2.1%

The decline in energy-related U.S. carbon dioxide emissions during 2019. The drop was mainly the result of less use of coal for electricity generation. The U.S. Energy Information Administration forecasts that emissions will fall 2 percent in 2020 and 1.5 percent in 2021. With the exception of 2018, when a cold winter prompted more energy consumption, American carbon dioxide emissions have fallen consistently since a small increase recorded in 2014.

The Saudi Arabian oil company Aramco reached a value of $1.88 trillion on Wednesday, its first day of trading on the Saudi Tadawul stock exchange, surpassing Apple as the largest listed company in the world. That makes it worth more than the world’s top five oil companies—Exxon Mobil, Total, Royal Dutch Shell, Chevron, and BP—combined.

Despite denials from Iran, leaders from Britain, France, and Germany accused the country of orchestrating the Sept. 14 drone attacks on oil facilities in Saudi Arabia. In a joint statement Monday, the leaders warned Iran to stop breaching the 2015 nuclear deal. The attacks temporarily halted production at a major processing plant near Buqayq, Saudi Arabia. Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif denied the accusations and retorted that “if Iran were behind this attack, nothing would have been left of this refinery.”

Iran’s foreign minister on Wednesday warned of “all-out war” if Saudi Arabia retaliates for Saturday’s attack on its oil infrastructure. Iran denied involvement in the drone strikes, which temporarily halved Saudi oil production rates. Mohammad Javad Zarif told CNN that Iran “won’t blink to defend our territory” if it faces any military confrontation. President Donald Trump said Tuesday that U.S. intelligence has reason to believe Iran was behind the attack. United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres said an international team of experts was headed to Saudi Arabia to investigate.

Oil prices eased back down on Tuesday as Saudi Arabia worked to restore one of its major processing plants. Global prices spiked Monday by 15 percent after armed drones targeted key oil facilities in the kingdom over the weekend. The attack halted more than half of the country’s daily exports, but Saudi Arabia and the United States have said they could release oil from their reserves as needed to manage prices. Oil prices had fallen by about 5 percent on Tuesday morning.

President Donald Trump on Monday said the United States is “locked and loaded” to respond to the bombings of two Saudi energy facilities. The drone attacks on Saturday hit a major oil processing plant in Abqaiq, Saudi Arabia, halving the kingdom’s oil production rates. Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi rebels claimed responsibility, but satellite imagery showed the drones came from either Iran or Iraq.

Oil tycoon and philanthropist T. Boone Pickens died on Wednesday at his home in Dallas. He was 91. Family and friends surrounded him at his death, which occurred by natural causes, his spokesman Jay Rosser said.