BIOFUELS: California advocates call on the state to overhaul its low-carbon fuel standard program to support and fund electric vehicles and charging infrastructure rather than biofuels. (Canary Media)

OIL & GAS: U.S. Coast Guard officials say an oil sheen spotted off southern California’s coast last week may have emanated from a natural seep on the ocean floor. (ABC News)

COAL: 

  • The U.S., Canada and Indigenous groups announce a plan to tackle British Columbia coal mine pollution contaminating Northwest rivers and lakes. (Associated Press)
  • The developer of a proposed coal export terminal in Oakland, California, sues the city for blocking the facility even though a judge ruled in January the project could move forward. (East Bay Times)

SOLAR: New Mexico’s Supreme Court rejects investor-owned utilities’ bid to loosen the state’s community solar program’s rules. (Albuquerque Journal)

GRID: Federal regulators approve new rules allowing California’s grid operator to participate in an extended day-ahead power market once it goes live. (RTO Insider, subscription)

CLEAN ENERGY: A California power agency awards cities in the northern part of the state $11.5 million to help fund clean energy-related projects. (Daily Journal)

CLIMATE: The U.S. Energy Department awards five New Mexico startups over $6 million to research, develop and scale up climate technology. (news release) 

ELECTRIC VEHICLES: 

UTILITIES: 

MINING: 

  • Tribal nation citizens urge a federal human rights commission to push back on a predicted uranium mining boom, saying Indigenous communities continue to suffer from Cold War-era extraction of the fuel. (Inside Climate News)
  • A Navajo Nation-owned energy company partners with a mining firm on a proposed lithium extraction project in Arizona. (Mining Technology) 

COMMENTARY: 

  • A Utah editorial board calls on Gov. Spencer Cox to veto legislation that would allow the state to purchase a coal power plant to keep it operating beyond its scheduled retirement date, saying it would risk billions of taxpayer dollars. (Salt Lake Tribune)
  • Arizona advocates urge residents to vote for non-incumbent, pro-clean energy candidates for the board of Salt River Project, the nation’s largest public power company. (Arizona Republic)

More from the Energy News Network: Midwest | Southeast | Northeast | West

Jonathan hails from southwestern Colorado and has been writing about the land, cultures, and communities of the Western United States for more than two decades. He compiles the Western Energy News digest. He is the author of three books, a contributing editor at High Country News, and the editor of the Land Desk, an e-newsletter that provides coverage and context on issues critical to the West.