Axios

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the Business Roundtable hope to join Exxon's litigation against shareholder climate activists.

Why it matters: It signals that the K Street powerhouses see this case as an important front in wider battles over shareholder activism on climate and other topics.

Sobering research demonstrate how climate change-worsened extremes threaten specific nations.

Why it matters: The analysis in Climatic Change offers fresh insight into risks facing six countries at different levels of warming — Brazil, Ghana, Ethiopia, China, Egypt and India.

Texas' massive Smokehouse Creek Fire exploded into the state's second-largest wildfire on Wednesday after forcing the evacuation of residents and workers at a nuclear facility on Tuesday.

The big picture: The sprawling wildfire, burning from the Texas town of Stinnett into parts of neighboring Oklahoma, was 3% contained as it burned across some 850,000 acres on Wednesday afternoon, according to the Texas A&M Forest Service.

The modern winter climate history of the Central U.S. was rewritten this week, as more than 130 monthly high temperature records were set from Texas to Michigan.

Why it matters: The historic winter heat wave illustrates how extreme day to day weather can act in concert with climate change to set new milestones.

This year's most environmentally friendly car is the plug-in hybrid electric Toyota Prius Prime SE, according to a report from the American Council for an Energy Efficient Economy (ACEEE).

Why it matters: The hybrid, which can be driven using nothing but electric power, edged out ahead of the most "green" electric vehicle (EV), the Lexus RZ 300e.

Millions of Americans are facing extreme weather whiplash this week — notably in cities including Chicago and Dallas, which were forecast to swing from record highs to wintry lows.

The big picture: Ground stops were temporarily declared at Chicago Midway and O'Hare airports into early Wednesday amid multiple reports of tornadoes, powerful winds and "golf ball-size hail" in the area, as a supercell swept across parts of Illinois and into Ohio Valley.