EcoNews Report
A weekly environmental news roundup produced in Arcata, California by Tom Wheeler (Environmental Protection Information Center), Alicia Hamann (Friends of the Eel River), Jen Kalt (Humboldt Waterkeeper) and Colin Fiske (Coalition for Responsible Transportation Priorities).
Episodes
318 episodes
Fish-killing Chemical Found in Local Water
Could a chemical in our tires be killing salmon? That's what Humboldt Waterkeeper and the Wiyot Tribe have set out to study. The chemical, 6PPD-quinone, is a breakdown product of 6PPD, which is added to tires to prevent cracking and wear. When ...
Offshore Wind Port Development
Despite Trump's best efforts, offshore wind ain't dead. The Humboldt Bay Harbor District has been steadily at work developing its Heavy Lift Marine Terminal Project, the port facility that will be used to assemble and service wind turbines. And...
Cleaning Up Cannabis
The Green Rush is over and we are dealing with the consequences. Abandoned cannabis farms speckle the landscape. And on these abandoned farms are a variety of environmental harms that need remediation: improperly graded roads and undersized cul...
Get to Know River Otters!
How well do you know river otters? They are cute (obviously). But did you know they are carnivores? They are the apex predator of our local watersheds, hunting on fish, crustaceans, and even waterfowl! Otter experts Charlotte Norman and Gina Cu...
Native Plant Nerds, Unite!
This week on the EcoNews Report our host Alicia Hamann from Friends of the Eel River is talking about the recently launched Eel River Native Plant Network. She's joined by her colleague at Friends of the Eel River, Julie Weeder, and Adam Canter...
Is Your Fish Safe to Eat?
Episode #86Mercury is a potent neurotoxin, particularly harmful to young children and developing fetuses. Mercury is commonly present in fish, but in wildly different concentrations based on the life history of the species. What local fi...
Bring Back Our Grizzlies!
Grizzly bears were once native to California, from the redwoods all the way to the Mexican border. Euro-American settlers wiped out the species in roughly 75 years, with the last reported grizzly bear seen near what is now Sequoia National Park...
What's Wrong with the Forest Service?
The Trump Administration is taking an axe to the Forest Service. They are "reorganizing" the Forest Service, eliminating Regional Offices and Research Stations. The National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) is virtually gone—and with it opportun...
New Threat to Eel River Dam Removal?
On April 21st, US Department of Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins rocked the North Coast with a Tweet: She claimed that a Los Angeles-area local water district, the Elsinore Valley Municipal Water District,
How Can We Restore the Elk River?
The Elk River was once idyllic: baby salmon once grew big and healthy in the slack waters of its estuary, Elk once browsed in meadows by the river, and returning adult salmon once laid their eggs in cold river gravel, kept shady by old-growth r...
A New Mandate for State-Owned Forests?
How should state-owned demonstration forests be managed? For private timber production or for climate, biodiversity, clean water, and other values? That's the question being considered by the California legislature with AB 2494 (Rogers). AB 249...
The "God Squad" Returns!
Trump has revived a little-utilized part of the Endangered Species Act—formally the Endangered Species Committee but often called the "God Squad" as it can decide whether species may go extinct—in a purported effort to boost oil and gas develop...
The Fight over Richardson Grove, Explain
On this week's show, your usual host, Tom Wheeler, is in the hot seat to explain EPIC's long-lasting litigation against Caltrans' Richardson Grove Project. 16 years of litigation, boiled down to a half-hour of radio.
Fix Your Stuff (And Save the Planet)
Have a broken lamp that is too sentimental to toss? Is your favorite knife too dull? Is your laptop running slow? Come to the Repair Cafe! By fixing your items, instead of tossing them and buying new, you are not only saving money, you are savi...
Transmission Upgrades for Offshore Wind
For offshore wind to fight climate change, that power needs to reach the larger statewide grid where it can replace fossil fuel electricity generation. The catch? Humboldt's current transmission lines are too small to transmit that power out of...
Asm. Rogers on this Legislative Session
On this week's EcoNews Report, Assemblymember Chris Rogers joins the program to discuss this year's legislative session. Asm. Rogers has emerged as an enviro legislative darling, with bills like year's AB 263, which established minimum instream...
Trump Spikes Climate Regulations
On February 12th, the Trump Administration rescinded the Obama-era "endangerment finding," a legal recognition by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) that greenhouse gas emissions were harming and would further harm health and human safet...
Wildlife Crossings Help Wildlife and Motorists
Roads are a significant barrier to wildlife movement, whether you are a small salamander or a wandering wolf. Environmental activists like guest Steve Blackledge of Environment America have been advocating for the construction of wildlife cross...
Fix Fourth and Fifth Streets in Eureka!
There is a traffic safety crisis on 4th and 5th Streets in Eureka. These streets are extremely dangerous for people walking, biking, and rolling. While Caltrans has made some improvements to crosswalks, there are currently no plans for major sa...
Climate Action Theatre
On this week's EcoNews Report, we are doing something a little different: climate action theatre. Environmentalists drone about the climate crisis a lot, laden with statistics, science, and doom-and-gloom stories, hoping that with just a little...
Dealing with Eco-Anxiety
Does thinking about the climate crisis get you down? Do you feel guilty about your consumption? Do you feel overwhelmed thinking about all that dooms our planet? Your emotional response to the state of the environment is understandable—good eve...
Poems for a New Year
Local poets Jerry Martien and Katie Gurin join us for what has become a lovely annual tradition of reflection on the past and the new year ahead.
The Temperate Rainforests of North America
The temperate rainforests of the Pacific Northwest, stretching from Alaska all the way down to the redwoods of California, are some of the most productive and biodiverse forests on the planet. In terms of total carbon sequestration and storage,...
Local Governments to Finally Take Action on Climate Change?
The long-awaited Humboldt Regional Climate Action Plan—a multi-jurisdictional strategy to reduce greenhouse gas emissions—is finally up for approval before the Board of Supervisors. (We say finally because the document, which sets emis...
Exploring the Berryessa Snow Mountain National Monument, a Unique California Landscape Just a Few Hours From Humboldt
This week on the Econews Report, we’re joined by Marc Hoshovsky and Bob Schneider, two of the authors of the new book Exploring the Berryessa Snow Mountain National Monument, which will be published early next year by Backcountry Press...