In Washington, tribes protest nuclear reactor project on Hanford site
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October 28, 2021
RICHLAND, Wash. — An advanced nuclear reactor proposal at the Hanford site is spurring opposition from local tribes.
The Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation sent a letter to the U.S. Department of Energy saying they do not support the company X-energy’s small modular reactor proposal.
Mason Murphy, energy and environmental science program manager for the tribes, said the Hanford nuclear reservation near the Columbia River is partially within tribally ceded territory under the Treaty of 1855. “Because of that, we anticipate that the small modular nuclear reactors may have impacts on all of the following resources: Specifically, state and federally listed plants and wildlife; big game habitat; [and] historic properties of religious and cultural significance as defined in the National Historic Preservation Act,” Murphy outlined.
After Granholm meeting, ND renewable-energy officials talk vision
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October 19, 2021
BELCOURT, N.D. — Renewable-energy advocates in North Dakota are hoping for more federal support to advance projects, after a key meeting with a Biden cabinet member this month.
U.S. Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm took part in a roundtable discussion last week, hosted by the governor, who along with fossil-fuel leaders promoted practices such as carbon storage in adapting fuel technology.
Other stakeholders pushed for more focus on helping North Dakota pursue avenues such as wind, solar and geothermal heating.
Wes Davis, director of facilities and sustainability at Turtle Mountain Community College, wants more federal resources to educate tribal communities about clean energy infrastructure. “If we’re able to develop curriculum to train these people at tribal colleges, then we can create trades,” Davis explained.
Gov. Newsom signs $15 billion climate-change package but does not address fossil fuel issue
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September 24, 2021
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Climate activists are praising Gov. Gavin Newsom for signing a $15 billion climate action package Thursday, but argued he should go one step further, and declare an official “climate emergency” in California.
The bills will fund projects to build up wildfire resilience and combat the drought.
Heidi Harmon, former mayor of San Luis Obispo, said the state needs to think even bigger.
“People in the state of California and everywhere will not do small things for small goals, but they will do big things for big goals,” Harmon asserted. “And California is a big vision state.”
CA groups push for progress for Sea Otter protection
CA groups push for progress for Sea Otter protection
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September 20, 2021
MONTEREY BAY, Calif. – This week, conservation groups are celebrating Sea Otter Awareness Week with online and in-person events across the state.
Historically, the Pacific Rim supported between 150,000 and 300,000 sea otters, but the population is now estimated at about 106,000.
Andrew Johnson, California representative with the nonprofit Defenders of Wildlife, said 16,000 endangered southern sea otters once roamed the California coast. Now, only about 3,000 animals are left, mostly between Santa Barbara and San Francisco.
“But they’re still struggling,” said Johnson. “Their numbers are stagnant. They aren’t expanding their range north or south, and haven’t for the last two decades.”
Great white sharks are a threat to the sea otter. But Johnson said human activity does more harm, especially the pollutants and agricultural runoff that end up in the ocean. You can check out the list of sea otter events this week online, at ‘Defenders.org.’
Sea otters were all but wiped out from Northern California waters during the fur trade of the 1800 and 1900s.
California is ground zero in wake of IPCC, U.N. Climate Report
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August 10, 2021
SACRAMENTO, 
Calif. — Advocates contended a new United Nations report Climate change report United Nations 08/09/2021 waving red flags on climate change is particularly critical for California, where megafires and persistent drought already are becoming the norm.
The report also predicts up to a foot of sea-level rise by mid-century.
Mary Creasman, CEO of the California League of Conservation Voters, said the way forward is to wean our transportation and buildings off of oil and gas, and stop using single use-plastics, made from petroleum. “We need a government that is going to mandate and regulate corporate polluters, fossil-fuel industries, carbon emissions, to get to the change we need by 2030. That’s the solution,” Creasman asserted.
Nonetheless, this year California lawmakers have stalled or killed bills to require new buildings be all-electric, hold corporate polluters accountable and ban new fracking permits.
What PA, Appalachia Can Learn from Natural Gas Boom’s Failure
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July 21, 2021
HARRISBURG, Pa. — A new report demonstrates why the last decade’s natural-gas boom in Pennsylvania, Ohio and West Virginia fell below expectations and did not generate a large growth in jobs or incomes throughout the region.
A companion report examines a model in Washington state from which local leaders in the region can learn to help transition their economies.
Sean O’Leary, senior researcher at the Ohio River Valley Institute, which produced both reports, said as the mining sector increased and local GDP skyrocketed, jobs in the so-called “Frackalachia” area increased by just 1.6%, combined with a population loss of 37,000. “It means that not only has the natural gas industry not produced jobs and prosperity to a significant degree so far, but that it is structurally incapable of doing so in the future as well,” O’Leary asserted.
Measure to Reduce Single-Use Plastic Qualifies for CA 2022 Ballot
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SACRAMENTO, Calif. — A groundbreaking measure to reduce plastic waste has just qualified for the 2022 ballot.
The proposal would give companies a big incentive to reduce plastic packaging by taxing each item by one penny. It would also make producers meet certain goals for recycling and reuse.
Jennifer Fearing, legislative advocate in Sacramento for the nonprofit Oceana, said the program would raise about a billion dollars a year. “That would go to funding local governments, so they can upgrade waste and recycling systems, to support state and local governments in broader waste recycling and composting, and then the final 30% would go to environmental mitigation,” Fearing outlined.
The American Chemistry Council opposes the measure, proposing instead a more lenient national plan to require all plastic packaging to be made of 30% recycled material by 2030
