EcoNews Report

Tune into the EcoNews Report for big news about Eel River dam removal – PG&E is finally taking dam safety seriously! On March 16, the company announced big changes to how they will manage Scott Dam and Lake Pillsbury reservoir based on an updated evaluation of seismic stability and dam safety. Dam removal advocates at Friends of the Eel River have been ringing alarm bells about dam safety for...

Do you live or work in a tsunami zone ? Do you drive through one to take your kids to and from school? Do you like to go to the beach but wonder how to know if there might be sneaker waves? Do you wonder what you should do to prepare for climate change? This week’s guest is Troy Nicolini, Meteorologist-in-Charge at the National Weather Service in Eureka. Troy has lots of practical, time-tested tip...

This week, Colin Fiske of Coalition for Responsible Transportation Priorities and Matt Simmons of EPIC join the show to talk about why the race to electrify cars and trucks isn't a one-size-fits-all solution to our climate woes. More - and larger - electric vehicles mean more mining lithium for batteries, which comes with social and environmental costs. And the more vehicles on our streets, t...

Today’s guests, Jaytuk Steinruck of Tolowa Dee-ni’ Nation and Megan Rocha of Resighini Rancheria, join the show to talk about the Tribal Marine Stewards Network , an alliance of Tribal Nations working together to steward, protect, and restore the ocean and coastal resources along the California coast.  The network’s initiatives include monitoring important marine species like surf smelt, mussels,...

So you have decided to do your part to fight climate change (or maybe you just don’t want a gas stove to slowly kill you) . Great! There are a bunch of incentives now available to help insulate and electrify your house. Aisha Cisna and Stephen Kullman of the Redwood Coast Energy Authority walk through the incentives available to people who want to make climate-smart improvements to their homes. Fo...

We don't know why he continues to join the show—doesn't he realize he's palling around with a bunch of treehugger dirt worshipers?—but Congressman Jared Huffman joins the EcoNews again for more discussion on what's going on in Washington D.C. Who does he want to replace Feinstein? What's it like to work with George Santos? How is D.C. going to help fund offshore wind infra...

For a weird, brief moment, prominent conservatives pitched a collective freak out over the false notion that the Biden Administration was coming to steal gas stoves. ("You can have my stove when you pry it from my cold, dead hands!") While bad faith scare mongering in the conservative culture war isn't really newsworthy, the moment had something of a Streisand effect : it exposed th...

Local jurisdictions have very limited control over regulating local pesticide use. New legislation introduced by Assemblymember Damon Connoly would return some local control. Assembly Bill 99 would require Caltrans to respect resolutions passed by counties banning the roadside spraying of pesticides. This legislation builds on decades of work by anti-spray advocates, who have continuously pushed o...

On this week’s EcoNews Report, we travel to California’s Central Valley to explore the elaborate plumbing that connects North Coast rivers to the Central Valley and the impact of this massive diversion system has on local fish populations.  In December, Interior Secretary Deb Haaland reversed a Trump-era decision that got Central Valley irrigrators off the hook for habitat restoration costs. Chris...

Global warming increases the amount of moisture in the atmosphere, supercharging winter storms like the slate of atmospheric rivers that have smashed the West Coast. More moisture also means increased risk of flooding, as we have tragically experienced this year.  Lots of rain might sound good in recent drought years but it's more complicated than that. A warming planet also increases the ris...

I don't think it's just us: 2022 has been stressful, right? Between earthquakes and a bomb cyclone, you could use to take your mind off things. Never fear! Gang Green is here with some poetry to soothe your soul and reset the new year on a more positive note.  The EcoNews welcomes poets Jerry Martien and Katy Gurin to read some of their poetry, discuss their creative process, and how the...

Humboldt's Queen of Quakes, Dr. Lori Dengler professor emeritus of geology at Cal Poly Humboldt, joins Gang Green to break down the recent 6.4 magnitude rumbler. It wasn't just you: that was a big one! 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 ha...

Trespass cannabis grows, those rogue operations of pot production on public land, often employ chemicals banned for sale in the United States. Past research has demonstrated that these chemicals have poisoned rare and endangered species like the Pacific fisher, Humboldt marten, and northern spotted owl. But what are they doing to our aquatic environment? Dr. Mourad Gabriel of the Forest Service an...

The recent lease auction for the Humboldt Wind Energy Areas shows that wind energy developers are excited about the potential for floating offshore wind off of Humboldt's coast. Where will these floating turbines be built? The Humboldt Bay Harbor, Recreation, and Conservation District is visioning how they can be built locally, with family-wage blue collar jobs building our renewable energy f...

Trying to be an ethical person in the modern world is hard. How should we weigh the site-specific impacts from wind energy development against the potential climate benefit? How far should we go to try to save an endangered species (and at what point is that resource allocation better served somewhere else)? Should we rely on our intuition or does that risk confirmation bias? Does climate change c...

Do we have a fundamental human right to a healthy climate? If so, how do we know when our rights have been violated?  Global climate agreements are structured to keep warming below 1.5C (or 2.7F, for our American friends). But this number reflects a political compromise—what global leaders believe is politically achievable—not a scientific understanding of climatic risks. Below this threshold, sci...

The "Red Wave" turned out to be more like a ripple, with Democrats holding onto the Senate and Republicans taking only a slim majority in the House. What does this election mean for our environment? LoCo Editor Hank Sims joins Gang Green to breakdown local, state, and national election results. Support the show

On this week’s edition of the EcoNews Report, host Alicia Hamann of Friends of the Eel River is joined by three fisheries experts to talk about how we count fish in the Eel River.  Tune in to hear from Wyatt Smith from the Round Valley Indian Tribes, Dave Kajtaniak from the Department of Fish and Wildlife, and Charlie Schneider from California Trout as they discuss DIDSON cameras installed through...

On this week's EcoNews Report, host Tom Wheeler talks to friends from across California about "rewilding." What the heck is rewilding? It is a global movement to restore lands and ecosystems to a more complex and "wild" state, often with the reintroduction of keystone species—think large mammals like elk or ecosystem engineers like beavers—that may be absent.  This episode...

This week on the EcoNews Report your host Tom Wheeler chats with Friends of the Eel River's Alicia Hamann about the fantastic news that the Great Redwood Trail is finally in the clear from threats to take the public right of way. It's now full steam ahead on trail master planning - tune in to learn about how you can be involved and check out greatredwoodtrailplan.org . And in other groun...

Humboldt County has some of the highest pedestrian fatality numbers in the state. Thankfully, a large cultural change is taking over in local transportation planning. Under the banner of "Vision Zero," transportation planners are imagining how we can manage our road network to reduce road fatalities down to zero. Sounds too lofty? Other jurisdictions have already seen significant improve...

News of PG&E's plans to spray power poles on its easements throughout Humboldt County alarmed residents. Humboldt, Trinity, and Mendocino Counties have a long and storied history in challenging the application of pesticides. On this week’s EcoNews, Gang Green talks to two veterans of the Pesticide Wars, Larry Glass of Safe Alternatives for our Forest Environment and Patty Clary of Califor...

Before 2022, you may have thought that nuclear weapons were blasé — that’s so 20th Century — but Russian nuclear sabre rattling in Ukraine may have you practicing your dunk-and-cover drills. Where should you turn for expert thought on nuclear proliferation in the modern age? The Which Way the Wind Festival, starting this week! The third-annual Which Way the Wind Festival tackles the problems of nu...

New research published in the journal Global Change Biology raises alarming questions about the efficacy of forest carbon programs registered in California’s cap-and-trade program. Utilizing satellite imagery, particularly of forests in Northwest California, researchers have compared the carbon sequestered by forests versus what is claimed and have emerged with a concerning conclusion: forests reg...

Michael Kauffman and Justin Garwood are in love with the Klamath Mountains, the rugged and remote mountain range in Northern California that is world-renowned for its biodiversity. They, together with 32 other co-authors, have published the first definitive natural history guide to the region. Michael and Justin explain to Gang Green why the region is so special on this week’s episode of the EcoNe...