Senate GOP votes to rescind California EV mandate

This roundup of energy news headlines comes from our Western Energy News newsletter. Sign up to get it in your inbox each morning.

ELECTRIC VEHICLES

• U.S. Senate Republicans vote to rescind California’s zero-emission vehicle standards and ban on new gasoline car sales in defiance of the body’s parliamentarian, drawing criticism from Democrats and advocates and laying the groundwork for the state to sue. (Los Angeles Times, CalMatters, Politico)

• National environmental groups move to join a multi-state lawsuit seeking to force the Trump administration to release billions of dollars in federal funding for electric vehicle charging infrastructure. (Seattle Times)

CLIMATE

• Oregon lawmakers consider establishing a greenhouse gas emissions cap-and-trade system to help fund road and bridge maintenance and wildfire hazard mitigation projects. (OPB)

FOSSIL FUELS

• New Mexico advocates say oil and gas corporations’ rush to drill the Permian Basin exposes workers to hazardous conditions that can lead to injury, death, and mental illness. (Searchlight New Mexico/​High Country News)

• The Trump administration shifts oversight of decommissioning offshore oil and gas platforms in the Chumash Heritage National Marine Sanctuary in northern California from the U.S. Commerce Department to Interior. (news release)

• Wyoming officials say injecting carbon dioxide into aging oil and gas wells boosts production, but developing necessary infrastructure can be cost-prohibitive. (Cowboy State Daily)

BIOFUELS

• Environmental groups file a legal challenge seeking to reverse a key Oregon permit for a proposed biofuels refinery along the Columbia River, saying the facility would harm wetlands and discharge pollutants. (Oregonian, news release)

• The idle Honua Ola biofuels plant files a lawsuit accusing Hawaiian Electric of creating a monopoly that has blocked the facility from operating. (KTUU)

SOLAR

• A California assembly committee advances legislation that would slash net-metering compensation for legacy rooftop solar on homes that are sold or transferred. (PV Magazine)

GEOTHERMAL

• The U.S. Geological Survey finds the geothermal potential in Nevada’s Great Basin is equivalent to 10% of the nation’s power supply. (Reuters)

NUCLEAR

• Bonneville Power Administration and Energy Northwest plan a $700 million project to boost output at the Columbia nuclear plant in eastern Washington by 162 MW over the next six years. (Tri-City Herald)

• New Mexico advocates say state regulators will continue subjecting proposed uranium mines to robust reviews, whether or not the Trump administration fast-tracks federal permitting. (Source NM)

COMMENTARY

• California columnist Sammy Roth scrutinizes the Anschutz Power Company’s pivot from focusing on Wyoming wind development to proposing a massive gas plant in the state. (Los Angeles Times)

NEW FROM CANARY

• A Maine community college’s heat pump lab is training workers to install and repair the electric appliances, which have become a central piece of the state’s climate plan, Kristen Moravec reports.

• A geothermal project in northern California is among a growing contingent of clean energy projects looking to hire local employees, and workforce and education officials are ramping up programs to train them, Aly Brown reports.

• As global EV adoption continues to soar, battery-powered cars are on track to make up a quarter of global vehicle sales this year, Dan McCarthy reports.