Whales enjoying an Arctic smorgasbord off Greenland
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Two Major Battery Investments Signal Strategy Shift in Clean‑Energy Economy
Rendering of future Anthro Energy facility in Kentucky
By Frank Brill, EnviroPolitics Editor
The U.S. battery sector is seeing a notable reshuffling of investment priorities as companies respond to evolving electric‑vehicle demand and the growing importance of grid‑scale storage.
Anthro Energy has broken ground on a new factory that will manufacture advanced electrolytes for EV batteries, a move highlighted by TechCrunch. The company’s technology is designed to support next‑generation solid‑state batteries — a long‑anticipated innovation that promises greater energy density, improved safety, and faster charging. While solid‑state batteries are not yet commercial at scale, the Kentucky facility positions Anthro Energy to play a key role as automakers and suppliers push toward that future.
Meanwhile, in Michigan, LG Energy Solution has opened a $2.6 billion plant dedicated to grid battery production, according to reporting from the Detroit Free Press. The facility was originally planned as part of a joint venture with General Motors to produce EV batteries, but the companies shifted course as the EV market cooled and demand projections softened. Instead, LG is leaning into the rapidly expanding market for stationary storage — batteries that support renewable energy integration, stabilize the grid, and help utilities manage peak demand.
Taken together, these two developments illustrate how the battery industry is diversifying its bets. Some companies are doubling down on long‑term EV innovation, while others are pivoting toward grid storage, where demand is accelerating as states and utilities invest in resilience and clean‑energy infrastructure.
For policymakers and industry watchers, the message is clear: the U.S. battery landscape is no longer defined solely by electric vehicles. It’s becoming a broader ecosystem—one that spans transportation, grid reliability, and emerging technologies that could shape both sectors for decades.
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Pennsylvania governor shows he knows how to read the polls
Governor Josh Shapiro plans to block such projects in the state unless they meet new limits on electricity and water usage, a reversal of past policies, and gain local approval.
Signs in Archbald, Pennsylvania. (Heather Ainsworth/For The Washington Post)
Shapiro’s order stops short of a blanket moratorium on data center development. But administration officials said the new policies are structured so that it will be exceptionally difficult for most data center developers to meet the new requirements.
The new policy represents a shift for Shapiro, who has been mentioned as a possible presidential candidate in 2028 and has been trying to navigate hardening public opposition to data centers nationwide.
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Texans thought Trump had spared a border wall at their cherished national park
Layers of desert mountains stretch across Big Bend National Park in Terlingua, Texas
By
But after bipartisan opposition grew, the wall was removed from the federal government’s border construction map. Many exhaled, believing that the West Texas park, with its towering mountains and cliffs, would be spared.
Then the bulldozers arrived this month.
The sight of the earthmoving machines along the Rio Grande near the Santa Elena Canyon, one of the park’s major attractions, pointed to the most significant evidence of border barrier construction in the park. Contractors ripped through mesquite trees and brush and leveled the ground for more than 1 mile of what appeared to be a future roadway.
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Will Ohio’s largest solar project get the OK after two-year wait?
The Oak Run solar and storage project has been in legal limbo since 2024, showing local opponents’ power to delay clean energy. A decision may come soon.
By Kathiann M. Kowalski, Canary Media
Following a key legal deadline last Friday, the stage is now set for the Ohio Power Siting Board to make a final decision about whether the state’s largest solar and energy storage project to date can move ahead.
The OPSB initially approved the Oak Run Solar Project in March 2024, but the case has since been bogged down by an appeal filed by Madison County and three of its townships.
Oak Run Solar would bring 800 megawatts of solar and 300 MW of energy storage to a state that has become increasingly hostile to clean energy, even as mounting electricity demand increases power prices and threatens grid reliability.
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Rhine River Hits Record Low, Deepening Shipping Crisis
A drone picture shows the banks of the Rhine River during a period of low water level in Cologne. REUTERS/Stephane Nitschke
By Eamon Akil Farhat, Rachel Graham and Sasha Draeger-Mazer, Bloomberg
Water levels on the Rhine River are dwindling further, with no relief in sight, forcing companies that rely on the waterway to adjust rapidly to keep goods flowing.
Levels at Kaub, Germany — the Rhine’s shallowest point — have fallen to the lowest since records began in 1880, and could drop further as another heat wave bakes Europe this week. Forecasters say it would take weeks of sustained rain to lift the river toward more normal levels, meaning the crisis could drag on into October.
The Rhine is a key shipping route through Europe’s industrial heartland, from Switzerland to Rotterdam, the continent’s busiest port. The disruption along the waterway is throwing up supply chain challenges for companies ranging from steelmaker Thyssenkrupp AG to BASF SE and Lanxess AG.
“Shipments by ship are severely restricted, with vessels carrying significantly lighter loads than usual,” specialty chemicals maker Lanxess said Tuesday in response to questions from Bloomberg. “As certain loading and unloading points are no longer accessible, we are switching to rail and road transport where possible. The situation is highly dynamic.”
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