Abortion bans fail in conservative S. Carolina, Nebraska

• April 28, 2023

By Margery A. Beck and James Pollard | Associated Press

LINCOLN, Neb. — Abortion bans in Nebraska and South Carolina fell short of advancing in close votes amid heated debates among Republicans, confounding conservatives who have dominated both legislatures and further exposing the chasm on the issue of abortion within the GOP.

In Nebraska, where abortion is banned after 20 weeks of pregnancy, an effort to ban abortion at about the sixth week of pregnancy fell one vote short of breaking a filibuster. Cheers erupted outside the legislative chamber as the last vote was cast, with opponents of the bill waving signs and chanting, “Whose house? Our house!”

In South Carolina, lawmakers voted 22-21 to shelve a near-total abortion ban for the rest of the year. Republican Sen. Sandy Senn criticized Majority Leader Shane Massey for repeatedly “taking us off a cliff on abortion.”

“The only thing that we can do when you all, you men in the chamber, metaphorically keep slapping women by raising abortion again and again and again, is for us to slap you back with our words,” she said.

The Nebraska proposal, backed by Republican Gov. Jim Pillen, is unlikely to move forward this year. And in South Carolina, where abortion remains legal through 22 weeks of pregnancy, the vote marked the third time a near-total abortion ban has failed in the Republican-led Senate chamber since the U.S. Supreme Court reversed Roe v. Wade last summer.

Katie Glenn, the state policy director for Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America, characterized the failure of both proposed abortion bans as disappointing.

“It’s a sign that legislating is hard, and there’s a lot of pieces and parts that all have to come together,” Glenn said.

The bans’ staunchest supporters have promised political retribution.

Since the fall of Roe, both states have become regional havens of sorts as they’ve watched neighboring states enact stricter abortion bans. Conservative lawmakers have bitterly made that observation in Nebraska, which has a long history as a leader in abortion restrictions. In 2010, it was the first state in the nation to ban abortion after 20 weeks of pregnancy.

Most aggravating to some Republicans is that the pushback is coming from inside the house. The Nebraska bill on Thursday failed when Republican Sen. Merv Riepe, an 80-year-old former hospital administrator, refused to give it the crucial 33rd vote needed to advance. Riepe was an original co-signer of the bill but later expressed concern that a six-week ban might not give women enough time to know they were pregnant.

When his fellow Republicans rejected an amendment he offered to extend the proposed ban to 12 weeks and add an exception for fatal fetal anomalies, Riepe pointed to his own election last year against a Democrat who made abortion rights central to her campaign. His margin of victory dropped from 27 percentage points in the May primary election, which occurred before the fall of Roe, to under 5 percentage points in the general election.

“Had my opponent had more time, more money, and more name recognition, she could have won. This made the message clear to me how critical abortion will be in 2024,” he said. “We must embrace the future of reproductive rights.”

Riepe and some Republicans across the country have noted evidence pointing to abortion bans as unpopular with a majority of Americans. An AP VoteCast nationwide survey of the 2022 electorate showed only about 1 in 10 midterm voters — including Republicans — believe abortion should be “illegal in all cases.” Overall, a majority of voters said abortion should be legal in all or most cases. That includes nearly 9 in 10 Democrats and about 4 in 10 Republicans.

An Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research poll in July showed Republicans are largely opposed to abortion “for any reason” and at 15 weeks into a pregnancy. But only 16% of Republicans say abortion generally should be “illegal in all cases.”

Even so, Republican politicians who buck party leadership on abortion can find themselves targets of political retaliation. The backlash against Riepe was swift, with public reprimands from the governor and fellow Republican lawmakers. Anti-abortion groups demanded his immediate resignation. And the Nebraska Republican Party issued a statement warning that Riepe would be censured.

“The entities and individuals who aided in the defeat of a Core Republican Value have been duly noted by the leadership of this party. ‘The Watchfulness in the Citizen’ applies now more than ever,” the statement reads.

Riepe did not return a message Friday seeking comment on the backlash.

Likewise, some of the South Carolina Republican holdouts shared last week that they received anatomical backbone figurines from an anti-abortion group urging them to “grow a spine” and pass a ban starting at conception.

The South Carolina vote came with days left in a session that began shortly after the state’s highest court struck down a 2021 law banning abortion when cardiac activity is detected, about six weeks into pregnancy. Since then, both chambers have advanced abortion bans at differing stages — a disagreement that Massey, the Senate majority leader, hoped to resolve by considering the stricter House bill.

Frustrated after his last-ditch effort to break the impasse, Massey issued a warning for the ban’s fiercest Republican opponent.

“The response to Sen. Senn will be in 2024,” Massey told reporters after the vote, referring to elections next year.

Fourteen states have bans in place on abortion at all stages of pregnancy. Four other states have bans throughout pregnancy where enforcement is blocked by courts. The majority of those bans were adopted in anticipation of Roe being overturned, and most do not have exceptions for rape or incest.

In Utah, a judge on Friday heard a request from Planned Parenthood to delay implementing a statewide ban on abortion clinics set to take effect next week. Planned Parenthood argues a state law passed this year will effectively end access to abortion throughout the state when clinics stop being able to apply for the licenses they’ve historically relied on to operate.

In North Dakota, Gov. Doug Burgum signed a ban Monday that has narrow exceptions: Abortion is legal in pregnancies caused by rape or incest, but only in the first six weeks of pregnancy. Abortion is allowed later in pregnancy only in specific medical emergencies. The North Dakota law is intended to replace a previous ban that is not being enforced while a state court weighs its constitutionality.

And on Friday, Tennessee Republican Gov. Bill Lee reversed course and signed off on softening the state’s strict abortion ban. That change came after several high-profile Republican lawmakers warned early in the session that doctors and patients were facing steep risks under Tennessee’s so-called trigger law, arguing that the statute did not include clear exemptions when a physician may provide abortion services.

Pollard reported from Columbia, South Carolina. Associated Press writer Freida Frisaro contributed from Fort Lauderdale, Florida. James Pollard is a corps member for the Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues.

​ Orange County Register 

Galaxy’s young defenders gain vital on-job experience

• April 28, 2023

The Galaxy has undergone an in-season makeover on the defensive backline.

It isn’t common for a team to send out most of its defensive back four with no first-team MLS experience, but this is the path the Galaxy has chosen.

Jalen Neal, 19, has already settled in as a key component from the start of the season. Lucas Calegari, 21, joined from Fluminense and Julian Aude, 20, has recently moved into the starting lineup after coming over from Argentina.

The fourth member, Martin Caceres is the elder of the group at 36.

“When you look at Calegari, he’s 20-21, but he’s also played 70 matches in (Brazil) Série A. … he was an under-20 in Brazil, so he’s got experience. Even though he’s young, he has experience. The second we saw him in training, we’ve seen him in the games, we could tell right off the bat that he’s got a good education for the game,” Galaxy coach Greg Vanney said.

“Jalen (Neal) has proven himself through preseason and through the early games. … and Julián (Aude) is another guy … I’ve watched Julián for a couple years. I’ve actually seen him play for a couple of years and he’s played through difficult times of Lanús and through good times of Lanús. He’s had to play through some of those tough moments.”

The Galaxy (1-4-3, six points) will visit Orlando City SC on Saturday (4:30 p.m., Apple TV+), looking to build off last week’s 2-0 win over Austin FC.

Cáceres, aside from a two-yellow card game against Houston that led to a one-game suspension against LAFC, has tried to guide the young trio.

“Lucas and Julian are players that have played for important national teams like Brazil and Argentina and you have Jalen who also played international matches with the national team. They have great careers ahead of them,” Caceres said.

The Galaxy added another young defender last week, bringing back former Academy product Mauricio Cuevas.

Cuevas, 20, joined the Galaxy Academy at 16 in 2019. He made his was up to Galaxy II before leaving to join Club NXT, the Belgian-based youth academy of Club Brugge.

“It’s been an ongoing discussion,” Vanney said of the process of signing Cuevas. “We never wanted him to leave to begin with because we liked his game and we like his trajectory, so it’s just an opportunity that made sense for everybody on all sides.

“He gives us more depth, more competition, more future. He and Lucas (Calegari) are both obviously pretty young guys and that gives us two guys we can look toward the future.”

The Galaxy signed Cuevas to a three-year contract through 2025 with two option years through 2027.

Cuevas will likely join the U.S. U-20 national team for the upcoming FIFA World Cup (May 20-June 11).

Costa makes his way back

Like Caceres, Costa sat out the LAFC game, serving a one-game suspension for a red-card incident against the Houston Dynamo. He returned last Saturday against Austin FC and was greeted to loud boos from the fans at Dignity Health Sports Park.

In his limited time (20-plus minutes), he was credited with creating three chances. Vanney believes this is where Costa has to work to regain the fans’ trust.

“He made a silly mistake (against Houston) and that lost some momentum that he was picking up and maybe in that he lost a little bit of trust of some people, whether it’s fans or whatever,” Vanney said. “He’s been around the block a time or two, so he knows that he has to get out there and perform. I thought he put in a great shift and he knows that’s what he has to do game in and game out. Put in the proper shift and his talent will take care of itself.”

GALAXY AT ORLANDO

When: Saturday, 4:30 p.m.

Where: Exploria Stadium, Orlando

TV: Apple TV+ (MLS Season Pass)

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​ Orange County Register 

Quick Fix: Tortilla strips a colorful addition to taco salad

• April 28, 2023

Linda Gassenheimer | Tribune News Service

Here’s a new take on one of America’s very popular Tex-Mex dishes: the taco salad. It has the flavors of a handheld taco but with a new twist. Instead of using tortilla chips, I use tortilla strips. When I found multicolored ones ready-made at the market, I decided they would make a colorful, crunchy addition to a salad. A dressing made with salsa mixed with yogurt adds a little extra spice.

I use shrimp in this salad, but you can use chicken, beef or even any leftover protein you might have on hand.

Helpful Hints:

— You can use broken tortilla chips instead of tortilla strips.

— You can use any type of cheese.

— If your chili powder or ground cumin is more than 6 months old, it’s best to buy new ones.

— You can use any type of salsa.

— Place frozen corn kernel in a strainer and run hot water over them to quickly defrost them.

Countdown:

— Assemble all ingredients.

— Mix dressing together and set aside.

— Make salad.

Shopping List:

To buy: 1 jar salsa, 1 container nonfat plain yogurt, 1 bag washed, ready-to-eat lettuce, 1 bottle chili powder, 1 bottle ground cumin, 3/4 pound peeled shrimp, 1 ripe avocado, 1 container frozen corn kernels, 1 container cherry tomatoes, 1 bag tortilla strips, 1 bag shredded reduced-fat Mexican-style cheese and 1 bunch fresh cilantro.

Staples: canola oil.

—

TACO SALAD

Recipe by Linda Gassenheimer

3 tablespoons salsa

1/4 cup nonfat plain yogurt

4 cups washed, ready-to-eat lettuce

2 teaspoons canola oil

1/2 tablespoon chili powder

1 teaspoon ground cumin

3/4 pound peeled shrimp

1 ripe avocado

2 cups defrosted corn kernels

1 cup cherry tomatoes, cut in half

1 cup tortilla strips

1/4 cup shredded reduced-fat Mexican-style cheese

2 tablespoons fresh cilantro leaves

Mix salsa and yogurt together and set aside. Divide the lettuce between two dinner plates.Drizzle half of the yogurt dressing over the lettuce. Heat oil in a medium-size skillet over medium-high heat. Add the chili powder, ground cumin and shrimp. Saute 3 to 4 minutes until the shrimp turn pink. Divide the cooked shrimp in half and place on one corner of the lettuce. Peel the avocado, remove the pit and cut the avocado into cubes. Place them next to the shrimp. Place the corn next to the avocado and the tomatoes next to the corn. The toppings should cover the lettuce.

Sprinkle the cheese over the toppings and drizzle the remaining dressing over the all the toppings. Sprinkle the tortilla strips on top along with the cilantro leaves.

Yield 2 servings.

Per serving: 538 calories (37% from fat), 22 g fat (1.5 g saturated, 8 g monounsaturated), 286 mg cholesterol, 45.6 g protein, 46.6 g carbohydrates, 10.6 g fiber, 48 mg sodium.

©2023 Tribune Content Agency, LLC

​ Orange County Register 

Meet the Cast Members Behind the Newest Guided Tour: ‘Celebrating Disney100 at the Disneyland Resort’

• April 28, 2023

By Kristen Lewis

For Disney fans looking to deep dive into the company’s 100-year history, the new “Celebrating Disney100 at the Disneyland Resort” Guided Tour is a living story that takes guests on a journey through past and present at iconic locations across the resort.

The new guided tour, which debuted earlier this month, was designed by four Guest Relations cast members who were passionate about bringing the company’s storied history to life.

“We wanted this tour to be inspirational for our guests and cast and remind them to never give up. Everyone has a story to tell, and you need to believe that your story is worth telling,” said Guided Tour Hostess Paula Hasler. She, along with cast members Sam Denny, Emma Sickles and J’Amy Pacheco, worked to curate the tour with additional input from colleagues.

Cast members Paula Hasler and Sam Denny don the famous Guided Tour host uniform in front of Tour Gardens in Disneyland park, where guests arrive to begin the tour.

“Getting to write a tour was a dream come true,” said Pacheco. “Working with three people who shared my passion for Disney and love of storytelling was an exciting experience.”

For Sickles, working on this tour was nothing short of destiny. “I remember coming to Disneyland and seeing this beautiful woman dressed in a plaid skirt, leading guests around,” she said. “I turned to my mom and said ‘I don’t know what she’s doing, but I want to do that.’ So, I practiced in my garage and little did I know that I would get to write a new tour for the Disneyland Resort.”

“J’Amy created a beautiful beginning that drops guests right into the story of Walt sitting underneath his dreaming tree in Marceline, Missouri,” said Denny. “It made us cry when we all read it aloud for the first time.”

“We had to start with that story,” said Pacheco. “You cannot talk about the company’s 100-year history without talking about the roots, where it all started.”

Starting in Disney California Adventure park, guests learn about the founding of The Walt Disney Company and Walt’s move to California in the 1920s, with a suitcase and a dream. Unique to this tour is the opportunity for guests to chat with an animation artist and sketch a special character for the Disney100 celebration at Animation Academy in Hollywood Land.

After putting pencil to paper, guests travel to Disneyland park to learn about opening day and the technological advancements that made the park the place we all know and love!

“In a personal letter to [Walt’s wife] Lillian after Walt’s passing, President Johnson wrote ‘Beauty, joy and truth are immortal. The magic of Walt Disney was larger than life and the treasures he left will endure to entertain and enlighten worlds to come,’” said Denny.

The approximately two-hour tour ends with a complimentary photo in front of Sleeping Beauty Castle and reserved viewing for the “Magic Happens” Parade, which returned for the Disney100 Celebration. Reservations for the tour are encouraged and can be found on Disneyland.com or the Disneyland app.

​ Orange County Register 

Orange County swimming leading times, April 28

• April 28, 2023

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Top reported times in O.C. swimming through April 27. Please submit updates to [email protected].

BOYS SWIMMING

200-yard medley relay (O.C. record 1:29.97, Santa Margarita 2023) — SM 1:29.97

200 free (O.C. record 1:33.26 Shoults 2016 SM) — Cehelnik (SM) 1:38.65

200 IM (O.C. record 1:45.42 Okubo 2014 Uni) — Verdolaga (SM) 1:48.72

50 free (O.C. record 19.69 Cavic 2002 Tus) — Crane (HB) 20.50

100 butterfly (O.C. record 47.13 Cavic 2002 Tus) — Verdolaga (SM) 47.75

100 free (O.C. record 43.85 Buyukuncu 1994 Wood) — Cehelnik (SM) 44.68

500 free (O.C. record 4:12.87* Shoults 2016 SM) — Maksymowski (Nor) 4:27.26

200 free relay (O.C. record 1:22.76 SM 2023) — SM 1:22.76

100 back (O.C. record 47.50 Buyukuncu Wood 1994) — Najera (SM) 49.72

100 breast (O.C. record 53.40 Pellini DH 2017 ) — Leung (Nor) 54.52

400 free relay (O.C. record 3:01.96 SM 2022) — SM 3:03.23

GIRLS SWIMMING

200 medley relay (O.C. record 1:39.04 SM 2022) — SM 1:47.40

200 free (O.C. record 1:43.01 McLaughlin SM 2015) — A. Kozan (SM) 1:45.82

200 IM (O.C. record 1:53.90** E. Eastin CL 2015) — O’Dell (SM) 1:57.32

50 free (O.C. record 22.53 Engel CL 2013) — Salvino (SM) 22.77r

100 butterfly (O.C. record 51.53 McLaughlin SM 2015) — O’Dell (SM) 52.21

100 free (O.C. record 48.63 A. Spitz NH 2019) — A. Kozan (SM) 49.47r

500 free (O.C. record 4:37.30 Evans ED 1988) — O’Dell (SM) 4:42.90

200 free relay (O.C. record 1:29.61* SM 2023) — SM 1:29.61

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100 back (O.C. record 51.85 Tran Edi 2010) — O’Dell (SM) 53.28

100 breast (O.C. record 59.73 O’Dell SM 2023) — O’Dell (SM) 59.73

400 free relay (O.C. record 3:14.80* SM 2022) — SM 3:16.84

Legend: r = relay leadoff, * =  overall national high school record, ** national private high school record

Please send updates to Dan Albano at [email protected] or @ocvarsityguy on Twitter

​ Orange County Register 

Albano’s Diamond Club: Orange County softball standouts last week, April 28

• April 28, 2023

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Dan Albano’s Diamond Club outstanding softball players last week, April 17-22:

Sawyer Denser, Santa Margarita, So., P

Denser allowed one run on four hits and struck out five in a 1-0 loss against Trinity League champion Orange Lutheran.

Madie Granados, Cypress, Jr., P

Granados fired a complete game and went 2 for 4 with a home run in a 4-3 win against Kennedy that sealed at least a share of the Empire League title.

Liah Lummus, Huntington Beach, Jr., SS

The Loyola Marymount commit belted a go-ahead, two-run home run and had an RBI double to help lead the Oilers past Los Alamitos 3-2 in a Sunset League game.

Zoe Prystajko, Huntington Beach, Jr., P

The Stanford commit fired a four-hitter with 15 strikeouts and had two hits in a 3-2 victory against Los Alamitos in a Sunset League game.

Berkley Vance, Los Alamitos, Sr., P

The Seattle commit tossed a three-hit shutout with six strikeouts to help the Griffins defeat Pacifica 3-0 in a nonleague game.

PAST SELECTIONS

April 19

Katie Dunakin, Aliso Niguel, Jr.,  P

Gabby Flores, Sunny Hills, Sr., 3B

Madie Granados, Cypress, Jr., P

Peyton Leonard, San Juan Hills, Sr., P

Kylie Loertscher, El Toro, Jr., P

APRIL 12

Lauren Mendez, Foothill, Jr., P

Alexis Perez, Sunny Hills, So., P

Zoe Prystajko, Huntington Beach, Jr., P

Breana Townsend, Cypress, Jr., 3B

Mckenzie Wanner, Kennedy, Sr., P

March 22

Kaylee Layfield, JSerra, Jr., SS

Loula McNamara, Tesoro, So., P

Audrey Robles, Esperanza, Sr., 2B

Jillian Torres, Santa Margarita, So., CF

Bianne Weiss, Orange Lutheran, Jr., P

March 15

Giselle Alvarez, Los Alamitos, Sr., 3B

Makenzie Butt, Fountain Valley, Jr., INF

Alysa Del Val, Pacifica, Sr., 2B

Kai Minor, Orange Lutheran, So., CF

Sara Pinedo, El Modena, So., P

March 8

Auddrey Lira, Villa Park, So., P

Malaya Majam-Finch, Fullerton, Fr., P

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Peyton May, Orange Lutheran, Fr., P

Zoe Prystajko, Huntington Beach, Jr., P

Natalie Romero, Rosary, Sr., P

Please send nominees to Dan Albano at [email protected] or @ocvarsityguy on Twitter

​ Orange County Register 

Electric vehicle boom could turn Salton Sea into America’s Lithium Valley

• April 28, 2023

Crews are getting ready to dismantle a small geothermal plant that’s been operating for months a couple miles from the southeastern shore of the Salton Sea, at a site aptly known as Hell’s Kitchen.

A hardy, 30-person team from Australian-based Controlled Thermal Resources has been manning the plant in this corner of the Imperial Valley since December. Their task: to fine-tune plans for extracting lithium and other valuable minerals, along with geothermal power, from the boiling brine that flows 8,000 feet beneath one of the most seismically active areas in the country.

While exposure to harsh desert conditions and that 550-degree brine makes the equipment look as though it’s been operating for years rather than five months, the team isn’t dismantling the optimization plant’s tower and turbine and tanks because something went wrong. On the contrary, during one of the final tours of the plant, company CEO Rod Colwell explained they’ve worked out the kinks and boosted efficiency to the point that they’re ready to pivot to construction of what will likely be one of the first commercial-scale geothermal lithium extraction plants in the world.

The timing for such a project couldn’t be much better.

Lithium’s ability to quickly charge, recharge and transfer lots of energy has, over the past 30 years, made it the primary component in batteries that run everything from laptops to pacemakers to cell phones. Now, lithium is the material of choice for batteries to store solar and wind energy — and to power electric vehicles.

With California and other places moving to ban new gas-powered vehicles as soon as 2035 demand for lithium is expected to hit double current supplies by the end of this decade. That’s sparked a so-called “white gold rush,” as a nod to lithium’s silvery-white color. And, domestically, no place is getting more attention than a pocket of land near the Salton Sea, which sits above a deep reservoir of geothermal brine that’s believed to have the world’s highest concentration of lithium.

Controlled Thermal Sources’ Hell’s Kitchen test facility near the Salton Sea in Niland, CA, on Wednesday, April 19, 2023. (Photo by Jeff Gritchen, Orange County Register/SCNG)

Most of the world’s raw lithium now comes from Australia and South America, where it’s extracted via hard-rock mining or massive evaporation pools — both of which pose environmental problems. Typically, that material is then shipped to China or other far-away places to be made into lithium ion batteries, which are then sent to automaker factories.

With just 1% of lithium used in the U.S. currently sourced domestically from a single site in Nevada the U.S. government in 2021 declared lithium a “critical mineral,” meaning its extraction is important to national security. Funds in both the infrastructure bill and Inflation Reduction Act were dedicated to boosting both domestic lithium production and battery manufacturing. And the federal government also is using tax incentives, aimed at bringing down the effective cost of EVs, to drive U.S. production of major vehicle components.

Rules that kicked in April 18 limited a $7,500 tax credit to vehicles assembled domestically with minerals from the U.S. or its trade allies — in other words, not China. While vehicles such as Chevy Blazers and some Tesla Model 3s fit the bill, per an updated list of qualifying EVs from the Department of Energy, vehicles from Nissan, BMW and other major automakers do not. That has those manufacturers scrambling to source local lithium so their vehicles can be priced competitively for American buyers.

To stay ahead of the demand curve, Colwell said Controlled Thermal Resources aims to start producing 25,000 tons of battery-grade lithium products a year by 2025. They then plan to ramp up capacity through 2027, eventually producing up to 300,000 tons of lithium annually, or enough to power tens of millions of EV batteries.

Supply chain delays have slowed some of that work, Colwell said, with lithium production originally slated to start next year. There also have been issues with alignment between local, state and federal regulators, though he said those are getting better. And he acknowledged no one has all the details worked out yet around, say, how their product will get to battery plants or how much it will eventually cost.

“We don’t know what we don’t know,” Colwell said. “We’re not pretending we’ve figured it all out because there’s no precedent for this anywhere globally.”

What he does know is that demand for lithium is so strong that, while Berkshire Hathaway and EnergySource also are pursuing extraction operations near the Salton Sea, Colwell said the dynamic has started to feel less competitive and more cooperative in recent months.

He believes businesses, regulators and community members are all starting to grasp the urgency of what needs to happen in this area over the next few years. As evidence, he cites Gov. Gavin Newsom visiting the site in March, while Department of Energy officials spent Monday and Tuesday with Colwell and other stakeholders during a closed-door meeting to discuss ways to keep projects like his on track.

“If we don’t, we’ll all miss the window,” he said, forcing automakers to keep turning to China to keep EV production lines rolling and carbon emissions coming down.

What lies beneath

Visitors to this other-wordly place near the tiny town of Niland can get a glimpse at what’s happening beneath the surface by visiting a series of mud pots just south of Controlled Thermal Resorce’s site. The cone-shaped mounds reach up to eight feet tall. Lean in and you can hear steam hissing and the occasional popping bubble. Climb to the top and you can see muddy water that smells of sulfur boiling up from deep underground.

Mud pots sit in front of EnergySource’s geothermal plant near the Salton Sea in Calipatria, CA, on Wednesday, April 19, 2023. (Photo by Jeff Gritchen, Orange County Register/SCNG)

Geothermal energy plants have operated in those conditions, near the Salton Sea, for 40 years. There are 11 such plants — 10 run by Berkshire Hathaway and one by EnergySource — that now use wells to bring the boiling brine to the surface, where it generates enough steam to turn clean-energy turbines that power millions of homes. And so far, Colwell said there are no signs those operations have reduced minerals, heat or pressure in the reservoir.

Until recently, geothermal plants have then sent all of the brine, including the liquified lithium, back down into the earth to help keep the geothermal reservoir stable and to avoid dumping anything above ground, as happens with such operations in some places. But now, teams from those two companies along with Controlled Thermal Resources, or CTR, are developing systems to first send the hot brine through a series of closed pipes and tanks that extract lithium and other minerals (more on that soon) before sending everything else back underground.

Just how much lithium is down there? For that answer, everyone is waiting on results of a study by researchers at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and UC Riverside, which attempts to quantify and characterize the supply. A report is due out in June, according to Michael McKibben, a geology research professor from UCR who’s studied the Salton Sea for more than 50 years and worked on the report. But, broadly speaking, McKibben said results are in line with earlier predictions of a massive, lithium-rich geothermal reservoir.

“The problem in assessing everything is they’re still developing the extraction technology,” said McKibben, who’s himself a finalist on one of five grant-funded teams competing to nail down a process that gets the most lithium at the best price with little to no environmental harm.

From a chemical standpoint, Colwell said, the process to extract minerals from the reservoir’s stew really isn’t that complicated. He jokes that you could “just about go to Lowe’s” to get the needed equipment, with the whole process to extract brine, capture the steam, extract the minerals and send what’s left back to the reservoir complete in roughly 40 minutes.

“It’s how it’s assembled and arranged,” he said. “That is the art.”

Tapping the lithium stream

CTR got its first major vote of confidence in 2021, when General Motors announced a “multi-million dollar” investment into the company’s Salton Sea facility. That gave the auto giant first rights to any lithium produced at the site, as GM looks to expand and stabilize its place with five Chevy models and one Cadillac already on the federal tax credit list.

The well drilled for CTR’s optimization plant will become part of GM’s dedicated lithium production plant. Rather than use a test well, Colwell said they opted to develop a $12 million production-scale well that took 38 days to drill and is capable of extracting up to 12,000 tons of lithium a year. That way they can simply replace above-ground equipment from the optimization plant with a commercial-scale plant that will be under production soon.

And rather than try to re-engineer things to scale up, Colwell said they plan to simply replicate this first proven setup, allowing different automakers and battery manufacturers to plant their flags near their dedicated wells and plants.

The company’s second announced partner is Stellantis, which makes Jeeps, Chryslers, Fiats and more. Stellantis committed to buy up to 25,000 tones of battery-grade lithium hydroxide per year, over a 10-year term, for use in its North American electrified vehicle production.

Statevolt, a startup that recently bought 135 acres in the area to build a massive battery manufacturing plant, also signed an agreement with CTR to source lithium. And Colwell said they’re in talks with two other major battery manufacturers he hopes to announce soon.

Eventually, he said CTR plans to drill about 60 wells. Half will be used to extract boiling brine, while the other half will be located as much as a mile away, to inject any unwanted minerals and remaining water back underground far enough out that the altered brine won’t interact with the material they’re extracting for years.

Ideally, Colwell said they’ll be able to send lithium still suspended in water via a pipeline straight to nearby battery manufacturers. Otherwise, he said they’d need to dehydrate the liquid-suspended lithium and build an $85 million packaging plant to put bags of processed lithium on trucks going down Interstate 10 or on nearby rail lines. It would then likely travel via ship to a refinery or battery plant, where it would have to be rehydrated before getting put to use.

So far, Colwell said the price for geothermal lithium sits solidly in between lithium from hard-rock mining, which is the priciest at $9,000 to $11,000 a ton, and lithium from evaporated ponds, which now goes for around $4,000 a ton.

“We’re $5,000 to $6,000 a ton,” he said. “But we’re working on that.”

Not just lithium

Demand for lithium is driving this work today. But roughly a fifth of the elements on a periodic table tacked to the wall of a portable lab at CTR’s site are circled in red, indicating those elements also are present in varying concentrations in the area’s geothermal brine, which is roughly 23% solids.

Some are obvious in jars of refined brine sitting on a lab counter, with a layer of rich blue manganese — present at five times the concentration of lithium and needed in steelmaking and other industries — settled near the bottom. There’s also zinc, which EnergySource’s plant already extracts from its nearby geothermal plant. Gold and silver are there, too. But, after lithium, the element Colwell said they’re most interested in is potassium.

Potassium also is a key ingredient in fertilizer, which is used in far greater quantities than batteries. Right now, Colwell explained most potassium comes from Canada, with Russian sources cut off since Putin invaded Ukraine. So Colwell said selling potassium is “low-hanging fruit” that isn’t even factored into their financials to date, though he estimates they’ll be able to produce 1 million tons of potassium for every 25,000 tons of lithium.

They also haven’t factored in silica, which is a created as a pesky byproduct of most mineral recovery efforts. The geothermal plants in the area today pay to have silica landfilled, Colwell said. But CTR already is making money by selling their silica waste to a nearby defense contractor, which is using it to make carbon-free cement.

“It’s when you get into some of this other stuff that it really starts to make economic sense,” Colwell said.

The only product aside from lithium that’s factored into CTR’s financial plans is geothermal energy, which is what brought his company here more than a decade ago.

Even after using clean geothermal energy to power their own plants and other operations expected to spring up nearby, CTR expects to have plenty of power leftover to sell to the market. They aim to start producing nearly 50 megawatts of renewable power by late 204. At full capacity, the Hell’s Kitchen site could hit 1,100 megawatts, or enough clean energy to power around 1 million homes.

The bigger picture

While CTR’s plans are big, the company is just one piece of a massive puzzle that local, state and federal leaders hope to put together over the next few years to transform the Imperial Valley.

Federal leaders are anxious to see facilities that manufacture and recycle lithium-ion batteries also come to this area. That could reduce our dependence on places like China, bolster national security and ensure we can follow through on plans to clean up our transportation sectors.

But supporters say plans to build out Lithium Valley also could create up to 12,000 new jobs (with 1,400 at CTR alone), spark affordable housing construction and breathe new life into what’s long been the most impoverished county in California.

“If done correctly, this effort will be a once-in-a-generation opportunity with tremendous potential for transformative economic growth that could bring family-sustaining jobs and real economic opportunities to California’s most underserved residents.”

That’s how the final report of the Blue Ribbon Commission on Lithium Extraction in California, which was published in December, spells out the stakes. The report includes 15 recommendations for responsible development. Some, such as calls to streamline permitting and add tax incentives, center on bolstering these projects. Others, such as requiring health impact and water studies, are aimed at ensuring these projects don’t harm the area’s people and environment.

Issues with elevated rates of asthma, triggered by toxic dust from the polluted and drying sea, are a major concern for residents and for future employees of these companies, Colwell said. So they’re working on a plan to help mitigate dust at their site and to develop wetlands nearby, in an area once rich with migrating birds.

Standing on top of a nearby dormant volcano, with the drying sea on one side and steam pouring from rows of geothermal plants on the other, it’s easy to see how important it is to get this one right.

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​ Orange County Register 

VIDEO: Duck glows as it waddles in bioluminescent water

• April 28, 2023

Photographer Patrick Coyne has filmed dolphins frolicking in water glowing with bioluminescence, a dog romping around in the electric blue waves and even did himself doing a cannonball to send a splash of the fluorescent water shooting into the sky.

The Torrance photographer documented something new in the Newport Harbor this week: A cute little duck with its webbed feet lighting up an electric blue color as it swam up to Coyne and his girlfriend in the dark of night.

Red tide, which can be accompanied by bioluminescence at night, has been spotted along the Southern California coastline in recent weeks, but has been spotty to see, Coyne said. He spotted it in Oxnard a few days ago and waited until midnight in the Newport Harbor on Tuesday, April 25, to see the water glow.

The Newport Beach light show was the brightest Coyne said he’s seen so far this year. Coyne and a handful of other dedicated photographers have been chasing glowing waves since they first started showing up regularly in 2020.

Last year, he documented bioluminescence events at least 50 times from Malubu to San Clemente, a feat that takes patience and dedication as it sometimes doesn’t show up until the early morning hours.

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Sometimes, the sea stays pitch dark, and the outing is a bust. Other nights, the waves lighten and take on a glowing hue, giving hope there will be a performance put on by Mother Nature.

“Best advice I can give is to check beaches as often as you can and in areas that are super dark,” he said. “Light pollution from the city makes it a bit challenging to see bio if it’s not crazy bright.”

In Newport Harbor, the calmer the better. When it’s windy, it doesn’t seem to show as strong, he said.

During this week’s outing, Coyne and his girlfriend were hanging out on a dock waiting for the water to light up when they saw the duck swimming toward them.

“We started calling it over, joking to see if it would come over and it did,” Coyne said. “It hung out with us for a bit and seemed pretty comfortable being around us.”

When he saw the glowing feet, he knew he had to capture the duck to add to his collection of wildlife he’s documented in the bright blue waters.

“I grabbed my camera super fast because I noticed its little feet lighting up blue and bio and thought it would be cool to film,” he said. “I’ve filmed bio many times, but never a duck swimming in it, so I had to act fast.”

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​ Orange County Register