OIL & GAS: The Biden administration will begin reviewing oil and gas leasing in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, two months after suspending nine Trump-era leases there. (Alaska Public Media)

ALSO:
• A federal judge says the Bureau of Land Management did not violate federal environmental law in approving oil and gas drilling permits near Navajo communities in New Mexico’s San Juan Basin. (E&E News, subscription)
• Colorado-based Jonah Energy, the first U.S. oil and gas company to join the United Nations Oil and Gas Methane Partnership, says it will begin measuring methane emissions from its facilities. (Wyoming Public Radio)
• A Utah judge will hear arguments today in a lawsuit from conservationists challenging a state agency’s allocation of $28 million in public money to a proposed oil-transporting railroad. (news release)
• Colorado’s Southern Ute Indian Tribe joins an organization pushing to increase liquefied natural gas exports from Western U.S. states. (news release)

TRANSPORTATION: New Mexico regulators say proposed vehicle emissions rules would require dealers to offer more low-emissions cars, but would not apply to SUVs or heavy trucks. (Carlsbad Current-Argus)

UTILITIES:
• A Washington state utility plans infrastructure upgrades after the June heat wave pushed peak electricity demand to 62% above normal. (The Columbian)
• California regulators warn utilities to use wildfire-averting public safety power shutoffs only as a last resort. (KQED)

GRID: The Imperial Irrigation District in Southern California issues a conservation alert to ease grid strain as heat again grips the state. (City News Service)

CLIMATE:
• The Dixie Fire in northern California explodes again, growing to 395 square miles and forcing a new round of evacuations. (Associated Press)
• California regulators enact unprecedented water restrictions on farms as historic drought drags on. (Los Angeles Times)

HYDROPOWER: California hydropower generation in 2020 was down 44.3% from the previous year thanks to drought-sapped reservoirs, and is expected to drop even further this year. (San Diego Union-Tribune)

NUCLEAR: Environmentalists say rising sea-levels and an eroding shoreline threaten stored spent reactor fuel from the shuttered San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station near San Diego. (Orange County Register)

BIOFUELS: Pacific Northwest National Laboratory researchers develop a method to convert kelp and fish waste into diesel-like fuel to power generators in isolated, off-grid Alaska communities. (news release)

COMMENTARY:
• To tackle transportation-related greenhouse gas emissions, Colorado needs to reduce the number of people driving in cars and put them in buses, a mobility advocate says. (Colorado Sun)
• A Hawaii community organizer argues the state should add small modular nuclear reactors to its clean energy portfolio. (Honolulu Civil Beat)

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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.