Axios

New reports underscore how electric vehicle sales are rising globally even as they've dropped sharply in the U.S. — and how the Iran war could lead even more people to buy them.

Why it matters: EVs help displace oil use and lower emissions. Petroleum price spikes from the Iran war appear to be boosting sales in some places, too.

Washington, D.C.; Irvine, Calif.; and Minneapolis, Minn. have the country's best city park systems, per the Trust for Public Land's new rankings.

• TPL's annual report ranks the 100 most populous U.S. cities' park systems relative to one another based on five categories: access, acreage, amenities, equity, and investment.

Driving the news: D.C. once again took home top honors thanks to its high scores for investment and access, with nearly all residents within a 10-minute walk of a park.

• It's now been in the top spot for six years running.
• Chicago is back in the top 10, "pulling narrowly ahead of Denver on increased investment and several creative park projects, such as converting a vacant lot into a community plaza and roller rink."

Zoom in: Texas is a bright spot, too.

• Irving, a Dallas suburb, rose 28 spots in the rankings from last year. Ft. Worth rose 14 spots, while Austin and Frisco are both up 7 spots.
• TPL credits Texas' gains to new parks and big investments, plus agreements letting people use school playgrounds and ballfields after hours and on the weekend.

Yes, but: Cities' inflation-adjusted parks and rec spending rose just 2% in fiscal 2025, TPL found, down from 7-8% in each of the prior two years.

• That comes as pandemic-era federal aid is running dry, straining cities' budgets.

What they're saying: "For all of us that love parks and know parks and know green space, and how important it is to health and mental health and kids and all those things, it is concerning to us, and it's counter to public sentiment around parks and green space," TPL president and CEO Carrie Besnette Hauser tells Axios.

• Parks return $3 in economic benefit for every $1 invested, Besnette Hauser adds, pointing to new TPL research accompanying this year's report.

The intrigue: President Trump has been busy making over D.C. in his own image, including big changes and repairs at local parks.

• Some of that work — including an effort to repaint the Reflecting Pool — has been controversial with locals, historians and Trump critics.

The bottom line: Parks are "places of real joy," Besnette Hauser says — adding that their green spaces, trails and benches give us all a chance to meet and connect with different kinds of people.

• "Parks bring us together in a world and a society right now, in a country that is so — people are so at odds with each other."

Investors went on a stock-buying binge earlier this month, even as inflation worries increased, finds the latest release of Bank of America's influential global fund managers' survey.

Why it matters: The outsize optimism helps explain the run-up in stock prices over the past few weeks.

The Trump-class battleship, the first of which is estimated to cost more than $17 billion, will be nuclear-powered, according to Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Daryl Caudle.

Why it matters: The pronouncement ends months of debate about how — and how fast — the battleship will get around.

• Navy leadership as late as the end of April described nuclear propulsion as "unlikely." Specs first published months ago have been in flux.

Energy security is the invisible force that keeps daily life running, but reliable energy is at risk.

Why it's important: All industries, including business, manufacturing and agriculture are affected by the availability and cost of energy inputs underpinning their operations.

We'll get a consumer vibe check as Home Depot, Walmart, Target and a few other major retailers report earnings this week.

Why it matters: These reports will offer a glimpse into how rising inflation and higher gas prices are pinching American wallets.

The NextEra-Dominion merger plan signals the rapid evolution of the U.S. power landscape marked by rising demand, rising bills, and AI's voracious needs.

Why it matters: There are a lot of wild stats around NextEra acquiring the smaller (but still very big) Dominion, but this one is especially eye-opening in the AI data center age:

• The company would have a pipeline of over 130 gigawatts of "large load" customers — with data centers a big part — looking to come online by 2032.

The tech and AI infrastructure industries are stepping up efforts to challenge the narrative that consumers are getting stuck with the bill for data center growth.

Why it matters: New analysis arguing the AI boom hasn't hit household budgets arrives amid a backlash to huge data centers.

Government bond yields around the world, including in the U.S., are hitting multi-decade highs as investors price in higher for longer inflation due to the Iran war.

Why it matters: The interest rates, or yields, that governments pay on their debt can drive the global economy — when rates are low, countries can spend more freely and drive economic growth.

Farmers across the Midwest are entering planting season under mounting financial pressure, as the Iran conflict drives up diesel and fertilizer prices — deepening an agricultural downturn that some say is the worst since the crisis of the 1980s.

Why it matters: Rising fuel and fertilizer costs threaten to push more family farms out of business, drive up food prices and further strain rural economies already battered by trade disruptions, inflation and extreme weather.