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Greetings,
I have breaking news to share from 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. On Wednesday night, a state report was released by Cal Fire detailing the agency's investigation of the devastating 2007 wildfires. The conclusion? San Diego Gas & Electric power lines ignited the massive Witch Creek, Guejito and Rice Canyon fires! Certainly, we suspected this was the case due to eye witness accounts in the backcountry when the fires started, but this is the first time a formal state report confirms it. To access the report, please click HERE. To read media coverage of the report in the San Diego Union-Tribune, please click HERE. To read coverage in the North County Times, please click HERE. But wait, there's more. The San Diego Union-Tribune reported yesterday that SDG&E received a warning that something was wrong with one of its lines in the Santa Ysabel area a full three and a half hours before it started a fire! To read the article, click HERE. In responding to the report, SDG&E commented, "It’s clear that, with or without power lines, we live in a very fire-prone region." The company also noted, "The extreme weather last October – especially the hurricane-force Santa Ana winds – was a major factor in the fires and in the damage to our facilities." Given that information, why is SDG&E proposing to string another risky high-voltage transmission line through a fire-prone region? Not only can transmission towers crumple in high winds and ignite fires, but the construction process and maintenance access roads open otherwise remote areas to human activity, which dangerously increases fire risk. We know there are smarter energy solutions than SDG&E's risky, unnecessary Sunrise Powerlink proposal. This is the wrong direction for San Diego. We need clean reliable 21st Century energy infrastructure that is safe for our communities and will create "green collar" jobs in our local economy, such as Bill Powers' San Diego Smart Energy 2020 proposal. Please do your part to protect our local communities and pristine backcountry from this harmful, global warming boondoggle. If you haven't done so already, click HERE to send a letter to Governor Schwarzenegger and ask him to protect Anza-Borrego Desert State Park, the Cleveland National Forest and local communities from this destructive proposal. We have smarter energy solutions! Best, Micah P.S. Do your part to protect our local communities and pristine backcountry from this harmful, global warming boondoggle. Click HERE to send a letter to the Governor today!
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