Trump approves Montana coal mine expansion

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FOSSIL FUELS

• The Trump administration approves a Navajo Nation-owned company’s proposed coal mine expansion in Montana, potentially extending its operations by 16 years. (Reuters)

• Alaska regulators fine an inactive petroleum company more than $6 million for failing to properly close and plug oil and gas wells it abandoned years ago. (Anchorage Daily News)

• A California judge grants an oil industry motion to expand a lawsuit challenging the state’s administrative ban on hydraulic fracturing. (Californian)

OVERSIGHT

• Data show the Trump administration’s federal land management agency staff cuts have led to slower permitting for oil and gas drilling and other energy projects in New Mexico and Alaska. (Reuters)

UTILITIES

• Colorado rural electric cooperatives call on the Trump administration to unfreeze about $3.2 billion in federal funding intended for grid upgrades in the state. (Gunnison Country Times)

• Some Colorado utilities say they may not be able to reach state emissions reduction goals for 2030, citing increasing demand and costs for new wind and solar. (Big Pivots)

• Wyoming Gov. Mark Gordon signs into law a bill requiring utilities to develop wildfire hazard mitigation plans and shielding them from some liabilities for equipment-sparked blazes. (Cowboy State Daily)

• Colorado regulators approve Black Hills Energy’s proposed $17 million rate hike over consumer advocates’ protests. (Colorado Sun)

TRANSPORTATION

• Oregon regulators consider delaying implementation of the state’s clean truck rule to give the industry time to build out charging infrastructure. (OPB)

• California’s high-speed rail authority seeks public input on proposed solar installations that would help power its trains. (KERO)

CLEAN ENERGY

• Portland, Oregon’s city council considers dipping into its clean energy fund again to balance its budget. (Oregonian)

HYDROPOWER

• Wyoming advocates push back against a proposed pumped hydropower storage project at an existing reservoir, saying it could harm downstream fisheries. (Wyoming Public Radio)

• U.S. Rep. Dan Newhouse, of Washington, introduces legislation aimed at blocking the federal government from breaching fish-harming hydropower dams on the Lower Snake River. (news release)

PUBLIC LANDS

• U.S. Rep. Raul Grijalva, an Arizona Democrat and longtime advocate for public lands protection and environmental justice, dies at the age of 77. (AZ Mirror)

COMMENTARY

• A Wyoming university professor says the Trump administration’s blanket tariffs could slow global trade, thereby reducing cargo shipping’s greenhouse gas emissions. (WyoFile)