CLIMATE: The U.S. Supreme Court rejects oil companies’ bids to move a host of local governments’ climate lawsuits to federal courts, paving the way for the cases to move forward in California, Colorado and Hawaii courts. (Guardian)

ALSO: New Mexico advocates laud a new state climate policy bureau’s launch, but say regulators still lack the funding to fully address global warming. (Albuquerque Journal)

OIL & GAS:
• As President Biden launches his re-election bid, many young climate advocates say they feel betrayed by his approval of the Willow oil and gas drilling project in Alaska and may not support him next year. (New York Times)   
• A New Mexico conservation group finds about 6.1% of federal land in the state is protected from oil and gas development, falling far short of the Biden administration’s goal of preserving 30% of public land by 2030. (Carlsbad Current-Argus)

SOLAR:
• The federal Bureau of Land Management seeks public comments on the proposed 700 MW Libra Solar Project in Nevada’s Lyon and Mineral Counties. (2News)
• A Colorado tech park breaks ground on a 1.7 MW parking canopy solar installation and 49-unit electric vehicle charging center. (PV Magazine)

ELECTRIFICATION: A California university expects construction on its all-electric, 144-bed hospital in Irvine to be completed in 2025. (Los Angeles Times)

ELECTRIC VEHICLES:
• An Arizona city’s transit agency puts the first of two electric buses into service this week. (Arizona Daily Sun)
• A Colorado city purchases its first electric fire engine. (Denver7)

TRANSPORTATION:
• Two intercity passenger rail lines in California plan to fuel their fleets with renewable diesel by the end of next month. (news release)
• A national laboratory assists University of Utah researchers in developing a plan to electrify the urban Wasatch Front transportation corridor. (CleanTechnica)

LITHIUM: The federal Bureau of Land Management withdraws its approval of a lithium exploratory drilling project in southeastern Utah after conservationists appeal over the cumulative impacts to water supplies. (news release)

STORAGE: Tesla records its highest energy storage deployments to date during the first quarter of this year after ramping up production at its Megapack factory in California. (Canary Media)

GRID: Federal regulators approve an Arizona utility’s and the California grid operator’s plans to measure and potentially increase transmission line capacity and efficiency. (Utility Dive)

UTILITIES: Jury selection begins for a landowners’ lawsuit against PacifiCorp over its alleged role in sparking the 2020 Labor Day wildfires in Oregon. (KOIN)

COMMENTARY:
• A Wyoming editorial board urges the state’s coal communities to embrace the energy transition by looking for new, cleaner ways to use fossil fuel infrastructure. (Casper Star-Tribune)
• A California editorial board urges state lawmakers to require utilities to expedite new developments’ grid hookups after Pacific Gas & Electric delays stymie affordable housing projects. (San Francisco Chronicle)
• A Los Angeles environmental justice advocate calls on state lawmakers to hold oil companies accountable for harm caused by drilling near homes. (Los Angeles Times)

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Jonathan hails from southwestern Colorado and has been writing about the land, cultures, and communities of the Western United States for more than two decades. He compiles the Western Energy News digest. He is the author of three books, a contributing editor at High Country News, and the editor of the Land Desk, an e-newsletter that provides coverage and context on issues critical to the West.