California EV rules poised for EPA approval and oil industry challenge

ELECTRIC VEHICLES: Sources say the U.S. EPA plans to allow California to implement stronger-than-federal auto emissions rules and to enforce its ban on new gasoline car sales by 2035, but the U.S. Supreme Court voted to consider an oil industry lawsuit challenging the rule. (Washington Post, Los Angeles Times)

ALSO: A federally funded study aims to probe electric vehicles’ potential role in Alaska’s remote regions. (KOTZ)

EMISSIONS: A report finds New Mexico’s pollution laws and regulations are driving a decrease in greenhouse gas emissions in the state. (New Mexico Political Report)

SOLAR:

• Developers plan to begin construction on a controversial solar facility in northern California with a beefed up habitat conservation plan aimed at mitigating harm to an imperiled salamander. (Bay Nature)
• An Oregon solar developer plans to spend $11 million to mitigate a 10,000-acre project’s impacts on agriculture as a condition of the state’s recent approval. (Capital Press)
• Some New Mexico residents push back on a proposed utility-scale solar-plus-storage facility near Albuquerque, saying it would infringe on their rural way of life. (KRQE)
• A southern California city votes to purchase 50 MW from a solar facility as part of its effort to achieve 100% carbon free electricity by 2030. (Pasadena Now)
• The federal Bureau of Land Management considers a proposed 200 MW solar project on 1,920 acres in central Utah. (news release)

CLEAN ENERGY: Some rural communities in California push back on state lawmakers’ proposals to streamline clean energy permitting on private land, saying wind and solar projects take up valuable farmland. (CalMatters)

HYDROPOWER: Data show efforts to mitigate hydropower dams’ impacts on fish in the Columbia River are showing signs of success. (Idaho Capital Sun)

UTILITIES: A Montana court rejects advocates’ lawsuit accusing state lawmakers of gerrymandering public service commission election districts to favor Republicans. (Montana Free Press)

OIL & GAS: 

• Colorado regulators continue to investigate the motives behind and consequences of consultants falsifying oil and gas facilities’ environmental data. (CPR)
• Anchorage officials plan to address a looming natural gas shortage by pushing for more renewable energy and slashing municipal facilities’ power consumption. (Alaska Public Media) 

CLIMATE: Washington advocates say November’s election results show the state is poised to lead the fight against climate change during the Trump era. (Columbia Insights)

COAL: Wyoming’s coal industry hopes the incoming Trump administration will end President Biden’s ​“openly hostile” approach to fossil fuels and roll back power plant and mining regulations. (WyoFile)

NUCLEAR: A Wyoming trona mine plans to deploy up to eight modular nuclear microreactors to power its production facilities beginning in the early 2030s. (Cowboy State Daily)