Court upholds ExxonMobil’s multi-million pollution penalty

A bitterly divided federal appeals court upheld a ruling that Exxon Mobil must pay a record $14.25 million in fines for pollution emitted by one of its Texas oil refineries. POLITICO’s Alex Guillén breaks down the historic decision, the unusual judicial infighting involved in the case and what this ruling means for oil companies like Exxon moving forward. Plus, lawmakers unveiled three bills on Wednesday to strengthen the U.S. critical mineral supply chain and reduce reliance on adversaries such as China. Alex Guillén is an energy reporter for POLITICO Pro. Nirmal Mulaikal is a POLITICO audio host-producer. Kara Tabor is an audio producer for POLITICO. Gloria Gonzalez is the deputy energy editor for POLITICO. Matt Daily is the energy editor for POLITICO. For more news on energy and the environment, subscribe to Power Switch, our free evening newsletter: https://www.politico.com/power-switch And for even deeper coverage and analysis, read our Morning Energy newsletter by subscribing to POLITICO Pro: https://subscriber.politicopro.com/newsletter-archive/morning-energy