The Wilderness Act called for “an area where the earth and its community of life are untrammeled by man, where man himself is a visitor who does not remain.” In 1964, it was one of three pieces of legislation—along with the Civil Rights Act and Voting Rights Act—that essentially determined what kind of country we […]
Andrew Christie, director, Santa Lucia Chapter of the Sierra Club
Posted inOpinion
State Parks has mixed up its priorities in managing the Oceano Dunes, putting vehicles over environmental protection
For the past year, The Dunes Alliance (American Woodland Conservancy, Surfrider San Luis Obispo, Sierra Club’s Santa Lucia Chapter, Center for Biological Diversity, Friends of Oso Flaco Lake, Morro Coast Audubon, ECOSLO, San Luis Obispo Coastkeeper, Oceano Beach Community Association, Defenders of Wildlife, and the Northern Chumash Tribal Council) have been asking Gov. Gavin Newsom […]
Posted inOpinion
The situation is growing slippery for Central Coast oil projects
But Katie Davis, chair of Sierra Club’s Los Padres Chapter (Santa Barbara and Ventura counties), recently described what it was like to live through the Refugio Beach oil spill five years ago: “You can’t completely clean up an offshore oil spill. The oil sinks into the marine environment, damaging fragile underwater ecosystems, killing or contaminating […]
Posted inOpinion
Keep the proposed marine sanctuary protections moving through the Legislature
For some time now, the Sierra Club, in concert with environmental groups in SLO and Santa Barbara counties, has been supporting the Chumash in advocating for the designation of a Chumash Heritage National Marine Sanctuary off the Central Coast. Per the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, “The primary objective of a sanctuary is to protect […]
Posted inOpinion
What is environmental justice?
Environmental justice is one of those things most readily understood, and keenly felt, in its absence. If you’re unsure as to the meaning of “environmental justice” and have never felt it, you could also ask the residents of Oceano who can’t afford to live anywhere else, can’t safely use their beach, and face a future […]
Posted inOpinion
Sanctuary will not affect fishing
Regarding “Don’t interrupt the circle of life” (The Canary, May 5), thanks for siding with nature, but we can assure you that Andy Caldwell does not have “a valid point” that “the sanctuary would hurt the fishing industry more than it would benefit marine health.” Here’s one of many studies that refutes Mr. Caldwell’s assumption: […]
Posted inOpinion
The ‘vocal minority’ isn’t imagining oil-by-rail hazards
If Patrick Sidun (“Fact vs. fear in the Phillips 66 debate,” Sept. 24) thinks “a vocal minority has raised alarm about mostly imagined hazards from transporting oil to the Nipomo refinery via railroad,” he hasn’t been paying attention, nor would it appear that he’s read the project’s Environmental Impact Report. For the record, that “vocal […]
Posted inOpinion
Katcho’s reality problem
Our assemblyman is out of touch with voters’ concerns
A political candidate has a lot of latitude when speaking in general terms about what he’s going to do in the future or cultivating an image as a political moderate and all around nice guy who is in favor of mom, apple pie, and multiple cars and/or chickens in pots and/or garages. But when he […]
Posted inOpinion
Empire of the dumb
Science and history aren’t optional belief systems
What is one to make of the current efforts in Morro Bay and Grover Beach to advance a political agenda based on a lie? The majority of the Morro Bay City Council is trying to do the right thing. It has decided that it will not attempt to build a sewer plant in a flood […]
Posted inOpinion
Don’t drill, conserve
Santa Lucia Chapter of the Sierra Club, director
Stop the presses: Oil has been leaking out of fissures in the ocean floor (“Resume drilling,” Feb. 4) for thousands of years! The drill-baby-drill fan club loves to cite the stats for oil seeps (250 barrels a day in the Santa Barbara Channel! An Exxon Valdez every six months in the Gulf of Mexico!), based, […]
