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(NEW YORK) — Chris Smalls was fired from his Amazon warehouse job in 2020, after leading a protest over fears working conditions could lead to a coronavirus outbreak at the Staten Island, New York, facility.

Now, Smalls has a new job: president of the Amazon Labor Union (ALU).

Smalls’ Amazon story begins in 2018, when he says he helped open the New York warehouse while employed as a supervisor for the online retailer. That’s when he founded the ALU, bringing together a scrappy group of former and current warehouse workers.

It was that Staten Island group that made history on April 1, after going head-to-head with Amazon in a union vote, and winning. This marked the first successful U.S. organizing effort in the retail giant’s history.

“After I was terminated, they had a meeting about me ­­– [Amazon founder] Jeff Bezos, and the general counsel — calling me not smart or articulate,” Smalls said in an interview on ABC News Live April 6. “And, ironically, they also said to make me the face of the whole unionization efforts.”

Following his termination, Smalls traveled across the country, protesting and advocating for workers’ rights. He said his mission was to educate Amazon workers on the benefits of unionizing, in hopes of encouraging them to fight for a change at their warehouses, too.

After months on the road, Smalls returned to New York, to finish the job of unionizing the Staten Island warehouse.

“We live the reality of the warehouse lifestyle. And we felt that this was the best way to go to try to unionize Amazon and it absolutely worked for us,” said Smalls, remembering the countless protests and walk-outs he’s participated in over the last two years.

Warehouse workers cast 2,654 votes in favor of a union, giving the fledging Amazon Labor Union enough support to pull off a victory. According to the National Labor Relations Board, which is overseeing the process, 2,131 workers rejected the union bid.

“We’re fortunate enough to have enough to win, but I think it would be a lot higher had Amazon not been able to spend millions of dollars trying to stop this campaign,” Smalls told ABC News Live.

Sixty-seven ballots were challenged by Amazon or the ALU, which wasn’t enough to affect the outcome of the vote. About 57% of the more than 8,300 workers on the voter list cast their ballot.

Despite victory in the union vote, Smalls blames Amazon for the overall results, saying the winning percentage would have been higher if the corporation hadn’t discouraged the unionization among employees.

“Amazon spends millions of dollars on union busting; they put these workers into captive audiences 24/7. Workers go to these trainings where there’s drilled anti-union propaganda all day and all night,” Smalls claimed.

Amazon did not immediately respond to ABC News’ request for comment on Smalls’ claims.

After the historic union vote, Amazon posted the following statement on its website: “We’re disappointed with the outcome of the election in Staten Island because we believe having a direct relationship with the company is best for our employees. We’re evaluating our options, including filing objections based on the inappropriate and undue influence by the NLRB that we and others (including the National Retail Federation and U.S. Chamber of Commerce) witnessed in this election.”

Smalls responded to the statement during his interview with ABC News Live, saying “the workers spoke for themselves.”

“To be disappointed that their own workers voted yes is utterly ridiculous if you asked me. And the workers said that they want a union and they voted in that favor, and that they should just acknowledge that, and accept that, and recognize the union in Staten Island,” Smalls added.

Since the vote on April 1, Smalls said he’s heard from Amazon workers across the U.S., asking for help with organizing a union at their warehouses. But right now, the ALU has its hands full with the New York warehouse and a neighboring facility slated to have a separate union election later this month.

The ALU is also preparing for a challenging negotiation process for a labor contract. The group has demanded Amazon officials come to the table in early May, but experts say the retail giant, which has signaled plans to challenge the election, could stall the process.

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(BELLEVUE, Wash.) — Inside a nondescript commercial office complex east of Seattle, an acclaimed professional chef and an ex-Microsoft tech executive have been quietly perfecting the art of pizza making and redefining possibilities for the perfect pie.

Over the last three years, the chef, Francisco Migoya, and ex-exec, Nathan Myhrvold, have baked more than 12,000 pizzas and run 500 scientific experiments to produce what they call the definitive guide to one of the world’s most popular foods.

“We didn’t eat 12,000 pizzas, but believe me, there was a lot of pizza eaten during that time,” said Migoya in an interview. “There is no such thing as too much pizza.”

Their book, Modernist Pizza, is a 1,700-page tome whose three volumes weigh in at more than 35 pounds. The history and secrets of pizza perfection also carry a hefty price tag of nearly $300.

“The most important objective is for people who love pizza to have a deeper understanding of it, to learn ways of making it better, to — I guess you could say — perfecting it,” Migoya said.

Myhrvold, who founded the franchise Modernist Cuisine out of a passion for food, said the pizza project is also about culinary evolution.

“Continuous improvement is what brings you things that are just fantastically delicious,” he said.

Since the COVID-19 pandemic began, pizza sales have soared at popular U.S. delivery chains and many struggling non-pizza restaurants pivoted to get in on the take-out game. The crisis also fueled an interest in pizza making at home, data show.

“It’s a food that is very close to our heart and not just Americans but the world over,” Migoya said.

ABC News Live was given an inside look at the kitchen laboratory at Modernist Cuisine where a team of chefs and scientists were studying pizza techniques, from the making of dough to developing sauce and pioneering new methods.

A dehydrated whole Neapolitan pizza is pulverized into a spice powder to intensify the pizza flavor in dough. A gyrating distiller turns ordinary winter grocery store tomatoes into a flavor-packed fresh sauce. Industrial centrifuges churn out experimental pizza toppings, like pea butter extracted from frozen green peas.

“We are unapologetic about loving pizza, and part of that says, hey, you can make a very traditional one. But if you want to step out a little bit on the wild side and try some stuff that might seem crazy, you might find you like it,” Myhrvold said.

A 3D scanner analyzes freshly baked pies to measure volume accurately and discern how ingredients interact with each other on top of the sauce.

The data have been used to produce more than 1,000 pizza recipes as well as tips and tricks for home cooks and professional chefs.

The team examined whether the type of water you use matters (it doesn’t, they say); differences between sliced and shredded cheese; why pepperoni curls and how much topping you should put on; and strategies for enhancing leftover pizza at home.

The team also drew from pizza intelligence it gathered from trips to more than 250 pizzerias around the globe.

While the truly perfect pizza may be in the eye of the beholder, Portland, Oregon, has the best pizza scene in the country, Migoya said. The worst pizza he tried was from Argentina: “Bananas, pizza cheese and tomato sauce. It’s as bad as you think it is, maybe worse,” he said.

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(WASHINGTON) — Six oil company executives were grilled by lawmakers Wednesday about skyrocketing gas prices amid a political messaging battle over pain at the pump.

BP America, Chevron and ExxonMobil executives are among the “Big Oil” leaders facing questions from members of the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations.

The hearing comes after costs for gas rose following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which prompted the U.S. to put a ban on imports of Russian oil and gas. Though the price of gas has dropped slightly in recent days, Americans were still paying an average $4.16 as of Wednesday, according to American Automobile Association data.

“While American families are forced to pay record-high prices at the pump, frankly this committee is not going to sit back and allow this system — which forces American taxpayers to pay oil companies out of both pockets, first at the pump, and then through tax breaks — to continue in its current form,” said Rep. Dianna DeGette, D-Colo., chair of the subcommittee, in her opening remarks.

Oil executives took turns defending themselves and their companies, pushing back on accusations of price gouging.

“I want to be absolutely clear: We do not control the market price of crude oil or natural gas, nor of refined products like gasoline and diesel fuel, and we have no tolerance for price gouging,” Chevron CEO Michael Wirth said.

The executives cited the COVID-19 pandemic as a reason for cost increases and promoted increasing production to offset the prices.

“While there is no quick fix, the answer in the near term, until there are more widely available and affordable alternatives, is straightforward. We need to increase the supply of oil and natural gas,” ExxonMobil CEO Darren Woods said.

Politicians on both sides of the aisle continue to fight over who’s to blame for gas prices, and Democratic lawmakers on the subcommittee weren’t buying the oil company executives’ explanations.

“One bad year does not excuse the practice of ripping off American consumers,” Rep. Kuster, D-N.H., said.

“It’s a matter of patriotism,” Pallone added, “something must be done on your part.”

Democrats have worked hard to pinpoint Russia’s invasion of Ukraine as the source of the rise in gas prices, with President Joe Biden coining it “Putin’s price hike.”

Republicans, on the other hand, are quick to argue that the higher costs kicked in long before the war began and that Biden’s energy policies are what’s hurting Americans’ pocketbooks.

Republican Sen. Dan Sullivan, R-Alaska, accused House Democrats of hosting a “show trial” with the hearing.

“It’s kind of an annual right of passage bringing forward energy oil and gas executives,” he said. “You know what a show trial is, the subject of the trial being flogged for something that is usually the fault of the very officials conducting the trial.”

Senators described the increase of energy prices as “purposeful” — arguing that the Biden administration intentionally tried to raise gas prices to advance green energy policies. They balked at the administration’s finger pointing at Russia, noting that gas prices were on the rise before Putin invaded Ukraine.

“When it costs you 100 bucks to fill the tank of your truck that is Joe Biden’s fault,” Texas Sen. Ted Cruz said. “When it costs 100 bucks to fill the families minivan that is Joe Biden’s fault.”

Patrick De Haan, head of Petroleum Analysis at GasBuddy, told ABC News the reasons behind the cost of gas are more complex than any one of the partisan narratives suggests.

“There’s too many political games being played in too many political points trying to be won. Neither side is portraying it accurately,” he said. “There’s a lot of factors that go into this and the politicians on both sides of the aisle are, you know, just using buzzwords and phrases and they’re using regurgitated, establishment talking points by their own parties … “

De Haan also noted the “extremely volatile” situation gas companies are in with regard to fluctuating oil prices.

“Stations are not eager to lower prices right now. Not necessarily because of, you know, they’re greedy or something but because the market is extremely volatile,” De Haan said, adding that “if they were to pass along a decrease one day, they may have to raise prices another 25 to 50 cents the day after if the market goes back up.”

Instead, he said the “stations are essentially smoothing out the incredible volatility and they’re cautiously passing along decreases once they are kind of certain that they’re not going to have to raise prices again.”

PolitiFact also noted that “experts who study the price of oil and gas said it can take weeks for gasoline prices to respond to changes in crude oil costs” and that “Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, increased labor costs, the pandemic and additional taxes and inflation have all contributed to rising gasoline prices.”

When pressed on why gas prices remain high despite crude oil prices dropping, BP President David Lawler said it was “complex.”

“It is a very complex set of factors that impact the price of gasoline,” he said.

Later, some lawmakers called out the executives for their lack of answers.

“Can’t you bring more clarity to this than just saying that everything is so complex,” Rep. Eshoo, D-Calif., quipped.

Richard Wiles, president of the Center for Climate Integrity, a nonprofit focused on climate policy and holding corporations accountable, says Democrats aren’t wrong to shift the blame onto Russian President Vladimir Putin.

“The Democrats aren’t making something up to point out how this is a really acute example of what dependency on oil and gas would get you. That’s exactly right. And the oil companies, they don’t care at all,” he said.

But Wiles noted the gas prices started rising long before the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

“Oil companies are bad in war and peace,” he said.

As the oil company executives face members of the House, lawmakers are also scrambling to pass legislation to provide immediate relief as a consequential midterm season quickly approaches.

Most recently, Biden announced the release of 1 million barrels of oil per day from oil reserves to combat high gas prices; though, senior White House administration officials couldn’t say how quickly Americans will start to feel relief from it.

At her weekly press conference last week, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Congress is looking to help as long as the benefit goes directly to consumers, likely in the form of a rebate card or a direct payment.

And some progressive Democrats are renewing their push toward more long-term investments in renewable energy to end oil dependency.

For their part, House Republicans on the Natural Resources Committee introduced a package of bills last week reversing the Biden administration’s moratorium on federal onshore and offshore lease sales.

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(WASHINGTON) — President Joe Biden on Wednesday announced another extension in the pause in federal student loan payments — this time until Aug. 31.

This delay would be the sixth extension to the program in the two years of the pandemic and it comes less than a month before payments were scheduled to restart on May 1, potentially impacting millions of borrowers who have not been making payments.

“As I recognized in recently extending the COVID-19 national emergency, we are still recovering from the pandemic and the unprecedented economic disruption it caused. If loan payments were to resume on schedule in May, analysis of recent data from the Federal Reserve suggests that millions of student loan borrowers would face significant economic hardship, and delinquencies and defaults could threaten Americans’ financial stability,” Biden said in a statement announcing the extension.

Congressional Democrats has pressured Biden to extend the pause — and it will fall right before the midterm elections, ensuring that student loan debt will be raised in races around the country.

This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.

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(WASHINGTON) — Six oil company executives are set to testify Wednesday on Capitol Hill about skyrocketing gas prices amid a political messaging battle over pain at the pump.

BP America, Chevron and ExxonMobil executives are among the “Big Oil” leaders who will face questions from lawmakers on the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations.

The hearing comes as costs for gas rose following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which prompted the U.S. to put a ban on imports of Russian oil and gas. Though the price of gas has dropped slightly in recent days, Americans were still paying an average $4.17 as of Tuesday, according to American Automobile Association data.

Politicians on both sides of the aisle continue to fight over who’s to blame.

Democrats have worked hard to pinpoint Russia’s invasion of Ukraine as the source of the rise in gas prices, with President Joe Biden coining it “Putin’s price hike.”

Republicans, on the other hand, are quick to argue that the higher costs kicked in long before the war began and that Biden’s energy policies are what’s hurting Americans’ pocketbooks. Others are accusing oil companies of taking advantage of consumers by not lowering gas prices even though the price of oil has dropped.

Patrick De Haan, head of Petroleum Analysis at GasBuddy, told ABC News the reasons behind the cost of gas are more complex than any one of those narratives suggests.

“There’s too many political games being played in too many political points trying to be won. Neither side is portraying it accurately,” he said. “There’s a lot of factors that go into this and the politicians on both sides of the aisle are, you know, just using buzzwords and phrases and they’re using regurgitated, establishment talking points by their own parties … “

De Haan also noted the “extremely volatile” situation gas companies are in with regard to fluctuating oil prices.

“Stations are not eager to lower prices right now. Not necessarily because of, you know, they’re greedy or something but because the market is extremely volatile,” De Haan said, adding that “if they were to pass along a decrease one day, they may have to raise prices another 25 to 50 cents the day after if the market goes back up.”

Instead, he said the “stations are essentially smoothing out the incredible volatility and they’re cautiously passing along decreases once they are kind of certain that they’re not going to have to raise prices again.”

PolitiFact also noted that “experts who study the price of oil and gas said it can take weeks for gasoline prices to respond to changes in crude oil costs” and that “Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, increased labor costs, the pandemic and additional taxes and inflation have all contributed to rising gasoline prices.”

Richard Wiles, president of the Center for Climate Integrity, a nonprofit focused on climate policy and holding corporations accountable, says Democrats aren’t wrong to shift the blame onto Russian President Vladimir Putin.

“The Democrats aren’t making something up to point out how this is a really acute example of what dependency on oil and gas would get you. That’s exactly right. And the oil companies, they don’t care at all,” he said.

But Wiles noted the rising cost of gas started long before the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

“Oil companies are bad in war and peace,” he said.

ABC News reached out to all six oil companies expected to testify Wednesday but none provided a comment.

As the oil company executives face members of the House, lawmakers are also scrambling to pass legislation to provide immediate relief as a consequential midterm season quickly approaches.

Most recently, Biden announced the release of one million barrels of oil per day from oil reserves to combat high gas prices; though, senior White House administration officials couldn’t say how quickly Americans will start to feel relief from it.

At her weekly press conference last week, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Congress is looking to help as long as the benefit goes directly to consumers, likely in the form of a rebate card or a direct payment.

And some progressive Democrats are renewing their push toward more long-term investments in renewable energy to end oil dependency.

For their part, House Republicans on the Natural Resources Committee introduced a package of bills last week reversing the Biden administration’s moratorium on federal onshore and offshore lease sales.

Copyright © 2022, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(NEW YORK) — A popular Easter candy has been recalled weeks before the holiday.

On Monday, Ferrero announced through the Food Standards Agency it would take “the precautionary action of recalling selected batches of Kinder Surprise because it might be contaminated with Salmonella. Only Kinder Surprise products manufactured in Belgium are affected.”

Ferrero has recalled selected batches of Kinder Surprise eggs because of the possible presence of salmonella.

If you have bought the below product, do not eat it. Instead, please contact Ferrero to obtain a full refund.

Read more: https://t.co/DKq1817qze https://t.co/wd2yNtOtac pic.twitter.com/j5ZmHUZZPP

— UK Health Security Agency (@UKHSA) April 4, 2022

As of time of publication, according to Food Safety News, the Salmonella outbreak linked to the chocolate products has sickened nearly 100 people total across multiple countries throughout the U.K., Ireland, Germany, Sweden and the Netherlands.

The affected product pack sizes listed by the FSA are 20g and 20g x 3 with best before dates between July 11, 2002 and Oct. 7, 2022.

Click here for more information on the recall, refunds and contact information for the Ferrero consumer care team.

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(WASHINGTON) — Domestic airfare is up 40% from the start of the year and is expected to climb another 10% next month, according to online booking platform Hopper.

Last month, average airfare in the U.S. went up 5.2%, the third largest one-month jump since 1999, according to Scott Keyes, founder of Scott’s Cheap Flights.

Hopper said the cost of a domestic round trip is averaging $330 — 7% above 2019 prices. For international trips, the average round trip cost is $810, up 25% from the start of the year.

Pent-up demand and rising prices of jet fuel are driving the change.

“A tremendous amount of demand [is] from travelers who have not been able to travel the last two spring and summer seasons,” Haley Berg, economist at Hopper, said in an interview with ABC News. “And the second factor is jet fuel. Jet fuel prices are also up 40% since the beginning of the year and up 75% since this time last year. Demand and higher jet fuel prices together are really driving overall domestic airfare up.”

But it’s not all bad news. Keyes said average airfare doesn’t tell the whole story.

“A lot of folks see that headlines about airfares going up, and they’re worried that they’re not going to get any cheap flights anymore. And I actually think that’s the that’s the wrong way to look at things,” Keyes said in an interview with ABC News.

In the past two weeks, Keyes has found deals like $215 round trip to Hawaii, $395 round trip to Milan and $579 round trip to Australia.

“While it’s creeping back up, it’s important to remember we are still living in the golden age of cheap flights. Tickets are significantly cheaper than they used to be even a decade or two ago,” Keyes said.

To get those cheap fares, Keyes said it’s important to book one to three months in advance for domestic trips and two to eight months ahead for international trips.

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(WASHINGTON) — Senate Democrats are calling on a government watchdog to investigate McKinsey & Company over claims that the consulting giant skirted federal conflict-of-interest rules, a sign of growing concern on Capitol Hill that lucrative government contracts are being doled out to firms with dual loyalties.

In a letter to the Department of Health and Human Service inspector general, who has jurisdiction over the Food and Drug Administration, lawmakers encouraged investigators to probe McKinsey’s alleged “failure … to disclose potential conflicts of interest when [it] entered into contracts with the FDA on issues related to opioids, while simultaneously working for numerous opioid companies.”

Representatives for McKinsey have denied any wrongdoing.

“It is heartbreaking how many Granite Staters and Americans experience substance use issues that began with an OxyContin prescription from their doctor,” Sen. Maggie Hassan, one of the Senate Democrats calling for the investigation into McKinsey’s alleged potential conflict-of-interest issues, told ABC News in a statement.

Other senators joining the effort include Sens. Patty Murray, Joe Manchin, Sheldon Whitehouse, Ed Markey, Elizabeth Warren and Tammy Baldwin.

“We know that McKinsey worked with Purdue Pharma to ‘turbocharge’ sales of OxyContin, and it is deeply troubling that McKinsey was getting paid by opioid manufacturers such as Purdue Pharma at the same time it was working for the FDA,” Hassan wrote. “We must get to the bottom of these reports and understand the full scope of McKinsey’s involvement in fueling this crisis, as well as discover what more the FDA needs to do to avoid future conflicts of interest.”

McKinsey, one of the world’s most influential consulting companies, maintained that its past work was lawful and denied allegations to the contrary as last year it settled with nearly 50 states, territories and the District of Columbia for nearly $600 million after investigations into its role in helping fuel the nation’s opioid pandemic.

“We deeply regret that we did not adequately acknowledge the tragic consequences of the epidemic in our communities,” Kevin Sneader, the firm’s global managing partner, said in a statement. “With this agreement, we hope to be part of the solution to the opioid crisis in the U.S.”

McKinsey has faced scrutiny in recent years for allegedly accepting work from U.S. government agencies without disclosing potential conflicts of interest from the private sector or foreign governments.

Over the past decade, McKinsey has worked closely with the Center for Drug Evaluation and Research, the FDA’s principal division for approving new drugs — including opioids — on a wide range of projects, from overhauling drug-approval processes to implementing new tools for monitoring the pharmaceutical industry, federal contracting records and past media reports show. At the same time, the firm has been allegedly advising numerous major corporate pharmaceutical clients, including helping opioid makers fend off and water down FDA regulations, multiple news outlets have reported.

According to a ProPublica report, McKinsey allegedly failed to disclose to the FDA its list of corporate pharmaceutical clients and potential conflicts of interest even though it was obligated to do so under its contracts with the agency.

McKinsey spokesperson Neil Grace told ABC News that the company’s consulting work for pharmaceutical firms “did not create a conflict of interest” regarding its work with the FDA, because it “has not advised the FDA on regulatory policy or on specific pharmaceutical products.”

Instead, said Grace, McKinsey’s work with the FDA “focused on administrative and operational topics, including improvements to organizational structures, business processes and technology.”

“Given the absence of a conflict of interest, there was no requirement for any McKinsey disclosure,” Grace said. “That said, McKinsey’s proposals to the FDA frequently mentioned the company’s and personnel’s experience with the pharmaceutical industry, making the FDA aware of this aspect of McKinsey’s work in the field.”

McKinsey has faced similar scrutiny over its work for the Defense Department, for allegedly not disclosing its potential conflicts of interest while advising Chinese state companies at the same time, NBC News has reported. Grace told NBC News at the time that the firm follows strict rules and internal firewalls to avoid conflicts of interest and to comply with federal requirements. The spokesperson also said that the firm does not serve any clients in China on topics connected to defense, intelligence, justice or police issues.

In their letter to the HHS inspector general on Tuesday, lawmakers also called into question the FDA’s vetting process, at one point implying that the FDA continued awarding McKinsey contracts even after news reports called attention to its work on behalf of Purdue Pharma and other opioid manufacturers.

“Despite these reports,” the senators wrote, “FDA did not conduct any additional contract reviews or discuss with McKinsey conflicts of interest and the firm’s failure to disclose them in earlier contract applications.”

From early 2019, when the first media reports emerged, until early 2021, McKinsey earned more than $20 million in new contracts from the FDA, including additional work for the Center for Drug Evaluation and Research as well as COVID-19 coordination support work for the Public Health and Social Services Emergency Fund, according to government contracting databases.

The FDA, in response to earlier congressional inquiries regarding McKinsey’s potential conflicts of interest, wrote that it did not conduct additional review over its contracts with the firm even after learning of McKinsey’s work for opioid manufacturers because the firm’s work for the agency was not specifically related to opioids.

On Capitol Hill, members of Congress have increasingly trained their sights on McKinsey and other contractors for allegedly accepting government contracts while pursuing outside business opportunities that may present a conflict of interest.

Last week, a bipartisan coalition of senators introduced legislation meant to improve transparency in the federal contracting process.

The bill, called the Preventing Organizational Conflicts of Interest in Federal Acquisition Act, would seek to mitigate conflict-of-interest concerns by forcing contractors to “disclose other parts of their business that conflict with the work they are bidding to perform for the government,” according to Sen. Gary Peters, D-Mich., one of the bill’s cosponsors.

In a press release announcing the legislation, Hassan invoked McKinsey’s handling of its work with the FDA, claiming that it demonstrates “the danger that conflicts of interest can pose in government contracting.”

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(NEW YORK) — The Walt Disney World Resort is adding two 75-megawatt solar arrays to its renewable energy portfolio that, combined with existing infrastructure, will provide 40% of the park’s electricity.

The announcement comes at a time when energy prices across the country, coupled with record-high inflation, are soaring and climate change is pressuring consumers to reduce emissions.

“This latest step will help us further accomplish our goal of net zero emissions by 2030,” Jeff Vahle, president of the Walt Disney World Resort, told ABC News. “Our commitment to the environment goes beyond imagining a brighter, more sustainable future by putting possibility into practice to ensure a happier, healthier planet for all.”

The Walt Disney World Resort currently has two solar arrays, including one shaped like a giant Mickey, that generate a total of 55-megawatts of solar power and provide 10% of the park’s energy.

The two new solar installations won’t be located on park property; they will be built in Gilchrist and Polk Counties, covering more than 1,000 acres. Both are expected to come online by early 2023. By placing the solar facilities elsewhere in Florida, the Walt Disney World Resort will not need to rely on sunny skies in one area for reliable solar energy. The addition will also make Disney World the largest commercial consumer of solar power in the state of Florida.

The two new solar arrays will be capable of producing more than 375,000 megawatt hours of energy in its first year, which is the equivalent of removing 29,500 vehicles from the road annually.

The Walt Disney Co. is the parent company of ABC News.

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(WASHINGTON) — As consumers continue to feel the crunch at the grocery store checkout, eggs are the latest product predicted to surge in price.

According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS), 21 states have confirmed cases of highly pathogenic avian influenza, commonly referred to as bird flu, causing disease in both commercial and backyard poultry.

While no humans have tested positive for the disease, it has led to the death of more than 17 million birds, the USDA said.

Prices are expected to climb amid the seasonal demand during Easter and Passover with the outbreak expected to make prices even more expensive.

Companies including Hormel Foods, the parent company of Jennie-O Turkey Store, addressed the potential impact on the poultry supply chain.

“Jennie-O Turkey Store has been preparing for this situation and took extensive precautions to protect the health of the turkeys in its supply chain,” the company said. “Jennie-O Turkey Store will continue to work with the USDA Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, Minnesota Board of Animal Health, Minnesota Department of Agriculture, as well as poultry industry associations on this issue. USDA and the National Turkey Federation are monitoring and responding to the situation and remind consumers that HPAI does not pose a food safety concern.”

According to the World Health Organization and the CDC, properly cooked poultry is perfectly safe to eat. Additionally, the CDC said there’s no evidence to suggest that the virus can be transmitted to humans from poultry that is cooked properly.

Supermarkets around the country have alerted shoppers that prices are likely to continue going up. Eggs now average $2.88 per dozen, up 52% since the first confirmed case of avian influenza in February, the highest since the start of the pandemic in March 2020.

ABC News chief business correspondent Rebecca Jarvis reported that grocers have bought more stock to prepare for the upcoming spring holidays, but that industry analysts aren’t concerned about shortages.

Jarvis also recommended looking into apps that can save on grocery bills such as Ibotta and Checkout 51 that give customers cashback on groceries. The app Basket compares food prices to find the least expensive option in the area.

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