OIL & GAS: A leader of a New Mexico Pueblo and former Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt call on the Biden administration to reform the oil and gas leasing program to protect cultural resources. (Associated Press)

ALSO:
• The federal Bureau of Land Management will resume oil and gas lease sales this fall. (The Hill)
• Progressive Congress members say they will try to use their budget reconciliation bill to halt oil and gas development in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. (E&E News)

POLLUTION:
• The oil and gas and mining industries pressured Utah regulators to blame the state’s heightened ozone levels on China and other Asian countries to avoid stricter pollution rules, according to internal documents obtained by an energy think tank. (Salt Lake Tribune)
• Researchers say traffic and oil- and gas-related emissions are a bigger contributor to Colorado’s high ozone levels than wildfire smoke. (Colorado Public Radio)

GRID: Drought-caused reductions in California hydropower generation are straining the grid, increasing electricity prices and benefitting out-of-state energy companies that sell power to the state. (Utility Dive)

UTILITIES:
• Public Service Company of New Mexico and Avangrid increase economic development funding and agree to strict grid reliability controls to girder support for their proposed merger. (Albuquerque Journal)
• Victims of the 2015 Butte fire, sparked by Pacific Gas & Electric equipment, have not been fully compensated from the utility’s settlement fund, which is losing value as more PG&E-ignited fires continue to burn. (San Francisco Chronicle)

SOLAR:
• Kern County, California, approves a proposed 270 MW solar-plus-storage facility despite previously saying it might deny applications to protest state oil-related policies and a rule that prohibits collecting property tax on land with solar installations. (Bakersfield Californian)
• A California environmental justice coalition joins solar advocates in urging state regulators to preserve net metering policies while bringing more rooftop solar to vulnerable communities. (Solar Power World)

COAL:
• A Canadian mining company petitions Montana regulators to relax water quality standards at the international border, where the company’s mine leaches selenium into a river that flows into the U.S. (Flathead Beacon)
• Leaders from Wyoming’s top coal-producing county bemoan the lack of a unified state plan to transition away from fossil fuels. (Casper Star-Tribune)  

CLEAN ENERGY:
• A former logging community in Eastern Oregon turns to solar, geothermal and biomass energy projects to revive its economy and achieve carbon neutrality. (Oregon Humanities)
• Nevada Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto says Congress’ infrastructure bill will spur renewable energy development via incentives to site wind and solar facilities on former mines. (E&E News, subscription)

CLIMATE:
• Smoke from the Caldor Fire burning in northern California blankets Lake Tahoe and forces school closures in Reno, Nevada. (Associated Press)
• Drinking water wells in drought-gripped southern Oregon go dry as farmers pump more groundwater to irrigate crops. (OPB)

COMMENTARY: A New Mexico organizer says clean-energy-pushing Democrats and spending-averse Republicans should find common ground on ending government subsidies to fossil fuel corporations. (Santa Fe New Mexican)

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Jonathan P. Thompson

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.