Perhaps symbolically underscoring the notion that nuclear half-lives are always longer than they seem, the Redwood Coast Energy Authority Board of Directors will once again discuss whether the agency should accept an offer of free nuclear power at its meeting later this month. Last month, the board, acting with some members absent, failed to reach […]
Climate Crisis
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California is not Close to Meeting its Climate Change Mandates
California will fail to meet its ambitious mandates for combating climate change unless the state almost triples its rate of reducing greenhouse gases through 2030, according to a new analysis released last week. After dropping during the pandemic, California’s emissions of carbon dioxide, methane and other climate-warming gases increased 3.4 percent in 2021, when the […]
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Protestors Call on Local Banks to Cut Fossil Fuel Industry Support
Last week’s national day of protest by Third Act members urging banks, including local branches of Wells Fargo and CHASE Bank, to stop lending to and underwriting the fossil fuel industry, included a demonstration attended by around 60 persons in Arcata. Many attendees brought their bank cards to cut up in protest March 21, as […]
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Ranchers, Tribes, State Officials Clash Over Shasta River Water
The land that Jim Scala and his family have been ranching for three generations is parched and brown as far as he can see. The pond where his cattle used to drink is now a puddle, ringed with cracked mud. In other years, water pumped from the Shasta River would have periodically flooded this land, […]
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NCJ Preview: An Organic Waste Overhaul and New Food and Brew Offerings in Arcata
Humboldt County’s trash collection system is about to get a lot more complicated, with a new state law taking effect aimed at reducing climate pollutants and creating a closed-loop organic waste economy. Meanwhile, a new brewery and deli in Arcata is offering up sandwiches and small-batch brews and recently released documents shed new light on […]
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Interior to Open Offshore Wind Comment Period Next Week
The U.S. Department of the Interior announced today that it will publish a Proposed Sale Notice next week, opening a 60-day public comment period on plans to open lease areas off the California coast — including one off Humboldt Bay — to bidding for the creation of offshore wind farms. “The Biden-Harris administration is moving forward […]
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Geopolitics Undermine Energy Authority’s Solar Project
When local politics nixed Terra-Gen’s wind farm energy project near Rio Dell in 2019, regional electricity aggregator Redwood Coast Energy Authority (RCEA) turned to a solar project hundreds of miles away to meet its renewable energy goals. Now, world politics have botched up that second choice, according to Jaclyn Harr, client specialist manager with an […]
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Coastal Commission Votes to Move Forward with Humboldt Offshore Wind Exploration
The California Coastal Commission voted unanimously today to conditionally concur with a federal determination that allowing energy companies and organizations to study a proposed offshore wind farm area on the Humboldt County Coast is consistent with the California Coastal Management Program. The highly technical and bureaucratic vote clears the way for companies interested in purchasing […]
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CalTrans Considers Alternatives to ‘Armoring’ 101 Against Sea Level Rise
As it faces flooding from sea level rise along the U.S. Highway 101 Arcata-Eureka, CalTrans is seriously considering a “living shoreline” instead of throwing riprap up against the tides. In a workshop yesterday, it also seemed clear the agency is going to keep the current road alignment at the edge of Humboldt Bay. Clancy DeSmet, […]
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Knob Fire Holding as River Complex Grows
Fire crews continued to make progress on the Knob Fire over the holiday weekend, as crews on the McCash Fire work to protect homes near Hyapom and stop the fire’s advance toward Hayfork Creek and Hyampom Road and firefighters work to protect property threatened by the River Complex, which is expected to see another round […]
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Fires Update: ‘Very Unhealthy’ Air Quality Expected in Orleans, Weitchpec
Fire crews continued to make good progress on the Knob and McFarland fires this weekend, freeing up resources to aid efforts on the McCash and Monument fires and River Complex, all of which remain active. While coastal Humboldt County will see pretty good air quality today, albeit with a “widespread haze,” conditions in the eastern […]