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Chicago Tribune
17 hours ago
- Business
- Chicago Tribune
Environmental activists explain concerns with U.S. Steel deal
About one week after a partnership between U.S. Steel and a Japanese company was finalized, environmental activists called on the companies to address the health, climate and economic impacts of the deal. 'It's our conclusion that, whether in Japan or the United States, emissions from blast furnaces cannot be significantly mitigated,' said Roger Smith, Asia lead at SteelWatch. 'The company should transition to a renewable energy-based approach that would achieve its net-zero target and fulfill its obligations as a leading global steelmaker.' Speakers at a press conference organized by the Sierra Club highlighted their concerns with blast furnaces, which Nippon Steel has previously said is a technology it plans to invest in through the deal. A more environmentally friendly alternative is a direct reduction furnace to create iron ore and then an electric arc furnace to create steel, Smith said. 'This is already in commercial use in the United States, the Middle East and beyond,' Smith said. 'Switching from fossil fuel to green hydrogen and powering the electric arc furnace with renewable energy can nearly eliminate emissions from this production method.' U.S. Steel released a statement in response to the Tuesday event, saying environmental stewardship is a core value, and they're committed to protecting its workers. 'The finalization of the partnership is just the first step in an integration process that will take time to complete,' said a U.S. Steel spokesperson in an email. 'There are still many things to be determined about how the companies will come together. We will share relevant information as this process continues.' Other participants expressed their concerns with the steel deal, including Matt Mehalik, executive director of the Breathe Project, a Pittsburgh-based coalition that fights for better air quality. Mehalik wants Nippon Steel and U.S. Steel to make it their highest priority to end severe health impacts in Pennsylvania's Mon Valley. 'Real progress will only come when public health and community revitalization are treated as non-negotiable priorities for this new deal,' Mehalik said. 'There have been too many years of promise breaking and too much emphasis on short-term investments that continue to perpetuate community health harms and workforce anxiety.' Northwest Indiana activists asked for the same priority to be given in the region. An October report from Industrious Labs found that most residents in Gary are in the top 10% of U.S. residents most at-risk for developing asthma and at-risk of low life expectancy. In 2020, Indiana had a lung cancer rate of 72.5 per 100,000 people, with Lake County as one of the state's counties with the highest cancer mortality rates, according to the American Lung Association. A 2016 JAMA Network report also found Gary as one of the top five U.S. cities with the lowest life expectancy at one point. Dorreen Carey, president of Gary Advocates for Responsible Development, participated in Tuesday's conference, saying she believes now is the time to initiate newer steelmaking technologies. 'If investments are not made now in newer technologies, the long-term survival of Gary Works and the jobs it provides are in jeopardy,' Carey said. '(GARD) and the people who live in Gary want a clean environment, the good jobs a steel mill can provide and sustainable economic development. Investing in direct reduction ironmaking will provide a cleaner, greener future for the city of Gary, and we urge Nippon to commit to these investments.' Susan Thomas, director of policy and press for Just Transition Northwest Indiana, said Tuesday night that the region is 'an epicenter of toxic air pollution.' 'Globally, this tragedy is preventable,' Thomas said. 'We say to Nippon Steel, you have an opportunity and a responsibility to become a global leader in clean steelmaking technology here and now. It is urgent that you do so, for if you prolong the lives of coal-burning blast furnaces, you will be diminishing ours.' Nippon Steel and U.S. Steel announced June 18 that they have finalized the 'historic partnership,' according to the Associated Press, making the combined company the world's fourth-largest steelmaker. On May 23, President Donald Trump announced that he would approve an investment from the Japanese company to U.S. Steel, according to Post-Tribune archives. Through the partnership, the U.S. government receives 'a golden share,' which allows de facto rights on company decisions and appointments. The 'golden share' seemingly fixes national security concerns previously outlined by former President Joe Biden and the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States. Before leaving office, Biden denied the deal. Both Trump and former Vice President Kamala Harris said during campaigns that they planned to block the steel deal. Through the partnership, the Northwest Indiana Gary Works facility should receive about $1 billion. Gary Mayor Eddie Melton has been vocal about his support since August 2024, when it was first announced that Gary Works would receive $300 million from the deal. In a previous statement, Melton said he will continue to meet with both steel companies about the projected job increases to Gary, improving environmental protections and future economic development. 'I am pleased thus far on how the current agreement has been structured that allows U.S. Steel to remain an American-owned and operated corporation under this new partnership,' Melton said. 'I'm equally pleased the pledges made during this negotiation will be honored, and I'm optimistic that this was the best decision for steel workers and the communities like Gary across the country.' Since it was announced that Nippon Steel would invest $300 million in Gary Works, Northwest Indiana environmental activists have been concerned. In October, GARD and Just Transition Northwest Indiana announced they supported a letter opposing the deal from the Sierra Club to U.S. Congress members. 'Nippon Steel's revealed plans to extend the life of the most polluting parts of a steel mill currently operated by U.S. Steel leaves no doubt that the company is not acting on climate or accounting for public health,' the letter said. Carey, on Tuesday, also mentioned concerns with U.S. applying for two-year presidential air exemptions from hazardous air pollutant rules for integrated iron and steel, coke and taconite iron ore process. A previous statement from U.S. Steel said the company challenged the three rules because they were not supported by science or law and would impose significant costs while setting technically unachievable standards. 'The presidential exemptions provide an additional path to achieving reasonable, effective environmental standards, which we support as part of our commitment to environmental standards, which we support as part of our commitment to environmental excellence and to being a good neighbor in the communities where we live and work,' the statement said. 'These requests do not change our continued commitment to environmental performance and safety.'
Forbes
06-05-2025
- Business
- Forbes
EU's Steel Giant Accused Of Climate Inaction As Rivals Forge Ahead
A new report has accused steelmaker ArcelorMittal of shirking responsibility in the struggle to ... More decarbonize steel production. dpa/picture alliance via Getty Images European steel giant ArcelorMittal, which has a carbon footprint of a similar size to Belgium, is falling behind in the race to decarbonize and is jeopardizing its position as an industry leader, an environmental watchdog has claimed. In a report released Tuesday , NGO SteelWatch revealed that the firm, which is the EU's largest steelmaker, has yet to make final investment decisions on any of five announced, large-scale decarbonization projects in Europe and Canada, despite securing $3.5 billion in government subsidies worldwide. Luxembourg-headquartered Arcelor, which generated $62.4 billion in turnover in 2024 and has an annual output of 58 million tons of steel, emits more than 100 million tons of CO2 every year. But SteelWatch analysis indicates that while the firm has allocated just $800 million to decarbonization investment, it spent some $12 billion—15 times more—on shareholder dividends and buybacks from 2021 to 2024. The firm has blamed economic and industry uncertainty for rowing back on its decarbonization plans. But SteelWatch CEO Caroline Ashley said that ArcelorMittal is neglecting its responsibilities as an industry leader. "Turbulence is difficult if you're a leader, but it is not an excuse for inaction," Ashley told me. "It's bad leadership to say, 'it's a turbulent world out there so I'm going to stay still and not do anything.' It is short-sighted to say the least." Experts say that iron and steel production are responsible for between 8-11% of the world's total greenhouse gas emissions, the main cause of global warming. A large proportion of the emissions from steelmaking take place in a process called direct reduction of iron, or DRI, which has traditionally used natural gas or coal to remove oxygen from iron ore. New DRI approaches use green hydrogen, which produces no greenhouse gas emissions when burned, or carbon capture and storage (CCS), which captures the CO2 emitted by the process. But steel firms, struggling to compete with low-cost steel imports from China, are finding low-carbon approaches costly to implement, and green hydrogen limited in supply. Arcelor's competitors have recently announced slowdowns in their green steelmaking ambitions, with Germany's Thyssenkrupp making bearish pronouncements on its development of the tech, and Sweden's SSAB dropping plans for a green steel facility in Mississippi . For its part, Arcelor says its slowdown has been caused by a range of challenges. In a Financial Times article published in November, the firm's executive chairman, Lakshmi Mittal, noted that the EU is "the only major market with a cost on carbon," and said that inadequate policy support, Chinese overcapacity and questions around the viability of green hydrogen for steel production meant that his company was "not able to take final investment decisions on projects to replace blast furnaces with lower-carbon technology at this point in time." Forbes Global Clean Power Passes 40% Milestone While Trump Dumps Renewables By David Vetter But in its report, SteelWatch said that, rather than simply being a market participant, ArcelorMittal's size and scope made it a "market shaper," and that "with that comes the responsibility to lead the transformation to a zero-emissions economy, not wait for ideal conditions." Moreover, the NGO alleges that ArcelorMittal is being less ambitious in its decarbonization plans than many of its smaller competitors. While Thyssenkrupp is in the doldrums, having announced 11,000 redundancies at the end of last year, SteelWatch points to firms such as Germany's SHS and Salzgitter already having low-carbon DRIs under contract or construction. In Sweden, Stegra is building a new plant that is expected to produce at commercial scale in 2026, while similar projects have been announced in Spain by Hydnum , and in Finland by Blastr . With Great Power … SteelWatch emphasized that ArcelorMittal has a broad spread of operations throughout the globe, with facilities in 16 countries and an industrial presence in 59, from Europe to the Americas, Africa and Asia. "That makes them absolutely unique, and it makes them incredibly influential," said Caroline Ashley. "If there's any company in the steel world that should be articulating the future and using its industrial power, its production power, but also its financial and political power, to say 'we are going to drive this transition,' it should be ArcelorMittal." In a written response to the SteelWatch report, ArcelorMittal reiterated concerns around market conditions, citing "broader challenges the sector faces to decarbonize operations and value chains." The statement went on: "We remain committed to working with policymakers and stakeholders to create the necessary conditions for making decarbonization economically viable, ensuring its long-term sustainability." Against a backdrop of increasing global instability that has been turbocharged by an erratic U.S. administration, 2025 could prove a pivotal year for European steel. Calls both from the industry and from analysts continue to emphasize the need for stronger, sector-specific policies that support decarbonization. To this end, the European Commission in March released a Steel and Metals Action Plan, intended to lower energy costs, improve scrap recycling, and de-risk decarbonization with additional funding from a range of sources, including €100 billion ($113 billion) through the Industrial Decarbonisation Bank in support of clean industry scale-ups. But it remains to be seen whether the plan will give steel's nervous giants the confidence they need to forge a new future.
