Palos Verdes-South Bay Sierra Club
Category: Pollution
Earth Day Round-up
Local Earth Day events in April provided an opportunity to recruit new Sierra Club members. The South Bay Parkland Conservancy’s celebration in Redondo Beach’s Wilderness Park offered an array of food and activities, including an overnight camp out. Though they…
Read MoreA Plea to Prevent a Plastic-tastophe at the Port
Prudent planning can slow the flow of plastic into the harbor.
Read MoreI’m breaking up with plastic.
50 ways to leave your lover? Not here, but learn 10 ways to ditch plastic.
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Air, Land and Sea: Microplastics Are Everywhere
By Shera Dolmatz New evidence illustrates that the ocean is sending minuscule bits of plastic pollution back into the air and onto the land. Bodies of water long believed to be the final resting grounds for discarded plastics are not…
Read MoreThe Big Stink in Carson
People suffered headaches, difficulty breathing, nausea and vomiting. What caused the big stink?
Read MoreLet’s Get Together:
Local communities gained a say in decisions that affect air pollution in the harbor area with the passage of AB617.
Read MoreWhat Lies Beneath
Decades of legal and illegal dumping off the Palos Verdes coast have left a toxic legacy.
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What Is Environmental Justice, And Why Should I Care?
The link between minority housing and higher rates of pollution was not established by chance.
Read MoreWill the State Budget Affect Environmental Justice for the South Bay?
How are environmental inequities, particularly those resulting from pollution in and around the Port of L.A., addressed in the proposed state budget?
Read MoreGarbage In, Global Warming Out: Can We Disrupt the Flow?
L.A. County has taken a step toward reducing the greenhouse gas given off by food waste by processing to generate electricity, but the problem is far from solved.
Read MoreLinks of Interest
The Forest Committee of Sierra Club’s Angeles Chapter launches a series of programs on wildfire Annals of a warming planet: The West Coast wildfires are Apocalypse, Again. The New Yorker Severe burn damage from California wildfires seen from space. Live…
Read MoreRacism, Covid-19 and Oil Drilling Are Conected
By Melanie Cohen, Conservation Co-Chair California has long produced some of the dirtiest, most carbon-intensive crude oil in the world, with operations taking place dangerously close to homes, schools, hospitals and other sensitive sites. Proximity to oil development is associated…
Read MoreTrump Administration’s Current Assault On Environmental Laws
By Dave Wiggins, Al Sattler and Steve Dillow For several months, the attention of America’s citizens, and its press, has been focused in large part on the Covid-19 pandemic now sweeping the world, and the dramatic impact it has had…
Read MoreThey’ve Been at It Since the Beginning, But We’re Fighting Back
The Trump administration’s scrapping of environmental regulations didn’t just start this year. They’ve been at it since Day One. The Brookings Institution tracks the administration’s attacks on the regulations that keep us safe: https://www.brookings.edu/interactives/tracking-deregulation-in-the-trump-era/ But there’s some hopeful news: Sierra…
Read MorePlastic Icebergs: The Great Pacific Garbage Patch
By Frank Atkin, Outings Co-Chair As if the novel coronavirus weren’t enough, there’s another invisible enemy lurking off our shores. Five giant spiral currents or “gyres” in oceans around the globe sweep in and trap floating debris. The largest gyre…
Read MoreStrike a Blow Against Plastic Pollution
Reduce and reuse, because recycling is broken. BYOB Bring your own bottle — not necessarily booze. Carry your own filtered tap water so you can politely turn down offers of water in plastic bottles from friends and business associates. Bring…
Read MoreLinks of Interest: Plastics Edition
Living without Plastic: One Family’s Journey. L.A. Times How to Eat Less Plastic. Consumer Reports The Ugly Truth Steve Lopez Learned at his Recycling Center. L.A. Times Tips for Using Less Plastic. Green Education Foundation How I Cut Back on…
Read MorePaddle out Plastic
By Eva Cicoria What comes to mind when you think of a port? Boats, barges, cargo, cranes? What about sea life? In LA Harbor, as I’ve discovered over years kayaking there, you’ll find
Read MoreAQMD Bows to Industry, Says No HF Ban
On June 22, the AQMD Refinery Committee voted 3-2 to allow tons of toxic volatile hydrogen fluoride (HF) to remain at two local refineries, Torrance PBF and Wilmington Valero. The refineries will add more water sprays, pumps, sensors, and video…
Read MoreLinks of Interest
The South Coast Air Quality Management District’s Republican-controlled refinery committee voted 3-2 to support an industry-backed alternative. Los Angeles Times Bald eagle chick webcam Daily News The clean cars you don’t see in TV ads Daily News
Read MorePublic Health Dept Supports Banning MHF at Refineries
By Steve Dillow, Conservation Committe Co-Chair On April 2, the LA County Department of Public Health sent a letter to the SCAQMD urging them to phase out MHF as soon as possible. This public agency offered the following conclusion:
Read MoreCadiz Plan Threatens Desert Wildlife and South Bay Drinking Water
By John Monsen, Angeles Chapter Water Committee Cadiz, Inc. is a corporate water speculator proposing one of the most destructive projects ever conceived for our Southern California deserts. Defying logic and ignoring the damage it would cause, Cadiz plans to…
Read MoreDeadly MHF: David v. Goliath
By Steve Goldsmith, TRAA The campaign to remove Hydrogen Fluoride (HF) from two South Bay refineries took a new turn at the Feb. 1 Southern Calif. Air Quality Management (SCAQMD) Board meeting. Been following this David-and-Goliath baLle? Then you…
Read MoreJoin Us to Halt the Toxic Threat
By Al Sattler, Group Chair A crucial meeting of the AQMD Board will be held Friday morning Feb. 1 in Diamond Bar. We need as many people as possible to attend this meeting to tell the board that we want…
Read MoreChildren’s Wishes and Community Action Make Wishing Tree Park a Reality
By Florence Gharibian, Del Amo Action Committee For as long as they could remember, the children passed the trees in wooden boxes in the alley. The tree in the middle was their favorite: the “Wishing Tree.” For years the children…
Read MoreA Park’s Transformational Power
By Al Sattler, Group Chair “Today, kids spend less time outside than prison inmates…” Imagine living without any park nearby, surrounded by Superfund sites and industrial facilities. That has been the life of thousands of people living between Normandie and Vermont,…
Read MoreHelp Safeguard our Neighborhoods from Deadly Hydrofluoric Acid!
AQMD Refinery Committee meeting 9 a.m., Sat., Sept. 22, Wilmington Middle School,1700 Gulf Ave, Wilmington. There will be a special meeting of the AQMD Refinery Committee Sept. 22, to develop a regulation that we hope will phase out use of…
Read MoreCut Smog!
By Al Sattler, Group Chair Smoking Car, smoking truck, refinery flare, neighborhood stink! Who Ya Gonna Call? 1 (800) CUT SMOG ! To report an air pollution problem (except a skunk), 800-CUT SMOG will connect you to the South Coast…
Read MoreWill the AQMD save us from dangerous hydrofluoric acid?
By Melanie Cohen and Al Sattler Air Quality Management District (AQMD) is continuing to work to develop a Rule 1410, to regulate dangerous hydrofluoric acid in South Bay refineries. Since April 2017, they have been holding public hearings and…
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Palos Verdes-South Bay Sierra Club 