Green Scene

GIANT WIND PROJECTS DRAW STRONG OPPOSITION FROM RURAL RESIDENTS AND TRIBAL MEMBERS: DEADLINE FOR COMMENTS IS TODAY

 

By Rebecca Person

Miriam Raftery also contributed to this article

Photos: An existing wind project on the Campo reservation has previously had multiple fires caused by exploding wind turbines, shown here, raising alarm among area residents over fire dangers and other potential hazards posed by the proposed new and far larger turbines

February 3, 2020 (Campo) -- Residents of Campo, Boulevard and Jacumba voiced their concerns Jan. 23rd at a meeting in Boulevard held by the County Planning Development Services staff addressing the construction of 120 wind turbines in Boulevard and on the Campo Reservation.

The wind turbines will be 596’ tall, taller than towers which dot the high desert that stand between 325' to almost 400 ft tall. 60 turbines are planned for the Campo Indian Reservation, and 30 turbines for McCain Valley near I-8 freeway in Boulevard. According to Donna Tisdale, chair of the Boulevard Community Planning Group, these may be the largest wind turbines ever erected on land. Turbines on tribal land would also abut her property in rural Boulevard. Setbacks from some homes would be far less than at many other wind projects, even though the turbines are larger.

Over 60 local residents gathered at the meeting and many spoke of the effects existing towers have had on their quality of life. Campo Band of Mission Indians tribal members who live on the Campo Reservation and oppose the project stated that they have presented a petition with 65 signatures asking their tribal council to overturn an earlier disputed vote to erect the giant turbines on the reservation.


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REPORT URGING ACTION ON AFFORDABLE HOUSING AND TRANSPORTATION FUNDING RELEASED

Source: Circulate San Diego
 
February 1, 2020 (San Diego) – Supervisor Nathan Fletcher (photo, center) and affordable housing advocates joined Circulate San Diego for the release of “Fair Share,” Circulate’s report that details how San Diego is not receiving its fair share of affordable housing and transportation funds.
 
The Affordable Housing and Sustainable Communities Program is a state grant program that funds the construction of affordable housing and transportation projects that address San Diego’s homelessness and housing crisis, and greenhouse gas reductions goals. Unfortunately, the San Diego region received $14 million less than it would if it had won grant funding proportionate with the County’s share of California’s population in the last grant cycle alone.
 
“As this report makes clear, we need to move together as a region to make San Diego more competitive for funding that can lower housing costs, reduce traffic congestion, address climate change - all while building a San Diego for all” said County Supervisor Nathan Fletcher.

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POLL: CARMAKERS' SUPPORT FOR CLEAN CAR ROLLBACKS ALIENATES CUSTOMERS

By Suzanne Potter, California News Service
Photo: Tailpipe emissions, CC by SA via Bing
 
January 29, 2020 (Sacramento) --  A new poll suggests carmakers that support the Trump administration's attempt to roll back clean-car emission standards may be undermining their standing with their customers. Toyota, General Motors, Fiat Chrysler, Subaru, Nissan, Mazda, Hyundai, Kia, and Mitsubishi support the feds in a lawsuit to prevent California from establishing tougher emissions standards than those set by the federal government.

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TOXIC PFAS “FOREVER CHEMICALS” FOUND IN WATER SUPPLIES ACROSS U.S., BUT TRUMP THREATENS TO VETO REGULATORY BILL

PFAS chemicals have been used in some fire-fighting foams, cookware, carpets, clothing,  and fast-food wrappers

By Miriam Raftery and Rebecca Jefferis Williamson

Photo, left: Poster for 2019 Dark Waters movie

January 26, 2020 (San Diego’s East County) – The 2019 movie “Dark Waters” alerted the public to health hazards posed by perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS, also know as PFOA and PFOS) that contaminated water and groundwater around manufacturer DuPont’s facility in Parksburg, West Virginia. The chemicals have been linked to deaths, cancer and more--and they are pervasive, found in 97% of Americans tested, PBS reports, citing a U.S. National Health and Nutrition Examination study in 2015.

Pollution nationwide

Recent tests by the Environmental Working Group (EWG) found PFAS in water supplies of major cities across the U.S. – far more than revealed in federal tests.  Yet the federal government has failed to take action to protect public health. A bill seeking to regulate PFAS has passed the House of Representatives and faces an uphill battle in the Senate. Even if it passes,  President Donald Trump has threatened to veto the measure.

California contamination

In California, a 2019 study found drinking water sources for 74 community water systems serving 7.5 million Californians are contaminated with PFAS, according to an EWG review of the latest state data, as the Los Angeles Times reported.

All PFAS found in California water systems’ sources exceeded 1 part per trillion, or ppt, the safe level recommended by the best independent studies.  At the Camp Pendleton Marine Corps base, a combined concentration of 820 ppt for seven different PFAS chemicals was measured in a single well in 2017.


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MISSION TRAILS ANNOUNCES WORKSHOPS ON BIRD IDENTIFICATION AND MOUNTAIN LIONS

East County News Service
 
January 15, 2020 (San Diego)—Mission Trails Regional Park announces a series of bird identification workshops on Saturdays, Feb. 1, 8, 15, and 22 from 1-3 p.m. at a cost of $15 per session. 
 
In addition, on Thursday Feb. 13 at 7 p.m. a program on “Mystery cat: Southern Caifornia’s elusive mountain lion” will be presented in the visitors’ center at a $10 cost.
 
Bird identification: The bird identification workshops will be led by Millie Basden and include a guided in-field walk the following morning.  Learn to identify 50 common birds found in Mission Trails Regional Park as year-round residents or winter visitors.

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BUTTERFLY DECIMATED BY SAN DIEGO WILDFIRES IS PROPOSED FOR ENDANGERED SPECIES PROTECTION

Photo by Michael W. Klein Sr. via U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service: Hermes copper butterfly is found primarily in San Diego County, as well as northwestern Baja, Mexico. 
 
By Miriam Raftery
 
January 14, 2020 (San Diego) – The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service last week announced a proposal to add the Hermes Copper Butterfly as a threatened species under the federal Endangered Species Act.  
 
The butterfly is found only in San Diego County and northwest Baja California, Mexico, but wildfires including the 2003 Cedar and 2007 firestorms have decimated most of its habitat, as have development. 
 
Now, the USF&W wants to designate 35,000 acres of protected critical habitat in San Diego County  The plan also calls for a captive breeding program and reintroduction into the wild.

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READER’S EDITORIAL: OPEN LETTER TO SANTEE COUNCIL MEMBER LAURA KOVAL - PUBLIC INTEREST MOTIVATES PRESERVE WILD SANTEE

By Van Collinsworth, Director, Preserve Wild Santee
 
January 14, 2020 (Santee) -- At the last meeting, the new Vice-Mayor Laura Koval waited until after I had addressed the council and returned to my seat to suggest that Preserve Wild Santee and/or other environmental organizations work is financially motivated. To be clear, and as has always been the case, I will engage with any council member at the podium to address their directed remarks, as I did with the mayor. From my perspective, waiting until I cannot respond to make this suggestion of financial motivation, demonstrates the weakness of your position.
 

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PASSAGES: “HAWK WATCH” WILDLIFE RESEARCHER JOHN DAVID BITTNER DIES AFTER FALL IN SAN PASQUAL VALLEY

By Miriam Raftery

January 11, 2020 (Ramona) – John David "Dave" Bittner, 75, of Julian was known to many for the “Hawk Watch” programs he led for decades at the Wildlife Research Institute in Ramona that he founded, and later at the Begent Ranch.  On Thursday, Bittner died of a 50-foot fall suffered while rappelling down to replace batteries and memory cards in a camera near a Golden Eagle nest in the Bandy Canyon area in the San Pasqual Valley.

“We will miss him dearly and are so thankful for his work and dedication to saving wildlife and their special habitat,” the Wildlife Research Institute posting on its Facebook page.  The institute, of which Bittner served as director, pledged to continue hosting Hawk Watch and planned an impromptu memorial service this morning at the Begent Ranch.

Bittner and his wife,Leigh, had a passion for protecting wildlife and purchased 3,000 acres that they donated to the county to buy the Ramona Grasslands preserve and sell property to the Nature Conservancy as a wildlife preserve. That is home to many raptors, including bald eagles.


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SAN DIEGO ZOO AND SAFARI PARK TO DONATE ADMISSIONS FROM SUNDAY, JAN. 12 TO HELP AUSTRALIAN WILDLIFE AMID FIRES

By Miriam Raftery

January 11, 2020 (San Diego) – All paid admissions to the San Diego Zoo and San Diego Zoo Safari Park this Sunday, Jan. 12 will be donated to help San Diego Zoo Global’s efforts to save wildlife in Australia amid deadly brush fires.

Over 15 million acres have burned in Australia’s deadly wildfires – nearly 10 times the 1.8 million acres scorched in California’s fires last year. A quarter of a million people have been forced to flee, Reuters reports.

Scientists at the University of Sydney have estimated that as many as a billion animals may have perished, putting some species at risk of extinction. The bush fires have killed tens of thousands of marsupials found nowhere else on earth including koalas and kangaroos, as well as birds such as glossy black cockatoos, reptiles and amphibians.


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HEAR OUR INTERVIEWS WITH SAN DIEGO FOUNDATION AND INDIGENOUS REGENERATION ON EFFORTS TO OPEN THE OUTDOORS TO COMMUNITIES ACROSS OUR REGION

By Miriam Raftery

December 15, 2019 (San Diego)-- San Diego Foundation Opening the Outdoors recently presented over $450,000 in grants for 13 programs that increase access to the outdoors for thousands of young people and local residents, also improving 17,000 acres of natural land and four miles of trails in San Diego County.

Recently, we interviewed Lydia Van Note, director of environmental initiatives for San Diego Foundation and Lacey Cannon, executive director of indigenous regeneration, a grant recipient working on tribal projects ranging from eco-building to creation of a food foraging forest. The tribe is also embarking on an ambitious project to plant a trillion trees using drones, helping to combat climate change.

The interview originally aired in October on the East County Magazine Show on KNSJ, 89.1 FM. Listen to the full interview by clicking this audio link, and scroll down for highlights.

Audio: 


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LESSONS FROM PUERTO RICO TO CALIFORNIA: OFF-GRID LIVING OPTIONS

By Rebecca Jefferis Williamson

 Dec. 31, 2019 (San Diego’s East County) -- Emergency energy and electrical storage expert Eric Lobdell with Humless, a Utah-based company that provides universal energy management, has worked in disaster areas affected by wildfires and hurricanes, where he has helped some residents go off-grid. 

 

In the past couple of years, Lobdell has worked in the U.S. including territories of Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands, setting up systems to provide power. Humless recently landed a contract for installations to take communities 100% off-grid in Oregon, including 600 homes over a span of three years.

 

"After Hurricane Maria, I was part of a team that donated and installed off-grid systems in Puerto Rico," said Lobdell in a phone interview. “Our systems were able to provide lights and refrigeration to two different communities, both heavily affected by the hurricane. Being able to provide electricity for these communities reminded me of the reason I work so hard at what I do. I love being able to provide essential energy and storage systems to families, communities, and regions where grid power is not available or stable."


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DESMOND WITHDRAWS DEVELOPER-FRIENDLY LANGUAGE CHANGE TO “SOS” BALLOT MEASURE

By Miriam Raftery

December 26, 2019 (San Diego) – Supervisor Jim Desmond has withdrawn his proposal to amend the Save Our San Diego Countryside (SOS) initiative language on the March 2020 ballot county-wide. The decision was announced at the Dec. 10 County Board of Supervisors meetings.

Supervisor Desmond’s proposed amendments closely reflected arguments of the “No on SOS” campaign, which is funded primarily by the Building Industry Association, an advocacy organization for the building industry—arguments that opponents have characterized as misleading.


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SANTA YSABEL NATURE CENTER RIBBON CUTTING CEREMONY

Ribbon cutting at Santa Ysabel Nature CenterImage Credit: Jessica Geiszler

By Gig Conaughton, County of San Diego Communications OfficeDec. 16, 2019 | 1:34 PM

County Board Chairwoman Dianne Jacob, environmental groups, tribal representatives, Parks officials and hundreds of visitors celebrated the opening of the $9.5 million Santa Ysabel Nature Center Saturday with a ribbon-cutting featuring tours, animal encounters, junior ranger activities, and crafts and games for kids.

The celebration began with music, art, information tables, nature crafts and animals including alpacas and a rosy boa snake. It then moved to the formal ribbon-cutting that featured a bird song sung by tribal performance troupe Ashaa Takook and words from several speakers. The event ended with tours, a demonstration of hawks and other birds of prey and hiking.


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TRUMP ADMIN. OKS FRACKING, DRILLING ON 1 MILLION ACRES IN CALIFORNIA

East County News Service

Compiled from California News Service and California Attorney General’s office resources

December 13, 2019 (Ventura) -- The Trump administration yesterday took the final step to allow oil and gas drilling on over 1 million acres of federal public land on California's central coast and San Joaquin Valley, despite a flood of public comment in opposition.

The U.S. Bureau of Land Management will now allow new lease sales in 2020 on land that stretches across Fresno, Kern, Kings, Madera, San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara, Tulare and Ventura counties.

Rebecca August, director of advocacy for the Santa Barbara-based group Los Padres ForestWatch, calls fracking "a very toxic process."




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JOIN AUDOBON’S CHRISTMAS BIRD COUNT: SIX DATES IN SAN DIEGO COUNTY

By Miriam Raftery

 

Photos: Lazuli Bunting, by Eric Kallen; orioles by Greg Dunne

 

December 12, 2019 (San Diego) -- Audubon's 120th Christmas Bird Count starts on Saturday, December 14, 2019, and ends on Sunday, January 5, 2020. Each year, thousands of volunteers go outside together to count every bird they see or hear all day. It’s a fun and festive way to bird watch and contribute to an important winter bird census. Join the Christmas Bird Count.


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COTTONWOOD SAND MINE PROJECT WILL HAVE A SECOND DEBRIEFING TONIGHT WITH VALLE DE ORO COMMUNITY PLANNING GROUP

By Ana Nita

December 3, 2019 (San Diego’s East County) -- Valle de Oro Community Planning Group will have a second public meeting tonight to receive community input about the proposal to turn Cottonwood Golf Course into a sand mine for the next decade. The golf course is located on Willow Glen Drive in a residential area in the Rancho San Diego area of El Cajon and on federally protected land that’s part of the South County Multiple Species Conservation program. 

The public meeting tonight is scheduled for 7 p.m. at Otay Water District Headquarters, 2554 Sweetwater Springs Blvd., Spring Valley.


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OH BABY! SOUTHERN WHITE RHINO CALF BORN AT SAN DIEGO ZOO SAFARI PARK THROUGH ARTIFICIAL INSEMINATION

Source: San Diego Zoo Safari Park

December 1, 2019 (San Pasqual) -- San Diego Zoo Global announced the successful birth of a female southern white rhino calf on November 21 at the San Diego Zoo Safari Park—the conservation organization’s second rhino born after hormone-induced ovulation and artificial insemination. This calf’s birth also is a milestone, since she is the 100th southern white rhino born at the Safari Park.

Artificial insemination of southern white rhinos has rarely been successful in the past; this is only the second successful artificial insemination birth of a southern white rhino in North America. The first was Edward, born to mom Victoria, at the Safari Park’s Nikita Kahn Rhino Rescue Center on July 28.


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HEAR OUR INTERVIEW: WILDLIFE BIOLOGIST RENEE OWENS ON EFFORTS TO SAVE MOUNTAIN LIONS

 

Hear our interview: Click this audio link.

By Miriam Raftery

November 30, 2019 (San Diego’s East County) – Efforts are underway to declare mountain lions endangered species in portions of Southern California. “Their habitat is being fragmented,” wildlife biologist Renee Owens with Wild Zone Conservation told ECM in an interview on our radio show that originally aired on KNSJ 89.1 FM in October. 

In California, the number one cause of mortality for mountain lions is being struck by vehicles while crossing roadways.  In addition, some 200 depradation permits are issued each year in California allowing the killing of mountain lions, usually because they are preying on livestock. “Nationwide, we know that over 3,000 mountain lions a year are reported to have died,” Owens says.

The Mountain Lion Foundation and the Center for Biological Diversity have petitioned the state to list mountain lions as protected because some isolated populations are “literally in danger of extinction.”  Owens says experts suspect this is also happening in San Diego, where recent numbers show the lions are “actually in decline," according to Owens.

Scroll down for highlights from the interview, or listen to the full interview on the audio link.

Audio: 

Audio file: Interview with Renee Owens on Mountain Lions

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EARTHTALK®: DO LAWN CHEMICALS CAUSE CANCER IN DOGS?

From the Editors of E - The Environmental Magazine
 
November 24, 2019 (San Diego’s East County) -- Dear EarthTalk: Is it true that lawn chemicals can cause canine cancer, and if so, how can I protect my dog? --Bill W., Ithaca, NY
 
Unfortunately, the answer may very well be yes. A 2012 study published in the peer-reviewed scientific journal, Environmental Research, found that exposure to certain lawn care products, such as the nearly ubiquitous herbicide 2,4-Dichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2 4-D for short), increases dogs’ chances of developing Canine Malignant Lymphoma (CML) by 70 percent. When ingested repeatedly, 2 4-D acts as an endocrine disruptor, mutating a dog’s white blood cell count allowing malignant tumor cells to replicate unchecked. While obviously worrisome for dogs and those of us who love them, the implications for people aren’t good either, given the similarities between the onset of CML in canines and non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma in humans.

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THE END OF AN ERA: ADVENTURE 16 IS CLOSING UP SHOP AFTER 57 YEARS

Chain that began in La Mesa will hold going out of business sale starting Nov. 29

East County News Service

November 23, 2019 (San Diego) – Adventure 16, perhaps best known by its outdoor active customers as A16, announced today that the 57-year-old company plans to close its remaining two stores in San Diego and West Los Angeles. Both mountain shops will be closed Monday, November 25 through Thanksgiving Day to prepare for their Going Out of Business Sale beginning on Black Friday.


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SANTEE LAKES RECREATION PRESERVE NAMED PLAN-IT-GREEN PARK OF THE YEAR

Award presented to park owners at the 2019 Outdoor Hospitality Conference & Expo
 
Contact-person David Basler, ARVC
Photos by Miriam Raftery
 
November 22, 2019 (Santee) -- The National Association of RV Parks and Campgrounds (ARVC) has named Santee Lakes Recreation Preserve, located in Santee, California, its Plan-It-Green Park of the Year at the 2019 Outdoor Hospitality Conference & Expo (OHCE), held November 4-7 in Knoxville, Tennessee.

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RECYCLE THANKSGIVING TURKEY FAT, OIL AND GREASE (FOG) AT EDCO’S BUYBACK CENTERS

Source: EDCO
 
November 22, 2019 (San Diego) -- Kitchen fat, oil and grease (FOG) that’s left over from daily cooking, or after deep frying a Thanksgiving turkey, can be recycled!  EDCO has a free, safe and environmentally friendly option for disposing of household FOG.
 
Residents are asked to simply collect used discarded FOG in a leak-proof container and drop it off free of charge at EDCO’s conveniently located Buyback Center. The FOG will then ultimately be processed, filtered and converted into biofuel by a third-party processor.
 
It is important that participants do not mix FOG with any other oils, such as motor oil or gear oil, that inhibit the process of converting the FOG into biofuel.
 
Facilities are located at:

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HELIX WATER CONTINUES TO EVALUATE LOCAL DRINKING WATER PROJECT

Source: Helix Water 

 

Image: rendering of East County Advanced Water Purification Project. Source: Padre Dam Municipal Water District’s ECAWP website.

 

November 20, 2019 (San Diego’s East County) -- On November 5, Padre Dam Municipal Water District, city of El Cajon and County of San Diego formed a Joint Powers Authority to serve as the governing body for the East County Advanced Water Purification project.  A Helix Water District representative will serve as an ex officio, non-voting member of the JPA board. 


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PROPOSED COTTONWOOD SAND MINE PROJECT DRAWS UNIFIED OPPOSITION FROM RANCHO SAN DIEGO RESIDENTS AT SCOPING MEETING

By Paul Kruze, Contributing Editor

Meeting audio: tinyurl.com/RSDCottonwoodMine11042019

Photo: Elizabeth Urquhart, Stop Cottonwood Sand Mine, speaks to a full house during scoping meeting.

November 14, 2019 (Rancho San Diego) -- If the proposal to replace Cottonwood Golf Course with a sand mine were to be decided by local Rancho San Diego residents, Beverly Hills investor and developer Michael Schlesinger and applicant Greg Brown would be hearing a loud chorus of “nay” votes.

Some 300 local residents crowded into the multi-purpose room at Hillsdale Middle School on Monday night, November 4th to vent their strong opposition to the project in a public scoping meeting called by the County of San Diego Planning and Development Services Department. View county handout and fact sheet. The scoping meeting is required to get public input on what should be included in an upcoming Environmental Impact report.


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STATE SUPREME COURT REJECTS APPEAL BY DEVELOPER AND COUNTY; HOSKINGS RANCH TO REMAIN AS AGRICULTURAL PRESERVE

By Miriam Raftery
 
November 6, 2019 (Julian) – Land slated for development into luxury homes in the Julian area must remain as an agricultural preserve.  That’s the impact of the California Supreme Court’s denial of a petition for review filed by Genesee Properties, the developer of Hoskings Ranch and the County of San Diego.  
 
The appeal sought to overturn a July ruling in Cleveland National Forest Foundation et al. v. County of San Diego County (Genesee Properties) by the 4th District Court of Appeal, which found that the County acted wrongly in approving 24 luxury homes on the agriculturally-zoned site protected under the Williamson Act.
  

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STEP UP TO THE WARRIOR HIKE CHALLENGE

By Michelle Mowad, County of San Diego Communications Office

November 5, 2019 (Lakeside) - Conquer what is arguably the toughest trail in the county this Veterans Day weekend. Trek up El Cajon Mountain in El Capitan County Preserve during the Warrior Hike Challenge on Saturday, Nov. 9.


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FIVE THINGS TO KNOW ABOUT MICROGRIDS

By Julie Cart | CALmatters

CALmatters is an independent public interest journalism venture covering California state politics and government.

Photo:  This small energy system, or microgrid, powers the Southern California desert town of Borrego Springs. Photo courtesy of San Diego Gas & Electric

November 4, 2019 (San Diego) - More than 1 million Californians were left in the dark for days recently as their big utility companies shut off power for fear of sparking wildfires. Frustrated by those outages, some homeowners say they’d like to turn their backs on the companies in favor of smaller providers who might do a better job of keeping the lights on. The mayors of San Francisco and San Jose say they want to sever ties with Pacific Gas and Electric, which serves much of Northern California, and create separate utilities for their cities.


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SANTEE STILL WANTS COMMUNITY CHOICE ENERGY, BUT NOT WITH NORTH COUNTY ALLIANCE

By Mike Allen
 
October 28, 2019 (Santee) -- The Santee City Council voted for the second time to establish a community choice energy program, but put the brakes on joining a joint powers authority being formed with the cities of Carlsbad, Del Mar and Solana Beach.

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BIPARTISAN SAN DIEGO WATER BILL INTRODUCED BY REPRESENTATIVES HUNTER, DAVIS AND PETERS

East County News Service

October 23, 2019 (San Diego) – San Diego Congressional members Scott Peters, Duncan Hunter and Susan Davis have introduced bipartisan federal legislation to simplify permit requirements to operate the Point Loma Wastewater Treatment Plan, with a goal of providing purified, recycled drinking water for the San Diego region and reducing ocean pollution.

The bill, H.R. 4611, the Ocean Pollution Reduction Act II, was introduced in the House on October 4, 2019.


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FARMWORKERS, ADVOCATES REJOICE AS CA ENDS SALE OF CHLORPYRIFOS

By Suzanne Potter, California News Service

Photo: CC by SA-NC

October 24, 2019 (Bakersfield)--- Farmworkers' groups are celebrating the end of at least a decade-long battle to ban a toxic pesticide in California after the state Environmental Protection Agency announced a new deal with manufacturers of chlorpyrifos. The pesticide no longer will be sold to growers in California after Feb. 6.

Nayamin Martinez, director of the Central California Environmental Justice Network, said studies have linked chlorpyrifos to serious health effects in kids.

"It's a very dangerous chemical that can cause harm, especially in brain development, for unborn children and young children who live in close proximity where this pesticide is applied," she said.


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