CLIMATE: California State Sen. Scott Wiener introduces a bill that would require large corporations to reveal their greenhouse gas emissions on a yearly basis and set reduction targets. (San Francisco Chronicle)

ALSO:
• President Biden faces a protracted battle with fossil fuel industries over his new executive orders focused on fighting climate change. (Washington Post, New York Times)
• Opinions are sharply divided in Montana on President Biden’s executive orders tackling climate change, with Sen. Steve Daines threatening to introduce legislation prohibiting a federal freeze on oil and gas leases. (Missoula Current)

OIL & GAS:
• The Colorado-based Western Energy Alliance petitions a federal court to overturn Biden’s temporary suspension of leasing on public land. (Bloomberg)
• The Biden administration continues to issue drilling permits for leases that predate the moratorium. (Bloomberg)
• New Mexico Sen. Martin Heinrich supports a temporary ban on new federal oil and gas leases, and says the state needs a plan to eventually transition to a zero carbon, zero pollution economy, but state industry leaders vehemently disagree. (Associated Press, Albuquerque Journal)
• Colorado State Sen. Bob Rankin is concerned that President Biden’s moratorium on new federal leases could be the collapse of the Western Slope’s oil and gas production. (CBS Denver)
• Locals in the Wyoming county “where modern day fracking was born” are also expressing a similar concern about the economic impact for their area. (Wyoming Public Media)  

PUBLIC LANDS: Republicans are stepping up their opposition to New Mexico Rep. Deb Haaland’s nomination to lead the Interior Department. (E&E News)

SOLAR:
• A Hawaii cooperative is developing a 240 MW solar and pumped hydro storage project that is expected to provide electricity at night. (Honolulu Civil Beat)
• A Washington bill would prevent the state’s energy siting authority from overriding county objections to solar projects. (Capital Press)

UTILITIES: PG&E is moving half of its electricity rateplayers to a new time-of-use plan by March 2022 that offers reduced energy costs when energy demand is low, and renewable resources are the most abundant. (Smart Energy)

STORAGE: A 400 MW battery energy storage facility in Southern California begins operations. (news release)

ELECTRIC VEHICLES:
• A Los Angeles mother-daughter environmental justice duo are promoting the benefits of electric vehicles, and the rebates and other incentives available to assist with their purchase. (KABC)
• A rural Colorado electric cooperative has a new electric vehicle charging station thanks to a state grant, and additional support from Tri-State Generation and Transmission. (Holyoke Enterprise)
• A new electric vehicle fast charging station is installed at a South-central California rest area, one of nine new deployments throughout the state. (Bakersfield Californian, Patch)

EFFICIENCY: Work begins on a net-zero condo development at a Colorado ski resort. (Denver Post)

COMMENTARY:
• Wyoming Sen. John Barrasso in a speech to the Senate accuses President Biden of “painting a target on the back of American energy” through his executive orders. (Laramie Boomerang)
• A Rocky Mountain Institute official and sustainability expert advocate for all-electric homes, citing carbon emissions that comes from burning fossil fuels for heating and cooking, and gas in particular. (Mountain Town News) 

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.).