In the news today…
Coal:
- Politico Pro reports senators from the leading coal-mining states have reached an agreement to renew the soon-to-expire fee coal companies pay to clean up abandoned mines in a deal that includes an $11.3 billion reclamation investment.
- WKBN reports even as legislators consider additional funding for reclaiming pre-1977 abandoned mine lands, coal company bankruptcies starting in 2015 could lead to a new wave of modern-era abandoned mine land issues.
- Politico Pro reports House appropriators are backing a White House plan to create a $100 million job training and education program for displaced fossil fuel workers.
Minerals:
- Politico Pro reports the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee advanced an unprecedented $3 billion program to clean up abandoned hardrock mines.
- Reuters reports Compass Minerals’ shares rose nearly 20% in premarket trading on Wednesday after the mineral producer said it had found about 2.4 million metric tons of lithium carbonate equivalent (LCE) at its solar evaporation site in Utah.
- Jalopnik reports GM is planning to open a lithium mine in a location that is otherwise a wasteland.
- S&P Global reports the United States could eventually become a net exporter of the rare earth materials crucial to making an array of products, including many electronics, wind turbines, energy storage devices and electric vehicle batteries, a top official at the U.S. Energy Department said.
Energy:
- St. Louis Public Radio reports among the most contentious points of the latest clean energy proposal being considered by Illinois lawmakers is a plan to phase out coal-burning plants by 2035.
- Washington Examiner and Politico Pro report IEA projects a 5% rise in power demand in 2021, with almost half of the increase met by fossil fuels — including coal — which could push emissions from the electricity sector to record levels.