Axios

Tesla is recalling 123,000 early Model S sedans, the Verge reports, over "a power steering issue." In an email to customers, Tesla said no other cars were affected, and if a customer hasn't experienced a problem they "do not need to stop driving their cars."

Why it matters, per Bloomberg: This has been a bad month for Tesla as Moody's downgraded its debt and "analysts and investors have questioned the company’s ability to mass-manufacture its new Model 3 sedan."

The Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas has a new survey of oil-and-gas companies in their region that helps explain why U.S. production — especially from shale formations in the Permian Basin — is slated to keep surging.

It’s no secret what it takes to get booted from the Trump administration. Annoy the president with wordy, nagging disagreements. (Ask outgoing national security adviser H.R. McMaster.) Call him a moron. (Ask outgoing Secretary of State Rex Tillerson.) Or make it seem like you are the puppet master. (Ask former senior strategist Steve Bannon.)

The real mystery: How does anyone survive in the wild West Wing? Based on countless conversations that we have had with aides past and present, here’s how.

FirstEnergy Solutions said Wednesday it will be closing two nuclear power plants in Ohio and another in Pennsylvania within three years. The company plans to continue lobbying for legislative solutions to keep plants operating, "but will also look for potential buyers as another alternative."

Why it matters, per Axios' Ben Geman: The closures underscore the intense competition nuclear plants face at a time of stagnant power demand, cheap natural gas and falling renewable costs. This will also focus more attention on the Trump administration's efforts to aid struggling coal and nuclear plants.

The Environmental Protection Agency downplayed the role that human activity has played in accelerating climate change in talking points distributed via an internal memo, reports The Huffington Post. One of the memo's talking points says that "human activity" impacts climate change in "some manner," adding, "The ability to measure with precision the degree and extent of that impact, and what to do about it, are subject to continuing debate and dialogue."

Why it matters: Axios' Amy Harder says the very existence of these talking points puts on paper the phrasing that EPA chief Scott Pruitt has been using for months. For that reason, it's one of the most concrete public signs that the EPA's effort to dismiss climate change is coordinated and not haphazard.

Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman told Reuters that the kingdom and Russia are weighing plans for long-term extension of their cooperation on oil market management. “We are working to shift from a year-to-year agreement to a 10 to 20 year agreement,” the heir to the Saudi throne said.

Why it matters: It's the strongest, highest-level signal yet that the two-year-old pact between OPEC and Russia to limit supplies could be transformed into a lasting agreement between the huge producers, whose market positions have been challenged by the rise of U.S. shale.

Saudi Arabia's sovereign wealth fund and the SoftBank Group Corp. of Japan announced plans last night for what would become the world's largest solar power project in the kingdom, developing 200 gigawatts of new solar power capacity by 2030, the Wall Street Journal reports.

Why it matters: If the plan actually comes to pass, well, that's a lot of solar. By way of comparison, the U.S. added a total of 10.6 GW of new solar PV capacity last year, according to a recent industry report. Plus — it also underscores Saudi Arabia's efforts to diversify its oil-dependent economy.

Newly released Gallup polling shows a widening partisan split on climate change and a growing rejection among Republicans of the dominant scientific views on the topic.

Why it matters: The polling underscores why, despite rare bipartisan policy agreements, prospects for sweeping legislative action on climate change are as remote as ever. The data arrives as the White House is unwinding several Obama-era global warming initiatives.