** The Pentagon and the Energy Department for the first time airlifted a small nuclear reactor from California to Utah, demonstrating what they say is the U.S. potential to quickly deploy nuclear power for military and civilian use.
** The Trump administration is appealing a federal judge’s order that voided Donald Trump’s day one memorandum pausing offshore wind energy projects, setting up a high-stakes court fight over green energy initiatives the president has long derided. The Department of Justice gave notice of the appeal after Judge Patti Saris sided with 17 blue states and a slew of environmental groups in finding that Trump’s memorandum was unlawful.
** Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton files a lawsuit alleging that Dow Chemical Co., its subsidiary Union Carbide, and the Brazilian petrochemical manufacturer Braskem are violating their pollution permits at a chemical manufacturing complex on the Gulf Coast.
** Peoples Gas, the Chicago-based gas utility, has settled a discrimination lawsuit alleging that it engaged in systemic race discrimination against Black employees and customers through fostering a hostile work environment, discriminatory job and territory assignment, discriminatory overtime and pay, discriminatory performance and discipline practices, and retaliation. Eleven former and current employees of the gas utility filed the suit, Towns et al. v. Peoples Gas, in 2023.
** The Pentagon is stepping up investment in North American germanium producers to strengthen military supply chains strained by China’s critical mineral export restrictions. Germanium is a niche metal crucial for infrared (IR) lenses, fiber optics and semiconductor solar cells used in space missions.
** Google will seek to prevent a group of copyright holders from banding together as two classes to sue the tech giant for copyright infringement over its AI training. The proposed classes include book authors and visual artists.
** A federal judge in Maine declines solar companies’ request for an injunction preventing new fees from being imposed on community solar developments, saying that the plaintiffs seem unlikely to win their case against changes to the state’s net metering rules.
World
** The Trump administration’s embargo on Cuba—effectively cutting off 75% of the communist-ruled island’s crude oil supplies—is quickly pushing the Havana leadership to a point of no return amid escalating fuel shortages and frequent blackouts. Some six weeks after the U.S. violently ousted Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro, and with the U.S. having seized control of that country’s oil production, geopolitical and energy analysts said the next “domino” in Cuba is close to toppling under economic pressure unless a diplomatic resolution is reached.
** Mexican authorities raided a tunnel used to steal fuel from a state-owned pipeline this week, offering a rare glimpse into a long-running battle against a black-market trade often dominated by organized crime. The 22-meter-long (72-foot-long) tunnel was discovered outside a home in rural Hidalgo state near the town of Tepetitlan.
** Hungary is suspending its shipments of diesel to neighboring Ukraine until interruptions to Russian oil supplies via a pipeline that crosses Ukrainian territory are resolved, Hungary’s foreign minister said.
** A Chinese energy firm has successfully tested an experimental blimp-like wind turbine capable of generating energy in the skies above cities and inland communities. Developed by Beijing Linyi Yunchuan Energy Technology, the S2000 airborne wind energy system (AWES) is a large, helium-filled airship containing 12 wind turbines.
** NexGen Energy, a Canadian uranium and nuclear fuel firm, said that it’s in talks with data center providers for a potential deal to help finance its Rook 1 uranium project in Saskatchewan, Canada.