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DELCAMBRE, La. — Laura strengthened Aug. 26 into a menacing Category 4 hurricane, raising fears of a 20-foot storm surge that forecasters said would be “unsurvivable” and capable of sinking entire communities. Authorities implored coastal residents of Texas and Louisiana to evacuate and worried that not enough had fled.

Crude and gasoline futures both climbed to levels not seen since before the pandemic as Hurricane Laura rattled toward a key stretch of the U.S. Gulf Coast that is home to the nation’s greatest concentration of refining capacity.

Hurricane Laura is poised to strengthen rapidly and come ashore along the Texas-Louisiana coast as a tree-snapping Category 3 storm, forcing residents to flee their homes despite the threat of COVID-19.

For the second week in a row, the price of diesel remained essentially flat compared with the prior week, dipping just one-tenth of a cent to $2.426 a gallon, the Energy Information Administration reported Aug. 24.

Environmentalists and Alaska natives are challenging the Trump administration’s decision to sell drilling rights in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, arguing the government gave short shrift to the impact on polar bears and the region’s other wildlife.

Back-to-back tropical storms pose a combined threat to the U.S. Gulf Coast this week, where more than half of offshore oil production is already shut and residents from Texas to Florida are warily watching the skies.

Oil is poised for the first weekly decline this month as signs of stumbling recoveries in major economies from Europe to Asia threaten to delay a demand rebound.

Groups and institutions consistently urging policymakers to dedicate additional funds for freight and commuter corridors will host “United for Infrastructure,” scheduled for the week of Sept. 14.

The price of diesel remained essentially flat the past week, dipping one-tenth of a cent to $2.427 a gallon, the Energy Information Administration reported Aug. 17.

The Trump administration on Aug. 17 took another step to opening Alaska’s Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to drilling for oil and gas, potentially fulfilling a decadeslong dream for Republicans.