** Michigan’s highest court has yanked Enbridge’s Line 5 pipeline back into the legal spotlight, agreeing Friday to hear Tribal Nations and environmental groups who say the state’s Public Service Commission broke the law when it signed off on a tunnel beneath the Straits of Mackinac.
** U.S.-listed nuclear energy exchange-traded funds (ETFs) have experienced a monumental surge so far this year, significantly outpacing their performance in 2024. In May 2025, the current U.S. President signed four executive orders to bolster the nation’s nuclear power generation capacity through increased deployment of new nuclear reactor technologies.
** Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a sweeping package of bills on Friday to boost oil drilling, rescue wildfire-threatened utilities and extend the state’s landmark climate program as he attempts to rein in energy costs while meeting the state’s ambitious climate targets.
** Although consumer sentiment appears to be at a sustained low in the United States — inflation spiked in August in tandem with rising jobless claims — the New York Times reported that sales of electric vehicles took off in a big way.
** Scientists at the Environmental Protection Agency’s Office of Water, which ensures drinking water is safe, have been instructed by Trump officials to halt publishing ongoing research in an “unprecedented” move, according to a report. Staffers at the agency’s research office told the Washington Post they were summoned to a town hall this week and told that their studies would be subject to a new review process, a change they said was ordered by political appointees.
** US Magnesium, a key producer of chemicals, lithium, and magnesium critical to United States defense efforts, has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy after a dispute with the state of Utah. The filing comes after Utah’s Division of Forestry, Fire & State Lands said it was seeking to terminate the company’s leases to operate in the state. Utah has blamed the company US Magnesium for pollution, based on an academic review.
World
** Microsoft Corp. and OpenAI are among the US firms that have in recent days pledged to invest £31 billion ($41.8 billion) into artificial intelligence projects in Britain, but industry experts say the commitment could be undermined by the UK’s aging power grid and some of the world’s highest electricity prices.
** Iraq’s attempt to ease its chronic power shortage with gas from Turkmenistan routed through neighbouring Iran has failed under U.S. pressure, leaving Baghdad scrambling for alternatives to keep the lights on.
** Britain’s North Sea could yield up to three times more oil and gas than the Government has suggested, leading analysts have found. Wood Mackenzie, which monitors oil and gas fields around the world and is renowned as a global leader in energy data, estimated that there could be up to 14 billion barrels worth of recoverable oil and gas in existing North Sea fields.
** Japan just became the second country in the world to launch a commercial-scale osmotic energy plant, a big win for the little-known form of clean energy generation that first broke ground in Denmark. While osmotic energy is nascent and its testing grounds remain limited, it has big potential – The World Economic Forum recently named osmotic power systems as one of the top 10 emerging technologies to watch in 2025.
** India is considering setting up a strategic reserve of critical minerals for emergency use in defence manufacturing, Bloomberg News reported on Saturday, citing a defence official. The reserve of critical minerals and metals would be used to “tide over immediate requirement” when needed, the report added, citing Rajesh Kumar Singh, a top Ministry of Defence official who was speaking at a media event in New Delhi.