Sonoma County animal-rights activists are inching forward with a controversial initiative that would shut down any large ag operations in our area that qualify as factory farms. It’s a “significant threat,” the Sonoma County Farm Bureau argues, “to the livelihoods of local farmers such as Clover Sonoma and Straus Family Creamery, the availability of local food sources, and the rural character of our community.” According to the North Bay Business Journal, “the initiative would phase out medium- and large-sized ‘concentrated agricultural feeding operations,’ or CAFOs, in Sonoma County. The definition of a CAFO includes animals stabled or confined for 45 days or more in any 12-month period.” It’s not a sure thing yet that we’ll be voting on this issue come November — but that is one possibility, now that the proposal has enough signatures, a whopping 37,000, to either go on the ballot or go in front of the Sonoma County Board of Supervisors for approval. Both routes would be an uphill battle for the group behind this thing: the Coalition to End Factory Farming, closely linked to an animal liberation group called Direct Action Everywhere. Coalition leaders argues that factory farms “are a leading cause of greenhouse gas emissions, along with a host of other detriments to people, animals and the environment,” KRCB news radio reports. However, county supervisors seemed highly skeptical of the proposal at their meeting last week. “Anticipating major economic implications and fiscal obligations should the CAFO ban pass, the supervisors asked for a comprehensive report,” KRCB reports. More from the news radio station: “Supervisor Lynda Hopkins noted a raft of concerns, ranging from how the measure could affect community programs like 4-H, to the county budget. ‘This could potentially be a multi-million dollar implementation if this were to move forward,’ Hopkins said. ‘And it would essentially be an unfunded mandate on county government with us having to stand up new programs.’ Hopkins also raised the possibility of the Board registering formal opposition to the measure. Supervisors David Rabbitt and James Gore are also strident in their concern over the effects of banning large animal ag operations. Of the measure, Gore, who previously worked in the federal Natural Resources Conservation Service, said he feels, ‘this is really ideology masked in environmentalism.'” County staff will be working on that requested report for the next month, and then the issue will come back in front of supervisors. (Source: KRCB & Sonoma County Gazette & Sonoma County Farm Bureau & North Bay Business Journal)

Sonoma County government officials announced last week that they just wrapped up their first project using money from the Climate Resilience Fund — a pool of $10 million from PG&E, paid out by the utility company as penance for their role in the wildfires that ravaged the region in 2017. This first project, a half-million-dollar composting push, ended up removing “the equivalent of 6,070 metric tons of CO2 from the atmosphere, which is roughly equal to taking 1,500 cars off the road for one year,” county officials say. By their math, “sequestering a similar amount of carbon in a single year would take 7,087 acres of forests.” Officials say they achieved this by providing composting rebates to 16 local farms and ranches last year. The program is “a testament to the power of investing in local partnerships to foster environmental stewardship and reduce emissions of greenhouse gases that are intensifying climate change,” in the words of County Supervisor David Rabbitt. More details from the county: “As a result of the pilot project, more than 5,000 tons of compost were applied on 442 acres of land in Sonoma County in 2023. In addition, partners staged seven events last year to educate the public about composting, the carbon cycle and soil health. More than 380 people attending these events learned valuable techniques about composting at home, the importance of utilizing municipal green bins, and the detrimental effects of sending organic waste to landfills.” Earlier this year, the county also announced plans to build a composting “base” of sorts right next to the tarmac of the Sonoma County Airport — on an old, 15-acre landfill site along Slusser Road that was reportedly shut down in the ’70s. It would reportedly be “the first centralized composting facility in Sonoma County, which is expected to divert and process approximately 65,000 tons of organic material each year.” Currently, the county has to transport all the old food and plant stuff that people leave out in bins to facilities across county lines. So now, at last, we may get a mulch pit of our very own — one that the county then hopes could serve as a source of “high-quality compost” to “support agricultural, landscaping, and public works projects” in our area. The Press Democrat reports that “though its conversion to a commercial composting facility is still years off, an initial feasibility study of the site determined in 2022 there were no disqualifying physical or environmental hurdles.” Also, in case you were worried about the smell — the county’s plan reportedly calls for a “covered row system” that promises to “reduce odor by 99 percent” and prevent runoff into local streams. Oh, and in another recent win for carbon sequestration at the county government level, KRCB news radio reports that “removing most types of native trees in unincorporated areas of Sonoma County now requires a permit, after the county Board of Supervisors finalized a pair of tree ordinances that were in the planning stages for three years” — a new law “meant to increase climate resiliency.” Slowly but surely… (Source: Sonoma County Government & Sonoma County Government & Press Democrat & KRCB)

It’s been a big week for the local movement against Israel’s monthslong war in Gaza, which has reportedly killed more than 30,000 Palestinians. After major anti-war protests swept the nation on Monday — including ones in the Bay Area that halted traffic on the Golden Gate Bridge and the 880 for hours, as activists reportedly chained themselves to 55-gallon drums filled with cement — the “Sonoma County for Palestine” group organized a followup demonstration in Healdsburg on Tuesday morning. It targeted the local offices of a large U.S. weapons manufacturer called General Dynamics Ordnance and Tactical Systems, which activists say is behind some of the bombs that Israel is dropping on Gaza. General Dynamics is located in a big, nondescript building right next to Healdsburg’s post office — and has been for decades, without much notice from locals. The activist group claimed on Facebook that “General Dynamics makes 2,000-pound bombs that have been linked to mass-casualty events in the genocide against Gaza, and they have a factory that makes weapons parts right here in Healdsburg.” Early Tuesday, a few dozen protesters stretched giant red banners with slogans like “Block the Bombs: Free Palestine” across the General Dynamics driveway. They banged on drums, shouted into a megaphone and led call-and-response chants such as “General Dynamics, you can’t hide; stop arming genocide.” The Healdsburg Tribune reports that General Dynamics is the country’s sixth largest defense contractor, and that “it originally developed the F-16 fighter jet and now makes the metal casings of the MK-80 bombs widely used by Israel in the Gaza conflict, as well as 155mm artillery shells.” According to a brochure on the company’s website, the Healdsburg office is where they design and build their “control actuation systems” — aka, the guidance systems for weapons like tactical missiles. The company says its Healdsburg operations are “critical in providing high performance, superb quality, and low cost technically advanced systems to our customers and ultimately the war fighter.” One of Tuesday’s demonstrators, 24-year-old Petaluma resident Ma’ayan Pe’er, told the Tribune they were in Israel on Oct. 7, when Hamas militants attacked a music festival and kibbutz and killed some 1,200 people. “I saw the horrors of the genocide that Israel was enacting on Palestinians and Gaza,” they said. Another local activist group in Sonoma County called “Love and Light: Movement for Change” held a followup demonstration yesterday afternoon in the Healdsburg plaza, to “stand united against genocide and advocate for liberation for all.” And later today, Sonoma County for Palestine also be holding their regular weekly protest in Santa Rosa’s Old Courthouse Square from 2 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. — but this time, with an Earth Day theme. “Killing people kills the planet,” the event flier says. “We cannot end the climate crisis without ending the crisis of genocide in Gaza.” Anti-war activists in Sonoma County have been pushing local government entities for months to pass resolutions calling for a ceasefire in Gaza, but so far only the Cotati City Council has made the move. (Source: Healdsburg Tribune & Sonoma County for Palestine via Facebook & Love & Light via Instagram & General Dynamics & Press Democrat & ABC7)

It’s the greenest weekend of the year in wine country. Between 4/20 yesterday and Earth Day tomorrow, local environmentalists and stoners — you gotta know there’s some crossover — are finding all sorts of ways to celebrate. (Especially since the entire “4/20” concept originated right here in the North Bay, at a high school in Marin!) Not trying to give you FOMO, but there were a bunch of really fun-looking events for 4/20 yesterday — like a big block party at a cluster of venues in Healdsburg, and mini festivals at Courthouse Square in Santa Rosa and the Oxbow Commons in Napa. Cannabis shops across Sonoma and Napa counties made a whole thing out of it, too, hosting live music and handing out goodie bags and the like. There was also the big, all-day Butter & Eggs Day parade and fair in Petaluma yesterday — which wasn’t 4/20 or Earth Day related, but organizers did at least try to give the event a “greener pastures” sustainability angle. Lastly, the iconic pink-and-white Monte Rio Theater along the lower Russian River, which has been trying to raise money to stay open, hosted a blowout “4-20 Earth Day Family Fun Music and Movie Festival” and fundraiser all yesterday, with live reggae and a Doors cover band. Now here are some of the events happening for Earth Day today: More than 2,000 people are expected to flock to the Healdsburg plaza between 12 p.m. and 4 p.m. for the town’s second annual Climate Fest, with 70-plus booths, some offering plant starts and free food, and a mini “transit fair” where you can try out alternate modes of transportation. If you hurry, you can also tag along on a 5k walk/run this morning in Healdsburg, starting at 9 a.m. in the plaza, to kick off the festival. As the event’s big climax moment at 2 p.m., organizers will launch a massive balloon made from thousands of used plastic bags (see pic below). Meanwhile, to the east, the Napa County Bicycle Coalition is inviting everyone to an “environmental art bike ride” at 12:30 p.m. through Wetlands Edge Park in American Canyon — part of a larger Earth Day celebration at the park today that also includes a bird walk and plant tour. And if you don’t get around to doing something earthy this weekend, never fear: You’ll get another chance to clear your conscience and go all-out Greta at a couple of events for Arbor Day next weekend. In Sonoma County, there will be a Tree Fest at Prince Park on the east side of Petaluma next Saturday from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., where you can “enjoy food, music and art activities while you learn from local tree experts about the future of Petaluma’s urban forest.” And that same day in Napa County, the second annual Climate Solutions Showcase will take over the American Legion Hall in Napa. “An exciting array of equipment will be on display, along with demonstrations,” organizers say. (Source: Bohemian & City of Petaluma via Facebook & Healdsburg Tribune & Climate Action Healdsburg & Napa County Bicycle Coalition via Facebook)