China is arming itself with minerals America refuses to mine



The global energy system is buckling under the weight of its own contradictions. Electricity demand keeps rising, yet policymakers insist that renewables alone can carry the load. Artificial intelligence, electric vehicles, and a wave of reindustrialization are driving consumption far faster than today’s grid can support. Nowhere is that tension more visible than in the United States, where soaring demand collides with aging infrastructure and unrealistic clean-energy mandates.

America stands at a crossroads. One path deepens dependence on foreign supply chains dominated by China. The other rebuilds domestic energy strength, restores industrial capacity, and creates high-wage jobs. The question isn’t whether a green transition will happen — it is who will own the minerals, the infrastructure, and the economic power behind it.

Energy dominance is not a slogan. It is the practical foundation of American greatness.

Electricity demand jumped nearly 4% in 2024, almost double the decade’s average. Data centers, electrified transport, and manufacturing growth are reshaping the energy landscape. The International Energy Agency projects global data-center power use will more than double by 2030, approaching 1,000 terawatt-hours. In the U.S., these facilities alone could soon account for 10% of national consumption.

Without major investment in reliable, affordable energy, this surge will strain the grid and weaken American competitiveness.

We have already seen the danger of relying on foreign suppliers. While Western governments debated climate rhetoric, China quietly secured control over the minerals the modern economy runs on — lithium, nickel, cobalt, graphite, and rare-earths. Beijing now refines more than 70% of the global supply.

These materials aren’t optional. They are the foundation of EV batteries, grid storage, wind turbines, solar panels, and the defense systems that protect U.S. interests. Allowing China to dominate them puts both the economy and national security in a vulnerable position.

President Trump recognized that threat early. His energy-dominance agenda expanded domestic production, cut regulatory barriers, and revived investment in mining and industrial infrastructure. That legacy now forms the basis for a renewed push to bring extraction, processing, and refining back to U.S. soil.

The economic impact is substantial. Every new lithium mine, copper refinery, or processing plant means high-wage jobs, stronger rural communities, and a revived manufacturing base.

Private enterprise is already moving faster than any government program. BGN International — one of the world’s most dynamic energy and commodities firms — has expanded its American operations in liquefied natural gas and liquefied petroleum gas, the fuels that underpin grid reliability. BGN is also moving aggressively into critical minerals, supplying copper, aluminum, and rare-earth elements essential for the grid, clean-energy systems, and the emerging AI economy.

By linking American producers to global demand, BGN strengthens domestic supply chains and ensures that the value stays in the United States.

Meanwhile, Energy Transfer continues to expand its network of pipelines and terminals that move oil, natural gas, and the feedstocks needed for mineral processing and clean-tech manufacturing. Together, companies like Energy Transfer and BGN form the quiet engine of America’s comeback — building the infrastructure that powers the future, from LNG terminals to mineral-supply hubs in the Midwest.

This is what a real energy transition looks like: not offshoring, not dependence, but American innovation paired with American resources and American workers. The shift to cleaner energy can either hollow out the country or rebuild it. The difference lies in where we source, refine, and transport the materials that make it possible.

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Nelson Ching/Bloomberg via Getty Images

Every ton of copper or rare-earth minerals refined at home is another step toward energy security — and another paycheck for an American worker.

America’s shale reserves, its underdeveloped mineral deposits, and its unmatched private-sector capacity give it every advantage in this new industrial age. What the country needs is leadership that understands the link between energy independence, manufacturing strength, and national power.

By investing in the fuels, minerals, and infrastructure that keep the lights on and the factories running, the United States can secure both its prosperity and its freedom.

Energy dominance is not a slogan. It is the practical foundation of American greatness. The world is entering an era in which whoever controls energy and critical-mineral supply chains controls the global economy. By unleashing its entrepreneurs and trusting its workers, America can lead that era on its own terms.

The next American century will not be powered by dependence or bureaucratic mandates but by free enterprise, industrial competence, and the spirit of self-reliance. Critical minerals and energy independence are not merely economic issues. They are matters of national pride, national security, and American leadership.

NTSB confirms it was 'unnecessary' to create a toxic 'mushroom cloud' over East Palestine



A Norfolk Southern freight train with 141 loaded cars, nine empty cars, and three locomotives was making its way through Ohio the evening of Feb. 3, 2023, when disaster struck.

Thirty-eight cars, 11 of which contained hazardous materials — including vinyl chloride, benzene residue, hydrogen chloride, ethylene glycol monobutyl ether, ethylhexyl acrylate, and isobutylene — went off the tracks in the town of East Palestine. The worst, however, had yet to come.

The flames that apparently first showed beneath the train soon transformed part of the pile of derailed cars into an inferno.

'We basically nuked a town with chemicals.'

Days into the fires, Norfolk Southern emergency crews, under the supervision of purported experts and first responders, started their own blaze.

Citing the need to avoid a "catastrophic tanker failure," the railway conducted a vent and burn of five tanks of vinyl chloride, darkening the sky above East Palestine with what the National Transportation Safety Board called a toxic "mushroom cloud."

Silverio Caggiano, a hazardous materials specialist, told WKBN, "We basically nuked a town with chemicals so we could get a railroad open."

Local creatures died off in the thousands. Nearby water was poisoned. Residents had to flee their homes.

Apparently it was all for nothing.

The NTSB announced Tuesday that the decision by the local incident commander on Feb. 6 to execute the controlled burn "was based on incomplete and misleading information provided by Norfolk Southern officials and contractors. The vent and burn was not necessary to prevent a tank car failure."

While the Federal Railroad Administration maintains that a vent and burn procedure should be the last resort, the NTSB indicated the railway "rejected three other removal methods and began planning for a vent and burn shortly after the derailment."

According to an abstract for the NTSB's final report, the "observed downward temperature trend in tank car OCPX80370 indicates that polymerization was not occurring within the tank car, contrary to the representation by Norfolk Southern Railway and its contractors."

Polymerization similarly did not occur in the tank cars containing vinyl chloride monomer — which "remained in a stabilized environment until the vent and burn" — meaning their alarmist defense of blowing up the trains was unfounded.

The safety board claimed the railway withheld information from Oxy Vinyls, the company that made the vinyl chloride, as well as information indicating the tank cars were cooling after the derailment, reported the Associated Press.

Jennifer Homendy, the chair of the NTSB, indicated that investigators were told by a Norfolk Southern contractor that it did not keep records of temperature changes on the tank cars containing vinyl chloride.

'We found through text messages through one of their employees, who provided that information in later interviews, that they did keep those records," said the NTSB chair. "It took about two months before the team received those texts and the emails."

Temperature readings were highly relevant when making the decision to execute a controlled burn.

In a statement Tuesday, Norfolk Southern once again defended its decision, claiming it carefully considered all alternatives.

It also alleged that it and its contractors "received conflicting information from Oxy Vinyls' personnel as to whether polymerization was or could be occurring. And Oxy Vinyls' safety data sheet was clear that polymerization was possible in the circumstances observed at the derailment."

Contrary to the railroad's suggestion, Oxy Vinyls experts reportedly testified at previous NTSB hearings that they were certain at the time that polymerization wasn't happening.

At the NTSB's hearing Tuesday, Homendy also accused Norfolk Southern — which has spent nearly $100 million greasing the hands of politicians in Washington, D.C., since 1990 — of tripping up the investigation and abusing its status as a party to the investigation,

"Norfolk Southern’s abuse of the party process was unprecedented and reprehensible," said Homendy.

The railroad apparently dragged its feet when providing investigators with critical information. At other times, Homendy suggested that Norfolk Southern did not even bother providing requested information.

The NTSB also stressed in its report that Norfolk Southern's delayed provision of consistent information to emergency responders "needlessly increased the time emergency responders spent near the derailment pileup and delayed the evacuation order, resulting in unnecessary and increased exposure of emergency responders and the public to postderailment hazards."

The release of the board's findings comes one month after a federal judge approved Norfolk Southern's $600 million class action settlement addressing class-action claims within a 20-mile radius of the derailment and personal injury claims within 10 miles of the derailment.

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Pittsburgh's US Steel sold to foreign company after 122 years in America



The sale of the United States Steel Corporation, better known as U.S. Steel, has been approved by board members. The company will almost certainly be sold to a foreign buyer.

Ini what is truly an end of an era, the company that started in 1901 and was key to the industrialization of the country is set to be acquired by Nippon Steel, a Japanese company with a value of over $21 billion.

The deal is valued at approximately $14.1 billion, according to Western Journal, which notes that the offer stood at $14.9 billion, but the buyer will absorb a little less than $1 billion in U.S. Steel's debt.

Nippon dates back to 1950 and currently employs over 105,000 workers. The company reportedly came close to doubling an offer U.S. Steel had received months prior from rival steel company Cleveland Cliffs, founded in 1847. The Pittsburgh company rejected that offer, however.

The American icon will reportedly keep its name, and its headquarters will remain in Pittsburgh, where it was founded approximately 122 years ago. J.P. Morgan and Andrew Carnegie founded the company after Morgan financed a merger between three steel companies for $492 million at the time.

In addition, U.S. Steel was the first billion-dollar company in the United States.

Nippon will reportedly pay $55 per share, with shares hovering between that and $50 on the day of the sale's announcement.

The Japanese company reportedly stated that the acquisition will bring its annual crude steel capacity to 86 million tons to meet demands for automotive and electrical steel.

"The transaction builds on our presence in the United States, and we are committed to honoring all of U.S. Steel’s existing union contracts,” Nippon President Eiji Hashimoto said in a statement.

While the transaction will clearly help grow the Japanese company's market, the U.S. Steel CEO David Burritt claimed that the deal will actually benefit the United States.

A sale to Nippon “[ensures] a competitive, domestic steel industry, while strengthening our presence globally," Burritt claimed.

While the purchase has been approved by board members from both companies, it still needs approval from U.S. Steel shareholders.

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Robot grabs then brutally slaughters worker, allegedly mistaking him for a box of paprika



An industrial robot brutally slaughtered a South Korean robotics technician Tuesday, allegedly mistaking him for just another container of organic material in need of stacking.

The victim, a man in his 40s, was attempting to diagnose an issue with a pick-and-place robot's sensor at the Donggoseong Export Agricultural Complex in the southern county of Goseong, as there was an equipment test planned for later in the week, reported the Register.

The paprika-sorting robot, reportedly created and installed by the victim's employer, spotted the man with its sensor, figured him for a box of vegetables, then seized him using its arms and tongs. After grabbing the technician, the robot apparently smashed him against a conveyor belt.

According to the Korean-language Yonhap News Agency, the victim's face and chest were crushed. He was taken to a hospital, where he later died.

An official from the agricultural complex said the company has come to rely upon robots more and humans less and that the accident occurred after the facility attempted to make robots more efficient. The official added that "a precise and safe system must be established."

On account of South Korea's dwindling workforce, robots, smart and dumb, have become ubiquitous.

Nikkei Asia reported last year that a rising minimum wage and a dearth of workers have made robots price-competitive in a variety of industries. For instance, robot waiters and robot chefs, introduced four years ago, are now in restaurants across the country. Robotic chefs can apparently fry 50 chickens an hour or cook up spicy rice cakes for five people in under 10 minutes. Fleshy and inspirited concierges are also fast being replaced by silicon and steel, although doesn't seem their charm has yet been replicated.

According to the International Federation of Robotics, South Korea, the fourth-largest robot market in the world, has 1,000 robots installed per 10,000 employees, such that as of 2021, the country had the highest industrial robot density in the world by a giant margin.

Kang Jin-gi, lead investigator at the Goseong Police Station, indicated the South Korean worker's killer "wasn't an advanced, artificial intelligence-powered robot, but a machine that simply picks up boxes and puts them on pallets," reported the Washington Post.

An unnamed police official suggested that the victim may have had a box in his hands at the time of the incident, which might explain why the robot snatched him up.

"It's clearly not a case where a robot confused a human with a box — this wasn't a very sophisticated machine," said the official.

In February, the American Journal of Industrial Medicine revealed that between 1992 and 2017, 41 people were reportedly killed by robots; 85% of the victims were men, the plurality falling between the ages of 35 and 44.

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