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A Black Eye for the City as Ocean Beach Torrey Pine Falls

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A running controversy over the fate of the ‘Esperanza’ Torrey Pine in Ocean Beach ended early Monday morning as the tree was removed by private contractors.

The city of San Diego believed the 80-foot tall tree was in danger of falling over. Local residents funded an arborist who said it represented a low risk after an initial attempt to remove the tree was blocked by protests, including a sit-in.

Area residents set up a daily watch. A fundraising campaign raised over $1000 and Friends of Peninsula Trees was born. The city was asked to participate in a community forum to discuss the matter. Their response was to cut the tree down.   [Read more…]

Readers Write: Old High Pressure Pipeline Threat to City Heights

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By John Stump

Rainbow Pipeline 1600 passes through heavily populated urban areas of San Diego, including my home community of City Heights. This pipeline is approaching 70 years of age and if it was human it would have retired, be collecting Social Security, and on Medicare. The San Bruno explosion made clear the scale of injury and property that could result from a pipeline failure. The Rainbow Pipeline 1600 is older, bigger, and under higher pressure than the disastrous San Bruno pipeline.
  [Read more…]

Holy Heatwave! July 2016 Sets Another Record

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Another month has passed and another temperature record for the planet was set.

Results published on the NASA database yesterday indicated July 2016 was the 10th month in a row to break monthly temperature records, a measure obtained by combining sea-surface temperatures and air temperatures on land.

David Karoly, a climate scientist from the University of Melbourne, told The Guardian this latest data means 2016 is “virtually certain” to be the hottest year on record.   [Read more…]

Will 4 Out of 5 Pediatricians Endorse Marijuana Gummy Bears?

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Back in the days when tobacco use was an accepted norm in society, cigarette companies regularly created ad campaigns featuring physicians attesting to the quality of their products.

Opponents of Proposition 64, the California initiative to legalize recreational pot, are being accused of trying to pull a fast one on general election voters by including language in official ballot arguments suggesting that TV ads making marijuana attractive to children are part of the measure.

The Yes on Proposition 64 committee filed suit in Sacramento County Superior Court yesterday, asking a judge to change or delete arguments in opposition to the measure they say include false or misleading language.   [Read more…]

Improving Land Use in National City

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By Adriana Covarrubias

National City is a rich, family-oriented community that is home to predominantly Chicano and Latino families, some recent immigrants and some who have been living in the neighborhood for generations. We have a strong sense of connection and a collective responsibility to improve the quality of life in our neighborhood.

Unfortunately, outdated land-use policies have made National City a dumping ground for decades of industrial toxic pollution. Walking around National City, you will find auto body and car repair shops every other block, despite school zones and residential streets. Approximately 32,000 pounds of toxic air contaminants are released each year. Not surprisingly, asthma rates remain disproportionately high and there is a clear lack of green space and affordable housing.   [Read more…]

Earth to Humans: My Fever Continues to Rise

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Southern California may have lucked out in 2015 when it comes to the torrential rains associated with El Nino, but that’s about the only good news, according to the State of the Climate in 2015 report.

The 300-page report, utilizing 450 scientists from 62 countries around the world was published by National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. The bottom line: 2015’s global surface temperature towered over any year preceding it.

The planetary fever underway was linked a record-challenging El Niño event, with warmer-than-normal tropical Pacific Ocean waters heating up the atmosphere. Record-setting concentrations of heat-trapping gasses from human activity were also cited as a cause.   [Read more…]

San Onofre Whistleblower

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By Michael Steinberg / Black Rain Press

Nuclear Shutdown News chronicles the decline of the nuclear power industry in the US and beyond, and highlights the efforts of those who are working to create a nuclear free future. Here is our July 2016 report.

San Onofre whistleblower: Utility put profits above safety, ruined its own nuke plant.

A radiation leak at San Onofre nuclear plant in southern California caused its two reactors to shut down in 2012, and resulted in its permanent closure the following year.

On July 19 the Times of San Diego reported on a press release by Public Watchdog, a nonprofit policy group, detailing allegations of a former employee at San Onofre. Southern California Edison is the controlling owner, with San Diego Gas & Electric being a minority owner of the wrecked nuclear plant.
  [Read more…]

Extreme Weather Change: Devastating Heat

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Last year was the hottest year ever globally — or it was until 2016 got off to a sweltering start. NASA announced that the first six months of this year have been the hottest since 1880, which is when people started keeping reliable records. In June 2016 the average earth temperature was 1.62 degrees hotter than the average June temperature for the 20th century.

The Arctic has seen sky high temperatures this year with the result of record low sea ice levels. The Alaskan town of Deadhorse just 50 miles from the Arctic coast set a record temperature of 85º F.

The drought and blistering heat, some 20 to 30 degrees Fahrenheit above normal, have made it impossible for farmers to tend their crops. Towns on India’s eastern side have been hit with record-setting temperatures — 119.3 degrees in the town of Titlagarh, Orissa, which is the highest temperature ever recorded in that state during April.   [Read more…]

Open Letter to San Diego Port Commission About ‘World Class Waterfront’ Development Proposals

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Provided by Bill Adams / San Diego UrbDeZine

Dear Chairman Merrifield and Commissioners:

On behalf of the San Diego Environment + Design Council, we are submitting the following comments.

The San Diego Environment + Design Council is a coalition of organizations whose primary interest is to promote environmentally-sustainable land use policies that create healthy, green neighborhoods and great public spaces in the San Diego-Tijuana region. We provide an open venue for diverse organizations and interests to come together and develop recommendations to improve how our communities live, work and play.

We have reviewed the six development proposals regarding the subject 17-acre site occupied by Seaport Village. In keeping with our mission, we offer the following comments.   [Read more…]

San Diegans Voice Concerns to State Officials About Air Quality, Environmental Justice, and Climate Change

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By David Harris / San Diego 350

What do you get when you bring together 120 environmental activists and residents from environmental justice communities in a room with a dozen state regulators? If you’re lucky, dozens of ideas for incentivizing renewable energy, improving public transit, and protecting neighborhoods from toxic industrial fumes.

This is exactly what happened on July 14th when the California Air Resources Board (CARB) sponsored a workshop on climate change at the beautiful new Cesar Chavez campus in Barrio Logan. Local residents, whose voices are rarely heard by policy makers in Sacramento, came out in force to speak out about air pollution from local industry, the need for better transit options, and the impacts of climate change on communities already impacted by poor air quality.
  [Read more…]

Raising the Bar for Healthy Communities in National City

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Carolina Martinez / Environmental Health Coalition

Located in San Diego County’s second oldest city, Old Town National City remains a primarily low-income Latino neighborhood with evolving surroundings. Over the past 50 years, the community has changed from a mainly residential neighborhood to a mixture of auto-related businesses located around schools and homes. Auto-body shops in residential neighborhoods burden the health of the community by emitting toxic pollution into the air we breathe.

In 2005, our community decided to combat conflicting land use and bring health back to the community with a vision for a vibrant and toxic-free neighborhood. Our plans included affordable housing within walking distance of a transit center, construction that wouldn’t damage Paradise Creek and a healthy community park to replace polluted grounds.   [Read more…]

Ferdinand’s Friendly Familia: Animal Sanctuary in Imperial Beach

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As you turn onto Hollister Road in Imperial Beach, and go into the Tijuana River Valley, you feel like you are in a different world. It feels like the dusty countryside in Mexico, and a place where non-conformists live. This is where you will find Ferdinand’s Familia, a sanctuary for large and small animals, run by an unusual couple.

Ferdinand, the peaceful bull, is a good symbol for this place that was founded by vegetarian peace activists, Michael Pratt and Janice Jordan. They have shared the same vision in life for 19 years. Both are members of the San Diego Peace and Freedom Party.

Ferdinand’s Familia first started in 2008 in their home and with rental stalls. However, as word got out and they began to rescue more neglected and abandoned animals, they realized they needed a larger property of their own and the present sanctuary opened in 2012.   [Read more…]

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