Santa Lucian • June 2015 1 SANTA LUCIAN - Sierra Club · These derailments and explosions set a bar we can use to measure the new oil train standards announced on May 1 by the US

Santa Lucian • June 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 eMarine sanctuary mystery 3

Quarry collapses, town saved 5

No new water for Paso basin 6

Origin of the refugio oil spill 10

Classifieds 11

Outings 12

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June 2015Volume 52 No. 6

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:June 23

Port San Luis HarborCommission Meeting

- page 3

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

Just Say No

LAWSUIT continued on page 9

Deny the ProjectNew federal rules won’t save the county from crude oil “bomb trains”

Cities, counties and school districtsin the “blast zone” around theUnion Pacific main line asking SLOCounty to reject the Phillips 66 oiltrain project:

Richmond

Oakland

Albany

Sacramento

San Leandro

Martinez

Davis

San Jose

San Luis Obispo

Moorpark

Oxnard

Camarillo

Ventura

Simi Valley

Santa Cruz County

Monterey County

Santa Barbara County’s 3rd District

Ventura County

Oakland School Board

San Leandro Unified School District

Hayward Unified School District

Ventura Unified School District

Pleasant Valley School District

Following a spate of fiery derail-ments and toxic spills involving trainshauling volatile crude oil, a coalition ofconservation organizations and citizengroups are challenging the U.S.Department of Transportation’s (DOT)

Oil Trains Too Fast,New Safety Rules Too Slowby Todd Paglia, Executive Director, ForestEthics

In the first three months of 2015, four oil train accidents sent emergencyresponders scrambling, crude oil spilling into drinking water supplies, and

May 1, a train carryingcrude oil exploded outsideof Heimdal, North Dakota.Under the current stan-dards, the tank carsinvolved in the accidentwould not be retired fromcrude oil shipping orretrofitted for another fiveto eight years. Earthjustice has filed suit

fireballs blasting into the sky. Thestring of accidents in February andMarch demonstrate the severe threatfrom Bakken crude and Alberta tarsands moving on mile-long oil trains.These derailments and explosions set abar we can use to measure the new oiltrain standards announced on May 1 bythe US and Canadian governments. Would the new rules have preventedany of the 2015 accidents and, ulti-mately, will they reduce the threat ofoil train catastrophes like the 2013 Lac

weak safety standards foroil trains. Less than a week afterthe DOT released its finaltank car safety rule on TOO SLOW continued on page 8

Groups Sue Over WeakOil Train Rules

2 Santa Lucian • June 2015

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Outings, events, and more!

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]

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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.

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

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New Rare Plant Group Formsby Bill Waycott, Outings Leader

By pooling local resources,members of the California NativePlant Society (CNPS), along withstudents and faculty at Cal Poly,have created a rare plant workinggroup to address the twin tasks ofmonitoring rare plant populationson the central coast while alsoidentifying new ones that havegone unnoticed thus far.

Wildflower Reportby Vicki Marchenko, Outings Leader

The Los Osos native plant walk I ledon May 6 is still showing wildflowers,probably because it is protected fromthe wind and in a low area of dunescrub. If anyone is interested in seeingthe following wildflowers, do checkout this little gem. I only recently discovered this walk,and plan to get an earlier start nextyear to see these and many moreflowers. Right now there are bluestars, pearly everlasting, chia, spine-flower, cobwebby thistle, white layia,deerweed, fiddleneck, horkelia,phacelia, popcorn flower, red catchfly,sand verbena and wall flower. InApril, there were milk maids, creamcups, wild hyacinth, SLO paintbrush,hedge nettle, purple nightshade,poppy, aster, sweet pea, nuttalls milkvetch and that interesting flowerylooking fungus called sand food. To see the best of the flowers, take aleft onto San Ysabel off of South BayBlvd. (if coming from Morro Bay) andpark around the corner from the deadend. A small yellow sign on a fencepost shows the State Park boundary;start here and follow the main sandytrail through native shrubs until youstart to see the flowers lining bothsides of the trail. The trail eventually leads to a line ofEucalyptus you will see in thedistance. It’s less than half a mile tothe Eucs, which is a good place to stopand head back same way. This area is called “Powell 1”according to Pete from SWAP, whom Imet pulling weeds from this area andwho has put many hours into removingveldt grass and other invasives. He hasit looking really nice. The other section of the park iscalled Powell 2, and you’ll find it bytaking a right at the Eucs, hiking up ashort distance and then walking theperimeter of a large meadow that leadsdown to the Los Osos Middle Schoolsoccer field (the other entrance to thispark). I look forward to someday seeingthis section of park looking as grandas Powell 1. Still, Powell 2 has greatviews of Cottonwoods and ArroyoWillows, flowering silver dune lupinesand widespread areas of Chumashshell middens. Happy trailing!

Last bloom TheChorro Creek BogThistle, Cirsium fon-tinale var. obispoense,will be in bloom untilthe end of June. Itcan be found on ser-pentine outcrops inperennial seeps, suchas those overlookingthe Dog Park atLaguna Lake. Sincethey grow up to threefeet tall, they’re easyto spot. This plant hasFederal protection,classified as endan-gered by the US Fishand Wildlife Service.

Columbine in Big Creek Preserve.

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On May 9, Dr. David Keil led agroup of ten volunteers though a rareplant training workshop at LagunaLake Park. At the start, each partici-pant was handed a list of 17 rare andendangered species to search out andidentify as being present in the area.The list was created from several on-line databases, prepared throughthousands of personal sightings andherbarium specimens collected overmany years. To view one such data-base, go to calflora.org. Laguna Lake Park in San LuisObispo is made up of two distinctlydifferent habitats. One is alluvial soildeposited in and around Laguna Lakethrough centuries of erosion andflooding. The other is a 500-foot hill-ock made of serpentine rock, which ismostly stone and very little soil. Manyof the rare plants that are present inthis park occur there because of itsunique landscape, either the extremesof shifting soil humidity on the low-lands, or uncommon and nearly barrenmineral deposits on the uplands. Thechallenge this time was to encounterthe hard-to-find plants, preferably inbloom, knowing we are in the middleof a major drought. Of the 17 species on the list, 12 havebeen given a designation of “1-B,”meaning they are very rare, possiblyendangered, localized to a few loca-tions within SLO county or, in evenfewer cases, in scarce pockets spreadover a couple of counties. The fivespecies not designed as “1-B,” arelisted as “4,” meaning they are moreabundant but placed on a watch list forreview from time to time. By the end of our 3-hour treasurehunt, the group had identified 14 of thespecies on the list. In some cases wefound very few individuals, only oneClub-haired mariposa lily (Calochortusclavatus, var. clavatus) and one East-wood’s larkspur (Delphinium parryi,subsp. eastwoodiae) in bloom, whileon the other hand finding severalthousand San Luis star-tulips (Calo-chortus obispoensis) and carpets ofBrewer’s spineflower (Chorizanthebreweri) ablaze with visiting butterfliesand bumblebees. The rare plant work of CNPS is justone facet of the many skills thisorganization brings to bear in ourdiverse and burgeoning state. I, forone, find it fascinating that within thevery small area of Laguna Lake Park,only one square mile, there are 12species of plants that exist there andalmost nowhereelse on this big,wide planet. Nowthat’s awesome!!


Go Solar and Save

Anti-Marine Sanctuary Mystery SolvedYou’ve never heard of the “Our Protected Coast Coalition” for a good reason

Who could it be now? Amber Johnson, lone known member of the OPCC, with vocally anti-sanctuaryPort San Luis Harbor Commissioner David Kirk (right).

by Andrew Christie, Chapter Director

In May, I posted an entry to theChapter’s blog titled “The peculiaropposition to a national marinesanctuary” (www.sierraclub.org/santa-lucia). I was curious as to who, exactly, wasthe “Our Protected Coast Coalition,”the ostensible authors of a fact sheet onnational marine sanctuaries (right) thatwas notably short on facts and wasdistributed to the Port San Luis HarborCommission at their April 28 meeting.I noted the fact sheet’s most amusingfact: The citation that was supposed toprovide the factual support for theirarguments consisted of the words “putthe www. Here.” As Jeb Bush might say, I did notknow then what I know now. Google “Our Protected CoastCoalition” and you will get, in the vastuniverse of the worldwide web, exactlyone hit (in addition to my blog postwondering who and what the OPCCmay be): The May 2015 issue of TheFoghorn, newsletter of the San LuisYacht Club, with a photo on page 7(below) of the only person in all ofcyberspace whose name is linked to theOPCC: Amber Johnson. Sierra Clubbers may recall Ms.Johnson’s previous appearance in thesepages in the January 2015 installmentof “Taking Issue,” or in the January 1issue of New Times (below right),heroically inveighing against “specialinterests.” The status of Ms. Johnson, a politicalconsultant, as the only hit in a websearch on the “Our Protected CoastCoalition” is redolent of the kind ofastro-turf operations that are Ms.Johnson’s advertised stock in trade, i.e.drumming up the appearance of grass-roots support for, or opposition to, anyinitiative for which a client would liketo create that appearance. In view of Ms. Johnson’s petroleum-

soaked recent past (field manager ofthe political campaign funded by BigOil that defeated Santa Barbara’s anti-fracking initiative, defender of thePhillips 66 oil train project), the nextquestion should be: whose interests isMs. Johnson representing in opposingthe Chumash Heritage National MarineSanctuary, which would bar future oiland gas drilling off the Central Coast? At the April 28 Harbor Commissionmeeting, Commissioner Dave Kirk andseveral others were all set to vote on aresolution opposing designation of theChumash Heritage National MarineSanctuary on the basis of the kind of“facts” on view in the OPCC factsheet. But, as I blogged, “several oftheir colleagues gently suggested that itcouldn’t hurt to get more informationthan what they had before them andhad been hearing from sanctuaryopponents, [and] they grudginglyagreed to wait until their June meetingto make that deliberation.” At the April meeting, CommissionerMary Matakovich commented whenhanded the OPCC “fact” sheet, “Wedon’t know who this is from.” Indeed we didn’t. If CommissionerKirk knew who it was from — thewoman labeled “OPCC” who he isstanding next to in the photo below —he chose not to share that information.

TAKE ACTION

The Port San Luis Harbor Commissionwill take a position on the ChumashHeritage National Marine Sanctuarynomination at their June 23 meeting.The Commission meets at 6 p.m. at3900 Avila Beach Drive. If you’d liketo help us tell the Commissioners thefacts about national marine sanc-tuaries, drop us a note [email protected].

Loves oil co.’s, hates marine sanctuaries

“In a Dec. 15 letter in the Tribune [on thePhillips 66 oil train terminal project], SLOresident Amber Johnson took aim at the multitudeof form letters from environmental groups re-sponding to the DEIR, castigating them as ‘out-of-town special interest groups who clearly havetheir own agenda. ‘The only special interest I pay attention tois that of the health and prosperity of San LuisObispo County by supporting responsible busi-nesses such as Phillips who wish to continue tocontribute to our local economy,’ Johnson con-cluded. ‘This decision needs to be based on whatis best for our county, not what outsiders thinkis best.’ Johnson is herself a political strategist whowas a regional field director for the oil com-pany-sponsored ‘No on P’ campaign in SantaBarbara County, a former campaign manager fornewly-elected SLO County District 4 SupervisorLynn Compton, and a former executive director ofthe Republican Party of SLO County.”

- “A Crude Proposal,” by Rhys HeydenNew Times, Jan. 1, 2015

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Who KnowsGMOs?

A Changing Climateby Rev. Rod Richards, UnitarianUniversalist Fellowship of San LuisObispo County, April 19, 2015.

The Miami Herald reported onMarch 8, 2015, that Florida Depart-ment of Environmental Protectionofficials had been cautioned not to usethe terms “global warming” or “climatechange” in their work. Further, eventhough 30% of Florida’s beaches arethreatened by rising sea levels, usingthe phrase “rising sea levels” wasdiscouraged in favor of the term“nuisance flooding.” Let me repeat: Florida officials wereordered not to use the terms “globalwarming” or “climate change.” And letme say: as outrageous as I find this tobe...I get it. I get it. To fully grasp the impact that wehumans have had on this planet — asingle life form among so many —

coming face to face with the impactthat we humans have had on our planetis an awe-inspiring and sometimesawe-ful experience. In our drive tofulfill our wishes, to realize ourdreams, we have forged ahead —created and crushed; developed anddestroyed; dug and planted andextracted and impacted and strippedand stolen and hacked and fracked andsprayed and pumped and cut down andblown up and spread across almostevery inch of the globe. We haveaccomplished amazing things, but alltoo often heedless of the consequencesof our endeavors and the effects of ourinventions and innovations on the lifeof the planet. We have altered the environmentalconditions to which species mustadapt...or not. Elizabeth Kolbert, in herbook The Sixth Extinction: AnUnnatural History, points out that “lifeis extremely resilient but not infinitelyso.”

That is a lot to take in, especially so

as we consider the reality of globalwarming — the human-caused rise intemperatures caused by excessiveamounts of carbon dioxide, methane,and other greenhouse gases in theatmosphere — and climate change —the effects these higher temperatureshave on the earth’s natural systems andthe impacts that can result: strongerstorms, deeper droughts, shiftingseasons, rising sea levels, and manymore. Mark Hertsgaard writes in Hot:Living Through the Next 50 Years onEarth: “To oversimplify slightly, thinkof global warming as the equivalent ofa fever and climate change as theaches, chills, and vomiting the fevercan cause.” In the present situation, wecaused Earth’s fever. In effect, we arethe fever. And while we cannot nowreverse the symptoms already trig-gered, we are called to keep the feverfrom getting worse, and that meanslooking closely enough at ourselves tosee what we have done and what we

are doing that caused this fever and toask ourselves how we can change it. And change is hard. And change thatrequires unflinching honesty isexponentially more difficult. Andchange that requires adopting newdisciplines; that requires sacrifice; thatchallenges previously-held beliefs andpractices and orientations and chal-lenges our own conceptions of our-selves and our place in theworld...well, who would ask for that? So, listen, I get it, Florida. Talkingabout rising sea levels feels just too bigto manage; whereas nuisanceflooding...that sounds manageable.Hey, we humans have dealt withnuisances before. Let’s just take thesesymptoms one at a time and see if wecan manage them as we’ve managedproblems in the past. Let’s pretendthey’re happening to us rather thancaused by us. And let’s just not talkabout climate change and global

Good Faith

Opinion vs Science

by Jesse Arnold

According to a poll conductedby the Pew Research Center inthe fall of 2014, 88% of themembers of the AmericanAssociation for the Advancementof Science believe “it is safe toeat genetically modified foods.”

engineeringhas led to adeepening riftwith thescientific

however, cite a scientific test of GMOsafety of any kind. Keep in mind that what is beingreported here is an opinion poll. Theopinion of scientists is not a substitutefor scientific safety testing of a GMO.Nor are the opinions of scientistsas expressed in a poll a substitute forscientific opinion as expressed in peer-reviewed studies. The journal Environ-ment International published “Aliterature review on the safety assess-ment of genetically modified plants,” a

comprehensive survey of hundreds ofGMO studies in international scientificjournals. It found “an equilibrium inthe number [of] research groupssuggesting, on the basis of theirstudies, that a number of varietiesof GM products (mainly maize andsoybeans) are as safe and nutritious asthe respective conventional non-GMplant, and those raising still seriousconcerns.” In other words, scientificopinion is 50/50, not 88/12. Another peer-reviewed survey of theviews of life scientists on the environ-mental risks of GMOs, as reported bythe European Network of Scientists forSocial and Environmental Responsi-bility, “found that funding and disci-plinary training had a significant effecton attitudes. Scientists with industryfunding and/or those trained in molec-ular biology were very likely to have apositive attitude to GM crops and tohold that they do not represent anyunique risks, while publicly-fundedscientists working independently ofGM crop developer companies and/or those trained in ecology were morelikely to hold a ‘moderately negative’

attitude to GM crop safety and toemphasize the uncertainty and igno-rance involved.” The survey concluded: “The strongeffects of training and funding mightjustify certain institutional changesconcerning how we organize scienceand how we make public decisionswhen new technologies are to beevaluated.” The sad news is, the safety testing forGMOs is done by the companies thatproduce them. Their tests last for only90 days. As far as I know, even theseshort duration tests have not beenreplicated by scientists who are not onthe payroll of the biotech companies. Therefore, I believe there is noscientific basis to believe that GMOshave been proven to be safe. And thatis probably why many members of thepublic don’t believe GMOs are safe. On a positive note, one scientificorganization that I know of works forthe public interest and questionsGMOs. That organization is the Unionof Concerned Scientists. I doubt thePew Research Center will be pollingthem any time soon.

Pew surveyed 3,748 AAASmembers for the poll. I felt sure the industry would use thesurvey results to advance its point ofview. Sure enough, the New York Timespublished an article by Mark Lynas on4/26/15 titled “How I Got Converted toGMO Food.” Lynas bills himself as“someone who participated in theearly anti-GMO movement” in the UK. Says Lynas,”The environmentalmovement’s war against genetic

community.” Hegoes on to say, “Wecan’t deny thescience: Biotech issafe.” Then he citesthe Pew Centeropinion poll ofAAAS members toback up his claimthat biotech is safe.He does not,

FAITH continued on page 10

This month, Pope Francis is expected to release an encyclical on the environ-ment – the first in the history of the Church — elaborating on comments he madein May:

“We must do what we can so that everyone has something to eat. But we mustalso remind the powerful of the Earth that God will call them to judgment oneday. And there it will be revealed if they really tried to provide for him in everyperson, and if they did what they could to preserve the environment so that itcould produce this food.”

While we’re waiting for this document, which is expected to transform theglobal discussion on climate change, there’s plenty the faithful can do right here.Faith-based environmental initiatives were highlighted by the Sierra Club in our2008 report “Faith in Action: Communities of Faith Bring Hope for the Planet.” Case in point: The Green Team, the SLO Unitarian-Universalist Fellowship’sactive environmental committee. Over the last three years, the Green Team hasbeen involved in many activist projects in the community, most recently initiatingtestimony before the SLO City Council on banning styrofoam that led to theformulation of new regulations by the City. Last April, on Earth Day Sunday, the Green Team organized a special servicewith wide participation of the congregation. The choir sang songs such as PeteSeeger’s classic “God Bless the Grass.” Jane Elsdon, a past SLO Poet Laureate,read a poem composed for the occasion. Children planted a native ceanothusshrub outside the church. Discussing how we might create a new vision of our future and tackle theseemingly impossible task of changing the world, Rev. Rod Richards gave aprovocative sermon entitled “A Changing Climate,” winner of the People forFaith and Justice Sermon Contest, “Perspectives and Responses: What the FaithCommunity Has to Say About Climate Change.” We are pleased to be able toshare it, with the Reverend Richards’ permission and slightly abridged for space,beyond his congregation. “My hope is that celebrations like this will spread to other churches in SLOCounty next year and future ones,” said Green Team leader and Santa LuciaChapter Outings Chair Joe Morris. “They can be an inspiration for others to carryon the good work!” ~


Quarry Collapse Saves Town

Hard, but not impossible, to ignore The County Supervisors were faced with a stark choice on the Las Pilitas quarry: people or profits. Two were able to ignore the County’s GeneralPlan and the California Environmental Quality Act in an effort to hand the applicant a permit. Three were not.

The above-quoted Mr. Peterson is apolitical scientist, and his cited work isone of the seminal texts in the field ofurban theory. In it, Peterson discusseslocal politics as the politics of develop-ment and growth-coalition powerstructures. There are many chapters in the on-going struggle created by that particu-lar brand of politics. One of themplayed out in highly instructive fashionat the May 12 Board of Supervisorshearing of the Planning Commission’sdenial of the Las Pilitas Quarryproject. When a development proposal likethe Las Pilitas Quarry comes before theCounty Board of Supervisors, carryingwith it seven (7) Class I potential

What can we learn from the denial of the Las Pilitas Quarry?

“Urban politics is above all the politics of land use.”-Paul Peterson, City Limits.

Their claim of an urgent need for theproject based on a supposed statewide188 million ton shortfall of aggregatewas, as Supervisor Gibson pointedout, incorrect (“misstated – I won’t saymisrepresented” by the applicant’srepresentative), and the SLO Countyproduction region will remain inbalance regardless of any supposedregional shortfall in any type ofaggregate. On traffic, the hottest of all theproject’s hot buttons, the applicant’spresentation at the hearing made ashow of offering to reduce the pro-ject’s average 270 truck trips per dayto 135 loaded truck trips. MargaritaProud pointed out that this was simplya sleight-of-hand trick attempting to

the considerationof this project.”) Compton’sstrategy was toquestion theentire process,and therefore theoutcome, where-by CountyPlanning staffmade its recom-mendation fordenial. In doingso, she ignoredthe answers shegot from staffand challengedthe fundamentalsof land use plan-ning,which, becauseit is not chemistry or geometry, containsestimates and projections. Comptonseized on this as a basis for disregard-ing the conclusions of the PlanningDepartment and Planning Commission. It was the equivalent of juggling andtap dancing. But loading a flak cannonwith confetti and aluminum streamersand hoping the results will look likeactual deliberations, supporting a claimof sufficient grounds to uphold theapproval of an un-approvable project,doth not a claim of overriding consider-ations make. In the end, the board majority agreedwith the position of the Sierra Club, assummarized by Chapter DirectorAndrew Christie: “There are no over-riding considerations available to youwith which to certify the EIR, and evenif there were, they would not rectify theproject’s inconsistencies with theGeneral Plan, the Community Plan andcommunity vision.” FollowingCompton’s oratory,Gibson pointed out“I’ve been listeningfor over an hournow and I have notheard one idea thatcontributes towardmaking the neces-sary findings [and]support for consis-tency of thisspecific projectwith our GeneralPlan.” There was noanswer to Gibson’squestion: “Whatfindings are youintending staff tomake and whataspects of the EIRand its seven Class

of struggle – last time, with grievousresults; this time, with a happy ending. In the case of the 2008 Santa Marga-rita Ranch ag cluster proposal (elevenClass I impacts), despite the PlanningCommission’s denial and an outpour-ing of community concern, thanks toSupervisors Harry Ovitt, Jerry Lenthalland Katcho Achadjian, it wasn’tenough. In the case of the Las Pilitas Quarrylast month – thanks to the PlanningCommission’s denial, an outpouring ofcommunity concern, and SupervisorsBruce Gibson, Adam Hill and FrankMecham – it was. The tenacious citizens groupMargarita Proud has a lot to be proudof. They organized their community,educated officials one-on-one, anddeterminedly and repeatedly set thefacts before planners, supervisors andthe public. (See “A Few Facts Aboutthe Oster/Las Pilitas Quarry,” May2015, and “We Can See Clearly Now,”Sept. 2013). Conversely, misdirection was theorder of the day for project proponents.

obscure the Environmental ImpactReport’s analysis of the impacts of 270truck trips, which comes to exactly thesame thing as the applicant’s offeredcap of 135 loaded trucks leaving thequarry, omitting the second trip re-quired to enter the quarry.

Give me a reason In the end, supporters of the projectstruggled to find some means ofsupport for their wish to approve theproject and came up empty. SupervisorDebbie Arnold showed nostalgicfamily photos of turn-of-the-centurymining operations in the area. LynnCompton conducted an inquest ofCounty Planning staff that lasted overan hour. The portion of her interroga-tion dedicated to the subject of scenichighways — their history, purpose,philosophy, process of designation,etc. — went on for twelve minutes, tono discernible point. (As Gibsonpointed out, “The question of scenichighway designation is not relevant to

One impacts [would they address]?” Supervisor Mecham gently pointedout that “When an appeal is made tothe Board, it’s incumbent upon theappellants to be convincing about thereasons why we should overturnsomething from the Planning Commis-sion…. I need to see a compellingargument that says that we have solidoverriding conditions that wouldsubstantiate us being on legal groundand good footing.” Arnold called for a vote to uphold theappeal and direct staff to somehowcome up with findings that wouldallow the Board to certify the EIR. The motion failed. Gibson made a motion to uphold thedecision of the planning commissionand deny the appeal. The motionpassed. In the aftermath, Cal Coast Newsrepeated the popular claims that “the

environmentalimpacts – significantand unmitigatable –that should throw abig red flag on thefield, one with thewords Don’t permitthis! printed on it invery large letters.That should beenough. Twice in the lastseven years, SantaMargarita, pop. 1100,has somehow been anepicenter for that kind

Carve their names withpride The MargaritaProud Board of Directors,represented by environ-mental attorney BabakNaficy, is made up ofSanta Margarita residentsRoy Reeves, President;Dave Ballantyne, Vice-President; Rayleen Wight,Secretary; Tamara

QUARRY continued on page 7

Kleemann, Treasurer;and Tom Smith.

Don’t do it “This is worthy of being preserved”-- Sue Harvey, Pres-ident, North County Watch.


Summary: Contrary to the headline and the first sentence of the story -- “During a lengthydiscussion with PG&E on Tuesday, the federal Nuclear Regulatory Commission reaffirmed itsdetermination that Diablo Canyon nuclear power plant could withstand a powerful earthquakeon faults surrounding the facility” -- the story offers no direct support for the idea that theNuclear Regulatory Commission has affirmed any such thing, and does not furnish any quotesfrom the NRC to back up the claim.

“NRC reaffirms Diablo’s safety,” by David Sneed, The Tribune, April 29, 2015.

Taking Issueproblematic environmental coverage & commentary in our local media

Upshot: If the NRC has verified the current seismic safety at Diablo Canyon, thisarticle contained no quoted statement to support that claim. Perhaps the phrase wasuttered at some point during the discussion the story reports on, but it didn’t find itsway into the local coverage. As it is, it appears all the Tribune is doing is puttingforward PG&E’s wishful thinking and vastly overtating the NRC’s simple, condi-tional acceptance of the current study results. The word “safety” should be used with great caution in any reference to PG&E’sinfrastructure, as the residents of San Bruno learned to their sorrow.

In mid May, Carollo Engineers’ DraftTechnical Memorandum No. 2, SupplyOptions and Points of Delivery forNacimiento Project Water, wasreleased by the County. It made one thing very clear: Theprospects for solving the Paso basin’swoes with Nacimiento water are asbleak as the desert on Luke Sky-walker’s home planet. The tech memo is the second of threecommissioned by supervisors in 2013and looks at opportunities to useNacimiento water to benefit the basin.The memo considers water supplyoptions, costs, additional infrastructureneeds and contractual issues. The memo is timely. Proponents of aPaso Robles Water District have longstated their hopes that the districtwould become a Nacimiento partnerand secure entitlement to unsubscribedwater for agricultural use in the Pasobasin. The memo ends that speculation.Except for 1,200 acre feet the Naci-miento District will hold in reserve, thefinal 6,000 af are essentially spoken forby the current participants, who will besecuring rights to the allocation soon. The report includes some eye-pop-ping numbers that should silence anydiscussion about what could have beenif there was a water district. A newParticipant (the proposed Paso district)would need to pay a “Buy-in-Fee” inthe amount of $21,934,212 plus

Naci Won’t Save Youinterest over a thirty year period. Theannualized cost would be around $1.4million annually. Annual Operation andMaintenance costs and energy costscould drive the cost per acre foot ofwater to more than $1,900 plussubstantial infrastructure costs to getthe water from an existing or a newturnout to point of use, which wouldhave to be added to the cost per acrefoot. The memo discusses options for thetemporary purchase of Nacimientowater from participants by non-subscribers. Those options would stillinvolve a need to invest in extensiveinfrastructure to deliver the water andwould not be a permanent source ofwater. A number of complicated exchangeoptions are suggested, but it appearsthey would all involve extensiveinfrastructure project costs. Expandingstorage in Santa Margarita Reservoirwould require extensive structuralimprovements and be cost prohibitivedue to seismic retrofit requirements inaddition to some water rights permit-ting issues. The costs for the SanAntonio Intertie, being considered byMonterey County, are expected toexceed $3,000 an acre foot, and thefull benefit of extra storage will onlybe realized during very wet years. From the inescapable conclusionscolumn: if there is water available toimport to solve the Paso basin’s

problems, it’s not affordable. It’s ahard fact. Irrigated ag land owners overthe basin, who use 80% of the water,can’t afford imported water. Hence, theburden of that expense would restdisproportionately on the ruralresidential user, who uses less than3,000 af (3%), according to the latestbasin update. Without water to import at anaffordable cost, the only option formanaging the basin is demand manage-ment —conservation, rate analysis,demand forecasting, modeling andmetering; protecting water quantity andquality – also known as “living withinour means.” We don’t need to form a waterdistrict to do demand management. We do need big pumpers to cut back.

Notice thetense of thequotation:the questionneeds to beanswered.The unan-swered question of what the plant can withsandmay not strike the reader as being equivalent toan “affirmation” of its seismic safety status.

Once again,behold thefuture tense:The NRC is notquoted assaying PG&E“has demon-strated,” nosuch demon-stration hasoccurred, January 2016 has not yetarrived, and any positive affirmationof safety has yet to be demonstrated.

More hopesfor thefuture:PG&E hasfive years tocomplete its

risk evaluation, then the NRCwill make a determination.

“The real question thatneeds to be answered iswhat the plant canwithstand,” said DianeJackson, a geosciencesand geotechnicalengineer with the NRC.

The NRC has given PG&Eseveral deadlines to meet inorder to complete its seismicsafety evaluations. By Janu-ary 2016, PG&E must demon-strate that key pieces ofsafety equipment, particularlythose that ensure the reac-tors’ radioactive core willremain cooled if a powerfulearthquake strikes the plant.

Lastly, the utility has untilthe end of 2020 tocomplete its seismic riskevaluations. The NRCwill then determine if anyadditional safety actionsare required.

Paso Robles Groundwater Basin

The California Coastal Commissionhas announce the results of its 2015Coastal Art & Poetry Contest. Ten winners and 45 honorablementions were selected from morethan 2,500 entries. In addition to beingshowcased on the Coastal Commis-sion’s website, the work will be onexhibit at the Point Reyes Bear ValleyVisitor Center in Marin County inJune, the Ford House Museum inMendocino in July and August,Channel Islands National Park Visitor

Center in Venturain September andOctober; and theBirch Aquarium atScripps in LaJolla through midJanuary 2016. Thewinning poemsand a small selec-tion of honorablementions will bepublished in anupcoming issue ofTAB: A Journal ofPoetry & Poetics.

“The Swimming Family,” Roselene Chen, Grade 8.

The Best ofthe Coast


property is currently zoned for mining,and the county does not have jurisdic-tion to control traffic on a statehighway” — which are untrue andirrelevant, respectively. COLABfretted that Compton and Arnold werenot given enough time to “formulatereasons for approval,” instead ofnoting what really happened: Comptonand Arnold followed standard pro-cedure and crafted a tentative motionfor approval that directed staff to comeback at a later date with findings andconditions that would support ap-proval. But given all the time in the world,findings for approval could not havebeen formulated, as no presumedbenefit could override the significantenvironmental impacts the projectwould have inflicted on the commu-nity. As Gibson put it, “Unless themotion maker and the second can giveme some evidence to speak to thereasons why we can make the findingsthat we must make, by law, to approvethis project, I will not support this

motion.” They couldn’t, so he didn’t. Public policy won out over the causeof private profit at public expense.

The larger meaning In the aforementioned academicrealm of urban theory, politicalscientist Clarence Stone is known asthe father of “regime theory,” whichrefers to the close cooperation betweenlocal government and private businessinterests, and the systemic powerwielded by landowners and developers– known to sociologists as “the growthelite,” accustomed to winning inclashes with coalitions advocating forneighborhood and environmentalprotections. You can read about regime theory ina number of academic texts. Or youcan just pull up the video of the May12 Las Pilitas Quarry appeal hearingarchived on the County’s website,settle in for eleven hours or so, andbehold that theory in action, and a rareinstance in which the growth elitecouldn’t quite pull it off. You will learn what those who wereat that epic all-day hearing know: Thepeople made the system work.

Quarrycontinued from page 5

By Katie Davis, Santa Barbara Group Chair, Los Padres Chapter

May 13 marked the largest public lobby day on ocean issues ever held inWashington DC. On that day, hundreds of citizens and conservation groupsparticipated in 162 meetings with representatives and staff from 25 states and oneterritory. Lobby day was the culmination of the Blue Vision Ocean Summit, aconference dedicated to ocean advocacy. I joined the Sierra Club Marine Action Team, a team of scientists and oceanlovers who help set and advance national marine policy for the Sierra Club. Aspart of the Southern California contingent, I visited with both Senator Feinsteinand Senator Boxer’s staff and members of congress from both parties, includingRepresentative Lois Capps, a long-time ocean advocate who may be the onlyperson in congress with a marine ecologist on her staff. In addition to me, ourarea was represented by student leaders from Cal Poly and California StateUniversity, Channel Islands. We advocated for the passage of a bill to stop illegal pirate fishing, whichdevastates ecosystems and takes away around two billion dollars in revenue fromthe legitimate fishing industry. This bill represents the rarest of things on CapitolHill, a sensible bipartisan measure. It seems the one thing both parties can agreeon: we’re against pirates! We also asked representatives to oppose the dangerous expansion in drilling offthe Atlantic coast and in the deep waters of the Arctic. I pointed out the inevitabil-ity of spills, noting not only the gulf spill and the infamous Santa Barbara spill of1969, but lesser known ongoing problems, like the 1.5 mile slick that stretchedfrom that same oil field just a few years ago. Others noted that 56 communities onthe east coast from New Jersey to Florida have passed resolutions against drillingand seismic testing, which can deafen, stress and sicken marine mammals. At the final Ocean Awards Seminar, Enric Sala of the National Geographicimagined two different future oceans in 2050. In one, fisheries have collapsed;there is more plastic in the ocean than fish; coral reefs are dissolving faster thanthey can form, and the arctic is ice free, causing weather havoc and warming inNorth America and Europe. But he also proposed an alternate future, one inwhich fifty percent of the ocean is set aside in protected areas, replenishing fishand increasing resiliency; sustainable aquaculture supplies healthy seafood;plastics have stopped flowing to the seas, and renewable energy supplants fossilfuels. He challenged all of us to work toward building the future we want to see. Indeed, “action” was the theme throughout. One speaker, quoting philosopherHenri Nouwen, said “You don’t think your way into a new kind of living. You liveyour way into a new kind of thinking.” Healthy oceans are not guaranteed, but they can be earned through our collec-tive efforts. Given the importance of the ocean to supporting all life on earth, it iswell worth the fight.

Action! Sierra Club Marine Action Team, left to right: Dave Raney, Katie Davis, AthenManuel, Renee Owens, Holly Parker, Doug Fetterly.

Hands Across the Spill

Sierra Club Goes to WashingtonLargest ocean lobby day ever held

Foreshadowing Northern Chumash Tribal Council Administrator Fred Collins talked toHands Across the Sand participants in Avila Beach about the importance of the proposedChumash Heritage National Marine Sanctuary in keeping our coastal waters oil-spill free.

The timing of “Hands Across the Sand” this year was poignant

Hands Across The Sand is anannual worldwide gathering ofpeople dedicated to a cleanenergy future and ending ourdependence on filthy fuels. At an appointed place, date andtime, thousands of people incoastal areas around the globejoin hands in solidarity to rejectdirty fuel projects that threatenour communities and oceans anddestabilize our climate. This year,locally, for SLO Surfrider, SierraClub and the Northern ChumashTribal Council, the event was heldat the Avila Pier on May 16, 12:00p.m. PDT. Just down the coast, citizensfrom Ventura County were joinedby Surfrider and Ventura CountyClimate Hub at Surfers Point Park,Ventura. And, of course, right in between,three days later, the Plains All-American Pipeline spill dumped at least 100,000 gallons of oil into the ocean offRefugio State Beach. It was, of course, inevitable, because we allow oil compa-nies to drill for oil off our coast – “we” meaning those California coastalcommunities that don’t presently adjoin a national marine sanctuary. (And yes,this land-based oil spill was the result of offshore drilling. See “Where theRefugio Oil Spill Came From,” page 10.) Clean-up efforts may still be ongoing as you read this. If so, stay away fromcontaminated areas to minimize scaring oiled wildlife and prevent tracking oilinto otherwise clean areas. Any sightings of oiled wildlife should be reported tothe Santa Barbara Wildlife Care Network at 681-1080 or the Santa BarbaraMarine Mammal Center at 687-3255. And, of course, support the nomination for the Chumash Heritage NationalMarine Sanctuary, at www.chumashsanctuary.com.

The reason why Hands Across the Sand, Belize.

Roi B

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Starting with the May 5 meeting ofthe Pismo Beach City Council andcontinuing through the moth at meet-ings othe Templeton and Lucia MarSchool Boards, school teachers andregistered nurses joined with thehomeowners and environmentalisistswho have been urging rejection of thecontroversial oil train rail spur thatwould bring five rail shipments a weekof tar sands crude oil through thecenter of San Luis Obispo County tothe Phillips 66 Santa Maria refinery. In Pismo Beach, all the groupsopposing the project rallied in front ofPismo Beach City Hall before thecouncil meeting and then brought theirconcerns directly to council membersat their regular council meeting. (See“Phillips 66 Wants No Further Discus-sion,” page 9.) The nurses, teachers and studentswant our cities and schools to join withthe city of San Luis Obispo and thosecities, counties and school boards inblast zone communities north and

Nurses, Teachers, Students: Into the Oily BreachThey don’t want the Phillips 66 Project

south of us (see our front page) todeclare opposition to the Phillips 66project. They have good reasons. “This project presents significantand unacceptable risks to the healthand safety of our communitiesthroughout California and beyond,due to toxic emissions, and thepotential for oil spills,” said AmberWiehl, an RN at Sierra Vista RegionalMedical Center in San Luis Obispo, atthe Pismo City Council. “Our mostvulnerable populations are particu-larly at risk. Children and infants areat greater risk due to their still-developing lungs and respiratory sys-tems. The elderly and people withpreexisting respiratory and cardiovas-cular diseases, diabetes, and cancerall face greater risks than the generalpublic. As the mother of a child whohas been hospitalized with respiratoryissues, these concerns hit especially

NURSES continued on page 8


Megantic, Quebec, explosion thatkilled 47 people? The answer is no, and the reason isspeed: the regulations move too slowand the trains continue to move toofast. The rules announced at a May 1 jointpress conference by US and Canadianofficials arrive decades late and withthe sticky fingerprints of the oil andrail industry all over them. The admin-istration has slowed down and nar-rowed the scope of the rules so themost dangerous tank cars stay on therails for at least two and a half years.Other unsafe tank cars have five orseven years before they must meet newhigher standards. Not that the new standards will helpmuch: All four 2015 accidents in-volved CPC-1232 cars, the newer tankcars that are supposedly safer than thedangerous DOT-111s. But to be clear,neither the upgraded cars or new carsbuilt to the new standard will preventan explosion if the train is moving atnormal speeds. So we can begin to look for new andupgraded cars (like the ones thatexploded in recent months) in the yearsto come, but those living along thetracks can still expect to see the worstcars continue to roll by their homes fora very long time. The administrationeffectively allows rail companies tokeep antiquated tank cars on the railsin trains with fewer than 35 crude oiltank cars (or 20 in a row.) That meansoil trains hauling up to a milliongallons of explosive crude oil in themost dangerous tank cars will keeprolling through a downtown near youforever. The administration trumpets newelectronically controlled pneumaticbrakes for oil trains. While it’s goodnews that oil and rail companies willuse state-of-the-art technology, theadministration is giving them until2021 to install the new better brakes.That’s six years too long to requirewhat should be a basic minimum safetyrequirement. And while these upgrades to the tankcar fleet creep slowly into place, thetrains will continue flying down thetracks at reckless speeds. The new ruleallows oil trains to travel at more thantwice the rated “puncture velocity” ofeven the new tank cars that they will(in some cases) eventually require.That means that oil trains carryingthree million gallons of explosivecrude will continue to travel at 50 mph

These numbers, based on routing data at ForestEthics’ blast-zone.org, are derived from censusblock data and use the Federal Department of Transportation’s recommendations for evacua-tions zones in the event of an oil train spill and/or fire. This number doesn’t include all the people who work, go to school, visit the hospital, dine,play, shop, etc. in the blast zone. In addition, accidents in the U.S. have resulted in an evacua-tion radius varying from half a mile to 5 miles.

Who is in the Blast Zone?

TOO SLOW continued on page 9

Too Slowcontinued from page 1

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close to home” Adding five trains per week if thePhillips 66 project is approved,substantially increases the risk of acatastrophic oil train accident for thosehospitals, schools and homes in themile-wide blast zone on either side ofthe tracks. Rail accidents involving tarsands crude have become increasinglycommon in the U.S. and Canada

“There are 29 elementary, middleand high schools in the county in theblast zone,” said 30-year elementaryschool teacher Kathleen Minck. “Ourschool children at these schools are inextreme risk if there is a major oil trainaccident. Also, increasing air pollutionfrom the trains will affect all ourchildren with asthma, even in theabsence of a major accident”. Noting the train runs right next to theCal Poly campus, Soroush Aboutalebi,an Environmental Management and

Protection major, said, “We want CalPoly President Armstrong to opposethe oil trains because of the risk theypose to our university, but so far hehasn’t.” “I am concerned.” Aboutalebi said,“that other educational institutions inthe county have mentioned the on-going financial support they receivefrom Phillips 66 as one reason forsupporting Phillips 66’s oil trainsproject in their letters to the PlanningCommission.”

Diana Robertson, a Pismo Beachhomeowner in the blast zone said she isespecially concerned that “our electedofficials in the southern part of thecounty where Phillip 66’s refinery islocated have not yet joined us inopposing the project.” “Five more oil trains means triplingthe risk of an oil train accident,” saidRobertson. “Communities in the blastzone north and south of our county are

Nursescontinued from page 7

NURSES continued next page


Phillips 66 Wants NoMore Discussion

Fat target Every drop of the City of SLO’s main water supply -- from Santa Margarita Lake, Whale Rock Reservoir and Nacimiento Lake --flows through the Stenner Creek Water Treatment Plant, located at the bottom of one of the most hazardous railroad grades in the state.

in the 9th Circuit challenging the ruleon behalf of ForestEthics, Sierra Club,Waterkeeper Alliance, WashingtonEnvironmental Council, Friends of theColumbia Gorge, Spokane River-keeper, and the Center for BiologicalDiversity. “The Department of Transportation’sweak oil train standard just blew up inits face on the plains of North Dakotalast week,” said Patti Goldman,Earthjustice attorney. “Pleas from thepublic, reinforced by the NationalTransportation Safety Board, to stophauling explosive crude in these tankcars have fallen on deaf ears, leavingpeople across the country vulnerable to

catastrophic accidents.” Rather than immediately banning themost dangerous tank cars — DOT-111sand CPC-1232s — that are now usedevery day to transport volatile Bakkenand tar sands crude oil, the new stan-dards call for a 10-year phase out.Even then the standard will allowsmaller trains — up to 35 loaded tankcars in a train — to continue to use theunsafe tank cars. The new rule fails to protect peopleand communities in several majorways:• The rule leaves hazardous cars

carrying volatile crude oil on the tracksfor up to 10 years.• The rule has gutted public notifica-

tion requirements, leaving communitiesand emergency responders in the darkabout the oil trains and explosive crudeoil rumbling through their towns andcities.• New cars will require

thicker shells to reducepunctures and leaks, butretrofit cars are subject toa less protective standard.• The standard doesn’t

impose adequate speedlimits to ensure that oiltrains run at safe speeds.Speed limits have been setfor “high threat urbanareas,” but very few citieshave received thatdesignation.

across North America, except in asmall number of “high threat” urbanareas where they must go 40. The newspeed limits offer little comfort be-cause three of the four explosiveaccidents in 2015 occurred at speedsbelow 35 mph. (The accident inGogama, ON, occurred at 43 mph, justthree mph over the “high-priority”speed limit.) The Galena, Illinois,derailment occurred at only 23 mph,proving that the speed limits in the ruleare inadequate to protect anyone. In the final addition of insult toinjury, the administration walked tooquickly away from notification stan-dards in an earlier draft of the rule,leaving citizens and emergencyresponders in the dark about where

these trains are running and when. The Obama Administration took itstime developing new rules for hazard-ous materials on trains that run throughthe heart of America: they looked atthe threat of exploding oil trains, butheavy industry lobbying made themflinch. The administration failed tolearn the lessons of Lac Megantic orthe four explosive oil train accidentswe’ve seen so far in 2015 alone. Theyhave given public safety the coldshoulder, instead embracing the oil andrail industry lobbyists peddling thisdangerous cargo. We were fortunate that none of the2015 accidents caused fatalities. But itshouldn’t be a matter of luck. SecretaryFoxx and President Obama havechosen to roll the dice instead ofwriting strong rules that protect the 25million of us living in the blast zone.

Remember when KatchoAchadjian refused to debate hisopponent, Heidi Harmon, when hewas running for re-election to hisAssembly seat last year? As in all his successful electoralbids, our wily Assemblyman hassought to dodge the sensitive issue ofhis voting record. If your record isbasically indefensible, it’s not asmart strategy to agree to appear in apublic forum where you will have todefend that record against an oppo-nent who is likely to bring it up — indetail — and use it to clean yourclock. Thus, Katcho ducked,delayed, created excuses, addedconditions, and dodged that bullet. Phillips 66 now appears to betaking a page from that playbook. After going head-to-head withMesa Refinery Watch group mem-bers in dueling presentations atmeetings of the Arroyo Grandeand Grover Beach City Councils,Phillips 66 apparently decidedthat was enough of that, andpulled out of a scheduled jointpresentation at the May 5 PismoBeach City Council meeting. At press time, no future presen-tation has been rescheduled. And if we could find someone totake the bet, we’d wager someserious money that the PismoBeach City Council chamber willnever hear a presentation fromPhillips 66 in defense of theirproject. That is to say, even though MesaRefinery Watch, California NursesAssociation, Sierra Club and localresidents all showed up at thatcouncil meeting and cleanedPhillips’ clock in absentia, thecompany does not seem to wantany rebuttal time. Scheduling such time wouldmean a net increase in publicdiscussion of the project. Whichthey don’t want. Think about that.

Nursescontinued from previous page

Lawsuitcontinued from page 1

Too slowcontinued from page 8

looking to us, the residents of San LuisObispo County, to protect theircommunities too, because we caninfluence our local Planning Commis-sion and Board of Supervisors to denythe permit.” “The Phillips 66 project is a recipefor disaster,” said Valerie Love withthe Center for Biological Diversity. “Itwould bring millions of gallons oftoxic, explosive crude from Canada

into populated areas ofCalifornia every day, puttingpeople, businesses andcritical water supplies atrisk.” The Final EnvironmentalImpact Report on the Phillips66 project is expected inSeptember. After the PlanningCommission votes on theproject, it is likely to beappealed to the Board ofSupervisors and the Califor-nia Coastal Commission.

We’re goingto win Thepeople, united,getting thepoint across atthe May 19Lucia MarSchool Boardmeeting.

Anne

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warming. After all, when I hear thoseterms, I feel a heaviness in my chestand a disquiet in my mind and I think,is there really anything we can doabout it anyway? When I hear thoseterms, I feel an initial impulse to turnaway. To imagine that we have so changedenvironmental conditions that we arecausing a mass extinction — well, tocall that a sobering thought would bean understatement. More sobering still,the anthropologist Richard Leakey haswarned that “Homo sapiens might notonly be the agent of the sixth extinc-tion, but also risks being one of itsvictims” And what do we do? The things thatcaused the fever are now so embeddedin our personal, societal, institutionallives that it will require a focusedcoordinated effort on an unprecedentedscale for our species to cool the fever. We are called, in effect, to “turn theworld around,” and that’s a great songbut a daunting task. So I understand,Florida, because I, too, want to put myfingers in my ears and lalalalalala. I,too, want to clamp my eyes shut andclick the heels of my ruby slipperstogether — if I had ruby slippers —and hope that everything will work outif I just keep repeating that “there’s noplace like home, there’s no place likehome, there’s no place like home...” Except this is our home. And this isthe reality of what we face. And it ishappening in Kansas... Kansas andCalifornia and Kentucky and Kenyaand Canada and Korea... Climatechange is a reality for us all. Our homehas changed. There is no place like thehome that once was. We are now calledto help preserve the home that can befor future generations. And though I understand the urge tosimply not talk about it, I can say, frommy experience as a recovering alco-holic, that denial — tempting as it canbe — never helps. Denial, dishonesty,distraction — we must be braveenough to put all these aside. We mustfashion a new relationship — a newcovenant, if you will — with the earth. Religion has traditionally givenspecial status to humans among all ofearth’ s creatures, imagining a unique

connection to the Divine or SupremeReality through the unique attribute ofsoul or spirit, and in some cases a non-Earthly realm in which that soul orspirit will reside upon reaching the endof this earthly existence. My intention today is not to explorethe truths of such claims, but theunintentional ramifications on ourrelationship to that which we celebratetoday: the Earth. This special and separate statustaught by many religions has — notsurprisingly — frequently led us toimagine ourselves as special and sep-arate. A popular saying goes like this:You are not a human being having aspiritual experience. You are a spiri-tual being having a human experience.Jesus prays for his disciples, affirmingthat, like him, they are in the world butthey are not of the world (John 17:14). But as we celebrate Earth Day todayand as I imagine this congregation andother congregations and religiouscommunities and ethical societies ofevery kind celebrating Earth Day todayand into the future, inspiring us to meetthe challenges before us, leading us tocreate new ways of living in harmonyas best we can with the interdependentweb of all life — Well, we can counterthat with “the Earth is our home,” but Iam wondering if even that is a suffi-ciently powerful metaphor. Let me explain: most of us live inhomes. But you and I have probablyhad several homes in which we havelived throughout our lives. We leaveone home and we move to another.Some of us have even known theexperience of being homeless. Thoughchallenging, dangerous, and unjust, onecan live without a home...or in amakeshift home. This makes home an imperfectmetaphor for our relationship to theEarth. Earth is not simply our currentresidence. It is not an address. It is noteven simply our shelter. It is our life. Itis our sustenance. There is no livingapart from it. The Earth is not simplyour home; we are earthly creatures! Welive in an interdependent web of allexistence, but all existence is com-pletely dependent upon the Earth andits resources. The Earth gave birth tous and will receive us when we die —“to my old brown earth,” as PeteSeeger sang. That is the awareness that we musttake into this struggle. We are of this

world. “The first imperative of moralleadership in the climate movement isto speak the hard truths about thenature of our challenge,” writes TimDeChristopher, a Unitarian Universal-ist ministerial student at HarvardUniversity, calling churches to lead onclimate justice. We have to speak thetruth. This is why our UU Animal Ministryis sponsoring showings of Cowspiracy,to highlight the unsustainable impact ofthe cattle industry and meat produc-tion. This is why people are workingon Derail the Spur, to bring attention tothe dangerous nature of oil transportand the unsustainability of continuingfossil fuel use. This is why the GreenTeam has worked on banning polysty-rene and unrecyclable plastics, raisingawareness of all the stuff we throwaway and the unsustainable nature ofthese practices. This is why we holdthis celebration, mindful of the workthat lies ahead in addressing the harmwe have caused and are causing, andgrateful for the life-giving resourcesthat the Earth provides each and everyday. We hold both: the life-givingrecognition of our profound connectionwith the Earth and the dangers of ourtragic disconnection from the Earththat sustains us. We have no time fordenial or deception or deflection or“I’m not a scientist, but... ” answersfrom public officials. We have to

examine ourselves and our systems andour culture in light of the challengebefore us. We have to acknowledge a part ofour human nature, a part that is all toooften applauded in our society; the onethat wants more and more; the one thatgreedily grabs and sells; the one thatpursues infinite possibilities with finiteresources; the one that does not knowenough. We have to accept the truth.The climate is changing, and there isalso changing climate in public opinionand resolve. People are more and moreready to fight for change. People areready to explore what it takes toremake our society; to turn the worldaround. Our religious communities shouldlead in teaching us — in the words ofKevin Danaher, the cofounder andpresident of Global Exchange — inteaching us how to be good ancestors. How can we be good ancestors? Apowerful question. A spiritual practice.A call to action. And we must remem-ber, in the work, to be kind to oneanother. It is easy to let the panic andthe frustration and the pain of it turn usagainst one another; to speak in harshjudgment; to act in self-righteousanger...but we will only move forwardtogether. It is not only what we do but how wedo it. We come from the earth, livingon the earth, go back to the earth andturn the world around.

Faithcontinued from page 4

The word Congresswoman Lois Capps at SLO First Presbyterian Church, August 6, 2008:“People of faith in increasing numbers are turning their attention to environmental issues.From abolition to womens’ right to vote and the civil rights movement, people of faith haveurged us to do the right thing.”

The May 19 pipeline spill thatdespoiled Refugio State Beach andcreated an oil slick four miles long wasclassified as a terrestrial oil spillbecause its source was a buriedpipeline. But the pipeline is there to receive oiland gas from offshore platforms, trans-ported through a subsea pipeline to theLas Flores Canyon Oil and Gas Plant,from which it flows to the Gaviotaterminal for transport to Kern County. The L.A. Times did not help thepublic to grasp the fact that this wasessentially an offshore oil spill — withthe oil that was pumped from beneaththe ocean floor slightly relocated be-fore it spilled back into the ocean —by referring to the rupture as occurringin the Plains All-American Pipelinesystem “that carries crude from astorage tank in Las Flores to a facilityin Gaviota. The pipeline is part of alarger oil transport network that iscentered in Kern County….” Yes,that’s where the oil was going. Butthat’s not where it came from. Per the annual report of Plains All-American Pipeline LP to the Securitiesand Exchange Commission, they

operate “a common carrier crude oilpipeline system that transports crudeoil produced from two outer continen-tal shelf, or OCS, fields off-shore Cali-ifornia via connecting pipelines torefinery markets in California.” On August 26, 2014, the statelegislature voted down a bill thatwould have permanently banned oildrilling in state waters off SantaBarbara. SB 1096 was killed by oilcompany lobbyists. The L.A. Timesreported that “Lawmakers who spokein opposition said they saw no need to

change current procedures.” What would have protected Refugio?A national marine sanctuary, desig-nated before the offshore rigs thatwrecked it could be built. Only thedesignation of the Chumash HeritageNational Marine Sanctuary can curbfurther exploitation of offshore oilleases lying off SLO and Santa Barbaraand the proliferation of more rigs,more pipelines, and more catastrophicspills. A marine sanctuary protects every-thing up to the mean high tide line and

Where the Refugio Beach Oil Spill Came Fromcollaborates with water quality effortsup the watershed as well. A sanctuaryprohibiting offshore oil and gasdevelopment is a no-brainer for ashoreline that saw devastating damagefrom the 1969 Santa Barbara oil spill,which launched the modern-dayenvironmental movement. The time for designation of theChumash Heritage National MarineSanctuary could not be more appropri-ate. “Refugio” offered no refuge. Asanctuary does.

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ClassifiedsNext issue deadline is June 13. To get a rate sheet orsubmit your ad and payment, contact:Sierra Club - Santa Lucia ChapterP.O. Box 15755San Luis Obispo, CA [email protected]

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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]

Activities sponsored by other organizations

This is a tour of a precious area of our state not seen by many. This spring andsummer, you can experience the Channel Islands, including hiking and kayaking,with Sierra Club members and a park naturalist. This is a gift that gives twice because your tour benefits the political work ofSierra Club California, the environment’s strongest voice in the State Capitol. While you are floating about the islands, you will be helping to protect them andother natural resources found only in California. Enticingly within view of Ventura and Santa Barbara, one of California’s (andthe country’s) most unique environments is part of Channel Islands National Parkand National Marine Sanctuary. It is also one of the least visited national parks inthe U.S., accessible only by boat or plane. The trips are organized by Sierra Club member Joan Holtz. Trip tickets cost$615 and include meals and lodging aboard the tour boat that leaves from SantaBarbara.

2015 Trip ScheduleJune 14-16— ABird LoversSpecial!July 19-21August 23-25September 27-29Please contact tripleader Joan JonesHoltz, for moreinformation [email protected].

Sat., June 6th, and July 11, 9:30 a.m. Citizens’ Climate Lobby meets at theUnitarian Universalist Fellowship, 2201 Lawton Ave, SLO. Join us and learnwhat you can do to slow climate change and make a difference in our community.Become a climate activist and part of the solution to the most pressing issue ofour time. For more information email: [email protected].

Sun., June 7th, 2 p.m. City Walk:Jazz-Age San Luis Obispo to WorldWar II. Where is the hotel whereHearst entertained his celebrity guests,the speakeasies of the twenties, and theoriginal French Hotel? Find out andmuch more on a guided downtownstroll past historic stores, theaters, andhotels. Learn about SLO city lifefrom the years of the Model T toProhibition, the Depression, and PearlHarbor. Meet at corner of Marsh andToro Sts. Leader: Joe Morris, 549-0355.

Sat., June 6th, 8 a.m. High Mt. Rdto Huff’s Hole Hike. Moderatelystrenuous, eight-mile out-and-backhike past wildflower meadows,chaparral, creeks, and mountain vistas.Option to go part way and turn backearly. Bring water, sun protection,snacks, dress in layers and have sturdyshoes. Directions: From ArroyoGrande, follow signs toward LopezLake and cross dam. Before enteringLopez Lake Park, turn right on HighMountain Rd for 12.6 miles, bearing rt.on Upper Lopez to stay on High Mt.You will reach a second gate, parkingarea, and trailhead. Second option ismeeting at Ridge Trail staging area,just past the Upper Lopez Canyon/High Mt. Rd. junction at 7:30 tocarpool in. Information, contactLeader: Andrea Ortiz, 934-2792 [email protected]. Rain or seriousthreat of rain cancels.

Sun., June 14th, 10 a.m. Eagle RockTrekking Pole Hike. Polecats isdedicated to local Sierra Club hikes tomodel the benefits of using trekkingpoles. This hike along a nature trail is2.2 miles round trip, 720 ft. elevationchange. Trailhead located across fromCuesta College at El Chorro RegionalPark. From SLO, take Hwy 1 north,turning east (right) at the first of twoturn signals to El Chorro Regional

Park. Follow signs to Day Use Area,passing ball fields. More information,contact Leader, David Georgi,458-5575 or [email protected].

Fri-Wed., June 19th-24th, CoyoteGulch Backpack. Backpack 30 milesthrough some of the best of Utah’s redrock, with sheer high-walled canyonsand cathedral-like campsites. Trip startswith obtaining permits at the Escalantevisitor center. There are 4-5 miles dailyhiking, most of it moderate, but somerequiring back and forth wading acrossa creek and one steep trail to bypasswaterfalls. There are side trips, sobring a small backpack. This is thewarm season, but usually quite pleas-ant. Trip details and agenda availableon sign-up. Limit of 12 participants.Leader: David Hardy, email (pre-ferred): [email protected],phone 702-875-4826 S. NevadaGroup/CNRC Desert Committee.

Sat. June 20th, Prewitt Loop Hike.This is a challenging trek, but worth theeffort in experiencing a rugged canyonand its slopes. Strenuous all-day hike,13 miles and about 2800 ft. elevationgain. Be prepared for exposure topoison oak. Meet at Washburn DayUse Area, about 1.5 mile north ofCambria. Call beforehand to confirmyour attendance: Leader: Carlos Diaz-Saavedra, 546-0317.

Saturday, June 27th, (varying starttimes) The Morros of SLO County.Join us for a one-day ascent of the fivepublicly accessible Morros, near SanLuis Obispo and Morro Bay. All fiveMorros can be hiked in succession (seeschedule listed below) or selected tosuit one’s preferences and conditioning.Each has a beautiful but differentvista—from city to oak woodland tograssland to seashore. Total round-tripdistance for all five hikes is about 13miles, with 3,500 ft. elevation gain.

Bring plenty of water (store extrawater in your vehicle), lunch andsnacks, and dress in layers for chang-ing weather. The day is likely to startand end cool, but be quite warm atmid-day. A hat, sunscreen, and sturdyhiking shoes are essential. Notificationwith hike leader at least 24 hrs inadvance is requested. Leader: BillWaycott, (805) 459-2103 or email:[email protected]. The plants,animals, and the geology of the areawill be topics during the hikes.

-7:30 a.m. Islay Hill, 2 miles, 500 ft.gain, moderate. The easternmost of theMorros, with views of five others. Totrailhead, take Tank Farm Rd. east pastOrcutt Rd, then south on Spanish OaksDr., then east on Sweet Bay Lane toend.

-9:00 a.m.Cerro San Luis, 4 miles,1,100 ft. gain, moderate. Has knockoutviews of SLO. Trailhead at the end ofMarsh St., just before onramp to Hwy101 south.

-Lunch: 11:15 am to 12:00 pm,Throop Park, corner of CerroRomauldo Street and Cuesta Drive, inSLO.

-12:00 p.m. Bishop Peak, 3.5 miles,950 ft. gain, moderate. Highest of allthe Morros. From Hwy. 1, go west onHighland Dr., then right on PatriciaDrive. Park at trailhead on Patricia Dr.just before reaching Anacapa Circle.

-3:30 p.m. Cerro Cabrillo, 2.5 miles,800 ft. gain, moderate. 360-degreeviews from the Santa Lucia Mts. to thecoastline. Meet at Quarry Trail trail-head on South Bay Blvd, 1.4 milessouth of Hwy 1 or 0.4 miles north ofTurri Rd.

-6:00 p.m. Black Hill, 0.5 miles, 100ft. gain, easy. Ocean views from

Sat., June 27th, 1-2 p.m.,Preserving our Seas – AllAbout Marine Protected Areas(MPA). An engaging presenta-tion and docent-led field trip,hosted by the San Luis BotanicalSociety. Followed at 2 p.m. witha free docent-led tour. Follow thelink for more information: http://slobg.org/mpa/.

Montana de Oro north to SanSimeon.From South Bay Blvd, drive intoMorro Bay State Park, turn right at firstfork onto Park View Rd., then rightonto Upper State Park Rd. to end.

Channel Islands Tours

Sat. June 27th, 10 a.m. – 2 p.m. TheChildren’s Garden. SLO City Farm isplantig the Three Sisters Garden forsummertime crops and seasonalfavorites like sunflowers, tomatoes,peppers and pumpkins in “Our GlobalFamily” children’s garden. Bring a hat,gloves, shovel, water, snacks andclosed-toe shoes $5 donation perfamily suggested. More info atslobg.org/kids.

Documents

Santa Lucian • June 2015 1 SANTA LUCIAN - Sierra Club · These derailments and explosions set a bar we can use to measure the new oil train standards announced on May 1 by the US