In the News
Amended IUU fishing bill approved by House committee would expand SIMP
by Steve Bittenbender
A U.S. congressional committee has passed an amended bill that seeks to prevent more seafood produced through illegal practices from entering the country - in part by expanding the Seafood Import Monitoring Program (SIMP). The U.S. House Natural Resources Committee on Wednesday, 13 October, voted to advance the Illegal Fishing and Forced Labor Prevention Act, legislation sponsored by U.S. Reps. Jared Huffman (D-California) and Garret Graves (R-Louisiana). Under H.R. 3075, the government … Continue Reading
October 17, 2021
House panel takes deep dive on Colorado River drought
by Jeremy Jacobs
A House panel is exploring the problems facing the drought-strangled Colorado River, an effort that started last week and will continue Wednesday. The House Natural Resources Subcommittee on Water, Ocean and Wildlife gathered stakeholders - including representatives of all of the Colorado River's seven basin states - on Friday. Forty million Americans, 6 million acres of cropland and many ecosystems rely on the Colorado River, which is currently in the midst of a 20-year megadrought. "It … Continue Reading
October 16, 2021
Huffman, AOC tout Build Back Better in forum
by Mario Cortez
In a virtual town hall conference hosted alongside New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio Cortez, California North Coast Rep. Jared Huffman pointed to the need to pass a proposed $3.5 trillion reconciliation bill in order to address the effects of climate change. "We've got a historic once-in-a-generation, maybe once-in-a-lifetime, opportunity to do something big. When you think about the climate crisis. This may be our last opportunity," Huffman said during the forum held Friday afternoon. During … Continue Reading
October 14, 2021
Feds drop parking fee proposal for Marin, San Francisco coastal sites
by Will Houston
The National Park Service is dropping its controversial proposal to charge parking fees for the first time at several popular coastal sites in Marin and San Francisco after strong public opposition. The agency proposed to charge $3 per hour with a maximum of $10 per day to park at eight Golden Gate National Recreation Area sites starting as soon as next year. The sites included Rodeo Beach-Fort Cronkhite and Stinson Beach in Marin as well as Baker Beach, China Beach, Lands End Lookout, Navy … Continue Reading
October 14, 2021
Panel approves offshore drilling bills after partisan debate
by Heather Richards
The House Natural Resources Committee approved legislation today to reform offshore oil drilling and pipeline infrastructure oversight during a markup punctuated by partisan bickering over fossil fuels. Democrats said progress on the offshore bills, first introduced earlier in the year, had become more pressing after the recent crude spill in the Pacific Ocean that washed up on the California coast. "The pipeline rupture of Huntington Beach is yet another wake-up call for Congress," said … Continue Reading
October 14, 2021
Huffman, Ocasio-Cortez Hosting Town Hall on 'Build Back Better'
by Kimberly Wear
North Coast Representative Jared Huffman will join fellow Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York at a virtual townhall on Friday afternoon with a focus on the "Build Back Better" plan now before Congress.The $3.5 trillion infrastructure bill would also provide for social services, including free childcare, and add dental coverage to Medicare, as well as invest in clean energy as a measure to fight climate change.The town hall is scheduled for 2:30 p.m (PST) and particpants can ask … Continue Reading
October 14, 2021
Lawmakers warned of risks from aging offshore infrastructure
by Joseph Morton
The flow of oil from shallower parts of the Gulf of Mexico has slowed to a trickle over the years as production shifted to deeper waters, but much of the now-outdated equipment remains - rusting - in place. "The depletion of shallow water oil and gas resources has left a legacy of active but quite old infrastructure still producing marginal but declining resources," Donald Boesch, president emeritus of the University of Maryland's Center for Environmental Science, testified Thursday. He and … Continue Reading
October 07, 2021
Reps Jared Huffman, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez holding town hall
by COLIN ATAGI
Rep. Jared Huffman, D-San Rafael, will participate in a joint virtual town hall next week with Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. The town hall, scheduled for 2:30 p.m. Oct. 15, will focus on the Build Back Better initiative. It pushes job creation, tax cuts and cost reductions for working families. Spanish, Bangla, Mandarin, Nepali and ASL translation will be available. Huffman and Ocasio Cortez represent California's 2nd and New York's 14th Congressional Districts, … Continue Reading
October 06, 2021
Partisan Politics Threaten To Sink Reform Of Federal Fisheries Law
by Nick Grube
WASHINGTON — A divided Congress and the unexpected death of an Alaska congressman appear to have derailed federal legislation meant to improve oversight and management of U.S. fisheries, especially in the face of climate change. The House Natural Resources Committee passed a Democratic-sponsored bill last week to reauthorize the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act for the first time since 2006. While it’s possible the bill will receive a vote on the … Continue Reading
October 06, 2021
California lawmakers demand more info from two federal agencies on massive oil spill
by Nolan D. McCaskill and Connor Sheets
WASHINGTON - Federal lawmakers are demanding more information on the massive oil spill off the coast of Orange County as a legislative battle looms over whether to include a ban on future offshore drilling in a scaled-down $3.5-trillion bill. The House Oversight and Reform Committee on Wednesday requested records from federal agencies to figure out whether regulatory failings contributed to a pipeline spilling an estimated 144,000 gallons of crude oil into the Pacific Ocean. In a letter to … Continue Reading
October 06, 2021
Offshore Drilling 101, And The Push For Decommissioning
Offshore Drilling 101, And The Push For Decommissioning California lawmakers are renewing calls to decommission offshore oil drilling operations on the Pacific coast. This week's spill of over 130,000 gallons of oil outside of Orange County is a reminder that many of the wells, platforms and pipelines are aging and unstable. But if the state did move to decommission these rigs - what would that process look like? Today on AirTalk, we're talking to Jared Huffman, U.S. Representative for … Continue Reading
October 05, 2021
How fight over states’ rights may upend permitting overhaul
by Nick Sobczyk, Jeremy Dillon
Lawmakers hope they can revive permitting reform talks over the next three months, but they face fundamental political divides that have dogged environmental debates for decades. The two parties don’t agree on what constitutes “permitting reform.” And like many squabbles in the nation, it comes down to a dispute over states’ rights — albeit from different perspectives. Democrats want to give the federal government more power to bypass states and permit … Continue Reading
October 05, 2021
San Rafael supplements creek dredging with $3.46M job
by Adrian Rodriguez
San Rafael approved a $3.46 million project complementing the effort to dredge San Rafael Creek for the first time in 20 years. The City Council voted 3-0 this week to approve a contract with the Dutra Group to complete dredging of private harbors and marinas of the creek’s inner channel. The San Rafael-based marine construction firm is the same crew hired by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers that is actively dredging the federally-controlled territory of the canal. ... U.S. Rep. Jared … Continue Reading
October 05, 2021
Senate approves flood forecasting, fisheries aid bills
by Rob Hotakainen
The Senate has signed off on legislation that would require NOAA to distribute disaster aid to distressed fisheries more quickly. State officials and Capitol Hill lawmakers have complained that it can take as long as three years for federal aid to find its way to states after it's approved by Congress. Under a bill cleared by the Senate on a voice vote Thursday, the Commerce secretary, who oversees NOAA, would have only 120 days to evaluate a request for aid made under NOAA's fishery … Continue Reading
October 05, 2021
California oil spill fuels Democrats' calls to limit production
by Debra Kahn and Colby Bermel
The massive oil spill spreading across the Orange County shoreline is already reaching Sacramento. The 144,000-gallon slick, coming weeks after Gov. Gavin Newsom handily fended off a recall attempt by Republicans, has galvanized progressive California lawmakers and environmental groups around a renewed push to limit petroleum production Newsom on Tuesday excoriated fossil fuels' contribution to climate change and got in a dig at former President Donald Trump before throwing his support … Continue Reading
October 05, 2021
The expectations game hounds Democrats as they try to deliver their vast agenda
by Mike DeBonis
By the standards of early November 2020, the idea that President Biden could be on the cusp of signing a combined $2.5 trillion in domestic policy legislation — following up on a $2 trillion economic stimulus bill — would have seemed like a liberal fever dream. Faced with a narrow House majority and remote prospects for winning control of the Senate with victories in a pair of Georgia Senate runoff elections, the wishes of a handful of moderate … Continue Reading
October 04, 2021
Southern California oil spill restarts push to ban West Coast offshore oil drilling, expand marine protections
by Andrew Graham
For decades, each time the federal government sought to lease hundreds of acres of federal seafloor off the Northern California coast to oil drilling companies, it ran into a wall of public opposition as sheer and insurmountable as the region's tallest seaside cliffs. In the 1980s, North Coast activists flooded public meetings and protested potential leases as local elected officials rushed to condemn the plans. Sonoma County sought to make the local coastline needed to support such projects … Continue Reading
October 04, 2021
Oil spills have marred the California coast — and shaped our politics
by Rosanna Xia
California's distaste for offshore drilling dates back to 1969, when a devastating oil spill off the coast of Santa Barbara shocked the public and galvanized the modern environmental movement. Thousands of birds, drenched in oil, struggled to take flight. Sea otters flailed in the water. Day after day, dead dolphins and other marine life washed in with the tide. The water itself turned so thick and heavy with oil that even the waves were silent as they crashed to shore. California has been a … Continue Reading
October 04, 2021
Rep. Huffman: Progressives have probably hardened when it comes to reconciliation vote
How one progressive sees the reconciliation fight: As Democratic leaders hustled to pass the infrastructure bill last week, some House progressives indicated they'd accept some sort of agreement that Sens. Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.) and Joe Manchin III (D-W.Va.) and the Senate's other 48 Democrats would support a reconciliation bill in lieu of an actual vote on it. But that's old news, according to Rep. Jared Huffman (D-Calif.), a Congressional Progressive Caucus member and one of the … Continue Reading
October 03, 2021
Northern California Environmentalists Respond to Massive Huntington Beach Oil Spill
by KQED staff
One of the largest oil spills in recent Southern California history fouled popular beaches that could end up closed for months as crews scrambled Sunday to contain the crude before it spread further into protected wetlands. Divers are trying to determine where and why the leak occurred, but the flow of oil was stopped late Saturday from the pipeline that runs under the ocean off Huntington Beach, according to the head of the company that operates the line. At least 126,000 gallons of crude … Continue Reading