UTILITIES: After Arizona regulators approved a requirement for utilities to get 100% of their energy from carbon-free sources by 2050, Republicans lawmakers introduce a bill to block all regulatory changes made since June from taking effect. (Arizona Republic)

ALSO: Boulder, Colorado is recruiting members for an advisory panel to guide the city’s partnership with Xcel Energy after voters rejected an effort to form a municipal utility. (Prairie Mountain Media)

CLIMATE:
• Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti announces the creation of a new Climate Emergency Mobilization Office, and names longtime environmental equity advocate Marta Segura to lead it. (My News LA)
• Portland’s mayor may delay a recently enacted emissions tax as businesses raise concerns about financial hardships from the pandemic. (Oregonian)

PUBLIC LANDS:
• While Montana’s congressional delegation is loudly protesting the Biden administration’s plan to end new oil and gas leasing on public land, the state actually generates relatively little revenue from that activity. (Billings Gazette)
• A formal ban of new oil and gas leasing on public land could adversely impact Wyoming more than other states, as roughly 51% of oil there is drilled on public land, along with an overwhelming 92% of natural gas. (Casper Star-Tribune)
• The head of Grand Junction, Colorado’s chamber of commerce says a federal oil and gas leasing moratorium would have “Main Street impacts.” (Grand Junction Daily Sentinel)

OIL & GAS:
• A new report finds that California’s failure to regulate oil and gas industry waste threatens environmental and public health. (Earthworks)
• A California congressman introduces a bill that would require the Bureau of Land Management’s Bakersfield office to complete new environmental impact statements before issuing oil and gas leases. (Merced Sun-Star)

ELECTRIFICATION: Denver is the latest U.S. municipality to commit to banning natural gas in newly built homes and buildings, aiming to do so by 2027. (Denverite)

POLICY: Three bills that would create a clean fuel standard, amend the state’s Air Quality Control Act, and establish a statewide database for environmental data pass their first committees in New Mexico’s legislature. (New Mexico Political Report) 

CLEAN ENERGY: A New Mexico bill aims to expand electric service to low-income households while ensuring it comes from low-carbon sources. (Solar Power World)

TRANSPORTATION: A community-owned, not-for-profit electric service in California buys five custom electric work trucks as part of its transition to an all-electric fleet. (Green Car Congress)

COMMENTARY:
• A rural New Mexico mayor says the federal oil and gas leasing system prioritizes development over protecting communities, wildlife, and water and needs reforming. (Santa Fe New Mexican)
• A Montana economist says the state needs policies that diversifies its economy, particularly for rural areas dependent on boom-and-bust fossil fuel industries. (Bozeman Daily Chronicle)

Lisa Ellwood

Lisa is a Lenape and Nanticoke Native American freelance journalist, editor and writer currently based in the U.K. She has more than two decades’ experience working in corporate communications and print and digital media. She compiles the Western Energy News daily email digest. She has a bachelor’s degree in journalism from Temple University; her specializations include data journalism and visualization. She is a member of the Native American Journalists Association, Investigative Reporters & Editors, Society of Professional Journalists, and the National Union of Journalists (U.K.).