Supply of neodymium, terbium, indium, dysprosium, praseodymium, other rare minerals – and silver – must grow twelvefold by 2050. Else the demand for production of solar panels, rechargeable batteries and other technologies needed for sustainable energies is not met. Furthermore, Europe and USA are overwhelmingly dependent on China, especially, as well as Turkey and Australia for supplies. Read more on Motherboard or Popular Mechanics.
In US politics, if somewhat below the radar – the radar being jammed, the car and oil industries and the Trump administration is working on weakening fuel standards. Given what is known about climate breakdown and air pollution, that’s probably another act of what Slavoj Žižek would label objective violence. Propaganda is being fed to the US public via Facebook, of course. Read Hiroko Tabuchi writing for New York Times.
“It appears as though oil interests are cynically trying to gin up support in Congress for the weakest possible standards to ensure that cars and SUVs have to rely on even more oil.”
Senator Tom Carper (D), Delaware
A close look at satellite images of South America has revealed 2312 illegal mines.
“The scope of illegal mining in the Amazon, especially in indigenous territories and protected natural areas, has grown exponentially in recent years, with the rise in the price of gold.”
Beto Ricardo, head of the RAISG
The miners clear Amazonian rain forest, cause mosquito filled ponds, and leaks mercury into the waterways, writes Anastasia Moloney.