President Biden and the European Union on Friday announced new plans to enable Europe to become less dependent on Russian oil and gas. But for now, the Russian invasion has opened up much larger questions over our dependence on fossil fuels and the need to develop cleaner renewable energy. Science correspondent Miles O'Brien reports on how and why geothermal energy is attracting new interest. - PBS Video

Exposure to leaded gasoline lowered the IQ of about half the population of the United States, a new study estimates. The peer-reviewed study, published Monday in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, focuses on people born before 1996 — the year the U.S. banned gas containing lead. Overall, the researchers from Florida State University and Duke University found, childhood lead exposure cost America an estimated 824 million points, or 2.6 points per person on average. Certain cohorts were more affected than others. For people born in the 1960s and the 1970s, when leaded gas consumption was skyrocketing, the IQ loss was estimated to be up to 6 points and for some, more than 7 points. Exposure to it came primarily from inhaling auto exhaust. - NBC News

Five years ago, Hague was part of the problem. Each winter, more than 6 feet of snow fell on the upstate New York town nestled between scenic Lake George and the Pharaoh Lake Wilderness Area. Each year, the highway department dumped as much as 2,200 tons of rock salt onto 110 miles of road – nearly 2 pounds of salt for every square yard of road. And Hague is just one of more than a dozen communities that dot Lake George’s banks. Their combined use of road salt has increased the lake’s salinity nearly threefold over the past several decades, according to research by the nonprofit Fund for Lake George. The lake’s salt levels are now more than 30 times higher than more isolated lakes in the Adirondack Mountains, the group found. - USA Today

Particles of paint account for more than half (58%) of all the microplastics that end up in the world’s oceans and waterways every year, according to a new study. The study by the Swiss-based Environmental Action (EA) claims that far more paint is leaking into the oceans than previously thought. Previously studies have estimated that paint accounts for between 9 and 21% of microplastics in our ocean and waterways. - Forbes

A unique gem mine in the mountains northeast of Mesa is in the process of rebuilding after a wildfire wiped it out in 2020. The Bush Fire is now the 5th largest in Arizona's history as firefighters battle multiple blazes. "The fire came roaring up the mountain. It was so intense," the mine's owner, Kurt Cavano said, as he gathered charred debris to be removed from the site. When the Bush Wildfire burned through nearly 200,000 acres northeast of the Valley, the flames raced up the side of Four Peaks, scorching everything in their path, including the mine. - AZ Family 

The battery economy is booming, and with it a recycling industry is bracing itself for a wave of battery waste. Battery Resourcers of Worcester, MA is planning to build a plant in Georgia that will be capable of recycling 30,000 metric tons of lithium-ion batteries/yr. It will be the largest battery recycling plant in North America when it opens later this year. Its reign will be brief because Li-Cycle is building an even larger battery recycling plant near Rochester, NY scheduled to open in 2023. The company said last month that it is modifying its plans in a way that increases the plant’s size, a response to forecasts of high demand for recycling. - Inside Climate News

Europe’s magnesium shortage could shutter industrial operations within weeks, threatening thousands of businesses and millions of jobs in sectors from cars to packaging, associations warned. Chinese exports of magnesium -- a critical material for hardening aluminum alloys and used in everything from power tools to laptops - has plunged as the nation cuts output because of an energy crunch. That’s caused prices to spike and left buyers worldwide exposed. - Bloomberg

The ghosts of the uranium boom continue to haunt the land, water and people - High Country News

Right: Uranium processing mill at Monticello, Utah, owned by the government and operated for the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission by the National Lead Company, Inc. This is the only government-owned uranium mill. c. 1957 - U.S. Department of Energy  

Years of recreational shooting left hazardous levels of lead in the soil of a parcel of land in the White Tank Mountains, and the site west of Phoenix will remain closed for three more years for cleanup.  The area was shuttered to recreational shooting after a pregnant woman was killed by a stray bullet more than three years ago.  The multimillion-dollar remediation effort comes as Buckeye aims to lease the land from the federal Bureau of Land Management for a park. It's an area that public safety officials previously describe as "a mess" because of the number of people shooting at all hours, in all directions. - AZ Central