California’s planning a renewable energy project at a scale never before attempted in the world – By Wes Venteicher (Politico) / Aug 14, 2023
The Newsom administration’s path to net-zero carbon emissions runs through one of the state’s poorer, most remote areas.
EUREKA, Calif. — A 300-foot tall smokestack from a defunct paper mill looms over the port in Humboldt Bay, a relic of the timber industry that once defined the northwestern corner of California along with the struggling salmon fishing industry and sputtering marijuana trade.
But a gust of optimism has arrived in Humboldt County over plans to develop offshore wind at a depth and scale never before attempted in the world – sparking hope and anxiety in a region that has lived through repeated boom-and-bust cycles and ended up with one of the lower per-capita incomes in the state.
“This is a generational project,” said Jeff Hunerlach, secretary-treasurer of a council of construction unions for Humboldt and neighboring Del Norte County. “I could work 20 years on this project and my kid could work 20 years on this project.”
CONTINUE > https://www.politico.com/news/2023/08/14/california-emissions-humboldt-county-00110262
