Green Daily

What Trump’s Critical Mineral Stockpile Means for Green Startups

Also in today’s Green Daily newsletter: a popular anesthesia is a surprise climate superpolluter.

Copper pipes at a wholesale metal market in Mumbai, India, on Thursday, Jan 8, 2026. The race for artificial intelligence and surging defense spending are set to intensify a projected shortage of copper as producers struggle to expand, according to a new study by S&P Global.Photographer: Dhiraj Singh/Bloomberg

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By Emma Court, Coco Liu, and Emily Forgash

February 3, 2026 at 3:09 PM UTC

The Trump administration is hostile to clean tech. But its national security moves have had some unexpected benefits for the industry. The latest example? The plan to invest $12 billion to build a critical mineral stockpile.

Today’s newsletter looks at what Project Vault means for US startups and investors. But first, a popular anesthesia is a surprise climate superpolluter. Here’s how doctors are trying to replace it.