Following the Trump administrations announcement that it would stop offshore wind projects, top Senate Democrats are threatening to derail permitting talks that have been picking up momentum in recent weeks, with hope for action in January. In a statement yesterday, Senate Environment and Public Works ranking member Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) and Energy and Natural Resources ranking member Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) put it bluntly saying, quote, ""There is no path to permitting reform if this administration refuses to follow the law."

The New York Times has an interesting piece looking at the difficulties experienced and work arounds put in place by the defense industry when China put restrictions on some rare-earth exports earlier this year, cutting off the supply of samarium, which is used to make Tomahawk missiles.

And speaking of rare earths, and the lengths people will go to to get them, Japan announced today that it is preparing to conduct test mining of rare-earth-rich mud from the deep seabed southeast of Tokyo. Environmental impacts will be monitored both onboard and on the seabed throughout the operation to gather more information about the impacts of this untested technique.