** Houston is struggling through Hurricane Beryl’s chaotic aftermath, with blackouts, blocked roads, internet disruptions and spotty access to gas expected to linger well after the storm’s floodwaters recede.
** Houston warned residents that 154,000 gallons of “domestic wastewater” spilled in the downtown area after Hurricane Beryl dumped heavy rain and cut power to much of the metropolitan area.
** Spanish energy giant Repsol, which bought the controversial Rail Tie wind development project outside of Laramie, Wyoming, in the spring, has plans to develop an even larger wind farm just northwest of Cheyenne, a Repsol spokeswoman confirmed with Cowboy State Daily on Tuesday.
** Oil giant Occidental Petroleum Corp. clinched a record carbon removal deal with Microsoft Corp. amid the software titan’s push to reduce its expanding emissions. Occidental, which is building an carbon-capture portfolio through its subsidiary 1PointFive, plans to build a fleet of plants that suck carbon dioxide directly from the air. Microsoft on Tuesday agreed to buy 500,000 metric tons of credits from the company’s Stratos plant in Texas, which is expected to start up next year.
** At least seven deaths in the Western U.S. are suspected of having been caused by the extreme heat, officials said. Five people have died in Oregon since Friday, and those deaths are being investigated as possibly being heat-related, the Multnomah County Medical Examiner’s Office said. In Death Valley, California, a motorcyclist died of suspected heat exposure and another was hospitalized for severe heat illness Saturday.
** Ford Motor is receiving a reduced incentive package from Michigan for its battery plant in the city of Marshall after the automaker cut expected production at the facility to match demand for electric vehicles.
World
** From the frigid waters of Russia’s Baltic Sea to the Pacific shores of Vladivostok, dozens of tankers that previously moved Moscow’s oil are now sitting empty and idle. The vessels have become inactive after being hit with US, UK and European sanctions that began ramping up in Oct. 2023.
** India is poised to sign a long-term uranium supply pact with Russia to support a nuclear power plant coming online in the southern state of Tamil Nadu, according to senior officials with knowledge of the matter. The agreement is expected to come as Prime Minister Narendra Modi wraps up his trip to Moscow.
** China’s BYD, which vies with Tesla for the title of the world’s top maker of battery electric vehicles, has agreed to build a $1 billion car factory in Turkey, the Turkish government has announced.
** Honda Motor will halt vehicle production at its factory in Ayutthaya province in Thailand by 2025 as it plans to consolidate its output under the plant it runs in Prachinburi province, the Japanese automaker said on Tuesday.
