IRAN LATEST – TRUMP’S CEASEFIRE: President Donald Trump’s deadline last night came and went after the U.S. and Iran agreed on a two-week ceasefire as the two countries continue to negotiate. 

“Based on conversations with Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Field Marshal Asim Munir, of Pakistan, and wherein they requested that I hold off the destructive force being sent tonight to Iran, and subject to the Islamic Republic of Iran agreeing to the COMPLETE, IMMEDIATE, and SAFE OPENING of the Strait of Hormuz, I agree to suspend the bombing and attack of Iran for a period of two weeks,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.

The president noted that Iran has offered a new 10-point proposal, which he claimed as a “workable basis” for continued discussions. 

Ships moving? Vessels in the Strait of Hormuz began to resume transit this morning, but Iran closed the waterway following Israeli attacks on Lebanon. 

The ceasefire did not apply to Israel’s strikes against Lebanon. Reuters reports that Israel has carried out its heaviest strikes on Lebanon today since the war started. 

There was some movement in the waterway before the closure. According to the ship tracking service MarineTraffic, vessels were going through the strait this morning. They noted that, since the war began, nearly 426 tankers, 34 LPG carriers, and 19 LNG vessels have been stranded in the region. 

At a White House briefing, press secretary Karoline Leavitt said that the president was made aware of reports of the strait being closed. Leavitt said that a closed strait is “completely unacceptable” to the president. 

“We have seen an uptick of traffic in the strait today, and I will reiterate the president’s expectation and demand that the Strait of Hormuz is reopened immediately, quickly and safely,” Leavitt said. 

Meanwhile, the Financial Times reported that Iran is demanding shipping companies pay a toll in cryptocurrency to pass through the waterway. 

Oil prices plunge: News of the ceasefire agreement sent shockwaves through the oil markets last night and early today, causing prices to fall at a historic pace. 

Just before 11 a.m. EDT, Brent crude had fallen by 14.78%, while West Texas Intermediate dropped by 16.78%, putting the international and domestic benchmarks on track for the largest dip in prices since the COVID-19 pandemic. 

The markets began to recover some of the losses later in the afternoon, with Brent declining by 12.56% at around 3 p.m., selling at $95.55 per barrel. WTI was also down by 15.75% and priced at $95.00 per barrel. 

There have only been a few times in recorded history where oil prices have dropped by 14% or more in a single day – only two of which happened during the 21st century. 

Curious what happened on those days and how far oil fell? Check out Callie’s latest here. 

Qatar to resume LNG production: Qatar plans to work on resuming production at its liquefied natural gas facilities that have been damaged in the war, Bloomberg reports. 

Qatar’s Ras Laffan LNG facility took damage from a missile attack and has been offline since early March. The attacks disrupted nearly 17% of its export capacity, causing about $29 billion in lost revenue. 

The strikes against LNG facilities in Qatar have tightened global supply of LNG and raised prices. Qatar is a significant exporter of LNG to both Asia and Europe. Bloomberg said it is unclear how quickly Qatar can ramp up production and any resumption of normal operations would require the strait to be open.

NEW JERSEY GOING NUCLEAR: New Jersey’s Democratic Gov. Mikie Sherrill is getting on board the nuclear train, signing legislation to lift the state’s effective moratorium on new nuclear power projects. 

The details: While visiting the Salem Nuclear Power Plant in Southern New Jersey, Sherrill announced she was signing new legislation lifting 1970s restrictions that prevent new nuclear energy projects from being built in the state. 

The bill, which passed in the state Senate with unanimous approval last month, modifies permitting requirements to allow nuclear generating facilities to be considered under the state’s environmental review process if the state’s Department of Environmental Protection finds that a project’s proposed method for storage and disposal of radioactive waste is safe.

“For too long, outdated laws have kept us from even considering new nuclear facilities,” Sherrill said. “One law required any new projects to point to a method of disposal that quite literally does not exist. It was written in the 1970s tied to a technological requirement that made sense then, but not today.” 

During today’s announcement, Sherrill also announced the establishment of a new nuclear power task force made up of experts across the government and industry. The task force will focus on five areas: 

• Safety and trust 
• Financing
• Supply chains
• Workforce 
• Regulatory oversight 

“This is all just a first step, but by doing these two things in parallel, cutting 50 year old red tape and recruiting experts to ensure we’re only moving forward in a safe, measured way,” the governor said. 

LEE ZELDIN TOUTS DEREGULATION AT CLIMATE SKEPTIC GROUP’S CONFERENCE: Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lee Zeldin delivered a keynote address early this morning at an annual meeting of the Heartland Institute, a nonprofit organization known for promoting climate change skepticism and opposition to measures meant to curb emissions. 

Zeldin’s appearance at the conference is a significant endorsement from the federal government for the group, which advocates for the benefits of greenhouse gas emissions and rejects the idea that there is a “climate crisis.” This closely aligns the Trump administration’s efforts to roll back numerous climate-related rules and regulations, including the 2009 Endangerment Finding. 

Zeldin reflected on the rescinding of the Endangerment Finding, calling today “a day to celebrate vindication.” 

As Democrats, environmentalists and climate activists have slammed Zeldin over the administration’s deregulatory agenda, the EPA administrator hit back in turn today. 

“We aren’t just following blind obedience to whatever the dire, doom and gloom prediction of the day is from John Kerry or Al Gore or AOC,” he said. “It’s controversial that we won’t sign up for the script that the world is immediately about to end.” 

The pushback: The Environmental Defense Fund lambasted Zeldin over his appearance at the conference this morning. 

“Lee Zeldin is executing on the playbook of denial written by the Heartland Institute. The costs of climate change are piling up like the debris after a disaster,” said EDF vice president for political and government affairs Joanna Slaney. “Energy prices and insurance premiums are soaring. People’s health and safety are suffering. Instead of taking on the challenge, they’re running out the clock.”

ENERGY INFORMATION ADMINISTRATION RELEASES ANNUAL OUTLOOK: The U.S. Energy Information Administration said data centers will play a pivotal role in future electricity consumption. 

In its 2026 annual outlook, EIA said that after 15 years of nearly flat U.S. electricity consumption, demand has increased on average 2.1% annually for the last five years. It forecasts that electricity consumption will continue to grow through 2050 at a rate of 0.9% to 1.6%, with data center server energy being a main factor. 

Although both electric vehicles and data center server demand show significant growth, they account for a small share of total load projections in 2050. 

“Overall electricity demand grows between 25% and 50% by 2050, with EV and data center server demand accounting for between 50% and 80% of that growth. However, EV and data center electricity demand only accounts for between 10% and 25% of total demand in 2050,” EIA said. 

Take a look at the report here. 

NEWS FROM THE DATA CENTER WARS: A small town in Wisconsin approved a ballot measure that would require voter approval for future data center projects. 

A majority of voters in Port Washington approved a referendum requiring city leaders to obtain voter approval before granting developers tax incentives exceeding $10 million. The ballot measure was pushed by the Great Lakes Neighbors United, a local anti-data-center group. 

There has been growing opposition in Port Washington to a $15 billion artificial intelligence data center campus being developed by Vantage Data Center. The campus will be collaborating with tech companies OpenAI and Oracle as part of the Trump administration’s “Stargate” initiative to expand AI infrastructure. 

Across the country, there has been growing resistance to data center development, with residents raising concerns about energy prices, noise pollution, water use, transparency, and more. 

For example, in Maine, legislators have moved a bill that would ban data centers until November 2027. Then, earlier this week, an Indianapolis city councilman’s home was shot at just days after voting in favor of a new data center. There was a note found on the scene, reading “no data centers.” 

INDIA WITHDRAWS BID TO HOLD COP33: India has withdrawn its bid to hold the United Nations annual climate conference, or COP33, in 2028. 

In a letter to the group of nations to decide on a COP33 venue, India said it was withdrawing its bid “following a review of its commitments for the year 2028.” It added that it would “continue to engage constructively with the international community to advance global climate action,” according to Bloomberg. 

The next climate conference or COP31 is set to be held in November in Antalya, Turkey. Both Turkey and Australia will be co-hosting the meeting. In recent years, COP has fallen short in climate commitments and actions to limit global warming. 

RUNDOWN 

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