Sign In or Create an Account.

By continuing, you agree to the Terms of Service and acknowledge our Privacy Policy

Electric Vehicles

What Lies Beneath Arkansas

On critical minerals, climate voters, and EV battery recycling

What Lies Beneath Arkansas
Heatmap Illustration/Getty Images

Current conditions: Tropical Storm Trami is taking aim at the Philippines • Heavy downpours triggered severe flooding in South Africa’s Eastern Cape • The southern Alaskan mainland is bracing for a major storm system that is expected to bring high winds and flooding.

THE TOP FIVE

1. Study suggests Arkansas has huge lithium reserves

There could be between 5 million and 19 million tons of lithium underground in southwest Arkansas, according to a new study from the United States Geological Survey. Researchers said that even the low-end of this estimate “would meet projected 2030 world demand for lithium in car batteries nine times over.” Lithium, of course, is a critical mineral for the energy transition, and demand is expected to grow in coming years. Most lithium is produced in Australia and South America, and then processed in China. “The potential for increased U.S. production to replace imports has implications for employment, manufacturing, and supply-chain resilience,” said USGS director David Applegate.

The Smackover Formation in Arkansas could hold vast lithium reserves.USGS

2. SCOTUS to decide which courts can handle cases challenging EPA rules

The Supreme Court yesterday agreed to take on a handful of cases that could determine which federal courts can hear challenges to Environmental Protection Agency rules. The move “could undercut the nation’s top environmental regulator by opening the door to industry groups and Republican-led states seeking to challenge certain EPA rules in more favorable courts,” explainedE&E News. The Clean Air Act stipulates that legal challenges to national EPA rules must go through the D.C. Court of Appeals, which leans liberal. But if lawsuits go through regional courts, they may have more favorable outcomes for groups challenging things like pollution laws. The Supreme Court decision is expected by next summer.

3. First-time climate voters are turning out in swing states

Nearly 50,000 first-time climate voters have already cast ballots in the 2024 U.S. presidential election, according to the nonpartisan nonprofit Environmental Voter Project. By examining early voting data, the group determined that climate voters are turning out at higher rates than the general electorate in key swing states like Pennsylvania, North Carolina, and Nevada. The one exception EVP found is Georgia, where climate voters are underperforming in early voting. “Early voting is not predictive of overall turnout, and so I never get too excited or too despondent from the data,” EVP founder and executive director Nathaniel Stinnett told Heatmap. “But what we can see is that in 18 of our 19 states, people who list climate as their number-one priority are early voting at a higher rate than the overall electorate, so I feel really good about that.”

EVP

4. NOAA’s top scientist joins JPMorgan

Sarah Kapnick, previously the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s chief scientist, is rejoining the JPMorgan Chase as global head of climate advisory, where she will “advise its corporate and investment banking clients on how to navigate the impacts of climate change,” Bloombergreported. Kapnick has worked for JPMorgan Chase before as a senior climate scientist and sustainability strategist for the company’s asset and wealth management business.

5. Mercedes-Benz opens in-house battery recycling facility

Mercedes-Benz yesterday announced the opening of Europe’s first battery recycling plant. The facility, located in Kuppenheim, southern Germany, uses an “integrated mechanical-hydrometallurgical process” that the automaker says can recover 96% of used battery materials, such as critical minerals, for recycling into new EV batteries. With this development, Mercedes-Benz is “the first car manufacturer worldwide to close the battery recycling loop with its own in-house facility.”

THE KICKER

Alcon Entertainment, the production company behind Blade Runner 2049, is suing Tesla CEO Elon Musk for using AI to create images that look similar to scenes from the film to promote the Cybercab.

Yellow

You’re out of free articles.

Subscribe today to experience Heatmap’s expert analysis 
of climate change, clean energy, and sustainability.
To continue reading
Create a free account or sign in to unlock more free articles.
or
Please enter an email address
By continuing, you agree to the Terms of Service and acknowledge our Privacy Policy
Politics

The Climate Election You Missed Last Night

While you were watching Florida and Wisconsin, voters in Naperville, Illinois were showing up to fight coal.

Climate voting.
Heatmap Illustration/Getty Images

It’s probably fair to say that not that many people paid close attention to last night’s city council election in Naperville, Illinois. A far western suburb of Chicago, the city is known for its good schools, small-town charm, and lovely brick-paved path along the DuPage River. Its residents tend to vote for Democrats. It’s not what you would consider a national bellwether.

Instead, much of the nation’s attention on Tuesday night focused on the outcomes of races in Wisconsin and Florida — considered the first electoral tests of President Donald Trump and Elon Musk’s popularity. Outside of the 80,000 or so voters who cast ballots in Naperville, there weren’t likely many outsiders watching the suburb’s returns.

Keep reading...Show less
Green
Energy

Exclusive: Trump’s Plans to Build AI Data Centers on Federal Land

The Department of Energy has put together a list of sites and is requesting proposals from developers, Heatmap has learned.

A data center and Nevada land.
Heatmap Illustration/Getty Images

The Department of Energy is moving ahead with plans to allow companies to build AI data centers and new power plants on federal land — and it has put together a list of more than a dozen sites nationwide that could receive the industrial-scale facilities, according to an internal memo obtained by Heatmap News.

The memo lists sites in Texas, Illinois, New Jersey, Colorado, and other locations. The government could even allow new power plants — including nuclear reactors and carbon-capture operations — to be built on the same sites to generate enough electricity to power the data centers, the memo says.

Keep reading...Show less
Economy

AM Briefing: Liberation Day

On trade turbulence, special election results, and HHS cuts

Trump’s ‘Liberation Day’ Tariffs Loom
Heatmap Illustration/Getty Images

Current conditions: A rare wildfire alert has been issued for London this week due to strong winds and unseasonably high temperatures • Schools are closed on the Greek islands of Mykonos and Paros after a storm caused intense flooding • Nearly 50 million people in the central U.S. are at risk of tornadoes, hail, and historic levels of rain today as a severe weather system barrels across the country.

THE TOP FIVE

1. Trump to roll out broad new tariffs

President Trump today will outline sweeping new tariffs on foreign imports during a “Liberation Day” speech in the White House Rose Garden scheduled for 4 p.m. EST. Details on the levies remain scarce. Trump has floated the idea that they will be “reciprocal” against countries that impose fees on U.S. goods, though the predominant rumor is that he could impose an across-the-board 20% tariff. The tariffs will be in addition to those already announced on Chinese goods, steel and aluminum, energy imports from Canada, and a 25% fee on imported vehicles, the latter of which comes into effect Thursday. “The tariffs are expected to disrupt the global trade in clean technologies, from electric cars to the materials used to build wind turbines,” explained Josh Gabbatiss at Carbon Brief. “And as clean technology becomes more expensive to manufacture in the U.S., other nations – particularly China – are likely to step up to fill in any gaps.” The trade turbulence will also disrupt the U.S. natural gas market, with domestic supply expected to tighten, and utility prices to rise. This could “accelerate the uptake of coal instead of gas, and result in a swell in U.S. power emissions that could accelerate climate change,” Reutersreported.

Keep reading...Show less
Yellow