“The U.S. retreat from its electric-vehicle ambitions is spreading around the globe,” the Wall Street Journal reports.

“In Canada, Prime Minister Mark Carney paused an electric-vehicle sales mandate that was set to take effect next year. In the U.K., Prime Minister Keir Starmer has allowed for a more flexible timetable to hit the country’s EV targets. And the European Union last month bowed to pressure from automakers to rethink—a year earlier than planned—its 2035 target for eliminating carbon-dioxide emissions from cars.”

New York Times: “Coal use has been declining sharply in the United States since 2005, displaced in many cases by cheaper and cleaner natural gas, wind and solar power.”

“But in a series of steps aimed at improving the economics of coal, the Interior Department said it would open 13.1 million acres of federal land for coal mining and reduce the royalty rates that companies would need to pay to extract coal. The Energy Department said it would offer $625 million to upgrade existing coal plants around the country, which have been closing at a fast clip, to extend their life spans.”

“Energy groups are touting President Trump’s moves to embrace nuclear energy, pointing to New York as a prime example, as an annual Climate Week kicks off in New York City,” The Hill reports.

“Trump campaigned on a pledge to unleash American energy, and he has already signed multiple executive actions aimed at bolstering the nation’s nuclear power in particular.”

Wall Street Journal: “The Trump administration is opening swaths of wilderness land and federal waters to drilling, approving new terminals to export natural gas and proposing to ax environmental regulations, including an Obama-era rule used to curb emissions from power plants, tailpipes and oil-and-gas production. His One Big Beautiful Bill is expected to hobble renewable-energy projects and stunt the adoption of electric vehicles.”

“Oil executives now enjoy extraordinary access to the White House.”

“On the campaign trail last summer, President Donald Trump promised to swiftly cut electricity and energy prices in half if voters returned him to the White House,” CNN reports.

Said Trump: “We intend to slash prices by half within 12 months, maximum of 18 months. You will never have had energy so low as you will under a certain gentleman known as Donald J. Trump.”

“Although gasoline prices have been low during the first year of Trump’s second term, electricity costs are rising uncomfortably fast for a variety of factors, including the insatiable power needs of massive data centers that serve as the backbone of the artificial intelligence boom.”

“As of the end of July, electricity prices had surged 5.5% over the prior 12 months, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. That’s just over twice the pace of overall inflation, which remains elevated despite Trump’s promises to make prices tumble.”

“The White House has taken the extraordinary step of instructing a half-dozen agencies to draft plans to thwart the country’s offshore wind industry as it intensifies its governmentwide attack on a source of renewable energy that President Trump has criticized as ugly, expensive and inefficient,” the New York Times reports.

“Agencies that typically have little to do with offshore wind power have been drawn into the effort.”

“At the Health and Human Services Department, for instance, officials are studying whether wind turbines are emitting electromagnetic fields that could harm human health. And the Defense Department is probing whether the projects could pose risks to national security.”

“President Donald Trump’s bid to kill wind power is straining the clean energy industry — and imperiling GOP lawmakers whose communities have seen wind as an economic boon,” Politico reports.

“Few of those lawmakers are more endangered than Iowa’s Mariannette Miller-Meeks.”

“Hailing from a state that gets nearly two-thirds of its electricity from wind turbines while paying some of the lowest power bills in the nation, Miller-Meeks has been a leading GOP champion in the House for an ‘all-of-the-above’ energy strategy supporting the growth of renewables alongside fossil fuels. But she also cast a crucial vote for Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill, which wiped out billions of dollars in wind’s economic incentives — throwing Iowa’s 50-plus wind-related companies into uncertainty.”

“The Transportation Department on Friday said it was terminating or withdrawing $679 million in federal funding for 12 projects around the country intended to support the development of offshore wind power, the latest of the Trump administration’s escalating attacks against the wind industry,” the New York Times reports.

Time: “While the challenge of rising costs has become an increasingly prominent topic in energy circles, the issue has largely slid under the national radar up to this point, often seen as one component of a much bigger conversation about the cost of living.”

“But the implications of higher electricity prices—political, economic, and otherwise—should not be underestimated. Electricity prices will shape how companies spend their capital—including if, when, and how they build the data centers necessary for AI. Electricity prices will also help determine the U.S. climate trajectory. And for the first time, electricity bills seem destined to have a political valence.”

“In some places it is two dollars. It broke two dollars in a couple locations in the South.”

— President Trump, talking to reporters about gas prices.

Nowhere in the United States is gas selling for $2 a gallon.

“Since taking office, President Trump has railed against wind power and the turbines that are needed to generate that energy. He has called the turbines ugly and inefficient, and criticized them for ruining landscapes as well as endangering whales and birds,” the New York Times reports.

“So it was curious when, on Thursday, the administration announced a trade investigation that could result in tariffs on imported wind turbines. The Trump administration has typically imposed tariffs to protect American companies against foreign competition and spur domestic production of critical products.”

“This time, laying out a path to impose tariffs could be an attempt to stymie an industry.”

“Energy Secretary Chris Wright said he knows Republicans could suffer political pain for the electricity prices that are rising before next year’s midterm elections. But he hopes voters will know to blame the Democrats instead,” Politico reports.

Said Wright: “The momentum of the Obama-Biden policies, for sure that destruction is going to continue in the coming years.”

Still, he said: “That momentum is pushing prices up right now. And who’s going to get blamed for it? We’re going to get blamed because we’re in office.”

“Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy will announce expedited plans this week to build a nuclear reactor on the moon, the first major action by the former Fox News host as the interim NASA administrator,” Politico reports.

“A radioactive wasp nest with radiation levels ten times of what is allowed under regulations was found at a facility that once produced parts for US nuclear weapons,” the BBC reports.

New York Times: “The price of regular gasoline as tracked by AAA was only a few cents higher than the national average a month ago, before Israel began its attacks on Iran in an attempt to set back that country’s nuclear program. And it is more than 20 cents lower than a year ago.”

“The last time the cost for drivers was lower in late June was in 2021, when the pandemic depressed demand for the fuel. Gas prices are usually higher during the summer months, when demand rises as many Americans get in their cars for vacations and to see family.”