In the News
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 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
October 01, 2021
Dem divisions, Manchin demands highlight climate struggles
by Nick Sobczyk
Democratic infighting on Capitol Hill this week underscores how difficult it will be to get the biggest climate bill in U.S. history across the finish line. Climate policy has emerged as one of the toughest challenges in striking a deal on Democrats' reconciliation package, with a chasm between Energy and Natural Resources Chair Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) and much of the rest of the party. That divide crystallized yesterday after POLITICO reported a July 28 memo signed by Manchin and Senate … Continue Reading
October 01, 2021
Sea Level Rise | U.S. Rep. Jared Huffman | This Week in California Politics
Sea Level Rise in East Palo AltoAs the impact of climate change is being felt in the form of bigger wildfires, deeper droughts and longer heatwaves, the community of East Palo Alto is preparing for another kind of climate impact: rising sea levels. Built on the edge of rolling wetlands, this town is figuring out how to adapt to potential flooding and storms. KQED climate reporter Ezra David Romero has this story. Tackling Climate Change in CaliforniaCalifornia has 3,000 miles of coastline to … Continue Reading
October 01, 2021
What if the Progressive Revolt…Isn’t a Revolt at All?
by Kara Voght
Progressive lawmakers first suspected they'd delayed the bipartisan infrastructure bill when no one asked them to vote for it. "No, not at all," Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) told me when I asked if any Democratic congressional leaders had pressured him. "Zero squeeze," added an aide to a progressive House lawmaker. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) had been feverishly working the phones all day Thursday to see what support she could find for the legislation. By Thursday evening, only a few … Continue Reading
September 29, 2021
Huffman and allied Democrats take stand that could cancel $1 trillion infrastructure bill
by Guy Kovner
A progressive group of Democrats in Congress, including North Coast Rep. Jared Huffman, is ready to vote down the Senate's $1 trillion bipartisan infrastructure bill if it comes to a floor vote Thursday. The standoff between Democrats over an economic initiative that could define President Joe Biden's first term is one of several overlapping legislative battles dominating discussions on Capitol Hill and at the White House this week. The other is the race to avert a government shutdown -as key … Continue Reading
September 29, 2021
Democrats Won’t Work With Marjorie Taylor Greene. Tonight, They Play Baseball With Her.
by Addy Baird
WASHINGTON - On Wednesday night, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene will take the field with the Republican congressional baseball team, joining the ranks of more than a century's worth of lawmakers living their major league dreams in the name of charity and bragging rights. The game - seven innings on a big league field - is a Washington tradition from an earlier era, marked with the kinds of odes to bipartisanship that either cause eyes to roll or people to admit that yes, it's important after all … Continue Reading
September 29, 2021
On climate change, Biden $3.5T plan making up for lost time
by Matthew Daly and Lisa Mascaro
WASHINGTON (AP) - As President Joe Biden visited one disaster site after another this summer - from California wildfires to hurricane-induced flooding in Louisiana and New York - he said climate change is "everybody's crisis" and America must get serious about the "code red" danger posed by global warming. In many ways, the president is making up for lost time. Biden and Democrats are pursuing a sweeping $3.5 trillion federal overhaul that includes landmark measures to address climate change … Continue Reading
September 28, 2021
Climate plans in flux as Democrats eye reconciliation deal
by Emma Dumain, Geof Koss, Nick Sobczyk, Jeremy Dillon
House Democratic leaders continued to project outward confidence last night they'll be able to reach an agreement with the Senate by Thursday on a massive spending package, despite a litany of outstanding policy differences related to climate and continued clashes over the current $3.5 trillion top-line number. In a closed-door caucus meeting, however, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) delivered a sobering reality check: They may not meet the deadline to close the deal, which progressives … Continue Reading
September 28, 2021
Memo shows involvement of Utah agency and 2 tribes in North Coast coal export proposal
by Andrew Graham
A Utah state official and the leaders of two federally recognized tribal nations in March discussed shipping Rocky Mountain coal by rail along the Northern California coast and exporting it out of Humboldt Bay, according to a newly revealed document that sheds additional light on parties involved in the controversial proposal. The internal memo from a Utah port agency, first published last week by the Salt Lake Tribune, indicates coal industry players in Montana and Utah were at least … Continue Reading
September 28, 2021
NOAA’s plan to curb harassment includes hiring more women
by Rob Hotakainen
NOAA Administrator Rick Spinrad told a House panel last week that the agency has already made history on the hiring front this year, with women now occupying half of all the assistant administrator jobs. And he hinted that more could be on the way, after Louis Uccellini retires on Jan. 1 as head of the National Weather Service. "We may have an opportunity to have a woman in that position, as well," Spinrad told lawmakers (Greenwire, Sept. 8). For Spinrad, who took charge of NOAA in June, … Continue Reading
September 28, 2021
Furloughs, Program Halts Loom as Highway Bill Approaches Lapse
by Lillianna Byington and Emily Wilkins
Lawmakers are banking on the House to pass a major infrastructure bill Thursday that would reauthorize expiring surface transportation programs and avert thousands of furloughs and halted payments. House Transportation and Infrastructure Chair Peter DeFazio (D-Ore.) said he is "not speculating on failure" of the legislation, which is up for a vote the day of the deadline to reauthorize highway, transit, and safety programs. Sept. 30 is also the deadline for lawmakers to pass a broader … Continue Reading
September 27, 2021
Congress shows signs of movement on stalled Biden agenda
by Scott Wong, Mike Lillis and Cristina Marcos
After weeks of impasse, there were signs on Monday night that the dam was beginning to break on President Biden's multitrillion-dollar domestic agenda. Democrats don't have much time to spare after Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) set a Thursday vote on a bipartisan $1.2 trillion infrastructure package, which some liberals are vowing to oppose without more movement on Biden's $3.5 trillion social spending and climate package. But on Monday, three days ahead of that key roll call, the … Continue Reading
September 27, 2021
Could LA water recycling be a miracle for parched West?
by Jeremy P. Jacobs
With severe drought strangling the West, the country's largest water provider has embarked on a multibillion-dollar project that could help them cope with increasingly frequent shortages exacerbated by climate change.The Metropolitan Water District of Southern California wants to recycle Los Angeles' wastewater, creating a new supply stream that would significantly reduce the city's reliance on imported water from Northern California and the Colorado River. It would mark a new paradigm in … Continue Reading
September 24, 2021
North Coast elected officials opposing coal train proposal on various fronts
by ANDREW GRAHAM
Elected officials from Northern California counties and cities are rolling out resolutions and even a statehouse bill opposing a mysterious proposal to ship coal up to Humboldt Bay on both existing and defunct rail lines. The flurry of measures came even though no new information has surfaced about who is behind the coal shipping proposal, which came to light in late August through filings with the U.S. Surface Transportation Board, a federal agency that oversees freight rail … Continue Reading
September 24, 2021
Group hoping to take over Potter Valley Project denied more time
by Justine Frederiksen
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission Thursday denied a request for a pause in the process of re-licensing the Potter Valley Project, which is a hydroelectric plant in Mendocino County that diverts water from the Eel River and into the Russian River via Lake Mendocino. "The Two Basin Partners have worked diligently to find common ground and resources to pursue a revitalized Potter Valley Project - but we always knew that this would be a major challenge," Rep. Jared Huffman (D-San Rafael) … Continue Reading
September 24, 2021
North Coast elected officials opposing coal train proposal on various fronts
by ANDREW GRAHAM
Elected officials from Northern California counties and cities are rolling out resolutions and even a statehouse bill opposing a mysterious proposal to ship coal up to Humboldt Bay on both existing and defunct rail lines. The flurry of measures came even though no new information has surfaced about who is behind the coal shipping proposal, which came to light in late August through filings with the U.S. Surface Transportation Board, a federal agency that oversees freight rail shipping. U.S. … Continue Reading