Axios

As hurricane season begins, emergency response leaders resoundingly agree: Storm preparedness isn't just about weather forecasts — it's about building trust, strengthening infrastructure and ensuring vulnerable communities aren't left behind after disaster strikes.

The U.S. national average gas price has dropped back below $4 a gallon, per AAA, a sign of Americans' pain at the pump easing after months of war in Iran.

The big picture: Iran's squeeze on oil traffic through the Strait of Hormuz battered the global economy. But crude prices in June fell to their lowest levels in over three months on news of an extended ceasefire agreement between the U.S. and Iran.

PHOENIX — This desert region has become a bellwether for the nation's data center growth as the tech sector grapples with rising temperatures and scarce resources.

Why it matters: Arizona is an extreme microcosm of the challenges the AI boom is running into across the country as tech companies race to build data centers demanding massive amounts of power and testing local water supplies.

President Trump made the case for his deal with Iran during an hour-long press conference Wednesday, while seeming to lower his own bar for success and warning he could bomb Iran again if nuclear talks fail.

The big picture: For two months, Trump has been seeking a deal to end the war, reopen the Strait of Hormuz, and stabilize global energy markets. This deal should achieve that. But some of Trump's critics argue that making concessions just to return to status quo ante shows the war itself was a costly mistake.

Tropical Storm Arthur formed Wednesday in the Gulf off the coast of Texas, becoming the first named system of the 2026 Atlantic hurricane season.

Why it matters: The storm is forecast to bring life-threatening flash flooding to portions of Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia and Florida.

Frontier, the group of big companies trying to jump-start carbon removal, just unveiled $915 million in new purchase plans and added AI heavyweight Anthropic to its roster.

Why it matters: New or accelerated ways of pulling CO2 from the atmosphere could become a weapon against global warming — but massive scale-up is required to move the needle.

Uber has signed a long-term lease for a 50,000-square-foot Houston depot, with plans to house 40 EV chargers and 15 maintenance bays, laying the groundwork for a robotaxi launch in the Bayou City in 2027.

Why it matters: Behind every robotaxi fleet is a lot of physical infrastructure — and Uber's race to secure it is taking place in cities well before its driverless cabs ever hit the streets.

Tropical Storm Arthur is expected to form Wednesday and make landfall later that night near the Texas-Louisiana state line, the National Hurricane Center said in its Tuesday forecast.

Why it matters: Arthur will be the first named storm of the Atlantic hurricane season.

With large-scale oil shipments potentially resuming soon, let's take stock of how the energy shock has bucked conventional wisdom.

Why it matters: What market watchers and participants got wrong could help inform responses to geopolitical upheaval in the future.

The U.S. oil stockpile is at its lowest level since July 1983, when the country was still just building up its energy supply.

Why it matters: The stockpile, called the U.S. Strategic Petroleum Reserve, played a critical role in keeping a lid on oil and gasoline prices in the Iran war, but it's running low.