Also on today’s menu:
Top Environmentalists Resign
Fossil Fuel Industry Makes A Comeback
Researchers and entrepreneurs are coming up with cost-effective ways to reuse the lithium-ion battery waste that electric vehicles generate. Battery Resourcers of Worcester, Massachusetts, said last week that it is planning to build a plant in Georgia that will be capable of recycling 30,000 metric tons of lithium-ion batteries per year. It will be the largest battery recycling plant in North America when it opens later this year.
Li-Cycle, based in the Toronto area, is building an even larger battery recycling plant near Rochester, New York, that is scheduled to open in 2023. The company said last month that it is modifying its plans in a way that increases the plant’s size, a response to forecasts of high demand for recycling.
It’s important because the growth of electric vehicles and battery storage systems will eventually lead to millions of tons of batteries that are unusable unless they are recycled.
Top Environmentalists Resign
The resignations of two key leaders in President Joe Biden’s climate and environmental justice initiatives are raising concerns about the country’s efforts to reduce carbon emissions. Cecilia Martinez, the senior director for environmental justice at the White House Council for Environmental Quality, or CEQ, resigned on January 7, and David Kieve, the public engagement director at CEQ, stepped down on January 10.
Occurring ahead of what analysts say will be a historically consequential midterm election, some activists are questioning the Biden administration’s ability to pass meaningful climate initiatives. They worry that the resignations reflect a broader frustration over the lack of progress on climate and environmental justice efforts that Biden had promised would be central to his presidency. They also expressed concern that CEQ, a small department within the White House with limited staff and resources, is ill-equipped to handle the “huge mission” of coordinating and executing Biden’s environmental and economic agendas.
Biden’s decision not to interfere with a series of high-profile pipeline fights last year, most notably Line 3 in Minnesota, drew the ire of Indigenous leaders, who said the projects violated their tribal rights, endangered their livelihoods and threatened to escalate the climate crisis. Many of those same activists also lambasted the Biden administration for failing to meet its promise to halt drilling on public lands.
Fossil Fuel Industry Makes A Comeback
Fossil fuel lobbyists have taken heart, seeing the president’s failure to move forward with environmental goals. The chief of the nation’s top oil and gas lobby laid out the state of his industry on January 12, recounting how things have changed from a year ago, when the oil industry appeared to face an existential crisis.
The American Petroleum Institute’s chief executive, Mike Sommers, said, “In policy debates this year, it’s possible we’ll find more agreement than usual, if only because American energy leadership itself solves so many problems our nation faces.” Additionally, “With supply-chain failures, and with inflation on the minds of many Americans, the last thing anyone wants to see is more upward pressure on costs that are felt by every family and business.”
The oil industry still faces a long-term threat from climate legislation and technological disruption. European oil giants — most of which are members of the petroleum institute — have been increasing investments in renewable energy and electric vehicles, in contrast to their American counterparts.
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