OIL & GAS: Few oil and gas companies appear interested in Alaska’s Arctic National Wildlife Refuge despite President Trump’s efforts to auction off drilling rights and stoke political controversy around the issue. (Quartz)
ALSO:
• Joe Biden recommits to ending fossil fuel subsidies after confusion and backlash this week over changes to the Democratic Party’s platform. (The Verge)
• Texas oil and gas companies worry what a Joe Biden presidency would mean for their industry. (Houston Chronicle)
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CLIMATE:
• “This is a now problem, not a future problem.” Colorado is beginning to pay for decades of burning fossil fuels as raging wildfires, shrinking water flows and rising temperatures take a toll. (Denver Post)
• A panel of legislators, scientists and academics says New Jersey should sue fossil fuel companies for climate damages as other states have done. (DeSmog)
EMISSIONS:
• Joe Biden is unlikely to pursue a carbon tax and will focus on climate policies that better promote equity and economic recovery, sources say. (Axios)
• Louisiana’s governor signs an executive order establishing a task force and setting targets to reach net-zero emissions statewide by 2050. (Associated Press)
CALIFORNIA:
• California’s blackouts are a result of closing fossil fuel power plants without building adequate backup generation for variable renewables, experts say. (Grist)
• When grid and utility officials asked Californians to conserve power, they appear to have listened, as loads dropped below projections. (Greentech Media)
STORAGE: The largest grid battery in the world is now online near San Diego, part of a wave of massive battery projects under construction in California as the state grapples with a heatwave and outages. (Greentech Media)
SOLAR: As developers eye major solar projects in the Mojave Desert, conservationists warn about the risk to vital ecosystems. (HuffPost)
UTILITIES:
• The move to create a publicly owned utility for Maine was delayed by COVID-19, but its prime legislative sponsor says momentum will return when a task force clearly defines its costs. (Energy News Network)
• Long delays in service restoration in the New York metropolitan area following Tropical Storm Isaias revive calls to break up utilities or make them publicly owned. (Wall Street Journal, subscription required)
CLEAN ENERGY:
• Several possible clean energy solutions exist to help California avoid power shortages on hot summer evenings, experts say. (Los Angeles Times)
• New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham stresses clean energy jobs during her Democratic National Convention speech. (Santa Fe New Mexican)
• Proposed legislation in Illinois seeks to repurpose former coal plant sites with clean energy projects. (WMBD)
COAL: America’s two biggest coal companies say they can’t compete without attempting a potentially illegal merger, setting up a high-stakes legal drama that could decide the fate of the companies and industry. (Forbes)
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OHIO: Local officials in counties with nuclear power plants bailed out by state legislation now at the center of an alleged bribery scheme push back on efforts to repeal the law. (Toledo Blade)
COMMENTARY: Repealing HB 6 in Ohio is a “crucial first step toward righting this eye-popping wrong,” says clean energy developer Jigar Shah. (Cincinnati Enquirer)