Today: Rare metals can be found in troves of electronic waste, but much of it is shipped to Asia; Three Mile Island’s revival pits those who fled against job seekers; Canadian cabinet minister quits over changes to climate rules.

Welcome back: While electronic waste seems almost infinite, from fried computers to dormant BlackBerry phones, securing discarded tech for metals recycling can be tricky.

WSJ Pro Sustainable Business's Clara Hudson writes that recycled lithium, copper and other critical minerals can find new life in everything from electric vehicles to battery storage. But the push to recycle metals in the U.S. comes amid intensifying efforts to compete with China, which dominates the critical minerals market.

Recyclers are doing their best to retrieve old devices to fuel their business. Blue Whale Materials, which recently set up a new lithium-ion recycling plant in Bartlesville, Okla., works with manufacturers to secure rejected or recalled batteries, and partners with organizations such as Call 2 Recycle, a nonprofit with drop off locations across the country. It also uses scrap from cell makers and end-of-life EV batteries.

Blue Whale’s Bartlesville site—about 150 square feet on five acres—takes end-of-life batteries and uses a thermal separation process to produce what they call “black sand” out of cobalt, nickel and lithium. Most companies use water for a similar process, which the company says takes more time and creates a sludgy product instead of a high-concentration metallic-sand.

• Tesla co-founder JB Straubel’s battery recycling firm Redwood Materials cut dozens of jobs as the startup scales back projects. (Bloomberg)

Forty-six years have passed since America’s worst nuclear accident jolted the country and created skepticism of nuclear energy, The Wall Street Journal's Kris Maher and Jeanne Whalen report.

Now, a plan to reboot the Three Mile Island plant to help power Microsoft data centers has reignited resistance among some residents of nearby Middletown, Pa, who believe they already know the answer to the question: What could go wrong?

Yet, a palpable, optimistic counternarrative runs through this blue-collar town. Another contingent anticipates jobs—some 500 have already returned on-site—a revitalized downtown and a new period of opportunity. They view the accident’s lingering impact as minimal, if they consider it at all.

The divide is partly generational: pitting some of those personally scarred by a troubled nuclear past against a younger population eager to embrace zero-carbon energy and technological advancement.

The reopening marks a significant moment in the mini boom that the AI sector is driving across Pennsylvania, Michigan, Iowa and Illinois. Major tech companies, including Microsoft and Amazon.com, are hauling nuclear reactors back to life for their energy-hungry data centers.

• A dormant nuclear plant in Iowa is set to help Google reap reliable, low-carbon energy to feed power-intensive artificial intelligence. (WSJ)

A member of Mark Carney's cabinet stepped down Thursday after the Canadian prime minister cut a deal with the energy-rich province of Alberta that suspends environmental rules aimed at curbing oil-and-gas carbon emissions, The Wall Street Journal's Paul Vieira reports.

In what is Carney's first major political setback, Steven Guilbeault, who served as culture minister under Carney and as the environment minister under former Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, said he submitted his resignation “with great sadness” following the deal with Alberta.

In a statement, Guilbeault said Carney was dismantling climate-change policies he helped implement under Trudeau, such as a cap on carbon emissions from oil-and-gas producers, clean-electricity regulations and a zero-emissions vehicle standard.

The resignation marks the first open rift in Carney’s government, as the former central banker attempts to rewire an economy struggling due to elevated uncertainty over U.S. trade policy and hefty tariffs on key manufacturing sectors.

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• Tailwater Capital is backing businesses that help energy companies, LNG operators and data centers produce or consume more of the fuel. (WSJ)
   
• LEGO says it has passed the halfway point in its transition to paper-based packaging for bricks. (ESG Today)
   
• New York City comptroller wants city pension funds to pull $42 billion from index funds managed by BlackRock. (Barron's)
   
• Lowe’s will pay $12.5 million to the EPA to settle allegations it violated paint safety standards. (Dow Jones Risk Journal)
   
• The EPA said it would delay a requirement that the oil and gas industry limit emissions of methane, a powerful planet-warming gas. (NYT)
   
• Workplace diversity should focus on diversity of thought, where team members bring different perspectives to uncover blind spots. (WSJ)
   
• Brazil, the world’s biggest producer of arabica, is investing in robusta due to climate change making it harder to grow arabica beans. (Bloomberg)
   
• An inside look at how SBTi’s updated net-zero standard draft came together, from CEO David Kennedy. (Trellis)
   
• Companies are spending up to 3,000 hours and an average €85,000 to access funds from a flagship EU green technology programme. (FT)
   
• Vietnam positions itself as emerging green transition hub in Asia and restates its net-zero 2050 commitment. (ESG Today)

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 perrycp, clara-hudson and yusuf_khan.