Sierra Club to California oil and gas industry: Plug your idle wells

OIL & GAS: The Sierra Club calls on California regulators to force petroleum companies to spend more money plugging and reclaiming idle oil and gas wells. (Bakersfield Californian)

ALSO:

• Wyoming joins other Republican-led states and the oil and gas industry in challenging a U.S. EPA rule giving states and tribal nations more power to block pipelines and other energy projects that might affect waterways. (Reuters)
• Wyoming Gov. Mark Gordon criticizes the Biden administration’s new oil and gas methane emissions rules even though they should generate more state tax revenues by requiring natural gas to be marketed rather than flared. (WyoFile)
• California oil and gas industry-affiliated groups launch a multi-million-dollar advertising campaign blaming state climate policies for rising gasoline and electricity costs. (E&E News)
• An Alaska petroleum industry observer casts doubt on the viability of a proposed liquefied natural gas pipeline and export terminal, saying it is too costly and lacks a market. (KDLL)

ELECTRIFICATION: California regulators consider requiring homeowners to replace broken air conditioners with heat pumps. (Sacramento Bee)

SOLAR: A New Mexico agency allocates $3.5 million to help low-income households install rooftop solar. (KRQE)

CLEAN ENERGY:

• The Biden administration awards five Wyoming businesses nearly $145,000 to install rooftop solar and make efficiency upgrades. (Wyoming Public Radio)
• Idaho and Arizona researchers work together to find ways to decarbonize critical minerals mining and electrify industrial process heating. (news release)

WIND: The developers of a proposed 200 MW wind power project in Interior Alaska hope to bring the facility online in 2026. (KTVF)

CLIMATE: Washington state allocates the first $76.2 million earned from its carbon pricing program to 100 projects aimed mostly at bolstering public transit and pedestrian and bicycle safety. (Washington State Standard)

TRANSPORTATION:

• The Biden administration awards $500,000 to an effort to revive a Chicago to Seattle Amtrak passenger rail route that would pass through southern Montana. (Billings Gazette)
• Stellantis NV accuses California regulators of hitting the automaker with stricter greenhouse gas emissions standards than its rivals, putting the firm at a competitive disadvantage. (Fresno Bee)

ELECTRIC VEHICLES: Oregon plans to install 370 new electric vehicle charging stations at multi family homes and public parking areas across the state. (Columbia Gorge News)

UTILITIES:

• PacifiCorp agrees to pay $299 million to settle lawsuits related to its role in sparking a 2020 wildfire that destroyed 170 homes in southern Oregon. (OPB)
• Colorado regulators begin considering Xcel Energy’s electric resource plan that includes 26% more generation and is almost twice the cost of an earlier plan endorsed by consumer, environmental and labor groups. (Colorado Sun)

CRITICAL MATERIALS: Two more rare earth elements are discovered in a Wyoming coal mine, making it one of the nation’s largest deposits of critical materials used in electric vehicles and clean energy applications. (Bloomberg)