Greetings,

Unlike the Damaging, Fossil-Fueled Sunrise Powerlink, the San Diego Smart Energy 2020 Proposal Will Create a Local Green Energy Economy With an Emphasis on Efficiency and Renewables.

Send a letter to the Editor of the San Diego Union-Tribune today!

The San Diego Smart Energy Solutions campaign to protect Anza-Borrego Desert State Park, the Cleveland National Forest and local communities from SDG&E's unnecessary, destructive Sunrise Powerlink proposal needs you to take immediate action!

Today, the San Diego Union-Tribune reported that the San Diego Association of Governments (SANDAG) is unveiling a strategic job plan for the region. One element of this plan includes building new infrastructure. The article reports that this SANDAG plan says the Sunrise Powerlink project should be discussed as one way of "alleviating the region's growing need for energy." Click HERE to read the full story. 

We need to let SANDAG know there are smarter energy alternatives than the damaging, fossil-fueled Sunrise Powerlink that will do a better job to create a green energy economy and robust power infrastructure right here in San Diego! One example is the San Diego Smart Energy 2020 proposal - click HERE to read the Executive Summary of this groundbreaking report.

Do your part to protect our parks, forests and local communities from the proposed Sunrise Powerlink and ensure a smarter energy future and green economy for San Diego by writing a letter to the Editor of the San Diego Union-Tribune! Helpful tips, contact information and talking points are outlined below.

EDUCATE SANDAG: WRITE A LETTER TO THE EDITOR!

WHO: letters@uniontrib.com

WHAT: Letters must be less than 150 words and include full name, address and phone number.

TALKING POINTS:

• The San Diego Association of Governments is doing the right thing by recognizing the growing gap between rich and poor in San Diego, and the fact that it is getting harder for workers to make ends meet. Our region is in dire need of jobs that will create prosperity for all San Diegans.
• Unfortunately, by emphasizing the damaging, global warming Sunrise Powerlink as a solution to meeting the region's energy needs, SANDAG is ignoring another important criterion to create regional prosperity and attract upscale employers: quality of life.
• There are smarter energy alternatives than Sunrise Powerlink that do not slice through local communities and protected open spaces and do not increase our region's fire risk or global warming greenhouse gases.
• The more environmentally-responsible plan, San Diego Smart Energy 2020, emphasizes clean, local renewable energy and will foster a true "green energy economy" right here in San Diego. This plan has the potential to create thousands of jobs, from retrofitting buildings to meet higher efficiency standards to installing large rooftop solar installations to upgrading portions of our existing transmission and distribution system.
• The forward-thinking view to regional planning is to adopt a job strategy that ensures economic security AND quality of life. The Sunrise Powerlink simply does not meet that criterion, while the San Diego Smart Energy 2020 plan does. Please consider amending SANDAG's strategic job plan to recognize this point.

After you send your letter to the Editor, feel free to email your letter to me in a SEPARATE email at mmitrosky@sierraclubsandiego.org. Don't copy me when you send your letter, because it is less likely to be published.

Best,

Micah

P.S. Send a letter to the Editor of the San Diego Union-Tribune today! This simple, effective action will help amplify our message to SANDAG that there are smarter energy alternatives than the damaging, fossil-fueled Sunrise Powerlink that will create a green energy economy and robust power infrastructure right here in San Diego.

Sierra Club's Smart Energy Solutions Campaign 3820 Ray Street, San Diego, CA 92104 619-299-1797 www.sdsmartenergy.org mmitrosky@sierraclubsandiego.org