San Diego is experiencing unprecedented weather events fueled by climate change and as it so happens, SEAC is at the forefront of education on and response to these very issues.
The H3 (Heat and Human Health) Summit was attended by over two hundred fifty physicians, medical students and health care workers at UCSD. We, as the LWVSD, supported a break-out session with the county. Our goal was to assist the county in collaborating with the health care system over excessive heat response during extreme heat events. Dr. Wooten, Director of Public Health Services of San Diego, the Office of Ageing and Independent Services, the Office of Emergency Response and the National Weather Service all spoke on our panel. The National Weather Service issues an excessive heat alert to the County and then the Office of Emergency Services and Partner Relay Team get the message out to county residents. The Summit focused on how the medical community can also respond to excessive heat alerts and provide care for their patients who are particularly affected by excessive heat: senior citizens, people on certain medications, people being treated for depression, women who are pregnant and children.
To continue this important conversation and issue of our times, LWVSD will host a Hot Topic on Heat and Human Health. We are fortunate to have on our panel: Dr. Wilma Wooten, Director of Public Health Services for the County of San Diego, The Partner Relay Team- trusted messengers for ESL population, Kristin VanderMolen of the Desert Research Institute- a heat and health researcher, and Kristin Guirguis of Scripps Institute of Oceanography- climate and weather scientist. Please join us on Monday September 18th, 6:00 pm, via zoom and learn what excessive heat might mean to your health, what you can do to keep cool and how you can prepare for these extreme climate events to protect yourself, your family and your friends. Please encourage your friends and those in your networks to attend. Heat and Health Registration
Our next SEAC meeting will be Tuesday, September 19th at Noon! This meeting is an hour earlier than usual as we are very fortunate to have as our speaker Dr. Adam Aron who is currently on an east coast book tour promoting his new book The Climate Crisis.
Dr. Aron asks: “Why, despite all we know about the causes and harms of global heating, has so little effective action been taken to cut greenhouse gas emissions, and what we can do to change that? The pathway to stopping dangerous global heating will require a much larger social mobilization of advocacy and activism to impel decision makers to abandon fossil fuels, and transition to renewable energy and electrification embedded in a political and social framework guided by justice principles. Dr. Aron will illustrate the social mobilization on climate with examples from grassroots and advocacy struggles in both the University of California and the city of San Diego, and will discuss ideas of how to increase mobilization.”
If the world gets to 4.0 centigrade above preindustrial levels, the entire U.S. will be uninhabitable. What we do matters. Please join us for this important conversation. Join the zoom meeting from the LWVSD website calendar.
SEAC meetings are open to everyone and we welcome your participation.
Tijuana River Transborder Pollution Crisis
Finally, the pollution in the Tijuana River is getting the press needed to gain national attention. I’m sure you read that the pollution and flooding was magnified by Hurricane Hillary and for two days Imperial Beach residents were being asked to boil their drinking water. The County Board of Supervisors and the San Diego City Council have declared a State of Emergency at the border as well as a Public Health Crisis.
Tijuana River pollution does not just affect people in San Diego it affects everyone in the state. As this is site is at an International Border, that makes it a national emergency. It affects the Navy (training), Border Patrol agents, Lifeguards and first responders who conduct rescues and dives knowing it will make them sick to go into the water.
Members of both the San Diego and North County LWVs took a tour of the river area and Border Field State Park. The Tijuana River is the most polluted watershed in the U.S. and pollutes beaches from Imperial Beach to Coronado, Mexican beaches to the south and the Tijuana River Estuary. As of June 2023, Imperial Beach California has had over 500 consecutive days of beach closures.
SEAC had a follow up presentation from Sarah Davidson of Surfrider Foundation who is spearheading the Clean Border Water Now campaign. Sarah described why clean water in the border region is a public health issue and an environmental justice issue. The pollution has been going on for over a hundred years. 32 billion gallons of toxic pollution has flowed across the border since January 1, 2023 including untreated sewage, chemicals, heavy metals, bacteria, viruses, industrial waste and tires. Sources of pollution are maquiladoras, canyon runoff, and the Mexican San Antonio de Los Buenos wastewater treatment plant (35 million gallons a day).
A solution has been put together by the EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) and IBWC (International Boundary & Water Commission). Surfrider has weighed in and feels that the plan is the most comprehensive of all the solutions offered. This is an important first step and it’s critical to get it started as soon as possible. Infrastructure will be built on both sides of the border. The plan calls for the international waste water treatment plant in the U.S. to be maintained, upgraded and expanded and the San Antonio de Los Buenos plant in Tijuana to be repaired.
SEAC will continue to follow the Tijuana River developments including the formation of a local coalition, advocacy and a League-wide presentation in November on this critical, regional issue. If you would like more details or to be involved, please contact me! ruths@lwvsandiego.org