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From POC President Denis Trafecanty: At 7am this Saturday I’ll be starting the San Diego 100-mile run with about 150 other runners in the Laguna Mountains. We will go around Big Laguna Lake then north up the Pacific Crest Trail, across Sunrise Highway and down Noble Canyon to Pine Valley. We then head back up Noble Canyon to Pioneer Mail, Stonewall Mine, Stonewall Peak, over to Cuyamaca Peak and then here and there through the night. I’ll end up at the finish line in the Laguna’s hopefully by 11am on Sunday. The special part about this run is that we have anonymous donors who will contribute $200 for each mile that I run (up to $20,000) to The Protect Our Communities Foundation (POC). The only hitch is that the donors want POC to find matching donations. If we only get $12,000 in other donations, then the major donor will give us a $12,000 match. So, for those who can afford to make a donation before August 15th, we will get a match! We need all the help we can get to stop the Goliath (SDGE/Sempra) from building a transmission line that is clearly not needed and will cause irreparable damage to our beloved backcountry, including our public and private lands, and will most likely contribute to an uncontrollable fire catastrophe like in 2003 and 2007. If you are inclined please make a donation (Support POC) And wish me a safe journey! Regards, Denis Reminder: The official public comment period for the US Forest Service decision on the Sunrise Powerlink is June 29. Please send letters to:
Mail: William Metz, Forest Supervisor, 10845 Rancho Bernardo Road, Suite 200, San Diego, CA 92127, ATTN: Sunrise Powerlink Comments Fax: (858) 673-6192 E-mail: mailroom_r5_cleveland@fs.fed.us, with a subject line of “Sunrise Powerlink Comments” Phone: (858) 673-6180 Talking Points: •Thank the Forest Service for delaying the project but ask that they follow the law and prepare a full “Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement” and to distribute this for public review. •Ask for a public hearing during this 45-day comment period. •Oppose the powerlink because it’s not needed and would irreparably harm nature, communities, and property. •Express your concern that the powerlink would unnecessarily undermine existing forest plan goals to limit fire risk, protect scenic natural views, and to protect riparian and roadless areas. •Remind the Forest Service of its independent duty to protect the Cleveland National Forest and to consider smart, local, renewable energy alternatives to the powerlink. The Forest Service is not bound to the bad decisions and ignorance of other agencies. •Express that the Forest Service’s internal “supplemental information report” cannot replace a legitimate Supplement Environmental Impact Statement. Point out that the supplemental information report hasn’t even been made public and ask that this be made available for public review with another public comment period. A lawsuit was filed today to stop construction of SDG&E’s Sunrise Powerlink transmission line through southern Imperial and San Diego Counties. The lawsuit was filed in the Federal Eastern District Court in Sacramento. The lawsuit challenges the decision of the US Bureau of Land Management to approve the power line in January of 2009. Three local community groups, POC, Backcountry Against Dumps, and the East County Community Action Coalition filed the lawsuit after the BLM failed to address issues raised in their administrative appeal. To read the complete Press Release, click here, and to read the filed complaint, click here. Thanks to all of our supporters who helped make this possible. The fight has just begun and we will continue to work to stop this project from ever seeing the light of day. An SDG&E sponsored Community Council meeting was held in Alpine last night to address mitigation issues for the Sunrise Powerlink construction in the Alpine area. The standing room only crowd had many tough questions for SDG&E public relations personnel and engineers, including the big question of where they will get 70 million gallons of water necessary for construction of the line. SDG&E was unable to answer the question. The environmental expert on staff at SDG&E explained to the crowd that they were “cutting corners” on the project, a misguided effort at a joke about making the line shorter. In general many people in the crowd knew more about the project than the staff on hand to answer questions. The next step for many of us is to now write to the CPUC to make sure they are aware of ALL the issues that need to be mitigated on this project. SDG&E stated many times last night that were “still studying the problem” regardless of what the question was about. CPUC will not issue a Notice to Proceed until all mitigations have been addressed. If you feel that SDG&E needs to look at something further, please write to the CPUC directly. You should also send a copy of any correspondence to Supervisor Diane Jacob. Their addresses are listed below: Billie Blanchard Supervisor Diane Jacob Thanks so much to everyone who came out for Dianne Jacob’s Town Hall meeting in Alpine last Thursday. I personally talked to people from all over the county, not just Alpine. They were here to show their support for our cause and voice their opposition to SDG&E’s flawed and short-sighted plan. For a recap and some quotes from speakers at the meeting, please see this great article in the East County Magazine. You can also view the slide show presented by County staff at the meeting, showing impacts and details of construction along Alpine Blvd here. Title: Alpine Community Council Meeting Title: Town Hall Meeting There are many large solar and wind projects vying for approval on federal lands in California, including some that are directly linked to the Sunrise Powerlink project. One project seeking approval in the Mojave desert may become a benchmark case in the fight between those seeking to preserve pristine federal lands and the large scale energy companies trying to develop them. Read this article for more on this story, and stay tuned with POC for updates on these energy and transmission projects and how they may affect San Diego County. The fall issue of East County Community Action Coalition’s newsletter includes an eye-opening article about Assemblyman Joel Anderson, who met with POC Board members and refused to take a stand on the Sunrise Powerlink, despite it’s effect on a large portion of his constituents. Read the newsletter here. Also included in the newsletter is another call for letters to Supervisor Metz. The Forest Service is keeping a tally of the letters received for and against the powerline. If you have not written, now is the time to do so! Even a two sentence email gets counted, so you don’t need to write a lengthy letter. Just let him know you do not want the Forest Service to approve construction of the powerline on forest land. Thanks for your support! Please click here for information on where to write to Metz. Also, as the year comes to an end, many of you may be looking to make charitable donations. Please consider POC this year for your donation. POC is a 501(c)(3) non-profit corporation, which means donations are tax deductible, as allowed by law. We will be ramping up our efforts on the legal front, but we cannot continue this fight without financial support. We hope for 2010 to be the breakthrough year in our battle to stop the Sunrise Powerlink, but we need the support of everyone who can offer it. For information about donating, click on Support POC. THANKS AGAIN, AND HERE’S TO A POWERLINK FREE 2010! The federal government awarded over $800 million in bonds for solar funding nationwide, with San Diego County receiving almost 20% of the funding. Over 200 separate projects throughout the county received the grants, with the San Diego Unified School District receiving the most: $74.3 million for 111 projects. Other recipients include the City of Chula Vista, Santee School District, UC San Diego, San Dieguito Union High School District, City of Santee, SDSU, City of Lemon Grove, and the Fallbrook Public Utility District. The federal support comes in the form of bonds. Please see the complete article here. (San Diego Union Tribune, October 30, 2009) |
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