Joe Manchin

Lithium mining in Chile’s Atacama desert. Photo: Lucas Aguayo Araos/picture-alliance/dpa (AP)Read any article about the clean energy revolution, and chances are you’ll run into some staggering numbers about how demand for lithium, cobalt, nickel, and other minerals and metals is projected to rise over the next few decades.But the future isn’t set in stone. The U.S. may need up to 90% less of these materials if it simply prioritizes things like public transit, urban walkability, and smaller cars, according to…

It seems FTX’s mess is on everyone’s hands.Image: ioda (Shutterstock)A new report from CoinDesk has found that 1 in 3 members of Congress—196 senators and representatives—received political donations from former FTX executives, including the disgraced former head of the company, Sam Bankman-Fried. According to the report, published on Tuesday, 34 political campaigns have stated they will donate the moneyto nonprofits. Another group of 14 told the outlet they were holding on to the donations received and were waiting for…

A swift turnaround from the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission gave the media whiplash earlier this week. On Monday, a commissioner from the watchdog agency, Richard Trumka Jr., indicated CPSC was considering new restrictions on gas stoves over mounting health concerns.Then, after an overwrought backlash mainly from the political right, the federal regulator backed off. “I am not looking to ban gas stoves and the CPSC has no proceeding to do so,” Alexander Hoehn-Saric, CPSC’s chair, wrote in a tweeted statement.…

Photo: Marijan Murat/picture-alliance/dpa (AP)The U.S. government is not considering banning gas stoves, a consumer safety agency said, days after one of its commissioners suggested to the press that a ban could be on the table.In a statement issued on Twitter Tuesday, the chair of the Consumer Product Safety Commission, Alexander Hoehn-Saric, said that while the Commission is researching the impact of gas stoves and working to make the appliances safer, it has no plans to ban them outright.“Research indicates that…

Rep.-elect Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) takes a photo with U.S. House Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) at the U.S. Capitol Building on January 07, 2023 in Washington, DC. Photo: Anna Moneymaker (Getty Images)This story was originally published by Grist. You can subscribe to its weekly newsletter here.Kevin McCarthy, U.S. representative from California and the leader of the House Republican Conference, has been one of the most powerful Republicans in Washington for more than a decade. But McCarthy spent the first…

President Joe Biden and Sen. Joe Manchin at a September White House celebration of the passage of the Inflation Reduction Act.Photo: Francis Chung/E&E News/POLITICO (AP)More than 30 years after scientists began sounding the alarm on climate change at an international level, the U.S. has decided to do something about it.The Inflation Reduction Act, signed into law in September, emerged from the ashes of the ill-fated Build Back Better Act, the Biden administration’s first effort to address climate change. For months,…

President Joe Biden is apparently sick of watching oil companies rake in record profits while consumers pay big bucks at the pump. He threatened new windfall profit taxes against fossil fuel giants, and cautioned corporations to cease cashing in the war in Ukraine, in a Monday speech.“It’s time for these companies to stop war profiteering, meet their responsibilities to this country, and give the American people a break,” Biden said in his impassioned remarks. Gas prices initially spiked following Russia’s invasion of…

New US restrictions on EV battery materials imposed in AugustChinese battery giant CATL has slowed its planning for investment in battery plants in North America on concern that new US rules on sourcing battery materials will drive costs higher, two people with knowledge of the matter said. The world's largest battery maker, which supplies one of every three electric vehicles, has been considering opening new plants in the United States and Mexico since earlier this year, Reuters reported previously. The planned…

West Virginia coal baron and Senator Joe Manchin released the final text for his anticipated permitting reform legislation on Wednesday evening.The bill, titled the “Energy Independence and Security Act,” is the other side of the deal that Manchin struck with Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer in the lead up to the passage of the Inflation Reduction Act. Schumer promised that, if Manchin voted for the IRA, he in turn would ensure the votes for Manchin’s permitting pet project. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi also agreed to…

WASHINGTON—A brand-new market for green tax credits is taking shape as bankers and advisers figure out how to funnel tax breaks from energy companies that generate them to profitable corporations eager for smaller tax bills. The market is forming because Congress last month expanded renewable-energy tax credits and made them transferable in the law known as the Inflation Reduction Act, which also lowers prescription drug prices and imposes new taxes on large corporations. The tax-credit sales mark a shift in the U.S.…