OIL & GAS: The federal Bureau of Land Management proposes upping protections on 1.3 million acres in southern Wyoming, potentially hampering oil and gas development. (Casper Star-Tribune)
ALSO:
• Rising Permian Basin oil production and prices help boost New Mexico revenues to “unprecedented, historic” levels, setting the state up for a $3.5 billion budget surplus. (Albuquerque Journal)
• Oregon advocates say internal emails and documents suggest Portland’s 2022 permit approval for an oil-by-rail facility came about through oil company-influenced backroom deals. (DeSmog)
SOLAR:
• Developers of a proposed 500 MW solar installation in Wyoming plan to elevate the photovoltaic panels to allow livestock grazing and other agricultural uses to continue. (Cowboy State Daily)
• New Mexico prosecutors sue a shuttered solar installation company for allegedly defrauding consumers who paid for systems that were never installed. (Albuquerque Journal)
• A New Mexico nonprofit installs a solar array on the nation’s oldest Catholic church, built in Santa Fe in 1610. (KRQE)
WIND:
• The federal Bureau of Land Management will block the use of 106,000 acres of land in southern Idaho to further analyze the proposed Lava Ridge Wind Project planned for the area. (Idaho Mountain Express)
• A northern California county partners with offshore wind companies to help guide future development along the coast. (news release)
UTILITIES: Montana residents and advocates urge regulators to reject NorthWestern Energy’s proposed integrated resource plan, saying it relies too heavily on fossil fuels. (Missoula Current)
CARBON CAPTURE: California advocates raise safety, environmental and cost-related concerns about a plan to install carbon capture equipment on a natural gas plant near Sacramento. (Sacramento News & Review)
CLIMATE:
• Legal observers say young Montana advocates’ recent court victory is a paradigm shift in climate litigation that will have a “ripple effect across the world.” (NPR)
• Washington state researchers establish a facility for developing and testing carbon-free passive space-cooling systems. (Center Square)
• The University of California awards $80 million to 38 projects aimed at helping the state achieve its climate-related goals. (news release)
• California researchers work to develop tools and policies aimed at helping disadvantaged communities adapt to climate change-exacerbated extreme heat. (news release)
POLLUTION: Arizona advocates launch a campaign aimed at reducing pollution in communities of color by planting more trees, deploying clean energy and promoting sustainable transit. (Arizona Republic)
ELECTRIC VEHICLES: A hybrid-electric aircraft completes a successful 3,400-mile flight from southern California to Alaska. (Daily News-Miner, subscription)
BATTERIES: A battery energy storage firm plans to establish an engineering and assembly facility in southern California. (news release)
NUCLEAR: The nation’s only uranium enrichment plant, located in Eunice, New Mexico, plans to boost output by 15% as part of an effort to wean the U.S. from Russia nuclear reactor fuel. (Bloomberg)
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