In the News
U.S. lawmakers propose giving USPS $6 billion for electric delivery vehicles
by David Shepardson
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A group of 17 U.S. House of Representatives Democrats introduced legislation on Monday to provide $6 billion to the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) to buy tens of thousands of additional electric delivery vehicles. Ohio-based electric-vehicle maker Workhorse Group Inc shares jumped 13% on prospects the company may be able to sell electric postal vehicles. Last month, it lost out when the USPS awarded a $482 million contact to Oshkosh Defense to finalize production for the … Continue Reading
March 08, 2021
Huffman, Senators reintroduce legislation to reduce carbon pollution from National Highway System
Congressman Jared Huffman (CA-02), Senator Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.), and Environment and Public Works Committee Chairman Tom Carper (D-Del.) today announced the planned reintroduction of the Generating Resilient, Environmentally Exceptional National (GREEN) Streets Act. This legislation would establish national goals to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from the national highway system and help states adapt their transportation systems to the adverse effects of climate change. The … Continue Reading
March 08, 2021
Huffman Bill passes in multi-state public lands package
Last week, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the Protecting America's Wilderness and Public Lands Act, a bill that includes eight individual measures that provide lasting protections for key public lands and waters in Arizona, Colorado, California, and Washington. Representative Jared Huffman's (D-San Rafael) bill, the Northwest California Wilderness, Recreation, and Working Forests Act was approved as part of this legislative package. "Being active in the outdoors and experiencing … Continue Reading
March 05, 2021
The Postal Service’s Gas-guzzling New Mail Truck: Electric Versions May Be Closer Than They Appear
by Dorothy Robyn
The sooner Congress signals-with its wallet-that the future NGDV is electric, the better. Clean energy advocates reacted angrily last week when the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) failed to move aggressively toward electric vehicles (EVs) in awarding the long-awaited contract for its Next Generation Delivery Vehicle (NGDV). But some objects may be closer than they appear. The USPS is not anti-EV, just broke. If Congress covers the higher upfront cost of EVs, the USPS will be able to electrify its … Continue Reading
March 04, 2021
As SFO's United Workers Face Furloughs, Lawmakers Say COVID-19 Relief Bill Could Help Save Bay Area Jobs
by Farida Jhabvala Romero
Bay Area members of Congress are calling on Republican lawmakers to support a $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief bill that the U.S. Senate is expected to take up this week. The push comes as thousands of local workers in battered industries - including most recently United Airlines workers at SFO - face a fresh round of furloughs and layoffs. In a press event Tuesday, Rep. Jared Huffman, D-San Rafael, said the pandemic has devastated his district's economy, which is driven by tourism, travel and … Continue Reading
March 04, 2021
Fight of the River People
by Thadeus Greenson
It was a Friday in late August when four jet boats made their way up the Klamath River under a cloudless blue sky. The boats carried three tribal chairs. From the Karuk Tribe, there was Russell "Buster" Attebery, who'd found pride as a boy catching salmon from the river and bringing them home to his family, and later come to believe some tribal youth's troubles - from suicides to substance use - could be traced back to their never having had that opportunity, growing up alongside a river now … Continue Reading
March 04, 2021
Bipartisan bill targets global 'extinction crisis'
by Michael Doyle
A bipartisan pair of House members celebrated World Wildlife Day yesterday by reintroducing their "Critically Endangered Animals Conservation Act," a measure targeting aid to vulnerable species around the globe. The legislation authored by California Democrat Jared Huffman and Florida Republican Vern Buchanan would establish the Critically Endangered Animals Conservation Fund and authorize $5 million annually for five years. It would be administered by the Fish and Wildlife Service as part … Continue Reading
March 03, 2021
The Jan. 6 Riot Could Have Brought Lawmakers Together. It Did The Opposite
by Susan Davis
When Congress reconvened the night of the Jan. 6 riot to finish certifying the Electoral College results, Rep. Rodney Davis, R-Ill., huddled with top Democrats on the House floor. "I was on the dais with [Speaker Nancy Pelosi], and the speaker and I, and also [House Administration Chair Zoe Lofgren, D-Calif.], had a conversation about a bipartisan approach and a bipartisan commission, or a bicameral commission, to move things forward to find out what went wrong," he told NPR. "Unfortunately … Continue Reading
March 03, 2021
House of Representatives Passes Sweeping Public Lands Bill
by Lindsey Botts
Last week, on February 26, the House of Representatives passed a sweeping public lands package that, if signed into law, would designate almost 1.5 million acres of public land as wilderness, add 1,200 miles of rivers to the National Wild and Scenic Rivers System, and withdraw over 1 million acres from new mining claims. In addition, the bills expand national monuments and national recreation areas, create a new "historic landscape," and fund the construction of new hiking trails on public … Continue Reading
March 02, 2021
Jared Huffman on relief bill: ‘Our highest needs and priorities are all met’
by Mario Cortez
Ahead of Tuesday's U.S. Senate vote on the American Rescue Plan, a bill that includes $1,400 stimulus checks for low-income Americans, U.S. Representative Jared Huffman (D-San Rafael) joined fellow House colleagues in a conference to urge the U.S. Senate to approve the legislation. The House of Representatives approved the $1.9-trillion bill on Saturday morning, passing the proposal on to the Senate. The conference, hosted by California congressman Ted Lieu, also included John Garamendi and … Continue Reading
February 26, 2021
House approves bill giving California half million acres of new wilderness
by Kurtis Alexander
More than 1 million acres of public land in California and other Western states will be preserved as undeveloped wilderness if long-stalled legislation that's back in play under the Biden administration can make it through Congress. The ambitious bill, which combines eight previously introduced conservation initiatives, would provide pandemic-weary Californians with more redwood forests to explore in the north state, a 400-mile scenic trail to hike along the Central Coast and expanded … Continue Reading
February 25, 2021
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
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 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 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
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
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