EDITORIAL: CALL ME A SORE LOSER -- HOW YOU CAN HELP FIGHT POWERLINK

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By Denise Morse

As a Campo property owner and native San Diegan I just can't fathom how 120
miles of transmission lines with 150 ft. high steel towers buzzing and crackling their way into San Diego fits with "America's Finest City" image.

Call me a sore loser, but I just can't get past the fact that two Administrative Law Judges determined that the Sunrise Powerlink (SPL) project was unnecessary. Judge Steve Weissman and Judge Jean Vieth made their decision based on reviewing over 11,000 pages of Environmental Impact Report (EIR) documentation and numerous binders of data supplied by San Diego Gas & Electric.

So if this line is built are we going to be able to look up at the perfectly configured catenary shaped transmission lines and wipe our brows and say to ourselves: "Whew, just look at that renewable energy flowing across those lines!" It really was worth losing my house through eminent domain, my property value, my view shed, my well, my health, my - and the list goes on.

The fact is that few of us will be able to determine what type of energy is being transmitted across these unnecessary transmission lines. Is it wind, solar, geothermal, or fossil fuel? You tell me. After the so-called "energy crisis" a few years back and now the deceitful attempts to persuade the public that Sunrise Powerlink is a good thing for San Diego,will you ever trust San Diego Gas & Electric again? Is this line about renewable energy or SDG&E's bottom line?

I helped organize SPL - EIR workshops and hearings at Mountain Empire High
School, I organized a Mountain Empire Planning Group Alliance, I wrote letters to anyone who would read them, I spoke at several San Diego Association of Government meetings, I spoke at Community Planning Group meetings from Potrero to Ramona, I joined Communities United for Sensible Power, I met with state senators, I spoke to the Public Utilities Commissioners, sent letters to the Governor and President Obama. I appeared (briefly) on the national program PBS - NOW to talk about how the residents feel about SPL.

Hundreds of San Diego residents have done what I have done and those listed below as well as the Sierra Club have done much more to help protect San Diego's reputation of being "America's Finest City." So what else can we do?

We can help those who are carrying on the fight at the legal level.

CENTER FOR BIOLOGICAL DIVERSITY
The Center for Biological Diversity (CBD) has filed a lawsuit with the California Supreme Court "alleging errors" the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) made in their decision to approve the transmission line.

CBD has also requested a new hearing with the CPUC.

(866) 357-3349
http://www.biologicaldiversity.org/support/join/index.html
Center for Biological Diversity
Attn: Membership
P.O. Box 710
Tucson, AZ 85702-0710

UTILITY CONSUMER ADVOCATE NETWORK (UCAN)
UCAN brought to our attention that the Sunrise Powerlink Project would end up
costing consumers more on their utility bill. Since San Diego Gas & Electric is an investor-owned utility who do you think will pay for the 150 mile transmission line? Certainly not the investors!
UCAN has filed an appeal with the CPUC citing 18 reasons why Sunrise should not be approved.

(619) 696-6966
www.ucan.org
UCAN
3100 5th Avenue, Suite B
San Diego, CA 92103

PROTECT OUR COMMUNITIES (POC)
POC and BAD have joined forces and are preparing to address the legal deficiencies at the federal level, in the Sunrise Powerlink case including the Plan Amendments for new utility corridors for Sunrise Powerlink through Bureau of Land Management and Cleveland National Forest lands.

The Protect Our Communities fund is a local fund that consists of donors from all over San Diego County. The POC fund is being used to fight SPL. The fund is held at The San Diego Foundation and any donations are tax-deductible.
(760) 703-1149
www.protectourcommunities.org

Protect Our Communities Fund
The San Diego Foundation: Emily Young
2508 Historic Decatur Road, Suite 200
San Diego, CA 92106

BACKCOUNTRY AGAINST DUMPS (B.A.D.)
BAD and POC have joined forces and are preparing to address the legal
deficiencies at the federal level, in the Sunrise Powerlink case including
the Plan Amendments for new utility corridors for Sunrise Powerlink through
Bureau of Land Management and Cleveland National Forest lands.

(619) 766-4170
donnatisdale@hughes.net
BAD
PO Box 1275
Boulevard, CA 91906

HOW YOU CAN HELP

These organizations (mostly volunteer) need your FINANCIAL SUPPORT to help
protect your "backyard." If your donation is $10 or $100 it will be spent on keeping your San Diego a healthy and beautiful place to live.

As Donna Tisdale of Boulevard says: "It is not about being 'green,' patriotic, helping us, or the country, it is all the about money for them and their investors."

We need to carefully consider the consequences of HOW we are going to move ahead with green energy projects. Generate close to the point of use and minimize transmission lines.

Please help, please donate whatever you can.

This editorial reflects the opinions of its author and does not necessarily reflect the views of East County Magazine or our publisher. If you have an editorial you would like to submit for possible publication, please contact editor@eastcountymagazine.org.


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