Wyoming official looks to install solar on reclaimed coal mines

SOLAR: A Wyoming economic development official proposes installing solar arrays on reclaimed Powder River Basin mines to replace lost coal tax revenue and jobs, but runs into opposition from fossil fuel-loyal residents. (Inside Climate News)

ALSO: Developers begin construction on a 50 MW agrivoltaic solar-plus-storage project in northern California. (KTXL)

HYDROPOWER: Western utilities raise concerns about a federal plan aimed at reducing non-native fish in the Colorado River and its possible effects on Glen Canyon Dam’s hydropower production. (KNAU)

UTILITIES: State utility regulators consider Hawaiian Electric’s proposal to sell assets to raise cash to cover potential liabilities arising from last year’s deadly Maui fires. (KITV)

OIL & GAS: 

• An investigation finds the oil and gas industry has watered down or sabotaged abandoned well cleanup bills in New Mexico and other states even after working with lawmakers to draft the proposed legislation. (ProPublica)
• The Biden administration makes $850 million available for projects aimed at monitoring and reducing the oil and gas sector’s methane emissions. (news release)
• Hawaii Gov. Josh Green reverses state policy and orders regulators to consider replacing oil with liquefied natural gas to generate electricity until utilities develop renewable resources. (Honolulu Star-Advertiser, subscription)

COAL: A federal watchdog finds the U.S. Interior Department’s review process is hampering tribes’ and states’ ability to utilize a government program to clean up abandoned coal mines. (E&E News)

CARBON CAPTURE: A southern California city and a private firm break ground on a direct-air carbon capture facility, one of a handful of such projects under development in Los Angeles County. (Los Angeles Times)

CLIMATE: A peer-reviewed study finds an experimental method of brightening clouds in the Western U.S. would cool the atmosphere and mitigate climate change’s impacts in the region, but also stoke heat waves as far away as Europe. (Common Dreams)

GRID: A Hawaii startup looks to slash utility line undergrounding costs using drone-guided ​“AI-infused” drill heads for tunneling. (Honolulu Star-Advertiser, subscription) 

MINING:

• Nevada residents push back on a company’s plans to explore for lithium on federal claims adjacent to a rural community in the southern part of the state. (Las Vegas Review-Journal)
• A Canada company plans to acquire about 5,000 acres of federal mining claims in Wyoming for uranium exploration. (Cowboy State Daily)

COMMENTARY:

• A California editorial board accuses state lawmakers of hypocrisy for killing legislation aimed at divesting public pension funds from fossil fuels while speaking urgently about the need to fight climate change. (Los Angeles Times)
• A Wyoming rancher calls on state leaders to drop their outrage over the plan to end federal coal leasing in the Powder River Basin and use it as an impetus to create a plan to transition into the ​“inevitable economic future.” (WyoFile)