Will you be mine, Minegolia?

Jul 31, 2023

Presented by Chevron

Trucks move ore at an open-pit copper and gold mine in the south Gobi Desert of Mongolia.

Trucks move ore at an open-pit copper and gold mine in the south Gobi Desert of Mongolia. | Paula Bronstein/Getty Images

Mongolia, shoehorned between China and Russia, could be a powerhouse supplier of critical minerals for U.S. clean energy projects.

That was one pitch from American officials during a recent visit.

The other sales pitch: The U.S. can give Mongolia a better deal than China or Russia.

Grasslands once trammeled by Genghis Khan’s riders are rich in copper and other minerals needed for large-scale wind and solar power and for bringing millions of electric cars to market.

Senior U.S. officials went to Mongolia last month to forge business and government ties and to ensure ethical standards are established for mining projects. The need to ease global reliance on China for critical minerals looms large over talks with Mongolia and other resource-rich countries, writes Sara Schonhardt.

“Mongolia is facing a generational opportunity, and that generational opportunity is a need for us to find critical minerals and rare earths in order to achieve our clean energy goals,” Jose Fernandez, undersecretary of State for economic growth, energy and the environment, told E&E News.

China dominates the flow of raw and processed minerals that feed the world’s exploding demand for clean energy technology. The U.S. wants to rebuild and diversify the supply chain.

The United States is part of the Minerals Security Partnership — a coalition of mostly Western countries, including Canada, Australia and South Korea, working to secure minerals as demand for batteries and other energy technology ratchets up.

But the initiative isn’t without its critics.

Republicans accuse the White House of overlooking human rights abuses in Congo and other resource-rich developing nations, even as the Biden administration has restricted proposed U.S.-based mines.

What does it all mean for Mongolia — once nicknamed “Minegolia” because of its abundant natural resources?

Communist China extends nearly 3,000 miles along Mongolia’s southern border, controlling access to the global market by land and sea. Strengthening ties to the U.S. and its allies could have repercussions for Mongolia’s well-established trade relationship with China, where most of its copper and coal currently go.

For the West, Mongolia is just one piece of a complex diplomatic puzzle the U.S. and its allies are piecing together to counter China and unlock new sources of minerals.

It’s Monday — thank you for tuning in to POLITICO’s Power Switch. I’m your host, Heather Richards. Arianna will be back soon! Power Switch is brought to you by the journalists behind E&E News and POLITICO Energy. Send your tips, comments, questions to hrichards@eenews.net.

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Today in POLITICO Energy’s podcast: Josh Siegel breaks down why Republicans are angry about President Joe Biden’s proposed overhaul of the National Environmental Policy Act’s rules.

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Plant Vogtle's planned nuclear additions — units 3 and 4 — are pictured in July in eastern Georgia.

Plant Vogtle's planned nuclear additions — units 3 and 4 — are pictured in July in eastern Georgia. | Georgia Power

Power began flowing from a new unit at the Vogtle nuclear reactor this morning in eastern Georgia, marking the first time in 30 years a new nuclear reactor made from scratch in the U.S. has come online.

But as POLITICO’s E&E News reporter Zach Bright explored in his story today, Vogtle’s stumble over the finish line after years of escalating costs and setbacks could tell a deeper story about the future of nuclear power in the U.S.

Nuclear may be critical to reaching the nation’s larger climate goals — like the Biden administration’s plan to decarbonize the nation’s electricity sector by 2035 — as a carbon-free and tremendously powerful source of energy. One uranium pellet holds about as much power potential as 1 ton of coal.

Steven Biegalski, chair of the Georgia Institute of Technology’s nuclear and radiological engineering program, told Bright that the sheer force of nuclear potential in meeting climate aims stands in its favor, calling alternatives to the type of reactor built at Vogtle a “pipe dream” by comparison.

But Vogtle also illuminates the technical and construction challenges, as well as the expense, of bringing on new nuclear.

Coming in roughly at $30 billion, double the original budget, the nuclear projects — Georgia Power has a second unit planned to be operational by next year — were beset by repeated delays.

“There is no nuclear power plant that we’re aware of that has ever come on in the Southeast on budget or on schedule,” Stephen Smith, executive director of the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy, told E&E News in an interview.

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A 38-year-old German hiker disappeared in Switzerland’s Alps in 1986. Due to global warming, his remains were found on Friday. Grisly discoveries of lost climbers in Switzerland’s high elevations are an increasing phenomenon as its glaciers retreat due to climate change, officials in the country reported.

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Permitting on the rocks after NEPA
GOP lawmakers are slamming the White House as “dishonest” and “sneaky” after a draft version of rules on how to apply the National Environmental Policy Act included climate and environmental justice provisions not included in a deal between the Biden administration and Capitol Hill Republicans last month, report Emma Dumain and Robin Bravender. The discord could throw a wrench into ongoing talks on permitting reform that could be critical to the White House’s hopes to deploy large amounts of clean energy.

Is an EU climate initiative too "toxic" to advance?
Talks among policymakers in the European Union have stalled over revising tax floors on energy products, from diesel to electricity, report Victor Jack and Zia Weise. The 20-year-old initiative is one of the tools in Brussels’ toolbox to meet its climate targets. But with energy prices for voters already holding high, updating an energy tax is proving politically thorny.

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Tesla’s workaround to state laws: Electric vehicle maker Tesla is attempting to roll out more showrooms on tribal lands. Selling the elite vehicle in Indian Country helps Tesla skip over state laws that ban direct sales of cars by manufacturers to consumers without an auto dealership as a middleman to protect a competitive market.

Miles away: An unwritten rule in Texas could be bucking pushback over industrial pollution unless protesters live within a mile of the facility. State regulators say the rule doesn’t exist, but environmental groups say it’s being used to defend projects from opposition.

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That’s it for today, folks! Thanks for reading.

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