Study: Colorado kids near oil and gas wells at risk for leukemia

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FOSSIL FUELS

• A peer-reviewed study finds Colorado children living within 8 miles of active oil and gas wells were more likely to develop acute lymphocytic leukemia than those who lived further away. (CPR)

• A Utah municipal utility reconsiders acquiring power from a natural gas plant after promising residents it would wean itself off fossil fuels. (Salt Lake Tribune)

• A judge allows an advocates’ lawsuit seeking to block federal oil and gas lease extensions off California’s coast to proceed while the U.S. Interior Department conducts environmental reviews. (news release)

GRID

• Utah lawmakers pass legislation aimed at luring data centers and other energy-intensive facilities to the state while protecting existing utility customers from related rate impacts. (Utah News Dispatch)

• Arizona lawmakers strip a bill of a provision that would have shielded utilities from lawsuits stemming from equipment-sparked wildfires. (Capitol Media Services)

• Pacific Gas & Electric partners with a distributed energy subscription firm to tap rooftop solar-plus-storage installations during peak demand to reduce grid strain. (news release)

• High winds batter utility equipment in the Denver area, leaving about 19,000 customers without power. (Denver Post)

CLIMATE

• The U.S. Supreme Court declines to hear Oregon youth’s climate lawsuit accusing the federal government’s fossil fuel-friendly policies of violating their constitutional rights, ending the decade-long case. (Associated Press)

• Arizona lawmakers consider legislation that would ban geoengineering following baseless claims that ​“chemtrails” are being deployed to mitigate climate change’s effects. (Arizona Capitol Times)

CLEAN ENERGY

• California lawmakers consider utility-reform legislation that could also boost community solar deployment. (PV Magazine)

LITHIUM

• California awards Imperial County $10 million to plan infrastructure to accommodate the growing lithium extraction industry. (Calexico Chronicle)

TRANSPORTATION

• Colorado’s largest transportation agency says the Trump administration’s federal funding freeze imperils plans to develop a bus rapid transit line on a busy Denver corridor. (Colorado Sun)

• California policymakers continue to struggle to replace declining gasoline tax revenues as electric vehicles use climbs. (Fox26)

NUCLEAR

• Montana lawmakers advance bills that would open the door to building nuclear waste repositories and uranium enrichment facilities in the state. (Missoula Current)

COMMENTARY

• A California editorial board urges utility regulators to delay further cuts to rooftop solar compensation to allow for an independent, comprehensive review of its costs and benefits. (Press Democrat)