There is a very interesting item on this Tuesday’s City Council agenda, and that is the issue of Community Choice Energy. Community Choice Aggregation (CCA), also known as Community Choice Energy (CCE), is an alternative to the incumbent investor owned utility energy supply system. Instead, local entities in California and other States pool together the buying power of individual customers within a defined jurisdiction in order to secure alternative energy supply contracts.
Community Choice (passed into law in California in 2002) gives cities the choice of purchasing energy from a variety of providers, including those who produce renewable energy. According to the Sierra Club there are 47 California communities served mainly by community choice aggregation (CCA). In Southern California, one of those aggregators is the Clean Power Alliance, which contracts power directly from renewable resources like wind and solar farms for several cities, including Oxnard, Thousand Oaks, Ventura, and West Hollywood. Aggregation allows cities to pool demand to reduce prices and make clear their long-term interest in renewable electricity generation. In this program, regional investor-owned utility Southern California Edison still operates the region’s transmission lines and delivers the clean electricity to residents and businesses.
Newer CCEs in California increasingly focus transition to local renewable energy sources rather than grid power. This could be good for Long Beach for a number of reasons.
1) Could give Long Beach the opportunity to purchase power from ‘greener” sources than those we have historically obtained energy from. Ratepayers would have to option to purchase 100%, 50% or 2/3rd clean energy.
2) Could make Long Beach more resilient against the problems that can beset large power providers that require a lot of infrastructure and transmission lines to deliver energy. That is because, with CCE, our energy would come from a variety of sources. For example, it would give Long Beach the option to have community solar programs that could relieve the power grid.
3) Could drive down the costs of power since energy sources would complete with each other. As well as speed up the creation of clean renewable energy that with time will reduce cost.
The threats associated with climate change are very serious, currently much of California is on fire due to extremely hot weather, Greenland’s ice sheets are melting and ocean temperatures are warming, which is acidifying our ocean. Expected sea level rise will have a significant impact on Los Cerritos Wetlands. Community Choice seems like a practical way to help move us off of fossil fuels and on to renewables. I’m planning to tune in to the City Council meeting on Tuesday to learn more, and I hope you will too.
AB 1788
AB 1788 would ban 2nd generation anticoagulant rat poisons in California. The banning of these poisons would protect raptors throughout California, including the raptors of Los Cerritos Wetlands. The sad chain of events is that hawks, eagles, owls and other animals eat poisoned rodents, thus the poison gets in their system and they sicken and die. An easy way to break that chain is to outlaw these very dangerous rodenticides.
This ban on these products, after passing several committees in the State Senate is headed to a full floor vote this week. Therefore I need you to contact either State Senator, Lena Gonzalez, (who represents most of Long Beach) or State Senator Tom Umberg, (who represents the eastern parts of Long Beach as well as Seal Beach and Los Alamitos), as soon as possible. After all, local voters in the district are the most potent force there is. If you don’t know which representative is yours, you can find that information here.
All you need to say is that you are a voter in their district and you support AB 1788 to ban 2nd generation anticoagulant rodent poisons because wildlife, pets and children are important to you! Here is a list of supporting groups of AB 1788, some interesting facts about the problem and how AB 1788 is the solution. As you can see, we are in good company.
Legislature Bill AB 1788 has already passed several hurdles -1) Three Assembly Committees and the full Assembly last year2) Three Senate Committees. It passed the critical 3rd Senate committee just on Thursday!
Let’s help get AB 1788 past this important hurdle by sending a quick email to either Senator Lena Gonzalez or Senator Tom Umberg. They are both good people who support Los Cerritos Wetlands. Please take this simple action to help protect the charismatic raptors that call Los Cerritos Wetlands their home.
The Los Cerritos Wetlands Authority’s (the agency that manages most of the publicly owned portions of Los Cerritos Wetlands) process to comprehensively plan for the restoration of all of Los Cerritos Wetlands has been going on for several years now.
Recently, an important milestone was reached, and that was the Los Cerritos Wetlands Authority’s release of their Draft Program Environmental Impact Report (Draft PEIR) for the restoration of Los Cerritos Wetlands. Under the California Environmental Quality Act, the purpose of an EIR is to determine the impact of proposed development (or in this case restoration choices) on the environment. An EIR identifies ways to reduce impacts and analyzes alternatives to avoid or minimize significant environmental harm.
Because it is our role and responsibility, the Los Cerritos Wetlands Land Trust throughly reviewed the Los Cerritos Wetlands Authority’s Draft PEIR. We did the review with the help of wetlands experts and environmental attorneys. As you might expect there is a lot we like about the Draft PEIR, but there are some areas that we find deficient.
1) The Draft PEIR is unclear about the covered actions. We are clear that the purpose of the restoration plan is the long-term restoration of wetlands, habitat and tidal flow, while increasing public access. But what does that mean exactly? The eventual restoration of Los Cerritos Wetlands will take 20 years or longer and involve many phases. Which phases of the restoration will require extra review and which do the Los Cerritos Wetlands Authority believe are adequately covered by their Draft PEIR. That is one of the things that seems important to clarify.
2) We get it. We really do. It is a tricky thing to try and plan for the restoration of a fragile area that includes sensitive wetlands, privately and publicly owned land, endangered species, tidal flow, sea level rise, oil operations, public access, and so forth. The list of issues that must be considered goes on and on. However we feel that a particularly “solution oriented” restoration alternative really deserves additional consideration, and that is the alternative of a tidal connection below 2nd Street into the central area of Los Cerritos Wetlands (the area adjacent to the Marketplace shopping center that stretches to the San Gabriel River). Of the three areas (Northern, Central and South) the Central seems like the most challenging area to plan for. There is privately owned land, oil operations, nearby infrastructure. . .all of which are under the threat of sea level rise. We’re asking “Why not just hold off on that area and restore it last. . .so that there can be berms that will protect the Marketplace Shopping Center that could be lower in height than the planned 18 foot tall berms?” Maybe the plan can be figured in a way that includes the raising up of 2nd Street (which will have to happen anyway sometime due to sea level rise) so that the public will be able to continue to enjoy easy views of Los Cerritos Wetlands.
3) Lastly, we urge the Los Cerritos Wetlands Authority to do a few more studies; for example (1) a wetlands delineation for the restoration area, (2) a deeper hydrology analysis and (3) studies helping us reconcile the fact in some parts of the restoration plan oil wells are treated as if they will remain but oil wells from other companies have been removed. We would like to see information about the number of wells on the various properties, the number sealed off in the last ten years and the number that are idle. We also think the Hitchcock property, located on Loynes Drive and cited by the Coastal Commission as important upland habitat, should be included in the comprehensive wetlands restoration planning.
As I said, we are very happy that comprehensive restoration planning for Los Cerritos Wetlands moves forward, and it is our intention that our comment letter will make the plan better for the wetlands and better for the community. I urge you to share your views and comments with the Los Cerritos Wetlands Authority which you can do by emailing Sally Gee who is the Conservancy Project Development Analyst for the Rivers and Mountains Conservancy.
P.S. If you are interested in taking a deeper dive into the Draft PEIR and our comment letter I invite you to a Zoom meeting with our consultant, land use planning expert Terry Watt. We are hosting the meeting via Zoom at 7:00PM on Thursday, July 9th. Email me at elizabeth@lcwlandtrust.org for details and to rsvp.
Our local wetlands give our community so much. They support fragile and endangered wildlife, provide an outdoor classroom for local students, and offer a chance for all of us to spend time in nature. We host monthly free-of-charge guided nature walks on three different parts of Los Cerritos Wetlands, and I hope you have had a chance to attend one of them. Sadly, our nature walks are currently on hold right now, but stay tuned for one of our upcoming “virtual’ nature walks.
Our vision is a restored and vibrant Los Cerritos Wetlands. With your help we will get there!
Over the years Los Cerritos Wetlands sure has taken it’s share of “hits”. Our wetlands have been drilled upon, filled in, and generally misunderstood and misused. But all of that is changing. Slowly and surely, our wetlands are being brought back to life, and that is because of people like you, people who understand the value of this unique natural resource.
Our supporters have written letters and attended meetings when Los Cerritos Wetlands have been threatened by development proposals ranging from strip malls, to golf courses to luxury development. Supporters have helped restore our wetlands by planting native plants, removing trash, and also removing non-native “invasive plants”. Our success is measured in the slow return of threatened and endangered species like the Belding’s Savanah sparrow. It is also measured by how much of the remaining wetlands is now in the public trust, and that is now close to half, with more on the way.
I am asking that you do one more thing and that is, today, on Giving Tuesday, celebrate our local wetlands by making a contribution to the Los Cerritos Wetlands Land Trust. There are many admirable and effective environmental protection groups here in Long Beach and we are proud to partner with them. But only the Land Trust is out there working every day to protect this vulnerable yet valuable eco-system which is a tiny remnant of a vast wetlands complex that has all but disappeared. Your contribution, however much you can afford, makes a difference to the work we do. Not only does your contribution directly impact our ability to effectively advocate for Los Cerritos Wetlands but it demonstrates to decision makers that Los Cerritos Wetlands is important to the community and worthy of their support and protection.
Please don’t delay. Become a member or make a contribution now to protect our wetlands. . . for ourselves, our families, and future generations.
Thanks for celebrating Giving Tuesday with me.
Sincerely,
Elizabeth Lambe
Executive Director
Los Cerritos Wetlands Land Trust
A letter from LCWLT’s Executive Director, Elizabeth Lambe
Dear Friend of Los Cerritos Wetlands,
I hope you are doing OK and have settled in to some sort of routine as these weeks of self-quarantine continue on. So much of what the Land Trust does during April, which is the month we all celebrate Earth Day, has been cancelled; but not everything, and not forever, and in that we take hope.
I want to share with you a few events that you might be interested in. Most are happening on Earth Day, which is tomorrow, Wednesday, April 22nd, 2020.
Earth Day Tune in and take action
There will be a huge virtual Earth Day event happening online this upcoming Wednesday, April 22nd. Some of the biggest climate change activists and artists from around the world will be joining together to commemorate Earth Day and bring us together in order to do our part to protect the planet. Over the 24 hours of Earth Day (12:01 am ET – 11:59 pm ET on April 22), Earth Day Network will fill the digital landscape with global conversations, calls to action, performances, video teach-ins and more. Tune in to Earth Day Live April 22nd (and 23rd and 24th) to watch, discuss and participate in a livestream featuring stories, performances and opportunities for digital collective action, as millions of people around the world go online for a three-day mobilization to stop the climate emergency.
International Dark Sky Week and Great Films to Explore
Long-time consultant for the Los Cerritos Wetlands Land Trust is the amazing Dr. Travis Longcore, who is now associated with the UCLA Institute of the Environment. Dr. Longcore’s research focuses on the effects of artificial night lighting on wildlife, which is a very significant impact on the species of Los Cerritos Wetlands, who live so close to shopping centers, roadways and many other sources of artificial light. He is also very knowledgable on the impacts of roads in and around wetlands. Dr. Longcore and his partner Catherine Rich played a significant role in the Land Trust’s battle to stop the harmful Home Depot Design Center in back in 2008. They helped us again in 2010 in our effort to remediate the harm done to Los Cerritos Wetlands when illegal grading occurred on that triangle shaped piece of property on Loynes Drive between the Belmont Shores Mobile Estates and Studebaker Road. Dr. Longcore will be speaking on the impacts of lighting on the animal world at 10:50AM Pacific Time on Wednesday, April 22nd. Click on the this link at that time, to view his talk.
The “Story of Plastic” is on the Discovery Channel this Wednesday (April 22) at 2:00 P.M. The Story Of Plastic takes a sweeping look at the man-made crisis of plastic pollution and the worldwide effect it has on the health of our planet and the people who inhabit it. More details can be found here. According to our friends over at the Long Beach-based Algalita Foundation, The Story of Plastic documentary is also a phenomenal teaching tool for your classroom, family, and community. (and while you’re at it, why not take a moment to send a note to our local Congressman, Alan Lowenthal, to thank him for introducing the Break Free From Plastic Pollution Act of 2020, a comprehensive and historic bill aimed at stopping the plastic pollution crisis. We are so lucky to have someone representing us in Congress who can always be counted on to do the right thing when it comes to protecting our environment.)
Patagonia Films newest film, Fishpeople, is now available to view, free-of-charge. I am personally a big fan of Patagonia, their great apparel and their philosophy of using their company’s resources to protect the environment. One of the ways Patagonia does that is through their amazing films (two of which the Land Trust has previously screened here in Long Beach). Fishpeople, Five Lives Transformed by the Sea is their latest film. It is now available to stream for free, and I urge you to check it out. After all, those of us who support protecting and restoring Los Cerritos Wetlands are fish people too. One reason is because coastal wetlands are homes for numerous fish species adapted to estuarine water. And wetlands are a critical part of maintaining healthy marine species’ populations by naturally removing pollutants that would poison the ocean, and providing a huge source of nutrients for marine fish to eat.
I sincerely hope you find the above opportunities inspiring and of interest. Hang in there. We are all in this together and will come through it together on the other end.
Sincerely,
Elizabeth Lambe,
Executive Director
Los Cerritos Wetlands Land Trust
P.S. I am working with my colleagues over at Tidal Influence to hopefully set up some virtual tours of Los Cerritos Wetlands since our in-person on-the-ground nature walks have been indefinitely postponed. Stay tuned for further details, but right now we are thinking of virtual tours of interesting places within Los Cerritos Wetlands like Zedler Marsh and the native plant nursery located out there, or Marketplace Marsh, which is full of water right now and teeming with wildlife. Take a walk with us while lounging in your pajamas drinking coffee. We would love that. I’ll be back in touch with further details as soon as I have them. In the meantime if there are spots out in Los Cerritos Wetlands that you think would make a great virtual tour, send them my way . . . I’ll take any and all suggestions. In the meantime stay safe and stay strong!
We are sad to say that we must cancel our upcoming Saturday, April 4th, 2020, Heron Hike out at Los Cerritos Wetlands. It just seems like the safest thing to do at this point, and it complies with the Governor’s and our Mayor’s orders that non-essential services be cancelled. We are exploring safer ways for you to enjoy Los Cerritos Wetlands that maintain social distancing, and I am in discussions about how to do so. We are thinking perhaps of introducing folks, via livestream, to cool areas like Marketplace Marsh (pictured), Zedler Marsh or Calloway Marsh. So stay tuned. It sure wouldn’t surprise me if our nature walks are postponed for beyond April, but we will let you know.
A great spot for getting out in nearby nature is the Bolsa Chica Wetlands in Huntington Beach. As of yesterday, when I drove by, the trails were open and hopefully will stay that way as long as walkers are practicing appropriate social distancing, which means staying at least 6 feet away from other people. I also urge you to check out Newport Beach’s Back Bay which has some wonderful wetland areas. Always check appropriate websites before you head out. . . looks like many open-space areas are still open to the public, but that could always change.
