Denver petroleum baron pushes Supreme Court to gut environmental law

OIL & GAS: A Denver petroleum company with ties to Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch pressures the court to gut a federal environmental review law and clear the way for a contested oil-hauling railway in Utah. (The Lever)

ALSO: California air regulators propose changing the state’s low carbon fuel standard, potentially increasing gasoline prices even as lawmakers consider fuel cost control legislation. (Los Angeles Times)

GEOTHERMAL: The Burning Man Project agrees to purchase federal geothermal leases near Nevada’s Black Rock Desert in an effort to prevent energy development near its festival site. (This is Reno)

ELECTRIC VEHICLES:

• Toyota agrees to invest an additional $500 million in a California startup to support commercial production of its electric air taxi. (Mercury News)
• A Colorado city launches the nation’s first all-electric residential recycling and waste collection fleet. (CPR)

BATTERIES:

• A southern California city imposes a temporary moratorium on new grid-scale battery energy storage systems while it crafts regulations for the facilities. (KUSI)
• A developer proposes a 200 MW battery energy storage system in central Colorado. (Energy Storage News, subscription)

SOLAR:

• An industry-commissioned poll finds 85% of California respondents believe the state should do more to encourage rooftop solar and 74% support utility-scale development in their own communities. (news release)
• California officials plan a public meeting on the proposed 1,150 MW Darden solar-plus-battery storage project in Fresno County. (news release)
• The federal Bureau of Land Management seeks public input on a proposed transmission line in Nevada designed to connect an adjacent solar facility to the grid. (news release)
• The U.S. Agriculture Department awards a Nevada hay farm $477,500 to construct a solar array. (news release)

COAL: The U.S. EPA requires Xcel Energy’s Colorado subsidiary to pay $134,500 and conduct mitigation work to address coal ash-related groundwater contamination at its Denver-area power plant. (Denver Gazette)

CLIMATE: Oregon researchers find abrupt climatic changes threaten ​“life on Earth like nothing humans have ever seen” and call for action to prevent further warming. (OPB)

URANIUM: The U.S. EPA plans to clean up seven abandoned uranium mining sites on the Navajo Nation. (news release)

UTILITIES: Idaho regulators approve Avista’s proposed rate decrease. (Idaho Capital Sun)

COMMENTARY: A California columnist pushes back on activist Jane Fonda’s anti-nuclear power stance, saying all carbon-free energy sources should be on the table for fighting climate change. (Los Angeles Times)