September 30, 2026 - In Community‚ Government‚ Local Resilience‚ News By Mickey Reeder 0 comments

CORE Hub September 2026 Newsletter

Upcoming opportunities for leadership and engagement:

  • Funding for Arcata’s Evening Bus Service is in Limbo – You Can Help!
    • Lost Coast Outpost, August 5, 2026
    • Arcata’s evening bus service is at risk after Cal Poly Humboldt proposed reducing funding for its transit contract with the Humboldt Transit Authority, citing budget challenges and low ridership. HTA staff warned that without replacement funding, evening service could end, leaving riders without a fixed-route nighttime transit option. Public commenters and local leaders emphasized the service’s importance for students, people with disabilities, and residents without cars.
    • CPH students constitute more than 70% of the ridership on the only buses that people can use to get around from 7 – 10pm in Arcata. Losing that service impacts students, the Valley West community and the homeless. 
    • The Coalition for Responsible Transportation Priorities wants to better understand what the impacts might be. You can help by taking the CRTP bus survey or by emailing kelsey.boyd@transportationpriorities.org to describe how you would be impacted and to find out how you can help.
  • California State Coastal Conservancy Call for Applications to serve on the Explore the Coast Advisory Board
    • The Conservancy is soliciting applications for four new Explore the Coast Advisory Board members who will serve at least a single term, lasting two years. Applications due October 16th
    • Representation from the far north coast is needed. Board members have a chance to shape the grant program, advise on which projects get funded, and to help ensure equitable funding for access to California’s coastline for all. 
  • Oregon State of the Coast
    • November 6-7, Newport, Oregon, registration open now
      • If you would like to request a scholarship for discounted registration, please submit by October 12 (scholarship form on registration page).
    • Put on by Oregon Seagrant, State of the Coast is a chance to have fun and learn while listening to informative talks on current marine science and policy issues, participate in hands-on activities, and network with research, industry, and community leaders. 
    • More information here

Resources, Learning & Technical Assistance: 

  • Webinar: Balancing offshore wind port infrastructure with existing coastal industries: perspectives from the Humboldt Bay shellfish industry
    • Offered by Schatz Energy Research Center, Tuesday, October 13, 2:00–4:00 pm
    • California’s floating offshore wind plans depend on major port infrastructure projects in Humboldt Bay and Long Beach, raising questions about how industrial development could affect existing bay users. California Sea Grant, the Schatz Center, and local shellfish farmers will discuss their work on Humboldt Bay port planning, highlighting the bay’s role as a working estuary and agricultural area, along with shellfish industry concerns and priorities related to large-scale port development.
    • Presenters & panelists will include Tanner Etherton (Schatz Energy Research Center & California Sea Grant), Kevin Johnson (California Sea Grant), Justin Mojonnier (Hog Island Oyster Company), and Todd Van Herpe (Humboldt Bay Oyster Company).

The Election is Coming!

  • Important information and dates for California’s General Election
    • Election Day: Tuesday, November 3, 2026. Polls are open 7:00am to 8:00pm
    • Voter Registration Deadline: October 19, 2026
      • If you miss the deadline CA offers Same Day Voter Registration October 20th through election day
      • Check your registration status here
    • Ballots will be mailed out by October 5.
    • Learn what’s on your ballot at the California Voter Information Guide and check out the CalMatters 2026 Voter Guide
      • We’ll be voting for Governor, Insurance Commissioner, 14 propositions and our new Senator.
    • For local measures and candidates check out the Humboldt County Elections Office
  • Harbor District Commission – Division 4 Race (includes Samoa, Fairhaven, Finntown, and the majority of the City of Eureka)
    • Candidates (candidate information online is minimal if any):
      • Craig Benson (incumbent) 
  • Current Division 4 commissioner on the Humboldt Bay Harbor, Recreation and Conservation District Board. He was elected unopposed in 2022 and is seeking reelection. Commissioner Benson is a former faculty member in the Department of Environmental Science & Management at Cal Poly Humboldt and a member of the Sea Level Rise Institute at Cal Poly Humboldt. Commissioner Benson has served on the Board since 2022. Check out more of his bio on the District’s website.
  • Christopher Honar
  • Natural Resources Professional and local cannabis industry business owner. Former member of the Redwood Coast Energy Authority Community Advisory Committee. (no candidate information available online at this time)
  • Jane Madsen
  • Samoa resident, former workers’ compensation and administrative law judge. View candidate facebook page here. 
  • Proposition 45 
    • California Proposition 45 (2026) is a statewide ballot measure that would change and streamline parts of the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) for certain projects designated as “essential,” including transportation and renewable energy.
    • Proposition 45 would significantly limit the environmental review and public oversight processes that communities currently rely on to identify and address potential harms from major projects. By imposing tighter deadlines on environmental reviews, narrowing the range of alternatives agencies must consider, and restricting how courts can evaluate and remedy legal challenges, the measure would make it more difficult for residents, tribes, local governments, and environmental groups to raise concerns about impacts to air quality, water resources, public health, wildlife habitat, and community safety.
    • EcoNews Report
    • California voter information guide
    • Cal Matters summary

State Updates:

  • CA Legislative  Updates:
    • AB 1761 (Rogers, D)  Electricity: calculation methodology: nonbypassable charges: data disclosure.
      • Status: Vetoed by the Governor
      • Summary: This bill would have increased transparency around how certain California electricity charges, including the Power Charge Indifference Adjustment (PCIA), are calculated by requiring the disclosure of data used by the California Public Utilities Commission and other parties in those calculations. It was intended to make it easier for Community Choice Aggregators, ratepayer advocates, and other stakeholders to access and review the data underlying nonbypassable charges on electricity bills, improving oversight and transparency.
    • AB 2111 (Papan, D)  Electricity: transmission planning and transmission facilities.
      • Status: Signed by the Governor and chaptered. 
      • Summary: Requires the state’s joint Reliability Planning Assessment to include additional information on transmission upgrades, grid infrastructure capacity, permitting and approval status for energy projects, expected completion dates for resources, and reporting on certain fossil fuel use. It is intended to provide more detailed and transparent information about the state’s electric grid, transmission infrastructure, project development pipeline, and long-term reliability planning.
    • SB 1158 (Stern, D)  Energy: reliability planning assessment.
      • Status: On the Governor’s Desk (deadline to sign new bills is Weds 09/30)
      • Why we are watching it: Potential to increase permitting transparency for the bulk grid
  • On August 31, California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) released a ruling for the 2027 2028 Integrated Resource Planning and Procurement Processes, which guides state transmission development (see document here – pp. 16-20). The plan assumes no offshore wind will be developed off California’s coast. This would be a big policy swing if it goes forward, and is out of alignment with other energy agencies and the Attorney General’s office. A number of folks are responding to the Commission, legislators, and other state leaders about the ruling, which had a comment deadline of Monday 9/28.Check out public comments here (search proceeding number 2506019 and go to the public comment tab to view comments from CORE Hub and other local organizations). A final ruling should be issued in early 2027.
  • Attorney General Rob Bonta and the California Energy Commission filed a lawsuit challenging the Trump administration’s agreement with Golden State Wind to terminate its offshore wind lease in the Morro Bay lease area.
    • California Energy Commission, August 28, 2026
    • Under the agreement, the Department of the Interior (DOI) would pay Golden State Wind $120 million to relinquish its lease, conditioned on an equivalent investment in non-renewable energy projects outside California. California argues that DOI and the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) lacked authority to cancel the lease and that the agreement violates the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act, Administrative Procedure Act, National Environmental Policy Act, Coastal Zone Management Act, and federal appropriations requirements. The state is asking the court to void the agreement and block its implementation, arguing it would harm California’s offshore wind, energy, and climate goals.
  • Attorney General Bonta Announces Second Lawsuit Challenging Trump Administration Offshore Wind Deal
    • Office of the Attorney General, September 22, 2026
    • California Attorney General Rob Bonta and the California Energy Commission filed a lawsuit challenging a Trump administration agreement that would pay offshore wind developer Invenergy more than $111 million in federal funds to abandon its lease in the Morro Bay Wind Energy Area.
  • Hoopa Valley Tribe and CDFW Announce Historic Fishery Restoration Partnership
    • CA Department of Fish and Wildlife, September 8, 2026
    • The Hoopa Valley Tribe and the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) announced a new partnership that combines tribal selective harvest practices with state fisheries monitoring on the Trinity River. The effort centers on a jointly operated fish weir on the Hoopa Valley Reservation. It is intended to support salmon recovery, tribal cultural and subsistence fishing, and long-term fisheries management. Tribal and state officials said the partnership will improve efficiency, strengthen scientific data collection, reduce impacts to fish migration, and serve as a model for collaborative fisheries management and fishery restoration in the Trinity River watershed.
  • Lost Coast Outpost, September 10, 2026
  • Advocates for removing the Eel River dams rallied ahead of federal hearings in Eureka to encourage strong public support for decommissioning PG&E’s Potter Valley Project. The hearings are part of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s (FERC) environmental review process, with supporters arguing that dam removal would benefit fish habitat and river health while urging community members to weigh in on environmental issues such as water quality and sediment impacts during the transition. 
  • Subscribe to FERC updates on the Potter Valley Project here.
  • These items together represent a trend in California fisheries management toward ecosystem restoration, increased tribal leadership and co-management, and efforts to rebuild salmon runs that have declined because of dams, habitat degradation, and other environmental pressures.
  • Senators Alex Padilla (D-CA) and Angus King (I-ME) introduced new legislation on August 11, 2026 aimed at preserving offshore wind development opportunities as the Trump administration continues to negotiate agreements for developers to surrender federal offshore wind leases.
    • The bill would give adjacent offshore wind leaseholders the opportunity to acquire surrendered acreage at its original per-acre auction price and require the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) to reoffer any remaining acreage under the terms of the original lease while preserving prior environmental reviews. It would also pause new offshore oil and gas leasing and permitting until surrendered offshore wind acreage has been transferred or reoffered.
  • Prescribed Burns Planned in Prairie Creek Redwoods and Humboldt Redwoods State Parks
    • California State Parks, September 16, 2026
    • California State Parks, in cooperation with CAL FIRE and other local partners, is planning to begin a series of prescribed burns in Prairie Creek Redwoods and Humboldt Redwoods State Parks this fall. Prescribed burns are designed to maintain natural prairies by enhancing vegetation management, reducing wildfire fuel loads in the forests, and increasing wildfire resilience. State Parks is collaborating with local tribes to reintroduce fire as a land management tool while also supporting revitalization of traditional cultural practices on their ancestral lands.

Federal Updates:

Research and Academic Articles:

  • “What power do we have?” Community capacity and justice in Samoa, California’s floating offshore wind terminal development
    • Lauren McCall Hart, Cal Poly Humboldt, 2026
    • This research examines community perceptions of offshore wind development, including port development, through an energy justice lens. It adds a key piece of understanding of environmental justice issues in Samoa.
  • Environmental report on Vineyard Wind blade break
    • Vineyard Wind, September 2026
    • Summary of the report
    • This company led study conducted after the July 2024 Vineyard Wind turbine blade failure found no measurable harm to water quality, sediment, shellfish, or other ecological resources and concluded that future risks to people and the environment are negligible. Recovery efforts removed or recovered about 93% of the blade by weight.  The report concludes that the remaining unrecovered material, including some debris left on rock scour protection around the turbine foundation, is unlikely to pose environmental risks and does not recommend ongoing environmental monitoring.
  • The Coming AI Waste Wave
    • Basel Action Network (BAN), September 16, 2026
    • Part 1 of The Coming AI Waste Wave, a new four-part white paper series examining an overlooked environmental consequence of the global artificial intelligence boom: the amount of electronic equipment that will become e-waste as AI infrastructure expands and becomes obsolete. BAN’s new analysis, entitled “How Big is the AI Waste Wave?” finds that by 2030, an estimated 8.6 to 13.1 million tonnes of AI-driven electronic equipment could be retired each year – roughly 40 to 60 times the most widely cited academic projection.
  • Marine Renewable Energy and Economic Sustainability: Policy Frameworks for Scaling Offshore Wind and Tidal Power 
    • Sprin Journal of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences, August 28, 2025
    • This study investigates the policy frameworks necessary for scaling marine renewable energy (MRE), specifically offshore wind and tidal power, within the context of economic sustainability. The objective is to critically examine how current policies support or hinder the expansion of MRE and to propose strategic frameworks that align environmental goals with long-term economic development.
  • Study: Global Warming has intensified El Niño cycles
    • Science Journal, August 27, 2026
    • The study examines the El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO), the climate pattern that drives El Niño events. Using chemical records preserved in coral skeletons from the Galápagos Islands, the researchers reconstructed sea surface temperature variability over roughly the past 1,000 years.
    • The paper’s main finding is that variability in the eastern Pacific has increased substantially in recent decades compared with the preindustrial period, and that the increase is associated with stronger El Niño events. The authors report that the recent changes exceed what climate models indicate would be expected from natural variability alone and occur alongside rising global temperatures.
    • Reporting from Inside Climate News
  • Commenters overwhelmingly oppose BLM’s rollback of oil and gas rule, analysis finds
    • Center for Western Priorities, August 26, 2026
    • An analysis finds more than 99% of public commenters oppose the federal Bureau of Land Management’s proposal to roll back Biden-era oil and gas leasing reforms.
  • Offshore wind farm-induced spatial redistribution of abundance alters survey indices and stock assessment performance
    • ICES Journal of Marine Science, August 19, 2026
    • Fishery surveys are one of the main ways scientists estimate how many fish are out there, but they become less reliable if fish move around and the survey doesn’t cover the areas where the fish have gone. Offshore wind development can make this problem worse because some survey methods may no longer be allowed inside wind farm areas, and the wind farms themselves could change where fish concentrate by either attracting fish or creating conditions that support larger populations. This study used computer simulations and historical survey data to examine how these changes in fish distribution, combined with limits on surveying inside wind energy areas, could affect fish population estimates and the stock assessments that fisheries managers rely on.
  • The effects of electrified submarine cables on movements of two commercially important crustacean species 
    • Marine Pollution Bulletin, July 15, 2026
    • Power transmission through submarine cables creates anomalies in the Earth’s geomagnetic field, potentially affecting marine species that use natural electromagnetic fields (EMF) to navigate and forage. Most research on EMF effects on marine animals use laboratory or mesocosm experiments that constrain subject animal movements. Results show that crossing rates were not affected by the presence and operation of the submarine cables.
  • Polling: Politicians Shouldn’t Hide From Climate
    • The 2035 Initiative, UC Santa Barbara, July 2026
    • Scientific surveys on the effect of “climate hushing” on political support found that while climate is not a top priority, making it a campaign issue yielded increased support.

In the news:

  • Some of Humboldt Bay’s Navigational Aids Are Getting Replaced
    • Lost Coast Outpost, September 16, 2026
    • Some of Humboldt Bay’s aging navigational aids, including day markers and entrance range markers used to guide vessels through the bay’s hazardous entrance channel, are being replaced as part of a U.S. Coast Guard project. Contractors are using a jack-up barge to install the new structures, which are critical for safe maritime navigation, especially at night, and local maritime officials say the existing markers had reached the end of their service life after decades of exposure to rough ocean conditions.
  • Utah’s interest in Oakland coal terminal reignites A Utah state fund is pursuing a $45M deal to help build the controversial West Oakland terminal to ship coal to Japan.
    • The Oaklandside, September 3, 2026
    • New public investments from Utah counties and the federal government are helping advance a proposed Oakland coal export terminal that would connect western coal producers to Asian markets. The project reflects a broader effort to sustain fossil fuel extraction in the West by expanding export capacity and creating new demand channels outside the United States as domestic coal consumption continues to fall.
  • The New England grid experienced record-breaking offshore wind output on Aug. 30
    • RTO Insider, September 3, 2026
    • New England offshore wind generation reached a record 930 MW on August 30, 2026, as the region’s growing offshore wind fleet delivered its highest-ever instantaneous output to the grid. The milestone reflects the full commercial operation of Vineyard Wind and the near-completion of Revolution Wind, which together with the existing Block Island Wind Farm are expected to provide about 1,540 MW of offshore wind capacity.
  • In standoff with Newsom, California Democrats claw back $450 million for climate projects
    • CalMatters, September 2, 2026
    • California lawmakers and Gavin Newsom reached a deal to restore $450 million for climate programs after new carbon market rules that granted up to $2 billion in free pollution permits to fossil fuel companies threatened funding for transit, clean water, air quality, and other climate initiatives. The agreement provides one-time funding for public transit, wildfire prevention, land conservation, and drinking water projects, though advocates warn it does not fully offset the larger drop in climate revenue expected from the carbon market changes.
  • California Legislature passes balcony solar bill
    • Canary Media, August 26, 2026
    • California lawmakers have passed the Plug and Play Solar Act (SB 868), a bill that would allow residents to use small plug-in solar systems, often called “balcony solar,” without going through the utility interconnection process required for larger rooftop installations. The systems, which can be mounted on balconies, patios, or backyards and plugged into a standard wall outlet, are intended to help renters and homeowners lower electricity bills with a simpler, lower-cost form of solar power. The bill now awaits action from Governor Gavin Newsom and would take effect January 1, 2027, if signed or allowed to become law.
  • U.S. gas power proposals tied to data centers nearly double in six months
    • Global Energy Monitor, August, 2026
    • Around 189 GW of natural gas capacity to power data centers has been announced, entered pre-construction, or started being built, up from 97 GW at the end of last year. 
  • World’s oceans hit hottest temperature on record in August
    • The Guardian, August 24, 2026
    • The world’s oceans reached their highest recorded surface temperatures in August 2026, with the average sea surface temperature outside the polar regions hitting 70.0°F  on August 22 and 23. Scientists say the record is especially notable because global ocean temperatures normally peak in March or April, suggesting unusually persistent warming. Researchers attribute the spike to a combination of long-term human-caused climate change and a strengthening El Niño event. Warmer oceans contribute to sea level rise, intensify storms and rainfall, fuel marine heatwaves that damage ecosystems such as coral reefs, and reduce the ocean’s ability to absorb carbon dioxide. Scientists warn that the record reflects an ocean under increasing stress, with marine heatwave days having more than tripled since the early 1990s.

Please reach out with thoughts and questions. Thank you from the CORE Hub Team!

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