Greenway’s Kirk Cohune interviews Humboldt County Community Development Specialist in Affordable Housing and Brownfields, Andrew Whitney, about economic development benefits of environmental restoration. Andrew has conducted an inventory of brownfields sites in Humboldt County; he is a local expert on issues surrounding legacy pollution, site remediation and restoration, and site reuse. The discussion includes brownfields cleanup limitations and incentives, as well as tie-ins with the General Plan Update, infill development, agriculture and forest land preservation, and urban redevelopment.

EcoNews Report January 19, 2012

Greenway’s David Narum and Kirk Cohune interview regional development enthusiast Kathy Moxon, currently the director of both Redwood Coast Rural Action and Redwood Forest Foundation, about the innovative economic development potential of forestry waste products. In particular, she describes ways to add value to woody biomass debris–waste material from logging activities or removed for forest thinning and health efforts, which otherwise costs money to remove from the forests. One option presented is the production of a marketable and versatile product called bio-char. Small-scale production trials in Mendocino have proven economically viable and offer local entrepreneurs opportunities for business development.

EcoNews Report December 15, 2011

Greenway’s David Narum interviews Arcata Community Recycling Center Executive Director Mark Loughmiller about proposed changes in the region’s waste management. These changes threaten to close the decades-old, not-profit recycling institution.

EcoNews Report June 23, 2011

Greenway’s David Narum and Kirk Cohune interview HSU engineering Professor Beth Eschenbach engineering applications for sustainability as well as initiatives underway to get youth interested in science, math and engineering. Programs such as Design Your Future and Engineering is Elementary engage youth in creative exploration and innovation.

EcoNews Report May 19, 2011

Greenway’s Kirk Cohune and David Narum interview Peter Alstone of the Schatz Energy Research Center about energy use associated with indoor marijuana production, especially in the local region. Hear how this energy draw compares to the rest of the U.S.

EcoNews Report April 21, 2011

Greenway’s Kirk Cohune and David Narum interview partner Steve Salzman, also Executive Director of Humboldt Plan It Green, about this year’s Building Green Communities conference. The conference theme is “The Next Generation,” and it focuses on youth and their outlook on the future. Plan It Green volunteers offer their views on the conference as well.

EcoNews Report March 31, 2011