Wyoming issues its first carbon dioxide sequestration permits

CARBON CAPTURE: Wyoming issues permits for three underground carbon dioxide sequestration wells in the southwestern part of the state as the state looks to establish itself as a leader in the industry. (Casper Star-Tribune)

OIL & GAS: 

• California’s oil and gas industry seeks to influence lawmakers by spending tens of millions annually on lobbying and campaign donations and allying with a powerful construction labor union. (CalMatters)
• West Coast lawmakers petition federal lawmakers to withdraw their approval of a proposed natural gas line expansion, saying it will undermine the region’s clean energy transition and exacerbate climate change. (Guardian)
• Republican New Mexico lawmakers prepare to battle what they call the ​“tightening noose” of regulations on the oil and gas industry. (Carlsbad Current-Argus)
• A company proposes expanding the capacity of a natural gas pipeline in Wyoming to meet growing West Coast demand. (Kemmerer Gazette)

EFFICIENCY: A national laboratory in Colorado joins an effort to reduce data centers’ carbon footprints by powering and cooling them more efficiently. (news release)

SOLAR:

• A California solar inverter manufacturer plans to cut its global workforce by 350 people, citing rising interest rates and California’s net-metering reform. (San Francisco Chronicle)
• The federal Bureau of Land Management seeks public input on a proposed 117 MW solar-plus-storage project in southern California. (news release)
• Colorado awards $500,000 to seven agrivoltaic research and development projects that integrate solar energy production and agriculture. (news release)

WIND: The federal Bureau of Ocean Energy Management launches an environmental review of potential offshore wind power development along California’s central and north coasts. (North American Wind Power)

HYDROGEN:

• Nevada regional transit agencies add hydrogen fuel-cell electric buses to their fleets, saying they are more appropriate than battery-powered ones for the state’s longer routes. (Nevada Independent)
• A California natural gas utility launches a hydrogen production and blending demonstration project at a university in the southern part of the state. (Power Engineering)

CLIMATE: Montana advocates urge the state Supreme Court to reject the state’s request to pause a lower court’s order requiring agencies to consider climate change impacts in permitting decisions. (Daily Montanan)

COMMENTARY: A Utah researcher calls on states to ban political campaign contributions from utilities because they open a ​“back door of influence” over their regulatory environment. (Utility Dive)