Today: Shares of American polyethylene makers leap as conflict blocks competitors’ supply route; Maine is about to become the first state to ban new data centers; the demise of the automatic engine stop-start in cars.

Welcome back: The WSJ's John Kerilman writes that for U.S. makers of polyethylene, a plastic that goes into detergent bottles, food packaging and many other goods, the conflict in the Middle East has brought a reversal of fortune. 

Middle Eastern producers, which account for 20% of  global supply, have cut production and plastic makers in Asia and Europe curbed output when Persian Gulf crude, the raw material they rely upon, became inaccessible.

That has left U.S. chemical companies, which use cheap and abundant natural gas to make their plastic products, to boost production and raise prices at furious rates. Their share prices have rocketed.

Heavy demand is prompting manufacturer Dow to run some of its facilities at close to full capacity. Those include its “crackers,” which heat ethane, a component of natural gas, causing the molecule to crack into hydrogen and ethylene, the basic building block of plastics such as polyethylene.

More than 400 million tons of plastic are produced each year, and only about 10% of that gets recycled, according to the United Nations Environment Program. Effective sustainable alternatives remain elusive and are currently more costly than fossil-fuel-derived counterparts.

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Maine is poised to freeze large data-center construction, which would make it the first state to enact such a measure as communities across the U.S. grapple with fallout from the boom in artificial intelligence.

The Journal's Will Parker reports that the Maine bill calls for a ban on major new data-center construction until November 2027, so the state can assess the impact of such development on the environment and electricity grid. The freeze would apply to data-center projects of at least 20 megawatts, which is enough energy to power more than 15,000 homes.

The bill passed a floor vote in the Democratic-controlled Maine House of Representatives last month, collecting a handful of Republican votes. It is expected to pass in the Senate, which is also majority Democratic. Gov. Janet Mills said she supports a freeze.

The bill’s momentum will be watched closely by lawmakers in at least 10 other states that are advancing similar policies over concerns about straining local power sources and the cost. The effect of the artificial-intelligence race on the economy, energy costs and the environment is emerging as a major issue ahead of this year’s midterm elections.

In February, the Trump administration repealed an Obama-era scientific finding that served as the legal basis for federal greenhouse-gas regulation. Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lee Zeldin said the agency was eliminating the federal credits that contributed to the widespread adoption of the automatic engine stopper in vehicles.

The WSJ's Joshua Jamerson writes that the technology was developed decades ago, but federal incentives during the Obama administration kicked U.S. adoption into high gear. The EPA began tracking stop-start technology in 2012 car models, when less than 1% had the feature. By 2024, roughly 58% of new gasoline non-hybrid cars had the systems installed.

Automatic engine start-stop systems were designed to lower auto emissions by temporarily shutting off the engine while the brake is engaged. Research indicates they improve fuel economy anywhere from 5% to about 26%, depending on factors such as the length and location of the trip. But some drivers say it makes driving feel unnatural, jerky and unenjoyable and have long wanted to put a permanent stop to automatic stop-start. 

• Amazon will impose a temporary 3.5% fuel surcharge on independent merchants using its platform starting April 17. (WSJ)
   
• America’s AI build-out hinges on imports of Chinese electrical parts, delaying data-center construction. (Bloomberg)
   
• Syngenta will launch Virestina, a new weedkiller targeting herbicide-resistant grass weeds, in Argentina in June. (WSJ)
   
• Starbucks has given away more than 100 million coffee trees that can tolerate hotter climates with unpredictable water supplies. (Trellis)
   
• PepsiCo and Diageo withdrew their sponsorship of Wireless Festival in London, which announced Kanye West as its headliner. (WSJ)
   
• More than 65 leading U.K. scientists have warned against new oil and gas drilling in the North Sea. (FT)
   
• Thousands of striking JBS beef plant workers in Colorado agreed to return to work, ending a three-week strike. (WSJ)
   
• Arevon has begun building a battery facility that could provide stored electricity to 321,000 homes for four hours straight. (Canary Media)
   
• Academic research indicates that teams generally outperform lone inventors and are more likely to achieve major breakthroughs. (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 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.