In the News
Scott Dam slated for removal in plan by Sonoma County and partners to control hydropower project
by Guy Kovner
A nearly century-old dam on the Eel River that impounds Lake Pillsbury is slated for removal under a $500 million proposal helmed by Sonoma County and four other regional partners seeking to take over from PG&E a remote but pivotal hydropower project in Mendocino County. The coalition, including Mendocino and Humboldt counties, hailed the proposal as a milestone in their effort to meet the needs of all three counties, protecting water supplies for farmers, fish and communities, including … Continue Reading
May 12, 2020
Coalition to take major step in acquiring Potter Valley project from PG&E
by Shomik Mukherjee
A partnership of numerous Northern California agencies intends to file an initial plan on Wednesday to acquire the Potter Valley project from the Pacific Gas and Electric Co., multiple sources confirmed. The coalition will submit a document - no more than 12 pages long - to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission for its consideration. If approved, the group may be able to form a partnered ownership of complex water infrastructure dividing the Eel and Russian rivers. The system diverts … Continue Reading
May 05, 2020
House Democrats want to slow down Alaska oil project
by Heather Richards
Several House Democrats want the Department of the Interior to tap the brakes on an oil and gas project in Alaska, adding to criticism targeting the department's pivot to virtual public hearings during the coronavirus-driven pandemic. ConocoPhillips' Willow Master Development Plan, under review by the Bureau of Land Management, would expand the oil and gas company's drilling activities along the eastern border of the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska on the Arctic Coast in the northern part … Continue Reading
May 05, 2020
Rep. Huffman’s New Legislation Opposes Fossil-Fuel Bailout
by Staff
North Coast Congressman Jared Huffman has introduced legislation intended to bar fossil-fuel companies from receiving relief funding from the $500 billion federal CARES Act stimulus bill. Huffman and other Democratic lawmakers introduced the legislation, known as the ReWIND Act-the Resources for Workforce Investments, not Drilling Act-on May 5. The bill comes after the Trump Administration began signalling the president's intent to steer CARES Act funds to the struggling oil and gas … Continue Reading
May 02, 2020
Lawmaking In The Time Of Coronavirus
by Matt Fuller
WASHINGTON ? As the House Democratic leadership keeps members away from Capitol Hill over coronavirus concerns, there's mounting frustration that it's also keeping members away from the negotiating table. Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) told Democrats on a conference call this week that members would return to Washington "when CARES 2 is ready," referring to the latest bill Congress is preparing in response to coronavirus. The problem for some members is that drafting a bill and then … Continue Reading
May 02, 2020
Huffman leads challenge to Clean Power Plan repeal
by Will Houston
Rep. Jared Huffman, whose district includes Marin County, is among the congressional Democrats fighting the Environmental Protection Agency's decision to repeal the Obama-era Clean Power Plan. In an amicus brief filed late last month with the U.S. Court of Appeals in Washington, D.C., Huffman and more than 70 other lawmakers said the EPA was well within its authority to implement the plan. "EPA's conclusion that the Clean Power Plan was unlawful cannot be reconciled with the Clean Air Act's … Continue Reading
April 27, 2020
Water Week 2020 Brings Together Water Sector in Virtual Event
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Today marks the beginning of Water Week 2020, as thousands of representatives from across the water sector, including wastewater, drinking water and stormwater utility leaders, advocate for their most pressing issues before Congress and federal agencies. Initially slated to be a week-long series of events in Washington, D.C. and throughout the country, this year's event has been modified to become a virtual event in light of the COVID-19 pandemic. The focal point of these … Continue Reading
April 27, 2020
More than 70 lawmakers join suit challenging Trump power plant rollbacks
by Rebecca Beitsch
More than 70 Democratic lawmakers from both chambers have joined a suit challenging the Trump administration for rolling back Obama-era power plant regulations. The Affordable Clean Energy (ACE) rule finalized by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in August scraps former President Obama's Clean Power Plant rule. Lawmakers in the House and Senate filed separate amicus briefs challenging the rule late Friday. The ACE rule aims to give states more time and authority to decide how to … Continue Reading
April 24, 2020
White House uses Arbor Day to renew push for 1 trillion trees initiative
by Rebecca Beitsch
The White House is using Arbor Day, which encourages people across the country to plant trees, to renew its push for joining the Trillion Trees initiative. The Trump administration has pushed to join the global initiative since January, but a House bill to finalize the effort has stalled amid the coronavirus outbreak and a lack of support from Democrats. The tree initiative "will lead to cleaner air and water, create wildlife habitat, and reaffirm our nation's commitment to conserving the … Continue Reading
April 24, 2020
The Energy 202: Netflix's 'Tiger King' sends big cat safety law roaring back in Congress
by Dino Grandoni
With the nation on coronavirus lockdown, America was captivated by Joe Maldonado-Passage - a.k.a. Joe Exotic - the gun-toting, polyamorous, country-singing star of the Netflix smash hit "Tiger King" who once ran an Oklahoma zoo that housed up to 200 tigers. He made his money by offering cubs to pet and illegally selling big cats. At least some of the 64 million viewers of the documentary series were also inspired to call for change from Congress: Lawmakers have been hearing from … Continue Reading
April 23, 2020
NOAA accused of moving too slowly on pandemic aid
by Rob Hotakainen
While the Trump administration rushed to get emergency financial assistance to small businesses hurt by the coronavirus pandemic this month, fishermen and the seafood industry are still waiting for help. The slow delivery of aid has become a growing source of irritation for many, especially since Congress last month approved $300 million to help them survive during the coronavirus shutdown. In a letter to Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross today, Seafood Harvesters of America said the money … Continue Reading
April 22, 2020
A no-brainer stimulus idea: Electrify USPS mail trucks
by David Roberts
With the US trapped in a historic lockdown, everyone agrees that enormous federal spending is necessary to keep the economy going over the next year and beyond — and everyone has their own ideas about how, exactly, that federal spending should be targeted. A whole genre of essays and white papers devoted to clever stimulus plans has developed almost overnight. I’ve contributed to that genre: Go here for my ideal recovery/stimulus plan, here for what I think … Continue Reading
April 19, 2020
Federal funds help Sonoma County airport fast-track $30 million terminal expansion project
by Kevin Fixler
An influx of federal funding is expected to deliver the $30 million expansion of the terminal at Charles M. Schulz-Sonoma County Airport almost a year ahead of schedule despite the sudden downturn in global air travel. The regional airfield won a $10 million Federal Aviation Administration grant toward the capital construction project last year, which positioned the increasingly popular travel hub for another $10 million within the next two years. The airport is now in the immediate running … Continue Reading
April 16, 2020
Humboldt Bay harbor being dredged, but economy dry amid COVID-19
by Shomik Mukherjee
A heavily sediment-layered portion of Humboldt Bay is being dredged by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, marking a victory for harbor officials amid huge economic losses from the coronavirus pandemic. The harbor's Eureka Channel is supposed to be 27 feet deep but shoaling, or sediment buildup, has rendered it as shallow as 10 feet in some parts. But the Army Corps of Engineers is dredging the area back to normalcy and paying a contractor $22 million to reconstruct the harbor's jetties. "It's … Continue Reading
April 15, 2020
$2.6M in CARES Act funds to help Humboldt County health centers stay afloat during COVID-19
by Sonia Waraich
Last week, the national Health Resources and Services Administration awarded $1.3 billion of Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act funds to 1,387 health centers across the country. Of that, local health centers received about $2.6 million - $1,464,000 to Open Door Community Health Centers, $576,815 to the Karuk Tribe and $619,175 to Redwoods Rural Health Center - that North Coast Congressman Jared Huffman said will help them manage the surge of demand, the risks and the loss of … Continue Reading
April 14, 2020
Families left in dark as coronavirus races through Bay Area nursing homes
by Jason Fagone , Cynthia Dizikes and Trisha Thadani
Donna Barnett doesn't know what is happening at Drake Terrace, a large San Rafael assisted living facility where her 90-year-old father lives, even after two weeks of frantic attempts to find out. On March 27, she said, the facility emailed a letter to family members disclosing that a resident had tested positive for the new coronavirus. "Learned first (hope last!") coronavirus positive resident at Drake Terrace," Barnett wrote in her journal that day. "Took it like a gut punch. I'm sad, … Continue Reading
April 14, 2020
Coronavirus' relationship with public transit highlighted in latest Huffman town hall
by Andy Krauss
NORTH COAST, Calif. - The novel coronavirus' complex relationship with public transportation was highlighted in the latest virtual town hall hosted by North Coast Rep. Jared Huffman Monday evening. Huffman answered questions and addressed concerns on a number of COVID-19 related topics alongside his three guests, all of whom were from Humboldt County - Health Officer Dr. Teresa Frankovich, North Coast Small Business Development Center Director Leila Roberts and Redwood Region Economic … Continue Reading
April 13, 2020
Digital divide leaves rural and poor Sonoma County students with no internet connection
by Yousef Baig
For Betha MacClain, serving as superintendent of a rural school district in Two Rock came with a unique set of challenges well before the coronavirus pandemic closed her single school. Enrollment at Two Rock Union School District is unpredictable, and can swing dramatically year to year since most families live on the U.S. Coast Guard training center, MacClain said. The rest of the parents live in the bucolic southern Sonoma County countryside, either as farm owners or the laborers who work … Continue Reading
April 13, 2020
Huffman: Local COVID-19 relief is available for small businesses
by Sonia Waraich
The COVID-19 pandemic has led to millions in lost revenue for local businesses and led to the permanent closure of 11 businesses so far in Humboldt County. But assistance is available. The recently passed Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act allocated $349 billion to Small Business Administration loans, but at a virtual town hall conducted by North Coast Congressman Jared Huffman on Monday night, he and local business leaders acknowledged that accessing those loans has been a … Continue Reading
April 09, 2020
North Coast Rep. Jared Huffman advocates for fisheries relief in bipartisan letter
by Lisa Lebrenjak
SAN RAFAEL, Calif. - On Thursday, April 9 Reps. Jared Huffman, Ed Case, Joe Cunningham, and Garret Graves led 35 of their colleagues in a bipartisan letter to the U.S. Department of Commerce urging immediate distribution of the assistance secured by Congress in the CARES Act to fishery participants, including Tribal, subsistence, commercial, and charter fishery participants. Rep. Huffman currently serves as Chair of the Natural Resources Subcommittee on Water, Oceans, and Wildlife which has … Continue Reading