THE WAR BELOW launches today! It’s the untold story of the people and places at the center of the global energy transition, and I’m so excited to share it with you at this crucial time. This is a story for everyone.
“Right now our data is worth more than
#oil
.” -
@AndrewYang
, saying Big Tech’s use of personal data worth more than fossil fuels (he has a point).
#DemDebate
Richard Mithoff, the lawyer for Harris County, tells the court that drive-through voting is monitored the same way as other voting methods.
He's also pointing out that drive-through voting got bipartisan approval from county commissioners.
#texas
#election2020
#houston
Hanen asking plaintiffs' attorneys: "Didn't we test this in the primaries this summer?"
Drive-through voting has "been going on for two weeks," Hanen said. "Why am I just getting this case?"
#texas
#election2020
#houston
Breaking:
U.S. District Court Judge Andrew Hanen seems skeptical of efforts to reject 127,000 ballots in Harris County, Texas, cast via drive-through voting
#texas
#election2020
#houston
Hanen says plaintiffs have an uphill road and need to convince him that Harris County had an "evil motive" in allowing drive-through voting for Texas voters
#texas
#election2020
#houston
“We know that we cast our votes legally,” said Hannah Smith, who said she cast her ballot via drive-through on Oct. 24 for Biden and Republican candidates down the ballot.
“There’s no doubt in my mind what should be done, which is to count our votes.”
Attorneys are arguing whether a car is a "structure" for the purposes of a voting place.
Texas election code apparently doesn't define what a "structure" is.
#texas
#election2020
#houston
Plaintiffs' attorneys arguing that drive-through ballots were cast illegally & will dilute other counties that followed state law
#texas
#election2020
#houston
The ACLU's lawyer is advising Hanen not to issue an order that would effectively ask drive-through voters to vote again:
"Once the egg has been scrambled it doesn’t make sense to put it back in the egg. We’re talking about a very large scramble."
#texas
#election2020
#houston
Attorneys from the ACLU, League of Women Voters, the Texas Civil Rights Project, MJ Hegar's US Senate campaign & others are also giving brief arguments to the court.
#texas
#election2020
#houston
Judge Hanen appears skeptical of invalidating drive-through votes already cast in Harris County, but he's asking whether he should halt drive-through voting for tomorrow, the actual Election Day
#texas
#election2020
#houston
Thrilled to share that my book THE WAR BELOW: Lithium, Copper, and the Global Battle to Power our Lives is available now for preorder from
@OneSignalPub
:
Should be noted that Woodfill had said on Sunday that he's prepared to take his case all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court
#texas
#election2020
#houston
Jared Woodfill, attorney for the plaintiffs, is arguing that Harris County Clerk Chris Hollins is trying to "create a new manner of voting" with drive-through voting and "attempting to create a pandemic exception to the election code."
#texas
#election2020
#houston
I want to tell you a story. For more than 5 years, I've been reporting on the clean energy transition and the economic war that threatens to stop it. 1/
Ten years ago today I joined
@Reuters
in NYC.
It’s been a wild ride covering shale oil, hurricanes, mass shootings, OPEC, the random movie premier, and now all things metals & electric vehicles. Onward!
#workingAtTR
Harris County Clerk
@CGHollins
plans to have drive-through voting sites open for Tuesday: "We are proud to be preserving democracy at a time when democracy itself is being attacked," he said after the ruling.
#texas
#election2020
#houston
More from
@CGHollins
: "These vote suppressors have challenged us at every single step of the way. ... I don't know how they look at themselves in the mirror or look at their children at night."
#texas
#election2020
#houston
“There is no Build Back Better,”
@Sen_JoeManchin
says at
#CERAWeek
. “The reason I had concerns from day one is that we shouldn't be doing that much policy. Reconciliation was never designed for us to do policy.”
Some personal news: starting today I'm part of the
@Reuters
Global Mining Team, covering a different side of the energy story with deep dives into cobalt/lithium producers & what that means for EVs, etc, alongside
@amran_abocar
,
@MelanieMetals
,
@reutersBarbaraL
& entire team
.
@JoeBiden
's campaign praised Hanen’s ruling, saying in a statement that it reflects a “victory for voters across the country who are exercising their constitutional right to make their voices heard.”
#texas
#election2020
#houston
Rather than declining, Google's emissions grew 13% in 2023 over the year before, according to the tech giant's latest environmental report out today. Compared to its baseline year of 2019, emissions have soared 48%. For
@AP_Climate
:
Judge Hanen, Hollins said, "did the right thing."
"It's my job as Harris County Clerk to protect those voters. I took an oath to do that," Hollins said, noting that Hanen "also took an oath to protect and defend the Constitution."
#texas
#election2020
#houston
Waiting on a ruling in federal court from Judge Hanen on 127k drive through votes cast in Harris County. He said 15-20 minutes. The county expects 20k more people to choose drive through voting tomorrow (depending on this ruling)
Lithium giant
@AlbemarleCorp
posts a 152% jump in quarterly profit.
CEO Kent Masters says sales for the full year should more than double from 2021. $ALB
#lithium
Wow, just heard from my publisher that they’re printing additional copies of THE WAR BELOW amid the strong demand. Really great to see this story getting traction!
Some personal news (as they say): I'm back at work today after an amazing wedding/honeymoon. We're thrilled to take this next step in our lives together with the support of so many amazing friends and family.
I'm also grateful for my
@Reuters
colleagues, who graciously covered
@johnkrasinski
#SomeGoodNews
my daughter, Coco, finished her final chemo treatment yesterday and our friends had a surprise social distancing welcome home parade for her!
On a press call after the ruling, Harris County Clark
@CGHollins
said: "This is a huge win for democracy, especially at a time when it appears that democracy itself is on the ballot."
#texas
#election2020
#houston
Exxon is moving its HQ to its “floating cube” office complex just north of Houston — which was built in an attempt to lure more millennial talent. Here’s some pics from my 2017 visit:
DC: where is the law and order with these protesters? And what about the US Constitution? It doesn’t mean anything to these protesters? And Texans should hold Sen. Ted Cruz accountable for this fiasco. st
I'm running the
@NYCMarathon
virtually this fall to support
@TheADDF
& its crucial research into Alzheimer's treatment.
It's a tough 2020, but if Alzheimer's and dementia are issues you or your family are facing, I'd love your support.
More info here:
Vance has been a very outspoken critic about China's near-total control of the critical minerals markets. Will be interesting to see how this topic takes further shape in the campaign.
Our
@Reuters
colleagues Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo were sentenced to seven years in jail for exposing a massacre by the
#Myanmar
military.
The Reuters Houston bureau joins colleagues around the globe in calling for their immediate release.
#FreeWaLoneKyawSoeOo
Got an early Christmas present when final hardcover copies of THE WAR BELOW came in the mail! Very surreal to hold the finished product in my hands. It debuts on January 30 wherever books are sold. Pre-order your copy today! --->>
Should be noted that the National Association of Manufacturers is a VERY powerful trade group.
Members include some of the largest American companies, including Dow Chemical, Exxon Mobil, Pfizer & Caterpillar.
Calling for Trump's removal is a MAJOR step for
@ShopFloorNAM
Thank you, New York!
It was a great day for my 8th
@NYCMarathon
. Together, we raised more than $5,500 to support
@TheADDF
and its vital Alzheimer’s research. I’m extremely grateful to all who supported this important cause. 🙏🏼🏃🏽
Help me fight Alzheimer's:
I'm running the
@NYCMarathon
this fall for the fifth time.
And for the fifth time I'll be fundraising to support
@TheADDF
and its research to find a cure for this horrible disease.
More info here:
Hanen saying he expects an appeal. (Plaintiffs have said they're ready to go to SCOTUS.)
Also interesting Hanen said he himself won't use drive-through voting when he casts his own ballot on Election Day.
Judge is ruling that the plaintiffs don’t have standing, throwing this case out, expects an appeal. He says he wouldn’t vote by drive thru tomorrow in case appeals courts disagree with him.
.
@Ford
’s CEO calls for bringing mining back to US:
“So are we going to import lithium and pull cobalt from nation-states that have child labor and all sorts of corruption or all we going to get serious about mining? ... We have to solve these things.”
Today’s the day and Lady Liberty is sending us off in style. 🏃🏽♂️🏃🏽♂️
En route to the
@nycmarathon
start line.
Proud to be running to support
@TheADDF
. Together, let’s
#EndALZ
.
.
@Ford
has signed a nonbinding lithium supply deal with
@Lake_Resources
for 25,000 tonnes/year from Argentina's Kachi Project. (No firm delivery timeline, yet.)
Nan Parker was driving back from a spin class and saw about 15 Trump fans outside a polling site, so she pulled over & picked up a Biden sign.
“I just saw the Trump supporters and I had to do something,” she said.
#texas
#ElectionDay
#houston
There are a LOT more tailings dams than people realize. (Especially in the United States.)
We scoured hundreds of data sets & built a Graphic to show you where and how dangerous they actually are.
Check it out:
#mining
#tailings
via
@ReutersGraphics
.
@GrimKim
has led from the front on coverage of this coal miners' strike. Important to acknowledge that reporting when dissecting this ongoing saga.
(And tangentially, her book "Fight Like Hell" on the history of the labor movement is a must-read.)
Hi,
@mikiebarb
: I’m glad the NYT finally took notice of the strike, but it’s not fair to erase my months of work—which includes multiple articles, videos, threads, interviews, and a mini-documentary series with
@TheRealNews
—just because I’m a working class freelance journalist.
Amazing race today for my fifth
@nycmarathon
. But more importantly, together we raised more than $5,000 for Alzheimer’s lab research and the
@TheADDF
.
Thank you to everyone for your support!
Why hasn't
@LithiumAmericas
signed an offtake deal yet? I asked CEO Jon Evans.
His answer: "Don't take our silence as lack of progress. We have a different process. It's easy to get an offtake deal, but to get one with a partnership is difficult."
$LAC
#lithium
#thackerpass