SDG&E feels the heat and opts to turn off the power.

For tens of thousands of San Diego back country residents turning on a radio, light or TV may not be that easy when the Santa Ana winds begin to blow. This controversial proposal comes on the heels of CalFires/CPSD  investigation which blames SDG&E for 2 of the horrific firestorms of last October.

SDG&E wants to amend wording in "Rule 14" so they can turn off the power when necessitated by safety or emergency concerns. (their wording) 

I attended the CPUC public comments hearing regarding San Diego's 2007 wildfires. While this hearing was a bit smaller than previous hearings regarding SDG&E's Sunrise Powerlink proposal it did bring together some key players such as Dianna Jacobson, State Senator Christine Kehoe,  Michael Shames and others.
A lot of good arguments were brought up before the commission. One of my favorites was  "SDG&E wants to run power through our communities and not to our communities."  This was in reference to SDG&E proposing to cut off power in the back country during high wind situations.

Obviously SDG&E does not want a repeat of last years devastating firestorms and this seems to be the quick solution. Maybe we all need to step back and ask ourselves ,"Is the fire prone San Diego backcountry a place to string powerlines?" I will tell you what, let's maintain the lines we have, don't add any new transmission lines and help home owners become energy self-sufficient by passing Bills such as AB 1920 (see below).

AB 1920: the California Solar Surplus Act of 2008 would allow solar system owners to sell surplus electricity at the full retail rate to other utility customers. Currently this surplus is basically given away back to SDG&E who in turn can turn around and sell it.

Bob

Penninsular Bighorn Sheep threatened again

As if massive 150' tall steel towers going through their habitat isn't enough; now the Penninsular Bighorn Sheep are being threatened by the very agency designed to protect them.  In a nutshell the Fish and WildLife Service wants to de-designate over half of the habitat that was set aside to protect the endangered Bighorn.
Use the link below to tell the Fish and Wildlife Service that you oppose this decision..

You can read Larry Hougue's excellent BLOG post here.

Tell the Fish and Wildlife Service to protect the currently designated habitat for the Bighorn (Click Add Comments link)

Ranchita Rocks to save Anza Borrego

Mary and I volunteered to help out Kathleen Beck's People's Powerlink Booth at the Ranchita Rocks festival. 

Ranchita Rocks is a 3 day music festival whose underlying theme is "Green" solutions and raising money to stop the Sunrise Powerlink. People come from all over the country to camp out on Carolyn Morrow's beautiful 180 acre farm in Ranchita, listen to music and enjoy the festivities.

We arrived an hour late (thanks Google Maps) and found Kathleen and Jim setting up their People's Powerlink table. In case you aren't aware, Peoples Powerlink has been a long time opponent of the Sunrise Powerlink  and maintains an excellent web page with up to date news.

To say Ranchita Rocks is a glimpse into "Woodstock" or "Burning Man" wouldn't do it justice. Interspersed with the dreadlocks, incense and hula-hoops, there were booths with information on alternative energy solutions such as solar/photovoltaics and wind power. It was great to see the diverse group of festivall attendees all getting together in the name energy independence.

Kathleen's "Declaration of Energy Independence" was a creative way to get people to think outside of the box. Just because a mega-corporation like Sempra tells us that the Sunrise Powerlink is the only way to get power to the people does not mean it is the best answer. There are better less damaging, innovative solutions, that do not involve desecrating the San Diego back country.

We had a great time meeting new faces, listening to music and learning how to hula-hoop again. 

More to come.....

Check out the Photo Album

New Anza Borrego plates

I was excited to see that this license plate was available on the DMV's website. Not really sure of a better way you could spell out Anza Borrego with 7 letters? This is what I came up with and I think it works pretty good.

CPUC believes SDG&E has lied regarding Sunrise Powerlink facts

Union Tribune Article Here!

No surprise since SDG&E's whole Sunrise Powerlink campaign has been based on lies and misrepresentations. This article is in reference to one of the alternate southern routes.

Facts that SDG&E does not want you to know.

• San Diego does not need the Sunrise Powerlink to meet it's energy needs.
• Sunrise Powerlink's main objective is to get fossil fuel generated power from Mexico to Southern Orange County and Los Angeles.
• 500 KW towers are harmful to wildlife, ugly and help make lot's of $$$ for SDG&E

Sunrise Powerlink decision delayed until end of year.

In yet another set back for SDG&E the California Public Utilities Commission has ordered a "re-circulation of the draft Environmental Impact Report (DEIR) for the Sunrise Powerlink."   According to the Union Tribune article the CPUC would like further in depth analysis  of the technical feasibility and the economic benefits of the various alternatives cited in the DEIR.

What does this mean for us?

• The CPUC's decision is delayed to the end of the year and not the end of the summer as was orignally planned. This gives us more time to get the word out to the public, politicians and others that the Sunrise PowerLink is not in our best interests environmentally, economically or technically.

You can read the Union Tribune Article here.

 Stay tuned for more opportunities to participate in stopping this project and plan on attending  Ranchita Rocks at the end of the summer.

Bob

Sunrise Powerlink Final CPUC Hearing

You would think that the Monday 1PM schedule would deter many Sunrise PowerLink opponents from making the trek out to Borrego Springs for the final CPUC hearing. 
Not true!
This is a passionate group of grassroots people who don't want unnecessary 500 KW powerlines strung through protected California State Park land and pristine San Diego back country.

This hearing was different in a couple ways. First it was the only time that 4 of the 5 CPUC Commisioners would be present and second it was the last chance for the public to express their concerns, opinions, and views to the CPUC.

While most attendees such as myself merely had to endure  drizzle, thick fog and road construction to get to the hearing, Dennis Trafecanty , a Sunrise Powerlink opponent, ran 50 miles overnight throught the Desert  to arrive at the Borrego Springs Resort by 12 noon. How is that for making a statement ?!

Another hilight was the banner that the Sierra Club put together with all of the postcards that were collected at Earth Day. During Micah's public comment a group of us walked the banner in (all 27' of it) and paraded it in front of the commissioners. Pretty fun to do and I think it was very effective.

I am glad there were so many people that were willing to drive out to Borrego to voice their opinions against this ridiculous proposal. Besides the core group I am starting to notice some new faces so it looks like the word is getting out. Now we wait until we hear from the CPUC. They are expected to make a decision sometime this summer so check your local papers and the Smart Energy Website for updates.

Bob

Sunrise PowerLink Advocacy Hike

This past Saturday morning Mary, Kaiel, Diesel and I joined David Hogan and the Sierra Club on an advocacy hike out in Ramona. The hike was an effort to illustrate that in addition to  scarring a path through Anza Borrego, the Sunrise Powerlink would run through some beautiful areas of the San Diego backcountry.

The weather for the hike was a bit on the warm side and hats and sunscreen were necessary. We hiked in the morning sun for close to an hour and in that time we saw an eagle, a flat-tailed horned lizard and a pretty cool looking large brown spider.

Thanks to Micah for organizing this hike and thanks to David Hogan for sharing his knowledge. It is good to see that we have so many that are dedicated to stopping this proposal. 

Slideshow with all the pictures.

Earth Day versus Sunrise PowerLink

The Sierra Club's Smart Energy Solutions campaign could not have had better timing to promote its' Sunrise PowerLink alternatives.
On Saturday I helped set up a table at the Patagonia store in Cardiff to take Polaroid pictures and collect comments from people. As opposed to SDG&E's $45,000 glossy ad campaign that is rammed down our throats, these grassroot type events reach people on a more personal level, giving them the chance to ask questions. The event was a bit on the small side but we did manage to collect alot of postcards that will be presented to the California Public Utilities Commission on May 12 in Borrego Springs.

On a much grander scale, and I mean GRANDER, Earth Day in Balboa Park is like a huge rock concert with tens of thousands of people. By the time I arrived at the Smart Energy Solutions Booth for my shift  the Polaroid film was gone and according to Micah (the Smart Energy Solutions organizer) they had collected 300 comment cards. I also met Larry Hogue from the Desert Protective Council who was kind enough to give my website a mention in his great BLOG. I think the Sierra Club, various watchdog groups and community organizations are doing a great job on getting the word out to the public.
We don't need the Sunrise PowerLink !!

Next stop Borrego Springs on May 12 for the CPUC hearing.

Bob

Carrizo Gorge trail to Goat Canyon

Well I have been studying Google maps as well as my GPS map software and it looked like it was possible to hike along Carrizo Gorge/Creek trail to the mouth of Goat Canyon . If you have been reading my BLOG you know that Goat Canyon is home of the world famous Goat Canyon Trestle. At two hundred feet tall and 750 feet long, it is one of the  tallest, longest wood trestles ever built often described as an engineering marvel or "the impossible railroad". 

Previously, when it was somewhat legal, we hiked along the tracks from Dos Cabezas to reach the trestle and in another adventure, Mary Kaiel and I did a 3 hour hike from Mortero Wash to reach the trestle. This time I wanted to try to access it from along the canyon floor. Armed with my new Delorme PN-20 GPS and steadfast confidence Mary and I jumped in her Toyota Tacoma and drove out to Anza Borrego. We hit some pretty strong winds driving over the Tecate Divide but once we dropped down into Ocotillo the wind settled down.

Pulled off the S2 at Carrizo Creek, put the Tacoma in low range and headed down the trail.  The trail heading south through Carrizo Gorge actually goes pretty far in and there are a few somewhat technical 4-wheel sections towards the end. Let me clarify, technical for a stock, non-lifted Tacoma. I don't think the modified  jeeps that drove past us had any trouble, but then again they were running 35" tires and we were still using the useless 30" Dunlops that came with the truck..

According to my GPS we were about 3 miles from the mouth of Goat Canyon from where we parked . That distance is a bit misleading in that it is "as the crow flies" and I knew we would be scampering over boulders, squeezing through marsh reeds (carrizo) and trying to avoid the prolific cholla in certain areas. Still Mary and I were game and headed off along the canyon floor.

The trail was pretty obvious in some places and at times would completely disappear. The GPS was very helpful in keeping us on course  as were the "ducks" (trail markers). This seldom explored area of Anza Borrego is beautiful and amazingly quiet. We were constantly scouring the surrounding mountains in hope of seeing  Bighorn Sheep. No sheep but we did get an impressive view of the Carrizo Gorge railroad high above the canyon floor.

After about an hour and a half of hiking the trail disappeared and we were confronted by a somewhat impenetrable forest of catclaw. Up to this point we had been collecting scrapes and cholla thorns so the thought of squeezing through yet more vegetation was not that appealing. We opted to turn around this point which was unfortunate since the GPS showed we had 7/10 of a mile to go.

I would love to know if anyone has completed this hike to Goat Canyon so let me know in the comments.

Until next time,
Bob

| Link to Photo Album | (Link To Slideshow) |

SANDAG votes on the Sunrise PowerLink

I was invited to attend the SANDAG meeting by the San Diego Sierra Club so I decided to drive downtown to give my comments .

I am embarassed to say that I never even knew the purpose of SANDAG and what the acronym stood for.
For those of you that don't know SANDAG is the San Diego Association of Governments and is governed by a Board of Directors composed of mayors, councilmembers, and county supervisors from each of the San Diego's 19 local governments.

From what I have understood SANDAG has already decided in favor of the Sunrise PowerLink.  In a nutshell  the Regional Planning Committee (RPC) has already recommended to the SANDAG Board of Director's that they support SDG&E's Sunrise PowerLink project.  Kind of makes you wonder if SANDAG is just going through the motions on hearing public input.

There were a lot of "suits" in the meeting room so I began to worry that all the comments were going to be one-sided and slanted towards why we need the Sunrise PowerLink. Luckily as it got closer to 9AM some familiar faces began to show up. Some notable comments were given by Dennis Trafecanty, Kathleen Beck and others.

I was also excited to hear that my city council members Maggie Houlihan and Teresa Barth are opposed to the Sunrise PowerLink. I had emailed the Encinitas City Council a while back and received this response:

 Dear Mr. Baran;
Our council has had presentations on it, but have taken no position. I personally believe we need greater redundency re our electrical supplies, and doubt we can locate enough in-basin power plants, or economically meet our needs completely using distributed generation. So in general I am supportive of the need for aded transmission lines / capacity, but have no position relative to any specific alignment. I figure that's really up to the CPUC, not the City of Encinitas, and tend to focus my energies on that which is within my area of responsibility.

I hope that helps;

Unfortunately before I was given an opportunity to speak the SANDAG Board decided to take a 45 minute closed session break. Couldn't wait around any longer and handed my comments to the clerk. Micah from the Sierra Club told me later that they read my comments out loud, so I do feel a little better.

Be sure to look in tomorrow's paper for the outcome of the SANDAG vote.

Update : (Thanks Kelly)
SANDAG board backs Sunrise Powerlink by 17-3 vote

Bob

SDG&E Will Campaign To Sway Public

Boy aren't you glad your utility bill is going to pay for SDG&E's media blitz?

http://www.10news.com/news/15772054/detail.html?rss=sand&psp=news.

Part of the biased 10 News Article states,
"The Sunrise Powerlink is a proposal to build a 150-mile line to link solar and geothermal fields in the Imperial Valley to San Diego".
Not true.
SDG&E 's real motive is to tap into cheap fossil-fuel generated energy from Mexico and sell the power to Los Angeles and Orange Counties.

Billboards, Internet advertising and radio ads?
Don't be swayed. SDG&E stands to make a LOT of money if the Sunrise Powerlink goes through, and guess who is going to foot the bill? That's right you and me.

Why not use the $1.3 Billion to subsidize solar initiatives for home owners and businesses so we can become energy independent?
Oh that's right SDG&E won't make money this way.

Let's not forget what SDGE did to us in the early 2000's with price gouging, deceit, and rolling blackouts.

Windy Anza Borrego

Rounded up the crew for an overnight trip to Anza Borrego's RockHouse Canyon.
Great sunny weather but the wind at night proved to be a little much. Casualties were Kaiel's REI tent and a sleepless night for most of the campers.
 
Coffee and breakfast helped us recover and after breakfast we did a late morning hike up to the RockHouse Canyon linehouse where we were able to check out the numerous cactus blooms and desert wildflowers.
Seems the wildflowers have reached their peak in this area and are starting to disappear but the cactus blooms are beginning to show.

Beavertail blooms in RockHouse Canyon	HedgeHog Cactus with blooms

Can you spot the flat-tailed horned lizard?	BJ70 Base Camp

Another wildlife encounter came in the form of a rattlesnake moving down the jeep trail in Carrizo Gorge. Mark's son Tim was able to snap this picture as the rattler moved away. 

More to come....

View the SlideShow  or the PhotoAlbum

Governor Schwarzenegger "terminates" brother-in-law Bobby Shriver

Governor Schwarzenegger lived up to his Terminator persona and dropped his brother-in-law Bobby Shriver from the CA State Parks Commission.  

Is this move in response to Commissionser Shriiver's opposition to the Sunrise PowerLink and the 241 Toll Road Extension which the Governor supports ?
My guess is as good as yours but ahem....

The following quote is from the LA Times :

Several environmental groups, including the Natural Resources Defense Council, the Surfrider Foundation and the California State Parks Foundation, said they submitted a letter to state Senate leaders Tuesday requesting a hearing into the oversight of state parks. They based their request on Schwarzenegger's treatment of the two commissioners, his proposal to close 48 parks because of the state's fiscal crisis and his support for development in parks.

In case you didn't know Governor Schwarzenegger supports the Sunrise PowerLink and has sent a letter to the California Public Utilies Commission urging them to follow suit.

Governor Letter To CPUC (PDF 183.80 kb)

If you would like to respond to Governor Schwarzenegger and tell him why the Sunrise PowerLink is the wrong choice for San Diego write a letter to the editor..

Thanks,
Bob

Anza Borrego SOLO

Since free weekends were disappearing faster than the money in my checking account I decided to take a solo mid-week trip out to Anza Borrego . I had read that the flower season was going to be "peaking" in the first two weeks of March so I was really anxious to check things out.  

I left Leucadia around 3:30 PM on Wednesday, topped off the BJ70 with bio-diesel in El Cajon and dropped down into Ocotillo around 5:30PM.  Not bad considering the Bj70 with its' 90 hp diesel motor does not like hills and the trek out via Interstate 8 is nothing but hills. Basically the 8 will take you from sea level to 4500' then drop you back down to sea level around the town of Ocotillo..

I ended up camping on Egg Mountain which is near the mouth of the Carrizo Creek / Gorge jeep trail. What's nice about Egg Mountain is that at an elevation of 900' you get a 360' view of the surrounding desert. The area was blanketed with flowers as far as the eye could see. Since it was dusk the lighting was pretty good but I decided I would wait until morning to take flower pictures.

Ocotillo Bloom at Dusk	Sunrise at Egg Mountain	Morning at camp

The next morning I had barely brewed my first cup of coffee  and looked down and saw a scorpion. He was busily heading on a path that would have taken him directly over my foot. I managed to snap a few pictures but he was a bit camera shy and very fast.

Scorpion that charged my foot	Desert Dandelions.	Chuparosa

After breakfast I drove down Carrizo Gorge trail and parked at the entrance to Rock House Canyon. I was really anxious to try out this new GPS I purchased off Amazon. I set a waypoint at the start of my hike and headed up the wash in the direction of the cattlemen's line house. The flowers were intense. Everywhere you looked the ground was carpeted with colors of yellow, pink or blue. I didn't notice too many flowers on the cholla and other cacti so i am guessing that will happen later.

The hike up to the linehouse took about an hour and was around 2.7 miles according to the GPS.

Desert Sunflowers frame the linehouse		Desert Sunflowers

Hiking mid-week in the Anza Borrego Desert by yourself is interesting. The only sound you hear besides your foot steps are the various creatures going about their routines and birds sounding an alarm that you are approaching.
Using the GPS made all the difference. Although I have hiked this wash before it is really nice to know how far you are from your truck and what direction it is in.

Pics are here

Sunrise Powerlink CPUC Hearing

I took a long lunch and drove to downtown San Diego to the California Public Utilities Commission meeting at the San Diego County Building. Of course downtown parking is a nightmare, so $13.00 later I showed up and signed in with the Sierra Club. I came to find later that there was free parking right next to the County building.  Note to self : read email thoroughly next time.

We all stood around while the proponents of the PowerLink ; various politicians, business owners and SDG&E paid flunkies each got up and said how much we need the Sunrise PowerLink to ensure San Diego's economic future. It was really hard for us to listen to but we toughed it out and held up anti-PowerLink signs and banners. It was pretty funny because the pro PowerLink group were wearing green T-Shirts to signify enviro-friendly or whatever you want to call it.  Whatever side you are on : putting 160 ft. 500 Kw towers through a State Park is far from being environmentally friendly.

I signed up to speak at the desk and was given number 76 which at 3 minutes a pop meant I would have been there almost 4 hours waiting. Luckily there were a lot of people speaking that were far more articulate than me and they pretty much said what I wanted to say. I turned in my speech to the desk and drove back to UCSD.

I heard some great points being made. One of the strongest I thought was a lady who stated "Why are we even here? When a place is designated as a State Park why are we allowing businesses and politicians to come in and try to take it away?". Good point and I hope the CPUC really thinks hard on that one.

PowerLink Briefing

I drove out to Ramona  Monday evening to attend the Community Briefing put on by the Sierra Club. Very informative meeting regarding SDG&E's proposed Sunrise Powerlink. To summarize, regardless of the lies SDG&E is feeding the public, the Sunrise Powerlink Project :

1. Would be a huge cost burden to ratepayers
2. Will do nothing to reduce global warming
3. Will irreversably damage our rural back country including Anza Borrego and the Clevland National Forest.
4. Will rely on fossil fuel generated sources form Mexicali

Author Bill Powers discusses the PowerLink's shortcomings	A little music to get the crowd fired up.
Powerlink and fire danger illustration

If you are interested in further reading, I found a great document on the San Diego Smart Energy Website which discusses "Myth versus Facts" . You can view it by clicking the link below.

SRPL_mythvsfact.pdf (858.91 kb)

RockHouse Canyon

I read about a spot called RockHouse Canyon so I convinced Mary to take a trip out to Anza Borrego to try and find it. Apparently it is accessible off Carrizo Canyon which was perfect since it is one of our favorite areas in the Anza Borrego Desert. 

On the way out there were still plenty signs of snow from the storm that came through a few days back. People were actually stopping off the 8 freeway to play in the snow. We had actually planned on stopping in Pine Valley on the way out to get our snow fix but decided a beer Ocotillo's Lazy Lizard was a little more enticing.

We spent the night on the West side of Carrizo Canyon at a spot I THOUGHT was the RockHouse Canyon trail head.  Turns out it wasn't and we ended up having to do a lot of "overlanding" through fields of cholla and ocotillo until we found the correct tributary. Bob vows to work on his math skills and reading his odometer correctly in the future.

Once we found the correct trail, which is basically a huge wash, the hike was easy. The canyon is beautiful and you find yourself surrounded by rock cliffs as you hike up the sandy trail. The silence is amazing. The only sounds we heard were the occasional planes flying high overhead.

Our goal was to get to the old cattlemen's line shack which we finally did find.  The shack is built next to a huge boulder and inside are the remains of a fireplace and a rusted bed. The rotting wood door still works which is amazing. It was pretty cool to sit inside and look out the painless window overlooking the valley. We both also noticed that the temperature inside the tin roof covered house was much cooler.

Mary in the Rock House.

We probably could have spent a few hours exploring the area but with only one bottle of water and no food, we reluctantly headed back down the wash to the FJ Cruiser for lunch. Hike up took us close to two hours while the hike back took us about an hour since we had figured out the correct trail.

Link to photos

BJ70 in Anza Borrego

Mary and I decided to take a quick overnight trip out to Anza Borrego. I was excited to go because we were finally going to get to 4-wheel the BJ70 which we bought a few months ago. The drive out from San Diego was non-eventful. The BJ70 who we are now calling "Opie", does great on flat stretches of freeway but when you hit hills patience and downshifting become your mantra.

Once we arrived in the lazy, desert town of Ocotillo (I mean lazy in a good way) we decided to stop in for a beer at "The Lazy Lizard". After years of driving by this place it was fun to sit down in the one room bar with some of the Ocotillo locals.

After leaving the Lazy Lizard we pointed the BJ70 towards the north and our camp site in Carrizo Canyon. It was getting dark as we arrived  so we quickly setup the tent. No roof top tent this time since the racks would not accommodate the clips of the tent. This was discovered after Mary, Kaiel and I had already hoisted the tent up onto the lifted BJ70...ouch.

The next morning we took a quick run up to Egg Mountain to check out the view. Egg Mountain is around 900' in elevation and offers an excellent view of the Carrizo Creek/Canyon area. Highly recommended! 

The next stop was Canyon Sin Nombre. We dropped down into the twisty canyon and spent the morning exploring the mud caves and slot canyons in the area. The area has a prehistoric feel to it and you expect a dinosaur to pop out at any time. As is true with much of Anza Borrego this area was once the northern part of the Gulf of California and was completely underwater.

We are convinced that this coming Spring the Desert will have loads of flowers dues to all the rain we have received in the past few months. There are signs of green grass popping up anywhere. We will cross our fingers.

You can check the pictures here.

Thanksgiving 2007

We woke up early Friday, loaded the rest of the camping stuff into the Tacoma and drove out to Ramona to meet up with Jan and Gina. Hooked up with Michael in his diesel troop carrier and headed to Anza Borrego by way of Julian.

We arrived at our camp site in the Carrizo Canyon East Fork area  and were pleasantly surprised to see it was empty. Everyone helped unload the wood, tables etc in preparation of our big Thansgiving feast.

While the turkey was cooking, Mary and Sarah went for a hike and the rest of the crew opted to hang by the camp. Jan mixed up a great batch of bloody marys and we all sat around enjoying the Desert scenery. Turkey was ready in a few hours despite our numerous times of opening the lid. Everything came out great and we even topped off the meal with pumpkin and apple pie.

The next morning we were moving a bit slow but made an excellent camp fire breakfast of eggs, ham and turkey bacon for the crew. After 3 cups of camp fire coffee we fired up the Toyotas and headed over to Egg Mountain to check out the 360' view of the Carrizo Canyon area. Kaiel ran over and checked out the geo-cache that we found a year back and checked out the log book. Seems two more people have found it since the last time we were here which is pretty cool.

This has turned out to be a great time of year to visit the Desert. While you won't find the wildflower blooms of Spring the weather has always been great.

You can check out the rest of the trip pictures here.