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Hundreds of intellectuals, activists and peasant militants from more than 70 countries began arriving in Colombia to advance and fight for the construction of agrarian reform at the ICARRD+20.

The post ‘We must fight to move forward’: movements from several countries arrive in Colombia for conference on land reform appeared first on La Via Campesina - EN.

Bruce Friedrich’s new book Meat: How the Next Agricultural Revolution Will Transform Humanity’s Favorite Food―and Our Future argues that plant-based and cultivated meat are humanity’s best hope of mitigating the harms of modern animal agriculture. As a part of making that case, Friedrich offers an insider’s analysis of what’s gone right and wrong in the quest to create plant-based and cultivated meat that compete on price and taste with their conventional counterparts. What follows is a section from chapter seven, which focuses on plant-based meat. Find out more about the book at MeatBook.org.

In my experience, most people—even those excited about alternative meats—believe that making plant-based meat is a culinary endeavor. Mix the right ingredients, get creative with spices and flavors, and voilà: meatless meat.

Their intuition is failing them. That’s not it at all.

GFI scientist Erin Rees Clayton explained to me that plant-based meat is asking biology to do something outside its nature: Plant proteins are globular; animal proteins are fibrous. Plant oils are liquids at room temperature; animal fats are solids. Replicating the structure and functionality of meat with entirely different ingredients isn’t just a matter of culinary craft; it’s a scientific problem.

The two plant-based meat pioneers, Impossible and Beyond, understand this. They weren’t playing with recipes. They hired tissue engineers, molecular biologists, chemists, meat scientists, extrusion engineers, plant breeders, and more. Their goal was not different in degree from the plant-based meat companies that had existed up until that point; their goal was different in kind. They were building a brand-new category from scratch, applying the rigors of science and engineering to food.

Erin expanded on this challenge, explaining her view that the underlying science of plant-based meat is, contrary to my intuition, a lot more complex than the science of cultivated meat: “Virtually no one is trained across the entire plant-based meat production process. Plant breeders can modify and improve crops but often don’t know what happens once those crops leave the field. Protein chemists can extract high-purity proteins but may not understand how different extraction techniques affect flavor, digestibility, or food functionality. Food scientists understand formulation but may not have experience with extrusion. Meat scientists know meat, but they’ve rarely applied their knowledge to plant proteins.”

Pat Brown put it bluntly: “The most important scientific problem in the world,” he said, was “What makes meat taste delicious?” And Impossible Foods was going to find the answer. Pat recruited a team of scientists and treated plant-based meat like an Apollo-level mission.

Allen Henderson joined Impossible in 2014 and worked there for about a decade. He spent his first two years as one of many scientists working on the 2016 burger launch. He told me that most meat and food companies spend less than 1% of their budgets on research, while pharma companies often invest closer to 30%. Pat’s goal, he said, was to out-science pharma. Allen holds a PhD in biochemistry and focused his doctoral and postdoctoral work on protein science. Still, “during my time at Impossible, I learned so much,” he told me. “It felt like we were all living in the protein Renaissance.”

The Impossible team figured out how to mitigate the off flavors from plant proteins. Nature creates many of those off flavors, Allen told me, specifically to protect plants from being too delicious. They don’t want to be eaten. The team built a gas chromatograph-mass spectrometer to identify flavor molecules created when meat cooks. They tested heme (an iron-containing compound that contributes to the meaty taste of meat) from 31 different sources, from clover to cattle to soy, finally settling on a process that produces a synthetic soy-based heme.

Even someone as deeply trained in protein sciences as Allen said there was no way around trial and error: “You really don’t know what you’re going to get until you try it,” he told me. Scaling up or down changed everything. Small tweaks could dramatically shift texture or flavor.

The Quest to be the Next Gardenburger

After Beyond Meat and Impossible Foods started raising substantial sums and Beyond went public at a multi-billion-dollar valuation, a flood of plant-based startups appeared, each pitching themselves as “the next Beyond Meat” or “the next Impossible Foods.” Over and over, their pitch decks featured Impossible and Beyond as comparators. And over and over, though with a few notable exceptions, it was obvious they were fooling themselves.

The biggest red flag? The R&D budgets for almost all these companies were tiny or nonexistent, they didn’t have a chief science officer, and they projected product launches within six to eight months. That’s possible, but only if you’re not actually trying to compete with conventional meat on taste. They weren’t. And they didn’t.

Recall that Impossible Foods—founded by one of the world’s top scientists—spent north of $100 million and more than five years before releasing a product. Similarly, Beyond Meat spent tens of millions of dollars and three years on research before launching its first product. Its breakout hit, the Beyond Burger, took seven years and tens of millions more. That Beyond Burger was the only product besides the Impossible Burger that performed well in FSI’s 2019 taste panels.

Another flag: expensive ingredients and clean labels. Many of these companies’ pitch decks for investors would distinguish themselves from Impossible and Beyond by noting that they used healthier proteins like lupine or lentils. They would also display side-by-side nutrition comparisons indicating that their products would have fewer ingredients, less fat, less sodium, and no unpronounceable ingredients. The focus on lupine and lentils guaranteed that the product would cost a lot more. The focus on low fat and clean labels guaranteed that it would taste nothing like animal meat. In other words: the health food strategy of the past four decades.

All of these veggie meat companies with no research budgets and a commitment to non-soy plant proteins, low fat, and clean labels? They were not the next Impossible; they were the next Gardenburger. That’s fine; that was the entire category until Beyond and Impossible were launched. But just be clear: You’re competing for a share of the $1 billion dollar US veggie meat market; you’re not ever going to compete with the $2 trillion global animal meat and seafood markets.

Pat Brown believes the deeper issue is a failure of imagination: People can’t picture plants precisely mimicking animal meat. Their thinking is stuck in the era of veggie burgers and tofu dogs. He told The New Yorker’s Tad Friend in 2019: “Nobody else has caught on to the fact that this is the most important scientific problem in the world, so their results are just a reheated version of veggie burgers from 10 years ago—maybe with a little lipstick on them.”

Publishers Weekly selected Meat as a top 10 new release in science, writing: “This packed account makes food science feel like an urgent and essential undertaking.” Find out more at MeatBook.org

Photo courtesy of Kateryna Hliznitsova, Unsplash

The post Book Excerpt | Meat: How the Next Agricultural Revolution Will Transform Humanity’s Favorite Food―and Our Future appeared first on Food Tank.

As the world combat global warming by moving away from fossil fuels, air pollution will also decrease. Less air pollution is a good thing that promises massive benefits for human health. Paradoxically, though, it will also “unmask” fossil fuel warming that until now has been dampened by particles of soot and smog.

A form of geoengineering known as marine cloud brightening could counteract this effect at a global level, a new study suggests. But the devil is in the details: the effects on specific regions of the planet could be quite different, highlighting the need for careful planning to avoid unintended effects.

In the study, researchers used a computer climate model to forecast the effects of seeding four cloudy areas over the eastern Pacific Ocean with microscopic particles of salt known as sea salt aerosols, similar to the salt spray that arises from ocean waves breaking on rocks. Aerosols contribute to the formation of clouds made of especially tiny water droplets, and those especially tiny droplets lead to whiter clouds that reflect more solar radiation back into space, thus cooling the planet.

On its own, shifting to green energy and achieving global net-zero carbon emissions would reduce air pollution enough to unmask nearly 1 °C of fossil fuel warming by the end of the century, the researchers calculated.

It will require billions of kilograms of sea salt aerosols every year, but marine cloud brightening could counteract the unmasking effect of reduced air pollution, holding global average temperature to its 2020 level. The geoengineering strategy would also counteract the increase in global annual precipitation that would otherwise occur as air pollution diminishes, according to the model.

 

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But looking closer, the researchers discovered unintended effects at a regional level. Europe, the U.S., northeastern China, and some areas of the ocean would still see warming. This is partly because the sea salt injections would indirectly cause the ocean conveyor belt known as the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Current to speed up.

And the regional effects of marine cloud brightening on precipitation are even more dramatic than the effects of reduced air pollution itself. Overall, the United States would become hotter and drier by the end of the century, while India, Australia, the Amazon, and the semi-arid Sahel region of Africa would be cooler and wetter than they are now.

The idea that geoengineering has unintended effects shouldn’t be so surprising. After all, injecting massive amounts of carbon dioxide and particulate air pollution into the atmosphere are also forms of geoengineering. But we’re now considering the unintended side effects of geoengineering we might undertake to mitigate the unwanted consequences of our past geoengineering.

Viewed this way, we’ve turned the Earth’s atmosphere into a Rube Goldberg device.

At the very least, as the researchers write, the new study “highlights the need for a more careful implementation strategy to produce both widespread cooling and fewer regional climate risks considering the effects are highly dependent on the strategy and seeding location.”

Source: Yu Y. et al. “Marine cloud brightening mitigates the warming induced by the aerosol reductions toward carbon neutrality.” Communications Earth & Environment 2026.

Image: © Anthropocene Magazine.

In December 2025, “Bündnis Klima-Solidarität” (The Climate Solidarity Alliance) called for restrictions on air traffic at Düsseldorf Airport (Germany) in an advent-themed protest. This demo was supported by the Stay Grounded action pot, here Sara Fromm explains what took place. “Think of the children of the world,” chanted a dozen activists dressed as angels and Santa Clauses, “Frequent flyers…

Source

Chile is entering a new political phase as a right-wing government prepares to take office, putting mining policy under renewed scrutiny in the world’s largest copper-producing country. 

In recent years, the local politics have also been shaped by rising concern over crime and migration, particularly a surge in Venezuelan migration and highly visible organized crime. While the causes are complex, perceptions linking irregular migration and insecurity became politically potent. President-elect José Antonio Kast, who takes office on March 11, campaigned on stricter border control and tougher law-and-order policies, making security a central issue in Chile’s electoral shift.

Kast has also signalled a change in approach for the mining industry. He merged the ministries of Mining and Economy into a single portfolio and appointed Daniel Mas, an agronomist with no mining background, to lead it. In a country where mining underpins economic growth, labour and export revenue, the move has unsettled parts of the industry. 

Carlos Piñeiro, copper analyst at Benchmark Mineral Intelligence, said the fusion could improve coordination but risks diluting mining-specific expertise. “Mining has very particular challenges, especially the non-renewability of resources,” he said. “If this model is going to work, specialists need to be involved in decision-making.” 

President-elect Kast stuns miners with Chile ministry merge

The Chilean Mining Chamber was more critical. “Mining, despite being our national emblem and the activity that contributes the most resources to the public purse, is treated as second-rate,” chamber president Manuel Viera told MINING.COM. 

Viera said the Chamber would have preferred a minister dedicated exclusively to mining, noting that previous experiences placing mining under broader economic portfolios “have not been positive.” While he does not foresee governance risks due to the sector’s maturity, he said mining’s success depends on technically grounded public policy rather than political decisions. 

Mas takes charge of a sector that is expected to attract an estimated $105 billion in investments between now and 2034, alongside proposed reforms to permitting and environmental assessment frameworks that companies say have slowed approvals and raised costs. 

Eduardo Zamanillo and Marta Rivera, authors of the book  Mining is Dead. Long Live Geopolitical Mining, said the merger of the ministries sent an important institutional signal at a time when major economies are placing critical minerals at the centre of industrial and security strategies.

Courtesy of Cochilco, 2025.

From a geopolitical mining perspective, Zamanillo and Rivera argue the move could either integrate mining more deeply into industrial policy, trade and innovation, aligning Chile with US-led reindustrialization efforts, or dilute the sector if it becomes just another file within a broad portfolio.

In their view, Chile’s opportunity lies in treating copper and lithium not merely as extractive revenues, but as platforms for building full value chains tied to allied markets. Whether the merger strengthens or weakens Chile’s position will depend on political will, technical leadership and the clarity of its long-term strategy. 

“Donroe Doctrine” in action

Although Chinese ownership of Chilean copper mines is limited, Beijing maintains influence through trade, financing and equipment supply. At the same time, US trade policy and Inflation Reduction Act-linked investment aim to anchor Chile more firmly within allied supply chains.

Any deviation from that plan is quickly corrected under Donald Trump’s revamped Monroe Doctrine, dubbed the “Donroe Doctrine”, aimed at protecting US interests in the region. On February 20, the State Department announced that it had revoked the visas of Chile’s minister of transport and telecommunications, the deputy minister of telecommunications, and the deputy minister’s chief of staff for allegedly “endangering regional security.”

The announcement followed reports that the Chilean government was considering authorizing the installation of a submarine fiber-optic cable linking the port of Valparaíso to Hong Kong, and it sent US-Chile relations into a tailspin.

Chile is currently the only South American nation with a US visa waiver program, allowing its citizens to travel to the US without a visa under normal circumstances.

Mineral ambitions meet execution risk 

Chile’s policy debate has been further shaped by the release of the country’s first critical minerals strategy in the final weeks of outgoing President Gabriel Boric’s administration. The strategy aims to position Chile as a supplier not only of copper and lithium, but also of 14 other minerals considered essential to the energy transition and resilient supply chains. 

Beyond copper and lithium, the list includes molybdenum, cobalt, rare earth elements, antimony, gold, silver, iron ore and boron, to reduce Chile’s historic  over-reliance on a single commodity. 

Viera said diversification is not optional.

“Depending almost exclusively on copper exposes the country to market cycles and uncertainty,” he said, noting that copper accounts for around 11% to 12% of GDP and more than 20% when considering economic impacts and multiplication effects. While copper will remain the backbone of the economy through at least 2035, he said minerals such as lithium, gold, molybdenum, rhenium and rare earth elements must help reduce long-term risk. 

Chile has grouped its critical minerals based on its current position in global markets. (Source: National Critical Minerals Strategy, 2026.)

Piñeiro said Chile’s mining base is already broader than often assumed, citing molybdenum, rhenium, lithium, iodine, nitrates and a recovery in gold output. He added that projects such as Salares del Norte could lift national gold production by about 25%. 

The strategy groups minerals according to Chile’s current position in global markets, with copper, lithium, molybdenum and rhenium in the top tier, and cobalt, rare earths, selenium and tellurium among longer-term options. 

According to Viera, Chile’s challenge is not geology but policy. “The resources exist,” he said. “What is missing is a promotional and development plan that encourages exploration, investment and production.” 

Others remain cautious. Daniel Weinstein, partner at Morales & Besa and president of the Mining Ministry’s advisory council, said the strategy provides a framework but does not change investment conditions on its own. 

“Cursed” permitting system

José Cabello, director of Mineralium Consulting Group, said the critical minerals plan lacks concrete near-term measures.

“Nothing in the document implies a definitive boost to Chile’s production of these minerals,” he told MINING.COM, pointing to the absence of clear decisions to advance early-stage projects. 

Viera echoed those concerns, arguing that without incentives for exploration and faster permitting, Chile risks missing the current price cycle. He described the permitting system as “cursed,” noting that a single project can require more than 500 permits over several years before seeing the light of day. 

Andes Iron’s $2.5B Dominga project in Chile hits fresh snag

Zamanillo and Rivera argue that diversification should not be understood only as adding more minerals to a list, but as defining Chile’s position along emerging Western critical mineral value chains.  

Trade data show Chile still exports most of its copper as bulk concentrates, heavily tied to China, while a smaller share of refined copper flows to the US and other allied markets.

In their view, the strategic opportunity lies in gradually shifting toward more refined output, midstream processing and higher-value services, using copper and lithium as anchors to attract investment aligned with US and allied industrial policy. Rather than relying predominantly on concentrate exports, Chile could rebalance toward deeper integration with North American value chains. 

Copper dominance, rising constraints 

Chile remains the world’s largest copper producer by a wide margin, accounting for roughly a quarter of global mined output. But declining ore grades, ageing deposits and rising regulatory complexity are constraining growth. 

That strain is showing in production, which fell on a year-on-year basis every month of 2025. Official Cochilco figures peg the decrease in copper production last year at 2%, when compared to 2024 figures. 

“Deposits are becoming deeper and lower grade,” Piñeiro said, adding that this makes Chile less competitive than jurisdictions such as the Democratic Republic of Congo, where higher grades support lower costs. 

Industry groups are hoping Kast’s government will adopt a more pro-growth stance that would benefit the mining industry, but they warn that meaningful production increases will take time.

They also expect increased government involvement in the northern mining regions, such as Antofagasta and Tarapaca. These areas have seen visible irregular migration flows, heightening security concerns in areas central to copper and lithium production. Business groups have called for stronger border control and protection of logistics corridors. While core mining jobs are specialized, tighter migration rules could affect local labour markets in supporting sectors, analysts say.

Against that backdrop of regional strain, industry leaders are also focused on output and long-term competitiveness. Viera said Chile is “obligated” to exceed six million tonnes of fine copper per year, but stressed that growth must come with greater added value through industrialization. “The future lies in industrializing copper and lithium with a global perspective,” he said. 

While Kast’s team has floated boosting mining output by as much as 20% within a year or two, council executive chairman Joaquin Villarino has said Chile’s project pipeline would more realistically lift copper production to around seven million tonnes over the next decade, assuming permitting efficiency and sustained investment. 

Chile copper supply gains seen years away, mining council warns

Mariano Machado, Americas analyst at risk intelligence firm Verisk Maplecroft, said the 20% target is a political signal, not a literal schedule. “It signals urgency, not an immediate step change,” he said, noting Chile’s constraints stem from mature assets and long lead-times. 

Machado pointed to Cochilco’s own projections, which show output peaking mid-decade before drifting down toward around 4.4 million tonnes by 2034. “We expect the sector to discount the headlines and watch what Kast can change early, including faster permit decisions and fewer procedural pauses,” he said. 

From Zamanillo and Rivera’s perspective, Chile’s fundamentals remain strong in a world where capital is mobile and increasingly shaped by geopolitical considerations. They note that large pools of public and private funding in the United States and allied countries are being directed toward critical mineral supply chains, including reserves, loans and equity instruments. For Chile to compete with both other jurisdictions and high-growth sectors, they argue, it must shorten and clarify permitting timelines.  

Long-life copper and lithium projects need predictable rules and sovereign speed, they say, if Chile wants to capture a larger share of the capital now being mobilized under the new critical minerals architecture. 

More broadly, the nation’s shift toward a tougher law-and-order agenda shapes perceptions of regulatory certainty and state authority. For foreign copper and lithium investors, that trajectory feeds directly into risk assessments, even if migration itself is not tied to production.

Lithium: cost advantage, policy uncertainty 

Chile remains the world’s second-largest lithium producer but has lost market share to faster-growing rivals. A national lithium strategy unveiled in 2023 increased state involvement and reshaped project development pathways. 

Piñeiro said Chile’s cost advantage remains significant, citing the Atacama Salt Flat as one of the lowest-cost lithium brine resources globally. 

Viera argued the country’s loss of leadership in lithium is political rather than geological. He added that Mining Code restrictions reserving lithium for the state have discouraged private investment despite high-quality reserves. 

Machado said investor confidence in lithium hinges less on signed agreements than on operating stability.

“A deal is the easy part — a stable licence to operate is harder,” he said, noting that investors still price in political and social constraints. 

Chile loads its copper cannon with 13 projects for a bullish 2026

While the Supreme Court’s backing of the Codelco and SQM agreement removed a legal challenge, he noted that investors continue to price in political and social constraints.

“Chile’s advantage matters if it can offer a stable operating model that survives social scrutiny and electoral cycles,” he said. 

According to Viera, Chile could regain its position as the world’s largest or second-largest lithium producer within the next decade if restrictions are repealed and a pro-investment framework is adopted. He cited projects such as Nova Andino Litio, a joint venture between Codelco and SQM, and Salares Altoandinos as positive steps, but said far greater potential exists across more than 40 salt flats nationwide. 

There is also Codelco’s Maricunga lithium partnership with Rio Tinto (ASX: RIO), which is still awaiting antitrust approvals from regulators in Chile and China before the companies can move ahead and sign a shareholders’ agreement.

A credibility test 

As Kast’s government prepares to take office, Chile’s mining sector stands at a crossroads. Demand for copper, lithium and other critical minerals continues to rise, but investors are focused on whether political realities, regulatory reform and their execution will align. 

For the Chilean Mining Chamber, the central issue is credibility. Viera said Chile must boost exploration incentives, modernize its smelting capacity and position mining as a strategic driver of development, not a fiscal fallback.

He added that the new Minister of Economy and Mining could play a pivotal role. “For more than 15 years, Chile has not launched any new projects to increase copper production. The only initiatives have replaced depleted reserves,” Viera said. “The country needs a nationwide exploration policy… Without new discoveries, we will fall behind.” 

For Machado, credibility rests on delivery capacity, not rhetoric. He said the clearest signal would be a delivery framework that promotes productivity and talent, positioning mining as a modern export platform. He pointed to the Critical Minerals Strategy’s call for redesigned curricula, new specializations and stronger integration between industry, academia and the public sector. 

That focus aligns with Chile’s broader competitiveness diagnosis, which highlights a persistent mismatch between available skills and labour-market demand. Machado noted that the mining workforce is already structurally tight and increasingly contractor-heavy.

“A robust plan for developing human capital is not an add-on, but a necessity to mitigate capex risk,” he said. 

In an increasingly geopolitical minerals market, Chile’s challenge is no longer just the size of its resource base, but whether it can reliably convert that advantage into sustained supply. 

———

Latin America is heading into 2026 with resources at the centre of a growing global power struggle, as governments and investors focus on who controls critical minerals and the supply chains behind them. If the region matters to you, don’t miss MINING.COM’s new series tracking the geopolitical forces reshaping it and why markets are increasingly driven by global alliances as much as local politics.

V rámci snah zajistit energetickou bezpečnost se Evropa snaží výrazně navýšit svou produkci stěžejních nerostných surovin. V oblastech Norska a Švédska bohatých na nerostná naleziště těžařská horečka naráží na odpor domorodých Sámů.

Je vlahá letní noc a arktické slunce dosud stojí vysoko nad Repparfjordem, norským zálivem v oblasti za polárním kruhem. Mnoho ekologů a mladých aktivistů má plné ruce práce — snaží se blokádou oddálit zahájení provozu zdejšího dolu na měď. Kov zde vytěžený má být využit pro technologie, které jsou klíčové pro evropskou energetickou transformaci a bezpečnost.

©Hannah Thulé 

Mezi aktivisty je také Isak Greger Eriksen, který sám nedávno objevil své sámské kořeny. Je členem Natur og Ungdom (Příroda a mládež), největší norské organizace ochránců přírody sdružující mladé lidi. „Jako ekologicky smýšlející lidé zelenou transformaci podporujeme, nechceme ale, aby se to dělo na úkor lidských práv, práv domorodých obyvatel a přírody. Proto jsme se rozhodli zakročit,“ říká.

Tábor aktivistů se hemží demonstranty. Někteří staví stany zvané lavvu, typické provizorní přístřešky sámského lidu na způsob týpí, které mají symbolicky připomínat zdejší původní obyvatelstvo. Další připravují plány protestů pro nadcházející dny. Repparfjord leží v oblasti Sámpi, kde se Sámové — příslušníci domorodého etnika, obývající arktické oblasti Norska, Švédska, Finska a severovýchodního Ruska — po tisíciletí věnují rybolovu, lovu a pastevectví sobů. Obnovený zájem o těžbu v oblasti bohaté na nerostná naleziště se tu střetává s jejich starobylou kulturou, která je z velké části závislá na uchování přírodních podmínek.

Právě tady, čtyři sta kilometrů za polárním kruhem, schválila v roce 2019 norská vláda výstavbu dolu na měď Nussir, a to navzdory silnému odporu nejen ekologů, jako je Isak, ale také sámských rybářů a pastevců sobů. Projekt se připravuje od roku 2009 a má již všechna potřebná povolení k zahájení těžby. Navíc díky potenciálu zajistit bloku evropských zemí klíčové dodávky mědi získal důl letos v březnu speciální status strategického projektu EU. Nussir se má stát plně elektrifikovaným dolem s nulovými emisemi uhlíku.

16. června 2025, jen pár dní po prvním odstřelu, jenž byl proveden ještě před plánovaným termínem, však musel důl kvůli blokádě aktivistů pozastavit činnost. Ekologové protestovali proti tomu, že odstřel se konal v místě, na něž nedostal důl Nussir povolení k těžbě. Zastupitelstvo Hammerfestu připustilo, že námitka aktivistů je oprávněná — projekt však přesto zanedlouho poté opět dostal zelenou a hloubení šachty pokračovalo.

Demonstrant v aktivistickém táboře v Repparfjordu s organizací Natur og Ungdom. Zdroj: ©Hannah Thulé.

Projekt spravovaný kanadskou společností Blue Moon Metals má produkovat měď, která je nepostradatelným materiálem při výrobě elektromobilů, rozvodových sítí, solárních panelů a větrných turbín. Norské úřady a těžební společnost argumentují, že Nussir přinese také nové pracovní příležitosti mladým lidem v oblasti, která se vylidňuje a zažívá ekonomický úpadek.

S tím však aktivisté a místní sámské komunity nesouhlasí. Mezi sámskými pastevci sobů narůstá obava, že podobné projekty naruší životní prostředí, a ohrozí tak jejich tradiční způsob obživy. „Pokud přijdeme o oblasti, kde se sobi rozmnožují, přijdeme o sobí mláďata, a tím i o základ pro pokračování chovu sobů. Přes to zkrátka nejede vlak,“ říká Nils Utsi, zástupce pastevců sobů z oblasti Fettja, kterou má projekt zasáhnout. „O určitých věcech smlouvat nelze. Znamenalo by to náš konec, a o tom se zkrátka nevyjednává.“

Vlnu nesouhlasu vyvolaly také obavy, že hlušina — zbytkový materiál, který zůstane po získání cenné nerostné suroviny z rudy — skončí ve fjordu. Aktivisté varují, že těžební odpad ohrozí místní rybáře a tradici rybolovu přímořských Sámů.

V reakci na tyto obavy ekologové z organizace Natur og Ungdom vybudovali aktivistický tábor poblíž těžební lokality a celé loňské léto protestovali proti zprovoznění dolu. Když potom v červnu zahájila společnost těžbu, aktivisté se shromáždili v blízkosti dolu, aby zablokovali horníky chystající se k vyhloubení šachty, a řetězy se přivázali k těžké technice. Několik z nich zatkla policie a uložila jim pokutu, přesto však vytrvali ve svém odhodlání protestovat jak přímo na místě, tak na internetu, kde vyzvali aktivisty z celého světa, aby je podpořili.

Podobné obavy panují také v Kiruně, švédském městě za polárním kruhem, které se nachází tři sta kilometrů severozápadně od Repparfjordu. Místní obyvatelé tu protestují proti projektu Per Geijer, který připravuje státem vlastněná společnost LKAB. Projekt v současnosti čeká na udělení těžební koncese Švédským úřadem pro těžbu, a to je zase podmíněno získáním dalších ekologických povolení — do té doby nelze těžbu zahájit.

Dějiny města jsou s těžbou provázány od jeho vzniku. Kiruna byla založena v roce 1900 jako hornické město přímo nad ložiskem železné rudy v horách Luossavaara a Kiirunavaara, v oblastech, které dříve sezónně užívaly sámské komunity k lovu, rybolovu a pastevectví sobů.

Dnes způsobují těžební aktivity v Kiruně poklesy a půdy a další terénní deformace, což si v budoucnu vyžádá přesun města do jiné lokality. Nedávno byl takto přemístěn 113 let starý kostel v Kiruně, což přitáhlo pozornost celého světa a přesun kostela byl oslavován jako výjimečná historická událost.

Zástupce kirunské sámské komunity Gabna ale upozorňuje, že pokud nový těžební projekt zahájí činnost, těžba se zakousne hluboko do oblasti využívané soby a zablokuje migrační cesty, kterými sobí stáda putují mezi pastvinami. „Nic už jim není svaté. Je vidět, kolik jsou obyvatelé Kiruny ochotni obětovat na oltář prosperity a blahobytu Švédska,“ říká Lars-Marcus Kuhmunen.

Potřeba zelené transformace

Lokální napětí v Kiruně a Repparfjordu připomíná obdobnou situaci v Portugalsku, Srbsku nebo České republice, kde se také ve jménu evropské zelené transformace a strategické nezávislosti prosazují nové těžební projekty. Kovy jako měď nebo lithium jsou klíčové pro infrastrukturu a obnovitelné technologie, jako jsou solární panely, větrné turbíny či baterie pro elektromobily. Mezinárodní energetická agentura (IEA) nedávno vydala varování, že během příštích deseti let může nastat celosvětový nedostatek mědi.

Rovněž geopolitické napětí nutí Evropskou unii konat. S tím, jak se Evropa snaží odpoutat od čínských a ruských dodavatelských řetězců v oblasti energetiky, roste také tlak na lokální těžbu nerostů nezbytných pro zelenou transformaci. „Ocitli jsme se hluboko v klimatické i bezpečnostní krizi,“ říká Bard Bergfeld, ekolog, který působí jako expert na nerostné suroviny a je členem rady švédské těžařské společnosti Granex.

„Energetická transformace znamená přechod od hospodářství založeného na fosilním uhlíku k hospodářství založenému na kovech. Tyto kovy je třeba těžit a těžbu lze provádět jedině tam, kde se nacházejí ložiska nerostů,“ říká Bergfeld.

Invaze Ruska na Ukrajinu v roce 2022 a následná energetická krize Evropu konfrontují s palčivou závislostí na ruském plynu a ropě. Brusel se o snížení této závislosti snaží. Evropská komise vyhlásila, že do roku 2027 by se Evropa měla plně odpoutat od ruského plynu — ačkoli jeho dovoz v roce 2024 ve srovnání s rokem předcházejícím narostl o osmnáct procent.

Současně zůstává Evropa do velké míry závislá na Číně, pokud jde o takzvané vzácné zeminy — totiž skupinu sedmnácti kovů, které jsou nepostradatelné pro zelené technologie a další strategická odvětví průmyslu. Jak ukazuje rozhodnutí Číny omezit vývoz vzácných zemin do USA v reakci na Trumpovu celní politiku, dodávky těchto kriticky důležitých kovů ve světě plném geopolitického napětí nelze pokládat za nic samozřejmého.

Strategické projekty EU schválené v březnu 2025: Nussir a Per Geijer jsou součástí těchto snah o rozvoj domácích dodavatelských řetězců. Zdroj: ©Evropská komise

Bezpečnostní politika na územích domorodých obyvatel

V květnu 2024 vstoupil v platnost evropský Akt o kritických surovinách (CRMA), jehož cílem je přispět ke koordinaci úsilí jednotlivých členských států o zajištění stabilních dodávek čtyřiatřiceti surovin, mezi něž patří například vzácné zeminy, lithium nebo kobalt. Všechny tyto suroviny jsou pokládány za „kritické“, neboť mají nezastupitelnou úlohu nejen v přechodu na nefosilní zdroje energie, ale také v zajištění dlouhodobé bezpečnosti Evropské unie.

Kostel v Kiruně byl přemístěn kvůli dopadům těžby pod městem. Zdroj: ©Eden Maclachlan.

Nejenže totiž pohánějí zelené technologie, ale jsou nepostradatelné také v digitálním, bezpečnostním, vzdušném a kosmickém sektoru. V souladu s Aktem o kritických surovinách má Evropa do roku 2030 deset procent strategických nerostů vytěžit, čtyřicet procent zpracovat a pětadvacet procent zrecyklovat. Mají-li země EU naplnit první stanovený cíl, potřebují v příštích pěti letech na svém území těžbu těchto nerostů zpětinásobit.

Diverzifikace dodavatelských řetězců a navýšení nerostné produkce znamená v praxi více těžby, více zpracovatelských provozů a více recyklačních stanic na evropské půdě. Právě proto začal Brusel urychlovat proces schvalování těžebních projektů. Společně s Aktem o kritických surovinách Evropská komise schválila v rámci EU sedmačtyřicet strategických projektů. V březnu 2025 následoval seznam třinácti strategických projektů ve třetích zemích.

V severských zemích bylo s ohledem na geologickou skladbu zdejší půdy a také na přítomnost etablovaného těžebního průmyslu vybráno deset různých projektů zaměřených na těžbu, zpracování či recyklaci strategických surovin. Těžební projekt Per Geijer v Kiruně a důl na měď Nussir v Reppargjordu patří mezi ně.

První z nich má zajistit osmnáct procent evropských domácích dodávek vzácných zemin a druhý má podle projektu produkovat kolem čtrnácti tisíc tun mědi ročně. Měď vytěžená v Repparfjordu bude následně distribuována mezi odběrateli v zemích EU pro větrné a solární elektrárny a pro potřeby leteckého a obranného průmyslu.

Těžařská horečka však přináší také zásadní problémy, zvláště na arktickém severu. Narůstající odpor proti strategickým projektům vyvolává naléhavé otázky ohledně toho, jak vyvážit potřeby zelené transformace se zájmy a právy domorodého obyvatelstva.

Bezpečnostní politika na domorodých územích

Akt o kritických surovinách stanovuje, že těžební a zpracovatelské společnosti musí věnovat pozornost rizikům spojeným se sociálními a ekologickými dopady svých projektů a snažit se je řešit či zmírňovat, kritikové však varují, že tlak Evropské unie na urychlení a efektivitu těžebních projektů je s deklarovaným záměrem těžko slučitelný.

„Celý zákon je navržen tak, aby podpořil těžební průmysl: jeho jediným cílem je usnadnit těžbu. Sleduje ekonomické a strategické zájmy, chápané jako důležitější než například dodržování lidských práv,“ říká Annette Löfová, politoložka ze Stockholmského institutu životního prostředí (SEI).

Nedávná zpráva Stockholmského institutu ukazuje negativní dopady těžebních aktivit na sámské pastevecké komunity v severním Švédsku. Závěrem studie konstatuje, že zásadním problémem i nadále zůstávají nedostatky v legislativách jednotlivých států, v dobrovolných závazcích korporací a také mocenská a finanční asymetrie mezi místními komunitami a soukromými společnostmi.

Pokud jde o směrnice OECD, těžebního sektoru se týká požadavek „smysluplného a respektujícího“ zapojení místních obcí do rozhodovacího procesu. Rovněž mezinárodní právo zakotvuje požadavek předběžného svobodného a informovaného souhlasu domorodých skupin obyvatelstva, který má zaručit, že původní obyvatelé se budou moci účastnit rozhodovacích procesů a budou mít slovo v rozhodování o krocích, které na ně mají dopad, což se týká i vydávání koncesí k těžbě. Toto ustanovení vychází z práva na sebeurčení a z antidiskriminačních principů.

Když však Evropský parlament navrhl, aby Akt o kritických surovinách obsahoval také požadavek předběžného svobodného a informovaného souhlasu domorodých etnik, Švédsko bylo jednou ze zemí, které se postavily proti této úpravě — načež byla příslušná pasáž z návrhu zákona vyňata. Je to součást obecnější tendence, kdy se švédská vláda, která od posledních voleb v roce 2022 vládne s podporou krajní pravice, vzdaluje od svých klimatických závazků a od ochrany životního prostředí.

Článek 10 Deklarace OSN o právech domorodých národů.

Nedávná studie Evropské environmentální kanceláře (EEB) zdůraznila, že nedostatečná transparentnost schvalování strategických projektů představuje porušení Aarhuské úmluvy o přístupu k informacím, jíž je Evropská unie signatářem. „Rozhodovací procesy týkající se využití půdy neberou zřetel na lidská práva Sámů,“ říká Brittis Edmanová ze Švédského institutu pro lidská práva.

Mluvčí Evropské komise, kterého jsme kontaktovali s žádostí o komentář, popisuje situaci poněkud jinak: „Akt o kritických surovinách obsahuje opatření pro efektivnější a předvídatelnější schvalovací procesy, aniž by se přitom porušovaly či zlehčovaly ekologické standardy EU. Požaduje sociálně zodpovědnou praxi, dodržování lidských práv a komplexní a smysluplné zapojení místních lidí včetně domorodých komunit.“

V červnu 2025 čtyři europoslanci ze strany Zelených obvinili Evropskou komisi z utajování strategických projektů schválených v rámci Aktu o kritických surovinách. Europoslanci si stěžovali, že neměli přístup k posudkům týkajícím se dopadů na životní prostředí.

Směrem ke spravedlnosti v oblasti zdrojů

Spor ohledně těžby kriticky důležitých kovů je jen jedním z mnoha aspektů, které v současnosti narušují tradiční způsob života Sámů. Kaisa Syrjänen Schaalová, právnička a vedoucí sekretariátu Sámské komise pravdy, pověřené švédskou vládou zdokumentovat útlak sámského lidu, říká: „Pastevectví ohrožuje řada aktivit: lesnictví, těžba, větrné parky, vodní elektrárny. Všechna uvedená odvětví potřebují půdu, a prostor pro život Sámů se tak čím dál víc zmenšuje.“

Arktická oblast se navíc otepluje čtyřikrát rychleji, než je celosvětový průměr, a tedy i změny klimatu představují pro sámskou kulturu ohrožení. Životní prostředí se proměňuje a najít pro stáda vhodné pastviny je stále obtížnější.

Těžební projekty sice vznikají mimo jiné i proto, aby klimatickou změnu zmírnili, mnozí však mají za to, že si vybírají od domorodých společenství příliš vysokou daň. „Dělají to pro peníze. Řešením klimatické změny by mělo být snížení spotřeby, ne otevírání dalších dolů,“ míní Nils Utsi.

Lebka soba v Kiruně, Švédsko. Zdroj: ©Lars-Marcus Kuhmunen.

Lidskoprávní analytička Brittis Edmanová upozorňuje, jak tato tendence spolu s novou industrializací Severu, která souvisí se zelenou transformací, zvětšuje rozpor mezi principy mezinárodního práva na jedné straně a opatřeními přijímanými na úrovni jednotlivých států, jako jsou posudky týkající se dopadů na životní prostředí nebo koncese k těžbě, na straně druhé. Annette Löfová ze Stockholmského institutu životního prostředí vidí situaci podobně jako Edmanová.

„Dnes je už jasné, že práva domorodých obyvatel jsou v severských zemích uznávána spíše jen na symbolické úrovni,“ říká Erdmanová a dodává: „Strategické projekty, u nichž se předpokládá zrychlený proces schvalování v systému už nyní přetíženém, je třeba zasadit do širšího kontextu a uvědomit si, že domorodé obyvatelstvo už v minulosti utrpělo řadu křivd a přišlo o velké množství půdy.“

„O právech Sámů se někdy mluví jako o privilegiích. To ale není pravda. Jejich práva jen slouží k tomu, aby se vyrovnaly rozdíly v tom, jakým privilegiím se kdo těší. Podstatou práv domorodých obyvatel je uznání jejich specifické kultury a životních podmínek,“ dodává Edmanová.

Nalézt kompromis nebude snadné. Hrozí nebezpečí, že zrychlený proces udělování koncesí k těžbě a zkrácení procesu veřejného projednávání povede k tomu, že se prostor pro konstruktivní debatu a vyjednávání mezi rozhodovacími orgány, obcemi, těžebními společnostmi a dalšími zainteresovanými subjekty zúží. Pastevci sobů v Kiruně si už dnes stěžují, že jejich připomínkám během veřejného projednávání nikdo nenaslouchá. A v Repparfjordu žádná debata s developery ani neprobíhá.

„Tyto nerosty budou pro zelenou transformaci zapotřebí. Otázka však zní, do jaké míry — a tahle diskuse se vůbec nevede,“ říká Löfová ze Stockholmského institutu životního prostředí.

Löfová si myslí, že demokratické zapojení domorodých skupin bude napříště čím dál důležitější, mají-li se uspokojivě vyřešit zdánlivě nepřekonatelné konflikty související s těžbou nerostů na lokální úrovni — a také mají-li být budoucí rozvojové projekty ve Skandinávii vůbec úspěšné. „Akt o kritických surovinách správně identifikuje a řeší otázky geopolitického napětí, ale nezabývá se vůbec vnitřními problémy, jako je nesouhlas s těžbou v mnoha částech Evropy. Nechápe je jako podstatné konflikty, k nimž je třeba přistupovat se stejnou vážností, spíše je pokládá za pouhé technikálie,“ vysvětluje.

Löfová je přesvědčená, že pokud se to nezmění, může to vést k vystupňování napětí a ke střetům ve větším měřítku — jak mezi skupinami, jejichž práv se těžba dotýká, a státy, tak i mezi místními komunitami a Evropskou unií.

Podobné dopady mohou mít projekty bezpečnostní politiky v severní Evropě. Severoatlantická aliance v poslední době zintenzivnila aktivity v severní Evropě a na hranicích s Ruskem — zejména je tu řeč o nově schválené letecké základně v norském Bodø. Objevují se spory ohledně militarizace arktické oblasti: a to i s ohledem na práva zdejších Sámů.

„Pokud jde o širší geopolitický kontext, zájmy domorodých obyvatel v Norsku a Švédsku nelze z debaty týkající se evropské energetické bezpečnosti vynechat,“ uzavírá Löfová. Zajištění stabilních dodávek kriticky důležitých nerostů z domácích zdrojů je nyní pro Evropskou unii významnou prioritu.

Přesto je v době naléhavých klimatických a geopolitických problémů zapotřebí vést konstruktivní dialog. A to proto, aby se zajistilo dodržování lidských práv a také aby se vzaly v potaz dopady na životní prostředí.

Překlad Magdalena Jehličková.

Toto vyšetřování bylo provedeno s podporou Journalismfund Europe.

The Alliance for Food Sovereignty in Africa (AFSA) launches a new report asking a critical question: Is the African Development Bank (AfDB) financing food systems that truly serve Africa’s people? Based on an analysis of 20 AfDB-supported agricultural projects, this study, researched by Dr Keiron Audain for AFSA, reveals a troubling pattern. Despite strong rhetoric […]

The post New Report: Who Is Financing the Future of African Agriculture? first appeared on AFSA.

Each year, police officers kill over 1,000 people they’ve sworn to protect and serve. While some cases, like George Floyd’s and Sandra Bland’s, capture national attention, most victims remain nameless,…

Cuba fights US sanctions with sunshine, and grit

Photo by Juan Luis Ozaez on Unsplash

The tightened siege on Cuba by the US is an attack on one of the world’s most sustainable societies by one of the least, and one that is trying to lead a charge towards climate catastrophe because, as Marco Rubio put it in his address to the Munich Security Conference, “we are not afraid of climate change”; as if we could deal with the consequences of climate breakdown by being macho about it.

• Cuba has a population of 10.9 million people, less than a thirtieth of that of the United States. 
• It has a per capita carbon footprint of 2.23 tonnes, less than half of the global average of 4.7 tonnes and a sixth that of the United States; not simply because it has a lower per capita income, but because its society is more organised around sustainability. Which is also why, in 2025, with a per capita income an eighth that of the US, life expectancy, at 79.49, was almost half a year longer. 
• It is spending $129 million on its military this year, an 8 thousandth of the 2026 US military budget. 

Yet Donald Trump poses it as an “unusual and extraordinary threat” to the United States. This is, as so many Trump statements are, an inversion of reality. The US has been an unusual and extraordinary threat to Cuba and its people since the first sanctions were imposed by President Eisenhower in 1960. This is not an aberration for the Global South. The Lancet estimated last year that the deaths caused by sanctions imposed around the world by the US and EU have killed 38 million people since 1970 – about half a million a year. But it is peculiarly long term: 65 years of relentless pressure, punctuated by military adventures like the Bay of Pigs, assassination plots and ruthless misinformation campaigns.

The current intensification of this siege, primarily focused on energy sources, having cut off 75% of its oil supplies in the last month, has had to be met by emergency measures. It is striking how many of these consolidate and accelerate Cuba’s path to sustainability; while seeking to protect the population as far as possible from the worst impacts and mobilise them to resist. 

Countries around the world that want to avoid a similar vulnerability to a US energy siege in future will be drawing the conclusion that the faster they move to renewable energy, the safer they will be.

In Energy Generation

• The program of installing large photovoltaic solar parks across the country to move towards a situation in which electricity supply can be guaranteed without fuel imports will be maintained. Until last year 83% of electricity was being generated by aging and unreliable oil fired power stations, supplied largely with oil from Venezuela and Mexico that the US has now shut off. Cuba itself only produces about a third of its needs and increases in local production can’t be qualitatively increased, while imports now allowed from the private sector will be important but relatively small scale. Cuba is nevertheless in the first stages of the rapid turn to solar energy that is also gaining momentum across the whole Global South. Last year 55 solar farms capable of generating 1200 MW were built with Chinese assistance. So far their peak generation has been 900MW, about 40% of peak demand. A further 37 solar farms are due to be completed by the end of 2028 to close the gap further. On a smaller scale, 22 wind turbines are being refurbished to generate another 30MW. This will dent the impact of the sanctions, but the sooner more can be built the better.
• At the same time progress is being made towards the installation of 20,000 off grid distributed solar housing systems, including panels and storage batteries including sales to health and education workers of 10,000 of these.
• The delivery and assembly of these systems will be streamlined to “give energy sustainability to 10,000 family centers in the country” and install 5,000 modules in remote communities. These are the last homes that are not connected to the grid; thereby achieving 100% electrification across Cuba.
• During this year another 5,000 systems will be delivered covering centres where the population receives social care, like nursing homes, children’ s homes and community centres.
• New incentives for renewable sources have been introduced so that people who generate electricity can sell it directly to third parties – another consumer, a company, an industry – not just the Electric Union.

Saving fuel 

• There will be a four day week from Monday to Thursday.
• Fuel sales will be monitored to ensure equitable supply.
• Street lights have had to be dimmed.
• Industry will focus on the manufacture, processing and supply of vital chemicals, like those needed to ensure water, oxygen and chlorine quality for the health system and some industrial processes.
• The tourist industry, essential to earning desperately needed foreign exchange, is being concentrated in hubs to save fuel.
• Cultural programming is being adjusted to encourage more local cultural activities in communities and the movement of amateur artists, and measures have been applied to reduce fuel expenditure to allow the National Baseball series, which is currently at the semi final stage, to conclude.
• Fuel will be prioritised to allow the operation of ports and airports to allow in food, fuels, and medical supplies. The transport of disconnected supplies are being grouped together and then moved to optimise fuel use.

Food production 

• Growing more food locally is crucial. There are plans to grow an additional 200,000 hectares of rice and some of these are already planted. Fuel allocation will be prioritised to make this possible.
• Planting a greater variety of crops is being encouraged as is urban and family farming. 
• Renewable energy sources will be used for irrigation and animal traction will be increased.
• Public transport is being reduced to bare essentials- connections between Havana and main provincial centres twice a day and routes in towns restructured.
• Some of the gaps are being filled by electric cycle rickshaws in all areas, which will be regulated by local authorities, as will prices charged by private carriers.

The impact of this siege is grim. With no fuel for rubbish collection, waste is piling up in the streets. The knock on effects of health, even with Cuba’s immensely impressive public health care system, can’t help but be severe. The US is also pressuring other countries to commit self harm by ending their agreements to employ Cuban doctors in their health care system. This earns Cuba foreign exchange but is also a massive contribution to the health and wellbeing of the countries concerned. 

The defiant words of the Deputy Prime Minister, Oscar Pérez-Oliva Fraga: “We are not going to collapse because the Cuban people do not collapse and have demonstrated it throughout our history”  is a call for solidarity from friendly countries, trade unions and movements around the world, from anyone who does not want to see our world thrown backwards into a last frenzy of white racist fossil fuel imperialism of the sort so nakedly expressed by Marco Rubio in Munich. If you haven’t read this speech please do. It’s an eye opener. The climate movement should have no reservations about whose side it is on. 

Contact the Cuba Solidarity Campaign to see what you can do to help.

Paul Atkin

A lot of the information in this blog comes from an article from Cuba Debate, reporting on a round table discussing the measures being taken to resist US sanctions, which you can read in full here.

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The show starts with something a lot of us can relate to: back pain. The back belongs to a woman named Nanaya, who was kidnapped...

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ICARRD+20 offers a historic opportunity to reaffirm the importance of agrarian reform and rural development, to take stock of transformative examples of agrarian reform, to update the meaning of agrarian reform, and to forge a shared vision for popular, feminist, decolonial, and eco-social transformation.

The post ICARRD+20 must move beyond technocratic fixes to implement real, integral agrarian reform: Global Social Movements in Cartagena appeared first on La Via Campesina - EN.

When the developer Novva first announced that it was building Utah’s largest data center campus just south of Salt Lake City, the company’s CEO touted the many advantages of the region: among them a low risk of disasters, an expanding international airport, no sales tax on equipment, and the high altitude cold of the desert landscape, which would help keep cooling costs down. Perhaps most importantly, power would be cheap. Utah has some of the lowest electricity costs in the country. 

“We believe Utah is a hidden gem for one of the largest wholesale colocation campuses in the United States,” CEO and founder Wes Swenson said in a 2020 press release. 

But the company quickly ran into trouble. Rocky Mountain Power, the local utility, was not able to provide the full amount of energy that the data center needed until 2031 — and even then it wasn’t guaranteed. How exactly that power would be transmitted to the remote facility was also uncertain. 

Locked out of options with Rocky Mountain, Novva decided to build its own natural gas plant near its data center to provide 200 megawatts of power. But even that would take until 2027. By 2025, with the generative artificial intelligence explosion in full swing, Novva had secured a contract with a so-called hyperscaler — the tech industry term that refers to one of the massive companies building out global cloud computing. That undisclosed customer wanted to use the facility as soon as possible. So Novva turned to a solution that, despite being inefficient and highly polluting, could be deployed much more quickly: a fleet of diesel- and gas-fired generators.

To operate these generators — which produce nitrogen oxides, carbon monoxide, and far more carbon dioxide emissions than a typical natural gas plant per unit of energy — Novva would need permission from the state. The permits it received from the Utah Division of Air Quality came with strict limits. They capped the volume of emissions the gas-fired generators could produce, and the diesel generators could only be operated 42 hours a year.

With these limits on its ability to satisfy the hyperscaler’s extreme demand for power, in March of last year, Novva appealed to a higher authority: President Donald Trump. 

The EPA had just announced that it would consider providing so-called presidential exemptions to companies requesting reprieves from environmental regulations, and Novva jumped at the opportunity. A company representative wrote to the EPA arguing that exempting the data center from Clean Air Act standards was in the United States’ national security interests. (The federal agency had created a special email account just to field the companies’ requests.) As one of the largest data center clusters, it could help the administration with its stated goal to ensure that AI is responsibly developed, the representative noted. At the time, DeepSeek-R1, China’s answer to ChatGPT, had recently been released, fueling concerns that the U.S. adversary’s AI capabilities were rapidly catching up.  

“We ask that you provide this exemption to assist in ensuring the United States’ Al supremacy,” the letter reads.  

Read Next Data centers are scrambling to power the AI boom with natural gas Naveena Sadasivam & Jake Bittle

Novva’s plea was one of hundreds submitted to the EPA’s presidential exemption inbox last spring. Grist obtained copies of these letters by filing a records request under the Freedom of Information Act. The vast majority were submitted by coal-fired power plant operators, refineries, petcoke plants, medical sterilizers, and steel manufacturers. Novva was one of two data center developers that requested exemptions. The other, Thunderhead Energy Solutions, requested exemptions for 11 data centers consuming a combined 23 gigawatts of energy across Texas, Montana, and Illinois.

Thunderhead’s request was far more brazen than Novva’s. It proposed building a 5,000-megawatt gas-fired plant in Winkler County in West Texas — a facility far larger than the state’s largest power plant, the roughly 3,700-megawatt W.A. Parish Generating Station. So far, the company has only publicly announced plans for a 250-megawatt plant in neighboring Ector County.

Novva sought a two-year exemption to run 96 diesel generators without any limits while it finishes construction of its natural gas plant, which already has approval from the Utah Department of Environmental Quality. But company CEO Wes Swenson told The Salt Lake Tribune and Grist that he never heard back from the feds and wasn’t granted the exemption. Whatever power it currently uses is primarily sourced from the grid.

But these exemption requests demonstrate some of the challenges that data center developers eager to capitalize on the AI boom are facing — and the steps they’re considering to circumvent regulatory hurdles. In the rush to secure power, many companies are installing solar arrays and batteries on-site in addition to building their own natural gas plants and deploying fleets of inefficient generators. This type of “behind-the-meter” generation is becoming increasingly common, with at least 54 data centers using this approach, according to one analysis.

Novva’s data center campus lies in the greater Salt Lake City metropolitan area, which is regularly plagued by so-called wintertime inversion pollution, an event where warm mountain air traps colder air and pollution in the valley. The area also grapples with summertime ozone smog, which forms when pollutants get baked by the sun. A spokesperson for Utah’s air quality regulator said the agency wasn’t aware of Novva’s attempt to obtain relief from federal regulations, which the state is charged with enforcing.

Read Next To power Utah’s data center boom, companies are turning to fossil fuels Leia Larsen

Swenson said he learned of the possibility of Clean Air Act immunity after his “webcrawlers picked it up.” He asserted that Trump created the presidential exemption for Elon Musk, after the billionaire built a data center in Memphis and was granted exemptions from permitting requirements. (In fact, it’s not clear if Musk’s company ever applied for federal relief, and it may be unlikely given that it was granted a separate exemption by local regulators.)

“To fast track it, they created that exemption,” Swenson said. “Why wouldn’t we apply?”

Though Novva did not receive its exemption, an analysis by the Environmental Defense Fund found that of the more than 500 exemption requests that the organization was able to obtain records for, roughly a third were granted. (The group did not have complete information for an additional one-third of requests.)

The ultimate status of Thunderhead Energy’s request is uncertain; a representative for Thunderhead did not respond to requests for comment. A spokesperson for the EPA said the agency “played no role” in determining whether to grant the exemptions and directed questions to the White House. The White House directed questions back to the EPA.

The EPA required that companies applying for exemptions meet two criteria: establish that the technology to comply with the Clean Air Act rule in question is not available, and that the facility’s operation is in the national security interests of the country. The data center developers claimed they met both criteria. Novva claimed that by granting the exemption, “the United States makes a significant step forward to ‘tackl[ing] some of the world’s most pressing challenges’” while Thunderhead made the argument that its projects were “significantly accelerating national security-related computing capacity.”

“Almost everybody would claim it’s some kind of national security issue,” Swenson said in an interview. “American data should stay in America.”

Both companies also claimed that they had installed the best available technology to curb emissions but still needed an exemption to emit above allowable limits. Novva’s air quality permit from the state sets strict caps on emissions of nitrogen oxides, carbon monoxide, and volatile organic compounds. The technology to meet those requirements while installing additional generators just wasn’t available, the company claimed in its letter.

“For Novva to be able to install any additional diesel-fired generators, the associated control technologies would have to be so effective that each additional generator would effectively have zero emissions,” the company noted. “Currently, a control technology this effective is not available.”

Novva’s natural gas plant is expected to be operational in the coming months. The company is currently working on upgrading its state air quality permit. If the company is able to secure the updated permit, it will likely be allowed to increase its emissions. 

Leia Larsen contributed reporting to this story.

Editor’s note: Environmental Defense Fund is an advertiser with Grist. Advertisers play no role in Grist’s editorial decisions.

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This story was originally published by Grist with the headline These data center developers asked Trump for an exemption from pollution rules on Feb 24, 2026.

In Utah’s rural Millard County, Kalen Taylor is bracing for the day when the farmland across the street from his home transforms into a sprawling data center complex. 

The initial plans for Joule Capital Partners’ 4,000-acre data center site call for six buildings, each powered by 69 Caterpillar natural gas-powered generators to meet the intensive energy demands. Construction is slated to begin this spring. Once built, Taylor will likely hear the equivalent of more than 400 semi-trucks idling in his neighborhood around the clock, producing emissions year-round. 

“I just would rather look out my back door and see cornfields than a data center,” Taylor said. “I like the sound of crops rustling in the wind, not the hum of a [Caterpillar] generator making power.”

Farther north, officials in the city of Eagle Mountain have turned to massive data centers operated by tech giants like Meta to provide much-needed tax revenue. But even in this urban, rapidly growing part of the state, developers struggle to secure the power they need from Utah’s largest electric utility, Rocky Mountain Power. Google has delayed building a campus there as a result of these energy constraints. That prompted Eagle Mountain’s City Council to explore building small nuclear reactors, to the consternation of many residents.

“It means our city would become a radioactive storage site,” said Joy Rasmussen, a mom of four who bought a home in Eagle Mountain in 2022.

Last May, in Washington, D.C., Senator John Curtis, one of the state’s two Republican senators, spoke glowingly to Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI, about Utah’s aspirations to lead the nation “with data centers and advanced technologies” during a Senate Commerce Committee hearing on artificial intelligence. Curtis noted the “challenges” that come with data centers’ insatiable energy demands. How, the senator asked, can the state protect ratepayers?

“The best way,” Altman responded, “is much more supply. More generation.”

With the growing demand for more data centers, Utah finds itself in a difficult position. State and federal officials have called AI the “arms race” of a new era, as the country looks to fend off China and forge its place as the world’s leader in technology, energy, and innovation. And Utah looks to position itself at the forefront of that fight.

The site for the Joule Energy Data Center Campus on February 5, 2026.
Rick Egan / The Salt Lake Tribune

Since 2021, Utah has added or announced plans for at least 15 new data center buildings or campuses, according to Data Center Map, joining the thousands of new data centers planned around the country.

The state’s main electricity provider, Rocky Mountain Power, doesn’t have the capacity to meet the surge in energy demand. Data center developers have instead turned to generating their own electricity, mostly using natural gas. Governor Spencer Cox, a Republican, has zeroed in on nuclear as a cleaner energy solution as part of his Operation Gigawatt, an effort to more than double Utah’s power generation in the next decade.

That collision of the AI boom and limited power supplies means Utah’s rush to build data centers is likely to rely on fossil fuel energy for the foreseeable future, raising concerns about the state’s already struggling air quality. Alternative sources won’t match the demand the centers generate — potentially as much as four times what Utah residents and businesses currently consume. Small nuclear plants are at least a decade away, while the Trump administration has curtailed many incentives for solar and wind power.

Lawmakers and regulators are trying to balance the needs of energy-intensive industries without ratepayers feeling the environmental and pocketbook pains felt in other parts of the country —  like rising energy bills and polluted air and water.

“We’re kind of in a big mess right now,” said Logan Mitchell, a climate scientist and energy analyst for Utah Clean Energy, “and it’s manifesting in all of these different ways.”

Rocky Mountain Power, like many private utility providers in the United States, has a monopoly as the sole electricity provider in much of Utah, but it must yield to state regulation. For decades, power providers hummed along as energy demand across the country stayed relatively flat. Conflict arose, however, when platforms like Altman’s ChatGPT, Google’s Gemini, and Elon Musk’s Grok made AI a mass-market good rather than a niche product. Demand for more data centers gripped the globe, and the utilities, which plan for energy needs decades in advance, were caught unprepared and undersupplied.

Data centers use substantial amounts of energy, with rows of servers computing day and night for services that are an increasing part of daily life — streaming services, online banking, e-commerce, and the rise of AI. In arid Utah, many data centers have pivoted away from water-guzzling evaporative cooling in favor of closed-loop systems, which require much less water but more electricity to run.

Last year, the Utah Legislature passed Senate Bill 132, allowing private companies that need 100 megawatts or more to build their own generating stations that operate off the public grid used by nearly everyone else. The bill’s sponsor, State Senator Scott Sandall, a Republican, specifically cited data centers as he promoted the legislation.

“It kind of un-handcuffs Rocky Mountain Power to provide these loads for data centers, for AI, for large manufacturers,” Sandall said, “those that are coming in, and quite frankly, changing the curve of power demand.”

In Millard County, both Joule and Creekstone Energy intend to build their own massive facilities, powered by natural gas. Mark McDougal, a managing partner of Joule’s campus, said that burning natural gas is efficient and a proven technology that can run around the clock.

“We are so excited for other alternative energy sources like geothermal and solar and wind and someday, maybe even nuclear,” McDougal said. “But we can’t wait for that.”

Mark McDougal, the landowner and executive behind the massive data center complex under construction in Millard County, talks about the project at his office in Lehi in December 2025.
Francisco Kjolseth / The Salt Lake Tribune

The developers received support from the Millard County government because of their potential to create jobs in construction, maintenance, and security, and also to boost economic development. The rural community in central Utah lost its largest employer, the Smithfield Foods pork processing plant, in 2023 — it accounted for about a quarter of all jobs in the county. The idling of the nearby Intermountain Power Plant’s remaining coal units also caused a hemorrhaging of local jobs.

Construction of the massive sites is sure to bring some jobs, but data centers generally employ a relatively small number of permanent workers.

Millard County’s location is attractive to data center developers because it lies on a fiber-optic corridor and near a natural gas pipeline. “Having both of those in the same place,” said Ray Conley, Creekstone’s CEO, “and not having a large metropolitan area that is competing for power is a very unique combo.”

The rural county also lies outside the Wasatch Front, Utah’s urban corridor and an area plagued for years by poor air quality that falls short of federal standards. In the winter, a layer of warm air, known as an inversion, keeps cooler, polluted city air trapped near the ground like a lid on a pot. 

“It’s so hard where you have inversions and trap emissions,” McDougal said. In Millard County, “emissions are able to disperse.”

Joule’s applications filed with the state indicate it will produce 1 gigawatt to start — about a quarter of the electricity Utah currently uses annually. But its own public statements indicate it eventually intends to produce more than 4 gigawatts onsite. Creekstone, less than a mile away, intends to produce 10 gigawatts, Conley confirmed.

At least a few computing campuses want to build natural gas plants on the Wasatch Front, too, despite its inversions and air quality challenges. QTS Data Centers received approval from the Eagle Mountain City Council to build a 20-acre, 200-megawatt gas plant last year, although a company spokesperson said it secured power from Rocky Mountain instead.

In West Jordan, the expanding Novva data campus received state approval to build a 200-megawatt natural gas plant in December 2024. But “natural gas” is an old greenwashing term, Mitchell said, and an attempt to make the fossil fuel sound more environmentally friendly. The fuel is methane, a potent greenhouse gas. Burning it produces carbon dioxide, nitrogen oxides, and other pollutants. Nitrogen oxides mix in the atmosphere, get baked by the sun, and turn into particulate pollution in the winter and ozone pollution in the summer.

The pollutants create haze in rural parts of the state and cloud visibility at Utah’s famed national parks, from Arches to Zion.

Even data centers on the Wasatch Front that have already tapped into Utah’s existing power grid have received state approval to install hundreds of diesel-fueled generators in the last five years, including QTS, Meta, and the National Security Agency in Utah County; and eBay, Aligned, DataBank, Oracle, and Novva in Salt Lake County. Those generators would only run during blackouts and other emergencies when their campuses can’t get enough grid power, according to permit applications. But diesel emissions contain even more harmful pollutants than natural gas.

Inversion conditions in the Salt Lake Valley in 2024. Francisco Kjolseth / The Salt Lake Tribune

In November, the federal government removed northern Utah from its list of regions out of compliance for wintertime inversion pollution after more than a decade, thanks to state efforts like banning wood burning on poor air quality days combined with stricter federal regulations on vehicles and fuel. But it continues to struggle with meeting national limits for ozone smog.

The new data centers coming online, with their diesel and natural gas generators, could bump the state right back out of compliance, environmental advocates say. “They’re eating into all of the progress we’ve made to reduce emissions from other sources,” said Mitchell from Utah Clean Energy.

State regulators said they’re not just concerned about temporary diesel generators and year-round natural gas generators taking a bite against air quality gains in recent years.

“We’re concerned about all growth,” said Bryce Bird, director of the Utah Division of Air Quality. “Everything that has to do with people also has emissions associated with it.”

State officials said growth and its associated emissions doesn’t mean Utah can’t be a tech leader. But the state’s still figuring out how to strike the right balance between affordable energy creation, environmental protection, and improving public health.

“I don’t know of a state that is not having similar conversations,” said Tim Davis, the Department of Environmental Quality’s executive director. “That’s just a mind-numbing amount of new power that they’re trying to plan for.”

Novva applied to the Trump administration for a two-year exemption from the Clean Air Act in March, under a program designed to benefit coal plants, smelting facilities, and chemical manufacturers. The company asked for the exemption so it could operate using diesel generators while it finishes building its natural gas plant, according to records obtained by Grist and shared with The Salt Lake Tribune.

Read Next These data center developers asked Trump for an exemption from pollution rules Naveena Sadasivam

The company noted that Rocky Mountain Power can’t provide the electricity it needs until 2031, and even then, it’s not guaranteed. The requested exemption aligns with national security interests, Novva wrote in its application, citing the U.S. Department of State’s assertion that AI is “at the center of an unfolding global technology revolution” and can help make Americans safer.

Novva’s CEO, Wes Swenson, said he never received a response to the exemption request. He insisted, however, that data centers like his are important for protecting “American data.” “If anybody wants to criticize data centers, look in the mirror,” Swenson said. “‘I want Netflix, I want Prime, I want Apple TV.’ … Nobody goes to the library anymore. Who uses cash? Where do people think that all comes from?”

Utah’s elected officials have honed in on nuclear power, and small modular reactors in particular, as a cleaner and more sustainable solution to the surge in energy demand. The need is not just driven by data centers, but also a hoped-for renaissance in manufacturing and the future electrification of Utah’s transportation. But Rocky Mountain’s parent company, PacifiCorp, only has firm plans for one small reactor — a plant under construction by TerraPower in Kemmerer, Wyoming. It won’t come online until around 2032, and Utah will share its projected 500 megawatts with other Western states.

Enthusiasm for small nuclear reactors within Utah’s borders appears tepid. Brigham City is the only community so far to proclaim it wants to build them. But in making that announcement in November, state leaders were light on specifics in explaining why the small city needs the power. No known data centers are planned for the area.

Ninety minutes south in Eagle Mountain, Meta’s data campus is expanding, QTS’s huge data hub is under construction, and Google is waiting to build on 300 acres it owns within city limits. The city made two attempts last year to adopt an ordinance to allow for nuclear development and other energy projects, including solar farms. After receiving mixed feedback, the efforts failed.

A data center, being built by QTS, begins to take shape west of the Meta facility in Eagle Mountain, Utah, on December 30, 2025.
Francisco Kjolseth / The Salt Lake Tribune

Elected officials’ pivot to nuclear has environmental and clean energy advocates wondering why Utah has shied away from renewables. Cox calls his Operation Gigawatt an “all-of-the-above” strategy that welcomes all energy sources. But resources like wind and solar have faded from the conversation.

“People see renewable energy as the woke liberal energy, and we have to stick with fossil fuels and nuclear, because that’s what conservatives want,” said Ed Stafford, a professor of marketing at Utah State University whose research focuses on renewables. “Politicization of energy is just a bad thing, because, as common sense tells us, we should go with the cleanest and cheapest forms of energy that spreads the wealth around.”

PacifiCorp intends to bring no new solar, wind, or battery storage online in Utah over the next two decades, according to the latest draft of its long-term resource plan. Meanwhile, the utility isn’t factoring large energy consumers, like data centers, into its projections, to Mitchell’s frustration.

“Rocky Mountain Power should be planning for the reality of the future,” Mitchell said, “rather than creating a fictional reality that indicates they don’t have much load growth, and they’re not going to build new resources.”

A spokesperson for the utility said their future planning does include some customer requests for large loads. “We generally model only projects that have a high probability of being constructed,” the spokesperson said. “Many of the large load inquiries the company receives have a high degree of uncertainty.”

Data center developers and operators interviewed for this story said they support transitioning to cleaner energy sources. But they also need consistent and reliable power, when the sun doesn’t shine and the wind doesn’t blow. The Trump administration has delayed and stifled renewable energy projects across the United States. 

“The economic rebates and incentives are going away, which is why it’s not as in fashion as it was before,” said Conley, Creekstone’s CEO. “But a lot of [data] customers are willing to pay a premium for green energy instead of dirty energy.”

The site for the Creekstone Energy Data Center Campus on February 5, 2026.
Rick Egan / The Salt Lake Tribune

Conley’s company recently applied to the Utah Office of Energy Development to operate the Intermountain Power Plant’s remaining coal units, which went idle this year after the plant’s customer base in California decided to transition to cleaner energy sources. Coal offers Conley another energy source that’s ready to deploy besides natural gas. “Diversification,” Conley said, “reduces risk.”

Risk is at the forefront of at least some Utahns’ minds, particularly as news stories cite concerns that data centers will drive up the cost of power for all ratepayers. Utilities build new generating plants and upgrade decades-old grid equipment to meet rising demand, then spread the costs among all their customers. An October report, “What we know about energy use at U.S. data centers amid the AI boom,” from the Pew Research Center, estimated that both data centers and cryptocurrency mining could cause the average U.S. electric bill to grow 8 percent by 2030.

In Utah, however, Senate Bill 132 seems to serve a dual purpose of helping data center developers get the energy they need off the public grid and behind the meter, while protecting other customers who still use the traditional grid.

“There’s very little evidence that data centers have impacted rates to date,” said Michele Beck, director of the Office of Consumer Services, a utility watchdog part of the Utah Department of Commerce.

Beck called the bill one of the “best ideas out there” for protecting power customers in the nation. But, she said, it’s important for Utahns to remain vigilant. It’s not just utilities struggling to catch up to new demand. Regulators have struggled to keep pace, too.

“The industry in general is speeding up,” Beck said. “It just compounds everything.”

Grist reporter Naveena Sadasivam and Tribune reporter Addy Baird contributed to this story. 

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 '); toolTips('.classtoolTips7','A powerful greenhouse gas that accounts for about 11% of global emissions, methane is the primary component of natural gas and is emitted into the atmosphere by landfills, oil and natural gas systems, agricultural activities, coal mining, and wastewater treatment, among other pathways. Over a 20-year period, it is roughly 84 times more potent than carbon dioxide at trapping heat in the atmosphere.');

This story was originally published by Grist with the headline To power Utah’s data center boom, companies are turning to fossil fuels on Feb 24, 2026.

Forests are great and all, but in one way, they don’t come close to the raw power of peatlands. Sprawling in the Arctic and elsewhere, like tropical regions, these soils are loaded with plant matter that’s resisting decay, turning into ultra-concentrated carbon. Though they comprise just 3 percent of Earth’s area, peatlands store 600 billion metric tons of the stuff — more than all the planet’s forests combined — making them critical tools for preventing even more global warming.

On the face of it, then, we might welcome the findings of a new study that shows these carbon sinks are indeed expanding in the Arctic, as scientists have suspected. The region is warming four times faster than the rest of the planet, encouraging the growth of plants, just as precipitation up there is also increasing, creating waterlogged conditions that slow decomposition. But the carbon stored in all that new vegetation could still one day return to the atmosphere as a sort of carbon burp, and the degradation of peatlands threatens to release loads of planet-warming gas sooner than that. 

“What is clear is that the more extreme climatic changes that we have, the more likely it is that they will release more carbon into the atmosphere,” said Angela Gallego-Sala, a biogeochemist at the University of Exeter and coauthor of the paper, which published earlier this month. “We see already in extreme dry years, these peatlands are going up in fire.”

Blame this on a phenomenon known as Arctic greening. As the far north warms, it loses ice on land and sea, which exposes darker earth and water, which absorb more of the sun’s energy, which drives more warming. This encourages the northward expansion of plant species, especially shrubs, which take advantage of warmer temperatures and increased rainfall. (That’s also due in part to decreased sea ice: Without that glare bouncing sunlight back into space, more seawater evaporates, loading the atmosphere with moisture.) “Things are getting greener, but they’re also getting wetter,” said paleoecologist Josie Handley, lead author of the paper, who did the research while at the University of Exeter but is now at the University of Cambridge. “That’s all really good conditions for the formation of peat.”

Extra plant material, especially sphagnum moss, is contributing to this expansion, the study found. Because peat is difficult to identify by satellite — given that it’s accumulating belowground, unlike a forest standing tall on the surface — the researchers had to venture into the Arctic, sampling the ground in transects. And because the vegetation accumulates year by year in layers, they could determine the age of the material by dating both the carbon and lead content. 

Handley and Gallego-Sala found that indeed, peatlands have been expanding in these areas in recent decades, and they may now cover a greater area than anytime in the last three centuries. But there’s also a feedback loop here, in which peat becomes self-sustaining: Because sphagnum moss excels at retaining water, even when dead, it hydrates the landscape, providing conditions for yet more moss to accumulate and resist decay. 

At the same time, frozen soil, called permafrost, is thawing, unlocking still more ancient carbon long locked in ice. Glaciers, too, are receding, opening more land for peat to colonize. “If you’ve got areas where you can retain that moisture,” Handley said, “and it gets more waterlogged, and then also if you’ve got the kind of fringes are greening because there’s more plant productivity and that sort of thing going on, then you meet all your components to make your peat.”

Indeed, the researchers found that peatlands can start as small “nuclei” that, if conditions are correct, expand and eventually merge with other nuclei. And as the Arctic warms, the growing season is lengthening, giving all this moss longer to grow and accumulate. “What’s really interesting is that they’re also showing that it isn’t all climate, that it’s also sort of local hydrology can help initiate the formation the peat,” said Mike Waddington, an ecohydrologist who studies peat at McMaster University but wasn’t involved in the new paper. “They’re hypothesizing that the peatlands, although they’re quite shallow, also are creating the conditions to continue to accumulate peat.”

Just as the Arctic and boreal regions are warming, extreme heat is periodically drying them out. That’s driving massive wildfires that are chewing through shrubs and trees, but also burning up dried peat. These extraordinarily persistent fires smolder for weeks or even months, releasing carbon all the while. They’re so relentless, in fact, that they’ll burn underground as snow covers them through the winter, only to pop up again in the spring. Hence their nickname “zombie fires.”

We’ve got an elemental tug of war, then: As the far north rapidly and radically changes, how much carbon will these expanding peatlands sequester in the Earth, but how quickly will that carbon return to the atmosphere if these new peatlands dry out and catch fire? Only time — and scientists traipsing through the Arctic — will tell.   

This story was originally published by Grist with the headline How a greening Arctic might be kick-starting a dangerous feedback loop  on Feb 24, 2026.

The U.S. Supreme Court is hearing oral arguments today about a narrow procedural issue that could determine whether Michigan or federal courts ultimately decide the fate of a 73-year-old oil pipeline that many tribal nations say threatens their waters, treaty rights, and ways of life.

The case, Enbridge v. Nessel, centers on Line 5, a 645-mile oil pipeline that starts in Superior, Wisconsin, snakes through Michigan, and concludes in Ontario, Canada. More than half a million barrels of oil and natural gas flow through it daily. The pipeline has leaked more than 30 times inland, spilling over a million gallons of oil collectively. All 12 federally recognized tribes in Michigan have called for it to be shut down. 

The Straits of Mackinac, where the pipeline crosses between Lake Michigan and Lake Huron, are ecologically sensitive and sacred to the Ashininaabe peoples as the waters are the center of their creation story. Five tribal nations also hold treaty rights to fish and hunt in these waters, rights that predate Michigan’s statehood and are protected by federal law. 

But tribes are not parties in this particular case, which started in 2019, when Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel sued to shut down the pipeline.

“What’s at stake on Tuesday is the authority for the state of Michigan to manage state resources and public trust matters like the lakebed,” said David Gover, Pawnee and Choctaw managing attorney at the Native American Rights Fund, which along with Earthjustice represents the Bay Mills Indian Community in its advocacy against Line 5. “It’s state sovereignty and what is the state’s ability to manage and protect their resources.”

The specific question before the court is narrow but consequential: Was a lower court right to allow Enbridge to move the case from Michigan state court to federal court more than two years after the typical 30-day deadline for such a request had passed? A year after Nessel sued, the state formally revoked the pipeline’s approval to operate, citing fishing and hunting rights and the 1836 Treaty of Washington, and warning that an oil spill in the Straits “would have severe, adverse impacts for tribal communities.” 

Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer sued Enbridge to enforce the revocation, but chose to drop her suit in 2021 to support the attorney general’s case in state court. A federal court then allowed Enbridge to move the state case to federal court, citing “exceptional circumstances.” Now, the Supreme Court must decide whether that was appropriate.

“Indian law cases often turn on gateway doctrines like standing, jurisdiction, and removal before courts ever reach treaty interpretation,” said Wenona Singel, citizen of the Little Traverse Bay Bands of Odawa Indians, and director of the Indigenous Law & Policy Center at Michigan State University’s College of Law. “Those procedural rulings can quietly shape outcomes. … When infrastructure operates in waters protected by treaty rights, litigation delay has environmental and cultural consequences. A procedural extension can mean years before a court reaches the underlying substance of the case.”

Debbie Chizewer, managing attorney at the environmental nonprofit Earthjustice, said an estimated 40 million people rely on the Great Lakes for freshwater and could be harmed by an oil spill. The Great Lakes hold a fifth of all the surface freshwater on Earth. “This case is really about Michigan’s ability to protect the Great Lakes from an outdated Canadian oil pipeline that’s threatening to rupture,” she said. 

Enbridge argues that concerns about pollution in the Great Lakes are overblown, noting that Line 5 continues to pass safety inspections and federal regulators have not identified any safety issues with its continued operation. The company also emphasizes that shutting down the pipeline would affect energy and foreign affairs: Line 5 supplies half the oil that Ontario and Quebec rely on, and the Canadian government opposes its closure. “The Supreme Court’s review will provide needed clarity,” an Enbridge spokesperson said.

Tuesday’s arguments are only one part of a sprawling legal and regulatory battle over Line 5. Enbridge has a separate federal lawsuit against Michigan Governor Whitmer arguing that the governor doesn’t have the right to shut down the pipeline. In March, the Michigan State Supreme Court will consider a lawsuit from several tribes and environmental groups who want to overturn a state permit to allow Enbridge to build a new tunnel under the Straits of Mackinac. Federal and state agencies are currently mulling over additional permits for the same rerouting project. 

And last week, the Bad River Band of Lake Superior Chippewa asked a Wisconsin state court to review yet another permit allowing Enbridge to reroute Line 5 through their watershed. 

“The Band River watershed is not an oil pipeline corridor that exists to serve Enbridge’s profits,” said Bad River Band Chairwoman Elizabeth Arbuckle. “It is our homeland. We must protect it.”  

Wenona Singel, from Michigan State University, said while the case before the U.S. Supreme Court won’t redefine treaty rights, it still matters to Indian Country. 

“It may influence how easily powerful defendants can change courts in litigation,” she said, “and how long communities must wait for judicial resolution.” 

This story was originally published by Grist with the headline The Supreme Court hears a Line 5 oil pipeline case with high stakes for treaty rights on Feb 24, 2026.

The National Audubon Society develops strategic actions for the protection of birds and their habitats across the Americas through scientific research programs, environmental education, and...

Protect Our Land, Restore Our Soil: Collective Territorialities for Land Justice, Pastoralist Futures, and Ecological Restoration As civil society organisations, social movements, faith-based actors, Indigenous Peoples, pastoralist and peasant organisations from Africa and across the Global South, we come to ICARRD+20 at a moment of deep crisis and urgent possibility. Twenty years after the first […]

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By KAY MATTHEWS

The Donnelly Library at Highlands University was packed on Sunday, February 22, with two district demographics:  students currently enrolled at the school curious to hear stories and the students from the early 1970s who were there to tell them. The stories were of the Chicana/Chicano El Movimiento that arose at Highlands when students protested racial discrimination at the University, specifically the failure to appoint a Nuevomexicano president. They were not alone: Chicanismo erupted all over the county to awaken political consciousness and advocate for social justice.

Sunday’s gathering was sponsored by El Palacio Magazine editor Emily Withnall, a Las Vegas native, and featured a presentation and photos by Adelita M. Medina, one of the 1970s students, and Myrriah Gomez, an associate professor in the Honors College at the University of New Mexico and author of “Art and Activism at Highlands University” in the magazine. Medina’s photos of the University uprising were featured in Voces del Pueblo: Artists of the Levantamiento in New Mexico at the National Hispanic Cultural Center, along with five other activists and artists.

Adelita M. Medina and Myrriah Gomez

At the gathering at Donnelly Gomez queried Medina about her involvement in the Movimiento as both an artist and activist. Drawn into the conflict by her brother and other students, she avoided being stereotyped in a typical female role by claiming she didn’t know how to type. Instead, she took out a camera and documented many of the protests, including the occupation of the president’s office. During the summer of 1971 she began working with the indomitable Elizabeth “Betita” Martinez on the Chicano newspaper El Grito del Norte where she learned newspaper skills and improved her photography that led to a lifelong career. Below are some of the photographs she took of El Movimiento that were displayed at the Cultural Center.

 

Medina told Gomez that as a sheltered, Catholic-raised child she never experienced racism until she got to Highlands and witnessed discrimination against a black boyfriend (the father of her son). El Movimiento began to expose the latent racism at Highlands: very few Latino professors; the failure to hire a Nuevomexicano president; and several overtly racist professors. The protests also influenced an uprising at the middle and high school levels when East Las Vegas students walked out of school to protest discrimination, the choice of a superintendent, and in support of the Highlands students.

Bernadette Fernandez, El Movimiento student Cristino Griego, involved with the Las Vegas schools

 

Fred Trujillo, led the march to Montezuma Nacho Jaramillo, well-known artist

In 1973, the protests eventually led to the formation of the Chicanos Unidos para Justicia (CUPJ) that took over one of the buildings at the Montezuma Castle, then run as a seminary by Mexican Jesuits, demanding to rent the castle for a Chicano school. A hundred people marched from the historic Las Vegas plaza to the Castle where they occupied a building until the Archdiocese of Santa Fe, which owned the castle but wanted to sell it, agreed to rent the entire castle for a school, named Escuela Antonio José Martinez (after the famous Taos priest Padre Martinez). Adelita Medina and David Montoya became the school coordinators. Medina got a laugh from the crowd when she admitted she couldn’t remember if she and David were appointed, elected, or just volunteered. They developed a curriculum that included cultural wisdom and land-based knowledge as well a broad range of classes that Highlands professors and licensed teachers provided. Community members and mothers ran an industrial kitchen and started a baking cooperative. As Gomez writes in her article, “The Escuela was, perhaps, one of the best examples of mutulamismo in Las Vegas during the era.”

David Montoya

 

“Silvia and Pita in the Kitchen at the Castle”

The school lasted only a few years, but the influence of El Movimiento lives today. Several current professors were in attendance, including Dr. Eric Romero, Director of Native American Hispano Studies at Highlands, who pointed out that the 1970s days of identity formation from Spanish-American to Nuevomexicano shows up today, particularly in art. Hilario Romero, former Highlands’s student during El Movimiento, state historian, archivist, and professor of history, emphasized the importance of women in the movement who “softened the men up” and kept the protests non-violent. Medina’s son Miguel also gave an emotional testimony to the school’s importance as a former Escuelita student.

Miguel Medina Dr. Eric Romero

Finally, Mary Lou Griego, of El Movimiento, told the story of the fight to create a chapter of MEChA (Movimiento Estudianti Chicanx de Aztlán) in the Las Vegas schools when she was a teacher at Robertson. Seeing that the students didn’t know their Chicano history, she set up a chapter that lasted 10 years despite resistance from principals and school boards over the years.

Mary Lou Griego

As a parting salute, the campus Brown Berets gave a rousing hand clap and a cry of “Qué Viva Las Vegas!”

The Escuelita cook!

For a more detailed account of all the people involved in Voces del Pueblo: Artists of the Levantamiento in New Mexico and El Movimiento, read Myrriah Gomez’s article in El Palacio.

 

 

The British Columbia government has selected three projects to work with its Critical Minerals Office for early co-ordination as they prepare to enter their respective environmental assessment and future permitting processes.

In a press release dated Feb. 20, 2026, the BC Ministry of Mining and Critical Minerals said it has included Northisle Copper and Gold’s (TSXV: NCX) North Island project, Surge Copper’s (TSXV: SURG) Berg project and Defense Metals’ (TSXV: DEFN) Wicheeda project in the Critical Minerals Office.

Launched in early 2024 as part of the province’s critical minerals strategy, the Office is designed to accelerate certain mining projects by helping coordinate First Nations and community engagement, identify regulatory requirements early, align permitting pathways, and support readiness for future environmental assessment and regulatory processes.

“The Critical Minerals Office provides key services to help take promising projects and move them forward faster, ensuring that BC continues to rapidly grow the sector,” said Jagrup Brar, minister of mining and critical minerals, in the release.

Shares of all three companies soared on the news. Northisle closed the trading session up 22.2% to C$3.30 apiece, near the all-week high of C$3.52 set a month ago, with a C$964.2 million market capitalization. Surge Copper also came close to its peak, closing the day at $0.65 for an 8.3% gain, with a market capitalization of C$224.7 million.

Defense Metals, the only rare earth developer on the list, jumped over 11%, taking its market capitalization to C$92.1 million.

Expedited projects

“Coordination with this office, alongside our ongoing work to build consensus through meaningful First Nations and stakeholder engagement, provides a pathway to efficient and expeditious project development,” Northisle’s CEO Sam Lee stated in a separate press release.

Northisle is currently in the early stages of the environmental assessment process for its North Island project located in Port Hardy, BC. This time last year, it released a new preliminary economic assessment for the project, outlining a two-phased mine operation underpinned by three copper-gold deposits that together hold 6.3 billion lb. of copper-equivalent in indicated resources. Under its base-case scenario, the PEA estimated an after-tax NPV of C$2 billion at a 7% discount rate, an after-tax IRR of 29% and a 1.9-year payback period.

Meanwhile, Surge’s Berg copper-molybdenum project located within the Tahtsa Ranges of BC is approaching the pre-feasibility stage. Its PEA from 2023 outlined a potential 30-year mine with average annual production of 191 million lb. of copper equivalent. Like North Island, its NPV is around C$2 billion (at 8% discount), with an IRR of 20% and a 3.9-year payback.

The Wicheeda project being developed by Defense Metals is more advanced, having already completed a pre-feasibility study. The deposit, located about 80 km northeast of Prince George, hosts total reserves of 25.5 million tonnes with an average grade of 2.4% total rare earth oxides. This, according to its PFS report, would support a 15-year life of mine with an average annual output of 31,900 tonnes of total rare earth oxide in concentrate. Its after-tax NPV was pegged at C$1 billion, with an IRR of 19%.

In addition to the three projects, the BC Critical Minerals Office had already pledged to work with the Baptiste nickel project near Fort St. James developed by FPX Nickel (TSXV: FPX). Public comment period for that project started earlier this month.

“OUR STRATEGY HAS ALWAYS BEEN CENTERING THE VOICES OF COMMUNITY, BUT ALSO UNDERSTANDING THAT IT'S A VERY COMPLEX SUBJECT TO JUST LOOK AT THE RIVER ITSELF WITHOUT BRINGING ALL THESE OTHER INTERSECTIONS THAT HAVE TO DO WITH CLIMATE JUSTICE AND AIR POLLUTION AND INEQUITY,” PAULINA LOPEZ

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