Axios PM

April 20, 2022
Good afternoon: Today's PM — edited by Justin Green — is 546 words, a 2-min. read.
1 big thing: America's endangered rivers


The Colorado River has been named America's most endangered river, for the first time since 2013, Axios Denver co-author John Frank reports.
- More than 40 million people in seven states and 30 tribal nations rely on the Colorado for drinking water, according to a report by American Rivers, an environmental advocacy group.
- Colorado River water irrigates 15% of America's farmland and produce 90% of its winter vegetables, according to Ceres, a sustainable investment advocacy group.
Zoom out: Americans' water supply now increasingly reflects the daily reality of a worsening climate crisis, Axios' Erin Doherty reports.
- Why it matters: Many of America's cities and farms rely on water supplies whose future availability can't be guaranteed.

Other endangered rivers include:
- The Snake River in the Pacific Northwest — which topped the list last year — is nearly devoid of salmon. Issues include dams and rising water temperatures.
- The Mobile River in Alabama is threatened by coal ash, a byproduct of burning coal for electricity.
- The Coosa River, which also runs through Alabama, is endangered by the threat of pollution from industrial poultry farms.
Go deeper: Read the report.
2. Yellen, Powell walk out
Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and Fed chair Jerome Powell walked out of a G20 meeting in Washington today when the Russian finance minister started speaking, Axios' Neil Irwin and Oriana Gonzalez report.
- Other world leaders who joined: European Central Bank head Christine Lagarde, Canadian Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland and Ukrainian Finance Minister Serhiy Marchenko.
Between the lines: The Treasury Department has been vague all week about Yellen’s plans for participation in the G20 given Russia’s involvement.
3. Catch up quick

- Federal prosecutors charged 21 people with involvement in health care fraud schemes related to COVID. Go deeper.
- Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) will visit Amazon workers fighting to unionize in New York City and Starbucks employees in Richmond. Go deeper.
- Retail workers at an Apple Store in Atlanta filed to hold a union election, the first of its kind at the company's stores. Go deeper.
- Demystifying crypto: Axios Crypto author Brady Dale has written a guide for all of us who want to roll up our sleeves and start to understand crypto. Follow it here.
4. 🌐 Earth Day preview: "Grow clean energy, not just trees"
Ahead of Earth Day on Friday, Anne Finucane — chair of the board of Bank of America Europe and former vice chair of Bank of America — writes for Bloomberg Opinion that a "new carbon market" would unleash billions of dollars of spending on market-based climate solutions.
- She outlines a way for big business and government to work together to broaden the definition of carbon offsets to include investments in green technologies. She says that would encourage business to "accelerate the pace and scale of financing decarbonization solutions."
"Many of the experimental technologies of this energy transformation will end up being bad bets," Finucane adds. "But the flood of new capital available to startups would increase their odds of success."
5. ⚾️ Parting shot: Speed it up


A pitch clock has shortened Minor League Baseball games by 20 minutes, per ESPN, setting the stage for MLB to implement a clock next season.
- Why it matters: MLB games are now 20 minutes longer than the average game as recently as 2005, Axios Sports editor Kendall Baker reports.
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