|
Russia’s war on Ukraine has roiled global commodities markets—including those for nickel and other metals used in electric vehicle batteries—and laid bare how vulnerable the world is to price shocks in the metals essential to the electric vehicle future. That volatility comes on top of the pandemic-triggered supply chain woes that have dogged the auto industry for months. President Joe Biden’s pledge to catalyze the electric vehicle transition has been only partly fulfilled, with consumer electric vehicle tax credits, money for charging stations and other assistance stalled with the rest of his Build Back Better package in Congress.
Also this week, a new study shows that wildfires in the West will bring worsening health impacts to communities far away from blazes because of particulate pollutants that when inhaled can damage cells and organs. The Pacific Northwest is a hotspot for the increase of particulate pollution, or PM2.5, with harmful levels from wildfire smoke likely to double or triple by the end of the century.
|
