Coal’s false solution

This roundup of U.S. energy news headlines is part of our Canary Media Daily newsletter. Sign up to get it in your inbox each morning.

TARIFFS

• China suspends exports of critical minerals and magnets essential to the battery, auto, semiconductor, and other industries. (New York Times)

COAL

• President Trump’s attempts to revive the coal industry will likely fail, as the fading fossil fuel can’t compete with cheaper and cleaner power from fossil gas and renewables. (New York Times)

ELECTRIC VEHICLES

• General Motors’ Ontario plant halts production of BrightDrop delivery vans and announces layoffs. (Detroit Free Press)

• More than 500 school districts nationwide are waiting on about $1 billion in funding the EPA has frozen to cover the costs of more than 3,400 electric buses. (Associated Press)

GRID

• The Trump administration decides the nation’s four power marketing administrations are essential as the Energy Department weighs workforce cuts, after it previously laid off Bonneville Power Administration workers and had to quickly rehire them. (Latitude Media)

DATA CENTERS

• Roughly a dozen proposals in state legislatures across the U.S. seek to ensure that potential new power plants and infrastructure for data centers don’t result in increased rates for other customers. (States Newsroom)

FOSSIL FUELS

• Trump’s seesawing tariffs increase uncertainty for oil and gas companies that already were looking to renegotiate contract terms for a wave of planned liquified natural gas export terminals. (Houston Chronicle)

BATTERIES

• Sodium-ion battery startup Bedrock Materials will shut down and return its seed funding to investors after deciding its business model no longer makes sense. (Heatmap)

• Swedish scientists are developing a soft, fluid-based battery with a texture like toothpaste that can be shaped to meet any form, though it is far from ready for industrial use. (The Hill)

CLIMATE

• Massachusetts legal experts predict the Trump administration will target the state’s 2021 climate law and regional carbon trading initiative in the name of ​“energy dominance,” but doubt the challenges will hold up in court. (WBUR)

PIPELINES

• Federal regulators say the Keystone pipeline needs a series of improvements and fixes before it can resume operations after a leak. (E&E News)