September 14, 2013 (San Diego) – Activist San Diego is holding a general meeting on September 16, beginning at 7 p.m., at Joyce Beers Center, 3900 Vermont St., San Diego.  The meeting will address climate change and the XL Keystone Pipeline.

Local legislators divided on measure

Photo: Bobcat family in Lakeside, photo by Billy Ortiz

September 13, 2013 (Sacramento) – A bill to prohibit trapping of bobcats around public parks and wildlife refuges in California is now on the Governor’s desk awaiting signature.  The bill, AB 1213, would also prohibit trapping bobcats on private property without the landowner’s permission.   

An estimated 1,813 bobcats were killed in the 2011-2012 license season, up 51% over the prior year. The vast majority of those (1,499) were taken by trappers, the rest by hunters.  Bobcat pelt prices have soared from $78 in 2009 to over $700 today, the Los Angeles Times reported.

September 11, 2013 (La Mesa) – Sullivan Solar Power invites the public to two free  events on solar energy in La Mesa:

• La Mesa Solar Luncheon on Saturday, September 21st at 11:00 a.m.at the La Mesa Community Center (4975 Memorial Dr.). will provide opportunities to, learn about solar technology, how to determine if solar is right for your home, rebates and incentives, and local case studies. The presentation will last one hour; lunch will be provided. RSVP: 1.800.SULLIVAN. 

• Solar Open House on Saturday, September 28th from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. in La Mesa at 7430 Orien Avenue. Utility rates went up as much as 39% recently. Learn about solar technology, rebates and incentives, and the SDG&E rate hike from solar industry experts while talking to property owners that went solar. Call 1.800.SULLIVAN for more information.
  

By Miriam Raftery

September 8, 2013 (Ocotillo) – A new dust storm, flooding and more white foam flowed through Ocotillo today, heightening residents’ concerns about impacts of Pattern Energy’s Ocotillo Express Wind Energy Facility on this desert community. 

At 4:40 p.m. a storm hit, sending massive amounts of dust into the air, this time coming directly from project access dirt roads created by Pattern Energy, according to Jim Pelley, who shot this video. Soon after, a storm brought flash flooding, which residents claim is worsened by drainage changes made by the wind developer.  The flood brought a repeat of an unknown white sludgy substance washing across the desert floor and into the town. 

“The white foam is back moving across the project. It was a bit eerie,” said Pelly, who took video of today’s white foam flood as well.

By Paul Kruze

September 5, 2013 (San Diego)-- A small but passionate group of local environmentalists and workers for Sullivan Solar Power, a local solar panel installation company,  gathered in front of Sempra Energy’s downtown corporate offices on August 28 to protest the energy conglomerate’s backing of California Assembly Bill 327. Opponents here and at protests elsewhere in California said the bill would irreparably gut incentives for energy conservation and rooftop solar development.

Introduced by Assemblyman Henry T. Perea (D-Fresno), the proposed bill was approved by the California Senate Energy Committee late last week, with major amendments. If passed by the Legislature and signed by the Governor, it would replace  what utilities and other supporters say are outdated restrictions on how electrical rates are decided and approved.

September 6, 2013 (La Mesa) – The City of La Mesa is holding its sixth annual “Sustain La Mesa” Environmental Festival September 7 from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at Harry Griffen Park, 9550 Milden Street, La Mesa.  The free event is presented by the La Mesa Environmental Sustainability Commission and will feature hydroponics, solar cooking, composting, electric vehicles, kid’s crafts and more.

SDG&E offers programs to assist low-income ratepayers, those with medical needs, and FLEX alerts for energy savings

By Walt Meyer          

August 31, 2013 (San Diego)--Although temperatures have finally climbed to the normal range for the end of August, so far it’s been a mild summer, with temperatures below average, and for much of San Diego County, having things a few degrees cooler means not having to turn on the air conditioning. Hot summer days pose the biggest challenge to keeping the juice flowing without brownouts.

While renewable promise a long-term solution, in the short term, with San Onofre offline, likely permanently, the generating power of Southern California will be severely tested in a heat wave. As the region moves deeper into what is likely to a bad fire season, blazes near power lines also pose another imminent threats to the fragile power grid.

There is another good reason to try to keep the A/C off and switch to renewable: starting September 1, SDG&E is imposing a major rate increase. The rate hike will affect Tiers 3 and 4, but not Tiers 1 and 2 at all, which means many ratepayers in more temperate areas may not see any increase, but those who are usually have rates in the higher tiers will see their rates go up.

San Diego Zoo, which manages the shelter, disputes AP report

By Miriam Raftery; photo courtesy of the San Diego Zoo

August 29, 2013 (San Diego) – Earlier this week, Associated Press ran a story which stated, “Federal funds  are running out at the Desert Tortoise Conservation Center and officials plan to close the site and euthanize hundreds of the tortoises they’ve been caring for since the animals were added to the endangered species list in 1990.”

But the San Diego Zoo, which managers that center, told East County Magazine that while the center’s funding is in question, no healthy tortoises will be euthanized.  The U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service has also issued a press release finding fault with AP’s reporting.

August 26, 2013 (San Diego) – Dear EarthTalk: Might another possible source for ethanol be discarded pastries from bakeries? For that matter, wouldn’t fermenting unsold bananas, oranges and apples from grocery store produce departments be able to provide an ample supply of fuel?

-- Curious in Warren, PA

Food waste is indeed an untapped resource with great potential for generating energy. Some one third of all food produced around the world gets discarded uneaten, and environmentalists, energy analysts and entrepreneurs are beginning to take notice. Diverting even just a portion of this waste to so-called waste-to-energy (WTE) systems could free up large amounts of landfill space while powering our vehicles and heating our homes, and thus putting a significant dent in our collective carbon footprint. Perhaps that’s why WTE is one of the fastest growing segments of the world’s quickly diversifying energy sector.

Reprinted with permission from San Diego Loves Green

By Roy Hales

August 22, 2013 (San Diego) – Almost 38% of the votes cast in favor of AB 327 last month came from Assembly Members who list “electric utilities” among their top ten campaign contributors. That is a lot of money and it is worth noting that these were not the only “yes” votes that received money.

Prosecutor contends Bittner more concerned with economic gain than well-being of raptors;

Bittner data used to justify wind and other energy projects in San Diego/Imperial Counties, Mexico & elsewhere

By Nadin Abbott and Miriam Raftery

August 13, 2013 (San Diego)—U.S. Magistrate Judge David H. Bartick sentenced John David Bittner of Julian, president of the Wildlife Research Institute in Ramona,  to three years probation and a $7500 fine.  Bittner pled guilty  to unlawful taking of a Golden Eagle without a permit and failing to file any data reports for a four-year period on birds that he had banded.   The government could have imposed up to a $100,000 fine and a one-year prison sentence, but instead hope to induce Bittner to turn over years of missing data as a condition of probation.

"We support the Justice Dept’s vigilance in prosecuting Bittner for his serious transgressions and unlawful behavior,” said Donna Tisdale with the Protect Our Communities organization. ““When unethical and basically corrupt experts like Bittner side with industry over avian protection—our beautiful birds literally get clobbered with the blunt end of the turbine blade.”

But she suggested that the fine amounted to a slap on the wrist in light of the more than $600,000 that Bittner’s Wildlife Research Institute raked in through consulting fees for corporations. Iberdrola and Pattern Energy hired him to write reports justifying their wind projects, Tule Wind in McCain Valley and the Ocotillo Express Wind Facility. Sempra Energy also hired Bittner as its eagle consultant for its massive Energia Sierra Juarez Wind in Baja California.

By Miriam Raftery

August 12, 2013 (Ocotillo) – When Pattern Energy presented its proposed Ocotillo Express Wind Facility project to Imperial County Supervisors, the company promised that massive industrial wind turbines would be no louder than a refrigerator or a library.   But now residents are complaining that noise levels are far louder—and they’ve provided a video to bolster their claim.

The problems foreshadow issues that East County residents could soon face when similar gargantuan wind turbines slated to be built in East County are completed -- turbines 500 feet tall with blade spans the size of football fields--far larger than any located in our region thus far.

On August 7, with many turbines still off-line due to safety issues after a blade fell off,  ECM photojournalist and Ocotillo resident Jim Pelley took the following video to show the high noise levels to which area residents were being subjected:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VF8eMvb4570&feature=youtu.be  Since then, the problem had gotten even worse, residents say, with more turbines now back online.

By Miriam Raftery

August 4, 2013 (Washington D.C. ) –Two members of Congress (Jerry McNerney, D- Stockton, CA and Matt Cartwright, D- PA) have introduced the Smart Grid Advancement Act of 2013 (HR 2685) that would require the Secretary of Energy and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency administrator to take designated actions if they find that use of smart grid technologies save energy and money.  Congressman Scott Peters from San Diego (D-52) is a cosponsor of the bill.

But opponents say this could require all electricity providers (including rural cooperatives and municipal utilities) to join the ‘smart’ grid and install ‘smart’ meters, and that it could negate states’ rights to regulate smart meters and wireless appliances.  The bill could lead to an overriding of state laws and regulations that give consumers power to opt out of having smart meters, which produce electro-magnetic frequency radiation that have raised health concerns, opponents warn.  It could lead to requiring energy-saving appliances to include wireless transmitters.

Originally posted July 27, 2013 on San Diego Loves Green

By Roy L. Hales

I recently asked one of San Diego’s better known engineers, Bill Powers, a number of questions about the Sunrise Powerlink and rooftop solar energy. These are his answers.

July 29, 2013 (San Diego) -- Dear EarthTalk: Hurricane Sandy brought more sea water onto shorelines than I’d ever witnessed before and many communities near where I live are now being required to raise their homes up. What is the prognosis for sea level rise in the years immediately ahead?

-- Scott P., Fairfield, CT



Since sea level measurements were first recorded, in 1870, global averages have risen almost eight inches. The annual rate of rise has been 0.13 inches over the past 20 years, which is close to twice the average from the previous 80 years. Future estimates for sea levels vary according to region but most Earth scientists agree that sea levels are expected to rise at a greater pace than during the last 50 years.