In the news today…
Minerals:
- Bloomberg reports rare earth minerals characterize a tech vulnerability for the U.S. in its trade war with China.
Coal:
- EIA reports U.S. coal stockpiles decreased to 98.7 million tons in February 2019, their lowest value in more than a decade.
- Gizmodo reports cases of black lung may be increasing due to modern technology uncovering thinner layers of coal with more layers of rock, producing more silica dust.
- The Charleston Gazette-Mail reports Gov. Jim Justice’s family companies filed a lawsuit against OSMRE for reneging on an agreement concerning unpaid penalties and reclamation fees.
- E&E Climatewire reports 21 youths are suing the government, asking for a moratorium on all federal fossil fuel permitting, including mining.
- Bloomberg reports BHP Group, the world’s biggest miner, has a grim outlook for thermal coal and won’t add production as it prioritizes growth in commodities tied to the shift to renewable energy and electric transport.
- Argus reports the National Coal Council recommends DOE should invest in technologies to expand the uses of coal beyond power production.
- Argus reports demand for coal has failed to pick up heading into summer as average profits for power producers using the fuel have fallen to seasonal seven-year lows across most of the central and eastern U.S.
- E&E Daily reports House appropriators outlined an extra $5 million in grant funding for struggling coal communities that largely blame the party for coal’s troubles.
EPA:
- E&E Daily reports Tuesday House Democrats and a string of witnesses denounced EPA’s plans for revisiting its regulations on power industry mercury emissions.
Carbon Capture:
- Mining.com reports both environmentalists and fossil fuel industry representative have vested interests in carbon capture technology and met in Wyoming to strategize on ways to get commercial carbon capture and storage off the ground across the U.S.
- E&E Energywire reports a subsidiary of Occidental Petroleum Corp. is teaming up with a Canadian company to design the world’s largest plant to remove CO2 from the air in Texas.
Supreme Court:
- E&E Greenwire reports the Maui County Council’s Governance, Ethics and Transparency Committee met for more than five hours yesterday, but no decision has been made on whether to settle the CWA case pending at the Supreme Court.