DON QUIXOTE FIGHTS THE WINDMILLS—AND SO DO THE FOLKS IN BOULEVARD
Printer-friendly versionby Gayle Early (photo by Miriam Raftery) February 10, 2009 (Campo)–Editor’s Note: Should wind turbines hundreds of feet tall –higher than the existing Kumeyaay wind farm turbines—be allowed in the rural McCain Valley/Boulevard region in East County? Does the nation’s critical need for “green” energy outweigh the concerns of residents seeking to preserve the rural character of their backcountry communities? With new industrial-scale wind farms proposed across America, East County Magazine’s Gayle Early set out on a quest to explore these issues in depth for our three-part series on wind energy. PART I: BACKCOUNTRY RESIDENTS BATTLE SPANISH WIND GIANT As they were talking, they saw thirty or forty of the windmills found in that countryside, and as soon as Don Quixote caught sight of them, he said to his squire: “Good fortune is guiding our affairs better than we could have desired, for there you see, friend Sancho Panza, thirty or more enormous giants with whom I intend to do battle and whose lives I intend to take, and with the spoils we shall begin to grow rich, for this is righteous warfare, and it is a great service to God to remove so evil a breed from the face of the earth.” “What giants?” said Sancho Panza…. “It seems clear to me,” replied Don Quixote, “that thou art not well-versed in the matter of adventures: these are giants; and if thou art afraid, move aside and start to pray whilst I enter with them in fierce and unequal combat.” Just as Miguel de Cervantes’ infamous Spaniard, better known for his dubious love exploits, goes to battle against his giants, the tiny backcountry community of Boulevard is waging several fronts against modern-day giant windmills. Community Planning Group Chair Donna Tisdale has one lance pointed at a Spanish-owned wind turbine company called Iberdrola, which hopes to erect wind turbines several hundred feet high in her neighborhood. Another lance is aimed at the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) which has put up public lands for sale, another at the Campo Reservation next door that she fears will expand its wind farm to within 1200 feet of her house, and yet another at the County Planning Commission that wants to relax permitting processes on private properties to enable bigger, taller wind turbines to be built. Tisdale needs a whole quiver of lances to protect the wide-open spaces in McCain Valley, near the rustic one-road town of Boulevard where she and her husband, Ed, moved in the early sixties. A grandmother who wishes she had more time to enjoy life, she is now a reluctant expert in land-use policies—and she’s made a few enemies in her battles against the local, state, federal, and international corporate giants in her quest to preserve the East San Diego County viewshed. “Many environmental groups are buying wind energy wholesale, not realizing the impacts.” Donna Tisdale (photo by Leon Thompson) “This is the wrong track,” said Tisdale in a phone interview. “We don’t need to be building all this large-scale, remote, renewable energy that’s going to benefit foreign corporations and distant stock-holders. We need to be focused on more local generation, on our roof-tops, in urban areas on commercial roof tops, on brown fields. We don’t need to be doing it out here on public lands, recreational lands—protected lands, supposedly.” Gamesa Technology Corporation, a Spanish-owned wind turbine manufacturer, has clarified to ECM that an “important percentage of our stock-holders happen to be American funds” and that the turbines for the McCain Valley project would be made at the company’s U.S. facilities. Tisdale’s ideas are more in keeping with San Diego Association of Government’s San Diego Regional Energy Strategy 2030, which emphasizes local-power generation and local or “distributed” generation. “Turbine farms are huge and massive and they do have impacts,” Tisdale said, alluding to a colder side to wind energy that we don’t hear much about in our hunger for green solutions. “The sad thing is, they only produce about 30% of their capacity at best.” Wind: The new gold rush California’s Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006 aims to knock back carbon emissions 25% to 1990 levels by 2020, a whopping 80% by 2050 to curb global warming. To make that happen, California has mandated 20% renewable energy by 2010 and 33% renewable energy by 2020, one of the most ambitious energy plans in the country. An executive order by governor Arnold Schwarzenegger also clears red tape for licensing renewable projects, red tape being the best hope for the folks in Boulevard. The world’s eighth largest economy, California spent $31 billion on electricity in 2007 and falls somewhere between the 9th and 16th largest carbon emitter in the world. That’s a lot of juice and a lot of carbon output, roughly five times that of China per capita, and 12 times that of India. Owing to the state mandate, SDG&E and other investor-owned utilities in California are under the gun to clean up their acts. But in 2007, the Public Utilities Commission (PUC) reported that SDG&E delivered only 5.2% renewable power, a far cry from the 20% required by 2010. And that has our favorite local monopoly scrambling to sign up industrial-scale developers for more renewables. President Obama’s recent visits to wind turbine factories are highly symbolic for the folks in Bou levard. They have more than one “uphill” battle, as they ponder their ridge and green-energy forces all the way up the political food chain. The feds also want to reduce the 85% of our energy that comes from fossil fuels. They’re demanding 30% renewable energy by 2030, be it from wind, sun, or thermal. The Department of Energy wants 20% to come from wind power alone by 2020. The DOE is now proposing billions in government grants, instead of tax credits, hoping to double renewable electricity production in as few as three years, as reported in CNN Money.com. Accomplishing these lofty goals will take 140 new wind plants a year, according to American Wind
FEB. 25 HEARING ON WIND TURBINES & WIND TESTING
Printer-friendly versionFebruary 2009 (San Diego)–The County Board of Supervisors will deliberate February 25 whether to ease permitting requirements for installing industrial-scale meteorological testing units (MET towers) on private and county properties. The county is also debating the turbine ordinance to allow for more options, such as industrial-scale turbines on private property or more than one turbine per lot, including the smaller scale turbines. Printer-friendly version
LA MESA SAVES FLAG DAY PARADE: DONATIONS ROLL IN FROM RESIDENTS, BUSIENSSES AND CIVIC LEADERS
Printer-friendly versionFebruary 9, 2009 (Mesa) “ Thanks to the generosity of La Mesa citizens, business leaders and elected officials who donated out of their own pockets, La Mesa’s annual flag day parade has been saved from the budget chopping block. The 14th annual event will take place on Saturday, “We met the goal and then some,” an e-mail signed by Council members Ernest Ewin and David Allan stated. “Thank you, Shannon O’Dunn for your leadership in this effort.” O’Dunn (photo), a La Mesa resident, ran for La Mesa Council in the last election. “Our fund raising success for this event may surprise some who live outside our City-unless they work here,” the Council members” e-mail stated. “They need to come to our City and see why it happened…time and time again La Mesa will support what it believes in.” In an earlier e-mail, Ewin thanked East County Magazine for publicizing the one-week fundraising drive to raise $10,500. Drew Ford and EDCO each donated $1,000, while Sycuan pitched in $750. All of La Mesa’s Council members (Ruth Stirling, Mark Arapostathos, Ernest Ewin and David Allan) and Mayor Art Madrid pledged donations ranging from $100 to $500 apiece. SDG&E, La Mesa Lion’s Club, and Liberty Charter School donated $500 each, while residents of La Mesa Village Plaza offered up $370. Other donors included Act II, Alessio Leasing, Kristine Alessio, Bill Baber, Sherrall Bearss, Mike Bemis, Blumethal & Co., Chuck Bras, Ewin Brock LLP, Church of Scientology of San Diego, Elaine Clabaugh, Dr. Sunita Cooke, Manny Demetre, Kari Dodson, Mindi Drosi, Fischbeck and Oberndorfer, Friends of the La Mesa Library, John and Laurice Gerk, Giordano/Gio, Helen Givens, Joe and Carol Glidden, Steve Grooms, Sharon Hastings, Irene Hobbs, Homeland Florist, Karen Jarrard, Johnny B’s, Scott Kidwell family, Kathleen Kieferdor, Bonnie Kipperman, Kristin Hobbs Kjaero, Kurt Koehler, La Mesa Village Plaza Social Committee, Fran and Dexter Levy, the Lowes Family, Henry McAdams, Guy McWhirter, Mostly Mission, NIFCU, Park Estates, Pete’s Place, Miriam Raftery (editor of East County Magazine), Sara’s Selections Boutique, Steve South, Time & Treasures, Unique Travel, and Ken Wilson. Printer-friendly version
ART SALE FEB. 14: HERITAGE OF AMERICAS MUSEUM AT CUYAMACA COLLEGE
Printer-friendly versionFive East County artists will help raise money for the Heritage of the Americas Museum with an art sale from noon to 4 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 14 at the museum, located on the campus of Cuyamaca College, 12110 Cuyamaca College Dr. West, in El Cajon. Admission is free. Printer-friendly version