In the news today and from the long weekend…
Grid:
- Wall Street Journal reports that the strain caused by climate policies left too many Americans shivering over the weekend, and worse is coming.
Minerals:
- The Idaho Statesman reports on the promise and perils of cobalt mining in Idaho, and Jervois Global’s plans for a new cobalt mine northwest of Challis.
- CleanTechnica reports that Albemarle is going to invest $180 million or more to create the Albemarle Technology Park (ATP) in Charlotte, North Carolina.
- A Joe Rogan podcast went viral after his guest, a Harvard visiting professor and modern slavery activist, discussed the “appalling” cobalt mining industry in the Congo and how virtually all EV batteries contain materials mined there.
- Mining.com reports on the comments of California Congressman Tom McClintock on the flaws of mining policy in the U.S. saying, in part, “Mr Chairman I simply want to implore you and your democratic colleagues to reconsider the policies you have been pursuing. On the one hand you want to mandate not only electric cars but industrial scale backup batteries for wind and solar farms all in the name of saving the planet. Yet on the other hand you want to radically restrict mining; also in the name of saving the planet. Well you can’t do both.”
Coal:
- NBC News reports on the impacts to the local community of an underground coal mine in rural Utah that has been on fire since September.
- The Tuscaloosa Patch reports that three Warrior Met Coal employees were injured on Christmas when a large piece of ice fell on them in an elevator shaft.