Today: The president’s war against the wind industry continues; Mercedes-Benz settles with states over alleged diesel emissions cheating; Alphabet to buy renewable energy plant builder for $4.75 billion as AI plans grow.

Welcome back: The Trump administration halted the construction of all U.S. offshore wind projects this week in a move aimed at hobbling one of the president’s least favorite industries, the Journal's Jennifer Hiller writes.

The Interior Department said it paused the federal leases for five projects in the works from Massachusetts to Virginia “due to national security risks identified by the Department of War in recently completed classified reports.” It is the most significant action the administration has taken thus far against the burgeoning U.S. business, which already has faced financial setbacks in recent years because of soaring costs.

The decision affects Vineyard Wind 1 off Martha’s Vineyard; Revolution Wind, which is intended to deliver power to Rhode Island and Connecticut; Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind; and Sunrise Wind and Empire Wind 1, off the coast of New York.

Shares in Danish energy company Orsted, which is leading two of the projects, fell more than 11% on the news. Dominion Energy, the lead developer of the Coastal Virginia project, fell 3.7%.

• From solar to nuclear and coal, stocks have soared on AI demand. But the everyone's a winner energy trade can't last forever. (WSJ)
• Trump has set back solar and wind while boosting fossil fuel, letting his fiercest critics claim the banner of energy affordability. (Bloomberg)
• America’s hydrocarbons strategy could be costly in terms of higher power prices, increased water stress and potential food insecurity. (FT)

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.

Mercedes-Benz settled with state attorneys general across the U.S. who said an investigation found it used emissions-cheating software.

WSJ Pro Sustainable Business's Clara Hudson reports that attorneys general from 48 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico said that the company violated environmental and consumer protection laws to secure emissions certifications that it didn’t qualify for.

The settlement follows a multistate investigation led by nine attorneys general including Letitia James of New York. Over $13.5 million of the settlement will go to New York to combat air pollution, and provide $2,000 payments to car owners and lessees.

The investigation is reminiscent of the “Dieselgate” Volkswagen emissions cheating scandal from a decade ago, in which the German automaker was ordered to pay billions of dollars.

Alphabet agreed to buy Intersect, which builds renewable energy plants to power data centers that are used for AI computing, for $4.75 billion, in a deal the Google parent said would help address the near insatiable demand for energy to power the expansion of artificial intelligence.

The Journal's Katherine Hamilton reports that Alphabet said it would pay cash plus debt for Intersect’s data-center projects in development, plus multiple gigawatts of energy and the Intersect team as part of the deal.

Alphabet said it is aiming to increase its data-center and generation capacity with the acquisition, which is set to close in the first half of 2026. Tech companies such as Alphabet have shared plans to spend hundreds of billion dollars to keep up in the race to develop AI, which requires a significant number of data centers and amounts of computing capacity.

• Leavenworth, Wash., a town heavily reliant on Christmas tourism, experienced severe economic disruption after December storms. (WSJ)
   
• Trump administration said it was formally considering a permit application for seabed mining from The Metals Company. (NYT)
   
• Swedish engineering and manufacturing company SKF said it has decarbonized six new factories. (ESG Today)
   
• China's CATL flooded its home market with inexpensive, efficient batteries. It wants to do the same overseas. (Bloomberg)
   
• The EU is preparing checks on imported plastics and other measures to shore up its recycling industry. (FT)
   
• President Trump appointed Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry as special envoy for Greenland, stating its importance to U.S. national security. (WSJ)
   
• How high-profile sustainability leaders turn their strategies into new revenue opportunities and catalysts for business value. (Trellis)

Please note: The Sustainable Business newsletter is taking a break for the holidays and will return Jan. 2. See you in the new year!

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 perrycp, clara-hudson and yusuf_khan.