In the news today…
Mining:
- E&E Greenwire reports the Minnesota Supreme Court agreed yesterday to hear a challenge by environmentalists over portions of a lower court ruling involving a key permit for the proposed PolyMet copper-nickel mine.
- Reuters and Mining.com report Elon Musk’s recent musings that high lithium prices may force Tesla Inc to make its own supply of the electric vehicle battery metal have fueled hopes by some that the billionaire entrepreneur will instead opt for a buyout of an established mining company.
- Mining.com reports from Bloomberg that Tesla Inc. Chief Executive Officer Elon Musk made a public appeal for more investment in lithium mining to close what he sees as a yawning gap between supply and demand that’s being fueled by the adoption of electric vehicles.
CEQ:
- Inside EPA reports the White House Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) is broadly rejecting claims from industry groups and Republican lawmakers that its new final rule restoring stringent National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) review requirements will delay critical infrastructure projects, part of the agency’s broad defense of the rule.
EPA:
- Washington Examiner reports Republicans, red states, and business groups are piling on the amicus briefs in support of Idaho couple and Supreme Court WOTUS petitioners Michael and Chantell Sackett, hoping that justices will finally help stakeholders to avoid remaining trapped in what one amica said amounts to “the water regulatory version of Groundhog Day.”