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There are days when the sulphur-like, toxic smell coming from the nearby oil facilities is so potent that Azuh Chinenye struggles to go outside her house early in the morning. “When you inhale, you as a person, your body system, and every other thing will change… you can’t stand the odour,” she said.

Chinenye lives in Oyigbo, a town less than 20 miles (32 km) from Port Harcourt, in the Niger Delta, the heart of Nigeria’s main oil-producing region.

Signs of the industry are everywhere in Oyigbo. Active flare stacks stand just metres from homes and businesses, whose walls are caked in soot. Close to a primary school, Climate Home News saw oil spilling from a corroded underground pipe.

The local oil field here was for many years owned and operated by Shell, until it was sold to a Nigerian firm for $533 million in early 2021. Since the sale, gas flaring has increased dramatically at Oyigbo, despite the new operator’s promise to “protect our planet” and the health of communities.

A local doctor and residents told Climate Home News that the opposite is happening in reality, as people struggle with the effects of noxious pollutants released by flaring at production facilities close to their homes.

Flaring worsens climate crisis

Fifteen times more gas was burned at the Oyigbo field in 2024 compared to 2020, according to an analysis of satellite data prepared for Climate Home News by SkyTruth, an environmental watchdog. This pattern is repeated at other fields previously owned by Shell across the Niger Delta, the data shows.

Flaring occurs when gas produced during oil drilling is burned off, instead of being utilised. The process releases vast amounts of carbon dioxide and methane, a potent planet-heating greenhouse gas, alongside toxic chemicals.

Failure to tackle gas flaring pushes global climate goals further out of reach, as cutting methane emissions from the oil and gas industry is widely seen by climate and energy experts as a quick win to slow global warming in the short term.

Shell claims to have significantly reduced its emissions and says it achieved zero routine flaring last year, but our analysis reveals that this was driven primarily by selling off high-emission assets – from the US to Nigeria – which are then free to continue polluting, albeit under different management.

After Shell divestments, flaring on the rise

A spokesperson for Shell told Climate Home News by email that, when the energy giant selects buyers for divestments, it assesses “a number of factors such as their financial strength, operating culture and environmental performance” and shares emissions reduction plans for the assets, where relevant.

But Shell does not monitor the performance of those assets once it has handed over control to the buyer, the spokesperson said, adding that regulation of operations by the new owner is carried out by governments.

After years of staying flat at the global level, flaring has risen again since 2023, including in Nigeria, where smaller home-grown firms have been ramping up production seeking to maximise oil revenues while lacking the expertise to prevent flaring, according to a World Bank report.

To understand more about how this wasteful and dangerous process continues to harm people’s lives, Climate Home News went to the Niger Delta, a part of the world unique for how many residents are forced to live in close proximity to flare stacks.

New owner promised sustainable production Rising gas flaring in Oyigbo is harming the wellbeing of the local community. Photo: Vivian Chime Chief Maduabuchi Felix Achiele at his home in Oyigbo. Photo: Vivian Chime Rising gas flaring in Oyigbo is harming the wellbeing of the local community. Photo: Vivian Chime Chief Maduabuchi Felix Achiele at his home in Oyigbo. Photo: Vivian Chime

“Gas flaring has increased in the years since Shell left,” said Chief Maduabuchi Felix Achiele, a community leader in Oyigbo. “In a week, we can observe two, three, four instances of flaring but when Shell was here, it was just once in a while.”

The field has been owned by Trans-Niger Oil and Gas (TNOG) since January 2021, along with the rest of the assets within the OML 17 oil block. The company that runs operations in the block – Lagos-based Heirs Energies – has boasted about turning an “underperforming asset” into an economic success after taking it over from Shell.

Heirs Energies said it has doubled production at OML 17 without that coming at the expense of environmental and climate integrity. “We can create a symmetry, a symbiotic relationship between oil and gas, the environment and people […] sustainability is infused in what we are doing,” its CEO Osayande Igiehon said in an interview late last year.

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Heirs Energies announced an agreement with the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) to capture and monetise gas from OML 17 in December, though the company did not give a timeframe for when this project would be completed. Heirs failed to respond to questions sent by Climate Home News for this story.

On its website, the company says it is “committed to eliminating routine flaring and greenhouse gas emissions by 2025”. But the emissions figures and experience of the local community tell a radically different story.

Jump in flaring volumes

In OML 17, the vast oil block that covers much of the urban area of Port Harcourt and its surrounding towns like Oyigbo, gas flaring volumes grew sevenfold between 2020 – the last year of Shell’s involvement – and 2024, according to data presented to Climate Home News by SkyTruth.

To conduct this analysis, we tracked sales of onshore Nigerian assets, determined the location of each site using open source data, and then worked with SkyTruth to monitor flaring from these locations using data from the Earth Observation Group at the Colorado School of Mines.

Within OML 17, at Agbada, about a 30-minute drive north of Port Harcourt city centre, flaring doubled immediately after the sale in 2021. The following year, it almost doubled again and has remained close to that mark since. In Nkali, another asset within OML 17, flaring was nearly four times higher in the year after the sale.

While SkyTruth’s analysis was only able to use figures up to 2024, flaring remained high at these oil blocks throughout 2025, according to publicly available data from the NNPC.

This pattern can be seen in other oil blocks. Shell lost its right to operate OML 11 in August 2021, a block that spans the Ogoniland region. This helped the company to record a drop in emissions from both greenhouse gases and volatile organic compounds, while flaring went up under the block’s new operator, a subsidiary of the government-owned NNPC.

“Catastrophic” for communities

Communities in Ogoniland are seeking reparations for the decades-long environmental devastation caused by oil drilling. When it took control of the assets in 2021, the NNPC said the firm’s operations would be driven by “a social contract that would put the people and environment of the Niger Delta above pecuniary considerations”. Nonetheless, gas flaring tripled between 2021 and 2024 across all OML 11 fields, according to the analysis prepared by SkyTruth.

It was a similar story at Nembe Creek, part of the OML 29 block sold by Shell to Nigerian firm Aiteo for $1.7bn in March 2015. That year, flaring rose by around a quarter and then doubled in 2016. 

For blighted Niger Delta communities, oil spill clean-ups are another broken promise

Production at the facility fell dramatically following a huge oil spill in 2021 that dumped 20,000 barrels of oil per day into local creeks for a month. Gas flaring at Nembe Creek spiked again in 2024, to an annual volume 54% higher than in 2014, when Shell still ran the field. In June 2024, another spill forced Aiteo to halt production. 

Andrew Baxter, senior director for business and energy transition at the Environmental Defense Fund (EDF), told Climate Home News: “Flaring and spills harm human health. Flaring is not just a climate menace, it’s catastrophic to the communities that live around these facilities.” 

It also wastes energy, he said. “This is a depressing waste of resources when there are still significant challenges around energy access,” he added. 

Q&A: “False” climate solutions help keep fossil fuel firms in business

Given the need to address climate change, it’s important that when majors sell fossil fuel assets, buyers have comparable green targets and operating standards, according to organisations like EDF.

Baxter argued that the way Shell managed its troubled oil operations in the Niger Delta over decades had limited its options when selling them on. 

“When operators have a poor environmental record and substandard record of community engagement, it should come as little surprise when they cannot attract many interested buyers for those assets. This rule applies globally,” he said.

Big Oil’s “paper decarbonisation”

Between 2016 and 2023, more than 60% of Shell’s emissions reductions came from divestments. That matters because, despite these emissions no longer being Shell’s responsibility, they are still heating up the Earth’s climate.

Krista Halttunen, a visiting researcher at Imperial College London who focuses on the future of the oil industry, told Climate Home News that companies like Shell are practising “paper decarbonisation”, reducing emissions in their annual reports rather than the real world.

“This story shows the limits of company-driven emissions reduction,” she said. “Very few companies are reducing real-world emissions. Fossil fuel companies can’t meaningfully decarbonise without changing their business model, because their whole reason for being is digging up material that will add more carbon to the atmosphere.”

Shell did not reply to Climate Home News’ questions about how it had achieved its emission reductions.

It also appears that Shell’s achievement of reaching zero routine flaring in 2025 was achieved in large part through the sale of its Nigerian assets. In March of that year Shell sold its onshore Nigerian assets to a consortium of companies called Renaissance Africa. Earlier, in 2023, Shell had stated that its remaining Nigerian assets accounted for around half of total routine and non-routine flaring in its integrated gas and upstream facilities.

Removing Nigerian assets from its portfolio, whether in the Renaissance deal or earlier transactions, may have helped transform Shell’s flaring emissions, but for people living in the Niger Delta life has stayed the same.

Active flaring at an oil production facility in Oyigbo seen in January 2026. Photo: Vivian Chime An oil puddle near a community path in Oyigbo. The local chief said oil often spills from corroded underground pipelines. Photo: Vivian Chime Active flaring at an oil production facility in Oyigbo seen in January 2026. Photo: Vivian Chime An oil puddle near a community path in Oyigbo. The local chief said oil often spills from corroded underground pipelines. Photo: Vivian Chime

“Flaring is not new in this community,” explained Theodore Ike Ogu, a 60-year-old smallholder farmer who lives in Oyigbo. “We are suffering and flaring is increasing.”

Here, temperatures regularly hover around 35 degrees Celsius during the day, with humidity often exceeding 50%. When the flares are going full blast, the heat for those living and working nearby can be unbearable, locals said. At night, when the town is quiet, the noise from the flares keeps people awake.

Chief Maduabuchi recalled that residents used to collect water during the rainy season to drink and wash. “You can’t even use it to wash because, as it comes down, it is dirty because of the smoke,” he complained.

Health risks from toxic chemicals

Gas flaring releases harmful chemicals, and numerous studies, including some conducted in the Niger Delta, have linked living close to flares with being more likely to contract forms of cancer and respiratory illnesses.

Complaints from local communities about health issues and unexplained deaths have been rising in oil-producing communities such as Oyigbo as gas flaring intensifies, according to Dr Bieye Renner Briggs, a Port Harcourt-based public health physician and environmental advocate.

While he cautions that a direct link has not yet been scientifically proven in the Niger Delta, Dr Briggs says the connection is “probable”, given similar findings in other oil regions worldwide. He recommended performing routine autopsies in the local communities to establish clear evidence of whether deaths are caused by gas flaring or oil pollution.

In Oyigbo, flames can be seen rising from flare stacks located near homes and businesses. Source: Airbus / Google Earth – Image from 30/05/2025 In Oyigbo, flames can be seen rising from flare stacks located near homes and businesses. Source: Airbus / Google Earth – Image from 30/05/2025

Dr Briggs warned that people living near flare sites face a wide range of serious health hazards, from hypertension and cardiomyopathy, which can increase the risk of heart failure, to asthma, chronic bronchitis and kidney disease.

Soot particles released by flaring represent a particularly acute health risk, he warned. These are small enough to bypass the body’s natural defences and enter the bloodstream, increasing the risk of cancers and other conditions, he told Climate Home News. “Everything a smoker will suffer and more is what somebody that is exposed to soot will suffer,” he said, noting that, unlike smokers, residents can do little to limit their constant exposure.

The oil companies contacted by Climate Home News for this article, including Shell, did not respond to requests for comment on the health effects of flaring.

“I have different health issues: incessant lung pains, at times a cough, all those things, catarrh,” said Theodore Ike Ogu, adding there are “so many things that we notice health-wise which we believe are due to flaring”.

Azuh Chinenye’s husband, Kelechi Prince Azuh, died in May last year after suffering from breathing difficulties and frequent asthma attacks. “He was 49 years old,” she said, fighting back tears. “You see his poster outside there and three of the children are in university. He didn’t even see them complete their first year.”

Azuh Chinenye said gas flaring has had a major impact on her life. Photo: Vivian Chime A poster commemorating Kelechi Prince Azuh who died last year after suffering from breathing difficulties. Photo: Vivian Chime Azuh Chinenye said gas flaring has had a major impact on her life. Photo: Vivian Chime A poster commemorating Kelechi Prince Azuh who died last year after suffering from breathing difficulties. Photo: Vivian Chime “Nowhere else to go”

Oil production, meanwhile, has increased at former Shell fields. Extracting oil from mature fields like those in Nigeria produces a significant amount of associated gas and, in the absence of funding and infrastructure to make use of this, it is often flared.

Last May, Heirs Energies CEO Igiehon told the Financial Times that Nigerian firms could build better relationships with locals, after years of tension with oil majors over frequent spills and the destruction of local livelihoods. “We’re able to move around unfettered because we have a robust relationship with the communities,” he argued.

The increase in flaring in blocks like OML 17 has tested that idea.

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“Shell was great,” said Chief Maduabuchi, who explained that the company provided healthcare and food to the local community. The new operator, he says, “only gives us a small amount of rice, unlike Shell which used to give us each 50kg”.

Asked why she has chosen to stay in Oyigbo after her husband’s death, Azuh Chinenye explains that it’s much cheaper to live here than in the centre of Port Harcourt. She uses her inhaler when she struggles to breathe and tries not to go outside when the soot gets bad.

“I can easily pack up, but this is my compound, this is my community, and there is nowhere else I will go,” she said.

Cover photo: A woman empties a plastic bowl filled with tapioca, which is derived from cassava paste, on sewn sacks laid on the ground close to a gas flaring furnace in Ughelli, Delta State, Nigeria September 17, 2020. (Photo: REUTERS/Afolabi Sotunde)

The post Gas flaring soars in Niger Delta post-Shell, afflicting communities   appeared first on Climate Home News.

A 50MW solar project will be the first in a 5GW vision by the Ngarluma Aboriginal Corporation.

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Batteries are going to kill coal generation profits as well as gas. They may do more damage to coal than they do to gas.

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Momentum Technologies, a US-based critical minerals processing company, is positioning itself to become a major player in domestic rare earth and battery materials supply chains as it commissions what it says is the world’s first demonstration plant capable of processing both streams at scale.

Incorporated in 2016, the privately held company was initially focused on recovering rare earth elements (REEs) from both mined and scrap, end-of-life sources. At the time, rare earths was a niche, specialized, and highly vulnerable market, characterized by near-total reliance on foreign imports. 

But Momentum founders anticipated long-term supply constraints and US dependence on China, CEO Mahesh Konduru told MINING.com in an interview.

“The founders were among the few who understood early on the capacity challenges the US would face and the importance of securing domestic rare earth processing,” Konduru said. 

As demand for battery materials accelerated around 2020–2021, the company expanded into lithium-ion battery feedstocks, attracting new investors in late 2021 and shifting its near-term focus toward technology scale-up.

The only active rare earths mine in the US is Mountain Pass in California. After a 2015-17  mothball period, it is in production and owned by MP Materials.

In December 2025, Konduru testified before the House Natural Resources Subcommittee, presenting Momentum’s breakthrough technology that it says could end America’s untenable reliance on China for processing critical minerals essential to F-35 fighter jets, AI systems, and advanced defense applications.

Proprietary MSX technology

Momentum’s core innovation is its proprietary membrane solvent extraction (MSX) technology, which the company says dramatically reduces the footprint, energy use and environmental impact of conventional solvent extraction.

Traditional solvent extraction facilities often require football-field-sized layouts and significant energy and water inputs. MSX compresses that process into compact membrane reactors operating at moderate temperatures and pressures, while eliminating kerosene use, Konduru said.

“We essentially turn a football-field-sized solvent extraction system into a compact membrane reactor, operating at room or moderate temperature and pressure.”

“Because of the reduced footprint, energy use and complexity, we can bring processing plants online significantly faster than conventional solvent extraction, which has a major impact on project economics,” he said.

The technology can be deployed on its own or integrated with conventional processing, allowing projects to be built and commissioned faster — a critical advantage in volatile commodity markets where long development timelines can erode returns, he said. 

MSX is capable of recovering lithium, cobalt, nickel, copper and rare earth magnet materials, and can process feedstocks ranging from mined ore and tailings to recycled and end-of-life materials.

Texas demonstration plant

Momentum commissioned its demonstration plant near Dallas, Texas in September 2024, initially operating a battery materials processing train. The facility has since been retrofitted to handle rare earth elements as well, with commissioning of the rare earth circuit expected in mid-February 2026.

“We believe this is the world’s first demonstration-scale plant with dual capability to process both battery materials and rare earths at the same site,” Konduru said. 

Momentum expects the plant to begin generating commercial revenues in 2026.

Momentum is also advancing a commercial battery materials plant in Ohio, designed for approximately 2,000 tonnes per year of processing capacity. The project is currently in front-end loading stage two, with a final investment decision expected this quarter and commissioning targeted for late 2026 or early 2027.

On the rare earth side, the company is working with a US mining company on plans for an additional processing facility and is in the process of submitting a US Department of Energy grant application, though partner details have not yet been disclosed.

At scale, Momentum estimates its technology could support 20% to 50% of US rare earth processing capacity, either as a standalone solution or as a complement to conventional refining operations.

Momentum’s profile has risen in Washington following the congressional testimony, which drew interest from lawmakers representing several mining-heavy states. 

Konduru said the discussions reflected growing concern over US reliance on China-dominated critical mineral supply chains and the national security implications of that dependence.

“The response to our congressional testimony was very positive, reflecting how prominent rare earths have become from both a political and national security perspective,” Konduru said.

New report shows how closer alignment between scientific estimates and economic modeling of physical risks is possible, as world moves towards 2°C

London, 5 February 2026 – Economic models used by governments, central banks, and investors are increasingly understating physical climate risk because they rely on assumptions that break down as the world moves toward higher levels of warming, according to a new report from University of Exeter and Carbon Tracker published today. 

The report Recalibrating Climate Risk – drawing on expert judgment from more than 60 climate scientists – finds that many economic models are failing to capture the extreme events, compounding shocks, and rising uncertainty likely to dominate impacts in a hotter world.  

Jesse Abrams, lead author and Senior Impact Fellow at Green Futures Solutions, University of Exeter, said: “Our expert elicitation reveals a fundamental disconnect: climate scientists understand that beyond 2°C, we’re not dealing with manageable economic adjustments. The climate scientists we surveyed were unambiguous: current economic models systematically underestimate climate damages because they can’t capture what matters most – the cascading failures, threshold effects, and compounding shocks that define climate risk in a warmer world and could undermine the very foundations of economic growth.  

“For financial institutions and policymakers relying on these models, this isn’t a technical problem – it’s a fundamental misreading of the risks we face, which current models miss entirely because they assume the future will behave like the past, even as we push the climate system into uncharted territory.” 

The flaws in economic modelling have drawn attention in recent years, with influential models criticised by UK actuaries and scientists for understating climate impacts that many scientists now anticipate. Following the recent withdrawal of the ‘Economic Commitment of Climate Change’, the report sets out to close that gap – by establishing early consensus on how to best improve those estimates and calling for closer collaboration between climate scientists and economists. 

The result is an assessment that examines – in detail – how uncertainty is treated, how far GDP-based estimates remain meaningful, and what this means for financial regulators and investors as the world moves toward 2°C. 

Key findings include: 

• Climate damages are structural and compounding – not marginal. At higher levels of warming, climate impacts are increasingly likely to disrupt multiple sectors at once, as physical risks cascade across trade, finance, migration. These non-linear, structural impacts are likely to increasingly reshape entire economies and undermine the necessary conditions for economic growth. This undercuts against a core assumption in many economic models, which assume that economic growth continues indefinitely, merely at reduced rates. 
• Extremes, not averages, define the future of climate damages.  
• While economic modelling has traditionally linked damages to changes in global mean temperature, societies and markets experience climate change through local and regional extremes, such as heatwaves, floods and droughts, which drive the bulk of economic and financial disruption while often barely registering in global averages. 
• Similarly, experts find that gross domestic product (GDP) can mask full harms by failing to account for impacts on mortality and morbidity, inequality, ecosystem loss and social disruption – all factors that undermine societal, human and economic health. As these risks rise, continuing to rely on GDP-based assessments can give policymakers and financial institutions a false sense of resilience even as underlying vulnerability increases (e.g., recovery spending that spikes GDP after a climate-related disaster, masking welfare losses entirely). 
• Uncertainty rises sharply with warming. With temperatures trending towards a 2°C future, experts stress that impacts become increasingly unpredictable, as tipping points and tail risks increase. Even as models continue to produce precise-looking point estimates, climate risks will likely undermine the assumptions of continuous growth fundamental to many economic models. Policymakers should be wary of climate scenarios extending beyond certain temperature levels and take a ‘broad spectrum’ approach to tail risks. 

The report provides recommendations to financial regulators and central banks, to institutional investors and pension funds, and to financial advisors and scenario providers.  

• From a prudential perspective, the objective should not be to price climate risk with precision, but to ensure the financial system’s resilience against destabilising outcomes. This includes supervisory practices that place greater emphasis on extremes, compounding effects, tail risks, and systemic vulnerability. 
• For long-horizon investors, the report challenges the assumption that climate risk can be adequately measured through conventional financial metrics and managed through portfolio diversification approaches, warning that portfolios may appear resilient under standard macroeconomic indicators while experiencing rising exposure to physical disruption, correlated shocks, and systemic vulnerabilities. 
• For scenario providers and users, the report challenges the practice of presenting single “best-estimate” projections as a basis for policy planning, and warns that climate scenarios should support risk management under deep uncertainty, rather than optimisation around a single ‘best estimate’ trajectory. 

The report also introduces new approaches to improve damage modelling – reflecting expert judgement that beyond certain warming levels, economic modelling can appear precise while no longer describing real-world outcomes – and outlines a clear research agenda.  

It also stresses that the appropriate response is not to wait for perfect models – but to recalibrate governance toward precaution, robustness, and transparency. 

Mark Campanale, Founder and CEO, Carbon Tracker Initiative: “The net result of flawed economic advice is widespread complacency amongst investors and policy makers, with many investors viewing climate scenario analysis as a tick-box disclosure exercise. Until the gap between scientists and economists’ expectations of future climate damages is closed and Government bodies act to ensure the integrity of advice upon which investment decisions are made, financial institutions will continue to chronically under-price climate risks – meaning that pension funds and taxpayers will remain dangerously exposed.” 

Laurie Laybourn, Executive Director of Strategic Climate Risks Initiative and Board Member, Carbon Tracker Initiative: “As the UK government’s landmark security assessment of ecosystem collapse showed last week, we are currently living through a paradigm shift in the speed, scale, and severity of risks driven by the climate-nature crisis. Yet, beyond this report, there has not been a corresponding paradigm shift in how regulators and government as a whole assess these risks. Instead, they’re routinely underestimated if not missed entirely, meaning many regulations and government action are dangerously out of touch with reality. This threatens disaster when that reality catches up with us. So, it’s critical that policymakers change course, providing clear signals and guidance to markets that these risks should be priced accordingly, rather than downplayed.”  

Hetal Patel, Head of Sustainable Investment Research at Phoenix Group said:  

“Phoenix supports the report’s call for a more robust and co-ordinated approach to climate‑risk modelling. Underestimating physical risk doesn’t just distort financial analysis and investment decisions, it underplays the real‑world consequences that will ultimately affect customer outcomes and society as a whole. As one of the UK’s largest asset owners, we urge policymakers to act decisively on the systemic risks identified in this research and to set clear expectations for financial sector users” 

 

ENDS 

 

Contacts 

Ben Dickenson Bampton, Communications Lead, Green Futures Solutions – University of Exeter 

Tel: 07840194274 

Email: b.dickenson-bampton@exeter.ac.uk 

Joel Benjamin, Communications Manager, Carbon Tracker Initiative 

Tel: 07429637423 

Email: joel.benjamin@carbontracker.org  

 

Notes to Editors 

The Recalibrating Climate Risk report was led by the University of Exeter’s Green Futures Solutions team, in partnership with Carbon Tracker Initiative and funding from the Aurora Trust. The report was authored by Dr Jesse F Abrams (lead author), Dr Sam Xiaocheng Hu, and Ben Dickenson Bampton. 

The report synthesises expert judgement from 68 climate scientists, who were consulted through a combination of survey and workshop approaches. Together, they represent universities, research institutions, and government agencies from 12 counties (USA, UK, Germany, Australia, France, China, Netherlands, Spain, Norway, Canada, Austria and Sweden). As standard for expert elicitation exercises, the results were collected anonymously. 

The full report will publish here: https://greenfuturessolutions.com/news/recalibrating-climate-risk/ 

 

About the University of Exeter 

The University of Exeter is home to over 1,500 climate and environmental experts (including many of the world’s most influential climate scientists), over 30 specialist institutes, and world-leading initiatives – such as Global Tipping Points Report and Global Carbon Budget. Through Green Futures Solutions, we help organisations access this expertise and navigate their exposure to climate risks, develop resilient solutions, and drive transformative change in their sector. Each year, we partner with a wide range of organisations – including the National Trust, Met Office and – to deliver collaborative reports, consultancy, and informed solutions for a sustainable future. Learn more about our work here. 

 

About Carbon Tracker Initiative 

The Carbon Tracker Initiative is a not-for-profit financial think tank that seeks to promote a climate-secure global energy market by aligning capital markets with climate reality. Our research on the carbon bubble, unburnable carbon, and stranded assets has begun a new debate on aligning the financial system with the energy transition to a low-carbon future. www.carbontracker.org 

The post Governments must fix ‘faulty radar’ in economic climate models as storm approaches, scientists warn appeared first on Carbon Tracker Initiative.

A detailed breakdown of political donations shows fossil fuel contributions to major parties are dwarfed by the scale of coal industry funding of astroturfing campaigns.

The post Coal’s hidden campaign: The shocking spend on astroturfing in the 2025 Australian election appeared first on Renew Economy.

This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Bob Henson

his week’s mammoth U.S. winter blast wasn’t the only storm affecting the annual meeting of the American Meteorological Society occurring in Houston, Texas. Looming in the background of the meeting – and jumping into the foreground during an evening town hall on Wednesday, January 28 – was the fate of the National Center for Atmospheric Research, or NCAR, which the Trump administration is moving to dismantle.

Based in Boulder, Colorado, and sponsored by the National Science Foundation since its founding in 1960, NCAR (or NSF NCAR, as the center brands itself) is a premier national and global hub for weather, water, and climate-related research. Beyond carrying out its own work, NCAR manages aircraft and supercomputing resources used by many hundreds of scientists, and it collaborates with many public and private stakeholders.

“NCAR is great at engaging our communities with a focus on the next generation of scientists. I think losing that would be a tremendous loss,” outgoing American Meteorological Society President David Stensrud said at the town hall. Stensrud first worked with NCAR in 1989 as a Ph.D. student.

NCAR is managed by the University Corporation for Atmospheric Research, or UCAR, a not-for-profit entity that also manages other programs serving the broad community of weather, water, and climate science. Between NCAR and its other activities, UCAR employs close to 1,400 scientists, software engineers, technicians, and other professionals. Hundreds of undergraduate, graduate, and postdoctoral researchers take part each year in conferences, fellowships, and other opportunities provided by NCAR and UCAR.

When UCAR President Antonio Busalacchi asked everyone at the town hall to stand if they had worked at NCAR, visited its labs, used its models or other resources, or collaborated with its scientists, nearly everyone in the crowd of a few hundred was on their feet.

“A disbanded, fragmented NCAR would be the worst-case scenario,” Busalacchi said. The best-case scenario, in his eyes: “a building-back better and an improved NCAR … It’s always good to have an open, transparent, objective analysis of alternatives.”

In the Q&A section of the meeting, one postdoctoral scientist crystallized what feels like unending uncertainty: “As a research postdoc, I don’t know what it means for things to look good. What does it look like for things to be good, and how do I navigate when things are this bad?”

Figure 1. The NCAR Mesa Laboratory. (Image credit: Daderot/Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0) Attacked over climate change research

The Trump administration has said it wants to dismantle NCAR because of its role in researching climate change.

“The National Science Foundation will be breaking up the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Boulder, Colorado,” Russ Vought, director of the White House Office of Management and Budget, said in a statement first reported by USA TODAY on December 16. “This facility is one of the largest sources of climate alarmism in the country. A comprehensive review is underway and any vital activities such as weather research will be moved to another entity or location.”

Scientists from across the nation and abroad have stressed that NCAR is far more than the sum of its parts, a theme that was reinforced at the American Meteorological Society meeting in Houston.

Thus far, the National Science Foundation has shown every intention of carrying out the White House mandate. The foundation released a statement on December 17 that included the following: “NSF remains committed to providing world-class infrastructure for weather modeling, space weather research and forecasting, and other critical functions. To do so, NSF will be engaging with partner agencies, the research community, and other interested parties to solicit feedback for rescoping the functions of the work currently performed by NCAR.”

On January 23, just ahead of the American Meteorological Society meeting, the National Science Foundation released a “Dear Colleague Letter,” a document typically used by the foundation to invite scientists to participate in grant opportunities or to provide input on research directions.

This was no ordinary Dear Colleague Letter. Its title – “NSF Intent to Restructure Critical Weather Infrastructure” – does not even mention NCAR. And omitted from the document is any mention of research in several areas that have been integral parts of the center’s work for virtually all of its 66-year history, including atmospheric chemistry and climate. The document requests “expressions of interest in and/or concepts of operation” for “NCAR space weather activities” and “NCAR weather modeling and atmospheric observing activities,” as well as the world-renowned NCAR Mesa Laboratory itself. The deadline for input is March 13.

Congress shores up science funding, declines to protect NCAR

The NCAR bombshell arrived just as the picture was looking modestly brighter for U.S. science support overall. After rapid, high-impact cuts to U.S. science funding and staffing implemented by the White House in the first half of 2025, and massive cuts on the order of 25-50% proposed for this year, the fiscal-year 2026 appropriations approved this month by Congress for science agencies such as NASA, NOAA, and the National Science Foundation ended up largely similar to those from the prior year, with much more modest cuts.

However, NCAR base support is not allocated directly by Congress, but rather indirectly, through funding that goes to the National Science Foundation. Colorado’s two senators, John Hickenlooper and Michael Bennet, made attempts to insert language protecting NCAR in the FY26 appropriations bill, but their amendments were voted down.

“NCAR is a vital, cutting-edge research institution, and dismantling it would be reckless, dangerous, and place the United States at a serious competitive disadvantage,” said Rep. Joe Neguse, a Democrat from Colorado, in a statement released on January 27.

Figure 2. Rep. Joe Neguse meets with constituents as protesters decry the potential dismantling of NCAR in Boulder on December 20, 2025. (Image credit: Bob Henson)

Despite the brighter appropriations picture for science overall, federal staffing at science agencies is down 10-25% over the past year, Stensrud said at the town hall.

“I think there will be a repercussion that’s going to reverberate for years to come,” said Stensrud, referring to the staff cuts in science agencies and the many early retirements that were heavily incentivized: “It’s really hard to predict how this is going to play out, but it certainly has me concerned.”

The Mesa Lab question

One revealing aspect of the Dear Colleague Letter is its reference to NCAR’s Mesa Laboratory. The first project of famed architect I.M. Pei to be built outside an urban setting, the modernist building opened in 1967 and was featured in Woody Allen’s 1973 film “Sleeper.” The Mesa Lab welcomes thousands of visitors year-round to its free indoor and outdoor exhibits, including North America’s first weather-oriented interpretive hiking trail, the Walter Orr Roberts Weather Trail.

The letter seeks input on ownership for public or private use.

The site on Table Mesa overlooking Boulder was chosen in 1960 from among four finalist locations. Although the site lay above the “blue line” that had been recently adopted by Boulder as a boundary for development, city voters voted on a ballot measure on January 31, 1961, that would grant an exception to the Table Mesa site (at the time a set of parcels owned by several private parties) for construction of NCAR, with most of the land preserved as open space.

Figure 3. The poster distributed just ahead of the Boulder city election in January 1961 that allowed for the construction of the NCAR Mesa Laboratory. (Image credit: UCAR Digital Image Library, © UCAR, CC BY-NC 4.0)

The ballot measure was overwhelmingly approved, and later in 1961, the state of Colorado purchased the site and donated it to the National Science Foundation for the purpose of building and hosting NCAR. How this arrangement might get interpreted, or reinterpreted, 65 years later is just one of many questions hanging over this unprecedented moment in postwar atmospheric science.

A model collaboration across ice, ocean, and atmosphere

Ironically, the threat to NCAR has arrived just as one of NCAR’s most noteworthy modeling projects has gotten the nod to become the core of NOAA’s next-generation unified model, a framework used for day-to-day weather forecasting as well as other applications in both operations and research.

Ken Graham, director of NOAA’s National Weather Service, announced at the American Meteorological Society meeting this week that the service is moving toward MPAS, the Model for Prediction Across Scales, as the dynamical core for its future modeling development. MPAS had been the first runner-up in the 2010s when NOAA developed its first Unified Forecast System, but the nod in 2016 went to the Finite-Volume on a Cubed-Sphere dynamical core, developed by NOAA’s Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory.

Figure 4. The variable-mesh grid used for MPAS resembles a soccer ball, with hexagonal cells that can expand or contract as needed. (Image credit: NCAR/MPAS)

MPAS has been a team effort, with NCAR having the main responsibility for the atmospheric model, Los Alamos National Laboratory the ocean and ice models, and the two labs collaborating on overall MPAS development. Among the standout elements of MPAS is its variable-mesh grid: in contrast to the fixed 3D grids more common in weather and climate modeling, this grid can be tightened regionally in response to weather events of interest or other user needs. MPAS has been used widely in academia as well as in collaboration with The Weather Company.

Last spring, NCAR used MPAS to produce weather forecasts going out 60 hours that spanned the entire planet’s surface at points separated by just three kilometers (1.9 miles) – a total of over 65 million horizontal cells, plus 11 vertical layers.

Helping young scientists cultivate new research

Carlos Martinez, senior climate scientist at the Union of Concerned Scientists, is among the many graduate and postgraduate students who have spent one to two years at NCAR as part of the center’s Advanced Study Program. Dating back to the 1960s, the program encourages participants to cast their nets widely, drawing on the many areas of expertise present at NCAR to craft research that best reflects their interests and skills while furthering their eventual careers.

In an op-ed published January 27 in the journal Eos, “What Americans Lose If Their National Center for Atmospheric Research Is Dismantled,” Martinez wrote:

Administration officials have argued that NCAR’s work can simply be redistributed to other institutions without loss. But NCAR is not just another research center. It is purpose-built critical infrastructure designed to integrate observations, modeling, supercomputing, and applied research in ways that no single university, agency, or contractor can replicate on its own …

NSF has already outlined plans to restructure NCAR, including moving its supercomputer to another site and transferring or divesting research aircraft it operates. These risks would hollow out the institution itself, breaking apart integrated teams, disrupting continuity in projects, and weakening the unique collaborative model at NCAR that accelerates scientific progress in weather, water, climate, and space weather. This distinction matters. NCAR’s value does not lie solely in the science it produces, but in how that science is organized, sustained, and shared across the nation.

In these and other ways over the past few weeks, the importance of NCAR as a unique nexus for atmospheric and related science has come through time and again.

Busalacchi cited a letter sent by UCAR’s board of trustees to the National Science Foundation in advance of last week’s Dear Colleague Letter: “Without a central hub for advanced Earth system capabilities, our nation’s scientific leadership would be set back decades to a time when the siloed nature of research created infrastructure barriers to coordinated progress and limited our ability to provide information to safeguard communities and the economy. Splitting up NSF NCAR will reverse decades of progress with dire consequences for the safety and prosperity of all Americans.”

Wednesday, February 12, 2026:

Rally to Save San Francisco’s Climate  Action Plan, noon on the front steps of City Hall

see the flyer

EWG comments on California DTSC's 2025 microplastics in consumer products research rcoleman February 4, 2026

Attached are EWG’s comments in support of the California Department of Toxic Substances Control’s 2025 microplastics in consumer products research.

File Download Document ewg-comments-to-ca-dtsc-on-microplastics-1-30-2026.pdf Areas of Focus Toxic Chemicals Nanomaterials Regional Issues California Authors Tasha Stoiber, Ph.D. Samantha Romanick, Ph.D. Bernadette Del Chiaro Susan Little January 30, 2026

Canadian Energy Metals (CEM) has announced the results of its preliminary economic assessment (PEA) for its Thor project in Saskatchewan, outlining the potential for Canada’s first major domestic alumina resource.

The PEA envisions a surface mining and processing operation with an average throughput of 16.5 million tonnes per year, supporting alumina production of 1.8 million tonnes per year over a 25-year project life. This is based on a resource estimate covering 23% of the property, containing 6.8 billion tonnes of alumina in the measured and indicated category.

“This PEA confirms that the Thor project is a possible game-changer for North America’s aluminum supply chain,” CEO Christopher Hopkins said in a Jan. 29 news release. “Our next focus is to engineer a demonstration facility while moving Thor towards commercialization.”

CEM has so far successfully produced two types of alumina through ongoing piloting efforts: 3N chemical-grade alumina (CGA) and 4N high-purity alumina (HPA). The company is conducting additional testing on the deposit’s polymetallic nature, focusing on smelter-grade alumina, scandium and vanadium.

The PEA model assumes initial capital expenditures of $6.3 billion, operating costs of $1.6 billion per year, and product price assumptions of $5,000 per tonne for CGA and $25,000 per tonne for HPA. The projected internal rate of return is 72%, with a net present value of cash flows at $72.3 billion (discounted at 10% after-tax).

“The Thor project discovery pairs our province’s pro-mining investment policies with a substantial geological advantage. We’re excited about the prospect of a new alumina industry setting up shop in our province, where people are ready for more jobs and investment from around the world,” Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe said in a statement.

This year, the company plans to advance the project further by updating the mineral resource and confirming its potential for new products and by-products, with the expectation of releasing a prefeasibility study.

UK investor snaps up two major battery projects, one a solar hybrid, adding to a growing portfolio to replace coal and create a grid with no smokestacks.

The post A grid with no smokestacks: Octopus snaps up biggest battery project and solar hybrid in push to replace coal appeared first on Renew Economy.

The United States will collaborate with the European Union, Japan and Mexico on critical minerals strategies as part of its efforts to weaken China’s dominance in the market for materials used in defense and high-tech industries.

In a statement issued on Wednesday, US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer announced that the US, European Commission and Japan will work together to “develop action plans for critical minerals supply chain resilience.”

Under these action plans, the nations will develop coordinated trade policies and mechanisms, such as border-adjusted price floors, that can mitigate critical mineral supply chain vulnerabilities, the statement reads.

This, according to Greer, would lay “the groundwork for a binding plurilateral agreement on trade in critical minerals with like-minded partners.”

The announcement follows the Critical Minerals Ministerial meeting in Washington DC, featuring officials from over 50 countries including G7 nations and hosted by US Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio.

A memorandum of understanding is expected within 30 days for the parties to commit to the joint efforts, a joint statement said.

Mexico action plan

Separately, the US announced a similar partnership with Mexico to address vulnerabilities in the critical mineral supply chain with the conclusion of the meeting in Washington.

On Wednesday, the parties unveiled a 60-day action plan focused on developing trade policies centered on critical minerals. These would include consultations on price floors in a binding plurilateral agreement.

As part of the plan, the countries are expected to identify specific mining, processing and manufacturing projects for critical minerals in both countries and certain third countries, though no further details were provided.

Trade Representative Greer said the US-Mexico collaboration underscores “the countries’ shared commitment to address global market distortions that have left North American supply chains vulnerable to disruptions.”

The announcement comes months before a mandatory review of the US-Mexico-Canada trade agreement. The USTR announcement did not include Canada, whose Natural Resources Minister Tim Hodgson was also in attendance at the Wednesday meeting.

‘Failing’ market

The agreements are designed to encourage investment outside China and reduce reliance on Beijing for rare earths and other critical minerals used in products from electric vehicles to semiconductors, US trade officials said.

“Today, the international market for critical minerals is failing,” Vice President Vance said in his opening remarks at Wednesday’s summit.

Vance pitches price floors for key minerals to counter China

“Consistent investment is nearly impossible, and it will stay that way so long as prices are erratic and unpredictable,” Vance added, highlighting that mining and processing projects had to be abandoned due to volatile prices.

As a solution, he pitched a “preferential trade center” for critical minerals that would be protected from external disruptions, emphasizing the need for a coordinated agreement on price floors.

His comments built on President Donald Trump’s Monday announcement of plans for a nearly $12 billion critical minerals stockpile, part of his intensified efforts to bolster the domestic supply chain.

(With files from Bloomberg and Reuters)

Alamos Gold (TSX, NYSE: AGI) predicted annual output will climb 46% by 2028 as expansion work at Ontario’s Island Gold District bears fruit and costs decrease. The stock rose.

Gold production this year will probably range between 570,000 and 650,000 oz., rising to 735,000-835,000 oz. in 2028, Alamos said Wednesday in a statement. This year’s target is smaller than the range of 630,000-680,000 oz. that the company had provided earlier. 

Central to the company’s growth trajectory is the multi-phase expansion of the Island Gold District – which includes the namesake underground mine and the Magino mine and mill – and the startup of the Lynn Lake project in Manitoba. By 2030, those two assets should lift the company’s annual output to 1 million oz., Alamos said.

“We see the 2026 guidance in particular as a reset opportunity for the company following weaker operational performance in 2025,” Jefferies mining analyst Fahad Tariq said Wednesday in a note. “We maintain that there is nothing structurally wrong with the assets and expect the Island Gold District to drive production growth in the near term.”

Alamos shares rose 4.7% to C$54.67 Wednesday morning in Toronto, boosting the company’s market value to about C$23 billion ($17 billion).

New study

A new study for the Island Gold District, released Tuesday, outlines a 30% increase in reserves – to 8.3 million oz. – and a $542 million mill expansion to 20,000 tonnes per day that should be completed by 2028.

With annual production of 419,000 oz. over a 19-year life, the operation would become one of Canada’s largest and longest‑life gold mines, Alamos said. At a long-term gold price of $3,200 per oz., Island Gold has a net present value of $8.2 billion.

Additional growth will come from Lynn Lake, a property that includes two open-pit sites, starting in 2029. Annual production is expected to average 186,000 oz. over the first 10 years, Alamos said.

“All of this growth is in Canada, it’s all lower cost, and we can fund it internally while generating growing free cash flow,” CEO John McCluskey said in the statement.

“Our operational performance over the past year was not up to our standards and not reflective of our long-term track record. We expect to deliver a stronger performance in 2026, particularly into the second half of the year as production ramps up and costs decrease with the completion of the shaft expansion at Island Gold.”

Alamos books new gold in Manitoba and Quebec Construction restart

Construction activities at Lynn Lake are expected to restart this spring, with 2026 spending pegged at $140 million to $160 million. That’s 43% less than the previous guidance for 2026, which reflects the deferral of construction activities due to wildfires in Northern Manitoba last year.

Capital spending on Lynn Lake is expected to peak at $380 million to $410 million next year before slowing.

Total cash costs are expected to fall from $1,020–1,120 per oz. this year to $775–875 per oz. by 2028, Alamos also said. All-in sustaining costs (AISC) will probably shrink from $1,500–$1,600 per oz. to $1,200–$1,300 per oz. over the same span.

Capital expenditures this year will probably range from $850 million to $940 million, higher than a previous target communicated by the company. The figure includes up to $720 million for growth projects.

ADVOCATES FOR THE WEST
CENTER FOR BIOLOGICAL DIVERSITY
CONSERVE SOUTHWEST UTAH
CONSERVATION LANDS FOUNDATION
SOUTHERN UTAH WILDERNESS ALLIANCE
THE WILDERNESS SOCIETY
WILDEARTH GUARDIANS 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 

February 4, 2026

Lawsuit Challenges Illegal Highway Through Utah’s Red Cliffs National Conservation Area – 2.4.26 Local, State, and National Conservation Organizations Seek to Protect Threatened Mojave Desert Tortoise, Redrock Landscapes, and Recreation

Contacts:
Grant Stevens, Communications Director, Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance (SUWA); (319) 427-0260; grant@suwa.org

Washington, DC – Today a coalition of six local, Utah-based, and national conservation organizations sued the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service for illegally reapproving the four-lane Northern Corridor Highway through the Red Cliffs National Conservation Area near St. George, Utah. Conservation groups filed the lawsuit after receiving information that the Utah Department of Transportation (UDOT) would be starting ground-disturbing activities for the highway’s construction based on interim authorizations from BLM and despite BLM having yet to approve a required highway development plan for public lands managed by the agency. 

The proposed Northern Corridor Highway would carve a high-speed highway through designated critical habitat for the threatened Mojave desert tortoise within Red Cliffs National Conservation Area. It would damage iconic redrock landscapes, disrupt treasured outdoor recreation opportunities, and set a dangerous precedent for congressionally protected public lands across the U.S.

“Preservation of Red Cliffs National Conservation Area is inextricably linked to the quality of life and economic prosperity in Washington County,” said Stacey Wittek, Conserve Southwest Utah’s Executive Director. “Our community has repeatedly made clear that better traffic solutions exist and that they oppose a highway through what should be protected lands. Given that UDOT is wasting no time moving forward with ground-distributing activities, we had to act to stop this illegal project.” 

Today’s lawsuit, filed by Advocates for the West in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, challenges federal agencies’ January 2026 reapproval of UDOT’s highway proposal for violating multiple federal laws, including the Omnibus Public Land Management Act, Land and Water Conservation Fund Act, Endangered Species Act, and National Environmental Policy Act.

Abandoning their previous scientific findings, the federal agencies’ recent decision reversed a December 2024 rejection of the same proposal by the BLM and Fish and Wildlife Service and marks the eighth time the controversial highway has been considered. The project has been stopped on seven previous attempts over concerns related to wildlife, public safety, legal compliance, and community opposition.

“To continue to push for a widely rejected and illegal highway and expect a different result is a waste of everyone’s resources,” said Hannah Goldblatt, staff attorney at Advocates for the West and counsel for the conservation groups. “And once again, federal agencies are complicit in the effort by approving the paving of this congressionally protected, sensitive, scenic landscape. The Northern Corridor Highway not only violates bedrock environmental laws but undermines the integrity of protected public lands nationwide. We won’t let that happen.”

Below are statements on behalf of local residents and Utah-based and national conservation organizations:

“This lawsuit, like the last one, is necessary because our local governments have declined to engage their constituents in an open community dialogue—one that could more clearly define the problem, address its related impacts, and explore alternative solutions that have been consistently ignored. They have left their constituents with no choice, but it’s never too late to talk,” said St. George resident Tom Butine. 

“When Congress designated Red Cliffs as a National Conservation Area, that was a promise to the American people that this landscape would be protected forever. Allowing a four-lane highway to bulldoze through a congressionally protected National Conservation Area betrays that promise, obliterates the very concept of permanent protection and puts every single acre of America’s protected public lands directly in harm’s way. Today it’s Red Cliffs. Tomorrow it could be any of the millions of acres of protected public lands Americans and rural communities depend on. We won’t let that happen, and we will fight this decision with everything we have,” said Chris Hill, Chief Executive Officer of the Conservation Lands Foundation. 

“The Red Cliffs National Conservation Area is a shared public treasure that should continue to be managed for the purposes for which it was established by Congress in 2009: ‘to conserve, protect and enhance for the benefit and enjoyment of present and future generations the ecological, scenic, wildlife, recreational, cultural, historical, natural, educational and scientific resources of the National Conservation Area’ and ‘to protect each species that is located in the National Conservation Area.’ Bulldozing a four-lane highway through this landscape would permanently destroy these irreplaceable resources and deny us the freedom to continue enjoying them,” said Gregg DeBie, senior staff attorney at The Wilderness Society. 

“Red Cliffs is exactly the kind of landscape Congress intended to protect when it created the National Conservation Area system—spectacular redrock country that provides critical habitat for the Mojave desert tortoise and space for people to experience the quiet and beauty of wild Utah. The Bureau of Land Management’s decision to greenlight a four-lane highway through the heart of this protected area defies both the law and common sense. Utahns have fought for decades to ensure that public lands like Red Cliffs remain intact for future generations, and we won’t stand by while that promise is broken,” said Kya Marienfeld, Wildlands Attorney with the Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance.

“This is narrow-minded, short-term thinking, and the BLM has clearly caved to local and state political pressure with this decision. It is impossible to square the agency’s legal obligation to ‘conserve, protect, and enhance’ the Red Cliffs National Conservation Area with its decision to approve a new highway through the heart of the NCA. If this project isn’t halted it will decimate one of the last strongholds of the Mojave desert tortoises in the mistaken belief that it will shorten commute times,” said Chris Krupp, Public Lands Attorney for WildEarth Guardians.

“The Trump administration’s about-face is cynical and cruel, and this lawsuit shows it’s also unlawful. The Bureau of Land Management’s decision will allow Utah to bulldoze through a protected conservation area and build another highway feeding urban sprawl. This beloved natural refuge has some of the last best desert tortoise habitat in Utah and was set aside because it’s essential for the tortoises to survive and thrive into the future. These public lands should be kept wild and open for fragile wildlife and everyone who loves Red Cliffs,” said Lisa Belenky, senior counsel at the Center for Biological Diversity. 

A History of Rejection: 

In a decades-long fight, local residents, conservation organizations, and outdoor recreationists have strongly opposed the Northern Corridor Highway. Despite the immense local opposition, the BLM and Fish and Wildlife Service approved a right-of-way for the Northern Corridor Highway in the final days of the first Trump administration. Conservation groups sued, arguing that the approval violated multiple federal laws.

The case resulted in a settlement agreement in 2023, which the BLM’s recent reapproval violates, and a U.S. District Court decision sending back the project’s 2021 right-of-way approval for reconsideration. Agencies acknowledged that the approval did not comply with the National Historic Preservation Act and required additional environmental analysis in light of recent wildfires that further degraded Mojave desert tortoise habitat and native vegetation. After updating its environmental analysis, the BLM again rejected the project in late 2024. 

The agency’s 2024 Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement found the project would increase wildfire probability and frequency, permanently eliminate designated critical tortoise habitat, spread noxious weeds and invasive plants, and harm more cultural and historical resources than any alternative considered.

In October 2025, the BLM said it would reconsider the application after UDOT argued that the federally endorsed alternative was economically infeasible, despite documented environmental and community costs associated with the Northern Corridor.

In 2021, 6,800 acres west of St. George called “Zone 6,” or the Greater Moe’s Valley, were added to the Red Cliffs Desert Reserve as mitigation for the Northern Corridor Highway. Still, Zone 6 includes a popular climbing area and trails on state-owned lands that lack permanent protection. Conservation groups argue that local leaders should more earnestly engage stakeholders and explore permanent protections for Zone 6 without unlawfully sacrificing lands in Red Cliffs National Conservation Area for construction of the Northern Corridor Highway.

About Red Cliffs National Conservation Area: 

The 44,724-acre Red Cliffs National Conservation Area is part of the larger Red Cliffs Desert Reserve, which is jointly managed by the BLM, the Fish and Wildlife Service, the state of Utah, Washington County, and local municipalities. The reserve was established under a 1995 Habitat Conservation Plan as a compromise to protect roughly 61,000 acres of public lands for the threatened Mojave desert tortoise while allowing development on about 300,000 acres of state and private land. Congress designated the Red Cliffs National Conservation Area in 2009 to “conserve, protect, and enhance…ecological, scenic, wildlife, recreational, cultural, historical, natural, educational, and scientific resources” of the public lands within the unit. 

The region supports key populations of the threatened Mojave desert tortoise and other at-risk plants and animals, including the Gila monster, burrowing owl, and kit fox. Researchers say the Mojave desert tortoise is on a path to extinction, and its habitat in southwest Utah––which houses some of the densest tortoise populations––is especially vulnerable amid rapid growth in the region. 

Located about 45 miles from Zion National Park, the conservation area includes 130 miles of trails, two wilderness areas, heritage public use sites, Native American cultural artifacts, several threatened or endangered species and one of Utah’s most popular state parks, Snow Canyon State Park. Visitors come from around the world to hike, mountain bike, rock climb, horseback ride, photograph, and marvel at the expansive redrock landscapes. 

Additional Information and Resources: 

• Informational website: protectredcliffs.com
• Federal Agency Re-Approves Highway Through Red Cliffs National Conservation Area, Abandons Own Scientific Findings – January 21, 2026
• BLM Again Considering Four-Lane Highway Through the Red Cliffs National Conservation Area – October 7, 2025
• Decades-Long Highway Fight Ends with Victory for Red Cliffs NCA – December 20th, 2024
• Petition to Permanently Protect the Greater Moe’s Valley Area
• Local and National Organizations Applaud Plan Signaling Denial of Highway Right-of-Way – November 7, 2024
• Conservation Organizations Respond to Washington County’s Continued Attacks on Red Cliffs National Conservation Area – August 7, 2024
• Federal Agencies Release Draft Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement on a Highway Right-of-Way Through Red Cliffs National Conservation Area – May 9, 2024
• BLM and FWS Press Release – November 15, 2023
• Report – Washington County at a Crossroads: An analysis of the proposed Northern Corridor Highway project in Southwest Utah
• Summary of Desert Tortoise Study in Red Cliffs NCA: Population Trends, Threats to Persistence, and Conservation Significanc

###

The Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance (SUWA) is a nonprofit organization with members and supporters around the country dedicated to protecting America’s redrock wilderness. From offices in Moab, Salt Lake City, and Washington, DC, our team of professionals defends the redrock, organizes support for America’s Red Rock Wilderness Act, and stewards a world-renowned landscape. Learn more at www.suwa.org. 

 

 

The post Lawsuit Challenges Illegal Highway Through Utah’s Red Cliffs National Conservation Area – 2.4.26 appeared first on Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance.

Despite federal EV tax credits ending last year, most car buyers who purchase an EV will save money in the long-run. It’s their high up-front cost that’s the problem — right?

Here’s what no one seems to be talking about — used EVs are the same price or cheaper than their gas-powered equivalents. And in the United States, most people buy used cars, not new ones — 3 out of every 4 cars sold are pre-owned.

For the budget-minded, choosing a 2022–2024 pre-owned EV from the ten most common electric models in the United States offers a sticker price on average 10 percent less than a comparable used gas car. For the most popular luxury EVs, such as the Tesla Model S and Ford Mustang Mach-E, used options tend to sell for around the same range as an entry-level to mid-range used luxury gas car.

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A car buyer can begin saving money immediately by choosing a used EV instead of a gas-powered vehicle with the same sticker price. And those savings only multiply with lower maintenance and fuel costs from going electric.

The average American spends more money on gasoline than on electricity and natural gas combined. Drivers who charge daily at home can normally cut their annual fuel expenses $800–$1,000 compared to gassing up at the pump.

If we want to talk about energy burdens and affordability, we have to talk about cars. This single change — switching to an EV — can cut a driver’s operating costs 40–65 percent depending on how they charge.

Big Takeaways

1. Low-cost used EVs cost 10 percent less on average than their gas equivalents, and mid-range EVs tend to be similarly priced. In August 2025, the difference in sale price between a used EV and a used gas car fell to just $897 across all price ranges – economy to luxury.
2. Fuel and maintenance are where EV drivers keep saving. Electricity in general boasts a cheaper cost per mile and more stable and predictable prices than gas, while maintenance costs stay low thanks to fewer moving parts and less wear.
3. Lease returns and trade-ins will only continue to boost the supply of affordable EVs. With almost 75 percent of US EV transactions in 2025 leases, over 1 million EVs are projected to enter the used market over the next 3 years as leases expire.

Past EV challenges have become smaller considerations Battery Life

Batteries are proving to last 10–20 years longer than first expected and most EVs on the road today are operating with their original battery.

Real-world driving has proven EV batteries last up to 40 percent more than predicted in early lab tests. Typical stop-and-go traffic and on-road conditions are less harsh than constant lab cycles, potentially extending the battery’s usable life 300,000 miles or more — more durable than gas engines.

A standard American gas car tends to have a useful life of about 12 years or 150,000–200,000 miles before repairs begin to exceed its resale value.

EV battery replacements are expensive. How long a car battery will last will depend in part on when your EV was manufactured. But many battery replacements are covered by warranty, even for used EVs. Federal law requires a minimum 8-year or 100,000-mile coverage for EV batteries. Some states and manufacturers have extended this to 10 years or 150,000 miles. Most warranties will replace a battery that drops below 70 percent capacity before the eight-year mark. Used or refurbished batteries are also a growing option, which can keep costs down when a replacement is necessary.

Before making a purchase, check the battery age and consider how much you’ll be able to save until you need to make a replacement.

Charging

The convenience and cost of charging an electric vehicle are important factors to consider. While public vehicle chargers are becoming more available, most EV drivers charge at home — often overnight when electricity demand is at its lowest, which could help them save on their electricity bills.

There are two main ways to get a vehicle plugged in at home. Plugging a vehicle into a basic home outlet (Level 1 charging) is one option to consider. This method is even possible in many multifamily homes like duplexes, fourplexes, or low-rise townhouses or condos, with the help of an extension cord. Since this method relies on existing plugs (and a charging cord that was likely included with the purchase of the vehicle), it is the cheapest option to adopt. It will take longer to charge, but most people can just charge overnight.

Level 2 chargers are another option. Faster than Level 1 chargers, these chargers can be installed in a garage or at a parking spot. Level 2 chargers typically cost between $1,200 and $3,000, including materials and installation, but many electric utilities offer incentives that can cover some or all of this cost. 84 percent of the United States is covered by a program that offers EV charger rebates or incentives, according to Briteswitch, which also provides info on local programs.

Roughly 60 percent of Americans now live within two miles of a public charger. 3,300 public fast-charging stations came online in 2025 — meaning in just one year, the number of public fast-chargers grew by 30 percent. This comes despite a rocky rollout for the National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure (NEVI) program. So far, states have tapped only about 2 percent of the $7.5 billion available for DC fast-charging, and now that a federal court has overthrown the suspension of NEVI, projects are again coming back online. By 2030, a fast charger should be available every 50 miles along any major highway.

Electricity prices

Electricity bills are rising across the country due to higher demand, and many advocacy groups, policymakers, regulators, and utilities are working to address electricity affordability and stabilize rising costs. Even as these prices rise, driving and charging an electric vehicle is still going to be cheaper than a gas-powered car over the course of the next decade. Even if electricity prices doubled, an EV would still be less expensive to operate, given the additional maintenance savings.

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As decision-makers implement solutions to reduce electricity prices, the concerns about the cost to charge will likely dissipate. In fact, one proposed method is to lower rates for electric vehicles, which typically can be charged at off-peak hours to avoid the highest demand hours on the grid.

Insurance

EVs are usually more expensive to insure than gas cars, but not always. This can be due to more EVs being luxury cars, repair markets still getting up to scale, and some car components being more expensive. As the repair market grows, costs for repairs — and therefore insurance — may come down.

Used EVs offer relief

The biggest barrier is simply this: not enough people know they could be saving a lot of money by going electric. The next time they buy a used car, they can start saving money right away.

That money is then available for groceries, education, medical needs, and more. One out of three families currently have to pass on these essentials now due to large energy bills. This relief offers breathing room and security.

RMI is exploring many ways to make energy cost less. Learn more about how we can cut energy bills in half.

The post Tired of Gasoline Prices? Here’s a Surprising Way to Save Money appeared first on RMI.

President Trump has made access to Greenland’s vast reserves of critical minerals a focus of ongoing negotiations. But experts say the U.S. is underestimating the difficulties of mining in a rapidly changing Arctic region that is warming faster than anywhere else on Earth.

Read more on E360 →

Analysts at Fitch Solutions’ BMI have lifted their price forecasts for industrial metals to reflect the speculative momentum in this sector as well as strong market fundamentals and macroeconomic forces.

Metals like copper and aluminum have gone on a massive rally since late 2025, and that momentum carried into January as their prices hit records. This metals frenzy, according to BMI, was “driven largely by bullish speculative trades across the markets,” on top of bets on a weakening dollar and tighter supply.

While this rally was always unsustainable, as seen in last week’s historic metals crash, strong fundamentals — namely a tight physical market — “should help base metals find a floor above historical averages in the coming months,” its analysts wrote in a note published on Tuesday.

In the coming weeks, BMI sees prices of key industrial metals like copper consolidating above historical averages as they transition into a corrective phase, with the possibility of a fundamentals-driven resurgence.

Upgraded forecasts

As such, BMI analysts have raised their annual forecasts for metals despite the LME index already hovering at record highs.

For copper, the Fitch Solutions unit sees prices staying elevated through at least mid-2026 and averaging $11,900/t for the year, with upside risks included. The red-colored metal set a record high of $14,500/t in London nearly a week ago before falling to the $13,000/t level.

As for aluminum, the firm also revised its annual average price forecast to $2,900/t, driven by supportive macro conditions and persisting expectations of structural tightness in the global market. The metal is currently trading at its highest level since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

Tin received a significant upward revision — from $35,000/t to $45,000/t — as analysts highlighted the sharp rise in speculative demand, with three-month futures on the LME now hovering around $47,100/t, alongside permitting issues in Indonesia and supply constraints in Myanmar.

Two battery metals — nickel and lithium — also received upgrades amid rising demand from the clean energy transition. BMI’s annual average price forecast for nickel is set at $15,800/t, while lithium prices, which have gained the most this year, are projected at $13,500/t and $13,000/t for carbonates and hydroxides, respectively.

Credit: BMI

“While prices are still likely to fluctuate and settle at a higher level than historical averages, another sustained rally remains elusive for now and base metals appear poised for a correction across the board,” BMI’s analysts wrote.

February 4, 2026 – FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

SUWA Statement on Historic Roadways Protection Act – 2.4.26  Legislation would stop management of motorized vehicle use across more than 6 million acres of BLM-managed redrock country in Utah 

Contacts:
Grant Stevens, Communications Director, Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance (SUWA); (319) 427-0260; grant@suwa.org

Washington, DC – Today, during a Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources Business Meeting, S.90 (the Historic Roadways Protection Act), passed on a party-line vote: 11-9. For all intents and purposes, this legislation would permanently prohibit the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) from effectively managing motorized vehicle use across more than 6 million acres of BLM-managed lands in Utah, leaving these public lands vulnerable to destruction and degradation. Below is a statement from SUWA Staff Attorney Laura Peterson and additional information.  

“If Senator Lee had his way, millions of acres of southern Utah would be a motorized playground free-for-all,” said Laura Peterson, Staff Attorney at the Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance (SUWA). “The public lands impacted by this legislation include some of the wildest, most remote areas of redrock country, including narrow, winding canyons; soaring redrock cliffs; forested plateaus; and desert waterways. It puts big game habitat, areas rich in irreplaceable cultural sites, and iconic recreation destinations—places like Labyrinth Canyon, the San Rafael Swell, and the Dirty Devil—at risk of being damaged or destroyed.” 

Additional Information: 

Between 2011-12, the State of Utah and many of its counties filed more than two dozen Quiet Title Act lawsuits in federal district court for the District of Utah. The lawsuits claim title to more than 12,000 alleged rights-of-way totaling more than 35,000 miles across public lands managed by agencies overseen by the Interior Department: so-called “R.S. 2477 rights-of-way.”  

Utah and its counties are claiming title to R.S. 2477 rights-of-way within National Parks, National Wildlife Refuges, National Monuments, National Recreation Areas, Congressionally-designated Wilderness, wilderness study areas, critical habitat, and fragile archeological sites. In addition to title, Utah is seeking the right to improve and widen each of these routes, in some cases up to 66 feet wide. An example of a RS2477 claim, from Kane County, is seen at the top of this page.

Roughly 80% of Utah’s claimed rights-of-way are made up of unimproved dirt roads and trails, including cow paths, stream bottoms and faded two-tracks; some of these routes do not even exist on the ground and are instead simply lines on a map. These are the vast majority of the “historic roadways” at issue in Senator Lee’s Historic Roadways Protection Act.  

The Act would prohibit the BLM from both implementing already completed motorized travel management plans and finalizing new plans until all of the state’s Quiet Title Act lawsuits are “adjudicated,” a process Senator Lee knows will take decades.  Since Utah filed its lawsuits in 2011-12, not a single case has been adjudicated by the district court.  

In the meantime, off-road vehicle use in Utah has skyrocketed. While these vehicles provide outdoor recreation opportunities, they also have an outsized impact on public land resources and other recreationists. It is critical that motorized vehicle use on public lands is managed and balanced. Travel management planning is essential to ensuring management that provides access to, and opportunities for, recreation while also preserving irreplaceable resources. Sen. Lee’s bill would prohibit the BLM from doing its job by preventing the agency from developing or implementing these crucial travel plans.  

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The Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance (SUWA) is a nonprofit organization with members and supporters around the country dedicated to protecting America’s redrock wilderness. From offices in Moab, Salt Lake City, and Washington, DC, our team of professionals defends the redrock, organizes support for America’s Red Rock Wilderness Act, and stewards a world-renowned landscape. Learn more at www.suwa.org. 

The post SUWA Statement on Historic Roadways Protection Act – 2.4.26  appeared first on Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance.

Bellona has launched the Oslofjord Kelp Park, a pilot kelp cultivation facility outside Slemmestad, about 30 kilometers southwest of Oslo, aimed at restoring environmental conditions in the heavily stressed Oslofjord.

“We are going to show how we can use nature’s solutions to fix nature’s problems. Great values have been lost here, and the hope is to bring life back to our fjord,” says Bellona chair Frederic Hauge.

Kelp forests serve as natural habitats for fish and other marine life. By cultivating kelp on submerged ropes, the project will absorb excess nutrients, bind carbon, and create new living areas for marine species, using nature-based methods to help rejuvenate the fjord.

The initiative comes after several years of planning and builds on more than a decade of marine restoration and kelp cultivation experience through Ocean Forest, a collaboration between Bellona and seafood company Lerøy. The project is being carried out in cooperation with partners from research, industry, and public administration, including NIVA, VEAS, the City of Oslo’s Agency for Urban Environment, and Asker municipality. The facility is scheduled to begin operations in autumn 2026.

Testing nature-based solutions at scale

The project is designed as a demonstration and learning facility for low-trophic aquaculture and ecosystem restoration.

“There is a need for concrete measures that can help the Oslofjord ecosystem. By establishing a pilot kelp facility, we can test how natural methods can help clean the water and create better conditions in the fjord,” says project manager and senior bioeconomy advisor at Bellona, Alexander Ugland.

Bellona’s marine biology team in their element: Jessica Hough, Simon H. Kline, and Alexander Ugland

Fieldwork milestones were reached this past autumn, when Bellona’s marine biology team collected locally adapted “mother plants” of sugar kelp in the nearby Drøbaksundet. These were sent to Lerøy’s hatchery outside Bergen, where spores are now being cultivated on ropes for later deployment at the Slemmestad/Vollen site. Using local genetic material helps ensure the kelp is suited to fjord conditions.

“Kelp forests are among the most important ecosystems on the planet,” says Bellona marine biologist Jessica Hough. “The entire plant functions as a habitat for other species.”

Kelp cultivation also acts as a natural treatment system by absorbing nitrogen and phosphorus from the water. While the pilot facility alone will not solve all the fjord’s challenges, Bellona says it is a necessary step toward scaling up nature-based measures.

“Kelp is living biomass with great potential. It binds carbon, absorbs nutrients, and can become an important resource in the green transition,” Ugland says. “We have to start somewhere to show that kelp can be part of the solution.”

From kelp to climate value

Harvested kelp from the project is planned to be used in biogas production combined with carbon capture and storage (Bio-CCS) at the VEAS wastewater treatment facility in Asker, which handles wastewater from much of the Oslo region.

“The Oslofjord Kelp Park is a very exciting and relevant collaboration for VEAS,” says CEO Kjetil Wang-Hansen. “It contributes to cleaning the fjord while exploring how biological resources can deliver additional environmental and climate benefits. That aligns closely with our own goals and shows the value of cross-sector cooperation.”

Lerøy also highlights the long-term industrial potential.

“Kelp cultivation is part of the future of the seafood industry and a strategic focus area for Lerøy,” says CEO Henning Beltestad. “We aim to develop the world’s most efficient and sustainable seafood value chain, with greater diversity and a lower footprint. That is why we are proud to be part of the Oslofjord Kelp Park.”

Building engagement and restoration

Bellona has also held public meetings to build local engagement around the project and fjord restoration more broadly.

“The Oslofjord is sick, and if we are going to restore it, we must bring life back and work with nature,” says Oslo’s City Commissioner for Environment and Transport, Marit Vea. “The kelp park is an important measure in itself and can also serve as a starting point for further nature-based restoration projects.”

If the pilot proves successful, Bellona and its partners plan to expand with additional kelp parks in the fjord.

“The goal is to document results on water quality, biodiversity, carbon capture, and local value creation,” says Ugland. “That could open the door to a new green industry in the Oslofjord.”

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