The LookOut is a monthly review of climate issues and recent
developments in our neighborhood.
To help cannabis farmers green their grow, the county offered $30,000 renewable energy grants. The funds originated
from taxes collected by the Department of Cannabis Control. The
purpose of the grants is to curtail the use of diesel generators on
off-the-grid cannabis farms or eliminate them altogether. Applicants
must calculate their energy use and emissions before they can
forecast how much of a GHG reduction the grant would accomplish.
Sounds good except for the elephant in the living room. Solar is the
most feasible mode of renewable energy for individual businesses, but
the energy provided by a $30,000 solar array is a drop in the bucket
for most growers. The free money is supposed to motivate recipients
to buy as many solar panels as needed. According to Larry Goldberg, a
local solar consultant, that price could easily be ten times as much
as the grant.
Turns out that most growers either aren’t interested in shelling
out that much for solar or, more likely, simply can’t afford it.
The economics of the cannabis biz is dismal these days, and financing
is not available due to the inconvenient fact that growing cannabis
is still a federal crime. So even though going solar would save many
growers the cost of about ten gallons of gas every day, they can’t
afford to replace those generators with the most accessible form of
renewable energy on the market.
However, getting a $30,000 solar array for free is hard to pass up.
So to make their grant applications sound good, applicants come up
with the numbers they think the Planning Commission wants to hear.
You’d think some stiff documentation would be required, but that
doesn’t seem to be the case. In fact, Goldberg and other local
solar professionals, who are familiar with the complex calculations
needed to determine solar gain, load analysis, and projected GHG
reduction, are alarmed at how many growers seem to be making up these
numbers. The grant proposal did not stipulate methodology parameters.
Ironically, small environmentally-minded growers who have already
minimized their diesel use don’t qualify for this grant.
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The last
challenge to the Great Redwood Trail has bit the dust. Back in
May, if you will recall, two entities tried to lay claim to the
long-unused and decrepit railway between here and San Francisco. The
coal-running threat from North Coast Railroad Company was dispatched
in June. That left the Mendocino Railway’s bid for thirteen miles
of the 320 mile route. The Federal Surface Transportation Board turned MR down in October,
saying it hadn’t shown that restoring the line is financially
feasible. It would take $5.5 million to buy the stretch and up to $9
million to rehabilitate it. Then there’s maintenance.
Not that
building the Great Redwood Trail will be cheap. The California State
Transportation Agency in a preliminary study estimated as much
as a billion to build the trail, plus several billions more to
“address environmental impact.” Senator McGuire has called those
numbers “hogwash.” We’ll see. In two to three years the master
plan for the trail will be complete and should post a better idea of
costs.
Photo courtesy of Lost Coast Outpost
Before
the California Coastal Commission will hear an appeal
of a decision to grant a coastal development permit [CDP], it wants
to know what the appelant has done locally to contest the granting of
the permit. In the case of 350 Humboldt contesting Nordic Aquafarm’s
coastal permit, we have done a lot. Comments at numerous public
forums, meetings with Nordic staff and Humboldt county staff,
testifying at the Planning Commission hearing and appealing that decision
to the Board of Supervisors. We raised more than a thousand dollars
to pay for the appeal.
The
California Coastal Commission also wants to know that the appellant is
not running afoul of the Local Coastal Plan for the Humboldt Bay
area. Unfortunately, the LCP for this area badly needs updating. It
doesn’t even mention climate change or sea level rise despite the
county having tapped state funding for several sea level rise
studies. With this reminder in place, 350 Humboldt presses forward
with its appeal of the coastal development permit granted to Nordic Aquafarms
Documents
submitted to the Coastal Commission are available here.
The
big offshore wind auction
we’ve all been waiting for is scheduled for December 6.
Forty three participating developers can simultaneously bid for
projects in both Morro Bay and Humboldt. Interest in OSW has only
intensified during the last year with California increasing its
offshore wind target to 25,000 MW, plus the federal government
bumping its OSW target up to 30,000 MW. The sense of urgency is
growing.
Yet
construction most likely will not start until 2028. That’s the
current timeline according to one of the interested developers,
Mainstream Renewable Power, which gave a presentation for RCEA’s
Citizen Advisory Committee in September. The reason for that delay is
all the surveys and site assessments that must happen first. Then the
Construction and Operations Plan must be developed and submitted to
BOEM. State and local permits must also be secured before
construction begins.
The
burning question is where this energy will go. Considering our
proximity and early interest in the wind area—not to mention an
overriding need for local clean energy–a certain portion of the
energy should come ashore here and provide for Humboldt’s needs.
However, the bidding will be tough, and there is no guarantee at this
pre-auction point that Humboldt will be able to compete even when
community benefits are taken into consideration.
Core-Hub,
the group formed by Humboldt Area Foundation
to help Humboldt become a net carbon sequesterer, is working to ensure
that the benefits of wind development off our coast will help build
an equitable local economy. That means the inclusion of tribal
nations and other underrepresented communities. Enviromental
protection is also essential for the communities of the future. For
these aims, Core-Hub has been negotiating with the Bureau of Ocean
Energy Management about how community benefits will figure into the
bid packages. The group will also directly negotiate with the winning
bidders for benefits that BOEM has not baked into the auction. (I
plan to write more on this topic in my column, Get On Board for the
Climate, in a future issue of Eco-News.)
Meanwhile,
the Harbor District is wasting no time. In partnership with Crowley
Wind Services, the district has launched the development
of a
heavy lift Marine Terminal on the old pulp mill site next door to the
planned Nordic Aquafarm. If all goes as planned it will be the
second-largest marine terminal in the United States—and equip
Humboldt to become the hub for the nascent west coast wind energy
industry.
This
is a huge development for Eureka and the whole county. The climate
crisis and desperate need for clean energy infuses any debate around
environmental and social costs and benefits that we contemplate when
looking at any big development projects. The stakes are high indeed.
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GREAT IDEAS DEPARTMENT
Hit
utilities where it makes a difference—right in their
IRPs: that’s the latest episode of Cool Solutions.
Big
rebates for hot water heat pumps from the Inflation Reduction Act
Technology
breakthrough doubles the speed of making silicon wafers for solar
panels
Helsinki
taps a surprising and abundant source of heat for its buildings
Recycling
architects in Amsterdam demolish the idea of demolition
China
plans world’s biggest offshore wind farm—enough
power for 13 million homes