Secretary Bessent on CNBC: China Talks, Energy Exports, an AI Incident Line, and Why Americans Have Lost Trust in Legacy Media

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent used a Monday appearance on CNBC’s Squawk Box to lay out the working-level results of weekend talks with Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng — talks he described as a direct extension of the personal relationship between President Donald Trump and President Xi Jinping. Those discussions, held in New York the day […]

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ExxonMobil Joliet Refinery Floods and Stays Offline as Midwest Diesel Hits Records

Energy News Beat — September 18, 2026 One of the Midwest’s most important diesel and gasoline plants is still dark. ExxonMobil’s Joliet refinery in unincorporated Channahon Township, Illinois — about 40 miles southwest of Chicago — remains offline after a Sunday power outage and a subsequent flood that overwhelmed a pump. ZeroHedge flagged the outage […]

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Europe’s largest independent solar operator just declared bankruptcy. The filing is not an isolated accident. It is a market signal.

Hamburg-based Enerparc AG, one of Europe’s largest independent solar park owners, filed for insolvency at the Hamburg Local Court. On September 7, 2026, the court appointed restructuring attorney Stefan Denkhaus of BRL as provisional insolvency administrator. Operations at the parks are continuing while administrators try to stabilize the group. Enerparc reports about 5.5 GW of […]

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Loudoun County, the heart of Northern Virginia’s Data Center Alley, advanced a 12-month pause on new legislative data center and substation applications on September 16, 2026.

The 7-1-1 Board of Supervisors vote directs staff to draft a resolution for a later October vote, with a proposed retroactive effective date of September 15. Officials emphasized it is not a legal moratorium under Virginia’s Dillon Rule, but a temporary pause on board-level reviews while Phase 2 data-center standards are completed. Board Chair Phyllis […]

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