Links tagged “transportation”

Rare earth metals in Afghanistan were estimated to be worth anywhere between $1 trillion and $3 trillion in 2020.

Only hours after the Taliban overran Afghanistan, a Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman said Beijing was ready for “friendly cooperation with Afghanistan.”

China has dominated the rare earths market globally and threatened to cut off supplies to the U.S. during the trade war in 2019. About 35% of rare earth global reserves are in China, the most in the world, according to the United States Geological Survey. The country is also a mining machine, producing 120,000 metric tons or 70% of total rare earths in 2018, compared to the U.S. which mined 15,000 metric tones of rare earths the same year, it said. U.S. reserves also pale in comparison to China. The U.S. has a total of 1.4 million metric tons of reserves, versus 44 million metric tons of reserves in China.

The U.S. was heavily dependent on China for rare earths in 2019, when the Asian country was exporting 80% of U.S. needs, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.

Reuters: "The license holds metals such as nickel, copper, cobalt and platinum and the funding will cover evaluation and initial drilling. KoBold is a privately-held company whose principal investors include Breakthrough Energy Ventures, a climate and technology fund backed by Microsoft (MSFT.O) co-founder Bill Gates, Bloomberg founder Michael Bloomberg, Amazon (AMZN.O) founder Jeff Bezos, and Ray Dalio, founder of the world's largest hedge fund Bridgewater Associates."

"Basically what you have here is all of the different pulleys and levers of the federal government working in the same direction to a very ambitious and urgently needed goal," Buttigieg told CNBC on August 5.  "Industry is stepping up and recognizing that there is a business as well as a moral imperative to do something," Buttigieg said.  Buttigieg revealed how the federal government would impose "enforceable targets" and gloated that that "aspirations" and "regulations come together" to help fight climate change.  Buttigieg said it was necessary for "a nationwide whole society effort to do what we need to do for our climate but also for our economy." 

Buried in the massive proposal—which is already longer than 2,700 pages—is a section titled, "ADVANCED IMPAIRED DRIVING TECHNOLOGY," which mandates new vehicles include "a system that … passively and accurately detect[s] whether the blood alcohol concentration of a driver of a motor vehicle is equal to or greater than the blood alcohol concentration" of .08, in which case the system would "prevent or limit motor vehicle operation." Automobile manufacturers would have a three-year grace period to comply with the regulation. ...

Intoxalock, a company that manufactures vehicle breathalyzers, has also spent heavily on lobbying in the past five years. It has spent more than $900,000 on lobbyists since 2017, according to the Center For Responsive Politics, including $40,000 to Crossroads Strategies in 2021. The firm boasts many employees who have worked in the federal government, the House of Representatives, and the Senate.

“A state, in consultation with any metropolitan planning organization designated within the state, shall develop a carbon reduction strategy,” according to the text, which is also in the officially released version of the bill. [Emphasis added] ... 

Requirements include but are not limited to:

• Reducing traffic congestion by disincentivizing single-occupant vehicle trips and facilitating “the use of alternatives” like public transportation, shared or pooled vehicle trips, “pedestrian facilities,” and “bicycle facilities” within the state.
• Facilitating the use of vehicles or modes of travel that result in “lower transportation emissions per person-mile traveled as compared to existing vehicles.”
• Incentivizing the construction of vehicles that emit less carbon.

States, at their “discretion,” would also be required to come up with a way to keep track of total carbon emissions from the production, transport, and use of materials used in the construction of transportation facilities within their states.

The secretary of transportation has the power to reject states’ proposed strategies if the plans do not meet the laid out requirements and are therefore deemed “not green enough.”