Write letters and sign petitions on your own or join the 350 Humboldt “chat and write” letter-writing group Sunday evenings at 7pm. Here is the zoom link:

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85643874306?pwd=Tm1yeXJBVVhWMGt5ZjZXVTVYbGFoZz09

1.         Solar Project in Blue Lake

You can still comment and then speak to the Planning Commission in support of the Hatchery Road Solar Project.

  1. The project has been moved to the 4/1 PC hearing. The staff report and agenda with links to the Zoom meeting will be available the Friday before the meeting at https://humboldt.legistar.com/Calendar.aspx

b.    Comments will be accepted up to the day of the hearing. Send to . [email protected]. Or you can send snailmail to: the Humboldt County Department of Planning and Building, 3015 H Street, Eureka, CA, 95501.

c.     You can contact the Planning Department staff person, Josh,  with questions at this email: [email protected]

Detailed information about the project and talking points are at the bottom this email.

2.        Line 3 protest

On Saturday, Indigenous activists and allies gathered at the Minnesota Governor’s mansion in St. Paul to demand that Gov. Walz revoke the permits to protect Indigenous communities. Please ask President Biden to stop construction.

There isn’t a phone line set up for citizens to call the White House, which means that written comments are the best vehicle we have. It only takes 60 seconds.

Step 1: Click on this link to the White House and fill in your contact information: https://www.whitehouse.gov/contact/?

Step 2: Write a message in your words about why you want Biden to take action to stop Line 3 tar sands pipeline. Here’s a sample:

“Please stop the Line 3 tar sands pipeline. Like Keystone XL, the Line 3 tar sands pipeline threatens the safety of our communities, our climate, and our water. It violates Native American treaty rights and must be stopped. Please take action to stop the construction and invest in clean energy instead.”

3.        Save a Park (stop dune buggy emissions too)

The California Coastal Commission is in position to save one of the state’s most important beach dune complexes from mismanagement and abuse.

We need your help to make sure the commission requires State Parks to get damaging vehicles off of the sensitive 3,500-acre Guadalupe-Nipomo dune complex known as Oceano Dunes. These dunes stretch across eight miles of beach and shoreline and comprises the most extensive dune system on the west coast.

First by sending an email to the Coastal Commission before its March 18 meeting, urging commissioners to require State Parks to phase out off-highway vehicle use on the dunes. Go to: https://act.sierraclub.org/actions/California?

Second, you can attend the March 18 Coastal Commission meeting virtually and express support for phasing out off-highway vehicle use on the sensitive dunes.

4.        Eliminate the filibuster so we can pass climate legislation

Senate Democrats have the power to eliminate the filibuster if they all band together. And yet, there is in-party push back from some who continue to ignore their constituents, and, instead, stand with the white supremacist Republican Party that is fighting to keep whole communities of color disenfranchised.

If we are going to pass any meaningful legislation on racial justice, the climate crisis, universal background checks for gun purchases, pay equity, protections for people with pre-existing health conditions, or restoring power to the people over big corporations and billionaires, we must first eliminate the filibuster.

Sign the petition: https://actionnetwork.org/forms/sign-the-petition-the-senate-must-abolish-the-filibuster-in-order-to-restore-democracy?

5.        EPIC asks for help

The Mendocino National Forest has proposed extensive logging, up to 4,500 acres, within the August Complex Wildfire area. The Plaskett-Keller project is within the Black Butte and Cold Creek Wild & Scenic River watershed. Scientists who’ve studied the environmental harms of post-fire logging have determined that the negative effects are far-reaching and long lasting. Let the Mendocino National Forest know that these burned stands deserve a chance to recover naturally and that logging them to make a quick buck for timber corporations is unacceptable. Fire is a completely natural and rejuvenating element of California’s forests. Many species rely on recently burned areas. Certain plants can only germinate when their seeds are exposed to high temperatures caused by wildfires. In addition, several animals are uniquely adapted to forage in areas affected by fire. For example, snags, large dead trees often killed by fire, are a necessary forest element for the northern spotted owl. Post-fire logging has been shown to accelerate the colonization of invasive species and disturbs this unique opportunity for native plants and animals to take advantage of complex forest habitat.

[Natural regrowth also produces the highest sequestration of carbon after fires. (Powers, Elizabeth M.; Marshall, John D.; Zhang, Jianwei; Wei, Liang. 2013. Post-fire management regimes affect carbon sequestration and storage in a Sierra Nevada mixed conifer forest. Forest Ecology and Management 291:268-277.)]

Take action today by writing to the Forest Supervisor and District Ranger to let them know that you support an ecologically sound alternative.

Address to: Forest Supervisor Carlson and District Ranger Aebly at

Mendocino
National Forest
825 N. Humboldt Ave.
Willows, CA 95988
(530) 934-3316

6.         Ask CalPERS to divest from coal

California Public Employees Retirement System still holds $8.5 million in thermal coal producers in violation of SB 185, a 2015 state law on thermal coal divestment. This act requires CalPERS to divest from companies that earn the majority of their revenue from thermal coal production.

Join Fossil Free California and allies to call on CalPERS to finish its mandated thermal coal divestment by immediately adding Exxaro, Adaro, and Banpu to the thermal coal exclusion list.

https://actionnetwork.org/letters/calpers-must-comply-with-coal-divestment-law?

7.        Get Newsom going on offshore wind power

Diane Ryerson has suggested writing letters to Governor Newsom to get the state on board and acting on offshore wind.

********HATCHERY ROAD SOLAR PROJECT DETAIL*********

Below is a project description from the Planning Department’s environmental review document. [Available at: https://humboldtgov.org/DocumentCenter/View/92179/RPCA-Hatchery-Road-CEQA-Initial-Study_011121-PDF ]

The project description is followed by a number of talking points, some of which you may want to include in your letter. Thanks to Mary Sanger for compiling these.

PROJECT DESCRIPTION: The project will include a small-scale commercial energy generating facility that would construct a 4 megawatt (MW) solar facility on approximately 25.70 acres. The proposed project includes approximately of 13,664 solar photovoltaic (PV) module arrays, 32 string inverters, and associated electrical conductors and equipment needed to convert sun energy into usable AC power. The project will enhance electrical reliability for the existing Pacific Gas & Electric’s (PG&E’s) grid system. A small drainage though the middle of the property will be avoided by a 150’ setback leaving the remainder of the land area covered by the solar arrays, which will be mounted on a racking system attached to steel piles driven into the ground. Single axis tracking technology will be utilized to allow the modules to efficiently track the sun throughout the day and maximize the efficiency of solar collection. The project proposes ongoing agricultural uses on the property, including but not limited to sheep grazing or the keeping of honey bees, on a rotational basis whereby pasture areas would be occupied for variable periods, allowing pasture rest periods to promote optimal vegetation quality management and maintenance of the project’s pollinator habitat.

HATCHERY ROAD SOLAR: REASONS TO APPROVE THE PROJECT

1.  We appreciate that Humboldt County is taking the climate crisis seriously.  It is a threat that is global but the solutions often come down to local decisions  like promoting renewable energy installations.

2.  This project will reduce our dependence on the natural gas fired power plant on Humboldt Bay, reducing the county’s greenhouse gas emissions. The power the project provides will help mitigate the fact that Humboldt County peak power utilization exceeds the capacity of the transmission lines into the County.

3.   It will be a move in the right direction to enable the county to achieve the 100% renewable electricity by 2025 that they have committed to. If approved, the project can be operational by July of this year!

4. The general plan designation for the parcels  is agricultural and it specifies that renewable electricity installations are allowed. The property will not be converted out of agricultural.   The proposal to use the property for bee habitat and or grazing have been used  successfully at other solar installations around the world. The Planning Department document (link above) evaluates use of agricultural land for solar in great detail. The decision to approve this project is clearly based on significant and careful consideration. It should be noted that the underlying land, soil condition, or land use are not changed permanently, as they might be with other land use.

5.  Most of the jobs in this project are in the construction phase.  It would be an economic benefit to the County if those jobs would go to local, living wage contractors.

6. Some comments have suggested aesthetics is a problem. But aesthetics are time-bound and culturally specific. As the Planning Department document says: “Viewer response may be negative for viewers who place a high value on open space, or positive for viewers who place a high value on renewable energy. The limited expanse of the project feature and the limited importance of the affected viewpoints result in the impacts being less than significant.”

7. Under CEQA, possible impacts are significant or not. This project has very few significant impacts and the County agrees that all of them can be mitigated to insignificance. As the Planning Department document summarizes: “The project will not degrade the quality of the environmental, substantially reduce the habitat of a fish or wildlife species, cause a fish or wildlife population to drop below self-sustaining levels, threaten to eliminate a plant or animal community, reduce the number or restrict the range of a rare or endangered plant or animal. Although no special status species were observed on the project site, potential biological impacts related to special status bird species would be reduced to less than significant levels… In the event archaeological artifacts are found [mitigation measures] would reduce potential impacts to less than significant levels… Therefore, impacts would be considered less than significant with mitigation incorporated.“

8. We suggest to the developers that they consider offering a community benefit. For example, the community wants to put in a trail from downtown Blue Lake out to the hatchery and a financial contribution could make that a reality.