CLEAN ENERGY: Environmentalists and Indigenous activists oppose a plan to run a transmission line under the Columbia River to carry clean power from Eastern Oregon to Portland and beyond. (Investigate West)

CLIMATE:
• San Francisco pledges to cut greenhouse gas emissions 61% from 1990 levels by 2030 and to achieve net zero emissions by 2040, but critics say the timeline is too slow to address the climate emergency. (San Francisco Chronicle)
• Oregon Gov. Kate Brown says climate change “is playing out before our very eyes” as a wildfire in the southern part of the state grows to nearly 400,000 acres. (Oregonian)
• A panel of federal and state officials say the drought gripping the Western U.S. is worse than the Dust Bowl and is not going away. (E&E News)
• A California wildfire that may have been sparked by Pacific Gas & Electric equipment has so far burned through 61,000 acres and is only 15% contained. (Los Angeles Times)

TRANSPORTATION:
• Colorado officials weaken proposed rules to curb solo car commuting amid pressure from business groups even as the region misses another pollution reduction deadline. (Colorado Sun) 
• California’s electric vehicle revolution is seen as a necessity to cut emissions, but takes a toll on the environment in the form of lithium mining. (Los Angeles Times)

UTILITIES:
• A small California town works to reform rules governing Southern California Edison’s public safety power shutoffs intended to reduce wildfire risk, with residents saying they suffer frequent, unexpected electricity cuts. (LAist)
• An Arizona utility will pay customers $1,250 if they allow their batteries to be used to serve grid needs under a recently approved efficiency plan. (Utility Dive)
• Public Service Company of New Mexico has spent more than $1 million on advertising since March to sell its proposed merger with Avangrid to the public. (Albuquerque Journal)
• San Diego officials withdraw a law firm’s contract to deal with litigation facing the city’s franchise agreement with San Diego Gas & Electric over a potential conflict of interest. (San Diego Union-Tribune)

PUBLIC LANDS: Interior Secretary Deb Haaland will visit the Bureau of Land Management headquarters in Colorado on Friday to discuss whether to move it back to Washington, D.C. (Colorado Public Radio)

SOLAR: Insurance underwriters urge Western solar power facility operators to take steps to mitigate wildfire risk. (PV Tech)

COAL:
• Volunteer firefighters battle a blaze burning 23,000 tons of coal stored at a power plant in rural Colorado. (Fort Morgan Times)
• A public-private collaboration transforms a shuttered Colorado coal mine into a mountain bike trail system. (Colorado Sun)
• Montana coal production dipped 23% in 2020. (Missoulian) 

OIL & GAS:
• An industry-funded study finds that oil and gas development made up the core of Wyoming’s economy prior to 2020, making the state especially vulnerable to the COVID-19-induced crash. (Cheyenne Post)
• A New Mexico county in the Permian Basin asks the Biden administration to extend the public comment period on its proposal to list the lesser prairie chicken as an endangered species, which could curb oil and gas drilling. (Carlsbad Current-Argus)

COMMENTARY: A national editorial board says the Biden administration’s infrastructure plan can help avert climate change-induced heat events like this summer’s Northwest heatwave. (USA Today)

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.