Download pdf - Santa Lucian • February 2012 Santa LucianSanta Lucian • February 2012 1 Don’t Miss the deadline for your high shool’s Sierra Club Eco-Grant: Feb. 14 - see page 3 The official

Santa Lucian • February 20121

Don’t Miss

the deadline for yourhigh shool’s Sierra

Club Eco-Grant:

Feb. 14

- see page 3

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 eEco-grants 3

Bite marks on the CPUC 4

Our winning loss at the dunes 7

Cambria: move on 8

Great party! 9

Classifieds 11

Outings 12

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100% post-consumer recycled paper with

soy-based inks

February 2012Volume 49 No. 2

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

Help get yourright to knowon the ballot

Eat Food? Sign Here

It’s time to requirethe labeling ofgenetically modifiedfoods. Polls show thatmore than 80 percentof California voterswant to know if theirfood was producedusing genetic engi-neering –potatoesaltered with bacteriagenes, corn altered toproduce pesticide,“super” pigs alteredwith human growthgenes, tomatoesaltered with fishgenes, fish alteredwith cattle growthgenes, etc.

Act to the State Attorney General forcirculation as an initiative measure.Proponents have until April 12 toobtain the 504,760 valid signaturesneeded to qualify the initiative for theNovember ballot. Of course, the industry-backedgroups that will be making argumentsagainst informing consumers and in

favor of ignorance won’t put it thatway. Locally, we may see an attemptto re-fight the battle over Measure Q,the 2004 ballot initiative that soughtto ban the cultivation of geneticallyengineered crops in SLO County. Butthis initiative simply seeks thelabeling of genetically engineeredfoods, aka genetically modifiedorganisms (GMOs), so pulling out oldarguments about taking away theright of farmers to choose to plantgenetically engineered corn orsoybeans won’t apply. This is aboutyour right to choose what you put inyour body. You may hear arguments about theburdensome costs to industry oflabeling (probably referred to as a“tax.”) Since consumer labeling is along established, non-burdensomepractice, this, too, won’t be much ofan argument. You’ll hear the argument that thereis simply no need to label GMOsbecause they are perfectly safe. Butfifty countries, including China, Japanand the entire European Union,require the labeling of geneticallyengineered food. The United Statescontinues to allow GMOs to be soldunlabeled, with the determination oftheir safety left up to the manufac-turer and no toxicology testing by theFood and Drug Administration —essentially the largest ongoing scienceexperiment in history, being con-ducted without the consent of theexperimental subjects and despite the

Look for this When you see this sign outside your favorite grocery store over the next two months, sign up! But in the nearfuture, you maysuddenly start hearingarguments against your right to knowwhat you’re eating. That’s because the Committee forthe Right to Know, a grassrootscoalition of consumer, public healthand environmental organizations andfood companies in California, hassubmitted the California Right toKnow Genetically Engineered Food

EAT FOOD? continued on page 5

We Move to Amend!

On January 21, 2010, with its rulingin Citizens United v. Federal ElectionCommission, the Supreme Courtruled that corporations are persons,entitled by the U.S. Constitution tobuy elections and run our govern-ment. But human beings are people; cor-porations are legal fictions. Move To Amend of San LuisObispo County is a registered affiliate

group of the national Move To Amendorganization. We, the People of theUnited States of America, rejectCitizens United and move to amendour Constitution to firmly establishthat money is not speech, and thathuman beings, not corporations, arepersons entitled to constitutionalrights. The goal of MTA-SLOCo is to raiseour community’s awareness of thisissue and help gather support for theResolution to Amend. We are looking for motivated peopleto join us as we begin to get the MTAmessage out to the community.Volunteers will be needed to help usput on events, man tables at variouslocations (Farmer’s Markets, grocerystores, etc), distribute flyers, andother activities. If you would like tobe put on our volunteers list, pleasecontact [email protected] [email protected].

by Gary Steinmann, Move to Amend of San Luis Obispo County

2


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Santa Lucian

EDITOR

Melody DeMerittThomas A. CyrSteven MarxEDITORIAL BOARD

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 93406.

[email protected]

Santa Lucia Chapter

2012 Executive Committee Greg McMillan

CHAIR

Pat Veesart VICE CHAIRLinda Seeley

SECRETARY

Patrick McGibney

MEMBER

Lindi Doud

MEMBER

Jono Kinkade

MEMBER

Vacant

MEMBER

Cal French COUNCIL OF CLUB LEADERSSteven Marx TREASURER

Committee ChairsPolitical Chuck TribbeyConservation vacantMembership 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]

Andrew [email protected]

[email protected]

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

The Executive Committee meetsthe third Monday of every monthat 5:30 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 Yvonne Yip - events & social networking

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

Denny MynattPRINT MEDIA COORDINATOR

Truth andConsequences

Donate to the Peter DouglasCoastal Fellowship Fund

The Peter Douglas Coastal Fellowship Fund has been established to pro-mote public service and cultivate the next generation of coastal stewards inCalifornia as a tribute to Peter’s legacy of environmental leadership in thestate. Funds will be used to place a diverse group of talented individuals inmentored fellowships at the California Coastal Commission. Peter Douglas has been the California Coastal Commission’s third andlongest-serving Executive Director. He was a key player in the drafting andpassage of Proposition 20 (the Coastal Initiative) in 1972, as well as theCalifornia Coastal Act of 1976, which created the Coastal Commission. He hasguided its implementation ever since. Peter retired from his position asExecutive Director in November 2011 for health reasons. The Monterey Bay Sanctuary Foundation administers the fund on behalf ofthe California Coastal Commission, as a nonprofit partner. Peter is a devout believer in Joseph Campbell’s advice that the way to liveone’s life is to follow your bliss. His bliss, as well as his passion and avocationare and will continue to be environmental stewardship. During his 34-yeartenure at the Coastal Commission, Peter earned the love, respect and loyaltyof his staff, and has served as an inspiration to environmental advocates andstewards statewide and beyond. Peter’s commitment and vision for theCalifornia coast as a precious and irreplaceable resource for everyone hasnever wavered. When asked if he had any idea when he started out what sort of a legacy hewould create for the people of California, his reply was “Absolutely not. Inever thought about it. I just thought it was noble work, and I wanted tomake a difference.” Donate on line at www.mbnmsf.org/pages/supportus.html. You may alsogive by mail or phone: The Monterey Bay Sanctuary Foundation,299 Foam Street, Suite D, Monterey, CA 93940. Telephone: 831-647-4209.

Coming CleanThe blog of Sierra Club Executive DirectorMichael Brune

It’s another warm, dry, sunny day here in SanFrancisco today. Highs might hit 70 degrees.Temperatures are in the 80s in Los Angeles,with a high of 90 in Fullerton. It’s January 5. Has the weather been weird where you are,too? Too hot? Too wet? Not wet enough? Our family was eagerly anticipating aholiday trip to the slopes of the Sierra Nevada. No one was more excited thanmy son, Sebastian, who was all set to buckle on his first pair of skis. Onlyproblem: Nothing to ski on except man-made snow thinly spread over whatthe locals half seriously refer to as “Sierra cement.” Not ideal conditions for athree-year-old just learning to find his ski legs. Turns out we would have had about as much luck finding snow on theFourth of July. This has been the fourth-driest July-December in the northernSierra Nevada since 1923. We’re not ready to start panicking just yet, butthere’s a lot more at stake than Sebastian’s first ski lesson. California relies onthe Sierra snowpack for two-thirds of its water supply. You could argue that this record dry spell in Northern California is a fluke.It’s still early in the season, so I certainly wouldn’t hold it up as proof of globalclimate disruption. What’s harder to dismiss, though, is the pattern of extremeweather — and disasters — that’s emerging around the planet. Globally, the summer of 2011 was the third hottest on record. In the U.S., itwas our second hottest summer ever. The ratio of record-high-temperaturedays to record-low-temperature days across the U.S. was 2.8 to 1. From 2000to 2009, that ratio was about 2 to 1. From the 1950s through the 1970s, it wascloser to even, but from the 1980s on, each decade has had an ever-greaterproportion of record hot days. Unfortunately, extreme weather has grave consequences. Last year the worldexperienced an unprecedented number of weather-related disasters. Texassuffered a devastating drought that killed as many as half a million treesand reduced the state’s cattle herd by 12 percent — more than at any timesince the Great Depression. On the other side of the planet, the failure of theseasonal rains in East Africa led to tragic drought and famine that took thelives of an estimated 30,000 children under the age of five. Meanwhile,Thailand, Australia, Colombia, and Brazil all experienced floods that wereeither the deadliest or the most costly natural disasters in their histories. The U.S. had major floods, too, but most of our weather-related naturaldisasters involved tornadoes and other storms. Iowa was just one of theMidwestern states that had heightened tornado activity, including a series oftwisters in May that destroyed two-thirds of Joplin, MO, and killed 161 people. Still, even though Iowa got off relatively lightly in terms of extreme weatherlast year, it suffered an influx of extreme candidates during its Republicancaucus. Not a single candidate there was ready to talk seriously about climatedisruption, carbon pollution, or the importance of moving beyond fossil fuels.They are impervious to data. Most of them won’t even admit that globalwarming is an established truth — including the governor of the state thatjust experienced not just its own hottest summer, but the hottest summer ofany state ever. That’s almost as weird (and at least as scary) as the weather.


A comment to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in supportof the proposed termination of the Southern Sea OtterTranslocation Program — an end to the “No-Otter” Zone

Rachel JacobsonActing Assistant SecretaryU.S. Fish and Wildlife Service4401 N. Fairfax Dr. MS 2042 – PDMArlington, VA 22203

RE: Termination of the Southern Sea Otter Translocation Program - SUPPORT

Dear US Fish and Wildlife Service Leadership and Staff:

Thank you for the opportunity to comment on the Final Revised Draft Supple-mental Environmental Impact Statement (DSEIS) on the translocationprogram for southern sea otters. We would like to thank you for your hardwork and leadership to help recover the southern sea otter population alongCalifornia’s coast. In the past, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) conveneda new Recovery Team, adopted a new Recovery Plan, published a Final StockAssessment Report, and a Revised DSEIS. Most notably, the USFWS hasreleased a Proposed Rule and the Final Revised DSEIS proposing to end thetranslocation program and allow sea otters already in the management zone toremain there. The USFWS has demonstrated remarkable leadership in comingto this decision. Thank you. On behalf of The Otter Project, a nonprofit organization dedicated to therecovery of the California sea otter and near shore ocean health, Ocean Conser-vancy, Save Our Shores, The Marine Mammal Center, Oceana, and the SantaLucia Chapter of the Sierra Club, we respectfully submit the following com-ments in support of the Proposed Rule and Alternative 3C (Preferred Alterna-tive) of the USFWS Revised Draft Supplemental Environmental Impact State-ment (DSEIS) for the southern sea otter translocation program. Alternative 3C(Preferred Alternative) declares the translocation program and managementzone a failure, removes all associated management actions, terminates theprogram, and allows otters residing within the translocation and/or manage-ment zones to remain there. We applaud the USFWS for identifying Alternative 3C as the preferredalternative and strongly urge you to adopt this alternative and terminate thetranslocation program. The translocation program failed to meet its statedpurpose to aid in the recovery and management of the southern sea otter to asustainable population and delisting under the Endangered Species Act. Thiswas to be accomplished by establishing southern sea otter populations in oneor more areas within their historical habitat, thereby minimizing the possibilitythat a single natural or human-caused catastrophe, such as an oil spill, couldadversely affect a significant portion of the population. The translocation of sea otters to San Nicolas Island has not resulted in anestablished population sufficient to repopulate the southern area of the otters’historic range should a catastrophic event affect the central coast mainlandpopulation. Maintenance of the management zone has proven to be challengingand poses greater risks to sea otters removed from the management zone, aswell as to sea otters in the parent population upon reintroduction which mayprevent recovery of the species. The USFWS has put forth six potential actions for consideration taking intoaccount the failure of the translocation program to meet its original objective.It is our strong opinion that Alternative 3C is the only action that maximizesthe likelihood of recovery of the southern sea otter to a healthy and sustainablepopulation level. It is also the alternative that will most likely achieve restora-tion of the marine ecosystem to a similar state that existed prior to sea otterseradication from the region. Specifically, Alternative 3C: • Fully restores protections under the Endangered Species Act by removingthe exemption that allows incidental take of sea otters in the management andtranslocation zones, maximizing protection from incidents due to humaninteractions. • Permanently ends efforts to capture and remove sea otters from the man-agement and translocation zones, eliminating associated increased mortalityrisks and minimizing potential social disruption and competition for resourcesby reintroducing San Nicolas Island sea otters to the parent population. • Allows sea otters unrestrained access to reclaim their historic rangemaximizing the potential for natural population growth and range expansion,which are necessary for achieving the USFWS recovery and management goals. • Allows sea otters to resume their role as a keystone species, restoring thekelp forest ecosystems and thus enhancing ecosystem productivity andbiodiversity. This will result in improved recreational opportunities for finfishfishermen, divers, photographers, and other consumptive and non-consump-tive recreational users. It will also benefit commercial finfish fisheries whosetarget species use kelp forest ecosystems as habitat and nursery areas. We acknowledge that Alternative 3C may have unfavorable effects on somecommercial fisheries, but we believe the benefits gained by a greater segmentof the public, and the overall positive impacts to the marine ecosystem of thesouthern California coast outweigh the marginal impacts.In summary, Alternative 3C is the only alternative that fully supports recoveryand management goals and eventual delisting of the southern sea otter.Furthermore, it is the only alternative that provides significant positive benefitsto the southern sea otter population, the southern California marine ecosys-tem, and the people of California and the nation. We strongly urge the USFWSto adopt Alternative 3C terminating the program.

Thank you very much for your consideration.

Sincerely,

C. Bradley Hunt, Program Manager, The Otter ProjectKaitilin Gaffney, Pacific Program Director, Ocean ConservancyLaura Kasa, Executive Director, Save Our ShoresDr. Jeff Boehm, Executive Director, The Marine Mammal CenterDr. Geoffrey Shester, California Program Director, OceanaAndrew Christie, Director, Santa Lucia Chapter of the Sierra Club

In 2012, the Santa Lucia chapter ofthe Sierra Club is awarding eco-grants up to a maximum of $350 topublic and private high schoolsin SLO County for students’ groupenvironmental projects. The applica-tion process has beenkept deliberately simple. The deadline for application isTuesday, February 14th. Applicationsreceived after that date will be con-sidered if funds are still availableafter the initial round of awards. Recipients will be notified and fundsavailable by March 1st. The funds support specialprojects—ones that have not alreadybeen done routinely—that demon-strably benefit the local environment and/or environmental aware-ness and need support for success. Projects must be administered by afaculty member, who is also theprimary author of the application(below). Funds will be payable to theschool (or district, if preferred). Substantial involvement from atleast five or more students in carrying

Our 2012 High School Eco-GrantsProgram is Accepting Applications

ECO-GRANT APPLICATION Please include the following information: Part I: Identifying DataName of high school and street address.Name of faculty sponsor, email address, and phone.Description of student group (e.g., an academic class or earth club) who woulddo the project. Part II: Project Description (500 words or less)Describe the nature of project and how it might benefit the environment or awareness.Describe the materials needed and their specific costs and budget.Describe how project will be carried out: the student and faculty activities. CRITERIA FOR ACCEPTANCE OF PROPOSALSOn-time submission and clarity/specificity of the application.Benefit to the environment and/or awareness.Efficiency in use of funds (e.g., use of student-made rather than purchased materials; fundraising to partially offset costs).Level and breadth of student involvement.Demonstration of environmental understanding and creativity.

Applications and inquiries should be directed to Joe Morris, Chapter OutingsChair, at [email protected]. Phone: 805-772-1875.

The winners The Morro Bay High School Environmental Club won a Sierra Club Eco-Grantlast year to build a compost/vermiculture bin for the school garden that could accommodatefood waste from the cafeteria.

out the project is expected. Studentinvolvement in its design is a plus. A high school may submit severalproject proposals, but usually onlyone from each school can be funded,to maximize the number of schoolsable to participate. Proposals can come from anyacademic area, any level from 9ththrough 12th grades, or from astudent group recognized within theschool. They can take place oncampus or in the community. A brief progress report (1-2 typedpages) is asked about the implemen-tation of the project, submittedby June 1st. Projects should becompleted by the end of the Springsemester or substantial progressmade by that time. Contributions to the eco-grant fundare derived solely from individualcontributions and are tax-deductible.Send a check made out to “TheSierra Club Foundation,” with “SantaLucia Chapter eco-grants” on thememo line, to Sierra Club, P.O. Box15755, San Luis Obispo, CA 93406.

More winners The Atascadero Greenhounds at the May 2011 Sierra Club meeting.

4


Nuclear WatchdogGrows More Teeth

By Bill McKibbenTomDispatch.com, January 7, 2012

As he showed with the ongoing dispute over the Keystone XL pipeline, when hesets his mind to it, Bill McKibben has a way of making us take another look atthe previously accepted and acceptable.

My resolution for 2012 is to be naïve — dangerously naïve. I’m aware that the usual recipe for political effectiveness is just the opposite:to be cynical, calculating, an insider. But if you think, as I do, that we needdeep change in this country, then cynicism is a sucker’s bet. Try as hard as youcan, you’re never going to be as cynical as the corporations and the harem ofpoliticians they pay for. It’s like trying to outchant a Buddhist monastery. Here’s my case in point, one of a thousand stories people working for socialchange could tell: All last fall, most of the environmental movement, including350.org, the group I helped found, waged a fight against the planned KeystoneXL pipeline that would bring some of the dirtiest energy on the planet fromCanada through the U.S. to the Gulf Coast. We waged our struggle againstbuilding it out in the open, presenting scientific argument, holding demonstra-tions, and attending hearings. We sent 1,253 people to jail in the largest civildisobedience action in a generation. Meanwhile, more than half a millionAmericans offered public comments against the pipeline, the most on anyenergy project in the nation’s history. And what do you know? We won a small victory in November, when PresidentObama agreed that, before he could give the project a thumbs-up or -down, itneeded another year of careful review. (The previous version of that review, asoverseen by the State Department, had been little short of a crony capitalistfarce.) Given that James Hansen, the government’s premier climate scientist,had said that tapping Canada’s tar sands for that pipeline would, in the end,essentially mean “game over for the climate,” that seemed an eminentlyreasonable course to follow, even if it was also eminently political. A few weeks later, however, Congress decided it wanted to take up thequestion. In the process, the issue went from out in the open to behind closeddoors in money-filled rooms. Within days, and after only a couple of hours ofhearings that barely mentioned the key scientific questions or the dangersinvolved, the House of Representatives voted 234-194 to force a quicker reviewof the pipeline. Later, the House attached its demand to the must-pass payrolltax cut. That was an obvious pre-election year attempt to put the president on thespot. Environmentalists are at least hopeful that the White House will nowreject the permit. After all, its communications director said that the rider, byhurrying the decision, “virtually guarantees that the pipeline will not beapproved.” As important as the vote total in the House, however, was another number:within minutes of the vote, Oil Change International had calculated that the234 Congressional representatives who voted aye had received $42 million incampaign contributions from the fossil-fuel industry; the 193 nays, $8 million.

Buying CongressI know that cynics — call them realists, if you prefer — will be completelyunsurprised by that. Which is precisely the problem. We’ve reached the point where we’re unfazed by things that should shake usto the core. So, just for a moment, be naïve and consider what really happenedin that vote: the people’s representatives who happen to have taken the bulk ofthe money from those energy companies promptly voted on behalf of theirinterests. They weren’t weighing science or the national interest; they weren’t balanc-ing present benefits against future costs. Instead of doing the work of legisla-tors, that is, they were acting like employees. Forget the idea that they’republic servants; the truth is that, in every way that matters, they work forExxon and its kin. They should, by rights, wear logos on their lapels likeNASCAR drivers. If you find this too harsh, think about how obligated you feel when someonegives you something. Did you get a Christmas present last month from some-one you hadn’t remembered to buy one for? Are you going to send them anextra-special one next year? And that’s for a pair of socks. Speaker of the House John Boehner, whoinsisted that the Keystone approval decision be speeded up, has gotten$1,111,080 from the fossil-fuel industry during his tenure. His Senate counter-part Mitch McConnell, who shepherded the bill through his chamber, has rakedin $1,277,208 in the course of his tenure in Washington. If someone had helped your career to the tune of a million dollars, wouldn’tyou feel in their debt? I would. I get somewhat less than that from my em-ployer, Middlebury College, and yet I bleed Panther blue. Don’t ask me tocompare my school with, say, Dartmouth unless you want a biased answer,because that’s what you’ll get. Which is fine — I am an employee. But you’d be a fool to let me referee the homecoming football game. In fact,in any other walk of life we wouldn’t think twice before concluding that payingoff the referees is wrong. If the Patriots make the Super Bowl, everyone inAmerica would be outraged to see owner Robert Kraft trot out to midfieldbefore the game and hand a $1,000 bill to each of the linesmen and fieldjudges. If he did it secretly, the newspaper reporter who uncovered the scandalwould win a Pulitzer. But a political reporter who bothered to point out

The Alliance for Nuclear Responsi-bility has retained veteran energypolicy leader John Geesman as legalcounsel in their proceedings beforethe California Public Utilities Com-mission (CPUC). Geesman’s long career in energypolicy includes a term as executivedirector of the California EnergyCommission (CEC) during JerryBrown’s first term as governor,serving as a commissioner on theCEC and chair of the California PowerExchange. He was a prominentopponent of PG&E’s Proposition 16,which went down to defeat in 2010(see Geesman’s article “Peter Darbee’sDog of an Initiative” in the April 2010Santa Lucian). The Alliance is intervening inPG&E’s request for $64 million inratepayer funding for seismic studiesat Diablo Canyon—an increase of$47 million over their initial proposal.Questions have been raised regardingnot only the cost but the merits of thescope of the study. “The fact that theCPUC staff could recently rubber-stamp Southern California Edison’sproposed seismic studies for the SanOnofre nuclear plant without reviewby any seismic experts shows what

Bruno gas explosion and revelationsabout the CPUC and PG&E’s negli-gent oversight are justifiably magni-fied when addressing California’saging—and seismically vulnerable—nuclear reactors. “San Bruno wastragic,” said Alliance outreachcoordinator David Weisman, “SanBruno plus radiation would becatastrophic.” On January 23, the CPUC’s Indepen-dent Peer Review Panel held its first“public” meeting, with less than tendays notice. It was obvious to all inthe room that PG&E was running themeeting. Geesman attended the hap-hazard meeting and afterward fired offa letter to CPUC Executive DirectorPaul Clennon detailing the severedeficiencies he’d witnessed there,noting CPUC staff’s obvious unfamil-iarity with the requirements of theBagley-Keene Open Meetings Act andthat “their failure to properly advisethe IPRP members thereof requiresimmediate correction.” Geesman finds a worthy ally in theAlliance. “More than any otherorganizations working on nuclearissues, A4NR is focused on forcing theCalifornia government to do its job,”he said. “I want to help them do that.”

Rochelle Becker, execu-tive director of the Allianceand chair of the SantaLucia Chapter’s DiabloCanyon Task Force, isequally enthusiastic aboutthe partnership, saying,“Nobody finds the dry rotin our regulatory systemmore effectively than JohnGeesman, and it is anhonor to have him repre-sent us.” Testimony and hearingsfor PG&E’s seismicfunding case at the CPUCget under way this month.

Woof! The Alliance for Nuclear Responsibility’s Rochelle Becker and DavidWeisman at a California Public Utilities Commission hearing.

Now on Facebook

search: “Santa Lucia”

and become our friend!

we’re up against,”said Geesman. The CPUC hasfailed to hire asingle seismolo-gist, even thoughit was directed toindependentlyreview DiabloCanyon and SanOnofre seismicstudies beforeseeking licenserenewal. The concernsthat arose in thewake of the San On point Geesman.

Time to Stop BeingCynical AboutCorporate Moneyin Politics andStart Being Angry

GET ANGRY continued on page 10

John Geesman to lead Alliance for Nuclear Responsibility’s legalintervention at CPUC seismic hearings


By John Stephens, Redwood ChapterRedwood Needles, Dec. 2011

Two thousand miles north of here,in the quiet, wind swept waters of theArctic, the gregarious talkative whitewhales are exhibiting breast cancer.The decline of Beluga Whales isattributed in large part to Polychlori-nated biphenyls (PCBs) being concen-trated in their tissues through bio-accumulation. PCBs are extremelypersistent and accumulate in livingorganisms, from microbes to humanbreast milk. Many studies have foundconfirmed that human breast milkhas four to ten times the amount ofPCBs than in the mothers’ blood. PCBs have been linked to lower IQlevels in children and cancer of thebiliary tract, breast, cervical, liver anduterus. Due to PCBs’ toxicity, produc-tion was banned by the United StatesCongress in 1979 and by the Stock-holm Convention on PersistentOrganic Pollutants in 2001. However,they continued to be allowed in thiscountry for “totally enclosed uses”such as closed system transformersand capacitors. In certain “failuremodes or out-of-specification condi-tions” such as high voltage spikes, thedevices can leak, catch fire, orexplode. PCBs were widely used indielectric fluids as a coolant forelectric motors, capacitors, andtransformers. They are present in oldrefrigerator compressors and fluores-cent ballasts, and utility pole trans-formers. In the early 1970s, the NewYork State Department of Environ-mental Conservation found that PCBsleaking from transformers and hadcontaminated the soil at the bottomof utility poles. Exposure to PCBs comes frommainly eating contaminated food likefish, meat, and dairy products but alsorepairing damaged equipment andliving next to contaminated sites canalso put people at risk. I rememberrepairing old leaking PCB-containingtransformers with my bare hands. Last week I sat bolt upright out ofbed with a realization. A few years agoa Pacific Gas & Electric step-downpole-mounted transformer explodednext door to my house on MinahenStreet in Napa. The entire block lostits electrical service. The neighborreported it to PG&E and a crewpromptly removed the transformerand replaced it with a new unit. Thecrew did not clean up the PCB lacedoil that had sprayed on the sidewalk,the asphalt street, or the dirt aroundthe pole. Some of the material washeddown into the storm drain that yearand the rest soaked into the concrete,asphalt, and dirt. It is still there. Since this is a persistent contami-nant and there was apparently nomandatory protocol to follow requir-ing environmental remediation, I fileda formal complaint form at theCalifornia Department of ToxicSubstances Control website describ-ing the incident. Protocols need to be

mounting evidence of adverseenvironmental and health effects. That experiment is being conducteddespite sharp dissent with the FDA’sposition that there is essentially nodifference between GMOs andconventional crops and therefore noneed for extensive testing – a dissentcoming from the Union of ConcernedScientists, the UK Medical ResearchCouncil, the Royal Society of Canada,the American Academy of Environ-mental Medicine and the FDA’s ownscientists. The doctrine of substantial equiva-lence, specifically the “no furthertesting required” version of it, was inlarge part the brainchild of oneMichael R. Taylor, a former lawyer forMonsanto, the world’s largest pro-ducer of genetically engineered seedsand herbicides for the crops grownfrom them. In 1991, Taylor became adeputy commissioner at the FDAlong enough to have geneticallyengineered foods declared “substan-tially equivalent” to their conven-tional counterparts, thereby sparinghis former employer the expense and

hassle of the lengthy testing that isnormally required for new foodproducts. Having thus securedbillions of dollars in profit for Mon-santo by allowing their products to berushed to market, Taylor returned tothe company, where he was named avice president. (In his latest passthrough the regulatory revolvingdoor, Taylor returned to the FDA in2009, where he now presides as thenation’s food safety czar.) Obviously, action at the federal levelon labeling genetically engineeredfood is unlikely. Federal labelinglegislation has been before Congresssince 1999. It has failed to pass. State governments have likewisefailed. GMO labeling bills launched inSacramento and in fourteen otherstates have died, testimony to thepower of the ag biotech industry andits lobbyists. California’s ballot initiative processwas designed for situations just likethis, as a tool that allows the voters toimplement the will of the people andgo around the entrenched moneyinterests when those interests haveparalyzed our legislature. In the last year, the USDA approved

five new GMO crops from Monsanto.In December, the Obama administra-tion quietly approved two brand newMonsanto GMO seeds. That’s why,when you are approached by someonewith a clip board at a farmers marketor outside a grocery store and asked ifyou would like to sign a petition toput the California Right to KnowGenetically Engineered Food Act onthe ballot, you should say yes. Wedon’t have time to wait to ensure thesafety of food for California families. Petitions will also be available at theSierra Club office at 974 Santa RosaStreet in SLO any weekday fromFebruary 20 through April 6, between1 and 5 p.m. You can also sign up fortraining in gathering signatures bycontacting [email protected] more information and read thetext of the initiative at www.labelgmos.org. The industry will fight thisinitiative primarily because they knowthat ideas that start in California tendto spread. Let’s make that Happen.Now is the time to send a strong,direct message to those who governus that we want genetically engi-neered foods labeled.

Eat food?continued from page 1

ExplodingTransformers

PCBs continued on page 9

6


Taking Issueproblematic environmental coverage & commentary in our local media

“Building on Cerrito Peak: A novel experience,” by Dan Reddell, The Tribune, Dec. 29, 2011.

Summary: Even though the Morro Bay City Council majority voted to hand him a development permitdespite obvious deficiencies in his project’s environmental review and apparent conflicts with the city’s LocalCoastal Plan, the owner of a residential lot on top of Morro Bay’s Cerrito Peak claimed his property rightswere in danger and he was being persecuted by the public in his efforts to build a large house and 400-foot-long driveway on an archaeological site, in the midst of environmentally sensitive habitat. (All responsesbelow are drawn from a Dec. 13, 2011, letterto the Morro Bay City Council from theCalifornia Coastal Commission)

Upshot: City councils are not obligated to cover thebets of developers who buy lots and then hope they canfind a way to build large projects on inappropriate sites,or demand public coffers be drained to purchase theland at jacked-up prices in order to preserve it. Havingto follow the same rules governing land use as every body else is not a “property rights” issue.

I found a contractor…and hedesigned a 3,200-square-foothome for us that would blendinto the neighborhood.

“It appearsthe City hasneglected toinsure thesacred siteis protected,as required by the LCP [Local CoastalPlan]…. In addition, it appears that the Cityhas not explored options for avoidingdevelopment on the site, as required by LCPPolicy 4.07.”

“For such asignificantsite, theapplicationshouldinclude

visual simulations showing the proposedproject from several vantage points, as wellas a story pole analysis that includesphotographs of story poles taken from

public locations.”

I had hired the bestexperts to studyeverything. Theyanswered everyquestion asked bythe city and providedproof that we werefollowing every rule.

“Surveys mustbe conductedby biologistswith formaltraining inavian biology,significant fieldexperience inraptor surveytechniques, anddemonstrated ability to accurately identifylocal species under a variety of conditions.”

I welcome all of you to come andvisit. You have my permission towalk all over the property. I’ll evenshow you where I want to build.

“The City shouldrequire an updatedbutterfly surveyconducted at theappropriate time ofyear to inform the

determination as to where ESHA [EnvironmentallySensitive Habitat Area] for monarch butterflies islocated…. The project must be sited and designed tominimize any impacts on adjacent ESHA includingthe impacts caused by placing residence and humanactivity in close proximity to wildlife habitat.Because the City has not made a determination as towhether the site contains ESHA, and has notidentified such ESHA on a map, it appears the Citydoes not have the necessary information to evaluate

the project for consistency with the certified LCP.”

“Ruining butterflyhabitat” is aboutthe 30 trees out of350 that have tobe cut.

Here’s the original headline on this story when itran in the Contra Costa Times: “California energy report says state can slash greenhouse gases by another 80 percent.”

And here’s the headline on the Electric Light & Power website: “Electricity called key to reaching state climate goals.”

“Get more nuclear plants to meet climate goals, state told,” by MikeTaugher, Contra Costa Times, printed in The Tribune Nov. 29, 2011.

Summary: A story about different energy paths California can take to cut green-house gas emissions turned into something else when it got to The Tribune.

Get more nuclear plants to meet climate goals, state told

When we contacted Dr. Torn andbrought the Tribune’s take on thisstory to her attention, she said “Iwas not advocating buildingnuclear power plants. The articlelooks at four approaches togenerating low-carbon sources ofelectricity: Renewable energy,nuclear, Fossil+ CCS, and a‘balanced’ case of all three. Onecould pursue RE + some fossil-CCS and reach the same goal withno nuclear. I happened to mention

the nuclear example to give a sense ofthe infrastructure challenge.”

UPSHOT: In addition to theproblems spotlighted since Fukushima,nuclear power is the most expensive wayever devised to generate electricity. TheRocky Mountain Institute, under the aegisof chief scientist Amory Lovins, one of theworld’s leading authorities on energy, hasintroduced “Reinventing Fire: ProfitableSolutions to Climate, Oil, and Prolifera-tion,” as a plan built on 27 years ofmapping pathways for running a 2050U.S. economy 158 percent larger thantoday’s but with no oil, no coal, nonuclear energy, one-third less natural gas,at a $5 trillion lower net cost. The plan isbacked up by quantitative analysis,offering a vision to help catalyze innova-tive policies.

The equivalent of up totwo nuclear powerplants would have to bebuilt each year betweennow and 2050 to meetthe growing electricitydemand, said one of thestudy’s co-authors,Margaret S. Torn, abiogeochemist at theLawrence BerkeleyNational Laboratory.

and in the Woodland, CA, Daily Democrat: “Energy report calls for more alternative power sources across California.”

and in the Miami Herald: “Study: Californians must make big shift to electric power to meet long-term energy goals.”

The title of the study that was the subject of the article: “The Technology Path to DeepGreenhouse Gas Emissions Cuts by 2050: The Pivotal Role of Electricity.”

House Republicanleaders said Mondaythat their objection wasnot to the tax cut itself,but to the temporarynature of the fix.

Multiple anti-environmentalriders wereattached to 2011end-of-the-yearspendingbills. One of theRepublican ridersthat held up the

“House GOP refuses to budge on payroll tax,” New York Times, printed in The

Tribune, Dec. 20, 2011.

Summary: At the end of 2011, House Republicans threatened to reject a deal toextend the payroll tax cut and unemployment benefits. Most of the media didn’t botherreporting the reason: the push to gut environmental regulations and fatten the profits ofBig Oil and major polluters.

payroll tax cut extender bill required the President todecide the fate of the controversial Keystone XL pipelinewithin 60 days, despite the fact that environmentalreview would take at least a year. Another rider sought to kill health safeguards for toxicpollutants from industrial boilers and incinerators — some of the largest industrial sourcesof toxic air pollutants such as mercury and arsenic. On January 22, House Speaker JohnBoehner told Chris Wallace on Fox News Sunday that Congressional Republicans may --again -- hold the next payroll tax cut extension hostage to the effort to force approval ofthe Keystone XL Pipeline. (Now forgotten: the previous alleged concern over the length ofthe tax cut.)

UPSHOT: The environmental community did an excellent job of fighting backsome of the most egregious anti-environmental riders on the appropriation bills andcontinuing resolutions that passed Congress last year. The job done by the media inreporting the fights over those bills and what was really at stake: not so hot.


Upshot: Organizations with “green” names that put up websites touting industry-funded studies and the corporateline on environmental and public health issues — and choose not to identify themselves or provide contact informa-tion — are known as “Astroturf.” Like individuals who fail to disclose the nature and extent of their involvement withan industry when testifying at public hearings, they suffer from an acute lack of credibility and don’t help their causewith bald misstatements of easily verified facts.

“Court sinks Sierra Club Dunes suit,” by David Sneed, The Tribune, Jan. 11, 2012.

Summary: In ruling against us in the appeal of our lawsuit Sierra Club v. CADept. of Parks, the court allegedly said the land use policy that bars off-road vehiclesfrom the 584 acres of County-owned land in the Oceano Dunes, one-third of theOceano Dunes State Vehicular Recreation Area, can never be implemented.

Presumptions are perhaps not the bestfoundations for court rulings. An appellatecourt judge in Ventura – who has likely nevertaken his life in his hands by trying to walk onthe beach at the Oceano Dunes State Vehicu-lar Recreation Area to test his “best interest ofeveryone” thesis — may be forgiven formisapprehending the web of political tensionsthat defines the relationship among the California Coastal Commission, the County, and theCalifornia Department of Parks as concerns the Oceano Dunes. But taken at face value, this judicialpresumption actually upholds the argument of the Sierra Club: the Coastal Commission, the Countyand State Parks agreed to the provisions of our Local Coastal Plan in 1984. The presumption is thatState Parks was supposed to implement those provisions.

A state Court of Appeals on Monday upheld aSan Luis Obispo Superior Court decision thatit is too late to review a coastal developmentpermit issued in 1982 that allows off-highwayvehicles on a 584-acre, county-owned parcel,called the La Grande Tract, within the park.

And here’s the rest of the story. The court noted – “somewhatironically” – that it is also “too early” to compel State Parks toconform to the 28-year-old Local Coastal Plan (LCP) require-ment to ban vehicles from the County-owned parcel. The courtinsisted in recasting the basis of our appeal – the need for StateParks to abide by the terms of the LCP in its management ofOceano Dunes – into a challenge to the Coastal DevelopmentPermit for the ODSVRA. The permit, issued in 1982, was silent on the specificissue of off-road vehicles on the County-owned land parcel in the dunes. TheLCP, certified in 1984, explicitly banned vehicles on the County’s land.

The Sierra Club had sued State Parks, arguing that theLa Grande Tract is classified as a buffer area by SanLuis Obispo County’s local coastal plan, and is, there-fore, a non-vehicle area. Both courts ruled that StateParks is under no obligation to amend its generaldevelopment plan to reflect this designation.

The key word missing at the end of the lastsentence is “yet.” We argued, and theSuperior Court agreed, that State Parks“will need to comply with the dictates of theCounty General Plan and LCP.” The courtsaid that an administrative action, such asan LCP amendment, is needed to trigger theexplicit requirement in the County’s LCPthat “the [Oceano Dunes] General Development Plan (GDP) shall be revised in accordancewith the Local Coastal Plan.” In other words, the County land in the OSVRA must becomewhat the LCP designated to be, a buffer from the riding area… someday.

Summary: The weekend before the January 11 vote on whether to banenvironmentally destructive plastic bags in retail stores countywide, residentsreceived a robo-call from the “Environmental Safety Alliance” inviting them toa “telephone town hall” on the alleged public health threat of reusable bags.One of the two doctors who hosted the town hall was quickly exposed as adoctor of musical arts. The other, Dr. Andre Feliz, M.D., came to the Jan. 11meeting of the Integrated Waste Management Authority to testify.

“San Luis Obispo County Bans Plastic Bags,” by Environmental Safety Alliance, Jan. 12, 2012.

“The industry maintains a list ofdoctors and scientists it can call onto defend the safety of its products.Virtually all of them are paidconsultants. Asked if he canproduce even one independent scientist to refute any of the recent studies [on theharmful effects of fire retardant chemicals], industry P.R. man Seth Jacobson comesup with Andre Feliz of the University of California, Davis. In a phone interview,Feliz, an M.D. now working on a postdoc, discussed the role of fire retardants inreducing fire fatalities and made an impassioned plea to keep them on the market.But Feliz also acknowledged that, while he had not yet taken any industry money,he was in the process of applying to the major manufacturers to fund his lab. Suchsponsorship, he said, would also help him win a federal grant.”

- “The poison crib: When protective chemicals harm. Scientists have newevidence of the dangers of flame retardants and their potential damage,

especially on kids,” By Sheila Kaplan, Salon.com, Jun. 10, 2010.

No one wasdenied theopportunityto speak. Dr.Feliz wasallotted threeminutes, likeeveryone

else at the hearingwho requested thesame.

Sensingdefeat justbefore thevote wastaken,IWMA boardmemberJohn Hamon

of the Paso Robles City Council de-ployed the parliamentary maneuver ofcalling for a “super vote,” whichrequires a super majority, not just asimple majority, to pass a measure.The ordinance promptly passed with asuper majority.

After first denying him theopportunity to speak, theboard finally permitted himone-and-a-half minutes. Weat ESA are disappointed inthe IWMA’s attempt to limitpublic input.

The Environmental Safety Alliance’sDr. Andre Feliz was on hand to testifyto the possible risk to public health ofreusable bags.

The controversialmeasure passedby an 8 to 5 vote,the minimumnumber neededto pass.

The Supervisors balked because the Sierra Clubinformed the County Planning Commission of the LaGrande Tract’s “buffer” designation (a fact whichCounty planners had conveniently failed to tell thecommissioners, while deleting every reference to itfrom cited coastal policies) at the hearing that wassupposed to formally approve the sale of the land. The off-roaders filed an appeal of thePlanning Commission’s determination that the sale would be inconsistent with Countyland use policies. We prevailed at the Board of Supervisors and sank the sale.

Upshot: As courtroom losses go, this is onewe’re happy to take in view of what we wonover the four-year saga of clashing duneslawsuits – and what the off-roaders lost. Thesale of the County land to State Parks, whichwas proceeding on greased wheels, wasscotched. The legal argument that the LCP canbe ignored as mere “local regulation” that doesnot apply to the Oceano Dunes has been struckdown and can never again be raised in court.The status quo of a forgotten LCP “buffer”provision that was fated to be ignored foreverno longer holds. The table has been set.

“The presumption is that the CoastalCommission, the county and StateParks have weighed the competinginterests and are acting in the bestinterest of everyone,” the judges’ rulingconcluded.

State Parks offered to buy the LaGrande Tract in 2007, but theCounty Board of Supervisorsbalked.

8


On the eve of the South CarolinaRepublican primary, Sierra Club’sVoter Education Fund released “Whenthe Puppets Came to Town,” a parodyof the Newt Gingrich SuperPAC ad,“When Mitt Romney Came to Town,”and the latest video release for theClub’s Real Republicans project. The project includes a series of

by UCANR NEWS

A University of California wildliferesearch team working in the SierraNevada is asking the public to donateclean, gently used socks for researchon a rare weasel called the Pacificfisher. Data being collected by UC scien-tists about the movements, habitatpreferences and survival of fishers inthe southern Sierra Nevada will beused to aid the multiple agencies,academic institutions, environmentalgroups, and mountain residents whoare working together to ensure thatlong-term wildland managementpromotes forest health, wildfirecontrol and wildlife conservation. The team is part of the SierraNevada Adaptive Management Project(SNAMP), which is examining theeffects of forest thinning, as currentlydone by the U.S. Forest Service out ofconcern for excessive fire risk. But what kind of research could gothrough hundreds of socks a month? After years of experimentation, theresearch team has determined thatsocks are the ideal receptacle forhanging fisher bait in trees. Thebaited socks are hung in trees in viewof motion-activated cameras. As theanimal moves, climbing the tree andchewing on the sock, the cameratakes photos that allow the sci-entists to identify the species. The researchers are going through250 pairs a month, at a considerablecost, to create the “chicken in a sock”bait stations to survey the distributionof Pacific fishers in a 500-square-milearea of forest near Bass Lake. Besides the cost, Rick Sweitzer, UCBerkeley wildlife biologist and projectleader, is spending time in the Wal-Mart checkout line with a cart full ofsocks when he could be doingresearch. The scientists don’t need new socks;they would prefer old, unmatched,non-holey ones, something everyonehas cluttering up their sock drawers. In an effort to reduce, reuse andrecycle, the SNAMP wildlife researchteam is putting out a call for lost andlonely socks. Socks may be deliveredor mailed to 40799 Elliott Dr., Oak-hurst CA 93644. For more information, contact AnneLombardo at [email protected]. To read moreabout the research project visit theSNAMP website at http://snamp.cnr.berkeley.edu.

San Luis Obispo Botanical Gardenwill host a presentation on wildmushrooms on Saturday, February11, from 1 to 2pm. Join local photographer andmycologist Dennis Sheridan for adiscussion on commonly seenmushrooms in our area, the role ofmushrooms as decomposers, and thebeneficial mycorrhizal fungi relation-ships mushrooms have with plants.Bring your questions and mushroomsfor identification. This is a child (andadult) friendly talk, and there will behands-on mushrooms to admire atthe end of the talk, followed by amushroom walk through the Garden. Dennis Sheridan is a professionalphotographer and mycologist who hastraveled worldwide and is published inmany journals and textbooks. Hegraduated from Cal Poly Pomona in1973 with a degree in biology, special-izing in entomology. He moved toMorro Bay in 1974 and began a careerin photography, concentrating onnative wildlife, as well as fungi,lichens, insects, wildflowers andCalifornia scenery. He currently livesin Los Osos. Dennis shares his enthusiasm fornature with students of all ages, andregularly teaches about nature andbiology. He is dedicated to preservingthe native habitat. He may be con-tacted at [email protected]. Admission is $5 for members/$10non-members. For more information,contact Kristina Van Wert at (805)541-1400 ext 305 or [email protected].

At the December 9 meeting of theCalifornia Coastal Commission in SanFrancisco, Cambria CommunityServices District Engineer RobertGresens stepped to the microphoneand attempted to defend the proposalto drill desalination test wells onSanta Rosa State Beach. The SantaRosa Creek estuary is also a StateNatural Preserve, and part of CambriaState Marine Park and the MontereyBay National Marine Sanctuary. Gresens tried to “put in context”five years of failed attempts by theCCSD to assess the suitability ofCambria’s beaches for a desalinationwater supply project: “The Army Corps [of Engineers] andCambria CSD need to do what’s calledan EIR/EIS for a water supplyproject,” he said. “We don’t necessar-ily know what that water supplyproject is at this point, whether it’sdesal or something else, quite frankly.So to do that, they need to gatherdata to define the alternatives thatwill be analyzed.” Coastal Commission staff knewbetter, and immediately refutedGresens’ “we don’t necessarily know”gambit, replying “Staff fully expectthat the Commission will see aproposal for a desal facility rather

Mushrooms inthe Garden

UC Wildlife Research Team Seeks Single Socks

FFFFFootwootwootwootwootwear in the Neear in the Neear in the Neear in the Neear in the Newswswswsws

The Sock is on the Other Foot

Sierra Club Releases “When the Puppets Came to Town”

than just water supply options. Lastyear, in September, the Corps issuedtwo contracts that specifically are forenvironmental analysis for a desalina-tion facility, and a design for adesalination facility…. The Corps’construction list for projects in 2013includes the Cambria desalinationfacility.” It was not the first time the CCSDhad tried and failed to get away with astrategy of deliberate vagueness at theCoastal Commission. In 2006, theCCSD had proposed conducting

geophysical surveys at San SimeonState Beach. The Coastal Commissionnoted that the District’s plan violatedCoastal Act provisions for publicaccess, environmentally sensitivehabitat areas, marine biologicalresources, visual resources, etc. TheCCSD coyly withheld informationabout plans to build a desal facility inthe vicinity if the test wells producedthe desired results. Commissionerscommented that the location wasunacceptable for a desalination plant,the siting and construction of which

was the obvious goal of the surveyproject. For that and other reasons,many of which were to be heard againfive years later when the CCSD triedagain at another state beach, that wasthat: Permit denied. The CCSD asked for a reconsidera-tion of the Commission’s denial,frantically offering to provide infor-mation about the plans for the desalplant which they had chosen not todisclose. As reconsideration of a

Thud & BlunderAfter twice running afoul of coastal laws, will the Cambria CSD finally take the hint on desal?

BLUNDER continued on page 10

Republicans project seeks to educatevoters about the records of the 2012GOP presidential candidates byhighlighting their extreme positionson public health and other issues ofcritical importance to the Americanpeople, and encourage the public tofind out more about the candidatesand their positions on these issues.

videos featuring thecandidates’ actual wordscoming from the mouthsof corporate sockpuppets uncannilydesigned in their like-nesses. Multiple videosfrom the project are onview at realrepubs.com. For the 2012 cam-paign, the “Real Republi-cans” project representsthe first major effort byan environmentalorganization to fightback against the streamof misinformation scape-goating clean air, cleanwater, and public healthsafeguards and theagencies that implementthem. New videos andinitiatives will belaunched throughout theprimary campaign. The Sierra Club VoterEducation Fund’s Real


Bike Month 2010 ImageDesign CompetitionYou can design the 2012 Bike Month logo

San Luis Obispo RegionalRideshare invites artists,designers and communitymembers to submit works forthe 3rd Annual Bike MonthImage Design Competition. Bike Month, a local celebra-tion occurring annually eachMay, encourages the use ofbicycle transportation througha variety of free communityevents. The winning designwill act as a guiding forcebehind the 2012 Bike Monthvision and bicycling festivities,encouraging San Luis ObispoCounty to spend more time inthe bike lane and less timebehind the steering wheel. How the contest works: The Image Design Competition is open to anyone interested in representingthe new year of bicycle celebrations. The winning image/artwork will serve asthe logo for Bike Month 2012 and be featured on all promotional collateral(posters, flyers, T-shirts) and advertisements. The creator of the winning imagewill be awarded $300 for their design and offered a contract to complete thedevelopment of all other promotional materials. Participants must submit their designs to Rideshare by 5 p.m., Friday,February 10th. All eligible submissions will then be reviewed and the top fiveposted online at www.rideshare.org/bikemonth2012 for a public vote. Votingwill remain active until 12 p.m., Monday, February 20th, and the winnerannounced Wednesday, February 22nd. For more information on Bike Month and contest guidelines please visitwww.rideshare.org/bikemonth2012. SLO Regional Rideshare is dedicated to reducing the number of singleoccupant vehicles on San Luis Obispo’s roads and highways, conserving fuel,reducing air pollution and making it easier for commuters to get to work orschool. A division of the San Luis Obispo Council of Governments (SLOCOG),SLO Regional Rideshare shows employers the value of transportation benefitsand customizes programs to meet a company’s unique needs.

PCBscontinued from page 5

by Shirley Goetz

After a series of unfor-tunate incidents at theAvila Beach CommunityCenter and some inten-sive public educationefforts by the Sierra Cluband Audubon (see “Don’tMess with the Nests,”June 2011), it looks likethe word is out in Avila infavor of the cliff swallows! Rather than knockingnests down during nestingseason and risking finesfor violating the federalMigratory Bird Treaty Act,people are respondingduring the seasonal downtime and installing

Swallows Getting Respect in Avila

followed in cleaning up the toxic spillsby maintenance crews resulting fromtransformer leakage, a search of pastPG&E repair orders of leaking orexploding transformers should beconducted, and perform testing andremedial actions of these past toxicspills. The Redwood Chapter of the SierraClub is asking the public to file aformal complaint of any past leakingor exploding pole mounted utilitytransformers near or at their homesor places of businesses, , no matterhow long ago, to the CaliforniaDepartment of Toxic SubstancesControl website www.dtsc.ca.gov/database/CalEPA_Complaint. Please keep alert and pass the word.The singing giants of the north seasdeserve better.

2012 Chapter Executive Committee Seated

repeatedly failed to install preventivenetting. I have been a witness to oneresident, along with several friends,after dusk destroying a completednest with live chicks inside. I willattempt to contact the homeownerwith information on netting installa-tion, swallows and the law. Meanwhile, the SLO Food 4 Less

continues to showus all the wrong wayto do it. Birds findtheir way insidegaps in the netting,become trapped, andmake a desperateand fatal attempt toescape, trying toforce head and body

My gripe is that the birds, aftermanagement sees they’re trapped, arenot released. I realize the netting isin place to prevent the birds fromnesting or pooping on patrons of thestore, but in the event of birds gettinginside the netting, they are left to dieand rot in the nets. They decompose,and bones and feathers fall throughthe netting onto the sidewalk. I wish they would show morecompassion and let the birds out. Ihave complained several times to thestore management, but my com-plaints have fallen on deaf ears. Toosad.

through the tinyholes and ultimatelystarving or chokingto death.

Yay! Way to go, Avila Lighthouse Suites.

Nay! Not cool, Food 4 Less.

netting to deter swallows frombuilding nests. Kudos to AvilaLighthouse Suites Resort for theirinstallation of netting on their belltower, and to an apartment complexon Laurel Lane, which graciouslyallowed the swallows to completetheir nesting season and successfullyraise their young before installingnetting. Elsewhere intown, however,the visibleoutlines ofcompleted nestson the walls ofhomes areevidence that theswallows haverepeatedlyattempted to nestin an area and thehomeowner has

The votes are in for our 2012 Chapter ExCom election. Welcome to PatrickMcGibney and Lindi Doud, elected to 3-year terms, filling the seats of termed-out departing members Cal French and Steven Marx, who leave with ourgrateful thanks for their many yearsof service. Equal thanks to formerChapter chair Melody DeMeritt, whostepped down in January. Welcome tonew Chair Greg McMillan. TheExCom will appoint a member to fillthe currently vacant seventh seat.

Our Annual fund-raising Celebration of Environmental Literature, Music andArt at SLO’s King David Masonic Temple was a smash. Attendees were held raptby readings of two of our region’s most distinguished authors, Vicki Leon andCatherine Ryan Hyde, the cello and guitar virtuosity of Barbara Lee and AndrewHealy, and a presentation on plein air painting by Douglas Stenhouse. In addition to the incredible canvasses by Mr. Stenhouse and his fellowpainters as highlighted in our January issue, which made the event a visualdelight, we like to thank the businesses and individuals whose donations ofgoods and services made our silent auction and dinner a success – includingthe local wineries who kept spirits high by keeping the spirits flowing:

Apple FarmArcane LongboardsArt’s CycleryAnam Cre’ pottery studioCambria Bike OutfittersPhilip ChristieChronic CellarsChumash CasinoEarth Mama MassageEcoBambinoEdna Valley WineryCal & Letty FrenchFrom War to PeaceFull Spectrum – Evan SylvesterAshley GibsonBrian & Chantel HotovecHouse of Bread

Thank You for Celebrating

HumanKind Fair TradeStarr JenkinsLED Lite DistrictVicki LeonPaul McCloskeyMeridian VineyardsOutspoken Coffee ShopJohanna RubbaSLO Veg.comSplash CaféStephen Ross Wine CellarsSweet Earth ChocolatesTrader Joe’sWhalebone WineryIsaac WollmanZumer Sport

Taking the stage Vicki Leon prepares to read from “4000 Years of Uppity Women.”

10


2011 Crop Grass Fed BeefEstate Grown Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Available Now-Delivery AvailablePlease Get in Touch For More Information

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805-238-4820 [email protected]

Boehner’s and McConnell’s payoffswould be upbraided by her editor forsimpleminded journalism. That’s howthe game is played and we’ve allbought into it, even if only to sputterin hopeless outrage. Far from showing any shame, thebig players boast about it: the U.S.Chamber of Commerce, front outfitfor a consortium of corporations, hasbragged on its website aboutoutspending everyone in Washington,which is easy to do when Chevron,Goldman Sachs, and News Corp arewriting you seven-figure checks.This really matters. The Chamber ofCommerce spent more money on the2010 elections than the Republicanand Democratic National Committeescombined, and 94% of those dollarswent to climate-change deniers. Thathelps explain why the House votedlast year to say that global warmingisn’t real. It also explains why “our” represen-tatives vote, year in and year out, forbillions of dollars worth of subsidiesfor fossil-fuel companies. If there wasever an industry that didn’t needsubsidies, it would be this one: theymake more money each year than anyenterprise in the history of money.Not only that, but we’ve known howto burn coal for 300 years and oil for200. Those subsidies are simply payoffs.Companies give small gifts to legisla-tors, and in return get large onesback, and we’re the ones who areactually paying.

Whose Money? Whose Washington? I don’t want to be hopelessly naïve. Iwant to be hopefully naïve. It wouldbe relatively easy to change this: youcould provide public financing forcampaigns instead of letting corpora-tions pay. It’s the equivalent of havingthe National Football League hirereferees instead of asking the teams toprovide them. Public financing of campaignswould cost a little money, butendlessly less than paying for thepresents these guys give their mas-ters. And it would let you watchwhat was happening in Washingtonwithout feeling as disgusted. Evenlegislators, once they got the hang ofit, might enjoy neither raising moneynor having to pretend it doesn’t affectthem.

To make this happen, however, wemay have to change the Constitution,as we’ve done 27 times before. Thistime, we’d need to specify that corpo-rations aren’t people, that money isn’tspeech, and that it doesn’t abridge theFirst Amendment to tell people theycan’t spend whatever they wantgetting elected. Winning a changelike that would require hard politicalorganizing, since big banks and bigoil companies and big drug-makerswill surely rally to protect theirprivilege. Still, there’s a chance. The Occupymovement opened the door to thissort of change by reminding us allthat the system is rigged, that itsoutcomes are unfair, that there’sreason to think people from acrossthe political spectrum are tired ofwhat we’ve got, and that gettingangry and acting on that anger in thepolitical arena is what being a citizenis all about. It’s fertile ground for action. Afterall, Congress’s approval rating is nowat 9%, which is another way of sayingthat everyone who’s not a lobbyisthates them and what they’re doing.The big boys are, of course, countingon us simmering down; they’recounting on us being cynical, onfiguring there’s no hope or benefit infighting city hall. But if we’re naïveenough to demand a country morelike the one we were promised in highschool civics class, then we have ashot. A good time to take an initial standcomes later this month, when ralliesoutside every federal courthouse willmark the second anniversary of theCitizens United decision. That’s theone where the Supreme Court ruledthat corporations had the right tospend whatever they wanted oncampaigns. To me, that decision was, in essence,corporate America saying, “We’re notgoing to bother pretending any more.This country belongs to us.” We need to say, loud and clear:“Sorry. Time to give it back.”

Bill McKibben is Schumann Distin-guished Scholar at MiddleburyCollege, founder of the global climatecampaign 350.org, a TomDispatchregular, and the author, mostrecently, of Eaarth: Making a Life on aTough New Planet.

© 2012 TomDispatch. All rights reserved.View this story online at: http://www.tomdispatch.com/blog/175485/

Get Angrycontinued from page 1

Coastal Commission vote generallyoccurs only when new informationhas come to light that was not knownto the applicant at the time of theoriginal hearing, their request wasdenied. Then the CCSD went rogue. In2008, the District conducted ground-penetrating radar studies at SantaRosa State Beach — “without neces-sary Coastal Development Permits orlandowner approvals,” as noted byCoastal Commission staff – andtransferred responsibility for theproject to the U.S. Army Corps ofEngineers. This maneuver took the project outof the Coastal Commission’s statepermit jurisdiction, but the Commis-sion could still render judgment onwhether the project is consistent withCalifornia’s Coastal ManagementProgram and the policies of theCoastal Act. On December 9, in a unanimous

vote, they determined that it’s not. Commissioner Jana Zimmer saidshe was “concerned about theexplanation the District gave; that weneed this test data to see if this isgoing to be a feasible alternative toinclude in an environmental docu-ment. If I were spending the taxpay-ers’ money on a very expensive andimportant project, I’d be looking atwhether the site is infeasible forenvironmental reasons from the get-go. So I think the thinking’s a littlebit reversed.” Commission Chair MaryShallenberger took offense at theCCSD/Army Corps of Engineersswitcheroo, which “really smells ofgoing around the system.” Commis-sioner Steve Blank was alarmed at theprecedent of other communities

potentially trying the same trick, andthe prospect of the Army Corpsmarching up and down the coast withfull-scale desalination plants, allsuddenly outside of the CoastalCommission’s permitting authorityand ability to protect the coast fromthe projects’ environmental impacts. Commissioner Esther Sanchez tookup the theme of the project as “acomplete waste of public funds” andnoted the “avoidance of properprocedure” to gain a permit. The Commission having found theproposed project to be inconsistentwith state coastal law, the Army Corpsof Engineers may elect to proceedwith the project regardless, at whichpoint the Commission would have theoption of either requesting mediationfrom the National Oceanic andAtmospheric Administration or takinglegal action. The Cambria CSD has blazed a long,expensive trail of failure in itsattempts to plow ahead with desalina-tion as the solution to Cambria’swater woes. In view of that record, welook forward to the CCSD’s promisedserious consideration of other optionsto maintain a secure water supply forCambria. As we pointed out in 2008 when theCCSD issued its draft ProgramEnvironmental Impact Report forCambria’s Water Master Plan —which made no attempt at objectivityin exalting desal over all other watersupply options — water recycling andlocal, smaller scale, less expensive,easier-to-permit projects could bedesigned to do the job. The CCSD should also check out the2009 report “Making Every DropWork: Increasing Water Efficiency inCalifornia’s Commercial, Industrialand Institutional Sector,” available online from the Natural ResourcesDefense Council.

How high?

From the 2011 study, The LastDrop: Climate Change and theSouthwest Water Crisis, by theStockholm Environment Insti-tute, Somerville, MA.

The technology for desalinationexists and has been extensivelytested in other countries,particularly in the Middle East.Unfortunately, desalination isexpensive and energy-intensive,and disposal of salt wastes posesenvironmental concerns. A 1997 State of California studycontrasted the existing cost ofwater deliveries ($195 to $300per acre foot) to the expectedprice of desalination ($1,300 to$2,200). In 2008, the nation’sfirst large-scale ocean desalina-tion plant came on-line in TampaBay, Florida, generating 25million gallons of freshwaterevery day. But the project wasyears behind schedule and manymillions of dollars over budget,problems that also seem to be onthe horizon for planned SanFrancisco/Marin County and SanDiego desalination plants.Owners of the San Diego plant –still in the planning stages aftermore than a decade – have statedan intention to sell water for$950 per acre foot (comparedwith $700 per acre foot com-monly paid by local agencies,according to the Wall StreetJournal). Tampa Bay sells itsdesalinated water for $1,100 peracre foot, but outside analyseshave estimated the true costs ofproducing water at $1,500 peracre foot for Tampa Bay, $2,600for San Diego, and $2,700 for SanFrancisco/Marin County. Pricesthis high call into question theaffordability of desalination incomparison to other methods ofbalancing the Southwest’s wateruse with its water supply.

Blundercontinued from page 8 Commissioner Sanchez called the CCSD’s

proposed project “a complete waste of

public funds.”


ClassifiedsNext issue deadline is February 14.

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

Hold Your Water“Slow it, sink it, spread it” is themantra of enlightened water managerswho know that water works best whenit stays on the land where it falls. Now that mantra can be yours, too,along with healthier soils, happierwildlife, and reductions in your waterbill, thanks to the tips and techniquesin Rainwater Management for LowImpact Development, a publication ofthe Appropriate Technology Coalition --SLO Green Build, the Santa Lucia

Chapter of theSierra Club andthe SurfriderFoundation,available for $10postage paid,while supplieslast. Mail yourcheck to SierraClub, P.O. Box15755, SLO93406.

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. Please bring drinking waterto all outings and optionally a lunch. Sturdy footwear is recommended. All phone numbers listed are withinarea code 805 unless otherwise noted. Pets are generally not allowed. A parent or responsible adult mustaccompany children under the age of 18. If you have any suggestions for hikes or outdoor activities, ques-tions about the Chapter’s outing policies, or would like to be an outings leader, call Outings Chair Joe Morris,772-1875. For information on a specific outing, please call the listed outing leader.

Outings Sponsored by other organizations

Sweet Springs Nature Preserve. The Audubon Society, which manages SweetSprings Nature Preserve in Los Osos, needs volunteers on the second Saturdayof the month from 9-12 a.m. to help with watering, weeding, planting, etc. Infoat www.morro coastaudubon.org.

Ventana Wilderness Alliance Trail Crew OpportunitiesVolunteers are needed for work in the Ventana and Silverpeak Wilderness Wilderness Areas. Trail crew leader [email protected].

May 6-8, July 8-10, September 9-11.Explore the wild, windswept islands of Channel Island National Park.Enjoy the frolicking seals and sea lions. Train your binoculars on raresea and land birds. Hike trails bordered by blankets of wildflowers andplants found in no other place on earth. Kayak or snorkel the pristinewaters— or just relax at sea. All tours depart from Santa Barbara aboardthe 68’ twin diesel Truth. $590 fee includes an assigned bunk, all meals,snacks, beverages, and the services of a ranger/naturalist who will travelwith us to lead hikes, call attention to items of interest and presentevening programs. Proceeds will go to benefit Sierra Club California’spolitical programs. To make a reservation, mail a $100 check, payable toSierra Club to leader Joan Jones Holtz, 11826 The Wye St., El Monte,CA 91732. Contact leader for more information, 626-443-0706;[email protected].

Island Hopping in Channel Islands National Park -- 3-Day, Live-Aboard, Multi-Island Cruises

Sat., Feb. 4th, 9 a.m. Southern BigSur Coastal Hike Exploring theSilver Peak Wilderness. Explore VillaCreek and Alder Creek Drainage on 9-mile moderately strenuous hike with2,400 foot elevation gain and loss. Wewill start out on the Cruikshank Trailto Upper Cruikshank Camp, headnorth on Buckeye Trail crossing VillaCreek, then climb to the ridge topabove Alder Creek for a wonderfulview and lunch. We expect to see earlyspring flowers. Bring lunch, water,non-slip hiking shoes and be preparedfor varying weather conditions. Meetat the Washburn Day Use Area, SanSimeon State Park about 1.5 milenorth of Cambria. SLO carpoolersleave from Santa Rosa Park at 8:10a.m. Info.: Gary at (805)473-3694.Rain or threat of rain cancels.

Sat., Feb. 11th, 9 a.m., West CuestaRidge Hike. Hike to top of WestCuesta Ridge from Stenner Creek. Ascent follows Shooters trail,traverses ridge to Sargent CypressBotanical Area, then down alongMorning Glory trail to starting point.This is a moderately strenuous 8-milehike, with 2000-foot elevation gain.Meet at the Cal Poly Ropes CourseParking Area, about 2 miles upStenner Creek Road, off Hwy 1, abouta mile from Foothill Blvd (goingtowards Morro Bay). Bring adequatewater, snacks, and dress in layers forthe weather. Hat and sturdy shoes areadvised. Info: Bill at (805) 459-2103, [email protected]. Theplants, animals, and the geology ofthe area will be topics during thehike. Rain cancels.

Sat., Feb. 11th, 10 a.m. GuadalupeBeach Hike. Walk down a pris-tine beach, learning about its historyand adapted vegetation,

then past historic dunes to MusselRock. 5 1/2-mile round trip, durationabout 3 hours. Bring water, picniclunch, windbreaker, and hat. Op-tional lunch afterwards at restaurantin quaint, historic Guadalupe. TakeMain St. (Guadalupe) exit off Hwy101, continuing on West Main St.through park to road end. Raincancels. Info.: Andrea Ortiz, 934-2792. Asst.: Joe Morris.

Sun. Feb. 12th, 10 a.m. JohnsonRanch. PoleCats is dedicated toleading local Sierra Club day hikesand modeling the benefits of usingtrekking poles. Hike is 2.2 miles/150feet elevation change. Trailheadlocated just after Lower Higuera goesunder Highway 101 and becomesOntario Road. Confirm with DavidGeorgi at 458-5575 or [email protected] forupcomingactivities.Bipedswelcome.

Sun. Feb.12th, 1 p.m.Guided Walkof Mission-Era San LuisObispo. Doyou knowwhere SLO’sfirst doctorlived, thelocation ofthe “hangingtree,” or thebuilding thatmay be theoldest in thestate? Findout andmuch moreon an easy

stroll past the Mission, adobes, andold Chinatown. Hear stories of theearly days of SLO, the Chumash, andits Gold-Rush pioneers, famous andinfamous. Families welcome. Meet atNW corner of Monterey and Osos Sts. Leader: Joe Morris, 772-1875.

Sat-Mon, Feb 18th-20th - Exploreand Serve in the Grass Valley Wilder-ness. Slightly east and south ofRidgecrest, CA, the Grass Valley Wil-derness was created in 1994. Itfeatures rolling hills and a few higherrock outcroppings. As it is no longeravailable for grazing, we will join agroup of college age SCA interns inremoving old fence poles and disguis-ing an illegal road. Saturday andSunday are for work, and Monday,President’s Day, will be reserved tohike and explore the Wilderness. This

is an opportu-nity tocombinecarcamping,dayhiking,exploring, andservice in arelativelyunknownwilderness. Leader: CraigDeutsche,310-477-6670,[email protected]. CNRCC DesertCommittee.

Sat., Feb.25th, 10a.m. Archi-tecture’sGraveyard,Cal Poly. Easy, 2-mile

roundtrip hike into scenic Cal PolyCanyon to ex-plore the creativestructures built by past students,duration about 1 1/2 hrs. Meet at H4Parking lot, corner of N. PerimeterRd. and Village Dr. Bring water,sturdy shoes, and dress in layers forthe weather. Rain or threat of raincancels. Info: Stuart Weickgenant,760-519-8080 Asst.: Joe Morris.

Sun. Feb. 26th, 10 a.m., Islay HillOpen Space. PoleCats is dedicated toleading local Sierra Club day hikesand modeling the benefits of usingtrekking poles — 1 mile/400 feetelevation change. Join us for a hikewith spectacular views of Edna Valleyto the south and morros to the north.From Broad, go east on Tank Farm,turn right on Wavertree, left onSpanish Oaks and veer right ontoSweetbay and park near cul-de-sac.Confirm with David Georgi at 458-5575 or [email protected] forupcoming activities. Bipeds welcome.

Sierra Club2012 Calendars

Clearance!

Wall: $9Desk: $9

Call Bonnie toorder:543-7051