East County News Service

November 23, 2017 (San Diego) -- The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is recognizing the outstanding accomplishments of seven California winners participating in EPA’s Food Recovery Challenge. Winners include Sprouts Farmers Markets in Daly City and Carlsbad, Calif., Ramona High School in Ramona, Calif., Food Forward in North Hollywood, Calif., Cherokee Point Elementary School in San Diego, Calif., the City of San Diego and the San Diego International Airport.

By Tracy DeFore, County of San Diego Communications Office

November 20, 2017 (San Diego's East County) - Escape the shopping madness of Black Friday on Nov. 24 and discover the upside of outside during County Parks’ Green Friday. You can relax, breathe in the fresh air and maybe work off some of those Thanksgiving dinner calories. You’ll save some green, too. Parking fees will be waived at all County parks.

County Parks is offering several special Green Friday events across the region. They range from coffee with a ranger and a “Work Off the Turkey” boot camp class to exploring a butterfly garden and a sunset hike.

They all take place on Friday, Nov. 24.  Here is a roundup of events:

“We can create at least 6,000 jobs here.” – Pete Beauregard

By Miriam Raftery

November 17, 2017 (Ramona) – Out of the ashes of the 2007 firestorm in Ramona, Casa Aguilar arose.  The home of Pete  Beauregard and his wife, Amy McQuillan, just won the U.S. Department of Energy’s 2017 Innovation Award for zero net energy use. It’s also built to withstand wildfires. 

On October 24, Beauregard, a rancher, veteran, ex-rodeo bullrider and candidate for Congress in the 50^th Congressional district took the bull by the horns and convened a think tank meeting at his visionary home. The event brought together top green industry leaders to brainstorm ideas for bringing green manufacturing and building jobs to East County.

By Miriam Raftery

November 6, 2017 (San Diego’s East County) - A new Climate Science Special Report, part of the fourth national climate assessment, concludes that it is “extremely likely” that human activities are the “dominant cause” of global warming, NPR reports.

East County News Service

October 31, 2017 (Boulevard) – The November 2^nd meeting of the Boulevard Planning Group wil include action items on Invenergy’s proposed 600 megawatt Boulevard Solar Energy Storage projects as well as Clean Focus’s 80 megawatt Rugged Solar project.  Items related to Tule Wind and the County’s Climate Action Plan are also on the agenda.

By Miriam Raftery

October 25, 2017 (Washington D.C.) -- The public has until November 23^rd to weigh in on a proposal by the National Park Service to hike up entry fees to $70 a vehicle at 17 of the most popular parks, mostly in the West.

By Kevin Patrick Allen, Public News Service

Photo:  Pollinators such as Monarch butterflies, certain birds and bats are an integral part of the health of natural ecosystems and agriculture. (Bill Barlow/Pixabay)

October 20, 2017 (St. Louis) - If you've ever watched the process of a caterpillar becoming a vividly colorful Monarch butterfly, you probably have an appreciation for a challenge being issued by the National Pollinator Garden Network.

From the Editors of E - The Environmental Magazine

Photo:  Environmentalists are optimistic that new designs and technologies — like this hyper-efficient Blended Wing-Body (BWB) design plane that recently emerged from a joint effort between NASA and Boeing — could significantly reduce aviation's huge carbon footprint and environmental impact. Credit: UC Irvine, Flickr CC.

October 14, 2017 (San Diego) -- Dear EarthTalk: You hear a lot about greener cars these days, but what about airplanes? --John Caldwell, Lorton, VA

While it may be the fastest and most convenient way to go long distances, air travel remains the most environmentally-unfriendly mode in our mix of transportation options. Airplanes require massive amounts of petroleum-based fuel that deposits greenhouse gas emissions directly into the atmosphere (where they’re two to four times more potent in causing global warming than equivalent ground-level emissions). The UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) reports that aviation is responsible for some 3.5 percent of human-caused global warming to date and expects that figure to grow to somewhere in the five to 15 percent range by 2050 if we don’t take action soon to curb emissions.

Refugee uses GRID training to launch his own solar installation company; other trainees meet top solar employers at graduation ceremony 

Source: Grid Alternatives San Diego

October 11, 2017 (San Diego) -- This month, GRID Alternatives San Diego, an affiliate of America’s largest nonprofit solar installer GRID Alternatives, introduced Syrian refugees and military veterans to the multi-billion-dollar solar industry through its Solar Installation Training Program. Attendees at the program graduation included refugee and long-time GRID volunteer Mohamed Hauter, who recently launched his own solar installation company and now employs several graduates of GRID’s training program.

Senator Anderson votes no, rest of San Diego legislators vote yes on landmark measure

East County News Service

September 26, 2017 (San Diego’s East County) -- Gov. Jerry Brown today signed Senate Bill 214, legislation authored by Sen. Toni Atkins that will strengthen the capacity of the San Diego River Conservancy to protect and enhance historic, cultural and natural resources within the watershed along the 52-mile San Diego River.

East County News Service

September 24, 2017 (San Diego)--Critics are calling today's planned rally in Oceanside that "celebrates the removal of nuclear waste at San Onofre" a sham that does not reflect reality, the opinions of nuclear waste experts or the community. These experts say the celebration tricks the media and the public into believing that the nuclear waste problems at the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station (SONGS) have been solved.

Local critics say that Citizens Oversight, the group hosting the "celebration" is misleading the public with magical thinking and an irrational belief in "purple unicorns."

Photo by Sonia Carcoilo, Government of Ontario:  Governor Brown (right), Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne (left) and Quebec Premier Philippe Couillard (center) sign agreement to expand cap-and-trade partnership.

Source: Governor’s office and government of Ontario, Canada

September 24, 2017 (Quebec City) – California Governor Edmund G. “Jerry” Brown Jr. yesterday signed an agreement with the leaders of Quebec and Ontario to officially integrate their cap-and-trade programs, expanding the three-year partnership between California and Quebec to include Ontario, Canada's most populous province and leading industrial region. The agreement takes effect January 1, 2018.

By Duncan McFetridge, Director, Cleveland National Forest Foundation

September 21, 2017 (San Diego’s East County) - Cleveland National Forest Foundation’s lawsuit against the county’s attempt to subdivide the Hoskings ranch near Julian brings out three extremely important points:   

East County News Service

September 11, 2017 (San Diego) - The San Diego River Park Foundation will celebrate its 16^th anniversary on September 21 from 6-9 p.m. at the Town and Country Resort Hotel in Mission Valley.

Festivities include live music, food, wine, beer, awards presentation and a silent auction –all for a $10 suggested donation.

The ECOreport does an update on one of California’s most controversial wind farms – Ocotillo, five years later

By Roy L. Hales

Source:  The ECOreport

Photo, left: Turbine T126 after the collapse – Parke Ewing photo

September 3, 2017 (Ocotillo) - The Ocotillo wind farm went online almost five years ago. Were they not documented in such meticulous detail, some of the  reports coming from the tiny desert community this project surrounds would be difficult to believe.  I once received a constant stream of YouTube videos and reports from this project. It was one of the sites that shaped my perception of the energy sector.  To some extent, I’ve moved on from this story since then, but I always knew I would be revisiting Ocotillo.