Axios

Fusion startup Avalanche Energy has closed a $40 million Series A round led by Lowercarbon Capital, with a suite of other backers including Founders Fund and Toyota Ventures.

Why it matters: If fusion can ever be commercialized, it heralds a promise of almost limitless power without the dangerous waste associated with traditional fission reactors.

As President Biden preps his re-election bid, here's what key House Democrats said at an Axios Pro event Friday about their plans to sell voters on their party's climate agenda.

Why it matters: It's not just a political pitch. The Inflation Reduction Act contains huge consumer-oriented climate subsidies, but half the country has no clue what the IRA is, according to recent polls.

Chilean President Gabriel Boric's move to bring lithium extraction under state control is a major step in efforts by nations rich in energy transition resources to strengthen their hands, Ben writes.

Why it matters: Chile is the world's second-largest lithium producer, supplying a fourth of the global supplies of the metal, which is a critical component of EV batteries.

The Environmental Protection Agency is said to be nearing the release of draft rules to force carbon emissions cuts at the nation's power plants, Ben writes.

Every year, six environmental activists from each of the world's inhabited continental regions are honored with the Goldman Environmental Prize, or the "Green Nobel."

Driving the news: One of this year's cohort has spent decades fighting for environmental preservation and Indigenous Indonesian rights, protecting tens of thousands of acres of carbon-rich biodiverse lands from industrial exploitation.

Watch out, northerners: The armadillos are coming.

What's happening: The scaly critters have slowly but steadily expanded north from Texas for over a hundred years. Now their movement is rapidly accelerating.