# Atomic colas, Sino-Russian psych out, costly coal, and the real UFO conspiracy

*The fourth edition of the Sunday Revue*

By [FIELD NOTES from Alexander C. Kaufman](https://paragraph.com/@kaufman) · 2025-06-08

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![](https://storage.googleapis.com/papyrus_images/0e7198de3392b1320ee22a52d53ec348.jpg)

A June 1964 photograph from College Park, Maryland. _Credit:_ [_The National Archives_](https://catalog.archives.gov/id/303938034)

Dear reader,

Welcome to the fourth edition of the Sunday Revue of the FIELDS NOTES newsletter.

As a reminder, this carefully curated weekly roundup will soon go behind a paywall for premium subscribers only. It’s the kind of thing artificial intelligence software can’t yet compile with this degree of artfulness.

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NUMBERS GAME
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**30** – the percentage by which copper supplies could fall short by 2035 “due to declining ore grades, rising capital costs, limited resource discoveries and long lead times.” [International Energy Agency](https://iea.blob.core.windows.net/assets/a33abe2e-f799-4787-b09b-2484a6f5a8e4/GlobalCriticalMineralsOutlook2025.pdf)

**28** – the percentage by which generating electricity with coal was more expensive than in 2021. [_Energy Innovation_](https://energyinnovation.org/report/coal-power-28-percent-more-expensive-in-2024-than-in-2021/)

**$9.4 billion** – the cost data centers have added to the largest U.S. grid, the PJM Interconnection, a 180% increase so far. [_Bloomberg_](https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2025-06-03/data-centers-added-9-4-billion-in-costs-on-biggest-u-s-grid?embedded-checkout=true)

**$350 million** – the cost of a single new offshore oil drilling platform in Alaska. [_Northern Journal_](https://www.northernjournal.com/amid-gas-crunch-alaska-could-revoke-leases-from-a-company-whose-drilling-has-stalled/?ref=northern-journal-newsletter)

**1,700** – the number of megawatts’ worth of new renewables Nigeria expects to build in the next decade. [_GlobalData_](https://www.globaldata.com/store/report/nigeria-power-market-analysis/?utm_source=cision&utm_medium=press-release&utm_campaign=gd_pr_power_nigeria_renewables&CampaignValue=701Ti00000PW9l0IAD)

**$34** – the target price per share Morgan Stanley set for MP Materials, the only active rare earths miner in the U.S. [_CNBC_](https://www.cnbc.com/2025/06/07/morgan-stanley-upgrades-mining-stock-as-best-pick-to-play-rare-earths.html)

**11,684** – the number of new jobs the Biden administration’s energy policies spurred in Ohio. [_Inside Climate News_](https://insideclimatenews.org/news/05062025/inside-clean-energy-inflation-reduction-act-politics-2/)

**$65** – how much more expensive producing a ton of corn in the U.S. was on average compared to Brazil between 2015 and 2019. [_The Breakthrough Institute_](https://thebreakthrough.org/issues/food-agriculture-environment/trump-has-an-opportunity-to-modernize-agricultural-biotechnology-regulations)

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LINES OF ARGUMENT
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On the shift in approach the Trump administration brings to American foreign policy, U.S. Ambassador to Türkiye **Tom Barrack** on [X](https://x.com/USAMBTurkiye/status/1926667533102301388):

> A century ago, the West imposed maps, mandates, penciled borders, and foreign rule. Sykes-Picot divided Syria and the broader region for imperial gain—not peace. That mistake cost generations. We will not make it again. The era of Western interference is over. The future belongs to regional solutions, but partnerships, and a diplomacy grounded in respect.

On the value of reprocessing America’s nuclear waste, [**Emmet Penney**](https://twitter.com/nukebarbarian/) in [_The American Conservative_](https://www.theamericanconservative.com/the-secret-weapon-for-energy-dominance-nuclear-waste/):

> If Trump flexed his executive muscles, he could issue an executive order that establishes reprocessing as a national priority for energy dominance. Effectively, the president would mandate the Department of Energy, the National Nuclear Security Administration, and the State Department step out of the way of commercial entities that want to harvest and clean up our waste in order to produce more fuel. By establishing waste reprocessing as part of the national mission, Trump would shore up our energy security while locking in American energy dominance for generations.

On the need to double down on clean industrial policy, [**Ben Beachy**](https://x.com/ben_beachy?lang=en) in [_Heatmap_](https://heatmap.news/ideas/abundance-everything-bagel-policy):

> Crafting an agenda for clean energy abundance requires precision, not abstraction. We need to add industrial policies that offer a foundation for clean energy growth. We need to end parochial policies that deter buildout on behalf of private interests. And we need to build on labor and equity policies that enable workers and communities to reap material rewards from clean energy expansion. Differentiating between those needs will be essential for Democrats to build a clean energy plan that actually delivers abundance.

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GRAPHIC DETAIL
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![](https://storage.googleapis.com/papyrus_images/c5d9e51f6e96a20d45f5a9f207487301.png)

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NEWS BITES
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*   "If Russia is the Coca-Cola of nuclear power, then China is the Pepsi." [_The Observer_](https://observer.co.uk/news/science-technology/article/nuclear-power-has-a-renewed-and-geopolitical-appeal)
    
*   China has built a nationwide “diamond ring” of sensors on its grid to protect against blackouts like what Iberia recently suffered. [_South China Morning Post_](https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3312208/china-grid-wears-powerful-diamond-ring-prevent-massive-blackout)
    
*   Offshore wind is basically dead in the U.S. – but not overseas. [_Heatmap_](https://heatmap.news/plus/the-fight/qa/biao-gong-morningstar-offshore-wind)
    
*   Massachusetts-based green steel startup Boston Steel is on the verge of making its first commercial revenue. [_Canary Media_](https://www.canarymedia.com/articles/green-steel/boston-metal-decarbonization-technology)
    
*   The Pentagon has, at times, deliberately fanned the flames of UFO conspiracy theories in targeted disinformation campaigns. [_The Wall Street Journal_](https://www.wsj.com/politics/national-security/ufo-us-disinformation-45376f7e?mod=hp_lead_pos8)
    
*   Spending on producing more fossil fuels is falling for the first time since the pandemic. [_The Financial Times_](https://www.ft.com/content/35edc55a-3860-4d6e-9963-fc7067516b80)
    
*   Russia’s rosy public relationship with China obscures a deep distrust over Beijing’s espionage, new secret documents show. [_The New York Times_](https://www.nytimes.com/2025/06/07/world/europe/china-russia-spies-documents-putin-war.html)
    
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WATCHING
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An hour of 1980s footage from Britain’s Thames TV on the Lebanese Civil War:

[![](https://paragraph.com/editor/youtube/play.png)](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N2rj5QcM5xY)

An 80-minute interview with academic **Catherine Liu** on the psychological significance of words like “trauma” and “care” in liberal political discourse today:

[![](https://paragraph.com/editor/youtube/play.png)](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=22eh9bHVeTc)

This short Wall Street Journal explainer rounding up comments from a bunch of economists on when and why the national debt matters:

[![](https://paragraph.com/editor/youtube/play.png)](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xi7RvweuIUk)

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LISTENING
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### _Podcasts_

*   **Capitol Press Room**’s “[Drafting Political Movies](https://capitolpressroom.org/2025/05/23/drafting-political-movies/),” featuring my hilarious wife [**Amanda Henning Santiago**](https://x.com/ahenning91) explaining why I have not seen _Barry Lyndon_
    
*   **Gideon Rachman**’s “[The Rachman Review](https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/what-drives-chinas-strongman/id1504048545?i=1000711249310)” on **Xi Jinping**’s classically strongman tendencies.
    
*   **Odd Lots’** [interview with JP Morgan’s **Michael Cembalest**](https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/michael-cembalest-on-why-ai-is-the-stock-market-bet/id1056200096?i=1000710439945) on everything AI.
    

### _Music_

*   “[Focus](https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&v=X-UBt95apGo)” by German producer **Leon Flydal**
    
*   “[Massive](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J3n6dY-HVLs),” the latest track by New York City house star **DJibouti**
    
*   “[Bori](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-GQ0RmNTm-U),” the latest ode to Nuyorican girls by East New York rapper **Ryan Witherspoon**
    

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Signing off from an overcast Bay Ridge, Brooklyn, where the blasts of rain last night broke the humidity and left the evening air crisp and dank but electric in a way that made the air feel fragile.

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*Originally published on [FIELD NOTES from Alexander C. Kaufman](https://paragraph.com/@kaufman/atomic-colas-sino-russian-psych-out-costly-coal-and-the-real-ufo-conspiracy)*
