Santa Lucian • January 2011 Lucian - Sierra Club Audubon, ECOSLO, Green Build, Land Conser - vancy, Surfrider, SWAP, Transition Towns, and our Sierra Club chapter.€ Each will describe

Santa Lucian • January 20111

sub-committee members(Enns, Foster, Grantham)

DON’T MISS

Jan. 14:the return of

Brock Dolman

-see page 3

Jan. 26:Environmentalists’

rendezvous

The official newsletter of the Santa Lucia Chapter of the Sierra Club • San Luis Obispo County, California

Protecting and

Preserving the

Central Coast

SantaLucian

IIIII n s i d en s i d en s i d en s i d en s i d eAvila vs. the Coastal Act 2

Pismo plays fetch 3

EcoSummit report 4

Our benefit: a hit 6

Carrizo: sun and shadow 8

Letters 10

Classifieds 11

Outings 12

Please recycle

This newsletter printed on

100% post-consumer recycled paper with

soy-based inks

Jan. 2011Volume 48 No. 1

Santa LucianSanta Lucia Chapter of the Sierra Club

P. O. Box 15755

San Luis Obispo, CA 93406

NONPROFIT ORG.U.S. POSTAGE

PAIDPERMIT NO. 84

SAN LUIS OBISPOCA 93401

continued on page 10

-see page 2

“We can’t make decisions asinformed and wise as the peoplewe pay to give us advice.”

- Morro Bay Mayor Janice PetersApril 8, 2010

A Tale of Two SewersMorro Bay Planning Commission slams treatmentplan, City Council will deliberate January 10

In attempting to avoid travellingdown the road of the Los Osos sewer,Morro Bay and Cayucos have man-aged to dig themselves into one of thevery same potholes that beset thatlong and winding road. Only thisone’s bigger and deeper. The Draft Environmental ImpactReport for the new Morro Bay-Cayucos wastewater treatment plant –the most expensive public worksproject in the history of thosecommunities – was released inOctober. The first rumbles of debacle came atan October 4 study session of theMorro Bay City Planning Commis-sion, when commissioners took turnsexpressing misgivings with the EIR’sfailings and omissions. Then the Sierra Club, Surfrider,Natural Resources Defense Council,Otter Project and others blasted thedraft EIR. The Regional Water QualityControl Board noted the lack of aRecycled Water Policy and a salt andnutrient management plan. The SLOCounty Planning Department notedthe lack of beneficial reuse of effluentand the water quality impacts ofocean discharge. The Sierra Clubpointed out that because the reportfailed to meet the basic legal standardrequiring a thorough evaluation ofproject alternatives that could have

more, in extensive detail, and citingnumerous environmental impactsrequiring greater analysis of alterna-tives and ignored by the EIR. The message was clear: This projectcan’t get a Coastal DevelopmentPermit unless Morro Bay and Cayucosredo the EIR and address thoseconcerns. That delay raises thespecter of fines levied against the cityby the Regional Water Quality Control

Hate to say we told them so Here we are telling them so, at the Sept. 8, 2009, meetingof the Morrro Bay City Council and Cayucos Sanitary District, where the sewer’s “noalternative” fate was sealed despite a vocal community urging consideration of options.

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Chapter OffersHi School EcoProject Grants

fewer environmental impacts than theproposed project, it would have to goback to the drawing board. Then the hammer came down. OnNovember 12, California CoastalCommission’s Central Coast Districtoffice staff sent a 12-page letter toMorro Bay Public Services DirectorRob Livick, confirming and expandingon every one of those fatal flaws and

process and forging ahead with ahurry-up project that gave short shriftto alternatives and water re-use. How could something like thishappen? Only one reason: failure ofleadership. The elected officials ofMorro Bay and Cayucos essentiallyceded their role as decision makers.Instead of giving clear direction, theCity Council majority bowed to staff,and staff was wedded to the projectthey had proposed. Despite theurging of hundreds of citizens,environmental advocates, andcouncilmembers Betty Winholtz andNoah Smukler, over years of publicmeetings, the majority of Cayucosand Morro Bay elected officialsrefused to instruct staff to give fullconsideration to project alternatives. As a result, the environmental

Board --exactly whatMorro Bay andCayucosthought toavoid bybrushing asidepublic com-ment through-out theplanning

Feeling discouraged lately about thefuture of the planet? Few thingscan more quickly rekindle hope thana tour of the high schools in SLOcounty. Each of our seven schools has anenvironmental studies program andan Earth club, in which students areactive in projects like composting,recycling, and beach cleanups, as well

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By Jesse Arnold,County Health Com-missioner

Methyl iodide was recently approvedby the California Department ofPesticide Regulation for use as a soilfumigant on strawberry fields. Thechemical replaces methyl bromide,which is being phased out because itdestroys the ozone layer. Methyliodide doesn’t harm the ozone layer,but is more toxic than Methylbromide and pollutes groundwater. The Department of PesticideRegulations’ own scientists and anindependent Scientific Review

A StrawberryStatement

2


Change of Address?

Mail changes to:

Sierra Club National Headquarters

85 Second Street, 2nd Floor

San Francisco, CA 94105-3441

or e-mail:

[email protected]

Visit us onthe Web!

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Santa Lucian

EDITOR

Cal FrenchMelody DeMerittJack McCurdyEDITORIAL BOARD

The Santa Lucian is published 10 times ayear. Articles, environmental information andletters to the editor are welcome. Thedeadline for each issue is the 11th of theprior month.

send to:

Editor, Santa Lucianc/o Santa Lucia Chapter, Sierra ClubP.O. Box 15755San Luis Obispo, CA 93406.

[email protected]

Santa Lucia Chapter

2010 Executive CommitteeMelody DeMeritt CHAIRSteven Marx TREASURER

Cal French MEMBERGreg McMillan VICE CHAIRPat Veesart

MEMBER

Jono Kinkade

MEMBER

Liz Tracy

MEMBER

Cal French COUNCIL OF CLUB LEADERS

Committee ChairsPolitical Chuck TribbeyConservation Sue Harvey [email protected] Cal FrenchLitigation Andy Greensfelder

Nuclear Power Task Force Rochelle Becker

Other Leaders

Open Space Gary Felsman 805-473-3694Calendar Sales Bonnie Walters 805-543-7051Chapter History John Ashbaugh 805-541-6430

Activities

Outings Joe Morris [email protected]/Kayak open

Webmaster Monica Tarzier [email protected]

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

[email protected]

Andrew [email protected]

[email protected]

Printed by University Graphic Systems

Office hours Monday-Friday,12 p.m.- 5 p.m., 974 Santa RosaStreet, San Luis Obispo

The Executive Committee meetsthe third Friday of every month at2:00 p.m. at the chapter office,located at 974 Santa Rosa St.,San Luis Obispo. All membersare welcome to attend.

Coordinator Kim Ramos, Admin and Development [email protected]

Assistant Coordinators Marie Clifford - correspondence Noelle Cirisan - social networking

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

Denny MynattPRINT MEDIA COORDINATOR

General MeetingWednesday, January 26, 7 p.m.2nd Annual Environmentalists’ Rendezvous

Steynberg Gallery, 1531 Monterey St., SLO Info: 772-1875.

At our bimonthly general meeting, we’ll find out whatthe major environmental groups in SLO county are upto and their plans for the new year. Here’s a uniqueopportunity to hear from seven key players at one timeand in one place. The public forum will feature stafffrom: the Alliance for Nuclear Responsibility, MorroCoast Audubon, ECOSLO, Green Build, Land Conser-vancy, Surfrider, SWAP, Transition Towns, and our SierraClub chapter. Each will describe their premier projects and take time forquestions. Last year’s event was SRO, so come early for a seat! Free.

Our thanks to Boeing SSED for its generous donation to the Chapter inmemory of Connie Snapp.

Meet our 2011 Executive Committee

Last June, many residents of AvilaBeach objected to the licensegranted to a local concessionaire toadd a high-speed tour boat operationto his jet ski rental operation -- bothlicensed without environmentalreview or a Coastal DevelopmentPermit. They petitioned their government-- Port San Luis Harbor District-- forredress of grievances. They got thebrush-off.

The Sierra Club stepped in andappealed the action of the HarborDistrict board to the CaliforniaCoastal Commission (see “The Buzzin the Bay,” Jul./Aug. 2010), notingthe lack of a Coastal DevelopmentPermit. On December 13, Coastal Commis-sion staff concluded their analysis ofthe issue, informing Port San Luis

Our thanks to Peter Kinkade for his generous donation to the Chapter inmemory of Anne McMahon.

In Memoriam

The Law Comes to AvilaPort San Luis Harbor Commissioners upset to find Coastal Act applies to them

The votes are in for the election of the Santa Lucia Chapter’s 2011 ExecutiveCommitee, and officers have been selected:

Melody DeMeritt, Chair - term ending Dec. 2011Greg McMillan, VIce Chair - term ending Dec. 2014Steven Marx, Treasurer - term ending Dec. 2011Pat Veesart - term ending Dec. 2014Jono Kincade - through Dec. 2012Liz Tracy - term ending Dec. 2012Cal French- term ending Dec. 2011

The chapter has term limits of two consecutive terms. Best wishes to departing ExCom members Linda Seeley, taking care of herfamily, and to Megan Worthington, going on to the Peace Corps.

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Caro

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Ghost NetsNever underestimate the power of a bad idea

Jaso

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an

Don’t Miss Brock Dolman onSaving Water, January 14

Price Canyon’s Water BoyIs Pismo Beach a city in the employ of developers?

Drift nets, now banned in many partsof the ocean, may be the worst thingwe ever put in the sea. Miles long andhorribly destructive when theyfunction the way they are supposedto, they are prone to breaking loose instorms, but still go on doing theirjobs. The virtually indestructiblefilaments float on, just below thesurface, catching and killing every-thing that swims, and many thingsthat fly, until, weighted down bybodies, they sink to the bottom. Therethe bodies rot, and the ghost netfloats back up the water column. Thecycle repeats, ad infinitum. A bad idea follows much the samepattern. On page 10 of this issue, we print aletter we received from a gentlemanwho wished to dispute with us thenotion that reducing carbon emis-sions and encouraging the growth ofrenewable energy and green jobs is agood thing. His letter arrived as partof a compiled package, which in-cluded a Wall Street Journal editorialand the text of an anti-environmentalspeech delivered to The Common-wealth Club by Michael Crichton in2003. The late Mr. Crichton, the superstarof the global warming denial move-ment, believed that environmentalismis a religion, the province of romanticfools, and, thus defined, easily dis-missed as the irrational worship offalse gods. Our correspondent proudly pre-sented this rhetorical framing anddismissal as a way of helpfullypointing out that we are wrong andthat he, Michael Crichton, and theWall Street Journal are right. The environmentalism-is-a-religionidea is not new. But in its currentincarnation, floating up to the surfaceof public discourse as a cherishedrhetorical weapon of the reactionaryright, it got a big boost from a singleevent.

In 1994, environmental historianWilliam Cronon wrote an essayentitled “The Trouble with Wilder-ness.” The essay was an abstract,historical meditation on ideas aboutwilderness, proclaiming that wilder-ness is merely a cultural construct, aconsequence of a Western tendency toromanticize nature, a dangerousillusion. (“The romantic legacy meansthat wilderness is more a state ofmind than a fact of nature.”) ForCronon, this idea of wildernessfostered a sense of otherness, whichwas bad, because “The tree in thegarden is in reality no less other, noless worthy of our wonder andrespect, than the tree in an ancientforest that has never known an ax or asaw.” In Cronon’s view, excessiverespect for wilderness and biodiversitydepletes a finite store of humanrespect and wonder. “Indeed,” he

wrote, “my principal objection towilderness is that it may teach us tobe dismissive or even contemptuousof. . . humble places and experiences.” As part of the storm of response toCronon’s fatal notion of recastingwilderness as the way we feel aboutwilderness and not an objective realityin its own right — and claim that a1,000-year-old redwood is the samething as the sapling you broughthome from the nursery last week, and“otherness” is sufficient to defineeverything that is not you — philoso-pher and former park ranger PhilipCafaro replied: “I am fairly sure that Ihave different responsibilities towardwomen and trees, even though theyare both other than me. I may not saw

off women at the knees to build ahouse, and any convincing explana-tion of why I may not do so will referto what women are and will not referto the sense of wonder they evoke inme.” Also prominent among those whopointed out the weapons and ammu-nition Cronon and like-mindedacademic colleagues were placing intothe hands of the narrow economicspecial interests who have beenimplacable environmental foes waslong-time activist Dave Foreman. “Many of the wilderness decon-structionists claim they do not wantto harm protection of the land withtheir fault-finding of the wildernessidea,” he wrote. “What, then, do wemake of their criticism? In this light,their complaints come from a lack ofknowledge about biology, a misunder-standing of the conservation move-ment, and carelessness about theconsequences of their undercutting ofwilderness. “Wilderness does not say thathumans exist apart from Nature.Wilderness says that Nature can existapart from humans. These are very

So... had any good rain, lately? The Appropriate Technology Coalition -- SLO GreenBuild, Surfrider and Sierra Club -- is having a LID (lowimpact development) event at the Morro Bay VeteransHall, 209 Surf Street, at 5:30 p.m. Friday, January14th. LID is all about keeping rain in the ground,insteading of taking the form of run-off and floods. We are expecting a great turnout, as Brock Dolman willbe making a rare return appearance to the Central Coast. Dolman is a nationally recognized permaculture educatorand director of the WATER Institute. He writes: “Water-sheds underlie all human endeavors and form the founda-tion for all future aspirations and survival…. Watershedsshould embody the geographic scale of appliedsustainability, which must be regenerative because wedesperately are in need of making up for lost time.” Our new LID manual will be available to attendees,along with music, food, beer, wine and good dialog. It’s allabout having fun while getting work done. 5:30-9 Vets Hall Morro Bay5:30-6:30 Networking, Music, Food6:30-7:00 SLO County Green Building Ordinance7:15-8:30 Brock Dolman presentation

8:30-9 Questions

For information, call 286-0072.

On November 16, a month after the Local AgencyFormation Commission turned thumbs down on theinadequate Environmental Impact Report for the massivePrice Canyon development – a proposed 700 homes on1,700 acres in search of a water source and annexation tothe city of Pismo Beach – the project inched forwardwhen the Pismo city council resolved to help developerssecure water resources in order to annex their project tothe city. All present at the meeting were aware that the resolu-tion had been tailored for John King and Rick Loughead,the Price Canyon developers. Local resident Sheila Blake asked the Council, “If theytell you they’re in need of financing, will you drive themto the nearest bank?” Awaiting the end of the public comment period so as toensure he got the last word, King walked to the podium

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and disputed a previous comment that the developers hadrequested passage of the City resolution giving city staffthe job of helping private developers win annexation. “Wedid not ask for this,” King said. A bemused councilman Ted Ehring read from a letterreceived from King’s development group asking for theCity’s assistance in annexation. King replied that the City had asked that the letter fromhis group requesting assistance be sent. In other words,the letter from King asking for city assistance was in-cluded in the city council’s packet as part of the adminis-trative record, but the letter (phone call? e-mail? carrierpigeon note?) from City staff to King asking him to askthe City for that assistance was not in evidence. Mayor Mary Ann Reiss quickly said “thank you” and

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ECOSLO hosted EcoSummit 2010 –the annual convocation of localenvironmental activists – at theSenior Center in SLO’s Mitchell Parkon December 4. Bill Denneen enlivened the proceed-ings with his annual distribution ofthe Bill Denneen Foundation Envi-ronmental Award, presented toCoastWalk’s Nancy Graves, organicfood activist Jesse Arnold, and localpoet Rosemary Wilvert. Three panels presented case studieson the theme of “What’s worked, whathasn’t, and what is yet to be done?”Panelists included long-time partici-pants in the long-term battles to limitthe spreading of sewage sludge onagricultural and open space lands,halt the devastating impacts wroughton the marine environment by theMorro Bay power plant, and expandthe boundary of the Monterey BayNational Marine Sanctuary to includethe coastal waters of San Luis ObispoCounty. A fourth and final panel waspresented by the student leaders ofthe Empower Poly Coalition(empowerpoly.calpoly.edu), who gavea presentation on the programs their600 members are participating in,

as going on hikes and camping trips. Atascadero High carriesthis involvement a step further withan environmental academy, a “schoolwithin a school.” Now in its secondyear, the sequence features its own setof teachers and earth-themed courses. Last fall, the Chapter began visitingthese programs and providing guestlectures. The goal is to serve as aresource for encouraging these youngand often highly enthusedenvironmentalists. The teachers tellus that a pressing need is finding seedmoney to undertake environmentalprojects. Usually the amount requiredis small, e.g., for a compostingcontainer or plants in an organicgarden. The Santa Lucia Chapter to therescue! This month, we are inaugu-rating a mini-grant program, inwhich secondary schools can applyfor funding up to a maximum of $300for new environmental projects. The application is deliberatelysimple. The sponsoring teacher fillsout a one-page application, detailingthe activity, expenses, its benefits tothe environment, and the kind ofstudent involvement. In May, students and faculty willreport on their high school’s environ-mental programs at our bimonthlymeeting, under the agendaitem ”Local Youth Working to Healthe Planet.” Information about the mini-grantshas been sent to all of public highschools in the county. Completedapplications are due by February 11th. Monetary contributions for thisprogram -- make check payable toThe Sierra Club Foundation, with“SLO Conservation Fund” in thememo section -- are highly welcomeand are tax-deductible. For furtherinformation, contact Joe Morris at772-1875.

Mini-grantscontinued from page 1

The bad idea of allowing developers tobuild on top of coastal bluffs contin-ues to spawn an even worse idea:armoring the coastline to combat theinevitable erosion of those bluffs bywaves and the toppling of thosestructures into the sea. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineersplans to increase California’s supply ofarmored coast by adding 1,490 feet ofrock revetment sea walls to the bluffsat Pismo Beach and a 20-foot sea wallextension off Ocean Boulevard. In its Environmental Assessment ofthe project’s environmental impacts,the Corps has ignored one of thefundamental facts of coastalarmoring: namely that in seeking to

– over ten years each, andongoing – and the com-plexity of the issues. David Broadwater andEric Greening led thepanel on sludge regula-tion and the notable rolethe concerted oppositionof local citizens hasplayed in sparing San

including the Real FoodCollaborative, EngineersWithout Borders, Be theChange, Green Gravity,and the Green InitiativeFund. The three case studieswere chosen for theextraordinary length ofthe environmental battles

Passing the Torch: a New Year’s ResolutionBy Eric Greening

Many of our environmental organizations are populatedmainly by people whose hair (if present) has gone gray. Afrequently heard refrain is: “Why aren’t the young peoplejoining us?” I submit that a more productive approach is to ask: “Whatare the young people doing, and how can we help?” And the young people are doing. Cuesta College Grassrootsis starting an on-campus organic garden; the Empower PolyCoalition includes groups doing everything from solarcooking to providing clean water through appropriatetechnology. Even at the High School level, there is aferment expressed not only in school-sponsored programslike the Atascadero Greenhounds, but by initiatives that arisespontaneously from among the students themselves, such asthe anti-shark-finning group at Paso Robles High School.

Many of these initiatives are tied, loosely or otherwise,to educational institutions, but perhaps the mostvaluable opportunities for mentoring can be createdwithin the wider community, in which communitymembers don’t presume to be formal “educators,” butact authentically in their community-member role. Atthe recent EcoSummit, sponsored by ECOSLO (seeabove), a refrain heard again and again from theyounger participants was a request for mentoring by theelders; for the sharing of time, knowledge, and involve-ment; for community-building that spans generations. I am convinced that these responsibilities can’t simplybe left to institutions of formal education. I have seenhow faculty dedication to defined “outcomes” sullieseven those occasions to which the community is

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EcoSummit 2010

that the operator they had licensed, and all future such operations, needs toapply for a Coastal Development Permit. At the relicensing hearing the next day, Harbor commissioners attempted tocharacterize Coastal Commission staff’s action, six months after we filed theappeal, as “sudden” and “informal,” saying that Coastal staff may have been“operating without full information and the facts,” and that their very cleardirective somehow needed clarification. Harbor commissioners proceeded to argue with audience members overconflicting opinions of the potential environmental impacts of various types ofboating recreation and variously implied that they knew better than the stateagency charged with interpreting and administering the California Coastal Actfor the last 35 years. One commissioner asserted “there’s no law” that regulates the use of high-speed watercraft in environmentally sensitive habitat areas such as kelp beds. We are pleased that we were able to introduce the Port San Luis HarborDistrict to the California Coastal Act and the County’s Local Coastal Plan. ThePort must now change the way it does business. We trust the harbor boardcommissioners will conclude their display of chest-thumping ASAP, take theCoastal Commission’s advice, and bring their operations within the law thatdoes, indeed, regulate the very thing for which the Port is issuing licenses.

Residents of Avila Beach – and all those who value Avila Bay’s irreplaceablecoastal resources — need to show up and speak up in support of a CoastalDevelopment Permit at the rescheduled Wavejammer relicensing hearing inAvila Beach, 6 p.m., Tuesday, January 25, Coastal Gateway Bldg., 3900 AvilaBeach Drive (confirm meeting date and time before you go atwww.portsanluis.com).

TAKE ACTION

The Armored Coast

Avilacontinued from page 2

curb erosion at a specific site, itaggravates erosion on adjacentunarmored coastal areas. The EAconcludes that the project will haveinsignificant impacts because itsassessment is largely limited toconstruction and environmentalconsequences only at the specificproject sites. The “project alternatives” listed inthe draft EA are simply a descriptionof the various options for hardarmoring the Corps has determinedto use at the various project sites,rather than alternatives to thearmoring of more of California’scoast. It does not state why the Corpsis not considering “soft protection”

(nourishment, vegetation, drainagecontrols), or use of the least damag-ing feasible alternative for hardprotection. As the EA does not evenacknowledge the significant, long-term and cumulative environmentalimpacts of coastal armoring, theimpact mitigations proposed do notaddress those impacts. The on-line document “MontereyBay National Marine Sanctuary:Resource Management Issues”identifies and details many of the site-specific and cumulative geological,biological, and recreational impacts ofcoastal armoring/sea walls that the EAshould have analyzed. Of particularnote in this document is its citationto the fact that the U.S. Army Corps ofEngineers acknowledged in 1995 that“armoring structures can encroachinto the intertidal, or disturb impor-tant buffer areas such as marshhabitat between the marine andterrestrial environments, whichnaturally mitigate erosion, and playan important role in flushing ofcertain contaminants.” The Corps’ Pismo project is beingundertaken because Pismo Beach hasdeemed it prohibitively expensive tomove the threatened bluff-topstructures – pump stations – inland.It will eventually have to do thatanyway, at a future, inevitably greater,expense. Nature bats last. The California Coastal Commissionhas tentatively scheduled a publichearing on the project at its February9-11 meeting in San Diego. Con-cerned residents are urged to checkthe Commission’s website(www.coastal.ca.gov) for the exactdate of the hearing.

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review that was supposed to secure adevelopment permit for a new waste-water treatment plant for Morro Bayand Cayucos went off the rails. AllSmukler and Winholtz could do asthe fait accompli rolled forward wasprotest what was happening, at thelosing end of a lot of 3-to-2 votes. In 2009, almost exactly the samething happened to the Los Osos sewer,when County staff were in our-way-or-the-highway mode. At the April 8,2010, joint meeting of the Morro BayCity Council and Cayucos SanitaryDistrict, the Sierra Club’s ChapterDirector foretold what was about tohappen seven months later, readinginto the record excerpts from twocautionary letters sent to the CountyPublic Works department by CoastalCommission staff as the Los Osos

We’ve Seen This Movie Before

“It seems clear that if the project is a tertiary project, many of the effluent disposal options will be completelydifferent from those that have been evaluated, and could significantly change the scope of the project, includingthe availability of effluent for a range of beneficial uses (including, but not limited to, injection wells, urban/agriculture exchange or “purple pipe” programs, etc.). ... “It also addresses necessary and appropriate mitigation necessary for adverse projects impacts because thetertiary treated wastewater will then be available and can then be used for other beneficial uses (i.e., groundwa-ter augmentation, irrigation, habitat enhancement, etc.). ... In this regard, it is incumbent on the County to thor-oughly evaluate and explain the various options and implications so that fully informed and best land use deci-sions can be made. ... “There is little doubt that tertiary treatment can…assist in addressing community water supply problems,which…should be part of a broader discussion of the community needs and benefits derived from a project thatincludes tertiary treatment. This is particularly appropriate given that the project represents a significant publicinfrastructure investment which is capable, if properly conceived, designed and carried out, of achieving multiplepublic and community benefits. ... “…We are concerned about and strongly urge the County to build into the project sensible and doable wastewa-ter reuse and disposal components.… We strongly encourage design of a project that returns flows to the basinat project start up, particularly because if appears that multiple discharge options exist over the basin. As previ-ously indicated, one of those feasible options is agricultural re-use, which has the added benefit of reducedpumping from the aquifer. Other feasible options include urban irrigation, residential re-use (purple pipe), con-structed wetlands, disbursed leach fields and on-basin spray fields. ... “The County’s LCP policies call for balancing of groundwater basins and protection of watersheds. A project thatdoes not fully return tertiary treated effluent to the basin would be inconsistent with applicable LCP policies.”

sewer project’s environmental reviewwas nearing completion (see below). On October 7, PERC Water, whichcarried the one glimmer of analternative grudgingly allowed intothe process, threw in the towel,notifying Morro Bay’s city managerthat due to “the lack of cooperation ofCity staff” and the fact that “thecurrent draft EIR does not contem-plate the PERC Water solution, at thedirection of our attorneys we will nolonger continue our efforts on thewastewater project.” On December 20, the Morro BayCity Planning Commission unani-mously voted to reject the EIR andrequested that the City Council directstaff to accommodate water reclama-tion and prepare a screening ofpotential alternative sites. In 2009, the County took heed ofthe Coastal Commission’s warnings intime to get an approved EIR and

Coastal Development Permit for theLos Osos sewer. Not so, Morro Bay. The City Council majority respon-sible for this debacle wholeheartedlybacked Bill Yates for Mayor andGeorge Leage and Nancy Johnson forCity Council, who in turn whole-heartedly backed the “no alternative”sewer plan at JPA meetings andcandidate forums. Morro Bay needs a city council thatunderstands that elected officials aresupposed to provide the vision andleadership needed to meet thechallenges a community faces, and tohear and convey the will of thepeople, even when that means saying“no” to staff. We will now find out if the folks whoare now in charge have learned thatlesson.

Two Sewerscontinued from page 1

Following are excerpts from two letters sent by California Coastal Commission staff to the SLO County Public WorksDepartment -- dated March 25 and July 19, 2009 -- regarding the Los Osos Wastewater Project. Sierra Club Santa LuciaChapter Director Andrew Christie read these exerpts into the record of the April 8, 2010, joint meeting of the Morro BayCity Council and Cayucos Sanitary District as a comment on the progress of the Morro Bay-Cayucos wastewater treat-ment plant project.

Christie concluded his testimony with the observation: “We do not think that when this project is before them, theCoastal Commission is going to say something totally different from what they just said about the wastewater treatmentproject right down there, and decide that none of this applies to the wastewater treatment project right here. Most likely,they will require very much the same as what I just read; unless, of course, you make water reclamation and re-use partof the project before you get to the end of this process and go before the Commission to see if you can get your permitapproved.” Subsequently, Morro Bay and Cayucos produced an Environmental Impact Report that ignored all of the above,immediately prompting a letter from Coastal Commission staff telling them to do it over again and do it right.

different things.... Let’s be very clear:this human/Nature question is not adeconstructionist toy with which toplay in the coffeehouse or academiclounge; it is a matter of life and deathsince those who are trying to squeezemore dollars out of Nature have longargued that because humans are partof Nature, everything we do is naturalso, why worry?” Cronon later wrote a quasi-apology,saying that his essay “was written inthe summer of 1994, before theNovember 1994 elections gave us themost anti-environmental Congress inAmerican history. Read after theelection, this essay may seem stillmore dangerous and provocative,perhaps even appearing to offer aidand comfort to hostile forces thatwould gladly roll back all the progressthat has been made in preservingwilderness and protecting theenvironment over the past thirty ormore years. I would feel deep regretwere my words to be used towardsuch an end.” Unnoted by Cronon (who, after hisexpression of theoretical regret,promptly blamed environmentalistsfor “the political backlash we are nowexperiencing”), his words immediatelywere -- and still are -- used to pre-cisely that end. Before the ink was dryon his text, anti-environmentallegislators were using it to attack androll back wilderness designations.“Pro-wilderness” meant anti-human,fuzzy-headed, romantic and impracti-cal, a perpetuation of the idea thatman exists apart from nature. After being thoroughly dismantledand discredited by his colleagues andlongtime environmental activists whopointed out that Cronon’s picturebore no resemblance to their dailyreality, Cronon’s anti-wilderness ideawould, one might think, sink belowthe waves and disappear. Instead, ithas been popping up regularly inmagazine articles, essays and politicalspeeches. Seven years after Cronon’sbad idea was injected into the publicdiscourse, Michael Crichton seized onit as a tool wielded in service to globalwarming denial in his Commonwealth

Ghost Netscontinued from page 3

dismissed King from the podiumbefore he could go into any moredetail that might further illuminatethe eagerness of City staff to carrywater, so to speak, for private develop-ers, despite staff’s efforts to avoid theappearance of doing so. The exchange made the front pageof The Tribune’s November 20 edition,but not in its full no-we-didn’t/yes-you-did/okay-but-only-after-you-told-us-to glory. The delicate who-asked-who minuetopened a window on the closeness ofthe relationship of Pismo Beach todevelopers, which could be summedup as “please ask us to help you dothis so it doesn’t look like it was ouridea.” Though it might seem thattheir relationship could hardly bemore intimate, it will now be evencloser. At the meeting, the Sierra Clubpointed out that voting for the City toextend an obviously eager helpinghand to developers desiring annex-ation raised the issue of recusal froma future vote. We asked if any councilmember who voted to approve thisresolution would subsequently need

to recuse him or herself from votingon annexation, having alreadydirected City staff to act essentially asmembers of the applicants’ team -- anaction that could be seen as tele-graphing their vote on annexation. Staff and the Council clung to thenotion that they would not be directlyparticipating in negotiations to obtainwater for the developer. At the behestof Councilman Ed Waage, the word“assist” was changed to “participate”

in the third paragraph of the resolu-tion, “so we look more neutral.” But the title remained: A ResolutionEstablishing a Policy that AuthorizesCity Staff to Assist in Water ResourceAcquisition for Properties Wishing toAnnex to the City of Pismo Beach. The council voted unanimously topass the resolution. The issue of recusal when theannexation vote comes before thecouncil should be interesting.

Pismo Water Boycontinued from page 3

continued on page 7

Glub glub Pismo in the tank.

6


By popular acclaim of attendees, our 2010 fundraiser was one ofthe best events the Santa Lucia Chapter has ever held. Those who thronged the King David Masonic Temple in SanLuis Obispo on December 5 had the usual initial reaction ofanyone entering the unprepossessing building on Marsh Streetand beholding the richly furnished interior of one of the oldesthistoric locations in SLO (“Wow!”). Throughout the day, they ventured into the hall’s recesses andinto the audience for local authors who gave fifteen five-minutereadings from their works and donated signed copies for sale,including several award-winners and best sellers:

· Sylvia Alcon, from Poems for Endangered Places· Odile Ayral, from To Speak, To Tell You· Phyllis Davies, from Grief: Climb Toward Understanding· Ken Haggard, from Fractal Architecture· Paula Huston, from The Holy Way· Starr Jenkins, from More than My Share· Vicki Leon, from How to Mellify a Corpse· Martin Luschei, from The Black Hills and the Indians: A Haven of Our Hopes· Steven Marx, from Cal Poly Land: A Field Guide· Karen Merriam, from Searching for Connection· Jack Morrow, from The Consortium· Bob Pavlik, from Norman Clyde: Legendary Mountaineer· Matt Ritter, from Plants of San Luis Obispo, Their Lives and Stories· David Weisman, from The Texas Legacy Project· Marion Wolff, from Shedding Skins

In between,guests wentshopping,browsingamong 90unique silentauction items,includingoriginal crafts,

Many thanks toour providers of

fine food and drink

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Skipping Stone Productions of Paso Robles, and fair tradechocolates by Sweet Earth Chocolates -- followed bygourmet organic, vegan cuisine catered by Vraja’s Kitchenof downtown SLO... all the while serenaded by the country-bluegrass stylings of the Cornshuckers.

“It was a memorable afternoon with fellow Sierra Clubmembers and chapter leaders,” said Steven Marx, ChapterTreasurer and one of the event’s lead organizers. “I’m veryglad we all got the chance to experience a wonderful day ofexploration of the interconnections among nature, the arts,spirituality, health, and activism. “I’m also glad our supporters came together to providethe essential financial support to keep your local Chapterafloat during hard times for all non-profits.”

Skipping StoneProductions

Silent auction coordinator Liz Tracy assists bidders.

Top: Odile Ayralreads from ToSpeak, To Tell you.Right: Sierra Clubvolunteers man thewine tasting table.

Linnea Phillips exits a reading with Vicki Leon (left) and Slyvia Alcon.

artwork, wine tastings, resortstays in cabins in Yosemiteand British Columbia, andmuch more. They availedthemselves of the winetasting opportunities pro-vided by several of San LuisObispo’s most prestigiouswineries, augmented withbread, cheese and chocolate --artisan breads donated by

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Club broadside against environmen-talists and the environmental move-ment. And seven years after that, ourcorrespondent sent us Crichton’sspeech in support of the effort tooverturn California’s landmark cleanair and clean energy law. Crichton’s Commonwealth Clubspeech enlisted many other specificbad ideas in the cause of pointing outhow wrongenvironmental-ists are. Amongthem: the banon DDT causedmillions ofmalaria deathsin the ThirdWorld (wrong:DDT wasbanned in theU.S., not theThird World,where itsdecliningefficacy is aresult of itsoveruse inagriculture);and, of course,global warming

Ghost Netscontinued from page 5

is a natural event, no big deal, and/ornot really happening, because the icein the Antarctic is growing thicker.(Wrong: warmer atmospherictemperatures are replacing Antarcticsnowfall with increased rainfall). But always central to Crichton’sattack was the idea of environmental-ism as religion, and environmentalistsas dangerously irrational romantics.

Because it isuseful when de-ployed in thismanner, Bill Cro-non’s bad idea willbe with us for sometime to come. Tothe extent that wewill have time inwhich to entertainbad ideas -- that isto say, if our time isnot running out --it will be thanks toall those dangerousromantics whohave fought topreserve thenatural world,which is all thatsustains us.

“this county has refused repeatedly tolook at alternatives.” Jack McCurdy, a retired PulitzerPrize winning reporter who foundedthe Citizens Alliance on Plant Expan-sion (CAPE), anchored the panel onthe Morro Bay power plant. CAPE co-founder Dave Nelson summed up therationale for spendinga decade fighting thedamage done by theMorro Bay power plantby observing “Savingan estuary? If I donothing else in my life,I’m good.” Local environmentalattorney Babak Naficy,CAPE’s lawyerthroughout the longfight with DukeEnergy, the plant’soriginal owner,observed, “it’s like awar: you’re going towin some battles and

lose some battles,and you can’t knowthe outcome untilthe end. Sometimesyou win becauseyou’re the last onestanding. Dukefolded like a cheapumbrella.” The panel on the ongoing effort toinclude the waters of SLO County in aNational Marine Sanctuary had thelongest pedigree, and included KarlKempton, the former county plannerwho was charged with drafting the1990 document — a 500-page treatise— submitted to the National Oceanicand Atmospheric Administration

nominating the waters of SLO forSanctuary status. Former ECOSLOExecutive Director Pam Heather-ington recounted her organization’sefforts to revive that effort in thecentury; Sierra Club Chapter DirectorAndrew Christie picked up the sagawith the Sierra Club’s work onsanctuary expansion from 2004-2009,and Surfrider’s Carol Georgi con-cluded with the current work beingdone by the Marine SanctuaryAlliance, founded by the local chap-ters of Surfrider and the Sierra Club. Empower Poly co-founder EricVeium, one of the climate activistswho attended the 2009 climatechange summit in Copenhagen anddeeply felt the failure of those talks,urged the importance of making thecase for the cost of inaction, andnoted the importance of “making ourmessage relevant to people who wantdifferent things than we do.” It was clear by the end of the daythat discouragement comes with theterritory, and victories are few andtend to be temporary. CAPE’sMonique Nelson said that if you’regoing to be an activist, “you have toleap before you look, because if youlooked at the situation you’re gettinginto, you’d get so discouraged you’dnever do it.” Moderator Sue Harvey, president ofNorth County Watch, concluded theprogram by quoting Warren Buffett’sgranddaughter: “sometimes all youcan do is show up, do your best, andtell the truth.” “And some days that’s enough,” sheadded.

invited. I was serving on the commit-tee tasked with advising on thecreation of the Land Use and Circula-tion Element for the El PomarEstrella planning area in the NorthCounty when a faculty memberbrought her students to share theirplans for new towns with the commu-nity. The encounter was tense and almostcombative. The community had notindicated a preference for new towns,and the students acted as if they hadall the answers for a community theyhad not previously consulted for itsthoughts. When I asked the professor why shecouldn’t have brought the students atan earlier stage, simply to listen, sheasserted that she didn’t want thestudents to experience the vulnerabil-ity of appearing unprepared. Herdefinition of “prepared” was perceivedby the community as arrogance; theevening was marked by deepeningmisunderstanding as the students,when challenged, reacted withdefensiveness and quick comebacks,while the community felt this was anattempt to put something over onthem. Another professor often bringsstudents to share transportation andplanning ideas in community set-tings. The students are very well-grounded in their subject matter, buttheir opportunity to learn from thecommunity is forfeited by theprofessor’s insistence on drafting thecommunity members as quasi-faculty,tasked with issuing number grades tothe student presenters. Time thatcould be spent in authentic conversa-tion is wasted in tortured explana-tions of this grading system. I havealways refused to issue these snapjudgments. The advantage of goingto the community is to see how theyauthentically react to these proposals;

when those students go on to careersin the field, they will be presenting toneighborhood meetings, and therethey won’t be graded. They will fieldquestions and hear authentic reac-tions. Why can’t the community beinvited to do what it does naturally? I believe the best way to seekopportunities to mentor is to findyouth-led efforts and humbly ask if wecan be of assistance. Not to take over,not to judge or grade, but to assist. An excellent opportunity for thecommunity-building in which theserelationships can be created is the“Green Gravity” gathering(greengravity [email protected])that happens at Sustenance CookingStudio about four times a year. It isprimarily organized by young peoplein the Empower Poly Coalition, andconsists of the sharing of a meal,presentations by people of all ages,and music and dancing at the end. The subtitle of “Green Gravity” is “Atime to pull together!” The atmo-sphere at these gatherings is convivialand non-ageist. People minglenaturally and truly hear each other.(Another such event will be happen-ing in February; contact Sustenancefor the date.) It is a good startingpoint for those who don’t see otheravenues for creating intergenerationalcommunity. But those avenues arethere, and we should all remain opento seeing the ones that presentthemselves to us. Ageism is as corrosive to a healthycommunity as racism, sexism, andhomophobia. Let us all resolve, in thisnew year, to combat all attitudes thatstand in the way of buildingcommunity, and especially to focus onbuilding bridges with those who willlive the longest into a future thatlooks scary to all of us, but in whichthere is room for hope—if, and onlyif, we all pull together.

EcoSummitcontinued from page 4

Passing the Torchcontinued from page 4

LameDuckOrdersMidnightSpecial

Blink and you missed it Arnie and Reiss.

When Supervisor Katcho Achadjianwent to Sacramento to join the StateAssembly, he gave up his seat on theCalifornia Coastal Commission, muchto the relief of the California coast. After all newly elected officials inSan Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara andVentura were seated, Governor Brownwould then have called for a list ofnominees from the three counties inorder to appoint a local elected officialto serve as the new Central Coastcoastal commissioner, in a transpar-ent public process. Instead, before the election,Governor Schwarzenneger called forthe list in a highly opaque process


Luis Obispo County the fate ofmunicipalities that have allowed thevirtually unregulated importation anddisposal of highly toxic sewage sludge,trucked in from around the state. Broadwater, the founder of theCenter for Sludge Information, saidthat in the struggle to create apermanent ordinance to regulate theland application of sewage sludge,

8


The shift to renewable energy, fromall sources, incuding utility-scalesolar power plants, is imperative if lifeas we know it is to survive on thisplanet. We need a whole lot of wind,solar, geothermal energy, and effi-ciency and conservation (“nega-watts”). That said, two other things need tobe said. First, this need has notchanged the fact that there are betterand worse places to put large renew-able energy facilities, and a majorcriterion in ranking those places isthe presence of endangered species onthe proposed project site. Second,“distributed generation” – aka urbansolar, aka rooftop solar – is not aboutique energy source, or inad-equate to the purpose of generatingsolar power on a large scale. That doesn’t mean we need to formup into opposing camps of who thinksutility-scale solar power plants cangenerate the renewable energy weneed, or whether rooftop solar cangenerate all the renewable power weneed. That is not what this is about.

The County Planning Commission will potenitally decidewhether to issue permits for both projects on Thursday,January 27. Check www.slocounty.ca.gov/planning.htm foragenda and time. Please attend and support the concernsexpressed below by environmental groups and the CaliforniaDepartment of Fish and Game.

This is about two specific projectsapplying to the County for permits;proposed for specific sites, to generate250 MW and 550 MW of solar power,respectively. And the question beforethe county, as the permitting author-ity, is “Are there feasible alternativesto this project that could meet theessential project objective — thegeneration of solar power at thepreferred level — and do so withsignificantly less environmentalimpacts than the proposed project?” If there are such alternatives –alternative sites, alternative technolo-gies, or both — the law requires thatthe County select those alternatives. One problem with the discussion ofalternatives is the problem of old data.In the solar industry, data gets oldfaster than it does in any other field.“Old data” means 18 months and less.Figures from 2009 on relative pricesof solar technology in various config-urations are now out of date. In 2010,the price of solar power per watt fellto a level competitive with fossil fuelsources, and rooftop solar is now

competitive with the price of utilityscale solar. As a result, many utility vs. rooftoparguments from 2009 are now inop-erative. The single greatest concern theprojects pose are their unmitigatableimpacts on threatened and endan-gered species. When we talk about endangeredspecies and the Endangered SpeciesList, we’re talking about the bluewhale, the snow leopard, the moun-tain gorilla, the chimpanzees ofGombe, he San Joaquin kit fox, andgiant kangaroo fox -- all on the samelist, for the same reason. They are allof equal importance, and they are allfacing the same problem: loss ofhabitat. State resource agencies andconservation groups have devoted

millions of dollars and thousands ofman hours to protecting, conservingand reestablishing the threatened andendangered species of the Carrizo; anumber of which live in the CarrizoPlain and San Joaquin Valley andnowhere else on Earth. If we losethem here, they’re gone from theplanet, forever. That’s why the Sierra Club, NaturalResources Defense Council, Defendersof Wildlife, The Audubon Society, TheNature Conservancy, Center forBiological Diversity, North CountyWatch, the California Department ofFish and Game and others are urgingthe County to think long and hardbefore permitting a project thatpromises mitigation measures for itsimpacts never attempted on such amassive scale.

A Chorus ofConcern

Audubon SocietyWhile Audubon California supportsrenewable energy to reduce theimpacts of climate change, weadvocate for avoidance of habitatdisturbance over mitigation. We areespecially concerned aboutthe inadequate level of effort in theDEIR on the many species of birds inthe project vicinity.... The science isinsufficient to know with a reasonabledegree of certainty whether a mobilespecies, such as the Kit Fox orPronghorn Antelope, will utilize thecorridors between solar arrays, orwhether foxes will pass through thefencing and use the solar array areasthemselves.

Center for Biological DiversityIt is hard to imagine a proposedproject site with more endangeredand imperiled species on site than theproject described in the EIR. Theproposed project will result insignificant unmitigable impacts tobiological resources both on theproposed project site and cumula-tively for the region.... The DEIR failsto consider potential alternatives thatwould protect the most sensitivelands from future development.Alternative siting such as theWestlands Solar Park, which is onabandoned agricultural fields, andalternative technologies (includingdistributed PV on commercialrooftops and near existing substa-tions) should have been fully consid-ered in the DEIR, because thesealternatives would eliminate theimpacts to species, soils, and waterresources in the California Valley,

Sunlight and Shadow

Proposed Carrizo solar power plant proposals to be heard Jan. 27

Comments on the Draft Environmen-tal Impact Report for the CaliforniaValley Solar Ranch project

Full text at www.slocounty.ca.gov/planning/environmental/Environmental Notices/

sunpower/publicresponse.htm

which is part of the larger CarrizoPlain.... As the Center has emphasizedin our comments on the various largescale industrial solar proposals in theCalifornia desert, planning should bedone before site specific projects areapproved in order to ensure thatresources are adequately protectedfrom sprawl development and projectimpacts are avoided, minimized andmitigated.

Defenders of WildlifeDespite Project improvements, theDEIR has multiple flaws. It fails toanalyze a reasonable range of alterna-tives, narrowly defining the project’sobjectives in such a way as to pre-clude assessment of many viablealternatives on private and publicdegraded land. In addition, the DEIRdoes not adequately address thesignificant loss of habitat and cumula-tively significant impacts of a projectthat spans more than 2,000 acres ofrelatively undisturbed grassland....The Westlands CREZ Alternative isfeasible based on a CEQA feasibilityanalysis. It is capable of beingaccomplished in a successful mannerwithin a reasonable period of time,taking into account economic,environmental, legal, social, andtechnological factors.... It should beconsidered for adoption due to theinability to mitigate impacts to SanJoaquin kit fox and giant kangaroo raton the proposed project site.

North County WatchAlthough the large scale industrialsolar project that is the subject of thisEIR is located outside the CarrizoPlain National Monument on adjacentprivate lands, its development andoperation will necessarily havesignificant, irreversible, individualand cumulative adverse spillovereffects on vital public values of theMonument.… The significant adverseeffects on the essential, intrinsicvalues of the Monument – its isola-tion, tranquility, visual integrity,


TAKE ACTION

Doombunnies!About a hundred miles north of thesites of the two solar power plantsproposed for the Carrizo Plain liesSan Benito County and the PanocheValley, site of a third proposed solarplant, even larger than the massiveinstallations proposed for theCarrizo. The plans for Panoche Valley are amatter of concern for the state

resource agencies studying the DraftEnvironmental Impact Reports for allthree plants, as the Panoche and theCarrizo represent two of the remain-ing three “core areas” supporting thecritically endangered San Joaquin kitfox and giant kangaroo rat. Cumula-tive impacts of the three projectscould have a potentially devastatingimpact on these species. The California Department of Fishand Game met with the environmen-tal consultants preparing the DraftEIR for the Panoche Valley project onbehalf of Solargen to raise theconcern that Solargen’s contemplatedchange in grazing of the proposedarray area -- a plan to have sheepgraze in and around the solar arrays --would attract rabbits, which attractcoyotes, which prey on rabbits andalso kill kit fox. This, DFG biologistspointed out, would be detrimental tothe kit fox and the biological ecosys-

tem of which the kit fox and the giantkangaroo rat are an integral part. Thesame problem is an issue with theCarrizo projects. The Panoche Valley EIR consultantsomehow morphed that into thefollowing statement in the EIR:

The addition of vertical structure andchanges in grazing practices arelikely to attract rabbits, which areknown predators of giant kangaroorats and could reduce giant kangaroorat abundance on the project site.

The gaffe immediately became legendamong enviros and state resourcespecialists. For years to come, it islikely that the carnivorous killerrabbits of the Panoche will stand asthe emblem and verbal short-hand forproblematic or dubious Environmen-tal Impact Reports. The humor is obvious, but serves tounderscore the seriousness of thematter at hand: when the survival orextinction of a species is at stake,you’d better know what you’re doing.


Summary: According to the Diablo Canyon Nuclear Power Plant’s director of engineering services, there’s noneed to do a detailed seismic survey of the area around Diablo prior to seeking renewal of the plant’s operatinglicense for another twenty years.

“Diablo is on top of recent seismic issues,” by Loren Sharp, The Tribune, December 5, 2010.

Upshot: The California Public Utilities Commission—the same regulators who are culpable in PG&E’s tragic San Bruno gas explosion—are poised to grantthem ratepayer funding for license renewal without conclusive seismic review, a potential repeat of the last $4 billion debacle. Learn more and send an actionletter at www.a4nr.org.

Taking Issueproblematic environmental coverage & commentary in our local media

Our company recognizes geological safetyis a critical component of the ongoing safeoperation of Diablo Canyon.... DiabloCanyon is the only nuclear power plant inthe United States with a long-term seismicprogram led by our team of expert, in-housegeoscientists who continuously gather newdata and work with the United StatesGeological Survey. Their findings are thenindependently reviewed by the NuclearRegulatory Commission.

Mr. Sharp has a shortmemory. Diablo Canyonis the only nuclear plantrequired to have a long-term seismic program asa penalty from the NRCfor their seismic negli-gence during the originallicensing and construc-tion period. As amplydocumented in the 1970sand ‘80s by the San LuisObispo Telegram-Tribune,PG&E ignored the Hosgrifault, then denied its existence or potential consequences, and eventuallyhad to retrofit and rebuild the plant twice, adding over $4 billion to theprice tag for ratepayers. The NRC “looked the other way” on seismicproblems until it was too obvious to ignore, hence the mandated program.

In her Dec. 2 Viewpoint, RochelleBecker raised concerns about theseismic safety of the Diablo Canyonnuclear power plant (“Answersbefore Diablo renewal”). As long aswe operate the plant and provideelectricity to our customers, we willbe studying seismic issues.

The word “safety” did not appear inMs. Becker’s editorial, and she raisedno such concerns. She identified thedirectives of state regulators andlegislators to complete and peer-review new seismic studies andmapping before the approval oflicense renewal. These agencies havejurisdiction over the economics andreliability of power generation. Inthe wake of the 2007 Japanese earthquake that crippled the world’s largestreactor complex—which had been certified by the Japanese NRC to meet theirhighest standards—Californians have a right to be concerned.

The “Shoreline” faultwas officially recognizedby scientists usingadvanced techniques atthe US GeologicalSurvey, not PG&E --which, in their “25 yearsof operating history”seemed to have missedan active fault, thetraces of which werefirst visible on mapsover 25 years ago. TheNRC seems to be no better as a seismic sleuth. In the aftermath of the 2003 San Simeonquake, the NRC was asked if a fault survey had been done in the area “…right next to theshore, but not on shore where a geologist has been able to map it.” In May 2004 the NRCconcluded that “the presence of a fault within the coast between Point Buchon and PointSan Luis is very unlikely...” until the USGS pointed it out to them. And the NRC’sShoreline assessment is “preliminary,” for PG&E hasn’t even completed their formalevaluation yet, and the USGS believes several more years of research are needed.

Assembly Bill 1632 and thestate’s subsequent directives,drafted before the discoveryof the Shoreline Fault,directed PG&E to use “usethree- dimensional andgeophysical seismic reflec-tion mapping and otheradvanced techniques toexplore fault zones nearDiablo Canyon” and “toassess the implications of aSan Simeon-type earthquakebeneath Diablo Canyon.” Inaddition, the CoastalCommission has requestedmore in-depth studies of theland-based faults beneath theIrish Hills. PG&E’s continued public relations strategy to focus attention solely on theShoreline Fault ignores seismic concerns for the other fault zones near the reactors. PG&Ehasn’t even begun to obtain the permits needed for the 3-D studies.

We are committed to continuing to provide safe,clean, reliable and affordable power to customers foryears to come, and we are committed to continuedanalysis of important new seismic information.Beginning the license-renewal process now will helpus meet that commitment. We will keep providing newinformation to our regulators, the scientific communityand our neighbors through normal regulatory means.To date, PG&E has briefed the California Legislature,the governor’s office, the California Energy Commis-sion and the California Coastal Commission on thestatus of the Shoreline fault zone investigation andother long-term seismic program activities, as well asprovided the California Energy Commission and theCalifornia Public Utilities Commission with the mostup-to-date seismic information available.

Throughout Diablo Canyon’s 25 years of operating history,continuous rigorous seismic research and analysis hasallowed us to stay on top of seismic issues such as the2008 discovery of the Shoreline fault. Through the effortsof our long-term seismic program, we discovered the fault,we immediately reported it, we conducted in-depth studieson it and we came to the scientific conclusion that DiabloCanyon was designed and constructed to withstand alarger, more severe earthquake than the Shoreline fault iscapable of generating. The Nuclear Regulatory Commis-

10


Letterssend to: [email protected], or Sierra Club, P.O. Box 15755, San Luis Obispo, CA 93406. Letters may be edited for space.

Editor, Your recent letter to the editor of TheTribune, supporting the implementa-tion of AB 32 mandating a certainamount of “green energy” in theState, attempts to refute my conten-tion that jobs would be lost in thestate by saying that “green jobs” haveand would be created. I will grant youthat this is probably true. However, one question is: Willthere be a net loss of jobs because ofthe implementation of AB 32? Logic tells me that if the price ofproducing “green energy” solar andwind were competitive with fossilfuels there would be no need for AB32. Solar and wind are more expen-sive to produce. Purchasers ofelectricity in California businessesand homes will be required to paymore for electricity – this will resultin a loss of jobs and higher costs forenergy. See the enclosed editorialfrom the Wall Street Journal. The other question is: Is creating“green jobs” and reducing carbondioxide by California acting aloneworth it? Economist Martin Feldstein haswritten: “Since the U.S. share ofglobal CO2 production is now lessthan 25% (and is projected to declineas China and other developing nationsgrow) a 15% fall in U.S. CO2 outputwould lower global CO2 output by lessthan 4%. Its impact on globalwarming would be virtually un-noticeable.” (Martin Feldstein, “Capand Trade: All Cost, No Benefit,”Washington Post, June 1, 2009.) Mr. Feldstein is writing aboutreducing CO2 emissions in the UnitedStates, not just California. It is prettyclear that the continual implementa-tion of AB 32 will be very expensivefor the state and accomplish nothing. I suspect that your mind will not bechanged because you are of theopinion that “green jobs are goodjobs” and this is a core believe [sic] ofthe Sierra Club. The government attempts to createjobs has historically been unsuccess-ful. The free market is best. Do you really want to create greenjobs? Enact a law that makes it illegalto use any fossil fuels on Californiafarms. That will create a lot of jobs,but to what end? Will not foodproduced in California be moreexpensive? You bet. In the 1930’sabout 40% of the population lived onthe farm. Today, less than 5% do. Why are farmers more produc-tive? Because of tractors and otherfarm equipment are powered by gasand diesel. The people who left thefarm became teachers and doctors,factory workers and on and on. TheU.S. is still the most productivenation in the world because eachworker with, among other things,power equipment can producemore. Do you want to live with theAmish? I don’t think so. Also enclosed is a copy of MichaelCrichton’s remarks to the Common-wealth Club, 15 September 2003.

William H. McKenzieAtascadero

We received the following letter shortly before the November 2 election and the defeat of Proposition 23, the oil com-pany-backed measure that would have rolled back implementation of AB 32, California’s clean energy/clean air law.

cultural sacredness – cannot bemitigated and are scarcely discussedin the DEIR.

Natural Resources Defense CouncilThe two projects impact the samespecies of concern and together havethe potential to significantly reducethe width and permeability of a keymigration corridor that runs up anddown the Carrizo Plain.... impacts to[kit fox] will have cumulative impactsfar beyond Carrizo that will preventrecovery of the species.... Given thesignificant impacts of the project andthe cumulative impacts anticipated ifboth projects mentioned above aredeveloped, we are very concernedabout the lack of a clearly describedmitigation plan in the DEIR

The Nature ConservancyBased on the wide-ranging impacts tospecies and the lack of sufficient,effective and appropriate mitigation,the Conservancy must register deepconcern with the project.... Themitigation package should notinclude fragmented lands within theproject’s footprint that are unused forphotovoltaic panels...because of theuncertainty as to whether kit fox orother wide-ranging species wouldactually use these sites.... Without athorough plan to accomplish thesegoals and others, efforts to mitigatelosses to San Joaquin Valley threat-ened and endangered species couldfail, exacting a devastating toll on theCarrizo Plain core populations andrecovery of the species overall.

Sierra ClubWe urge that the alternatives analysis,which currently contains a significantamount of dated, imprecise orincorrect information, be correctedand updated as indicated to afford theclearest possible picture of projectalternatives. In evaluating the ProjectObjective of locating the facility nearutility grade transmission lines ofadequate capacity, the DEIR statesthat it is “uncertain” as to “whetheradequate transmission capacity exists”or whether new or upgraded trans-mission facilities would be required”at the Westlands CREZ… We note theanalysis of the Westlands alternativeas it appears on page E-16 of the Sept.2010 Final EIR for the Panoche ValleySolar Farm Project: “As part of a California PublicUtilities Commission Long TermProcurement Planning workshop, theCAISO prepared a rough estimate ofavailable transmission by CREZ. TheWestlands CREZ was found to have800 MW of existing transmissioncapability with minor upgrades(CAISO, 2010).” The Panoche Valley project FEIRfinds that the Westlands alternative“substantially meets” this projectobjective. The CVSR DEIR should berevised accordingly.

CA Department of Fish and GameThe Department recommends thatthis Project be relocated to impairedagricultural lands in the CentralValley, or to otherwise disturbed landsthat are not considered critical for therecovery of multiple State andFederally listed species.... Any projectin the Westlands CREZ wouldsubstantially reduce or even eliminateimpacts to the species that occur onthe proposed project site. Many of thespecies do not even occur within theWestlands CREZ, which is expected tosupport only low numbers of a fewspecial status species.

Carrizo Concernscontinued from page 8

While last November’s electionresulted in a nationwide entrench-ment of deeply reactionary politics —meaning voters are in for an object

lesson in the truth of the maxim thatit is unwise to make decisions whenyou’re angry — the striking contrastof those national results with the votein California was cause to hold ontohope for the future. And the bestsymbol of that hope was the over-whelming rejection of Proposition 23,the oil company-funded initiative togut California’s efforts to move fromfossil fuels to clean renewable energy. Is creating green jobs and reducingcarbon emissions by California“acting alone” worth it?” The ideathat actions to reduce carbonemissions and accelerate the transi-tion to a renewable energy economyrequire economic hardship is false. Agrowing body of research shows thatclean energy and climate policies willprotect both the environment and theeconomy. It’s safe to say that effortsby Prop. 23’s backers to depictCalifornia’s share of the nation’scurrent economic woes as havingsomething to do with our state’smoves toward a clean energyeconomy were rightly seen by thevoters as a shell game. And California is far from “actingalone.” More than a thousandmunicipalities nationwide are puttingcarbon emission reduction measuresin place thanks to the Sierra Club’sCool Cities program (seewww.coolcities.us). More than adozen states have mandated apercentage of their total energyoutput come from renewable sources.California is one of 27 U.S, Canadian,and Mexican states and provincesparticipating in the Western ClimateInitiative (WCI), a collaboration ofindependent jurisdictions workingtogether to identify, evaluate, andimplement policies to tackle climatechange at a regional level. We arepart of a comprehensive effort toreduce greenhouse gas pollution,spur investment in clean-energytechnologies that create green jobsand reduce dependence on importedoil. Had Prop 23 passed, we wouldhave had to drop out of WCI. Proposition 23 also would havekilled competition and jobs from

clean energy and technologybusinesses and stifled billions ofdollars in investments. According tothe nonpartisan State LegislativeAnalyst’s Office, the suspension of AB32 could: “dampen additionalinvestments in clean energy tech-nologies or in so-called ‘green jobs’by private firms, thereby resulting inless economic activity than wouldotherwise be the case.” The LAOfound that a study by a Sacramentoeconomics professor claiming thatAB 32 will bring economic doom“contains a number of seriousshortcomings that render its esti-mates of the annual economic costsof state regulations essentiallyuseless.” The fate of Proposition 23 waskeenly observed nationwide. Whenthe voters spoke loud and clear indefense of our clean energy andclean air law, the toughest in thenation, other states took notice. Ashas so often been the case, Californiahas set the bar and established agoal for the rest of the country toaim for. Most likely, the federalgovernment will wind up playingcatch-up with the states on progres-sive clean energy and carbonreduction legislation, with goals farbeyond “a 15% fall in U.S. CO2

output.” And finally: The disappearance ofsmall farms is not a success story ofincreased productivity; it’s testimonyto the loss of family farms to rapa-cious corporate consolidation. Whenthe U.S. National Research Councilassessed the efficiency of largeindustrial food production systems, itconcluded that “Well-managedalternative farming systems nearlyalways use less synthetic chemicalpesticides, fertilizers, and antibioticsper unit of production than conven-tional farms. Reduced use of theseinputs lowers production costs andlessens agriculture’s potential foradverse environmental and healtheffects without decreasing — and insome cases increasing — per acrecrop yields and the productivity oflivestock management systems.”

Committee both concluded thatmethyl iodide is too toxic to use. The Pesticide Action Network saidin a letter to Governor Jerry Brown,“Methyl iodide will be a healthnightmare for people who live andwork near strawberry productionareas in the Central and South Coastregions of California. The result willbe more thyroid disease, more cancer,and tragically, more mothers who losetheir babies late in pregnancy.”

Buy only organically grown strawber-ries, and/or contact:Governor Jerry BrownState Capitol Bldg.Sacramento, CA 95814Fax: 916-558-3160

...and ask him to reconsider theapproval of Methyl iodide.

Strawberrycontinued from page 1

Midnight Specialcontinued from page 7

that was the opposite of public. Manymembers of the selection committeesin the three counties didn’t evenknow it was happening, nor did thepublic, nor did a lot of potentialnominees. In the staff reports to thevarious boards of supervisors describ-ing the item as it quietly slipped ontoconsent agendas, it wasn’t evenmentioned that the governor hadofficially called for the list of nomi-nees. As a result, only two names madethe list: SLO County Supervisor BruceGibson and Pismo Beach Mayor MaryAnn Reiss, a development-friendlyreal estate agent. Unsurprisingly,Reiss got the nod from the departinggovernor. Sierra Club California has joinedwith 83 other environmental groupsin urging Governor Brown for a re-do:Call for the list of nominees again,and this time let everybody know it.

TAKE ACTION


ClassifiedsNext issue deadline is January 13. To

get a rate sheet or submit your ad

and payment, contact:

Sierra Club - Santa Lucia Chapter

P.O. Box 15755

San Luis Obispo, CA 93406

[email protected]

CYNTHIA HAWLEY

ATTORNEY

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION

LAND USE

CIVIL LITIGATION

P.O. Box 29 Cambria California 93428

Phone 805-927-5102 Fax 805-927-5220

A portion of any commissiondonated to the Sierra Club

Pismo toSan Simeon

GREEN HOMES

Les KangasSolar Energy ConsultantREC Solar, Inc.775 Fiero Lane, Suite 200San Luis Obispo, CA 93401 Office: (805) 528-9705Cell: (805) 305-7164Toll Free: (888) OK-SOLAR (657-6527)

Fax: (805) 528-9701

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12


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. If you have any suggestionsfor hikes or outdoor activities, questions about the Chapter’s outing policies, or would like to be an outingsleader, call Outings Chair Joe Morris, 772-1875. For information on a specific outing, please call the outingleader.

order now!

2011Sierra ClubCalendar

Accept no substitutes. Yourdesk will thank you. Yourwall will thank you. Andyour friends and familywill thank you. When youbuy direct from the Chap-ter, you support the SierraClub’s conservation workin San Luis ObispoCounty. We thank you.

wall calendar: $12.50desk calendar: $13.50To order: 805-543-7051

Sat., January 1st, 9:30 a.m.Cerro San Luis Hike: Startthe New Year outdoors with ahike up Cerro San Luis for alook at all of SLO in 2011.Meet at the Fernandez Roadparking area (Marsh Street to101 south on-ramp) at 9:30A.M. for an energetic and justa little strenuous hike to theSummit (1000 ft. elevationgain). Trail is rough inplaces, just over 4 miles, andboots or sturdy hiking shoesare recommended. Leader:Mike Sims, 805 459-1701,msims@ slonet.org.

Fri-Sun, Jan 7-9, DeathValley Wilderness Restora-tion. Help with installingpark boundary andwilderness signs,removing trash, and otherrestoration tasks in thisbeautiful and remoteNational Park. Meet earlyFriday afternoon and workon erasing vehicle tracks inGower Gulch. Saturday work inAmargosa Valley on east side of Park,installing signs. Sunday work TBA. Camp Friday and Saturday nights atTexas Springs campground. Bringappetizer/dessert for potluck Saturdayevening. Leader: Lois Allen, (661)944-4056 or [email protected]. CNRCC Desert Committee.

Saturday, January 15th, 9 am, LopezLake – Duna Vista Trail: Join us for ahike led by a botanist to the DunaVista lookout, located on the ridgebetween the two arms of Lopez Lake(“Two Waters Trail”). Ascend easternside (Wittenberg Arm), descend to thewestern side (Lopez Arm), then up thesummit loop trail (Duna Vista Trail)with 360 degree views of the Pacificand Santa Barbara Co. Total distance7 miles, elevation gain 1000 feet, andhike time of about 3 hours. To reachthe trail head, drive towards Lopez

Lake Recreation Area. Just beforeentrance, after crossing a bridge, turnright on Hi Mountain Road andproceed 0.8 miles to junction withUpper Lopez Canyon Road. Bear lefton Upper Lopez Canyon Roadand drive 4 miles to entrance ofFrench Boy Scout Camp on leftside of road. Park outside entrance toBoy Scott Camp at 9 a.m. Bringadequate water, a snack, and dress inlayers for the weather; a hat isadvised. For info, call Bill at (805)459-2103 ([email protected]). Plants, animals, and the geology ofthe area will be topics during thehike. Rain cancels.

Sat., Jan. 22nd, 9 a.m. Islay CreekEast Boundary Loop in Montana deOro State Park. 9-mile hike with1500 foot of elevation through the

wonderful hillsof MDO SP. Therecent rainswill have greened thehills and wemay see someearly flowers aswe roam theridge tops.Bring water,snacks anddress for theweather.Possible eatsafter for thoseinterested.Meet at theHazard Peak/Ridge Trailparking area,1/4 mile beforethe visitorcenter, MDOSP. Info.: Gary(805)473-3694.Rain Cancels.

Sun, Jan 23rd,10 a.m. QuarryTrail. Pole Catsis back! Still

dedicated to leading local Sierra Clubday hikes and modeling the benefitsof using trekking poles. 2 miles/320feet elevation change. Meet at theQuarry/Cabrillo Peak trailhead.Confirm with David Georgi atpolecatleader @gmail.com or 458-5575. Bipeds welcome.

Wed., January 26, 7 p.m. BimonthlyGeneral Meeting: 2nd AnnualEnvironmentalists’ Rendezvous. What are the major environmentalgroups in SLO county up to and theirplans for the coming new year? Here’s a unique opportunity to hearfrom nine key players at one time andin one place. The public forum willfeature staff from: the Alliance forNuclear Responsibility, Morro Coastaudubon, ECOSLO, Green Build, LandConservancy, Surfrider, S.W.A.P.,Transition Towns, and our own SierraClub chapter. Each will describe theirpremier projects and take time forquestions. Last year’s event was SRO,so come early for a seat! SteynbergGallery, 1531 Monterey St., SLO. Free. Info: Joe Morris, 772-1875.

Sat., Jan. 29th, 8:30 a.m.Cruikshank Trail to Lion Den Camp. Join the leader on a strenuous mid-winter hike to Lion Den Camp insouthern Big Sur, 12 miles round trip,

3000 ft of elevation gain, with greatviews of the coastline. We will hike toUpper Cruikshank Camp, near site ofthe old Cruikshank homestead. Thenclimb past Silver Camp to a rockyoutcropping with wonderful views ofthe canyon of the north fork of VillaCreek. We will continue climbing toLion Den Camp for lunch. Some earlywildflowers may be present. This isan all day outing, not for beginners. Meet at Washburn Day Use area of SanSimeon State Park, just north ofCambria. As you leave Cambria, theHamlet Restaurant is on the right.The right turn into day use area is ashort distance past restaurant. Bringlunch, plenty of water, and dress forthe weather. There is a possibility ofticks and poison oak. There is a highprobability of a refueling stop at theMain Street Grill after the hike. Raincancels. Info.: Chuck at (805) 441-7597.

Sat-Sun, Feb. 5-6, Winter Escape inthe Carrizo Plain. This outingcombines a day of assistance to theCarrizo National Monument with aday of sightseeing and/or hiking.Weather can be cold, gray, and rainy,or warm and bright - we take ourchances. The service will be to removeor modify fences to give pronghorngreater mobility on the Plain; and therecreation will be determined by thewishes of the group. This is anopportunity to combine carcamping,day-hiking, exploring, and service in arelatively unknown wilderness. Leader: Craig Deutsche,[email protected], 310-477-6670. CNRCC Desert Committee.

Outings Sponsored by Other Organizations

Sat., January 1st, 9:30 a.m. New Year’s Day Hike in Guadalupe-NipomoDunes. In the tradition of Bill Denneen, Elizabeth Scott Graham will lead anouting in the Dunes north of Muscle Rock. Join and celebrate the new year. Meet at Guadalupe Nipomo Dunes parking lot, west end of Hwy. 166. Bringwater, snack, and dress for the weather. Sponsored by the Dunes Center.

Ventana Wilderness Alliance Trail Workdays in the Big Sur Area. The VentanaWilderness Alliance hosts many volunteer opportunities to clear and maintaintrails on the Big Sur Coast. No experience is necessary, just the desire to beoutdoors and work with others. You may be able to just come for the day orspend the weekend depending on trip location.l Jan 15-16 Upper Carrizo Trail. Bmacl Jan 22-23 - David Knapp Cook Springs. To sign up or for information,contact Dave Knapp, Trail Crew Leader at e-mail daveknapp@ ventanawild.org.

Documents

Santa Lucian • January 2011 Lucian - Sierra Club Audubon, ECOSLO, Green Build, Land Conser - vancy, Surfrider, SWAP, Transition Towns, and our Sierra Club chapter.€ Each will describe