Environment

Surfrider: Report Tarballs on San Diego Beaches – Now Found in Ocean Beach

October 22, 2021 by Source

From Surfrider:

OIL SPILL UPDATE
REPORT TARBALLS WASHING UP AT SAN DIEGO BEACHES

We are getting reports of tarballs washing up across San Diego County. To record those sightings and ensure clean up, Surfrider has created a simple oil/tarball mapping tool that uses your phone to photograph and map your findings in realtime.

We believe this will ultimately be a great tool to record and report oil that seems to be showing up everywhere and could help with clean up and understanding the full impact.

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Media Reports on Point Loma Palm Tree Removal Controversy

October 22, 2021 by Source

Here are other media reports on the Palm Tree controversy raging in Point Loma this week.

The first is from ABC 10News:

Some Ocean Beach residents gathered to protest the removal of palm trees in their neighborhood Thursday morning. The City of San Diego and Federal Aviation Administration have cited a row of palm trees as a potential threat to airplanes traveling to and from San Diego International Airport.

Several neighbors told ABC 10News that the trees were planted in the 1920s by San Diego pioneer John Spreckels, and they feel the trees add character to Ocean Beach. While the trees hold some historical value, city officials, the FAA, and San Diego Airport leaders believe it is time for them to come down.

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Point Loma Residents Show Up and Force City to Postpone Palm Tree Chopping for Today – No Promises Made for Tomorrow

October 21, 2021 by Staff

By Geoff Page

The actions of a collection of community residents early Thursday morning resulted in a temporary stay of execution for the historic palm trees on upper Newport Ave. The city had told a resident on Wednesday they would be back this morning at 7:30 a.m. to cut down the trees and they would be bringing the police. So, the locals rallied and showed up to voice very vocal opposition to the city steamrolling the community.

They did indeed bring the police. Community Relations Officer David Surwilo was there, “to keep the peace,” he said. But, he also said trees were coming down today so they were not just there to keep the peace, they were there to assist the city crews.

Eventually, there were at least three police vehicles and five or six uniformed officers. Seemed like overkill when looking at the crowd of mostly retirees who were able to be out there. It really is disheartening to see the police used against the citizens who are protesting what our own civil servants are doing wrong.

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The Widder Curry: More Water Cut-Backs Will Kill My Fruit Trees While New Housing Developments Are Allowed to Grow

October 21, 2021 by Judi Curry

California’s Drought Emergency Extended to San Diego County

By Judi Curry

Here we go again. Another drought. Another curtailment of the use of water. The Governor is asking people to cutback on water usage 15% over last year.

My question is what about those of us that cut back 15% last year and are still cutting back? How much are we supposed to cut back before we will all be lined up at the trucks to fill buckets of water to cook, bathe, wash clothes and dishes with? In actuality, just how much can we cutback and survive? And, while I am at it – I noticed that even though I cut back enormously, my water bill kept going up, and up, and up. I am using less water and paying more for it.

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Point Loma Residents to Protest City Cutting Down Palm Trees – Thursday, Oct.21, 7:30am

October 20, 2021 by Frank Gormlie

For the last two mornings, city crews have been out in the Point Loma neighborhood attempting to remove Palm Trees that have been determined to “obstruct” aircraft flight paths and airspace.

No permits have been made, no traffic or parking control signs have been put up, no planning boards or neighborhoods informed. All in the name of “emergency” and public safety.

Rag writer Geoff Page reported on what has been going on:

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The Oil Spill is Bad. So is the Deadly Contamination You Can’t See or Smell

October 20, 2021 by Source

by Bart Ziegler, PhD / Voice of OC / Oct. 20, 2021

On the topic of environmental disasters, could you imagine trying to deal with contamination from a far deadlier kind of waste that you can’t see or smell and that remains toxic for hundreds of thousands of years?

As details of the Orange County oil spill continue to unfold, globs of tar are washing onto San Onofre State Beach beneath the shadow of a shuttered nuclear power plant where Southern California Edison is storing 3.6 million pounds of radioactive waste 100 feet from the ocean.

Reporting on the oil spill has us drawing comparisons and thinking about the state of nuclear waste safety.

Take corrosion, for instance.

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Tar Balls Showing Up As Far South As Del Mar and Other San Diego County Beaches

October 8, 2021 by Staff

Local governments and the media are scrambling to keep up with evidence that the Orange County oil spill has spread as far south as Del Mar and other San Diego County beaches.

Tar balls have been spotted at Oceanside, Carlsbad, Del Mar and Encinitas.

Volunteers with the Southern California oil spill response are now working on North County San Diego beaches, officials said Thursday.

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Push to Ban Off-Shore Oil Drilling in California

October 7, 2021 by Source

Times of San Diego

Democratic members of Congress from California seized on the oil spill off the state’s coast to promote federal legislation to ban all offshore oil drilling, as investigators searched for what caused the pipeline to burst.

About 144,000 gallons of crude oil spilled into the Pacific Ocean, killing wildlife, soiling the coastline and forcing officials to close beaches in several cities in Orange County. There are 23 rigs operating off California’s coast,

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San Diego County ‘Ready’ if Oil Spill Heads South

October 7, 2021 by Source

Public Service Announcement from KPBS

San Diego County officials Wednesday said they were ready to respond should oil from the pipeline break in Orange County make its way into San Diego County waters and beaches.

Nathan Fletcher, chair of the County Board of Supervisors, and Jeff Toney, director of the county’s Office of Emergency Services, said they are in constant communication with state and federal officials about the oil spill’s possible impact on San Diego County. “It appears some of the oil is making its way south, but it has yet to enter San Diego County waters,” Toney and Fletcher said in a joint statement.

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Radioactive Baby Teeth, JFK and Kids With Cancer

October 4, 2021 by Michael Steinberg

Nuclear Shutdown News chronicles the decline and fall of the nuclear industry in the US and beyond, and highlights the efforts of those who are working to bring about a nuclear free world.

The fear of nuclear annihilation after WWII spread around the world along with radioactive fallout from nuclear bomb tests. Scientists began to document the presence of this radioactivity in humans.

One particular radioactive chemical, Strontium 90 (Sr- 90), received particular attention. As with other fallout, it does not exist in nature. Like its non- radioactive cousin calcium, if it enters our bodies, it concentrates in our bones and teeth, and can emit radiation there for about 200 years, potentially causing cancer and other dread diseases.

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October 2021 Events from the Ocean Beach Green Center

October 4, 2021 by Source

All events are online and free unless stated otherwise.

* Every Saturday 10:15 am. Climate Mobilization Coalition Zoom Meeting. October 2nd, 9th, 16th, 23rd,and 30th
* October 5th Tuesday 7 pm – 8:15 pm San Diego’s Insects and Their Dependence on Native Plants Event by California Native Plant Society
* October 6th Wednesday 2 pm – 3:30 pm Network Webinar: Urban Heat & Resilience
* October 7th Thursday 11 am – 12 pm Understanding Violence and Prevention During a Pandemic
* October 7th Thursday 5 pm – 7:30 pm Gather 2021 Event by Climate Action Campaign
* October 8th Friday 7 pm Vaccinated Backyard movie night.
* October 9th Saturday 9 am – 3 pm California Native Plant Festival
* October 9th Saturday 10 am – 1 pm SD Fixit Clinic
* October 10th Sunday 9 am – 1 pm Walk for the Wild – San Diego Bay
* October 10th Sunday 2 pm – 4 pm Solar Power and Quality Jobs

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OB Paddle Out for Clean Water Follows Oil Spill Off Orange County, While Questions Raised of Response Time

October 4, 2021 by Frank Gormlie

An estimated 500 people took part in the annual OB Pier Paddle Out for clean water on Sunday, October 3 — just days after one of the largest oil spills in recent California history erupted off the coast of Orange County.

Meanwhile, Southern California residents, business owners and environmentalists are raising questions on why it took authorities so long in reacting to contain the over 130,000 gallon spill, that spans nearly 6 nautical miles.

According to reports from people who live and work in the area, they noticed an oil sheen and a heavy petroleum smell Friday evening. Yet, it wasn’t until Saturday morning after 9 am that the Coast Guard first reported it. It wasn’t until Saturday afternoon that a unified command was established to respond. And it took until Saturday night for the company that operates the pipeline believed responsible for the leak to shut down operations.

It wasn’t until Sunday that booms were deployed on the ocean surface to try to contain the oil.

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Surfrider Summons Beach Lovers to Paddle Around Ocean Beach Pier – Sunday, Oct.3

September 27, 2021 by Source

Edited from Surfrider

Surfrider San Diego is celebrating a 29 year tradition to raise awareness about our ongoing battle for clean water and a healthy coastline. This Sunday, October 3, at the OB Pier.

This is their signature awareness event, the Paddle for Clean Water, and is the largest non-competitive surf event in California.

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Of Course San Diego Water Use Is Up – Local Water Authority Leaders Told Us We Had Enough Water till 2045 – They Should Resign

September 24, 2021 by Frank Gormlie

The big news is that despite Gov. Newsom’s appeal for Californians to cut water use, water use in San Diego County actually went up.

According to new data, water use rose 1.3 percent in San Diego. … On average, Californians reduced water use by just 1.8 percent statewide during July as compared to the same month last year.

Yet is it any surprise that San Diegans haven’t adhered to Newsom’s appeal? We were told by our local water authority back in June ‘Not to worry, we have enough water through 2045.’

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Kudos to Macy’s for Plants and Volunteers at the Point Loma Native Plant Garden

September 24, 2021 by Staff

By Geoff Page

On Thursday, September 16, Macy’s, Inc. generously donated lots of plants and volunteers to plant them at one of the hidden jewels of the Peninsula: the Point Loma Native Plant Garden. This significant effort by Macy’s deserves kudos from the community.

For those unfamiliar with the Native Plant Garden, it has a gate at Mendocino Blvd. and Greene Street. There is another gate behind the apartment building on the west side of the property. It is just east of the eucalyptus grove on the north side of the apartment building. The Reserve is bordered on the east by Nimitz Blvd.

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Scripps Oceanography Partnering With SDG&E Does Not Make Sense

September 22, 2021 by Source

Scripps Institution of Oceanography is a leader in climate change research, yet it has a relationship with a utility that produces dangerous fossil fuels.

By Luke Stroth, Adam Cooper, Taylor Mckie / Op-Ed San Diego Union-Tribune / Sept. 20, 2021

Scripps Institution of Oceanography has long prided itself as a national leader in climate change research, yet it is pursuing a relationship with a utility owned by a regressive corporation that produces dangerous fossil fuels.

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14 Ways One LA Designer Created Eco-Friendly ‘Granny Flat’

September 16, 2021 by Source

From LA Times:

Sustainable builder Steve Pallrand, founder and principal designer of the L.A. firm Carbon Shack Design, designed and built an 888-square-foot zero energy accessory dwelling unit, or ADU.

To make sure the systems he puts into place tread lightly on the planet, Pallrand added many eco-friendly solutions: Wood from the dilapidated barn was saved to frame the interior non-structural walls of the ADU. The barn’s redwood siding was reused on half of the house and new redwood siding was added to finish the rest of the exterior. Old roof sheeting was reused as flooring. Board-and-batten barn siding was used to make the cabinets and millwork. The concrete slab was broken up and used as pathways, and when the city forced them to remove a cedar tree for fire access, they used it to create live edge countertops and furnishings in the kitchen.

Pallrand details his strategies for creating environmentally friendly housing that will help fight climate change:

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Will Horrors of This Century Surpass Those of the Last?

September 15, 2021 by Source

By David Helvarg / The Hill / September 14, 2021

As a journalist covering wars, disasters and the environment, I’ve come to realize the existential threats we now face are not just bad people and governments committing mass murder; it is the ongoing elimination of the natural systems that sustain life on earth. The UN defines genocide as actions intended, “to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group.”

But what if your actions are intended only to maintain the profitability of what until recently, was the largest industrial combine in human history?

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Investing in More Nuclear Power Is Not the Solution to Climate Crisis in Southern California

September 8, 2021 by Source

San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station has been turned into a nuclear waste dump for the foreseeable future.

By Sarah Mosko / Times of San Diego / September 4, 2021

If you live in Orange or San Diego County, hopefully you’re aware that San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station has been turned into a nuclear waste dump for the foreseeable future. If you live on planet earth, you’re wise to be tracking domestic and foreign moves to increase reliance on nuclear energy.

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Hurricane Ida Forces Two Nuclear Plants in Louisiana to Shut Down or Reduce Power

September 3, 2021 by Michael Steinberg

Nuclear Shutdown News August 2021

By Michael Steinberg / Black Rain Press

Nuclear Shutdown News chronicles the decline and fall of the nuclear industry, and highlights the efforts of those working to create a nuclear free world.

On August 29, 2021, 16 years to the day when Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans and environs, Hurricane Ida made landfall twice as a Category 4 storm. Its 150 mph winds raced through the Crescent City, and up cancer alley, by Baton Rouge, an area replete with petrochemical facilities whose surrounding African American populations have high rates of serious health care problems in the best of times.

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The Campaign Against Climate Action

August 23, 2021 by Source

By Mat Wahlstrom

Two weeks ago today, the United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) issued its sixth report since 1990, with the appropriate description that it represents a “Code red for humanity.”

Although continued sea level rise is already ‘irreversible’ for likely thousands of years, strong and sustained reductions in emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gasses (GHGs) could make air quality better and stabilize global temperatures within a few decades.

The question is how, per IPCC advice to policymakers, this can be accomplished through ‘sustainable development’ — and what exactly that means. So it would seem to make sense that we look at all the sources of GHGs and figure out how to reduce them.

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Send in the Sea Otters to Help Save California’s North Coast

August 10, 2021 by Source

By David Helvarg / Los Angeles Times / August 8, 2021

Kelp forests are a crucial California marine ecosystem. From kelp’s floating canopies to its “holdfast” roots, the giant seaweed — algae, actually — supports greater biodiversity and sequesters more carbon than a redwood grove, while also protecting our coastline from the full force of Pacific storms. Kelp forests shelter fin fish, shellfish, whales, seals, octopuses and sharks — more than 1,000 animal and plant species in all.

Unfortunately, since 2013 the state’s kelp beds have been in an unprecedented state of collapse. From San Diego to Monterey the losses are patchy, but north of the Golden Gate

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San Diego Events Calendar from the Ocean Beach Green Center – August 2021

August 2, 2021 by Source

All events are online and free unless stated otherwise.

Every Friday 5:30 pm Climate Mobilization Coalition Zoom Meeting. August 21st, and 28th.

August 21st Saturday 9:30am – 6:30 pm ASC’s Portal to Liberation Anniversary: Asian Americans & the Journey to Abolition

August 21st Saturday 12 pm – 1:30 pm Raising Backyard Chickens In-Person Workshop –

August 21st Saturday 12 pm – 4 pm Sea Shepherd San Diego

August 21st. Saturday 10 am “Other Side of the Hill” Documentary and Panel Discussion
August 24th Tuesday 4 pm – 5pm Save Your Scraps Webinar

August 24th – August 25th Riparian Management Workshop: Save Our Oaks

August 28th Saturday 2:30 pm – 5 pm Youth4Climate: Eco-Club Coalition Leaders in Action Workshop

August 29th Sunday 3 pm Build your own Bee Shelter Event by SoloBee

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Roundup, Other Glyphosate Products to Be Pulled from US Home and Garden Markets

August 2, 2021 by Source

By Olivia Rosane / EcoWatch / August 1, 2021

Bayer will no longer sell glyphosate-containing products to U.S. home gardeners, the company announced on Thursday.

The move comes as the company currently faces around 30,000 legal claims from customers who believe use of these products — including the flagship Roundup — caused them to develop cancer, as AgWeb reported.

“Bayer’s decision to end U.S. residential sale of Roundup is a historic victory for public health and the environment,” Center for Food Safety executive director Andrew Kimbrell said in a statement. “As agricultural, large-scale use of this toxic pesticide continues, our farmworkers remain at risk. It’s time for EPA to act and ban glyphosate for all uses.”

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From Negligence to Malevolence: How the Climate Crisis has Gone Critical

July 21, 2021 by Source

By David Helvarg / The Progressive / July 20, 2021

In June, record heat waves hit Russia, Northern Europe, Canada, and the United States. When these increasingly common weather phenomena began killing hundreds of people, the U.S. media focused its coverage on a single record breaking 116-degree day in Portland, Oregon.

When unprecedented flooding in Germany and Western Europe had killed more than 100 people by July 16, I watched as three U.S. network news shows rolled that report into coverage of the West’s wildfires and California’s worst drought in 1,200 years. Yet, none of the three main TV news outlets—NBC, CBS, or ABC—mentioned climate change,

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OB’s Dog Beach ‘Wins’ Morning After Clean-Up With Most Trash

July 7, 2021 by Source

OB’s Dog Beach had the most trash during Surfrider’s “Morning After” annual clean-up of beaches on July 5th. It came in at 560 pounds. The OB Pier had 223 pounds. In comparison, Belmont Park weighed in with 317 pounds.

Here’s Surfrider’s report:

Surfrider Volunteers Remove 1,457 Pounds of Trash from San Diego’s beaches after 4th of July Holiday

More than 600 volunteers gathered at six popular beaches yesterday morning to assist with the Surfrider Foundation San Diego’s annual post-Fourth of July “Morning After” beach cleanup series. In only two hours, Surfrider volunteers had recovered more than 1,457 pounds of trash

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Senate Bill 10 Threatens Local Voters’ Right to Stop Housing Sprawl

July 7, 2021 by Source

by Peter Andersen / Times of San Diego / July 6, 2021

Senate Bill 10, which is making its way through the California legislature, is a blatantly anti-democratic measure masquerading as a housing bill. It could affect the voting rights and quality of life for every Californian.

Senate President Pro Tem Toni Atkins, who is now listed as co-author of the bill and is the most powerful state senator in California, is the one person who can fix this bad bill before it becomes law.

Housing continues to be a top priority for policymakers in Sacramento, and rightly so. The health and humanitarian crisis facing the millions of Californians who struggle to afford housing must be addressed.

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Over 13,140 People Have Signed the Petition to Stop Nightly Fireworks at SeaWorld – Let’s Get to 15,000

July 7, 2021 by Source

As of this writing, over 13,140 people have signed the petition to stop SeaWorld’s nightly fireworks. The goal is to reach 15,000. Here is the petition.

From the petition statement:

SeaWorld is damaging the quality of life of hundreds of thousands of San Diegans on a nightly basis,every day for 3 months straight during the summer season alone. They are damaging the overall physical well-being of the citizens of San Diego who live within a 20 mile radius or larger.

The fireworks at SeaWorld constitute animal cruelty.

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Who Is Responsible for Oil Slicks on the Ocean?

July 6, 2021 by Source

By MacKenzie Elmer / Voice of San Diego / July 6, 2021

Around 11:50 a.m. on June 19, a whale watching tour captured drone footage of dolphins swimming through a 50-mile stretch of rainbow-colored oily mess about 70 miles from San Clemente Island, according to Gone Whale Watching Captain Domenic Biagini, who posted the video to his Instagram page.

That same day, only about an hour earlier, the Coast Guard had received another call reporting another slippery-looking sheen off Point Loma in San Diego

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San Diego Preparing Green Bins for Game-Changing Recycling Law

June 28, 2021 by Source

By David Garrick / San Diego Union-Tribune / June 22, 2021

San Diego is spending $15 million to buy 240,000 green recycling bins and kitchen pails so city residents can begin recycling food scraps to comply with a new state law that will fundamentally change recycling in California.

The new organics recycling law, SB 1383, forces residents and businesses to start separating out food waste and food-soiled paper products from their trash so that they can go in green bins for recycling.

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