In the news today…
Mining:
- Reuters, U.S. News and World Report, and Regina Leader-Post report U.S. coal producers are seeking to boost exports to cash in on soaring prices since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine but face big headwinds including shipping bottlenecks, labor shortages, and a dismal long-term outlook discouraging investments in new mines.
- Wall Street Journal reports the cost of proposed rules on climate disclosure is emerging as a key battleground as businesses and politicians fight over a plan to require companies to tally their impact on the environment and the risks they face from climate change.
- The Daily Caller reports the Biden administration asked Congress to allow the Department of Defense (DoD) to fund foreign critical mineral facilities in the annual defense spending bill.
Coal:
- Argus reports coal-fired generation in the PJM Interconnection rose in April from year-earlier levels as natural gas power and nuclear energy declined.
Minerals:
- Washington Post carries an op-ed from Bloomberg which argues Elon Musk has a suggestion for entrepreneurs: Get into lithium mining for juicy margins. It’s a pithy recommendation, but it fails to grasp the complicated challenges for producing more of the metal.
- Washington Post reports in late February, as most people were focusing on the war in Ukraine, the White House published over 1,300 pages of reports from a year-long and unprecedented investigation into the economic vulnerabilities caused by global supply chains.
- E&E Daily reports a bipartisan group of senators advanced legislation worth nearly $40 billion yesterday in response to the war in Ukraine, including money to support the war-torn country’s energy sector and help secure U.S. mineral supplies.