Category: Energy

OB’s Historical District Needs to Be Protected

As it stands now, on Tuesday, the 24th of February in the afternoon, the San Diego City Council will get to decide on a good deal of the future of Ocean Beach.

There is an animal out there ready to devour our sedate coastal village and it’s called “Preservation and Progress Package A.” It’s a set of policy proposals affecting how the city preserves and designates historical properties — or neighborhoods. These “reforms” specifically call out the historic district that Ocean Beach enjoys, called the “Ocean Beach Cottage Emerging Historical District”.

Why? What’s going on?

OBceans aware of the neighborhood know there’s many small cottages scattered throughout the blocks that make up Ocean Beach, but may not be aware that these old cottages add besides the obvious an historic character to the community — plus add certain protections.

The original application for an Ocean Beach historical district designation was filed with the state Department of Parks and Recreation on June 2, 1999, by the now-late OB Planning Board member Priscilla McCoy.

The district is termed “emerging” because there never has been a complete survey of all the buildings that potentially qualify to be historic. Usually a full historic district designation protects surrounding buildings, even ones not considered historic, in order to preserve community character. And lately, the city has been arguing that OB’s historical designation applies only to the 72 cottages, built between 1887 and 1931. And nothing else. Yet, several local OB historians estimate the total number of potentially historic cottages at more than 300.

From Washington Post / Jan. 3, 2025

President Donald Trump said Saturday at his Mar-a-Lago Club that the United States will control Venezuela for an unspecified period after a U.S. operation captured Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and his wife.

“We’ll run it properly. We’ll run it professionally. We’ll have the greatest oil companies in the world go in and invest billions,” he said, while declining to rule out U.S. military deployments. “We’re not afraid of boots on the ground.”

The operation involved more than 150 aircraft, including strike and intelligence assets, Gen. Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said after Trump’s remarks. “On arrival into the target area, the helicopters came under fire and they replied with that fire with overwhelming force,” Caine added. “One of our aircraft was hit but remained flyable.”

Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, “gave up and were taken into custody” by U.S. forces, Caine said. The couple was removed from the country by helicopter, taken aboard the USS Iwo Jima and will be brought to New York, where both are facing federal charges.

Trump said the U.S. had prepared to mount a second-wave attack in Venezuela but that he doubted it would be needed.

Trump: US Oil Companies Will Take Over Venezuela’s Oil Fields

U.S. oil companies are going to take over Venezuela’s oil fields and industry, President Donald Trump said Saturday, declaring that U.S. oil interests will revive oil production in a country with one of the world’s largest reserves.

Trump bombs Venezuelan land for first time: Is war imminent?

By Usaid Siddiqui / AlJaseera / Tue, December 30, 2025

United States President Donald Trump said the US carried out a land-based strike on Venezuela on Monday, marking a sharp escalation in Washington’s recent military activity against the South American nation.

Trump said the operation had targeted a docking facility being used to load boats carrying narcotics. Venezuelan authorities, however, have yet to confirm the incident.

Tensions between Washington and Caracas have risen sharply since September, when the Trump administration began a series of strikes on Venezuelan vessels in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific, which the US government claims are trafficking drugs.

However, despite aerial strikes on more than two dozen boats, which have killed at least 100 people, the US has presented no evidence of drug trafficking.

More recently, US forces have seized Venezuelan oil tankers, which it claims are carrying sanctioned oil and ordered a naval blockade on all sanctioned oil tankers near the coast.

Caracas has long accused Washington of using allegations of drug trafficking as a pretext for forcing regime change in Venezuela, raising renewed concerns about the legality of such actions and the risk of a broader conflict. Indeed, legal experts say the targeting of vessels in international waters likely violates US and international law and amounts to extrajudicial executions.

San Diego County Supervisor Terra Lawson-Remer held a community meeting in Encinitas Thursday, Dec. 4, to urge the public to take a stand against the Trump administration’s plans to expand Califonia’s offshore drilling. She was joined by Solana Beach Mayor Lesa Heebner. The meeting had been organized by the environmental groups California Coastal Protection Network, Oceana, Surfrider Foundation and Wildcoast.

The Thursday gathering followed the Nov. 20 announcement by the Trump administration that it will reopen ocean waters off the Pacific Coast to oil drilling leases, generating rapid opposition from California officials and environmentalists.

Lawson-Remer said she and others are united in defending the San Diego region, and told President Donald Trump and oil executives to “go pound sand.”

“We are not going to go backwards,” no matter how much Trump calls clean energy “a con job,” Lawson-Remer said during the meeting.

By Csaba Petre

As promised, these last two weeks I have resumed my journey attempting to sample the (as it turns out, rather extensive) coffee scene of Ocean Beach as completely as possible. Some readers, in the comments for Part One, expressed surprise at the number of coffee shops in OB. [Here is Part One.] For those interested in how our coffee density measures up to larger cities, OB (population ~15K) has ~20 coffee shops, giving one coffee shop per only 750 residents, an amount that tops even Seattle (2300) and Berkeley (2000)!

Rankings in the promised categories are given at the end. Let’s jump in!

Coffee Cycle Roasting, Nov. 23

4856 Voltaire

Coffee Cycle is a recent addition to the North side of OB, having opened in 2024. A spacious and unabashedly hipster space, the shop offers spots to sit and plenty of room to socialize. While not particularly quiet inside, it has outdoor seating on offer in the back. The feel was definitely unique; on the day I visited, a lively (impromptu?) piano performance was ongoing. The shop also hosts local art and music events.

The cappuccino was $4.75, and I wasn’t disappointed by it. The flavor and foam were solid and bitterness was low. As a bonus, they roast their own beans. They have teas, drip coffee, and mocktails as well.

Recommended for: stopping in for one of their events; catching up with a friend.

From San Diego 350

Young people called on lawmakers, including SD Council President LaCava, to pass the Polluters Pay Climate Superfund Act to protect schools and communities.

On Friday, October 24, over 1,000 students from 19 schools across San Diego and thousands from 50 California middle schools, high schools, and colleges walked out of class in a coordinated statewide action demanding that oil and gas companies be held accountable for the damage caused by their pollution.

Organized by youth climate groups and advocacy organizations including Youth v. Oil and SanDiego350 in partnership with the Make Polluters Pay campaign, the walkouts spanned San Diego County — with major events at Hilltop High School, Pacific Beach Middle School, University City High School, Eastlake High School, La Jolla High School, and Otay Ranch High School.

“Californians are already reeling from wildfires, floods, and extreme heat. We’re taking to the streets to demand passage of the Polluters Pay Climate Superfund Act to send a clear message that we won’t let Big Oil continue to destroy our futures,” said Diego Sandoval, senior at Eastlake HS in Chula Vista.

The Issue

AT&T is planning to install a 30-foot “faux eucalyptus” cell tower with 12 antennas, 9 radio units, and a large ground equipment box at 2315 Soto Street — right on public park land. This proposal would allow a private corporation to permanently occupy our limited green space, replacing community potential with a commercial eyesore.

The residents of Ocean Beach oppose this project and request that the City of San Diego deny the Conditional Use Permit.  This fenced-off area is still community land and could be transformed into something valuable for all of us.

Why We Oppose This Project

• Loss of Public Space: The proposed tower will be built on rare, valuable public space that could instead serve children, families, and neighbors.
• Health & Safety Concerns: Although research is ongoing, many residents are understandably concerned about the proximity of high-frequency antennas to homes, children, and pets.
• Property Value Risk: Cell towers can negatively impact nearby home values due to aesthetics and perceived health risks.
• Visual Blight: Even as a disguised “faux eucalyptus,” a 30-foot structure with 12 antennas, 9 radio units, and a ground equipment box will mar the natural and open look of our neighborhood.What We’d Rather See:

We believe this land should be used for true community benefit. Ideas include:

From Public Power San Diego

If past form holds, Sempra Energy’s annual earnings announcement Tuesday, Fe. 25, won’t be highlighting the massive profits it records from SDGE, one of its largest subsidiaries.

Sempra will instead bury SDGE’s huge profits by including them with earnings from other businesses.

But SDGE’s profits can still be found in Sempra’s legally required filings. After reporting $670 million in profits through the first three-quarters last year, it’s likely SDGE will report annual earnings last year of about $900 million.

“It’s a simple formula,” said Bill Powers, a board member of Public Power San Diego. “SDGE charges the nation’s highest rates and that results in enormous profits. Every dollar of those profits came out of our pockets.”

by Ella Lee / The Hill / Feb. 10, 2025

A federal judge in Rhode Island ordered the Trump administration to comply with his order to unfreeze federal grants, after attorneys general for several Democratic states claimed the directive was not being fulfilled.

In a short order Monday, U.S. District Judge John McConnell directed the Trump administration to “immediately” end any federal funding pause until he decides whether to indefinitely block the freeze while litigation is ongoing.

The judge said specifically that the withheld funds that must be restored include those appropriated under two laws championed by former President Biden — the Inflation Reduction Act and Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act — and those intended for institutes and other agencies such as the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

“The broad categorical and sweeping freeze of federal funds is, as the Court found, likely unconstitutional and has caused and continues to cause irreparable harm to a vast portion of this country,” McConnell wrote.

By Tom Fudge / KPBS / Dec. 12, 2024

San Diego County’s nuclear power plant, San Onofre, was closed more than 10 years ago. But the Diablo Canyon plant is still open and cranking out 18,000 gigawatts a year.

The contract for the Diablo Canyon nuclear plant was set to expire by the end of next year. But a bill passed two years ago by the legislature has kept it open an additional five years, closing one reactor in 2029 and the other in 2030. The plant, near San Luis Obispo, generates nearly 10% of California’s total energy. But critics say it’s actually giving the state too much energy, especially in the spring when hydropower production is at its highest.

By Melody Petersen / San Diego Union-Tribune TNS / Sept. 24, 2024

When Roy Richards spotted workers cutting down and shredding Joshua trees for a sprawling solar energy project near his Mojave Desert home last week, he started taking photos.

“Once the trees go through the shredders, they vanish,” he said, showing a reporter an image of a small pile of brown dust left by the crews. The developer of the Aratina Solar Center has government approval to fell all of the thousands of trees on the site.

Charles Langley, the Executive Director of Public Watchdogs is warning the public that once again, Southern California Edison is in radioactively “hot” water about another radiation leak involving the failed San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station (SONGS). Langley is urging the public to learn about this shocking development this Thursday afternoon, Sept. 5th at an Edison-sponsored virtual meeting from 2pm to 5pm, September 5 (meeting details here).

Langley writes:

About the radiation leak:

The leak occurred during the transport of a 100-ton, thirty-seven foot high, “pressurizer.” Edison has claimed that the leak is below “background” radiation. A railroad worker in San Bernardino discovered the leak on or around June 30, during the pressurizer’s long journey from San Onofre to a disposal site in Clive Utah.