Santa Lucian • March 20171

SANTA LUCIAN March 2017

Volume 54 No.3T 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 r a 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 r n i a

IIIII n s i d en s i d en s i d en s i d en s i d eThanks for nothing, supervisors 2

Oroville’s lesson 3

Slow down, SLO 4

Cambria CSD: A history of violations 5

Classifieds 7

Outings 8

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Santa LuciaChapter

“We dance, boss.”- Zorba the Greek

This event is designed to encourage maxi-mum participation by community members,musicians, dancers, drummers, etc. to bringtheir cultural heritage to the dance hall toshare with all. No one will be paid; this won’t be “perfor-mance”-based. The hope is to showcase thediversity of cultural heritages represented inSLO County and to have folks join togetherin celebration of our common humanity. Bring your dancing shoes and move to thebeats that reflect the cultural diversity of ourcommunity. Bring a dance or instruments or fingerfoods from your heritage to share. Try out new rhythms. DJ’s and live music provided. Beer and wine for sale. $10.00 at the door.

Odd Fellows Hall, 520 Dana Street, SLOSaturday, May 67 -11 p.m.For more info:karen@karenmerriam.com

Dancing for Democracy

Save the date

with the Sierra Club

As we go to press, the lawsuitfiled against the County by Phillips66 over the denial of its permit tobuild an oil train terminal next toits refinery on the Nipomo Mesa isheading for a final decision. Phillips’ motion to delay thehearing of its appeal to the CountyBoard of Supervisors will be heardby the judge on March 2, whichmeans the Sierra Club and otherenvironmental groups that haveintervening in the suit to side withthe County in arguing against Phil-lips’ claims may know on March 2— and you probably know as youread this — whether the Board ofSupervisors hearing process willbegin on March 13. The judge has ruled that “Phillips66 has not yet exhausted its admin-istrative remedies” pursuant to therest of Phillips’ lawsuit, which hascentered on the EnvironmentallySensitive Habitat Area (ESHA) onwhich Phillips wants to build theterminal. In a tentative ruling is-sued on February 16, the judgedismissed Phillips’ request that thecourt overrule County Planning onthe issue, writing “the Court cannotcompel the [Planning] Departmentto perform an act which accordingto Petitioner it has no authority todo.” At the February 16 hearing, Phil-lips continued to argue its one alle-gation left standing, a challenge tothe legality of the County’s coastalland use zoning ordinance. Afterextensive oral argument, the judgeagreed to give Phillips an opportu-nity to submit an additional briefon a point of administrative proce-dure. The County’s supplementalbrief is due March 2. The responseof the Sierra Club and co-interve-nors is due March 16.

Oil TrainsSteamingTowardSupervisors

Stay informed and active! Send your e-mailaddress to sierraclub8@gmail.com and askto be put on our e-alert list for upcomingactions and events.

Now You Really Need to Stay Informed

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Welcome to interesting times. Be an activist with your Chapter, get notified about meetings, town halls, rallies, and allupcoming actions as we enter the time of resistance to save all we hold dear. Now is the time to stand up and speak out!

2 Santa Lucian • March 2017

The Executive Committee meetsthe second Monday of every monthat 2:00 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.

Denny Mynatt PRINT MEDIA COORDINATOR

CommitteesPolitical David BouquinMembership/Development Marcia Alter Stephanie Gong Nancy J. ColeConservation Sue Harvey

Nuclear Power Task Force Rochelle Becker Linda SeeleyVolunteer Coordinator Karen Merriam karen@karenmerriam.com

Printed by University Graphic Systems CalPoly, San Luis Obispo. Mailing servicescourtesy of the Silver Streaks.

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

Facebook Admin. Kim Ramos

Santa Lucia ChapterP.O. Box 15755San Luis Obispo, CA 93406805-543-8717

CNRCC Delegates Lindi Doud, Patrick McGibney John BurdettWildlands Stewardship Group OpenCalendar Sales Bonnie Walters 805-543-7051Outings Joe Morris

Webmaster Monica Tarzier

CHNMS campaign coordinator Nancy J. Cole cole.nancy.j@gmail.com

Trail Guide Gary Felsman

Chapter Director Andrew Christie

Santa Lucian

EDITOR

Lindi DoudSandy 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 93406sierraclub8@gmail.com

Santa Lucia Chapter

2016 Executive CommitteeKaren Merriam (12/18) CHAIRChuck Tribbey (12/19) VICE-CHAIRLindi Doud (12/17) TREASURERStephanie Gong (12/17) SECRETARYChristine Mulholland (12/18) MEMBERSue Harvey (12/17 MEMBERMarcia Alter (12/19) MEMBER

Karen Merriam COUNCIL OF CLUB LEADERS

Andrew Christie

dpj1942@earthlink.net

kimlramos@yahoo.com

monica@tarzier.org

Supervisors Thanked for Nothing Opposition to the Chu-mash Heritage NationalMarine Sanctuary has beena case study in the evolu-tion of bad arguments. Opponents’ greatest hitswere on display in “Thanksfor opposing the Chumashmarine sanctuary” in theFeb. 16 issue of the Tri-bune, giving the majorityon our dysfunctional Boardof Supervisors a pat on theback for passing a point-less resolution at their Feb.7 meeting opposing thedesignation of the Chu-mash Heritage NationalMarine Sanctuary. By turns ill-informed,speculative and anecdotal— and always including anattempt by economic spe-cial interests to label pub-lic interest groups as spe-cial interests — thesearguments have been putforward for years, and theirvariations don’t disguisetheir identity as retreads. Anyone who wants to seea real discussion of whatnational marine sanctuariesare and how they work,with opponents laying theirfears and concerns at thefeet of sanctuary managersand taking their best shots,must watch the video ofthe Jan. 6, 2016, MorroBay town hall meeting onnational marine sanctuaries(www.sierraclub.org/santa-lucia). It’s a virtual docu-mentary on the clash offact vs. fiction, truth vs.obfuscation, reality vs.unreality. Those two hours inMorro Bay really were theend of the debate over theChumash Heritage Na-tional Marine Sanctuary asa factual issue. As a politi-cal issue, of course, it’s adifferent story, one likelyto go on for as long asopponents can arrange topresent their wares in ven-ues where they don’t faceimmediate rebuttal bysanctuary personnel. Therecirculation of the oppos-ing arguments that weredefinitively refuted thatnight, and the subsequentpulling of strings to getthree friendly supervisorsto pass a symbolic resolu-tion of opposition — con-travening a goal of theCounty’s General Plan —was an ideological exer-cise. In signing on to the op-position Viewpoint, formerPismo Beach Mayor ShellyHigginbotham is also inopposition to former col-leagues on the PismoBeach City Council whosupport designation of thesanctuary. Other supportersinclude our former andcurrent Congressional Rep-resentatives Lois Cappsand Salud Carbajal, formerState Senator Fran Pavley,State Senator Hannah-Beth

Jackson, Santa BarbaraCounty Supervisors DasWilliams and Janet Wolf, thedean of the UCSB BrenSchool of EnvironmentalScience and Management,140 Cal Poly students, theCity of San Luis Obispo,The Cambria Fishing Club,Patagonia, Pacific WildlifeCare, and some 7,000 mem-bers of the yak tityu tityu yaktilhini Northern ChumashTribe, the Coastal Band ofthe Chumash Nation, North-ern Chumash Tribal Counciland Bakersfield ChumashTribal Council. You’d never guess fromthe zoomed and croppedphoto that appeared with theonline version of opponents’Viewpoint that they wereoutnumbered three to one bysanctuary supporters at thatboard hearing. They areoutnumbered by about15,000 vs. 300 signatures onpublic petitions in supportand opposition, respectively. Which brings us to thecenter of this issue: Democ-racy. While we don’t think muchof their arguments, oppo-nents are entitled to makethem, and could do so at atime and place that won’tconstitute a day-long wasteof time when the majority ofour board of supervisors issupposed to be doing thepublic’s business, not scor-ing political points with theirbase. That would be the des-ignation process for the Chu-mash Heritage National Ma-rine Sanctuary, a multi-yearprocess of public hearingsand town halls, with everycomment, question, and an-swer captured as part of theadministrative record, alongwith all written comments,and a decision at the end ofit based on all input receivedfrom a broad spectrum ofstakeholders, not just thenarrow economic specialinterests represented by op-ponents and their lobbyists. In that venue, we’d behappy to introduce multiple

peer-reviewed socioeco-nomic studies on the impactof national marine sanctuar-ies on local coastal econo-mies. Opponents can trotout their anecdotes fromchamber of commercemembers. They can claim that anational marine sanctuarywill mean loss of “localcontrol.” We will ask themhow much “local control”was lost when PresidentObama expanded the Cali-fornia Coastal NationalMonument in January toinclude the Piedras BlancasLight Station and five otherareas in three counties. They can bring “fourMonterey-area harborofficials” to bemoan “prob-lems” with the disposal ofdredge spoils caused by theMonterey Bay sanctuary.We’ll be happy to ask themif the Monterey sanctuaryhas ever once denied per-mission for the disposal ofdredge spoils (answer: no),and if the “problems” thoseofficials assert might betterbe described as feeling putout because they were sim-ply directed to dispose ofthose spoils at sites wheredisposal wouldn’t compro-mise coral reefs, kelp for-ests or other sensitive ma-rine habitat, thereby en-suring the health of offshorewaters and fisheries. Before the Viewpointauthors asserted that “newsanctuaries must honorexisting oil and mineralleases, which are already inexistence in the proposedsanctuary boundaries,” theyshould have asked theChannel Islands Sanctuarywhat happened to the off-shore oil leases in the areawhen the sanctuary wascreated. (Answer: Theywere abandoned). Opponents can claim thatwe’re safe from offshoredrilling because we have acounty ordinance. We’llpoint out that the citizens ofMarin, Sonoma and Mendo-

cino Counties overwhelm-ingly opted to double thesize and extend the protec-tions of their existing ma-rine sanctuaries in 2015because they knew nothingelse would save them when— not if — Big Oil decidesto put their coast in thecrosshairs. Before the Trib View-point’s authors blithelyasserted that “sanctuarystatus does not offer perma-nent protection from oildevelopment,” they shouldhave checked in with Rich-ard Charter. The differencebetween Mr. Charter andthe authors of the Viewpointis the difference betweensomeone who speaks fromdeep personal knowledge ofa subject and someone re-citing talking points draftedby a public relations con-sultant. A Senior Fellow atthe Ocean Foundation,Charter was involved inmaintaining the 27-yearCongressional moratoriumon offshore oil and gas leas-ing that once served to pre-vent new drilling off ourcoast. He also coordinatedthe local government sup-port that helped bring aboutthe creation of the Gulf ofthe Farallones, CordellBank, Channel Islands andMonterey Bay NationalMarine Sanctuaries. In a Feb. 2 letter to theSLO Board of Supervisors,he wrote: “The creation of a newnational marine sanctuaryhas never in any way inter-fered with local control norhas it ever been demon-strated to interfere withfishing, since fishing con-tinues, as always, to beregulated by the appropriateregional fishery manage-ment council and byCalifornia’s Department ofFish and Wildlife. It is,however, critical to realizethat national marine sanctu-aries can provide the onlyavailable mechanism thatwill permanently protect

federal waters off of SanLuis Obispo County fromexpanded offshore drilling,a protection from whichyour coast does not nowbenefit.” Opponents could alsocheck with former PresidentGeorge H.W. Bush, whose1992 announcement of thedesignation of the MontereyBay National Marine Sanc-tuary proudly noted that itwould protect “an expand-ing population of sea ottersand a wide variety ofwhales, porpoises, seals,fish, and sea birds, includ-

ing many endangered andthreatened species” andprovided “a permanent banon oil and gas developmentfor the area, which includesa wide variety of pristinehabitats.” It was true there and truethen. It’s true here and truenow, all attempted argu-ments to the contrary not-withstanding. We will continue to lookforward to the democraticdesignation process for theChumash Heritage NationalMarine Sanctuary and tothat discussion.

We received a donationfrom Daryl and PriscillaHerzog in honor of theirfriends Susan and JohnArmstrong, who arecelebrating their 70thbirthdays this year andboth love to hike. Thank you Priscilla,and happy birthday/happy hiking, Susan andJohn!

March 20 is California Wildlife Day

Many Happy Returns! Senator Bill Monning (D-Carmel) has introduced SenateConcurrent Resolution (SCR) 23 to establish CaliforniaWildlife Day and recognize the state’s diverse and uniqueecosystem. “This resolution is designed to recognize one of ourstate’s greatest resources – its environment,” SenatorMonning said. “The geography of the State of California isunique and diverse, with deserts, snow-capped mountains,forests, and coastlines…all of which host an extraordinaryabundance of wildlife. Many Californians feel an obliga-tion to protect our environment for future generations, andCalifornia Wildlife Day will help advance this through

public education efforts about native plants and animals.” California Wildlife Day will be recognized every year onthe Spring Equinox, which this year falls on March 20,2017. A National Wildlife Day was established in 2005 inmemory of conservationist Steve Irwin and to bring aware-ness of endangered animals nationally and worldwide.

by Andrew Christie, Chapter Director

Santa Lucian • March 20173

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The First Pollutersby Vicki León

“Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” - George Santayana

POLLUTERS continued on page 6

Special to the Sacramento Bee, Feb. 15, 2017

The Oroville Dam debacle is a wake-up call to Califor-nia. If we heed the call, we may be able to avoid what couldcertainly be other disasters and wrong turns in the state water system as we head into anage typified by extreme weather events associated with climate change. In 2005, our organizations, the Sierra Club and Friends of the River, warned the FederalEnergy Regulatory Commission, the agency responsible for relicensing hydroelectricitydams, that the earthen emergency spillway on the dam was too dangerous. We said itneeded a concrete lining and that FERC should require the dam’s operator, the CaliforniaDepartment of Water Resources, to build that lining. The Yuba County Water Agency noted in a technical report on the dam in 2002 that usingthe emergency spillway could create severe erosion over 50 to 70 acres, sending dirt, rocksand other debris shooting into the waterway below at a rate and scale that could disruptoperations of the huge Oroville-Thermalito Dam complex. More than eleven years ago, DWR rejected our concerns. This week, we’ve watched afrightening scene unfold as the emergency spillway began to flood and erode, requiringnearly 200,000 Californians to be evacuated from their homes and businesses. It’s worth noting that we filed our concerns about the spillway a year before the Legisla-ture passed landmark legislation setting targets for reducing climate-change pollution gen-erally. State leaders and agencies weren’t entirely ignorant about climate change in California.Nor was the public, according to polling at the time. Scientists were predicting a range ofchanges in rain and snowfall patterns because of climate change, and the agencies andleaders knew that. Even so, a major state agency responsible for managing dams dismissed a chance to

Let a Thousand Flowers Bloom!

On February 1, I attended the all-day California Public Utility Commission’s (CPUC’s)En Banc hearing in San Francisco on Community Choice Aggregation. This was a bigdeal. En Bancs are rare, and single out important issues for the CPUC, at the Commission-ers’ request. This was the first one focused exclusively on Community Choice. The audito-rium was packed, another hearing room held the overflow crowd, and early in the meetingCommissioner Peterman noted that about 600 additional people were participating onlineor by phone. In her introductory remarks, Commissioner Peterman noted that one of the most contro-versial topics among Community Choice stakeholders, the Power Charge IndifferenceAdjustment, or PCIA, is being discussed in a working group process that is scheduled toreport to the Commission on April 5, so the PCIA was not a central topic of the conversa-tion on this day. Info on the PCIA can be found at cleanpowerexchange.org. A long line of elected officials spoke in support of Community Choice at the end of themorning session. Elected representatives from city and county members of PeninsulaClean Energy, Silicon Valley Clean Energy, Placer County, and elsewhere spoke. JeffSparks, an aide to State Senator Scott Wiener of San Francisco, spoke strongly of the needfor the CPUC to support Community Choice and address the shortcomings of the IOUs.“CCAs are the key to the future of energy in California,” he said. In the afternoon another half dozen or so elected officials spoke, followed by about 20other speakers, nearly all in full-throated support of Community Choice. They representedclean energy advocates, business community, IBEW union and other labor representatives,and other constituencies. Chief Executive Officers Dawn Weisz of MCE Clean Energy, Geof Syphers of SonomaClean Power, and Barbara Hale of CleanPowerSF did an excellent job of articulating thebenefits of Community Choice and clarifying the sometimes inaccurate statements by fel-low panelists.

Sometimes we assume that conflict overnatural resources is a modern develop-ment, the economic downside of thiscrowded world of ours. Far from it! Long-ago cultures from theMesopotamians to the Greeks squared offagainst their neighbors with astoundingfrequency.

When not quarreling over mineral rights,the ancient Greeks went to war overtrees—and literally fought it with trees. In480 b.c., for example, to stop the Persiansat Salamis, the Athenians and their alliesbuilt a fleet of 350 ships, devouring milesof forest to do so. Not Greek forests, how-ever. Theirs would no longer suffice, sotimber had to be imported from southernItaly and regions north of Athens.

The decades-long Peloponnesian Warbetween Athens and Sparta was again avicious slugfest over timber. The Spartanshad conquered wooded regions of theMacedonian coast, which the Atheniansneeded for shipbuilding. We remember Thucydides as a historian,but careerwise, he was a military leaderfirst whose mission it was to win backthose valuable timber-filled lands. Hefailed. Sent into exile, he sat out the war bywriting the sole eyewitness account of it.

In 415 b.c., egged on by a handsomedemagogue named Alkibiades, Athens indesperation launched a military expeditionto the richly wooded island of Sicily. Notonly did the Athenians destroy sorelyneeded acres of their native trees to build anew fleet, they lost all 200 vessels and34,000 men in that debacle.

Some years after that disaster, a nowpopular philosopher named Plato was in-vited to guest-philosophize in Sicily. Uponhis arrival at that large island, famous for

its glorious woodlandsand rich soil, he washorrified to see rampanterosion amid vast forestsof tree stumps. Failing toprofit from Athenianmistakes, the SicilianGreeks had choppeddown their own woods topursue their own haplessmilitary adventures.

We’ve never thoughtof Plato as an early climate scientist—but ina sense he was. “Plato,” meaning “broad,”was a nickname, probably a nod to hishusky build. As a young man, he won kudosfor his wrestling prowess. Plato proved tobe broad-minded as well. He gravitatedtoward scholarship, becoming the mostcelebrated egghead in Athens, capital of the700-square-mile peninsula called the city-state of Attica.

Like most Greek philosophers, the manwrote copiously, fanatically. Unlike most,the 250 books he wrote survived into mod-ern times. Luckily for us, besides hislengthy essays on philosophy and thingsmetaphysical, he kept his eyes open. Around400 b.c., he wrote this poignant observationabout his native land: “Originally the moun-tains of Attica were heavily forested. Theregion is a mere relic of the originalcountry...what remains is like the skeleton ofa body emaciated by disease. All the richsoil has melted away, leaving a country ofskin and bone.”

Remember, he had also seen a similareco-catastrophe on Sicily and other islandshe visited.

Plato was not the only one to sound analarm. From 350 b.c. on, a roving biologistnamed Theophrastus made longterm field

studies on various Greek islands, includingCrete. During his 80-some years, Theowitnessed the slash-and-burn destruction ofmost of the forests on mountain-studdedCrete. In addition to radically changing theface of the landscape, it deeply affected thefate of local farmers. Without the protec-tion of woodlands, winds howled sofiercely that much of the island’s topsoilblew away. In his writings on plants andecology (some of them still extant),Theophrastus noted the dire effects thatdeforestation and excess drainage had onregional climate.

Precisely as has happened in our times,the warnings of Plato and Theophrastussadly went unheeded.

It wasn’t just the Greeks who managedto clear-cut a staggering majority of theirforests. Most of the natural wildernessaround the Med basin was stripped away inthe hunger for wood: by other culturesfrom North Africa to the Arabian penin-sula, from Asia Minor to the lands aroundthe Black Sea.

So, you ask, what did the Greeks do withall those logs, besides building ships?Thanks to films and glossy travel books,we’re used to thinking of Greece in termsof stone or marble temples. Because that’swhat’s left to see of the Greece of antiq-uity.

Truth is, people back then utilized muchof that wood for fuel: to heat and lighthomes and baths, and to run businessesfrom pottery making to carpentry. We haveto rethink those gleaming marble temples,too. They also had wooden ceilings, innerwalls, and floors. Temples stayed open 24/7; they were lit and heated with open-flamebraziers, burning wood. Despite their per-manent appearance, on occasion even thegrandest temples could and did burn down.

Huge quantities of lumber went intoconstruction, from roof beams to boatpiers. Industrial uses chewed up vastamounts as well.

But the most ravenous consumer ofwood began its ravages centuries prior tothe blooming of ancient Greek civilization.

History books sometimes put the mainblame for long-ago wilderness loss on

Timber Wars & Copper Conflicts

Lessons California should learn fromOroville Dam debacleBy Kathryn Phillips, director of Sierra Club California,and Ron Stork, senior policy advocate, Friends ofthe River

Kathryn Phillips

DAMS continued on page 4

by Woody Hastings, Clean Power Exchange

Full Day Focused on Community Choice Energy, Massive Attendance atCPUC “En Banc” Demonstrates Community Power and Interest

CCA continued on page 6

adopt measures that would make Oroville Damsafer as we entered a new climate-affectedera. California rivers bear more than 1,300 dams.Most people agree that the cost-effective placesto build dams in the state have been taken. Yet most of those dams, like Oroville Dam, aredecades old. Some are seismically unsafe andcan’t hold the amount of water they were meantto hold. Others haven’t had silt removed rou-

Ramming speed! The Greeks couldn’t cut down trees fast enough to build their fleet.

4 Santa Lucian • March 2017

MovingAirState and feds cranking up foroffshore wind On February 14 at theLudwick Community Cen-ter in SLO, the Sierra Clubhosted a meeting of officialsfrom the California EnergyCommission and federalBureau of Ocean EnergyManagement with represen-tatives from the NaturalResources Defense Council,Nature Conservancy, MorroCoast Audubon, Morro BayNational Estuary Program,SLO Clean Energy, ECO-SLO, Environmental De-fense Center, Ocean Protec-tion Council and CaliforniaDepartment of Fish andWildlife On the agenda: Offshorewind projects off the Cen-tral Coast. The regulatory agenciesare engaged in an outreachprogram spurred by thecompeting interest of twooffshore wind developers

for projects in a lease areajust north of MorroBay. The meeting washeld so environmentaland communitygroups could gain abetter understandingof the federal leasingprocess, the stateprocess and opportu-nities to shape thoseprocesses. The stateand federal partnersare part of theBOEM/CaliforniaIntergovernmentalRenewable EnergyTask Force, seekingto identify suitable –and unsuitable – areasfor renewable energydevelopment in fed-eral waters offshoreCalifornia The interest in theocean thirty miles offMorro Bay has been

sparked by relatively con-stant wind conditions andthe proximity of PG&E’spower lines directly behindthe defunct power plant. Any proposed project islikely to take seven to tenyears going through theplanning and permittingprocess before it could bebuilt. At that time, in orderto pencil out, an offshorewind project would have to

compete with both onshorewind energy and photovol-taic solar power plus stor-age. Offshore wind hassignificantly better energycapacity, but both of itscompetitors currently pro-duce energy at significantlyless cost than offshore windturbines Planning for offshoredevelopment is unlike ter-restrial project planning

because the ocean is a fluidenvironment (no pun in-tended), with migratoryroutes that are in flux to adegree never before seen,fishing grounds that changeevery year, and cumulativeimpacts of multiple stressorson wildlife — includingshipping traffic, noise trans-mission, and acidification –that are poorly understood.Regional monitoring must

Hashing it out State and federal agency reps chewed over the prospect of offshore wind farms with environ-mental organizations in SLO on Feb. 14.

The SLO City Council speaks in favor of “housing”and “sustainability” as a mission, but they are unin-formed and mis-educated on the subject. The role that former mayor Ken Schwartz playedmany times on the Council as the voice of design wis-dom is not present. The driving agenda for this pro-growth council is in the documents the council mem-bers cite: the Economic Strategies, the LUCE, and theZoning Ordinance. Policies have been implantedwhich reflect the desires of the Chamber of Commerceand the Home Builders Association. The big picture is that no amount of mixed use hous-ing will quell the appetite for SLO real estate invest-ment, which our City is stoking in its promotions ofour city and region. As our City leaders cry about thelack of affordable housing, they continue to fund andextend economic development in a rampant, “wild west”fashion. This promotion has been going long enough thatjob creation has overwhelmed the supply of housing hereand throughout the Highway 101 corridor. We are in a net deficit that is deep and steep; most work-ers will never be able to afford most of the housing beingbuilt. It’s mostly going to wealthy retired folks from else-where (bless their lucky stars), because that is what thehomebuilders and realtors like to build and sell. Mixed-useprojects at high density - the Downtown Concept Plan istalking four to five stories now! - could provide small, af-fordable units for most employees, but these projects canalso be built at two and three stories. All of these projects could be designed in context andscale with the neighbors and their streets, and still earn aprofit, provide housing and economic growth. They wouldbe shorter, with reduced edges, have enough parking, andprobably be only two to three stories tall. Unless a devel-oper provides a parking garage, that is the scale which theparking ordinance will necessitate. If exceptions aregranted, there goes the building, the neighborhood, and thestreet parking. The Council needs to hear that Carlyn Christianson wasnot right on January 3, when she inveighed, “If the ordi-nance says 45 feet, it’s 45 feet!” No, that is the heightlimit, not a mandatory minimum. The city’s zoning author-ity (under the rather compelling constitutional term “policepower”) is broad and discretionary to have interpretivestandards, which may lead to shorter buildings than theheight limit. No, the Council’s role is not to screen for just

the most “egregious” projects, but to apply its authority todeny an unsuitable project. The Council needs to hear that the Density Bonus Lawallows an increase just in the gross residential density, anddoes not set the size or number of bedrooms. The City mayrequire through its review of use permits and design thatunits be small and therefore require less parking spaces,building area and footprint. The Council needs to hear that the Affordable HousingLaw compels adherence to “design standards” (back tothose). And, our Community Design Guidelines (CDG)therefore need to become “standards” in our ZoningOrdinance. This should be the first priority in the“Scoping” of the Zoning Ordinance amendments that staffwill set before the Council in March. Yes, the Zoning Ordinance can have interpretive, discre-tionary design standards, subject to a public hearing andvote by decision makers. Watch out, though: if theseGuidelines become the subject of a zoning amendment,they will suffer through a concerted effort to dismantlethem by the Chamber of Commerce, developers, architectsand the Home Builders Association, unless the CDG issafeguarded by limiting the scope to just changing its au-thority.

Slow Down, SLOBy Jamie Lopes

Damscontinued from page 3

On February 17, the U.S.Senate voted to approveDonald Trump’s nominationof Oklahoma Attorney Gen-eral Scott Pruitt as head ofthe U.S. EnvironmentalProtection Agency. Pruitt is now set to be themost dangerous EPA Ad-ministrator in the history ofour country. Pruitt has takenmillions of dollars fromcorporate polluters, and hasprotected theirinterests at ev-ery turn -- yet,he is now incharge of pro-tecting our chil-dren from thedirty air andtoxic watercreated by thesevery same pol-luters. Pruitthas a longrecord of ignoring science,assaulting public healthsafeguards, and holding theagency he now leads incontempt. His confirmationis an environmental andpublic health disaster. We are deeply disap-pointed in the Senators whobacked Pruitt. They areelected to represent theirconstituents’ best interests,but instead voted to protectcorporate greed. This is avote that should not evenhave happened, given theunanswered questions aboutPruitt’s e-mails with fossilfuel companies that a judgehad ordered to be releasedthe following week. During his confirmationhearing, Pruitt misled,failed to answer, and stone-walled Congress about hispolitical fundraising prac-tices and refused to disclosejust how cozy he is with theoil and gas industry. Whenasked during his confirma-tion hearing whether he hadever solicited funds fromfossil fuel companies, Pruittclaimed he was unable toremember. Sure enough,though, plenty of corre-spondence proves that hedid exactly that.

This is the MostDangerousEPA Administratorin History

And that’s before we evenget to the issue of hisemails. For years, someRepublicans were obsessedwith emails. They couldn’tinvestigate emails enough.They based an entire presi-dential campaign on uncov-ering emails. After the elec-tion, this obsession withemails disappeared fasterthan a Snapchat message. After Pruitt failed to dis-

close emailsduring his con-firmation hear-ing, the Centerfor Media andDemocracyfiled a lawsuitto force him torelease thethousands ofmessages be-tween his of-fice and the

fossil fuel companies thathave wreaked havoc onOklahoma for years, includ-ing the ongoing earthquakeepidemic. After the watch-dog group filed suit, Pruittresponded by releasing just411 of the more than 3,000documents requested. AnOklahoma county judgeforced him to turn over therest. Surprise: It turns outPruitt let Big Oil tell himwhat to say, as they literallydrafted anti-clean air talk-ing points and letters for hisoffice. That refusal, alone, wasmore than enough reason tohold off on a confirmationvote. Yet the Republicanleadership went ahead any-way and every Republicansenator except Maine’sSusan Collins voted to in-stall a man who could bethe most dangerous of allPresident Trump’s appoin-tees. Sierra Club is preparingto file suit. Our 2.7 millionmembers and supporterswill continue to mobilizeand resist this corruptadministration’s attacks onpublic health, clean air, andclean water every step ofthe way.

Jamie Lopes spent 25 years in the SLO County PlanningDept., where he developed policies for future land uses andprepared building design plans with standards for com-mercial and residential development in Templeton,Cambria, Santa Margarita and Nipomo.

tinely and have shrunkencapacity. Still others needstructural updating. In short, there are a lot oftroubled dams that needattention in California.But against this backdrop,the conversation within theadministration of GovernorJerry Brown and at DWRhas focused on buildingnew dams and tunnels.In 2014, voters passed abroad water bond. To getthe two-thirds vote neededto get the bond through theLegislature onto the ballot,the governor insisted onincluding $2.7 billion inthat bond for water storage.

Storage was defined in away to allow proponents ofseveral dam projects thatenvironmentalists have longopposed to have a shot atsome funding. Now it’s time to reject thenew-build proponents andfocus on ways to use thatbond money to make sureexisting dams are safe andprovide the storage they

promised. It’s time to usethat money for south-of-Delta groundwater storagethat will create many timesthe value and regional resil-ience of new dams. California’s policymakers– and the agencies likeDWR that are supposed toput those policies to work –need to bring their water-system thinking up to date.

By Michael Brune, Sierra Club Executive Director

We’ll see him in court

The last few years ofdrought, followed by a yearof unusually heavy storms,show that the days of pre-dictable weather patternsare gone. Climate changehas taken hold. Oroville shows thatsloppy attention to publicsafety and the environmentwon’t do.

correctly describe theseshifting baselines in orderto provide a context forsite-specific environmentalreviews for offshore renew-able energy projects. The Sierra Club advo-cates for renewable energyas a means of counteringclimate change, and wewould be likely to supportprojects that can be shownto have minimal adverse

environmental impacts.As protection of theenvironment remainsour overarching goal,we will oppose projectswith major unavoidable,adverse impacts andwork to direct resourcesto better alternatives. Starting this spring,BOEM and CEC willhost local workshopsand outreach meetingsfeaturing “Databasin,”the program they areusing to gather allknown information onCalifornia’s offshoreenvironment, with aspecial emphasis on thearea between the Chan-nel Islands and MorroBay. For more information,go to Boem.gov/

California.

r

Santa Lucian • March 20175

How many ways can the Cambria CSD try to chill dissent and antagonize regulators?

Chronic Violator Five months ago, stateand federal resource agen-cies told the Cambria Com-munity Services Districtthat the Environmental Im-pact Report it prepared forits desal plant was totallyinadequate and needs to beredone (see “Cambria CSDBrings Home and F on itsEIR,” Jan.) Additionally, the CoastalCommission told the CCSDto stop insisting that itsdesal plant is a “groundwa-ter replenishment project”and not a desalination facil-ity – because it is, in fact, agroundwater withdrawalproject and a desalinationfacility. Now it’s the RegionalWater Quality ControlBoard’s turn to tell theCCSD that the monitoringand reporting requirementsin their permit really arerequired, and the deadlinesthat go with them are like-wise non-optional. Aftertwo years and failure to filemore than two dozen man-datory reports, a fed-upwater board cited the dis-trict on February 9 for“egregious violations ofwater quality regulationsand orders,” carrying a po-tential penalty of $600,000. Let’s review: In August 2014, theCCSD board ignored urgentwarnings from CoastalCommission staff about thefolly of “locking into along-term project and itsassociated liabilities” be-fore getting the answers tobig environmental ques-tions, including the cost of“likely long-term harm tosensitive habitat” that theywould have to pay to miti-gate, putting itself and itsratepayers on the hook for a$13 million facility loan,despite having no permit fora permanent facility. In November 2014, theemergency Coastal Devel-opment Permit (CDP) is-sued by the County ex-pired, kicking off a series ofextensions, the only pur-pose of which has appearedto be to allow Cambria toavoid for as long as pos-sible the full environmentalreview that must accom-pany the application for apermanent Coastal Devel-opment Permit. The CCSDbegan operation of the plantwithout filing a completedapplication for a CDP. In February 2015, theWater Board cited the dis-trict for a chlorine spill intoVan Gordon Creek, wastepond reservoir discharges,sprayed waste water blow-ing onto San Simeon CreekRoad, and into surroundinghabitat, and noise levels sohigh that wildlife fled thearea and a horse was in-jured and had to beeuthanized. On March 5, 2015, CSDGeneral Manager JerryGruber penned an op ed inThe Cambrian waving awaythe Water Board’s investi-gation, complaining “TheCambrian describes every-thing it could find that isgoing wrong with the Emer-gency Water SupplyProject,” saying he couldonly “count three confirmedissues” (just before theWater Board issued a noticeof eleven separate viola-tions of the Water Code,including failure to inspect,monitor and report), andoffering assurances that “theCCSD is committed to…complying with permit re-quirements and regulationsin every detail,” and all theissues “are in the process ofbeing corrected or havealready been corrected.” In March 2016, the CCSD“rebranded” its emergencywater supply project as apermanent water supplyfacility – still without apermanent Coastal Devel-

opment Permit. In May 2016 the CoastalCommission warned theCounty against issuing an-other extension of theCCSD’s twice-renewedemergency Coastal Devel-opment Permit, noting thatthe facility was now out ofcompliance with its emer-gency permit, was beingoperated for non-emergencypurposes, required modifica-tions for continued opera-tion that were not authorizedby the emergency CDP, andthe CCSD had never submit-ted monitoring reports onwell levels and pumpingdata as required by theiremergency permit. Last month, the WaterBoard threatened to bring a$600,000 hammer down,two years after its first no-tice of violations. A few excerpts from theFeb. 9 notice of violations,sent to General ManagerGruber by Regional WaterBoard Assistant Executive

Cambria’s current regulatory woes began in 2014 when the CSD hatched the scheme to get a desal facility built in an environmentally sensitivehabitat area while avoiding environmental review. But fighting regulators tasked with protecting the environment goes way back and seems tobe baked into the District’s DNA. Here’s a rundown as chronicled in the Santa Lucian:

Jan. 2005: “Tanks!”Aug. 2005: “Cambria CSD Grimly Slogs on”Oct. 2005: “A Chill grows in Cambria”Oct. 2007: “Cambria’s Lesson”Nov. 2007: “A Bunch of Schmucks”Jan. 2008: “Where is the Water? Los Osos, Cambria and Nipomo”Feb. 2008: “Water that Works: Los Osos, Cambria and Nipomo”

Go to: www.sierraclub.org/santa-lucia/santa-lucian

May 2008: “Cambria’s Forest Failure”Jun. 2008: “Cambria’s Water Plan is all Wet”Feb. 2010: “Cambria Activists & Mercury Put Desal Plan in Retrograde”Apr. 2010: “Water We Thinking?”Nov. 2011: “Coastal Commission to Army Corps: Shape Up or Ship Out”Apr. 2012: “Cambria on the Desal Divide”Sep. 2014: “Cambria CSD Still Crazy After All These Years”Jan. 2015: “Cambria’s Shock Doctrine”Apr. 2015: “Cambria Reaps First Installment on the Whirlwind”May 2015: “A Regulatory Reality Check”Jun. 2016: “Backwards Still Runs Cambria’s Water Scheme”Jan. 2017: “Cambria CSD Brings Home an F on Its EIR.”

Mr. Gruber...Mr. Gruber...Mr. Gruber

“I listened to por-tions of the Janu-ary 19, 2017,Cambria Commu-nity ServicesDistrict’s Boardmeeting on-lineand thereby be-came aware ofstatements youmade regardingCambria citizenTina Dickasoncontacting WaterBoard staff. We donot agree withyour representa-tion of our posi-tion regarding in-formation wereceive from Ms.Dickason or othermembers of thepublic. We value the in-formation and re-ports we get fromcitizens, and werequest that youretract your state-ments. Please donot characterizeWater Boardstaff’s position inthis manner orspeak for WaterBoard staff in thefuture.”

- Michael J. Tho-mas, RWQCBAssistant ExecutiveOfficer, Letter toJerry Gruber,2/9/17.

At the Cambria CSD’s Jan. 19 meeting, in an exchange delicately described by The Cambrian as “testy,” CCSD Board President AmandaRice (right) repeatedly and unsuccessfully tried to rein in General Manager Jerry Gruber (left) as he castigated local resident TinaDickason (below) for reporting CCSD violations to the Water Board. Three weeks later, the Water Board weighed in.

GRUBER: I was notgoing to say anything,but I will, because that’swho I am. Frankly, I justthink it gets really oldwhen Ms. Dickasoncontinues to take pic-tures, send them to Re-gional Water QualityControl Board, andtakes up their staff time,takes up our staff time.She can do whatevershe wants; she’s a pri-vate citizen, but I gottatell ya it wastes a lot ofour time, it wastes atremendous amount ofRegional Water QualityControl Board’s stafftime; they have betterthings to do… it border-lines harassment. Andshe knows it. And I gota call again today fromRegional Water QualityControl Board. Theyhave better things to dothan be Tina Dickason’sservant. And that’s howthey feel. It also dis-credits the district…. I’mgonna have to have asit-down come-to-Jesusmeeting with [the Re-gional Water Board] andlet them know that whenwe’re responding to anemergency situation allover this communityand we didn’t immedi-ately pick up thephone… we work veryclosely with the regula-tory agencies. It makesit difficult if almost notimpossible to continueto have a good healthyrelationship with themwhen we have certainindividuals within thecommunity doing every-thing they can to dispar-age the reputation ofthis district…. Mrs.

Dickason is the reasonJustin Smith left this dis-trict. This is…

RICE: Can we pleasenot…

GRUBER: No…

RICE: Mr. Gruber…

GRUBER: No, I’mgonna…

RICE: Mr. Gruber, this aboard meeting; can weplease not run into theattacking people. It isnot…

GRUBER: She sendspictures to the RegionalBoard, she harasses ourstaff…

RICE Mr. Gruber…

GRUBER: I’m not…

RICE: Mr. Gruber…

GRUBER: She causedour water professional toleave…

RICE: Mr. Gruber, this isnot professional, Mr.Gruber.

GRUBER: Okay, butI’m…

RICE: I understand thefrustration, sir.

GRUBER: It’s not frustra-tion, it’s idiocy. It’s ha-rassment.

Director Michael Thomas,indicate that Gruber’s“Come-to-Jesus meeting”with the Water Board (see“Mr. Gruber...,” below) didnot go as planned:

“CCSD must immedi-ately come into compliancewith their Orders as theyare currently facing a maxi-mum penalty of almost$600,000 for late reportingalone.“Water Board staffconsiders the chronic fail-ure to submit timely reportsand non-compliance withthe requirements of waterquality regulations and theOrders to be serious viola-tions. Failure to come intocompliance subjects CCSDto enforcement actions,including the imposition ofincreasing monetary penal-ties and a potentialissuance of a Cease andDesist Order.”“A violation of a Cali-fornia Water Code section

13267 requirement maysubject the CCSD to civilliability of up to $1,000 perday for each day in whichthe violation occurs. If theWater Board elects to referthe matter to the AttorneyGeneral, the superior courtmay impose civil liabilityfor up to $5,000 per day foreach violation.”

“The CCSD has repeat-edly failed to submit timelyand complete reports, andhas failed to properly com-municate significant issuesassociated with the surfaceimpoundment to WaterBoard staff.”“Potential enforcementactions include issuing aCease and Desist Order

(CDO), recommendingAdministrative CivilLiability, or recommendingrescission of the WDR. ACDO would prevent theCCSD from dischargingbrine to the surface im-poundment and would re-quire removal of anyexisting brine until theCCSD could demonstratecompliance with WaterBoard requirements. Re-scission of the WDR wouldrequire the CCSD to ceasethe discharge of brine to thesurface impoundment per-manently and would requireremoval of all wastefrom the surface impound-ment.”

In language that nearlyburned through the page,and which we can’t recallever seeing a resourcesagency forced to use, Tho-mas took Gruber to task formischaracterizing the WaterBoard’s position on mem-bers of the public reportingenvironmental violations toWater Board staff (left). General Manager Gruberreplied to the notice of vio-lations, as he had two yearspreviously, by again tellingthe Water Board that theCSD is “strongly committedto resolving the issue beforeus” and “I can promise you,things will get better.” Thesame man delivered thesoliloquy at left. Twelve years ago, theCambria CSD threatenedlocal citizens with subpoe-nas and depositions forspeaking publicly against aplan to decimate one of theworld’s rarest stands ofnative Monterey pines witha poorly designed watertank expansion project.CSD board members com-pared their threat of legalaction against members ofthe public to investigatingterrorists. Then they deniedthey had intended to issuesubpoenas. Then futureSLO mayor Jan Marx con-fronted them with theirlegal counsel’s statement tothe Attorney General’s Of-fice affirming the intent ofthe CCSD to issue subpoe-nas to local citizens. (See“A Chill Grows inCambria,” Oct. 2005.) No matter how manytimes the Cambria CSDchanges the name of itsEmergency Water SupplyProject, Advanced WaterTreatment Plant or Sustain-able Water Facility, it seemsunable to change its spots.

Ya lousy snitch! Cambria watchdog Tina Dickason took this photo of unreported flooding of theCambria CSD’s desal brine pond and sent it to the Water Board, enraging the CSD’s general manager.

6 Santa Lucian • March 2017

Dennis Wilson

vegetation-chomping goatsand other domestic critters.Animal damage was minor,compared to human activity.The worst longterm prob-lem that animal grazingcreated around the Med?The close-cropping of veg-etation prevented the regen-eration of forests alreadylost.

Mining activities: that’swhat doomed the forestsprimeval of the Mediterra-nean. That, and the humanpenchant for warfare. Whatwe call the Bronze Agecame about because somebright guy discovered thatcopper could be heated andcombined with tin or ar-senic to make bronze—ideal for making armor,swords, and other aggres-sive gear.

Naturally, bronze proveduseful for a variety of non-lethal objects as well, fromworks of art to kettles todurable currency.

Success at extracting

Polluterscontinued from page 3

silver ore occurred aboutthe same time, with equallydisastrous results. Oaks andconifers disappeared as thedeforestation of mainlandGreece and the islandsrolled on inexorably.

At the ancient Laurionmines near Athens, archae-ologists have calculated that

silver mining wiped out 2.5million acres of native for-est and used over one mil-lion tons of charcoal.

These are terrifying sta-tistics about the ancientGreeks and their contempo-raries. Today’s populationsare paying the price forthose centuries of excessand waste. Cyprus, the is-land named aftercopper, mined itsreddish-goldwealth for millen-nia. Instead of itsoriginal forests, itsarid and largelytreeless lands nowsit on four million

tons of slag from ancientmining.

Deforestation arrivedwith an evil friend callederosion, which did a num-ber on Mediterranean to-pography. Rather than oneenvironmental disaster, theGreeks and other culturesfaced a slow-motion cas-cade of events: Growinglosses in agriculture as goodsoil was lost to runoff;changes in microclimate,due to the disappearance oftrees and vegetation, and afinal blow: more wetlands,widening the spread of ma-laria-carrying mosquitoes.

The Greeks of long agodidn’t have the science tocope with this inexorablecalamity. Although most ofthem thought of nature assacred, they might not havehad the political will towork together on a solution.

We, however, can learnfrom their clear-cut tragedy.But will we?

Here’s to more joyousWomen’s Marches and lessCO2 in our lives.

Azurite

Cyprus and slag.

Our friend Jim Cole passed away last month.For the Santa Lucia Chapter, as for so many in ourcommunity, Jim was a mentor, a leader and achampion of sustainability. He encouraged devel-oping regenerative communities, renewable en-ergy and energy efficiency, as well as organic andpermaculture gardening and gleaning. In all theseendeavors, Jim sought to Awaken the Dreamerwithin all of us. He supported the best in us. In the spring of 2008, Jim and his wife Normaparticipated in the Chapter’s European Smart En-ergy Solutions European tour. The ten Cal Polystudents who participated in that trip throughnorthern Europe to learn about renewable energywere the beneficiaries of Jim’s profound knowl-edge about the scientific and public policy chal-lenges of transitioning to renewable energy. Those same students are now leaders in our SLO

community and across the state, practicing the important lessons Jim taught them. Jimalways presented the facts, surrounded by the larger ethical, spiritual and practical chal-lenges to the implementation of best practices, whether in understanding energy grids,creating a permaculture landscape, or building a resilient local community. His legacy ofleadership and humility will continue to enrich us in the Sierra Club and in communitiesfar beyond.

In Memoriam The Chapter recentlyreceived a generous dona-tion in memory of DennisWilson, a long-time SierraClub member who passedaway on Oct. 10, 2016. Eliane Guillot, Dennis’swife and former chapterExecutive Committeemember and current con-servation committee mem-ber for transportation, re-minded us of Dennis’s loveof hiking. In coordinationwith Eliane, the Chapter isplanning to offer regularhikes and outings that aredesigned to be enjoyable toseniors and to those in ourcommunity who have ex-perienced conditions thatlimit their ability to go onstrenuous, fast-pacedhikes. This might include folkswho have had hip or kneereplacements, chemo-therapy, or other sensitiveconditions. (Of course aperson would want to con-sult with their physicianbefore expanding theirnormal routine of exer-cise.) These hikes will beoffered by a chapter out-ings leader trained inphysical fitness and reha-bilitation, and will offer tips for preparing for hikes, enjoying them to the fullest of one’sabilities, and after-hike recovery. You will find the date for the first hike in this specialoffering in the next Santa Lucian. If this type of outing would be of particular interest toyou, please email the chapter at sierraclub8@gmail.com so we can put you on a specialnotice list.

Jim Cole

But the moment the stood out for me was when MatthewFreedman of The Utility Reform Network, after making along string of questionable statements about CommunityChoice, stated that “the Commission needs to make achoice; is it going to let a thousand flowers bloom and per-mit a customer choice driven market…or does the Statewant to engage in centralized long-term resource planning?” Mr. Freedman’s comments conjured up the classic 1984Apple Computer ad where the dank sepia-toned world of thestate-controlled proletariat worker, blooms into the new fullcolor world of the freed-up creative individual. Based on thepublic comment that followed, people want a thousand flow-ers to bloom. The rapid expansion of Community Choice has createdmany questions about how we generate and deliver electri-cal power in California. Judging by commissioners’ com-ments and questions, the En Banc was a good start, and thatmore education about Community Choice, particularly onthe part of regulatory decision-makers, is needed. The En Banc agenda, background paper, staff presenta-tion, and the video of the entire day can be found atwww.adminmonitor.com/ca/cpuc/en_banc/20170201.

CCAcontinued from page 3

Let’s Win One for the OaksOak tree and ag pond ordinances head to board of supervisors March 21

On February 23, theCounty Planning Commis-sion reviewed the draftordinances protecting oakwoodlands and regulatingthe creation of large agri-cultural storage ponds. Both ordinances weredrafted due to widespreadpublic outrage in the wakeof the clear-cutting of8,000 oak trees on 360acres by Justin Vineyardslast June. (See “Oaks orNo Oaks?,” Jul. 2016), agraphic demonstration ofthe ineffectiveness of theCounty’s voluntary protec-tive measures. The Planning Commis-sion required discretionaryapproval for the removalof any oaks of 48 inches ormore within 500 feet of awoodland. Thinning for thehealth of a woodland shallnot exceed 5% of thecanopy. No clear cuttingwill be permitted on 30%slopes. There are 200,000acres of oaks in the countyin this category. The ordinances now goto the Board of Supervi-sors. Getting real protec-tion for oaks in SLOCounty has been a 20-yearfight. Sierra Club mem-bers must show up andspeak out at the March21 Board of Supervisorshearing if we want oaktrees to be here for ourchildren and grandchil-dren.

Protect California’s coast and ocean and invest in its future by donating to the ProtectOur Coast and Oceans Fund (POCO) on the “Voluntary Contributions” section on yourstate tax form (last page of your California tax return). For TurboTax® users; a page appears that asks “Do you want to donate to a CaliforniaSpecial Fund?” After you click “Yes,” scroll down to find POCO and donate any amountin whole dollars. Your contribution will be felt across California communities in the form of grants help-ing to provide kids with opportunities to experience the coast for themselves, many for thefirst time. Your dollars will also help clean shorelines, restore habitats, and promote beachaccess.

Check the Coast at Tax Time

Why is no one question-ing the outsize role of theFederalist Society in thenomination of Judge NeilGorsuch to the SupremeCourt? For those who careabout the fate of the Earth,the backstory is very trou-bling. Donald Trump reliedon the group to vet his Su-preme Court pick, andJudge Gorsuch is listed asan “expert” on the group’swebsite. Let there be nodoubt: this bodes ill for thefuture of environmental law. The Federalist Society is

a network of lawyers andlaw students who have setout to reshape the Americanlegal system in a conserva-tive mold. In “Ideas withConsequences: The Feder-alist Society and the Con-servative Counterrevolu-tion,” political scientistAmanda Hollis-Bruskychronicles the ascendancyof the group as an incubatorof extremely conservativeideologies, including re-gressive doctrines on guncontrol and campaign fi-nance.

Trump’s Love Affair with Federalist Society Judgesis a Clear and Present Danger to Planet Earth

JUDGES continued on next page

By Pat Gallagher, Director, Sierra Club EnvironmentalLaw Program, The Planet, Feb. 23, 2017

The Federalist Society’santi-environmental agendafinds root in an anti-federal,anti-regulatory ideologypromoted by the group’sfounders. One of thegroup’s founding donorswas the Olin Foundation, anoffshoot of the Olin Corpo-ration, a DDT manufacturer.Olin had numerous environ-mental problems, includinga heap of trouble for con-taminating the town ofSaltville, Virginia, with

Santa Lucian • March 20177

ClassifiedsNext issue deadline is March 16. To get a rate sheet or submit your ad and payment, con-tact: Sierra Club, P.O. Box 15755, San Luis Obispo, CA 93406 or sierraclub8@gmail.com

CYNTHIA HAWLEYATTORNEY

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTIONLAND USE

CIVIL LITIGATION

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

Tell the White House:Designate the Chumash Heritage Na-tional Marine Sanctuary! Go to:

tinyurl.com/CHNMSpetition

Judgescontinued from previous page

TAKE ACTION

toxic mercury pollution. Inher book Dark Money,noted author Jane Mayerdescribes the role of theOlin family in early effortsto promote a conservativeagenda in law schoolsacross the U.S., beginningwith an $18 million dona-tion to Harvard Law Schoolto establish a “law and eco-nomics” program. The group’s relentlessattack on environmentalregulations continues todayin full force. At the Federal-ist Society 2015 annualmeeting, the agenda fo-cused on ways to freeze orundo federal regulations.You know, those peskyrules which limit how muchtoxic pollution a corpora-tion can dump into the airand water, or which protectdrinking water and wildlifefrom fracking. The Federalist Societywould have us believe thatenvironmental protectionshould be left to the states,with little to no interferencefrom the EPA. They forgetthat the failure of states toprotect their air and waterwas what led to federalenvironmental laws in thefirst place. Nor do theyrecognize that roughly halfthe states in the countryhave been downright hostileto environmental regula-

tions, (as evidenced by theirnon-stop litigation againstmost new EPA new rules),and would become environ-mental “sacrifice zones” inthe absence of federal envi-ronmental law. As John O’Grady, thehead of the EPA union, toldE&E News after ScottPruitt’s introductory speech:“Federalism is one thatstuck out like a sore thumb.If we pushed environmentalprotection, environmentalenforcement to the states,how are they going to get itdone?” But what is perhaps mosttelling are the environmen-tal records of two SupremeCourt Justices most identi-fied with the Society –-Clarence Thomas andSamuel Alito -– both ofwhich reveal that these jus-tices invariably rule againstenvironmental protection.Time after time, JusticesThomas and Alito havevoted against laws designedto clean up our air and wa-ter and protect publichealth. In two of the biggestenvironmental cases toreach the Court in recentyears, the two FederalistSociety Justices votedagainst the EPA’s authorityto regulate greenhouse gaspollution and cross-state airpollution (luckily they wereon the losing side bothtimes). It’s as if they neversaw an environmental law

they liked. Judge Gorsuch appearssimilarly inclined: his Fed-eralist Society philosophyincludes a dim view of pub-lic interest litigation. Gor-such penned a 2005 Na-tional Review piece inwhich he concluded that “asRepublicans win presiden-tial and Senate electionsand thus gain increasingcontrol over the judicialappointment and confirma-tion process, the level ofsympathy liberals pushingconstitutional litigation canexpect in the courts maywither over time, leavingthe Left truly out in thecold.” Let there be no doubt thata Supreme Court packedwith Federalist Societyjudges will roll back envi-ronmental laws and undodecades of progress incleaning up our air andwater and conserving wild-life. Hope and pray that thisdoes not happen, as it is thelast thing we need in theface of a climate catastro-phe.

Tell your senators to opposethe nomination of NeilGorsuch to the SupremeCourt. Go to tinyurl.com/nogorsuch

8 Santa Lucian • March 2017Outings 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.

All our hikes and activities are open to all Club members and the general public. Please bring drinking water to all outings andoptionally a lunch. Sturdy footwear is recommended. All phone numbers listed are within area code 805 unless otherwisenoted. Pets are generally not allowed. A parent or responsible adult must accompany children under the age of 18. If you haveany suggestions for hikes or outdoor activities, questions about the Chapter’s outing policies, or would like to be an outingsleader, call Outings Chair Joe Morris, 549-0355. For information on a specific outing, please call the listed outing leader.

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.

(805) 549-0355

Last chance close out!

2017Sierra ClubCalendar

Accept no substitutes. Yourdesk will thank you. Your wallwill thank you. Your friendsand family will thank you. Andwhen you buy direct from theChapter, you support the SierraClub’s conservation work inSan Luis Obispo County. Wethank you.Over 50% off!wall calendar: $13.50 $6.00desk calendar: $14.50 $7.00 To order, call:

805-543-7051

April 2-4 May 7-9 June11-13 July 16-18August 20-22 September24-26 October 22-24

Join us for a 3-day, 3-island,live-aboard cruise toCalifornia’s Channel Is-lands! Hike wild, wind-swept trails bordered withblazing wildflowers. Kayakrugged coastlines. Snorkelin pristine waters teemingwith colorful fish. Swimwith frolicking seals and sealions. Look for unusual seaand land birds. Watch forthe highly endangered is-land fox. Or.....just relax atsea! All cruises depart fromSanta Barbara. The cost,$650, includes an assignedbunk, all meals, snacks andbeverages plus the services

Island Hopping in Channel Islands National Park 2017

of a naturalist-docent as-signed by the nationalpark to help lead hikes,point out items of interestand give evening program.For more informationcontact leader: Joan Jones

Holtz; 626-443-0706;jholtzhln@aol.com. Tomake a reservation send a$100 check, written to Si-erra Club, to leader, 11826The Wye St., El Monte, CA91732.

Wed., Mar. 8th, 10 a.m.Quarry Hill Trekking-Pole Hike. Two-mile hikearound morro to learn andpractice use of trekkingpoles. Meet at the QuarryHill trailhead, off SouthBay Blvd. Take Los Osos/Baywood Park exit fromHwy 1 in Morro Bay, driv-ing 1.4 miles southto trailhead parking lot onleft. Leader: David Georgi,458-5575.

Sat., Mar. 11th, 8:30a.m., Avenales RanchExploration. Explorefront country of ranchalong roads, cow trails,rolling hills, and some-times steep, uneven, andmuddy terrain, then on toAmerican Campground forlunch. Hike is an esti-mated 8 miles, 1500 ft.gain. Bring lunch, water,sturdy hiking shoes, anddress for weather. Meet atPacific Beverage Co. inSanta Margarita. Note:Must RSVP to Leader:Gary Felsman at 473-3694or email. This is not a be-ginner hike. Rain or itsthreat will cancel or movehike to Sunday.

Sat., Mar. 11th, 10:30a.m. Black Hill Trail inMorro Bay State Park.Easy, 2 1/2 mile, 659 ft.gain hike past wildflowers,extra spectacular this year,and ascent to summit withpanoramic views of Morro

Bay, several morros, andcoast. Good for all skilllevels and family-friendly.From Hwy 1 in Morro Bay,take the Los Osos/BaywoodPark exit, going 0.7 milesouth on South Bay Blvd. toState Park Rd and turnright. Bear right 0.1 mileahead at a road fork, head-ing up Park View Drive for.3 mile to a parking pullouton left. Leader: Jan Secord,602-0403. Asst.: DavidGeorgi.

Sat., Mar. 18th, 7:30 a.m.McPherson Peak Hike.Strenuous, eleven-mile,2300 ft. gain hike to top ofMcPherson Peak, at 5,749ft, one of the higher ones inthe Sierra Madre Rangeand with views of SanRafael Wilderness andCuyama Valley. Startingearly due to 85-miledistance of trailhead fromSLO. Contact leader if pre-fer to meet at Halcyon exitcommuter parking lot inArroyo Grande on east sideof highway at beginning ofRt. 166 east. Poison oaklikely along trail. Bringsturdy hiking shoes, suffi-cient food and water, andappropriate clothes to go onan all-day excursion. Meetat Santa Rosa Park in SLO.Note: Need to call Leader:Carlos Diaz Saavedra, 546-0317, beforehand if youplan to go or arrangeto meet enroute. Rain post-pones to a future date.

Sun., Mar. 26th, 2 p.m.Historic Walk of OldTempleton. One of theprettiest and best preservedOld West towns in the state,Templeton charms visitorswith its century-old store-fronts, former saloons, Vic-torian houses and twochurches built in the 1880s.Step into its past on aguided walk to learn thestories of the early pioneers.Duration about 1 1/2 hrs.Directions: from Hwy 101north, take Main St. exitinto town, going one mile tocorner of Main and First.Leader; Joe Morris, 549-0355.

Wed., Mar. 29th, 10:30-noon. Jim Green TrailHike in Atascadero. Joinus on an easy 1.7 mile looparound Chalk Mountaingolf course through oakforests and meadows. Di-rections: from Hwy 101,take Curbaril exit inAtascadero, then going eastone mile to Cortez Ave.Turn rt. for 0.3 mile andmeet at the Jim Greentrailhead parking lot. Nodogs please on this hike.Leader: Debbie Roller, 610-0458.

Sat., Apr. 1st, 8 a.m.Machesna WildernessHike. Join us on a strenu-ous, 12-15 mile hike, 2400to 3000 ft gain, from theAmerican Canyon Camp-ground to the pond, then

over to Machesna Mountaincutoff and down the Coyotehole to descent. Bringlunch, plenty of water,snacks, and dress for chang-ing weather. Meet at Pa-cific Beverage Co., SantaMargarita. Advance Reser-vation Required. This is nota beginner hike. Plan to beout all day. Contact Leader:Gary Felsman, 473-3694.

Fri., Apr. 7th—Sun, Apr.9th Carrizo Plains CarCamping and Hiking.Don’t miss out on a spec-tacular year for wildflowers,joining us for car campingor just making the longdrive for a day. For camp-ing, meet on Friday at 6p.m. for tentative stay atKCL or Selby camps, withrest-rooms, picnic tables,and fire rings. These sitesare first-come-first-serve,no reservations. Must bringyour own food and water, asit may not be available.Since vehicles are not al-lowed right at campsite, ashort walk from car will benecessary. For Saturdayhike, meet at visitors centerat 9 a.m. for a strenuous,twelve-mile, 600 ft. gainexploratory hike. Need tocall leader beforehand foreither day hike or camping:Carlos Saavedra, 546-0317for further instructions anddirections. Rain will post-pone trip to a laterweekend.

Join the People’s Climate Movement on April 29 to stand up for our communities andclimate. This is a local version of the historic march that will be happening in Washington,D.C., and across the country. SLO People’s Climate March is being organized in partnership with the Sierra ClubSanta Lucia Chapter, SLO Surfrider, SLO Progressives, Northern Chumash Tribal Counciland Others. More information about this event coming soon. Go to https://peoples climate.org.

On April 29, We March forClimate, Jobs and Justice

When they go, they’re gone.