EcoNews Report

The Bipartisan American Affordability and Jobs Act is being considered by the Senate. To its supporters, including some Democrats motivated by a desire to fast-track renewable energy development, the bill provides "streamlining" of environmental laws to reduce costs of project permitting and increase certainty for investors. To its detractors, including this week's guest, Marlyn Twitchell of the Western Environmental Law Center, the law is a dangerous rollback of environmental laws. Because the law is energy- and technology-neutral—meaning that it applies to more than just renewables but basically every major project on federal lands—it means that its not just renewables that could be expedited, from data centers to ICE detention facilities. 

Want to learn more? Here's analysis from the Western Environmental Law Center, Earthjustice, and the Natural Resources Defense Council.

Want to take action? Send an email to Senators Schiff and Padilla here.

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The venerable Save the Redwoods League was founded in 1918. Some hundred-plus years later, the League continues to be a major force in redwood conservation and restoration—although some of the work today may seem unfamiliar. To restore redwood forests, Save the Redwoods League is often employing some of the same tools that led to the loss of 95% of old-growth redwoods: chainsaws and logging trucks. 

Redwoods Rising is the ambitious project to restore 70,000 acres of formerly cutover land in Redwood State and National Parks. Ben Friedman, Director of Government Affairs at Save the Redwoods League, joins the show to discuss the unfinished work of the League and the next century of conservation.

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The California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) is under attack. CEQA is blamed by some for virtually all issues, from housing to high gas prices, and there are corresponding calls for its "reform," a slippery word with a variety of meanings from light-touch efforts to reform to larger dismantling of California's flagship environmental law. The legislature has responded with various new legislation, mostly specifically targeted at releasing most major infill housing from the law's control. Now, a ballot initiative sponsored by the California Chamber of Commerce, Proposition 45, aims to significantly reduce the law's reach over broad areas.

Central to many of these conversations has been Senator Catherine Blakespear. Sen. Blakespear has emerged as one of California's environmental champions, pushing back against more aggressive rollback proposals. 

Senator Blakespear joins the show to discuss her legislative work to protect California's environment and her thoughts on Prop. 45. 

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California's Fifth Climate Assessment is about to be released. The Assessment is broken up into nine different regions of California, as climate change is going to affect regions differently across the state. The Assessment not only looks at what climate models forecast for each region, but also dives deeper into how climate change is going to impact the region's natural systems, like our rivers, forests and wildlife, its infrastructure, and the culture of the region. Three of the authors of the chapter on the North Coast—Cal Poly Humboldt Professors Andrew Stubblefield, Rosemary Sherriff, and Jennifer Marlow—join the program to discuss the forthcoming report.

To learn more, check out the Governor's Office of Land Use and Climate Innovation's website.

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On this week's show, we travel to the Klamath-Siskiyou bioregion, whose steep knot of jagged peaks, sinuous rivers, and deep canyons support a biodiversity hotspot. The Klamath-Siskiyou Wildland Center (KS Wild), based in Ashland, Oregon, is charged with protecting this special place. Recent Trump regulatory rollbacks and new, more aggressive projects are placing new strains on the delicate ecology of the area. Michael Dotson, Executive Director of KS Wild, joins the program to discuss rescission of the Roadless Rule, changes to the Travel Management Rule, and new, larger projects being proposed on public lands in the bioregion. 

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On this week’s EcoNews Report, we dive into Prop 45, the ballot initiative forwarded by the California Chamber of Commerce that would significantly alter the California Environmental Quality Act by rolling back protections in the permitting for projects like dams, data centers, and freeway expansions. Many of the proposed changes are going to be directly felt by rural areas like ours who don’t have the planning staff to meet new stringent deadlines for project approval, meaning a choice will have to be made: skimp on environmental analysis and public engagement or risk litigation from developers. 

Elizabeth Reid-Wainscoat of the Center for Biological Diversity joins the program to discuss why her organization is opposed and is urging voters to vote no. 

The Center for Biological Diversity is hosting an informational webinar on Prop 45 on Thursday, Sept. 24 at 6 p.m. Register here to learn more. 

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September is Transit Month in California, and here on the North Coast the occasion is marked with plenty of events, activities, and advocacy. Public transit provides lots of economic, social, and environmental benefits to our region, as attested by transit riders themselves and in a recent open letter to state leaders from a variety of local business, labor, education, health care, social service and environmental groups.

But our public transit service is also increasingly under threat from funding cuts at the federal, state, and local levels. This month, whether you're a regular rider or have never taken transit in Humboldt, you can support transit just by getting on the bus. If you log your rides, you even have a chance to win prizes! There are also opportunities to meet local bus drivers, learn about the role public transit plays in our democracy, and join other transit riders to advocate for better service.

Colin Fiske, executive director of the Coalition for Responsible Transportation Priorities, joins the show to talk about all these transit-related happenings and more.

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Barred owl removal is moving forward in California and new data suggests that removals are working as intended: freeing up northern spotted owl habitat that was lost to barred owl invasion. A new peer-reviewed paper in the journal Biological Conservation used GPS locators on 56 barred owls in Northern California confirms that barred owls preferentially choose the same older forests that spotted owls require. Slightly larger than spotted owls, barred owls are able to bully spotted owls from their nest sites. Now, barred owls are pervasive across the landscape and the consequences are dire: just this week, another new paper described the spotted owl as "functionally extinct" across much of its range in Washington and Oregon. But through sustained removal efforts, wildlife managers are able to recover substantial amounts of spotted owl habitat, improving the prospects that your kids or grandkids can enjoy a world with northern spotted owls. 

Vitek Jirinic of the Integral Ecology Research Center join the program to discuss. 

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Offshore wind developer RWE announced that it has accepted a "settlement" with the Trump Administration. In exchange for abandoning three offshore wind leases — including one off of Humboldt County's coast— the German energy company will receive $1.22 billion to instead invest in fossil fuel projects. The Trump Administration has reached similar settlements for projects on the East Coast, which are being litigated, and the California Attorney General's Office has sent the Trump Administration "notices of intent to sue" for other settlements on the West Coast.

What does this settlement agreement mean for the future of offshore wind off Humboldt's coast? Matt Simmons, Climate Attorney at EPIC, and Jen Kalt, Executive Director of Humboldt Waterkeeper, join the program to discuss. 

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A supercharged system of warm water off the Pacific Coast threatens to offer a wet and stormy winter. This "super" El Niño is likely to a record-setter, with temperatures already in virtually uncharted territory and months left to continue to climb. Predicting what this super El Niño will do in Northern California is tough but previously strong El Niños—such as 1982-83 and 1997-98—suggest a likely future: one atmospheric river after another, all winter long. And if it wasn't already obvious, climate change is likely a significant contributor to the warm ocean temperatures (although El Niño events are a normal weather pattern). Climatologist JP O'Brien joins the program to discuss. 

For more, check out Senator McGuire's recent townhall on this super El Niño.

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