NUCLEAR:
• A federal court rejects Arizona environmentalists’ and the Havasupai Tribe’s bid to block a uranium mine near the Grand Canyon from operating. (Associated Press)
• Pueblo County, Colorado, officials pull back support for replacing a retiring coal plant with a nuclear reactor amid stiff public opposition. (Colorado Public Radio) 

GREEN METALS:
• The Biden administration says it will consider reforming federal mining laws to mitigate the environmental impacts of extracting minerals used in clean energy development. (E&E News, subscription)
• President Biden highlights a $35 million federal contract with the Nevada operator of California’s Mountain Pass Mine for processing heavy rare earth elements used in electric vehicle and wind turbine magnets. (Los Angeles Times)
• The Biden administration revokes a permit for an Alaska road that would provide mining companies access to cobalt deposits used in electric vehicle batteries. (Washington Post)

TRANSPORTATION:
• Electric vehicle startup Arcimoto opens a 250,000 square foot facility in Eugene, Oregon, with the goal of assembling 50,000 vehicles annually by 2025. (Oregonian)  
• Washington state lawmakers advance a proposed tax on out-of-state fuel exports amid Oregon, Idaho and Alaska officials’ opposition. (KUOW)

CLEAN ENERGY: New data show California received 59% of its electricity in 2020 from wind, solar, hydropower, nuclear and other carbon-free sources, which is slightly lower than the prior year due to drought-diminished hydropower generation. (news release)

GRID: The U.S. Bureau of Land Management seeks public input on the proposed Greenlink West high-voltage transmission project that would carry solar power across Nevada. (news release) 

WIND: The Los Angeles Department of Water and Power applies for a permit to incidentally kill or injure California condors at its Pine Tree Wind Farm near Tehachapi. (Los Cerritos News)

HYDROPOWER: An energy developer proposes constructing a 1 GW pumped hydropower storage project in eastern Nevada. (Hydro Review)

GEOTHERMAL:
• Developers break ground on a controversial Nevada geothermal project as federal wildlife officials consider whether to list a toad that lives in the project’s path as endangered. (Nevada Current)
• The U.S. Bureau of Land Management seeks public input on a proposal to drill up to 20 geothermal exploration wells in southwest Utah. (news release)

UTILITIES:
• Residents of a Montana city urge county officials to reject Northwestern Energy’s proposed natural gas pipeline because it lies in the Yellowstone River’s floodplain. (Montana Standard)
• Pacific Gas & Electric officials say they are nearing an agreement that would settle criminal charges relating to the 2019 Kincaid Fire sparked by the utility’s equipment. (Press Democrat)
• New Mexico lawmakers decline to undertake a proposed study on the benefits of creating publicly owned utilities. (Santa Fe New Mexican)

OIL & GAS: A coalition of Indigenous, environmental and community groups call for an oil and gas leasing pause in northwest New Mexico’s greater Chaco region, which extends far beyond the proposed 10-mile buffer zone around Chaco Culture National Historical Park. (news release)

Jonathan hails from southwestern Colorado and has been writing about the land, cultures, and communities of the Western United States for more than two decades. He compiles the Western Energy News digest. He is the author of three books, a contributing editor at High Country News, and the editor of the Land Desk, an e-newsletter that provides coverage and context on issues critical to the West.