Amazon lobbies against clean energy for Oregon data centers

CLEAN ENERGY: Oregon lawmakers say Amazon has quietly lobbied against a bill that would require cryptocurrency miners and data centers to use clean energy even as the Seattle company publicly pledges to become zero-carbon. (Oregonian)

ALSO:
• The federal Bureau of Land Management seeks a $30 million budget increase for next year, including $20 million to accelerate clean energy permitting and planning. (E&E News, subscription)
• A Colorado city signs an agreement with an electricity cooperative to provide 100% of the city’s power from clean energy sources. (Gunnison Times)

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CRITICAL MINERALS:
• Developers suspend work on a cobalt mine in Idaho poised to become the nation’s first of its kind, citing low prices and rising construction costs. (Missoulian)
• Montana and federal scientists plan an aerial survey of a recently identified rare earth elements deposit in the Bitterroot Mountains. (Missoulian)

SOLAR: The federal Bureau of Land Management plans to hold a public forum on the proposed 400 MW Eagle Eye Solar Project in western Arizona. (news release)

OIL & GAS:
• New Mexico officials say a news outlet’s reporting about the U.S. EPA settling pollution cases without imposing penalties led regulators to order two Permian Basin oil and gas operators to pay nearly $6.7 million for air quality violations. (Capital & Main)
• An advocacy group’s polling finds U.S. voters’ approval of President Biden’s handling of climate change declined after he approved the Willow oil and gas drilling project in Alaska. (Common Dreams)
• The operator of a Wyoming oil and gas field scrambles to acquire a federal wastewater injection well permit ahead of its own deadline for the project ​“to be successful.” (WyoFile)

HYDROGEN: The Fort Peck Indian Community and its corporate partners advance a proposed wind-powered hydrogen fuel and fertilizer production facility in Montana that would capture and sequester carbon in the Bakken oil fields. (Daily Montanan)

COAL:
• Indigenous leaders urge regulators to crack down on coal mines in Canada blamed for contaminating rivers that cross the border into Idaho and Montana. (Flathead Beacon)
• A Wyoming lawmaker accuses BNSF Railway of failing to meet contractual terms for coal shipments from the state. (Wyoming Public Radio)

POLLUTION: An Arizona environment official urges federal lawmakers to support the U.S. EPA’s proposal to cut air pollution that drifts into neighboring states. (Cronkite News)

GRID: A report finds extreme weather poses the biggest threat to Western power grid reliability, surpassing cyberattacks, resource adequacy and growing customer loads. (RTO Insider, subscription)