February, 22 2022, 04:40pm EDT
White House Action Moves Toward More Responsible US Critical Minerals Supply Chain
WASHINGTON
Background: Today the Biden Administration announces major initiatives to reduce demand for irresponsible mining and promote a more just, fair, and equitable materials transition. These actions are in response to President Biden's Executive Order 14017, "America's Supply Chains", which calls for an aggressive approach to mineral recycling, an overhaul of the archaic General Mining Law of 1872, and rules to help ensure that any mining is conducted according to the strongest environmental and labor standards--and only after the free, prior and informed consent of affected communities and Tribal communities.
Statement by Earthworks Policy Director Lauren Pagel:
"The cornerstone of President Biden's minerals policy must be reform of our nation's outdated mining regulations and investment in just and equitable solutions to create a circular minerals economy.
"President Biden must keep his environmental justice promises and trust and honor Indigenous knowledge. Our mining laws and rules must be updated to require the free, prior, and informed consent of impacted and marginalized communities to avoid furthering the historic and ongoing injustices from unfettered extraction."
FOR MORE INFORMATION:
- Earthworks REPORT: Clean Energy Must Not Rely on Dirty Mining finding that the robust recycling, reuse, and substitution of battery minerals can reduce demand for new mines by 25-55%.
- Biden administration Justice40 initiative, a commitment to combating environmental injustice.
- Biden administration commitment to trust in Indigenous Traditional Ecological Knowledge (ITEK) to inform Federal decision making.
- Biden administration Fact Sheet: Securing a Made in America Supply Chain for Critical Minerals
Earthworks is a nonprofit organization dedicated to protecting communities and the environment from the adverse impacts of mineral and energy development while promoting sustainable solutions.
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"There is someone who is trying to weaken our economy: Donald Trump," said Carney in his victory speech.
Mar 10, 2025
Former central banker Mark Carney will replace outgoing Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and take the helm of Canada's centrist Liberal Party after winning the leadership race by more than 80%. In his victory speech in Ottawa, Carney took direct aim at U.S President Donald Trump.
"There is someone who is trying to weaken our economy: Donald Trump," said Carney. "Donald Trump, as we know, has put... unjustified tariffs on what we build, on what we sell, on how we make a living. He's attacking Canadian families, workers, and businesses."
Last week, the Trump administration imposed 25% tariffs on most goods imported from Canada and Mexico last week, prompting Canada to impose retaliatory tariffs. Trump has paused tariffs on some products from Canada, but the duties could still return in April, according to Bloomberg. But a trade war isn't the only area where Canadian and U.S. relations are feeling a chill. Trump has made threats to Canadian sovereignty by repeatedly saying Canada should be the 51st state of the U.S., which Carney also addressed in his speech.
"America is not Canada. And Canada never, ever, will be part of America in any way, shape or form," Carney told the crowd. "We didn't ask for this fight, but Canadians are always ready when someone else drops the gloves."
After nearly a decade leading the Canadian government, outgoing Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced in January that he intended to resign as the head of the Liberal Party after it selected a new leader—acquiescing to calls that he should make way for new leadership ahead of a federal election later this year. Trudeau faced declining public polling and calls from within his own party to resign.
In recent weeks, however, the Liberal Party has sharply rebounded in public opinion polls—rising from 20% in early January to 30% as of March 5. A federal election must be held by October 20, 2025, but could be held sooner if a snap election is called. Carney will serve as prime minister for the duration of the party's ruling term.
Polling has the Conservative Party, lead by Pierre Poilievre, in the lead.
Carney will be the second Canadian prime minister "with no concrete links to parliament at the time of his appointment, including no seat in the House of Commons. While no rule bars this, convention suggests Carney will need to quickly announce plans to run for a federal seat," according to The Guardian.
Carney was the governor of the Bank of Canada from 2008 to 2013, and later was the first non-British person selected to run the Bank of England, from 2013 to 2020, according to The Associated Press. In both cases, Carney earned acclaim for helping the countries navigate economic hardship. From 2020 to early 2025 he was the United Nations’ special envoy for climate action and finance, per his LinkedIn page.
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Advocates expressed concern for wildlife as emergency crews completed rescue and firefighting efforts.
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This is a developing story... Please check back for possible updates...
British emergency workers on Monday were responding to a collision between an oil tanker and a cargo ship off the eastern coast of the United Kingdom in the North Sea.
At least 32 casualties were "brought ashore in Grimsby," a port town in Lincolnshire, reportedThe Guardian, and the two ships were believed to be a U.S.-flagged tanker called the MV Stena Immaculate and a cargo vessel called the Solong, which was headed for Rotterdam in the Netherlands.
Photos and videos posted on social media showed the vessels on fire and surrounded by thick black smoke.
The oil tanker collision in the north sea is really significant - major damage to both ships Seems like a cargo tanker just flat-out rammed at full speed into the side of the stationary (www.youtube.com/watch?v=xRPj...) 49,7629 tonne capacity on the oil ship (!) www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2025/03...
[image or embed]
— Ketan Joshi (@ketanjoshi.co) March 10, 2025 at 8:58 AM
Martyn Boyers, chief executive of the Port of Gimsby East, told the BBC that a "massive fireball" was seen erupting around the time of the collision.
"They must have sent a mayday out—luckily there was a crew transfer vessel out there already," said Boyers. "Since then there has been a flotilla of ambulances to pick up anyone they can find."
Boyers toldSky News that "a haze and a smog" had been reported off the coast on Monday.
"It's been very foggy, and the fog has never lifted. So I would imagine that at that time, when the accident took place, that there would have been fog," said Boyers. "Having said that all these vessels now... they've got every, every bit of kit that's known to man about how to navigate and radars and everything. So it's a very, very unusual and tragic accident."
His Majesty's Coastguard, the U.K. maritime agency, reported that an alarm was raised about the crash about 10 miles off the coast of East Yorkshire at 9:48 am local time.
The Solong appeared to have struck the oil tanker when it was anchored, according to tracking data.
The BBC reported Monday morning that all members of the Stena Immaculate crew had been accounted for and were safe; it was not clear whether there were still people in the Solong's crew who still needed to be located.
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House Republicans this week are aiming to pass a seven-month government funding bill that Democrats said would effectively preempt any congressional effort to rein in billionaire Elon Musk as he works in concert with President Donald Trump to eviscerate federal agencies and fire government employees en masse.
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"The bill, for instance, does not renew $40 million in fiscal 2024 funding for more than 70 programs that help children and families," the outlet noted. "Most had been requested by Democratic senators, but not all: Republican Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith previously secured $250,000 for a group that works to prevent child abuse in her home state of Mississippi and GOP Sen. Lisa Murkowski requested more than $5 million to help fund homeless shelters and prevent child abuse in Alaska."
Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.), the top Democrat on the House Appropriations Committee, said in a statement that the legislation "is a power grab for the White House and further allows unchecked billionaire Elon Musk and President Trump to steal from the American people."
DeLauro continued:
By essentially closing the book on negotiations for full-year funding bills that help the middle class and protect our national security, my colleagues on the other side of the aisle have handed their power to an unelected billionaire. Elon Musk and President Trump are stealing from the middle class, seniors, veterans, working people, small businesses, and farms to pay for tax breaks for billionaires and big corporations. They have made it harder for Americans to get their Social Security benefits; shut down the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, which has saved American families $21 billion; fired 6,000 veterans and reportedly plan to make it harder for veterans to access benefits by firing an additional 80,000 VA employees; laid off hundreds of workers who build and maintain critical nuclear weapons; and shut down medical research labs. House Republicans' response: hand a blank check to Elon Musk.
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