Welcome back: Last week, the U.S. Defense Department announced it had invested in America's largest rare-earths miner, MP Materials. 

The unusual deal by the Pentagon—it doesn't often invest in private-sector companies—is a move by the government to undercut China’s dominance in the rare-earths sector. It has committed to spending billions of dollars on the company, buying whatever it produces.

Then on Tuesday, Apple said it would buy $500 million of rare-earth magnets from MP, expanding the tech giant's U.S. supply chain for a critical element of its devices while under pressure from the Trump administration.

For more than a decade, China has had a near monopoly on rare-earth magnet production, thanks to its enormous mines and efficient manufacturers. In the newsletter today, we look at the hurdles MP Materials faces as it seeks to revive the rare-earths industry in America.

Read on for more on this story and other sustainability news.

At an industrial site in Fort Worth, Texas, men dressed in head-to-toe protective gear dip giant ladles into a well of molten metal heated to 1,800 degrees Fahrenheit. They’re making something the U.S. has hardly, if ever, produced at commercial scale in recent decades: rare-earth metals.

The factory is the most visible mark of MP Materials’ high-stakes, billion-dollar bet that an American company can take on China’s dominance over the metals—and the magnets they power in everything from cars and smartphones to missile systems, the WSJ's Jon Emont writes.

In recent months, China has used its chokehold over 90% of the world’s rare-earth magnets to cut off access to western companies, rattling giants such as Ford and Tesla and forcing the U.S. to the table for trade talks.

MP has invested more than $1 billion in new infrastructure and equipment. A mine it controls in California has become the largest source of rare-earth minerals in the Western Hemisphere. Now, with its expanding Texas facility and fresh investment from the Pentagon, the company is racing to complete the supply chain so it can start converting large quantities of its minerals into high-grade magnets.

• Pentagon to Take Stake in Rare-Earth Company, Challenging China
• Apple Commits $500 Million for U.S. Rare-Earth Magnets
• Race Is On to Build U.S. Copper Mines As Trump Pledges Higher Tariffs

Google, Blackstone, Constellation Energy, FirstEnergy and AI startup Coreweave are among companies pledging tens of billions of dollars to accelerate AI development in Pennsylvania, the WSJ's Amrith Ramkumar and Brian Schwartz report.

Speaking at Carnegie Mellon University’s campus in Pittsburgh yesterday, President Trump delivered the announcement with a big emphasis on Pennsylvania’s ability to produc the power needed to run data centers given the state’s position as a leading energy producer. The tech industry is expected to gravitate to parts of the country with the most data centers and suitable power infrastructure. Executives from Alphabet’s Google, Meta Platforms and software firm Palantir attended the event.

The event highlighted the Trump administration’s embrace of fossil fuels and nuclear energy. Oil-and-gas leaders including Exxon Mobil Chief Executive Darren Woods spoke. Administration officials also emphasized the promise of powering data centers with the copious amounts of natural gas in Pennsylvania, the nation’s second-biggest producer.

Energy analysts warn that the U.S. won’t be able to meet data-center demand unless it boosts production of both renewables and fossil fuels. Trump’s tax and spending bill removed some incentives for wind and solar power, adding to concerns among some in the tech industry about meeting future demand. Google said Tuesday that it would put more than $3 billion into two hydropower facilities in Pennsylvania.

• Can Pittsburgh’s Old Steel Mills Be Turned Into an AI Hub?
• A Coal Plant Was Imploded to Make Way for an AI Data Center
• How Big Data Centers Are Slowing the Shift to Clean Energy

Plans to open a 24-hour, 74,000-square-foot Buc-ee’s roadside rest stop, with 60 gas pumps and parking for nearly 800 cars, on the outskirts of a tiny town in rural Colorado are causing local tensions to flare. Some residents say growth is inevitable and that they need the tax revenue. Others see an erosion in their way of life and harm to water supplies and wildlife.

The brouhaha reflects rising backlash against sprawl in the West, where population growth is devouring open land. Between 2017 and 2022, the region lost 6.6 million acres of farm and ranch land, according to the American Farm Bureau Federation—an area the size of Massachusetts.

Colorado is ground zero: No state in the nation lost more farm and ranch land during that period. Since 2000, metropolitan Denver has added nearly a million residents, to reach three million, while greater Colorado Springs shot up 40%, to more than 700,000, the WSJ's Jim Carlton writes.

Billionaire media mogul John Malone, America’s second-largest private landowner, owns 2.2 million acres across the U.S. His nearby Greenland Ranch is one of the largest stretches of open land between Denver and Colorado Springs. He has offered to foot legal bills for opponents if needed, and to buy the land in question rather than have Buc-ee’s develop it.

• The Wild West Showdown Over Developing a Revered Utah Getaway
• Environmentalists vs. ‘Cowboys for Trump’
• After a Mayor’s Mysterious Death, a Land Dispute Divides Tennessee

Tell me what you think: Send me your feedback and suggestions at perry.cleveland-peck@wsj.com or reply to any newsletter. If you were forwarded this newsletter, you can sign up here.

• Jeep maker Stellantis scraps hydrogen vehicle program. (WSJ)
   
• Tesla’s top North American sales executive leaves amid slump. (WSJ)
   
• Volvo car takes $1.2 billion hit from tariffs, EV delays. (WSJ)
   
• Rio Tinto names iron ore chief Simon Trott as CEO. (WSJ)
   
• Wildfire closes Grand Canyon’s North Rim for season. (WSJ)
   
• China adds export controls to protect EV battery technology. (WSJ)
   

WSJ Pro Sustainable Business gives you an inside look at how companies are tackling sustainability. Send comments to bureau chief Perry Cleveland-Peck at perry.cleveland-peck@wsj.com and reporters Clara Hudson at clara.hudson@wsj.com and Yusuf Khan at yusuf.khan@wsj.com. Follow us on LinkedIn at wsjperry, clara-hudson and yusuf_khan.