Western Energy News is one of five regional services published by the Energy News Network. Today’s edition was compiled by Jonathan Thompson.
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LITHIUM: Environmentalists say a potential lithium mining boom in southern Oregon would wipe out the region’s sage grouse. (OPB)
COAL:
• U.S. Sen. Michael Bennett of Colorado proposes creating an endowment to help communities affected by coal plant closures. (E&E News, subscription)
• Talen Energy, the operator and co-owner of Montana’s Colstrip coal power plant, files for bankruptcy, saying it can’t compete with low natural gas and renewable energy prices. (Montana Standard)
• Montana regulators release an environmental analysis of Westmoreland’s proposed Rosebud coal mine expansion. (news release)
OIL & GAS:
• The Biden administration defends its oil and gas leasing pause in federal court, saying it was implemented to comply with environmental laws, not by executive order. (Associated Press)
• Colorado regulators say an oil and gas company has failed to live up to a facility clean up agreement it entered to avoid a $2 million fine. (CPR)
• Conservation groups appeal a federal court’s April decision upholding a Trump-era approval of a 3,500-well oil and gas project in a pronghorn migration corridor in Wyoming. (news release)
• Chevron officials say they plan to increase production from their Permian Basin facilities 21% over last year. (Carlsbad Current-Argus)
WIND:
• Oregon commercial fishermen protest a federal plan to develop offshore wind power off the state’s coast, saying the process is being rushed. (Jefferson Public Radio)
• The Biden administration plans to streamline federal permitting for infrastructure projects such as utility-scale wind power facilities. (Idaho Capital Sun)
SOLAR: The Navajo Nation develops utility-scale solar projects to replace jobs and energy lost from coal power plant closures. (Navajo-Hopi Observer)
CRYPTOCURRENCY: A Colorado startup “demanufactures” waste tires into steel and oil, which is then used to generate power for cryptocurrency mining. (Bitcoin Magazine)
CLIMATE:
• A California pollution-reduction plan says the state will need to electrify new homes and cut fossil fuel use 91% to reach carbon neutrality by 2045. (Associated Press)
• Utah energy officials consider ratcheting up the state goal to produce 20% of its electricity from clean sources by 2025. (Salt Lake Tribune)
COMMENTARY: Hawaii advocates call for the state to improve energy efficiency, increase local food production and accelerate renewable energy and electric vehicle deployment to reduce reliance on imported fossil fuels. (Honolulu Civil Beat)
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