Artemis II: Beleaguered federal scientists take a victory lap As the NASA astronauts return to Earth, President Donald Trump is promoting deep cuts in research funding for the second year in a row.

Artemis is "an echo of what America could still be, but is not today, because of the attacks on science," Rep. Whitesides told me. The mission has captured imaginations worldwide—but also casts Trump's deep proposed cuts to federal research into sharp relief. My story:
www.eenews.net/articles/art...

Zeldin stars at climate denial conference The EPA administrator became the first agency chief to speak at the Heartland Institute's annual gathering of people who say climate change benefits humanity.

Addressing a climate science deniers conference, EPA chief Lee Zeldin acknowledged his presence meant the "walls have collapsed" between federal government and a fringe group of contrarians that other administrations kept at arm's length.

w/ @chemnick.bsky.social

www.politico.com/news/2026/04...

4 ways Trump has suggested the Strait of Hormuz could be reopened — and why they're a tough lift President Donald Trump has floated several — at times contradictory — ways for reopening the Strait of Hormuz, even as Iran’s blockade is already driving up prices and squeezing economies amid an un...

Iran has inflicted real political and economic pain on Trump by closing the Strait of Hormuz. Here are four of the widely varying and contradictory accounts Trump has given for how Hormuz will reopen, ahead of his pledge that a "whole civilization will die tonight." www.politico.com/news/2026/04...

With gas prices on the rise, Trump officials discuss feared $150 oil White House braces for a potential oil spike to $150 or higher as the Iran war chokes supply

The Trump White House is now discussing the possibility of $150 a barrel oil. It comes as a supply shock makes it way through Asia, then Europe, then the US. “This is going to be effectively a massive tax that will sap excess disposable income." www.politico.com/news/2026/03...

Houthis pledge to keep open Middle East strait, for now There is no current plan to shutter the Strait of Bab el-Mandeb, a Houthi group told POLITICO’s E&E News.

NEW: NEW: A Houthi-affiliated group tells me they are not planning to close the Bab el-Mandeb strait right now and will continue to let ships pass through. After Hormuz, it's the second major oil and gas shipping route in the Middle East. www.eenews.net/articles/hou...

If Trump escalates, Iran will likely close a second strait in the Middle East, which will cause another oil price shock. As one expert told me: “We are not in a situation where the Iranians are capitulating as Trump is also desperate for negotiation."

It's three times harder for blue states to get disaster funding under Trump The president has approved just 23 percent of blue state requests for disaster aid, compared to 89 percent for red states.

It's much easier for Republican-controlled states to get disaster aid from the Trump administration. Trump is rejected disaster aid to Democratic states at the highest rate in FEMA's history. Republican states also get the aid faster, my colleague Tom Frank reports. www.eenews.net/articles/its...

Gas prices are up in every state and the biggest increases are hitting key political battlegrounds.

States with competitive races like Arizona, Georgia, Wisconsin and Michigan have seen price jumps of at least $1 per gallon.

How it's impacting midterms: politi.co/3PmAxDp

Lots of E&E News greats are walking out the door today. A true tragedy.

Strike on key Iranian gas field is a new phase of the war. Trump blames Israel. Israel’s targeting of the South Pars gas field is a major escalation in the war that energy watchers feared could turbocharge the economic disruption.

Israel's strike on an Iranian gas field is a new phase of the war, one that might take a long time to come back from if it escalates. An all-out war on Middle Eastern energy infrastructure means it could take months or years to return to normal. www.politico.com/news/2026/03...

Trump is poised to take Iran’s Kharg Island. Here’s what could unfold next. The president’s attacks on Iran’s oil infrastructure could determine the course of the war — and its domestic political fallout.

Trump is poised to take Iran's Kharg Island and its oil-exporting facility. It's a very risky move that could put more US troops directly in harm's way and possibly create lasting economic challenges that will dog him and the GOP for the rest of his tenure. www.politico.com/news/2026/03...

EPA tied its climate rollback to low oil prices. Then came the Iran war. The Trump administration relied on rosy price estimates to argue that repealing emissions limits for cars would save consumers money.

EPA's endangerment finding and car rules repeal suggested that oil prices fall because of Trump policies. Lower future prices at the pump would mean consumers pay less for policies that keep demand high.

But then came Trump's war...

www.eenews.net/articles/epa...

It's not just oil. Here comes Hormuz inflation. Garden supplies, birthday balloons and semiconductors could get hit by price inflation or shortages.

It's not just oil. The Strait of Hormuz is also a primary shipping route for helium, which is essential to the manufacturing of semiconductors, the backbone of modern life. It's also used in MRIs, welding and party balloons. Price inflation could soon follow. www.politico.com/news/2026/03...

You can bet on climate disasters. Business is booming Traders are placing wagers on the likelihood of disasters, activists being jailed and oil depots exploding.

"Last year, $239 million was traded on Kalshi’s climate markets — the fifth-most of any prediction category, according to data provided by the company. The volume of trading on its climate markets is on pace to grow to more than $1.2 billion." www.eenews.net/articles/you...

My latest for @climateconnections.bsky.social

Why high oil prices may outlast Trump’s Iran war Tanker backlogs, damaged energy infrastructure and threats in the Strait of Hormuz could keep gasoline prices elevated.

Even if the Iran war ended today, it would take months for energy markets to go back to normal, experts tell me. And the longer the fighting continues, the higher the risks for "the worst recession that anyone has seen since the 1930s." www.eenews.net/articles/why...

“I don’t want to brag, but no other president can do the shit I’m doing," Trump told GOP members of Congress just now.

And the war on energy infrastructure in the Gulf region has just begun. How quickly could it hit $4 a gallon? www.eenews.net/articles/nig...

‘Nightmare scenarios’: Iran hits oil targets, testing Trump’s Teflon The regime’s attacks on tankers and refineries could reverberate through the U.S. economy ahead of midterms.

Iran is widening attacks on energy infrastructure in Gulf region, which could cause maximal pain to Trump's political fortunes at home when gas prices head for the stratosphere. "The mother of all nightmare scenarios for the global oil market was this." www.eenews.net/articles/nig...

The oil island that could break Iran President Donald Trump’s allies are urging him to take control of a small spit in the Persian Gulf that controls nearly all of Iran’s oil exports.

A tiny island inhabited by gazelles is the key to Iran's entire economy and funding for the brutal war machine of the regime. It's so sensitive that both Israel and U.S. forces have avoided destroying it for decades.
www.eenews.net/articles/the...

I was at this incredible show as was director Jim Jarmusch, who filmed the whole thing. Then we all hustled up to Cleveland, where Waits played a second show that started at 1 a.m. and had an entirely different set list. One of America's greatest living songwriters, who rarely plays shows.

The climate report was assembled by Energy Secretary Chris Wright and reflects years of his own misleading climate change statements. He touted it when the Trump administration proposed the endangerment rollback, but was notably absent from the White House event where his report was unmentioned.

“They would have been obliterated in court,” @andrewdessler.com told me. "This is the gold standard of climate skepticism and if this is the best they can do, then they’ve proven how robust climate science actually is."

Trump sidelines climate contrarians in science rollback The president has mocked global warming as a “hoax,” but his administration avoided testing that claim in court as it targeted the endangerment finding.

Climate denialists claimed victory when the Trump administration published an unprecedented report reliant on decades of debunked claims. The administration just proved it has no confidence their work could withstand scrutiny in a legal fight over climate regulations www.politico.com/news/2026/02...

Trump EPA took eleventh-hour look at endangerment finding With just days remaining for the Trump administration, EPA reviewed the agency's foundational ruling underpinning its climate change rules. But in a

Here are my stories about how the last Trump EPA didn't end but *saved* the endangerment finding

I cite lots of #FOIA docs

www.eenews.net/articles/tru...

www.eenews.net/articles/ins...

Of course, many of these people are now serving in this Trump admin — which just axed the finding

#FOIA4eva

EPA repeals endangerment finding The move discards a scientific determination that empowered the government to limit climate pollution.

Greenhouse gases stopped being harmful at 1:30 pm EST on Thursday, February 12, 2026.

www.politico.com/news/2026/02...

Trump claims people are "dying" because of the endangerment finding and the way it restricted air conditioning and fossil fuels. Which, of course, is not reality.

Here’s what could happen when the endangerment finding dies States, courts and Congress could be forced to fill the climate policy vacuum.

I'm told that the endangerment finding repeal package lands next week. I look at what that could mean for other climate rules, state action, and the future of U.S. climate policy.

And on Signal at jchemnick.01, for any tips on when, where, etc.!

www.eenews.net/articles/Her....

Months ago, during the first government shutdown, a source suggested I take a look at how small federal contractors were being affected. I started making calls and quickly realized that this story went beyond the shutdown — some of these folks had been losing money all year. 1/

Florida DOGE embraces Trump’s disputed climate report The DeSantis administration, seeking to curtail local spending, cited a Department of Energy report to question the "so-called climate crisis."

Florida's DOGE team is now using the misleading DOE climate report to attack government spending on infrastructure, EVs, mass transit and more in one of the most climate-vulnerable states. www.eenews.net/articles/flo.... From me and @adamaton.bsky.social