“𝗧𝗼 𝗯𝗲 𝘄𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘄𝗲 𝗮𝗿𝗲, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗼 𝗯𝗲𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗲 𝘄𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘄𝗲 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗰𝗮𝗽𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝗯𝗲𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗴, 𝗶𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗼𝗻𝗹𝘆 𝗲𝗻𝗱 𝗼𝗳 𝗹𝗶𝗳𝗲.” — Robert Louis Stevenson I was watching a youth basketball game recently.One team couldn’t miss. Full-court press. Tr…

“Let all men know how empty and worthless is the power of kings, for there is none worthy of the name, but He whom heaven, earth, and sea obey by eternal laws.”– King Canute Back in August we published a post called:…

When the lights get expensive, everything else follows.For the last few years, Europe has been trying to run an industrial economy on wishful thinking.It looked fine in speeches. It looked even better in press releases.Then the bill showed up.…

Proven technology. Georgia Power.The Trump Media + TAE Fusion Power mergerstill reads like a deal someone dreamed up in the airport bar during a 3-hour delay.A social media company with meme-stock metabolism merges with a f…

CO₂ capture. Because photosynthesis apparently doesn’t matter. (Adobe)I got another message this week. Same theme as a few others.  “Anti-PLC.” “Only talking about it because it draws an audience.”…

Fire 'em back up. (Adobe) Every now and then something crosses my screen that stops me mid-scroll. This week it was an argument that coal fly ash might help break China’s chokehold on rare earth elements. It is not a bad though…

Follow the Line. Follow the Money.If you’ve been following the Type IL situation the last few years, you’ve heard every excuse under the sun about why Portland limestone cement suddenly became the “future” of American concr…

Pipe dream. (Adobe)Every once in a while, the cement industry drops a headline so painfully obvious you wonder if anyone has been awake for the last decade.  This week’s gem?  Europe is sounding the alarm that cement prices cou…

Progress. (Adobe)Dominion Energy just filed its 2025 Renewable Portfolio Standard plan with the Virginia State Corporation Commission. It’s their roadmap for meeting Virginia’s renewable energy mandates under the Clean Economy Act.If y…

Changing of the guard. (Adobe) Back in July, we covered the U.S. Department of Energy report A Critical Review of Impacts of Greenhouse Gas Emissions on the U.S. Climate. It didn’t get nearly the attention it deserves. The report—…

A rare glimpse of the Creative Minds of Cement in their natural habitat - a castle. (OpenAI) It was a crisp autumn morning in late 2021 when the tolling of bells echoed through the vaulted halls of Castle Valkenhorst, perched high on a Euro…

Back in 2011, the cement industry told us portland-limestone cement (PLC) was no risk. The updated State of the Art Report 2024 walks that back. Now it admits PLC can have higher carbonation, chloride ingress, and admixture sensitivity—but don…

The Department of Energy just released a report that probably isn’t getting the attention it deserves: A Critical Review of Impacts of Greenhouse Gas Emissions on the U.S. Climate (July 2025). It was written by a group of respected scientists&…

Cement plant at Lime, Oregon (Credit: Middlebury College)The EPA is trying to roll back the 2009 Endangerment Finding for motor vehicles. I haven’t heard anyone else say it, but I think there’s a chance that move could spill over into …

 The EPA is moving to roll back the 2009 Endangerment Finding — at least for motor vehicles — and with it, scrap the CO₂ limits that were supposed to tighten the screws on model years 2027 through 2032. If this happens, automakers…

Three Gorges Dam | DoombergI was recently catching up on my favorite Substacker Doomberg's insightful piece titled "Five Dams in Tibet," discussing China's colossal Medog hydroelectric project. Scrolling through the comments, I stumbled upon a sta…

 The U.S. just took a big swing in the fight for supply chain independence.Through a $400 million investment, the Department of Defense became the largest shareholder in MP Materials, the only company mining rare earth elements in the Unite…

 I’ve never been a flag-waving cheerleader for American imperialism. In fact, I used to be pretty disgusted with how we tried to run the world. But lately, I’ve changed my mind—not because we got better, but because I finall…

Fort Monroe, Virginia - Oldest Military Base | Source: Visit Hampton VirginiaThe latest spending bill—officially called the "One Big Beautiful Bill Act"—just landed, and while everyone's busy debating tax cuts and defense budgets, we'r…

If you want to understand why energy is getting more expensive—and why industrial growth feels like it’s dragging through wet concrete—look at Colorado.What was once a solid energy-producing state has quietly become a case study …

 It’s hard to keep track of all the green buzzwords floating around the concrete industry these days—“net zero,” “low-carbon cement,” “sustainable construction.” On the surface, it sounds like p…

 Recently, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) under the Trump administration announced a formal reconsideration of the critical "Endangerment Finding," the 2009 determination that greenhouse gases (GHGs), including carbon dioxide …

For decades, oil has been the dominant force in the energy world, with its price affecting everything from transportation to the cost of goods. But that dominance is fading as natural gas emerges as the new key player in the energy market—some…

The Metro Center - Caroline M. ProctorThe debate surrounding Brutalist architecture in Washington, D.C. (paywall warning) has ignited strong opinions, and after reading this article, I can’t help but feel frustrated with the inconsistency in…