CLIMATE: While California hit its 2020 climate target four years early, a new report finds emissions increased slightly in 2018, highlighting the challenge of deeper reductions in the future. (Los Angeles Times)

ALSO:
• California government leaders and private sector innovators are meeting this week to discuss ways the state can become carbon neutral by 2045. (Capital Public Radio News)
• A candidate for Montana’s Public Service Commission casts doubt on climate science, incorrectly claiming that modeling projections “haven’t panned out.” (Missoula Current)
• Scientists predicted that megafires hitting California and Colorado this year would be a consequence of climate change, but they arrived decades earlier than expected. (E&E News, subscription required)
• The head of a New Mexico faith-based non-profit says voters are starting to take notice of climate change, and are concerned about the state’s future. (New Mexico Political Report) 

OIL & GAS:
• ConocoPhillips announces a deal to acquire a Permian Basin producer for $9.7 billion, but many investors are unsure if such mergers and acquisitions will be enough to protect the oil and gas industry from a severe decline. (Forbes, New York Times)
• The State of New Mexico and a major oil and gas company continue to monitor the area of a potential “naturally occurring” drilling mud spill. (Carlsbad Current-Argus)

HYDROGEN: A new coalition of players in the heavy-duty hydrogen and fuel cell market aims to promote fuel heavy duty fuel cell mobility in 13 Western states. (CleanTechnica)

UTILITIES: The CEO of Tri-State Generation and Transmission Association says the company’s transition is complicated by serving co-ops in Wyoming and Nebraska who “have different opinions about energy than what New Mexico and Colorado do.” (Denver Business Journal)

PUBLIC LANDS:
• Public land plans in Wyoming and Montana could be in jeopardy after a federal court’s decision to invalidate several land-use plans approved by the Bureau of Land Management. (Casper Star-Tribune, The Hill)
• The Bureau of Land Management’s last oil and gas lease sale for the year is set for December in Wyoming. (Casper Star-Tribune)

TECHNOLOGY: The city of Phoenix is working with Arizona State University on a pilot program applying cool pavement coating to nine sites in a bid to reduce the temperature of areas covered by asphalt and concrete. (Associated Press)

SOLAR: Large solar power installations at two California shopping centers are complete and have started generating power. (Chain Store Age)

STORAGE: A Southern California water district is building four new battery storage systems that will boost its energy resilience and cut operational costs. (news release)

GRID: The outgoing CEO of California’s grid operator says “decarbonizing and reliability are not mutually exclusive objectives.” (S&P Global)

COMMENTARY:
• The CEO of a California solar and energy storage company says accelerating the state’s electrification transition would help with climate change as well improving the environment and economy. (Greentech Media)
• An Alaska state senator and two candidates say developing alternative energy infrastructure in the state would reduce costs and create economic opportunity. (Anchorage Daily News)

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.).