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Cue the Crazy: What Are They Smoking at Fox News?

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By Doug Porter

One of the big stories in the media this week concerns the decision by CVS/Caremark to discontinue selling tobacco products at its 7600 stores. In the short term this move will cost the company $2 billion a year in sales,or about 1.5% of their total volume.

I expected to see debate over whether this was a prudent business decision. After all, no good capitalist likes to walk away from a profit. And questions about the viability of the company’s long term strategy are to be expected. Will a large enough number of consumers actually react positively to the concept of hard-core retailing of health care?

I also expected the ‘yahoo’ element to chime in, filling comment sections with trollish chatter about how, liquor, candy and sodas would probably be next. But I was astonished at how quickly Fox News spun this story into yet another Obama-centric controversy.   [Read more…]

The Water Crisis: Dealing With the Shower Police

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By Will Falk

I have a problem with some of the people I call the “shower police.” These are the people yelling about how we all need to take shorter showers because of the water crisis. They deem anyone a hypocrite who accuses corporations and the government of being the worst water offenders while not enthusiastically letting a night of the strongest urine fester in their bathrooms.

My problem with the shower police is not that they’re wrong that we all need to live as simply as possible. We do. My problem with that shower police is not that they’re wrong that we all must endure much more than funky bathrooms. We will.

My problem is that the shower police often confuse personal change with social change.   [Read more…]

New Study Finds Worrisome Pattern of Birth Defects in Fracking Communities

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By Miriam Rotkin-Ellman/Switchboard–Natural Resources Defense Council

Science has long known that the developing fetus is sensitive to experiences of the mother – alcohol consumption, dietary factors, and mercury exposure are some of the more well-known examples.  This sensitivity makes newborn babies an early indicator of something going wrong in the environment of the mother.  Unfortunately, a team of researchers found preliminary evidence of something gone wrong when they looked at the patterns of birth defects in newborn babies in Colorado.  The researchers found that babies whose mothers lived in close proximity to multiple oil and gas wells were 30% more likely to be born with defects in their heart than babies born to mothers who did not live close to oil and gas wells.

As a public health scientist, this finding raises alarm bells and leads to many questions.  This is the first published peer reviewed study realistically examining whether people living near sites where fracking has occurred are experiencing more health impacts.  The fact that it found a statistically significant association, is very worrisome especially in combination with early reports of similar findings from a study in Pennsylvania. Although these types of studies can’t tell us definitively that pollution from oil and gas wells is the cause of the elevated birth defects, the findings of this study are like a flashing light saying something is going on here and we need to take action to make sure our most vulnerable are protected.  In fact, it is studies like this one that have ultimately led to the understanding we now have of how to protect pregnant women and ensure healthier babies.   [Read more…]

Extreme Weather Watch: January 2014 – 30 million Americans Had Flights Canceled or Delayed

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By John Lawrence

More than 49,000 flights were canceled and another 300,000 delayed in January as airlines lost $75 million to $150 million because of costs such as deicing jets as well as lost revenue. 30 million people had their flights canceled or delayed.

Flight cancellations cost passengers an extra $2.5 billion in meals and extra hotel bills in January alone. Many stranded passengers had to wait days — and in a few extreme case up to a week — to get a seat on a flight out.

After viewing the Super Bowl many fans had their flights home canceled. Even the victorious Seattle Seahawks experienced flight disruptions. Their charter flight was delayed by a snowstorm in Newark, NJ. After a couple of hours on the tarmac, the plane finally took off, only to be diverted to Minneapolis. They finally made it home hours after their scheduled arrival time.   [Read more…]

Former Sierra Club President Weighs in on Proposed Suspension of San Diego Chapter

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By Lori Saldaña

The current debate swirling within- and now outside- the San Diego Chapter of the Sierra Club reflects in large part a debate over the concept that “form follows function.”

In a nutshell: The San Diego Chapter’s Executive Committee, elected by local Sierra Club members, has struggled for 4 years to manage and grow a Chapter without adequate conservation and volunteer development staff. The national board and their employees in San Francisco have refused to listen to the local leader’s reasonable concerns to hire employees to support the Club’s core mission: to “Enjoy, Explore and Protect” the natural environment.

With the letter announcing the proposed suspension the National Board is finally taking action: not to provide additional employees, but to silence the volunteers who have requested their assistance; not to address their concerns, but to retain the only local employee- a Fundraiser- at the expense of long-time Chapter volunteer leaders.   [Read more…]

Gardening Is the New Front Porch in America

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By Susan Taylor

Gardening is the new front porch in America. Scratch not too deeply and we all have agricultural roots from someone, somewhere. San Diego is growing veggies in the front yard, the back yard, a community garden or even on someone else’s property. The “new” hot landscaping is called edible landscaping. Take a walk and look around. See any lettuce, chard or grapevines next to the sidewalk, near the front door?   [Read more…]

Why Downtown San Diego Pedestrians Stop for Cars More Than Any Other City and What to do About it

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San Diego is lucky to have some of the country’s best planning minds.  The trick is getting their input implemented.

By Bill Adams / UrbDeZine.com

San Diego’s downtown street grid and its small blocks make continuous walking difficult, especially for people trying to go in a straight line. Jogging is even more difficult. The blocks are 200 by 300 feet. Among major cities, only Portland has smaller blocks at 200 by 200 feet.

So depending on walking direction, pedestrians generally must stop every 200 or 300 feet to wait for traffic.

While this may not be troublesome for people on vacation or on a day-off, for residents and downtown workers who use their feet for more utilitarian purposes, it is an impediment not experienced in many other cities nor even in the suburbs.   [Read more…]

Faulconer’s Game Plan for San Diego: To Hell With Those Citizen Gadflies – Build, Baby, Build!

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By Doug Porter

His plan is just perfect for sound-bite coverage. Mayoral candidate Kevin Faulconer rolled out his miracle cure for San Diego’s housing crisis focus on the homeless population on Wednesday and the local media dutifully reported his talking points without challenging any assumptions.  It should have been easy to ask a few questions; after all here were no specifics, facts or dollar figures cited.

Today we’ll take a look at some of those assumptions, with a big assist via remarks made by by former mayor Jerry Sanders at a panel discussion sponsored by Torrey Pines Bank. Candidate Faulconer’s plan is simply a gussied up version of “trickle down” economics. And by now hopefully you’ve figured out how that hasn’t worked for 99% of the population. What’s going on here is that the GOP candidate is hiding his true intentions behind a “feel good” press release about the homeless.

A 2012 report by the Center for Housing Policy does a good job of outlining the problem, which extends way past the homeless population. While nearly one in four working households nationally are defined as having severe housing cost burden, 37% of San Diego residents are paying more than half of their income for housing. Much of the working population is one mishap away from being homeless, so when you’re talking about housing in San Diego, you may as well talk about the whole problem.   [Read more…]

This Is What Climate Change Looks Like

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California isn’t experiencing cold weather this winter, but it’s as vulnerable to the deepening climate crisis as the rest of the country

By  / OtherWords

“It’s been a bit cold here,” my dad told me on a recent phone call. He lives in Chicago; I’m in San Diego. The next time I turned on the news, I saw headlines screaming “Polar Vortex!” with sub-zero temperatures across the Midwest.

Dad’s known in our family for his stoicism and even keel, but his understatement about the weather was a bit much, even for him. Surely he’s noticed that the weather has taken a turn from its normal Chicago standard of freezing and windy to hypothermia-inducing temperatures so cold that even the polar bear at the zoo couldn’t take it anymore.

I realize that, in such times, we San Diegoans are universally hated by most of the rest of the country. Nobody sheds a tear for me when I complain about there being only a few days in the 90s amid our normal wintery perfection of 70s and sunny.   [Read more…]

How Dry We Are – Worst Drought Conditions in California Since 1895

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By Doug Porter

Thursday’s weather forecast for San Diego includes the slight possibility of rain. Maybe that should be a slight possibility of a slight amount of rain, since the total precipitation is expected to be in the one hundredth of an inch range. The Sierra Nevada Mountains are expected to see as much as six inches of rain, but even that amount will be the proverbial drop in the bucket when compared to the severity of the current drought.

Today’s column will start off with a look around media outlets and water conservation activists in the Golden State addressing the impact of the current dry spell.  A Public Policy Institute poll cited in the UT-San Diego indicates that ten percent of Californians see the drought as the most important issue of the day.

Based on the reactions of State and Federal officials it seems likely to me the public is uninformed about the severity of the situation. Droughts, after all, lack the sex appeal of stories about 19 year old pop stars being arrested or the latest in ObamaScare lies being peddled by the GOP.   [Read more…]

Why Does Sierra Club Have Its Knickers All in a Knot?

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By Jay Powell

The latest news coming out of the national Sierra Club office at a time when there are major climate change initiatives underway and the City is about to elect a new Mayor is just not funny.  San Diego and Imperial County members are receiving letters from the chairman of the national Sierra Club, David Scott informing them that they are considering a formal suspension of the Chapter Executive Committee due to “internal conflicts and divisions.”

In an update report, UT San Diego environmental reporter Deborah Sullivan Brennan outlines some of the recent history of changes in chapter leadership, notes cases of suspension of other chapters within the last several years, and refers to a lawsuit filed against the national organization by a former chapter chairman who was removed by the national organization in September 2012 over what are still undisclosed reasons.  (“Sierra Club Chapter Struggling with High Leadership Turnover”)   That former leader has filed a law suit is claiming defamation and seeking due process to include a disclosure of whatever claims were made that led to his removal.   [Read more…]

What Violence Counts?

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By Will Falk

More than 100 species went extinct yesterday. They were my kin.

Despite this, I have been hearing people talk about how the world is getting better, how progress is being made, and how we have a bright future.

For example, CJ Werleman recently wrote an article for AlterNet titled “Humanity is Becoming Increasingly Less Violent, with One Exception – Religious Violence.” His opening line declares, “Studies demonstrate the world is becoming less violent, and that human warfare is on the decline.”

Last night, after reading Werleman’s article, I opened my fridge and took out a package of tilapia fillets to make fish tacos. I stopped for a moment wondering why I couldn’t find cod or haddock anymore. Werleman’s words filled my head “Humanity is becoming increasingly less violent.”   [Read more…]

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