** Two congressional Republicans asked the Pentagon on Wednesday to add the world’s biggest manufacturers of electric vehicle (EV) batteries to a list of entities subject to restrictions because of ties to the Chinese government. In the letter, Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) and House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party Chair John Moolenaar (R-Mich.) called on the Defense Department to add Contemporary Amperex Technology (CATL) to its entity list, which would bar it from receiving Pentagon contracts.
** U.S. electric vehicle (EV) sales are expected to reach just 9% of the market this year, consulting firm J.D. Power said in a report, lowering its previous forecast of 12%. The automotive consultant attributed the cut in sales forecast to a slower-than-expected growth rate for the first half of 2024 due to increased competition in the market for gasoline-powered vehicle alternatives.
**Tornadic winds knocked nearly four dozen train cars off a track in North Dakota, part of a storm system that spurred reports of five tornadoes across the Dakotas. BNSF Railway spokesperson Kendall Sloan said a train was stopped due to a tornado warning Wednesday night near the town of Steele, North Dakota, when high winds caused 43 empty coal cars to derail.
** Maryland transportation leaders approved a contract for rebuilding the Francis Scott Key Bridge several months after the 1.6-mile (2.6-kilometer) steel span collapsed under the impact of a massive container ship that lost power and crashed into one of its supporting columns.
** A bill introduced in the California legislature proposes to slash hundreds of millions of dollars from programs that help schools replace worn-out HVAC systems, low-income households install batteries, and affordable housing projects deploy solar panels — all for what would amount to a one-time rebate of no more than $50 for customers of the state’s three major utilities.
** A Maryland judge recently threw out a climate case, handing a huge win to major oil companies and an enormous loss to residents of Baltimore City. Inside Climate News reported that this case, filed in 2018, is just one of over a dozen similar lawsuits against powerful oil giants such as Exxon, Chevron, and BP.
** U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai gave a strong endorsement to Canada’s decision to impose a 100% tariff on Chinese-made electric vehicles and 25% on Chinese steel and aluminum as she finalizes U.S. duties planned at similar rates.
World
** Yemen’s Houthi rebels have agreed to allow tugboats and rescue ships to assist a Greek-flagged oil tanker that remains ablaze in the Red Sea “in consideration of humanitarian and environmental concerns,” Iran’s mission to the United Nations claimed.
** A quarter of all the energy China consumes now comes from non-carbon sources, according to research published Thursday, as Beijing rapidly pivots its huge economy to a greener footing. The country is the world’s largest emitter of greenhouse gases, though has in recent years emerged as a global leader in renewable energy.
