Water: Last Hot Topic Thursday we imagined a day without water and learned a lot about water in San Diego County. 66% of water use in San Diego county goes to residential use and 53% of that is used for landscaping. If we are going to comply with mandated water restrictions, cutting back on outdoor watering is the easiest place to begin. Depending on which water district you live in, there are rebates for replacing grass lawns with native and drought resistant plants, creating rock gardens and installing rain barrels. Find out which water district you are in at San Diego County Water Authority Find Your Water District and take advantage of the great water saving resources and rebates that are offered!
Because water is such an interesting, critical and complicated issue for us, an outgrowth of Imagine A Day Without Water is the formation of an Inter-League (LWV San Diego and LWV North County San Diego) water interest group. If you are interested in joining in this conversation email me at seac@lwvsandiego.org.
Want to help clean up the San Diego River? Join in on November 30th for the Annual Great River Clean Up! For more information and to RSVP, please call (619) 297-7380 or email volunteer@sandiegoriver.org.
Marine Clean Air Strategy: All of San Diego got a huge win when the Port of San Diego adopted the most ambitious Marine Clean Air Strategy of its kind in California. Not only did the Port Commissioners demonstrate their commitment to health equity and environmental justice for portside communities but the Port of San Diego will lead California in the 100% use of zero emission vehicles and cargo hauling equipment by 2030. SEAC and the LWVSD is proud to have participated in advocating for cleaner air for those who live, work and play around San Diego Bay.
Leaf Blowers: Another win for all of California is the passing of AB1346 which will ban the sale of small off road engines beginning in 2024. These engines include gas powered leaf blowers and lawn mowers. SD-SEQUEL, a LWVSD coalition partner, is working on an ordinance to ban gas powered leaf blowers in San Diego along with identifying funds to assist low income landscapers transition from gas powered to zero emission lawn equipment. For more information on the health and environmental hazards of gas powered leaf blowers visit San Diegans for Sustainable Equitable and Quiet Equipment in Landscaping.
The People’s Ordinance: A SEAC subcommittee has met twice with the office of Sean Elo-Rivera to discuss a possible revote of The People’s Ordinance. This 1919 Ordinance requires the City to provide trash collection from single family homes on public streets at no cost to the owner. It is not equitable that all other San Diegans must pay for this service through their taxes and by hiring a private hauler.
San Diego must also expand its trash collection service to comply with SB 1383, which requires significantly limiting landfill organics by 2025 in order to reduce methane emission. Allowing San Diegans to vote and reverse the People’s Ordinance would untie the City’s hands to provide more funding for waste remediation while equalizing the cost among all residents of the city.
Rooftop Solar: Do you have rooftop solar? Do you know what Net Energy Metering (NEM) is? NEM is a billing arrangement by which utility customers who generate power at their residence or business can sell any extra energy back into the grid. This has helped make rooftop solar more affordable and increasingly installed in middle class neighborhoods. California utilities are asking the CPUC to reduce the credit that solar users receive for electricity shared with the grid, prevent consumers from carrying forward solar credits from month to month, and increase solar fees. Under this proposal an average SDG&E solar customer would pay $91/month.
Join our November 16th SEAC meeting at 1:00pm when our guest speaker will be Mohit Chhabra, Senior Scientist for the Climate and Clean Energy Program for the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC). Mohit will be talking about Net Energy Metering and what the NRDC is proposing to the CPUC regarding the upcoming possible changes for net metering and the solar industry.
Treat every day as if it were Earth Day! Join SEAC, get informed, take action!