By Suzanne Potter, California News Service

Photo:  Giant Sequoia redwood trees, by Yaya  Ernst, AdobeStock

November 17,2023 (Sacramento) -- Have you ever wanted to see the California redwoods, play in the Sierra snow, take a dip at the beach or just throw a family barbecue at the park? This week, the state just launched a new strategic plan to make it happen for more people.

California just launched the "Outdoors for All Strategy," which aims to make the state's natural spaces more accessible, more welcoming and less expensive.

By Jordan Frey

October 10, 2023 (Ramona) — A male coyote pup who came to San Diego Humane Society’s Ramona Wildlife Center with a broken tibia in May is now back in the wild. The coyote was released back to the wild near Palomar Mountain in northern San Diego County, along with five other coyotes who were rehabilitated by San Diego Humane Society’s Project Wildlife program.

By Susanne Clara Bard

September 12, 2023 (San Diego) -- A striking black and yellow beetle called the goldspotted oak borer has been decimating oak trees in Southern California for more than 20 years, including on the ancestral lands of the La Jolla Band of Luiseño Indians on Palomar Mountain. The insects’ larvae burrow into bark, increasing drought stress on the trees. 

East County News Service

August 31, 2023 (San Diego) -- Crowley and the Port of San Diego broke ground for the shoreside charging station designed to provide clean energy for the company’s forth-coming zero-emissions tugboat, eWolf. Joined by key partners and community stakeholders, the ceremony marked a significant step forward in the industry’s journey to decarbonization and reduce emissions in the San Diego community. 

Source:  SDG&E

Photo:  Shelter Valley Community Center Board President Steve Bassett inspects installation at Shelter Valley Community Center site.

Connected devices such as energy storage and smart thermostats centrally managed to reduce demand on the grid

August 28, 2023 (San Diego) – As extreme heat records fall across the West and strain the power grid, San Diego Gas & Electric is piloting a new cleantech innovation known as a virtual power plant (VPP) to reduce energy demand and put electricity back on the grid during peak hours – all through leveraging the capabilities of customer-owned smart thermostats, rooftop solar, energy storage and other connected resources such as water pumps.

East County News Service

August 22, 2023 (Spring Valley) -- If your household or business has leftover paint you’d like to recycle, you can drop it off at Steele Canyon High School (12440 Campo Rd., Spring Valley) on Saturday, August 26th from 8 a.m.to noon. The event is organized by the nonprofit Paintcare.

East County News Service

August 16, 2023 (San Diego's East County)—Yesterday the  Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals issued a published opinion vacating as “arbitrary and capricious” the Federal Aviation Administration (“FAA) denial of a petition by an environmental organization, Backcountry Against Dumps.

The group sought discretionary review of a plan by Terra-Gen Development Company to construct 72 wind turbines, including 60 that would be 586 feet tall on the crest of the Coast Range on the Campo reservation in the Campo-Boulevard areas of San Diego's East County. The turbines would be roughly twice the height of the Statue of Liberty and located within the principal aviation corridor between San Diego, California and Yuma, Arizona.

Backcountry’s petition recognized the vital need for renewable energy to counter climate change, but pointed out that public and environmental safety must also be factored into project reviews.

It cited documentation showing the turbines would pose collision hazards to fixed wing and rotary aircraft, impair radar function, potentially trigger greenhouse gas-emitting wildfires due to wind-induced sparking of power lines, lightning strikes and overheating of rotors, impede aerial firefighting and other emergency response, and force air traffic to fly at higher altitudes more prone to icing hazards to clear these enormous obstructions.

By Suzanne Potter, California News Service

August 14, 2023 (San Diego) --Starting next year, low and middle-income families in California are expected to be able to apply for up to $14,000 in grants and rebates to make their home more energy-efficient. The U.S. Department of Energy has just released guidelines that allow California to receive $582-million from President Biden's Inflation Reduction Act.

By: Jessyka Heredia

August 3, 2023 (Rancho San Diego)—On Tuesday, members of the Valle De Oro Community Planning Group met at their regular monthly meeting to discuss the recently recirculated Environmental Impact Report (EIR) on the Cottonwood Sand Mine project that is proposed on 214 acres of land at the Cottonwood Golf Course. The goal was to approve a drafted letter to the County to share their concerns on the project.

By: Jessyka Heredia

Watch the full video here: https://www.youtube.com/live/EfC-xnCUzmo?feature=share

July 25, 2023 (El Cajon)—Hundreds of residents showed up Tuesday evening to a public meeting held at Hillsdale Middle School, convened by The County of San Diego Planning Commission regarding a revised Environmental Impact Report (EIR) on the controversial Cottonwood sand mine proposal.  Those present in the packed room showed solidarity in opposition to the sand mine project currently under consideration by the County of San Diego on a 214 acre section of Cottonwood golf course in El Cajon.

92% of comments supportive of the Public Lands Rule

July 28, 2023 (Washington D.C.) - The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) on July 5 ended a 90-day comment period on the proposed Public Lands Rule, which will put conservation on equal footing with oil and gas development and other extractive uses - 92% of the comments supported the Public Lands Rule, and were submitted from all 50 states.

By Miriam Raftery

Mexican sewage has contaminated beaches from South Bay to North County in recent months

July 1, 2023 (San Diego)—Three San Diego Congressional members  have asked President Joe Biden to declare a federal state of  emergency over the Tijuana River sewage crisis that has prompted numerous closures of beaches across  San Diego County in recent months.

By José Eli Villanueva, County of San Diego Communications Office

June 12, 2023 (Del Mar) - Get great ideas to get outside this summer at a new San Diego County fair exhibit. This year’s theme at the fair is ‘Get Out There’ and the County’s Parks and Recreation Department is featured in the main hall. Here’s a sneak peek and be sure to stop by when you’re at the fair.

By Miriam Raftery

Photo by Miriam Raftery: Rooftop solar on People's Market in Ocean Beach

May 29, 2023 (San Diego) – For years, residents in San Diego’s rural and desert areas have argued that it would make more sense to put solar on roofs and parking lots in urban areas where power is used, instead of building massive wind and solar projects in the backcountry that negatively impact communities and require miles of new power lines. On May 25, County Supervisors voted unanimously to approve a proposal by Supervisor Jim Desmond that will include studying capacity for renewable energy projects on infill lots, roofs and parking lots.

The study will be part of the proposed Regional Decarbonization Framework (RDF), which sets a goal of reducing carbon emissions to net-zero levels by 2045. The Chief Administrator has six months to complete the study and report back to the Board of  Supervisors, though the board cannot vote until the vacancy in District four has been filled by a special election.

As ECM reported in early March, the Protect Our Communities Foundation filed a lawsuit in late February against the County over its RDF, contending that the County hired a  biased utility industry consultant to direct the County’s RDF and that its conclusions are skewed toward utilities’ interests over consumers’ interests based on flawed data and that it would actually cost less for infill energy projects than for large-scale energy facilities in remote areas, if costs of transmission is factored in.

East County News Service

May 27, 2023 (El Cajon) – The Biden-Harris administration has announced over $4.8 million in grants to Southern California to cleanup polluted brown field sites and provide technical assistance. That includes a $500,000 grant to the East County Economic Development Council Foundation to address contamination cleanup in the city of El Cajon.

According to the EPA site, the target area for this grant is the 1.4-square-mile El Cajon Opportunity Zone Corridor. Priority sites include a 1.1-acre former commercial and lumber operation; a 3.06-acre former ice house, lumber operation, and garage; and several sites formerly used for auto repair centers, a dry cleaner, a gas station, and a current restaurant and motel.

Congresswoman Sara Jacobs (D-San Diego) says, “Safely cleaning up and reinvesting in properties with potentially hazardous materials strengthens our local tax base, promotes job growth, and protects public health and the environment. That’s why I’m so glad East County Economic Development Council Foundation will receive a much-needed $500,000 from the EPA to invest in properties and frontline communities that have been ignored and neglected for far too long.”