Today: Tech giant has released details on the power its Gemini tool needs to respond to your queries; why solar and wind power can thrive without subsidies; California regulator urges companies to report climate metrics.

Welcome back: Every time you ask Google’s Gemini a query, it takes the same amount of energy as watching nine seconds of TV, WSJ Pro Sustainable Business's Clara Hudson writes.

That’s what the tech giant says in a new report detailing the energy consumption, emissions and water use of its generative artificial intelligence that users turn to every day for everything from writing tips to fact checking. A single Gemini text query emits 0.03 grams of carbon dioxide equivalent and consumes about five drops of water, according to Google.

The tech giant is looking to ease growing anxieties about artificial intelligence searches: that frequently using generative AI such as Gemini can be detrimental to the environment. The Google report points out that its Gemini energy analysis is lower than public estimates.

This summer Google said in an environmental report that its emissions have jumped 51% since 2019 because of AI needs. But the AI-focused report from August says Google’s AI systems are becoming more efficient, and that the energy used to power a median Gemini text prompt is 33 times less today than it was 12 months ago.

• How Big Data Centers Are Slowing the Shift to Clean Energy
• Putting Data Centers in Space Could Reduce Their Carbon Footprint
• AI Boom to Fuel Surge in Data Center Energy Needs, IEA Says

The government delivered a shock to the renewable energy industry when it took away subsidies for solar and wind as part of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act. It’s a shock the industry can actually absorb—and maybe even benefit from in the long term, the WSJ's Jinjoo Lee writes for Heard in the Street.

The two main tax credits used by the wind and solar industries have been in place since 1992 and 2005, respectively. These have been kept alive through multiple extensions. But the latest tax-and-spending law cuts these tax credits short. Treasury Department guidance, released more than a week ago, also placed stricter guidelines on qualifying for these subsidies.

Yet this doesn’t portend doom and gloom for the industry. And that could mean investors might currently have an attractive entry point to the industry. Why isn’t the sky falling for wind and solar? Click here to find out. 

• The Renewable Sector’s Relative Winners and Losers in the Megabill
• The U.S. Might Be Giving Up Its Lead in Clean Energy Sectors Again
• The Moment the Clean-Energy Boom Ran Into ‘Drill, Baby, Drill’

A California regulator said investors are better off if companies report their climate targets and the metrics they use to measure them, Clara Hudson reports for Dow Jones Risk Journal.

In a public hearing held by the California Air Resources Board Thursday, the regulator briefed companies on how to prepare for upcoming climate disclosure rules. It will require businesses to report their Scope 1, 2 and 3 greenhouse gas emissions and will also mandate disclosure on how climate poses a financial risk to their business.

Currently, there are no U.S. rules requiring such disclosures. The California rules kick in in 2026 and will be the first in the country requiring companies to report specifics about their environmental impact. Only those businesses operating in the state with total annual revenue of more than $1 billion will have to disclose their greenhouse gas emissions. However, companies that do business in California with annual revenues of more than $500 million will need to report their climate risks.

The upcoming rules come as companies have been reporting less to investors about their climate goals overall, removing terms such as “net zero” or “climate neutral” from their public reports. The shift follows the Trump administration’s unravelling of a slew of environmental policies, including a Securities and Exchange Commission push to make companies divulge their climate risks and emissions.

• SEC Votes to End Defense of Climate Disclosure Rules
• New Accounting Rule on Recording Environmental Credits
• Europe Waters Down Flagship Climate Accounting Policy

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.

• The Trump administration has launched an investigation into imported wind turbines and parts. (Bloomberg)
   
• EVs are putting Ford and other automakers at a crossroads: Who will innovate the assembly line of the future? (MarketWatch)
   
• Google signs a deal to power data centers from an advanced nuclear plant by 2030. (ESG Today)
   
• China's solar industry association calls for end to price wars. (Reuters)
   
• China races to build world’s largest solar farm. (AP)
   
• U.K. green power surges with record approvals for new renewable energy capacity. (FT)
   
• Wildfire forces evacuations in Napa County, California. (NYT)
   
• Estée Lauder has a new director of responsible sourcing. (Trellis)

WSJ Pro Sustainable Business gives you an inside look at how companies are tackling sustainability. Send comments to bureau chief 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 wsjperry, clara-hudson and yusuf_khan.