California Democrats push back against Newsom’s Diablo Canyon plan

NUCLEAR: Some Democratic California lawmakers oppose Gov. Gavin Newsom’s proposal to spend $1.4 billion to keep the Diablo Canyon nuclear plant running past 2025, saying the money should go toward solar, wind, battery storage and transmission development instead. (Associated Press)

OIL & GAS:
• A federal judge revives his block on the Biden administration’s oil and gas leasing pause just days after an appeals court struck it down. (E&E News)
• University of New Mexico engineers develop a nanotech sealant for permanently plugging abandoned oil and gas wells that won’t crack and leak like cement. (Albuquerque Journal)
• The U.S. Transportation Department awards an Alaska Native Village $45 million to construct a road to a planned oil spill response facility. (news release)

COAL: Wyoming’s coal industry plans to appeal a court’s reinstatement of an Obama-era ban on federal leasing, saying it and another legal ruling threaten the industry’s long-term viability in the Powder River Basin. (Casper Star-Tribune)

SOLAR:
• A public hearing on a 470 MW solar installation proposed for eastern Washington state draws intense support and opposition. (Yakima Herald-Republic)
• California utilities urge regulators to slash state net metering payments for rooftop solar, saying the Inflation Reduction Act’s subsidies make them redundant. (Bloomberg)
• An 850 kW solar-plus-storage installation goes online at a public high school in Albuquerque, New Mexico. (KRQE)

WIND:
• Three southern Idaho counties that would be affected by a 400-turbine wind power facility proposed for 73,000 acres of public land pass resolutions opposing the project. (News-Times)
• Researchers find floating offshore wind turbines like those that would be deployed along California’s coast could cause ecosystem-altering turbulence. (E&E News, subscription)

CLIMATE:
• Wyoming politicians pan the Inflation Reduction Act even though analysts say it will boost the state’s uranium, wind power and hydrogen industries along with a proposed advanced nuclear reactor. (Casper Star-Tribune)
• Idaho National Laboratory aims to achieve net-zero carbon emissions by 2031. (KIVI TV)

TRANSPORTATION: California transit officials advance a proposed high-speed rail line by approving the environmental review of a 49-mile section from San Jose to San Francisco. (San Jose Spotlight)

COMMENTARY:
• A Utah Democrat says state lawmakers are systematically suppressing clean energy adoption by levying electric vehicle fees and blocking rooftop solar incentives. (The Spectrum)
• A policy analyst urges New Mexico officials to support the establishment of a geothermal energy industry to provide baseload power to back up wind and solar. (Albuquerque Journal)