Amid an upwelling of Native opposition to plans to build offshore wind farms, including one off the coast of Eureka, United States Interior Secretary Deb Haaland and North Coast Congressmember Jared Huffman will be visiting Humboldt Bay later this week, in part to meet with local tribes and hear their concerns. Reached this morning to […]
offshore wind
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Crowley Questions Mount for Harbor District
Pressure is mounting on the Humboldt Bay Harbor, Recreation and Conservation District to reconsider its relationship with Crowley Maritime, its partner in the rush to develop a marine terminal to serve the proposed offshore wind farm, or at least to hold off on consummating the partnership. The first official salvo came Aug. 20 in the […]
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Harbor District to Talk Labor Agreement Amid Request for Delay
When the Humboldt Bay Harbor, Recreation and Conservation Commission convenes Thursday at Eureka’s Wharfinger Building, it will face two large and related agenda items. First, it will consider authorizing staff to submit a U.S. Department of Transportation mega grant application hoped to total in the hundreds of millions of dollars to go toward construction of the […]
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Going, Going, Gone: Feds Hold First-Ever Auction for California Offshore Wind Leases
Federal officials today will auction off leases for 583 square miles of ocean waters off California that could lead to the nation’s first massive floating wind farms. The auction — the first on the West Coast — includes five sites in deep ocean waters about 20 miles off Morro Bay and Humboldt County. The leases […]
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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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NCJ Preview: The Green Issue
The annual Green Issue is back and we’re looking at stories that touch on the environment and the climate crisis this week. We’ll talk about building up vs. building out around the county, and the impacts and controversies related to creating needed housing in Eureka and Arcata. We’ve got updates on the proposed offshore wind […]
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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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Report: $124 Million Needed to Transform Port of Humboldt for Offshore Wind
It will cost more than $124 million to build a new multipurpose terminal in Humboldt Bay to support offshore wind energy, according to a preliminary cost estimate prepared for the Harbor, Recreation and Conservation District. The district’s board of commissioners is slated to meet in a special session tomorrow, first in closed session to continue […]
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McGuire Hosts Offshore Wind Discussion
North Coast Sen. Mike McGuire (D-Healdsburg) hosted four panel discussions this afternoon at the Humboldt Bay Aquatic Center in Eureka about the prospect of offshore wind farms — a concept that isn’t new but still holds some mystery. Exactly when the turbines are set to be constructed depends on the multiple environmental assessments by various […]
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Facing the Wind
Local fishermen are on the verge of forever losing local fishing grounds to wind power as California trades one renewable resource (seafood) for another (electricity). The state of California and its citizens are on the front line of the efforts to convert our energy use from the burning of fossil fuels (oil and gas) to […]
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RCEA Selects ‘Highly Capable’ Wind Energy Team
The Redwood Coast Energy Authority announced this afternoon that it has selected a “consortium” of companies to enter into a public-private partnership to pursue the development of an offshore wind energy project off the North Coast. According to an RCEA press release, the consortium — which consists of Principle Power Inc., EDPR Offshore North America […]