EcoNews Report

Connor McGuigan, lead planner on the county’s multijurisdictional Climate Action Plan, joins host Tom Wheeler to talk about Humboldt’s biggest climate challenges, the development of the plan and more.

“We’re laser-focused on transportation emissions and building energy emissions, because those are the big things that local governments, in partnership with local communities, can really have an influence on,” McGuigan says.

• Humboldt County’s Climate Action Plan page.

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Grocery store shelves got you anxious about food security? Spending more time at home and looking for a new project? Start a Victory Garden! Guests Julia Graham-Whitt and Mir de Silva of Two Green Thumbs share tips and tricks to get your first garden established, from seeds to soil and grass to garden. 

Interested in learning more? Check out these free resources:

• https://humgardens.com/
• http://northcoastgardening.
• https://www.almanac.com/

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Congressman Huffman joins the Green Gang to talk about the federal COVID-19 response — spoiler alert: he isn’t pleased with the Trump Administration’s handling of the crisis — and previews upcoming environmental legislation. Bored at home? Huffman also offers a book recommendation to keep your mind occupied.

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Dan Jacobson of Environment California joins the Green Gang to talk about how we can reduce the largest single source of greenhouse gas emissions: Transportation.

For more info on strategies to transform transportation in the U.S., check out
Environment California’s new report: “Destination: Zero Carbon”

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Scott Greacen, Jen Kalt and Tom Wheeler discuss a recent Op-Ed in the New York Times and ask each other the question: How can we be all be happy, healthy, effective activists without succumbing to gloom?

More on Oregon activist Emma Marris's 5-step plan for dealing with the stress of the climate crisis and becoming part of the solution:

How to Stop Freaking Out and Tackle Climate Change. New York Times, January 10, 2020.

Marris is fighting a proposed Liquified Natural Gas (LNG) project in Coos Bay and the associated pipeline that would impact the Klamath, Rogue, and Umpqua Rivers.

For more on the fight to block the Jordan Cove Energy Project, go to NoLNGExports.org.

 

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Emily Allee of the Wildlands Conservancy joins Tom Wheeler (of EPIC) and Alicia Hamann (of Friends of the Eel) to talk about the ambitious work that the nonprofit is doing right here in Humboldt and across the state. 

Learn about the conservancy’s two unusual seaside properties along the Humboldt County coast (and how you might visit them) and their large plans for the Eel River, centered around the 30,000 Dean Witter Lone Pine Ranch.

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Becky Chambers, local resident and Hugo Award-winning science fiction author, talks with the Green Gang about her work and her philosophy of science fiction. Her popular Wayfarers series focuses on the lives on regular people following an ecological collapse and their relationship with the alien species who somewhat reluctantly save humans. 

Also: How living in Humboldt County has inspired new directions in her writing.

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It’s an environmental news roundup conrnucopia, as Alicia Hamann of Friends of the Eel River joins us to talk about the latest on the Great Redwood Trail and

• The state of play with two fallen billboards
• Fuels management in the Six Rivers National Forest 
• Summer steelhead and ESA listing
• Weird carbon sequestration ideas.
• … and more!

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What do you do when a raccoon is living in the walls of your home? What about when a bird flies into your window? Why do more English majors than science majors volunteer to save wildlife? Bird Ally X — how is it related to Speed Racer?

Monte Merrick, one of Humboldt County’s foremost wildlife rescuers, joins the Green Gang to talk us through these questions and more, and to muse on the complicated question of feral cats and the people who care for them. Hear about the odd baby pelican he once saved!

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A divided Green Gang looks back at the process that led to the Terra-Gen wind energy project being denied last month, and debates whether or not it should have been. 

What did we learn? Where do we go next? Offshore wind? Will rooftop solar save us? No easy answers.

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