Orange County Coastkeeper and other clean-water lovers gather for a Huntington State Beach cleanup Saturday morning, but they will be doing more than filling trash bags with cigarette butts, plastic water bottles and Styrofoam bits that fish confuse for lunch. “The event begins with a beach cleanup,” a Coastkeeper tells the Weekly, “and then it […]
Environment
CALPERS CEO and Sen. John Moorlach to Talk Socially Conscious Pension Investing
John Moorlach and Marcie Frost are not running against one another for office, but they are poised to take different sides on a public policy issue they will discuss Thursday in Huntington Beach. Moorlach (R-Costa Mesa) is the state senator for the 37th district that stretches from Huntington Beach south to Three Arch Bay and […]
CEMEX USA and Clean-Water Advocates Reach Pollution-Fighting Agreement
The CEMEX USA building materials company has essentially agreed to clean up its act in Orange County and elsewhere in Southern California to settle a dispute with regional clean-water advocacy groups. Orange County Coastkeeper and Los Angeles Waterkeeper filed a complaint in early 2017 that claimed stormwater from CEMEX facilities in Irvine, Compton and Fontana […]
CalTrans’ Laguna Canyon Road Project Flummoxes Laguna Canyon Foundation
As Liam Blume just reported in the Weekly, Orange County’s most controversial road remains the proposed extension of the 241 toll road into San Clemente–but gaining fast is the proposed $39 million expansion and extension of the 133, a.k.a. Laguna Canyon Road. CalTrans is proposing widening the 133 at El Toro Road, extending the second […]
Hoag, Edwards Lifesciences Are Bully on Irvine Exploring Community Choice Energy
Any of you residential utility ratepayers remember several years back, when we were allowed to “purchase” our power from someone other than Southern California Edison? And did any of you, like me, choose to go with a company that invested in renewable energy like wind and solar? And did any of you, like me, start […]
Toll Road-ed: Will OC Soon Be Forced To Pay For Yet Another Useless Toll Road?
Ahh, the toll roads. On par with the haunted school bus of Black Star Canyon, they exist as one of Orange County’s greatest mysteries. Why would elected officials fight for the construction of an expensive transit project that their constituents despise? Currently, the Transportation Corridor Agency (TCA)–the quasi-government agency charged with building the toll road–has […]
OCWD Votes To Postpone Decision On Poseidon’s New Term Sheet
Things have been quiet on the Poseidon front since the State Lands Commission hearing last October—until last Wednesday, that is. On June 6, the Orange County Water District (OCWD) Board of Directors held a meeting to discuss and vote on whether to adopt new terms of agreement regarding the proposed $1 billion desalination plant. It […]
Surfrider’s ‘Protect and Enjoy’ Photo Contest Has a Subtext: Drilling is Killing!
The Surfrider Foundation creates awareness of environmental threats to our waterways with clever photo contests. To rise up against plastics, “Found Objects” asks contestants to collect the colorful crap at the beach, arrange it, photograph the collection, then post the image online along with six words that sum up the eco-art. That contest will happen […]
This Week in Clean Beaches: Hands Across the Sand, Eelgrass Beds, Kids Ocean Day
They held hands on the beach in February, and they will again on Saturday. No, this is not a reference to lovey-dovey couples out for strolls on the sand but demonstrators who prefer clean-energy solutions to dirty-fuel excavation and distribution fouling coastal Orange County and elsewhere. For instance, Saturday marks the three-year anniversary of […]
Russian Doll Billboard with Putin, Trump, Rohrabacher and Baugh is Unveiled Today
UPDATE, MAY 18, 9:05 A.M.: The following arrived in my inbox this morning: This statement is incorrect: “Baugh, the former state assemblyman … is currently a fan of “Calexit,” the California version of Brexit. The U.K. strategy involves pulling out of the European Union, while Calexit would break California into up to six distinct states.” […]
Prepare to be Overwhelmed by the 2018 Chevy Bolt Premier (Part 2)
WRITER’S NOTE: This is part two of the Ride Me vehicle-review column featuring the 2018 Chevy Bolt EV Premier. Click here to read part one, “To Live and Die in the Arizona Desert in a 2018 Chevy Bolt EV Premier.” Having just tested a performance brand’s electric car that costs $10,000 more, I was expecting […]
2018 BMW i3s Electric Car Looks Even Better Thanks to SoCal Edison
When Southern California Edison informed me about a new energy reducing partnership through BMW, which is offering the power company’s employees and residential customers discounts on the purchase of new i3 and i3s electric cars, I asked the next logical question. “Hey, SCE, do you suppose your new BMW buddies would let me test drive […]
Will Rohrabacher Show at Debate Tonight? Plus, He and Mimi Walters Get Drilled
At least four Democratic candidates seeking the 48th Congressional District seat of Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R-Huntington Beach) are scheduled to debate tonight at UC Irvine. Meanwhile, representatives of various groups plan to gather at the Huntington Beach Pier on Thursday to call on Rohrabacher and 45th Congressional District Rep. Mimi Walters (R-Irvine) to reverse their […]
Coastkeeper and Bronze Foundry Settle Lawsuit Over Polluted Runoff
Orange County Coastkeeper and a Huntington Beach bronze foundry have settled a federal lawsuit in which the clean-water nonprofit alleged the facility was polluting Huntington Harbour, Bolsa Chica Channel and Seal Beach National Wildlife Refuge. The complaint, which went before U.S. District Court Judge David O. Carter in Santa Ana in February of last year, […]
Protest Targets Walters, Rohrabacher, Trump and Oil Drilling Off Orange County Coast
At high noon Thursday, demonstrators plan to gather in Laguna Beach to call attention to their opposition to oil drilling off the Orange County coast and three Washington, D.C., politicians: U.S. Representatives Mimi Walters (R-Irvine), Dana Rohrabacher (R-Huntington Beach) and President Donald Trump. The crowd organized by the Sierra Club Angeles Chapter, Greenpeace USA, OFA-California, […]
Trump: Drill, Baby, Drill; Laguna Beach Ralliers on Main Beach: Chill, Baby, Chill
Laguna Beach police estimate 300 people rallied on Main Beach Saturday against President Trump’s plan to reopen California’s coastline to offshore oil drilling. Participants held up signs, joined hands to form a line across the sand and listened to speakers who included actor and clean-ocean activist Ted Danson. The gathering was organized by a coalition […]
New BYD Electric Buses are a BFD on Santa Catalina Island
BYD Coach and Bus, the largest battery-electric bus manufacturer in North America, announced Monday that the Catalina Island Co. is deploying three new BYD C6 motor coaches to shuttle tourists around Santa Catalina Island. Catalina is, of course, known for strictly limiting private auto use (thus, the electric golf carts) and for developing sustainable transportation […]
Free Science Policy Forum at UCI Aims to be Evidence-Based
A public forum is being held later today at UC Irvine that aims to “create a bridge between scientists, graduate students, policymakers, political candidates and community members,” according to organizers. The Science Policy Group at UCI, in affiliation with the Union of Concerned Scientists, hosts “Letting Evidence Lead the Way – A Public Forum on Science […]
San Clemente Conference Unveils New Environmental Report on Current Condition of OC’s Coastline
In California, there’s a deep connection between bona-fide scientific research and the policy decisions that directly affect our coastline. The recently released “The State of the California South Coast”—a 60-page, full-color report compiled by ocean scientists from data collected by pros and amateurs—details the baseline condition of the state’s 5-year-old Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) from […]
Art & Nature Fest Is a Stark Reminder of What We've Lost and the Need To Keep Making Art
Climbing aboard the free Laguna Beach trolley in Dana Point the Saturday before Election Day, I was excited to see Phillip K. Smith III's big installation on Laguna's Main Beach and to participate in an interactive sound piece inside Laguna Art Museum that promised to evoke a storm at sea coming ashore. What I didn't […]
Transformation Powers “From Plastic to Fantastic” Exhibit at Surfing Heritage and Culture Center
Transformation is the force at work in “From Plastic to Fantastic,” a fascinating exhibit at the Surfing Heritage and Culture Center (SHACC) in San Clemente. The exhibit asks visitors—the surf community and everyone else—to rethink on a global scale what's possible with the objects we use, purchase and discard, all while visually charming us at every […]