Category Archives: Progress

BRAZIL, Ind. (WTHI) - 2021 was a year full of growth for one Wabash Valley community!

Over in Brazil, Indiana, they are celebrating many additions to their city -- such as the building of a new city garage.

This new garage has been a much-needed upgrade for decades.

They are also looking at utility expansions, to promote more industrial growth in 2022.

In the downtown area, they are seeing more and more development -- with businesses and retailors popping up quickly.

Although they have had to battle the ill effects of the pandemic like everyone else, Mayor Wyndham says they have more exciting things on the horizon for the year ahead.

"It's really important to see that business building. You know it's contagious -- the more that you see come in, the more that will follow."

Wyndham says that the community can expect the street-scape to continue to develop.

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Brazil Mayor, Brian Wyndham, reflects on progress made in 2021 - WTHITV.com

If you were to poll the computing industry today for most hyped technology of our times, I posit that artificial intelligence would easily top the list.

And with good reasonthe last decade of progress in AI has been exciting for sure. But the impact of that innovation follows the William Gibson principle: The future is already here, its just not evenly distributed.

Whats particularly funny about AI is that people think that AI success should be evenly distributed. If Tesla can autopilot your car and Google Photos can match your elderly parents faces to their baby photos, why cant your company increase revenue and decrease cost via AI? Heck, AI cant even figure out how to load your pile of spreadsheets into a data warehouse!

So, whats causing the disconnect between AI innovation and impact? The issue is twofold. First -- all computing challenges are not the same. While some exciting topics like computer vision have made enormous leaps in recent years, most of the classically painful business data processing problems are still well beyond the capabilities of todays state-of-the-art AI. Second -- the engineering tools and practices for successful AI and machine learning are still in their infancy.

Todays Big Tech shops are largely solving their data and AI problems by hiring armies of expert software engineers to hand-stitch together data pipelines with bits of AI. This is exacerbated by the disparate state of open-source tooling. Unless your company can recruit lots of Silicon Valley-quality software developers, youre out of luck. To democratize the progress in AI, we need to do a couple key things:

Todays Big Tech shops are largely solving their data and AI problems by hiring armies of expert software engineers to hand-stitch together data pipelines with bits of AI. This is exacerbated by the state of open-source tooling. Unless your company can recruit lots of Silicon Valley-quality software developers, youre out of luck.

Thats why going forward, I see three key trends that will play an important role in democratizing AI:

The next year promises to be a very confusing time for AI, especially in fields like MLOps where the stack hasnt begun to shake out. Be sure to keep an eye on human-AI interfaces that facilitate augmented intelligence using low-code and no-code tools. While tech news stories about AI accomplishments will continue to tantalize you with possibilities, understand that the practical uses of AI in business will remain rare.

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Will the Democratization of Technology Accelerate Progress in AI? - InformationWeek

While there seems to be no end in sight for the coronavirus, 2021 was a good year in terms of gains made to subdue another health menace, Alzheimers disease, including a promising drug emerging.

More people are becoming aware and more people are getting involved, said Pamela Padgett, who is helping to spearhead efforts in Surry County addressing the debilitating condition affecting 6.2 million Americans.

This included Padgetts co-chairing of the annual Walk to End Alzheimers held at Riverside Park in Mount Airy on Sept. 18, with Robin Portis, and other efforts to generate funds needed for the fight and bring attention to the issue.

As the year comes to an end and the last of the fundraising that supports our local walk is ending, we are in awe of all the awareness and funds that have been raised, added Padgett.

She is human resources director for Behavioral Services Inc. in Mount Airy, and like many people has lost someone to Alzheimers a grandmother, Mae Holt, in 2018 which has motivated her to get involved in efforts to find a cure.

Although the walk was held in December as a major fundraising effort for that cause with the help of teams, money has continued to be generated as 2021 comes to a close.

Our final total for the year is $77,582, Padgett reported Wednesday, which she said is a record sum.

This total speaks to the dedication to end Alzheimers, she observed. To still be in a pandemic and be able to raise this much money is phenomenal.

A true team effort

After the annual Walk to End Alzheimers was conducted on a virtual basis in 2020 because of COVID but returned to normal in a big way.

This year we had 66 teams, which is the most teams in the history of our local walk and had 368 participants, which also was a record-breaking number, Padgett mentioned regarding the event. It is held in conjunction with the Western Carolina Chapter of the Alzheimers Association.

The individual teams of businesses, families, churches and civic groups conducted mini-campaigns that added up to the total, with one involving G & B Energy (captained by Natalie Eidson) leading the way by generating $11,000.

Other top teams were fielded by the RidgeCrest retirement community, which raised $9,468 under the leadership of Jennifer Johnson-Brown; The A Team led by Robin Portis, the co-chair of the walk, which raised $6,003; Memories of Mae, led by Padgett in generating $4,231; and Team Phil, (captained by Vickie Jordan), $3,170.

All the teams in our walk did a wonderful job of not only fundraising, but raising awareness, Badgett emphasized.

Many people do Facebook fundraisers to raise funds for their teams this makes it so easy to participate and this accounts for a big increase in dollars donated.

More than walking

As is the case with any such campaign, more than just a single event such as a walk is required, with keeping the issue before the public in a variety of ways also needed.

This was true in 2021 for the local Alzheimers disease efforts, which also included a Paint the Town Purple campaign during the summer. Purple is the official color of Alzheimers, Padgett explained.

Stores in downtown Mount Airy displayed windows decorated in purple as part of a contest to generate awareness, accompanied by some merchants launching fundraisers.

First place went to F. Rees, second to The Spotted Moon, third to Fabric Menagerie and fourth, Mayberry Primitives.

Even though they were not on Main Street, Dr. John Gravittes office did a phenomenal display to raise awareness, had a team in the walk and was also a sponsor (of that event), Padgett noted.

RidgCrest further features a lighted Christmas display annually as a fundraiser.

The beauty of its lights sends a message of hope for anyone who is associated with Alzheimers whether it be a patient, a caregiver, family member or an advocate, Padgett mentioned.

We are so thankful that they have chosen to do this every year.

Meanwhile, local advocates also had floats in both the Fourth of July and Christmas parades in downtown Mount Airy.

Drug breakthrough

The money raised aids care, support and research programs of the Alzheimers Association.

This includes a variety of services gearing toward disease sufferers and their families, including its 24/7 Helpline at https://www.alz.org/help-support/i-have-alz/programs-support#helpline, educational programs, support groups and more.

On the research side of things, Padgett said definite progress occurred during 2021 in the form of a new drug that came on the market in June. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration granted accelerated approval to Aduhelm (aducanumab) for the treatment of Alzheimers disease.

Padgett said this is the first drug available to slow its progression.

I think that was a good outcome of all the years of research, she said of proof that financial support does make a difference. I think that was the highlight of the year.

In May, Padgett also addressed members of Congress, via video conferencing, to lobby for federal legislation to advance research and enhance treatment and support services for those living with Alzheimers and their caregivers.

She is heartened by so many facets of this community joining to tackle a terrible disease that has affected everyone to some degree through family members or friends being afflicted.

The includes a growing array of sponsors: Behavioral Services, Surry Communications, Carolina West, Surry Insurance, Altec, Carport Central, First Presbyterian Church of Mount Airy, Home Instead, Northern Regional Hospital, Hugh Chatham Hospital, Kindred at Home, Cardinal CT, J.G. Coram Construction, Dr John Gravitte, Hayco Construction, Nester Hosiery, Rogers Realty, SouthData, Surry-Yadkin Electric Membership Corp. and Wayne Farms.

We are grateful to our community for all their support, Padgett summed-up in closing out 2021, which she believes was a positive period both locally and for the Alzheimers Association overall.

Tom Joyce may be reached at 336-415-4693 or on Twitter @Me_Reporter.

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Progress made in Alzheimer's fight this year - Mount Airy News

Spencer Sanders and Malcolm Rodriguez took their rightfully earned places on the State Farm Stadium stage with the ornate, golden Fiesta Bowl trophy glimmering in front of them.

Rodriguez, the loyal Oklahoma State linebacker who arrived at a midweek press conference with a gray cowboy hat perched atop his head, had discarded the Western garb for a different accessory: a Fiesta Bowl champions cap. Sanders, the quarterback who had just finished his season with a record-setting redemption story, was wearing one, too.

After the Cowboys toppled Notre Dame 37-35 on Saturday afternoon in Glendale, Arizona, Rodriguez and Sanders each received MVP honors. They stood in the eye of the postgame fanfare, celebrating a marquee victory for a program on the rise.

Of course, coach Mike Gundy was also immersed in the festivities, recovering after a couple of orange Gatorade baths. At least he didnt have to endure a mayonnaise or Cheez-It dump. Athletic director Chad Weiberg and university president Dr. Kayse Shrum were there, witnessing the grand finale to a season that surprised many. And when everything was over, when the No. 9 Cowboys had left the field, Gundy made a confident statement to put this victory into context during his pressconference.

This is clearly the biggest win in the history of the school.

Its a bold declaration, no doubt, but this day will hold a lasting place in OSU football lore. Rallying from a 21-point deficit to spoil a Fiesta Bowl triumph for a tradition-rich, fifth-ranked Notre Dame program exemplifies the Cowboys theme this season: surpassing expectations to solidify their status as a nationally relevant program.

Lets reflect on the beginning of the season. While the Cowboys were preparing for a year without Tylan Wallace and Chuba Hubbard, few people expected them to reach a New Years Six bowl and establish themselves in the same tier as the Fighting Irish. At the end of the nonconference slate, the situation still didnt look too promising. Sure, the Cowboys were 3-0, but every win was a chaotic nail-biter marked with offensive lulls, particularly in the third quarter. Would this team collapse under the pressure of a Big 12 Conference schedule?

The Cowboys (12-2) continued to have a flair for the dramatic, turning their early conference games into fourth-quarter slugfests, but another facet of their identity which Gundy says he can usually sense by October took shape. This team had guts, grit and a stunningly stout defense. Even in one midseason loss to Iowa State, the Cowboys held their own.

The two Fiesta Bowl MVPs each made profound, though different, impacts on the season. Rodriguez, the energetic, rough-and-tumble wrestler from Wagoner, ended his super senior year with a myriad of All-America honors, leading the Cowboys with 123 tackles.

Sanders, the redshirt junior signal-caller from Denton, Texas, showed growth in the face of adversity. He was self-critical and introspective, allowing himself to learn from mistakes at the end of his roller-coaster season and lead the offense with poise against a Notre Dame defense also ranked in the top 10 in the country.

Of course, the Big 12 title game was a blemish on the season, a downer as the Cowboys lost their hopes of making history with a College Football Playoff appearance. But simply advancing to the conference championship game for the first time brought the program to new heights, and defeating Notre Dame (11-2) with the largest comeback in OSU history continued that rise.

If the Fighting Irish had crushed the Cowboys, people might have viewed the entire season differently.

We felt like if we didnt win this game, this would have been kind of a season of just forgotten greatness, said Brock Martin, OSUs starting edge rusher.

Instead, the Cowboys have plenty to remember.

Sanders set a Fiesta Bowl record with 496 yards of total offense.

He stockpiled 371 passing yards for four touchdowns (including three to super senior Tay Martin), ending his season with a performance bearing few similarities to his four-interception conference championship game against Baylor.

After a sluggish first half for the offense, Sanders picked up the pace in the second, distributing the ball to multiple receivers and fueling the Cowboys comeback against the Irish.

He also accumulated a game-high 125 rushing yards, fitting the definition of a dual-threat quarterback.

I think he took control of the situation, offensive coordinator Kasey Dunn said.

Rodriguez did the same on defense. True to his usual form, he led all defenders with 11 tackles and put a bow on his stellar career with a fourth-quarter interception. He and fellow super senior Devin Harper maintained their status as a dynamic linebacker duo Harper racked up 10 stops.

The Fighting Irish presented plenty of challenges.

Tight end Michael Mayer used his size to beat Cowboy defenders on touchdown routes. Young running backs Logan Diggs and Chris Tyree provided offensive energy without leading rusher Kyren Williams, who opted out of the game for the NFL Draft. But the Cowboys relied on the tough, prove-the-doubters-wrong identity that had carried them through this season.

Notre Dame had opened as a narrow favorite in sportsbooks. College GameDay pickers chose the Irish, and so did Chutti, a rhinoceros at the Phoenix Zoo, who tattered a box featuring the Notre Dame logo while the OSU box lay abandoned in the mud.

The Cowboys proved that dang rhino wrong sorry, Chutti, no hard feelings to show that they belong in conversations about premier college football programs.

The Fiesta Bowl trophy can represent what OSU has accomplished, but more importantly, it hints at what the program could become. The Cowboys have potential to emerge as a perennial top-10 contender, and this bowl game, the biggest win in the history of the school, illustrated their abilities to stand up against powerhouses.

After the victory, as the celebration unfolded in State Farm Stadium, Gundy spoke in a TV interview. Leading up to the game, he had emphasized the importance of the Notre Dame logo, the history, the unique traditions and the meaning of the Cowboys matchup against the team with iconic gold helmets.

In the TV interview, Gundy mentioned Notre Dames famous logo one more time.

We want everybody in the country to know, with all due respect, we got a logo, too, he said.

As Sanders and Rodriguez accepted their MVP awards while donning caps that featured the schools vivid orange insignia, people across the nation knew.

Hallie Hart is a sports reporter with The Stillwater News Press. She can be contacted at hhart@stwnewspress.com.

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FROM THE HART: OSU's 'biggest win' shows progress and potential - Stillwater News Press

On Wednesday I wrote that I was not inclined to make excuses for what is, at this point, a lost season for our beloved Seattle Seahawks.

That remains the case.

However, I will offer up an argument as to why we, the 12s, might want to cut the team a little bit of slack.

Implementing a new offense takes time and isnt helped by (a) having your franchise quarterback spend his offseason in a public spat with the team, and/or (b) losing your QB midway through the 5th game of the year.

Lets start with Shane Waldron.

Dude had never held an Offensive Coordinator position before and was joining a team whose head coach is well known for wanting things his way. Yet the prevailing consensus was that Shane Waldron was going to implement a magic offense, which he would have cribbed from the Rams, and that having Russell Wilson (instead of Jared Goff) directing that offense would keep defensive coordinators awake at night.

Yeah ... that didnt really happen, did it?

Frustratingly, yet not surprisingly, the offense struggled the first few games. Yes, they scored a bunch of points (103 through their first 4 games; 25.75 per game), but their offense basically disappeared for entire halves.

Which brings us to Russell Wilson.

The beloved Seattle icon spent the offseason vocally lamenting the teams inability to keep him upright during the first 9 years of his career.

Personally, I think he had a point - even if he steadfastly refuses to acknowledge the role that he has played (and continues to play) in that equation.

After his agent (reportedly) gave the Seahawks a list of teams that Wilson would waive his no-trade clause for, and after the team (reportedly) turned down a trade offer from the Chicago Bears, the disenchanted quarterback rekindled his friendship with Pete Carroll, even going so far as to make an announcement about their friendship during a press conference at Seahawks HQ.

Whether or not that was window dressing is anyones guess. But ...

Despite the offenses (and the teams) overall inconsistency, Russell Wilson got off to a really good start this year.

Heres his stat line through the first 4 games: 79 of 109 (72.5%) for 1,044 yards (13.2 per completion) with 9 touchdowns and 0 interceptions. His passer rating up to that point was 128.4 which is about 26-1/2 points higher than his career average coming into the season (100.9).

Then this happened.

Seattle, 2-2 at the time, watched Wilsons backup throw an interception with just over 2 minutes left and came up short in Game #5.

And Game #6 (a 3-point overtime loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers on the road).

And Game #7 (a 3-point home loss to the New Orleans Saints).

By the time Wilson returned, Seattles season was on life support with the Hawks nursing a 3-5 record and preparing to face the Green Bay Packers (on the road) and the Arizona Cardinals (at home).

We all know how that turned out.

By his own admission, Wilson wasnt 100% when he came back. Was it too soon? Perhaps.

Some would argue that RW3 at less than 100% gave Seattle a better chance to win than Geno Smith at 100%. Some would disagree.

Me? Ill simply point out (as the News Tribune article I linked to did) that Russell Wilson threw four end zone interceptions since his return and thats not something that (a) he normally does, or (b) a middling team can easily overcome.

At the end of the day (slash season), I am sort of inclined to chalk a lot of this season up to a new offense that never really had a chance to get going and a quarterback who had some misgivings coming into the season and then got hurt (and missed games for the first time in his career).

Personally, I think Wilson will be fine and has many strong seasons ahead of him. Waldron, on the other hand ... I really dont know.

In theory, Waldron could be the greatest offensive mind of his generation, stuck with a bad hand his first go round. He could also be a JAG (Just Another Guy). The truth is undoubtedly somewhere in between those two extremes.

The question is, Will we find out?

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The Seahawks offense is still a work-in-progress - Field Gulls

TEHRAN, Iran Ongoing talks in Vienna to revive a 2015 nuclear deal between world powers and Iran have seen relatively satisfactory progress, Irans negotiator Ali Bagheri said Thursday.

Some written changes on the lifting of sanctions were established between the two parties and relatively satisfactory progress has been made over the first days of the eighth round of negotiations, Bagheri said in a video published by Tasnim news agency.

His remarks come two days after negotiators from Britain, France and Germany described the talks as urgent, warning that we are nearing the point where Irans escalation of its nuclear program will have completely hollowed out the deal.

Negotiations to restore the 2015 agreement began earlier this year but stopped in June as Iran elected a new ultraconservative government. They resumed in late November with the latest round getting underway on Monday.

The 2015 deal offered Iran much-needed relief from sanctions that have weighed heavily on its economy.

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But the unilateral withdrawal by then-US president Donald Trump derailed the deal and prompted Tehran to walk back on its commitments under it.

Iran had announced in April that it had begun enriching uranium up to 60 percent purity, well beyond the 3.67 percent threshold set by the pact. Uranium enriched to 90 percent purity is considered weapons-grade.

A technician works at the Uranium Conversion Facility just outside the city of Isfahan, Iran, 255 miles (410 kilometers) south of the capital Tehran, Iran, Feb. 3, 2007. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi, file)

But on Saturday, Atomic Energy Organization of Iran director Mohammad Eslami said Tehran had no plans to enrich uranium beyond 60 percent, even if the Vienna talks fail.

The discussions focused mainly on the lifting of sanctions, Bagheri said Thursday.

We hope that after a few days of pause, more serious work will continue on the question of lifting sanctions, he continued.

Talks are due to pause briefly before resuming on January 3.

US State Department spokesman Ned Price said Tuesday there may have been some modest progress in the negotiations.

Unlike other parties to the deal, Washington has only been engaged in the talks indirectly.

Shortly before Bagheris remarks, Iran had announced that it carried out a new space launch, a move likely to irk Western powers amid the ongoing talks.

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Iran says nuclear talks in Vienna are seeing satisfactory progress - The Times of Israel

AUGUSTA, Ga. (WJBF) Georgia Governor Brian Kemp was in Augusta Thursday checking up on the progress of the Hub for Community Innovation. The 10 million dollar development is coming to the historic Laney Walker and Harrisburg area.

Governor Brian Kempjoined local leaders to discussthe progress of the projectat Fat Mans CafeThursday afternoon.

It really makes you feel good to see so many people from the local level working together to address real problems that we have in communities across the state, said Governor Brian Kemp.

He says collaboration is the key to bringing this project to life. The Hub is meant to bring more services to the underserved communities of Historic Laney Walker and Harrisburg.

The Hub Augusta Collaborative has formed a leadership group to try to cultivate a community where all of its residents thrive, said Shell Barry, thePresident, and CEO ofthe Community Foundation of the C.S.R.A

Barry says the Hub will be made up of two buildings. One will become the headquarters of The Boys and Girls Club and the other will house several nonprofit organizations.

And the goal behind these two buildings and the five mission-aligned non-profits that are in them is to help reduce barriers and provide access to the historic residents of Laney Walker and Harrisburg.

That includes access to food, healthcare, and education. Right now, the project is still getting into phase 1. The next phase will look at expanding Augusta Universitys campus, by creating a research building. Theyre also looking to bring a grocery store to the area which could finally put an end to the food desert.

Completion of phase 1 is set for Spring of 2022.

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Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp checks in on the progress of Hub Development - WJBF-TV

With the anticipated need for a lot more lithium to put into batteries to help power a greener future, you might think environmentalists would give a pass to some of the negative effects of the proposed lithium mines that are being planned at sites around Nevada. Thats not the case. The opposition to some of the proposed mines has been strong and may even be ramping up.

Thacker PassLithium Americas Thacker Pass lithium mine may be the biggest project on the horizon, and it is facing lots of opposition.

Lithium Americas has been working for years on plans for Thacker Pass, which is about 60 miles northwest of Winnemucca.

The companys website says Thacker Pass is the largest known lithium resource in the United States. Lithium Americas estimates there is $3.9 billion worth of recoverable lithium at the site. The company has said it hopes to start mining operations next year.

Lithium Nevada's Thacker Pass site in Humboldt County will become a mining and production location, if all goes as planned for the company.

The mine is expected to produce up to 60,000 tons a year of battery-quality lithium carbonate, which would be a huge boost to the world supply of lithium. The mine is expected to employ about 300 people and have a 46-year mine life.

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On Jan. 15, 2021, the last Friday of the Trump Administration, the Bureau of Land Management approved the Record of Decision for Thacker Pass, giving federal approval to the project.

That evening, Will Falk and Max Wilbert set out on an eight-hour drive to the Thacker Pass site to set up a camp nearby to protest the mine. People have been camped out there ever since.

Falk and Wilbert are radical environmentalists, with Falk writing on the protectthackerpass.org website that I hate fossil fuels and actively advocate for the dismantling of all industrial infrastructure

Elisabeth Robson wrote on the website, Many people believe they cant live without cars. But all humans lived without cars until a mere 113 years ago, and we can do so again. A world without cars is a quieter, slower, and more wonderful world, not just for humans but for everyone.

I hope one day a militant and offensive environmental movement forms, Falk wrote.

The people opposed to the Thacker Pass mine and other lithium mine projects dont all hold these views, of course, but have a variety of reasons for their opposition.

A March 10 letter in the Elko Daily Free Press from Alex Eisenberg said the plan to transition to electric vehicles in the years ahead is incredibly short-sighted and irresponsible and will do virtually nothing to curb carbon emissions, as electric car production is completely reliant on the fossil fuel industry.

The Thacker Pass mine alone would burn 11,000 gallons of diesel every day for onsite operations, the letter said. Double that for off-site operations. Carbon emissions are expected to be 150,000+ tons per year, equating to 2.3 tons of carbon for every ton of lithium produced. Hundreds of tons of sulfur (ironically a waste product from oil refineries) would be used daily in mine operations.

This sign was placed by protesters at the site of the proposed Thacker Pass lithium project in Northern Nevada.

On Feb. 11, 2021, Edward Bartell, a rancher who owns property above and below the mine, filed a lawsuit with a long list of objections to the mine. One of his big concerns is the water the mine will use. The projects Environmental Impact Statement says the projected water demand for years 5 through 41 is equivalent to an average pumping rate of 3,224 gallons per minute.

On Feb. 26, 2021, the Western Watersheds Project, Wildlands Defense, Great Basin Resource Watch, and Basin and Range Watch filed a lawsuit saying the Thacker Pass Record of Decision did not adequately gauge the mines impacts on greater sage grouse and other wildlife.

Local Indigenous communities say Thacker Pass is important to them historically and in their daily lives. Local tribal members have been camping near the mine site to protest the mine.

The tribal council of the Fort McDermitt Indian Reservation, which is about 26 miles from the mine site, made an engagement agreement with Lithium Nevada in 2020, but withdrew from the agreement in March 2021.

On July 28, the Reno-Sparks Indian Colony and Atsa Koodakuh Wyh Nuwu/People of Red Mountain were allowed to intervene as plaintiffs in the lawsuits against the mine. On Aug. 6, the Burns Paiute Tribe was also allowed to intervene.

Additional court filings have been made since then.

On Sept. 5, U.S. District Court Judge Miranda Du denied a request from the Reno-Sparks Indian Colony and the People of Red Mountain for a preliminary injunction to temporarily halt work.

Falk is a lawyer for the People of the Red Mountain, but he told The Guardian he is skeptical they will be able to win by arguing the right things.

Eventually were going to have to be ready to physically block construction equipment. I think that one of the ways to wake up people in the United States (is seeing) people getting dragged away by the police for trying to protect their land. And I think thats where this is going, Falk said.

Humboldt County Manager Dave Mendiola told Inside Climate News, I guess you can chain yourself to the fence like some of the protesters might do and I dont blame them for that. But in the end, as a company, if theyve followed all the rules, youre probably not going to stop it. What we can do as a county is monitor it and come up with ways to address problems now.

Rhyolite RidgeAt ioneers proposed Rhyolite Ridge lithium mine about 65 miles southwest of Tonopah, debates continue over the Tiehms buckwheat that is found only on the site.

James Calaway, executive chairman of ioneer Ltd., said the company is working to protect the plant and increase the size of its habitat. He said about half of the plants were destroyed by drought and rodents last year.

John Scire, PhD, an adjunct professor at UNR, said in a December editorial that the bottom line is that the Fish and Wildlife Service should veto the false claims by the Las Vegans that the ioneer mine will wipe out the buckwheat plants and should consider instead the macro environmental impacts of not letting the mine get cranked up ASAP. The best available science supports that the mine and the plant can co-exist.

However, Patrick Donnelly, the Nevada director of the Center for Biological Diversity, said he disagrees with ioneers expectation that the wildflower can be established near the current growing site.

Attempts to propagate the plants failed, Donnelly told Mining the West magazine. They all died, so ioneer doesnt have a plan. Their plan is bunk and doesnt reflect the consensus of the scientific community.

There is no compromise. They cannot hurt the buckwheat, Donnelly said.

He said the Center for Biological Diversity does not oppose lithium mining, and lithium is all over the place in Nevada.

Other companies are working on developing other possible lithium mine sites around Nevada.

Mike Kobler, general manager of U.S. operations for Tonopah Lithium Corp., told the Nye County commissioners at their Nov. 2 meeting that his companys mine site about six miles northwest of Tonopah could become one of the biggest lithium resources in the world.

We are in the perfect location in Nevada, Kobler said. We dont have the sage grouse issues that they have up north, we dont have the desert tortoise issues that they have down south, we have not found any Tiehms buckwheat; weve cleared all of our environmental hurdles and cultural hurdles, so were just moving ahead.

In addition to Nevada, companies are also working on proposed lithium production sites in California, Oregon, Tennessee, Arkansas and North Carolina.

The United States is not the only country with pushback against new lithium mines.

In Serbia, Rio Tinto has been planning a $2.4 billion lithium mine. For three consecutive weekends in late 2021, thousands of protesters blocked roads in Serbia to protest lithium mining, with environmentalists saying that extracting lithium causes huge damage to mined areas.

On Dec. 16, authorities in western Serbia suspended a plan that would allow Rio Tinto to operate the lithium mine.

We will continue to provide information on all aspects of the project for which we are responsible and in which we participate, Rio Tinto said in a statement.

Chile, which has about 44% of the worlds lithium reserves, elected leftist Gabriel Boric as president on Dec. 19, but it is not clear what impact Borics election will have on lithium mining. Boric has supported mining tax hikes and royalties and promised to create a state-run lithium company.

If efforts to stop proposed lithium mines in Nevada and elsewhere in the United States are successful, then as the need for lithium ramps up, lithium mining could escalate in countries that have fewer environmental regulations than the U.S., and more fuel will be burned shipping lithium and batteries around the world and to the U.S.

In the National Blueprint for Lithium Batteries 2021-2030 published in June 2021, U.S. Secretary of Energy Jennifer M. Granholm wrote, The Biden Administration has laid out a bold agenda to address the climate crisis and build a clean and equitable energy economy that achieves carbon-pollution-free electricity by 2035, and puts the United States on a path to achieve net-zero emissions, economy-wide, by no later than 2050 to the benefit of all Americans.

The report says the Federal Consortium for Advanced Batteries will secure U.S. access to raw materials for lithium batteries by incentivizing growth in safe, equitable, and sustainable domestic mining ventures while leveraging partnerships with allies and partners to establish a diversified supply.

The worldwide lithium battery market is expected to grow by a factor of 5 to 10 in the next decade, the report says. The U.S. industrial base must be positioned to respond to this vast increase in market demand that otherwise will likely benefit well-resourced and supported competitors in Asia and Europe.

However, on May 25, 2021, Reuters ran a story saying, U.S. President Joe Biden will rely on ally countries to supply the bulk of the metals needed to build electric vehicles and focus on processing them domestically into battery parts, part of a strategy designed to placate environmentalists, two administration officials with direct knowledge told Reuters.

The plans will be a blow to U.S. miners who had hoped Biden would rely primarily on domestically sourced metals, as his campaign had signaled last autumn.

Currently about 46% of the worlds mine production of lithium is in Australia, and about 21% is Chile and another 16% is in China, according to U.S. Geological Survey data. In the United States, all the lithium mining is at one mine in Nevada, and accounts for less than 2% of the worlds mine production.

Albemarle Corp. produces lithium carbonate from brine at its Silver Peak operation in Esmeralda County. Photo courtesy of Albemarle Corp.

Albemarle Corporations Silver Peak lithium mine is about 40 miles southwest of Tonopah and has been in operation since the 1960s. A May 6, 2021 New York Times story said Silver Peak produces about 5,000 tons of lithium a year.

On Jan. 7, 2021, Albemarle announced that it planned to invest $30 million to $50 million to double the lithium production at Silver Peak by 2025.

The company also said it planned to begin exploration in 2021 and evaluate technology that could accelerate the viability of lithium production from clay resources in the region.

The lithium produced at Silver Peak is shipped to Asia to be made into cathodes for batteries.

China has for years been focused on building capacity at every stage of the battery supply chain, according to a Sept. 1, 2020 VOA News story.

China has been buying stakes in mining operations in Australia and South America where most of the worlds lithium reserves are found, the VOA story said.

Chinas Ganfeng Lithium, which has been snapping up lithium mines and salt lakes abroad as it plots out an ambitious road map for growth, according to a Dec. 8, 2021 Nikkei Asia story, is the largest shareholder in Lithium Americas, the company planning the Thacker Pass mine, according to the New York Times story.

To add to all the lithium news and heat up the global competition for lithium resources even more, lithium prices shot way up in 2021, increasing about 240%.

In the years ahead, refining capacity might be built in the U.S. as more battery factories and electric vehicle factories are built here. The U.S. Department of Energy announced on Dec. 20, 2021 that 13 new electric vehicle battery factories are planned in the U.S. within the next five years. Most of these factories will be in the Southeast or Midwest.

So, although U.S. will lag behind China, parts of the EV battery supply chain will be growing in the U.S. in the years ahead. But the question remains, how much of the lithium and other elements needed for the supply chain will come from mines in Nevada? Well being finding that out as the approval and funding processes and the legal battles and protests roll on.

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Lithium: A year of progress and protests | Mining | elkodaily.com - Elko Daily Free Press

A Dozen Things That Helped and Hurt Climate Progress in 2021

2021 may turn out to be the most critical year in our efforts to combat climate change. After four years of inaction and backpedaling by the Trump administration, the U.S. under President Biden is attempting to make up for lost time. A lot has happened here and around the worldsome of it good, some of it not so good. As the year draws to a close, lets take a look at where we stand.

Just hours after his inauguration, President Biden rejoined the 2015 Paris climate agreement from which former President Trump had withdrawn.In November, Biden attended the Glasgow climate talks, also known as COP26, to further the efforts of the Paris agreement. The meeting resulted in the Glasgow Climate Pact, an agreement endorsed by almost 200 countries. While the nations commitments were not ambitious enough to meet the aspirational goal of the Paris accordto keep global warming to 1.5C136 countries pledged to reach net zero in the next few decades. One hundred and fifty-three countries enhanced their nationally determined contributionstheir nonbinding climate action plansand they are expected to return next year, instead of waiting another five years, with even more ambitious action plans.

Over 100 world leaders pledged to end deforestation by 2030, including Canada, Russia, China, Indonesia, Brazil, and the U.S. Over 100 countries also signed the Global Methane Pledge, committing to cut methane emissions 30 percent from 2020 levels by 2030. For the first time, climate negotiators called for the phasing out of fossil fuels, and set forth rules to establish international carbon markets. And in a surprise announcement, the U.S. and China agreed to work together to try to limit global warming to 1.5C by cooperating on regulations and environmental standards, policies to promote decarbonization, green design, and the implementation of new technologies.

Jason Bordoff, co-founding dean of the Columbia Climate School and founding director of the Center on Global Energy Policy, said, This was a notable year for climate progress because the U.S. is back in a leadership role, with President Biden reversing many of the actions taken by his predecessor, including rejoining the Paris Agreement.And there has been a notable shift in the way both policy makers and the public talk about climate change and the need to address it. I am heartened to see that the way we discuss climate action now matches the urgency of the challenge we face. Before the Paris Agreement, the world was on track for warming levels of 3.5 to 4 degrees Celsius. After Glasgow, we are on track for somewhere around 2.5 to 3 degrees. Thats far short of where we need to be, but it shows progress is possible.

President Bidens $1 trillion infrastructure bill, which he signed into law in November, provides billions of dollars to combat climate change. To enable more use of renewable energy, $73 billion will go towards upgrading the electrical grid. Forty-seven billion dollars will be directed to climate resiliency to help coastal communities deal with more hurricanes and flooding, and help other areas combat increasing wildfires.

To speed the decarbonization of transportation, 500,000 new charging stations will be built for electric vehicles.

Bidens Build Back Better bill, if it gets passed, would be the largest effort in American history to deal with climate change. It would offer rebates and tax credits to motivate consumers to transition to clean energy and electrification, and provide incentives to expand solar and wind power. It would also invest in natural climate solutions such as forest management and soil conservation, establish a Civilian Climate Corps to conserve public lands, and provide grants to environmental justice communities. Now stymied by Senator Joe Manchin, the Build Back Better bill will need to be renegotiated to have a chance of passage.

President Biden withdrew the permit his predecessor had given the controversial Keystone XL pipeline. Commissioned in 2010, the pipeline was designed to transport 900,000 barrels of dirty tar sands oil each day from Alberta to refineries in Illinois and along the Texas Gulf coast. Tar sands mining and production result in three to four times as much greenhouse gas pollution as conventional oil production. After 10 years of Indigenous-led protests, TC Energy finally cancelled its plans for the huge crude oil pipeline.

NASA announced plans for a new fleet of Earth-observing satellites. The Earth System Observatory will monitor clouds and aerosols, and give scientists new insights into the planets temperatures and chemistry. The data the satellites gather should improve severe weather forecasts, assess water levels and droughts to enable better planning of water use and disaster response, and allow researchers to study how climate change affects food, agriculture, water, and energy use. The findings will be free to researchers around the world. After former President Trumps attempts to cancel NASAs earth science missions, with this new fleet of satellites, NASA is once again integral to shaping the countrys climate policy.

According to a recent Lancet study, almost 60 percent of young people under 25 said that they were extremely concerned about climate change. This year, thousands of young people in over 1,500 locations around the world took to the streets before COP26 to compel leaders to forcefully tackle climate change. And in Glasgow, tens of thousands, many of them young people inspired by Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg, marched for systemic change.

In the end, Thunberg deemed COP26 a failure because leaders had not taken drastic enough action to end fossil fuel use, but her fight continues. She tweeted to her five million Twitter followers, The real work continues outside these halls. And we will never give up, ever.

The Columbia Climate Schoolwelcomed its inaugural class in 2021. The first new school to be established at the university in 25 years, the Climate Schools goal is to marshal Columbia Universitys academic resources to meet the challenges of climate change. The 12-month interdisciplinary Master of Arts in Climate and Society program it offers trains professionals and academics to understand and deal with the impacts of climate change on society and the planet.

A school like no other, the Columbia Climate School aims to ensure that the latest research in climate and sustainable development has a real-world and real-time impact on all lives, especially those that are affected most by the climate crisis.

At COP26, countries were supposed to have reviewed their nationally determined contributions (NDCs) and ratcheted them up to be more ambitious as per the Paris agreement. While many countries did comply, some major countriesresubmitted the same targets they had in 2015 (Australia, Indonesia, Russia, Singapore, Switzerland, Thailand, Vietnam); some submitted even weaker targets (Brazil, Mexico); and Turkey and Kazakhstan didnt submit new NDCs at all.

Climate financing fell short as well. Because the developing countries of the world have contributed least to global warming yet stand to suffer the most from climate change impacts, in 2009, wealthy countries pledged to provide $100 billion a year by 2020 to help them transition to clean energy and build resilience to climate change impacts. According to the OECD, in 2019, almost $80 billion was raised, but the $100 billion goal will likely not be reached until 2023. Although countries promised millions in new pledges at COP26, many were skeptical because the original commitments havent been met. Rich countries are resisting attempts to get them to pay for damage inflicted on more vulnerable countries by climate change. Biden promised to raise the U.S. contribution to $11.4 billion a year by 2024, but according to global think tank ODI, the U.S.s fair share should be more like $30 to 47 billion a year.

The Global Carbon Project found that emissions from coal and gas increased in 2021, with fossil fuel emissions rising between 1.4 to 5.7 percent globally after a 5.4 percent decrease during 2020 due to the pandemic. The amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere broke another record this year, peaking at 419ppm according to NOAAs Mauna Loa Observatory. This is the highest level recorded since precise measurements began 63 years ago. The level of CO2 in the atmosphere today is about what it was between 4.1 and 4.5 million years ago when sea levels were 78 feet higher than they are today.

2021 was a year of devastating extreme weather. In the U.S., there were record-breaking heatwaves in the Pacific Northwest, flash floods in the Northeast, damaging hurricanes in the Atlantic and Caribbean Oceans and the Gulf of Mexico, and historic drought and raging wildfires in the Southwest. Many other countries around the world were hit with heavy precipitation and flooding too.

Extreme heat waves hit Japan, Ireland, Turkey, and England, and many parts of the Mediterranean experienced record high temperatures and drought. Wildfires produced 1.76 billion metric tons of carbon emissions globally, with fires in Siberia, Turkey, and the U.S., wildfires breaking records for the amount of carbon they emitted. Global mean sea levels reached new highs in 2021: The latest measurement was approximately 100mmup from its previous record high in 2020 of 91.3mm above 1993 levels.

Deforestation in Brazils Amazon rainforest increased 22 percent, reaching its highest level since 2006. From August 2020 to July 2021, more than 5,100 square miles of forest were razed, an area almost 17 times the size of New York City. Although Brazils President Bolsonaro has claimed his government is slowing deforestation, he has encouraged development of the Amazon for mining and large scale farming, and failed to enact laws to prevent deforestation.

Despite President Bidens campaign pledge to end new fossil fuel drilling on public land, he has approved more permits to drill for oil or gas on public lands than Trump did in any of the first three years of his presidency. So far, the Bureau of Land Management has approved 333 drilling permits each month, with a peak of 652 in April. Moreover, it is planning to hold more leasing auctions in the first quarter of 2022. In November, oil and gas companies won rights to drill offshore across over 1.7 million acres of the Gulf of Mexico in the largest offshore lease sale in U.S. history. That sale has the potential to emit 723 million metric tons of CO2 into the atmosphere over its lifetime, equivalent to operating more than 70 percent of the United States coal-fired power plants for a year, according to the Center for American Progress.

After the Biden administration paused all new leasing last year, it claimed that the courts had required it to hold the auction, but later acknowledged that it actually had not been forced to. And even as Biden called on every nation to reduce emissions at COP26, he was urging energy-producing countries to ramp up production to expand the oil supply due to high energy prices.

The prices of oil, natural gas, diesel and coal surged more than 80 percent in 2021 because the demand for energy rebounded after the pandemic faster than production could handle. Natural gas and coal prices reached record highs and a global gas shortage led to more demand for coal.

Gas shortages resulted in lines at gas stations. Photo: CWMc

As a result, global coal generation is expected to rise 9 percent this year. The Energy Information Administration predicted that U.S. home heating oil bills would be 39 percent higher than last year, natural gas would be 26 percent higher, and electricity 6 percent higher. Households could end up paying from 22 to 94 percent more to heat their homes this winter. While this would be a logical time to redouble efforts to transition to clean energy, soaring energy prices may in fact hinder the movement towards renewables.

Public support for decarbonization is at an all-time high, Bordoff said. But if forced to choose between emissions and expenses, many consumers will prioritize the latter, and who can blame them?Moving to a clean energy system may actually reduce energy costs, but there is every possibility that the road will be bumpy and we should expect more energy price volatility in the future. It is my hope that we will be able to sustain support for climate action even amidst a turbulent transition.

When asked whether he was ultimately more or less optimistic about climate change after what has occurred this year, Bordoff replied, Overall, Im trying to stay optimistic, but 2021 was a tough year. Devastating floods in the U.S., China, and Germany and other destructive weather events have shown us the deadly results of a warming planet. And after a brief reduction, emissions again are on the rise and will be even higher than pre-COVID levels. But its the publics concernespecially among young peopleover the climate crisis that gives me hope that we can finally make some of these difficult policy decisions that didnt garner a lot of support in the past. The big question is whether we can take action in time because time is running out to act. Were not yet on the path to solve the problem, but were heading in the right direction.

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A Dozen Things That Helped and Hurt Climate Progress in 2021 - State of the Planet

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Progress edition: Startups not deterred by the pandemic - Post Register