Santa Lucian • October 2011 Lucian - Sierra Club Home ...

Santa Lucian • October 20111

Bioneers ishere!

Oct. 14-16

-see page 7

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 e Obama chokes 2

A visit with EldrBill 4

ANWR: the last, best hope 7

Playing dirty in Sacramento 9

Classifieds 11

Outings 12

Please recycle

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100% post-consumer recycled paper with

soy-based inks

Oct 2011Volume 48 No. 9

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

They Spill Your Milkshake

You’ve Come a Long Way, CCA

SPILL continued on page 10

There’s No SuchThing as a Free BagWhich is why you need to speak out on Nov. 9

CCA continued on page 8BAG continued on page 10

Sierra Club testimony puts spotlight on Conoco’s oil lines

How many more? As Conoco began to clean up theNipomo Creek crude oil leak, eight years after it wasdisccovered, the Sierra Club pointed out to the WaterBoard that it’s unlikely to be an isolated problem.

On September 1, SantaLucia Chapter DirectorAndrew Christie ad-dressed the RegionalWater Board on thesubject of remediation,treatment and monitor-ing at the site of agrowing oil spill belowNipomo Creek. The spill isbelieved to have come froma decommissioned 8-inchUnocal pipeline, inheritedby Conoco/Phillips. Histestimony prompted boardaction on a potentiallywidespread water qualityproblem. In the discussion thatfollowed between WaterBoard members and staff,the board came to realizethat A) there are oil trans-fer lines in proximity to creeks and water bodiesthroughout the central coast region, B) there is no monitoring whatsoeverconducted on the inactive century-old oil lines that Conoco took over fromUnocal, and C) staff has found “quite a few leaks” on these lines, butremediation after the fact has been the only way they’ve ever found out aboutthem. The Santa Lucia Chapter had previously written to Water Board staff express-

The energy costs involved inmanufacturing paper bags exceed thecosts of making plastic bags. Plasticbags kill a million sea birds andmarine animals a year. SouthernCalifornia cities have spent in excessof $1.7 billion in meeting TotalMaximum Daily Loads for trash –primarily plastic bags — in impairedwaterways. San Francisco spends $8.5million a year dealing with plastic baglitter, averaging out to 17 cents foreach “free” bag distributed by storesin the city. Cities and recyclers spendincalculable amounts removingplastic bags from their recyclablesstream, where they jam machineryand add to the manual labor costs ofrecycling. This is why municipalities aroundthe world have realized the benefits ofbanning single-use bags and encour-aging the use of reusable bags. All of the above was pointed out atthe September 14 board meeting ofthe Integrated Waste ManagementAuthority (IWMA) by the Sierra Cluband representatives of Think Outsidethe Bag — formed by the students ofEmpower Poly Coalition – as San LuisObispo’s proposed single-use bag bantook another step toward reality. Theboard directed staff to bring back atougher version of the proposedordinance for a first reading in

November. The IWMA draft ordinance hadproposed a gradual phasing in of theban, covering various business sizesand categories, and a charge toshoppers of five cents for a recyclablepaper bag at point of purchase forthose who don’t bring their own

The SLO County Planning Depart-ment released its draft “EnergyWise”plan – aka Climate Action Plan — lastApril. It lays out recommendations forthe county to meet the statewide goalof reducing greenhouse gas emissionsto the equivalent of 1990 levels by2020, in addition to other energyefficiency, land use, transportation,water conservation and air qualitygoals. Our comment on the public reviewdraft of the plan was several pageslong, but came down to this question:Where’s Community Choice? Themain tool for the creation of clean,local decentralized energy in Califor-nia was missing from the 380-pageplan. California’s Community ChoiceAggregation law (CCA) lets cities andcounties select their own electricityprovider, prioritize renewable energyand encourage conservation withouthaving to own the utility or the powerlines. The Bay Area’s Local CleanEnergy Alliance spells it out: “Com-munity Choice is a key vehicle for

Sierra Club gets Commu-nity Choice into County’sClimate Action Plan

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 11th of theprior month.

send to:

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

[email protected]

Santa Lucia Chapter

2011 Executive CommitteeMelody DeMeritt CHAIRSteven Marx TREASURER

Cal French MEMBERGreg McMillan VICE CHAIRPat Veesart

MEMBER

Jono Kinkade

MEMBER

Linda Seeley

SECRETARY

Cal French COUNCIL OF CLUB LEADERS

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]

[email protected]

Andrew [email protected]

[email protected]

Printed by University Graphic Systems

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

The Executive Committee meetsthe fourth Friday 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 Marie Clifford - correspondence Yvonne Yip - events & social networking

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

Denny MynattPRINT MEDIA COORDINATOR

Mr. President, Do You KnowWhy Airbags Are in Your Car?

On our front page this month, wetake note of the local version ofnational anti-regulatory fervor:chemical companies are reaching intoSLO and trying to whip up oppositionto a single-use bag ordinance(“There’s No Such Thing As a FreeBag”). On page 9, in this issue’sinstallment of “Taking Issue,” weexamine the most recent push to gutenvironmental protections in Sacra-mento in obedience to the conserva-tive mantra “the economy’s in badshape to let’s wreck the environmentto save it.” Last August, we pointedout in the local media just how wrongCongressional Republicans are whenthey push bills based on the beliefthat protecting the environment andpublic health is bad for the economy(“Worst. Bill. Ever.,” New Times, Aug.18; “Regulatory relief a false issue,”The Tribune, Aug. 19). Now we must point out to PresidentObama that adopting and catering tothat mindset is a really bad idea. On September 2, turning aside thescience and downgrading govern-ment’s obligation to protect publichealth, Presi-dent Obamatold theEnvironmen-tal ProtectionAgency todrop a pro-posed rulethat wouldhave signifi-cantly reducedsmog andimproved thequality of theair we breathe. As a result,there will beno review ofthe currentlypermittedlevel of smog-generatingchemicalsemitted byindustry until2013. And there was no getting aroundthe other result of his decision. As theSept. 2 Los Angeles Times reported:“The EPA estimates that up to 12,000lives could be saved annually fromheart attacks, lung disease andasthma attacks by implementing thenew standards.” It was an early Christmas presentfor big polluters, who cheered lustily,as did their friends in Congress, thepresident’s aforementioned oppo-nents. “By putting the interest of coaland oil polluters first, the WhiteHouse seems to be saying that ‘cleanair will have to wait,’” said Sierra ClubExecutive Director Michael Brune. To the amazement of no one, thepresident’s capitulation also increasedthe intensity of the pressure the callsby polluters and their friends for moreand larger capitulations. As reported by Politico on Septem-ber 3, Rep. John Boehner spokesmanMike Steel “wrote that Friday’sdecision ‘is certainly a good first step,and we’re glad that the White Houseresponded to the speaker’s letter andrecognized the job-killing impact ofthis particular regulation. But it isonly the tip of the iceberg when itcomes to stopping WashingtonDemocrats’ agenda of tax hikes, moregovernment “stimulus” spending andincreased regulations — which are allmaking it harder to create moreAmerican jobs.’ The story went on tonote that “House Majority Leader EricCantor last week announced plans to

hold votes this fall to repeal theadministration’s ‘10 most harmfuljob-destroying regulations,’ includingseven from the EPA.” Last issue (“Nothing Costs MoreThan a Bad Idea,” Sept.), we answeredthe Republican “job killing” mantrawith figures from EPA, and MITstudies of the actual impacts ofenvironmental regulations, specifi-cally air quality regulations. Thosestudies found that those impacts havebeen positive, greatly stimulatinginvestment and creating jobs. How nice it would be if the presi-dent had read those studies instead ofthe in-house reports brandished athim by lobbyists. It would be nice ifhe had not played into opponents’narrative that public health andenvironmental regulations are at oddswith jobs and the economy, pullingthe rule at the last minute in the faceof intense political pressure. Or as MoveOn.org put it, “PresidentObama repeated discredited tea partytalking points about environmentalrules costing jobs.” This was the figleaf the administration tried to use to

cover its action– the idea thatit was seekingto save thefragile econ-omy fromburdensomeregulations.And it won’tpass muster.Nine CEOsfrom compa-nies that wouldhave been themost affectedby the newozone rulesupported it,writing:“Contrary tothe claims thatthe EPA’sagenda willhave negativeeconomic

consequences, our companies’experience complying with air qualityregulations demonstrates thatregulations can yield importanteconomic benefits, including jobcreation, while maintaining reliabil-ity.” Such candor is rare. It would havebeen nice if the president had takenheed, or given some sign that he isaware of the much more commonresponse from industry historically,and that the lack of eagerness tocomply with a new regulation hasalways manifested as promises ofeconomic apocalypse. Delay hasalways been sought, and always beenwrong. Consider the airbag.

We’ve heard this song before Airbags were invented in 1952. Butnot until 1965, when Ralph Naderwrote Unsafe at Any Speed, wasCongress prodded into passage of theHighway Safety Act and the NationalTraffic and Motor Vehicle Safety Act,authorizing the federal governmentto set and regulate standards toreduce motor vehicle- related injuriesand deaths. To that end, in 1969, the Depart-ment of Transportation proposed a“passive restraint” requirement—asystem not dependent on the occu-pant of the vehicle remembering tofasten her seat belt. Chrysler and Fordpromptly filed lawsuits challenging

AIRBAGS continued on page 7


Dunes to Dust

On August 25, the County Planning Commission deliberated for a second timeon a proposed 84-acre subdvision on See Canyon Creek in the Avila Valley. For the second time, the Sierra Club joined concerned neighbors in weighingin on the “Negative Declaration” -- a once-over-lightly environmental reviewthat is normally accorded to projects on sites that are of such low biologicalvalue that their development is likely to have no or very minor impacts onwildlife and habitat. For the See Canyon subdivision, the County has issued aNegative Declaration for a project requiring the clearance of Coastal oakwoodlands, situated on as steelhead creek, within likely habitat for the endan-gered California red-legged frog. Central Coast Salmon Enhancement said of the project: “Over and over, wesee flood plain degradation in our local waterways because of the incrementaltaking of an already stretched groundwater supply that CEQA cannot readilyaddress due to its nature of being limited to evaluating impacts to existingconditions and not to evaluating slowly degrading conditions that occurproject by project.” Commissioners were dubious about the claim that 200-year-old oaks can bereplaced by 240 saplings. Steve Johnson of the Avila Valley Advisory Councilpointed out that what the applicant’s representative, John Wallace, termed a“refuge area” at the corner of Pippin Lane and See Canyon Road is in fact “abare corner. It is bare land.” Wallace’s response to the fact that oaks had been cut illegally in a previoussubdivision of the site was to point out that ever earlier builders had “clearedthe whole canyon in the 19th century.” (Note to development consultants: it’s abad sign when you ask planning commissioners to ignore more than 100 years

www.movetoamend.org

Spelling it out David Cobb spread the word to a packed house at the Ludwick Community Center in SLO on September 14: we mustdivest corporations of their ill-gotten Constitutional personhood.

Have you been wondering latelyhow it is that members of Congresscan consistently vote for overwhelm-ingly unpopular proposals and attackwildly popular programs and stillapparently feel secure about theirprospects for reelection? One likely answer: oceans of cash,provided in unlimited quantities bythe very small number of very wealthyentities whom their votes serve. Thosewould be limited liability trans-national corporations, legal fictionswhose sole purpose is to produce aprofit for shareholders. That license toinject unlimited cash into ourpolitical system to achieve the ends ofthose legal fictions was granted by theSupreme Court’s 2010 decision in thecase Citizens United v. the FederalElection Commission. That was one of the reasons whyAttorney David Cobb was in SLO onSeptember 14 for a public meetingsponsored by Progressive People ofthe Central Coast, the SLO CountyGreen Party and the Santa LuciaChapter of the Sierra Club, a stop onhis national organizing tour for“Move to Amend.” The other reason was the founda-tion for the Court’s ruling: anotherSupreme Court decision from 1886 –Santa Clara County v. SouthernPacific Railway — that whimsicallydecided the 14th amendment’sguarantee of equal rights to allcitizens -- meant to enfranchise freedslaves -- applied to corporations. Thiswas the strange birth of corporatepersonhood. Cobb started off with two simplestatements to the standing-room-onlycrowd: “There is nothing wrong withrighteous political rage,” and “Ipromise to tell you the truth.” This, he said, would “help us figureout the situation we’re in and will

determine the strategies we shoulduse.” In 1789, when the newly constitutedUnited States ratified its Constitution,“we the people” referred to aboutseven percent of the actual adultpopulation of the country, excludingthe non-white, non-male, non-property owning residents whom theConstitution did not consider to belegal persons. Since then, and especially since thelate 19th century and the improbableleap of corporations into the role oflegal persons with Constitutionalrights, things have not been lookinggood for the sovereign people of ourallegedly free nation. For two hours, like a meticulousprosecutor, Cobb made the case thatcorporate personhood is not just ahandy extra tool that corporationsmake use of to expand their power orwield additional influence; it’s thesource of the problem. The audience wanted to know ifdepriving corporations of theirpersonhood would affect smallbusinesses. Cobb pointed out that theFortune 500 is a net loser/exporter ofjobs; that it is small and medium-sizebusinesses that are actually makingthe country run, and they’re not the

ones claiming Constitutional rights.That claim has been the sole provinceof transnational corporations, and theassumption of that right is the reasonwhy their lawyers can and do go intocourtrooms to overturn laws. “Here’s the point,” said Cobb:“Corporations claiming Constitu-tional rights or corporate personhoodis not just a stupid idea, which it is;it’s not just a legally and logicallyindefensible idea, which it is; corpo-rate Constitutional rights are alynchpin for how the ruling elite havehijacked our government. They havehijacked our legal system. They haveturned our own systems against us,and we are left to argue amongstourselves…. We have consumerchoices, but we never get to partici-pate in a meaningful way in creatingthe democratic republic that we were

promised.” That’s why in 2009, as the SupremeCourt was deliberating on CitizensUnited, Sierra Club Chairman CarlPope noted with interest that “newlyarrived Justice Sonya Sotomayorraised openly from the bench, for thefirst time in decades, the question ofwhether the original corporatepersonhood cases like Santa Clarawere rightly decided. If the Courtoverreaches in this case, it may findthat it has done the thing that BobDole used to say was always the worsterror you could make in politics – tokick a sleeping dog.” Here’s hoping. To join the movement for a Consti-tutional amendment to strike downcorporate personhood or help orga-nize a SLO County chapter of Move toAmend, go to www.movetoamend.org.

Can See Canyon be Saved?

At a September 7workshop inGrover Beach, theAir PollutionControl Districtpreviewed theresults of its studyof pilot projectsdesigned to reducehazardous dustemissions fromthe Oceano DunesState VehicularRecreation Area. The APCD,California Depart-ment of Parks and Recreation and theCounty are under pressure to bringthe air quality adjacent to the dunesand over the Nipomo Mesa intocompliance with allowable levels ofparticulate matter (PM) pollution.The mesa currently has the worst airquality in the county due to the hugedust plumes coming out of theODSVRA. The study will serve as the basis fora Fugitive Dust Rule, giving theAPCD authority to enforce pollutionlevels, with substantial financialpenalties levied if those standards areviolated. Under questioning from members

Calling theCorporateQuestionWhy are we ruled byimmortal, all-powerfulgiants, and how can wemake it stop?

of the public, researchers stated thatthe pilot project study, conducted bythe Desert Research Institute, foundthat twice as much dust comes fromthe riding area than the portions ofthe dunes closed to vehicles. In 2009,an APCD particulate matter study hadfound that offroad vehicle activity onthe Oceano Dunes is a significantcontributing factor to the high levelsof airborne particulate matter impact-ing air quality and public health onthe Nipomo Mesa. Researchers admitted that the newstudy – of much briefer duration and

When it comes to cutting down on the dustfrom the Oceano Dunes, method matters

DUST continued on page 6CANYON continued on page 6

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A Visit with EldrBillby Steven Marx, Chapter Treasurer

There’s a lot for an environmentalistto feel hopeless about these days,from calls for the militarization of theArctic Ocean as a response to themelting polar icecap to the prospectof our local chapter of the Sierra Clubrunning out of money. So I decided totake a little trip to Nipomo to expressa Treasurer’s appreciation to a donorwhose generosity has been so impor-tant to our Chapter, and also to getmy spirits raised. “Bill’s Farm” looked no worse forwear since the last time I stopped bythree years ago. I noticed an ancientcarriage almost hidden by the gaggleof bicycles kept here for the use of hishostel visitors from all over the worldand the array of solar panels on theroof setting off the “No Diablo” signby the corner of the house. I was welcomed by a high, ringingvoice, and once inside surrounded bywalls and tables completely coveredwith pictures and clippings. On thecounter was a half-empty quart bottleof beer next to another one full ofmilk. “Just did the goats,” giggled theman with flowing white hair, cascad-ing beard, cabled arms and frighten-ingly tough legs swathed in short-shorts. “I love goat’s milk,” I said, “remindsme of my days on an old homestead inBritish Columbia.” “Take it,” he answered, “and thatdozen eggs from my chickens.” “Bill, I came to say thanks,” Ireplied, “and here you keep giving memore.”

The phonerang and hespoke brieflyto someoneabout theSanta MariaTimes articleon the tablethat reportedhis $500environmentalaward to thegraduatingHigh SchoolSenior who’dvolunteered inthe Nipomo Native Garden and wasnow heading for UCSB. “These young people inspire me,” hesaid. They’re our only hope. I’m 86and starting to lose it, but they carrythe torch. Here’s another one of myheroes,” he declared, pointing to apicture of Jordan Hasay: “While I wasdoing a triathlon a couple of years agoand just ready to throw in the towel,she came up behind me. ‘You canmake it,’ she said, ‘just keep going.’And she was right.” Then here’s Virginia Souza, thePresident of the Natural HistoryMuseum in Santa Maria. “It’s tiny, butshe just hosted an event there for theChamber of Commerce whichbrought out forty people. In SantaMaria! She was a biology student ofmine way back when. I introduced herto the idea of ecology. Here’s an awardfor the 40th anniversary of Earth Dayshe gave me last year.” “And this is my woman’s wall,” he

said with a sweep of his arm. Next tothe fridge, pictures and articles aboutBarbara Boxer, Lois Capps, HildaZacarias, Lisa Jackson, the DixieChicks, Sonia Sotomayor, RuthColeman, Marion Jones, Steph Brownand Kathy Goddard Jones. “I remember your Dad, Henry,” Billchuckled. “He used to tell me howthe dunes were ‘so sensual.’” That must have been 20 years ago,when my father was just about Bill’sage now. “How old are you?” he asked. “Sixty nine,” I answered, “justretired.” “My sixties were my best decade,”said Bill. “Learning how to appreciatethings because the end was in sight,but still capable.” He brought over a stack of post-cards and said, “here, take a few.” Thetop one was a photo of a sand dunegracefully curved against the sky.Running up it was a black lab next to

a perfectlyformed nakedyoungwoman. “I’ve workedto save thoseDunes andPoint Sal forfifty years,” hesaid. “From anuclear powerplant, from a

coal-fired power plant, from a housingdevelopment. And now they’re safe inperpetuity, since the SLO LandConservancy just purchased the lastdevelopable property. Let’s go outback.” We passed his desktop computersurrounded by magazines and books,where Bill composes his Nipomo FreePress, an e-mail newsletter thatincludes commentaries on the latestnews and on long-term issues as wellas responses from his readers—precursor of the blog. We talked ofanother hero, writer and 350.orgorganizer Bill McKibben, who wassitting in a Washington jail afterleading a protest against approval ofthe Keystone XL tar sands pipeline. We passed the chickens scratchingin the sand, the empty pigpen—thepig was in the freezer—and the goatcorral. He nimbly climbed over a highgate into an overgrown orchard ofapple and tangelo trees heavy withfruit that I sampled and picked. “I justcan’t keep these up any more,” he saidwith a twinkle. “Don’t get old.” On my way back to the car, weighteddown with eggs, milk and fruit, I feltlightened. Instead of dreading yetanother meeting to discuss grantapplications, budgets, and liabilityinsurance, I was eager to share ElderBill’s harvest with the volunteers atthe potluck that night.

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Calling All Sierra ClubMembers: Protect the Arc-tic National Wildlife Ref-uge!Comments on draft plan due November 15

by Sierra Club Alaska Chapter

We’ve waited more than fifty years for this moment: the chance to permanentlyprotect the coastal plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge as wilderness. We need every American to get behind protecting America’s most iconicwilderness. The Arctic Refuge is about its unique wildlife, wilderness andrecreational values, not its development potential. Oil and gas drilling in theArctic Refuge would harm the unique wildlife and wilderness even as the regionfaces global warming. Once this wilderness is destroyed, it’s gone forever. But even now, Big Oil wants to drill in the coastal plain and change thismagical place forever. Take this historic opportunity to protect the wildlife andwilderness of the Arctic Refuge. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) just released a draft revisedComprehensive Conservation Plan (CCP) for the Arctic Refuge. It is an impor-tant milestone in that USFWS is formally considering a Wilderness designationfor the Refuge’s Coastal Plain – the biological heart of our nation’s iconicwilderness. Write your comment to USFWS urging it to recommend a wildernessdesignation for the Arctic Refuge’s Coastal Plain to protect it from oil and gasdevelopment.

Submit your comment:- by email to [email protected] by fax to 907-456-0428- by mail to: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Arctic NWR - Sharon Seim 101 12th Ave., Rm 236 Fairbanks, AK 99701

Suggested language, but please personalize it:

Subject: Comprehensive Conservation Plan: Designate the Arctic NationalWildlife Refuge’s Coastal Plain as wilderness

Dear U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Director Dan Ashe,

I urge you to recommend a wilderness designation for the Coastal Plain of theArctic National Wildlife Refuge in order to permanently protect America’sgreatest wild treasure from oil and gas development.

Already the warming Arctic is threatening the region and its wildlife so it is ourjob to defend the biological heart of the Arctic Refuge, its coastal plain. Byprotecting the Refuge we ensure critical habitat for caribou, polar bears, grizzlybears, musk oxen, Dall sheep, wolves, wolverines, and birds from all 50 states.

We cannot hand this wildlife refuge over to Big Oil. Drilling in the ArcticRefuge will not lower today’s gas prices or solve our energy crisis; it would onlyprolong it. Any oil drilling in the Arctic Refuge will disrupt and harm thefragile ecosystem and wildlife the USFWS Refuge system is supposed to protect.

Recommend Alternative C for a wilderness designation for the coastal plain.This is critical to keep this wildlife and wilderness icon protected for this andfuture generations.

Sincerely,YOUR NAME HERE

Thank you for taking action to protect this special place. To find our moreinformation and stay in touch, please visit www.chillthedrills.org or ‘like’ us onFacebook, www.facebook.com/chillthedrills

by San Luis Obispo Mothers for Peace

With Buddhist nun, Jun-san, we plan a two-week interfaith peace walk from theDiablo Canyon nuclear power plant near San Luis Obispo to the Bay Area. Withthe tragedy of Fukushima in our hearts, we will walk 15-18 miles a day lookinginto the safety of land and people along our route, the still-present danger ofnuclear weapons, the poisonous nuclear fuel cycle and how to end the nuclearnightmare in California and worldwide. The Diablo Canyon plant defiled a site sacred to the Chumash people,reminding us of our unresolved history. Native lands still bear the brunt oftoxic mining and waste disposal that mark the nuclear industry. The walk endsat an indigenous sacred site of true power, consecrated by years of struggle toprotect it from development. We expect participation of Native elders and activists, Buddhist monks,Japanese people affected by Fukushima, and citizens who have worked fordecades to expose nuclear danger and find alternatives to nuclear power. Wewill learn from each other and from communities along the way. Everyone iswelcome to join for an hour, a day or a week. No alcohol, drugs, or weapons. We need help with lodging, food, organizing local community events, modestexpenses, media/communications, and shuttle-transport. Sponsors: San Luis Obispo Mothers for Peace; Indian People Organizing forChange (organizers of the Shellmound Walks in the Bay Area and a successful110-day vigil to protect the sacred site at Sogorea Te/Glen Cove); NipponzanMyohoji Buddhist Order. Website: www.CAnuclear walk.com Contact: Louise Dunlap, [email protected], 510-450-0651 (land);Johnella LaRose, 510-734-7373 (cell). Links:www.mothersforpeace.orgwww.ipocshellmoundwalk.intuitwebsites.comwww.protectglencove.orgwww.dharmawalk.org/junsan1.htm

Walk Schedule

10/22 (Sat) Diablo Canyon gates (Avila)—San Luis Obispo10/23 (Sun) San Luis Obispo—Morro Bay*10/24 (Mon) Santa Margarita—Paso Robles10/25 (Tues) Paso Robles—Camp Roberts*10/26 (Wed) Gonzales(?)—Salinas10/27 (Thurs) Salinas—Watsonville10/28 (Fri) Watsonville—Santa Cruz10/29 (Sat) Rest Day10/30 (Sun) Santa Cruz—San Jose*10/31 (Mon) San Jose—Mission San Jose11/1 (Tues) Mission San Jose—Livermore*11/2 (Wed) Livermore—Hayward*11/3 (Thurs) Hayward—Oakland11/4 (Fri) Oakland—Berkeley11/5 (Sat) Berkeley—El Sobrante11/6 (Sun) El Sobrante—Sogorea Te (Vallejo)

*shuttle

Join us for all or part of this journey. Bring sleeping gear, water bottle, plate& fork, a good heart and good walking shoes, but please travel light. Mostfirst-week stay-places are accessible to Amtrak. If you are joining on the first day, please arrive on Friday night so we canstart our opening ceremony first thing in the morning

www.CAnuclearwalk.com

Sacred Sites Peacewalkfor a Nuclear-Free WorldOctober 22 - November 6: Diablo Canyon to SogoreaTe/Glen Cove, Vallejo, California

WALK continued on page 8

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Mark YMark YMark YMark YMark Your Calendarsour Calendarsour Calendarsour Calendarsour CalendarsThe annual benefit for the Santa Lucia Chapter, our popular “Celebration of

Environmental Literature, Music and Art,” will take place at the Masonic Templein downtown SLO on January 28, 2012.

Local authors will give readings from their published works.

Our featured reader: Catherine Ryan Hyde

The author of Pay It Forward will be reading from her new unpublished novel andpresent a multimedia show of photographs and films that she’s taken while hiking,

canoeing and kayaking around the County and in National Parks.

Plus: good food, great music, and an art exhibit and sale of superb locallandscape paintings.

Admission $75, $35 students.

Members: watch this space & your e-mail for notification when tickets go on sale.

2012 Sierra Club Calendars

Available Now

Buy from the Santa Lucia Chapter and get11% off!

Wall $12.50Desk: $13.5050 or more: 15% off

Call Bonnie to order: 543-7051

Call forCandidates

Dustcontinued from page 3

In November, Chapter members willvote for the candidates who will leadthe Santa Lucia chapter on itsExecutive Committee in 2012. We encourage our members to runfor the ExCom and become a part ofthe dynamic action of Sierra Clubleadership on energy, global warming,air, water, wildlife and land use issues. The ExCom meets in December toappoint the chair, vice-chair, secretaryand treasurer, as well as program,conservation and outings chairs. We also appoint a delegate to theCouncil of Club Leaders, a liaison tothe national Sierra Club. Candidates are elected for a term ofthree years. Deadline for nominationsis October 12. Submit to the SierraClub Office at [email protected].

County Board of Supervisors, Room370, County Government Center, SLO93408. Phone: 781-5450; fax: [email protected]

Gov. Jerry Brown, State CapitolBuilding, Sacramento, CA 95814. Phone:(916) 445-2841; fax: (916) 445-4633.governor@[email protected]

CA Sen. Sam Blakeslee, 605 Santa RosaSt., Suite B, SLO 93401. Phone: 549-

3784; fax: 805-549-3779.

CA Assembymember Katcho Achadjian1150 Osos St., Suite 207, SLO 93401.

Phone: 549-3381; fax 549-3400.

U.S. Rep. Lois Capps, 1411 Marsh St.,SLO 93401. Phone 546-8348; fax 546-8368. www.house.gov/capps

U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein, 1 Post St.,Suite 2450, San Francisco, CA 94104.Phone (415) 393-0707; fax (415) 393-0710. www.senate.gov/~feinstein

U.S. Sen. Barbara Boxer, 1700 Mont-gomery St, Suite 1748, San Francisco CA94111. Phone (415) 403-0100; fax (415)956-6701. www.senate.gov/~boxer

President Barack Obama, The WhiteHouse, 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW,Washington, D.C. 20500. Phone (202)456-1414; fax (202) [email protected].

Your ElectedOfficials

using a smaller sample size than the2009 study – did not evaluate whetherdust emissions varied by the numberof vehicles present or their speed.

40 = 90? The data developed in the pilotproject study showed that the use ofhay bales reduced the rate of sandtransport from the dunes between 40and 70 percent, whereas vegetatingthe dunes reduced sand transport 95to 99 percent — effectively resultingin zero fugitive dust. But the study’s

conclusion implied that the twomeasures are essentially equivalent,stating that either “is an effective wayto reduce sand movement, and theaccompanying dust emissions atOceano Dunes.” Pressed by residents on whether the

District would consider ordering thedunes closed to vehicles if theODSVRA continued to fail to attainstate mandated air quality levelsdespite emission control measures,APCD Director Larry Allen replied“Nothing is off the table. We’re

of planning standards inorder to approve yourclient’s project.) Several bridgespreviously built on thesite in violation of theCounty building codewere made part of thepackage with the pro-posed subdivision,meaning this project, ifapproved, would resolveprior code violations.That particular hat trick-- “give us our permit andthen we’ll fix the viola-tions” -- is one thatcounty supervisors haverejected when attempted

looking at all the options that are outthere.” APCD staff presented the study totheir Board at its September 28meeting, discussing the approach andconcepts of the draft Fugitive DustRule, which is scheduled for Boardadoption later this year. Both theFinal Report on the Oceano Dunespilot projects and APCD’s draftFugitive Dust Rule are available onAPCD’s website, www.slocleanair.org. The Air Pollution Control District isconducting neighborhood monitor-ing during spring wind season soenhance understanding of theparticulate matter impacts from theOceano Dunes. They are looking forvolunteers to allow siting of monitorson their property. To volunteer your property to bescreened, contact the APCD at 781-5912 or email [email protected].

Canyoncontinued from page 3

with other projects (see “Toro CreekTriumphant,” Nov. 2008). Faced with a welter of problems,planning commissioners directed staffto shrink a 20-acre lot to eliminatethe future possibility of more subdivi-sions; limit development of thebuilding envelopes to 100 feet fromthe edge of the riparian corridor;clarify the number of trees proposedto be removed; define the difference, ifany, between “disturbance” and“grading;” and require long-term oaktree monitoring. Another hearing wasscheduled for September 29. At press time, the Commission hasyet to address issues raised by theSierra Club regarding cumulativeimpacts and the degree to which theCommission can change the terms ofthe Negative Declaration withoutpublic recirculation of the document.

On the trail Catherine Ryan Hyde will be joining us in January.


Come by theSierra Clubtable and signup to getlabeling ofGE foodson theCaliforniaballot in 2012!

Businessowners: Comesign the state-ment of supportfor National Ma-rine Sanctuarydesignation forthe Central Coast!

Air Bagscontinued from page 1

the requirement. They cried povertyand the imminent death of theirindustry, collapsing under the burdenof impossible, odious regulations.Henry Ford II and Lee Iacocca askedPresident Nixon for more delay inimplementing the requirements, andgot it. Still more delays were grantedby compliant federal regulators. By 1977, the National HighwayTraffic Safety Administration esti-mated that passive restraints couldprevent approximately 12,000 deathsand more than 100,000 seriousinjuries annually. After the requirement that cars beequipped with passive restraintsystems was finally imposed, it wasamended, rescinded, re-imposed, andrescinded again. In 1983, the Su-preme Court stepped in and declared,in Motor Vehicle Mfrs., that the lowercourt had “acted arbitrarily and capri-ciously in revoking the requirement…that new motor vehicles producedafter September 1982 be equippedwith passive restraints to protect thesafety of the occupants of the vehiclein the event of a collision…. The[National Traffic and Motor VehicleSafety] Act was necessary because theindustry was not sufficiently respon-sive to safety concerns.” Justice Byron White, writing for themajority, observed that “for nearly adecade, the automobile industrywaged the regulatory equivalent ofwar against the airbag and lost.” But it wasn’t until 1998 thatcommon sense actually won the dayin dealing with the leading cause ofaccidental deaths and injuries in theUnited States, and all new cars wererequired to be equipped with airbagsand automatic seat belts. By that 1977 NHTSA estimate,384,000 people had to die between thepassage of the Act in 1966 and the endof the auto industry’s delay tactics.

Getting it exactly wrong Measured in dollars instead of lives,the president’s ozone rule decisionwas still wrong. The September 2 edition of The Hillnoted that “The White House decisionto scuttle EPA’s plan followed im-mense pressure from industry groupssuch as the U.S. Chamber of Com-merce, The Business Roundtable, theNational Association of Manufacturersand several oil industry groups.” On September 4, The Center for

Economic and Policy Researchblogged: “A study by Charles RiversAssociates suggests that the mainimpact of the regulation would be tohasten the replacement of oldpolluting power plants. This couldhelp to create jobs in the privatesector in the next few years, a periodin which all projections show that theeconomy will still be suffering fromsubstantial unemployment.” In other words, “if Obama wasinterested in an action that he couldtake unilaterally that would createjobs, supporting the EPA on theozone restrictions probably wouldhave topped the list. In nixing theregulation, Obama went the jobkilling route.” President Obama should do himself

and the country a favor and steer hisbrowser to crywolfproject.org toperuse the catalogue of “statementsthroughout history by industryassociations, politicians and mediathat falsely predicted economicdisaster if health, safety, and environ-mental protections became law,[along with the] evidence that showsthey were wrong and that the reformshad positive impacts.” Last May in the L.A. Times, Cry Wolfproject director Donald Cohen wentdown the list of California “job-killer”bills that has been released annuallyby the California Chamber of Com-merce since 2003. Cohen engaged in the exercise to“evaluate whether the organizationwas providing honest analysis or

engaging in scare tactics.” From theSafe Drinking Water and ToxicEnforcement Act of 1986 (Proposition65) to paid family leave, increases inthe minimum wage and tax hikes onhigh-income residents, Cohen foundthat reality turned out to be theopposite of the Chamber’s predictionsof fleeing businesses and economiccollapse: implementation of theregulations meant more jobs werecreated, employee turnover wasreduced and the number of million-aires in the state increased. Prop. 65,in its first six years of existence,resulted in the equivalent of “100years of progress [by federal stan-dards] in the areas of hazard identifi-cation, risk assessment and exposureassessment,” per the CaliforniaEnvironmental Protection Agency. As the New York Times summarizedthe results of a Times/CBS News pollreleased on September 15, Americansare “more eager to see the presidentget tough than Mr. Obama and hisconflict-averse team realize,” and “donot buy the endless calls for slashingspending and reckless deregula-tion.... He should not worry aboutvoters thinking he is being mean.What he should worry about is thathe is not showing them that he isfighting all out for their interests.” The Sierra Club is calling theObama administration to account forits failure to use the authority of theClean Air Act to protect public health,clean air and kids. We are holding aseries of large tele-town halls withwomen in Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylva-nia and elsewhere. The president hasto get the message that he must standfirm on actions such as finalizing theMercury/Air Toxics standard for powerplants and defending the Cross StateAir Pollution rule. He cannot affordanother bad call as bad as the call hemade on the ozone rule. Nor can theenvironment, the economy, or theAmerican people.

8


CCAcontinued from page 1

local energy resource development,economic growth, and clean energyjobs. The basic proposition of Com-munity Choice is that a well-designedprogram can combine new renewableenergy generation and demand-reduction resources to develop anefficient local decentralized energysystem.” We amplified on our concerns overthe absence of CCA from the County’sClimate Action Plan in a TribuneViewpoint (“A tool for local energychoice,” June 3), noting that theCommunity Choice Act, which be-came state law in 2002, “gives localgovernments the opportunity to takea major role in achieving the state’sclean energy and climate protectionmandates,” and that Marin County’sCCA has been a smashing successsince its implementation last year. After receiving public comments,County Planning staff made their firstpresentation of the revised ClimateAction Plan to the Planning Commis-sion on September 8. CommunityChoice was now present, on page 22of Chapter 5 of the CAP:

Consider developing a Community Choice Aggregation program with the incorporated cities in San Luis Obispo County to procure up to 50% of the region’s electricity use from renewable resources by 2020.

This has the potential to be, by far,the most important element of theClimate Action Plan. By investing inlocally generated electricity, energyefficiency upgrade programs (whichreduce ratepayer bills), and develop-ing projects that reduce greenhousegases, a Community Choice programcreates clean energy jobs andhealthier communities. As the SF Local Clean EnergyAlliance notes: “This system canprovide lower electricity costs, higherrate stability, and more and fasterreduction in greenhouse gas emis-sions than what is provided byinvestor-owned utilities. Further-more, the development of these localassets involves local investments thatbring economic development andclean energy jobs to the community.Because the Community Choiceadministrative authority is a localnon-profit entity, it does not pullwealth out of the community to payshareholder dividends or rich execu-tive salaries. Rather it develops assetsthat bring wealth to the community,which dramatically increases theeconomic and job creation benefits ofthe program.” So guess who really hates Commu-nity Choice? If you said “investor-owned utili-ties,” you’ve been paying attention.

Enter the dragonWhile the appearance of the words“Consider developing a CommunityChoice Aggregation program” maynot seem like much of an achieve-ment, it is. It is also a fragile one thatcould be strangled in the cradle.Therein lies a tale. Early in 2007, the Santa LuciaChapter co-founded a local stake-holder coalition call the StrategicEnergy Alliance for Change. SEAChange included representatives oflocal government, environmentalgroups, a local bank, Cal Poly, the AirPollution Control District, the HomeBuilders Association, and, of course,our local energy provider, PG&E. The impetus for the coalition’sfounding was a well-attended publicmeeting the Chapter had hosted theyear before along with a dozen otherlocal groups, a Smart Energy Solu-

tions Summit that featured as itskeynote address a presentation onCommunity Choice Aggregation byPaul Fenn, the author of AB 117, thebill that made CCA’s possible inCalifornia. It marked the first timemost of the attendees, or any citizensof SLO County, had heard of Commu-nity Choice, and from the feedback wereceived afterward, it was by far themost remarked on and excitingcomponent of the event. Formed out of the steering commit-tee for that 2006 event, SEA Changeproceeded in August 2007 to organizea two-day regional energy planningconference on the campus of Cal Poly.It was attended by some 100 electedofficials, city managers, senior staffand community leaders who cametogether to advance the cause ofregional energy planning. Includedamong them was the developmentdirector for Marin County, who spokeat length on his county’s plans toimplement CCA as “the most promis-ing thing we have in Marin to reallyincrease our use of renewables.” In the first meeting of our coalitionafter that event, the PG&E representa-tive, who had been rather disengagedup to that point, became vocallydisruptive, vehemently complainingthat she had somehow not been keptinformed or allowed to fully partici-pate in the planning of the conferenceor been made fully aware of theconference agenda. She insisted thatCCA never again be a topic at anyfuture public meeting sponsored bySEA Change, and that the formationof a CCA be eliminated as a policy goalof the coalition. In order to keep the group together– Coalition Maintenance 101 – PG&E’swishes were accommodated. Fromthat day forward, CCA was never againdiscussed at any coalition meeting,and was never allowed to be a topic ata sponsored event, let alone advocatedas a means by which our communitycan choose our own electric providerand sources of electricity. Let’s underscore this point: theexistence of a state law, passed withthe intention of allowing communitieslike ours to increase the amount ofrenewable energy produced in Cali-fornia and achieve statewide emissionreduction goals, could not be men-tioned. Uttering the words “CCA,”“Community Choice,” or “AB 117” wasforbidden by PG&E. At the PG&E rep’s behest, SEAChange then spent the better part of ayear absorbed in a tortuous line-by-line revision of its bylaws and missionstatement. SEA Change slowly slipped

beneath the waves. It hasdone little since.

You gotta fight Our community’sexperience with PG&E’sefforts to suppressCommunity Choice istrivial compared to theaggressive, expensivecampaigns that have beenwaged in other munici-palities and have stoppedCommunity Choice pro-grams from forming. The2010 crash-&-burn of thePG&E-backed Proposition16, aimed directly at Com-munity Choice, was themost public example ofthe raw power PG&E iswilling to exert – nearly$50 million in that case —to stop CommunityChoice (see “The Useful

state to police local governments whodare implement the 2002 CCA law,PG&E’s handlers now shuffle forwarda bill and ask the legislature tocriminalize the firms that work withlocal governments. [But] PG&E hasno such requirements. Energymonopolies are quietly left out of AB976. PG&E can continue to consultwith the local governments in itsservice territory on any energy orenergy efficiency programs they haveor want to have, but also control theelectricity services that are physicallyprovided for all of Northern Califor-nia, [services] they have controlled fora century.” Fenn also noted that “unlikemunicipalities, which are elected andtransparent, California’s electricitymonopolies have closed meetings andare Wall Street oriented.” There is also good news fromSacramento for CCA’s: As we go topress, California Senate Bill 790,removing undue barriers and exces-sive burdens on communities whowant to implement CommunityChoice programs, has passed theSenate and Assembly with strong,bipartisan support and is awaitingGovernor Brown’s signature. All of the above, and then some, isthe context in which the words“Consider developing a CommunityChoice Aggregation program with theincorporated cities in San Luis ObispoCounty to procure up to 50% of theregion’s electricity use from renew-able resources by 2020” came toappear in San Luis Obispo’s ClimateAction Plan. Now that you know, be sure to letyour County Supervisor know this issomething you want to see happen,and that you expect him to fight for itwhen he has to.

Death of Prop. 16,” Jul/Aug. 2010). On the legislative front,Assembly Bill 976 –opposed by Sierra ClubCalifornia, Marin Energy

Authority and the California PublicUtilities Commission — is scheduledto be taken up in Sacramento’s nextlegislative session. It would prohibitan entity that has been awarded aconsulting contract for the formationof a CCA from receiving a contract forany future work that is a product ofthat contract. Paul Fenn has written of AB 976:“Whereas Prop 16 required super-majority support for a municipalityto even investigate CCA, AB 976would now propose to criminalize thecompanies that work for CCAs.Failing to win public approval of the

Getting there CCA is in the County’s Climate ActionPlan-- unless a certain investor-owned utility wants it out.

8

Rising TideIt’s time for action from California on sea level rise

In a new draft strategic plan, theCalifornia Ocean Protection Council(OPC) has worked hard to identifycritical issues. However, two issuesrequire OPC’s immediate attention:the protection of tidal wetlands fromsea level rise, and ocean desalination/once-through cooling.

Wetlands are vulnerable The protection of tidal wetlands isnot adequately addressed in the OPC’sdraft strategic plan. On page 19 of theplan it states: “We decided not toaddress how tidal wetlands will evolvewith Sea Level Rise, since this issue isbeing addressed by other stateagencies and regional collaborative.” However, the OPC is tasked by theCalifornia Adaptation Strategy todevelop “Decision Guidance,” whichincludes allowing “continuation ofimportant natural processes…andavoid any impacts to neighboringhabitats or structures.” Becausethere is a need for policy to protecttidal wetlands from sea-level rise andbecause the OPC was tasked todevelop “Decision Guidance” toprovide protection for neighboringhabitat, we are calling on the OPC toaccept responsibility for a sea levelrise policy for tidal wetlands in itsstrategic plan.

Cool and saltyNumerous ocean desalination projectproponents are applying for permitsright now. Currently, there is no clearstate guidance on the siting and

design of the facilities, nor on thetechnology required to protectmarine life from deadly ocean waterintakes. The OPC played a critical role incoordinating several agencies toensure that coastal power plantscould be modernized with coolingtechnologies that eliminated marinelife mortality from “once-throughcooling” (OTC). These antiquatedsystems have already been proven tocause significant harm to marineecosystems. Practices for withdrawing seawaterfrom sub-seafloor intakes have beenidentified as a feasible way to avoidthe marine life mortality from “open-ocean intakes” for desalinationprojects. However, if ocean desalina-tion facilities perpetuate the use ofopen-ocean intakes, it would under-mine the purpose of OPC’s pastResolution on once-through coolingand the work by numerous stateagencies to protect marine life fromthis outdated and highly destructivetechnology. We encourage the OPC to immedi-ately undertake work to protect ourcoast and ocean from proposed oceandesalination facilities. We are urging the OPC to adopt aStrategic Plan that reflects itscommitment to protect our coast andocean from desalination facilities,consistent with its related work ononce-through cooling facilities. You can do the same atopc.comments @scc.ca.gov/.


Taking Issueproblematic environmental coverage & commentary in our local media

Upshot: CEQA is a vital process that provides information about projectsto decision makers and community members so they can ensure communitiesare provided important benefits promised and avoid unintended impacts.Communities support sustainable economic development. Hiding behind thepretense of job creation, without evidence that those jobs will ever come, themeasures to “reform” CEQA have invariably created different standards for theprotections of CEQA. Dan Walters, who presents himself as an impartial,nonpartisan watchdog on the workings of state government, here used twocolumns to lobby for the passage of AB 900, the CEQA “reform” bill written toweaken the law’s environmental protections, pushed through in the closinghours of the legislative session. Due to its timing, the bill had no chance ofmeaningful public participation, a tactic that often results in lawmakersapproving legislation without even seeing final versions of the bill. The Tribune, which normally prints Walters’ column once a week, felt thesetwo installments merited back-to-back publication just before that vote wastaken.) Two days later, Walters wrote a column in which he professed himselfto be “appalled at how the Legislature ignores its own rules and commonsense as it enacts potentially far-reaching legislation in the session’s finalhours, mostly to benefit those with political pull.” He clarified that he wasreferring to two bills in particular: one “allowing unionization of child-careworkers and another to force local governments to sign ‘project laboragreements’ on public works projects.” Walters solemnly concluded: “It’s alousy way to make public policy and we are all losers because of it.”

The “business hostile”drumbeat is an old song inthe corporate refrain that hasbeen seeking any pretext toshoot down California’senvironmental protectionsfor the last 30 years. Thesame argument was tried

against AB 32, the Global Warming Solutions Act, completewith bogus study citing economic losses if the bill passed.(The California Air Resources Board found that implement-ing AB 32 will have no significant effect on California’seconomic growth.) The “business hostile” drum beatershave recently pointed to the economic expansion inbusiness-friendly, unregulated Texas (with the worst airquality in the nation) as an object lesson for California,without mentioning that this expansion is largely a factor ofTexas’ higher migration and population growth rate, or thatfrom 2002-2009 California outpaced Texas’ per capita grossdomestic product by a factor of four. The relentless assaulton CEQA is cut from the same fact-challenged cloth.

Ironically, as Steinberg and his Assembly counterpart,Speaker John A. Perez, were pledging regulatory reform onthe third floor of the Capitol, two floors below, the Assemblywas taking up a bill, backed by unions and opposed bybusiness, that would expand CEQA’s reach by imposing newconditions on “super stores” such as Wal-Mart’s.

That bill was SB 469– requiring economicimpact reports forsuper stores, meaningWal-Mart must assessits potential impactson retail operationsand employment in thecommunity. Walterssays this is contrary to CEQA “reform,” but does not clarify how requiring an assessment of asuper store’s economic impacts on local businesses would be bad for business. As the Ameri-can Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees put it in supporting the bill, “Thereis no down side to increased information and well-informed decision making.” The legislatureagreed, and it passed.

Let’s note the spin puton the real impedimentto a bipartisan budgetdeal: attemptedlegislative extortion byAssembly Republicans,who routinely demandunrelated environmental

rollbacks in exchange for their votes on budget bills.Walters here is stumping for passage of AB 900, the last-minute CEQA “reform” bill, crafted to give specialtreatment to big developers, disenfranchise communities,and attack environmental protections. The bill, shovedthrough the legislature in the closing hours of the session,will short-circuit full environmental review on severaltypes of large development projects, including sportsstadiums.

California remains mired in itsworst recession since the GreatDepression…with a drumbeat ofcomplaints from business that it’shostile to job-creating investment.

However, environmental groupsoppose any major CEQAchanges. It was one impedi-ment to a bipartisan budgetdeal, and it’s also a big hurdlefor a football-stadium deal.

Business would like tohave something like whatdevelopers of a proposedprofessional footballarena in downtown LosAngeles are seeking asthe 2011 legislativeagenda grinds towardadjournment next week –a much streamlinedCEQA review process toreduce delays.

SB 292 and AB 900were being jammedthrough the legislatureas Walters wrote,granting environmentalexemptions forAnschutz EntertainmentGroup’s (AEG)proposed downtownL.A. NFL stadium --like the “one time only”exemption granted tobillionaire developer EdRoski’s proposed NFLstadium in the City of Industry -- and makingit much harder for small groups andindividuals protesting such projects toprotect their communities and get their dayin court under the California EnvironementalQuality Act (CEQA), our bedrock environ-mental law.

This is the openingof Walters’ argumentthat lobbyists spendmillions onpoliticians in orderto gain specialfavors and regula-tory loopholes thatcan mean billions ofdollars in profit fortheir industries. Therefore, a regulatory system is aninvitation to corruption. In this argument, corruption isnot due to the corrupt nature of those doing thecorrupting, but to the existence of regulations. Thereader can only assume that Walters means to contrastthis with the pure, corruption-free activities of a timewhen government regulation of industry was non-existent. (See: Gilded Age, robber barons, and TheJungle, by Sinclair Lewis).

[Liberal government’s]regulations andtaxation have greatfinancial impact,creating an incentive toreshape public policiesfor private gain.

Say what? SeeWalters’ column ofthe previous day,wherein the billbestowing CEQAexemption on theAEG stadium, SB292, was part of

the approvingly noted “much streamlined CEQA reviewprocess to reduce delays” that “business would like to have.”L.A. Times columnist Michael Hiltzik cleared up Walters’confusion: “On the reasoning that what’s good for the AEGgoose is good for the entire development business gaggle, theLegislature promptly passed yet another environmentalexemption [AB 900], this time a gift so open-ended that no onehas any idea how many big construction projects will beshaded beneath its capacious boughs.… ‘You didn’t have towait very long to see the domino effect’ of the AEG bill, BruceReznik, executive director of the Sacramento-based Planningand Conservation League, told me. ‘It happened in 24 hours.’”(“California special exemption for NFL stadium plan not sospecial,” L.A. Times, Sept. 13, 2011).

Walters’ either/or is false: a lawis not equivalentto the distortionsof that law’soriginal purposethat lobbyistsand “business friendly” lawmakers may subsequently seek toinflict on it. Walters again signals his support for passage of AB900 and completes his attempt to confuse the wording and intentof a law with the subsequent efforts of loophole peddlers. Thesuccess of lobbyists in finding obliging legislators to carvespecial-interest loopholes out of CEQA does not make itCEQA’s fault that not everyone is able to do so. Nor does thisprovide evidence or otherwise imply that CEQA is “tooonerous” and therefore “should be changed.”

Now the developers of a rivalarena project in downtown LosAngeles are seeking specialCEQA treatment – a speeded-upjudicial review process. Industrywill oppose the measure.

If CEQA is a good law, it should be good foreveryone, not just those who lack the politicalclout to gain some relief from its restrictions andrequirements. And if CEQA is too onerous, itshould be changed, not merely riddled withspecial-interest loopholes.

“California Democrats scramble on economy,” by Dan Walters, The Tribune, Sept. 6, 2011“Dark side to liberal government,” by Dan Walters, The Tribune, Sept. 7, 2011

10


TAKE ACTION

1:30 p.m., Nov. 9, SLO County Government Center, Monterey Street, SLO. TheIWMA board will hear the first reading of the ordinance. Come and show yoursupport, strike a blow for environmental sanity, and tell Grover Norquist and theAmerican Chemistry Council that their writ don’t run in San Luis Obispo.

Bags away A pile of plastic bags for demonstration purposes (left) Bill Worrell, Manager ofthe Integrated Waste Management Authority (center) and CoastKeeper intern Shannon Diaz(right) at the Sept. 6 single-use bag ordinance study session of the SLO City Council. TheIWMA has achieved a waste recylcing rate of 69 percent.

Bagcontinued from page 1

Spillcontinued from page 1

ing concerns about the situation butreceived no reply. We suggested thatinspection of a three-mile section ofthe archaic line near the Dana Adobethat runs alongside Nipomo Creek inthe railroad right-of-way, whichappears to be its most accessiblepoint, should be required by theboard. This would give them a goodidea of the likelihood of other leakson this line and all transfer lines ofsimilar vintage that cross ourwatersheds. In his testimony, Christie pointedout the length of time this particular

“revealed the presence of petroleumhydrocarbons in the soil, attributed toan 8-inch pipeline taken out of serviceby Unocal in the early 1990s,” asreported by the Santa Maria Sun.) It may have helped that two daysbefore the Regional Water Boardmeeting, the National TransportationSafety Board had released its “litanyof failures” report on the San Brunogas pipeline explosion. It was ascathing indictment of PG&E and, byextension, the California PublicUtilities Commission, which wasfound to have missed multipleopportunities to find the defectivepipe. As reported by the Santa CruzSentinel, “the NTSB detailed howpoor pipeline welds went undetected

leak went undiscov-ered as it grew, and theadditional years thatelapsed before thatdiscovery becamepublic knowledge andcame before the WaterBoard, as all the whilethe oil-impacted soilswere approaching thefloor of an erodingcreek bed. He said thatthis case seemed to bethe appropriatemoment for the boardto determine if it has alarger problem on itshands and begin toexplore the potentialextent of petroleumhydrocarbon pollutionfrom abandoned oiltransfer lines in thecentral coast region. The Water Boardagreed. Board memberMonica Hunter askedif there was any way to

reusable bag. The California Grocer’sAssociation pointed out that a point-of-purchase “reusable” paper bag islikely to be reused perhaps two orthree times, and would be unlikely towithstand greater use. The board weighed options pre-sented by three different versions ofthe ordinance. After hearing publictestimony overwhelmingly in favor ofa version that would have the maxi-mum environmental benefits, theboard agreed. They told staff to comeback with an ordinance that goes intoeffect on September 1, 2012 -- nophase-in -- for all retail stores over10,000 square feet, supermarkets,pharmacies and convenience stores inthe county and charges 10 cents perbag for shoppers who don’t bringtheir own. Staff must refine defini-tions of “reusable,” “recyclable,” and“single-use paper and plastic bag.” The ban will apply only to thecheckout “paper-or-plastic?” bags, notto the sale of trash bags or availabilityof thin film bags used for meat andproduce. At the meeting, the inevitable forcesof reactionary push-back wererepresented by a letter from noneother than Grover Norquist, reachinginto SLO County government affairsall the way from Americans for TaxReform headquarters in Alexandria,Virginia. Norquist wrote to regaleIWMA board president and countysupervisor Jim Patterson withmisinformation about reuseable andplastic bags. Carrying that torch inperson was Paul Brown of theCoalition of Agriculture, Labor andBusiness (COLAB), whose testimonywas notable in that it put on display

the position of an alleged businesscoalition in staunch opposition to anordinance of which actual business-people (the California Grocers Assoc-iation, James Spencer of Spencer’sFresh Markets, et al) spoke in favor. Brown warned that the proposedordinance is an “attempt to changehuman behavior by sanctions orincentives.” Atascadero governmentwatchdog David Broadwater shot back,“Yes it would, and since we’re adultswe should be able to change ourbehavior.” Earlier that week, Keep Bags FreeSLO mounted a protest outside Food 4Less. Keep Bags Free SLO, as TheTribune helpfully noted, is “sponsoredby the Progressive Bag Affiliates of theAmerican Chemistry Council,” a tradeassociation representing manufactur-ers which is fighting plastic bagordinances nationwide. The AmericanChemistry Council spent more than$2 million on lobbying in 2003, theyear after it merged with the AmericanPlastics Council. It persuaded theCalifornia State Board of Education torewrite environmental textbooks andteacher’s guides to include positivestatements about plastic grocery bags,and funded a study warning of thesupposed horrors of the bacterialcontamination presented by reusuablebags (cited by Norquist in his letter). Itdid not mention that that study wassubsequently debunked by ConsumerReports. As the Chemistry Council’s localfront group, Keep Bags Free SLO isrunning online ads against theordinance, carrying water for thegreater profit of the plastics industrybut couching their complaint in thelanguage of outrage at a supposedlyunbearable economic burden beingimposed on consumers.

It came from Nipomo Creek Lumps of weathered crude oil (above) that leaked froman unmonitored Conoco/Phillips pipeline, part of a web of oil transfer lines criss-crossingthe watershed (below: SLO) that the Water Board now wants to take a closer look at.

take a closer look atinactive historic lines in the future.The board decided to put an inactiveoil transfer line monitoring programon its list of priorities and directedstaff to consult with Conoco on thedetails of its pipeline decommission-ing procedure, what exactly is goingon with its historic lines, and what, ifanything, it is doing about theproblem. Staff was directed to reportback to the board in December. (Water Board staff said they didn’tknow if the oil had come from theactive Conoco oil line or the 8-inchdecommissioned Unocal line next tothe creek. But an investigation ofanother historical leak just down thecreek left no doubts on this point. AnAugust 2010 report by the TerraPacific engineering firm on a sub-surface investigation of the site

because of a lack of inspections andinadequate monitoring by regulators.The result was the fireball last Sept. 9that killed eight people and destroyed38 homes. One board memberdescribed a ‘failure of the entiresystem ... that should have preventedthis disaster.’” Crude oil does not explode. But itsability to inflict silent, slow-motion,long-term disaster is well established.We trust the lesson of San Bruno’suninspected, unmonitored pipes andthe permanently blackened reputationof PG&E will not be lost on Conoco/Phillips, and that the Regional WaterQuality Control Board will keepuppermost in mind the failure of theresponsible regulatory agency in thatcase to identify and head off a prob-lem before it turned into a calamity.

Really not a problem John Spencer (right) of Spencer’s Fresh Markets asked the IRWMboard to select the strongest single-use bag ordinance among the options before them.


ClassifiedsNext issue deadline is October 13. To

get a rate sheet or submit your ad

and payment, contact:

Sierra Club - Santa Lucia Chapter

P.O. Box 15755

San Luis Obispo, CA 93406

[email protected]

CYNTHIA HAWLEY

ATTORNEY

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION

LAND USE

CIVIL LITIGATION

P.O. Box 29 Cambria California 93428

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

A portion of any commissiondonated to the Sierra Club

Pismo toSan Simeon

GREEN HOMES

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

Fax: (805) 528-9701

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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.

Island Hopping in Channel IslandsNational ParkReserve early!October 16-18, California’s Channel Islands are Galapagos USA! Marvel atthe sight of whales, seals, sea lions, rare birds & blazing wildflowers. Hike thewild, windswept trails. Kayak the rugged coastline. Snorkel in pristine waters.Discover remnants of the Chumash people who lived on these islands forthousands of years. Or just relax at sea. These fundraisers benefit Sierra Clubpolitical programs in California. Cruises depart from Santa Barbara aboard the68’ Truth. The fee ($590 for May and Sept & Oct.; $785 for July & August)includes an assigned bunk, all meals, snacks & beverages, plus the services of aranger/naturalist who will travel with us to lead hikes on each island and pointout interesting features. To make a reservation mail a $100 check payable toSierra Club to leaders: Joan Jones Holtz & Don Holtz, 11826 The Wye St, ElMonte, CA 91732. Contact leaders for more information (626-443-0706;[email protected].

Outings Sponsored by other organizations

Sat, Oct. 8th, 8:30 a.m. GaviotaPeak or Bust Hike Explore a portionof the Gaviota coast in climb of 2,458'Gaviota Peak along Hwy 101. Strenuous 6.5 miles., 2400 ft. gain,along fire road ending with greatviews of the coast at the top. Bringplenty of water, snack, lunch, anddress for the weather. Shorts OK;minimal poison oak on trail. Meet atArroyo Grande Park ‘n Ride atHalcyon exit of Hwy 101, an hourdrive to trailhead from there. Possible eats in Los Alamos after. Info: Gary Felsman, 473-3694.

Fri., Oct. 14th, 12 noon. City Walk:The Mill St. Historic District. Aneasy, guided stroll through neighbor-hood of splendid century-old homesto reveal SLO in the era of Hearst,WW I, and the twenties. Learn thestories of the rich and not-so-famouswho shaped the city of today. Timeabout 1 1/2 hours. Meet at corner ofMonterey and Johnson Sts., SLO. Info.: Joe Morris, 772-1875.

Sun, Oct 16, Junipero Serra LoopHike. For adventurous and deter-mined hikers seeking a uniqueVentana experience, we will climbiconic Junipero Serra Peak by an off-trail loop route instead of the usualout-and-back trail hike. Starting froman old ranch gravesite, -½ mile ofmedium bushwhacking up a steepslope gets us to jeep road, which wefollow up the ridge to Junipero SerraPeak. We return first via the usualtrail and then to the old Indiansstation, where we’ll visit its historicadobe, and then complete the loop.Grand views, including Cone andPinyon Peaks. A very strenuous dayhike leaving Monterey in the veryearly a.m. and returning after dark. 14miles with 4600' elevation gain. Notfor beginners. Must call leader formeeting time and place. Jack

Glendening, 831-484-6929.(VentanaChapter of Sierra Club).

Sat., October 22nd, 9:00 AM. BishopPeak Hike via Felsman Loop. Meet atPatricia Drive trailhead for hikearound Felsman Loop and then to topof Bishop Peak. The trail is 5.5 milesand will take 2.5 – 3 hours. There arerough areas on the trail and appropri-ate hiking footwear is recommended.We will go at a moderate pace andwhile there is significant elevationchange, the trail inclines are mostlygentle. Enjoy views of most of SLO.Info.: Mike Sims, 459-1701 or [email protected].

Sat., Oct. 22nd, 9 a.m., Cerro AltoLoop Trail, Hwy 41 between MorroBay and Atascadero. This hike is agreat way to stay in shape. Walk tothe top of Cerro Alto, one of the bestplaces to view the Central Coast. Thehike begins at Cerro Alto Camp-ground off of Hwy 41 and climbs upcoastal hills for spectacular views. Total distance 6 miles, elevation gain1,600 feet, hike time 4 hours. Meet attrailhead off of Hwy 41, 8.7 miles westof Hwy 101 or 7.0 miles east of Hwy1. Meet at end of campground road inparking area. $5 (cash) fee chargedfor parking. Bring adequate water,snacks, and dress in layers for theweather; hat and sturdy shoes areadvised. For info, call Bill at (805)459-2103, [email protected]. The plants, animals, andthe geology of the area will be topicsduring the hike.

Fri.-Sun., Oct. 28-30, Death ValleyService Trip. Wilderness restorationin a beautiful and remote NationalPark. On Friday, help install wilder-ness boundary signs in Salsberry Passon Park’s southern border. Saturday,work on hiking trail in CottonwoodCanyon near Stovepipe Wells.

Primitive camping in CottonwoodCanyon, Friday and Saturday nights. Sunday, a ranger-guided hike throughnarrows of Marble Canyon, which willinclude a trip to the petroglyphs. Need moderate to high clearancevehicle. Leader: Kate Allen,[email protected], 661-944-4056. CNRCC/Desert Committee.

Sat., Oct. 29th, 10 a.m. ReservoirCanyon Hike. Easy guided 3-milehike of canyon on N. outskirts ofSLO—an 80-acre area great forbirding around wetland pond andfilled wih native flora and fauna. Willintroduce you to characteristics ofnative plants and wonders of wet-lands. Duration about 2 hrs. Raincancels. Suggest bringing binoculars,sunglasses, jacket, and water. TakeHwy 101 north, exit Reservoir CanyonRd. Turn right and drive to end ofdirt road. Meet at trailhead. Info:Victoria Carranza, 459-6752. Asst.:Joe Morris, 772-1875.

Sat.-Sun,. Oct 29-30, Ghost TownExtravaganza. Spend Halloweenweekend visiting the ghosts ofCalifornia’s colorful past. Visit thiseerie desert landscape near DeathValley; camp at historic ghost town ofBallarat (flush toilets & hot showers). On Sat, challenging hike to ghosttown of Lookout City with historianHal Fowler’s tales of this wild westtown. Return to camp for HappyHour and potluck feast, followed by amidnight visit to Ballarat’s graveyard. On Sun, visit the infamous Rileytownsite. Group size strictly limited. Send $8 per person (Sierra Club), 2SASE, H&W phones, email, rideshare

info to Ldr: Lygeia Gerard, P.O. Box294726, Phelan, CA 92329, 760-868-2179. CNRCC/Desert Committee.

Sat.-Sun., Oct 29-30, Rock Art InEastern California. This outing visitsfour different petroglyph sites. OnSaturday, we visit sites in the south-ern Owens Valley area bordering theCoso Mountains, and on Sunday tothe famous sites in China Lake NavalWeapons Center. Governmentrestrictions apply on the weaponscenter, and all arrangements andconfirmations must be completed byOctober 10. High clearance 2WDsufficient. Group limit, 12 partici-pants, Contact leader Craig Deutschefor further information. (310-477-6670, [email protected].

Sweet Springs Nature Preserve. The Audubon Society, which manages SweetSprings Nature Preserve in Los Osos, has received a grant to work on pathwaysand restoration. Volunteers are needed on the second Saturday of the monthfrom 9-12 to help with watering, weeding, planting, etc. More info atwww.morro coastaudubon.org.

October 8-9, Sat-Sun. Mojave National Preserve Work Party. Join withmembers of Mojave National Preserve Conservancy and National Park Serviceto remove barbed-wire fence from the Preserve. Meet in the Kelso Depotparking lot at 9 a.m. on Saturday for the day’s work, or stay Friday night at thegroup campground. A Sunday morning project is possible with sufficientinterest. Bring leather work gloves, water, sun screen, hat, and lunch. Layers ofclothing are best, as temperatures can be unpredictable. Tools will be provided.The group campground at Hole-In-The-Wall (with water and vault toilets) isreserved for Friday and Saturday nights. Sturdy tents with strong stakes areadvisable in case of high winds. Directions are available at www.nps.gov/moja/index.htm. Contact Sid Silliman at [email protected] regardingsafety precautions for the weekend and to RSVP. Mojave National PreserveConservancy.

Ventana Wilderness Alliance Trail Crew OpportunitiesTrail Crew Volunteers needed for work in Ventana and Silverpeak WildernessAreas. Information: Dave Knapp, Trail Crew Leader at [email protected].

Healthy Communities Month14th Annual Fun Run 10/8, City to Sea Half Marathon 10/9, SLO Gran Fondo10/15, Central Coast US Green Building Council meeting 10/21... and muchmore. Visit www.healslo.com for full calendar of events.

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