EcoNews Report

In politically progressive circles, a strange phenomenon can occur. Supply skepticism, the belief that housing prices are divorced from impacts to housing supply, abounds. On this week's EcoNews Report, Professor Vicki Been from the Furman Center for Real Estate and Urban Policy, joins to discuss her metaanalysis of research into the relationship between housing supply and cost. (Hint: More h...

Are there Coho salmon in small urban streams like Jolly Giant and Janes Creek? If so, how often, and how far upstream do they go? Our guests, fisheries biologists Colton Dixon and Darrren Ward, are studying these streams and have some answers that might come as a surprise. Tune in to learn more about these streams and the fish that call them home for a fairly brief but critical time in their life...

Start your new year on a poetic note. Poets Jerry Martien and Katy Gurin join the EcoNews for our annual new year's poetry reading.  Do you have an environmental-themed poem that you want read on air? Email tom@wildcalifornia.org and you might hear your poetry read on the EcoNews. Support the show

Humboldt's Queen of Quakes, Dr. Lori Dengler professor emeritus of geology at Cal Poly Humboldt, joins Gang Green to break down the 6.4 magnitude rumbler that hit  Rio Dell hard last December. It was the third most "shaky" recorded earthquake in California's history (as measured by peak ground acceleration ), with 1.46 g-force of acceleration.  Why was Rio Dell harder hit when...

On this week's EcoNews Report, spotted owl experts Dave Wiens and Peter Carlson join bird nerds Ken Burton and Tom Wheeler to discuss barred owls and their impact to West Coast ecosystems. The barred owl is in the news because of a draft strategy released by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to cull the invasive owl to benefit the native northern spotted owl and California spotted owl. The i...

On this week's EcoNews Report, Humboldt's preeminent bird nerd, Ken Burton, drops by the show to discuss the bird buzz. The Christmas Bird Count is coming up. This bird count is very important to understanding long-term trends in bird populations and identifying species that require conservation attention. If you would like to help our local Redwood Region Audubon Society with this year&...

The Hoopa Valley Tribe is engaged in exciting work to help promote a greener, more resilient power grid. And they are being recognized for their good work! Linnea Jackson, the general manager of the Hoopa Valley Public Utilities District, is the California Energy Commission's 2023 "Tribal Champion" award winner and inductee into the Clean Energy Hall of Fame. Linnea joins the show t...

How will California's coast deal with sea level rise? Journalist Rosanna Xia traveled across the state to talk with folks on the frontlines of sea level rise. Their stories are the focus of her new book, California Against the Sea: Visions for Our Vanishing Coastline . Rosanna joins Tom Wheeler of EPIC and Jennifer Savage of the Surfrider Foundation to discuss sea level rise and her work as a...

The legislative season has come to a close, so let’s take a look at what was done! Specifically, how will the new raft of laws affect some of the biggest environmental issues we’ve been tracking — including affordable housing, urban design, greenhouse gas emissions and more? We talk about it!   Street Story: A Simple Way to Contribute to the Fight for Safe Streets Have you experienced a near-miss,...

Congressman Jared Huffman joins the show to discuss the current happenings in Washington D.C. — Who the heck is Speaker Mike Johnson? Will we pass a continuing budget resolution? Why would any thinking person want to be a United States Representative? — and his legislative priorities. From offshore wind to Eel River dams to nickel mining on the Smith River, Congressman Huffman has a lot to share....

Tune in for an interview with Sebastian Elrite of AquaRodeo Farms and Humboldt Bay Provisions to learn about Humboldt Bay oysters. Sebastian tells us all about how they are grown, why they're good for you, the importance of water quality, and how ocean acidification has led to a boom in the local oyster "seed" industry.  Support the show

Environmental activists are concerned with the direction of the Humboldt County Climate Action Plan . The Plan, a to-do list of sorts describing what local jurisdictions can do to reach state-mandated greenhouse gas reductions, has been in development for five years and at a recent Board of Supervisors meeting, Planning Director John Ford warned that significant changes to the plan are necessary,...

This week, Cal Poly Humboldt Assistant Professor Jennifer Marlow and Graduate Research Assistant Alec Brown join Jen Kalt of Humboldt Waterkeeper to talk about the 44 Feet Project , which is focused on the future risk of climate and coastal hazards to Humboldt Bay's spent nuclear fuel site above the town of King Salmon. The first privately-owned nuclear plant in the U.S, the Humboldt Bay Powe...

At the beginning of October, many local elected officials, planners and other community leaders in Humboldt County took on a simple but significant challenge: don’t get behind the wheel of a car for seven days. They were participating in the first National Week Without Driving, which was organized in our region by the Coalition for Responsible Transportation Priorities (CRTP).  The challenge was d...

On this week’s episode of the EcoNews Report we reflect on the tragic dam failure in Libya last month and discuss why Scott Dam on the Eel River poses similar risks. The PG&E-owned dam sits right on a significant fault line, the Bartlett Spring Fault. Between its unusual engineering and a century’s worth of accumulated sediment, many factors are converging to make even PG&E wary of the ris...

Anyone who’s traveled between Arcata and Eureka lately has seen a whole lot of construction going on. Humboldt County Supervisor and Coastal Commissioner Mike Wilson joins co-hosts Jen Kalt (Humboldt Waterkeeper) and Colin Fiske (Coalition for Responsible Transportation Priorities) to talk about several projects that have been in the works for many years. Once the Indianola Interchange is built, C...

On this week’s episode, Luis Villa, Director of Latino Outdoors , joins the show to talk about how to make nature a safe, welcoming and inclusive space for all people. Latino Outdoors is a unique Latinx-led organization working to create a national community of leaders in conservation and outdoor education. By providing leadership opportunities and by changing the narrative about who are environme...

Trash: it’s everywhere! From our beaches to our forests. But those plucky do-gooders at the Northcoast Environmental Center are on the job. With this year’s Coastal Cleanup MONTH, dozens of clean ups are planned across the county to make our beaches great again. The NEC is also working with individuals experiencing homelessness to help mitigate issues of trash in encampments. Come learn more from...

David George Gordon, author of the new book, Heaven of the Half Shell , joins the show to discuss all things oysters. The oyster has long been an integral part of local diets and has helped to shape our history. Now, climate change and invasive species put  oysters at risk. Tune in to learn more about this lovely mollusk!  David will be in town for an oyster-filled weekend the second weekend in Se...

The kids are alright. Sixteen youth took Montana to court to challenge their state's failure to consider greenhouse gas emissions when approving fossil fuel extraction permits. Using Montana's unique constitution, which explicitly recognizes a right to a clean and healthy environment, the plaintiff's alleged that Montana violated their constitutional rights. And a judge agreed. In a...

On this week's episode of the EcoNews Report, our host Tom Wheeler is joined by Alicia Hamann and Craig Tucker from Friends of the Eel River to discuss a vague, last-minute proposal from water users to take over part of the Potter Valley Project. Pacific Gas and Electric, owners of the two Eel River dams and diversion tunnel that make up the Project, are in the midst of preparing their licens...

Call it what you want—supply side progressivism, a “liberalism that builds,” or good ol’ permitting reform—a debate has emerged within progressive circles about whether environmental laws get in the way of good things, like renewable energy, and if so, what to do about it. As the executive director of a non-profit law firm that regularly uses environmental laws to fight bad things like oil and gas...

Walkability expert Dan Burden took Humboldt by storm last week, leading walk audits in Blue Lake, McKinleyville, Arcata, and Eureka. Dan joins the show to talk about how we can rethink our road system to be safe for all people on foot, on bikes, and in cars.  Read more!  How Do We Make Our Communities More Walkable? Dan Burden Knows, and He’s Coming to Humboldt to Help Us Out - Lost Coast Outpost...

Rob Arkley is back at it again! This time with a new ballot initiative that would block new affordable housing in downtown Eureka and rezone the former Jacobs Middle School site for dense housing. (To be clear: more density is great! But Eureka City Schools, which owns the site, has already turned down an offer from the city to purchase the lot and California Highway Patrol is deep in negotiations...

Offshore wind energy can be thought of as three distinct projects: the construction of offshore wind turbines, the actual operation and generation of electricity, and the transmission of that electricity across California. The Humboldt Bay Harbor, Recreation, and Conservation District is poised to play a major role in offshore wind turbine construction and is planning improvements to create a port...