Earth Day is this Saturday, April 22, a chance to get out into the great outdoors and maybe even volunteer your time in service of Mother Nature.

All national parks are free on Saturday, as Earth Day kicks off National Park Week.

Anthony Castaños, land stewardship manager for the Save the Redwoods League, encouraged everyone to explore their local parks.

"Getting connected with your parks, feeling a little invested," Castaños encouraged. "Getting to know the members of your community really helps build support for more attention to these coveted landscapes that we want to make sure they're protected."

Los Angeles, Sacramento, San Diego and San Francisco all have large-scale festivals going on this weekend. Communities up and down the state are organizing local trash cleanup opportunities. The state parks website has a page dedicated to volunteer work, and the Sierra Club website lists local Earth Day events as well.

Castaños noted Save the Redwoods does its part by buying land to save it from development, then sending in crews to thin out the dead wood, so we're better protected from the next wildfire.

"We need to recover from centuries of fire suppression, the fuel buildup," Castaños explained. "Coupled with climate change, we're seeing each year, more and more severe high-intensity wildfires that we need to address, working with Native tribes."

Closer to home, you can celebrate Earth Day by going to the Cal Recycle website to learn ways your family can create less trash, cut down on food waste, and, of course, recycle.

Offshore wind in New York and New Jersey is becoming a large contributor to job growth.

New York's offshore wind investments are slated to create between 18,000 and 23,000 jobs, according to a state estimate.

Meanwhile, the New Jersey Economic Development Authority reported offshore wind jobs will hit their peak in 2030 at 20,000, with steady growth in the next decade.

More than 120 elected officials in New Jersey have signed a letter calling for further growth in the sector.

Caren Fitzpatrick, an Atlantic County commissioner, believes southern New Jersey can become a hub to provide offshore wind development for the East Coast.

"Our manufacturing area over in Salem County, in the southwestern part of the state, is perfectly situated to create and build the turbines, the monopolies, the bases, and they can just ship them down the Delaware River," Fitzpatrick pointed out.

Fitzpatrick noted misinformation about the wind farms endangers their futures. Some of the opposition surrounds the turbines obstructing Atlantic City's views, and hazards to bird species. But the Ocean Wind Offshore Wind Farm will be 15 miles offshore, about five times farther than the human eye can see, and eight miles farther than birds migrate.

Outside of jobs, some see the state's shift to renewables as a health benefit. A 2022 report showed parts of Burlington County are more at risk for different diseases from toxic air particulate matter than others.

Balvir Singh, a Burlington County commissioner, feels it's time for New Jersey to shift to renewables.

"The bottom line is this: Clean energy is needed to protect our residents from the worst impacts of climate change," Singh asserted. "We must slow or reverse dependence on fossil fuels, and must continue to move forward with our transition to alternative sources such as solar power and wind farms."

Singh added state residents are already seeing the effects of climate change. New Jersey's 2022 State of the Climate report showed the state, along with much of the northeastern U.S. is facing increased summer temperatures, but rainfall remains unchanged, leading to brief drought conditions increasing.

In Yellowstone National Park, 30,000 acres are protected from mining by Congressional order, but there is a sliver left unprotected, and a Montana nonprofit is trying to change it.

The Bozeman-based Greater Yellowstone Coalition wants to close what it sees as a dangerous loophole, which could still allow mining to happen on the edge of the world's first national park.

The group is trying to raise $6.25 million to buy the land and mineral rights on private property in what is known as the Yellowstone gateway along the northern edge of the park, to prevent Crevice Mining Group from prospecting for gold.

Scott Christensen, executive director of the Greater Yellowstone Coalition, said the deal will "extinguish the last real and significant mining threat on the border of Yellowstone National Park forever."

"Purchasing the mineral rights, the mining leases, the claims that they've staked, the mining permit they have, all of the proprietary plans and exploration information that they have," Christensen outlined. "Allowing them to walk away and avoid a mine being built on the boundary of Yellowstone."

Christensen pointed out the coalition has until Oct. 1 to raise the remaining $2.35 million to buy the mining rights, or Crevice will move forward with its plans.

In addition to concerns over mining, Crevice Mountain, where the mine is being proposed, is also prime grizzly bear habitat and home to a migration corridor for elk, mule deer and bighorn sheep.

Christensen emphasized wildlife are another reason for concern about a potential mine.

"I just have to believe there are a lot of people out there in our country and really in the world who share the same passion that we do for Yellowstone National Park and this amazing greater Yellowstone ecosystem," Christensen contended.

The coalition website states a mine on Crevice Mountain would permanently alter vital wildlife habitat north of Yellowstone and could severely impact the character, water quality and aesthetic value of much of the park itself.


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The federal Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration regulates carbon dioxide pipelines, and is holding a two-day conference in Des Moines to take public input and discuss issues surrounding the pipelines.

Opponents believe they threaten air and water quality as well as the people who live near them. Ethanol producers say removing carbon dioxide via pipelines and burying it deep in the ground through a process known as carbon capture and sequestration is an effective way to address safety and environmental concerns.

Ava Auen-Ryan, director of farming and environment for the group Iowa Citizens for Community Improvement, said environmentalists want a federal moratorium on the pipelines until they can be studied more thoroughly, and will make it clear to federal regulators at the conference.

"I think we hope to build pressure on the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration to do their job well," Auen-Ryan explained. "Also to build pressure on state and federal entities to enact a moratorium on CO2 pipelines."

The agenda showed the committee will discuss public awareness, emergency response and effective communication with emergency first responders and with the public during the conference, which takes place today and tomorrow.

Beyond the potential long-term environmental impacts and health implications, Auen-Ryan also cautioned about the immediate human threats posed in the event a pipeline should rupture, and pointed to a break in Mississippi three years ago, sickening 45 people.

Ryan emphasized the very nature of carbon dioxide, which displaces oxygen in the environment, makes it extremely dangerous in an emergency.

"Gas-combustion vehicles; they can't work," Auen-Ryan pointed out. "They need oxygen to work, so that means that emergency response folks cannot get into those communities and people cannot leave the communities via car. And we also know that rural communities in Iowa are not equipped to respond to something like that. "

The agency will also discuss safety expectations for pipeline operators as well as the general state of pipeline infrastructure. There are currently three companies planning to build carbon dioxide pipelines in Iowa.