Axios

President Trump appeared to signal Thursday that he'll soon examine a plea by the financially struggling power company, FirstEnergy Solutions Corp., for the Energy Department (DOE) to support the operation of its coal-fired and nuclear plants.

Why it matters: Trump's remarks in West Virginia lacked detail, but nonetheless show that the controversial request for DOE to make sweeping use of its emergency powers has landed on the White House's radar screen.

Indonesia declared a state of emergency after an oil spill near the coast of the island Borneo ignited and killed at least four people over the weekend, BBC reports.

The details: The cause of the spill is still unknown. Hundreds of people have reported "difficulty breathing, nausea and vomiting" since the fires started, per BBC. A spokesman for the environmental group Greenpeace, Arifsyah Nasution, told CNN the Indonesian government is "late to mitigate the impact of this incident." Per BBC, authorities said that "the risk of further fires is increasing."

Carnegie Mellon University just published an updated look at carbon emissions trends and data for the U.S. power sector that includes fourth-quarter and full-year 2017 information.

Why it matters: It gauges progress in wringing heat-trapping gases from what was, until recently, the largest source of U.S. carbon dioxide emissions (but has now fallen behind transportation).

Tesla's newest Model 3 production numbers, while still short of its goals, were enough to help bolster the stock price by 6% on Tuesday after a brutal month.

Why it matters: Weaker results could have sent market confidence in the automaker reeling. But Tesla is hardly out of the woods. Analyst Karl Brauer of Kelley Blue Book pointed out that "scrutiny of the company’s inner-workings has never been higher."

Congruent Ventures, a new firm led by veteran clean energy VCs Abe Yokell and Joshua Posamentier, has raised $92 million in funds to back early-stage companies focused on sustainability-related technology.

Reversing the trend: A decade ago, a surge in appetite for investing in cleantech ended in disappointment and losses. Congruent's partners say things are different this time.