Our top 15 climate change solutions for Humboldt area

1. Reduced Food Waste
2. Plant-Rich Diet
3. Silvopasture
4. Tree Intercropping
5. Managed Grazing
6. Wind Turbines
7. Electric Vehicles
8. Wave and Tidal Power
9. Regenerative Agriculture
10. Biomass
11. Indigenious People's Land Management
12. LED Lighting
13. Composting
14. Landfill Methane
15. Coastal Wetlands

Top 15 local solutions

Our top 15 climate change solutions for Humboldt are

1. Regenerative Agriculture
2. Onshore Wind
3. Offshore Wind
4. Tidal Energy
5. Reduce Food Waste
6. Refrigeration Management
7. Coastal Wetlands
8. Indiginous Land Management
9. Forest Protection
10. Managed Grazing
11. Waste to Energy
12. Silvopasture
13. Plant-Rich Diet
14. Biomass
15. Marine Permaculture

Our top 15 climate change solutions for Humboldt are:

1. Industrial Recycling
2. Energy Storage (distributed)
3. Microgrids
4. Net Zero Buildings
5. Reduced Food Waste
6. Plant Rich Diet
7. Rooftop Solar
8. Wind Turbines (offshore)
9. Farmland restoration
10. Electric vehicles
11. Wave and Tidal
12. Forest Protection
13. Managed Grazing
14. Indigenous peoples' land management
15. Coastal Wetlands

Our top 15 climate change solutions for Humboldt are:

Energy:

Microgrid

We think this is very important based on the success of the Blue Lake Rancheria Microgrid. The microgrid does not only helps them offset the carbon footprint of the casino but also proves as a resiliency component. The solar PV and battery packs can power the facilities (the hotel and casino) that serve as basecamps for firefighters and refugee zone for residents in case of wildfire or tsunami.

Wind turbine - offshore

We think Wind energy is very important in Humboldt in order to free us from dependency on the natural gas power plant. An offshore wind resource assessment project is already under development here in Eureka/Arcata funded by the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM)

Wave and tidal energy

Another energy resources we think has great potential because we are so close to the coast

Biomass

We have an abundance of biomass here. This is also a way to make use of forest residues which can cause wildfire if just left on the ground. We support biomass but do not support the idea of importing wood from other places further than the tri-counties Humboldt, Mendocino and Trinity.

Rooftop solar

We thought that rooftop solar is important especially in the equity aspect. There are a lot of communities such as low-income community or community that is very far away from transmission infrastructure that would benefit from off-grid solar

Mass transit

We were debating a lot on EV versus train in Humboldt County context but we decided to go with mass transit because it encompasses both solutions. Mass transit can reduce the number of individual cars on the road and also better connect the regions surrounding Humboldt.

Retrofit

There are a lot of Victorian buildings here that need to be retrofitted or electrified so they don’t have to use natural gas or more energy-efficient. We all agreed on this.

Land Management:

Regenerative Agriculture

There are a lot of agriculture lands here that can be managed through regenerative agriculture to increase biodiversity, enrich soils, improve watershed and enhance ecosystem services. At least in Arcata, there are a lot of organic farmers that we think this is not too applicable but the rest of Humboldt County might need that. Regenerative landscapes are more resilient and flexible to market and environmental changes.

Managed Grazing

This was an interesting debate because we have individuals who love eating meat and individuals who are vegetarian. We came down to this solution that will not necessarily cut down meat consumption but will let forages to rest and come back, increase productivity and soil nutrient, and decrease watershed pollution. As a member pointed out, our coastal water is one of the most polluted in California.

Indigenous land management

The indigenous folks have been managing the land for thousands of years and know the land better than most of the Western science folk. By incorporating aspects of pastoralism and traditional rangeland management into ranching of the area, their form of management will sequester more carbon and increase productivity, while also making sure indigenous land is being taken care of, due to native’s high vulnerability to climate impacts. We all unanimously agreed on this solution

Farmland restoration

This solution goes along with 8 and 9

1. Forest Protection

This solution goes along with 10

Coastal Wetland

We have a long coast here that needs more attention. They are important for our natural environment. They protect our shores from wave action, reduce the impacts of floods, absorb pollutants, improve water quality, and provide habitats for wildlife. We all agreed on this solution.

Lifestyle/Public awareness:

Household Recycle

We thought this was one of the big problems, in which everyone throws everything into the landfill. We want to see the increased recovery of recyclable materials so new products don’t need to be produced. The production chain takes a lot of energy. This solution involves increasing public awareness.

Reduced Food Waste

We all agreed on this solution. A third of the food produced around the globe are uneaten and squanders a lot of resources, responsible for roughly 8% of global emissions. We are in Arcata, Humboldt, with a lot of programs to raise awareness on this. But we always need more participants that commit to reducing their daily food waste.

Memebers: James, Shane, Tiffany, Mike, Alyssa, Amani, Jacob

How we made our decisions: We went down the entire list and talked about how each solution made sense or not in Humboldt County. We ended up having more than 15 by the end of the list and had to go back and narrow it down to the ones we found to be the most impactful and within reason.

Our 15 top:

1. Wind Turbines (Onshore)

2. Reduce Food Waste

3. Plant-Rich diet

4. Silvopasture

5. Temperate Forests

6. Afforestation

7. Geothermal

8. Wind Turbines (Offshore)

9. Farmland Restoration

10. Electric Vehicles

11. Wave and Tidal

12. LED Lighting – Household

13. Biomass

14. Coastal Wetlands

15. Net Zero Buildings