Santa Lucian • April 20171

SANTA LUCIAN April 2017

Volume 54 No.4T h e o f f i c i a l n e w s l e t te r o f th e Sa n ta L u c i a C h a p te r o f t h e S i e r r a C l u b ~ Sa n L u i s O b i s p o Co u n t y, C a l i f o r n i a

IIIII n s i d en s i d en s i d en s i d en s i d ePhillips 66: The wrap-up 3

First Polluters: blood and circuses 4

April 29: People’s Climate March 5

Trump aside:, we can still win on climate 6

Classifieds 7

Outings 8

Please recycleThis newsletter printed on

100% post-consumer recycled paper with soy-based inks

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w w ww w ww w ww w ww w w. s i e r r a c l u b . o r g. s i e r r a c l u b . o r g. s i e r r a c l u b . o r g. s i e r r a c l u b . o r g. s i e r r a c l u b . o r g /////s a n t a - l u c i as a n t a - l u c i as a n t a - l u c i as a n t a - l u c i as a n t a - l u c i a

By Peg PinardMayor of San Luis Obispo,1992-1994

Every now and thensomething comes up beforethe SLO City Council thatmay sound innocuous, butthat actually is a hugepolicy change for the char-acter of our city. This is oneof those times. Ever since I can remem-ber, residents of this cityhave made sure that thehillsides stay protected…not just for the views andfor the ability to enjoy na-ture right at our doorsteps but, first and foremost, to have aplace for the wildlife that we’ve always tried to include inour city’s footprint. Our rule for the use of Open Space hasalways been to respect the animals and their habitat, and tomake sure that our presence was the least intrusive. Assuch, hiking was limited to daytime hours when wildlife arepretty much out of sight. They come out mainly at night.And for decades this has worked. The city council is about to consider changing that. Thereis a push to open up our wildlife protected habitats fornighttime activities. This is not a small request. It will sub-stantially change the relationship we have with our pro-tected areas. In every survey this city has ever done, thenumber one goal for residents has been the protection ofour wildlife and natural open space reserves. We even dis-tinguished between “Parks” as being for active recreationand natural “Open Space” as specifically designated forwildlife and passive use, to drive home that distinction. As our population has grown, there is no doubt that thereis a demand for more recreation spaces. The responsibleway to meet that need is to plan for it when the city is an-nexing outlying areas. It is irresponsible to keep jammingactivities — especially things like night hiking, dirt bikeriding and large group events — into our already limited

Night Hikes Are Not the Right Hikes

By Jan MarxMayor of San LuisObispo, 2010-2016

I oppose anychange in City policyto allow hiking in ouropen space after dark.The prohibition onnight time hiking hasbeen in place sincethe inception of theCity open space pro-gram and is funda-mental to its protec-tion. The City’sstandards of environmental protection should not be low-ered, especially given the stress wildlife and habitat arealready undergoing as a result of climate change. Furthermore, every single dollar of grant, general fund,sales tax, nonprofit and individual donations devoted toprotection of the city’s greenbelt was invested in relianceon the strong policy that open space is closed to recreationat night and that the night sky would be protected for noc-turnal wildlife. I know because I have been personally in-volved in advocacy for City open space protection since1988. Has Council communicated with all of these grantingagencies and donors regarding this proposed, wrong-headed weakening of City open space protection? Night time hiking is fundamentally incompatible withprotection of wildlife and the natural habitat. As clearlystated in Appendix C to the Conservation and Open SpaceElement, where uses conflict, the first priority is “Protec-tion of existing wildlife and natural habitat generally.” Thesecond priority is “Public access and passive recreation.”To allow night time hiking would have negative environ-mental impacts on wildlife and the habitat, as stated in thestaff report. Has there been an EIR? Why is Council even considering this profound policychange? Apparently, a small special interest group hasasked Council to cater to their wish to hike open space atnight after work as a higher priority than protection of noc-

PINARD continued on page 6 MARX continued on page 6

On March 21, the SLO City Council held a study session on whether to proceed with a proposal to amend the City’s OpenSpace Ordinance to open up natural open space areas to nighttime hiking. After taking public testimony, the Councildirected staff to bring the Council specific proposals for extending hours of use beyond sundown at selected natural openspace areas.

Odd Fellows Hall, 520 Dana Street, SLOSaturday, May 6, 7-11 p.m.For more info or to volunteer (serving, tickets, set up,clean up) and receive free admission, contact:karen@karenmerriam.com

Dancing for DemocracyOn Saturday, May 6, put your dancing shoes on and join the Sierra Club in

This event is designed to encourage maximum participation bycommunity members, musicians, dancers, drummers, etc. to bringtheir cultural heritage to the dance hall to share with all. This won’t be “performance”-based. We want to showcase the di-versity of cultural heritages represented in SLO County and to havefolks join together in celebration of our common humanity. Bring your dancing shoes and move to the beats that reflect thecultural diversity of our community.

Bring a dance or instruments or finger foods from your heritage to share

Try out new rhythms

DJ’s and live music

Beer and wine for sale

$10 via BrownPaperTickets; $15.00 at the door.

SALSA!

TANGO!

BUNNY HOP!

Bring your

best moves!

Get your tickets now:Go to BrownPaperTickets.com& type Dancing for Democracyunder “Find an Event.”

Point made SLO Clean Energy’s Eric Veium spoke on SLO’s re-newable energy future at the Sierra Club’s community forum.

Marine Sanctuary + SLO’sRenewable Energy Future On March 12, the Chapterheld a potluck in SLOMayor Heidi Harmon’sback yard to discuss thesynergy between the pro-

posed Chumash HeritageNational Marine Sanctuaryand a clean energy future

SANCTUARY continued on page 2

Kids 12 and under

get in free!

Family & kids dancing

from 7-8 p.m.!

2 Santa Lucian • April 2017

The Executive Committee meetsthe second Monday of every monthat 2:00 p.m. The ConservationCommittee meets the secondFriday at 1p.m. at the chapter office,located at 974 Santa Rosa St., SanLuis Obispo. All members arewelcome to attend.

Denny Mynatt PRINT MEDIA COORDINATOR

CommitteesPolitical David BouquinMembership/Development Marcia Alter Stephanie Gong Nancy J. ColeConservation Sue Harvey

Nuclear Power Task Force Rochelle Becker Linda SeeleyVolunteer Coordinator Karen Merriam karen@karenmerriam.com

Printed by University Graphic Systems CalPoly, San Luis Obispo. Mailing servicescourtesy of the Silver Streaks.

Office hours Monday-Friday,1 p.m. - 7 p.m., 974 Santa RosaStreet, San Luis Obispo

Facebook Admin. Kim Ramos

Santa Lucia ChapterP.O. Box 15755San Luis Obispo, CA 93406805-543-8717

CNRCC Delegates Lindi Doud, Patrick McGibney John BurdettWildlands Stewardship Group OpenCalendar Sales Bonnie Walters 805-543-7051Outings Joe Morris

Webmaster Monica Tarzier

CHNMS campaign coordinator Nancy J. Cole cole.nancy.j@gmail.com

Trail Guide Gary Felsman

Chapter Director Andrew Christie

Santa Lucian

EDITOR

Lindi DoudSandy SimonEDITORIAL COMMITTEE

The Santa Lucian is published 10 times ayear. Articles, environmental information andletters to the editor are welcome. Thedeadline for each issue is the 13th of theprior month.

send to:Editor, Santa Lucianc/o Santa Lucia Chapter, Sierra ClubP.O. Box 15755San Luis Obispo, CA 93406sierraclub8@gmail.com

Santa Lucia Chapter

2016 Executive CommitteeKaren Merriam (12/18) CHAIRChuck Tribbey (12/19) VICE-CHAIRLindi Doud (12/17) TREASURERStephanie Gong (12/17) SECRETARYChristine Mulholland (12/18) MEMBERSue Harvey (12/17 MEMBERMarcia Alter (12/19) MEMBER

Karen Merriam COUNCIL OF CLUB LEADERS

Andrew Christie

dpj1942@earthlink.net

kimlramos@yahoo.com

monica@tarzier.org

for the region. Attendees heard fromSLO Clean Energy’s EricVeium, Santa Lucia Chap-ter Director Andrew Chris-tie, Nick Andre, Co-Chairof SLO Progressives, Nor-thern Chumash TribalCouncil Vice-Chair VioletCavanaugh, and MontereyBay National Marine Sanc-tuary Advisory CouncilChair P.J. Web, and CalPoly biology and energyexperts in the audience. The intersection of theproposed marine sanctuaryand renewable energy hasevolved over the last threeyears, and is basically aconjunction of thesanctuary’s ability to keep

Sanctuarycontinued from page 3

Clip & Save The next time anyone tells you offshore drilling isn’t really a threat to the Central Coast or we already have all the protec-tion we need, hand them this.

oil rigs out of the sanctuaryarea and recent proposals topartially locate a wind farmin the same area. The sanctu-ary proposal has thus be-come a nexus for the twothings any region needs todo to shift from a fossil fueleconomy to a clean energyeconomy: 1) don’t permitadditional fossil fuel infra-structure and 2) find ways tobring in clean energy genera-tion (Two days later, theSLO Board of Supervisorsprovided an object lesson in#1. See facing page.) The issues of offshore oiland wind in the proposedsanctuary area have becomealmost equally controversial.

In the first case,this has been dueto claims spreadby sanctuary op-ponents assertingthe invulnerabilityof the CentralCoast in the eventof any future pushfor offshore drill-ing, misinforma-tion that requireda full-page correc-tive in The Tri-bune last Decem-ber (below). In thesecond case, con-fusion has arisendue to the fact thata potential wind

farm has never before beenproposed for the site of apotential national marinesanctuary. Speakers cleared up theconfusion on both points:Yes, a national marine sanc-tuary is the only mechanismthat provides a permanentban on new offshore oil andgas development, and no,there is no such proscriptionagainst offshore renewableenergy projects in the Na-tional Marine SanctuariesAct, and in that regard theNational Oceanic and At-mospheric Administration islikely to interpret its man-date as regulatory, not pro-hibitive — i.e. reviewing

and permitting renewableenergy operations in thoseareas within a sanctuarywhere they would haveminimal or no impact onsanctuary habitat and ma-rine wildlife. In the lively Q&A thatfollowed, as is always thecase when the proposedChumash Heritage NationalMarine Sanctuary is dis-cussed in a public forum,the subject of fishing cameup. In February, The Tri-bune had printed a letter tothe editor claiming thatnational marine sanctuaries,which do not regulate fish-ing, could engage in defacto regulation by virtue of

their “influence” and“voices.” The letter ap-peared under the heading:“Sierra Club’s sanctuaryclaims are deceptive.” But the statement thatnational marine sanctuariesdo not regulate fishing isnot our “claim.” Nor is it apromise, or a “trust” issue.It’s a regulatory reality. Instraining to deny the obvi-ous reality on the ground(and in the water), sanctu-ary opponents offer per-sonal anecdotes about the“influence” of national ma-rine sanctuaries, or theystrain to conflate the Officeof National Marine Sanctu-aries with the CaliforniaDepartment of Fish andWildlife (which does regu-late fishing), or strain toconflate a comment on aproposed rule by a resource

agency with actual rule-making done by anotheragency (on which point,Ms. Webb replied “I wantgovernment agencies to talkto each other!”), or pretendthat there’s some futurepossibility that a federalagency will suddenly startdoing something that is notwithin its purview andwhich another agency al-ready does. (Our absolutefavorite in that last cat-egory, from another Tribuneletter to the editor: “Anunknown cannot be a fact ifit hasn’t happened yet.”) We will continue to cor-rect them, repeatedly andnon-deceptively. For information on whatthe Chumash Heritage Na-tional Marine Sanctuaryactually would do, go tochumashsanctuary.com.

Santa Lucian • April 20173

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On March 14, the San Luis Obispo Board of Supervisors voted to reject Phillips 66’sproposed oil train offloading terminal. The project was denied with a 3-1 vote, with onesupervisor recusing himself due to a conflict of interest. As we go to press, Phillips still has time to file an appeal to the California Coastal Com-mission. Whether it does or not, March 14 was the moment when San Luis Obispo Countysucceeded in taking the fork in the road away from fossil fuels and toward a clean energyeconomy. We are living in an era that requires vigilance against the normalization of ter-rible ideas and disastrous policies. Under overwhelming public pressure, our county hasshown that it understands that building a terminal for tar sands crude oil on the NipomoMesa and transporting 7 million gallons a week of the world’s dirtiest fuel into the county

To victory Rep. Salud Carbajal rallied the crowd outside the Phillips 66 Board of Supervisors hearing.

Why It All CameDown to ESHA As we predicted a year ago, while still early in the CountyPlanning Commission’s review of the proposed Phillips 66Nipomo oil train terminal, the oil company eventually putvirtually all its eggs in one basket: the attempt to deny thatthe site of the proposed project is Environmentally Sensi-

Phillips 66’s oil trains project at the terminal

by rail is a bad idea. Phillips 66 had appealed the San LuisObispo County Planning Commission deci-sion to reject their project last October, after anearly three-year review process. More than34,000 Californians opposed the project incomments and petitions, and more than 45cities, counties, and school boards sent lettersurging the County to deny the crude-by-railproposal. Longtime conservative industry-boosterSupervisor Lynn Compton, in whos districtthe Phillips 66 refinery sits, was the third votefor denial. Her opposition was long thought tobe unlikely. For months prior, her favoritedodge when pressed on the issue had been toclaim that she was only hearing opposition tothe project from the immediate neighbors ofthe refinery (i.e. NIMBYs standing in the wayof progress) and people outside her district orthe county (i.e. not her constituents). The week before the Board meeting, theSierra Club sent an action alert to Compton’sconstitutents that elicited more than 100emails in her In box asking her to deny theproject. On March 14, Compton announced shehad changed her mind on the project. Supervisor Debbie Arnold, the lone vote infavor, likely miscalculated. This is one ofthose issues with the potential to transcendthe famously short memories of voters. Anychallenger running against Arnold three yearshence need only say “Hey, remember that2017 oil train project that was overwhelm-ingly rejected by the board of supervisors, the

planning commission, and damn near everycity council and school district the length ofthe state because of unacceptable harm totheir citizens and environment and econo-mies? Guess who was the only supervisorwho voted for it, because she thought it hadsomething to do with the price of gasoline,which it didn’t.” And just repeat variationsof that all the way to the election. The Board of Supervisors’ denial was thesecond community victory in less than aweek, after a Superior Court judge ruledthat Phillips’ legal challenge to the PlanningCommission’s denial was premature. If built, the Phillips 66 oil trains terminalwould have allowed more than 7 milliongallons of crude oil to be shipped via rail toits local refinery each week, and made itpossible for Phillips 66 to refine volatileand carbon-intensive tar sands crude from

Take heart in this fact: Even in these dark and perilous times, and with areactionary majority on the SLO County board of supervisors, all the money andpower in the world can’t push a bad project through if the people are against itand organize to oppose it.

Let Thisbe theEnd ofthe Line

Having struck out at the SLO County Planning Commission, SuperiorCourt and the County Board of Supervisors, Phillips 66 now contemplatesits thrice-denied oil train terminal project and faces a question: Should itgo for a fourth strike? It will, if it takes legal advice from Mike Brown, Government AffairsDirector of the Coalition of Labor, Agriculture and Business (COLAB).That advice was on offer in a March 17 post to Cal Coast News with thehopeful title “Did the county help a future Phillips 66 appeal?” (whichyou should read first and then come back here, dear reader, as the follow-ing is going to assume familiarity with Mr. Brown’s arguments, which Iwill not be restating in toto.) Unfortunately for Mr. Brown, and even more unfortunately for Phillips66 should it decide to burn more of its shareholders’ money by trying toconstruct a legal case based on Mr. Brown’s assertions of fact, judges relyon the administrative record in trying such cases, and nowhere in therecord is there anything to be found supporting the assertion that Supervi-sor Bruce Gibson stated or implied that “the project must have no riskwhatsoever.” Nor does the record support Mr. Brown’s contention that potentiallyimpacted locations up-rail from the refinery project site that the Boardconsidered are in “Boise, or in the boondocks of the Nevada desert.” Asthe record shows, the other impacts under consideration would have oc-curred elsewhere in SLO County and the state of California, impactswhich the board not only could take into account but was required to bythe California Environmental Quality Act, per the state Attorney General.The “considerable back and forth over this issue” that Mr. Brown notes is

Come Off It, COLAB

Phillips’ eight-ball-in-the-corner-pocket legal strategy wasn’t hard to discern: Strikedown the ESHA designation for the rail spur site -- the project’s biggest, unmitigatable on-site impact -- then wield the doctrine of federal preemption to nullify the County’s abilityto even consider up-rail off-site impacts, then exploit wiggle room and come close enoughwith mitigations for all other impacts where wiggle room could be found, and presto: Aproject with environmental impacts that have all been mitigated to the maximum extentpracticable. Permit approved. But there is no wiggle room for non-coastal dependent development proposed for a sitethat is found to be ESHA. If that determination stood, everything else would be moot. At the board appeal hearing, Phillips 66 lawyer Paul Beard tenaciously argued that thesite had not been designated as unmapped ESHA at the time the company applied for itspermit, that the ESHA determination was made at “the eleventh hour,” etc. All his arguments were for naught, as Coastal Commission staff pointed out in a March10 letter to the supervisors. Commission staff demolished the oil company’s argument thatit had no idea there were sensitive species on site before it proceeded with “investing yearsand millions of dollars on a development proposal” and therefore the ESHA designation

tive Habitat Area (ESHA). (See “The End Game for Phillips 66,” March 2016). That effort subsequently became the main focus of both its failed lawsuit and appeal tothe Board of Supervisors.

COLAB continued on page 5

ESHA continued on page 5

by Andrew Christie, Chapter Director

LAST STOP continued on page 5

Canada. Tar sands crude, when preparedfor transport, is thinned with an unstableblend of chemicals that have been knownto explode in derailment incidents, whichhave become increasingly frequent inrecent years. Trains servicing the Phillips66 project would have traveled from thenorth and south through hundreds of ma-jor California cities and smaller communi-ties, including Los Angeles, Sacramento,Davis, Berkeley, Oakland, and San Jose.The trains also would have jeopardizednumerous ecologically sensitive areasincluding the Bay Area and the CentralCoast. “I am so glad to see the Supervisorsstand with the people in this communityand beyond by denying this dangerous,

Splitting the difference Lynn Compton (left)voted to deny the project, knowing that a year outfrom her reelection campaign, constituentswouldn’t forget a “yes” vote. Three years fromreelection, Debbie Arnold’s “yes” vote played to herbase. (See below.)

The last oil bender Phillips 66 would be well advised not to takeCOLAB’s advice.

4 Santa Lucian • April 2017

BOOKAD 1/3

The First Pollutersby Vicki León

In 55 BC, the Romangeneral nicknamed “Pom-pey the Great” threw lavishgames in which 600 lionsand leopards were de-stroyed in a five-day ex-travaganza. When his arch-rival, Julius Caesar, becamedictator, his animal showsincluded 400 lions meetingtheir deaths, combats be-tween wild elephants andarmed infantry, and the firstgiraffes ever seen in Italy. This bloodshed was minorleague, however, comparedto the wild beast carnageprovided by competitiveRoman Emperors fromOctavian onwards. Whenthe Coliseum opened in 80AD, 9,000 wild animals,mostly larger species, were

meld a variety of spectacles. The earliest venue: CircusMaximus, which in 329 BCtook permanent form as ahorse racing track. A hugeellipse, it had seating for250,000 fans, who wereprotected by a water barrierand supplied with vendorshawking food, luckycharms, and hookers. Theeveryday Roman’s favorite,the circus (from the word‘circuit’) offered free en-trance for everyone, includ-ing slaves. Gambling wasencouraged. Unlike gladi-atorial events, men andwomen could sit together.Best of all, horse races wereheld nearly every weekthroughout the year. After afull day (as many as 24

Unlike us, Romans werevery unsentimental aboutanimals—if they weren’tedible or producing some-thing useful, they did notmatter greatly. Like us, theRomans, fans and rulersalike, craved novelty. Al-though the racetrack neverlost its appeal, when thenext New Thing in spec-tacles came along, it was animmediate hit. And an evenmore rapidly duplicatedphenomenon. In Rome’s early days,gladiator events had begunas simple funeral rites tohonor a dead leader: a ritu-alistic one-on-one battlebetween two armed men. Atfirst, matches were held intemporary locales, onblocked-off streets orthrown-together woodenrings with scant room forspectators. As time marchedon, the simple funereal cer-emony morphed into some-thing bigger, bolder, andbloodier. It became a spec-tacle to impress the publicas well as honor the dead. After the Coliseumamphitheatre in Romeopened, with its tiers of50,000 seats surrounding alarge circle of sand calledthe arena, entertainmentpossibilities exploded. Thesky’s the limit, rulers mar-veled.

When one-on-one duelsbetween human gladiatorsbecame ho-hum, noveltywas soon introduced.Gorefests using wild ani-mals. Man fighting lion.Lion versus bears. A seriesof hunters chasing a groupof giraffes to their bloodydeaths. The arena also madea spectacular public execu-tion venue. Condemned

mains from the records ofofficials and boastful emper-ors is clear.To accomplish all this may-hem took a vast amount ofmanpower, machinery, ships,and infrastructure. It was paid for by emper-ors and other deep-pocketedindividuals, who spent hugesums to hold wild animalfights and days-long spec-

Arena Addiction

“Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” - George Santayana

traditional enemies were allfatal. Animals such as the el-ephant that were desirablefor long-term use weretrained via starvation,which also led to manyunplanned deaths. Another data point: mostof the carnivores (with theexception of bears), nomatter how hungry or vi-cious they became, wouldseldom attack humans. Noteven shackled humans.Thus in the arena, huntersoften resorted to whips,chains, fire, and othermethods to arouse thebeasts and give the audi-ence a show. Since I know you’re curi-ous: wild critters did a poorjob of killing Christians inthe arena. Invariably, hu-man swordsmen had to stepin. There is no legitimateproof of Christians beingthrown to the lions, muchless being devoured (orsaved) by them, either. TheAndrocles tale, whilecharming, was a third-handfolktale. We do have genu-ine evidence from a Chris-tian martyr named Perpetuaabout the reluctance of

wild animalsto attack. (Sheand othershad to bedispatched bya humanswordsman.) Besides thesickeningcarnage andgratuitouscruelty thatRomans in-flicted onanimal spe-cies, the landsthey camefrom sufferedimmensely aswell. For cen-turies, manythousands ofpredators andmammals

large and small were sys-tematically eradicated fromtheir native ecosystems.Thus one more reason whygreat expanses of NorthAfrica and the Middle Eastare desolate shadows oftheir former selves. Thanks to our mediaemphasis on human drama,we’ve repeatedly “seen”the appalling deaths ofgladiators in those long-ago arenas, along withmartyrs and other unfortu-nates. But we’ve yet tobecome aware of evenlarger losses. To feel regretand sorrow over theequally callous wildslaughter. To make amendsto those same wild crea-tures that somehow, havemiraculously survived intoour precarious time.

Are you not entertained? Mosaic, Great Palace, Istanbul. Inset, mosaic detail, Museum of Sousse.

criminals got killed by wildbeasts—although bearswere about the only reliableexecutioners. The excitement over theColiseum traveled fast.Locales from one side ofthe Roman Empire to theother soon clamored to havetheir own arenas. By 215AD, hundreds had beenbuilt. Even today, you, too,can visit 230amphitheatresstill standingfrom Croatia toEngland, fromSpain to Tunisia.Believe it or not,there were six --count’em, six! --arenas in Swit-zerland. Statistics ofthese centuries-long animalslayings arestunning. Al-though incom-plete, what re-

tacles. For every large mammalthat survived the long, toxictrip from Mesopotamia orAfrica, it’s estimated that 10to 50 may have died enroute. Another sickeningpercentage perished whilecorralled or caged. Tightquarters, inappropriate food,contagious diseases, andstress from proximity to

The Amphitheater of El Jem, Tunisia. Capacity 35,000.

U.S. Army chaplains inspect-ing the ruins of a Romanarena.

slaughteredin a 100-dayspectacle.Twenty yearslater, Em-peror Trajancelebratedhis war tri-umphs bydisplaying11,000beasts, in-cludingtigers, hippos,rhinos, bears,and buffalos, before havinggladiators kill them, one byone, in ingenious ways. Countless books, films,and TV series have mi-nutely examined ancientRome’s five centuries ofrule around the Mediterra-nean—and yet wildlife de-struction, Rome’s cruelesteco-catastrophe, has beenlargely overlooked. If, likeme, you’re a Sierra Club-supporting, Audubon card-carrying, Citizens ClimateLobby sort of person, thistopic cries out for coverage. Why are we so ill-in-formed? Mainly becauseinaccurate gladiator flicksand blood-and-sandals TVseries have hopelessly mud-died the waters. They’vegiven us erroneous, fancifulideas about Roman spec-tacles, from gladiators toanimal shows. And evenless of a clue about thescope of their environmen-tal mayhem. There are several keys tounderstanding what theRomans did, and why. Theirpublic spectacles had differ-ent goals—which were of-ten combined. Some werereligious ceremonies tohonor the dead or to cleansethe city of pollution. Someevents sought to punishwrongdoers in a publicsetting. Others were enter-tainment, often to celebratea ruler’s victories or ach-ievements. To meet thesecompeting needs, Romanscreated multipurpose ven-ues that could handle and

races) of root-ing for chari-oteers, thecrowds head-ing homereceived freesportulae, anearly versionof the goodiebag. This iswhere the“bread andcircuses”cliché got itsstart.

In addition, the CircusMaximus piggybackedother events into its racingprograms, such as wildanimal venatio or hunts.Some were simple paradesof exotic beasts, allowingRomans to see the carni-vores of Africa and theMiddle East. The exquisitegazelles and other 4-footedungulates. The hippo, therhino, the lovable pachy-derms. The program mightinclude gladiator matchesor man versus beast events.

Keystone XL: It Ain’t Over In January 2017, just days after taking office, the Trump Administration issued an execu-tive action expediting the Keystone XL pipeline. But Keystone XL will still require state-level approval from the Nebraska PSC and by other federal agencies. The Sierra Club Nebraska Chapter has joined partner organizations and landowners toapply to become an intervenor in the Nebraska Public Service Commission’s review of theproposed pipeline. We will be therefighting to block this dirty and danger-ous project. We will be sharing with SLO SierraClubbers opportunities to send com-ments to the Nebraska PSC against theproject and more details about how youcan help stop the Keystone XL pipe-line. We got this project rejected once,and we can do it again. Thank you forstanding with us against Keystone XL.

Santa Lucian • April 20175

should be nullifiedbecause theCounty hadn’tmade it atthe timePhillipsfiled its per-mit application. This is an ap-proach to land usepolicy as a frozen snap-shot in time, equivalent toshouting “king’s x!” in agame of tag, and about assophisticated. Coastal staffpointed out that Phillipswas “provided with an earlyand accurate warning by theCounty of the site’s con-straints and limitations,”and “information about theexistence of ESHA on itsproperty was provided toPhillips 66 before its appli-cation was accepted….Phillips 66 neverthelessmade the decision to moveforward in pursuit of its

the result of Mr. Brown andoil companies with oil trainprojects slated for Califor-nia wishing it were other-wise. Even so, the board didnot “largely [deny] theproject on the basis of apotential problem whichmight occur in anotherjurisdiction.” Mr. Brown’sassertion that most of thefindings of the project’ssignificant impacts wouldhave occurred “in unspeci-fied up track locations andoff the project site” omitsthe fact that of the county’s35 findings for denial ofthe permit, every single onewas a finding of incompat-ibility with or violation ofthe County’s local policieson air quality, land use,growth, safety, biologicalresources and energy facili-ties – aka, the SLO CountyGeneral Plan, Coastal ZoneLand Use Ordinance, LocalCoastal Plan, Coastal ZoneFramework for Planning,and South County CoastalArea Plan. On the claim that theCounty was allegedly le-gally prohibited from deny-ing the permit based on up-rail, offsite impacts,Phillips was hoist on its

Coun-sel if

they couldplease, please

remove that find-ing. It was just

unfair of sensitivespecies to be living on

the spot where an oil com-pany wanted to build a railspur for oil trains. The answer from staff wasa gentle “bad idea” in termsof ignoring a major coastalland use policy in a legallydefensible finding by theCounty. Compton threw inthe towel and joined in the3-1 vote to deny the appealand the project.

Activism works The heavily criticizedoriginal draft of the Envi-ronmental Impact Report(see “Oil Train Hits aBump,” April 2014) resultedin an EIR do-over in 2015.

own petard. The County’sfindings for denial stated atseveral points:

It’s a conspiracy! COLAB has its work cut out for it in bringing to book all the “anti-industrial and anti-fossil fuel radicals” who opposedthe Phillips 66 oil train terminal.

That “as the Applicant hasstated” intro was just to letPhillips know that theirinsistence on federal pre-emption was an explodingcigar that blew up in itsface. As is his wont, Mr.Brown spent half of hispiece settling intoCOLAB’s comfort zone:painting pictures of elitistswho drive Mercedes andvacation in Cabo despitetheir prejudice against fossilfuels. He also railed against“a massive statewide oppo-sition movement, under-girded by anti-industrial andanti-fossil fuel radicals”(i.e. we beat COLAB andthe massive — and mas-sively funded — network ofoil lobbyists, lawyers andfriendly electeds it countson to win these fights.Sorry, Mike, was that rudeof us?) A judge is likely to beequally unmoved by 1) ageneral argument that seeksto invoke class war againstelitists as a way to overrulea specific decision on themerits of a specific project,and 2) the idea that “a mas-sive statewide movement”was sitting on the dais ofthe SLO County Board ofSupervisors on March 14and voted 3-1 to deny Phil-

lips 66 its permit. And as Casey Stengel putit, “it only takes one to hitit” – not 35. The Countyhad sufficient grounds todeny the project on the ba-sis of any one of those 35findings for denial. WerePhillips to sue – again –winning in court wouldrequire that a judge godown that list of all thefindings supporting denialand throw out every singleone of them. The likelihood of that isdealt with nicely by Mr.Brown in perhaps the onlyparagraph in his piece thatis absolutely correct:

ESHAcontinued from page 3

COLABcontinued from page 3

“As the Applicant hasstated, the Countywould not be able tomitigate or require con-ditions upon the projectwhich would ensure thesafety for citizens alongthe mainline rail routes,including the portionswithin the County, dueto the County likelybeing preempted fromrequiring these types ofmeasures…. The Countywould not be able toensure the safety of theresidents of the County,or the state, as a resultof the additional prob-ability of a derailment,spill, fire or explosionbecause of the proposedproject.”

In other words, theCounty did not deny theproject on the basis of theproject’s up-rail impacts.Rather, they included withina long list of local impactsand local land use policyviolations the County’s in-ability — due to federalpreemption — to do any-thing to mitigate those im-pacts when they occurredoutside the immediate vicin-ity of the Phillips refinery.

“Often courts are reluc-tant to invade the prov-ince of the legislativeacts of government en-acting land use regula-tions and will not do sounless they find that theproceedings containedlegal process violationsor blatant factual errors,or were based on unrea-sonable standards orimposition of unreason-able requirements….The test will be: Wasthe decision supportedby the evidence, and isthe evidence supportedby the facts?”

In a word: Yes.

ESHA set SupervisorCompton’s hairon fire.

project despitethis information.” The 22-pagereport that staffprepared for thesupervisors con-cluded “There areinsufficient specific,overriding economic, legal,social, technological orother benefits of the projectthat outweigh the significanteffects on the environment.” Tellingly, the first fourpages of the report weredevoted to explaining, inpainstaking detail, why theproposed site of the railspur is Evironmentally Sen-sitive Habitat Area andrefuting the oil company’sarguments to the contrary. There was good reasonfor such intense focus onthis issue. The Local Coastal Plan,the section of the County’sland use ordinance thatensures compliance with theCalifornia Coastal Act,states that new developmentwithin or adjacent to loca-tions of environmentallysensitive habitats shall notsignificantly disrupt theresource. The oil train ter-minal would have had asignificant and disruptiveimpact on the habitat of rareand sensitive species ofanimals and vegetation –i.e. EHSA meant game overfor the oil train terminalproject, even if Phillipscould have lawyered its waypast the General Plan, theissues of spills, fires andexplosions, and somehowfinessed the air quality andclimate change issues itsproject presented. ESHA set SupervisorLynn Compton’s hair onfire. She grasped the crush-ing air pollution burden theproject represented butpreferred the frozen snap-shot/last-tag version ofESHA, and begged County

It was then that it was deter-mined that the rail spurproject area “contains sensi-tive plant and animal speciesneeding protection” and istherefore ESHA. That the formal determina-tion of ESHA occurred lateras part of the public reviewprocess underscores thepoint of public review: in-formation is brought for-ward, informing the processand the ability of decisionmakers to make a decision. Coastal staff pointed outthat Phillips’ claim that theCounty could only make afinal determination of ESHAjust prior the submission ofits application “would haveallowed virtually no oppor-tunity for the public, inter-ested parties, and stakehold-ers to provide additionalinformation to aid in theCounty planning staff’s re-view, would have unreason-ably bound staff to onlyconsider the informationprovided by the applicant,and may inappropriatelybias the outcome of the de-termination. Such a processwould be at odds with theintention and our implemen-tation of the Coastal Act.” The County staff reportnoted that “This additionalsurvey work [determiningthe existence of ESHA] wasdone to address commentsreceived on the RevisedPublic Draft EIR” pressingthe County to correct defi-ciencies in the document. The two take-away les-sons:1. Thank you, CaliforniaCoastal Act.2. Activism works.

Last Stopcontinued from page 3

dirty and detrimentalproject,” said SLO MayorHeidi Harmon. “The SanLuis Obispo City Council

has had a consis-tent stance againstthis project andfor the renewable

California,” said EthanBuckner, Senior Organizerwith Stand.earth. “Thevoices of thousands of Cali-fornia residents and dozensof cities, counties, andschool boards have beenheard: there is no place foroil trains in California’scommunities. Now, we canfocus our attention towardsbuilding the clean energyeconomy in San LuisObispo and beyond.” “This is a victory forpeople power over corpo-rate power,” said AndresSoto of Communities for aBetter Environment. “Cali-fornians around the statehave rejected these danger-ous bomb train projectsusing local authority todefeat Big Oil’s greedyplans.”

To the thousands of supporters whofought the fight directly and indirectly,who wrote letters to the editor, sentan avalanche of emails to governmentofficials, who showed up at rallies andattended the hearings that seemed tonever end — your efforts counted!United, we can protect our families, ourhomes and our communities.

- Mesa Refinery Watch Group

They won The denial of the Phillips 66project meant the continuation of envi-ronmentally sensitive habitat on theNipomo Mesa for the burrowing owl,coast horned lizard and coastal sagescrub.

“We applaud the San LuisObispo County Board ofSupervisors for consideringall the evidence, listening toconcerned citizens through-out the State, and denyingthis dangerous project,”said Linda Krop, ChiefCounsel for the Environ-mental Defense Center,whose attorneys representedSierra Club, Communitiesfor a Better Environment,the Center for BiologicalDiversity, Stand.earth andSurfrider Foundationthroughout the hearings andin our intervention in Phil-lips’ lawsuit against theCounty. “The Board’s ac-tion was the right decisionand the only possible deci-sion if the goal is to keepour communities and envi-ronment safe.”

energy future weneed.” It was anhonor and aprivilege for theSierra Club towork in coali-tion with mul-tiple public in-terest groups inbringing aboutthe outcome atthe Board ofSupervisors. Immediatelyafterward, our colleaguesreleased the following state-ments: “This is a huge win forpublic safety, health andCalifornia’s environment,”said Valerie Love, CleanEnergy Campaigner withthe Center for BiologicalDiversity. “It’s really grati-fying to know that the boardof supervisors listened tothose who spoke out againstthis project – everyday Cali-fornians from all walks oflife as well as more than 45cities, counties and schoolboards. Hopefully thisspells the end to this reck-less plan. Our communitieswill be safer and our air willbe cleaner because of it.” “This is a tremendousvictory for the people ofSan Luis Obispo Countyand communities across

April 29: March for Climate, Jobsand Justice

Hundreds of thousands ofpeople will be in the streetsof Washington D.C. andcities across the country andaround the world on April29 as part of the People’sClimate March. If you can’t make it toD.C., come to the sistermarch in Santa Barbaraalong with the LosPadres and Santa Lucia

Chapters ofthe SierraClub, SLOSurfrider,SLO Progressives,Northern Chumash TribalCouncil and many others topush back against the Trumpagenda and take a stand

against more oil develop-ment off the Central Coast. Marchers will convergeon the Santa Barbara CityCollege La Playa Stadiumat 100 Loma Alta Drive forthe noon march, an easyroute from the stadium tothe beach. Sierra Clubmembers will be gatheringaround the scoreboardstarting at 11 a.m. Car pooling is encour-aged. For more informationgo to peoplesclimate.org/sister-marches. Click onthe Santa Barbara marchand sign up to get on thediscussion board to offer orrequest a ride from yourarea.

We’ll be there Look for the Sierra Club table next to the score-board at the SBCC stadium, next to the parking lot.

6 Santa Lucian • April 2017

natural open spaces. Nighttime hiking and mountainbike riding on those peaks are verydangerous. The City has been takingthe easy way out and just trying tocram everything into what few re-sources we already had in the cityinstead of doing the necessary plan-ning for the added needs in the newannexed areas. You can only shoveso much into a limited space beforeyou destroy it for everyone. Please show your support for keep-ing the city’s nature reserves prima-rily for nature. Right now, daytimehiking is allowed as a passive use —and then only to the point where itdoesn’t disturb the ability for wildlifeto live there. Like I said, this is therelationship we’ve had for decadesand it’s held up pretty well. But allthat is about to change if the citystarts allowing more aggressive useof the reserves. SLO residents, pleasesign the petition at the URL below(470 signatures at press time) to letthe Council know how you feel aboutthis, and pass it on to others youknow. At some point we have to realizethat we live in an ecosystem and it’snot all about us. We need to be ask-ing how our actions affect the landand the animals. You know: “others”!

turnal wildlife. Apparently, this group feelsentitled to have what they want when theywant it, despite the destructive environmen-tal consequences and objections of propertyowners who do not want strangers wander-ing near their homes at night. Apparently,this group does not care if night rescueswould increase due to night hiking. Also in Appendix C: “Any encroachmentof a private use onto the City’s land mustbenefit the City’s ownership and manage-ment objectives….” What would makeCouncil even consider giving this group thisspecial privilege to encroach on open spaceat night, over the wishes of the majority ofcity residents, who value our long standingstrong protections for open space? There are so many alternate ways to exer-cise after work, none of which underminethe integrity of our open space protection.Why should this group get special treat-ment? To cater to their wishes would set adangerous precedent for other groups want-ing to violate open space policy. What’snext? Night time trail biking? Hunting inopen space? Councils since the 1990’s have been pro-gressively more protective of our city’sopen space. Does this Council want to bethe first one to lower the level of protec-tion? I urge the Council to stand up for openspace protection and reject the proposal toallowing hiking at night.

TAKE ACTION

tinyurl.com/NoNightHikes

Marxcontinued from page 1

Pinardcontinued from page 1

The Trump Administra-tion has made no secret oftheir intent to roll back theClean Power Plan, thecenterpiece of the climatecommitment the US madeat the 2015 Paris climatesummit. The Clean PowerPlan will save lives byslashing dangerous carbonpollution, and Trump’sexpected attack on it is yetanother effort to boost theprofits of his corporatepolluter pals at the expenseof the health of our fami-lies. However, it turns outthat the Clean Power Planis but one building blockto meeting our Paris com-mitment. New analysis,just completed by the Si-erra Club, shows that ac-tion at the local and statelevel - by towns, cities,businesses, and state gov-ernments - are also criticalparts of slashing carbonpollution and meeting ourParis commitment. This analysis shows thatupwards of 60 percent ofthe reductions needed tomeet the Paris commit-ment can be met throughaction by local residents,elected officials, and busi-ness leaders to replaceaging coal-fired powerplants with clean energy,secure large investments in

Volkswagen’s Pain, EV’s GainThe silver lining from the diesel emissions rigging scandal is a big boost forelectric vehicles in California

Pathway to Parisfrom Compass, March 8, 2017By Mary Anne Hitt and Bruce Nilles, Sierra Club Beyond Coal campaign

energy efficiency, and stopthe rush to natural gas. Inaddition, there are huge op-portunities to build on exist-ing actions by businessesand local governments tofurther accelerate USprogress away from fossilfuels and towards aneconomy powered by 100percent clean energy. This analysis underscoreshow we can build on thesuccess of the nationwidemove away from coal andcontinue to make recordinvestments in clean energy,like wind and solar. In thepast seven years action bythe Sierra Club, in partner-ship with Bloomberg Philan-thropies and over a hundredallied organizations, hassecured the retirement of248 coal plants nationwide,almost half of the US coalplants that were operating in2010. Last year the US in-vestment in wind and solarreached a new peak, withclean energy becoming thenumber one source of newelectricity generation, beat-ing out natural gas andnuclear. This is also provid-ing significant new jobs andlocal tax revenue for com-munities. The graph above showsthe progress the US has beenmaking between 2005 and2016, and how three bucketsof action can help close thegap to Paris: 1) acceleratingthe replacement of coal withclean energy, 2) existingpolicies, and 3) local actionby businesses and localelected officials to embraceclean energy and transitionaway from fossil fuels. The biggest near-termopportunity is continuing toaccelerate the transitionfrom coal to clean energy inthe electric sector. Buildingon the progress of last sevenyears, we estimate that by2025 we can retire morethan 50 additional coal-firedpower plants and more thandouble the amount of windand solar installed in theUnited States. We also needto defend the clean air poli-cies and programs put inplace during the ObamaAdministration, includingthe Clean Power Plan, thetax credits for wind andsolar, and the methane cap-ture standards. Some of themeasures are already fullyimplemented, such as theMercury and Air ToxicsStandard, and cannot bereversed by the new Admin-istration. Others are clearlyin the crosshairs of the new

Administration and we planto use all means available todefend these programs. We plan to stop rollbacksin the courts. We plan toeducate our elected officialsabout the importance ofthese programs. And weplan to implement strongerprograms at the city andstate level to buttress andreplace any federal pro-grams that the Trump Ad-ministration repeals. At the state and locallevel, we will keep buildingon the huge amount of mo-mentum created by localactivists, elected officialsand businesses. In responseto the new Administration’shostility to clean energy,states are proposing boldclean energy targets anddriving demand for renew-able energy and efficientcars. Cities nationwide fromSalt Lake City, Utah, toGeorgetown, Texas, havemade commitments toachieve 100 percent cleanenergy by 2030. Cities likeDallas, Los Angeles, andBoston are looking at waysto prevent major methaneleaks within their cities.Local communities are ex-panding mass transit, bi-cycle infrastructure, andelectric vehicles. Businesseslike Apple and Amazon arepowering their operationswith increasing amounts ofwind and solar. To be clear, existing fed-eral safeguards like theClean Power Plan are im-portant, and the Sierra Cluband our allies, includingmany states, are fighting todefend them every step ofthe way. The EPA has esti-mated that, by 2030, theClean Power Plan wouldprevent 150,000 asthmaattacks and up to 6,600premature deaths annually,providing up to $93 billionof climate and health ben-efits every year. EPAprojects that in 2030 whenthe plan is fully imple-mented, electricity billswould be roughly eightpercent lower than theywould been without theactions in state plans. In the long run, the fed-eral government can andshould be an importantpartner in solving the cli-mate crisis and providinginternational leadership.Trump’s aggressive andmisleading pro-polluteractions only mean residentsof heavily polluted states

In the aftermath of theinternational scandal thaterupted when Volkswagengot caught programming itsdiesel emission controlsoftware to cheat smogchecks while touting theirgrossly polluting cars as“clean diesel” vehicles,Volkswagen Group ofAmerica is investing $800million over the next tenyears on zero emissionvehicle (ZEV) infrastruc-ture, education, and accessactivities to support in-creased adoption of ZEVtechnology in California. Per a consent decreeentered by the U.S. DistrictCourt for the NorthernDistrict of California, “Thisrepresents one of the larg-est commitments of its kindto date, and VolkswagenGroup of America is opti-mistic that ZEV invest-ments at such a scale willmake a material differencein adoption of ZEVs inCalifornia.” The idea is to make iteasier for millions of Cali-fornians to charge electricvehicles. Volkswagen willpromote the benefits ofZEVs to consumersthrough public educationcampaigns via a newlycreated subsidiary, Elec-trify America, which willinstall charging infrastruc-ture ($120 million), build-ing a Green City to show-case the benefits of ZEVsand promote increasedZEV usage ($44 million),

conduct public educationinitiatives ($20 million),and access initiatives likeride-and-drive events. First-phase investmentwill aim to establish a net-work of 2000-3000 non-proprietary chargers across400+ individual stations inboth community and long-distance highway networksby the summer of 2019. Volkswagen Group ofAmerica and the CaliforniaAir Resources Board(CARB) will meet bi-annually and Volkswagenwill submit an annualreport detailing itsprogress in implement-ing the California ZEVInvestment Plan. A separate investmentof $1.2 billion outsideof California is subjectof a National ZEV In-vestment Plan beingsubmitted to the Envi-ronmental ProtectionAgency. The Volkswagen ZEVinitiative comes amid arising tide of attemptsnationwide to – once again– kill the electric car.

Bills to impose specialfees or repeal tax credits aresprouting up in Utah, Colo-rado, Georgia, Montana,Illinois, Indiana and Kan-sas, while subsidies forfossil fuel industries con-tinue. In California, AssemblyBill 1 and Senate Bill 1 andare proposing an extra reg-istration charge of $165 and

$100 respectively, specificonly to zero emission ve-hicles, which would be paidon top of all other fees andtaxes assessed on all ve-hicles, regardless of fueltype, as the gas taxes thatthe state relies on for roadmaintenance decline. Across the country, suchbills are being introduced instate legislatures with the

backing of oil company-funded think tanks andfront groups, including theKoch Brothers-fundedAmericans for Prosperity. Transportation now emitsmore carbon than any othersector of the economy.Electric vehicles could cutoil demand by 2 millionbarrels a day by 2025,according to the CarbonTracker Initiative.

PARIS continued on page 8

Santa Lucian • April 20177

ClassifiedsNext issue deadline is April 12. To get a rate sheet or submit your ad and payment, con-tact: Sierra Club, P.O. Box 15755, San Luis Obispo, CA 93406 or sierraclub8@gmail.com

Tell NOAA:Designate the Chumash HeritageNational Marine Sanctuary! Go to:

tinyurl.com/CHNMSpetition

CYNTHIA HAWLEYATTORNEY

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTIONLAND USE

CIVIL LITIGATION

P.O. Box 29 Cambria California 93428Phone 805-927-5102 Fax 805-927-5220

8 Santa Lucian • April 2017Outings and Activities CalendarSeller of travel registration information: CST 2087766-40. Registration as a seller of travel does not constitute approval by the State of California.

All our hikes and activities are open to all Club members and the general public. Please bring drinking water to all outings andoptionally a lunch. Sturdy footwear is recommended. All phone numbers listed are within area code 805 unless otherwisenoted. Pets are generally not allowed. A parent or responsible adult must accompany children under the age of 18. If you haveany suggestions for hikes or outdoor activities, questions about the Chapter’s outing policies, or would like to be an outingsleader, call Outings Chair Joe Morris, 549-0355. For information on a specific outing, please call the listed outing leader.

This is a partial listing of Outingsoffered by our chapter.

Please check the web pagewww.santalucia.sierraclub.org for

the most up-to-date listing ofactivities.

(805) 549-0355

Sat., Apr. 15th, 8 a.m.Grass Mountain Hike.Come on a steep, strenu-ous, but adventuroushike of 4.5 miles round-trip, 2,500 ft. gain, foramazing views and won-derful spring wildflowers.We start out in a shadyriparian oak woodland,then pass an ancient Chu-mash fertility site to thetop of a grass-coveredmountain. Dress in layers,prepare for sun, andbring lots of water. Direc-tions: take Hwy 101 southto Hwy 154, then left onFigueroa Mt. Road beforegetting to Los Olivos.Drive about 5 miles onFigueroa Mt. Road untilyou make a hard right andcross a cattle guard. Parkin the dirt area immedi-ately after. For moreinformation or carpoolarrangements, call Leader:Andrea Ortiz at 264-4527,kenya683@msn.com.Rain or threat of rain can-cels.

Sun., Apr. 16th 1 p.m.Irish Hills ExplorationBotanist-led plant walkfrom Madonna Rd. trail-head at the southwest endof Madonna Road to upperreaches of the Irish HillsOpen Space. We travelthrough extensive depositsof serpentine soil with

excesses of magnesium,which inhibits growth ofmost plant species and pro-duce a uniquely adaptedassortment of others, whichwe will see and identify inbloom, plant lists provided.Hike is 5 miles rt, 700 ft.gain, lasting about 3 hours.Bring water, food, sturdywalking shoes, sunscreen,hat, and layered clothing, asneeded. For further infor-mation, contact Leader: BillWaycott, 459-2103 orbill.waycott@gmail.com.Rain cancels.

Sun., Apr. 23rd, 12:30-4 p.m. Harmony Head-lands Hike + Otter Re-search. Come on an easy,mostly flat four-mile rt hike,100 ft. gain, in HarmonyHeadlands State Park. Wemay possibly spot greywhales migrating north aswe reach the coast. At thecoast, Maggie Jenkins, CalPoly graduate student re-searcher, will discuss herwork on sea otter foragingand invasive species occu-pying pier pilings in MorroBay. Her talk lasts about 20minutes, so bring a campchair or beach towel, ifdesired. Directions: HHState Park entrance is onwest side of Hwy 1, 2.8miles south of Harmony.For carpooling from SanLuis Obispo, meet at Santa

Rosa Park promptly at11:40 a.m., departure 11:45.Parking fee at HarmonyHeadlands is required andspots are limited, socarpooling is strongly en-couraged. For further infor-mation, contact Leader:Nan Cole, cole.nancy.j@gmail.com. Asst.: ChuckTribbey, 441-7597. Dogsand bikes not allowed ontrail.

Sat., April 30th, 10 a.m.-12:30 p.m. Juan Bautistade Anza Trail in Atasca-dero. Come on an easy 2.6mile, historic hike on a1776 trail following thesandy shore of the SalinasRiver. Enjoy a river bor-dered by oaks, cotton-woods, and sycamores, withgreat views and wildlife.Directions: take Hwy 101 toAtascadero, exiting on SanRamon/Santa Cruz Rd, thennorth on El Camino Realpast Staples and Spring HillSuites hotel. Turn right onN. Ferrocarril Ave, then leftinto De Anza EquestrianArena parking. Meet attrailhead sign. Leader:Debbie Roller, 610-0458.No dogs please. Rain can-cels.

Fri-Mon., May 5th-7th.Bright Star WildernessRestoration Project. Joinus in repairing wilderness

fence burned in the ErskineFire of 2016. This projectwill be the beginning ofextended fencing across awildlife corridor route toprotect the now vulnerableburned area. For questionsor to sign up, contactLeader: Kate Allen, 661-944-4056 or kj.allen96@gmail.com. CNRCC DesertCommittee.

Sat., May 6th, 8:30 a.m.Rinconada, Little Falls,and Big Falls. Very strenu-ous, 14-mile, 2200 ft. gainhike in scenic Lopez Can-yon, with middle of the loopon Lopez Canyon Rd. Therewill be several streamcrossings during the twomiles of hiking on dirtroad, so bring sandals orother footwear to use forwading. Poison oak prob-ably abundant on trail. Hikelasts most of the day. Ashorter in-and-out hike ispossible, if desired. Bringlunch and lots of water, hat,and sturdy shoes. Meet infront of Pacific BeverageCo. in Santa Margarita forcarpooling. Rain or extremeheat will postpone hike toMay 20th. For more infor-mation, contact Leader:Carlos Diaz-Saavedra, 546-0317.

May 7-9, June 11-13, July16-18, August 20-22,September 24-26,October 22-24

Join us for a 3-day, 3-island,live-aboard cruise toCalifornia’s Channel Is-lands! Hike wild, wind-swept trails bordered withblazing wildflowers. Kayakrugged coastlines. Snorkelin pristine waters teemingwith colorful fish. Swimwith frolicking seals and sealions. Look for unusual seaand land birds. Watch forthe highly endangered is-land fox. Or.....just relax atsea! All cruises depart fromSanta Barbara. The cost,$650, includes an assignedbunk, all meals, snacks andbeverages plus the services

Island Hopping in Channel Islands National Park 2017

of a naturalist-docent as-signed by the nationalpark to help lead hikes,point out items of interestand give evening program.For more informationcontact leader: Joan Jones

Holtz; 626-443-0706;jholtzhln@aol.com. Tomake a reservation send a$100 check, written to Si-erra Club, to leader, 11826The Wye St., El Monte, CA91732.

April 15th – Earth Day atBranch Mill OrganicFarmhttp://branchmillorganics.com/earth-day-fair-funraiser/.

April 21st – Healthy Soilswith Elaine Ingham inMorro Bay. Elaine has auser-friendly approach tounderstanding soil healththat is grounded in years ofresearch into the organismsthat make up the soil food-web. She is internationallyknown for her work, whichprovides insights into prob-lems facing many types ofgrowers. CEUs are avail-able. Information and regis-tration at: www.soilfoodwebworkshop.eventbrite.com.

April 22nd – Earth Day &Music Festival at ElChorro Regional Park.earthday alliance.com/.

April 25th – SLOPermaculture GuildQuarterly Program atSLO Guild Hall. See thelatest on the Rain Gardeninstallation in the parkinglot and back lot. 6 p.m.potluck in the garden.

For more info on all of theabove, contact: treelees@charter.net.

The view from Black Hill Outings Leader Jan Secord and her group got an eyefull on their March 11 hike.

Activities sponsored byother organizations

Pariscontinued from page 6

will suffer from dirtier airwhile missing out on manyof the benefits of the fairand just clean energy

economy the Clean PowerPlan would help create. We’ll fight Trump in thecourts, in the streets, and atthe state and local levelacross the nation, making it

clear that Americans wantclean energy and climateprogress, and we take ourinternational commitmentsseriously. And at the sametime we will partner with a

growing coalition of Ameri-cans from every walk oflife, elected officials, andbusinesses who are not go-ing to stand idly by and

ignore the opportunity ofclean energy and the ur-gency of solving the climatecrisis.