Today: DOJ lawsuit is the latest move in the climate skirmish between the federal government and the Golden State; Google tracks flash floods with a new AI tool; Australian plastics recycling company targets critical minerals.

Welcome back: The Trump administration is suing California in an effort to shut down the state’s moves to limit pollutants from cars and transition to zero-emission vehicles, WSJ Pro's Clara Hudson reports.

• The lawsuit, filed by the Justice and Transportation departments, targets the California Air Resources Board over its standards for limiting pollutants from light-duty vehicle tailpipes. The suit also takes issue with the state’s efforts to boost production of zero-emission vehicles.
• The Justice Department said the California rules essentially impose “an illegal electric-vehicle mandate through what are effectively state-specific mileage requirements for car manufacturers.”
• The lawsuit follows a series of filings brought by California pushing back against the Trump administration’s climate and clean-energy rollbacks.

Meanwhile, a jump in gas prices is threatening to roil the U.S. auto industry, which has leaned in to gas-powered vehicles and pulled back from electric options. The Journal's Sharon Terlep and Christopher Otts report that after increases in sticker prices, insurance and maintenance costs, fuel has been one aspect of vehicle ownership that has remained cheap.

• The national average price of regular unleaded gasoline was $3.63 a gallon as of Friday, up more than 21% since the start of the Iran conflict, according to OPIS. Automakers are racing to gauge the potential effect on sales, which have started slowly so far this year with buyers continuing to fret over record new-car prices and still-high interest rates.
• Newly freed from federal mandates to churn out fuel-efficient vehicles, General Motors, Ford Motor and Jeep-Ram parent Stellantis last year slashed production of EVs while doubling down on big trucks and powerful engines. Detroit’s automakers alone announced more than $50 billion in combined write-downs over scrapped EV plans.
• Now, Wall Street analysts and investors are worried whether Detroit’s automakers and their truck-heavy lineups can weather this storm. Shares of Ford are down 13% since the war started, while GM has lost 5%.

The surging oil price means it’s time to ponder, once again: Should you buy an EV, writes the Journal's Tech Columnist Christopher Mims. After a year of ups and downs with his own electric vehicle—which he still loves overall—here are the downsides you should consider before taking the leap.

Tell me what you think: Send me your feedback and suggestions at perry.cleveland-peck@wsj.com or reply to any newsletter. If you were forwarded this newsletter, you can sign up here.

Google said it has pooled data on historically difficult-to-predict flash floods, courtesy of its artificial intelligence capabilities, in an effort to better prepare for them in the future.

Clara Hudson writes that Google’s Research division has unveiled a new AI data set called Groundsource that has compiled details on flash floods from millions of news articles to map out rainfall patterns across the globe. 

Google said its accompanying flash flood prediction tool, trained on the flood data set, is able to anticipate the weather events in a way that wasn’t possible before. That’s because an expansive database specific to flash flood trends like this didn’t exist until now. The new data and prediction tool can help warn users, such as local authorities, of looming risks. The platform highlights locations where there could be flash flood risks on a map.

Concerns about flash floods have mounted in the U.S. in particular following the Central Texas disaster in July, in which more than a hundred people were killed, including children at a summer camp.

An Australian startup that developed plastic-eating enzymes is looking to raise more than $70 million as it focuses its recycling technology on critical minerals, The Wall Street Journal's Stuart Condie reports.

Since 2021, Samsara Eco has used artificial intelligence to design new enzymes that can break down commonly used types of plastics, allowing them to be reused in new products.

The company, which is backed by Singapore state-investment company Temasek and has a supply deal with apparel maker Lululemon, plans to tailor microscopic organisms to retrieve materials from electronic waste otherwise destined for landfills.

If it can do the same with critical minerals, Samsara Eco thinks it could boost supply to industries including automaking.

• Tesla secured a license from Britain’s energy regulator, Ofgem, to supply electricity to consumers in England, Scotland and Wales. (WSJ)
   
• The co-founder and CEO of geothermal startup Fervo Energy was inspired by skills learned in the oil and gas business. (Trellis)
   
• Electric-vehicle maker Lucid announced a new midsize-vehicle platform with three models and a Lunar two-seat robotaxi concept. (WSJ)
   
• BlackRock and UBS among asset managers offering ESG funds invested in BP despite its retreat from renewables. (FT)
   
• Green cement startup Sublime Systems laid off two-thirds of its workforce after the Trump administration canceled a grant. (Bloomberg)
   
• The Trump administration is courting Westinghouse rivals amid slow talks on new nuclear. (Canary Media)
   
• Bill Gates’s Terrapower gets green light to build first U.S. advanced nuclear reactor. (ESG Today)

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 and reporters Clara Hudson at clara.hudson@wsj.com and Yusuf Khan at yusuf.khan@wsj.com. Follow us on LinkedIn at perrycp, clara-hudson and yusuf_khan.