By Miriam Raftery

Photo: Creative commons image via Bing

October 22, 2021 (Lemon Grove) – Lemon Grove’s City Council voted unanimously on Tuesday to join Tree City USA, a national program that has provided 3.6 million trees to  communities since its inception in 1976. Lemon Grove joins East County’s other cities (La Mesa, El Cajon and Santee) and  3,600 other communities in all 50 states.

Planting a thriving urban forest creates theses benefits for communities, according to Tree City USA, a project of the Arbor Day Foundation:  

By Miriam Raftery

Photo, left: September 30 protest at Barona reservation in Lakeside

October 19, 2021 (Lakeside) –  Members of the Barona band of Mission Indians and other tribal nations have joined a fight aiming to stop the proposed Sandy Valley lithium mine in Arizona and proposed lithium mining at the Salton Sea in California that could adversely impact Native Americans.

Local activist Bobby Wallace led a local contingency of tribal members who traveled in late September to Arizona, where the Hualapai people are battling to stop the federal Bureau of Land Management from issuing permits for lithium mining that could threaten tribal water supplies.

Participants included tribal leaders and/or tribal council members from the Hualapai Nation and the Peach Springs tribe, as well as tribal youths and members of the Yavapai Apache People, Mohawk/Oneida tribe, Pueblo, Navajo, Zuni, and San Diego County tribal members from the Kumeyaay and Luiseno, as well as representatives of other activist groups.

Lithium is prized for use in cell phones, computers, batteries and other technology devices -- but at a high environmental price for those impacted by hard-rock and open-pit mining used to extract it.  Now tribal members are urging the federal government to prioritize metal and rare earth mineral recycling over issuance of new mining permits. The Environmental Protection Agency reports that metal mining accounts for 41 percent of toxic substances released and hard rock mines may have already contaminated 40% of watersheds in the West, the Arizona Republic reported on October 2.

By Barb Ambrose

Photo:  source 

October 19, 2021 (San Diego) -- Sunny San Diego is the perfect spot to harness the sun’s power and light up your home’s exterior. Why go solar? Because solar lights are energy-efficient, economical, and free you from electrical outlets. They also add beauty while saving you money on your electric bill. Here are some ideas for using solar lighting to help your home’s exterior shine.

By Mike Allen

October 15, 2021 (Santee) -- The joint powers agency creating the East County Advanced Water Purification (AWP) Program is using a new virtual reality video to inform local citizens about the project as it moves toward construction.

By Miriam Raftery

Photo:  tar balls via Ready San Diego

October 8, 2021 (San Diego) – The San Diego Office of Emergency Services today announced that tar balls have been found as far south as Mission Beach, believed to be from the Orange County offshore oil spill. Today shoreline cleanup and assessment teams are checking beaches from Oceanside to San Diego to guide cleanup operations. The teams will be sampling water, soil and air and testing will occur in the coming days.

By Renee Jiang - EarthTalk

Photo:  Dark-eyed juncos have evolved bigger bills in response to the larger temperature extremes they are experiencing throughout their range across North America thanks to human-induced climate change. Credit: DaPuglet, FlickrCC

October 6, 2021 (San Diego) - "Dear EarthTalk: Is it true that some wildlife species are evolving much more rapidly in response to the warming climate?" -D. Gould, Hendersonville, N.C.

By Henri Migala and Miriam Raftery

Photos courtesy of Ocotillo Wind Turbine Destruction on Facebook

September 20, 2021 (Ocotillo) – Residents in Ocotillo are voicing concerns after yet another wind turbine collapse at the Ocotillo Wind Energy facility. There were no injuries or damage to other structures when the 300-foot-tall turbine crashed to the desert floor at the trouble-prone facility on Thursday, September 16. But residents are raising serious questions over public safety at the site, which produces energy to SDG&E to power the San Diego region.

Action praised by climate activists, criticized by residents fearing increased industrial-scale energy projects in East County to power coastal and urban areas

By Miriam Raftery

September 5, 2021 (San Diego’s East County) – By a 3-2 vote, San Diego County Supervisors voted Tuesday to join San Diego Community Power, a community choice energy program (CCE).  East County’s two representatives, Supervisors Joel Anderson and Jim Desmond, both voted no, but for differing reasons.

Source: Calif. Dept. of Fish and Wildlife

September 1, 2021 (Sacramento) -- The California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) has closed 33 properties that lie within or immediately adjacent to U.S. Forest Service (USFS) boundaries due to extreme fire conditions. Effective immediately, these properties are closed to the public through Friday, Sept. 17. 

Source: County News Service

August 23, 2021 (San Diego) - Summertime means road trips — not just for those of us heading out for fun or vacation, but also for crews working to maintain and improve San Diego County’s unincorporated roads to protect drivers and keep the public safe.

East County News Service

Photos by Roger Coppock

August 21, 2021 (El Cajon) – SD350, an environmental and climate change action group, held a march with dozens of activists today to protest SDG&E’s Cuyamaca Peak gas-fired power plant at 200 N. Johnson Avenue in El Cajon.

East County residents and environmentalists will  rally at SDG&E’s polluting peaker plant in El Cajon  on August 21 @ 10:15 am

By East County News Service

Photo courtesy of DreamTime 

Aug. 19, 2021 (East County) Activists say this plant and SDG&E pollute surrounding environmental justice communities, harm health, and contribute to the climate crisis with fracked gas

What: Dozens of San Diego County residents will gather outside Cuyamaca Peak Power on Saturday, August 21, to demand SDG&E stop polluting East County Communities and switch to renewable alternatives.

Why: SDG&E and Sempra are polluting El Cajon and other communities of concern in San Diego County by operating dirty gas-fired “Peaker plants,” including Cuyamaca Peak Power located at 200 N Johnson Ave.  The polluting nitrogen oxides from this plant expose residents to asthma and other health impacts in a disadvantaged community. This plant also relies on dirty energy contributing to devastating climate change effects like drought and wildfires, fracking our future. El Cajon and San Diego residents call on Sempra to not renew the permit of this plant and replace peaker plants with safe, renewable local solar energy and battery storage.  

When: Saturday, August 21, 10:15 am

Where: 104 N Johnson Ave, El Cajon, CA 92020

San Diego River Park Foundation cleanup opportunity for Santee's Forester Creek

Community service hours can be verified!

East County News Service

August 10, 2021 (Santee) - Each year, San Diego River Park Foundation volunteers remove more than 200,000 pounds of trash from our river. Without their amazing volunteers, this trash would be left to pollute native animal habitats, create unsightly piles in our parks and public spaces, leach contaminants into the water, and could be washed out into our ocean and beaches!

YOU can help with this critical work by cleaning up storm water debris and litter this Saturday, August 17 at Forester Creek in Santee from 9 a.m. to 12 noon.

By Miriam Raftery

July 30, 2021 (San Diego) – A new pedestrian and bicycle bridge will soon be built across the San Diego River Crossing Trail, thanks to a $1.5 million state grant secured by Senate President Pro Tem Toni Atkins (D-San Diego) for the Mission Trials Regional Park Foundation.

CAP Update Measure Development Workshop: Energy, Water, and Waste Emissions Reduction Sectors

East County News Service

July 24, 2021 (Unincorporated San Diego) - The County invites you to participate in their online Climate Action Plan (CAP) Update measure development workshop series. The July 28 virtual workshop covers Energy, water, and waste emissions reduction sectors.

Date: Wednesday, July 28, 2021 at 6:00 PM

Use this link to register for the workshop and add the event to your calendar. You will receive a confirmation e-mail and a numeric passcode to participate in the meeting. 

If you are interested in being notified of their upcoming opportunities to participate, please sign up for the County’s CAP mailing list.