By Miriam Raftery

Photo: Wind turbines at Kumeyaay Wind  facility in Campo

September 23, 2014 (Campo, California) – “Looks like we dodged another wind project bullet when the Campo tribe voted down Invenergy's Shu'luuk Wind project,” Boulevard Planning Group Chair Donna Tisdale wrote in an e-mail to East County Magazine.

She forwarded a link to an article on a $40 million lawsuit filed against Invenergy by 60 neighbors of the company’s Orangeville Wind project in New York. Neighbors allege that the facility has violated noise limits and caused significant harm to health and property values: http://www.windaction.org/posts/41275-lawsuit-filed-against-invenergy-in-relation-to-orangeville-wind-farm#.VB83JPldV8E.

The suit alleges that the project has created a nuisance that has caused residents to suffer a loss in their quality of life and property value due to the wind energy project.  According to the complaint, wind turbines were built within 800 to 1500 feet of the plaintiffs’ properties. Plaintiffs contend that the project has caused “constant noise, vibrations, and flicker to enter Plaintiffs’ property, significantly impacting the health and wellbeing of the Plaintiffs and causing them to become sick, sore, lame and disabled.”  The projects also destroyed rural views, the suit states.

Listen to our radio show Monday on KNSJ 89. 1 FM at 5 p.m. to hear our audio report on Project Wildlife’s event.

By Miriam Raftery

September 21, 2014 (Lakeside) – At Project Wildlife’s “We Like It Wild” event in Lakeside last week, guests had up close and personal encounters with exotic and local wildlife at the Pillsbury Ranch owned by Joan Embery, the San Diego Zoo’s ambassador.  They also heard a special announcement from the Project Wildlife’s executive director Beth Ugoretz, who said Project Wildlife plans to merge by November 1^st with the San Diego Humane Society.

Gary Weitzman, president of the San Diego Human Society and the Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, emphasized that goal is to keep Project Wildlife “strong” and leverage the strengths of both organizations.  Project Wildlife’s focus on rescuing and rehabilitating local wildlife will continue, and the need is great, since the drought, wildfires and development have put increasing stress on local animals from birds and reptiles to larger animals such as raccoons and coyotes.

By Miriam Raftery

September 12, 2014 (San Diego) – There won’t be a gas-fired power plant built next to Mission Trails Regional Park. Plans for the controversial project have been withdrawn at the request of a letter sent by Quail Brush GENCO LLC, the project applicant, to the California Energy Commission on September 12.

The project had faced strong opposition including city councils of both Santee and San Diego, the Santee School District, environmental groups and residents. 

Preserve Wild Santee posted the following message on its Facebook page upon hearing the news:

Originally Published in the ECOreport

By Roy L Hales

September 13, 2014 (San Diego’s East County) - A statewide survey, done by the Public Policy Institute, found that 77% of Californians think public transit should be the focus of transportation spending. Only 18% said more money should be spent on highways and freeways.(1) This sentiment is strong in San Diego, where more than a decade ago 85% of the respondents said the transit system was the #1 priority.(2) When the question came up again, in 2010, 55% of those polled wanted the transit system expanded, as opposed to 32% who want more roads.(3) Now, as the San Diego Association of Governments (SANDAG) draws up its’ transportation plan, community groups want them to put plans for a freeway expansion on hold. According to Monique Lopez, from the Environmental Health Coalition, San Diego needs to put transit and active transportation first.

East County News Service

September 9, 2014 (San Diego) – “You are invited to a pivotal moment in the history of our planet. In New York and in major cities around the world, people will be uniting on September 21 to call on world leaders meeting at the United Nations Climate Summit to act NOW on climate change,” says Diane Lesher, an organizer with a local coalition hosting a People’ Climate March San Diego to support the New York and global events and to focus on solutions to climate change that can be implemented locally.  Lesher adds, “Together we will call for a rapid transition from fossil fuels to renewables and energy efficiency, and a just and sustainable economy.”

September7, 2014 (San Diego)—The San Diego League of Women Voters invites you to “Lunch with the League” on Thursday, September 18^th at 11:30 a.m. at Tom Ham’s Lighthouse restaurant, 2150 Harbor Drive in San Diego.  The topic is “Climate change and its challenges.”

September 6, 2014 (San Diego’s East County) – Cleveland National Forest (CNF) and the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) will hold a public meeting on October 1, 2014 from 5 to 7 p.m. at the Alpine Community Center, 1830 Alpine Blvd. in Alpine. The purpose is to obtain comments on a joint draft environmental impact report/draft environmental impact statement prepared by the two agencies regarding San Diego Gas & Electric Company’s proposal for a master special use permit in Cleveland National Forest and proposed replacement/fire hardening of select power lines in and around the federally protected Cleveland National Forest.

By Miriam Raftery

September 2, 2014 (Sacramento)--On Friday, the California Senate closed its annual legislative session. Not a single Senator would sponsor AB 2145, which opponents had dubbed the “anti-competitive Monopoly Power Grab Act,” so the bill is now dead.

The measure, authored by Assemblyman Steven Bradford, would have undermined efforts in San Diego to create an alternative to San Diego Gas & Electric under community choice energy law.

By Miriam Raftery

September 1, 2014 (Washington D.C.) – Two former investigators with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service are speaking out to say that the federal government is ignoring harm to wildlife caused by industrial scale wind and solar facilities.

By Miriam Raftery

August 30, 2014 (Sacramento) – Plastic accounts for 90% of all floating debris in the ocean. This has negatively impacted over 250 species and puts petroleum-based chemicals into our food chain. Many bags wind up in the “Great Pacific Garbage Patch” in the north Pacific Ocean that has been estimated to measure hundreds of thousands, even millions of square miles.  Whales, dolphins and sea turtles choke by swallowing plastic bags, which resemble jellyfish prey. Bags can also become entangled around an animal’s neck.

Caption: Head of School Kevin Yaley (left) and San Diego River Park Foundation Trustee Jim Dawe with Parker graduate Marly Isler, signing her booklets. Photo Courtesy of Francis Parker School / Ken Stone

August 27, 2014 (San Diego)-- The San Diego River has stories to tell — if you know where to find them. A booklet by  Francis Parker School graduate Marly Isler fills the bill. And it's easy to find.

August 22, 2014 (San Diego’s East County) – The San Diego National Wildlife Refuge invites the public to meetings in Spring Valley, Bonita and El Cajon to discuss a draft comprehensive conservation plan and the impact on trail users.  The meetings are set for August 25, August 26, and September 10, all from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. at the locations listed below.  Comments are accepted through September 17.  For more information see: http://www.fws.gov/refuge/San_Diego/what_we_do/planning.html

August 18, 2014 (San Diego, CA) – Project Wildlife will be hosting its 8^th annual We Like It Wild! fundraising event on Sunday, September 14, 2014 at the historic Pillsbury Ranch in Lakeside. The VIP Reception will run from 4-5pm, with the Main Excursion from 5-8pm. This ranch gala features renowned wildlife and conservation expert Joan Embery as host, as well as up-close and personal encounters with her exotic animals. We Like It Wild! raises critical funds for Project Wildlife’s work to rehabilitate wildlife in need and educate the public on conservation.

By Miriam Raftery

Photo: Center for Food Safety

August 10, 2014 (San Diego)-The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has announced that no more genetically engineered crops or pesticides toxic to bees will be used at any National Wildlife Refuges across the country. This brings protection to wildlife n over 150 million acres of federal land, including  refuges here in San Diego County.

By Lori Abbott, Public News Service-CA

 

August 7, 2014 (Sacramento) – Making it easier, cheaper and faster for California homeowners to get rooftop solar systems is the idea behind proposed legislation being pushed at the State Capitol.