San Diego Planning Commission: Power Plant Threatens Mission Trails Regional Park

Attend the San Diego Planning Commission meeting at San Diego City Hall, 202 C St. 12th Floor, THIS THURSDAY at 9 am to oppose a proposed fossil fuel plant in Mission Trails Park Open Space OR send an email ASAP to planningcommission@sandiego.gov to voice your opposition.

 We should not be putting power plants in our precious remaining open space.

 Background

For more background, see this and this.

At the request of SDG&E, a subsidiary of Goldman Sachs is proposing a power plant next to Mission Trails Regional Park. Here is what we can expect if this power plant is approved:

•  Eleven 100-foot tall smoke stacks spewing toxins into the air with a high school and residences nearby

•  SDG&E ratepayer increases

•  Only 11 permanent jobs at the plant

• Lower property values

What’s the alternative? Rooftops and parking lots!

The right alternative is the expansion of solar to thousands of homes, businesses, and parking lots to give us local, clean, and affordable energy that drives local job creation and gets us to energy independence. A fossil fuel power plant is not needed.

The agenda item on Thursday morning is to initiate the steps for a zoning change from open space to industrial in order to pave the way for the power plant. The power plant developer is expected to ask for a continuance to buy more time to try and build community support. If you attend you may be limited to speaking only about the merit of a continuance that will be requested by the Applicant, however you should still make sure you have a speaker slip or an email on record in opposition.

Please ask the commissioners to turn down the proposal in order to save our open space, property values, air quality, and stop all the other negatives. We should not be putting power plants in our precious remaining open space. We have enough empty rooftops and parking lots to build a clean energy future right here.

If you can’t attend please send an email ASAP to: planningcommission@sandiego.gov

FOR MORE INFO – STAY CONNECTED

The San Diego Sierra Club has launched a campaign to stop the power plant and fight for what we really need—solar on every rooftop. Contact Sierra Club organizer Pete Hasapopoulos at 760.580.0117 or phasapopoulos@sierraclubsandiego.org to join the campaign or learn more.