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... [More]

The BigHorn Sheep that roam Anza Borrego are being threatened again. [More]

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 $$$... [More]

Anza Borrego Sunrise Powerlink [More]

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... [More]

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. ... [More]

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 Pub... [More]

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 n... [More]

Governor supports the Sunrise PowerLink through Anza Borrego Desert State Park [More]

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 t... [More]

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

Anza Borrego Thanksgiving [More]

Here are a few recent articles discussing alternatives to SDG&E's proposed PowerLink Project. Alternative to Powerlink is proposed Go Solar over Sunrise Taking a trip to the desert This photo from http://www.theabf.org/hottopics.htm shows the footprint of the proposed Powerlink route.

Decided to "Blogisize" this for ease of maintenance and navigation. The old site looked great but as it got bigger it was really hard to maintain. Hopefull now it will be a lot easier to navigate and update so stay tuned. Here is a quick pic from a couple years ago when the wild flowers were just intense. That's our friend Jan in the background and our dog Tia in the foreground. Hopefully this year we get something close to this. It was pretty unreal to be driving through a dry sandy wash and suddenly be blinded by fields of pink and white Desert wild flowers... [More]

If you have not heard about the proposed SDG&E Powerlink project now is the time to voice your concerns to the CA State Parks Commission and the Public Utilities Commission. After receiving this flyer in the mail from the Sierra Club I decided to drive out to Borrego Springs after work to attend the hearing. Very long drive from UCSD. I do NOT recommend doing the Banner grade in the dark. When I arrived at the Borrego Springs Resort I was happy to see that it was standing room only. There is a lot of opposition to this unprecedented de-designation of state p... [More]

Our second Thanksgiving trip out to Anza Borrego [More]

Thanksgiving in Anza Borrego Torote canyon [More]

We took a late spring trip out with Linda and Jake to see if we could find some cactus blooms and wild flowers. Wind was blowing kind of hard so we opted to camp in our "secret" canyon in the Carrizo Gorge / Creek area of Anza Borrego . It is really protected from the wind so it seemed like the logical choice.   I always expect to see campers before we pull in but noone seems to ever camp there. Side note : I wonder if it has something to do with the precarious boulders perched overhead. Linda really enjoyed the campsite. Her... [More]

Incredible wildflower displays in Anza Borrego [More]