List of Energy and the Environment articles
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Women wash ore in the artisanal copper-cobalt mine of Kamilombe, near the city of Kolwezi, Democratic Republic of Congo, on June 20. Africa’s Critical Minerals Could Power America’s Green Energy Transition
Biden’s IRA is shutting African countries out of supply chains for critical minerals. Including them would be a strategic and diplomatic win.
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Two Uzbek soldiers, both wearing camouflage and helmets and holding rifles, stand on either side of a metal gate with a stop sign at its center. Behind the fence is a flat field, and farther in the distance are trees and a blue sky. The Water Wars Are Coming to Central Asia
Things have been bad for decades, but the Taliban threaten to make them worse.
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The logo of the Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, which is a gridmarked circle with the red letters TSMC over it, hangs from the ceiling of a large lobby. Energy Is Taiwan’s Achilles’ Heel
In the U.S.-China tech standoff, supply vulnerabilities give Beijing leverage.
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A lithium mine supervisor inspects an evaporation pond of lithium-rich brine in the Atacama Desert in Salar de Atacama, Chile. The Mineral-Rich Want to Get Richer
The world’s biggest reserves of lithium and nickel are concentrated in a handful of nations. And they want to cash in.
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Workers stand beside bags of cobalt and copper at a processing plant in Lubumbashi, Democratic Republic of the Congo, on Dec. 1, 2011. China’s Threat to Ban Critical Minerals Exports Is a Bluff
Embargoes have unintended consequences—and would hurt China more than the West.
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People walk in the distance atop cracked soil in a dried-up irrigation canal through a wheat field in Iraqi Kurdistan's Rania district. The Cradle of Civilization Is Drying Up
Climate change endangers the Tigris and Euphrates—but it’s not the only reason the rivers are vanishing.
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A view of a spent nuclear fuel storage site at the Russian-controlled Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in southern Ukraine. How Worried Should We Be About Zaporizhzhia?
It’s not Chernobyl 2.0. But experts say Russian threats to cause a catastrophe shouldn’t be dismissed lightly.
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An employee of Air Liquide in front of an electrolyzer at the company's future hydrogen production facility of renewable hydrogen in Oberhausen, Germany. Hydrogen Is the Future—or a Complete Mirage
The green-hydrogen industry is a case study in the potential—for better and worse—of our new economic era.
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A German Navy Sea King helicopter arrives on the Germany Navy frigate Mecklenburg-Vorpommern in the Baltic Sea near Rostock, Germany, on June 5. The First Job for NATO’s New Baltic Bloc
Pipelines, ports, and cables in and around the Baltic Sea are as critical as they are vulnerable.
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A crowd of activists march down a street in Seoul. Some protesters hold signs and banners, and a man in the center of the street jumps above the rest as he catches a giant inflatable ball painted to look like the Earth. Fukushima Disposal Plans Put Tokyo in Hot Water
Japan’s plan to release treated radioactive water into the ocean is heating up tensions in East Asia.
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A large view shows the landscape of the Svalbard archipelago near Longyearbyen Harbor. There’s Still Law in the Far North
Don't revive the Arctic Council until Russia is out of Ukraine.
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Scientist Claire Dalgliesh, front, works in San Diego on June 8, 2021, shortly after returning from conducting research onboard the vessel Maersk Launcher in the Clarion-Clipperton Zone of the Pacific Ocean, where soil, water, and wildlife samples were obtained as part of the research to see the effects mining will have on the deep-sea environment. The Deep-Sea Gold Rush
To power the energy transition, miners are racing to the bottom—of the ocean.
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Workers wearing hardhats and safety gear direct truck traffic at a mine in southeastern Democratic Republic of the Congo. The U.S. Strategic Minerals Situation Is Critical
Desperate to diversify away from Beijing, Washington is ramping up efforts to jump-start its struggling domestic industry.
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Russian President Vladimir Putin (R) and Chinese President Xi Jinping hold glasses during a reception following their talks at the Kremlin in Moscow. The Global South Is Keeping Russia’s Energy Economy Afloat
Gas and oil flows are reshaping geopolitical alignments.
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The release of gas emanating from a leak on the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline in the Baltic Sea on Sept. 27, 2022. Who Blew Up the Nord Stream Pipeline?
Its destruction reflects decades of energy disputes dating back to the Soviet era.
