EQUITY: Clean energy groups lament enduring racial inequities in the U.S. and say they will redouble workforce diversification efforts. (Greentech Media)

ALSO: A Navajo organization helps members develop their own energy sources, noting that federal programs to expand electricity access have historically shut tribes out. (Global Citizen)

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CALIFORNIA:
• Critics opposed to PG&E’s reorganization plan say it will do more to make investors rich than help wildfire victims rebuild their lives. (Associated Press)
• California regulators and a PG&E executive testify that the utility is behind on efforts to ease the impact of its planned power outages during a state senate hearing. (Associated Press)

OIL & GAS:
• The Fish and Wildlife Service determines that oil and gas drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge would not jeopardize the threatened polar bear. (E&E News, subscription)
• New Mexico’s congressional delegation wants more federal funds to plug abandoned oil and gas wells and reclaim land used in extraction, which could put laid off oilfield workers back to work. (Carlsbad Current-Argus)
• A federal judge grants a class certification of a New Mexico oilfield worker embroiled in an overtime lawsuit. (Bloomberg Lawsuit)

HYDROGEN: The Intermountain Power Agency gets help with its 840 MW renewable hydrogen project in Utah. (news release)

FOSSIL FUELS: Wyoming Gov. Mark Gordon calls for more budget cuts, citing a 25% decrease in  coal revenue and projected oil revenues that dropped more than 50% in three months. (K2 Radio)

SOLAR: A startup company has partnered with an energy developer to build community solar projects in Colorado. (PV Magazine)

WIND: New Mexico’s public lands commissioner approves five land use leases for a 76 MW wind project, enough to power over 15,000 homes annually. (news release)

NUCLEAR: Opponents of a plan to ship nuclear waste to southern New Mexico sue federal regulators considering the proposal. (Courthouse News) 

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PUBLIC LANDS: The status of the BLM’s June 22 oil and gas lease sale in Wyoming remains unknown, with a spokesman saying there are no updates. (Casper Star-Tribune)

COMMENTARY:
• A writer says cutting funding for police departments and investing in communities instead can be good climate policy. (The New Republic)
• An energy analyst explores inequities in clean energy and how racism manifests in the sector. (GreenBiz)
• Advocates say California needs to promote clean energy powered microgrids to improve reliability and public health. (CalMatters)

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.).