Raphael Stevens

Mike Flewitt joined McLaren as chief operating officer in June 2012 and was appointed CEO in July 2013.
The British automaker announced his departure Wednesday, without specifying why he is leaving.
McLaren said Flewitt has been “instrumental” during his time at the company.

Mike Flewitt, chief executive officer of McLaren Automotive Ltd., gestures while speaking on the opening day of the 89th Geneva International Motor Show in Geneva, Switzerland, on Tuesday, March 5, 2019. The show near Lake Leman, which opens to the public from March 7 to 17, will be the first gilded showcase of the year for the likes of Bugatti, Koenigsegg, Lamborghini, and Pininfarina, among others.
Chris J. Ratcliffe | Bloomberg | Getty Images

LONDON — McLaren CEO Mike Flewitt is stepping down after more than eight years in charge of the supercar company.
The British automaker announced his departure Wednesday, without specifying why he is leaving.

Flewitt joined McLaren as chief operating officer in June 2012 and was appointed CEO in July 2013.
A search for his replacement is underway, McLaren said.
“I feel incredibly proud to have led McLaren Automotive through most of its first, highly-successful decade and am privileged to have played a part in the incredible McLaren story,” Flewitt said in a statement.
He added: “This young company’s success is testament to the many passionate and talented people I have had the pleasure of working with and I look forward to seeing that success continue.”
McLaren said Flewitt has been “instrumental” during his time at the company.

“We thank Mike for his tremendous contribution and wish him all the very best in his future endeavours,” said Paul Walsh, executive chairman of the McLaren Group, in a statement.
McLaren Group non-executive director Michael Macht will be responsible for all technical and operational functions while sales, marketing and PR will report into Walsh.

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Heavier rainfall and more frequent droughts are now causing extreme swings in the water levels of Lake Michigan and the Chicago River, wreaking havoc on the city and prompting urgent action to find a fix.
Record lake water levels in the winter of 2020 hampered the city’s flood prevention system, contributing to flooding downtown. This could become the new normal going forward.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is evaluating infrastructure upgrades, taking climate change into account.

The Great Lakes are often called the nation’s third coast, and the past five years in the region have been the wettest on record.
While the lakes don’t exactly correlate to rising sea levels, Chicago now sits in just as precarious a position as oceanfront cities. Heavier rainfall and more frequent droughts are now causing extreme swings in the water levels of Lake Michigan and the Chicago River, wreaking havoc on the city and prompting urgent action to find a fix.

In the winter of 2020, the water level in Lake Michigan hit a record high and intense rains just kept coming. Waves crashed over Lakeshore Drive, sending water up to the third floor of some buildings. The Chicago River also began to overflow into downtown.
The balance between the river and the lake has always been delicate, ever since the city dug canals over a century ago to keep waste from flowing from the river into the lake, which supplies the city’s drinking water.
A backup system for flooding was also created: locks that reverse the river back into the lake when the river gets too high. Last year’s rainfall, however, was so severe that for the first time that backup system didn’t work. The lake was higher than the river level, so water could not be reversed.
Lockmasters had to wait until the river rose above the lake before they could start the reversal process. That delay was destructive. Downtown Chicago suffered massive flooding, even knocking out power at the Willis Tower.
Experts say this was not a once-in-a-lifetime event, but a sign of what is to come, as climate change causes heavier rains and more intense storms.

“The biggest risk is that these changes in the climate, in hydrology, or the water levels are going to exceed the infrastructure or the capacity of cities, coastlines and homes to handle those changes,” said Drew Gronewold, an associate professor at the University of Michigan’s School for Environment and Sustainability.
Gronewold said Chicago and other cities around the Great Lakes are all in danger of not being able to handle these extreme highs — and extreme lows. Just seven years before that storm, the water in Lake Michigan hit a record low due to a prolonged drought. That threatened the city’s water supply as well as shipping, critical to the economy of the Midwest.
“When water levels go down, they have to do what’s called light load. They have to reduce the amount of cargo they can carry, and they effectively lose millions if not billions of dollars,” said Gronewold.
After the 2020 flooding, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers installed large concrete barriers along parts of Lake Michigan that border downtown. This was necessary even after the corps began reinforcing Chicago’s shoreline in a half-billion-dollar project that started 20 years ago. Now it is launching a new multiyear effort funded by the EPA to evaluate future conditions, factoring in climate change.
“We’re trying to forecast what those conditions will be in the future so that we can plan for those conditions and create resilient designs,” said David Bucaro, chief of the project management section with the Army Corps of Engineers, Chicago District.
Those could include structural or natural features. The city is now working to plant tens of thousands of trees that can also help to capture the rain where it falls and keep it from all flowing into the river.
Chicago’s Metropolitan Planning Council has been pushing the city to reduce its carbon footprint, because the only real fix locally is to limit warming globally.
“A lot of people look at the Midwest like it’s a safe bet for the future of climate change, but if we’re having this problem, it’s maybe just not as safe a bet as people have been thinking,” said Justin Keller, manager at the Metropolitan Planning Council.
“The city and the Army Corps are hoping for more funding from the trillion-dollar infrastructure bill still making its way through Congress. Infrastructure designs of the past will no longer do, and while new research on rainfall and drought around the Great Lakes is certainly helpful, engineers need funding to implement all that learning into a critical fix.”
“I would argue that the economy of the Midwest depends entirely on water,” said Gronewold. “We really need to be paying more attention to the future of this area and, in particular, how we’re going to improve the infrastructure to handle these changes.”

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Speaking to CNBC’s Tania Bryer, Nico Rosberg described e-mobility as “the way forward.”
Rosberg’s comments come at a time when major, developed economies are attempting to reduce the environmental footprint of road-based transportation.

The future of Formula One lies in synthetic fuels, according to Nico Rosberg, with the former world champion telling CNBC that they could potentially act as a bridge to electric mobility.
In an interview with CNBC’s Tania Bryer during the Sustainable Future Forum last week, Rosberg also threw his weight behind e-mobility, describing it as “the way forward” while also acknowledging that the sector faced challenges.  

Rosberg’s comments on synthetic fuels come after F1 announced plans to “help develop a 100% sustainable fuel” that could be dropped into standard internal combustion engines.
In a statement at the beginning of October, F1 said the lab-created fuel would use “components that come from either a carbon capture scheme, municipal waste or non-food biomass.” It would achieve “greenhouse gas emissions savings relative to fossil-derived petrol of at least 65%.”

Read more about electric vehicles from CNBC Pro

In his interview with CNBC, Rosberg — who won his title in 2016 and now describes himself as a “sustainability entrepreneur” — claimed it would be decades before electric mobility penetrated emerging markets.
“If, potentially, we could create a bridge there … with synthetic fuels, it could have such a huge impact globally,” he said. “And if Formula One can play a role in that I’ll be very, very proud.”
Rosberg’s comments come at a time when major, developed economies are attempting to reduce the environmental footprint of road-based transportation.

The U.K., for example, wants to stop the sale of new diesel and gasoline cars and vans by 2030. It will require, from 2035, all new cars and vans to have zero-tailpipe emissions.
Elsewhere, the European Commission, the EU’s executive arm, is targeting a 100% reduction in CO2 emissions from cars and vans by 2035.

More from CNBC Climate:

On the electric vehicle sector in general, Rosberg said: “E-mobility is the way forward, certainly, but there are challenges.”
“Battery manufacturing — and particularly battery recycling — is going to be a big challenge … but also a huge business opportunity,” he added.
Efforts are already being made to address what to do with batteries. In 2020, for instance, Norsk Hydro and Northvolt set up a joint venture called Hydrovolt.
The overarching aim of Hydrovolt is to set up a hub for the recycling of batteries in Norway, a country where electric vehicle adoption is significant.
Operations at the facility — which will be able to process over 8,000 metric tons of batteries annually — are slated to commence this year. More

The producers of “Rust” hired the Jenner & Block law firm to interview cast and crew about the accidental on-set shooting of Halyna Hutchins last Thursday.
The appointment comes just hours after the Sante Fe County district attorney told The New York Times that “everything at this point, including criminal charges, is on the table.”
Santa Fe County Sheriff Adan Mendoza and District Attorney Mary Carmack-Altwies are expected to provide more information about the ongoing investigation on Wednesday.

An aerial view of the film set on Bonanza Creek Ranch where Hollywood actor Alec Baldwin fatally shot cinematographer Halyna Hutchins and wounded a director when he discharged a prop gun on the movie set of the film “Rust” in Santa Fe, New Mexico, U.S., in this frame grab taken from October 21, 2021 television footage. Footage taken October 21, 2021.
KOB TV NEWS | Reuters

The producers of “Rust” have hired a high-profile law firm to interview cast and crew about the accidental on-set shooting of Halyna Hutchins last Thursday.
The appointment of Jenner & Block comes just hours after the Sante Fe County district attorney told The New York Times that “everything at this point, including criminal charges, is on the table.”

In a letter to cast and crew obtained by NBC News, the “Rust” producers said the Occupation Safety and Health Administration is in the process of investigating the workplace death of Hutchins.
“In addition to cooperating with authorities, we hired a legal team from Jenner & Block to conduct an investigation of the events” the memo said. “We have stressed that they will have full discretion about who to interview and any conclusions they draw.”
“We know that reliving this tragedy will be hard, but your participation is important for all of us to be able to fully understand what happened, and we encourage you to share your perspective,” it continued.
The letter reminded cast and crew that investigators want witnesses to preserve any information they have pertaining to the case, including emails, texts, drives and paper documents.
“If you have any question about whether something should be preserved, please err on the side of preservation,” the memo said.

Santa Fe County Sheriff Adan Mendoza and District Attorney Mary Carmack-Altwies are expected to provide more information about the ongoing investigation on Wednesday.
Court documents released Friday show actor Alec Baldwin was handed a loaded weapon by assistant director Dave Halls who indicated it was safe to use in the moments before the actor fatally shot Hutchins and wounded director Joel Souza.
A search warrant filed in a Santa Fe court shows that the assistant director did not know the prop gun was loaded with live rounds.
Halls had previously been fired from the set of “Freedom’s Path” in 2019 after a crew member incurred a minor and temporary injury when a gun unexpectedly discharged, a producer on the project told NBC.
There were also reports that the gun that killed Hutchins was used by crew members for live-ammunition target practice. The Wrap was the first to report this detail.
Additionally, a person familiar with the matter told NBC News that half a dozen camera crew workers walked off the “Rust” set in protest of working conditions just hours before the shooting took place. Among their concerns were multiple accidental discharges of the prop gun.

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Southwest Airlines is a federal contractor and subject to a government mandate that requires staff to be vaccinated against Covid-19.
The Southwest pilots union alleged that the airline violated the Railway Labor Act by changing work and pay rules without negotiating.
The judge said that requiring Southwest employees to be vaccinated against Covid-19 did not appear to violate the pilots’ collective bargaining agreement.

A Southwest Airlines jet sits at a gate at Orlando International Airport in Orlando, Florida, U.S., October 11, 2021.
Joe Skipper | Reuters

A federal judge in Texas denied Southwest Airlines pilots union’s request to temporarily block a vaccine mandate for employees, which is a requirement under new government rules.
Dallas-based Southwest Airlines must require staff to be fully vaccinated against Covid-19 by Dec. 8 unless they receive a religious or medical exemption, according to rules for federal contractors that the Biden administration issued last month.

Southwest and other major airlines like Delta, United and American fly federal employees, U.S. mail and provide other services to the government.
The Southwest Airlines Pilots Association, which represents some 9,000 aviators, sought a temporary restraining order against the mandate. The union had argued that the mandate, as well as other Covid-related company policies, needed to be negotiated with the union.
“Requiring Southwest employees to be vaccinated against COVID-19 will likewise improve the safety of air transportation, efficiency of Southwest’s operations, and further the [collective bargaining agreement’s] goal of safe and reasonable working conditions for pilots,” U.S. District Judge Barbara Lynn wrote in her Tuesday ruling, denying the union’s restraining order request and dismissing the case.
The labor union said it is disappointed in the ruling and “we are currently considering next steps.”
It wasn’t the only dispute over airlines’ vaccine mandates. United Airlines is fighting a lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Fort Worth brought by six employees who alleged they were unfairly denied exemptions to the mandate. The judge temporarily blocked United’s plan to put staff with exemptions on unpaid leave.

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The Biden administration is hopeful new fines imposed on carriers at the nation’s busiest port complex will ease the intensifying logjam of cargo ships.
The twin ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach will charge carriers $100 per day for each container lingering past a given timeline starting Nov. 1.
The nation’s knotted supply chain is bearing the brunt of surging consumer demand, high transportation expenses, crippling labor shortages, overseas manufacturing delays, trade policies and inflation.

WASHINGTON – The Biden administration is hopeful new fines imposed on carriers at the nation’s busiest port complex will abate the intensifying logjam of cargo ships.
The twin ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach announced Monday that containers moved by trucks will have nine days before fines start accruing and containers scheduled to move by rail will have three days.

In accordance with these deadlines, carriers will be charged $100 for each lingering container per day starting Nov. 1.
“The terminals are running out of space, and this will make room for the containers sitting on those ships at anchor,” explained Port of Long Beach Executive Director Mario Cordero in a statement announcing the measure.

Container ships wait outside the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach waiting to unload on Oct. 13, 2021.
Carolyn Cole | Los Angeles Times | Getty Images

White House press secretary Jen Psaki told reporters Tuesday that the administration continues “to press on ways to address issues in the supply chain,” adding that Biden plans to discuss global commerce disruptions with leaders at the G-20 meeting this weekend.
“Both ports are moving 19% more containers than at the same point in 2018, which was the previous record and the ports remain on target to outpace the previous record of 17.5 million containers processed in 2018,” explained Psaki.
Earlier this month, the Biden administration unveiled a plan to run operations 24/7 at the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, which account for 40% of sea freight entering the United States, in order to address bottlenecks.

As far as the eye can see cargo trucks wait in long lines to enter The Port of Los Angeles as the port is set to begin operating around the clock on Wednesday, Oct. 13, 2021 in San Pedro, CA.
Jason Armond | Los Angeles Times | Getty Images

And while round-the-clock operations at the twin California ports are expected to alleviate the backlog of container ships, it’s far from solving the compounding issues impacting the global supply chain.
“It’s not just fixing the ports, that’s one component in a very long supply chain” explained Awi Federgruen, a production and supply chain management expert and professor at Columbia University Business School in New York.
“Extending the working hours of the ports in California by some 60 hours, and then shaving off 25% of the unloading time will not be the savior of the entire problem. There are several factors that are compounded by each other,” Federgruen, who chairs Columbia Business School’s Decision, Risk and Operations division, told CNBC.
The nation’s knotted supply chain is bearing the brunt of surging consumer demand, high transportation expenses, labor shortages, overseas manufacturing delays, trade policies and inflation.
What’s more, the approaching holiday season has intensified the situation as loosened public health measures and coronavirus vaccines point to larger celebrations this year compared to 2020.
“We haven’t seen something of this magnitude in quite some years,” Federgruen added. “The individual consumer will feel enormous inflation together with not being able to purchase the goods if this persists,” he added.

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