** The Trump administration said Wednesday there is no viable path forward for California’s High-Speed Rail project and warned it may rescind $4 billion in government funding in the coming weeks.
** The crew of a cargo ship carrying around 3,000 vehicles, including 800 electric vehicles, abandoned it off the coast of Alaska after a fire broke out onboard, its operator Zodiac Maritime said on Wednesday.
** Environmental advocates gather outside Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy’s “sustainable” energy conference to protest the Trump administration’s push to expand oil and gas drilling in the state.
** Mark Zuckerberg’s Meta has saved a nuclear plant from closure as the Facebook-owner races to secure more power to fuel its artificial intelligence (AI) ambitions. The technology giant has signed a deal with US nuclear operator Constellation Energy to buy energy from its Clinton Clean Energy Center in Illinois for 20 years.
** The California Legislature is pumping the brakes on Jay Leno’s classic cars bill which would help them be exempt from smog checks. In its original form, Bill SB 712, what some had dubbed “Leno’s Law,” would have meant cars 35 years and older wouldn’t be subjected to a smog test every two years to maintain their registration.
** Costco has extended the hours of its gas stations and tacked on more pumps, causing fuel sales to soar and delighting loyal customers fed up with languishing in mile-long gasoline lines.
** Fallout from the over 100 wildfires currently blazing across Canada is again being felt by U.S. states. In the U.S., smoke from the fires has already been detected drifting through Montana, North Dakota and northern Minnesota. More states, ranging as far south as Florida and as far east and north as New York, may soon experience hazy or compromised air as well. In the U.S., smoke from the fires has already been detected drifting through Montana, North Dakota and northern Minnesota. More states, ranging as far south as Florida and as far east and north as New York, may soon experience hazy or compromised air as well.
World
** The idled Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant in Ukraine is not in a condition to be restarted at present, due to a lack of water for cooling and the absence of a stable power supply, the head of the UN’s nuclear safety watchdog said on Tuesday.
** Emergency crews restored power on Tuesday to at least 700,000 residents across a swathe of southern Ukraine controlled by Russian forces, officials said, a day after Ukrainian shelling and drone attacks knocked out electricity substations.
** A Danish company is using something as basic as salt to solve a big problem: how to store clean energy for when it’s actually needed. Hyme Energy has built a new molten salt battery that can hang onto power from renewable sources for hours — or even days — then send it back out once the sun sets or the wind calms down.
** The U.S. has sent a “long” list of “tough” requests to Vietnam in its tariff negotiations, including demands that could force the country to cut its reliance on Chinese industrial goods imports, two people briefed about the matter told Reuters.
