Biden administration appeals leasing-pause court order

OIL & GAS: The Biden administration says it will appeal a court’s June injunction on its oil and gas leasing pause, but also will proceed with leasing ​“in a manner that takes into account the program’s many deficiencies.” (Reuters)

ALSO:
• Activists say oil and gas development threatens dark skies and cultural resources at a remote national monument in southeastern Utah. (Salt Lake Tribune)
• Santa Barbara County, California, releases an environmental impact report on ExxonMobil’s plan to resume offshore drilling and truck oil along Highway 101. (news release)
• A natural gas pipeline explosion in Arizona killed two people and critically injured another. (Arizona Republic)

CLIMATE:
• Federal officials declare a first-ever shortage on the drought-addled Colorado River after Lake Mead drops to all-time low levels, triggering water cutbacks for Arizona, Nevada, and Mexico. (New York Times)
• Colorado officials draft a rule requiring state and local governments to consider, measure and potentially offset the climate-warming effects of proposed transportation projects. (Colorado Public Radio)
• Wyoming’s energy regulators unveil an all-of-the-above strategy embracing fossil fuels and renewables to reach net-zero carbon emissions. (Jackson Hole News and Guide)

UTILITIES:
• Pacific Gas & Electric workers inspected equipment near where the Fly Fire started but failed to note a tree that toppled into a power line, possibly igniting the blaze two weeks later. (San Francisco Chronicle)
• An independent analysis finds Arizona’s mandate to achieve 100% clean energy by 2050 could increase ratepayers’ utility bills by as much as $60 per month, but renewable energy advocates say advances in technology could reduce that amount. (Utility Dive)

TRANSITION:
• Hawaii’s geography and lack of coal or natural gas deposits have helped accelerate the state’s transition from fossil fuels to renewables. (Canary Media)
• U.S. Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm’s visit to New Mexico this week will focus on the state’s push for more renewable energy and workforce opportunities for communities reliant on a soon-to-retire coal-fired power plant. (Associated Press)

NUCLEAR:
• The Havasupai Tribe faces legal hurdles in its fight to stop a uranium mine proposed on federal land near Grand Canyon National Park that the tribe considers sacred. (Arizona Republic)
• Oregon-based NuScale Power and Xcel Energy sign an agreement to explore the feasibility of the Colorado utility operating NuScale’s small modular reactor plants. (news release)

ELECTRIC VEHICLES: A California school district adds six electric school buses to its fleet. (news release)

COMMENTARY:
• A former Arizona utility regulator says Tucson Electric Power’s transmission tariff proposal would threaten the state’s renewable energy development efforts. (Arizona Daily Star)
• A former energy regulator urges Wyoming to seize on the opportunity offered by the Biden administration’s review of the federal oil and gas leasing program ​“to benefit us in the new energy economy.” (WyoFile)