EcoNews Report

Roughly a third of people don’t drive. That might seem like a lot but you probably know non-drivers in your own life. Some people can’t, either because they have some kind of disease or disability that makes driving impossible. Some people can’t because they are too young or too old to safely operate a vehicle. Some people can’t afford to drive, as car ownership is stupidly expensive (the average cost of owning a car is over $1,000 a month). Some people choose not to drive or drive as little as possible, as cars have a large environm...

The Trump Administration has announced it seeks to revoke the “Roadless Rule,” the 2001 regulation limiting U.S. Forest Service activities in unroaded areas of our National Forests. Guests Kimberly Baker of the Environmental Protection Information Center (EPIC) and Scott Greacen of Friends of the Eel River join the program to discuss the history and purpose behind defending roadless areas and what this new attack on our public lands means for clean water, fish and wildlife, and recreation.

More information on the history of the Roadless Rule can be found here.

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The Bay Trail is finished, and now there’s a safe and beautiful trail that connects Humboldt Hill all the way to Clam Beach! 

Guests Colin Fiske of the Coalition for Responsible Transportation Priorities and Jen Kalt of Humboldt Waterkeeper join the show to discuss the history of the trail (shout out to Supervisor Madrone for his work way back in the 1980s to get planning started) and how the trail will help Humboldt Bay residents roll, walk, or ride in a safe way that lowers their carbon footprint.

We hope to see you at tod...

Before enjoying Ruth Lake this summer, be sure to clean, drain and dry all gear, boats and trailers to prevent the spread of the invasive golden mussel. The golden mussel, native to East and Southeast Asia, was first documented in California in 2024. Like quagga and zebra mussels, the golden mussel is capable of rapidly spreading, wreaking ecological health and threatening water infrastructure and water quality. 

Thomas Jabusch of the California Department of Fish and Wildlife and Michiko Mares of the Humboldt Bay Municipal Water District join the program to golden mussels, their threat, and what you can d...

This week: An all-star roundtable with our favorite law wonks, wherein we try to figure out where the Supreme Court is taking the National Environmental Policy Act — the most important federal law regulating the environmental costs of development.

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On Donald Trump's first day in office, he signed an Executive Order directing all parts of the federal government to take steps to stop the development of offshore wind. This has left people wondering: what's the future for offshore wind? Spoiler: it's unclear. 

Citing his executive order, on April 16, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management issued a stop work order for Empire Wind\, a fully-permitted wind project off New York. Included in the rationale for the stop work order is a discredited conspiracy theory that offshore wind development was responsible for a spate of whale deaths. (A c...

Pope Francis centered the climate crisis during his papacy, highlighting the moral obligations that we all share to our fellow humans (especially the poorest among us, as they will be disproportionately impacted by climate change) as well as our responsibilities to the Earth itself. In 2015, Pope Francis released his first encyclical, Laudato si’: On Care for Our Common Home, a 40,000 word treatise on both the Biblical mandate to care for creation but also a holistic discussion of the effects of modernity on the ecological function of the planet. While the encyclical became part of the Catholic Church’s official teac...

A new study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) warns that when we experience the next Cascadia subduction zone earthquake, land near the coast may rise or fall significantly over a short period of time—think +/-5 feet in five minutes. If it falls, it could significantly expose new parts of our coast to sea level rise and coastal flooding. Check out the coverage from the Lost Coast Outpost or read the study yourself.

Dr. Jay Patton of the California Geological Survey joins the show to discuss why land may suddenly jump or...

Melodie Meyer of the Environmental Protection Information Center joins the show this week to talk about a new plan to log 500 acres of the Jackson State Forest by the method known as "group selection." 

This forest in Mendocino County is managed by the State of California and has been the subject of much controversy over herbicide spraying, clearcutting, and failure to consult with local tribes (among other things). Tune in to learn about the latest plan, the relatively new Tribal Advisory Council, and how to learn more and/or comment on the plan. 

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President's often set a "first 100 days" agenda, when fresh from their inauguration, they have the most political power and influence in their term. The first 100 days is not only a benchmark to measure success but a preview for how they hope to govern for the rest of their four years.

We are at day 95, close enough to measure Trump's impact on the environment. Instead of a long list of all the rollbacks and deregulation, guests Scott Grecean of Friends of the Eel River and Matt Simmons of EPIC discuss what the first 100 days reveal about the President's...

Thousands of Humboldt residents rely on the Humboldt Transit Authority to get around. And for a rural transit agency, they do a really good job. But there are gaps: both in locations (good luck getting to Ferndale) and times (sorry if you want to take the bus on a Sunday). And there are other improvements (like more frequent buses) that are needed to make the bus more convenient and attract more riders. To get better bus service, Humboldt Transit Authority needs more money. 

Humboldt County voters approved Measure O last election. Among the promises of Measure O w...

Do you like to go to the beach? Do you appreciate having a beach to go to? Are you happier when that beach has clean ocean water, thriving ocean life and isn’t covered by rocks, seawalls or houses intruding on the public sand?

If the answer to any/all of those questions is, “Yes!,” that means you’re a fan of the California Coastal Act, a law passed in 1976 following a 1972 public uprising to defend the coast from development threats. The Coastal Act, as it’s commonly known, protects two key rights: public beach access and coastal pr...

The Klamath dams are out; let's celebrate! Goudi’ni Native American Arts Gallery presents Undammed, an exhibition that celebrates the historic removal of dams on the Klamath River. Art has been at the forefront of the struggle by Native communities to bring down the dams, from protest art lampooning corporate executives to bumper stickers expressing solidarity with the cause. Gallery Director Brittany Britton and artists Lyn Risling and Annalia Norris, join the show to discuss the upcoming show, the role of art in dam removal activism, and the local Native art scene. 

The gallery is open Wednesday-Thursday, 11 a.m...

Maybe you've heard about biodiesel. Meet its cousin, "renewable diesel." Made from oils and fats, supporters claim that it can simply replace diesel and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Humboldt County is banking on renewable diesel to meet its climate obligations in its draft Regional Climate Action Plan. But is this too good to be true? Host Tom Wheeler and Gary Hughes of Biofuelwatch explore these questions and to learn more about the concerns arising from the California pivot to high deforestation risk liquid biofuels.

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Fossil fuels are bad for us, both to our climate and to our health. These impacts are felt most acutely in fenceline communities immediately adjacent to fossil fuel power plants, which also tend to be lower-income, communities of color. Folks from these communities are banding together to present a new energy future that leans into renewables and battery storage in order to shut down the gas power plants that pollute their neighborhoods and harm their families. Julia Dowell of the Sierra Club and Heena Singh of California Environmental Justice Alliance join us on the show to talk about their...

The Trump Administration has taken a large whack at the National Environmental Policy Act (often better known by its acronym, NEPA). NEPA is the federal environmental law that requires that the federal government understand and acknowledge the environmental impacts of its actions and provide an opportunity for public engagement on projects. 

While a bedrock federal environmental law, the law itself is vaguely worded. Thus, implementing regulations (issued by the Council on Environmental Quality in 1978) have been important to its application. Through these regulations, we have NEPA as we know it—"major federal projects" and "cumulative impact analysis" and...

The Redwood Coast Energy Authority has a sometimes conflicting mission: purchase as much renewable energy as possible, but ideally that power is local, and also it needs to be cheap enough to compete with PGE. And layer onto that state mandates and competition with other power purchasers across the state. Richard Engel of the Redwood Coast Energy Authority joins the show to talk about the difficulties of trying to meet these goals and a new long-term power agreement with a large solar project in Kern County. 

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Filmmakers Dave Feral and Michelle Hernandez talk with The EcoNews Report about their new film about Baduwa’t — a.k.a., the Mad River.

PREVIOUSLY:

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This week on the EcoNews Report our host Alicia Hamann from Friends of the Eel River talks about the flurry of recent developments on Eel River dam removal. On January 31 PG&E released their final draft license surrender application, a document that outlines some of the logistics of how they plan to remove the two Eel River dams. PG&E is accepting comments on this document until March 3, you can find more information at eelriver.org.

On a separate but parallel track is the publication just last week of a deal for wet-season diversions from the Eel...

In Humboldt we are not new to protecting our environment, but have you ever thought about protecting the night sky from pollution? When nighttime light spills outside of areas we want to illuminate, it becomes light pollution. Bright lights left on at night can disrupt the circadian rhythms of people as well as urban-dwelling and migrating birds, bats, and even aquatic animals, particularly in rivers, estuaries, and coastal areas. 

Ruskin Hartley, CEO of DarkSky International, shares how his organization is helping to ensure that light is used respectfully and responsibly around the world.  Join us for this di...

President Trump has entered his second term with a wave of executive orders and other executive actions. These have pulled the U.S. from international climate accords, blamed Southern California fires on "radical environmentalism"—he means us!—and portended a gutting of federal environmental laws in order to drill, frack, log, graze and mine. Jeff Miller, Senior Conservation Advocate at the Center for Biological Diversity, joins the program to discuss how the Center has prepared for Trump to take office, what this slew of new actions means for the environment, and how we can stay sane and engaged. (Jeff has...

Every year, delegates from across the globe meet to discuss how we can muster an international response to climate change. On November 5th, 2024, voters elected Donald Trump to be President and one of his first actions was to, again, pull the United States from global climate accords. How can we take meaningful action on climate change when an election fundamentally changes American climate policy? And are these annual meetings actually accomplishing anything or is the age of multinational climate action over? Guests Derek Walker Adjunct Professor in International Climate Change Law at Vermont Law and Michelle McMillan, law student...

Jimmy Carter: Peanut farmer. Humanitarian. President. Environmentalist? On this week's EcoNews Report, we catalogue the environmental legacy of President Carter with Rich McIntyre, friend and fishing partner of the President. Locally, President Carter signed into law the expansion of Redwood National Park (against the protest of loggers). President Carter was also responsible for doubling the amount of acreage protected by the National Parks Service and conserving over 100 million acres of land in Alaska through the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act. An energy crisis drove President Carter to promote renewable energy, even putting solar panels on the White House...

"All go to one place; all are of the dust, and to dust all return." Ecclesiastes 3:20. That was true, at least until the Civil War era. Then a desire to preserve bodies led to a new way of dealing with the dead: toxic embalming, water-tight coffins and concrete vaults. For many of us who try to live simple, low-impact lives, our deaths present a dilemma. We can't go simply or sustainably into whatever comes next.

But there is another way. Imagine breaking down quickly, wrapped only in a shroud or in a biodegradable casket, eighteen inches under...

Poet Jerry Martien joins the Green Gang in the studio to read poetry inspired by the natural landscapes of Humboldt County. If you have never heard Jerry read his poetry before, you are in for a treat, as Jerry’s sonorous voice and crisp lyrical poetry inspires and soothes the soul.

(Encore from 2021)

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Today's episode is about trespass cannabis production and its impact on the environment. We have two fantastic guests from the Integral Ecology Research Center based in Blue Lake, California -- Greta Wengert and Ivan Medel. 

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Environmentalists have a reputation for being a bit too doom-and-gloom. But what gives us hope? Jen Kalt of Humboldt Waterkeeper, Alicia Hamann of Friends of the Eel River, Colin Fiske of the Coalition for Responsible Transportation Priorities, and Tom Wheeler of the Environmental Protection Information Center join the show to discuss the things that give them hope. 

Need a dose of hope?

Public Transit Wins Big in Local Elections

California’s Pace of Emissions Cuts Is Accelerating, Report Finds

Eel River Fish Counts

Digawututklh Returned

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What’s the difference between a strike-slip fault and a subduction zone? Can a local 7.0-magnitude earthquake? And what on earth was going on with all that weird footage of Humboldt Bay last week, in the wake of the quake?

Jay Patton, of Cal Poly Humboldt’s geology department, is here to talk us through it all. Check out his blog here.

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The industrial legacy of the 20th Century left many contaminated sites around Humboldt Bay. Our second special episode on communities at risk from sea level rise features local residents talking about several of the most vulnerable sites, including Tuluwat Island, Butcher Slough in Arcata, and the nuclear waste storage site above King Salmon. Many thanks to Hilanea Wilkinson, Adam Canter, Jerry Rohde, Nate Faith, and to Jessie Eden, who produced this episode with funding provided by the California Coastal Commission Whale Tail Grant Program.   

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The Redwood Coast Energy Authority is working to encourage new local generation of renewable energy through their redesigned "Feed-In Tariff" program, which provides about-market pricing and a streamlined contracting process to encourage the development of local renewable energy projects. This means projects like the new solar farm near Hydesville, a project brought forward by renewable energy developer EDP Renewables.

Jocelyn Gwynn of Redwood Coast Energy Authority and Kendra Kallevig of EDP Renewables join the show to discuss the Feed-In Tariff program and how we can help foster the development of local renewable energy projects.

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Join us for episode #1 of our special series on communities at risk from sea level rise featuring local residents who share their thoughts on the challenges and potential solutions facing our region. 

Many thanks to Marnie Atkins, Jerry Rohde, Nate Faith, Troy Nicolini, Adam Canter, and to Jessie Eden, who produced this episode with funding provided by the California Coastal Commission Whale Tail Grant Program.  

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Elections have consequences. What does four more years of Trump mean for our environment? (Hint: It's baaaaaaaaaad.) But local elections were a lot better. 

In Eureka: Measure F failed spectacularly, firmly clarifying that Eureka voters want more housing and approve of the city's parking lots-to-apartments plan. The rejection of Measure F also hints that while money matters in politics, it only can get you so far. City Councilmembers Scott Bauer and Kati Moulton were re-elected too, which the EcoNews sees as an endorsement of the direction of the city and a rejection of the Take Back Eureka c...

Should we turn California trees into wood pellets to be burned in foreign power plants? That's the proposal being brought forward by Golden State Natural Resources (GSNR), a nonprofit organization formed by Rural County Representatives of California and Golden State Finance Authority. GSNR has just released their draft environmental impact report for the project, which proposed two wood pellet factories (one in Lassen County and another in Tuolumne) that will draw biomass from roughly a 100 mile radius around the plant. Those factories will turn woody biomass into pellets, which will be shipped by rail to Stockton where the pellets...

People often say that Humboldt County is a climate refuge. But what does that mean? And after Hurricanes Helene and Milton slammed the Southeast—including communities like Asheville, North Carolina, which was also described as a climate refuge—what is still safe in the age of climate-driven megastorms?

Luckily, we have Michael Furniss, local climate nerd, and Troy Nicolini, Meteorologist-In-Charge at US National Weather Service, Eureka, on the show to discuss what is known about how climate change may affect Humboldt County. The good news: We are fortunate to have a very stable climate, even in the face...

Congressman Huffman is back on the show. With a major election in just a few days, what is the Congressman up to? When he isn't calling voters in swing states—has anyone in Nevada received a call from a "Jared from California"?—he is sponsoring new legislation to protect birds and whales. The Congressman also has new bipartisan fire resiliency legislation that seeks to make our state safer without sacrificing environmental protections along the way. 

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The second national Week Without Driving just wrapped up, which means that many elected officials, planners, engineers, and community members did their best to not get behind the wheel of a car for seven days. This event highlights the fact that there are many non-drivers in our communities - at least 36,000 people in Humboldt County don't have a driver's license - and raises awareness among decision-makers about the need for safe, convenient and dignified mobility options. 

Arcata City Councilmember Sarah Schaefer, Humboldt County Association of Governments Executive Director Beth Burks, and Coalition for Responsible Transportation Priorities Executive D...

Hear that howl of joy? It's because gray wolves are coming home to California. Once extirpated from the state, with the last wolf killed in Lassen County in 1924, wolves have been making a quick recovery in the Golden State. Now, only 13 years since the first wolf came back to our state, the California Department of Fish & Wildlife (CDFW) reports that 5 out of the 7 gray wolf families in the state have reproduced this year.

Gray wolves are recovering thanks to protections under the Endangered Species Act, but with constant threats to the law and to the listing of...

In late August, Russian Riverkeeper and the California Coastkeeper Alliance got what looks like a very significant ruling in their challenge to Sonoma County’s well permitting ordinance. The groups say that by allowing excessive and unmonitored groundwater extraction, the County is failing to protect surface flows in creeks and rivers that fish, wildlife, and recreation need. The court agreed, holding that under the Public Trust doctrine, Sonoma County has an affirmative duty to take the public trust into account in the planning and allocation of water resources, and to protect public trust uses whenever feasible,” but that the Coun...

Climate change promises to wreak havoc on Humboldt County. And Humboldt County is responding to this threat … slowly. 

A draft of the long-delayed Regional Climate Action Plan is here. Colin Fiske, executive director of the Coalition for Responsible Transportation Priorities, and Matt Simmons, climate attorney at the Environmental Protection Information Center, join the show to review the draft and offer suggestions for how it can be improved.

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Eureka voters will be asked to decide on Measure F, the pro-parking ballot measure that opponents warn would thwart ongoing plans to build affordable housing downtown. If it passes, what are the consequences. The California Housing Defense Fund, a non-profit that ensures California's housing laws are follows, recently sent a letter to the City of Eureka warning that should Measure F pass, it could "wreak legal and financial havoc."

On this week's show, Dylan Casey and James Lloyd of the California Housing Defense Fund join the show to discuss California housing law and elaborate on their letter...