A big thing to watch now that the FTC placed a major condition on the Exxon-Pioneer deal: whether it reveals anything about how the regulators see other oil mergers.
State of play: The FTC forced Exxon to bar former Pioneer CEO Scott Sheffield from the board, alleging "collusive" messages with OPEC+ members years ago aimed at limiting production.
The Biden administration is allowing graphite, a key battery metal, to be temporarily exempt from Inflation Reduction Act sourcing requirements.
Why it matters: The concession to industry should theoretically let more EVs qualify for the full consumer credit in the new climate law, though how many cars is TBD.
Janos Pasztor, a veteran climate scientist and diplomat, has joined a solar geoengineering firm as an independent consultant, he tells Axios.
Why it matters: The move is a sign of how quickly geoengineering, which refers to deliberately modifying the environment to temporarily slow or halt human-caused climate change, is being viewed as a viable option as global warming worsens.
Why it matters: Newly released House and Senate documents shed fresh light on companies' motivations for providing funding for external research programs — a practice long accepted and disclosed, but nonetheless opaque.
A punishing heat wave is affecting hundreds of millions of people from India to Japan, with monthly and all-time temperature records falling repeatedly.
Why it matters: The heat, exacerbated at least in part by human-caused climate change, is proving relentless and fatal in many areas.
It's not every day you get to call a simple sashimi wrap groundbreaking science, but that was certainly true of my recent meal at an event hosted by the Tufts University Center for Cellular Agriculture (TUCCA).
Why it matters:TUCCA last month presented the Boston area's first public tasting of cultivated seafood — in this case, lab-grown salmon filets from future-of-food startup Wildtype.
The pace at which America experiences extreme weather or climate disasters is increasing.
In the 1980s, there were an average of 82 days between billion-dollar disasters, defined as events causing at least $1 billion in damage, according to Climate Central, a nonprofit climate science research organization, using National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration data.
In 2023, it was just 12 days.
The big picture: Here's the silver lining — donations to help friends, neighbors and even strangers navigate these disasters and rebuild from them are also on the rise.
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