Climate Point: Biden to use war powers for battery metals, and Americans worry about energy
Welcome to Climate Point, your weekly guide to climate, energy and the environment. I'm Janet Wilson in Palm Springs, California.
President Joe Biden plans to invoke Cold War powers to encourage domestic production of critical minerals for batteries for electric vehicles and other products, sources told Bloomberg's Jennifer Jacobs, the first to report the news.
The White House is poised to add lithium and other battery materials to the list of items covered by the 1950 Defense Production Act — the same authority wielded by Harry Truman to make steel for the Korean War and Donald Trump to spur mask production to tackle the coronavirus pandemic. Adding the minerals could help mining companies access $750 million in defense funds and aid battery recycling, though the money likely wouldn't go for direct purchases or loans, but fund production operations, feasibility studies and safety upgrades.
Lithium company stocks shot up in anticipation of the Thursday announcement. But safety concerns are real. Health experts last week urged California regulators to conduct a health assessment of the "Lithium Valley" region in Imperial County as development ramps up. They noted other types of mining cause serious impacts, and that the area, in the southeast corner of the state bordering Mexico and Arizona, while rich in natural deposits, already suffers from alarming asthma rates and other risks.
Still, excitement is growing in the region, where unemployment is high. As my Desert Sun colleague Erin Rode reports, San Diego State University will build a new facility at its Imperial Valley campus to train an anticipated workforce of thousands for lithium extraction.
Here are some other stories that may be of interest.
Must-read stories
Radioactive. Tribes and environmentalists say the country's last operational uranium mill has wrongly become a low-cost industrial waste dump that could imperil the Colorado River Basin and nearby Bears Ears National Monument.
A report by Grand Canyon Trust says the White Mesa Mill in Utah, opened in 1980 to extract uranium from mined ore, has quietly converted into a low-cost alternative to a highly regulated toxic waste facility as a licensed "alternative feed" mill that reprocesses used ore and waste to extract more uranium and rare earth minerals. Superfund sites have so far sent 700 million pounds of waste to White Mesa to be processed, writes Debra Utacia Krol for the Arizona Republic.
"If the mill wants to function like a waste disposal business, it should be regulated like one," said Tim Peterson with the trust. Area tribes concerned about drinking water and possible hazardous waste air leaks agree.
Get the lead out. The U.S. insurance and real estate industries have waged a decades-long campaign to avoid liability in lead cases, prolonging an epidemic for millions of children, reports Ellen Gabler for The New York Times. With state officials' approvals, insurance companies nationwide have excluded lead from their policies, declining to pay out when children were poisoned on properties they covered, Gabler finds. The move also eased pressure on landlords to fix up their rentals. The results can be devastating.
Before Selena Wiley rented an older home in South Bend, Indiana, she asked about lead paint and was assured it was safe. But almost two years after moving in, Wiley noticed her 2-year-old’s appetite had vanished and his constant chattering had stopped.
The boy had high levels of lead poisoning, which can cause irreversible damage to a child’s brain and nervous system. A health inspector found lead paint and dust throughout the rental. No one has been held responsible — the firm that owns the home protected its assets in a tangle of limited liability companies, and the property insurer excluded lead from its coverage. These practices are now the norm across the United States
Blow me down. Hurricanes and other powerful storms have actually declined worldwide over 30 years, according to a new study, but the damage they cause is increasing. Why are they decreasing? Give thanks to La Niña, reports USA Today's Doyle Rice.
"We attribute this decreasing global trend to the shift toward a more La Niña-like basic state in the overall tropical climate," said study author Phil Klotzbach of Colorado State University. In more wealthy coastal communities, particularly along the Atlantic Ocean, damage has grown.
All about energy
Hot seats. After refusing an invite from one House committee, executives from some of the nation’s largest oil companies have agreed to appear before another to testify about skyrocketing gasoline prices. Executives from Devon Energy, Exxon Mobil, BP, Chevron and Pioneer Natural Resources will testify on April 6 at a House Energy and Commerce Oversight and Investigations subcommittee hearing. Its chair, Rep. Frank Pallone (D-New Jersey), has accused the oil industry of maintaining artificially high energy prices and profits “by keeping domestic oil production low and funneling revenue back to investors and executives.” Ari Natter reports for Bloomberg.
Turnoff. Switching to all-electric vehicles and a clean energy grid by 2040 could save more than 100,000 lives in the U.S. and cut $1.2 trillion in public health costs, the American Lung Association estimates. If the U.S. met the targets, reports Julia Kane for Grist, by mid-century the transportation sector would see a 92% drop in smog-forming nitrogen oxide, 61% less soot particle pollution, and a 93% decline in greenhouse gas pollution.
Billion-dollar babies. President Joe Biden's proposed budget, announced Monday, includes billions to fight climate change, create clean energy jobs, fund energy research and replenish agencies that suffered deep cuts during the Trump administration, reports USA Today's Elizabeth Weise.
As proposed, $44.9 billion of the $5.8 trillion budget would go toward tackling what it calls "the climate crisis," an increase of $16.7 billion over the 2021 budget. Pushback is expected in a deeply divided Congress.
It's a gas. Meanwhile, fossil fuel fan Sen. Joe Manchin (D-West Virginia) has hired a natural gas lobbyist to work on the Senate's Energy and Natural Resources Committee as he continues to spar with the Biden administration over energy and climate packages.
C.J. Osman spent nearly six years at the Interstate Natural Gas Association of America, most recently as its top lobbyist, before joining Manchin's committee as a professional staffer this month. The hiring was first reported by Legistorm, which compiles data about the congressional workforce.
Grow power. Wind and solar power are the fastest-growing sources of energy, generating a 10% of the world's energy in 2021, per a new climate report. All told, clean energy sources accounted for 38% of the world's total power supply last year, surpassing coal by 2%, writes Maria Jimenez Moya with USA Today.
The report, published Wednesday by climate think tank Ember, noted solar power rose 23% last year, and wind-generated power increased by 14%. The think tank concludes that if global solar and wind power continue to grow by 20% every year through 2030, the trend could limit global warming to 1.5°C.
Worried. Americans are far more worried about energy than they have been in a decade, per a new Gallup poll out Wednesday. Nearly half say they worry a great deal about energy availability and affordability. Another 44% describe the U.S. energy situation as very serious, up from 32%. The public is divided on protecting the environment versus developing energy sources.
Hot takes
Making waves. How can surf wave parks, lagoon resorts be built during a drought, while low income Californians drink and shower in contaminated water? Blame state laws. I report for The Desert Sun.
Missing. Arizona and half of all U.S. states were left off new EPA greenhouse gas emissions data. Blame politics. Joan Meiners reports for The Arizona Republic.
Going, gone. It's not just national parks that are crowded. So are towns clustered along their edges, where reasonable rentals have disappeared, replaced by sky-high short-term rental units. Erin Rode has a deep dive for the Desert Sun on how the Joshua Tree region is grappling with short-term rentals amid a housing crisis.
And another thing
Long way home. A mountain bluebird dubbed Rocky who somehow ended up thousands of miles from his normal Western habitat is bringing happiness to North Carolina tourists and birdwatchers. Gareth McGrath with the Wilmington Star News fills us in.
"He just looks so elegant in his blue tuxedo and all," said Christy Jones, who rose before the sun and drove 120 miles to see the wayward traveler. "And it's great that he doesn't seem to mind all the attention he's attracting."
Audubon Society experts say his big trip could be linked to loss of habitat due to climate change, to being blown way off course by a powerful storm, or issues with his internal navigation. They hope he'll find his way back to the Rocky Mountains or Alaska's cooler climes when summer comes.
That's all for this week. Be happy, or as happy as you can, and for more climate, energy and environment news, follow me on Twitter @janetwilson66. You can sign up to get Climate Point in your inbox for free here.