U.S. pulls plug on authorization for lithium exploration next to a national wildlife refuge in Nevada

RENO, Nev. — Federal land managers have formally withdrawn their authorization of a Canadian mining company’s lithium exploration project bordering a national wildlife refuge in southern Nevada after conservationists sought a court order to block it.

The Center for Biological Diversity and the Amargosa Conservancy said in a lawsuit filed July 7 that the project on the edge of the Ash Meadows National Wildlife Refuge outside Las Vegas posed an illegal risk to a dozen fish, snail and plant species currently protected under the Endangered Species Act.

They filed an additional motion this week in federal court seeking a temporary injunction prohibiting Rover Metals from initiating the drilling of 30 bore sites in search of the highly sought-after metal used to manufacture batteries for electric vehicles.

But before a judge in Las Vegas could rule on the request, the Bureau of Land Management notified Rover Metals on Wednesday that its earlier acceptance of the company’s notice of its intent to proceed “was in error.”

“The agency has concluded that proposed operations are likely to result in disturbance to localized groundwaters that supply the connected surface waters associated with Threatened and Endangered species in local springs," said Angelita Bulletts, district manager of the bureau’s southern Nevada district.

“BLM is rescinding the Acknowledgment of the Notice issued on April 6 (because) the operator cannot prevent unnecessary or undue degradation based on the record before it," she wrote in the formal notice Wednesday.

Conservationists said the reversal provides at least a temporary reprieve for the lush oasis in the Mojave Desert that is home to 25 species of fish, plants, insects and snails that are found nowhere else on Earth — one of the highest concentrations of endemic species in North America at one of the hottest, driest places on the planet.

“This is a remarkable victory for our community here in the Amargosa Basin,” said Mason Voehl, the Amargosa Conservancy's executive director. “Mining doesn’t belong near our beloved Ash Meadows National Wildlife Refuge.”

Rover Metals didn't immediately respond to requests for comment.

The company announced in April that it had received an "exploration drill permit” from the bureau for its Let's Go Lithium project planned on 6,000 acres of federal land near the California-Nevada line and Death Valley National Park.

The company maintained that a formal environmental review wasn't necessary under the National Environmental Policy Act at this stage of the work.

But the Center for Biological Diversity said in a letter to the bureau in May the project planned within 2,000 feet of the refuge was subject to review even at the exploratory stage because of the presence of the protected species, including the endangered Devils Hole pupfish.

It argued the company had to submit a formal plan of operations so the bureau could determine whether it complies with the law in consultation with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

The agency said Wednesday it agrees.

Patrick Donnelly, Great Basin director at the center, said he was relieved that the combination of the lawsuit and “overwhelming public opposition compelled federal officials to slam the breaks on this project just days before drilling was supposed to start."

“We need lithium for our renewable energy transition, but this episode sends a message loud and clear that some places are just too special to drill," he said.

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Tim Burchett: Americans should know what the government knows about UFOs

Rep. Tim Burchett (R-Tenn.) said he is 100% sure that the federal government is covering up documents about UFOs — and he’s not alone among members of Congress in trying to push for more information about what could be out there.

“We've requested documents, we've gone to interview pilots and been stonewalled by our Pentagon. It's ridiculous, it’s been going on since the ‘40s,” Burchett said Saturday afternoon on Fox News. “We are taking the gloves off.”

Public interest in the possibility of extraterrestrial life, officially labeled as unidentified aerial phenomena (UAPs) in government circles, has bubbled for decades — often fraught with conspiracies — and seen a recent resurgence. Lawmakers in both chambers of Congress have ramped up their efforts for greater disclosures to allow Americans to better understand the phenomenon.

Burchett, one of Capitol Hill’s loudest voices for increased government transparency around UFOs, sits on the House Oversight Committee, where Republicans have pushed to host a long-anticipated hearing next Wednesday on the recent rise in reports of UFOs. The Pentagon has been investigating that trend since at least April. It said then that no proof of alien life had surfaced.

The Oversight hearing next week will feature David Grusch, a former intelligence employee who claimed in June that the government had a secret UFO recovery program that found a “partially intact craft of non-human remains." While at least one Democrat has helped Republican colleagues push the issue, members say they have faced pushback from different corners and seen witnesses drop out.

Bolstering the transparency effort is a bipartisan charge on the other side of the Capitol led by Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, who has pushed legislation that would lead to the declassification of documents on the matter. The bill would amend the annual defense authorization to mandate government agencies to collect and submit records on UFOs to a review board within 300 days.

“The American public has a right to learn about technologies of unknown origins, non-human intelligence, and unexplainable phenomena,” Schumer said of the legislation in a release. “We are not only working to declassify what the government has previously learned about these phenomena but to create a pipeline for future research to be made public.”

Schumer’s legislation has echoes of a 1992 law that declassified documents around former President John F. Kennedy’s assassination — another event that had garnered public interest and associated conspiracy theories — after 25 years.

As of April, the Pentagon was tracking around 650 incidents of unidentified aircraft — an increase from a January report from the Office of the Director of National Intelligence that recorded 510 cases. From that earlier report, 171 sightings appeared to demonstrate “unusual flight characteristics or performance capabilities.”

National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby said at the White House press briefing last Monday that the administration was taking the UFO issue seriously.

“The Pentagon has stood up an entire organization to help collate and coordinate the reporting and analysis of — of sightings of UAP across the military,” Kirby said. “Before that, there wasn’t really a coordinated, integrated effort to do that.

But Kirby’s comments have done nothing to assuage Burchett.

“They're not telling the truth,” Burchett said Saturday. ”The hearings that they’ve had have been bogus.”

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Mississippi lawmaker says tutu photo is misused in campaign. He's raising money for cancer research.

JACKSON, Miss. — Mississippi Republican state Sen. Jeremy England says he intentionally wore what he considers a “very embarrassing” Halloween costume to raise money for breast cancer research — a shiny pink bodysuit with a short pink skirt.

Now, England says a photo of him in the outfit has been misused, with a slur directed at him, in an increasingly divisive GOP primary as he supports Lt. Gov. Delbert Hosemann for reelection.

A person backing one of Hosemann's opponents posted an image of the tutu-clad England on Twitter along with a comment: “Hosemann and his groomer weirdos.”

"I consider that to be some of the worst, dirty form of politics — which is, of course, where we are now in this race,” England told The Associated Press.

"Groomer” is commonly used to describe how sex offenders initiate contact with their victims. The word has become ubiquitous in American politics as certain conservatives try to equate certain educational materials with pornography or pedophilia.

Hosemann faces two challengers in the Aug. 8 primary. State Sen. Chris McDaniel has run two unsuccessful U.S. Senate races in the past decade, including a bitter race against longtime incumbent Thad Cochran in 2014. Tiffany Longino is an educator who is spending little in her first run for public office. If nobody wins a majority, the race goes to an Aug. 29 runoff.

In a new Hosemann TV ad, England says he supported McDaniel in 2014 for Senate but now considers that a mistake and is endorsing Hosemann for a second term as lieutenant governor. England said that soon after the ad started airing, he received a text message from state Sen. Melanie Sojourner, who is publicly supporting McDaniel. England said the message had no words — just a photo of England wearing the tutu.

“It was obvious that she was sending that to me as a threat,” England said.

England responded to Sojourner with a “HaHa” on the picture and wrote he had worn the costume in his neighborhood to raise money for breast cancer research as part of the American Cancer Society's “Real Men Wear Pink” effort.

The next day, another McDaniel supporter posted a similar photo of England on Twitter with the “groomer weirdos” reference. The tweet has been deleted, but England saved a screenshot of it.

England posted about the episode on Facebook, and he revived his fundraising effort for the American Cancer Society. By Saturday he had raised more than $5,400.

In response to questions from the AP, Sojourner said the tone of the text exchange between her and England “is absent of any intention to threaten and/or bully Sen. England.” She said he laughed and liked her messages.

“As the jokester of the Senate chamber, Sen. England's newfound decorum is both ironic and bizarre,” Sojourner said. “Sen. England is crying foul purely to score political points for his enabler in chief, Delbert Hosemann.”

Sojourner said she does not know whether the person who called England a “groomer” is associated with the McDaniel campaign.

McDaniel said in a statement to the AP: “To be clear: I do not condone any vitriol aimed at Sen. England, nor any of the toxicity our modern political environment breeds. Volunteers are what campaigns are won and lost on, but it’s impossible for any campaign or candidate to police every volunteer on social media.”

During the 2014 U.S. Senate campaign, some McDaniel supporters entered a nursing home without permission and photographed Cochran's wife, who had dementia. Images of her appeared briefly online. McDaniel said he had nothing to do with the incident. McDaniel refused to concede his loss in the GOP primary runoff after the Cochran campaign courted Black voters who usually cast ballots in Democratic primaries.

Republican-led Mississippi is electing state officials this year, including a governor and a lieutenant governor. Although candidates for the two jobs run as a ticket in some states, the governor and lieutenant governor are elected separately in Mississippi.

The lieutenant governorship is one of the most powerful positions in Mississippi government. The person presides over the 52-member state Senate, appoints Senate committee leaders and has great leeway to decide which legislation lives or dies.

In the Nov. 7 general election, the Republican nominee for lieutenant governor will face Democrat D. Ryan Grover, who reports spending no money on his campaign so far.

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As a child, she sold street tamales; a senator now, she’s shaking up Mexico’s presidential race.

MEXICO CITY — A street-food salesgirl who became a tech entrepreneur and senator is shaking up the contest to succeed Mexico’s popular president and offering many voters the first real alternative to her country’s dominant party.

Xóchitl Gálvez, 60, helped her family as a girl by selling tamales on the street. Today the straight-talking opposition senator is a long shot against Andrés Manuel López Obrador’s Morena party, which holds Congress and 22 of Mexico’s 32 states.

Despite her slim chances, Gálvez seems to have shaken the president so badly that he’s been insulting her almost daily during his morning briefings. The opposition senator comfortably sits in the national spotlight nearly a year ahead of the June 2, 2024 national election.

“She fills a space that was completely empty,” said Roy Campos, president of polling firm Mitofsky Group. “All of the opposition population starts to see her and it generates hope.”

Next year’s election is López Obrador’s chance to show if he has built a political movement that can outlast his charismatic leadership. Whoever his successor is, they will have to tackle persistently high levels of violence, heavily armed drug cartels and migration across the nearly 2,000-mile border with the United States.

Campos’ group has not conducted an opposition candidate survey but that doesn’t prevent him from feeling comfortable declaring Gálvez a “political phenomenon.”

A political independent who initially set her sights on competing to be Mexico City mayor and often travels the sprawling capital on a bicycle, Gálvez entered the Senate chamber in December dressed as a dinosaur, an allusion to party leaders known known for their archaic, unmovable practices. At the time, López Obrador had proposed electoral reforms that critics said would weaken the country’s National Electoral Institute. The Senate passed them earlier this year, but the Supreme Court later blocked them from taking effect.

Gálvez never shies from conflict with López Obrador. She went to a judge in December asking for an order to let her speak at the president’s daily press briefing. She was granted the order, but the president rejected it.

Gálvez’s fluid use of profanity, contrasting with her comfort moving in political circles, is an advantage with much of the working class, and with many young Mexicans. She registered this month to compete for the presidential nomination of a broad opposition coalition — the historically leftist PRD, the conservative PAN and the PRI that ruled Mexico for 70 years — joking that López Obrador was her campaign manager.

López Obrador remains highly popular, and while he cannot run for another six-year term, several high-profile members of his Morena party have been jockeying fiercely for months. They include Mexico City Mayor Claudia Sheinbaum, Foreign Affairs Secretary Marcelo Ebrard and Interior Secretary Adan Augusto, who all agreed to resign their positions last month to campaign in earnest.

Their faces are plastered on billboards across the country, while Gálvez makes clever videos often shot with her own iPhone, some viewed millions of times.

Mexican society is looking for someone new to believe in, Gálvez told The Associated Press.

“We’ll have to see how much I manage to connect and how much I can convince,” she recently told the AP.

Growing up poor in the central state of Hidalgo, her father was an Indigenous Otomi schoolteacher. He was also abusive, macho and alcoholic, Gálvez said. She learned to speak his native ñähñu as a child, holds her Indigenous roots close and favors wearing embroidered huipils.

As a girl, she sold gelatin and tamales to help her family. She worked as a scribe in a local civil registry office as a teen. At 16, she moved by herself to Mexico City and worked as a phone operator until earning a scholarship that allowed her to study computer science. Then she started a technology company, that, as López Obrador noted recently, has won government contracts.

Gálvez served as Indigenous affairs minister for President Vicente Fox, a plain-talking politician from the conservative National Action Party (PAN) who broke the Institutional Revolutionary Party’s 70-year stranglehold on Mexican politics.

While she entered the Senate with the PAN, she has registered to compete for the nomination of the broad coalition of the country’s traditional parties.

Galvez has assured PAN voters that she wants to keep advocating for them despite her moving to win over other parties with interests outside the traditional conservative base.

Her sense of humor and ability to speak comfortably, even at times profanely, with people in the street are characteristics she shares with López Obrador. They may be why he treats her as a threat.

The president accuses Gálvez of using her humble origins and speech to “trick” the poor, who make up much of his base of support. Instead, he paints her the candidate of the rich, the “oligarchs” and “conservatives.”

She dismisses him as a fearful male chauvinist.

“He’s going to try to deny my origins and deny my work, but there it is,” she said.

“I had to face a very patriarchal culture, very macho, where as women we weren’t seen as anything else but for work,” she said.

Gálvez said she’s not put off by the challenge posed by the favorites from the president’s party.

“They’re there because they want to continue doing the same as the president,” she said. “They don’t have their own identity.”

Víctor Gordoa, president of Public Image Group, said Gálvez’s life story is the kind that can reach people across social strata, resonating with the working class who see themselves in Gálvez, as well as the wealthy who see her as a potential weapon who has been untouchable so far.

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Record temperatures kindle interest in heat legislation

With several states experiencing punishing temperatures, some lawmakers want to treat extreme heat the same as other natural disasters.

It's just one of several proposals on Capitol Hill in response to rising temperatures and their toll on people. As heat waves intensify, so does the attention on action from Congress.

Thermometer readings soared this weekend to nearly 120 degrees Fahrenheit in parts of Arizona. The heat has hit the state particularly hard, but similar conditions extend throughout the Southwest and Gulf Coast.

The bipartisan "Extreme Heat Emergency Act," H.R. 3965, from Reps. Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.), Sylvia Garcia (D-Texas) and Mark Amodei (R-Nev.) would add high temperatures to the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s list of major disasters. That would open the door to federal aid.

"Every summer, we are experiencing hotter and longer heat waves in the Valley,” said Gallego, who represents large swaths of Phoenix, in a statement about the bill.

“Despite the too often deadly effects of this heat, Arizonans are left to deal with the impacts themselves, and it is draining their resources," said Gallego.

Disasters that currently qualify for FEMA aid include hurricanes, tornadoes, floods, tidal waves, earthquakes and snowstorms, among other calamities.

But Amodei noted in a statement: "Extreme heat kills more people in the U.S. than all other natural hazards and extreme weather events."

On average, there are 702 heat-related deaths each year in the United States, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Heat & Health Tracker. In 2022, 425 deaths were linked to heat in Maricopa County, Ariz., according to the county Department of Public Health.

The legislation came up Sunday on CNN's "State of the Union." Host Jake Tapper asked Arizona Democratic Sen. Mark Kelly weather FEMA should treat heat like another natural disaster.

"Yes, I think maybe in some cases. I haven't taken a look at his legislation, the specifics on it, and I will. But that could be an approach here," Kelly said.

Kelly also linked the heat to climate change. "We have got to continue to work towards reducing the amount of carbon dioxide we're putting in the atmosphere," he said.

Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.) similarly addressed climate change when asked about the legislation on NBC's "Meet the Press." However, she didn't seem keen on expanding FEMA's role.

"I don't think so," Duckworth said. “But I will tell you, one of the things that we can do to cool the Earth back down is to transition into greener energy alternatives."

Republicans and conservative voices have been questioning whether the severe weather and extreme heat are tied to climate change.

“Climates adjust over time, but we're going to say that man did it now? Nope, not there," said Rep. Byron Donalds (R-Fla.) when asked about the record temperatures.

Earlier this year, Gallego reintroduced the "Excess Urban Heat Mitigation Act," H.R. 2945, with Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman (D-N.J.), to authorize Department of Housing and Urban Development grants. Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) is sponsoring a Senate companion, S. 1379.

The legislation would authorize $30 million each year through fiscal 2030. At least 75 percent of the money would go to low-income and disadvantaged communities. No Republican has signed on.

Watson Coleman, Gallego and several other Democrats are also supporting H.R. 4314, the "Stay Cool Act," which includes provisions for cooling centers, health studies and grants. The legislation would also revise public housing rules to make sure people have access to air conditioning.

Lawmakers in the past have also introduced legislation to push the Occupational Safety and Health Administration to protect workers from heat.

It now remains to be seen whether conditions will propel committees to prioritize heat legislation. The White House, in the meantime, announced a research effort with money from the Inflation Reduction Act. The administration also plans a "National Heat Strategy."

Nico Portuondo contributed to this report. This story was reported and written by E&E News reporter Rebekah Alvey.

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Member of ‘Tennessee Three’ set to challenge Marsha Blackburn for her Senate seat

A member of the so-called “Tennessee Three,” the state lawmakers who were rebuked for protesting gun violence in their Capitol, is preparing an uphill run against Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.).

State Rep. Gloria Johnson is eyeing a mid-August launch for a Senate campaign, according to two people familiar with her plans who were not authorized to confirm them. Johnson has already spoken with officials from the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee and EMILY’s List, a pro-abortion rights group, and has begun to assemble a campaign team.

Johnson, 61, and her colleagues, state Reps. Justin Pearson and Justin Jones, caught national attention when they staged a demonstration advocating for stricter gun control laws after three students and three employees were killed during a Nashville elementary school shooting earlier this year. Pearson and Jones, who are Black, were booted from the Statehouse but quickly reinstated by their respective local councils. Johnson, who is white, escaped expulsion by one vote.

The incident earned them national notoriety, speaking invitations and a trip to the White House.

In a brief interview, Johnson said that she was considering a run and that she would probably make a final decision this summer.

“I’m taking a serious look at the race and having conversations with folks that are hungry for better leadership in Washington,” she said. “Honestly, Tennesseans deserve someone who will stand up to corrupt special interests, fight for lower costs so that every family can build a good life and that's not Marsha Blackburn.”

Johnson won’t have the primary field to herself. Marquita Bradshaw, an environmental activist and her party’s 2020 Senate nominee, has filed to run again. Three years ago, she bested James Mackler, the candidate preferred by national Democrats, and then lost to incumbent Bill Hagerty by 27 points.

Tennessee remains a deep red state that former President Donald Trump won twice by at least two dozen points. Democrats are a superminority in both chambers of the legislature and now control only one of the state’s nine congressional districts. Bill Clinton was the last Democrat to carry the state in a presidential contest.

Blackburn easily beat back a 2018 challenge from Phil Bredesen, the state’s last Democratic governor, though the race drew national attention and was seen, at the time, as a possible Democratic pickup.

A statewide run by Johnson is likely to be a longshot campaign aimed at building up the state’s Democratic Party and engaging new voters.

A longtime teacher, Johnson is expected to mount a different kind of campaign than Bredesen, a milquetoast moderate who, despite being a popular two-term governor years prior, struggled to invigorate the base and ran on his centrist record. He lost to Blackburn by 11 points. In an interview, Johnson said that her campaign would differ from Bredesen’s and that she hoped “to inspire and motivate voters”.

Johnson will likely run heavily on ending gun violence, increasing access to health care and protecting democracy. The statehouse protest seems likely to play a prominent role in her campaign.

“There's a movement afoot in Tennessee, it's very clear,” Johnson said. “There has been a change in thinking.”

Johnson, who represents the Knoxville area, will likely tap into a national liberal donor base that eagerly followed her protests earlier this spring. But Blackburn is a solid fundraiser and has banked $5.6 million for her reelection campaign as of the end of June. She is a staunch supporter of Trump and endorsed his third bid for president.

“Marquita Bradshaw and Gloria Johnson are liberal Democrats who are out of step with the people of Tennessee and are aligned with Joe Biden's failed policies that are making their lives tougher every single day,” said Abigail Sigler, Blackburn campaign spokesperson.

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House GOP committee chairs launch probe into Ford-China battery deal

Two House GOP committee chairs are launching a probe into Ford Motor Company's agreement with a Chinese battery company — prompting renewed scrutiny into U.S. corporate links to China amid a boom in domestic clean energy manufacturing.

Ford announced an agreement with Contemporary Amperex Technology Co., Limited, or CATL, in February for its new $3.5 billion battery plant in Michigan. Under the structure of the agreement, Ford said it would manufacture the battery cells using knowledge and services provided by CATL.

But in a new letter Friday to Ford CEO Jim Farley, Mike Gallagher (R-Wis.), who chairs the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party, and Jason Smith (R-Mo.), the chair of the Ways and Means Committee, questioned the licensing agreement, CATL’s alleged ties to forced labor and whether the jobs created under the deal will flow to China.

The continued focus on the battery agreement echoes broader bipartisan concerns on Capitol Hill about China’s influence on domestic supply chains as the U.S. transitions away from fossil fuels toward green technologies that China has long dominated.

"Ford has argued that the deal will create thousands of American jobs, further Ford’s 'commitments to sustainability and human rights,' and lead to American battery technology advancements. But newly discovered information raises serious questions about each claim," the pair wrote.

The letter alleges the new information suggests a “significant portion” of the U.S. jobs created under the agreement will be given to citizens of China, that CATL took steps to maintain effective control while appearing to divest its ownership stake in companies based in the Xinjiang region allegedly tied to forced labor practices and concerning the structure of the deal itself.

"Rather than developing American technology, we are concerned that the deal could simply facilitate the partial onshoring of [People’s Republic of China]-controlled battery technology, raw materials, and employees while collecting tax credits and flowing funds back to CATL through the licensing agreement," they wrote.

In the letter, the two chairs also request documents and communications, including a copy of the licensing agreement between Ford and CATL and any related documents, as well as communications between Ford and the Biden administration on the licensing agreement and any "achievable tax credits."

The Treasury Department has released initial guidance on the new electric vehicle tax credit under the Inflation Reduction Act, but questions loom on which companies' vehicles could be barred from receiving the consumer credit because of their connections to China.

A spokesperson for Ford said in an emailed response that the company had received the letter, is reviewing it and "look[s] forward to responding."

The company reiterated it will "own and run" the new battery plant in Michigan, instead of building a battery plant elsewhere or exclusively importing batteries from China. It touted the 2,500 new U.S. jobs that will help strengthen domestic manufacturing and supply chains, as well as reduce carbon emissions.

Gallagher and Smith's letter said they'd "learned that several hundred" of the 2,500 jobs created under the deal will be given to CATL employees from China, who will be in charge of setting up and maintaining the equipment and that the licensing agreement will maintain Chinese employees at the plant until about 2038.

But Ford disputed that claim on Friday, saying it will have "a select number" of CATL technical experts on site and "these workers will not be counted among the 2,500 new jobs created by this project."

The GOP chairs are far from the first lawmakers to question the Ford agreement.

Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) also blasted the deal in a February letter and introduced a related bill to block tax credits from applying to a corporation that relies on technology via a licensing agreement with a foreign entity of concern, like a state-backed Chinese company.

Senate Energy and Natural Resources Chair Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) — who helped author the vehicle sourcing requirements of the IRA — has also questioned the agreement.

The Biden administration has pushed to build out domestic manufacturing for clean energy technologies, but it has acknowledged that the transition will include participation by Chinese companies.

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