In the News
California Democrats seek to add 535,000 acres of wilderness in state
by Andrew Graham
Humboldt, Trinity and Mendocino counties could play host to part of the largest new designation of federal wilderness in a decade if Democratic sponsors of the land-protection package can find a way through the divided U.S. Senate. A bill sponsored by Rep. Jared Huffman, D-San Rafael, would designate 257,797 of new acres of wilderness in Northern California while placing 480 miles of river in the region under the nation's strictest environmental protections for waterways. The bill would … Continue Reading
February 24, 2021
Klobuchar, Burr Introduce Bipartisan, Bicameral Legislation To Improve Emergency Response Communications Networks During Natural Disasters
WASHINGTON - U.S. Senators Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) and Richard Burr (R-NC) reintroduced legislation to improve communications networks during natural disasters. The Emergency Reporting Act would help ensure the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) provides resources to state and local governments preparing for and responding to natural disasters. Companion legislation was introduced in the House of Representatives by Representatives Doris Matsui (D-CA), Anna G. Eshoo (D-CA), Mike Thompson … Continue Reading
February 24, 2021
Wilderness bills, including Huffman’s, introduced and combined
by The Trinity Journal
A House wilderness bill affecting parts of Trinity County was introduced this month and later referred to the House Committee on Natural Resources. The bill, titled H.R. 878, The Northwest California Wilderness, Recreation and Working Forests Act, says it will provide for restoration, economic development, recreation and conservation on federal lands in Trinity and Humboldt counties. According to a release from the Office of Rep. Jared Huffman, the three-title legislation will protect … Continue Reading
February 24, 2021
Lawmakers float bills on highway emissions, EVs
by Nick Sobczyk
Lawmakers yesterday announced bills to promote electric vehicles and slash greenhouse gas emissions from highways, as Congress and the Biden administration begin talks on an infrastructure bill. Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) and Rep. Peter Welch (D-Vt.) reintroduced legislation - the "Electric Credit Access Ready at Sale Act" - that would nix the manufacturer cap for the EV tax credit and extend the incentive by 10 years. Under current law, a credit up to $7,500 is available on 200,000 vehicles … Continue Reading
February 18, 2021
Natural Resources leadership picks forecast ideological divide
by Emma Dumain
Democrats and Republicans yesterday announced their selections for chairs and ranking members of the House Natural Resources subcommittees, drawing stark contrasts between the two parties' ideological platforms and approaches to policies relating to energy, the environment and public lands. They also lay bare the tensions likely to persist between the full committee chairman, Arizona Democrat Raúl Grijalva, and the panel's new ranking member, Arkansas Republican Bruce … Continue Reading
February 18, 2021
With guns as backdrop, Boebert opposes committee firearm ban
by Joseph Morton
Rep. Lauren Boebert, R-Colo., asked Thursday to be provided a personal security detail if she's prohibited from carrying firearms into the House Natural Resources Committee's hearing room. Boebert had an assortment of guns arrayed on a bookshelf behind her as she spoke during the panel's virtual meeting to organize for the 117th Congress. She said the committee's chairman, Rep. Raul M. Grijalva, D-Ariz., should pay for her security detail personally rather than having taxpayers foot the … Continue Reading
February 18, 2021
Rep. Lauren Boebert displays guns in background during virtual House committee hearing
by Colby Itkowitz
Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-Colo.) attended a virtual House committee hearing Thursday with at least three large firearms prominently displayed behind her as she and her colleagues debated whether to ban lawmakers from bringing guns to committee meetings. The freshman lawmaker and gun-rights advocate, who owns a gun-themed restaurant in Rifle, Colo., had two AR-15-style rifles arranged like an X on a shelf behind her head and another large firearm lying across books on the shelf below. There … Continue Reading
February 17, 2021
Package Of Public Lands Bills Expected To Face House Vote Next Week
by NPT Staff
Wilderness protection, a permanent ban on uranium mining near Grand Canyon National Park, and measures that would protect rivers are in a package of public lands legislation expected to reach the House floor for a vote next week. A number of bills that failed to gain passage in the last Congress are included in this package that U.S. Rep. Raúl Grijalva, D-Arizona, expects will come up for a floor vote on Wednesday. The package includes Grijalva's Grand Canyon Protection Act, which was … Continue Reading
February 15, 2021
Huffman, experts address vaccine questions in town hall
by Zack Demars
Congressman Jared Huffman held a town hall Feb. 3 to share information about the state of the COVID-19 pandemic in the northern portion of his congressional district, from Del Norte County to Mendocino County. Among many topics up for discussion during the pandemic, Huffman and a panel of experts focused on the COVID-19 vaccine rollout. "It is the most hopeful part of this crisis," Huffman said in his opening comments. "The fact that we, in less than a year, have multiple safe, effective … Continue Reading
February 13, 2021
Trump’s California water plan troubled federal biologists. They were sidelined
by Jimmy Tobias and Emily Holden
Federal scientists and regulators repeatedly complained they were sidelined by Donald Trump's administration when they warned of risks to wildlife posed by a California water management plan, according to newly unveiled documents. The plan, finalized in late 2019, favored the former president's political allies - farmers upset with environmental protections that kept them from receiving more irrigation water from the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, the hub of California's water network. A top … Continue Reading
February 09, 2021
Republicans want to plant 1 trillion trees — and then log them
by Cameron Oglesby
About a year ago, Representative Bruce Westerman, a Republican from Arkansas who is also a certified forester and a longtime forest policy advocate, introduced the Trillion Trees Act. It was one of four bills in a climate package that Republicans hoped would rival a Democratic emissions-reduction proposal presented at the same time - not to mention an even more ambitious Democratic proposal, the Green New Deal. Unlike its sweeping Democratic counterparts, which aimed to decarbonize every … Continue Reading
February 08, 2021
'No one better': Dems bank on 'relentless' Raskin to sway Republicans on impeachment
by Alex Swoyer
Rep. Jamie Raskin's colleagues credit his "positive spirit" with launching the two-term congressman into the spotlight as the chief prosecutor in former President Donald Trump's impeachment trial in the Senate, which in Democrats' eyes makes him the perfect adversary of the man they view as the most negative force in American politics. The 45th president and the Maryland Democrat have starkly different views about the Constitution and American politics, but they share one thing in common: … Continue Reading
February 05, 2021
Washington Governor Jay Inslee, alongside Congressmember Karen Bass and Jared Huffman, to Kick of Off The Marine Mammal Center’s Ocean Policy Webinar Series on February 9
SAUSALITO, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The Marine Mammal Center - the world's largest marine mammal hospital in the world - has announced the launch of a webinar series that will focus on what needs to be done in 2021 and beyond in order to preserve the ocean and its inhabitants for generations to come. The Ocean Policy Webinar Series will start with four high-powered webinars, and will feature experts in ocean policy, advocacy, and conservation. The first webinar will be headlined by Governor … Continue Reading
February 05, 2021
AT&T seeks Super Bowl deal with Cox Media Group as KIEM, KVIQ dispute persists
by Isabella Vanderheiden
As Super Bowl Sunday draws near, AT&T is aiming to strike a deal with Cox Media Group to bring back Eureka's KVIQ-CBS for the big game. On Friday, AT&T offered to pay CMG and its owner Apollo Global Management an undisclosed amount to restore KVIQ-CBS to AT&T/DIRECTV's channel lineup following an ongoing dispute that took KIVQ-CBS and KIEM-NBC off the air on Feb. 2. It remains unclear if CMG and Apollo will accept the deal, but AT&T spokesperson Dale Ingram told the … Continue Reading
February 05, 2021
Bernie Sanders Hails Budget Resolution for ‘Working People’ as New Stimulus Nears
by Oscar Quine
Bernie Sanders joined Democrats in celebrating the passing of the party's budget resolution, saying it embodied "the agenda of the working people of America." The resolution is a key procedural step to allowing Democrats to pass President Biden's COVID-19 relief package without fear of filibuster from Republicans. "The agenda of the budget resolution passed today is not the agenda of wealthy campaign contributors," Sanders tweeted. "It is not the agenda of the billionaire class. It is the … Continue Reading
February 04, 2021
Democrats seek to block further Arctic drilling
by Rebecca Beitsch
Lawmakers are seeking to block further drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) by designating its coastal plain as wilderness. The legislation comes as a last-minute lease sale held by the Trump administration raised just $14.4 million dollars, well below the billion dollars a 2017 bill projected the government would earn alongside a second sale. "After a recent failed set of lease sales, it's clear that Republicans' promises of a major fiscal windfall from development on the … Continue Reading
February 04, 2021
Congressman Jared Huffman Calls on Cox to Restore Channels
by John Eggerton
Rep. Jared Huffman (D-Calif.) has written to Cox Media Group saying it should restore its stations to DirecTV ASAP and suggesting the broadcaster is not negotiating in good faith as the FCC requires. Huffman said CMG is the common denominator in two recent retransmission consent blackouts, but also suggested there is blame on both sides and consumers are the ones getting "screwed," which he called unacceptable. Cox TV stations are currently off DirecTV in a number of markets, including … Continue Reading
February 03, 2021
Huffman Town Hall Dives Deep Into COVID Vaccine Rollout
by Iridian Casarez
North Coast Rep. Jared Huffman held a virtual town discussing the roll-out of the COVID-19 vaccine in Humboldt and Mendocino counties featuring Assemblymember Jim Wood, Humboldt County Public Health Officer Ian Hoffman, Mendocino County Public Health Officer Andy Coren and Associate Chief of Medicine at the San Francisco VA Medical Center Heather Nye.The panel discussed the new and upcoming COVID-19 federal response, ramping up the COVID-19 vaccine rollout and supply … Continue Reading
February 02, 2021
House adopts fines for lawmakers who don't comply with metal detectors
by Cristina Marcos
The House on Tuesday adopted new rules that will enact hefty fines against lawmakers who refuse to comply with the security screenings now required for entry into the chamber in the wake of the Jan. 6 insurrection. Fines of $5,000 for the first offense and $10,000 for the second are now in effect. The metal detectors outside the House chamber were installed days after the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol by a violent mob of former President Trump's supporters who attempted to stop Congress from … Continue Reading
February 01, 2021
Bay Area Lawmakers React to Marjorie Taylor Green’s Camp Fire Israeli Laser Conspiracy Theory
by Betty Yu
SAN FRANCISCO (CBS SF) — There is growing outrage at newly elected representative Marjorie Taylor Green of Georgia over her conspiracy theory involving the devastating and deadly Camp Fire. The controversial Republican freshman representative has speculated that the fire, which killed 85 people in 2018 in Butte County, was started by a Jewish space laser in a now-deleted Facebook post. The blaze that leveled the town of Paradise was later traced to PG&E electrical equipment. North Bay … Continue Reading