OIL & GAS: A U.S. EPA investigation finds the U.S. Navy potentially violated numerous state and federal laws while operating a fuel storage facility in Hawaii that contaminated drinking water for thousands of people. (Honolulu Civil Beat)
ALSO:
• A second private company gives up its federal oil and gas lease in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, leaving an Alaska agency as the lone leaseholder in the preserve. (Anchorage Daily News)
• A Republican New Mexico gubernatorial candidate proposes offering residents an annual rebate based on oil and gas revenues and loosening industry regulations. (Carlsbad Current-Argus)
CLIMATE: Oregon, California and Washington state attorneys general file a motion to block the proposed expansion of a natural gas pipeline that would run from Canada to California, saying it would violate state climate laws and increase greenhouse gas emissions. (Spokesman-Review)
COAL:
• Hawaii’s only coal plant is on track to shut down by Sept. 1, making the state more dependent on an oil power plant until a planned geothermal plant and 13 solar facilities come online in the next two years. (Canary Media, KITV)
• The ongoing drought in the Colorado River Basin threatens coal power plants’ cooling and steam-generating water supplies. (NPR)
SOLAR:
• The owners of the site of a controversial solar installation proposed for eastern Washington state say the project will be a “productive use for otherwise unproductive land” that has suffered from drought. (Yakima Herald-Republic)
• The federal Bureau of Land Management seeks public comment on a 300 MW solar-plus-storage project proposed for 5,100 acres of public land in southern Nevada. (news release)
WIND: New Mexico added 1,368 MW of wind power capacity last year, the third most land-based addition in the nation after Oklahoma and Texas. (Santa Fe New Mexican)
GRID: Analysts say a California rule allowing utilities to offer electric vehicle-specific electricity rates will save customers money and stabilize the grid by incentivizing off-peak charging. (Canary Media)
TRANSPORTATION:
• The U.S. Transportation Department awards an Arizona transit agency $12 million to purchase electric buses and install charging infrastructure. (Arizona Daily Star)
• Colorado Gov. Jared Polis urges federal regulators not to require some gas stations in the state to sell a cleaner-burning gasoline blend to reduce ozone pollution, saying it would raise fuel costs while only negligibly improving air quality. (CPR)
• A California city relaunches an electric bike-sharing service after the original operator went bankrupt and abandoned 250 bikes in July. (Mercury News)
CRITICAL MINERALS: Alaska’s U.S. senators urge the Biden administration to boost the state’s production of minerals used in clean energy applications by streamlining federal mining regulations. (E&E News)
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