** President Joe Biden has voiced his opposition to Nippon Steel buying U.S. Steel, but the federal government appears to be in no hurry to block the deal. White House officials earlier this month did not deny that the president would formally block the acquisition. But the necessary report from the government’s Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States has yet to be submitted to the White House.
** The CEO of Cleveland-Cliffs, a leading U.S. steelmaker said he is considering dumping production of low-carbon “green” steel and giving up a $500 million Biden administration grant. CEO Lourenco Goncalves said his company cannot persuade buyers to pay the price to cover the costs of producing more environmentally friendly steel.
** California’s electric vehicle industry pushes back against new state regulations giving utilities nearly nine years to connect new EV chargers to the grid, saying it would hamper adoption efforts.
** Well tests determine Fervo Energy’s enhanced geothermal generating station in southwestern Utah is the most productive of its kind in history.
** A federal lawmaker from Nevada introduces legislation that would establish regulations for transporting lithium batteries after a truck crash closed an interstate highway for 43 hours.
** Michigan regulators will hold a public hearing next month on plans for the state’s first new high-voltage transmission lines in decades.
** A company planning a $1 billion sustainable aviation fuel plant in South Dakota acquires a North Dakota ethanol plant for the same purpose that is already equipped for on-site carbon capture and storage.
World
** Nonprofit environmental organization the Ocean Cleanup has announced that it’s on track to eliminate the Great Pacific Garbage Patch by 2034. If it can get the necessary funds, that is. In a press release, the organization claimed that eliminating the patch once and for all would cost a whopping $7.5 billion — the “first time both a cost and a timeline has been placed on ridding the Pacific Ocean of the environmental hazard.”
** China’s steel production fell by more than 10% from a year earlier in August as the industry reeled from low prices and a damaging slump in demand. That’s the weakest August for any year since 2017, and deepens this year’s overall decline. Total volumes for the first 8 months of the year were 3.3% lower at 691.4 million tons.
** Stellantis NV, Europe’s second-biggest carmaker, is pushing back against any move by the European Union to delay emissions targets set to take effect next year, setting up a potential clash with other manufacturers in the region.
