PUBLIC LANDS: A Bureau of Land Management official halts a Utah tar sands lease sale after a media investigation finds a beneficiary of the deal also worked as a contractor in the BLM’s Salt Lake City office. (Salt Lake Tribune)

ALSO: The Trump administration begins a three-day oil and gas lease sale in Wyoming today, with all of the available parcels in sage grouse habitat. (Casper Star-Tribune)

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RENEWABLE ENERGY: A Colorado rural electric cooperative is likely to move beyond its goal of 70% renewables by the end of next year, with plans to reach 100% by 2030. (Mountain Town News)

GRID: Arizona’s largest and longest-serving electric company restarts its effort to install massive batteries on the state’s grid after a 2019 fire and explosion. (Arizona Republic) 

POLLUTION: New University of Colorado Boulder research finds that the state’s mountains may be recovering from acid rain damage caused by vehicle emissions. (Colorado Politics, subscription)

CLIMATE: Oil companies are pushing to have state climate lawsuits heard in federal courts, where they are more likely to win a favorable ruling. (Houston Chronicle)

ELECTRIC VEHICLES:
• After a successful pilot program in Fremont, California, the police department in Redding is seeking city approval for a specially-equipped Tesla and other electric or hybrid vehicles for its fleet. (Redding Searchlight)
• Honolulu unveils its first electric bus, aiming for a zero-emission fleet by 2035. (Honolulu Star-Advertiser)
• A Denver-based developer of next-generation solid-state batteries aims to have its batteries in electric vehicles by 2027. (The Mobilist)

OIL & GAS:
• Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy seeks to require state agencies to end relationships with financial institutions that won’t finance oil and gas development in the Arctic. (Alaska Public Media)
• A Colorado county commits an additional $293,000 towards challenging recent changes to the state’s oil and gas development regulations. (Post Independent)

COMMENTARY:
• The new director of the Idaho National Laboratory in an interview says he is “optimistic” about the plan between Utah and a Portland-based reactor developer to build 12 small modular reactors west of Idaho Falls. (Post Register)
• A Wyoming entrepreneur says the state should look to Texas as an example of a state economy that can weather swings in the fossil fuel industry. (WyoFile)

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.).