Remember when my Axios colleague Amy Harder wrote this week about simmering trade tensions between President Trump and the oil-and-gas industry? Well, they're boiling over now that Trump is preparing to impose steep tariffs on steel imports (25%) and aluminum too (10%).
Why it matters: The action underscores how Trump's professed support for oil-and-gas producers is colliding with his super-hawkish trade stance — and the president's trade desires are winning the day right now.
ExxonMobil and Bank of America (BofA) are pouring a combined $27.5 million into a new Stanford University research program to push low-carbon energy further into the mainstream while seeking new technology breakthroughs. It will link major companies with Stanford scientists as well as experts in engineering, finance, economics and policy.
Why it matters: The Stanford Strategic Energy Alliance’s multidisciplinary focus highlights how clean energy has arrived to a new place — it's now on multiple tracks, spanning mainstream commercial deployment to deep R&D into the next wave of breakthroughs, and a lot of points in between.
Scientists have spent their entire careers trying to understand why some trout no longer survive in Lake Champlain and the Great Lakes. Now, they've returned and researchers don’t know why.
Why it matters: Around the world, large lakes ecosystems, which drive the economies of cities that border them, are being threatened. “One thing [this return] demonstrates is that these lakes have enormous recuperative powers,” says Dave Fielder, fisheries research biologist at the Michigan Department of Natural Resources. “If we can provide relief from some of the stressors, the lake will respond. Sometimes, very quickly.”
The publication Utility Dive is out with its big, detailed annual survey of utility employees on the state of the power industry.
Why it's useful: The survey arrives at a time of upheaval in power markets thanks to the rise of new renewables and distributed tech and changes in White House policy. Overall, the survey finds regulatory and policy uncertainty is the biggest concern (40%) of utility professionals.
ExxonMobil disclosed in a filing yesterday that it's abandoning joint ventures with Russian state oil giant Rosneft to drill in Arctic waters, Siberia and the Black Sea as a result of U.S. and European Union sanctions against the Russian firm.
Exxon said the decision led to an after-tax loss of $200 million.
Why it matters: "The move is an about-face for Exxon, which had opposed the sanctions over Russia’s invasion of Crimea and argued they unfairly penalized U.S. companies while allowing foreign energy rivals to operate in the country, the world’s largest oil producer," Reuters notes.
A new coalition of auto suppliers, emissions control industry groups and an aluminum association is launching today that will fight against potential Trump administration moves to significantly weaken vehicle mileage and emissions standards.
Why it matters now: The rollout of the Automotive Technology Leadership Group arrives as the administration is revisiting mandates for model years 2022–2025 — regulations that represent a pillar of Obama-era climate policy.
