Santa Lucian • January 2015 1 SANTA LUCIAN · Santa Lucian • January 2015 3Cambria’s Shock Doctrine Endless emergency Workers checked the liner in the Cambria desal plant’s

Santa Lucian • January 2015 1

Protecting andPreserving theCentral Coast

SANTA LUCIAN

IIIII n s i d en s i d en s i d en s i d en s i d eCambria’s handy emergency 3

Heidi Harmon, post-election 4

Dunes dust rule in court 5

Diablo canyon count-down 6

Mining Margarita 8

Classifieds 11

Outings 12

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January 2015Volume 52 No. 1

Santa LucianSanta Lucia Chapter of the Sierra ClubP. O. Box 15755San Luis Obispo, CA 93406

NONPROFIT ORG.U.S. POSTAGE

PAIDPERMIT NO. 84

SAN LUIS OBISPOCA 93401

Don’t Miss:January 13

Community Choice: Thefuture is in your hands

- see page 5

January 28Environmentalists

Rendezvous: Protectors ofour Sea & Shore

- see page 2

T h e o f f i c i a l n e w s l e t te r o f th e Sa n ta L u c i a C h a p te r o f t h e S i e r ra C l u b ~ Sa n L u i s O b i s p o Co u n t y, C a l i f o rn i a

[tell EPA] NO

Stop That Train The fracking and tar sands extractionoperations that have turned vast swathsof the Northeast, Great Plains, andCanada’s arboreal forests into indus-trial wastelands are seeking to extendlong, toxic tentacles into California andSLO County. The Revised Draft EnvironmentalImpact Report (EIR) for the SantaMaria Refinery rail spur project is thesecond strike for Phillips 66. In theirfirst attempt to describe the project in adraft EIR, they didn’t mention tarsands heavy crude and pretended theywere after light crude oil from theBakken shale formation. Bad timing:that draft EIR was written just as newsreports about exploding Bakken shalecrude oil trains started to mount. After their first try at an EIR waspublicly trashed and withdrawn (see“Oil Train Hits a Bump,” April 2014),they dropped the Bakken shale crudepretense, admitting that the focus of theproject is Canadian tar sands crude.Phillips also admits the transport ofthis oil will result in “significant andunavoidable” levels of toxic air pol-

lution, but they are still trying to under-state or omit the likely impacts of theproject. They are still pretending thatit’s all about the construction of a railspur, not the facilitation of a sig-nificant increase in rail oil traffic andthe impacts of funneling tar sandscrude oil to the Santa Maria refinery atthe rate of 52,000 barrels per day. Inundated by 23,000 comments onthat Revised EIR overwhelminglyopposing the project, the San LuisObispo County Planning Department

bundling multiple comments. Eitherway, it’s a record.) A local p.r. consult-ant for Big Oil recently made clear

has become an epicenter of thenational resistance movement againstthe push to load up the U.S. railwaysystem with more and more toxic,volatile crude oil. (The County initiallyestimated that 11,000 comments weresubmitted, but many of the electronicsubmissions were “packet” e-mails,

TRAIN continued on page 10

Not just Nipomo Nationwide, more than 25 million people live in the oil train blast zoneas determined by the Department of Transportation. Find out if you live, work or drive inthe SLO County Evacuation Zone at www.blast-zone.org.

Why we should all say no to extreme oil

2 Santa Lucian • January 2015

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Santa Lucian

EDITORGreg McMillanLindi DoudLinda SeeleySandy SimonEDITORIAL COMMITTEE

The Santa Lucian is published 10 times ayear. Articles, environmental information andletters to the editor are welcome. Thedeadline for each issue is the 13th of theprior month.

send to:Editor, Santa Lucianc/o Santa Lucia Chapter, Sierra ClubP.O. Box 15755San Luis Obispo, CA [email protected]

Santa Lucia Chapter

2015 Executive CommitteeMichael Jencks (12/15) CHAIRPatrick McGibney (12/17) VICE CHAIRLinda Seeley (12/17) SECRETARYPat Veesart (12/16) MEMBERLindi Doud (12/17) MEMBERGreg McMillan (12/16) MEMBERVacant (12/15) MEMBER

Greg McMillan COUNCIL OF CLUB LEADERSLindi Doud, Patrick McGibney TREASURERS

Committee ChairsPolitical Michael JencksConservation Sue HarveyDevelopment Greg McMillanNuclear Power Task Force Rochelle Becker

Climate Change Task Force Heidi Harmon [email protected]

Other Leaders

CNRCC Delegates Linda Seeley, alt: Greg McMillan John Burdett

Calendar Sales Bonnie Walters 805-543-7051Outings Joe Morris [email protected]/Kayak openWebmaster Monica Tarzier [email protected] Guide Gary Felsman

Chapter Director Andrew Christie 805-543-8717 [email protected]

Andrew [email protected]

[email protected]

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Office hours Monday-Friday,1 p.m. - 7 p.m., 974 Santa RosaStreet, San Luis Obispo

The Executive Committee meetsthe second Monday of every monthat 5:30 p.m. The ConservationCommittee meets the secondFriday at 1p.m. at the chapter office,located at 974 Santa Rosa St., SanLuis Obispo. All members arewelcome to attend.

Coordinator Kim Ramos, Admin and Development [email protected]

Santa Lucia ChapterP.O. Box 15755San Luis Obispo, CA 93406

Denny MynattPRINT MEDIA COORDINATOR

Sierra Club, PO Box 421041, Palm Coast, FL 32142-1041

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Linda Seeley [email protected]

Sierra Club85 Second St., 2nd FloorSan Francisco, CA 94105-3441

WILDERNESS continued on page 8

6th Annual Environmentalists Rendezvous:Protectors of Our Sea & Shore

Sierra Club General Meeting7 p.m., Wednesday, January 28

Through each human epoch, a fewgiants stride, leaving monumentsbehind. In the 19th century, John Muir,founder of the Sierra Club, shaped histime and ours with the concept ofwilderness. But in our own time, anacademic swarm of lesser figures areseeking to overturn the wildernessethic. Behold Professor John Christensen,quoted in the November 13 L.A. Timeson the eve of the academic conclave, ACentury Beyond Muir:

emotional Anglo-Saxons, they areoblivious to its practical reality. Ifyou don’t like John Muir’s reasonsfor preserving wilderness, try thisone: wilderness areas are invariablywatersheds, the primary water supplyfor our cities and agriculture. Anti-wilderness theory is logicallyincoherent. American wildernessareas are specifically public lands,set aside for and owned by allAmericans. And why, exactly, shouldthe need to champion local parksrequire the abandonment of wilder-ness? Wherever it is that Prof.Christensen sees evidence of en-vironmentalists forsaking the formerin order to uphold the latter, it’scertainly not this chapter of the SierraClub, which just persuaded the SLOCity Council to shelve a plannednational tourism marketing programthat would have used the city’s localhillsides and open spaces — pre-served from development in hard-fought battles over the last twentyyears — as bait to lure ever moretourists to the increasingly cloggedstreets of SLO so they can throngthose “smaller urban spaces,” whichwere set aside for the respite andrenewal of local residents. That would be the same SierraClub that is also championing a billin Congress dedicated to protectingmore than 300,000 acres of wilder-ness and 250 miles of rivers in themountains and grasslands betweenLos Angeles and Monterey – not,happily enough, at the expense ofsmaller urban spaces. Nor did it occur to Wendell Berrywhen he joined his voice with thevoices of all those who succeeded insaving Kentucky’s Red River Gorgefrom damming and destruction thatthey were wealthy elitists withabundant leisure time when theyworked to save a place they loved:

Bah, Wilderness!

“‘Muir’s legacy has to go,’ saidJon Christensen, a historian withUCLA’s Institute of Environmentand Sustainability. ‘It’s just notuseful anymore.’”

Christensen was speaking 100 yearsafter the death of Muir, 90 years afterAldo Leopold successfully campaignedto create the world’s first designatedwilderness area (Gila Wilderness, NewMexico), 50 years after the passage ofthe Wilderness Act, and 20 years afterthe essay “The Trouble with Wilder-ness” by environmental historianWilliam Cronon pooh-poohed thewhole idea and kicked off the anti-wilderness vogue among a group ofuniversity intellectuals. (Thank you!said developers, open pit mineoperators and oil companies.) “To Christensen and others,” notedthe Times, “Muir’s notion that immers-ing people in ‘universities of thewilderness’ — such as Yosemite —sends the message that only awe-inspiring parks are worth saving, at theexpense of smaller urban spaces.Critics also say Muir’s vision of wil-derness is rooted in economic privilegeand the abundant leisure time of theupper class. “Rather than accessing Muir’s be-loved Sierra Mountains as backpack-ers, skiers or rock climbers, they argue,Californians would benefit more fromthe creation of urban parks. “Critics also see a correlation be-tween the emotional, biblical languageof Muir’s writings and the demo-graphic makeup of national parkvisitors and the ranks of the largestenvironmental organizations — mainlyaging, white Americans.” Anti-wilderness theorists often seemto believe that the idea of wilderness isthe same thing as actual wilderness;that wilderness is so completely aconstruct of 19th-century, elite,

As my knowledge of the placegrew I began to have a sense ofthe meaning -- or the anti-meaning -- of its planned destruc-tion, which carried me far beyondthe mere principles of conserva-tion and preservation. I began tofeel in the presences and sub-stance of its life the complexityand the magnitude of its death....

At our annual forum of local environ-mental activists, meet the leaders ofsix organizations protecting our coastand ocean. In one evening and in oneplace, you can take advantage of thisunique opportunity to hear represen-tatives of all these groups discusstheir efforts of the past year and plansfor 2015, including the latest on theproposal to create a ChumashHeritage National Marine Sanctuaryon the Central Coast. More info:Joe Morris, 549-0355, or [email protected].

Cal Poly Center forCoastal MarineSciences

CoastKeeper

Monterey BayNational MarineSanctuary

Morro Bay NationalEstuary Program

Sierra Club

Surfrider

Steynberg Gallery, 1531 Monterey Street, SLO

Intergenerational Task ForceVictoria Carranza [email protected]


Cambria’s Shock DoctrineCambria’s Shock DoctrineCambria’s Shock DoctrineCambria’s Shock DoctrineCambria’s Shock Doctrine

Endless emergency Workers checked the liner in the Cambria desal plant’s brine disposal pit on November 15, a long way off from any review of the project’s environmental impacts.

In her 2008 book, The ShockDoctrine, Naomi Klein identified anunmistakable pattern: In the wake ofwars, terrorist attacks and naturaldisasters, corporations swoop intostricken areas and reengineer societies— seizing oil rights, snapping upbeachfront property for tourist resorts,

razing public housing and erectinghigh-end condos, replacing publicschool systems with private schoolvouchers, etc. For “disaster capitalists,” crisis is anopportunity to get things they couldnever get under normal circumstances. Which brings us to Cambria’s Emer-

gency Water Supply Project, thedesalination plant and brine disposalpond that, after twenty years of failedattempts, now nestle in the environ-mentally sensitive habitat area betweenSanta Rosa and San Simeon Creeks,much to the dismay of the U.S. Fishand Wildlife Service, California

Department of Parks and Recreation,California Department of Fish andWildlife, and the California CoastalCommission. For decades, the Cambria Commu-nity Services District has been trying toget around coastal protection laws andenvironmental statutes in pursuit ofdesalination as the silver bullet theybelieve would solve all their waterwoes -- and, not coincidentally, end thetown’s longstanding developmentmoratorium. (See “Cambria CSD StillCrazy After All These Years,” Sept.2014). Last spring, the CSD saw itschance to push through the project theyhave tried and failed to build fordecades, seizing on the opportunitypresented by the drought and attendanttemporary regulatory changes. Usingthe drought as cover, they built apermanent, growth-inducing, $9-million water project, discarding theoption of a temporary packet desalplant that would have gotten Cambriathrough the dry spell for about one-tenth of the cost and could have beenfunded entirely from the state’s droughtrelief grant funds. All the rules and regulations that areon the books to protect threatened andendangered wildlife and sensitivehabitat were skirted by the CambriaCSD, which secured a free pass bydeclaring an emergency – claiming thecommunity was about to run out ofwater due to the prolonged drought –and therefore, under an ExecutiveOrder issued by Governor Brown onApril 25, 2014, the CCSD couldforego environmental review andobtain an emergency permit. Construc-tion commenced without the environ-mental impacts of the desal plant andbrine disposal pit being identified,analyzed or mitigated under theCalifornia Environmental Quality Act,California Coastal Act, and every otherlaw protecting threatened and endan-gered species. That claim of an emergency nowappears to have been a house of cardsbuilt on a foundation of sand. Theevidence of Cambria’s 2014 wateremergency comes down to the fact thateveryone said Cambria had an emer-gency. On December 15, Landwatch of SanLuis Obispo County and the SierraClub filed a petition with the StateWater Board seeking review of aNovember 14 decision by the Regional

SHOCK continued on page 4

I am sitting staring at my chickensjumping up on the straw — exploringand enjoying their time. My sweetheartand I spread out straw in the backyardin an attempt to promote good bacteria,insects, and soil health for our chick-ens, the land, and us (plus, they’re ahoot). They’re eating collard greens wetransplanted from a friend who hasnurtured a local food forest on herproperty here in San Luis Obispo. It will be time for dinner soon, and Iam thinking it’s also time to eat thatsauerkraut that has been sitting, too. Itruminates, ferments and produces awhole food antidote to all the holidaygoodies I have consumed over the pastthree months. What a wonderful, challenging, andincredible 2014 it has been. One of thememories I hold dear in my heart is theReskilling Expo 2014, the first of itskind in San Luis Obispo County, thattook place during persimmon seasonwith Transition Towns’ leadership. Irelish the conversations and intellectualand physical sharing that went on —also the personal and communityempowerment that happened. I went with an intent to teach othersabout troubleshooting and maintainingtheir compost systems. I left with aheart filled with love (from all thesmiles and hugs I received), my mindat ease knowing that we are strong,resilient, and have so much socialcapital that will carry us through whenthings we depend on outside of ourlocale are more than at risk — climatechange, energy, toxins in our water, etc.Sometimes education and understand-ing unveils not just the facts of thematter, but our own personal fears. Theantidote to this is skill sharing. I am scared, and have a responsibil-ity to adhere to on whether I shouldbring children into this world. Will

they be able to survive? The toxins inthe water are in my blood stream like adark canal. I know a friend who makesbikinis and hats out of plastic bags. Wedon’t have to accept the way things are.We can recreate. Redesign. We don’thave a pollution problem as much as aproduction problem. Pollution is thesymptom. The people who frequent thesame shops, mountains, and waters as Ido can come together to share theirstories, their talents, and passions. I’m left with the feeling of wanting tocontribute as well. We all havehobbies, knacks, and desires. Let’smove into that space — make clothesfrom upcycled old t-shirts; buy in bulk

with your neighbor; turn off thetelevision and craft with your friendsor make a meal with a loved one, orshare with no intent to get anywhere,with a complete stranger. That strangerand your loved ones are just people inhealing, just like you. Let’s take on reskilling all year longand share our trials, errors, andsuccesses with one another. May thisyear be extraordinary. Welcome to allthat comes our way. Beauty andhealing await. We are the solution.

Healing Together All Year ‘RoundBy Victoria Carranza

You Can Turn “Free Trade” Into Fair Trade So you know about the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) and the TransatlanticTrade and Investment Partnership (TTIP), right? Giant free trade agreements with11 Pacific Rim countries and the European Union? Corporations will get to suegovernments in secret tribunals over environmental laws that might reduce theirprofits? No policies allowed to protect the climate? And Congress is all set tofast track these bad boys? Not if we can help it. And “we” includes “you.” Checkout our activist toolkit and all the ways you can influence the outcome of the TPP,TTIP, and fast track. Go to: www.sierraclub.org/trade/activist-toolkit .

Victoria Carranza is a young profes-sional in the community and a youtheducator for sustainable living.


Force of Nature Mixtape with Heidi Harmon -- current events, news, andissues on the Central Coast -- airs every Friday from 4 to 5 p.m. on97.3 The Rock. On the web at Esterobaycommunityradio.com

By Joe Morris, Outings Chair In the November election, HeidiHarmon, the Sierra Club-endorsedDemocratic candidate for the 35thAssembly District, ran against KatchoAchadjian. She faced a well-known,two-term incumbent, heavily supportedby corporate PACs and petroleumindustry interests and with an advan-tage in the number of Republicanregistered voters in the district. ThoughHeidi lost, she held her own comparedto previous Democratic challengers.She also mobilized widespreadgrassroots support in dealing withclimate change and other life issuesof average citizens that she put frontand center in her campaign. Over multiple cups of coffee beforeand after her campaign, I heard abouther political philosophy as she gainedincreasing support throughout thedistrict. Perhaps the local 2014 elec-tion will come to be seen as essentiallya boot camp for Heidi’s emergence as asavvy activist. On Black Friday afterThanksgiving, a few days after wetalked, there Heidi was again on theKSBY evening news, standing withlocal Wal-mart workers protesting theirlow wages. I interviewed her about a week afterthe election.

What made you decide to run foroffice? I had not thought in a concrete wayabout running, but more about how Icould be effective. In November 2012,I traveled to east Texas to march withthe Tar Sands protesters. I was inspiredby their willingness to undergo policeresistance and even arrest for theirbeliefs, and I wanted to be all in on thisissue. The protesters lacked aneffective structure, and I wonderedwhere my skills were best suited. ThenI attended a League of Women Votersmeeting and discovered that our State

Assemblyman was running unop-posed. So I made the decision and mycampaign started in March, just whenthe paperwork for candidates was due. What were the initial challenges? I needed to learn more about publicspeaking: framing the conversation,knowing the audience, and inspiringpeople. I cared about this, but I wasn’tgood at it in the beginning, and it washard to trust that I’d get better. How did the local Democratic clubsrespond to you? Though they had all endorsed me,initially they weren’t very sure, butlater they became very supportive ofwhat I was doing. I think the Demo-cratic Party today is in trouble in termsof failing to fight for the values itclaims to believe in. Yet there isimmense opportunity there. I washappy to see that people were hungryto have a candidate who had thecourage to say what is true, who standsup for people, and who doesn’t talkonly in political clichés. They aremoved by that. What was the hardest thing for you? It was in the interactions with otherpoliticians. It was hard to discovertheir true values, how they operated,and the place of money in theircampaigns. Contributions like oilmoney can often destroy their intent toserve the people. I believe that allpoliticians have the responsibility totell people the facts —their votingrecords and the source of their funds. They have to be clear. People shouldbe able to know that early so they canvote accordingly. People have questioned your lack ofpolitical experience vs. that of youropponent.

There are plenty of experienced peoplewho are doing nothing as legislators orwho are indeed detrimental. Experi-ence can even be an indication of thedegree of a politician’s allegiance tolobbyists. Admittedly, I do have thingsto learn, but I do have intelligence andconcern for people — qualities notalways easy to find. Why was there no public debate withAchadjian? He was approached repeatedly by threedifferent organizations, and alwaysrefused, though on paper he had statedhe was willing. If a debate had beenheld, he would have lost. I still havenot met him. What did you think of the mediacoverage of the campaign? Because they didn’t see it as a closerace, they either didn’t cover it or didthe bare minimum. For what they did,the Tribune did a good job.

Now that the election is over, whatinsights have you gained? I’m more committed and energizedthan ever. People have asked me, aren’tyou going to take a vacation? But Ifeel emboldened by how muchdifference one person can make.“Winning” needs to be redefined. Ihave succeeded in my goals ofbringing greater awareness to theissues of climate change and energyuse and motivating others to run foroffice. And there are other issues besidesclimate change, such as pension reformand other matters that impact people’slives. I’m not a one-issue candidate. Iam interested also in reaching out tothe growing number of “decline tostate” voters, those who don’t affiliatewith any political party, and to youngpeople, who often see the system asbullshit and uninspiring, a system indenial. At the many political clubs Ivisited, I am often the youngest personin the room. This needs to change.

A Loss. . .or Maybe a TriumphA post-election interview with Heidi Harmon

Water Quality Control Board that willallow the CCSD to dispose of brinefrom the desalination plant based on itsclaim of a water emergency and waiverof environmental review. The RegionalBoard declared the CSD exempt fromCEQA without substantive evidence tosupport that conclusion. When confronted with the claim thatthere was no emergency as the lawdefines the condition necessary toreceive an exemption from environ-mental laws, the Cambria CSD andtheir defenders in County government

Shockcontinued from page 3

usually respond with a retort thatincludes the word “absurd,” followedby a ticking off of all the proofs thatCambria was in a state of emergency:The State Division of Drinking Watercertified that Cambria was in a droughtemergency. The Office of Planning andResearch and Office of EmergencyServices concurred with the certifica-tion. The Department of Public Healthand State Water Resources Boardagreed. But, as we note in our petition, “noneof these agencies have provideddocuments providing an analysis ofCambria’s drinking water status orotherwise supporting CSD’s claimed

emergency.” In responseto a Public Records Actrequest, the Division ofDrinking Water couldfurnish no documenta-tion demonstrating thatCambria was ever, asthe CSD often claimed,“60 to 90 days awayfrom exhausting itsdrinking water supply,”the Regional WaterBoard’s definition of anacute drinking watershortage. The CSD’swell monitoring recordsshow that well water

levels last summer were consistent withannual average levels. And then there’s the obvious: Morethan 180 days passed between the timethe CSD broke ground on the desalplant in May and completed construc-tion in November. In that time,Cambria neither ran out of water norappeared to come close to doing so,further confirming that the Division ofDrinking Water’s conclusion was madewithout rigorous analysis of the factson the ground. All of the state level concurrence onCambria’s alleged emergency appearsto be based on the Cambria CSDsimply declaring a drought emergencyand issuing a two-sentence notice thatthe desal plant project was thereforeexempt from the California Environ-mental Quality Act (CEQA). The public has been denied thebenefits of a CEQA process. The WaterBoard’s certification of the CSD’sexemption was improper becauseCEQA’s emergency exception does notapply to ongoing conditions like thecurrent statewide drought. Theemergency exception is extremelynarrow and applies only to discreteoccurrences – wildfires, floods, animminent dam collapse — not anongoing condition. Nor did the CSDobtain certification of a drought

emergency from the Division ofDrinking Water and the Office ofPlanning and Research before begin-ning construction of the project. In short, the Regional Water Boardsimply accepted the unsupportedstatements of these agencies despitethe lack of evidence that the CambriaEmergency Water Supply Projectqualified for exemption from CEQAunder the Governor’s Executive Order. That’s why we are requesting that theState Water Board vacate the RegionalBoard’s order certifying the CSD’sexemption from the requirements ofCEQA, which deprived the public ofan Environmental Impact Reportassessing the potential environmentalharms of the project and outliningresponsible alternatives and mitigationmeasures. We acknowledge the Cambria CSD’ssuccessful deployment of the shockdoctrine. They must now be required toaccount and pay for any harm theyhave done to coastal resources, fullymitigate or eliminate the creation oftoxic air pollutants adjacent to a StateCampground, and repair any destruc-tion they have wrought on state orfederal wetlands and the habitat ofendangered species in the course oftrying to evade normal project permit-ting requirements.


On December 17, the Santa LuciaChapter of the Sierra Club filed anamicus brief in a lawsuit brought by alocal off-road recreation group againstthe County Air Pollution ControlDistrict. The suit is an appeal of the court’sdismissal of a lawsuit brought by theFriends of Oceano Dunes, an off-roadgroup seeking to overturn the DustRule, an ordinance passed in 2011 bythe board of the Air Pollution ControlDistrict. The ordinance requires StateParks to reduce the amount of dustblowing off the Oceano Dunes StateVehicular Recreation Area, which hascreated the most hazardous air condi-tions in the county over the NipomoMesa. The Sierra Club’s brief providesarguments refuting the claims ofFriends of Oceano Dunes and support-ing the superior court’s ruling that theAPCD has the authority to require thatdust emissions from the ODSVRA bereduced to non-hazardous levels. “The local off-road lobby is using theappeals process to challenge the reg-ulatory authority of the APCD, rehash-ing arguments that they lost in theircourt case, despite the fact that StateParks and the APCD have agreed to anenforcement procedure for the dustrule,” said Babak Naficy, attorney forthe Sierra Club. “It’s time for the off-roaders to facereality,” said Michael Jencks, Chair ofthe Santa Lucia Chapter. “The samepeople who tried to trump up ‘contro-versy’ around the overwhelmingscientific evidence that off-road

On January 13:

No hype: The answer to the questionof whether we will have a future ofclean, renewable energy in SLO —whether we can reduce our greenhousegas emissions by the necessary amount,whether we will be able to rapidly shiftto a renewable energy economy, pre-pare for the inevitable closure of theDiablo Canyon Nuclear Power Plant,and take our energy choices into ourown hands or will continue to havethose choices dictated to us by anenergy monopoly — depends on whatyou do on the night of January 13,2015. On that Tuesday night, from 6 to 9p.m., the City of SLO will hold acommunity forum at the LudwickCommunity Center. The basic agendafor this event involves public commenton a variety of potential priorities,followed by “dotocracy,” wherein allthose present vote with colored dots torank priorities captured on sheets ofpaper affixed to walls around the room. The City wants to hear from every-one about what its goals should be forits next fiscal year. You don’t need to

be a resident of the city of SLO toattend and vote. Three representatives of SLO CleanEnergy will give coordinated testimonyto the council and staff. During thosecomments, all supporters of Commu-nity Choice will be asked to stand andshow visible support. The council likesthis approach over numerous peoplegiving comment because it saves time.In this case, it can also make a bigimpact. When dots are passed out,please affix your dots of support nextto “Community Choice EnergyProgram” as a prospective city goal. The Sierra Club is pleased to supportSLO Clean Energy in its campaign tomake Community Choice the city’s #1goal. We need all Sierra Club membersand supporters in the county to take afew hours out of your evening, come tothe Ludwick Center in SLO on January13 and do one thing: Peel a colored dotoff its adhesive backing, walk over to alist hanging on the wall, and place thatdot next to the words “CommunityChoice.” How could this small action make

such a big difference? Why do wethink this can be a major turning pointfor the Central Coast and our futurequality of life? Because SLO is the only city in thecounty with a Climate Action Plan thatincludes a commitment to study thefeasibility of Community Choice.Community Choice programs haveproven to be the engine behind serious,large-scale renewable energy transitionin California. Community Choiceprograms in Marin and SonomaCounties have been wildly successfulin the amount of clean energy broughton line, carbon emissions cut, andsavings realized for ratepayers whilegenerating millions of dollars for localenergy efficiency projects. Money thatused to go to a monopoly energy utilityand into the pockets of its investorsand company executives now stayslocal, building a true green energyeconomy. So here’s the deal: Enough greendots in the right place on that sheet ofpaper will make Community Choice apriority project for the City of SLO,

One evening’s minimum effort = maximum return

which will then seek CommunityChoice partners among its sister citiesand the County. We can take that giantstep into the future that Marin andSonoma have made. We’ve been telling you aboutCommunity Choice for several years(see, for instance, “CCA is on theWay,” March 2007) and the opportu-nity this state law has created. Now’sour chance to make it happen here. The future starts on January 13 at theLudwick Center, but it can’t happenwithout you. Go to www.Eventbrite.com andclick on “Make community choice aSLO City priority!” to register.

City of San Luis ObispoCommunity Forum for 2015-17 BudgetTuesday, January 13, 20156:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m.Ludwick Community Center 864 Santa Rosa Street, SLO

Meeting to consider comments andsuggested goals from residents, com-munity groups, Council advisorybodies and other interested individu-als.

All county residents can attend You will be given green dots toplace on the boards next to “Commu-nity Choice” Join SLO Clean Energy for freepizza and a SLO Clean Energy t-shirtat 5 p.m. at the SLO Library, then walkover to the Ludwick Center.

Please plan to be there for the wholeevening. Being here on this night willchange the future of energy in SLOCounty forever. It’s worth it. There is no need to speak. You can ifyou want to, but we encourage you tospeak with your dots.

+++++ =a

greendot

vehicles are theprimary cause of dustpollution from thedunes are nowattacking the ability ofa pollution control agency to protectthe quality of the air we breathe. Thisneeds to stop.” To many, the implementation of thedust rule by State Parks has been nomore helpful than the efforts of off-roaders to overturn it. When the dust rule was beingdebated, State Parks joined the off-roaders in hotly contesting the conclu-sions of the APCD dust pollution study.Since the adoption of the ordinance,State Parks has not focused its dustcontrol efforts on the riding areaswithin the park, despite the fact that thelevel of dust emitted from the ridingareas is up to five times higher thandust from non-riding areas. In Novem-ber, emergency measures implementedby State Parks were found to be failingto reduce the amount of dust comingfrom the dunes, which continues toviolate state and federal air qualitystandards. State Parks has yet tocomplete its application for a CoastalDevelopment Permit for ongoing dustcontrol measures and a monitoringprogram. APCD board member Joe Costello,summing up the frustration of fellowboard members and Nipomo Mesaresidents with the long delay, recentlycharacterized State Parks’s progress inimplementing a dust control programas “glacial.”

Sierra Club Defends Dust Rule

For the first time in decades, commercial livestock grazing will not be allowedanywhere in the Carrizo Plain Ecological Reserve, a 30,000-acre wildlifepreserve in San Luis Obispo County adjacent to the Los Padres National Forestand the Carrizo Plain National Monument. The California Department of Fish & Wildlife – the agency charged withmanaging the reserve – has decided not to renew a long-standing grazing leaseafter it expired last month. With no lease in place, grazing is indefinitely sus-pended on the Reserve, and Department officials have vowed to not allowgrazing to resume until they first complete an overarching management plan forthe Reserve. The Reserve includes nearly 40,000 acres of ecologically sensitive habitatlinking the Los Padres National Forest and the Carrizo Plain National Monumentin southeastern San Luis Obispo County. The Reserve contains rare blue oakwoodlands and native grasslands as well as some of the region’s only populationsof Tule elk and pronghorn antelope. The Reserve also provides habitat for at least26 sensitive, threatened, or endangered species including burrowing owl, SanJoaquin kit fox, southwestern pond turtle, California red-legged frog, grasshop-per sparrow, California jewelflower, and tri-colored blackbird. Wildlife throughout the Reserve has suffered from years of intense overgrazing.A Los Padres ForestWatch survey in 2009 discovered severe overgrazing acrossmuch of the Reserve, fencing in disrepair, trampled wetlands and springs, cattletrespassing into areas where the lease expressly prohibits grazing, and otherunsatisfactory conditions resulting in severe environmental degradation of landsthat were supposed to have been set aside for the protection of rare wildlife. ForestWatch and the Sierra Club then filed suit challenging DFW’s practice ofapproving grazing leases on the Reserve without first conducting environmentalstudies and without having a land management plan in place. As a result of thelawsuit, the Department agreed to prepare such studies and to use a “good-faitheffort” to finalize a management plan by 2012. A management plan was first envisioned by the legislation establishing theReserve in 2001, which required State officials to complete the plan by 2004.That plan has still not been finalized, and the Department has come underincreasing public pressure to limit or eliminate livestock grazing across theReserve pending the plan’s completion.

Court filing supports Oceano Dunes ordinance

Celebrating theEnd of an Era onthe Carrizo PlainEcological Reserve

Overgrazed (left) and ungrazed areas on theCarrizo Plain Ecological Reserve, Oct. 2009.

Commercial livestock grazingindefinitely suspended

TAKE ACTION


Diablo Canyon’s Terrible,Horrible, No Good, VeryBad Year

On December 6, John Geesman,attorney for the Alliance for NuclearResponsibility and a former CaliforniaEnergy Commissioner, sat down in theGrover Beach living room of A4NRfounder Rochelle Becker, and, sur-rounded by local activists, reviewed2014 and ticked off all the bad newsfor PG&E and the Diablo CanyonNuclear Power Plant. It was quite asummation. First and foremost was the NuclearRegulatory Commission’s suppressionof the Peck Report, the determineddissent by Diablo Canyon’s lead NRCinspector stating in no uncertain termsthat it’s not okay to change the rules onthe fly in order to keep maintainingthat the plant can withstand whateverthe surrounding earthquake faultsmight throw at it. As a result, the NRC has been suedfor handing PG&E a de facto licenseamendment without bothering withestablished procedure, public hearingsand scrutiny that would accompany anactual license amendment. None ofPG&E assurances that the plant is safeserve to deflect Peck’s conclusion:“PG&E continues to operate theDiablo Canyon reactors outside the

More than 100 pages of emailsbetween the Nuclear Regulatory Com-mission and Pacific Gas & Electrichave been obtained through a Freedomof Information Act request filed byFriends of the Earth, Public Employeesfor Environmental Responsibility,Mothers for Peace and the Santa LuciaChapter of the Sierra Club. The emails indicate that PG&E andthe NRC may have worked together tocounteract news coverage of DiabloCanyon’s seismic safety issues. Numerous outlets reported that theformer chief inspector of the DiabloCanyon power plant had warnedsuperiors that new seismic data meansthe nuclear plant is operating with aninvalid license and may not be safefrom previously unknown earthquakefaults. Many emails were heavilyredacted but nonetheless show that theNRC knew the exact date and timePG&E would release a long-awaitedreport on the plant’s Diablo Canyon’sseismic safety, and the NRC simulta-neously released its verdict rejectingthe former inspector’s dissent. Thedocuments also show that while theNRC denied collaborating on releaseof the reports, they had worked forweeks on a media strategy based onprior knowledge of the PG&E report. We have filed an appeal with theNRC demanding release of theredacted emails and their attachments. “These emails leave little doubt thatthe NRC and PG&E colluded to spinthe story, against mounting evidence

that Diablo Canyon may not be able towithstand the powerful shakingpossible on these previously unknownfaults,” said Damon Moglen of Friendsof the Earth. “We know from the SanBruno pipeline scandal that PG&E isnot above backdoor tactics to try toinfluence a government regulator, butthis is a new and shocking example ofsuch collusion on an issue that couldaffect hundreds of thousands of lives.” On August 25, a news report revealedthe existence of a report by formerDiablo chief inspector Michael Peck(known as a Differing ProfessionalOpinion or DPO) and that the NRChad kept it secret for more than a year.The dissent called for shutdown of theplant unless it could be proven that theplant had a valid license and couldwithstand shaking on several faults thatwere unknown at the time it wasdesigned and built. The AssociatedPress story was widely carried by newsoutlets across the state and nationwide. On September 10, the NRC an-nounced it had ruled against Peck.Within hours, PG&E released alengthy and long overdue seismicsafety study to the State of California.It contained the startling admission thatfaults near the plant are much longerthan previously known and are inter-connected, making possible a quakethat could produce more shaking thanDiablo was built to withstand. Thoseadmissions, buried in the avalanche of

from disclosure requestsunder the Freedom of Infor-mation Act. And there itremained for eleven years, untilthe A4NR discovered itsexistence and prodded theDiablo Canyon IndependentSafety Committee to demand thatthe NRC release the full damningreport to the public. Then there was the December 3hearing held by the Senate Commit-tee on Environment and PublicWorks, chaired by Barbara Boxer --a “game changer,” said Geesman, dueto the testimony of Sam Blakeslee, ageophysicist, former leader ofCalifornia’s Republican Caucus in thestate legislature and former CaliforniaSeismic Safety Commissioner. His 26-page report to the committee trackedthe history of seismic discoveries at theplant and PG&E’s depressing re-sponses. The history of the Shoreline Fault,discovered less than a mile from theplant in 2008, is a case in point. First,PG&E said it didn’t exist. When itsexistence was confirmed, they declaredit was a minor fault, with no connec-tion to the Hosgri Fault, and the ideathat both faults could rupture simulta-neously was impossible. “Under pressure from the U.S.Geological Survey and independentseismologists,” said Geesman, “PG&Eeventually adopted the position ‘Weassume they’re connected.’ Now theysay ‘We believe they’re connected.’”: Blakeslee’s devastating 26 pages oftestimony torched PG&E’s standardp.r. line (The effects of earthquakes onthe nuclear reactors has been exhaus-tively researched…. Major componentsare designed to withstand and performtheir safety functions during and aftera major seismic event...public healthand safety are assured, etc.), revealing,in granular detail, how the utility hasbeen moving the seismic goal posts foryears, massaging data and loweringstandards, without the facts to back upthose decisions. This has given rise toan odd phenomenon: As the faults havebeen found to be stronger and stronger,PG&E has kept tweaking the equationsfor ground motion to declare theirassessment of potential seismic energyto be below or within the plant’s designbasis. “Somehow,” Geesman noteddryly, “the faults keep getting stronger,but the plant keeps getting safer.” Geesman reviewed the roles of thePublic Utilities Commission, StateWater Board and the California CoastalCommission in the relicensing process,noting that “the state agencies hold thefate of Diablo Canyon in their hands.” Earning Diablo the sobriquet of“California’s largest marine predator”from the Coastal Commission (seefacing page), 78% of all destructiveonce-through cooling coastal powerplant impacts off the California coastcome from Diablo Canyon. The WaterBoard is widely expected to handdown a ban on OTC early in 2015. At the start of the OTC reviewprocess, PG&E said they would

Emails Suggest NRC, PG&EDownplayed Diablo Quake DangerHeavily redacted communiqués point to collusion

The writing is on the wall for California’s last nuke

Let’s review John Geesman reflects.

bounds of the facility design basis asdefined by the NRC OperatingLicense.” The timing of the NRC’s response toDr. Peck on September 10, the sameday on which PG&E executed a datadump of new information on DiabloCanyon, is an item of ongoing interest.(See “Emails Suggest NRC, PG&EDownplayed Diablo Quake Danger,”right.) And then there was the matter of theNRC’s suppression of a 2003 tsunamiassessment that finally came to lightlast year, forced into public view byDavid Weisman of the Alliance forNuclear Responsibility. The report,conducted by Dr. Robert Sewell, oneof the world’s foremost authorities ontsunamis, found that of 13 tsunamiscenarios that could be triggered bynear-shore submarine landslides, 11would result in swamping the plant’swater intake/outflow and generators. When Dr. Sewell submitted hisfindings to the NRC, the regulatorsdecreed that no follow-up studiesbased on his data and conclusions wereto be conducted. They redacted entirepages of the report and ordered that itbe kept in “draft” status, exempting it COLLUSION continued on page 8 BAD YEAR continued on page 9


Sierra Club Summit for a Nuclear Free FutureBy Linda Seeley, Sierra Club NuclearFree Campaign

Over November 14–17, seventy-fivededicated and ingenious members ofthe Sierra Club gathered at the Summitfor a Nuclear-Free Future in Washing-ton DC, learning from experts, strat-egizing together, and forming long-lasting bonds. The Summit wasplanned by the Nuclear Free CoreTeam, which has been meeting weeklyby phone for the past two years. TheSierra Club adopted a strong anti-nuclear policy in 1979 after the partialmeltdown at Three Mile Island, but has

Taking Issueproblematic environmental coverage & commentary in our local media

“Diablo takes path to relicensing,” by David Sneed, The Tribune, Nov. 25, 2009.

Summary: Five years ago, PG&E announced it was getting an early start on its application for the relicensing of DiabloCanyon, predicting the process would be complete in about three years. Not.

California’sLargest MarinePredatorCoastal Commission weighs inon Diablo’s cooling problem

not done a lot lately to promote it. That’s changing. Nuclear power isneither a solution to climate change noran acceptable part of the Sierra ClubEnergy Policy. The Summit was livingproof. For three solid days, we heardabout uranium mining, milling,processing and fabrication and thevast, irreparable environmental andhealth effects associated with thesepractices. The Dine (Navajo) and Hopipeople suffer the most from the10,000+ open pit uranium mines thatdot their sacred landscape. At theSummit, we heard about the impossi-bility of safely storing highly radioac-

tive waste. We were presented with thefacts on Yucca Mountain, consolidatedwaste storage, transport of radioactivewaste by rail, highway, and barge. Welearned about legal challenges,technical problems, and possible routesfor opposing new licenses andrelicensing applications. We absorbednew facts about high burnup fuel, saferstorage of used fuel in dry casks, andthe challenges of decommissioningthese toxic and vulnerable sites that arescattered throughout our nation. Diablo Canyon got special attentionas the last nuke standing on the WestCoast. Nuclear expert Arnie Gundersen

calls it the most dangerous nuclear sitein the nation – our own Fukushimawaiting to happen. I was able to givean update on legal and strategic plansfor shutting Diablo, and I havereceived tremendous support fromSierrans throughout the nation sincereturning home. On November 17th, we lobbied ourCongressional representatives. I wasable to meet with staff from SenatorsBoxer and Markey’s offices and had arare opportunity to meet with RalphNader for two hours. He gave sage andpractical advice on how to proceed ifwe are to win this struggle against thecorporate forces that are pushing tocontinue subsidizing dirty, dangerousand expensive nuclear power. Follow the Nuclear Free Campaignon the Sierra Club website by joiningthe Activist Network. You can add tothe dialogue and become a part of thismost important campaign. Our nuke-free campaign is entirely volunteer-based. Please let the Sierra Club Boardknow that shutting down nuclearreactors in the U.S. is a high priorityfor you. Go to sierraclub.org/nuclear orcontact me at [email protected] you would like more information onhow to get involved in our nuclear-freework. And don’t miss the Nuclear FreeCalifornia strategy session in SLO,Jan. 24-25! Contact [email protected] for details.

PREDATOR continued on page 9

What big teeth it has Coastal Commis-sion Legislative Director Sarah Christie gavethe Water Board the word on Diablo.

The prepared remarks of CaliforniaCoastal Commission staff scientistTom Luster were read by CoastalCommission Legislative DirectorSarah Christie at the November 18,2014, State Water Resources ControlBoard hearing on the issue of once-through cooling at nuclear powerplants in California.

Your board and the Coastal Commis-sion have similar responsibilities forprotecting marine life, including ashared requirement to minimizeentrainment to the extent feasible. You’ve heard comments todayregarding the 1.5 billion larvae that areentrained every year at Diablo Canyonand how significant this impact is. So,to put those numbers in context, we’dlike to remind you that the Board’sindependent science review team has

Upshot: What a difference a half decade makes. In November 2009, PacificGas & Electric rolled out the Diablo Canyon nuclear power plant relicensingjuggernaut, assuring local residents and ratepayers that the facility wouldcontinue cranking out megawatts and money for the community—whilesolving climate change and energy security—for decades to come. It’s nowobvious that PG&E jumped the gun, applying to relicense the plant beforeseismic studies required by the state were complete and issues surrounding theuse of once-through cooling water at the plant were resolved. It was as ifPG&E was trying to get their license before the bad news got out. But theycouldn’t outrun the truth. PG&E and the NRC hadn’t counted on the determi-nation of ratepayer advocates, seismic scientists and enlightened electedofficials, or that some state regulatory agencies would actually do their jobs.Nor had they counted on Mother Nature and Fukushima making manypeople’s worst fears about nuclear power a reality. Five years later, PG&E’sattempt to relicense Diablo is dead in the water.

Question:“...wouldn’tit be logicalto be makingcapital in-vestments inthe plant that would extend beyond theperiod of the current license?”

Mr. Halpin: “…we’re not looking outpast the expiration of the license.We’re viewing out until the end oflicense.”

-- Response of Diablo Canyon’scurrent chief nuclear officer, Ed

Halpin. Transcript of CPUCproceeding, August 8, 2014.

“In his testimony, Blakeslee said that PG&Ehas consistently downplayed the seismichazards facing Diablo Canyon. The NRC hasrepeatedly relaxed its seismic standards toaccommodate operation of the plant, he said.”

-- “Lawmakers criticize nuclear regulators overquake safety,” The Tribune, December 3, 2014.

Several speakers at the pressconference addressed theeconomic importance of theplant and its 1,200 employees.PG&E pays $25 million inproperty taxes, $15.6 million ofwhich go to schools….

“…it’s inevi-table that therewill come a daywhen the plantis gone, whether

it’s 10 years or 30 years from now. When thathappens, the financial fallout will be grim…. Theforecast for the San Luis Coastal School District isespecially dire.” -- The Tribune, February 27, 2013.

Plants like Diablo Canyon could beforced to replace once-throughcooling with other types of coolingthat use less water. PG&E willcontinue to work with state waterofficials to resolve the issue…

“PG&E is arguing that the cost tophase out once-through-cooling atDiablo Canyon is too high…Somemembers of a review committee,(including the California PublicUtilities Commission and CaliforniaEnergy Commission), say there is nobasis for exempting Diablo Canyon

…. They recommend making compliance a minimumcondition for relicensing the plant.”

-- “Water Board Weighs Phasing Out DiabloCanyon’s Cooling System, KQED

California Report, November 19, 2014.

.

“The utility has spent $1 billion oncapital improvements at the plant inrecent years, and that increases thefeasibility of continuing to operate for20 additional years,” said [chiefnuclear officer John] Conway.

Other environmentalists say thedecision to apply for license renewal ispremature. The utility should at leastwait until studies by several stateagencies of the state’s electricalinfrastructure are complete….


HardRock

And somehow, Gabriela Mistralthought to write of

and the NRC, went mostly unmen-tioned in news coverage. The emails show that as early asAugust 21 — with the news storyimminent — NRC public affairsstaffers were working on a “COMMU-NICATIONS STRATEGY ON STATEREPORT.” Attached to a message withthat subject was a document entitled“STATE REPORT MESSAGING,”which likewise related to PG&E’s asyet unreleased seismic report. In theemails, the messaging memo wasredacted except for the heading “DraftTalking Points: State Report.” Subsequent emails show that PG&Etold the NRC exactly when the statereport would be released. The NRC’spublic affairs staff then made sure thatthe rejection of Peck’s dissent wouldbe made public the same day. Our original FOIA request was filedSept. 18. Asked that day by journalistsabout the allegations, NRC spokesper-son Lara Uselding repeatedly deniedany collusion, stating: “We know of nocollaboration between the NRC andPG&E regarding the individual timingof releases.” “Under the Freedom of InformationAct, a government agency may with-hold or redact a document if it’sclassified in the interest of nationaldefense, or releasing it would revealtrade secrets, personnel matters orconfidential sources, or interfere withlaw enforcement, and so on,” saidAndrew Christie, Director of the SierraClub’s Santa Lucia Chapter. “It’s hardto imagine how the NRC can justifythe redaction of anything contained ina public communications strategy and atalking points memo on how to handlethe release of a report to the public.”

Collusioncontinued from page 6

On December 11, the CountyPlanning Commission heard nearly afull day of testimony for and againstthe proposed Las Pilitas/Oster Quarryproject proposed for Santa Margarita(see “Las Pilitas Quarry Looming OverSanta Margarita,” July/August 2013). In a rare display of non-deference toa project applicant – whom thePlanning Department usually regardsas a client to be served, with thatservice including maneuvers to helpget around requirements for environ-mental protections and the provisionsof the General Plan – the staff reportmade no attempt to put lipstick on thepig. Planning staff tallied the boatload ofsignificant, unmitigatable impacts theproject would have on visual re-sources, noise levels from constructionand traffic and emissions of nitrogenoxides and PM10 pollutants, degradingthe quality of life for local residentsand lacking any public benefit thatwould constitute sufficient legalgrounds to override those impacts. Staff recommended that the PlanningCommission deny the applicant’srequest for a permit. The conversion of the 41-acre site –near the Salinas River and three mileseast of Santa Margarita – would turnthe rustic community into a miningtown, with quarry trucks rumblingdown Highway 58 through the center

of town in an unending stream. Much of the testimony at thestanding-room-only meeting revolvedaround the potential size of that stream.The Environmental Impact Reportestimated an average of 273 trips aday. The project manager asserted theaverage would be 120 trips a day. The Sierra Club pointed out that asaverages, both numbers are meaning-less in terms of real impacts in the realworld, where the actual number oftruck trips on any given day can far

exceed the average (which is why theycall it an average). We noted that theEIR admits that “Up to 800 truck tripsper day may be anticipated for a largeproject” and that the EIR consultantsacknowledge that they did not describeor analyze the impacts of that peaknumber or propose mitigations forthose impacts. Mike Brown of the Coalition ofLabor, Agriculture and Business(COLAB) did not disappoint, stakingout a position of worship at the altar of

profit uber alles and introducing thenovel legal argument that if the Countydecides to deny the project based on itscrushing traffic impacts, this willsomehow infringe on “the sovereigntyof the state of California” as theproprietor of State Highway 58. The permit for the Las Pilitas Quarrywas continued to the January 8 meetingof the Planning Commission. Howeverthe Commission votes that day, anappeal to the Board of Supervisors is acertainty.

the old wounded springs that springblessed gum, eternal afternoons.If they could, the trees would lift youand carry you from valley to valley,and you would pass from arm to arm,a child runningfrom father to father.

The death of the Gorge, for someof my fellow Kentuckians, wouldbe merely an act of “progress”-- a cause that they may them-selves by dying for. But to me,because I knew something ofwhat would die, it would be agreat personal loss.... I knewthat whether I continued to gothere or not it would remainmeaningful and important to me.I knew that there would be acertain irreplaceable comfortthat I would draw from theknowledge that it was preservedand cherished and enjoyed bymembers of my species.

Finally, in its lazy race-baiting, theanti-wilderness ethic is racist in itsfundamental notion that ethnic minori-ties are not spiritually capable of theexperience of wilderness in any waysimilar to what John Muir experiencedbecause they are not old and white.They are uninterested in its elementaltruths, the quality of the air and water,the play of light and shadow, and anydegree of communion with the otherresidents of the planet. And yet, somehow, Pablo Neruda,while neither old nor white, managedto write:

Dave Foreman of the RewildingInstitute sums up the arguments of anti-wilderness academics thus: “Theircomplaints come from a lack ofknowledge about biology, a mis-understanding of the conservationmovement, and carelessness about theconsequences of their undercutting ofwilderness.”

What I saw first were the trees,Ravines adorned in flowers, wildbeauty,Humid territory, forest ablaze,And winter behind the world, over-flowed.My childhood, those wet shoes,Tree trunks broken,Fallen in the jungle, devoured bylichen.

Wildernesscontinued from page 2

Whether considered in the light ofthe practical or the light of thespiritual, wilderness is what all of usare lost without.

material released that day by PG&E


Taking Issue - Extraproblematic environmental coverage & commentary in our local media

“Support Phillips 66,” by Amber Johnson, The Tribune, Dec. 13, 2014.

Summary: A local political operative wants you to ignore the massive opposition to the Phillips 66 Santa Maria Refinery rail spur project.

Upshot: In his introduction to John Stauber and Sheldon Rampton’sToxic Sludge is Good for You, a landmark exposé of the publicrelations industry, investigative reporter Mark Dowie wrote that few ofus realize how much of the information that shapes our perceptions ofthe issues of the day “originates from the desks of public relationspractitioners. ‘The best p.r. is never noticed,’ says the proud, unwrittenslogan of the trade…. It is critical that consumers of media in demo-cratic societies understand the origin of information and the process bywhich it is mediated, particularly when they are being deceived.” Both Ms. Johnson’s political campaign efforts on behalf of Big Oiland her letter to the Tribune were straight out of the corporate p.r.playbook, an example of the strategy known as “astroturf” – fakegrass-roots attempts to masquerade as the voice of the people, origi-nally developed by the tobacco industry and now in wide corporateuse. We should all expect to see many more attempts to manipulatepublic opinion -- railing against “outsiders” and depicting concernedcitizens as “special interests” -- seeking to marginalize opposition asPhillips 66 tries to push its project through the public process.

In seeking torally thecitizenryagainst

“special interests” with a “political agenda,” Ms.Johnson failed to mention that she is a politicalconsultant and formerly a lobbyist, executive directorof the San Luis Obispo County Republican Party, andcampaign manager for County Supervisor LynnCompton. She also failed to mention that she servedas regional field director for the oil industry’s “No onP” campaign that defeated the Santa Barbara Countyballot measure to protect residents from the impactsof fracking and other high-intensity oil well stimula-tion techniques. Per her Linkedin profile, Ms.Johnson was in charge of “recruiting and trainingspokespeople for campaign advertisements, letterwriters, and volunteer efforts for maximum impact.”Her labors were part of what the oil industry’s moneybought in the course of spending $7.6 million — mostof it from Chevron and Aera Energy — to kill thelocal, grass-roots measure, swamping the$284,000 raised in support from individuals andSanta Barbara County residents.

Predatorcontinued from page 7

This projectwouldtrigger thetransport ofmillions ofbarrels of

dangerous tar sands oil through hundreds ofcommunities inhabited by millions of peopleas it travels thousands of miles to get here.Those people understandably think theyhave a stake in the decision making of ourlocal decision-makers.

Amber Johnson, San Luis Obispo

About twentyyears ago,Sierra ClubPresidentMichaelMcCloskeypointed outthe problemwhen corporate interests eagerly state a preferencefor a local decision-making process by smallgroups: “Industry thinks its odds are better in theseforums,” he wrote. “It is ready to train its experts inmastering this process. It believes it can dominatethem over time…. It has ways to generate pressuresin communities where it is strong, which it doesn’thave at the national level.”

The Phillips 66 Rail Project is a local issuethat will be reviewed and decided on byour local decision makers. It seems to methat the 11,000 comments and the cut-and-paste form email received by thecounty suggest out-of-town specialinterest groups who clearly have their ownpolitical agenda.

We need to ask why special interestsare trying to influence what happens inour county. They don’t live here, wedo.... This decision needs to be basedon what is best for our county, not whatoutsiders think is best.

comply with the Water Board’sdecision. Now they say they won’t. The NRC has told PG&E they needthe Coastal Commission to sign off onthe impacts of another 20 years ofplant operation as being consistentwith the Coastal Zone ManagementAct before PG&E can ask the NRC torestart their suspended relicensingeffort. (Again, we suggest the inter-ested reader peruse the CoastalCommission testimony at left to gaugethe likelihood that the Coastal Com-mission will make such a finding.) Geesman noted that the PUC andCalifornia Energy Commission haveagreed there is “no basis for anexemption” to the Water Board’sOnce-Through Cooling rule. “No basisfor an exemption” means the agencieshave determined that the energygenerated by Diablo is vital neither tothe stability of the state’s electricitygrid nor its overall energy supply,

which is in surplus and will onlybecome moreso. Continuing to keepDiablo on line, the CEC has calculated,would actually require reducing theoutput of renewable energy, scalingback the state’s projected renewableenergy goals in order to keep fromoverloading the grid. When the decision to shut downDiablo comes, said Geesman, it willcome quickly, and without advancewarning, when PG&E’s financialofficers decide that the road toattempted relicensing is no longerworth the cost of the journey. On several occasions, the CountyBoard of Supervisors has heardtestimony and discussed what theCounty might do when the economicengine that is the Diablo CanyonNuclear Power Plant goes away. Thosediscussions remain preliminary, withno decisions made and no actionstaken. In view of the year PG&E andDiablo Canyon just had, now would bea good time for our Supervisors tocome up with a plan.

Bad yearcontinued from page 6

identified this entrainment as affectingmore than 500 miles of Californiacoastal shoreline waters. They’ve also calculated that depend-ing on how you measure it, this level ofentrainment represents a loss of oceanproductivity equal to several hundredor several thousand acres of rocky reefand near-shore habitat. It would be fairto categorize Diablo Canyon asCalifornia’s largest marine predator. Importantly, this productivity loss isbased upon a small proportion of thetotal entrained organisms. The 1.5billion larvae are meant to be surro-gates for the many more unaccountedspecies and organisms that are en-trained each year. So, if anything, the estimated loss ofproductivity is an under-representation.Additionally, should Diablo be per-mitted to continue using its once-through cooling system, the scale ofmitigation needed to address thisimpact would likely be far beyondany level of mitigation orrestoration ever attempted

in California, involving hundreds orthousands of acres or in-kind, out ofkind, near field and far field mitigationand restoration. This could be assignificant an effort and nearly ascostly over the long term as some ofthe once-through cooling alternativesoutlined in the Bechtel report. Speaking of costs and alternatives,the Commission largely concurs withthe subcommittee’s comments on thecost considerations, particularly as theyrelate to the dispute over the widerange of potential costs, from less than$2 billion to more than $10 billion. Webelieve it would be appropriate for theboard at this point not to make anyconclusions about whether these costsare wholly disproportionate or unrea-sonable. This is particularly importantwhen viewed in the context of PG&E’sother likely relicensing costs, such asthe not yet quantified costs of seismicretrofits that may be needed and thereplacement costs for aged facility components. I had a few more sentences, but out of respect for the Board’s time I’ll go ahead and let the other people behind me speak.


how much unhappiness this oppositionhas generated in certain quarters andrevealed the strategy for trying to makeit go away (see “Taking Issue - Extra,”page 9). What p.r. can’t obscure: This projectis about mile-long trains carryingmillions of gallons of volatile crude inunsafe tank cars that are prone toderailing. Our railways weren’t builtfor it and our first responders aren’tprepared to fight the kinds of fires,explosions, and spills that will inevita-bly accompany this project. For many other reasons -- spelled outin the comments on the Revised DraftEIR submitted to the County byCommunities for a Better Environ-ment, Center for Biological Diversity,ForestEthics and Sierra Club -- Phillips66 gets no cigar for its second attemptat an Environmental Impact Reportthat can pass muster under the Califor-nia Environmental Quality Act. The RDEIR still obscures theinextricable link between projects atthe Santa Maria and Rodeo facilities.These two facilities constitute thePhillips 66 San Francisco Refinery(SFR). This omission hides the truescope of the Project and precludes anadequate analysis of significantimpacts. The Project Description remainsinadequate in not fully addressing thescope of the company’s total shift to adifferent crude oil feedstock. The

analysis of the Project’s environmentalimpacts. The RDEIR hides serious localpollution, climate pollution andchemical safety hazards from thepublic and Phillips’ own workers. Thelaw requires that EIRs should describeproposed projects with sufficient detailand accuracy to permit informeddecision-making. The RDEIR fails tomeet this standard by minimizing thedegree and scope of the switch in crudeoil feedstock supply. The RDEIR still relies on an inad-equate study area and thereforeunderestimates the Project’s potentialto result in a substantial increase incriteria pollutant emissions. The airquality impacts of the Project willregularly extend far beyond the countyline. By artificially limiting thegeographic scope of the analysis to airpollutants emitted within the bound-aries of San Luis Obispo County, theRDEIR substantially underestimatesthe significant air quality impacts ofrefining tar sands at the SFR. Tar sandscrudes are distinct from even theheaviest of crudes processed in the pastat the SMR, for two principal reasons:because of the unique chemicalcomposition of the bitumen itself andthe presence of large quantities ofvolatile diluent used in its refining,which release air pollutants that causesignificant public health and air qualityimpacts, all inadequately addressed inthe RDEIR. The RDEIR continues to omit anymention of the Project’s potential to

Traincontinued from page 1

TENTATIVE DATE OF PLANNINGCOMMISSION HEARING: Thursday,Feb. 5. (This date was set before thePlanning Department realized the FinalEIR must respond to 23,000 com-ments, not 11,000 comments.)

Check the schedule for updates at:

The American Biodiesel Buyers Club(www.thebiodiesel club.org), a non-profit based in Morro Bay, is partner-ing with the Eco Rotary Club of MorroBay and the San Luis Obispo CountyIntegrated Waste Management Author-ity to establish a household wastevegetable oil recycling program inSLO County. The used cooking oil from people’sdeep fryers, frying pans and fonduepots will be recycled into sustainablebiodiesel, a clean burning alternativefuel that can be used in any dieselvehicle. All county residents can bring theirold and used cooking oil to any of thefive IWMA Household HazardousWaste Drop-off Sites for recycling,including Cold Canyon Landfill inSLO, Chicago Grade Landfill inAtascadero), the Morro Bay/CayucosWaste Water Plant, Nipomo CSD Yard,and the Paso Robles Landfill. (Busi-nesses must call ahead for an appoint-ment: 800-400-0811.) Having somefood bits in the used cooking oil isokay. However, people should nevermix any motor oil with used cookingoil, as it contaminates both productsheaded for recycling. “For the last four years, we have setup our Thanksgiving collection eventin the parking lot of Morin Brothers,”said Margo Camilleri, president of theBiodiesel Club. “The grease collectioncompany, San Luis Tallow, has beendonating their services to collect the oilfrom our event’s barrel, process it, andthen bring it to the biodiesel produc-tion facility to be turned into fuel. Theyhave been going out of their normalroute to support our collection event.This year, people can just bring the oilin a sturdy plastic container to one ofthe HHW drop off sites and feelconfident that it is being recycled intobiodiesel.” The Eco Rotary Club of Morro Baywill partner with The Biodiesel Club tospread the word about the new drop offlocations and work with The BiodieselClub to create materials for a publicawareness campaign.” Eco Rotary President TrinaDougherty said “The Club supports thenew recycling program and we lookforward to participating in the creationof a program that turns waste vegetableoil into biodiesel. It’s exciting when wecan find a way to keep waste out of ourcounty’s landfills and turn it intoenergy.” The Biodiesel Club is a national non-profit organization with the mission ofreducing exposure to the toxic chemi-cals found in petro-diesel fuel andexhaust by supporting the use ofsustainable biodiesel as an alternativefuel. For more information pleasecontact Margo Camilleri at 805-235-0508, or margo_camilleri@thebiodiesel club.org. The Eco Rotary Club of Morro Baywas chartered in 2011 as the third EcoRotary in the world. It serves andeducates local and global communitiesthrough eco-focused programs, pro-jects and practices, and supports theefforts of Rotary International.

Recycling VegetableOil Into Biodiesel

TAKE ACTION

In 2013 alone, more crudespilled from trains than spilledin the last four decades. TheRDEIR simply omits this data.

chemical composition of raw materialsprocessed by a refinery directly affectthe amount and composition of therefinery’s emissions. The amount andcomposition of sulfur in the crude, forexample, determines the amount ofsulfur dioxide and hydrogen sulfidethat will be emitted. This should be thebaseline against which impacts must bemeasured. Significant impacts, such asincreased energy consumption, airemissions, toxic pollutant releases,flaring and catastrophic incident risks,are entirely dependent on the quality ofcrude oil processed at the facility.Heavier crude oil feedstock has beenidentified as a contributing factor topotentially catastrophic incidents atrefineries, and was a root cause of anAugust 6, 2012, fire at Chevron’sRichmond Refinery. Despite the unique characteristics ofbitumen crudes and DilBit blends,including those characteristics whichcause dramatic increases in corrosionin all refinery equipment components,the RDEIR avoids full analysis of theunique hazards accompanying railtransport, offloading, handling,storage, and processing of these crudesin its review of the Project’s potentialimpacts. As a result, the RDEIR’sconclusions regarding the relativesignificance of the Project’s impactsand its assessment of mitigationmeasures to address them are inher-ently flawed. It is impossible to make aninformed evaluation of thepotential environmental effectsand risks to community andworker health and safety ofpartially refining Canadian tarsands in the Santa Mariarefinery because the RDEIRstill fails to include integralproject components and theSFR’s overall switch to tarsands in its analyses, diminish-ing or even foreclosing an

impact without first establishing thedegree of the impact. Not only does theRDEIR analysis restrict the scope ofimpacts to locomotive and ancillaryemissions, ignoring the climate changeimpacts of the tar sands project, buteven that analysis is plagued withambiguity. By limiting the study ofGHG emissions to largely locomotiveand associated operations, onecomponent of the overall Project, theRDEIR omits entirely a significantportion of the emissions that will resultfrom the Project, and thus vastlyunderestimates the Project’s significantair quality impacts. As stated in the U.S. Department ofTransportation’s proposed crude by railsafety rulemaking, the industryregularly underreports accident spillquantities. Thus, the RDEIR’s conclu-sion that its analysis of accident andspill risk is “conservative” because therailroad industry’s overall accident rateis declining completely misses themark. In fact, the opposite is true. Ifthe RDEIR had included recent dataspecific to crude by rail accidents andspills, the results would likely showthat the risk of an accident and spillquantities are much higher. The RDEIR estimates that spills orother accidents resulting in the releaseof over 100 gallons of crude oil arelikely to occur between once every 46to 76 years, depending on the railroute. This estimate relies on historicalderailment data from 2003-2012, anddoes not include any of the cata-strophic derailments from 2013 and2014. Accident rates in 2013 and 2014,specifically for crude by rail, in-creased. In 2013 alone, more crudespilled from trains than spilled in thelast four decades. The RDEIR simplyomits this data. Hence the probabilityof catastrophic events is artificiallylow, and the risk assessment must berecalculated in order to include morerecent and representative data onderailments. The RDEIR cannot simply rely onthe Department of Transportation’srule-making to ensure safer tank cardesigns will reduce the hazards ofcrude by rail transport. That rule-making proposes several alternativesfor new tank car designs, which reducerisks of crude by rail transport tovarying degrees. The rulemaking hasnot been finalized. Therefore, there issignificant uncertainty about the degreeof safety and risk reduction that willresult from the final rule. Moreover,implementation of a rule, including aphase out of the most dangerous tankcars including DOT-111s and un-jacketed CPC-1232s, may take up tosix years. As such, the safety benefitsof the proposed rule will not material-ize until long after the proposedproject would begin operation. In the meantime, the Department ofTransportation estimates that under thecurrent rail infrastructure network, 15mainline accidents spilling crude willoccur each year and at least onedisastrous incident at least as large asLac-Megantic -- the Quebec derailmentand inferno that destroyed half a townand killed 47 people in 2013 -- willoccur every two years. SLO Countyshould not roll those dice.

drastically increase leademissions, the impacts ofwhich can includepermanent neurologicaldamage, particularly inchildren. The RDEIR failsto identify -- much lessanalyze or mitigate -- this

category of known potential impactsfrom the switch in crude stock. The RDEIR identifies operationalemissions from “the operation oflocomotives (both onsite and offsite),fugitive emissions from componentsand from the vapor recovery carboncanisters, and from vehicles associatedwith employees and the transportationof materials.” This fails to assess theair quality impacts of the SFR as awhole, and includes neither an analysisof the emissions that will be caused atthe Rodeo component as a result of therail spur extension, nor the increasedemissions of refining increasedquantities of tar sands at the SantaMaria component. The Project’s climate changeimplications are completely underesti-mated. The RDEIR fails to acknowl-edge the Intergovernmental Panel onClimate Change’s recently voiced andserious concerns regarding the “irre-versible” effects of climate change,concluding that “continued emission ofgreenhouse gases will cause furtherwarming and long-lasting changes inall components of the climate system,increasing the likelihood of severe andirreversible impacts,” calling for theneed for dramatic cuts in pollution. In the face of that warning, theProject admits a climate change impactthat is significant and unavoidable. Butno one can intelligently weigh thequestion of whether to live with that

www.slocounty.ca.gov/planning/meetings.htm


ClassifiedsNext issue deadline is January 14. Toget a rate sheet or submit your ad andpayment, contact:Sierra Club - Santa Lucia ChapterP.O. Box 15755San Luis Obispo, CA [email protected]

CYNTHIA HAWLEYATTORNEY

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTIONLAND USE

CIVIL LITIGATION

P.O. Box 29 Cambria California 93428Phone 805-927-5102 Fax 805-927-5220

Les Kangas

Solar Energy ConsultantREC Solar, Inc.775 Fiero Lane, Suite 200San Luis Obispo, CA 93401

Office: (805) 528-9705Cell: (805) 305-7164

2012 Crop Grass Fed BeefEstate Grown Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Available Now-Delivery AvailablePlease Get in Touch For More Information

Greg and Linda McMillan

805-238-4820 [email protected]


Outings and Activities CalendarSeller of travel registration information: CST 2087766-40. Registration as a seller of travel does not constitute approval by the State of California.

This is a partial listing of Outingsoffered by our chapter.

Please check the web pagewww.santalucia.sierraclub.org for

the most up-to-date listing ofactivities.

All our hikes and activities are open to all Club members and the general public. Please bring drinking water toall outings and optionally a lunch. Sturdy footwear is recommended. All phone numbers listed are within areacode 805 unless otherwise noted. Pets are generally not allowed. A parent or responsible adult must accompanychildren under the age of 18. If you have any suggestions for hikes or outdoor activities, questions about theChapter’s outing policies, or would like to be an outings leader, call Outings Chair Joe Morris, 549-0355. Forinformation on a specific outing, please call the listed outing leader.

Joe MorrisSierra Club(805) [email protected]

Last remaining copies!

2015Sierra ClubCalendarYour desk will thank you. Yourwall will thank you. Yourfriends and family will thankyou. And when you buy directfrom the Chapter, you supportthe Sierra Club’s conservationwork in San Luis ObispoCounty. We thank you.

10% off!wall calendar: $13.50desk calendar: $14.505 or more: 15% off!

To order, call:805-543-7051

Sat., January 10th, 9:30 a.m. Citizens’ Climate Lobby. Meeting at the Unitar-ian Universalist Fellowship, 2201 Lawton Ave, SLO. Join us and learn what youcan do to slow climate change and make a difference in our community. Becomea climate activist and part of the solution to the most pressing issue of our time.For information email: [email protected].

Activities sponsored by other organizations

Sat., Jan, 10th, 8:30 a.m. ReservoirCanyon/Bowden Ranch Hike. Bota-nist-led visit to several plant communi-ties in coastal mountains on a moder-ately strenuous, five-mile hike, 1000’gain, lasting about 4 hrs. We start inthe riparian corridor of ReservoirCanyon, continuing over the backboneridge of Bowden Ranch with plantsadapted to serpentine soil. Also enjoygreat southern views into SantaBarbara and hills of the north. Bringwater and snacks, sunscreen, sturdyshoes, hats, and layered clothing forweather changes. Meet at easternentrance to SLO High School, nearcorner of Johnson Ave. and San LuisDr. A few cars will caravan hikers tothe Reservoir Canyon—owners of carsat hike’s end driven back to their cars.Rain or threat of rain cancels. Info:Leader, Bill Waycott, 459-2103 [email protected].

Sun., Jan. 11th, 2 p.m. City Walk:SLO’s Secret Past. A guided, explor-atory stroll to reveal the original site ofthe Mission, the 1860s stagecoachstop, home of SLO’s first millionaire,the last remaining gas light, a forgottenWPA project, and other hiddenlandmarks in the historic core of SLO.Duration about 1 1/2 hrs. Meet at NWcorner of Nipomo and Dana Sts.Leader: Joe Morris, 549-0355.

Sat., Jan. 17th, 8 a.m. Blinn RanchRd./Falcon Loop Hike. Very strenu-ous, 13-mile hike, 2000 ft. gain, onnorth side of Santa Margarita Lake.We will access it from the River Rd.parking area. This is an out and backhike, with the option of going part wayand turning around earlier. Bringlunch, water, and sturdy hiking shoes.Parking fee $3. Rain will postpone thishike. Meet in front of the Pacific Bev-erage Co., Santa Margarita. Leader:Carlos Diaz-Saavedra, 546-0317.

Sun., Jan. 18th, 10 a.m. SycamoreSprings Trekking-Pole Hike. Polecatsis dedicated to leading local hikes tomodel the benefits of using trekkingpoles effectively. This hike is 2 milesand 600 ft. elevation gain. Meet near

the entrance to Sycamore SpringsResort, 1215 Avila Beach Dr. Need toconfirm beforehand with Leader:David Georgi, 458-5575 [email protected].

Mon., Jan 19th, 10 a.m. Montana deOro Dune Hike. Two-mile loop hikeon top of dunes with great ocean viewsin Montana de Oro State Park. Meet atHazard Canyon parking area, 1.6 milesfrom park entrance. Leader: VickiMarchenko, [email protected] 528-5567.

Sat., Jan. 24th, 9 a.m. Adobe Trail.Mildly strenuous 6-mile trail on grass-and oak-covered hills north of theSierra Madre range for views of Mt.Abel and Pinos. Bring sturdy walkingshoes, water, and dress for the weather.Take Hwy 101, then east on Hwy 166,north of Santa Maria, for 22 miles totrailhead on left side. Pass throughunlocked gate and park your car. Trailis directly behind green gate. If youreach Rock Front Ranch, you havegone too far. Leader: Andrea Ortiz,934-2792 or [email protected].

Wed., Jan. 28th, 7-9 p.m. BimonthlyGeneral Meeting: 6th AnnualEnvironmentalists Rendezvous. Thetheme of our annual forum of localenvironmental activists this year is“Protectors of Our Sea and Shore.”Meet the leaders of six organizationsprotecting our coast and ocean. In oneevening and in one place, you can takeadvantage of a unique opportunity tohear representatives of all these groupsdiscuss their efforts of the past year andplans for 2015, including the latest onthe proposal to create a ChumashHeritage National Marine Sanctuary onthe Central Coast. Info.: Joe Morris,549-0355. Meets at Steynberg Gallery,1531 Monterey St., SLO. Info.: JoeMorris, 549-0355.

Th.-Sat., Jan. 29th-31st. DeathValley Wilderness Restoration. Joinus in restoring wilderness in this re-mote, beautiful National Park, cleaningup a marijuana grow site. We willgather early Thursday afternoon work

on a project to be announced andthen work on the grow site on Fridayand possibly Saturday. Group sizelimited. Leader: Kate Allen,[email protected] or 661-944-4056. CNRCC Desert Committee.

Sat., Jan. 31st, 8 a.m. Vicente Flat/Big Sur Hike. Moderate, ten-mile,1800 ft. gain hike in Ventana Wilder-ness of northern Los Padres Nat.Forest past redwood groves to greatviews of the Big Sur coast. There is apossibility of ticks and poison oak onthe trail. Bring water, lunch, and dressfor the weather. Meet at the WashburnDay Use area of San Simeon StatePark, on Hwy 1, 1.7 miles north offourth stop light (Main and Windsor)in Cambria. Rain or possibility of raincancels. Leader: Chuck Tribbey, 441-7597.

Sun., Feb. 1st, 9 a.m. Lopez LakeBird and Plant Walk. Four-mile hike,200 ft. gain, co-led by Audubon andCalif. Native Plant Society leaders, toview waterfowl and early springwildflowers. Option to continue hiketo top of Duna Vista lookout. Bringwater, snacks, hat, sunscreen, sturdyshoes, and dress in layers for changingweather. From Arroyo Grande, followsigns toward Lopez Lake. Aftercrossing the dam, but beforeentering Lopez Lake County Park, turnright on Hi Mountain Rd, continuingfor .8 mile and turning left on UpperLopez Canyon Rd. Then proceed 3.6miles to the old entrance of the BoyScout Camp (now closed) and park onroad side. Restrooms available; no fee

Sat., Jan. 10th, 1-3 p.m. Rain Water Catchment at the SLO BotanicalGarden. Discover ways you can catch and save water for your home garden. Inthis course, Master Gardener Tami Reece will cover the collection and storage ofharvested water for a residential garden. $5 for Garden members, $10 for non-members. Followed by a free docent-led tour of the Garden. Details at slobg.org/water. 3450 Dairy Creek Rd., SLO. 541-1400 x304.

Thurs., Jan. 15th, 22nd, 29th, 10 a.m. Ask the Beasts: Darwin and the Godof Love. Come to St. Benedict’s in Los Osos to join the ongoing dialog betweenreligion and science. Discussion led by a team of scientists, theologians, artists,environmentalists, clergy and laity. Info: Donna Ross, [email protected].

Sat., Jan. 17th, 1-3 p.m. The Chumash and Channel Island Ecology at theSLO Botanical Garden. Take a journey through time to the Channel Islands.What was life like for the Chumash people living there? What was the role ofplants and animals in Channel Islands Chumash society? Archaeologist MikeGlassow will paint a picture from prehistory based on years of research on theChannel Islands. $5 for Garden members, $10 for non-members. Followed by afree docent-led tour of the Garden. Details at slobg.org/Chumash. 3450 DairyCreek Rd., SLO. 541-1400 x304.

area. Leader: Bill Waycott, 459-2103or [email protected] Rainor threat of rain cancels.

VOLUNTEER WEB GEEK WANTEDDo you know what DRUPAL is, and do you have anyexperience with it? If so, please get in touch! All SierraClub chapter websites are transitioning to this new plat-form in the next few months, and our webmaster wouldbe very grateful for your assistance. Please contactMonica Tarzier at [email protected]

Documents

Santa Lucian • January 2015 1 SANTA LUCIAN · Santa Lucian • January 2015 3Cambria’s Shock Doctrine Endless emergency Workers checked the liner in the Cambria desal plant’s