Richard Nixon un-derstood how fiscal policy over-lapped with cultural grievance. HisSouthern strategy centered largely onthe dog whistle that Democratswanted to tax “you” and give moneyto “them.” Now Mr. Biden, who hasfought against that canard his wholecareer, has flipped the script: He’ssuggesting that he wants to tax avery different “them” and give it to“you.” And that’s working to dissolvethe glue that for decades kept WallStreet’s mandarins and middle Amer-ica’s social conservatives aligned.

It isn’t that Democrats have neverbeen able to win the tax fight. Presi-dent Clinton raised taxes on thewealthy to close the deficit in the

1990s. President Obama did the sameto fund the Affordable Care Act. Butraising taxes in both cases proved un-popular, despite being the right thingto do. Mr. Biden doesn’t have toshroud his tax plan in rhetoric aboutfiscal responsibility. He can lead withit, as he’s doing. That change marks aprofound shift of the so-called Over-ton window—namely, what’s achiev-able in any given policy fight.

For too long, taxes have served asa wedge splitting progressivism’smetropolitan majority and therebyforcing Democrats to balance theirimpulse to invest in the future withtheir fear of alienating swing voters.That’s no longer the case. The GOP’saversion today to fight publicly overthe president’s tax proposal high-lights the most important shift of thepast half-decade—Mr. Trump’s tri-umph of decoupling the coalitionReagan worked so assiduously to as-semble. By forcing Republicans tosquare their new feint toward popu-lism with their continuing loyalty tocorporate interests, progressives canexploit a wedge that will help Demo-crats expand their appeal to nominal(and former) Republicans. Tax fair-ness isn’t the bogeyman it once wasfor Democrats. For the White House,that marks a great opportunity to in-vest in America and turn the politicaltables.

Mr. Emanuel was a senior adviserto President Clinton and chief of staffto President Obama. He representedIllinois’s Fifth Congressional District,2003-09, and served as mayor of Chi-cago, 2011-19. He is reportedly underconsideration for appointment asPresident Biden’s ambassador toJapan.

By Rahm Emanuel

Biden’s plan to getcorporations and thewealthy to pay their fairshare is popular.

W hen Randi Weingarten ofthe American Federation ofTeachers called last week to

reopen public schools fully in thefall, she was like an arsonist seekingpraise for extinguishing a fire she lit.But it’s increasingly clear the AFTset its own house ablaze. When theunions pressed school districts to of-fer virtual options last fall, they in-advertently spurred the largest ex-periment in the history of U.S.education policy. To stop it, they’recondemning the education techniquethey imposed.

Teachers unions have fought fordecades against charter schools,scholarship programs, education-re-lated tax credits and other policiesthat would empower families to seekalternatives to government-runschools. But last fall, thanks to theunions’ obstinance, a large swath ofAmerican families suddenly got tochoose between in-person and remoteinstruction. Much to Ms. Weingarten’schagrin, many of them liked having achoice. “Remote instruction,” sheclaimed last week, “is not on par within-person teaching and learning.” ButAFT’s own polling this month found23% felt remote learning “worked justas well” and 6% preferred it.

Schooling from home can be anattractive option for students facingobstacles from medical conditions tobullying and long bus rides. Ms.Weingarten’s bucket brigade hasbeen working at the state level tosmolder the demand they ignited forvirtual schools, particularly in statesthat didn’t offer them before.

Members of the Connecticut Edu-cation Association mobilized againsta legislative proposal to study vir-tual schooling and set guidelines forits continued use. One teacher urgedlawmakers “to reject normalizingonline learning for the sake of stu-dents, teachers and society,” whileanother warned that “continuing vir-tual learning beyond times of emer-gency would be detrimental.” Thebill died in committee. Connecticutschools won’t have to offer a virtualoption after school ends in June.

As Corey DeAngelis of the Ameri-can Federation for Children hasnoted, teachers unions in Oregonand Pennsylvania worked to preventstudents from accessing existing vir-tual options.

Virtual learning is a strategyworth exploring from a taxpayer’sperspective, especially in states suchas Connecticut with declining enroll-ments and high per pupil costs.Transportation alone costs nearly$1,000 per transported student na-tionwide, federal figures show.

Districts can offer virtual coursesto in-person students without need-ing to hire an additional full-timeemployee. That’s good news for stu-dents in small, rural districts lookingto take advanced courses, but it’sterrible for the unions’ bottom line.It undercuts the purported “teachershortage” by letting teachers servestudents in multiple places at once.It creates the prospect of teachersworking across state lines, some-thing that prompted Alaska’s teach-ers union to cry foul last springwhen the state began offering virtualinstruction from Florida teachers.

“We’re all yearning to move for-ward after this difficult year,” Ms.Weingarten said in Thursday’sspeech. “For our young people, thatmeans being back in school withtheir peers.”

And for Ms. Weingarten and otherunion executives, it means hopingparents quickly forget kids can learnsomewhere else.

Mr. Girardin is director of policyand research at the Yankee Institutefor Public Policy.

Why didWeingarten pullan about-face? Becausenot all parents wouldchoose in-person learning.

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took over the retailer in No-vember after it emerged frombankruptcy.

J.Crew filed for bankruptcyprotection last year after along period of declining sales

company’s bright red-and-white logo have a cultlike fol-lowing among young adults.

“We need to disrupt thebusiness,” said J.Crew ChiefExecutive Libby Wadle, who

PERSONAL TECHNOLOGY: BEFORE PAYING FOR PHOTO-BACKUP SERVICE, LOOK AT THE OPTIONS B4

LastWeek: S&P 4173.85 g 1.39% S&PFIN À 0.28% S&P IT g 2.23% DJTRANS g 0.16% WSJ$ IDX À 0.18% LIBOR3M 0.155 NIKKEI 28084.47 g 4.34% Seemore atWSJ.com/Markets

BUSINESS&FINANCE

J.Crew Group Inc., the re-tailer known for its preppystyles, is turning to an occa-sional-Mohawk-sporting de-signer with a skateboardingpedigree to revive the strug-gling brand.

The company on Mondaywill name Brendon Babenzien,co-owner of culty New Yorkmenswear label Noah and for-mer longtime design director atpioneering streetwear brandSupreme, to the role of J.Crew’schief designer for men. His firstdesigns will hit stores in thesecond half of 2022.

Mr. Babenzien’s hire is asharp turn for J.Crew, whichemerged as a retail force in the’90s for defining the preppydress code of upper-middle-class Americans. The 49-year-old native of Long Island madehis name in fashion during 14years at Supreme, whose T-shirts and hoodies bearing the

MEDIANBCUniversal acts aspower broker between

celebrities andadvertisers B3

MARKETSBlackRock bond

investment chief RickRieder doesn’t expectinflation jolt. B9

RECESSION

2008 '10 '15 '20

-3

-2

-1

0

1

2

3%

Next 5 yearsFollowing 5 years

Breakeven inflation rate

Source: Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

be important to J.Crew’s men’sbusiness. At the same time, sheis looking to Mr. Babenzien topush the limits in his designs.

Mr. Babenzien said hewould try to strike a balancebetween his eccentricities andthe broad tastes of shopperswho visit the chain’s 151 storesoften in search of button-downshirts for the office. He saidhis vision for J.Crew will focuson fundamental pieces echoingthe clean-cut American lookthat the brand pushedthroughout the ’80s and ’90s.Mr. Babenzien said J.Crew’scatalogs, which he first discov-ered at a friend’s house in themid-1980s, were “really aspi-rational” to him as a teenager.Mr. Babenzien intends to placethe brand’s no-fuss basicsfront and center again.

“Can someone walk in [to astore] and take something assimple as chinos and a T-shirtand make it look good?” he

PleaseturntopageB2

and management turnover.The company was late toadapt as more shoppersshifted to fast-fashion chainsand online shopping. It alsohas been criticized for beingout of step with consumertrends. Starting in 2008, un-der the guidance of men’s de-signer Frank Muytjens, J.Crewsteered its clothing towardItalian-fabric dress shirts,leather dress shoes and slen-der suits. But around themid-2010s, men’s fashionshifted toward streetwear andsneakers and J.Crew was slowto keep up.

The pandemic acceleratedthe retailer’s decline by forcingthe temporary closure of stores.The company emerged frombankruptcy in September undernew owners led by hedge fundAnchorage Capital Group LLC.

Ms. Wadle, who previouslyheaded Madewell, J.Crew’sdenim-focused sublabel, saidclassic styles will continue to

BY JACOB GALLAGHER

J.Crew Looks to a Designer to Disrupt Its Brand

Hiring Brendon Babenzien, 49, is a sharp turn for the retailer.

SHANIQWAJA

RVIS

are finding workers in a re-vamped labor market.

U.S. job openings reached arecord level of 8.1 million atthe end of March, and hiringslowed in April. Last weekAmazon.com Inc. said it wasoffering $1,000 signing bo-nuses, while McDonald’s Corp.and Chipotle Mexican GrillInc. said they were raisingwages.

There were 342,000 moreretail job openings in Marchthan in the same month a yearago, according to the Bureauof Labor Statistics. Whilesome of that is due to theneed for businesses to rehireas the pandemic eases, the jobopenings are the second-high-est for March over the pastdecade and well above thefive-year average for themonth, according to the Na-tional Retail Federation.

The pandemic exposed ashortage of digital skills in re-tailing. Tens of thousands ofretail workers were laid off ayear ago as Covid-19-relatedrestrictions required chains toclose stores temporarily. Manyhave been rehired, but thejobs they are returning toaren’t always the jobs they

PleaseturntopageB2

Michael Buchanan has heldnumerous jobs in his 15 yearsat Levi Strauss & Co., startingas a stock clerk and rising tostore manager. At the end ofMay, he will add a new title tohis résumé: data scientist.

Mr. Buchanan is one of 43Levi’s employees enrolled inthe San Francisco company’smachine-learning bootcamp, anew program designed toteach coding and statisticalanalysis to people who don’thave a statistics or codingbackground.

Levi’s is confronting a prob-lem faced by companies in arange of industries from fi-nance to retail to technology.Many of their workers lack thenecessary skills to addressmodern business challenges.For retailing, artificial intelli-gence and machine learningare playing an outsize role asmore shopping shifts online.

Walmart Inc., Macy’s Inc.and Target Corp. are amongthe big retailers that will up-date investors on their opera-tions this week, giving a snap-shot not just on how muchconsumers are spending thisspring but also on how they

BY SUZANNE KAPNER

Retailers RetrainStaff Amid ShiftIn Skills Needs

INSIDE

STREETWISEBy James Mackintosh

Even JustShort-TermInflationWouldTest Fed

Just howmuch infla-tion would ittake for theFederal Re-serve to aban-

don its commitment to su-per-easy money and begin totalk about tightening?

Markets think the answeris that the Fed will acceptfar more than consumerswould like, and the market isprobably right: Inflationcould easily be at 5% earlynext year without promptingany change of strategy. Solong as the Fed expects infla-tion to come back down andinvestors and workers havefaith, it is under no pressureto move. The danger is thathigh inflation shakes thatfaith.

Investors were shocked bythe jump in inflation re-ported last week. The coreinflation that economiststend to focus on, whichstrips out volatile food andenergy prices, rose 0.9%month on month in April, anannualized rate above 11%.(Year-over-year, core infla-tion was 3%.)

Bond yields duly jumped,but the 10-year Treasuryyield is still below where itstood in March. There is nosign that investors expectthe Fed to be anything butsuperdovish.

“The bar’s going to be re-ally high for the Fed to devi-ate from the path they’velaid out,” said Andrew Balls,chief investment officer ofglobal fixed income atPimco.

To see why, consider onefairly rosy scenario for infla-tion. Over the next sixmonths, we have a smoothreduction in monthly coreinflation, as supply con-straints—shipping, lumber,microchips, cars, workershortages, everything—easeand consumers have lessleftover stimulus to spend.By November, assume pricesare rising at a modest 0.17%

PleaseturntopageB9

Rich Lesser, chief executiveofficer of Boston ConsultingGroup, gathered with his execu-tives Friday after the CDC’s newguidance that says vaccinatedAmericans no longer need towear masks and observe socialdistancing in most instances.

At issue is whether the re-laxed rules change howquickly BCG and other compa-nies should bring workersback into skyscrapers fromManhattan to San Francisco.

“It was a surprising deci-sion,” Mr. Lesser said of thenew federal guidelines.

He said BCG executiveswould be holding more meet-ings to think through the com-pany’s plans on Sunday andMonday.

The Centers for DiseaseControl and Prevention’s up-dated guidance on Thursdaythrew a new wrinkle into re-

opening plans, raising ques-tions about whether to speedup office-return dates.Whether companies changecourse quickly depends, inpart, on local laws governingoffice capacity and masks aswell as the comfort level ofemployees being asked to re-turn, executives said.

Some retailers made aswitch on Friday. WalmartInc. said it would no longer re-quire vaccinated workers andshoppers to wear masks instores and warehouses outsideof municipalities that requireit, and Costco Wholesale

Corp. announced a similar pol-icy.

In Texas, Sabre Corp., aDallas-area travel-technologycompany, said the CDC’schange would probably allowit to accelerate its return-to-office plans this fall, thoughmany employees would con-tinue to do much of their workfrom home. The new social-distancing guidance for vacci-nated people means Sabre maybe able to open more desks oncertain floors than originallyplanned, a spokeswoman said.

In California, technologycompany Salesforce.com Inc.

said the CDC’s announcementdidn’t change its plans formasking or distancing. Sales-force hasn’t mandated vacci-nations for its 56,000 employ-ees around the world, and it isinitially inviting vaccinatedworkers in the U.S. to comeback to offices in places suchas San Francisco and Irvine,Calif., in groups of about 100people at a time, said BrentHyder, the company’s chiefpeople officer.

In New York, the day afterthe CDC announced its newguidance, real-estate attorneyJeffrey Schwartz and his part-

ners met for an outdoor lunchat a restaurant a short walkfrom their Madison Avenue of-fices. One or two partners atSchwartz Sladkus ReichGreenberg Atlas LLP saidthey wanted to let people walkaround the office withoutmasks immediately, but mostsaid they weren’t ready.

“I just think it’s too abruptto change right now,” Mr.Schwartz said, adding that ifNew York’s city and state gov-ernments adopt the new guid-ance, the firm may drop themask mandate.

PleaseturntopageB2

BY CHIP CUTTERAND KONRAD PUTZIER

Companies Weigh Faster Office ReturnNew CDC guidance onmasks, socialdistancing throws awrinkle into plans

New Economy Is at Heart of Battle for App Sway

2016

2016

2017

2017

2018

2018

2019

2019

2020

2020

GOOGLE PLAY

APP STORE

26.1B 27.9

57.2 66.9 75.5 84.8 108.5

30.0 30.7 34.4

43.8%54.6

49.3% 50.6 52.0 47.9 48.7 51.3 44.5 55.4 41.2 58.8

44.0 54.9 41.5 57.7 40.4 59.0 41.1 58.4

Freewith in-apppurchases

FreeNo in-apppurchases

Social networkingPhoto and video

MusicLifestyleOther

GOOGLE PLAYAPP STORE

Entertainment

Non-game apps

Game apps

’20’19’18’17’16’1520140

25

50

75

100%

’20’19’18’17’16’152014

Revenue share by category

Number of app downloads,in billions*

0

25

50

75

100%

Google PlayApp Store

GOOGLE PLAYAPP STORE

Developers by newappreleases

Ad revenue share frommobile apps, change since 2016

0

200,000

400,000

600,000

800,000

2012 ’14 ’16 ’18 ’202016 ’20

0

100

200

300

400

500

600%

’17 ’18 ’19

Games

Non-games

2016 ’20’17 ’18 ’19

Non-games

Games2020

$18.6 billion

2020$17.2 billion

*Figures don’t add up to 100% because paid apps share is too small to be shownSources: Sensor Tower (spending, revenue by category, app downloads); Omdia (ad revenue); App Annie (developers)

’132012 ’14 ’15 ’16 ’17 ’18 ’19 ’20

Google PlayApp Store

World-wide consumerspending in app stores

$120

0

20

40

60

80

100

billionIn the 13 years since Apple launched itsApp Store, the business of deliveringapps to people’s smartphones has growninto a revenue streamworth tens ofbillions of dollars annually for Apple andthe othermainmarketplace operator,Alphabet Inc.’s Google. App stores havebecome critical gatekeepers in accessingsoftware that enables users to doeverything on the internet. A key piece ofthe stores’ businessmodels is to collecta commission on consumers’ purchasesof digital goods and services. Here is asnapshot of the rising app economy.

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B2 | Monday, May 17, 2021 * * * * * THEWALL STREET JOURNAL.

INDEX TO BUSINESSESThese indexes cite notable references to most parent companies and businesspeoplein today’s edition. Articles on regional page inserts aren’t cited in these indexes.

AAlibaba Group HoldingB5

Allete...........................R2Amazon.com...............B1Ampersand..................R8Apple...........................A2ARC Ride.....................R8At Home Group...........B2AT&T............................A1

BBaker Hughes .............B4Berkshire Hathaway...A2BioNTech SE...............A6BlackRock....................B9Boeing .........................B5Boston ConsultingGroup.........................B1

Bright Machines.........B5C

CAS InvestmentPartners....................B2

Centrica.......................R8Charter CommunicationsA4

Chipotle Mexican GrillB1Choice Market.............B2Colonial Pipeline.........A5Comcast.......................B3Costco Wholesale.......B1Credito Real. ...............B9Curaleaf Holdings.....B10

DDelta Air Lines ...........B2

Deutsche Post DHLGroup.........................R8

Discovery ....................A1DoubleLine Capital .....B9

EEcosystem IntegrityFund ..........................R8

Eli Lilly ........................B2Engie ..........................R8Exxon Mobil ................R7

FFacebook......................B4

GGDC Technics ..............B5General Mills...............B4Green Thumb IndustriesB10

Grubhub.......................B2H-M

Hellman & Friedman...B2Honda Motors.............B4Innovative IndustrialProperties...............B10

J&J Snack Foods.........B4J.Crew Group...............B1JD.com.........................B5JPMorgan Chase.........A6Levi Strauss................B1Macy's.........................B1Mazav Management...B5McDonald's..................B1Mellowcabs.................R8Microsoft...............A1,A5Moderna......................B3

N-RNational Grid ..............R8Netflix.........................A4Nord Pool ....................R4Novastar Ventures .....R8Oriole Aviation ...........B5Pfizer .....................A6,B3PG&E...........................R4

R-YRegeneronPharmaceuticals.......B3

RMR Group..................B2Rocky MountainInstitute....................R2

Royal Dutch Shell.......R8Sabre...........................B1Salesforce.com............B1Schwartz Sladkus ReichGreenberg Atlas.......B1

SCVX............................B5Sendy...........................R8S.F. Holding.................B5Snam S.p.A.................R8SolarWinds.................A5Target..........................B1T-Mobile US................A4Tyson Foods................B4Uber Technologies.B4,R8Verizon CommunicationsA4,B2

Vistra ..........................A1Walmart......................B1Wynn Las Vegas.........B4Yamaha........................R8ZTO Express Cayman.B5

INDEX TO PEOPLE

BUSINESS & FINANCE

The largest shareholder ofhome-furnishings chain AtHome Group Inc. plans to op-pose a deal to take the retailerprivate because it says thesale price is too low, accordingto a copy of a letter to thecompany’s board of directorsviewed by The Wall StreetJournal.

CAS Investment PartnersLLC, which owns around 17%of the company’s shares, wroteSunday that it plans to voteagainst a roughly $2.4 billionsale to private-equity firmHellman & Friedman LLC tobuy At Home Group.

At Home agreed May 6 tosell itself for $36 a share, not-ing at the time that the deal

Relaxed rules change how quickly companies should bring workers back into skyscrapers.

AMIR

HAMJA

/BLO

OMBE

RGNEW

S

Ludlow suit, though he said hewould look into adding newfits and even pleated pants forconsumers who prefer looserfits. Ms. Wadle said that com-ing off the pandemic, shoppersare looking for more relaxedsilhouettes.

Mr. Babenzien will continueto operate Noah alongside hiswife, Estelle Bailey-Babenzien.Noah is a more grown-up labelthan Supreme, offering stripeddress shirts, cashmere suitsand beachy striped tees.

Noah’s $52 pocket tees and$128 striped button-ups arenearly double the price of sim-ilar styles at J.Crew.

Mr. Babenzien said hedoesn’t intend to take J.Crewinto Noah’s pricing tier, butthat pricing was a continuingdiscussion. He and Ms. Wadlesaid they were both focusedfirst on raising the quality ofJ.Crew’s styles.

Noah is also known for moreoutré designs like a $1,498cheetah-printed overcoat and

punkish $88 pink-and-blacksneakers made in collaborationwith Vans. Mr. Babenzien saidhe is eager to sprinkle some ofhis unexpected elements intoJ.Crew’s collections.

“I’m still me. My designsensibility isn’t going tochange,” said Mr. Babenzien,who during an interview worea 1980s-era logoed jacketmade by the skateboard com-pany Powell Peralta.

“He’s got a lot of rope androom to push,” Ms. Wadle said.

will be a large part of the an-swer for retailers,” accordingto a 2019 report prepared byseveral McKinsey partners.

Many big-box retailers thatsell food or home goods, espe-cially online, reported recordsales increases last year, whiledepartment stores and apparelretailers floundered as con-sumer buying changed.

As signs suggest Americansare back to spending more ontravel and restaurants, retail-ers that sell goods are fightingover a smaller piece of con-sumer budgets.

April U.S. retail sales wereflat compared with March,when retailers benefited aftershoppers spent governmentstimulus checks.

Deniz Caglar, a principal inthe consulting practice ofPricewaterhouseCoopers LLP,said retailers are ripe for thistype of retraining because ofe-commerce-fueled disruption.“Just about every retailer wework with is looking at doingsome version of reskilling,” hesaid.

Mr. Buchanan at Levi’s saidthe digital training isn’t foreveryone. “I told my dad whatI’m doing, and he said ‘Thatsounds terrible,’” Mr. Bu-chanan said. “But the peoplein my classes are all reallynerdy about it, because it’sfun.”

—Sarah Nassauercontributed to this article.

Walmart employees canearn a high-school or collegedegree for $1 a day through itspartnership with Guild Educa-tion, which brokers deals be-tween companies and colleges.

To select its first boot-camp class, Levi’s put morethan 350 applicants through athree-month interview processthat included computer model-ing projects and a hackathon.

Those who made the cutleft their jobs for two monthsto attend virtual classes fornine hours a day, five days aweek. They studied statistics,coding, neural networks andother machine-learning skills.

“We are trying to democra-tize this field,” said KatiaWalsh, Levi’s chief strategyand artificial-intelligence offi-cer, who led the creation ofthe program. “We had tochoose people who have prob-lem-solving skills and an abil-ity to connect the dots.” Shesaid there was so much inter-est that Levi’s plans a secondboot camp later this year.

Dr. Walsh said a quarter ofparticipants will change jobs,while the rest will go back totheir roles.

One class tackles how tobetter match supply with de-mand. Another teaches how topersonalize marketing cam-paigns and a third looks at us-ing artificial intelligence to de-termine which locations arebest suited for new bricks-

said. “It’ll be my job to showpeople how to do that.”

He plans to keep thebrand’s popular slim-fitting

ContinuedfrompageB1

J.Crew SetsNew PathWith Hire

and-mortar stores.Some attendees, such as

Hazel King, a Levi’s IT direc-tor, are well-versed in comput-ers, but their skills needed up-dating. Others, including Mr.Buchanan, the store manager,lack a college degree.

“I studied computer sciencein high school, but life hap-pened and I didn’t pursue it,”said Mr. Buchanan, who is 38.

Ron Pritipaul, a 24-year-olddesign-systems coordinator,

said he learned how to scrapehundreds of images from theinternet and classify them, askill that could help Levi’s bet-ter predict fashion trends.“Sometimes, I’ll have a gutfeeling about a trend, butthese tools can help us pin-point whether it’s cool or not,”Mr. Pritipaul said.

McKinsey & Co. estimatesthat replacing an employeecan cost 20% to 30% of an an-nual salary on average. Bycontrast, retraining an em-ployee costs less than 10% ofannual pay. “For these rea-sons, we believe that reskilling

The pandemicexposed a shortageof digital skills inretailing.

left.A tight labor market has

made it harder for manychains to attract hourly staff-ers, while rising demand forcomputer scientists and engi-neers is leading to a shortageof workers with that expertise,executives said.

“It’s not like there is a largepool of talent out there work-ing in this space,” said MikeFogarty, chief executive ofChoice Market, a Denver-basedconvenience-store chain. “Wewant to upskill our employeesfrom within.”

When Choice Marketlaunched checkout-free shop-ping in April, allowing shop-pers to leave the store withoutgoing to a cashier, it had to re-train employees at its fourstores, including cashiers suchas America Cardoza.

Ms. Cardoza, 21 years old,is now an e-commerce analystin charge of data entry for the2,500 products Choice Marketsells.

Instead of staffing a cashregister, she uses a computerto create detailed drawings ofthe store layout so the systemknows where products sit onshelves and monitors what isselling. She also runs the plat-form that integrates Choice’sthird-party delivery systemswith Uber Eats and GrubHubInc. She learned her new skillsfrom the company’s e-com-merce manager.

“I’d never done anythinglike this before,” Ms. Cardozasaid. “It’s very out of myrange.”

When Verizon Communica-tions Inc. closed most of itsretail stores during the pan-demic, it retrained 20,000 em-ployees to handle new jobsranging from sales to cus-tomer service.

It plans to teach 100,000employees new skills this yearto prepare them for the de-mands of 5G, the next-genera-tion wireless standard.

ContinuedfrompageB1

AAguirre, Laura.............B9

BBabenzien, Brendon....B1Badrichani, Marc.........B9Bailey-Babenzien,Estelle.......................B2

Balls, Andrew........B1,B9Bastian, Ed..................B2Bouma, Richard ..........R8Butz, Claire.................B9

CCaglar, Deniz...............B2Capito, Shelley MooreA4Christiansen, Morten BoR7

Colombo, Frank.........B10D

Dalio, Ray....................B9Decock, Geert..............R7de Jong, Rob...............R8

Druckenmiller, StanleyB9

FFogarty, Mike..............B2

GGartman, Michael.......R2

HHourdequin, Marion....R6Hurst-Croft, Joseph....R8Hyder, Brent................B1

KKeutsch, Frank............R6Kilar, Jason.................A4Koecher, Tina..............R2

LLesser, Rich.................B1

M-NMadden, Andrew........R7McKenna, Greg ...........R8Muytjens, Frank..........B1

Namahro, Remy..........R8P

Pierrehumbert,Raymond...................R6

Pinkela, Ken................R2Portnoy, Adam............B2

RRicks, David ................B2Rieder, Rick.................B9

SSachse, Michael..........R2Schultze, Christian.....R7Schwartz, Jeffrey.......B1Searle, Stephanie.......R7Silverblatt, Howard....A6Stankey, John.............A4Steiner, Michael..........R7Stephenson, Randall ..A4Sunak, Rishi..............A10

WWadle, Libby...............B1

included a 40-day “go shop”period and gave Hellman &Friedman a chance to matchcompeting bids should anymaterialize. At Home’s shareshave been hovering above $36since, suggesting shareholdersexpect the price tag could rise.

CAS said in the letter thedeal “grossly undervalues thecompany and deprives stock-holders of anything resem-bling a fair premium.” It sug-gested that a price above $70a share would be more realis-tic based on its projectionsand said it is prepared to tryto block the current deal ifneeded. The deal requiressignoff from a majority of itsshareholders.

At Home sells furniture, dé-cor and other home goods.

BY DAVE SEBASTIAN

Investor in FurnitureChain Opposes Buyout

RetailersRetrainStaff

In Indiana, drugmaker EliLilly & Co. said it would stickto plans announced last weekbefore the CDC’s new guid-ance. It aims to bring back25% of its office workers—roughly 1,750 people—to itsdowntown Indianapolis head-quarters on June 1. Only vacci-nated employees can comeinto the office that month,CEO David Ricks said. Social-distancing and mask require-ments will stay in place untilJuly 12, when Eli Lilly opensits offices to more workers,though the company will keepmonitoring health data, aspokesman said.

“Recent guidance from theCDC supports our current pol-icy and we will continue work-ing with employees to offerflexibility based on their indi-vidual circumstances and jobrequirements,” a spokesmansaid.

Parsing the new recommen-dations falls to communitiesand businesses and could beespecially difficult to imple-ment for public settings suchas workplaces, health re-searchers said, because thereisn’t an easy way to determinewho is fully vaccinated. Fur-ther complicating the issue isthat the CDC guidance con-tained a raft of caveats, in-cluding statements that it isstill unknown how effectivethe vaccines are against multi-ple variant strains of Covid-19that are circulating, how long-lasting the vaccines’ efficacy

ContinuedfrompageB1

will be in most people andthat people who are immuno-compromised, and those wholive with or care for them,should continue showing morecautious behavior.

Mandating that workers getvaccinated is generally legal inmost instances, employmentattorneys said, as long as ex-emptions are made for medi-cal or religious reasons. Thathasn’t stopped lawsuits frombeing filed over the issue inplaces such as New Mexicoand California. Most employ-ers have shied away frommaking the shots a require-ment, but more may be con-sidering mandates.

Delta Air Lines Inc. saidthat, beginning Monday, itwould require all new hires tobe vaccinated, unless theyqualify for an accommodation.The airline doesn’t plan to re-quire current employees to bevaccinated, though the com-pany said 60% of the airline’sworkers have already receivedshots. In a broadcast interviewwith CNN, Delta CEO Ed Bas-tian said existing employees

who chose not to get vacci-nated might be restricted fromflying international flights.

The CDC’s guidelines couldprompt more companies to askemployees to disclose whetherthey have been vaccinated,and it could spur workers toget vaccinated if they believedoing so will help them workwithout a mask, Mr. Lesser ofBCG said. Enforcing vaccinerequirements can be compli-cated, according to employ-ment lawyers. Companies canrequest proof of vaccination,though bosses run legal risksif they probe the reasons be-hind a worker’s hesitancy, law-yers said.

Real-estate professionalswere split over whether theCDC news would prompt amore rapid return to city cen-ters, with some calling it animportant step toward makingpeople comfortable with re-turning. Others said the newguidance mattered less thanwhat state officials require.

“Local regulations super-sede the CDC, and states havebeen all over the place,” said

Adam Portnoy, chief executiveof RMR Group, which has em-ployees in 30 office buildingsaround the country.

In Newton, Mass., whereMr. Portnoy’s firm is based,the state mandates no morethan 50% occupancy in officesand requires mask wearing.His tenants in Texas and Flor-ida don’t have those restric-tions, but companies therestill aren’t pushing hard foremployees to come back, hesaid.

Many employers are stick-ing with plans to bring work-ers back around Labor Day, be-cause the tight job market forworkers has made some CEOsconcerned about upsettingtheir workers or pre-emptingplans they made based onprior corporate guidance, ex-ecutives said.

“Employers are walking atightrope,” Mr. Portnoy said.“They want people back butdon’t want a plan that willcreate attrition in the work-force.”—Craig Karmin contributed

to this article.

CDC SpursTalk onReopening

America Cardoza of Choice Market in Denver is now an e-commerce analyst in charge of data entry.

CHOICEMARK

ET/F4D

STUDIO

Aberdeen Income Credit Strategies FundTransferrable Rights Offering for Shares of Common Stock

NYSE Symbol “ACP”

NYSE Rights Symbol “ACP RT”

Ex-date is May 19, 2021

Record date is May 20, 2021

Last trading day for rights is June 15, 2021*

Offer expires June 16, 2021**Unless extended

For more information and a prospectus, contact:

Call Toll-Free: +1-800-561-2871

Dealer Manager

May 17, 2021

An investment in Aberdeen Income Credit Strategies Fund (the “Fund”), adiversified, closed-end management investment company, is subject toinvestment risk, including the possible loss of the entire principal amount invested.Investment return and the value of shares will fluctuate. The rights offering issubject to certain risks, including economic dilution and voting dilution.

All of the costs of the rights offering, including offering expenses and sales load,will be borne by the Fund and indirectly by all of its common shareholders,including those who do not exercise their rights. The rights are transferrable andare expected to be admitted for trading on the NYSE during the course of theoffer; however, there can be no assurance that a market for the rights will develop.

Investors should carefully consider the Fund’s investment objective, policies, risks,charges and expenses before investing. The Fund’s prospectus supplement andprospectus, which contain this and other information about the Fund and therights offering, when available, can be obtained by calling the phone numberlisted above. An investor should carefully read the Fund’s prospectus supplementand prospectus before investing. This communication is not an offer to sell thesesecurities and is not soliciting an offer to buy these securities, nor shall there beany sale of these securities in any state where the offer, solicitation or sale is notpermitted.

UBS Securities LLC is acting as dealer manager for the rights offering. In the U.S.,securities underwriting, trading, and brokerage activities and M&A advisoryactivities are provided by UBS Securities LLC, a registered broker/dealer that is awholly owned subsidiary of UBS AG, a member of the New York Stock Exchangeand other principal exchanges, and a member of SIPC.

© UBS 2021. All rights reserved.

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THEWALL STREET JOURNAL. Monday, May 17, 2021 | B3

Academy Awards broadcast onABC. The 30-second spot fea-tures actors repeating thephrase “monoclonal antibod-ies” in an attempt to familiar-ize the public with a term thatdoesn’t roll off the tongue, anda narrator who says the drugsmay help certain people stay

out of the hospital.“It is a mouthful,” says Maya

Bermingham, Regeneron vicepresident for public policy andgovernment affairs. “And forthe average person, what theywant to know is: ‘Is there atreatment? When do I get it?’ ”

Priya Nori, an infectious

disease specialist in Bronx,N.Y., says she saw the Regen-eron ad while watching theOscars. She thought the adswould be helpful in raisingawareness but were poorlytimed because infection rateshave fallen so much in recentmonths.

showcase a strategy of featur-ing stars across several chan-nels, with the goal of connect-ing them with brands for broadad deals.

In addition to the broadcastflagship NBC, NBCU channelsinclude Bravo, USA, E! andMSNBC. The company intro-duced a streaming service, Pea-cock, last year.

Another celebrity NBCU isfocusing on is musicianMeghan Trainor. Ms. Trainorwas tapped to help develop andstar in a show on NBC, a proj-ect that is in the works, and ap-pear on other channels as op-portunities arise. The companysaid last week that she wouldhost the coming show “TopChef Family Style” on Peacock.

TV networks historicallyhave been formulaic in theirapproach to selling ad time andbrand appearances tied to spe-cific programming and timeslots, said Josh Feldman, chiefmarketing officer for NBCU ad-vertising sales and partner-ships. “We’re looking at talentholistically across the portfolioand the way we can bringthings to life,” he said.

The strategy reflects amovement toward fewer, lon-ger-term TV ad deals as thecontinuing decline of tradi-tional TV ratings pressures net-works to think up new optionsfor advertisers.

While NBCU is still sellingads against its programming intraditional one-year agree-ments, the company is pushingfor deals that are more likely tostretch beyond a year.

Wayfair Inc. spent two yearscourting Kelly Clarkson as aspokeswoman before it wasable to clinch the deal thanks toan unusual middleman: Com-cast Corp.’s NBCUniversal.

The media company, whichproduces the syndicated “TheKelly Clarkson Show,” playedan important role in connectingthe online home-goods retailerwith Ms. Clarkson, according tothe companies.

NBCU’s involvement led toan extensive Wayfair cam-paign featuring the star, adbuys across various NBCUproperties and a new “Kel lyClarkson Home” product linesold by Wayfair, the compa-nies said.

The retailer, which struckits deal with Ms. Clarkson in2019, extended it this year andis in talks with NBCU aboutmaking ad commitments forthe fall TV season, said Court-ney Lawrie, Wayfair’s globalhead of brand and integratedgrowth marketing.

NBCU aims to play a similarrole between other celebritiesand brands, a move thatcomes as ratings for tradi-tional TV keep falling.

Ms. Clarkson will be amongthe talent at NBCU’s annual adsales presentation on Monday,part of the spring ritual knownas the upfront, in which adver-tisers commit to buying com-mercials for fall programming.In addition to tapping celebri-ties to promote shows, as is theindustry norm, NBCU plans to

BY ALEXANDRA BRUELL

NBCUniversal Acts asCelebrity Power Broker

The company helped connect Wayfair with Kelly Clarkson.

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Late-night host Jimmy Kim-mel wore a white lab coat andhead mirror strapped to hisforehead on his talk show inApril and talked aboutCovid-19 vaccines that usemessenger RNA. “This tech-nology could be a real game-changer,” he says.

The skit was sponsored byvaccine maker Moderna Inc.,one of a number of direct-to-consumer advertisements paidfor by pharmaceutical compa-nies aimed at hesitancy andlack of awareness toward vac-cines and drugs for Covid-19.

Vaccine maker Pfizer Inc.has made ads featuring peoplespending time with loved onesthat conclude by asking “Whywill you get vaccinated?” Re-generon PharmaceuticalsInc., maker of a monoclonalantibody drug treatment, re-cently began running ads ontelevision, radio and socialmedia. Eli Lilly & Co., maker ofa rival antibody therapy, hasads on social media and searchengines targeted at people inareas with high infection rates.

Moderna’s consumer out-reach is primarily focused ondigital advertising, the com-pany says, including the spon-sorship of online video discus-sions on a news websitefocused on historically Blackcolleges and universities.

The advertising isn’t typicalfor pharmaceutical companies.Unlike most drug promotions,the ads aren’t aimed at gain-ing a leg up on competitors orboosting sales in the nextquarter, the companies said.The goal is to persuade Ameri-cans to use potentially lifesav-ing products that are alreadybought and paid for by the

BY JOSEPH WALKER

U.S. government and providedfree to consumers.

The campaigns more closelyresemble those for launches ofnew drugs for diseases withfew or subpar treatment op-tions, such as the unbrandeddisease-awareness campaignsthat hepatitis C drugmakerssponsored in the 2010s urgingpeople to get tested for theliver disease. Except that withCovid-19, the window forreaching consumers is smaller,says Kristen Eisterhold, EliLilly & Co.’s marketing direc-tor for Covid-19 antibodytreatments, because of the ur-gency to control the pandemic.

“Oftentimes in healthcare,it takes months, years, andsometimes even decades tocreate awareness,” says Ms.Eisterhold. “Our challenge re-ally was how do you as quicklyas possible establish broadawareness with healthcareproviders and consumers thatthese treatment options exist.”

The ads don’t mentionproducts by name, in part be-cause of marketing restrictionsimposed by the emergency-useauthorizations granted by theFood and Drug Administration.Instead, the ads refer tobroader categorizations suchas “monoclonal antibodies” or“mRNA vaccines.”

Vaccine makers are tryingto reach the roughly one-thirdof Americans who are reluc-tant to get vaccinated, accord-ing to the most recent opinionpolling from the Kaiser FamilyFoundation. Some 15% of peo-ple polled by Kaiser in Aprilsaid they want to “wait andsee” before being vaccinated,and 19% said they would defi-nitely not get vaccinated orwould do so only if required.

Regeneron and Lilly saythey are trying to raise aware-ness that their drugs are avail-able to recently diagnosedpeople at risk of developingsevere cases. In clinical trials,the drugs helped reduce hospi-talizations or death by 70%

compared with placebos. Sincebeing authorized last Novem-ber, however, the drugs havebeen underused, partly be-cause many patients and doc-tors don’t know about them,according to the companies.

Through early May, just49% of the nearly one millionantibody doses made by Re-generon and Lilly have beenused by patients, according toa Department of Health andHuman Services spokes-woman. From last yearthrough the first quarter of2021, Lilly has recorded $1.5billion in U.S. sales from thedrugs; Regeneron’s U.S. anti-body revenue was $448 mil-lion over the same period.

Regeneron ran its first TVad in late April just before the

BUSINESS NEWS

Vaccine Makers UseAds to Ease QualmsPharmaceutical firmssponsor spots on TVand online to bolsterconsumer awareness

Late-night host Jimmy Kimmel, left, touted mRNA technology in an April spot sponsored by Moderna.

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VIS IT CMEGROUP.COM/ACTION

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B4 | Monday, May 17, 2021 THEWALL STREET JOURNAL.

TECHNOLOGY WSJ.com/Tech

BUSINESSWATCH

GENERAL MILLS

Tyson Pet-TreatsBusiness Is Acquired

General Mills Inc. agreed tobuy Tyson Foods Inc.’s pet-treatsbusiness for $1.2 billion, thecompanies said, a deal thatwould complement GeneralMills’s pet-food unit.

The deal would provide an es-timated tax benefit of $225 mil-lion, equating to an effective pur-chase price of $975 million,General Mills said. The Tyson unitincludes the Nudges, Top Chewsand True Chews brands.

“Pet food is a high-growthcategory,” said Bethany Quam,General Mills’s group presidentfor the pet segment. The petsegment is General Mills’s fast-est-growing division, with salesrising 13% to $1.29 billionthrough the first nine months ofthe company’s current fiscalyear.

General Mills said it plans tofund the acquisition with cashon hand and short-term borrow-ing. It expects the deal to mod-estly add to its earnings in thefirst year after completion, ex-cluding transaction and integra-tion expenses.

Tyson said it will continueproviding meat ingredients forthe pet-treats business after thedeal closes. The pet-treats busi-ness generated more than $240million for the year ended April3, Tyson said.

—Dave Sebastian

WYNN LAS VEGAS

Mask Mandate IsUpdated for Some

Wynn Las Vegas said it willno longer require fully vaccinatedguests and employees to wear amask following the Centers forDisease Control and Prevention’supdated guidance.

The CDC said fully vaccinatedpeople don’t need to wear amask or physically distance dur-ing outdoor or indoor activities,large or small, the broadest eas-ing of pandemic recommenda-tions so far.

Wynn said 91% of its employ-ees in Las Vegas have been vac-cinated.

The company said it has ob-tained permission to run gamingareas at Wynn and Encore at100% occupancy, with plexiglassdividers removed from all tablegames and slot machines.

—Dave Sebastian

HONDA MOTOR

North AmericaRebound Fuels Profit

Honda Motor Co. swung to aprofit in its most recent quarteras the auto maker’s businesscontinued to recover from thepandemic, especially in NorthAmerica.

The Japanese auto makersaid earnings for its fourth quar-ter ended March 31 rose to¥213.32 billion ($1.95 billion),compared with a loss of ¥29.54billion a year earlier, when thepandemic hit Honda’s bottomline and car sales slumped.

Fourth-quarter revenue in-creased 4.8% to ¥3.624 trillion.Operating results improved forall reported regions. In NorthAmerica, operating profit in-creased to ¥186.65 billion from¥24.58 billion a year earlier.

Honda said it expects itsgroup car sales to rise to 5 mil-

lion units for the new fiscal yearthat started in April, from 4.5million units sold in the previousfiscal year.

—Kosaku Narioka

J&J SNACK FOODS

President Is TappedFor Chief Executive

J&J Snack Foods Corp. ap-pointed Dan Fachner, its presi-dent, as chief executive.

Mr. Fachner succeeds GeraldShreiber, J&J Snack Foods’founder who will remain chair-man, the company said Friday.The company’s products includeSour Patch Kids, Superpretzeland Minute Maid frozen ices.

Mr. Fachner became the com-pany’s president in May 2020.

—Dave Sebastian

BAKER HUGHES

U.S. Oil-Rig CountIncrease by Eight

The number of rigs drilling foroil in the U.S. rose by eight inthe latest week to 352, accord-ing to oil-field services companyBaker Hughes Co.

The nation’s gas-rig count fellby three in the latest week to100, Baker Hughes said Friday.The U.S. offshore-rig count roseby two to 15 in the latest week,and is up three from a year ago.The oil-rig count is viewed as aproxy for activity in the sector.

—Dave Sebastian

Wynn said 91% of its Las Vegas employees have been vaccinated.

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dia platform has caused psy-chological injury. Their workinvolves reviewing contentthat might be consideredharmful or inappropriate, liketerror propaganda or pornog-raphy. A Facebook spokes-woman said content reviewerscould take breaks whenneeded, with no time limits.

The group also is workingwith Uber drivers in London,where a Supreme Court rulingrecently entitled them to mini-mum wage.

Apple iCloudGood for: People who ex-

clusively use iOS and Macdevices

Free storage: 5 GB acrossiCloud, including phonebackups

Annual pricing: $12 for 50GB (4.1 GB a dollar); $36 for200 GB (5.5 GB a dollar); $120for 2 TB (16.6 GB a dollar)

Family sharing: Up to 6members, but only for highertwo tiers

The idea behind iCloudPhotos is that you have one

mega library synced across allyour devices. Of course, it’sdesigned to back up Apple de-vices only. The service is veryconvenient—you just turn iton in iPhone settings and pho-tos are backed up as you takethem. I recommend enablingOptimize Storage, which re-places photos and videos withlower-resolution versions inyour local device library tofree up space. You can tap todownload full-size imagesfrom iCloud at any time.

Just know that when you

PERSONAL TECHNOLOGY | By Nicole Nguyen

Before Paying, Find a Photo Backup OptionGoogle Pho-

tos had mefrom the startwith a killerfeature: free,unlimited

photo and video backup. Thecaveat? It compressed imagefiles larger than 16 megapixels.

I knew when the servicelaunched in 2015 that theperk couldn’t last forever.Millions of people dumpingsnapshots into the cloud? Itwasn’t sustainable.

Next month, Google Photosis ending its free tier. AfterJune 1, any newly uploadedmedia will count toward the15 gigabytes included withany Google account—unlessyou own a Pixel phone. Thatmeans your photos competewith your Gmail and anythingin your Google Drive. If youhad the account a while, youmight be close to full. Manypeople will need to upgradeto a paid plan or back uptheir photos elsewhere.

The change gives us free-loaders the opportunity to re-think the future of our digitalmemories. Here’s a look at dif-ferent online backup options.

Google PhotosGood for: Photo search

and sharing, and people whoown Pixel phones

Free storage: 15 GBacross Google services, in-cluding Gmail and Drive

Annual pricing: $20 for100 GB (5 GB a dollar); $30 for200 GB (6.6 GB a dollar); $100for 2 TB (20 GB a dollar)

Family sharing: Up to sixmembers

It wasn’t cool for GooglePhotos to start charging.Still, it has a lot of featuresworth paying for, and someways to save you money soyou can avoid the most ex-pensive tier. You can opt toupload your photos inslightly compressed resolu-tion, rather than original, ifyou don’t mind giving up alittle quality for extra run-way. In June, the app willprovide a tool that can iden-tify the dark or blurry im-ages bloating up your li-brary.

The search is, unsurpris-ingly, excellent. Many ser-vices offer image search byface, but Google’s is best—and it recognizes pets, too.You can also search for activ-ities like “hikes” or weatherconditions like “fog.”

Sharing is better. Eachshared album has a messagethread where you can seelikes and comments fromcollaborators on specific pic-tures—a fun way to relive agroup trip. Partner sharingautomatically shares photosbetween two people. You canlimit partner access to pic-tures of selected faces, suchas your dog and your kids.

delete a photo from youriPhone or Mac, it removesthe image from your iCloudbackup.

Amazon PhotosGood for: Prime members,

people with Amazon devicesFree storage: 5 GBAnnual pricing: Unlimited

photo, but not video, storageis included in the $119-a-yearPrime membership; for ac-cess without Prime, or morevideo space, you would pay:$20 for 100 GB (5 GB a dol-lar); $60 for 1 TB (16.6 GB adollar); $120 for 2 TB (16.6GB a dollar)

Family sharing: For Primemembers only, up to 6 people

Amazon Photos is likelythe most underused AmazonPrime perk. Members get un-limited, full-resolution photostorage using the app. Thecatch? Users are capped at 5GB of total video storage. Ifound the backup speed tobe slower than the others.Amazon solved this with its“overnight backup” feature,which lets you upload bigbatches while you sleep.

Microsoft OneDriveGood for: Microsoft Office

and Skype usersFree storage: 5 GB, in-

cluding any files in OneDriveAnnual pricing: $24 for

100 GB (4.1 GB per dollar);$70 for 1 TB (14.2 GB per dol-

lar; includes Microsoft Office)Family sharing: Microsoft

365 Family ($100 a year), upto 6 people

OneDrive doesn’t have asmany photo-specific featuresas its rivals. A spokeswomansaid the web app is addingphoto-editing capabilitieslater this month. Still, it’s agood deal for Microsoft 365subscribers, and comes withOffice and 60 minutes oflandline or internationalSkype calling. The servicehas native integration withthe photos app on Samsungphones, called Gallery, andcan store Samsung MotionPhotos as well as 8K video.

Flickr ProGood for: People who want

a simple planFree storage: 1,000 photos

and videosAnnual pricing: $60Family sharing: Not avail-

ableFlickr has a generous free

tier and if you max that out,it offers one flat rate for un-limited uploads. It’s good forthose who don’t want toworry about storage limits.The service offers nice tag-ging and organization op-tions.

There are limits: Eachphoto can be up to 200 MB—more than plenty for mobile-phone photographers—andeach video can be up to 1 GB.

Google Photos can search images by face, place or keywords.

ent path, taking aim at gov-ernment-created algorithmsthat increasingly make deci-sions in civic areas like edu-cation and immigration.

“There was almost nobodyin civil society doing anythingabout that,” said one of Fox-glove’s founders, Cori Crider, a39-year-old Texan. “What we’reinterested in is this change inthe way power has been exer-cised, almost hiding a bunch ofcontestable policy judgmentsbehind a technical veneer.”

A nonprofit with a budgetthis year of just over a half-million dollars, Foxglove isnow looking into tech-workerrights. Its founders came to-gether in 2019 over weekendbrunches at their homesacross London. Along with Ms.Crider, the group’s leaders areRosa Curling, a 42-year-oldBritish attorney, and MarthaDark, a 33-year-old operationsmanager for human-rightsgroups. All three had workedon broader human rights is-

sues. Last year, Hiba Ahmad,27, a researcher, joined.

One of Foxglove’s biggestactions came last year, afterthe pandemic forced the can-cellation of Britain’s nation-wide high-school exams, whichare key to securing places atthe country’s best universities.The U.K. government devisedan algorithm to predict thegrades students would haveachieved, based on elementssuch as past performance andtheir school’s track record.

Foxglove represented CurtisParfitt-Ford, a straight-A stu-dent in London who said thealgorithm might rank somestate-funded schools lowerthan the country’s privateschools. As opposition to theplan mounted, Foxglovelaunched its first legal chal-lenge on Mr. Parfitt-Ford’s be-half, steered him to press in-terviews and suggested he setup a petition which collectedroughly 250,000 signatories.

The government droppedits plan. Ofqual, the regulatorybody that presides over thetesting and devised the algo-rithm, declined to comment.At the time, it defended thetool as fair, but later apolo-gized for causing distress. In-stead, it allowed teachers toprovide predictive grades.

Foxglove previously hadtargeted another government-created algorithm, which de-cided whether certain immi-grants could enter the country.In its most decisive win, thegroup sued the government,alleging the tool used the na-tionality of applicants to un-fairly assess the merits oftheir applications.

The challenge representedthe first attempt to subject anautomated system to judicialreview in Britain, Foxglove

said. Before the case made itto court, the government saidit would halt use of the algo-rithm and review its visa-fil-tering systems for bias. TheBritish government said itdidn’t necessarily accept alle-gations of bias.

Foxglove has built a net-work of current and formerFacebook contract workerswith whom it discusses poten-tial legal action. Many of thoseworkers allege their content-review work for the social-me-

LONDON—A four-womantechnology-advocacy groupthat forced the British govern-ment to scrap a controversialalgorithm for processing visasand led a public backlash over atool for predicting high-schoolgrades now is taking on Face-book Inc. and Uber Technolo-gies Inc. over worker rights.

The group, named Foxgloveafter the European flowerthat, the founders note, canact as both poison or cure, hasbecome a sudden force in thecontinent’s tech circles. Its re-cent high-profile success inthe U.K. over the past yearand a half has given it a globalplatform unusual for such asmall group.

Similar groups have sprungup in Europe and the U.S. tochallenge what they view asthe rising power of SiliconValley, with the advocacylargely centered on privacy is-sues. Foxglove has cut a differ-

BY PARMY OLSON

Group Fights to Rein in Tech Tools, AidWorker Rights

Cori Crider, Hiba Ahmad, Rosa Curling and Martha Dark form the advocacy group Foxglove.

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P2JW137000-0-B00400-1--------XA

THEWALL STREET JOURNAL. * * * * Monday, May 17, 2021 | B5

BUSINESS & FINANCE

pected to participate in thePIPE.

The company would be-come the latest aiming tomodernize manufacturing withtechnology to go public bymerging with a SPAC. Several3D-printing companies, includ-ing Velo3D and Desktop Metal,reached such deals in recentmonths.

Also called blank-checkcompanies, SPACs like SCVXare shell companies that liston an exchange to acquire aprivate business and take itpublic. Merging with a SPAChas become a common way forstartups to raise large sumsand go public. One reason isthat SPAC mergers let startupsmake projections about theirbusiness, which aren’t allowedin a normal IPO.

Shares of companies thatwent public through SPACstumbled lately amid concernsabout tighter regulations andfrothy valuations.

Even SPACs that have un-veiled deals in recent weekshave seen their share pricesstruggle, a trend that canmake completing mergersmore challenging becauseblank-check company inves-tors have the option to with-draw their investment beforedeals get done. If the SPAC’sshares are low enough, thatwithdrawal can net investors asmall risk-free profit. A highrate of withdrawals can thencause deals to be renegotiatedand valuations to change.

SCVX raised $230 millionfrom investors in January2020. The company’s chief ex-ecutive is Michael Doniger, aformer portfolio manager atthe hedge fund Citadel.

Bright Machines is nearinga merger with a special-pur-pose acquisition company togo public in a deal that wouldvalue the manufacturing-auto-mation business at about $1.6billion, according to people fa-miliar with the matter.

The creator of a platformthat uses artificial intelligenceand robotics to automate tasksin electronics manufacturing,Bright Machines is close to adeal with SCVX Corp., thepeople said. The merger couldbe announced as soon as thisweek.

Founded in 2018, BrightMachines says its “microfacto-ries” can be programmed tocomplete electronics-manufac-turing tasks and continue im-proving as they repeat them.They make supply chains moreefficient, removing the needfor as many human workersand saving resources in manytechnology-dependent indus-tries, the company says.

The San Francisco companyhas about 25 customers, ac-cording to its website. Its ex-isting investors include BMWiVentures—the venture-capitalarm of auto maker BMW AG—Eclipse Ventures and Lux Capi-tal.

If the deal is completed,Bright Machines would be ex-pected to generate about $435million in cash proceeds fromthe roughly $230 million heldby the SPAC and $205 millionfrom a private investment inpublic equity, or PIPE, associ-ated with the merger, the peo-ple said.

SoftBank Group Corp. andFidelity Investments are ex-

BY AMRITH RAMKUMAR

Bright MachinesNears SPACDeal

sold represents 10% of its en-larged share capital. It plansto fix the offer price on Friday,and for the shares to starttrading on May 28.

The share sale could serveas a test of investor appetitefor Chinese technology-relatedstocks. A growing economicrecovery, high sector valua-tions and heightened regula-tory scrutiny of China’s techgiants have prompted some in-vestors to shift toward moretraditional sectors and stocksthat are more sensitive toswings in the economic cycle.

JD Logistics competes withbusinesses such as Shenzhen-listed S.F. Holding Co., ZTOExpress Cayman Inc. and Ali-baba’s logistics arm, CainiaoNetwork Technology Co.

JD.com turned the unit intoa stand-alone business in 2017,which then began taking ex-ternal customers. Clients in-clude the shoemaker SkechersUSA Inc. At the end of 2020,JD Logistics had more than900 warehouses, more than190,000 delivery staff and over190,000 corporate customers.JD.com accounted for nearly54% of last year’s revenue.

The logistics arm of JD.comInc. is looking to raise as muchas $3.4 billion through an ini-tial public offering, in the lat-est Hong Kong listing linked toChina’s booming e-commercemarket.

The IPO could value JD Lo-gistics Inc. at up to $34 bil-lion, filings showed on Mon-day. It follows share sales inthe city by JD.com and an-other of its subsidiaries lastyear, which in total raisednearly $8.5 billion, accordingto Dealogic.

JD.com relies on the unit tostore and deliver groceries,clothes, home appliances andelectronic gadgets acrossChina. Over the years the par-ent company has used speedydelivery via JD Logistics as away to gain an edge in its bat-tle for market share with Ali-baba Group Holding Ltd.

JD Logistics is offering609.16 million new shares atan indicative range of 39.36 to43.36 Hong Kong dollars each,the company’s listing docu-ment said, the equivalent of$5.07 to $5.58. The stock being

BY JOANNE CHIU

JD.com Unit to RaiseUp to $3.4 Billion

Bright Machines microfactory cells automate electronics making.

BRIGHTMACH

INES

/REU

TERS

hearing that he would sign anorder authorizing GDC to ac-cess up to an additional$300,000 in bankruptcy fi-nancing from Mazav Manage-ment LLC, an indirect ownerof GDC through GDC’s parentOriole Aviation LLC.

It is GDC’s “intent not toborrow any more money thanabsolutely needed,” the com-pany’s bankruptcy lawyer, Ja-son Rudd, said.

The bankrupt Air Force Onesupplier GDC Technics LLChas won court approval to bor-row up to $800,000 in emer-gency financing and use cashpledged as collateral, despiteobjections by the company’sformer partner, Boeing Co.

Judge Craig A. Gargotta ofthe U.S. Bankruptcy Court inSan Antonio said during a

BY AISHA AL-MUSLIM

Bankrupt GDCCanTapEmergency Financing

This announcement is neither an offer to purchase nor a solicitation of an offer to sell Shares (as defined below). The Offer (as defined below) is made solely pursuant to the Offer to Purchase dated May 17, 2021and the related Letter of Transmittal, as they may be amended or supplemented from time to time. The Offer is not being made to, nor will tenders be accepted from or on behalf of, holders of Shares in

any jurisdiction in which the making or acceptance of offers to sell Shares would not be in compliance with the laws of that jurisdiction, provided that MPC (as defined below) will comply withthe requirements of Rule 13e-4(f)(8) promulgated under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. MPC may, at its discretion, take any actions necessary for MPC to make

the Offer to shareholders in any such jurisdiction. In any jurisdiction where the securities or blue sky laws require the Offer to be made by a licensed broker or dealer, the Offer isbeing made on MPC’s behalf by the Dealer Managers (as defined below) or one or more registered brokers or dealers, which are licensed under the laws of such jurisdiction.

Notice of Offer to Purchase for Cashby

Marathon Petroleum Corporationof

Up to $4,000,000,000 of Shares of Its Common StockAt a Purchase Price Not Greater Than

$63.00 Per ShareAnd Not Less Than $56.00 Per Share

Marathon Petroleum Corporation, a Delaware corporation (“MPC”), is offering to purchase shares of its common stock, par value $.01 per share (the “Shares”), for cash up to an aggregatepurchase price of $4,000,000,000, at a per Share price not greater than $63.00 and not less than $56.00, to the tendering shareholder in cash, less any applicable withholding taxes and withoutinterest, upon the terms and subject to the conditions set forth in the Offer to Purchase dated May 17, 2021 (the “Offer to Purchase”) and in the related Letter of Transmittal (which together, asthey may be amended or supplemented from time to time, constitute the “Offer”).

THE OFFER AND WITHDR AWAL RIGHTS WILL EXPIRE AT MIDNIGHT, NEW YORKCITY TIME, AT THE END OF THE DAY ON JUNE 14, 2021, UNLESS THE OFFER IS EXTENDED(SUCH DATE AND TIME, AS THEY MAY BE EXTENDED, THE “EXPIR ATION DATE”).

Upon the terms and subject to the conditions of the Offer, promptly after the Expiration Date, MPC will determine a single price per Share (the “Purchase Price”), which will be not greaterthan $63.00 and not less than $56.00 per Share, that MPC will pay, subject to “odd lot” priority, proration and conditional tender provisions described in the Offer to Purchase, for Sharesproperly tendered in the Offer and not properly withdrawn, and accepted for payment, taking into account the number of Shares tendered pursuant to the Offer and the prices specified, or deemedspecified, by the tendering shareholders. Upon the terms and subject to the conditions of the Offer, the Purchase Price will be the lowest price per Share (in increments of $0.50), of not greaterthan $63.00 and not less than $56.00 per Share, at which Shares have been properly tendered in the Offer and not properly withdrawn, that will enable MPC to purchase the maximum numberof Shares properly tendered in the Offer and not properly withdrawn having an aggregate purchase price not exceeding $4,000,000,000 (or, if the Offer is not fully subscribed, all Shares properlytendered and not properly withdrawn). All Shares purchased in the Offer will be purchased at the same Purchase Price regardless of whether the shareholder tendered at a price lower than thePurchase Price. However, because of the “odd lot” priority, proration and conditional tender provisions described in the Offer to Purchase, it is possible that not all of the Shares tendered at orbelow the Purchase Price will be purchased if Shares having an aggregate purchase price in excess of $4,000,000,000 are properly tendered and not properly withdrawn. Shares tendered but notpurchased in the Offer will be returned to the tendering shareholders at MPC’s expense promptly after the Expiration Date.

In addition, in the event that Shares are properly tendered at or below the Purchase Price (and not properly withdrawn) having an aggregate purchase price of more than $4,000,000,000,MPC may exercise its right to purchase up to an additional 2% of its outstanding Shares without extending the Expiration Date. MPC also expressly reserves the right, in its sole discretion, toamend the Offer in order to purchase more than $4,000,000,000 of Shares in the Offer, subject to applicable law.

On May 14, 2021, the last reported sale price of the Shares on the New York Stock Exchange was $60.08 per Share, which is above the $56.00 per Share lower end of the price range for theOffer. Accordingly, an election to accept the Purchase Price determined in the Offer may lower the Purchase Price to a price below such closing price and could be below the reported closing priceon the Expiration Date. Shareholders are urged to obtain current market quotations for the Shares before deciding whether and at what purchase price or purchase prices to tender their Shares.

The Offer is not conditioned on the receipt of financing or any minimum value of Shares being tendered. The Offer, however, is subject to other conditions set forth in the Offerto Purchase.

As of May 3, 2021, MPC had 652,654,584 issued and outstanding Shares (and 13,677,017 Shares reserved for issuance upon exercise of stock options (“Stock Options”) and vestingof restricted stock units (“RSUs”) and performance units (“PUs”) (assuming PUs vest at the specified maximum performance threshold)). If the Offer is fully subscribed at a PurchasePrice of $63.00, the maximum Purchase Price pursuant to the Offer, the completion of the Offer will result in the repurchase by MPC of 63,492,063 Shares, which would representapproximately 9.7% of MPC’s issued and outstanding Shares as of May 3, 2021 (which excludes Shares that would result from the assumed exercise of Stock Options and the assumedvesting of RSUs and PUs (“Potential Shares”)), or approximately 9.5% of MPC’s outstanding Shares on a fully diluted basis as of May 3, 2021 (which includes Potential Shares). If theOffer is fully subscribed at a Purchase Price of $56.00, the minimum Purchase Price pursuant to the Offer, the completion of the Offer will result in the repurchase by the Company of71,428,571 Shares, which would represent approximately 10.9% of MPC’s issued and outstanding Shares as of May 3, 2021 (which excludes Potential Shares), or approximately 10.7%of MPC’s outstanding Shares on a fully diluted basis as of May 3, 2021 (which includes Potential Shares).

WHILE THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS OF MPC HAS AUTHORIZED THE OFFER, NONE OF MPC, THE MEMBERS OF ITS BOARD OF DIRECTORS,J.P. MORGAN SECURITIES LLC, BARCLAYS CAPITAL INC., THE DEALER MANAGERS FOR THE OFFER (THE “DEALER MANAGERS”), GEORGESON LLC,THE INFORMATION AGENT FOR THE OFFER (THE “INFORMATION AGENT”), OR THE DEPOSITARY (AS DEFINED BELOW) MAKES ANYRECOMMENDATION TO ANY SHAREHOLDER AS TO WHETHER TO TENDER OR REFRAIN FROM TENDERING THE SHAREHOLDER’S SHARES ORAS TO ANY PRICE AT WHICH THE SHAREHOLDER MIGHT TENDER SHARES. SHAREHOLDERS MUST MAKE THEIR OWN DECISION AS TO WHETHERTO TENDER THEIR SHARES AND, IF SO, HOW MANY SHARES TO TENDER AND AT WHAT PRICE OR PRICES TO TENDER. PRIOR TO MAKING ANYDECISION WITH RESPECT TO THE OFFER, SHAREHOLDERS SHOULD READ CAREFULLY THE INFORMATION IN THE OFFER TO PURCHASE ANDIN THE RELATED LETTER OF TR ANSMITTAL, INCLUDING THE PURPOSES AND EFFECTS OF THE OFFER. SHAREHOLDERS SHOULD DISCUSSWHETHER TO TENDER THEIR SHARES WITH THEIR BROKER, IF ANY, OR OTHER FINANCIAL OR TAX ADVISOR.

On April 28, 2021, MPC announced a quarterly cash dividend of $0.58 per Share. The dividend is payable on June 10, 2021 to each shareholder of record as of the close of business onMay 19, 2021. Shareholders of record as of the close of business on May 19, 2021 will be entitled to the dividend regardless of whether any such shareholder tenders any of its Shares in the Offer.

Upon the terms and subject to the conditions of the Offer, including the provisions relating to “odd lot” priority, proration and conditional tender described in the Offer to Purchase, MPCwill purchase Shares properly tendered at or below the Purchase Price and not properly withdrawn on or before the Expiration Date having an aggregate purchase price of up to $4,000,000,000(or such greater amount as it may elect to purchase, subject to applicable law). If the number of Shares properly tendered at or below the Purchase Price and not properly withdrawn prior to theExpiration Date would result in an aggregate purchase price of more than $4,000,000,000, MPC will purchase Shares in the following order of priority:

• first, MPC will purchase all odd lots of less than 100 Shares from shareholders who properly tender all of their Shares at or below the Purchase Price and who do not properly withdraw thembefore the Expiration Date (tenders of less than all of the Shares owned, beneficially or of record, by any such odd lot holder will not qualify for this preference) (the “Preferred Odd Lots”);

• second, after purchasing all the Preferred Odd Lots that were properly tendered at or below the Purchase Price and not properly withdrawn before the Expiration Date, MPC will purchaseShares from all other shareholders who properly tendered Shares at or below the Purchase Price and who did not properly withdraw them before the Expiration Date (except for shareholderswho tendered Shares at or below the Purchase Price conditionally for which the condition was not satisfied), on a pro rata basis, with appropriate adjustments to avoid purchases of fractionalShares, until MPC has purchased Shares having an aggregate purchase price of $4,000,000,000 (or such greater amount as MPC may elect to purchase, subject to applicable law); and

• third, only if necessary to permit MPC to purchase Shares having an aggregate purchase price of $4,000,000,000 (or such greater amount as MPC may elect to purchase, subject toapplicable law), MPC will purchase Shares from shareholders who have properly tendered Shares at or below the Purchase Price conditionally (for which the condition was not initiallysatisfied) by random lot, to the extent feasible. To be eligible for purchase by random lot, shareholders whose Shares are conditionally tendered at or below the Purchase Price must haveproperly tendered all of their Shares at or below the Purchase Price and not properly withdrawn them before the Expiration Date.

Upon the terms and subject to the conditions of the Offer, MPC will accept for payment and pay the per Share Purchase Price for all of the Shares accepted for payment pursuant to theOffer promptly after the Expiration Date. In all cases, payment for Shares tendered and accepted for payment pursuant to the Offer will be made promptly, subject to possible delay in the eventof proration, but only after timely receipt by the Depositary of: (i) certificates for Shares, if applicable, or a timely book-entry confirmation of the deposit of Shares into the Depositary’s accountat the Book-Entry Transfer Facility (as defined in the Offer to Purchase); (ii) a properly completed and duly executed Letter of Transmittal, including any required signature guarantee (or, in thecase of a book-entry transfer, an Agent’s Message (as defined in the Offer to Purchase)); and (iii) any other required documents.

Because of the difficulty in determining the number of Shares properly tendered and not properly withdrawn, and because of the proration and conditional tender provisions described in theOffer to Purchase, MPC expects that it will not be able to announce the final proration factor or commence payment for any Shares purchased pursuant to the Offer until after the ExpirationDate. The preliminary results of any proration will be announced by press release on the business day following the Expiration Date.

All Shares tendered and not purchased in the Offer will be returned to shareholders at MPC’s expense promptly following the Expiration Date. MPC expressly reserves the right, in its solediscretion, at any time and from time to time, and regardless of whether or not any of the conditions set forth in the Offer to Purchase shall have occurred or shall be deemed by MPC to have occurred,to extend the period of time during which the Offer is open and delay acceptance for payment of, and payment for, any Shares by giving oral or written notice of such extension to the Depositary andmaking a public announcement of such extension no later than 9:00 a.m., New York City time, on the next business day after the last previously scheduled or announced Expiration Date. Duringany such extension, all Shares previously tendered and not properly withdrawn will remain subject to the Offer and to the right of a tendering shareholder to withdraw such shareholder’s Shares.

For purposes of the Offer, MPC will be deemed to have accepted for payment (and therefore purchased), subject to the “odd lot” priority, proration and conditional tender provisionsof the Offer, Shares that are properly tendered at or below the Purchase Price and not properly withdrawn only when, as and if MPC gives oral or written notice to Computershare TrustCompany, N.A., the depositary for the Offer (the “Depositary”), of its acceptance of the Shares for payment in the Offer.

Shareholders wishing to tender Shares in the Offer must follow the procedures set forth in the Offer to Purchase and in the Letter of Transmittal. If you are invested in the MarathonPetroleum Thrift Plan, you are entitled to participate in the Offer. If you wish to tender such Shares, you must follow the procedures described in the separate instructions that you will receiveand accept the Offer by 4:00 p.m., New York City time, on June 8, 2021.

Shareholders who wish to tender their Shares but (a) whose certificates for their Shares, if applicable, are not immediately available to them or cannot be delivered to the Depositary by theExpiration Date, (b) cannot comply with the procedure for book-entry transfer by the Expiration Date or (c) cannot deliver their required documents to the Depositary by the Expiration Datemay still tender their Shares by complying with the procedures for guaranteed delivery as provided for in the Offer to Purchase and Letter of Transmittal.

Shareholders may withdraw their tendered Shares at any time prior to the Expiration Date and, if not previously accepted for payment, at any time after midnight, New York City time,at the end of the day on July 13, 2021. To withdraw tendered Shares, a written notice of withdrawal must be timely delivered to the Depositary at its address below. The written notice ofwithdrawal must specify the tendering holder’s name, the number of Shares to be withdrawn and the name of the registered holder of such Shares. If more than one Letter of Transmittal wasused to tender such Shares or more than one group of Shares were tendered, then the withdrawal of Shares may be made using either separate notices of withdrawal or a combined notice ofwithdrawal, so long as the required information is included. Some additional requirements apply if Shares have been tendered under the procedure for book-entry transfer as set forth in theOffer to Purchase. If shareholders have tendered their Shares by giving instructions to a broker, dealer, commercial bank, trust company or other nominee, then instructions must be givento such nominee to arrange for the withdrawal of the relevant Shares.

MPC will decide, in its reasonable discretion, all questions as to the number of Shares to be accepted or withdrawn, the Purchase Price to be paid for Shares to be accepted and thevalidity, form and eligibility, including time of receipt, and acceptance for payment of any tender of Shares, and each such decision will be final and binding on all persons participatingin the Offer, subject to such Offer participants disputing such determination in a court of competent jurisdiction. None of MPC, the Dealer Managers, the Information Agent, theDepositary or any other person will be obligated to give notice of any defects or irregularities in tenders or in any notice of withdrawal, nor will any such person incur any liability forfailure to give any such notice.

MPC also expressly reserves the right, in its sole discretion, to terminate the Offer and reject for payment and not pay for any shares not theretofore accepted for payment or paid for, subjectto applicable law, or to postpone payment for Shares, upon the occurrence of any of the conditions to the Offer specified in Section 7 of the Offer to Purchase, by giving oral or written notice ofsuch termination or postponement to the Depositary and making a public announcement of such termination or postponement. MPC’s reservation of the right to delay payment for shares thatit has accepted for payment is limited by Rule 13e-4(f)(5) and Rule 14e-1 under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”), which requires that MPC must pay theconsideration offered or return the shares tendered promptly after termination or withdrawal of the Offer.

If you are a U.S. Holder (as defined in the Offer to Purchase), your exchange of Shares for cash pursuant to the Offer will be a taxable transaction for United States federal income taxpurposes. Your receipt of cash for your tendered Shares generally will be treated for United States federal income tax purposes either as (a) consideration received in a sale or exchange or (b) adistribution with respect to such Shares, depending on the circumstances.

If you are a Non-U.S. Holder (as defined in the Offer to Purchase), your receipt of cash for your tendered Shares generally will be treated for United States federal income tax purposes aseither (a) consideration received in a sale or exchange or (b) a distribution with respect to such Shares, depending on the circumstances. If the receipt of cash by you is treated as considerationreceived in a sale or exchange, and you are not engaged in a trade or business in the United States, you generally will not be subject to United States federal income taxation on the receipt of suchcash, subject to certain exceptions. However, if the receipt of cash is treated as a distribution with respect to your tendered Shares, you may be subject to tax on the portion of such distributiontreated as a “dividend” for United States federal income tax purposes at a rate of 30% (or a lower rate pursuant to an applicable income tax treaty). The tax treatment of the receipt of cashdepends upon facts which may be unique as to each shareholder. Therefore, we, the Depositary, or other applicable withholding agent, may presume that all amounts paid to foreign shareholdersin exchange for their Shares are dividend distributions, and as to each foreign shareholder, United States federal income tax may be withheld at a 30% rate unless such shareholder providesdocumentation pursuant to which we, the Depositary, or other withholding agent, may determine that an exemption from, or reduction of, such withholding applies. If tax has been withheldbut the receipt of cash for your tendered Shares is treated as consideration received in a sale or exchange (including because you meet one of the tests of Section 302 of the Internal Revenue Codeof 1986, as amended), then, in an appropriate case, you may apply to the Internal Revenue Service for a refund of such withheld amount. Each shareholder is advised to consult its own tax advisorto determine the United States federal, state, local, foreign and other tax consequences to it of the Offer.

The Offer to Purchase and the Letter of Transmittal contain important information that should be read before any decision is made with respect to the Offer.MPC believes that the repurchase of Shares pursuant to the Offer is consistent with its long-term goal of maximizing shareholder value and its previously announced plans regarding the

use of the proceeds from MPC’s Speedway Sale (as defined in the Offer to Purchase), which closed on May 14, 2021. In determining to proceed with the Offer, MPC’s senior executives andmanagement team and its Board of Directors evaluated MPC’s operations, financial condition, capital needs, regulatory requirements, strategy and expectations for the future and believe thatthe Offer is a prudent use of MPC’s financial resources.

Copies of the Offer to Purchase and the Letter of Transmittal are being mailed to record holders of Shares and will be furnished to brokers, dealers, commercial banks, trust companies andother nominee shareholders and similar persons whose names, or the names of whose nominees, appear on the shareholder list of MPC or, if applicable, who are listed as participants in a clearingagency’s security position listing for subsequent transmittal to beneficial owners of Shares. Additional copies of the Offer to Purchase and the Letter of Transmittal may be requested from theInformation Agent, at the expense of MPC, at the address and telephone number set forth below. Questions or requests for assistance may be directed to the Information Agent or the DealerManagers at their respective telephone numbers and addresses set forth below. Shareholders may also contact their broker, dealer, commercial bank or trust company for assistance concerningthe Offer. MPC is filing a Tender Offer Statement on Schedule TO with the Securities and Exchange Commission that includes additional information relating to the Offer. The informationrequired to be disclosed by Rule 13e-4(d)(1) under the Exchange Act is contained in the Offer to Purchase and is herein incorporated by reference.

The Information Agent for the Offer is:

Georgeson LLC1290 Avenue of the Americas, 9th Floor

New York, New York 10104Shareholders, Banks and BrokersCall Toll-Free: 1 (888) 565-5423

The Depositary for the Offer is:

Computershare Trust Company, N.A.By First-Class, Registered or Certified Mail: By Express Mail or Overnight Courier:

Computershare Trust Company, N.A. Computershare Trust Company, N.A.c/o Voluntary Corporate Actions c/o Voluntary Corporate Actions

P.O. Box 43011 150 Royall Street, Suite VProvidence, Rhode Island 02940-3011 Canton, Massachusetts 02021

The Dealer Managers for the Offer are:

J.P. Morgan Securities LLC Barclays Capital Inc.383 Madison Avenue 745 Seventh Avenue

New York, New York 10179 New York, New York 10019Call Toll-Free: 1 (877) 371-5947 Call Toll-Free: 1 (888) 610-5877

May 17, 2021

P2JW137000-4-B00500-1--------XA

B6 | Monday, May 17, 2021 THEWALL STREET JOURNAL.

HealthNotice:Ourprivate jettripwill follownewandenhancedhealthandsafetymeasures,andaphysicianwillbeonboardforthedurationofthe journey.

This tripwill beoperatedbyNationalGeographicExpeditions,on flightsby Icelandair.Please visit natgeoexpeditions.com/privatejetterms to see theOperator-Participant Contract andTerms and Conditions for this trip.© 2021 DowJones & Co., Inc. All rights reserved. © 2021 National Geographic Partners, LLC. All Rights Reserved.NATIONALGEOGRAPHIC EXPEDITIONS and theYellowBorder are trademarks of National Geographic Society and usedwith permission.

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P2JW137000-0-B00600-1--------XA

THEWALL STREET JOURNAL. Monday, May 17, 2021 | B7

New to the Market IPO Scorecard B8

PublicOfferings of Stock

IPOs in theU.S.MarketInitial public offerings of stock expected thisweek;might include someofferings, U.S. and foreign, open to institutional investors only via theRule 144amarket; deal amounts are for theU.S.market only

Symbol/ Pricing

Expected primary Shares Range($)pricing date Filed Issuer/business exchange (mil.) Low/High Bookrunner(s)

5/19 2/28 Procore Technologies Inc PCOR 9.5 60.00/ GS, JPM, Barclays, Jefferies

2020 Software-Computer,Traditional &Other.Software companyengagedwithdevelopment of a projectmanagement software.

N 65.00

5/19 4/19 OatlyGroupAB OTLY 84.4 15.00/ MS, JPM, Credit Suisse, Barclays,

Manufacturer of oat-based food.

Nq 17.00 Jefferies, BNPParibas, BofASecurities, PiperSandler

LockupExpirationsBelow, companieswhose officers and other insiderswill becomeeligibleto sell shares in their newly public companies for the first time. Suchsales canmove the stock’s price.

Lockup Offer Offer amt Through Lockupexpiration Issue date Issuer Symbol price($) ($mil.) Friday (%) provision

May22 Nov. 23, ’20 HFEnterprises HFEN 7.00 16.9 –46.6 180 days

Nov. 23, ’20 VisionMarine TechnologiesVMAR 10.00 20.0 –25.2 180 days

Nov. 17, ’20 OTRAcquisition OTRAU 10.00 115.0 2.2 180 days

Nov. 18, ’20 Consonance–HFWAcquisitionCHFW.U 10.00 80.0 1.5 180 days

Nov. 19, ’20 KingswoodAcquisition KWAC.U 10.00 100.0 4.0 180 days

Nov. 20, ’20 Lifesci Acquisition II LSAQ 10.00 75.0 1.6 180 days

Nov. 19, ’20 SoteraHealth SHC 23.00 1001.9 –2.2 180 days

Nov. 18, ’20 NeoGames NGMS 17.00 72.1 170.8 180 days

Nov. 19, ’20 Maravai LifeSciencesHoldings MRVI 27.00 1275.0 40.5 180 days

Nov. 18, ’20 OlemaOncology OLMA 19.00 170.0 32.2 180 days

Nov. 19, ’20 YatsenHolding YSG 10.50 558.1 –10.1 180 days

Nov. 19, ’20 Telos TLS 17.00 210.0 108.9 180 days

Nov. 18, ’20 JiyaAcquisition JYAC 10.00 100.0 –1.9 180 days

Sources: Dealogic; DowJonesMarketData

Other StockOfferingsSecondaries and follow-ons expected thisweek in theU.S.marketNone expected thisweek

Off theShelfNone expected thisweek

Public andPrivateBorrowingTreasurysMonday,May 17 Tuesday,May 18

Auction of 13 and 26week bills; Auction of 52week bill;announced onMay 13; settles onMay20 announced onMay 13; settles onMay20

Wednesday,May 19 Thursday,May 20

Auction of 20 year bond; Auction of 4 and8week bill;announced onMay 13; settles on June 1 announced onMay 18; settles onMay25

Commodities andCurrencies

LastWeek YTDClose Net chg %Chg % chg

DJCommodity 886.82 -12.65 -1.41 21.22

Refinitiv/CCCRB Index 203.29 -3.67 -1.77 21.15

Crude oil,$per barrel 65.37 0.47 0.72 34.73

Natural gas,$/MMBtu 2.961 0.003 0.10 16.62

Gold,$per troy oz. 1837.90 6.80 0.37 -2.92

U.S. Dollar Index 90.30 0.07 0.08 0.41

WSJDollar Index 85.43 0.15 0.18 0.50

Euro, per dollar 0.8233 0.001 0.13 0.57

Yen, per dollar 109.35 0.76 0.70 5.84

U.K. pound, in dollars 1.41 0.012 0.82 3.15

52-WeekLow Close(l) High %Chg

DJCommodity 503.10 l 904.26 76.27

Refinitiv/CCCMD 124.75 l 207.96 62.96

Crude oil,$per barrel 29.43 l 66.09 122.12

Natural gas,$/MMBtu 1.482 l 3.354 79.89

Gold,$per troy oz. 1676.20 l 2051.50 4.82

U.S. Dollar Index 89.44 l 100.40 -10.06

WSJDollar Index 84.56 l 94.35 -9.46

Euro, per dollar 0.8112 l 0.9243 -10.93

Yen, per dollar 102.72 l 110.72 2.14

U.K. pound, in dollars 1.21 l 1.41 16.44

Treasury yield curveYield to maturity of current bills,notes and bonds

0.00

0.50

1.00

1.50

2.00

2.50%

1

month(s)3 6 1

years2 3 5 7 10 20 30

maturity

tTradeweb ICEFriday Close

tOne year ago

Forex RaceYen, euro vs. dollar; dollar vs.major U.S. trading partners

–16

–8

0

8

16%

2020 2021

Euro

s

Yen

s

WSJ Dollar Index

s

Sources: Tradeweb ICEU.S. Treasury Close; Tullett Prebon; DowJonesMarketData

CorporateBorrowingRatesandYieldsSpread+/-Treasurys,

Yield (%) inbasispts, 52-wkRange TotalReturnBondtotal return index Last Wkago Last Low High 52-wk 3-yr

U.S.Treasury, Barclays 0.950 0.920 -4.57 4.67U.S.TreasuryLong, Barclays 2.270 2.190 -16.44 7.20Aggregate, Barclays 1.540 1.490 31 29 84 -0.25 5.21Fixed-RateMBS, Barclays 1.770 1.670 13 7 75 -0.54 4.04HighYield100, ICEBofA 3.721 3.576 299 278 646 17.834 5.670MuniMaster, ICEBofA 0.885 0.850 11 11 41 4.510 4.864EMBIGlobal, J.P.Morgan 4.789 4.743 308 306 530 11.949 5.498

Sources: J.P.Morgan;S&PDowJones Indices;BloombergBarclays; ICEDataServices

ConsumerRates andReturns to InvestorU.S. consumer ratesA consumer rate against itsbenchmark over the past year

0.00

0.10

0.20

0.30

0.40%

2020J J A S O N D J

2021F M A M

t

Money marketaccount yields

t

Federal-fundstarget rate

Selected ratesMoneyMarket/SavingsAccts

Bankrate.comavg†: 0.08%ColoradoFederal SavingsBank 0.40%GreenwoodVillage, CO 877-484-2372

LoneStarBank 0.40%Houston, TX 713-358-9400

VirtualBank 0.40%Miami, FL 877-998-2265

BankDirect 0.50%Richardson, TX 877-839-2737

TABBank 0.50%Ogden, UT 800-355-3063

Yield/Rate (%) 52-WeekRange (%) 3-yr chgInterest rate Last (l)Week ago Low 0 2 4 6 8 High (pct pts)

Federal-funds rate target 0.00-0.25 0.00-0.25 0.00 l 0.25 -1.50Prime rate* 3.25 3.25 3.25 l 3.25 -1.50Libor, 3-month 0.16 0.16 0.15 l 0.38 -2.17Moneymarket, annual yield 0.08 0.08 0.08 l 0.30 -0.37Five-year CD, annual yield 0.45 0.47 0.44 l 0.83 -1.2430-yearmortgage, fixed† 3.09 3.10 2.83 l 3.60 -1.4615-yearmortgage, fixed† 2.39 2.38 2.32 l 2.98 -1.64Jumbomortgages, $548,250-plus† 3.11 3.12 2.85 l 3.70 -1.71Five-year adjmortgage (ARM)† 3.06 3.08 2.85 l 3.32 -1.46New-car loan, 48-month 4.06 4.05 4.02 l 4.44 -0.21Bankrate.com rates based on survey of over 4,800 online banks. *Base rate posted by 70% of the nation's largestbanks.† Excludes closing costs.

Sources: FactSet; Dow JonesMarket Data; Bankrate.com

S&P 500 Index4173.85 t58.75, or 1.39% last weekHigh, low, open and close for each ofthe past 52 weeks

Year agoLast

Trailing P/E ratio *P/E estimate *Dividend yield *All-time high

37.04 24.56

22.57 22.69

1.38 2.12

4232.60, 05/07/21

2500

2800

3100

3400

3700

4000

4300

4600

M J J A S O N D J F M A M

65-day moving average

200-day moving average

Nasdaq Composite

t 322.26, or -2.34%last week

13700

13400

13100

128007

May10 11 12 13 14

DJ US TSM

t 660.41, or -1.50%last week

44200

43400

42600

418007

May10 11 12 13 14

International Stock IndexesLatestWeek 52-WeekRange YTD

Region/Country Index Close % chg Low Close High % chg

World MSCIACWI 699.13 –1.58 478.35 • 710.36 8.2MSCIACWI ex-USA 345.09 –1.78 238.42 • 352.29 5.7MSCIWorld 2938.63 –1.37 2008.41 • 2979.41 9.2MSCIEmergingMarkets 1307.53 –3.04 901.16 • 1444.93 1.3

Americas MSCIACAmericas 1617.72 –1.35 1095.51 • 1639.85 10.2Canada S&P/TSXComp 19366.69 –0.54 14638.90 • 19472.74 11.1LatinAmer. MSCIEMLatinAmerica 2501.51 –0.67 1540.91 • 2546.61 2.0Brazil SaoPauloBovespa 121880.8

2–0.13 77556.62 • 125076.63 2.4

Chile Santiago IPSA 3085.50 –1.12 2423.14 • 3396.76 7.97Mexico S&P/BMV IPC 49219.26 –0.06 35517.77 • 49867.15 11.7

EMEA StoxxEurope600 442.53 –0.54 328.24 • 445.39 10.9StoxxEurope50 3442.79 –0.03 2700.62 • 3448.07 10.8

Eurozone EuroStoxx 444.69 –0.49 308.49 • 446.86 11.9EuroStoxx50 4017.44 –0.42 2770.70 • 4034.25 13.1

Austria ATX 3422.46 2.75 2034.19 • 3422.46 23.1Belgium Bel-20 4066.49 0.55 2932.21 • 4066.49 12.3France CAC40 6385.14 –0.01 4277.63 • 6385.99 15.0Germany DAX 15416.64 0.11 10465.17 • 15459.75 12.4Greece AthexComposite 907.08 1.12 564.93 • 913.12 12.1Israel TelAviv 1640.62 –0.49 1275.23 • 1654.45 9.4Italy FTSEMIB 24766.09 0.63 16852 • 24803 11.4Netherlands AEX 703.33 –2.10 500.31 • 718.41 12.6Portugal PSI 20 5195.66 0.90 3863.20 • 5282.02 6.1Russia RTS Index 1548.93 –1.81 1066.60 • 1577.51 11.6SouthAfrica FTSE/JSEAll-Share 66598.13 –2.80 49628.72 • 68775.06 12.1Spain IBEX35 9145.60 0.95 6411.8 • 9145.6 13.3Sweden OMXStockholm 899.12 –1.17 577.91 • 921.13 17.0Switzerland SwissMarket 11120.77 –0.47 9483.10 • 11262.97 3.9U.K. FTSE 100 7043.61 –1.21 5577.27 • 7129.71 9.0

Asia-Pacific MSCIACAsiaPacific 200.80 –3.24 144.8 • 220.6 0.4Australia S&P/ASX200 7014.20 –0.94 5404.8 • 7172.8 6.5China Shanghai Composite 3490.38 2.09 2813.77 • 3696.17 0.5HongKong HangSeng 28027.57 –2.04 22930.14 • 31084.94 2.9India S&PBSESensex 48732.55 –0.96 30028.98 • 52154.13 2.1Japan Nikkei StockAvg 28084.47 –4.34 20037.47 • 30467.75 2.3Malaysia FTSEBursaMalaysiaKLCI 1582.52 –0.31 1397.13 • 1684.58 –2.7Singapore Straits Times 3055.02 –4.54 2423.84 • 3221.58 7.4SouthKorea Kospi 3153.32 –1.37 1927.28 • 3249.30 9.7Taiwan TAIEX 15827.09 –8.43 10740.55 • 17595.90 7.4

Source: FactSet; DowJonesMarketData

MajorU.S. Stock-Market IndexesLatestWeek 52-Week % chg

High Low Close Net chg % chg Low Close (l) High %chg YTD 3-yr. ann.DowJones

Industrial Average 35091.56 33555.22 34382.13 -395.63 -1.14 23685.42 l 34777.76 45.2 12.3 11.4TransportationAvg 16170.05 15340.86 15917.46 -25.84 -0.16 7761.00 l 15943.3 105.1 27.3 14.3UtilityAverage 927.98 886.88 907.73 -2.17 -0.24 744.49 l 933.37 21.9 5.0 9.8Total StockMarket 44038.85 42105.44 43368.26 -660.41 -1.50 28903.31 l 44054.28 50.0 10.6 15.3Barron's 400 1006.76 969.16 1005.53 -12.72 -1.25 596.68 l 1018.25 68.5 18.0 11.2

NasdaqStockMarket

NasdaqComposite 13687.93 13002.54 13429.98 -322.26 -2.34 9014.56 l 14138.78 49.0 4.2 21.9Nasdaq-100 13648.49 12967.18 13393.12 -326.51 -2.38 9152.64 l 14041.91 46.3 3.9 24.4

S&P

500 Index 4236.39 4056.88 4173.85 -58.75 -1.39 2863.70 l 4232.6 45.8 11.1 15.2MidCap400 2780.08 2627.23 2721.89 -48.38 -1.75 1578.26 l 2770.27 72.5 18.0 12.0SmallCap600 1378.51 1291.97 1354.82 -19.44 -1.41 712.38 l 1397.66 90.2 21.1 11.3

Other Indexes

Russell 2000 2271.24 2132.25 2224.63 -47.00 -2.07 1256.99 l 2360.17 77.0 12.6 11.6NYSEComposite 16685.90 16030.30 16415.36 -175.08 -1.06 10947.32 l 16590.43 49.9 13.0 8.7Value Line 675.58 642.51 665.27 -8.74 -1.30 387.49 l 674.01 71.7 17.0 5.8NYSEArcaBiotech 5584.51 5317.86 5564.58 29.28 0.53 5128.49 l 6319.77 1.2 -3.0 5.7NYSEArcaPharma 732.84 718.62 730.44 8.40 1.16 613.07 l 730.44 12.8 5.9 11.0KBWBank 134.73 128.26 133.69 0.92 0.69 64.19 l 133.69 108.3 36.5 6.5PHLX§Gold/Silver 159.61 151.11 157.36 1.08 0.69 112.57 l 161.14 24.3 9.1 23.5PHLX§Oil Service 63.35 57.80 61.94 0.220 0.36 26.30 l 63.89 125.0 39.7 -27.6PHLX§Semiconductor 3078.39 2842.33 2981.42 -130.61 -4.20 1700.89 l 3305.43 75.3 6.7 29.7CboeVolatility 28.93 17.07 18.81 2.12 12.70 16.25 l 40.79 -41.0 -17.3 13.3

§NasdaqPHLX Sources: FactSet; DowJonesMarketData

Real-time U.S. stock quotes areavailable on WSJ.com.

Track most-active stocks, new highs/lows, mutual funds and ETFs.

All are available free atWSJMarkets.com

WSJ.com

BenchmarkYields andRatesBenchmarkYields andRates

MARKETS DIGEST

Dow Jones Industrial Average

34382.13 t395.63, or 1.14% last weekHigh, low, open and close for each ofthe past 52 weeks

Year agoLast

Trailing P/E ratioP/E estimate *Dividend yieldAll-time high

29.63 19.99

20.63 21.56

1.75 2.79

34777.76, 05/07/21

17500

20000

22500

25000

27500

30000

32500

35000

M J J A S O N D J F M A M

Current divisor 0.15198707565833

Bars measure the point change from Monday's open

tt

Week's high

Week's low

Monday's open

Friday's close Monday's open

Friday's closeDOWN UP

Primarymarket t

t Composite

65-day moving average

200-day moving average

NYSE weekly volume, in billions of shares

0122436

M J J A S O N D J F M A M

*Weekly P/E data based on as-reported earnings from Birinyi Associates Inc.; †Based on Nasdaq-100 Index

CurrenciesU.S.-dollar foreign-exchange rates in lateNewYork trading

US$vs,Fri YTD chg

Country/currency inUS$ perUS$ (%)

AmericasArgentina peso .0106 93.9567 11.7Brazil real .1897 5.2727 1.5Canada dollar .8261 1.2106 –4.9Chile peso .001429 699.80 –1.5Colombiapeso .000271 3685.51 7.7EcuadorUSdollar 1 1 unchMexico peso .0503 19.8680 –0.1Uruguay peso .02263 44.1850 4.3Asia-PacificAustralian dollar .7778 1.2857 –1.1China yuan .1553 6.4371 –1.5HongKong dollar .1287 7.7676 0.2India rupee .01365 73.279 0.3Indonesia rupiah .0000704 14198 1.1Japan yen .009145 109.35 5.8Kazakhstan tenge .002334 428.36 1.7Macau pataca .1249 8.0040 0.2Malaysia ringgit .2424 4.1255 2.6NewZealand dollar .7246 1.3801 –0.9Pakistan rupee .00657 152.303 –5.0Philippines peso .0209 47.744 –0.6Singapore dollar .7506 1.3322 0.8SouthKoreawon .0008877 1126.50 3.8Sri Lanka rupee .0050769 196.97 6.3Taiwan dollar .03575 27.973 –0.4Thailand baht .03189 31.360 4.4

US$vs,Fri YTD chg

Country/currency inUS$ perUS$ (%)

Vietnam dong .00004339 23049 –0.1EuropeCzechRep. koruna .04772 20.958 –2.4Denmark krone .1633 6.1227 0.5Euro area euro 1.2147 .8233 0.6Hungary forint .003421 292.33 –1.6Iceland krona .008049 124.24 –2.8Norway krone .1216 8.2221 –4.2Poland zloty .2680 3.7314 –0.05Russia ruble .01351 74.009 –0.02Sweden krona .1200 8.3317 1.3Switzerland franc 1.1095 .9013 1.9Turkey lira .1182 8.4600 13.8Ukraine hryvnia .0362 27.6500 –2.5UK pound 1.4096 .7094 –3.1Middle East/AfricaBahrain dinar 2.6527 .3770 –0.02Egypt pound .0639 15.6581 –0.6Israel shekel .3054 3.2743 1.9Kuwait dinar 3.3233 .3009 –1.1Oman sul rial 2.5974 .3850 ...Qatar rial .2703 3.700 1.6SaudiArabia riyal .2666 3.7505 –0.03SouthAfrica rand .0708 14.1305 –3.8

Close Net Chg %Chg YTD%Chg

WSJDollar Index 85.43 –0.34–0.39 0.50

Sources: Tullett Prebon, DowJonesMarketData

Track the MarketsCompare the performance of selectedglobal stock indexes, bond ETFs,currencies and commodities atwsj.com/graphics/track-the-markets

AWeek in the Life of theDJIAA look at how the Dow Jones Industrial Average component stocksdid in the past week and howmuch each moved the index. The DJIAlost 395.63 points, or 1.14%, on the week. A $1 change in the price ofany DJIA stock = 6.58-point change in the average. To date, a $1,000investment on Dec. 31 in each current DJIA stock component wouldhave returned $33,989, or a gain of 13.30%, on the $30,000investment, including reinvested dividends.

TheWeek’sActionPct Stock price Point chg $1,000 Invested(year-end '20)chg (%) change in average* Company Symbol Close $1,000

2.12 2.86 18.82 Procter&Gamble PG $138.01 $1,0041.72 2.77 18.23 JPMorganChase JPM 164.01 1,3081.14 0.79 5.20 Dow DOW 69.83 1,2731.02 1.72 11.32 Johnson&Johnson JNJ 170.22 1,0880.65 1.31 8.62 3M MMM 204.38 1,179

0.54 1.16 7.63 salesforce.com CRM 217.66 9780.51 1.24 8.16 Caterpillar CAT 242.23 1,3440.40 0.22 1.45 Coca-Cola KO 54.73 1,0060.33 0.18 1.18 Walgreens WBA 54.71 1,385–0.05 –0.03 –0.20 Verizon VZ 58.69 1,021

–0.15 –0.12 –0.79 Merck MRK 78.29 965–0.19 –0.30 –1.97 Travelers TRV 160.51 1,150–0.49 –0.68 –4.47 Walmart WMT 139.52 976–0.50 –0.55 –3.62 Chevron CVX 109.47 1,314–0.54 –0.78 –5.13 IBM IBM 144.68 1,178

–0.57 –2.12 –13.95 GoldmanSachs GS 368.77 1,404–0.63 –1.43 –9.41 Honeywell HON 227.36 1,078–0.99 –0.53 –3.49 Cisco CSCO 52.90 1,200–1.11 –2.83 –18.62 Amgen AMGN 251.38 1,109–1.15 –1.83 –12.04 AmericanExpress AXP 157.15 1,308

–1.33 –3.12 –20.53 McDonald’s MCD 231.72 1,087–1.36 –1.88 –12.37 Nike NKE 135.93 963–1.71 –4.31 –28.36 Microsoft MSFT 248.15 1,118–1.88 –7.85 –51.65 UnitedHealthGroup UNH 409.80 1,173–2.12 –2.76 –18.16 Apple AAPL 127.45 964

–2.23 –5.18 –34.08 Visa V 226.94 1,041–2.97 –7.00 –46.06 Boeing BA 228.47 1,067–4.02 –2.32 –15.26 Intel INTC 55.35 1,124–4.60 –15.62 –102.77 HomeDepot HD 323.63 1,226–6.03 –11.14 –73.30 WaltDisney DIS 173.70 959

*Based onComposite price. DJIA is calculated on primary-market price.Source: DowJonesMarketData; FactSet.

P2JW137000-0-B00700-1--------XA

B8 | Monday, May 17, 2021 THEWALL STREET JOURNAL.

Prem12MoFund (SYM) NAV Close /Disc Yld

AxonicAlternative Inc NA NA NA 5.0Blackstone/GSOFREID 24.11 NA NA 5.3Blackstone/GSOFREI I 24.07 NA NA 5.5Blackstone/GSOFREI T 24.03 NA NA 5.0Blackstone/GSOFREI T-I 24.62 NA NA 5.0Blackstone/GSOFREIU 25.09 NA NA 5.0Blstn CommntyDev 9.97 NA NA 3.1BNYMAlcntr GlbMSCr Fd 104.74 NA NA 6.9CLIFFWATERCLFD;I 10.74 NA NA 6.6CNRStrategic Credit 10.85 NA NA 7.8FedProj&TrFinanceTendr 9.96 NA NA 2.6SchrdrsOpp Inc;A 26.46 NA NA 2.5SchrdrsOpp Inc;A2 NA NA NA 0.8SchrdrsOpp Inc;I 26.46 NA NA 2.7SchrdrsOpp Inc;SDR 26.50 NA NA 2.8InvescoSr LoanA 6.48 NA NA 3.6InvescoSr LoanC 6.50 NA NA 2.9InvescoSr Loan IB 6.48 NA NA 3.8InvescoSr Loan IC 6.48 NA NA 3.6InvescoSr LoanY 6.49 NA NA 3.8Pioneer Sec Inc 10.01 NA NA 4.4HighYieldBondFundsGriffin InstAccess Cd:A NA NA NA 5.9Griffin InstAccess Cd:C NA NA NA 5.9Griffin InstAccess Cd:F NA NA NA 5.9Griffin InstAccess Cd:I NA NA NA 5.9Griffin InstAccess Cd:L NA NA NA 5.9PIMCOFlexible Cr I;A-1 9.51 NA NA NSPIMCOFlexible Cr I;A-2 9.51 NA NA 7.1PIMCOFlexible Cr I;A-3 9.51 NA NA NSPIMCOFlexible Cr I;A-4 9.51 NA NA 7.2PIMCOFlexible Cr I;Inst 9.51 NA NA 8.0PionrILSBridge 10.00 NA NA 0.0WAMiddleMkt Inc NA NA NA 6.1OtherDomestic TaxableBondFundsAlternative Credit Inc:A 10.99 NA NA 6.3Alternative Credit Inc:C 11.11 NA NA 5.6Alternative Credit Inc:I 11.02 NA NA 6.6Alternative Credit Inc:L 10.99 NA NA 6.1Alternative Credit Inc:W 10.99 NA NA 6.4AmBeaconApollo TR:T 10.12 NA NA 2.1AmBeaconApollo TR:Y 10.23 NA NA 2.8AmBeaconSPEnh Inc:T 9.60 NA NA 4.0AmBeaconSPEnh Inc:Y 9.73 NA NA 4.5Angel OakStr Crdt:Inst 23.09 NA NA 8.1BRCredit Strat;A 10.51 NA NA 4.6BRCredit Strat;Inst 10.51 NA NA 5.3BlackRockMlt-SctrOppty 89.69 NA NA 7.6BlackRockMlt-SecOpp II 92.62 NA NA 7.5Carlyle Tact Pvt Cred:A 8.95 NA NA 6.9Carlyle Tact Pvt Cred:I 8.99 NA NA 7.5Carlyle Tact Pvt Cred:L 8.94 NA NA 7.1Carlyle Tact Pvt Cred:M 8.99 NA NA NSCarlyle Tact Pvt Cred:N 8.94 NA NA 7.5Carlyle Tact Pvt Cred:Y 8.95 NA NA 7.3CIONAresDvsfd Crdt;A NA NA NA 5.5CIONAresDvsfd Crdt;C NA NA NA 5.5CIONAresDvsfd Crdt;I NA NA NA 5.4CIONAresDvsfd Crdt;L NA NA NA 5.4CIONAresDvsfd Crdt;U NA NA NA 5.4CIONAresDvsfd Crdt:U2 NA NA NA 5.4CIONAresDvsfd Crdt;W NA NA NA 5.4CNRSelect Strategies 11.56 NA NA 0.0First Eagle CrdtOppsA 26.25 NA NA NSFirst Eagle CrdtOpps I 26.25 NA NA NSFSCredit Income;A NA NA NA 5.3FSCredit Income;I NA NA NA 5.5FSCredit Income;T NA NA NA 5.1FSCredit Income;U NA NA NA 5.0FSCredit Income;U-2 NA NA NA NSGLBeyond Income 0.50 NA NA NEKKRCREDITOPPTY;D NA NA NA NSKKRCREDITOPPTY;I NA NA NA 5.6KKRCREDITOPPTY;T NA NA NA NSKKRCREDITOPPTY;U NA NA NA NSLordAbbett CredOpps Fd 10.91 NA NA 5.9LordAbbett CredOpps Fd 10.92 NA NA 6.5LordAbbett CrdOp:U 10.91 NA NA NSPalmer SquareOpp Inc 18.85 NA NA 5.3Thrivent Church Ln&Inc:S 10.66 NA NA 2.5World IncomeFundsDestra Int&Evt-DvnCrd:A 27.96 NA NA 2.1Destra Int&Evt-DvnCrd:I 27.96 NA NA 2.3Destra Int&Evt-DvnCrd:L 27.93 NA NA 2.0Destra Int&Evt-DvnCrd:T 27.89 NA NA 1.9NationalMuni BondFundsEcofin Tax-AdvSoc Impct 9.44 NA NA 4.3PIMCOFlexMun Inc;A-3 11.75 NA NA 2.1PIMCOFlexMun Inc:A1 11.75 NA NA NSPIMCOFlexMun Inc;A2 11.75 NA NA NSPIMCOFlexMun Inc;Inst 11.75 NA NA 2.8

Insider-TradingSpotlightTrading by ‘insiders’ of a corporation, such as a company’s CEO, vice president or director, potentially conveysnew information about the prospects of a company. Insiders are required to report large trades to theSECwithin twobusiness days. Here’s a look at the biggest individual trades by insiders, based on data received byRefinitiv onMay 14, and year-to-date stock performance of the companyKEY: B: beneficial owner ofmore than 10%of a security class CB: chairman CEO: chief executive officer CFO: chief financial officerCO: chief operating officer D: director DO: director and beneficial owner GC: general counsel H: officer, director and beneficial ownerI: indirect transaction filed through a trust, insider spouse,minor child or other O: officer OD: officer and director P: presidentUT:unknown VP: vice president Excludes pure options transactions

Biggestweekly individual tradesBased on reports filedwith regulators this pastweek

No. of shrs in Price range ($) $Value

Date(s) Company Symbol Insider Title trans (000s) in transaction (000s) Close ($) Ytd (%)

BuyersApr. 6 ASTSpaceMobile ASTS H.Mikitani DI 2,500 10.00 25,000 7.48 -44.9Apr. 6 A. Cisneros DI 200 10.00 2,000

May. 10-11 PennyMacFinancial Services PFSI F. Nanji DI 299 57.88-57.99 17,303 60.25 -8.2

Apr. 20 BiomeaFusion BMEA B. Chen DI 900 17.00 15,300 15.87

Apr. 21 NeuroPace NPCE E. Norton DI 588 17.00 10,000 20.91 n.a.Apr. 21 F. Fischer D 50 17.00 850

May. 12 AvisBudgetGroup CAR B.Hees ODI 63 74.94-79.43 5,002 86.83 132.8

Apr. 9-13 NuvationBio NUVB O.Nodelman DI 465 9.49-10.27 4,595 11.02 -5.8

May. 10-12 AmericanAssets Trust AAT E. Rady CEOI 56 33.74-35.37 1,934 34.97 21.1May. 6-7 E. Rady CEOI 31 34.84-35.01 1,077

May. 11 EnergyTransfer ET R.Washburne DI 200 9.52-9.53 1,905 10.11 63.6

May. 6-10 ActivisionBlizzard ATVI P. Nolan DI 20 93.42-95.63 1,901 93.35 0.5

May. 10 AlphatecHoldings ATEC D. Pelizzon DO 120 15.25 1,830 14.81 2.0

May. 13 CenterPoint Energy CNP D. Lesar CEO 50 23.58 1,179 25.02 15.6

May. 7 GolubCapital BDC GBDC D.Golub CEOI 77 15.00 1,151 15.15 7.1

May. 11-13 BioDelivery Sciences International BDSI K. Kotler DI 300 3.16-3.25 961 3.56 -15.2

May. 10 NewFortress Energy NFE J.Mack D 24 39.88 957 41.04 -23.4

May. 11 ElancoAnimalHealth ELAN R.Hoover CBI 25 32.44 811 34.80 13.5

SellersApr. 14-15 CoinbaseGlobal COIN F.Wilson DOI 4,702 330.01-388.89 1,816,768 258.37 n.a.Apr. 14 M.Andreessen DOI 295 381.00 112,309Apr. 14 E. Choi P 303 312.09-374.00 98,904

May. 7 Amazon.com AMZN J. Bezos CEO 352 3290.04-3320.57 1,163,269 3222.90 -1.0May. 6 J. Bezos CEO 235 3268.97-3298.94 770,624May. 5 J. Bezos CEO 186 3298.45-3333.78 616,637May. 5 J. Bezos CEO 153 3266.46-3297.83 500,682May. 5-6 J. Bezos CEO 99 3249.12-3354.05 325,343May. 7-10 J. Bezos CEO 78 3190.08-3328.45 251,589May. 10 J. Bezos CEO 75 3216.21-3248.80 241,592May. 6 J. Bezos CEO 67 3299.96-3313.96 220,169

May. 4-6 Procter&Gamble PG N. Peltz DI 2,763 134.30-135.29 371,786 138.01 -0.8

Apr. 6 Frontier GroupHoldings ULCC W.Franke DOI 18,766 19.00 356,553 20.20

May. 6-10 Oracle ORCL L. Ellison CT 4,200 79.11-80.21 335,039 78.89 22.0May. 11-12 L. Ellison CT 2,800 77.22-79.70 217,232

May. 6 SyneosHealth SYNH T. Allen DI 4,008 81.04 324,834 85.75 25.9May. 6 J.Maldonado DI 4,008 81.04 324,834

Apr. 19 TuSimpleHoldings TSP C. Chao DOI 6,757 40.00 270,270 36.77 n.a.

* Half the transactionswere indirect **Twoday transactionp - Pink Sheets

Buying and selling by sectorBased on actual transaction dates in reports received this pastweek

Sector Buying Selling Sector Buying Selling

Basic Industries 655,572 98,106,297 Finance 2,454,959 203,140,729

Business services 100,445 48,600,713 Health care 3,702,415 116,444,761

Capital goods 0 0 Industrial 204,553 107,938,940

Consumer durables 97,057 52,002,027 Media 0 4,969,375

Consumer nondurables 431,540 74,491,534 Technology 2,671,991 134,537,228

Consumer services 5,262,936 121,767,292 Transportation 9,976 35,209,402

Energy 2,824,342 86,126,667 Utilities 1,426,751 13,128,764

Sources: Refinitiv; DowJonesMarketData

Friday

EnergyCoal,C.Aplc.,12500Btu,1.2SO2-r,w 59.700Coal,PwdrRvrBsn,8800Btu,0.8SO2-r,w 12.050

MetalsGold, per troy ozEngelhard industrial 1839.00Handy&Harmanbase 1838.10Handy&Harman fabricated 2049.29LBMAGold PriceAM *1814.30LBMAGold Price PM *1821.80Krugerrand,wholesale-e 1904.50Maple Leaf-e 1922.81AmericanEagle-e 1922.81Mexican peso-e 2215.94Austria crown-e 1797.99Austria phil-e 1922.81Silver, troy oz.Engelhard industrial 27.5000Handy&Harmanbase 27.4050Handy&Harman fabricated 34.2560LBMAspot price *£19.1300(U.S.$ equivalent) *26.8200Coins,wholesale $1,000 face-a 22152OthermetalsLBMAPlatinumPrice PM *1204.0Platinum,Engelhard industrial 1230.0Palladium,Engelhard industrial 2881.0

Friday

Aluminum, LME, $ permetric ton *2422.5Copper,Comex spot 4.6640IronOre, 62%FeCFRChina-s 209.4ShreddedScrap, USMidwest-s,m 451Steel, HRCUSA, FOBMidwestMill-s 1555

Fibers andTextilesBurlap,10-oz,40-inchNYyd-n,w 0.7400Cotton,1 1/16 std lw-mdMphs-u 0.8018Cotlook 'A' Index-t *93.40Hides,hvy native steers piece fob-u n.a.Wool,64s,staple,Terr del-u,w n.a.

Grains andFeedsBarley,top-qualityMnpls-u n.a.Bran,wheatmiddlings, KC-u 124Corn,No. 2 yellow,Cent IL-bp,u 6.5400Corn gluten feed,Midwest-u,w 202.3Corn glutenmeal,Midwest-u,w 592.9Cottonseedmeal-u,w 355Hominy feed,Cent IL-u,w 170Meat-bonemeal,50%proMnpls-u,w 330Oats,No.2milling,Mnpls-u 3.7450Rice, LongGrainMilled, No. 2AR-u,w 27.25Sorghum,(Milo)No.2Gulf-u 8.3188SoybeanMeal,Cent IL,rail,ton48%-u,w 451.00Soybeans,No.1 yllw IL-bp,u 16.0300Wheat,Spring14%-proMnpls-u 8.7075Wheat,No.2 soft red,St.Louis-u 7.2725

Friday

Wheat -Hard - KC (USDA) $ per bu-u 6.9775Wheat,No.1softwhite,Portld,OR-u 7.3000

FoodBeef,carcass equiv. indexchoice 1-3,600-900 lbs.-u 240.71select 1-3,600-900 lbs.-u 221.06Broilers, National compwtd. avg.-u,w 1.0556Butter,AAChicago 1.8750Cheddar cheese,bbl,Chicago 173.00Cheddar cheese,blk,Chicago 172.50Milk,Nonfat dry,Chicago lb. 130.00Coffee,Brazilian,Comp 1.3664Coffee,Colombian, NY 1.9411Eggs,largewhite,Chicago-u 0.7650Flour,hardwinter KC 18.50Hams,17-20 lbs,Mid-US fob-u n.a.Hogs,Iowa-So.Minnesota-u 107.32Pork bellies,12-14 lbMidUS-u n.a.Pork loins,13-19 lbMidUS-u 1.2237Steers,Tex.-Okla. Choice-u 119.00Steers,feeder,Okla. City-u,w 164.00

Fats andOilsDegummed corn oil, crudewtd. avg.-u,w 74.5000Grease,choicewhite,Chicago-h 0.5150Lard,Chicago-u 0.5800Soybean oil,crude;Centl IL-u,w 0.7330Tallow,bleach;Chicago-h 0.5450Tallow,edible,Chicago-u 0.6745

KEY TO CODES: A=ask; B=bid; BP=country elevator bids to producers; C=corrected; E=Manfra,Tordella & Brookes; H=American Commodities Brokerage Co;M=monthly; N=nominal; n.a.=not quoted or not available; R=SNL Energy; S=Platts-TSI; T=Cotlook Limited; U=USDA;W=weekly; Z=not quoted. *Data as of 5/13

Source: Dow JonesMarket Data

CashPrices Friday,May 14, 2021These prices reflect buying and selling of a variety of actual or “physical” commodities in themarketplace—separate from the futures price on an exchange,which reflectswhat the commoditymight beworth in futuremonths.

| wsj.com/market-data/commodities

Borrowing Benchmarks | wsj.com/market-data/bonds/benchmarks

MoneyRates May 14, 2021

Key annual interest rates paid to borrowor lendmoney inU.S. and internationalmarkets. Rates beloware aguide to general levels but don’t always represent actual transactions.

InflationApril index ChgFrom (%)

level March '21 April '20

U.S. consumer price indexAll items 267.054 0.82 4.2Core 273.968 0.83 3.0

International rates

Week 52-WeekLatest ago High Low

Prime ratesU.S. 3.25 3.25 3.25 3.25Canada 2.45 2.45 2.45 2.45Japan 1.475 1.475 1.475 1.475

PolicyRatesEuro zone 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00Switzerland 0.00 0.00 0.50 0.00Britain 0.10 0.10 0.10 0.10Australia 0.10 0.10 0.25 0.10

Overnight repurchaseU.S. 0.00 0.00 0.14 -0.04

U.S. government rates

Discount0.25 0.25 0.25 0.25

Federal fundsEffective rate 0.0600 0.0600 0.1000 0.0000High 0.0700 0.0700 0.1500 0.0700

Week —52-WEEK—Latest ago High Low

Low 0.0300 0.0300 0.0600 0.0000Bid 0.0500 0.0500 0.1000 0.0100Offer 0.0700 0.0700 0.1100 0.0500

Treasury bill auction4weeks 0.000 0.010 0.130 0.00013weeks 0.015 0.015 0.175 0.01526weeks 0.035 0.035 0.185 0.035

Secondarymarket

FannieMae30-yearmortgage yields

30days 2.417 2.369 2.622 1.75160days 2.450 2.398 2.674 1.804

Other short-term rates

Week 52-WeekLatest ago high low

Callmoney2.00 2.00 2.00 2.00

Notes ondata:U.S. prime rate is the base rate on corporate loans posted by at least 70%of the 10 largestU.S. banks,and is effectiveMarch 16, 2020. Other prime rates aren’t directly comparable; lending practices varywidely by location; Discount rate is effectiveMarch 16, 2020.SecuredOvernight FinancingRate isas ofMay 13, 2021. DTCCGCFRepo Index is Depository Trust&Clearing Corp.'sweighted average forovernight trades in applicable CUSIPs. Value traded is in billions ofU.S. dollars.Federal-funds ratesare Tullett Prebon rates as of 5:30 p.m. ET.Sources: Federal Reserve; Bureau of Labor Statistics; DTCC; FactSet;Tullett Prebon Information, Ltd.

Commercial paper (AA financial)90days 0.09 0.11 0.25 0.04

LiborOnemonth 0.09750 0.10138 0.19513 0.09375Threemonth 0.15513 0.15988 0.38050 0.15413Sixmonth 0.18763 0.19275 0.65900 0.18763One year 0.26588 0.27100 0.75538 0.26438

Euro LiborOnemonth -0.574 -0.571 -0.444 -0.607Threemonth -0.547 -0.541 -0.263 -0.574Sixmonth -0.529 -0.527 -0.119 -0.543One year -0.487 -0.490 -0.059 -0.511

SecuredOvernight FinancingRate0.01 0.01 0.13 0.01

Value 52-WeekLatest Traded High Low

DTCCGCFRepo IndexTreasury 0.002 42.250 0.151 -0.008MBS 0.010 22.220 0.169 0.002

Week —52-WEEK—Latest ago High Low

General Equity FundsAdamsDiversified Equity ADX 22.33 19.06 -14.6 45.5BoulderGrowth& Income BIF 16.14 13.56 -16.0 58.6Central Secs CET 49.21 39.49 -19.8 54.4CohenStrsCEOppFd FOF 13.73 13.82 +0.7 55.9EVTxAdvDivIncm EVT 28.19 27.34 -3.0 67.6GabelliDiv&IncTr GDV 28.70 25.73 -10.3 71.8Gabelli Equity Tr GAB 6.83 7.29 +6.7 93.2GeneralAmer GAM 49.67 42.23 -15.0 56.9JHancockTaxAdvDiv HTD 25.01 23.99 -4.1 47.2LibertyAll-Star Equity USA 7.91 8.10 +2.4 74.6LibertyAll-StarGrowth ASG 8.00 8.61 +7.6 72.3RoyceMicro-CapTr RMT 13.13 11.52 -12.3 98.0RoyceValue Trust RVT 20.98 18.60 -11.3 82.5Source Capital SOR 48.93 45.21 -7.6 52.4Tri-Continental TY 37.68 33.77 -10.4 57.0SpecializedEquity FundsAberdeenGlb PremProp AWP 6.47 6.21 -4.0 67.2AdamsNatural Resources PEO 18.64 16.08 -13.7 69.7ASAGold&PrecMet Ltd ASA 26.68 23.04 -13.6 50.4BREnhC&I CII 21.21 19.87 -6.3 55.9BlackRock Energy&Res BGR 10.10 9.56 -5.3 50.5BlackRock EqEnhDiv BDJ 10.63 10.06 -5.4 59.6BlackRock EnhGlbl Div BOE 13.26 11.90 -10.3 47.5BlackRock Enh Intl Div BGY 6.89 6.21 -9.9 41.0BlackRockHlth Sci Tr II BMEZ 27.99 26.37 -5.8 39.4BlackRockHlth Sciences BME 46.15 46.99 +1.8 22.3BlackRockRes&Comm BCX 10.19 10.04 -1.5 97.4BlackRockSci&TechTr II BSTZ 36.76 34.82 -5.3 80.8BlackRockSci&TechTrust BST 50.09 55.63 +11.1 73.4BlackRockUtl Inf &Pwr BUI 24.92 26.71 +7.2 55.7CBREClrnGlbRlEst IGR 8.95 8.06 -9.9 72.9CLEARBRIDGEENGYMDSOPP EMO NA 22.22 NA 115.6ClearBridgeMLP&Midstm CEM NA 28.06 NA 92.0ChnStrInfr UTF 26.91 28.40 +5.5 58.3Cohen&SteersQualInc RQI 15.06 14.85 -1.4 85.4Cohen&Steers TotRet RFI 14.38 15.00 +4.3 56.3CohenStrsREITPrefInc RNP 25.66 25.26 -1.6 68.3Columbia Sel PrmTechGr STK 30.58 31.77 +3.9 72.2DNPSelect Income DNP 9.82 10.29 +4.8 8.6Duff&PhUti&Infra Inc Fd DPG 14.46 14.35 -0.8 69.3EtnVncEqtyInc EOI 18.26 17.75 -2.8 44.4EtnVncEqtyIncoII EOS 21.97 21.74 -1.0 42.0

Listed are the 300 largest closed-end funds asmeasured by assets. Closed-end funds sell a limitednumber of shares and invest the proceeds in securities.Unlike open-end funds, closed-ends generally do notbuy their shares back from investors who wish to cashin their holdings. Instead, fund shares trade on a stockexchange. NA signifies that the information is notavailable or not applicable. NS signifies funds not inexistence for the entire period. 12 month yield iscomputed by dividing income dividends paid (duringthe previous 12 months for periods ending at month-end or during the previous 52 weeks for periodsending at any time other than month-end) by thelatest month-end market price adjusted for capitalgains distributions. Depending on the fund category,either 12-month yield or total return is listed.

Source: Lipper

Friday, May 14, 202152wk

Prem TtlFund (SYM) NAV Close /Disc Ret

EVRskMnDvsEqInc ETJ 10.38 10.90 +5.0 30.4ETnVncTxMgdBuyWrtInc ETB 15.64 15.89 +1.6 34.5EtnVncTxMgdBuyWrtOpp ETV 15.28 15.94 +4.3 32.4EvTxMnDvsEqInc ETY 13.61 13.41 -1.5 44.3EtnVncTxMgdGlbB ETW 10.86 10.59 -2.5 47.4EVTxMnGblDvEqInc EXG 10.12 9.70 -4.2 58.5First Trust Energy IncG FEN 14.63 14.16 -3.2 46.9First Tr EnhancedEq FFA 20.07 19.46 -3.0 58.1FirstTrMLPEner&Inc FEI 8.44 7.74 -8.3 50.4Gabelli Healthcare GRX 15.07 13.10 -13.1 41.5GabUtility GUT 4.48 7.42 +65.6 28.0GAMCOGlGold&NatRes GGN 4.18 3.89 -6.9 28.5JHanFinl Opptys BTO 39.58 40.20 +1.6 134.8Neuberger BrmnMLP&EI NML 6.01 4.74 -21.1 82.5NuvDow30DynOverwrite DIAX 18.08 16.61 -8.1 40.6NuvCorEqAlpha JCE 16.63 16.05 -3.5 48.6NuveenNasdaq 100DynOv QQQX 27.27 27.06 -0.8 29.3NuvReal Est JRS 11.07 10.37 -6.3 71.3NuveenRl Asst Inc&Gro JRI 16.89 15.27 -9.6 62.6NuvS&P500DynOvFd SPXX 17.46 16.87 -3.4 47.8NuvSP500BuyIncFd BXMX 14.63 13.69 -6.4 38.4ReavesUtilityIncome UTG 34.45 34.88 +1.2 22.0Tortoise Enrgy Infra Crp TYG 35.00 27.16 -22.4 78.6VAGIAI &TechOpptys AIO 27.93 25.82 -7.6 61.4VDivInt&PremStr NFJ NA 14.18 NA 46.5Income&PreferredStockFundsCalamosStratTot CSQ 17.13 16.93 -1.2 67.2CohenStrsLtdDurPref&Inc LDP 25.89 26.24 +1.4 31.3CohenStrsSelPref&Income PSF 26.65 28.83 +8.2 34.8CohenStrsTaxAvPreSecs&I PTA 25.68 25.00 -2.6 NSFirstTrIntDurPref&Inc FPF 24.51 24.24 -1.1 34.1JHanPrefInc HPI 20.42 20.58 +0.8 33.5JHPrefIncII HPF 20.15 20.66 +2.5 39.6HnckJPfdInco III HPS 17.99 18.43 +2.4 40.2JHanPrm PDT 14.87 16.16 +8.7 50.9LMPCapInco SCD NA 13.44 NA 60.5NuveenPref & IncOpp JPC 9.71 9.56 -1.5 36.8NuveenFd JPS 9.73 9.70 -0.3 35.0NuveenPref & Inc Term JPI 24.82 25.11 +1.2 35.9NuveenTxAdvDivGr JTD 17.65 15.85 -10.2 43.0TCWStrat Income TSI 5.68 5.68 0.0 9.7Convertible Sec's. FundsAdvntCnvrtbl&IncFd AVK 19.71 18.25 -7.4 72.7CalamosConvHi CHY 15.25 15.17 -0.6 68.6CalmosConvOp CHI 14.46 14.32 -1.0 70.2VAGI Conv& Inc II NCZ 5.39 4.93 -8.5 59.9VAGI Conv& Inc NCV 6.01 5.55 -7.7 56.5VAGIDvs Inc&Conv ACV 33.85 32.00 -5.5 68.5VAGI Eqty&Conv Inc NIE 31.24 28.07 -10.1 45.1WorldEquity FundsAberdeenEmgMkts Eq Inc AEF 9.81 8.69 -11.4 64.2AberdeenTotDynDiv AOD 11.13 9.83 -11.7 54.1BlackRock Capital Alloc BCAT 21.49 20.42 -5.0 NSCalamosGloDynInc CHW 9.76 10.24 +4.9 79.6China CHN 31.68 28.74 -9.3 53.5EVTxAdvGlbDivInc ETG 21.81 20.20 -7.4 73.0

52wkPrem Ttl

Fund (SYM) NAV Close /Disc Ret OtherDomestic TaxableBondFundsApollo Tactical Income AIF NA 15.10 NA 6.4AresDynamic CrdtAlloc ARDC NA 15.49 NA 7.6BlackRockMlt-Sctr Inc BIT 18.41 18.34 -0.4 8.0BlackRock TaxMuni Bd BBN 24.39 24.60 +0.9 5.5DoubleLine:Oppor Crdt Fd DBL 19.54 19.64 +0.5 8.6EVLmtDurIncm EVV 13.52 12.78 -5.5 9.3Franklin LtdDur Income FTF 9.36 9.23 -1.4 7.1JHan Investors JHI 18.78 18.14 -3.4 7.5MFSCharter MCR 8.66 8.93 +3.1 7.8NuveenTaxableMuni Inc NBB 22.30 22.59 +1.3 5.0PIMCOCorp& IncOppty PTY 14.21 18.90 +33.0 8.2PIMCOCorp& Inc Strat PCN 14.33 18.04 +25.9 7.4PIMCOHilnco PHK 5.85 6.69 +14.4 8.6PIMCO IncmStrFd PFL 10.55 11.99 +13.6 8.9PIMCO IncmStrFd II PFN 9.32 10.40 +11.6 9.1PutnamMas Int PIM 4.38 4.24 -3.3 7.5PutnamPrem Inc PPT 4.85 4.67 -3.7 8.0Wells FargoMulti-Sector ERC 12.85 12.69 -1.2 8.7World IncomeFundsAbrdnAP IncFd FAX 4.71 4.30 -8.7 7.7BrndywnGLBGlb IncOppts BWG NA 12.31 NA 7.1EtnVncStDivInc EVG 13.80 13.10 -5.1 6.7MSEmMktDomDebt EDD 6.96 6.12 -12.1 6.7PIMCODynCrd&Mrt Inc PCI 20.25 22.35 +10.4 9.0PIMCODynamic Income PDI 24.82 28.36 +14.3 9.1PIMCODynamic IncOpp PDO 20.10 20.41 +1.5 NSPIMCO IncomeOpportunity PKO 23.50 26.35 +12.1 8.4PIMCOStratg Inc RCS 6.58 7.53 +14.4 8.2TempletonEm Inc TEI 8.57 7.87 -8.2 2.7TempltnGlbl Inc GIM 5.91 5.51 -6.8 1.5WstAstEmergDebt EMD NA 13.56 NA 8.3WesternAssetGl CrDOp GDO NA 18.00 NA 6.7NationalMuni BondFundsAllBerNatlMunInc AFB 15.47 14.37 -7.1 4.3BlckRk InvQMun BKN 16.65 19.50 +17.1 4.1BlackRockMuni 2030Tgt BTT 26.92 25.55 -5.1 2.8BlackRockMuni BFK 14.72 14.98 +1.8 4.5BlackRockMuni II BLE 15.09 15.15 +0.4 4.8BlckRkMuni IncQly BYM 15.87 15.53 -2.1 4.0BRMuniAssets Fd MUA 14.79 15.31 +3.5 4.1BRMuniHoldingsQly MFL 15.28 14.38 -5.9 3.9BRMHQly 2 MUE 14.27 13.69 -4.1 4.4BRMuniHoldngs MHD 17.28 16.35 -5.4 4.4BRMuniVest Fd MVF 9.95 9.35 -6.0 4.2BRMuniVest 2 MVT 15.58 15.71 +0.8 4.5BRMuniYield Fd MYD 15.25 14.74 -3.3 4.6BRMuniYieldQlty MQY 16.55 16.36 -1.1 4.8BRMuniYldQlty2 MQT 14.56 14.18 -2.6 4.4BRMuniYldQly 3 MYI 15.36 14.34 -6.6 4.0BNYMellonMuni Bd Infra DMB 14.68 14.81 +0.9 4.3BNYMellonStrMuni Bond DSM 8.36 7.97 -4.7 4.5BNYMellonStratMuni LEO 8.73 8.78 +0.6 4.8DWSMuni Inc KTF 12.74 11.79 -7.5 4.1EVMuniBd EIM 14.18 13.49 -4.9 4.4EVMuniIncm EVN 14.26 13.74 -3.6 4.1EVNatMuniOpp EOT 22.03 22.27 +1.1 3.3InvAdvMuIncTrII VKI 12.23 12.02 -1.7 4.6InvescoMuniOp OIA 7.84 8.05 +2.7 4.7InvescoMuOppTr VMO 13.69 13.51 -1.3 4.5InvescoMuTr VKQ 13.72 13.29 -3.1 4.6InvescoQual Inc IQI 13.81 13.10 -5.1 4.6InvTrInvGrMu VGM 14.13 13.72 -2.9 4.6InvescoValMunInc IIM 16.77 15.98 -4.7 4.5MAINSTAY:MKDEFTRMUNOP MMD 21.13 22.80 +7.9 4.5NeubrgrBrm NBH 15.29 15.87 +3.8 4.4NuveenAMT-FrMuVal NUW 17.44 16.70 -4.2 2.7NuveenAMT-FrQltyMun I NEA 15.94 14.97 -6.1 4.6NuveenAMT-FrMuCI NVG 17.43 17.19 -1.4 4.6NuveenDynMuniOpp NDMO 15.97 16.33 +2.3 NSNuveenEnhMuni Val NEV 15.77 16.10 +2.1 4.2Nuveen IntDurMunTerm NID 14.63 14.23 -2.7 3.6NuveenMuCrdtOpps NMCO 15.09 14.92 -1.1 4.9NuvMuni Credit Income NZF 16.98 16.72 -1.5 4.6NuvMuniHiIncOpp NMZ 14.46 14.76 +2.1 5.0NuveenMuni Val NUV 10.70 11.27 +5.3 3.3NuveenQualityMuni Inc NAD 16.33 15.27 -6.5 4.5NuveenSel TF NXP 16.42 17.43 +6.2 3.2NuveenSel TF 2 NXQ 15.63 16.26 +4.0 3.1PIMCOMuniInc PMF 13.23 14.52 +9.8 4.4PIMCOMuniIncII PML 12.39 14.59 +17.8 4.7PimcoMuni III PMX 11.37 12.09 +6.3 4.4PioneerHilncAdv MAV 12.34 12.11 -1.9 4.7PioneerMunHiIcm MHI 13.18 12.58 -4.6 4.6PutnamMgd Inc PMM 8.34 8.25 -1.1 4.6PutnamMuniOpp PMO 13.98 13.79 -1.4 4.8RiverNorth FlxMu Inc II RFMZ 20.44 20.13 -1.5 NSRiverNorthMgdDurMun I RMM 20.30 20.02 -1.4 5.5WesternAssetMgdMuni MMU NA 13.29 NA 4.0Single StateMuni BondBlackRock CAMun BFZ 16.02 14.71 -8.2 3.2

Prem12MoFund (SYM) NAV Close /Disc Yld

BRMHCAQly Fd Inc MUC 15.91 15.46 -2.8 4.2BRMHNJQly MUJ 16.06 15.22 -5.2 4.7BRMHNYQly MHN 15.16 14.56 -4.0 4.3BRMuniYld CA MYC 16.36 15.72 -3.9 3.4BRMuniYld CAQly MCA 16.21 15.09 -6.9 4.2BRMuniYldMIQly MIY 15.83 15.38 -2.8 4.2BRMuniYldNJ MYJ 16.14 15.57 -3.5 4.8BRMuniYldNYQly MYN 14.53 13.82 -4.9 4.2EVCAMuniBd EVM 12.64 11.93 -5.6 4.1EatonVanceNYMuni Bd ENX 13.46 12.40 -7.9 4.2InvCaValMuIncTr VCV 13.68 13.32 -2.6 4.3InvPAValMuIncTr VPV 14.31 13.15 -8.1 4.5InvTrInvGrNYMu VTN 14.51 13.34 -8.1 4.1NuveenCAAMT-FQualMI NKX 16.79 15.69 -6.6 4.1NuveenCAVal NCA 10.81 10.37 -4.1 3.0NuveenCAQtyMuInc NAC 16.21 15.26 -5.9 4.2NuvNJQualMuni Inc NXJ 16.66 15.00 -10.0 4.5NuveenNYAMT/FrQualMI NRK 15.08 13.78 -8.6 4.1NuveenNYQualMuni Inc NAN 15.61 14.54 -6.9 4.3NuveenOHQualMuni Inc NUO 17.59 16.05 -8.8 3.5NuveenPAQualMuni Inc NQP 15.87 14.57 -8.2 4.5NuveenVAQltyMun Inc NPV 15.35 16.25 +5.9 3.4PIMCOCA PCQ 14.14 18.41 +30.2 4.3PIMCOCAMuniII PCK 9.07 9.14 +0.8 4.2

Prem12MoFund (SYM) NAV Close /Disc Yld

EtnVncTxAdvOpp ETO 29.74 28.09 -5.5 58.4FirstTrDynEuro Eq Inc FDEU 15.36 13.50 -12.1 57.1GabelliMultimedia GGT 9.15 9.97 +9.0 84.2HighlandGlobal Alloc HGLB 11.38 8.75 -23.1 92.5India Fund IFN 23.01 20.68 -10.1 65.8JapanSmaller Cap JOF 10.31 8.95 -13.2 27.1Korea KF NA 43.80 NA 92.9LazardGlbTotRetInc LGI 20.92 20.19 -3.5 69.9MSChinaShrFd CAF 25.83 22.86 -11.5 37.1MS India IIF 27.00 23.42 -13.3 71.7NewGermany GF 22.22 19.62 -11.7 69.5TempletonDragon TDF 24.32 21.96 -9.7 53.9TempletonEmMkt EMF 21.00 19.10 -9.0 65.2Wells FargoGl DivOppty EOD 6.05 5.44 -10.1 52.3

U.S.MortgageBondFundsBlckRk Income BKT 6.06 6.19 +2.1 6.7InvescoHI 2023Tgt Term IHIT 9.26 9.57 +3.3 6.4InvestmentGradeBondFundsAngel Oak FS Inc Trm FINS 18.86 18.12 -3.9 6.9BlRck CoreBond BHK 15.74 15.70 -0.3 5.3BRCredit Alloc Inc BTZ 15.28 14.82 -3.0 6.8Insight Select Income INSI 21.34 20.38 -4.5 3.8InvescoBond VBF 20.69 19.58 -5.4 3.5JHan Income JHS 15.97 15.90 -0.4 5.4MFS Intmdt MIN 3.80 3.70 -2.6 9.0WesternAsset Inf-Lk Inc WIA NA 13.63 NA 5.8WesternAsset Inf-LkO&I WIW NA 12.87 NA 3.0WestnAsst IGDefOppTr IGI NA 21.41 NA 3.6LoanParticipationFundsApollo Senior Floating AFT NA 15.25 NA 6.2BRDebt Strategy DSU 11.63 10.89 -6.4 7.2BRF/R Inc Str FRA 13.93 12.89 -7.5 6.8BlackRock FloatngRt Inc BGT 13.52 12.68 -6.3 6.7BlackstoneStrat Cr BGB 14.64 13.55 -7.4 7.4Eagle Point Credit ECC NA 13.51 NA 7.6EtnVncFltRteInc EFT 14.56 14.22 -2.3 5.1EVSenFlRtTr EFR 14.34 13.98 -2.5 5.5EVSnrIncm EVF 6.85 6.73 -1.8 5.8FT/Sr FltgRte Inc 2 FCT 12.63 12.35 -2.2 9.98FT/Sr FltgRte 2022TgTr FIV 9.64 9.38 -2.7 2.1Highland Income HFRO 13.30 11.48 -13.7 8.0InvDYCrOpp VTA 12.16 11.58 -4.8 7.8InvSnrIncTr VVR 4.59 4.22 -8.1 6.0NuveenCredit Strat Inc JQC 6.96 6.56 -5.7 14.1NuvFloatRateIncFd JFR 10.30 9.61 -6.7 6.2NuvFloatRteIncOppty JRO 10.21 9.48 -7.1 6.2NuveenSenior Income NSL 6.06 5.63 -7.1 6.7HighYieldBondFundsAllianceBernGlHiIncm AWF 12.89 11.89 -7.8 6.5BaringsGlb SDHYBd BGH 17.75 16.58 -6.6 7.7BRCorporateHY HYT 12.06 11.66 -3.3 7.7BlackRock LtdDur Inc BLW 17.00 16.55 -2.6 6.9BNYMellonHi Yield Str DHF 3.30 3.11 -5.8 8.1Brookfield Real Asst Inc RA 20.31 20.99 +3.3 10.8CrSuisHighYld DHY 2.58 2.47 -4.3 8.0DoubleLine Inc Sol DSL 18.21 17.85 -2.0 8.9DoubleLineYldOpps DLY 20.33 19.77 -2.8 7.0First TrHi Inc Lng/Shrt FSD 16.38 15.27 -6.8 8.5First TrustHYOpp:2027 FTHY 21.11 20.04 -5.1 NSIVYHIGH INCOMEOPP IVH 15.10 13.78 -8.7 7.8KKR IncomeOpportunities KIO NA 15.86 NA 8.5NexPointStratOppty NHF 19.25 11.75 -39.0 7.1NuveenCINov 2021 Tgt JHB 9.46 9.40 -0.6 3.2NuveenCrdtOpps 2022TT JCO 8.28 8.48 +2.4 6.5NuveenGlobal High Inc JGH 16.92 15.75 -6.9 6.9PGIMGlobal HighYield GHY 16.56 15.10 -8.8 8.3PGIMHighYield Bond ISD 17.08 15.75 -7.8 7.8PGIMShDurHi YldOpp SDHY 19.89 18.59 -6.5 NSPioneerHilncm PHT 9.70 9.91 +2.2 7.7Wells Fargo IncomeOppty EAD 9.10 8.50 -6.6 7.8WstAstHIF II HIX NA 7.17 NA 8.2WesternAssetHi IncOpp HIO NA 5.13 NA 7.4WesternAssetHi YldDO HYI NA 15.35 NA 7.3

52wkPrem Ttl

Fund (SYM) NAV Close /Disc Ret

Prem12MoFund (SYM) NAV Close /Disc Yld

52wkPrem Ttl

Fund (SYM) NAV Close /Disc Ret

General Equity FundsAlternative Strategies:I 6.47 NA NA 63.8BOWRIVERCAPTLEVGN;I NA NA NA NSpecializedEquity FundsBluerock Total Inc+RE:A 30.24 NA NA 6.0Bluerock Total Inc+RE:C 28.68 NA NA 5.2Bluerock Total Inc+RE:I 30.84 NA NA 6.3Bluerock Total Inc+RE:L 29.94 NA NA 5.8BroadstoneRl EstAcc:I 6.28 NA NA 2.5BroadstoneRl EstAcc:W 6.27 NA NA 2.3CIMRA&CA 25.56 NA NA 8.5CIMRA&CC 25.36 NA NA 7.7CIMRA&C I 25.63 NA NA 8.8CIMRA&CL 25.49 NA NA 8.3GSReal EstDiv Inc:A 10.06 NA NA 12.5GSReal EstDiv Inc:C 10.05 NA NA 11.6GSReal EstDiv Inc:I 10.51 NA NA 12.8GSReal EstDiv Inc:L 10.06 NA NA 12.2GSReal EstDiv Inc:W 10.22 NA NA 12.6NexPointRlEstStrat;A 17.19 NA NA 37.3NexPointRlEstStrat;C 17.38 NA NA 36.4NexPointRlEstStrat;Z 17.37 NA NA 37.6PREDEX;I 25.67 NA NA 3.1PREDEX;T 25.80 NA NA 3.1PREDEX;W 25.80 NA NA 3.1Principal DvsSel RAA 27.31 NA NA 38.9Principal DvsSel RA Ins 27.38 NA NA 39.1Principal DvsSel RAY 27.48 NA NA 39.4ThePrivate Shares;A 41.11 NA NA 38.8ThePrivate Shares;I 41.47 NA NA 39.1ThePrivate Shares;L 40.78 NA NA 38.4USQCoreReal Estate:I 25.02 NA NA 2.3USQCoreReal Estate:IS 25.04 NA NA 2.3Versus CapMMgrRE Inc:I 27.84 NA NA NEVersus Capital Real Asst 26.00 NA NA 11.3WildermuthEndwmnt:A 13.74 NA NA 2.4WildermuthEndwmnt:C 13.19 NA NA 1.5WildermuthEndowment:I 13.83 NA NA 2.0Income&PreferredStockFundsA3Alternative Inc 10.10 NA NA 2.1Calamos L/SEqty andDI CPZ 22.79 20.40 -10.5 50.5DestraMulti-Altrntv;A 12.11 NA NA 10.1DestraMulti-Altrntv;C 11.54 NA NA 9.2DestraMulti-Altrntv;I 12.37 NA NA 10.3DestraMulti-Altrntv;T 11.73 NA NA 9.5Flat RockOpportunity 21.21 NA NA 57.3VariantAltrntv Inc:Inst 27.21 NA NA 9.2VariantAltrntv Inc:Inv 27.21 NA NA 8.9Convertible Sec's. FundsCalmosDynConv and Inc CCD 29.19 30.98 +6.1 63.3WorldEquity FundsACAPStrategic:A 24.23 NA NA 13.6ACAPStrategic:W 17.91 NA NA 14.4CalamosGlbTotRet CGO 14.93 15.77 +5.6 70.7CPGCooper Square IEA NA NA NA NSCPGCooper Square IE I NA NA NA NSPrimark Priv Eq Inv:I 12.66 NA NA NSVirtusTotalRetFd ZTR 9.46 9.42 -0.4 33.1

LoanParticipationFunds1WSCredit Income;A2 21.10 NA NA NS1WSCredit Income;Inst 21.11 NA NA 5.0AlphCntrc PrimeMerid In 9.80 NA NA 10.3

Prem12MoFund (SYM) NAV Close /Disc Yld

CLOSED‑END FUNDS

IPOScorecardPerformance of IPOs,most-recent listed first

%ChgFrom %ChgFromCompany SYMBOL Friday3s Offer 1st-day Company SYMBOL Friday3s Offer 1st-dayIPOdate/Offer price close ($) price close IPOdate/Offer price close ($) price close

Osiris Acquisition 9.88 –1.2 ... Similarweb 21.34 –3.0 –2.4OSI.UTMay 14/$10.00 SMWBMay 12/$22.00

Vera Thera 11.50 4.5 ... FloraGrowth 4.05 –19.0 –15.4VERAMay 14/$11.00 FLGCMay 11/$5.00

OrionBiotechOpportunities 10.00 ... –0.5 Anebulo Pharmaceuticals 7.03 0.4 –1.0ORIAUMay 13/$10.00 ANEBMay7/$7.00

Global-EOnline 26.76 7.0 4.9 BowmanConsulting 13.83 –1.2 –1.2GLBEMay 12/$25.00 BWMNMay7/$14.00

iPower 5.82 16.4 1.4 Talaris Thera 13.83 –18.6 –14.9IPWMay 12/$5.00 TALSMay7/$17.00

Sources: DowJonesMarketData; FactSet

P2JW137000-0-B00800-1--------XA

THEWALL STREET JOURNAL. Monday, May 17, 2021 | B9

ThursdayEIA report: natural-gasPrevious change in stocks in

billions of cubic feet

up 71

Initial jobless claimsPrevious 473,000Expected 458,000

Leading indicatorsMarch,previous up1.3%April, expected up1.3%

PhiladelphiaFedsurveyApril,previous 50.2May,expected 45.0

Earnings expected*Estimate/YearAgo

AppliedMaterials1.51/0.89

Deckers Outdoor0.67/0.57

Hormel Foods0.41/0.42

Kohl’s 0.08/(3.20)Palo Alto Networks

1.29/1.17RossStores 0.88/(0.87)

FridayExisting home salesMarch,previous 6.01mil.April, expected 6.00mil.Earnings expected*

Estimate/YearAgo

BoozAllenHamiltonHolding 0.84/0.74Deere 4.51/2.11FootLocker 1.07/(0.67)V.F. 0.28/0.10

MondayEmpireManufacturingApril, previous 26.3May,expected 24.8

Earnings expected*Estimate/YearAgo

AlignmentHealthcare(0.19)/n.a.

CloverHealthInvestments (0.11)/n.a.LordstownMotors

(0.28)/n.a.

TuesdayBuildingPermitsMarch, prev. 1.766mil.

April, expected 1.78mil.

Housing StartsMarch, prev. 1.739mil.April, expected 1.70mil.

Earnings expected*Estimate/YearAgo

HomeDepot 3.08/2.08Macy’s (0.39)/(2.03)Steris 1.78/1.64Take-Two InteractiveSoftware 0.68/1.50Walmart 1.21/1.18

WednesdayEIA status reportPrevious change in stocks in

millions of barrels

Crude-oilstocks down0.4Gasoline stocks up 0.4Distillates down 1.7

Mort. bankers indexesPurch., previous up 1%Refinan., previous up3%

Earnings expected*Estimate/YearAgo

Analog Devices1.45/1.08

Cisco Systems0.82/0.79

Lowe’s 2.60/1.77Synopsys 1.53/1.22Target 2.18/0.59TJX 0.30/(0.74)

* FactSet Estimates earnings-per-share estimates don’t include extraordinary items (Losses inparentheses) u Adjusted for stock split

Note: Forecasts are from Dow Jones weekly survey of economists

A wave of accounting revi-sions is hitting two of Mexico’slargest nonbank payroll lend-ers and the international bondinvestors who lent them bil-lions of dollars in recent years.

Privately held AlphaCreditCapital SA de CV and publiclylisted Credito Real SAB de CVdisclosed unexpected losses inrecent weeks, and AlphaCreditalso said financial statementsfrom 2018 to 2020 could nolonger be relied upon. CreditoReal incorporated a relativelylarge loan it had made to asmall business into its past-due loan book.

The firms borrow moneyfrom local banks and interna-tional bond funds at rates ashigh as 10%, then lend primarilyto low-income government em-ployees and pensioners at ratesup to 55%. Bond funds havebeen willing to invest in thelenders because they draw pay-ments on their loans directlyout of borrowers’ paychecks orpension disbursements, ensur-ing relatively stable cash flow.

A spokeswoman for Alpha-Credit declined to comment.Credito Real didn’t respond torequests for comment.

Prices on some of Alpha-Credit’s $700 million of bondshave collapsed to 24 cents onthe dollar from around 70 centsat the start of April, accordingto AdvantageData Inc. CreditoReal has about $2 billion of for-eign bonds, which have tum-bled in recent weeks to pricesas low as 69 cents on the dol-lar. Its shares have fallen about25% since mid-April.

European asset managersAmundi SA and Santander As-set Management reportedearly this year holding about$12 million and $7 million, re-spectively, in face value of Al-phaCredit bonds, according todata from Morningstar. Mutualfunds operated by the U.S.firm Fidelity Investments re-ported owning about $15 mil-lion face amount of CreditoReal bonds, while Jeff Gund-lach’s DoubleLine Capital LPreported a $14 million posi-tion, according to Morningstar.

There is little governmentoversight of the lenders be-cause they don’t take depositsand don’t fall under the pur-view of Mexican bank regula-tors, analysts said.

“The issue is a lack of super-vision,” said Laura Aguirre, ananalyst for emerging-marketsinformation provider REDD In-telligence. “No one is controllingthem, and evidently the auditorwas not understanding what thecompanies were doing.”

The Deloitte unit Galaz, Ya-mazaki, Ruiz Urquiza SC au-dited both companies duringthe years in question. The firmdidn’t respond to requests forcomment.

AlphaCredit markets itself asa financial company that usestechnology to reach borrowerswho would otherwise have noaccess to credit. Its focus onstate employees, who are lesslikely to lose or change jobs,was meant to keep defaults low,but last month the company dis-closed that it had made errorsin accounting for loan losses.

While Credito Real hasn’tannounced any restatements,it increased its nonperformingloan provisions to 3.9% inApril from around 1.8%previously, according to datafrom REDD.

The company added a newline item to its disclosures, re-vealing that about half of theloans it reports as assets onits balance sheet consist of ac-crued, or unpaid, interest,something it hasn’t done be-fore, said Alexis Panton, an an-alyst at Stifel.

BY MATT WIRZ

LossesRoil TwoMexicanLenders

April 2021 May

20

30

40

50

60

70

80 cents on the dollar

Price of AlphaCreditbond due in 2025

Source: AdvantageData Inc.

THE TICKER |MARKET EVENTS COMING THIS WEEK

Walmart is expected to post earnings of $1.21 a shareon Tuesday, up from $1.18 a share a year earlier.

BREN

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a month, where they need tobe to reach 2% a year. In thisscenario the year-over-yearrate, the one we usually lookat, would peak at 5.2% nextFebruary, and still be above3% next July.

What would the Fed do?Probably nothing. But therisk for the Fed, and for in-vestors, is that Americansaren’t used to inflation likethis. Core inflation hasn’tbeen above 5% over a 12-month period since 1991. TheFed’s credibility might suffera serious blow.

T he Fed will explain atgreat length that it isone-off inflation, will

be able to point to a monthlyrate coming back under con-trol even as the year-over-year changes look bad, andwill emphasize that it standsready to intervene if inflationever looks likely to rise un-controllably. Perhaps no onewould worry that the Fed wasallowing inflation at doubleor close to triple its targetwhile rate rises remained farin the future. Perhaps every-one would accept that lowermonth-on-month inflationwas what mattered, not

ContinuedfrompageB1

higher year-over-year infla-tion. Perhaps. But given howloudly those concerned aboutinflation are already shouting,I suspect the Fed would bebesieged by calls for action.

Just how plausible is thescenario? It is well withinthe boundaries of what isreasonable, because of theinexorable mathematics oflast month’s high inflationnumber. Try another sce-nario, even more favorableto the Fed: The core month-on-month rate halves thismonth and keeps rising atthat rate until September,when federal unemploymentbenefits run out. Then itdrops to 0.17% (as a re-minder, that is the monthlyprice rise needed to reach

2% over a full year). April’sprice rise was so high thatcore year-over-year inflationwould still be above 4% nextFebruary, even in this reallygood outcome.

A gain, I emphasize thatthe Fed in these sce-narios shouldn’t be

tightening policy, because itshould care about future in-flation, which in these caseswouldn’t be a problem. Myconcern is that the Fed losescredibility, which meanshigher and more volatilebond yields, hurting theprice of pretty much every-thing else, and risking aself-fulfilling rise in infla-tion expectations.

For now the market is

mostly buying the Fed’s storyof a temporary burst of infla-tion. Mostly. Treasurys arepriced for annual inflation of2.65% over the next fiveyears, falling back to 2.37%over the following five years.That is compatible with theFed’s target of 2% because ituses a different measure ofinflation that usually comesin a little lower.

The trouble is that inves-tors are much less confidentnow than before the pan-demic about their predic-tions of inflation. Optionspricing implies a 44% chanceof inflation being above 3%over the next five years, ac-cording to the Federal Re-serve Bank of Minneapolis,the highest in data back to

2009. And those market pre-dictions now encompass afar wider range of possibili-ties; For the mathematicallyinclined, the standard devia-tion of the options-impliedprobability distribution hasdoubled.

Christian Mueller-Gliss-mann, multiasset strategistat Goldman Sachs, arguesthat the market is movingfrom preparing for an infla-tion overshoot to actuallyexperiencing it, which istough for investors to han-dle. “Neither the bond mar-ket nor the equity marketlike inflation surprises” inthis phase, he said. Stocksshift from rising when Trea-sury yields rise, because astronger economy pushesthem both up, to fallingwhen Treasury yields rise,because scary inflation hurtsboth equities and bonds—apattern that was especiallystrong last week.

I still think it is likely thisinflation proves to be ashort-term spike that willmostly resolve itself as theeconomy returns to some-thing like normal.

But short-term inflationcan become self-fulfilling ifthe Fed loses credibility, be-cause then inflation expecta-tions lose their anchor to its2% target. If that happens,the short-term inflationproblem might prove thestart of the longer-run infla-tion that the shifting politi-cal economy, demographicsand geopolitics make morelikely.

InflationTo TestThe Fed

RECESSION

'05 '10 '15 '201980 '85 '90 '95 2000

-0.5

0

0.5

1.0

1.5%

Monthly change in core consumer prices

Note: CPI less food and energy; seasonally adjusted Sources: Labor Department via St. Louis Fed

BlackRock bond chief RickRieder learned long ago thatmaking big bets is the easiestway to end up with outsizelosses.

The head of fixed income atthe world’s largest asset man-ager says he is distributing hiswagers broadly in the face ofunprecedented times. Hedoesn’t expect the pandemicrecovery and fiscal stimulus tospur a wave of inflation thatends the long bull market inbonds, but he is also hedgingthose wagers after learningearly in his career that beingright isn’t the same thing asmaking money.

Recently, that has meanttrimming assets sensitive toinflation and interest-rateswings, building up cash in hisportfolios and buying morecorporate loans for theirhigher returns. To the clientscalling to ask whether theeconomy is overheating, hesays price increases are likelytemporary, but that the Fed-eral Reserve will have to grad-ually reduce support for theeconomy—a prospect hedoesn’t find daunting.

“We don’t think inflation isgoing to be that high for apersistent period of time,”says Mr. Rieder, 59 years old.“But if the markets believe ininflation, well that’s more im-portant than whether sixmonths from now people say,‘Gosh, you were right.’”

His stance is a key markeron Wall Street, and it standsout at a time when broad infla-tion worries have racked mar-kets. BlackRock handles $9 tril-lion in assets on behalf ofinvestors around the globe. Mr.Rieder oversees roughly 20%of that. That alone would givehis decisions reach far beyondthe company. He is also known

BY JULIA-AMBRA VERLAINE

Co. in 1987 without knowingmuch about bonds. Brokersshouted and flashed hand sig-nals. The trading floor wasjammed with bulky computers,but he says he relied on blot-ters, pen and paper.

“I’ll never forget the firstmonth, sitting there and think-ing maybe this is the wrongjob,” Mr. Rieder says. “Icouldn’t figure out what theywere talking about. It was alllingo. I’d go home, and then aweek later I’d realized I heardthat word again.”

An early trade provided alifelong lesson. Mr. Riederbought a chunk of Canadianbonds issued by a utility com-pany, Hydro-Québec.

He would stay after work towrite down the price of everyasset that could move his in-vestment. Certain in his analy-

sis, he bought even more. Butword of his position got out totraders at other banks. Theprice moved against him, andhe eventually sold at a signifi-cant loss. Ever since, he hasavoided putting too many eggsin one basket, a strategy hecalls “make a little bit ofmoney a lot of times.”

“I learned that you may beright, but if enough people be-lieve you’re wrong the mar-kets can really hurt you,” Mr.Rieder says.

It is a strategy that servedhim well during his climb atBlackRock. He joined the firmin 2009 to run alternative in-vestments for fixed incomeand became known for hisdeep dives into data and ahabit of cramming multiple,tiny charts into presentationslides. His performance even-

tually earned him a promotionto chief investment officer offixed income in 2010.

In April 2019 he took overBlackRock’s Global AllocationFund, which includes invest-ments in stocks. Institutional-class shares have since posteda cumulative return of 35%through March 31, outper-forming benchmarks and othercomparable funds. More than85% of BlackRock’s activelymanaged taxable fixed-incomeassets beat peers or bench-marks over the one- and five-year periods ended March 31.

BlackRock has also ascended.Quarterly profit rose 49% inApril. The firm posted recordinflows, with $61 billion pour-ing in to fixed-income invest-ments in the first quarter.

—Dawn Limcontributed to this article.

MARKETS

as a wizard at divining marketforces from the swings of cur-rencies or sovereign bonds.

Many on the Street dis-agree with his sanguinity. In-vestors including BridgewaterAssociates founder Ray Dalioand billionaire Stanley Druck-enmiller are among those wor-ried that the government’spost-pandemic largess risksfueling inflation and inflatingasset bubbles. A measure ofinflation surged in April as theU.S. recovery gained steam,with consumer prices jumpingto the highest 12-month levelsince 2008.

Mr. Rieder’s position is sup-ported by benchmark bondyields, which continue to sug-gest a rapid return to slow,steady growth. The yield onthe 10-year Treasury note,which tends to rise when in-vestors expect a surge ingrowth and inflation, settledat its highest level in morethan a month on Wednesday.It remains below its yearlyhigh of 1.749% hit in March.

Wall Street colleagues andcompetitors describe Mr. Rie-der as the opposite of aswashbuckling trader: affable,modest, measured. In an era ofslow growth, heavy borrowingand perpetually low interestrates, his focus on the cross-currents of markets and eco-nomics commands attentionfrom many.

“There isn’t an investor outthere who doesn’t want toknow what he’s thinking,” saysMarc Badrichani, global headof sales and research at JP-Morgan Chase & Co. “With anexpansive view of global mar-kets, he has a unique ability tospot emerging trends and in-corporate them into long-terminvestment strategies.”

Raised in WestchesterCounty in New York and edu-cated at Emory University andthe University of Pennsylvania’sWharton School, Mr. Riedersays he enjoyed picking pennystocks when he was younger,and thought he might become afinancial analyst. After businessschool, he joined E.F. Hutton &

BlackRock Guru Spreads His BetsBond-investment chiefRieder doesn’t expectinflation jolt, holds tomoderate strategy

Rick Rieder, seen working remotely, took a lifelong lesson from a too-bold bet early in his career.

ALFONSO

DURA

NFO

RTH

EWALL

STRE

ETJO

URN

AL

P2JW137000-0-B00900-2--------XA

B10 | Monday, May 17, 2021 THEWALL STREET JOURNAL.

Top U.S. cannabis growers willbe glad to see the back of one par-ticular high: double-digit interestrates. Others in the pot industrymay feel a bit deflated.

Green Thumb Industries,which last week reported 90%comparable sales growth in thefirst quarter, recently secured thefirst debt deal by a big listed U.S.marijuana cultivator at a sub-10%coupon. The Illinois-based busi-ness got a three-year loan at a 7%interest rate, or 9.1% factoring inwarrants, based on calculations byViridian Capital Advisors. RivalCuraleaf Holdings got a credit fa-cility at 10.25% without an equitysweetener earlier this year.

U.S. growers will be treated aspariahs by mainstream banks solong as the drug remains federallyoutlawed. Yet their cost of capitalis coming down anyway, as busi-ness booms and competitionamong yield-hungry alternativelenders heats up.

In 2020, sales of legal U.S. potreached $20 billion, a jump from$13 billion in 2019. Rapid growthcontinued in the first quarter, withsales in Illinois and Massachusettsup 100% and 71% respectively, ac-cording to the cannabis-focusedSOJE Fund. The prospect of regula-tory change is also shifting howcapital markets view the industry.Senate Majority Leader ChuckSchumer is trying to introduce abill that, if approved, would finallygive pot companies access to regu-lar banking services like mortgages.

For now, the hedge funds andfamily offices willing to lend to

promising on credit quality. Smallpot businesses that operate inone state or have less real estateto borrow against will probablypay upward of 15% for the fore-seeable future. Even if big banksdo get the green light to workwith the industry, some may holdoff lending to immature growersuntil they can show similar prog-ress on profits as the likes ofCuraleaf or GTI.

Cheaper debt could take someshine off one stock-market star.New York-listed real-estate invest-ment trust Innovative IndustrialProperties buys property fromcannabis companies and leases itback at a hefty 11% to 15% rentalyield. Selling the real estate ontheir balance sheet has been a life-line for U.S. pot companies, help-ing to increase the value of IIP’sshares almost ninefold since its2016 initial public offering. As thebest tenants get better rates, theyare less likely to lock themselvesinto expensive leases for 20 years.

The stocks of big U.S. growershave fallen since February in a re-minder that reform in the industryrarely happens as smoothly or assoon as hoped. For lenders,though, the most potent deals withthe best pot companies are alreadyon the way out.

—Carol Ryan

One of thePot Sector’sBest HighsIs FadingCheaper debt isn’t an

upbeat sign for everyone

Inward foreign direct investmentas a percentage of GDP

Source: Organization for Economic Cooperationand Development

3.5%

0

0.5

1.0

1.5

2.0

2.5

3.0

’10 ’15 ’202005

HEARD ONTHESTREET

FINANCIAL ANALYSIS & COMMENTARY

Foreign InvestmentSet for a Slow Return

The overall economic story of2021 is recovery—a multispeed re-covery, but a rapid return towardnormalcy nonetheless. For foreigndirect investment, which was ham-mered last year, the story will bevery different.

Foreign direct investmentdropped 38% in 2020, to its lowestlevel since 2005, according to datareleased last month by the Organi-zation for Economic Cooperationand Development.

FDI is particularly sensitive tothe ability of investors to travel.Buying shares in a manufacturingfirm in a foreign country is onething. Buying a plot of land, build-ing a facility and running the fac-tory yourself is quite another: FDIcannot fully recover until interna-tional travel starts approachingprevious levels.

For much of developing Asia inparticular, that looks to be anachingly distant prospect. Vacci-nation rates are low even in coun-tries that can easily afford thesupply, and travel restrictionslook set to be in place throughoutthe year and likely beyond inmany places.

So it is perhaps no surprisethat recent research on FDI byconsulting firm Kearney predictedthat FDI volumes won’t reachtheir peak levels, recorded in2016, until 2028. Overseas invest-ment was already weak precedingthe pandemic, blamed by analystson escalating protectionism, par-ticularly between the U.S. andChina.

But the specific physical restric-tions of the pandemic will havedifferent impacts on differenteconomies. On the surface, invest-ment in some emerging economiesseems to have held up better.Early this year, the United NationsConference on Trade and Develop-ment announced that China hadovertaken the U.S. as the world’slargest FDI recipient. FDI into In-

dia also rose.But figures for green-field in-

vestment in emerging and devel-oping economies—meaning invest-ment where entirely newoperations are launched, ratherthan existing facilities being pur-chased—has plunged, falling 43%,with little sign of a recovery yet.

Economies with particularlylarge FDI inflows as a proportionof gross domestic product tend tobe wealthy small territories, likeSingapore and Hong Kong, oremerging markets. In 2019, inflowsran to 18.6% of GDP in Hungary,13.5% in Cambodia, 6.2% in Viet-nam and 3.8% in Brazil, all wellabove the 1.8% that makes up theworld’s average.

Those emerging markets will behit twice by the pandemic’s rav-ages. They are already less able tosupport their economies with thenear-limitless fiscal and monetaryfirepower richer states enjoy, be-fore even considering their greatersensitivity to falling foreign in-vestment.

—Mike Bird

Possible regulatory change is shifting how capital markets view the industry.

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pot businesses still need to becompensated for the risks of bank-rolling a federally illegal industryand holding illiquid securities.Most institutional investors stayaway, so secondary trading is thin.That explains interest rates ofaround 10% even for the most fi-nancially robust borrowers.Curaleaf last week reported a $17million loss for the first quarter,but sales increased 170% comparedwith the same period of 2020. GTI

has had three consecutive quartersin the black.

Federal overhaul would be agame-changer for the biggestnames. Frank Colombo, Viridian’sdirector of data analytics, said“cream of the crop” companiesmight get a rate of around 5% ifthe industry were fully legal,based on where single-B U.S. high-yield corporate debt trades.

Lenders will still be able tofind fat deals, but only by com-

In 2020, sales of legalU.S. marijuana reached$20 billion, a jump from$13 billion in 2019.

Acommission-freetrade is only assmart as you are.

Now that commission-free trading is the norm, it’s time to rethink howwe define value. That’s why, alongwith $0 online equity commissions,* we offer personalized education to sharpen your skills, a trader supportteam trained to answer any question, and powerful charting and analysis capabilities on thinkorswim®.

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© 2021 Dow Jones & Company. All Rights Reserved. THEWALL STREET JOURNAL. Monday, May 17, 2021 | R1

Warm Feeling

Heat-pump technology isbecoming a viable alternative totraditional fuel-burning furnaces,even in some colder climates. R2

As concerns grow abouthow quickly the world cancurb greenhouse-gas emis-sions, some scientists want toresearch another approach tothe problem of global warm-ing: solar geoengineering.In contrast to preventing

heat-trapping emissions frombeing added to the atmo-sphere, solar geoengineeringtries to reduce the amount ofsunlight reaching and warm-ing the Earth. One hypotheti-cal method would be to regu-larly add tens of thousands oftons of sulfate particles tothe stratosphere, which would

BY TED ALCORN bounce more incoming solar ra-diation back into space and re-duce surface temperatures.Part of the trouble, scien-

tists say, is that solar geoengi-

neering—just one of manytypes of geoengineering—hasn’tbeen tested, and risks disrupt-ing complex climatic processes.

To better understand the risksand benefits, a committee ofthe National Academies of Sci-ences, Engineering, and Medi-cine recommended in Marchthat the U.S. invest up to $200million in a new solar-geoengi-neering research program, sub-ject to public input and withcareful governance over out-door experiments.But in April, a field experi-

ment involving a balloon re-lease over Sweden—designedby Harvard University research-ers and funded by private phi-lanthropists—was halted amidopposition by environmentaland indigenous groups.

PleaseturntopageR6

The Debate Over Geoengineering

Inadditiontocuttingcarbonemissions, is it timetostudymethodsforalteringtheatmosphere?

So electrification is happening, whetherwe’ve made a conscious decision to elec-trify or not.And that trend will only accelerate. The

Biden administration’s infrastructure bill,for instance, has set aside $174 billion forelectric vehicles and related public chargingstations. An additional $100 billion is allo-cated to bringing broadband to those whocurrently lack it. In California, electric heatpumps are gaining traction as more than 26of the state’s counties and cities have en-acted bans on natural-gas hookups in newconstruction. Other places have done thesame, and there’s no doubt many othersacross the country will follow.In total, according to a study from

Princeton University, electrifying nearly alltransport and buildings could contribute todoubling or more the amount of electricityused in the U.S. by 2050. That would liftelectricity’s share of total energy used toclose to 50% from about 20% today.But while the idea of such a radical

transformation of our energy system is asimple one, it raises a host of complex

PleaseturntopageR4

More of the energy we use will come from the electric socket,bringing new benefits—and new risks BY AMY MYERS JAFFE

Ms. Jaffe is the author of “Energy’s DigitalFuture: Harnessing Innovation for AmericanResilience and National Security,” and a researchprofessor at Tufts University’s Fletcher School.She can be reached at reports@wsj.com.

ELECTRIFICATIONOF EVERYTHING

WHYWEAREN’TREADYFOR THE

JOURNAL REPORT

CLIMATETECHNOLOGY

If you’ve lost power anytime recently, you’ve come face toface with one of the fundamental truths about energy today:There are a lot of things we once could do without electricity that nowrequire it. • You’ve also come face to face with one of the hottest, and

most poorly understood, buzz phrases in energy—the “electrification of ev-erything.” • The concept, most simply put, is that more of the energy we use willcome from the electric socket. Instead of having fuels like natural gas or oil or gas-oline flow directly into our homes, offices, manufacturing facilities and cars, thosefuels—and other sources of energy—will increasingly be converted to electricityfirst. • The idea is being pushed by several groups with a vested interest in see-ing it happen—most notably, environmentalists and the tech industry. But in somesense, consumers have already made the choice to move toward at least the “elec-trification of a lot more things,” if not everything. That’s because our smartphonesand computers and all the other devices that attach to them require electric power.

BURNONWant to keep your old car onthe road? Synthetic fuels mayprovide a way to make every-thing from autos to jetsgreener without eliminatingcombustion engines.R7

Inside

Catching theWind

Howdesignadvances havemadewindturbines farmoreefficient. R5

PHOTOILLUSTRATION BY DOUG CHAYKA

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R2 | Monday, May 17, 2021 THEWALL STREET JOURNAL.

JOURNAL REPORT | CLIMATE TECHNOLOGY

Top and above:Workers installpipe for a geother-mal heat pumpat the home ofKen Pinkela inOtisville, N.Y.

retrofit one. The total cost of retro-fitting depends on many factors, in-cluding the size and model of theunit and the particulars of the exist-ing heating and cooling system. Anaverage air-source heat-pump sys-tem could cost $5,000 to $10,000to install—several times more thana gas furnace.Given the installation cost, it of-

ten doesn’t make economic sense toreplace a gas-powered system witha heat pump in many parts of theU.S., according to recent researchfrom Schneider Electric SE, becausenatural gas is relatively inexpensive.But heat pumps can compete oncost with furnaces that burn oil,which is more expensive than gas.Schneider’s research indicates thatreplacing an oil furnace with a heatpump results in payback for theconsumer or business within fiveyears; when replacing a gas furnace,payback could take longer than 25years or might never occur.However, consumers in at least

17 states can tilt those calculationsin their favor by using state-govern-ment or utility-company incentives—tax breaks or rebates—to reduce thecost of switching. Federal incentivesalso are available for certain typesof heat pumps.Geography comes into play in an-

other way, as well. Electricity pricesvary widely across the U.S., so aheat pump is more economical inareas with relatively low electricityprices and less economical in areaswith higher electricity prices.

The climate issueLocation is less of an issue now interms of climate, but it’s still a con-sideration. Decades ago, pumps thatextract heat from the air outsidewere limited in their ability to oper-ate in very cold climates, losing ef-fectiveness when temperaturesdropped below freezing. Now,thanks to improvements in extrac-tion and compression technologies,heat pumps can operate efficientlyat 5 degrees Fahrenheit, with somemodels capable of working in tem-peratures as low as 20 below zero.Anything below that would requirea backup heating system.Also, as it gets colder, these

pumps become less efficient, mean-ing they require more electricity torun, making them more expensiveto operate. At some point, in fact, itmay become cheaper to use thebackup system and not rely on thepump. Depending on the model,Minnesota Power, an electric utilityowned by Allete Inc. that servesabout 145,000 customers in thenortheastern part of the state, saysa customer with a heat pump mightwant to switch to backup if it’scolder than 15 degrees, even thoughthe pump can work at colder tem-peratures. Tina Koecher, MinnesotaPower’s manager of customer expe-rience, says a cold-climate air-sourceheat pump can effectively serveabout 90% of a customer’s heatingdemand.Another option is a geothermal

heat pump, which draws heat fromthe ground through a pipe system

The economics aren’t alwaysclear-cut. It depends onwhereyou live—and the kinds ofsubsidies you can get.

How to DecideWhether to Buy a Heat Pump

Below: An instal-lation in Maine.Air-source heatpumps are muchsimpler to install.

Heat pumps, long overlookedin the world of heating, areattracting new interest fromcompanies and consumersas momentum builds to cutthe use of fossil fuels.Unlike furnaces fueled by

natural gas or oil, heatpumps don’t emit carbon dioxide, thoughthe electricity they run on may involve car-bon emissions. And the all-electric technol-ogy has improved considerably over the pastdecade, making heat pumps a viable alterna-tive to traditional fuel-burning furnaces.That has some climate activists and

power providers heralding heat pumps asthe way of the future, as more structuresare built or retrofitted to run entirely onelectricity. A growing number of citiesacross the country are considering phasingout the use of natural gas in homes andother buildings as they aim to reduce emis-sions as much as possible. Already, dozensof cities in California and the Northeasthave enacted or proposed bans on gashookups in new construction.But the economic case for heat pumps

isn’t always clear-cut. Although the pumpscan now work in most cold climates, insome cases there is still a limited need fora backup system. The economic viability

also can depend on whether the competingheating technology is natural gas or oil, theavailability of incentives that lower the costof installing a heat pump, and the localprice of electricity.

Cost considerationsHeat pumps, which draw heat from the airor the ground, aren’t new. The technologywas developed decades ago and gainedtraction in the 1970s and 1980s, after theoil crises made fuel for heating more ex-pensive. The most common type extractsheat from the air outside, and uses a com-pressor to concentrate it and move it insidethe structure. The same equipment can beused for cooling by reversing the process—extracting heat from the air inside a build-ing and pumping it outside.But heat pumps remain a tiny part of

the heating, ventilation and air-conditioningmarket, supplying only about 5% of globalheating demand in buildings. In the U.S.,they’ve been slow to catch on, largely dueto cost. Like installing home solar panels,buying a heat-pump system requires thou-sands of dollars in upfront investment thattakes years to recoup in the form of lowerenergy bills.It is generally less expensive to outfit a

new home with a heat pump than it is to

Location is less of anissue for heat pumpsnow in terms of climate,but it’s still aconsideration.

BY KATHERINE BLUNT

really going to force the question,because if you can’t use natural gas,you’re going to be forced to choosebetween a heat pump, fuel oil orpropane.”

Wish fulfillmentKen Pinkela, 53, recently purchased aDandelion system that will provideheating, cooling and hot water forhis home in Otisville, N.Y., a townabout 80 miles northwest of NewYork City. He had been wanting foryears to reduce emissions by replac-ing his old oil furnace with a geo-thermal heat pump, but thought itwas too expensive.After consulting with Dandelion

earlier this year, he realized it waswithin reach. The cost of a $41,000system came down to $18,000 afterstate and federal incentives. He an-ticipates a payback on the invest-ment in about nine years.“I keep telling my friends, it’s not

just that I’m excited about this,” hesays. “It’s that I couldn’t afford not todo this.”Even in Minnesota, where tempera-tures regularly drop well below freez-ing in the winter, heat pumps are be-ginning to gain traction. MinnesotaPower says that last year, about 350customers installed heat pumps, upfrom about 50 to 70 annually in prioryears. The utility, which offers re-bates to help offset installationcosts, has lately been promotingheat pumps to its customers.

The interest in electrifying homesand buildings has increased alongsidea nationwide build-out of wind andsolar farms. That has substantiallyreduced emissions from the electricgrid, making the environmental casefor switching from a gas furnace to aheat pump more compelling.“It did not make any sense five

years ago, because in most places,the grid was dirty enough that you’dhave a net increase in carbon emis-sions,” says Michael Gartman, who fo-cuses on carbon-free buildings for thenonprofit Rocky Mountain Institute.“That has changed dramatically.”

Ms. Blunt is a Wall Street Journalreporter in Houston. She can bereached at katherine.blunt@wsj.com. FR

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roughly 10 feet below the surface,where the Earth’s temperature hov-ers at about 55 degrees. (Like air-source pumps, geothermal pumpscan also be used to cool a building,by pumping heat from the structureinto the ground.)Geothermal pumps typically cost

at least twice as much to install asair-source heat pumps. But they re-quire much less electricity to run andare easier to maintain over the years.Dandelion Energy, a provider of

geothermal heat pumps, has gaineda foothold in New York and Connect-icut by targeting the hundreds of

thousands of residents who stillburn fuel oil. Dandelion, whichstarted in Alphabet Inc.’s innovationlab, has sold about 500 systemssince launching as a stand-alonecompany in 2017. It expects to in-stall another 500 this year alone,helped in part by federal and NewYork state incentives.It’s still a challenge for Dandelion

to compete with gas furnaces. Butthe company expects that to changein the coming years, especially asmomentum builds to electrify newhomes and communities.“We just don’t believe that there’s

going to be a lot of continued in-vestment in the natural-gas infra-structure,” says Dandelion Chief Ex-ecutive Michael Sachse. “That’s

5%Electricity’sshare of energyused for heatingbuildingsworld-wide

63%The percentageof regions stud-ied world-widewhere electricheat is cost-competitivewith naturalgas in newconstruction

Source: Schneider Electric,“Building Heat Decarbonization”

55°FThe approxi-mate tempera-ture of theground 10 feetbelow thesurface, wherepipe systemsfor geothermalheat pumpsextract heat

Source: Dandelion Energy

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THEWALL STREET JOURNAL. Monday, May 17, 2021 | R3

Earth seems to be a noticeably different placeto inhabit than it was not so long ago. It hasbeen said that the future we foresee alwaystakes longer to arrive than we expect, andthen unfolds faster than we are prepared for.While climate change might have appearedas a looming specter in the recent past,

today we live in a world where some of its most recognizableconsequences — like extreme weather and drought — have becomethe new status quo.

We are past the tipping point, as a global climatic shift is wellunderway and accelerating. But this is no cause for despair orcomplacency. By contrast, there has never been a more promisingmoment for us to appreciate and understand what we still haveand endeavor creatively to protect it.

Today, we have the technology and the collective humaningenuity to bring about an optimistic future of planetary recovery.But to succeed, I believe we must focus these tools and capabilitiesbeyond ourselves. For the most comprehensive solutions, we shouldlook to the natural world for answers.

There are many ways to observe and to connect to nature, butthe most exciting and profound is also one very often overlooked:listening. No matter where we go on this still-vibrant planet,life expresses and asserts itself through sound. All-day, all-night,and all-year-round, the cacophony of wildlife noise never ceases.There’s no better way to access the essence of ecology thanby tuning in as nature calls to itself and reacts to disruptions.Listening gives nature a chance to call for help. And listening canlead to change.

I’ve witnessed such impact firsthand through the work of ournon-profit organization, Rainforest Connection (RFCx). In dozensof countries around the world, we have teamed up with localNGOs and indigenous communities to install solar-powered, audio

monitoring devices called ‘Guardians’ high in treetops in remoteforests. Listening to the forest night and day, ‘Guardians’ catchthe sounds of environmental threats in real-time (chainsaws,gunshots, or heavy vehicles) and transmit them to a secureback-end platform running Huawei’s Cloud AI. Immediate threatreports are sent to local forest rangers, so that they can respondright away — dangerous and heroic work. Alerts to these defendersmust be foolproof. The high-precision AI model (built on ModelArts)can detect every instance of chainsaws in the soundscape with anaccuracy of more than 96%.

Since 2014, RFCx has launched similar conservation projects in17 countries across five continents. In the last three years alone,RFCx has worked closely with Huawei and its networks in sevencountries to enable the protection of thousands of square kilometersof rainforest, cumulatively safeguarding tens of millions of tonsof CO2, hundreds of million of trees and untold multitudesof threatened animal species.

RFCx is also using technology to help protect marine life. Werecently kicked off a project in Ireland with Ocean Research &Conservation to use Huawei’s AI technology to better under-stand how the movement and noise of ships affects whales,dolphins and other marine wildlife. The project is using underwatermicrophones to record the calls from whales and other species.The goal is to create a marine wildlife detection and classificationmodel that can help researchers better understand marine life’sdistribution and behavior and how noise pollution impacts them.This valuable information will help to shape conservation effortsand policy decisions for years to come.

So while there is still so much more work that needs to be done,I am incredibly hopeful for the future based on all the progressthat has been made — by our organization and countless otherones — in helping to protect endangered species, rainforests andmarine ecosystems for generations to come. Just remember, we allhave a responsibility to help protect the planet.

PAID ADVERTISEMENT

The Wall Street Journal news organization was not involved in the creation of this content.

Protecting our planet by listeningBy Topher White, Founder and CEO of Rainforest Connection

Learn more at huawei.com/tech4all and rfcx.org.

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R4 | Monday, May 17, 2021 THEWALL STREET JOURNAL. THEWALL STREET JOURNAL. Monday, May 17, 2021 | R5

JOURNAL REPORT | CLIMATE TECHNOLOGY

14.3%

N.Y.

17.0%22.9%

N.D.

S.D.

Wis.

Ohio

Mass.Wash.

Utah Mo.

Ore.

Vt.

R.I.

Wyo.

Maine

Mont.

Del.

N.M.

Ga.

Nev. Ind.Iowa

Calif.

13.7%

D.C.

Okla.

Fla.

Minn.

N.C.Tenn.

Texas

12.5%

N.H.

N.J.

Ariz. Kan.

Ala.

Ill. Mich.Idaho

Conn.

Md.

S.C.

La.

W.VaColo. Neb. Va.

Pa.

Ark.

Hawaii

Miss.

12.7%

16.3%16.0%17.3%16.4%17.5%16.5%20.4% 20.1%

15.4% 13.8% 16.1%

15.3%

24.7%

13.3% 14.0% 13.7% 17.2% 19.1%14.7% 16.8%

16.9% 17.1% 15.4%22.5% 22.1%Ky.

19.2% 24.7% 22.8% 18.6%

27.3%

15.0% 17.3% 21.0% 23.2% 27.6% 25.7%

16.7%8.3%

18.6% 21.9% 24.2%

27.7%

13.6%

41.6%40%

0

Source: Energy Information AdministrationJohn Gould/THE WALL STREET JOURNAL

Plugging InHomes, businesses and other sectors are drawingmore of their energy from electric sources, rather than from fuelsused in furnaces and combustion engines. Here's a look at electricity's share of total energy use in each state.

Alaska

3.5%

20

30%

0

2000 2018

10 0–10.0% 10.1–15.0% 15.1–20.0% 20.1–25.0% 25.1 –50.0%

Range of share in 20182018figure

pectedly, there can still be enoughelectricity available from backuppower to meet total demand with-out cutting service to customers.That’s particularly important in

places where current reserve sys-tems are known to be insufficient,such as Texas, where the recentdeadly electricity crisis offered apreview of what could happen ifwe don’t plan for this new electri-fied future.With electricity, strategic re-

serves can be built in two ways:holding surplus power-generationcapacity on standby, or expandingsome form of electricity storagesuch as batteries, pumped water orair, or hydrogen. For standby power,the local system operator would paya utility or another kind of suppliera continuing fee to maintain backupgeneration that can be called uponto replace or supplement everydayoperations when needed.As for storage, in past decades,

it has been almost impossible tocreate economically viable storagesolutions for electricity; instead,utilities opted for controlled inter-ruptions in service, either via shift-ing electricity away from interrupt-ible contracts, where customersagreed to be turned off in ex-change for cheaper rates, or by en-gineering rolling blackouts whereservice is cut in a staggered fash-ion across a geographical area.However, recent breakthroughs inthe costs of industrial-size batter-ies and other technologies are posi-tioning storage as an effective so-lution and a key enabler of theelectrification of everything.

Your home as anisland of power.As the electrification of everythingtakes form, more consumers—awareof the increasing downside of losingpower—will want a higher degree ofcontrol over their own electricitysupply. New technologies are creat-ing the ability to go it alone.The idea is that companies, data

centers or individual homeownerscan install their own generation sys-tem, potentially with a clean energysource like solar power or geother-mal energy, and operate indepen-dently of the grid. Many of thesesystems will remain connected tothe grid and can sell any excesspower into the grid to save money.But they also will have smart equip-ment that automatically isolates

them from the central grid if there isa power surge or shutdown that couldfry their equipment.Some see these island systems,

referred to as distributed energy re-sources, as a potential solution tofostering reliability for the electrifica-tion of everything by decentralizingpower generation. It’s a way to re-duce pressure on the grid as demandfor electricity takes off.In particular, these systems are

giving a boost to interest in rooftopsolar combined with battery storage,especially in parts of the countrywith abundant sunshine. Elsewhere,whole-house generators powered bypropane or natural gas are likely tobecome much more common.

New regulationswill be needed.Backup systems, as well as the indi-vidual island solutions, are crucial ifwe want to make the electrification ofeverything reliable. But they aren’tlikely to happen at the necessaryscale under today’s regulatory policies.U.S. electricity pricing and regulation

remains outdated, based on a timewhen monopolistic, centralized powerstations directed electricity to flowfrom their generators to the end user.Utilities are typically rewarded for pro-moting higher electricity use—not en-ergy conservation or cleaner fuels.As a result, new fee structures are

needed that give utilities an incentiveto adopt more resilient, innovativetechnologies, such as these smallerdistributed networks or the integrationof large industrial-scale batteries. Pol-icy makers also must study marketmechanisms that will encourage con-sumers to conserve and diversifybackup sources, as well as enable themto sell some of the clean power fromtheir backup systems back to the grid.Another way policy makers can

ensure that the electrification of ev-erything doesn’t turn into a road topower-failure disaster is to encouragemore diverse grid connections.Northern Europe has already

shown the path, with its successfulNord Pool system. Nord Pool is an ef-ficient “imbalance” market—an auc-tion-based power exchange that inter-connects the grids of nine countriesand allows trading of power to lowercosts and prevent brownouts.For example, when Denmark’s wind

output exceeds its electricity demand,it sells excess power to neighboringcountries like Norway. Conversely,when the wind is ebbing, Denmarkpurchases electricity from Nord Pool.Similar large regional or inter-

country transmission wires will bethe new pipelines of national and in-ternational energy trade. Becauseweather patterns can be localizedand electricity sources diverse basedon differing locations and timezones, more grid connections canspell increased energy security

it also increases the risks of a cyber-attack by providing more gatewaysand larger linked attack surfaces forhackers to enter undetected into avital system to interrupt U.S. eco-nomic activity or safety. The morethings that are digitized and con-nected to a plug, the more activitiesthat have to increase cyberprotec-tion tools and practices.Cyber risks are likely to increase

the preference for distributed net-works based on renewable energy,which tend to be more dispersedand easier to restore quickly. If a cy-berattack damages a large powerplant, it could take months to repair.If it takes down a solar mini-grid, itmight take a few days.For countries that might consider

importing electricity from a less-than-friendly neighboring country (unlikelyto be a problem in North America),there is a new concern related toelectricity of everything: What if thatunfriendly country tries to use elec-tricity supply as a tool of coercion bythreatening denial of service at a crit-ical time? In this case, interdepen-dence could be weaponized to extractpolitical concessions.One solution to electricity coercion

would be to have more countrieslocked together, each carrying sup-plemental reserve capacity that canbe deployed all at once or to cover athreatened nation in the network.

The benefits forrenewables.The electrification of everything isoften associated with an increase inrenewables.Theoretically, of course, the electri-

fication of everything is fuel-neutral—that is, the electricity itself could begenerated using the same fossil fuelscurrently piped directly to us.But in practice, renewables are

likely to have an advantage in theelectrification effort. For one thing,environmentalists are focused onelectrification as the fastest way todecarbonize the U.S. energy system,in particular with electric cars andconverting home heating to electric-ity. Backup mini-grids are particularlywell-suited, as noted, to solar.In addition, the technology and

data industry are big proponents ofboth the electrification of everythingand renewable energy. These compa-nies aim to connect virtually every-thing we do to their smart, digitaldevices. In a world of the Internet ofThings, it will be hard to find equip-ment that can operate without aplug or wireless input.So promoting the electrification

of everything—and its accompanyinggrid enhancements—is in their eco-nomic interest. They want electricityto be accessible and reliable. At thesame time, their customer base isconcerned about renewable energy.Put them together and you can seewhy electrification of everything—even if theoretically fuel-neutral—islikely to result in a greater emphasison renewables.

Some things can’tbe electrified.When we speak about electrificationof everything, we don’t actuallymean everything.For some energy-intensive activi-

ties, it could be economically andtechnically preferable to switch toanother kind of low-carbon-fuel car-rier such as hydrogen. That’s be-cause it’s still difficult to build a bat-tery large enough and light enoughto use in a long-distance jet or giantship, and hydrogen would also bebetter suited for some heavy indus-trial processes.But those are the exceptions. For

most other things, electricity worksjust fine. Now it’s up to all of us tomake sure it’s there when we need it.FR

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Catching theWindAswind turbines spread, theyare also becoming bigger andmore efficient, driving downthe cost of the electricity theygenerate. Here’s how theblades have evolved andsome key changes that haveenabled the scaling up.

The size

Thematerials

The shape

Forty years ago typicalwind-turbine bladeswerearound 26 feet long. Today, withlightermaterials, the bladeshave reached 351 feet, longerthan the Statue of Liberty is tall,and are packedwith newtechnology.

1980 2021

1980Early wind-turbine bladesweremade fromfiberglass and resin. Thematerials limited theirsize and thus their power output.

2021Modern blades, made from carbon fiber andother advancedmaterials, are 90% lighter than1980s bladeswould be if scaled to currentturbine sizes. Because of their size and design,turbineswith the new blades can produce upto 15,000 kWof energy.

Innovations for themodernwind-turbine bladesinclude higher strength that canwithstandmorestress, bend-twist coupling to reduce loads, andaerodynamic improvements to the blade tip fornoisemitigation.

1980 2021

Leadingedge

Trailingedge

Sources: Paul Veers, National Renewable Energy Laboratories; Steve Nolet, TPI Composites Inc.; LM WindPower; GE; Kevin Hand/WALL STREET JOURNAL

305 feetStatue ofLiberty

75 kW55 feet

853-footheight

15,000kilowattsof power

BendGreater swept area capturesmorewind, but requires longer blades thataremore slender and flexible inbending.Manufacturing in a bend inthe blade (known as a pre-bend)allowsmore room to deflect whileavoiding contact with the tower.

Spar capThis section of the blade takesan enormous amount ofstress. It is now reinforcedwith a carbon-fiber strip theentire length of the span forstrength. Sometimes the stripismadewith carbon-fiberplanks instead of cloth.

TwistPassive bend-twist coupling reducesthe sensitivity to natural turbulencein thewind and allows even longerbladeswithout increasing theweight.

26’

351feet

Blade tipSince the blade tipmoves faster thanthe blade nearest thehub, more noise isgenerated on the tip.

Tip shapeRounded tips andserrated edgesmake bladesquieter.

WindWindturbineturbinebladeblade

Windturbineblade

Fiberglass

Carbonfiber

Hub

Adhesive bondsThe blade is constructed in twoparts. The adhesive bondsstand up to 4,000 pounds persquare inch of stress.

Interior

High-pressureskin

Low-pressureskin

Sparcap

Shearweb

Fiberglass,balsa andfoam

Edgeview

Frontview

Prefabricatedcarbon-fiberplanks

NewattachmentsBladeswere attached tothe hub first with boltedflanges, then using heavyT-bolts. Inserts are alighter alternative that iseven stronger.

T-bolts Inserts

where additional unaffected utili-ties can potentially supply morepower into a disrupted market.

Not in mybackyard.No one wants high-voltage wiresand substations near their home.Unfortunately, we can’t have theelectrification of everything withouta lot more of those wires and sta-tions. Princeton University esti-mates the country will need be-tween double and triple today’selectricity transmission capacity toaccommodate the Biden adminis-tration’s goal of achieving net zerogreenhouse-gas emissions by 2050.That’s going to pit cities versus

cities and states versus states. Forinstance, New Hampshire refusedto serve as a conduit for Canadianhydropower to reach Massachu-setts, and a public referendum is

pending in Maine that might blockrouting through that state.How to solve that standoff so it

doesn’t paralyze the building ofnew transmission lines? In the U.S.,that will mean more federal au-thority to site transmission lines toenhance resiliency. Back in 2005,Congress tried to strengthen theability of the Federal Energy Regu-latory Commission to more easilypre-empt state vetoes of private-sector transmission development,but when federal authorities triedto use the new authorization, theystill ran into problems in the courts.A House committee has proposeda new legislative pathway tostrengthen federal authority.Other options include burying

transmission lines underground inhopes of reducing local opposition,or laying new wires along existingrights of way on federal highwaysand railways. The Biden adminis-tration has said it is consideringthe latter approach. The U.S. De-partment of Transportation has al-ready issued guidance for use ofhighway rights of way for publicneeds related to climate changeand energy reliability.

Good news forbad guys.More interconnections lowers therisks of greater electrification. But

questions. Among them: What arethe implications of getting fromhere to there? What are the possi-ble benefits? What are the possiblerisks? And if this change is inevita-ble, what should we be doing toprepare for it?Because here’s another funda-

mental truth about energy today:The electrification of (almost) ev-erything is coming, and we’re justnot ready for it.

We better upgradethe grid, quickly.If we’re going to rely much more onelectricity, we need to know the gridisn’t going to break down. Right

now, we don’t know that, even fortoday’s level of demand. Sections oftoday’s grid were built in the 1950sand 1960s and are approaching end-of-life conditions. The 2019 wildfirecrisis in California, for instance,highlighted how much of PG&E’sthousands of steel electricity towersneeded to be repaired or replaced.Over the past decade, the num-

ber of U.S. electricity outages hasdoubled. There is a long list of cul-prits—from high winds toppling treelimbs to wildfires to ice storms toaggressive squirrels.The Biden administration recently

said it plans $8 billion in new high-voltage transmission lines, alongwith other grid improvements.That’s a start. But to truly reducethe risk of electrifying everything,we also need to think differentlyabout making power disruptionsless likely.One approach is to strengthen

grid backup systems. Much the waythe U.S. and its allies created strate-gic oil stocks after the 1970s oil cri-ses, it’s time to reassess how elec-tricity backup reserves can bebolstered to eliminate brownoutsand blackouts. Then when demandsurges suddenly in a heat wave, orwhen the wind stops blowing unex-

ContinuedfrompageR1

Electrificationis happening,whether we’vemade a consciousdecision to electrifyor not.

GetReady for theElectrificationOf (Nearly) Everything

A wind turbine under construction on one of four wind farms in New Mexico that will make up the Western Spirit Wind Project.

Nearly50%

Electricity’s po-tential share of

total energy usedin the U.S. if

nearly all trans-port and buildingswere electrified,up from about

20% today

$174billion

is included in theBiden administra-tion’s infrastruc-ture bill for elec-tric vehicles andpublic charging

stations

Up to3X

The U.S. willneed two to threetimes its presentelectricity trans-mission capacityto accommodatethe Biden admin-istration’s goal ofnet zero green-house-gas emis-sions by 2050

Sources: Net-ZeroAmerica study,

Princeton University;the White House (EVs)

An electric-vehicle charging station in Tynemouth, England.

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R6 | Monday, May 17, 2021 THEWALL STREET JOURNAL.

JOURNAL REPORT | CLIMATE TECHNOLOGY

• DR. KEUTSCH: Solar climate inter-vention could be viewed as a wayof reducing climate risk while hu-manity is, too slowly, battling thecauses of climate change.In addition, the cost is very mod-

est compared with the costs of re-moving carbon dioxide or changingenergy infrastructure.

• WSJ:What about the risks?

• DR. PIERREHUMBERT: The biggestphysical risk is the risk of terminationshock, which is the very rapid cata-strophic warming that would occur ifsolar geoengineering was ever termi-nated abruptly in a situation where itwas being relied on to offset a majorportion of the global warming in-duced by carbon-dioxide emissions.The main sociopolitical risk is

that research would undercut na-scent efforts to decarbonize theworld economy, which is the onlyreal solution to the climate crisis.

• DR. HOURDEQUIN: Solar geoengi-neering could disrupt Asian mon-soons, alter agricultural production,slow recovery of the ozone hole orchange the productivity of the ocean.There are risks that the concentra-

tion of research effort in North Amer-ica and Europe will generate politicalpolarization around this topic interna-tionally, which may in turn affectbroader progress on climate change.There are ethical risks associated

with the effects of solar geoengi-neering on present and future peopleand ecosystems, as well as risks thatdecision-making processes may beunfair or not sufficiently inclusive.

• WSJ: Should we pursuefurther research into solargeoengineering?

• DR. KEUTSCH: We don’t knowenough, so it’s critical to find out.Based on models, solar geoengineer-ing has the potential to greatly re-duce climate risk. We need studies tolearn more about this, get more re-gional detail and poke holes in this.

• DR. HOURDEQUIN: Almost no onethinks solar geoengineering is an

unmitigated good, and many seegeoengineering as bad because theydon’t think it could ever be gov-erned well or fairly, or because therisks and uncertainties are toogreat. Even the most sanguineabout geoengineering generally seeit as a stopgap measure at best.Research won’t eliminate the

risks and uncertainties, but it mayhelp us understand them better.Further study and discussion mightmake clear that this is simply not agood path to pursue.

HurricanesurgeHuHuHuHurrrrrricananeesurgrgeeHuHusuHurrrrHuHurrHuHurgesurgrricanBay

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Big sector gates

Open

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Vertical lift gates

FloodDoors toShutOutHurricanesWhenHurricane Ike hit the Texas coast in 2008, itcaused severe flooding in Galveston and aroundGalveston Bay. To prevent a repeat, the TexasLegislature appears to be close to passing legislationthatwould lead to a $26 billion coastal barrier. Thismultifaceted defense, based on a proposal from theArmy Corps of Engineers and theTexas General LandOffice, includes 43miles of new dunes and beaches andman-made fortifications designed toweather stormsurges of up to 21 feet, including a gate system acrossthemain entrance to Galveston Bay.

The complex gate system stretching between BolivarPeninsula and Galveston Islandwould reduce stormsurgewhilemaintaining about 90% of currentwaterflowswhen gates are open.

Open gates:The plancalls for a series of 15vertical lift gates—each300 feet wide—spanningmore than 4,500 feetacross the bay, the sizeofmore than 12 footballfields. These gateswouldbe open in normalweather for vessels topass through.

Closed gates: In the eventof a storm, the gateswouldbe dropped. These gatesare driven by hydrauliccylinderswith long pistonswhich are hinged to theside towers.

Each gatewould be 82 feet tall—nearly eight stories high—butmostly underwater.When closed, only 22 feet would be visible.On either sidewould be two pairs of smaller sector gateswith125-foot-wide openings that allow smaller vessels likecommercial fishing boats to come and go.

Sources: Army Corp of Engineers; Texas General Land Office; Cheryl Winokur Munk and Kevin Hand /THE WALL STREET JOURNAL

Opening and closingBefore a storm, the hollow, floating gateswould be swung out tomeet and then filledwithwater and sunk to a sill at the bottom of thechannel. Once a storm passes, water would be pumped out of thegates, and theywould be floated back into the artificial islands forstorage. A hydraulic systemwould be responsible formoving thegates horizontally into the open/closed position.

Before and afterBefore the gates:WhenHurricane Ike passed throughin 2008, the damage caused from the storm surgewas significant. Here is a comparison showing howfloodingmay be lessened by adding the gate system:

After the gates:Estimates suggest an approximate77% reduction in damaged structures and about a66% reduction in flooding of critical infrastructurepoints. Left untouched, risks include hurricane stormsurge, coastal erosion and relative sea level change.

Shallowwater gatesCrossing 1,500 feet ofshallowwater wouldbe a new gate systemwith box-shapedculverts, containingvertical sliding gatesinside that drop downto close.

Combiwall:This floodwallmeant for shallowwaterswould run 22 feet high andconnect to a levee system.

The channel:Therewould be a pair ofchannel openings about 650 feetwide and 60 feet deep; thecurrent channel is 530 feetwide and 48 feet deep.

Small sector gatesTwo other sets of smallsector gateswould bebuilt for small craft.

Threeman-made islandsThree newly constructedman-made islandswouldanchor and house twopairs of large fan-shaped sector gates.

Wall

Pilings

Wall

Harbor Ocean

Gate emptyandfloating

Gate As a storm surgeapproaches

Gate fillswithwater and is

sunk

0 feet 30 feet

100-year storm surge flooding

Bay

Gulf

Galveston

Gate

After

Gate

Sunken doors

Hinge

Gate

Island

Island

82 ft. X 400 ft.swinging gates

650 ft.channel

Hinge

Bay

Galveston

Before

Bay

Bay

GulfGul

Gulf

TEXAS

Houston

GalvestonBay

Gulf ofMexico

Galveston

Gate system

Gulf ofMexico

GALVESTONISLAND

BOLIVARPENNINSULA

Galveston Bay

TheHotDebateOverSolar Geoengineering

RaymondPierrehumbertPhysics professor,Oxford

Frank KeutschAtmosphericchemist, Harvard

Marion HourdequinProfessor of philoso-phy, Colorado College

AerosolsIncrease the amount of smallparticles in the stratosphere toreflectmore incoming sunlight.

Source: National Academy of Sciences;Kevin Hand/THE WALL STREET JOURNAL

ClimateWorksTheNational Academy of Sciences recentlyrecommended the study of geoengineering asa possible supplement to reduced CO2emissions and other climate-changestrategies. Here are threemethods.

ThinningModify high-altitudeclouds to allowmore heatto escape the atmosphere.

(Altitude: 10-15miles)

(8-10miles)(0-2miles)

BrighteningAdd particles tomake low-lyingcloudsmore reflective overcertain regions of the oceans

• DR. PIERREHUMBERT: Becauseany reliance on solar geoengineer-ing to offset a major portion ofglobal warming would put theworld in a precarious state at riskof rapid catastrophic warming inthe event of a termination of thedeployment, solar geoengineeringcan only play a very minor role inthe portfolio of responses toglobal warming. Even this minimalpotential role would be viable onlyin a world capable of orderly fact-based global cooperation, and thenonly after net carbon-dioxideemissions have been brought tozero. Set against its minimal po-tential role, the risk that expandedsolar-geoengineering researchmight undercut nascent efforts todecarbonize is unacceptable atthis time.

Research momentum?

• WSJ:Would researching solargeoengineering set us on acourse to using it?

• DR. KEUTSCH: I am not convincedthat there is a path to limitingglobal warming to 1.5 degrees Cel-sius based purely on emission re-ductions. I am doing this researchnot because I think we should bedoing stratospheric geoengineering,but rather because I am concernedthat solar-geoengineering technolo-gies could be deployed even in theabsence of research. My personalbelief is that the risk of not doingthe research is higher than doingthat research.

• DR. PIERREHUMBERT: AlthoughI’m completely sympathetic toFrank’s idea that someone mightjust up and do this—because itwouldn’t take that long to developthe technology—I don’t see whatkind of research actually addressesthat risk.

Mr. Alcorn is a writer in New York.Email reports@wsj.com.

These events have lent urgencyto several questions: Under whatcircumstances could solar-geoengi-neering technology be effectivelydeployed? Would further researchon the risks of geoengineering re-strain policy makers from deployingit irresponsibly or set them on acourse to doing so? And given thathumankind shares one atmosphere,who has a say in whether and howsolar-geoengineering research oc-curs?In a video roundtable discussion

with The Wall Street Journal, threeexperts weighed in: Marion Hourde-quin, a professor of philosophy atColorado College and part of theNational Academies committee;Frank Keutsch, an atmosphericchemist at Harvard and the principalinvestigator of the Swedish field ex-periment; and Raymond Pierrehum-bert, a physics professor at the Uni-versity of Oxford and a prominentcritic of geoengineering research.Here are edited excerpts of theirconversation.

Risks and benefits

• WSJ:What are thepotential benefits of solargeoengineering, and why arepeople even considering it?

• DR. HOURDEQUIN: It has the po-tential to offset some of thewarming caused by anthropogenicclimate change and to tamp downsome of the associated effects,such as more frequent heat wavesand higher-intensity storms.

ContinuedfrompageR1

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JOURNAL REPORT | CLIMATE TECHNOLOGY

cants. “As we get the [carboncapture] technology matured, wecan tie them together where itmakes sense.”In the near term, aviation and

maritime shipping companiesmay be the most likely buyers ofsynthetic fuels because theirbusinesses are carbon-intensiveand hard to fully electrify. Thehigh energy density of e-fuel alsocould make it a good decarbon-ization solution for heavy-dutytrucks that haul cargo over longdistances, proponents say.In January, KLM Royal Dutch

Airlines powered a commercialflight from Amsterdam to Madridwith synthetic fuel, a world first.The aircraft used regular fuelmixed with 500 liters of syn-thetic kerosene produced byRoyal Dutch Shell PLC. AirbusSE, too, is looking at syntheticfuel as it seeks to develop the

world’s first zero-emissions com-mercial aircraft, which could be inservice by 2035.In 2019, German airline

Deutsche Lufthansa AG signed adeal for the Heide Refinery inGermany to produce and supplythe Hamburg airport with syn-thetic kerosene. The aim is to re-place 5% of the fossil-based kero-sene used to fuel jets at theairport with synthetic keroseneas early as 2024 through windenergy generated locally.

Wider usesThe CEO of the refinery sees ap-plications for e-fuels in thechemical industry, too, saying e-fuels could slash the carbon foot-print of the plastics industry andthe emissions generated fromproducing goods ranging fromsmartphones and laptops to

shampoo bottles and toys.“The application of them is

just so vast and basically in allthe materials we are using day-to-day,” says JürgenWollschläger, Heide’s CEO.Shipping giant A.P. Moller

Maersk A/S, meanwhile, sees e-methanol and e-ammonia as apromising way to power its fleetin the future and says customershave indicated they would bewilling to pay more for greenshipping as they seek to reduceemissions in their supply chains.“The dialogue we’re having

with our customers is promising,”says Morten Bo Christiansen,vice president and head of decar-bonization at Maersk.Maersk has said that it will have

its first carbon-neutral vessel inoperation by 2023 and is exploringe-methanol to power it. The com-pany also is collaborating with in-

Proponents see them asan alternative to electricvehicles, offering a greenway to preserve thecombustion engine

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LIQUIDHYDROGEN

RENEWABLES

ELECTROLYSIS

OXYGEN

HYDROGEN

E-FUELS

CAPTURED CO2

1

2

3

APPLICATIONSRoad: E-diesel, e-gasoline ore-methanol, for example, can bemixedwith conventional fuelsor replace them entirely topower vehicles.

HowE-Fuels AreMadeE-fuels are synthetic fuelsmanufactured using hydrogenfrom renewable sources and usually captured carbondioxide or other sources of carbon. They include awiderange of low-carbon fuels.

Green hydrogen is combinedwith captured carbon dioxidethrough usually one of twomethods—called FischerTropsch ormethanolsynthesis—which use aseries of chemical reactionsto convert themixture intoliquid hydrocarbons ore-methanol, respectively.CO2 can be captured fromindustrial processes, powergeneration or directly fromthe air.

RESULTGreen hydrogen isconverted into a liquidenergy carrier—a processcalled “power toliquid”—that can bestored and transported.

The electrolysis process, which splitswater into oxygen and hydrogen,allows the production of greenhydrogen—hydrogen created fromrenewable sources.

Renewable electricity such aswind and solar enters the grid topower the electrolyzer.

Maritime: E-ammonia,e-methanol or e-dieselare all suitable optionsto power vessels forlong-distancemaritimetransport.

Heating: E-fuels can beused to power heatingsystems originallydesigned to run on oil ornatural gas.

Aviation:E-kerosene canbe blendedwithfossil-based kerosene oreven be used purely topower current aircraft.

Industrialmanufacturing:Allproducts coming from fossilrefineries can potentially beconverted into e-fuels andused for industrial processes.

Source: WSJ; Kevin Hand/THE WALL STREET JOURNAL

vestment firm Copenhagen Infra-structure Partners and someDanish companies to build Europe’slargest green ammonia facility inEsbjerg, on the Danish west coast.Much of the recent buzz around

e-fuels has centered on autos, withsome car makers looking at e-fuelsas an additional route to environ-mentally friendly travel, along withelectric and hybrid technologies.Porsche said last year that it is

investing roughly 20 million eurosin a synthetic-fuels plant in south-ern Chile, where wind power isnaturally abundant. It plans to testthe fuels first in its racing fleetand later in sports cars like the 911.The company predicts the big

cost gap between e-fuels and fos-sil fuels could narrow significantlyin the next five years, dependingon government taxes and subsi-dies. A tax on carbon would raisethe cost of fossil fuels and drivean increase in renewable energy,which is needed to produce thegreen hydrogen used in e-fuels.“If regulators put a cost on car-

bon emissions, e-fuels can poten-tially be a very competitive wayto decarbonize,” says MichaelSteiner, member of the executiveboard for research and develop-ment at Porsche.Mr. Steiner says the liquid na-

ture of e-fuels makes them easyto store and transport to citiesand regions where renewable en-ergy is scarce, or where grid ac-cessibility challenges the develop-ment of electric vehicles on alarge scale.

Some point out that EVs aren’twithout environmental concernsof their own, including mining toextract lithium for batteries, aswell as battery waste in the ab-sence of highly developed recy-cling systems.Christian Schultze, director of

research and operations at MazdaMotor Europe’s R&D center, sayssynthetic fuels could make oldervehicles cleaner, significantlyspeeding up the reduction of CO2emissions.“The problem with emissions

isn’t on the engine side; it’s on thefuel side,” he says. “Why do youwant to scrap the internal com-bustion engine if I tell you we canmake it extremely clean?”

Energy lostCritics, however, say vehicles run-ning on e-fuels will never be asgreen as electric vehicles, partlybecause a great amount of en-ergy gets lost during the processof converting electricity into liquidor gaseous fuels.“There is little chance that

burning e-fuels in an inefficientinternal combustion engine couldbe a cheaper or more practicaltransport decarbonization solu-tion than electric vehicles,” saysStephanie Searle, fuels programdirector at the InternationalCouncil on Clean Transportation.Moreover, because renewable

energy is the essential prerequi-site for low-carbon e-fuels, thereneeds to be a substantial increasein renewable production to makee-fuels a reality on a larger scale.For now, capacity of e-fuels is

very limited.Geert Decock, electricity and

energy manager at Transport &Environment, a nonprofit promot-ing sustainable transportation inEurope, says the firm recentlywanted to test e-fuels in a com-bustion-engine vehicle, but couldn’tbuy 500 liters (132 gallons) of it.The first step to making the

technology a reality is to scale uprefueling infrastructure, he says.“Get ports ready. Hydrogen hubs.Ammonia storage facilities,” hesays. “That’s the kind of focus wewant in the next decades, to rollout some of the infrastructure andget the costs down.”

Ms. Petroni and Mr. Holger arereporters for The Wall StreetJournal in Barcelona. Email themat giulia.petroni@wsj.com anddieter.holger@wsj.com.

The technologybehind e-fuelsisn’t new. Butcost remains abig obstacle.

MARIJA

NMURA

T/DPA

/PICTU

REALLIANCE

/GET

TYIM

AGES

BY GIULIA PETRONIAND DIETERHOLGER

The Promise and Pitfalls of E-Fuels

An officialholds a bottleof e-fuel at aresearch plantin Germany.

Maybe the com-bustion en-gine isn’t deadafter all. Syn-thetic fuels areattractinggrowing inter-est as a way to

make industries ranging from jetsto ships to cars greener withouthaving to rethink or replace theirtraditional engines.Known as electrofuels or e-fu-

els, these synthetics are made bymixing hydrogen derived from re-newable sources usually with cap-tured carbon dioxide to create avirtually carbon-neutral version offuels such as gasoline, diesel andkerosene.Some airlines, cargo shippers

and oil firms already have pilotprojects under way to make e-fu-els, or are experimenting withblends of e-fuels and conventionalfuels. Auto makers also are invest-ing in the technology, with somesaying e-fuels could be a way tokeep older passenger cars on theroad, alongside electric and hybridvehicles, as a cleaner form oftransportation.

Cost hurdlesThe technology underlying e-fuelsisn’t new. Nearly a century ago,German scientists Franz Fischerand Hans Tropsch invented amethod, known as Fischer-Tropschsynthesis, that mixes carbon mon-oxide with hydrogen to create syn-thetic petroleum.Synthetic fuels have many ad-

vantages, according to supporters:They can be blended with conven-tional fuels—density and qualityare similar—or replace them com-pletely without altering existingpipelines, refilling stations and en-gines. They also can be easilytransported and stored for ex-tended periods.Cost, however, remains a big

hurdle.E-fuels are getting a fresh look

as renewable-energy prices fall torecord lows, and governments andcompanies world-wide increase in-vestments in green hydrogen andcarbon-capture technology—the el-ements needed to make e-fuels.But at this early stage, e-fuels arestill four to six times as expensiveto produce as conventional fuelsbefore taxes, according to theeFuel Alliance trade group.Many say the future of e-fuels

could hang on whether govern-ments adopt or increase taxes ongreenhouse-gas emissions—whichwould make conventional fuelmore expensive—and encouragegreen-hydrogen productionthrough government funding andsubsidies.If they do, oil-and-gas firms

should be able to supply enoughcaptured CO2 to make e-fuels.Fossil fuels are expected to ac-count for a big part of the world’senergy mix even in 2050, and bybuilding out carbon-capture tech-nology, big oil companies couldcontinue to produce fossil fuelswhile responding to calls to ad-dress climate change.Some oil giants are making

bets already. In Spain, Repsol SAis investing 60 million euros,equivalent to about $72 million,building a synthetic-fuels plantthat uses CO2 captured from anearby oil refinery in Bilbao. Theplant, expected to go online in2023, will produce 50 barrels ofe-fuel a day during the pilotphase, then scale up for commer-cial distribution of e-fuels for thetransportation sector.U.S. oil-and-gas giant Exxon

Mobil Corp. also sees an opportu-nity in e-fuels. This year, it pledgedto invest $3 billion through 2025—roughly 3% to 4% of its plannedannual capital expenditure—onlower-emission technologies suchas carbon capture and storage.The oil giant also began workingwith Porsche this year to test e-fuels for cars.“E-fuels have an enormous po-

tential,” says Andrew Madden, vicepresident of strategy and planningfor Exxon Mobil Fuels & Lubri-

P2JW137000-0-R00700-1--------XA

R8 | Monday, May 17, 2021 THEWALL STREET JOURNAL.

is the least dense element in theuniverse, so it can’t be stored ascompactly as natural gas.Of the 228 planned hydrogen

projects announced globally, 55%are located in European nations,according to the Hydrogen Counciltrade group, though some of thecompanies involved say they areawaiting clarity on governmentspending before moving forward.Of course, if hydrogen is going to

live up to the hype, it needs to bederived from renewable sources,which isn’t the case for most hy-drogen produced today. More than99% is a mix of “gray” hydrogen,made by splitting the hydrocarbonmolecules in coal or natural gas, or“blue” hydrogen, which relies onfossil fuels but uses carbon-captureto sequester emissions.The European Union says it is

aiming to have 40 gigawatts ofgreen-hydrogen production capac-ity—enough to provide approxi-mately 40% of France’s electricityconsumption, according to the In-ternational Energy Agency—in-stalled within its borders by 2030.To move all of that new hydro-

gen into homes and businesses,energy companies may lean heav-ily on existing natural-gas infra-structure. Of the 4,200 miles of

If it’s going to compete,industry has to devise asafe way to store it

electric motorcycle taxi and deliverycompany MAX.NG. The startup,whose investors also include Nairobi-based venture capitalist NovastarVentures Ltd., says it is on track tolaunch 1,000 such vehicles in Nigeria,Africa’s most populous nation, by theend of 2021. A MAX spokesmansays it costs 50% less to recharge itsvehicles in Nigeria than it would tofuel gasoline engines.Electric vehicles offer poor com-

munities in Africa not only a shot atcleaner air but economic opportunityas well. In Kigali, Ampersand driverRemy Namahro, 30, says hismonthly income has jumped 42%, toaround $300, since he switched fromthe fossil-fuel motorcycle he used asa professional driver last year to theelectric model he now leases. Mostof the savings are due to lower en-ergy costs but also lower mainte-nance expenses for e-motorcycles.“I can regularly put meat on the

table,” he says. “For the first time, Ican save for my children’s educationand healthcare.” he says.

Clean chargingWhile jobs like those offered byARC, MAX and Ampersand canboost a delivery driver’s income,there are also potential gains forthe environment, because the re-charging infrastructure for EVs inAfrica relies mostly on renewablepower such as geothermal, solarand hydro. In India and China, bycontrast, the energy-production sup-ply chain that sustains electric carsstill relies on carbon-heavy coal. Am-persand says its vehicles representan overall reduction of as much as95% in the carbon footprint of deliv-ery vehicles compared with thosethat use fossil fuel.Most of the platforms in Africa

use socket-based chargers for theirvehicles. But amid frequent poweroutages, they have to find creativeways to guarantee steady supply. InNairobi, where ARC says electricitycosts for its drivers are 30% lowerthan for fuel on a per-mile basis, thecompany has worked with logisticalpartner Sendy to set up chargers inthe warehouses of its main deliverycustomers—so drivers can pick upelectricity as well as goods. ARC is inthe process of setting up solar pan-els to ensure the charging networkoperates independently from thegrid, Mr. Hurst-Croft says.MAX and Ampersand offer their

drivers pre-charged, swappable bat-teries. The latter is in talks withmajor oil companies to start placingdepots for these batteries at fuelstations in East Africa, according toMr. Whale, the founder.Mr. Namahro, the Ampersand

driver, says his reasons for using ane-motorcycle include the environ-mental benefits for the next genera-tion. “We will create a better worldfor them,” he says.

Mr. Faucon is a Wall Street Journalreporter in London, Ms. Wexler aJournal reporter in Johannesburg.Email benoit.faucon@wsj.com andalexandra.wexler@wsj.com.

ARC Ride courier SimonKinyanjui on a fooddelivery run in Nairobi.

The electric-car revolution is reachingthe streets of Africa.A handful of startups in several coun-

tries are building small electric-vehiclefleets of light carriers and motorcycles—vehicles well suited for the continent’schallenging roads—for taxi and deliveryservices.

In February, Kenya-based ARC Ride launched electrictwo- and three-wheelers for Uber Eats deliveries inNairobi, a city of 4.4 million. While the company cur-rently has 35 vehicles operating, Chief Executive JosephHurst-Croft, a former environmental activist in Nigeria,says he expects the fleet to grow to 300 by August.ARC also is building its own charging network acrossthe city fed by thermal energy generated from volcanicheat along East Africa’s tectonic rift.Proponents of electric vehicles and renewable energy

see motorcycles as the fastest way to promote inexpen-

pipeline European companies saythey plan to dedicate to hydrogenby 2030, three-quarters could betaken from existing networks, con-sulting firm Rystad Energy says.They will need to build extra

storage, however, as hydrogen isone-third as dense as natural gas.To that end, French utility Engie

SA has proposed storing hydrogengas in skyscraper-size undergroundsalt caverns similar to the onesthat house the U.S. government’sstrategic petroleum reserve. Itplans to spend $16 million to test

hydrogen storage at a salt cavernnear Lyon in eastern France.In the U.K., Centrica PLC wants

to spend $900 million to convertRough—a retired natural-gas stor-age facility located under the sea-

floor, 18 miles off the coast ofYorkshire—into hydrogen storage.The porous rock in the naturallyoccurring sandstone reservoir can

Centrica plans to convert itsEasington natural-gas facilityin the U.K. to hydrogen storage.

store four times the hydrogen ofall the country’s salt caverns puttogether, the company says.Greg McKenna, managing direc-

tor of business solutions at Cen-trica, calls Rough a “Goldilocks”reservoir. “It’s a naturally occurringsealed box, and its natural tem-perature cooks bacteria” thatmight otherwise turn hydrogeninto poisonous, corrosive hydrogensulfide, he says.Engie and Italian pipeline com-

pany Snam SpA, meanwhile, aretesting how much hydrogen gasthey can mix with natural gas with-out altering existing pipelines andboilers.Engie has added 20% hydrogen

to the natural gas it supplies tohomes in France’s northern city ofDunkirk, while Snam has success-fully tested 10% hydrogen at Italianpasta and mineral-water factories.National Grid PLC is spending

$18 million in private and publicmoney to test hydrogen furnacesand stoves in homes in Cumbria,England. Domestic furnaces ac-count for 40% of the U.K.’s emis-sions, according to the company.

Mr. Hodari is a Wall Street Journalreporter in London. He can bereached at david.hodari@wsj.com.

Hydrogen is starting to make itsway into businesses and homesacross Europe as governments raceto find a cleaner replacement fornatural gas and coal to heat homesand fuel industry.Europe has made hydrogen a key

part of its plan to transition awayfrom fossil fuels and slash net carbonemissions to zero by 2050. Support-ers say hydrogen, which emits onlywater when burned, could fuel indus-trial processes used to make steeland cement, power vehicles, heathomes and serve as a form of cleanpower for utilities when sun andwind aren’t available—all with zerocarbon emissions.But if hydrogen is going to com-

pete as a clean-energy source, moreneeds to be produced and it needsto be green—that is, made with re-newable energy rather than fossilfuels. European companies alsohave to figure out how to safelystore and move it. Hydrogen is ex-plosive upon contact with air inlarge enough concentration, and it

BY DAVID HODARI

Hydrogen Gains a Toehold in Europe as a Cleaner Alternative to Gas and Coal

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JOURNAL REPORT | CLIMATE TECHNOLOGY

sive, clean-energy transportation inAfrica, where roads are often traffic-clogged and potholed. The executivesat ARC hope that their efforts in Nai-robi will be a launchpad for a broaderexpansion throughout Africa—akin tothe way the cellular telecommunica-tions revolution bypassed wired linesin many areas. ARC’s chairman is Jo-hannesburg-based retired investmentbanker Richard Bouma.Rob de Jong, head of sustainabil-

ity for the United Nations Environ-ment Program, or UNEP, says that“two- and three-wheelers are thelow-hanging fruit” of EV mobility inAfrica. UNEP is funding EV projectsin seven African countries. “The po-tential leapfrog is massive,” says Mr.de Jong, who is based in Nairobi.From Nairobi to Cape Town to

Lagos, most people rely on motorcy-cles, minibuses and vans to getaround. In Kigali, Rwanda, a city ofroughly 1.2 million, there are moremotorcycles than there are yellowcabs in New York City.

Growth marketMotorcycles and utility vehicles of alltypes represent the fastest-growingsegment of the African automotivemarket. Sales of both electric andtraditional two- and three-wheelersin Africa will jump 50% by 2050, ac-cording to UNEP. In Kenya, theagency says, motorcycles are set tomore than triple to five million thisdecade compared with 2018. Thepurchases will be driven in large partby businesses, including EV startupslike ARC, that buy the vehicles andthen lease or rent them to drivers.Purchases by individuals are morerare in Africa because of low incomesand scarce credit mechanisms.

BY BENOIT FAUCON AND ALEXANDRA WEXLER

E-Vehicles May TransformAfrica’s StreetsAdvocates see electric cars andmotorcycles as a fast way to promotecheap, clean transportation

Most motorcycles currently onthe road tend to run on fossil fuel,which is more expensive, and morepolluting, than electricity. Fuel andmaintenance costs for electric vehi-cles are as much as 40% less expen-sive on a per-mile basis than thefossil-fuel equivalent.ARC, in partnership with ride-hail-

ing platforms Nairobi-based SendyLtd. and Uber Technologies Inc., isdelivering food, parcels and people.In Kigali, meanwhile, e-motorcycle

service Ampersand, which launchedtwo years ago, currently has 35 ve-hicles doing taxi and delivery work.The company’s founder, Josh Whale,a New Zealander and former intel-lectual-property lawyer, says the

startup has a waiting list of morethan 7,000 requests for additionalbikes. Ampersand has receivedfunding from a variety of interna-tional sources, including $1 millionfrom the nonprofit foundation of oilgiant Royal Dutch Shell. U.S., Britishand New Zealand government agen-cies have provided funds as well.And in March, San Francisco-basedclean-tech venture-capital firm Eco-system Integrity Fund invested$3.5 million.Multinationals in transportation

also have taken notice of Africa’s EVpotential. A company called Mellow-cabs, based in Stellenbosch, SouthAfrica, and whose customers includeGermany’s Deutsche Post DHLGroup, operates some 60 EV light-duty delivery vehicles in South Af-rica, Botswana and Namibia. And inNigeria, Japan’s Yamaha Corp. tookpart in a $7 million funding round for

The charginginfrastructure forEVs in Africa drawsmostly onrenewable power.

An ARC technician works on an electric three-wheeler.

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