CLEAN ENERGY: California Gov. Gavin Newsom proposes streamlining offshore wind and clean energy transmission permitting by limiting environmental lawsuits to nine months. (San Diego Union-Tribune)
ALSO: Advocates say Colorado’s slew of new tax credits for heat pumps, electric vehicles and electric lawn equipment show that last year’s federal Inflation Reduction Act is spurring clean energy investments as intended. (Inside Climate News)
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OIL & GAS:
• A medical watchdog group finds thousands of pounds of PFAS, or carcinogenic “forever chemicals,” have been used to hydraulically fracture 260 New Mexico oil and gas wells. (Santa Fe New Mexican)
• An advocacy group finds Colorado oil and gas operators doubled freshwater consumption for hydraulic fracturing over the last 10 years even as a drought plagued the region and oil production declined. (Inside Climate News)
• California researchers find banning oil and gas drilling near residential areas would produce statewide health benefits and job losses among disadvantaged communities. (news release)
• U.S. Rep. Mark Amodei, a Nevada Republican, introduces a bill that would bar oil and gas leasing on more than 300,000 acres in the Ruby Mountains. (Elko Daily Free Press)
NATURAL GAS:
• A looming natural gas shortage in south-central Alaska threatens to drive up energy prices, spurring some residents to electrify their homes and install solar panels. (KDLL)
• Student activists chain themselves to the University of Washington’s natural gas fired power plant to protest the institution’s investments in fossil fuels. (Columbian)
UTILITIES: Hawaiian Electric proposes converting an aging oil-fueled power plant to run on biodiesel or hydrogen. (Honolulu Star-Advertiser, subscription)
SOLAR:
• Southern California residents push back against utility-scale solar development, saying it is bringing down property values and harming the desert. (Guardian)
• A New Mexico county brings in outside consultants to review a proposed 96 MW solar-plus-storage facility near Santa Fe following residents’ concern over fire danger and environmental impacts. (Santa Fe New Mexican)
• New Mexico regulators approve a proposed 130 MW solar installation with 65 MW battery storage in the southern part of the state. (KRQE)
• Rural western Colorado residents push back on a proposed 100 MW solar installation, saying they will feel the impacts while benefits are funneled to other parts of the state. (KAJX)
HYDROPOWER: Federal regulators deny a proposed pumped hydropower energy storage project in southern California, saying the developer has failed to provide critical documentation. (Press-Enterprise)
STORAGE: The federal Bureau of Land Management greenlights a 300 MW battery energy storage installation at the Desert Sunlight Solar Farm in southern California. (news release)
BIOFUELS: A California man is sentenced to 40 months imprisonment for generating and selling fraudulent renewable fuel credits. (news release)
GEOTHERMAL: Southern California residents worry an uptick in geothermal power development and associated lithium extraction near the Salton Sea will trigger earthquakes. (Press-Enterprise)
ELECTRIC VEHICLES:
• Aspen, Colorado’s police force proposes purchasing electric patrol bicycles with $22,650 recovered from a cocaine bust. (Aspen Times)
• A federal grant requires an Alaska school district to purchase and destroy a diesel bus as a condition to receive funding to purchase an electric vehicle. (KTOO)
CRITICAL MINERALS:
• Wyoming advocates are skeptical of a firm’s plans to mine rare earth elements at its struggling coal mine, saying it is unlikely to be commercially viable. (Casper Star-Tribune)
• Arizona and New Mexico Democratic U.S. lawmakers introduce legislation to reform federal mining law. (NM Political Report)
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