California frets over gas tax dropoff as EVs proliferate

ELECTRIC VEHICLES: California analysts predict the condition of the state’s highways will decline as electric vehicles displace gasoline-powered cars and motor fuel tax revenues plunge. (Los Angeles Times)

ALSO:

• The Biden administration awards New Mexico $68 million and an Alaska city $1.4 million to expand their electric vehicle charging networks. (Santa Fe New Mexican, Your Alaska Link)
• Washington state officials plan to use over $41 million in federal grants to build about 180 electric vehicle charging stations in the western part of the state. (Seattle Times)
• An Arizona city considers charging the public to use city-owned electric vehicle charging stations that are now free. (Arizona Daily Sun)

OIL & GAS: 

• Advocates and investors question the sustainability claims of a growing Colorado oil and gas company that bills itself as the state’s ​“first carbon-neutral energy producer.” (Capital & Main)
• A California lawmaker and environmentalist divests from petroleum, chemical and mining companies after a news outlet questioned how the investments aligned with her public stance on climate change. (Los Angeles Times)
• New Mexico petroleum firms claim state and federal rules hamper oil and gas production in the Permian Basin, even as the field reports record high output. (Carlsbad Current-Argus)
• A New Mexico county in the Permian Basin collects far more oil and gas-related taxes than projected due to record production levels and high commodity prices. (Carlsbad Current-Argus)

CLIMATE: Oregon’s treasurer proposes making the state’s $100 billion public employee pension fund carbon-neutral by 2050 after advocates call on lawmakers to divest from fossil fuel stocks. (Oregon Capital Chronicle)

PUBLIC LANDS: A Wyoming governor-appointed task force submits its recommended changes to a controversial federal Bureau of Land Management resource plan that would restrict energy development in the southern part of the state. (WyoFile)

NUCLEAR:

• A Washington state utility agrees to invest $10 million to study the feasibility of a public power operator’s proposed advanced nuclear reactor. (Power)
• A New Mexico startup says it has successfully tested a molten salt cooling system for its advanced nuclear reactor. (World Nuclear News)

GEOTHERMAL: A Colorado ski resort town considers using geothermal energy to heat a sidewalk snowmelt system currently powered with natural gas boilers. (Think Geoenergy)

CLEAN ENERGY: The U.S. Energy Department awards an Arizona college $2 million for its clean energy job training program. (3TV/CBS5)

HYDROGEN: Construction is underway on a hydrogen production, storage and power production project at a retiring coal plant site in rural Utah. (New York Times)

GRID: New Mexico advocates push back against a proposed 14-mile power line to the Los Alamos National Laboratory, citing cultural and environmental impacts. (Santa Fe New Mexican)

COMMENTARY:

• A California columnist calls on journalists to stop sensationalizing clean energy-related bird deaths, pointing to a study finding oil and gas drilling is more harmful to avians than wind turbines. (Los Angeles Times)
• A California advocate urges regulators to resist utilities’ efforts to squash a proposed net value billing tariff that would support community solar. (Utility Dive)