In the News
House lawmakers paw over bill inspired by 'Tiger King'
by Michael Doyle
While the self-styled “Tiger King” seeks a new trial from his federal prison cell, legislation propelled by his television notoriety is prowling forward one paw at a time. In a hearing yesterday, House members lent an ear to a bill that the author, Rep. Mike Quigley (D-Ill.) says will stop the "exploitative, dangerous and inhumane" treatment of tigers and other wild animals. "Five-hundred-pound carnivores pose a serious and very real threat to first responders, law enforcement … Continue Reading
May 11, 2022
Huffman demands EPA move faster to veto Pebble mine
by Jael Holzman
California Democratic Rep. Jared Huffman today stood outside the Capitol to call on President Joe Biden’s EPA to quickly veto the Pebble mine in Alaska. This morning, Huffman, chair of the House Natural Resources Subcommittee on Water, Oceans and Wildlife, joined environmental activists, tribal members and fishing advocates in urging EPA to move faster on vetoing the Pebble mine in southwest Alaska's Bristol Bay. EPA wants to veto Pebble, a decision the agency first reached in 2014 … Continue Reading
May 06, 2022
Bipartisan forces taking aim at 1872 mining law
by Jael Holzman, Nick Sobczyk
Democrats and Republicans alike say now could be the time to overhaul the 150-year-old federal law governing mining, but finding enough common ground to strike a deal will prove challenging. Bipartisan interest in mining policy has grown as mineral supply chain bottlenecks threaten the pace of U.S. climate action. Some Democrats have said they are open to an accord that would expand extraction at home, if partnered with updates to the nation’s primary mining law, the General Mining Act … Continue Reading
May 05, 2022
Jared Huffman: Roe v. Wade leak might be ‘first of many shoes to drop’
by Sonia Waraich
A leaked Supreme Court decision that would overturn longstanding abortion rights "is probably the first of many shoes to drop" from the highest court of the land, says North Coast Congressman Jared Huffman (D-San Rafael). "It's a really extreme agenda and this is likely just the beginning with this court," Huffman told The Times-Standard. On Monday, news outlet Politico published an article based on a leaked draft majority opinion written by Justice Samuel Alito indicating the Supreme Court … Continue Reading
May 04, 2022
Democrats challenge EPA's contentious plastics plan
by E.A. Crunden
House Democrats want EPA to weigh the climate and environmental implications of a deeply contentious industry proposal for addressing plastics pollution. Twenty-five lawmakers sent a letter last week seeking to force EPA's hand on deeming so-called chemical recycling technologies to be a form of waste incineration. In a request to the House Interior, Environment and Related Agencies Appropriations Subcommittee, the lawmakers asked for the inclusion of language in the fiscal 2023 bill that … Continue Reading
May 03, 2022
Roe v. Wade: Marin leaders speak out on threat to decades-old abortion law
by Giueseppe Ricapito
A tidal wave of condemnation erupted in Marin this week amid apparent U.S. Supreme Court plans to overturn the landmark Roe v. Wade decision that protects a woman's right to receive an abortion. The news broke on Monday night when Politico released a leaked draft majority opinion written by Justice Samuel Alito outlining a strike-down of the 1973 decision and the 1992 decision Planned Parenthood v. Casey. The document prompted Democratic political figures from President Joe Biden to Gov. … Continue Reading
April 30, 2022
Op-Ed: Warmer Oceans Threaten Another California Forest, This One Underwater
by David Helvarg
RICHMOND, Calif. - The bull kelp forests off Northern California are sometimes spoken of as the redwoods of the sea. And like the redwoods, these forests are in danger. In less than a decade, these otherworldly undersea landscapes, lush with life, have all but disappeared along 200 miles of coast north of San Francisco's Golden Gate Bridge. The warming climate has set in motion this disaster and it is unclear whether it can be reversed as greenhouse gas emissions continue to flood the … Continue Reading
April 29, 2022
Democrats’ fix for high energy prices? FTC oversight
by George Cahlink
Congressional Democrats are lining up behind legislation to increase federal oversight of energy markets, a move they tout as way to crack down on "price gouging" they say has sent gas prices soaring this spring. Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) announced yesterday at a joint press conference that they are finalizing legislation that would boost the authority of the Federal Trade Commission to go after companies that manipulate markets to … Continue Reading
April 28, 2022
Mergers & Money: As Crypto Valuations Keep Increasing, So Do Environmental Concerns
by Chris Metinko
It is sometimes easy to think everything in the world of crypto is cheery—with new unicorns minted almost weekly and new dedicated venture funds constantly launching. However, a couple of recent events highlighted one concern—energy consumption—that while unlikely to derail the industry, certainly has the potential to disrupt the digital currency sectors as ESG concerns become more prominent among investors and energy prices continue to spike. Last … Continue Reading
April 28, 2022
States, environmental groups sue USPS over gas-powered trucks
by ZACK BUDRYK
Sixteen states and a coalition of environmental groups on Thursday announced a lawsuit against the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) for its decision to upgrade the majority of its fleet with fossil fuel-powered vehicles. Environmental groups and climate hawks in Congress have blasted Postmaster General Louis DeJoy's decision to buy new gas-powered vehicles with mileage of 8.6 miles per gallon. Of the up to 165,000 vehicles, USPS has only committed to making about 10 percent of them electric. … Continue Reading
April 27, 2022
U.S. Lawmakers Push Insurers to Stop Underwriting Fossil Fuels
by Josh Saul and Max Reyes
A group of Democratic lawmakers, mostly members of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, have asked some of the nation's biggest insurance companies to stop underwriting new fossil fuel projects that contribute to climate change. New York Representatives Mondaire Jones and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez as well as California's Jared Huffman and Adam B. Schiff were among 16 lawmakers who issued the letters on Wednesday to more than a dozen insurance companies, including American International Group … Continue Reading
April 25, 2022
Where will California North Coast get its water if drought becomes common?
by Jeff Quackenbush
With parts of the North Coast facing what forecasters say is shaping up to be "extreme drought" this year, the region's water managers are busy exploring near- and long-term options. But new large reservoirs like Lake Sonoma and Lake Mendocino aren't among them. Even as the first of seven large reservoirs funded by the 2014 $2.7 billion California water bond is set to get under construction elsewhere in the state, agency officials and local lawmakers say the regulatory and political … Continue Reading
April 15, 2022
Putin’s Pollock: US seafood imports fuel Russian war machine
by Joshua Goodman and Helen Wieffering
A U.S. ban on seafood imports from Russia over its invasion of Ukraine was supposed to sap billions of dollars from Vladimir Putin's war machine. But shortcomings in import regulations mean that Russian-caught pollock, salmon and crab are likely to enter the U.S. anyway, by way of the country vital to seafood supply chains across the world: China. Like the U.S. seafood industry, Russian companies rely heavily on China to process their catch. Once there, the seafood can be re-exported to the … Continue Reading
April 14, 2022
Rep. Jared Huffman asked about high gas prices, wildfires in Ukiah Thursday
by Justine Frederiksen
During a visit to Ukiah High School Thursday, students asked Rep. Jared Huffman (D-San Rafael) many questions that most Californians would likely want to know the answers to: What can be done about wildfires, high gas prices and the lack of affordable housing? "What we pay for gasoline in California is always the highest in the nation, and the answer to that is to liberate all of you from gasoline," Huffman told the students packed into the school's Little Theater. "I drove up here in an … Continue Reading
April 14, 2022
‘Beginning of the end’: Potter Valley Project license expires
by Sonia Waraich
It appears more changes are on the way for the state's aging water infrastructure on the North Coast, but it could take several years for them to manifest. Pacific Gas and Electric Co.'s license for the Potter Valley Project ?- a hydroelectric project near Ukiah that includes the Scott and Cape Horn dams, a powerhouse, and a tunnel that diverts water from the Eel River to the Russian River ?- expired on Thursday. Alicia Hamann, executive director of Friends of the Eel River, told The … Continue Reading
April 14, 2022
Funds to help restore landmark crossing, economy
Thanks to successful advocacy efforts from Senator Alex Padilla and Congressman Jared Huffman, two important projects in Humboldt County were directly authorized by Congress to receive a total of $5.2 million as part of the federal government's Fiscal Year 2022 budget. The funding, called Community Project Funding, was authorized by the Consolidated Appropriations Act and will be used to replace the Hammond Trail Bridge and implement "Project Rebound," which is a post-COVID update to the … Continue Reading
April 13, 2022
Sonoma County Airport hits milestone with new terminal set to open
by Bill Swindell
The renovation of the Charles M. Schulz-Sonoma County Airport took a major step forward on Wednesday as workers installed the final steel beam for the new terminal project with a goal to finally open the space by the fall. Local officials, including U.S. Reps. Jared Huffman, D-San Rafael, and Mike Thompson, D-St. Helena, attended the ceremony, which marks a significant achievement in the project that has been a five-year effort since initial planning and will cost about $40 million overall … Continue Reading
April 09, 2022
‘A capstone’: $5 million award to replace Hammond Trail bridge
by MARIO CORTEZ
The long-proposed Hammond Trail bridge replacement project is closer to fruition with the arrival of $5 million in federal funding, local leaders and North Coast U.S. Rep. Jared Huffman (D-San Rafael) announced during a windy press conference and tour celebrated on the rusting bridge on Friday afternoon. The $5 million in funding secured by Huffman and California U.S. Sen. Alex Padilla will cover the majority of the estimated $7.5 million cost of the bridge's replacement. The appropriation … Continue Reading
April 08, 2022
NOAA scolded for skipping hearing on Russian seafood ban
by Rob Hotakainen
President Joe Biden's bid to stop all Russian seafood from entering the United States will fail unless NOAA steps up its monitoring to include all imported fish species, experts told a House Natural Resources panel yesterday. "Despite the good intentions to strike an economic blow to Russia after its unprovoked invasion of Ukraine, this ban will not work without full seafood traceability and real information on the origin of the catch," said Sally Yozell, director of the environmental … Continue Reading
April 08, 2022
‘History the correct way’: Yurok Tribe cuts ribbon on renovated Stone Lagoon center
by MARIO CORTEZ
The visitor center at Stone Lagoon reopened under Yurok tribal stewardship and with a new name following a long period of inactivity with a ceremony held on Thursday afternoon. Yurok leaders cut the ribbon on the Chah-pekw O' Ket'-toh "Stone Lagoon" Visitor Center in a ceremony attended by tribal members, representatives from the California State Parks system, Redwoods State and National Park leaders, California Assemblyman Jim Wood (D-Santa Rosa) and U.S. representative Jared Huffman (D-San … Continue Reading