Trump cancels oil and gas lease reviews

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FOSSIL FUELS

• The Trump administration cancels a Biden-era environmental review of 3,244 federal oil and gas leases across seven states that had been targeted by environmental advocates’ litigation. (E&E News)

• California regulators fine Sable Offshore Corp. $18 million for repairing and upgrading offshore oil pipelines near Santa Barbara without state permits. (Los Angeles Times)

• U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent indicates the Trump administration would waive tariffs for nations that invest in a proposed liquefied natural gas pipeline and export terminal in Alaska. (KTOO)

• Arizona Public Service considers its recently shuttered Cholla coal plant’s future after President Trump said his executive order would ​“save” the facility from ​“destruction.” (Arizona Republic)

• Public Service Company of New Mexico indicates Trump’s pro-coal executive orders won’t affect the planned exit from its Four Corners Generating Station and its efforts to become carbon-free by 2040. (Albuquerque Journal)

CLIMATE

• California lawmakers reject legislation that would have allowed residents to sue fossil fuel companies for damages from climate change-related disasters. (The Sun)

PUBLIC LANDS

• Oil and gas lobbyist Kathleen Sgamma withdraws from consideration to lead the federal Bureau of Land Management after a watchdog group revealed she condemned President Trump’s actions during the January 6 attacks. (Public Domain)

UTILITIES

• Arizona advocates call on lawmakers to reject legislation that would give utilities more financing flexibility, saying it would shift more costs to ratepayers. (Arizona Republic)

• California advocates call on regulators to require utilities to update eight-year old infrastructure and fire hazard maps. (CalMatters)

• A legal firm files a lawsuit alleging a Pacific Gas & Electric equipment failure led to an apartment building explosion in northern California last year. (Sacramento Bee)

CLEAN ENERGY

• A southern Colorado county rejects a 90 MW solar-plus-storage system proposed for private land based on potential impacts to wildlife. (Alamosa Citizen)

• Rep. Mike Levin, a California Democrat, introduces legislation that would streamline clean energy permitting on federal lands. (PV Magazine)

STORAGE

• Vistra withdraws its proposed 600 MW battery energy storage system in central California following successive blazes at its Moss Landing facility this year. (KSBW)

HYDROPOWER

• A report identifies substantial wave and tidal energy resources along California’s coast, but many of the best sites are far from population centers and transmission. (Quitting Carbon)

GRID

• Bend, Oregon, residents push back on Pacific Power’s proposed transmission line through the community, saying it poses a fire hazard. (Oregon Capital Insider)

NEW FROM CANARY MEDIA

• Climate advocates celebrate Maryland’s newly passed energy bills for their steps to curb gas instructure investments and boost community solar and batteries, but are wary of one measure to expedite new gas and nuclear power plants, Akielly Hu reports.

• Ohio legislators consider bills that would block local governments from having a say in permitting for carbon capture projects, and could even force some landowners to let their property be used for carbon storage, Kathiann Kowalski reports.

• Fossil fuels accounted for less than half of the U.S. electricity mix across a whole month for the first time in March, Dan McCarthy reports.