January-February 2011

Note: A printer-friendly version of each part of the Foggy View and the Activities Calendar is available in pdf here. Click for the Foggy View in brief, for the articles, or for the Activities Calendar.

Online Contents: Activities Calendar | Weekly Activities | Monthly Activities | Group Meetings

IN THIS ISSUE...

Point Vicente (photo courtesy PVPLC)

Stories about exploring, enjoying, and protecting the Palos Verdes Peninsula and South Bay.

More trails are coming your way. The Palos Verdes Peninsula Land Conservancy was awarded a $500,000 grant to construct the segment of the California Coastal Trail that will link Palos Verdes Estates to San Pedro. The 9-mile trail is part of an over-all vision to create a 1,200-mile coastal trail from Oregon to Mexico.

Al Sattler writes about the Sierra Club's Get Out the Vote campaign to defeat Proposition 23, and the PVSB Group's contribution to that effort.

A pilot program is in the works for bike rental stations along the coast to take cars off the roads. And the Port of LA has begun installing solar panels on port business roof tops.

FROM THE EDITOR

Here we go into 2011... The PVSB group begins the year with a newly-elected Executive Committee chaired by Phil Wheeler, as Kent Schwitkis turns his attention to a new career path. Returning to the ExComm after time off are Bob Beach, Vice Chair, and Joe Moeller, Special Projects. I've left the ExComm, but am your new Foggy View Editor, while Greg Hitchings takes a break after 10 years on and off from the post giving us dependable delivery of news and outings information.

Over the next year, the Foggy View will transition from a bi-monthly insert in the Southern Sierran to digital only.

IMPORTANT NOTICE: Be the First to Opt In Foggy View Online

You can sign up now to OPT IN for electronic delivery of Sierra Club newsletters. Send an email with your name, address and member ID number to: pvsb@angeles.sierraclub.org. We'll notify the Los Angeles Chapter's Southern Sierran Editorial Board and work with them to convert those opt-in-members to electronic delivery of the Southern Sierran as well.

As you know, this issue of the Foggy View will not be mailed with the Southern Sierran (or otherwise). This January issue is only available online, at http://angeles.sierraclub.org/foggy-view.asp.

Photo courtesy of Eva Cicoria

PVSB Effort to Get Out the Vote to Defeat Prop 23

by Al Sattler

This past fall, California's pioneering Global Warming Solutions Act (AB32) was threatened by two Texas oil companies and a Kansas billionaire oil refiner trying to force us to remain addicted to their dirty oil instead of transitioning to clean energy here in California. The Sierra Club committed to a “Get Out the Vote” campaign with a goal of contacting voters by phone to tell them about the danger of Proposition 23.

I was eager to become involved in the campaign. In the years (OK, decades) that I have been a member of the Sierra Club, I have gradually shifted from hiking and backpacking to working on conservation issues. Several years ago, I became concerned about human-caused global warming, after reading The Weathermakers, by Tim Flannery. The more I read on the topic, the more I understood that accumulating carbon dioxide in the air from burning fossil fuels was like turning up the thermostat on the Earth. We are just seeing the beginning of this climate disruption, with heat waves and more violent storms. If we don't stop burning fossil fuels in the next 30 or 40 years, our civilization will go the way of the dinosaurs, and many of the wild animals and plants we care about will become extinct.

Al Sattler and other participants in the Sierra Club's Get Out the Vote campaign.

Here in the South Bay, we set up a phone bank for people who didn't want to travel downtown. Brad Bartz, owner of ABC Solar, invited us to use his Hermosa Beach store-front. A bonus—the store-front is “off the grid” and powered entirely by renewable energy. Sierra Club members spent several evenings calling voters, surrounded by hardware and brochures for solar energy.

On phone calls, I shared with people what I know about global warming and Proposition 23. I found that direct contact with people on the issue was really important. Some voters were relying solely on TV ads for information and thanked me for calling them (even though they were getting a lot of calls) to help them make up their mind. Sometimes it takes a live person to answer questions and to explain an issue like this one.

Fortunately, Proposition 23 failed. If it had passed, it would have been taken as a sign that we don't care about global warming. If California were to step back from action against global warming, there would be less support for action within the greater US and other countries would ask why they should do anything about global warming if the US were not.

Our anger that California's strides forward toward green energy were being threatened by oil interests energized us. Our concern that green jobs would be lost and investor interest in supporting innovative technology would be chilled kept us calling many hours, talking with voters. And our success motivates me to keep up the good fight for a more sustainable future.

Bike Share Pilot Program

The Manhattan Beach City Council has approved a bicycle rental concept proposed by a pair of businessmen. They plan to set up a bike rental station south of the Manhattan Beach Pier and eventually envision rental kiosks all along the coast from Pacific Palisades to the Palos Verdes Peninsula. The concept was inspired by a bike-sharing system in Barcelona, according to the Daily Breeze. The pilot program will be oriented toward commuters, rather than recreational users, and is viewed as a way to get more drivers off the roads.

Moves Toward Solar

Recently completed: phase one of a 5-year plan for the Port of L.A. to install solar panels on port business roof tops. 5,000 solar panels, spanning 71,500 square feet were installed on the port's cruise terminal rooftop. This is expected to reduce carbon dioxide by 22,800 metric tons over 25 years—likened to taking 4,367 cars off the streets—reducing our carbon footprint while saving $200,000 annually, according to a Daily Breeze report.

Peninsula Trails to be New Segment of California Coastal Trail System

by Andrea Vona, Executive Director, PVPLC

On October 28th, the California Coastal Conservancy Board awarded the City of Rancho Palos Verdes and the Palos Verdes Peninsula Land Conservancy a $500,000 grant to construct the segment of the California Coastal Trail that will link Palos Verdes Estates to San Pedro. The 9-mile trail is part of an overall vision to create a 1,200-mile coastal trail from Oregon to Mexico. The trail is designed to foster appreciation and stewardship of the scenic and natural resources of the coast. The Land Conservancy will develop the trail sections within the Palos Verdes Nature Preserve, and the City of Rancho Palos Verdes will implement the project outside of the Preserve.

The trail will extend the entire length of the City's coastline, and as close to the ocean as possible, with a goal of creating connections to the beaches and Palos Verdes Nature Preserve. It will be identified with California Coastal Trail decals. The Coastal Trail will run within parts of the Palos Verdes Nature Preserve, including Fishing Access, Abalone Cove, and Oceanfront Estates. The Coastal Trail will also run through private properties, such as Terranea Resort and Trump National Golf Club. Trail development will include creation of pedestrian crossings and approximately three miles of new trails, enhancement of unimproved trails in the Preserve, and construction of a 10-15 car parking area in “Gateway Park” the southern portion of the Portuguese Bend Reserve. The project is expected to take approximately 18 months to complete.