Behind the battery tech boom, and Trump's climate-rejecting budget

A PhD student holds a used lithium-ion battery
Matt Murbach, a PhD student in chemical engineering at the University of Washington, holds a used lithium-ion battery in the Washington Clean Energy Testbeds lab at UW's Clean Energy Institute in Seattle.
Ted S. Warren | AP

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Batteries, budgets and ice hockey. We have a rather varied Climate Cast for you this week, so buckle up. Here's what's on the show:

What's fueling this climate-friendly battery tech boom? Lithium-ion batteries — which power everything from cell phones to electric cars — are getting smaller, better and cheaper. Since 2010, prices have dropped by 80 percent. Another 50 percent drop is expected by 2025. This advancing technology is increasingly being deployed to store energy from renewables like solar and wind. Ellen Anderson, executive director of the University of Minnesota's Energy Transition Lab, explains why.

Trump's climate-rejecting budget plan. It's puzzling to some businesses that the Trump administration's budget proposals seem to neglect climate changes that many see both as a growing threat and opportunity. Energy and Environment News reporter Zach Colman tells us what jumps out about the latest White House budget proposal on climate.

Minnesota's shrinking outdoor hockey season. The winters of Jay McCleary's youth are no more. He shares his experience watching Minnesota's outdoor ice season get smaller and smaller as the years go on. Click here to read more of his story.

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