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• “Boreal Forests Are Expanding Northward Due To Warming Climate, Satellite Images Show” • Boreal forests are shifting northward as they warm due to climate change, several decades of satellite images show. Annual surface temperatures in boreal forests have increased about 1.4°C, or 2.52°F, over the last century, according to a study. [ABC News]

Boreal forest (Zosia Szopka, Unsplash)

• “Onshore Wind Lands 1.3-GW Haul” • More than 1300 MW of onshore wind capacity has secured Contracts for Difference in the UK’s Allocation Round 7a (AR7a) auction. A total of 27 projects were successful in winning 20-year support deals at a clearing price of £72.24/MWh (in 2024 prices). The bid ceiling had been £92/MWh. [reNews]
• “ArcelorMittal Invests €1.3 Billion To Produce ‘Green Steel’ At Its Dunkirk Plant” • ArcelorMittal formally confirmed that will invest €1.3 billion in an electric arc furnace at its Dunkirk plant. The company’s plan is to produce steel without coal, whose combustion generates significant CO₂ emissions and contributes to global warming. [Euronews]
• “Cuba Says Airlines Can No Longer Refuel On The Island Due To US Oil Blockade” • The Cuban government issued a notice warning that no jet fuel would be available at nine airports on the island, including José Martí International Airport in Havana, from February 11 until 11 March, due to a US blockade of oil from Mexico and Venezuela. [Euronews]
• “Trump Administration To Make Climate Denialism National Policy” • Continuing the theme of doltishness and mass human harm, the Trump administration seems to be aiming to make climate change denialism US national policy. Why? Because we are apparently a petrolstate being run by a mixture of Homer Simpson and Mr Burns. [CleanTechnica]

For more news, please visit geoharvey – Daily News about Energy and Climate Change.

The Bureau of Land Management opened nominations last week for the first-ever oil and gas lease auction in Alaska’s Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, or ANWR, setting the stage for development that three Gwich’in governments are now suing to stop.

Raeann Garnett, 29, is Gwich’in and the tribal chief of the Native Village of Venetie Tribal Government, representing about 200 people above the Arctic Circle in northeastern Alaska, accessible only by plane. In January, the Native American Rights Fund, or NARF, filed a lawsuit against the Department of Interior on behalf of Garnett’s government, the Arctic Village Council, and Venetie Village Council. “I’m the main protector of our land that we own and I do it for all our tribal members,” she said.

The lawsuit challenges the DOI’s plan to lease land in the refuge’s coastal plain, an area the Gwich’in call Iizhik Gwats’an Gwandaii Goodlit, “the sacred place where life begins,” where Porcupine caribou herds forage and calve. The Gwich’in, who call themselves “the caribou people,” have relied on the herd for food and cultural survival since before colonization. Most Gwich’in communities live alongside the animals’ same migratory route used for thousands of years.

Garnett has watched the fight over ANWR intensify throughout her adult life. Oil and gas interests have eyed the refuge for more than 50 years, but recent moves mark the closest the industry has come to actual development on the coastal plain.

A 2017 federal tax bill passed during Donald Trump’s first presidential term authorized an oil and gas leasing program in ANWR, however, 7 leases out of 22 were sold to the Alaska Industrial Development and Export Authority. The Biden administration canceled the leases in 2023.

Last summer, Congress passed the so-calld “One Big Beautiful Bill Act,” which mandated lease sales in the refuge’s 1.56-million-acre coastal plain. The Trump administration announced it would reinstate the leasing program just months after taking office in 2025. Last week, the Bureau of Land Management opened a public comment period, running through March, to determine which parcels will be included in the first auction this winter.

Two lawsuits were filed in January of this year, reviving legal challenges from 2020 after Trump’s leasing programs were paused in 2021. One was brought by the Gwich’in Steering Committee alongside environmental groups. The other was brought by NARF representing the three Gwich’in governments.

The NARF suit argues the DOI violated Gwich’in legal rights. While Alaska Native tribes have not signed treaties with the U.S. government, many federal laws function in the same way treaty rights do. The Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act, for instance, upholds Gwich’in subsistence rights, protects cultural resources, and requires federal agencies to protect cultural and archeological sites as well as millions of acres of federal land in Alaska — including ANWR. The law also commits the U.S. to fulfill international treaty obligations with respect to fish and wildlife and their habitats.

The lawsuit argues that the DOI failed to meet these obligations. “​One of the most egregious errors is defendants’ determination that the impacts of allowing large-scale oil and gas development across the entire coastal plain would have no significant impact on Neets’ąįį Gwich’in communities of Venetie and Arctic Village,” the lawsuit reads.

The case claims development across roughly 100 miles of coastal plain would disrupt caribou migration, foraging, and calving, making the refuge uninhabitable for the herd. A 2024 study found that caribou are more sensitive to traffic and human activity than previously believed, challenging earlier claims that development would not significantly harm their habitat.

For Gwich’in communities, caribou are essential to survival. The herd provides a primary source of food, along with moose, birds, and fish. Garnett said high fuel costs and expensive groceries make subsistence necessary for village residents. 

NARF is arguing that the Trump administration has failed to conduct adequate environmental review and has not consulted with tribes since last October about the planned auction.

“We condemn these actions, and encourage officials in the Trump administration — and our representatives in the Alaska delegation — to acknowledge and accept what we as Gwich’in know, and what the majority of the American people agree on,” said Kristen Moreland, executive director of the Gwich’in Steering Committee, in a statement. “The Arctic Refuge is no place for drilling. It deserves to be protected and preserved for the wildlife that depend on it, and for all our futures.”

For Garnett, threats to the refuge are compounded by climate change already transforming the Arctic. This winter has been the warmest she can remember. “With climate change, as well as the threats of oil drilling, the weather has been changing a lot these past couple of decades,” she said.

Late last year, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration released its yearly Arctic Report Card, confirming the region continues to warm faster than the global average. In 2024, the report linked Arctic warming to fossil fuel use. 

“I feel worried for the next generations, after us, after me,” said Garnett. “I want them to have what we have now.”

This story was originally published by Grist with the headline Gwich’in fight to protect caribou from Alaska oil development on Feb 11, 2026.

A few months ago, I moved just a few hundred feet away from a gold mine that everyone thinks is just an ordinary hole in the ground. It could be making us all rich, but unfortunately no one knows what they’re looking at. Read more on the Press-Enterprise.

In Central Texas, the Refugee Collective is working to demonstrate that farming can serve as both a livelihood and a lifeline. By supporting refugees through farming initiatives, the nonprofit creates pathways to earn fair wages, grow culturally meaningful food, and implement regenerative agriculture practices.

On the Collective’s 20-acre farm in Elgin, Texas, refugees have the chance to bring traditional farming techniques from their cultures as they learn new regenerative practices. The produce harvested at this year-round, Certified Organic farm goes to local restaurants, wholesale buyers, and a Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) program.

The program has “enabled newly arrived refugees to gain access to commercial plots at our farm to grow more traditionally desired produce, along with training and the ability to sell the organic produce,” Christina Jones, Community Engagement Manager at the Refugee Collective, tells Food Tank.

The Collective also offers smaller plots of land and seeds to newly arrived refugees. Refugee farmers can then sell their produce back to the Collective at market prices and distribute it among their local communities. This program has yielded culturally significant crops, including regional seasoning blends, that are not commonly available in grocery stores in the area.

The Collective’s farms aim to serve as a model for climate-resilient agriculture. In partnership with conservation groups, the Refugee Collective developed Texas’s first Resilient Farm Plan, which will help the Collective sequester 345 metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent per year once fully implemented. The plan integrates no-till practices, cover cropping, crop rotation, windbreaks, and rotational grazing with laying hens.

But the Trump-Vance Administration’s attacks on refugee and immigrant communities and food security programs are creating new challenges for the organization.

“I think that you cannot avoid the sense of danger with the current administration’s assault on basic human rights,” Jones tells Food Tank. “Even though the refugees that we employ are here legally, we cannot ignore the hostility toward their communities. Our feeling is that we want to help refugees through more food access since federal funding like SNAP benefits are being withheld.”

Recent cuts to SNAP benefits and grant funding also leave the Collective worried that it will become more difficult to fund the growing and sale of their harvests.

But Jones and the Collective are trying to focus on maintaining and scaling their efforts. “I look forward to making a greater impact on even more refugees in our community through more food access, pathways for more women to earn supplemental income and for more people in Austin to become connected to our mission through donations and subscribing to our CSA,” says Jones.

Articles like the one you just read are made possible through the generosity of Food Tank members. Can we please count on you to be part of our growing movement? Become a member today by clicking here.

Photo courtesy of the Refugee Collective

The post Refugee Collective Farming Builds Resilient Food Systems in Texas appeared first on Food Tank.

Rethinking the world with Iván Illich and Gustavo Esteva Date and time * Date: February 14 * Time: 4pm GMT to 8pm GMT (10 am to 2 pm, Mexico time) * Format: Hybrid event * Access and registration * This event will have interpretation in English and Spanish Introduction alternativesTapestryAlternativesTapestryAlternatives

Repensar el mundo con Iván Illich y Gustavo Esteva Fecha y hora * Fecha: 14 de febrero * Hora: 10 a 14 hrs, México / 4pm a 8pm GMT * Formato: Evento híbrido * Acceso y registro * Este evento contará con interpretación simultánea Español <-> Inglés Introducción

Nearly three-quarters of U.S. baby foods are ultra-processed, new study finds Iris Myers February 10, 2026

Most baby food sold in U.S. grocery stores is ultra-processed, a new study finds, raising fresh concerns about what many infants and toddlers are eating during a critical window of development.

The peer-reviewed study, published in the journal Nutrients, found that 71% of baby food products sold in grocery stores are classified as ultra-processed foods, or UPF.

Researchers analyzed 651 infant and toddler food products available in the top 10 U.S. grocery retailers, using data from the Australia-based George Institute for Global Health’s FoodSwitch database. 

The study used the NOVA classification system, the most common method used to identify UPF.

UPF are typically made in industrial settings and contain one or more artificial colors or flavors, non-sugar sweeteners, or additives like emulsifiers and thickeners. Food companies use these ingredients, often in combination with large amounts of fat, sugar or salt, to create UPF.

Additives dominate the baby food aisle

A top finding of the study is the widespread use of additives in foods marketed for consumption by babies and toddlers. Nearly three-quarters of all baby food products in the study contained additives, making them the most common ingredient category.

Researchers identified more than 105 unique additives, including flavor enhancers, thickeners, emulsifiers and colors. Flavor enhancers appeared in more than one-third of all products, while thickeners and emulsifiers were also common. Nearly one in five products contained added colors.

A growing body of scientific evidence links certain food additives to potential health concerns, including negative effects on gut function and behavioral difficulties in sensitive children. 

Other additives have been studied very little due to a regulatory loophole that allows companies to add new chemicals to foods without any Food and Drug Administration safety review. Nearly 99% of new food chemicals enter the market this way. 

More sugar, salt and calories

The study also found clear nutritional differences between ultra-processed baby foods and their less-processed counterparts.

On average, ultra-processed baby foods contained nearly twice as much sugar as products that were not ultra-processed. Added sugars were found exclusively in UPF. The disparity was especially pronounced in snack and finger foods, where ultra-processed products contained two and a half times more sugar per serving than similar non-ultra-processed options.

Sodium levels were also higher in ultra-processed baby foods, containing far more sodium per 100 grams than less processed products. 

High intake of sugary, calorie-dense foods early in life has been linked to heart and metabolic conditions in children. Early childhood is a particularly sensitive period, since food exposures during those years may shape taste preferences and eating habits that persist for years.

States stepping up

The findings raise questions about whether current regulations adequately protect infants and toddlers and give parents enough information. 

There are no federal labeling requirements for UPF. In the absence of robust federal regulation, states have started taking action. Last year, California signed a historic new law to legally define UPF and phase out the most harmful from public school meals. Lawmakers in dozens of other states have introduced or passed bills targeting harmful chemicals in the food supply. 

Without stronger federal oversight and clearer labeling requirements for baby foods, parents are largely left to navigate the marketplace on their own.

Finding less processed food for kids

It’s often possible to find less-processed alternatives to common foods. Instead of yogurt with added flavors, artificial colors or zero-calorie sweeteners, you might look for a yogurt with just a few ingredients: cultured milk and fruit.

One way to identify these products is by reading ingredient lists and nutrition facts to look for more whole foods and fewer chemicals. For now, this information is usually found on the back of food packages. 

You may also need to look beyond marketing claims on the front of packages, which can include phrases, colors or pictures intended to appeal to kids.

EWG’s Food Scores provides ratings for more than 150,000 foods and drinks based on nutrition, ingredients and processing. Food Scores also flags unhealthy UPF and can help you identify alternatives. 

Areas of Focus Food Ultra-Processed Foods Children’s Health Toxic Chemicals Food Chemicals Authors Iris Myers Sarah Reinhardt, MPH, RDN February 11, 2026

TAKING THE INITIATIVE: Carl Pope’s Blog

Carl Pope

Last month was one of New England’s better Januarys. Post-Thanksgiving, the region won a rare rating from the  North American Reliability Council,  It warned that New England uniquely was at “high risk to natural gas pipeline capacity. It warned that “Natural gas production often falls off in extreme winter temperatures, as supply infrastructure is affected by freezing issues, and Generator Operators that fail to secure firm fuel delivery are frequently unable to access fully subscribed pipelines.”

The warning is shown below in NERC’sual winter assessment by the vertical cross bars. No region except New England was put on this super warning list.

Scattered across an array of recent NERC assessments were repeated warnings: New England’s dependence on aged and leaky gas pipelines, combined with its status as a region at the end of limited gas supplies, makes it particularly vulnerable to power outages. When gas and water combine in freezing temperatures they form gas hydrates. The hydrates freeze and plug pipelines, both those which fuel electric power lines and smaller distribution pipes which heat homes and businesses. In the last two major winter storms to hit New England before this year, the power system suffered major outages of both gas and electricity generated by gas. Indeed, more than half of the power serving the region during those major storms came from drawing down emergency supplies of oil. Had the storms lasted a few more days, oil reserves would have been depleted. The entire regional grid could have shut down in freezing weather. That, NERC had warned, was a serious threat this winter.

New England and its neighboring coastal states had developed a robust strategy to provide a reliable backstop to unreliable gas power: tap the dynamic and virtually 24/7 winter winds off its coasts. Five major Atlantic offshore wind projects, with a combined capacity of 6 GW and a demonstrated super high performance in winter storms, were poised for completion or construction over the next several years. One, Vineyard Wind was already delivering partial power. Revolution Wind, the other project closest to New England, was scheduled to start this winter. Three more projects further south would follow to stabilize the entire East Coast grid by adding 20% to the New England’s grid capacity and adding the bulk of that capacity in a winter when the region is currently vulnerable.

When President Trump on his Inauguration Day announced his hostility to wind power, particularly offshore wind, the Governors responsible for the projects that seemed most at risk negotiated with the President. He demanded, and received, their support for unneeded natural gas pipelines. In exchange, Trump promised to allow the offshore wind project to be completed. (NERC had said New England needed less reliance on gas power, but the Governors decided the offshore projects were critical, and pipelines were Trump’s price.)

Then, on December 22, Trump broke his word and issued “stop completion” orders for all five Atlantic offshore projects. Among them Vineyard win, which was already operating, and Revolution, which was about to open.  The only viable, reliable strategy to stabilize the New England grid had just been blown up by the President, who had no Plan B to offer – just more gas which would simply freeze into hydrates.

The next day the weather service announced that a new, tropical storm, named Winter Storm Fern, was forming over the Gulf of Mexico and aiming to bring massive cold weather, snow and ice to a region stretching from Texas to New England.  The New Year prospects for New England were grim. With work frozen on all offshore wind power, and Winter Storm Fern makings its way through the South towards New England, the region prepared for the worst. Meteorologists warned that immediately behind Fern was another Tropical storm, a Northeaster, along the Atlantic Coast.

Fern, of course, we now know, devastated much of the United States. Over a million Americans lost power; hundreds of thousands are still in the dark. The death toll is approaching 100. The damages are estimated at $6 billion.  The South and the mid-Atlantic were socked the hardest. New England got record snow from Fern, but so cold was the weather that hydrate plugging of the gas system was avoided – only snow fell, no water. New Englanders kept their power-and the heat it provides. When Northeaster Gianne came roaring along the coast, like Fern it too concentrated its snow and ice on the south.  Then, as it moved north, it remained far enough offshore that the New England grid was spared, narrowly, a second time.

So, 2025-6 will go down in the record book, but perhaps not the New England record book for damages. Better yet, as Fern and Gianne made their devastating way through the Eastern United States, some incredibly important good news made its way from Federal Courthouses huddling in the snow. In a series of five rulings, one for each of the offshore projects Trump had shut, federal judges lifted Trump’s “stop work” order. They allowed the 6 GW of incremental, winter weather resilient offshore wind projects to resume construction and start adding reliable power before next winter.

The Judges in each case had inspected the classified and allegedly “new” risks posed to national security by allowing power generation off the Atlantic Coast, and in each found the Trump Administration’s arguments unpersuasive and inadequate.  That doesn’t mean Trump won’t appeal; but it strongly suggests that if he does, he will lose at least in the Appellate Courts.

The war on the New England grid by Washington isn’t over. And the New England States need to gird for bigger battles to come. Trump’s attacks on the only viable, reliable and domestic source of power available to an entire region are on a scale with the kind of destruction that Russia is inflicting on the Ukraine.  New England must demand that Trump explain: where is the power going to come from, power that won’t freeze, power that thrive in winter storms?

This winter isn’t over either. The Vineyard Wind and Revolution projects have been delayed and won’t help for another year.  But by next year they may both be online, providing New England with the affordable, reliable winter storm power it has lacked so long.

“To learn more about Carl’s views on the environment, energy and climate, read “Climate of Hope” which he has co-authored with former NYC Mayor Mike Bloomberg and which can be purchased online or from your local book store.

A veteran leader in the environmental movement, Carl Pope is the former executive director and chairman of the Sierra Club. He’s now the principal advisor at Inside Straight Strategies, looking for the underlying economics that link sustainability and economic development and serves as a Senior Climate Advisor to former NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg. He has served on the Boards of the California League of Conservation Voters, Public Voice, National Clean Air Coalition, California Common Cause, Public Interest Economics Inc, and Zero Population Growth.

Mr. Pope is also the author of the books: Sahib, An American Misadventure in India and Hazardous Waste In America. Carl Pope is the co-author with Michael Bloomberg of Climate of Hope: How Cities, Businesses, and Citizens Can Save the Planet. How to attack climate change as a series of manageable challenges, each with a solution that can make our society healthier and our economy stronger.

Statement on FDA request for information on food additive BHA Iris Myers February 10, 2026

WASHINGTON – Today the Food and Drug Administration issued a “request for information” about the food chemical preservative butylated hydroxyanisole, or BHA. Studies show  BHA may cause cancer in rats, mice, fish and hamsters exposed to it through what they eat. 

BHA has been listed as a known carcinogen under California’s Proposition 65 since 1990. The National Toxicology Program in 1991 classified it as “reasonably anticipated to be a human carcinogen.”

In 1990, a doctor petitioned the FDA to ban the chemical from food, but the FDA has not yet issued a response. In 2025, West Virginia banned BHA from all food sold in the state beginning in 2028. 

The following is a statement from Melanie Benesh, vice president for government affairs at the Environmental Working Group: 

This is yet another instance of the FDA planning to plan instead of taking decisive action. And this time the FDA’s plan is more than three decades late. A petition to ban BHA has been pending for over 30 years, during which time evidence of risk has accumulated, consumers have voiced concern, and states and retailers have stepped in where federal regulators would not. 

BHA has already been banned in West Virginia. Major retailers like Kroger, Hy-Vee and Aldi prohibit BHA from their store brands. 

This raises the obvious question of what, exactly, the FDA is hoping to learn now. Instead, the FDA could simply grant the pending petition and get BHA off the shelves everywhere much more quickly. 

A request for information that follows decades of inaction is not leadership; it’s a paper exercise. Americans deserve timely, decisive food safety regulation, not another slow-walked process that treats urgency as optional.

###

The Environmental Working Group (EWG) is a nonprofit, non-partisan organization that empowers people to live healthier lives in a healthier environment. Through research, advocacy and unique education tools, EWG drives consumer choice and civic action.

Areas of Focus Food Ultra-Processed Foods Toxic Chemicals Food Chemicals Press Contact Iris Myers iris@ewg.org (202) 939-9126 February 10, 2026

The 2026 Prospectors & Developers Association of Canada (PDAC) conference in Toronto is looming, and we here at MISN would like to invite you to a teach-in & art build in preparation! We will be discussing the links between mining and militarism, Canada’s role in the global mining industry, and why it is so critical […]

Sixty North Gold Mining (CSE: SXTY; US-OTC: SXNTF) plans to restart the past-producing Mon gold mine in the Northwest Territories by midyear after installing a 100-tonne-per-day mill at the site, CEO David Webb said.

The project, about 40 km from Yellowknife, is in a gold belt with a history of high grades. Past production totalled about 15 million oz. at an average 16 grams gold per tonne, according to Webb. Sixty North plans to develop beneath historical stopes – about 17 metres below the old workings – and feed the new mill, which the company expects to deliver in March.

“We would ramp down underneath the old [stopes] and start mining that with a brand-new mill,” Webb told The Northern Miner’s Western Editor, Henry Lazenby, at a recent industry event. “And we feel that at 100 tonnes a day, recovering somewhere close to a 100 oz. gold per day – that would work out to over $442,911 per day.”

So confident are Web and the team in the mineralization they’re seeing that the restart is moving ahead without a formal economic study or compliant mineral resources or reserves. Webb said he prefers to prove the project through mining rather than spend on technical reports he considers costly and inconclusive.

Watch the full interview below:

American Tungsten (CSE: TUNG) has provided its first assay results from underground drilling at the IMA project in Idaho, showing high grades of tungsten plus silver from multiple holes. Shares of the Canadian miner surged.

Located in Lemhi county, the IMA project is the site of a former tungsten mine that operated between 1945 and 1957. During that time, it produced nearly 200,000 metric ton units of tungsten trioxide (WO3), along with millions of pounds of copper and zinc and over 1,000 ounces of silver. From the 1960s onwards, the property was explored for molybdenum and tungsten by various operators.

American Tungsten bought the project in 2024 with the aim of bringing the underground mine back into production. Before that, the company plans to conduct exploration drilling to define a mineral resource while restoring the mine infrastructure to assess the potential restart.

To date, a total of 10 underground drill holes totaling approximately 3,800 feet have been completed on the rehabilitated D-level of the mine. The drilling is being conducted in a series of upward inclined fan holes from new drill stations in the footwall of the No.5 and No.7 vein systems.

‘High-quality’ tungsten asset

In a press release on Tuesday, the company released the first set of results, with three holes returning 31 feet grading 0.48% WO3 and 1.84 oz/t silver, 11.1 feet grading 1.08% WO3 and 2.05 oz/t Ag, and 16.3 feet grading 0.54% WO3 and 1.79 oz/t Ag, respectively.

“These results show strong grades over significant widths, underscoring the high-quality nature of the IMA tungsten asset, which has never been systematically targeted with modern exploration methods,” American Tungsten CEO Ali Haji said in the release.

Tungsten is a critical mineral used widely in industrial and technology applications. The US has not had any domestic production since 2015, and so relies heavily on supplies from China, which accounts for 80% of the global mine output.

American Tungsten in line for potential $25.5M loan

Shares of American Tungsten rose nearly 9% to C$2.59 apiece by midday after the announcement, giving the company a market capitalization of C$129.5 million ($95.6 million). Year to date, the stock has risen by nearly 60%.

“They will support the definition of a mineral resource — an important step toward bringing the mine online. The results also identify a silver system that is expected to help offset operating costs,” Haji said.

Silver prices recently rallied to record highs of above $120/oz., and despite a massive selloff at the end of January, it remains up 160% over the past year.

According to American Tungsten, the next major focus for the company is to advance metallurgy and move the IMA project toward development.

The company behind plans for lower-volume fracking in Burniston, North Yorkshire, warned today it could go out of business if shareholders did not approve a £3.5m fundraising later this month.

Europa Oil & Gas shares fall on 10 February 2026 on news of fundraising

Europa Oil & Gas said if the placing were rejected, the company could face uncertainty about its future as a going concern and lose the EG-08 licence in Equatorial Guinea.

Shares in the company fell 15.82% at the end of trading, down to 1.33p from 1.58p at the close yesterday.

In a statement to investors, Europa said the directors unanimously recommended shareholders vote in favour of the fundraising at a general meeting on Friday 27 February 2026.

The statement warned:

“Should the resolution not be passed, the placing will not proceed and the company will not have sufficient funds to maintain its current interest in the EG-08 licence (held by virtue of a 42.9% holding of Antler Global Limited) nor to continue its other operations and there would be a material uncertainty over the company’s ability to continue as a going concern.”

In a separate statement and on X, the company later said the fundraising had conditionally raised gross proceeds of £3.5m, subject to shareholder approval.

Europa Oil & Gas statement on X, 10 February 2026

Europa said the fundraising would extend its cash runway (the number of months a business can operate before exhausting cash reserves). This would ensure drilling of the Barracuda prospect in Equatorial Guinea, Europa said. It would also “provide additional financial resources for the Company’s ongoing working capital needs”.

Another statement announced a retail offer to raise £350,000, conditional on the completion of the placing.

In November 2025, Europa and its partner, Egdon Resources, announced they were looking to raise more than £6.5m for the Burniston proposals. The money would be spent on a 3D seismic survey (£800,000) and on drilling an appraisal well (£6.4m).

A decision on the Burniston planning application was postponed last month. The government has confirmed it is considering requests by local representatives for it to call in the decision.

Registered nurses at nine Appalachian Regional Healthcare facilities across Kentucky and West Virginia voted overwhelmingly in favor of ratifying a new three-year contract as of Jan. 23, 2026, winning provisions to improve nurse recruitment and retention.

A resource update for Liberty Gold’s (TSX: LGD) Black Pine site in southeastern Idaho ranks it at the top of undeveloped gold projects in the state by contained ounces and in the region’s top three. Shares soared. 

The update gives Black Pine 502.7 million indicated tonnes grading 0.3 gram gold per tonne for 4.8 million oz., a 17% increase from the 4.1 million contained indicated oz. in the 2024 study, Liberty reported Tuesday. Inferred resources now total 157.1 million at 0.21 gram gold for about 1 million contained oz., a 47% increase in contained gold. Black Pine is about 380 km southeast of the state capital, Boise.

The addition of more than 700,000 indicated gold oz., and an expansion of 338,000 inferred gold oz., is a “solid result that meaningfully enhances the project’s scale,” Canaccord Genuity Capital Market analyst Peter Bell said in a note on Tuesday.

‘Strengthens project’s trajectory’

“[The update] not only grows the footprint but importantly lifts the higher confidence indicated inventory that underpins feasibility work,” he said. “We see this as a constructive result that strengthens the project’s trajectory toward development.”

The updated resource adds to significant tailwinds for Liberty Gold, after Black Pine – one of the few large-scale oxide gold deposits in the US – was added just weeks ago to the FAST-41 federal government program to quicken permitting. Its designation as a “covered project” gives it benefits such as a project advisor and timetable, enhancing the inter-agency coordination for the site.

Liberty Gold sets 2028 build clock for Black Pine under Idaho’s new SPEED Act

Liberty shares surged more than 3% to a 52-week high of C$1.42 apiece at mid-day Tuesday in Toronto, valuing the company at about C$723 million ($534 million).

Idaho’s golden crown

Compared to other projects in Idaho, the total contained ounces put Black Pine ahead of Revival Gold’s (TSXV: RVG) Beartrack-Arnett project, which hosts about 4.6 million global contained oz., and Freeman Gold’s (CSE: FMAN) Lemhi project, with about 1.46 million contained ounces.

In the Intermountain West region of the United States, Black Pine ranks third behind AngloGold Ashanti’s (NYSE: AU; JSE: ANG) Beatty District projects in northern Nevada, which host about 19.7 million oz. gold; and Hycroft Mining’s (Nasdaq: HYMC) namesake project in southern Nevada, with 14 million ounces.

“This updated mineral resource estimate has achieved indicated resource growth and expanded the total resource footprint which are important steps for the Black Pine project as we move closer to mine development,” Liberty CEO Jon Gilligan said in a release.

“With totals of just under 5 million gold ounces of resource in the indicated class, and just over 1 million gold ounces of inferred mineralization, Black Pine is solidly positioned to deliver a feasibility study in the fourth quarter of this year.”

The update is based on results from 462,662 metres of drilling across 3,010 holes, Liberty said.

The preliminary feasibility study estimated Black Pine’s post-tax net present value at $550 million, with a 32% post-tax internal rate of return and with all-in sustaining costs at $1,380 per ounce. That was based on a price assumption of $2,000 per oz. gold and a 5% discount rate.

This coverage is made possible through a partnership between Grist and WABE, Atlanta’s NPR station.

As more and more data centers crop up throughout Georgia and the Southeast, a recent study finds they may need less energy than the industry and utilities have been predicting. That could have substantial implications for energy bills and the planet.

Data centers — especially the biggest ones, known as hyperscalers, used for high-powered computing like generative AI — use a lot of energy. And major utilities like Georgia Power have started expanding power plants and building other infrastructure to fuel them. Late last year, the Georgia Public Service Commission approved a staggering 10 gigawatt expansion for Georgia Power to meet projected demand that’s mostly from data centers, after previously greenlighting new natural gas-fired turbines for the same reason.

But the level of growth that Georgia Power and other southeastern utilities are planning for only has about a 0.2 percent chance of actually happening, according to a report for the Southern Environmental Law Center written by Greenlink Analytics, a nonprofit that promotes transitioning to clean energy, and Science for Georgia, an organization that advocates for the use of science in public policy.

“We believe that this is a very aggressive forecast coming from the utilities,” said Etan Gumerman, Greenlink’s director of analytics who did the modeling for the report.

Because the data center industry is growing and changing so fast, it’s hard to predict accurately. The report finds data center energy use across the region could grow by anything from 2.2 to 8.7 gigawatts by 2031. Still, rapid improvements to technology that could make AI much more efficient in the coming years are likely to dampen the overall increase in energy demand.

But electric utilities across the region are planning for the extreme high end of data center growth, the report finds. That creates a risk that utilities will build more infrastructure than data centers actually need.

“Who’s going to pay for that?” asked Gumerman. “Not the data centers that never came.” Regular customers, he said, will likely end up paying those costs. “And I think that’s the problem in a nutshell.”

Protestors at the Georgia Public Service Commission in December, at which the commission approved a 10 gigawatt expansion to meet projected demand from data centers.
Jeff Amy / AP Photo

The Greenlink report is far from the first to question the projections for how much energy data centers require and how much that generation will affect individual ratepayers. Many people, from public commenters to expert consultants to the Public Service Commission’s own staff, made similar points last year during hearings over Georgia Power’s now-approved expansion. The risk of residential and small business customers paying for infrastructure built mostly for data centers was a persistent concern. 

The Georgia PSC has taken several steps to protect ordinary ratepayers from data center costs. New billing terms approved last year allow Georgia Power to collect minimum payments from large power users like data centers and commit them to 15-year contracts — measures designed to ensure those customers pay for any infrastructure built to serve them and continue to pay even if they leave the state. As part of the agreement to approve the 10 gigawatt expansion last year, the utility agreed to backstop costs if the projected demand doesn’t materialize. The commission has also stressed it can still halt the recently approved projects. Clean energy and consumer advocates are skeptical these measures are enough.

In addition to the risk of rising costs for ratepayers, the sky-high demand projections for data centers are also stalling the transition away from fossil fuels as a source of electricity. Studies have found much of the coming data center demand could be met without building new infrastructure, through improving efficiency among utilities nationwide and through flexibility by the data centers themselves. Instead, utilities and data centers alike are falling back on natural gas. The U.S. now leads the world in gas-fired capacity in development, nearly tripling the total from 2024 to 2025, according to Global Energy Monitor. Much of the capacity utilities are building is to meet increased demand from data centers, and more than a third of the whopping 252 gigawatts in development is on-site power for data centers. That latter approach — where data centers are built with their own source of power, known as “behind-the-meter” generation — addresses the concern over rising costs but not fossil fuel emissions. While some tech companies are pursuing nuclear energy for their data centers, currently most of the power is coming from gas.

In Georgia, for instance, Georgia Power officials have said the vast majority of the projected demand driving the company’s expansion comes from data centers. The utility has already delayed plans to close coal-fired power plants and begun adding new gas-fired turbines. The 10 gigawatt expansion approved in December will come mostly from new gas turbines, which have projected lifespans of 45 years, and natural gas-generated electricity purchased from other utilities. 

“I think people would be a lot less hesitant and a lot less up in arms about these 10 gigawatts if it was sustainable, smart growth,” said Amy Sharma, executive director of Science for Georgia, a nonpartisan group advocating for the use of science in public policy. “The idea that we’re going to add this additional capacity with gas-fired turbines is horribly depressing and, as my high school daughter likes to remind me, so last century.”

The state legislature in Georgia is currently considering several bills to address data center concerns. One would ensure regular customers don’t pay for power generation built for data centers. Others would require more transparency from data center developers or even impose a statewide moratorium. 

There are also bills to end the tax breaks that data centers currently receive in Georgia. State lawmakers already passed a bill to suspend tax exemptions for data centers in 2024, but Governor Brian Kemp vetoed it.

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This story was originally published by Grist with the headline Utilities in the Southeast may be overestimating the AI boom on Feb 10, 2026.

This article The fight to keep ICE from reopening a notorious prison was originally published by Waging Nonviolence.

On March 1, 2025, Kendra Drysdale stood before a crowd of about 500 people at a street protest to rally the Dublin, California community against the potential reopening of a local federal prison as an immigrant detention center. She warned them of the harm and trauma that the reopening could cause — which she knew firsthand, because she and many incarcerated women she knew had been sexually assaulted at Federal Correctional Institution Dublin, or FCI Dublin, when it was a women’s prison. 

Before it closed in April 2024, the federal prison was known as the “rape club” for rampant sexual assault and retaliation against incarcerated women who spoke out. Prisoners also reported unsafe building conditions and medical neglect. More than 200 women have sued over sexual abuse or are in the process of suing, and nine employees have been convicted of sex crimes.

However, the facility may not stay closed for long. Last February, news broke that ICE had toured FCI Dublin. In response, local residents, advocates and survivors like Drysdale formed the ICE out of Dublin Coalition and worked to inform the community about the dangers of an ICE takeover of FCI Dublin, successfully getting the Dublin City Council to pass a resolution in December opposing a reopening. Mobilization continues, as the Federal Bureau of Prisons has confirmed it is in the process of transferring the facility to the General Services Administration, which could then transfer it to ICE. 

Drysdale was horrified at the news of the transfer and is still working to activate the community and pressure officials to prevent a reopening.

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She and other formerly incarcerated women who were sexually assaulted at FCI Dublin have been speaking out since March at monthly rallies and City Council meetings to talk about their experiences of abuse, the deterioration of the building’s infrastructure, and the potential harm to immigrants.

“In FCI Dublin, it was sort of a normalized culture of abuse, with immigrants being more targeted than anyone else because of their vulnerable status,” Drysdale said.

She described the retaliation that she and other whistleblowers faced: After she testified about the abuse she underwent in an evidentiary hearing a month before she was scheduled to get out, her release date was postponed another seven months. The guards also took away her in-person and virtual visits and her access to mail and phone calls.

Drysdale also noted that the building would require major renovations to remedy mold and asbestos problems.

“We all together have come together as survivors of Dublin to advocate,” Drysdale said. “That building should be demolished. None of us want to see it reopen for anyone.”

No ICE detention in Northern California

The ICE out of Dublin coalition formed not long after leaders of the federal prison workers union told the Los Angeles Times in February 2025 that an assessment of FCI Dublin had been provided to ICE “for what appears to be the potential of ICE taking over the facility.” A few days later, another report confirmed ICE officials had toured FCI Dublin.

Activists in the community were not surprised and began organizing immediately. There is no immigrant detention center in the area, and between 2018 and 2023, activists rallied to end ICE contracts for use of local prisons and jails in Sacramento County, Contra Costa County and Yuba County. Activists knew that a second Trump administration would mean a push to expand ICE detention, and in 2024, ICE filed an inquiry into opening a facility near San Francisco. 

For Alex Mensing, communications manager at the California Collaborative for Immigrant Justice, one of dozens of groups in the ICE out of Dublin coalition, there is concern that an immigrant detention center in Northern California could result in more enforcement. Northern California currently has the nation’s lowest ICE arrest rate in the country.

Protesters with the ICE out of Dublin coalition held a vigil near the facility on April 16, 2025. (ICE Out of Dublin coalition)

“I think that folks recognize that there have been less ICE arrests in Northern California because there’s no ICE detention centers in Northern California, and that’s the result of organizing over the course of the last decade to end any ICE contract,” Mensing said. 

Mensing sees keeping the Bay Area free of detention centers as a crucial safeguard “to prevent what’s been happening in Los Angeles, Chicago, Minneapolis and all these places from happening in Northern California.”

Getting the City Council on board

Bay Area residents have also played a key part in organizing against the reopening of FCI Dublin. In December, the Dublin City Council passed a resolution to oppose the facility reopening after public comments from dozens of local residents, as well as testimony from survivors. 

To encourage participation, the ICE out of Dublin coalition went door to door, passed out flyers at local farmers markets and other places people congregated, took down emails, and hosted education sessions on Zoom before City Council meetings.

“It’s chaotic when ICE comes; look at Minneapolis,” said Elizabeth Schmitt, a Bay Area native active in the coalition. “People don’t want that. They want to be able to live their lives without being afraid of being swept up in something or accidentally in the wrong spot at the wrong time and shot. It’s a very basic idea of being safe in your community.”

Schmitt said that City Council meetings are usually poorly attended, but during a meeting the second week of November, there were so many people the session overflowed into a side room where attendees had to watch on a TV. 

Speakers “were talking about the inhumanity of ICE, about how the detention centers were badly maintained, badly kept, how people got ill and died in the detention center,” Schmitt said. “They talked about the illegality of people being snatched and deported, and also did not want to repeat what happened when it was an FCI building.”

By the end of the meeting, the City Council agreed to put a resolution opposing the reopening on the December agenda. The resolution passed unanimously at the next meeting.

“The City Council knew immediately this was not an ordinary thing that maybe some people had an interest in,” Schmitt said. “It was quite obvious there were very strong feelings in the community.”

Mobilization ahead

The ICE out of Dublin coalition is also calling for transparency from the federal government about updates and timelines regarding the facility.

Earlier in December, the Federal Bureau of Prisons sent a letter to the City of Dublin saying the facility “is no longer needed to house inmates, requires substantial capital investment to meet standards, and is costly to operate and maintain” and advocating for its disposal through the General Services Administration 

However, once the prison is transferred to the GSA following an environmental evaluation, the GSA could transfer ownership to ICE.

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“The reason that we feel like that is concerning is because the GSA has been the agency that deals with federal properties, and they have been facilitating ICE takeover of other properties,” Mensing said. “It’s another step towards potentially turning it into an ICE detention center.”

Mensing said that the coalition’s next goal is to get the Board of Supervisors governing Alameda County, which includes Dublin, to put out a statement against FCI Dublin reopening. The coalition has reached out to local U.S. Reps. Mark DeSaulnier and Eric Swalwell to ask them to share any information about plans for FCI Dublin, oppose its reopening and oppose all ICE detention. The organizers also plan to continue holding regular rallies and educating people. 

“We’re definitely not going to let up the pressure, and will continue to mobilize people and keep an eye also on the facility,” Mensing said. “There’s a lot of people in Dublin who don’t want it to become an ICE detention center, and they’re paying attention to what’s happening.”

For Drysdale, the stakes are clear: “I don’t want to see the Bay Area have more exposure to ICE because they have a local place to place them. [And] I don’t want to see anyone else go through anything like [we did].”

This article The fight to keep ICE from reopening a notorious prison was originally published by Waging Nonviolence.

In an extremely disappointing reversal, the Tennessee Valley Authority announced it is planning to keep its Kingston and Cumberland coal plants operating for the foreseeable future, blowing by its upcoming deadlines to close the polluting facilities. The nation’s largest federal utility had previously committed to shutting down these dirty and expensive plants, which was the basis of its plans for building new, multi-billion-dollar methane gas power plants at the Cumberland and Kingston sites.

TVA’s plan to keep the Kingston and Cumberland coal plants operating was published in Supplemental Environmental Impact Statements that were published to its website. The federal utility did not notify the public about these changes or allow for any public comment or input.

“TVA’s decision to break its promise to shutter these polluting coal plants is a bait and switch that will lead to more pollution in nearby communities, a less reliable power grid, increasing impacts of climate change, and higher power bills for millions of people throughout the Tennessee Valley,” Trey Bussey, a staff attorney at the Southern Environmental Law Center, said. “Even worse, the federal utility made this reckless decision without even telling the communities that would be impacted, let alone getting their input. This is a blatant attempt from TVA to take the public out of ‘public power.’”

Burning coal for power is incredibly dirty. Coal plants like the Kingston and Cumberland facilities release staggering amounts of air and water pollution, including sulfur dioxide, soot, arsenic, mercury, and other heavy metals. These pollutants are tied to respiratory illnesses, neurological problems, and certain types of cancers.

Coal plants also pump out huge amounts of climate-warming pollution, and the Cumberland and Kingston facilities are two of the top three biggest sources of carbon dioxide pollution in Tennessee. Communities in the Tennessee Valley are already feeling the impacts of climate change through rising temperatures, increased flooding, and more extreme storms.

"Keeping coal plants running after promising to retire them locks families into higher costs, more pollution, and a grid stuck in the past,” said Angie Mummaw, Middle Tennessee Organizer for Appalachian Voices. “These units are expensive and inefficient. We’ve now seen a Cumberland coal unit fail during both Winter Storm Elliott and Winter Storm Fern. That isn’t reliability; it’s refusal to move forward when Valley communities deserve cleaner, cheaper, modern energy, not last-minute decisions made behind closed doors that double down on yesterday’s fuel.”

TVA itself has said that these coal plants are nearing the “end of their life cycle,” and that keeping them open could increase costs for customers while creating serious reliability concerns. In its decision to retire the Kingston Coal Plant, for example, TVA wrote that keeping the plant open would present “reliability challenges that are difficult to anticipate and expensive to mitigate.” Similarly, in its decision to retire the Cumberland Fossil Plant, the federal utility wrote that “the continued long-term operation of some of TVA’s coal plants is contributing to environmental, economic, and reliability risks.”

For years, TVA has claimed that its multi-billion-dollar gas spending spree, which includes new gas plants and pipelines at both the Kingston and Cumberland sites, was necessary in order for the utility to retire these dirty coal plants. In fact, TVA argued that it couldn’t invest in cleaner and more cost-effective renewable energy sources, like solar power and battery storage, because they would not come online fast enough to retire the coal plants. This argument is deeply flawed, as conservation groups continually pointed out, and now TVA is going back on its promise to close the coal plants altogether. The move raises serious questions around the utility’s decision-making process for both proposed gas plants.

“The Cumberland coal plant has gone down during the last two major weather events, leading to blackouts and raising bills during storms like Fern, and causing unnecessary hardship for Tennesseans who count on TVA,” said Sierra Club’s Beyond Coal Campaign Manager Amy Kelly. “But instead of doing what’s right for the people of the Tennessee Valley region, TVA has decided to scrap clean energy plans and keep these plants online, further straining our budgets, while they also pollute our communities. To make these decisions without a chance for the public to weigh in shows that Trump’s TVA has no interest in being accountable to the people it is supposed to serve or how much it is going to cost us.”

“Postponing the retirement dates for the Cumberland and Kingston coal plants would be a major step backward for TVA’s decarbonization goals and is a Band-Aid fix at best for the enormous load growth TVA is anticipating. There are other solutions available that don’t trade the long-term greater good of the people for short-term profit and expediency,” Sierra Club Tennessee Chapter Chair JoAnn McIntosh said.

TVA has cited growing demand for power as a reason to keep its coal fleet operating, however much of that growing industrial demand is coming from the rapid buildout of data centers. In its recent earnings report, TVA’s CEO said he expects power demand from data centers in the utility’s region to double in the next four years. People from across the Tennessee Valley, in both rural and urban areas, have expressed significant concern about the impacts data centers are having on their communities, power bills, and quality of life.

The TVA Board is meeting this week in Hopkinsville, Kentucky, with a listening session on Tuesday. The Board is expected to discuss TVA’s coal plant reversal at its meeting.

Which California Lawmakers Showed Up for Frontline Communities?

With protections to our health and safety under attack at the federal level, California lawmakers faced critical choices in the last legislative session. The California Environmental Justice Alliance (CEJA) and CEJA Action’s 2025 Environmental Justice Legislative Scorecard shows who used their power to stand with frontline communities and who failed to do so. It provides transparency on how legislators voted on priority legislation related to energy affordability, tenant protections, nonprofit safeguards, CEQA, and oil drilling, with additional recognition of lawmakers who engaged directly with impacted communities. 

This is the only scorecard in California that evaluates our representatives entirely on how they voted on key bills impacting communities most harmed by pollution, climate change, and economic inequality. This Scorecard is a tool for transparency, accountability, and organizing for a more just California.

Read the Full Scorecard CEJA EJ Scorecard 2025Download Top of the Class

CEJA proudly recognizes the legislators who earned 100 percent or higher on the 2025 Environmental Justice Scorecard for consistently voting in alignment with environmental justice priorities and showing strong partnership with frontline communities.

Assemblymembers

Dawn Addis
Assembly District 30
(Central Coast)

Rebecca Bauer-Kahan
Assembly District 16
(East Bay)

Tasha Boerner
Assembly District 77 
(San Diego)

Mia Bonta
Assembly District 18
(East Bay)

Damon Connolly
Assembly District 12 
(Marin)

State Senators

Catherine Blakespear
Senate District 38  
(San Diego)

John Laird
Senate District 17  
(Santa Cruz)

These leaders demonstrate what it looks like to put people, health, and community power first.

Honorable Mentions

CEJA also recognizes legislators who showed meaningful leadership by asking tough questions, pushing back on harmful proposals, or advancing critical environmental justice protections, even when the political terrain was difficult.

• Senator Caroline Menjivar (SD 20, Los Angeles)
  Sen. Menjivar consistently pushed back against Big Oil and advocated for investments in communities most impacted by pollution. She authored CEJA priority bill SB 684 and has been a strong voice for a holistic and just transition away from fossil fuels.
  
• Senator Sasha Renée Pérez (SD 25, Pasadena)
  In her first year in office, Sen. Pérez emerged as a strong environmental justice leader by raising concerns about rushed legislative deals and their impacts on vulnerable communities. As her district recovers from devastating wildfires, she has centered both immediate recovery and long-term climate solutions.
  
• Senator María Elena Durazo (SD 26, Los Angeles)
  As Chair of the Senate Local Government Committee, Sen. Durazo played a critical role in pushing back on harmful CEQA attacks and fighting for amendments to protect frontline communities. She has also remained a consistent champion for affordable, clean drinking water.
  
• Senator Eloise Gómez Reyes (SD 29, San Bernardino)
  Sen. Reyes continued her long-standing leadership on environmental justice by authoring key legislation to improve air quality in impacted communities. She has made clear her commitment to ensuring all Californians have access to clean, healthy air.

Their leadership mattered in key moments during the 2025 legislative session.

How the Scorecard Works

For the 2025 legislative session, CEJA scored lawmakers based on floor and committee votes on six priority bills from our environmental justice agenda. These bills reflect critical fights over energy affordability, housing safety, community oversight, and corporate accountability. Scores also include Community Points, which recognize engagement with environmental justice communities beyond formal votes, such as attending community tours and listening to resident testimonies.

Bills We Supported

• AB 1167 (Berman) – Prohibits investor-owned utilities from using ratepayer money for lobbying and promotional activities, helping rein in rising energy bills and utility influence.
  
• SB 24 (McNerney) – Blocks utilities from spending ratepayer funds on political influence and efforts to oppose public or municipal power options.
  
• AB 1318 (Bonta) – Protects nonprofit access to state funding by ensuring eligibility under California tax law, especially critical amid growing federal threats to nonprofit organizations.
  
• SB 655 (Stern) – Establishes the state’s responsibility to ensure homes can maintain safe indoor temperatures, addressing extreme heat risks faced by low-income tenants and frontline communities.

Bills We Opposed

• SB 237 (Grayson) – Shields oil companies expanding drilling in Kern County from environmental review and litigation, increasing health risks for frontline communities.
  
• SB 131 (Wiener) – Creates a sweeping CEQA exemption for so-called “advanced manufacturing,” allowing high-risk industrial projects to move forward without environmental review or community input.

Legislators’ scores reflect how consistently they voted in alignment with CEJA’s positions across these bills. To learn more about why we supported and opposed these bills, check out this previous article by CEJA Action.

Community Points

In addition to votes, the Alliance awards Community Points to recognize lawmakers who engage directly with environmental justice communities beyond the Capitol. These points acknowledge actions such as attending community tours, listening to resident testimony, and advocating for environmental justice principles during policy development. Community Points provide a percentage boost to a legislator’s final score, and representatives who received the most community points are highlighted as Honorable Mentions.

The global uranium market entered 2026 with great momentum, with spot prices surging by about a quarter in January to above $100 a lb. for the first time in two years.

According to Sprott Asset Management, the rally towards its 2024 peak suggests that the uranium sector has a bigger supportive backdrop than last year, which was marked by volatility. Prices declined during the first few months, before bouncing from the low $60s to the high $80s in the second half.

Sprott’s ETF products director Jacob White said the gains in January reflect “an important shift in investor attention” from downstream nuclear themes back to the upstream supply chain, largely due to improvements in policy clarity fundamentals.

The firm has been amongst the biggest buyers of uranium, adding 4 million lb. to its uranium fund this year, which now has a total holding of nearly 79 million.

Policy drivers

In a note published this week, the Sprott analyst pointed to the Trump administration’s Section 232 framework on critical minerals as a key catalyst, as it explicitly proclaims uranium’s importance to US energy and national security.

A heightened strategic status could lead to further policy support and tangible actions taken by the US government, such as the recently announced $2.7 billion funding to strengthen domestic
uranium enrichment services over the next decade, the report noted.

“More broadly, these actions sit within a clear ambition to quadruple US nuclear capacity by 2050, including another target to have 10 new large reactors under construction by 2030. If the US were to quadruple nuclear capacity, it would require an extraordinary amount of incremental uranium supply,” White wrote.

He also hypothesized that the US government could begin to take up equity stakes in uranium miners in exchange for offtake agreements with price floors.

“We are seeing these types of transactions in other critical materials, so why not uranium?”

Supply tightening

On market fundamentals, the Sprott analyst pointed to December 2025 as a defining moment for its bull market thesis, when top producer Kazakhstan tightened exploration control on uranium. The current prices, according to its state miner Kazatomprom, do not provide enough incentives to unlock future production. As such, supply would be constrained in the coming years unless higher uranium prices are realized.

Uranium supply-demand imbalance may likely grow. Credit: Sprott

Globally, the slow pace of mine development and a concentrated, underinvested supply base are set to widen the market deficit, Sprott added, citing producer data. The supply problem would be exacerbated by rising demand for nuclear energy and continued buildout of AI data centers, it said.

Contracting in catch-up mode

Sprott’s report also highlighted that uranium contracting has been falling behind for years, which could further boost prices and market momentum.

Utilities buy nuclear fuel years ahead, but contracting has undershot the replacement rate for a 13th straight year in 2025, pushing uncovered needs into the future. This deferred procurement builds pressure, it said, raising the risk that utilities will have to return to the market later with larger volumes to secure, fewer options and higher prices.

Uranium contracting a coiled spring? Credit: Sprott

According to Sprott, the timing is particularly acute in 2026, as current decisions will shape early-2030s supply. Early signs of this catch-up emerged in late 2025, with contracting picking up after a subdued first nine months amid uncertainty.

Taken together, uranium enters 2026 with an increasingly constructive setup, White wrote, adding that “January delivered an early reminder of uranium’s non-linear behavior when fundamentals tighten and sentiment turns.”