EcoNews Report

Gary Hughes of Biofuelwatch joins the show to talk about the creative accounting of “net zero” carbon emissions. Can we “offset” emissions or is this sending us down the wrong path? Gary discusses Biofuelwatch’s new report, Carbon Capture or Captured Futures? , which examines the politics and influence of the fossil fuel industry in shaping California’s climate policy. REQUIRED READING: Carbon Cap...

On this week’s edition of the Econews Report, Friends of the Eel River discuss developments in the thrilling drama of Eel River dam removal. It’s a story of injustice and opportunity— a 100-year-old water diversion that takes from one watershed to give to another, and the chance to correct the harms by returning salmon and steelhead to excellent cold-water habitat locked behind the dams.  Starring...

Congressman Jared Huffman joins Gang Green for a fun conversation about his legislative priorities for 2022, the prospect of the Build Back Better agenda and voting rights legislation currently stalled in the Senate, and his thoughts on California’s legislative redistricting. Support the show

This episode first aired in October 2019. A new study in the journal Science documents the staggering loss of bird populations in North America — a decline of approximately three billion birds in total over the past 50 years. Local ornithologist Ken Burton says that Humboldt County is not immune to this trend. Using available data, Burton has determined that of the most commonly reported species i...

Naturalist and best-selling nature writer Gary Ferguson joins the show to talk about how nature can teach us important lessons to make us better humans. From the interconnectedness of mycorrhizae bounding trees together from how a wolf pack moves through Yellowstone, the natural world is a countless source of wonder and inspiration that can help us overcome our climate blues. For more about Gary’s...

Join Gang Green for a review of the highlights and lowlights of 2021. Friends of the Eel River organized a motley crew of enviros, organized labor, religious leaders and others in a coalition to fight against the threat of a coal export facility and train line . Humboldt Baykeeper continued to keep the community safe by tracking mercury in commonly consumed fish.   EPIC maintained the decade-long...

Urban planning nerds rejoice! Here is an episode for you. Humboldt is seeming a bit more crowded as of late. Whether it is climate refugees burned out of their homes or folks freed to move to the redwoods because of lax telework options, Humboldt’s housing market has been white hot. If people are coming, how do we ensure that we have enough housing for those who are looking to join our community (...

One of the first nuclear power plants in the US was built on a bluff overlooking the Humboldt Bay entrance and the town of King Salmon. Shut down in 1976 and recently decommissioned, the site - located 115 feet away from the bay, on a bluff 44 feet above sea level - continues to serve as storage for 37 tons of spent fuel and other radioactive waste. The underground casks are relatively safe for th...

In this encore episode from 2019, poet Jerry Martien joins the Green Gang in the studio to read poetry inspired by the natural landscapes of Humboldt County. If you have never heard Jerry read his poetry before, you are in for a treat, as Jerry’s sonorous voice and crisp lyrical poetry inspires and soothes the soul. Support the show

Have you ever seen the “Grand Canyon of the Eel River”?  Few have, but that might change soon thanks to a major new conservation deal engineered by the Wildlands Conservancy . The former “Lone Pine Ranch,” owned by San Francisco financial mogul Dean Witter, is now the Eel River Canyon Reserve, one of three reserves managed by the Wildlands Conservancy along the Eel River.  Listen to this week’s sh...

The Redwood Coalition for Climate and Environmental Responsibility — RCCER, pronounced “rocker” — is aiming to give a larger voice to environmental voters by holding elected officials accountable and by providing model legislation that local jurisdictions can adopt. Listen to this week’s episode to learn who is behind this new organization and what they are looking to accomplish. Support the show

Local environmental groups — Northcoast Environmental Center, Citizens for a Sustainable Humboldt and the Redwood Region Audubon Society — have filed their second lawsuit against Humboldt County concerning a controversial cannabis farm deep in the wild Eel River canyon.  Larry Glass of the Northcoast Environmental Center and Mary Gaterud of Citizens for a Sustainable Humboldt join the show to talk...

The Mad River isn’t one of the county’s largest, but it’s the source of water for two-thirds of the county’s population. One of its tributaries, Powers Creek, runs smack through Blue Lake and its industrial outskirts, and has been impacted by development over the years. But recently, people have started to do something about that. In this episode, we’re joined by representatives of the Mad River A...

On this week's EcoNews Report, Chairman Joe Davis and Mike Orcutt, Fisheries Department Director of the Hoopa Valley Tribe, join Gang Green to talk about the Hoopa Tribe's work to restore the Trinity River. Critical to this is wrestling back water diversions that go to the Westlands Water District back to the Trinity River. Tune in to learn more about the Hoopa Tribe's work and what...

Chairman Michael Hunter of the Coyote Valley Band of Pomo Indians joins Gang Green to talk about his tribe's work to protect the Jackson Demonstration State Forest. Chairman Hunter has been on the front lines of the struggle to protect sacred cultural resources and protect the redwood forest that his people have called home since time immemorial. The Coyote Valley Band of Pomo Indians' e...

The destruction of the North Coast's redwood forests is well known to EcoNews listeners but did you know about the loss of our kelp forests? Gang Green sits down with James Ray, a scientist with the California Department of Fish & Wildlife, who studies bull kelp populations along the North Coast. James talks about the marine heat wave in 2014 and the resulting 90% decline in bull kelp, in...

For the past six months, forest defenders have protested ongoing logging at the state-owned Jackson Demonstration State Forest. Their concern: logging the mature redwood forests is bad for climate, water and wildlife. In recent weeks, loggers have threatened physical violence against forest defenders in a manner reminiscent of some of the worst times of the Timber Wars.  On this week’s show, “Alde...

On this week's EcoNews Report, Gang Green breaks down redistricting efforts at the state and county. Could draft maps splitting Eureka apart be an attempt to draw Supervisor candidate Natalie Arroyo out of her district? Is the state serious about lumping Humboldt with Redding? Our politics will be shaped by mapping decisions for the next decade so you better to pay attention! ” Redistricting...

Eureka's Broadway is one the most dangerous streets in California for pedestrians. In the last decade alone, at least 10 people have been killed and at least 14 people severely injured while walking or biking on Broadway. What is being done about it? Colin Fiske of the Coalition for Responsible Transportation Priorities joins Gang Green to talk about what fixes can and should be undertaken im...

In a set back to the Two Basin Partnership — which sought to gain control over the two fish-blocking dams on the Eel River — FERC denied a request for a delay by the coalition, damaging their chances at gaining control (and forestalling decommissioning of the dams).  Friends of the Eel River think that this is BIG win for the salmon of the Eel River and dam removal of both Scott and Cape Horn Dam...

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 th...

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 t...

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...

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 Eure...

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 Humbol...