Governments Push Citizens to Cut Back in Scramble to Save Energy

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Julie Chang (0:33)

The Trump administration sues Harvard, alleging it violated the civil rights of its Jewish students. Plus, the Iran war is sending prices for oil and gas way up. Now, governments worldwide are urging households and businesses to curb their energy consumption.

Tom Fairless (0:51)

The International Energy Agency issued new guidelines this week. Advice on governments on how to limit energy consumption. Citizens to use less power, so fly less, use public transport, work from home, reduce the speed limit on highways. So really quite a broad range of measures to limit demand.

Julie Chang (1:11)

And a national effort to strip Cesar Chavez's name from public infrastructure is underway. It's Friday, March 20th. I'm Julie Chang for The Wall Street Journal, filling in for Alex Osala. This is the PM Edition of What's News, the top headlines and business stories that moved the world today.

The Trump administration is suing Harvard University, alleging the school violated Jewish students' civil rights. The Justice Department says Harvard ignored hostility to Jews and Israelis on campus and failed to enforce anti-harassment rules. The lawsuit seeks to recover millions of taxpayer dollars that Harvard accepted while allegedly in violation of civil rights law. Harvard said it's committed to ensuring respect on campus and has taken steps to address anti-Semitism, like training and anti-discrimination rules. The school said the lawsuit was a, quote, retaliatory action by the government. The lawsuit is the latest tactic in the Trump administration's battle against Harvard and other elite universities. And turning to the Iran war, Iran is projecting defiance. Its new supreme leader says that, quote, safety must be taken away from Iran's enemies and its armed forces are vowing to pursue them even in tourist spots. Iran is denying that US and Israeli airstrikes have crippled its ability to produce missiles. Meanwhile, the Pentagon is sending three warships and about 2,500 more Marines to the Middle East. It's the second deployment of Marines to the region in the past week. And President Trump again criticized NATO members for not joining a US effort to open the Strait of Hormuz. Iran effectively closing the Strait has helped drive up prices for oil and gas. And because of that, governments around the world are pressuring people to use less energy. It's reminiscent of the 1970s, the last time we had a global energy crisis of this magnitude. WSJ Global Economics correspondent Tom Fairless has been following what's been one of the broadest efforts since then to change how much fuel people use. Tom, tell us about some of the policies you've seen and where.

Tom Fairless (3:14)

The International Energy Agency, or the IEA in Paris, issued new guidelines this week, advice on government, on how to limit energy consumption. Citizens to use less power, so fly less, use public transport, work from home, reduce the speed limit on highways. So really quite a broad range of measures to limit demand. And the majority of the oil that is passing through the Strait of Hormuz, where the difficulties are, goes to Asia. And so it's really poorer countries there, especially that quickly started to urge their citizens to find ways to save energy. Bangladesh has banned the use of air conditioning to cool buildings under 77 degrees. It's ordered universities to close. It's brought forward a public holiday for Ramadan. Sri Lanka has instituted four-day work week. Wednesday's off so that they wouldn't have a run of three days when the government offices were closed. Pakistan has initially closed schools for two weeks. In Thailand, presenters on TV removed their jackets in a flamboyant effort to encourage citizens to turn down the air conditioning. The civil servants there have been told to use the stairs instead of elevators where they can and to wear lighter clothing. There's really a broad range of measures, new ones coming day by day. And energy-saving policies are likely to get stricter now that liquefied natural gas facilities in Iran and Qatar have been hit. Another shock to global supplies.

Julie Chang (4:51)

And how have locals been responding to these policies?

Tom Fairless (4:55)

So far, there hasn't been widespread stories of unrest, but there has been more protest, especially when it comes to taxes. The Philippines, drivers of diesel-powered buses, they asked for taxes to be suspended because of these increased prices.

Julie Chang (5:13)

European governments are capping or lowering energy prices to soften the impact on consumers. But economists warn that those measures could actually make the crisis worse. Why?