Assorted Links Sunday

A world that’s more expensive is starting to destroy demand:

The phenomenon is happening in ways large and small. Soaring natural gas prices in China force ceramic factories burning the fuel to halve their operations. A Missouri trucking company debates suspending operations because it can’t fully recoup rising diesel costs from customers. European steel mills using electric arc furnaces scale back production as power costs soar, making the metal even more expensive.

World’s largest wildlife overpass will be built near Los Angeles: On April 22, 2022, the National Wildlife Foundation and partners will break ground on the largest wildlife crossing in the world across U.S. Route 101 near Los Angeles, California.

Is California's Salton Sea hiding enough lithium to power America? A team of scientists hopes deep-earth lithium could sustain America's vast demand for batteries.

To meet its clean energy goals, the US might go mining in the rainforest: In order to increase lithium production, the U.S. must either expand mining and processing operations in places like Chile — home to the world’s largest known lithium reserves — which could involve the removal and destruction of parts of the Chilean rainforest — or expand its domestic production efforts, which would require open-pit mining or brine extraction to force the lithium-rich brine to the surface.

RV and boat maker Winnebago says it now has a $4.4 billion worth of orders in its backlog as demand continues to rise: Demand for RVs and boats has remained strong since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Why well-qualified medical school graduates can’t get jobs — despite doctor shortages: The US is fighting a modern pandemic with a 1990s-sized workforce.

Time for supply: Now that surging inflation has refocused everyone's attention on the long-ignored supply side of the economy, the question is how best to support broad-based growth, efficiency, and innovation. The answer is not necessarily deregulation, but the need for smarter regulation is increasingly apparent – even to progressives.

For a clean-energy future, we need deregulation: Environmental protections from decades past are blocking the infrastructure urgently needed to combat climate change.

The doomed Cleveland Balloonfest of '86:

In September 1986, the city of Cleveland attempted to set a special record: the simultaneous launch of 1.5 million balloons. But fate intervened, and the result was both crazier and more tragic than anyone could have imagined.