Today: A Texas power station is a major producer of the pollutant sulfur dioxide and its neighbors are taking notice; nuclear power startup Newcleo to go public; hydrofoiling electric boat network planned for Maldives.

Welcome back: The largest coal-fired power station in Texas can generate about 5% of the state’s electricity. It also contributes to air pollution in Houston and haze as far away as Arkansas.

Now its towering stacks are fueling residents’ concerns about the air they are breathing, The Wall Street Journal's Kris Maher and Jaclyn Jeffrey-Wilensky write.

Last year, the W.A. Parish Generating Station in Fort Bend County pumped out 36,000 tons of sulfur dioxide, 49% more than the prior year. Its emissions exceeded those in 43 states in 2025. The surge came amid rising power demand and a shift to coal as natural-gas prices rose.

NRG Energy, which owns the plant, said it takes environmental and safety compliance seriously and that its emissions are within permitted levels.

The EPA during the Obama and Biden administrations tried to use a rule regulating haze in national parks to require Parish and other power plants to reduce sulfur-dioxide emissions, potentially by adding costly scrubbers or shutting coal units altogether. The changes, favored by environmental groups, were never completed.

Meanwhile, the Trump administration, amid other moves favoring the use of coal, has said it won’t pursue such haze regulation. The EPA said the haze program needs revisions to avoid placing unnecessary burdens on states. NRG said regional haze is generated by many sources.

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Nuclear power developer Newcleo said it plans to go public through a merger with a blank-check company in a deal valuing it at about $2.4 billion, the Journal's Jennifer Hiller reports.

The Paris-based company, which operates in seven countries including the U.S., says the merger would support its entry into the American power market and fund existing projects in Europe.

Newcleo would be the latest in a series of nuclear-power developers to go public as the once-stagnant industry benefits from a surge in public popularity and a rise in electricity demand. Tech companies are on the hunt for new power supplies for artificial intelligence and have landed on nuclear power as a clean-energy solution.

A Silicon Valley startup founded by a former NASA researcher and MIT engineer plans to deploy a fleet of 100 electric hydrofoiling boats across the Maldives in what could become one of the largest early tests of electrified maritime transportation infrastructure.

WSJ Pro Sustainable Business reports that San Francisco-based Navier said it signed a roughly $100 million partnership with Maldives-based developer JIH Global to roll out the vessels over the next three years, beginning with five boats  this year. The network is designed to connect airports, resorts and inhabited islands across the Indian Ocean archipelago, where boats serve as the primary mode of transportation.

The project reflects growing interest in applying electric-vehicle technology to coastal transport, a sector long dominated by diesel-powered ferries and water taxis. Hydrofoil vessels use underwater wings that lift the hull above the water at speed, reducing drag and energy consumption.

• Chinese factories are moving abroad, making everything from appliances to automobiles from North America to Eastern Europe. (WSJ)
   
• China’s revised method for reporting carbon emissions may have erased half of the rise in levels over the past five years. (FT)
   
• Chinese electric-vehicle maker XPeng had a weak start to 2026, sliding back to a loss in the first quarter. (WSJ)
   
• The European Union created a legal path for the recycling of sanctioned vessels in the shadow fleet. (Dow Jones Risk Journal)
   
• An expected El Niño weather pattern, supercharged by climate change, is shaping up to be the next test for a global economy. (WSJ)
   
• The EPA and Congress are considering significant reforms to the Toxic Substances Control Act. (Dow Jones Risk Journal)
   
• Canada unveiled a deal to sell LNG to Germany, marking a significant step in its effort to capitalize on its oil-and-gas reserves. (WSJ)
   
• The Bezos Earth Fund is lagging behind its spending goals, with only 28% of the promised $10 billion allocated so far. (Bloomberg)
   
• The high-seas black market that is keeping Iran’s illicit oil flowing, using a clandestine network of aging tankers. (WSJ)

WSJ Pro Sustainable Business gives you an inside look at how companies are tackling sustainability. Send your comments to editor Perry Cleveland-Peck at perry.cleveland-peck@wsj.com. Follow the WSJ Pro Sustainable Business team on LinkedIn at perrycp, clara-hudson and yusuf_khan.