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.”

“New York intends to build a large nuclear-power facility, the first major new U.S. plant undertaken in more than 15 years and a big test of President Trump’s promise to expedite permitting for such projects,” the Wall Street Journal reports.

“Democrats and clean energy advocates are ratcheting up pressure on a handful of Republican senators to salvage billions of dollars in projects, ahead of an expected vote next week on President Trump’s megabill that targets critical subsidies for elimination,” the Wall Street Journal reports.

“How fast to wind down clean-energy credits is one of several contentious pieces of the tax-and-spending legislation, along with reductions in Medicaid spending, that Republican party leaders need to iron out quickly to hit a July 4 deadline for delivering the bill to Trump’s desk. While some Republicans are trying to protect funding for projects in their states, other GOP lawmakers see the subsidies as a ripe target for savings, as the party moves to extend and expand Trump’s tax cuts.”

“The Trump administration said on Monday that it planned to eliminate federal protections across millions of acres of Alaskan wilderness, a move that would allow drilling and mining in some of the last remaining pristine wilderness in the country,” the New York Times reports.

“More than $14 billion in clean energy investments in the U.S. have been canceled or delayed this year, according to an analysis released Thursday, as President Donald Trump’s pending megabill has raised fears over the future of domestic battery, electric vehicle and solar and wind energy development,” the AP reports.

“Many companies are concerned that investments will be in jeopardy amid House Republicans’ passage of a tax bill that would gut clean energy credits.”

New York Times: “If passed by the Senate and signed into law by President Trump, the bill would sharply slow the sales and production of battery-powered cars and trucks in the United States and set back the global effort to address climate change.”

“The measure would gut subsidies for battery manufacturing, incentives for purchases of electric vehicles by individuals and businesses, and money for charging stations that Congress passed during the Biden administration. And it would impose a new annual fee on owners of electric cars and trucks.”

“President Donald Trump’s imaginary gas price has fallen,” CNN reports.

“Two weeks ago, Trump falsely claimed ‘a couple’ states had just seen gas prices fall to $1.98 per gallon. That was not even close to true – no state had an average lower than about $2.70 per gallon, and there was no evidence any individual station was offering gas for under $2 per gallon – but the next day Trump said ‘three states’ had just hit $1.98 per gallon, which was also far from the truth.”

“Trump repeated this inaccurate assertion about three $1.98 states at least three times this week. Then, during a commencement address at the University of Alabama on Thursday night, he used an even lower figure.”

Gallup: “Americans’ support for the use of nuclear energy as an electricity source in the U.S. has risen six percentage points, to 61%, since Gallup’s last measurement, in 2023. This is just one point shy of the 2010 record high for this question that has been tracked since 1994; it includes 29% of U.S. adults who say they “strongly” and 32% who “somewhat” favor nuclear energy.”