California purchases six hydrogen-powered trains

HYDROGEN: California’s transportation department plans to spend $127 million to purchase six hydrogen-powered passenger trains. (Bloomberg)

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OIL & GAS:

• New Mexico lawmakers strip down and then table legislation that would have allocated $500 million to create a market aimed at recycling oil and gas wastewater. (Source NM)
• The Biden administration grapples with holding a congressional mandated oil and gas lease sale in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge without alienating climate-oriented voters. (Politico)
• A Colorado city considers banning oil and gas development in residential zones and increasing drilling setbacks from schools, hospitals and other “high risk” areas. (Reporter-Herald)
• A California city moves toward banning oil and gas development in some neighborhoods and within 3,200 feet of at-risk residents. (Mercury News)  
• A report reveals Alaska’s highest paid public employee is the head of a state corporation looking to develop a natural gas pipeline project. (Alaska Beacon)

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POLITICS: New Mexico’s oil and gas industry shifts some of its political donations away from Republicans to Democrats, who hold most of the state’s elected offices. (Capital & Main)

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PUBLIC LANDS: The federal Bureau of Land Management proposes withdrawing 4,213 acres in New Mexico from new oil and gas leasing and mining claims in an effort to protect sacred tribal land. (news release)

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CARBON CAPTURE: A California oil and gas company that has reduced emissions by electrifying equipment now looks to make its operations “carbon negative” by capturing and sequestering carbon dioxide. (Forbes)

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UTILITIES:

• Portland General Electric says it has spent more than $30 million so far to repair damage wrought by a January ice and wind storm. (Oregonian, subscription)
• An Idaho municipal utility plans to construct a $36 million natural gas peaker plant to offset diminished hydropower generation. (news release)

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SOLAR:

• Developers bring a 240 MW solar installation online in Utah. (Solar Builder)
• A New Mexico electric cooperative agrees to purchase power from a proposed 11 MW solar-plus-storage installation on ranchland in the northern part of the state. (news release)

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GEOTHERMAL: New Mexico lawmakers pass legislation creating a geothermal energy research and development grant fund. (NM Political Report)

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MICROGRIDS: San Diego Gas & Electric unveils four new battery-powered microgrids in southern California communities aimed at increasing grid resilience. (San Diego Union-Tribune)

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MINING: An Australia firm plans to invest $2.16 billion in its proposed zinc and manganese mine in southern Arizona. (KVOA)

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TRANSPORTATION: Denver’s climate action office experiments with paying residents to ride their bikes instead of driving cars. (Denverite)

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COMMENTARY: A Colorado advocate calls on state leaders to improve residents’ quality of life by redirecting transportation spending from highways to public transit and bicycling and pedestrian infrastructure. (Colorado Sun)

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