In the News
Biden administration to pause natural gas export approvals as it updates how to assess projects
by RACHEL FRAZIN
The Biden administration will pause approvals of some natural gas export facilities as it considers changing how to evaluate them, the administration announced Friday. The current analyses the Energy Department uses to decide whether to authorize exports of liquified natural gas (LNG) do not “adequately account” for factors such as domestic energy costs or planet-warming emissions, the White House said in a fact sheet. As a result, the administration is temporarily pausing pending decisions … Continue Reading
January 24, 2024
Feds provide nearly half a billion dollars toward construction of Humboldt Bay marine terminal supporting offshore wind
by Mary Callahan
Plans for a high-tech marine terminal to support the building and operation of offshore wind turbines off the Humboldt County Coast received a boost of nearly half a billion federal dollars Monday. The $426,719,810 grant for the Humboldt Bay Harbor, Recreation and Conservation District comes through the U.S. Department of Transportation, funded in part by the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs act of 2021. The funding is for construction of the onshore facilities to support ambitious state … Continue Reading
January 19, 2024
Eureka to receive $1.9 million to increase local EV charging stations
by Sage Alexander
The federal government announced a $1.9 million federal grant to build electric vehicle charging stations in Eureka. This will mean 21 more public charging stations in 14 locations spread across Eureka, construction of which likely will begin during 2025. Some fast chargers will be added. City Manager Miles Slattery said this will significantly increase the amount of EV chargers and spread them throughout Eureka, making the chargers more convenient to use. “The more convenient we can make … Continue Reading
January 18, 2024
Sonoma State Receives $7.9 M Grant To Expand Middle School STEM Program
by Maggie Fusek
A $7.9-million grant from the US Department of Education (ED) to Sonoma State University’s STEM and Computing Education Support (STEMACES) program is the result of a decade of success building technology to enable innovative science education and make it accessible to underrepresented students. STEMACES, which aims to improve middle school student achievement in science and increase the competency of STEM teachers in rural communities, was built on a tech teaching platform funded by two … Continue Reading
January 18, 2024
Natural Resources Democrats cry foul about border hearing
by NIDHI PRAKASH
House Natural Resources Democrats say they’re being excluded from a committee field hearing on border issues in Arizona next month. The hearing is scheduled for the same time Democrats are planning to hold their annual policy retreat outside Washington, and say requests for a change of date have been denied. Lawmakers argued about the matter during an hourslong markup Wednesday on energy and outdoor recreation legislation. Ranking member Raúl Grijalva (D-Ariz.) sent a letter to Chair Bruce … Continue Reading
January 17, 2024
House committee passes energy, outdoor recreation bills
by Nidhi Prakash
The House Natural Resources Committee approved legislation Wednesday to address Republican concerns about energy poverty, in addition to a major outdoor recreation package and a bipartisan geothermal permitting bill. Wyoming Republican Rep. Harriet Hageman’s "Energy Poverty Prevention and Accountability Act," H.R. 5482, would require federal agencies to publish studies on potential increases in home heating, electricity or gas prices before finalizing any energy policy. The legislation … Continue Reading
January 17, 2024
Congressman Jared Huffman’s 2023 Year in Review
by Lauren Schmitt
Listen to the interivew here: … Continue Reading
January 16, 2024
Natural Resources sets vote on energy, recreation bills
by Nidhi Prakash
The House Natural Resources Committee will vote on legislation Wednesday to require federal agencies to study any increase in home heating, electricity or gas prices before implementing energy policies. H.R. 5482, from Rep. Harriet Hageman (R-Wyo.), is part of House Republicans’ push to frame the Biden administration’s renewable energy and climate goals as detrimental to low-income and working-class families. “The Energy Poverty Prevention and Accountability Act will empower the People and … Continue Reading
January 12, 2024
More than 900 acres of ‘critical habitat’ added to Mendocino National Forest
by JUSTINE FREDERIKSEN
More than 900 acres of a sprawling ranch in Mendocino County featuring “rolling hills spotted with protected oak savannah and groves of madrone trees” has been added to the Mendocino National Forest, the Wilderness Land Trust announced this month. In a press release, the land trust reported that it had both completed the purchase of 917 acres of “formerly private land known as the Thomas Creek project,” and successfully transferred to property to the Mendocino National Forest. Aimee … Continue Reading
January 12, 2024
SMART receives federal funds to study eastward expansion through Sonoma Valley
by CHASE HUNTER
Schellville could eventually sport a transit station for “a state-of-the-art 21st century low-emissions” east-west rail system between Novato and Suisun City, according to Sonoma-Marin Area Rail Transit. On Dec. 18, Caltrans received $500,000 as part of the Federal Rail Administration’s Corridor Identification and Development program to conduct a study with rail operators, including Smart for a plan to connect North Bay communities along San Pablo Bay to rail lines in the East Bay and … Continue Reading
January 11, 2024
New Congressional Report Highlights Mike Johnson’s Christian Nationalist Views
by Chris Walker
Members of the Congressional Freethought Caucus (CFC), a collection of 20 lawmakers in Congress who seek to “protect the secular character of our government by adhering to the strict Constitutional principle of the separation of church and state,” released a white paper report on Wednesday showcasing Speaker of the House Mike Johnson’s (R-Louisiana) disturbing Christian nationalist views. The report includes insights into how Johnson has tried to integrate his far right Christian views into … Continue Reading
January 11, 2024
Tiburon 8th-grader wins App Challenge
Congressman Jared Huffman (D-San Rafael) announced the winner of the 2023 Congressional App Challenge for California’s Second Congressional District: Jayden Patel, an 8th grader at Del Mar Middle School in Tiburon. Jayden’s winning submission, Allergy Card, allows the user to create their own personal allergy card that can be translated into 15+ languages. “We are lucky to have a district full of bright young minds, and it’s always inspiring to see the forward-looking apps they create in this … Continue Reading
January 10, 2024
Sysco responds to Huffman’s inquiry, vows to cease purchasing seafood from Chishan Group
by Cliff White
Houston, Texas, U.S.A.-based Sysco, the world’s largest broadline food distributor with more than 600,000 customers, has promised to end its purchasing of all seafood traced back to the Chishan Group, a Chinese processor accused of using Uyghur forced labor. In a 5 January 2024 letter responding to an inquiry from U.S. Rep. Jared Huffman (D-California), Sysco President and CEO Kevin Hourican said he was committed to rooting out illegal labor practices within his company’s supply chain. “Any … Continue Reading
January 09, 2024
House, Senate Democrats ask court to halt Willow project
by Niina Farah
More than a dozen Democratic lawmakers are backing conservation groups' calls for a federal appeals court to halt construction of a massive fossil fuel project in Alaska approved by the Biden administration almost a year ago. In a friend of the court brief, members of both chambers of Congress said the Interior Department should not have authorized ConocoPhillips' Willow project in a pristine area of Alaska's National Petroleum Reserve. "Due to national security and environmental … Continue Reading
January 06, 2024
North Bay lawmakers worry about 2024 on third anniversary of Jan. 6 riot at US Capitol
by Andrew Graham
Three years ago, Northern California residents clustered around television sets or craned over smartphone screens, their horror mounting alongside most Americans as supporters of former President Donald Trump stormed the U.S. Capitol in a violent effort to stop certification of the 2020 election. The riot appeared, briefly, to spark a rare moment of national unity — the majority of Americans were aghast at the ferocity of the attack, in which five people died and more than 100 police officers … Continue Reading
January 04, 2024
Womack, Westerman introduce new bipartisan legislation involving outdoor recreation facilities
by Spencer Bailey
Arkansas congressmen Steve Womack and Bruce Westerman have joined with California Democrat Jared Huffman to introduce H.R. 6906, otherwise known as the LAKES Act. LAKES, or Lake Access Keeping Economies Strong, will expand opportunities to improve and develop outdoor recreation facilities across the country at areas managed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), according to a release from Womack's office. USACE currently manages almost 257,000 facilities across 43 states. Under … Continue Reading
December 22, 2023
Biden expands US ban on Russian seafood to include third-country processing
by Cliff White
U.S. President Joe Biden has signed an executive order expanding the U.S. ban on Russian seafood to include imports of Russia-originated seafood processed in third countries, including China. The unnumbered executive order, issued 22 December, expands U.S. Executive Order 14068 to prohibit the importation of seafood “harvested in Russian waters or by Russia-flagged vessels, even if these products are then transformed in a third country.” “The United States has been clear: those who are … Continue Reading
December 13, 2023
GOP: Biden pulling a fast one on Snake River dams' fate
by JENNIFER YACHNIN
Republican lawmakers accused the Biden administration Tuesday of seeking to circumvent Capitol Hill in its bid to breach a series of dams on the Lower Snake River, at the same time dismissing the White House’s nods to congressional authority as little more than a “red herring.” Oregon Republican Rep. Cliff Bentz leveled the allegations during a Natural Resources Subcommittee on Water, Wildlife and Fisheries hearing that focused on the future of four dams on the Snake River, which are at the … Continue Reading
December 13, 2023
Redwood forest trail would be renamed after Dianne Feinstein under new bill in Congress
by Shira Stein
WASHINGTON — Two California Democrats want to rename the main trail in Headwaters Forest Reserve after the late Sen. Dianne Feinstein. The Headwaters reserve in Humboldt County consists of 7,472 acres of redwood forests and has two public trails, one along the South Fork Elk River and one along Salmon Creek. The northernmost trail, now called the Elk River Trail, is what Reps. Mike Thompson, D-Napa, and Jared Huffman, D-San Rafael, told the Chronicle they want to rename as the Senator Dianne … Continue Reading
December 13, 2023
House Democrats unveil green transmission bill
by Emma Dumain, Kelsey Brugger
Two of the House’s biggest clean energy enthusiasts Wednesday dropped their long-anticipated pitch on transmission in a bid to coalesce Democrats around a landmark permitting plan to accelerate renewable energy development. The bill from Democratic Reps. Sean Casten of Illinois and Mike Levin of California would ease transmission build-out, expand renewable energy and fix the country’s jumbled electricity system. And with 76 original cosponsors representing both the progressive and more … Continue Reading