Oil companies ask court to block climate lawsuits

CLIMATE: Oil and gas corporations ask the U.S. Supreme Court to block lawsuits brought by Hawaii, California and other states seeking to hold the industry liable for billions of dollars of climate change-caused damage. (Los Angeles Times)

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ALSO: An energy think tank calls on California regulators to reduce carbon cap-and-trade allowances, saying doing so would trigger deeper emissions cuts and help the state reach climate goals. (E&E News, subscription)

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OIL & GAS: A peer-reviewed study finds industrial air pollution contributes to low birth weights in New Mexico, with the effects most pronounced in the San Juan and Permian Basin oil and gas fields. (news release)

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UTILITIES:

• PacifiCorp agrees to pay $178 million to more than 400 Oregon plaintiffs to settle a lawsuit over the utility’s role in sparking the 2020 Labor Day fires. (OPB)
• Arizona utilities agree to halt residential customer disconnections due to nonpayment from June 1 to Oct. 15 as forecasters issue the season’s first excessive heat warning. (12 News)

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COAL:

• The Biden administration awards the Crow Tribe, Hopi Tribe and Navajo Nation $3.67 million each to reclaim abandoned mine lands in coal communities. (news release)
• A market-driven decrease in Powder River Basin coal production and associated severance tax revenues forces Wyoming and mining counties to make deep budget cuts. (Cowboy State Daily)
• A Wyoming county calls on residents to protest a Biden administration proposal to end federal coal leasing in the Powder River Basin, even though plummeting demand could kill the industry before existing leases run out. (Gillette News Record)

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SOLAR:

• A data center company partners with an investment firm on a proposed 1,000 MW solar installation in Nevada. (Data Center Knowledge)
• A southern California school district’s six solar arrays remain offline two years after installation as it awaits utility interconnection approval. (Santa Barbara Independent)
• Wyoming developers look to allow cows, sheep and other livestock to graze under utility-scale solar installations. (Cowboy State Daily)
• A California water utility brings a 4.6 MW solar installation online. (Renewables Now)

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GRID:

• Tucson residents push back on a utility’s plan to install overhead high-voltage transmission lines through the Arizona city’s historic neighborhoods, saying they will blight views and lower property values. (Arizona Daily Star)
• Extreme high temperatures forecast to grip California this week are expected to strain the power grid and test newly installed battery storage capacity. (Los Angeles Times)  

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MICROGRIDS: A California university plans to install a solar-plus-battery microgrid expected to be able to power the campus for up to two days. (news release)

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STORAGE:

• A proposed geological thermal energy storage facility planned for a depleted southern California oil field could hold enough solar energy to power as many as 300,000 homes. (Fast Company)
• Oregon researchers find it is possible to replace cobalt and nickel with less expensive iron in lithium-ion battery cathodes. (news release)  

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TRANSPORTATION:

• A Seattle city council member proposes a $1.55 billion property tax-funded transportation levy to fund road and sidewalk repairs, public transit and electric vehicle charging networks. (Seattle Times)
• California lawmakers withdraw a public transit funding bill to build more support before next year’s legislative session. (CalMatters)

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