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Starbucks will stop using a dye made from crushed bugs in its Strawberries & Crème Frappuccinos and other items after the ingredient prompted an outcry from some customers.The coffee giant said in a blog post Thursday that it will gradually transition from using cochineal extract as a red food dye to using lycopene, which is tomato-based, for red and pink food and drinks. It expects the transition to be complete in the United States by the end of June.
NEW YORK (CNNMoney) — The Obama administration tightened regulations on the oil and gas industry Wednesday, requiring drillers to capture emissions of certain air pollutants from new wells.But in a nod to industry concerns that the rules were being enacted too quickly, the Environmental Protection Agency said companies can burn the pollutants at the well head until the start of 2015, when enough equipment is expected to be available to capture the pollution.
The administration said the regulations are part of President Obama’s promise to develop the nation’s oil and gas resources in a manner that protects the environment and the public health.
NEW YORK — In most common occupations women still make less than men doing the same job for an equal amount of hours, according to new data released on Tuesday.Overall they earn 77 cents for each dollar made annually by men and in some professions such as financial managers the number drops to 66 cents.
“These gender wage gaps are not about women choosing to work less than men – the analysis is comparing apples to apples, men and women who all work full time – and we see that across 40 common occupations, men nearly always earn more than women,” said Ariane Hegewisch, a study director at the Institute for Women’s Policy Research (IWPR), a non-profit research organization.
(CBS/AP) NEW YORK – A union official representing workers at Hostess Brands Inc. said Monday that he isn’t optimistic the two sides will come to an agreement over workers’ contracts before the dispute lands in bankruptcy court.Hostess has said it will ask the court this week to toss its existing union contracts if its unions don’t accept cost-cutting proposals in its “final” offer. The company filed for bankruptcy protection in January, citing rising competition and pension and medical costs.
Ken Hall, general secretary-treasurer of the Teamsters union, says his union’s members will walk off the job if the court throws out the contracts. CEO Greg Rayburn says a strike will force the company to shut down and liquidate.
Solar panels prices have kept marching lower this year, extending steep declines seen in 2011 and keeping pressure on hard-hit manufacturers who have struggled to eke out profits, industry experts said.Average selling prices for the photovoltaic modules that turn sunlight into electricity have dropped to 80 to 85 cents per watt, a decline of more than 10 percent from levels near 95 cents recorded at the end of 2011, a year that saw prices fall by about 50 percent.
DALLAS (AP) — The company that makes Twinkies, Wonder bread and Ding Dongs says it’s making a final offer to workers to accept cost-cutting before it asks a bankruptcy court to impose the cuts.Hostess Brands Inc. wants the Teamsters and bakers’ unions to accept reduced pension benefits and changes in work rules to lower costs. It wants to outsource some delivery work.
The company said Saturday that if the unions reject the offer, it will push ahead with efforts in bankruptcy court to throw out the unions’ collective bargaining agreements. A union official warned that could lead to a strike.
NEW YORK (CNNMoney) — President Obama issued an executive order Friday, establishing a meeting of the minds to work on natural gas policies for his administration.The executive order creates a new working group made of representatives from at least 13 government agencies, including the Department of Defense, the Department of Energy and the Environmental Protection Agency, among others.
Its main task? Keep the various federal entities all on the same page when it comes to developing new policies and regulations surrounding shale gas.
Part of their focus will also be on hydraulic fracturing, or fracking for short — a controversial technique that uses vast amounts of chemically-laced water, sand and pressure to crack shale rock and release the gas. Environmentalists fear the process, which occurs thousands of feet below the earth’s surface, could contaminate ground water.
NEW YORK (CNNMoney) — Many of the people who could use a little extra money the most are missing out on a tax credit worth up to nearly $6,000.Aimed at helping the working poor, the Earned Income Tax Credit lifts millions of Americans out of poverty each year, yet one in five taxpayers eligible for the credit doesn’t end up claiming this extra windfall.
That’s a big loss, because the credit is one of the largest the IRS
provides. The Tax Policy Center has found that it is the second largest
cash assistance program for low-income families in the country — after
the government’s food stamp program, which doled out nearly $72 billion
in benefits last year.
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It may be difficult to celebrate when you’re paying $3.92 a gallon for gas but the good news is that’s a penny cheaper than where the national average for a gallon of regular stood last week, according to the AAA.Indeed, while there are still plenty of pessimists wondering how much beyond the previous record oil prices might yet go there are signs that the run-up at the gas price has or will soon reach its peak. Those who think the numbers could soon start falling point to factors such as the weak European economy, the slow American recovery and signals from the Iranian government it may be willing to compromise on its controversial nuclear program.
NEW YORK (CNNMoney) — As manufacturing picks up across the United States, Alabama has become an unexpected beneficiary.The state — best known for agriculture and textiles production — is enjoying the best pickup in industrial manufacturing in five years as U.S. and foreign companies flock there.
The credit goes to the state’s low taxes, top-grade trade schools, a statute that curbs union power, and other incentives spurring many manufacturers to move to or expand in the state, experts said.
“2011 is the best year we’ve had in terms of manufacturing jobs and activity since 2007,” said Greg Canfield, Alabama’s secretary of commerce
NEW YORK (CNNMoney) — AT&T sold off its Yellow Pages service on Monday, shedding yet another legacy business from its days as a landline giant.Now that wireless represents the main revenue driver and primary focus for AT&T (T, Fortune 500) and Verizon (VZ, Fortune 500) — both with roots as Baby Bells — is it time to get rid of the whole landline business altogether?
It’s clear that landlines’ best days are behind them. Nearly 32% of American homes are now cell phone-only households — double the rate from 2008 and nearly triple that of 2007, according to a recent government study.
NEW YORK (CNNMoney) — Here’s another casualty of our increasingly digital era: The Yellow Pages.AT&T on Monday announced plans to sell its Yellow Pages business unit to private equity firm Cerberus Capital Management.
As part of the deal, AT&T will receive $750 million in cash, a $200 million note and a 47% equity interest in the new entity, called YP Holdings LLC.
The arrangement frees AT&T from an albatross it’s been struggling with for years. The Yellow Pages are iconic, but in a time when up-to-date listings are just a click away, those massive print directors are more of a nuisance than an aid.
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The economy has been adding jobs lately, but not government jobs.More than half a million, local, state and federal jobs have been cut since the recession ended in June 2009, according to an analysis released this week by the Economic Policy Institute.
That’s the opposite of what happened following the previous three recessions and could be part of the reason why this recovery has been so weak, particularly when it comes to jobs. The government reported Friday that the unemployment rate fell slightly, to 8.2 percent in March, as the economy added 120,000 jobs, much fewer than had been expected.
NEW YORK (CNNMoney) — The Treasury Department announced Friday that it has frozen the pay of top executives at the three firms still on the hook for “exceptional assistance” from TARP.The firms — AIG (AIG, Fortune 500), Ally Financial and GM (GM, Fortune 500) — all received bailout money from the government during the financial crisis, but have yet to fully repay the funds.
It is the second straight year the government’s special master for TARP compensation, Patricia Geoghegan, has taken this step.
The special inspector was given oversight of top salaries at bailed-out firms as public outrage grew over how taxpayer dollars were being used during the financial crisis.
