February 4, 2026 - The Associated Press reports on China’s massive build out of coal power in 2025, noting that more than 50 large coal units were commissioned in 2025, up from less than 20 a year over the previous decade. Last year China commissioned more coal power capacity than India did over the entire past decade. The move is part of the country’s efforts to stay ahead of massive demand coming from its efforts to be a global leader in artificial intelligence and manufacturing.

Today Secretary of State Marco Rubio will host the inaugural Critical Minerals Ministerial at the Department of State here in Washington. Delegations from over 50 nations to advance collective efforts to strengthen and diversify critical minerals supply chains. It will be interesting to see what comes out of those meetings.

And as they discuss minerals strategy on a global level, an opinion piece in the Wall Street Journal compares the Trump administration’s new Project Vault minerals effort, which creates a new U.S. Strategic Critical Minerals Reserve, to the strategy that originally placed China at the top of the world’s mineral supply chains pointing out the similarities between the two.