| This is Bloomberg Opinion Today, a beef stew of Bloomberg Opinion's opinions. Sign up here. Today's Agenda  Not worth beefing over. Photographer: KIM JAE-HWAN/AFP/Getty Images Coal and Meat Continue to Not Be Great Again In 2016, President Donald Trump threw red meat to his base with promises to revive the dying coal industry. In 2020, having failed to deliver on that, his campaign is resorting to literal meat, with promises to save America's slaughterhouses. That should work out about as well as the coal thing. Trump's efforts to revive a dying coal industry keep failing, and harder than ever this year, notes Justin Fox. Renewable energy is on track to beat coal in electricity generation in 2020 for the first time, something that wasn't supposed to happen for another decade.  Coal is dying not due to sabotage by Trump's predecessor, but mostly because natural gas got super-cheap, what with all the fracking happening. But renewable energy is cheap too, and getting cheaper. And there's a chance a renewable-friendlier administration will replace Trump next year, pushing our energy sector even more quickly into the future. So Trump has a new throwback industry to boost: meat. Vice President Mike Pence recently warned that their Democratic challengers want to take your burgers and wings, promising, "We're not going to let Joe Biden and Kamala Harris cut America's meat!" But neither Biden nor Harris appear overly eager to cut anybody's meat, writes Amanda Little. In fact, consumers are slowly killing the meat industry all by themselves, as they realize it's almost as bad for the environment and their health as coal. Biden and Harris may want to encourage people to eat a little less of it. But if they're smart, Amanda writes, they'll push for helping the industry transition to plant-based alternatives and growing stuff in labs. That will keep these companies and jobs alive without forcing them to live in the past. More Stimulus Now, Please Late Friday, we got ominous news about the economy, in the form of a Berkshire Hathaway regulatory filing. Tara Lachapelle writes Warren Buffett's investment vehicle is dumping bank stocks, stockpiling even more cash and investing in ... shudder … gold. It's as if he sees where the country's economy is going and doesn't like it. Meanwhile, Congress, having failed to agree on new stimulus, is on vacation, naturally. Some Republican lawmakers doubt the economy needs more help or that it could even be detrimental. Mohamed El-Erian suggests they're thinking about it all wrong. Congress should approach fiscal stimulus the way central banks approach monetary stimulus, with a goal of minimizing regret. It's far better to do too much too soon than to do too little too late, which is where we seem to be heading now. Further Stimulus Reading: Another Reason to Worry About the Election Everybody's finally paying attention to the risk the U.S. Postal Service will frustrate voting in November, probably because Trump recently said the quiet part out loud. But Adam Minter warns of another risk that could be just as detrimental to the democratic process: a dire shortage of poll workers. Because America makes it so hard for working people to vote, much less actively help with elections, most poll workers are elderly. But those people also face the highest risk of severe Covid-19 infections. Election officials must figure out how to make this work appealing for younger people, this year and every year. It's just another feature of what will be possibly the weirdest election season of all time. The party's nominating conventions kick off this week, and they'll be almost entirely virtual. Hopefully the speakers will remember to wear pants. Despite this weirdness, they'll probably be about as useful as always, writes Jonathan Bernstein. They may not change many minds, but they'll get partisans jazzed up. Bonus Election Reading: There's no doubt Kamala Harris is eligible to be vice president. — Noah Feldman UAE Deal Leaves Palestinians With Stark Choices The UAE claimed to have Palestinians in mind when it reached its historic peace deal with Israel last week, saying its goal was to freeze Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's annexation plans in the West Bank. But Palestinians aren't buying it, writes Zev Chafets, and they shouldn't. They're increasingly being abandoned by Arab allies and pushed to accept a final settlement that will be much less than what they've always wanted. Still, that's the reality on the ground, and the UAE-Israel deal could be the precursor to many more, Bloomberg's editorial board writes. Palestinian leaders must become active participants in these talks, pushing back on Trump's plan and trying to get as much as they can. Telltale Charts Believe it or not, the fall TV schedule is still important to networks, writes Tara Lachapelle. Unfortunately pandemic production lockdowns have it in chaos.  Further Reading The opacity of Operation Warp Speed makes it harder to trust it's producing the best vaccines possible. — Tim O'Brien and Max Nisen The U.S. is basically committing piracy by seizing tankers of Iranian oil. — Julian Lee Winning the right to vote took women a lot longer than most of us realize. — Sarah Green Carmichael Foreign investors keep making the wrong bets in China. — Shuli Ren A battle with Fortnite's owners exposes the unfairness of Apple's App Store. — Alex Webb Don't feel bad about splurging during a recession and pandemic, as long as you can keep a safe cash cushion . — Farnoosh Torabi ICYMI A small drone nearly hit Air Force One. FHA mortgage delinquencies hit a record. Oil companies wonder if it's even worth looking for oil anymore. Kickers Bald eagle attacks, defeats a government drone. (h/t Alistair Lowe) People miss flying so much they're ordering airplane food at home. The 429-million-year-old trilobite had compound eyes like a modern fly. (h/t Scott Kominers for the past two kickers) A new take on Schrödinger's Cat could upend quantum physics. Note: Please send airplane food and complaints to Mark Gongloff at mgongloff1@bloomberg.net. Sign up here and follow us on Twitter and Facebook. | 
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