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☆ California offshore wind auction bids top $460 mln on day two
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-07 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Dec 7 (Reuters) - The first ever auction of offshore wind development rights off the coast of California entered its second day on Wednesday, with high bids topping $460 million. Previous federal offshore wind auctions have all been for leases in shallower waters of the Atlantic Ocean. After 22 rounds of bidding, high bids totaled a combined $462.1 million. Two leases off the central coast had commanded high bids of more than $100 million, with the remaining leases attracting high bids in a range of $62.7 million to $98.8 million, according to live auction results on the BOEM web site. The identities of the bidders are not disclosed during the auction, but 43 companies had been approved to participate.

☆ First-ever California offshore wind auction surpasses $757 million in bids
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-07 | by ( Emma Newburger | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

The Biden administration on Wednesday announced more than $757 million in winning bids for its auction of offshore wind development rights in California, marking the third offshore wind lease sale this year and the first ever for the Pacific region. The sale is a major milestone in the administration's goal of building offshore wind turbines across the nation's coastlines to help power communities and transition to clean energy. The White House, as part of its broader agenda to address climate change, has committed to deploy 30 gigawatts of offshore wind energy by 2030, enough to power 10 million homes. "Floating wind technology in its early stages but it is an advanced technology that will lead to strong growth in the deployment of offshore wind." Winning bidders include California North Floating, RWE Offshore Wind Holdings, Central California Offshore Wind and Invenergy California Offshore.

☆ U.S. will consider new priority areas for solar energy on public lands
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-06 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

The Interior Department said in a statement that its Bureau of Land Management will update an Obama-era plan that established special zones for solar projects based on access to transmission, solar energy potential and protecting natural and cultural resources. The agency said the new plan would reflect advances in solar technology, new transmission and the administration's ambitious clean energy goals. It could also expand beyond the six states included in the 2012 plan, Interior said. Interior, specifically, has a congressional mandate to permit 25 gigawatts of renewable energy on federal lands by 2025. Under Biden, Interior has sought to address concerns by wind and solar companies that public lands are less friendly to development than private lands due to higher costs and more onerous permitting.

☆ U.S. plans to boost purchases of Native goods, revitalize tribal languages
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-30 | by ( Andrea Shalal | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

WASHINGTON, Nov 30 (Reuters) - The Biden administration will announce new actions on Wednesday to give Native American tribes more say in managing federal lands, boost purchases of tribal energy and other goods and services, and revitalize Native languages, the White House said. U.S. President Joe Biden and other Cabinet officials will announce the measures at this year's two-day Tribal Nations Summit, with additional steps focused on providing better access to capital for tribal nations, the White House said. Biden's three signature piece of legislation - laws dealing with infrastructure, climate and COVID-19 relief - have provided nearly $46 billion in funding for tribal communities and Native American people, the White House said. The Small Business Administration will announce plans to boost access to financing opportunities, while the Energy Department plans to increase federal agencies’ use of tribal energy through purchasing authority established under a 2005 law unused for more than 17 years. The government will also release of a draft 10-year plan to revitalize Native American languages and underscores the urgency for immediate action, while formally recognizing the role that the U.S. government played in erasing Native languages.

☆ Biden Interior rule would limit methane leaks, gas flaring from public lands drilling
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-29 | by ( Emma Newburger | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +5 min

The primary component of natural gas is methane, which is odorless when it comes directly out of the gas well. In addition to methane, natural gas typically contains other hydrocarbons such as ethane, propane, butane, and pentanes. The BLM's proposed rule comes after the Environmental Protection Agency said it would expand its 2021 methane rule to require drillers to identify and plug leaks at every well site across the country. Western and national conservation groups said the proposal marks a critical first step but should be strengthened to eliminate gas flaring. The BLM is accepting comments on the proposed rule for 60 days and a final rule is anticipated next year.

☆ U.S. warns California cities to prepare for possible water cuts and fourth year of drought
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-28 | by ( Emma Newburger | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

Houseboats on Lake Oroville during a drought in Oroville, California, U.S., on Monday, Oct. 11, 2021. Federal water managers on Monday warned California cities and industrial users receiving water from the Central Valley Project to prepare for a fourth year of drought and possibly "extremely limited water supply" during 2023. The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, an agency of the Interior Department that oversees water resource management, said drought conditions in California have persisted despite early storms this month, and warned of looming water conservation actions. The agency said water storage is near historic lows in the reservoirs it oversees in the state, which irrigate more than 3 million acres of land in central California and supply major urban centers in the Greater Sacramento and San Francisco Bay areas. The project's water provides supplies for approximately 2.5 million people per year.

☆ Zinke, former Trump Interior secretary, wins U.S. House seat - Edison Research
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-10 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/2] U.S. Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke testifies in front of the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources on Capitol Hill in Washington, U.S. March 13, 2018. REUTERS/Eric ThayerWASHINGTON, Nov 10 (Reuters) - Ryan Zinke, a former secretary of the U.S. Interior Department under then-President Donald Trump, who stepped down in 2018 amid ethics probes, won a U.S. House of Representatives seat in Montana, Edison Research projected on Thursday. "Truth matters, and now it's time to fight for freedom and protect our way of life in Montana," Zinke said in a release about the election. After resigning from the Interior Department, Zinke joined the board of mining exploration company U.S. Gold Corp.During his first House term, Zinke served on the chamber's Natural Resources and Armed Service committees.

☆ U.S. awards $2.8 billion for EV battery, grid projects
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-19 | by ( David Shepardson | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Biden administration will announce on Wednesday it is awarding $2.8 billion in grants for projects to boost U.S. manufacturing of electric vehicle batteries and domestic mineral production, a White House official told Reuters. REUTERS/Kevin LamarqueThe White House is also launching an effort, dubbed the American Battery Material Initiative, to strengthen critical mineral supply chains as automakers race to expand U.S. electric vehicle and battery production. The projects include “retrofitted, and expanded commercial-scale domestic facilities to produce battery materials, processing, cell components, and battery recycling and demonstrations,” the White House official said. Legislation Biden signed in August sets new strict battery component and sourcing requirements for $7,500 consumer EV tax credits. The White House said in a fact sheet the United States and allies do not produce enough of the critical minerals and materials used in EV batteries.

☆ Biden unveils plan to pay farmers and cities for Colorado River water cuts
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-13 | by ( Emma Newburger | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

The program will focus on pushing for voluntary water cuts in the three lower Colorado River Basin states of Arizona, California and Nevada, the department said on Wednesday. The plan will pay applicants a set amount of money per acre-foot of water that they voluntarily don't draw from Lake Mead, the country's largest reservoir. Reservoirs in the Colorado River Basin have hit their lowest levels on record after 22 consecutive years of drought made worse by climate change. A one-year agreement will pay $330 per acre-foot, a two-year agreement will pay $365 per acre-foot and a three-year agreement will pay $400 per acre-foot. The federal government in August announced a second round of mandatory cuts for Arizona, Nevada and Mexico from the Colorado River, which supplies water and power for more than 40 million people across the West.

☆ Biden designates Camp Hale in Colorado as his first national monument
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-12 | by ( Emma Newburger | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

U.S. President Joe Biden speaks to reporters as he departs for Puerto Rico from the White House in Washington, U.S., October 3, 2022. President Joe Biden on Wednesday designated a World War II-era military site in Colorado as a national monument, a move that will protect the historic region's rare wildlife and plants from development. Camp Hale is best known as the location used by soldiers of the U.S. 10th Mountain Division to train for alpine warfare in the 1940s, according to a White House fact sheet. The Camp Hale-Continental Divide National Monument will protect more than 50,000 acres that provide critical habitat for wildlife such as elk, lynxes and songbirds. In addition to creating the new national monument, the administration also announced a proposed mineral withdrawal for Colorado's Thompson Divide, a large region of mountains, lakes and forests.

After helping Joe Biden win a grueling election, progressives want a say in key policies, like environmental protections, social justice, and immigration reform. Still, there are plenty of progressives — such as Sunrise Movement founder Varshini Prakash — who are ready to keep the pressure on the Biden administration from the outside. Against that backdrop, progressive lawmakers, media heavyweights and outside groups involved in everything from the environment to criminal justice reform say they will be watching Biden's every move. New York Democratic Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has given her stamp of approval to Biden's climate appointees: "I think Biden's climate appointments actually represent progress — real progress," she said. Here's Insider's list of 32 of the top progressives primed to help the Biden administration — or cause it headaches.

☆ ‘Crooked’ Review: How Teapot Dome Boiled Over
▼ + stars: | 1923-08-02 | by ( Lindsay M. Chervinsky | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +1 min

On Aug. 2, 1923, President Warren G. Harding died unexpectedly, saving him from the consequences of the unfolding Teapot Dome Scandal, which was swallowing his administration. Teapot Dome, which involved illegally obtained oil leases in Montana and widespread corruption in the Interior Department and the Veterans Bureau, is considered one of the biggest scandals in presidential history. Yet it was just one small part of a complex web of bribery, intimidation and blackmail that surrounded Harding’s attorney general, Harry Daugherty. Mr. Masters, a journalist and TV host, begins his story in September 1922, describing how Daugherty dealt with a railway strike prompted by wage cuts. “With only half the nation’s trains running, the American economy had ground to a halt,” Mr. Masters writes.

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