LookOut
Humboldt Climate News in March 2022
HFCs
have been running amok
since the early nineties when DuPont invented them
to replace ozone-destroying coolants, which they also invented. Used
in refrigerators, AC, heat pumps, and many other applications, HFCs
trap thousands of times more heat in the atmosphere than carbon. Project Drawdown
rated replacing them as the #1 priority.
The
U.S. has finally dared to start phasing them out–but slowly and with
ample loopholes cherished by the chemical companies. Those loopholes
favor HFOs, their latest brainchild. 350 Silicon Valley and 350
Humboldt have been working together to persuade California to go
beyond the federal bill (the AIM Act).
Now
Senator Skinner has introduced SB 1206.
It makes 2024 the last year for manufacturing refrigerants with a
globalwarming potential of more than 1400 times carbon, and 2029
would be the last year that refrigerants with a GWP of more than 750
can be manufactured. Though better than the federal schedule, those
GWP scores still take the prize for highest emissions.
Recycled HFCs would be exempted from SB1206. The exemption
accomplishes two goals. One is that it encourages the reclamation of
HFCs from appliances at the end of their useful life instead of
allowing them to vent into the atmosphere. Also, recycled HFCs will
help people keep their appliances going until they can upgrade them
to run on low GWP refrigerants.
We hope this bill is a first step towards the best solutions, which
are natural refrigerants. Yes, propane, ammonia, and carbon dioxide
with their GWPs of 3, 0, and 1 are “natural” compared to
refrigerant chemicals. Their use is becoming fairly common in the EU
and other parts of the world less in thrall to DuPont and its
spin-offs.
‡ ‡ ‡
At
the end of a brutal 11-hour meeting, the Board of
Supervisors unanimously approved the North McKay Ranch
subdivision. 350 Humboldt opposed the development because of its
unavoidable contribution to increased GHG emissions. Other
environmental groups recommended ambitious changes to reduce its
footprint. Colin Fiske of the Coalition for Responsible
Transportation Priorities
called for increasing the housing density, providing more
infrastructure for bicycle and pedestrian commutes and free bus
passes for residents.
Supervisor
Mike Wilson, seconded by Supervisor Steve Madrone, agreed with many
of these concerns and tried to get the rest of the supervisors to
require full electrification, expanded EV charging infrastructure and
improved pedestrian and bicycle connectivity. However, the developer
successfully convinced the other supervisors that he would drop the
whole project if pushed to make anymore improvements.
Dana Utman
In
order to make the development possible, the general plan and zoning
laws had to be changed for the forested area. After a long
discussion, Supervisor Rex Bohn made a motion to do this and approve
the development. He also added an unlikely but face-saving condition
that would allow the developer to satisfy the desire for improved
pedestrian and bicycle connectivity if both county staff and Kramer
can reach an agreement. That condition will come back before the
board for consideration and public input at a future meeting. And
with that they were finally able to go home.
The subdivision will eventually provide 320 residential units and
22,000 square feet of commercial space on an 81-acre forested
property in Cutten. The county’s general plan requires almost 1500
new housing units by 2027.
‡ ‡ ‡
Tree-lovers
have battled Caltrans for 16 years
to protect old-growth redwoods in Richardson Grove,
a state park in southern Humboldt. Caltrans wants to straighten out a
1.1 mile section of 101 in order to accommodate longer trucks. Its
own environmental analysis swears no harm will come to the trees that
stand so close to the road. According to EPIC (Environmental
Protection Information Center), a thorough, good faith environmental
analysis has yet to be done.
Caltrans
might be getting a second chance to do just that. The National
Environmental Protection Act [NEPA] requires a new analysis for projects
when new information comes to light, or significant conditions
change. EPIC cites both reasons in a recent letter
to Caltrans. The new information is a peer-reviewed study finding that highway construction has more of an impact on redwood
trees than previously thought. EPIC also says the need for the
project has changed since since other completed Caltrans projects now
provide the desired access for trucks without going through
Richardson Grove.
‡ ‡ ‡
Leveraging
the prevalence and strength of north coast wind into clean energy
may very well become a reality
during this decade. The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management released
its Environmental Assessment in December of last year for a proposed
offshore wind project, and 350 Humboldt participated in public
hearings held on January 25th and 26th. Recordings are available here. The final EA is expected sometime in April.
The
Wind Energy Area is 206 square miles off of Humboldt Bay. Developers
will bid for leases at an auction this fall. Matthew Marshall of
Redwood Coast Energy Authority has called this auction
“multi-vector.” That means, according to a Journal article,
that it will take into account non-financial elements such as local
community benefits. An array of offshore wind turbines could produce
up to 1.6 gigawatts (GW) of energy.
Eureka’s
port is situated to play an essential role.
The California Energy Commission has approved a grant for
$10.5 million slated for preliminary engineering and design, surveys
and studies, and environmental impact and mitigation reports. Some of
the CEC money could be used to start port renovations. Matching
federal funds could be used for construction of an Offshore Wind
Heavy Lift Marine Terminal. Replacing six acres of dilapidated
wood pilings, the
dock needs to be strong enough to support turbine towers as high as
the Washington Monument and blades as long as a football field. The
terminal may provide as many as 830 local jobs.
The CEC’s commissioner, Kourtney Vaccaro pointed out the importance
of wind energy as “providing critical supply at night to
complement our abundant solar resources.”
The Coyote
Valley Band of Pomo Indians
held a rally in
Ukiah on March 14th to pressure Cal-Fire to stop logging in Jackson
Demonstration Forest, their ancestral land in Mendocino county.
Between 150 and 200 people attended. Many Mendocino residents have
been protesting and
bogging down the logging for two years.
The Jackson
Demonstration Forest is the largest one of nine demonstration forests
in the state. A demonstration forest is public forest land devoted to
using the best forest management techniques available to demonstrate
that forests can provide lumber and at the same time provide wildlife
habitat and recreation. This purpose was thrown into doubt when some
of the largest and most popular trees in the forest were slated for removal. Cal-Fire
has unmarked some of them since the protest began.
A total of 461 acres
of old-growth redwoods are definitely off-limits to logging. But what
about second growth that is more than a hundred years old? Cal-Fire
says that it logs only one in ten of those largest trees. That might
be too many if the priority is carbon sequestration as many
protesters believe.
Senator Mike McGuire
announced on March 2 that the management plan for JDF will be
rewritten, commenting that he wasn’t “confident the
demonstration forest is demonstrating anything of substance.”
Indigenous rights
are also foremost in the minds of the many people who want to set new
priorities for the demonstration forest. The Pomo tribe would like to
co-manage JDF with the state in order to better preserve the
ecosystem, protect ancient village sites and ensure access to the
forest for cultural practices such as food gathering.
‡ ‡ ‡
350
Humboldt salutes and supports the protesters who put their bodies
on the front line to try to stop Line 3 in Minnesota. Those who were
arrested face costly charges. You can help them here.
Despite
massive opposition, including testimony from 68,000 residents of
Minnesota, the pipeline was completed and opened five months ago.
More than a thousand miles long, it carries 760,000 barrels of tar
sands oil from Alberta to the shore of Lake Superior in Wisconsin for
refining. The pipeline crosses hundreds of previously untouched
wetlands and 200 bodies of water, including the headwaters of the
Mississippi.
Concerns
about water have already been realized. According to a recent report
from the Minnesota Department of Natural resources, there have been
three separate ruptures of aquifers during the construction of
the pipeline. The company faces sanctions as a result.
Some
of the protesters have remained at camp throughout the winter in
order to monitor the pipeline
for leaks. The well-organized website (link in first paragraph)
directs supporters to the legal defense fund, or environmental
monitoring, or to volunteer legal services if you’re a lawyer. If
you’d like to send a check instead of donating online, you can mail
it to Line 3 Legal Defense Fund at PO Box 7140, Minneapolis MN 55407
LINKS
Listen to
Humboldt’s Wendy Ring
talk with Bill McKibben on Cool Solutions https://soundcloud.com/cool-solutions/old-docs-take-new-patient-the?utm_source=clipboard&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=social_sharing
Look
to the ocean. https://www.theenergymix.com/2022/03/13/developers-look-for-sea-change-in-tidal-power-development/
Chile
takes a page from “Ministry of the Future.” https://finance.yahoo.com/news/drought-riven-chile-makes-world-195706160.html?
It’s
called AWE for a reason.https://e360.yale.edu/features/after-a-shaky-start-airborne-wind-energy-is-slowly-taking-off