** McKinsey & Co. joined the growing chorus warning that metals considered key to the clean-energy transition face shortages in coming years, potentially suppressing the adoption of electric cars, wind turbines and solar panels.
** US factory activity contracted for an eighth month in June, slipping to the weakest level in more than three years as production, employment and input prices retreated.
** Thousands remain without power in Springfield, Illinois following last week’s severe weather. The city’s mayor compared the damage to the 1978 Easter weekend ice storm, which also toppled power lines and caused massive power outages.
** The Alliance for Automotive Innovation, a lobbying organization that represents 42 car companies that account for roughly 97% of the new vehicles sold in the U.S., wrote to the EPA that it does not believe President Biden’s goals for more electric vehicles “can be met without substantially increasing the cost of vehicles, reducing consumer choice, and disadvantaging major portions of the United States population and territory.”
** South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem is an investor in an ethanol plant that would connect to a proposed carbon capture pipeline, raising questions about Noem’s lack of support for anti-pipeline legislation.
World
** China is the largest producer of planet-overheating gases in the world. According to some research, the country accounted for 27% of the world’s total air pollution in 2019, and more than tripled its air-polluting gases over the past three decades.
** Russia-Saudi oil cooperation is still going strong as part of the OPEC+ alliance, which will do “whatever necessary” to support the market, Saudi Energy Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman told a conference on Wednesday.
** The United Arab Emirates plans to triple its supply of renewable energy and invest up to $54 billion over the next seven years to meet its growing energy demands. Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, the UAE’s vice president and ruler of Dubai, announced the plans on Monday following a Cabinet meeting.
** Australia has approved its first thermal coal project since Prime Minister Anthony Albanese came to power, drawing criticism from climate groups and the Greens party.
** Shell plc SHEL announced the resignation of Thomas Brostrom, the head of its renewables business, after less than two years of association with the company. This decision came in the wake of a significant strategy shift by SHEL’s CEO Wael Sawan, indicating a renewed focus on oil and gas production and a reduction in investments in renewable energy sources.