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June in Your Garden: Time for Early Summer Planting

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San Diegans get half an inch of rain… and they become mad planters!

Yes, it did rain and everyone rushed to plant more seeds and summer veggies in the refreshed soil. What a good idea! While it rained I browsed yet another article on companion planting. Although we did cover this topic last year I think it bears consideration.

Companion planting means planting certain garden plants together for intended benefits. My main take away recently is that nasturtiums, marigolds and various herbs are wonderful additions to most garden beds because they stimulate and improve the taste of much of what we grow. These three are also deterrents for many garden pests.   [Read more…]

Report: One in Four Jobs in San Diego at Risk with Trade Deal

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By Doug Porter

On the eve of what observers are calling a close vote in the House of Representatives over fast track legislation, the coalition of labor, faith and environmental groups released a shocking report on the potential impact of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) on service sector jobs in the metro San Diego area. One in four jobs in the region spanning over 150 occupations are being placed at risk.

San Diego has two of less than a dozen House democrats who remain undecided on this issue – Representative Scott Peters (CA-52) and Representative Susan Davis (CA-53).

Republican House Ways and Means Chairman Paul Ryan is seeking to stifle opposition in his own party by promoting an amendment to a customs and trade law enforcement bill being considered alongside the fast-tracking legislation prohibit the U.S. Trade Representative from negotiating climate change elements as part of any trade dealing over the next six years.

As bad as that news is for the environment, the news for local employment is even worse.   [Read more…]

State Senate Passes Bill Banning New Offshore Drilling

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By Dan Bacher

In a victory for fishing groups, Indian Tribes and environmental organizations, SB 788, a bill to ban new offshore oil drilling in a nearby “marine protected area” in the Santa Barbara Channel known as Tranquillon Ridge, passed off the Senate floor.

The vote on the bill, jointly authored by Senator Mike McGuire (D- Healdsburg) and Senator Hannah-Beth Jackson (D-Santa Barbara), was 21-13.

The vote took place two weeks after a ruptured pipeline, owned by Plains All-American Pipeline, led to a devastating oil spill along the Santa Barbara County coastline. The state and federal governments are currently cleaning up the spill – and the dead birds, mammals and fish killed by the spill.   [Read more…]

Will City of San Diego Make Dubious Move to Get Blanket CEQA Exemption for Mission Valley Stadium?

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Is the City of San Diego about to go for a blanket CEQA exemption for the Mission Valley stadium?

Dan McLellan thinks so. He used to sit on the San Diego Stadium Coalition, was its vice-president for awhile and is a longtime ardent Chargers fan. He departed the group so he could speak out more aggressively, he told us.

McLellan thinks that all evidence points to the city attempting – what he terms “the legally dubious move”- of getting a blanket CEQA exemption in order to advance any proposed stadium project to a December 15th vote – which has been proposed by Mayor Faulconer just recently.   [Read more…]

Sweetwater Reservoir

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By Barbara Zaragoza / South Bay Compass

Editor Note: The ongoing drought conditions in the region have impacted the availability of our water resources. The Sweetwater Reservoir is one of those resources.

While some may claim that the South Bay is filled with concrete and suburban McHomes, city planners have done much to preserve our green spaces. The Sweetwater Summit Campground is a wonderful little example.

You might consider it lackluster IF you are looking for “Disneyland” entertainment, but this low-key regional park hosts a playground with water works, 500-acres of trails and roaming animals that include the southern pacific rattlesnake, the coyote and the bobcat.   [Read more…]

‘Mad Max: Fury Road’ Is a Resource-Conscious Blockbuster for Our Time

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By Kate Aronoff / Yes! Magazine

When the first Mad Max was released back in 1979, the era’s reigning existential threats were nuclear winter and, to a lesser extent, peak oil. Set in a not-too-distant dystopian future and against the harsh backdrop of rural Australia, viewers’ ability to map their own fears onto the screen was crucial to that film’s success.

Although the fears have changed, you could say the same thing about Mad Max: Fury Road, the series’ long-awaited fourth installment. Released this month in the midst of California’s historic drought and increasingly bleak studies about the likelihood of catastrophic climate change, the film plays more on viewers’ anxieties about a carbon bomb than a nuclear one.   [Read more…]

Nuclear Shutdown News – May 2015: Fire at Indian Point Plant in NY – and Is It ‘The End’ for Diablo Canyon?

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By Michael Steinberg – Black Rain Press / OB Rag

Nuclear Shutdown News chronicles the continuing decline of the US nuclear industry. US nuke plants were designed to operate for 40 years … As many of them have approached or surpassed that mark, they have become increasingly unsafe and inefficient, threatening our health and safety. This report points out some of these problems and supports those working for a nuclear free future.

Here’s our May 2015 report:   [Read more…]

Pipeline Disasters Are Part of the Price We Pay for Relying On Oil

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By Jill Richardson / Other Words

The recent oil spill in Santa Barbara, California hit home for me in a painful way. As a southern Californian for many years now, I take any excuse to head up the coast to Santa Barbara I can get.

It’s a particularly beautiful stretch of pristine coastline, populated by an abundance of marine mammals.

A few years ago, at a family reunion, I joined my relatives on a boat ride in that area. Dolphins found us almost immediately — a hundred or more, delighting us in the wake of our boat.

For months now, Californians have been finding dead and dying sea lion pups washing up on our shores. Now those animals are contending with an oil spill too.   [Read more…]

‘Empty the Tanks’ Campaign to Hit San Diego’s SeaWorld This Weekend

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Animal rights activists from throughout Southern California will gather in San Diego this weekend in a kick-off for a world-wide campaign called “Empty the Tanks” with demonstrations against SeaWorld.

The main demonstration is on Saturday, June 6th outside SeaWorld from 10am to 1pm, at the intersection of SeaWorld Drive and SeaWorld Way. The goal is to advocate for marine mammals held captive worldwide for entertainment and profit.   [Read more…]

Faking It While the World Burns

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Words alone won’t hinder climate change.

By Emily Schwartz Greco / OtherWords

Rex Tillerson, of all people, just did the climate movement a big favor.

He didn’t hand the Sierra Club tens of millions of dollars to fight the coal industry like former New York City mayor Mike Bloomberg. Nor did the chairman and CEO of Exxon Mobil follow former hedge fund investor Tom Steyer‘s lead by giving political candidates with climate cred campaign cash.

What did Tillerson, whom Forbes ranks among the world’s most powerful people, do? He disclosed his take on the proper role for big oil and gas companies regarding global warming, declaring: “We’re not going to fake it.”   [Read more…]

Protecting Mauna Kea: Pule Plus Action

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By Will Falk

I went up to Mauna Kea’s summit a few days ago to pule (to pray) with some of the protectors on a ridge inside the Thirty Meter Telescope’s (TMT) proposed construction site. When we reached the site, we were confronted by half a dozen large men in orange vests and hard hats brandishing cameras, audio recorders, and notebooks.

The boss told us we were trespassing on an active construction site and subject to arrest. I looked around and saw nothing but a handful of back-hoes, the open sky at 14,000 feet above sea level, and a sublime, obsidian-colored cinder field stretching to the clouds. Of course, as I’m writing this, construction on Mauna Kea has been suspended for more than two months.

Kaho’okahi Kanuha explained that we were simply here to say some prayers. The boss told us again we were subject to arrest, mumbled into a hand-held radio, signaled to his men, and began recording us with a camera.   [Read more…]

Speak Up for Safe Bike Facilities on University Avenue

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By Bike San Diego / Bike San Diego Blog

After more than two and a half years worth of community meetings on how to make Uptown a safe place to walk, bike, take transit and drive, SANDAG staff has decided to stop the entire process and gut any sort of safe bike infrastructure for University Avenue. SANDAG staff is recommending sharrows (or, no changes) for University Avenue (as you can see from the visual above).

This Friday – you have a final chance to speak up for a safe Uptown and a safe place to ride on University Avenue.

SANDAG, our regional metropolitan agency, will have their Transportation Committee meet this Friday at 9AM. There is only one item on the agenda: Uptown Bikeways.   [Read more…]

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