Pacific Time: West Coast What-Ifs

A recent survey shows that Californians want autonomy—what does this mean?

In this episode, Greg talks with Coyote Marin, co-founder and executive director of the Independent California Institute, a nonprofit think tank focused on educating Californians about their relationship with the federal government. Unlike advocacy groups, Coyote’s organization doesn’t push a single path forward—it lays out facts, options, and tradeoffs so Californians can decide for themselves.

We explore new survey data showing strong support for California gaining special autonomous status within the U.S.—and a surprising amount of openness to peaceful secession. They discuss why autonomy polls higher than full independence, what it means to be a “donor state,” and how Californians might rethink the federal government as a costly (and morally compromised) middleman between taxpayers and the services they depend on.

This is a conversation about sovereignty, pragmatism, and possibility—not about destroying America, but about building a California that works better for Californians.

Highlights:

• The difference between autonomy and independence
• How California compares as a “donor state”
• Why opinions on independence are stable—but hardening
• The federal government as a “money laundering machine” for state tax dollars
• The hidden history of U.S. secessions, from 1776 to the Philippines

About Our Guest
Coyote Marin is the executive director of the Independent California Institute, a nonprofit think tank founded in 2018 to study California independence and autonomy. A longtime Green Party activist and policy thinker, Marin has led research on California’s donor-state status, run statewide surveys on attitudes toward autonomy, and advocates for thoughtful, fact-based dialogue about the state’s future.

Resources:

• Independent California Institute “Video: Coyote Marin presents results of our June 2025 poll”
• ICI Essay, “What It Means to Be a Donor State”
• LA Times, Aug 22: “Love it or hate it? Polls show how Californians feels about Newsom’s redistricting fight with Trump?”

Related Episodes:

• Ep 23: Refresh the American Brand, West Coast First? With Michael Megalli
• Ep 08: Leave America and Discover Ecotopia? (Greg Amrofell)
• Ep 09: Will California Bring the Unsexy Back? With Dan Walters
• Ep 04: Is California Ready for Independence? With Marcus Ruiz Evans
• Ep 01: Reclaiming Democracy: The Case for West Coast Independence (Greg Amrofell)
  
  

Join the conversation: What would you choose—greater autonomy for California, or full independence? Share your take wherever you follow or send me your thoughts, questions, comments and constructive suggestions to [email protected].

Follow: Pacific Time is making good trouble asking questions about the future of the West Coast on Substack, YouTube, BlueSky, Instagram, and Facebook. Join the conversation and share it with your neighbors and friends on the West Coast.

Listen: Pacific Time Podcast is on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Pocketcast, Podbean, and many other platforms. Follow, share, and leave a review.

What if the quickest fix for American democracy isn’t new maps—but better ballots? In this episode, we ask whether top-two primaries, ranked-choice voting, and a bigger U.S. House could outflank gerrymandering’s worst effects—fast.

Episode summary:
Redistricting wars grab headlines, but the map fight is only part of the story. Marketing veteran and election systems enthusiast Ashley Brown joins Pacific Time to argue that ballot design, primary structure, and seat math shape who we elect just as much as district lines do. We dig into top-two primaries on the West Coast, where ranked-choice is working, and why expanding the House could make “safe seats” less safe for extremists. This is a pragmatic, West Coast–forward blueprint for how states can upgrade elections now—with tools already on the shelf.

Highlights:

• Why gerrymandering is a symptom (and what the disease actually is)
• Top-two primaries vs. ranked-choice voting
• “Wider on-ramps, narrower off-ramps”: redesigning primaries to reward coalition builders
• The case to expand the House (and how it would change incentives overnight)
• What West Coast states can implement in 12–24 months

About our guest:
Ashley Brown is a seasoned brand and marketing leader (Microsoft, Coca‑Cola, Amazon, Porch) with a long-running personal obsession: how election systems shape countries. He brings a practitioner’s eye to election reform—translating complex ideas into simple changes voters can understand and adopt.

Related resources:

• “Trump prompted a battle over voting maps. Here’s how redistricting affects voters,” NPR, August 18, 2025
• “Gerrymandering Explained,” Brennan Center for Justice, August 9, 2025
• “Ranked-choice voting is the future,” Endless Jest/Substack by Ashley Brown, April 23, 2023
• “Ranked Choice Voting in 2024: A year in review,” Fairvote
• “Ranked-Choice Voting Helped Mamdani Score a Decisive Primary Win,” NYTimes, Aug 4, 2025
• “They Wyoming Rule,” for increasing the size of the house so that everyone gets the same representation in the House of Representatives as the smallest district (e.g. Wyoming). On Wikipedia.
  
  

Related Episodes

• Ep 23 Refresh the American Brand, West Coast First? With Michael Megalli
• Ep 19 Could Roman Ruins Inspire West Coast Offense? (Solo)

 If you want more voice, less noise in our politics, share this episode with a friend and your county elections board. Then hit “Follow” and leave a review—those signals help us reach reformers like you. 

The EPA just gutted the backbone of federal climate regulation. Could the West Coast step in?

In this episode of Pacific Time, veteran climate reporter Molly Peterson joins Greg to unpack the devastating implications of the EPA’s reversal of its greenhouse gas endangerment finding—the legal trigger that forces federal climate action. Without it, Washington no longer has to regulate greenhouse gases, even as wildfire smoke, ozone, and deadly heatwaves plague the West.

Molly and Greg explore what this means for California, Oregon, and Washington: Could these states lead a new era of climate policy absent federal involvement? Might they even seize legal and regulatory authority from the feds—and what would that spark?

Episode Highlights:

• The implications of the EPA rescinding the greenhouse gas endangerment finding
• Why wildfire smoke isn’t properly counted under current law
• Why the Clean Air Act wasn’t built for climate change
• Could California sue and/or simply take charge?

Guest Bio:
Molly Peterson is an award-winning environmental reporter whose work has appeared on NPR, The Guardian, LAist, and local outlets across the West. She covers air quality, water systems, and climate adaptation with a sharp eye for science, law, and public accountability. Her 2023 investigation into wildfire smoke loopholes helped reframe how we think about pollution and policy.

Resources:

• “Disasters Are Exactly the Time for Urban Planning,” Medium post by Molly Peterson
• Revealed: how a little-known pollution rule keeps the air dirty for millions of Americans | Wildfires | The Guardian
• “Resistance state: Tracking California’s lawsuits against the new Trump administration” CalMatters
• “What is the Clean Air Act?” US Environmental Protection Agency
• Trump administration moves to repeal climate ‘holy grail’ - POLITICO
  
  

Related Episodes:

• 21 What if We Could Get Wildfire Under Control? With Hilary Franz
• 20 Could Duct Tape Save Our Public Lands? With Gwyn Howat
• 09 Will California Bring the Unsexy Back? With Dan Walters

If America is a brand, what does it stand for now? What truths still hold? And can a 250-year-old experiment in self-government be reimagined without losing the plot?

Michael Megalli is a brand strategist, the author of the upcoming book Brand New World, the founder of Indie.biz, and the son of Egyptian immigrants who believed fiercely in the American dream. In this episode, he unpacks the state of the American brand—what it once represented, how it’s faltering, and why this moment offers a rare chance to rebuild it from the ground up (hint: the two party political system may not have the answers). From the symbolism of military parades to the deeper meanings behind "We the People," Megalli explores how shared myths shape everything from democracy to Taylor Swift.

Highlights:

• What branding really means (and why it’s not just marketing)
• The American brand: from post-WWII unity to post-COVID disillusionment
• Distrust in institutions as the central threat
• A new patriotism rooted in participation, not performative pride
• Michael’s family story of migration, military service, and belief in U.S. ideals

Guest Bio:
Michael Megalli is a multi-talented brand strategist, author, teacher, and entrepreneur. Through his consulting firm, Djinn Dept, he offers branding expertise to major companies and nonprofits. His writing and online media explore how shared stories, symbols, and beliefs shape identity, economics, and civic life. He is also founder of Indie.biz, a company that champions the countless people launching and running independent businesses.

Related Episodes:

• Ep 19: Could Roman Ruins Inspire West Coast Offense? (Greg Amrofell)
• Ep 13: What if National Service Jump Started the West Coast Workforce? With Nicole Trimble
• Ep 10: What if Blue Cities Got it Together? With Sandeep Kaushik

Resources:

• Brand New World - Michael Megalli's Substack
• "The American Brand is in crisis among the young -- It's up to all of us to fix it" - Michael Megalli in The Hill Jan 30, 2025
• U.S. Global Image - Pew Research Center

What if growing food didn’t have to destroy the planet?
Ariane Lotti grew up in the U.S., trained in environmental policy at Yale, and worked on Capitol Hill. But her journey took an unexpected turn: she returned to her family’s rice farm in Tuscany to reinvent agriculture from the ground up.

In this episode, we meet this regenerative farmer who's testing the limits of what’s possible—combining policy smarts with muddy boots. Ariane walks us through the lessons Italy and Europe can offer the West Coast, from flavor and biodiversity to subsidies that reward rural resilience. We also talk ducks, risotto, the promise and perils of organic certification, and how U.S. ag policy might finally modernize.

In this episode, we cover:

• The surprising differences between U.S. and EU farm policy
• Why regenerative agriculture needs room for experimentation
• How ducks could replace herbicides in rice paddies
• What the West Coast could do with our land if we started from scratch
• Why farming is both political and personal

Guest Bio:
Ariane Lotti is the owner of Tenuta San Carlo, a regenerative rice farm and agritourism business on Italy’s Tuscan coast. A former Yale-trained policy advocate in Washington D.C., she now grows rice organically, raises livestock, and experiments with soil and water conservation techniques that blend ancient practices with modern research.

Related Episodes:

• Ep 19: Could Roman Ruins Inspire West Coast Offense? (Greg Amrofell)
• Ep 18: What If the West Coast Took Health Into Its Own Hands? With Abie Flaxman
• Ep 08 Leave America and Discover Ecotopia? (Greg Amrofell)

💬Join the conversation by offering your take on this spicy question:
True or false: I’d love to buy all organic groceries right from the farmer’s market. Why do you today, or why don’t you today? Share your answers at the community center for Pacific Time at Substack, BlueSky, Instagram, and Facebook

Listen:

🎧 Pacific Time Podcast is on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and many other platforms. Please follow, share, and leave a review.

Thanks to:

• Hosts: The Tenuta San Carlo team (Instagram)
• Student Program: University of Washington Wellness in the World  (Instagram)
• Producer: Tim Wohlberg

Resources:

• Tenuta San Carlo (Note their recipes!)
• Posto Pubblico (Yum)
• National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition
• FAO: Ducks in Integrated Rice Farming
  
  

What if wildfire isn’t just a natural disaster, but a test of how well we govern prevention, preparation, response, and recovery? In this episode, Greg talks with Hilary Franz, former Washington Lands Commissioner about governing through climate chaos, building unlikely coalitions, and why states like Washington can’t afford to wait for federal leadership when it comes to protecting lives, land, and the future. 

As big and intractable as climate issues can seem, Hilary’s story is hopeful. When the climate crisis hits home, progress is possible when state and local leaders can take charge and look past politics, to address shared problems. From reimagining forest management to partnering with tribes, timber towns, and tech leaders, Franz shares what it takes to lead boldly—and collaboratively—when every season is fire season. This is a story about practical climate action, political courage, and what it might look like for the West Coast to lean into big challenges it can see coming.

In this episode, we cover:

• How wildfire strategy in Washington shifted from reactive to proactive
• Why climate denial isn’t the biggest obstacle anymore—climate delay is
• The political and practical costs of federal inaction
• What it means to build coalitions with tribes, timber workers, and tech CEOs
• Why state sovereignty matters in an age of climate instability
• What a West Coast climate alliance could actually look like
• How Hilary Franz’s background in conservation law—and figure skating—shaped her leadership

About Our Guest:
Hilary Franz served as Washington’s Commissioner of Public Lands from 2017–2025, leading the state’s wildfire prevention, forest management, and climate resilience efforts. A former conservation attorney, she is known for bipartisan coalition-building, hands-on leadership in crisis, and her early days as a competitive figure skater.

Other resources

• 20-Year Forest Health Strategic Plan: Central and Eastern Washington | WA - DNR
• National Interagency Fire Center

Related Episodes:

• Ep 20: Could Duct Tape Save Our Public Lands? With Gwyn Howat
• Ep 10: What If Blue Cities Got It Together? With Sandeep Kaushik
• Ep 08: Leave America and Discover Ecotopia? (Solo) 
• Ep 02: How Can the West Coast Redesign Itself? With Mickey McManus 
  
  

Join the Conversation by offering your take on this spicy question:
 What would it take for the West Coast to lead on climate like our lives depend on it?

💬 Participate in active, civil conversations with your neighbors on the West Coast who are asking ‘What if…?’  Come to the community center for Pacific Time at Substack.

Follow:

📲 Pacific Time is making good trouble asking questions about the future of the West Coast on BlueSky, Instagram, and Facebook

Listen:

🎧 Pacific Time Podcast is on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and many other platforms. Please follow, share, and leave a review.

Thanks to:

• "Indie for Indie" Sponsor: Share It Music
• Featured Share It Artist: Queen Anne (and their non-profit partner Malaria Consortium US)
• Producer: Tim Wohlberg

Mount Baker is the snowiest ski mountains in the world. It’s also one of the most beloved—and independent—places in the Pacific Northwest. But this episode isn’t about winter sports. It’s about leadership, stewardship, and what it means to bottle the magic that comes from building community in a wondrous landscape. Stuff to bear in mind as Congress got close to selling off vast swaths of public land.

Before she was the CEO of Mt. Baker Ski Area, Gwyn Howat was shoveling snow, taping bindings, and riding storms at one of the wildest places on the West Coast. In this wide-ranging conversation, Gwyn reflects on over 30 years of stewardship, community-building, and leadership at one of the last independently owned ski areas in North America. We talk about joy, grief, gender equity in outdoor leadership, prizes of indigenous art and duct tape trophies, and the idea that the mountains—and their caretakers—are part of a sacred commons.

Mt. Baker’s culture is famous among skiers and snowboarders, but there’s a deeper story here: one about staying independent in an industry dominated by conglomerates, and one about designing experiences that center people, place, and purpose over profit.

Whether you're a snowboarder, a public lands advocate, or just someone wondering what good leadership feels like—this episode has something for you.

Highlights:

• Why Mt. Baker embraced snowboarding before it was cool—and never sold out
• What duct tape trophies say about the values of a place
• How Gwyn made decisions as a CEO that balanced community, ecology, and economics
• What it means to be a for-profit business on public land—and a steward of a commons
• The future of leadership succession at independent recreation areas
• The story of the Legendary Banked Slalom, the longest-running snowboarding event in the world
• Why Gwyn still visits the beginner run when the weight of a complicated job on the mountain feels heavy

Guest Bio:
Gwyn Howat served as CEO of Mt. Baker Ski Area for over a decade and has worked in nearly every role at the mountain—from lift ops to leadership. A lifelong skier, Gwyn has helped shape one of the most iconic and community-rooted recreation areas in North America. She is also one of the first women to lead a ski area in the U.S. Known for her deep love of the outdoors, her fierce commitment to community, and her belief in designing for joy, Gwyn is now entering a new chapter—one that may involve salt water as much as snow, and meditation as much as being in the mountains.

Resources & References:

• Mt. Baker Ski Area
• Legendary Banked Slalom
• U.S. Forest Service - Mt. Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest

Related Episodes:

18 What If We Treated Health Like a System? With Abie Flaxman
14 Could Ambitious Civic Projects Jolt Us Back to Trusting Government? With Nolan Lienhart

08  Leave America and Discover Ecotopia? (Solo)

Join the movement:

💬  Participate in active, civil conversations with your neighbors on the West Coast who are asking ‘What if…?’  Come to the community center for Pacific Time at Substack.

Follow:

📲 Pacific Time is making good trouble asking questions about the future of the West Coast on BlueSky, Instagram, and Facebook

Listen:

🎧 Pacific Time Podcast is on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and many other platforms. Follow, share, and leave a review.

Thanks to:

• Gwyn Howat for taking time to talk during a Hawaiian reset
• Spirit Rock for a deep dive into meditation and introducing me to my dear friend Gwyn
• Tim Wohlfarth for a quick turn on production
• Jim Humes for first opening my eyes to Mount Baker

What if Rome wasn’t just ancient history—but a blueprint for how empires corrode? In this hard-hitting solo episode, Pacific Time host Greg Amrofell records from Italy, tracing chilling parallels between the fall of the Roman Republic and the unraveling of American democracy. As Trump federalizes the National Guard, threatens war with Iran, deploys ICE raids, and criminalizes dissent, Greg calls on the West Coast—and its allies—to go on constitutional offense.

We revisit the original rebellion of 1776, reflect on HBO’s John Adams, and examine how authoritarianism gains ground through chaos, distraction, and cruelty masked as strength. From invoking the Posse Comitatus Act to launching a West Coast Congress, this episode lays out a tactical and legal playbook for states to reclaim their power, uphold the Constitution, and fight back—before it's too late.

Highlights:

• Rome’s collapse as a warning for the U.S.—and why "SPQR" still matters
• Watching John Adams on the plane and re-reading the Declaration of Independence
• Trump’s provocations: arresting a senator, deploying Marines, undermining due process
• War with Iran as a cover story for escalating domestic authoritarianism
• Ten bold state-level actions to provoke court fights and assert sovereignty
• Praising Newsom and the West Coast AGs for resisting federal overreach
• Legal framework: 10th Amendment, Posse Comitatus, Insurrection Act, and the 25th
• Call for a West Coast Congress to coordinate climate, civil rights, and economic defense
• ICE obstruction laws: extreme taxes, quartering bans, liability expansions
• Reimagining National Guard units as State Constitutional Defense Forces
• Reclaiming the American flag from authoritarian co-optation
• A rallying cry for police, veterans, judges, and public servants to honor their oaths

Suggested Resources:

• Julius Caesar - Entire Play | Folger Shakespeare Library
• Julius Caesar - Oregon Shakespeare Festival (Running through Oct 2025; See Director's Notes)
• Full Text of the Declaration of Independence (U.S. National Archives)
• John Adams (HBO) 
• The Posse Comitatus Act (18 U.S. Code § 1385) (Brennan Center)
• CA Governor Gavin Newsom: Democracy at a Crossroads

Related Episodes:

• 08 Leave America and Discover Ecotopia? (Solo)
• 01 Reclaiming Democracy: The Case for West Coast Independence (Solo)

Join the movement: 

💬  Participate in active, civil conversations with your neighbors on the West Coast who are asking ‘What if…?’  Come to the community center for Pacific Time at Substack.

Follow:

📲 Pacific Time is making good trouble asking questions about the future of the West Coast on BlueSky, Instagram, and Facebook

Listen:

🎧 Pacific Time Podcast is on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and many other platforms. Follow, share, and leave a review.

What if we let the data guide West Coast healthcare? Could we better address our mental health and addiction crisis? In this episode, data scientist Abie Flaxman breaks down the top health issues for working-age adults on the West Coast—and why our health systems keep missing the mark.

You might think cancer or heart disease top the charts. But in Washington, Oregon, and California, the leading killers of working-age adults are drug overdose and suicide. In this revealing episode, Greg Amrofell talks with Dr. Abie Flaxman—one of the architects of the Global Burden of Disease—about what’s really harming West Coast health. From despair-driven deaths to broken public health infrastructure, the episode explores what data reveals, what state leaders can do, and why we can’t count on federal help. It's not just a health crisis. It's a crisis of policy, prevention, and purpose.

Highlights

• Why drug overdoses and suicides top the charts for working-age West Coasters
• How public health data from IHME can guide smarter state policies
• The hidden burden of Alzheimer's in Washington and California
• Why the Affordable Care Act mattered—and why it wasn't enough
• How state-level healthcare experiments can lead national reform
• What happens when the federal government guts public health budgets
• Why universities may need to take matters into their own hands to defend science

Guest Bio:

​Dr. Abraham D. Flaxman is an Associate Professor of Global Health and Health Metrics Sciences at the University of Washington's Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME). He specializes in developing computational methods to measure health metrics and evaluate health interventions. Dr. Flaxman earned his BS in Mathematics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and his PhD in Algorithms, Combinatorics, and Optimization from Carnegie Mellon University. 

Resources & References:

• Global Burden of Disease (GBD)
• GBD Compare | Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation
• GBD US County Level Estimates
• Seattle scientists fight back against Trump cuts, disinformation | The Seattle Times

Related episodes:

• Ep 06: If American Healthcare is Broken, What Can the West Coast Do? With Mike Hanlon
• Ep 17: What if Higher Ed Started Over Again on the West Coast? With Dan Greenstein
• Ep 14: What If We Designed Cities for Joy? With Nolan Lienhart

Join the movement: 

💬  Participate in active, civil conversations with your neighbors on the West Coast who are asking ‘What if…?’  Come to the community center for Pacific Time at Substack.

Follow:

📲 Pacific Time is making good trouble asking questions about the future of the West Coast on BlueSky, Instagram, and Facebook

Listen:

🎧 Pacific Time Podcast is on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and many other platforms. Follow, share, and leave a review.

Is college still the best investment we can make in our future—or a broken promise on borrowed time?

In this episode of Pacific Time, Greg speaks with Dan Greenstein, former Chancellor of Pennsylvania’s state university system and a seasoned voice in U.S. higher education. From ballooning student debt to declining public trust, Greenstein unpacks the long arc of American higher ed—from its postwar heyday to its current crisis of confidence.

We explore how federal disinvestment, demographic shifts, and partisan distrust have collided to upend a once-revered institution—and what it will take to rebuild value and values in the college experience while facing down existential threats from the Trump administration. For West Coast families, students, and civic leaders, the stakes couldn’t be higher. If we want higher education to serve all of us again, we may need to start reimagining it from the ground up.

Highlights

• The long boom—and sudden bust—of U.S. higher ed
• Why 40% of students never finish college—and what that means
• The $1.7 trillion elephant in the room: student debt
• How culture wars are eroding public trust in universities
• What red states are getting wrong—and right—about college
• The hidden role of public colleges in saving lives and communities
• What a West Coast–led higher ed renaissance could look like

Guest Bio

Dan Greenstein is the former Chancellor of the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education, overseeing 14 public universities. He’s a historian by training, the former head of Higher Ed at the Gates Foundation, a senior leader in the University of California system, and a long-time champion of public colleges and universities. Greenstein has written and spoken widely about higher ed reform, institutional accountability, and rebuilding public trust in a polarized America.

Suggested Resources

• Gallup Study of Public Trust in Higher Ed
• Inside Higher Ed: Various Approaches to Measuring ROI in Higher Ed
• Dan Greenstein Blog
• Dan Greenstein on LinkedIn

Related Pacific Time Episodes

• Ep 13: What If National Service Jump Started the West Coast Workforce? With Nicole Trimble
• Ep 09: A West Coast Wake-up Call as the US Scrambles the World Order? With John Zysman
• Ep 02: How Can the West Coast Redesign Itself? With Mickey McManus

Join the movement:
Participate in active, civil conversations with your neighbors on the West Coast who are asking ‘What if…?’

For example, what would make higher ed better worth the price? If you could subscribe to higher education throughout your adult life, what would you have studied and what would you want to study?

Subscribe (for free) and let’s discuss on Substack.

Follow:
Pacific Time is making good trouble asking questions about the future of the West Coast on BlueSky, Instagram, and Facebook

Listen:
Pacific Time Podcast is on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and many other platforms. Follow, share, and leave a review.

Thanks to:

• Our Sponsor: Share It Music
• Our Featured Music Guest from Share It: San Gabriel
• Producer: Tim Wohlfarth