The
LookOut is a monthly digest of climate issues and recent developments
in our neighborhood.
The Board of
Supervisors approved putting a measure on the
ballot for this coming November that will levy a one percent general
sales tax. The revenue will primarily be used for road
maintenance; however, the county has promised to devote an
unspecified but meaningful portion of it to public transit.
By connecting the
condition of county roads to the ability to reliably respond to
emergencies, the tax measure is billed as a 911 Emergency Response
Measure. The original ballot language listed “maintaining bus
services” among other priorities such as repairing bridges and
fixing potholes, but “maintaining” was dropped at Supervisor
Madrone’s suggestion. His reasoning was that “maintaining”
could disqualify transit from using its share of funds to expand bus
services, which would be an optimum scenario in the eyes of climate
advocates and other transit aficionados.
The run-up to the
board’s decision on July 23 strummed on tensions between the need
to maintain county roads in areas where most people drive their own
cars and the need to reduce transportation-related CO2 emissions. 350
Humboldt was one of five local environmental groups that stood ready
to oppose the tax unless a fair portion of it will be directed
to transit.
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350 Humboldters
took a tour of contested parking lots in Eureka with Althea,
a member of I Like Eureka Housing. This group of
volunteers formed to oppose the initiative Measure F, Housing for
All, a title that goes well beyond euphemism. It refers to an
assumption that the old Jacobs Middle School site will somehow sprout
housing at some point. Right now we’re not supposed to even know
who has bought that property even though a recent “inadvertent disclosure” seems to confirm our suspicions.
The city of Eureka
started this battle when it decided to fulfill its housing mandate
from the state by building 900 housing units, including 400
classified as affordable, on ten of its publicly owned parking lots. somebody`didn’t like that. Keeping those parking lots
sacrosanct as Measure F insists would not only put the kibosh on much
needed housing but also block a planned transit hub, the EaRTH
Center, a development with room for apartments, retail outlets and
food trucks. We started our walk at that site on 3rd and G
at 6 PM on a Friday, and then walked east from there to look at the
other parking lots, ending at 5th and D.
Most of them had
only a few cars. The main exception was at 3rd and G, the
closest point to the Friday Market, which was a sea of people a few
blocks away. There also seemed to be plenty of parking on the cross
streets. Obviously, this isn’t an official survey; for that, you’d
have to read this Times-Standard article.
The upshot is that
Eureka’s parking cup overfloweth. Depending on time of day and
exact location, it may be true that developing those ten parking lots
would sometimes require some people to walk a little more than usual.
On the other hand, more people and families would have a nice place
to live in downtown Eureka where they can walk or bike or take a bus
to fulfill most of their needs.
from website of I Like Eureka Housing
To distribute
power from the anticipated offshore wind farm, big decisions were made back in May about transmission. California Independent
Systems Operator [CAISO], a nonprofit public benefit corporation
tasked with overseeing the grid, approved of four projects involving
Humboldt county. First is a new substation on Samoa Peninsula plus
new lines to connect it to the existing substation just a little
southeast of Eureka. That will be our local supply. New lines will
also connect the new substation to Collinsville in Solano county east
of the Bay area and to the Fern Road substation in Shasta county.
All in all, CAISO
approved 26 new transmission projects within California borders with
a total capacity of 85 new GW, plus a project that would connect
California’s grid to the SunZia line currently under construction
in New Mexico and Arizona. That line will have the capacity for 3,000
MW.
It’s sobering to
realize that despite all of this new infrastructure and new renewable
energy sources, fossil fuel consumption is holding steady so far.
Even though energy efficiency keeps improving, the demand for energy
keeps growing. Increasingly powerful data centers, AI, and bitcoin
mining are three examples of technologies with a voracious appetite
for energy.
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The Harbor
District shared
details with the public
about what is
known so far about
the planned Heavy Lift Marine Terminal at the Sequoia
Center in Eureka on July 23. About an hour long, the presentation included visual simulations from five different vantage points of how
the site would look. The Q&A and public comments lasted 45
minutes afterwards. More presentations will be made as studies are
completed, including studies about potential impacts of noise and
lights.
The facility could
serve as a hub for the offshore wind industry from Morro Bay to wind
energy areas off Oregon’s shore. All the components for the
colossal wind turbines would arrive by ship and be assembled at the
port. The channel between port and bay would not need to be dredged
or altered to accommodate the tugboats towing turbines on their
platforms out to sea. However, dredging along the shore line to build
the port would be necessary and was a cited source of concern for
several attendees because of contamination from the old mill site.
Harbor District
Development Director Rob Holmlund, devoted the first part of the
presentation to information about climate change, the urgent need for
clean energy, and the slow progress towards that conversion. He noted
that wind energy, in particular, has been unpopular around the
country, leading to the blocking of two thirds of all proposed wind
projects. Opposition to wind power off the shore of Morro Bay, a
designated wind energy area to the south of Humboldt, has ramped up
this year. Some Morro Bay residents are also opposed to a storage
battery project proposed for the same area.
Local residents’
ability to block renewable energy projects in California has been
limited by AB 205 which allows renewable energy developers to bypass some local permitting processes and instead apply directly to the
California Energy Commission. State agencies are still responsible
for protecting the environment, endangered species, and disadvantaged
communities.
You
can watch the slide show and listen here to Holmlund’s commentary
made the next day after the
Sequoia Center presentation.
A new website from the Environmental Protection Information Center is
another good source of information. The
big picture plan for offshore wind along California’s coast is
outlined in this Cal Matters article.
simulation from Harbor District slideshow
As widely
expected, The Arcata City Council approved the Gateway Area Plan after two and a half years of hammering out
the details. At the same meeting it approved the overall General
Plan, which allows increased density in other neighborhoods besides
the 100+ acre Gateway area on its west side slated to be redeveloped.
These moves aim to increase its housing stock while preserving
surrounding agricultural lands and natural ecosystems.
Is the Gateway Plan
completely finished now? No, it’s not. The Gateway Code will likely
be approved at the August 7 city council meeting. The code is a
package of overall standards or rules—such as building height,
parking specifications for both cars and bikes, what falls under
Ministerial Review and what must go through the Planning
Commissions–that will be applied to the area as it’s re-developed.
But besides that, the final approved draft of the GAP is not etched
in stone. It can be amended at any time.
Colin
Fiske of the Coalition for
Responsible Transportation Priorities calls the Gateway
Area Plan “the
most bike and pedestrian friendly land use plan yet proposed in our
region.” 350 Humboldt
considers this type of infill project the most climate-friendly
development possible.
350 Humboldt
calendar
We’re having a
pizza party at Redwood Park in Arcata on August 25 at one o’clock!
There will be a short presentation for people who aren’t familiar
with what we do. One and all welcome! Bring a friend or two. You can
email me at [email protected]
if you have questions.
Don’t forget the
general meeting on August 7 at 6 PM.https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84370554552?pwd=V2phMDBOUlNiS3hLL1BQSHNIVDFTQT09
The book club
meets on August 26 at 7 PM. The book is Guardian of the
Trees: A Journey of Hope Through Healing the Planet by
Kinari Webb, M.D.. Everyone welcome even if you haven’t read the
book. If you want to get a headstart, the book for September will be
Climate Capitalism: Winning the Race to Zero Emissions and Solving
the Crisis of Our Age by Akshat Rathi https://us02web.zoom.us/j/87104876080?pwd=Q1Z2Z0d3K3V0UE9EN2Z0TlFweTZndz09
Join us for
letter writing every Sunday night at 7 PM. https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84789051501?pwd=L3pJL0t1am5EblJRVWZhUWFIenpIdz09
Some of the participants at the marsh event on July14
photo by Dan Chandler