EMISSIONS: A number of Western cities are among those across the U.S. underestimating greenhouse gas emissions according to a new study, with Torrance, California topping the list. (CBS News)
CLIMATE: An opinion poll of Western voters finds that many are increasingly worried about the impacts of climate change, and people of color in particular have serious concerns about dangers to public lands. (Denver Post, Colorado Sun)
COAL:
• A U.S. district court judge says the Trump administration failed to consider health, pollution, and climate impacts when approving the expansion of a Montana coal mine. (Courthouse News Service, Associated Press)
• A University of Wyoming energy economist is skeptical about a prediction that coal will be out of the U.S. energy mix by 2033. (Wyoming Public Media)
FOSSIL FUELS: Wyoming Gov. Mark Gordon endorses legislation to support fossil fuels by halving the state’s severance tax on certain oil and gas operations and promoting carbon capture and other technologies. (Casper Star-Tribune)
ELECTRIFICATION:
• A California restaurant trade group challenges Berkeley, California’s natural gas ban, arguing the city is breaking a federal law prohibiting favoring one type of energy over another. (Daily Californian)
• Seattle’s natural gas ban in new buildings could influence similar actions across Washington. (Utility Dive)
NATURAL GAS:
• Four San Fernando Valley communities sue the city of Los Angeles over a series of gas leaks and a natural gas-fired power station they allege has been “deliberately neglected.” (Los Angeles Daily News)
• A state-sponsored company in Alaska wants to pursue federal funding for a project to carry North Slope natural gas to Fairbanks. (Associated Press)
OIL & GAS:
• Federal lawmakers introduce bills to restore protections to the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge from oil and gas drilling. (Anchorage Daily News)
• Colorado oil and gas producers and environmental groups reach an agreement to replace pollution-emitting devices at thousands of wells statewide. (Denver Business Journal)
• A New Mexico bill aiming to move the state away from its economic reliance on oil and gas advances in the state senate. (Carlsbad Current-Argus)
PUBLIC LANDS:
• Utah U.S. Senator Mitt Romney files an amendment that would require federal energy leases be considered and approved by Congress. (news release)
• New Mexico U.S. Rep. Yvette Herrell introduces a bill to exempt the state from the moratorium on new federal oil and gas leases. (Carlsbad Current-Argus)
• President Biden’s federal oil and gas lease moratorium stops a planned Colorado sale. (Durango Herald)
• The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management cancels the public comment period for a proposed Alaska oil and gas lease sale. (Anchorage Daily News)
UTILITIES:
• PG&E’s criminal probation judge is considering additional probation conditions aiming to prevent more wildfires. (NBC Bay Area)
• New Mexico’s utility regulator approves an order extending a temporary moratorium on disconnecting residential ratepayers. (Farmington Daily Times)
STORAGE: A wholesale energy provider is retrofitting two of its California solar farms with battery storage resources totaling 160 MW/640 MWh. (PV Magazine)
TRANSPORTATION: California leads the nation on transportation electrification, according to a new report this week. (U.S. News & World Report)
COMMENTARY:
• An Alaska official says the state is committed to reducing energy costs in rural communities through collaboration and innovation. (Anchorage Daily News)
• Two University of Utah academics say renewable energy development initiatives would be beneficial for Native American tribal nations, but must center tribal sovereignty. (Forbes)