Month: October 2022

President Biden is awarding $2.8 billion in Energy Department grants from his bipartisan infrastructure law to 20 manufacturing and processing companies in 12 states. The White House said that the Biden Administration is also launching the “American Battery Materials Initiative,” described as a new effort to mobilize government to help industry create a reliable and sustainable supply of critical minerals for EV’s and electric power. These efforts are part of a strategic Biden administration plan to make half of all new vehicles sold in the United States in 2030 electric.

The White House said in a statement: “Together, these actions will improve America’s energy independence, strengthen national security, support good-paying jobs across battery supply chains, and lower costs for working families. This market transformation is expected to increase demand for critical minerals such as lithium and graphite used in EV batteries. Today’s announcements demonstrate how the United States is poised to meet this challenge while growing our economy and creating high-quality union jobs in the battery supply chain.” Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm added: “Producing advanced batteries and components here at home will accelerate the transition away from fossil fuels to meet the strong demand for electric vehicles, creating more good-paying jobs across the country.” 

The White House touted that President Biden’s economic agenda efforts have already “ignited a domestic manufacturing boom with companies announcing over $100 billion in EV, battery and EV charging investments here in the United States.” According to the White House, EV sales have tripled since Biden has been in office.

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On Wednesday, advisory panel to the Food and Drug Administration recommended taking Makena, a drug for preventing premature births, off the market due to doubts about the drug’s effectiveness. Makena was fast-tracked 11 years ago to cut the risk of preterm birth, a leading cause of infant mortality.

The 14-1 vote by the FDA’s Obstetrics, Reproductive and Urologic Drugs Advisory Committee was taken after a hearing to determine  whether the drug was effective, whether trial data support its approval and whether the drug should remain available on the market.  Peter Stein, the director of the FDA’s Office of New Drugs at the Center For Drug Evaluation and Research said in closing remarks at the hearing: “Hope is a reason to keep looking for options that are effective, whether we find them here or elsewhere … Hope is not a reason to take a drug that is not shown to be effective, or keep it on the market.”

A 2003 study cited by CovisPharma, the maker of Makena, showed Black newborns are more than twice as likely to die as White newborns when born before 37 weeks. Covis argued that pulling the drug from the market would hurt Black women. In a statement earlier this year about the drug, Covis Pharma said it wanted to work with the FDA to do more research on Makena.

Formally taking Makena off the market will be left to the FDA, which could make its decision within a few months. If FDA follows the advisory committee’s advice, it would be the first time in a decade that a fast-tracked drug would be pulled from the market.

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The North American Aerospace Defense Command said in a statement that the U.S. Air Force dispatched two F-16 fighter jets to intercept a pair of Russian bombers that flew close to Alaska on Monday.  The two Russian Tu-95 Bear-H bombers did not enter American or Canadian sovereign airspace, however, NORAD said that it “detected, tracked, positively identified and intercepted” the aircraft as they were “entering and operating within the Alaskan Air Defense Identification Zone.”  NORAD, a combined air defense organization of the United States and Canada, said the Russian activity was “not seen as a threat nor is the activity seen as provocative.” According to the Federal Aviation Administration, Air Defense Identification Zones are areas of airspace that require all aircraft to be identified, located and have their flight plan controlled “in the interest of national security.”

Tensions between the United States and Russian are high since Russia invaded Ukraine, which the U.S. has supported with humanitarian and military aid while slamming Moscow with economic sanctions.  Russians escaping the partial draft have arrived on the shores of Alaska on at least one boat, and Russian officials have also made veiled threats toward the state. Vyacheslav Volodin, the chairman of the state Duma, said that the U.S. should remember that Alaska was once part of Russia and that it could be forced “to give back” territory.  He noted that his deputy, Pyotr Tolstoy, had previously proposed holding a referendum in Alaska.

NORAD emphasized in a statement the numerous protections it maintained for Alaska and the U.S., which include “a layered defense network of satellites, ground-based radars, airborne radar and fighter aircraft to track and identify aircraft and inform appropriate actions … We remain ready to employ a number of response options in defense of North America and Arctic sovereignty.”

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