Environment

Battle Over Northeast Mission Bay: Recent Backlash to City’s Plans Is Against Initial Backlash by Environmentalists

May 25, 2023 by Frank Gormlie

There’s been a battle going on over the future of northeast Mission Bay for at least the last 7 years, but just recently in what the U-T described as “a powerful backlash this spring from tennis players, golfers, boating clubs, campers and supporters of youth sports,” this new push-back appears to be on the late side.

Folks in this backlash claim that “the city’s plan to replace some recreational areas with hundreds of acres of climate-friendly marshland threatens vital local institutions that have been part of San Diego’s civic fiber for more than 50 years.

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An Ode to Ed’s Triangle and the Mean Green Team in Ocean Beach

May 10, 2023 by Source

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There’s a Beautiful and Mysterious Forest Right Off the Coast of Point Loma

May 4, 2023 by Source

By Benji Jones / Vox / May 3, 2023

A few miles west of San Diego is a stretch of ocean that’s rather unremarkable from the surface. The water is cold and blue. There’s some green seaweed peeking out.

Sink below the waves, however, and a whole other realm appears. Under the sea here, near Point Loma, is a forest as beautiful as any other. It’s made not of trees but of strands of giant kelp, a species of algae that can grow taller than a 10-story building. Tethered to the seafloor and buoyed by air-filled chambers, the kelp strands undulate with the current,

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Mayor Gloria Cuts Down More Trees Than He Plants

April 24, 2023 by Frank Gormlie

Mayor Todd Gloria and dozens of volunteers planted 60 trees in Mission Bay on Saturday, Earth Day — which was also Arbor Day. Most of the trees planted were fig trees.

Meanwhile, city crews and contractors are busy counting the number of trees along city streets — estimated to be about 300,000 — as part of a year-long effort to update San Diego’s inventory of tree canopy.

San Diego’s climate action plan initially called for tree canopies to cover about 15 percent of the city by 2020. Mayor Todd Gloria recently doubled down on the goal, calling for 35 percent coverage by 2035. The city’s current canopy coverage was last assessed about a decade ago at 13 percent.

The counting of trees — part of the city’s ambition to expand the city’s tree canopy as climate change spurs more extreme heat events — should be completed by December 2023. But this could be a steep hill to climb for San Diego, as recent events have demonstrated that the city likes to chop trees down.

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Earth Day Clean-Ups Around Ocean Beach and Point Loma

April 21, 2023 by Staff

Saturday, April 22nd is of course Earth Day and there’s a number of clean-ups and other events in and around Ocean Beach and Point Loma.

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Long-Term Loss of Coastal Cliffs Has New Tool

April 19, 2023 by Source

A new method for estimating cliff loss over thousands of years in Del Mar, California, may help reveal some of the long-term drivers of coastal cliff loss in the state.

By Danielle Torrent Tucker / Stanford News / April 17, 2023

In parts of California’s iconic mountainous coasts, breathtaking beauty is punctuated by brusque signs warning spectators to stay back from unstable cliffs. The dangers of coastal erosion are an all-too-familiar reality for the modern residents of these communities. Now, with a new tool, researchers are bringing historical perspective to the hotly debated topic of how to manage these disappearing coastlines.

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Is There a ‘Lighter Side’ to Our Possible Environmental Apocalypse?

April 19, 2023 by Source

By David Helvarg / MongaBay / April 12, 2023

Today I’m a waterlogged Californian, but soon I’ll be baked dry as a bone. The intensity of extreme drought and rainfall has “sharply” increased over the past 20 years, according to a new study published in the journal Nature Water.

Next July – ‘Hey kids, I’m putting on my Dune vapor recovery suit, is there anything you want from the abandoned gas station?’

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April 2023 Events from the Ocean Beach Green Center

April 4, 2023 by Source

All events are online and free unless stated otherwise

Every Saturday 10:30 am. Climate Mobilization Coalition Meetings  April 29th. 

To keep up to date on Women’s rights go to:   Women’s March San Diego https://womensmarchsd.org/  and  https://www.facebook.com/womensmarchsandiego/?ref=page_internal . They also recommend the following groups: Planned Parenthood Federation of America, Planned Parenthood Action Fund, Women’s March, MoveOn, UltraViolet, ACLU, the Liberate Abortion Coalition, SEIU, NARAL Pro-Choice America, United State of Women, and MomsRising

For Black Lives Matter and other communities of concern connections check out our list of social justice groups. Also many environmental groups are now embracing communities of concern, especially Climate groups that work on climate justice.  Go to “get involved page” for their links http://www.oceanbeachgreencenter.org/get-involved.html

An excellent source for events and credible information from local and national sources is  Peace San Diego  at https://www.facebook.com/groups/PeaceSanDiego

A good source for events related to climate change and sustainability issues is San Diego Climate Action Network  https://www.sdclimatenetwork.org/calendar/

COME INSIDE FOR DETAILS

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How Indigenous Land Management Practices Are a Blueprint for Climate-Resilient Agriculture

April 3, 2023 by Source

by Daniel Ross / Counter Currents / March 28, 2023

Several Hollywood action films center around an impending apocalypse in the form of an asteroid on a collision course with Earth—a glaring metaphor for the real-world implications of a rapidly accelerating climate crisis.

As this crisis unfolds before our very eyes, however, rather than look up to the atmosphere to see what can and should be done to curtail some of the worst effects of a rapidly warming world, maybe our gazes should also be trained downward at the soil beneath our feet,

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San Diego’s Styrofoam Ban in Effect

April 3, 2023 by Staff

The city of San Diego’s ban on styrofoam went into place this past weekend. This styrofoam ban includes food containers that most restaurants use for take-out orders and utensils, egg cartons, and even meat trays.

It’s the city’s single-use plastic reduction ordinance going into effect. The law was delayed for 3-4 years by lawsuits from California grocers.

Retail stores can no longer sell these products, and residents can’t use them at city parks or beaches.

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‘Fire SDG&E!’ Rally at San Diego Civic Center Plaza – Sat., April 1

March 30, 2023 by Source

From Press Statement:

The Public Power San Diego coalition will hold a mass FIRE SDGE! rally on April 1st, Noon, in Civic Center Plaza, downtown San Diego.

The event will be the first mass protest advocating a divorce from San Diego Gas & Electric, which charges the nation’s highest electric rates. “This rally signals a turning point.” said Craig Rose, a member of Public Power San Diego’s steering committee.

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The Promise of California’s Climate Roadmap

March 28, 2023 by Source

The Golden State can only stand up to its formidable climate disasters if it fully commits to its climate initiatives.

By David Helvarg / The Progressive / March 23, 2023

Ten years ago, I wrote a book called The Golden Shore: California’s Love Affair with the Sea. Back then, I suggested that California, with almost forty million people and the world’s fifth largest economy, was proof that you could grow a progressive society while protecting your coast and ocean—and that the two are intrinsically linked. The San Francisco Chronicle wrote that the book “just might make you feel optimistic about the future.”

Well, that future has arrived and I’m less optimistic.

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Kensington’s Historic Over-110 Year Old Trees Have Been Under Threat From the City

March 28, 2023 by Source

By Maggie McCann / SOHO / March-April 2023 Newsletter

After ill-conceived actions by the City of San Diego, Kensington’s parkways still retain 30 of the original California pepper trees planted when the subdivision was mapped in 1910.

When neighbors first proposed that the City designate the trees under Council Policy 900-19’s Conserve-a-Tree program as heritage trees, 37 trees were alive and doing fine. The City has since suspended the program, claiming that having trees designated as historic would cause them California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) problems. As if that’s a bad thing.

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San Diegans Challenge Banks to Stop Funding the Fossil Fuel Industry

March 22, 2023 by Source

From Third Act

Over 50 San Diego climate activists rallied at Chase Bank Plaza at 101 West Broadway and marched to Citibank on Tuesday, March 21 as part of a national day of action across the US to pressure the major banks to stop financing the expansion of the fossil fuel industry.

Organizers included Third Act SoCal, Sierra Club, SanDiego350, SanDiego350 Youth, Climate Action Campaign, ACT, Hammond Climate Solutions, Surfrider, and the Interfaith Coalition for Earth Justice.

The rally was among the more than 100 events that took place in over half the United States involving rallies, art installations

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National Day of Action Against Banks that Finance Fossil Fuels — Tuesday, March 21

March 20, 2023 by Source

Activists in downtown San Diego and around the country will demand that the world biggest banks stop funding fossil fuel projects on Tuesday, March 21.

The national day of action against banks over climate change comes ahead of investor resolutions at their annual general meetings next month to pressure them to stop funding climate chaos.

The top four fossil fuel financing banks are:

  • JP Morgan Chase,
  • Citi,
  • Bank of America and
  • Wells Fargo

These banks are pumping over one quarter of the $4.6 trillion total financing for fossil fuels by the top 60 global banks between 2016 and 2021.

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Row of Large, Shady Trees in Midway District Removed by City

March 16, 2023 by Staff

Take a good look of the trees in this photo. They’re fairly large, provide lots of shade — and now ….

Take another look at them — they’re all gone and dead.

The massive chop down was discovered by Rag writer Geoff Page today, and here is a brief report:

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Lake Oroville March 14 – A Picture Is Worth a 1,000 Words

March 16, 2023 by Source

California’s second largest reservoir was down to its lowest levels ever recorded in September 2021 (628’).

Incessant parades of atmospheric rivers have almost refilled the 3.5 million acre-foot reservoir by March 2023 (845’).

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San Diego’s Trees are Going…Going…

March 15, 2023 by Source

By Anne S. Fege / SOHO Newsletter March – April 2023

Considering the history of shade and ornamental trees in San Diego neighborhoods, it’s clear the numbers are going down—just as we need thousands more in every part of the city.

In older “privileged” neighborhoods (Kensington, Pacific Beach, and La Jolla, for example) that were developed in the 1920s and 1930s, there were large lots for trees. Some developers planted street trees, which were likely watered by tree roots reaching soil water in irrigated front lawns.

In older “redlined” and lower-income neighborhoods (south of the 94 freeway, now the Promise Zone) that were developed in those same decades, the lots were small, the streets were unpaved, and there were no sidewalks or street trees. Today, there are few places to plant trees, as paved parking areas cover many front yards and business districts.

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San Diego Set to Redevelop Northeast Mission Bay – Plans Call for 219 Acres of Marshland and Third Beach

March 7, 2023 by Source

Latest Proposal Boosts Land for Active Recreation and Restoration of Marshland

By David Garrick / San Diego Union-Tribune / March 7, 2023

Plans to transform northeast Mission Bay into a combination of marshland, campsites and recreation areas will take a key step Tuesday, March 7, with the release of a multiyear city analysis of how the changes could affect the environment.

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March 2023 Events from the Ocean Beach Green Center

March 2, 2023 by Source

All events are online and free unless stated otherwise.
***Every Saturday 10:30 am. Climate Mobilization Coalition Meetings  March 18th and 25th. 
March 18th  Saturday 1 pm – 3 pm Bird and nature walk at Famosa Slough 
March 18th Saturday 6 pm – 9:30 pm 2023 Sierra Club San Diego Awards Dinner Celebration   

March 21st Tuesday 11:30 am – 12;30 pm Banking on Our Future – March and Rally  

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San Diego’s Celebrations of Flowers

March 2, 2023 by Source

By Kathy Blavatt

What do the cultural celebrations of A Festa do Espirito Sano and Dia de los Muertos have in common that symbolize their ceremonies and come from nature? The answer for these events, and many other cultural ceremonies, are flowers.

Historically, these colorful live symbolic decorations from nature play essential roles in ceremonies that go back generations.

The recent annual Congress of History of San Diego and Imperial County (COH) conference highlighted the importance of community events that bind us together, which makes up the wonderful fabric of San Diego’s communities and landscapes.

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SeaWorld – Which Has Not Paid Its Rent to San Diego – Is Shooting Fireworks Off Again; Sign the Petition to Stop Them

February 21, 2023 by Judi Curry

By Judi Curry

So Sea World is at it again.

My two new dogs are shaking so hard I’m afraid they will have a heart attack.

Don’t tell me it’s my fault; don’t tell me it’s my problem; don’t tell me it’s beautiful and you like it.

It is harmful to the environment; it is harmful to ALL animals; it brings back horrific memories of our military suffering from PTSD.

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Critics: July 4th Fireworks Damage Southern California Environment; Are Demanding Action in Court

February 13, 2023 by Source

By Grace Toohey / Los Angeles Times / Feb. 9, 2023

A growing debate over the possible environmental damage caused by fireworks shows, especially over waterways, recently erupted in federal court where climate activists are pushing for stronger regulations of a popular Independence Day celebration in Southern California.

While fireworks have for years been known to cause significant air pollution — with July 4 and 5 recording some of Southern California’s worst air quality days — activists and attorneys with the Coastal Environmental Rights Foundation want officials to help minimize the damage fireworks pose to waterways

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‘Love Your Wetlands Day’ — Mission Bay — Sat., Feb.4

February 3, 2023 by Source

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February 2023 Events from the Ocean Beach Green Center

February 1, 2023 by Source

All events are online and free unless stated otherwise.
See inside for “More on Kip Kruegar”

Every Saturday 10:30 am. Climate Mobilization Coalition Meetings  February 4th, 11th, 18th,and 25th

February 8th Wednesday 5 pm Conscious Closets Webinar

February 9th Thursday 5:30 – 7:30 pm Fossils, Fertilizers, and False Solutions 
February 9th Thursday 5:30 pm – 7:30 pm Restorative Justice in Education Event by League of Women Voters 

February 11th Saturday 11 am – 4 pm City Heights Multi-Cultural Festival of Love 
February 11th Saturday 10 am – 1 pm SD Fixit Clinic with Goodwill Industries  

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11 Years Ago Today, San Onofre Nearly Became the Next Fukushima

January 31, 2023 by Source

From San Clemente Green

Eleven years ago today — Jan. 31, 2013, we almost nuked Southern California. We owe a debt of gratitude to the nuclear operators that managed a swift and flawless emergency shutdown.

A Thank You Note to Edison Employees and a reminder to all. It is important to remember that they prevented a major disaster eleven years ago.

Your quick actions when radioactive steam began escaping into the environment, prevented a chain reaction from occurring in one of the newly replaced steam generators. It turns out that whistleblowers, afraid of known retaliation from management for such things, had rightfully warned us of this possibility two years prior.

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After Weeks of Rain, California Reservoirs Still Not Full

January 25, 2023 by Source

By Jamie Joseph / Epoch Times / Jan. 24, 2023, Updated Jan.25

Most of California’s major reservoirs failed to reach full capacity after more than two weeks of rainstorms, according to the latest data from the state water department. As of Jan. 23, among the 17 major reservoirs, only the smallest one—the Cachuma Reservoir northwest of Santa Barbara—was nearly full, at about 1.5 times its historical average level, according to the California Department of Water Resources.

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San Diego Audubon to Host Dramatic King Tide Viewing Saturday in Mission Bay

January 20, 2023 by Source

On Saturday, Jan. 21, 2023, from 7:30 to 10 a.m. (high tide at 8:06 a.m.) San Diego Audubon, ReWild and UCSD will host a King Tide viewing in Mission Bay’s Kendall-Frost Marsh Reserve. The Reserve is at 2055 Pacific Beach Dr., 92109 (southeast corner of Pacific Beach Dr. and Crown Point Dr.)

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King Tides Are Back in San Diego! January 21-22

January 20, 2023 by Source

King tides are returning to Ocean Beach and other coastal communities this weekend, Jan. 21 – 22.

They only happen a few times a year. Simply put, a King Tide is the time of the year when the tide is the highest. King Tides are caused by the normal gravitational forces from the moon and the sun that create normal tides. However, a king tide happens when the earth, sun, and moon are in full alignment; causing an increase in gravitational pull.

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Biodegradable Sneakers Made in San Diego

January 9, 2023 by Source

From KPBS

Tom Cooke isn’t just a San Diego surfer.

He’s president of a company called Blueview Footwear that makes biodegradable sneakers. Cooke knows the business of recreational footwear well, having worked for Reef and Vans.

The science behind these shoes comes from Stephen Mayfield, Blueview’s CEO and UC San Diego distinguished professor of molecular biology.

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