🗞️ Exclusive: A climate group that backs Democrats is giving the party's 2028 hopefuls and campaign committees advice on how to capitalize on waning public support for data centers, a new memo shows.

Why it matters: Data centers have landed atop the political radar, and Climate Power's memo underscores the scramble to turn the backlash into a political advantage ahead of the midterms and 2028.

Driving the news: It says "public opinion on data centers is cratering" and argues this provides a political opening around energy costs and environmental concerns.

• The "topline message" is that "Trump and Republicans have given AI data centers a blank check to raise our utility bills, poison our air, and drain our water," Climate Power argues.

State of play: Democrats can draw a contrast with President Trump's AI and data center advocacy by uniting around three principles, it states.

• Tech companies paying their own way.
• Powering data centers with clean energy.
• Giving communities a "real say" and ensuring they're informed about water and energy usage.

Reality check: Candidates' positions on data centers don't split along partisan lines as various GOP candidates and leaders offer new restrictions.

• Demands that tech companies and developers don't offload costs onto consumers are common in both parties — and the White House has the same position.
• And Democrats don't have a united front, with high-profile incumbents and candidates taking a variety of approaches.

Yes, but: Jesse Lee, a senior adviser to Climate Power, argues that Republicans are politically saddled with President Trump's overall support for the sector and will bend to his goals.

• The memo says that while some GOP candidates are now emphasizing data center accountability, "Trump owns the party's position."

If Republicans keep control of the House and Senate, GOP lawmakers will be an "army for data centers" on Trump's behalf, Lee said in an interview.

• He also said that while Democrats have room to debate specific policies, they're broadly united around the memo's principles.
• The memo says that debate could include whether to pursue "real, enforced guardrails" or a temporary moratorium on data centers.

What we're watching: Data center politics are evolving quickly as the midterms loom and Democrats jockey for position ahead of 2028.

• Climate Power said it shared the memo with the Democratic National Committee, the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, and the Democratic Governors Association.
• The group declined to offer a list of potential 2028 hopefuls who got it, though Lee said it's "pretty much everybody that has been in the conversation."

Brent crude oil fell back under $90 per barrel this morning despite the White House campaign to boost economic pressure on Iran and threats of tough new penalties against buyers of Iranian oil.

Why it matters: Declines yesterday and then this morning back up Axios' Zachary Basu's analysis of the slow-burn campaign that's short on details.

What they're saying: "The market seems largely unfazed by Washington's push for tighter economic pressure on Iran, with traders treating the US effort to nudge partners away from Iranian trade as marginal rather than market‑moving," ING analysts said in a note.

Catch up quick: The Treasury and State Departments yesterday announced new sanctions that include fresh action against shippers and brokers involved in Iran's oil trade.

What we're watching: All eyes are on potential secondary sanctions against China, the largest buyer of Iranian oil and one of the regime's most important economic lifelines.

The bottom line: Analysts are skeptical of a hard line on China.

• "Beijing ... knows that the US is unlikely to want to bring on the economic pain associated with a new tit-for-tat trade war with China, coming right before [President] Xi's visit to Washington and, even worse, just before the midterm elections," writes Dexter Tiff Roberts of the Atlantic Council's Global China Hub.

🤝 Fresh data center action! Navitas Semiconductor Corp. is acquiring Claros, a startup with tech that minimizes energy waste at data centers, in a cash-and-stock deal valued at up to $232.8 million.

• Why it matters: The quest to find more power for AI is spawning a related race to use energy more efficiently at data centers. Look for more dealmaking in this space.

🌍 The WSJ has an informative look at Europe, the U.K. and Canada backtracking on their climate efforts.

• Why it matters: While Europe has long had ambitious climate policies, "the aggressive plans to transition away from fossil fuels are running up against concerns that the policies are stifling industry by pushing up energy prices," the WSJ reports.

⚡ Via Reuters, "Aggreko has filed for a U.S. initial public offering, the ​power supply company said on Monday, as it looks to tap ‌investor appetite for energy infrastructure providers due to growing electricity demand."

💵 And more on data centers: nVent Electric is buying Maverick Power, which makes electricity distribution equipment for data centers, in a $1.75 billion deal. Bloomberg has more.

The spread between gasoline and diesel prices is atypically large right now, as you can see above.

Axios' Matt Phillips has a good look at the diesel crunch from another angle.

Why it matters: Diesel fuel is a key input for virtually anything grown or transported throughout the U.S., making it a potentially inflationary force.

Between the lines: It means the market's relief over crude oil's relatively muted reaction to the Iran war could be misplaced.

• "The market is out to lunch, looking at crude oil prices," Jeff Currie, a former commodities analyst with Goldman Sachs and Carlyle, tells Axios. "Look at diesel prices."

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That's the global average surface ocean temperature outside the polar regions on Aug. 22 — the highest on record, breaking a 2024 mark, per the EU's Copernicus Climate Change Service.

• "While daily records should always be interpreted within a broader climate context, this milestone is consistent with the continued long-term warming of the global ocean and the emergence of an extreme El Niño event in the tropical Pacific," the group said alongside the data.