America’s natural gas boom has also made it the world’s biggest exporter of ethane. It’s a building block for plastics, and U.S. gas is helping fuel the global plastics industry.

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

A boom in one industry is fueling another. For years now, the United States has been the world’s largest producer of oil and gas. That has kept natural gas prices low. And to tell you what other industry that helps, I have one word – one word – plastics. Here’s Reid Frazier of StateImpact Pennsylvania and the public radio program The Allegheny Front.

REID FRAZIER, BYLINE: Natural gas is mostly used for heating homes or fueling power plants. But it has another key ingredient you may not have heard of – ethane, a building block of plastics. President Trump brought attention to it a few months ago when he visited the site of a chemical plant Shell is building in Pennsylvania.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

UNIDENTIFIED PEOPLE: (Chanting) U.S.A, U.S.A, U.S.A.

FRAZIER: This plant, like a number of others being built in the U.S., will convert some of the region’s ethane into plastic. Trump told workers this was bringing the country big economic benefits.

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PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: American manufacturing. And we are reclaiming our noble heritage as a nation of builders again.

(APPLAUSE)

TRUMP: Nation of builders.

FRAZIER: But there’s so much natural gas and ethane that chemical plants in the U.S. can’t use it all. Turns out, this has been a lucky break for the European chemical company Ineos. In 2011, its own supplies of ethane from the North Sea were running low, says Warren Wilczewski, an economist with the U.S. Energy Information Administration.

WARREN WILCZEWSKI: Ineos looked at the United States where ethane supply was growing and where – especially in the Appalachian region, that ethane had, like, no place to go. And they recognized an opportunity.

FRAZIER: Ineos commissioned a fleet of ships, the first ever to carry ethane by sea, to move shale gas from a port near Philadelphia to plants in the U.K. and Norway. Ineos officials did not agree to an interview for this story, but here’s CEO Jim Ratcliffe in a company video.

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JIM RATCLIFFE: I think for some of these assets in Europe, it’s the only way they can survive. If we can bring some of the U.S. economics across to Europe…

FRAZIER: The U.S. has quickly become the world’s leading exporter of ethane, feeding growing plastics industries in India and China. And those exports are expected to keep growing. Back in 2016, it was big news when U.S. methane arrived in Scotland.

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UNIDENTIFIED BBC REPORTER: It is the first delivery for Ineos of shale gas into the U.K. It’s arriving at Grangemouth later this morning.

FRAZIER: And Grangemouth is home to Scotland’s biggest petrochemical plant and refinery.

KEVIN ROSS: You can see some of the flares down there, operating some of the silo towers across there, and some of the many cooling towers that are actually onsite.

FRAZIER: Kevin Ross is president of the Scottish Plastics and Rubber Association and runs a local plastics testing company. He says American shale gas has allowed Ineos to restart one of its production units. The plant is now running at full capacity. That’s not just good for the 1,300 people who work there, but for the suppliers and contractors, like him.

(SOUNDBITE OF PLASTICS LAB MACHINES WHIRRING)

ROSS: Watch your feet.

FRAZIER: At the nearby lab where his company tests plastic materials, he shows me what looks like a glossy plastic pipe.

ROSS: Almost certainly, because of what it’s made of, it’s either nuclear, pharmaceutical or military – almost certainly – because it is so expensive.

FRAZIER: So it’s a pipe?

ROSS: It is a pipe on steroids. It is a very high-performance pipe.

FRAZIER: Ineos got hundreds of millions of dollars in loan guarantees from the U.K. to retrofit the Grangemouth plant for American shale gas. But it’s also pushed for its own local supply. It wants the U.K. to allow fracking, the controversial technology that breaks up rock deep underground to get oil and natural gas. And that plan was met with intense opposition. Norman Philip, with Friends of the Earth Scotland, opposed fracking because of what he’d heard about it from communities in the U.S. and Australia.

NORMAN PHILIP: People were telling us of gas leaks. They were telling us of, like, children having headaches, and there was a toxic element of it.

FRAZIER: The pushback has resulted in an ironic twist to this story. In 2015, Scotland put in place a moratorium on fracking, and the U.K. government recently did the same. So fracking is illegal in Britain, even though it’s still legal to import shale gas produced by fracking in the U.S. Lee Sinclair is a railroad engineer at the Grangemouth petrochemical plant. He has mixed feelings about this.

LEE SINCLAIR: I think it’s a good idea, just the fact that we’re getting gas from somewhere. And the only thing I don’t like about it is Scotland said, no, well, you’re not fracking here. So they decide to go to America to get his gas.

FRAZIER: He’d rather the U.K. get a local supply. But for now, he says, America’s boom in gas and ethane is helping him keep his job. For NPR News, I’m Reid Frazier in Grangemouth, Scotland.

Copyright © 2019 NPR. All rights reserved. Visit our website terms of use and permissions pages at www.npr.org for further information.

NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by Verb8tm, Inc., an NPR contractor, and produced using a proprietary transcription process developed with NPR. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.

Online lenders charging triple digit interest rates are dodging state laws banning such loans. The money is routed through banks that aren’t regulated at the state level to get around the rules.

AUDIE CORNISH, HOST:

Consumer watchdogs say online lenders are dodging state laws that ban very high interest rate loans, some in excess of 100%. The lenders say they’re not doing anything wrong, but advocates say these loans are predatory and are asking federal regulators to crack down. NPR’s Chris Arnold reports.

CHRIS ARNOLD, BYLINE: OK, so let’s say that I’m an online lender charging 100% interest rates. Things are working pretty well for me here. I’m making money. But then the state of California passes a new law capping interest rates for many loans much lower – at around 38%. What do I do? Well, if I can find a partner – a real bank, one that’s not subject to the state of California’s rate cap – the loan money flows through that bank – and boom – I can get around the rate cap.

LAUREN SAUNDERS: Right. I mean, this is almost like money laundering, right? This is laundering, you know, basically the source of the money and the source of the loans.

ARNOLD: That’s Lauren Saunders, an attorney with the National Consumer Law Center. She says a lot of these online lenders are using what she calls rent-a-bank schemes. This lets them skirt state law because there’s no federal cap on interest rates, and most banks are not subject to the state rate caps. Saunders says this can work in different ways, but the simple version is this. The online lender does basically all the work to find the customers, approve the loans, collect on them, but right when someone gets a loan…

SAUNDERS: At the moment that the money actually goes to the consumer…

ARNOLD: That money comes from a bank that’s not covered by the interest rate limitations. So she says the online lender then immediately buys the loan back from the bank.

SAUNDERS: So it’s not really a bank loan. They’re just using banks as a fig leaf to make really high-cost loans – 160% interest – in states where those loans are illegal.

ARNOLD: Saunders says a lot more people are taking out online loans these days, and lenders are evading rate caps in 25 states. So she and 60 other consumer protection and civil rights groups have now sent letters to federal regulators, asking them to crack down. It seems clear that online lenders are evading state rate caps. On an earnings call before the California law passed, the company Elevate Credit Inc. talked about it openly. The interim CEO Jason Harvison talked about working with banks to get around rate caps.

JASON HARVISON: Similar to our recent experience in Ohio, we expect to be able to continue to serve California consumers via our bank sponsors that are not subject to the same proposed state level rate limitations.

ARNOLD: The online lenders, though, maintain that they’re not doing anything wrong. Elevate tells NPR in a statement that the letters from consumer groups, quote, “grossly mischaracterized our business and intent,” and that the company says its relationship with outside banks is in full compliance with all federal laws. So is dodging state interest rate rules illegal or just unseemly or just a creative way to keep serving your customers?

ADAM LEVITIN: We have a system right now that makes no sense.

ARNOLD: Adam Levitin is a law professor at Georgetown University. He says lawsuits in the works will likely help determine where the legal line is here. And he says Elevate, for example, does more sophisticated partnerships, which might be more legally defensible. So instead of the simple rent-a-bank scheme, in Elevate’s case – you might want to hang on to your brain here.

LEVITIN: The bank keeps the loan but sells a derivative interest in the loan – a 90% derivative interest – to a entity associated with Elevate.

ARNOLD: If that’s confusing, don’t worry. Levitin says the point is this whole complicated structure is being set up to get around the state rate cap. And he says the underlying problem is that some lenders have to play by one set of regulations, and banks get to play by another set of rules.

LEVITIN: The better way to do this really would be to have a national usury law.

ARNOLD: In other words, a nationwide rule that all lenders would have to follow. And today in Congress, lawmakers introduced a bipartisan bill to establish a national interest rate cap of 36%. Active duty military already have that protection. Some lawmakers want to extend it to the rest of the country. But plenty of financial firms are likely to lobby against it.

Chris Arnold, NPR News.

Copyright © 2019 NPR. All rights reserved. Visit our website terms of use and permissions pages at www.npr.org for further information.

NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by Verb8tm, Inc., an NPR contractor, and produced using a proprietary transcription process developed with NPR. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.

Paris is becoming unaffordable as prices are pushed up partly by Brexit, as wealthy people and companies relocate from London.

ARI SHAPIRO, HOST:

Paris has become one of the most expensive housing markets in Europe. One reason for the rising costs is Brexit, the U.K.’s long effort to leave the European Union. NPR’s Eleanor Beardsley looks at the factors driving the market.

ELEANOR BEARDSLEY, BYLINE: The Gutierrez family has just moved into their spacious four-bedroom apartment in the center of Paris, part of a wave of expats who have crossed the channel from London. Pilar Gutierrez, a Spanish national, is employed by the European Banking Authority. She remembers the shock of Britain’s referendum on whether to leave or remain in the European Union.

PILAR GUTIERREZ: I remember on the 25th of June when we went to bed, it was like – still remain winning. But when we woke up on the 24th, it was the other way around, so it was a big shock for us. It was a big shock. Since the 24th of June 2016, we knew that we would have to move.

BEARDSLEY: Aside from EU organizations, international banks and businesses have also left London and relocated to continental cities like Paris, Amsterdam and Frankfurt in order to stay inside the EU. Gutierrez says it’s not easy to move big organizations. It’s been hard enough to move her own family.

GUTIERREZ: It’s always challenging when you move to a new country, a new city and even more if you cannot to speak the language, right?

BEARDSLEY: But France is putting out the welcome mat. The French government has cut red tape and wealth taxes, and several new international schools are opening in Paris.

MARIE-HELEN LUNDGREN: (Speaking French).

BEARDSLEY: High-end realtor Marie-Helen Lundgren says buyers have always chosen Paris for its beauty, cuisine and culture. But now it’s also an economic choice. She says in 22 years, she’s never seen such a booming market.

LUNDGREN: Oh, no. We have not enough properties. We are in the scarcity market. We sell about three, four properties a day.

BEARDSLEY: According to newspaper Le Parisien, the price of real estate in the French capital has risen 248% in the last two decades. Lundgren says Brexit is not the only reason people are flocking to Paris. She also credits low interest rates and the pro-business policies of President Emmanuel Macron.

LUNDGREN: We saw that many expats – French expats and also international clients came back to Paris and wanted to invest in Paris.

BEARDSLEY: The rise in apartment prices is also pushing some middle-class families out of the city. To stop the exodus, the Paris mayor has introduced new regulations to keep rents affordable. But Thierry Delesalle, head of Paris’ Chamber of Notaries, says that won’t stop the rise in property prices because people aren’t buying apartments to rent them out.

THIERRY DELESALLE: (Through interpreter) Even at these high prices, people are buying to live in Paris. Ninety percent of buyers are buying to live in their new properties.

BEARDSLEY: Delesalle says the Paris housing market is not a bubble waiting to burst. Paris real estate, he says, is a solid, long-term investment.

Eleanor Beardsley, NPR News, Paris.

Copyright © 2019 NPR. All rights reserved. Visit our website terms of use and permissions pages at www.npr.org for further information.

NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by Verb8tm, Inc., an NPR contractor, and produced using a proprietary transcription process developed with NPR. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.

NPR’s Michel Martin talks with Bon Appetit wine editor Marissa Ross about sexual harassment in the high-end wine industry.

MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:

In recent years, the phrase #MeToo has become a hashtag and a movement that’s helped survivors of sexual violence feel more connected and less alone. That movement has also forced many industries to reckon with patterns of sexual misbehavior that were ignored or tolerated for years.

A similar conversation is now taking place in the wine industry, which is dominated by mostly male winemakers and influential sommeliers. Last week, The New York Times wrote about a rising star in that world, a sommelier who was accused by four women of assaulting them or trying to do so. That sommelier has since resigned. But we wanted to hear more about the environment for women and wine, so we’ve called Marissa Ross, who’s a columnist and wine editor for Bon Appetit. Marissa Ross is with us now.

Welcome. Thank you so much for joining us.

MARISSA ROSS: Thank you for having me, Michel.

MARTIN: When you first got into the industry, did it seem like a very male space to you? I mean, I know that sometimes, you know, people walk into certain rooms, and they look around and go, gee, this is a pretty male environment. Did it feel that way to you when you got into the business?

ROSS: Absolutely. Even before I got into the business, I was going to a lot of tastings to learn about wine. And I remember there was always so many men there. And this one man in particular – like, I’ll never forget this. I do curse from time to time. I’m a human (laughter). And I remember this man that was next to me that I hadn’t even been talking to turning to me and being, like, ladies can’t talk that way. And if you can’t be a lady, you shouldn’t be in here. You know, it just felt, like, woah – like, I can’t be in this space and be myself.

And I was one of the only women in there at the time. And then, once I became a part of the business, it became very clear to me very quickly that I was always going to be one of the few women in the room. Luckily, things have changed over the last five years, but there’s still a lot more room to grow and change.

MARTIN: And in terms of the behavior that has been exposed, has been written about, have you experienced that as well? Because, as I mentioned, The New York Times published an article by Julia Moskin which detailed allegations against a particular person. But it also talked about people feeling like they can touch you, groping…

ROSS: Oh, absolutely.

MARTIN: …And worse. I mean, is that something that you and other women in the industry have experienced?

ROSS: That is something that I experience on a regular basis. I was at a wine-tasting festival just this past spring, and a winemaker came up to me and, like, grabbed me from behind and grabbed my breasts and, like, whispered in my ear that, like, one day he’d have me and then, like, kissed my neck. And I’m, like, what are you doing? And those behaviors get excused because, oh, they’re French. You just don’t understand their culture. You know, I do my best to try to leave events early, and I monitor how much I drink.

And, you know, there’s so much that women have to do to protect themselves in these environments, and that’s why it’s really scary for younger women that are entering this industry – because they possibly don’t have those skills yet. They don’t have that knowledge of, like, oh, I have to be consciously aware of how much I’m consuming, how much everyone around me is consuming, what everyone around me is doing, and where am I, like, fitting into all that? And it’s a lot of mental work.

MARTIN: And I say that because you also wrote a piece about this for Bon Appetit, and the title of which is, “To Make The Wine Industry Less Toxic, We Need To Get Loud.” And one of the things that you point out in your piece is that drinking is part of the job. You know, in a lot of workplaces, you know, right before a holiday party, for example, the company will issue guidelines saying…

ROSS: Yeah.

MARTIN: …Watch how much you drink, and, you know, don’t drink if you have to drive and things like that, and – but drinking is, in fact, part of your job. And I wanted to ask – when you are at these events, is there any effort made to watch the behavior of people, to – are there any steps taken to ensure people’s safety? Is there anything like that?

ROSS: I don’t think that there really has been yet. There really isn’t even any, like, self-policing. But now, we’re going to have to do something about it. If we can’t rely on people to take it upon themselves to act appropriately, then I believe that it is the leaders in our community’s job to start making sure that they do. And I don’t think – a lot of it too is it’s, like, well, that’s not very fun to make rules. Well, you know what’s not really fun? When you don’t feel safe in a space. And something has to change.

MARTIN: So how – what has been – the reaction been? I understand that you actually – you helped gather some of the accusations about this particular sommelier who, as we said, has since resigned, that were published in The New York Times piece. And I know that you wrote about the fact that people have been sharing stories with you. I mean, this has all happened within the last week. What reaction have you been seeing to the fact that something that apparently you all have been talking about privately has now become public?

ROSS: The response has been actually really quite wonderful in terms of the way that the community has come together to spread the word and to get people to come to me. I’m still having survivors that are coming to me, which is incredible. And people are – have been overall very supportive. Of course, there are the same sort of detractors that all stories like this get, where they blame it on a generational thing or, you know, whatever. But it’s not a generational thing, I don’t personally believe. I think it’s a systemic problem.

And overall, I’m very, very, very happy that it’s resonating with so many people and that they can see that if it’s happening in this industry, it’s all industries. It’s all walks of life where this is happening, and we have to keep talking about it in order to make sure that it stops happening in all of our lives.

MARTIN: That is Marissa Ross, wine editor for Bon Appetit magazine. You can read her piece “To Make The Wine Industry Less Toxic, We Need To Get Loud” at the Bon Appetit site.

Marissa Ross, thanks so much for talking to us.

ROSS: Thank you so much, Michel.

Copyright © 2019 NPR. All rights reserved. Visit our website terms of use and permissions pages at www.npr.org for further information.

NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by Verb8tm, Inc., an NPR contractor, and produced using a proprietary transcription process developed with NPR. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.