California approves landmark rule for zero-emission trucks

TRANSPORTATION: California regulators approve a new standard for zero-emission trucks, requiring 300,000 sold in the state by 2035. (Los Angeles Times)

ALSO:
• Washington state has the largest savings on fuel costs during the 15-year life of an electric vehicle compared to a gasoline model, according to a new study. (InsideClimate News)
• Two workers at Tesla’s Fremont, California plant say they were fired after being told they could stay home to avoid coronavirus. (Washington Post)

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CLIMATE:
• Amazon is paying to rename a Seattle hockey venue ​“Climate Pledge Arena.” (Associated Press)
• Programs that help farmers reduce their climate impact will likely suffer from reduced revenue from California’s cap and trade program. (InsideClimate News)

PUBLIC LANDS:
• The Interior Department announces plans to open up 18 million acres of the National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska to oil and gas leasing. (Associated Press)
• The Blackfeet Nation drafts a legislative bill to permanently protect Montana’s Badger-Two Medicine habitat as a cultural heritage area. (The Missoulian)

OIL & GAS:
• New Mexico’s congressional delegation continues to push for funding to plug abandoned oil and gas wells. (Carlsbad Current-Argus)
• The upstream portion of BP’s sale of its North Slope Alaska assets to Hilcorp is on course to close by the end of the month. (Anchorage Daily News)
• Montana lawmakers expect the state’s tax revenue from oil and natural gas production to decrease 28% for fiscal year 2020. (Montana Public Radio)
• A Colorado environmental group aims to get an anti-fracking measure back on the state’s November ballot. (Reuters)

WIND: Operations begin at a new 225 MW wind farm in Wyoming. (news release)

SOLAR:
• Fresno’s city council approves a solar and storage project that is expected to save the city $100 million over the next 20 years. (Fresno Bee)
• A Colorado college is developing a 2 MW solar garden for electricity generation and research. (The Journal)

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HYDROPOWER: A California conservation group is calling for the public to support its FERC filing aiming to remove one of the Potter Valley Hydropower Project​’s two dams. (California Trout)

COMMENTARY:
• Representatives of a California nonprofit discuss community environmental programs and the future of environmental justice in a rapidly gentrifying area. (Bay Nature)
• A storage company’s policy expert says bureaucratic inefficiency is holding back $300 million of projects in California. (Utility Dive)
• Two conservationists say the Trump administration’s ​“energy dominance” agenda threatens the Western ecosystem. (Salt Lake Tribune)