The City of Eureka's wastewater treatment facility releases its treated wastewater into Humboldt Bay near its facility by the Elk River. Nearby, surfers play at Stinky Beach and Humboldt Bay residents collect seafood. 

The City had been operating on the assumption that the treated sewage discharged from its Elk River Wastewater Treatment plant washes out to sea, but a 2014 study determined that much more of the treated sewage remains in Humboldt Bay than was previously understood. In 2016, the City was ordered by the North Coast Regional Water Quality Control Board to “cease and desist” discharging into Humboldt Bay and move to an ocean discharge by 2030. The City is instead asking for an exemption to existing water quality rules so it can continue pumping up to 12 million gallons of treated sewage into the bay near the Elk River Spit. 

Surfrider Foundation and Humboldt Baykeeper are asking the City to thoroughly examine the feasibility of moving to an ocean discharge or to commit to significant upgrades that will improve water quality in Humboldt Bay and that they hold at least one public workshop on the matter. Jen Kalt of Humboldt Baykeeper and Delia Bense-Kang of the Surfrider Foundation join the show to talk about where your waste goes when you flush and the impacts to Humboldt Bay.

Read More:

• City of Eureka Seeks to Allow Sewage to Stay in Humboldt Bay
• 2021 Humboldt Bay Symposium, Sept. 28-30

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A shadowy shell corporation is threatening our future with an apparent proposal to purchase the Northwestern Pacific rail line, kill the dream of the Great Redwood Trail, and ultimately export coal to Asia from Humboldt Bay. Tune in to hear your friends from Friends of the Eel River, Humboldt Baykeeper, and EPIC discuss the details of how such an absurd proposal is even possible, and why we must take this threat seriously and fight it with everything we've got!

REQUIRED READING:

• Aiming to Ship Coal Out of Humboldt Bay, Shadowy Corporation Makes Bid to Take Over NCRA Line Lost Coast Outpost, Sept. 2.
• North Coast lawmakers gearing up to battle coal export proposal tied to Humboldt Santa Rosa Press Democrat, Sept. 3.
• Is coal industry behind secretive plan to preserve a defunct California railroad? Salt Lake Tribune, Sept. 9.

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What would Teddy Roosevelt and John Muir talk about if they were alive today? A bushy bearded naturalist meets a pragmatic politician, both with an unabiding love of nature confronting climate change, colonization, fire, and how to conserve the planet in the 21st Century.

Well, we have the next best thing: Best-selling author, naturalist and painter Obi Kauffman joins Gang Green to talk about his friendship with California Resources Secretary Wade Crowfoot and the premiere of a short film where they following in the footsteps of Muir and Roosevelt on a camping trip in the Sierra Buttes.

When a naturalist with a breathtaking artistic vision and a political pragmatist with 19,000 employees and a four billion dollar budget come together to solve pressing issues of California’s lands, where do they begin? As Muir said, “The clearest way into the universe is through a forest wilderness.”

Join Obi and Wade on September 9, 2021, to explore California’s nature and engage in deep conversation on urgent topics, including wildfires, water shortage, climate change, and an action plan to be better stewards of the Golden State’s biodiversity. Live Q&A with attendees following the event.

Tickets at this link.

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Humboldt State professor Sarah Jaquette Ray talks with hosts Tom Wheeler and Alicia Hamann about how to avoid burnout, why peddling hope and leveraging guilt are not effective, and how we can move past the illusion of partisan division to working toward climate justice.

A Field Guide to Climate Anxiety, by Sarah Jaquette Ray. University of California Press.

Sarah's book is available  at Eureka Books and Northtown Books in Arcata. 

This show originally aired on May 10, 2020, but is as relevant today as it was then - perhaps more than ever,  as  drought and wildfires intensify here in California, and Hurricane Ida bears down on the Gulf Coast on the 16th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina.

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The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s most recent report is clear: the climate crisis is here and humans are causing it. Gang Green break down the major conclusions of the report and have a mild on-air existential crisis. The threat of climate change is immense and our collective response has been flaccid. Can we change the trajectory in time to avoid run-away warming? And how can Humboldt respond as a county? 

All this and more on this week’s show.

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Folks, it’s that time of year again! Coastal Cleanup Month 2021 promises to bring all the great elements of the last few years together for an event packed with citizen science, coastal stewardship, and fun prizes. Last year, COVID precautions turned a two day event into a month-long one, and we couldn’t have been happier with the results. We’ll be continuing that new tradition this year, with cleanups taking place every weekend of September. This year’s event will also be entirely zero waste, with reusable cleanup gear being supplied by the NEC. Volunteers can also look forward to a weekly raffle full of fun prizes from local businesses. Grab your family and friends and head to your favorite beach, park, street, or trail...We’d love for you to join us this year! 

Check out our website to learn more about Coastal Cleanup Month 2021 and how to participate! 

https://www.yournec.org/coastalcleanupmonth

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The barred owl, not native to California, is quickly becoming established in the state, having flown down the West Coast. The barred owl’s presence is bad news for its cousin, the northern spotted owl, the iconic species of the Timber Wars. The barred owl outcompetes the northern spotted owl and quickly takes over its territory. 

With the northern spotted owl on the road to extinction, now is the time for desperate measures. To save the northern spotted owl, researchers have tested whether killing barred owls makes a difference. The grim but good news: when barred owls are removed, population declines of the northern spotted owl stabilize. 

Owl researcher Dave Wiens joins Gang Green to discuss the results of his recent research.

REQUIRED READING:

”Invader removal triggers competitive release in a threatened avian predator,” David Wiens et al., Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Aug. 3, 2021.

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Offshore wind has a lot to offer: Humboldt’s wind resources are virtually unmatched in North America and we have the potential to produce gigawatts of low-carbon power off our coast and Humboldt Bay is one of the few ports on the West Coast capable of assembling the monster 600+ foot tall turbines, creating the potential that Humboldt Bay could become the American center of offshore wind technology. But the technology offers risks to the environment and the severity of these risks is hard to gauge because the technology has not been deployed in our ocean environments before.

The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management is close to opening up the coast for competitive bids for development. What is in store for Humboldt County? Matthew Marshall from the Redwood Coast Energy Authority joins Gang Green to discuss.

REQUIRED READING:

• “Redwood Coast Offshore Wind,” Redwood Coast Energy Authority.
• Schatz Energy Research Center's offshore wind energy page features 24 reports (and that's just the first set!), recordings of panel discussions from Fall 2020, and more. 

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Following the 2020, California is set to redraw its legislative maps and for the first time in our state’s history, we are set to lose a congressional seat. What does this mean for Humboldt? Guest Sam Sukaton of the California League of Conservation Voters joins Gang Green to discuss the California Citizens Redistricting Commission and how environmental voters can better harness power to affect change.

While environmental and climate justice advocates have been building a policy agenda for years, we currently do not have the political power in California to act on these solutions at the rate and scale required. The 2021 redistricting process is a unique moment to make key structural change: not only for the next legislative session, but for this final decade leading to the 2030 climate deadline.

California’s Constitution requires that redistricting preserve “communities of interest”—those economic or cultural ties that bind communities together—to the maximum extent possible. The redistricting process begins by soliciting input from the public about what forms their community of interest. Unique public comments are very important to the process. There are two ways you can participate!

REQUIRED READING:

• Do You Feel More Like Redding or San Rafael? The California Citizens Redistricting Commission Wants to Know

Participate in a Communities of Interest Public Hearing!

The Citizen Redistricting Commission is holding virtual meetings based on “zones.” Humboldt, Mendocino, Trinity and Del Norte Counties are in Zone A. The Citizen Redistricting Commission is hosting a special meeting for our zone on August 23 from 1-7 p.m. Go to this link to see the meeting agenda and to register to speak! Each speaker will get up to 3 minutes.

Draw Your Own Map!

Don’t want to sit through a public meeting? Can’t make August? No problem! Submit your testimony online, by email or by mail.

The Citizen Redistricting Commission has set up a cool website where you can draw your community of interest. Go to DrawMyCACommunity.org and follow the helpful tutorials. 

You can also provide input to the Commission by emailing: [email protected] (CC us at [email protected] too!) or by snail mail: California Citizens Redistricting Commission, 721 Capitol Mall, Suite 260, Sacramento, CA 95814. You can even call in your comments to: (916) 323-0323.

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Clam Beach landed on Heal the Bay's list of California's most polluted beaches yet again this year, getting an 'F' for water quality on the 2021 Beach Report Card. Today our guest is Dr. Jeremy Corrigan, who has worked for years to answer the burning question: why does Clam Beach have such high levels of fecal indicator bacteria? Dr. J is the Lab Manager at the Humboldt County Dept. of Public Health, and recently published a paper based on genetic analysis of the most likely sources. His findings point to birds as the main influence at Clam Beach, while cattle appear to be the biggest source of bacteria pollution in the Strawberry Creek watershed. Tune in to find out what this means for surfers and other beachgoers. 

For those inclined to do a deep dive:

• Microbial Source Tracking Approach to Investigate Fecal Waste at the Strawberry Creek Watershed and Clam Beach, California, USA by Jeremy A. Corrigan et al. 2021  
• Heal the Bay's 2020-21 Beach Report Card
• Regional Water Board's 2016-18 research on Pathogens in Coastal Streams
• Humboldt Baykeeper's Water Quality Program features research involving volunteers, student interns, and local water quality experts

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