New Mexico orders state agencies to switch to electric vehicles

ELECTRIC VEHICLES: New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham orders state agencies to switch to all-electric vehicle fleets within 12 years and proposes new tax credits for zero-emissions cars. (Associated Press)

ALSO: Data show 150,000 electric vehicles are registered in Washington state, a sixfold increase over five years. (Seattle Times)

HYDROGEN: A southern California transit agency considers spending $6.3 million on a hydrogen-fueling and electric vehicle-charging system as an investigation of a bus fire continues. (Bakersfield Californian)

CLEAN ENERGY:

• An Arizona county votes to ban clean energy development on private land for eight months to allow officials to consider environmental impacts. (Havasu News)
• An energy analyst tallies 64,000 clean energy-related jobs in Colorado, about twice the number employed by the oil and gas sector. (Colorado Newsline)
• A Colorado ski resort says it is acquiring 100% of its power from renewable sources, including on-site and community solar facilities. (Denver Gazette)

SOLAR:

• A dozen Denver-area schools use Colorado climate office funding to install solar canopies in parking lots. (Colorado Sun)
• A manufacturing firm plans to open a solar panel junction box factory in Arizona that will employ about 50 people. (Solar Power World)
• Idaho regulators seek public input on a utility’s proposed changes to rooftop solar compensation rates. (news release)

COAL:

• Montana residents and advocates call on federal regulators to crack down on a coal mine’s alleged environmental violations, saying the facility’s operations are drying up springs and harming livestock. (Daily Montanan)
• Federal investigators launch a probe of a coal-train derailment in Colorado that killed one motorist and shut down an interstate highway indefinitely. (Loveland Reporter-Herald)

EFFICIENCY: The U.S. Energy Department grants a Colorado county $1.4 million to fund efficiency improvements for underserved and low-income households. (Vail Daily)

POLLUTION: A national nonprofit launches an air quality monitoring program in an Idaho city to better understand air pollution’s impacts on Latino residents. (Idaho Capital Sun)

BATTERIES: A California city’s utility installs a battery energy storage system to provide backup for a water treatment plant. (Paso Robles Daily News)

OIL & GAS: California climate activists attempt to block an oil tanker with a kayak convoy to protest pollution from a Bay Area refinery. (KRON)

COMMENTARY:

• A Wyoming city’s mayor urges the Biden administration to strengthen and implement proposed methane emissions rules for oil and gas facilities, saying it will improve residents’ quality of life. (Casper Star-Tribune)
• Northwestern New Mexico elected officials support a proposed hydrogen-fuel production hub, saying their county is an optimal location. (Farmington Daily Times)